Techmamas

LeWeb: Queen Rania Discusses Digital Darwinism and 1Goal Initiative For Global Education

In the age of digital media, it is inspiring to see women with a global presence utilizing different social media channels for communication and public good. On Day 2 of LeWeb conference, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of the Hashermite Kingdom of Jordan spoke not only about "The human race living in a digital space" but of her global education initiatives.

Queen Rania is a role model for living in the digital space; she is active in the following social media outlets:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/queenrania

Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/QueenRania

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/QueenRania

Website: http://www.queenrania.jo/

On her website, Queen Rania lists her initiative areas including global education. The initiative she discussed during her talk is called 1Goal (http://www.join1goal.org/). Here are the goals from Queen Rania's website:

"1GOAL is a new campaign to raise support for Education for All, and hold world leaders accountable to their promises. 1GOAL brings together the experience and expertise of the Global Campaign for Education with the passion and power of football through FIFA."

Queen Rania asked everyone to take a second and spread the word on 1Goal, so I decided to share over Twitter. She then explained her reasons for getting involved in social media  Here are some notes I took from her explanation:

"The human race living in a digital space. Doing more then just documenting - you are part of new field of digital anthropology that let us represent ourselves online.  A "digital Darwin". My virtual self can get closer to more people then my real self. It is hard to connect to people when you are a Queen. But online people are not afraid to speak their minds. It has created a space where everyone is free to say what they please and help spread ideas and causes. I get dubbed "Monarch on mission". I can't help but get excited by what I see. Can the real time web bring real time change? Can it tackle real time challenges? What we need now is to amplify our actions, offline people will have to listen. Education for all. Around the world there are 75 million kids out of school. more then 55% of those are girls, denied the chance to read a book less read a computer.  With every year of education, income increases by 10%. If children were educated it could save 7 million cases of HIV in the next decade. "

So Queen Rania took her cause to Twitter. She asked her followers if online activism can change real world problems? Queen Rania's followers wondered if it would be "difficult to get everyone out of computer chairs, they think that virtual movements lead to virtually nothing."

She challenged us by saying "with all the digital talent in this room, we can help. Dedicate one moment for 1Goal ". MySpace has stepped up to work with 1Goal. At LeWeb Queen Rania had a chance to meet with Facebook and Twiiter.

Queen Rania then left us with a few more digital words of wisdom: " The challenge is to deepen the link with the web and the world, for people to make their own leap from digital interaction to activism. To bring real change to humanity. To make livestreaming - life changing!"

Traveling Geeks Like Their Gadgets

We are three days into the Traveling Geeks 09 trip to Paris. Today we are at Le Web watching panels and networking. I am excited to start sharing the interesting information from the last three days, but first I wanted to share some behind the scenes.

The mission (from the about page) of Traveling Geeks is to collaborate with innovators and influencers, and then share that knowledge and insight to a collective global audience through blogging, video, social media tools, traditional media and meet-ups.There are many social media channels to follow the Traveling Geeks including a website, Twitter, Facebook fan page and Flickr pictures.

The geeks on the trip have been using every social media technology possible to cover the events including Twitter, blogging, video and podcasting. Best of all has been the range of gadgets used on Traveling Geeks France 09 including different video cams and a video receiver, WiFi accessories, laptops, netbooks, smartphones, point & shoot cameras and DSLR's with multiple lenses. Because electrical outlets are a must- have for geeks, we all shared the plugs and converters. Of course, the most important feature was Wi-Fi. All the events we had on the trip had Wi-Fi, even if at times we did have challenges logging on. Paris is not only a wired city but also has great 3G coverage. Being a known Twitter-a-holic, I enjoyed using Twitter all over Paris. At least those times when I was not running to and from the Metro.

The hot topics of discussion within the Traveling Geeks were on the different social media platforms, how we each use social media and gadget comparisons including smartphone and DSLR camera lenses.

