Life On the Wicked Stage: Act 2

The Second Annual Life On The Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards

In preparing for The Second Annual Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards, I realized that it would be tough to write anything better about my motivation for creating them than I did in year one. What I wrote then is still more than an appropriate chronicle of my thoughts and feelings. 

I created The Life On The Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards as a celebration. Yes, it's a celebration of the 1 year anniversary of this blog. But it is more than that. It is a celebration of a community that I have come to know and admire. The Tableteers that make up the Tablet PC Community are an amazing collection of individuals who know and work with the Tablet PC platform. They are fiercely protective of it, insatiably curious about advancing it, very intelligent, often wickedly funny, at one time very forgiving and patient, and in the same breath, scathingly critical when the need arises. They are also exceedingly willing to evangelize the platform to anyone who will listen, and in my humble opinion, have helped keep the spotlight on The Tablet PC in ways that may, in the long run, prove to be responsible for keeping the platform thriving. 

That all remains true, certainly, but the Tabletscape, like everything else, has evolved in a year. It actually has a name, The Tabletscape coined by James Kendrick. It now includes not only Ultra-Mobile PCs, but more things mobile. Ink is now side by side with touch. Those changes will continue and I hope we will continue to see growth. 

In the last year, we’ve witnessed the invasion of the Down Under Tableteers. Marc Orchant, while still occasionally blogging about Tablet PCs, now is an exec at Foldera and a blogger on ZDNet blogging about all sorts of productivity categories. Kevin Tofel has joined up with James Kendrick, the All Father of Tablet PCs, and they have formed a formidable team on jkOnTheRun. Tablet PC Buzz has had its ups and downs (it is down again at present, sadly) and we’ve seen a rash of new sites and new folks covering the UMPC market. (Is there a site anywhere that CTitanic is not writing for?) Podcasts (should we use that word?) and video reviews are a part of the scene in a big way, and I have to say, I really enjoy doing and watching the Inkshows we provide at GottaBeMobile.com, which has become a real and invaluable resource for the community and a new home for me. 

At launch last year, multiple Ink Blot Award winner, Mark Sumocat Sumimoto quickly nicknamed them The Blotties, which seems more than appropriate. So whether you call them the Blotties, or Ink Blot Awards, it makes no difference as to the fun I hope you have with the list. As before, there are no rules for inclusion, save my own. Recognition here comes simply from things that struck my fancy, or I think merit attention for one reason or the other. Yes, there are some "Best of Breed" awards here, and yes, there are some that are included just for the pure fun of it. Perhaps there are one or two included for ignominy as well. Who knows? Whatever the reason, I congratulate those who received a Blottie, (or is that those who were blotted) and look forward to the day that we can perhaps have this little celebration while getting blotto over the Blotties. 

So, sound the trumpets, cue the drum roll and the dancing girls. Take the jump and enjoy The Second Annual Life on the Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards.

GottaBeMobile.com Is Giving Away A Motion LS800 Tablet PC

To celebrate the opening of the new GottaBeMobile.com forums, we, with the generous sponsorship of Motion Computing, are giving away a Motion LS800 Tablet PC. Here's your chance to win big. For contest entry, details and more, check out the info here. Go enter the Make Me Mobile with Motion Contest.

GottaBeMobile.com Forums Go Live!

Big news! GottaBeMobile.com, my other blog home, has just opened up a tremendous new community resource for the Tablet PC, UMPC, and Mobile community. That's right we just threw the switch on Forums. Come join the fun, come join the party, come post in the new GottaBeMobile.com Forums.

Note we've got several exciting contests we'll be running with some great prizes from our sponsors and friends. Hope to see you there, talking Tablet PCs, UMPCs, and much more.

Read all about it here and here's the link to the GBM home page, hit it and look for the link for Forums in the top bar, register, and get posting.

GottaBeMobile Podcast Inkshows Now On ITunes

Over on GottaBeMobile.com we've now made our Audio Inkshows (or podcasts) available on iTunes. We're also moving ahead with plans to provide .mov file formats to our production schedule of our video Inkshows so you can also pick those up on iTunes, but are not quite there yet. In the meantime, check out the great Inkshows we've got going, subscribe on iTunes, and how some fun. We do. Here's the iTunes link to subscribe.

