Try some place new in California Wine Country, Healdsburg.

Half Moon Bay California: Wow! What a view.

Lagunitas Brewing Company Tour, Petaluma, CA

I test drove a Tesla Model S and it was pretty awesome

Tesla Test Drive Palo Alto: Pumpkins in the Frunk

New York Times has the Worst Quote Ever in "The Internet: A Welcome Distraction"

In "The Internet: A Welcome Distraction" New York Times writer MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE says:

Jonathan Franzen found the Internet such a threat that he disabled it by plugging an Ethernet cable into his computer with super glue.

This makes no sense.

If you plugged the cable in with superglue, it'd be be plugged in forever. Right?

Here's the original quote from Lev Grossman's TIME article, Jonathan Franzen: Great American Novelist:

Franzen works in a rented office that he has stripped of all distractions. He uses a heavy, obsolete Dell laptop from which he has scoured any trace of hearts and solitaire, down to the level of the operating system. Because Franzen believes you can't write serious fiction on a computer that's connected to the Internet, he not only removed the Dell's wireless card but also permanently blocked its Ethernet port. "What you have to do," he explains, "is you plug in an Ethernet cable with superglue, and then you saw off the little head of it."

Makes more sense now right?

"...you saw off the little head of it."

Oh man.

It Fit: The Pico Capuchinas Round Chandelier from West Elm

Elf On The Shelf is the Greatest Thing Ever Invented

Last year I wrote a blog post titled, Elf On The Shelf is the Stupidest Thing Ever Invented.

I wasn't too happy with the commercialization of Christmas and thought that a toy, invented in 2005, was being used by parents to scare kids into being good, by telling them tales of elves flying to the North Pole every night to report back to Santa.

But I also had friends that told me their kids LOVED the Elf on the Shelf.

One thing I could get behind were the funny photos of elves waking up near pills and empty bottles of booze, or waking up in bed with Barbie dolls.

That's comedy.

So imagine my surprise when I was set up on a blind date at lunch who turned out to be Elf on the Shelf!

I volunteered to help out the Newbury Street League promote the street this holiday season, to recover from their losses after the Boston Marathon Bombing. Some stores went out of business and some had sales reductions of up to 40%. The loss of business means a loss of jobs, and I wanted to help out.

The organizing lunch was at the renovated Forum restaurant. It's beautiful in there. I encourage you to visit.

My first duty as a luminary, was to light a tree on Newbury Street. Not a problem.



It was a fun time.

Next, up, the Elf On the Shelf Challenge.

It's easy:

1. FIND and ELF

2. Take a PHOTO

3. SHARE/TAG #NewburyStreetElf on Instagram, Facebook, and/or twitter

4. ADD the Store Name where you found the elf

A list of participating merchants can be found on the Elf Challenge page.

I grabbed my Elf and took a closer look.

Wait! This isn't the Elf on the Shelf that scares kids, It's the Elf on the Shelf Plushee Pal!

A Plushee Pal® can keep you company even after your Elf on the Shelf® scout elf has returned to the North Pole! Unlike the REAL North Pole elves, these toy elves are meant to be held and squeezed at Christmas and all year. Unbelievably soft to the touch and gentle to the cheek, each elf is made of the finest material Santa's toy makers could find, perfect for a child's loving arms. Each elf stands 19" inches tall. (Available in boy or girl styles, with light or dark skin tone.)

The Elf on the Shelf Girl Plushee Pal - Light

I'm going to have fun putting my Elf in silly situations all year long!



Cheers!

MakerBot Store Boston Grand Opening 11/21/13

Most photos taken with Samsung Galaxy Camera. CC BY-NC-SA Thanks @SamsungMobileUS for the review unit.


Samsung Galaxy Camera EK-GC100 8GB White, Android OS, v4.1 (Jelly Bean) 3G Unlocked HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 by Samsung from New Generation Products

Share your Dunkin' story.

GREAT campaign from Dunkin Donuts.

Simple.

Recognizes that people know how to use social media and tag their posts.

"I need my coffee!" @carolgarfield #mydunkin cc @DunkinDonuts pic.twitter.com/NoawI5zzgW

— Steve Garfield (@stevegarfield) November 17, 2013

Share your Dunkin' story.
#mydunkin

Why Massachusetts Needs A Wine Shipment Bill

Massachusetts is finally having a hearing on a new wine shipping bill that will work better than the current restrictive bill that makes it almost impossible to ship wine to Massachusetts.

Read more at Free The Grapes:

The Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure will be hearing more than a dozen bills – including several wine direct shipping bills—on Tuesday, November 12, 2013 between 1:00 PM and 6:00 PM in Gardner Auditorium at the State House.

I just came back from wine country in California. Do you know what we heard, over and over again?

Them: Would you like to join our wine club? We have free shipping.
Me: We're from Massachusetts.
Them: Oh sorry. We don't ship to Massachusetts.

Sometimes you'd like to support the small wineries, but the current Massachusetts wine shipping law makes that impossible.

