‘You’re having a dispute with you neighbor,’ he told The Guardian. ‘How would you feel if your neighbor went over and bought a commercial observation drone that they can launch from their back yard. It just flies over your house all day. How would you feel about it?’

If you ever wanted to know how America has fallen from the land of liberty to the confines of big government, look no further than the largest corporate elitists for the cause. Google’s Eric Schmidt warns the “Daily Mail” that drone technology is spreading too fast and it therefore should be regulated.

See, my answer to Mr. Schmidt’s hypothetical scenario would be to exercise freedom for both. If neighbor wants to launch a commercial drone and fly it over his property, fine. If he wants to look at his property, fine. However flying over my property or spying on my property would be a crime because it would deprive me of my right to privacy. I would therefore have the right to pull out the weapon of my choice and destroy his drone.

That situation doesn’t need bigger government. That situation doesn’t need new laws. That simply means that each individual gets to both enjoy and defend their liberties.

Apparently Eric Schmidt doesn’t think people should have liberty

Oh but Google certainly wouldn’t want that. What do they think about your privacy? Well, did I get consulted, asked, or compensated before they posted high-definition overhead imagery and street photographs of my home all over the internet? Of course not. Google was able to drive spy cars down the street and access all the overhead surveillance information they wanted. They claim instant access to anything out there in the name of “big data”.

Now that individuals may be able to afford their own systems, Google must rise to our defense. Gee, how thoughtful.  Heaven forbid if somebody were allowed to spy on someone else.

Eric Schmidt says Individual liberty is not legitimate

I actually cannot envision much of a reason to be worried about my neighbor flying a drone over my yard.  What’s he going to do with it?  He has no power over me.  Outside of the principles of common decency and privacy, there wouldn’t be that much for me to get in a furor.  Now a massive corporation or an oppressive government could do all sorts of things with that information.  They could even manipulate the information and pass it off as legitimate.  The police have never planted evidence on anyone, have they ?  Oh, but we must be regulated.

This is a classic quote from the article: “It’s got to be regulated. It’s one thing for governments, who have some legitimacy in what they’re doing, but have other people doing it…It’s not going to happen.”   Governments have legitimacy but people do not. That is his message. That says it all. That’s why he and other elitists can have armed protection but you cannot. That’s why they can shift their wealth away from taxes but you cannot. That’s why Google can continue to fly over your backyard, and you cannot even keep them out of it.

Frederick Douglass

In 1867, Frederick Douglass warned everyone about the dangers of gun ownership. He warned us that everyone should be able to have one. Specifically, he stated that every American must have access to “the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box.”

The University of Rhode Island completely shut down based on the reported fear that someone somewhere had a gun.  No, not someone screaming Allah Akbar.  Not someone mugging or beating a fellow student.  Nope.  Someone apparently said that he was a good person and that he had a gun.  Turns out that nobody even actually saw a gun.  URI shut down into a police state for 2 1/2 hours.

There was a “gunman”.  As opposed to “illegal immigrant”, the Associated Press approves of and uses this term.  Gunman.  The horror.  The evil.  Anyone even hinting at the shape of a gun in a piece of toast is obviously preparing to deliver death and destruction to children (progressives are apparently very concerned about the safety of children only after they are born).  That person must be stopped!  Re-educated; reformed; counseled.  Most importantly, that person must be disarmed.  We must assume that an armed civilian is out for evil, and meanwhile must assume that an armed government is there for our own good.

Less than a two-hour drive north of URI, Paul Revere made his famous ride to warn colonists that the British were coming. He alerted the colonists to gather their arms and muster.  Why? Was it time to steal money or murder a bystander?  Perhaps his alarm and the colonists’ response received more fuel from the fact that just seven months prior, the British confiscated hundreds of barrels of gunpowder to enforce their own version of gun control.  …. hmmm isn’t Homeland Security buying up all the bullets?

