Greetings and salutations!  It's time for another edition of Quick Hits.

- We had one of those rare gratifying days Tuesday of this week when everything (and I mean everything) came together.  We had six or seven balls in the air and every single one of them came through by noon that day.  Some days are diamonds and some are stones.  Tuesday was a diamond.  Now to the hard part of getting everything done.  I have to say it was pretty cool.  More to come on all of that.

- I am writing this blog post using Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2, not because I'm interested but more because I'm curious about all the web sites that won't work well now.  Particularly amusing was Windows Live Hotmail, which is now wrecked with the latest greatest browser.  It isn't all that easy to compose this post since I have some rather basic functionality all of a sudden.  Moving my cursor to the right place is a chore.  All told this new version of IE will make life easier on web developers, but in the short run things are going to suck.

- What does it say when I get pinged by three friends in different law firms about Web 2.0 issues all within a few weeks?  The requests have ranged from basic education to an all out partnership proposal.  I think it reflects that mainstream companies are now finally beginning to take Web 2.0 technologies such as social networking, blogging, etc. seriously.  Let's face it.  The attorneys get interested when they know they'll see a dramatic increase in cases that result from a new business phenomenon.  Clearly they are starting to hear about it at cocktail parties, in board rooms, etc.  What happens when every consumer brand has a product manager in the blogosphere?  I mean, do you really need to hear from the Associate Product Manager of the P'Zone?  
You laugh, but I'm seeing a few things that would indicate that companies you wouldn't expect are going to start adopting Web 2.0 and running campaigns to achieve their business objectives. 

- My wife and I are officially moving back to Texas, as the Austin skyline graphic at the top of the screen would indicate.  Why Austin?  Well, first of all it is home for us — we're comfortable there.  Second, I like the fact that Austin is a relatively cheap place to do business.  I know all the advantages of being on the West Coast, but I don't think it is necessary to be headquartered there to build a thriving company.  But over and above everything else, I believe in Austin and the community there and I am committed to helping the community grow.  If all the people who love an area leave it for greener pastures (and don't stick around to make the situation better), it becomes a fait accompli that talented people will continue to flee.  I want to bring my talents to a place I love in the hope that my presence will help.  With me, I hope to bring jobs, opportunity, and upside to folks who choose to work with us.  We'll likely maintain an office in Seattle and/or the Valley — and those two places are just a flight away.  But in the end, I want to live in Austin, I think there some advantages to doing business there, and I want Notice Technologies to become an Austin success story.  We'll see what happens.  Moving day is October 4th.

- Moving cross country is a chore, but it's a lot easier when you plan ahead.  Almost everything we need to do is done.

- Microsoft's attempt to sell Vista through pitchman & Mac user Jerry Seinfeld just shows you the fact that Microsoft is very comfortable buying its way out of trouble.  I suspect this will help somewhat, but the fact remains that Vista is a beast.  Here's hoping Windows 7 is considerably better.

- I noticed today that I now store many of my business files on a Mesh folder and I run my e-mail through a combination of Google and Outlook.  Why exactly do I need to back everything up next time I clean my hard drive?  People keep talking about the big bang that will take place when "The Cloud" takes over.  I'd argue it is happening as we speak, not with a bang but with a whimper.

- I was asked the other day why I don't blog so much about Google.  I just don't have anything new to say about them — at least anything that hasn't been said.  Adwords is great but maybe getting too clever.  Google Docs isn't quite ready for primetime, nor is it as good as Open Office.  Google needs a second trick.  I'm taking a wait & see attitude towards Android.  There ya have it.

Finally, a personal note… my ultra-supportive wife is looking for work down in Austin.  She has a background in design/marketing/branding and she's worked at Trilogy Software, Pentagram (world class design agency), and most recently a startup entertainment furniture company here in Seattle.  If any of you Austin folks have leads on interesting jobs, please send them my way.  She's smart, extremely talented, and she'd make a great addition to your team!