Embedded below.

Siri is responsible for a lot of funny moments since debuting mid-October.

First there was College Humor, now it’s the master – Mr. Robin Williams, doing his French version of Siri on The Ellen Show.

Via TechCrunch.

Hilarious!! Watched it 4 times now, still laughing.

TheNextWeb published, Hillel tweeted, by CollegeHumor.

Louis CK of course, who else?

The comedian appeared on Conan last Friday, sharing what he thinks about social media, Twitter (‘I follow no one’) and the mobile era. And thanks to Hillel for sharing.

Earlier today I did ‘a Scobleizer’, and deleted all of my RSS subscriptions from Google Reader. The decision to start fresh was growing in me for a few weeks now, and Scoble’s post from this morning only affirmed my decision.

Some prefix is required here, as I haven’t written about that topic in a while – the distribution and consumption of news. With the ‘Big 3′ in mind – Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and adding Flipboard and HitPad to the mix, I think I’ve reached some conclusions on where I turn to read what, which also seems to coincide with current public perception:

• Google+ is where serious discussion takes place, and valuable opinions and insights are shared. My good friend Hillel Fuld is a strong believer in Google+, mainly for the vibrating discussion that takes place. If you got your circles right, you’re in for a treat, content-wise, any time of day.
• Facebook is where the fun stuff is shared, racking up Likes and Shares all around. I might find there an interesting Share, but most of the time – I find myself ‘judging’ the content based on the photo used.
• Twitter is tricky. Among all other social networks, Twitter is the only one that actually broke psychical boundaries, making it easier for people like me to interact and tweet with people like Robert Scoble, Dave Morin, Daniel Bedingfield, Ashton Kutcher and many others. Having said that, Twitter still needs to find a way to deal with all the noise. Other than lists.
• I’d also mention LinkedIn, which made a huge leap news-wise when they released their new iPhone app, which includes the ‘Updates’ tab, for top shared news from my network. Hands down my favorite app for hot stories.

So now my RSS reader is clean (actually was clean for two hours or so), and I’ve already started adding feeds to it, in small doses: Dave Winer, Scoble, Boston.com’s The Big Picture, Google Android Developer Blog, and a few others. It’s taking shape again, but I think I’ll have 20 at the most (compared with 80+ I had last time). With the built-in Google+ integration, I hope the new Reader will help Google regain a place on my list.

What’s your favorite tool or social network for catching up with the news? How many feeds do you keep track after? Shout back here, on Google+ or on Twitter.

Last but not least: This is the 3rd post I’ve written from my iPad, and I do think it’s time I share a few thoughts on my shiny new gadget and how I use it. Stay tuned, more to come.

And I ride, and I ride, and I ride..

1,941 days.
June 26, 2006 – October 18, 2011.

Today, after 5 years and 4 months in captivity, Gilad Shalit returned home.

Gilad – welcome home!

In case you haven’t noticed, my wife and I ‘adopted’ a hybrid Belgian Shepherd last year, and he’s like the son we haven’t had yet. Neo (Twitter, Facebook) was the cutest little thing growing up, and when the little pisher was 4 months old, we got a trainer, first for puppy training and later on for full fledged discipline.

Almost everything we worked on with our trainer, Ceasr referred to in an episode, specifically the ‘pack leader‘ attitude, designed to show the dog who’s the boss. Especially effective is the ‘Tsst‘ sound, which is a way of correcting the dog when he’s doing something against his owner’s wishes or commands.

Because Cesar is so effective at his work, South Park ‘enlisted’ him for a full episode back in May 2006, titled ‘Tsst‘ of course, where Cesar is brought in by Cartman’s mom to help her with some expert advice. I’ve embedded a short clip here, but you must check the full video over on Cesar’s site. Hilarious!!

This line just cracked me up, but there’s so much more on the full video: ‘Dogs bite each other on the neck to show dominance, and it can work equally as effective on a child. It doesn’t hurt the child, just letting him know we’re the dominant‘. Priceless!!

Full video on Cesar’s site.

And most important: Stay calm and assertive

Steve P. Jobs died yesterday at 56 due to complications of pancreatic cancer.

Steve was a true visionary, that had a taste for product design and a perfectionist mind that led Apple to the top of the industry, in sales, units sold and most importantly – customer loyalty.

Steve, I wasn’t an Apple fanboy from the start, in fact, I was one of the ‘I’ll never get an iPhone’ type of people, and later ‘I’ll never get an iPad’. But now, I’m sporting both. As a marketer I’ll continue to take chapters from the unwritten book by which you conducted Apple’s PR and marketing, which made Apple one of the top brands in the world, and definitely the most loved one.

You have changed the industry with your breakthrough ideas and beautifully designed products, and changed the way I, and my family, lives. So thank you. And RIP.

Spotted this earlier this week over at Mashable.

It’s long, take your time

Napster was a game changer.

Facebook too.

Spotify as well.

