Category Archives: Technology

Dirt and iPhones Do Mix: One Vanguardian’s Perspective on Technology on the Farm

Posted on May 25, 2012 | 1 Comment

So you play FarmVille on Facebook, and as you build your “farm” from the comfort of your easy chair, you feel like you are accomplishing something, right? OK, man up already and face it––you have no clue what it’s like to run a farm. My experience is slightly different––my family had a chicken farm in Rockland County that we “city kids” would visit during the summer to “help out.” The farm also grew corn as a staple crop for feed and to sell. By the time we would get there in the summer, the real work was done––our biggest chore was shucking the corn for dinner.

Flash forward to spring 2012 and my reality. I consider myself a “gentleman farmer.” I live on nine acres of pristine property in the mountains of Sullivan County, NY, in the tiny town of Glen Spey (Google Map 12737). I have a barn with a hayloft, split wood for the fireplace, operate a tractor (lowlanders have riding mowers; we have nothing but tractors), drive a pick-up truck, and have a back brace with suspenders for the real work. My frost date is Memorial Day weekend, which means no planting till then––seeds are OK, but the real work begins on the holiday weekend.

My “field” is a 60′ x 40′ horn of plenty, filled with fruit trees and bushes, grape vines, 20 varieties of vegetables and cutting flowers, and surprisingly, no corn. Each year I fertilize with up to 300 lbs of cow manure, lime, and fireplace ash to keep the pH correct. My beds are raised, and I till each one until the soil is the consistency of butter. What self-respecting plant wouldn’t want to wiggle its roots in my bed? Call me crazy, but I commute three hours to work each way because I love where I work and love where I live, just not necessarily in that order.

Last weekend, I did the first cut of the season. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and as I made the turns on the tractor with my music playing from my iPhone, I stopped to take a photo of our family of tree swallows working on their new nest in the birdhouse. As I paused to take it all in, I realized how much technology I have come to rely on to make my life easier. Besides the joy and convenience of having music and photography attached to my belt, much of this process is technology-driven. Consider that I use my iPad to order everything from new tiller blades to seeds to chain saws to fertilizer. Weather is a big consideration on a farm, and I have not one but three weather apps to help me know when to plant and when to water. These apps also help to notify me of approaching storms or frost.

When the day is done and the stars come out, I have a great app on my iPad called Star Walk. This app is terrific if you have a clear view of the night sky and you can see all the stars and constellations overhead. This app also shows which satellites are drifting by. (Unfortunately, the shooting stars you may enjoy flash by too fast to be named.)

There are a plethora of other apps to help your green thumb, and it’s always best to read some of the reviews before you purchase. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention an oldie but goodie, the Farmers’ Almanac. Continuously published since 1818, this periodical is known for its long-range weather predictions and astronomical data mixed with humor, trivia, gardening, cooking, fishing, and human-interest content. While not yet an app, it is available as an e-book for your iPad, Nook, or Kindle. This is a must-have for even the “black thumb” gardener who can’t keep even a houseplant alive.

To finish on a positive note for my FarmVille friends, reviews of the new FarmVille Version 2.7 are high. Released on April 4, 2012, FarmVille has gone tropical. Grab your sandals and head to FarmVille’s new Hawaiian Paradise. Leave those clunky coins at home because the new currency is coconuts. Love the beach? Cultivate your favorite water crops and play with new aquatic creatures. While Zynga is excited with the reception the latest version has received, I am sure the lucky few who sample my harvested veggies will be glad there are “gentleman farmers” like me who like to play in the dirt.

Author: Tom Caska

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Do You Ever Find Yourself Asking, “How Can I Stay Ahead in This Fast-Paced, Competitive Marketplace?”

Posted on May 18, 2012 | Leave a comment

For most people, the answer would be a resounding “Yes.” In this day and age, the key to success is making the most of your time, ALL the time. With so many suppliers optimizing their sites for mobile browsing and creating apps for your smartphones and tablets, you can get pricing, specs, and inventory levels with just a few taps. Instead of spending your commute sitting idly, you can utilize this new technology for your benefit. Now you can actually knock off some of the items on your to-do list before you even arrive at the office and get a jump on your day. Or you can hammer away at that pile of work while you are away on vacation before that dreadful Monday morning hits.

