Categories
Uncategorized

What I’ve read: Summer reading for the first week of Fall

Fall is upon us, but I’m still hopeful for more summer weather. Here are a few articles from the reading file for the commute this week (thru August 23rd).

As noted these are all (for the most part) available for download, making it easy to save for reading on mobile devices.  I personally like the Sound Transit busses with wireless access.

Have a good week ahead.

 

SiliconValley.com – ‘Reverse brain drain’ threatens U.S. competitiveness, study says – Associated Press, 08/22/2007, SAN FRANCISCO – The percentage of patents filed by foreigners living in the U.S. has tripled in the past decade – yet the tight cap on permanent visas may force entrepreneurs back home to create rival companies in China…

Vindu’s View: Let’s talk about Silicon Valley’s challenges (SiliconValley.com) – By Vindu Goel, Mercury News, 08/22/2007. In Silicon Valley, we don’t need to play Second Life to get away from the reality. We already live in an alternate universe. People here do more than collect a paycheck – they obsessively invent new technologies …

Passing the Torch – Columns by PC Magazine – PC Magazine editor Jim Louderback leaves and says that he is frustrated with Windows Vista…. saved by 45 other people

ACSI: Flat Customer Satisfaction Suggests Continued Weak Consumer Spending –The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) registers a marginal increase as customer satisfaction slows, according to a report released today from the University of Michigan’s National Quality Research Center.

Delving into the Mystery of Customer Satisfaction: A Toyota for the Retail Market? – Knowledge@Wharton – Aug 10, 2005, read more than 61,000 times. “…in retailing, there is no clear company to follow. There is no Toyota in retailing.” Researchers have begun two closely related projects to find out what drives success in the disparate world of retailing … saved by 1 other person

Beware of Dissatisfied Consumers: They Like to Blab (Knowledge@Wharton) – March 8, 2006. Wharton marketing professor Stephen J. Hoch, who suffered through this scenario first hand during a recent shopping trip, says customers are bound to talk about these kinds of experiences… saved by 1 other person

The Art and Science of Measuring CEO Performance (Knowledge@Wharton) – Aug 22, 2007. The long-term performance of a company’s stock may be the ultimate test of a CEO’s talents. But that’s not the only measurement used by boards of directors to gauge how well the boss is doing.

How to Fix Wal-Mart? Ask Its Managers (BusinessWeek) – by Pallavi Gogoi, August 21, 2007. Store managers from across the country—who know Wal-Mart’s customers best—have a few ideas to get the retailer back on track… saved by 5 other people

Wi-Fi on your Pocket PC (Jason Langridge’s WebLog – MR Mobile) – Pocket WiFi Radar will connect to open hotspots and automatically get your email or start any program you want. All of that in a cool animated radar screen. You may walk around and it will keep scanning untill it finds a free internet connection for you… saved by 1 other person

Make Vista Work for the Whole Family (extreme tech) – How To: Got a computer that’s shared by the whole family? Or a computer in an office that has to support more than one user? Here’s how to set up Windows Vista so that everybody’s happy.

Coupon Search Results for ‘Flat Panel TV Wall Mount’

Wired for customer satisfaction (Sioux City Journal) – Performing service after normal business hours is commonplace for Massey and Advanced Computer’s team of technicians. By Dave Dreeszen Journal business editor

The Allure Of New IT — Emerging Technology — InformationWeek – TransUnion Interactive’s willingness to try new technologies has paid off in many ways. By Scott Metzger, TransUnion Interactive’s CTO InformationWeek August 18, 2007 12:02 AM (From the August 20, 2007 issue)

VMware, XenSource, and The Future Of Virtualization — Virtualization — InformationWeek – Big moves by the two companies change the landscape for one of software’s hottest markets. By Charles Babcock InformationWeek August 18, 2007 12:02 AM (From the August 20, 2007 issue)

Facebook Could Challenge Google And Become The Remote Control For The Web – Mobile Blog – InformationWeek – Posted by Stephen Wellman, Aug 17, 2007 07:12 PM. Last month, I argued that Facebook posed a challenge to professional networking site LinkedIn. While I stand by that assessment, I think that in that post I didn’t go far enough.

Netflix Tries To Revive Customer Service – Digital Life Blog (InformationWeek) – posted by Barbara Krasnoff, Aug 20, 2007 10:08 AM. My mother likes to chat with customer service reps over the phone — that is, when she can actually work her way past the menus to a sentient human being.