But what we most enjoyed most was meeting the people and hearing about social media and technology use in Paris. I will share that information on my next post, now back to the conference.

www.flickr.com More in Traveling Geeks pool

PicScout ImageExchange Simplifies Online Image Access

This week, I'm working with a unique company called PicScout on outreach for some really cool announcements related to their company and products. Techies, graphic designers and other creative professionals who use, promote and access stock images online should know about PicScout's ImageExchange as it's cutting edge stuff. So I thought I'd put up a brief explanation of it here for anyone interested.

PicScout uses the tagline "every image gets its credit" because the idea is that all stock images online can be fingerprinted and globally identifiable with the Picscout tool suite. Their new downloadable Firefox browser add-on, ImageExchange, allows for easily identifying image ownership while browsing the web so creative professionals, bloggers, designers, etc. can license and purchase images accordingly. (Anyone who downloads the app before Monday the 14th is automatically entered to win a $250 certificate for agency images.)

ImageExchange now works with "every type of image, including rights managed, such as those from Masterfile, Life, Alfo, Mauritius; royalty free, including those from Blend and Glow, and UGC." It's pretty revolutionary when you think about it - the ability to determine who owns the rights to an image online and easily pay to use that image. Simple, legal, and smart.

PicScout also partners with the Creative Commons for image sharing purposes, and PicScout just announced that Creative Commons CEO Joi Ito has joined PicScout's advisory board.

For anyone who wants to learn more about the ImageExchange, you can participate in an online guided demo from PicScout Thursday at 1pm PST/4pm EST.

On My Way To Paris With the Traveling Geeks!

While waiting at the Chicago airport for my flight to Paris, France, I decided to slip in my first official post of my adventure. I am honored and excited to be joining an amazing group of bloggers participating in Traveling Geeks Paris.

Eliane Fiolet and Renee Blodgett have been working hard with Co-Organizer Phil Jeudy to make this trip come together. Sky Schuyler, CTO, and two web developers built the infrastructure of the Traveling Geeks website and social media channels.  

The Traveling Geeks include:  Beth Blecherman, Renee Blodgett, Matthew Buckland, Amanda Coolong, Kim-Mai Cutler, Cyrille de Lasteyrie, Olivier Ezratty, Eliane Fiolet, Tom Foremski, Phil Jeudy, Frederic Lardinois, Sky Schuyler, Robert Scoble, Rodrigo Sepulveda Schulz, David Spark, Ewan Spence, Jerome Tranié, and Robin Wauters.

I purchased the 200MB International data plan for my BlackBerry  - so I hope to use Twitter while I am in Paris and not bust my limit! We have WiFi at the hotel in Paris to use, but knowing the geek level of the group I feel confident that we will search out every Wi-Fi location in Paris while we are there. More excitement to come..

Here is more information about Traveling Geeks I found by reading Eliane Fiolet's post on Traveling Geeks:

BlackFriday A Bust, Will Try CyberMonday

While my cyber-buddy Erin (Queen of Spain blog) was a Black Friday sales virgin who needed protection - but ended up saving $110, I ended up feeling like a Black Friday sales sucker - but a confirmed sucker after I read the post on Slate titled " BlackFriday Is For Suckers".  I posted on TechMamas.com with every Black Friday sale online site and Twitter ID to keep posted on the Black Friday sales . But I decided to sleep in and the discounts for the tech items that I tried to use online had "limited" use - so they had all expired by late morning. I then jumped in my minivan to hit a few technology stores in the afternoon, none of which had deals on the high performance technology I was looking for (but lots of sales on TV's - which we need but can't afford to upgrade right now!). Of course, I was looking for some high end technology with specific models in mind. If I was flexible, I could of found some deals.There were also "bundles" available on Black Friday which offered accessories if technology was purchased. But I have also seen this bundles advertised online.

