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Amber Mac


commandn.tv gets a facelift - now on WordPressYesterday

Hope that everyone is having a wonderful 2009.  Yesterday we launched a new commandN website, which allows us to show off our videos in a better way and it also allows us to focus on building up our community (using tools like Facebook Connect and Wordpress - am loving them both).  I’ve posted Episode #163 here, so check it out (don’t forget to watch until the very end when our dear friend Will gets attacked!). 

Happy New Year - 09 Web Links for 09January 1

I suppose I should be writing about my New Year’s Resolutions for 2009, but I don’t have ‘em nailed down just yet.  I could also write about my plans for this year, but I’d prefer to make those plans a surprise ;-).  And, so, in the interest of being brief, here are my top 9 links for the first day of 2009.  Happy New Year - and thanks for visiting me here!

1.  FirstFollow on Twitter - if you’re on the world’s most talked about microblogging site, find out anyone’s first-follow.

2.  PCMag’s Top 20 Podcasts to Download in 2008 - commandN and TWiT made the list, among many other great (FREE!) shows

3.  five.sentenc.es - The solution to all your email problem (thx Deepak!)

4.  soup.io - “A super-easy tumblelog” for anyone too busy to blog -  (thx Leo!)

5.  Merlin Mann is the Man - My favourite quote about blogging

6.  Scrivener - amazing (Mac) writing software (thx Rahaf!)

7.  decabled -











Local tech mafia on commandN Holiday SpecialDecember 23 2008

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Toronto (well, beginning might be the understatement of the year!).  We have a lot of snow, and it doesn’t look as though it’s going to stop any time soon.  Before the big holiday, I wanted to thank the commandN team (Jeff, Chris, Will, Rahaf, and, of course, Mikey) for joining together for another year of great shows.  On this episode we also feature some local tech (and non-tech) personalities, including Leila, Mark, Rannie, Greg, and many others, and Jeff has some free festive media links.  

Hope that everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday season.  We’re looking forward to talking more tech and social media in 2009! 

Talking about social media - A year on the roadDecember 16 2008

I’m sitting in the lounge at the Winnipeg airport, just finished my last Keynote of 2008!  Since the fall of 2007, I’ve been working exclusively with The Lavin Agency as a speaker and, needless to say, they’ve kept me very busy.  From talking about the Do’s and Don’ts of Social Media to Building Customer Loyalty on the Web, it’s been an immersive year of learning and sharing.

After dozens of new cities, wonderful event hosts, and bad airplane food, I figured it might be time to write a post about my experiences (OK, who I am kidding, this blog post comes thanks to much prodding from my Twitter friends).

Here’s is a pic of me taken with fellow Keynote Speaker David Warlick at an Education 2.0 event last week in London (thx Doug!)

MacArthur & Warlick

THE DECK - Keep it fresh
When I first started doing Keynote speeches, I was constantly scrambling to create that one presentation that would really knock the sock




XM Canada's XMp3 Player - The Dad TestDecember 4 2008

After reviewing hundreds of gadgets over the past few years, I’m pretty sure that I can figure out how most of them work.  For me, the true test is when I pass a tech toy off to my Dad to see how it works for him.

XM Canada recently sent 25 Canadian bloggers their new XMp3 player (built by Pioneer) to test out.  While I initially got the device working at my home in Toronto, I brought it down to Florida this past week to send it on a journey with my father.  (FYI - my brother Jeff also reviewed this gadget on a recent episode of commandN).

THE PROS

  • The 100+ channels offer up good variety for all listeners, whether you like Elvis or sports programming or public radio
  • The device is quite small, so it fits well in the palm of your hand (only 3.1 ounces)
  • One-touch record option is very handy (I recorded hours of Elvis tunes for my folks)
  • Setting up the radio service (which costs approx. $160/year) is a cinch

 THE CONS

  • Reception is not always solid when you’re on the go (back home in Toronto, it became pretty apparent that you don’t want to do a lot of walking with the player - unless you’re listening to recorded radio)
  • Device needs a hold button, so that you don’t hit the stubby cont