Author and Illustrator of “Where The Wild Things Are”, Maurice Sendak, has passed away today, May 8th, 2012 at the age of 83.

‘Where the Wild Things Are’, one of the 10 bestselling children’s books of all time, and winner of the Caldecott Medal for most distinguished American picture book for children in 1964, was my favorite childhood book.

As a child, I imagined being Max in that costume and wanting to visit wherever the wild things were. And when I saw the movie preview for the first time on TV, even as an adult, I teared up in excitement.

But it makes sense because, Maurice Sendak wrote stories “about human emotion and life.” He was a great author and an even better illustrator.

Rest in Peace, Maurice Sendak.

While I haven’t had a chance to sit down and write a complete review yet, I have to say this:

The Nike+ Fuelband is pure motivation for your wrist. Seriously. (copywritten. don’t copy me.)

I found myself doing jumping jacks and sprinting around the bedroom to make sure I reached my daily goal before I went to sleep the other day.

The best part of reaching your goal every day is seeing this little dude boogie and shimmy across the screen in celebratory dance fashion.

I’ve added some screens to keep you busy until I can annotate and generate a video review.

Stay tuned!

10th Annual Los Angeles Walk Now for Autism Speaks

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Every 11 minutes, another family receives the devastating news that their child has an autism spectrum disorder. Help us change that! Start fundraising today. Whether you strive to join our new “Grand Club” (walkers that raise $1,000 or more) or sell lemonade to boost your total or create your own unique event, you become a part of the solution! Don’t wait another minute – start a corporate, school or family team today!

What Is Autism?

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autism are both general terms for a group of complex disorders of brain development. These disorders are characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors.

Studies also show that autism is three to four times more common among boys than girls. An estimated 1 out of 54 boys and 1 in 252 girls are diagnosed with autism in the United States.

What Causes Autism?

The clearest evidence of these autism risk factors involves events before and during birth. They include advanced parental age at time of conception (both mom and dad), maternal illness during pregnancy and certain difficulties during birth, particularly those involving periods of oxygen deprivation to the baby’s brain. It is important to keep in mind that these factors, by themselves, do not cause autism. Rather, in combination with genetic risk factors, they appear to modestly increase risk.

A small but growing body of research suggests that autism risk is less among children whose mothers took prenatal vitamins (containing folic acid) in the months before and after conception.

Proud to be a Nike Free Ambassador. It was a great experience and I’ve met some great new friends, Ginger and Gabe. Win win!

Make sure you check out the new Nike Free Run+!

And add me on Nike+!

Want to earn a spot on the 2012 SHE RUNS LA CREW and receive customized Nike product packs, an exclusive photo shoot featured on nikesportswear.com, and a VIP race experience?

If you missed the March 20th auditions, come out tonight March 22nd – 6pm – 8pm, or on Saturday, March 24th from 12pm to 4pm.

With She Runs LA, Nike Sportswear offers the ultimate competition for women who combine their keen sense of style with a passionate interest in the sport of running. Ready to give it a shot? Come to the Montalban Dressed in your flyest running gear and complete your submission for the 2012 “She Runs LA” Crew.

The Crew Receives:

Style entourage complete with stylist, photographer, trainer, bloggers, customized Nike product packs, an exclusive photo shoot featured on nikesportswear.com, VIP race experience and more.

Come early, audition, and stay for the NTC workout on the rooftop!

Here’s a good two-a-day schedule I found on Runner’s World.

Run More:

Build up to a week that includes (3) two-a-days

Monday
A.M.: 6 miles easy
P.M.: Off

Tuesday
A.M.: 3 miles easy
P.M.: Intervals

Wednesday
A.M.: 5 miles easy
P.M.: 7 miles easy

Thursday
A.M.: Tempo run
P.M.: Off

Friday
A.M.: 4 miles easy
P.M.: 6 miles easy

Saturday
A.M.: 15-mile long
P.M.: Off

Sunday
A.M. & P.M.: Jesus rested. So should you!

NOTE: If you try (90 day trial) the  ”New” Basecamp, only create dummy projects until you’re sure that you want to upgrade. You will NOT be able to move real projects BACK to “Basecamp Classic”. They are two separate systems. 

