Prognostications
I have been battling writer’s block for some time now. So, I though perhaps a brain dump would get things going again. But rather than the typical randomness, I thought I would try something a little different, and focus my randomness into the future, or to be precise, some things I think we will see (or not see) in 2009.
Tech
Twoogle – Twitter will be acquired in 2009 by somebody (like Google). Its lack of pure business model will come under pressure from other’s trying to profit off of it (magpie), and investors will grow weary of waiting, pushing the company into making the sale.
Android for everybody – will become the belle of the mobile ball. Microsoft will release Windows Mobile 7 but despite being a superior platform, players like HTC and Motorola will continue putting it in underpowered phones, so people will still be frustrated with it, people will finally look honestly at the flaws of the iPhone (and the continued lack of cut and paste support), Palm will have another delay in its next generation OS and thus Android will win by default.
Entertainment
Slot This in the loser column – Slot Music, the new “format” for digital music that few have heard of and even fewer have bought into will die, alone and unloved. However nobody will notice or care.
Blu-Who – While lower prices (especially on closeout version 1.1 machine continue) will improve Blu-Rays uptake rate a bit, it will continue to be a no show to DVD sales, and will be severely threatened by downloadable and/or streaming video to the home.
Roku that’s who – naturally somebody will have to dominate the streaming set top box. So far the leaders are Roku and Tivo. Tivo has been on tech “death watches” for some time, and could be snatched up by somebody, but I think it is Roku, with their $99 box which already has deals in place with the likes of NetFlix and Amazon that will be snapped up by somebody.
Blockbusted - Could this be the beginning of the end for Blockbuster? I certainly think so, and wouldn’t be surprised to see them filing for Bankruptcy by year end. Unless of course they come up with some sort of deal like Netflix has with Roku. Streaming removes that last “advantage” of Blockbusters brick and mortar locations, which could actually turn into what winds up being the nail in Blockbuster’s coffin as those locations become lots of little wells of red ink.
Half-Blood Prince, Full Blood Hit – Harry Potter and Company will smash the box office record.
Out of Thin Air
(These are the ones I have no basis at all on which to prognosticate… some cynical, some humors, a few are serious and some are just wild guesses… as if the others weren’t just guesses)
Add another 3 – Guy Kawasaki will launch 3 new companies that people will only care about because it is Guy Kawasaki. He will grow tired of them and move on long before his followers do.
Rebel without repercussions – Additional dirty (and illegal) tactics that were done by Vice-Prresident Cheny will be uncovered. There will be a lot of talk, but nothing will actually be done to him for it, or any other of the war crimes he commited.
Windows 7 – will not make an appearance this year. There will be hints, suggestions, maybe even a target date, but it will slip at least until the first quarter of 2010.
Apple Byte – Some hacker will finally write a nasty virus that will hurt Apple. Apple fanboys the world over will swallow hard and prepare for the “told ya so’s” from Windows users.
Here we go again - Once again the term “MommyBlogger” will tear up BlogHer. People will make “team” avatars for Twitter based on “Yes I am a MommyBlogger and proud of it” and the “I am more than a MommyBlogger” crowd. It will die off 2 weeks later, but the avatars will remain for months afterwards.
F for effort – We will hear of at least three plots to kill President Barack Obama. None of which will actually be carried out, and only one of which will actually be feasible to actually be carried out. Rush Limbaugh will argue that this is proof that Americans are tired of Obama and are just trying to save the country from his socialist ways.
Back to the evil future - In a return to 80’s style stupidity and disregard for human life, either an abortion clinic or family planning center will be target of a bomb.
Markets will not make a full recovery – it is going to take a long time to get out of this mess, and while change may inspire confidence, problems will still take a longer time to fix.
Sign of the times – At least one College or University will announce a program that will give all incoming freshman a Netbook.
iTunes will still have DRM music – Apple is slow to embrace change desired by their users. Amazon will start to cut into iTunes sales as more people give up on the iTunes store.
So what do you have? what does your crystal ball show for 2009?
Friday Focaccia
Wall*E – Despite him looking an awful lot like he was inspired by Johnny Five, I am really looking forward to Wall*E, the latest installment from Disney/Pixar. I don’t know why, but I feel like I am the only one. How come Wall*E isn’t feeling the love?
