The 5 things I’m most thankful for this Holiday season

It’s that time of year again, when everyone gathers with family and gives out hugs and candy with reckless abandon. It seems only fair that if we are going to tell our loved ones we care, that we should also tell the technology that we depend on that we love it as well.

After all, behind every app is a team, and everyone loves a shoutout and high-five. And so, this is my short paean to the technology that keeps my house in order around the year.

Sure, Skype just suffered a major outage , but we only cried because we cared so, so much. Skype is the lifeblood of anyone who spends more than a few weeks a year apart from their significant other. That being the truth, I have clocked probably over a thousand hours on Skype over the last few years, all for free. How excellent is that?

Skype makes video chatting dead simple, and that brings people together. A sip of eggnog to the Skype team for their great product.

Skype is my convertible, but my day-to-day car is Gmail and Gchat. I use Skype when I need it, but I live in Gmail. It is the hub for all my lives. It rules my personal, business, and side project comings and goings, keeping everything neat and shiny and sorted in my flashy priority inbox.

Heck, since I have an iPhone, whenever it decides to stop working I can even pull out some free phone calls. Thanks Google, I depend on you, just don’t leak my emails please.

Everyone who uses public transit knows the power of a good book, and if you are a fan of reading (guilty) Kindle is a must have. I run Kindle on my iPhone, iPad, and PC. The software syncs like a champ, always keeping me in the right spot no matter where or on what I am reading.

Now no one can get mad at me for dog-earing pages, right? In terms of life upgrades, Kindle has been a boon for me. Have a chocolate, Kindle team.

According to blogging rule #746 no blog post can be published without an allusion to the iPad, and I am nothing if not a law-abiding writer. Look, I love Microsoft, but the iPad is amazing. Right now it is pumping hot Pandora love into my ears, all while looking sexy on my table here at Starbucks.

I don’t usually send Apple any love, but thanks to the iPad team for the gadget, it’s damn impressive.

I am anti-thankful for AT&T. I spent three hours yesterday in Silicon Valley without the ability to make a phone call. It was alright, I borrowed a phone that was on Verizon from a friend and made the call, but it reminded me how spotty AT&T really is.

Coal for you and your stocking, AT&T.

Well, it is Christmas day, so you should close your laptop and go spend some time with your family, or at least your refrigerator. Have a great day friends, talk to you all soon.

Study finds that Wi-Fi might be a tree killer

Next time you fire up Wi-Fi on your laptop or your mobile device, you might want to think about the harm you’re doing to the environment, specifically, the trees around you.

Seriously.

According to a Dutch study , uncovered by the good folks at CNET , Wi-Fi is making trees sick. The story goes like this. The people of the Dutch city of Alphen aan den Rijn commissioned a study to find out what was afflicting their trees. Well, that study found that over the past 5 years, all deciduous (read about the term here ) trees have been affected by the radiation coming from the networks that we use for our mobile devices.

Another astonishing figure from the study is that over 70 percent of the trees in the urban areas of the Netherlands have been infected with this Wi-Fi virus. 5 years ago, only 10 percent showed symptoms which include bleeding, growth abnormalities and bark fissures.

Sounds awful.

Luckily, humans haven’t experienced the same issues.

Yet.

Now, these are not definitive results. As stated in the report, and translated from Dutch via Google:

While we’re not scientists, we’re avid Wi-Fi users so we’ll be keeping an eye on this as it develops.

Apple reported to make significant overhauls to iMac, iPhone and MacBook Air in 2012

Next year could be a big year for Apple with sources suggesting that the company will introduce new versions of its iMac, iPhone and MacBook Air in 2012.

Details of the next-generation iPhone and iMac products are speculated to be announced in the second half of 2012, according to a DigiTimes report .

Suggestions that a MacBook Air updated is planned come after weeks of speculation around upcoming new versions of the Apple product. Apple has rumoured to be developing 15-inch versions of the device last month

Apple is also reported to be planning updates to the iPad with a thinner version with increase battery life reportedly amongst its plans . According to supply chain sources cited by Digitimes, the company will finalise an order for key parts of components for an upcoming iPad next month with a view to producing two million units this before the end of 2011.

The source also reveals that supply chain manufacturers have been asked to develop parts for two iPad prototypes prompting suggests that Apple may introduce an updated iPad 2 and new iPad 3. It remains to be seen if Apple would go against its history of new introduces and unveil two products just months apart next year.

Apple has had recent issues with suppliers in China after one notebook casing supplier was forced to close for environmental reasons, although it hopes to be up and running again this month, while an iPhone supplier also came under fire in China during October.