TechnoGrannyShow, Five Technologies Formerly Science Fiction

Five Technologies Formerly Science Fiction

21^st Century technology blurs the lines between fact and fantasy.  Techno Granny knows we are living on the cusp of technological breakthroughs which have the potential to changes lives and the world as we know it.  Techno Granny delves into the research of what was once science fiction and shares with us 5 ways some of the world’s most innovative minds are developing and marketing cutting edge high-tech devices for everyday use.

Techno Granny, Five Technologies Formerly Science Fiction

Time: 09/09/2013 10:00 AM EDT “Do you ever hear about a new technology and say to yourself, ‘I saw Bones do that on the old Star Trek series’? Or do you watch a medical procedure on a documentary and quickly realizing it looks like something from Star Trek?  These five technologies will prove to you that yesterday’s science fiction is today's technology. Techno Granny reports on: smart phones that do kidney tests.....sprayable energy.....surgery with Google Glasss......new eco-friendly building material and digital autopsies.... Paying attention to science fiction because the future of science is today and it’s rooted in the science fiction of yesterday”.

In the world of health care, technology is vital.  Researchers from around the world receive millions of dollars to explore various ways technology can be advanced to save lives, heal and improve the health of individuals.  In the August 30, 2013 issue of gizmag.com reporter Antonio Pasolini uncovers the latest smart phone adaptations that allow diabetics and other individuals plagued with kidney disease to self-monitor levels of the blood protein albumin in their urine. 

UCLA' portable testing kit for kidney problems

The article “, Portable device works with smartphone to perform kidney tests,” outlines the advantages of using this new technology developed by researchers at the University of California. The benefits are promising on a number of levels; the tool weighs just 5.3 ounces, is compatible with Android and Apple phones, proclaims accuracy to within less than 10 micrograms per milliliter, testing can be completed within 5 minutes and this is expected to be a cost efficient and time saving tool for patients and physicians. 

Read the complete article here.

Feeling sluggish halfway through your day?  Do you often make midafternoon visits to Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts for a quick and often pricey, coffee pick-me-up?  Look no further for a solution to the daily doldrums, gizmag.com author Dave Parrack describes the advantages of a caffeine body spray in his article ‘Sprayable Energy provides caffeine hit through the skin.’ 

Its makers claim that Sprayable Energy will provide a gradual hit of caffeine through the skin

The makers of Sprayable Energy advertise the product as “, the world’s first caffeine based topical energy spray,” and claim it delivers a colorless and odorless jolt anytime you want, without the hassle of having to make a pot of coffee or leave your desk to buy a cup at the café across the street from the office. 

  

The idea behind Sprayable Energy is to reduce caloric intake, maintain fresh breath and still get your caffeine fix- by spraying a few squirts onto your skin up to 4 times a day. 

Read the complete article here.

Technology in the classroom is advancing at a rate quicker than many can keep up with.  Furthermore, the use of various devices to promote and advance health care is evolving at an even faster pace.  Mingle the 2 and you will receive a first rate educational experience, second only to being there in person.  Dario Borghino’s article for gizmag.com “US surgeon streams operation via Google Glass,” is both fascinating and enlightening.  

Performing surgery while wearing Google Glass could offer advantages for doctors and patients(Photo: Ohio State University)

This experience of blending education, health care and technology occurred in 2013 when Dr. Ismail got his hands on a set of Google Glass.

He teamed up with colleague Dr. Kaeding, who performed a routine knee ligament surgery wearing the Glasses.  The surgery was streamed live to a group of medical students at Ohio State and at the same time, to colleagues who were able to consult with him in real time.

Wearable computing devices have been a hot topic of conversation within the medical community for years.  The value of physicians and surgeons accessing vital patient information is being realized by more than the health care professionals themselves. Accessing high- tech instruments allows for more than just a heightened educational opportunity for medical students.  Utilizing tools, such as Google Glass would permit medical personnel to extend time sensitive information any place in the world, grant surgeons near instant access to patient records in real time and connect specialists and colleagues any time via the internet.

Click here to access The Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center video.    

Although many in the medical field are already thinking outside the box, imagining the possibilities Google Glass could provide, more testing is required before this instrument is used on a regular basis.

Read the full article here.

Upcycling is trendy and obviously for good reasons.  The saying waste not, want not comes to mind, especially when considering the cost of a new car, clothes and furniture. If you believe in the ideology of recycling but are tired of the shabby chic look an alternative may be on the market in the near future; Zeoform. 

