So it’s not just the Japanese who are jumping on the Apple PC/Mac commercial bandwagon. The British are too. Somehow their Mac counterpart is not as smug as Justin Long. Or perhaps the British PC guy has just the right hint of unlikability to make the ads work better. I like the Trust Mac ad the best.
This just happened.
My three-year-old son sneezes twice, into his bowl of food. “Bless me,” he says.
His older brother and I blurt out a “Bless you” almost simultaneously.
“I’m already blessed,” the three-year-old answers back.
Photos I took of the two biggest product announcements from Apple yesterday:
The iPhone
The Apple TV
I discovered that when you’re working at the Macworld Expo and you don’t attend the keynote presentation, you are actually one of the last to know of Apple’s product announcements. People everywhere else have a better chance of finding out about the new products right away through various media sources. In my particular case, with us being so busy at our booth and our booth not having internet connectivity,* I didn’t get to see the new products until later when I walked by the Apple Booth.
*Macworld wi-fi access is only available outside the show floor.
It’s been busy at work. Right after New Year’s Day we went live with our new store. Same software, new hosting company. As soon as that was implemented, we got cracking on preparing for the Macworld Expo, which will be held in the next few days. I have a little break right now (will soon run to Kinko’s to get a poster printed) so I’ll try to get in my first post of the new year.
Every January 1st marks the anniversary of this blog. Could you believe this blog is four years old? My, how time files. I remember when I started this blog, I was a latecomer to the whole scene. People had been doing it for at least two years at that point. Although the whole weblog phenomenon was fascinating to me, I had qualms about joining the fray. I wasn’t a writer – I was a designer by profession. My site, deebeedee.com, served as my online portfolio for many years. But start a blog? I was worried that if I had one, it would be of the “what-I-ate-for-breakfast” variety. What would I write about anyway? And if I started writing, I’d be hesitant about putting matters of a personal nature online. Then there was the fear of getting my writing derided for things like grammatical errors and misspellings.
I overcame those fears though. Having received a little encouragement and having been schooled by a little book called The Weblog Handbook, I launched my blog on January 1, 2003. I learned that my posts didn’t need to be always personal in nature. I could simply use my blog as a repository of links to online articles that interest me. Adding my own opinion about them also helped a bit. Let me take that back – it helped a lot. You see, before starting my blog, I spent a ginormous amount of time hanging out in online forums, usenet newsgroups and irc chat rooms giving my opinion about something. With my own weblog, I was able to comment on matters that interest me, all in one place. Having my own blog rescued me from the unhealthy, vitriolic nature of internet debates. Not that I participated much but it sure was interesting to read who was duking it out with whom at comp.sys.mac.advocacy or at soc.culture.filipino. Ah, Usenet - the wild, wild west of the internet.
Having my own blog also curbed my “misuse” of internet forums. I was/am a member of quite a few and served as moderator on a couple. Staying on-topic is strictly enforced by many messageboards. But even as a moderator, I had the itch to blurt out something that was way off-topic. Of course, that’s a no-no. Even with designated areas for off-topic topics, it was best to get your own blog if you found yourself posting there most of the time. So you see where I got the taglines “Where the Off-Topic Finds its Home” and “Home of the Off-Topic”?
This blog has opened up a whole new world for me. It’s enabled me to come out of “lurk” mode and present myself as a “real” person to the other blogs I visit. I’ve made virtual friends through this blog, and have had the honor of meeting some of you in person. I’ve also reconnected with old friends and far-away cousins through this blog. Having this blog has negated a need to join social networking sites (another potential addiction I’m sure). I’m a Google search away anyway from anyone who wants to find me.
Although my postings have become sparser as of late, I intend to keep on writing. It’s been busy but I always come around. You guys should know that by now.