It was supposed to be the must-have gadget of the year. But the numbers so far indicate the Apple iPhone hasn’t panned out to be the must-use gadget of the year.

AT&T is reporting fewer people than expected signed up to use iPhone. The device’s exclusive carrier says it activated 146,000 iPhones on June 29th and 30th.

Apple aimed to sell at least a-half million iPhones in its first weekend. The news caused a drop in Apple’s stock prices.

The dip may be short-lived. Analysts say many people could have had trouble activating the phone.

Image: Associated Press

First impressions are everything, aren’t they? My mom used to tell me all the time that you don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression. Apparently Dan made a good first impression with my son, Nicholas. A few nights ago we were watching the news and my son asked me, “What is Dan doing?” I told my son, “Honey, I don’t know for sure, but he might be watching the news just like we are!” Knowing that he and Dan were doing the same thing at the same time seemed to make my son very happy.

Speaking of first impressions, Dan, Paul and I got a chance to meet our new evening anchor team yesterday. Trisha and Todd will start anchoring our evening newscasts in September. They both made a very good impression. They are both very nice, down-to-earth people. Trisha has two small children and Todd has a three-year-old daughter. Needless to say, most of my conversation with them had to do with parenting and the constant struggle of trying to juggle parenting and a career. I won’t give away too many details about Todd and Trisha. You will no doubt get a chance to learn all about them and their journalistic skills. I do hope, however, that you will be so gracious as to invite them into your home every evening… as you so kindly welcome Dan, Paul, Tom and I into your home every morning.

Doesn’t it seem as though people are in a better mood when the weather is nice?  For example, this weekend the weather was absolutely gorgeous.  We enjoyed nice, warm temperatures without any humidity. Ahhhh.  I must admit, however, that when we took the kids swimming on Saturday, it took awhile for us to warm up.  The water was a bit chilly at first.  Still, the weather was a blessing and we were determined to soak up as much sunshine as possible.  It seemed as though everywhere we went this weekend people were happy and content.  I’d guess the weather had something to do with it.  Then again, maybe we just lucked out and were fortunate enough to only visit “happy places.”

Dan had a fun weekend, too.  He and and girlfriend went boating in Kentucky.  Apparently, as they were making their way through some small towns in Bluegrass Country, they somehow ended up in the middle of a parade!  Good thing Dan has parade experience, so I’m sure he handled himself well.  He doesn’t seem to have much a sweet tooth though, so I don’t think he had any candy in the backseat of his car to throw out to the locals.

According to Paul, we’re expecting another beautiful day today.  I hope you have a chance to get out and enjoy it.  If you can get enough people together, maybe you can have your own parade.  Just don’t be surprised if Dan shows up.

Indiana researchers are studying online security in an unusual way. The study is sending out hundreds of fake emails that link readers to a website.

The online technique is called phishing and it seeks sensitive information from unsuspecting computer users. Today it is one of the biggest problems in online scamming.

A study in May found that 72 percent of students fell for an email that sought usernames and passwords. Those conducting the research say the best way to understnad online security is to act like a bad guy.

For more information on the IU study, visit Stop-Phishing.com.

Image: Indiana University

Online DVD rental pioneer Netflix is lowering the price of its two most popular subscription plans. The reduction will be a dollar a month.

The price cuts are part of an effort to match fees set by rival Blockbuster. The new rates on NetFlix.comare $16.99 per month for a plan that lets subscribers keep up to three DVDs at a time. The price for a similar plan that lets customers keep just one DVD at a time is now $8.99 a month.