David Pogue’s Time Saving Text Tips

There are short cuts you can take that will save you time when you type. David Pogue, personal technology editor at The New York Times, outlines them for you in the video below. For example, if you put your flight in the Google search box, your airline will pop up, the flight, arrival, and departure time. Google takes you immediately to the flight data info. Awesome, huh? Or you can use the Google box as a dictionary. Just type in “Define” and the word you are interested in. The definition instantly appears.

Watch David below for other short cuts.

Must Be a Slow News Day at The New York Times

The story in The New York Times about the digital industry not buying art is a non-story. Having worked in journalism for many years, I can just smell what took place before this story was created. Some section editor was thinking of how much copy he or she needed to fill a section and then told the writer exactly what to deliver.

Back to the Library

We all thought libraries were going to leave this earth like VCRs, Palm Pilots, and cassette players. Don’t count libraries out just yet. Many libraries across the country have jumped on the ebook bandwagon and will now allow you to borrow from their electronic catalog. How amazing is that? I love when the establishment reinvents itself to take advantage of new opportunities. Kindle is the most popular ebook at most libraries. That is because its owner, Amazon, was smart enough to team up with the majority of libraries. Some places offer books for Nooks as well. Don’t forget that you can get Kindle ebooks on your iPhone and iPad as well.

In order to take advantage of this convenience, you still have to have a library card, (you can get one from your local branch or you can obtain one online) and make sure you have their pin-code so you can access all of the available ebooks in their collection. My good friend J.D. Biersdorfer of The New York Times recently did a blog piece on how to borrow an ebook from the library, so if you click here you can follow her instructions. Each library has its own set of rules but they are very easy to follow. Also note that each library has its own loan period, so be sure to check that out. Some libraries even got wise to which titles are more in demand and put shorter time constrictions on them.

Here are some other helpful tips. You do not have to go to the library to borrow a book. You can now borrow (download) a book from the comfort of your home on the library’s website. Depending on which library that you belong to, you may have to look around a bit for the ebook link, but most sites place it right on their home page. After clicking it, you are free to browse through the available ebooks. Once you are ready to checkout, you click the Checkout button and follow the prompts, including signing in with your local library card and account information. However, if you’re not signed up, it should allow you to do so on that page.

One of the biggest advantages of downloading an ebook from the library is that it is less expensive. If you are a book collector, this is not for you. For the majority of us, borrowing ebooks from the library is now a big wow factor.

Is There an App for my Heartburn?

Did you see the story in the New York Times this morning about how difficult it is for software app developers to make a living?

When I read this story I just wanted to weep. The technology business moves so fast that one day you’re a hero, the next day you’re just another average nobody. You go from the highest of the high, to the lowest of low.

It is sort of like the entertainment business. I am fascinated by people who have such a passion for the arts that they are willing to starve their entire lives for the one chance of making it big. The same thing happens in the app business. Everyone who felt that they had the million dollar idea left their day jobs, cashed in their investments to float them for awhile, and begged others to chip in as well.

Before I go any further, I am not saying this is the scenario for every developer, but it certainly is for the majority of the 600,000 apps that are available today. Most of the app creators started out with an idea, immediately developed it and never really researched the market potential. They also have no money for marketing, so it just resides in the app store with little to no exposure.

The part that hurts the most is that developing apps today has become the so-called excuse for not doing something more substantial or more productive. I can’t begin to tell you how many people I meet at cocktail parties or other events who tell me they are busy developing an app, when I know they are basically using that line instead of saying they are out of work. I know too many friends who are still supporting their adult children because they supposedly got stung by the entrepreneur bug and want to develop an app. That really is a euphemism for “I am taking some time off from the real working world to screw around.”

I don’t know how it happens, but I often get asked to review the app concept by the grandparents, parents, friends or lovers. More times than not, the idea person can’t even articulate what the app is all about. They talk in circles and never get to the point. Then when you ask to see the business plan, they look at you like you’re asking them to recite the Gettysburg address. They don’t want to bother putting a document together because the “smart” investors will recognize their genius and just hand over the money.

I stopped taking meetings because I found out that I was putting in more time than the developer. I am not an authority on the true merits of an app, but I can spot a “slacker” from miles away. I really want to urge others who want to develop an app to do it at night or on weekends, the returns are just not there.

