The girls and I just got back from a sweet vacation to Teton, Yellowstone, and Montana. It was one of the best vacations I’ve ever had, given all the sights and activities we were able to participate in. One of the coolest “features” of the trip: no cell reception, internet, or TV at our cabin. We were utterly disconnected, which allowed us to be completely present in the moment. “It totally changes the dynamic of the group,” my wife told me yesterday. It sure did, for the better. Can’t wait to go even longer without a connection next time.

Smooth Harold reader Scott Daniel asks via email:

Does social networking really work as a marketing tool?  My CIO is standing firm that it does not.

Yes, it does, provided you have something interesting to say. For example, my blogging efforts on Smooth Harold alone have directly resulted in checks amounting to around $17,000 over the last four years, excluding advertising. (more…)

I was pretty stoked by the U.S.’s 2-0 victory over Spain today, which vaulted the unlikely team into the final of the Confederations Cup, a World Cup warmup. In my excitment, I do what I always do: head to Twitter Search (no account required) to start reading immediate reactions from fans. (Google is just too slow sometimes.)

Without an active Twitter account, I don’t participate in the conversation—I do that elsewhere; on my blog, on Facebook, and in various comment sections. But it’s fun to get up-to-the-second reactions to breaking news in one location, without perpetrating your offline life like so many Twitter users seem to do.

I stumbled upon this clever commentary by Louis C.K. after it was published to the internet ages ago (aka two weeks ago). Thanks, Josh.

I got my first Blackberry, a pancake of a thing, back in January 2006. One replacement and 31 months later, I finally upgraded to a quasi outdated Blackberry Curve — I guess I’m what you call an apathetic technologist.

I’ve quickly grown fond of the 8320 and prefer it to the iPhone for the keyboard alone (though the camera, iTunes syncable media player, 2GB SD card, and Wi-Fi are more than functional).

But I digress. How often do you upgrade phones? It seems like some people swap every 6 months…

I just upgraded from Firefox 2 to 3 on both my PowerBook and desktop PC. Man is it noticeably faster and less of a resource hog (like, my CPU fan no longer kicks into high gear when 10-15 tabs are open). Though some of my nifty extension are incompatible on launch day, those things usually get upgraded in a matter of days. Get this!

Rolling Stone has published a fascinating read on the origin’s of Facebook, which started as a Harvard student database in 2003 before quickly growing into the six most-visited website that it is today. The article examines the stories of four students who say Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea. From the article: (more…)

Unless they’ve fixed the faux keyboard, that is. Otherwise, 8GB + GPS + 3G + accelerometer + 2MP camera + iPod Video + iPhone + lengthy batter life for $199 with a two-year contract sounds really enticing.

Economist.com — “Pick almost any American newspaper company and you can tell a similar story. The ABC reported that for the 530 biggest dailies, average circulation in the past six months was 3.6% lower than in the same period a year earlier; for Sunday papers, it was 4.6% lower. Ad revenues are plunging across the board…”

Fact: many technologists were quick to predict the death of pen and paper with the rise of typewriters and personal computers. Similarly, many technologists predicted book sales would decrease with the rise of e-book readers.

That being said, older technology can often persist in light of new technology through adaptation (i.e. new technology does not always obviate older technology). I believe the same is true for newspapers and magazines, provided they accentuate their remaining value (portable text, reputation, local community, and/or more non-ephemeral reporting like features).

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