Monthly Archives: August 2009

Pageonce has created a personal assistant service over the past year or so, and I’ve enjoyed watching it evolve into a comprehensive and inclusive way in which to manage one’s life. One of the areas in which Pageonce has been able to extend its growth is the mobile arena, which is key for Pageonce’s long term success as our cell phones become more central and are able to touch nearly every aspect of our personal and professional lives.

A new mobile application from Pageonce brings the Mobile Minutes Tracker to the BlackBerry, giving users instant access to their cell phone usage, supporting all major mobile networks from Verizon to Alltel. The BlackBerry version of the Mobile Minutes Tracker comes shortly after the release of the iPhone version.

View your current minute balance in a handy graph format that conveys your usage and monthly position in a strong visual manner. Check on rollover minutes, data plan balances, SMS usage, bill details, previous payment history and overcharge protection alerts.

Need more? Premium benefits include support for family mobile plans, email alerts for when a bill is due, email alerts for exceeding usage limits, password protection and an ad-free mobile app environment.

And yes, you can also make payments to your cell phone plan directly from this app. Such mobile payment options make it a great deal easier to manage the details of your life, as so many of your accounts can be centralized through PageOnce. With PageOnce’s web-based product launch there were similar payment options, so I’m glad to see this aspect of the service was able to carry over into the mobile app.

I really wish that more of the premium options could be included in the free version, with even more personalized recommendations and services being offered in their places. Deep calendar integration, customizable reporting and other features that could be utilized by the avid individual mobile user or business users could also be helpful. This kind of high-level research and reporting is also a portion of what PageOnce will ultimately be able to provide to users and businesses alike.

What I find interesting about PageOnce’s ongoing strategy is the implementation of mobile apps that start to break up many of the centralized services PageOnce offers as part of its virtual personal assistant tool. In attacking the mobile market in this way, PageOnce’s mobile apps take on an a la cart tactic that could truly extend PageOnce’s current growth efforts. What’s largely beneficial for this tactic is the fact that it encompasses cross-device support and an air of accessibility that enables PageOnce to become an actual virtual assistant in its own right.

We recently expanded our coverage to include all things bubblicious and I’m lucky enough to be the one to share some of my beauty insights with all of you. And don’t worry, I’m qualified and have a pantry of products to prove it.

Anyway, I love that game where you ask people what three things they would take if they were stranded on a deserted island, so today I’m doing that with beauty products. Suspend disbelief for the remainder of this post and imagine you already have necessities like food, water, your iPhone, and hot guys to impress.

Sugar Lip Treatment by Fresh:

I find it hard to justify spending $22.50 on chapstick, so I always keep this one on my wish lists for holidays. The Sugar lip treatment glides on like butter (without the calories) and gives a slight sheen while also protecting your lips with SPF 15. I use it alone or under colored lip gloss.

Eyeshadow Primer Potion by Urban Decay:

Just a swipe of this wand before applying eye makeup and it saves you from the horror that is the mid-day eyeshadow crease. Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. At a reasonable price of just $17 this is a must-have for everyday use. (A little goes a long way.) It also comes in a gold shimmer color, but after having tried both, I would stick with the original to avoid looking like Beyonce in Austin Powers. And I realize it doesn’t make much sense to have an eyeshadow primer if I don’t bring any eyeshadow to said island, but that should just tell you awesome it is.

Best of Skintentions Daily Moisturizer by Bliss:

I’ve always steered clear of Bliss products since they’re a bit pricey, but Sephora snuck a sample of this moisturizer in my bag recently and now I’m hooked. This light, daily moisturizer has SPF 15, illuminating phytonutrients and is formulated without parabens, sulfates or synthetic dyes. It has a great resume, but really what got me hooked was the smell – very fresh with a hint of citrus. Perfect combo for any deserted island.

Now comment on what your top picks would be, so I’m not missing out on anything!

