Articles by Michael Anderson

Samsung Shows Lack of Class in Latest Galaxy S II Commercial

Gear Bits

Samsung Shows Lack of Class in Latest Galaxy S II Commercial

As someone pointed out in response to the Galaxy Nexus commercial – that was made by Google, which is why it was excellent. Now we get one for the Galaxy S II made by Samsung … and it is NOT. Back in the 80’s Apple produced two infamous commercials – 1984 and Lemmings. They are well known by name more than 25 years later for very different reasons: 1984 showed a single person striking out against tyranny to choose her own path and give others the opportunity to make their own choices as well. Lemmings was infamous for … well,…

Battle of the Annoying Black Friday Commercials: Kohl's vs. Target

News & Features

Battle of the Annoying Black Friday Commercials: Kohl’s vs. Target

Image courtesy Zap2It Everything is turned up to 11 as we frantically approach Black Friday and the traditional start to the holiday shopping season. If you watch network television, you have likely seen and heard two amazingly annoying ads: Kohl’s ‘Rebecca Black Friday’ commercial and Target’s ads featuring the simpering presumed cokehead who hasn’t slept in days. Have you seen these? Well, here they are! [poll id=”9″] Are there other annoying ads you want to share? Link them in the comments! Also, what are your plans for Black Friday?

William Shatner Helps You Cope with Being Un-Friended

News & Features

William Shatner Helps You Cope with Being Un-Friended

With the new Facebook Timeline it is possible to discover who has unfriended you, which might cause some distress in general. Add to that last week’s ‘National Unfriend Day’ on Jimmy Kimmel’s show and you add to the possibility of being unfriended. But on a holiday weekend there is even more cause for concern: I got a notice that my high school graduating class is having an informal mini-reunion, and my brother is going to his 30th high school reunion, meaning there are more opportunities than ever to come face to face with someone who has unfriended you. Source: Buzzfeed

Music Diary Deal: Coldplay Live in Madrid EP FREE on Google Music

Music Diary, News & Features

Music Diary Deal: Coldplay Live in Madrid EP FREE on Google Music

If there is something Google knows, it is how to do ‘free’ – never before has a company made so much by charging so little. So as they simultaneously try to crank up their niche Google + ‘social network’ and also their late entry also-ran music ‘service’, the immediate tool they pull from their bag is ‘free’. In this case what is free is a live EP of Coldplay. Here is the description: This EP was recorded in a Spanish bullring during an American Express Unstaged event that saw nearly 20 million live streams on YouTube, and it pretty much…

A Reminder at Thanksgiving to Help Those in Need in YOUR Town!

Gear Bits

A Reminder at Thanksgiving to Help Those in Need in YOUR Town!

I have to admit that it took a while for me to support the United Way. Back in Massachusetts we had a wonderful local group that my wife and I supported, and at work they transitioned from local charities to the United Way as the company that bought out the former ‘family business’ (with >700 employees) … and subsequently came to yell at us for making him look bad by not signing up for the United Way – something he remedied by removing the local choices … which meant simply didn’t sign up and kept my money local. And yes,…

A Massive Look at the Breakdown from Trillions to Dollars

Gear Bits

A Massive Look at the Breakdown from Trillions to Dollars

Have you ever looked at the amounts of money our government and large corporations toss around – billions or even trillions of dollars – and tried to break it down into something more ‘real’? Well, this week’s xkcd comic does just that. Much of it is just informative, making proportional chunks of blocks for how much an iPhone costs or dinner out at Outback Steakhouse. But there are images like the one above, showing that while for most people the standard of living has not improved in almost 45 years, for the average CEO things have improved by more than…

RIP Legendary Jazz Drummer Paul Motian

Gear Bits

RIP Legendary Jazz Drummer Paul Motian

Today we get the news of the passing of Paul Motian at age 80 (1931-2011), the legendary drummer forever linked with pianist Bill Evans and bassist Scott LaFaro in the definitive piano trio under Evans leadership. His output as a leader and sideman has been tremendous, as has his influence on drummers and music in general. As columnist James Hale remarks: I can’t begin to count the number of recordings I have that feature drummer Paul Motian, who died today at age 80, and I can’t think of a disappointing one among them. Not only did he have exceptional taste…

