Yearly Archives: 2012

Be Prepared For The Next Weather Emergency

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Ever since Sandy hit last Monday, I have been thinking about what our home should be equipped with in case of another emergency. I know that it is difficult to think about but we now know we have to take precautions. I combed lots of websites and publications to find the right answers and then I stumbled on exactly what I was looking for in a story in Mashable, a leading tech blog. I wanted to share the products they recommended.

Gas-Powered Space Heater, no electricity,required.

Jump starts your car battery back to life.

Loksak makes an airtight, waterproof bag in a variety of sizes to protect value gadgets.

The Camelbak’s All Clear water bottle uses solar power to purify your drinking water.

This portable solar charger can power your cell phone twice.

Mophie’s iPhone case keeps your phone charged up to 36 hours longer.

This external battery charger from Energizer can charge multiple devices at once and can add approximately six hours of laptop use.

Check out this solar power radio with a backup hand-crank and a flashlight.

Hands free headlamps have become very popular because you can see in the dark and others can now see you.

When There Are No Words To Express Our Feelings–A Photo Essay By Eliot Hess

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Pump It Up

What are we being told?

The UN Can’t Fix Everything

NYU Langone

Help is on its way

Sign Language

Be Careful With Those Sissors

Freedom Is Another Word For Nothing Left To Lose

The Dividing Line

Charge Club

Insightful Psychic Elana, Not

Bounty To The Rescue

Two Different Worlds On The Island Of Manhattan

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You know something is wrong when no one is on line at the original Shake Shack in Madison Square Park

Eliot took to the streets of Manhattan today walking downtown from 62nd and Second to 21st and Broadway and then back again. He went to check on our office at 928 Broadway. Of course, Eliot doesn’t leave home without his trigger finger and his super duper D7000 Nikon. He took lots of pictures but came back home frustrated by what he saw.

People below 39th Street were on the streets looking for shelter and a warm meal and just a few blocks higher, women who lunch along with their husbands who love having trophy wives were shopping for yet another handbag at thousands of dollars a pop. Listen, we like blowing dough as much as the next person, but how about a little sensitivity during this miserable helpless time? All you have to do is turn on the TV to see fellow New Yorkers totally down and out. People are literally living on the streets or next to their burned out homes waiting for the Red Cross to bring their next meal. It is so terribly heartbreaking.

The pictures you see on this post are just a few of what Eliot snapped today.

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The Haves And The Have-Nots

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Forget The Coffee, Give Me The WiFi

I received an email from my friend Leslie Alter very early this morning, 5:47am to be exact. I read it about 6:30am. It woke me up to a whole new way of thinking about Hurricane Sandy.

Leslie said,

“I think I have post traumatic shock stress something or other… too much for my head to handle… the nightmares keep coming but at least we’re okay… and glad you are okay!… it’s not just twitter for instant news… it’s Facebook too…. I think my sister who hasn’t had power for several days is better off not seeing the devastation…. looks like a war zone in places.”

I felt the same way, but she expressed it so well. I feel like everyone in the Northeast of the United States is living a nightmare. We are so lucky that we have electricity. We have a steady stream of visitors who want to use our facilities to clean up, take showers, charge their electronics, warm up, exchange stories, and do some of their work.

Many of the people who have come by have not had much communication with the outside world, so they know little about Breezy Point, Queens, Lower Manhattan, Long Beach, LI, and the Jersey Shore. They only know that their own little world doesn’t have electricity and water. Leslie is right, maybe they are better off. Watching all the devastation on TV makes me wonder how much bad news can one person take?

Governor’s Cuomo and Christie claim NY area folks are tough. The truth is that all Americans are tough if they know there is hope. Fortunately, this time there is a lot of hope even though it seems far away from now. My friend Ben was hit twice. A tree fell right through his cathedral ceiling in NJ. He was sitting in his dark house just inches away. He also recently learned that his Jersey Shore house was swept away. Friends from Long Beach, LI, watched helplessly as their house filled with water and collapsed. My cousin’s entire basement in Oceanside, LI, is filled with water which seeped into the first floor of his house. He found his speedboat, which was stored for the winter in a boatyard, five blocks from where it was tied up. My nephew in the Financial District, climbs up and down 14 flights of stairs several times a day to walk his dog. Another friend from Westchester, is stuck in his house until he gets help removing the tree and debris in front of his front door and driveway.

