Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Mayhem Studios Featured on BNET: How To Build a Twitter Following


I was recently featured on BNET: CBS Interactive Business Network. They were interested on how I built my Twitter following. If This Guy Can Get 66,000 Twitter Followers, So Can You. I think this is such a bad title. Makes it sound like, it's all about getting as many followers as possible but it's really about building a Twitter following.

Here are few of my tips on building a Twitter following.

+ I’m just being me
, engaging with my community. I try to be a resource for them. I’m a designer, so I retweet lots of design articles for beginners, intermediate and advanced.

+ Know your audience. Many of my followers are small biz to medium size. Many can’t afford a designer like me. Articles on web design, color, inspiration and basics of design really helps them.  Novice articles are the best — Sometimes intermediate or advanced design topics may go over their heads but I still throw those out there.

+ Answer questions. If it’s not in my area of expertise, I try to find an answer for them.

+ Make sure to retweet others and share great content. Retweeting is a great way to build your network and say "Thank, I like what you tweet. I want to spread the word." Make sure the context offers value that is helpful to your followers, no selling. That’s how I’ve become friends with people like Chris Brogan, Guy Kawasaki, and key persons with Brands, small and large companies.

+ Be transparent. I share what I enjoy in my life and I’m very transparent about everything I do. I tweet photos and check in on foursquare. People feel that I am a real person and part of their lives.

+ Take online connections to the next level. Attend tweetups and conferences. You build a stronger bond after a In Real Life (#IRL) meetings. It’s just like hanging out with old friends.

+ It’s all about them. Be nice and courteous. Help your followers any way you can. Building a following is like providing great customer service. I'm always there to help a friend, the small guy, charities and my community.

+ Always give value. My followers know I like trying things out.  Many brands and companies have offered me trips, products, etc.  Often I’m already using the products or schwag I receive, but either way I’m honest and fair about how I feel.

I always stay true to myself.  If I am given a product to review, I trust my community knowing they won’t doubt my choices. I focus on giving my followers real value; when you do, you’ll always stay on the straight and narrow.

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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Samsung Droid Charge on the Verizon 4G LTE Network


Disclosure: The Samsung Driod Charge was provide to me by Samsung for me to test and keep.

I've been pretty much a mac and iphone guy my whole life. Using an Android phone never crossed my mind until now. A friend of mine, Alana Joy
working with Samsung  approached me about testing the Samsung Droid Charge and giving it an honest review.

I was very excited to take the Samsung Droid Charge for a test drive before it was officially released. Here are some features of the phone.

+ 4.3” Super AMOLED Plus Touch Screen Display
+ 8MP camera: Front-facing camera
+ HDMI
+ 1GHz processor with Android™ 2.2 platform
+ 4G LTE speeds on Verizon


The feel and look of the Samsung Driod Charge is very similar to the iPhone. Even  playing around with the Driod Charge for a few hours, it felt very comfortable. It would be a smooth transition from the iPhone to the Driod Charge, if I decided to switch. 

I have to admit, the larger 4.3" super Amoled screen on the Droid Charge is pretty nice compared to the iPhone's smaller 3.5" screen. The screen itself is so clear and vibrant, that is one of the biggest selling points for me. With That being said, the screen is also a big battery suck.

Having a 8mp camera doesn't mean it will take better photos. The Droid Charge takes some pretty decent photos but seems a little muddled. I have seen better photos with less mega pixels. I wish the colors and white balance was a little better. 

I like some of the default settings on the camera like Panoramic. Pretty awesome how it can stitch together eight photos and pretty seamless.

I found the Samsung Driod Charge to be pretty responsive and quick with the 1GHZ processor, being on the Verizon 4G LTE network helps a lot. Speeds are blazing on Verizon 4G LTE, anywhere from 3mb-18mb down and 3mb-5mb up depending on your area. The average I got around town was 10mb/5mb.

The battery life was a big negative for me. The Droid Charge battery only lasted four hours and it took a long time to recharge. 

My final word, the Samsung Droid Charge is great phone on the Verizon network, which you can't go wrong with. It's very responsive, fast and a great value.