A Look at Our Growing Police State from Four Angles

Editorials

A Look at Our Growing Police State from Four Angles

Image courtesy HuffPo I grew up in a time when you respected authorities but didn’t place blind trust in them. The government was still reeling from Watergate and Vietnam, which instantly led many to question anything said by those in power. The downside was that soldiers returning from Vietnam who were themselves victims of a draft were lumped in and treated poorly (my kids have a hard time connecting with Rambo’s treatment, but I remember it all too well from people in my town growing up). When Ronald Reagan took office, a new wave of pride and positivity in being…

Music Diary Notes: Billboard Revamps Rules in Attempt to Stop Lady Gaga-esque 'Gaming' of Charts

Music Diary, News & Features

Music Diary Notes: Billboard Revamps Rules in Attempt to Stop Lady Gaga-esque ‘Gaming’ of Charts

Earlier this year Lady Gaga released an album that sold over a million copies in the first week, then plummeted by a historic 84% in the second week before fading into nowheresville. As I noted, nearly HALF of her first week sales were generated by the ‘giveaway’ at Amazon (99 cent full album) and other freebie pack-in deals that were counted as sales. It was a rather obvious ploy set up to falsely generate an impression of a larger event than happened – and considering how terrible the album is, perhaps that was the ONLY way to get people to…

Android Rules Smartphone Roost ... But Holiday 'Wish Lists' Show Vulnerability

Editorials, News & Features

Android Rules Smartphone Roost … But Holiday ‘Wish Lists’ Show Vulnerability

Guess who wants an Android Tablet for Christmas/Hanukkah? (Hint: no one). But we’ll return to that in a moment. This week we got news that put the Android OS at more than 50% market share for smartphone operating systems. This is based on numbers from Gartner, which means that they willingly and knowingly count Samsung’s % estimates’ the same as other people’s ‘shipments’ the same as other people’s actual SALES. In other words, their numbers are a crapshoot. But make no mistake – Android is BY FAR the dominant mobile OS. If you look at the trends in the graph above,…

Random Cool Video: Mambo #5 Meets The Matrix

News & Features

Random Cool Video: Mambo #5 Meets The Matrix

If you just say the phrase ‘that one scene from The Matrix’, almost everyone immediately thinks of the lobby gunfight scene. Well, after watching this video of the scene synced up to Lou Bega’s Mambo #5 you might never think of it the same way. Check it out: And as an interesting aside, my first exposure to this song was through a Radio Disney CD our kids had, so I really had no clue what was going on when I heard the actual song! Source: Neatorama

Samsung Hits Another Advertising Home Run with Google Nexus Commercial

News & Features

Samsung Hits Another Advertising Home Run with Google Nexus Commercial

I had already written about just how great the Samsung Galaxy S II commercial was a couple of months ago, but at the time Apple and Samsung were in the midst of the ‘copy me, copy you’ spectacle and so I wrapped it around a tongue-in-cheek accusation of copying. Certainly Samsung has learned that the macho specmanship approach of Motorola has a very narrow appeal, which shows very well in this new ad as well. The upcoming Nexus has gotten some very positive early looks, and should be a big success for Samsung and give a great look at the…

PSA: If You Are a Verizon Wireless Customer, Check Your Privacy Settings!

Gear Bits

PSA: If You Are a Verizon Wireless Customer, Check Your Privacy Settings!

Whenever a wireless carrier discusses your private information, you can be sure of one thing: they are trying to squeeze more money out of you by leveraging your information, but know that if they don’t give you an opt-out they will have regulators breathing down their necks. So … this week we get an email from Verizon Wireless. What information are they storing? Mobile Usage Information: • Addresses of websites you visit when using our wireless service. These data strings (or URLs) may include search terms you have used • Location of your device (“Location Information”) • App and device…

TruConnect Brings Cheap & Easy 3G to Your Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet!

