ViolaFest Los Angeles 2010

My daughter plays viola in her middle school orchestra. Today we attended the 2010 ViolaFest in Los Angeles. The ViolaFest is an annual event organized by the Southern California Viola Society and the American String Teachers Association of the Greater Los Angeles Area. At ViolaFest, students take music classes and rehearse an original composition for viola. ViolaFest concludes with a performance by all ViolaFest participants. The YouTube video by violajojo shows the students performing "Bratsche Pack" by Robert Anderson. It was amazing to see so many young violists brushing up on their skills. The ViolaFest was well organized and the kids enjoyed meeting fellow student violists.

Mommy's Nightmare called Chat Roulette

Are you a parent worried about what your child is watching on YouTube? Have you banned your tween from having a Facebook or MySpace account? Do you have a webcam on your computer?

Let me introduce you to my new online nightmare . . . chatroulette.com
Chatroulette is a video chat site that allows users to randomly video chat with people from all over the world. Using computer webcams, people's images pop up on another user's screen with the option to chat or to next (move on and chat with another person). Once a person is "nexted" or rejected, a new person pops up on the screen for a video chat.

Warning: Chatroulette is not for children!

As you can guess, chatroulette has become a magnet for lewd behavior and exhibitionism. Chatroulette's popularity is spreading quickly among teens and young adults. The frequent nudity on chatroulette poses real problems not only for parents and their children, but for businesses made vulnerable to potential harassment lawsuits. Most parents are not familiar with chatroulette, but your teen has already seen it.

Here are some news stories about chatroulette:

The Surreal World of Chat Roulette - NY Times
Welcome to the Weirdest New Internet Pastime: Chat Roulette - Fast Company
The Human Shuffle - New York Magazine

Mommy Signs a Lease

After two months of negotiations, we finally signed the lease on 900 square feet of office space. Slowly but surely things are moving forward. We still need to tackle tenant improvements with our contractor, but we are relieved to have found our Los Angeles office.

Mommy Needs a Logo

Now that my husband and I started a business together, one of the first orders of business is to get a company logo. I attended film school at a fancy design college and planned to find a logo designer through the school's alumni pool. I found a small design firm in Los Angeles whose founder was an alumnus. After contacting the design firm for a "logo only" design, I almost had a stroke after we got an estimate for $5,200. As a brand new start up, we simply cannot afford it.

For Plan B, I asked a friend from college to design a logo for me. My friend is a talented 3-D animator and visual fx artist with over 15 years experience. Unfortunately, he declined but referred me to design websites like Crowdspring, hatchwise and 99designs. I never knew they existed. At these design sites clients hold online contests and choose logo, website or stationery designs submitted by designers from around the globe. The sites hosting the contests charge the client a 10%-15% fee of the prize money. The client decides the prize amount, chooses the winning design and the winning designer is awarded the prize money. This process is skewed in favor of the client who gets to evaluate many designs, with no strings attached before a single winner is chosen and paid.

There is much controversy about websites like Crowdspring within the professional design community. AIGA (the professional association of design) has taken a strong position against design contests after the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) posted its very own "Art Works" logo contest. I understand AIGAs's position against spec work and I have a lot of respect for professional designers. I also understand the plight of the 21st century small business owner who must add broadband, website and web hosting to its list of start up costs.

In the end, I decided to run a logo contest on 99designs. I made my decision based on the fact that we are a new company struggling to survive its first year in business. When our company is profitable, we can afford a seasoned designer to re-brand our company's logo and image. Until then, I'm just trying to be frugal and stay sane through this new venture.

Hulu Revisited

I've always been a fan of Hulu. I turn to Hulu whenever I miss an episode of "24" or "The Office." But I haven't watched Hulu for a while, because TiVo records my favorite shows using a Season Pass. After a recent visit to the Hulu website I was surprised to find a library filled with lost gems. Here's a list of some of the amazing shows on Hulu:
24
30 Rock
Andy Barker P.I. with Andy Richter
Arrested Development
The Avengers with Patrick McNee and Diana Rigg
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Charlie Rose
Charlie's Angels with Kate, Jaclyn & Farah
Doogie Howser, M.D.
The Electric Company 1970s
Fantasy Island
Glee
The Greatest American Hero
Hill Street Blues
The Hitchhiker
H.R. Pufnstuf
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
The Larry Sanders Show
Magnum P.I.
Modern Family
My So-Called Life
Nanny and the Professor
The Partridge Family
Party of Five
Remington Steele
The Rockford Files
Spaced with Simon Pegg
Speed Racer
Square Pegs
St. Elsewhere
Welcome Back, Kotter
What's Happening!
S.W.A.T.
Hulu has "Barney Miller" one of my all time favorites. Please check out Hulu. I dream that one day, Hulu will free us from cable tv. Happy watching.