King George III would have fared much better today. To disarm the colonists and further impose his edicts, he would have the full support of the media, the schools, the universities, and most entertainers. Dare to oppose him and one would be publicly lumped together with the worst of criminals. King George was just a few centuries too early. Today, the mere declaration of ownership of a gun implies a severe crime. Nevermind that 18-21 year olds are adults.  Adults with guns are mere “gunmen”.  The King would hail URI for its dedication to the security of the colonists, while he and the rest of his rulers kept their boots on our necks.

If the securing of personal liberty were the sole responsibility of an armed government, then why did Frederick Douglas petition President Lincoln for freed slaves to have the rights to weapons? Wasn’t there already a sizeable standing army in place who could protect them? So many would scoff at the suggestion for obvious reasons. Odd that so many of the same people would scoff at any presently perceived need to provide your own security.

I do wonder what URI teaches for history.  If a student asks about Noah Webster and the Second Amendment, what answer will URI provide?  Would Noah Webster just be another “gunman”?

Those who would disarm Americans are either fools or tyrants. Those who would dismiss the warnings from Frederick Douglass, Thomas Jefferson, Noah Webster, and Paul Revere are the former. Beware the latter; they suggest you are fools for heeding it.

1. Microsoft shoves you into the cloud
2. They drag a white paint roller across your screen
3. They dump Microsoft Office Picture Manager

I am thankful that I keep backups of all my purchased software.  After three days of grumbling through Office 2013, I am happily back to Office 2010.

For starters, Microsoft can keep their cloud

Does that look stable?

I don’t play well with “group think” concepts. I really don’t do well with neo-utopian buzz words used to suggest technologies people really don’t want. The concept of the “cloud” is precisely in that vein. “Cloud” technology is supposed to relieve us of the burden (?) of storing our own information. Well when I hear the word “cloud”, I don’t have an image of anything that is tangible, controllable, predictable, or stable. Cool, let’s put my critical information there!
In practice, the cloud is emerging to be a number of extremely large data centers where Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon, Salesforce, and others compete to have people pay to store their information off site. A promised technical benefit is the ability to seamlessly access the same data from a number of different fixed and mobile devices. Another promised benefit is the ability to allow collaboration across an enterprise.
Microsoft Office 2010 came on a DVD. I loaded the entire thing on my desktop computer. I save all the files on my computer. I back them up in local terrabyte drives and share them across my own home network. I don’t need the cloud. I don’t want the cloud. Microsoft Office 2013 installs the cloud and does so without clearly telling you up front. Deep down, they know plenty of people do not want the cloud.
My problem with the cloud is that anything I put there is solely at the control of the data center. If Obama demands it, they’ll turn it over. If they want to change prices, they’ll change it. If they want to shut it off, they can. Not that any of them would actually do that. But putting all my information in the cloud feels about as secure as putting my money into an electronic database such as a Cyprus bank …

16 million colors: we’ll choose dust white, thanks

I have a 22 inch computer screen. I love colors. I like contrast. I like full and complete menu bars. I like distinct sidebars. I like clear content areas. Microsoft Office takes a white roller brush and makes everything one bland color. oooh wait!!! You can pick white or light-grey or dark-grey!

Introducing Office 2013!

Go to Microsoft’s website and you will see images, backgrounds, and videos with breathtaking color. Purchase Office 2013 and your screen transforms into Siberia.

Image from thewindowsclub.com

I was actually shocked when I first opened Outlook 2013. I knew enough to at least hunt for a theme option. I was really shocked to find out that the only options were either all white, or two shades of grey. ??!!! Who comes up with this stuff? The screen is a speed-reader’s nightmare; you can’t tell where to focus. The ribbon bar is lost in the upper haze. Folders, options, and content blur together in a stark tundra.
In case you are a Microsoft Designer and came to this site by way of the internet, here is a link back to the exact same complaints on your website: MS Office 2013 color scheme complaints
I grimaced and continued for another day.

