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Hey, the budget deficit is only in the Trillions of dollars.  Why not throw a little money to start-up engineers in the hope that it’ll spur the economy.  Too little, too late?  Not government’s job?

Starting this September at Standford University, the Innovation Corps program will give $50k to each of 100 new “start-up” companies every year.  The members of these 3-person-minimum companies must go through an intensive entrepreneurial education class associated with the University and the money isn’t a “investment,” at least not using the normal vernacular.

The $50k/company is free money.  No stock, no payback, no obligation.

The Feds are “investing” $10 million to try and change the course of MBA programs.  Turns out that an MBA just isn’t particularly useful if you’re not looking to work for one of the Fortune-500 companies.

Best of luck to these start-ups.  Hopefully the schools can help send them in a successful direction now that they’ve got more money even though their previous education turned out to not be so useful.

Related articles

• Feds Giving Engineers and Scientists $50K to Learn to Start Companies (wired.com)
• Is an MBA Worth It? (getrichslowly.org)
• What motivates serial entrepreneurs? (venturebeat.com)

It is easily portable, just 7 inch, designed to bring how-to titles to life.   It revolutionizes traditional cookbooks, travel guides, parenting primers, and home improvement books by bringing them to life with video clips, images, and sound. It’s never been easier or more fun to master the things you’ve dreamed of doing.

miBook has various titles such as Cooking, Decorate Garden, Build and Repair, Fun and Healthy Pregnancy, new born babies, travel, etc.

miBook Parenting Titles walk new Fathers through everyday tasks, such as changing a diaper and warming a bottle, with easy to follow visual instructions.

Cooking titles guide the viewer in planning a menu and fixing a complete meal, stopping after 3 minute vignettes in order to let the viewer keep up, perfect for new cooks.   It helps to move through recipes in a step-by-step, seeing exactly how your craeation should look every step of the way.

Don’t just read it – see it!

Hundreds of projects come alive with video clips, images & sound.  Move through each project step-by-step, seeing how it should look at every turn. miBook stops automatically after each step, letting you work with expert skill & confidence. Push play to move on whenever you’re ready. With a few button taps, you’re onto a world of possibilities. Pick a project & work like a pro!

Includes 2 home titles: Home Projects – 150 everyday projects – install light fixtures, TV’s, dimmers, PC networks, thermostats & more: refinish floors & organize. Home Repairs – 150 everyday repairs – - leaky faucets, wall cracks, lamps and much more.

Available in More Titles: Cooking, Decorating, Gardening, Parenting, Travel, Repair, Fun and Healthy Pregnancy & more.

Share your digital photos: You can also use miBook as a digital photo frame. You’ll be able to show off hundreds of photos at the touch of a button. The beautiful 7” LCD display makes your photos and videos look great-no matter the format. Control the show with the included remote or let photos run automatically in a slideshow.

Enjoy your favorite MP3 tunes through the two built-in speakers or the headphone jack. With just a couple of simple clicks, you can even put your slideshows to music.

You can keep track of time with the built-in calendar and clock. It adjusts brightness, contrast and color with ease. And switch between standard 4:3 and 16:9 widescreen display modes. These are some of the cool features of miBook

You can play home videos or videos you download from the internet. To enjoy your favorite images, simply plug in your camera’s memory card (SD/MS/MCC/XD).  If you want to transfer photos music and videos from your computer, use the USB cable which is provided with miBook. AC adapter and rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack included.

Its suggested retail price is $129.99 for a package with two titles, $19.99 for each additional title.  It is available at Bed Bath & Beyond, Linens-n-Things and at more than 800 The Source locations across
Canada.

Bruce
C.E.O.,
Photoco Inc.

Bruce Teicher -  A biography

Mr. Teicher is a graduate of Amherst College, Columbia Law School, and Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. After school, he worked briefly as an attorney, then founded a consumer magazine about law to help people with their everyday legal problems.

He joined CBS, where he helped fight for media access to courtrooms. He then moved to Viacom, where he structured television production deals with networks, actors, producers, and writers. After Viacom, he returned to his writing roots and worked as a television writer for numerous network TV shows.  Most recently, he’s worked as C.E.O. at Photoco, a consumer products company that specializes in consumer electronics.

About miBook:

miBook, a portable multimedia book designed for playing “how-to” titles. It’s 7 inches and launching with titles from Parents.tv (parenting titles cater to new dads and dads with toddlers), HGTV, Food Network and DIY Network. The titles take the viewer through a series of easy-to-follow steps and since the device is so small, it’s easy to tote from task to task.

Image via Wikipedia

Jobs in science, technology, engineering and math fields pay an average 26% more than other occupations and grew three times faster the past decade, according to a Commerce Department study.

The Obama administration is citing the report partly to put numbers behind its push to invest more to increase jobs in so-called STEM fields. Many employers lament a dire shortage of highly skilled workers despite 9.2% unemployment.

From 2000 to 2010, STEM jobs grew 7.9% to 7.6 million, three times the rate of other fields, the study by Commerce’s Economics and Statistics Administration says.

They’re expected to swell 17% from 2008 to 2018, vs. 9.8% for other jobs.

Read the full article here at USA Today.

