David A. Rosen - Helping People and Businesses Achieve Remarkable Results...

Weather Station at my Home... Why?

So, I am lucky to work for a diverse set of customers.  One client is Primex, a wireless device and auto-synchronizing clock and weather station device company.  The division that is the leading seller of weather products and related devices is called Accurite

As a father, educator, hobbyist and part-time geek, this was my best hooliday gift.  It started with the Acurite 5-in-1 weather station and an internet bridge.  The weather station is a compact device with 5 different measuring sensors in it and is the size of a shoebox.  I took the device out of the box and bolted it down to my deck railing at the farthest point from the house and 15 feet off the ground.  I put the batteries in the display and I was off to the races collecting and displaying the most recent, by the second, wind speed, direction, barometric pressure, rainfall data along with calculated wind-chill, dew point and 4 hour to 5 day forecast.   Now we dont leave the house without checking the weather display.

The second and very fun part of the system is an internet bridge that send the data directly to an iPad App and custom web-page (http://mybackyardweather.com)  that displays a current dashboard of the data from my weather station.  Furthermore, I connected my weather system, through the internet bridge to the Weather Underground, a website that provides weather data from over 22,000 personal weather systems along with the National Weather Service and airport weather reporting systems.  When you go to weather underground you see:  David's Weather Center in Warren, NJ.

Oh yes.. and Acurite and Weather Underground both have iPad and Android apps to monitor the weather from those devices in addition to your own personalized web pages.

So Why have My Own Weather Station???

If you know New Jersey, it is full of hills, valleys, beaches (at sea level) and mountains 1,000 ft. +.  The reality is that the weather in Green Brook, down 850+ ft from our town has different weather than our home less than 5 miles away.  And in many cases, our weather patterns remind me of when I lived in Boston where the mantra was "if you don't like the weather.... wait a minute."

What I am finding is that there are more reasons than just fun to have your own weather station...  namely:

1. Seeing the temperature related to our house and town which can vary from the weather reported in Newark, Plainfield or other National Weather service sites...
2. Knowing how windy it is can be helpful.  Launching rockets on a windy day is tough or flying a kite with no wind?
3. Is it raining and do I need umbrella? (I guess I could look outside... but I can know exactly how much rain has fallen today or in a specific period).
4. What is the dew point?  Ok, so I am an amateur astronomer and astrophotographer... knowing the dew point is helpful to know if humidity will freeze up on my telescope or camera
5. Getting the right gear for flyfishing..
6. Knowing what the road conditions are like in my neighborhood (Icy or not).
7. Being the only one in Warren, NJ with a personal weather station :-).  

I intend to add more devices such as the temperature in our second refrigerator to know if the motor is failing or not.  We will also put one of these at our beach house to keep an eye out for conditions there.

So look for my weather station on wunderground.com and let me know what you think.

Here is the current information from my weather station.  

 

 

 

From My Family to Yours! Have a Happy and Healthy Turkey Day. . Enjoy our movie.

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/F5WgthLrKKuiLfUg

New Imaging Company Arises from Stealth - Focus

An interesting company came out of Stealth mode.  Lytro. They have figured out a way to capture all sources of light in the field of view of a camera lens.  This allows them to focus on any point in the picture.  And, they have no delays in taking pictures from the time you press the shutter to when the picture is taken.  (well, one second).

Think of the applications for 3-D viewing, Security, fool-proof pictures.  The VC Backers are class A and the board has a lot of Tech, Gaming and Nobel Prize Winners. 

I put myself on the reserve a camera list and can't wait to get one to play with and see how it works.

I guess I'll wait, then see!  :-)

Do you think you can see yourself with one of these?

 

New to Digital SLRs and Photography? Experienced and want to learn more?

Napp is a great place to learn how to use your Digital SLR and improve your photography as well as learn how to leverage the digital darkroom with Lightroom and Photoshop.

As a hobbyist photographer, Scott Kelby and his crew have helped me improve in so many ways.  Pictures and layouts for my websites to great pictures of my kids and ther activities and travel.   ITs the best $99 I've spent in photography and gets more discounts for photo equipment, supplies, papers, books and more.

Click Below to learn more and join.

2011 - The Year of Video Chatting/ Conferencing and Tablets

How many Video Conferences go on in your house or office?

