Nov
2011
We’ve all been there. You’re at an event and you run into someone you know… but you draw a blank on the person’s name. What do you do?
Today, we’re going to share a few of our favorite tips for avoiding the awkward moment that many of us know far too well. The best connectors remember your name, every time. At least, it makes you feel valued… right? Other people will always remember how you made them feel, and one of the best ways to make someone feel good is to simply remember their name! Oh, and use it:
“A person’s name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language.“
It’s time for you to set the bar higher. Here’s some tips to start:
1) I’ll begin with a personal example from my own life. If I forget someone’s name in the moment, one of my favorite tricks is to gamble on the chance that I might have saved their cell phone number in my phone. I’ll start the conversation by asking:
“Hey, I forget if we’ve exchanged numbers in the past. What’s your number again?“
After I type it into my phone, their name will pop up if I’ve saved their number before. If it does, problem solved! However, if nothing pops up and I haven’t saved their number before, I’ll usually extend my phone towards the person and ask if they would mind adding their info (including their email address). Even if it is a tiny bit awkward to start off a conversation like this, the person’s name almost always surfaces.
2) If you’re at a cocktail party and you run into someone whose name you forget, look to see if you have a friend nearby. Once you have selected your ‘intro target’, get their attention and motion for them to come over. Then, quickly pose the question:
“Hey, have you two met each other before?“
If they haven’t, try to use your body language to prompt them to give their own name. Naturally, they will introduce themselves to each other. Just like that, problem solved!
3) If you blank on someone’s name and don’t feel comfortable trying either (1) or (2) above, stall the conversation and try not to let on that you’ve had a moment of forgetfulness. If appropriate, ask the person if they would fancy an exchange of business cards.
Or better yet, offer to hash ‘em up! Once you have their email address (or Twitter handle), you should be able to deduce the person’s name.
3.5) Not working? Still drawing a blank? Look for a way to momentarily escape the conversation, promising your imminent return. Then, ask someone else (preferably, a friend nearby!) if they know the person’s name.
LAST RESORT: If all else fails, ask the person directly. Be polite, don’t make a big deal of it, and don’t be embarrassed – it happens to everyone from time-to-time. For example:
“I’m terribly sorry but I’ve completely forgotten your name.“
*******
What do you think? What are some of your best tops for remembering names? Drop us a comment below!
Oct
2011
You know what’s scary? Forgetting the awesome people you meet! Also, killers in the shower and monsters under the bed. And, being eaten by a giant space bug. Or, finding out that Satan has fathered your baby. Or, a shark that is genetically engineered to be smart enough to find you and eat you. Or backpacking in Eastern Europe. Or, cavediving (okay that never really sounds safe). Or, being a hotel caretaker in Colorado. Or, shining a flashlight on your face while wearing a woolen cap. Or, babysitting. Or, answering the phone.
I know, this list has now creeped us out, too. So please, enjoy your candy corn and mini-chocolate bars and be assured that it’s totally safe to go back in the water. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE SKY?!?
Boo.
Oct
2011
During the first phase of the internet boom, innovators wanted to connect to people across the globe. Services like AOL and MySpace exploded by bridging geographic gaps between people. Google allowed us to search the entire world. But soon, we realized technology was taking us away from our own backyards. Local community rose as a focus – and a business – on the web. You could say it started with Facebook, connecting people based on University affiliation. Hyper-local news sites like Patch and Baristanet sprang up and brought local to life. Daily Deal sites exploded. Blogs, Twitter, Foursquare – more and more tools developed for us to think globally – and act locally. All of this together – and more! – has put the hyper-local in focus as a major driver of tech-scene development, and opportunity.
Enter Street Fight – the site devoted to the business of hyperlocal:
The intersection between location-centric services like Foursquare, Gowalla and Facebook Places; locally-targeted daily deals efforts like Groupon, LivingSocial and Yipit; and more traditional “hyperlocal” news and information sites and networks like Patch.com, Everyblock, Baristanet and the East Village Local. These are all marked by big new ideas, shifting consumer behavior, and technology-enabled innovation — and a similar push of venture funding is enabling serious projects that promise to build a new world of local advertising and commerce.
