We are members of SIPA, the Specialized Information Publishers Association.

About SIPA: “SIPA is the international trade association dedicated to advancing the interests of for-profit subscription newsletter publishers and specialized-information services.”

They have been a great organization to be a member of and helpful to our company as we have been to the membership with our services.

They have a feature on the website:

“The Road Taken
An inside look at a SIPA member, the choices he or she has made on the road to success, and the challenges ahead.”

And I was asked to do this week’s interview. You may find it interesting and entertaining. They asked me some good questions, got me thinking… You can read the entire interview here:

Tom Lynch SIPA Interview

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Tom Lynch Categories: General

My Samsung smart phone is missing.

Liz and I went camping and fishing this past weekend and it’s gone.

It could have gotten into the trash inadvertently while we were packing up camp. I dunno. Maybe it fell out of my pocket into the Rock River while night fishing, and leaning over to dehook yet another inedible (non-Asian) carp.

Not knowing where it is I can only imagine…

I imagine it was for a short time at the bottom of the Rock River somewhere near Dixon IL. Within minutes it probably ended up in the belly of some hungry, indiscriminate, oversized catfish and is now much closer to the Mississippi River.

Catfish eat practically anything you know. Some of the locals bragged of catfish over four feet long and over 100 lbs. Big enough for a smart phone (smelling like night crawlers) snack.

If I had GPS on the smart phone, and it was waterproof, I probably could have tracked the journey. There has got to be an app for that right? Lost phone, underwater, in-fish, tracking app.

Did a little research today. There’s over 360 fishing apps at the app store. I don’t have an iPhone but’s that’s where the app’s is at. So I picked one to get acquainted with. The app: “The iSolunar – Solunar Tables iPhone App”.  The theory – certain times fish are more active – so fish then and you’ll catch more fish.

I got a stand-alone moon/sun thing like that for Christmas and I didn’t catch any more fish when it was going crazy with alarms or not.

And even if the app can tell you “when” the fish are eating, they can’t tell you “where” or “what” they are eating. You have to dangle something in front of their face. Maybe they want it and maybe they don’t. Keep trying until they do or accept defeat.

My dream smart phone app for fishing is a social media play with some very smart phone technology.

It would have to be body of water specific, real time like I caught this fish with that lure, line, pole, technique and so on. And it would have to read the message out loud so I wouldn’t have to take my eyes off the pole. And it would have to convert speech back to text – message back – thanks for the tip – look at my whopper big mouth bass. Embed photos and all. I hold my freshly caught four pounder up to the phone – tell the phone to take a picture and it sends back to my helpful fellow fisherman. All hands free and no eyes off the pole.

Not holding my breath for that one… But not putting it past Crowe to come up with something either. For now I’m an “app-less” fisherman.

At least soon I’ll get a refurbished version of my Samsung smart phone back. Fortunately I have the lost and stolen insurance with Verizon. Everything backed up on the PC so no big loss, except not knowing the real journey of my smart phone.

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Tom Lynch Categories: General

My first iPhone was the 2G model and I didn’t have many complaints about the voice quality or dropped calls — not any more than any other carrier anyway. When I switched to the 3G model, the voice reception became noticeably worse. At first I was content to blame the phone as it seems most people are. But I had to believe that Apple knew even the smartest of smart phones still had to be a PHONE first and foremost.

After tinkering a bit, I realized it’s very simple to switch the phone back into 2G mode. And guess what? I now enjoy the stable 2G reception from AT&T I used to. I have multi-hour-long conference calls with confidence. I can move around and not worry about dropping the call.

For data I typically just leave the wifi connected, which gives me high speed data most of the time (home, office, etc.). But if you find yourself sitting in the park or on the road needing to surf faster, just switch back to 3G. I wish the phone could use 3G for data and 2G for voice, but it’s a minor quibble.

To summarize, switch your iPhone to 2G mode and you’ll have:

Pros:

• Better voice reception and quality
• Longer battery life
• Envy from other iPhone users

Cons:

• Slower data speeds
• That nagging feeling that you’re not using the latest and greatest technology

So how do you do it? Just follow these steps:

1) Press the “Settings” icon/app from your home screen.