It was a half day for my two middle school kids, so I picked them up and brought them home early.  As I walked into the house to get ready for a GoTo Meeting, There was my 13 year old, on her MacBook Pro, on-line video chatting with here study group getting ready for several tests tomorrow.

I made a mental note, like "Cool".  Its really interesting watching her interact, through video and document sharing. 

I then walked downstairs to our home theatre room where my 11 year son was playing XBOX Kinect with a friend of his while video chatting another friend of his who lives across town.  As I watched the boys interacting in video chat and then playing ping pong through their avatars that moved as they did, I thought "Way Cool."

So I walked over to my home office, just in time for my next meeting.  It was a GoTo meeting with a colleague in Israel. 

I have been using cameras on my desktop and laptop computers for 10 years now, starting off web conferences with a camera on and then shutting it off when starting the powerpoint or document presentation/discussion. 

Now, GoTo meeting has a new feature called HD Faces, and I am in their Beta program, loving the video conferencing capability of it...  and I thought to myself....  "Wow...  This is really Way Kewl." 

Three Video Conferences going on in my House simultaneously. 

My First Video Conferencing Experience 

For many of you who know me well, I started looking at Video Conferencing back in 1983 when AT&T invited me to Epcot Center at Disney World where they showcased...  "PicturePhone Meeting Service" (PMS - go figure).  I spent other time as an innovation management adviser to IBM, AT&T and others after that looking at various alternative ways to leverage the video, multimedia, rich content, and avatar representations for shopping applications, video conferencing, collaboration and many other alternatives... 

We have come a long way... baby.

I am still giddy about the pervasiveness of video conferencing from today's experience.  I have been Facetiming for a few months with people all around the country, as well as with my family when travelling.  Being able to travel and be on the other side of the continent and see my wife and two kids on my iTouch while they huddle around my daughter's Mac is absolutely amazing and makes travel so much more bearable.

What I look forward to, is the experience with my iPad when I'll be able to hold HD video conferencing with colleagues, clients and family, wherever I am.

So, Call me sometime.  I'd love to see you.

The experience is amazing and video will become more pervasive.  This is the time for Video and Tablets... nearly all of the tables have front and rear cameras getting ready for Video.  4th Generation wireless networks are preparing for not just downloads of music, videos and other content, but video conferencing as well. 

(The downside is that I can see our broadband providers try to move faster to increase bandwidth charges for heavy users... and watch many of the economic benefits go out the door).

Dick Tracy (Who?)  was way ahead of his time.  He had the first video watch I believe. 

Call me.  I look forward to seeing you soon.

ObamaCare Outcomes Starting to Show -- 3M Co. will drop retirees from health plans, steer to Medicare

Health Care reform is broken before it even starts.  I don't know any other business owners who feel that Obama Care will be good for them and their employees.  What a shame. 

3M, a company known as being a top place to work by its employees, is one of the first to make a decision to drop retirees from private insurance plans.  Late last week, McDonald's, one of the countries largest employers sent some signals that their employees coverages were likely to change as well.

Read the Article:  3M Co. will drop retirees from health plans, steer to Medicare.

.  3M is bound to its shareholders to make the best possible decisions based on the impending and current laws of Obama Care and the impact to its employees and business.  And it looks like it did.  I think this is the tip of the iceberg as companies start to assess the economic impact of the 2,000 page (unread) bill.

Have you assessed the impact to your business?

Think about what is going on here.  Our businesses and employees will be paying taxes into a system over the next several years, with no services provided until 2015 (or 2014?).  And, what the government did was send a signal to insurers and related businesses about what their potential business could look like by 2015, under a government managed healthcare environment. 

In football, Its like knowing your opponents plays ahead of time.

Mass Customization through 3-D Printing Truly Innovative and Disruptive

UPDATE:  September 20, 2010

Here is a very interesting video on the future of personalized manufacturing.  It paints a wonderful set of scenarios for the future:

http://blog.makerbot.com/2010/09/18/full-printed-a-glimpse-into-the-personal-manufacturing-future/

The NY Times provides a good summary on a very hot field... 3-D printing:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/technology/14print.html

I recently attended a manufacturing trade-show in New York and was immediately struck by the power and innovation of 3-d printers.  Consider the ability to produce a mass customized product.  See the video how Bespoke is customizing prosthetics for individuals to match their current body type and structure.