Zeoform promises a recyclable, low carbon-footprint building material that's as strong as ebony

Antonio Pasolini’s article “,Zeoform: The eco-friendly building material of the future”? Published in the August 29, 2013 edition of gizmag.com, Pasolini explains how the Australian company Zeo has created a glue-free process that creates building material from nothing but cellulose and water.  Not only does the patented material possess strength comparable to hardwood but it can be molded into any shape.

  

What are the benefits to Zeoform?  Cellulose is a raw material, a natural compound, that has been found in certain algae, the secretions of bacteria and extracted from paper, fabrics and plants.  The formula Zeo has invented works by mimmicing a natural glue-free process called hydroxyl bonding; when cellulose fibers cling to each other in water generating a product that is envirnomentally friendly, non-toxic, water effectient  and recyclable.  The products produced by Zeoform would be water and fire resistent and, ‘as strong as ebony’.

Read the full article here.

Plans are underway to provide a digital alternative to traditional autopsy 

The final article for review is “Digital autopsy: Replacing scalpels with scanners,” by Colin Dunjohn.  Here is another fascinating example of how the mediacl community is embracing technology and offering to expand their findings for educational purposes, thus creating a technology chain that many different groups can reap benefits from. In his article for gizmag.com, Dunjohn explores the innovation of Mathavan (Matt) Chandran.  Chandran is able to take raw data from Multi Slice Computerized Tomography (MSCT) the standard technology used today, and  process it through a high-tech computer system, which allows the human body to be viwed in HD (high definition). 

   

As CEO of iGene, Chandran credits the drive toward developing this software from the desire to alleviate famly trauma and honor various religious doctrine. In addition, there are plenty of other purposes for advancemening digital technology in medecine, such as security of patient records, easy accessibilty to data by law enforcement, doctors and other hospital staff, in addition to the educational component that accompanies virtual diagnostics.

This newly developing digital autopsy is not a replacement for the current system used, but an enhancement to traditional autopsies. Pramod Bagali, chief operationas officer at InfoValley, the parent company to iGene, expalins the new scanner could potentially manage 70% of routine autopsies and complement other established means of examinations at a fraction of the cost.  

Between investments and funding iGene has received nearly 100 million dollars to pursue the use of digital autopsies and with interest stemming from all across the globe the growth potential for the industry appears promising.

Click here to watch a video of digital autopsy technology in action.

Read the full article here.

 LISTEN TO THE SHOW HERE

Techno Granny Show Hosted By:

Joanne Quinn-Smith is the Creative Energy Officer of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and an expert on Web 2.0 Branding, 2009 National SBA Small Business Journalist of the Year, Author "Folly of Marketing Plan in Your Head, 101 Compelling Reasons to Write One." Available at:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DHKVJOG


This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:
© Joanne Quinn-Smith, Techno Granny Show™ 2014  All rights reserved.
Dreamweaver Marketing Associates  |  (412) 444-5197
Listen at: http://tinyurl.com/TechnoGrannyShow OR on its unique radio channel at: http://tinyurl.com/pospittlivemag
Additional blog posts at: http://technogrannyshow.com

Techno Granny 05-27-14 - Preview EGC Workshop Website Attraction and Conversion

Techno Granny Talks 05-27-2014

Preview EGC Workshop Website Attraction and Conversion
Featured Guest: Dan Droz

Listen to the Techno Granny show online here

Dan Droz is President of Droz Marketing, a firm that helps companies grow with creative solutions for branding, websites, social media advertising and collateral materials. Dan is also a former professor at Carnegie Mellon. In the last two years, Droz Marketing has won 11 "Marketer of the Year Awards," over 50% of all the awards granted by the American Marketing Association, including 'Grand Marketer of the Year,' unprecedented by any marketing firm in America.

Dan has spoken previously at the Duquesne entrepreneurs conference on topics ranging from how to develop the perfect marketing plan to strategies for branding, PR, website design and social media. In this years presentation, Dan is talking about how to attract and convert more customers through your website.

Questions We Asked Dan:

• Could you tell us a bit about the "Online Cruise Control, Attracting and Converting Customers to your Website" seminar and why people should be looking out for it at the conference?
• Since there are so many different kinds of businesses, Is there just one set of strategies or tactics that work for all businesses?
• How do you figure out what the right methods are for a particular business or site?
• What do you think is the primary reason businesses aren't successful with their websites?
• What one thing do you feel is important to making website a more important part of the marketing mix?