News & Features

TruConnect Brings Cheap & Easy 3G to Your Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet!

Last month I reviewed the TruConnect ‘pay as you go’ mobile broadband solution, saying: TruConnect absolutely delivers on their claims of a simple device, easy setup and configuration, and clear pricing of as little as $4.99 per month. Beyond that, every person needs to make their own value judgement in terms of the data fees. For light or occasional use, you can get 250MB for less than $15 a month, but once you break 1GB of monthly data you might be better off with a full access plan. The good news is that you have no contract and no termination…

Music Diary Notes: Sting Releases '25' iPad App for FREE - But it Cost More Than $1 Million to Make!

Music Diary, News & Features

Music Diary Notes: Sting Releases ’25’ iPad App for FREE – But it Cost More Than $1 Million to Make!

If you look at the legendary figures in pop and rock music in the post-Beatle era, The Police and their frontman Sting have to be on your shortlist. After an amazing but short career with The Police, Sting struck out on his own with an ensemble populated by young jazz musicians playing a new kind of jazz-tinged pop-rock. Through the 25 years since, Sting has had some amazing highs and lows, but always worked to put his best music out to the people. Now we get a new app from the music legend – ‘Sting 25’ is the companion to…

Kindle Fire Shows Android Cross-Market Problem; Nook Tablet Limits Revealed

eBooks, Editorials

Kindle Fire Shows Android Cross-Market Problem; Nook Tablet Limits Revealed

I wrote about the Android app TouchDown by NitroDesk as an ‘App I Can’t Live Without’, so naturally when I got my Kindle Fire, one of the first things I did was load up TouchDown from the Amazon Appstore for Android to configure my work email account. The problem came when I went to switch from a ‘trial’ to licensed mode. On any other Android device I would simply download the TouchDown License from my ‘purchased apps’ on the Android Market. But, since there is no access to the Android Market, I couldn’t do that on the Fire. Further, when…

Music Diary Notes: Stream Nickelback's New Album on iTunes for Free!

Music Diary, News & Features

Music Diary Notes: Stream Nickelback’s New Album on iTunes for Free!

The pop-rock group Nickelback is one of those love/hate things for many – ‘hardcore’ rockers absolutely hate them on principal, yet they sell millions of records and there are people who either like them or – like my wife – consider them a ‘guilty pleasure’. If you are a fan of the group, or just curious to check out their upcoming release, here is your chance! For a limited time you can stream the entire album for free on iTunes! As with previous deals like this, you can’t skip songs or shuffle or otherwise control the playback – it is…

Ultra-Comfy Chair Review: Sumo Lounge Omni Beanbag Chair

News & Features, Reviews

Ultra-Comfy Chair Review: Sumo Lounge Omni Beanbag Chair

If you were a teen or pre-teen in the 1970’s, chances are you or one of your friends (or ALL of your friends) had a beanbag chair. The bags of the time were vinyl (or denim) bags filled with polystyrene pellets. Things have come quite a long way – the 1990’s saw a resurgence in the beanbag chair, and now it has been reinvented as the Sumo Omni. We first looked at the Sumo Lounge Omni in 2007, and the folks at Sumo were kind enough to send one my way for an updated review; let’s see how it holds…

Apple Releases 'iTunes Match' to the Public - Your Music Library in the Cloud!

News & Features

Apple Releases ‘iTunes Match’ to the Public – Your Music Library in the Cloud!

With the release of iTunes 10.5.1 Apple has finally brought iTunes Match to everyone rather then those of us who have been using it in beta. If you are not familiar with the service it isn’t the music streaming that had been long rumored but rather something far more powerful and, potentially usable. What the service does is scan your iTunes library and line up those songs that you have in it with those that are currently available on iTunes. Then, if there are songs that you have that are not available in iTunes, it will upload the remaining ones….