Porsche's new four-door super-sports sedan

Super, dead-sexy, new four-door super-sports sedan by Porsche called the Panamera, via Autoblog…

Gallery: Porsche Panamera Tech Briefing and First Ride

Gorgeous Defender, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

This is one hell of a gorgeous Land Rover Defender 90 in my neighborhood.

Emanuel Rosen sent me a review copy of his new book, The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited — he took the time to personalize the inscription and send along a card — this is WOM done right — I would expect nothing less from the Maestro! How cool is that? I will report on the book as I read through it. Updates forthcoming.

Brett Petersel, Darren Harper, Chris Abraham at DC TechKaraoke

I am doing what I can to help DC become social media rockstar!  Here’s a photo of social media rockstar Brett Petersel, social media rockstar Darren Harper, and little ole me. If you have a chance, check out TechKaraoke!

Since February 27th, DomainTools has overcharged my account $213.

DomainTools Zombie Fraudulent Ghost Charges

As an Internet geek, I have always been a member of DomainTools for the mad ninja whois and name server tools they offer.  They even have registration tools that allow me to track the history of domain registration.  Well, since February 27, 2009, they have been grabbing money hand over fist from my account with line items such as “Additional 10 Units rebilled monthly (expires May 5th, 2008)” and “10 Units rebilled monthly (expired).”  Here’s the crazy image of the craziness going on.  Is this happening to anyone else?  Is DomainTools getting hacked, has it gone zombie, and are people getting their money back?

Follow up 20:04 2 March 2009: I am starting to see refunds coming in from the above charges.  I have this lovely email:

Hello Chris:

Thank you for your inquiry.  Our Dev Team is currently working to resolve the billing issue that has affected your account.  We will certainly refund every duplicate charge to your PayPal account immediately.

We will also upgrade your ticket to Billing Support so that we can follow up accordingly with you if necessary.  We apologize for the error and any inconvenience this may have caused.

Thank you again for using DomainTools.

Best regards,

Tim P
DomainTools Client Support

Sweet Steamroller Single Speed, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

7″ Model 1 Randall Made Knife, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

After four years, I finally received my bespoke, hand-made, Randall Model 1 “All-Purpose Fighting Knife.” Instead of tearing right into the box, I paused and filmed a nine-minute unboxing video and took some photos of the knife — knife porn.

Dancing on the Table at the Bird, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

So, Charlie, John, and I go to a local burger joint in Prenzlauer Berg and then hang around a while drinking some beers and then, all of a sudden, the pH balance of the table next to us changed and I caught the above photo on my Nokia N95. Spontaneous table dancing by an incidental table dancer.

The low light coupled with the bad lighting resulted in a muddy photo. Luckily, I know what I am doing in Photoshop and was able to recover this image. I actually love this photo the best out of all of them in the set. Just another night out in Berlin, Germany. Very odd but not remotely abnormal.

Nokia N97, originally uploaded by Robert Scoble.

Robert Scoble started a bit-storm when he got his hands on the Nokia N97 even before I have scored myself an N96. I love love love my Nokia N95 8GB and use it as my 5mp camera, my QIK video camera, and my official podcast-listening device. I wake up this morning and there are a million articles about the Nokia N97 all over the place: Robert Scoble, Gizmodo, Engadget, SlashGear, MobileCrunch, GSMArena, Atmaspheric Endeavors, UnwiredView, Mobile.ie, PhoneMag, Laptop Mag, Geeky Gadgets, Mobile Tech Addicts, GadgetHeat, The S60 Blog, Inside View, Scoble’s Flickr, Teche Blog, Mobile Fun, CNet UK, Phones Review, The Serious Games Blog, TechLime, SlashPhone

The Deutsche Bank Store of the Future, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

When I arrived in Berlin, my buddy Mark told me that I had to follow him halfway across town, past dozens of banks, including a number of Deutsche Banks, from where we were in Moabit down to Friedrichstraße, south of Straße des 17. Juni, to one particular Deutsche Bank called Die Deutsche Bank der Zukunft — “Deutsche Bank of the Future.”

Well, the service is superb! There is a cafe with coffee and food. When you interact with a bank manager, it is in the cafe with personal service. Also, the cafe is open to the public, there is a boutique store in the front with high-end gifts, including gifts from Harrods, strangely enough. I have always been treated like I am rich and important when I am there, no matter how I am dressed or how unshaven. Everyone speaks English, as well.

Not only that, but I am told that, in general, service sucks in Germany, especially in Berlin, especially the service offered in Banks. Maybe a hold-over from Soviet-era bureaucracy — maybe all of the bureaucratic former Eastern Germans ended up manning all of the Berlin banks. Well, that is not the case with the Deutsche Bank of the Future!

Die Deutsche Bank der Zukunft
(Private & Business Clients)
Friedrichstraße 181
10117 Berlin
Germany
+49 30 460611-0
+49 30 460611-99 Fax
Bank Code: 10070024
Swift Code: DEUTDEBBXXX / DEUTDEDBBER
Opening Hours
Monday – Tuesday: 10:00 – 20:00
Wednesday: 10:00 – 18:00
Thursday – Saturday: 10:00 – 20:00

Thank you to both Howard  B. Greenstein and Dean Landsman for being so generous with their experience and insight.  Here are some assets associated with their “What Old Media can teach New Media: Media Convergence & Integration, Social Media, and Professionalism” presentation at the Social Media Camp NY, held at the offices of Sun Microsystems in New York City.  Here’s the brilliant presentation!

Social Media Camp NYC, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

Seiko 6309 Diver, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

Dinner in Berlin 12.12.07, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

A night out with friends in Berlin from back in December, 2007. A very fine night and how odd to actually have been a gray beard.

Eat Pizza in Berlin at Due Forni, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

If you’re hungry, thirsty, and want to look at hipsters in their native environment — and cute girl-hipsters, too — then you need to drop into the Kreuzberg watering hole, Due Forni, which is Italian for “two ovens.” It is delicious and cheap and fresh and yummy. It is also loud and large and vibrant and always full. Make sure you visit at least once and don’t be afraid of making it your home. Berlin waiters need to be dated and seduced — the longer the relationship the better they will treat you, no matter how well you tip. (Adresse: Schönhauser Allee 12, 10119 Berlin)

My Foul-Weather Gear, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

There’s a little bit of rain every day in Berlin in the Spring. For that, I wear my Barbour jacket and strap on my PAC courier bag for my daily commute to class or to the shops. There are gloves and a watch cap in one of the pouch pockets of the jacket. The bag is brown and the jacket is green; the bag is rain-proof and the jacket is waxed against the rain. I even have fenders on my single-speed commuter.

My Drug Stash Ready for Taking, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

Mark bought me a persimmon Nespresso coffee maker which requires coffee pods. Every week or so, I bike over to KaDeWe to pick up some new pods in the sisyphusian task of keeping up with the addiction. I generally pick up an assortment of Vivalto Lang and Ristretto Kurtz pods.

Bartenders at China Club Berlin, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

These two lads, at the China Club Berlin bar, are the best bartenders I have ever had the pleasure to encounter.

What an Evening of German Study Looks Like, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

A course book, a workbook, a notebook, and a bottle of wine make for a night of study.

This is My Happy German Class, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

Here’s my devoted class of fellow and oftentimes very young German students in our German 1 class at the Hartnackshule. We have students from South Korea, Cyprus, China, Vietnam, Iran, Israel, Peru, Greece, Brazil, Guinea, and many other lands. Our teacher, Wolfgang Sprenger, is awesome, funny, engaging, and a real treat.