When you’re thinking about Sean Parker, most of you probably see Justin Timberlake’s portrayal as Sean on The Social Network, which according to Parker messed him up: ‘I was a mess at that point because the movie had hit, the depiction of me was so far from reality I was having a hard time psychologically dealing with it.’

The quotes from internet personas are sometimes amazing – Jack Dorsey (Twitter): ‘It’s rare to find someone who can have those kinds of conversations. … I appreciate any conversation where I can walk away questioning ­myself and my ideas.’ Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook): ‘Perhaps more importantly, Sean helped ensure that anyone interested in investing in Facebook would not only buy into a company, but also a mission and vision of making the world more open through sharing.’ And the quotes go on.

Steven Bertoni of Forbes interviewed Parker for several days, flew with him to SF and was introduced to ‘a new time zone’: Sean Standard Time. The 6 page interview is long, but very interesting, providing a glimpse into one of the people that changed the internet as we know it.

Forbes: Sean Parker – Agent of Disruption

OK, this is very-very nice!

I know it’s been almost 2 months since my last post here, and you’ve been the most loyal readers – so thanks again for staying!!

Got back from a two and a half week long vacation in NYC and NH with my wife, which was absolutely great! I’ll write a more detailed post of what we did, where we stayed, which apps and services we used before, during and after our vacation, but it was truly a fun vacation. We were also in NYC ‘in time’ for Hurricane Irene, which will make a nice bedtime story to tell our grandchildren, one day in the future.

So, iPad. Yes, got one eventually, although as my wife reminded me shortly before swiping my card – ‘didn’t you call it a bigger iPhone only without cellular capabilities when it was launched last year’? Yes, I did. And hopefully in 90 days time, or maybe 20, I’ll sit down to write that ‘first 30 days with the iPad’ post, like Dan Frommer recently wrote (and I read on Flipboard for iPad two nights ago).

Anyhow, first post from the iPad, more to come.

Wow, I’m like REALLY behind on my posting here.. New job, new dog – you know how it goes .  But seriously, not cool, and thanks for sticking around! I have this post in draft since returning from our Honeymoon almost a year ago (August 26 – September 3), so it’s about time I’d finish writing & publishing it. Pics from our honeymoon are on Facebook.

Similar to my Beginners Guide to Prague post, this one will follow the same format – general information, the schedule, tips and best practices. Each day’s title links to a Google Maps route, so you’ll have a better understanding of distances/times. If you have comments or suggestions, don’t be shy – share away, here on tweet me @dvirreznik.

The view from our room @ Hotel Astoria Stresa, Lake Maggiore, Italy

General Information

When traveling to any country you have two options:

• Stay at one place and take day trips – the relaxed option
• Plan a course and drive, sleeping at different city every night.

Being on our honeymoon, we preferred the more relaxed format, taking daily trips to the major attractions in Northern Italy. Lago di Como, Lago di Maggiore and Lago di Garda are the three biggest lakes in northern Italy and we opted for Lake Maggiore and the town of Stresa as our honeymoon location. There’s plenty to do in the area, all within a day’s drive, even visiting Como – although we didn’t see George there. We pre-ordered our car (Hertz) in Israel, and even got ‘a honeymoon upgrade’ – from Ford Focus (Group D) to Mercedes SLK200 (Group W6)!

Yes, we're literally 'in' Lake Como, on a ferry

Communication-wise, it was before my Onavo days, so we had two phones: Nokia E72 with an Israeli SIM (texting, incoming calls) and a Samsung/Android with pre-paid Italian SIM for data and outgoing calls. The SIM was about 15 Euro, 250MB data and 200min calls – but remember to have your passport with you when purchasing it.

We also brought with us a Mio C320 Car GPS – which was probably one of the best decisions we did. You have no idea how easy it is to drive in a foreign country with those devices, not getting lost even once, and at times using it for in-city navigation, before buying the Italian SIM and launching Google Maps on our Android phone.

Wife and I have a rule – we’re NOT eating in fast food places when we travel (at home either), so supermarkets were our first or second stop of the day. Picking up 6-pack of 1.5l water bottles, fruits, bread, sliced salmon or salami, snacks – and off we went. We ended up doing spontaneous picnics in gorgeous places.

Schedule

Day 1

Sforzesco Castle, Milano

Landing in Milano Malpensa Airport late AM, we drove to Milano for a short visit, an hour’s drive. Milan Cathedral, Piazza del Duomo, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Sforzesco Castle were among the places we visited – definitely worth staying more, if you can spare it. Around 4/5PM we entered Hotel Astoria (recommended hotel) to the GPS and drove away.

Arriving around 9pm, hungry, decided to go to the center, 5min walk, grab something to eat. You remember our wedding in NYC back in 2010, at City Hall, where we grabbed someone we saw at the hall? Guess who was dining next to us, in Stresa, Italy? Joelle (aka our witness) and her husband!! What are the odds..