At last week’s Street Fight Summit, founder and CEO of Street Fight, Laura Rich, aimed to bring together these new ideas, attitudes and technologies to examine the future path of hyperlocal. Hashable was excited to attend part of the summit and learn from some of the great presenters. Here are some highlights:
How to be a standalone Hyperlocal news site?
To survive and thrive as a standalone hyperlocal, you need a dedicated audience. Provide great content to your readers, and they will be your greatest advocates. Debra Galant of Baristanet pushed the point that as a small news site, readers are your biggest advocates and enable smaller news sites to compete with local Patch sites.
How do hyperlocal news sites compete with Patch?
At the same time, Michael Shapiro stressed that Patch is a great player in the local news field and offers the competition needed to spur great journalism.
But how do hyperlocal news sites get ads?
Debra Galant and Scott Broadbeck, editor and publisher of ARLnow.com, reiterate that their addicted readers are their biggest advocates and often function as a de facto sales team, driving local merchants to purchase ad space. The issue is, merchants don’t understand digital ads, so many local news sites sell ads like newspapers, which can often cheat the merchants. There is a definite need for companies like Google, Clickable and American Express to work with their small business customers and educate them on these new concepts, otherwise, they are missing out on huge economic growth.
Two new hyperlocal experiments stood out of the crowd: CityPockets and Zaarly
CityPockets, founded by Cheryl Yeoh, is a virtual wallet and secondhand marketplace for daily deals. As a management tool for daily deals vouchers, CityPockets is able to glean a stunning amount of data about daily deals users and their spending habits. For example, $1.2 Billion is wasted each year due to forgotten or expired daily deals vouchers. CityPockets tries to compromise for this loss by providing users with a secondhand marketplace, with 41% of deals re-sold at a break even price and 25% for a profit. Needless to say, CityPockets made quite an impression.
Zaarly, a mobile geo-specific marketplace to buy and sell anything, is a product of New York City’s startup weekend. CEO, Bo Fishback, took the stage and offered his candid opinion on the potential for businesses to harness the power of “local”. “There’s a lot of things about this [hyperlocal] hotness that are better than the last hotness,” said Fishback, referring to the bubble burst of the 90’s. The rise of consumer mobile GPS is huge, according to Fishback and “there aren’t enough people to exploit this opportunity.” Zaarly is currently focused on building the best product to connect consumers with the people and products around them. Until then, download the Zaarly app to start buying and selling. For those in Gotham City, NYC is the biggest Zaarly market, so trust you will find some opportunities and sales (in fact, Zaarly just moved to Manhattan from San Francisco to exploit their presence in the market).
Why is NYC the right place to incubate a hyperlocal tech company?
Dave Tisch, managing director of TechStars NYC pushed that the business and population density are biggest drivers for starting up hyperlocals in the five boroughs. Owen Davis, managing director of NYC Seed, identified that while the overflowing market for hyperlocal businesses is a huge driver, the relationship to the urban environment is dramatically different is New York City, as compared to other cities across the globe, making it the perfect environment to test new tools and services.
Why Foursquare’s testing worked in NYC
Panel Moderator, Lockhart Steele, recalled a conversation he had with Dennis Crowley, founder and CEO of Foursquare. Crowley mentioned that the best part about testing products in New York City is the diverse marketplace of new media consumers. “Here in New York City, your product gets tested by journalists & fashionistas, which helps make a better rounded product” This testing market ultimately gives you a better product that appeals to different tastes.
…whoof. Is that enough hyperlocal for you? For the full run-down, check out Jeremy Caplan’s storify of the entire summit and Street Fight’s own detailed recaps. Thanks very much to the Street Fight team for an amazing first conference.
Oct
2011
He’s not just one of New York’s best Android developers, we are convinced he’s the funniest Android developer in the country. The stage is yours, Joe: take it away.
