Photo Tip of the Day

Aperture controls your flash, shutter speed controls ambient light.

And don't forget it.

I Didn't Vote for Bush, so he Gave me a iPhone

As you've probably heard, Bush wants to give us money. Never mind that the average American's personal savings rate is negative AND it's the lowest it has been since the Great Depression -- Bush wants us to spend, not save. It's good for you. Come on, we're Americans. We love spending money.

If G Dubya's plan makes it through, I think for once I'll acquiesce. Instead of saving the money (as I think everyone should), I'm going to spend it as quickly as possible.

You'll find me buying an iPhone at the local uber-cool Apple store quicker that you can say "crackberry". That is unless, of course, Steve Jobs hasn't increased the iPhone's storage capacity by then. If that's the case, I'll probably just head over to Wal-Mart and buy as many trinkets as possible. I just can't get enough trinkets.

Can it Get Any Better?

Mark Your Calendars!

January 31st is International Delete Your MySpace Account day.*

Be there, or be square.

*Brought to you by your friendly FaceBook team.

2008: The Year of Adventure; Or: The Year I Blew All My Savings

I don't know what's gotten into me.

At the end of February I am going dog sledding for 4 days out in the Boundary Waters.

In March I'm going to China for 2 full weeks.

Cheers to a year full of adventure.

Werid, huh?

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

--I read something similar to the above years ago while waiting in line to partake in a taste-testing panel. I've always thought it was pretty interesting...

Give Me Multi-Touch

So I don't need the world's thinnest notebook, but I do like where Apple's going. I'm actually a tiny bit frustrated -- because now that I've seen the multi-touch trackpad, I want one on a MacBook Pro. Which now means I'm going to put off buying a laptop even longer. This may be a brutal cycle -- I'll be paralyzed by waiting for the next great feature that I'm convinced will be just around the corner.

I Told Myself So, But I'm Still Not Listening

A few years ago, right before Christmas, I told myself I should buy some Apple (APPL) stock, thinking that surely iPods will be a big holiday gift and their stock will rise at least a little bit. I wish I would have listened.

Tomorrow is the Macworld Expo, where many analysts and Mac-addicts are theorizing that Steve Jobs, in his signature black turtleneck, jeans, and white sneakers, will announce a flurry of enhancements to the Mac and MacBook, Apple TV, and various other products.

Personally, I've been waiting for tomorrow for some time. Not because I'm an Apple junkie (OK, so I might be slowly turning into one), but because I want to buy a MacBook and figured I might as well wait a couple months till they announce the latest upgrades.

Realizing that there may be thousands if not millions of other consumers thinking the same thing, one would expect their stock price to take another slight jump tomorrow. I'm telling myself again I should buy some APPL stock, and I still don't think I'm listening yet. It only fuels my fire to read this from CNN.com:

Over the past three years, shares of AAPL have seen consistent appreciation as a result of the Macworld event. On the day of the event, share price increases 2.8% on average; however, shares rise an average of 9.2% from the closing price the day before Macworld through the week after the event.

Maybe one of these days I'll finally listen to myself. Until then, I want my iPhone.

It Sucks to Be Me

OK, that's a lie. I'm pretty happy being me. But I saw Avenue Q (think Sesame Street meets Dave Chappelle) last night and It Sucks to Be Me turned out to be my overall favorite song.

The show was funny, and I especially enjoyed the Gary Coleman references, but I don't think it passed the "mother-approved" filter...so Mom and Dad, I would pass on it -- and let the twenty-somethings sing along to Everyone's a Little Bit Racist.

Tip of the Week

For the guys:

We've all been there...you're at a bar / club / wedding reception hanging out with the boys, enjoying a beer, and having a good laugh. A girl comes up and asks you to dance, and although it sounds fun, it just doesn't sound fun at that moment.

Here's what you do.

Pause for a moment. Take a drink. Smile, and then reply, "I am dancing."

The Only Thing You'll Ever Need to Know about Dancing

Happy 2008

Most people agree that New Year's Eve is over-hyped. Much like Hallmark lives for Valentine's Day, bars, clubs, hotels, and DJs around the world live for NYE. When else can you charge a $50 cover and justify it by handing out 3oz of free "champagne"?

Don't get me wrong though -- my last two NYE celebrations were a ton of fun. My friends and I elected to go the all-inclusive route and dropped the big bucks to eat, drink, dance, and be merry till the wee hours of the morning.

So this year, the combination of fighting a cold and having no plans pretty much suffocated any dreams for a repeat blowout NYE celebration. That is, until I got a hold of Guitar Hero II.

In a very modern-day-American fashion, I literally ROCKED in the new year to none other than Rage Against the Machine's Killing in the Name. Ahhh yeah.