Better and Better
I am amazed by the continued development of Apple’s iPhone capabilities. I bought my first one a year or so ago because of its intuitive nature and large number of uses. They continue to issue updates which I download via iTunes, and each time it gets better. I held off getting the 3G, thinking I didn’t need the increased speed or GPS, but once I got it I was blown away by the improvements.

More and More
Then came the Applications. In January, just a couple of short months ago, Jerry Kohl asked me if I have some cool applications on my iPhone. I didn’t even know they existed. Now I have more than 20 of them; most of which I find myself using a lot. Many are free, others cost as little as 99 cents, and I haven’t paid more than $4 for any of them. With a touch of my finger I can find restauraunts, movies, stores or just about anything else around where I happen to be. The iPhone will listen to music and tell me what the tune is and all about the artist. With Pandora I can tell it which musicians I like and it will search the world finding radio stations playing their songs and send them through my ear buds endlessly. Excercising has never been so easy. I can locate recipes and books. iTalk turns my iphone into a recorder and allows me to label and then save and or e-mail what I have recorded. There is a MobileFiles application that synchs and sends selected files from my computer to the iPhone. And if I ever need a laugh there’s iFart. That’s one you need to hear to appreciate.

Twitter Tie In
Just yesterday I downloaded TwitterFon which lets me (or you) make live Twitter posts on the move, and even attach photographs stored in the iPhone, or take a picture with the iPhone and  and attach either of them.

Multiply This X $400 to $500
Apple sold 13.7 million iPhones in 2008, and they are not finished yet. This article just published yesterday announces the new iPhone 3.0 which will allow you to sell or buy goods and services via the iPhone. What can be next?

Are You Twittering Yet?
When I got e-mail (Friday) suggesting that I get a Twitter account, my reply was rather sarcastic. I said something like, “First there was MySpace, then Facebook, then LinkedIn. I did them all; why I don’t know. In addition I have my website, my calendar, my Blog and my Daily Motivator to stay on top of. And then there’s the business to run.” Well, being the curious person that I am, I checked it out, and now I have a Twitter account with a rapidly growing list of people finding and “following” me.
This one is different, and as I spend more and more time understanding how to use it I am seeing some real benefits. First is that you do not have to post anything at all, you can just “follow people” that you have interest in. My favorite one already is the Honolulu Advertiser. Any time that anything happens they “Twitter it” long before it appears anywhere else. Restaurants can post menu specials, artists post art shows, retailers release new products, movie theatres movie times, all in real time. The list is endless. My current Twitter update says simply, “Working on new Blog post.” Maybe someone will tune in to read this before getting my Daily Motivator in the morning. In a few moments it will say, “Blog finished, working on Monday Motivator.” That one you will have to wait to see. C’mon; follow me!

Now More Dynamic Than Ever

“A quotation at the right moment is like bread in a famine.”
-Talmud

I have been inspired by memorable quotes as long as I can remember, even when I don’t know who the author was, like Talmud. I have been collecting quotes that I find inspiring and motivational for many years. I started sending a daily quotation to “My Favorite People” shortly after learning to use the computer. I love how wisdom aquired over the years can be imparted in a few short words. 

“A proverb is a short sentence based on long experience.”
-Miguel de Cervantes

In time I began adding other motivational stories and links to my daily e-mail, figuring that as long as I was sending it out, I might as well make it as valuable as possible to my readers. Without realizing it, this was slowly becoming a larger and larger daily task of love. My list of Favorite People had grown to the point where it was being seen as Spam by some e-mail systems.

Oh No!
Eventually my own e-mail server accused me of Spamming and shut down my outgoing e-mail. I was ready to stop sending out the e-mail quotes; after all there was no money in it; nothing for me but work and aggravation. But, as is the case with many things, the problem led to the solution and I discovered Constant Contact. With Constant Contact I could create my message and send to as many people as I want, more professionally without the Spam threats. Furthermore Constant Contact provided me with the opportunity to let people “Opt-In” to the list directly from the front page of my website without me having to add them into my address book and onto my quote list.
If you are reading this blog, but not yet getting my Daily Motivator, just CLICK HERE and sign up. It’s free, confidential and you can “Opt-Out” just as easily any time you choose to.

