Dave Martin's Blog

Social Networking - FamDing.com - Building a Niche in Family Social Networking

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:01:11 GMT

Online social networking allows us to easily keep in touch with the world at large. With a few keystrokes, you can let everyone in your network know about an event, post your status, chat, send a message, and post pictures and videos. With typical social networking sites, you can find old friends, old flames, former classmates, that guy from the accounting department that you used to work with. Don’t you wish it was as easy to communicate with your family? With FamDing.com, now you can. While it has become commonplace to "friend" everyone from co-workers to acquaintances, FamDing is the first networking site really geared towards connecting the modern family.

The story of FamDing begins over 15 years ago in a modest house in Colorado Springs, CO. The FamDing founders were growing up in a hectic household filled to the brim with 6 kids. While the eldest was preparing to move across the country to begin college, the youngest was just entering her terrible twos. Everyone in between was just trying to fight for seconds at the dinner table. Of course, we can’t forget our parents. Mom, who has 9 brothers and sisters, and dad, who has 10 of his own, were both working hard to raise a family. As the kids began to move away from home and go their own ways, it became harder and harder for our close-knit family to stay in touch. For the family members separated by age, it was difficult to even have a relationship at all.

At about the same time, the internet was coming of age. Our family latched onto e-mail over “snail mail” and to other technologies that allowed for quicker communication: instant messaging and chat rooms. While these avenues helped keep our immediate family in touch across the miles, the gap still existed between our extended family. Between kids and work (and the distance), our parents weren’t able to communicate often enough with their brothers and sisters. That, of course, led to a gap between us and our aunts, uncles and cousins. Certainly, this just wasn’t limited to our families. Even with the rising popularity of online social networking sites, the founders of FamDing saw that the family market was being underserved.

Most competitors focus on basic communication and family trees. FamDing goes beyond the basics and provides useful, free features that help promote and strengthen family ties, despite distances. Ever need to grab your brother’s address? Try FamDing’s family address book. Always forgetting to email those pictures to your relatives? Not a problem with FamDing’s photo albums. Ever wish you could see your mom, but you just don’t have the money to fly across the country? Introducing FamDing video conferencing (with up to 4 people!). FamDing also lets you keep track of important family events and even post messages to one another through the message board. The features are private and easy to use (and free), so you don’t have to worry about only staying connected with the family “techies”.

With all that said, it’s been a long journey, but the story of FamDing.com is only beginning. We are still working on building a large user base, increasing our functionality, and competing with the already established social networks. We believe that social networks are missing the family niche. As we’ve done in the past, we’ll continue to adapt and grow. If all else fails, we’ll still have our family at our side.

Hearing Loss - My Hearing Loss

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 17:57:41 GMT

On August 19, 2007 I was hit on the right side of the head by a client at work. I initially had problems walking a straight line and would veer to the right while trying to walk. I also needed to widen the distance between my feet while walking to keep my balance.

NPH - I have Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus

Thu, 6 Dec 2007 18:42:41 GMT

What is Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus?
Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is an abnormal increase of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain's ventricles, or cavities. It occurs if the normal flow of CSF throughout the brain and spinal cord is blocked in some way. This causes the ventricles to enlarge, putting pressure on the brain. NPH normally results from a subarachnoid hemorrhage, head trauma, infection, tumor, or the complications of surgery. My NPH was caused by numerous small strokes called TIA's. The probable onset of these strokes was accumlated trauma caused by client assaults at where I work.

My symptoms of NPH included progressive mental impairment and dementia, problems with walking, and impaired bladder control leading to frequent urinary urgency. I also had a general slowing of movements and felt like my feet were "stuck." My doctor used a variety of tests, including brain scans (CT and MRI), three spinal taps, and neuropsychological tests, to help him diagnose NPH and rule out other conditions. Check out this video for a better picture of what it was like.

What was my treatment?

Treatment for NPH involved surgical placement of a shunt in the brain to drain excess CSF into the abdomen where it could be absorbed. This allowed the brain ventricles to nearly return to their normal size.

What's my prognosis?

While the success of treatment with shunts varies from person to person, I recovered alot after treatment. I still don't balance well but better than I did. I do have to take extra care at work because I'm exposed to assaultive clients. My right ear has chronically felt "stuffy" for years but it feels more so now.