Author Archives: Robert McKay Jones

Robert McKay Jones

I have spent more than 25 years working hand in hand with clients in creating custom software applications that improve and enhance their operation, productivity and visibility.

A New Way of Communicating

Or is it…. For a few months now I have been dabbling with an artistic iPad App and Community. I have written about it before. It is called Sketchclub. It is a high end low cost drawing/painting creation program that combines the best of what the iPad has to offer with the best that digital drawing tools Oxymoron by Dahave to offer. Sketchclub also links this powerful drawing tool with a worldwide community of thousands of artists. These artists are as varied as their locations would indicate. From the United States to Russia and everywhere in between. From Japan to Australia and all points in between. It is a community of thousands of artists that all have something to say. Some have the ability to speak in art, some do not. 

I provide here an example of an artist that knows how to communicate with digital drawings. The artist goes by the name of Da and resides in Croatia. This piece drives home the dichotomy of beautiful music, wildlife and nature with starvation, killing and war. Some may love it, some may not, but everyone will understand its meaning.  To see the process of creation in motion is awesome. SketchClub enables the artist to record the entire creation process and if desirable, set it to music. You can watch the five minute video of this drawing on Youtube. You can look at the drawing full screen on SketchClub. This artist has much to say and has found a way to communicate her minds eye through digital art using SketchClub. Artists have long since spoken their minds through art and now they can speak using digital art and also document the process. If you have an iPad, look for the App on the iTunes Store.

Posted in Apple, Art, Technology.

SketchClub – What other iPad Apps Can Hope to Be

SketchClub is an App and a Community.  It provides ANYONE with the desire to express themselves artistically to create beautiful art.  No artistic SketchClub - Artist Vermeertraining is required. However, for those that do have training, it is an exceptional way to create and share your works with others. 

As an example of that, pictured here is a drawing by artist Vermeer who happens to be one of the most able and prolific of the SketchClub artists.  This piece is astoundingly beautiful. The program allows the artist to render extraordinarily accurate portraits such as this, or expand your horizons with imaginative abstracts.

SketchClub provides all the tools and advanced drawing capabilities of applications such as Photoshop but is actually more intuitive and fun to use.  It has a wide array of tools, brushes, colors, layers, copy, merge, and more.  As you complete a piece of art, you can save it, push it to Facebook, email it, and share it with other SketchClub artists.  You might get a thumbs up or maybe a nice comment, or, if your work is outstanding in the eyes of another, you may receive a heart.  Special works will be featured by the site operators (fondly calling themselves Gloperators) which will earn your art a bigger audience.

In the end, it’s all about finding peace and pleasure in creating and the comradeship of sharing your efforts with other like-minded artists.  Yes, we are all artists!

Posted in Uncategorized.

iCloud Means iMoney!

Apple iPad, iPhone and iTouch users upgrading to IOS-5 will have many new features including iCloud, the subject of the article. iCloud is not free, well not really.  Only 5gb of space is provided free of charge.  Most of us have more than that on our Nano, let alone iPad.  If you are like me and have near 60gb of space tied up in music, photos and videos, you will likely spend $100 per year for the iCloud service.  Now that isn’t a terrible, but it is a consideration. 

iCloud is free for the first 5gb, $20 per year 15gb, $40 per year for 25gb, and $100 for 55gb.

You can see the price schedule on Apple at this link.

Posted in Apple, iPad, Uncategorized.

Somehow Sorrow Is Just Not Enough

It is a moment of real sadness. We seemed to all know this man that gave us a new way to look at an apple, a new way to use a phone and a new way to be inspired. Steve Jobs who climbed high, fell down and climbed even higher, out of shear will and courage. He will be remembered. Probably always. With the vision of Walt Disney and the tenacity of Teddy Roosevelt, he made his mark on mankind. He touched us all. Somehow the world seems a little less wondrous. A light has gone out. I hope to see a new star in the skies tonight because sorrow is just not enough.

Posted in Apple. Tagged with , , .

Given the Choice…

Our blog face has changed. We purposely fly our flag in a conflicted sky. On one side, we have the threat of a darkness with a stormy and damaging outcome. On the other, the sky is open to the sun and the stars shedding light on everyone and everything. What will it be? Doom and gloom? Or hope and faith? Here is one view.

Big business, big banks and big government have wreaked havoc and devastation on America. It’s been nearly a century long hurricane of greed and deception. The malicious gluttony and self-indulgent hunger for wealth and position has overtaken this great country and overshadowed our ideals. The deterioration and ineffectiveness of our educational system hinders our children and grandchildren and threatens our future.

