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Year 2012

Entries 20 Total

Trend: Media Monitoring

Dec 31, ’12 4:47 PM

With all the Social Media we use daily our ability to control our information and monitor our activites and its impact has become a key skill hopefully helped bty a growing list of companies scrambling for our attention with applications that promise Social Media mastery in mere minutes. None have emerged as the best solution as yet. Most seem to still be building process. They are busy adding tutorials and webinars to attract us to sign up for subscriptions that in some cases are expensive as well as complex and complicated.

  • HootSuite
  • HubSpot
  • UberVU
  • Sprout Social
  • Socious

In this new year I will continue to aggressively monitor this field in the hopes that I can draft pinpoint informative reports that inform users interested in monitoring their media footprint and acivities without jumping through countless hoops and over hurdles.

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Another Year: Another Chance

Dec 31, ’12 3:39 PM

What is it that you would like to achieve this year that alluded you last year?

Whatever it is you have another shot at it starting today.

I am not talking about making just another New Year’s resolution but a strategic plan with real deliverables you can map and measure. It could be anything business success, romance,  gaining skills and talents, fullfiling a wish, whatever. Just please don’t differ it to another time, Act as if.

Ask yourself:

  • What did you not do to prepare last year?
  • What do you need or must you do this year?
  • Can you actuall see yourself accomplishing it?
  • What’s, if anything, is stopping you?

This may all sound like just a rah rah pep talk to pump you up, but it is actually my simple attempt to inspire you to the greatness that surely is in you.

That is my greatest hope for you and yours. That you may be a blessing to your friends, family and community and serve the high cause of making things better for others.

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The Internet as an Interuption

Dec 31, ’12 11:11 AM

They convinced us that all this stuff we are doing online is vital when if we examine it closely they are mainly interuptions in essential activities and efforts that shoul dominate our focus.

This is why the Internet has become more an entertainment vehicle than an information or training resource.

It can be a useful resource if we are not distractedby the glitz of Social Media and other bright, glowing attractions.

Many of those that are serious try  desparately to find ways to contort the Internet or Social Media into business opportunities most succeed by offering the lure to others much like hardware suppliers made real profits from the goldrush by supplying the miners.

So enjoy your webinars, whitepapers and conferences. I sincerely hope that you find your fortune and not just more distraction.

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App Review: Catch

Dec 31, ’12 8:17 AM

Catch has turned out to be my favorite app of 2012. When Evernote fell on its face and lost my info and data Catch was there to get me back on track.

I have sketches and drafts for numerous briefs and posts in process at one time.  Catch has proven to be a really good tool for doing this work effectively. It has a few bells and whistles that matter and makes Catch an app that deserves a look.

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2012: It’s a Wrap

Dec 30, ’12 9:42 AM

Its the last dregs of 2012 draining away.

On this last day it is a good time to look back at what was not really so bad a year, nor such a great year. At the of each every journalist, analyst and blogger worth his/her ink reaches for the low-hanging fruit by writing an end-of-the-year wrapup and drafting a look ahead. So we will look back at the political, corporate and personal challenges and achievements we faced in 2012 as well as the milestone events that made it the year we will remember it as.

We made it past 12.21.12 doomsday predictions, survived a very hotly debated and overly-polarized Presidential election.

We still face a “fiscal cliff” that threantens to bottom-out the economy and figure out what to do about all the guns and rifles that take the lives of our children and fellow law-abiding citizens.

