Mondays don’t typically have the reputation for being the best day of the week, but yesterday, we had a great day! Oniracom spent all day with our new client, the Santa Barbara Bar, to do a lifestyle photo shoot in the beautiful Santa Barbara. Working with the talented photographer Lexus Gallegos, we are creating a campaign for the tasty and nutritious bars. We are excited to be working with this amazing bar brand that’s local to our hometown!

Santa Barbara Bar founder, Peter Gaum has owned a wholesale bakery in Santa Barbara for 20 yeas. He created the bars as a delicious and healthy snack for friends and family, but it has turned into a local phenomenon, taking the area by storm. Not only are the bars full of flavor, but they are also gluten-free, a good source of protein and fiber, and contain no added soy protein of refined sugars. Right now there are three flavors: Coconut Almond, Peanut Chocolate Cherry, and Cranberry White Chocolate. We thank Santa Barbara Bar for stocking Oniracom full of these delicious bars, because we can’t stay out of the kitchen!

Check out the Santa Barbara Bar website here to see where you can find the bars-in store (or order online). Below are some of pictures from our photo shoot, check them out!

This past Sunday marked the end of the 2015 Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival, and it was a remarkable success! Thousands of people came out to Alameda Park in Santa Barbara to learn about how to make a difference in the environment while enjoying tasty foods, shopping at the eco-marketplace, and attending a multitude of concerts and events.

Jacob, Mike and Sean worked hard all week to make sure our Storywall platform was ready for the big weekend! Storywall connected festivalgoers with all the exciting things happening throughout the event such as live music set times, tips for being environmentally friendly, and more. Everyone enjoyed interacting with the platform by sending in photos to be displayed on-screen and by participating in contests with awesome prizes including local gifts from the farmers market and an electric bicycle!

Overall, Earth Day and Oniracom’s participation with Storywall couldn’t have gone better. Thank you to everyone who played a role in this year’s festival, we can’t wait until next year! Check out some of our photos from Earth Day below.

It’s that time of year again to celebrate the earth and environment at the 2015 Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival! This Saturday and Sunday (April 18 and 19) at Alameda Park in Santa Barbara, there will be tons of events, concerts, games, exhibits, and classes, — all centered on celebrating the Earth. The Oniracom team has put a lot of work into helping ensure the success of this year’s Earth Day, and we are excited to attend.

The festivities start at 11 a.m. on both days, beginning with Bike Valet. Save gas by riding your bike to the festival and park it for free with the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition. Is your bike broken? Bring it and fix it yourself with the help of local mechanics. If cars are still the preferred method of travel, make sure to check out the Green Car Show where potential customers can get behind the wheel of advanced fueled vehicles such as the Tesla Model S, Nissan Leaf, Toyota hybrids and more!

Visitors can shop at the Eco-Marketplace for green products, technology, gadgets, and clothing and then take a class to learn about healthy, organic cooking. Local bands will take the Main Stage to play all genres of music including, blues, country, rock, reggae, dance, and indie. On Sunday at 12:30, join Snook the Sloth at the Kids Corner to talk about how we can protect the planet. We are proud of Oniracom Video Producer Luke Archer for his efforts in bringing to life the giant sloth with built-in audiovisual technology.

An exciting contribution from Oniracom, developed by CTO Sean Campos, is “Storywall,” a technology platform that we will be beta testing at Earth Day. Story Wall will connect guests to events, allowing them to interact with the Festival in a unique way. Campos is excited to see thousands of people interact Storywall “in the wild.” Visitors can hash tag #sbearthday to see their photos on Storywall, so make sure to check it out! 

CEO Jacob Tell and Chief Business Development Officer Mike Wald made enormous contributions as a part of the Festival’s Marketing and Outreach, promoting music performances, speakers, events, and much more. Tell is excited to see the Kids Parade on Sunday because Oniracom will work with students from the Multimedia Arts & Design Academy to film the Kids Climate March.

Make sure to visit Earth Day and check out all the cool events and a big thanks to everyone at Oniracom who made this event possible! There is something for everyone at this year’s festival, so visit http://www.sbearthday.org/ to start planning your days!

Come out this Friday, February 20th, to Oniracom and celebrate Santa Barbara’s music, art, startup, and entrepreneurial communities with us! This event is a part of the Up Global Regional Summit, hosted by Santa Barbara Up Champions and Up Global, an organization that encourages innovation and entrepreneurship. 

This is a great networking opportunity to connect with creative community leaders and visiting startup builders in a relaxed setting. There will be food trucks, local beverages, s’mores, and live music! Did we mention s’mores?

Performances by:
Jonathan McEuen
DJ ZEEK BEATS
Erisy Watt
Matthew McAvenue
Playback House Band
Special Guests  

What: Solutions for Dreamers Fridays
Where: Oniracom, 720 East Haley St., Santa Barbara, CA
Date: Friday, February 20, 2015 Time: 5:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. 

This event is open to the public, but please RSVP here

Also make sure to check-in on Facebook!

Have you ever wondered if your music player was detracting from the original quality of the music? Well, it’s quite possible. After music is recorded, the file is compressed from its original rate of typically 192 kHz to about 44.1kHz in order to fit on CDs and properly download. But does this actually affect the sound we hear? Famous singer Neil Young believes it does, and so he set out in 2012 to create a device that would be able to support music’s original recording rate. To do this, Young and his team asked for $800,000 in funding through Kickstarter, but music lovers seemed to believe in the idea just as much as Young, as donations exceeded $6.2 million. And thus, the PonoPlayer was created.

