Procrastinate T-Shirt

I am not normally one to leap into action, unless it is forced upon me

If I am struck by a spark of genius, I have been known to sit down until I recover.

They say “The Early Bird Gets the Worm”, but not being partial to worms I find this to be a dis-incentive.

I may be a procrastinator.

But there is a “Pro” in procrastinate

For example:
Driving to Vancouver on Hwy 1. During the morning rush, you are more likely to get a parking ticket than a speeding ticket. Ok, that’s a slight exaggeration but not by much.
But if you wait a bit (procrastinate) and go in later, you won’t be stuck in traffic, until you actually get to town. Then, and I swear this happened, you can watch the driver in front of you apply a full face of makeup.

Not really part of the procrastination blog post but It Was Mesmerizing

While driving, this lady gazed into her rear-view mirror and applied paint and powder and putty or whatever using brushes, knives and possibly tweezers (maybe even a spray can) to get her face ready to face the work day.

But wait…there’s more

Then she put her glasses on.

I guess she required glasses to drive but not for the accurate application of face paint.
Persona applied, spectacles in place, ready to concentrate on driving.

Not quite

If there are no pictures, it never happened

In true Kardashian style, she proceeded to take a series of selfies while turning off of the potentially aptly named Terminal Ave onto Quebec St.
At least she was wearing her glasses.

So David, does this have anything to do with procrastinating?

Other than putting off finishing this post, No.

What made me create this T-shirt I do not know but I am glad that I did not procrastinate and that I applied this thought to a product which, as of this point in time, is my second best seller, proving that you never know what people want. My twin brother Allen certainly didn’t.

This post seems to ramble a bit.
Maybe the next one should be about focus.
Or haunted ice cubes.

What’s up with that?
Second time in as many months.

You can buy the Procrastinate T-Shirt now... or later

Procrastinate T-Shirt
by damccaskill

General Delivery

General Delivery - from the 1830 - 40's Americanism, although there is the international term Poste restante.

In the old days you could send a letter or parcel to a post office near where someone would be traveling and they could pick it up. No need for a home address.

Before greed and bean counters took over, regular postal service would deliver letters and the occasional small parcel right to your door.

This had its pros and cons

Pros: You didn't have to leave your house to get junk mail, or as I call it, kindling for the wood stove.

You local mailman might know you, so even if the address on the letter was not quite right, the letter would still be delivered to you.

Also if they peeked in your windows and saw you lying unconscious on the floor they could go for help.

Cons: Your local mailman knew all your magazines came in plain brown wrappers.

He would trespass on your property, peek in your windows and shove junk mail through the mail slot.

Well, Canada Post being forward thinking and ever mindful of the bottom line thought that it was costing a heck of a lot of money to have people bring the mail to every home so in addition to having P.O. boxes that you could pay for, they would just start leaving your mail in community mailboxes, or super mailboxes as they were commonly called, at the end of your road. Or in some other neighbourhood entirely.

Not that handy for the elderly or handicapped or anyone actually but more cost effective.

But now people can be in touch with whomever, wherever in seconds thanks to the Internet.

No need to buy a pricey card and apply extra postage.

But you can buy cards and postage if you really want.

http://www.zazzle.com/ladybuglane/cards

http://www.zazzle.ca/octor_arts?qs=cards

http://www.zazzle.com/damccaskill?qs=cards

No more trundling down to a postal outlet with cards, letters or packages. A quick e card, photo or even a video and it is there almost as soon as you hit send.

And drop shipping to the recipient's home, P.O. Box or community mailbox from an on-line retailer is just a credit card and a mouse click away. Just order on-line and you never have to see the inside of a postal outlet ever again.
Unless someone sends you a parcel.

Do not worry that the post office is going to go the way of the Pony Express (they'd deliver your stuff on a horse, how cool was that?).
In an effort to firmly establish them self as a major player in the 21st Century, Canada Post is running an advertising campaign on TV about a service,  FlexDelivery™, whereby you can have your post delivered to any one of their post offices for you to pick up.

Sounds a lot like general delivery to me.

