Some great items for back-to-school that come in under $100 include (From BestBuy):

• Sony wireless headphone for the transit rider ($99.00)

Sony’s Walkman Wearable MP3 player fuses headphones with a 2GB MP3 player into one sleek device that’s perfect for cruisin’ on the bus or skytrain or riding the new Canada Line. Its lightweight design and exceptional sound quality is perfect for walking or riding to and from school or campus. Listening to the latest tunes will help pass the time. A bonus for the busy student is the quick-charge charger which gives a 90-minute charge in just 3 minutes!

• Motorola Bluetooth Headset ($49.99)

The ideal blend of clarity and comfort for conversations on the go. Whether you’re racing across campus or riding the 99 B-line, the H560 automatically reduces background noise and adjusts volume, improving call clarity on both sides of the conversation. TrueComfort design helps ensure a snug and secure fit. Life on the go just took a major step forward.

• Olympus FE-25 Digital Camera – $99.99

If you’re a first-time photographer, the Olympus FE-25 is a no-fuss camera. With 10MP and 3x optical zoom, face detection and 16 different shooting modes, which optimize the camera’s settings for just about any situation.

• SimpleTech SimpleDrive 500GB 3.5″ External Hard Drive – $94.99

A high-performance external hard drive that gives you 500GB of storage capacity for all your essays and project backups with loads of room leftover to include music, videos, photos and more. You can never be too careful backing up your school works.

Kensington PocketMouse Mini Wireless Mouse – $29.99
A mini wireless mouse can make classroom life so much easier

Duracell Capless 8GB USB Flash Drive – $39.99 These inexpensive flash drives are great for just about anything. Back up school work, share music, movies and photos.

Flip Ultra HD – http://ca.theflip.com/products_flip_ultra.shtml#scene=sceneUltraHD ($250) camcorder – 2 hours of HD recording, great for taping a lecture. All you need is a Flip camera and a little tripod (ie. GorillaPod http://joby.com/gorillapod/ )
- the Flip Ultra comes with rechargeable battery and HDMI output so you can playback your recordings straight onto a HD TV!
- the Flip can also be a webcam for your laptop. Just attach it via USB to your computer, set it as your video recording source and start broadcasting live over the internet!

Netbooks

If you’re looking for a cheap laptop for the school year and don’t require all the features and high-power performances of a full computer, then consider purchasing a Netbook. These small, low-cost, low-power systems have become very popular over the past year and here are some of my suggestions.

The Basics: Intel Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 16GB or larger SSD drive, and Windows XP, wifi and/or Bluetooth as a preferred option for tethering a smart phone for mobile broadband access.

Extras: SD card reader slots, extra USB ports, expansion slots for ExpressCards, onboard stereo speakers, touch screen.

Top choices:
HP Mini 5101 – http://www.hp.com/united-states/campaigns/mini1000/index.html#/XPPhotoGallery/ ($529cdn) excellent keyboard and touch pad; sturdy and durable; includes accelerometer. 160GB SSD, 10.1″ display, 802.11n wifi, Bluetooth, Windows Vista Home edition.

Asus Eee PC – http://eeepc.asus.com/ca/products.html?n=0 ($450cdn) longer battery life (6.5 hours), 160GB HDD, 10.1″ display, 802.11n wifi, bluetooth, Windows XP Home, SRS Premium Sound speakers (5.1 surround sound).

Acer Aspire One - http://www.acer.com/aspireone/aspireone_8_9/ ($399cdn) lower price, 10.1″ 160GB HDD, Windows XP Home, 802.11g wifi, bluetooth. The Aspire One has a slower processor and weaker battery life (3 hours).

Special:
Asus Eee PC T91 – http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?modelmenu=1&model=2851&l1=24&l2=164&l3=0&l4=0 ($599) incorporates a touch screen which can transform into a tablet. 8.9″ display, up to 5 hours battery life, 802.11n wifi, Bluetooth, Windows XP Home. The computer only has 16GB SSD, with expandable 16GB SD. Also has a slower processor than the new Netbooks.

Key Point in Choosing a Laptop for Back to School

Information sourced from; reviews.cnet.com, www.notebookreview.com, and www.futureshop.ca.