The PonoPlayer claims to let listeners hear high-quality music in a way that gives puts the “soul” back according to Young and many others in the music industry. In a video produced by PonoMusic, artists such as Norah Jones, Arcade Fire, Foo Fighters, Kid Rock, Mumford & Sons, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and many other music icons agreed that listening to the PonoPlayer let music be heard in a way as never before heard when using a portable device. With all these stars agreeing that this is a revolutionary device, how can it not be true? But a double blind study by Yahoo! found that average music listeners could not confidently agree.

The study tested the PonoPlayer versus an iPhone and the results concluded that the people thought the iPhone actually played better sound. So why do so many say that this new device is the key to better music? No one is too sure, because those who say they love the PonoPlayer focus on the difference they “feel,” not the difference they “hear.” It looks like the better sound may just be a trick of the mind, because according to scientific studies, the human ear can’t even pick up differences after 44.1kHz (that of the average CD or download).

In the end, paying $400 for the PonoPlayer, plus having to re-download every song for $2, may not be the best investment in a “feeling.” But you can decide for yourself by trying it out at Fry’s Electronics. Would you want to try it? Buy it?

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has redefined what it means to have broadband internet, officially raising the standard internet speed in an attempt to create a new status quo and improve internet service for Americans. Previously, the standard broadband was 4 megabits per second (Mbps) download speed with 1 Mbps upload speed. The new standard drastically increases the download speed to 25Mbps with a 3Mbps upload speed.

This proposed change came after the results of a Congress mandated annual progress report found that a large amount of Americans were not receiving adequate service. The FCC commissioners voted 3 to 2 to pass this new standard, and this may just be the beginning. According to IGN, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel believes the standard should be raised to 100Mbps!

You may be receiving faster internet soon, are you excited? 

Facebook has created a useful and interesting new update since moving the application tabs to the left hand column of the timeline. Since those call to actions were lost, Facebook has now given users a new way to gain more support. With the new “call-to-action” feature for Pages, page administers can choose to include buttons that will make it easier for others to support their page.

Buttons include:
• Book Now
• Contact Us
• Use App
• Play Game
• Shop Now
• Sign Up
• Watch Video.

According to this official Facebook article, the new feature created a 2.5x higher conversation rate for Pages, enhancing customer acquisition efforts.
Do you manage a Facebook Page? Consider adding a Call-to-Action to direct your fans/users to a recent campaign for more support!

User-generated web content has globally increased to the point where almost everyone participates in some way online, whether it is through blogging, Yahoo! Answers, LinkedIn, or FaceBook. There is a new generation of people that create and consume more content online, and with this enters new ways to manage this increase in worldwide imagination.

Specifically for YouTube, a company called Fullscreen contributes to a user’s web content by giving them the tools to create and the strategies to gain fan support and recognition. Fullscreen fosters innovation worldwide by allowing web users to expand their networks and to connect to others.

And now, Fullscreen just announced that they will be supporting users in making full-length movies, allowing for exciting opportunity among YouTube users. They have already begun working on three projects with groups that got their start on online. Get ready to discover and view original movies by the YouTube community. For more info on Fullscreen’s first three original movies, read this Mashable article.

Are you a YouTube user? Considering checking Fullscreen out: www.fullscreen.com

There’s not a lot to look forward to at the end of January. Maybe you’ve come to the realization that your New Year’s Resolution isn’t realistic (no one can eat that much kale) or maybe you just don’t like the chilly weather. But since 1986, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) has been brightening up the classic January blues. This year, the festival is back with 11 days worth of events for anyone and everyone.

The SBIFF doesn’t only show films, it is full of events from free seminars to celebrity award presentations. With so much going on and loads of awesome events to choose from, we’ve put together some information on the events and films that we can’t wait to check out. 

Opening Night:
Kicking off the film section of the festival on January 27th at 8:00 pm is “Desert Dancer,” an inspiring, true-story about a man’s journey to becoming a professional dancer in a country where dance is illegal. After the film, for those 21+, is the “Opening Night Gala,” a celebration of the start of the festival with food and drinks, dancing, and live entertainment in downtown Santa Barbara.

Films:
This year, there are over 20 full-length films by directors from all over the world, including the USA, the UK, Canada, Israel, and Belgium! Plus, there are special events for specifically for local filmmakers to display their talent and highlight the creativity of Santa Barbara locals. See the Santa Barbara Independent’s website for official dates!

Events:
The SBIFF recognizes the brilliant work of many celebrities and creative geniuses, which is why there are 9 categories of different awards to be presented to innovators in the film industry. Past recipients (and attendees of the SBIFF) have been people such as George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Lawrence, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Attending this year’s award events gives you the opportunity to hear an hour and a half of personal details about the honoree’s career. 

Are you on a budget? No worries!! The SBIFF has many free events! Check out the SBIFF official website for more details on this years festival!

Some say that it’s a small world, and thanks to our advancements in technology, the world may have just gotten a little smaller. On January 14th Google released its’ update for the Google Translate app which now includes a radical new feature… translating spoken word! Now, you can speak into your phone and the app will translate and speak back your words in another language of your choice. This has the potential to make traveling and communicating abroad much easier, because no one has the time to play charades with strangers!

Another cool feature of this update includes Word Lens,which allows you hold up your camera to text and have it automatically translated. However, according to Mashable, this only works for English,French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish, other languages will still require you to actually snap the picture. Luckily, an internet connection isn’t needed to use Word Lens, so translating text can be done anywhere. These updates are available to both IOS and Android users, so go forth and translate.

Are you excited to start using this new update?