Looking back, the sales I saw via the major technology manufacturer email and Twitter sales updates were even better then Black Friday sales. Yet - on Black Friday there were deals to be found on other consumer items. Another mom friend found lots of Black Friday deals in stores for kids clothes.

Overall - To enjoy the real deals on BlackFriday you need to have a list and identify the stores that carry those items and stick to that list. Ask yourself if shopping late at night or first thing in the morning will really save you that much compared to the regular sales?

Just for fun, now that I do have the specific technology identified (down to the model number) that I need to shop for - I will give Cyber Monday a try. Otherwise, I decided to jump on the regular sales that show up in my email inbox and deal Twitter ID's that I follow, instead of waiting for special "sale" days.

Cyber Monday Sales here I come!!

TechMama is Traveling - With None Other Then The "Traveling Geeks"

Million Mile Frequent Flyer Status is not all it is cracked up to be...

Before I joined Deloitte, I was an international computer auditor.  This gave me the opportunity to travel to Mexico, Spain, Sweden, England, Puerto Rico, France and all over the United States. The business trips were back to back for weeks at a time and luckily they were all BK (before kids). I thoroughly enjoyed the travel but I had no - um - personal life.

Now I have the personal life, but fitting in travel is not easy...

With three amazing but extremely active boys, a wonderful husband (Neil Blecherman) and multiple blogs to manage - I try to limit my traveling to only key events. My involvement in social media has given me the opportunity to connect with an amazing network of bloggers from both BlogHer and the Silicon Valley Moms Group. My programming/systems project management background led me to also show my geeky side by connecting with technology and social media bloggers. I created a personal blog to discuss my perspective as a tech mom (TechMamas.com) and am starting a vlog called GadgetSpin with Eliane from Ubergizmo, TechieDiva, and Ponziarelli. But no matter how much I develop my online network, attending conferences/events to have old fashioned "live interaction" is still the best form of networking.

Bloggers gone traveling...

There are some amazing social media connectors and community builders and when they call about an event - I jump on board.  They look for stories that need to be told or discussions that need to be sparked - then match bloggers to the stories to bring information online. One connecter is Guy Kawasaki who organized an amazing blogger embark on the USS Nimitz and introduced me to Alltop (now I have MyAlltop!). Robert and Maryam Scoble and Steve Brobeck organized a blogger bus to CES last year that gave me the opportunity to spend time with an engaging group of bloggers. One of the bloggers on board was Christine Lu. When she informed me about the ReThink Hawaii conference, I decided that was a great work-cation opportunity. I also view my partners at Gadgetspin as connectors. Eliane and her Ubergizmo team just recently organized Ubergizmo10 - well worth the drive to San Francisco. There are also multiple circles of moms who have used their community building, shopping and writing skills to form online networks.

I have been following Renee Blodgett for some time and enjoy her insights on social media. I also view  Renee Blodgett as a social media connector and community builder. She is one of the co-founders of a group called Traveling Geeks . The Traveling Geeks website describes it best: "Traveling Geeks is a consortium of entrepreneurs, thought leaders, authors, journalists, bloggers, technology innovators and influencers who travel to countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote new, innovative technologies. The initiative was founded by Jeff Saperstein and Renee Blodgett in 2008."

Traveling Geeks 2009 - Paris

When I was invited to join their Traveling Geeks/Paris trip, I knew that was one adventure not to miss (no matter how many mom-planning-loops I had to jump through). I can't wait to see what is in store for the Traveling Geeks Trip to Paris, which includes attendance at LeWeb. I plan to be online sharing the trip with my readers as much as the international connections allow. The Twitter hashtags for the trip are #TG09, #travelingeeks. Their is also a Facebook fan page and a Twitter ID: @travelinggeeks.

Now back to my search for an unlocked GSM smartphone international data plan and international Broadband card!

