2. From the same artist, here is a video from Leftwich’s song “Atlas Hands.” This visually very stunning video captures childhood adventure and innocence in very precious way. It’s about a bunch of curious and endearing kids building a pirate ship and sending it off into the ocean at sunset. Some day I’d love to make films like this. 

3.  This song called “See you soon” may actually be my favorite from him. Unfortunately no special music video, but at least you can enjoy the special chime of his voice with the drumming that I love so much.  

 ”When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation…. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along. It was idealistic and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.”

Don’t laugh, but I wrote in my diary for the first time in years last night after my flood of emotion from the news of Steve Job’s passing yesterday.  The first thing I had to get down on paper was the overwhelming feeling of “Wow, this man defined my generation.”

I know every person in this world who has used an Apple product can relate to what I mean when I say that his vision for (fearless, practical, simple, organized, cutting-edge, intuitive, exciting) technology over the past decade has literally changed the way we think about the world.

From my first Mac laptop + free iPod package deal purchased by my parents freshman year at the University of Oregon bookstore – to my current white (world-in-my-hands) iPhone … I believe that nothing has inspired more people to be doers and dreamers nor topped the material innovation and execution of Apple, ever.

I could ramble on about how emotional I am that Steve is no longer here to blaze the trail for Apple moving forward and that his fresh ideas will no longer still be churning. Instead I will share a few of the quotes that have made me smile with pride about the visionary; the stubborn guy in the black turtle-neck and sheepish all-knowing grin that changed us in so many ways…

Quotes:

“The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.”

President Obama on the passing of Steve Jobs

“You have to trust in something: your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

S.J.

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.”

S.J.

“Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.”

S.J.

“Because those crazy enough to believe they can change the world, are usually the ones that do.”

S.J.

“There is no reason not to follow your heart. … Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”

S.J.

Steve’s commencement speech at Stanford in 2005: How to live before you die

Thank you Steve Jobs. May your legacy live on and inspire the world to live every day of their lives.

So this little gem, the Carlsberg Tournée Digital created by Carlsberg Belgium is a mobile application for sharing rounds of Carlsberg beer with friends to drink in real life. It’s a social networking game in essence. You choose your group name to remind your friend’s whose round it is, we’ll call mine “Jennisberg” (even though my favorite probably has to be “Bobbysberg”). You then have the opportunity to win a round of beers (I believe you can purchase them as well) for your friends and post an invitation to an event or party in town to Facebook or Twitter where you can later meet up to share that round of beer together.

I like their tag line: “Carlsberg takes you away from the computer, and back to the bar.” Who doesn’t want that? Truly a simple yet brilliant little concept.

The app is available on iOS and Android, but don’t get too excited (I know I am) because good luck finding Carlsberg in San Francisco, unless you want to host a party in the imported beer section of Whole Foods. Maybe a local brew pub will create one for our little city. Who in San Francisco doesn’t want to get away from the computer and back to the bar for free beer and socializing? I sure as heck do!

*Originally posted on MobileFiller.com

Even though only two deals have been compelling enough to win my patronage, the reality is they give me good ideas about what to do in the Bay Area, not to mention they’re good conversation starters. If you were to ask me, that’s reallywhy I haven’t gotten rid of them yet.

More than a few times, Living Social deals have been the topic of morning conversation in our office. First it was the clamoring for the $2 movie tickets the week Bridesmaids came out and then it was the commiserating over the sell-out of the $1 lunch deal throughout San Francisco.

When it comes to making the transactions, iPad users may be having the best luck snagging the quick deals. According to a recent Forbes article, tablets are the likely future of mobile commerce. The rich content, the portability and the larger screen make transactions easier. This may be why those $1 lunch deals flew out the door that day.