Microsoft to Build the Next Version of Windows XP Embedded – With the help of its automated user feedback program? (Softpedia) – As the next version of Windows XP Embedded is in the works, Microsoft is considering relying heavily on user feedback for shaping the final product. End users would actually get the chance to improve the upcoming release of Windows XP Embedded …

Coding Horror: Thirteen Blog Clichés – I started out in early 2004 as a blog skeptic. But over the last four years, I’ve become a born-again believer. In that time, I’ve written almost a thousand blog entries, and I’ve read thousands upon thousands of blog entries… saved by 306 other people … on aug 20

Amazon leaks specs, delivery, and price for Canon’s EOS 40D – Engadget – “Hot damn kiddies. Amazon just posted the specs and delivery for Canon’s EOS 40D. Of course, it’s not official ’til it’s official but Amazon lists a September 20th availability for the true 30D successor. The specs? They’re all there: new 10.1 megapixel…”… saved by 13 other people … on aug 20

How would you change Windows Vista? – Engadget – So, what does Microsoft need to do to make Vista (and its price points) more palatable (short of re-releasing it based on the WinFS file system)? Loosen up the DRM restrictions? Toss the controversial WGA? Put all possible features in a single SKU… saved by 11 other people … on aug 20

Walt Mossberg tackles Apple’s iWork ’08 – Engadget – The Moss-man has gotten into a down-and-dirty review of Apple’s latest version of its Office-battling software suite iWork ’08 (which includes Pages, Keynote, and the new spreadsheet program Numbers) and delivers a one-two punch to the new package. … saved by 1 other person … on aug 20

Write Articles, Not Blog Postings (Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox) – To demonstrate world-class expertise, avoid quickly written, shallow postings. Instead, invest your time in thorough, value-added content that attracts paying customers. Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, July 9, 2007… saved by 722 other people … on aug 20

Gerald Kanapathy’s Blog: Successful Blogging – Gerald Kanapathy’s Blog | August 8, 2007 10:15 PM | Comments (1) So I said a lot, but maybe it’s time for me to be specific. What does blogging actually do for your organization? … saved by 6 other people … on aug 20

MJ HEALTH & FITNESS: Get the Winner’s Edge – Olympic style all-sport workout – Looking for that added burst on the court or slopes? Steal this all-sport workout from the top U.S. hopefuls in Turin.

The Investment Guide – Forbes.com – Forbes.com staff, 05.19.05, 6:00 PM ET. So you’re 50 and you keep reading how far behind you are in accumulating enough assets for retirement. In this spring’s Investment Guide, we show you how you can best plan to store up gold for the golden years…

Picassos And Peace of Mind (Forbes.com) – By Carrie Coolidge, 06.06.05. Own a masterpiece? It may be the insurance that’s priceless.

Sensible Investing 2007 – HIP Scorecard – Human Impact + Profit – Social Investor (Fast Company) – A new way of looking at the human side of investing with the HIP (that’s Human Impact + Profit) Scorecard. For this analysis, Fast Company teamed up with two San Francisco-based firms, HIP Investor and SVT Group, to evaluate and rate publicly listed companies…

Tags: misc, articles, what I read.

Categories
Uncategorized

What I’ve read… earlier this month

Can you believe that it’s already mid September?

A not-so-sunny day as I take a quick break from email (and lunch finally!), with the expectation of sun this weekend. Here are a few articles from the reading file for your commute home (thru August 19th).

As noted these are all (for the most part) available for download, making it easy to save for reading on mobile devices on your commute if you’re not on one of those snazzy new Microsoft Connector busses.

Have a good weekend.

 

A Borrower or a Lender Be – Prosper.com – Microfinance – Loan (Fast Company) – How Prosper.com is personalizing personal finance. From: Issue 114 | April 2007 | Page 24 | By: Michael A. Prospero | Illustrations by: Christopher Sleboda … saved by 2 other people

Monsoon Marketing – Stag – Umbrella – Ebrahim Currim & Sons (Fast Company) – How an Indian umbrella maker survived low-cost competition. From: Issue 114 | April 2007 | Page 22 | By: Anupam Mukerji | Photographs By: Raghu Rai

Inside InventionLand (Forbes.com) – By Kerry A. Dolan 11.27.06 George Davison peddles hope to inventors who are down on their luck. Who’s he really helping?

