getwired.com

“As a lad he became expert as an amateur watchmaker. Disliking farm work because, “considering the results, there was too much work on the place,” he became an apprentice mechanic in Detroit, and repaired watches in a jewelry shop at night. He flirted with the idea of entering the watch manufacturing business on a large scale, “but I did not because I figured out that watches were not universal necessities.” His apprenticeship over, he served with the local representative of…

Read More Read More

“The first thing I do when I start to look into the affairs of a failing company is to study the personnel of the organization and the individuality of the men. I am concerned first of all with executives, because if their principles are not right it is useless to look for results from the men. When I have measured up in my own mind the capacity of the executives, I get out into the operation of the plant and…

Read More Read More

Given recent events, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about metadata. The “Patriot”* act, signed in the hazy, fear-driven months after 9/11 was a piece of legislation that was so broad that even one of the authors now says the hoovering of telephone metadata was never the intent of the law. Law, like any type of contract, is a funny thing. It’s not so much what you say, it’s what you don’t say that matters. I was concerned about the potential…

Read More Read More

During 2012, I used my iPad as the primary device for writing most of the time  on the road. I also used a new stand with it, which proved quite useful when both writing with it on my lap and while on planes to and from conferences. For the longest time, I regularly had to answer the question, “Where can I get one?” – only to wind up disappointing them since I had a prototype and you couldn’t buy it yet.  I…

Read More Read More

“It’s increasingly likely that a small group of well-financed people are going to be able to really bring this country to its knees.” I couldn’t agree more, which is why we shouldn’t let them be re-elected. Anyone willing to grab a pitchfork and stab the rule of law in the name of fear doesn’t deserve to hold office in this country.   Fox News: Republican lawmaker defends call to torture (Linked from USA Today)      

Stop buying more stuff, believing that buying more stuff will make you happy.   Happy Earth Day.

Over a year ago, I wrote a missive about how idiotic Hollywood’s “Rental Window” was. Luckily, things have changed, and now you can easily stream a movie from almost any streaming service the same day it comes out on Blu-ray and DVD. I kid. You know that’s never going to happen. I recall as a kid when we wanted to rent a movie on VHS, we had to go to the video store and see if they a) stocked it…

Read More Read More

No. This isn’t going to be one of those posts. It’s not going to be derisive about Apple at all. So if you came here for a good old fashioned “Steve Jobs wouldn’t have done that” beating, you might want to just click back or close this tab. Even at the age of 39, I still enjoy visiting Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Why? Because, if you let your mind go, and your imagination wander, they’re amazing places. For a…

Read More Read More

When you get a piece of spam, there are a couple of key components to it. There’s a subject line – intended to make the reader excited to “make money fast” or “make cheap international phone calls”. There’s an assortment of flattering text, sometimes pictures, and other components to the message, designed to both delude and confuse the reader into thinking this is a legitimate offer. Finally, there’s a call to action. A hook. In most spam, this is a…

Read More Read More