Life On the Wicked Stage: Act 2

Laughter May Be The Best Medicine But It Can Also Scare The Pants Off You

Ok, if you know me in person (as opposed to virtually) you know I have this reputation for having quite a famous(infamous) laugh. Well, it's not just famous. It's loud. It's boisterous. It's gregarious. It can fill a room. A big room. It has been described as scary by wee ones. It has been described as scary by adults. It's been known to stop a crowd. It's a signature.

Yesterday I let loose a few mild (I thought) laughs with Those Tablet PC Podcaster Guys, James Kendrick(Guy#1) and Marc Orchant(Guy#2) as a guest on the inaugural episode of their new podcast OnTheRun With Tablet PCs. Little did I know the terror I had unleashed!

Well, TDavid, who really enjoys Halloween, grabbed one of those laughs, looped it, and included it in his Helloween Trick Mix 05.

I'm quite honored actually, I'm mixed in with Scoble (anyone watching a Channel 9 video knows his laugh), Bill Gates, and Todd from Geek News Central.

Click the link below to my loopy looped laugh.

Download wc_evil.wav (2.7mb wav file)

For the full effect click the link below to download TDavid's Helloween Trick Mix 05, or hop over to TDavid's Things That...Make You Go Hmm?

Download helloween2005mix.mp3 (Running time 9:21; 4.3mb 64K MP3)

Early reports? Scoble, Bill, and Todd, you've got nothing on my laugh.

Thanks for the fun, TDavid!

Panoramas And Pool Cues

Some fun links from The J-Walk Blog.

A wonderful interactive view of panoramas. Click on the link, click on the nature shot of your choice and if you have Quicktime loaded you can get a 360 panoramic tour. Impressive, works great with a pen, Tableteers.

Laser-guided pool cues. It may not be fair, but it sure looks cool.

Dilbert Blogs About Loving Technology

First, I didn't know Dilbert was blogging, so thanks to Colin Walker for the link. Second, Dilbert is blogging about his love for technology and it is a fun read. Subscribed.

Gateway $100,000 Tablet PC Edge Contest

If you're a Tableteer with an idea for a new business or expanding you own using Tablet PCs then check out the Gateway $100,000 Edge Contest co-sponsored by Gateway, Microsoft, Intel, and Forbes (I doubt they'll be blogging about this.)

If you've got the next big idea this may be your chance. Check it out here.

Via Rob via Loren.

Seeing Red (Pink?) With Tablet PC Mods

Recently a new Tablet PC user, Jeni, was jotting about how she wanted to mod her Tecra M4 case by changing it to her favorite color, pink. Well, this isn't pink, but Jeni might want to get in touch with the good folk at waphle.com who see their Tablet PC in a different shade of red.

Happy Halloween Tablet PC Tricks and Treats

Follow the jump for some Halloween Tricks and Treats For Tableteers from TDavid, Rob Bushway, and Tracy Hooten and Nadia.

A Familiar Tablet PC Refrain

Rob Bushway sings a familiar refrain about Tablet PCs: Simplicity Is Needed. WNewquay's cover of this standard calls it Transparency. Loren hums along with his version: Paperless Thinking.

jkOnTheRun: So You Want To Get A Tablet PC

James Kendrick is true to his word. In the taping of the inaugural OnTheRun With Tablet PCs podcast, James, Marc Orchant and I were talking about the very necessary work flow evaluation one needs to go through as a key part of the process in deciding which Tablet PC to pick. James said he would dust off an earlier article he had written about the decision factors. He has done so and republished the post on jkOnTheRun.

In the article, jk covers the key points very well and links to Tablet PC2's excellent comparison chart. Follow the jump for other references that I think provide good info for your research process as well.

Bill Gates And Future Predictions

Bill Gates is pulling out his crystal ball again and talking about the future, this time at the Internet Adverstising Bureau's Engage 2005 Conference. In addition to talking about increases in power, the shrinking size of mobile devices, and the future of media delivery, he has this to say about the future of Tablet PCs.

“The PC is becoming more portable and smaller, in fact over the next ten years we’ll have a Tablet device which will let you read off the screen as comfortably as you read off paper today. It’ll let you use a pen to annotate things, to write ink notes, to draw things, as well as using the keyboard.”

“So we think about students in four or five years. Instead of spending money on text books, they’ll spend a mere $400 or so buying that Tablet device and that textual material that they’ll hook up to will all be on the wireless Internet, where it will have animations, timelines, links to deep information… So they’ll be spending less than they spent on those text books and yet having a dramatically better experience.”

Check out the rest of his predictions here.

Podcast: On The Run With Tablet PCs Inaugural Episode With Yours Truly As A Special Guest

Those Tablet PC Podcaster Guys are back with the inaugural episode of their new podcast, OnTheRun With Tablet PCs. A special treat (at least for me) is that I was invited to be the first special guest on their new show. Join TPCPCG #1 James Kendrick and TPCPCG #2 Marc Orchant and myself as we talk about Tablet PCs. Head over to jkOnTheRun to download or subscribe to the podcast.

Thanks guys for inviting me on. Hope you and your listeners had/have as much fun as I did.