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Steve Jobs: One Last Thing DVD

Written By: admin - Jan• 21•12

In October of this year we lost a genius: Steve Jobs. We all knew it would come with his illness, but it did come to a surprise. Steve Jobs was one of my idols and I absolutely loved his brilliant creativity, marketing strategies, and business world. He impacted computers, music, movies and technology. In addition to his number 1 book by Isaacson, this wonderful DVD PBS produced right after his death gives you an overview of the brilliant man. I highly recommend this 1 hour program. It is available on DVD as well as Apple iTunes. – Eric

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Young American Holiday Show

Written By: admin - Dec• 12•11

My Dad treated us to a holiday spectacular I will never forget. Theater and musical buff, I loved every minute of the 2-hour holiday pageant. The cast had 40 + young kids and it was amazing. We saw it at their home, La Mirada Theater for Performing Arts. Need to get tickets in advance and worth every single penny. We adopted this concert as a new family holiday tradition. See this page.

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Michael Buble’s New Christmas Album is finally here…

Written By: admin - Oct• 30•11

Michael Buble’s extraordinary talents in the jazz music business makes him one of the hottest stars for all ages. Thanks to Michael, he has bought younger generation back to the classics of jazz as well as the new. This year, Michael made a full album called Christmas. 15 awesome tracks of classics and a couple holiday music collection, he will have you tapping your feet and swinging and dancing away. He polished some of Dean Martin, Burl Ives, and even Jose Fellcianto’s classics with brilliant sounds. Play this loud, and I promise everyone will ask, “What is this?” and dance! Great collection for people of all ages. Also available on Apple iTunes.

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Mannheim Steamroller’s New Christmas

Written By: admin - Oct• 30•11

One of my favorite music band is Mannheim Steamroller and many of you who know me, know that I play them all the time in my office or at home. I have been to 5 Mannheim Steamroller concerts and finally took my son to see them 2 years ago and he loved it. Mannheim is well known for their holiday music. Well this year I am proud to share a new release called Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Symphony which is a collection of their past holiday pieces but with members of the Czech Orchestra. It is much more 3Dimensional and actually “updates” the sound. I was lucky to get mine the day it came out and hear it before my surgery. What makes it fascinating is the the sound of the brass. OMG! Out of this world. Each piece have their own taste. My favorite will have to be Silent Night which is what made Mannheim famous during the holiday season. Silent Night on this album has some of the most beautiful cello sound ever. Members of Mannheim Steamroller perform with the orchestra. Chip Davis and Arnie Roth are in charge of the production and Arnie Roth directs the orchestra. This will be Arnie’s second orchestral release since The Four Season with guest Sir Patrick Stewart. If people say they don’t hear any difference, they are not true Mannheim fans. They are not listening and hearing. When you listen to this album, forget the past. Promise you….it will be unforgettable. - Eric

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When Changes Come…Need to Slow Down…

Written By: admin - Sep• 05•11

This past week at work has been very challenging and interesting. We had minor issues with log-ons and we started a new Blackboard Learn system. While IT Department sent emails throughout the summer and I held over 20 workshops all summer we had so many faculty still not understanding the situation until this past week. Many faculty were in panic mode and rightfully so. We can’t change history and go back. I reminded faculty lets work with what we have now and we can move forward.

I had a couple faculty send me these long lists of questions oh how to do this and that in Blackboard Learn. Being nice and positive, I showed the faculty and they go “oh.” The answers were in front of them. I also reminded faculty to slow down…play with the system and you will most likely find it. The answers are there, just need to be patient and learn the new way. Can’t teach a new dog and old tricks.

The psychology of changes in humanoids is amazing. While there are so many variables, one of the variables that people need to do is slow down and review everything in front of you. When people think negative and say, “It not going to work”, I tell them nicely, “Yes it will. Lets slow down and go over this.” What I really want to say is, “Yes it will…you need to be patient with yourself” and it is the truth. Negative feelings are so powerful and you know what….they are a waste of energy. Negative feelings not only hurt you, but also those around you, including your students. Things will work! Need to learn the new ways. It may not be the way you want it…we deal with it And then yes…it does work. Sometimes that negative feeling can make some of us look like a fool. Just need to slow down and be optimistic. Work with someone who may have answers.

