Android 4.0, codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich, is the new android operating system is going to bring together the best features of Honeycomb (Android 3.0 tablet OS) and Gingerbread (Android 2.3 for smartphones) and also add some amazing new ones.
Check out an in-depth review here:
http://tech.icrontic.com/articles/a-deeper-look-at-android-4-0-ice-cream-sandwich/
If you have not listened to Sugata Mitra’s TED talk on the child driven education and his “hole in the wall” project, it is a must.
He recently gave a keynote speech at the 2011 Educational Technology conference where he talks about past, current and future technology and education. Check it out
For those of us that use Gmail or Google Apps for our domain, Labs can be very useful. If you don’t know about labs, log in to your gmail, go to settings, then click on the “Labs” tab to view a slew of features you can enable.
Here is a list of the top 10 put together by Lifehacker.com:
http://lifehacker.com/5805075/10-more-features-you-should-enable-from-the-gmail-laboratory
One of my favorites thats not on the list is the Green Robot! that will tell you if your friend is on a computer or access GTalk through their Android device (so you can know how long to wait for a response 
Enjoy!
Just a few of the many reasons I prefer my Nexus One over an iPhone 4. Add Wifi hotspot to my list!
http://m.lifehacker.com/5801862/top-10-awesome-android-features-that-the-iphone-doesnt-have
myBTCS Blog is now mobile friendly! Check it out on your iPhone, Android device, or Blackberry!
Other notes: We have a few very interesting sites in development as well as one that was recently completed:
www.thelaytongroupllc.com – check it out!
Check back for other projects!
A recent post on Engadget suggests Chrome OS might play with tablets after all. Maybe some type of hybrid Chrome-android OS? Check out the link after the break for the story.
I came across this great article on using specialized search engines to find better results for your different topics. Check it out!
http://m.lifehacker.com/5788772/when-not-to-google-searches-youre-better-off-making-elsewhere
After a short hiatus the myBTCS blog is BACK!
A ton of great stuff has been going on at the myBTCS office. California Charter School Conference, Cloud Computing solutions, new site development and much more. Follow us on twitter @kolson221 or @mybtcs for updates!
Also shout out to our new Marketing Manager @arwilliamsSD!
The blog is back! For those of you that didn’t notice we had a little technical difficulty when we had to use our site to test a website we were creating. Created a little problem, but got it all sorted out now.
Now on to the good news! In preparation for our presentation at the California Charter School Conference we have got our hands on a CR-48, Google’s prototype Chrome OS notebook, and let me tell you.. its a CHAMP! We have had it for about a week and a half now and have been very pleased with its use. From the awesome aesthetics of the machine to the quickness of Chrome OS, it has been very fun to use. The instant on and instant wake really gets you on quickly and since we use Google Apps fairly exclusively for our business it is really great to get work done on.
A few things we have had problems with though:
Other than those things the CR-48 has been a ton of fun to use and really makes me think Chrome OS is the future of computing. As a matter of fact this entire post was created on the CR-48
I was at a small business networking event recently where the feature presentation was on using Social Networks as a business tool. As expected, they talked primarily about the “big 4″ – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. But what seemed to be overlooked was the power of local review sites such as Yelp.
Your social networking campaign needs to include review sites. There are many out there, but the biggest and most used are Yelp, Kudzu, Angies List and more reviews are being posted on Google Places on Google Maps. It is becoming standard practice for consumers to visit these sites before making a visit to their local business. User reviews carry a lot of weight in decision making.  A collection of great reviews on your business page can really drive your company – as we saw with one of our clients, Up and Down Garage Doors.
Up and Down Garage Doors is owned by Art Pifer and his business exploded when his Yelp page started collecting reviews by very satisfied customers. When Art realized the source of this new business (he didn’t originally post his company on  Yelp – one of his customers did) he embraced it and instantly took steps to monitor his online presence. The results he saw from Yelp provided justification for investing in his website and all other forms of Social Networking.
What can you do now?
The first step is to do a search for your company on the big review sites to see if any of your customers have started your page.  Next, you need to claim that page as the business owner to make sure the correct information is posted. Upload pictures of your business – this can be your staff, store, business card, etc. Now you need to keep an eye on the reviews you receive. Good or bad – they are all valuable.
Even bad reviews are valuable? Yes. A genuine complaint is an opportunity to make it right – odds are you would of never of known about the issue otherwise. Do what is within your power to satisfy your customer or correct what made the customer unhappy. You may find holes in your company that needed the outsiders perspective, and if your able to fix it you can count on a number of positive reviews to follow.
