I love what the company CommonCraft does with their videos. Their montra is “Our Product is Explanation” and they do it well! Based on their website, they have three-minute videos that help educators and influencers  introduce complex subjects.

Though they charge for their video’s I love watching their Youtube Channel for snap shots on various topics. One topic of Interest to me is obviously Social Media. Here is a great video about Social Media in Plain English. Enjoy and Comment.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Saturday June 6, 2009 from 9:30am – 12:30pm I will be participating at the International Academy of Design and Technology – Detroit annual Interfaces Conference. Last year I was asked by the Chair of Digital Media to do portfolio reviews for the students and left the option open to be able to share with the students at the next conference of speaking on a relevant subject involving the interactive professional world.

When I got the call to participate as a speaker, i jumped in!

My Topic:

I will be speaking on: “Social Media Personal Branding” – Best Practices for Promoting Your Work Online.

Confirmed Speakers for Interfaces 2009:

Mark Acero, Sr Action Designer, Bioware
Chris Avellone, Creative Lead & Co-Owner, Obsidian Entertainment
Wael Berrached Founder & Chief Creative Officer, eView360
Alex Braidwood, Prinicpal & Founder, FormalPLay
Matt Bromley, Sr Level Designer, THQ, Kaos
Eric Bruneau, Compositing Supervisor, With A Twist Studio
Jeff Caldwell, Principal, the Vega Project
David “Zeb” Cook, Lead Content Designer, Zenimax Online
Akil Dawkins, 3D Artist, Stardock
Steve Derrick, Executive Group Manager, Vicarious Visions
Dennis Fraser, VFX Artist, Armstrong White
Cosmin Ghiurau, Interactive Solutions Architect, BOSSdev, Inc.
Meredith Morrison, Designer, Formal Play
Colin Moulder-McComb, Game Designer, 3lb Test
Ryan Oddey, Office Manager, 2K Boston
Stone Perales Art Director, 4KidsTV
Matt Sakey, IGDA Columnist
Stephen Schend, Game Designer, Author, Adjunct Faculty
Jessica Serran, Object-maker, Interactive Artist
Justin M. Smith, Executive Vice President & Executive Creative Director – Interactive, Doner Advertising
Tim Smith, President, Skidmore Studios
Ed Wolfrum, Owner, Audio Graphic Services
Brent Yax, President / CEO, Awecomm

I am excited to be included in such a great lineup of speakers at this event that draws alot of current and future creative students that love using technology.

Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch gave a lecture on Time Management at the University of Virginia. I don’t know about you. But instead of the lecture being over 1 hour and 15 minuted. It would have been better to manage the time wisely and do it in 15 minutes.

Then again, if you manage your time wisely, this is a good lecture.

Click here to view the embedded video.

According to TechCrunch this morning, Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference in June is SOLD OUT. What is crazy is the fast that last year they only sold out a couple of weeks before the show. At $1,000 a ticket to this show and a supposed “recession” it’s amazing that it is already sold out.

Then again, the rumor is that the new Apple operating system “Snow Leopard” will debut, and more than that a new “iPhone 3G”. This is the same venue that launched the iPhone 3G at $199 in 2008.

Personally, I purchased the first generation iPhone and was disappointed and returned it for a Blackberry 8820. The iPhone 3G was alot better and many of my friends give me a smirk that I still use a Blackberry. However, my master plan is almost fullfilled because this new iPhone should be the device that has ALL of the bells and whistles I need as a heavy mobile phone business user.

I had a majestic weekend and was oblivious to what was happening in our world. Sometimes that’s a good thing.

In any case, as we all know the past couple of days the news and media have been all over this ‘swine flu’ epidemic. Though usually these things rarely come close to ‘home’. It seems like this flu is more serious than others. I heard on the way to the office that Ohio has had a reported case of the swine flu. That IS close.

So to help myself out and others interested, I ran across an informative article on Yahoo with the 5 things to know about the swine flu.

Here they are: http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090427/hl_time/08599189402900

1. Is this a flu pandemic?

The influenza virus is constantly mutating. That’s why we can’t get full immunity to the flu, the way we can to diseases like chicken pox, because there are multiple strains of the flu virus and they change from year to year. However, even though the virus makes us sick, our immune systems can usually muster enough of a response so that the flu is rarely fatal for healthy people.

2. What will happen if this outbreak gets classified as a pandemic?

Moving the world to pandemic phase 4 would be the signal for serious containment actions to be taken on the national and international level. Given that these actions would have major implications for the global economy, not to mention the effects of the public fear that would ensue, there is concern that the WHO may be considering politics along with science. “What the WHO did makes no sense,” says Osterholm. “In a potential pandemic, you need to have the WHO be beyond question, and (April 25) was not a good day for them.”

