How Big is 10 Billion?

iTunes Apps Downloads to hit 10 Billion

The iTunes Store is about to hit a milestone in it’s history and in the history of the world.

Apple reached the 10 Billion download milestone with iTunes music downloads 7 years after it’s launch. The pace quickened with apps. Apps went from 2 billion downloads near the end of September ’09,  to 3 billion in January of last year. One year later we see that number jump to 10 Billion. There is no question the advances in the iPhone and more importantly the launch of the iPad in April 2010 was the major push toward 10 Billion number.

Ten Billion will soon be the total number of apps downloaded from the iTunes. So how big is 10,000,000,000 and who else has this as a milestone in their history? Ten Billion is a pretty big number. It is actually an enormous number. So how can we quantify 10 Billion.  These are some of the milestones that have happened in the recent past in regards to 10 Billion.

10 Billion Milestones

What it costs to keep U.S. Government documents a secret – $10,000,000,000

Government Documents

The amount of money that Bill and Melinda Gates donated for vaccinations in 2010 – $10,000,000,000

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave away $10,000,000,000

The population of people on the planet earth in the year 2050. – 10 Billion people

10 Billion people

The number of qubits it takes to build a basic but functional Quantum Computer – 10 Billion Qubits

10 Billion Qubits

1/3 the pieces of content posted each month on Facebook – 30 Billion images, links, videos, etc…

Facebook

Total Number of Tweets up to March 13, 2010 – 10,000,000,000 total tweets

The Number of YouTube views in 5 days – Ten Billion Views

A Bank Note Issued by the Zimbabwean Government issued in 2008 – (Talk about inflation. I found it  so cool that I ordered the 50 Trillion off of eBay)

How long before you or your company hits a ten billion milsetone?

How to Turn Your Logo into an Augmented Reality Marker (with Gimp)

What is an Augmented Reality Marker?

An Augmented Reality Marker is a black and white image that has a border and pattern inside. The marker is held up in front of a webcam which overlays (or augments) the live video with additional material. The augmented reality marker below is a good example of an augmented reality marker. It is for one of my favorite examples by GE called:

Plug Into the Smart Grid

GE Plug Into the Smart Grid Augmented Reality

You can see a list of other augmented reality markers (and even print a sheet of them to save paper) from my previous post.

Guidelines for creating an Augmented Reality Marker

  • Your marker needs to be a Square Box.
  • The marker should have a 40mm Square Border (this can be smaller as shown above but it will not be as accurate in the final example.  The thinner the border the harder it is to recognize).
  • The marker should be printed at a minimum of Two inches (2″).
  • Use a simple pattern inside the box. The more simple the better the augmented reality will work.
  • Everything else is creativity. (The most creative augmented reality marker I have seen is from www.VampirePowerSucks.com)

Step-by-Step Instructions for Making Your Logo into an Augmented Reality Marker using Gimp

  1. Create a new file. File >> New
  2. Set the width and height to 8.5 x 11 inches (612 x 792 pixels, or 215.9 x 279.4mm)
  3. Using the “Rectangle Select” tool [R] create a 4″ square in the middle of the page.
    – Hold the [SHIFT] key and start dragging from 2.75″ horizontally and 3″ on vertical axis.
    -Drag down to 6.75 and 7 respectively
  4. Use the “Bucket” [B] tool and fill the square with black
  5. Again using the “Rectangle Select” tool [R] create a 2″ square centered inside the original box.
  6. Hit the [DELETE] key
  7. Open your logo file in GIMP (Make sure that the logo is entirely black if not select it with the “Fuzzy Select Tool and then fill it with Black)
  8. Select your logo file and put it inside the border
  9. Type your URL at the top of the page so that people will remember where to go to see the augmented reality working.
  10. Save the file as a PDF. This is really not intuitive in GIMP. Instead of “Save As” you have to click “Print” and then select “Print to file”
  11. Post this to your website and you are done.

As Always Happy Flashing,

Curtis J. Morley

Augmented Reality Markers for Mobile

The entire purpose of this post is to have a place that I can find my favorite AR markers to use with my smart phone instead of printing them out. I was wasting a lot of paper on printing out these Augmented Reality Markers and thought, “I have to stop wasting the planet like this.”

