The charity that I’ve selected this month is the American Lung Association of New York State (ALANYS). I selected this organization because I will be participating in a fundraising event this Saturday, March 29th. I will be climbing the stairs of SUNY Albany for “Climb UAlbany” a event of the American Lung Association of New York State.

This will not be an easy event, I will be climbing 22 stories on the campus of my alma mater. The whole Pure Adapt crew will be participating in the by money for the event and climbing 22 stories.

We were recruited by our lawyer David Green. David has been the perfect lawyer for us, he really fits our culture and it looks like this should be a great long term business relationship. It’s been great working with David for our legal issues and designing his website. If you need a lawyer, find out more about Davide Green at AttorneyDavidGreen.com.

The American Lung Association of New York State has been around since 1904 working hard to promote lung health and prevent lung disease. The ALANYS has made a commitment to clean air and lung health. They are on the forefront of making changes for all of us to have healthier lungs. They work hard increasing standards air quality indoors and outdoors, funding research for lung disease, and much more to help us breath easier.

You can help me raise money for the American Lung Association of New York State by visiting my fundraising page to make a donation. The American Lung Association is helping everyone with what they do and I mean everyone because everyone needs to breathe.

The American Lung Association is “Improving life, one breath at a time.”

Comments (0)

Tastefully Driven launch is ever so close. The anxiety is starting set in.

This is the biggest site and launch that I’ve ever involved with. Oh it’s adrenaline rush don’t get me wrong and I love it but I can’t help to think about the all the bad things that could happen with the site. I know it’s only me being nervous about the launch and I am actually very confident in what me and partners have developed in Tastefully Driven. I’m anxious for launch, it feels like I’ve been working on Tastefully Driven for the longest time.

We’ve started to do some quality testing for the site and I think it’s gone well. A little more than a week to go, we still got a lot do, but I’m very optimistic that everything will be ready for launch.

Tastefully Driven is almost here!!!!

Comments (0)

Are you Tastefully Driven? That is the question I pose to you. We’ve defined Tastefully Driven as follows:

taste·ful·ly driv·en – to desire, appreciate, and enjoy high quality products, services, places, and experiences that improve your life and the life of those around you

I would like give you some updates from the areyou.tastefullydriven.com blog.

Tastefully Driven Hotel Pools – There are pools on this list that will amaze you with it’s scenic beauty and design.

Tastefully Driven Watch Brands – These watch brands that are all known for its quality and designed for those who understand what Tastefully Driven is.

Tastefully Driven Mobile Phones – There are 5 phone listed here that will not disappoint a tech geek, I can see why these phones were selected to be Tastefully Driven.

Tastefully Driven Athletes – There are athletes that represent Tastefully Driven and there are those that do NOT, check this list.

So are you Tastefully Driven?

Comments (0)

I’ve been doing web design for a few years now and I think I got a decent grasp on how to design with valid CSS. The past few weeks have been completely different since I’ve been designing for emails. It’s like taking a step backward in the evolution of web design when you design for emails due to the fact that many of the newer design techniques will not render correctly in emails.

I thought it was hard to design for two or three browsers, now I have to design for different desktop email software and web based email. This means I have to get HTML newsletters to render correctly in at least 5 different email programs. Not only is the design an issue, I have to make sure that our newsletters are Can-Spam compliant, because it’s the law. So there’s a lot think about when you are designing a HTML email.

Creating a newsletter has many issues that you must address before you start your campaign. This is what I’ve learned so far:

Can-Spam Compliance

• No false or misleading header information
• No deceptive subject lines
• You must include an opt-out method for you email recipients
• You must identify your email is an advertisement and include a valid physical postal address

Design

• Keep it simple, very simple with HTML table layouts and inline styling
• Make sure you have valid HTML
• No Javascript
• Test your email design in browsers first
• Test in web based emails Yahoo!, GMail, Hotmail, etc…
• Test in desktop email software Outlook, Thunderbird, etc…
• Offer an online version of your email

It’s been a new learning experience designing for emails and I look forward to designing them for the future email campaigns of Pure Adapt, especially for Tastefully Driven which has less than 2 weeks till launch. If you haven’t already signed up for Tastefully Driven, go sign up now for a chance to win a $100 gift certificate at www.TastefullyDriven.com.

Comments (1)

If you have Internet access you should take advantage of what it has to offer. Let the Internet help you gain more control over your life and educate you. At the same time the things that I mention are also free except for the cost for your Internet Service Provider. These are real things that I use almost everyday that give me more control of my life and make me smarter.

Learning

Google Reader is your one stop and read about all your favorites websites. Stay up to date on all your favorite sites, news and blogs.

I definitely use it to stay up to date on my interest in this fast paced world. I get my local news, blogs, financial news, tech news, keep up on my favorite sports teams and much more through my Google Reader. It makes things simple by consolidating all the sites I visit into one and it’s very simple for anyone to use.

I also use it to learn new words. I have a subscription to Dictionary.com where it sends me a word everyday. So if it’s a new word, I’ll try to learn it.

Google Reader has made me smarter, helping me stay current on news, what’s new in my industry and increasing my vocabulary.

Email isn’t just for communication with people, you can also use it similar to Google Reader to stay up to date what’s going on in the world and learn something. There are sites out there that give you the option to subscribe to RSS feeds through email now, for those who don’t want to use a feed reader and newsletters are still very common.

I use email to get stock market updates from a plethora of sites including Market Watch, TheStreet.com, Forbes.com and Investor Guide Daily. I have a great interest in the financial markets, so I really try to keep up what’s happening in the markets.

I have a thirst for knowledge and another way I learn with the Internet is by getting emails from InvestorWords.com for their “Term of the Day”, which expands my vocabulary and investor knowledge.

Yahoo Finance is my source for news on specific stocks. I make it an effort to keep up on the news of the stocks that I’m invested in or have interest in for future investment. Enter the ticker symbol and you can see all the current news for that company.

Browse the Internet! Take advantage of the Internet if you have access to it. Assuming you can read, you can learn just about anything you desire. There is infinite content out there from text, audio and visual. If there’s something I want to learn, the first thing I check is the Internet. A thing to remember when using the Internet to learn something, make sure it’s a reliable source.

Taking Control

Hulu recently launched and it’s changing the way I watch TV. The launch of Hulu has taken me one step closer to freedom from my television. Hulu in conjunction with some major studios has brought premium video content to it’s users.

Many of the shows that I watch are on Hulu, so I love it. If I miss something I know I can watch it on Hulu in the next few days. There are no worries about missing my favorite shows or recording any more. Now I control when I watch my TV shows.

I’ve been part of the beta version of Hulu and since it’s launched it’s been jacked up with more shows. It also has movies, so it’s also changing where I watch movies.

All the videos are high quality that Hulu offers and it’s making it’s way towards HD as well. Hulu you are the future of television watching. (Adam has given his praise to Hulu already)

iTunes Podcast is another thing that is changing my TV viewing habits. Similar to Hulu I’m able to subscribe to Podcast of shows that I watch regularly and have it available just in case I miss them like CNBC’s Fast Money and Mad Money with Jim Cramer.

It’s all for free, to take a little more control of your life and expand your knowledge with the all the things I mentioned above. Make yourself smarter with Google Reader, email and browsing the Internet. Take more control of your life by watching shows on demand with Hulu and Podcasts. The Internet has so much to offer and I strongly recommend taking advantage of it if you can, I am and will continue to.

Comments (0)

We have a video version of the definition of Tastefully Driven for your viewing pleasures and some sweet beats for your ears, check it out.

Comments (0)