Google Glass Demos For Mac/iPhone Users

One of the things I plan to do with Glass is to demonstrate the new device for students, faculty, and staff at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA. Though this has always been the plan, I didn't know what I would have to do to make that a reality, so I had to start completely from scratch.  If you are planning to demo the device yourself, take a look at what I did, and hopefully you will also find it useful:

My first step was go to the MyGlass app for iOS/iPhone, which I had to download initially to setup Glass.  The app comes with a convenient "Screencast" tool, allowing whoever holds the iPhone (the same thing applies for Android users) a chance to see exactly what the person using Glass sees on their Glass device.  This has been a great tool for giving demos to one or two people, but obviously wouldn't work for a large group due to the small screen.  The Screencast tool has also helped allow others to try out the device, as it enables me to see what they can see, and help them navigate on the device.

I tried a couple things using the Screencast tool on MyGlass app for IOS.  First, I scoured the App Store for a good app to display what I had on my iPhone screen, in this case the MyGlass app, on a desktop PC or a Mac wirelessly (without having to have the USB cable that comes with Glass plugged in).  I thought if I could display to a computer, I could then connect the computer via VGA cable to our projector.  Unfortunately, no such app really exists for iPhone to Mac or PC, and if it does, I couldn't find it.  After calling Apple, they wouldn't recommend any of the reflector or mirroring apps out there, so I decided to go a different route. 

Next, I tried using a 30-Pin to VGA Adapter from the Apple Store to display my iPhone and the MyGlass app onto a projector via VGA cable.  I plugged the adapter into my iPhone 4S, and into the projector through the VGA cable; it auto-recognized and got so close to displaying what I could see on Glass!  Unfortunately, the MyGlass app is only able to display on iPhone horizontally and does not rotate when you rotate the phone.  This meant that the MyGlass app displayed to the projector, but on its side.  Since projector was only able to flip vertically, I still had no effective way of displaying what I was seeing on Glass to a large group because I couldn't exactly ask the audience to just tilt their heads at a 90 degree angle...  Then, for a fleeting moment I thought about using our portable projector and just put it on its side, hoping the video quality wouldn't be completely distorted or the projector wouldn't explode, but I decided that would be a last resort.

Last but not least, I plugged the device directly into my Macbook and decided I could live with the chord running from my head to the computer while I gave the demo.  Unfortunately for me, the device did not auto-recognize to display what I was seeing in Glass so I had to go a little bit further and install Android Debug Bridge, turn Glass onto debug mode, and then download and run Droid@Screen, a screen mirroring tool. If you're not a software developer, it's a little bit of a tricky process but it's definitely doable.  For detailed instructions on how to go about setting up ADB to work with the Droid@Screen and display Glass to your computer, check out this great post.

After all of that, I was up and running directly from Glass to my Mac, mirroring Glass' "cards," Google's name for each display screen.  They look like this: 

The next step was to head back to the Apple store for a new VGA adapter, this time a Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter which allows a VGA cable to work for MacBooks (Pro and Air) from 2011 onward, as the adapter uses the Thunderbolt input.



Again, the projector auto-recognized my Mac and this time it displayed perfectly, just as it did on my computer screen. 


Thanks for reading and good luck.

Follow me on Twitter @AmandaMunsch

Day 1 with Google Glass

Two days ago I was selected to participate in the Glass Explorer Program, a program to beta-test Google's new eyewear computer system, something I requested to be a part of nearly a year ago.  Initially I had no thought of how I would come up with the $1,500 to pay Google for the amazing device, as the probability of being one of 8,000 people worldwide to be selected was seemingly slim to none.  Still, as the term "Google Glass" had all but been lost from my memory, Google came knocking at my door.

The news came via the World Wide Web of course; Google e-mailed me with the great news.  The e-mail was short but sweet, and a code to purchase the device was included.  For the first time since hearing about Glass, I was finally forced to think about what that $1,500 price tag really meant to me, and more importantly, if I could possibly come up with it.

Ironically, the first thing I did was go to Google.  I "Googled" what Glass was going for their online marketplace, otherwise known as "Google Shopping" or the "Shopping" option next to the other options like "Web," "Images," and "Maps" on Google.com.  Sure enough, there are tons of Glass offers out there, mostly on eBay, Amazon, and similar sites.  Even codes like the one I was sent were being sold on these sites; I might mention, the codes alone were going for some $300 on Amazon and Glass itself was being resold by Explorers for some $2,800!  I thought for a minute about both of these options.  I thought maybe I should buy Glass, test it, then resell it once I have reviewed it and waited for the pricing to cool down with its public release.  Maybe, instead, I should just sell the code on eBay or Amazon and cut my losses.  Alas, this broke my heart so I did absolutely nothing on the first day but think about how badly I wanted the device.

