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With apologies to Bing Crosby I just have to say that it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Yes, I know the shops are absolutely packed with people and finding an empty slot in the a carpark is like finding a gold nugget but it's been like that for weeks, now we're beginning to see all the signs that Christmas is just around the corner.

Steve took our car down to our mechanic this morning for a major service and was told to expect it back around mid-morning because they won't be working past lunchtime. One of our kids flew in yesterday and the airport was packed with parents waiting to pick up their grownup kids who were coming home for Christmas. We wanted to book our son on a fishing trip on Sunday but the boat's crew wasn't interested in working on Christmas Eve so he's heading out tomorrow instead.

Yep, all signs that Christmas is just about here and we are certainly looking forward to it.

The demise of Dmoz
I'm seeing lots of talk around at the moment that Dmoz is now dead and there is no doubt that it has taken some serious hits in the last couple of months but I think that it might be a bit too early to be measuring it up for a coffin just yet.

A couple of months ago one of the Dmoz servers crashed and some vital data was lost because there was no regular back ups being done. And the last time I looked Dmoz was still not taking submissions after that failure but there does seem to be some working being done to get Dmoz back to the point where you can submit your sites again.

Whether or not you want to submit to Dmoz is another thing. Even before the crash there were many who thought that submitting to Dmoz was fairly futile but Google does still use Dmoz - although you do have to ask yourself why.

There was a time when a listing in Dmoz actually meant something but these days it's common knowledge that you can buy a listing there regardless of whether or not your site has any relevance. Just before the crash one Webmaster that I saw mention of parted with $1000 for a listing so if you can buy your way into Dmoz why does Google still draw on its listings?

The demise of (add your own choice of social bookmarking and networking sites here)
As the year comes to an end more and more pundits, experts and legends in their own lunch boxes are coming out with predictions for 2007 and many of them seem to think that YouTube, MySpace, Digg, Technorati and every other social bookmarking and networking site on the Web is going to shrivel up and die in 2007.

And you know what? I bet those people will be making the same prediction at the end of 2007. Sure, something new will come along to take the place of those sites one day but it's not going to happen in 2007 so there's still money to be made from those sites and you would be silly not to include them in your business plans.

Broadband is about to reach over 50% of American households
Early in the New Year experts are predicting that over 50% of American households will be connected to the Net via broadband connections. Now what you do with that little piece of information is entirely up to you and I'm sure that there will be some that will immediately rush off and start building sites specifically for high-speed connections.

If that's what you want to do then good luck to you but Steve and I will still be thinking about all those people who are still on dial up. Those people have credit cards too and they know how to use them ... as long as they're not kept waiting for a site to load.

Christmas
And that's just about it from me. This Christmas Steve and I have family and friends coming over for Christmas lunch. Here in Australia Christmas falls in summer (sorry if you think that's stating the obvious but a lot of people in other parts of the world don't seem to realize that) and they're forecasting temperatures in the high 80s here for Christmas Day.

So we'll be out on the back patio with plenty of cold drink - Australian beer and wine - and for lunch we'll be having cold turkey, ham and prawns (shrimps) along with a lot of salad. About the only part of the meal that will be hot will be the Christmas pudding with Brandy custard - we can't turn our back on tradition entirely now can we?

And now Steve and I both want to wish you all a merry Christmas (or Happy Holiday if that's more appropriate) and we'll raise a glass to you all on Christmas Day :)