Author Archives: loiswhitmanhess

Oh So, That’s How It Works

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One of the delights in getting older is that everything I eat gets stuck in my teeth. Today I had a Caesar Salad for lunch at the Tate Modern in London. When I went to apply my lipstick after eating, I received a sudden dose of reality. I was truly getting old. My teeth were filled with croutons. It looked like my teeth had the measles.

This has happened before. I spoke to my dentist who had what he thought was a great solution, $12,000 for a set of Veneers. I might have considered that but my teeth are straight. His suggestion seemed too costly for a bunch of crumbs.

I was determined to find another way to deal with the problem. This may not be the greatest solution but I like the idea of using an all-in-one toothbrush and toothpaste device that will allow me to clean my teeth on-the-go.

I found the Ohso toothbrush which is ready for action. The Ohso contains a chamber in the middle to hold toothpaste. All you have to do is turn the bottom of the toothbrush to dispense toothpaste directly onto the brush. The chamber is air tight, so it doesn’t leak. Designed with its own plastic case, the toothbrush is small enough to fit in any purse, backpack, or pocket.

I like the idea of carrying the Ohso toothbrush with me. I’ll keep it the same pouch as my whitening stick. Together, they can keep my teeth white and bright.

The sells on Amazon for $19.95.

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I’m in a Relationship With My Computer

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More and more Americans are becoming just like Joaquin Phoenix in the movie “Her.” They are spending a disproportionate amount of time with their computers or hand held devices. I am one of them. In fact, let me restate, I’m proud to be one of them.

I see nothing wrong with being on the computer for as long as I want to each day. I’m on it for work, play, and information. After taking the Mashable “computer.relationship” test, I realized that I probably like my computer better than I like most people. Yes, except for you, of course.

Think about the following points and let me know where you stand.

1) Do you remember how or when you first became so attached to your computer?

2) Suddenly, your phone knows you better than I do.

3) It’s putting a damper on other relationships.

4) But you don’t need them. Your phone will comfort you.

5) Its warmth will calm you down.

6) Your friends are getting worried.

7) You try to evade the issue, but need to look up a word that describes how you feel.

8) They just don’t get it!

9) Nothing is more panic-inducing than realizing you left your phone at home.

10) Your hand can’t even function properly at this point without it.

11) Losing your phone is as devastating as losing a loved one.

12) You consider your phone a lifeline and you couldn’t survive without it.

13) Then you wake up, grab your phone and start all over again.

Danielle Steel’s Ex-Husband is Creating a Strange Buzz in Silicon Valley

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For better or worse, Tom Perkins has a lot of tongues wagging about him in the last few weeks. After being credited for making Silicon Valley one of the most innovative places on earth, Perkins, at 82, is going out of his way to underscore a growing problem in the area.

In a published letter that he wrote to the Wall Street Journal this past January, Perkins compared the growing unrest toward the American one percent in Silicon Valley to Nazi Germany’s anti-semitism. Ever since he made those questionable remarks plus others, he has been the talk of the town in the mainstream press.

The video above is a recent interview where Perkins is being asked to justify his comments. I was told that Danielle Steel, his wife from 1998 to 2002, was in the audience. They remained good friends after the divorce but no one knows for sure what she is thinking now.

Perkins was a founding partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers (KPCB) , a venture capital firm located on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park in Silicon Valley. It is considered one of the “largest and most established” venture capital firms in the world. KPCB were the early financial backers for AOL, Amazon.com, Compaq, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Google, Intuit, Juniper Networks, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, Verisign, WebMD and Zynga.

Perkins hasn’t officially been with the VC company for a number of years. Reports in the press indicate that he is bringing Kleiner Perkins unwanted publicity and they are distancing themselves from him.

I wrote about this today because I believe this topic is going to take a lot of twists and turns in the months ahead. I want to hear your comments.

I’m in London

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It’s 1:30 am here, five hours earlier in New York. I really need to get to sleep. I have no idea if this post will reach you via the daily email blast. So for that reason, this post is just a test.

Please let me know if you received this.

Thank you and good night.

You Can Keep the Calories

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The days of taking out a potential client for a two martini lunch has become a thing of the past.

The business lunch as we knew it during the heyday of our careers is now considered a complete turnoff. Young people today, especially those in the tech sector, are more interested in using lunch time for workouts and meditation.

The business recruiters feel exactly the same way. More and more articles are revealing that head hunters can tell more about candidates by working out with them then any discussion could ever produce across a desk.

This didn’t happen over night. It has been developing for a few years now. However, the New York Times labeled this type of lunch hour “Sweat Working.” It started on the exteriors of the United States first and is slowly moving into the middle of the country.

According to the New York Times, a growing number of young folks, 22 to 45, are more interested in learning new workouts than anything else you can offer them. They are not intimidated to sweat in front of co-workers, clients, or strangers. The more you sweat, the more others feel you are a hard worker, determined and disciplined.

So instead of setting up lunches or cocktails for new business meetings or creative sessions, many more are heading to boxing or yoga classes. Interestingly enough, co-workers or groups working on a project together also go to the same fitness classes to build team spirit.

While I like this new trend, I would have never survived this movement if I was in my 20s today. The thought of sweat flying off someone and landing on me gives me the creeps. But then again, I’m not 21, even though I would like to be.

First Users of New Force Fitbit Report Skin Rashes

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Sometimes being first to own something new in the world of technology is not always the smartest move. I learned the hard way that being first to own a new innovative product meant that I had to work through the kinks until the inventors corrected the bugs.