Creative Commons announced today that Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his wife, Ann Wojcicki of 23andme, have donated half a million dollars to the non-profit. Creative Commons focuses on expanding and improving copyright and licensing in the digital era. The money will go to help Creative Commons as a whole, but will have a special focus on Science Commons, an initiative that focuses on lifting legal and technical barriers on research. The Creative Commons blog states that

Today’s challenging economic climate has made it difficult for nonprofit organizations like Creative Commons to raise funds, making Wojcicki and Brin’s wonderful gift all the more appreciated. CC is busier than ever – we’re working with artists, scientists, educators, students, programmers, entrepreneurs, companies, universities, governments, and cultural institutions around the world to increase sharing and improve collaboration in ways that benefit all parts of society. As a nonprofit, we simply couldn’t do this work without the generous support of people like Wojcicki and Brin, as well as the other private donors, foundations, and corporations that enable Creative Commons to operate.

This private donation is in addition to the support Creative Commons receives from Google.

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Cheers!

Tweet Michelle @writetechnology, send her technology news at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, visit her wine blog when you’re thirsty, and drop by her day job.

My girlfriend and I were chatting last weekend about her kids and the upcoming school year. However delighted she was at the thought of the house to herself, her daydreams of silence were soon taken over by her list of back to school shopping ‘To-Dos’.. food, clothed, shoes, binders, notebooks, pencils.. on and on. We tried to creatively brainstorm some clothes she could reuse, just take out the hem here and there, but when her sons heard that, one entering second grade and the other going into kindergarten, they were HORRIFIED and quickly shouted/whiles, “Moooommmmmm….. NNNNooooooooo!!!!! Thats SO embarrasing?” We let out simultaneous sighs and went back to square one, trying, along with every other parent and coined ‘Auntie’ to think of ways to budget and prepare for the school season, counting every nickel and dime spent.

Awhile back, I was introduced to a site called moneyStrands, an online tool that brings together all your financial accounts into one place so you have a complete view of the finances you’re working with, etc. So, I thought I’d go back and see if it could help us with the shopping at hand and the budgeting tool moneyStrands offers was just what we were looking for. It’s so easy to have a budget in your mind, but once you hit the stores, see the sale signs and hear, “Mom, I want this and Mom, this is SOOO cool,” the allotted budget is easily flushed down the drain and the oohs and aahs come first.

Before we hit up the stores, we registered online and then got the mobile versions so we could have all our info and budgeting charts IN the stores with us. We were determined not to let the swarms of moms, kids and all the latest and greatest items that her boys wanted get in our way. Me on my iPhone, and Melissa on her Blackberry, set off on a shopping spree, with an allotted budget of $250 for each son. Uniforms = done. School supplies = done. New shoes to show some of their little personalities = done. All while updating each purchase on our phones to be sure we stayed on track, and we did! About $250 per each child on the dot, and with Melissa happy she stayed on budget and the boys happy with what they got, it was too perfect.

We came back early evening that long Saturday with two very excited little boys ready to go off to school and one very happy and proud mother who stayed within her budget. And finally there was me, one happy ‘Auntie’ who enjoys helping friends with their kids and the going home to my quiet apartment, all alone, in silence… and loving every minute of it!

On Wednesday night in Santana Row’s Hotel Valencia in San Jose, the tech community got together for the second Silicon Valley tweetup. Organized by Michael Brito, attendees had a chance to win several prizes, including one of five signed copies of the soon-to-be released book Twitterville by Shel Israel and also purchase a souvenir t-shirt for $20 with profits from the sales going towards benefiting the Anissa Lopez Foundation, which benefits the George Mark House whose goal is to provide an area to keep families intact while they go through unfortunate extreme circumstances.

Here are some photos from that event:

These were the t-shirts being sold to benefit the Anissa Lopez Foundation being modeled by Rush Dufner, Gabriel Carrejo and Kathy Brito.

The crowd gathered at the top of the Hotel Valencia for the tweetup – it was crowded through the entire night.

Some of the attendees at the Silicon Valley Tweetup.

One of the lucky recipients of the Twitterville book raffle.

Nicole Vanderhoof & Tiffany Anderson

Tony Welch & Brian Remmel

To view my whole set of photos from the Silicon Valley Tweetup, please click here.