For example, armed with just an iPad and my cell phone, I can fulfill my current role at Vanguard of finding the best suppliers and quoting the best possible pricing for our customers no matter where I am. Mobile sites are popping up all over––just check out a few of the leaders in the promotional items industry.

These apps and mobile websites also allow you to see orders in the proofing and production stages, as well as their shipping status, so you can have answers for your clients before you even fire up your desktop at the office. Additionally, you can now check pricing, inventory, and turnaround time remotely, allowing you to easily type up a quote while on the go. Gone are the days of train or flight delays slowing down our productivity when these little challenges come our way. With more and more companies developing these types of user-friendly options for our mobile devices, we can not only improve our time management skills, but deliver superior customer service as well. Soon, we just may be able to steal that famous Army quote: “We do more before 9 a.m. than most people do all day.”

Author: Amy Carroll

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Hope, Change, and Whining in the Mobile Arena

Posted on May 11, 2012 | Leave a comment

As we all keep heading back to the cloud-services buffet line to fill our plates with streaming music, document collaborations, and photo sharing, our glasses of data––once advertised as bottomless––are leaving us thirsty. Mobile devices––the smartphones and tablets of the world––make the cloud-service buffet line seem so much cooler, more powerful, and more useful, but what does the future hold? Three stories from the past few weeks help us read the tech tea leaves.

RIM
From execs going nuts on international flights to just poor long-term planning, the struggling Canadian former tech giant has had it rough. For a seemingly stagnant company that once paved the way with mobile email, calendars, and contact functionality from a mobile device (the BlackBerry), recent news of a well-received new device might be the fair-weather forecast RIM has been waiting for. Before you slam RIM and its loyal hoard of CrackBerry zombies, remember that the company was once innovative––that innovation in the marketplace can lead to better devices for us, the consumers. During the BlackBerry developers conference, alpha-stage BlackBerry 10 devices were distributed to developers to kick-start app development. Check out the video below:

 

Mobile Interactions: Change Your View
Change how you view your mobile customers (if you even know they exist). Custora, a mobile-commerce analytics start-up, posted an interesting infographic showing the different purchasing habits of mobile customers. From device stats to analysis of mobile versus non-mobile customers, the message is clear: Know your customers and study their habits based on their mobile identifiers. Those identifiers will lead you either to enhance their experience or to fine-tune your strategy.

Wireless Whining
Rumblings (think “wahhhhhhhhhh!”) from the mobile carriers and their Washington lobbyists about the future of our airwaves and the portions that wireless carriers claim they need in order to support our new and growing thirst for mobile data are creating a controversy. It’s a battle between developing new technology and the “easy way out,” snatching up more spectrum to protect revenues and control the marketplace. The New York Times reports that the now dead-in-the-water deal between AT&T and T-Mobile was purely about access to spectrum, or more of the radio frequencies that we use to pass voice and mobile data through our smartphones. All in all, technology seems to be a logical solution––one in which the use of spectrum-neutral techniques could make the spectrum-licensing and -dividing model obsolete––but it would require the big mobile carriers to reconfigure their networks.

Author: John Carew

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The LinkedIn iPad App – A New Connection to Your Connections

Posted on May 4, 2012 | Leave a comment

I am a longtime user of LinkedIn. My number is 210,856, meaning that I joined when there were only a couple of hundred thousand users. (According to Wikipedia, there are now over 150 million users.) With its new iPad app, I am a bigger advocate of LinkedIn than ever. For me, LinkedIn is steadily becoming a morning must-read along with the Wall Street Journal, The Daily, and Flipboard (which aggregates social-network content in a magazine-like format).

The elegance of the Flipboard experience has transformed how we consume content on the iPad. The LinkedIn Updates section provides an experience similar to Flipboard in that it allows you to view content from your connections. I still use LinkedIn through Flipboard, but now I get better Profile and Inbox sections in the LinkedIn app.

There should never be complacency in the digital space, so I look forward to more enhancements to the LinkedIn app that help me to stay on top of my business game.

Author: Dana Farbo

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The Competitive Edge May Lie in the Method of Communication

Posted on April 27, 2012 | 1 Comment

From the first caveman’s grunt to today’s mobile technology, from writing on stone tablets to text messages delivered with 4G speed, we’ve come a long way in a short period of time.

We’re still communicating in more ways than ever … what’s your message? What is the true value of the message you’re sending? The information age has definitely kicked the art of communication up a few notches. Supplying users with an array of devices and applications, the challenge lies in how best to deliver the message. The goal is connecting with your targeted audience at maximum speed and reach.

