The Music Box

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Photos by Martin Molin

I talk about gadgets all the time. This time I think I came across the king of all gadgets.  

Swedish Musician Martin Molin has built  a massive handmade music box. The wooden device uses 2,000 marbles to create a complex piece of analog dance music.

You must watch the video to understand the genius of what Modin created. It features a kick drum, snare, vibraphone, and electric bass. It’s all powered by a hand crank. 

Molin officially unveiled his “Marble Machine” on Feb. 29 on a YouTube video. All the tech and music publications are writing about it.

It’s being called, The Rube Goldberg-like instrument. Molin plays bass, percussion and a vibraphone. The rolling marbles makes the music. 

Too bad the Marble Machine can’t go on tour. Maybe, someone will figure out a way. 
 

Windows That Transform Into Balconies  

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 https://youtu.be/iwguRr6LuAY

This is one step I’m not going to take. There is no way I’m going to trust a window that transforms into a balcony to hold me up. I’m getting vertigo just thinking about out it.

We had better take this innovation seriously. According to the manufacturer, it’s just a matter of time until these type of Bloomframe windows appear on the new buildings in your neighborhood.

The French manufacturer Kawneer, global leader for aluminum facades, windows and doors, is responsible for the development.

Gmail Tricks 

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I don’t know if this ever happened to you, but it certainly happened to me. I sent an email to the wrong person. Lucky for me, it was a harmless email. I fortunately didn’t disclose any private information or  give out any personal records.

I learned a valuable lesson. Don’t be so quick to click the “send” button. Check the name, the subject matter, and the content of the body copy. Focus, pause, then “send.”

That should do the trick. If it doesn’t, use Gmail. It will help safeguard you. Gmail has a feature to “unsend” an email. All you have to do is click the gear at the top right hand corner of your email page. Then go to Settings. There us an “Undo Send” option  under the “general”  tab. Click on it and then choose a cancellation period of 5, 10, 20 or 30 seconds. 

From my experience, pick the longest option. It’s always better to go with the longest possible option. To find out some other really clever  Gmail tricks, click here. Techlicious, a popular tech site, covered the topic recently.

Remember When? 

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Remember when you would come home after work, and the first thing you said to your family or roommate was, “Anyone call me?” 

Or if no one was home, the first thing you did after you entered your home was check the answering machine.

Those days are gone forever. The big news now is that smartphone voicemails may become obsolete over time.

Cell phone users in their teens, 20s and 30s, have already written off using leaving  voicemails. They only want to text. If you call them, they won’t even listen to your message. They may call you back if they see your number on their recent call list. Or they just may choose to ignore you. 

Your best bet is to text. You may not have a choice in the future. There’s a new app that many are talking about that’s called “No More Voicemail.” It actually deactivates your  voicemail on your cell. In the past, you had to contact your carrier in order to get this done. 

Now this app uses the “conditional call forwarding feature” right on your phone to send your unanswered calls to a virtual number that will just ring and ring. Once the caller realizes that you will never pick up, he or she will learn to use text. 

If you want to find out how the “No More Voicemail” works, read Tech Crunch. 

Not My Grandmother’s Forward 

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I can still remember my Grandmother Elsie, reading The Forward, a Yiddish/English newspaper published in lower Manhattan. She would sit on a chair, by the window, whispering the Yiddish words she was reading to herself. 

Sixty-two years later, I find myself reading The Forward in English on my iPhone. In my estimation, The Forward has become a hip, pop-cultured, digital newspaper that offers a Jewish angle on every day events. 

You can’t find these kind of stories, one after another, in most newspapers and magazines. The fun part is that The Forward is now delivered in an electronic newsletter to my email feed everyday. 

That’s the way I receive most of my favorite publications–Vanity Fair, Vogue,  Variety, New York Times, New Yorker,  Wall Street Journal, National Geographic, Huffington Post, etc.  All I do is visit their websites, look for the email newsletter subscription box, fill in my email, and then sit back and wait for the news and features to come to me.

This is a much better and more timely way to get information. Twitter also offers these stories in the form of tweets. Either way, you are getting the news in a constant and easy-to-digest format. Sitting down to read an entire newspaper, in one session, is just a thing of the past.

To tell you the truth, I never thought I would be reading The Forward. The current day editors got very smart. They write edgy news and then distribute it in a modern day, delivery package.

A gliklekhe rayze!