Groupon Now is another daily deal feature that has recently caught my attention. It’s also the number one reason Groupon is the only daily deal app on my phone. The Groupon Now feature takes the dealing finding process one step further by finding deals in a so many mile radius of your immediate location. Want something to eat? Get 50% off pizza next door. Want to have fun? Get 50% off tandem bike rentals across the street. If you haven’t checked it out, you probably should. The navigator button is just too quick and snazzy to pass up.

Surprisingly enough, I don’t feel overwhelmed by the growing number of deals that fly at my inbox every morning. So many companies are incorporating a version of the marketing tool into their websites and mobile apps anyway (cough cough Sephora) that I’ve completely accepted that this is the direction of mobile commerce.

I know there are tons of other daily deal sites and services out there. Which ones did I miss and what’s your favorite?

*This post was previously posted on www.mobilefiller.com

Like the other white-Apple-earbud-city-goers you see around town, I’m plugged in everywhere I go.  While there’s a lot to love about carrying only one technology device around all day (my iPhone), I can’t help but feel like I’m neglecting my hard earned, well-crafted music library when I tune into whatever is available on my phone.

Lucky for me, I won’t be having separation anxiety from my desktop music selection much longer. As with everything else these days, music is making its way to the cloud. My dear friend Kelly Montgomery from Digital Trends recently wrote an article about the iCloud, Apple’s take on solving my mobile music dilemma. Essentially Apple’s new service, similar to Amazon’s Cloud Drive, will allow us to store our entire music library in the cloud so we can access our tunes from multiple devices – iPads and cellphones included!

I must say I’m pretty pumped about this. It’s been a challenge for the past five years or so juggling the music I love. I’ve had an iPod, an iTouch, a shuffle, two laptops, two Blackberries, and finally an iPhone (fortunately I’ve never had MobileMe) – all of which at some point or another have lost me money due to the fact that I’ve either a.) lost songs in transition or b.) simply spent money on music and services I already had or didn’t need.

It makes sense to me that the cloud is the future of mobile music, and I’m excited to get on board. According to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, “the notion of having a home computer as a digital hub for content will soon be outdated … because the new hub will be available in the cloud.”

As our music libraries make the shift from desktop to cloud, I can’t help but anticipate a change in mobile music platforms.  I picture a focus on the re-purposing of our music libraries, similar to the way iTunes’ Genius builds on and plays with the music we already have.

I really can’t complain too much about how far music has come in the past ten years. But it seems to me the cloud is setting us up for yet another music storing revolution.

What are your thoughts on storing music in the cloud?

*This post was previously posted on www.mobilefiller.com

My college graduation gift from my parents… $500, 9 cities, 30 days, a lot of generous and wonderful friends –probably the smartest opportunity I’ve ever seized in my 23 years of life. Jet Blue, I thank you.

Shout out to Eliza Cole, Georgia Tapp, Brett Goldstein, Paige Freiberger, Lauren Detmer, Allie Swislocki, Nikki and Brian Lavin, David Fike, Saramaya Weissman and Kevin Oberding for all letting me crash on your comfy couches and beds, and for taking me to get so many drinks, and see so many sights…etc. etc.!! Simply AMAZING and SO generous you guys, thank you. You guys truly made this trip for me. Love to you all.

For once in my life, my dad’s vacation intensity button was at an all-time low.  Dare I say, he was delightfully lazy.  All those years of trying to “rough it” the old-school way was forgotten when he realized we had everything at our fingertips, courtesy of his kids’ smart phones.  I think it was being able to access historic background on every landmark we drove by that tipped him over the edge.

My parents have never been tech savvy people.  The GPS we bought my dad years ago is still sitting unused in his glove compartment. And my mom would ask any stranger on the side of the road for information before she ever sent a text message to get a question answered. But for them, the thrill of finding the cheapest gas  along the highway was too good to be true.  With the plethora of apps between my brother and me, my parents were like kids in a candy store, begging for resources and information on everything and anything as we drove down Route 66.

