Yearly Archives: 2012

You Are Not Alone

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A source of mine recently clued me in that retail stores across the country are going to be beefing up security, but not in ways we have previously experienced. Many are actually installing seeing-eye mannequins that will be watching your every move.

The intention is not to see you naked when trying on new clothes or watch you dance in front of the dressing room mirror. This is more about getting a fix on the type of customer shopping their stores. They want to know age, sex, and race.

If online retailers get the privilege of knowing your profile while you are shopping on their sites, why shouldn’t traditional stores know who is browsing their floors?

One of the new “dummies” that is making its debut now is from the Italian maker Almax. The $5,000 EyeSee mannequin contains cameras in both eyes. The cameras are connected to facial recognition software that analyzes faces, classifying them by age, sex, race, and ethnicity. The cameras can also detect when the store is getting crowded, and what products or clothing are attracting the most attention.

Almax claims pictures will not be saved or transmitted. The shopper data is simply aggregated without a record of specific individuals

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The facial recognition technology was developed by Italian company Kee Square, a spinoff from the Polytechnical University of Milan.

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Dark Meat

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I love dark meat Turkey. So does Larry David. I found this out because Kara Swisher of AllThingsd.com shared the video below with her readers. It’s pretty funny, especially if you come from Brooklyn.

I want to dedicate this blog post to Elliott Lampert, my friend in Miami, who had to spend Thanksgiving in the hospital. You will be out soon. Get some good rest. Thank you Mindi for keeping us informed. I finally see the virtue of texting.

Quite a Turkey Day.

A Bigger Apple

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I hate when friends want to hold my iPhone to see a photo or a video. They usually want to get closer to the screen. Unfortunately, they sometimes lose my photos when they try to enlarge the image or they displace videos when they want to switch from one to another. I have been known to grab my iPhone after I see them trying to manipulate the screen. “Get your sticky fingers off my screen,” I sometimes say out loud or mumble to myself

Recently I found a solution to my dilemma that I want to share with you. It’s the new ultra-sleek 3M Projector Sleeve for the iPhone 4/4S. All you do is slip your iPhone into the case. The case allows you to project pictures and videos everywhere and anywhere. All of a sudden everyone can share together. While it hasn’t been publicly announced, 3M is going to shortly introduce a projector sleeve for the iPhone 5. 3M calls the sleeve “dock and go.” I love that because it is small and thin enough to go with you everywhere. You can slip it in the pocket of your jeans, your purse, or the pocket on your shirt.

The makers of the 3M Projector Sleeve claim that users are getting a kick out sharing their new favorite viral video from YouTube® or streaming the newest films from Netflix® on the wall, on the ceiling or on the side of a tent. Others are creating photo sharing nights with family and friends with special slide shows. The 3M Projector Sleeve allows for 100 minutes of projection time. It also has a rechargeable battery. It’s very simple to use. Just project, share and enjoy. It even works as a back-up charger for your phone with the press of a button.

I plan to use the 3M Projector Sleeve for client presentations, to review photos on my camera roll, and to show off interesting videos I took at concerts, musicals, and plays. I may also start my own human interest channel on YouTube and share the videos with friends when we all gather together.

Amazon has the 3M Projector Sleeve on sale for $165.98 through November. It usually sells for $229.00.

Below is a video demonstration.

At 65

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Where is my rocking chair? Today I am officially a senior citizen. I am in Miami and they used to call this G-D’s waiting room. Now I am one of the oldest on the beach.

In the world of the Internet, there is no such thing as old age. The people I talk to everyday on the net don’t see me in terms of years I have spent on the earth. I can pretend to be anyone I want to be behind the keys of my computer.

But my mirror knows exactly how old I am. There are days when I don’t recognize myself. I see spots and lines I never saw before and I swear my neck is getting lower than the bottom of the mirror each time I look.

I received 130 wishes on Facebook. I also have several texted messages from friends who were driving in their cars. Hope they arrive safely. Hmm.

Whitney and Eliot bought Madonna concert tickets for tonight. We are on a concert roll. Last night she didn’t perform till 11pm for a 8pm show. The crowd almost walked. Let’s see what happens tonight.

I got an iPad mini for my birthday. I have to say I will probably never use the bigger iPad again. It is just like having an iPhone on steroids. Everyone who has a Kindle or Nook knows that the mini size is just perfect. The iPad mini has all of the same functions as the original iPad but it is weighs much less and is easier to carry around. Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal did a complete review of it with every detail
you would ever want to know. Click here.

