Tag: Google

Categories
affiliations classes and presentations consulting curriculum vitae libraries professional activities professional experience teaching teaching experience workshops

Technology and the Arts: On getting started with Scratch

So, Brian Kelley and I did the third installment of Technology and the Arts, our weekly/seasonal podcast that focuses on the connections between technology and art. I thought it was one of our better shows, low on glitch, high on value. Please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwg8Pl-qWSc?t=30m50s where I give a brief demo on MIT‘s Scratch project, a block programming platform for games, art, animation, and more. It’s targeted at kids who want to jump right into programming, but I find that it’s a great platform for any age to work out programming ideas. In the demo, I show you how to get to it, what a project looks like, how to open it for editing, and how too find other projects. Please visit the video in its full form to hear us talk about the rest of our topics, which this week included Google Easter Eggs, a great podcast called It’s a Thing with Molly Wood and Tom Merritt, Jay-Z‘s Picasso Baby art happening as video, and more. Like, subscribe, and find the rest of our online presence at the youtube page.

If you liked this post, please consider subscribing to this site by using the subscription form at the bottom of this page. Maybe Facebook is more your thing? Like our Facebook page at the bottom of this page. We’re also on Twitter, Google Plus, Pinterest, and other social networks listed at the top of this page. Please like, comment, and share if you found this post useful, interesting, or kind.

Related articles

 

Categories
consulting insights

My favorite source for staying informed.

phone by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
phone by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

What do you mean podcasts?

I don’t listen to the radio anymore. I mean I still listen to NPR content, like Fresh Air and This American Life, I just don’t ever listen over the air anymore. A few years ago, I upgraded my stock (2006) car radio to one with an auxiliary 1/8 inch audio jack and USB port so that I could take any audio device with a headphone out jack or USB key and use it to share audio in my car. It was by far my best automotive upgrade. Now, when I hop in my car, it takes just a second to plug in power and audio, and I’m listening to Spotify, Google Music, Stitcher, Pocketcasts, GPS instructions, audio readouts of my texts (with the help of Tasker), and anything else I would normally hear through the notably bad speaker on my phone. Sometime, I’ll share the various audio apps in detail, but for now, I wanted to focus on content.

Staying informed about technology

I’m a technologist. One of the most valuable things about the work that I do is staying informed about trends, listening to new problems and solutions, hearing technology related news, and getting synopses of the latest developer conferences, lawsuits, and other events in the tech world. Here are the podcasts that I listen to in order to get this information most efficiently.

Anything from the TWiT Network.

TWiT
TWiT (Photo credit: insidetwit)

There are several shows I deeply enjoy and look forward to from Leo Laporte’s powerful technology-centric network. My favorites are This Week in Tech (a roundtable discussion on the happenings of the week in regards to technology), This Week in Google (A conversation about cloud based computing, news from Google, and sometimes popular culture), and All About Android (a show focusing on the latest news related to the mobile operating system). The content may sound dry but the beauty of this network is the amazingly entertaining talents of people like Leo, a seasoned radio and TV personality, Gina Trapani, an open source advocate and developer, Tom Merritt, a multi-talented host and presenter, Jeff Jarvis, a pundit and philosopher on journalism, and many others who are well-known in the technology broadcasting world.  I highly recommend visiting the network and seeing what particular topics are important to your work and life, and subscribing.

Related articles

 

 

 

 

Categories
consulting

On the five-minute ten-second egg.

fluffy by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
fluffy by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
English: Soft boiled egg with black lava salt ...
English: Soft boiled egg with black lava salt from hawaii (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Five Minute Ten-Second Egg

I really love clarity. The five-ten egg (the five-minute ten-second egg) does this.

The five-ten egg is a very specific instruction for a perfectly soft-boiled egg. It refers to the amount of time which you boiled the egg to make it simply perfect, that is, easy to disrobe from the shell, hard on the outside, soft on the inside, and neither under-cooked not overcooked. I can attest to this reality, because I’ve done it and reaped the luxurious benefits of it. Boil an egg for exactly five minutes and ten seconds, and you have joy in a shell.

