Ron Guest

Yum! Post gifts bacon and hash browns

Sportin’ my Christmas PJs- yep that’s Mickey

Dad’s got the cake in the oven, kids ready to lick bowl

Someone found a new “trick”…

For those directly effected the level of unemployment is certainly grim but overall the US economy is much sounder than most people realize. You will sometimes see a report about the stock market having recovered but even in these the main tone will be gloomy and other positives are not reported at all. However with the US real GDP (adjusted for inflation) now at pre-recession levels it is clear that more than the stock market has recovered. The obsession with the unemployment rate is counter-productive to helping it improve. The great majority of Americans are reasonably secure in their jobs, aren’t in foreclosure, and are able to spend. The sooner their mindset changes the sooner the unemployment rate will drop. Not only will their return to a normal level of consumption drive jobs but their improved confidence is what is needed to trigger confidence in corporate America to once again invest in capital and new employees.

via MarketWatch Real GDP now at pre-recession levels

Chi hai yuzu - very refreshing!

Sake in a new light

Google is proving their immaturity when it comes to dealing with content and the launch of products requiring an ecosystem in order to be successful. This is going to cost the manufacturers some serious dough. No such worries with our Apple TVs :-)

via BGR Google asks partners to delay Google TV launch

Or, what I really want for Christmas.

As the owner of a new MacBook Air (11”) there are a few things I need that ya’ll haven’t created yet. I’m saving you thousands in market research dollars by telling you what you need to create.

1. I want a stand. It only needs to do two things. First, securely hold the MBA in the vertical position. Second, it must act as a power dock. I.e. when I place the MBA vertically in the stand it will connect to the MagSafe port and charge the MBA.
2. Although the 12" Targus Netbook sleeve does a decent job holding the MBA it's utilitarian style clashes. And I worry the zipper will scratch the Air as I slide it in and out since the zipper parts are exposed and it is a tight fit. While you're at it, please add a very discrete handle.
3. I have a closet full of backpacks and messenger bags. They will all hold the MBA and even carry it in style. But the Air is so small putting it in a standard bag is like using a city bus to drive one person around town. Please create some bags scaled to my Air. And you better make 'em stylish. I know SF Bags has some that look good but they're impossible to obtain. Plus more options is always better.

I’ve been a very good boy so please create this ASAP. My credit card is all ready to go!

The two storytellers

Christmas Teddy

He likes his shaken,not stirred

I really prefer physical books for most things but decided a couple of books I needed to purchase provided a good chance to give e-books another try. Since I buy most books from Amazon they were my first stop and it was nice to see they have reader apps for the iPhone and Mac (as well as a bunch of other platforms). I decided to check Apple’s iBook store and - rather shockingly - they don’t have a iBook reader app for the Mac (to say nothing of Windows etc). I guess this is one of those Steve-isms but certainly not one I can agree with. Generally speaking when I purchase something I’ll go with the technology that has the best chance of living a long time (in this case, more platforms means longer life and more versatility).

Needless to say I am now a Kindle customer.

I’m a sucker for this type of collaborative music-making using new technologies. Definitely worth a watch/listen. They have some nice arrangements of the classics…

via TUAW Found Footage: Christmas songs played by an iPad band.

This well and truly bites. Microsoft apparently decided to set an arbitrary limit of 15 apps registered for push notifications (IM, games, news apps, etc). They say typical users don’t need more. Guess their friends run in different circles than mine…

via BGR Microsoft confirms Windows Phone 7 app limit for push notifications

Just have to give a shout out to Gazelle.com. I love these @Gazelle guys :-) I’ve sold several non-trivial electronic devices to them and the process and outcome have been consistently great. On this most recent sale (2.5 yo iMac) they are actually going to pay me $30 more than they quoted when I shipped it to them. It turns out it was better than they expected and worth more. Not sure what that means but I was impressed because they certainly could have stuck with the original estimated value and I would have been none-the-wiser and still a happy customer.

Buy and Sell Electronics, Sell Cell Phone, Recycle Electronics

Glass half full? Penguins, Hennessy and Pepsi

Yeah, that Cloud thing you keep hearing about means many different things. But whatever it may mean to you be certain that the Clouds are no longer just on the horizon. They're a storm a-coming your way :-)

via BGR Skype gearing up for a huge cloud-based offering?

After race fun

Since I watch nearly everything using my DVR (yes, even live sporting events) I don’t care as much as I would have 10 years ago. But this is long over due. Unfortunately I’ve noticed the ads inserted into online content (e.g. via YouTube) have started to use this same “blow out your speaker” approach to getting attention.

via Ars Technica: CALM Act passed, will quiet loud TV commercials within a year.

I suppose this is a great leap forward from Notes. But given the reliability issues I experience with GMail I can only hope this agreement involves assurance regarding availability… Otherwise we will start hearing about Government projects getting screwed up due to GMail issues.

This definitely a trailblazing deal which will lead to many more and helps validate Cloud computing.

via Information Week General Services Administration Picks Google For Email

Our elf on shelf is named Foddle

Fruits of day’s labor - Tree; Instagram

I was really looking forward to the release of AirPlay and my first day enjoying it was not a disappointment. We had some friends over for the evening and our quiet get together turned into a rockin’ evening as we used my iPhone to stream songs (mostly club mixes) and music videos through the AppleTV. “How can you do that???” was the understandable first reaction from our friends. Their second reaction was “can I just go to the Apple store to buy one?”

AirPlay is, to me, a great example of why Apple products are so popular. Apple products in a given category may not be “the best in class” but taken together as a lifestyle system there is absolutely no other company or product family that comes close. Technology implemented in such straightforward ways even my 6 year old can understand and use it with ease. It is getting harder and harder to resist buying a couple more Apple TVs for the house…

via TUAW Hands on with AirPlay: iPad and Apple TV updates make a magic combination.

We started scouting early for Christmas gifts for our kids as there is so much “looks good but is junk” stuff on the market a bit of research is required. Yeah, I know, hard to believe it but that simply amazing toy heavily advertised on TV may end up in a drawer and never used.

As a result I just discovered, this year, it is impossible for me to decide what to buy in the store. Why? Because there are no customer reviews/ratings available. I could use my iPhone to look them up but no single site (I know of) has the critical mass of reviews required and the process would be too tedious. Yes there are barcode scanner apps good for price shopping but the ones I’ve seen are no real help in consolidating reviews.

As a result I ended up taking pictures of the products in the store and once home I started hitting up the Amazons and ToyRUs of the world for the reviews. In the process I help but do price comparisons. Having done all that work, time I would have preferred spending on something more enjoyable, I’m sure not going to bother to drive to the store to make my purchases. With the websites right in front of me that would rob me of even more of my valuable time.

The bottom line is even the largest, “big box”, brick-and-mortar stores are losing sales because they don’t making it possible for me to decide on the spot what to purchase. They had me - I was there and ready to buy - and watched me walk out the door. So while these stores complain about damage caused by Internet shopping the reality is they should blame themselves for not being shopper friendly.