A CEO's Story

Poll Answer: How much did the first video recorder weigh?

2010-12-14T21:46:00.000-05:00

It weighed as much as a small car: 1,466 lb The video recording machine was invented by the Ampex corporation of California in 1956. The first video recorder, the Ampex VR1000, stood 3 ft 3 in (1,1 m) high [or more than 6ft when fully assembled].

Poll Answer: What is the most popular Christmas tree ornament in Japan?

2010-12-06T21:52:00.000-05:00

It's the origami, or paper swan. 32% of you thought it was the candy cane. Oh well :-)

Poll Answer: Where was the first Christmas card created?

2010-11-29T15:07:00.001-05:00

The first commercial Christmas and New Year’s card was designed in London, England in 1843 by John Callcott Horsley (1817 – 1903), a British narrative painter and a Royal Academician. Horsley actually designed it in 1840, but it first went on sale only in 1843, when one thousand cards were offered for 1s each. The card was controversial, for it showed a family raising their glasses to toast

Poll Answer: What was Eadweard Muybridge photographing when he developed a technique that became the basis for the movie camera?

2010-11-20T19:13:00.000-05:00

In 1872, Californian governor Leland Stanford hired English photographer Eadweard Muybridge to capture the movement of horses. He wanted to prove a galloping horse always had at least one foot on the ground. Muybridge set up 12 cameras at a Sacramento racetrack to photograph a galloping horse. He put the images on a rotating disc and shined a light through them. Not only did it prove that a

Poll Results

2010-11-09T23:36:00.002-05:00

Check back here every Sunday for answers to the weekly polls. We might even give an explanation with a few more facts. And one more thing..... Expect to see giveaways and other rewards in future polls.

A Young Boy's Super Bowl

2010-02-01T17:02:00.001-05:00

We just added a new family member. That's him showing off the Colts blue. See more picsWin or Lose, both Super Bowl teams had a great run this year. It's also been a great run for my 8yo, who took an interest in football for the first time.It started this Fall when he decided to play flag football for the Browns. Being named after the NFL franchise prompted his curiosity to find out more

Meet Ollie

2010-01-30T20:52:00.000-05:00

This is our two month old baby

Christmas Family Traditions

2009-12-09T19:30:00.000-05:00

Every Christmas Eve since my oldest child was 4, I visited our home as Santa. I'll be posting a video tribute to that event soon, so keep watching. I won't be doing that this year for the first time because my youngest two are about 99% certain it's me. I never seem to be around when Santa visits. They also discovered my tattered, worn out Santa suit....wouldn't have made it beyond this year

Christmas Lights Video

2009-12-08T17:59:00.004-05:00

This is an actual house, with the lights choreographed to Amazing Grace with a techno twist. Created by Richard Holdman, with 45,000 lights and 176 channels of computer control. Amazing Grace Techno - Computer Controlled Christmas Lights from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

Printable Christmas Story Poem – Twas the Night of Jesus’ Birth

2009-12-07T22:39:00.001-05:00

Printable Christmas Story Poem – Twas the Night of Jesus’ BirthCame across this cute rewrite of the poem "Twas the Night before Christmas," written by Felicia Mollohan at the Ministry to Children blog. It's a printable story about Jesus' birth that can be read aloud and shared with children. This is putting the Christ into Christmas.

5 Slideshow Mistakes

2009-12-03T18:57:00.001-05:00

If you want your friends and family to look at your show more than once, here's some things you might want to avoid:1. Using too many transitions: Sure you want it to look cool... Using transitions will help tell the story. But don't drown out the message with too many. Instead, use 2-3 per song.2. Using poor quality photos: if the photo is blurry or the lighting too dark, guess what? We

Creating a Slideshow...and Everyone Gets to Help?

2009-11-22T16:56:00.006-05:00

We received a number of comments wondering how the slideshow sharing feature works. Here's the Step by Step instructions.1. The first step is to login or create an account (Name, Email, Password).2. Next, add your photos, videos, and music & edit the slideshow. A timeline will show, which looks a lot like Windows Movie Maker. The upload screen will look like this:3. After adding your

My Lost Blackberry

2009-11-13T20:10:00.007-05:00

It happened just like this:For lunch yesterday I decided to brave the elements and go out. Had a craving for Sushi which meant I would have to do some walking in the rain/wind storm. And it was during the walk that Mr. Blackberry and I became separated.For several days now it has rained here in Virginia. This is a combination of the remnants of hurricane Ida and a passing Nor'easter. I made

The Grandma Tree

2009-04-29T23:00:00.008-04:00

9/11 will forever be... remembered as one of the saddest days in American history. Exactly 3 years after that tragedy was another sad day for my family. It was the day my mom was diagnosed with a recurrence of cancer. She fought valiantly, but succumbed to the disease exactly 13 months later on October 11.At the funeral, mom had 5 pallbearers – her sons. My brothers and I had decided that

A Valentine's Tale

2009-02-05T22:07:00.007-05:00

Puppy Love. At least that's what it was called when it afflicted me....several times as I recall. I'm glad I no longer suffer from the condition. It had the power to make you do strange things. I recollect one such instance when I was “overwhelmed” by a particular girl at school. Don't remember her name, or whether we were in middle or high school, or whether we even attended the same

My Worst Fears

2009-01-17T15:47:00.003-05:00

The headaches wouldn't stop, and I couldn't help thinking the worst had come. After all, both my parents had died at a young age from chronic conditions. As many people do when faced with seemingly dire conditions, I put off a visit to the physician.My oldest daughter and I were driving home from swim practice one day when it happened. She was texting on her cell phone like she always did and

It All Started...

2008-12-20T18:52:00.011-05:00

I had many life events growing up that I wish had been documented, but we didn't have the means. All that remains of my childhood are bits and pieces from the few photographs that were taken. I was determined to ensure that my kids didn't suffer the same fate, so I learned how to create slideshows and