There were many people who were critical of Steve Jobs that he didn’t go to the mini size immediately. Sometimes you just have to start bigger to get it right. This is perfect. So, if you are thinking of buying an iPad get the mini. The larger sizes might go away forever.

This old lady needs to take another look in the mirror before we go out to celebrate the big 65. Boy do I have guts!

How to Psych Out the Money People

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I get so frustrated every week when I watch the small business owners ask the Sharks for money. For those of you who don’t know anything about Shark Tank, it is a weekly ABC reality TV show where entrepreneurs pitch wealthy business executives for investment money. Many of the products are tech oriented, or have some sort of a tech component. The series is produced by Mark Burnett (Survivor) and the panel consists of Robert Herjavec, Kevin O’Leary, Barbara Corcoran , Daymond John, Mark Cuban, and Lori Greiner.

A lot of people question whether a TV reality series is real. I think if you watch enough TV, and you employ your common sense, you can filter fact from fiction. After you have watched several weeks of this show, you start to understand what the Sharks want to hear about and how to get their money. Yet, week after week, I watch the small business people make the same mistakes. I have witnessed this in real life too. There is no secret what angel investors, investment groups, venture capitalists, and other money people want. They want to know at the end of the day that their investments are paying off.

Don’t give them your hardship stories, your challenges, your misfortunes, your woes, your struggles, and your yo-yo life. They do not want to hear it. Yes, they will be sympathetic, but at the end of the day, they will give you nothing.

Even in the real world, we help clients and would-be clients to raise money, and during their pitches they turn into whiney children who cry that the bullies are beating them up. There have been countless times when we rehearsed a pitch with a suitor only to go into a meeting and have them switch everything around. All of their insecurities and warts come flowing out all at once. I could tell by their body language that they weren’t going to get a thing other than a kick in the pants and a shove out the door.

These are just a few things investors want to hear about:

1. You work the business 24/7. You don’t have another job. Your entire focus is on the project.

2. You’ve already had some proven indicator that the public wants what you’re selling. The sales have to be significant and recent. If they see a gap in orders, you are history.

3. When you ask for money, don’t be a pig. Investors hate that. They will turn you down immediately.

4. If you are offering a percentage of your business in return for the money, don’t evaluate your company too high. Better to be conservative.

5. Be prepared that most investors want a significant percentage of your business for the money. They all have their calculators out. If you offer them a small percentage and ask for big money, they will tell you to leave the room immediately.

6. Only mommy and daddy will not want anything in return for the money you’re requesting. Grow up. Your idea is not genius, and it’s going to take a lot of work to make it happen.

7. You’d better be able to describe what your business is in two or three sentences. If you go around in circles, you’re a goner.

8. Know your competition like the freckles on your face. If you can’t explain why you are better and why you can beat them out, you are discounted immediately.

9. Be passionate about your business. Investors want to know that you live to be in business — not the other way around.

10. Do not indicate that you have been working the business you are pitching for years. Anything over two years smells like dead fish. You need to present exciting, new material.

There are probably a few other points to consider, but I want to point out that if you are not confident in what you are doing, you will not be getting any money. In the November 23rd issue of Entertainment Weekly, there is a two-page spread on Shark Tank. You might learn something from the article, but the heart and soul of your pitch for money is written in this blog post. If you don’t understand what you have to do, call me. I have watched the best of the best and the worst of the worst. I can give you powerful pointers.

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Is There an App for my Heartburn?

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Did you see the story in the New York Times this morning about how difficult it is for software app developers to make a living?

When I read this story I just wanted to weep. The technology business moves so fast that one day you’re a hero, the next day you’re just another average nobody. You go from the highest of the high, to the lowest of low.

It is sort of like the entertainment business. I am fascinated by people who have such a passion for the arts that they are willing to starve their entire lives for the one chance of making it big. The same thing happens in the app business. Everyone who felt that they had the million dollar idea left their day jobs, cashed in their investments to float them for awhile, and begged others to chip in as well.

Before I go any further, I am not saying this is the scenario for every developer, but it certainly is for the majority of the 600,000 apps that are available today. Most of the app creators started out with an idea, immediately developed it and never really researched the market potential. They also have no money for marketing, so it just resides in the app store with little to no exposure.