And if a western poster reminiscent of the Pony Express is more your thing -

Western Riders, U.S.A. Poster by dequilla
See additional Posters & Art online at Zazzle

Public Relations

Them: What are you doing?

Me: Writing a blog post.

Them: Oh, you have a blog.

Me: Yes.

Them: Is it something I’d like?

Me: It’s mostly complete nonsense.

Them: Can I read the post you're writing now?

Me: No.

Me: It’s incomplete nonsense.

Them: What is the address of your blog?

Me: I don’t know.

Me: It’s a bookmark on my browser.

Them: Do you have a business card?

Me: No.

Them: Goodbye.

Me: Bye.

Note to self: Sign up for Public Relations and Marketing courses at the local college. Or online maybe.

 

Money is no object ... in my pockets t shirt by damccaskill
View Merchbooth T-Shirts online at zazzle

A Brush with Fortune

While it is hard to track Allen’s travels, or indeed get a straight answer about anything from him, he ended up hiding seeking higher education at an American university.

While there, he spoke to someone about an Internet program that allowed people to stalk each other.

The idea, he was told, was that a person could put up a picture of them self and write about their feelings or any little thing that came to mind. 

You could tell people about your lunch and through the magic of something called GPS pinpoint exactly where you had it. Allen thought someone should tell the military about that GPS thing.

He also thought, “This is just like having a book with your face on it in a library that anyone could read”.

Allen was no longer a fan of libraries and the last time he was booked and had his picture taken he ended up with 30 days community service.

Reflecting on how his friends business acquaintances would react to having their images, location and rap sheet resume available to anyone with a computer, Allen decided not to offer to invest in the project.
Instead he offered this advice to the young student, “People will start putting pictures of their cats on there. Maybe even video someday. You don’t want to be any part of that”.

    

Convergence Shirt by damccaskill
Make a unique custom t-shirt no minimum at zazzle.com

Coloring Books or Colouring Books

Allen discovers the Internet. Well, he discovered that there is an Internet and realized the incredible potential for making money. And for humanitarian stuff too.

He is a little fuzzy on the year but a home computer at the time cost about $2,000. Not the low cost re- entry to the business world he was looking for and unfortunately the citizens of the port city his freighter docked at had the unfriendly habit of locking their doors. “Where is the trust?” he asked the fellow seated at the bar next to him. 

Fortunately the fellow was conversant with literature and pointed Allen in the direction of the public library saying, “Them buggers got computers”.

Apparently libraries are closed at night (and they also lock their doors), so Allen returned bright and early at 11 a.m.

The encounter with the librarian started off well as she welcomed Allen and showed him to a computer instructing him to double-click on the dial-up icon and to type his search into the Netscape search box.
Had he but known the binging and bonging of the dial-up connection was a harbinger of his future in the Indian Subcontinent.

He thought it best to catch up on what people were selling on the Internet and had no trouble finding ads online. In fact he said to himself “This is worse than commercials on TV”.

Armed with this new information and the knowledge that the pub opened in one hour, Allen started to think “What can I resell that people really want and will pay too much for”?

Spurred on by opening time Allen was feeling stressed.

Fate intervenes

Not being used to mouse-ing and clicking, he accidently opened a link to an article on Carl Jung’s  thoughts on adults coloring, or colouring since he was in Brittan, as a de-stressing therapy.
Allen thought Carl was probably a pretty smart guy as he had once ducked into a lecture on Jung and reason suggested that you only get lectured about if you are really smart. Or really bad.

Allen had an epiphany. He thought that creative people like himself don’t like to be constrained (or stressed) by someone else’s design, also people like himself have a lot of trouble staying within the lines.

He would offer, for the quite reasonable price of $29.95, a book of blank paper and a #2 pencil (Sharpener sold separately. Just pay separate shipping and handling). He would point out that this combination could be used in at least two different ways.

1: Draw the design that YOU WANT and then fill in the spaces with crayons or colored pencils or pastels (sold separately)
or
2: Colour the shapes you want and then outline them in pencil giving the impression that you can stay within the lines.