37 Signals just released the new Basecamp, and while they’ve packaged it up to look really nice on the outside, there are some underlying facts that you should know.

If you’re already a user, 37Signals is banking on your getting used to the NEW Basecamp during your 90 day upgrade trial. Moreso, they’re banking on the fact that you will create new REAL projects in “New” Basecamp, and will be forced to upgrade when the trial is over, if the project is not closed first. However, upgrading to NEW Basecamp is only beneficial if you’re:

• already a “Plus” plan user,
• only need less than 10 projects open at once, or
• if having fancy features outweighs the number of projects you’re getting.

If you start creating projects under the “New” Basecamp, you can NOT move them BACK to Basecamp Classic once your 90 day trial is over. So you’re basically making your decision when you opt to try the “New” Basecamp, unless you’re ONLY creating dummy / test projects in the “New” Basecamp and keeping your real projects in Basecamp Classic.  See how they did that?

Classic “Basic” Plan to New “Basic” Plan

Upgrading from Basecamp Classic to New Basecamp under the Classic “Basic” Plan would mean that you’re sacrificing 5 project slots for some fancy new features. And if you rely on Basecamp, you’re probably already fighting for project space and trying to consolidate where you can.

If you take the bait, chances are that you’ll need more than 10 project slots, and you’ll have to upgrade to guess what? Yep, the New “Plus” Plan with 50 project slots. There is currently no in-between.

Classic “Plus” Plan to New “Plus” Plan

Upgrading from Basecamp Classic to New Basecamp under the Classic “Plus” Plan would be beneficial because you’re gaining 5 project slots and some fancy new features for only $1 more per month.

All New Basecamp clients are signing up for the New Basecamp, so they don’t have a choice. Which leads me to believe that they’ll be forcing “Classic” Basecamp users to “New” Basecamp users pretty soon – even though they’re saying that they’ll continue to support “Classic” Basecamp users. No new features are planned for “Classic” Basecamp. 

“The majority of our design and development efforts moving forward will be focused on the all new Basecamp, but we’ll continue to support Classic as long as customers continue using it. We expect that to be for many many years.”

The above quote from 37 Signals means:

No, we won’t force you to upgrade, but we’ll slowly squeeze you until you feel forced to upgrade, because that’s where we want you to be anyways. Hence why they’ve been hyping their “Plus” plan as their most popular plan for the past 2 years. Being that “Plus” is more popular, most people will pay the $1.00 extra for the fancy features and 5 additional projects.

It’s not a new tactic – all software companies use it.

Make your decision wisely.

Did you catch the New Facebook Group Page Design Changes?
They flashed in and out for a second there!

You can hover over the banner and click on members’ faces…

The Facebook Group Details are more accessible under the new design.

I dig it.

Download the new ADBOWL® app today and vote on your favorite SuperBowl ads.

Remember, if your favorite ad doesn’t win, it’s not like it’s the end of the world. (Probably.)

Only the strong will survive the Adpocalypse!

Source: KnuckleHeads

Just got a new RSS Update from the Facebook Developer Blog. Seems like they’re rolling out the new changes that I’ve been seeing here and there.

And since I’m not at a place where I can load all of this…. Here’s the breakdown, courtesy of TechCrunch.

Source: TechCrunch

Facebook has partnered up with sixty different partners to add their “stories” to Facebook Timeline, apps that span different verticals from Food, Fashion to Travel. Already apps like Foodspotting, Foodily, Ticketmaster, Pinterest,Rotten Tomatoes, Pose, Kobo, Gogobot, and TripAdvisor have signed on to share their stories. “When we say anything we really mean anything,” Carl Sjogreen said as he took the stage and announced that verbs like “knitting,” “read” and “shared” are now a part of Timeline story options.
The apps are basically an expansion of stories apps like Spotify and the Washington Post app, and use verbs beyond “listen”, like “watching” and “reading” like “bought,””want” and love.
“What we tried to build with Timeline apps was that each app should pick the actions verbs and nouns that best defines their usecases,” says Facebook engineer Mike Vernal.

Per Vernal – Facebook won’t limit apps to which verbs the can use, and each app will have anywhere 2-10 verbs.