Meet Hashable’s Android Engineer, Joe Lallouz
*Joe, several years ago*
Today, we have the most in-depth #HashByte interview yet. Before we get to Joe’s thoughts on building personality into a product and why Canada is awesome, here’s the lowdown on Joe:
- Follow Joe on Twitter here
- Hash with Joe here
- By day: Android & Web Engineer, Hashable
- By night: Co-Creator & Android Developer, Cloud Assassin
- Check out Joe’s blog here: http://kitchenhacker.com/
- City of Joe: Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
- A short bio: “Entrepreneur | Application Engineer | I build Android & Web @Hashable full time | I built @cloud_assassin | I Live life like it’s sharkweek | I have 2 dogs, that I live for | I like cooking and sneakers, so i built @recip_io while wearing sneakers | I had a previous life in financial services at FactSet Research Systems | I now live the startup life. Currently working on some neat Android passion projects, including a Honeycomb tablet app for Shelby.tv, an unofficial 500px app & a game called ‘pirate dice’.”
1. My memory tells me that you worked in the financial world after graduating… is this accurate? What were you up to before Hashable and what drew you to technology startups?
Before joining Hashable I worked at an incredible, publicly traded company called Factset Research Systems, based in Norwalk, CT. I spent about 2 and a half years working with a really great team on tough technical problems where I honed my skills and I learned a ton about team based software development. I was also very lucky to have a few key co-workers who left a strong impact on me. I still suggest the place as a great environment to work and I only left because I realized that the larger corporate lifestyle was not what interested me at this point in my life.
I have always been drawn to tech startups, so that was not something that I decided while I was at Factset. Building products, projects or companies is something I have been doing since I was very young and I am absolutely addicted to it. I thrive in fast paced, high stress environments so starting or joining a startup was just something I had to do to be happy and that’s what really matters, no?
2. The ‘Internet infamous’ FakeGrimlock recently wrote a guest post on Fred Wilson’s blog (“Minimum Viable Personality”) where he said creating a personality for a product is the 2nd most important thing for it to be successful. In my opinion, the app you ‘co-created’ (Cloud Assassin) is overflowing with personality. Were there any particular steps you took to intentionally create a personality for it?
This is one of those things that I feel like you can’t fabricate. Any personality that your product embodies comes from the people creating it. I’m flattered that you think Cloud Assasin has a ton of personality, that speaks well for Brandon, Aaron, Roy and I. But I have to admit, we built that game going with our guts and as a team, trusting in the aspects that we loved and cutting the ones we hated. All I can really say about building personality into a product is to make sure you are surrounded by the absolute best and brightest… the rest will line up.
3. What’s your favorite memory of playing hockey in Canada?
I wish I could say it was when I won a championship, but sadly that never happened. My fondest memory is bitter cold February weekend outdoor games. I know it sounds like a Disney movie but it’s true. Montreal is a magical place in the winter. The entire city is obsessed with Hockey.
I played at a very competitive level – every night after school and every weekend – but somehow when I wasn’t playing with my team, my friends and I would go play at one of the thousands of outdoor rinks in the city. It did not matter how cold it was, we would just throw on the skates and a pair of gauntlets and play for hours. You would get home at night and your feet would ache from the cold. I loved that.
The Finale: Get To Know Joe in Five Fast Questions
1. What is your favorite thing about living in Williamsburg?
It’s amazing. The food, the art, the music, the people. It’s a very young and fun place to be – I find that energizing.
2. From a design standpoint, what are some of your favorite Android apps?
Great question. I love foursquare, super talented design team. The GroupMe app is kind of unconventional from an android design standpoint, but I love their work. The team over at Lightbox are also at the top of my list.
3. What’s the one thing that most people don’t know about you?
I represented my home Nation of Canada 2 times at the International level. Sadly neither were for Hockey. Once playing for the Canadian National Ultimate Frisbee team in Turku, Finland in 2004. I trained with the team for a month in Winnipeg before heading out for the 3 week tourney. We came in second…to the US. And once at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Silicon Valley. My partner and I were one of a handful of teams to rep Canada and we built a 3-dimensional environment to test the effects of aurally aided visual search. We got an honorable mention and it turns out, it helps – so you’re welcome, fighter jet pilots.