There were more than a few times when I caught my dad saying “hey guys, I bet there’s an app for that,” seriously echoing the classic Apple catchphrase.  We couldn’t believe it, but our dad’s impression of smart phones was shifting right before our eyes.  To think my dad would finally be interested in trading in his old Nokia for a brand new Droid would never have crossed my mind before, but I was seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

According to a study from Pew Internet Project, approximately one in four U.S. adults use mobile apps on their phone.  Now, while my parents still don’t use them (let alone have them on their phone) my bet is that by the time the next upgrade season comes around, they both may very well think twice about switching to a smart phone.  In fact, they admitted they would.

So yes, we finally proved to our parents that our mobile phone addiction could be a good thing. But of course there’s another side to the story. If they ever bought those smart phones, would they ever use those apps like they think they would? Around one-third of U.S. adults have apps on their phones, but out of that, only around two-thirds ever use those apps, according to Pew.

It’s likely my parents’ enthusiasm for mobile apps will never pan out the way I hope. Half the battle anyhow is convincing them to give up their old ways and stop relying on their kids’ phones.  Unfortunately, I’m willing to bet they’ll be sitting in the front seat with their feet on the dashboard listening to us read Yelp reviews to them on the next road trip – but then again I never thought my mom would be on Facebook either.

*(This post was originally posted on MobileFiller.com)

1. Standard Text Message – Without the standard text message, millennial like me would be very difficult to get a hold of – just ask our parents. Call me impatient or maybe at times dinner-table-texting disrespectful, but I would rather shoot a quick text regarding my whereabouts over any other means of communication. I bet some of you would agree it’s a bummer we don’t have another pair of eyes or hands to be able to safely text while driving.

2. Twitter – If you’re wondering what I’m doing first thing in the morning, chances are you can find me on Twitter. Twitter is my morning newspaper, and I am notorious for interacting with friends and followers from my cell phone before I even get out of bed. I’m energized at the first flow of information via timelines early in the morning, and you can count on sharing Tweets, RTs and Direct Messages with me as early as 7 a.m. if you feel so inclined.

3. Facebook – Facebook is always the first application I download on my phone and the feature that consumes most of my energy and time. I recently tried deactivating my account a few weeks ago. It was my version of a technology detox. The mere thought of being disconnected from friends was shamelessly harder than I’m willing to admit. Hence the reason the project only lasted me four days. Facebook wins again.

4. Voice Messaging Apps – These apps function just as easily as a standard text message but also include voice! I recently heard about these cool voice messaging apps from a crew of tech savvy folks in San Francisco, and had to try it out. Cloudtalk (pictured) is my personal favorite voice messaging service, which just so happens to be one of our clients at my public relations firm, Racepoint Group. It’s the place on my phone where dozens of my best friends all over the world and I exchange in conversation, but on our own time. I sure hope this platform takes off, because it’s pretty awesome.

5. LinkedIn – Maybe we don’t check job prospects as frequently as we check our Facebook friends, but at least we have the option! LinkedIn is the master site for balancing a professional and personal life through social media, and I like it enough to be suckered into downloading it on my mobile phone. Whether you’re looking for a job, or just looking to network, this communication platform is just plain good to have on hand.

6. Mobile Games – Words-With-Friends is my most recent mobile obsession. If you are one of the nine friends playing a game of Scrabble game against me, go ahead and use the game as just another fun way to communicate with me. Words-With-Friends, like many other mobile games, comes with a chat feature to talk with your opponents. I often catch myself making plans to hang out through the chat feature on my games. I figure I’m just cutting out the middleman!

7. WordPress/Tumblr – If you’re a big blogger there is no better way to check on your blog than with a proper blog formatting mobile app. I recall trying to edit my blog from my Blackberry browser – once. Talk about frustrating. That’s why I’ve added the WordPress app to my arsenal, so I can blog literally wherever and whenever the inspiration strikes me.