Social media is an equalizer! It levels the playing field, as each person––anyone––has the ability to be heard and seen. Whether it’s an individual or big business, we want to send and deliver a message that will be read. Again, the goal is the same, but the method can vary.

With so many vying for everyone’s attention, how does one stand out, stay relevant, rise above, shine brighter? By asking the right questions! We know businesses are cutting budgets. More than ever, it’s important to ask what brand benefits set us apart from the competition? How can we analyze an existing customer database to build brand loyalty, to expand into new markets, and perhaps reach deeper into multicultural consumer segments?

In our new global markets, businesses struggle to stand out from their competition. Competition––an old game, but the rules are continually changing. From the ever-increasing reality shows to the politicians running for office and the businessmen trying to increase their bottom lines … we’re all competing.

We can rise above the crowd today and tomorrow by reevaluating our customers, staying abreast of new ways of grabbing their attention, and reanalyzing, as there’s no one-time solution. Technologies and how we communicate are forever changing!!

Author: Velda Gardiner

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Facebook, Instagram and Roller Coasters, three ideas to keep an eye on

Posted on April 13, 2012 | Leave a comment

On Monday, Facebook announced their planned acquisition of mobile app Instagram for a cool (cue the evil laugh) one billion dollars. For those unfamiliar with Instagram, the app is a photo sharing program that lets users capture a photo, apply a filter and share on social networks.

A billion dollars is a massive, virtually unimaginable number. Chances are you probably have only ever seen tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of any one thing at one time. So let’s introduce some reference material starting with a comparison to the recent MegaMillions winning of some 656 million dollar annuity. If you lined up the jackpot value in presidential dollars, you have just shy of 11,000 miles of coins. Comparable, the Instagram reported sale to Facebook lined up with a far smaller diameter coin, the dime, would stretch 11,127 miles. Let’s put this in more thrilling terms. The roller coaster, Millennium Force at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio is the longest roller coaster in North America by distance (and fourth in the world) coming in at 6,595 feet long. Riding Millennium Force 8,909 times would let you travel the same distance as Instagram’s value equated to dimes, but to ride the coaster for that long would take you some 346 hours, which I doubt you would want to spare riding the coaster continuously.

Get this picture yet? Instagram’s value by the Facebook offer is a big deal on the simple side with the sheer amount of cash Zuckerberg’s empire is willing to shell out, but there several areas which need to be watched as the story unfolds. Check the list below for a few of the topics to watch and what has been said already.

Reliability. Reliability. Reliability.
Wired’s Cloudline, posted a nice piece talking about how Instagram’s development process, structure and approach may be an omen for the future of how mobile only apps grow and become valuable. In the end, it is all about how reliable the application is and Instagram proved that their structure is one to study and apply its principles as we move toward a world where more content is in the cloud.

Experience is mission critical.
Face it, well-designed devices, like that of Apple, have put an expectation of higher level design square in the sights of any consumer. If the form is sexy, the function better be the same and judging by the tens of millions of iOS devices in the world, the function is desirable. Instagram may only perform three basic functions, but Facebook has a corner on the market of photos and the added features (and sexy, well-designed interface of the app) make the app’s acquisition be Facebook all that more meaningful.

Young vs. Old
Experience and utility drive people back to mobile devices and ultimately to apps that accomplish both ideas. The people return again and again and on many platforms generate advertising revenue for provider, but as behavior and consumption patterns emerge, we are seeing a disparity between the actions of different age groups. Facebook knows that on average their users are older than that of other social platforms and by adding Instagram it may shift their age groups. Either way, look for expansion by other social networks to garner a larger swath of eyeballs to their platforms and it may be accomplished by acquisitions like Instagram by Facebook.

One last fun fact, with the Instagram cash, you could buy tickets to Cedar Point for 70% of the population of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, which could be one heck of party.

Author: John Carew

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I See Data Everywhere!

Posted on April 6, 2012 | Leave a comment

Data surrounds us. Our brains wrap them up nicely with words like “feelings” or “impulse” or “hunger,” but those inputs from our environment or our own bodies are, at the most basic level, pieces of data. For a long time I thought I was alone in my view of the world. I often described it as a cross between this image from Terminator

and the opening sequence to Person of Interest (except for the whole crime, terrorism, bad guy craziness).