4. You’ve been compared to Sidney Crosby (98% alike according to MyHeritage.com) before. Is he your favorite NHL player?
Nope. I Love Sid the Kid, but he’s not my favorite. The top of my all time list has been, and will always be Wayne Gretzky. I’ve drawn so much inspiration and awe from that man over the years, it will be hard to surpass. My favorite current player is Andrei Markov though, underrated and an over performer (when he’s healthy :/ ).
5. Who is your favorite artist in music?
Freddie Mercury. I love all music, all shapes and sizes. But I have always been a huge fan of Queen. The Beatles are in a very close second.
**************
Have any questions you’d like to ask Joe? Well, go right ahead! Ask away in the comments below.
Oct
2011
Steve Jobs’ official biography by Walter Isaacson went on sale this morning in real life bookstores and eBook stores around the globe. Issacson’s book has some fascinating insights into the mercurial CEO, and media outlets have been rolling out bits and pieces of the biography in advance of today’s big release. While you may have heard of Jobs’ general animosity towards Google and his slightly radical temperment, here’s some our favorite facts about Steve:
On Design
Jobs was known for his dedication to design and perfection, and that temperament was passed down to him by his father. “Paul jobs was a Salt of the earth guy who was a great mechanic,” said Isaacson in an interview with 60 minutes. “And he taught his son steve how to make great things. Once they were making a fence and he said, ‘You gotta make the back of the fence that no one will see, just as good looking as the front of the fence. Even though nobody will see it, you will know. That will show that you’re dedicated to making something perfect.’”
The Original Phone Hacker
One of Steve’s first hacks was with his later business partner Steve Wozniak. They re-created something called the “blue box” which was a tool that reproduced phone company tones, allowing users to make illegal long-distance calls. It was this hack that prompted the Steves to start Apple. Jobs said to Issacson, “With my marketing skills and Wozniak’s great design, we could sell anything.”
In Pursuit of Nirvana
Steve Jobs, like many free thinkers in his day, traveled to India in search of enlightenment. According to Issacson, Buddhism was a strong influence on his design sense. The idea that “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” is at the core of Apple’s philosophy.
A Humble Billionaire
Jobs was never the materialistic type. His house in Palo Alto was on a regular street, with no live-in help and no fancy driveway. He kept a humble demeanor in spite of his obvious wealth because he had seen how money had changed people in his life, specifically his colleagues at Apple. “I saw a lot of other people at Apple especially after we went public and how it changed them. And a lot of people thought they had to start being rich. So a few people went out and bought Rolls Royces..their wives went out and got plastic surgery…and I saw these really nice, simple people turn into these bizzarro people. And I made a promise to myself: I’m not going to let this money ruin my life.”
According to Issacson, Apple board member Art Levinson was the man who convinced Jobs to take on third party apps. Initially, Jobs did not think his team had the bandwith to “police” third-party developers. Little did he know that the Apps bazaar would create a whole new industry of products and innovation. Good thing the typically cantankerous CEO was able to be swayed, otherwise you wouldn’t have Hashable!
A Television Pioneer
One product Apple had not tackled in Jobs’ lifetime was the television. “He very much wanted to do for television sets what he had done for computers, music players, and phones: make them simple and elegant,” Isaacson wrote. “‘I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use,’ he told me. ‘It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud.’ No longer would users have to fiddle with complex remotes for DVD players and cable channels. ‘It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.’”
A Mysterious Long-Lost Son
Jobs met his biological father, unbeknownst to the two of them. He and his sister, Mona Simpson, tracked down their mutual biological father Abdulfattah John Jandali. While Steve did not want to meet him, Mona took the plunge and met Jandali at the restaurant he was managing at the time. Upon meeting, he said to her “I wish you could have seen me when I was running a bigger restaurant…Everybody used to come there. Even Steve Jobs used to eat there…He was a great tipper.” Jobs remembers meeting his father at the restaurant in Palo Alto years before. “We shook hands,” he said.
On Mortality
Death was a frequent conversation between Isaacson and Jobs. In one interview Job said, “I saw my life as an arc, and it would end. And compared to that, nothing mattered. You know, I mean. You’re born alone you’re going to die alone. What exactly is it that you have to lose Steve…nothing!”