When Blogging An Opinion Becomes A Lightning Rod For Readers

A blogging buddy and fellow Tableteer, Kevin Tofel, took some flack late last week from his readers on jkOnTheRun for this post where he called the WSJ's Walt Mossberg out for, well, just not being accurate in his criticism. Although it is a politically unpopular word these days, a number of bloggers in the Tabletscape, get on a crusade when the main stream tech press spews forth with incomplete, inaccurate, and agenda ridden drivel instead of the the integrity laden opinions that the traditions behind their mastheads imply that we are receiving (in this case paying for, the WSJ is behind a paid subscription wall.)

I'm not writing this to defend Kevin, although I personally see nothing wrong with his post. I'm writing this to get out a few thoughts that are dancing around in my brain. So if you want to follow along, help yourselves after the jump.

Matt Miller Joins MobileTech Roundup

I've been playing catch-up lately and way behind in my podcast listening, due to a dead iPod. I've been trying to get back into the swing of things on the listening front using my new Sprint PCC 6700 and that seems to be working just fine as I drive from place to place listening over a Motorola HP700 Bluetooth H700 headset, although I miss being able to broadcast the signal over the radio.

That said, I finally got a chance to catch up with one of my favorite podcasts, MobileTech Roundup. Matt Miller (Palmsolo to many) has joined James Kendrick and Kevin Tofel and the three are having a good time talking mobile tech news and being very entertaining. They've just released MOTR #56 and you can get it here.

News Worth Repeating: TechSmith Becomes Sponsor For GottaBeMobile.com

This is GottaBeMobile.com news definitely worth linking to. GottaBeMobile.com announced today that TechSmith Corporation, the maker of Camtasia Studios and SnagIt, has signed on as a sponsor. TechSmith will sponsor GBM's premium content, InkShows, already a big hit on GBM. InkShows are videocasts of products and personality interviews. This is a big part of Dennis and Rob's vision for GottaBeMobile, and I'm thrilled to be associated with that vision, their efforts.

Thanks, Techsmith, for recognizing the vision and supporting it.

Dave Ciccone Leaves MobileTech Roundup

Darn. Dave Ciccone has announced he will be leaving MobileTech Roundup due to the many committments he's got running in his Mobile Tech life. While I am more than sure that James Kendrick and Kevin Tofel will keep things just as informative and just as wacky, (I'm a big fan of the podcast), I'll miss Dave's contributions. JK and Kevin are looking for a third host, so if you're into the Mobile Tech thing and podcasting, you might want to give them a shout out. Good luck to Dave on his many other endeavors. You'll be missed.

GottaBeMobile.com Links For 6/15

I GottaBeMobile

Well, well, well. A new adventure begins with a couple of folks that I'm really thrilled to be associated with. Rob Bushway and Dennis Rice have invited me to join the GottaBeMobile.com team and I'm thrilled to accept not only their offer but also their confidence. I'm really looking forward to joining them in what already is a spectacular effort and spectacular site for Tabelet PC, UMPC, and Mobile computing news. About the only thing I can think of that is more exciting than working with, writing about, and talking about Tablet PCs is being in a conversation and feeling the passion that exudes from both Rob and Dennis on the subject.

Check out the fun conversation Dennis and I had and the announcement on this GottaBeMobile Inkshow Interview.

Life will still continue here on Life On The Wicked Stage: Act 2 as I go a bit more mobile. I'm sure it'll change and morph a bit and I'll be talking about that here in the days to come. You'll still find plenty of Wicked Stage shenanigans going on here as things get under way, and of course I'll be linking quite a bit (as if I don't already) to GottaBeMobile.com. I'm getting ready for some fun and good times with Rob and Dennis and I hope you are are as well. I'm heads down on another project or two at the moment, but I'm really looking forward to getting out from under that and cranking things up on GottaBeMobile.com. See you there! (and here!)