Tag: what i read

Wonder what to do when you’re waiting for Outlook on one computer to move several thousand messages, and another computer is busy copying video demos? Use the third to post your reading list. 

In the time that it took me to burn a DVD and delete the old mail from my Outlook archive, I compiled the reading list for the week.  Here’s a look at a few of the items from my reading pile available online (from April 21 ’til May 2), from challenges with PC tech support overseas, to new HDTV devices, (very) hot MacBook Air reports, auditing with SharePoint 2007 and a smattering of customer service melt downs…

…and a new video touting the new Lenovo X300. Enjoy.

Have a good weekend.

Repairs: It Took 10 Emails, 4 Faxes, 40 Phone Calls and 7 Months To Get Acer To Replace Laptop — Scott in Ireland writes in with proof that it’s not just American/Canadian consumers who get screwed by bad customer service. When his new Acer laptop went kaput, it took him over half a year to finally get a working, equivalent replacement…

Flickr: Friday Consumerist Flickr Pool Finds — Here are five special photos that readers added to The Consumerist Flickr Pool this week, chosen because they’re both neat and could possibly be used in a Consumerist post.

Data Breach: Wells Fargo Allows Your Data To Be Breached – Twice (consumerist) — A consumerist reader’s Wells Fargo credit/debit card stopped working unexpectedly… He spoke to a Wells Fargo CSR… and discovered that the data for 125,000 cards, including his, was “compromised” thus deactivating his card.

Popcorn Hour’s A-100 HD media streamer available for pre-order — Not an endorsement, but an FYI thanks to Engadget: As of today, Popcorn Hour’s heralded A-100 HD media streamer is finally available for the public at large to pre-order… saved by 247 other people

Safari: Stealth Safari Update for Windows Was Super Effective, Tripled Marketshare — “Before the update, Safari’s marketshare on Windows was a barely detectable 0.07 percent at its peak, with basically flat growth for nearly a year. Then BOOM, there’s a huge spike post-update shenanigans.”

So long, Canada: Canada-U.S. border policies (Salon News) — Strict new border policies are turning Canada into a foreign country. Is this any way to treat our neighbors? By Edward McClelland

Clocks: Two Timer Clock Does Dual Time Zones, Handy for Away-From-Home Bloggers — A personal must-have: a clock with a “second dial gives the Two Timer a melted effect, and if I had one of these, maybe I wouldn’t cock up my time stamps on Giz so much. Coming in two sizes and three colors…

R2-D2 Projector in Action Video (Verdict: A Must Have) – Gizmodo reports that they “knew that there was a motorized, fully-articulated R2-D2 projector with built-in DVD, iPod dock, all kinds of digital media inputs, and Millennium Falcon remote control… See also R2D2 complete media player (Gametrailers.com) – Too cool… saved by 65 other people

MacBook Air users still faced with overheating problems? – Engadget — engadget notes of a “MacBook Air overheating woe, well after an EFI update in April that was meant to address some of those problems. While hot computers are nothing new, the MacBook Air starts shutting down cores and offloading processes when things get hot…

ZeeVee’s ZvBox streams your PC to your HDTV over coax — Engadget reports that “June-bound ZvBox ($499) plugs into one’s computer (VGA) and sends on-screen content to every TV in the house over existing coaxial cabling. Put simply, the unit enables users to view any kind of internet media right on their television…

Biotechnology: The man who grew a finger (BBC News Health) — The BBC reports on a “remarkable” new biotechnology. “Mr Spievak re-grew his finger tip. He used a powder – or pixie dust as he sometimes refers to it while telling his story. Mr Speivak’s brother Alan – who was working in the field of regenerative medicine… saved by 260 other people

Comcast: 2nd Insider Says Comcast Indeed Decentralizing Network Operations Centers (consumerist) — Another Comcast insider says that the cable company is decentralizing its two main network operation centers. He says this is because of Comcast’s different regions groups complaining about losing customers due to outages they had no control over.

Customer Service: How To Correctly Complain About Restaurant Service (consumerist) — David had a disappointing experience at a local brewpub, and thanks to what he’s learned from reading The Consumerist, he was able to get the management to make things right.

Google diving into 3D mapping of oceans | Tech news blog – CNET News.com — Posted by Elinor Mills, Apr 30, 2008 — We’ve got Google Earth and Google Sky. Next up will be a map of the world below sea level–Google Ocean. The company has assembled an advisory group of oceanography experts…

Building B/Sezmi One True Set Top Box Aims to Kill TV as You Know It (gizmodo) — Gizmodo reports on the latest “demo of the TV godbox we reported on last summer by Building B—now Sezmi. If anything, their claims have actually gotten bolder: They’re promising the “first complete TV 2.0 solution” — see also s e z m i — AKA www.sezmi.com.

Inkjet Ink Test: Manufacturer Brand vs. Cheapo Store Ink (gizmodo) — Trusted Reviews has a big investigation on inkjet printers and inkjet ink, and their year-long study comparing fading between more expensive manufacturer brand vs. the cheaper crappy brand shows that you get what you pay for.

Superior Alternatives to Crappy Windows Software — LifeHacker “takes a walk down the Crapware Hall of Shame, point and laugh at the worst offenders, and highlight some better choices.”… saved by 778 other people

Dealzmodo Ahoy: HDTVs Will Get Stupid Cheap in May ’08 — April 30: According to HD Guru, Sony’s not content with its less-than-number-one status in flat panels, so it’s planning to claw its way back into consumers’ hearts with deep price cuts on all of its 2008 models next month.

Elgato HDHomeRun – Reviews by PC Magazine — This interesting gizmo grabs broadcast HDTV signals, pipes them to your Mac or PC, and comes with the software you need to record, view, and share programming.

Lifehacker, tips and downloads for getting things done — FLVto is a web app with three buttons, one input box, and one simple-but-great function of converting YouTube and other Flash-based videos to MP3 audio files. We’ve shared a reader-submitted download-and-convert method, but FLVto makes the process pretty simple… saved by 15,002 other people

How to Downgrade from Vista to XP – Expert Help by PC Magazine — Fed up with Vista? Here are step-by-step instructions for downgrading back to the warm familiarity of Windows XP, by David A. Karp, April 4, 2008

An Outbreak of Caring: Customer Service by Telecoms (washington post) — Stung by Complaints, Telecoms Stress Customer Service — “A smile is reflected in your conversations,” says Erwin, who began with Verizon in customer service two decades ago. “You want to always be smiling.” (By Kevin Clark — The Washington Post)

Ask Our Experts: The Best Battery Options – washingtonpost.com — As a frequent flier, Darren Gladstone of PC World says that he “would snag an internal extended-life battery. They’re easier to stow and harder to lose. Plus, new Department of Transportation rules let you carry aboard with you multiple internal notebook batteries…

Best Buy dabbles in self-help technical support – BloggingStocks — would you believe the retailer wants to get involved with technical support in a social networking sense? FixYa.com, a website that allows customers to help each other with technical issues and owner’s manuals from almost any piece of technology…

New Tech-Support Resource: Reviewer’s Guides? – Faster Forward — “As I was making yet another futile attempt to clean the accumulation of paper off my desk earlier this week, I noticed how much of those printed products were the reviewer’s guides that tech publicists usually hand out to critics.”

A Tech-Support Request: Map Out Phone Trees – Faster Forward — “I love as much as anybody to complain about tech support — what else can I do about it most of the time? But for today, I’d like to talk about one way to make it better.”

Antec Fusion 430 HTPC Case – Tom’s Hardware — Antec’s 900 and Sonata are largely responsible for the firm’s solid reputation in the PC case product category. The company creates products that are a very good value for the price. Now, it has set it’s eyes on creating an HTPC case for the masses.

PC makers find ways to extend XP’s life (Beyond Binary – A blog by Ina Fried) — “Facing a June 30 deadline to stop selling PCs with Windows XP, the world’s largest computer makers are getting creative. Taking advantage of the “downgrade rights” offered as part of the Windows Vista license agreement, Hewlett-Packard and Dell both…

Microsoft Delays Windows XP Service Pack 3 – Security Fix — “Microsoft is delaying the release of Service Pack 3 for Windows XP users due to a “compatibility issue” with the bundle of updates and a supply-chain solution the company markets to small- and medium-sized businesses.”

Interop: Microsoft Goes Green With Efficient Code, Employee Bus Line (InformationWeek) — “Microsoft plans to work more closely with independent software developers to help them build applications that don’t draw CPU cycles unnecessarily. By Paul McDougall, InformationWeek, April 28, 2008 02:29 PM”

Microsoft Explains HealthVault Strategy By Sharon Linsenbach, 2008-04-24 — With comparisons to both its Xbox platform and the PayPal online payment platform, Microsoft aims to correct common misperceptions about its HealthVault platform.

Video of Microsoft COFEE on KING5 News (Seattle) — Microsoft has developed a small plug-in device, the COFEE (which stands for Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor), a USB “thumb drive” that investigators can use to quickly extract forensic data from computers that may have been used in crimes.  Also see Microsoft device helps police pluck evidence from cyberscene of crime (Seattle Times) — Benjamin J. Romano, Seattle Times tech reporter, covers the The COFEE, which stands for Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor, a USB “thumb drive” that investigators can use to quickly extract forensic data from computers… saved by 120 other people

Microsoft Calls on Global Public-Private Partnerships to Help in the Fight Against Cybercrime: Q&A: Tim Cranton, Associate General Counsel for Microsoft, discusses the role of the Internet Safety Enforcement Team — Q&A: Tim Cranton, Associate General Counsel for Microsoft, discusses the role of the Internet Safety Enforcement Team as part of Microsoft’s larger security strategy and calls on global public-private partnerships to help prevent online crime…

Steampunk Star Wars – recommendation by Three – ThisNext

Six Better-Than-Average Umbrellas

What Software Can Create the Wall Street Journal Hedcut Effect on a Photo? — “I have not found a software technique that can generate results as strikingly detailed as the hedcut stipple drawings used in The Wall Street Journal, though some attempts have been made.”