Shopping Tech? Here Are Some Black Friday & Cyber Monday Tips

I shared many times over Twitter that although I am a "TechMama" my laptop needs replacing. I am a heavy computer user and my computer is over 2 years old. So this weekend I will be looking online for Black Friday Sales 2009 and Black Friday ads like many others. One of mom friend's computer died but she is waiting for this weekend to buy a new one. Other moms I know are looking for technology as holiday gifts for their families. Holiday time is the best time to buy technology as the new "gift" (my slogan). So for those getting their sneakers on to shop for Black Friday Sales ads, here is where to go for online Black Friday Sales 2009 and some things to think about before you go. Some sites even offer printable coupons to bring along to the store. I will be posting throughout the weekend with hot technology and toy gift ideas.

NOTE: Gizmodo posted with a good point - there are some items that can be found online at the same or better prices then BlackFriday prices, so best to do some comparison shopping online. At the same time, many manufacturers are having big sales this time of year, so finding deals will not be a problem. PC World posted that Black Friday doorbusters are for suckers.

Where to go: This Wall Street Journal article confirmed my list of what sites list Black Friday Sales 2009: "Where to Find Black Friday Deals". I have already been following Black Friday Ads, BlackFriday.info and the BlackFriday Twitter account. Mashable posted about how social media is used to find Black Friday deals (including Facebook). The New York Times byte blog posted with more online Black Friday 2009 sites to follow such as CheapTweets on Twitter. I did go into an Apple store to ask about around Thanksgiving and they said there will be a sale. By going on the Apple website I saw that the Apple sale day is November 26.  I also follow many computer manufacturers on Twitter and have seen lots of deals through Twitter: SonyElectronics, HP News, HP_IPG , Dell, Dell Outlet, Toshiba Laptops. The big retailers like Staples, Radio Shack, Best Buy and online retailers like Amazon Twitter Deals and NewEgg also share deals.  I also go to their websites and signup for newsletter updates which sends deals to my email inbox.

What to consider: My recommendation is to sleep in and shop online. The New York Times reported that retailers will extend Black Friday. Other articles said that the high end items are not the main items on sale. So my suggestion is to decide on your needs and what alternatives fit with those needs.

How to choose the right technology gifts: I have been looking at all sorts of technology and I can honestly say that in many situations there are more then one "perfect" fit. The first step is to identify what your needs are then start to look for overall technology solutions. Then review online buying guides to understand what features you should be looking for. My favorite online buying guides are on CNET, Laptop Magazine buying guides, DPreview and reviews on gadget blogs like Ubergizmo, Engadget, Gizmodo, TechieDiva, Gear Diary, Boy Genius Report, Gear Live and of course TechMamas. My favorite shopping site is Cool Mom Picks. Bing.com also has links to guides such as "Laptop buying guides".

NEED A NEW HOME COMPUTER? Do you need another computer for your kids to do their homework? Then consider desktops if the computer does not need to be mobile or laptops for mobile use. I was just quoted recently in an article by Laptop Magazine on Netbooks for Kids. Netbooks are a great alternative for mobile use - but I suggest having a docking station with a bigger screen for home use. Older kids may be responsible enough to have their own laptop, especially if their homework requires computer use. Tablet PC's may also be the right fit because of their flexible screens. Desktops are the most budget friendly and will have bigger screens that not only are easy on the eyes for homework, but if the Deskop has the right features can be used to watch videos, movies or even TV shows. There are also lots of accessories that compliment home computer users such as backup drives, media smart servers, home wireless servers, wireless keyboards & mouses, webcams and more. There are many printer options these days including the HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web.

My Work-cation at ReThink Hawaii

When Christine Lu contacts me about an event, I do everything I can to show up. She is one of those connectors that brings interesting people together to spark amazing discussions. My husband Neil Blecherman and I decided to join go to the ReThink Hawaii conference after she notified us. We not only looked at it as a chance to network and  but as a vacation; we had not been away for longer then a day together in 10 years - since we started our wonderful family of 3 boys!!.

