Dandlife is an interesting variation on the social networking. You tell stories and build a web stories that can interconnect with other story webs. Plus, companies can purchase these stories for brand research, case studies, etc. Marshall Kirkpatrick at Tech Crunch is uncomfortable with this idea. I’m not sure what to think. But the site is interesting.
Every day another social networking development. Seems folks are scrambling to jump in this phenomenon while it’s hot. It will be interesting to see what happens in a year or two with this stuff. After the explosion of various networks I wonder if some will fade or if there will be some connections between networks or if another form of tribalism will emerge with networks becoming more and more niche specific.
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Israel just entered a three week period of mourning known as Tammuz. Many of their great tragedies have happened during this season. Tammuz mourns the brokenness and evil present in this world and longs for the day when good will overcome evil and Tammuz will shift from mourning to rejoicing.
I mourn for the anguish all across the Middle East. I am not a foreign policy expert, but I am a human. And I anguish over the suffering among the Jews and Arabs, and long for the day when peace will blanket the region. May both sides find wisdom in the midst of this darkening calamity.
Last week I ran out to find a digital audio cord to connect my Airport Express to the stereo. Since CompUSA has a Mac section, I ran by there. No success. Plenty of Mac stuff. In fact, plenty of Airport Express products: no cable. Interestingly, when I asked a salesman if they carried the product: no and no offer to try and get it. Not that I would wait but it was an interesting contrast with what was to come.
Before heading home to order online, I thought I’d stop by our mall to see if the new Apple store had opened yet. Success! They were open and packed! I walked in and in just a moment found the cable near the Airport Express units. As I walked toward the checkout, an employee stopped me and said, “Are you ready to check out?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I can do it right here.”
He whipped out a little scanner, scanned the item, ran my check card across, got my email address, and told me they would email me a receipt and give me a print out in store as well if I wanted one. Maybe I’m too trusting, but I said email is good enough for me. By the time I got home, I had an email from the Apple store with a printable receipt for my order.
Kudos to the new Apple store. Anticipating a customer’s desire to avoid long lines at a register, they’ve reduced the steps to checkout buy equipping staff throughout the store with that ability.
Earlier this year, I switched from PC to Macbook Pro at the urging of my brother and friend Gordon. My biggest concern was use of my Bible study software. While there are some Mac programs they are not as robust as the bible research software available for PC. But I switched in hopes that there would soon be support for the new Intel chip. Last week I installed Parallels Desktop for Mac and installed Windows XP. Unlike Boot Camp, Parallels runs alongside the Mac and you can easily switch between systems.
After using my bible software for a week, I must say that I am completely delighted with Parallels. These programs run faster than they did on my old Dell. So if you’re thinking about switching and have some PC programs, I recommend Parallels!
TechCrunch reports on an interesting development out of Israel. Clicktale goes beyond statistics to provide a movie of users online sessions. It can help detect potential usability problems and other issues with a site.
Iconoculure pointed me to a new portable solar charger for cell phones, mp3 players, digital cameras and other gadgets. Solio claims to power virtually all hand-held electronics. If you visit the site, check out their gallery for a cool presentation of users round the globe.
An interesting announcement from Hollywood indicates the customer experience may help guide future developments. The MPAA announced today the formation of an online panel called My Movie Muse.
The online panel, dubbed My Movie Muse, asks customers of the movie industry to periodically participate in online surveys about all things related to the movies – from theater attendance to home video rental and advertisements to piracy. These individuals will act as unofficial advisors on matters of interest to the motion picture industry.
I would be interested to see if consumers have the opportunity to critique more than just the films but theatre, ticket costs, etc. If they listen to the online commuity they are creating, this might have an interesting impact on the future development fo movie going.
If you want to be considered for the movie panel, visit My Movie Muse.
Update: Some folks had trouble trying to access the panel. Look at the bottom of the page on the orange bar. It says, Not a Member? Click here to join the panel>>
Jeremy’s been studying so hard. He is seeing things. Or people that is. Not dead ones, but karate kicking rangers!
Some folks have been asking about the new kidney, so I thought I might give a few updates. This Wednesday will be four weeks after the surgery. I’m still home recovering but I’m feeling great. The scar is still a little sore, but I am feeling stronger each day.
I try to walk at least 20 to 30 minutes a day to try and build up my stamina.
I currently go for checkups once a week. So far everything has been going well. One medication keeps my blood sugar elevated but hopefully when they reduce that things will go back to normal. My blood pressure has also been running a little higher than normal but once again I am on so many medications that hopefully as things come down the bp will also go down.
While I feel like doing more, I’ve been trying to stay home and rest, letting my body fully recover. They originally told me to wait at least six weeks to recover. I can go out in public but I’ve avoided large crowds. So I spend most of my day reading, writing and a little arithmatic.
When I first talked to the doctors last summer about transplant options, they explained all the medications and the effects. I wondered if transplant would really be that much better than dialysis. No comparison. This is so much easier on my body. Plus, I have been blessed in that the medications have not caused me to have some of the more uncomfortable side effects.
I am grateful for this new lease on life and am feeling better and better. Izaak went for a checkup, so I’ll post on that later.
Thanks for all the notes, emails and encouraging words.