Students may want various features when looking for a new laptop. These may include:

• Wi-Fi & Bluetooth capabilities
• Preferred OS platform
• Speed and performance while running office productivity and content creation application
• Display and screen quality
• Hardware and multimedia features
• Speakers
• Battery life
• Weight and Portability
• Price
• Tech Support

http://laptops.toshiba.com/laptops/satellite/E105

Toshiba E105-S1602

Specifications:

Price                                 $799.99

Processor:                         Intel Core 2 Duo (2 GHz)

RAM installed:                   4 GB DDR2 SDRAM

Hard drive                          size: 500 GB

The good:

Sturdy construction and pleasing overall design; comfortable keyboard and touch pad; backlit keys; lengthy battery life without bulky battery; a twice-as-nice two-year warranty.

The bad:

Uses integrated graphics while other laptops at this price feature dedicated graphics; poor speakers, even for integrated standards.

The bottom line:

Toshiba improves on last year’s excellent Best Buy Blue Label laptop by slashing the price while serving up a nearly identical machine. Long battery life, a lengthy warranty, and a backlit keyboard highlight Toshiba’s winning Satellite E105-S1602.

Was given a rating of 3.5 / 5 stars (Cnet.com)

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/en/ho/WF06b/321957-321957-3329744-64354-64354-3945119-3983196.html

HP Pavilion DV3-2100

Price                                 $729.99

Processor                          Intel Core 2 Duo (2.1 GHz) ;

RAM installed:                   4 GB DDR2 SDRAM ;

Hard drive                          size: 500 GB ;

The good

Nearly day-long battery life; compact design; includes small Media Center remote control; imprint finish helps it stand out from the laptop crowd.

The Bad

Massive nine-cell battery is awkward and uncomfortable; lacks 802.11n Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet; glossy touch pad is uncomfortable.

The bottom line: Its massive battery extends awkwardly from the bottom of the laptop, but the HP Pavilion dv3-2155mx is an otherwise compact thin-and-light laptop that should get students to class and back on a single charge

The HP Pavilion dv3-2155mx comes with a 13.3 “ screen with movie and HD friendly 16:9 aspect ratio. It also sports a large nine-cell battery. It’s not much lighter than 14” models.

The nine-cell battery juts out of the bottom of the laptop by 0.75 inch, and its rounded shape makes a convenient handle when carrying about the laptop with the lid closed. However, the battery doesn’t run the whole length (only about three-quarters) of the laptop, so when the laptop is resting on your thighs, it lists to the right.

Rated 3 ½ / 5 stars (CNet)

http://www1.ca.dell.com/ca/en/home/Laptops/laptop-studio-1555/pd.aspx?refid=laptop-studio-1555&s=dhs&cs=cadhs1

Dell Studio

Specifications:

Price                                 $799.00 (Dell Canada)

Processor:                         Intel Core 2 Duo (2.53 GHz) ;

RAM installed:                   8GB DDR2 SDRAM ;

Hard drive size:                 320 GB

Weight                              5.3lbs

The good: Compact, lightweight design; great battery life; full version of Microsoft Office and 15 months of Norton Internet Security; wonderfully roomy keyboard; GeForce graphics provide some 3D power; decent audio output from integrated speakers; useful selection of ports.

The bad: No optical drive.

The bottom line: The Dell Studio S1440-022B has a ton of features and a slick design that should make it a frontrunner for any student doing their back-to-school shopping. Just one thing, you’d have to give up on a DVD burner.

The display measures 14.1 inches and features an extra-wide 16:9 aspect ratio that matches that of movies and HD video. It also features a glossy coating to create a fine balance of enhancing the view of movies and games, while keeping glare and reflections to a minimum.

Rated 4/5 stars (CNet)

Mac Laptops – If you’re a college student or a faculty or staff member at any grade level and you buy a new Mac through September 8, you can get a rebate coupon for a free iPod touch
Prices have really come down – and have special student prices.

Student Prices:   13″ MacBook $1099 -  2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor – 2GB memory – 160GB 5400-rpm hard drive – NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor                                      13″ MacBook Pro $1299, 2.26GHz, 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB or 4GB memory, 160GB or 250GB 5400-rpm hard drive, NVIDIA 9400M graphics                           13″ MacBook Air $1629, 1.86GHz, 2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor,2GB memory,120GB 4200-rpm hard drive or 128GB solid-state drive NVIDIA 9400M

Cell Phones
iPhone – students thinking of tethering their phone to their computer to have internet access anywhere (Beware the DATA plan charges)
Rogers is still the only carrier of the iPhone

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Summer is often about fixing things around the apartment, house, or cottage.