Related articles

• More Jobs, Rising Pay Seen in Science & Technology Fields (livescience.com)
• STEM Jobs Help America Win the Future (whitehouse.gov)

Our guests include:

• Jeff Sherwood of BigWords.com who will discuss how to get the best price for college text books — if you’re buying or selling.
• Karen Sohl of Home.Cisco.Com will talk about bringing your own WiFi router to school for your college dorm room.
• Tysun McKay of Texas Instruments will talk about their latest calculators, the TI nSpire cx at education.ti.com
• Jerry Cimadomo of Ectaco.com will discuss their full line of electronic dictionaries and language learning.
• Andrew Hemingway will talk about the first-ever Presidential Twitter Debate at http://140townhall.com/
• Evan Jones of BillMyParents.com will talk about a new service which allows Parents, Family and Friends to be able to provide money via credit cards to students at school.
• Kevin Johnson of eBates.com will talk about online coupons and rebates that work for college students and everyday life.
• Alan Pugh of GeekSquad.com will give some buying tips for computers and more for college.
• Clieff Wener of Vumber.com will talk about how to save money on phone calls to and from kids at school by using a second phone number on any cell phone.
• Gordon Freedman will be our last guest talking about the new features at BlackBoard.com and what new students can expect to find at BlackBoard.

What are the best and newest technologies for college or just improvements in the old stuff?

• Calculators
• Computers
• Note-Taking
• Debit/Credit Cards
• Peer-to-peer problems (copyright infringement)
• Writing Papers
• Plagerism & Cheating
• Reading Books
• Studying
• Dorm Life

I’ve been a Livescribe Pen fan for a couple of years now and use one myself all the time. I’ve recommended them to friends and acquaintances as they make note taking extremely simple and effective.

A quick note to let you know that I’ve received a new Livescribe Echo Pen for evaluation from them. I’ll let you know about the new features, and we’ll probably have them on the radio show.  I’m really looking forward to this one.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Livescribe Echo Smart Pen Even Cleverer than Predecessor (fastcompany.com)

Congratulations to Brian S. of Manchester and Todd E. of Nashua, our winners of the Klipsch S4 in-ear speakers. These high-end in-ear speakers will allow them to have a private concert experience anytime they listen. Thank you to Klipsch for providing these give-aways to our listeners.

Rosetta Stone has created software that runs on your computer and helps teach you another language the same way you learned your first language — through immersion, interaction and pictures.

From their web site: "Build a foundation of fundamental German vocabulary and essential language structure. Gain the confidence to begin to learn and speak German. Master basic conversational skills, including greetings and introductions, simple questions and answers, shopping and much more."

We have more give-aways scheduled over the next weeks.  Make sure you’re subscribed to our Listener List to find out how to enter.

About Jeff:

Dr. Naber joined MTU in August of 2004. Prior to joining MTU, he worked in the automotive industry on R&D of engine-management-systems for gasoline and diesel engines. He also worked at Sandia National Laboratories, CRF investigating sprays and combustion processes of diesel, natural gas, and hydrogen engines utilizing laser based diagnostics. He and fellow colleagues direct the Advanced Internal Combustion Laboratories (AICE) at the University. His research interests are in IC engines and after-treatment and the development and application of advanced experimental techniques, signal processing technologies, theoretical models, and embedded control to characterize the thermo-physical processes.

The areas under investigation include:

• Combustion processes and combustion control of hydrogen and hydrogen dual fuelled engines,

• Biofuels including ethanol with production from forest products and application in advanced combustion engines,

• Gasoline IC engine research and the development of physical based correlations and models,

Development of combustion measurement techniques for diesel, gasoline, and HCCI and PPCI engines.

About Michigan Tech University:

• The Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics at Michigan Tech is proud to have been selected as the THE FIRST MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM in the Peace Corps Masters International Program.

• Mechanical Engineering is the Top In-Demand Major according to the Yahoo Hot Jobs, and based on the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) in the Spring 2008 Salary Survey. Mechanical engineering grads received a healthy 5.3 percent increase over 2007, boosting their average offer to $57,009. More about Engineering Jobs

• Michigan Tech ME Team wins Regional Student Design Competition
A ME Senior Design Team (Team 20) won the Regional Student Design Competition at the Student Professional Development Conference held in Columbia, Missouri on March 28-30, 2008.

• Our Graduate Program is ranked 48th nationally among the 165 doctoral granting Mechanical Engineering Departments in the U.S. by the 2009 U.S. News & World Report: America’s Best Graduate Schools

• NSF ranked the ME-EM Department 21st in Research Expenditures in FY2006 with $10.238 Million among all Mechanical Engineering Departments in the U.S.

Our Undergraduate Program is ranked 22nd nationally among doctoral-granting Mechanical Engineering Departments in the U.S. by the 2008 U.S. News & World Report: America’s Best Colleges

ME-EM Undergraduate Program is currently 9th in the U.S. in BSME degrees granted. We have been in the top 9 in this category for the past 24 consecutive years.

The Keweenaw Research Center and the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering at Michigan Tech will host the 2009 SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge (CSC) during March 16-21, 2009 and has hosted it for the last 6 years.

Just visit BookSwim.com and search your favourite book and order. They will ship the book to you at your doorstep. You can read at your own pace at your home or vacation for a low monthly subscription. Not only this, if you find the book interesting, you can keep it by paying a discounted rate. So, what do you think about this interesting idea?

BookSwim offers gift cards for Father’s Day. Give your Dad total choice of what books he wants to read. BookSwim gift cards can be purchased with no minimum amount online. Monthly rental plans start at $14.99 for upwards of two books per month. BookSwim is offering a special Father’s Day promo code on its site that will provide $5 off a $30 gift card purchase (or higher) and $15 off a $90 (or higher) gift card purchase. The promo code is “FATHERSDAY1.”