Around The World In 15 Ways – Entrepreneur.com “Attention, road warriors! Tips to tackle your next overseas trip” How do you keep your head when you’re on the road? Here are 15 tips from Christopher Elliott in Entrepreneur Magazine (August 1999)

How to stay safe and sane on vacation (Seattle Times) — Christopher Elliott outlines some “things you should heed when you’re traveling, courtesy of this column’s readers and the lessons current events have taught us…”

Link between Employee Engagement and Customer Satisfaction in Local Government Revealed — ORC International has completed a detailed study of over 50 local authorities in the UK which shows the positive impact of having an engaged workforce on resident and customer satisfaction – the first evidence of this kind within the public sector.

Windows updates galore: The latest on SPs, FPs and UEs | All about Microsoft | ZDNet.com

Auditing in MOSS 2007 (dailycode blog) — Office SharePoint Server 2007 makes it possible to generate Excel workbooks that contain the information about audit events within the Windows SharePoint Services audit log. So MOSS makes it easy for us to track and report usage of documents and lists.

Item-Level Auditing with SharePoint Server 2007 — Learn about the auditing support built into Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, and how to extend this support with the custom Item-Level Auditing solution. (29 printed pages)

Records Management Feature in SharePoint: Auditing (Microsoft Records Management Team Blog) — Records Management features of Office SharePoint Server 2007. In this post, we’re going to examine a critical capability for both records management and regulatory compliance — Auditing.

Operations for Office SharePoint Server 2007: Administering records management

Productivity: Prioritize GE-Style by Writing the Purpose of Calendar Items — An editor at Harvard Business Review sat in on a GE training session and walked away with a few practical tips on prioritization.

Top 10 Amazon Power Shopper Tools — Several advanced Amazon features and third party apps and add-ons can help you get the best deals and the stuff you want delivered to your door right on time. After the jump, add our favorite 10 Amazon power-shopper tools to your cart.

Vista’s 11 Pillars of Failure (John Dvorak in PC Magazine) — “From poor marketing to missing components, here are my reasons why Vista will forever fail,” by John C. Dvorak, April 21, 2008

PC Magazine Special Coverage – Green Technology

Comcast’s big push to repair its image (Philadelphia Inquirer) — Eyes on blogs, more ears on phones to help gripers. By Bob Fernandez, Inquirer Staff Writer, 04/20/2008

[PreviewConfig] Utility to register file types for Explorer Preview Pane in Windows Vista — Windows Vista introduces a Preview pane in folder view, using which you can preview image and text files, and play multimedia files from the Preview pane. This article explains how to use the PreviewConfig utility to register a custom file type…

Feature: Tweak Microsoft Outlook to Empty Your Inbox Faster — Lifehacker lists “install-free ways to customize Outlook, add keyboard shortcuts, and get your inbox down to zero messages painlessly with a few tweaks your setup.” I need this, as it appears so do others. ;)… saved by 226 other people

Ten typographic mistakes everyone makes | Life, Tutorials | Receding Hairline — Mac user Christopher Phin, “a newly-wed, Palnackie-born twenty-something journalist living in Bath,” lists “ten mistakes that everyone makes, an explanation of why each is wrong, and details on how to fix them.” At least, on a Mac… saved by 1103 other people

New Pro-AVCHD Cameras (David Sayed’s Microsoft Blog) — One of the reasons I still like DV tape-based video cameras is that the DV codec is well supported in video editing programmes. And as much as I considered to move to a hard drive based video camera, battery life as well as the AVCHD format kept me away:

A Simple Employee Incentive (businessweek) — Taking the time to give people your undivided attention can do more for retention and engagement than gift cards and other goodies, by Carmine Gallo, April 2008

Pure Digital Flips the Script (businessweek) — How the Flip—a bare-bones digital camcorder—grew from a simple idea to a contender among giants like Sony

Xbox 360 audio sounds for ringtones : JefTek.com — Here is a list of audio sounds from the Xbox 360 system and games for the Xbox 360 that you might find useful for ring tones for your phone or IM client.

Use v1 Zune A/V Dock with v2 Zunes : JefTek.com — Here is a photo guide to using the Zune80 in the v1 Dock. Since the v2 dock came out which supports the Zune30/80/8/4 via removable face plates, the v1 dock has been on clearance (Originally $99, now $25!) at places like buy.com.

10 Questions for NPR’s Car Talk Guys on Fuel-Efficient Tech – Popular Mechanics — The hosts of NPR’s most popular program, Car Talk, want their new ride to be fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly and just as fun to drive as Tom’s beloved British classic. Their quest is the subject of next Tuesday’s hour-long NOVA special…

20 (Rare) Questions for Google Search Guru Udi Manber – Popular Mechanics — Manber gives PM a glimpse into how Google’s dominant engine helps you find what you want, how you can help it find you and how search is constantly evolving with the pace of technology. —Glenn Derene… saved by 125 other people

United States Infrastructure Investigation – Rebuilding America – Minnesota Bridge Collapse – Popular Mechanics — American infrastructure is in trouble, from collapsed bridges to leaking dams. In a yearlong investigation, Popular Mechanics uncovered the fresh ideas, smart engineering and new technology we need to fix it. Here’s the plan. By Erik Sofge…

How Social Networking Could Kill Web Search as We Know It – Faceboogle – Google vs. Facebook – Popular Mechanics — By Glenn Derene, April 16, 2008 — “Search is dead. Or at least that’s the opinion of one VC.” Google owns search for now, but as PM’s senior tech editor explains in his biweekly column, the evolving nature of how we use the Internet… saved by 216 other people

A new reason to hate Comcast (Scripting News) — April 16, 2008 by Dave Winer. “As long as I’ve been a customer of Comcast I’ve been writing how much I wish they’d sell their Internet business to a company that doesn’t hate its customers so much.”

Why does everything suck?: The Stats Are In. YouTube Really Is A Turd — “I have said it before. Commenters over at CenterNetworks said I was crazy. They extolled the virtues of the market leading YouTube. But the numbers don’t lie.”

GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard at NewEgg — A good motherboard for Media Center PCs

ASUS P5E-VM Motherboards (for Media Center PCs) at NewEgg — ASUS P5E-VM DO LGA 775 Intel Q35 Micro ATX Intel

The Total Customer Experience – on the record — An orchestral institution must examine every single aspect of the customer experience and raise it to the highest possible level.

Videotron Adopts iPerceptions’ Continuous Listening Solution — iPerceptions Inc. (TSX-V: IPE) announced today that Quebec’s largest integrated communications company, Videotron Ltd., has adopted the iPerceptions webValidator Continuous Listening Solution and the iPerceptions Satisfaction Index (iPSI) technology…

The charmed dot-com life of Jeff Bezos (money) — Common wisdom once pegged Amazon and Bezos as goners. But guess what? They’re thriving. By Josh Quittner, executive editor, Apr. 15, 2008

The Rage to Engage – TIME — It’s natural to want your employees to be happy. When people come to work with a spring in their step, chances are they do their jobs with more gusto, stick around an hour longer, go that proverbial extra mile–all of which boosts productivity…

BetaNews | Re-org at Microsoft relocates UC head to its emerging markets unit — By Scott M. Fulton, III, BetaNews — April 15, 2008 — Last year at a conference in Los Angeles, Microsoft introduced spectators to its new efforts to reach emerging markets and build innovative new form factors…to somewhat mixed results.

BetaNews | Microsoft adds one more news aggregator to the mix — By Ed Oswald, BetaNews, April 16, 2008, 12:03 PM — Looking to take on Google News, the Redmond company on Tuesday silently launched its own news aggregator. While Live Search News looks much more basic than what Google currently offers, it’s a start.

BetaNews | Privilege escalation vulnerability affects Windows Vista SP1, XP — By Scott M. Fulton, III, BetaNews, April 18, 2008 — It is the type of vulnerability that Microsoft wanted to head off as long as possible, especially since Windows Vista’s new kernel was designed to thwart this possibility.

Father of chaos theory dies at 90 – Science- msnbc.com — By Seth Borenstein – updated 3:19 p.m. PT, Wed., April. 16, 2008 – WASHINGTON – Edward Lorenz, the father of chaos theory, died at his home in Cambridge, Mass., Wednesday. He was 90.

Photoshop’s Little Online Brother (businessweek) — With Adobe’s new Web 2.0 offering, you can easily smarten up pictures for Internet display by Stephen H. Wildstrom

Stocks: The Kings of Cash (BusinessWeek) — April 18, 2008 — S&P tracks down the blue chip names with the biggest cash stockpiles – 21 in all – and the top ratings from its equity analysts, by Beth Piskora, Standard & Poor’s Equity Research

Bezos On Innovation (businessweek) — April 17, 2008 — Amazon.com’s founder discusses his approach to innovation—both how to do it and how to stay focused when critics question high-risk projects

The World’s Most Innovative Companies (businessweek) — April 17, 2008. Smart ideas for tough times: The 50 companies that make up our annual ranking nurture cultures that value creative people in good times and bad, by Jena McGregor

Symposium to Educate Employers: Employees on the Autism Spectrum — April 8, 2006 – Wentworth Institute of Technology is hosting the Symposium to Educate Employers: How to Hire and Work with Employees on the Autism Spectrum on April 20, 2006. This conference is made possible by a grant from the Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation…

How to Speed Up Windows Vista — Scott Dunn of PC World says that “Windows Vista’s Service Pack 1 may not give your system much more power, but there are ways to speed Windows Vista up.”

Tags: misc, articles, what I read.

A special week end, weekend edition of what I’ve read, beginning with Elizabeth M. Gillespie’s story on how Starbucks’ “My Starbucks Idea” site has been flooded with ideas for improving customer experience…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Hundreds of coffee-obsessed consumers chimed in moments after Starbucks Corp. launched a Web site asking customers to pitch changes the company should make to revive its struggling U.S. business.”

