Many of you know I have an unhealthy email/message addiction. I like to be connected at all times to the Internet.
I know, I know, it's ridiculous. But I like being connected to friends and family wherever I am. When I was in Paris (on a romantic week long vacation with my husband), I actually had a bit of withdrawal because I didn't have a cell phone or Internet access. Sad, but true.
So imagine my delight, when I saw the Spot Messenger. A satellite gizmo that's really created for sports and adventure aficionados. The Spot Messenger it utilizes a satellite with GPS to track your location and allows you to send SMS or email messages and your location (displayed on Google maps) to a select group of friends and family.
The most obvious application of this product is of course, is its 911 features, which allows for tracking in case of emergencies when you are out of reach of conventional cell phone coverage. The company provides video testimonials of dramatic rescues (such as the Bertsch family) where the Spot Messenger saved the day.
Alternative usage of this device of course would also include traveling to a location with spotty cell phone coverage or little to no phone coverage. It's a nice device to have just to stay connected with your family and let them know where you are.
A $99USD/year package buys you unlimited 911, ask for help, and check-in services. For an additional $7.95 USD/yr at the time of activation, you can get an additional $100,000 of additional search and rescue resources - including helicopter extraction around the world! - underwritten by Lloyd's of London.
The Gadget Girl in me really, really wants this device! Spot Messenger folks, send me a unit, an one-year subscription and the additional search and rescue package! Just in case I need an helicopter extraction in the near future....
OK, Sydney Bristow (um, I mean Chia-Lin Simmons...), signing out.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
PlayStation to (Finally) get Movies, TV shows, etc? Not likely soon....
I love video games. I love gaming. I love the PlayStation. I'm not ashamed as a woman to say that last Christmas, I had to think long and hard about whether I wanted a necklace or a PlayStation 3 as a gift. Those of you who listen to my podcast knows that I'm called OneGadgetGirl for my love of consolidated technology. My dream is to have a really reliable all-in-one portable device and other technology.
Imagine my excitement when I headed over to the PlayStation Blog and saw a posting by Sr. VP of Marketing and PlayStation Network, Peter Dille, that PlayStation may finally offer a long hoped for digital download solution for entertainment. Having had some professional history in this area in working with Sony, this came as a happy suprise.
Upon further reading, I realized that I had to read between the lines here. There was nothing of substance here that would address the issue that has always held up digital download services at Sony: DRM, "usage" availability, portability, cost of digital products and potential revenue share with partners. DRM is the major issue here. Nothing said beyond that the files would work across many devices. Hum...what that mean?
A stronger statement of course, would have been for PlayStation to come out and state what type of "open" standards it was supporting for DRM. It would give us fans a feeling of reassurance (or resignation).
I suspect that I will not be able to use the files I purchased from Sony on my Treo, Blackberry, iPod, SanDisk MP3, Creative MP3 or Garmin GPS system. But perhaps I'm just a glass half-empty gal? Please prove me wrong Sony!
Imagine my excitement when I headed over to the PlayStation Blog and saw a posting by Sr. VP of Marketing and PlayStation Network, Peter Dille, that PlayStation may finally offer a long hoped for digital download solution for entertainment. Having had some professional history in this area in working with Sony, this came as a happy suprise.
Upon further reading, I realized that I had to read between the lines here. There was nothing of substance here that would address the issue that has always held up digital download services at Sony: DRM, "usage" availability, portability, cost of digital products and potential revenue share with partners. DRM is the major issue here. Nothing said beyond that the files would work across many devices. Hum...what that mean?
A stronger statement of course, would have been for PlayStation to come out and state what type of "open" standards it was supporting for DRM. It would give us fans a feeling of reassurance (or resignation).
I suspect that I will not be able to use the files I purchased from Sony on my Treo, Blackberry, iPod, SanDisk MP3, Creative MP3 or Garmin GPS system. But perhaps I'm just a glass half-empty gal? Please prove me wrong Sony!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Non-tech related rant: civility in the modern world
Generally, I use this blog to discuss technology related news, latest work (tech of course) related interests, etc. Today, I felt compelled to write something about civility in the modern world.
