So what deals are you looking for tomorrow on Black Friday? And how many people are actually going out to the store, versus just shopping online, especially with the large number of retailers promising similar prices?

And for the non-US readers out there: does anyone else have similar sales tomorrow, or is it completely restricted to the US? Just wondering how if anyone elsewhere was going to try to order something on sale from the Amazon US store for shipping elsewhere, for example.

Hey, where did the black friday boycott stuff go? Wasn’t there a move a while back to go all non-consumer instead in the past?

Which we’ve been reading to Roxanne slowly as a bedtime story. One of the first things she said when Amy was done reading the last chapter was: “Can we start again tomorrow?” I was so proud.

The Hobbit is definitely one of those books that sounds better read aloud rather than just read to yourself. We’ve skipped a few parts, and massaged the reading of the story to gloss over a few of the violent or scary scenes that Roxanne didn’t like (especially at bedtime). But The Hobbit is far closer to being appropriate for kids than the rest of The Lord Of The Rings is – the adventure is just great, and Roxanne really seems to like Bilbo now.

Wow – I just noticed that among many many other editions of Tolkien-related works, Amazon also has The Hobbit: A 3-D Pop-Up Adventure. Too bad it only features 5 scenes, the reviews seem to point out that they’re beautifully done.

Any suggestions on other classics we should try reading at bedtime next? I tried reading some Fairy chapter books last night, which Roxanne likes sometimes – but it was really hard going back to the overly simple structure that most kids books use in their writing. We’re ready for some stories that are approachable for kids, but written for adults (and preferably, stories Amy and I would like!)

It was startling to be driving in to work this morning and noticing the frost all around, and even ice on the puddles. Ah, winter, are you truly here already? At least it makes for a beautiful sunrise over the fields by Soldier’s Field Road (albeit brief as you drive by).

It’s also startling to realize just how early Thanksgiving seems to be coming this year: in just one short week Americans will be getting ready for the big treks to (or from) family. I think part of it was all the activity around ApacheCon – along with doing my usual conference planner work, I was also pretty busy with some ASF organization work. (OK, pretty busy is quite an understatement.)

In any case, I’m glad that at least one store (Macy’s, I think) is explicitly holding off on the rest of the “holiday season” until after Thanksgiving. Reminder: there’s only a few more days to get on the “THANKSGIVING FIRST” bandwagon to decry the many establishments who put up Christmas decorations far too early in the season. I remember seeing some tree decorations displayed next to the Halloween candy recently… and also made the mistake a few weeks ago of walking into the Cambridgeside Galleria, which is all done up in it’s Christmas finery. I love the winter holiday season too, but I have the sense when I’m celebrating it early to do it privately.

A moment of silence for those who have lost their lives or loved ones in wars.

Thanks indeed to all who have honorably served in our armed forces, now and in the past.

And a very special thanks to my grandfather, CPT (Ret.) Edmond H. Curcuru, USMA Jun’43, for his service in combat during WWII.

Kind of like: “you park on a driveway, but drive on a parkway”.

• Tazo tea bags – a very earthy crunchy brand – use tiny stapes to affix the paper tag to the bag, making it much more difficult to compost them. Most Twinings teas – another premium but very corporate brand – use nifty little string ties, meaning the whole bag & tie is compostable.
• The automatic sprinklers at a local business were on in the rain this morning. Not necessary; there was plenty of rain overnight.
• When I asked for slices of toast at a great local bakery/cafe this morning, the hostess mis-heard me and thought I wanted a whole loaf, sliced. Instead of complaining, I decided to make toast (they have a toaster for customer use). Yum, whole wheat sourdough.
• Arrow Street in Cambridge is one way, the wrong way (i.e., towards Bow Street – which it crosses, of course).
• Yesterday, while writing my blog post about Starbucks Via(tm), I was actually drinking tea. Tazo Awake, actually; I had to cut the tags with the staples off before tossing in the compost.

You know, “Time flies like an arrow; Fruit flies like a banana.”

Have you tried Starbucks Via (TM) yet? It’s interesting – certainly far better than the average coffee, but still unlikely to be confused with a good brewed coffee from Peets or Starbucks.

Via, in case you haven’t seen, is tiny tiny packages of finely ground coffee and instant coffee; just add hot water and stir. Voila, instant… instant coffee that’s better than Maxwell House. You do end up with a tiny bit of smutz in the bottom of your cup; it seems that besides the marketing schtick their real innovation is combining instant dried coffee powder with microground fresh beans.

The outer packaging is very pretty, although sadly over-large for what it needs to do. The individual pouches are tiny! Very cute little pencil-thin packets for each individual cup.

Note that the Cambridgeside Galleria is selling the Via boxes for $1 off today, so if you are interested it’s a good time to stock up.

