Hug a Small Business Owner

discinc — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 21:10:37 +0000

This year is the 50th anniversary of National Small Business Week which runs from June 17^th-21^st. It began in 1963 and every year it recognizes the critical contributions of America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners. Did you know that more than half of Americans either own or work for a small business?

National Small Business Week is an event cosponsored by the US Small Business Administration (SBA). This year Keynote speakers and plenary sessions will take place in 5 locations across the country; Seattle WA on June 17^th, Dallas TX June 18^th, St. Louis MO June 19^th, Pittsburgh PA June 20^th and Washington DC June 21^st. Although the events are taking place in these 5 locations, other events have been taking place around the country and each state has selected a Small Business Person of the Year who will compete for the national title announced in Washington DC on June 21^st.

We can all do our part in honor of small business week, by working with Small Businesses in our area, not only next week, but throughout the year. For more information on National Small Business week visit http://www.sba.gov/nsbw/nsbw.

Come Check out Coffee & Cars Houston this Saturday

discinc — Fri, 31 May 2013 16:18:53 +0000

The Houston Coffee and Cars event takes place the first Saturday of every month from 8:00 a.m. until 10 a.m. at the Vintage Park shopping village in North Houston. The event which started with 10 cars now hosts a phenomenal collection of super cars, muscle cars, vintage cars, and unique cars. People of all ages come to walk among and admire the cars. It is a great opportunity for car enthusiasts to view their dream cars and talk shop with the owners. And cars aren’t the only thing to check out, if you enjoy people watching, and dog watching for that matter, there’s plenty of opportunity for that too.

As the name implies, you can enjoy a cup o’ joe or a tasty crepe. Starbucks and Coco’s Crepes and Coffee, are both located in the Vintage Park Village, and are open to patrons during the event. If you haven’t been to Coco’s you are truly missing out on a delicious experience.

Although the event begins at 8am come early to get a parking space and to enjoy the show as the cars arrive revving their engines and parading through the park. It’s a ton of fun, hope to see you there! (For more information see coffeeandcarshouston.com)

What’s New in Technology???

discinc — Wed, 29 May 2013 15:32:51 +0000

Driverless car??? Possibly a reality… The data source is still a secret, the Google Driverless Car is powered by artificial intelligence that utilizes the input from video cameras inside the car. Sensors on the vehicle’s roof and also radar and position sensors attached periodically in different positions of the car, help the driverless car navigate and reframe from hitting things in the road. So far the system has successfully driven 1609 kilometers without human commands! Wow technology is moving on up!

Honor Their Sacrifice

discinc — Tue, 28 May 2013 01:54:42 +0000

Today is Memorial Day, a day dedicated to those who gave their lives in the service of our country. Although the long Memorial Day weekend is an opportunity for families to spend time together enjoying the beautiful weather, it is also an opportunity to reflect on the deeper meaning of the holiday and keep the families of the fallen in our thoughts.

Throughout our country there will be celebrations honoring these brave men and women. A special Memorial Day Service will be held on Monday, May 27, 2013 at 9:30 a.m. at the Houston VA National Cemetery, located at 10410 Veterans Memorial Drive. The National Moment of Remembrance will take place on Monday at 3pm local time. Everyone is invited to participate in a minute of silence to reflect on and be grateful for those who have laid down their lives to safeguard our freedom.

Disc, Inc. will be closed on Monday in observance of the Memorial Day Holiday. We look forward to serving your duplication, data and video needsTuesday morning. Have a safe Memorial Day Weekend, Your Disc, Inc. Team

Google I/O 2013

discinc — Fri, 17 May 2013 23:23:35 +0000

Courtesy of Google I/O Picasa album

This was a big year for Google I/O (Google Developers Conference). It was from May 15-17, at Moscone Center in San Francisco. The Keynote came in close to a whopping 4 hours long. If you are a Google or Android user it is defiantly worth a watch if you have the time. Just a few of the highlights.

Google+ has a new interface. It has many new features including auto #hashtagging and a complete layout redesign. I personally am a fan of Google+ over Facebook, but that is just me. Animations and flipping tabs have been added as part of the redesign and are pretty cool. It is very different from the single column you are use to. If you have not signed in your Google+ page in a while you should check it out! You may like the new design.

Google Drive upped the ante by extending every user from 5gb to 15gb of space. That is shared space across all of your Google apps and drive.

Android Studio IDE (ASIDE) was also introduced at Google I/O. Here at Disc, we have not had a chance to download it yet but what we saw in videos we are really excited about. We will write more on ASIDE application later when we have had a chance to work with it.

Google Play Store will now ranks everything higher based on your friends in your Google+ Circles. It will show what your friends have 1+ giving you an ideal of what people in your circles have liked. This is a pretty cool feature, but not always the best thing. Sometimes it is just an overshare.

