Huge Story Monday Morning

If you didn't hear this news over the weekend, it's time to WAKE UP PARENTS and keep an eye on EVERYTHING your kids are doing online. Not just on a computer...on video games, cell phones and anything else connected to a network or the Internet.

A Kentucky man was arrested late last week for solicting nude photos from an 11 year-old Humble girl. Via a Sony Playstation 3. Little did her parents realize that a PS3 -along with Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii - can connect to the Net and allow for communication with others. Chat, photo sharing and more.

I just spoke with Sgt. Gary Spurger of the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable's Office who played an integral part in this case. This was the first case of its kind anywhere in the fact that he and his team had to contact Sony in Japan to track down the data stream between the Kentucky man and the 11 year-old girl.

Sgt. Spurger will join me in studio Monday morning at 9am to talk about this case including the intricate process of how the predator was tracked down and arrested. It is an incredible story from his position with the Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children unit.

I am now tracking down the parents of the young girl to see if they would like to tell their story. I'm sure they want to prevent anything like this happening to other kids and parents.

Live from Cy Fair Home and Garden Show

I'll be hosting my HTT Show this Saturday from the Cy Fair Home and Garden Show. Stop by and say "whattup" near the entrance to the Berry Center between 11a-2p. You'll get an official "Don' Mess With The High-Tech Texan" t-shirt while supplies last.

Topics include: new Netflix devices, how to delete accounts from any website, how far the web has come in 20 years, the new Shuffle, info about the upcoming iPhone OS and more.

Off to Las Vegas next week for some weekday shows and next Saturday's technology show. Props to Continental Airlines and Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino for hosting us. First class airline (and seat) and first class hotel. Now if they can only help me out at the craps table...

A Real Work Week

This daily job thing can kill a person. Waking up early, dropping the kids at school, navigating traffic and then finding topics that people care about and talking about them for hours. I am beat!

But having a J-O-B is kind of C-O-O-L right now. I'll suck it up. ;)

Day 1 of The MG Show went OK. I was kind of all over the place with topics but I hit some nerves when talking about the traditional dying media. TV viewership is sliding and newspapers are cutting back and starting to charge for content.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the Business and City&State sections COMBINED in the Chron today. Things really must be tough. I got several calls and emails about that.

Scouring topics for tomorrow but the RyanAir possibly charging for in-flight toilets story is catching my eye.

My Brand Extension

So I create this brand called "The High-Tech Texan" back in 2001. I research every bit of technology I can, test and review thousands of products, host a tech-oriented radio program on Houston's biggest talk radio station and provide sound bites and appearances to TV stations about the latest technology news and gadgets. Now what?

The geniuses at our station want me to talk even more! About other things. So starting Monday, March 2, at 9:00am CT, we invite you to tune in and WATCH "The Michael Garfield Show." Or as I like to call it, "The World According To Garf."

I actually tried this once before on our station a few years ago. Did the Mon-Fri thing for about 8-9 months before station management (one again those geniuses) brought in a syndicated morning show. I fell back to my technology schtick on Saturday afternoons and have been quite comfy with my 3 hour work week. Now I go the office 6 days a week for you.

While we continue to figure out exactly which direction to take the show, no doubt we will discuss local issues (upcoming mayoral and gubernatorial elections; T-Mac is a whiny baby), daily news (which company let go 10,000 employees today?; how far did your stocks fall today?), pop culture, entertainment, lifestyle and yes, maybe just a little tech. But we will be leaning on you to contribute.

We will lean on the web and email to get listener comments and feedback but also utilize my tried-and-true live videoconference. Using omNovia's web conferencing service, you can see what's going in our studio but also everyone else logging on with a webcam. But please keep your clothes on and brush your hair.

Online social networking is en fuego now and I will be all over Facebook and Twitter to start. Make sure to add me as your Facebook "friend" and join "The World According To Garf" group. Twitter users can follow me here. And you never know what you may WIN (I know, a cheesy way to get listeners and fans but so what).

And if the show is not enough, check out my brand new website here. The team at JDCommerce did an incredible job of building this new site with an updated look packed with features like videos, links, blog, downloads, email newsletter and a quick way to listen and watch my shows online. The site was created in just a matter of weeks to coincide with the new show. There is no reason why JDCommerce can't do the same for you.

So welcome to my new worlds, both real and virtual. Won't you be my neighbor (and "friend")?