Pull up this site on your computer and on your smart phone and you won’t have to waste another piece of paper on the sites below.
Doritos combined a music video and Augmented Reality to let you choose the way you want to watch Rihanna sing.

http://www.doritoslatenight.com/

Doritos Augmented Reality Marker

USPS let’s you size your package before you run down to the local post office.
https://www.prioritymail.com/simulator.asp

USPS Augmented Reality Marker Priority Mail

iGo Power strips that save you energy and money
http://www.VampirePowerSucks.com

GE Ecomagination Plug into the Smart Grid
http://ge.ecomagination.com/smartgrid/#/augmented_reality

GE Plug Into the Smart Grid Augmented Reality

The next one does not have a website but is for testing purposes while developing with the FlarToolkit StarterKit

The following augmented reality marker doesn’t have a website either. But may in the near future.

A Page full of Augmented Reality Markers

7 Tips to Get People to Read Your Blog

Everyone wants Google rank their blog high in searches. Another important key is to get people to read your blog repeatedly.  Here are 7 tips to writing effective blogs.

  1. Provide Value
    Don’t write just to write.  Have a purpose and give people what they are looking for.
  2. Be Consistent (Reliable)
    Write regularly. Keep to a schedule so people know when to come back.  Seth Godin is the master at this.  I find that the more I am consistent, the more people read my blog.  If I get to busy and break a schedule then my numbers in Google Analytics drop.  Schedule a time to write your blog every day or week, let your users know about that time, and then consistently post to your blog at that time.
  3. Keep It Short
    Don’t write a diatribe.  In today’s lightning fast world people want a quick peek at something of value.
  4. Answer a Specific Question
    Use Google to find what keywords are most popular.  One very easy way is to just start typing in the Google search box the term you want to focus on.  This field will auto-populate with the most popular terms.  See the screen-shot below.

    Search Engine Optimization Terms

    Search Engine Optimization Terms

  5. Get Creative in Your Titles
    One of the most attention getting headlines I saw recently was from an associate at work who wrote, “My Dog ate my Blog”.  Make it catchy, relate-able, and you can even use things like lists in your title. Something like “7 Tips to Get Humans to Read Your Blog”
  6. Stick To a Theme
    Become the expert in an area and write about that.  Do this for several months before changing topics. You may notice that my blog comes up for the search terms “Flash Errors”, “Flex Errors”, and “ActionScript Errors” as well as Marketing, photography, and technology.
  7. Let People Find Your Blog
    Follow the 7 Tips for Getting Google to Read Your Blog so that people actually can find the great stuff you have to write.

Thanks and Happy Blogging

Curtis J. Morley

7 Easy Steps to Get Google to Read Your Blog (Google Food)

Many people often ask how I get so high in the search rankings for terms like “Flash Errors”, “Flex Errors”, and “Actionscript Errors”.  I have been posting Flash and Flex errors for a while now and have steadily seen my traffic rise.  To answer the question on search engine optimization – here are the seven things I do with every blog post.

  1. Determine beforehand the one to three keywords I want Google to find.
    Before you type a single line, determine which keywords you will target with your post.  In other words, what do you want people to type into Google to find your blog post. Once the keywords are decided move on to step 2 for high SEO.
  2. Put at least one of the three keywords in the title.
    If you want great search engine optimization and Google to list you with a high ranking for the word “Leadership“, an appropriate title would be, “Leadership for the Next Century.“
  3. Make sure that WordPress is setup to create each new link as the title.(or whichever blog platform you use)
    In WordPress (the most common blogging tool which this site is using) Go to Settings >> Permalinks >> and choose either “Day and Name” or “Month and Name”. The URL is critical to search engines.
    If the link says www.myblog.com/Google-Food vs. www.myblog.com/?p=123  it will be Google Food and Google will eat it up.

    Wordpress Permalinks Make Google Food

    Wordpress Permalinks Make Google Food

    Making your links into Google Food

    Making your links into Google Food

  4. Caption all images with the keywords chosen.
    If your term is “Google Rankings” then insert an image that portrays how to get on the first page of Google and then give it a title and caption such as “Google Food” in it. Notice the caption of the image above.  The title reads nearly identical.
  5. Make sure that your Categories, Tags, Excerpt and Metadata are in line with your keyword terms.
    Include several variations of the keyword terms in the tags, categories, and excerpts.  For example – Leadership in Action, Corporate Leadership, Organizational Leadership, etc…
  6. Keep to a theme
    Give your blog a theme and keep things organized within that theme.  Don’t write about your dog one day, your favorite recipe the next and U.N. Diplomacy another day.  Make sure that you are consistent in what you post. It is OK to have a few related themes but no more.
  7. Post a link from at least three other blogs
    Do a Google search on the keywords that you are trying to target and start clicking.  Find a way to comment on each of the top sites in a meaningful way and make sure to include a link back to your blog. Search engine optimization includes more than just your site.  Google measures how many meaningful links there are to your blog.

