Tag: articles

Categories
Uncategorized

Bringo, GetHuman offer ways to avoid phone tree hell

“Thank you for reading our blog today. Your visit is VERY important to us. Please select from the following options. Please make sure you read through to the entire menu because our options have recently changed.”


OK, not really.  All options are still available in the left-hand nav. And happy December – we have snow on the ground today.

I read about an interesting new company featured in the Seattle Times today (courtesy of Craig Crossman, McClatchy-Tribune News Service): Bringo, serving customers calling a company with automated phone trees:


“(In the automated phone tree) you finally hear the option you want and press it. You are then presented with a sub-menu of choices. “Please select one of the following seven items.” You listen and then make another selection. You then hear “Please select from the following six options,” and so it continues.


“It is somewhere around the third sub-menu that your mounting frustration makes you either give up or start pressing random phone keys in hopes that you might be connected to a live person who can actually help you.

When you finally navigate all the appropriate menu options, you discover that you now have to wait 17 minutes. When you do finally speak to a live person, you have to swallow your tongue, least you make a comment you may regret later. There must be a better way to quickly get to a live person on the phone, and now thanks to Bringo, there is.”


Bringo was featured with Gethuman.com in the Wall Street Journal earlier this year, “two Web sites designed to help callers connect to an employee and bypass automated systems.”

And I like Bringo. 

Start by visiting the Bringo Web site and search through the list of companies on their web site that you’re interested in speaking to a live person. Noted as a Chicago health-care technology, Bringo provides nearly a thousand listings.  You type in your phone number and hit a button that says “fetch.” The site rings your phone within seconds to verify that the request is legitimate.

According to Bringo’s site, here’s how it works:


  1. Find the company you’d like to call by category (credit cards, mortgages, loans, health care)
  2. Enter your phone # (we will never disclose your phone number to anyone, not even your mother!).
  3. Wait a few seconds while we navigate the phone tree.
  4. When we call you back, pick up your phone and you’re done. No more phone trees.

Ready to get started?


  • Click here to list all categories of companies
  • Click here for an alphabetical list of all companies

But where are the tech companies and broadband service providers in the list of popular services?  It makes sense that these companies don’t make the top ten list of companies called (but all companies I tried to reach in the last couple of weeks.) 

Interestingly enough, I found that of the company categories listed, I recently called only one type: Credit Cards.  For most of the others, most of my inquiries are over the web or email, even live chat.

Oddly, AT&T Wireless isn’t listed (it’s reached via the listing for Cingular), and Comcast isn’t listed in the ISP list.  And on the computer hardware page, Dell numbers occupy more than a third of the listings.  But that stuff is easily fixed.

Back to what works. 

Bringo’s site navigates the company’s phone tree for you, and then calls you back when it finally finds a live person (or in the queue).

So, let’s take a look at Bringo’s main entry for Microsoft:


Microsoft: Avoid the phone tree and talk directly to a human at Microsoft. Microsoft is leading software company. Its main products are: Windows XP, MS Office, Internet Explorer. Company owns also MSN.com website and manufacturers XBOX 360 game console.

This company’s operators may answer very quickly after we navigate the phone tree. This may cause them to hang up before you are connected. In the event that this happens, you may try Bringo again, or dial them directly and press “0” at each prompt when connection is established.


Sweet. 😉

So, before using the service, try dialing the number that Bringo has listed on their site and see if you get a live person quickly. 

BTW, for Microsoft Tech Support, call (in the US) 1-800‑642‑7676, and press 0 at each prompt, ignoring messages.  (Thanks, GetHuman.)

As with gethuman.com, take a look at the telephone number listings on the sites and paths for getting a hold of a live person.  But when you are faced with the dreaded automated warning, “your call will be handled in twenty minutes,” head over to Bringo and see if that works for you.


Tags: Microsoft, Customer Service, Customer Support.

Categories
Uncategorized

Your questions: A few notes on the upcoming “Fall Back” in North America

I had a nice chat yesterday with Michelle Kessler of USA TODAY, discussing the impact of the extension to DST this year.