And the dropping price point with commercial grade units below $5-$10K provides solutions that could eventually end up in the local graphic arts shops.  So, the same place you go to get t-shirts and clothing with custom logos, could be an ultimate channel to produce goods with these printers.

What started as a great way to prototype designs for new furniture, mechanical pieces, phones, cars, etc. is now able to produce finished goods.  And, you can mix metals and plastics of different strengths, tensilities, etc.

Remember the Heathkit do-it-yourself computer kit?  (I am dating myself).  There is a new 3-D printer kit where you can make your own printer for <$1,000.  Guess what my kids and I are getting for the holidays....  It uses a plastic wire spool almost like the one I use for my weed-wacker.  This is a good popular science article on the kits.  http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2010-06/making-makerbot

What is really interesting here is that these technologies can not only change the way prototypes are produced, but could shift the economics from big plastics factories to local build houses.  With some graphics artists and mechanical/structural/architectural engineers, manufacturing could be done locally.

HP is now entering this market, and from their strong economics in printing, could drive a whole new marketplace.  The opportunities for this technology, the hardware and software, and what it can produce appears to be endless.

Mike Bosworth and StoryLeaders -- Going Beyond Customer Centric and Strategic Selling

As someone who has been deep in best practices for selling and marketing over the last nine (9) years, I have seen a number of sales and marketing methodologies and approaches in action.  The Customer Centric Selling and Strategic Selling approaches,  have always resonated as the most effective and practical to raise the bar on sales productivity.

Mike Bosworth has now, in my mind, eclipsed himself again and set the bar even higher with his new StoryLeaders approach.

I just got off the phone with Mike and read through his white-paper Download SLmtbstory723. 

Mike is focused on effecting the 87% of reps who are not able to build trust and report with prospects.  His new approach, is to help the 87% of reps who need a process and training to build report and trust through Story telling Techniques.   From what I can tell this complements his previous approaches and doesn't replace them.  

For anyone in the position of needing to improve their communications skills, relationship building, or sales, I would recommend reading the white paper, learning more and attending his workshop.  Here is a copy of the registration form Download Public Workshop August.  A press release describing more about his new business and approach can be found here.

I hope you find his latest business as exciting and game-changing as I do.  Great job Mike and best of luck.

What's Your Story? 

Rosen Family - July 4th Pictures - 2010

Great Holiday Weekend.  Here is a summary of July 4th at our beach house in Long Branch, NJ  Including a sample of the fireworks at night.

July 4th Pictures - 2010.

Now its back to work...  Regards,  David

Popular Science - Why do you accept Advertising from Tobacco Companies?

I just opened the second Popular Science magazine, in my 11 year old's new subscription.  What did I find, but a..

BIG double sided, thick cardboard Advertisement for CIGARETTES in the middle of the magazine!

I was shocked!  How could a magazine that lifts the spirits of imagination and innovation of children and adults allow this to happen?  I can't remember the last time I saw a tobacco ad.   Aren't they illegal?

Apparently not.  Nixon's administration first banned Tobacco Advertising, but mainly for TV (Learn more...)  It started in 1971 and seems to be the main drive towards stemming advertising for tobacco. Here is another source explaining the 1996 Regulations.

There are new laws being put in place (see the Washington Post  http://bit.ly/ddrntI) that stiffly regulate where tobacco ads can be placed (including certain distances from schools), what they can use for imagery and visuals, but there is no ban on how they can be employed in Magazine. But these laws appear to be weak and could be overturned in court.

Smoking is addictive and is attributed to more than 450,000 deaths a year.  So, I just can't understand why a magazine like Popular Science (Owned by Bonnier Group) would allow tobacco to advertise. 

My assumption (and I haven't researched it) is that their readership is mainly in the 15-25 age group.  Look at the vast array of household name magazines they publish here(  (There are restrictions against advertising to age groups under 18 I believe).  The readers in my opinion turn to the Magazine to see what is new and cool and provides ideas for engineers, geeks, gadget freaks, technophiles, and others to dream... the last thing we want them to do is to think about smoking.

Please write to Popular Science and Bonnier and urge them to not accept advertising from Tobacco companies. 

Let people dream on how to extend life, not shorten it.