2023-11-29 13:36
For example, selling on eBay! Here's a screen shot of my query to BingChat (yes, AI) and its response to me about how AI is being used by the company to facilitate product listing.As can be… Read More
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Jim Lyons Observations Blog
jimlyonsobservations.blogspot.com
Jim Lyons comments on business and marketing developments in the Printing and Imaging industry, combining many years of experience with an ever-enthusiastic eye on the future.
2023-09-10 22:38
I hope it's correct and glad those fantasy numbers are not mine! Read More
2023-07-11 22:11
Yes, time to kick back and enjoy all-star baseball tonight, July 11th.Reflecting on past games (and hearing the local radio guys talking about their favorite all-star game years and how many… Read More
2023-07-09 15:28
Here I am back on Blogger, one of the oldest social media platforms ever (MySpace era?), and what do you know? Another social media throwback - time for a "plug-compatible" Twitter replaceme… Read More
2023-07-02 14:21
Seems like a basic search engine question but I like what my Nova app on my Android tablet came up with this morning - really helpful!"Certainly! I'd be happy to explain the difference betwe… Read More
2023-06-27 12:20
I am still here, still making observations, and it is time I picked up the old blog again. And my work with the currently available AI tools deserves some posting, so stay tuned.Just t… Read More
2021-11-09 13:28
The Talented Mr. Varg by Alexander McCall Smith My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews Read More
2021-08-14 13:54
Racing the Clock: A Running Life with Nature by Bernd Heinrich My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews Read More
2021-05-16 13:31
Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Adam M. Grant My rating: 5 of 5 stars So relevant! Think Again could be life's mantra!So much here! Love the insight… Read More
2020-12-01 13:25
Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews Read More
2020-10-31 16:06
Find the article on The Verge websiteIt's not a "back rub" which might sound pretty good right about now, but the "Back Tap" and it's good too. Much more of a treat with this trick.. It's a… Read More
2020-09-23 13:31
Disloyal: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump by Michael Cohen My rating: 5 of 5 stars For me, a must readHaving followed current ev… Read More
2020-07-23 19:11
The Man Who Played with Fire: Stieg Larsson's Lost Files and the Hunt for an Assassin by Jan Stocklassa My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews Read More
2020-06-27 19:39
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson My rating: 5 of 5 stars Great stories on Churchill’s first year as… Read More
2020-05-26 16:54
One of a number of press coverage - this one from Apple Insider https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/05/22/apple-may-own-the-future-of-personal-computing-with-apple-glass-says-gene-muns… Read More
2020-05-14 12:33
Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World by Laura Spinney My rating: 0 of 5 stars View all my reviews Read More
2020-04-24 17:50
My chance for a third experience owning a "smartglasses" product has come and gone, for now at leastWhen Amazon Echo Frames were announced in September 2019, with limited availability, I cou… Read More
2020-04-06 18:48
The Resisters by Gish Jen My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews Read More
2020-01-29 14:49
Screenshot from my recent Google Search, confirming the Super Bowl was played in late January in 1995 With some of the year's biggest (and my favorite) TV events coming up, I find mysel… Read More
2020-01-18 14:23
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard My rating: 5 of 5 stars I had never heard of Teddy Roosevelt's post-presidential expedition… Read More
2020-01-13 17:59
As a student of evolution as used in its traditional sense, I am also intrigued by the concept's application to processes outside the biological. (See #s 1 and 2 in the screenshot above.)Tha… Read More
2019-12-29 14:39
Kingbird Highway: The Biggest Year in the Life of an Extreme Birder by Kenn Kaufman My rating: 5 of 5 stars Now I know why this book is a classic in the birding world!… Read More
2019-12-19 17:39
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens My rating: 5 of 5 stars What can you say? I say, read this book! It’s short, timely, and features great writing, as only Dick… Read More
2019-12-05 01:32
Impeach: The Case Against Donald Trump by Neal Katyal My rating: 5 of 5 stars To say this book is "topical" is quite an understatement. Katyal is one of my favorite tal… Read More
2019-11-30 14:37
Audubon, On The Wings Of The World by Fabien Grolleau My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book offers some great illustrations and a fun telling of the "career" of John James… Read More
2019-11-11 16:21
Stoner by John Williams My rating: 5 of 5 stars First off, Stoner is the lead characters's name (William Stoner to be exact), and not something else! But getting by th… Read More
2019-11-07 18:38