One day, Steve and Walter were sitting in Jobs’ backyard, and they began discussing God. “Sometimes I believe in god, sometimes I don’t…but ever since I’ve had cancer I’ve been thinking about it more. Maybe because I want to believe in an afterlife that after you die, it doesn’t always disappear. The wisdom you’ve accumulated it lives on…but sometimes I think it’s like an on and off switch. Click and you’re gone…that’s why I don’t like putting on and off switches on Apple devices.”
The iconic CEO is now not only memorialized in our devices, but now in a 500+ page book. We suggest you leave your office now and grab a copy–or if you’re an Apple loyalist, get it on iBooks and read it on your iPad.
Photo via Obama Pacman
Oct
2011
“If you had five minutes on stage, what would you say?” Those brave enough to answer that question present at Ignite NYC, a way for thinkers and doers to share their advice and experience with others in 5 minutes, based off 20 slides. Last night the Ignite NYC team celebrated their 13th presentation series as a closing event to the first day of the Web 2.0 Expo. These mini-talks ran the gamut of how to de-stale cheerios to the experiences of a “before and after” fitness model to how to insert more gratification into your workday. Ignite presentations can be zany and inspiring — and last night were especially so (the audience of over 800 was appropriatedly ignited). Here are our favorite quotes of the night from each speaker:
1) @MichelleBee: Mayor McCheese is the force that creates cohesive community. Community Managers should throw their money into finding Mayor McCheese. When you build that community they are going to be tight.
2) @MattLeMay: Music is stupid software, but musicians have to be really smart entrepreneurs. They balance old & new business models, design their products with emotion, are the best community managers and they keep going when the going gets tough.
3) @Corvida: The best way to destale cherrios? While liquid nitrogen and a George Foreman grill might do the trick, you’re probably best off purchasing another box.
4) @SuraJStar: While twitter is a great way to share information, the self-selection isolates opinions by creating echo chambers where users can reinforce their own beliefs.
5) @Shaka_Lulu: Current pictures of the sky are mere moments in Astronomy. We will soon see a movie of the sky, of stars consuming one another.
6) @JonLevyTLB: People do crazy things to change their body, like eat 4,000 calories worth of chicken and dislocate their legs.
7) @SarahFeingold: “In life, just like in jewelry and in law, you have to pay attention to the details.”
8) @Mmalkoff: “If you make conservative safe choices you get conservative safe results” — on racing an MTA bus across town in a kids’ big wheeler.
9) @Desifeminista: On the five dating myths…“Dating is socially sanctioned torture”
10) @SippingInk: Being an actor in LA is also like socially sanctioned torture. You’re better off moving to NYC, getting a degree from ITP and working at TechStars.
11) @Jackfoundation: Tweeting is great, but enjoy the world around you…and call your grandmother!
12) @kn0thing: Use the brilliance of geek culture to make the world “suck less”.
13) @akko: Do you feel chained to your work desk? You don’t need as vacation, you need a workcation–taking your work day outside of the office.
14) @TerezaN: “Ask excellent questions to create honest moments”
15) @nickcrocker: how do you change yourself? Pick one thing, change a little bit at a time, create a chain of change, and always remember “floss the teeth you want to keep.”
16) @Bougie: Ruby on Rails Barbie will not get more women in tech. You know what will? Stop calling yourself a girl — give yourself power. Call yourself a woman.
…and finally, from Hashable’s very own Emma Persky:
17) @emmapersky: Winning at Karaoke is easy if you add your own array of drama. “Go epic or go home”
Epic, indeed. Check out all the presentations online here and follow @igniteNYC for updates on the next Ignite.
Image via Flickr
Oct
2011
Today, we are profiling a deep-thinking writer who is not afraid to take a stand. A year-round believer in the beard-lovers pasttime, ‘No Shave November‘, our featured #HashByte is well on his way to becoming the very wise man he already portrays.