Yesterday morning I told my boss about Glass and what had transpired in order to have been selected to the Glass Explorer Program.  Soon after that I told a few more people and the conversation really begun.  I started setting up a Kickstarter page, hoping that a few friends and family members might chip in if I could come up with a good review or good project to do with Glass.  As I begun the lengthy Kickstarter sign-up process I started to think that maybe this project wasn't the sort of thing I could get funded.  Just as my hopes were dashed, the phone began to ring.

Not only had my boss been intrigued about the new device, his boss and a few colleagues had been intrigued as well.  Soon enough, I was given the green light to purchase Glass on behalf of our university for the purpose of educating students on the new technology and using it for virtual field trips and creating some marketing content on the world wide web.  By the afternoon I was given a credit card to purchase the device with and less than five minutes later, Glass was purchased.

My boss and I joked about how Glass might arrive.  Maybe it would come like Hedwig, the owl from Harry Potter, and fly up to our window and tap on the glass.  Maybe, instead, it would just teleport here or pop out of my printer, it is a Google product after all.  Though we joked, neither of us thought it would actually arrive only 12 hours later by mail.  This morning I arrived to work and it was already here.  Somehow Google managed to get the device here, out of whatever warehouse it was in, all the way from Kentucky, in exactly the color I ordered, all in a blink of an eye. 

...

I was like a kid on Christmas morning; I wanted nothing more but to rip open the package and try out the new toy!  Instead, I had to muster up some patience.  We wanted to wait for our videographer to film the entire thing: the opening of the box, the parts, everything.  The idea is to create some sort of documentary-type film or perhaps a promotional piece that highlights Glass' implications in Higher Education.

 

After the videographer arrived, I opened the box with shear pleasure.  Inside were only a couple of things: an earbud for the headset, a USB charger that also plugs into a the wall, and a bag to protect Glass.  There was no manual, just a couple questions written on a piece of folded up paper.  

One such questions read:

Q  Can I use Glass while operating a jackhammer?
A  Use caution.

Thank you Google, how profound!

...

The set-up should have been easy enough, but the fact that I have an iPhone (not a Google Android phone), not to mention I'm located in a building full of wifi interference, made setting up Glass a nightmare.  It was quite evident that though Google's staff is probably the nicest customer-service staff out there, there are still a lot of unknowns with the product.  I ended up going through three different Googlers, none of which could pinpoint the problem, but I figured it out in the end.  I had to reboot Glass a few times, "forget" every wifi network on my phone, sync with Bluetooth and even "forget" that as well at one point, make sure my personal hot spot was on and working, all before being able to get Glass up and running.  In the end, it was worth it!

A couple of professors asked if they could try Glass on and it was truly priceless watching their faces as they Googled "Bacon Dog Video," the Google term to find this Youtube Video:

 

I wished I had captured the look of amazement on their faces on video... but I will leave that for tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

Follow me on Twitter @AmandaMunsch

Google Glass Explorer Program: Just the Beginning

In July of 2013, I wrote my first blog post.  The topic, "wearable technology," was something I had been reading about, but it was fairly new to me and, in fact, it was more or less a new concept to the world at large.  In my post I stated that I had both a fear that this new technology would consume us, yet a desire to embrace it nonetheless.  Still, that new adoption of technology seemed a long way off and, at best, would be delivered in the form of a smart-watch or something similar, a small step up from the smart-phones already seemingly glued to our hands.

Never in my wildest dreams would I have believed that less than a year later, I would be selected to participate in the Google Glass Explorer Program.

Yesterday, I received the e-mail I had long forgotten I could receive: the e-mail indicated exactly that.  I was selected for the Glass Explorer Program, and now several dollars later, I have begun to create a project to explore Glass both in its practical application in every day life, but also, for its implications for Higher Education.

I hope you will continue to follow me as I explore Google Glass in the coming months.  



Thanks for reading.

Follow me on Twitter @AmandaMunsch

How to Use the WWW to Travel Worldwide on Any Budget

I would be rich if I had a dollar for every time I heard, "I wish I could travel," or some derivative of that, followed by "but I don't have the money." 