Answers Dan Gave Us:
Growing your Online Business Although there are many ways that websites can help promote a bricks and mortar business, more and more companies are turning to online business opportunities. Here are some strategies to monetize traffic on your site:

1. Advertising. There are generally two variation of the advertising model: Pay Per Click and Pay Per View. Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising generates revenue whenever someone clicks on an ad on your website, while Pay Per View pays based on the number of views (or impressions). Both rely heavily on traffic volume and targeted content, and although this may seem like an easy way to make money, don’t expect to retire anytime soon unless you have a huge site with lots of highly targeted articles. Google AdSense is one of the most widely used Pay Per Click engines.
2. Sponsorship / Private Ad Sales Similar to the Pay Per View model, this monetization strategy usually involves you going direct to the advertiser instead of dealing with an ad network. This form of advertising model usually involves you doing the leg work to approach potential advertisers. Before you do, make sure your website content is highly targeted and generating a lot of traffic.
3. Physical Products The age old model of selling actual physical products. Many large online retailers use this model successfully – for example, Amazon or Dell. Selling physical products involves listing one or multiple products for sale on your website, facilitating a secure transaction and shipping the product. Keep in mind there are warehousing and distribution elements to this model unless you use drop shipping, and shipping to overseas destinations can be cost prohibitive.
4. Drop Shipping Drop shipping is similar to the physical product model, but with someone else looking after the warehousing and distribution. You establish a relationship with one or more businesses who look after the physical goods you’re selling – you only have to worry about sales. When a customer purchases a product on your website, you look after the transaction then forward the order through to your drop shipper who packages and distributes the goods.
5. Digital Products Anything you can download – ebooks, software, music, videos. Digital products are relatively easy, as they have a much lower cost of sale than physical products. With a digital product there’s no physical warehousing, shipping or cost to reproduce the product. You can create your own products to sell, pay someone to develop a product for you, or promote other people’s products via affiliate networks (see the affiliate products section below).
6. Affiliate Products Many website owners make money from promoting other people’s products and services. To start promoting, you apply to become affiliated with a merchant, either via one of the many affiliate networks or directly. When you refer a customer to the merchant, you receive a commission on sales. There are affiliate networks for both physical and digital products as well as for lead generation, otherwise know as Cost Per Action (CPA) offers. For physical products Amazon has its own network, while Clickbank is one of the larger digital product networks.
7. Membership / Subscription Membership sites make money by charging people a regular fee to have access to a secure “Members Only” area. This area might contain training material that’s updated or added to regularly, or it might be a web based application. If you want customers to stick around and keep paying for the privilege then you need to make sure you provide unique and quality content.
8. Marketplace You’re in one! Dating sites, freelance marketplaces such as 99designs and auction sites like eBay. Usually marketplaces make money by charging sellers a fee to list items for sale, or from advertising if the site generates enough traffic. One of the biggest challenges with marketplace sites is attracting enough buyers and sellers to interact regularly.
9. Services The services model encompasses a huge variety of offerings and usually involves customers paying for someone’s time. Selling a service may involve selling day to day tasks such as data entry or professional services such as accounting. Services can prove hard to scale, as usually you need to keep adding work-hours as your clientele grows.

For more information on how to attract and convert more traffic to your site, contact Dan Droz at:

4916 Liberty Avenue  |  Pittsburgh, PA 15224
P: 412-338-1818  |  F: 412-338-9188
www.drozmarketing.com  |  info@droz.com

** Listen to Techno Granny's Interview with more Great Tips from Dan Droz HERE**

You can also hear more from Dan in person at the 16th Annual Entrepreneur's Growth Conference.
This premier networking & informational event for Western PA small businesses is hosted by the Small Business Development Center at Duquesne University.  In addition to the featured speaker Stan Sheetz, Chairman of Sheetz Convenience Stores, and a CEO Panel Discussion, the conference will feature several great breakout sessions including: Accelerating Sales: A Daily To-Do List, Tales from the Road: Inspiring Stories from Well-Traveled Entrepreneurs, Rules of the Road: Human Resource Update, The Intersection of Concept & Cash: Steering a Great Idea into a Profitable Business, Fueling Up: Find the Cash You Need, The Exit Ramp: Preparing to Sell Your Business, Ending Gridlock: Creative Ways to Improve Cash Flow, The Scenic Route: Videos & Images to Power Your Marketing Motor, Sharp Curves: How to Win with the Power of Persuasion, Opportunities Ahead: Diversity Programs & Government Contracting, Social Media Shortcuts: Shift Your Business into High Gear with LinkedIn, Facebook & Youtube, The Fundraiser Fastlane: Successful Crowdfunding Campaigns, Online Cruise Control: Website Practices for Converting Visitors into Customers, and The Green Belt:  How to Run a Sustainable Company.