“Some Americans are finding themselves behind the times thanks to a daylight saving shift that is confusing people and electronics. Daylight saving used to end on the last weekend in October. But Congress changed it to the first weekend in November this year in an effort to save power.


“That may save electricity, but it’s causing a brain drain as the country figures out what time it is. Creating confusion: Some PCs, cellphones and other electronics are still programmed to “fall back” on the old date, which was Sunday. Thousands of people in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and elsewhere have called city information lines just to ask what time it is.”


I noted in the discussion that a large number of people downloaded the update, via our website but primarily through Automatic Updates.  But there are a few instances where devices need to be more closely managed, such as products covered by mobile operators.  Some phones have been updated via over the air (aka OTA) updates.


Keep in mind that the upcoming change to DST in the States and Canada aren’t a single change, but one of a myriad of changes that have happened throughout this year.  Much like changes to the computer, we recommend that our customers make a concerted effort to keep their products up to date.


Michelle asked…



“So, if you have [Windows] Automatic Update you are fine, but if it’s turned off then you may need to [manually] update?”


Generally, that’s right. Of course, your individual case may require more attention.  For support, turn on Automatic Updates, visit Windows Update for the latest, or go to http://www.microsoft.com/time for info about Microsoft applications and services.  That will take you to the Microsoft central support site, where you can navigate to more information on products that require updates or attention.  And it’s not just about Microsoft products but many others in the ecosystem, so should contact software and hardware vendors for updates.



“Is it fair to assume that it’s because people addressed in the spring?”


I think so, as people paid attention to DST changes in the spring, and realized that it’s not just a domestic issue, but a worldwide impact with all the changes internationally (many are referenced on my blog). 


More info: see Rich’s article on Microsoft PressPass, as he discusses the second part of the Daylight Saving Time extension to come in North America, lessons learned from March’s “spring forward,” and the effects these changes have on customers around the world.


Tags: Microsoft, Daylight Saving Time, Daylight Savings Time, DST.

Categories
Uncategorized

Sometimes, you should fire your customer

It has been a good but busy week (complain, complain) between work and home. 


One evening I returned a purchase at a local big box store, without a problem — the clerk was friendly, helpful and fast.  Whilst in line, I overheard a discussion (it was difficult not to hear) a return transaction gone wrong, where the clerk could not say anything to appease the customer attempting to return something for cash without a receipt.


Hello, McFly?  Where have you been?  Return something without any receipt?  Surely, you’re joking.


Then I thought that sometimes, the customer is not always right. 


And it’s OK to fire your customer.


BusinessWeek has an article on how one small firm did just that… and made for more profitable business.



“Not every client can be your favorite. That’s what Debra Brede, an investment adviser and owner of five-person D.K. Brede Investment Management in Needham, Mass., used to think about one of her most demanding customers. For 20 years, the woman showed up at appointments with bags stuffed with every slip of paper connected with her investments—proxy statements, annual reports, dividend notices—expecting Brede to go over each one with her. Brede did. She wanted to offer good service, and this woman had a $1 million account. That’s a healthy amount for Brede’s company, which has about $1.7 million in revenues each year.”


The article notes that when customers begin costing you money, then it’s time to cut the cord… a move that may even boost revenues. In this case, the investment manager ‘fired’ about a dozen of her clients (less than 2% of the total customers) and found that “profits rose 25% last year, compared with about 9.5% in each of the past few years.”


Last year, Seth Godin wrote that sometimes you have to fire a customer.



“Politely decline to do business with them. Refer them to your arch competitors. Take them off the mailing list. Don’t make promises you can’t keep, don’t be rude, just move on.”


Our own Heather Hamilton looked at this in her blog last year, garnering several comments, one noting that…



“I think one can fire customer if and when it makes sense. Best Buy ranks all of its customers by profitability. They “fire” the lowest ranking customers by not sending them direct mail that contains promotions or special offers. They are not overtly telling the customer to go away; they just aren’t encouraging them to come back.”


So, if you want to fire a customer, just don’t call them back. 😉


Tags: Microsoft, Customer Service, Customer Support, whack.

