Oh My! What Happened to the Comments?

Photo by Search Engine People Blog

UPDATE:  Old comments have been imported successfully.

You might have noticed that all the comments on this site have been wiped.  First let me apologize for doing so.  Your comments are important to me and they were not wiped because they weren't important.  They were wiped because I needed to upgrade the commenting system on this blog.

While Blogger is a great and free platform to setup a blog, it does have some aspects that need a lot of work.  One of those aspects is the default commenting system.  Basically that system sucks.

My biggest and your biggest gripe has been that the system had no way to reply to other people's comments.  It was starting to become very frustrating for users who wanted to start a threaded conversation about a post.  It was also very difficult for me to reply to folks in a way that was understandable to all.

For those reasons I decided to upgrade the commenting system to the Disqus platform.  Disqus has all the features you have been asking for.  Users are now able to reply to other's comments and they are also able to like or dislike other comments.  In addition to those features you can also login and comment from a variety of services including Twitter, Yahoo, and OpenID.

This new platform will make it easier for your voice to be heard on TBone's Mind and also easier for all of you and myself to interact with one another.  Let me know what you think of the new system in the comments below.

PS - I am working on importing the old comments.

TBone's Holiday Gift List - Tablets and eReaders

Photo by mmlolek

Over the next couple days running up to whichever holiday you happen to celebrate, I will release a new post concentrating on a specific category of gifts with products that I recommend.

In each section I will be limiting the amount of products I recommend to only a select few.  I only recommend products that I own, have used, or have significant knowledge about.  Even though I am recommending these products, I still encourage you to shop around and pick gifts that fit your needs and are within your budget.

If you chose to purchase any of these gifts, then you can click on the link and purchase through Amazon.  I have written before on my thoughts about Amazon and I still think they are one of the best option out there to get the products you need for a great price.  Also if you purchase any of the products using the links provided below, then I will receive a small percentage of the purchase price, which will go into making TBone's Mind a better blog for all to enjoy.

Click the link to see the products that are selected for this post's category.

TBone's Holiday Gift List - Cameras (Photo and Video)

Photo by mmlolek

Today I am kicking off my first section of my holiday gift guide.  Over the next couple days running up to whichever holiday you happen to celebrate, I will release a new post concentrating on a specific category of gifts with products that I recommend.

In each section I will be limiting the amount of products I recommend to only a select few.  I only recommend products that I own, have used, or have significant knowledge about.  Even though I am recommending these products, I still encourage you to shop around and pick gifts that fit your needs and are within your budget.

If you chose to purchase any of these gifts, then you can click on the link and purchase through Amazon.  I have written before on my thoughts about Amazon and I still think they are one of the best option out there to get the products you need for a great price.  Also if you purchase any of the products using the links provided below, then I will receive a small percentage of the purchase price, which will go into making TBone's Mind a better blog for all to enjoy.

Click the link to see the products that are selected for this post's category.

Verizon Reveals 4G LTE Launch Details - 5 Things You Need to Consider

Verizon announced their launch details (finally) for their 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) data service today.  While there weren't any surprises, it did finally deliver what most people wanted to know, the date and pricing.   This news is certainly exciting, but should you go out and buy a new 4G LTE device this weekend?  Click the link below to find out.

How OnLive Can Be a Success

Photo from centralasian

There hasn't been a new contender in the gaming console market in a long time.  It's a tough market to break into with the likes of Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony dominating the market for years.  But recently a new company has emerged with a home console that takes a vastly different approach then the big three.

This company is OnLive and they made a pretty big splash with their idea back at the 2009 Game Developer Conference.  They have already released their gaming service on the PC and Mac, but does their home console strategy have what it takes to succeed?  Click the link to read what I think OnLive needs to do in order for their home console to be a success.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Photo by floodllama

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my US readers out there.  Today I give thanks to my beautiful wife, my family and my friends.  Oh, and also all the lovely technology, gadgets and video games that exist.  What are you guys thankful for?

To all of my international readers, it might not be Thanksgiving for you today, but I hope you all have a enjoyable day too.

Worthwhile Black Friday Deals

Image Source tshein

Black Friday is upon us and all retailers are going to be fighting for your hard earned cash.  Most years people camp out the night before and wait in long lines in the cold weather.  I am sure this year will be no different.

Now I personally don't go and camp out in the long lines the night before.  If there is a deal I am interested in, I take my chances that I might be able to get it during the day.  I just do not think that there are any deals that are really worth all the trouble to ensure that you get it.  But I know that I am the minority here, and most folks enjoy Black Friday.  So I have complied a list of products that I recommend and that have good deals.  Hit the link to check out the list

Participate in the TBone's Mind Community

Image from Scott M

One of the main reasons I started this blog was because I wanted to have a place where I could go and discuss my thought's on technology with others.  Not just discuss tech news and announcements, but also discuss industry trends and changes that should take place in the technology we all love. 

Creating and maintaing an online community is one of my success goals for TBone's Mind.  The only way I will be able to achieve that goal is with your help.

At the end of each post is an area for folks to comment.  I encourage everyone who comes to this site to leave a comment on a post that interests them.  If you have a question, please feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer.  Or if you know the answer to someone else's question, then please feel free to answer.

We will all benefit from having different folks give their insight and perspective on topics.  Many of the readers of TBone's Mind are from outside the US and can provide a completely different perspective then me.

All points of view are welcome in the comments.  If you do not agree with my opinion, feel free to let me know yours.  I will not remove anyone's comment unless it's derogatory or is what I consider spam.  So let your opinions flow and lets build a diverse online tech community.

We shouldn't blame Apple, we should blame ourselves

At 10 am EST you could hear the moans of disappointment across the internet.  People were outraged because Apple's major iTunes announcement was that The Beatles entire song catalog was now available on iTunes.  There was no announcement of iTunes Live Streaming, no cloud storage solution, no canceling of Ping, and no redesign on the hated iTunes 10 logo.  But I am here to tell you that the only people we can blame for this disappointment is ourselves.  Read on to find out why.

Facebook's Idea of Email

Image from MaximumPC

To no one's surprise, Facebook announced their new email/messaging service today.  If you have no idea what I am talking about then stop right now and read this post first.  If you do know what I am talking about then continue on past the break to see if the rumors were true and if anything unexpected was announced.