What are those new bar codes I see everywhere?

If you are like me, I think new technology ~ especially the toys ~ is fun!

Last night, I received a flier with one of the new kind of little bar codes that supposedly has maps and directions for this particular event.

Curiosity killed the cat, and before long, I was hot on the trail of new apps on my iPhone, looking for QR code reader software. Once installed, it was a piece of cake to make it work, and ah, so much fun.

In short order, I learned that QR stands for Quick Response and that it was created in Japan as a way for camera phones and bar code readers to read at high speeds. In doing some online research, I also learned that the U.S. has been a bit slower to embrace this new technology.

Yes, another great marketing tool. Awesome, indeed. Try it, and you’ll be hooked.

The world of words

Did you know that there are 11 million adults in this country who are nonliterate in English?

That number is astounding. Imagine not being able to read what the rest of us take for granted:

• medicine labels
• the newspaper
• street maps
• their child’s report card

You can help. Join the hundreds of volunteers in your local literacy council by becoming a literacy volunteer tutor.  You’ll help adults learn to read and write or speak English. This puts educational and employment opportunities within their reach.

Become a literacy volunteer today. I did, and you can, too.

 

 

Can you read 174 newspapers every day?

I recently read that we now are bombarded with so much information that it’s the equivalent of 174 newspapers of data every day!

This, of course, is due to the explosion of the Internet as well as social networking, mobile phones and hundreds more TV stations running more hours each day.

We’re receiving five times the information every day that we did as recently as 1986.

Even more overwhelming:  there are now 295 exabytes of data floating around the world.  How much is that?  315 times the number of grains of sand on the planet.

Interested in reading more about the study, which was published in the journal Science?

Check it out at Welcome to the information age — 174 newspapers a day

 

The state of higher education in a slow economy

During  a slower economy, typically higher education does well.  More people go back to school because they’re unemployed and they may be looking to enhance their current skill set or they may want to pursue a complete career change. You know the story: the factory worker who is no longer needed at his company is finally able to pursue a dream job in nursing or the culinary arts, for example.

In addition, those currently employed want an edge over their peers when it’s time for a promotion, so they head back to college, too. Employers may cut back on tuition reimbursement programs for employees, but that doesn’t seem to always matter.

In many cases, it’s community colleges who benefit, but four-year private colleges and public universities also see enrollment increases.

Today, I read about Wingate University coming to Hendersonville with an MBA program.  It was the lead story in today’s paper.  My first thought was that we finally had an opportunity to read something positive about the economy.

Read more about Wingate’s plans here:

http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20110210/ARTICLES/102101021/1151?Title=Wingate-gearing-up-Hendersonville-MBA-program

 

What’s the deal about social media?

Here are some really interesting facts about social media during 2010. Check it out. You’ll be surprised at some of the information…guaranteed!

Social media stats: 16 that might surprise you |

www.arikhanson.com

The weather is frightful

Being a native Chicagoan, it’s fun to sit back and watch the weather forecast from afar, now that I live in a milder climate. The news — TV, newspaper, Facebook, Twitter — is all about the weather and tonight’s blizzard.  It’s even more fun to see how instantaneous the communication is — uploads with snow photos, video of the wind howling, and Tweets about how treacherous the roads are.  It doesn’t matter if it’s weather or another situation that unfolds over time — it just is such a prime example of how our communication has changed.

One space or two?

Just read something this morning about the never-ending battle of whether we should use one space or two in between sentences when typing.

Here’s what I read on slate.com:  “Typing two spaces after a period is totally, completely, utterly, and inarguably wrong.”

I, for one, still use two spaces most of the time but those I’ve worked with in recent several years — my red pen friends (you know who you are)– have always corrected and edited my writings….one space only, please.

That’s the way I was taught and I don’t think it’s wrong. I was also taught that consistency is more important than following a rule to the letter of the law.

Ok, so I’ll try harder in the future to play by the rules.

If you want to read the article I read, check it out here:

http://www.slate.com/id/2281146