This site is along the same lines as Dell Computer’s Idea Storm site, where Dell asks customers to post ideas and vote on the suggestions as widely covered in the news. According to the site, the Dell Community has contributed: 8,847 ideas, promoted 610,814 times, and contributed 66,617 comments.  (See more examples of  crowdsource projects in this Computerworld article.)

I’d like to see something like this on Microsoft.com, beyond what Steve noted here re: crowdsourcing Microsoft downloads…

“One of my home pages when I fire up IE each day is the Microsoft Download Centre filtered on the 30 most recent new downloads…” 

Now on to the list – have a good week.

How Much Did Poor Customer Service Cost Your Company Today? (CRM News) — Susan Campbell, 04/12/08 — “One agent with a bad attitude can cost your company plenty in lost customers or even Do-Not-Call List fines. Unless your call center is using a call-monitoring system, that agent is taking calls…

Bad service too often is part of being young (www.kansascity.com) — “Despite the millions of dollars being spent by electronics chains, cell phone companies and other retailers to attract the youth market, I have a pretty strong sense from personal observation that kids often are treated as second-class shoppers.

Call centres lose in love stakes – Research (silicon.com) —  “Global customer satisfaction with call centres has fallen to 68 per cent – down from 82 per cent last year – according to research from customer contact consultants Merchants Europe. The telecommunications and service provider sector – including ISPs…

BetaNews | Carmi Levy: Yahoo’s options, now that it appears to have some — By Scott M. Fulton, III, BetaNews April 11, 2008, 7:04 PM At this time last week, Yahoo was said to have reached the end of its rope. It didn’t appear very viable on its own, and certainly no one would be crazy enough to try to top Microsoft’s cash offer…

Is Vista dead in the water? Gartner analysis (BetaNews) By Ed Oswald, BetaNews April 11, 2008 — “Analysts from Gartner said earlier this week that Windows is collapsing under its own weight. Talk in the blogosphere keeps pointing to a Windows 7 release date earlier than 2010. Is Vista already a lame duck?”

Apple’s OS Edge Is a Threat to Microsoft (BusinessWeek) April 11, 2008 — A recent upgrade to the Mac operating system moves Apple closer to challenging Microsoft for overall computing dominance, even in the corporate market, by Gary Morgenthaler

Amazon Takes On IBM, Oracle, and HP — April 9, 2008 — The Web retailer is offering its vast computing power to corporations—and big names are starting to sign up, by Peter Burrows

Bad Times Are Good for Debt Collectors (BusinessWeek) — The debt collection industry is poised to prosper amid rising levels of bad debt and a souring economy by Arthur Epstein, From Standard & Poor’s Equity Research

Roberdan : The World is Flat – lecture at MIT — “A very good way to spend 1,5 h is that video from a lecture at MIT from Tom Fridman on his book “The world is flat”. I reccomend to the Q&A at last part of video. Available on Itunes”

Perfect Margarita Recipe by Lessley Anderson (CHOW) — very important this past weekend… but we have a better recipe at home.

Research and Markets: Cisco Services 3.0: Making Product Support a Competitive Differentiator — Research and Markets has announced the addition of “Cisco Services 3.0: making product support a competitive differentiator” to their offering.

Service is the secret to surviving a downturn (Dallas Morning News) — April 9, 2008By ANGELA SHAH — “Shopping – buying clothes, homes and vacations – drives more than two-thirds of economic activity. If consumers pull back, businesses feel the pinch, further slowing down the economy.”

Creating an E-Mail Contact Strategy: Follow the Customer’s Lead (E-Commerce News: E-Marketing) — By Stefan Pollard (04/11/08) –“In order to create a successful e-mail contact strategy, marketers must listen to their customers to cater to their needs. Common tactics used in developing an e-mail contact strategy are onboarding and launching a win-back…

Cheney’s bogus oil argument – War Room – Salon.com’s Alex Koppelman writes (April 11, 2008) that “there are probably some grounded, halfway reasonable arguments against withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, but the fact that the White House keeps relying on sheer nonsense…”

Walt Mossberg | Mossberg’s Mailbox | AllThingsD — Walt Mossberg writes two columns, and edits a third, for The Wall Street Journal. He also publishes periodic interviews for the Journal, and occasional blog posts on this site.

Meet the VC: Hummer Winblad’s Mitchell Kertzman | Kara Swisher | BoomTown | AllThingsD — A longtime tech exec, Kertzman, Swisher says that he “is one of the funniest players in the tech sector, and was once the font for all the best jokes about Microsoft, back in the day when no one made jokes about Microsoft for fear of digital defenestration.”  He’s also known for other things.

Microsoft PUM: UAC Designed To ‘Annoy Users’ – Software – IT Channel News by CRN and VARBusiness — By Kevin McLaughlin, Apr. 10, 2008 — The User Account Control in Windows Vista improves security by reducing application privileges from administrative to standard levels, but UAC has been widely criticized for the nagging alerts it generates.

fit-PC – the tiny, low-cost green PC — The FitPC is a green PC — for under $400 you can have a PC that requires no fan, and robust enough to run Windows XP… saved by 191 other people …

Score One for Consumers: Cable Turns Ugly (OpEd by Froma Harrop) — “To anyone who has felt trapped in a circle of bad service: If you haven’t heard the story of Mona Shaw, pull up a chair.” This 75 year old Comcast customer showed up at the local cable company customer service office with a hammer…

Google Public Policy Blog: How Google determines the names for bodies of water in Google Earth

Welsh lecturer searches for lost ark of the covenant – icWales — Mar 2 2008 by James McCarthy — Respected Hebrew lecturer Tudor Parfitt, from Porth, South Wales, tells JAMES McCARTHY he solved a search made famous by Stephen Spielberg’s Indiana Jones’ when he discovered the Lost Ark of the Covenant in a dusty museum…

First Call Resolution (FCR) is a Critical Determinant of Customer Satisfaction – New Report Shows You How to Achieve It – Forbes.com — Research and Markets has announced the addition of Achieving First Call Resolution 2008: Improving Measurement, Usage, and Customer Satisfaction to their offering. The Ascent Group conducted research early in 2008…

Time Management: Randy Pausch’s Time Management Tricks — According to his doctors, computer science professor Randy Pausch has three to six months to live due to cancer, and in this video lecture he shares his tips for making the most of your time, “the most precious commodity you have.” … saved by 242 other people …

Where to Find Open Data on the Web – ReadWriteWeb — By Sarah Perez / April 9, 2008 — Today, a story on Techmeme caught our eye. It was entitled “We Need a Wikipedia for data,” and the article, written by X-Googler Bret Taylor, discussed the difficulty of finding open data sets on the internet… saved by 857 other people …

RSA 2008 San Francisco (Microsoft.com) — Offered annually in the US, Europe, and Japan the RSA Conference keeps the worldwide IT community informed of emerging online security issues and technological advances.

Windows Vista: Top 10 Things You Can Do — Just learning about Windows Vista? Here are ten cool things to try. You’ll see why it’s easier, safer, and more entertaining than earlier versions of the Windows operating systems… saved by 11 other people

Windows Vista Help: Optimize Windows Vista for better performance — there are a lot of ways to help speed up Windows and make your PC work better—even without upgrading your hardware. Here are some tips to help you optimize Windows Vista for faster performance.

DualSearch: Live Search and Google on one page

Outsourcing at Home (businessweek) — April 7, 2008 — With Indian wages rising and the rupee strengthening against the dollar, some IT services companies are opening facilities in the U.S. by Rachael King

Seth’s Blog: Write like a blogger — You can improve your writing (your business writing, your ad writing, your thank you notes and your essays) if you start thinking like a blogger… saved by 224 other people …

HP 2133 Mini-Note PC Round-Up | Small Laptops and Notebooks — April 8, 2008 by Steve O. — A quick round-up of HP 2133 Mini-Note PC news, since a lot of information came out today. Some of the HP pages allow you to add one of the models to your cart…

Microsoft-Yahoo: The Privacy Issue (businessweek) — April 8, 2008 — The merged consumer databases of the prospective union should have Web surfers demanding what’s being done with their personal information by David H. Holtzman

So Maybe Apple Was onto Something (businessweek) –  Rivals trying to come up with an iPhone slayer will need more than fancy features to outdo the leader by Cliff Edwards and Bruce Einhorn, April 3, 2008

Should kids be taught Internet safety in schools? — By Jacqueline Emigh, BetaNews April 8, 2008, 11:07 PM Can kids be taught to avoid dangers on the Internet while also taking full advantage of all of the good things available online? The State of Virginia, for one…

BetaNews | H-1B limits met after just one week of petitions — By Scott M. Fulton, III, BetaNews April 8, 2008, 4:56 PM As the debate continues over foreign-born students educated in America taking their skills to other countries, the US continues to limit the number of non-citizen students working here…

BetaNews | EU mandates Web sites delete personal data after six months — By Scott M. Fulton, III, BetaNews, April 8, 2008, 3:51 PM — Can a fair compromise be obtained on the matter of how long search engines should be allowed to retain personally identifiable data? Last week, a key European advisory group moved the goalposts…

10 tips for maintaining a healthy home network (microsoft.com) — Adapted from Windows Vista: Home Networking, Microsoft Press, 2007 — Once your network is up and running, it’s up to you to keep it healthy. This means incorporating all of the security features that come with your operating system, whether it’s Windows XP or Vista.

Microsoft Proposes End to End Trust Vision – Forbes.com — At RSA Conference 2008, Microsoft Corp. initiated a broad dialogue about the future of security and privacy on the Internet.

Algorithms Are Terrific. But to Search Smarter, Find a Person. — Brendan I. Koerner 03.24.08 — Brijit [is a site] launched in late 2007 that produces 100-word abstracts of both online and offline content [with daily] 125 concise summaries of newspaper and magazine articles, as well as audio and video programs… saved by 111 other people

HP Pavilion Elite m9200t series Media Center Computers — Digital Entertainment Centers direct from the HP Home & Home Office Store

Add-In Review: Recorded TV Manager 3.4.3 for Windows Home Server (We Got Served) — If you want to move recorded TV from your Media Center to WHS and manage your program series conveniently, then install the latest WHS Add-In Recorded TV Manager by Rick Drasch.