Meet Hashable’s QA Engineer, Sam Gimbel
Today, Sam will share with us some tips on what it takes to be great at QA and tell a story from his pre-Hashable background. Before we get to the interview, here’s the lowdown on Sam:
- Follow Sam on Twitter here
- Hash with Sam here
- By day: QA Engineer, Hashable
- Check out Sam’s blog here: http://blog.samgimbel.com/ (Titled “Starting Up”)
- City of Sam: Brooklyn, NY
- A short bio: “I’m a DIY Connoisseur. I love building stuff, fixing stuff, and playing stuff.”
1. What were you up to before joining Hashable?
Well, directly before Hashable I was working for a small publishing company all the way up in Westchester. It had this vaguely miserable quality to it that only got worse over time. Publishing is just so established that nothing ever really changes, and I think that didn’t catch my interest. Also, it turns out I really don’t do well when I’m not challenged, which is why my time at Hashable can be so easily described as a success. Before that I was backpacking through South America after graduating from college in Virginia. I’m a young guy, and I think that makes working at a startup that much more exciting.
2. What do you do when you’re not at Hashable?
I spend a lot of time hardware hacking. I do a lot of Arduino projects, but my first love is designing and building guitar amplifiers. I usually start with something classic and end with something totally unexpected sound-wise. I’m slowly working towards a modular amplifier design that would allow anyone to experiment and build their own stuff. I think musicians would really appreciate a modular approach to tone. Other than that I love biking, learning to write new code (I’m picking up Ruby currently), and cooking. I guess I get bored easily.
3. You’ve written that as a QA guy, you’re “pretty much all about finding ways in which things don’t work”. Do you have any tips or tricks that you would you share with aspiring QA engineers on becoming better at finding ways in which things aren’t working properly?
Man, that quote makes me sound a lot more negative than I actually am, but I guess it’s true. The advice that comes to mind first is: learn how something works BEFORE you learn how to break it. If you do your testing modularly and learn to anticipate flaws in the product before they occur then you will save yourself big headaches when bugs are found in the wild. Also: AUTOMATE. As soon as an aspect of your product is solid, write automated regression tests for it. You’ll be so happy you did later on. To be honest, I think the best way to be good at QA is to build things yourself, whether it’s writing code or hacking hardware or writing articles. You’ll start to find the areas creative people tend to miss and learn to anticipate areas of weakness. It really does pay to hone your instincts.
The Finale: Get To Know Sam in Five Fast Questions
1. What is the longest you’ve ever gone without shaving?
5 months, while traveling. It didn’t look ridiculous at all.
2. What is your favorite book of all time?
It’s a series, but the Ishmael books by Daniel Quinn (Ishmael, The Story of B, My Ishmael).
3. What did you study in college?
Started with Philosophy and Psychology, have a degree in Neuroscience and Sociology.
4. What is your favorite website?
Honestly it’s probably Wikipedia. It’s not really “cool” anymore but I use it at least once a day.
5. What is your favorite place in Brooklyn?
On a nice day, Prospect Park. On a rainy/cold day, probably sitting on my own couch with my girlfriend, Taylor.
**************
Have any questions you’d like to ask Sam? Well, go right ahead! Ask away in the comments below.
Oct
2011
Image by clvrmnky via Flickr
We know tons of fantastic women programmers working to solve the world’s toughest problems through code. But do you know who started the trend of ladies who tech? Welcome, Ada Lovelace, the first ever computer programmer, who in 1842, created what is known today as the first computer program — an algorithm for calculating Bernoulli numbers. It is in her name that we celebrate Ada Lovelace Day - the day to celebrate the contributions of women to science, tech, engineering and mathematics.
A quick history: Ada Lovelace was born in 1815 as Ada Agusta Byron – daughter of Romantic poet Lord Byron (though she had no relationship with him as he left the home shortly after her birth and died when she was nine). Raised by her mother, Ann Isabella Milbanke, she showed an aptitude for mathematics, studying with renowned mathematicians and eventually meeting Charles Babbage, inventor, engineer and Cambridge professor of Mathematics, at the ripe age of 17. They developed a friendship, and soon, Babbage was looking to Ada for advice and edits to his papers. On one occasion, Babbage, who was interested in developing a calculating machine, found a memoir on the subject and asked Ada to translate it for him from the original French. While translating, Ada made a series of notes, marked A to G, which modeled the formula that would make her a legend to women – and math nerds – the world over.
