Anatomy of a Thwarted eBay Scam

How embarrassing: As a nine year member of the eBay community (mostly as a seller) you’d think I would see this one coming. Luckily, I caught it JUST in time. Here follows a cautionary tale for other users…I had an item on the auction block that was won by a bidder who had only been a member for about two … Read More

Basking in the Glow of the Red Devils

As a lifelong (but hopefully recovering) hypochondriac, I had a recent visit with my doctor over cholesterol and blood glucose concerns. As I often do, I was wearing a long sleeve Manchester United jersey the day of the visit. I was pleasantly surprised when at the end of our uneventful visit, my younger than me Grey’s Anatomy doctor (100% Irish … Read More

The eBook Debuts, Gutenberg Shrugs

As stated numerous times, I am a shameless gadget whore and until recently (i.e. marriage and looming fatherhood) a longtime early adopter. But I can proudly say that I was never once-not even for a second (Okay, maybe ONE second) seduced by the LCD screen of the eBook concept, the announcement of which long preceded my newfound life of relative … Read More

iPhone Blues

iPhone activations are unavailable in your service area until 06:01 AM Pacific Daylight Time on Monday, September 17 due to scheduled system maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience.We will process activations in the order received immediately following the system maintenance. We will send you an email confirmation as soon as we complete your activation. Please do not try to activate again … Read More

Great Moments in (My) Men’s Room History

Men’s room stage fright has been a running personal joke in my life. Though I suspect that it’s a bigger problem that many males will not admit to. I started taking the Metro bus downtown at a fairly young age-like 12. I remember one Sunday making the trek to the old AM&A’s store to the fifth floor toy department. Lo … Read More

A Day (or Two) in the (Digital) Life

With each passing week, life becomes more and more of a blur. Technology marches on at almost a sprinter’s pace. I seem to be keeping up for now. Ironically, the only time I slow down to smell the roses is to read (or listen to) books with (futurist) topics about breakneck speed of modern life and where we’re headed as … Read More

Bishop Timon High School and Dannybonics

I have many fond memories of my four years at an all-boys Franciscan prep school in Buffalo (NY), Bishop Timon (St. Jude) High School. Located in the heart of (conservative) Irish Catholic South Buffalo, Timon was ground zero of youthful Irish pride. Many of us were (are) what some might refer to as “Danny Boy Micks”: Fiercely proud to be … Read More

RIP, All forms of D

Not long ago, I posted a piece in this blog about my liberation from my cumbersome (music) CD library (as well as my DVD cache), followed soon after by a piece on the death of the printed word. I was reminded on my AM commute today (BBC World Service via satellite radio) how rapidly the processof the death of physical … Read More