Brindle Media

Archive for the ‘Quality of life’ Category

OK, I admit it. I’m living in prehistoric times with my old Blackberry Curve.

But my wife bought me an Apple Store gift card for my birthday and she’s been bugging me to get an iPhone. It’s obvious that technology is changing rapidly. Both our daughters have iPhones. But I’ve got a couple of dilemmas.

First, our AT&T contract. Now, of course, all the Apple people sneer at AT&T and we don’t get good reception at our home because we live near an airport where new construction for cell towers is prohibited.
But Verizon doesn’t work very well at our house either.

Our oldest daughter switched back to AT&T from Verizon because she wasn’t happy with the Verizon’s coverage. So, that complicates matters. Which carrier to choose?

Then, there’s the matter of which iPhone. The 5G is coming out in August but I’ll leave that one to the early adopters. The real question for me is whether to go for the 4G or the 3G.

In Shelly Palmer’s review of 3G vs. 4G devices, he points out that AT&T 4G is only available at full speed in Northern CA, Greater LA, Greater Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Charlotte, Baltimore, Buffalo, Boston, Providence & Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, Verizon’s 4G is only available to 1/3rd of the US right now and won’t cover most of the country for almost 3 years!

Plus, if you own a 4G phone but a 4G network isn’t available, your phone is actually running at 3G anyway. But, if you don’t turn off the 4G radio, the phone keeps searching for a network and eats up your battery.

You can read Shelly’s complete review here:
http://www.shellypalmer.com/2011/04/3g-or-4g-battery-life-vs-bandwidth/

So, it sounds like I’ll be going with an iPhone 3G. But which carrier:
Verizon or AT&T?

This is too much work for a phone!

The social media agency, Ignite has created an infographic which you might find useful. Do you know which social networking site has the most members with graduate degrees? It’s well-known that women like Facebook. Which SN sites do men prefer? Which SN sites do you perceive as “up & coming” and which do you perceive as “over”? Compare your perceptions with the results on this infographic.
(To enlarge it, click on the picture below. You’ll see a lot of white space and a picture to the far left on the next screen. Click on that picture)

What do you think? Anything here surprise you?

Thanks to http://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/

Have you transitioned to a smartphone yet? Traded in your Blackberry for an Android. Finally bought that iPhone? By 2020, it’s predicted that the primary source for accessing the internet will be via mobile technology.

Mobile technology is changing the way we do things every day. The folks at MobiTV created this graphic to provide some perspective and I thought that you’d like to see it. Click on it to see the full infographic.
(Hint: After clicking on the graphic, if you see a slim picture to the left of the screen and a lot of white space. Click on the picture and the whole piece should appear.)

Created by MobiTV,  Inc. a Mobile Technology Platform

Thanks to Jacobs Media for making me aware of this graphic.

Alzheimer’s disease is an affliction which we tend to think of as an old person’s disease.

But beginning this year, Baby Boomers will be turning 65 at the rate of 10,000 every day. Now, compared to 65 year olds of previous generations, the Boomer group tends to be much more active, agile and adventurous.

Nevertheless, it’s estimated that one out of every 8 Baby Boomers will develop Alzheimer’s disease and right now doctors don’t have any way to prevent it, cure it or slow down its progression. Today, someone in America develops Alzheimer’s every 69 seconds. By 2050, that rate is expected to increase to one every 33 seconds. Those are sobering stats especially considering the conversations that are going on in Washington, DC right now about the future of health care in America.

The Alzheimer’s Association has just released a study dealing with this issue. You can read and download “Generation Alzheimer’s: The Defining Disease of the Baby Boomers” by clicking on www.alz.org/boomers

Last week, Fareed Zakara interviewed Sony Chairman Howard Stringer on CNN. During their discussion about the impact on Japan’s economy of the recent disaster, Stringer also discussed SONY’s mistakes in creating products for vertical vs horizontal platforms. The conversation offers some useful perspective about platform thinking in the 21st century.

The internet has certainly made researching a topic, company or individual easier but, if you’re like me, you still encounter a lot of stumbling blocks. Ann Smarty offers some very useful advice in this blog about Advanced Social Media Search
http://mashable.com/2011/03/25/advanced-social-media-search/

I’ve never used Google Adwords and, to be honest, feel a bit daunted by the process. Here’s a good primer from Matt Silverman:
http://mashable.com/2011/03/27/google-adwords-tips/

I’m not a member of Rotary but my wife was once president of a local chapter and I have a lot of respect for the work that its members do. One of the missions of the International Rotary organization is to help eradicate polio. Here’s their latest :60 PSA

In a recent article in The Sunday Times Magazine, Jon Bon Jovi is quoted as saying: “Kids today have missed the whole experience of putting the headphones on, turning it up to 10, holding the jacket, closing their eyes and getting lost in an album; and the beauty of taking your allowance money and making a decision based on the jacket, not knowing what the record sounded like, and looking at a couple of still pictures and imagining it. God, it was a magical, magical time. I hate to sound like an old man now, but I am, and you mark my words, in a generation from now people are going to say: ‘What happened?’. Steve Jobs is personally responsible for killing the music business.”

Former record label promotion executive and music industry blogger responded in his weekly blog to Bon Jovi’s comments with an open letter. Here are some excerpts from Steve’s letter:

“Dear Jon:
You’ve been making records a long time. In fact, when you had your first Billboard chart hit in 1984 (“Runaway,” which peaked at #39) CDs had already been in the retail music market two years.

Funny thing about CDs, I don’t ever remember any artists I worked with at the time complaining about the hefty royalty checks they were receiving as their catalog(s) were released in the new format and sold millions all over again. Not a one. Nope. It was a good time for the labels and all their artists as billions were generated in revenues just from re-releasing older albums on CD.”