Day 3: Discovering my favorite picture editor is gone, priceless

If you haven’t noticed, I took a brief hiatus from writing on KloodIn to develop the KloodIn app. The app is done. hurray! Now it’s back to KloodIn. I use art and photographs throughout KloodIn. My software tool of choice to rapidly orient, crop, resize, and rename pictures is Microsoft Office Picture Manager 2010. Note the 2010. I was less than thrilled to discover that Microsoft Office 2013 dumped the picture manager.

I won’t insult you with a link to Microsoft’s answer page, but their rationale was that customers didn’t “need” the picture manager because we could just edit pictures in Word or Powerpoint. What? Instead of simply right clicking a picture and editing it directly with the MS Office Picture Manager, I have to make a new document (I guess) and do it in there? That’s an improvement? How does that kind of decision make it through a project management meeting?
Wow. First they dump the powerful Fax and Scanner Manager with Office 2010, and now they dump the picture manager because we don’t “need” it. Well I do need it. I use it all the time. That was my last straw.

Sigh: A somewhat happy return to Office 2010

I uninstalled Office 2013 and happily plugged in my Office 2010 DVD. No cloud. Great colors. My easy-to-use picture manager is just a mouse click away.
I suppose it is only a matter of time until Microsoft drops support for programs that actually work. Instead of advertising and marketing desired services, these large companies are increasingly herding consumers into their pre-determined solutions. If it gets too bad, I’ll really pull the plug and install Linux.

I like you, I really do

I really do like you. I like your business. I like your website. I like your restaurant. I like your shop. I like your music. But I really don’t like you enough to go back to Facebook.

Believe it or not, not everyone is on Facebook

Sure, there are still millions or perhaps billions on Facebook. I’m just not one of them. Two months ago, I dumped my Facebook account because of that creepy new Graph Search feature.  I’m not just somebody who never bothered to set up a Facebook account. I’m someone who had one, used it, closed it, and refuses to go back. So no matter how much I like you, I am not going to “Facebook like” you.

It’s not you, it’s not me, it’s them. In their own SEC filing, Facebook states that they “may experience a decline in user engagement.”  Some users are migrating to competitor resources.  Others are dropping off of the social network scene completely.  However, these users are pretty much still online.  I am definitely still online.

The push to return to Facebook is becoming frustrating

A favorite local restaurant only has updated pictures and offerings on their Facebook page.  A local private professionals club gives monthly member awards to people who “like” their Facebook page.  Some companies don’t even bother with a website and simply put out a link to their Facebook page.  I will let each of those companies know of my frustration.  I will let them know because I do like them enough to hope that they don’t lose business with new and current customers.

Love me, like my Facebook?

These and other companies need to be aware that they run the risk of an association with Facebook’s reputation.  That was a favorable association back when that reputation was new, free, and cool.  Now, though, Facebook is going through some challenges as they try to become a profitable publicly traded company.  A strong association with Facebook may become a liability.

There is certainly nothing wrong with leveraging the capabilities of social sharing and bookmarking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon.  KloodIn enjoys social sharing.  If you only place your best information or certain deals on select venues, however, then you are telling prospective clients that they can only enjoy the benefits after they first decide to join the other network.  Some people, including myself, may simply say “no”.

Douglas Rushkoff of CNN recently came to this conclusion.  Our experience in the internet does not need to go through Facebook.  Make sure that you don’t cut yourself out from the growing non-Facebook audience.

The unknown man in the video said that sequestration won’t happen

This just has to be a Saturday Night Live spoof. It must be a voice over. The guy who looks exactly like Republican candidate Mitt Romney actually tried to warn America what sequestration was going to do to the Navy. The guy who looks exactly like Democrat candidate Barack Obama said that sequestration won’t happen and linked the Republican’s concerns to outdated technologies like bayonets.

The Virginian Pilot didn’t make this their top story then

Again, there is no way this is who I think this is. If it were real, then the Virginian Pilot – home newspaper to our largest Naval bases – would certainly have placed this front and center. At a minimum, they would have fact checked Mr. Romney’s claim of what the sequestration would mean. The Virginian Pilot certainly would have called major front page attention to this. Right?