2012 Highlights:

  • The S.F. Giants pull off another major league miracle
  • Predictions of demise fail without incident
  • CES 2013 looks to be a great event to start the new year
  • Supreme Court Rules in favor of “Obamacare”
2012 Lowlights:
  • The loss of tech culture icon Steve Jobs
  • Civil and political instability abounds Worldwide
  • Malware and such grows
  • Newtown, CT suffers gun tragedy for teachers and children

Items of Interest:

  • Samsung dethrones Apple for the smartphone crown
  • Holiday shopping saw a sharp decline in retail spending
  • Mounting patent suits threaten growth of technology iand nnovation
  • Mars mission wastes billions and discover nothing
  • Mobility becomes absolutely essential to our digital lives
  • Netflix takes hits and suffers pitfalls

2012 Trends:

  • Facebook claims over 1 Billion users
  • Folks use text messenging rather than phone calls
  • Social Networking is THE hot trend
  • 48 M iPads sold, Tablets displace PCs as chief business devices
  • Mega companies are forced to reinvent themselves
  • Education goes online via elearning to ehance education
  • Asia steps forward as top manufacturing nations
  • Twitter becomes a worldwide cultural phenomena
  • Still no real iTV by Apple or anyone

Before we close and dispose of 2012 lets pause just a moment to give our humble thanks for being allowed to see another year full of promise and enormous potential. Given our best efforts and planning may we all realize our fondest wishes and fullest dreams. It’s time to move forward into our future. We must contemplate what we must do differently or more or less of in 2013,

GOODBYE 2012, IT WAS NICE KNOWING YOU

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The Lessons of 12/21/12

Dec 22, ’12 2:58 PM

Now that the predicted “Mayan” doomsday is over and has passed I ask myself “What lessons did I learn from all this?”

Lessons of 12/21/12:

  1. Chicken Little is always wrong
  2. Fear becomes a commodity when pimped.
  3. Predictions are bogus
  4. Don’t use other cultures as proof if you don’t understand them
  5. Psychics are full of shit, most of the time
  6. Fatalists have a deathwish and long for the end of things
  7. No one can clearly read signs of the future
  8. Superstition is absolutely crippling
  9. Reading Nostradamus is simply a form of divination
  10. Astrology is nothing but a con game
  11. Astronomy is purely guesswork and imagination
  12. The news is fiction
  13. People are idiots
  14. No one knows what is in the mind of God
  15. Organized religion is highly suspect
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Retail Trend 2013: Smaller Packaging + Higher Prices

Dec 18, ’12 8:38 AM

I just visited a store I have shopped at for te past 10 years and quickly noticed all the new packaging in addition to higher prices. The real surprising element was that this was for almost every product across all sorts of categories. The packaging was slicker and the labeling more misleading and deceptive.

It seems no mere accident or coincidence. If this is just a trend who set it? If it is just a strategy who declared it? Mainly, how did most manufacturers move to this agenda at the same time?

Consumers, In 2013 buy wisely, be selective!

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Industry Assessment

Dec 17, ’12 9:05 AM

As an aspect of thecoolnessfactor’s Industry Watch I am now engaged in working on the current and emerging Tech Industry we face in 2013 and and  look into market research on a broad range of inter-related issues to include but not limited to corporate and business intelligence including: Platforms, devices, development, trends, providers, channels.

Any questions, suggestions or information you can contribute are welcome.

At some point if this is ongoing a no-fee subscription may be required to facilitate effective distribution.

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Bits & Bytes 12.14.12

Dec 14, ’12 10:08 AM

One week closer to Earth’s muc- predicted DoomsDay. Many seers already finding excuses, new theories, and hedging their bets. Retail stores stocking up for huge 2012 Holiday shopping season. Geeks getting ready for CES 2013 in January. Hey History Channel, stop with all the Nostradamus crap already!

