Schuetz

When I think about digital signage, I'm sometimes reminded of the perpetually hungry, ever-growing plant from the musical "Little Shop of Horrors." You might remember that unusual flora. It's the talking, singing Venus Flytrap on steroids that constantly demands "Feed Me!" I can't help but think of that giant man-eating plant, because its appetite for flesh was as large and insatiable as that of digital signage for content. Content is the currency of digital signage. Without it, digital signage would be about as appealing as looking at a dimly lit mirror. So, it's imperative that digital signage users source, create and schedule enough of the right kinds of content to attract and hold the interest of their audiences till they've delivered their intended message.

Not an easy task under normal conditions, the job is even harder when high definition is added to the equation. The appeal of HD content on a digital sign is straightforward. High definition television's ability to reproduce enough picture detail to convey a previously unattainable sense of realism is powerful. Sports fans who watch their favorite teams in HD never want to go back to their ordinary TVs, and nature buffs who tune into Discovery HD Theater can feel overwhelmed at times by the Mother Nature's majesty.

Transplant that HD realism to a retail digital signage network, for example, where marketers want to create a specific mood or portray their merchandise in the best possible light. Under those circumstances, understanding the allure of high definition to digital signage marketers is as clear as an HD image itself.

However, the issue of sourcing HD content -particularly video originated in high definition- is significantly less clear. While it seems that every week another press announcement trumpets the arrival of a new TV channel or cable network in HD, the reality is the video production industry is still in a transition period between conventional television and HDTV. HD content can be shot for your digital signage needs, but there is a strong demand for HD production services and limited supply -so be prepared. On a positive note, those content creators who wish to shoot their own HD digital signage content have a broad selection of relatively affordable camcorders from which to choose.

Another source of HD content is your company's film library. Remember continuous-tone film is a high-resolution -or at the risk of confusing things "high definition"- medium. Film can be transferred to HD video, and depending on your project, doing so might make sense.

Upconverting standard definition television to HDTV is an option as well. Depending on how you intend to use the content, this may be an entirely suitable solution for your HD content needs. While it may not be ideal, upconverting select content has significant advantages over shooting original HD material in terms of cost, speed and opportunity. Remember, many programs you're ooing and ahhing at today on your HDTV may include sequences that have been upconverted from standard definition footage. That's especially likely to be the case for historical file footage.

If you're not looking for original HD content, you're options are a little broader. Cable, satellite, and even Telco TV services make a variety of channels and networks available in high definition. It is even possible to turn a computer with a USB 2.0 port and a USB device that's an ATSC tuner along with a loop antenna into an HD receiver/digital video recorder for terrestrial (over-the-air) broadcast HDTV content. While I specifically am not advocating unauthorized use of copyrighted material, the availability of the USB HDTV tuner and recorder does increase your flexibility and options.

Feeding digital signage's insatiable appetite for content has never been easy, and HD makes the task even more troublesome. But you are not without options. Originating HD content, transferring existing film assets to HD and upconverting ordinary video content to high definition are starting points. With time, HD production capabilities will become so prevalent that creating high definition content will be taken for granted. Until that time point, creative digital signage content pros will assess their resources and employ the options that make sense today.

David Little is a digital signage authority with 20 years of experience helping professionals use technology to more effectively communicate their unique marketing messages. He is the director of marketing for Keywest Technology in Lenexa, KS, a software development company specializing in systems for digital signage creation, scheduling, management and playback.

For further digital signage insight from Keywest Technology, download our Why Digital Signage Works white paper;

subscribe to our digital signage RSS feed that gives a diverse perspective on digital signage from experts around the world; and sign up for our Keywest Update news brief.

Imagine this: I'm sitting in front of the computer at 2am - again. My wife and cats -- and most of the rest of the sane world -- have already gone off to their rest. Me? I'm desperately trying to keep up with my correspondence. As my network grows, I'm falling further and further behind. My sleep-deprived mind can't formulate another coherent sentence. As my forehead comes crashing down on the keyboard, some tiny part of me is sobbing, "There must be a better way!"

We all struggle to maintain our vast networks. Keeping ourselves top of mind requires contact. And we all know that just sending out our most recent advertising to a mailing list doesn't really count as "contact". The trick would be to have that same convenience without someone deleting our message as yet one more piece of spam.

Enter the e-zine.

An e-zine (short for "electronic magazine") is just a newsletter that you send through e-mail. What makes it different from "advertising"? Simple: The content of your e-zine is about educating, not selling (your readers will know the difference and will resent the latter). The topics can range from the simple to the sublime and may be only loosely related to your business (a florist writing about event planning, for example). Most of all, the recipients of the e-zine have all opted to receive it. That means that they want to hear from you. Never, never, never sign up someone for your e-zine who has not explicitly agreed to receive it. It's bad networking and may even be illegal under the CAN-SPAM Act.

The biggest complaint I always hear when I suggest this is "but what would I write about?" After I clarify the whole issue of dangling prepositions, I suggest that anyone who has their own business knows enough that they could easily write down twenty to thirty small ideas or topics about that business that the average reader wouldn't know. The florist could start with watering frequency and go all the way through flower colors. A carpenter could write about getting permits for that new basement through lumber choice for a picnic table. Heck, those in the financial world could start writing up simple definitions of the terms they use and would have enough for years of weekly newsletters.

Also, while it's always best to write in your own voice, when necessary there are a plethora of services which provide content for free for websites, newsletters, etc. Just do a Google search on "ezine articles" and you should have plenty of options from which to choose.