Borders; Kahala Mall
As soon as I read about the upcoming release of former Governor Ben Cayatano’s book; BEN, I sent Ben e-mail asking where I can get a signed copy. He kindly responded (the same day) that they would be available in mid February. When I read that the first signing would be at Borders in Kahala Mall, I put it on my calendar and got there early.

Real Early
I sensed that there would be a crowd to hear what Ben had to say, and I wanted to be in the front row. I bought my leather bound edition, which wasn’t even there yet, grabbed a seat up front, and began browsing through one of the many paperback copies on display. While still Governor, Ben invited me on more than one occassion to sit in on a meeting at the state capital. I was honored to do that, and even more honored when he said, “Call me Ben.”

Packed House
Within minutes after my arrival the bookstore seating area was overflowing with fans and interested parties there to get a copy of BEN.

Street Kid Becomes Governor
Before the signing line formed, Ben talked about some of what is in the book, sharing with us that he was born and raised in the blue collar community of Kalihi, graduated from Farrington High school in 1958, studied hard to get a law degree, and on November 8, 1994 became the first Filipino-American governor in United States.

Call me Ron
When Ben was signing my book I said, “Call me Ron.” He had actually called me by name during his talk, and I’m sure that he dosn’t recall the day, when as Governor he told me to call him Ben. I’m sure that meant more to me than it could have to him.

First Lady Vicky Cayetano
In 1997 Miss Vicky Tiu bacame Mrs. Vicky Cayetano and the 1st Lady for the state of Hawaii. Vicky was the long time president and chief executive officer of United Laundry Services, Inc. In the 60’s Vicky played a major supporting role opposite Elvis Presley in the musical film “It Happened at the World’s Fair.” On my way out I was able to see Vicky Cayatano too. All of this made for a great Saturday Morning.

550 Pages
This part will most likely last many more Saturday mornings; and then some. I am loving it already!
Mahalo Ben.

Diplomacy Is Sometimes the Better Part of Valor
CBS News reported today that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has officially asked for an interview with President Barack Obama as a direct response to Mr. Obama’s call for opportunities to engage.
It’s hard to predict where “talking” might lead to at times, but not talking surely leads to nowhere.

Make That Presentation
The same is true when prospecting for new business. It’s easy to “ass-u-me” that a presentation will not go anywhere, and thus no need to make it. That attitude becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. As Wayne Gretzky once said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Take the shot! 

Rhythm in the White House?
Regardless of your political affiliation, if you didn’t feel the glow today, check your pulse. I began to count how many innaugurations I have lived through and stopped at “too many.” But, this is the first time I felt magnitized to the TV set, and surely the first time I had tears of joy running down my cheeks.
It’s not so much what I think Obama will do as President that moved me as it is what this magnanimous event is doing for America. We are all growing weary of the doom and gloom messages on the front pages of our newspapers. It was extremely uplifting to see so many people, more than ever before, take an interest in our new leader. The country has been inspired before he even lifts a finger as President.
People follow leaders. It’s encouraging to have one with a positive vision.

Go To: whitehouse.gov
And there’s already a new White House Web Site for us all to stay tuned in to what’s happening at our nation’s capital. Read about it on CNN HERE, and see the site HERE.

Can I Be Your Friend?
Creatures in the animal kingdom, including humans all have ways to get aquanited and develop relationships. Some are more discreet and effective than others. Perhaps the most complicated are the ones that we human beings use.

Can I buy you a drink?
Back in what I affectionately refer to as “the good old days” people had to go out to bars and parties to meet others. Many times a lot of money and time was spent with nothing to show for it but a headache (or worse) in the morning.

Then Came the Computer
It is now possible for even the shyest of people to reach out and meet someone. Dating sites like eHarmony.com, Match.com, Computer Dating USA and countless others allow singles to meet without going through the hassles previously required. Next came the free social networking site My Space.com

My Space Success
Our son Gilbert met his lovely bride Ashley on My Space while he was deployed in Iraq and she at nursing school here in Hawaii. Their relationship was well underway before his first leave home when they met in person. There’s no other way that this could have happened.

That Led to “Sweet Sammy”
Yesterday (New Year’s Day) was Samantha’s third birthday. No way could that have happened long distance on the Internet. Another big My Space success was the site formed by Barack Obama where he changed politics and raised more money than any candidate in history, all by way of social networking.

