When I turned 40 in January, I declared that the next 10 years would be my Decade of Wealth and Influence. (My 30s were, at least in theory, my Decade of Risk. That’s a story for another day.) Six months in, I can’t say I’m making much progress in the wealth department, but much to my surprise, at least some people seem to think I’m influential. I’ve been named one of MacTech’s 25 most influential people in the Macintosh community—I even get my picture in a printed magazine. Weird. My blurb in the article, featuring a now somewhat outdated bio (I really should update my “about” page a little more frequently), is on this page.

The article, cribbed as it was from (an earlier version of) my description of myself on this site, doesn’t say why it is that people think I’m an influential figure. And I find the whole thing curious, in a way, because even though I write an awful lot about Macs, I don’t really write with the goal of changing anyone’s mind about anything. I help people to get their work done and solve problems, and I report some news, but in terms of offering actual opinions, I haven’t said much beyond “you really really really need good backups.” Even Interesting Thing of the Day, which now has well over 150,000 feed readers, is merely expository in nature, not hortatory. Not that I’m complaining or anything; it’s just that I honestly don’t know who I’ve influenced to do what. But, you know, I’m OK with being famous for being famous.

Anyway, I’m in really good company: four other TidBITS personalities are on the list, along with numerous other Mac movers and shakers I respect a great deal. I’m honored to be counted among the Mac illuminati.

If I may quote liberally from my post at The Geeky Gourmet…

I’ve done countless interviews for radio shows, newspapers, and podcasts, as well as live presentations of various kinds. But tomorrow, I’ll appear in my first TV interview—on a live broadcast, no less!

As I mentioned last week, Take Control Books is donating $1 from every copy of Take Control of Thanksgiving Dinner sold in November to the San Francisco Food Bank. As another part of that effort, I’ll be appearing as a guest on CBS-5′s Eye on the Bay this Tuesday, November 14, at 7:00 p.m. (Pacific time). This episode is a special live broadcast from an Albertson’s supermarket here in San Francisco to promote the Food Bank. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, set your TiVo now!

I’ll probably be on the air for just a few minutes during the half-hour show, partly to talk about the Food Bank and partly to promote my book (which, in turn, supports the Food Bank). Wish me luck!

This week is the annual Take Control fall (in the northern hemisphere) sale. Every ebook is available for half price, which makes for some truly outstanding deals. (Printed books are not on sale, as we have limited control over their pricing.) Just 24 hours into the sale, we’ve already seen some really delightful sales figures. Since I’ve written a dozen of the Take Control titles, I tend to see bigger results than most of the authors, but we’re all thrilled at how nicely the sale is progressing. If you’ve been on the fence about buying one of our ebooks, there’s no better time than now! Go to this special link between now and next Monday, November 13, to take advantage of the special prices.

Meanwhile, we’re also running another promotion: For the entire month of November, we’ll donate $1 from the sale of each copy of Take Control of Thanksgiving Dinner to the San Francisco Food Bank. You can make Thanksgiving a less stressful day for yourself and help to feed low-income people at the same time. And, if you make your purchase in the next week, you can make a difference for $5 less!

If I’ve counted correctly, I’ve been a guest on Gene Steinberg’s Internet radio show The Tech Night Owl LIVE ten times now. Tonight I appear on the show again, this time to discuss Take Control of Mac OS X Passwords (and a bit about Thanksgiving dinner).

Despite the word “LIVE” in the show’s name, the interviews are prerecorded. You can hear a streaming version of the show as it’s broadcast at 6:00–8:00 p.m. Pacific (9:00–11:00 p.m. Eastern, or Friday at 0200 UTC), or download an MP3 recording of the show starting a day or so later.

Update: The link to the MP3 file of the show is here.