About 20 million trees are cut down annually for virgin paper used in the production of books sold in the U.S. alone. Renting a book instead of purchasing means that less paper is consumed and, ultimately, fewer trees are cut down.

Below is BookSwim’s Rental Plans. Also, check out for other subscription plans such as yearly plans and gift membership.

$14.99/mo – 2 Books At-A-Time (return 2 at a time, hold 0)
$19.99/mo – 3 Books At-A-Time (return 2 at a time, hold 1)
$23.99/mo – 5 Books At-A-Time (return 3 at a time, hold 2)
$27.99/mo – 7 Books At-A-Time (return 3 at a time, hold 4)
$31.99/mo – 9 Books At-A-Time (return 3 at a time, hold 6)
$35.99/mo – 11 Books At-A-Time (return 4 at a time, hold 7)

Subscription includes fee shipping both ways. There is no contract and you can cancel at any time. BookSwim will not charge and due dates and delays. You can opt for any of the three plans – yourself, an account, or gift membership.

During any given week, the average bestseller costs more than $20. Read three of these in a month and you’re spending over $60! What you’re paying for is the right to own the book.

If you fall in love with a book and want to keep it? No problem! You can pay for it online and then immediately receive another book from your list. It’s that easy! This is a unique feature of BookSwim.

So, happy reading with low cost ever.

George Burke
Co-Founder and CMO
Bookswim

George Burke – A biography

George got his start as lead web designer for the Aviation Department of the Port Authority of NY & NJ, charged with the maintenance of websites for John F. Kennedy Int’l Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty Int’l Airport. In addition to developing websites for Teterboro Airport and Downtown Manhattan Heliport, George developed and maintained an Air Cargo website. You can thank him for that time your luggage didn’t end up on the other side of the country.

He later utilized his web experience as the Director of Internet Marketing for online graphic design school, Sessions.edu. There, George developed his passion for search engine optimization, managing advertising accounts and developing new market initiatives.

Before co-founding BookSwim, George started the new media design company, Circular Orb, LLC, becoming a leader in the growing market of Artisan e-commerce. Under Circular Orb, he personally managed projects for over 40 of clients before selling the company in 2006.

George holds a BS in Information Technology, with a Multimedia Concentration, and a Minor in Management from New Jersey Institute of Technology, where he spent many an evening reading at his local bookstore due to the utterly inequitable lack of girls on campus. An avid musician and songwriter, George brings his guitar to work every day.

About Bookswim:

BookSwim.com, is a Netflix for books, offering unlimited rentals per month on a monthly subscription plan. BookSwim is the first online book rental library club lending you paperbacks and hardcovers netflix-style directly to your house without the need to purchase! Whether it’s New Releases, Bestsellers, or Classics, they have got over 200,000 titles to choose from, with free shipping both ways! Read your books as long as you want. — no late fees! Even choose to purchase and keep the titles you love!

A revolutionary breakthrough from Modality and Raybook is revolutionizing the way kids and adults learn. They are providing technology which helps people learn on the move.

Modality is a technology company based in Durham, NC, making learning applications for iPods and iPhones. Modality work with publishers to take premium branded content (for example Brain Quest, Netter’s Anatomy, CliffsNotes, How to Grill) and put it on the iPod.

The modality platform combines text, photos, and sometimes audio and video into a single learning package for your iPod. What’s unique about the content is that it’s primarily visual, which makes for effective learning. People love podcasts and audiobooks, but they also recognize that people learn better when it presents in a visual manner.

It’s interactive and students learn valuable skills by reading step by step instruction, then watching a video. Students can also read an out-of-the way bistro in Paris, and then pinpoint it on a map.

Raybooks have a range of innovative, highly visual products including titles in elementary education, medical education, and consumer learning. Titles for clickwheel iPods are available at Error! Hyperlink reference not valid., and the forthcoming titles for the iPhone and iPod touch will be available from iTunes and from the forthcoming App Store, which will allow users to download content directly to their iPhone or iPod touch.

Raybook can frame the conversation based on the diversity of products moving from more core educational products to consumer learning.

Elementary (Brain Quest, Math Facts, U.S. Geography, Early Education, Telling Time). As all parents know, learning does not and should not stop when Memorial Day hits and students get out of school. Kids also need learning opportunities at home, in the car, when travelling. That’s the beauty of our products: because they’re on iPods and iPhones, children can learn whenever and wherever they want.

You’d be surprised how many young children have their own iPod, and I know that parents really want them to be able to use these devices for more than just listening to music. We’ve found that they have the capability to be amazing tools for learning as well. And even if children don’t have their own personal iPod, their parents often do. In the car or on a plane, parents can pass their iPods back to their kids and let the learning begin…

Whether it is a rainy day or long car ride to your vacation destination, the Raybook titles for iPod will keep kids sharp during the summer months. The elementary education titles offer kids a similar experience to traditional paper-based flash cards, but in a more portable and fun format. They deliver engaging educational content to a device that is already part of many students’ everyday entertainment, making it more enjoyable and reinforcing fundamental learning concepts when they’re not in school.

Raybooks have products for college and medical students. They also have consumer learning titles, particularly cooking, bartending, Travel, Outdoors, Arts and Crafts, titles (we can talk more here about Mr. Boston, Betty Crocker, How to Grill, 101 Margaritas).

Great for summer cocktail parties, BBQ’s, even just taking to the grocery store…

Bob Pleasants
Modality

Bob Pleasants – A biography

Bob Pleasants leads Modality’s education business development activities, including content selection, institutional sales, and partnerships. He participates in product design and QA to ensure the educational quality of each Raybook.