Microsoft Launches New Mobility Tools — Microsoft introduces Windows Mobile 6.1 and an improved management tool for enterprises. By Michael Hickins, 2008-04-01

HP’s Biggest Obstacle Is Microsoft, Amazon vs. Apple, Voting Smart (Technology News: Mobile Tech) — You get the sense in talking to all of the vendors that their Microsoft contacts have one thing on their mind when it comes to allowing these companies to innovate and create the user experience they want — and that is an overuse of the word “no.” This w

Why don’t we talk anymore? – Research – Breaking Business and Technology News at silicon.com — Analysis: How to improve inter-departmental communication. By Stewart Baines, 6 March 2007 — Sometimes it’s hard enough to get small teams working together. How can you encourage communication across a company’s business units? Stewart Baines offers…

Study: Shoppers want better online support (BizReport) — Customer service doesn’t count only in brick-and-mortar stores. According to a recent study from Inquira and ServiceXRG suggests that online customer service is failing many consumers…

Don’t let your customers sail off into the sunset – Edinburgh Evening News — HISTORICALLY, many of us believed that simply following best practice and delivering great customer service was enough to gain a competitive edge over our competitors.

Amazon accelerates its move to digital – CNET News.com — April 7, 2008 Over the last 14 years, Amazon.com has mastered the art of getting physical copies of books, music and movies to customers through the mail. Now it is trying to add to its repertoire in a hurry. By Brad Stone, The New York Times

Tags: misc, articles, what I read, Starbucks.

Welcome to another installment of the reading pile, a collection of things on the web (and a few references to the hardcopy items with online versions). 

The past week — as always — has been a busy one, with changes to DST in Chile, the revelation that Daylight Saving Time costs people money, Steve Ballmer’s interview at Mix08, Mary Jo’s post on DST and that we ‘spring forward’ here in most of the States tomorrow. 

Add to all that offsites, onsite meetings, reviews, presentations… you get the idea.

Hulu: Great Product, Still Screwed – Silicon Alley Insider — Henry Blodget writes today (March 8, 2008) that “Hulu-the-company is still in a tough spot. Why? In short: it’s still too dependent on a handful of content partners, it bears most of the costs of streaming videos…

To Do: Long, Mysterious Interviews With Tech Bigshots – Silicon Alley Insider — “The good folks at Bloomberg Radio want us to know that host Tom Keene has interviewed Wired’s Chris “Long Tail” Anderson and Craigslist’s Jim “Not Craig” Buckmaster, and that you can hear the talks here. Duly noted.”

iPhone Smackdown: Apple vs. RIM, Lacy vs. Knobs: Tech Ticker, Yahoo! Finance — Aaron Task and Henry Blodget discuss the implications for devs and exciting new enterprise features” for the iPhone. Sarah Lacy butts in on the conversation with some hardcore West Coast perspective.

ATI RADEON HD 3450 — Info on the SAPPHIRE HD3450 which “is Microsoft VISTA™ compatible with awesome power of 40 stream processing units, accelerates next generation DirectX® 10 games while remaining best in its price vs. performance class.”  Also see this info on the SAPPHIRE 100235L Radeon HD 3470 at Newegg.com, the 256MB 64-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

Study Finds 43 Million American Households Now Have Broadband Internet Access — An old study I dug up that notes that “forty-three million U.S. households now have broadband Internet access compared to just two million in 1999, according to the results of a new Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) research study on broadband access in America.”

Even in HD, Apple TV’s picture is a little fuzzy (Seattle Times Newspaper) — By Glenn Fleishman, Special to The Seattle Times — “But I confess I’m not overwhelmed by Apple TV’s latest revision, even though it has a host of entertaining features. Certainly, some lack of enthusiasm comes from the Hollywood-mandated 24 hours…”

How to Prevent Identity Theft — Deter, Detect, Defend (Get Rich Slowly) — Get Rich Slowly notes that “Identity theft is a real and growing concern. Your best defense is to prepare before it happens. According to one study conducted for the FTC [PDF], in 2005, 3.7% of the U.S. adult population were victims of identity theft.” … saved by 67 other people …

Price Drop Alerts by Price!pinx web service (Red Ferret) – Thanks to LifeHacker and redferret.net, I have a new service that is a simple way to get email alerts on product price drops. Just browse to a product detail page, highlight the price and click the pinx bookmarklet button… saved by 203 other people

Have podcasts delivered directly to your email (geeksaresexy) – Mark O’Neill on geeksaresexy.net found that it’s possible for podcasts to be delivered directly to email. “I found out that it actually is (to a point) using a service called either ZapTXT or RSSFwd.”… saved by 18 other people

Get Ahead on LinkedIn – Wired How-To Wiki — For a primer on LinkedIn etiquette, Wired magazine consulted Jason Alba, author of I’m On Linked In — Now What? and CEO of Jibberjobber, as well as business etiquette expert Rachel C. Weingarten author of Career and Corporate Cool… saved by 215 other people

MSConfig Cleanup – optimize your Windows startup — MSConfig Cleanup does one thing that you might only need once, but it does it well. When you run “msconfig,” also known as Windows’ System Configuration tool, or a number of other optimizing programs, you have the option of disabling startup items… saved by 228 other people …

Book Excerpt: CrazyBusy Argues Modern Life Inhibits Creativity — Lifehacker says that in his book, CrazyBusy, ADD expert Dr. Edward Hallowell says “that Crackberry culture leads to ADD-like symptoms in people that don’t officially have the disorder—a problem he calls Attention Deficit Trait (ADT).”… saved by 25 other people

Lifehacker Top 10: Top 10 Ways to Get Cables Under Control — “Whether you’re looking to stow your headphone wires tangle-free in your gym bag, hide the ugly wire spaghetti you keep kicking further under your desk, or organize your gadget chargers and power plugs, we’ve got some cord management tricks for you.”… saved by 629 other people

Humans Crawling With Microbes?! That’s Not All Bad (wired) — I know… high ‘ick’ factor, but interesting for kids.  “Your body is a wonderland — for bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Trillions of tiny organisms live on our skin and in our mouths and guts.” By Greta Lorge 02.25.08

Clive Thompson on How DIYers Just Might Revive American Innovation (Wired) — Clive Thompson laments that in America, “we’ve lost our Everyman ability to build, maintain, and repair the devices we rely on every day. And that’s making it harder to solve the country’s nastiest problems, like oil dependence, climate change… saved by 80 other people

10 Exercises for Better Focus and Concentration (egodevelopment.com) — Lifehacker said that this article outlines ways in which you can “vastly improve your concentration skills. Exercising your mind takes time and commitment but will ultimately translate to a sharper focus.”… saved by 583 other people

Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus website… saved by 4207 other people

Tips for savvy medical Web surfing – CNN.com –Elizabeth Cohen of CNN asks “if you’re trying to find medical information for yourself or someone you love, and you’re not lucky enough to have access to a professional research librarian, what do you do?”… saved by 281 other people

Rebel with a Stalled Cause (businessweek) –Frustrated by the maddening state of call-center phone trees, the serial entrepreneur began harnessing the power of the Web in 2005 when he posted shortcuts to live people at call centers on his personal Web log. February 21, 2008, by Jena McGregor

Web Buyer’s Guide: Information about products, companies and whitepapers. — IBM, Novell and Intel have partnered to introduce a comprehensive virtualization solution. Registration required.

Canon HV30 Reviews – HDV – Camcorders – Cameras – Technology Reviews – washingtonpost.com — The Canon HV30 replaces one of the most popular camcorders in recent memory, the Canon HV20. Winner of multiple awards, the HV20 wowed critics with outstanding video quality and a great set of manual controls… and the HV30 offers a few simple upgrades…

Microsoft e-mails reveal Intel pressure over Vista | One More Thing – CNET News.com reports that “As far back as 2005, Microsoft executives knew that confusing hardware requirements for the Windows Vista Capable program might get them in trouble.”

Apple shareholders pepper Jobs with questions (CNET News) — March 4, 2008 — Apple CEO Steve Jobs fielded several wide-ranging questions from Apple shareholders Tuesday at the company’s annual meeting, covering ground from the iPhone to the plans for a post-Jobs Apple. Posted by Tom Krazit

Life Without Google | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com — Ask.com in the last year or so had been a nice little Petri dish. It launched AskCity, tinkered with its interface, created universal search results and became a credible alternative to Google. The problem: Ask.com couldn’t grow its base of users.

3G iPhone by June ’08 says analyst, but we’re not so sure (ars technica Infinite Loop) — By David Chartier, March 05, 2008 — “Man, it must be tough being Apple’s engineers and NAND flash buyers. You do all that work to crank out 16GB iPhones and 32GB iPod touches, but all analysts can do is keep barking for 3G iPhones.