Welcome to life in the real world

Pure sarcasm to be sure, but obviously we know who this is. The media of course buried the substance of it. They talked about the “eye contact”. Oh, how they talked about who supposedly “won” the debate. The Virginian Pilot didn’t make this a front and center issue. Neither did most of the media. Politico has a great synopsis of that time here.

Virginia ultimately voted Democrat. Practically every Hampton Roads region that is currently poised to get hammered with the results of sequestration, voted Democrat. This debate showcased a crystal clear choice. So how could an entire region ignore such a clear warning?

It’s called media bias.  It’s there.  It’s real.  Stay uninformed and follow the path of Hampton Roads.

This is why you need to stay KloodIn

Keep yourself KloodIn. If you just stick with the so-called major media news, then you run the risk of acting without the real story. Ask the questions. Get online. Find out facts. Even post your questions in the comments sections here.

• Lack of Trust
• Too Much Smut

Lack of Trust

Think Time is telling the entire story? – Image from wattsupwiththat.com

If a magazine would like their pool of subscribers to include the broader intelligent population of the U.S., that magazine might want to consider providing at least some attempt to tell an entire story. We’re not talking journalism of medicine level details, but we are talking about basic journalistic integrity. Well Time magazine does anything but demonstrate that.
With yet another blizzard tragically pounding my hometown area, I’m sure we’ll be entreated to another full range of Global Climate Change garbage. Time is fully onboard with that agenda. That agenda is clearly a full court press to cripple big oil in favor of green technology. The heavily funded agenda has nothing to do with saving the environment, hugging polar bears, and protecting fish.  It’s all about lobbying for money in their battery, solar, wind technologies.
Bold statement? How can I claim that? I assert that because if the agenda were truly an environmental enthusiast agenda, then Time would at least occasionally grace their cover with pictures like this rare earths mine in Mountain Pass, California.

Think Time will have California’s green energy solution on their cover? – Image from CNET.COM

What? California, the land of left-wing-green-loving-environmentalist-Democrats has mines? Ummmm, yes. You haven’t seen that on the cover because that would go against their premise that oil is bad and “green” is good. My Buick Enclave is killing the planet but their Toyota Prius is saving polar bears. Time isn’t going to lead their cover story with a real investigation of green tech.  Care to find out what makes the permanent magnets necessary behind alot of green tech?
Smart people want to find out. Inquisitive people want to find out. In 2013, everybody can instantly find out what is going on. Faster than Glenn Beck with his trusty chalkboard, we can Google things like Prius, Leaf, and car batteries, and find pictures of rare earth mines (like this link on CNET) and details about Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide batteries. The information is right there. It’s easily available on CNET. It’s on Wikipedia. Heck, go to Mining.Com and find out all you ever wanted to know about mines here and across the world. Good luck finding that on the cover of Time magazine.
We’re going online because Big Media isn’t providing the information offline.

Too Much Smut

So Christine Haughney continues in her article with the disappointing numbers for “young women’s magazines like Cosmopolitan and Glamour”. Let’s stop there for a moment. What “Young Women”? Which ones are supposed to be reading Cosmo and Glamour? Have you seen that smut lately? I sure as heck don’t want my young daughter looking at either of those.  Those magazines are hyper-sexed piles of garbage.
As a parent, you can barely walk your kid down the grocery check-out aisle without being assaulted with smut and trash. It’s at the point where I’d prefer that they stare at the impulsive rack of gum and candy. At least they can work that junk food out of their system and brush their teeth. The other stuff would rot their soul.
Decent people are getting tired of having their basic values trashed at every turn. We’re certainly not about to allow money to be spent on that kind of garbage. Yes, I did say “allow”. Real parents enforce rules. If you want to run one of those open-minded-everything-goes households, that freedom is all yours. Just don’t complain to me when it ends up in the gutter.