My recent experience, shipping wine myself, on my flight home, in pictures:

Buffalo Shipping
Post Office
2471 Solano Ave, Napa, CA 94558

Note: You can ship wine to yourself. Because it's Massachusetts, you have to ship a case of wine (12 bottles) $87, plus packaging, $15, = $102.

We decided to check this case, as baggage, on our flight home.

Virgin America baggage fee, 1st Checked Bag, $25.

Oh look, the government looked inside.

Add CLASSIC RT back to Twitter

Jason Calacanis shared this Classic Retweet Chrome Extension in his newsletter:

@jason: Many folks ask me "classic retweet" or "new retweet" and I tell them to download the "classic retweet" Chrome extension. It's just perfect when you want to add your .02 instead of a blind retweet.

It adds a slick little "classic retweet" to the bottom of each post.

Link:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/classic-retweet/mejfljhfeahhhicjefeehikaooffggmf/related?hl=en

I added it.

I'm happy.

Install Classic RT and Twitter posts, on twitter.com, now look like this:



Click 'Classic RT' and you get this:



It works.

Oh, but look. Adding "RT" makes this specific tweet 141 characters.

This happens to be one example where a 'Native RT' is good. Nothing is lost when you don't add any comments.

Let's follow this to it's conclusion.

Since I'm modifying the original tweet to make it shorter and fit in a comment, I need to change RT (retweet) to MT (modified tweet). That shows that what follows MT has been modified from the original.



Embedding it here.

Cool. MT @Jason: Looking for freelance journalists w/ 10k+ twitter followers w/ insane/inspired ideas for assignments. jason@inside.com

— Steve Garfield (@stevegarfield) November 4, 2013

Note: Embedded tweets don't show the extension.

Lollipod Tripod Review and Get Seen 'How to Be A Videoblogger' Excerpt Goes Live

I get asked to review a lot of tech products. At this point, people know that I'm a fair reviewer who actually uses the products and puts them through their paces.

If something isn't right with a product, I'll say it.

If I like a product, many times I'll end up buying it.

When I like a product, I end up using it, and bringing it along with me to meetings and conferences, where it gets seen. ;-)

Recently I was asked if I wanted to try out a new tripod, the Lollipod. In return, I was asked to write something up or record something about being a videoblogger.

I ended up doing a video review of the tripod that included some video tips. I also allowed Lollipod to post an excerpt from my book on video blogging, Get Seen.

The Lollipod guys did a great job on their site.

Instead of a bunch of product reviews, they got people to share things that you cold do with the tripod including, create living pictures, become a strobist, create a baby monitor, become an animator, try time-lapse photography, and more.

I love this idea.

Here it is on the site:

Things to do with your Lollipod


Here's my page:

Become a Video Blogger


This is a great idea and they made me look good.

Check it out.

Disclosure:
The author received a review copy of the product mentioned in this video.
http://sponsored-po.st/Aez7B3

Red Sox 2013 World Championship Duck Boat Parade at Fenway Park

NBC The Voice: My Top Three out of the Top Twenty

GREY
Why Grey has no last name on The Voice, she's Grey Paluszynski. ;-)
Follow Grey on Twitter at @MusicbyGrey



Jacquie Lee
Young. Cute. Talented.
Follow Jacquie on Twitter at @jacquieleemusic



CAROLINE PENNELL
Needs a better Thumbnail image. (See below)
Follow Caroline on Twitter at @carolinepennell

Valentina Attard and Beyonce 'photo bomb' Instagram Photo

Here's the Valentina Attard and Beyonce 'photo bomb' Instagram Photo that many news outlets are not linking to.


Valentina Attard writes about the encounter on her Tumblr blog:

Okay so as most of the people that have recently followed me i have been the girl that got her selfie ”photobombed” by Beyonce when in fact i asked her for the photo so she posed and smiled as the perfect person she is!

Valentina Attard: Instagram.

Media:
Daily News writes about it, embeds the Instagram, but doesn't link back.

Culture Map has no link to the Instagram either.

Kiss108 doesn't link to anything and doesn't even show the photo.

My Top Three Picks from The XFactor USA Top Twelve

The X Factor USA Top 12 Contestants.



Seems pretty easy:

- Ellona Santiago - Stage Presence
- Restless Road - Voice, Looks, Personality, Simon
- Sweet Suspense - Stage Presence. Voice, Looks, Personality, Simon



Either the sound mix was off, or the singers were not powerful enough, but for many of the contestants, the background singers were too loud.

For these three, it wasn't the case. They can all sing.

Printing 4" x 6" Borderless Photo Prints on Epson WF-3520 using iPhoto

When I want 4" x 6" prints, I put them on a USB drive and bring them to CVS for printing on a Kodak Kiosk.

My old printer at home no longer printed the color red. It was a sad state of affairs.

I just got an Epson WF-3520 printer in for review along with some glossy photo paper. So I decided to give it a try and see what it looked like.

iPhoto Prints Photos
First I had to figure out how to give the printer a print command for a 4" x 6" photo print. Since I've got a Mac, I opened up iPhoto, selected a photo, and clicked on the PRINT menu option.