The part that hurts the most is that developing apps today has become the so-called excuse for not doing something more substantial or more productive. I can’t begin to tell you how many people I meet at cocktail parties or other events who tell me they are busy developing an app, when I know they are basically using that line instead of saying they are out of work. I know too many friends who are still supporting their adult children because they supposedly got stung by the entrepreneur bug and want to develop an app. That really is a euphemism for “I am taking some time off from the real working world to screw around.”

I don’t know how it happens, but I often get asked to review the app concept by the grandparents, parents, friends or lovers. More times than not, the idea person can’t even articulate what the app is all about. They talk in circles and never get to the point. Then when you ask to see the business plan, they look at you like you’re asking them to recite the Gettysburg address. They don’t want to bother putting a document together because the “smart” investors will recognize their genius and just hand over the money.

I stopped taking meetings because I found out that I was putting in more time than the developer. I am not an authority on the true merits of an app, but I can spot a “slacker” from miles away. I really want to urge others who want to develop an app to do it at night or on weekends, the returns are just not there.

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What’s for Dinner?

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When I was living at home with my parents, I would call my mother from work every day and ask her what was for dinner? She loved me asking and I liked thinking about what we were going to eat that night. Fast forward 45-plus years and I would love if there was someone I could call to ask the same question. Eliot would love that too. We both want a person to cook for us. More importantly, we want a person who thinks for us. We are tired of looking at menus and making food decisions.

We want a mommy. I think I found a solution again at Pepcom, the tech exhibit for press last Thursday night. I met up with the executives at Cozi Dinner Decider, a new meal-planning app that delivers personalized dinner plans to you each week featuring recipes for the foods you like and instructs you how to cook them with the kitchen tools you already own.

The meal planning is designed by catering experts (ex- Microsoft and Amazon executives) who want to offer Americans recipe recommendations based on their personalized tastes. So, I downloaded the app, picked the food we prefer and what pots and pans we own. Eliot had to answer those questions because I haven’t looked in our kitchen closets for ages, as most of you know. Every week now, Dinner Decider is going to generate a dinner plan for us with five weekday recipes. They are also going to add in two extras in case we don’t like one or two of the dinners.

I can’t say for sure if Eliot and I will cook a few nights a week, but this is a great option for empty nesters who want to simplify their lives. We are all for that. You can also control your budgets better and that is something we are all interested in.

I was told that 99 percent of families want to cook dinner at home more often, but deciding what to have is a huge burden. Thirty-four percent said deciding what to cook is their least favorite household chore.

Two customized Cozi Dinner Decider meal plans are available for free, and users can subscribe to get weekly dinner plans and continual access to their recipe preferences. Dinner Decider subscriptions are available as an in-app purchase, at $14.99 for three months or at a low, introductory price of $29.99 for one year (40 percent off the regular annual price).

You Decide On Decide

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Admit it. As we get older, we become more and more frugal. If you are willing to admit it, boy do I have a website for you.

It’s a new concept, kind of Consumer Reports on steroids. I found it the other night when I was at Pepcom, a press tech meetup. Decide.com is a website that saves you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars per year just by letting you know if the price on something you want to buy will go up, stay flat, or go down. The site will also tell you the best time to buy the product and if they are wrong, they will pay you the difference.

When Shauna Causey, vice president of decide.com, first spelled out the full range of shopping features that Decide offers, I thought how does this business model make sense. Then when she showed me how the concept worked, it all made a lot of sense. Everyone is charged anywhere from $3-5 a month, depending on the type of membership, and you get to find out if you should buy something immediately or wait.

The decisions are all scientifically based on proven statistics and data that predict price drops or increases so that you get the best deal while shopping. Decide is so confident in their approach that if a price drops after they told you to buy it; they’ll send you a check in the mail with the difference. Now that is a Wow Now.

You can either browse through their website until you find the product that you want, or use your iPhone to search for Decide’s official opinion. They tell you if that specific store or website is offering the best price available for the gadget. This is perfect for the on-the-go impulse buyer who really needs to think before he or she buys.

This is how it works.

1-Buy and send confirmation email
2-Send your confirmation email to guarantee@decide.com
3-Decide tracks the price for 14 days. They do the work for you.
4-They pay you the difference if they are wrong.

