Monthly Archives: April 2015

FDA Approves the Double-Chin Eliminator

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Image: ABC

Did you get the alert? I did. I guess my girlfriend Sara is tired of looking at my chicken neck. I certainly am. The minute she heard that the FDA approved the Double-Chin Eliminator Injection, she emailed several of us to say we have a good chance of taking years off of our faces.

This isn’t exactly technology for a DigiDame blog but it certainly qualifies as an innovation. There are millions of women who want to get rid of their double chins without having to opt for elective surgery.

The drug used is called Kybella. It’s an injectable substance that dissolves fat under the chin. It will be available in June. 

Click here to watch the video demonstration of a the procedure. 

 

A Hero’s Connection To Hollywood 

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Capt. Jerry Yellin, from Fairfield, Iowa.

Humility, patriotism, humanity and clarity. Hopefully, we can all operate like this at 91.


Jerry Yellin flew the final combat mission in World War II. It is the 70th anniversary of that milestone. Watch the video to hear how life marches on no matter who you are. All I can say is, “You never know how life is going to turn out.”


Once again, it’s wonderful to live in a world of digital capabilities in order to share a video like this. Amen! 



Social Media Networks For Nepal

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   Our visit to Nepal a few years ago. Photos by Eliot Hess.  

There are many people who question the impact of social media on today’s society. Some people feel it’s done more harm than good.

I’m not one of those people. I’ve seen how social media has helped the lonely become a part of a community, helped others build new relationships, re-established old ones, and come to the aid of millions in time of need. 

Google and Facebook have taken major roles in helping people across the world connect after the tragedy from the Nepal earthquake. Both are offering services that connect family and friends in the United States with the people of Nepal.

Facebook has introduced the Safety Check, a feature that allows Americans to find out  If their loved ones are okay.  All the survivors have to do is report in. Google resurfaced its Person Finder to help locate missing family and friends. Their Internet tools work faster than traditional methods (waiting for embassies to report who survived).  


It’s comforting to know that the big social networking companies have taken an active role in using their core competencies to benefit others. It’s always so rewarding to watch successful companies giveback and show us how their skill sets make all the difference in the world.  

           

   

Happy Anniversary YouTube

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Ten years ago this week, the first video was uploaded to YouTube. Company co-founder Jawed Karim, posted his trip to the zoo. Owned by Google, YouTube has 1 billion users uploading 300 hours of video a minute


Photos from the reading of David Steven Simon’s new play, Grave Doubts, at Ripley-Grier Studios.
   

         



Inside Your Singing Head 

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I can’t carry a tune, but I really admire folks who can belt out a song. I just love watching my favorite performers sing the songs I adore. I become mesmerized and almost go into a trance.

I have now taken that to a whole new level. There’s a new MRI technique that allows us to watch more than 100 muscles in our face and neck move to create a wide range of sounds. I can’t stop watching the video demonstration.

It was developed by Professor Aaron Johnson of the University of Illinois and his team from the Bioimaging Science and Technology Group at the Beckman Institute. The MRI records at 100 frame per second, 10 times faster than what conventional MRI can accomplish. 

Read more about it on Engadget. Click here. 

Shady Copy

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One of the most popular entertainment publications today has 600,000 readers and costs practically nothing to publish. Say hello to “The Shade Room.” It is entirely published on Instagram by aggregating celebrity videos and photos. Very little staff is needed. 

It was started by a 24-year old gal who only goes by the name Angie. Her team consists of a few writers and a brand manager. Instead using a ton of copy in what used to be called a story, The Shade Room is a screen shot with a short caption. Check out the photos on this post to see what that looks like.

The Shade Room gets all of its information from combing social media sites and researching key words. In the digital age, public figures have such big egos that they are  usually the first post good or bad information about themselves. 

You can tsk, tsk all you want. The Shade Room is flourishing when other entertainment publications are going out of business. We are living in times when social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) is the place where younger people go to for their news. 

Word has it that many more serious publications are going to start publishing news on social media platforms just so they can reach new audiences. The New York Times is one of those publications that sees merit in it. An inside source told me that if the Times posts a news breaking story on Twitter, it will be accompanied by a link that will lead the reader back to the full newspaper. 

You can’t stop progress, all the lack of it. Click here to get a fuller story in the New York Times.

  

Lifelong Learning 

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Image: famous inventors.org 

This blog post is dedicated to everyone who is worried about dementia. There is something you can do about it.

I was so surprised to learn recently that more older adults are becoming inventors. In a article last week in the New York Times, John Calvert, executive director of the United Inventors Association, explained that older people have more time on their hands and can better focus on a projects. 

It was so nice to read something positive about our age group. Dr. Gary Small, professor of psychiatry and director of the UCLA Longevity Center, said,  “Everyone thinks that aging is a negative process. But that’s not necessarily the case. An aging brain can see patterns better.” That’s important news for those who like to invent and are over 50 years old.

Small points out that mental stimulation strengthens the brain, “Lifelong learning also lowers the risk for dementia. He advises scheduling creative time or trying new things. “People who are great inventors observe the world and take it in,” he said.


Moleskine Goes Digital 

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 Image: New York Times

I always wondered why so many folks enjoy taking notes in small black Moleskine notebooks. It doesn’t matter how digitally oriented they are, they still like to write down things the old fashion way. Some of my friends even have multiple books they have used stored on shelves in their home office. They would never think of throwing them away.

There is something about a small personal  notebook with an elastic band that makes it so special. Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh and Ernest Hemingway wrote and sketched in small black notebooks according to Arrigo Berni, chief executive of Moleskine SpA, the Milan-based company that now makes Moleskine notebooks.

Today, the Moleskine notebooks feature many digital attributes. The company has partnership with  Adobe, FiftyThree, Evernote and Livescribe. That means you can upload content from Moleskine notebooks to smartphones and tablets just by using various software programs. 

Read more about Moleskine in the New York Times. Click here.