Posts tagged People

Geolocation Apps: Who Cares Where We Are?

1
2 years ago
by David van Sunder in
Earth from space

You are here!

So, what are geolocation apps and why should you care? Good question. Well, first off, geolocation based apps are apps that base their features around where you are. They take that information from the GPS in a mobile device, such as a Blackberry, iPhone or another smartphone. That information is used to tell other users of the service where you are. Then some game aspect is usually added, such as giving badges, points or ranks based on how many places you visit or how often you visit them. A couple current apps that use geolocation are Gowalla and Foursquare.

Now for the interesting question. Why should you care? (more…)

Is Valentine’s Day Empty? Augment It!

1
2 years ago
by David van Sunder in
Augmented Reality Hallmark Card

Augmented Reality Card by Hallmark

I’m not a big Valentine’s Day kind of guy. I used to be, but the whole day has started to feel a bit forced as I’ve gotten older. Besides, it’s too close to my wife’s birthday, so it loses some of its impact. Still, this augmented reality card idea from Hallmark that I saw via ReadWriteWeb brings back a little interest in the holiday. Granted it’s because of the tech involved in the card and not the holiday itself, but everyone always said that Valentine’s was just a Hallmark holiday, anyway. (more…)

The Future Is Coming and Houses Are Smaller

3
2 years ago
by David van Sunder in
Robot

Danger Will Robinson! Your House Is Too Big!

The other day, I was talking with my wife about how homes have gotten bigger and bigger over the past decade or so. That got me thinking about how our need for space in our homes is now actually shrinking. Forget about the houses in your neighborhood with the garages so full of stuff that the cars are all parked on the driveway and on the street. I’m not tackling the subject of pack rats.

What I’m thinking about is how technology is reducing the space needed to hold our belongings. Eventually, people might not feel the need for 3,500 sq ft homes, except maybe as status symbols or to house families the size of the Brady Bunch. (Which from my memory, had a smaller than 3,500 sq ft home, but I digress.)

Now some people with drawers full of gadgets would probably disagree with my assertion, but I’m making a few assumptions that will make my vision possible over time:

  1. Technology will continue to advance at a rapid pace
  2. Internet connections will become ridiculously fast and ubiquitous
  3. Society will adapt and change, taking full advantage of technology and abandoning old media paradigms
  4. Old gadgets will so quickly become dated that when they are replaced they will be recycled rather than kept for possible future use

(more…)

A Post On Procrastination? Let Me Check My Email First.

3
2 years ago
by David van Sunder in
Empty Desk

Where is he? Shouldn't he be working?

This post is written as both a reminder to myself and to all of you. Procrastination is the biggest obstacle to success. Some people think it is lack of time that is the problem, but for most people that isn’t the case. Think about how much busier you are now than when you were in school. Yet, back then you probably felt like you had no time to do everything you wanted and needed to do. And you didn’t. Just like now. No matter how much or how little we have to do, we never have enough time to do everything we want. If we can avoid procrastinating though, we’ll usually have enough time to do the things that are the most important to us. Notice I didn’t say the most fun. I said the most  important.

Now I know those of you who are self proclaimed procrastinators are nodding your heads. But the rest of you are probably saying, “Hey, I don’t procrastinate! I’m really just so busy that I don’t have enough time.” (more…)

Social Media: Embrace the Community, Don’t Target It

3
2 years ago
by David van Sunder in
Target

Stop aiming that gun and forget that target!
Photo by Suat Eman via FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Social media “gurus” tout social media as a great tool to grow any business and increase its connection with its clients. They praise its powerful ability to get your word out and magnify your marketing reach. And it can be all those things, but only if used right. There may be many social media “experts” promising to start a Twitter or Facebook account for businesses, grow their follower base into the tens of thousands and lead them on to increased profits, but it’s not that easy. Social media gurus that focus only on numbers to “get the message out” are treating social media as the next evolution in junk marketing. You know the progression. Junk mail. Telemarketing. Email spam. Now social media spam. Just like the previous direct marketing methods that preceded it, the goal of spamming social media is to count on the numbers to get results. After all, you can spam tens of thousands of people on social media sites for very little money, just like spam emails. If you can get a small percentage of hits, you win, right?

Maybe not. One thing to remember is that people have become more and more upset by these number based marketing communications over the years. Understanding why that is and why social media in particular is a bad place to spam, will better enable you to understand how you should behave yourself as a business or a brand in the social media space. (more…)

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