Leo Grand has been living in the streets of New York ever since he was laid off at MetLife in 2011. Four months ago, he knew nothing about computer programming when a complete stranger approached him offering a choice between $100 cash or coding lessons. Leo opted for the lessons. The stranger who approached him, software programmer Patrick McConlogue, supplied him with three JavaScript books, a refurbished Chromebook and one hour of coding lessons on each weekday. Despite criticism and setbacks such as getting his laptop confiscated by authorities, after 16 weeks and 3,621 lines of code later, Leo finished his first mobile app. Trees for Cars is a mobile carpooling app that connects drivers and riders with the goal of having fewer cars on the road. In addition to reducing greenhouse gases, Leo suggests the app is a tool for community building. Leo’s journey is described as the best story you will hear this Christmas. The project has earned over 60,000 supporters. Since the launch, Leo has been offered a full scholarship to Turn To Tech, a comprehensive three month developer program. He has already begun working on the second version of the app and plans to apply for a job as a programmer. Leo describes the experience as life changing. Support Leo by purchasing his app in the Apple App Store or Google Play. Besides the amount Apple and Google take for every download, all revenue goes directly to Leo. Check out this clip from Mashable:
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Evie Carter Evie has been with 43PR for over six years and is our Senior Director. Currently, she oversees many of our clients including Smith Micro, LitePoint, TheFind, Keypoint, WerYoo and Stern Pinball. In this interview, she offers valuable insight about the public relations industry and shares her favorite memories while working here. What do you like most about working at 43? So many things. I would have to say our president Gary has been a huge inspiration to me. He's believed in me from the get go and given me the tools and motivation to get to where I am. Our 43 family is just amazing. I wake up in the morning and am excited to come to work and see everyone. What is your proudest moment so far at 43? A couple years ago I was working on a launch/announcement for our client Peel. I booked a three day press tour in NYC and every meeting was with a great outlet and writer. On launch day just about every single outlet posted. It was the best feeling ever. What do you enjoy most about working in PR? I think one of my favorite things is the development of a strategy or message from the ground up. We plant the seed and watch it grow - from initial brainstorming to content development and eventually story placement. It is easy to take pride in your work when you have had your hands wrapped around it from the get go. What is one of the most valuable lessons you've learned from your experience in PR? Relationships are priceless. Whether it is with a journalist, client or coworker, the more people you have genuine relationships with the better. I was a bartender for a long time and knew the value of regulars back then. I did not realize the skill and talent for getting to know someone, being genuine with them and maintaining that relationship would follow me into my career. It's really been something I excel at and take pride in. CNET just announced the start of CNET 100, a first-of-its-kind leaderboard that tracks the hottest tech products using CNET’s exclusive algorithm. Each month, CNET 100 uses internal and external data combined with editor’s ratings to track what gadgets are rising, falling or dominating the tech universe. Tracking the gadgets that are receiving the most attention allows us to observe emerging trends and what’s changing in the gadget landscape. Tablets are slowly taking over laptops, with eight tablets ranked in the top 30 percent compared to two laptops. Although there may be different opinions regarding a specific gadget’s ranking, CNET 100 provides valuable insight on trends in the consumer electronics sphere as well as trends among tech companies. Google, which started as an Internet company, released the Nexus One in 2010. Since then, the Nexus line has grown to include tablets and smartphones. For this month, Google dominated the rankings, with two devices in the top five: 1. Google Nexus 5 2. Apple iPad Air 3. Samsung Galaxy S4 4. Panasonic ST60 plasma TV 5. Google Nexus 7 Check out these other ratings: 9. Apple iPhone 5S 16. GoPro Hero3 18. Microsoft Xbox One 46. Canon EOS Rebel T3i 87. Amazon Kindle Fire HD What gadgets would you like to see in CNET 100? See the full list here: http://www.cnet.com/cnet100/ Today, Smith Micro announced the use of its 3D animation software, Poser, in the creation of NORAD’s Santa Tracker 2013 website. NORAD’s Santa Tracker allows families to follow Santa Claus on his Christmas Eve sleigh ride around the globe. Meshbox Design utilized Poser to create the 3D Santa, reindeer and sleigh on the NORAD Tracks Santa site. Meshbox Design is the creator of Toon Santa, Toon Reindeer and Santa’s Sleigh - all three models are available for purchase on Content Paradise. Poser users can not only purchase their favorite Toon Santa content online but also design their own unique characters for the holiday season. Poser enables artists of all skill levels to create full 3D scenes with digital humans, animals and props. With numerous tutorial videos and an experienced team of customer service and support, Poser users can