Is there anything that can bring us back? Are there any heroes left? Who or what will save this nation? Wal-Mart? Novartis? Sandoz? Pfizer? Merck? Bank of America? Goldman Sachs? Citibank? J.P. Morgan Chase? Cardinal Health? UnitedHealth? Kaiser? Exxon Mobil? Chevron? Home Depot? Dunkin Donuts? None-of-the-above? You are correct, none-of-the-above. These companies are killing us or helping us go broke or stealing our future or investing in the blinders that cover it up. Or all of the above. Meanwhile we perish in blind apathy.

Ah, but there is hope. There is a super-hero. It is you. It is me. If anyone can save this nation, if there is any hope at all, it lies with little people and little business. It is our community. I don’t mean the next door neighbor. I mean community – whatever that might mean to you. It might be your towns-people. Your buddies at work. It also means your Facebook friends, your Tweet-buds or your blog readers. What can one person do? It all depends on how much that one person cares. It depends on wanting to do the right thing. It hinges on passion and conviction. It’s just a decision.

So decide then act. You can control the weather in your own community. Push the clouds away and cause the sun to shine. Your light will help us all see better.

Posted in America. Tagged with .

Images of trif.com

In August 2011 we were redefining our mission and vision for TRI. Although similar in emphasis, the mission seems closely aligned with the symbolism associated to the Peacock. This picture was taken by Robert Jones during a visit to the Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine, Florida.

The Peacock smbolized incorruptibility vision, protection, watchfulness, good-will, nurturing, guidance, kind-heartedness and integrity.

We identify with the peacock in our quest to serve our clients.  For that reason, we have selected this image as our home page image on http://www.trif.com.

Posted in Images of trif.com, TRI, website.

Apple is Taking Flight!

Apple is constructing new headquarters and it looks like it may have flight capabilities.  Being built in Cupertino, CA this looks to be the most awesome building ever. It will be constructed on 175 acres near I-280.  Said to have 2.5 million square feet, it will have a 1,000 seat auditorium, fitness center, a power plant, and underground parking.

Breaking ground in 2015, it will be home to more than 12,000 Apple employees.  For more pictures, click here.

Posted in Apple, Technology.

If you don’t know it, you can’t see it

The date was 1942; the location was Muroc Army Air Field (today Edwards Air Force Base). Whenever it was on the ground, the P-59 jet was fitted with a fake propeller for the sake of secrecy. A day came when test-pilot Jack Woolams rented a gorilla suit and took off in the jet wearing it along with a big cigar protruding from his mouth and a derby hat on his head. Once airborne, he found a lone P-38 pilot, pulled alongside, giving the P-38 pilot a clear view of the jet and gorilla suit, then waved. The next day when queried at the local watering hole, not a single P-38 pilot had seen an “escaped gorilla” or knew anything about it. The explanation: why of course, it must be that P-38 pilots could only see what they believed was possible.

We find our clients often in the same state of mind with new technology. If they don’t know it, they can’t see it. That is where we come in. We know it, we can see it. We help our clients imagine the possibilities we can create. It takes an open mind and trust. Together we can create amazing things because all things are possible.

Posted in TRI. Tagged with , , .

Webinar Connecting to your Customer like Glue

How do you improve your connection to your customer?  How do you make that connection unique, distinct and difficult for others to replicate.  One way is introducing a customized software application into the mix.  With a special program you can impact information, communication and service in such a way that you become an integral part of your customers business.  More than providing excellent service, you can provide a distinct service.  Maybe something that hasn’t been done before, maybe a link that no one else has conceived. 

TRI is presenting a one-hour webinar presenting some ideas, concepts and custom applications that may give you something new to consider. It is our intention that you will leave the webinar with a new vision for improving your connection with your customer, becoming an even more important partner in their business cycle.  We will be discussing communication, information and service and different ways you can impact those areas in a special and distinct way.

The webinar is free and will be held on Thursday, July 21, 2011 from 2:00pm to 3:00pm. Register here.  http://www.eventbrite.com/event/339075183

What is a webinar?  Think about a webinar as a way you can attend a conference without leaving your desk. Using your computer and telephone, you can hear a presentation (like a conference call) and also see the presenter’s slides (watching over an internet connection) and you may be able to see the presenter as well.

Posted in Uncategorized.

WhiteboardMobile Get’s Personal!

We have heard that WhiteboardMobile would be valuable for not only your entire organization, but also you personally.  We have added a new feature that allows you to post messages that will be seen by you and only you.
Send an email message to msgme@whiteboard.mobi and that message (WBit) will be marked “for YOUR eyes only”.�
Send an email message to msg@whiteboard.mobi and that message (WBit) will be marked “for your company’s eyes only”.�
So your WhiteBoard becomes more than a company board, it becomes personal!
Thanks for your response.  Please continue to send your comments and requests!

Posted in WhiteboardMobile.