Fate has a field day

In spite of the stress of knowing the pub was minutes from opening, Allen had the idea that he should offer pre-printed images to be colored by those without the imagination to come up with their own designs thus adding to the breadth of his offerings. 

Remembering his motto “Maybe a little marketresearch isn’t such a bad idea” 

Allen hopped back on Netscape and typed in a search for “Adult stuff” and within seconds found himself being frogmarched by the now not so friendly librarian out the door.

Allen was OK with this as the pub was calling.

Fate laughs again

It being early days of the Internet, people were, wisely, not used to handing over their credit card information on line and as Allen moved around so often he routinely missed orders that came through the post. 

He would have to await the mobile payment revolution. 

Allen had two final comments on this venture.
“Coloring books are stressful” and “Being ahead of the curve sucks”.

Tree of light stamp by shiomi
Check out Christmas Stamps online at zazzle

Allen 2.0 Too

Continued from Allen 2.0

When we last left our intrepid entrepreneur he had arrived in India from Nepal by way of China.

The Big City

Because he had no idea what the sign at the city limits said (ed. No Solicitors) he was not sure which city he was in but there were thousands and thousands of people and few snakes.

It didn’t take many sales calls for Allen to realize that while India did indeed have electricity and curry and Pepto Bismol, it didn’t have a lot of phone lines.

This was a setback for the sales of home facsimile machines.

Time and Technology marches on

Allen had seen a cell phone before his sojourn in the Himalayas, but as they were expensive and heavy enough to defend yourself against grizzly bear attack, he never thought they’d catch on.

Everyone had one

At least everyone in this city and certainly everyone in this bar.

They were all technology mad. 

They would discard their old cellphone for the latest model, or that was what he would tell the IPS (Indian Police Service) officer when questioned about his recent acquisition.

Exploring the device he found you could talk, text or txt, play pointless games and it seemed to have that damned Internet on it.

He also found that online payments had caught on big time. Specifically, mobile payments.

This development called for extensive research and an hour later Allen knew he was on to something big.

It seemed that many companies in India were considering a move away from the current mix of desktop online and mobile payments to mobile payments only.

Possibly a brilliant move

No longer do you have to stand in line for the cashier, to make an impulse purchase, you can be mediating an international dispute, going to couples therapy or contemplating in the throne room.

If you have a free thumb, you can purchase the object of your heart’s desire. O.A.C.

Sure those who are used to desktops and even (shudder) catalogs where you get a decent picture and legible text might be reticent, and so what if the largest group with the most disposable income (or at least savings) with potentially fading sight…

Allen had read enough. He would target service the mobile market.

He reasoned that younger people did not have the experience of their elders.

The lack of a product was not the problem. 

The problem was how to get the product in front of the largest number of marks customers at the cheapest cost.

This was also the question on the minds of a group that Fate was toying with.

The start-up woman’s clothing designers became convinced that Allen’s entrepreneurial prowess and Mobile Application Development skills could translate their Plus size clothing line to a plus size bank balance.

Later they were to agree that they should not hold their board meetings in a bar. At least not one that was home to Allen.

Not one to say no to an opportunity, or temptation for that matter, Allen had one job in front of him; Find out what Mobile Application Development was.
That and how to make a compelling presentation. Compelling enough to get a cheque.

They agreed to reconvene in the same location during a popular local time. Happy hour.

He then applied himself to understanding Mobile Application Development, or MAD for short, and 30 minutes later he was talking a local artist into drawing his ideas out on Bristol board for future consideration in his newly formed company.

Presentation day dawned and quite a bit later than dawn, the designers, Allen and his artist were situated around the boardroom table. The waitress took their orders and commerce was commenced.

With the artist holding up the presentation and Allen pointing out the main selling points with an umbrella from one of the drinks, things were going well until one of the up-starts from the start-up asked why he was not using PowerPoint.

Viewing questions as an opportunity, he took the opportunity to excuse himself and get another round. On the tab.