Toshiba’s Plan for Life After HD DVD – WSJ.com — Nishida Says Firm Will Target Consumers With TVs, PCs and Standard Disc Players By YUKARI IWATANI KANE, March 3, 2008; Page B1

Microsoft Changes Its Tune (To The Tune of $1.3 Billion) – IndustryWeek Forums — Brad Kenney, IT Editor, IndustryWeek, 2/28/2008, 01:12 PM

Expensive laptops provide better quality, design (edmonton journal) — If you’re willing to pay the price, you’ll get sharper screens, more durability, reports Steve Makris

Pushing for quality and pushing himself | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press — Ford VP relies on focus and faith for success BY SARAH A. WEBSTER — Bennie Fowler, vice president for global quality at Ford Motor Co. since March 2007… [rose] from humble beginnings in Georgia, where he sold eggs door-to-door as a kid, to one of Ford’

Revisiting the Inquisition | Newsweek Religion | Newsweek.com — Now, after centuries of secrecy on the subject, the Vatican has launched a new phase in its campaign to show that the Inquisition wasn’t so bad after all. Church authorities have unveiled a temporary “Rare and Precious” exhibition…

MyNetflix Software for Windows Vista Media Center (Anthony Park) — MyNetflix is a plugin for Microsoft Windows Media Center which allows you use your Netflix subscription with a remote control. Microsoft Windows Vista with Media Center is required to use this software… saved by 38 other people

BookletCreator – create a booklet from any PDF document — BookletCreator is a free (but public, not secure) PDF conversion webapp that creates documents that can be printed and folded into an easy-to-read booklet… saved by 1268 other people

David Allen Part 3: Really Getting it Done is Not Just Lists (Web Worker Daily) — Weblog Web Worker Daily has an interview with Getting Things Done author David Allen… saved by 139 other people

In Defense Of Complaining — Cory Doctorow — InformationWeek — “Companies aren’t charities. They’re businesses. It doesn’t matter why they’re offering an unacceptable product — all that matters is that the product is unacceptable. Companies aren’t five-year-olds bringing their fingerpaintings home from kindergarten.

Air Travel with Kids and Pets – How to Keep Your Sanity — Air travel is challenging under the best of circumstances, and DLM has tips on how can you be best prepared for this adventure with kids. Here are some tips to help you survive and hopefully enjoy your travel day too… saved by 40 other people

Wii Browser Portal « Wii Browser — Want to create an easy-to-navigate home page for the broswer on your Wii or any other? Wii Browser, a free page creation tool, lets you create a page full of big, easy-to-click links to set as your homepage… saved by 55 other people

WiebeTech USB DriveDock v4 – Hard Drive Docking Station — USB DriveDock connects via USB2 to your computer, allowing you to access the drive and contents. The USB DriveDock has two options for power input: the included AC adapter or a 4-wire connector from the computer’s power supply, if it’s more handy.

Windows Server 2008 Launch: Ninjas Black and Blue (Microsoft Watch) — February 28, 2008 — Joe Wilcox said that “Repeatedly I asked myself yesterday: Is Microsoft making the same marketing mistakes with its new server software as Windows Vista?”

Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia on “radical transparency” (OPEN Forum Video Event Center) — Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales explains how “radical transparency” works and why your customers will respect you for it. With Seth Godin… saved by 13 other people

The Truth About Autism: Scientists Reconsider What They Think They Know (Wired) — Like many people with autism, Baggs doesn’t like to look you in the eye and needs help with tasks like preparing a meal and taking a shower. In conversation she’ll occasionally grunt or sigh, but she stopped speaking altogether in her early twenties… saved by 200 other people

In Defense Of Complaining — Cory Doctorow — InformationWeek — Complain about a company, and you’ll be accused of being a whiner. But markets thrive on information, so it’s every customer’s right to complain, and every company’s obligation to shut up and listen, says columnist Cory Doctorow. By Cory Doctorow… saved by 10 other people

Video Demonstration: Touch Up Your Pics in Photoshop — Funny-man Photoshopper Donnie Hoyle introduces how to use two Photoshop tools—the spot healing brush tool and the patch tool—to touch up photos and smooth out features… saved by 42 other people

Blog Recommendation Startup Outbrain Raises $5 Million (techcrunch) — Funding Monday continues. NY/Israeli startup Outbrain is announcing a $5 million series A financing, led by Gemini Israeli Funds and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Outbrain is creating a ratings and recommendation platform for blogs and news feeds… saved by 14 other people …

Ask The Readers: Handling More Than 12 Hours on a Plane? (lifehacker) — lifehacker asks: “If you have any suggestions for making half a day on an airplane bearable, let us know in the comments (and she’ll stop talking about herself in the third person and shamelessly using you for her own purposes).”

Feature: Use Your Wii as a Media Center (lifehacker) — “Luckily, using the Opera browser, you can turn your Wii into a full-fledged media center with the freeware Windows application Orb. Here’s how.”… saved by 37 other people

8+ Ways To Train Yourself To Be Creative (eventurebiz) — “But how do you train your mind to become a well-oiled creative thinking machine? Like the first sentence of this post says, you have to first believe you are a creative person. Following that you need to exercise your mind in various ways… saved by 432 other people

How to Manage Overachievers on BNET — “Here we’ll show you how to curb the destructive tendencies that can disrupt a star performer’s productivity and develop positive management skills to keep them — and you — happy.”… saved by 195 other people

Phone: Track Down Whoever Keeps Calling with 800Notes — 800Notes, a free user-submitted reverse phone directory, lets you see who might be ringing, whether it’s a sales firm, debt collection agency, or other cloaked caller. Whether or not you find a match depends on if anybody else has reported the identity… saved by 336 other people

Credit Reports: Know Where To Fix Your Credit Score By Getting Your Reason Codes (consumerist) — “If you want to improve your credit score, a score from 300-850 that lenders use to determine whether you qualify for a loan and how much interest to charge you if you do, you’ll want to know your “reason codes.”… saved by 47 other people

Manage Your Online Reputation (lifehacker) — “Two years ago we covered how to have a say in what Google says about you, and more recently, and how to track down anyone online. But a rash of social media sites have arisen that give you more tools to help you manage your online reputation… saved by 377 other people

On why I am not running [for congress] (Lessig Blog) — Feb 25, 2008 — “With lots of mixed feelings, I have decided a run for Congress would not help the Change Congress movement. I explain the thinking in this 5 minute video (a new record for me!).

F.C.C. to Act on Delaying of Broadband Traffic – New York Times — By STEPHEN LABATON, February 25, 2008 — The head of the Federal Communications Commission and other senior officials said on Monday that they were considering taking steps to discourage cable and telephone companies from discriminating against content…

FORTUNE: Techland Yang breaks silence on Microsoft takeover — In their first public appearance since Microsoft’s hostile $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo, Yang and Yahoo (YHOO) president Susan Decker each gave a 15-minute speech about Yahoo’s online ad strategy to a crowd of 400 industry players… saved by 8 other people

Maybe Microsoft Should Stalk Different Prey – New York Times — Feb 24, 2008 — “If Microsoft thinks this is the right time to try a major acquisition on a scale it has never tried before, it should not pursue Yahoo. Rather, it should acquire another major player in business software

Digital downloads will be Blu-ray’s downfall (Tech news blog – CNET News.com)  Posted by Erica Ogg — With the fall of HD DVD, Blu-ray has assumed the throne as the next format of choice, but its reign will be short-lived. Blu-ray won’t enjoy the same decade-long dominance DVD did after it succeeded VHS… saved by 11 other people

This Is the Modding World (Real Time – WSJ.com)  Software Updates Have Changed Products, As Well As What We Expect From Them February 25, 2008, by Jason Fry.

Limited Edition! Limited Edition! (in Japan) – WSJ.com — Record labels have regularly been offering first-edition albums. Most include a special DVD or a set of photos of the artist. The “available-now-only” gimmicks not only satisfy a Japanese craze for new products…

Here’s how to get a 4-star hotel at a low-star price – USATODAY.com — “How did you get that price?” she asked, noting that the $75 per-night tab for my ocean-view room was about 60% off the best Hilton .com rate and even lower than the kamaaina (locals-only) discount. My secret: Priceline.com… saved by 8 other people

FCC to Adjust Plan for Digital-TV Ads (Wall Street Journal) — February 22, 2008 By AMY SCHATZ, Page B3 — Federal regulators are backing away from a plan that would have required television stations to air as many as a dozen public-service ads a day about the U.S.’s transition to digital television next year.

In the land of women (Fortune) — Lots of companies fret about keeping women in the workforce. Principal Financial has figured out how to do it. Jessi Hempel, Jan. 22, 2008

Top 50 employers (Fortune’s 100 best companies in 2008) — We surveyed nearly 100,000 employees from 406 different companies and asked them to evaluate their employers. These firms ranked the highest. By Robert Levering and Milton Moskowitz

Sidney Harman: Old hand in a strange new world (Fortune) — In the heat of the private equity boom, the octogenarian audio pioneer Sidney Harman agreed to sell his company to KKR and Goldman Sachs. Then they ditched him. Now he has a stock worth one-third of what it was. A tale from the dark side. By Carol J. Loom

What Iraq will cost the U.S. (Fortune) — Former White House economist Lawrence Lindsey ignited a furor with his estimate of the dollar cost of the Iraq war. For the first time, he tells how he came up with the number and what he thinks now. By Lawrence B. Lindsey, Jan. 11, 2008… saved by 3 other people

MY M&M’S Custom M&Ms — Order MY M&M’S® Custom Message or Color today, get delivery within a couple of weeks… saved by 127 other people

Online Contents – Forbes.com  – Online Contents by Forbes.com staff

A Line in the Dust – Forbes.com — by Daniel Fisher, January 07, 2008 — Asbestos lawyers have had their way with bankrupt companies so far. W.R. Grace hopes to change all that.

Shoot Yourself in the Foot – Forbes.com — by Andrew Bender, January 07, 2008 — A new retailer out of Finland uses cameras and the Web to produce custom shoes for the price of off-the-shelf.

A Genius at Tutoring – Forbes.com — Public schools don’t have the time to teach writing. Author Dave Eggers is making up for that, with a little quirky humor thrown in. Claire Cain Miller 01.07.08

Andy Grove’s Last Stand (Forbes) — By Kerry A. Dolan 01.28.08 — The former Intel chief, now battling Parkinson’s, is on a crusade to speed progress in treating the disease. Can he make a difference?

Arts and Crafts Find New Life Online (BusinessWeek) — Web sites are building communities—and businesses—on the growing do-it-yourself craze by Heather Green, Jan 3, 2008… saved by 5 other people

The Top 10 Web Sites You’ve Never Heard Of (MSN Tech & Gadgets) — FastCompany.com has culled the most useful and entertaining sites from the far reaches of the Web so that when these sites go mainstream, you’ll be one step ahead of the crowd… saved by 133 other people

Sony’s $400 Million Hit Man (Digital Daily, AllThingsD) — The next-generation DVD format war was a costly one–for Sony. In addition to the untold funds the company spent on pro-Blu-ray propaganda, it also reportedly spent quite a bit to buy the allegiances of Hollywood. by John Paczkowski, February 22, 2008

Stringer makes his mark (on Blu-Ray vs HD DVD) (globeandmail.com) — Feb 20, 2008 – “Sony’s CEO led his company to victory in the high-definition sweepstakes by convincing the major studios to come aboard. What remains a mystery is just how big a push Warner needed to pick sides.

