Aliens Invade Centreville, Virginia

Wow...this one is a little too close to home. While I don't live in Centreville, Virginia, I do live somewhwere close by and so the thought of an alien invasion makes me shudder just a bit. Of course, the odds that this is a real alien invasion are pretty low...though since we live near Washington, D.C. if the Aliens are going to come, they'll probably come here first (assuming New York is destroyed). As for the milder explanation that this is just another plane landing at Dulles Airport (about 10 miles away), well, that is no fun. So let's go with the Alien invasion thing!

United Squeezes One More Passenger On-Board

Well...here is something you don't often see...but I guess happens all of the time. On my flight from Denver to Dulles last week, I happened to look out the window to see United add just one more passenger to its flight. Apparently, sold out doesn't really mean sold out sometimes. 

Holy crap!

Circular Rainbow (with plane inside)

So...here is my once-in-a-lifetime event. My wife and I were flying to Miami a little while ago and happened to look out the window to see this amazing circular rainbow. Now, I know "all" rainbows are in fact circular, but given that 99% of us see them from the ground, it almost never looks that way.

Then it didn't end there. While we were mesmerized by the rainbow itself, as we watched, things got even more amazing when we noticed the shadow of our plane *inside* the rainbow.

Absolutely amazing. Has anyone ever seen this phenomenon?

Full disclosure...other than adding a little contrast via Picassa, I have made no changes to these photos. And if you want to know more about circular rainbows...check out this link: http://www.wonderquest.com/rainbow-circle.htm

I'm Going to Put You in the Auburn Store!

Some things require no explanation. And strangely, those things often occur in the South...where football and tradition reign supreme. That is why I couldn’t help but love this recent video of a child who has clearly been raised “right.” And by right, I mean to loath Auburn University the way so many other SEC fans do. So, enjoy this great video for what it is. Now, does anyone know if there is a LSU store?

We Waited All this Time for...uh...Promoted Tweets?

So...in-stream advertising. That is the answer on how Twitter will make money. I gotta admit that I am pretty underwhelmed with this idea. While the number 1 question about Twitter has long been "when will Twitter make money?"...the # 2 question has to have been "how will Twitter make money?" 

And now we know the answer. Basically, Twitter will partner with corporations to stick "promoted tweets" at the top of Twitter searches. In effect, this will mean that a search will be "user-generated" content, but instead, pre-determined, paid-for content provided by big corporations. Not exactly rocket science if you ask me.

So...will the model work? Well, if Twitter gets paid and corporations are happy...probably so. After all, Tweets are by-definition self-promotion anyway...so how different is corporate promotion? Maybe we don't like the idea, but it isn't like Twitter has been pure and clean. Heck, I myself wrote recently about the "sponsored tweets" business with recent posts on leading Twitter advertisers like Be-A-Magpie and Sponsored Tweets.

That being said, do I think twitter could have done better? Well, yea. It isn't like search advertising hasn't been perfected by the likes of Google already. As Newsweek stated earlier this week in their aptly titled post "Is Twitter Trying to Be Unimaginative at Making Money?", it is not like this hasn't been done before. To quote Newseek:

Yesterday Twitter unveiled its fascinating and nontraditional business plan, and it is … drumroll please … search advertising. Upon this announcement, a heavy sigh emanated from the Internet. In Silicon Valley, where tradition falls under the boot heels of revolutionaries every five years or so, it’s hard to think of something more traditional than search advertising, which Google perfected nearly a decade ago.

So what does this all mean for Twitter? Maybe nothing...maybe everything. While it is clear that Twitter needs to find a way to make money, it does strike me as uninspired that Twitter has gone down this path. After all, for a "revolutionary" system like Twitter it seems like a revolutionary model is needed. Do you agree?

D-Day Arrives. Will the iPad Win the Day or be Pushed Back into the Sea?

(Thanks to TechChunks for their great pic)
Amazing! Incredible! Laptop Killer! Absurd! A giant iPod Touch! A waste of money. Which of these terms defines the iPad to you? Or do you have a definition of your own?

One of the most amazing things about the arrival of the iPad's arrival is how *everyone* seems to have an opinion about it. Ever since it was first announced, the blogosphere has been a flutter about whether or not the iPad would be as "amazing" as Steve Jobs said it would be and create an entirely new market segment for consumer tech (see video at bottom). Or, would it fall short of its goals and become another interesting, albeit small part of the Apple product portfolio.