After several rounds of negotiations, Allen felt more sure of a sale ‘tho less sure of his ability to read the room, and he decided to offer the ladies some sage business advice.

He suggested that the group abandon their hopes for a mobile application in favour of a website aimed at desktop users ‘cause “Those little mobiles can’t accommodate your product even in landscape mode”.

From there, talks headed south and so did Allen, leaving the group with the bar tab and the artist.

Watch for further adventures of our budding billionaire as records are released.

All products trademark of their respective companies.

This might be wine Two-Tone coffee mug by ladybuglane
Check out Rose Mugs online at zazzle

Allen 2.0

Some of you may be wondering what direction Allen’s life took after the inaugural Tales of a Dissatisfied Squid Salesman 
and the popular (well it was popular in Asia) Humourous Lessons in Business, Tales of a Dissatisfied Squid Salesman II

The direction was east. It could have been west, the world being a sphere and all, but the first plane out of town was going east.

David’s now estranged twin brother Allen had financed his trip through the sale of David’s car and was looking forward to a bright new future (as well as backward at not a few creditors). 
Unaware that Allen still had a set of his car keys; David wandered the parking lot before realizing that he really missed Allen and wanted to see him again. Preferably in a dark alley.

After a series of plane and train rides on borrowed tickets and documents, Allen arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal.

His first thoughts were, “They’ll never find me here”.
His second thoughts were, “Where the heck is here”?
His third thoughts were, “Seems like a good place for some meditation. Some reflection, introspection and any other ‘ection’”.

Having heard the villagers speak of a remote monastery, Allen determined that he should take up meditation in a local bar. Allen recalls, “A lot of time passed, much of which was, quite frankly, a blur, before I was awakened to the desire to get back into the world of commerce”.

The thing that awoke him was the squawking of the bar’s fax machine.
After buying a few more drinks and listening to the bartender explain how the fax worked, Allen decided to re-launch his career by selling facsimile machines to the masses. After all, who wouldn’t want badly pixilated pictures and text sent right to their own home?

Unfortunately the masses did not live in Nepal. 
Fortunately China with its masses was right next door.

After a month or so, riding in carts pulled by various animals, he arrived at The Bamboo Curtain.

Unfortunately it was closed.

Undaunted, but quite miffed, Allen returned to Kathmandu where he lingered a few weeks or maybe months until he left his bar stool and set his sights on India, a land teeming with masses and hardly any bamboo.

After a month or so, riding in carts pulled by various animals, he arrived in India.
Allen had seen a map of the world but up until recently had no idea what the scale on a map represented.

After another month or so, riding in carts pulled by various animals, he arrived in an area large enough to be considered to be teeming.

The trip had been long and fraught with perils and snakes but the people of the area were a friendly lot and he was soon having a drink with someone who was willing to share his whiskey. Someone’s whiskey.

That someone had left a truck full of the stuff with the keys in the ignition and his new friend had decided to move the truck to a safer, not overlooked location. 

They were well into the bottle, all the time looking over their shoulders for any sign of the owner of the truck so they could flag him down.
They should have been looking in the vicinity of their ankles as suddenly karma (a concept Allen had never heard of) reared its ugly head in the form of a venom spitting cobra. 
Cobras are actually quite beautiful if you ignore their tendency to spit venom in your eyes with great accuracy even from a great distance.

His drinking partner froze with fear but Allen, startled out of his wits, sprayed his mouth full of whiskey right into the cobra’s face. (Don’t try this at home kids)

You have never seen a more affronted looking cobra in your life.

As the cobra slithered off to wherever snakes go, Allen became aware of the owner of the truck coming Right down the alley. Exit stage Left.

To be continued…

 

Tea Pee Spiral Note Book by shiomi
Design a journal cover online at Zazzle

Wine and Kale

I told my sister that I was on a health kick and that I had been checking out the Internet for health related ideas. (see my Coconut Oil Experiment)
She told me she had also been surfing the net and had an idea for a smoothie that contained kale, blueberries and acai berries. 

I was surprised as she has traditionally been a potato chip and chocolate aficionado.

