Technology does it again!

28 Aug 2011 8 Comments

by Marion Spicher in Sharing Fun or something that touched me, Technology Advances Tags: , ,

Lombardi's Cachina Italian Restaurant, Everett WA

Anyone interested in selling items outside a business venue to a credit card preferring public, if you have an apple i-Pod or an i-Phone, there is a gadget that plugs into the audio jack in which the customer can swipe the card to make the purchase.

An author selling signed copies of her novels at a book signing today (sponsored by Everett Evergreen RWA and Lomardi’s Cucina Restaurant) used one.  This model was about 1″ by 1″,  and fit into the audio jack of her i-Phone.  One can be purchased at an Apple Store for about $10.   Download the free app for your i-Phone of i-Pad and that’s it.  Probably a small fee for the swipe of a card.

Click here to see a example of a different one.

Today presented a great opportunity to chat with writers, purchase books if desired, co-mingle with fellow writers, and eat some of Lombardi’s Cucina Italian food, the best food to ever pass ones lips!

Welcome to Monday … hope everyone enjoys pleasant surprises this week!

Technology: The wonder of Our Age

24 Aug 2011 16 Comments

by Marion Spicher in Technology Advances, Time Management, Writing Tags: , , , ,

Deep sigh on the beach can put technology on hold

Without lists and calendars, life could get complicated. Forgetfulness complicates the works. To the rescue?
Spread sheets!

  • Packing lists
  • Car mileage (taxes),
  • Writing time logs
  • Goals and progress

Quicken eats time, but provides great financial information.  Do we need it?  Well, for taxes, yes. But do we need to know how much we spend on groceries? But the date & price of a purchase way back in 2007 can be found on quicken. Now that’s neat!

Hotel reservations near a specific location?  Not too long ago, a travel agent took care of everything.  But hands on searching, planning, finding and booking are rather fun.

Another plus side?  The wonders of the internet and word processing. Writing a manuscript on a typewriter? Oh my, am I ever grateful for word processing! But sigh … handwritten letters can be unfolded, handled and gathered into our hearts many times.  Like the unsolicited ‘thank you’ letter from my grandson.

Expenses for record keeping are shifting from banks and credit accounts as they encourage us to go paperless.  How many of us print our own statements for backup, saving the companies the cost of mailing and printing and assembling?

Keeping abreast of tech advances gobbles up time, but once mastered, saves time (?) and gives us more information.  Updating computer hardware, DVD players, TV’s, software, phones, MP-3’s keeps us on the spending edge.

What about technology most benefits or frustrates you?

Technology Tingles: The Smartpen

10 Aug 2011 12 Comments

by Marion Spicher in Social Networking, Technology Advances Tags: , , , , ,

Technology continues to move ahead exponentially. Trying to keep up feels like an intellectual marathon. And can be a financial drain.

Evernote (another great program) first mentioned a ‘smart pen’ …  I met it with the same skepticism I felt when techies announced grocery stores would soon scan bar codes on items at checkout.  Imagine the length of checkout lines without bar codes and scanners.

Livescribe Echo™ Smartpen 4GB Bundle

Today my daughter emailed me an example of a smart pen.  She took notes during a meeting using this mini-computer pen, and used it concurrently to record the meeting.  She downloaded the writing (in her actual handwriting) and the audio to her computer. She sent an email attachment and I was able to see her notes and listen to the recording on Adobe.  Amazing!

How are you all doing with technology?

Okay, now you might ask … “Why do we engage in blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Goodreads and Stumbleupon, with Google+ on the way as well?” Partly because keeping up with technology is wise, but mainly to keep in touch with others worldwide.   I want to be ready  on the day in the future, when I can reach out …  hoping my cyber friends and connections can help me celebrate a published book! Others may be working on other creative endeavors, or achievements and sharing can be exciting. Or keeping in touch with family and friends.

But beware the dragon! Social networking has big teeth and can swallow gobs of time, and even our active lives.  It requires a time budget and there is a continual learning curve.  I’m working on it! Both the learning curves and the time budgets.  Got any pointers to share?

See y’all Friday with another video to send you into the weekend on wings.

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