The text of her program was published in 1953 – 101 years after her death – and is recognized as an early model for computers and software. In fact, the first computer language used by the department of defense was named “Ada”in her honor. And, of course, Ada Lovelace Day.
Want to learn more about Ada? We love these links:
Ada Lovelace cartoon from BrainPop
Ada Lovelace Day: Celebrate Women in Technology by Jenny Williams
Ada Lovelace Day: Women In Science and Other Resources
FindingAda.Org, a resource about great women in STEM and for women in STEM careers
Ada Lovelace Photo Essay from the Flickr Blog
Celebrating Ada Lovelace Day from Scientific American
A Storify of the best tweets from Ada Lovelace Day
***Holidays are meant to inspire awareness, but don’t treat Ada Lovelace day as a one day event. The best way to celebrate Ada Lovelace day is to celebrate women in STEM everyday. Send cheers to the Adas in your life, whether they are tenured professors at Cambridge or young girls breaking circuits in their bedrooms.
Oct
2011
The news yesterday that Apple founder and global tech visionary Steve Jobs had died reverberated through my Twitter stream. It was clear that people were deeply shaken, and deeply saddened. Time magazine stopped their presses to devote the week’s entire issue to Jobs. At a tech event I attended last night, I overheard a forty-something guy in a suit say that he had never reacted like this to the death of a business leader, that he wasn’t expecting to feel so sad.
I wasn’t expecting to feel so sad either. I’m not a lifelong Apple fangirl, or even a lifelong tech geek. I vividly remember moments of Mac-generated wonder, but came late to the Apple-love party. I was even a PC girl until two years ago, and have not even owned my iPhone or iPad for a year. But when you work in the tech industry, as I have for the past two years, you come by love and respect for Apple by osmosis. Not just because they are beautiful and easy to use, but because you realize quickly that they have just changed everything. “There’s an app for that,” did not exist 3 years ago; 5 years ago, the iPhone – the place to find those apps – didn’t exist, either. Steve Jobs died just a few weeks shy of a decade after the launch of the iPod: October 23, 2001.
“Great products don’t just showcase creativity; they unlock it in others,” wrote Hashable Director of Products Dave Sebag when it was announced that Jobs was going on medical leave. “I think this explains all the Steve Jobs love today.” This is the other reason you can’t move within the tech industry impervious to the impact of Jobs and Apple. Instagram. Square. Foursquare. Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, Words With Friends. Evernote. And, Hashable. Apple created beautiful, functional products – and a fundamental platform upon which an entire industry — and the progress it has wrought — has been built. Read the rest of this entry »
Oct
2011
At Hashable, we want to help you make connections easier than ever. Our notes and reminders features are fantastic tools to help you stay connected and remember important information about your contacts. This data is anchored to your contact pages, to save information for later or remind you to get in touch with people in the future. What’s more, in our newest release, you can add data to your contacts both on and offline, so you can update from anywhere. Paired together, notes and reminders offer powerful ways to help you better manage your new contacts.
Take Notes
Anchoring contacts with notes about the person, meeting or conversation can be very helpful for remembering details about an interaction.
Let’s say I just met Sam:
I can open the notes feature and jot down a private note I can reference in the future. It’s good to know he codes in Ruby, because I’d like to connect him with a friend of mine who’s looking for a developer.
Great! Now I’ve saved the note in my app for later. I can go in and edit it at anytime – even on the subway. It will sync to the app when I get my 3G back.
Remind Me Again…
While I’m editing my note on the subway, I decide I want to send Sam an email to ask if I can introduce him to Jeremy. To make sure I don’t forget, I’ll create a reminder.
I can sync this reminder to my calendar, send myself a reminder email, or both. In two days, my reminder will come in and, using my notes, I’ll send Sam an email.
And that’s it! With these two tools, it’s easier than ever to get in touch with your contacts.
Have you found any creative ways for using notes and reminders? If so share them with us in the comments!