I said it sounded horrible but she proceeded to throw the ingredients into a blender. She blended it for about one minute and I said, “that looks like a hideous heterogeneous sludge of green and blue crap”. 

She said I should try it.
So I did.
She said, “What do you think”?
I said, “I think it tastes like it looks”.
I asked if she was sure it's all kale, blueberry and acai and she said, "No, the secret ingredient is red wine for the reversitol",  "it's good for your heart".
I said "what's kale good for". 
She said, “I don't know, I just read it on the internet”.

I said OK, what are the blueberries good for? She said they have antioxidants.

I said, “I have tried antipasto and it was OK, so what's wrong with this stuff”? 

She seemed to think that it was doing me some good.
It was doing something.

Unbeknownst to her I'd already started on a regime based on three glasses of champagne per day to ward off dementia, and being as how I am I'm a real go-getter, I had started my morning with the three glasses.
Not being much of a drinker, my bar accouterments ran to a shot glass and a number of beer mugs.

Three mugs of champagne added to the copious amount of red wine she put into this hideous tasting smoothie and I was starting to feel a bit woozy. 

My stomach was feeling even woozier than my head.

Taking the Internet's advice to never leave a drink unfinished (kind of like Mom saying, "Eat every carrot and pea on your plate" (this oft misunderstood admonition made for some awkward dinners with guests)), I downed the last of the blender’s contents and decided then and there that despite all the health advice you can get from the Internet, sisters can't be trusted.

Nippy Holidays Greeting Card by Octor_Arts
See more Happy Cards

Artificial Intelligence or Sentience

Just a Quick One – Blog 3.5 #MAD405

Dropbox sent me an email.

It said “Come back to Dropbox!” 

I didn’t think I even registered on the software’s radar. Other than its daily insistence (for 2 months) that I was 50 Gigs over my 2 Gig allotment (and in spite of the fact that I had less than 1 Meg stored) we rarely communicated.

Who knows what machines want?

Sure I dropped by from time to time for a quick download and it was pretty much one sided.

Not only is Dropbox aware, it is emotional. (It is not alone. Word keeps trying to correct my grammar (and spelling)).

“-Dropbox has been feeling lonely recently :-( “, it said.
Needy machine.

Maybe I shouldn’t call it “it”.

Is this the vanguard, the first salvo fired in the apocalypse? Man vs. Machine.
The rise of Skynet?

Can we avoid Armageddon?

Maybe I should write.

More Apocalypse

Apocalypse Livestock Shirt by damccaskill
Check out other Merchbooth T-Shirts at zazzle.com

Marketing and Privacy

Blog 3 #MAD405

Privacy (from Latin: privatus "separated from the rest).


"Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half." - John Wanamaker


So you’ve finished your latest app “Left-handed Miffed Raptors”.
You’ve published your masterpiece to the Apple, Blackberry and Android stores.
Now you can sit back and let the cheques roll in. $ Cha-ching.

Not so. Unless you already have a following and your own evangelists (and even then) there is still marketing to do.

But how? My game is aimed at sinister (I know, not politically correct) game players with the intellect to appreciate the nuances of an adventure based around the actions of disgruntled fowl.

Big Brother(s) to the rescue
Your "Likes" define your intelligence on Facebook.

Defy definition. “Like” everything.

Facebook and Google have bought data collection companies and can now combine your online clicks, likes and searches with real world (you know, when you turn off your computer/phone/tablet, you do don’t you?) actions such as purchases where you use a rewards or customer loyalty card. So, whether its Trojan or Depend, they know.

I’m not a number!
No, you're a binary number.

What? They have a profile of me?

You did read those multi page documents before clicking “I Agree”, didn’t you? 
If not, here is a summary:
They (hereinafter referred to as the Company) can collect, combine, filter, distort, distill, dispense any and everything you (hereinafter referred to as you) post or even allude to.
They are working on reading your thoughts but so far the results have been disappointing :)

Your life/intelligence is not the only thing being "defined" by the analysis of collected data; companies are also prey to this compartmentalization.

Now I’m miffed. How does this help me market my app?

