The Wonders of Skype

   Kelley had drawn Mom's name in our Christmas gift exchange, and had the great idea to get her a webcam, so that we can all Skype! Here's a shot of cutie Sean, when Kelley was demonstrating to Mom how to use the program:

    And then when Mom returned home to Ohio, she and I tried it out

   So now I finally believe that she has a cat. I still don't believe she has a dog...

Really, Apple?

   I hate iTunes. The automatic file organization makes NO sense, and re-doing it manually takes forever. (My biggest issue is that the program counts something as being by a different artist, or categorizes songs as a compilation if the track features more than one performer. Case in point: Beyonce's "B'day" album, Rihanna, Timbaland, and countless others. Practically every album I own features multiple performers!!!).
   I'm in the process of fixing everything now, and accidentally hit a keyboard command that opened EVERY WINDOW in my iTunes music folder. That's thousands of windows. And no message to ask if I really meant to do that. I've been waiting for 10+ minutes as it opens windows, and the fan is running like my laptop's overtaxed and about to blow up. If it does, and if it kills me, please avenge my death...

Random Hallmark moments: I can take a hint

   For some reason, every time I try to schedule a meeting at work, my calendar has started defaulting to the time zone for Reykjavik, Monrovia, Casablanca, Ouagadougou, Abidjan and El Aaiun. And if I don't fix it manually, the meeting time ends up in the middle of the night. Not only can I not pronounce some of those names, I don't even know where four of them are!!! But clearly the universe is telling me that this is where I should travel next. And because it's my work calendar, I think it's only right for Hallmark to send me to those locations, don't you? Therefore, bless. Or if you prefer, Ma’a salama.

Shameless plug for Garmin

   It's not as if I try to hide my geekiness for gadgets, but I have to say, this Garmin GPS unit was as fun as it was functional. David & Olivia generously loaned it to me for both weeks that I was on vacation (Maine & New Mexico), ensuring my survival. I just kept the device in the pocket of my cargo pants & was able to check my course & mark landmarks in case I got lost. It shows a trip odometer, maximum speed, total ascent, etc.

   Here you can see the route I took around Jordan Pond, hitting 4 peaks: Penobscot, Sargent, and both Bubbles.

And the 5th peak, The Beehive. (I also marked the Inn just in case.)

   Unless cell phone technology progresses to a point where it has all these features, I'll have to invest in a Garmin before my next hiking trip...

Computer issues

Ironically, I was preemptively doing cleanup & maintenance on my hard drive tonight, to ensure I wouldn't have any trouble.

Aaaand I got a kernal panic. (Basically, your computer tells you

"you are so screwed" in 4 languages.) It has been a while since I have seen my nemesis. Helloooo, Newman!

Only in Japan.

Check out these crazy headphones and USB flash drives on sale at CD Japan! Pricey but fun. I've seen the sushi for sale at LOFT & Tokyu Hands in Tokyo, and they look real, even up close! Problem is, I'd get hungry every time I used them.

Augment some reality

Here we are testing a few of our new Augmented Reality (aka "webcam greetings") cards. We have 10 of them in stores now for Valentine's Day. If you have a webcam on your computer, check them out! When you hold the card up to it, you will see your card come to life onscreen, with animation & sound!

(and yes, that is my Snuggie on the back of my chair in the background.)

Hallmark's official AR site

Press release  /  Story on NBC news