Jeff Cutler

That when you hire a contractor to remove some tree branches that overhang your roof, said contractor falls to his death in the process and his estate sues you for damages. Irony prevails because the entity who ends up paying the claim is the insurance company that requested the branches be removed in the first place. To add insult to their financial injury, the insurance company demanded the branches be removed or they would cancel the same homeowner's policy which in the end was used to pay the dead claimant's estate.

Karma.

That when you reach for a pot or a pan to cook some spaghetti - on just a random, nondescript evening - the hook on the pot rack catches your sleeve just enough that you lose your balance on the stepladder and tip softly into the island, suffering a little bump to your ribcage.

Believing all is right with the world and you escaped eternal pain, you shake at the pan rack to get your sleeve free, but that only serves to anger the cooking gods who suddenly release all the bolts holding the rack and 471lbs of pots and pans from the ceiling onto your visage.

As the Calphalon catastrophe takes place, you wonder about the craftsmanship of an $8 shirt you got at Kohls and how the button must have been attached with fishing wire. Before you lose consciousness and are crushed to death, you lament dressing for dinner in the first place and make an easily attainable vow never to do so again - easy because you've been removed from the menu of life.

That when you are traveling on business and trying to keep your bags to a minimum, you stuff everything into a tiny laptop bag...including toiletries, underwear and so forth. The trouble emerges when you forget to secure the laptop straps and because the bag is so heavy, it hangs low in one arm whilst you mount escalators and other in-building conveyances.

Then, when you're about to emerge from Amtrak or some escalator to heaven outside the Atlanta airport, the straps get sucked into the teeth of the stairs and pull your weary soul with them. Struggling to shake your arms loose, you fail and are suddenly just a pile of shredded human plasma thumping against the top step at the airport exit.

That when you finally relent to go see a movie with your betrothed, you visit a movie theater that has been frequented by transients and college students from Allston, MA. Therefore, the seats at the theater - except for the ones in the neck-craning front row - are all infested with bed bugs. While you might enjoy the film, these little buggers will enjoy you and will infest your body, clothes and home until you have to move to the moon to be rid of them.

That when you are watching the pool for some friends away on pleasure, you walk into the pump house to adjust the water settings and - like in the campfire stories we all dread - there's a dead body propped up in the corner of the wooden shed. Scrambling to get away, you allow your feet to become tangled in hose and you fall backward on the concrete. But no, you don't bang your head or even injure yourself and you smile wryly as you hop up and start to sprint away.

Then it happens, you miss a step and plunk your foot squarely into the filter hole which by this time is filled with eyeballs and other body parts because - as you notice - the pool is full of bodies and the one body you thought you were sure of, is now ambling out of the shed with a machete in its hand. As your end comes quickly and painfully - you are sure of two things: zombies are real; you aren't really a fan of swimming pool maintenance.

That while you make fun of others who are not fortunate enough - or forward-thinking enough - to get their own iPhone charger, you simultaneously step in a puddle, twist your ankle and stumble forward just enough to upset your entire balance. In one hand you have the aforementioned charger and in the other is your pristine iPhone (thanks to Otterbox and their great cases).

But as you stumble you plunk the charger down in the puddle and somehow twist and shout, jutting your tongue out enough so that it sticks in the dock connector on the iPhone. You then get a shock going up your left arm from the charger and down into your esophagus from the phone.

The resulting shock is enough to damage both your pride and your body. As you lie in the puddle getting a series of mini shocks from both devices, you think that you might stop making fun of the less gadget-fortunate in the world. And you wonder if the tongue shock might be just enough to cure your slight lisp.

That when you are napping on the couch on a lazy Saturday during the Tour de France, you spy a movement out of the corner of your eye. But you have left your eyeglasses on the table so you move physically near the movement - and it looks like a bug of some sort. To see the creature more clearly, you open your eyes wide and move in even closer - now a mere seven inches away.

Then suddenly, and horrifically, the bug - a slithering, spitting spider - shoots venom into your eyes, nose and mouth while you fall off the couch to your elbows. Since you spend so much time on the couch you have some girth. The weight on your elbows breaks them and you gasp from the pain, sucking the venom deep into your torso.

The poison courses through your veins, even while the cyclists pedal on oblivious to your trauma. And the last thing you see is a view of the beautiful French Pyrenees on Versus TV.

That when your cat comes home from a tough day at the office - errr field - she will bring with her a plump, yet dead mole. You won't notice this mole in the cat's mouth as she proudly trots into the house and deposits the dead creature in the middle of the floor.

Your efforts to save energy have resulted in keeping the house quite dark, so you don't see the mole at all during the day and it's only when you get up in the middle of the night to pee that your path takes you squarely over the mole. You barely brush it on the path to the bathroom, so nothing happens. But then...as you exit the bathroom and wend your way back to bed you stomp directly on the squishy rodent. You yelp loudly, lose your balance and tumble headlong into a poorly constructed IKEA bookcase (that's another worry), which then topples over and pins you - with your head next to the mole body - under scads of social media books and nametags from various conferences and Tweetups.

Finally, the cat hears you screaming and comes over to you and bites your face because she was trying to sleep.

While you ride your scooter or bicycle on the highways and byways of this great land, you'll notice good folks mowing their lawns and keeping their yards manicured and pristine. With these little two-stroke engines, people chop grass and sometimes fling detritus in the air. It is this detritus with which we are concerned.

You see, as you pedal along (or buzz by), rocks are fired at you with tremendous speed because the mower has neglected to realize that parallel mowing can impact passersby. You - a passerby - are subsequently struck by a sharp rock that slices cleanly through your elbow joint and arm, leaving you without any control over the handlbar of your vehicle.

Then, as you veer toward the municipal bus - speeding as usual toward you while the driver text messages her order for a lunch cake - you understand the fear early pilots had when walking around prop planes. And, just before the impact that takes your life, you think about your own lawn and how brown and dead it will get without you around to tend to it. To the very last, worried too much about what others might think of your outward appearance and too little about your inner beauty.