So here are Eric’s thoughts of adjusting to changes:

Be patient with yourself. Give yourself permission to learn something new…even if you don’t want to! By toning yourself down to learn something new, you will find answers faster!
Just because something does not work the way you want it to be or the way you “use to do things” does not mean it will not work. It means we have to find the new solution and we have to adjust. We don’t need to know why something was changed. As long as it works and you can reach your goal, that’s all that matters. Sometimes in technology, changes occur because of the way a program was written or structured.
Don’t be negative around your learners! This can be an enemy to you as a teacher and trainer. Your learners may not like it and leave the class, drop the class, and go to another class or workshop. I learned from my own experience and I also see in reports that learners don’t need the negative behavior in the class or the constant complaining about something like Blackboard, and they leave.
Remember that technology changes everyday and EVERYONE is on the same boat. I will be honest; do not expect any sympathy from me. If people do their homework and read email, they would have gotten all the help offered since the beginning. In addition, students are also learning and adjusting as well. Its not just faculty! Many of the return students had to learn the new updates and adjust their learning habits a bit.
NO ONE IS ALONE. No one is more stressed out to challenges and changes than anyone else! This includes faculty, staff, students and administration. We all have our own challenges and and changes. Technology is just a small part of the challenge. I know some people who think they are going through more stress than anyone else on the face of the Earth. I know they have a lot on their plate but don’t even think for a minute I do not have my plateful. I have no sympathy and will not tolerate those attitude around me. I lost a few good friends through this and its simply because no one is more important or has more stress than anyone else.
Finally, we have to tell ourselves to be positive, communicate, and ask for help. If people can not offer help, find someone who can and will help you. No one is alone. If the information is too much…stop. Take a break. Relax. Don’t let stress and negative feelings cloud your judgement, attitude and work.

~ Eric

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Hello iCloud?

Written By: admin - Aug• 06•11

Some of you may know that I have thought of going back to Google Apps and Docs since the iCloud is coming out. Part of my did not think this will make it but now I am getting second thoughts. Don’t get my wrong, Google Docs and Google Apps is AWESOME. I think it is one of the best PIM and alternative to Microsoft Office and it is online. However, I need a strong program with spelling and grammar checking and can also handle college research using APA and that is where Microsoft Word and Excel comes along…especially the new 2011 for the Macintosh. I will tell that I also have a clearer and better understanding with the upcoming new Apple iCloud which will replace MobileMe. For awhile there I thought iCLoud would kill MobileMe but the reality it will improve it and the MobileMe email, calendar and so on will remain intact and improved.

Google Apps/Doc is continuously improving and is the ideal tool for collaborative learning. The issue is that everything is in the clouds and online. Currently I use Dropbox and it synchronizes all of my devices, including my work. iPad2 and home iMac. iCloud will work with PC and other devices too. The question will remain, will Office 2011 for the Mac talk to iCloud. Remember that Microsoft has their own SkyDrive or now what is called Microsoft 365. Microsoft 365 has more space than Google or iCLoud. To me though, it is worth spending that extra on their services since all services are promised to be be backed up to everything.

**UPDATE – Microsoft 365 is more of a supplemental to your current use of Microsoft Office on your Windows or Macintosh system. Once your account is set up with Microsoft 365 (there is a trial 30 days account available), you can use their online Outlook Exchange which will work with your Outlook, their SharePoint, online storage of 25gb, and their online collaborative tool. So basically, you’re paying $6.00 a month for something that is a sliver of Google yet its Microsoft strength. Interestingly enough, they do have business accounts and education accounts which is ideal for those places who do not have a a IT person or is on limited budget. The main goal is to work with small office and schools. While it is cool, it is not for me. By the way, the only mobile device they support now is Blackberry. Kind of bias if ya ask me.***

The big question is how much is iCloud doing to cost? Last time I read it is about this same cost as Dropbox. Each of them have their own strength and weaknesses. iCloud is scheduled to come out this fall and I am excited to see how well this come out. My plan so far is to migrate from DropBox to iCloud. It will not be free and comes with a price tag. The one thing I am looking forward to with iCloud is the music storage and I won’t have to worry about losing any of my music which I treasure so much.

In the various research I have done to this date, because Microsoft is working so hard on their 365 project, there is a possibility that they may NOT support iCloud. What does that mean? Officer users may not be able to save their documents directly to iCloud. (An API needs to be written in order to use the iCloud system. Apple released a basic API basic program and the companies expand on it). So that means I may have to go back to iWorks 09 which is ok by me. iWorks is so much more user friendly and easier to use. Do I think Microsoft will catch up to iClouds? Yes and maybe later! Too late that it might hurt them.

Another wait and see episode with Apple and its innovation.

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Mac Users – Dolly Drive is Worth Every Penny

Written By: admin - Jun• 03•11

I finally did it! Last month I subscribed to Dolly Drive and it has been a learning experience. Dolly Drive is the only In Cloud backup system that works with Apple’s Time Machine and it works like a gem. MacWorld and MacLife both gave Dolly Drive raving reviews and I love it. I have always been concerned about loosing my music files and data tracked by Time Machine because hard drives do have a wear and tear. I activated Dolly Drive and the rest was easy. The best part if that I got quality tech support from their head tech support person. Once you subscribe they sent you a follow up email to see if the back up is working and the if you need help. Could not ask for better customer service than that!

