Christmas is Techie Time

You probably like me always end up in the electronics store or section this time of year.  Interestingly online stores are creating great ways for us to shop and get gift ideas.  One of the online stores I visited this year has created a great system for browsing.  Check out their online "store" http://www.amazon.com/Electronics-Gift-Guide/b?ie=UTF8&node=7258612011.  This creates a great experience for those of us shopping online this year.  I know I purchase more gifts than ever online - what about you?

Black Friday Technology

By now I am sure you have received a ton of emails, mailers and even coupon texts about Black Friday deals.  While I do participate in Black Friday events I do think things may have spiraled out of control.  Check out this article about unstaffed digital stores and other innovative shopping trends http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2013/11/27/black-friday-will-never-be-the-same-heres-how-technology-is-changing-shopping/

A direct quote is "We’re still in the early stages of technology changing retail. We’ve seen online retailers such as Amazon chip away at traditional retailers, but the use of smartphones to enhance in-person and online purchasing is just beginning."

Planning time to update my phone and apps!

Daily my phone notifies me that it needs to be updated, there are apps I want and haven't taken time to install and apps that need to be uninstalled.  So I am going to make some time in the next two weeks to get my phone cleaned up.  If you are wondering about what apps I am interested in these are ones to increase my "productivity" supposedly.

The first one is an area GPS calculator.  Each fall I do yield checks for corn and soybean growers in Talbot County.  I want to compare my wheel measurements with the calculations to check for accuracy.  Some have said that the wheel would be more accurate others have said that the GPS would due to ditches and bumping of the wheel. 

The second one is a business card reader.  I would love to clear out the box on my desk of accumulated business cards.

The final is a reader app.  I am on the road a lot and have heard that there is a reader app that will read documents to you.  This could save a lot of time on my commute and my eyes.

Stay tuned as I will follow up on these apps.  Does anyone else have ones theyd want to work with or install but haven't taken the time to search, download or learn to use them?

Cell Phone Laws

I am sure everyone has heard of this but thought it should be included in this blog.  For those of you that are not hands free you don't know what you have been missing.  Having a bluetooth in my car has been the most liberating experience since having my license.  I am no longer stuck to the phone and with the shape of phone now there is no way to hold them between your shoulder. 

Here is some info about the new law:

• A new cell phone law goes into effect on October 1, making it a primary offense to be holding your phone and driving. (police officers will be able to pull drivers over just for talking on a cell phone without a hands-free device)
• Only 12 states and Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands prohibit drivers from using hand-held phones. 
• Texting while driving is already a primary offense in the state.

Changes to Maryland Traffic Law Cell Phones and Seatbelts Effective Oct. 1:
Driver using hands to use handheld telephone while motor vehicle is in motion will be a primary traffic offense:

• 1st Offense is an $83.00 FINE, including court costs
• 2nd Offense is a $140.00 FINE
• 3rd and Subsequent Offense is a $160.00 FINE
  
  If the violation contributed to an accident, THREE (3) POINTS will also be assessed in addition to the fine.

Driver using hands to use handheld telephone while operating a commercial motor vehicle, first offense is a $290.00 fine and also a primary traffic offense.

Facebook App Center

I was getting tired of the same old apps on my phone.  Needing something new I wanted to be inspired not by going to google play or the iapp store.  In my search I found out that facebook has an app center.  They have listings and reviews of apps http://www.facebook.com/appcenter/ .  I really liked the central views and comments available, even downloaded a few.

iOS 7

A new software update for apple users iOS 7 was released this week. If you have been lucky enough for your software to actually update you have noticed some differences in  your icons. 

iOS has a new look and new icons. There are many reports of problems loading the new software and it can take hours to download.  With the new software just released servers are feeling the strain.   I started my upgrade this morning on my ipad and hoping I can check it out when I get home.  Check out the you tube on iOS 7.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0ErUMeT7uE

Fall Foliage App

Time for fall and Yankee Magazine's Leaf Peepr app!!! It helps fall-foliage fans find and report on the best and brightest colors in the United States.

Make foliage reports (we call them Peeps!) by posting photos, writing comments, and rating foliage status for your location.

The Peak Slider lets you rate foliage as either Green, Turning, Moderate, Peak, Fading, or Gone. The current foliage color is determined by averaging other ratings in a geographic area along with your Peeps.

Use the Foliage Map to see photos and find current foliage rated by hundreds of other leaf peepers!

Great job MPT

So excited to watch this program with my family.  It will teach my girls and I will get to see some familiar faces! 

The series was created to help increase the public's understanding of Maryland agriculture, Maryland Public Television (MPT) in partnership with the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) is producing Maryland Farm & Harvest, a new series that will put a human face on agriculture, educate viewers about the industry, and tell the stories of the industry that built this nation and continues to feed the world.

http://www.mpt.org/farm

https://www.facebook.com/MarylandFarm...