Everyone has a story! The interesting thing is that digital equipment has become the common denominator. I haven’t had a conversation where someone hasn’t underscored the status of their smartphone, tablet or computer. We have reached a time in the world that people can cope much better if they are connected.

Today, everyone finds a way to charge and connect. A downtown Starbucks was closed, but their wifi was still being accessed by hundreds who sat just outside the front door.

Check out the photos below taken by my friends Ruth and Howard Greenberg in a mall in Bergen County, NJ.

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Hurricane Sandy Tweets

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Eliot and I were glued to the TV set last night. As long as we had electricity, we wanted to watch every bit of the news. You can imagine our surprise when all of a sudden we get an email from our daughter Whitney who informed us that patients from NYU’s Langone Medical Center were being evacuated because of a power failure. I could hardly believe my eyes. How did she know that? We were watching every TV channel. We didn’t hear a word about it.

Twitter had the news before any TV news station. Whitney is a big twitter user and monitors posts all the time. Twitter had the info on Langone Medical Center at least a half hour before it was reported on the air. The same thing about Breezy Point. Twenty-four hours later, we all now know the devistating news.

Once again, I wanted all of you to experience how people use Twitter to express themselves and deliver the news first.

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
10/29/12, 3:16 PM
Direct view of crane from apartment window. Crane was never properly secured, blowing in the breeze. fb.me/1Ybwhz6bk

Whitney Hess (@whitneyhess)
10/29/12, 10:32 PM
Praying for the lives of the babies in the PICU and NICU being carried down 9 flights of stairs at NYU Tisch Hospital. Generator failed

The Economist (@TheEconomist)
10/30/12, 5:50 AM
Is Hurricane Sandy capable of altering the American election result? econ.st/SqWZGw

CNNMoney.com (@CNNMoney)
10/30/12, 6:01 AM
Wall Street will remain closed for a second straight trading day as Northeast deals with impact of Hurricane Sandy. cnnmon.ie/Ph2hDP

Nicholas Sparks (@SparksNicholas)
10/30/12, 7:07 AM
Hurricane Sandy … because God is tired of political ads too.

Will Farrell (@YourLastLaugh)
10/30/12, 7:22 AM
What if gangnam style is actually just a giant rain dance and we brought hurricane Sandy on ourselves?

1010 WINS (@1010WINSNewYork)
10/30/12, 7:39 AM
1010 WINS is off of AM radio; We are now simulcasting on 92.3 NOW-FM.

Cory Booker (@CoryBooker)
10/30/12, 8:12 AM
Thank you RT @bsesser: A good list of organizations that need donations/volunteers in the wake of Sandy – bit.ly/PErtp5

The New York Times (@nytimes)
10/30/12, 8:18 AM
A six-alarm fire has engulfed several blocks in the Rockaways, 3 dead elsewhere in NYC nyti.ms/SrmyXU

Occupy Wall Street (@OccupyWallStNYC)
10/30/12, 8:22 AM
We send our deepest condolences to 83 people killed by hurricane Sandy: 15 in US, 1 in Canada, and 67 in the Caribbean. Rest in Peace.

POLITICO (@politico)
10/30/12, 8:38 AM
Chris Christie heaps praise on Obama for his handling of Hurricane Sandy: politi.co/S9OID9

Amazon (@amazon)
10/30/12, 9:05 AM
If you’d like to help the victims of #HurricaneSandy, you can donate to the @RedCross through Amazon.com: amzn.to/RlgUSV

Popular Science (@PopSci)
10/30/12, 9:07 AM
5 surprising things that Sandy teaches us about climate change. That’s right. pops.ci/RqDX23

Reuters Top News (@Reuters)
10/30/12, 9:18 AM
Hurricane Sandy losses worse than Irene: disaster forecasters reut.rs/WXO2a6

Dr. Mehmet Oz (@DrOz)
10/30/12, 9:27 AM
Great info for all those affected. RT @TIME: Health and Safety tips for looking after yourself during Sandy ti.me/S9B2YI

Deepak Chopra (@DeepakChopra)
10/30/12, 9:34 AM
Hurricane Sandy’s fury has been crippling & devastating & now mercifully abating. How many wonder as I do that Mother Nature feels violated

Donna D. (@MildlyAmused)
10/30/12 11:46 AM
Before and After photos of Funtown Pier. twitpic.com/b8t60w via @bannerite