What Makes GE Great? (Fortune) – For the sixth time, GE is America’s most admired company. Its success does not come easy. Plus 7 Experts Talk About GE’s Strengths. by Geoffrey Colvin, February 24, 2006: 11:02 AM EST … saved by 1 other person

(Fortune: What Makes GE Great? : Download Library : News : GE – PDF of Fortune article above, courtesy GE.)

Google is the number one best place to work – Jan. 8, 2007 – The people are brilliant. The perks are epic. But can Google’s founders build a culture that doesn’t depend on the stock price? By Adam Lashinsky, Fortune senior writer. January 10 2007 … saved by 20 other people

Our Challenge Is Change, Not Globalization (Forbes.com) – Rich Karlgaard 11.27.06. America’s role in the world–regarding terrorism, foreign wars, immigration and economic globalization–was the alpha issue of the Nov. 7 election. It is certain to be the big issue again in 2008.

APC Tech support is top rate (PC Magazine Vol. 25, Iss. 18) – APC is not a huge company, and it sells fairly simple products. But if this Rhode Island tech company can get [tech support] right, what’s stopping Dell, HP, and others?

Mystery shoppers help businesses offer the best service (santa cruz sentinel) – August 19, 2007 by Teresa Thomae. Mystery shoppers help businesses offer the best service Mystery shopping. Secret shopping. Professional snoops. Anonymous audits. Telephone checks. Spotters. They all describe an estimated $600 million industry focusing

At Netflix, Victory for Voices Over Keystrokes (New York Times) – By KATIE HAFNER, August 16, 2007 – Ms. Funk is one of 200 customer service representatives at the Netflix call center here, 20 miles west of Portland, where she is on the front lines of the online movie rental company’s efforts to use customer service … saved by 1 other person

OSx86 Project Wiki – Welcome to the OSx86 Project – the undisputed leader in information regarding OS X on x86 hardware and Apple’s Intel transition. Open since 2005, the OSx86 Project offers users a place to trade and share information about OSx86 and the various hardware … saved by 1249 other people

Inside Apple: A Closer Look at the iSuites (PC Magazine) – 08.15.07 by ThinkSecret.com Staff. Apple took advantage of last week’s media event to blow out a series of product announcements, few of which should have come as a surprise to readers of this column. Among the list of new items were the widely expected…

Our Favorite Music Services, Part 2 (PC Magazine Review) – Our Favorite Music Services, Part 2 08.16.07 Even with heavy royalty fees threatening to cripple Internet radio sites, there are still some cool music services managing to provide an awesome platform to find the music you love. … saved by 3 other people

How To: Rip Netflix “Watch Now” movies to your hard drive – Lifehacker … saved by 86 other people

Featured Windows Download: Batch process images with FastStone Photo Resizer – Lifehacker – Image processor FastStone Photo Resizer can edit, correct, crop, rename, and watermark your digital images in batch mode—that is, in big bunches all at once. … saved by 59 other people

10 reasons to deploy Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 | 10 Things | TechRepublic.com – August 9th, 2007, by Tiffany Songvilay. If you’re currently running Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) v2 in your enterprise, you’ve probably maxed out all the creative ways you can use Content Editor and Page Viewer Web Parts — and your users still … saved by 3 other people

Q&A: Jonathan Schwartz on Sun’s open-source business strategy | Tech news blog – CNET News.com – August 8, 2007 10:39 PM PDT Q&A with Jonathan Schwartz on Sun’s open-source business strategy, Posted by Matt Asay. “Jonathan Schwartz is a man on a mission. While at Linuxworld today, I took an hour to visit with Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun Microsystem … saved by 12 other people

CIO India – Microsoft Boosts Vista’s Speed – Microsoft Corp. this week released a pair of Windows Vista updates that had leaked onto the Internet at the end of July, but the company didn’t say when it will begin pushing them to users via Windows Update.

Ick, old married guys on Facebook (Perspectives, CNET News.com) – By Sabena Suri Published: August 15, 2007, 4:00 AM PDT perspective: It’s Sunday night and I’m trying to write that paper on The Great Gatsby I’ve been procrastinating on. Oh, and I’ve still got that math project. … saved by 2 other people

Microsoft Office is dead meme revived (Between the Lines, ZDNet.com) – August 14th, 2007 Posted by Dan Farber “…is StarOffice, Google Apps or whatever Adobe, Zoho, Zimbra, ThinkFree and others are doing a game changer, massive disruptors that will eviscerate Microsoft’s super-profitable Office business and free users…

The Vacuum Man Takes On Wet Hands (BusinessWeek) – JULY 2, 2007, By Steve Hamm. James Dyson moves beyond cyclonic vacuums to bring the world a better hand dryer… saved by 2 other people

Unchained From The Cable Box (businessweek) – JUNE 18, 2007 By Stephen H. Wildstrom. The FCC is breaking the cable hold on set-top boxes and letting rivals step in.