Bob is a former high school English teacher, coordinator of educational programs at Duke University, and anti-violence community educator. He has a BA in English, a Master’s in Teaching English, and a Ph.D. in Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. When he’s not working, he’s running, cooking, or reading.

Now you can buy and read your favorite magazines while you are on the move — at a low, digital price.  You can also download these magazines on your desktop, laptop or on your iPhone and keep up to date with the latest happenings.

Zinio gives you the ultimate magzine platform.  I’ve been using it for the past few months and found that it saves time, gives me a better experience than even the paper magazines and saves me money.  For a nominal subscription fee, Zinio allows you to download magazines of your choice onto your computer when they become available from the publisher.  You can also read them at the zinio library.   Zinio uses its own reader that can be accessed online, through web browser—no software installations or downloads required.  You should be subscriber to download the reader.  By bringing the reading experience online, Zinio is recreating the same great reading experience, and providing users the immediacy and convenience of online.

• We love Dads: A good amount of Zinio’s success can be attributed to “dad’s” who are among our most avid readers and loyal customers.  One of Zinio’s strengths is their robust selection of both business titles and entertainment related titles.  Whether it’s BusinessWeek, or Boating magazine, they provide visitors with the ability to customize their digital reading experience.
• Video and High Fidelity images:  The Zinio reading experience actually takes magazine reading to a whole new level.  You know the difference a high definition TV makes – imagine if your magazine images could look that good?  Or even better, with added video!  Each one of Zinio’s digital magazines are given the utmost care and attention to detail whenever imagery is involved.   The technology allows a reader to zoom in, jotting notes, highlight specific words, or sentences on these magazines.  So quality will not suffer since it is using HD technology.  You can jot your notes is a good features.  Some people have the tendency to write notes at the end of the pages or right side of the pages.
• Mobility:  Many Dad’s we all know and love have a long commute every day, or travel quite a bit. For that reason (and many others) Zinio labs has focused on creating a reading experience you can take with you. With our iPhone, iTouch application, you can browse and read on the go, where-ever, whenever.  And even better you can access any Zinio digital magazine when you are on your computer or laptop, but not on the internet using our downloadable reader.
• Archives: Who doesn’t need to reduce clutter?  Zinio makes this necessary task bear-able by holding over 8 years of magazine archives inside our newsstand.  Now, when you are looking for that old article on Lance Armstrong, or that secret barbeque recipe, you don’t need to page through stacks of magazines, you can open your Zinio library and quickly search through editorial articles and ads within seconds.   Contents can be archived with your notes.  Any note or highlighting is preserved in your library.  You can also search for notes or highlighted words at a later date. So, notes won’t vanish.
• Issues or Subscriptions: For Father’s Day digital subscriptions are often times less expensive than their print counterparts or you don’t need to invest in a full year. With Zinio, you can also choose from any single issues. Imagine how happy Dad will be with 3 issues of Men’s Journal, followed by 3 issues of Car and Driver and then 3 issues The Sporting News, with a few Harvard Business Reviews just to make it look good. Zinio lets you build a custom experience that meets your Dad’s needs.  You can access free business magazines too.

Zinio is continuously developing new applications, which can take care of highlighting, annotations, search inside, and additional printing options.  Zinio is moving toward digital creation and advertisements.  Also have plans to incorporate audio and videos on magazines.

Jeanniey Mullen
Global Executive Vice President
Chief Marketing Officer
Zinio

Jeanniey Mullen – A biography

Jeanniey Mullen is the Global Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Zinio Systems and VIV Magazine. In her role at Zinio and VIV, Jeanniey is charged with reinventing the publishing industry as a digital cornerstone of the consumer’s lifestyle.

She is also the founder and Executive Chair of the Email Experience Council (recently purchased by the DMA).

Prior to her role at Zinio and VIV, Jeanniey was the Senior Partner, and Global Executive Director of the Email Marketing and Digital Dialogue Practice at OgilvyOne Worldwide. In her role at Ogilvy, Jeanniey was responsible for leading the worldwide efforts that use digital dialogues and email to create powerful, meaningful and profitable customer communication strategies for Ogilvy clients, including IBM, American Express and Yahoo!
Prior to her role at Zinio and VIV, Jeanniey was the Senior Partner, and Global Executive Director of the Email Marketing and Digital Dialogue Practice at OgilvyOne Worldwide. In her role at Ogilvy, Jeanniey was responsible for leading the worldwide efforts that use digital dialogues and email to create powerful, meaningful and profitable customer communication strategies for Ogilvy clients, including IBM, American Express and Yahoo!

Jeanniey’s experience spans across B2C and B2B initiatives and many verticals including publishing, entertainment and events.

Prior to joining OgilvyOne, Jeanniey founded and ran her own interactive agency, The Lift Network. Before that, she served as the CMO and EVP at Avalon Digital Marketing Systems, where she helped launch one of the first B2B email platforms that incorporated on-demand video into the email message. Prior to Avalon, Jeanniey was the Global GM and VP of the email marketing department. Before entering the advertising agency world, Jeanniey was the Director of Customer Relations and Marketing Experience for JCPenney’s five key businesses, Store, Catalog, Direct, CreditCard and Insurance, Jeanniey is recognized in the industry as pioneering the first global email marketing practice, and was named one of the top 25 media people to watch while at Grey Direct.

Jeanniey’s expertise in the discipline spans both the B2B and B2C industries. In addition to her board position at the eec, Jeanniey is a columnist for ClickZ, has published numerous white papers and best practice guides, has been appeared in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. She is a frequent keynote speaker on the topics of email and digital marketing for organizations like Media Post, ClickZ, DMA, Shop.org and many others.

