My mom, who is a teacher, forwarded me this great presentation by Dan Meyer titled “Math Class Needs a Makeover”.

This video struck home as I have a freshman in High School who I’d love to see his critical thinking and thirst for knowledge continue to be a life long passion.  But it all starts with a strong foundation.  The way Mr. Meyer is teaching is the way some of my best mechanical engineering professors and teaching assistants taught, especially in labs.  But now he’s got the advantage of so many cool technologies that make it that much easier.

I look forward to seeing more of Mr. Meyer’s work.

If you’d like to learn more about Dan Meyer or his work, go to his website at http://blog.mrmeyer.com/.

For those of you on the go a lot and have decided to use Kayako’s support suite and have a blackberry, Craig Brass created a nice little blackberry app for Kayako that I’m testing out.  I don’t always receive the support notification emails so this is a great way to quickly and easily respond to customer support questions and affiliate questions.

To check it out, go to Cool App Lab.

Click here to view basic installation instructions.

If you are looking to download the trial on your blackberry without connecting to your computer first, open your blackberry browser, then go to http://cbsshort.com/otadl/2 to download the over the air version.

Once installed, you’ll need to open the Ticket Client for Kayako on your blackberry.  Select Continue Trial.

Click the blackberry button and select Accounts.

Click the blackberry button again and select New Account.

Enter the name that you refer to your support portal and specific login.

Enter the URL.  Be sure to include the http://yourdomainname.com/support/. You do not need to include the /staff/ at the end.

Enter the username you use to log into your support staff account.

Enter the password you use to log into your support staff account.

Escape out of the screen and click Save. Click escape until you get back to the main screen that says Ticket Client for Kayako at the top.

Click the blackberry button again and this time click Sync.

If you get the following error message, you’ll need to change your Kayako support config file.

Error: Session expired. Please disable IP session checking.

If you have questions, go to the support forum.  Craig seems to answer the questions well and appears to look for ways to improve his app which is always a good sign.

The only thing he could improve upon are his setup instructions as the ones on the support forum are more installation instructions.  I’ve tried to summarize the steps I took above to help you from having to spend too much time trying to find the answers you need in his support forum.

There also appears to be a forum on the Kayako site as well here: http://forums.kayako.com/threads/blackberry-ticket-client-for-kayako.19023/

Hope it helps!

If you use 1ShoppingCart and WishList Member and were disappointed when you found out that the WishList member integration with 1ShoppingCart was only Simple Integration, you’ll be happy to hear that with the new release to WishList Member v2.5, they now offer Full Integration with 1ShoppingCart.

What does that mean?  You no longer have to manually unsubscribe someone as a member when their credit card fails.  This is a huge time save.

A big thank you to the WishList member team!!

They still do not offer a directory plugin…so time to find one that integrates well with this new version.  If you have any suggestions on a good WordPress Directory Plugin, let me know in the comments below or via my contact form.  Thanks!

Back on December 14, 2010, Microsoft had an update for Outlook 2007 that was a major “fail”.  If you are looking for a solution, Microsoft has a post on their blog with instructions on how to uninstall the update.  Also, if you use Gmail or a similar email provider, you should be sure to check that the SPA box is unchecked.  I waited several days to look online to find the solution.  Hopefully this post will help a few other people and to get the word out farther.

Microsoft’s Blog Post – Issues with the recent update for Outlook 2007

Here’s an excerpt of the solution but would be a good idea to read their full blog post to see what all is affected.

Uninstalling KB2412171 on Windows 7 or Windows Vista

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Programs, and then under Programs and Features, click View installed updates.
3. Click the entry for KB2412171, and then click Uninstall.

Uninstalling KB2412171 on Windows XP

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Add or Remove Programs, and then make sure that the Show Updates check box is selected.
3. Click the entry for KB2412171, and then click Remove.

After 5 Years at White Rock Lake, Local Outreach Effort and Fundraiser Moves to a Larger Stage

Dallas, TX – October 4, 2010 – John Killian, Chairman of Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), the largest non-profit organization in the United States focused on finding a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Duchenne), and his wife Stefanie Killian, announced today that the 6^th Annual Sam’s Day will take place on October 30, 2010 from 11am to 5pm at NorthPark Center in Dallas. Sam’s Day is named for the Killian’s son Sam (8 years old), the youngest of four children, who was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy in early 2005. Sam’s Day was started in October of the same year by the Killian’s financial advisor and close personal friend, Chris Messick, CFP of Northwestern Mutual.

In its first five years, Sam’s Day was held at White Rock Lake in Dallas, but the event organizers were looking for a new venue this year to increase the event’s exposure, and found a willing partner in NorthPark Center. According to NorthPark’s Coordinator of Special Events, Lona Crabb, “We are excited about the opportunity to help grow Sam’s Day – we think it is a great opportunity to host a fun-filled, family focused event and it fits well with our goal of supporting our local community.”

Sam’s Day has become an annual destination for Dallas residents. It is a free, family-friendly event with bounce houses, obstacle course, clowns, face painters, magicians, and lots of other kid-friendly entertainment including performances by David Chicken and the Spooky Strings Marionette Show. The event will also feature a silent auction that will include items such as a seven day stay in a 3,000+ sq ft condo in Puerto Vallarta along with other travel packages, sports tickets, and sports memorabilia. This year’s event will have a Halloween theme.