NYC ARECS (@nycarecs)
10/30/12 12:23 PM
Stunning photo from last night, which bridge would you take? Neither! #sandy #nyc #dot pic.twitter.com/xrfl455v

Weed Dude (@weeddude)
10/30/12 1:27 PM
Photo: Underground parking garage flooded almost to the ceiling at 20 Jay St in #Brooklyn instagr.am/p/RaiZ7GGMoV/ (@NYCAviation) #Sandy

Yahoo! News (@YahooNews)
10/30/12, 2:35 PM
A New Jersey woman gave birth to a baby boy in a hospital truck during ‘Superstorm’ Sandy: yhoo.it/Rny5TR

TACO BELL (@TacoBell)
10/30/12, 2:49 PM
For those of you impacted by #HurricaneSandy, don’t worry! You will get #FreeDoritosTacos at a later date. bit.ly/TSkiFg

Carmelo Anthony (@carmeloanthony)
10/30/12, 3:06 PM
Hope everyone is staying safe after Hurricane Sandy.

New York Post (@NewYorkPost)
10/30/12, 3:08 PM
Beachfront home of Ronald Lauder was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy LIVEUPDATES nyp.st/Q41B5V

Forbes (@Forbes)
10/30/12, 3:29 PM
With more than 16,000 flights canceled, Hurricane Sandy deals a body blow to air travel. bit.ly/SssNKY

Andrew Cove (@aac)
10/29/12 4:21 PM
Wait, they’re closing the bridges and tunnels? Finally a night worth going out to clubs in NYC!

If you didn’t get the joke written out in the last tweet here, call me. I will explain.

Living With Sandy

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I am not even sure if this Digidame will get posted. It’s 8:53pm and we were just notified that they are shutting off the power in the elevators of our coop on 62nd and Second, NYC. They expect the power to blow any minute.

The wind outside is howling and our windows are shaking. Thank goodness for emails, tweets and texts. Family and friends are sending each other updates with pictures so everyone is totally aware of conditions throughout the Hurricane Sandy area.

One of the biggest challenges is a partially broken crane on top of an 80 story building on 57th and 7th. Everyone in the area has been evacuated or asked to move to lower floors in nearby buildings. Some debris has already fallen from the crane to the streets below. Luckily, no one was hurt.

The following pictures will show you taped windows, trees down, floods and 70 mile an hour winds. All photos from F&F. Notice the Fifth Avenue Apple Store with sandbags surrounding it and the view from the New York Times that shows the heavy winds.

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My Idea For The Yacht That Jobs Built

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We all knew it was coming, but we are never really prepared to see the creation of something new from a person no longer with us, especially if that individual is Steve Jobs. His new 260 foot super-yacht is nothing less than a vision of beauty, but the first pictures of it, in my opinion, still look like a cold memorial for a helpless soul who was struck down at the height of his greatness. Call me “morbid,” but that is just how I feel about it. Watch the video that shows the unveiling of the vessel Jobs named Venus.

Jobs commissioned its construction in 2007. He worked on it with French product designer Philippe Starck. We all know Starck as the minimalist designer of The Delano Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, the Paramount and Hudson Hotels in New York, the Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles and the Clift hotel in San Francisco. Together they designed a luxury motor yacht to look like a floating Apple store. The vessel is presently docked where it was built, in a shipyard in Aalsmeer, the Netherlands, just south of Amsterdam.

Just as you guessed, the yacht has all of the designs that made Apple products so distinguishable. It is sleek and sexy. Look at the crisp white lines, polished metal and tons of glass. Starck recently told the press that he is very proud of Venus. “It reflected Jobs’ expectation and vision.” The super-yacht has a long white hull with a row of circular portholes just above the water line and two glass-walled cabins on the top deck, one on top of the other. The cabin windows are large panes, almost floor to ceiling,and the main living area has windows 40 feet long and 10 feet high glass. windows.

Jobs was very concerned about the completion of the yacht. He didn’t want to leave his widow the task of finishing it. It is interesting to note that most of his life Jobs lived without the frills of a rich person. He got more pleasure from the act of creating rather than the creation itself. That is why I think the Venus should be gifted as an educational facility for the tech community. You’ve heard of a “semester at sea?” The Venus could be a floating school that offers seminars, tech instructional classes, research, and mentoring in every phase of entrepreneurism and creativity.