Once the account is active, you have to wait a few hours for Dolly Drive to set up your space on their servers. Once it is done, you can download and install the software which works with Time Machine. There is a bonus to the software. The software has an excellent Clone operation. It is suggested that you run a clone on an external USB/Firewire hard drive and the system is cloned. This process took about 90 minutes to complete. What is nice about this is that if your Mac goes kappooey, you can run the Clone hard drive and boot up and keep working, finish work and find out what is going on with the Mac. Then periodically you need to do an increment clone which only updates the clone file. I use a G-Drive External Drive and it is worth every penny. It is fast, quiet, and trustworthy.

Once the clone is done, you can start the initial backup to Dolly Drive. The first backup will take 2-4 days. Once it is done, the rest is smooth. You use Time Machine to access your Dolly Drive and fetch what you need. I did noticed that when I entered Time Machine with Dolly Drive, it is a little bit slow and I reported that to my contact at Dolly Drive. They are working on that issue. Everytime my system needs to back up to Dolly Drive, you see the Time Machine icon show up and it does its own thing. You don’t even notice a speed down on the system at all.

Bottom line is if you use your iMac or any Mac product a lot and use Time Machine, this is worth every penny. Its backed up to a back up, excellent support and so easy to learn and use. I love it. – Eric

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Apple Number 1

Written By: admin - Mar• 04•11

Hi everyone!

I know it has been awhile since I have been posting. I have to share this with you. As you know I am a die hard Apple fan and I love Apple, Inc., as a company. They are absolutely the best and most superior company in the world. And I have proof. Fortune just named Apple as the admired computer company in the 4th straight year! Here is the article. I am so proud of Apple and Steve Jobs! And YES I am getting an iPad 2. My old iPad will be on sale on eBay in a week. – Eric

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My Annual 2010 Holiday Music List

Written By: admin - Nov• 28•10

Thanksgiving has past and it is now officially Christmas. I tried hard this year not to listen to holiday music until now. To my surprise, many people I spoke to listen to Christmas music throughout the year! This year I will start with some of the newest member of my music library and share my traditionals.

My wife and I are fans of America Got Talent and we actually became our own judges. The incredible 11 year old Jackie Evancho with an incredible voice blew everyone away. While I she was my favorite this year, I knew she would not win. While everyone of her performances were breathtaking, the fact that people would not spend money to see her in Las Vegas (I would but I am a minority when it comes to music). In addition she is only 10 or 11. The one thing I am concern is her voice changes. Sarah Brightman, who did a duet performance with Jackie, made it clear that she is a beautiful girl with a beautiful voice and she will need to take very good care of it. No one knows that better than Ms. Brightman. I know Jackie is very much into music, and if she is to continue, she will need extensive voice therapy and coaching much like Sarah Brightman and Celine Dion did. I also said to my wife that someone will pick her up and wouldn’t you know it, Sony picked her up and placed her on their Masterworks Contract. Sony Masterwork (formerly Columbia Masterworks) is one of America’s prestigious label and studio. Just 2 weeks ago, Apple and Sony released before the official release, of her Christmas EP (Extended Play) of 5 beautiful holiday classics. Highly recommend this album and it is my #1 choice this year. She is adorable and sings beautifully. I know you will enjoy this album. The album comes with 4 videos of her singing at America’s Got Talent that took her to the top. Unfortunately it does not have the duet with Brightman because of contractual issues (Brightman is with EMI/Angel).

When I first heard this group on a few of Starbucks’s Christmas albums, I constantly ask, “who is this?” Pink Martini is AWESOME! I love this Christmas album and this will probably be my favorite one this year. Pink Martini is a music group based out of Portland, Oregon and they basically take some lounge music and add some pizzaz to them. The group has 5 musicians and 2 vocalists. Joy To The World came out this year with 2 previously Christmas songs from Stabucks holiday collection. I love their version of every one of these songs. I do not have a favorite on this album, which is say very few at the least. In other words, there are albums I like most of their songs. This one I love all of them. It ia cross of pop and jazz. A little break from traditional sound! Highly recommend this. This album can be purchased at participating Starbucks Coffee Shop or Apple iTune Store and Amazon. Worth every penny (clue: save money and get it on iTunes). Update: I shared this music with my family and my in-laws and my sisters like it as well!

As promised…here are some more. Sorry for the delay. Took my time off too seriously!

