With Vista out for more than a year now it was only a matter of time before the guys over at Microsoft to begin talking about the next edition of Windows. The newer version of Windows dubbed “Windows 7” to be better then the current platform and integrating the multitouch interface. At the D6 conference on Tuesday May 27, 2008 Microsoft debut a demo demonstrating this new feature. But what I want to know is what else is there? A multitouch interface might be cool and futuristic but we all know this will come with a price whether it is non-supported drivers or cost efficiency. Below is a link to the multitouch interface demo on Windows 7.

Multi-Touch in Windows 7

Toyota has done it again. We all have been there driving home late at night sometimes not really being able to see where we are going. Toyota might actually have a way to assist in this dilemma. Recently, "Toyota Motor Corp's "Crown Hybrid" released in May 2008 is equipped with the "Night View" system that displays the view of the road ahead at night…The LCD meter has a resolution of 1280 x 480 dots. The size of the image indicated by the Night View system is 614 x 346 dots. Vehicle speed, brightness and weather are the conditions that affect the activation of the pedestrian detection function of the Night View system." ~ http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/. Hopefully this new technology will help drivers in the near future, currently in the previous model, the view of the road ahead is displayed on the windshield, and it is overlapped with the view right in front of the car which makes it a bit more difficult to view the road in the front.

I can hear my mother now.. PUT ON YOUR SUNSCREEN BEFORE YOU GO OUT.  I never understood until I got older.  I was too cool back then and wanted that golden tan and unfortunatly ended up with that painful lobster red sunburn.  Now i am older and wiser, I use sunscreen like it is going out of style.  Stay protected this summer with our Sunscreen in 1/2oz Carabiner Bottle - SPF15.  Perfect for anyone on the go!! put in in your car, attach it to you bag so you will never forget it  This item is also available in spf 30 sunscreen as well.

Some of the coolest promotional items we have to offer are our stock of custom imprinted USB memory sticks. I remember when I was in Middle School we were still using floppy disks, then in High School we began to use Iomega zip drives and/or blank CD's in computer graphics, and finally when I got to college I discovered the jump drive. When I first purchased it about five to six years ago I paid around fifty dollars for a 128MB now you can easily get a 4GB drive for around the same price. So when we just got the Leeds Combination Lock USB Flash Drive V.2.0 1GB I was all over it. The cool thing about this jump drive which makes it stand out for the rest of our promotional jump drives is the fact that it has a combination lock on the drive itself for added security while still remaining under one inch in height. The drive is a 1GB stick is compatible with both Mac OS 9.X and Windows 98 and above. This promotional item is highly recommended for anyone that wants to hand out a tech gift costing fewer than sixteen dollars a piece. Check out the Leeds Combination Lock USB Flash Drive V.2.0 1GB for yourself.

Its time for the second round of questions- today with our fabulous sales supervisor Laurie:

What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

Take a shower…I cannot function without taking a shower! 

What's your Fondest memory?

Waking up at 4am on Christmas morning with my sister. We would get flashlights and creep around the tree together then go back to bed. 

Any Guilty Pleasures?

There is a sweatshirt that Bill has…it is beaten up and ugly. I call it the “hobo” and I would HATE when he wore it out. One day I threw it on and FELL IN LOVE with it…so cozy…I now wear it when I’m cold.   

What are you most looking forward to? 

Getting Married next year! 

Any good plans this evening?

It’s the fiancés B-Day so having dinner and cake then chillin.

Have fun tonight kids!  More to come… isn’t getting to know the Motivators just peachy?

During this time of year, during rain or thunderstorms loosing electricity is a common occurance.  Normally its at this point when people realise their handy flashlights are all out of batteries.  With the green craze thats going around right now why not pick up our Promotional Crank up Emergency Flashlight?  This item works without using disposable batteries.  Its powered by a crank that you wind on the side of the light. The extremely bright LED light will last a long long time and you will never have to buy replacement batteries.  A promotion like this is sure to stay with your customer for a long time to come because something like this is just so handy and always works when in a clutch.

So, you’ve all heard of my fanboy husband Louie.  While I love every bit about him, his chronic videogaming makes me slightly insane some days.  He takes his obsession to new heights as the years go by.  For example, we went to 3 stores on Saturday because he did not get his May issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly in the mail.  Today, on his way home from work, he went to two stores to see if anyone released the Lego Indiana Jones game for Xbox 360 early.  Yes, indeed, this is my life. 