Two easy fixes: Integrity and Family Values

This is one my sterner pieces. I acknowledge that. I’m putting the raw tone here so that maybe one of those marketing execs will receive it as actual customer feedback. These magazine publishers are putting out covers that are insulting and revolting to an increasing number of us. The solution is to courageously get some leadership to apply two easy fixes.

Demonstrate integrity

Practice actual journalism. Ask questions. Challenge Bush AND Obama. Go ahead and grab attention with a strong headline but at least try to be thorough.

Respect family values

Put out a cover that a normal family would not mind their ten-year-old seeing in the grocery checkout lane. Unfortunately, if you think it’s ok for your ten-year-old to see the latest Cosmo cover, then I can’t help you.

A huge market awaits

Here’s the big market tip: There are a bunch of educated people with money who don’t mind paying for good information. Look, we cancelled our subscription to the local paper but we pay much more for Investors Business Daily. It’s not the cost. It’s the quality. Respect us and we’ll support you. We promise.

I would like for us to develop a monthly editorial calendar for 2013. Each month we could submit one article to meet a general theme. In addition, we would still each write about whatever topics are interesting to us. KloodIn traffic is substantial enough now to incorporate ways to generate profits. I propose Saturday, February 9th at 2 pm at our house would be ideal. Please let me know if that works.

Video Tutorials are here!

Login to the KloodIn dashboard and visit the “Video Tutorials” tab on the left. We now have videos to every major feature and function! I LOVE WordPress!

Welcome Carey and Denise!

Welcome aboard to Carey Averill and Denise Beresford! It’s great having you here as KloodIn’s growth really accelerates. This is going to be an exciting year thanks to your great work.

Five great things we can do:

KloodIn jumped into the top 700,000 sites in the world! That is amazing news for a site this young. In addition to writing, there are five great things we can do to keep climbing to higher levels.

1. Tweet with the tag #KloodIn

We enjoy a steady flow of Twitter visitors each month simply by tweeting the posts of fellow KloodIn authors. You can do this even if you have zero followers. The way you reach out to the entire Twitter world is by using the #KloodIn hashtag. Twitter has come a long way and can continue to do alot for our site.

2. Update your profile and bio

Your profile page provides a link to your other website, a short biography, and now your picture. Great breaking news is that you can now upload your profile picture locally to KloodIn. You no longer need a Gravatar. I took the liberty of providing a profile picture for the Salon Mosaic account and for Carey.
Your profile page updates automatically with lists and summaries of your latest articles. Your fans can go right to your page from the sidebar and look at the rest of your stories.

3. Take pictures

A picture is always worth it!

Pictures attract, engage, and inspire an audience. Any pictures you take can be great on KloodIn. Your digital camera or high-res phone provides everything you need to visually connect. Pictures don’t have to be perfect. Just take random shots inside the house, or out and about. Save them to your computer and upload them to KloodIn. The “Set Featured Image” link on the right side of the post creation page sets the image that KloodIn uses on the home page slider.
[important]It’s best to avoid taking close ups of people; we would technically need a release form to post it on KloodIn.[/important]

4. Get the WordPress App!!!

WordPress has an app. Awesome. I have it on my iPhone and on my Kindle Fire. It works great. Download the free app, enter the site address and your login information, and you have full access to your dashboard. The app makes it very easy to upload pictures and video right from your device. When a great idea hits you, enter it on the spot. Save it as a draft or publish it immediately. Remember you can always update your posts on KloodIn.

5. Don’t worry about the SEO

Quality content reigns. The SEO fields, title tags, meta descriptions, and similar fields all help bring in more search engine traffic. Feel free to use them as you grow comfortable with those features. However if those blocks seem complicated then please ignore them. I can fill them out after you complete your post. Stay focused on your audience and provide the fun stories, helpful advice, and informing perspectives they enjoy.