Shauna added, “Decide is all about leveraging data and technology to help shoppers. Decide uses a patent-pending machine learning and text mining algorithms on billions of price points across millions of products, blog posts, and articles on the web to enable shoppers to make the best buying decision possible”
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Decide advises you to buy or wait based on our proprietary price and model predictions. “Our price predictions are right 77% of the time, and when they are we save you $101 per product on average.”

Here is a message from Decide’s CEO

Hello,
We started Decide.com with one goal in mind: You. When you shop with us your experience is completely unbiased and one hundred percent objective. We are not influenced by advertisers and retailers and do not accept payment for highlighting their products. As we decided to take the next step as a business, we had a tough decision to make — either allow advertisers on our site (which would make them our customers and we lose our objectivity) or roll out a Decide membership and charge for valuable features.

After some soul searching, the choice became obvious — go all-in and continue serving you. We continue to be your trusted, unbiased advisor. We now offer a Decide membership. Members will have access to our data-driven price predictions and price guarantees and save hundreds of dollars annually.

We hope you will join us.

I could not be more excited about our mission to level the playing field for you and help you feel more confident in your shopping decisions. Thank you for your support.

Mike Fridgen
CEO, Decide.com

Plants That Can Talk

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I always wanted a plant to talk to me. “Hey, I am thirsty. Fill me up,” or “Stop, I had enough.” Just like pets, plants are so dependant on their owners. It’s really scary when you think about it. They stand there without a sound just waiting for you to take care of them. Some people talk to their plants because they feel positive vibes will make them healthier and stronger. Wouldn’t it be nice if these plants could say “thank you” every once in a while?

Tonight I met plants that can definitely talk to you through a new technology called Koubachi, a wi-fi sensor that gives you detailed care instructions on everything your plant needs: water, fertilizer, humidity, temperature and light! Koubachi also helps you identifiy your plant, get information about growth form, vegetation cycle, blossom time, details of the leaf morphology, and much more.

Koubachi works with both indoor and outdoor plants.

The info is delivered to you on your iPhone app or on the Koubachi website. Notifications, and alarms are directly sent through iPhone push-notifications or by e-mail. All your data, plants and settings are fully synchronized to the Koubachi Cloud so all devices are constantly being updated.

The Koubachi wi-fi sensor knows exactly what your plants can tolerate and alarms you immediately when conditions are dangerous, for example, if the temperature is too low when ventilating in winter. Koubachi always provides you with care advice about water, mist and fertilizer.

No more second guessing. All of a sudden your plants have a voice. Now let’s see who is in control?

Make Sure You Get the December Issue of Esquire

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The December issue of Esquire hits the newsstands on November 20th (just happens to be my 65th birthday), and if you buy the print edition you will have the most “interactive experience ever.” This issue will give you a basic knowledge of how the interactive digital world is going to function in the future. You will learn how to scan photos and articles and to share them with others right from your smartphone. You will also have the opportunity to shop just by taking a picture of something you want on the pages of Esquire. Snap and shop. It’s a whole new world.

Esquire only has this available on iPhone right now but promises to bring this feature to Android shortly. David Granger, Editor in Chief of Esquire, has been working on this new technology for a year with Netpage, an app company that is planning to bring this function to other magazines just as soon as they are comfortable with the way Esquire is performing. Until you get masses using any technology, developers are never sure of bumps in the road.

All you have to do is download the Netpage app and then you will be able to scan every photo, ad, or article in the print edition. These same functions already exist on the iPad version of Esquire as they do for many other magazines. However, this is brand new for smartphones and supposedly more user friendly then barcodes and watermarks. The Netpage app turns the Esquire scans into PDFs that offer multimedia features. For example, Esquire readers will be able to target a specific object — like a watch, shirt, or shoes — take a photo with the Netpage app, and then share it via email, SMS, Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. In some cases, you will be able to click on a photo and make a purchase right on the spot.


This Netpage app will be available for every issue of Esquire going forward. Esquire circulation is approximately 700,000. I can’t wait for the Hearst Corporation to expand this functionality to their other publications and for Netpage to secure other publishing houses and newspapers as well. Even though I do most of my reading online, I still have print subs to a number of my favorite magazines and weekly newspapers. Everytime I read an article that I want to share with friends, I rip out the page. By the end of the day, I am walking around with an inch or two of tear sheets that are unwieldy to lug around. I can’t wait to be truly paper free.