There Is Not A Tech PR Woman Alive Who Wouldn’t Want To Be Married to David Pogue

David Pogue

David Pogue, the personal tech reporter for the New York Times, has something that no other man alive has, his column. He is also an author, TV host, public speaker and a Broadway song and dance man.

If you don’t know who David is, then I suggest you “Google” him. His personal tech column probably has more readership than any other source for digital news. That is true for both print and online. I am not saying there are no other powerful tech writers around. There certainly are. However, if David writes about a tech company, the PR person representing that client, has hit a home run, right out of the park. If David likes the product or service and recommends it to his readers, the PR person responsible for the placement, has achieved one of the greatest moments of his or her career.

David calls it “The Pogue Experience.” I had the pleasure of experiencing “The Pogue Experience” several times. One of the most memorable times was when he wrote about an iPhone app we represented at HWH PR, called “Line2.” “Line2” adds a second line on your smartphone so you can have two numbers, one for business, the other for personal. The day David wrote about “Line2,” 72,000 of his readers immediately download the app and brought down the “Line2” servers.  No one at “Line2” was prepared for such a heavy duty, positive reaction.

There are many other scenarios, but the one I want to tell you about today is David’s marriage proposal to a tech PR gal from Silicon Valley. He lives in Connecticut. The 3,000 mile romance has been written up before but not as much as the attention they are getting today. The video he created to be a part of the surprise for his girlfriend went viral. It is the talk of the romance and tech editorial pages all across the country.

Watch his marriage proposal video below.

Mazel Tov David

Check out other stories about David’s marriage proposal in Huffington Post, Gizmodo and Media Bistro. Just click on the bold type to access the stories.

 

 

 

If You Can’t Stand To See Your Child Unhappy, You Are In The Wrong Business

Joanne Wilson

I want to share a post by another blogger who focuses on food, books, and music even though I’ve have seen her lately write about women, travel, and parenting. Her name is Joanne Wilson and she is the Gotham Gal. Joanne is also an angel investor in a number of start-ups and every member of her family is a blogger, her husband Fred and children Jessica, Emily and Josh.

I was amazed by a post she did last week spotlighting a New York Times story about “parenting.” I feel Joanne was able to capture the essence of the article so well that she really made me examine my own skills, not that I needed Joanne to do that for me. I have always asked myself if I spent too much time at work and not enough time fawning over my daughter. I have to admit that I would not have changed a thing but I do get a little self-conscious when I see friends inserting themselves into every inch of their adult children’s lives. I kind of want to do the same thing but I have a very strong force that stops me, my daughter.

I truly recommend that every Digidame reader reads this story and share’s it with friends. You don’t have to have children to appreciate the message of Gotham Gal’s post. You can spot yourself or a friend very quickly. Thank you Joanne. Well said!

Click here to read Joanne’s blog

Follow-Up On Square

The other day I posted a story about the mobile payment app Square and how it was going to eliminate the use of paper money and credit cards at retail cash registers across the nation.

Apparently, the investment community feels Square is a sure bet. The New York Times reported that Square is close to raising roughly $200 million, which would give the company an implied valuation of $3.25 billion

Read more about it.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/square-is-said-to-be-seeking-a-3-25-billion-valuation

Video Cameras Are Becoming The “Black Boxes” In Accidents

I didn’t make up that headline. The New York Times used it a few days ago to describe how video cameras, strapped to helmets on people who ride bicycles, are now becoming more important because of the high rate of accidents. I just want to mention that a few of my friends were seriously injured in bicycle accidents. I talked about this in recent posts. I also recently introduced many of you to the Go Pro video camera. This brand and others are enjoying a big boost in sales due to these nasty accidents. Yesterday, I featured a video camera for cars that not only captures scenery when you are traveling, but other drivers as well. Video cameras for traveling may soon become a necessary evil.

Please travel safe.

To access The New York Times story, just click on the highlighted New York Times above.

Internet + Death

When I was in the taxi riding home from JFK airport two weeks ago, after our trip to Croatia, I received this text from the superintendent of my NYC coop: “Your neighbor in 10A passed.”

I was stunned on several accounts.

First, I never understood that expression. Passed? I am not trying to be funny, but passed what? An exam? Broke wind? Passed a stone? I just asked Eliot if he agreed with the expression “passed” before writing this post. He got annoyed with me and in a tone that only a 100-year marriage could produce (remember, we work together 24/7), he sighed, “What do you think it means? Passed. Like in passed on. Like no longer living. Like on to the afterlife.” It seemed to make sense during his explanation, but I don’t like it.