That the escalator on which you’re riding has a too-big gap between the plates forming its stairs. And the shoelaces on the shoes you chose to impress your audience (at the latest Inbound Marketing Summit session on how social media can actually cure sick kittens and make food appear in homeless shelters all over the globe) are destined to be sucked into the escalator causing not only a horrible grated human mess, but underscoring the fact that not even Zappos can deliver happiness if a contraption invented in 1891 hasn’t been refined enough to keep people from dying atop it.

Whilst napping peacefully on the couch, you hear a slight clank. A sound like metal on glass. Similar to the cats’ tag banging against the food dish - but different and more sinister. The sound continues at regular intervals, just frequently enough to bother you, yet not so often that you are compelled to get up and investigate.

After 11 tortuous minutes of this noise, your brain starts to fill in the unknown. You imagine a rat is hidden in amongst the clean dishes and will bite off your hand when you open the cabinet. Then you think it’s probably a snake that has come from the sewers of New York City - because that’s what they do. And finally, you think it’s a person who was buried in the walls of your house ten or more years ago. This person has finally snapped out of their suspended animation and is knocking on the wall with their hook hand in a quest to get out and find the evil people who imprisoned them.

Alas, the movie producers and dark-novel writers like Steven King have triumphed again as you get up and find out the sound is just something bubbling quietly - mostly - in the crock pot on the counter.

That when the bug in the shower gets washed away with your shampoo and other suds, it emits a scream that only other bugs can hear as it enters the drain and then a sewer’s worth of bugs from all the pipes in all the homes and drains all over town start crawling back up toward your shower.

And, as you rinse the vestiges of soap from your body and squeeze the water from your golden locks, an entire battalion of creepy, crawly, icky, slimy and disgusting bugs emerge from the drain and immediately block your exit from the shower. You know in an instant that your moments are numbered as the millions of tiny feet grip your clean, glistening skin and crawl up your body to enter your soon-to-be corpse through your screaming mouth.

That while you're getting your first manicure - a treat for your birthday or even Valentine's Day - you relax a little and let down your guard. Next thing you know, your hands that were so comfy and resting in a hot-wax bath are now zip-tied together and you're being ushered into a nondescript van. Also, a hood has been placed over your head.

When you finally come to a stop, you hear seagulls and waves. You're unceremoniously pushed into a metal box that you can identify as a shipping container once you pull off your hood (hands still restrained by zipties) and you bang on the wall to no avail.

When you finally land in Marseille, France, you are taken to a farmhouse in Provence where you're put to work picking grapes for Angelina and Brad Pitt. You don't die, but you are extremely miserable and don't have any hope of inheriting their fortune because unlike the other children they've purchased, your purpose was to work on their farm and not look cute during photo shoots.

That while watching the myriad birds dine on the feeder outside - filled by your wife or partner and not you, you lazy so and so - you stroke the cat on your lap (not a euphemism) and wonder at the birds' grace and skill. You neglect to watch the lap cat who has now started to get excited about the flying meals on the other side of the window and has poised itself to pounce.

Then, without warning (that you paid attention to) the claws come out and rip into your spleen and liver while the feline soars, ironically birdlike, across the room toward the window. You feel little pain as you bleed out on your new couch, but you do grin a little in the knowledge that the stupid cat sliced itself to ribbons crashing through the window. And you wonder if you and the cat will soon be reunited in some ethereal place on a comfortable couch with a laptop and a window with a birdfeeder on the other side.

That when you grab the power adapter that keeps your Macbook juiced up, you feel a slight tingle that then turns into a blazing, shocking pain and renders you incapable of movement—shaking your body in what can only be described as a full-torso twitch and causing you to pee yourself.

As you shudder and fall to the floor you realize that one of the cats must have chewed the cable in a cry for attention, but only wasted one of their lives doing so. Ironically, they've pretty much extinguished yours in the same move. You last vision as your lids close on your soon-to-be corpse is of the two cats sitting by the door waiting to be let out. Your last laugh is that they'll have to feed on your body as nobody is left to look after them. Ha. Ha.

That while at a content strategy meeting at the Microsoft NERD center, you find that your car was towed from the front of the building. Then, when you find out where to go to get your car you realize that the weather has turned cold and that all your coats are in your car. You also realize that the tow company in the next town is closed and the taxis are all ignoring you and you might have to sleep on the street.

The last straw is the guy who comes up to you while you sob on the sidewalk and steals your laptop, your tweetup badge and your cell phone so you end up dying on the street in the cold and raw weather. Carless and sad and disheveled.

That when you yank your towel off the back of the bathroom door, the peg it sits upon comes with it and plummets to the floor at light speed. The trajectory is such that it doesn't nestle in the soft mat, but instead wails upon the top of your big toe, cracking the nail and immediately causing stars of pain and vocal spurts of horror.

But the worst part isn't immediate. It's when, years later - after having had that nail surgically removed never to grow back - when you're hiking in the Virginia woods and you hear a rattlesnake. Extensive training has allowed you to possess the reflexes of that same snake that's about to strike. So you snap alert and cunningly avoid the venomous creature's first stab at you.

Unfortunately, your prior injury slows you down just a tiny bit and the next strike from the snake hits its mark, sinking fangs into your flesh and sending poison coursing through your veins. To add insult to injury - literally - the rattler bit went right through where your big toenail once resided. And had it been in place, the fangs would have likely glanced off harmlessly. This occurs to you as you slip into a coma and die, the result of a loose towel peg on the back of a bathroom door.

That when reporting for #ioilspill you bend near the water trying to locate a tarball and suddenly are attacked simultaneously from three directions...from the water's surface by an alligator, from the shallows by a shark who's angry that it's currently #sharkweek on Discovery Channel, and from behind by a local rattler who is peeved that you've left footprints on his sugar-sand beach.

Needless to say, your last thoughts are about the gator, shark, rattler Po'boy you're going to order in heaven.

