My three year old son's favourite stuffed animal is from Manhattan Toy.  The other night I was somewhat absentmindedly looking at its tag and I read aloud, "manhattantoy.com". 

My son piped up and said, "I like the toy part, Daddy." 

"Oh," I said, "you don't like the Manhattan part?"

"No," he said, "I just like the toy part.  And the web site."

Yeah, he's three...  I know, I know...

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Came across this stuff via Scott Hanselman's blog:

Funny song about video games versus, um, lovin'

Top ten reasons Geeks make good fathers

Ten reasons it isn't always easy being married to a Geek

I don't even know what else to say...

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We were wondering in the office today how much Steve Wozniak is worth so we did a little GSearch on him and one of the top hits was an essay writing site (I won't do them the service of linking to their site).  They have a number of free "essays" of dubious quality and advertising to order custom essays:  "Need an essay for college?  We will write it for you!"  I knew this stuff was out there but I had never stumbled on it before.  It is such a shame that students are willing to sacrifice learning like that.  It just goes to show you that education is one of the few areas that people want to get less than they paid for.  Sigh.

The real slap in the face is their blatantly hypocritical stance on plagiarism:

Our company takes full responsibility for providing all custom-made essays. Our customers must be confident in receiving their very own unique papers, tailored especially for them. Each essay is checked using the most upgraded anti-plagiarism software. If our client finds his/her paper to be plagiarized, the writer responsible for the fraud will be fired, and the paper will be re-written and provided free of charge...

Our company does not promote or tolerate plagiarism in any way.

Sure...

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Toshiba has finally announced their update to the awesome M200 tablet PC!  The Toshiba M400 convertible tablet will feature a dual core CPU, SATA hard drive, a 12.1" display, 802.11a/b/g, a biometric scanner, and an optical drive.  My M200 is amazing - I will soon have had it for a year and a half, which is the longest I've ever kept a laptop.  I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for Toshiba to release a new 12" tablet.  It looks like the M400 will be a bit heavier than the M200 and probably a little bit thicker but will still be a great ultraportable.  Having an internal DVD drive instead of lugging around an external drive will be nice.  Go look at it:

http://engadget.com/2006/01/05/toshiba-shows-their-dual-core-m400-tablet/

http://www.tabletpcreviewspot.com/default.asp?newsID=361

http://www.tabletpctalk.com/events/ces2006/portege-m400.shtml

http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/6414.html

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If you like clever ads, there are some hilarious radio and TV spots at http://www.pirate.ca/.  Pirate is a writing and production company for radio and TV commercials.  I was listening to their stuff while thinking about what a good radio spot for church software would sound like.

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Well, all the hype about a Google OS-powered computer at CES was for naught.  After I posted about the hype, I got to thinking that Google isn't ready to put out such a device.  The rest of the content delivery stuff is not in place yet.  That is an important "yet", because the thing that Google did announce at CES is a big step toward a more complete Google content delivery system.  From what I've read, the Google Video Store will let you download-to-own and download-to-rent shows from CBS, basketball games, music videos, and even indie films.

I'm not all that stoked because I already record my favourite TV shows (Windows Media Center in my living room) and watch them on-demand.  And I skip over the commercials.  If everyone did that, the commercial makers would not be so interested in sponsoring TV shows.  If a computer in the living room is the future of media / entertainment, a pay-for-content model like Google is creating is probably going to be necessary (and no doubt coupled with increased product placements in content).

I wonder if the next evolution will be set-top boxes offering Google Video Store downloads via the remote control.  These could come from Google but more likely would be partnerships with existing set-top providers.

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Man, the web is aflutter with rumours and speculations about whether Google will unveil some kind of consumer device at CES on Friday.  Think they will announce a Google OS-powered system?  If they do, every web development team (including mine) is possibly going to need / want some.  I know I'll be watching Google News and a bunch of blogs shortly after 4pm Pacific on Friday...

The more interesting question is whether consumers need or want this type of device.  I say yes, even if they don't know it yet.  :)  Folks like my mother and my wife for the most part are using "expensive" laptops for search, web browsing, email (web-based in both cases), IM, and checking the weather forecast.  A low-cost device could reasonably serve those needs well.  Of course the device needs a display and as much as I love my Media Center PC, the 10-foot experience (TV) is bad for email and web browsing.  So the device needs its own display, which means it has to be laptop-style ($100 laptop?) or Mac Mini style (add a monitor, mouse, and keyboard).  Both options have potential.  The web / Internet is a sufficiently interesting place that a device with a "network-is-the-computer" philosophy could be popular.

I wait with bated breath...

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