To modify a favorite movie line, I picked a heck of a week to start blogging again!The Wall Street Journal, followed by other outlets, reported on an offer by Xerox to acquire HP Inc, the pr… Read More
2019-11-05 18:32
My Archer Power Strip - working steadily for over four decadesIt's not often we reflect on the long-lasting, steady performance of technology-based gadgets. More often, the steady drumbeat o… Read More
2019-11-03 16:23
Boston Blackie by Jack BoyleMy rating: 5 of 5 stars OK - who didn't think first of "I wish I had a pencil-thin mustache..."? This has been a fun "slow read" written in very plain… Read More
2019-10-31 16:53
For those of you watching the World Series (yay, Nats, and great effort, Astros) an interesting and, for me at least, a very captivating ad came through the clutter. It features the mesmeriz… Read More
2019-10-19 13:48
Sad and shocking news that former HP CEO Mark Hurd has passed away! Hurd followed Carly Fiorina in that job, joining HP in 2005, and since our employment overlapped by a few months… Read More
2019-10-02 16:42
Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump by Rick Reilly My rating: 5 of 5 stars It seemed like time once again for a nonfiction sports book, and this one fit the bil… Read More
2019-09-19 00:29
Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss: A Novel by Rajeev Balasubramanyam My rating: 5 of 5 stars I greatly enjoyed this novel and all its facets. Very timely and personal… Read More
2019-09-11 16:07
Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder My rating: 5 of 5 stars I am so pleased that my local library system came up with Nomadland a… Read More
2019-09-05 16:33
Ten Innings at Wrigley: The Wildest Ballgame Ever, with Baseball on the Brink by Kevin Cook My rating: 5 of 5 stars Sometimes a sports book can be the most entertaining… Read More
2019-08-18 14:09
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles My rating: 5 of 5 stars Bill Gates made me do it, and I loved it! I like how his synopsis sums it up: "...an amazing story that any… Read More
2019-06-23 14:46
Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad by Austin Kleon My rating: 5 of 5 stars I managed to take my time on this short book, and it was very rewardi… Read More
2019-06-15 15:52
Lake of the Ozarks: My Surreal Summers in a Vanishing America by Bill Geist My rating: 4 of 5 stars Fun to reminisce about "the good old days" with the author. In fact, makes… Read More
2019-06-09 19:46
Wabi Sabi: Japanese Wisdom for a Perfectly Imperfect Life by Beth Kempton My rating: 5 of 5 stars An interesting and provocative read. Example quote - "Wabi sabi is an… Read More
2019-05-07 12:21
The Dark Heart: A True Story of Greed, Murder, and an Unlikely Investigator by Joakim Palmkvist My rating: 5 of 5 stars If you like Dateline, and if you enjoy learning… Read More
2019-04-20 16:54
The Washington Post's book reviewer takes on the Mueller Report, as a book.OK, I posted about a review of the Mueller Report as a PDF file, so it only seems fair (and balanced) to add this o… Read More
2019-04-20 01:32
The Moth Presents All These Wonders: True Stories About Facing the Unknown by Catherine Burns My rating: 5 of 5 stars What a great collection of stories! Like TED talks… Read More
2019-04-19 22:29
I must admit to feeling some amusement when I saw this story from The Verge about the shoddy PDF quality found in the downloaded Mueller Report. Reporter Adi Robertson clearly had… Read More
2019-03-30 11:01
Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist by Eli SaslowMy rating: 5 of 5 starsThe true and gripping tale, more than a bit terrifying, of the American White Supremacis… Read More
2019-03-19 19:16
I was delighted to bump a memory-affirming reference today while boning up on my bird calls and songs - tis the season after all! In reviewing American Goldfinch vs. Lesser Goldfinch vs. Pin… Read More
2019-03-08 14:38
The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis My rating: 5 of 5 stars "What are the consequences if the people given control over our government have no idea how it works?" - This… Read More
2019-02-27 21:52
The Science of Self-Learning: How to Teach Yourself Anything, Learn More in Less Time, and Direct Your Own Education by Peter Hollins My rating: 4 of 5 stars The Scienc… Read More
2019-01-30 16:29
I enjoy keeping up with Ryan Holiday (@RyanHoliday) and his thoughts, and subjects like stoicism and reading. In a recent Medium post, A reading list for becoming a better citizen and p… Read More
2019-01-26 21:32
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith My rating: 5 of 5 stars When asked "what it's about", Anna Quindlen writes in the forward to the 75th anniversary edition, "The… Read More
2019-01-16 20:08
Birding Without Borders: An Obsession, a Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World by Noah Strycker My rating: 5 of 5 stars What a great book - combining my interests in… Read More
2018-12-30 22:22
This is Marketing: You Can't Be Seen Until You Learn To See by Seth Godin My rating: 3 of 5 stars This book had so much potential! It showed up on Amazon Charts out of… Read More
