Techmamas

Visual Search Engine for eBay: PicClick

2009-12-22T23:10:00-08:00

Being a parent requires purchasing lots of items, and to make it more challenging kids are constantly outgrowing clothes and toys. eBay is one of the most popular sites for parents to buy and sell items.

I just found out about a new site called PicClick, a visual eBay search engine. I am very visual so image search engines make it easier for me to find what I need. Here are come of the examples of the different ways to perform the visual search:

--By category - http://picclick.com/Baby/

--By product within a category - http://picclick.com/Baby/?query=diaper+bag&minAsk=min+price&maxAsk=max+price&zipCode=zip+code

--Search within a price range (min to max)

--Search geographically (zip code)

This post is informational only, not a sponsored post.

Geek is a Global Language - But Twitter is Not (yet)

2009-12-21T12:56:06-08:00

During the blogger embark on the USS Nimitz this past May, I enjoyed learning how social media is being used aboard an aircraft carrier at sea. Similarly, when I was invited to join the Traveling Geeks trip to Paris, I looked forward to experiencing social media in France first hand. Especially with - as fellow Geek Matthew Buckland referred to - a "top secret, Illuminati-type organization". Except we were not secret about anything as we all share openly our thoughts online.

True to expectations, only moments into the first Traveling Geeks French start-ups meetings and LeWeb discussions, the similarities and differences of social media around the globe quickly came to light. Similarities were easy to see in the programming and features of application development, which quickly proved to a be a global language. As for differences, they fell primarily into three buckets (with comedy insight provided by a Current TV video on the bottom of this post):

1. Where are the girl geeks in Paris? I know there are girl geeks in Paris; I found a link to my favorite Girl Geek Dinner organization in Paris. I did enjoy talking with Anne-Celine Jeanneau from Zoomorama (pictured, right) at the Paris Digital Content Companies Incubator. While fellow Traveling Geek Eliane Fiolet lives in the US now, she was born in France and is one of the most knowledgeable geeks I know! I was thrilled to see Geraldine Le Meur on the LeWeb stage, someone who ranks TOPS in my Tech Mom Twitter list.
When I visit different countries, I don't keep track of how many women versus men I am meeting with. But I do enjoy seeing women globally communicate their strong, social media voice. In Silicon Valley, I connect with girl geeks through BlogHer, She's Geeky, Anita Borg Institure, Women 2.0, Girl Geek Dinners and Girls in Tech (and more). While I don't expect every area to have so many groups, I do enjoy meeting with local girl geek organizations while I am traveling and sharing ideas. Renee Blodgett and Eliane Fiolet worked hard to have diversity in the Traveling Geeks crew. Back in the US, BlogHer is researching into how women use social media: "BlogHer Team to Bring Research and Insights About How Women Use Social Media, Blogs to the White House an d Republican Leadership".

2. European Geeks Out Style Silicon Valley Geeks: While Silicon Valley geeks put on a clean tee shirt for tech conferences, European geeks take it up a notch. Here is a random geek waiting in line for LeWeb. I told him I was chronicling European Geek Chic. He looked confused but smiled for the camera. To top it off, he and many other Euro-geeks paired the geek uniform of jeans with a nice pair of (non-sneaker) shoes.

Just to keep up with the style, I put on every black and stylish piece of clothing I had. If I had time, I would of shopped from the assortment of beautiful french scarves to take my outfit up a notch. Luckily I am back home in my gym clothes, which is my preferred blogging uniform.

3. Where are the conversations? Person to Person or Twitter to Twitter?: In Silicon Valley, online social networking ID names rival business cards as a means for introduction and maintaining contact; I introduce myself as "TechMama on Twitter". My perspective is that Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are required applications for global business interaction, especially for those wanting to do business in the US. These applications are becoming the center of the conversation, with complimentary applications being built around them.

