At least one popular item seems to be dropping in price at a remarkable rate.  I just saw this advertised by ComputerGeeks.

PNY Attaché 8GB High-Speed USB 2.0 Flash Drive w/ReadyBoost   $28.99

That’s insane.  It wasn’t 6 months ago that you could hardly find an off-brand, no-name 1GB flash drive for that price.

If only computer prices fell that fast.  They’re coming down quickly, but if they followed the same pricing curve that flash drives have followed we’d be offered free laptops for subscribing to PC Magazine.  (Well, I can dream, can’t I?)

I sense an increasing merge between social networking and productivity.

Tools like Zoho Office and Google Docs facilitate creation as well as collaboration. Zigtag and Shyftr add a social element to our bookmarks and RSS feeds.

What was once a solitary endeavor; write a blog post, bookmark a favorite website, eventually became a shared experience (think StumbleUpon) and now has evolved into a fully interactive social activity. Even boring old Micrsoft allows me to write a document in Office Live then collaborate with others on it.

Now it appears the potential downside to social productivity is being discussed on Friendfeed and Twitter, sites that are far more social than productive. Once we share our content does it remain ours or become the property of the web? How can we know when and where comments and feedback are posted? The conversation is at risk of becoming fragmented, spread around to too many places, sites we may not frequent. Do we have any control over what we send out to others? Do the concepts of licensing and intellectual property need to be re-evaluated?

Back in the “old days”, the social web and productivity were isolated. I could type a document in Word or chat on IRC, but the two never crossed paths. These days that boundary has been breached, well before we’ve clearly thought out how we want to engage in the cross-talk.

What are your concerns? Is social productivity a big step forward or a pointless step sideways?

SantaGaryV

Originally uploaded by jeber

I got mine. Get yours at http://garyveynerchuk.com

Then catch up with all the enthusiasm and inspiration that Gary churns out daily on Twitter.

Baseball players face 162 games a season, (American) football players, 16.

Who is closer to earning their exorbitant salary? Who are the real athletes?

The compliment of suburban is urban.

Why isn’t the compliment of a suburb an urb?

I ran across this video on The Uncredible Hallq’s blog and enjoyed it so much I had to share. I cannot fathom why I like it, I just do. I think I’ll do the Code Monkey dance at random moments at work tomorrow.

One of my favorite classical pieces is Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings. It is in turn melancholic, inspirational, profound and restful. I’ve put together four videos featuring different musician’s interpretation of this beautiful melody.

I can’t honestly say I prefer one to the other. In their own way each version illustrates another facet of the work.

The first is the traditional, classical version. Second, a vocal version performed by The Choir of Trinity College,Cambridge,UK.Directed by Richard Marlow. Third, an electronic interpretation by William Orbit and finally, Dj Tiesto presents the Adagio in a techno style.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

 
I just got back from three days at the Google campus attending the release event for the Linux KDE version 4.0 desktop. The event itself was great. I got to meet quite a few very smart people from all over the world, united by our interest in Linux and the KDE desktop manager. But I don’t think any of us could get over the fact that we were at Google, geek heaven, the holy of holies for the internet crowd.

We were “asked” not to say much about the Google campus, so I’m afraid I can’t go into much detail about the place. We were not allowed to take pictures inside, only outside and only when accompanied by Google security or staff. Let’s just say that having spent a few years working at the NSA I didn’t feel that out-of-place at the Googlplex.

For anyone who has ever lived with, and loved, a dog.

One of the jazz world’s greats has died. Oscar Peterson was a truly gifted pianist. He’ll be missed by all of us who love jazz.
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Obituary: Oscar Peterson

1) Do not under any circumstances microwave a full cup of coffee with sugar already added.

2) Keep a roll of paper towels handy near the microwave.

3) Do not attempt to drink the coffee you made in the process of learning rule #1.

…with this music video. Everybody, on put your shoes for dancing into disco.

Don’t blame me if this gets stuck in your head all weekend.

A shot taken this evening of the sun setting through the smoke of San Diego’s wildfires. I am in what has become the center of the unburned area. All around us, North, East and South, wildfires are burning out of control. If any of them reach the ocean, we will be completely surrounded by fire.

The air smells of smoke and ash is falling like dust. My co-worker is among the thousands that have been evacuated from their homes ahead of the approaching inferno. Luckily, I live in an area of the city not threatened.

With the lack of rain recently, I think we all knew the likelihood of wildfires was great this year. But I doubt any of us could have predicted just how severe the situation would become.

So here’s how I see my future;

I get a lot of fun invitations and I try to attend most of the events to which I’m invited. This week I received two invitations that exemplify the range of those I receive.

Shortly I’ll be taking part in a taste testing for Jack in the Box, a San Diego corporation. I believe they intend to introduce some new salads to their menu and want feedback from regular customers. Sad to say, I am fully qualified. There’s a JitB far too close to the store where I work and I find myself there several times a week to scarf up a quick lunch. I used to be a bit of a health nut, but I find as I get older attempting to preserve my youthful appearance and vigor are less easy to justify. That’s not to say I’ve allowed myself to totally go to hell, it just means when Jack invites me to taste his new salads, I’m pleased to accept.

The other invitation I received is far more exciting. I get to attend the official launch of KDE 4.0 (that’s the Linux K Desktop Environment) at one of the shrines in Geekdom.

This is an official invitation to the KDE 4.0 Release Event at
Mountain View, California. This event is being held to celebrate the
release of KDE’s latest computing environment, KDE 4.0. Alongside
numerous KDE community members, this event has been opened to our
industry partners, and members of the press. This is an opportunity
to take a closer look at the KDE 4.0 release, and mingle with the KDE
community at large. Presentations will be held on the architecture of
KDE 4.0, prominent KDE applications, KDE’s various communities and
plans for the future. This event provides an invaluable opportunity
for members of the press, I.T. industry and the KDE community to meet
in person and discuss the free software movement.

Where: The Google Headquarters, Mountain View, California
Hotel: The Wild Palms Hotel, Mountain View, California
When: January 17th to 19th, 2008.

Hotel rooms have been kindly sponsored by Google for those with
official invitations, and all event meals will be catered. The only
thing you need to do is get there!

Oh, I’ll be there alright. My deepest thanks to Chris Pirillo for the invitation. He obviously knows my interests.

It seems over 90% of the social events I attend are technology related. I couldn’t be more pleased. After all, I’ve got to keep my inner geek well fed.