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Monday, May 02, 2011

HP EliteBook 8740w Mobile Workstation Review and Giveaway

Disclosure: HP provided me with two, HP EliteBook 8740w Mobile Workstation to review and to keep afterwards.

I would to thank HP again for allowing me to review the HP EliteBook 8740w Mobile WorkstationPlus HP gave me a second one, worth $4,899 to give away to my one of readers and followers. The details of  the HP Giveaway will be below after my review.

I have used both macs and pcs my whole life. I prefer macs as I find them to be smoother running and trouble free. I was exciting to test out this supped up EliteBook 8740w Mobile Workstation. Here is a little recap on the specs on the HP EliteBook 8740w Mobile Workstation.

+ Intel Core i7-740QM (1.73ghz, 6mb L3 Cache)
+ 8gb DDR3-1333
+ 17″ WUXGA (1920×1200) LED-backlight DREAMCOLOR display
+ NVIDIA Quadro 5000m with dedicated 2gb DDR5 workstation-class GPU
+ 500gb 7200RPM HD
+ 2.0mp integrated webcam
+ LightScribe DVD +/- RW burner
+ Full-sized backlit keyboard
+ Three button trackpad mouse

The Body Construction
The HP EliteBook 8740w Mobile Workstation is a BEAST! It has a metal casing; very heavy, very well protected, very much like a tank, which is a good thing but with that said. It's also too heavy to take it on the go. The battery is also huge and heavy, like a giant brick. The combination of the HP EliteBook 8740w Mobile Workstation and the battery would make it impossible to carry around all day.

The Goods
I said, earlier that the HP EliteBook 8740w Mobile Workstation is a beast and a very powerful machine. People forget that the video card makes a big difference on the speed and how fast something renders. The NVIDIA Quadro 5000m video card on the HP does an excellent job of 3D rendering, animation, video editing and graphic design.

I ran it through some tests on Photoshop. It didn't have any problems rendering a 30 mb file with a bunch of other apps opened. I also advanced a video streaming video forward and it didn't stutter at all. I tried it my mac book pro too but it had to rebuff before the video would start playing again.

I notice that when you work the HP hard, it gets really hot. It can be used as a heater in the winter months.

The HP EliteBook 8740w Mobile Workstation comes with a DreamColor display, meaning it displays billions of bright and vibrant colors. I thought the display looked great and the colors were really saturated and bright. Sometimes, a little too bright for me but I couldn't find the option to reduce the saturation.

The Final Word
The HP EliteBook 8740w Mobile Workstation is a great machine for anyone in the creative field, that needs a powerhouse for 3D rendering, animation, video editing or graphic design. It's a great value for the price, if you don't already have a mac. The HP EliteBook is more of a desktop workstation than a mobile one. It's just way too heavy to be carry it around with you, which also goes for the battery.

For a more in depth review. Check out @FuelYourMotionHP EliteBook 8740w Mobile Workstation Review and @PrimeSuspectThe HP EliteBook Mobile Workstation project

HP EliteBook 8740w Mobile Workstation Giveaway

The HP EliteBook 8740w Mobile Workstation is a great machine for any creative individual and worth $4,899. I didn't want to just pick a random submission. I want to give the HP to someone that is creative and can use the power of this machine.

I am going to make you guys work for it. The most creative story of why you want the HP EliteBook 8740w Mobile Workstation wins. Good Luck!

The Rules

1. Follow Twitter account @HP_PC
2. 400 words, give or take
3. Email to mayhemstudios [at] gmail.com
4. Submissions must be received by May 18, 2011
5. Creative retweet of this blog post which includes "@HP_PC" and the hashtag "#HPelite"

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About me

  • Mayhem Studios is a small award-winning design firm located in Los Angeles, California, developing identity and brand recognition for the business sector across the nation. The Studio uses strategic and creative design with effective messages targeted to the client's specific audiences to produce identity and branded collateral pieces, annual reports, brochures, logo design, advertising and interactive web sites. Calvin Lee, Principal & Creative Director of Mayhem Studios is a graduate of Platt College and serves as a member of the Platt College Advisory Board for the Visual Communications Department, NO!SPEC Committee and on the Creative Latitude Management Team.
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