About Zinio

Zinio is the global leader for digital publishing products and services. Zinio provides publishers with new circulation and revenue growth opportunities through its comprehensive offerings from marketing programs that include customer acquisition, retention and cross-promotion to seamless production services, a robust e-commerce engine and extensive digital delivery, circulation and fulfillment services.

Major publishing partners include, Bonnier, Hearst, IDG, Gruner + Jahr, Hachette Filipacchi, IPC Media, Mariah Media, McGraw-Hill, The National Magazine Company, Playboy Enterprises, Source Interlink, Rogers Publishing and Ziff Davis. Zinio has offices in San Francisco and New York with several franchisees worldwide. For more information, or to purchase any of the digital magazine-specific titles offered by Zinio, please visit http://www.zinio.com.

Are you fond of writing books?   Have you stored a lot of photos on your hard disk or CD / DVD?  Then, why don’t you start creating a book and sell it?

The free innovative software, BlurbBookSmart, from Blurb will do all the above for you — and help you sell your works when they’re done.

Blurb is a creative book publishing platform that enables anyone – photographers, bloggers, artists, writers, travelers, families, anyone – to produce quality books.  To start a Blurb book, simply visit www.blurb.com and download Blurb’s free BookSmart software to your PC.  If you are using Mac or Windows, it doesn’t care.  It works on cross platform.

Blurb has created pre-defined layouts designed by designers, which will help you to create your own books. You can pick up any of the layouts designed by professional book designers and many tools to customize your book. It’s as easy as “dragging and dropping” your content into the layouts of your choice.

You can create books from any formats and insert images, edit texts and many more.  It has a good collections of font support and image library to manage images.  You can shoot your own images and import photos from your collection -  digital camcoder, CD / DVD or any other format.

You can create many types of books – Photobooks, Business Books, Wedding Books, Blog Books, Cook Book, etc.  If you are not familiar with book ideas, you can take help from blurb support or join Blub Forum.

Blurb offers four book sizes – 7×7”, 10×8”, 8×10” and 13×11”.  You can produce your book in softcover, hardcover with a dust jacket, or hardcover ImageWrap. ImageWrap is a brand new offering from Blurb that prints your cover image directly onto the front and back of the book, resulting in a sophisticated matte finish.

Blurb’s BookStore and online marketing tools let people share, market and sell their books, and keep 100% of the markup.

Blurb produced nearly 90,000 unique titles in 2007. Blurb was recently honored with a Webby Award for Best Services Website of 2008.

Self-published photography books are undergoing a renaissance with the democratization of publishing and this year.  Blurb is presenting photographyBookNow – an international Salon & Symposium series of events along with a photography book competition open to anyone who’d like to submit their self-published work.  The deadline to enter is July 14 and the grand prize is $25,000.   For more details, check out www.photographybooknow.com.

If you are facebook member, you can use now use Blurb’s new GroupBook application to collaborate on a book project with your Facebook friends.  Initiate a project and invite your friends to contribute photos through the GroupBook application.  You can all view everyone else’s contributions…making it a fun bookmaking experience for the group.

Chad Jennings
VP, Product Design
Blurb

Chad Jennings – A biography

Chad was one of the first members of the Blurb team and helped build the company’s user-friendly and professionally-designed BookSmart software.

Before being enticed into the world of books with Blurb, Chad was the face behind many an interface during his days at Method and SmartDesign, working with brands like Gucci, Macromedia, Reuters, HP, Samsung and Palm to give consumer products a friendly interface.

Blurb is a startup that allows anyone to create customized books (as in, a real, tangible book that you can hold).  Using the company’s BookSmart software (Mac and PC), users can create photo books, portfolios, business books, wedding books, blog books and more.  Books can either be created for self-use or shared, marketed and sold at cost or for profit in Blurb’s online bookstore. Blurb authors get to keep 100% of the book’s mark-up.

In October of 2007, the company introduced features that let users collaboratively create books and share photos.

Blurb initially launched in May of 2006 with a tool to turn your blog into a book. The service has since been expanded.   Many of Blurb’s competitors like Lulu and iUniverse tend to focus on creating books out of manuscripts, rather that photo-oriented books. Picaboo appears to be Blurb’s closest competitor.

There are now Space Camp programs for Children, Adults and even for Corporate events. Children will learn more about space, space shuttle, robotics, mars etc in these camp programs. These programs enhance teamwork, self-confidence and communication and these will be achieved through state-of-the-art simulations, missions, rocket building and robotics.  For scholarship, photo gallery, international camps, and more information about these camps, visit http://www.spacecamp.com/category.php?cat=Space

Participants will have three fields of specialized study (or track options) to choose from: Aviation, Space, and Robotics tracks.

Aviation Track

Kids will learn flight dynamics, wilderness survival, teamwork, and spend time in high-performance jet fighter simulators. They learn all the skills that an American fighter pilots use to rule the skies.

What makes an airplane fly? It’ll teach them the principles of flight, not in the classroom, but standing next to an F-16 or F-14 planes!

Space Track

In addition to a Shuttle Mission, space track campers go through extensive Mars training to prepare for interplanetary travel. They will learn about the planet, its soil, geology, climate and atmosphere. They will also receive crew assignments, and set ready to go!

Settle into your new home – Mars Outpost – Alpha Station. Explore the surface of Mars. Conduct experiments on the soil and rocks collected, as well as keeping everything on board the Mars Outpost running smoothly. Once the mission is complete, it is time to head home to Earth.

