Category Archives: digital

Document The Story Of Your Life 

Posted on by
1

Eliot and I went to a tech trade show in Miami Beach today called eMerge. We came across a company many DigiDame readers could possibly be interested in.  Instead of someone else describing you at your funeral, why don’t you do it yourself.


Called The Story Of Your Life,  the company helps folks preserve memories for future generations. One of the co-founders of the company, told me the whole purpose of his firm  is to keep family histories alive. The press  material claims, “If you can listen to [their] stories and record them… your children can learn a lot about life and make a better life for themselves.”

TSOLife offers personal historian services to help make life story recordings as enjoyable as possible. They conduct in-person interview sessions to capture life stories. They record interviews, transcribe stories, then add audio narration, and supporting photos and videos.  All stories are approved by clients and new material can be added at any time,

Price, you ask? $1,500. This is very affordable. Have fun. 

Atomic Beam Lantern 

Posted on by
1

When it comes to the world of gadgets, there is always a solution to every problem.

Eliot and I tend to frequent hip hotels for younger guests. We love the energy and the vibes. The hotel rates are usually more affordable and the bar areas are fun meeting places. 

There is, however, one major drawback. The rooms are usually dark, and the bathrooms are even darker. I guess young folks don’t like too much light. I was okay with it for a few years, but lately the darkness is getting on my nerves.

Surprise, surprise. My pal, Steve Greenberg, the Innovation Insider, just featured the Atomic Beam Lantern on his TV gadget tour around the country. This is exactly the gadget I need to see what I am doing in the bathroom, especially for applying my makeup and brushing my hair.

All for $20. 

Memo to Steve: Can you spare one next week when we arrive at the Hudson Hotel? I would love to try it out.

The military-grade lantern is an ultra-bright 360-degree LED portable unit that is waterproof, provides 12 hours of light with 30 bright white LEDs on 3 AA batteries. Pull it up to turn it on. A great advantage is that it stands on a base or it hangs from a built-in handle

Watch Steve demonstrate the lantern on ABC TV in New York..


/ 

Walt Mossberg 

Posted on by
Reply

Walt Mossberg, the most iconic writer/reviewer in the tech industry.

Steve Jobs relied on Walt for his opinions and views.

The tech industry is about to change forever. Walt Mossberg, one of the most prominent and respected journalists in the tech world, is retiring this month. He is exactly my age. I don’t know why he is retiring, other than he wants to do other things with the rest of his life.

His last tech column is not to be missed. I’ve included it here because it will give you a great sense of where the industry is going. It’s called “The Disappearing Computer.” You can access it here. Walt claims that tech “was once always in your way. Soon, it will be almost invisible.” 

I was going to cut and paste some of his copy here because I wanted to make sure you read it. Then I realized, I’m just going to have to trust you. 

Pussyhat Project Cofounder Now Knitting Thousands Of Blankets For Refugees 

Posted on by
Reply

The woman who started this……..

…..is starting this.

Jayna Zweiman, cofounder of Pussyhat Project, has started a new initiative called “Welcome Blanket.” Jayna wants thousands of Americans, or anyone in the world, to make enough blankets to cover the length of President Donald Trump’s proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall. Jayna is projecting that it will take 2000 miles of knitted yarn over three months. 

Start knitting.

Each blanket should measure 40 inches by 40 inches and contain 1,200 yards of yarn. Jayna said, “That means participants will need to craft 3,200 blankets collectively to reach about 3.5 million yards of yarn used — or 2,000 miles.”

Kat Coyle, the designer of the original pattern for the pussyhat, also designed the patterns for “Welcome Blanket.” In addition to creating a blanket, Jayda wants everyone to include a note detailing their own family immigrant story.

Click here for patterns.

Finished blankets and notes will be on display at the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. This will start in July. The cutoff date is August 20th. The completed 2,000 miles of blankets will go on display by September. 

At the end of the show, blankets will be distributed to refugee resettlement organizations. 

This is simply wonderful. I want to make a blanket. Who can help me? 

Read more in Mashable.

Chew On This 

Posted on by
Reply

Why is it that every time you go out to eat with friends, the conversation always turns to dieting.  There you are, shoving pasta, bread, and desserts down your throat, while everyone is giving their theory on how to lose weight. I’m not sure about everyone else, but I hate it. 

That’s why I am delivering news on a weight loss program that Lester Holt, anchor of NBC Nightly News, announced tonight. The segment is called “Sewing Machine Surgery,” weight loss without cutting or Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty which  reduces the size of your stomach.

It’s a whole new technology. 

You can read all about it here or watch the video above. Just do me a favor. No more diet talk while I am chowing down.    

Meet Steve Guttenberg 

Posted on by
Reply

You probably thought I was talking about the actor, Steve Guttenberg. Nope. I’m talking about Steve Guttenberg, the audiophile. 

Wikipedia defines an audiophile as “a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction. Audiophile values may be applied at all stages of music reproduction: the initial audio recording, the production process, and the playback, which is usually in a home setting.”

Steve is one of the most respected audiophiles in the business. If you go to an audio trade show, you usually see a crowd surrounding him. Everyone is interested in his opinions about new products, his thoughts about the future of music, and how not to spend a fortune, yet get the best sounds out of a home system. 