Best Bits of the Week:

  • Rumor: Next Gen iPad Mini to have high res display
  • Google hard-pimping Google Maps for iOS, rubs Apple’s face it it!
  • Mozilla Browser hanging in there on market share
  • Indium gallium arsenide transistor to boost microchip performance
  • Litigious Samsung Files Another Lawsuit Against LG Display
  • Google Says: No Plans To Build Apps For Win Phone 8, Surprise!!!
  • YotaPhone Two-Faced Phone to sport LCD & E-Paper Screen
  • Apple Testing Out Designs For Apple HDTV
  • Microsoft Increasing Surface Tablet Production to meet demand
  • Nexus 7 tablet a hands-down hit, demand super high
  • Galaxy Note II getting Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) Update
  • Google Nexus 4 Hacked, Runs On Some AT&T’s LTE Networks
  • Rumor has it that Apple’s New 27″ iMacs To Ship Soon
  • Samsung planning ‘Something New’ For CES 2013
  • USPTO rules Apple’s Multi-Touch Patent Ruled Invalid
  • LG Back in Game by Selling 10 Mil L-Series Smartphones
  • Apple Considering Making Mac Pro In USA
  • For Shame: Teen Steals iPhone From Quadriplegic Man
  • Event Data Recorder Black Boxes To Be Required In New Cars
  • New version of Google Chrome fixing a few flaws is now available
  • Revelation: U.S. Counterterrorism Agency Can See All Your Files

So there you have it a short round up of some of the news briefs and rumors that caught our attention.

Take care, Stay Safe and enjoy your life & family.

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Geniuses and Idiots

Dec 13, ’12 9:32 AM

There are many of both types out here in the cyberworld.

Developing the inate skill to be able to sort between each is a primary key in figuring out exactly who to study, pay attention to and learn from.

You can use this to sort email. Put the idiots pile in your e-mails spam filter so that any mail from or about them is instantly trashed. This could actually be a very useful new app or utility.

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Our Forth Anniversary

Dec 10, ’12 9:04 AM

It is a bit hard to believe that we have been working The Coolness Factor for over four years. Especially consider I too this on at what seemed at the time the lowest oint in my life. There I lay in a Berkeley, CA hospital recovering from a massive hemoragic stroke and TCF was what I worked to get back to. Four years later I am still recovering and trying to regain lost skills.

I have been forced to retire from my daily work as a program administrator of an urban computer training center in Oakland. Now my life is spent hunting down information for this publication. I hope you enjoy it and will continue to utilize it in the coming years. THANK YOU!

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Oversaturation

Dec 10, ’12 8:54 AM

Too damn much data masquerading as information. Too many solutions solving nothing. Too many how to’s from sources that don’t have a bit of a clue. Too much plain old bullshit flooding the massive pipelines.

We have metaphorically buried ourselves neck deep in digital clutter and do not know if or how we can extracate ourselves from all this mess.

Those that have a clue look to leverage and exploit their knowledge to their advantage. Many of these are the hackers we deplore, and the app developers we ignore.

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Bits & Bytes 12.7.12

Dec 7, ’12 7:31 AM

Email accounts chock full of mind-numbing hype and hustle, is that the world we envisioned and built for ourselves? As the High Holidays approach it willl only increase and get worse. Just about very app we have acquired during the year is sending out upgrade requests and fee adjustments. Companies such as Google are revealing that those once “free” solutions will now begin to charge to create revenue to continue.

Well as we empty out the crap and get ready for CES 2013 this is a good time to examine the relevant news briefs from the past week.

Bits & Bytes

  • Google ready to start charging for Google Apps
  • Apple sold million iPads in three days promise to be hottest tech gift
  • News Corp. to shut The Daily newspaper for iPad Dec. 15
  • T-Mobile to offer iPhones and kill subsidies
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Blogging Saved My Life!

Dec 4, ’12 11:10 AM

Blogging may have been one of the factors that initially led to my stroke in 2008 but blogging definately has kept me sharp these years afterwords.

Its been four years now. I have had no major reoccurance except a few brain farts, nor much longtime loss of brain nor body function. Sure, I forget some things and am much more impatient with bullshit but when I lock onto something interesting I can hang.

I don’t actually reccommend it for every stroke victim but for those that had mentally stimulating lives prior to their episode I would encourage them to consider it as occupational therapy.