8. Email –This is the place I receive newsletters, family correspondence, a sea of notifications, junk mail and whatever the world feels inclined to inform me about all day long. I tend to receive the most important and heartfelt messages from close friends and families on my personal email account as well. I’m also most likely to respond to sales pitches or daily deals here. I think it’s a miracle we can manage so much communication in one portal at once!

9. Check-ins – Most of my friends use Foursquare or Yelp as their check-in service of choice. Facebook check-ins are also gaining popularity these days too. It’s pretty cool, and sometimes fairly creepy, knowing where my friends are based on the places they’ve checked-in to. Every once in a while I’ll receive text messages from friends regarding the places I’ve checked in, providing the opportunity to share tips or even meet up in person!

10. Instant Messaging – Back in my Blackberry days, BBM was my lifeline. AIM, Skype and Gmail chat might be the alternative for Android or the iPhone, but in the end all these applications do the same thing – send instant messages for free. At one point in college, you could send me a text or a BBM at the same time to see which I’d respond to quickest. Usually it depended on my mood which one I used. Funny how the practicality of a free service becomes obsolete when friends are involved and we realize we had unlimited texting to begin with.

Thanks for letting me share my top 10 list with you. Are there any mobile communication portals you would add to your list?

*(This article was originally posted on mobilefiller.com )

Desire Line – Deerhunter

Faster – Janelle Monae

Cold War – Janelle Monae

I’ll Be Waiting – Adele

Country – Empire of the Sun

Starry Eyed  - Ellie Goulding

Impossible (Studio Version) – Shout Out Louds

Keep the Car Running – Arcade Fire

Something Good Can Work – Two Door Cinema Club

What You Know – Two Door Cinema Club

Kiss You On The Cheek (King of Town Remix) – Desmond, The Tutus

Crave You – Flight Facilities

Flashing Light Means Go – The Boxer Rebellion

Dance Hall Days – Wang Chung

Barra Barra – Rachid Tara

I Follow Rivers – Lykke Li

A Little Bit – Lykke Li (AutoErotique Bootleg Remix)

I’m Good I’m Gone – Lykke Li (Fred Falke Remix)

Rumor Has It – Adele

I’ll Be Waiting – Adele

Till the End of Time – Britney Spears

One the Floor – Jennifer Lopez

Someday – Black Eyed Peas

Let it Rock – Kevin Rudolf

Flashback – Calvin Harris

* I found a lot of these  little gems on Pandora.  I always make sure to bookmark new songs on there that I love.

1. Kings of Leon – Use Somebody (RAC Remix)

2. Everything Everything – Photoshop Handsome (Disclosure Edit)

3. Mansions on the Moon – Satellite (MotM x Deadmau5)

4.  Remady – No Superstar

5. Matt & Kim – Cameras

6. Penguin Prison – Golden Train (The Royal Palms Mix)

7. Miike Snow – A Horse is Not a Home

8. Miike Snow – Cult Logic

9. Miike Snow – Black & Blue

10.  Empire of the Sun – Walking On a Dream

11. Memories (ft. Kid Cudi) – David Guetta

12. The Whitest Boy Alive – Golden Cage (Fred Falke Remix)

13. Katy Perry – Firework

14. Kings of Leon – Radioactive

15. Kings of Leon – Pyro

Running:

16. Phoenix – Run Run Run

17.  Phoenix – Too Young

18. Desperately Wanting – Better than Ezra

19. Pearl Jam – Corduroy

20. Incubus – Dig

21. Semisonic – Closing Time

22. Kings of Leon – Sex on Fire

Cool Down

23. Barenaked Ladies – Pinch Me

24. Local Natives – Cubism Dream

25. John Mayer – Neon

26. John Mayer 3×5

Not such a wise decision by me,  I’ve been working out with my Bose headphones lately. I realize the risk factor involved with the combination of sweat and not being able to hear ANYTHING.  But I do it anyway. At least this week I have.  Maybe I’ll start making this a monthly post…