The Real Cost Of Offshoring (BusinessWeek) – JUNE 18, 2007 By Michael Mandel. U.S. data show that moving jobs overseas hasn’t hurt the economy. Here’s why those stats are wrong… saved by 14 other people

What Works In Women’s Networks (BusinessWeek) – JUNE 18, 2007, By Diane Brady and Jena McGregor. How three corporations crafted organizations for female employees that have an actual impact.

Napa Cabernet: Variations On A Theme (BusinessWeek) – By Robert Parker, June 18, 2007. Many types of wine are produced in California’s Napa Valley, but much of the region’s reputation is built on cabernet sauvignon. Fine cabs should be dense blue-black in color and have aromas that include black currants…

Also see Chart: It Was A Very Good Year? – Robert Parker’s chart for Napa Valley cab vintages

Building a Better Mouse – Robert Iger and Disney (TIME) – By SONJA STEPTOE, June 14, 2007. A look at Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger and his impact on Disney in Burbank, California… saved by 2 other people

Seven Secrets of Great Advertising (Aviza Group) – WESTFIELD, N.J., Aug. 8 /PRNewswire/ — Most advertising professionals know what makes great advertising. But they work in a volatile business and are generally afraid to talk about it — so they keep it a secret.

Business Processes – How To Optimize Your Contact Center (CIO) – By Katrina Howell, August 8, 2007 8:44AM. As today’s contact centers make the transition from cost center to strategic asset, accurate and effective matching of customer interactions to agent skills and availability is a fundamental requirement.

 

Tags: misc, articles, what I read.

Categories
Uncategorized

Of interest: Project Kesho brings teachers to East Africa

First off, enjoy what some are saying is the luckiest day of the year



Project Kesho is a non-profit organization founded by our son’s elementary school teacher, Cathi, and her husband, Ian. It’s “dedicated to improving the tomorrows of East African communities through the education of today’s children.” This group of young adults is spending time on the ground in Iringa, Tanzania, East Africa this summer to help improve access to quality education and improve the lives of children halfway around the world from sunny Washington. This summer, they are joined in Africa by anothegr teacher from our son’s school, Amie.


I’m cleaning the garage this weekend while our kids slip and slide after a week at the beach, and these young teachers are spending the summer doing some real good.


The group has set up a blog to provide updates on their activities in the region, at…


http://www.projectkesho.blogspot.com/



“Project Kesho is focusing its programming efforts during 2007 on one small community located in Iringa, Tanzania. Iringa is located in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. It is the political, economic, and cultural hub of this region of Tanzania. The town is located along the Tanzam Highway, which stretches from the capital city of Dar es Salaam, along the coast of the Indian Ocean, and all the way through Tanzania to the country of Zambia. (This highway eventually continues all the way to South Africa.)”


Live EarthSo, take a look at the good work Project Kesho is doing when you take a break from the vide feeds from Live Earth…


Categories
Uncategorized

The queue for the iPhone started… but who has time to stand in line for four days?

This post has nothing to do with customer and partner satisfaction at Microsoft… but the news that will undoubtedly be hitting the airwaves and the web as we near the release of Apple’s iPhone.


I saw that Caroline McCarthy said on the Cnet Crave blog tonite that the queue for the iPhone outside the Aple Store in Manhattan has begun. Not since the lines for Xbox 360, then the PS3 and finally the Wii have we seen such fan dedication. (ok, perhaps when The Police tickets first went on sale.)



“When I first showed up at the Fifth Avenue Apple Store earlier this afternoon, I didn’t spot anyone waiting in line yet. That’s because I didn’t spot the one person in line, who’d gotten there at 5 a.m. EDT. Security personnel for the building, however, have mandated that Camp iPhone be located off to the side of the building, out of sight of people who are approaching the Apple Store from 59th Street (the nearest subway stop). The Craigslist crowd was assuming that people would have to line up on Wednesday at the earliest. So I figured that it was no surprise that no one was there yet.