Make it yourself

What’s more, it could not be more simple to make this perfectly cooked egg yourself. Do the following if you want to experience it for yourself.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Set another pot with water at room temperature. Set a timer for 5:10. Don’t start it until we’re set to drop the egg.

Take a pushpin and pierce the end of an egg, and drop it in the water and start your timer. The pushpin pierce gives the pressure in the heated egg somewhere to go. You might also want a drop of vinegar in the boil, but I can’t stand to be around the stuff. I found it fine without.

At the timer’s beep, remove the egg and place it in the cool bath. I use a tablespoon to keep my fingers from the scalding liquid.

After a minute, crack and remove the shell. Use the cool water to help you. I found the membrane and made easy work of it.

Finishing

At this point, be creative. I added the egg to a hamburger roll and had the most delicious explosion of yolk. What will you do?

Maybe some very thin sliced cucumber or tomato? A delicious small batch ketchup? Rooster sauce? Salt and pepper and nothing? Asparagus? A simple spoon into the chamber? A curry of rice and chicken? Sautéed mixed vegetables? A cheesesteak? The yolk would be so incredibly complimentary to a crisp piece of bacon. Since I’m mostly vegetarian, those suggestions would just be for you. 🙂

Related articles

 

 

Categories
affiliations classes and presentations consulting insights professional activities professional experience references research interests workshops

Making Sense of the Google Chromebook (September 3rd in Ewing)

Presenting by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Presenting by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

“Making Sense of the Google Chromebook” Free Computer Program September 3

20110805
Color study (Photo credit: lemasney)

Ewing, NJ:   “Why would I want a laptop that only runs a browser?”  This is the critical question New Jersey technology consultant and graphic designer John LeMasney will explore when he presents The Computer Learning Center’s newest, free Computer Tips and Tricks program on Tuesday, September 3.   “Making Sense of the Google Chromebook” will begin at 2 p.m. in the Ewing Senior and Community Center at 999 Lower Ferry Road. It will be preceded at 1:30 p.m. by a question and answer session during which the audience can direct computer questions to the CLC’s all-volunteer faculty.  Both programs are free and no prior registration is required.
            “Come learn why I stopped carrying around my MacBook Pro and exchanged it for a Chromebook, Google’s low-cost laptop that runs just one application,” says LeMasney. “Chrome begins to make a lot of sense when you look at several converging factors, namely, the increasing availability of high-speed connectivity, the emergence of applications and cloud-based services for real-world functionality, and the ability to stay connected in rather light ways.  I plan to look at both why the Chromebook works for me and the incredible power of this platform, but also why keeping a MacBook around still makes sense for some things.”
              John LeMasney describes himself as an artist, designer, technologist, and consultant whose passion is to help people use technology in sensible ways to enhance their work and life.   His career most recently included work as Manager of Technology Training at Rider University where he assisted faculty, staff and students in integrating technology into their work, classroom, and extracurricular activities.  A Fine Arts graduate of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, he holds a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership with distinction from Rider University, as well as LPI Level One Certification in Linux Administration.
       The non-profit Computer Learning Center at Ewing, which sponsors the Computer Tips and Tricks programs as a public service, also offers a variety of PC and iPad computer skills courses for adults in central New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.  For further information about the September 3 program, courses or directions, call 609-882-5086, 609-883-1776, Ext. 6205 or visit the CLC website at www.clcewing.org.

[flexiblemap address=”999 Lower Ferry Road, Ewing, NJ”]

Related articles

 

Categories
brand consulting insights research interests

On gaining customer confidence and providing a high level of service.

brand is not a logo by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
brand is not a logo by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
283-366 Year4 Cracked Android
283-366 Year4 Cracked Android (Photo credit: johngarghan)

I was visiting a mall kiosk recently in the hopes of repairing my beloved Nexus 7 Android tablet. The kiosk advertises the repair of iOS based device screens, rooting, etc., but nowhere did I see Android repairs advertised. I figured I’d stop by and ask if they could do it and what it might cost, as the brand new Nexus 7 tablet is just over $200 and has some good improvements over the original. I could also go and get the bits myself and try the repair, but I figured I’d ask the professionals first. The conversation would decide whether I more likely make use of the old tablet, which I really love, or wipe and process it through a service like Gazelle.com.