Come to find out, there are others like me and in a recent story by the Wall Street Journal, H. James Wilson discusses in Employees, Measure Yourselves, how employers should encourage their workers to review data about their activities to better themselves and their performance in the workplace. From screen tracking technology, to heart rate monitors, to thought modeling tools, there are a growing number of auto-analytics devices and applications that allow people to track information about them and analyze the results for self-improvement.

We live in a world where the view from our eyes is in vectors, analysis and pieces of data from the thousands of systems with which we interact every day. Maybe that is why people love New York City, a city of 8 plus million individual human systems who interact with tens of thousands of independent systems from businesses to public transit to taxis to law enforcement. With these auto-analytics tools, individuals can answer questions like “am I more productive when I get more sleep” or “how much time do I spend online every day?” I can say from personal experience, measuring data like sleep hours, calorie intake, calorie burn and hours at work have measurable and predictable patterns. Without my own home grown analytics, those patterns would just have lived as hypothesis in my brain, but with years of data to prove the pattern, I can predict and compensate for the effects of various scenarios between those data points.

Here’s my challenge to you. Overcome your fear of big brother, whether big brother be your boss, employer, government or some nefarious cybercriminal and pick three data points to capture, analyze, strategize and implement. Take email response time for example. Tools like Xobni (for Microsoft Outlook) or Smartr (for Gmail) give you powerful analytics tools to see how long it takes you to respond to email, who is your most frequent contact or what time of day do you receive or send the most emails. Look at the results of email analysis and compare it to other factors like time away from your desk for meetings, travel, or time out of the office. Then look at your perceived weaknesses and see how email may be a factor and determine a short -term experiment to improve on a weakness.

At our fingertips are powerful auto-analytic tools, many of which are free or very inexpensive, that give you a world if insight into how we function as humans within the context of the complex systems of which we interact daily. Our ability to measure, analyze and improve will make us more efficient, self-aware and productive. So, go ahead, pick a few data points, find a tool to help you capture the data and analyze the results. See you on the other, more efficient and data rich side.

Author: John Carew

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Online and Social Checkup: The Full Three

Posted on March 23, 2012 | 1 Comment
Pre-dawn at Haleakela Summit

Photo by MrTavis. www.flickr.com/photos/mrtavis

Twice a year we change our clocks to abide by the controversial daylight savings time, at which time we are told to change our smoke detector batteries. Once a year in October, retailers, television networks, nonprofits, and average citizens blanket the world in pink to bring attention to Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Heck, there is even Movember, during which men grow facial hair to raise awareness of men’s health issues, which competes with the likes of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). All of these events bring annual attention to a particular topic and call people to action, whether it be changing one’s batteries, getting screened for cancer, growing a mustache, or writing a novel. While the safety of our humble abodes and family health will always be paramount, we should not neglect our online and social health.

In a time when some employers are asking for social log-ins during the hiring process and many companies use social media to vet employees or learn more about vendors or business partners, why not take time to run your online and social checkup? Go ahead, Google yourself––I’ll wait. What did you find? A public-facing LinkedIn profile, tweets, press releases, or embarrassing photos? Depending on your celebrity and the uniqueness of your first and last names, you may have some heavy competition for the top results. For instance, if you shared a full name with an English soccer star (with a pretty sweet theme song), you would have to add several search operators like the minus sign (-soccer, -football, -athlete) to eliminate any online content associated with the soccer star to finally get a result relevant to you in particular.

Here is your prescription:

  1. Google yourself. Examine the search results and add search operators to eliminate the noise to get to the good stuff. Either way, clip the results to your Evernote notebook, or if you must, print out the results and store in a file folder hidden, unsearchable, in some dreaded physical file cabinet. Regardless of your storage preference, keep note of what changes over time.
  2. Social profile review. Depending on your search results and your social media account settings, you may find profile details, posts, or other details strewn around the net for anyone to pilfer, exploit, mock, or fact-check. Make a list of the profiles that are easily found through search engine activity. Then dive down into each account settings page by platform to determine what content you want to limit access to and how to limit that content.
  3. Ask the tough question, what is your brand? Other people are, or will be at some point in the near future, using your online/social presence (or lack thereof) to vet you for something or learn about the brand called “you.” What does a Google search, LinkedIn, Twitter, Yelp, blog, or Facebook account portray about who you are? A smattering of personal info or interests may make you seem more approachable and human if that is the message you want to portray. Your “brand” can and will change as your personal and professional lives progress, but during those different stages in your life, what persona does your social presence promote? Complete a brain dump (mind map) of what makes your brand unique, then hone your social presence to fit the brand that you want others to see.