That even after speaking with the town wildlife management office about the minimal likelihood that a hungry mother fox will eat your cats, you collect one of your cats from under a bush in the neighbor's yard and while walking to the back deck you feel a sharp pain in your kidney area and turn to find that same fox latched onto your lower back with its sharp fangs. Subsequently, the cat freaks out and scratches half your face off and jumps to the porch while the fox rips a good-size portion of your flesh from your torso and scampers away. Leaving you to bleed and writhe on the lawn, cursing the local government and the entire populace of rabid foxes.

That while playing catcher in a baseball game, you are positioned behind the plate in an appropriate place to catch the ball, but the pitcher and the coach keep asking you to move forward so that sinkers and other breaking balls don't bounce in the dirt in front of you.

You comply after much berating and instantly feel the error of you decision as the batter swings wildly at the next pitch - but because you had inched forward, your head is actually on the same plane as the batter's bat and your eyeballs and a pile of snot are expelled from your skull with the force of the blow. And you collapse in a heap...your last thought, "I knew chess club was a safer choice."

That when the fine weather appears and you go to the roof deck of your apartment with a mint Julep to stroll among the patio furniture, you realize that your glee at the moderate temps was premature and in addition to being slammed brutally by blowing umbrellas and wrought-iron chairs, you notice the nesting badgers in the corner that are skulking ever closer to your tasty flesh. And when you turn to flee, your sundress or other previously appropriate garb catches on the edge of the roof and flings you like so much detritus to the deck two flights below. Just far enough to break a number of bones, but not far enough to deter the badgers from pouncing on your unprotected visage, claws first. Ouchie.

That the new bottle of shampoo in the shower is of the coconut variety that makes you dream of hula skirts and tropical beaches, but to your dismay - and much too late to do anything about it - you find out that the shampoo is really conditioner. And while slathering this substance all over your body you remember from early physics classes something about a coefficient of friction and stiffen as you feel your feet starting to slide across the floor of the shower.

Your reaction is anathema to what you should have done (curl up in a ball and wait for the water to rinse away the dastardly slickness) and stiff body and all you start to career around the shower stall like PopRocks in a glass of Coke. And speaking of glass, that's exactly where you find your unfortunate escape - through the glass door of the shower, sliced to ribbons and bleeding out on the cushy mat that ironically does a fantastic job of soaking up your O Positive and the conditioner that led to your demise.

That while you ride your environmentally sound motor scooter around town the old folks and tree huggers in their modern semi-electric vehicles are chatting on their phone while sliding silently down the road. And, while you are minding your own business, these Prius-heads are so inured to the world around them - believing they are in a meadow or something - that they fail to hear you puttering along beside them. In fact, they are so against creating any noise pollution that they fail to even use their directional when they take over your lane, nearly crushing you to a pulp and causing you to worry that they might not even hear your cries for mercy as you become paste against the curb.

**Thankfully, the 130 decibel horn you had installed on your scooter jolted them back awake...BUT only after pressing it for five full continuous seconds.**

That when a friend invites you to their office because they have a gift for you, and then they let it slip that the gift is a turtleneck, that when you arrive and put out your hands you feel a slimy tube of flesh that actually came off a formerly live turtle.

And as you yelp audibly and jump backward, you catch the heel of your shoe on the rug at their office and stumble into the hall, falling backward into the Poland Spring water dispenser causing the bottle to become unstable and subsequently drop onto your head.

Well, yes, you're knocked out. But when you come to the horror isn't over because during your collapse, the rubbery, slimy, icky turtleneck squirted into the air and came to rest in your mouth. And as you awake you feel the calimari-esque texture in your mouth as you scream for help and nothing comes out.

Has this blog run its useful course? Should I retire it and just follow along with the calendars of the other folks in the city?

It's been a lot of work to keep the events up to date and I'm not certain that everyone sees the value. Please leave a comment in the comments (duh) and I'll go with majority vote.

If there are no votes, I'll take that as a sign.

Thanks!

Jeff

Just finished doing an October update to the tech and social events calendar (just click on the link in the header). But if you know of events that should be here, gimme a shout.

Stuff like Blogtoberfest (put together annually by Jenny), or any of the other cool fall events.

Enjoy!

Just got back from another session of Boston Media Makers at Doyle's Pub in Jamaica Plain and I'm encouraged by the intelligence of the social media crowd in and around Boston. When people say we're one of the hubs of technology and SocMed engagement, I am thrilled to just smile and nod.

Today at the meetup (or is it a Tweetup?), I saw a 360° camera, heard about some folks building their own Hackintosh (it's a Mac you make with spare parts from other computers and often from PCs or Windoze machines), saw some sneakers that don't crease when you wear them - maybe the other Jeffrey Cutler should blog about them on his All White Kicks blog), and enjoyed a great book swap.

If you'd like to attend a #bmm event, just show up at Doyle's on the first Sunday of any month. Starts around 10AM and goes until noon.

More details available at Boston Media Makers.

For more events in the area, see the Calendar at the bottom of this blog.

From food to tech to singles' events, the calendar has been updated with hundreds of things to do from now through Labor Day and beyond.

Take a look. And if your event isn't here, then give me a shout and I'll add it. Best way to do that is to list it on Eventbrite and I can just link right to your listing. **Make sure it has a date on it - multiple date events cannot be easily imported to any calendar.

Thanks!

I just appeared on Everything Internet Radio and had a great time discussion strategy, marketing, content creation and more. If you're looking for smart people to follow and a cool show to put into your headphones, these guys are fun and valuable.

Their shows are also archived as a podcast. Find out more at their site - linked above.

What are you doing lately and where have you appeared?

Let me ask you this... Where do you get your social media event info? If it's not here, or if you use a collection of calendars to get your info, would you prefer to have one point of contact?

Well, I'm not sure that's going to happen. Even I need to go to other calendars regularly to find out what's going on in Boston. From Tweetups to networking to business events, I scour the Internet and even the calendars other folks keep so that I can be sure not to miss an event.