What to Do?
Today Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter seem to be heading the field of hundreds of social networks sites available. The big question is, “Are they valuable or a waste of good time?” Like many others out there, I have been drawn in to a few of these and everyday I am finding more and more time being spent at the computer, but have yet to figure out how to get this stuff to pay off. Is this something I should be suggesting to my clients as a way to find more business? If so, which one is best? From what I have seen so far, at least for business, LinkedIn seems to have the most potential. I am certain that these would be a great source of occupation when retired, but I am not quite there yet, however I don’t want to be left behind as this technology evolves. What to Do?

You’ve Come a Long Way Baby
The headlines in today’s Honolulu Advertiser announced:
“Hawaiian Telcom Files For Bankruptcy”

“One Ringy Dingy…”
I’m sure that I date myself when recalling the days that Lily Tomlin portrayed that hard core woman working at the Phone Company who had full control over your communication. Deregulation changed everything. As a monopoly, the one and only Phone Company thrived. But when things became competitive we saw numerous phone companies now in competition with one another. The Carlyle Group in Washington D.C. acquired Hawaiian Telcom in 2005 from Verizon Communications Inc. They did it with borrowed money, and have now chosen to file for Chapter 11 protection rather than pay the bill.

“Hi Mom”
The once powerful Phone Company has taken hard hits from its own offspring; the cell phone. Along with free enterprise comes competition, and there’s few industries more cometitive today than cell phone companies. Innovation is on the fast track and I don’t see how the old phone companies will ever be able to keep up. I see more and more people opting to use cell phones as their principle at home phone, and then there’s Skype, where you can talk free over your computer. I haven’t paid for a long distance call since getting it. Watching this all play out is going to be very interesting.

Scareware Interview at Uraku
I got a call this week from Jim Mendoza of KGMB News asking if he could interview me about the recent scareware attack I had experienced.  I’m always up for any sort of publicity, so I said, “Sure, come on over.”

This is what happened:
I was searching through various images on the Internet looking for photos to use in my Blog, when suddenly I got a pop up telling me that I had a virus, and could remove the threat by clicking on the “Yes” button. When I did that, strange things started happening right away. It said that my existing virus protection could not handle it, and asked me to purchase new software. By now I was suspicious, and didn’t do that, but it was already too late.
The pop ups kept appearing and I couldn’t get rid of them no matter what I did, so I shut down. But, when I restarted, it was still a mess. It was late at night, but I called a good friend (a night owl) who is a computer whiz. He went to my PC from his computer and installed a new free spyware, ran it a couple of times, and cleared things up (I thought).

Chief Geek
The next morning I coincidentally received Jim Kerr’s SuperGeeks newsletter with this warning:

* You’re using your computer, minding your own business, when suddenly an alert pops up on your screen.
* The alert says there’s a virus on your computer and urgently requests you to take action.
* You click ‘OK’ or ‘Yes’ or whatever seems like the right thing to do and then you’re prompted to purchase the software to remove the virus.
* Wanting to take care of the problem, you pay for it and download the ’software.’
* The end.

That Wasn’t the End
The next morning the pop ups started coming again. I contacted Jim about his newsletter story and he sent “Geek Max” over to my house to fix it completely. My computer was full of Trojan viruses and other spyware software that the scareware had installed. In the process it had uninstalled my other virus protection. Max installed Avast, ran a scan and I am back in business.

I Wasn’t Alone
When I showed Jim and his cameraman what happened he said that the KGMB computer is at Supergeeks being treated for exactly the same thing. We sat down and talked about what happened, and the story appeared on the evening news. If you missed it, just CLICK HERE. It’s safe, I promise.

Busy, but…
I stopped in at the new Ala Moana Brighton Collectibles today and found them to be busy as usual. I normally won’t interupt that, but today I was a real customer, not just an observer.

She Just Had To Have It, but…
You see, while in the store a few days ago one of “Jerry’s Angels” showed Masae this new bag and she loved it. She didn’t want to use up what she had left of her “Brighton credits,” so she passed. But, she hasn’t stopped talking about it. So today I chose to buy her one of those “No Special Occassion Gifts.”

Ring It Up
Store manager DeAnne Imamura agreed to help me with the “surprise” by taking my ctedit card, ringing it up, and then holding it in the store until Masae sees this Blog post and then goes to get it.
You see, I am trying to condition her to pay close attention to this Blog. We’ll see how long it takes.