CRS Class Dec 2010

Thank you all for attending my 2 CRS classes today! As I promissed here are the 2 powerpoint presentations from the classes I taught.

Mobile Technology & Productivity

Social Networking

LTE is coming to the Bay Area!

First the Giants win the World Series in an absolutely improbable way, now there are talks of LTE (4G) being available in December 2010. Not only are these rumors true but the last one might send me over the edge. Many websites are talking about rumors that the iPhone 4 set to release for Verizon in January-Feb may contain hardware to fully support the LTE network.

To be honest, the stars aligning so perfectly all at once is not likely... but LTE is here and it's awesome! Faster than DSL speeds in your hand with tower strength reaching twice as far as it's predecessors. If Apple was able to pull off this "FOG City Miracle" and give San Franciscans what they always wanted, an iPhone that actually makes and holds phone calls for more than 5 minutes! WOW!

iPhone bay residents may have noticed the At&t network on the peninsula and outlining areas of the East Bay mountains has been tapped out since the release of the iPhone 3GS. Now with new iPhone 4 and iPad 3G customers running around using bandwidth it has only perpetuated the ongoing dropped call problem. Having full bars and losing a call every 2-5 minutes is actually normal for most iPhone uses who reside in the prestigious silicon valley "pioneer for tech innovation". As a resident and iPhone user I was forced to purchase a MicroCell for my house just to guarantee important calls don't get dropped, and after the $150 investment and extra draw on my bandwidth... i wasn't impressed with the call quality. Any amount of money it will cost me to dump At&t and move to a Verizon iPhone (especially if it has LTE) would be well worth it for me and thousands upon millions of iPhone users around the country.

Steve Jobs... make it happen!

My 5 Favorite iPad Apps

Before I started this list I will admit that the iPad's purpose is not for everyone. I see many people very happy with a laptop and a phone. Adding one more piece of expensive technology to lose, break, or get stolen isn't the best idea if you are not going to use it properly. With that being said, I have been fortunate enough to use and operate an iPad in my lifestyle for the past 5 months and I love it! Here are my 5 favorite paid apps:

1. MLB at Bat 2010 - $4.99

Since baseball season is almost over, it may not be worth getting just for the world series. For $4.99 I have certainly made the price of this app worth while. Here is why I like it:

• Real time pitch by pitch locations
• Batter, Pitcher, Team stats for any game that day final, or in progress
• FREE streaming local broadcasts of every side of every game in progress
• FREE in game highlights uploaded throughout the game
• If you sign up for MLB TV you can literally WATCH the game in HD quality! (you have to pay $19.99 for the year but you can also watch on your computer) *NOTE: you have to have fairly fast high speed internet to get the high quality stream video, **DOES NOT SHOW LOCAL TEAMS' broadcast so you will have to turn on FOX or your local station to still watch games broadcasted locally. ***NOTE: you can pay $9.99 extra for the premium postseason package which not only gives you the broadcast but 4 different fixed camera angles during the game.

This is literally the future for the iPad, applications like these is what the iPad was built for. I can see very soon an application like this that you take to a football or baseball game... connect to the field's WiFi and watch camera angles, view in game stats & message other fans in other seats from a GPS fan locator. NFL... take notes!

2.  Let's Golf 1 & 2 - $4.99

The only thing better than playing golf on the course is playing golf in on bart, or in your living room. Not only is this game fun and easy to play, but the challenges and courses make it quite addictive. The price is also very reasonable at $4.99 for what you get. My favorite is still the first Let's Golf, but Let's Golf 2 is still fun and just as addictive.

3. Golfshot GPS - $29.99

Well, I know what your thinking... $30 for an app! That's crazytown! For the avid golfer, you don't know what you have been missing. This app works with both iPhone and iPad and syncs to your account so you can use either on the course. Not only does it have every course known to man, but it is always updating the latest GPS Ariel shots just to make sure the greens are the same.

As you start play, you enter in yourself and all the other golfers your playing with. It grabs from your contact list in the phonebook. Every hole will show you an ariel shot of the hole and a blue dot where you are in relation to the hole with the distance in yardage you are from the approx flag location.



