Monthly Archives: July 2014

Breakthrough Miami

Posted on by
Reply


Eliot and I were invited earlier this week to visit and learn more about Breakthrough Miami, a six-week Summer Institute and Saturday school-year program. It is an eight-year program, starting with middle-grade students from economically disadvantage backgrounds. The main purpose is to promote a love of learning and commitment to the community.

The reason why Elissa Vanaver, CEO, of Breakthrough Miami, asked us to visit one of the many campuses where the program is being held (Ransom Everglades School) was to discuss the possibly of helping to promote the program in traditional publications and through social media. We both agree that direct campaigns via email is far more effective than social media, but that is another discussion.

I’m writing about this program today because I want to urge people in our age group to get involved in programs like this or any community opportunity where you can give back. Too many of my friends have narrowed their scope of the universe and basically focus on the same list of things to do each day. It bothers me that they are a lot smarter than I am yet they don’t explore new opportunities.

It’s as if someone had told us, as we entered our 60s, that we had done enough and to just spend the rest of our days on a golf course or in front of the TV. I am no different. I really have to push myself to take on a new challenges.

I am grateful to Alissa for inviting us to see what she is working on. I met her at our July 4th party. She is the wife of the photo editor at the Miami Herald.

I already told you how we met him. Alissa came to this event armed with brochures and business cards so that she could get the word out about Breakthrough Miami.

Alissa used to be managing editor of the Miami Herald and now is totally devoted to changing lives and creating leaders. Wow, what a wonderful second career.

20140710-214510-78310562.jpg
Lauren Kellner, site director and CEO Alissa Vanaver.

20140710-214827-78507100.jpg

20140710-215332-78812737.jpg

20140710-215330-78810064.jpg

Shark Tank’s Daymond John Looking For Innovative Mobile Devices

Posted on by
Reply

20140710-001558-958339.jpg

20140710-001558-958156.jpg
Daymond John and his Bluetooth keyboard.

I would ordinarily say that Daymond John, founder of the FUBU clothing line, and one of the original investors on Shark Tank, was out of his mind for jumping into the mobile device business. However, smart is always smart.

I just reviewed some of the products his new company, called Moguls Mobile, is planning to introduce. They are quite unique compared to the so-called competition.

The first one I was impressed with was a Bluetooth keyboard for the iPhone. It hooks on the iPhone with magnets called Magneti. I predict that this keyboard is going to be huge. It just makes sense for typing. It looks like the Blackberry keyboard.

The other device I thought was clever, was a lost and found tag service. I have no idea why someone else didn’t think of this before. It’s a natural. If one of the Moguls Mobile devices get lost, the finder calls the service phone number on the unit. Moguls Mobile sends a courier to pickup the unit and then delivers it to the owner. The finder gets a reward but those details were not spelled out.

In order to offer the most unique mobile products ever, Moguls Mobile is partnering with Edison Nation, a company that solicits ideas from inventors. So now you know where to call with that inventive idea you wanted to pursue

Go for it.

To pitch an idea read Venture Beat here.

Quick, Before I Forget

Posted on by
3

20140708-220339-79419088.jpg

20140708-220339-79419220.jpg

20140708-220339-79419411.jpg
You already know that I love to share information. Some of you may know more about the Exelon Patch than I do, so this blog post is all about reaching out to everyone who never heard of it.

If you Google, Exelon, you will learn that “since 1997, Exelon (rivastigmine tartrate) has been widely used to treat mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease in more than 70 countries. Exelon is the only cholinesterase inhibitor to be also approved to treat both Alzheimer’s disease and dementia associated with Parkinson’s disease (PDD) in Europe and US.”

I never knew a thing about Exelon until last Friday. One of my friends who attended our July 4th party was wearing the patch because he has had a form of dementia for a number of years. He is around 80 years of age. It seems to me that he went from being somewhat confused and irritable to keenly alert and content. His facial expressions became positive and filled with energy and he mingled and conversed with many. It was a stunning turnaround. His wife/caregiver is quite happy with the results and feels she has been given a reprieve.

If you research Exelon, you will see the typical warning side effects. With any drug, there are trade offs. Pick your poison.

One of the main reasons why I devoted this post to Exelon is because many of my friends fear getting dementia. Here is hope that we can ward it off for many years. This is a prescription patch. Please consult your doctor for what is best for you.

Remote Control Fertility

Posted on by
3

20140708-022856-8936685.jpg

20140708-022856-8936570.jpg
Bill and Melinda Gates may not be active in the PC business anymore but they are certainly funding scores of new technology projects that are changing lifestyles everywhere. The one that recently caught my eye is contraceptive implants.

I first heard about this when I attended a tech meetup for investors a while ago and then I read about it again in Engadget, so I thought it was time to share with my readers. We will never be able to take advantage of this, but your grandchildren or their children will be able to use contraceptive implants that are wirelessly controlled.

The Gates Foundation is funding a Massachusetts biotech company, MicroCHIPS, that is working feverishly to develop a wirelessly controlled implant which slowly pumps out drugs. That means that women will be able to control their fertility the way we use a wireless device to change TV stations. Apparently, contraceptive implants have been around even though I never heard of them. Then again, that is not my area of focus these days. (Ha, ha).

The big news from MicroCHIPS is that their implant will only have to be changed every 16 years. Engadget reports, “The current progestogen-releasing implants have to be replaced every three years.” They also can be removed if you want to get pregnant.

Read more about it here.

Photos from Engadget and The Gates Foundation.