In this day and age, there are so many resources available to you on the World Wide Web.  I'm here to help you discover those resources and realize that you can travel, even if you have a lack of green.


Here's what you can do: 


1. Book your flights using all of the resources available to you. 

• First, use Bing Travel! Finding out about Bing's Price Predictor was one of the best things that ever happened to me.  The following was taken directly from Bing:
  

  "Bing Travel analyzes millions of round-trip flight itineraries daily and intelligently filters airfare data to reveal the best prices and deals. The Bing Travel Price Predictor can advise you whether fares are rising, holding steady, or dropping, and whether you should buy now or wait."

  (See Tip #4 for more on timing your travel.)

• Next, if it's time to buy, make sure you compare at least 5 airlines, across 3 or more websites.  Simply going to Delta.com, for example, may not always be your best bet just because you've been flying on Delta your whole life.  There are many fish in the sea!  Also, as I mentioned, make sure you search across various websites; you have a million to choose from.  Orbitz, Priceline, Expedia, you name it, they all may have different prices for the same exact flights.  Once you have the best flight picked out, go back to the airline's website directly and make sure they do not have a lower price.  

• Lastly, do your research! One word of caution, since there are so many travel websites, there are bound to be rotten apples.  Make sure you go with a reputable company and if you haven't heard of them, do your research.  The same goes for airlines.

2. Find a place to sleep before you leave your own bed.

• Hotels are as easy to find online as flights.  Many hotels can be booked in a package with travel sites like Orbitz or Expedia.  You will need to do the same thing you did before for flights.  Compare 5 hotels through at least 3 websites, and then circle back to the hotel's website as well.

• Want to spend even less?  Try Airbnb.  Airbnb is a website and app that allows people to rent accommodations from other people.  This can be in the form of rooms, houses, villas, even boats, castles, you name it!  Airbnb is known to be much cheaper than a hotel and often much more enjoyable.  Airbnb says: 

"Whether an apartment for a night, a castle for a week, or a villa for a month, Airbnb connects people to unique travel experiences, at any price point, in more than 33,000 cities and 192 countries." 

• Try a hostel!  In the digital age, finding a hostel is nearly as easy as finding a hotel.  Hostelworld.com, Hostels.com, and Hostelbookers.com are a few of the many hostel travel websites out there.  Again, if you haven't gotten the hint yet, you'll have to do your research.  Compare as many hostels as you can across sites like these to find the best price and best value.

• Want a chic luxury hostel?  Did you even know that those exist?  Because they do.  Check out the Posh Packer to search for boutique hotels/hostels under $100.  Posh Packer's Facebook page describes their business this way, 

"The Poshpacker is an exclusive network for design driven hotels and luxury hostels from around the world at < $100 USD per night, per person."

•  Want to spend absolutely nothing?  Many of you will have a hard time accepting that people could offer anything to you for free in this day and age, let alone offer accommodations to you for free, but that is exactly what CouchSurfing is all about. I spent a good portion of my college life on courchsurfing and still continue to use it to this day.  Check out what CouchSurfing has to say about it self in their "About" section:

"We envision a world made better by travel and travel made richer by connection. Couchsurfers share their lives with the people they encounter, fostering cultural exchange and mutual respect."

3. Learn from the locals!

• Reach out to locals directly using sites like CouchSurfing to ask their advice about where you are headed in a personal e-mail-like message so you don't waste your time and money booking the wrong things. 

• Use sites like Yelp or Urbanspoon to understand how the locals feel about certain businesses, restaurants, etc.

• Read personal stories and reviews from travel forums on places like Tripadvisor.  

4. Remember that timing is everything.

• Wednesday is the cheapest day to travel, according to Farecompare, and I've found that to be pretty accurate.

• Be flexible!  Though Wednesday is often the cheapest day to travel, there are definitely exceptions to this (Friday and Sunday rarely are exceptions, unfortunately, and will cost you the most).  Many sites allow you to search within 3 days of the date of departure and returning flights, so check every day of the week!

• Tuesday after 3PM is the best day to purchase tickets, again according to Farecompare.  I haven't necessarily tested this, I normally just obsessively check Bing Travel until the Price Predictor says "Buy" and my wallet agrees.

• Sign up with Farecompare and allow it to track millions of flights for you!

