freeform goodness

1. Windows Vista will slip into 2007. There will be at least two very high profile “retirements” at Microsoft attached to this.
2. Comcast will offer TiVo service bundled with its set top boxes. Existing TiVo customers will be disappointed with the costs and technical hurdles involved in tying together their existing accounts with Comcast’s offering.
3. Xbox360 early adopters will complain loudly about a 6-month “game drought”, as the gap between the launch titles and the next wave of games makes them question the wisdom of an early purchase.
4. Sony will ship the Playstation 3 on the ninth of September. There will be at least one flawless game, and about 2 dozen mediocre ones. Early sales will be quite strong, as the system will be one of the cheapest ways to get a BluRay disc player attached to your HDTV.
5. HDTV will achieve a 25% penetration rate in N. American households around Christmas 2006, thanks to extremely aggressive pricing on LCD sets from east Asian manufacturers.
6. Apple will finally announce it’s living-room entertainment solution. They will ship a broadband attached set top box/DVR (basically an Intel-based Mac mini on steroids) with dual HD tuners, CableCard support, an iPod dock, and 802.11n. It will, of course, be tightly coupled to the iTunes store. They will also ship several different Cinema displays which will be styled to match.
7. Google will partner with Apple to provide web services for the new home entertainment platform.
8. Yahoo will continue to buy startups, and will continue to fail to integrate them into their main-line business.
9. Google will introduce Google Calendar, which will expose an AtomAPI-based facility for synchronization.
10. There will be several dozen new OPML applications. None will interoperate in any meaningful fashion, and the developers will be forced to wear a scarlet “F” (for funky) on their shirts.

:: Dave Walker 14:08 (EST/EDT) [+] ::

:: [/misc/webmemes]
:: tags: webmemes 2006 meme

:: Comments (4)

The same dozen or so bloggers who only link to each other have been going on and on about Memeorandum for the last few months, and I’ve never really figured out why. I’ve never actually seen anything pop up there that wasn’t already being beaten to death by that same list of people — if you’re looking for current stuff that’s worth a look I still think you’re better served by del.icio.us or digg or your own aggregator.

Randy seems to have discovered the trick for gaming Memeorandum: post at least 100 words of carping about nothing (you can generate easy inbounds if you slag the favorite targets [e.g. Dell, Google, the Bushies, etc.] of the other dozen you always link to), and mention one or more of those folks by name (their ego feeds will light up like Christmas trees and the logrolling will begin).

:: Dave Walker 08:55 (EST/EDT) [+] ::

:: [/misc/webmemes]
:: tags: webmemes

:: Comments (2)

Any day when you’re quoted by both Tim Bray and Norm Walsh is, by definition, a good day. Thanks, guys.

:: Dave Walker 11:00 (EST/EDT) [+] ::

:: [/misc/webmemes]
:: tags: webmemes

:: Comments (0)

I don’t actually have an entry here (indeed, the only reason there was one here at all was that my girlfriend hit save in my editor window), but, hey, I love the entry title so I’ll keep it.

:: Dave Walker 17:42 (EST/EDT) [+] ::

:: [/misc/webmemes]
:: tags: webmemes

:: Comments (0)

via Sven and Tiff

Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says:

“wearing makeup. She mouthed the words thank you. Doyle”

Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?

A curtain.

What is the last thing you watched on TV?

The Daily Show.

Without looking, guess what time it is:

10:50

Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?

10:52 (I’m pretty spooky that way — my “internal clock” is scarily accurate, most of the time)

With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?

60-cycle hum from various electronics, the aquarium air pumps, the rabbit making herself comfortable.

When did you last step outside? What were you doing?

About a half-hour ago, I went out on the porch to let the dog in.

Before you came to this website, what did you look at?

eMac speedbump announcement.

What are you wearing?

A T-shirt with a pinup girl that says, I kid you not, “I love it when you call me Big Daddy”, and a ridiculously comfortable pair of dark blue soft, cotton pants.

Did you dream last night?

Yeah, dark, vaguely paranoid stuff. I ate dinner too late.

When did you last laugh?

Last night, during the Daily Show.

What is on the walls of the room you are in?

Some really, really old paintings my grandmother owned, which were probably kitschy in their day, but are actually pretty darned cool now that they’re, you know, ancient and shit. Various pictures of other people’s children.

Seen anything weird lately?

Not really.

What is the last film you saw?

Lost In Translation, via Netflix.

If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?

A new roof, a Mini, and a 6-month around-the-world trip.

If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?

I’d end violence.

Do you like to dance?

Yeah.

Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?

Lara, or Betty.

Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?

Charles.

Would you ever consider living abroad?

Sure.

:: Dave Walker 11:30 (EST/EDT) [+] ::

:: [/misc/webmemes]
:: tags: webmemes

:: Comments (1)

This sort of stuff is so cheesy (and so 1997.) I especially appreciate the subtle (not) appeal to pervy bondage types embodied in the “Penny’s” little self-portrait.

:: Dave Walker 08:14 (EST/EDT) [+] ::

:: [/misc/webmemes]
:: tags: webmemes

:: Comments (0)