Microsoft’s newest keyboard, mouse are fancy, but not worth $300 (Seattle Times) — Mike Himowitz of the Baltimore Sun has a “Reality check — $260 for a keyboard and mouse? That’s almost four times as much as I spent for the wireless combo I use with the computer that’s hooked up to our HDTV set.

PBS series features local business whiz kids (Seattle Times Living) — a new nationwide public-TV series spotlights this sort of inventiveness by the MySpace/millennial generations. Called “Biz Kid$” and produced by the same Seattle-based team behind the Emmy-winning “Bill Nye The Science Guy.”

A Roman show of strength (Seattle Times The Arts) — “Roman Art from the Louvre” — a traveling show of some 180 objects from the legendary Paris museum — will open Thursday at Seattle Art Museum and fill the new 14,000-square-foot Special Exhibitions gallery with 50 tons of monumental statues…

Innovation at Risk (BusinessWeek) — Exaggerating design’s ability to drive new growth sets the stage for a backlash, especially during leaner times, by Lara Lee

A CEO Manning the Phones Each Day? (BusinessWeek) — What sounds like a customer-service gimmick is helping the co-founder of a personal finance Web site build trust, by John Tozzi… saved by 3 other people

Apple Shares Rolling Downhill (BusinessWeek) — Fearing recession, consumers rein in discretionary spending, and fewer iPods, iPhones, and Macs may be sold. Will Apple find its footing? by Arik Hesseldahl… saved by 4 other people

The Telltale Signs of Recession (BusinessWeek) — Feb 13, 2008 — Here are four indicators with good track records at predicting downturns. Watch them to see where the economy is likely to go next, by James Cooper

Jerry Yang’s Letter to Stockholders (BusinessWeek) — Feb 14, 2008 — “I wanted to reach out to you personally to let you know why your Board of Directors, after a careful review by Yahoo!’s management along with our financial and legal advisors, believes that Microsoft’s proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo!

Software You Shouldn’t Ever Notice (BusinessWeek) — Humanized co-founder Aza Raskin is carrying on the design legacy of his father, a Macintosh pioneer by Ryan Blitstein… saved by 9 other people

The IQ List: Smart Stocks with Potential (BusinessWeek) — Feb 15, 2008 — Here are top scorers under Standard & Poor’s “Investability Quotient” measure, which ranks stocks according to their potential for return by Beth Piskora From Standard & Poor’s Equity Research

Building the Perfect Laptop (BusinessWeek) — The Future of Tech February 14, 2008 — The superslim ThinkPad X300 is Lenovo’s bid for leadership in the high-stakes world of laptops… saved by 66 other people

Murdoch’s New Startup Incubator (BusinessWeek) — The SlingShot Labs venture is designed to spawn Internet startups for News Corp. and also likely to help MySpace compete with Facebook – Feb 13, 2008 by Aaron Ricadela… saved by 14 other people

BetaNews | Is Microsoft’s PlayReady ready to go yet?  By Tim Conneally, February 11, 2008, 6:42 PM Announced one year ago at 3GSM in Barcelona, PlayReady is Microsoft’s DRM solution for mobile content providers. Now one year later, more partners have announced planned deployments…but it has seen no rollout…

BetaNews | Apple TV update goes live with high-definition rentals  — By Nate Mook and Ed Oswald, February 12, 2008, 3:34 PM Apple silently pushed its promised update to customers with its Apple TV device on Tuesday.

BetaNews | Microsoft: ‘We misjudged demand’ for Xbox 360 — By Ed Oswald, BetaNews, February 14, 2008, 11:14 AM Microsoft admitted Wednesday that it sales for its flagship Xbox 360 game console were in fact so strong that it hasn’t been able to maintain inventory levels.

BetaNews | Could video-on-demand overtake HD discs by 2011?  By Jacqueline Emigh, February 14, 2008, 3:39 PM According to analysts, just three years from now, 129 million people worldwide will be subscribing to Direct-to-Home Video, most likely with high definition. Will HD optical drives plummet into a niche mark

BetaNews | EC commissioner proposes doubling terms of performers’ copyright  — By Scott M. Fulton, III, BetaNews, February 14, 2008, 5:34 PM “Oldies” music remains popular among many generations, which could present a window of opportunity for record companies in Europe to take advantage of royalties terms expiring after 50 years.

BetaNews | Comcast: 42% of digital subscribers use high-def, DV-R — [Note: This is the first time that I’ve seen thsi referred to as DV-R. ; ]  By Jacqueline Emigh, BetaNews February 14, 2008, 5:53 PM At CES 2008 last month, it was surprising to see Comcast as a brand being tossed around with the likes of Matsushita, Motorola, and Sony.

When Home is Where the Art Is: Hanging and Installation Tips for Collectors — When hanging works of art it is always best to hire a professional installer or free-lance conservator, who should not only have access to all the latest hardware and equipment, but should be able to offer advice for the safest placement of art in your home…

Anthony Park :: 100% Geek Content by Volume » New Vista Media Center Plugin – MyNetflix (beta) — Ooooh. This is JUST what I wanted: the ability to manage your Netflix Queue and stream Watch Now videos directly through Windows Media Center with freeware Media Center plug-in MyNetflix… saved by 109 other people

Best music editing program for Windows? | Ask MetaFilter — A consumer wanted a basic (but good) FREE music editing program that will let them upload audio and edit the files. Here are the comments from the community at MetaFilter… saved by 8 other people

Exclusive Lifehacker Download: DVD Rip Automates One-Click DVD Ripping — Rip and back up any DVD to your hard drive with DVD Rip, a freeware Windows application that automates the entire DVD-to-hard-drive backup process. All you need to do is insert your DVD, run DVD Rip, and let it take care of the rest… saved by 811 other people

Mortgage Prepayment Made Easy: Own Your Home in Half the Time (Get Rich Slowly) — Tips on making accelerated payments on your mortgage… saved by 213 other people

Tags: misc, articles, what I read.

First off, let’s just says that it’s been a busy week, with several changes and shuffles during mid-year review, as Directions on Microsoft analyst Rob Helm noted on January 11.  He said that “there’s often a lot of churn between January and March.” 

But Helm also reported that after “uncharacteristically large acquisitions under [Bruce] Jaffe’s watch, including the $6 billion paid last year for Internet advertising company aQuantive,” that Bruce’s departure from the company “could be a sign that the company’s large, global acquisitions are done for a while.”

Well…

Ballmer’s Letter to the Yahoo Board (BusinessWeek) — Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer outlines his company’s $44.6 billion offer to acquire Yahoo

Arik Hesseldahl’s Open Letter to Steve Ballmer (BusinessWeek) — Arik says that “I know you want to make your mark on Microsoft, but you should stop trying to be all things to all people. Take a tip on focus from that other Steve.”

Yahoo: Time for Bold Moves? (BusinessWeek) — Businessweek’s by Robert Hof says that “To repel Microsoft’s takeover bid, the Internet giant’s options include outsourcing to Google, finding another buyer, or private equity”

Yahoo: Leaked Yang memo calls for hard work, commitment, and anybody but Microsoft (valleywag) — “In his latest companywide memo, copied below, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang wants to “make sure you all realize how essential you are to yahoo!s success.” And by “you all” he means all but the 1,000 or so he planned to “reallocate” in the next few months.”

Analyst: Microsoft bid is just a ploy to fend off Yahoo deal with Amazon (BetaNews) — BetaNews reports that “Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research has reached the unusual conclusion that Microsoft’s $44.6 billion merger proposal is really just a ploy to fend off a potential deal between Yahoo and Amazon.com. Could he possibly be right?”

We’ll just have to see.

Now there’s lots more in the reading pile, so on to a selection of the articles in my “have read” pile, courtesy of del.icio.us. Keep in mind that many of the descriptions are taken directly from the articles.  I’ll start with an article with a list of cool night spots for those visiting Seattle for TechReady 6:

Seattle Happy Hours that raise the bar (Seattle Times) —February 03, 2008 By Nicole Tsong — If you are visiting Seattle for TechReady, check this out.  “In the name of research, we ditched our cubicle to find even more fabulous and quirky excuses for edging out the back door. We mostly skipped old reliables in Belltown and downtown and scouted for new favorites… “

ARN – Vista’s driver ills aren’t just Microsoft’s fault — While Microsoft has always developed its own software as well as some hardware (think keyboards and mice), it has long relied on partners to create an unparalleled selection of applications and hardware devices that has become one of Windows’ chief attractions…

Low-Hassle Ways to Secure Your Computer System (lifehacker) — lifehacker rounded up a good deal of some free software and easy tweaks and add-on security fixes for Windows, Mac, and Linux, “so bust out the tinfoil hats and check ’em out after the jump.”… saved by 266 other people

Newegg.com – SiliconDust HD Homerun Dual Network HDTV ATSC/QAM Tuner IPC-HDHOMERUN Ethernet Interface – Retail

72 Tips for Safer Computing – Expert Help by PC Magazine – From the basics to the extreme, here are the tricks that will keep your computer, you, and your family secure and safe, by Eric Griffith… saved by 26 other people

Engadget HD definitively answers: does cable, satellite, or fiber provide more HD? – Engadget — You want to know — nay, you deserve to know — which service provides the most HD content. Engadget HD’s got the answer, see how your HD provider stacks up.