Well, data collected by Facebook indicates that people who clicked “Like” on curly fries are intelligent. (despite potatoes belonging to the Deadly Nightshade family, as well as the ramifications of deep fried fast foods). And, if they can determine your sexual preference, they probably know who is left-handed.

So, in setting up your online ads, target only sinister curly fry loving individuals with a propensity for waggling their thumbs in front of a screen for entertainment.
And, to make some extra cash, as well as provide a service to your followers, insert some ads into your game, maybe McCain and A535.

If you want a less hand specific game check out Springy 
This should be good for an extra mark.

Maybe this will be good for an extra mark

Book Early Step-by-Step Instruction for Building a Responsive Website (BYOL)

Go ahead and comment. WE ALREADY KNOW WHO YOU ARE!

Apocalypse Livestock

Apocalypse Livestock T-shirt by damccaskill
Make your own shirts online on zazzle.

Bad Gmail…Bad - A good natured ribbing of Gmail

Gmail was not working on my phone today. It worked yesterday, but not today.

When I got home, I tried logging in from my computer and got the message that my account was disabled due to suspicious activity. I thought about it and the only suspicious activity I had noticed recently was Gmail prompting me to give them my mobile phone number (I didn’t) as an account recovery tool, and my browser of choice, Chrome, prompting me to install a plug-in every few emails I read in spite of my repeatedly trying to install it. I’m thinking this may have been the problem.

When I finally got access to my account, yes, I did have to give them my mobile number despite the fact they had a separate email by which to contact me, I was alerted that there was activity on my account from an IP address they believed to be in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 17 hours ago. 5000 miles away. It wasn’t me. Not even if the Concord was still flying. It is about 10 hours by air one way.

I’m still miffed about having to give them my mobile number. They obviously did not need it prior to this incident. I’m not paranoid or worried about Big Brother. They already know, so get over it.

Do I feel embarrassed having my email hacked? Nope. Very large agencies including government, credit, international monetary and scientific groups have reported being hacked. Go ahead and Google a government agency or company plus the word hacked just for fun. You can imagine who hasn’t reported. So I am in good company despite having a smaller IT security budget.

This incident prompted me to read some of the Gmail forums. Some genius said that it was a shame no one read the forums (i.e. I am not having any trouble so therefore I will look for a solution?) until they were hacked. This would be good advice for some but not the majority who are happy just to be able to check their email and have the right things happen when they click something in Facebook.

One forum post listed browser plug-ins as a potential problem. No info on how to spot a bad one so, never install any plug-ins?

In a FAQ the question was posed, if Gmail sends me a warning, will that not tip off the bad guys? The answer was that Gmail sent the warning to the real account owner not the bad guys. My question is, “If Gmail can differentiate between the good guys and the bad guys, why make the good guys jump through hoops”? Make the bad guys verify themselves. The bad guys will move on. Send a note to the account owner to change their password.

For the record, when I set up my account on Gmail, my password registered as Strong on their Password-Strength-O-Meter (not the real name).

Why did I write this? I had a feeling it would not fit in the “Tell us how we are doing” form. Besides, it’s fun to let off a little steam.

Internet Metering and the CRTC

The Chairman of the CRTC, Konrad von Finckenstein, says "We are convinced that Internet services are no different than other public utilities and the vast majority of Internet users should not be asked to subsidize a small minority of heavy users".
That’s scary.
If “Internet services” are like public utilities, we could be put into a situation like Ontario power users who are paying extra for investment in green power, solar and wind, which is a good thing, but at the same time are still paying extra for “debt retirement”.
What’s debt retirement? Well, the public utility said it didn’t charge us enough for the electricity it sold us. Sounds like bad management to me. Seems they were a billion in debt so they did the only thing they could reasonably do. Gave a million dollar bonus to the CEO and saddled the public with extra charges for electricity they had already paid for. Imagine pulling that at your local gas station? Dave, we made a mistake and didn’t charge you enough every time you filled up these past few years, so we’ll be tacking on an extra charge for the foreseeable future. We’ll let you know when we’ve got enough. Have a nice day!
Back to the Internet.
The ISP’s build their networks with considerations (money, favors) from the government who gets its money from us. The ISP’s charge us for access to their networks (paid for by us and the government) then they shape and throttle the access we have and now want to charge more.
The scary part?
What if the CRTC decides ISP’s can charge for what you’ve already viewed? I’m already regretting hours of YouTubing.
Wait. What if this spreads to television? All those reruns of MASH, Gilligan’s Island, Friends…
Seriously, the ISPs are not talking about capping the “small minority of heavy users”, they want to gouge the “vast majority of Internet users”.
Makes cent$.