Sam’s Day founder Chris Messick, who received a Northwestern Mutual Foundation community service award last year for his work on Sam’s Day which included a donation of $10,000 to the charity, is especially excited about this sixth anniversary year, and the move to NorthPark Center. “We really didn’t know what to expect the first year we held Sam’s Day. And now, here we are, five years later with an event that we are proud to say has increased awareness about Duchenne in the Dallas area and raised over $500,000 for research to help the thousands of amazing kids like Sam who are fighting this terrible disease. Our move to NorthPark Center will help make Sam’s Day 2010 our biggest event ever. ”

The Killians, while happy that people attend Sam’s Day to have fun as a family, emphasize the underlying message of the day. John says, “Fun games and great entertainment are all part of what have made Sam’s Day a success over the last five years. But what really excites us, are the conversations it sparks in the families that attend. Sam’s Day gives parents an opportunity to talk to their own children about what it means to face adversity in life, and to talk about accepting people with different physical and mental abilities. Sam is especially excited about the move to NorthPark Center – he thinks it will be the best Sam’s Day ever!”

Sam’s mom, Stefanie, adds, “There are so many distractions in today’s world making it tougher and tougher for families to connect with each other while having fun doing it. We wanted to create an experience that our family would enjoy going to and then hopefully, other families would want to come as well. CenterPark at NorthPark Center will be a beautiful new venue for us to welcome all of the families.”

Sponsors of Sam’s Day include Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P., ING, NorthPark Center,Vinson and Elkins, Northwestern Mutual, Asset Intertech Inc, Wischmeyer Benefit Partners, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Chicago Title, CB Richard Ellis, and Fire Safety First.

For more information on Sam’s Day, please visit www.SamsDayTexas.org.

About Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Duchenne, the most common form of childhood muscular dystrophy, is a progressive and fatal muscle disorder affecting boys and young men that causes the loss of muscle function, wheelchair dependency and a decline in respiratory and cardiac function. It occurs in 1 in 3,500 births making it the most common fatal genetic disorder diagnosed in childhood.

About PPMD

Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) is a national not-for-profit organization founded in 1994 by parents of children with Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy. The organization’s mission is to improve the treatment, quality of life and long-term outlook for all individuals affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy through research, advocacy, education and compassion. PPMD is headquartered in Middletown, Ohio with offices in Fort Lee, New Jersey. For more information, visit www.parentprojectmd.org.

For the full press release click here.

So by now if you have a gmail account, you’ve probably been introduced to Buzz. Google automatically created an account for you in your gmail account.

If you want to turn it off, it takes a little more effort to find. I went into my gmail settings thinking they’d have added it there, but no settings for Buzz were to be found.

At the very bottom of the gmail window in the footer is a link where you can turn off buzz.

When you go to Google’s FAQ section here is their instructions:

Turning Buzz off

If you don’t want to use Buzz, you can disable it. To completely remove all of your participation in Buzz, follow all of these steps in order:

1. Delete your Google profile. Here’s how.
2. Block all of the people following you. Here’s how.
3. Turn off Buzz at the bottom of Gmail. Here’s how.

Read more about Disabling Buzz.

To read the full article go to Google Buzz: User Control Features.

Did you know Google also allows you to create a user profile that is publicly viewable?  Be careful of what information you share!

My husband showed me another great tool the other night called WebsiteGrader.com.  It gives some great insights into areas where you are doing well and areas that need improvement.

The creators of WebsiteGrader.com founded HubSpot and have also written a book called “Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (The New Rules of Social Media)” by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah.  I’m reading through that now to see where we missed obvious items that can help our sites get found better.  I’ll let you know what items end up working the best.

Haven’t heard of Sam’s Day Texas or Sam’s Family Fun Day before?

We’ll if you are in the DFW Area on Saturday, October 24, 2009, come out to Flagpole Hill at White Rock Lake between 10 am and 2 pm to have some fun with your family and friends while also benefiting boys with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.  The charity event and silent auction donations benefit Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy and help to fund research to End Duchennes.

This is the 5th Annual Sam’s Day in honor of Sam Killian, the son of one of my coworkers, who has Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy.

There will be all sorts of fun things for kids and families including bounce houses, inflatable slides, human hamster balls, a mobile gaming unit, face painters, food and more.

For More Information about Sam’s Day go to http://samsdaytexas.com/sams-day-texas-2009/

If you are unable to attend, please donate by going to http://www.parentprojectmd.org/Sam5.

Friday, at the Frisco Internet Entreprenuer Meetup, I learned that you can claim your name on Facebook to make it easier for your friends and family to access your Facebook account.  To claim your name on Facebook, click here.

A few warnings:

1) You can only claim one name so be sure to select well and double check for typos or spelling errors.

2) Your username is not transferable so don’t select someone else’s name to be funny since there will not be a way to transfer it.

3) The username must be 5 letters or longer.

To learn more about Facebooks Usernames, check out their help section.

Since my first name is only 4 letters and my married name is so common I stuck with the ongoing theme and selelected thesarayoung.  You can now get to my facebook account via http://www.Facebook.com/thesarayoung.