You can read Steve’s entire letter at http://stevemeyer.webs.com/

So, what do you think? Do you agree with Bon Jovi or with Steve Meyer’s assessment of this situation?

The March 7th edition of Time magazine features a cover story about pain management and discusses how the new medical concept that chronic pain is a disease of the central nervous system is impacting the approaches that science and medicine are taking to help provide relief.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2057269,00.html

Time also discusses non-pharmaceutical approaches using alternative treatments to ease pain including acupuncture and massage therapies. While reading these articles, I started thinking about about my daughter’s current project for her U.S. History course in which she’s researching PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and how it’s been viewed and treated in the context of various combat situations: The Civil War, World War I, World War II, Vietnam, Korea , Iraq and Afghanistan.

It also reminded me of a technique which I’d just learned about called “Tapping” which, in my admittedly primitive understanding, combines a mash-up of massage and acupuncture theories. “Tapping” is a term being used to describe EFT (Emotional Freedom Therapy) which was originally created by Gary Craig. This 19 minute video on the Stress Project site features vets from Vietnam and Iraq who suffer from PTSD and who have employed this therapy. I don’t doubt that you’ll be moved when you watch it.
http://www.stressproject.org/

EFT originator, Gary Craig retired in 2010 & transferred resources to the EFT Universe site. Craig warns about watered down or bastardized versions of EFT as “tapping” or “meridian tapping” therapies. You can see more details here.
http://www.eftuniverse.com/

The concept makes a certain amount of intuitive sense to me but I would need to explore it more fully. You can judge for yourself.

In the meantime, to quote Monty Python, “Now for something completely different”.

Digital media specialist and consultant, Shelly Palmer recommends that we fund PBS for just 3 more years and then cut them out of the budget. His argument centers around digital trends, not politics and whether or not you agree it’s an interesting read:
http://www.shellypalmer.com/2011/03/public-broadcasting-needs-three-more-years/

Some items in the news which I think are relevant to our 21st Century
Boomer Experience.

Tablets are the hot new device in the social media world. Although I didn’t really want one, I received a Kindle as a Christmas present this year and, truth be told, the benefits of using it aren’t yet apparent to me. Since US News & World Report has ceased producing hard copies of the magazine, I do load the digital version of my subscription onto the Kindle but then I forget to read it. I’ve also loaded several ebooks which have been sitting unread in my PC files for ages. I haven’t read those either.

Nevertheless, like smartphones, tablets will become a more ubiquitous part of the Boomer lifestyle in coming years so it’s a good idea to stay abreast of new developments and improvements in the technology. Apple’s iPad 2 becomes available on March 11th. Here’s a review from Engadget:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/02/ipad-2-first-hands-on/

The fervor and passion of today’s teens and young adults remind me of Boomers in the late 60s and early 70s. For instance, this story about using social media to keep women safe:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/business/01road.html?_r=1

Remember the slogan, “Ford Has A Better Way” ? Bill Ford Jr. spoke yesterday at the TED Conference about his vision for your driving experience in the future:
http://mashable.com/2011/03/02/bill-ford-jr-ted-talk/

If you run across a story which you believe might be interesting to fellow Baby Boomers, feel free to email it to me at BrindleMedia@gmail.com.

Here’s some information that I thought you’d find useful or at least interesting:

BrandSavant, Tom Webster tells us that some radio friends in New Zealand are asking for our help. They’re not looking for monetary donations but are instead asking that we send voice messages of encouragement and support which they can play over the air to help boost the spirits of their countrymen as they cope with the devastation caused by last week’s earthquake.

All you need to do is record a quick MP3 file that gives your name, where you are from, and a short (5-10 seconds) message of hope, to tell the people of New Zealand that we are thinking of them during this very dark time. Please email those .MP3 files to Tom at a special email address he’s set up at : help_nz_audio@fastmail.fm. Tom will make sure he gets them, and that your voices ring out across the Land Of The Long White Cloud.

Skype simplifies cheap overseas calling from any phone.
http://mashable.com/2011/02/25/skype-overseas/

Linkedin Tool Visualizes Profile Updates in Your Network
http://mashable.com/2011/02/24/linkedin-profile-tool/

How music can boost your immune system
http://www.realage.com/tips/how-to-boost-your-immune-system-positive-mental-attitude?eid=1098931007&memberid=22592203

Staying focused is tough especially when you’re a home-based entrepreneur. I never realized how ADHD I was until I left the corporate office world where I had specific work hours , a defined job description and a list of specified daily tasks and responsibilities. Working solo, developing a business from scratch and being based at home leaves everything wide open and undefined. It’s wonderful, exciting and overwhelming. This blog by “Hello, My Name Is Scott” Ginsberg offers some useful advise:

http://www.hellomynameisblog.com/2011/02/how-to-focus-your-face-off.html

Adam Singer writes a digital marketing and PR blog called “Future Buzz”. Although his blog seems targeted at people in the Millenials and GenX’ers, it does contain advice that can be useful to entrepreneurial Boomers. For instance:
http://thefuturebuzz.com/2011/02/22/paid-promotional-tactics/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+TheFutureBuzz+(The+Future+Buzz)

Boomer Authority is a web-based social network for Baby Boomers. The organization has a website named Boomer StrataGEMS which provides useful information like this:
http://www.boomerstratagems.net/2011/02/how-marketers-can-use-mobile-technology.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed:+Boomerstratagems+(Boomer|StrataGEMS™)&utm_co

Check them out and let me know what you think about these ideas. I’d also be interested to learn what types of information would be of most interest to you!