Vision of Christmas

One of my favorite artists is David Arkenstone. He is an incredible musician and arranger. While he does music on synthesizers, with today’s sounds, you can not even tell if they are electronic or the real instruments. The truth is that David Arkenstone, along with his wife, Diane Arkenstone use combination of ancient instruments from the renaissance and Indian flutes create some of the most beautiful combinations. Currently David has 8 Christmas albums. The two I particularly love this year are Visions of Christmas (2010) and Christmas PanPipes (2008). Of course I own 6 of his Christmas albums and made a fantastic playlist which lasted 5 hours.

Arkenstone Pan Flute Xmas

At work I played the play list and people from all over came up to me and say who is that? What album is it? How does he do it? I share with them the list and everyone person who came in my office got themselves these albums. David Akrenstone originated with Narada label which was a mart of MCA label. David now has his own label and studio and is called Green Hill. All his work can be found in CD format as well as electronic on Apple iTunes and Amazon MP3 stores. Worth every penny.

He has tons of other CDs and recordings that can make help complete your music collection. Each of his album have a theme and even a story to tell.

Greatest Christmas Songs with Julie Andrews

One of my favorite singers is the lovely Julie Andrews. I grew up with her in Mary Poppins and the recently celebrated, The Sound of Music just to name a few. I just recently learned that she just became a widow on December 15th, 2010 when her husband, Blake Edwards died due to complications of pneumonia. Julie and Blake were married for 39 years. Shortly after she made The Sound of Music, Julie Andrews and Andre Previn collaborated and produced on of the all time classic Christmas Treasury album. The title changed so many times. The RCA CD came out in 1993 under the name Christmas Treasure. Today it is titled Greatest Christmas Songs by Julie Andrews. I especially love her version of Joy To The World and the classic, Jingle Bells. There is no doubt this album will remain a classic for years to come and I hope you continue to enjoy it. Please share it withy our children.

Finally my top pick this year come from one of the most famous gospel singers, Mahalia Jackson. Again, this is not a new album but has been reissued for CD and digital release. The title of the album I love is Christmas with Mahalia (1983). I remember when my Dad bought the original Lp when I was in high school and how much I really liked listening to tis album with him. Every song is so unique and filled with warmth. I especially love “Happy Birthday to You, Our Lord” which was written by Mahalia herself. The background music and choir was arranged by Marty Piach who coincidentally also arranged Barbra Stresiand’s Christmas Album in 1967. If you love gospel sound and mixed with holiday music, this is the one for you. You will not be disappointed.

Additional Holiday Music I loved this year:

Barbra Streisand – Christmas
Barbra Streisand – Christmas Memories (I dedicate to my Mom, Barry Wilson)
Anita Kerr Singers – Spend This Holiday With Me
Eddy Arnold – Christmas with Eddy
Harry Belefonte – To Wish You a Merry Christmas
Mannheim Steamroller – all of the Christmas recordings
Straight No Chaser – Holiday Spirits
Statler Brother – Christmas Card
Ray Conniff Singers – To Wish You a Merry Christmas
Percy Faith – Christmas Melodies

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years Everyone!- Eric

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Budget Cuts Hit Academic

Written By: admin - Oct• 23•10

The hard financial times hit many of us. As you know sometimes we may not feel it till later and then we do not feel the recovery for awhile. It is predicated that Holiday Season 2010 might help bring us into Recovery and if so, it will take some time before we feel that impact. I am fortunate and unfortunate. Let me share:

My full-time Information Systems Trainer position at Orange Coast College is still good. With the new Blackboard Learn rollout next summer, I will be very busy with training at both Orange Coast College and Golden West College. I was also told there are some other changes soon. It’s a matter of sit tight and wait as the District is reorganizing.
This Fall 2010 semester, I lost 3 of my classes (Word 2, Dreamweaver and PowerPoint) due to budget cut. They are trying to get budget for me to teach at least Word 1 in Spring 2010. I am also pushing that we do Word 2010 for Windows/2011 for Macintosh in Spring as well.
Enrollment is down at Kaplan University where I teach my favorite class, Academic Strategies. I was fortunate to be assigned 1 section when I normally have 2 sections. On the same note, things do happen for a reason. I know this is temporary. This also might help me because I started my MBA program and my 2nd class before the holidays is Business Math….so it might be for the better.
I am in the process of writing 2 new curriculums for Orange Coast College and I have support for both of them. (1) Adobe Acrobat PDF Technology which will be an online 8 weeks course learning Acrobat.; (2) Success with Online Learning – this hybrid course will cover how to be successful online college students. My MS Ed qualifies me to write and teach both of these. I am not being paid for this and it is part of working in education.

I love working in the education field and always will. Sometimes we do have to go above our jobs that are not part of the job description. If we don’t, we will fail our schools and our students. In the mean time, we all have a lot of work to do. – Eric

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