2018-12-26 13:58
All for Nothing by Walter Kempowski My rating: 5 of 5 stars Thanks to The New Yorker's James Wood and his article, "Four Books That Deserved More Attention in 2018", I… Read More
2018-11-26 17:54
The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk W. Johnson My rating: 5 of 5 stars This was an enjoyable "slow read" for me… Read More
2018-11-12 14:18
The Library Book by Susan Orlean My rating: 5 of 5 stars Skillfully and even artfully written, very informative and at times poignant, I loved The Library Book. The fut… Read More
2018-10-26 21:20
Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix My rating: 5 of 5 stars A great Halloween-season read! Recommended by Amazon for an October special, I bought in with both hardcopy (th… Read More
2018-10-10 23:51
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews Read More
2018-10-09 13:35
I remember the launch - a place to share this blog and not much else!As much as I tried to like it back when it started, Google+ just never got into my social media routine. It was a place t… Read More
2018-09-25 00:21
Measure What Matters by John Doerr My rating: 5 of 5 stars With John Doerr and I sharing much the same era of the technology industry, his part-memoir, part-advice book… Read More
2018-09-14 16:37
A screenshot from my Google search for the definition of "prescience" - this expanded version includes an Ngram analysisHaving been interested and/or employed in the world of forecasting for… Read More
2018-09-10 20:48
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou My rating: 5 of 5 stars Secrets and Lies - I'll say! What a great book, that meant so much to… Read More
2018-08-31 13:37
When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel H. Pink My rating: 5 of 5 stars With the subject being "perfect timing", there is something ironic (or somethin… Read More
2018-08-29 13:46
Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover My rating: 5 of 5 stars A very interesting glimpse into the lives of "fellow Idahoans", albeit from a very different region of our s… Read More
2018-06-20 20:42
The hype - and my curiosity - got me to buy an Apple Watch in June 2015, and it became my next bright shiny thing.Three years ago this month I bought the newly-released Apple Watch. With tha… Read More
2018-05-22 22:05
There's a well-known saying that "there's no such thing as a dumb question" but I beg to differ. One of those truly dumb questions has to be, "Is a dolphin a fish?", but that did not keep on… Read More
2018-03-10 04:25
Through my years involving higher education, both student and teacher, I have encountered a number of memorable educators. Two of my economics professors have come to prominence in the past… Read More
2018-02-01 14:39
For those who follow me on Twitter, you might have seen me acknowledge trending topics, at least on occasion. I find them fascinating, and often the mysterious ones (mysterious at least at f… Read More
2018-01-25 14:32
I just saw the Oscar-nominated "The Post", using MoviePass of course! (See "MoviePass - Fulfilling those 2018 resolutions".)The movie does a great job of bringing back the look and feel of t… Read More
2018-01-18 18:46
Being someone who is tuned in to timelines and history, I like LinkedIn for its emphasis on anniversaries. While they seem to come along more frequently these days (!), it's nice to hear fro… Read More
2018-01-12 17:39
A deal between MoviePass and Costco was quite popular, and extended beyond the holidays.Unlike many, I am a pretty big believer in New Year's resolutions. I give them thought in the weeks le… Read More
2017-12-22 17:24
Three months later, and I am still working away with my Rocketbook Wave, and making new discoveriesWow - it's hard to believe it's been nearly three months since my last post! That's definit… Read More
2017-09-27 16:06
The notebooks from the future I commented in a post a couple weeks back about my personal e-reading and writing habits. In a play on Back-to-school and inspired by an NPR story, "Two of… Read More
2017-09-13 15:15
"In the Age of Screen Time, is Paper Dead?" - This NPR story got me thinking about my own habitsA fascinating story on NPR got me thinking about my own experiences and habits when… Read More
2017-07-25 19:38
Google Glass is back! This time it's the Enterprise rather than the Explorer edition.I feel a special bond with last week's announcement that Google Glass is back. In coverage from The Verge… Read More
2017-06-29 20:10
Mossberg was in classic form in nailing it on the iPhone - it's not just a phone!Apple iPhone celebrates 10 years today and I've been using one about 98.5% of that time. I remember when one… Read More
2017-06-21 13:46
My early-2015 "ColorFest" - A new lime-green Kindle Fire, along with Chromebook and MouseWow - I haven't done one of those song-title-tribute headlines for quite awhile, and for that matter… Read More
2017-05-25 23:48
The modest 2% yty growth in quarterly revenues looks pretty good after 23 consecutive negative numbersSource: HPQ Investor RelationsHP Inc.'s second quarter 2017 results were announced yeste… Read More
2017-04-10 15:17