Photo Credit: Kris Krug

Here is a picture of the ReThink Hawaii attendees, my husband and I are in the middle left - Christine Lu is at the front. Because we wanted to spend some time at the beach, we did not get to attend all the sessions. On the last day we enjoyed going to TEDx Honolulu just before we jumped on the plane. I enjoyed seeing the TEDx video to explain the passion that is spreading around the world. The TEDx Honolulu organizers (including L.P. “Neenz” Faleafine and Traci Toguchi and also did a great job of pulling together a compelling program. I look forward to when the TEDx  Honolulu videos are loaded. Of course, I am somewhat bias because of my excitement to hear my husband's TEDx speech (Neil Blecherman).

Being in semi-vacation mode, I decided to cover this trip via smartphone - using Twitter to capture my thoughts.My husband attended the Sustainablity/Eco session we both attended Social Media Business Summit Co-organized by Christine Lu, Rick Calver, Jim Turner.  I enjoyed speaking on a panel at the summit about Parent Bloggers with Jim Turner. The "Re-tweets" below with my picture are from an attendee who shared some of my key thoughts as I spoke. I also enjoyed hearing Jim Turner's perspective as one of the original parent bloggers who also runs a successful media business called One by One Media. We both shared that we don't make money from blogging - blogging is a way for us to share our voice. We have other businesses that compliment the blogging. I summarized a few of my key answers when asked why I blog.  Why TechMama blogs: "blogging a great platform for creating an online brand and image, blogging creates my voice but make money on other things (i.e. books, consulting), the three overall reasons I blog is community -relevance - voice. that's why "

Here is a summary of my Twitter stream from the conference. I will be looking at new ways to micro-blog, including trying the BlackBerry Whrrl app I just loaded.

TechMama's Twitter Stream from ReThink Hawaii:

The Three Celebs

OMG, did you know that @herbadmother and @motherbumper met @johncmayer today. Yes, all three celebs hung out together. Here is picture of them hanging out together.. OK, well, Catherine and Katie's picture are from the Canada Moms Blog bio section and John Mayer's picture is from Wikipedia.. But close...

Twitter & Social Media for Support & Healing: Cyber Hugs to Anissa Mayhew

I just recently took one of the Twitter psych tests and it turns out I am very connected but not very emotional on Twitter.

I wondered, is that a good or bad thing? Was that darn test insulting me or setting me straight?

I do admit that I try to keep my emotions offline and my words of wisdom online. My strategy is to share news and information about technology relevant to moms, families or anyone involved in social media. But it is times like these where I feel emotion index will be rising......

For some time I have been dealing with some of my own treasured family members that have cancer. It is such a personal struggle I have found it hard to share online. But I gain strength by reading the posts from a strong network of cancer bloggers (some of which are Silicon Valley Moms Group bloggers including Susan from Why Mommy, Linsey from MeTooYou , Silicon Valley Moms Group Cancer topic Days, BlogHer bloggers, and more). 

Another special person who has showed their strength online by sharing their family experiences with cancer  is Anissa Mayhew. I met her when she wrote for Deep South Moms Blog but then starting following her personal blog Free Anissa and another blog called "Hope4Peyton" about her experiences with childhood cancer.

But on Wednesday I saw information on Twitter about something that happened to Anissa and I got really worried. Then I happened to be talking to Barbara Jones first thing that morning and she informed me that Anissa had a stroke. It has been inspiring to see the support online for Anissa through a blog posts with information on how to support the family  (and Mister Linky lists where people can share their posts on Anissa) to a page set up on CaringBridge.org.  Lotus Carroll created a page to enable those wanting to put  twibbons on their Twitter profiles. Even the Bloggess did a great job of posting her emotional and (as she does so well) funny thoughts and practical links to help Anissa. A PayPal link was set up for those that would like to help the family using PayPal.

But the most powerful posts are those from Anissa's husband who is posting on Hope4Peyton.

A big cyber-hug and get well prayers for Anissa!