For more information and to register visit www.sbdc.duq.edu. 

Techno Granny Show Hosted By:

Joanne Quinn-Smith is the Creative Energy Officer of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and an expert on Web 2.0 Branding, 2009 National SBA Small Business Journalist of the Year, Author "Folly of Marketing Plan in Your Head, 101 Compelling Reasons to Write One." Available at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DHKVJOG

Posted By: Stephanie Curtice
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:
© Joanne Quinn-Smith, Techno Granny Show™ 2014  All rights reserved.
Dreamweaver Marketing Associates  |  (412) 444-5197
Listen at: http://tinyurl.com/TechnoGrannyShow OR on its unique radio channel at: http://tinyurl.com/pospittlivemag
Additional blog posts at: http://technogrannyshow.com

Techno Granny, Boolean Logic, Old Tools for New Search

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•  Listen to: Techno Granny, Boolean Logic, 

  Old Tools for New Search

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• Boolean Logic -- we all learned it in grade school -- and again in high school. We studied it in algebra -- and in electronics and philosophy. It's the brain child of George Boole back in the 1800s, but really, it's how human beings think -- and how you find things using a computer -- or an internet search engine like Google or Bing or Yahoo.
• Even though it sounds scary, Boolean Logic is inherently simple. You've been using it your whole life without realizing it. If you were in an algebra class, we'd get into set theory and the like...but we are going to talk about the basics of how you think and how you search for things that you want.
• As much as I hate to be labeled -- and as much as most of us dislike the idea of "Profiling" -- the human mind learns by putting things in little boxes and storing those boxes away in memory. So, if we go for a ride in great Aunt Frances' Cadillac sedan and the leather seats felt wonderful, we will associate leather seats and wonderful -- and store that away as something desirable. Even if it was back when we were five years old...that Cadillac means something nice even now fifty years later. And maybe, you remember saying the Pledge of Allegiance to a dusty old American Flag every morning in school. Red, White, and Blue seem like pretty nice colors from then on out. On the negative side, maybe the first time you went for a drive by yourself you got lost and the ragged old map in the glove compartment wasn't very helpful -- you hated that feeling and remember it even today. Maybe those things become labels in your head and impact your desires...and dislikes.
• In the olden days back in the 20th century before commerce came to the internet, when you went shopping -- you decided what you wanted and then picked the stores that you knew carried those products and went to them physically.
• Say you want to buy a sedan -- and you want it to have a gps system (No more useless paper maps, please!) and leather seats (ahhhh) and be either blue or red.
• Say there are ten dealerships in your town -- Ford, Chevy, Cadillac, Honda, Acura, Toyota, Lexus, Volkswagon, Jeep, and Mercedes. In the olden days, you would say to yourself -- gps and leather seats are premium options so maybe you would prioritize the dealerships in terms of how likely they would have the exact car that you want -- maybe you guess something like this -- Mercedes, Cadillac, Lexus, Acura, Toyota, Honda, Chevy, Jeep, Ford, and Volkswagon. Then you would visit each of the dealerships and say to the salesperson, I want a Sedan with leather seats and gps in either blue or red. The salesperson at Mercedes might say, we have sedans with leather seats and gps in red but not in blue. At Chevy showroom, the salesperson might say, we have sedans in red or blue but not with leather seats or gps. (You have to order them and you don't want to wait for that.) If you are a nerd like me, you MUST know your options so you set up a list -- from Mercedes who has most of what I want to VW which might have only one or two of my requirements. And then make decisions from there based on other things like price, gas mileage, and style. Regardless, we have used Boolean Logic to define the things that I want.
• There are three basic boolean OPERATORS that I can use to define what I want - AND, OR, NOT. If you start with all cars, you want to narrow down your options to the criteria you want. Examples:
• I want Sedan AND Leather AND GPS
• From that group, I want Red OR Blue
• From THAT group, I don't want (NOT) Chevy.
• So putting it all together, 
• I want:
• Sedan AND Leather AND GPS AND (Red OR Blue) AND (NOT Chevy)
• That's easy, right? Except for going around to all of the dealerships and asking that question. 
• These days, we do that part of the search on the internet using search engines. I like Google so let's use it as an example. If I go to Google and type "red and blue cars" in the search box,  I'll get 525 million items in my search result and most of them don't interest me -- and even if they did, I don't have time to look at 525 millions websites. If I search on "red or blue sedans with leather seats and gps" that narrows it down to 15.4 million options. That's STILL too many to help me. Why is that?  That's because in reality, I left out several important criteria -- like where am I? What's my timeframe? So in Google, I see there is a button that says "Search Tools." When I click on it, three more buttons pop up -- one lets me define time, one lets me define where I am, and the third lets me further reduce my options by defining things like telling Google I don't want to see sites I've already visited or to only look for sites about cars that are near me. That makes the search more useful.