Maryland's 11 Best Day of Summer

It is officially the end of the summer when the Maryland State Fair rolls around.  Unbelievable how fast the summer went.  I had the opportunity to take a few trips recently and with my new smartphone upgrade and a hefty data plan I was able to download many helpful travel apps.  My favorites included mapquest, trip advisor, weather center and tripit! 

Some apps were even created for the location I was visiting.   As I was writing this post and thinking of the state fair I wondered if any county fairs had gone digital and sure enough!

Erie County Fair in Hamburg New York has one of the first mobile phone applications for fairs in the United States.  The website states "A beloved tradition for over one million people each year, Fair guests will now be able to use their iPhone or Android smartphone to get the latest information on exhibitors, events, and all the excitement at the Fair, Hamburg Casino, The Event Center, Showplex and Buffalo Raceway."

Here are some of the many fun and useful features Fair visitors can do from the free mobile app:

• Find My Car feature
• Facebook integration
• GPS map of the Fairgrounds
• Get the most current information on daily highlights
• Search for a show, exhibit or favorite food item.
• An alphabetical listing of all the Fair exhibitors.

TMI

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/securitytipstalk/archive/2013/07/23/7-ways-to-avoid-tmi.aspx

Technology can make everything in our lives easier—including sharing too much information (TMI). Just because you can take a picture of your new credit card and post it on Instagram doesn’t mean that you should. In fact, you shouldn’t.
Sharing too much information can lead to identity theft. It can also damage your online reputation, which could prevent you from getting into college, getting a job, or even getting health insurance.
Here are ways to avoid sharing TMI:

1. Never share your address, phone number, Social Security number, or other personal information through online interactions.
2. Use and manage your privacy settings. Limit who can see details of your online profiles.
3. Never shop, bank, or enter passwords or credit card numbers over public Wi-Fi.
4. Ask questions. Sometimes we do need to share personal information, but before doing so, ask why the information is necessary and beware of imposters.
5. Use sites that you can trust. Learn what to look for.
6. Stop and think before you post an image, blog, tweet, or comment. What does it say about you and how you want to be viewed online?
7. Take charge of your online reputation: Discover, evaluate, protect, cultivate, and restore as needed.

For more tips on avoiding TMI, check out the hashtag #IsThisTMI on our Twitter channel.

Social Media Photo Sizes

We have all learned that viewers love photos.  These are posts that seem to get the "most likes" or "retweets".  But have you ever wondered what size your photos should be?  Luna metrics has posted a great guide to sizing your photos.

http://www.lunametrics.com/blog/2012/11/12/final-social-media-sizing-cheat-sheet/

You Tube for Busniesses

YouTube For Business: Top Ten Strategies & Best Practices

March 31, 2013 by Wayne Ford

YouTube is where the eyeballs are. In fact YouTube is now where over a billion sets of eyeballs are every single month. The vast majority of those eyeballs belong to what Google & Nielsen are now calling the ‘C Generation’. The C Generation is supposedly a state of mind and is representative of those that ‘care deeply about creation, curation, connection and community.’

 

Generation C is made up of 80% millennials which also happen to be YouTube’s core audience. YouTube users are also very likely to constantly use a mobile device during the day to consume media so your videos must be optimized for all viewing platforms.

 

However, the C Generation is not YouTube’s only audience. All demographics are now consuming video online at growing rates and primarily on YouTube.

 

How do you leverage YouTube for Business effectively?

As you’ve probably noticed, YouTube is bursting with silly, weird and pointless videos uploaded by teenagers and young adults. How is your business going to market successfully in that space? Especially if that’s not your target audience?

If your target audience is the millennials it may seem you’ll have a little easier time leveraging YouTube. However it can be really difficult to get your videos seen and your channel subscribed to in this now overcrowded environment.

Below are my top ten YouTube for Business strategies and best practices:

https://www.udemy.com/blog/youtube-for-business/

The term for engaging customers

How to Create a Social Media Buzz with Crowdsourcing

October 8, 2012 by Frank Salatto

Crowdsourcing – enlisting your customers, followers and fans to help you innovate and improve – has made it easier than ever to create better marketing and customer service.

According to social media expert Mark Schaefer, there’s no better way to find the most effective solution: “You are going to get a radically more effective product,” he says, “because, literally, crowds of engaged people are getting involved, providing feedback, and producing finished content for you.”

According to a recent report from InSites Consulting, most social media users are willing to help – so what are you waiting for? Here are five inspirational examples from brands who’ve already taken the lead in social media crowdsourcing.

Starbucks: share, vote, discuss and see

My Starbucks Idea is the coffee corporation’s hub for customers to share and vote on ideas, discuss those ideas, and see them in action.  There’s a poll every day, a running list of ideas that have been implemented, and every hour, dozens more ideas pour in.

Starbucks also runs a Twitter page for its ongoing crowdsourcing campaign – a page that has over 35K followers. They engage those followers and drive interest and traffic to their crowdsourcing site by tweeting pictures of customer ideas in action, polling followers, offering deals and more.