Secondly, I was stunned to receive a text. That seems to be the way I am receiving death notices these days. Cut and dry. No need for small talk. “Virginia passed.” Now don’t say that this is “just New Yorkers.” Many people in my coop know each other well because we are always at each other’s throat over some issue.

Virginia was another story. My quiet neighbor who I’ve seen maybe 10 times in the last 20 years even though we lived side-by-side, seemed happy and healthy when we met at the trash chute a month ago. She was around my age and single. I was on my way to work when she opened the door to throw out her garbage. This was our usual encounter. Virginia had been sick a few years back and looked frail for quite some time. In the last year or two she seemed active and carefree. I also confirmed this with our doormen. They know things like that.

I tried to talk to our super Salim face-to-face, but he was too busy in the morning before I left for work and off the premises when I came home at night. So the texting continued. “What happened?” I texted.  He texted back, ”Her nephew called me to say that he couldn’t reach her. When he came to the building a few hours later, we both went into her apartment together. We found her in bed, gone.”

When I met up with Salim days later, he told me that in the 20 years he has been working in the building this marked the eighth body he’s discovered — several found in bath tubs, on the floor, or slumped in a chair.

The third thing that stunned me was the notice the police posted on Virginia’s door. Until an autopsy is performed and a death is determined, no one is allowed to enter the apartment. The seal on the door cannot be broken. Salim promised to text me the findings. Other neighbors asked me to text them what I’ve learned.

Texting has replaced hanging out the window, screaming your neighbor’s name.

By the way, we argue by text as well but we use CAPS. “SCREW YOU!!”

I wanted to tell you this story after reading Jenna Wortham’s New York Times piece about “Death Online.” Jenna has been reporting on digital news for years. She is well-respected and adored.

NYTimes: Digital Diary: Talking About Death Online

Posting about a personal loss online makes people — both the poster and the readers — uncomfortable. Why does the social Web seem limited to a few emotions? http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/29/digital-diary-talking-about-death-online/

Rest In Peace Virginia

DIGIDAME IS A TSA PRE-CHECK TRUSTED TRAVELER

I am writing this post from the American Airline’s D49 Gate at Miami International Airport. It is 6:41am. For the second time, my husband Eliot and I skipped the usual 45 minute security line because we belong to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Pre-Check Trusted Traveler Program. We no longer have to wait on endless security lines that usually adds panic to our forever trek from the check-in point to the New York bound gate at the end of the terminal. Ever notice that most flights headed to NY are relegated to the furthest gates?

The pre-check program is very important to us because we usually take an early morning flight out from Miami to NY. That means getting up at 4am to shower and do all of the morning rituals in less than an hour. We are out the door by 6 and at the airport by 6:30 for a 7:30 am flight. Not a minute to spare.

The TSA Pre-Check is one of the most wonderful results of the digital revolution. You are pre-screened once you opt-in online. No more removing shoes, laptops, toiletries and lighter outer clothing.  I feel like we are “Forward To The Past,” pre 9/11. There is a special security line for the Pre-Check passengers. You walk right through while everyone else is giving you dirty looks, especially the First Class passengers who are not happy about being upstaged and are clueless about this program.

We also belong to the Global Entry program. For $100 you can fill out a form online, then subordinate yourself to an in-person interview where you get finger printed and have your photo taken.  If you clear the screening, you receive an identity card and a sticker on your passport that allows you expedited clearance at customs when you enter the United States.

I was so nervous for my interview. I didn’t know what they were going to ask.  I rehearsed the “Pledge Of Allegiance” and “The Star Spangled Banner” many times the night before. I memorized the list of Presidents of the United States and who was serving in the current administration. The interview was nothing like that at all. They asked some basic questions and I signed a few documents. I did get extremely nervous when the electronic scanner could not capture my fingerprints. I had to try about 10 times, which required me washing my fingers with hand wipes, powder, and tissues. It was so embarrassing and brought up old childhood memories of me thinking I was really from another planet.  Then another police officer came to my rescue when he discovered that my name was spelled wrong on the application which had stopped the process. Whew, maybe I am human.

David Pogue

I could go on and on about the virtues of both programs, but the digital genius of The New York Times,  David Pogue, did a blog post about this last week.  You should give it a read.  http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/27/zipping-through-airport-security/

No one explains it better than Pogue.