• But how do all of those sites get out on Google? (or any search engine)...and how do they know that I'm going to search on the "labels" inside my own head -- they are very personal after all.
• In the olden days -- and in some situations now, databases were structured as rows and columns. Each record had several pieces of information in it -- say, record number, name, telephone number, address, social security number, etc. Each record was a row -- and the various fields within the records made up a column. 
• Each record had a unique number -- usually the sequence of when records were added. Say your record was added to the database after the 338th record and so it became record number 339. The next record added would be 340 and so on. To go your record, you simply told the computer "Goto 330" -- and bingo, it took you there. 
• But what if you didn't know the record number? And in fact, you usually DON'T know it. Say you wanted to find your own name in the telephone company list of customers. To find a particular record, the computer would sort on the a field -- say the "Name" field -- and the database would be alphabetical. Then, the computer went to the first one and checked the "Name" field. Is that your name? No? Go to the next record, and check that name. No? Go to the next -- and so on. It was much faster than looking at a million manila folders looking for your information -- hey, it's a computer, right?
• Then we went to indexing -- using a keyword or fields -- say, we were going to index on last name/first name - alphabetically. Then the computer creates a little map of just those fields -- and orders them -- it doesn't bother to physically move all the records around -- and then it searches the map and then finds your record. Faster and easier.
• These days websites can be searched too -- using not JUST a database of rows and columns but blocks of data...the search engines use a web "crawler" or a program that goes from site to site adding information to their index.
• So if you have a website or a product and you want Google and the other search companies to add you to their index so that people will find you, how do you do that? Well, you can encourage the robot crawler to come to your site sooner rather than later by submitting it to the search engine.
• But how do you get Google to put you on the first page of the search results? No one wants to be 20 pages back in a 525 million item search result. No one will have the patience to keep looking after the first two or three pages. Well, this is at the heart of SEO -- and so is Boolean Logic.
• First, there are web masters and search masters -- the job of the web master is to slant things so that his/her site ends up first in the type of searches that people he wants to come to his sites might use. The job of the search master is to be fair -- it's a constant battle between those two elements -- those who control search engines and those who live on the web. 
• If you have the exact address -- like the old record number -- it's easy -- you type it in and go to the site you want just like that. But if you don't KNOW the address -- and if you are researching something -- as a consumer -- or maybe as an author trying to learn as much as possible before writing a book -- you will probably use some form of Boolean statements -- Find me a Sedan with GPS AND leather seats in Blue OR Red.
• If you are selling sedans with leather seats and gps in blue or red, then you better the chances of being found if you include those words -- SEDANS, GPS, LEATHER SEATS, BLUE, RED as keywords for a given webpage in your site -- as alternative text under pictures -- and in the copy of your site. The more of this information you include in your site, the more information the search engine bots gather up and load into their database and include in their index mapping. 
• Example:  TechnoGranny played around with loads of phrases
• Finally came up with
• “Books on Writing Marketing Plans on Kindle, published in June, 2013 with K.I.S.S. List”
• Now from millions I was down to 288 results
• 
  

Joyce Faulkner Author, Speaker, Storyteller Book Designer, Graphic Designer, Ghostwriter FINALIST 2013 MILITARY WRITERS SOCIETY OF AMERICA AUTHOR OF THE YEAR! Author of: Windshift - Hard Cover, Trade Paperback, Kindle, iBook USERNAME - Trade Paperback, Kindle, Audio Book Chance - Trade paperback, Kindle In the Shadow of Suribachi - Hard Cover, Trade Paperback, Kindle For Shrieking Out Loud - Hard Cover, Trade Paperback, Kindle Losing Patience - Trade Paperback, Kindle, iBook Former President Military Writers Society of America www.militarywriters.com Advisory Board Talencea Corporation (http://www.talencea.com) is a Search Firm automating the recruiting process using Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing. Check out Tweet Adder