Managing & Technology — www.ddmcd.com

Website copyright © 2002-2025 by Dennis D. McDonald. From Alexandria, Virginia I support proposal writing & management, content and business development, market research, and strategic planning. I also practice and support cursive handwriting. My email: ddmcd@ddmcd.com. My bio: here.

Some Disappointments with Walmart Vudu's DISC-TO-DIGITAL Service

May 15

May 15 Some Disappointments with Walmart Vudu's DISC-TO-DIGITAL Service

Dennis D. McDonald

DRM, DVD, Media, Movies, VUDU, Streaming

Once I got things to work, I was really impressed with the audio and video performance of Walmart’s Vudu movie service, so I was really interested in trying out Vudu’s Disc-to-Digital service for a small number of my old movie DVD’s I’d like to see in higher-than-DVD definition.

May 3
May 3 How Computers and TV Cohabit in the Living Room - May 2012

Dennis D. McDonald

Collaboration, Facebook, Media, Television

The accompanying image shows three laptop computers in use as we watched Game of Thrones last night. What’s wrong with this picture?

May 1
May 1 Smart TV Will Change Your Living Room -- But How?

Dennis D. McDonald

Apple, DRM, Media, Television, VUDU, Video

Mike Elgan’s How Smart TV Will Change Your Living Room is one of the better “future of TV” articles I’ve read. His view of the changing role of TV is straightforward:

Apr 23
Apr 23 Watching My First VUDU Movie

Dennis D. McDonald

Blu-Ray, DRM, DVD, Media, Netflix, VUDU, Walmart

Last week my friend Charlie came over after dinner. We go out to movies a couple of times a month and afterwards go for a beer. This time we decided to stay in. He would supply the beer and I the popcorn. Our intended entertainment: MISSION IMPOSSIBLE GHOST PROTOCOL.

Apr 18
Apr 18 Personal Experience with the iPhone 4s

Dennis D. McDonald

Apple, Linkedin, Media, Mobile Tech, Productivity, iPad, iPhone, iPod, iTunes

It’s not unusual to find myself when I go back to a browser based application from an iPhone app I’m struck by the messiness and clutter, despite the added functionality.

When the Cold War Was Winding Down, Could the Soviet Military Have Maintained Secrecy Had Social Media Existed?

Apr 12

Apr 12 When the Cold War Was Winding Down, Could the Soviet Military Have Maintained Secrecy Had Social Media Existed?

Dennis D. McDonald

Collaboration, Media, Politics, Security, , Telecommunications, eGovernment, Cold War, Secrecy

“Would the Soviet Union have been able to maintain the secrecy of its nuclear and biological warfare development efforts had modern social media like Facebook and Twitter been available?”

Mar 8
Mar 8 Thoughts About The New Apple iPad

Dennis D. McDonald

Android, Apple, Media, Mobile Tech, Television, iPad, iPhone

Yesterday Apple announced the new iPad. I like the new iPad and really think I would enjoy it as a way to manage and manipulate my nature photographs. I want one!

Feb 9
Feb 9 Toward a Definition of Enterprise Mobility, Part 2: Key Questions

Dennis D. McDonald

Collaboration, Documents, Mobile Tech, Process, Project Management, SharePoint

My past several consulting projects have involved document-centric information sharing and collaboration via tools like Microsoft SharePoint and Google Docs.

Collaboration Can Be Messy

Feb 6

Feb 6 Collaboration Can Be Messy

Dennis D. McDonald

Change, Collaboration, Content Management, Innovation, Knowledge Management, Knowledge Transfer, Management, Mobile Tech, Project Management, , Technology

Collaboration can be messy. Convincing a group of people to work together to accomplish a common objective, especially when the group contains many people that don’t know each other, requires artful leadership.

Peer Review in Scientific Journals Isn't Perfect - So What Else Is New?

Feb 4

Feb 4 Peer Review in Scientific Journals Isn't Perfect - So What Else Is New?

Dennis D. McDonald

Collaboration, Media, Peer Review, Publishing, Science, Science Education, Transparency, Journals

In “Stop deifying ‘peer review’ of journal publications” Jonathan Eisen skillfully walks the reader through three realities of how peer review works with scientific journals:

Jan 1
Jan 1 I Just Updated My Copyright Date - So What?

Dennis D. McDonald

Copyright, Media, SOPA

I just updated the copyright statement in the footer of this blog from

Nov 3
Nov 3 Who Cares if Business and Brands are "Social"?

Dennis D. McDonald

Branding, Business Models, Collaboration, Customer Communication, Enterprise 2.0, Governance, Management, , , Standards

Back in August I posted “Let’s Stop Talking about ‘Social Business’” where I made the following statement:

On the Importance of Authentic Social Media Engagement

Nov 1

Nov 1 On the Importance of Authentic Social Media Engagement

Dennis D. McDonald

Anonymity, Authenticity, Engagement, Google+, Metrics, , Twitter

I recently had a discussion with Robyn Tippins on Google+. I know Robyn from our podcasting days and from Linkedin Bloggers. Robyn, who recently moved to Read Write Web to serve as Community Manager, had mentioned she was hoping it would be possible to schedule posts in advance on Google+:

Oct 29
Oct 29 Five Podcasts I'm Listening To Now - Oct. 2011

Dennis D. McDonald

Jeff Jarvis, Lists, Podcast

I’m partial to history, technology, and the arts. Here are five I’ve been listening to regularly in recent months:

Oct 20
Oct 20 Proposal to Create a Google+ "Collaborative Project Management" Circle

Dennis D. McDonald

Collaboration, Google+, Project Management

Over the past week or so Michael Kaplan and I have been talking about our common interest in collaboration tools and project management.

My First Electronic Gadgets

Oct 18

Oct 18 My First Electronic Gadgets

Dennis D. McDonald

Nostalgia, Radio, Technology

As I salivate at getting several new iPhone 4s smartphones via some kind of “family plan” and try to decide what storage capacity I’ll need to replace my worn-out-but-serviceable iPod Classic, my thoughts return to the gadgets of my youth.

Oct 5
Oct 5 On the Emerging Need for Both a Smartphone and a Tablet Computer

Dennis D. McDonald

Humor, Mobile Tech, Samsung, Tablet

A couple of weeks ago I ran into Ian McCully on Google+ on a video “hangout.”

Oct 1
Oct 1 Toward a Definition of Enterprise Mobility, Part 1: Key Dimensions

Dennis D. McDonald

Collaboration, Definitions, List_AR, Mobile Tech, Strategic Planning, Strategy

Is availability of powerful mobile devices and services really changing the way people work? Or are smart phones and tablet computers just providing more options for doing existing work without regard to location?