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- Written by NJ NEWS Jersey Reporter
WEST ORANGE, NJ --When Techdesigno started in 1995, most websites were rudimentary at best.
“It was very limiting when it comes to styling and design,” founder John Mitrano recalled in an exclusive interview with NJnewjersey.com
John continued, “The World Wide Web, as it was commonly known back when it first became public in 1993, was still in its infancy stages. Web page designs were very crude and elementary at that time. However, I enjoyed investigating and researching technology that can help us create better designs; Not just for the beauty of a website, but for the functionality, as well.”
Nowadays, Mitrano knows that the key to a successful website is a subtle blend of aesthetics and navigational ease. He tells his students that they should know how to work “under the hood” and understand the mechanics of web design.
While the physical office is located in West Orange, New Jersey, Techdesigno works with clients nationwide. Mitrano was also recently elected as a West Orange Chamber of Commerce board member of trustees. Techdesigno also does the website and digital online marketing for the Livingston Chamber of Commerce.
Techdesigno helps clients at every stage of the web design process, from building the website itself to product photography. One way that Techdesigno helps its clients’ websites stand out is by providing SEO and SEM keywords.
“The types of customers we service know that just having a website is not going to be enough for their business. They need the ability for people to find them on the web. If you can’t find a website, you might as well not have one,” Mitrano explained.
With the advent of social media, I often found that new clients were concerned about which social media channels they should invest their time and energy into. A word of advice from Mitrano: though it’s tempting to try and go viral on TikTok to boost sales, it’s best to choose quality over quantity. I found that some business owners are attracted to the sheer number of users on Social Media sites, like TikTok. But, that's not always the most important thing.
“You want to focus on messaging to a quality marketplace and target your audience where you can communicate with the people who most likely need your product or service and will be willing to buy from you. Essentially, people or customers that will benefit from your product or service,” Mitrano said.
The internet is an ever-changing entity and a living document. But, with the introduction of AI technology, the landscape of the internet as we know it is changing daily. When the OpenAI large language model, such as ChatGPT went public in November 2022, users incorporated it into their lives even faster than Facebook. AI is a generative technology that can help businesses generate ideas and streamline data processing. This increase in productivity would hypothetically lead to an increase in profitability for businesses.
The ChatGPT model was trained with already existing data and content. The language model itself is able to expand upon existing ideas. Mitrano compares it to a conversation, where more information can be gained as time goes on.
“AI’s going to open a great deal of opportunity for the expansion of most businesses to offer new services,” Mitrano added. For Techdesigno, this means working as a consultant for businesses who hope to learn more about how to incorporate AI into their existing workflow.
“It would first be a casual conversation over the phone. As it stands, we’ll be focusing on AI tools that service marketing. We won’t be looking at accounting or bookkeeping,” Mitrano explained.
While it’s natural to be wary of new technologies, Mitrano says that the key to working with AI is to incorporate the technology into one’s already existing workflow rather than fighting against it.
“We need to be open to new ideas and learn how to integrate them into our workflow to see if it makes a difference. If you don’t, you’re liable to lose your competitive edge,” Mitrano said.
However, Mitrano does have some concerns about the ethics of widespread AI usage. “My biggest concern is with imagery and content creation. It might come back and haunt you if you’re using intellectual property (IP) that is copyright-infringed. Sometimes you don’t even know you’re doing it,” Mitrano cautioned.
Ultimately, we’re on a precipice with AI technology, and it’s not going away. “This might be considered a pivotal moment in the marketplace with the introduction of AI for business and personal use,” Mitrano explained. “Some say in the next year to three years, we’ll see the promise of AI come to fruition. We hope to see it do good things.”
Techdesigno is located at 59 Main Street, Suite 345, West Orange, NJ 07052. They offer both online and onsite appointments. Techdesigno is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. They are closed on weekends. If you wish to set up a consultation, you can give them a call (973)736-7973 or email them. www.techdesigno.com
Reported story by Rosie the Writer
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TRENTON, NJ --Louisa Bradlow Carman wanted to shape the world around her via public policy. The twenty-five-year-old policy analyst for Governor Phil Murphy was bright and ambitious. Governor Murphy and his fellow staffers were left reeling after Carman’s sudden death in a traffic accident on New Year’s Day.
The crash occurred along Route One in Plainsboro, New Jersey, around 1:56 a.m. Multiple vehicles were involved in the crash. According to Richard Cowan, a reporter for nj.com, Carman was pronounced dead at the scene by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
On January 9, during his sixth State of the State address, Governor Murphy announced his plans for the Louisa Carman Medical Debt Relief Act, a bill that incorporates Carman’s research to help alleviate medical debt for New Jersey residents.
Louisa Carman grew up in Chicago, Illinois. She graduated with honors from Swarthmore College in the fall of 2021 with a BA in political science and a minor in dance. Carman worked as a policy analyst in the Office of Health Care Affordability and Transparency.