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IFTT

Dec 4, ’12 10:38 AM

I just ran into a little thing I think is kinda unique. It is called IFTT or “If This Then That”. IFTTT reminds me of some of the earlier macro schrmes used by companies like Apple and Microsoft over the years. It is also a sort of function mash up allowing Internet users to engage in very basic programming of the web to achieve desired tasks. It can very interesting to look at some of the “Recipes” IFTTT users have crafted.

Thanks to Technovators for the lead and to MASHABLE for the great article about IFTTT.

I have to spend some time digging into IFTTT before I actually reccomend it but at first glance there is amazing potential there to extend the web as we have known and used it into harnessing needed new functions largely absent to date.

To check it out for youself visit the IFTTT site.

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Salesforce.com: Claiming the Cloud

Dec 3, ’12 10:52 AM

Salesforce.com was one of the first tech companies to take all manner of solutions online and hang tough with the cloud concept until the world caught up to it. Now as the Cloud has become a real thing Salesforce.com stepped forward to lead the charge at Dreamforce 2012 that happened in San Francisco last September 18 to 21

As the one company dedicated to using the cloud as a platform and as a service Salesforce.com is using that tight focus to stimulate and drive increased Cloud utilization and innovation.

They expect to launch a new updated version of the popular Salesforce.com.

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Fantastical THE calendar app

Dec 3, ’12 3:05 AM

I went all of 2012 hoping to find a better calendar than iCAL. I had just about given up hope until I caught up to Fantastical from Flexbits. I wanted to go into the new year better managing my appointments and tasks than rhe past year when too much good stuff slipped through the cracks.

Fantastical takes very seriously our mission of maintaining an effective calendar and scheduling routine.

FANTASTICAL FEATURES

  • MacOS and iOS solution
  • Natural language input
  • Syncronization
  • Applescript integration
  • iCal, BusyCal, Entourage, Outlook compatibility
  • Launchbar access
  • Customization capabilities
  • Easy search of events
  • Alarms
  • Keyboard shortcuts and gestures
  • Excellent Help
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It Could Happen To You!

Dec 1, ’12 10:50 AM

Everyday you read about common users being scammed, hacked and sometimes robbed of their hard-earned cherished devices.
We sometimes develop a “It’ll never happen to me” mentality, and then BOOM, its your turn. The following are a few hints and reminders to help keep you safe and secure. No level of diligence is unnecessary. Take the to do whatever you possibly can to protect yourself from the many scams, snares and traps that are out there waiting for you. Hopefully one day all of this won’t be necessary.

  • Safety First!
  • Watch your own back (online and offl)
  • Be careful what you do and what you post about yourself
  • Never submit too much personal info or to many pictures
  • Use extreme care and caution before downloading anything
  • Free isn’t always free there is always a cost or price to pay
  • Trust no one without exercising reasonable diligence
  • Keep your disks and systems clean, secure and protected
  • Keep a secure journal of all your passwords, serials and logins
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Info Obesity

Dec 1, ’12 10:40 AM

Info Obesity

I wasn’t aware of this term until I read a post from “News Republic”.

Info Obesity accurately describes how I am feeling about all the thousands of stored bookmarks, documents, posts that I will never read nor need ever again.

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2013: A Look Ahead

Dec 1, ’12 7:41 AM

  • C.E.S. 2013 will be biggest yet: thousands of new products.
  • Samsung will rise to the top of the Smartphone heap.
  • RIM will make a strong bid to stay relevant and in the game
  • Microsoft will continue to shift the deck chairs around
  • Apple will launch a number of new products
  • Hackers & Malware will infest and harvest Social Media ecosystems
  • Due to a massive industry shakeout many companies won’t survive
  • Smartphones become “controllers” to other appliance and device
  • Bandwidth providers will be taken to task for onerous long contracts
  • Consolidation, restructuring and alliance are watch words for 2013
  • Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 & Windows 8 will hit but come up short
  • Google rises to the top of the heap through new products & services
  • Developers become the object of desire for platform & device makers
  • Social Media will meet fits and starts, users get frustrated and bored
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