Here are some great sites to help you learn how to do just about anything.

http://www.wikihow.com/Cool-Yourself-Without-Air-Conditioning
You can participate and actually edit the Wiki entries

“One tried and true method is to wet your wrists and other pulse points with cold water, and then keep those spots cool by holding an ice cube wrapped in a face cloth against them. The relief is immediate, and this method will cool down the entire body—by as much as three degrees Fahrenheit—for upwards of an hour.”

http://answers.yahoo.com/ – lots of great information

You can read articles at places like http://www.howtodothings.com/

Find out :

* how to treat a mosquito bite
* how to block your cell phone number
* how to sew on a button

http://www.about.com/
http://www.ihowd.com/

are also good places for how-to articles

Or, if you learn better through videos – there are lots of choices.

http://www.5min.com/

- videos that will show you how to do almost anything in 5 minutes or less

* learn to restring a guitar
* make your own mosquito repellant
* money management tips

There are categories on the left hand side for everything from Arts, Business and Fashion to Sports and Video Games

You can even upload your own videos – what are you an expert at?

http://www.howcast.com/ – more obscure/cheekie how-tos – like how to use twitter, dating tips, there’s even a contest where you can win $ for sending in your own videos.

lifehacker.com is for the tech geeks in your life – here you’ll find all sorts of amazing information about the latest and greatest gadget hacks
howstuffworks.com – is a great resource for adults and kids alike.

For Home Improvement – check out
http://www.doityourself.com/
http://www.hometime.com/home.html

And don’t forget the most popular video site – Youtube – just type in your subject of choice

E.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsQIoPyfQzM – how to solve a rubik’s cube

You can even get parenting tips – like to how to get your kids to love reading at http://www.tipz.com/
There’s even how-to for your blackberry http://na.blackberry.com/eng/support/blackberry101/

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As far as I, and ReadWriteWeb as well, are concerned it’s Canada’s Globe & Mail that has the best social media strategy:

We would love to see Preston fill a role similar to what Mathew Ingram does at the Toronto Globe and Mail, Canada’s largest daily paper. Ingram’s position is “Communities Editor” but he interfaces with social media activities both on and off of the paper’s site. In a recent interview we did with Ingram he explained that “The transition from one-way to two-way media is not something that newspapers are used to doing. It’s a big change.”
Social media at newspapers doesn’t have to be about promotion or damage control, it’s also a real resource. “One thing I want to encourage more is writers responding to comments and using comments as a resource,” Ingram says. “That’s commenting 2.0, I think…One of the biggest things we need to do is identify and encourage members of the community who are thoughtful, intelligent, and produce comments of value — encouraging them to contribute more, elevating what they do and suppressing some of the noise.”

link: NYTimes Appoints First Social Media Editor

I chafe at seeing “social media” pulled out as separate from “other media”, social media is comprised of a set of tools that help people communicate, share information, and connect. These aren’t new activities by any means, we’re just able to do it all faster now.

What all forms of media just need to realize is that they just need to learn about the tools, see how they fit into their niche, and apply them.

This isn’t rocket science or something that requires secret incantations to make work. It takes work to make it work. It means sitting down with people who know how to leverage the various social media tools in different scenarios and being open to applying them.

Just as your business will not be saved or magically transformed the moment you start blogging, nor will it become an instant sensation on Twitter or Facebook the moment you sign in there either.

Appointing a Chief Social Media Officer or Social Media Editor, belies the fact we all need to adopt and learn social media tools and tactics in our day-to-day work. We don’t get a pass with a C-level person at the helm, we get a personal challenge to step up to the plate and do it.

Do you think your company needs a specific person in charge of social media or a base level of understanding and expanded savvy/skill set in social media?

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But, on to the big news – Google announced their latest innovation – Wave – today. Techcrunch has a great write up on it. If it’s half as good as they say it is – I can’t wait. It sounds like it’ll be taking the best of the Instant Messaging and Email worlds and enhances them with an interesting interface. Can’t wait.

And with Bing – Microsoft is trying to get back in the search game. There is lots of room to improve in the search world – so, I wouldn’t count them out yet.

Enjoy your day.

P

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It’s great when you see that one of your professional passions starts gaining ground in the mainstream. It is so much easier to explain what you do when most folks have heard of it.

Yes, I know that people say when a technology gets popular, it’s ruined, but let’s hope this isn’t going to be the case. Social Media is really starting to come into its own now as a marketing tool. Yes, I know business blogging has been around for a while (like 2005 qualifies as “a while”), but I think Social Media is the teenaged version (can’t say grown up or mature) of business blogging.