I take the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) system from my Oakland home to work in San Francisco. This system is similar to a subway, but in many ways function much like trains that take commuters from CT or NJ into New York City. Perhaps many of you would disagree with me on this, but my expectations tend to be fairly low for New York subways and transit systems and the general civility of people who ride on them.
This is based on my own experience. In 2005, I fell off the sidewalk accidentally in New York City and broken my ankle after a job interview. I was visibly limping, in pain and sadly, was crying (just a little). I still had to get home however and could not find a cab in sight. Thus I had to limp my way to a subway to get to the train station and back to New Jersey. On the subway, despite the obviousness of my injury, not one person gave up their seat in on the NYC subway line to let me sit. Not even for those seats that are "federally" mandated for the elderly and disable. All people sitting were able bodied and young.
When I moved here (for some reason,) I expected more from my Bay Area dwellers. Perhaps it's because Californians tend to pride themselves on being friendly. In the Bay Area, this is especially true. There's this attitude and people tend to think that they live in this friendly, liberal town, filled with nice people.
This morning, I found myself staring at a lazy, twenty-something year old woman with a red Blackberry sitting in the "federally" protected seat on the BART. Right in front of her? An older woman with an ankle brace, and x-rays for the obvious broken/sprain leg. I was quite obvious in staring at this uncivil, blond, twenty-year-old twit. She avoided all contact with people and sat her butt on that seat and never gave it up for the other woman. I was angry. Very angry.
I blame myself as well. I should have just tapped that idiot and said to her "You have to give up your seat. This woman has a right to sit down. You don't. Get your lazy butt up!"
The episode this morning left me feeling slightly depressed about the state of civility in the modern world and how we treat each other as human beings. Perhaps I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill. It made me resolved to speak up more often when I see lack of civility among our fellow city dwellers and resolved to do more to change that if I can.
I take the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) system from my Oakland home to work in San Francisco. This system is similar to a subway, but in many ways function much like trains that take commuters from CT or NJ into New York City. Perhaps many of you would disagree with me on this, but my expectations tend to be fairly low for New York subways and transit systems and the general civility of people who ride on them.
This is based on my own experience. In 2005, I fell off the sidewalk accidentally in New York City and broken my ankle after a job interview. I was visibly limping, in pain and sadly, was crying (just a little). I still had to get home however and could not find a cab in sight. Thus I had to limp my way to a subway to get to the train station and back to New Jersey. On the subway, despite the obviousness of my injury, not one person gave up their seat in on the NYC subway line to let me sit. Not even for those seats that are "federally" mandated for the elderly and disable. All people sitting were able bodied and young.
When I moved here (for some reason,) I expected more from my Bay Area dwellers. Perhaps it's because Californians tend to pride themselves on being friendly. In the Bay Area, this is especially true. There's this attitude and people tend to think that they live in this friendly, liberal town, filled with nice people.
This morning, I found myself staring at a lazy, twenty-something year old woman with a red Blackberry sitting in the "federally" protected seat on the BART. Right in front of her? An older woman with an ankle brace, and x-rays for the obvious broken/sprain leg. I was quite obvious in staring at this uncivil, blond, twenty-year-old twit. She avoided all contact with people and sat her butt on that seat and never gave it up for the other woman. I was angry. Very angry.
I blame myself as well. I should have just tapped that idiot and said to her "You have to give up your seat. This woman has a right to sit down. You don't. Get your lazy butt up!"
The episode this morning left me feeling slightly depressed about the state of civility in the modern world and how we treat each other as human beings. Perhaps I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill. It made me resolved to speak up more often when I see lack of civility among our fellow city dwellers and resolved to do more to change that if I can.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Marketing v. Advertising v. PR v. Branding
Just call me a marketing geek, but this posting on John Moore's blog, Brand Autopsy, amused me to no end today. He cites Marty Neumeier's book, Zag. On page 24 and 25 of this book, Neumeier gives us an illustrated difference between these marketing disciplines.
Given that I've done all 4 of these things professionally, I couldn't help but agreed with Neumeier and loved his illustration.
For those of you interested in my presentation at Spring Von 2008 (March), I will put that up shortly so you can access the data. It's by necessity, rather short. How does one cover Copyright 101 and digital media business models in 10 minutes? You don't. You run through it like a sprinter, create a deck that helps with that and make yourself available to folks for questions. :)
Given that I've done all 4 of these things professionally, I couldn't help but agreed with Neumeier and loved his illustration.