Robotics Track

Kids will learn how to rescue astronauts from the International Space Station! 10 hours of designing and programming a robot using LEGO Mindstorm software and materials.

Kids form team of four to five and create the ultimate robotic rover, using an unlimited array of gears, pulleys, sensors, and other parts. Then they program the robot to perform tasks at the ISS using the latest computer software. They test their creations and compete with other groups to save stranded astronauts and deliver supplies to the space station.

There are 10 space programs to choose depending on your age. All the below mentioned programs follow the above three tracks.

Space Camp program duration is 3 – 6 days. It uses space to excite and educate children ages 9-11 in the fields of math, science and technology. In space camp, everything you will learn about Space Shuttle Systems and life aboard the Orbiter and Space Station. Kids can try out space food, learn to sleep in space and even how to go to the bathroom in space! To know more about the program, click here.

Space Academy is an increased intensity program of astronaut and mission training and academics. Simulated missions to a space station and crew rotation highlight the week. Trainees who want to be Astronauts must learn to think like astronauts and our Space Academy Programs are designed to do just that! This program is kids aged 12 – 14 and length of this program is 6-day and 8-day. Trainees will participate in Shuttle Missions, Space Simulators, build & launch rockets and sample space food. To know more about the program, click here. Participants will go through Team-Building skills, Space Simulators Training and Space Shuttle Mission Training activities which are part of this program.

Advanced Space Academy is for ages 15 – 18 and offers programs for 6-day and 8-day. During this week-long program, trainees get hands-on training, as well as learn about the mental, emotional and physical demands astronauts must face. Fields of study include Engineering, Space Technology and Aerospace Science. The Advanced Space Academy program is a college-accredited program through the University of Alabama-Huntsville (UAH). All Advanced Space Academy participants will earn one hour of Freshman-level general science credit from UAH. For details on activities and tracks, click here. Choose your path of study from one of the racks listed below.

• Pilot Track Trainees will take command of an orbiter on its mission to the International Space Station. A pilot will follow the checklist procedures of a mission and be required to make emergency decisions while monitoring and commanding the crew.
• Pilot SCUBA Track Trainees will continue to command or pilot an orbiter and learn Aerospace Science as their core basis for training, but instead of flying the Flight Simulators at Aviation Challenge, they will SCUBA dive in the UAT SCUBA tank.
• Mission Specialist Track Trainees will be instructed in the engineering and design of the shuttle and space station. Repairs to either will be conducted in the UAT SCUBA Tank creating and accurate environment for the space walk.

Parent / Child program is designed to give both of you an overview of space exploration, while experience very real space simulations. Parent Child Space Camp is a weekend for just the two of you, providing the opportunity to become partners in learning. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and lift off! Watch the rocket that you and your child built together soar. Share the pride that your child will feel while manoeuvring the orbiter through space. What better way to build a lasting relationship than through Parent Child Space Camp?

Get ready for a weekend of non-stop activities. Together, you and your child will explore the history – present and future – of space flight. You will also experience the excitement of being there while watching an IMAX movie! See Shuttle astronauts perform missions in space, ride along as Aviators throttle up, or explore the surface of mars.

Participants also get a packet of exciting activities to explore scientific concepts at home. Click here for details on Parent/Child Program activities.

Adult Programs will put your skills, abilities and talents to the test in training simulators and simulated missions. Experience four G’s of force when you blast off 140 feet on SPACE SHOT. Feel what it’s like to walk on the moon in the 1/6th Gravity Trainer, then experience a simulated tumble in space in the Multi-Axis Trainer. You’ll also alternate roles in mission control and shuttle crew during two different Space Shuttle missions.

Witness space exploration almost firsthand in a giant-screen IMAX Spacedome theater presentation. You will also spend time in our world class Space Museum containing America’s largest collection of space artifacts.

Special Programs are for blind and visually impaired and the deaf and hard of hearing, these programs offer all the excitement of Space Camp & Aviation Challenge.

The Space Camp and Aviation Challenge programs specifically designed for blind, visually-impaired, deaf and/or hard-of-hearing attendees have attracted students from across the United States and around the world.

Over the years, we have worked closely with several organizations, including the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind, the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, and most recently, the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, to develop a meaningful, inspirational experience for these students.

Program highlights may include a presentation by blind and/or deaf NASA professionals on career choices and working in the space industry. Enlarged print, sign language interpreters, attention to mobility hazards and other special considerations are extended to put trainees at ease.

Blind students also benefit from the latest technology in the field, including tactile Braille displays and synthetic speech for computers.

Day Camps offer exciting opportunities for learning, friendship and adventure. It has split into two groups, 7-8 year old and 9-11 year olds. You can choose from any of the three programs – Expedition camp, Space Camp and Aviation Challenge sessions. For more details about this day camps, click here

Educator program offer professional development opportunities for both formal and informal educators, as well as a variety of programs for students.

Corporate program take corporate development training and incentive programs to a whole new level… letting you jump into a flight suit and take on the role of an astronaut or fighter pilot!

For scholarship, photo gallery, international camps, and more information about these camps, visit http://www.spacecamp.com/category.php?cat=Space

Imagine a college campus where students and professors discuss theories after class, deaf and hearing students play on the same sports teams, and international students share information about their cultures over lunch. This is the atmosphere you’ll find at RIT/NTID.

The National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) is the world’s first and largest technological college for students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. It’s one of eight colleges of Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), a privately endowed, coeducational university that is student-centered and career-focused.

