{"id":23243,"date":"2013-11-18T09:12:27","date_gmt":"2013-11-18T14:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=23243"},"modified":"2013-11-18T09:12:27","modified_gmt":"2013-11-18T14:12:27","slug":"hiccups-versus-cockroaches-open-table-shines-motorola-doesnt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=23243","title":{"rendered":"Hiccups versus cockroaches. Open Table shines. Motorola doesn’t."},"content":{"rendered":"

BA is up 30.9% since it hiccuped on its battery fire problems. Tesla is down 30% since its first battery problems. You have to judge– hiccup or cockroach? In this case it was pretty easy. The moral is follow Buffett’s advice: Buy when the blood is flowing.<\/em><\/p>\n

Susan loves Open Table. <\/strong>She makes every restaurant reservation on it. She savors the 100 points she gets — her Frequent Eater Points.<\/em> One day we’ll cash in all our points and get a free meal, or a free drink or a free something. Restaurants that are pushing themselves will give you a thousand points. It’s a neat system. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Open Table (OPEN) has an effective monopoly on restaurant reservations in the U.S., and soon the world. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The stock has skyrocketed.<\/p>\n

\"OPenTable\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Good idea to listen to your wife’s enthusiasms. Dumb me for not listening earlier.<\/p>\n

Microsoft has released 3D printing software for Windows 8.1.<\/strong><\/span> Eventually every classroom will have a 3D printer. For more, read here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Places to Visit Before They Disappear.<\/strong><\/span> Include The Dead Sea, The Maldives, The Athabasca Glacier,\u00a0 the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands,\u00a0 and Glacier National Park. From Men’s Journal.<\/em> Click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Philippines typhoon damage — before and after.<\/strong> <\/span>Horrifying. Clearly obvious how coastal communities suffered the worst — because of the 13+ foot waves. Click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The Motorola story:<\/strong><\/span> From Wikipedia:<\/p>\n

After having lost $4.3\u00a0billion from 2007 to 2009, the company was divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility<\/a> and Motorola Solutions<\/a> on January 4, 2011. Motorola Solutions (MSI) is generally considered to be the direct successor to Motorola, Inc., as the reorganization was structured with Motorola Mobility being spun off and later sold to Google. MSI has done well:<\/p>\n

\"MSIChart\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And had I been intelligent, I would have figured that out. But I’ve never been impressed with Motorola.<\/p>\n

MSI makes set-top boxes for Verizon FiOS, which I have. The boxes are neither reliable nor “full-featured.” i.e. not designed by Apple. Here are my two favorite Motorola “change-out” stories.<\/p>\n

+ When Verizon replaced my busted Motorola PVR box (the one with the recording features), Verizon technicians told me there was “no way” to transfer my recordings or my instructions from the old Motorola box to the new one. I’d have to program them all over again! Real time-saver that one.<\/p>\n

+ When Verizon replaced my busted by normal cable box (the one without the recording features) they apologized that it now lacked a digital clock — a popular feature among Verizon customers, many of whom were now furious. Here’s the new box, as photographed by my trusty iPhone 5S this morning. Note the lack of a digital clock, but a white digital power button. The deletion of the clock probably saved MSI at least three cents a box!<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Settopbox2\"<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Favorite picture from “Backstage with Victoria’s Secret<\/em>.”<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

\"BackstageatVictoriasSecret\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You can see the rest of Vanity Fair’s 48 backstage photos here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Favorite New Yorker cartoon this week. <\/strong>(Remember last week’s columns on the contemporary art world?)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"$142milllion\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"HarryNewton\"<\/a>
\nHarry Newton who remains besotted with his first grandchild, Eleanor. Michael and Anne brought her home from the hospital this weekend and recorded this priceless video. Of course, it would better if Michael had shot this iPhone video horizontally (like all movies). But grandfathers can’t be choosers. Good neck exercise. This priceless video is called\u00a0 TheSneeze<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n