After graduating from Swarthmore College in the fall of 2021, Carman started as a policy intern in the office of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. After four months, she was offered a full-time position.
Carman is remembered by friends and family as someone who was deeply compassionate for others. This compassion was reflected in her work as a policy analyst for the governor’s office, with a focus on prescription drug affordability and medical debt relief work. The bill named in her honor would provide patients with additional time to recover before their medical debt would be sent to collections agencies. The proposed legislation would require debt collectors to wait a year before reporting unpaid debt to credit officials. Additionally, the legislation would limit credit collectors' ability to file reports on medical debt if the debt amounts to less than $500.
The governor spoke of Carman’s dedication and kindness during his State of the State address, saying, “Louisa was talented. Incredibly thoughtful. And dedicated every day — as a member of our team — to making our health care system more accessible and more affordable for more people. So with this legislative proposal, we can carry her mission forward — and help thousands of our neighbors avoid falling into medical debt.”
Currently, 1 in 10 New Jersey residents has medical debt in collections. Medical debt disproportionately impacts communities of color in New Jersey, with sixteen percent of residents of color accruing medical debt in comparison to eight percent of white residents, according to reporters Susan K. Livio and Amira Sweilem.
New Jersey currently ranks 45 out of 50 states on the Medical Debt Policy Scorecard. The medical debt policy scorecard was built by Innovation for Justice, a social justice innovation lab spearheaded by the University of Arizona seeking to “enhance transparency and efficiency in debt collection lawsuits through policy, process, and technology reforms,” according to their website.
The Louisa Carman Medical Debt Relief Act was introduced to the New Jersey State Senate on February 22, 2024. The bill is sponsored by senators Shirley K. Turner and New Jersey Senate majority leader M. Teresa Ruiz.
A statement released alongside the bill explains the expansions of customer protections provided by the bill, stating, “The bill provides certain protections to patients with medical debt from collection actions by medical creditors and medical debt collectors. The bill also provides that any portion of a medical debt furnished to a consumer reporting agency in violation of the bill will be void and that it will be a violation of the "consumer fraud act" for a medical debt collector or creditor to violate the medical debt provisions of the bill.”
The bill works in tandem with the Consumer Fraud Act to safeguard citizens from predatory debt collection practices.
As of February 24, the bill has been referred to the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance committee, continuing Carman’s steadfast work to improve the quality of life for New Jersey residents.
Reported Story By:
Rosie the Writer
NJ New Jersey Reporter and Writer
Photo Credit:
Reporter David Brown
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NEW JERSEY & NEW YORK residents experienced the shock of a lifetime the morning of Friday, April 5, when a 4.8-magnitude earthquake rattled portions of the East Coast, including New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. The earthquake occurred at roughly 10:20 a.m. Eastern time and had an epicenter in Tewksbury and Redington townships in Hunterdon County.
New Jersey residents reported feelings of shaking and swaying. One resident told CBS News, "I honestly thought it was just a forklift that hit something because I was on the phone with my partner at work, and he said all of a sudden the building started to shake."
Some residents as far north as Maine also felt the tremors. While residents in Virginia also reported feeling tremors. An estimated 42 million people felt the earthquake.
Friday’s earthquake caused flight delays in travel hubs such as New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. Delays in New Jersey’s Newark Liberty National Airport lasted for an estimated two hours. Air traffic resumed as normal at 12:30 P.M. EST, according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s post on X.
The earthquake also resulted in delays in railroad transportation. New Jersey Transit reported twenty-minute delays for all rail services in both directions.
According to the Associated Press, there have been around 20 earthquakes on the East Coast above a magnitude of 4.5 since 1950. This is compared to over 1,000 earthquakes on the West Coast during that period of time.
The last East Coast earthquake occured in Mineral Virginia in 2011, with a 5.8 magnitude.
According to the United States Geological Survey, known as the USGS, the earthquake’s epicenter was located in New Jersey, near Redington. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that New Jersey activated the State of Emergency Operations Center in response to the historic quake. The State of Emergency Operations Center was deactivated at 10 a.m. on the morning of April 6.
Governor Murphy reassured residents in a statement posted to X, saying, “We have had no reports of major damage to structures, roadways, or infrastructure as a result of yesterday’s earthquake.”
One structural casualty of the earthquake was a 264-year-old mill that ‘fed Washington’s troops’ in Redington.
Following the earthquake, New Jersey experienced 47 aftershocks. Aftershocks are the geological phenomenon wherein a series of smaller earthquakes occurs following the main shock, according to the USGS. Aftershocks help the faults ‘readjust.’ They can occur for weeks or months following the main earthquake.
The most recent aftershock in New Jersey was recorded at 8:05 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10, by the Us Geological Survey.
Aftershock info: https://www.nj.com/news/2024/04/nj-earthquake-aftershock-tally-climbs-to-34-after-fridays-big-tremor-more-expected.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/earthquake-new-york-city-jfk-newark-flights-train-travel/