• Don't buy tickets more than 4 months in advance, but don't wait until two weeks before your trip either.  Buying between 2 and 3 months out will generally save you the most money.  Flights are known to steadily increase and rarely decrease, except for fluctuations that happen regularly throughout the day.

• Avoid traveling around the winter holiday season and in the summer, if you can help it that is.  If you don't, you will get hit with what they call a "Peak Air Travel Surcharge" and who wants that?  You will find that many tourist destinations frequented by Americans are less crowded in February and March with less American tourists traveling during those months.  If that's not enough, it is the end of summer for the other side of the world, so there's always somewhere exciting and sunny to explore. 

5. Click here for some other great travel apps!

• My favorites from the link above are Wi-fi Finder, Better Translator Pro, and iMovie.

• I would also recommend the Duolingo app prior to the trip, as it is the best app for learning a language that I've come across.

• Save the websites or the apps for paying your bills online right onto the home screen of your smartphone.  Pay your bills from your phone if you happen to be traveling when the bills are due.  **Remember to put your phone on airplane mode before you leave the USA or you may be subject to roaming rates.

6. Lastly, avoid pricey flights and destinations.

• Many cities around the world are known to be expensive, so avoid those if possible or you'll have to make some sacrifices in quality.  Forbes listed the top 10 most expensive cities for expats in this article.   

• On the other hand, sometimes an expensive city can be inexpensive to travel to.  Moscow, for instance, is one of the world's most expensive cities in the article above, but according to this article, it happens to have one of the least expensive airports to fly into as well.  Another example is San Juan, which may cost you twice as much for accommodations compared to many other Latin American cities, however the flight from the east coast will cost you on average under $300 so the trip may end up being affordable.  There are many things to consider when choosing a travel destination!

• The cheapest cities in the United States to visit can be found in this article by Kiplinger.

• Certain flights are expensive no matter what time of day or year they are booked.  Here is a list of the most expensive flights in the world.

• Avoid expensive airports if possible.  Sometimes this can be inconvenient, but the hassle of going a little further to or from the airport may save you a lot of money.  Check flights from neighboring airports at both your departure and arrival locations. The most expensive airports in the United States can be found in this article by the Wall Street Journal.  Obviously the general rule is that the further you go, the more you will pay to fly there.

• How will you get to your destination from the airport?  If you're planning on taking a taxi, you may want to avoid the cities in this article from Farecompare. If you're planning on using public transportation, you might want to avoid these cities or plan on renting a car yourself.

If you read all of that, you might have realized that it takes a lot of work to travel on a budget.  Research is key, but if you're willing to do that, you'll find that traveling is possible and even affordable.  Good luck!


Thanks for reading.
Follow me on Twitter @AmandaMunsch

 

Personal Use of Social Media in the Workplace: an Employer's Friend or Foe?

We live in a world that has villainized social media time and time again; it is a world that loves to repeatedly mention how much time is wasted on social media, both in our personal lives and in our professional lives.  An article by Cheryl Connor on Forbes this September reported:

Sixty four percent of employees visit non-work related websites each day.  In this category, the amount of time wasted per week on non-work related websites is as follows:  

Time Wasted                  Pct of Employees
<1 hour                                  39%
1-2 hours                               29%
2-5 hours                               21%
6-10 hours                             8%
10+ hours                               3%z

Contributing to these percentages are social media networks. The winners for the time-loss warp are Tumblr (57%), Facebook (52%), Twitter (17%), Instagram (11%) and SnapChat (4%).

Imagine an employee who works 2,080 hours per year (260 days). If she is in top the bracket of time wasters, she wastes 520 hours per year. That’s 25% of her total hours at work spent on unproductive activities. Clearly this costs your company capital. 

As an active social media enthusiast, call me biased, but I don't buy it.  Social Media has undoubtedly changed the working world and, as members of the working world, has subsequently changed us.  Change though, as history will attest, is not necessarily a bad thing.

Shel Holtz, writing for Monster, the employment giant writes:

Smart companies recognize that perpetually networked employees are symptomatic of a larger change taking place in business. These companies will figure out how to turn this new workplace reality to their advantage.

So let's talk about that.  

What are the most significant advantages of social media in the workplace?  

