I’ve flown with the pelican and I can tell you, it’s exhilarating.

Reality’s fine for the everyday world, but sometimes you need something a little more stimulating and rewarding. Well, you’re in luck. Now you can experience a type of hyperreality — a mixture of physical and virtual reality that enables you to expand your mind while exploring unattainable vistas.

Hyperreality was just the next logical step in our compulsive quest for new experiences. With instant access to unlimited information, we had to ask: How do we add value? With an enhanced hyperreal visual experience. And it’s pretty accessible for all of us.Read full post...

They’re only available (at $1,500-plus a pop) to select Explorers — Google’s own handpicked beta testers.

Depends on whom you ask. Google Glass will either be the biggest game changer in wearable technology, or a creepy Big Brother bust that sends people running for the exits. For those who’ve been living under a rock, Google Glass is essentially a smartphone worn as glasses.

It’s got 13 functions including hands-free camera/video/phone, Internet links, voice-activated text and commands (“OK, Glass, take picture.”), all in a heads-up display that keeps your eyes on the road or whatever/whoever is in front of you. You can even have prescription lenses. But you can’t have a pair yet. They’re only available (at $1,500-plus a pop) to select Explorers — Google’s own handpicked beta testers — who will gladly let you bid for theirs on Amazon or eBay.Read full post...

You’ve probably heard about “responsive web design” by now. Hopefully you’ve been able to incorporate this into any new web projects you’re working on, and you’ve already converted — or plan to convert — your existing high-value or high-traffic websites.

While responsive web design has been universally accepted and adopted, it does have a dark side: responsive images. I’ll explain what this problem is, how it’s being solved and why it’s yet another reason to let experts help you with these issues so you can stay focused on your content and ultimately your core business.

To understand the problem, we need to get a little technical. Here are some handy terms to know (refer to the diagram for some visual assistance):Read full post...

Representative pixel resolutions

There’s a new TV format looming on the horizon. It’s called 4K TV. You may have seen a commercial for a Sony 4K TV last night, as I did while in the middle of composing this post.

4K, you say. What the heck is that?

Well, in this case it refers to video resolution. More precisely, it refers to the vertical resolution — not the horizontal resolutions that are more commonly used, such as 1080p (1920 pixels x 1080 pixels) for high-definition video. 1080p tells us that there are 1,080 lines of resolution stacked one atop the other like pancakes. The “p” means that the lines are displayed “progressively” from top to bottom, unlike on old-school CRT screens, which display every other line.

In contrast, the 4K resolutions are approximately 4,000 lines of vertical resolution stacked side-by-side like books on a shelf. This is four times the resolution of current high-definition video.Read full post...

“If journalists are gloomy about the outlook of their industry, printers are despondent.”

That was a 2013 keynote speaker’s headline for his topic, “The Future of Printers.” Subtitle? “Printers Sink.”

Offset press

In the U.S. in 2001 there were 50,000 traditional commercial printing companies (not including phone book and newspaper and magazine publishers). Today there are fewer than 20,000, and those that are still in business find their 1Q13 revenues down 25–50% from a year ago. The environment is brutal. Half the printers I used to work with are no longer in business — and I’m paying a lot less for the same kind of job to those that still are.

Printer-from-birth Chuck Paski at McClafferty Printing says printing “is a tough racket to be in. It’s a commodity now instead of a craft. The buyers know they can beat you up on price, and they’ll take their business down the street to save .” Paski has a state-of-the-art six-color press, but only four-color jobs are selling — whatever buyers can get for the cheapest price in the fastest time. McClafferty just added mailhouse services to its portfolio, so it can be a one-stop shop.Read full post...

This is a generation that didn’t learn to use computers in college or in late high school, they learned from their parents as soon as they could pick up a mouse.

Shari Short, president of Short Answer Consulting, and I were privileged to present at the recent 2013 National Association of Physician Recruiters Annual Conference. We spoke about communicating with different generations and what it means to physician and advanced practitioner recruiters.

Our observations on the differences between communicating with the silent generation (66+), Baby Boomers (49–66), Gen Xers (28–48) and Millennials (7–27) elicited a unanimous response: “We’re all doomed!” But not so! Do Millennials have a different perspective on the value of work/life balance than their older counterparts? Absolutely. Do they frustrate us with their dogged addiction to mobile and digital technology? Sure. Do they strive to do something great in their lives? Absolutely. Maybe they don’t value 12- to 14-hour workdays like their older counterparts. But they do understand that the technology they embrace may help them to accomplish more, faster. What’s wrong with that?Read full post...

I’m all for target marketing, but this is a little invasive.

To anyone who’s faced with a cable bill in excess of $200 every month, news that Intel is planning on “blowing up the cable industry” with its own set-top box and unbundled cable service is big stuff. Instead of paying a fortune for 500 channels you rarely watch, Intel says they’ll allow you to subscribe to specific channels of your choosing. According to Intel, the set-top box will offer cable channels delivered “over the top” to televisions anywhere there is an Internet connection, regardless of provider. Consumers can subscribe to content per channel – maybe even by show. They even plan to enable consumers to use “Cloud DVR,” which would allow users to watch any past TV show at any time.Read full post...

Before long, everyone will own a tablet. This means new opportunities as well as new challenges for marketers.

I’m not an early adopter. I let other folks experience first-generation electronics to pave the way for me. I wait to hear a little more, watch the products and read reviews to make completely sure of any new purchase.

But this past Christmas, I was starting to feel left behind. Young children were walking around with iPads. So we added not one, but two tablets to the Qualls household. And we’re not alone; lower-priced tablets further fueled tablet adoption at the end of 2012. More than half of the students in my daughter’s first-grade class received a tablet for Christmas.Read full post...