I just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy New Year as we ring in 2012. I’m not one to make New Years Resolutions because I don’t really think they work. However, I do view the New Year as a fresh start, kind of like a blank slate.

Brad’s Reader will keep going strong in 2012. I plan on introducing an email newsletter, and maybe even a few more goodies.

Thank you all for making this little blog such a success! Have a safe and Happy New Year!

I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone (who celebrates it) a very Merry Christmas! Hopefully all of you will be finding shiny new eReaders waiting under the Christmas tree this morning. That said, Amazon’s and Barnes & Noble’s websites might be running a little slow from everyone downloading their first ebooks.

Regardless of what is waiting for you under the tree, please enjoy this holiday. For me it’s a much needed break and I’ll be able to spend some quality time with my family. That said, you probably won’t hear from me until the New Year.

Thanks for all your support in 2011. My blog wouldn’t be where it is without all of you.

Merry Christmas!

Brad

This month marks the 5-year anniversary of Brad’s Reader! In late December 2006 I began this blog using Google’s Blogger platform to write mostly about literature and philosophy.

Since then, Brad’s Reader has morphed from literature, to reading and writing, to technology. None of the changes were planned, they just sort of happened. As a result, the number of unique visitors has risen dramatically every year since.

In celebration of this 5-year anniversary, and the holidays, I’m giving away a $25 Amazon Gift Card!

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Do you do most of your writing on a computer, or still use good old fashion longhand? I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately because my writing habits are a hybrid of the computer and a pen and paper.

I know this post seems to come out of left field, especially considering I recently wrote a review about how much I love the writing software Scrivener. That hasn’t changed. I still use (and love!) Scrivener for all my writing projects.

And I do a majority of my writing on my computer, or iPad, whichever is more convenient. Though sometimes it just seems easier to pick up a pen and paper to scribble out a scene or section for a current writing project.

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There’s nothing new about taking a newspaper, magazine or even a book into the bathroom while you do your…uh…business. Usually the bathroom is the one place people can get a little peace and quiet, making it ideal for reading.

Now we live in an age of iPads and eReaders. So it naturally follows that people will take their shiny new electronics into the bathroom to read as well.

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Blackberry maker Research In Motion has been under fire the last few days for the worldwide service outage, that appeared to be resolved early this morning. While it did affect me, I’m not a super-user, so I was able to get through the outage unscathed.

Almost a year ago I traded in my 1st generation iPhone for a Blackberry Pearl. My reasons for leaving the iPhone boiled down to a lot of features I didn’t use and buying a lot of apps that also went unused. To a lesser extent, I also wanted to experiment with something new.

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The end of print books is near. Very near. At least, that’s what the Swedish maker of cheap, near-impossible-to-assemble furniture company Ikea is predicting.

That’s why the furniture maker is re-designing some of their bookshelves to feature glass doors, on the assumption that print books will soon be relics to be displayed in museum cases.

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The news that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has resigned is shaking the tech world. The announcement was made yesterday afternoon. Many were already speculating how long he’d stay on the job, especially considering the health problems he has faced over the past few years. Tim Cook, Apple’s COO, will take over Jobs’ position as CEO.

Apple issued a press release announcing Jobs’ resignation:

CUPERTINO, California—August 24, 2011—Apple’s Board of Directors today announced that Steve Jobs has resigned as Chief Executive Officer, and the Board has named Tim Cook, previously Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, as the company’s new CEO. Jobs has been elected Chairman of the Board and Cook will join the Board, effective immediately.

“Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company,” said Art Levinson, Chairman of Genentech, on behalf of Apple’s Board. “Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.”

“The Board has complete confidence that Tim is the right person to be our next CEO,” added Levinson. “Tim’s 13 years of service to Apple have been marked by outstanding performance, and he has demonstrated remarkable talent and sound judgment in everything he does.”

Jobs submitted his resignation to the Board today and strongly recommended that the Board implement its succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO.

As COO, Cook was previously responsible for all of the company’s worldwide sales and operations, including end-to-end management of Apple’s supply chain, sales activities, and service and support in all markets and countries. He also headed Apple’s Macintosh division and played a key role in the continued development of strategic reseller and supplier relationships, ensuring flexibility in response to an increasingly demanding marketplace.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

For an investor’s perspective, you can read my article about Apple’s future on my other blog, ‘The Unlikely Investor.’

I wish Steve Jobs the best of luck!

We take the internet for granted today. It’s a part of our daily lives and a lot of people even making a living of the tubes. But it wasn’t always like this. For the younger generation, it might come as a surprise that the internet used to be a novelty.

I remember my dad telling me that only techies had  laptops and cell phones, and that email was pretty much something only businesses used.

How times have changed. Email is out. Social networking and Twitter is in. It seems that people socialize more online than they do in real life.

To show just how much of a novelty the internet was in the 90s, I came across some hilarious videos. The first is from the Today Show, where even the basic concept of the @ sign was a source of great confusion. The second video is from MTV.

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The RSS Feed for Brad’s Reader has been hacked. If you read the blog post titles in the feed, it says: “Buy Gold Viagra Without Prescription >> Online Pharmacy.”

I’m working to get the problem fixed as soon as possible. I apologize for the inconvenience and if anyone is offended by the viagra title. Please note that the website itself has not been affected and is safe to visit.

DO NOT CLICK ON THE TITLE LINK IN RSS FEED!

If you are viewing this in your RSS aggregator, you can read all my latest posts at bradsreader.com. Thank you for your patience.