Presto Change-Oh No – LatteGirl pointed out to me this morning as she was heading off to school (her last day of the year), that “You are saying good-bye to me as a Second Grader for the last time. The next time you see me… I will be a third grader.” It seems she gets a particular thrill watching me get frustrated with the fact that she seems to be growing up so fast and that (as she is also usually quick to point out) there is nothing I can do about it.
Best out of context quote of the week – Has to go to Izzymom, who in a discussion e-mailed back to me, “Clinging to my delusions is great exercise.” I knew there was a reason I loved to read her blog. (And if you don’t… you should be too.)
One of these days Alice, One of these days – We are heading off to the Bronx Zoo tomorrow as a sort of early Father’s Day present for me. I thought this was because I have been saying lately that I have wanted to go there and spend some time photographing the animals. TheWife however said she thought I would just enjoy spending time with other primative apes. Har-de-har-har.
Happy Father’s Day (a bit earlier) to all those dads out there. So what do you have planned for father’s Day?
Sending out some birthday wishes
So it seems that Liz over at This Full House has left her blog unattended as she celebrates yet another birthday. You do read her blog don’t you? Well, anyway… since she left the door open, I thought it would be kind of cool if she came back and found 44 Birthday wishes. So please stop by here and wish her a Happy Birthday. (Oh, and any link help you could provide would of course be greatly appreciated, since I don’t think I have the volume of readers needed to actually get this done. I failed in last years attempt… and she is the kind of person that makes me pround to call New Jersey home… so please help! No I am not above begging… so what?)
Puzzled… the perfect description.
CNN is reporting, White House ‘puzzled’ by ex-spokesman’s book bashing Bush. I found this hysterical. Why? Because, anything that resembles the truth always seems to puzzle Bush.
According to White House Press Secretary Dana Perino:
“Scott, we now know, is disgruntled about his experience at the White House,” Perino said. “For those of us who fully supported him, before, during and after he was press secretary, we are puzzled. It is sad. This is not the Scott we knew.”
Then White House counselor Dan Bartlett:
“We’re hearing from a completely different person we didn’t have any insight into,” he said.
Now, first of all, when McClellan was thrown overboard in favor of Tony Snow, the President spoke in rather glowing terms if I remember correctly:
One of these days he and I are going to be rocking on chairs in Texas, talking about the good old days and his time as the Press Secretary. And I can assure you I will feel the same way then that I feel now, that I can say to Scott, job well done.
So, it is going to be interesting to watch these desperate attempts to try and discredit him, and still have Bush maintain an invitation to that rocking chair.
It seems to me that what is “puzzling” them is that they thought they had this guy gagged, and are trying to figure out how he slipped out with a proper brainwashing. I guess they expect complete loyalty to even those that they have thrown overboard.
What is going to be even more entertaining, is to watch as this is just another former official stating how the White House played fast and loose with anything that looked like the truth. Just how many of these people can be discarded as “disgruntled” liars before even the Faux News Channel has to admit that there simply must be some truth to it?
A Diet guarenteed to work… if you dare.
OK, if you are like me you have gone on plenty of diets, tried “everything” but “nothing worked.” Most of the times, if we are honest, we probably do something to sabotage it without even realizing we are doing it. But I believe I may have found a cure. The only question becomes, if you have the “stomach” to see it through.
My idea stems from a book I heard about recently, Everything I ate for a Year. We all have some sort of camera at our disposal at virtually all times, whether it be that little point and shoot, or is there a phone left that doesn’t include a camera in it nowadays? So, do exactly what that author did. Whenever you are about to put something in your mouth, whether it is a cup of coffee, a “little snack” or whatever it is, if it is going to go in your mouth, take a picture.
This solves to different issues. Issue one, you have documentation of everything you have put in your mouth (assuming you don’t “skip” a few pictures), and it will help you see what you are actually consuming on a daily basis. The second potential helpful benefit, is that you may even start questioning whether the calories are “worth” having to take a picture and add it to your collection. (Or should you be particularly daring, and post it to a collection on say Flickr, “Is it worth letting people know that I eat that junk?”)
What do you think… would photographing every single thing you put in your mouth deter you from eating more?
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