Archive for January, 2007
Best Buy Didn’t Have My Windows Vista
Posted on January 31, 2007, under Development.
Yes, I went out to purchase Windows Vista today. Not really for myself, but more the company I work for. We are still small enough where getting a subscription to Microsoft isn’t really feasible. I have been using the betas up until now, so why not make it official? I went out to Best Buy to pick it up, easy enough right? Wrong! At this point I should tell you I am not Best Buy’s biggest fan. The employees at Best Buy treat every customer the same, like they couldn’t possibly be as intelligent as they are when it comes to technology.
It took me forever just to explain to them what version I wanted, they kept trying to convince me that Vista Business was what I wanted. When I finally explained to them that I was here for Vista Ultimate, I then had to get over the upgrade vs. full version fiasco. After 45 minutes, it turns out that this Best Buy didn’t even have Vista Ultimate but the Best Buy 45 minutes away had three. Furthermore they were not planning on getting it in.
I ended up going to Fry’s Electronics to pick up a copy, but seriously why on launch day does Best Buy not have the premium version of Vista? And why was no one on staff knowledgeable enough about the different versions to have a conversation with me?
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The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, Taken Down
Posted on January 31, 2007, under Development.
The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, which is a real blog written by a fake Steve Jobs is being taken down.
Well my friggin lawyers are advising me that I will have to shut down this scandalous old blog. Details not worth going into here. Someday I’ll be able to explain.
I really do not even know what to say about this. Partially because no one really knows the details of why he is being forced to take it down, and additionally because it’s just sad to see such an entertaining blog being forcefully shutdown. I can only hope the real Steve Jobs is not behind this.
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Dr Foster and Smith is Abusing Customer Email Addresses
Posted on January 30, 2007, under Development.
There comes a time where every company deserves being called out for their bad practices, today is one of those days. After all we are the customers that keep them in business.
I have a dog, Sebastian, and he loves his rawhide and toys. For the holidays we got him a new bed for the home office so he has a place to chill all day while I try to make the money that supports the lifestyle he has become accustomed to. I made my purchase through Dr Foster and Smith as I have many times before. I have had an account with Dr. Foster and Smith for many years now, and my contact preference has always been the same “Don’t contact me.” Well today I get an email from them marketing Flea and Tick supplies. I scrolled to the bottom of the email to click the unsubscribe button, and didn’t find it…. but look what I found instead.
A one time email huh? So that doesn’t make it SPAM? I don’t think so. Why is it that these companies do not understand that when you send ANY kind of email to someone one who has requested that they not be sent email, it’s SPAM. It’s even worse when you are spamming users that have opted out of email communications, to get them to sign up for email communications. I have seen several unfriendly tactics employed by these companies:
- Unflag all users that have opted out of email communications and blame it on a “database error”.
- Create new newsletters (that are practically the same as the old newsletters and have the same information in them), and by default sign everyone up for the new newsletters.
However this is new by me. Congratulations Dr. Foster and Smith, you just gave PetSmart more business.
At least Sebastian enjoys his bed… what a life 
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Federated Media Signs Ask a Ninja
Posted on January 30, 2007, under Development.
By now I hope you have heard of the hilarious podcast, Ask a Ninja. If not, you have a lot of back episodes to catch up on, and they are all worth it. The guys behind Ask a Ninja announced that they have signed with Federated Media to handle the advertising for Ask a Ninja. Federated Media has a large high profile client list,including Digg and 43 Folders. Ask a Ninja already has a great business model because their content is not time sensitive and they are able to sell their podcasts on DVD.
In addition to the new agreement with Federated Media, Ask a Ninja also signed with Amplifier.com and can now ship merchandise internationally.
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Vista Promotion Continues With Bill Gates on Daily Show
Posted on January 30, 2007, under Development.
