Yesterday was our beloved guy night.  I didn’t have anything planned other than taking him to TaeKwon Do and then to Borders bookstore afterwards.  Jarrod was his usual easy going self.  He’s busy noticing everything around us on our way  to the dojo.  “Dad why haven’t they built any more on CVS?”  “Daddy why does the ambulance have its siren on?”  Constantly taking in his surroundings and exploring them.    It always so much fun to be a part of that.

As we got closer to the studio, he got quieter and I could see him looking at me in the mirror and thinking.  “What’s up bud?”  “Nothing Daddy.”  We drove a little further and I could see him thinking.  “Do you remember what tonight is Jarrod?”  “TaeKwon Do night.” “and…” “I get my hardcover Jack and Annie tonight!!!”  screams with the excitement that only a 5 yr old can summon.  The look on his face was just absolutely priceless.  The excitement in those eyes coupled with the coyish biting of his lip.  I wish I could have gotten a picture of it.

After class we did go to Borders and get his book.  He took his time choosing it carefully.  Going through each one that he didn’t have, looking at the covers and searching for the desired “Big” 2 page pictures.  Asking about each story line and weighing it against the pictures that he really likes.  There can’t be “too” many pictures though.  Too many, as I found out by offering other book series to him, doesn’t make it a real “Chapter Book” and therefore isn’t a big boy book.

He chose his book and we made our way to the front of the store.  On our way to the register he turns to me and asks, “Daddy can I still get a square tonight?”  Part of our Borders ritual is to stop at the front display and we each get to pick a square of chocolate and exchange a piece with each other.  “Of course Bud.”  We make our purchases and head out to the parking lot.

It is gorgeous outside with sun just starting to set.  He asks if we can go to the end of the parking lot where it overlooks the Rt 9 traffic and down into Worcester.  He offers me a piece of his chocolate and say its ok it yours.  He shakes his head and offers it again.  Looks into my eyes, nods and hands me the chocolate.  I could feel and see that his offering was very important to him and an important part of the ritual.  I gladly took and we walked to the fence and watched the sun, traffic, and life happen around us.

Jarrod, that quiet special bonding we shared last night capped an otherwise good day and made it a great day.  It was very important and special to both of us. 

Thanks bud.

Down economies and mergers tend to make people crazy.  They panic and fret over what’s going to happen to them.  How are they going to find another job and pay their bills.  Its a hard reality, but it is only part of the situation.

The company a friend (George) works for was just sold.  His coworkers are upset about what’s going on.  He has taken a very different and commendable attitude.  He sees it as an opportunity.  The company has given them warning that things might change in the future.  It would be foolish to think that things won’t change. 

George feels this is his time to shine.  With others fretting, he’s updated his resume, started blogging, and learning some new techniques and skills.  His feeling is that either he will become a bigger asset to the company or he will already be more valuable as a job candidate. 

It is work, but George is already ahead of the curve with his attitude. 

Up here in New England we are used to changing weather, especially during the change of seasons. But in the past month we have had a couple of days of especially bizarre weather, where we experienced sun, rain, high winds, thunder, snow, everything in between.

Today we had clouds in the morning that turned to rain and then snow and now it is sunny outside.

What have we done to mess up our climate so bad?

The buzz about attention data has come up again and here with Google Reader announcing its trends feature. Should your data be your own or owned by the company that is providing the free service? It is a tough question. One that I have been on both sides of the coin and thought long and hard about. Its a free service and the price you pay might be your attention data and eventual ads targeted very specifically for you. On the other hand, it is my data and it is about me. I wouldn’t want my medical history shared. Why should my reading habits and interests be a whole lot different?

Who ever owns the data is not what I am getting at. If it is data about me why can’t I use it the way I want to? Nick and Google Reader team, et al. In my news reader you are collecting data about me and data about others, why can’t this data be culled to do recommendations? I shop Amazon, specifically for this reason. I love finding out new books and products that are geared towards me and my interests. Why can’t blogs and websites be the same way?

Google is a great web search tool, but this is “Web 2.0″. We are beyond simple searches. Social web sites are nice, but can be skewed and played. What I want is simple statistical recommendations not just search. What blogs and sites are like those that I have interest in? Based upon what I am reading now, what other topics might be of interest? What are others like myself looking at? These are the things that would be useful and more in line with the digital lifestyle.

The data is there and has been for a long time. Let’s do something with it that enhances the users experience. The marketers have had their shot with it and they missed the boat hard. It’s the users turn now.

Technorati Tags: Google Reader, Feed Demon, Attention Data, User Experience, Web 2.0

The week before Xmas is crazy two kids birthdays, cookie swaps, cards, and gift wrapping its all very mind boggling.

But take a look at techmeme today and see how the tech world got busy today.