For those of you interested in my presentation at Spring Von 2008 (March), I will put that up shortly so you can access the data. It's by necessity, rather short. How does one cover Copyright 101 and digital media business models in 10 minutes? You don't. You run through it like a sprinter, create a deck that helps with that and make yourself available to folks for questions. :)
Monday, February 4, 2008
Death and the inequities of the technology industry
Yesterday, Boston Globe reported that the death of Jeanette Symons on Friday. A pilot who has flown for over 20 years, Jeanette and her son sadly perished in a crash from Maine.
To many who work in the technology industry, this was a great loss to us. Jeanette was CTO and VP of Engineering for Zhone Technology. Prior to that, she was the CTO, EVP and co-founder of Ascend Communications, a leading provider of WAN solutions. For many women who work in the technology industry, she was considered an inspiration for many a GirlGeeks.
Her death also highlighted for me in many ways, an unchanging nature of the technology industry. No where on the major technology blogs, with the exception of a small snarky blurb on ValleyWag, was her death covered. She had made significant contributions to this industry and yet, why so little coverage of the loss of such a talented individual? If this was the death of a male entrepreneur of a similar contribution and background, this would have been in all the major technology blogs.
This saddens me greatly. I've been working in this industry since 1994 (even before graduating UCSD) and it would seem so little has changed for women working in this industry. Despite of Carley, Meg and others who have led major companies, women still seem to be second class citizens in the industry we helped to build.
That's how I'm feeling. If you disagree with me, please comment or write me an email.
To many who work in the technology industry, this was a great loss to us. Jeanette was CTO and VP of Engineering for Zhone Technology. Prior to that, she was the CTO, EVP and co-founder of Ascend Communications, a leading provider of WAN solutions. For many women who work in the technology industry, she was considered an inspiration for many a GirlGeeks.
Her death also highlighted for me in many ways, an unchanging nature of the technology industry. No where on the major technology blogs, with the exception of a small snarky blurb on ValleyWag, was her death covered. She had made significant contributions to this industry and yet, why so little coverage of the loss of such a talented individual? If this was the death of a male entrepreneur of a similar contribution and background, this would have been in all the major technology blogs.
This saddens me greatly. I've been working in this industry since 1994 (even before graduating UCSD) and it would seem so little has changed for women working in this industry. Despite of Carley, Meg and others who have led major companies, women still seem to be second class citizens in the industry we helped to build.
That's how I'm feeling. If you disagree with me, please comment or write me an email.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Amazon buys Audible for $300 million
Hey folks. Thank you all for reaching out to me today via email, IM, Facebook, etc. about the Amazon purchase of Audible. Folks I haven't had a chance to catch up with since my move to AOL and San Francisco rang me up.
For those of you who haven't heard, here's the news of the Amazon purchase.
As a former VP of the company I am not going to comment on the purchase. People have sent me emails about potential bidding wars between Apple and Amazon and whether I thought it was possible. My answer is "I don't know" and "I dont' work there anymore". What I do know is that the message boards and analysts are all debating these same questions.
I look forward to reading and following discussions online about the acquisition in the next few days as well. :)
For those of you who haven't heard, here's the news of the Amazon purchase.
As a former VP of the company I am not going to comment on the purchase. People have sent me emails about potential bidding wars between Apple and Amazon and whether I thought it was possible. My answer is "I don't know" and "I dont' work there anymore". What I do know is that the message boards and analysts are all debating these same questions.
I look forward to reading and following discussions online about the acquisition in the next few days as well. :)
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
I'm back and I'm here to share my latest gadget love
Yes, it's been weeks since I've contributed to my own blog.
It's been crazy moving cross country! Besides learning the ropes at my new job at AOL, I've been participating in speaking engagements and networking in the Silicon Valley. This will hopefully contribute to some interesting tidbits and cool things to share in the upcoming months. Oh, have I mentioned that all my gadget goodies are still in packing boxes?
But on to more important things.