Categories
Uncategorized

What I’ve read: A busy week and the reading pile grows

A recent mail: “Where are your blog postings? Are you still around?”


Let’s just say that it’s been a busy week.  Thanks for asking.


Brazil “Sprang Forward”, my taller son has decided that he is going to be Master Chief from Halo for Halloween (you know, we found that no one makes a Master Chief from Halo Halloween costume… big licensing miss, IMHO) and much of North America “Falls Back” on November 4th.


The really important news is that I completed my first (and last 😉 Pepakura of the Chief’s spartan helmet – more on that after we actually get it finished this weekend.  And of course a second costume for our younger son from scratch, as there’s not a Pokemon Ranger costume to be found either.


Well, while you’re building a costume from the ground up for your kids, here are a week’s worth articles from the reading file for you. As noted these are all (for the most part) available for download, making it easy to read the files off-line.


Have a good weekend.


How Microsoft Blogging PR Works (Microsoft Watch – opinion)  Interesting to see through the eyes of the press… from Sept 14, 2007. Joe Wilcox looks at “Microsoft’s handling of the Windows Update controversy is a good case study for how the company’s public relations efforts work. The lessons are important for Mi


Google Docs and Spreadsheets clause gives pause (InfoWorld News)  By Shane Schick, ITbusiness.ca, Sept 14, 2007. For a company whose motto is “Do no evil,” it’s interesting how often Google’s customers suspect them of it. Google is in damage control mode over a clause in the user agreements for its Google Docs and


Tech Trader Daily – Barron’s Online : Yahoo: Outsource Search To Google, Cut Staff 25%, Bernstein Advises  Posted by Eric Savitz 9/14/07. Bernstein Research analyst Jeffrey Lindsay has some aggressive advice for Yahoo (YHOO) CEO Jerry Yang. He thinks the company’s current slow and incremental approach to fixing the business is actually a risky strategy


New WMV PowerToy & registry key documentation | Ben Waggoner | Channel 10  Posted by Ben Waggoner on Sep 8th at 2:36 PM. The birth of the VC-1 Encoder SDKs will reduce the need for these over the next few months, but Alex has updated his WMV PowerToy and also revised our documentation about the registry key options.


A Baffling New Phenomenon: Customized Ringtones (New York Times)  Question 1: Apple is selling a ringtone and the full song together for $2, and claims that that’s a bargain. Three bucks for a 30-second snippet that lasts a year—when you can buy the entire song online for $1 and own it forever? By DAVID POGUE


How the Wii is Winning (Businessweek)  September 12, 2007, 12:02PM EST. It’s all about intent. A new report claims more people intend to buy a Wii than jones for a PS3 or Xbox 360, by Kris Graft


Online Games Business To Triple in Five Years? (Businessweek)  September 12, 2007, 11:56AM EST. A new report suggests that the revolution won’t be televised; it’ll be downloaded, by James Brightman


How to Sell Your Invention (businessweek)  September 12, 2007. Deciding how to bring your revolutionary new product to market is a challenge. Here are some basics to set you on the right road by John Tozzi


gaping void blogcards  “blog cards” – printed bizcards with a Hugh MacLeod cartoon on front, your personal details on the back. Prices start $22.50


Steal Office 2007 (Richard Sprague WebLog)  Well, at $60 it might as well be stealing. If you’re a student, you can get Office Ultimate 2007 for only $59.95.


ANALYSIS: The “Disastrous” Xbox 360? (Next Generation)  By Kris Graft Print, from April 2007. “A financial analyst says that Microsoft needs to “own up” to the “disastrous” money-losing Xbox business. However two games analysts tell Next-Gen that the analysis is short-sighted and Microsoft unsurprisin


More Hype for Halo 3 (BusinessWeek)  September 14, 2007, 12:00PM EST. A visit to game developer, Bungie, to check out the next, hotly anticipated episode in Microsoft’s gaming saga by Edge


Microsoft User Research – Participant Recruiting : Music Enthusiasts Encouraged To Join Microsoft Usability Program


Steve Clayton: Geek In Disguise : The Internet has stopped working


Sharepoint Conference 2008 (The ShiSh List)  The Microsoft SharePoint Conference will be held from March 2-6, 2008 at the Washington State Trade and Convention Center in Seattle, Washington. 