I regularly find listings on Boston Tweetup, from Kristen Haley and from the MiTX events board. I even look at Meetup, Upcoming, Eventbrite and Mashable to see what's on tap for the next few weeks.

Ultimately, the real responsibility for remaining informed about events falls on you. Check back here regularly to see what things I've listed. But then poke around the Web to see what else is happening in town. I might not list a lot of vegetable rallies because I think veggies are the Devil's Legos. You might love them.

And while I might overlook an event from time to time, I urge you to call me out on Twitter or here in the comments so I can make the calendar accurate and comprehensive. I think everyone who keeps a calendar in Boston feels that way - we're one big happy family.

So, I welcome your comments and updates.

Thanks!

This review post was written by Christopher Rauschnot and originally posted to Samsung Galaxy Tab Mobile Tablet Computer Review. You can follow him on Twitter @24k & @24kMedia and please like the 24kMedia Facebook Page



Sets of tablets were announced in late 2010 that were going to be shown off at the upcoming International Consumers Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Seeing as how I was going to be speaking at the CES 2011 convention, it would be a perfect time to visit the different manufacturer booths to learn more about the Motorola Xoom, Research In Motion’s Blackberry Playbook and the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Also excellent was that I was going to be visiting one of the most concentrated groups of consumer electronics enthusiasts, buyers and manufacturing people in the world, to discuss the pros and cons of the devices. So Samsung and I thought it would be a great time to test out a Galaxy Tab 7" with Verizon 3G service.




The Galaxy Tab 7” with Verizon 3G service was picked over other service options. This was done so that I could see how Verizon was going to stand up to the crushing amount of people coming to Las Vegas and CES trade show in January. I own an original iPad with WiFi, which I use a Verizon MiFi to access the Internet. I put the iPad away during the entire amount of testing, to see how Google’s Android 2.2 (Froyo) plus Samsung TouchWiz (User Interface) could keep up. Activation was quick as it took less than four minutes, from verifying of the 3G data service, to the sync of my Google account. I noticed instantly was how much smaller, lighter and more convenient a 7” tablet was over the iPad to carry around daily. The two cameras on the Tab was a nice addition over any iPad model that was available at the time.



After activation and synching was done, I went through the software settings panels to see what was different with this model of Android 2.2, that I was familiar with from my usage of many other Android devices, including T-Mobile’s MyTouch 3G. An exciting option I found while spelunking through the settings was 3G to WiFi sharing.



This was great because now I could test computers, cell phones and cameras. One of my first tests with the 3G to WiFi sharing was in a sub level of the Flamingo hotel in Las Vegas during a social media event. The Tab had acquired half signal in what was essentially a concrete basement, good for any device. The sharing option was easy to turn on with a few taps. The WiFi service icon in the title bar at the top showed that the Tab had changed modes. I shared the service with an iPhone 4, iPhone 3G and a MacBook Pro running 10.6. All devices worked via the sharing service, in a room with about five other WiFi routers or devices blasting out signal. Three of us used the sharing service via the Tab at varying times and were Tweeting with different apps and the official Twitter website with an auto updating at reply window. Tweets were being sent and received smoothly for an hour. I tested the sharing service on an iPhone 4 and Blackberry Bold throughout my many visits to the packed CES exposition show floor. To give you an idea of how well it worked, there were at any given time about 30k plus people at CES running around with cell phones with WiFi turned on blasting signal everywhere. Turning off the sharing service was easier than turning it on, which was done by swiping one finger down from the title bar and deselecting WiFi sharing mode.



Over the next few weeks after testing the Tab at CES and various events around Las Vegas, the Verizon service worked in many places that my iPhone 4 from AT&T or my T-Mobile phone didn’t acquire signal. Testing was performed with the two embedded cameras. The camera on the back had the best resolution with a noticeably bright LED flash. The flash provided enough light when the subject was close, however the quality dropped off after a few feet in low light conditions. Typically on tablets or cell phones these days, the cameras that face the front are several megapixels less in resolution. There are a lot of reviews out there that will talk about how many megapixels are in each camera but in this review, I wanted to talk about how the pictures looked from different lighting conditions. I have included a few pictures from the device on how they performed.

Aesthetically, the Samsung Tab 7” was pleasing with a slick black back for the Verizon model and a white colored back comes on the Sprint version. I used the device to view YouTube videos, download apps via the Android Marketplace, read news via several different apps and Tweet with the official Twitter or Seesmic apps. One feature that is worth its virtual weight in gold is the included Swype text interface. It is a big fast forward in how people enter text into mobile devices. I’ve used Swype on cell phones before, but this was the first time on a tablet computer. Once you are used to working with Swype, going back to hunting and pecking text into mobile devices seems so 2000 and late.



People reading this review want to know how the Tab compares to the Apple iPad 2 and Motorola Xoom. I’m leaving out RIM’s Blackberry Playbook as I was not able to be hands on testing with the device. The iPad 2, which I have used for a few hours, is almost a completely different kind of tablet computer from the single core processor Tab, running at 1GHz, which is enough to run apps and games like Angry Birds. I downloaded the full version of Angry Birds on the Tab and I was able to finish all levels before the testing period ended. Anyone who has played Angry Birds knows that is a lot of time spent holding any device. I enjoyed holding the Tab over holding the iPad, iPad 2 and Motorola Xoom for lengthy periods of time. The Xoom, iPad and iPad 2 feel weightier than the Tab. To everyone I showed the Samsung Galaxy Tab to, including social media professionals, publicists and people who didn’t own a smartphone, they liked it. All of them were able to use a few apps within about a minute from turning it on. Most of them saw Angry Birds and were playing it with ease. People like technology because it’s cool and sometimes they include games to catch their attention long enough to learn how to use its other functions. At its current price point the Tab has a bigger potential market for those who are considering buying a tablet or smartphone and for those who want a bigger screen.