3. Why have the U.S. cases been so much milder than the ones in Mexico?

This is the question that has health officials from Geneva to Washington puzzled. In Mexico, swine flu has caused severe respiratory disease in a number of patients – and even more worryingly, has killed the sort of young and healthy people who can normally shrug off the flu. (Fueling such concerns is the fact that similar age groups died in unusually high numbers during the 1918 pandemic.) Yet the cases in the U.S. have all been mild and likely wouldn’t have even garnered much attention if doctors hadn’t begun actively looking for swine flu in recent days. “What we’re seeing in this country so far is not anywhere near the severity of what we’re hearing about in Mexico,” said the CDC’s Besser. “We need to understand that.”

4. How ready is the U.S. – and the world – to respond to a flu pandemic?

In some ways, the world is better prepared for a flu pandemic today than it has ever been. Thanks to concerns over H5N1 avian flu, the WHO, the U.S. and countries around the world have stockpiled millions of doses of antivirals that can help fight swine flu as well as other strains of influenza. The U.S. has a detailed pandemic preparation plan that was drafted under former President George W. Bush. Many other countries have similar plans. SARS and bird flu have given international health officials useful practice runs for dealing with a real pandemic. We can identify new viruses faster than ever before, and we have life-saving technologies – like artificial respirators and antivirals – that weren’t available back in 1918. “I believe that the world is much, much better prepared than we have ever been for dealing with this kind of situation,” said Fukuda.

5. So how scared should we be?

That depends on whom you ask. Officials at the CDC and the WHO have emphasized that while the swine flu situation is serious, they’re responding with an abundance of precautions.

But the truth is that every outbreak is unpredictable, and there’s a lot we don’t know yet about the new swine flu. There hasn’t been a flu pandemic for more than a generation, and there hasn’t been a truly virulent pandemic since long before the arrival of mass air transit. We’re in terra incognito here. Panic would be counterproductive – especially if it results in knee-jerk reactions like closing international borders, which would only complicate the public-health response. But neither should we downplay our very real vulnerabilities. As Napolitano put it: “This will be a marathon, not a sprint.” Be prepared.

So here I am just finished with breakfast with the family. It will be 80 degree and sunny today. Something UNHEARD of here in Michigan for this time of the season. With us celebrating our 10th anniversary today, I wanted to take my Queen and Princess somewhere. To do something.

I do a quick search on google for “things to do in michigan” and I visit a few of the sites. We want to do something that is around the metro-detroit area but the pickings are slim.

We may just go ahead to the Henry Ford Greenfield Village. What I like is the fact that it is an outdoor attraction and at the same time very unique.  I have never been there even though I have lived in Michigan for over 25 years. Sometimes we tend to think there are better placed hours of driving away when we have great attractions right here in Detroit.

On April 25, 2009 I will celebrate my 10th wedding anniversary! When I tell people I have been married for “almost 10 years” they look at my with wonder. Why? How?

1. People think I am “young”.
2. It is rare to see a “young” person married for such a long time.

It is true. Our marriage has been a rarity. I have been beyond blessed with my “Queen”. Together with my “Princess”, my “Ladies” have been an absolute dream. As marriages in our day seem to have less and less of an importance when it comes to commitment, I couldn’t imagine my life without this creation.

I recently was listening to a podcase by Mark Driscoll from the church Mars Hill out in Seattle. He was recommending a book on marriage that is a MUST HAVE for anyone currently married or those that are looking to get married. They book is written by Andreas Kostenberger and it is called: God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation

It seems to be a rare book that talks directly about marriage from a “cultural crisis” standpoint. With such chapters as “To have or not to have children, Abonding natural relations: The Bible Verdict, Seperating what God has joined together, Divorce, and many other thought provoking chapters. I am really looking forward to begin to dive into the book as I just got it a day ago and am beginning to read it.

So why a blog post about my wedding anniversary? Quite honestly we always hear of negative aspects of marriage and when we hear positive stories they are seen as sappy, feel good stories that are only for fiction. Well, it has been  reality for me and it can be for anyone with hard work, determination for a commitment, and geniune love.

I love this interview of Scott Monty from the Head of Social Media for Ford Motor Company. He talks with Fox Business anchors about Twitter, Alan Mulally using twitter, and other great tidbits.

Way to go Scott.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I love this video of a “Consumer” vs “Advertiser”. How true it is!

Click here to view the embedded video.