VMworld 2007: bigger, broader and Viridian (Windows Server Division WebLog)  Sept 11, 207: With today’s news of a pending CTP of Viridian, the crowd seems interested to kick the tires. I had one customer from Sanofi-Aventis tell me how much they were paying in license and training fees for VMware to do server consolidation…


12 Effective Strategies Apple Uses to Create Loyal Customers – Inside CRM  Find out more about these and other strategies that Apple employs to achieve its tremendous customer loyalty… saved by 138 other people


Vista Made Easy: 50 Tips And Tricks (PC Magazine) Like driving a new car, adjusting to a new operating system takes time. Discovering new features and functions (so that’s how you adjust the steering wheel!) helps to shorten the acclimatization period… saved by 23 other people


Should You Buy a New Mac Mini, iMac or Mac Pro? (Tom’s Guide)  By Anthony Celeste, September 6, 2007 07:36. Apple recently released what some have called long overdue updates to its lineup of desktop computers: the Mac Mini, iMac and Mac Pro. This update marks the third version of desktop Macs….


Information Overload: Tips to Thrive on Surplus Information – Lifehacker  Information overload doesn’t have to be overwhelming, and author Ross Dawson shares eight principles that will prevent you from drowning in the surplus of available information.


Search Flickr Images by Color with the Color Fields Colr Pickr – Lifehacker  The Color Fields Colr Pickr webapp searches Flickr for images using only a color wheel, and no other search fields. Simply click on the color you’re interested in and Flickr images made up of mostly that color surround the wheel.


Cisco Gears Up to Embrace Managed Services (channel insider) 12-SEP-2007 By Michael Vizard. Next month Cisco plans to formally roll out a channel program for managed services after piloting the program for a year and half with a small select group of partners.


Orbitz Lures Travelers With Free User-Generated Travel Tips (WOMMA)  Orbitz recently launched a user-generated tip website offering real-time updates from travelers — including security line wait times, traffic, parking, taxi lines, air-traffic updates, weather information, the best place to get an airport snack, and more


HDTV Recordings Need More Room (New York Times)  By J. D. BIERSDORFER Published: September 13, 2007. Q. How much more hard drive space does it take to record a program in high definition than it takes in standard definition? (A: Generally, figure 10:1 HD:SDTV)


Why Pirate? Microsoft Offers $60 Office to Students (PC Magazine)  09.12.07 By Chloe Albanesius. Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled a $60 Web-based version of its new Microsoft Office Ultimate suite of applications that will be exclusively available to college students.


Vudu Reviews. Digital Media Receivers Reviews by CNET  Set-top box that plays Internet-delivered movies on your TV; solid movie selection includes major Hollywood studio titles in the same week they hit DVD; no monthly fees; very good video and audio quality; no waiting–movies start immediately; excellent on


Sprint’s Q4 lineup: Rumor, Centro, Touch, and Pearl 8130 – Engadget 


Microsoft Launches Own ‘Babel Fish’ (BetaNews)  Windows Live Translator is based on technology from Systran. Users can input a block of text to translate, or select a Web site to translate. There is an option for “computer related content” …


Web OS Aims to Mimic Windows (BetaNews)  By Ed Oswald, BetaNews, September 11, 2007, 11:12 AM. A web applications company is hoping to legitimize the web operating system concept with the release of ajaxWindows, an application that behaves much like its Microsoft counterpart.


