Not including my new Canon EOS40D, the extraordinary thing was the amount of "Happy Birthday" wishes I received this year. In particular the amount from Social Networks like Facebook and Twitter.
This started a discussion with a wide variety of friends on what can facebook and social networks really do that is valuable!
Social Networks
Facebook makes it very easy to remember your friends birthdays - its right in front in a news feed. What is also intersting is the amount of friends that regularly log in to facebook.
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Instant Messaging
More friends ping me on MSN + Yahoo Messengers.
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Mobile Phone & SMS
Throughout the day my phone would ring with mates wishing me happy birthday - question: what do they use to remind them?
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A few more send me an email wishing me happy birthday.
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Face to Face
And then friends I over the week wished me happy birthday. Obviously they have my birthday in a calendar somewhere.
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I know for a long time I tried to store my close friends birthdays in my phone and sync it with Outlook.