Voyeur to Vandal?

An interesting quote from Stephen Fry No Comment “The fact that I will have turned off my website’s comments facility or moderated it into effective silence is even now driving some of my readers (a tiny minority I’m happy to think) insane.”

"Peeping" through the window of your computer is expected, even encouraged.
Some hosts invite you to comment or criticize (whether they read your input is another thing). Some sites let anyone with half a mind to post, post.
But what if you feel compelled to offer your opinion and the inconsiderate designers have not included a soapbox for you. What indeed.
Stephen Fry of Jeeves and Wooster, Last Chance to See, and followed by over 2 million tweeters, http://twitter.com/stephenfry is now pushing Pushnote beta.
I read the PCWorld article about Pushnote beta, which on first read might lead some to believe that those with half a mind to post could salute or slam the person/product/website on the website whether or not the site allows comments. It was obvious, from the comments by the readers, that they believed this was the point of the software. Say it ain’t so.
It ain’t so. Ya can’t just graffiti on someone’s site, unless you’re a cracker/hacker.
Pushnote beta, not to be confused with the PushNote app for the iPhone, is a browser plug-in that allows people to comment on what is on a site. The comments are available to other users of the plug-in. They are not posted on the site. Reminds me of StumbleUpon where you can comment and recommend sites and randomly Stumble across sites based on your interests and the recommendation of others.
Pushnote does let you cross post to Facebook and Twitter but does not rank or recommend sites so you are on your own there. It does have links to The Web and Hot Pages which are pages that have been commented on.
If you have a site you could join Pushnote and see what people are saying and posting on social media, assuming it catches on with the masses. The downside: You can’t edit or delete comments, your own or other’s. The upside: At least you know what is being said and maybe address any valid concerns.
You say you neither read nor write comments as a rule. Hmm.
Is the average Joe going to sign up for an account, download and install the plug-in (which gave me some little trouble in Firefox but worked after updating the browser) so he/she can praise web content or will the majority just be slamming sites and other users?
So far the comments on StephenFry.com have been mostly positive with 3 4 votes for Stephen for Prime Minister or Pope.

For people who still use the Post Office Lake Nipissing postcard

Snowy Lake View by damccaskill

Tablet Wars CES 2011 Part II

Reports from the International Consumer Electronics Show are saying more than 80 new tablets will be released this year.
That much fragmentation in the segment may drive prices down as manufactures try to wrest market share from Apple. There is certainly scope for improvement considering the iPad has limited connectivity to external devices and precludes phone and video conference functions.
Tablets are here to stay. Surely Apple with their proprietary offering will not pull a Sony BetaMax, but there was the Newton. According to Wikipedia “the Newton project fell victim to project slippage, scope creep, and a growing fear that it would interfere with Macintosh sales”. Coincidentally there was a sale on Macbook Pro at Future Shop over the Christmas holidays.
As for pricing the 10” iPad sans phone functionality is close to the 7” Samsung Galaxy Tab with Adobe® Flash® and video calling ability.
Can the price come down? A consumer showed me a tablet she had purchased online for $50 plus $50 for shipping from China. Some Apple products are made in China. So the electronics may not be where the cost is. The cost must be for the company’s reputation, R&D and support. Or is it just what the market will bear.
Blackberry, the renowned Smartphone maker is set to release the 7.6” Playbook featuring Flash, front and rear facing cameras, a dual core processor and their proprietary OS. In spite of reports of limited battery life, Blackberry says their tablet will provide usability consistent with the industry but with over 80 entries this year alone that could mean just about anything.
Microsoft seems to have sidestepped the tablet market by focusing Windows 7 on their Windows Phone and devices like Acer’s Iconia a notebook with two touch screens.
What is my take on tablets?
See Tablet Wars CES 2011 Part I