Read more crowdsourcing examples at http://www.vocus.com/blog/crowdsourcing-social-media-buzz/

New Mobile Stats and Facebook Security!

91% keep their Phones within 3 feet of themselves

84% say they couldn’t go a single day without their mobile device

data via Morgan Stanley & TIME mobility poll

http://www.wchingya.com/2013/01/facebook-privacy-timeline-changes.html

Posted by Wong Ching Ya

More changes in 2013?

It’s common for Facebook to undergo drastic (or silent) changes whether the users like it or not. The real question is, how ready are you when Facebook is determined to make the world more open and connected’? Have you made full use of the privacy and account settings to your advantage?

Also, if you’ve been observant enough you should’ve discovered several improvements on the existing features to make them more visible and user friendly. Why not give this list a run-through and see if you missed any.

Privacy Settings:

#1  To Pre-set Your Future Posts

You can predetermine the audience selector for your next status update besides doing it right below your status box before publishing. Otherwise, this setting is fixed upon your last status update.

#2  To Review Tagged Posts and Photos

Your Activity Log had gone through a complete makeover. It’s now easier to scan through your tagged posts or photos and you can set so to be notified when tagged by friends, anyone or friends of friends.

#3  To Control Who Can Look You Up

It’s almost impossible to hide on Facebook. However, you can control who can look you up based on the email address or phone number you provided on Facebook.

Your timeline can be opted-out of search engine results. To do this, simply untick the checkbox. Of course, Facebook will persuade you to reconsider but the decision is yours.

If you prefer to gain followers (formerly known as ‘Subscribers’) for your personal Timeline, then I’d recommend you to keep the box ticked for extra visibility.

Mobile Settings:

#4  To Log Out from Your Missing Phone

When you lose your phone, two critical things you must do to immediately: remove your phone number from your Facebook account and click the ‘Lose your phone’ link to log out from your Facebook mobile app completely.

Managing Notifications:

#5  To Set Notifications for All Your Groups

You can now easily set how you’d like to receive notifications for ALL your groups – including those you’ve joined: to allow all posts, friends’ posts or turn them off completely. How convenient!

There are a few other types of notifications worth exploring, especially if you wish to reduce the noise sent to your emails etc:

• Facebook notifications– you can choose to turn off follow-up alerts by clicking ‘unfollow’ in the notification bar.
• Email notifications- to set so all or only certain notifications reach you via email.
• Mobile notifications– You can choose to receive notifications when someone commented, sent you a request or even from selected friends only. Also, you can set to receive notifications via text messages at the selected time frame.
• Notifications for ‘Close Friends activity’ – to either receive them on facebook, email or none.
• Notifications for Your ‘Followers’ – people who are not your friends but you can set to be notified (or not) about their reactions to your public posts.
• Pages you manage – to set notifications for selected pages you are managing.

The IRS has an App!

So in my app searches I find that the IRS has an app called IRS2Go.  It is available for both iphone and android systems.  You can follow news, check on your refund and get other information.    Here is the link for more information http://www.irs.gov/uac/New-IRS2Go-Offers-Three-More-Features.

Where do I apply?

We have all purchased a dud. I have purchase a few of them that sounded like exactly what I wanted.  Verzion is reporting that they will begin reviewing, testing and rating smartphone applications.  Sounds like a good service and help the consumer in making decisions on app purchases.  I just want to know where to send my resume.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/verizon-smartphone-apps/?src=busln

Window 8 Anyone?

Just when you get comfortable and complacent with technology, something new and tempting is available.  For me it is Windows 8.  I like Windows software and interested to see what new, more efficient and cool things it can do.  For me that means updating some of my charts, powerpoints and other media for the "new" look.  I definitely don't want to hear "That is so Windows 7" during the winter workshops.  Anyone using it?

How to Master Facebook Marketing in 10 Days!

Wonder how to quickly build a faithful following on Facebook?

Whether it’s Facebook’s complexity or simplicity that has you stymied, if you put in just a little effort— for 10 days—you can boost your Facebook interactions by 10, 20, even 30 percent or more.

In HubSpot’s new ebook, “How to Master Facebook Marketing in 10 Days” you'll learn how to:

• Evaluate successful Facebook pages
• Understand Facebook best practices
• Speak Facebook-ese
• Create custom Welcome Pages
• Create a content calendar
• Understand EdgeRank and the art of engagement
• Put on a show
• Create a contest
• Run a targeted ad campaign
• Use Facebook’s analytics package ‘Insights’

Start garnering fans and customers who will spend real money as a result of your social marketing magic. Download the new ebook, “How to Master Facebook Marketing in 10 Days” now!

http://offers.hubspot.com/how-to-master-facebook-marketing-in-10-days?source=hspd-smex-cpl-how-to-master-facebook-marketing-in-10-days-20111021