The pricing for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7” 16GB with 2GB of internal memory is currently being sold at Verizon for $199.99 with a 2 year activation, Motorola Xoom for $599.99 with a 2 year activation and iPad 2 16GB is $629.99 with month to month service. A WiFi only version of the Tab is on it's way to market with some electronics outlets taking preorders for around $350. If you’re in the market or want to dip your toes in this new wave of consumer electronics, the least expensive and a fun option is the Samsung Galaxy Tab.



Peep the following for the technical bits about the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Starting with the cameras, it has a 3MP rear-facing camera, auto-focus, flash and a 1.3MP front-facing camera. For video is has a 3MP rear-facing camcorder with DivX HD video playback. To use the web it has a HTML Browser with Adobe Flash 10.1, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n flavors, Google Services including Gmail, Google Talk, YouTube, Google Calendar, Google Search, Google Maps with a fun 3D like tilt shift option to see depth when viewing satellite imagery and thousands of apps available on the Android Market. It has a bilingual user interface featuring English and Espanol. It is compatible with DLNA or Digital Living Network Alliance via AllShare. Widgets including the AccuWeather Clock, Daily Briefing, News and Weather are included. It includes all of the standard level communications tools like alarm clock, world clock, calendar and memo. It is compatible with text, picture and video messaging with threaded messaging, consumer and corporate email. For Bluetooth it is compatible with the following profiles; Object Push for vCard & vCalendar, SPP, BPP, A2DP, AVRCP, GAVDP, AVDTP, and AVCTP. It has a 7” touch screen with a 1024x600 WSVGA TFT LCD Display supporting up to 16M colors with a 6-Axis Motion Sensor and Accelerometer. Keyboards available are the virtual QWERTY with Swype and Samsung keypad options. The official battery usage time is up to 780 minutes or up to 500 hours of standby time. I noticed that using the WiFi sharing via a 3G connection, the battery lasted about three hours. Finally, the Samsung Galaxy Tab has a Cortex A8 Hummingbird processor running at 1GHz with 2GB of internal memory and 16GB microSD card that is pre-installed. It can be expanded up to a 32GB microSD.



Thanks goes to Samsung for sending me this device to test and I hope to bring my readers more reviews of technology in the future. All is in an effort to help you decide on what to buy, with all of the technology available.

People liked the fact that my calendar had items on it that others neglected to cover, so I'll keep it quasi up to date.

Thanks and have a great start to 2011.

I was poking around some of my other blogs today - the day after Christmas - and noticed that this blog had a 'last post' date of 12/25. Well, that wasn't true. I hadn't actually put a post up here since 12/5 and thought it must be a mistake.

It sort-of was. You see, the blog counts itself as being published - as near as I can figure - any time there is a something new in it. And because there's a calendar embedded in the blog it sees all new entries as new posts.

Oddly, I haven't updated the calendar since the NogUp because many folks plan their own things around the holidays and I haven't taken the time to update stuff here. But to that end, I'm thinking about a new tack.

Going forward, I might do a few different things and want your opinions.

Should I...

Keep the calendar going as I had it - and update it weekly with new events?
Eliminate the calendar and just do posts on upcoming events and recaps of past events?
Embed calendars from other people - or provide just a link to their calendars?
Or something different?

Would love your input. Please leave a comment or send me a note on Twitter.

Thanks and happy holidays!

What did you do today? It's often the question posed by people at home when you finish the workday. Or it's what people say to you at the bar when you're done at the office.

Well, today was a fun little jaunt into networking for me. I attended Boston Media Makers where I saw dozens of friends and colleagues including Steve Garfield, Joselin Mane, Adam Zand, Melinda Green, Reiko and Tom Beach, Lane Sutton and more.

The talk of the day was solving issues with DSLR (step up Adam Weiss), putting on the best events (like the MegaTweetup on Dec. 16 at NERD), and a lot of cool gadgets and gear (like the jacket worn by Phil Campbell with about a gazillion pockets and features).

In all, a great session at Doyle's. I'm looking forward to the next meeting --- on New Year's Day, so mark your calendar.

So, what did you do today? Or this week?

So, I was poking around the Interwebs and was directed to the movie here by Ari Herzog. It's a Channukah song. I welcome you to share interesting seasonal and event-relevant content here as well. Just leave a comment and we'll make it happen.

Thanks!

Check the calendar now. It's got a ton of great stuff on the horizon.

From the second installment of the wildly successful and all-for-charity MegaTweetup at the NERD Center in Cambridge, to our third installment of the NogUp (this year in Southie at Atlantic Beer Garden) to a little bar-hopping extravaganza called the 12 Bars of Christmas.

Hope to catch up with you this holiday season!

Jeff

Trying to keep the calendar up to date in this crazed holiday season. If you've got an event coming up, give me a shout.

Also...NogUp2010 is coming. Mark YOUR calendar for December 14, Tuesday, from 6:30 to 9 at Atlantic Beer Garden in Southie.

There will be an eventbrite page put up soon. Link will be shared on the calendar and here.

To attend, you MUST be signed up. We only have room for 100.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Amazingly there are more things on the calendar than ever before and I wanted to share that with the entire readership. So go take a look.

And if you have an event you want listed or would like to share info about an event, just drop us a line. Contact info is in the sidebar or just leave a comment.

Thanks!

PodCamp CT will be held in New Haven CT on October 16, but the organizers need your help getting it off the ground. If you commit to submitting your admission fee via PayPal by Sept 30, you'll save $5 off the regular $25 price. Make your commitment now to make the inaugural PodCamp CT fantastic! Here's the Pre-Registration Discount link! Expected attendence is 150-300 people... your chance to network with the fine folks of CT, including Joe Cascio, Aldon Hynes, Paul Monaco, Suzi Craig, Tim Tracey, Sonya Mills, Matt Crouch, Andre Yap, and many more! Details for the camp are here.