All products trademark of their respective companies.

iPad cases

BUTTERFLY GARDEN Design iPad Case by dequilla

Tablet Wars CES 2011 Part I

The iPad was the “gotta have” device of 2010.
Customers did not need to be sold, they just said, “I want one”.
About the only questions were Wi-Fi or 3G and 16, 32 or 64 Gig. Reminds me of my humorous post of 2008 about “early adopters”.
I like tablets. They are fun but are they practical?
Once the novelty wears off, will typing on the virtual keyboard become the norm or will people want the tactile feedback of a real keyboard?
I am not a touch typist but I want to stumble across real keys not pictorial ones.
What about protection? The first accessory people buy for their tablet is a screen protector because the screen is a big sheet of glass. Then they buy a case, or shove it in a bag. Not so sleek now is it. But, if you pay over half a grand for something you’re going to want to protect it.
What do I want in a portable computing device?
A 10” touch screen. Any smaller and I might as well use my HTC Desire.
It should close like a net book and have a keyboard.
Rubberized shell so you don’t need a case. Hey, it’s a work device.
3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB for connectivity.
Dual core processor and 2 gigs of ram for speed.
A web cam and microphone for Skype.
The latest version of Android.
Maybe in 3D too.
I’m still looking.
See Tablet Wars CES 2011 Part II

All products trademark of their respective companies.

iPad case

Success iPad case by damccaskill

Internet on my TV

During my recent seasonal employment at Future Shop I was surprised at the number of people asking how to get "the Internet" on their TV.
I’ve been viewing Internet content on mine for a long time for free.
There are commercial solutions such as Apple TV, D-Link’s Boxee Box and Western Digital’s WD TV Live Hub Media Center.
I would highly recommend visiting the respective company’s websites and reading all the information, FAQ’s and check out the user’s comments under the Support section of the product keeping in mind that some users may not be that tech savvy.
How can you surf on your TV without spending any cash?
If you have an unused computer and a fairly recent TV you have most of what you need.
Connect the computer to your router either wired (preferred method) or wirelessly, plug in the HDMI cable (carries audio and video) to the computer and TV, choose the input source on the TV remote and Voila! The Internet is on your TV.
If your computer does not have an HDMI connection you can use a DVI cable or VGA cable like the one on your monitor for the video and a stereo mini-phone to RCA “y” cable from the computer headphone output to your stereo or TV for sound.
So, what does this give you? Anything you could see and hear on the computer is available on the TV. Family photos, PowerPoint, YouTube, music, movies, Internet stuff and even work if you must. And all for free.
You say you don’t want to sit 3 feet in front of the TV with a mouse and keyboard? Well, you can buy a wireless keyboard and mouse and control things from your easy chair or download the free TIGHTvnc server on the TV computer and TIGHTvnc viewer on your laptop and remotely control the TV computer.
My solution is not quite as elegant as the commercial solutions and may require a bit more work to set up but I like the price, the features available with a computer and I already know how to operate it.
What if you need to buy some parts?
I like to support local retailers but some things like cables are much cheaper online.
HDMI cables run $7 and up online at Tigerdirect.ca. Retail they cost $28.
VGA cables online $13. Retail $44.
DVI to HDMI online $32 .Retail $50 or Monster Cable $150
3' Mini-RCA Audio Cable online $7. Retail $11.
Wireless keyboard and mouse online $43 retail $23. Go figure.
If you don’t have an extra computer, ask a friend or pick one up online off-lease or refurbished starting at $150 or retail starting at $250.
All prices approximate. I have no affiliation with these companies.

All products trademark of their respective companies.

WINTER SUNRISE Serenity Mouse Pad Design by dequilla
Design personalized mousemats on zazzle