Google’s Back Story

Posted on by
Reply


As the years pass-by, my fascination with Google’s co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, grows deeper and deeper. Their search algorithm has changed the world. I must Google things 10 or more times a day.

I even stopped entering names and phone numbers of restaurants, retail stores, doctors, and movie houses into my contact list. I just look them up on Google. I find it easier than maintaining an address book. I am also able to spot pertinent information from time to time that I would not normally see.

In an unusual interview with Page and Brin, Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures, questions them about “What might have been” if they didn’t make certain decisions. What makes this fireside chat so interesting is that Khosla’s company, wanted to buy Google for less then $2 million not long after the company was born.

It is very interesting to examine the chain of events that led up to the Google as we know it today. The interview gives us great insight into how the tech business functions and why certain companies come out on top.

I watched this video several times because I wanted to savor every moment of it. Good life lessons are shared and it makes us wonder what the future has in store for all of us.

My Digital Life

Posted on by
Reply

20140705-215604-78964603.jpg
Bonnie Richer and me. We know each other since the second grade. We don’t know these old broads.

20140705-221333-80013379.jpg
I posted this picture of Franklin Karp and me on Facebook last week. We recently saw each other at a trade show. After knowing each other for decades, it turns out his son and my godson are best friends. We never knew the connection till the kids saw us together on FB.

20140705-225459-82499624.jpg
Bernie Appel, former President of Radio Shack, claims he’s been at every CES too. Not sure if he’s kidding me.

20140705-230237-82957108.jpg
Met this mommy blogger at a CES event and became instantly jealous of her. She wears a Go Pro on her hat wherever she goes. She edits with iMovie.

20140705-231833-83913037.jpg
I bought these chairs on eBay for a price that was lower than a two person dinner at a fancy NYC restaurant. I bet they last forever in my NYC apt. Oh, I forgot to mention, no shipping charges.

20140705-232344-84224650.jpg
The guy all the way over to the right, is a photo editor at The Miami Herald. We met online when I pitched one of Eliot’s photos. He came to our holiday party because he was curious to see the view where the photos were being taken and to meet the photographer. The woman, directly to his left, is his wife, a former managing editor of the Miami Herald.

20140706-005037-3037723.jpg
Hannah Lansky, on the left, with her 87-year old mother from St.Louis, pose with a friend. Below is the salon Hannah owns in Miami called Hannah and Her Scissors. Less then two months ago, my friend Steve showed a few of us the outside of Hannah’s salon which reminded us of the beauty parlor in Steel Magnolias. We were taking pictures of this funky place when all of a sudden, Hannah swings open the door with great authority and asks us exactly what we were doing? After a quick confrontation, we were all invited in to meet this multi-talented lady. Both Hannah and her mom attended our July 4th party.

20140706-005217-3137670.jpg

A Twitter Case Study

Posted on by
Reply

20140704-015936-7176731.jpg
We just got home after seeing Chef, the movie. We loved it. I couldn’t stop thinking of you, the DigiDame reader, when I watched the flick. It’s really a great case study of how Twitter and other social media platforms work.

Sometimes the greatest way to learn something is to see it in action. Twitter is all over that movie showing how it influences, notifies, and informs. People who never used Twitter before should get a complete understanding of its potential value.

I use the word “potential” because posting on Twitter is not a guarantee hit. Twitter is just a distribution service for your message. Let me repeat, if you don’t post an important message, chances are your tweet will go nowhere. Remember, content is king.

The movie is about a chef who cares more about the food he creates, than where he is creating it.

The cast: Jon Favreau, Sofía Vergara, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson
Oliver Platt, Bobby Cannavale,
Dustin Hoffman, and Robert Downey. The real star of the movie is young Emjay Anthony who plays the son of the chef. You’ll see why.

Smarty Pins

Posted on by
2

20140702-234333-85413712.jpg
Photo by Mashable Composite Google.

Google has just introduced a new game that is perfect for our age group. Called Smarty Pins, the game is all about your knowledge of geography. Most of our contemporaries are pretty well versed, even if they haven’t travelled a lot.

I’m not playing this game, because on a speedy quiz like this, I go blank. Even though I have done extensive traveling over the last 12 years, I am sometimes hard pressed to pinpoint exactly where a certain city is located.

That is why we love the gift that my friends Ruth and Howard gave us a few years ago, a framed map of the world. The NY Times/National Geographic map which allows us to mark cities and countries visited with color coded pins. I can stare at the map for hours.

Smarty Pins uses Google Maps for its layout, locations, and zooming in and out features.

So many of you are beating me silly with Words With Friends, that I dare not take on any more challenges. I do, however, expect you to let us know how you like Smarty Pins.

Learn more about Smarty Pins here.

20140703-002515-1515379.jpg

20140703-002543-1543953.jpg

The Happiness Blanket

Posted on by
Reply


I wish American Airlines cared about me the same way British Airways cares about their passengers. British Airways is so anxious to please their clientele that they actually created a Happiness Blanket to measure what they are doing right, and what they are doing wrong.

Re/Code, the tech site, said the airlines uses a EEG headset with a fiber-optic cloth to create a monitor that senses the mental state of each passenger. The blanket changes color depending on the mood of each person — showing red for annoyance and blue for contentment.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the results. Blue was predominant when passengers were eating, drinking, and watching a movie. Red popped up when the ride got a little bumpy or the airline ran out of chocolate chip cookies.

If you think I’m fibbing, watch the above video.