RIT/NTID is located in a beautiful and safe suburban setting in Rochester–New York State’s third-largest city. The area offers a variety of parks, shopping areas, beaches, restaurants, and museums. Rochester has one of the largest populations of deaf and hard-of-hearing people in the United States.

RIT was founded in 1829, and NTID was formally established by an act of Congress in 1965 to provide technical secondary education to deaf and hard-of-hearing students, a need that was not readily met elsewhere. This education enables deaf and hard-of-hearing students to get jobs in technical fields – something previously unavailable for most students.

In 1966, RIT was chosen from among four competing universities as the host university for NTID. NTID is celebrating its 40th year this year of its first class in 1968. Since then, more than 6,100 students have graduated.

Currently, more than 1,100 deaf and hard-of-hearing students study, share residence halls, and enjoy social life together with 14,000 hearing students.

RIT/NTID offers students access to more than 200 programs in the colleges of Applied Science and Technology, Business, Computing and Information Sciences, Engineering, Imaging Arts and Sciences, Liberal Arts, and Science. The university regularly creates new programs and evaluates and modifies existing ones to meet the needs of the changing global marketplace. Each student’s goals and abilities are matched to a course of instruction that will prepare him or her for a rewarding career.

The U.S. News and World Reports list of Best Colleges of 2003 ranks RIT #7 on the list of colleges in the northern U.S. offering master’s degrees.

You’ll find that RIT/NTID is a culturally diverse school, with students from all 50 states and more than 80 foreign countries. The campus community includes a broad mix of students with various skills in American Sign Language, English, and spoken communication. You won’t find another college like this in the world!

Upon completion of their associate’s degree, hundreds of NTID students enroll in RIT classes with hearing peers. Accessibility for deaf and hard of hearing students is excellent, including interpreters, notetakers, FM loop systems, TTY pay phones, tutors, American Sign Language classes, and many faculty and staff members who use sign language. More than 120 interpreters work at NTID. Last year, RIT provided more than 44,000 hours of notetaking services and 90,000 hours of interpreting services for students.

RIT/NTID offers you state-of-the-art technology, such as “smart” classrooms with high-tech workstations and Internet access. Each college is equipped with PC and Mac computer labs, and there are several electrical, chemical, printing, and engineering laboratories on campus.

Students can join any of more than 100 clubs on campus related to hobbies, politics, sports, and cultural diversity as well as student government and Greek organizations. There also are many work and volunteer opportunities for you on campus.

There are dozens of men’s and women’s varsity, intramural, and club sports for students to join. And, you’ll enjoy the state-of-the-art sports facilities, including weight rooms, indoor and outdoor tracks, pools, ice rink, and tennis courts.

RIT/NTID alumni have jobs in every region of the country and all around the world. Over the past five years, 94 percent of deaf graduates who chose to enter the labor market obtained jobs in business, industry, government, education, and other fields.

RIT’s Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships assists students and their families in identifying sources of financial aid to help meet the cost of a quality education.

NTID offers several summer camp experiences for middle and high school children with hearing loss. Among those are TechGirlz (for young girls interested in exploring technical careers). TechGirlz is a weeklong camp for girls with hearing loss entering 7th, 8th, or 9th grade who are interested in science, technology, engineering and math. Steps To Success (designed to encourage children from underserved populations interest in technical careers). Hundreds of high school students annually attend our “Explore Your Future” camps where they can experience college life, stay in the dorms and get a taste of possible majors and career options available. Some students will build computers from scratch to take home.

Dr. Gerald Buckley
Assistant Vice President for College Advancement
NTID

Dr. Gerald Buckley – A biography

Dr. Gerald Buckley currently serves as Assistant Vice President for College Advancement at NTID. He is responsible for providing leadership to the Admissions, Placement, Marketing Communications, Outreach, and Development functions for the institute. He has completed educational degrees at Rochester Institute of Technology, The University of Missouri -Columbia, and the University of Kansas. He has served as the President of the Board of ADARA and currently serves as President of the Lexington School for the Deaf Board of Trustees in New York City. He has received the Distinguished Alumnus Award for the College for NTID (1985) and the College of Liberal Arts (1996). He has served on the National Advisory Board of the National Institute of Health’s Institute on Deafness at the recommendation of Senator Robert Dole (Retired – R). Gerry is married to Judy and has three children.

Camp is the best demonstration of moral and spiritual order—democracy is the core purpose. Children learn life skills that become habits of the heart. It is tough to be a kid these days. It is tough to be a parent. In a society where the nature of the family, the work place, and the community have changed dramatically, we can no longer assume that the natural process of growing up will provide children the experiences and the resources they need to become successful, contributing adults.

The American Camp Association, New England is dedicated to enriching the lives of children and families through quality camp experiences.

The American Camp Association, New England is a community of camp professionals who, for more than one hundred years, have joined together to share knowledge and experience and to ensure the quality of camp programs. ACA New England accredits nearly 350 day and overnight summer camps in the six New England states.

ACA conducts camps for all ages and offers various types of camps.

Day camp can begin as early as age three and is geared to children who get to experience camp and still return home each evening! They have the best of both worlds—the camp community which is built exclusively for kids and their own home which provides the security they need at a tender age. Day camp focuses on “what is right” than “what is wrong.” Day Camps typically serve children ages 3-15 during daytime only. For more information, click here.

Camp provides one of the very few links with a world larger than the consumer culture we inhabit—and day camp is one important choice in a quiver of options. The camp experience helps children and youth develop an appreciation of their place and their responsibility in a much larger universe. A preschooler—or even an older child who might be reluctant to go to overnight camp—can join a community that is created especially for her to practice growing up.