Me: Hi, there, I was wondering if you guys do Android tablets too?
Him: (after finishing a bite of his breakfast and taking a drink out of his Dunkin Donuts ‘coffee’) Sure.
Me: Great, I have a Nexus 7 (I did not mention that this was the breakthrough device for Google into the tablet space, just about a year ago, made to compete directly with the iPad and the inspiration for the iPad mini, because I figured it would be rhetorical spittle) and I just cracked the screen enough to lose touch function.
Him: What’s the model number?
Me: (blank stare) It’s the Nexus 7.
Him: (almost rolls eyes) I can’t tell you anything without the model number.
Me: Okay, I’m just surprised. It’s the most popular Android tablet out there.
Him: (stares)
Me: Well, I can get that for you, can you give me some idea of the price of the repair?
Him: What size is it?
Me: The Nexus 7 is a seven-inch device. (smiles)
Him: Oh, I’m not sure, there’s a lot of those now.
Me: Can you give me some idea? Like $40, $60, $80?
Him: (looking away, clicks tongue) $85, prolly.
Me: Okay thanks.

This business works with mobile devices all day long. He did not know anything about the most popular, uncomplicated in terms of model, well branded devices in the Android space. He did not care to show that he knew. He did not hop on to his computer or the 6 tablets around him to look up the Nexus 7. He did not suggest that the $85 for the repair might be better used to buy a new device. He did not do much, and he did not hold my confidence.

No one knows everything, but everyone makes a choice about their attitude, the tools they have to solve problems and questions, and the level of service that they are willing to offer. I am going to visit Gazelle now, and tell all of my tablet wielding friends, if they get a crack in their screen, to avoid this one place in particular.

Related articles

 

 

Categories
affiliations classes and presentations consulting insights professional activities teaching experience workshops

Google Analytics and targeted campaigns.

open_waveform by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
open_waveform by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Hi, all! This week, I have some interesting projects going on, and I wanted to share them with you and invite you to join me.

On Monday, July 22nd (and 29th), 2013, I’ll be starting a two part class on Google Analytics at Princeton Public Library. This is my first opportunity to talk publicly about the power of GA, and I’m really excited. This series will be focused on getting started for beginners, but if you are like me you know that even seasoned experts learn something new in a beginner’s class, so please come out and join us from 7-8:30 in the Tech Center at PPL.

Google Analytics v2.0
Google Analytics v2.0 (Photo credit: vrypan)

Google Analytics is an insight engine. By adding a little bit of javascript to each of your pages in your site, you tell Google to track activity on your site that can lead to insights about your content. Because you can learn where your audience is viewing your content from, you can tell if you need to focus more on local content or remote content. Because you can tell what your most popular content is, you can focus on the issues that matter to your audience most. Because you can track which pages are being visited specifically, you can learn how effective a particular link or advertisement is or not. These are just a few of the things that you can do with Analytics, but over the next two weeks we will learn many more.

I’m using Analytics in work with a client right now in order to tell if a particular ad campaign is effective or not so that they can focus their money and energy in the most productive way.  If we are using two different methods or advertising channels to get people to take the same action, let’s say to click a link or watch a video, we can tell easily after a week of clicks which method was more effective and by how much. We could also look at visits in two comparative time periods to see if one method was more or less effective than another during a particular month or season. Outdoor advertising might not work as well as other methods during a very cold winter month, for example. With Analytics, we don’t have to guess or assume that to be true, we could deduct that from the data.

If this is interesting to you, please consider yourself invited! If you’d like to see what other classes and content I like to teach, or if you’d like to have me come to your organization to speak or consult, please visit the Presentations and Topics page.

Related articles