Not Such Deep Thoughts In The Year 2010

I had a great holiday vacation, and I hope you all did too. I rested, relaxed, visited, shared and celebrated. I even managed to get a few long put off projects done, most notably installing slick new programmable thermostats throughout the house and rewiring my entertainment center to include a nice input selector switch to manage all of my sources. On the whole, it was time very well spent.

All good things must come to an end, though. I’m back in the thick of things now, and life’s tempo has picked back up to its usual break neck pace. I spent most of last week in that “after vacation” state, where I run around trying to get caught up, and promptly crash and burn the minute I find time to sit down. Although I haven’t been able to stay awake long enough to post anything, I haven’t stopped thinking. Matter of fact, in that period just before sleep, as I’m slowly and blissfully spiraling down into unconsciousness, my mind bubbles ups all kinds of interesting things.

Here’s a few of this past week’s “thought bubbles”:


Wow, 2010. It still seems kind of unreal to me. It wasn’t that long ago that the year 2010 seemed an eternity away for me, and it promised to be a time of technological wonder. In Arthur C. Clarke’s 2010: Oddessy 2, he had us visiting distant planets and seeing a second Sun appear in our sky after aliens turned Jupiter into a star. Although it has become a world of technological wonder, the journey to 2010 hasn’t played out quite as he had envisioned, and that’s probably a good thing. I’m of the opinion that aliens can be rather pesky, plus I’m pretty sure a second Sun wouldn’t help us with the whole global warming thing. Computers with artificial intelligence freak me out a little, too. Sometimes I worry that my GPS might pull a HAL and carjack me, but so far all it’s done is scold me. If she starts calling me Dave though, I'm shutting her down.


A lot of people like to make New Year’s resolutions. Not me. I prefer not to make any promises that I may or may not be able to keep. It only seems to lead to disappointment down the line. In fact, research shows that only about 12% of people polled actually achieve their goals. Instead, I like to make a list of New Year’s hopes. Almost the same thing, except there are no lofty expectations attached. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a completely passive wish list. As the year, or the new decade, in this case, progresses, I try to do what I can, where I can, to help things along.


Speaking of new decades, the Aught’s kind of sucked. I hope the Ten’s are better.


Win, lose or draw, I hope the Pats bring it, and leave it all on the field during the playoffs.


I really love the CES; it’s a pure, unadulterated, geek fest. Although a lot of what’s unveiled at the show amounts to little more than vaporware, it brings me great pleasure to see what amazing things people have been cooking up each year. This year’s buzz is all about 3-D TV, with tablet PCs, e-readers and handheld digital TVs also making a strong showing. I’d love to attend one of these days. I’ll have to work on getting some press credentials for next year. Anybody out there interested in helping a fellow geek live his dream?


The Winter Classic was fun to watch, but I still can’t get into the Bruins in a serious way. I was a huge fan as a kid, even sleeping on the sidewalk outside of the Gahden for days, just for a chance at playoff tickets, but it doesn’t seem to float my boat anymore. It’s a different game these days, and way to sterile for me. Memories of Orr, Espo, Turk, Pie and the Chief, all flying around sans helmets (and teeth), ice chips and blood spraying everywhere, seems to have spoiled me forever. Those were the days when men were men, and sheep were afraid. Especially if the Turk was around.


There’s nothing like heated seats when it’s frigidly cold. It’s one of those small things that make a huge difference in life. Mmmm, toasted buns…


On the subject of life, and making differences, I leave you with this; during my holiday sabbatical I realized that I haven’t been striking a good work/life balance lately. It’s important to be with friends and family, and to enjoy life on a regular basis. It will do wonders for your stress and anxiety levels, but more importantly, life can be way too uncertain to squander.

This year that’s going to change. This one isn’t a hope or a resolution, it’s a solemn vow.


That is all.


zzzz, SNORK, zzzz…

Apple Gives Us A Reason To Whistle A Happy Tune In The Post Holiday Season

Earlier this week at Macworld, Apple announced that they would now be offering iTunes Plus versions of their music, which are better quality and DRM free, as their standard 99¢ download, and that starting in April they would be shifting to a tiered pricing structure, 69¢, 99¢ and $1.29 per song.

This is great news for me. Santa brought me a fresh iTunes card, and I’m snagging tracks as I type. DRM-less, 256kbs tracks. Sweet. iTunes also gave me the opportunity to upgrade some of my existing library, for a fee, to Plus, but I passed for now.

While this is a big deal for me, and from what I read in the forums, for a lot of you out here on the interwebs also, the major tech sites have been bemoaning what a drag Macworld was. It’s a veritable chorus of “I flew all the way here and there was no unveiling of the Next Best Thing, no Steve Jobs. What a drag, man.”

You know what? I don’t care. Boo hoo. Apple just had a major product release in September. The accessory manufacturers can’t keep up with all the product changes, and people don’t have the inclination or the disposable income to swap out devices every 6 months when the economy sucks. I say this was another great example of Apple understanding what the market can bear, and what the public wants.

So, hopefully these reviewers have refueled their company jets and bopped on over to the CES to drink their fill at the trough of excess. I hate to see them so unhappy. As for me, I got what I wanted, and I’ll be doing the iPod happy dance (when no one’s looking, of course) throughout the long cold winter months. Thanks Steve. Much love.

That is all.

The CES Followed By The NFL Playoffs - A Sports Freak/Techno-Geek's Dream Week!

I saw some really interesting reports on all the cool stuff at the Consumer Electronics Show last week and man, was I surprised by the outcome of this weekend's playoff games (except for the Pats, of course). Unfortunatley I wasn't able to give either the show or the games my undivided attention, but I did get to watch another Pat's game with my Dad.

I'll find time to talk about both of them soon, I promise. In the meantime, check out Spot, it's one of my favorite new products.

GO PATS!!!