I don’t want to see the Venus listed on Vacations-To-Go or used for private events when the Jobs family and friends are not using it. I want to see the Venus alive every day of the year giving life to some form of innovation that will continue to speak volumes of what Jobs was all about. You can read more about the Venus in Jobs’ biography written by Walter Isaacson.

Pinterest, The Digital Corkboard

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There is nothing like the threat of a major storm to make me think about how organized we are. I like the idea that at a moment’s notice we could grab our valuables and make a run for it. The older we get, the more we want to be in control.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t want to stop accumulating things. I just want them filed in an organized fashion so I have easy access. That is why I wanted to tell you all about the website Pinterest. It is a digital corkboard that allows you to search all kinds of categories and then “pin” interesting pictures on different boards. Pinterest has dozens of categories to search through. You can look up DIY crafts, must read books, travel ideas, gardening ideas, and several other subjects. It is a great way to expand your hobbies and find new and interesting things. This website has turned heads all over the world, quickly gaining millions of members and growing larger every day.

You can sign up for the website and log in using your Facebook or Twitter account, or with an email account. Once you log in, you can personalize your boards using whatever topics or titles you like. Some of my boards include `Sayings,’ ‘Fitness’, ‘My Style,’ and ‘Hair and Makeup.’ Your profile button will be located at the top right corner of the Pinterest website, where you can view your boards and pins, look up friends and their boards, and invite friends to join the website with you.

You can add pins to the corkboard by either uploading a picture, or by installing the ‘Pin It’ button, which is found under the toolbar. The Pinterest website gives you detailed instructions on how to install this button under their ‘Goodies’ tab on the homepage. Installing the button allows you to browse the internet freely. When you come across a picture that you like and want to add it to one of your own boards, simply hit the “Pin It” button, which will now be located at the top of the Pinterest webpage in a big red box. Using the dropdown box that will automatically appear, choose which board the pin will belong to, hit Pin, and you’re done.

One of the reasons Pinterest is so famous, is because it gives you the ability to collect and store files and still be paperless. Enjoy, your files are just a click away!

A Hurricane In The Digitial Age

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I just heard on the news that many of us spend 15 years of our life watching TV. I am a TV junkie. I probably have spent many more years in front of the boob tube than that. Yes, yes, I know that I shouldn’t admit it. Not very scholarly of me. In the last eight years, not only do I watch a lot of TV, but I also have my laptop on my coffee table, my iPhone right next to me, and my iPad next to my iPhone. I like to think that this corner of my living room is my command center. I do my best thinking here and this is the spot where I de-stress. There is nothing like getting my work life in order to make myself feel totally liberated.

The world is outside my window. Nothing can touch me in here. That will all be tested in a few days from now when Sandy, appropriately being called Frankenstorm, hits the New York area. All of the TV news stations, WINS radio and now YouTube are reporting that Sandy might be a lulu of a storm, something the east coast has never seen before. At breakfast this morning, at our neigborhood diner, Silver Star, I told Eliot that if we did get rained in, that I could use the few days to catch up on emails and other Internet research that I was behind on. Then he gave me the bad news that never occurred to me. If we lose electricity, all of my communications gear will be useless, no TV, no radio, no Internet.

I felt myself go into panic mode. After breakfast we shopped for batteries and food for the next few days. I downloaded a lot of music, podcasts and audio books that I have been wanting to listen to. Thanks goodness I have multiple iPods so hopefully that will get me through a few days. Then there is always traditional books and printed magazines. If I light some candles, it will be like the good old days of the late 80s. Remember when we were able to concentrate on one thing at a time without beeps, clicks, bells and buzzers going off all the time? I could use some down time from all the noise but I don’t know if I am ready to live without Twitter and Facebook for a few days.

Tout This

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Have you touted yet? If you haven’t touted, you have to try it. Here is a chance to capture your 15 seconds of fame. There is a new app called “Tout” that allows you to record and share 15 seconds of video via email, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. You don’t have to upload to YouTube. Just record and send.

Click here to see my first Tout videos

You can send a quick video message to the grandkids, share a quick video of yourself on your next trip or record your grandson’s first homerun.All videos can be saved on any device and shared with family and friends. You can also view other members’ videos, including celebrities and interviews. If it is posted, you can view it.

I am told this is all the rage in Hollywood and in the music industry. Everyone is video recording each other and sending video messages that they don’t want to say in person, like “Go Tout Yourself.”