Tip: if you’re visiting Milano with a car, make sure to have change for the parking meter. Wouldn’t want to get a ticket on the very first day.

Day 2

Day 2 was dedicated to Stresa and the small garden islands in Lake Maggiore: Isola Bella, Isola Borromeo and Isola Madre. It was a bit cloudy, so we postponed the Stresa-Mottarone Funivia to a brighter day, and did a relaxed day in the city and boat ride to two of the three islands.

Tip: Isola Bella, ‘The Beautiful Island’, is a P-E-R-F-E-C-T location for a picnic. Get what you need before boarding the boat, make sure you bring wine and plenty of water.

Day 3

At the bottom of Cascata del Toce @ Formazza

If you’re into hiking, make sure you pin Cascata del Toce (Val Formazza). This waterfall, ‘The Most Beautiful, the most powerful among the waterfalls of the Alps’, is the highest in Italy and 2nd highest in Europe – a must-see sight! It will take you 2.5 hours to get there (BTW – perfect road for a sporty little roadster like SLK200 Kompressor!), plus another 3 hours to walk down (and back up) the 143m fall to the base. Cascata del Toce is open June till September, but ask your hotel concierge to verify opening hours.

Tip: Before arriving, stop at a local store, get some food, wine, have a picnic at the bottom of the fall. We even had a 30min nap before climbing back up.

Day 4

For day 4 we decided to drive to Lake Como and visit the cities of Como and Bellagio. Lake Como is like a upside ‘Y’, with the city of Como situated on the western leg, Bellagio right in the center. The drive to Como takes about 2 hours, highway most of the way, very easy. When arriving to Como, we were even more pleased for opting to stay at Stresa – Como has become to ‘touristy’, lots of people, noise, promenade was under renovation work – which meant the hotels on the first line suffered the most. After a short walk + lunch (again, supermarket and picnic on the promenade), we drove north, towards Bellagio. From Bellagio you take a ferry boat to Mennagio, where we ate dinner at a local restaurant before heading back to Stresa.

Tip: Dedicate a few hours to visit 2-3 of Lake Como Villas, such as Villa Carlotta and Villa d’Este.

Bellagio, Lago di Como

Day 5

Lake Maggiore is mostly Italian, but if you drive north along the shore, you’ll reach Switzerland in an hour. We dedicated the day to visit the Swiss cities of Locarno and Lugano, and before crossing the border stopped at Cannero Riviera, a European summer resort, very popular with the Nordic guys and gals. Good thing Hertz upgraded us to SLK200 – we felt a bit more at home arriving to Locarno and especially Lugano – Ferrari, Bentley and Porsche are a common sighting, fitting the wealthy population of those cities.

Tip: Head back to Stresa due south and stop at Campione d’Italia, an Italian municipality that is separated from Italy, located at the Swiss Lake Lugano. Beautiful little place, especially at dawn. Perfect for a short Italian coffee before hitting the road.

Locarno, Lake Maggiore, Switzerland

That’s about it. Overall we had 8 days of pure fun and relaxation. We could have driven to Venice and spend the night there, but decided against it eventually. Waking up each day to those deep blues of Lago di Maggiore was really all we needed.

I know, it’s been too long, even for me. It’s been over a month since my last post, and I apologize. Blogging is a two-way communication, and I’ve been neglecting it – thank you for sticking around!

I have lots of stuff I want to share, but lately (month or so), I find it’s easier, but mostly quicker, just sharing it on my Facebook profile or Twitter account. It’s not a trend, but definitely something worth exploring – maybe in a blog post: comparing the number of posts I wrote per month with work/life events. Think the results will be very interesting.

Thanks again for staying here, keeping that RSS subscription going – appreciate it.

See you soon, but in the mean time – SNL:

You wouldn’t believe how many draft posts I have here, stuff I read, encountered, experienced, and just couldn’t find the time to write. Not to mention the birthday weekend I spent with the wife in London. I hoped the Passover vacation will provide some freedom, but shortly after returning from London, our startup received awesome news – we’ve been accepted as a finalist to launch Onavo at TheNextWeb Startup Rally 2011 in Amsterdam!!

That’s the beauty of working at a startup – always on the move, always changing, always thinking ‘what if’. And TheNextWeb Conference 2011 is a major ‘what if’, which was part of my marketing plan with the possibility to literally disrupt everything we’re doing, preparing to launch our product to the world.

So, this week, Wednesday to Friday (27-29 April), I’ll be at Amsterdam with our Co-Founders, roaming the halls of TheNextWeb Conference. Onavo is presenting on stage Friday around 12:00 CET, right after Scoble keynote presentation on the main stage. To catch all the action from Amsterdam and TheNextWeb Conference, follow my Twitter feed, @dvirreznik, or the official TNW/TheNextWeb accounts. We’ve also tweaked the onavo.com homepage a bit, counting to the launch - check it out.

See you in Amsterdam!