Just put some wrap-up info on my social media blog about my recent trip (some say iRoadTrip) to the Gulf of Mexico. If you want to read the more technical and environmentally scientific portion of my journey, go see it at EDR's site.

But now that I'm back, I'm ready to share some great events in Boston that I'd like to attend and also get your thoughts on some of the best tweetups and social gatherings around town.

Please share in the comments or sign up to be a contributor.

I'll have the WithJeff calendar up to date later tonight.

Watching events occur at home when I'm not physically able to attend is a bummer. I've kept the WithJeff calendar up to date, but as I remain onsite with the #ioilspill Project in New Orleans, I'm already looking ahead to upcoming gigs in Boston.

For example, the NomX3 crew is presenting at Mass Inno on August 11. And the 140 Conference is coming to Boston in September. There are now scooter meters in the streets of our fair city (and I'd like to do a video feature on that). And Boston Media Makers is going on tomorrow without me AND without Steve Garfield.

So, while I'm away and reporting in the heat of the Gulf, please add your special events right here so the folks at home can attend.

Chat soon!

This week was madness. In addition to getting a NomX3 taped - or did we do two - I've been blogging the 2010 Tour de France and preparing for another Content Road Trip.

This time I'm not going with the iRoadTrip guys, but going on my own to create a ton of content in the Gulf of Mexico. I'm covering oil spill ramifications throughout the region and nationally.

As I prepare for that trip, I'm also thinking about upcoming events in Boston. The 140 Conference is coming as are regional Tweetups. In fact, we just had our inaugural South Shore Tweetup this week. More will be happening soon.

Got an event you want featured, recapped or just listed on the calendar? Leave that info in the comments here or find me on Twitter and let me know.

See you out there!

If you live in the Boston, MA area of the world, pure bliss has returned! On July 14 and 22, Redbones BBQ in Somerville, MA (at 55 Chester Street), will again be doing their TDF breakfasts.

These are sessions where you ride your bike (they have a bike valet at Redbones) to the restaurant and get to watch the Tour de France on TV with other like-minded fans and cyclists.

It's fun, energizing and tasty. I'll be at one or both of these fun events. Hope to see you there.

If you ride a scooter or motorcycle in the city of Boston, as of today there are SUPPOSED to be meters around the Back Bay for you to park at.

According to folks I talked to last night at the Boston Scoots ride, these meters were supposed to be in by today but are not in and there's no official word from the BTD as to when they will appear.

Word is that these meters - at spots at the end of blocks with room for four or five two-wheeled motorized vehicles - will cost only $.25 per hour with no limit (or a 10-hour limit).

It's good stuff, or will be when it happens, and I'll keep you updated on this issue.

Thoughts?

This blog hosted here on Blogger has worked well for a while, but I've moved the Boston Food Fan site to BOSTON FOOD FAN dot com so that it's a cleaner and clearer destination for Boston foodies.

Please adjust your bookmarks.

Thanks!

Jeff

It is Restaurant Week Boston this week, so I'll be dining at Morton's in the Seaport; All-Star Sandwich Bar in Inman Square, Restaurant Fiore in the North End and Brasserie Jo at the Colonnade Hotel.

Expect to see some posts here and then some over at WWJCE.

Oh, on deck is a plan for me to incorporate that blog into Boston Food Fan so you get all the tasty goodness in one spot.

Let me know where you'd like me to eat, if you'd like to join me for a meal, and what you'd like to see on this blog.

Then go to this link and you'll find the schedules and more information on the food trucks in our fair city. Nothing like food off a truck, I always say.

You can search by the truck, the day, the time and location.

Enjoy!

Diane Darling is charming and upfront about her skillset and her mantras. She wants to see people succeed and has a vision in how that can happen. For even experienced networking and social media professionals, Darling's tips and insight can be valuable.

For instance, in her most recent book...

DISCLAIMER, I CONTRIBUTED A SECTION TO THIS BOOK



...Diane gets down and dirty in how professionals at all levels leverage their skills and outgoing nature to make connections and ultimately make themselves more successful financially and emotionally.

Give it a read...even if you buy it just to see my section...it's a nice primer for those who are a bit skeptical that traditional networking still can get the job done. I believe a mix of traditional and new media is the right route, but I'm a tech-head early adopter, what do I know?

ALSO, there's an event coming up on May 18 where you can meet Diane in person and get your book signed. I expect that I'll be there too and will sign anything you bring in - doesn't have to be a book.

Here's the info on that May 18 event.

Got a product you want reviewed? Share it here or ping me, perhaps I'll allow you a guest post. NO OVERT PIMPING!

Thanks!

Biggest news today - as the Tour entered its sixth day - was the rumor that some cyclists had agreed to take a six-month suspension in exchange for their testimony against Lance Armstrong. One version of the story listed four ex-teammates of Armstrong, but as of this evening nothing has been confirmed. Here's a link to one of the latest stories.

That's said, the 2012 Tour de France continues.

In today's action there was a crazy crash near the finish that swept up Peter Sagan and others and made the expected sprint finish even more exciting. In the end, it was André Greipel of Lotto who took the stage win. The crash kept the rest of the peloton together and there was no real change overall...except in how close the Green Jersey race is getting.

Mark Cavendish finished fourth in the stage - a little surprise - maybe because of his injured hand and maybe because of the way the road climbed slightly at the end. Anyway, it was the first time Greipel had handed Cavendish a loss, which makes it significant and might also keep Cavendish away from the stage-win record he's chasing. That's 34 by Eddy Merckx in his stellar career.

Tomorrow is Stage 6, a 207KM ride from Epernay to Metz that drops about 20 meters in elevation over the final four KM. This spells SPRINT to me...unless there's finally a break that gets away from the pack and stays away.

Comments, guest posts, questions - all welcome. Chat again soon!

Just wanted to share with you a quick comment on social media tools, journalism and spoilers. From this point forward - as the 2012 Tour de France begins - I'm leaving it up to the audience to accept responsibility.

Responsibility for knowing or keeping themselves insulated from Tour results.