1. Increase awareness with current global trends.  How can you service or sell to the world when you do not understand it or where it is going?  The world is plugged in to social media, you wouldn't hang up the phone on your customers, so why disengage with social media?
2. Allows employees to network with potential business leads.  Social media is the 21st century address book; every connection made is a direct line for communication, whether it is for recruitment, sales, you name it.
3. Promotes brand awareness.  Along the lines of the prior advantage, each employee promotes the company from their use of social media.  All employees are sales people, whether that is their title or not.  When they share their organization's activity in a positive light on social media, the rippling effect can be tremendous for business.  That being said, the adverse reaction can happen if employees are not educated about proper social media etiquette.   
4. Provides a chance to refresh.  Mankind was not meant to sit behind a desk all day, yet that is where most of us are.  We were meant to be on alert, to understand our surroundings, to be constantly challenged.  Social media does not fix that, but it gives employees the opportunity to change their routine, refresh, and start the grind again.
5. Increases internal communication.  Imagine you are Joe Shmoe; your company has restricted you from visiting social media sites yet the marketing department at your company uses social media to promote all of the company's initiatives.  All of a sudden your mother, Flow Shmoe, knows more about your company's initiatives than you do.  Companies should understand that social media can work for you, not against you.  Facebook "Groups" or Yammer, can be invaluable ways for collaborating and increase internal communication.

Long story short, I don't buy it Cheryl Connor from Forbes.  Time spent on social media is not necessarily time wasted.  The capital lost in wages spent on employees surfing the internet and social media, will come back full circle in the ways I've described above.

Maybe the question shouldn't be "how do we keep our employees from wasting time on social media?" but instead, "how can we help our employees engage with current trends and promote our brand effectively on the world wide web?"

Thanks for reading.

Christmas comes early in the form of the new Apple iPhone 5S, 5C, and the iOS 7

Yes, you probably have heard by now, and it is true! At long last, the much rumored iPhone 5C and 5S are finally going to hit the shelves.  The CNET Review gave us a good breakdown of the specs for each phone.

 





So, what can the new iPhones do that my out-dated 4S can't do? 

Let's start with the camera on the 5S.  Sure, my 4S also had a 8 megapixel camera and it has nothing on the 41 megapixel Nokia Lumia 1020 or the 13 megapixel Samsung Galaxy S4, but there's more to it than megapixels.  The iPhone 5S will have a dual-element flash, able to automatically adjust its color based on available lighting.  The front facing camera will be at 1080p, up from 720p in the 5C and iPhone 5.

The 5C, the new iPhone for budget conscious consumers, will do one important thing my 4S couldn't do, and that is go easy on my wallet.  Starting at just $99 with a two year plan, the 5C is a bargain.  Still, that won't be likely to convert some Android loyalists, as many non-Apple smartphones are similar in base price.

The 5C also comes in pretty colors.  So there's that.

The 5S will have a fingerprint scanner, likely saving me from typing in a 4 digit password every time I want to look at my messages or make a call.  That will be one of the most exciting features for me, as I am just about as impatient as anyone else in the millennial generation.

My 4S will be left in the dust with the Proprietary A7 CPU (64-bit) processor of the 5S, which is up two models from the A5 for my 4S and up from the A6 for the 5C and 5S.  The 5S will be at least twice as fast as my 4S and is also twice as fast as the 5C and iPhone 5.

Still, for those of us that do not have upgrades until next year, CHRISTMAS IS STILL HERE.  It is coming in the form of the next new mobile operating system, the iOS 7, which will be available as a free download on Sept 18. Craig Federighi, head of software at Apple Inc., said "downloading iOS 7 is like getting an all new device."  Thank you, Apple!

As you may have noticed, I'm not really expounding upon what an Android can do that an iPhone can't.  I know there are a (small) list of features that Android phones have that iPhones simply do not have.  Still, the millions of us loyal to Apple believe that they have always provided a great product and cutting edge technology that we didn't know we needed until they created it for us.  In this competitive age of smartphone sales, Apple will have to continue to do just that to survive; Apple will have to look for things to provide the consumer with that their competitors do not have and their consumers didn't know they were living without.   

320 Gigapixels, a Panoramic Photo for the Record Books

It is one of the most amazing photos I have ever seen, a 320 gigapixel panoramic photo of London that allows the viewer to zoom miles and miles in any direction.  Talk about a long game of I-Spy! One could spend an infinite amount of time discovering the details of this amazing photo.  It makes you wonder, what are the limits of man-made technology?  Check out this amazing photo here and scroll around, zoom in, explore!  Or go to www.360cities.net to take a stunning virtual trip around the globe.