With the imminent arrival of the iPad to users around the US, David Pogue of the New York Times gets into the game by professing its well...its own indecision by writing not one, but two reviews of the iPad. The first, a "review for Techies" basically sums up the iPad as "basically a gigantic iPod Touch." While Mr. Pogue says a lot of positive things, he also makes clear his "techie" feelings in the following quote.

The bottom line is that you can get a laptop for much less money — with a full keyboard, DVD drive, U.S.B. jacks, camera-card slot, camera, the works. Besides: If you’ve already got a laptop and a smartphone, who’s going to carry around a third machine?

The second review "for everyone else" is far more kind. As Mr. Pogue also notes, in some cases, bigger really is better...especially when bigger means supporting maps, books and movies much, much better than any other Apple device to-date. Also, he gives fair credit to some of Apple's attempts at pricing and contracts for 3G wireless that are admirable. Equally important, Mr. Pogue notes that the "The iPad’s killer app, though, is killer apps." And on that, I don't think there is any doubt.

Still, put succinctly, the review can be summed up in one sentence. "The haters tend to be techies; the fans tend to be regular people." 

So what are you?

For me, well, I am firmly in the techie category. While I love the idea of the iPad, I hate what came out...at least in version 1.0. The device is unquestionably cool and useful for many things (e.g. music, movies, and Internet), but it is also unquestionably useless for many others (emails, multi-tasking, business applications). It is also very expensive, limited in capabilities, and has a number of feature deficiencies. Does that mean I won't buy one ever? Not at all, but until many of the gaps are fixed from my previous blog on this topic (The iPad Cameth. And...I Am Not Sure It Mattered), it won't be any time soon.

So what do you think? Anyone already have an iPad? And what do you think? Even if you are not sure where you stand, be sure to check-out Steve Colbert's iPad experience below.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Stephen Gets a Free iPad
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

Waiting for the Nexus Two. The Nexus One Has Been Another Misstep by Google

A couple of weeks ago I wrote some blog posts expressing how I felt Google had failed with the launch of their Nexus One. It wasn't that the Nexus One wasn't a cool cell phone, it was just clear that Google's launch of the Nexus One was filled with so many missteps that it could not possibly succeed. Whether those actions were caused by hubris, inexperience or simple loss of mojo, no one really knows.  But when a couple of weeks later it became apparent that the Nexus One wasn't selling, what we all know is that this little experiment has been a failure.

Now it seems as if those early premonitions are becoming true. In fact, a recent series of articles in Gizmodo highlight just how bad things have gotten. While no one (save Google) knows the real numbers, most projections of Nexus One sales peg the total at less than 150,000 units. Even worse, it seems as if the sales volume is decreasing month over month. In the world of wireless sales, that is a flop.

So what is Google to do? Well, they did solve one problem (T-Mobile as the Carrier) by announcing that basically all US Carriers are getting the Nexus One. That is a good first step given that their distribution model was challenging, at best.

What should they do next? Well, Gizmodo again has some good ideas that can be summed as BCS...Better marketing, Customer care improvement and Sell the Nexus One in stores. In short, if Google wants to be considered as a wireless carrier by bringing the Nexus One to market...they need to start acting like one. If not, then all those other blogs I wrote expressing how Google has lost its way will turn out to be true here too.

A Pictorial Review of My Twitter Followers

As I crossed over 4000 followers on Twitter, I thought I would go back and see exactly who has been following me and my tweets. Sure, there are a lot of "normal" people that are following me (and I am following them too), but I have also noticed a lot of other...umm... interesting tweeters that are also among my followers. 

Here is a quick pictorial review of some of those folks. Thanks again to all of you who have decided to share your insights and ideas with me. And thanks also to um...everyone else

Twitter Bird: Apparently, this is the preferred Avatar of much of Twitterdom. Come on people!

Twitter Thingies: The second most popular image. Um...nice try.

Fruits and Vegetables: Huh, who knew that fruits and vegetables were also into Twitter

Children: Looks like current generation is starting early with their Twittering

Hot Girls: Lots of hot girls seem to want to follow me. Shame that Twitter didn't exist when I was in college.

Shirtless Guys:  Well, um, Okay. I mean, seriously?

Scary Dudes: Whatever I did...I am sorry. Please leave me alone.

Animals: Apparently, everyone is joining Twitter now. 

Money: Well, if it is on Twitter...it must be true. 

Famous People: Some how I doubt that I am this popular. But hey, Einstein is cool.

So...who are your best followers? Any other great ones out there?