Amazon Does Downloads, Sort Of (BusinessWeek)  SEPTEMBER 17, 2007 Why its push into digital delivery of books, movies, and music seems halfhearted


The Big Divide In Tech Support (BusinessWeek)  SEPTEMBER 17, 2007 Top executives get hands-on, 24/7 assistance while the rank and file have to call India. By Aili McConnon, with Michael Arndt in Chicago, Tom Lowry in New York, and Ronald Grover in Los Angeles


The Case For Nuclear Power (BusinessWeek)  IDEAS — OUTSIDE SHOT By Christine Todd Whitman. Sept 17, 2007. It’s a chance to meet our future energy needs while preserving the Earth’s climate


Hardware Virtualization – A Reality? (Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and .NET 3.5 for developers)  The Virtualization market is certainly going through a number of radical changes and will continue down this path for a number of years. This week ZDNET asked the question about whether all or part of the hypervisor would be placed in silicon…


Apple Averts a ‘Fanboy Rebellion’ (BusinessWeek)  BW’s Web Picks September 7, 2007, Amid outrage from even his most faithful fans over a surprise iPhone price cut, CEO Jobs issues a rare mea culpa and an even rarer rebate. by Douglas MacMillan


ARC Thoughts : Indian Retail Observations  As I said in July, I spent 4 weeks in India. It was a great trip, mainly a person one however I did take time out to do official work as well. Had the pleasure to visit Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai. Across all the metros, two things are common


Halo 3 Lives Up to the Hype (businessweek)  If you want to use the Man Cannon or the Mongoose in the eagerly-awaited final chapter of the Xbox franchise, your wait is almost over. by Chris Buffa, sept 7, 2007


Online Extra: HTC: Stepping Out of iPhone’s Shadow? (BusinessWeek)  THE ASIA BW50/Online Extra, By Bruce Einhorn. A standby in the Taiwanese electronics industry, High Tech Computer struggles to stay ahead of the competition, namely Apple


AMD’s Latest Intel Counterattack (BusinessWeek) Technology September 11, 2007. With the release of its new Barcelona server chips, AMD is pushing a new way of measuring performance that focuses on power needs by Arik Hesseldahl


Apple Eyes the Wireless Auction (BusinessWeek)  Telecom September 10, 2007. Steve Jobs & Co. consider joining the FCC’s auction of wireless spectrum, and a win would give Apple many intriguing options—for the iPhone and more by Peter Burrows


Windows Live Suite’s hidden gold (Steve Clayton: Geek In Disguise)


Blogging with OneNote (MSDN Blog Postings)  Microsoft Senior Program Manager Janet Galore gives a prominent shout-out to OneNote 2007 in her new Office Hours column, Stir up your best ideas with a group SharePoint blog. The column focuses on tips for using SharePoint to create a sense of community


How Software is Built: Deep dive analysis and community conversations about software development models.  A blog forum to provide deep dive analysis and community conversations about software development models…. saved by 11 other people 


How do we create software at Microsoft? (Carpe Datum)  I thought I would follow that up now that I’m in a new group and explain where the basic thoughts come from for the design of SQL Server features.


Windows Live and Windows Mobile 6: Free push email for the masses (MSDN Blog Postings)  Did you know this? (I bet most of you don’t.) If you have a Windows Live Hotmail account (now with 5 GB of free storage, btw.), you can stay always up to date with your inbox on the road with your Windows Mobile 6 device.


Microsoft Shatters the PC-to-Television Barrier, Releases First Details on Extenders for Windows Media Center – Forbes.com PR Newswire – Press Release – “Microsoft Shatters the PC-to-Television Barrier, Releases First Details on Extenders for Windows Media Center”


Microsoft releases Windows Media Extenders  Devices based on the old spec, developed to work with Windows XP, will no longer work with the new system for Vista By Peter Sayer, IDG News Service September 06, 2007


Microsoft debuts Extenders for Windows Media Center, adds DivX and XviD – Engadget  Extenders for Windows Media Center. Ok, the name totally sucks, but the important part is Microsoft upgraded its wayward Extender system with a new version that takes full advantage of Vista (including live HDTV streaming), supports 802.11n… saved by 9 other people


Businesspundit: Switching To Mac is Great  “Ok. Ok. I give up. Macs are wonderful. Anyone that doesn’t use them is an idiot. Bloggers should only post their opinions and experiences when they are pro-Mac. There is no such thing as anti-Mac because…”saved by 4 other people


CPU Charts from Tom’s Hardware – The interactive CPU Charts provide a true performance comparison between AMD and Intel processors. They allow ambitious users as well as decision makers and dealers to compare their favorite products in 20+ benchmark disciplines…. saved by 60 other people


What You Should Know About Dual-Core Technology (PC Magazine)  – 081406. But the bigger question for owners and managers of small and medium-size businesses is whether to buy such gear and, if so, when. This Q&A highlights key considerations on this topic.