    
       

   

    
    
  

Another Successful Oscar Party

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Thank you Steve Greenberg and Williams Lucena for a wonderful Academy Awards party. The company was great, the food was delicious and the prizes were outrageous. Some of us went home with all kinds of gadgets that only the Innovation Insider could provide:  adjustable reading glasses, laptop trays with fans to cool off your computer, cell phone cases,  wireless speakers, and fitness monitors. Who could ask for anything more? 

   
  

  

  
    
    
 
 

 

Robin Raskin

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I tried to write this piece about Robin Raskin, CEO and Founder of Living In Digital Times, many times. There were just too many facets to this Wonder Woman. I didn’t know where to start. I’m also not sure I know where to end. Robin’s personal and work life just keeps changing for the better all the time. I’m not saying that she doesn’t have difficult challenges too, it’s just that she chooses to focus on the brighter side of things.

Kayaking in Key West

  

Kayaking in Hudson Valley

 

Robin has the type of personality that can figure out a way to take advantage of opportunities. She admits she got her positive energy from her late father, a lawyer, who would shake her hand every morning and say, “Shake it off. Shake off everything that bothered you yesterday and start fresh today.” 

Those handshakes gave Robin the impetus to be one of the major reasons why CES is wildly successful today. Approximately five years ago, she noticed that a number of the big manufacturers were pulling out of CES because of various reasons.

Robin asked Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, if she could sell some of the unclaimed exhibit space to emerging and innovative technology companies in various fields that CES never went after before. Robin wanted the newbies to be grouped in categories on the show floor.

After Gary said yes, she started with Kids@play and then expanded to  
Digital Health Summit, Digital Money Forum, FitnessTech, Baby Tech, Family Tech Summit, TransformingEDU, MommyTech TV, Beauty Tech, Wearables and FashionWare runway show, Mobile Apps Showdown, Last Gadget Standing, Robots on the Runway and the KAPi Awards. 

Today, Robin’s company is responsible for 80,000 square feet of exhibit space at CES. The most amazing thing is that Robin’s vision has had a huge rub-off on CES in general. The show is now known as one of the biggest innovative exhibitions in the world. In fact, the parent company, changed its name from the Consumer Electronics Association to Consumer Technology  Association. 

Outdoor activities are a great escape for Robin.

  

Not many people know this but Robin was a rock n roll groupie. She, and her then boyfriend, travelled with the Rolling Stones and Elton John.

Robin has had a rich history in technology. She began writing about tech in the 1980s when she was raising her three kids. At first no one would hire her because of her lack of experience. Then after sending a few editors free and unsolicited articles about how technology was going to empower women forever, she secured a gig as a frequent contributor to Family Computing. She later became a contributor to PC Magazine and finally Senior Editor at PC Magazine. She then went on to become Editor in Chief of FamilyPC Magazine.  

Robin and her adoring husband

Robin is a true pioneer in the CE business. She will definitely be written up in the history books. She is the kind of gal who is ageless and has worlds yet to conquer.

Her advice to seniors who want to work. “Try to start something on your own. That’s the best way to be a part of the work force. Once you get the engine going, people will look at you for your current accomplishments rather than your age. If you want it, you can do it.” 

Blurring Out YouTube Videos

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Image: Venturebeat.com

I love YouTube. I love learning new things about this amazing video platform. I was astonished to learn that, as of the other day, I can now blur out moving objects, as well as people, on my videos. 

This is huge news for people like me who are always getting nudged by others to edit out of my shoots some private items, such as notes, signs, and paintings. 

I’m very happy that I can still keep my original videos and now add the edited videos to my channel mix. If I promise someone that I will eliminate the original one, I will do so. YouTube has now given me lots of options.

One catch. Google, the owners of YouTube, are only offering the “blur out” capable feature on desktops. Smartphones will be made capable in a few months.  

If you want a detailed description on how to make the necessary edit, read the CNET story.

Good Neighbors, Great Authors

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We are fortunate to have Trisha and Gerald Posner as our neighbors, South of Fifth, in South Beach. They are NY Times best selling authors with exciting news. Both Gerald and Trisha just received new book deals with fantastic publishing houses. 

I was thrilled to be a part of the announcement process. It used to be the power of the pen. Now it’s the power of emails and texts. I have learned to take the art of the spoken word and turn it into a powerful digital pitch. 

Now I get to watch this happily married couple work together on some days and separately on others. I may even get to help in the research.

   
 
   

 My favorite digital sign for today.