From Apple: Organization Made Easy — Apple’s Bento can provide structure for any number of everyday tasks—like planning your kid’s birthday party by Stephen H. Wildstrom

Home Media Magazine – February 10-16, 2008

Big Oil’s Victory in Venezuela (businessweek)  — ExxonMobil has won a court battle to freeze $12 billion in assets of Petroleos de Venezuela as compensation for nationalization of projects by Peter Wilson.  This isn’t related, of course, to the time zone change instituted by President Chavez.

Novell: Ready to Buy (businessweek) — But who’s doing the buying? While the cash-flush software maker wants to make acquisitions, Novell itself could be a target by Aaron Ricadela

Worthwhile Small Business Technologies (businessweek) — Businessweek reports that “these 10 able technologies can make life easier for the small business owner. Among them: wireless connectivity and free conference calling” by Gene Marks

What Would Buffett Buy? (businessweek) — S&P’s latest screen tracking the Berkshire bigwig’s investing criteria uncovers 60 attractive names

Super Bowl Commercials XLII — The ads during this year’s game had a different feel from last year, but the expectations—and cost—were plenty high by David Kiley

HTC Shift appears in Orange Feb pricebook (tracyandmatt.co.uk/blogs) — Tracy & Matt blog that “HTC first announced the Shift back in March 2007, and had originally targeted a November launch. However, for unknown reasons, the device’s debut was delayed until now. The UMPC device will first appear at online retailer Expansys

Yahoo launches live cam site, but can’t handle traffic (BetaNews) – BetaNews reports today (February 8, 2008) that “Yahoo Live, the search company’s new live cam site, underwent what you might call an “experimental” launch last night. 

Best Buy to begin selling DTV boxes on February 17 (BetaNews) — February 7, 2008 – The electronic retailer said it was ready for the digital television transition, stocking converter boxes that would be compatible with the US government’s rebate program. Just be sure to get your rebate coupon via the NTIA Web site first. Click right or call for coupons: 1-888-388-2009 (in US)

Related: Hearings on the DTV transition will be held in both the House and Senate in mid-February : Dealerscope Today – Stephen Silver Both houses of Congress are planning committee hearings this month on the digital television transition, as time remaining prior to the analog signal shutoff approaches one year on Feb. 17.

Spielberg Hooked on Wii Games (BusinessWeek interview) – February 6, 2008 — In this BusinessWeek interview, game creator Louis Castle dishes about bringing Steven Spielberg’s Wii game to life.

Marcial: Microsoft, Google Good Bets (businessweek) – Feb 8, 2008 – Gene Marcial says that “whether Microsoft gets Yahoo or not, some investing pros see money to be made long-term on the kings of software and search.”

Watch and Schedule Media Center Recordings from Any Computer — Want to catch up on last week’s episode on your laptop or even your cell phone? With the free Media Center add-on WebGuide, you can extend your Windows Media Center to any browser (including mobile browsers), so no matter where you are… saved by 64 other people …

10 Tips to Retain More of What You Read Online (Vandelay) — October 16th, 2007 — In today’s society most of us read a considerable amount of information online on a daily or weekly basis. Whether you do business online, maintain a blog, read for your job, or just read for pleasure, I’m sure you could benefit… saved by 394 other people

How To: Record a Quality Podcast on the Cheap — MetaFilter founder Matt Haughey reveals his secret to recording the MeFi podcast between two Macs with simple software sans expensive hardware… saved by 38 other people …

HelloTxt – Home — HelloTXT is a free web app that can send your status to Facebook, Twitter, a Tumblr blog, and a handful of other networks… saved by 439 other people

Create Your Own Personal Personnel File | TheJobBored — TheJobBored career blog suggests 15 kinds of documents anyone with a career should keep copies of for themselves—and, preferably, in one place, as a kind of “Personal Personnel File.” … saved by 147 other people

Celebrity Workspace: Andy Rooney’s “Organization System” — Commentator Andy Rooney takes 60 Minutes viewers on a quick tour of his cluttered workspace, inboxes, and storage bins. My favorite part has to be the collection of floppy disks. At this point he could probably lose the 1994 calendar, though, don’t you think?… saved by 11 other people

Sharpening Up Your New HDTV – Forbes.com — Setting up a new HDTV requires a bit more nuance than your old TV probably did, so Forbes.com has rounded up 10 tips for improving your HDTV picture to help you get the most from your new box… saved by 131 other people

Holy shelf unit batman: hidden passages at home DIY (simonshea.com) — Of interest – thanks to LifeHacker for the pointer to this post by Aussie blogger, Simon Shea. “He built a secret door into a shelving unit himself and documents the results with before and after photos. We’re adding bookcases and shelves at home, so this is an inspiration… saved by 81 other people

Microsoft Watch – Operating Systems – Can Microsoft XP Users Get Some Satisfaction? – A blast from the past, I re-read Mary Jo Foley’s blog post this week.  “Microsoft seems to be seeking more recruits again for its mysterious “PC Satisfaction Trial.” This week, ActiveWin.com and other Windows enthusiast sites posted copies of beta invitations from Microsoft for the trial.”

At the Core of Apple: A Clear-eyed Look at Steve Jobs’ World (Wired, WANE-TV) — Yet this is also a dangerous moment for Apple. In a way the company has never seen, the barbarians are massing at the gates. From hardware to software to services, major competitors with serious R&D and marketing budgets are laying siege to the House of Jobs…

Xbox is crack for kids (Janice Turner, Times Online) — Turner says that “It’s an impossible task to police our children’s multimedia addiction — “Screen time” is the new playground buzzword. What irony that having wasted weeks acquiring the world’s last Wii, and credit card bills still bulging from new purchases… saved by 9 other people

DIRECTV Loses An HDTV Customer (tvpredictions.com) — By Swanni 2/4/08 – Comcast makes an offer your author can’t refuse. “My father is 86 years old and still bursting with energy. But at that age, you need help, which is why a year ago I bought a house a few miles from his home in Southern Maryland.”  

Predict the Future by Studying the Customer’s Past (TheLedger.com) — Jeffrey Gitomer 2/4/08 — crystal balls. Don’t you wish you had one when you were preparing for a big sales call? Even more when you were in a big sales presentation? Great news: A sales crystal ball is nothing more than taking a look at information derived from reading existing stuff and then asking powerful questions about it. This is information that – when understood – will predict the future.

Lorain County holds lesson for Bill Gates on giving (The Morning Journal) — By John Cole, 02/03/2008 — “when I read that Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft and one of the world’s richest men, is, at times, frustrated by the slow pace and limited success of his $33 billion charitable foundation, I felt like we were allies facing a common problem.”

HP’s Biggest Obstacle Is Microsoft (plus Amazon vs. Apple, Voting Smart) — By Rob Enderle, TechNewsWorld , 02/04/08 — You get the sense in talking to all of the vendors that their Microsoft contacts have one thing on their mind when it comes to allowing these companies to innovate and create the user experience they want.

Microsoft aims for much-needed second act (MSNBC) — Constance Gustke, an MSNBC contributor writes (Feb. 4, 2008 that “Few technology insiders doubt that Microsoft badly needs a second act. After all, the software giant has rested comfortably on its safe but highly profitable cache of desktop software sales…”

In Microsoft vs. Google, search is still master (globeandmail.com) — Raissa Kasolowsky of Reuters writes (February 4, 2008) that “a good place to see the true frontline in Microsoft’s battle with Google is deep in the bowels of the British Library in London.” 

Why Vista sounds worse (The Guardian) — Changes to how the latest version of Windows handles audio playback has caused unexpected quality issues for musicians and consumers alike, reports Tim Anderson of The Guardian, Thursday, January 31 2008.

Unclutterer » Archive » Gadget ‘gas station’ — Anthro, an office furniture company, has a product for sale that appeals to my techie sensibilities. The eNook is a “gas station for your gadgets that has channels for you to plug in and charge all your gear.” … saved by 9 other people …

Clutter: Live a Simple Life — Weblog ThinkSimpleNow suggests that the novelty may wear off if it hasn’t already. With all this extra “stuff,” our homes and minds are filled with excess possessions and information.

Digital Photos: Find Better Prices for Digital Photo Prints at PrintRates — Digital print comparison site PrintRates.com makes it simple to see who’s got the best print-and-mail prices. Enter how many pictures you’ll be ordering, what size pictures you want and what kind of shipping you need, and you’ll receive a list of prices… saved by 19 other people

Cord Management: Build Versus Buy Your Gadget “Gas Station” — The Unclutterer blog points out a gorgeous, wall-mounted, fold-up gadget charging station that had us gripped with lust until we saw the price tag: a whopping $400. A commenter there pointed out that over at Ikea Hacker, a reader put together a wall-mounted gadget holder and charger by modifying a $43 wall cabinet… saved by 20 other people

Featured Windows Download: Skip Commercials in Windows Media Center with DVRMSToolbox — Windows only: Freeware application DVRMSToolbox analyzes Media Center-recorded files and marks the start and end point of commercials so you can quickly skip over commercials and go straight to the content… saved by 35 other people

ScreenCheck online utility (Photographer USA.com) — Calibrate your monitors for consistent tone and color with web site Screen Check. The site displays two bars, one white-to-black for adjusting tone and the other covers the red/green/blue spectrum for adjusting color… saved by 661 other people

Stranded at the airport? Don’t forget Rule 240 (MSNBC) — Peter Greenberg of MSNBC highlights how to invoke Rule 240 to get a new flight fast any time your flight is canceled for anything other than weather. Jan. 29, 2008… saved by 459 other people

Health: Fix Your Poor PC Posture — To aid in the improvement of your PC posture, the post offers six stretches to get you sitting up straighter and taller at your computer. While you’re at it, maybe it’s time you fixed your overall workspace into a more healthy, usable setup… saved by 16 other people

vLite: Tool Cuts Vista Down to Size (internetnews) — vLite is an unsupported (by MS) free package that lets you exclude the Vista components that you don’t want or need but are cramping your system’s style before you even install Vista.