Competing with the likes of Movember and NaNoWriMo is difficult, but how about this? Regardless of what you do, about every 28 days you experience a full moon, and––except for those in extreme latitudes during summer months––this large, glowing rock in the sky should stand as a reminder to perform your social checkup. Twelve or so times per year isn’t a big investment. So every full moon, complete the three steps of the social checkup. Maybe you could even perform your checkup under the full moon––just find some moonlight with Wi-Fi and let the checkup begin. See you under the moon.

Author: John Carew

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Getting More Than You Give

Posted on March 16, 2012 | Leave a comment

I’m not exactly what you’d call an early adopter. When my husband and I were on vacation in Turks and Caicos, he was the first one to jump overboard into the vast ocean equipped with snorkel gear. I had a full report on what he saw down there (no sharks right?) and knew the temperature of the water before even so much as one flipper got wet. When my peers dropped their old-feature phones for newer, sleeker, and more versatile smartphones, I watched, waited, and eventually upgraded.

I suppose this cautiousness is a fundamental part of my personality. It explains why I studied at PennState(only after my brother went the year before and LOVED it) and why I haven’t splurged on Lasik eye surgery (is it really safe?). It’s easy to see how this cautiousness has infiltrated my decision-making process.

I approached Facebook with the same level of caution. Friends and colleagues were fast to sign up and fast to put it all out there for the world to see. They posted pictures from Nona’s 90th, updated their statuses by the minute (“at the gym … doing laundry … napping”), and found every person they crossed paths with from grammar school to their current position and sent them a friend request. They were on fire!

I was intrigued … from the sidelines. I was suspicious of the shy introvert with 1 million friends and a little taken aback by the colleague who posted her vacation pictures (poolside with piña colada).  I created an account and logged on once a week. For the most part, I was enjoying what everyone else was saying. I was happy when old friends sent friend requests. I giggled at their ridiculous comments and enjoyed the pics they posted. Seemed that I was, dare I say it … having fun? And as someone who put so little out there, how was this possible?

A recent article posted on the Pew Research Center website explains this phenomenon. In summary, the article’s findings are that a segment of Facebook power-users (roughly 20–30% of total users) allows the majority of us to receive more than we give. Power-users send more friend requests, send more messages, and post and tag more photos that the rest of us.

They make it possible for people like me to sit back and enjoy the show! So while in most cases it’s better to give than to receive, that might not be the case for the average Facebook user. This week, take a look at your own use of Facebook and ask yourself what kind of user you are. You may actually learn a little bit about yourself in the process.

Author: Cori Eriksson

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The Future of Next Generation Augmented Reality

Posted on March 9, 2012 | Leave a comment

Augmented reality, or AR––sounds futuristic, but there has been an increasing number of practical applications coming out since the release of the iPhone 3GS. For those who don’t know the term, “augmented reality” is the enhancement of your reality using digital means. Think of the marker lines going across the football field when you watch a game on TV. They are not really on the field but just digital images on your screen.

We have been creating AR experiences on iPhones, Android devices, and iPads since 2009. We once envisioned using our smartphones and iPads to view enhanced imagery triggered by locations or visual markers, but now we will be able to see this imagery without holding up a device. The latest in our augmented world is the news that Google will offer AR glasses by the end of this year. These glasses won’t be the first but may likely be the product that accelerates AR development to the tipping point in use.

The implications are huge for education, health care, and just about every other industry. Think about a doctor who can view digital CAT scans and manipulate the images that are overlaid the patients body.  The iPad or smartphone recognizes the body outline and other parts and can accurately overlay the images. . Cool and useful. Or imagine reading a book with your heads-up display (HUD) glasses on and seeing 3-D imagery that is activated by a little head gesture. Or a munchkin on the screen turning to you and asking, “What would you do?”

Rumor is that the Google HUD glasses could look something like these Oakley Thumps.

Our job as technology “Vanguards” is to come up with practical ways to use the tech. I can think of a hundred ways this will help my life––from driving to recognizing people. The future is being augmented before my eyes. How cool is that?

Author: Dana Farbo

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