Spring 2006 Interactive CPU Charts Update | Tom’s Hardware


Employees Are the Most Critical Customer Service Asset (The Ken Blanchard Companies Study on Customer Loyalty) Aug 29, 207. Employees are in fact an organization’s most critical customer service asset — one that requires focused development and nurturing. These “sound-simple-but-difficult-to do” revelations are among the findings from a recent customer loyalty…


Japan’s Warp-Speed Ride to Internet Future – washingtonpost.com  By Blaine Harden Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, August 29, 2007; Page A01 TOKYO — Americans invented the Internet, but the Japanese are running away with it. Broadband service here is eight to 30 times as fast as in the United States — a


Apple’s iWork Package Is Elegant but Wimpy Compared With Office (WSJ.com) By WALTER S. MOSSBERG, Aug 16, 2007. “My verdict: iWork ’08 is a nice product, capable of turning out sophisticated and attractive word-processing, presentation and spreadsheet documents. … But iWork simply isn’t as powerful or versatile as Microsoft Office…


Telephones: Get Reverse Phone Lookups with Sullr – Lifehacker  Web site Sullr provides reverse phone number lookups with an attractive AJAX interface and Google Maps mashup. Next time you get a call on your phone from an unrecognized number, enter in the number and see if Sullr can grab the listing…. saved by 41 other people …


25 Tips to Become More Productive and Happy at Work (lifelearningtoday.com) Aug 28, 2007: “Follow these tips and you’ll see your work life improve. And that improvement will trickle into the rest of your life too.” Thanks to Lifehacker.com… saved by 329 other people


Photography: Take Better Shots with the Nikon Digital Learning Center – Lifehacker  Better your photography skills with tips and techniques from expert photogs by joining the Nikon Digital Learning group on Flickr … saved by 68 other people


Tags: misc, articles, what I read. (thru Sept 12).

Categories
Uncategorized

What I’ve read: Catching up with more posts from the reading pile

Fall is here, New Zealand “Sprang Forward” and much of North America is close to a new “Fall Back” on November 4th. As we near Hallowe’en, are you curious to know what do candy, Microsoft products and Congress have in common?


Well, while you’re catching up on the week’s really important news, here are a few articles from the reading file for you. As noted these are all (for the most part) available for download, making it easy to read the files off-line.


Have a good weekend.


Featured Download: Automatically download new TV shows over BitTorrent with ted – Lifehacker… saved by 218 other people …


Book Recommendation: Debunking The Myths of Innovation – Lifehacker – “If you’re still waiting for your Eureka! moment to hit you on the head (like Newton’s mythical apple when he “discovered” gravity), this is the book for you. One by one, Berkun unravels and explains the complex cultural and political forces and history… saved by 24 other people

The TechNet Australia Blog: Parody of Microsoft Surface

Bit-cycling : New Look – “Those of you who read this blog in an RSS reader may not have noticed, but this blog underwent some cosmetic surgery recently. I used some instructions I found on Guy Burstein’s blog, but some some modifications.”

Pulitzer-Winner on Living with Asperger’s (NPR) – All Things Considered, August 13, 2007 ¡ Tim Page, a Pulitzer Prize-winning music critic, describes living with Asperger’s syndrome in his article “Parallel Play” in the Aug. 20 edition of The New Yorker… saved by 9 other people

Microsoft Team Foundation Server Branching Guidance (Codeplex) – With the advanced concepts behind us it is time for us to discuss our guidance for branching structures which are optimized for large teams. With the release of Visual Studio “Orcas,” Microsoft’s Developer Division went to a feature crew model.