IDC: Virtual Test Lab Management (registration required) — This complimentary IDC paper explores the requirements for effectively using virtualization in the enterprise to accelerate software delivery. It examines how Global 2000 organizations are applying virtualization to software testing and development…

Facebook-based apps can now run on other sites (Computerworld) — By Heather Havenstein, January 28, 2008 — The social network releases a JavaScript client library that extends Facebook’s platform to outside sites

The Techdirt blog, a favourite… saved by 152 other people

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (Shane Perran’s SharePoint Customization Blog) — It seems we are being left with less and less excuse for not making our web content accessible. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Working Group has released Working Drafts of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 and HTML Techniques

Always fun is YouTube’s “The Vader Sessions” — One of the funniest compilations I’ve seen (and heard) with new dialogue added to Darth Vader clips, all voiced by James Earl Jones. Classic… saved by 189 other people.  Also see YouTube – Darth Vader Prank Call to Microsoft. (Note that I don’t advocate this type of prank: “calls may be monitored and recorded for quality purposes…”)

The Claim: Never Drink Hot Water From the Tap (New York Times) — By ANAHAD O’CONNOR, January 29, 2008 — The claim has the ring of a myth. But environmental scientists say it is real. The reason is that hot water dissolves contaminants more quickly than cold water, and many pipes in homes contain lead that can leach… saved by 19 other people

InformationWeek’s Top 60 Little-Known Technology Web Sites — Jan. 26, 2008 “Our guide to great blogs and Web sites worth adding to your bookmarks. The selection ranges from obvious picks like Technabob and Search Engine Watch to more obscure destinations such as Location One, istartedsomething, and GottaBeMobile.”… saved by 305 other people

Optoma MovieTime DV11 Projector Review — Audioholics Home Theater Reviews and News by Clint DeBoer — last modified December 07, 2007.  This is a great all-in-one family room projector you can often find discounted with offers for free large screens.  Recommended for kid’s sleep-overs and movie nights.

You can now submit bugs through MSDN Forums for Visual Basic team – Bertan’s Blog — “Last week we have started a pilot program with Visual Basic team and enabled bug reporting on several Visual Basic forums. Bug reporting procedure is very simple and all you have to do is select “Bug Report” while create a new post under an enabled forum…

Blown away in 40 minutes: 31 demos — From Karin: “What fun! Thirty-one awesome demos in 39 minutes, presented in a wonderful interactive interface. Mouse over the top of the video screen to jump from demo to demo. Thank you for a great tour, Nigel Parker!”

Jeff Jones Security Blog : Download: Windows Vista One Year Vulnerability Report — pointer to a report “produced by a colleague of mine about Vista vulnerabilities one year after release. It is an in-depth report that compares Windows Vista against Windows XP, Linux and other OS’es.”

What’s your best interview tip? (Microsoft’s JobsBlog) — “What’s your best interview tip?” We get that question a lot so we thought it might be fun for all the bloggers – and you! – to weigh in on tried-and-true tips.

How to get Windows XP after June 30 (InfoWorld, 2008-01-28, By Galen Gruman) — Two weeks ago, InfoWorld launched a petition campaign to save Windows XP. So far we’ve gotten more than 70,000 signatures, thanks to a passionate response from a wide range of XP users. We hope we can persuade Microsoft to keep selling XP licenses indefinitely…

Opinion: Windows Genuine Advantage and why you should be annoyed — A blast from the past I re-read recently (say that five times fast).  Scot Finnie (July 30, 2006, Computerworld) said that “Just when it looks like Microsoft might be coming around, at least somewhat, on the boondoggle that is User Account Control in its upcoming Windows Vista operating system, the company loses all rationality…”

Deliver a Presentation like Steve Jobs (BusinessWeek) — Our communications coach breaks down the ace presenter’s latest Macworld keynote. The result? A 10-part framework you can use to wow your own audience, by Carmine Gallo… saved by 973 other people

Related: How Steve Jobs’ Reality Distortion Field Works (Gadget Lab from Wired.com) — By Rob Beschizza January 29, 2008 — If you’re not sick to the back teeth of the man being mythologised this way and that, BusinessWeek has the ultimate primer on Being Steve Jobs. Breaking his presentational style down into ten bullet points, Carmine Gallo

Tales From Packaging Hell (Wired) — Wired noted that retailers use “packaging that’s next to impossible to steal from. But they could make it easier to open it when you get it home.” See The best present ever- the OpenX plastic Package opener for a solution.

Photographer Taryn Simon Shoots America’s Best-Kept Secrets (wired) — By Jenna Wortham 01.14.08 — Taryn Simon photographs some of the most top-secret, highly restricted areas in the world. Her latest book, An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar, took four years to assemble as the photographer gained access…

What Our Top Spy Doesn’t Get: Security and Privacy Aren’t Opposites — Bruce Schneier 01.24.08 — We’ve been told we have to trade off security and privacy so often — in debates on security versus privacy, writing contests, polls, reasoned essays and political rhetoric — that most of us don’t even question the fundamental dichotomy… saved by 41 other people

Let’s have some wa, hansei and kaizen (indianexpress.com) — By Sudheendra Kulkarni, Jan 27, 2008 — Indian businessmen doing business with Japan are of two types — one, for whom the relationship is short-term and frustrating, and the other for whom it becomes durable and highly fulfilling, not only financially but also in other intangible ways.

Hanging Up On Dell? (businessweek) — Louise Lee reports on tech support are on the rise, and the PC king is scrambling to upgrade. Rob Hof said that this story — digging into Dell’s customer-service challenges — “won’t come as a surprise to the many folks…”

Is Google’s free ride as fast as Vista? (Money) — Find out which new productivity software suite is best for your needs. By Jonathan Blum, Aug. 8, 2007

Business: Defender of customer service (Gazette.com) — January 26, 2008 – Debbie Kelley writes that “bad customer service is rarely forgotten. In fact, the experience often gets repeated to friends and family. But on-the-job rudeness, unhelpfulness and inattention to customers are becoming the norm…”

14 Fantastic Freeware Finds – MSN Tech & Gadgets – Downloads, By Scott Dunn, PC World — Get to your favorite folders in a snap. Stream TV stations from around the globe. Add new power to Internet Explorer. All this and more, and all of it for free… saved by 65 other people

HTC Touch sales half that of Apple’s iPhone (betanews), By Tim Conneally, BetaNews, January 21, 2008  — Taiwanese handset manufacturer HTC has reported its sales for 2007, and it looks like the touch-screen smart phone market is more balanced than it is often portrayed to be.

PC World – Business Center: Red Hat to Focus on Core Products and Service — January 24, 2008 — Martyn Williams, IDG News Service – Red Hat’s new CEO plans to keep the company focused on its core Linux OS and middleware business while also improving the service it offers to customers, he said.

Consumers getting cozy with fibre to the home (EETimes.com) 01/24/2008 — Early findings suggest consumers are tending to adopt and enjoy fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) video services at rates higher than for competing services based on satellite, cable and fibre to the neighborhood node, according to an executive…

Most Americans are in cell phone jail – Gotcha Capitalism- msnbc.com — By Bob Sullivan, Jan. 22, 2008 – At any given time, most Americans are in cell phone jail. You know the feeling. You talk to a friend with a snazzy new handset that does amazing things. Or you see an advertisement for a great deal on a monthly plan.

How $5 could save the music industry — chicagotribune.com — January 24, 2008 – The Songwriters Association of Canada is proposing a $5-a-month licensing fee on every wireless and Internet account in the country, in exchange for unlimited access to all recorded music.

Insurance: Inventory Your Home or Office with StuffSafe — Inventory all of your home or office furnishings and bolster your theft or disaster recovery plan with web site StuffSafe. The obvious idea behind the service is that any on-site inventory is no good, since you’ll very likely lose the inventory materials… saved by 41 other people

How To: Suck Less at Photoshop, Redux — Last week we posted three Photoshop tutorials from funny guy screencaster Donnie Hoyle, and today we’ve got a new one that covers paths and masks… saved by 54 other people

How To: Install OS X on Your Hackintosh PC, No Hacking Required — “Two months ago I walked through how to build a Hackintosh Mac on the cheap using PC parts. Since that post, the OSx86 scene has changed rapidly, and now you can install Leopard on your computer about as easily as installing Leopard on a Mac…” saved by 1344 other people

Featured Windows Download: Download Flickr Pics by User, Group, or Tags with FlickrDown — Windows only: Suck down Flickr pics en masse by username, user email, tag, or group with open source application FlickrDown… saved by 39 other people

Redmond Channel Partner Online | Feature: 2008 Marching Orders — The new product launch wave hits early in 2008, so what’s a partner to do? Microsoft insiders and partners point out channel opportunities and challenges in a year without Bill. January 01, 2008 by Anne Stuart

Microsoft Caves on Vista Virtualization — Robert notes the change in the EULA on virtualization support in Vista Home.

Microsoft and Dell Unite for Charity (Reuters) Jan 23, 2008 — Dell will start selling two (Red) laptops and one desktop running Microsoft Windows Vista on Friday. The two companies will donate $50 for a laptop and $80 for a desktop to the Global Fund, which finances health programs in Africa.

Search Engines: Missing Money Searches for Unclaimed Funds — Previously mentioned search engine Missing Money has a new web site address and is still finding unclaimed funds for people who didn’t know about them. Just enter your name and state, and let Missing Money do its thing.

Mad Science: Evolution Explains Why Lolcats Control Your Mind — If you’re distracted by lolcats at work all day, new evidence from evolutionary biology suggests it’s not your fault. Human visual attention evolved thousands of years ago to track the movements of animals, and even today people are far more distracted… saved by 56 other people

Additional links:

• Techmeme, a great site … saved by 3351 other people


• Hands-on with unannounced Samsung Media Center Extender (Engadget)


• Microsoft Dogged By Sharepoint Support Issues – Study – Software (IT Channel News by CRN and VARBusiness)


• Digital music and audio news in the Guardian (UK)


• Help me find an Internet bandwidth monitor (Ask MetaFilter)

Tags: misc, articles, what I read, TechReady.