Because I was using Twitter to microblog the Traveling Geeks trip to Paris, the first thing I requested from any startup/business person I met was their Twitter ID. I also wanted to add people to my International tech Twitter list. But not everyone had Twitter ID's. I finally got up the courage to ask Jean-Baptiste Soufron, a tech savvy Lawyer and tech entrepreneur in Paris , "Why aren't more French entrepreneurs on Twitter?". Soufron then gave an answer that hit the nail on the head: "Maybe they will use Twitter later, but today Twitter is not big enough outside of the US to be used by businesses". He later told me that Facebook in France is mostly used for online social interaction. Or as he said with a charming french accent "Facebook is for flirting".
I found that websites, email and personal phone calls are popular in Paris for Business to Consumer and Consumer to Business communication. The business culture of Paris favors person to person conversations, a natural priority which I found impressive. The French entrepreneurs on Twitter were power users who not only had their own Twitter ID's but also were following the Traveling Geeks conversation in real time.

My epiphany from this trip was that I exist in a high-tech, Silicon Valley bubble surrounded by blogger, geek, and social media contacts who are not only on Twitter but also actively using it to harness the power of a global community and interact with business brands. The Traveling Geeks themselves are global and all plugged in. As the lively, witty and Scottish Ewan said in his post, "the group also had B elgium, South Africa, France and Morocco represented ". Traveling Geeks are pictured below: (front row starting from left) Ewan Spence, Olivier Ezratty , Eliane Fiolet, Amanda Coolong, Beth Blecherman, Renee Blodgett, Rodrigo Sepulveda Schulz, Matthew Buckland, Kim-Mai Cutler. Back row (starting from left): Jerome Tranié, Sky Schuyler, Tom Foremski , Robin Wauters, Frederic Lardinois, David Spark.

But not everyone in the group was surprised about the different social media adaption rates that exist across the globe. It seemed as though the Silicon Valley Geeks may have been most shocked (See posts by Robert Scoble , David Spark's, Olivier Ezratty and others on Traveling Geeks Website). Social media adaption rates vary not only by community within the United States, but also globally. Looking back at my B to C communication in the US, I also realized that many of my friends (power consumers) don't use Twitter as well and are just starting to use Facebook.

The challenge for global companies that may not have a high percentage of local customers using social media is "when should they set up a flag on social media sites like Twitter"? Setting up social media for businesses is a commitment: when a company sets up an ID on any social network, they need to have a monitoring, messaging and engagement policy to support it.

Is online social media use in Silicon Valley really that different from that in France or globally?

The website Global Web Index created a handy graphic (below) posted November 26, 2009 about global social web involvement. This chart backs up my observations that globally only a small percentage of early adopters are involved in online social media. I found the chart via a Mashable post by Adam Ostrow written on Dec. 4th. Click Here to see the PDF version.

Some key figures from the Global Web Index for France and the United States are listed below:

France: 9.5% have written their their own blog and 3.8% use a micro-blogging service.

United States: 12.8% have written their own blog while 7.0% use a micro-blogging service.

So while the United States is slightly ahead in micro-blogging and blogging, the figures show that global adoption of social media is in the early stages.

So how should global companies participate in online social media, keeping in mind that not all their customers will be there?

1. Social Media Engagement Plan: Global conversations are taking place on social media, so even if a companies' customers are not on social media yet - at some point they will join in the conversation. But each business, no matter how big or small, should have an overall social media engagement plan that includes a way to "monitor" the feedback and "engage" back in the conversation. There are many examples of mistakes that have been made by employees inappropriately using social media on the job, so the employee policies and social media training are key. But the first step for any social media engagement plan would be to determine which social media platforms (i.e. Twitter, Facebook Page etc), how to monitor/share (i.e. Seesmic, HootSuite, Radian6 etc) and customer feedback (i.e Get Satisfaction).

There are many subject matter experts globally that share their knowledge. The fearless leaders of the Traveling Geeks have global experience with social media: Renee Blodgett of Magic Sauce Media, Eliane Fiolet of the global Ubergizmo, Phil Jeudy and Sky led the Traveling Geeks through the tour. I have gained valuable social media insight from following Renee Blodgett and gadget insight from Eliane Fiolet. But the first place I would start when looking for individuals to provide social media insight is the Traveling Geeks "Meet the Geeks" web page. Click here to read posts on the Traveling Geeks Website.

Chris Heuer and Kristie Wells from the Social Media Club had a house filled with bloggers covering LeWeb. Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, who were also at LeWeb, have a book titled "Trust Agents" that discusses using the web to build influence and trust. Tara Hunt was also at LeWeb; Her book Whuffie Factor discusses using the power of social networks to build your business Brian Solis has books on Public Relations but also wrote a post about "Twitter 101 for Business". Jeremiah Owyiang from Altimeter Group spoke at LeWeb on the subject of "Real Time Web is Not Fast Enough". The Money Roundtable at LeWeb was moderated by Dave McClure and had a interesting set of panelists including David Hornik and Dan’l Lewin. A full list of LeWeb speakers can be found here.