Look what popped up. A dialog box which allowed be to select my print size, paper quality, and if I wanted a borderless print or not.


Image: iPhoto: Print 4" x 6" Borderless on Epson WF-3520

Adding Paper
At first I tried to put the paper in the back of the printer, but the LCD screen told me not to. So I opened up the manual and saw that I had to add the photo paper to the regular paper tray.


Image: Add 4" x 6" Epson Premium Photo Paper Glossy to WFNX-3520 paper tray

I pressed PRINT, and after some processing on the printer side, out came a nice 4" x 6" Borderless snapshot. Just like in the old days.

It's a Snapshot

Image: Boston 4x6 print

Disclosure:

Epson provided me with an Epson WorkForce WF-3520 for review.
http://my-disclosur.es/VK3jHJ

Buy on Amazon (Affilate Link)



Epson WorkForce WF-3520 Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer, Copier, Scanner, 2-Sided Duplex, ADF, Fax. Prints from Tablet/Smartphone. AirPrint Compatible (C11CC33201)

Boston Skyline Photo taken with Samsung Galaxy Camera. CC BY-NC-SA Thanks @SamsungMobileUS for the review unit.


Samsung Galaxy Camera EK-GC100 8GB White, Android OS, v4.1 (Jelly Bean) 3G Unlocked HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 by Samsung from New Generation Products

The Muffin Man

Image: Barcamp Boston 8

Barcamp Boston 8 took place on the weekend of October 26th at the MIT Stata Center.

It's a great event, where attendees plan and present the sessions. It's fun and everyone helps out.


Image: Stata Center

I arrived early on Day 1.

After picking up my name badge I looked for some coffee. There wasn't any around.

No Muffins For You!
I did see a table full of Costco muffins. They were all lined up on the table in sealed packages.


Image: Sealed and Packaged Costco muffins

Someone was standing in front of the table, blocking access to the muffins.

"Can I get a muffin?" I inquired.

"No." was the muffin man's response.

"You can't have any muffins."

"Why?" I wondered.

The muffin man responded, "If we opened up the muffins, then people would come over here and ask where is the coffee? But there is no coffee here yet, so we can't open the muffins. The coffee is on the way."

"They told me that no one can have a muffin until the coffee arrives."

This seemed strange to me.

A crowd was gathering at the perimeter of the muffin table, but warily staying away from the area.

What's the muffin penalty?
I thought about Chris Guillebeau, who told a story at the recent World Domination Summit. He said that he wanted to use a space in the city for an event. If I remember correctly he couldn't get the space, but inquired as to what the penalty would be if he used it anyway. They response was $500.

That got me to thinking. What would be the penalty if I took a muffin? ;-)

I decided against taking a muffin.

My earlier decision not to go to Dunkin' Donuts, for coffee on my way over to Barcamp, was turning out to have been a poor choice.

Leave the area
At that moment, someone walked by with a Starbucks coffee. I knew that there was a Starbucks around the corner, so I decided to take the path of least resistance and leave the scene completely. That's how my dad always handled conflict. He didn't get involved in it. ;-)

So I left the building, and as I walked outside, I took the time to look around and saw a cool mirrored MIT logo.

I walked over and took a photo.


Image: MIT: Stata Center

Ahh. I felt better.

It was chilly out.

I thought about it and decided to go back inside.

A question for the muffin man
I walked over to the muffin man and asked him a question, "What if I want to eat a muffin, but not have coffee?"

Silence...

I thought that was a good question. ;-)

So I asked another, "Who's in charge here?"

The muffin man motioned over towards a table. "Over there," he replied.

So I walked over and saw an old friend Shimon Rura, along with Barcamp 8 organizer Jay Neely.

I said hi and asked if the muffins could be opened prior to the arrival of the coffee.

Simon replied, "Sure, open the muffins."

Open the muffins!
So I went back over to the muffin table, informed the muffin man that the muffins could be opened, and proceeded to open up the packages and yelled, "The muffins are free!"


Image: The muffins are free

People came over. I said "Good morning." They smiled. We chatted. I organized the muffins by variety. I sliced them in half. I keep the table full of muffins. I had fun.

I am the Muffin Man!

Photo: @stevegarfield and breakfast at Day 1 of #bcBOS at @MIT Stata Center. pic.twitter.com/gjA6otxzRK

— BarCamp Boston (@BarCampBoston) October 26, 2013

Barcamp Boston 2013 #BCBOS

Some photos taken with Samsung Galaxy Camera. CC BY-NC-SA Thanks @SamsungMobileUS for the review unit.


Samsung Galaxy Camera EK-GC100 8GB White, Android OS, v4.1 (Jelly Bean) 3G Unlocked HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 by Samsung from New Generation Products

[Review] Epson Workforce WF-3520 All-in-One Printer

Photos taken with Samsung Galaxy Camera. CC BY-NC-SA Thanks @SamsungMobileUS for the review unit.


Samsung Galaxy Camera EK-GC100 8GB White, Android OS, v4.1 (Jelly Bean) 3G Unlocked HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 by Samsung from New Generation Products