The PowerBook With Nine Lives

For the past two weeks my trusty Mac 12" PowerBook G4 has been freezing during start up. Instead of ignoring it and having my hard drive die (what I normally do), I took my PowerBook in for a check up. Since I live in Los Angeles, there's a MacMall repair center nearby.
As a woman, I've noticed that customer service at stores like Home Depot, Fry's and Best Buy are 50-50. Either you get ignored because they assume a girl doesn't know anything about 1080p or they treat you extra special because you are a girl. Thankfully, the tech service at MacMall is top notch and they are good listeners whether you're male/female. They cleaned up my PowerBook in twenty minutes at no charge. I'm not on MacMall's payroll. I just want to give a shout out to good customer service before it goes extinct.
I'm so happy my laptop is running smoothly. My PowerBook has been through two hard drives, numerous family vacations and abused by school aged children playing flash games. I know the new Intel Macs with Snow Leopard are killer fast, but I'm still attached to my PowerBook that refuses to die. It's the laptop with nine lives.

ReadWriteWeb Survey About Kids & Web

Here's a survey sponsored by ReadWriteWeb for parents with children 12 years old and under. The survey asks questions about kids and internet use and should be taken with parent and child together.
I took the survey with my 12 year old daughter. The survey asks the kids to draw a picture of something they want the computer to do, but is not yet available. My daughter wanted green screen technology for the iMovie application. Say what? Take the survey with your kids. You may be surprised by their answers.

Valentine's Day Homework

My son is signing Valentine's Day cards for his second grade class. He's so excited about exchanging Valentine's cards. In second grade, the kids still make personalized mailboxes and exchange cards with every kid in class. My daughter on the other hand, is acting very nonchalant about Valentine's Day festivities at her middle school. The student council organized a "Lolligram" fundraiser at her middle school. Lolligrams are lollipops sent to any designated student for $1.00 each. The drama ensues when boys and girls send each other lolligrams - anonymously. I asked my daughter if she had any Valentine's Day cards to send and she said no. That's fine by me.
As for me and my husband, we celebrate Valentine's Day on whatever day is convenient that week. Years ago, we endured a disappointing and expensive Valentine's Day dinner on a rainy Pasadena night. After that experience we decided to forgo romance in favor of practicality. This Valentine's weekend we plan to do dinner and a movie sans the kids. My husband made dinner reservations for Saturday the 13th and I'm looking forward to it.

Adventures of a SAHM to Working Mom

After being a stay-at-home mom (SAHM) for the past 12 years, I am back to work. Both my kids are older now (ages 12 and 8) and they are in a secure place. My daughter made a smooth transition to middle school and my son is having his best school year ever in the second grade. If there's a good time to go back to work - this is it.
I am starting a business with my husband. This is a big step in our marriage because we never worked together professionally. We make a good team but our partnership will be put to the test 24/7. I am lucky to have my husband for support and to help juggle the family/kid duties.
As I type this blog post while watching Nightline; I still have lunches to pack, dishes to wash and clothes to dry. My mind is turning to mush as I try to prioritize and sync my business calendar with my personal calendar. I am a very organized person but nothing is in order now.
With all this, I am excited to be back at work. I'm at a good place to start a new endeavor and I feel like I've had 12 years of training. Being a SAHM taught me to be patient, organized and less selfish. It will be interesting to see how my SAHM experience translates in the working world. Wish me luck. I'm gonna need it!

TechCrunch Fires Teen Intern for Kickbacks

TechCrunch's Michael Arrington issued an apology to readers after a TechCrunch intern was found taking kickbacks in exchange for TechCrunch posts. It turns out the fired intern is Daniel Brusilovsky, tech entrepreneur and founder of Teens in Tech Networks. Daniel Brusilovsky is Co-Chair of the annual Teens in Tech Conference being held today in San Francisco.
As a regular TechCrunch reader I am disappointed by the news, but applaud TechCrunch for its swift apology and response to the situation. Daniel Brusilovsky also deserves credit for stepping forward when he could have hid in anonymity protected by his young age.
The TechCrunch controversy should serve as a cautionary tale to all bloggers. We mommy bloggers can benefit from TechCrunch/Daniel Brusilovsky's lesson that full disclosure and transparency are important web values. Readers don't have a problem with bloggers receiving compensation as long as they are told up front about sponsored relationships.
There is no clear cut info on blogging rules and regulations, but I found the Blog With Integrity website a good place to start.
I don't believe Daniel's mistake has anything to do with his young age. This mistake could happen to any blogger at any age. As a blogging newbie, I will take this story to heart. Thanks Daniel and TechCrunch for teaching us to be better bloggers.

Happy 6th Birthday Facebook

Happy Birthday Facebook! In 6 years, Facebook has become the go-to social networking site for the college educated masses and beyond. The number of Facebook users keeps growing and now includes large corporations, non-profit organizations and grandparents. Initially, I resisted joining Facebook because I was worried about privacy and didn't understand the value of social networking. I was forced to join Facebook by the school PTA president. Our elementary school PTA president used her FB page to spread school news and communicate with her PTA Board Members and officers. She understood the power of Facebook and used it to connect with our school community.
Facebook has been the target of unfair negative press for underage use, cyberbullying and being a time suck. On the other hand, Facebook has been justifiably criticized for its shifty privacy policy and as a target for scammers. I, like many moms use Facebook to connect with family and friends who live far away. Statistics have shown that social networking is growing and is predicted to surpass search in the future. The most encouraging aspect in the rise of social networking/Facebook is how people are using technology to connect with one another. Social networking is becoming more valuable than search/information. Apparently, Mapquest, searching Lady Gaga lyrics and finding the best pizza by zip code are not as important as staying in touch with loved ones.