You can drag the target around to change the type of shot you want, after the hole enter in your score and move on to the next one. Finish the round and it will email your scorecard to you and all the other players you played with that day (make sure you have their email address in the contact). Over time you can track your GIR, fairway shots, putts, everything a pro would do if they were analysing every aspect of their game. So for all those guys who spent $200 for the GPS golf tracker, eat your heart out! This app is 15% of the cost and does much more. I literally stopped grabbing a scorecard in the proshop and have loved every min of using Golfshot on either my iPhone or iPad on the course. (I would recommend only the iPad if you have a nice case and a cart, keeping it in the golfbag doesn't always work so well)

Golfplan with Paul Azinger - $.99 or $4.99 for the HD

This is a compliment to the Golfshot software. It takes your data from the Golfshot and sends you into training to complete exercises to help your game. Paul have tons of videos that talk about different shots, techniques, and other exercises to step up your game. Plus is you keep up by adding in your golfshot stats like if fairways hit, amount of putts, etc. Paul will keep track of your development. WOW!

4. Epicurious - Free

So I said this was the top paid apps but i would have loved to pay them for this one. If you like cooking, or like me want to cook but have no idea how, this is app for you.

The features are too many to list but here are a few to give you an idea.

• Search by Cuisine, Ingredients, Season/Occasion, Dietary Consideration, Dish Type. once you choose an identifier like "chicken, Dinner" the 15,000+ recipes sort and dwindle down.
• Everything is rated from real users, you can even rate it from the iPad as your cooking it. 
• Save recipes to favorites, and add to a shopping list. Once you have all the dishes you need added to the shopping list you can take your iPad to the store and check each ingredient off your list.
• Photos look amazing! Everything is top notch, the app is not only easy to use, helpful, but every dish looks not only appealing but appetizing!

5. Audiotorium Notes - $4.99

If you use an iPad, chances are you might have thought about taking it into meetings. I love having it by my side in a conference room, lunch table, or just one on one... but up until Audiotorium the built in notes app from apple just didn't quite cut the mustard.

• Record the meeting audio with surprisingly good quality as your taking notes.
• All notes sync online to Dropbox for backup
• Increase font type size
• Download via WiFi smb sharing to PC or Mac

Honorable Mentions

Any office based iPad wouldn't be complete without GoToMeeting, QuickOffice, Keynote, Numbers, Pages

All the Apple office apps are great, they aren't quite perfect but very good.
Keynote is the must have tool for powerpoint presentations. Very easy to use and perfect for personally presenting in any meeting.

GoToMeeting- If you have ever been in a boring conference call, you would certainly appreciate the GoToMeeting iPad app. Plug in the meeting number, then watch the presenter's screen, communicate or just listen via the built in speaker and mic without plugging anything in.

Now just can't wait till multi-tasking comes in the next update so I can still listen to the meeting while I jump to play a quick 9 on Let's Golf :)

Yike Bike

http://www.yikebike.com/site/gallery/video/yikebike-discovery-channel

Very interesting. A new electric bike for urban areas. Very portable! Light and folds up so you can carry it on the bus or to your desk at the office. San Francisco this is for you!

G2 Diesel, America's Biofuel for the Future

The company is called “11 Good Energy” and they have a fuel called “G2 Diesel”

It is a revolutionary biofuel for diesel engines here are some highlights of the fuel that may peak your interest:

• It stays fluid over 30 degrees colder than biodiesel (down 0 to -7 deg F)
• At a 5-20% blend with #2 diesel it will Increase Horsepower and boost MPG in any engine by at least 8-12%
• When mixed in the tank, G2 won’t settle out of a blend with #2 diesel and separate when parked it has the same specific gravity/viscosity
• It’s made from Soy Oil & Ethanol (unlike biodiesel, which is made from methanol) which is 99% natural
• The manufacturing process is much better for the environment and uses less energy

This video was made specifically for the Railroad Industry, I going to start to work on other videos specifically for bus/transit, trucking, marine, and more.

Any diesel engine can run on this NOW with no retrofit needed. Any newer diesel engine (2008-10) that may be incompatible with regular biodiesel can and will run great on G2.

The state of California Air Resource Board is calling this the NOW green diesel fuel, meaning that in our transition away from fossil fuels, this fuel can be blended as an additive for increased performance/fuel savings or completely replace diesel fuel altogether in some cases where the economics fit.

Imagine walking behind a School Bus or Semi Truck and the exhaust smells sweet like butterscotch and emits no smoke!

The future is now, we are ramping up to try and get this into all of California’s diesels. With all the bad news lately, I’m proud to be a part of something environmentally and economically positive that can truly make a difference without any infrastructure investment or modification.

Click on the link below to watch…

http://www.vimeo.com/10079820
G2 Railroad Marketing Video