Who needs TV with video podcasting around

On Network, video podcast provider has amazing content that seems to be very in tune with my lifestyle. From hippie organic eating to video game reviews.

Providing insight to people my age on the "alternative" lifestyle trends that seem to be gaining traction with the folks of "Gen-X" as we become thirty-something.

I would recommend that anyone interested in looking for some video podcast content start there and anyone who just needs a little more content add a few of these shows to their content feed.

Enjoy!

Mommy needs a new box.

Apple makes good news. Linux still doesn't know how. Both are better than those other guys.

Everyday consumers, like my 64 year old mother, are looking to put their money anywhere besides the MS bank. It is a powerful statement when people use their consumer dollar in such a way.

I really love computing as a hobby. I truly enjoyed the 80's and the "making it work" home computing. I'm not trying to sound old, but there was a time when nothing worked with plug-n-play and you had to tweak everything.

Today, it's much easier. But if you like that kind of stuff, linux is awesome. But the fact that we have come to the day when we might suggest to a senior citizen family member that they endure tweaking text files to let newly purchased hardware work over purchasing established platforms is a sad state of affairs.

To sum up, computing has always been a matter of joy and heart for me and right now my vote is Apple, then Linux and finally if ALL else fails...and new Microsoft machine.

Catching Up since the new Mac.

I have been silent and away for too long. I have officially berated myself for lack of participation. I have a few reasons why, none of them good enough to justify not putting "pen to paper".

The largest time guzzler of my time since my last post has been the introduction of a new mac mini to the house. The first mac in the family, it is getting most of the attention just as if a newborn baby in the house.

As well, at work (here in Italy) half of the staff is on vacation in July and the other half in August. This has created a lot of busy work for me and as a result I am spending as much of my free time completely disconnected if I can.

I'm back on track and will be making more updates now. I've broken out my real pen and paper and am starting to make more notes so there should be some "older" material arriving soon.

--
CafeNinja

Vacation time in Italy

Well, since my last post I have managed to take two weeks vacation to visit the newest member of the family Giovanni Junior, in Naples. The family (both boys and wife) and I jumped in the car with the dog and enjoyed the very warm weather at the end of June there.

Since, the single thing that has had the most buzz in the house was the film Sicko by Michael Moore. This really hit home with my wife and I. Probably because we did live as married parents in the states for over ten years and moved to Europe just after 9/11.

For anyone who has seen the movie and thinks that the conversation with the group of ex-pats in the french cafe, or the feedback from the British folks is poo-poo, I'm here to tell you that it's not. I personally think this is some of the best work we've seen from Michael since Roger and Me. I would recommend anyone in the states see this film and give it serious consideration. Not that there should be some major revolution, but for sure, Americans should consider that the most powerful nation on the planet does a good job taking care of it's wars and business, but the citizens are getting the shaft.

I really did see and do more things during my vacation time and since, but that is the most recent hub-bub, so I'm pretty sure to make some posts here in the near future. Hopefully, less political but I make no promises.

Writing More

I've been trying to follow Merlin Man and his latest passion on "Getting Things Done" (GTD). After reading several of the links from this very interesting and driven blog, I've started to find some concrete examples of how to incorporate many of these things in my day-to-day work environment. I'm looking next for some index cards that will fit into the moleskin notebook so that I can try some of the "daily mini-todo list" ideas that I have found as a result. The hardest part of it all will be the "sync" process between the manual records and the PC. The hardest part is to stop think of the PC as the swiss-army knife for everything and only use it as the productivity tool that it is.

For sure, one of the easiest (but least intuitive) is to revert to old school pen-and-paper techniques for organizing oneself. I've made the recent investment in a moleskin notebook that I try to keep with me at all times so that if I am inspired there is no hesitation or trying to remember when I'm near a PC. In the same vein, I have ordered a Fischer Space Pen and look forward to putting it to good use.

I've used some free time to create my web presence and find the correct tools to manage all of the points of entry. I'm not utilizing every service out there, but will probably look into others as I find a way to keep them all centralized. Jaiku is the place that I aggregate all of these things and using the imified buddy is my way to do things quickly on the fly when using a large heavy tool would be cumbersome to the action.

I can feel a strong "Microsoft patent cross licensing deals" post brewing. This issue is close and dear to my heart as I've been using Open Source software for several years. Alongside could be a DRM discussion. My views on these issues are one sided and quite opinionated and merit their own posting here. All of that followed by a serious K.I.S.S. posting.

It all started with one.

As I now feel completely left out of web 2.0, since most of it started while I lived on an island in the Med, I'm trying hard to make up for lost time. I've created presence, bookmarks and am participating in community like never before. I figure it may be best to jump into the deep end of the pool and see if I sink or swim.

Look for more from me in the future, with posts, photo sharing and more.

Cheers,
CafeNinja