Responsibility for either sharing or keeping the results of the Tour secret from others.

And responsibility for enjoying the Tour de France in their own special way.

For eight years, I've written about and shared Tour de France results and other information. During this period, I've taken it upon myself to keep results secret until a sufficient time had passed (at least hours and sometimes a full day) so I didn't create a 'spoiler' moment for readers.

That's out the window. Social tools make it far too easy for anyone who wants to be connected to find out what's going on. Nobody online obeys the unwritten rule of 'no spoilers' and I'm not going to swim against that tide.

If you don't want to know what happened until you get home and watch it NBC Sports or the DVR feed of Eurosport, then unplug. It will be a good test for you.

So, let's get this party started. I'm typing this as I watch my taped version of the Prologue. I don't know the results, but will know soon enough. By the way, if you watch the Twitter feed on this very blog, it probably is rife with results info already.

I hope you can enjoy the Tour as much as I do - even knowing that results might not be hidden from your eyes at all times.

And so it begins again. This year with a first stage in Liege, the Tour de France will travel clockwise from Belgium into France and then around the country. Stage 17 is where the race will be won (or cemented) with a 143.5KM ride finishing at the Hautes-Pyrenees ski station on the Plateau de Peyragudes.

My prediction(s) for this year's race? It's up in the air. Last year shuffled like a deck of cards and I haven't honestly watched enough of the early-season classics to see who's in form for this year's battle. But I will take a flyer.

I see the podium this way - 1st to 3rd - with Andy Schleck, Bradley Wiggins and Cadel Evans standing proud.

How do you think it will end up?

[EDIT - 5:41PM June 29]

Just got a tweet that Andy Schleck has a broken pelvis. Stupidly, I missed that news because I've been doing my other writing and am not fully ramped up for tomorrow. BUT, in light of that, I put Sammy Sanchez on the podium with Bradley winning and Cadel in second.

YIKES!

Within the last month or so, we in the cycling world have witnessed two things...

Alberto Contador was finally taken to task for his doping in the 2010 Tour de France and has been suspended for two years retroactively. He'll be able to compete this summer if he doesn't delay things with even more legal machinations.

Lance Armstrong was let loose by the US Department of Justice and it seems that all American investigations into any doping allegations will cease.

My take on these two things...GREAT. Let's stop running witch hunts and goose chases when there's little to no evidence. Let's also act swiftly and decisively in the future. It's not like we don't have the technology to find out if people are taking drugs in sports. It's not as if protracted investigations help anyone.

Instead of taking more than a year to find someone guilty and more than a few years to exonerate (or at least declare no findings), let's get this stuff done fast. So much for the poor shmoe (Andy Schleck) who will now go down as the winner of the 2010 Tour de France. So much for the fans who are tired of this circus and just want to watch some cycling. And so much for the sponsors who make much of the sport possible.

I want us to start looking ahead to the 2012 racing season with a clean slate. No Contador this season in the big races. Lance is off preventing cancer and raising awareness. Let's get back on track and focus on the riders and teams who are still gearing up.

For one, I'm excited about this year's Tour. I can't wait to watch Paris Roubaix. And I'm hoping to see some cool action in the Olympics in London.

What have recent events done to whet or quell your appetite for our favorite sport?

Life isn't fair. We all know that, but it sometimes gets really annoying when it surfaces and stares us right in the face. After a Tour de France during which he seemed human - mostly - Alberto Contador is still on the legal block about his last Tour de France victory. You see, the powers that be found traces of drugs in Contador's tests from the 2010 TDF win. So they raised a fuss and took action.

But - going back to my original point - he's glitterati, the chosen one post-Lance. So his positive test was under appeal even as Contador raced this July in the Tour de France 2011.

Would that have been afforded a regular rider? Not hardly. If a regular guy - one of the other 197 riders - would have had to sit out the two years and missed out on a chance to help his sponsors with exposure and possibly podium at other races along the way.

Now, the Contador situation has been pushed back again and we won't hear the verdict on Contador's appeal until the fall. They say November. It will happen after the 2012 Tour de France route is chosen and well after all the other races of the season take place.

Not fair. Not fair. Not fair.

What say you? And in your comments let me know if you like Contador or not.

At the outset of the 2011 Tour de France, I placed some bets over in London. I picked seven riders to finish atop the podium. I guess 2 out of 7 isn't horrible - especially with the carnage we saw in the first week. I'm quite satisfied with the result this year and I'm happy to say this is one of the best Tours I've ever watched.

It was close, there was a parity of rider skill, and there was only one positive drug test (that I've heard of) in all of the 21 stages.

Thanks to Versus and Eurosport for your coverage. Thanks to UCI and LeTour for your efforts as well.

See you again in the fall when they announce the route for the 2012 Tour de France. I plan to be in France for the whole of that race if you need a person on the ground during that edition.

Au revoir.

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

I'm watching the final time trial in this year's Tour de France and the podium is set. It's going to be three men - of course - but the order isn't decided yet.

It will be Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck and Frank Schleck up on the podium tomorrow in Paris. But the three are jammed so close together it's too tough to tell who will pull on yellow tomorrow.

With 20KM to go, the computers say Cadel Evans is pulling back all the time he's lost over the past few days. He started down 57 seconds to Andy Schleck and now the timers say that he's only down nine seconds.

If this happens, Cadel will be the first ever Australian winner of the Tour de France. And for the second year in a row, Andy Schleck will have finished second by seconds. Last year he lost by 39 seconds to Alberto Contador.

I am shaking right now with excitement. How about you?

Well, that headline might be a bit over the top, but so are the world's top cyclists. And the way they finished - except for the exceptional Thomas Voekler - might be the way they end up on Sunday.

Today, we saw Andy Schleck for the first time in the race. He shattered (more like tickled at) the field and ended up about 90 seconds ahead of the field.

