mek.highcroft.com

Lost Art....

In this era of electronic communications, the art of writing a letter (or postcard) is often lost and forsaken. While texting, email, and blogging offer an instant gratification for both the sender and receiver, a well-written letter can be cherished for years.

Writing a letter with a fine pen and paper offers an opportunity to think, to reflect, to offer a glimpse of what’s important to the writer in a way that a 140 character tweet cannot. While it may be easy to say, “why spend so much time hand-writing a letter when an email will be fine,” think about how you feel when you receive a hand-written letter in the mail. The anticipation of what is in the envelope, the excitement of being the first to read the words from a friend or family member, and the knowledge that the letter will last as long as it is cared for… days, weeks, years, centuries.

It may not be fair to compare the personal letters sent by kings and queens, now-famous authors, or distant relatives to the text messages sent between friends in the modern day; it may be fair to say that the written word – scrawled simply and eloquently with paper and pen – has much more staying power and emotional depth. The time spent writing a letter by hand can show how much you care… about the subject of the letter, about the recipient, and even about your place in history.

Take time to write a letter to someone. Do more than dash off a line or two; really put your heart into it. Perhaps read it tomorrow, then slip it into an envelope, choose a fancy stamp, and send it along. You’ll be amazed at how good you will feel about it, and you’ll feel even better when a letter comes back to you.

iPad: Way to go Apple!

OK...
It's NOT a netbook.
It is NOT a Kindle.
It is NOT a phone.
It is NOT a gaming console.

Look, I'm not a fanboy, but Apple has managed to put a lot of things into this product that many gadgetfans have been talking about for years. Don't like it? Go start yourself a company that can do it better. Seriously. Our expectations of a first generation tablet are very high and despite the chatter, almost every person in my office says they would order one today if it was already available for sale.

So think carefully your measure of success, people. I am confident that because Apple has managed to put themselves firmly in the faces of a number of businesses who were hoping they would not have to compete with Apple, the market will heat up because of it. CrunchPad? Courier? All of these things must now become more than vaporware to get into the market soon to allow their companies not to play catch up.

So, if the ranting about not having a bigger screen, faster processor, smaller bezel, connection ports, blah blah blah is all you had to do today, congrats. For those who said that next year everyone will be typing on a tablet, you're probably right. Will everyone be using the iPad? probably not, but such is life, and Apple knows it. But they're taking a "first-in" approach and I'm glad that they've put their software, hardware, and materials engineering prowess into this product.

Go ahead, tell Jonathan Ives that you hate his bezel. He's listening, but he's already moved on to improve it. If you can do better, I'll gladly look at your product too and weigh it against the strengths and weaknesses of other products. All things considered, it's a well-conceived product with a lot of great features at a reasonable price and a LOT of your friends will buy one, even if you don't.

Room for improvement? Definitely. The iPod and the iPhone are evolving, too, just like our televisions, automobiles, and a host of other technologies.

The best part of this first chapter in the iPad story? People will be talking about this product for months and months and months.

I, for one, am eager to get an iPad, and I've never bought a 1st generation Apple product.

Way to go, Apple. Way to go!

Ringing in 2010

So what does 2010 have in store for me and the family? Not yet sure... I have resolved only one thong for 2010 and that is to get more sleep (which should help with a lot of things).
The thesis is done and being printed and bound. Work is interesting and challenging and new things are afoot that are just emerging. Highcroft will take off this year as well as several other business/product ideas will take flight. I'm hugely excited as I look at the opportunity before me and am looking forward to a fun, challenging, rewarding journey.

Cartridge Refills?

I'm sure that lots of people walk down the aisles of stores looking at the array of razors and wondering how much money the razor companies make in selling refills with their appropriately balanced, ergonomically correct, magnetically proportional, hemispherically matched, electronically assisted, handle thingies.

So, last night, while unable to find my razor handle, I decided to try shaving with only the cartridge and no handle. I was pretty sure this was a bad idea from the start, but went ahead with it anyway.

Lathering up my face with a thin layer of shave gel, I contemplated how I would hold the cartridge to keep it from 1) falling into the sink or 2) slipping sideways and causing major cuts all while working to maintain the pressure needed to actually shave. Once I figured out a manageable grip, I was surprised at the results. No nicks, no cuts, no raw areas from excess leverage.

It was a bit like sliding a toy bulldozer across my face, simply scraping off the shave gell and the stubbly growth beneath. By no means was this an outstaning shave, but in a pinch, it'll work.

Word of caution, though... I felt it very necessary to use the mirror to shave this way. Normally I can get away with shaving sans mirror, but safety dictates a bit more caution here as shaving around the lips and ears with scant little grip requires more concentration and a good view of the area you'll slash if you're not paying attention.

I may never do this again, and perhaps I'm not the first person to do this, but it was an interesting little experiment.

91 Yankee Peddler Path

One of the houses I grew up in - the house in Connecticut has changed a lot since we moved to Minnesota, but it's a wonderful house!

View it on MSN Maps.

Product Review: SilverStone CW03 HTPC Computer Case

For the past few days, Stu and I have been mulling over how best to describe the Silverstone CW03-MT Home Theatre PC case. We’ve been discussing the clean lines of Silverstone’s masterful aluminum case design in yet another eye-catching form factor, and we’ve chatted about the perfect fit and finish of the mesh side panels, the intelligent design and placement of the six-drive-capable hard drive cage, and the extra space designed for the monster graphics card you know you want to include in your home theatre PC.

We’ve been considering the incredible ease with which we disassembled the entire case in less than 30 minutes, surprised that the initial system installation took only 60 minutes, and how the 1080 HD touch screen brings to life the PC for software installation even before hooking up a monitor or TV.

Many other sites like to start out a case review by discussing the packaging of the product. Let’s be honest here… it’s a box with some pretty pictures on it and a perfectly designed foam suspension system inside to hold the HTPC case. Silverstone goes out of their way to ensure the case arrives safely and unscuffed, going so far as to wrap the case in a black sleeve (works nicely to keep the dust off, too) but what you really want is INSIDE the box, not the box itself. If you want reviews of the packaging, you’ll have to go to another site. If you are looking for a practical, down-to-earth review of the Silverstone Crown Series CW03-MT Home Theater PC case, then you have come to the right place...

Star PWND

I am a fan of both franchises... but this is still pretty funny: