Several months ago, our desktop computer -- an old HP that was the remnants of a "We're sending you the new Xbox 360 to review and Microsoft wants to make sure that you can test the Media Connect features so they are including a computer along with it" loaner that, uh, never, um, made its way back home -- took a silicon dump. I'm not really sure what happened to it. (Though if I had to venture a guess, I *might* would implicate Dana and the many, MANY coupon blogs and little in...

Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, FourSquare, Blogging, kvetching, whatever you want to call it and whatever particular brand or flavor you buy into and support, all of this newfangled stuff falls under the big, new and juicy umbrella of "Social Media." And you might would think that it would be enough to just reach as many people as possible, to cast your seed to the wind, and have your ideas germinate where they may, and in turn to harvest the occasional nugget or morsel ...

My brother, Adam, generously gifted me an iPad2 several months ago. I had been wanting -- and wanting -- an iPad for a while, but when the launch of the 2 was imminent, I decided to hold off. Then when it came out, our local Best Buy didn't have them in stock, and blah, blah he finally got one for me, himself, and my parents and his wife's parents. Based on usage by not only me but Dana and Lauryn, it is seriously one of the best presents I've ever received. (Also awesom...

Of all the tech in my home, it is probably a close tie between my Theater System and my laptop which gets more use. On the one hand, we watch A LOT of TV and movies and listen to a bunch of music. On the other, I loves me some computer. But between the two, only one of them actually makes me money. While I’d love you all to dearly believe that I write solely for the purpose of freely titillating and amusing you all, the truth is, the majority of *real* writing is the stuf...

While I’d certainly like to build up my profession as a custom installer and make it seem like what I do is SO difficult and strenuous and mentally taxing and requiring brain-surgeon-level-expertise, the truth is, most times, it really isn’t. There is way more monotony of "Black wire to black connection, red wire to red connection..." than any real rocket science.

Sure there are those daunting times when you walk onto a new 12...

Home theater is what got me into this business. From the moment that I experienced a home theater – the movie Speed on one friend’s LaserDisc player and another friend’s dad’s JBL Movies and Music audio system – I was hooked. I’d always loved movies, and I had no idea that sound could actually get better than the ...

When I first joined Custom Theater and Audio back in 1998, my partner and I thought our competition was a local alarm installer who kept trying to break into distributed audio. We would see him on jobs and be told that we were competing against his bids. Occasionally he'd do a mid-sized home theater system, but, again, ultimately time took his business on a different road.

Then we heard that Best Buy was going to be coming to town and we...

I had a pretty typical experience of becoming the World Wide Web showroom a few days ago. I got a phone call that starts off, “I got my bill in the mail. You said it would be $60, and it was $75.”

I want to say, “Hey! You're talking to me all wrong… It's the wrong tone. You do it again and I'l...

Today started off seemingly normal and innocent enough. Got up at a reasonable 8:30, quick check of the e-mail on the iPad, fed the Nut Guy (Lauryn’s guinea pig, Nutsy) a carrot, turned on the super automatic coffee maker, jumped in the shower. You know, things off to a pretty routine start. But then, click-clack, BOOM! Drama starts.

First Barrel: The Internets

“A-B-C. A – Always. B – Be. C – Closing. Always be closing. ALWAYS…BE…CLOSING! A-I-D-A. Attention, Interest, Decision, Action. Attention - Do I have you attention? Interest - Are you interested? I know you are, because it's f--- or walk! You close or you hit the bricks. Decision - Have you made your decision for Christ? And Action. A-I-D-A, get out there!” – Best…speech…ever! Glengarry Glen Ross

Lauryn the Artist is always pushing and challenging herself to find new ways to express the pent-up, ready-to-boil-over-rage of artistic expression that always seems to be ever-lurking just below the surface of that giant mount of curls and tangles which is her hair. While she has given exclusive artist interviews in the past she is generally more aloof...

First, I’m going to say that I think this is potentially a million dollar idea. Maybe even more. After my little missive on the giant Web companies and their many millions of dollars of seemingly untraceable income, it might be just the kind of hare-brained scheme that people would pony-up REAL money for. Walking around money. Jet money. I actually woke Dan...

Music. Seriously. Music. It is a hugely important, practically constant part of my daily, waking life. Usually from the moment I wake-up – which is almost as quickly followed by a, “Turn that down! That’s too loud for starting off the morning!” from Dana -- to my car ride to work, to some system on all day at work, to my car ride back home, to walking back into the house and being told, “Turn that down! That’s too loud when we’re...

I’m going to be totally honest and up front before I even begin here… I have yet to use Spotify’s music service. (Even though I signed myself up and someone else says they sent me an invite. Harumpf!) So, I am going to be throwing out some gripes and comparisons and some, “What the hell’s?!” here against a service that I haven’t actually personally used yet. Which is not normally how I likes to do. So, if I’m off in some ar...

According to The Wiki, “An expert (also called cognoscente) is someone widely recognized as a reliable source of technique or skill whose faculty for judging or deciding rightly, justly, or wisely is accorded authority and status by their peers or the public in a specific well-distinguished domain. An expert, more generally, is a person with extensive knowledge or ability based on research, experience, or occupation and in a particular area of study.”

A few of weeks ago I posted a bloggie speculating who should pay when a manufacturer’s product messes up. Then – because it’s how I do – I posted a second and (quite) lengthy follow-up rant. Essentially, when things break i...

There is a special relationship that exists between hero and nemesis; between archetype and foil; between Holmes and Moriarty. Or, rather in this case, between Sciacca and Wilkinson.

If you’ve read any of my blog over the past 500 entries, chances are you’ve at some point stumbled across mentions of Herr Wilkinson, or perhaps just use of his Christian name, Darryl, or even the informal-est of all, “DW.” In fact, s...

“This is a story of blog meets world. The blog, John Sciacca Writes, grew up believing that it would never truly be happy until the day it met the one. This belief stemmed from early exposure to depressing chick rock and a total mis-reading of many of its Top 10 Movies. The one, you, from wherever, did not share this belief. Since the proliferation of other blogs and twe...

If you’re anything like me, you probably obsess over things. Things like am I getting as many new Twitter followers as fast as that other guy and are people going to think this was witty and clever enough to merit them taking the time to read and even though it looked like it was going to start pouring rain at any moment, why did I leave my windows down anyhow? Additionally, you probably also don’t give much thought to your Internet connection.