Back in Silicon Valley, Charlene Li, co-author of Groundswell and Founder of Altimeter Group, just recently posted "New study: Deep brand engagement correlates with financial performance" . Just recently Charlene helped provide insight to me on ways to monitor Twitter hashtags. Guy Kawaski always has insight to share on social media through his website, multiple books and Alltop subject areas. Robert Scoble provides candid social media input across multiple platforms. I have gained insight on the Far East social media markets from Christine Lu, Rebecca A. Fannin and Kaiser Kuo. Neenz is one of the social media pulses of Hawaii. But when it comes to mom bloggers, I gain insight from my fellow Silicon Valley Moms Group bloggers.

2. Language interfaces and translation applications can help unify adaption of social media globally: Rebecca Fannin's post about local language search in China brings to light the issue of language as the challenge for global social media and search applications. To enable social media applications to be used globally, language interfaces such as the one Microsoft built for aboriginal communities can be used. Twitter is starting to offer support in different languages and Twitter translation applications are being written, such as Twanslate that uses Google AJAX Language API.

3. Global conversations are different, even if they take place in the same social media application: This experience has helped me understand that global conversations styles are different; I suggest that all social media travelers be sensitive and spend time listening first then sharing recommendations. Those immersed in social media need to understand that they are part of a small but influential group of early adopters. On the other hand - if foreign companies want to meet with bloggers or social media journalists then it's important to understand their world - which is very online social media centric. Understand that many of us are connected through multiple social media outlets including Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and other online applications - and are looking to use those channels to connect and share information with our followers about companies we meet. We prepare for meetings by locating social media IDs for each meeting attendee and researching before the meeting - or first thing when we sit down. .

Many technologists and entrepreneurs are still are not clear on the value proposition of online social networking; confusion which is best captured by this video from Current TV titled: "The Twouble With Twitter":

4. The Kids will Inherit The Earth: Current TV's "The Twouble With Twitter" video leads me to my third point. My 10 year old son found this video while searching around on iTunes for fun podcasts and videos. He was on iTunes because he was taking a break from editing a video he filmed using a point & shoot digital camera. He saw the word Twitter on the video name and decided to show it to his Twitter addicted Mother.

I'm a mother of three young boys who interact and experiment every day with technology. Watching them explore, it's obvious to me that the future is online as kids naturally engage with technology. While we see social media involvement percentages that may be lower than geeks like me would hope for, these numbers apply to a generation that was raised either without computers (eek - they actually used Typewriters) or used computers when they were older. As the new generation of kids/teens/college kids enter the workforce, we will see the online social media involvement percentages increase and increase.

This post is written by Beth Blecherman of TechMamas.com. Reproduction of this article with permission only. This was a sponsored trip organized by the Traveling Geeks. Disclosure policy can be found on the Traveling Geeks website. Bitly short URL for this post is http://bit.ly/8IHFbC.

Traveling Geeks 09 Paris: Microblog via Twitter

2009-12-21T12:53:54-08:00

My platform of choice during the Traveling Geeks 09 trip to Paris was first Twitter to microblog, then loading the microblog items to a blog post (my blogging platform is Typepad). Twitter is an application that allows people to share what they are doing at the moment in 140 characters or less. My niche on Twitter is to share parenting and technology updates, so this information would fit within my framework. At LeWeb I learned about Seesmic so I hope to try that out as an interface for my next microblogging adventure. I will also be experimenting with using the BlackBerry app for Whrrl to capture "stories" on the run.

I purchased a 200 MB International data plan for my BlackBerry Bold in preparation for microblogging in Paris, using my own daily calculations to make sure I would not go over (which is very expensive). All of this preparation would allow me to enjoy the tour, capturing the key moments while not taking too much time away to prepare blog posts until I returned home. Although microblogging does now allow in-depth analysis, it does capture the key points.

The International Data plan also helped me keep my smartphone email and social media app. addiction satisfied during my trip to Paris. The thought of a smartphone without a data plan was too much to handle.