Health: Eight foods you should eat every day – Lifehacker – Web site Best Life suggests eight foods that you should eat every day to ensure you’ve hit all your nutritional bases. In short, the list looks like this: spinach, yogurt, tomatoes, carrots, blueberries, black beans, walnuts, and oats… saved by 38 other people

Featured Windows Download: Consolidate Your Data With the Easy Duplicate Finder – Lifehacker – Windows only: System utility Easy Duplicate Finder scans drives and folders for identical files and lets you delete or move them off your PC. Unlike previously mentioned WinMerge, Easy Duplicate Finder can scan more than one folder or your entire hard drive… saved by 201 other people

Public Speaking: Perfect Your Presentations – Lifehacker – Productivity guy Merlin Mann gives a behind-the-scenes look at how he put together the Inbox Zero presentation he gave at Google a few weeks back (video included above to jog your memory, and here are the slides.) MM’s a fan… saved by 65 other people

Virtual PC: Speed up Windows XP in Virtual PC 2007 – Lifehacker – 082407 – Users running Windows XP in Virtual PC 2007 can speed up the virtualized operating system. Tech blogger Dan Maharry drafted a six-page PDF document full of tweaks and customizations you can do to Virtual PC and Windows XP to make the installation… saved by 22 other people

Logitech Harmony 1000 – Review by PC Magazine – The Logitech Harmony 1000 is one slick, touch-screen remote. It’s got a big, beautiful, color LCD, a nice brushed-metal top with several hard buttons, and it’s easy to program. Can you imagine using it in your living room? PCMag.com’s hands-on review.

Google Apps in the Enterprise: A Promotion-Enhancing or Career-Limiting Move for Enterprise Architects? (Burton Group) – Redmond report says that “According to the report, Google Apps can be useful in a “limited set of circumstances” but — as a “lite” collaboration application — startups and/or other smaller businesses should use it only for rather basic office …

Reviews of Five HDTVs with Great SD Picture (PC Magazine) – By Robert Heron, Aug 23, 2007. “Sure, HDTVs offer incredibly sharp video quality, but when it comes to standard definition content many sets stumble. In fact, SD video often looks worse on and HDTV than a plain-old TV. However, if you choose your HDTV car… saved by 13 other people

Our Favorite New PC Desktops (Review by PC Magazine) – 08.20.07 Pump up your computing one of these desktops, all of which have earned our coveted Editors’ Choice nod. By Lisa Ruefenacht… saved by 1 other person .

Music Piracy Costs U.S. Economy $12.5 Billion, Report Reveals (informationweek) – August 22, 2007. K.C. Jones at InformationWeek reports that global music piracy costs the United States about $12.5 billion in economic output and more than 71,000 jobs annually, according to a study by the Institute for Policy Innovation.

Apple Polishes Spreadsheets With Numbers – Lifehacker – Macworld says that iWork ’08’s Numbers changes the spreadsheet paradigm. Mac guy Merlin Mann says Numbers is like the Excel librarian who ditches her horn-rims, opens a button and shakes her hair… saved by 20 other people ..

Access Your Del.icio.us Bookmarks with LocalDeli – Lifehacker – Freeware, Windows only: Freeware application LocalDeli provides lightning fast access to your del.icio.us bookmarks through a simple search interface. After you log in and update your bookmarks, you can search your bookmarks by tags, description or… saved by 46 other people …

Digital Music: Stream Music On Demand with Deezer – Lifehacker – Streaming online radio service Deezer is like Pandora on steroids. Search for songs, create playlists, randomly stream songs or listen to the top 10 in the US and UK. Though Deezer will not have every song you search for, it does have a very large… saved by 40 other people …

So what are the microstock sites looking for? (Joe Calev’s WebLog) – Joe covered the different microstock sites and his opinions of them, and why not to use Shutterstock. 🙂 He briefly cover what the microstock sites are looking for to provide guidance for those wondering whether their photos will be accepted and sell.

Microsoft Plays Catch-Up In Server Virtualization (CMP Channel) – By Kevin McLaughlin, 4:40 PM EDT Wed. Aug. 22, 2007. Microsoft arrived late to the virtualization market and still has holes in its product portfolio. As it fights for market share, partners say Microsoft’s traditional strategy of pricing competitors out… saved by 1 other person

 


Tags: misc, articles, what I read. (thru August 27).