We saw Cadel Evans lose a little time to both Andy and Frank Schleck. But not nearly insurmountable. What will depend on how Evans finishes is how the stage tomorrow shakes out. If Frank Schleck attacks and wins on Alpe d'Huez, then the top three in Paris might well go....

Frank, Cadel and Andy - in that order.

But I still think it's Evans race to lose. He can make up time on both those guys in the Time Trial on Saturday. And he just needs to hang on tomorrow and either take back a little time or not lose any.

Oh, Alberto Contador might be DONE for this year unless he wins tomorrow by three minutes or more.

What do you say?

With almost 90KM to go in Stage 14, there are three riders off the front at 7:12 in front of the peloton. It might be a break that stays away for a bit because in it are Millar, Casar and El Fares, the best placed of these is Sandy Casar at only 8:47 back of the Yellow Jersey.

The other reason this break might stay away for a bit is that they'll have seven minutes with which to start climbing the next couple peaks.

Thoughts?

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

-------------

The final KM is here and I'm watching the big names in the 2011 Tour de France chasing down Vinokourov together. It's Cadel and Andy and Alberto in a pack of three chasing up the hill.

Cadel Evans has shot off the front and is cranking down the road and may have opened a tiny gap on Contador and Andy Schleck.

But no! The groupo ended up together - just back of the main leaders and Thor Husovd.

So nothing changes today in the GC other than a win by Movistar rider Rui Costa. Cadel Evans finished in third with Sammy Sanchez in fourth.

Wow. I suggest if you haven't watched any of this year's Tour, do so tonight. The real flavor of the race comes from about 6KM to go and keeps you glued to your seat.

See you tomorrow for stage 9.

At about 26KM, Alexandre Vinokourov took off up the climb. He's ahead of the peloton by about 30 seconds already.

Over the top of the category 2 climb, the lead group of two riders is almost three minutes ahead of the peloton.

The chase is on down the other side of the mountain with darkening skies coming and another climb - a cat 3 - ahead.

Back here after the conclusion of today's stage 8.

At about 26KM to go, Alexandre Vinokourov took off up the climb. He's ahead of the peloton by about 30 seconds already.

Over the top of the category 2 climb, the lead group of two riders is almost three minutes ahead of the peloton.

The chase is on down the other side of the mountain with darkening skies coming and another climb - a cat 3 - ahead.

Back here after the conclusion of today's stage 8.

At about 26KM, Alexandre Vinokourov took off up the climb. He's ahead of the peloton by about 30 seconds already.

Over the top of the category 2 climb, the lead group of two riders is almost three minutes ahead of the peloton.

The chase is on down the other side of the mountain with darkening skies coming and another climb - a cat 3 - ahead.

Back here after the conclusion of today's stage 8.

At about 26KM, Alexandre Vinokourov took off up the climb. He's ahead of the peloton by about 30 seconds already.

Over the top of the category 2 climb, the lead group of two riders is almost three minutes ahead of the peloton.

The chase is on down the other side of the mountain with darkening skies coming and another climb - a cat 3 - ahead.

Back here after the conclusion of today's stage 8.

In some of my other column gigs, I have created a column format called Cutlets. Just little pieces of Jeff Cutler's mind for you to gnaw on.

So here are some little cycling Cutlets for you...

37.2KM to go. Dry roads. Peloton is only 2:20 behind the nine-rider breakaway.

Cervelo is the code word for today in the IZOD Sweeps. Go here to enter.

I really like the yellow jumpsuits on the guys on the timing motorcycle - a bright yellow BMW.

It's odd how so many of the motorbike riders and passengers drag their feet. Also, I don't think I could ever balance on the back of one of those bikes to wield a TV camera or even a DSLR.

The big climb is coming and I expect that the peloton will blow apart today. Riders are anxious. Commentators are saying Vinokourov could be the winner today. Interesting.

I just saw an ad on Versus that was talking about how the right rules can keep you safe on the road. Particularly on a bicycle.

What occurs to me is that most folks don't even realize that in major metropolitan areas, the bicycle is subject to the same laws as motor vehicles and has to obey lights, stops, lanes and so forth.

That said, the RoadID ad was about remaining safe and efficient in the peloton or a riding group. Here's that link - I think you'll learn something.

I just recalled that one of my early picks - and a guy who I bet on with LadBrokes - is Sammy Sanchez and he might very well be the guy to win today. Add him to my prediction from a post earlier this morning.

Only time will tell - they're still about 62KM to go and there are nine riders at the front nearly five minutes ahead of the BMC Team-led peloton.

Chat in a bit.

I just recalled that one of my early picks - and a guy who I bet on with LadBrokes - is Sammy Sanchez and he might very well be the guy to win today. Add him to my prediction from a post earlier this morning.

Only time will tell - they're still about 62KM to go and there are nine riders at the front nearly five minutes ahead of the BMC Team-led peloton.

Chat in a bit.

The best way to watch the Tour de France is roadside in France, but the second best way is to do what I'm doing today. Watch the video on Versus and listen to the live feed on Eurosport right here.

Gives the full on-coverage without the audio of all the stupid commercial breaks that come on TV. Seems that this year the number of ads and promotions is higher than any year in memory. I think that's why, in part, most of my cycling colleagues time shift the programming so they can avoid the ads.

How do you prefer to follow the tour?

Today is the first time during the 2011 Tour that I've been able to watch a stage live. As we all know, work gets in the way but now we're at the weekend. Today's dispatches/blog posts will be provided as things happen on the road. So sit tight. Info to come.

*Overnight news - Chris Horner abandoned after finishing Stage 7 yesterday.

Stage 8 is 189KM and goes from Aigurande to Super-Besse Sancy. On the route there are two category 4 climbs, one category 2 and the finishing hill is a category 3.

Today I predict (and by the way, all my prior predictions have taken place before I watched any of the day's riding) that the stage winners will be...

Andy Schleck
Levi Leipheimer
and Cadel Evans

Contador will likely try to pull away, but will end up in the groupo and not gain back any time. Conversely, he won't lose any time.

What do you think?