Learning to use PushButtonSEO

I know I just said not to worry about the SEO, but that doesn’t mean I won’t try to teach it! This link is a 90 minute crash course in using the PushButtonSEO tool. One helpful feature you will discover is the way the “Content” tab provides links, images, video, and content from the internet to help with those inevitable writer’s block episodes!

Yes, I took out the social networking part

The social networking part of KloodIn was not working out. Technically it worked fine. Functionally, we simply received tons of spam accounts that were actually beginning to hurt the quality of the site.
On a brighter note, I love the Disqus discussion tool throughout the site. All of our visitors can use their existing social networking accounts to share their views right here! That practice is working very well and will give clues to future business possibilities.

2013 is a fantastic year already

It’s already fantastic because I already know each of you. Thanks!

Graph Search allows people who don’t know you to access and assemble all sorts of your Facebook content simply by paying a few dollars. This is different from Facebook advertising in that Facebook ads did not reveal which members matched the targeted demographics. Graph Search will allow a complete stranger to build full lists of people who meet their targeted information. For some amount of money, the stranger can also go through your entire Facebook timeline. Why go through the trouble of being a friend when you can just pay for all the information?

My main concern is that Facebook is increasingly demonstrating the need to do just about anything to generate a profit.

He could just use Graph Search!

One intrusive effect is that advertisers will first be able to find you based on your demographics and then study you based on your Facebook information.

One nasty effect is that con artists will be able to add events and details to their various schemes to rip off people.

One horrible effect is that evil psychopaths will be able to look for exactly who they want and then hunt them.

Folks, it’s time to pull the plug.

Facebook Ads Weren’t Selling

CBS MoneyWatch had an article on this. In their article, MoneyWatch spells out what many of us internet marketers suspected. Nobody could tell if the paid advertising was worth it.

Facebook holds onto their marketing data with a death grip (how ironic that they protect their own information). As a result, businesses simply cannot measure the value or return-on-investment for a Facebook advertising campaign. Large companies decided to move their money and efforts to other online systems that are easier to analyze and optimize. That’s why Facebook’s stock took a hit at IPO. That’s why it continues to drop.

I believe Facebook’s dropping revenues are encouraging increasingly desperate actions for them to leverage all that data. Fear and greed are never a good combination.

I can’t complain. Facebook was free

Facebook was free so I can’t really complain. I feel bad for them, actually. Facebook would have been much better off if they simply made their basic service free, but then charged you $1.00 per month to have more than 20 friends. They would have made a monstrous fortune without ever selling data to the highest bidders. Instead, Facebook remained completely free, the user entitlement culture became set, and Facebook’s leadership got to face their boardroom and investors.

Closing the account isn’t enough. Delete the data

This link takes you there. Once you close your account, do not attempt to log in for 14 days. After 14 days, Facebook states they will delete your account and the information. Do it now because there are no guarantees on what Facebook may or may not try next.

Don’t fool yourself into believing that you can find and adjust all of your privacy settings. You will miss something and someone else will exploit it.

Chalk up the Facebook experience for what it was and move on. Please don’t be a part of the privacy mess that will ultimately befall the Facebook world.

Today’s social networking culture makes it fun and easy for website visitors to share your pictures with their friends.  They’ll email, stumble, or pin them with instant speed to their closest friends.  That is great news for your website as long as your picture provides the information telling their friends where the photo originated.  You never know where your picture will wind up and why.  One person may share a picture of a home to highlight an architectural style, while the other may share it to showcase a favorite color.  Reasons will vary.  Watermarking is a small step you can make to let them know where to come for more.

This video shows how to watermark an image using WordPress.  We go behind the scenes on our RCents Development site to present the steps to make this happen with a popular plugin called Watermark RELOADED.

If Watermarking is so great, why doesn’t KloodIn use it?

The short answer is that we will selectively use watermarking on images we choose.  However, that does not mean you should or should not watermark your images.  It is an option for you to choose.  A fun part of the web is enjoying the freedom to define your own path and method.