With respect to keeping everything organized, most hosting services provide access to simple mail list management applications as a part of their monthly fee. You can also find numerous sites online which talk about how to run things yourself. Or, if you'd prefer to offload most of that effort, there are several commercial services which can help you manage your newsletter.

For the expenditure of a few hours of your time per issue (which shrinks as you become used to the process), you get the benefit of supplementing your more personal contacts and having your readers view you as an expert in your field. As Tom Stanley says in Networking with Millionaires, "Talkers are hawkers, but writers are experts." Become an expert.

Copyright 2007, All Rights Reserved

Greg Peters is the owner and superhero-in-residence of Cyber Data Solutions. CDS has been helping website designers develop better web presence for their clients for more than a decade. We specialize in tools which help folks keep their websites up to date, fresh, and interesting. Visit us on the Web at www.cyberdatasolns.com to see how we can help your webmaster.

Some kids think smoking cigarettes is cool. They smoke because their parents, siblings, and friends smoke. Girls may smoke in an effort to lose or control weight. Kids who feel a need to rebel may also smoke. But smoking cigarettes is not cool, it is harmful to health. Share these cigarette facts with your kids.

* Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals and 60 of them -- including ammonia, carbon monoxide, and tar -- cause cancer. Source: American Cancer Society.

* The nicotine in cigarettes is very addictive. Teens become addicted to cigarettes faster than adults. Source: www.mayoclinic.com/health/teen-smoking/QZ00040.

* Flavored cigarettes, called bidis and kreteks, contain more nicotine, carbon monoxide, and tar than regular cigarettes. Source: www.mayoclinic.com/health/teen-smoking/QZ00040.

* Smoking cigarettes makes your breath, hair, and clothes smell. You become a walking stink bomb. Source: American Cancer Society.

* Cigarettes wear away tooth enamel, cause cavities (due to the sugar in cigarettes), and make your gums recede. The brown tobacco leaves stain your teeth brown. Source: www.quittobacco.com/facts/effects.htm.

* Smoking cigarettes deadens your sense of taste. The food you eat, including the pizza you love so much, won't taste as good. Source: www.quittobacco.com/facts/effects.htm.

* Breathing is harder when you smoke cigarettes. Even if you are trained runner you will be short of breath. Smoking and sports don't mix. Source: Centers for Disease Control.

* Chronic smokers develop lung cancer, heart disease, and stroke. Cigarettes also cause cancer of the larynx, esophagus, and mouth. Source: Partnership for a Drug-Free America.

* Smoking cigarettes will shorten your life. If you become a chronic smoker and smoke a pack a day you shorten your life by seven years. Source: Centers for Disease Control.

According to the American Cancer Society cigarettes harm nearly every organ in the body. Cigarettes are a gateway drug. Kids who smoke cigarettes are more likely to use alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine. Talk to your kids about the dangers of cigarettes. Tell them to say no to smoking and yes to health.

Copyright 2006 by Harriet Hodgson

http://www.harriethodgson.com

Harriet Hodgson has been a freelance nonfiction writer for 28 years. She is a member of the Association of Health Care Journlaists and the Association for Death Education and Counseling. Her 24th book, "Smiling Through Your Tears: Anticipating Grief," written with Lois Krahn, MD, is available from http://www.amazon.com A five-star review of the book is posted on Amazon. Another review is posted on the American Hospice Foundation Website under the "School Corner" heading.

Life is about shopping. We make choices as soon as we wake up. What to wear, where to go, decisions every where. Think of your environment as a boutique. It is open 24 hours all seven days. Make a list before you go shopping. What do you need? You might need some basic clothes. A pair of shoes and maybe a hat? Do you do your shopping just occasionally or regularly? Think about the shops you visit. Is it the same as everybody else is going to or is it special ones? Can you see yourself in your life as the way you do your shopping?

Do you make a list everyday? I mean the planning for the following day. It is vital for your business with a plan. If you fail to plan then you plan to fail. It is always a good quote. Do you shop at special places? That can be related to your business environment. Are you looking for customers and business peoples every where or do you search for any particular ones? We are trying to find the one in a million people so where are they? I believe they are not in public rooms. Good business people are like pearls in a shell. You have to pick an ocean to find one to five really good ones. I know a lot of people that just goes in to stores and make shopping as a random action show. Look at their lives it is almost the same. They walk around and hope everything will be better. Every new years eve they make a wish that everything will be better, make new commitments about loosing weight, quit smoking and make more money. They expect different results but do exactly the same every day until the next New Years Eve.

That is amazing. So think about your own life. Make a wishing list and a plan for today, tomorrow and the future. Be selective when you look for good people in to your business. Rather be working a long time for one good person than to involve half interested people all the time. Be in creative environments too. Where does good business people associates? Hang around there. Talk to them, make good relationships with them. Get to know them. Get to know what they eat, wear, talk about etc. Copy the behaviour of the one person you admire in business.

Read about that person too. How did he start? Does he have any particular skills you might have too? So where are you dong youre shopping? How do you do youre shopping? Do you shop by yourself or with others? How often do you go? Put together a scheme for your work. Make a plan and stick to it. Sooner then later you will make it. Remember everything you dream about you can achieve. It is all just a matter of time. Since we all have 24 hours why do not make the best of it. Make it today, tomorrow and always. Good luck and have lots of fun.

MarieLouise is working as a personal trainer and a life coach. She is also very skilled as a networker with several years experience from different MLM companies. http://marielouisefalk.blogspot.com