I'm a gadget junky and I have loved the iPhone since I first set eyes on it back when the first generation came out. Naturally, I had to have the iPhone 4 the day it came out (very similar to the fellow in this YouTube spoof).
I know that there is a huge outcry that the design is flawed and the reception is terrible, but honestly, I haven't had a single complaint about the phone. I wonder if it's because of the case that I purchased with the phone that allows the antenna to function? Or maybe because I'm left handed or use a headset most of the time?
I like how Apple is hitting this straight on at the press conference that is going on now.
I'm not giving mine back.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Heading to Mexico City!
Since a recent jaunt (or two) to Costa Rica, I've been trying to learn Spanish during my long commute to work.
I really like the Pimsleur program from Simon and Shuster because I feel like I can put the language skills to use immediately as opposed to other programs that I've tried (like Rosetta Stone) that provide reading and writing skills but that seemed to progress a bit slower. For example, after working through the Pimsleur lessons, I can ask for directions, order food, and deal with money after Spanish I. With Rosetta Stone I felt like I could only identify objects within the same time period.
An opportunity came up to travel to Mexico City for a Special Interest Group that is affiliated with an organization that I volunteer for. Not only do I get to attend the meeting, but I can also give a brief overview of the organization (in Spanish)!
Unfortunately, I can presently order beer and ask where I could find a good Doctor, but I don't have a lot of industry terms or past tense verbs to talk intelligently about the history of our group and the presentation is in three weeks.
Here's my plan:
Related Links:
I really like the Pimsleur program from Simon and Shuster because I feel like I can put the language skills to use immediately as opposed to other programs that I've tried (like Rosetta Stone) that provide reading and writing skills but that seemed to progress a bit slower. For example, after working through the Pimsleur lessons, I can ask for directions, order food, and deal with money after Spanish I. With Rosetta Stone I felt like I could only identify objects within the same time period.
An opportunity came up to travel to Mexico City for a Special Interest Group that is affiliated with an organization that I volunteer for. Not only do I get to attend the meeting, but I can also give a brief overview of the organization (in Spanish)!
Unfortunately, I can presently order beer and ask where I could find a good Doctor, but I don't have a lot of industry terms or past tense verbs to talk intelligently about the history of our group and the presentation is in three weeks.
Here's my plan:
- I wrote a very simple script in English and sent it off to a translation company that was very helpful and affordable (ASTA-USA)
- Once I had the translation (it only took two business days), I used Voices.com to find a Latin American Spanish speaking professional to record two versions of the speech (one in a remedial pace that I can understand with my limited Spanish and one at the speed at which I should actually aim to deliver the overview)
- I saved the audio files to my iPhone and carry the script around with me in my purse so that I can listen to it and practice whenever I have a spare moment
- When I'm a bit more comfortable with the material I'm going to try to practice it in front of some Spanish speaking friends to get pointers on my delivery before going to the event to try it live on August 3rd
Related Links:
- Pimsleur Method for Spanish
- ATA-USA Translation Services - I spoke with a sales rep over chat and she helped me to understand the process and get a quote
- Voices.com - I highly recommend this site and have been using it for years for various education and marketing-related projects. You create a project and send it out to bid. It's amazing how quickly the voiceover professionals will record a custom demo for you and you are able to find the right fit for your project.
Social Media Seminar
I attended a great seminar today in Atlanta that was led by Steve Latham of Spur Interactive. I realized that I have been in a bit of a social media rut with my projects lately, and this really is inspiring me to get back into the swing of things.
So many ideas! If I had to choose, I think my favorite two new tools from the day that we will be able to put to use right away are services called HootSuite and SlideShare.
HootSuite
HootSuite is a tool that enables you to update multiple statuses on a variety of social networking sites at the same time from a single interface. This is a fantastic fit for me because I have so many different accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn for various purposes (i.e., company accounts, accounts for volunteer groups, professional profiles, fan pages, and personal profiles). You can use HootSuite to post content that would be of interest to all of your followers from different areas of your social networking circles at once, or pick and choose the profiles you wish to update. Very cool!
SlideShare
SlideShare is a search-engine friendly mechanism for sharing presentations and documents online with the ability to track how many times your content is downloaded. I'm going to use this professionally to include various webinar and tradeshow presentations for my company, but also personally to highlight key presentations or documents that I've worked on that may be of interest from a Marketing or industry perspective.
Steve said that this site has great "Google Juice." If that's not a technical term, then it should be.
I'd also like to say, "Hooray for GoGo Inflight Internet!" Right now I'm sitting on a Delta flight writing my first personal blog post in years because I'm so charged up. What a great day!
Related links:
So many ideas! If I had to choose, I think my favorite two new tools from the day that we will be able to put to use right away are services called HootSuite and SlideShare.
HootSuite
HootSuite is a tool that enables you to update multiple statuses on a variety of social networking sites at the same time from a single interface. This is a fantastic fit for me because I have so many different accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn for various purposes (i.e., company accounts, accounts for volunteer groups, professional profiles, fan pages, and personal profiles). You can use HootSuite to post content that would be of interest to all of your followers from different areas of your social networking circles at once, or pick and choose the profiles you wish to update. Very cool!
SlideShare
SlideShare is a search-engine friendly mechanism for sharing presentations and documents online with the ability to track how many times your content is downloaded. I'm going to use this professionally to include various webinar and tradeshow presentations for my company, but also personally to highlight key presentations or documents that I've worked on that may be of interest from a Marketing or industry perspective.
Steve said that this site has great "Google Juice." If that's not a technical term, then it should be.
I'd also like to say, "Hooray for GoGo Inflight Internet!" Right now I'm sitting on a Delta flight writing my first personal blog post in years because I'm so charged up. What a great day!
Related links:
- Steve Latham's blog: http://blog.spurinteractive.com/
- HootSuite: http://www.hootsuite.com/
- SlideShare: http://www.slideshare.com/
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