A new distance learning pursuit for me - Warblers!Going back a few months, when I decided to give my monthly Observations a rest, I also committed to doing some alternative coverage on this… Read More
2017-03-17 03:50
Stunning news today, at least from an Idaho perspectiveIn a stunning development, at least for a few HP old-timers like me, it was revealed that the State of Idaho is in the process of buyin… Read More
2017-01-25 23:12
Today brought to light a development in printing that I view as more fun than anything else. But since fun often places high on the interest list for me, I am sharing here.The new-product si… Read More
2017-01-23 16:19
Report - Problem with voice apps - stickinessAs an owner of Amazon Echo aka Alexa, and a gifter of Google Home, I was extra-curious about this morning's story in ReCode. Covering the market… Read More
2016-12-14 17:38
Teddy Ruxpin was one of those highly desirable toys in short supply during the 80'sIt started with toys, as I remember. The hot item that was in short supply during peak shopping season, and… Read More
2016-12-05 15:19
From HP Inc's Q4FY16 Results PresentationWow! Checking my last post (which announced the end of my regular monthly "Observations"), I was good to my word - nothing at all for the months of O… Read More
2016-09-30 02:21
Getting ready to “file” my monthly “Observations” for the 130th time since its debut in December 2005 in the Hard Copy Observer, it dawned on me (actually after much… Read More
2016-09-12 13:05
Breaking news this morning across the business world is HP's somewhat surprising $1 Billion acquisition of Samsung's printer business. The move is touted by HP as a path into the copier busi… Read More
2016-08-31 16:38
My beautiful new HP Chromebook 13 G1 is far from an invisible upgrade It’s that time of the year when the days suddenly seem noticeably shorter, the leaves start to show a little… Read More
2016-08-24 00:08
TechCrunch coverage of the storyTwo of the tech industry's household names have joined!http://thenextweb.com/apps/2016/08/23/pinterest-acquires-instapaper-wants-pin-just-photos/Of interest t… Read More
2016-07-31 14:47
July 2016 ObservationsWrinkles in the Innovation Development ModelMore on that Deskjet Family Tree3D Nanocolor is an interesting example of a “spin-out” technology promising pote… Read More
2016-06-29 01:46
A recent paper purchase included a "Free App" offerAs I read about the decline in HP Inc's ($HPQ) share price in today's stock market, and the reasons behind it (see "HP… Read More
2016-06-22 17:20
A recent paper purchase included a "Free App" offerAs I read about the decline in HP Inc's ($HPQ) share price in today's stock market, and the reasons behind it (see "HP… Read More
2016-06-07 23:59
During the quadrennial Drupa Commercial Printing conference, continuing through June 10, many deals and partnerships are announced. HP has featured some of this year's big ones, includi… Read More
2016-05-31 16:13
Even from remote locations with sketchy Internet, I did my best to keep up with the newsHaving been traveling for the majority of May and the latter half of April, it’s interesting to… Read More
2016-05-24 14:13
My Excel 2013 spreadsheet is forecasting $5.3 Billion for Q2, FY16As a long-time "quant" going back to my undergraduate days at University of Oregon, I have loved taking the opportunity for… Read More
2016-04-14 20:47
The times have been exciting for me lately, at least in terms of the geek side of my life. For the first time in nearly two-and-a-half years, I have recently upgraded my Apple iPhone, and af… Read More
2016-04-07 16:53
Retired HP ($HPQ) printer chief Vyomesh Joshi was back in the business news this week, being named CEO of 3D Systems ($DDD), a long-time leader in the field of 3D Printing. And at least one… Read More
2016-04-01 18:00
The "gold standard" in marketing research questions for assessing customer satisfaction has long been something along the lines of "would you recommend to a friend". But I think in the… Read More
2016-03-31 18:58
March 2016 ObservationsHunting for Printers on Product HuntAs an early adopter, at least across many product categories, I enjoy keeping my eyes and ears open to find out what's new in the w… Read More
2016-03-28 22:51
Product Hunt had fun with alliteration on this one! It seems like it has been way too long since my last "(fill in the blank) Printing" post, once a staple of Jim Lyons Observations. Go… Read More
2016-03-21 14:54
Apple enters "the jewellery [sic] market", but not with the approval of WozOn this morning of another highly anticipated Apple announcement, speculation surrounds a new, smaller iPhone and a… Read More
2016-03-17 20:05
Nike HyperAdapt 1.0: Self-lacing running shoes https://t.co/ZIOPdID3gV via @chaserson pic.twitter.com/pK4FlodAN3— Product Hunt (@ProductHunt) March 17, 2016 With the launch of Nike's H… Read More
2016-03-17 13:34
As an Apple Watch owner, daily wearer, and fan, I feel a vested interest in seeing the product do well. While my entry into the Smartwatch category didn't start with Apple (I previously owne… Read More
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