Tonight you have one of those great opportunities to learn about how to use Social Media for marketing and not come off as an idiot or spammer. In fact you get to learn from a panel of comprised of three of my friends: Shane Gibson, Raul Pacheco, and JP Holecka:

HOW TO PROFIT FROM SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Practical advice on expanding your network and increasing sales through social media marketing

[From HOW TO PROFIT FROM SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING - Eventbrite]

What’s my role in all this? Well I did say I was blogging the panel. I will be live blogging and doing it here on the M2O blog.

You might wonder about this. The panel tonight isn’t free, so why should you pay for it? We talked about this very thing on Thursday planning the panel. I was asked to live blog by Marc and worried that I was giving something away for free that maybe shouldn’t be. The consensus was that there is more value to being at the panel than you can read in my live blog. Which is very true. I’m going to miss things (even though I do type pretty fast, faster when well caffeinated) and you will miss the give and take between the panelists and the audience. There is value in networking with people and value in the things that people get for being there (handouts, extra info, door prizes).

Okay, then why live blog at all? For those who can’t make it, you can ask questions and I’ll relay them to the panel. If you’re at the session and want to re-read something, it will al be there for you. Finally, I’m the “fourth panelist”, I’m not going to be on stage (lord I hope not), I’m going to write about what is going on, but I’m also going to put my two cents in as well. I’ll throw in my commentary and thoughts as I go. So really, if you want the complete experience you need to go to the session (there is still time and room!) and read my live blog afterward.

I know this is going to be an entertaining night. It’s a given you’re going to learn something, I’m just going to make sure that everyone have fun doing it. So if that means I have to heckle the guys via Twitter, so be it.

See you there!

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Oh, can’t make it in person? No problem, M2O has you covered because we’re livestreaming the whole thing via Adobe Connect (in partnership with BCIT):

You are invited to attend the Masters of Digital Media (MDM) Program Open House on March 19th hosted by the Centre for Digital Media (CDM) at the Great Northern Way Campus. This is the final Open House before the March 31st application deadline. It is an event not to be missed for students with a passion for digital media and considering graduate school.

Come mix and mingle with current faculty, students and soon-to-be graduates at the Open House. There will be samples of student work, facility tours and informaiton about the program, scholarships and program admission requirements.

Event Details:

Date: Thursday, March 19th

Time: 6:00 – 7:30pm Pacific Standard Time (sign-in begins @ 5:30pm)

Registration is required.

Can’t make it in person? Join us for this event Live Online!

[From Masters of Digital Media Program Open House | Masters of Digital Media Program at the Centre for Digital Media]

If you want to attend in person or virtually, you need to register for the event (there is still time) and if that isn’t cool enough Joanna Robinson, Research Assoc. Virtual Worlds, is going to stream it into Second Life as well (fitting as William Gibson’s birthday was Tuesday).

For the past two months M2O and BCIT have been doing virtual seminars to small businesses throughout the province using the same platform and technology. We’re making this huge province a little smaller using some great technology. Imagine you’re in Kelowna or Prince George and you’d like to listen to the best and the brightest in business, entrepreneurship, technology, or social media. Yes, you could come to Vancouver or Victoria for a conference or meeting or invite a speaker to you, but that isn’t very cost effective.

The solution we’ve found is pretty elegant. We patch our standard setup for taping Connected Life episodes and rig it to pass into a dedicated machine which pumps it into Adobe Connect. Because we’re using our regular recording set up, this isn’t webcam quality picture or sound, this is the real deal. Two cameras, live switching between close and wide, audio piped right into the stream from real mics.

This would be cool enough, but we push to the next level by also recording to DV tape so we can reproduce the talk in nearly any format we wish.

It’s a slick setup that we’ve now made mobile, so this is just the beginning.

Watch tonight and see what it’s like.

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They’ve got a lot of really interesting lectures coming up. Tomorrow’s session is called: “Selling in an Economic Downturn” – something I’m sure we’d all like to know the secret to. If we learn any secrets -  we’ll be sure to pass them along.

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I’m anxious to hear what they all have to say about the changing digital landscape. Still, the keynote I’m most looking forward to is: “How Social Media and Social Networking are turning sales and marketing upside-down” – featuring Shane Gibson and Stephen Jagger.

We’ll have a booth at the show, so be sure to come by and say hi. And we’ll also be giving away some tickets – so check back in over the next couple of weeks.

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