Google Play Music All Access is now available for 9.99 month. The drawbacks we have found is they really only have three main stream record labels on board at the present time. While this sounds good we will be sticking with Slacker, our streaming service of choice ($9.99 vs $3.99 per month).

Then we have “Hangouts” yet another messaging system. The one thing that we really like about this app (I personally would really love for it to take off) is it is pretty much across all OS platforms. On the release date (May 15th) they released apps for all major phones and the desktop. It has combined many of the current Google apps into one really pretty amazing app. There is no more Hangout, video chat, or text chat. It has all been rolled into one app called “Hangouts” and is available for free in your favorite app store. Integration of SMS messaging has been announced as “coming very soon”.

Well I have to say we are Apple fans here at Disc, Inc. We have many Android demo devices we use here for testing projects. We have always been impressed with Google, Google+, and Android we just can’t give up our iPhones.

What are your thoughts on the new product roll out at Google I/O 2013?

Titanic II… What???

discinc — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:17:53 +0000

I Don’t know if you have heard but Clive Palmer, Aussie Billionaire, is behind the rebuild of the Titanic II, which plans to maiden voyage in 2016. The rebuild will maintain many of the original most famous features, like the lavish staircase. Guest will have the option of dressing in the time period to give the full effect of the original 1912 era. Besides the modern engineering, there are two critical differences. First there is more than enough room in the lifeboats for everyone and second the owner’s refusal to say its “unsinkable”. Clive Palmer says, “anything will sink if you put a hole in it.” Visit Now MSN to see some pictures of the Titanic II.

Would you want to go on a Titanic II cruise?

Offshore Technology Conference Starts Today!

discinc — Mon, 06 May 2013 13:00:18 +0000

One of Disc, Inc’s favorite conferences is OTC (Offshore Technology Conference) and it is finally here and starts today at Reliant Park in Houston. May 6-9, OTC, the World’s foremost event for development of offshore resources in the fields of drilling, exploration, production, and environmental protection will be held. OTC is held annually at Reliant Center, each year it attracts more than 80,000 attendees from 110+ countries and 2,500 exhibiting companies. For many years we maintained a booth, but for the last few years we have all enjoyed the conference as visitors. We have always found it to be a great event for companies to gain technical knowledge and make many valuable contacts. Hope to see you there!

Cinco de Mayo!

discinc — Fri, 03 May 2013 21:27:25 +0000

This weekend we will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo! This festive holiday commemorates the Mexican army’s 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War (1861-1867). There is a Celebration @ Miller Outdoor Theater in Hermann Park with a ton of festivities including a downtown parade, mariachi bands, dancers and food will help spice up the victory celebration. The 18th Annual LULAC Cinco de Mayo Parade begins at 10 a.m., Saturday, May 4, 2013, on Hamilton and Texas Ave., and ends at Preston and Crawford St. Several of us at Disc plan to have some fajitas, margaritas and attend the party. How will you be celebrating?

School’s Almost Out!

discinc — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 02:13:26 +0000

Celebrate the close of another year in your students life by transferring their photos into Digital Files or DVD Video from Disc, Inc.

What better way for students to remember their year than with a custom-printed DVD filled with their memories. Sending your student off to college? This is a great way to send announcements to friends and family. Gather up those pictures from friends, teachers, and parents and let’s get started today with your memento

Bring us up to 200 digital pictures or photos to scan and we will create a Digital file or DVD Video with public domain music for you to share with your friends and family for $150.00.

Don’t miss out on Disc, Inc’s End of the School Year Savings! Offer ends May 31st.

Girl Scouts expanding STEM program

discinc — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:34:57 +0000

Girl Scouts has always been close to our hearts here at Disc, Inc. Carrie is a life-time member starting in scouting when she was 7 with her mother then with Jacqulyn at 6 and now Jacqulyn is a troop leader. We were all very excited when we heard about a new badge that is being brought up in the ranks. The “My Badge Sash is an App” is taking the 100-year tradition mobile. Utilizing a grant from the 4th Digital Media and Learning Competition, the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana, Motorola Mobility Foundation and Mentor Mob will work together to teach Girl Scouts about app development.

The Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles and Women in Games International (WIGI) are working to create a patch that girls can earn by designing video games. They are using Gamestar Mechanic as their learning platform for the girls. According to Girlgamer, which first reported the news, the patch will use a version of E-line’s Gamestar Mechanic creation tool that has been customized to meet Girl Scout patch requirements. The aim is for girls to develop skills related to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) subjects, along with an interest in the video games industry as a career path.

We hope that the Girl Scouts adopt the series of “App Boot Camps” for all of their councils as we feel learning to code for any child, boy or girl should become part of the fundamental learning in the near future.