I have been very fortunate to know many audiophiles during my 50-year career. Many of them have been good friends of mine because we worked so closely promoting stereo sound. I got really lucky when I met Steve. He has been very generous with his knowledge of music and has always offered to explain things to me in the simplest of terms. He has a way with words. 

Stereophile, a leading magazine that covers high-end audio, recently asked Guttenberg to spell out his perspective on a variety of audio-related topics. He defines the term “audiophile,” while describing why the sounds of music are so important to him.

Give yourself a treat. Watch the video. If you love music, you will love it even more after you hear Steve describes how he listens to music, what it means to him, and names some of the best equipment in the business.  

Guttenberg is a true treasure in both the music and audio business. He is passionate, honest and a great story teller. Enjoy! 
 
 

Teachers Use Facial Recognition To See If You Are Concentrating  

Posted on by
Reply

No more nodding off in class. It was just a matter of time when technology would catch students taking a snooze during a lecture on their laptops. I remember watching young friends close their eyes when e-learning lessons first came about. I wondered why teachers would tolerate this type of classroom. 

I just heard the ESG Business School in Paris has developed an artificial intelligence program to identify whether students are paying attention. The software program, called Nestor, uses webcams to examine eye movements and facial expressions. That helps to establish whether the students are actually attentive to a video lecture. 

Marcel Saucet, founder of LCA Learning, the company which created Nestor, said the software has 20 key landmarks on the face of the user — eyes, brows, lips, jaw — Nestor can understand how the user behaves in front of a 5-minute video lesson.

Saucet also told Mashable, a tech blog, “If a certain student’s attention wanes after 2 minutes and 30 seconds, for instance, a notification will pop up on the screen 10 seconds before that timestamp to warn them”  

Make sure you watch the video to see how they wake up sleeping students.

 

New Formulas For Ranking Books   

Posted on by
2

There was a period in my life that I referred to the New York Times best selling books list several times a week. I needed to know which were the most celebrated books so I could engage in certain business conversations.

A recent announcement by Amazon reminded me just how much the book industry has changed. Now, I refer to Amazon, not the New York Times, to get a pulse on what’s going on. Amazon Charts actually tracks the top 20 most sold on the site, and the most read books. 

“The most read” is the new information that I find very interesting. It’s one thing to buy a book,  it’s another to read it.  Amazon also lists books that have received awards in addition to publishing monthly roundups of what its editors think are the best books.

The part that I love the best is that Amazon is actually breaking down downloads on Kindle e-readers, print books, and audio books. I want that information because it’s definitely more accurate about what people are consuming. I listen to books on Audible a lot and that should be counted. 

Amazon will publish the top 20 fiction and non-fiction books that are being read (using Kindles and Audible data) as well as the top 20 fiction and non-fiction books that are being sold through its marketplace for Kindle, print, and audio.

In a surprise move, Amazon also said that Alexa will also offer all of this information too. All you have to do is ask “Alexa, what are the most popular books this week?” And she will give you rundown.  

How cool is that?  .

.

Chalk It Up In Santa Barbara 

Posted on by
2

Lois, Andrea, Eliot and Ron

 
It’s so wonderful witnessing people helping people, especially people helping children. Today our friends, Andrea and Ron, took Eliot and I to see the generosity of many talented artists who transformed the pavement in front of the Santa Barbara Mission into works of art. This project raised funds for the Children’s Creative Project (CCP), a nonprofit arts education program of the Santa Barbara County Education Office. Each artist, sponsored by a local business, used pastel colored chalk to paint stunning square drawings. 

Called I Madonnari, the festival was the first of its kind in North America. This was the 31st anniversary.  The squares range in size from 4-by-6 feet to 12-by-12 feet. Each one bears  the name of the sponsor — a business, organization, family, or individual. 

We had a great time walking around, viewing the squares, watching pieces being created, and meeting some of the artists. It’s amazing what can be done with chalk. Thank goodness for the great weather. I hate the thought of rain washing away these masterpieces. I feel privileged that I could at least take photos of some of the drawings.  

I took these photos with my iPhone 7 Plus. The sun was so bright, I am surprised they came out so well.  

W

I Must Be Back In U.S., I Have To Wipe My Own Tush 

Posted on by
4

Just call me potty mouth, but not just because I use dirty words. Call me potty mouth because I am going to hound you until you try one of the Toto toilet cleaning machines before you leave this earth. Yes, it’s an experience you shouldn’t miss.

Everyone on our Japan tour group shared how much they loved the Toto experience many times. You can laugh all you want but until you have had a proper dump, you don’t know what you are missing. 

Doing your business on a Toto toilet is like giving yourself a well deserved rest stop. I think it takes the stress out of your day, even for a few minutes. You are sitting on a heated seat that basically warms your heart and your tush. It’s total comfort that reminds you that there are some wonderful experiences in life. These days you need that reminder.    

Toto plays wonderful music so no one hears you doing your business, sprays your private parts (front and back) for total cleanliness, and then dries you off. You do nothing but squeeze. 

By the way. Toto toilets are available everywhere in Japan, even gas stations.

I can hear a few of you now. “My current toilet system is just fine,” That’s like saying you never need a hug. Toto toilets treat you like royalty. You deserve to sit on a high class throne.

.