So back to Rock Band.  Rock Band, for the three people in America who might not know it, is a video game where you click buttons on a fake guitar, sing through a microphone attached to your console and bang on your very own pseudo drum kit.   

Oh my goodness the drum kit.   

I never knew excruciating annoyance before that thing came into my house.   

Even when the game is played at normal TV volume, the constant tapping on the drums is enough to drive me mad as a hatter.  The first time he played with the drums, I hid in another room with the TV blasting and a pillow over my ears, and I STILL heard that constant tapping like the beating of a Telltale Heart. 

Needless to say, he is forbidden to play Rock Band when I am home- Its all I can do to keep the little sanity I have left. 

It did lead me to a good idea for a promotion though- custom imprinted drum sticks.  The drum sticks that they include with the game are the same ones that we sell here, imprinted with the Rock Band logo. Drum sticks with your logo are a great idea to ride this trend.  I heard that Rock Band 2 is coming out soon (and with an even bigger drum kit, ug!) so this trend isn’t going anywhere soon.  If you need to reach a techno friendly audience from ages 8-40, drumsticks are it (and eco-friendly to boot!). 

Learn from my misery, grab some logoed drumsticks and make some noise with your next promotion!

 

I have always wanted to invent something that was simple and useful...and lucrative of course. One of my favorite promotional items I have ever received is from the dentist. Yes,I am "one of those people" who squeezes the toothpaste from the middle or top area totally diregarding logic of squeezing from the bottom. With that said, the Push'n Save™ Tube Squeezer is a life saver (plus then my fiance doesn't want to kill me). It is a great giveaway for any dentist/orthodontist, inexpensive, and will be seen every day by whoever uses it!

Last Christmas, my aunt got us this little electronic game that is an updated version of the classic boredom game 20 questions.  I realized that might be a fun way for all of you to get to know my fabulous co-workers a little better.

We're going to start off with my former assistant, Sarah S.(who is now all growns up and our content developer!).  When I was first training Sarah, she had a little desk in the corner of my office, so we got to know each other pretty well, but what the heck? There's always something you can learn...

 20 questions seemed a bit excessive, so we'll start with 5:

Q: What did you have for breakfast today?

A:Iced grande caramel macchiato from starbucks. I’m hyped up on caffeine and sugar!!! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Q:Favorite movie?

 A:The Cutting Edge. I constantly quote that movie all the time. Toepick!

Q:Favorite time waster?

A: The Tangle Junior on my desk. I play with it when I’m deep in thought or just need a break from writing keyword paragraphs. My pop-up paperclip dispenser is also fun. I have several different colored paperclips in there, and one time it picked up all blue and orange ones. That made the Met fans happy. One time it picked up one of every color and it was in rainbow order. That was amazing. Also, playing 5 questions with Jen is a good time waster. And if managaement is reading this, everything I just said was a lie. I don’t waste time. Work, work work!  (Don't worry Sarah- Khurram will be happy we're adding content!)

Q:Favorite part of every day?

A:Probably writing my morning blog when I first come in because I get to look at all sorts of fun and crazy ads while searching for stellar material. Honorable mention goes to that one day a week when the heat in our office gets to us, and Sarah, Carolina and I just go bonkers. It usually happens around 4:45 on a Friday.

Q: Any Big plans for Memorial Day weekend? 

A:I’m going to see the first guy that I ever had a crush on in college get married. And then I’m going to the Jersey shore!

Well that's it for the Q&A today.  I'll keep you updated with more compelling trivia about my fellow Motivators soon....

Summer is right around the corner, so you better get your beach or picnic gear ready!!!  The Cooler -On- The- Rocks is a stylish cooler everyone needs for that first sunny day of summer.  This is a great product for your next tradeshow, company picnic, or your next appreciation day. Everyone will be holding on to this item! Think about it, who doesn't need another cooler. It is the perfect size for a day in the sun to hold all of your beverages, which will make sure everyone is having a great day.  OH NO! Forgot your bottle opener again.. no worries this item comes with a corkscrew/ bottle opener and a handy holder so you will never lose it or be without it.  It has a large imprint area to decorate and get your message out there. Stop cleaning up the old coolers and place your order today and start chillin in the sun.