easily make their own holiday content to share with family and friends right out of the box. To watch the 2013 NORAD Tracks Santa Trailer Video visit here. To visit the NORAD Tracks Santa site go to www.noradsanta.org. Visit the I Tracked Santa official gear site at http://itrackedsanta.com/. All Christmas products from Meshbox Design, are available for purchase at Content Paradise here. Just five months after Instagram rolled out the video feature for their mobile app, they have introduced Instagram Direct. This new feature allows users to send private picture messages to their Instagram friends/followers. You can send a photo to up to 15 people and have a conversation exclusively with these people in the comments section of the photo. Each time you take a picture, the same layout appears as a regular Instagram photo so you can add a filter and a caption as well as tag the location or people in the photo with you. When Instagram released their video feature, we could all see the resemblance to the popular video app Vine. Now, it looks like Instagram is targeting Snapchat with the new Instagram Direct feature. However, the photos on Instagram do not just disappear after a set number of seconds like they do in Snapchat and users do not have to send photos back and forth to have a conversation, they can just have a conversation within one photo. Also, users will be able to see when their friend has seen the photo and if they decide they don’t want a photo to be in their friend’s feed or their personal feed, they can delete it. While we understand the perks of private photo messaging, Instagram may be too little too late. With most people using Snapchat nowadays, it’s possible that Instagram’s private photo messaging won’t stand much of a chance at beating them out. That being said, Instagram’s video feature did steal a lot of Vine’s thunder. We’re looking forward to seeing what people think about the new feature and the updates expected from Instagram in the coming months. Looking for a creative way to celebrate the holiday season? Check out Smith Micro’s software programs, which allow users to create fun and personalized e-cards and e-invites or photo slide shows to share with friends and family.
With Smith Micro’s Anime Studio software, users can create fun and personalized animated holiday e-cards and e-invites. Offering both a Debut version for beginners and a Pro version for advanced users, artists of all skill levels can create their own one-of–a-kind holiday content. The easy-to-use software is perfect for creating handmade party invites or custom animation clips like the JibJab holiday e-cards to share with friends and family. Smith Micro’s ScatterShow software enables users to create their own photo slideshows to share while everyone is together during the holiday. Designed for photography enthusiasts, ScatterShow provides a 3-step approach for users looking to showcase and store their pictures. Users can even liven up their slideshow by adding background images, visual effects and music and easily share via Facebook, YouTube or any HTML-5 enabled website. To learn more about Anime Studio, visit anime.smithmicro.com. To learn more about ScatterShow, visit scattershow.smithmicro.com. Although retailers experienced a 2.9% drop in sales over Thanksgiving weekend, Cyber Monday sales hit record marks this year. Sales soared 19% compared to last year’s, making it well on its way to being the biggest online shopping day in history. U.S. online sales are expected to hit $2 billion, according to data firm comScore. Mobile traffic rose 61% from last year, accounting for 29.4% of all online traffic. For Walmart, more than half of their online traffic came from mobile devices. According to data from IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark, shoppers used smartphones to browse but were more likely to make purchases on a tablet. For next year, we’ll most likely notice more retailers with websites optimized for mobile devices. If you didn’t get a chance to do any Cyber Monday shopping this year, don’t worry. It’s predicted that major retailers from Target to Sears will be evolving Cyber Monday into Cyber Week, offering deals all week long. Hey Nat! Best of luck in the Pipe Masters and congrats on Rookie of the Year from the FortyThree team… Everyone should follow his Instagram.
BTW: Gary was on the beach and said it was way more heroic than it looks in the video. In celebration of the holiday shopping season, Smith Micro is hosting a sale for its bundle pack of powerful 3D and 2D tools as well as photo slideshow software. Smith Micro’s “Share Our Family with Your Family” software bundle, ending this Sunday December 8th, includes ScatterShow, MotionArtist, Manga Studio EX 4 and Poser 9. Priced at $49.99, the bundle deal saves buyers over 90%. Individual programs are available for $24.99 each. ScatterShow, designed for photography enthusiasts, provides a 3-step approach for users looking to showcase and store their pictures. MotionArtist enables users of a wide range of skill levels to add motion to comic creations, as well as create interactive HTML5 presentations and make animated photo shows with ease. Manga Studio 4 EX is an all-in-one solution for creating stunning, ready-to-publish manga and comics. Poser 9 enables users to easily create full 3D scenes with digital humans, animals and props. To learn more about Smith Micro’s holiday bundle pack sale visit: http://smsi.me/1elWVjC
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