Monetizing idea:  Use Watermarks to separate free vs paid content

If you have a wealth of photography and a sizable audience, consider placing watermarks on your public content and charging for non-watermarked content.  It’s easy to do, and can be a lucrative option to leverage your talents.

In the meantime, we love it when you pin our pictures to Pinterest.  Just make sure that the link goes to our site.  Thanks for being KloodIn!

Santa and My Better Half Surprised Us

Christmas morning, our children did not know what to make of the Kindle Fire boxes. They’ve played with “Mommy’s tablets” – an iPad and an Asus – when she lets them, but they never heard of these. They had no idea.
When my wife surprised me with one of my own, I suddenly found I had no idea, either.

Kindle Fire is Beautiful, Fast, and Simple

The Kindle Fire turned on right out of the box and was ready to go. I plugged in my Amazon account, entered my home wi-fi password, and suddenly zipped all over the place.

The first pleasant surprise was a one month free membership into Amazon Prime. Prime normally costs $79 per year, so I don’t know if I’ll stick with it. In the meantime, it does mean that for the next month I can stream practically any movie, television show, or book I want. Beyond that, I can get direct access to hordes of great free apps. If you haven’t enjoyed “Fruit Ninja”, then you can get addicted like I did for free!

Once I set our kids up with their own free Amazon accounts, they were also enjoying their own games and streaming movies. Kindle Fire is the huge Santa hit!

It helps!

This makes the Kindle Fire an excellent tool to keep KloodIn and other sites up to date. Blogging is easy with the Kindle Fire! Everything works great. On screen typing is fast, precise, and responsive. The Kindle Fire beats the iPhone and iPad by understanding the difference between helping and annoying. On my iPhone, if I type in a name, acronym, or funny phrase, the device assumes that I meant to follow Merriam Webster and thus changes what I type. Annoying. On the Kindle Fire, screen suggestions scroll above the typing area so I can choose to use the phrase they recommend or keep on going with my own style. The Kindle Fire also does a great job of placing recent applications and sites right onto the quick-access carousel so I can go right back to it. Intelligent assistance is exactly the way I like it.

I can get my iTunes stuff!

I’ve had iTunes ever since the second generation iPod. Thousands of songs later, I was nervous that I would not be able to access my files. Well the Kindle Fire makes that easy, too. Just plug it into a USB spot, open Windows Media player, and then sync music right from the iTunes directory. Again, this was fast and easy.

Plenty of storage

There’s plenty of room to store documents, videos, and files right on the Kindle Fire. The Amazon Cloud is available IF I want to use it, but there is plenty of storage space to use as a default. You may notice that I am not a fan of “the cloud”. I want my files on my storage devices shared across my own network. I don’t want to have to rely on access to the cloud when most areas around me can barely sustain 3G much less attempt to spell 4G.

Don’t forget a MiFi, your ultimate accessory

The Kindle Fire’s wifi is excellent. I strongly recommend that the only type of connectivity you need in a device is wifi. The accessory you need for using your wifi away from home is a mobile hotspot. We use Verizon’s MiFi. For about $50 per month, you get to generate your own internet wireless network wherever you go. It is a must if you do any traveling. They are reliable in the car. They keep you from wasting money on hotel internet fees. They are vastly more secure than using public and coffee-shop hotspots. When your business needs the internet, you need a MiFi. Enough on that, back to the Kindle Fire!

Bottom Line: You want a Kindle Fire

Santa and Beverley (my wife) knocked it out of the park with the Kindle Fire. Sleek powerful style meets brilliant design and function. It’s practical and productive for business, and cleverly entertaining for fun. Speaking of which, I have no clue how that guy broke 1,000 in Fruit Ninja. Seems I need to practice!
Hope Christmas was fun for you, too.

[important]p.s.  I can give you all the tech stuff.  Ask me about it in the comments section here, and I’ll be happy to go through the list and your questions![/important]