According to my Last.FM profile, here are my top artists (and number of times I’ve listened to their songs) for 2011.

1. Bob Dylan (557 plays)

2. Hot Water Music (556 plays)

3. The Wooden Birds (502 plays)

4. Daft Punk (433 plays)

5. Johnny Cash (422 plays)

6. Bad Religion (406 plays)

7. State Radio (358 plays)

8. Otis Redding (338 plays)

9. Against Me! (329 plays)

10. Amos Lee (325 plays)

Hey folks,

Today is my last day at gdgt. It’s hard to believe that I joined the team almost 3 years ago. Time flies when you’re having fun! It’s been a wild ride, but it’s time for me to pursue some new opportunities in 2012!

I want to thank the gdgt community for making my job an absolute blast and helping create something awesome! It’s been a fun experience chatting with everyone on gdgt, on Twitter, and even in person at our gdgt live events. I’ve met a countless number of great people, and for that, I’m super thankful.

Thanks for the fun times and happy memories!

Until next time,

-Dave

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When I heard that Walter Isaacson was doing the Steve Jobs biography, I was quite excited about the potential. I loved his biographies on Albert Einstein and Ben Franklin (and his Henry Kissinger bio has been highly recommended). Needless to say, it was an instant pre-order.

The biography takes a look at the various parts of Steve’s life, from his upbringing as an adopted child, to his care free lifestyle and travels through India, to starting a company, getting kicked out, and then ultimately coming back.

Overall, the book was an interesting read and had some fascinating nuggets of information. But I found myself disappointed as I read further and further into the book. Isaacson had unprecedented access to Steve Jobs. I was really hoping that he could get inside his head, pick him apart, and come up with what made him tick, his thought processes, etc.

Unfortunately, he really didn’t. What we’re instead left with is a superficial look at Steve’s life in the first half of the book, and a look at Apple’s various product launches in the second half of the book. As I write this, news comes out today that Isaacson is planning an addendum to the Jobs biography in the future — adding more information and filling in some gaps.

Overall, the book was still an interesting read, and I think anyone who is a fan of technology will find it enjoyable. I just wish it was more fulfilling.

View all my reviews

I’ve censored the following, in protest of a bill that gives any corporation and the US government the power to censor the internet–a bill that could pass THIS WEEK. To see the uncensored text, and to stop internet censorship, visit: http://americancensorship.org/posts/4757/uncensor

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