“But then, around 10 p.m., I checked my Twitter feed and noticed that there were several posts announcing that people had already started to wait in line. So I sprinted to the subway and hopped off at 59th Street…”


People will say, hey, this is a phone they’re waiting for… but it’s not. It’s an Apple phone (sorry, iPhone). With video game systems, we saw the lines begin a few days before the stores were scheduled to sell the hardware. I don’t recall ever seeing a similar reaction for a phone. And no such lines seen at the local AT&T outlet nor the local mall-based Apple Store.


But, of course, neither of these shops are open 24 hours a day. 😉


My favourite quote so far on the iPhone-mania: that would be from John C. Dvorak with his quip here: “What reporter describes the function of anything as “insanely easy”? What does that even mean? “Holy crap! This is so easy that I’m going insane!”


Of interest: see PC Magazine’s article on “The Anti-iPhones”



“If you live in a Windows Media or Exchange Server world, the HTC Touch could be the closest you’ll get to an iPhone. The Touch is a flawed experiment, but it looks a bit like an iPhone and has a fun, if superficial, touch interface that makes it easy to get to some popular applications. Unlike the iPhone though, it syncs up with Windows Media music and Exchange corporate servers – a big plus.”


No kidding (on the plus side). Sync’ing is important, at least for me.


Cingular 8525HTC TouchMy next phone? Most likely, the HTC Touch (actually, for my wife). See gizmodo’s site on the various HTC gadgets – I like the form factor of the Cingular 8525 (sorry, AT&T 8525), but for her it’s about ease of use, making calls and looking up schedules and phone numbers… without a stylus. A full review of the 8525 is here on PC Magazine’s site, along with my posting here. For me, the 8525 is a great solution that provides email connectivity and a good all-around phone.


Now, if we see a Touch-like Pocket PC phone with a slide out keyboard… then I’ll upgrade.



 

Categories
Uncategorized

Thoughts on supporting the new online generation: “they’re just different”

Kids are up for some reason and so I wait for the next request for a glass of water…

In the mean time, something has been nagging at me.

Customers are changing, and I’ve seen a real change in how the younger generation is forcing companies to change their thinking on how they listen and respond to their needs. See this interesting article in BusinessWeek on the future of tech and global youth.


“… consider Brazilian Fabricio Zuardi, 27. He grew up 180 miles from São Paulo and found a job via the Web with Silicon Valley tech startup Ning Inc. Zuardi now lives in Palo Alto, Calif., in an apartment he located on craigslist.org. He has no traditional phone, preferring Skype Internet-based service. He doesn’t own a TV. In his spare time he posts items on his blog or writes software that he contributes to open-source development projects. His taste in music is eclectic: Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, The Pogues. His friends are from all over, including Australia, Britain, Germany, and Slovenia. He has never met some of them face to face. “This is a generational shift,” says Ning co-founder and Web browser pioneer Marc Andreessen. “A whole new generation grows up used to new technologies, and they’re just different.”


Let me repeat that: “…they’re just different.”

What’s interesting here is that the net has (duh) changed the way a new generation socializes, plans, stays in touch, shops… and get support. There is a generational shift in expectations of how products are supported and the number of options to get support: it’s more immediate, accurate and when and how you choose.

So, if you’re going to be successful in providing ‘wow!’ level customer service, you have to be where your customers expect you and responding in the ways that are most comfortable to them.

I thought about this after the last couple of interactions I had with customer support at different companies. With Dell, HP, Microsoft and my local phone company, all of my first interactions recently were on the web, and in the case of Dell and HP, real-time chat support. I had the option to call a toll-free number, but I hung up on one vendor after the wait time exceeded 10 minutes. (I have no patience when the family is scrambling to make the morning school bus, and I have zero time to do this at the office.) So off late in the evening after the kids go to bed, click on the real-time chat option, and within less tine that I sat on hold, I had my answer.

Another instance this week, whilst looking for support from an online Internet service company, I found there was only an email support option available… and it turned out that the service was better than I’d expected. In just two brief exchanges via mail, I had answers in clear, easy-to-understand email assistance with lots of helpful links.

I’ve heard several times from people in the industry and at MS that they had made great connections with customers via email, relationships that started with a comment on their public blogs. “These connections help us understand what customers want, what they don’t like and what we need to change in current and next versions of our products.”

And last, a friend of mine in DevDiv, said (following a quick status review) that she was heading off to give a project presentation in Second Life, as that was where her customers would be. (That would certainly be more interesting than some of the LiveMeetings I’ve hosted…) As I heard Carol say as she headed off to log in and present, “my avatar looks like me from the neck up… I’m not so sure about the rest.”

OK, there’s the 2AM call for ‘room service’… gotta go.