Happy Friday everyone! Since it is 4th of July and we here in The States look forward to a holiday, too bad it falls on Wednesday. So is this the weekend that people are celebrating with the traditional barbeques and get-togethers or is it next weekend? How about you do it both weekends. On July 1st it is Canada Day for our northern neighbours. (Spelled the British way just for you. ) Happy 4th of July and Canada Day to all! (Lucky Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan will celebrate with a taste of home.)

Today is the day that the vaunted iPhone goes on sale. It is truly amazing how much hype is built up around the release of a new tech toy. Apple is the master at marketing and the creating of buzz over its next great invention and it is certainly no different with the iPhone. We've all probably seen Steve Jobs in his signature jeans and black sweater waxing poetic about his latest gadget. It reminds me of the hilarious "Saturday Night Live" parodies of Steve Jobs. Here is the announcement of the iPhone. Hilarious video! The iPhone is touted as something revolutionary and likely to change the way we communicate. Sure, and the "Segway" has changed transportation. Remember that hype? I think the hype over the iPhone is right up there. People will be sleeping on sidewalks waiting in line for their chance to drop some large money on an iPhone just as people were foolish enough to pay over thousands for a Sony PS3 when they came out. Now? Shelves are always stocked with PS3's at MSRP. In any event, I think the iPhone will prove to be a big disappointment and will make Steve Jobs and Apple look stupid. Apple has withstood criticism before and all will be forgotten when Gen. 2 comes out and catches everyone's attention. Don't get me wrong, I have a very genuine admiration for Apple's designs and products. I'm on my second iPod and my wife has two Apple computers plus the one at work and two iPods. It is just that the iPhone falls so very short of the hype. It's shortcomings are so significant I can't believe that they are releasing it in its current form. Alas, I'm sure the entire first run will sell out so people can casually slide their iPhone on the table at a business lunch and get the "wow is that an iPhone?!?" reaction. :p (I know not everyone is out for that ego stroke but you've got to admit that many are just looking to be on the bleeding edge for the cool factor. ) So to those buying iPhones, enjoy them, don't drop them or else you'll shatter the glass screen, and hope the internal battery holds out better than the 1st gen iPods.

iPhone or other, our dependence on cellphones is astounding. I am old enough to remember when I was a kid home phones weight about 25 pounds and did not beep when you dialed, and you literally dialed, and there were no pagers much less portable telephones. Today, we would not know how to function without cellphones. I don't think it's so much that we as individuals can't do it but rather our society and business world has adapted to technology like cellphones and things have changed as the expectations have changed. We used to be totally fine with waiting days or weeks for a response sent via letter and now we expect a reply e-mail within minutes. Life and business have sped up so much. Things have changed indeed and we are all very much victims. What would you do without your cellphone? Well, I am facing this very question. I have a work-issued Blackberry/Nextel cellphone and it is an essential tool for my daily work. To say I cannot function without it is probably a little dramatic but it does allow me to do what I do, which is be mobile almost the entire day. My work-issued cellphone is going dead as of today. I will no longer have it nor will any of my co-workers. A few select groups of employees will keep their issued cellphones but they will have to keep a detailed diary of calls made and received. Some have opted to forfeit them to avoid the burden of note taking. For me, I will be pretty useless without it. I do have my personal cellphone but the key word is "personal" and that is not going to be used for work. All of the people I deal with regularly have asked, as I have, how we'll communicate and I think we've settled on a combination of smoke signals and carrier pigeons. It really makes you rethink how you do your daily work and how dependent we've all become on our cellphones.

Why is this happening? My employer has recently decided to comply with existing IRS laws governing employee "fringe benefits". Here is some information about the law. Basically it requires employers to tax the amount of the "benefit" used for personal use. For cellphones it would be the amount of personal calls made as opposed to business calls. Employees would have to keep an annotated log of calls made and received to substantiate business-only use. What a major PITA! How many of you have employer issued cellphones and have to keep such logs? How many of you make or receive personal calls and it is totally okay with your employer? I'd bet that many people and their employers are not complying with the IRS codes. It's crazy that they'd want to tax that even though I understand that it can add up. They might as well start taxing the "fringe benefit" of your desk phone being able to make and receive personal calls and the free water in the water cooler. Crazy!

Anyone know of a good car wash?

Teacher of the Year: "He's an awesome dude" - Jeff Spicoli.

Uh oh, competition for Teacher of the Year.

How not to fence a stolen car.

This car ain't stolen but it ain't cheap either. 0-60 measured with a calendar!

Jared from Subway would be proud - Chalk one up for the good guys. (Another reason it's dumb to rob a Subway: In a real incident where I live, two mopes try to rob a Subway and when they try to overtake the lone sandwich maker they fail to realize that he is making a sandwich, knife in hand. The results were predictable. )

Ever heard the expression "you can't get blood from a turnip"? Well tell it to this dumbass

So this is how crop circles are made.

This guy needs a beating or better yet, to be struck by lightening.

Have a great weekend!

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