What drew me out of my busy crazy "settling in" period to post again? Well, it's because I got a new gadget. Recently, I've been suffering from a bit of gadget fatigue. I haven't seen anything that got me excited.
Yes, I have a cool Blackberry 8830 for work (thanks boss!), but where's my fun product? I want a Playstation III, X-Box 360 and a Wii (what can I say, I'm a gaming chick). Yes, I think maybe the Amazon Kindle might be a good for me since I read a lot. And finally, the Chumby is for sale and I want one!! (I want one very badly. So feel free to bribe me with one!). But I've had a chance to play with all of the above mentioned items (except for the Chumby). They're fun but nothing is setting my heart pumping.
I mean, what's a girl to do? Where's my new gadget that's fun, sassy and stylish to carry around? And no, my Treo 700p is sadly not so stylish to carry around and I'm way over the iPhone and iPods - that's already done.
Today (yes today!) I got my hands on a Flip Video. It's a lovely holiday gift from my EVP at work for the business development team. I got the Ultra Series Flip Video in white and orange and it's very cute!! Not only that, it is one of the easiest to use quick shoot and share camcorders I've ever used. I believe that this is easy enough that even my techno-challenged in-laws might be able to use it after 5 minutes.
The product comes with 2x digital zoom, 1-touch recording (this is no joke!), built-in software, built in USB to plug into your computer ASAP, and cords to plug directly to your TV. All this in a small, cute package that comes with it's own little pouch and 2 AA batteries inbox.
Of course, this will not replace the expensive digital camcorder that you already have (yes, you know who you are, my gadget loving friends!), but it certainly is perfect for the technology-challenged family members as a holiday gift and is a light, inexpensive and easy-to-use gadget for quick shoots.
Check it and and let me know if you love it too, or if you think I'm crazy!
Meanwhile, if you spot me walking down the street, you'll see me with my adorable new white/orange Flip Video swinging from my wrist. There's some Scottish bagpipers near my BART station that I've been wanting to capture in video...
It's been crazy moving cross country! Besides learning the ropes at my new job at AOL, I've been participating in speaking engagements and networking in the Silicon Valley. This will hopefully contribute to some interesting tidbits and cool things to share in the upcoming months. Oh, have I mentioned that all my gadget goodies are still in packing boxes
But on to more important things.
What drew me out of my busy crazy "settling in" period to post again? Well, it's because I got a new gadget. Recently, I've been suffering from a bit of gadget fatigue. I haven't seen anything that got me excited.
Yes, I have a cool Blackberry 8830 for work (thanks boss!), but where's my fun product? I want a Playstation III, X-Box 360 and a Wii (what can I say, I'm a gaming chick). Yes, I think maybe the Amazon Kindle might be a good for me since I read a lot. And finally, the Chumby is for sale and I want one!! (I want one very badly. So feel free to bribe me with one!). But I've had a chance to play with all of the above mentioned items (except for the Chumby). They're fun but nothing is setting my heart pumping.
I mean, what's a girl to do? Where's my new gadget that's fun, sassy and stylish to carry around? And no, my Treo 700p is sadly not so stylish to carry around and I'm way over the iPhone and iPods - that's already done.
Today (yes today!) I got my hands on a Flip Video. It's a lovely holiday gift from my EVP at work for the business development team. I got the Ultra Series Flip Video in white and orange and it's very cute!! Not only that, it is one of the easiest to use quick shoot and share camcorders I've ever used. I believe that this is easy enough that even my techno-challenged in-laws might be able to use it after 5 minutes.
The product comes with 2x digital zoom, 1-touch recording (this is no joke!), built-in software, built in USB to plug into your computer ASAP, and cords to plug directly to your TV. All this in a small, cute package that comes with it's own little pouch and 2 AA batteries inbox.
Of course, this will not replace the expensive digital camcorder that you already have (yes, you know who you are, my gadget loving friends!), but it certainly is perfect for the technology-challenged family members as a holiday gift and is a light, inexpensive and easy-to-use gadget for quick shoots.
Check it and and let me know if you love it too, or if you think I'm crazy!
Meanwhile, if you spot me walking down the street, you'll see me with my adorable new white/orange Flip Video swinging from my wrist. There's some Scottish bagpipers near my BART station that I've been wanting to capture in video...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