2) Press “General” (7th option).

3) Press “Network” (3rd option).

4) In the “Enable 3G” bar, it should say “On.” Press this and it will turn “Off” as shown below.

5) Just click your home button or back to “General” to save. It will take a few seconds to switch over, and then you’re good to go! If you need your faster 3G data, just switch it back any time.

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Andy Swindler Categories: Fun, Gadget, General, Technology

We spend a lot of time at Astek with brand exercises that have informed us that we are firmly in the geek camp (bright/passionate). I just came across this Venn Diagram at Great White Shark that supports our verdict by clearly delineating us from the socially inept side of the equation.

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Andy Swindler Categories: Fun, General, Technology

Using your Android enabled camera phone you can now take a picture of a book cover, a landmark or even a local business and find out more about it using Google Goggles.

At the MCA and not sure if that is abstract expression or cubism. SNAP! Let the goggles tell ya.

Hungry on the brown line commute back home. Not sure if that sushi restaurant at Montrose is worth a visit. SNAP! Let the Goggles show you the lasted reviews.

Got a new business card, hate typing all that stuff into your CRM. SNAP! The Goggles make it easy to add new contacts.

It is admittedly limited on what it can do, but don’t worry before you know it, you will be able to snap a picture of a rock and have the goggles tell you – GRANITE!

Search by taking a picture! What next….

What do you need?

• An Android device running Android 1.6 or above
• A QVGA screen
• A camera with autofocus

Can your mobile device use the Goggles? Here’s the current list from Wikipedia.

Watch the video to learn more, put your goggles on, and become more so omniscient.

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Tom Lynch Categories: General, Technology, google

Well, it’s getting to feel like spring for real here in Chicago, and for me that means the end of the snowboarding season. Besides adventures in Wisconsin, Washington State, and Colorado, for the past two years I’ve done a fair amount of snowboarding right here in Illinois, just west of Chicago. The Burton Snowboard Company organizes a program called Chill every year, all around the country. They work with various agencies that target underserved youth, and provide everything they need to get them, out snowboarding. Astek graciously lets me tweak my schedule for a few months during the winter to allow me to take part in the Chicago program.

It takes place at Four Lakes Resort in Lisle, which is just a hill really, but perfect for beginners. They run the program out there three nights a week, with individual groups coming out once a week on the same night. So I generally pick one day of the week and make it to as many of them as I can for the 6-8 weeks the program runs, weather depending. And it is immensely rewarding. Snowboarding is really hard, and quite frustrating to pick up at first. So these kids learn a lot of patience, as well as gain tons of self esteem as they gradually get the hang of it. It’s just such a pleasure to be a part of.

Above is this year’s Tuesday night crew – I’m in the top right. Looking forward to next year!

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Andrew Crowe Categories: Fun, General

Google knows what we searched for, and if we were we naughty or nice.  Check out Google Zeitgeist 2009.

The top searched public figures in 2009 that made the headlines and probably didn’t like the news:

IE: Naughty

1. bernie madoff
2. mark sanford
3. rod blagojevich
4. john edwards
5. silvio berlusconi
6. r allen stanford
7. tom daschle
8. john ensign
9. bill richardson
10. charles rangel

IE: Nice

One of the fastest rising 2009 Google mobile search terms: CTA Bus Tracker. Makes sense that it’s starting to get colder here in Chicago and patience for a late bus is not the same. What a cool tool to provide some hope to the weary, frozen traveler. Yes my bus is in fact 10 minutes behind schedule and I can at least see where that is on the map in real time. If I leave three minutes from now, I can still make the bus and minimize my frostbite. Excellent.

IE: Nicer

Better news, even a long wait on New Years Eve and early New Years Day is worth it. The CTA is offering penny rides again.

“The Chicago Transit Authority will continue its tradition of offering penny rides on New Year’s Eve beginning at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, December 31 until 6 a.m. Thursday, January 1 (New Year’s Day).”

Full article available here: CTA Ride For a Penny

So take the bus, do some Google Zeitgeist on the way to the party for some interesting 2009 trivia, use the CTA Bus Tracker to know “exactly” when to leave the party, and have a happy and safe new year!

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Tom Lynch Categories: General