Specialty Camps offer a program for every interest. It can be found at day or resident camps and offer opportunities to concentrate on certain program areas such as horseback riding, the arts, travel, sports or computers, among others. Imagine a place where you get to be totally immersed in the thing you love to do (or want to try) the most . . . from being wrist-deep in cake batter or filming a movie to jamming all day with rock stars or learning to drive a race car. Specialty camps offer just that type of fantasy-come-true experience – from fine arts, performing arts, and chef camp, to learning a foreign language, science, engineering, motor sports . . . and much, much more. These camps have very focused programs, they typically have more intensive and professional-level instruction, and often include guest speakers, such as artists, musicians, and those who’ve made a career of that particular activity.

Many specialty camps have informal, hands-on, or immersion approaches to various academic subjects, such as math, science, or language, which may help children who struggle in a traditional classroom to learn material and develop confidence for the upcoming school year. For example, at Camp Motorsport, a race car driving specialty camp for kids ages ten to sixteen, campers participate in racing-related activities that convert abstract math and science concepts into hands-on applications—such as figuring out how resistance and drag impact making the car go faster.

Overnight / Resident / Sleepaway Camps usually serve children ages 6-17 for one to eight weeks at a time; children sleep at camp.

General Camps offer a range of activities. Many provide opportunities to focus on one or two activities while allowing campers to try a variety of others. General camps sometimes offer the opportunity to specialize in an activity.

Trip & Travel programs are often camp-based. Most involve adventure and wilderness. Campers spend most of their time traveling away from base camp.

Camps for Special Populations serve specific clientele such as children with particular medical conditions or diseases or individuals with special needs.

Space Car Camp deal more with real experience of space shuttle and its working.

Going Green and preserving environment:

ACA also encourages Children to go green. Camps across the country are encouraging children to put on their plates only what they will eat, then camps teach children about recycling by converting the leftovers into compost. The compost is then used to fertilize the fields that create food for the campers!

Many camps implement an environmental awareness program entitled, “Leave No Trace.” This program teaches and encourages children to clean up after themselves in nature, so as to not pollute the environment.

Camps create educational programs with local wildlife agencies or even the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

A Camp for Every Budget

While it’s hard to put a price tag on your child’s learning and growth, you certainly have your family’s budget to think about when you consider camp. The good news is that there is a camp program to fit nearly every budget.

For more information about fee, click here

Here are some benefits of ACA Camps:

• Every child deserves a camp experience.

The unique power of a camp experience complements and reinforces what children are taught at school, at home and at extracurricular activities — rounding out children’s development in optimal ways. Camps specialize in providing physical activity, time spent in the out-of-doors and experiences in teambuilding, athletics and the arts — activities that have been eliminated or are at risk of elimination for more and more school systems.

• Childhood is compromised without a camp experience.

Camp is vital! Camps have the capacity to change children’s lives — influencing, even transforming, their choices and chances and their characters and capabilities.

• Campers learn life lessons.

Camp memories often stay alive in people’s hearts and minds well into adulthood. Lessons include: becoming a responsible member of a group and community, personal and group decision-making, the art of compromise, resilience, how to bust out of one’s own comfort zone to try something new and many more. Campers are often attracted by a specific activity or two; they usually get an added bonus and learn something new and important about themselves at camp.

• Camp gives kids a world of good.

Expect camper growth in independence, self-esteem, leadership ability, peer relationship skills, spirituality, environmental awareness and decision-making when children attend day or resident camp. The largest study of camper outcomes in the U.S., conducted by Philiber Research Associates and ACA, confirmed these benefits of the camp experience — that camp gives kids a world of good!

ACA also offers volunteering and employment opportunities for adults.

Bette S. Bussel
Executive Director
American Camp Association, New England

Bette S. Bussel – A biography

“I had no idea when I went to summer camp at age 4 that one day I’d be in charge of thousands of campers who are looking for a positive summer camp experience, just like I was. Life is truly one big circle.”

Bette has been involved with camps since age 4, where she began as a day camper. She evolved to an overnight camper, Counselor-in-Training (CIT), Counselor, Program Director, Camp Director and is now the Executive Director of ACA New England. Bette brings a rare blend of organizational and interpersonal skills to this position, which she has held for more than 17 years. She has established herself as a person with professional competence, strong commitment and the ability to build on the established strengths and esteemed history of the regional nonprofit organization she leads.

Bette received a Bachelor of Science in Recreation Management from Ithaca College and a Master of Science in Recreation Management from the University of Maryland.

Prior to coming to ACA New England, she served as the Program Director, Teen Director, Group Services Director and Day Camp Director for the Jewish Community Center of Greater New Haven. In those roles she received a special citation from the Kovod Society of the JCC, and a Women in Leadership award from the YWCA.

Since taking over as ACA New England’s Executive Director in 1990, Bette has been honored with the New England AIC Award (1994), National AIC Award (1996), ACA National Service Award (1999), and ACA Special Recognition Award (2004).

Bette is a well-informed resource on legislative issues that impact camps throughout New England. She has been effective establishing positive relationships with legislative and regulatory bodies that monitor camps and has worked to strengthen respect of and input by camp professionals in legislative matters.

Bette serves as a member of the national ACA’s Technology Task Force, which advises all 24 regional offices of the association on the use of technology. Currently, Bette plays a leadership role on a committee which is reinventing ACA’s online camp search tool—the Find A Camp Tool.