I can’t begin to tell you how many times I had the most frustrating days when the technology that I bought into didn’t work. As silly as it may seem now, I have had more meltdowns then I care to remember when technology stopped me from getting my work done. I suffered through failing email servers, shaky software programs, and malfunctioning copy machines,

Then there were days when even my recreational tech products failed. Mp3’s became muffled, bluetooth ear pieces lost transmission, smartphone apps turned off or they just froze in place. I’ve really tried to have patience but being tolerant isn’t one of my attributes.

I was one of the first users of the Fitbit, a wireless tracker of steps, distance, calories burned, and stairs climbed. It also measures your sleep quality and helps you learn how to sleep better. Since its introduction there have been many new versions with lots of advances. For some reason, I stuck with the original Fitbit.

Now comes word that Fitbit’s newest product, the Force wristband at $129.00, is causing blisters, rashes and itchy dry patches on the wrists of the users. The Wall Street Journal was one of the first to report it.

Fitbit Chief Executive James Park said he believes the skin problems are “allergic contact dermatitis, which can resemble a sunburn or a rash.” He said it also could be allergic reactions to nickel, a component of the steel in the Force. “Our investigation is looking beyond nickel to other potential causes as well.”

The Fitbit has been one of the most successful fitness products on the market. Its name is almost synonymous with “wearable technology.” It’s a shame that this had to happen after so many years of a great track record. Personally, I think fans will be forgiving. They understand the tough road of innovation and are appreciative of the company’s accomplishments. People who love all of the new digital products exercise patience. I have to remember that.

If you want to read the details about the Fitbit rash, click here.

Dirty Phone Calls

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This post is going to gross you out. It discusses exactly how dirty your cell phone is. Maybe you don’t want to know. It’s one thing to find out about how dirty a public bathroom door knob is, or how dirty the inside of your handbag is, but get ready to freak when you learn about the filth and the germs you are putting on your face every time you make a call.

The inventors of PhoneSoap, a device that sanitizes your cell, reported that phones have 18 times more harmful bacteria than the handle on a male public toilet. They also found research reports that showed that staph, E. Coli, and MRSA live on our cell phones!

Okay you’ve been warned. Here comes a shocking bit of info. One in six cell phones have fecal matter on them because people use their phones in the bathroom. All this info comes from Wesley LaPorte, Inventor/Germ-Guru and Dan Barnes, Internet Marketing Guru at PhoneSoap.

This all may sound a little self-serving because LaPorte and Barnes are introducing a remedy for dirty phones, but the info is worth noting. They say that cell phones are susceptible to bacteria because of the warmth they radiate.

LaPorte and Barnes invented PhoneSoap, a small box that simultaneously charges and sanitizes your cell phone using UV-C light. UV-C light is electromagnetic radiation that’s used in hospitals and clean rooms around the world.

There is a lot more to learn about this product but I will allow a previous PhoneSoap fundraising campaign to spell it out. Click here to read much more about this product and cell phone related health concerns.

PhoneSoap is available on Amazon at $45.99. Remember, PhoneSoap charges your cell as well. That’s a huge plus.

A Second Life

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Everything old is new again. The art world surely knows how to take obsolete products and turn them into pieces of art.

I’m sure you have seen plenty on your own, but I really liked the piece I saw at Art Wynwood, Miami (above) which is a mixed media portrait painted on used floppy discs and other outdated technology.

The paintings were created by London-based artist Nick Gentry. The Robert Fontaine Gallery of Miami represents Gentry. The artist claims “The portraits are a history of the things that happen in life, collected into one painting.”

The pieces remind me of Chuck Close’s work. Any thoughts?

GoPro + Art = Digital Art

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One of the reasons GoPro is such a success is the content that is being created by users. GoPro is the video camera that snaps on to your helmet or that you wear on a harness around your chest. The whole purpose is to record everything you see and experience. The founder, Nick Woodman, now 38 and a billionaire, instinctively knew that people all over the world would want a record of their adventures.

Millions of people are using GoPros to video record everything from extreme sports to birthing babies. Users just fasten the GoPro on and record everything in sight in order to share with others or review themselves.

The art community has also jumped on the GoPro bandwagon. Just the other day I witnessed two French artists at Art Wynwood in Miami using GoPros as part of their painting performance. You have to watch the video to see how they paint and record at the same time. The artists, Christian Volckman and Raphael Thierry, are called CR and hail from France. They paint with “four hands.”

CR is well known for collaborative art projects. The painters create animated videos in which one picks up where the other one left off, described as the “cadavre exquis” method. The GoPro videos are projected on flat screen displays for all to see. The entire process makes you feel like you are part of the art.

I own a GoPro. They are so much fun. The only challenge is that you have to be a skilled editor. I am not. It takes a lot of time to produce an exciting video when you have hours and hours of footage.

You have to cut more than you keep. That’s tough for most people.

The Perfect Keyboard Solution

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Every time I go on a trip, I ask myself the same question. Should I take my laptop or can I get away with my iPad? I usually end up taking my laptop (along with my iPad and iPhone) because I may have a lot of typing to do. I’m not talking a few paragraphs, I mean multiple pages.

Of course you can type on an iPad, many do. All I am saying is that it feels awkward and it slows you down. It’s also very difficult to type with two hands so you use one of your pointers for everything.

Wait until you learn more about the TouchFire keyboard. It fits right over the iPad’s on-screen keyboard and is completely transparent. You need to watch the video to see this marvel in action. I just bought the TouchFire from Amazon for $39.99. It is being delivered Monday. I just had to share my new find with you.