FTC DISCLAIMER:

Today I was given two free packets of Starbucks Via (TM) Colombian when purchasing a box of Italian Roast (at a discount). The counter staff asked if I’d tried the Columbian, and offered me a couple of extras with my box. No other agreement was made; the packets were freely given, not requested, and there was no expectation express or implied of any value in return. I have never before sought not received free or discounted Starbucks Via (TM) products in the past. This post is solely my own idea, and is not compensated by Starbucks, it’s affiliates, marketing companies, stockholders, or any other entity. This blog post was also physically posted while using a free Starbucks AT&T wifi connection. No Starbucks staff were consulted about this post, nor did anyone suggest this post to me. A preview of this post was not supplied to Starbucks legal, marketing, or other teams, nor indeed to anyone at all. No Google AdWords nor other internet advertising services were used nor will be used to profit me, my family, my employer, nor any other organization I am affiliated with in conjunction with this post. Astute readers should note that this disclaimer is neither complete, nor terribly useful.

In fact, the main reason I wrote this post is to have an excuse to write a DISCLAIMER to address the new FTC guidelines on bloggers and compensation. Feh. Yes, people should be responsible about affilations, but hey – the devil’s in the details, and heavy handed government rules about technology are difficult to get right.

Anyway, I like Peets better.

Not now, but rather… in a few years: what will today’s young children think of the real-time web we’ve posted them to? When they’re old enough to think through what it means. When they’re a teenager going through the awkward years. When they’re getting out of college, looking for a job. When they’re out on a date.

How will their experience be different, when all the world can watch exactly how they grew up?

Little Ryan Soroush Scoble – only a few days old now – will have a chance to live that life. One inside of the real-time web, right from the very beginning after his C-section entry into the world. His father, @scobleizer has publicly Tweeted, FriendFeed’, Posterous’d, flicrk’d, blogged, and a wide variety of other online tool’d the whole process. And I can only imagine he’ll continue the quest for good technology behind the real-time web as Ryan gets to grow up.

When do you think Ryan will figure out what the internet is, and be excited about all this cool stuff about him that he can see live, right now? (I guess 3 years old.) When do you think Ryan will realize that maybe it’s not so cool, and he wishes his dad hadn’t posted that video of him doing (insert embarassing pre-teen moment here)? (My bet is before 10.)

In some ways I had a similar early childhood, with a father who was a technology geek and a photographer. I remember baby pictures (of course), birthday and holiday pictures, and pictures of me every year the first day of school (every year), and sometimes the second day of school, and sometimes my haircut… But those were all private pictures; ones shared only with close family, and now, mostly lost somewhere in the maze of the basement. Heck, even today, even with my high-tech life and open source contributions, there’s still only a handful of pictures of me easily findable on the net. And videos, or stories about me on the net? Only the ones I choose to post, now that I’m an adult.

How will the continuing information revolution change our lives with this brand new and very personal sharing that easy blogs, flickr, and Facebook have given us? It’s an interesting question for adults, far beyond the simple “Dude, did you really mean to post that kegger on FB?”, but one that’s been discussed plenty. What I wonder is, how will it affect our children – those who aren’t aware enough to decide their fates now – what they’ll think about it later, when they realize what their parents did.

• Wanted: MBP power brick/cable (with magnetic connector). With a new room upstairs, we need a power plug on each floor.
• BAM! A few days ago we went straight from awful “leave the AC on” summer right into amazingly beautiful fall weather. The change always surprises me, even if it does happen every year.
• I also forget how pleasant – or amusing, depending on the circumstance – it is watching all the new college kids and their parents tour around Boston and Cambridge each year. Important Safety Tip: do not drive your U-Haul on Storrow or Memorial Drives, no matter how much quicker it seems to be.
• Au Bon Pain coffee cup report: Cambridgeside Galleria, one large iced coffee, fairly full. 5 minute walk. No spills. Coffee: weak. Light cream: not very good.
• Fall plan: streaming Netflix et al on mid-sized screen. Specific suggestions for setting up low-key home theater? Should have convenience features and “just work”, but allow for occasional geeky upgrades. HDTV monitor should be small and low power. Have NAS and networking already. Is it worth springing a little extra for a PS3/360 to get games too, or just go for a newer BluRay with streamy stuff?
• Dear Amazon: yes, I was browsing HTDVs briefly. Please refrain from sending me DAILY emails about them now.
• Many thanks to the ASF infrastructure team for late nights and detective work on the recent hack attempt. Read more with official Apache blogs.
• Wish I had more hacking time – the visualizations of MBTA trips are cool. Kudos to the Mass EOT and MBTA for working on better feeds.
• R.I.P. Teddy, the Commonwealth misses you.
• Condolences to an ASF member who lost someone recently.