Here is my Twitter Stream from the #TG09 Traveling Geeks 09 trip to Paris. Each tweet is from my Twitter stream unless it has a "RT" or retweet in front of it. I took out my Twitter ID (TechMama) and hashtags after the first few to make it easier to read.

As I said in my post about global "geek" language, we had a dream team of geeks on the trip: Renee Blodgett, Matthew Buckland, Amanda Coolong, Kim-Mai Cutler, Olivier Ezratty, Eliane Fiolet, Tom Foremski, Phil Jeudy, Frederic Lardinois, Robert Scoble , Sky Schuyler, Rodrigo Sepulveda Schulz, David Spark, Ewan Spence, Jerome Tranié, and Robin Wauters. For full coverage of the Traveling Geeks Paris Tour 09 click over to the website. To follow the Traveling Geeks, there is a Facebook page and a Twitter list. there is a I would have included more of the social banter that went on between the geeks, but I did not think it could be easily translated into 140 characters:

If we were not taking pictures, video, blogging, podcasting, microblogging, then we were talking about the gadgets we use to do that. If we were not talking about gadgets, then we were talking about the businesses or social media. We did all of this while walking all over the beautiful streets of Paris, at meetings or meet-ups, or running to and from the Paris Metro. But it was on the Paris Metro - that an stylish elderly French woman helped us understand that at times our laughing or conversation got too loud; she turned around to me on the Metro and said "Shhhhh" (international language for BE QUIET!).

techmama's Traveling Geeks Paris Tour 09 Twitter stream:

techmama Shout out to #TG09 co-orgs: Eiane Fiolet f/ @ubergizmo, Renee Blodgett @magicsaucemedia & Phil Jeudy - Sky & for IT http://bit.ly/5W4xdu Dec 5th
techmama @kimmaicutler and @techmama along with the other TravelingGeeks at #TG09 Paris 1st night dinner,we had a fun trip on metro to get to dinner Dec 6th
techmama Learning about http://www.moblieglobe.com - seemless international calling. Wished I would of signed up before I left.. #TG09 Paris Dec 6th
#TG09 kick off diner with The traveling geeks @magicsauce @fredericl @robinwauters @kimmaicutler @tomforemski @acoolong @techmama (and @olivez @ubergizmo @dspark @ewan and @jimsky7) Dec 6th
techmama Les Traveling Geeks Goes to Paris Mashcast video is now LIVE http://is.gd/5epU2 @TravelingGeeks
techmama Amazed-great reception my AT&T 3G on BlackBerry Bold in Paris, #Twitter & #Facebook also quick response.Next step is testing WiFi on netbook 8:59 PM Dec 6th
RT @pearltrees Some @travelinggeeks in Pearltrees right now #tg09 #leweb #pearltrees http://twitpic.com/sijsu
Learning about @pearltrees - Allows you to organize your fav content on web & get connected to people who share interests #TG09
@PearlTrees interface allows you to manipulate and move your content, can create Pearls from Tweets & Tweets from Pearls #TG09
@PearlTrees can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, email, embed (incl.your blog) and every PearlTree has their own URL #TG09 Dec 7th
Looking at @PearlTrees screencast http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvJ9aDVyLUw #TG09 Dec 7th
Looking at the @Travelinggeeks #TG09 Flickr pictures http://travelinggeeks.com/photos/ #fb Dec 7th
Visiting http://siliconsentier.org/ Silicon Sentier, a cluster of 150 small & middle IT companies in Paris or nearby #TG09 Dec 7th
At Silicon Sentier #TG09 -Learning about MXP4, interactive listening, remix & personal playback site. http://www.mxp4.com/
Meeting at La Canteen w/ Invest in France Agency & Cap Digital, @soufron from http://www.capdigital.com/ introduced the event #TG09 Dec 7th
Invest in France Agency & Cap Digital event #TG09 - Learning about http://www.musicovery.com/ Time article; http://bit.ly/11JjGc Dec 7th
RT @soufron @techmama have also a look at Cap Digital, the mothership of them all : http://www.capdigital.com/ Dec 7th
Cap Digital event #TG09 - http://www.musicovery.com/ Built matrix based on psychologist model -music and mode parameters used to link songs.Dec 7th
Cap Digital Event #TG09 Listening about CiTu http://www.citu.info , CiTu is dedicated to research in emerging media fields. Dec 7th
Cap Digital Event #TG09 CiTu http://www.citu.info, mentioning http://theartcollider.org/ Dec 7th
Paris - Hearing from BearTech http://bearstech.com/ Dec 7th
Paris Learning about Feedbooks Buy, Borrow (from library), Subscribe, Sample or Download books. http://feedbooks.com/ Dec 7th
@robinwauters Agreed, why is it that my Flickr pictures are uploading faster here in Paris then at my house in California? Dec 7th from web in reply to robinwauters
Paris - Learning about XWiki http://www.xwiki.com/ Dec 7th
Paris - Learning about af83 http://www.af83.com/ Dec 7th
At Orange Labs, They have home wireless gadgets, TV subscription service, playback and website. Dec 7th
#TG09 Orange Labs websites: 61 million unique visitors worldwide, partners with newpapers and Wikipdia ( @orangewikipedia ) Dec 7th
Orange Labs has a search engine website: Search text, video and audio. Mixes news and content on same subject but dif. languages Dec 7th
@johnlpainter yes, lots of video and pictures on the http://www.TravelingGeeks.com website Dec 7th
Website for Orange Labs Search http://www.2424actu.fr (live soon) Dec 7th
Orange Labs has moblie apps, agregates moblie access to favorite social media and feeds, incl Twitter picture MMS feature Dec 7th
Presen. by Cedexis ,which provides collective intelligence platform that enables next gen traffic management strategies (no site yet) Dec 8th
Hearing about Cedexis Radar (crowd based perf. monitoring)- compares mult. data centers, delivery networks, and cloud providers Dec 8th
Hearing about Cedexis Open Mix-Cloud-based Global Traffic Management Platform(enables dynamic decisions based on real-time data feeds) Dec 8th
Paris @juliencoulon (Co-Founder) gave presentation on Cedexis, site will be up soon Dec 8th
Talking with @jxo - who advises and mentors entrepreneurs (has international clients). Dec 8th
At Paris Innovation Reunion, The Paris Digital Content Companies Incubator http://www.incubateurparisdev.com/ hosts 100 startups Dec 8th
#TG09 Paris Innovation Reunion discussing reasons2choose Paris: market in heart of Europe, quality of life, wired city.... Dec 8th
#TG09 Paris Innovation Reunion: Hearing from Int13 - next gen mobile games http://www.int13.net/fr Dec 8th
@Scobleizer just explained to the incubator group that they all need to be on Twitter. Dec 8th from (Note - this followup post was written by:@Scobleizer "World-brand-building http://bit.ly/5Vof3Z ")
Paris Innovation Reunion - CityZeum travel info for web and mobile http://www.cityzeum attracted 7 million travelers this year Dec 8th
Paris Innovation Reunion- Scan and Target http://www.scanandtarget.com/ solution for real time text mining for web and mobile contents Dec 8th