Thanks and Happy blogging.

Curtis J. Morley

Millenials Pick Android

The Q3 results are in and it shows that the Android is becoming the phone of the Millenials. The Nielsen Company released the finding as part of it’s ongoing research into Smartphone adoption.

Study shows that Android operating system is most popular among Millenials

Millenials Choose Android

So the question is why is Android gaining more adoption among Millenials? Do any of these factors play into it.

Cheaper Prices
Faster Speed (4G up to 10x faster)
Choice of Carrier (AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, Etc…)
Choice of Hardware (HTC EVO 4G, Droid, DroidX, and over 15 more)
Customizable Interface (Homescreen interface, widgets, and more)
Cstomizable ROM (Make your phone be and do whatever you want. Not locked)
Better Camera (8+ mp on most current Androids)
Video Conferencing without need for a Wifi connection
Larger Screen (4.3-inch WVGA LCD)
8 person Wifi hotspot (Connect your laptop, ipad, and even iphone via wifi via android)
Streaming HD YouTube and other Video
Live TV
HDMI out
More Free apps than iPhone
Faster processors
Google Integration
Kick stand

and….

the ever controversial Flash enabled in the browser.

Let me know your thoughts. Why are Millenials buying Android?

Smartphone Market Share – Is Android the Phone of the Future.

Android and iPhone smartphone comparison

Android is leapfrogging iPhone

Nielsen just posted the results of another survey that show Android quickly eclipsing iPhone in adoption and smartphone market share

Android is growing while iPhone is stagnant

Android is growing while iPhone is stagnant

Are consumers deciding to adopt phones like the HTC Evo with a considerably better camera and 4G speeds that are up to 10x faster than the iPhone and AT&T? Are consumers wowed by the power of Android on the new DroidX? Do users want to see the other half (40%) of the web that is currently Adobe Flash content?

According to the smartphone market share study by Nielsen above, Android has shown a whopping 4-5% incremental growth/quarter beginning in Q4 of 2009 while Apple has only claimed 1% growth/quarter during the same time frame.

Android eclipses iPhone in recent study

Android eclipses iPhone in recent study

Are we having Deja-Vu of Steve Jobs taking on Microsoft?  Is Apple heading back to the same predicament they were in in the late 80’s.  Are Adobe and Google just to strong for the well branded fruit? Time will tell but, the consumers are making their voice heard with their wallets.  It will be interesting to see what the numbers will be the next quarter?

An article on Techcrunch stated sarcastically that it is “Shocking” that 20 models of the Android would outsell one iPhone. This is simply called market forces and the law of supply and demand. People want choices and Apple doesn’t offer that in phones or carriers.

P.S. This post was written on a Mac.

Stephen R. Covey iPhone App Special for my Readers.

April 13th only the “Great Work, Great Career” iPhone app is available for the price of $2.99.  It has been selling for $9.99 but to help with the downturn in the economy FranklinCovey is offering the iPhone app for this special price today only.

The app is fantastic and it really should be 5 apps sold seperately.The application helps you find a job if you are looking and helps you keep your job and make a difference at your company if you are employed. Get the FranklinCovey iPhone app.

Here are some screen shots.

Great Work, Great Career Great iPhone App

Great Work, Great Career, Great iPhone App

You can ask Stephen R. Covey or Jennifer Colosimo questions about getting and  keeping a job directly through the app.

The app comes loaded with videos from Stephen R. Covey and Jennifer Colosimo

One of my favorite features of the app is the Strengths finder.  It helps you make a difference for you company by laying out your strengths and helping you tap into them more.

Find out what your true strengths are and how to best use them.

Find out what your true strengths are and how to best use them.

The “Resource Finder” is where you go if need to get a job.

Find the right job for you with the Resource Finder

Find the right job and get the skills you need with the Resource Finder

Once you have a job and know your strengths then use the app to set out to make a difference with your “Contribution Statement”

Don't just work - Contribute!

Don't Just Work - Contribute!

Another awesome part of the app is creating a “Village” where you have instant access using your own contacts to in a way you may never have thought of before.

Who is in Your Village?

Who is in Your Village?

Get the Great Work, Great Career iPhone app today.