Paris Innovation Reunion- Rue89: Pure player news website (produce news in collaboration with news and experts) http://www.rue89.com/ Dec 8th
Paris Innovation Reunion - Gostai produces universal robotics software platform http://www.gostai.com/ Dec 8th
Paris Innovation Reunion- Zoomorama is a solution for zoomable images (a international team of developers) http://www.zoomorama.com/ Dec 8th
Paris Innovation Reunion- Stribe: Plug and play service to instantly create a social network on any website http://www.stribe.com/ Dec 8th
Paris Innovation Reunion - Path Motion developed a career planning and job search tool http://www.pathmotion.com/ Dec 8th
Paris Innovation Reunion -Website to find tutors http://www.teacheo.com & http://www.blueteach.com/ -online toolkit for live teaching Dec 8th
Paris Innovation Reunion - MLstate code to build web applications http://www.mlstate.com Dec 8th
Paris Innovation Reunion: Stupeflix - http://www.stupeflix.com/ turns your pictures, videos, & text into professional videos. Dec 8th from web
http://twitpic.com/srvsr - #TG09 at Just arrived to #LeWeb, discussion about enabling more people to use technology Dec 9th
Microsoft Bizspark provides tools for startups, discussing having one application that goes to many platforms incl. moblie Dec 9th
Theme of #LeWeb is Real Time Web - Real time feeds for visual (photos, video) and social apps like Twitter Dec 9th
Microsoft BizSpark initiative has 1000 partners, business relationships w/ Twitter, Facebook and MySpace Dec 9th
Discussing iPhone app for LeWeb, probably picking up this tweet b/c I used #LeWeb hashtag, integegrates Ustream and Facebook Dec 9th
@TravelingGeeks are meeting with @RichardatDell at #LeWeb Dec 9th
In Aug 2006 @RichardatDell was given role to monitor and engage social media #TG09
Dell actively monitors social media to listen and engage with customers, customer input is worked into customer design and support Dec 9th
@RichardatDell explaining Dell social media channels include Twitter, blogs, Facebook pages Dec 9th
@ConfFar #LeWeb is in Paris, attendees are from all over the world Dec 9th
Two other Dell Twitter IDs are @Dellservergeek and @mdomsch to provide tech server info Dec 9th
Dell sales (current data) f/ various Twitter outlets globally is 6.5 million Dec 9th
Dell connects to 3.5 million customers across social media outlets Dec 9th
Good Dell Twitter ID to follow for families is @edu4u Dec 9th
Retweet @kristiewells Two years ago, there was only one Twitter app -- today, there are over 50k. #leweb
RT MySpace opening up their real-time 'stream' as well. Let the data flow... #leweb Dec 9th
(RT )kristiewells MySpace opening 3 APIs: (1) search for people, images/videos, (2) public access to user activity stream/profile, (3) commenting #leweb Dec 9th
(RT)MagicSauceMedia #tg09 #leweb Hanging out at Microsoft BizSpark lounge at LeWeb; the traveling geeks are blogging up a storm... Dec 9th
Taking a look at Answers.com http://www.answers.com/ Dec 9th
@AnswersDotCom has Twitter ID and other social media outlets Dec 9th
Talking w/ @clubcooee http://www.clubcooee.com/ 3D messanger client with chatrooms ,social media & social sharing #Microsoft BizSpark Dec 9th
Taking with @tobiaspeggs about @oneriot Real time search engine #Microsoft BizSpark Dec 9th
Other #Microsoft BizSpark co. at #LeWeb : Huddle (online collaboration platform) http://www.huddle.net Dec 9th
Other #Microsoft BizSpark co. at #LeWeb : Xobni for people to manage, organize, and search e-mail http://www.xobni.com Dec 9th
Enjoying my time at #LeWeb with Traveling Geeks http://travelinggeeks.com/ Dec 9th
#TG09 Reading @robinwauters @TechCrunch post on Twitter at #LeWeb http://bit.ly/6D7737 50,000 regist.apps2date-been built using Twitter APIs Dec 9th
http://twitpic.com/stpxx - #TG09 At #LeWeb party at Hotel De Ville, Paris Dec 9th
http://twitpic.com/swmbr - Watching @davemcclure @davidhornik & panel at #money2 panel - #leweb #TG09 Dec 10th
http://twitpic.com/swo0a - #TG09 #leweb Watched Tony Hsieh discuss @zappos culture of happiness, advice "don't chase money - chase vision" # Dec 10th
http://twitpic.com/swofs #TG09 @loic & Geraldine Le Meur 2nd day of #leweb @leweb Great conf.to learn about European&global web trends Dec 10th
http://twitpic.com/swove #TG09 #leweb @chrisbrogan:"put human face on business & how the web is going to do that -by building Trust Agents Dec 10th
Created pearltree: TravelingGeeks - check it out here: http://pear.ly/dQHD (will be adding another Traveling Geeks Pearltree for more) Dec 10th
Posted about @QueenRania 's #leweb talk about social media and activism: http://bit.ly/85cdEf Dec 10th
Finished at #LeWeb heading out to our last night out in Paris. We are all going to finish putting up posts http://travelinggeeks.com/ Dec 10th
RT @jowyang Slides: Three ways companies can develop strategies to respond to real-time way. http://bit.ly/91I2vB Dec 10th
RT @olivez My main stage photo gear @ #leweb is 70-200mm 2.8 with x2 extender on a Canon EOS 5D II. 1500 pics so far today. It rocks. #tg09. Dec 10th
RT @dspark My summary of the entire show. "The cool and not-so-cool from #LeWeb" http://bit.ly/7ENbbx #tg09 Dec 10th
Enjoyed Paris and #LeWeb, getting ready to go back to California. Dec 10th
Flying back f/ Paris,Checked International Data plan f/4 days in Paris on my BlackBerry emailing & Twittering: Plan is 200MB,I used 153MB Dec 11th

The full agenda of LeWeb can be found here. Olivier Ezratty posted with a summary of LeWeb2009 startups. Renee Blodgett, Eliane Fiolet and the other Traveling Geeks covered the startups with video and blog posts on the Traveling Geeks website.

While at Chicago airport waiting for my connecting flight back home to California, I called AT&T to see what the final number of data megabytes used in Paris was, hoping that I did stay within the 200 MB limit for the International data plan. I had great 3G coverage on my phone all over Paris - better coverage then at my own house in California. In the first few days I calculated that I used about 30MB per day on my BlackBerry Bold data plan for use of Twitters and email. The final number that the AT&T customer service representative gave me for 5 days of Twittering and email in Paris was somehow exactly as I estimated: 153MB. Phew...

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

2009-12-10T07:19:31-08:00

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

2009-12-09T09:32:28-08:00

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

PicScout ImageExchange Simplifies Online Image Access

2009-12-08T04:45:00-08:00

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!

2009-12-05T15:41:12-08:00

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:

"Ubergizmo is a media partner of the tour, and you have surely noticed the banner we have been running for a few weeks. Thanks to our sponsors France Telecom Orange, Pearltrees, Answers.com , Invest in France Agency, Parrot SA and Microsoft BizSpark for making this trip possible.
Following us:

Follow the Traveling Geeks blog (RSS feed). It’s the main feed for all the posts made by the Traveling Geeks during the trip.

Follow the hashtag #tg09 on Twitter.

Check out the Traveling Geeks photos (full screen).

Join the Traveling Geeks fan page on Facebook.

One of our partners, La Social Media Club House will be setting up camp in the Latin Quarter in Paris next week, and my friend Cathy Brooks along with other geeks will be tweeting from there, follow them at @socialmediaclub; the house residents’ twitters are: @cathybrooks @chrisheuer @scobleizer @suzyperplexus @stephtara"

BlackFriday A Bust, Will Try CyberMonday

2009-11-29T10:57:03-08:00

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"

2009-11-27T09:26:07-08:00

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

2009-11-26T09:45:56-08:00

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.

NEED SOME HOME ENTERTAINMENT? Home is the new "entertainment" as well, there is now a range of home entertainment options available. Holidays are a good time to buy a home gaming system like the Nintendo Wii or the Sony Playstation. Supplemental gifts are to consider also buying gaming accessories, for example a Wii Fit Plus bundle or any of the new games (I will be posting about this weekend). Guitar Hero, Rock Band the the Tony Hawk Thride game all have gaming accessories that add to family entertainment. If you or your kids have iPods then setting up a system to stream that music in the house will be a fun way to extend the iPod and iTune purchases to the home. Many TV's are Internet enabled these days so maybe a new TV that can also show videos or family Flickr pictures through Internet access can be a fun holiday gift. Now is also a great time to look into high definition or "HDTV's".

NEED TO CAPTURE FAMILY MEMORIES? Kids as young as 6 can use digital cameras so the gift of a digital camera or camcorder for the family to use will benefit everyone. Pair the new digital camera with a new printer and digital photo frame. Or upgrade the family camera to a DSLR (or purchase a new camera lens) to enable capture of sports events or fast action.

MOBILE TECHNOLOGY: Another slogan I have is that every mom should have a smartphone to manage their lives on the go. The holidays are a great times for moms to upgrade their cellphone or try a newer model smartphone. While smartphones can also be used to read books, e-Readers such as the Sony Readers, Amazon Kindle or Barnes & Noble Nook are a great suggestions for a holiday gifts. Netbooks with USB or Wireless Broadband cards (as a "mobile" PC) can give families mobile Internet access. Wireless cards such as the Verizon MiFi can give 5 PC's wireless access at the same time, which may be a great alternatives for families who travel with more then one Internet device.

I can go on and on with technology gift recommendations - but I need to start looking for my own family technology gifts. All throughout the weekend I will be posting more with tips on choosing holiday tech gifts.

Did I miss any ways to find out about holiday tech deals?