Earlier today in Times Square, there was the launch of Windows Vista. You could have joined what must have been thousands via a webcast. Bill Gates has been making many appearances lately, including CNN’s American Morning show. Bill Gates later this evening appeared on The Daily Show with John Stewart. It did not take long for the video to appear on YouTube, and I am sure it will not take long for the video to be taken down from YouTube. Enjoy it while you can.
The best part of the video is when John Stewart asks if he can have the copy of Windows Vista on the desk…
John Stewart: Can I have this?
Bill Gates: You bet…
John Stewart: What if I don’t know how to use it?
Bill Gates: Call me!
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Join Bill Gates via Webcast for Vista Launch
Posted on January 29, 2007, under Development.
Today at 1:45 P.M. PST, Bill Gates will be in Times Square, New York City for the launch of Windows Vista. You can join the launch, via Webcast.
From Times Square in New York City, join Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates for a live webcast celebrating the worldwide launch of Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office System. The celebration pays tribute to the millions of Microsoft customers, partners and product testers around the world who provided input and feedback on these products — helping Microsoft transform the way people communicate, create and share content, and access information and entertainment in the new digital age.
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Windows Vista OEM Answers From Microsoft
Posted on January 29, 2007, under Development.
Last week OEM versions of Windows Vista started sowing up at online retailers like Newegg. These OEM version of Vista came with a price tag of almost half the orignal price. and some unknowns about product activation. Mark Hachman, from ExtremeTech has an article that gets to the root of these questions over at Yahoo News.
As for activation, Brown said users could expect a return to the familiar activation scenario. Windows Vista, like XP, contains an electronic list of the components within the PC, which it turns into a code, or hash. If a user adds or subtracts too many components, the hash will change enough that it will signal the need for another activation, which can be done either online or via telephone.
Vista, however, will apparently be a bit more tolerant of the DIY community: “Windows Vista is more intelligent and a bit more lenient than Windows XP around hardware tolerance,” Brown said. She referred questions to Microsoft’s Windows Activation Web page, which does not address Windows Vista.
I guess it is good to hear that Vista is more flexible with hardware changes, however for me it;s upsetting that it is really slow running in a VM machine. I know have to setup a new machine, just for Vista and do not get the great benefits of VM like snapshots and flexible hardware parameter changes. VM machines are very common for software developers, and I feel Microsoft should do a better job of supporting us.
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Trendio.com - Form a Gambling Problem With Fake Money
Posted on January 27, 2007, under Development.
I cam across Tredio.com from a comment to recent article. I have playing with the service for the last hour, and it’s addictive. Trendio.com is very much a “Web 2.0″ company, all the way down to the design. Trendio.com takes some of the ideas behind BlogShares and applies them to current events.
Trendio is the first current events stock exchange. It is a stock exchange where words from the news are the stocks. The value of the words is calculated according to their presence in the media. It makes it possible to visualize trends in the media and try to predict what will make the headlines tomorrow in a cool community-based game.
I have never been one for gambling, because my money is too hard earned to play around with. The reason why I like this service is it’s very much virtual, all for fun, and will never put you in the position of losing your house over a bad bet. The last note is, kudos to the service as signing up was extremely easy and I have not received any emails from them much like other services.
Full Disclosure: The links in this article have my account referral ID attached to them. If you sign up I will get “virtual money” to buy more “virtual stock”. I do not profit, physically, in any way from them. It’s just a game.
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Under the Weather: No Code and Coffee Today
Posted on January 26, 2007, under Development.
I have felt it coming all week, and this morning I woke to all the symptoms of a cold. I apologize, but there will be no code or coffee for me today… just Gatorade and medicine. I hate being sick.
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Google Checkout Sucks! PayPal Has No Worries: Conclusion
Posted on January 25, 2007, under Development.
I thought is would only be fair to follow up on my original posts on my Google checkout experience (post 1, 2, and 3). So today my second order (the order that was directly with Dicks Sporting Goods after canceling the Google Checkout order), was messed up as well. At this point I have concluded that not all of the fault lies on behalf of Google Checkout, but mostly with Dicks Sporting Goods and their online orders department. That being said, I still stand by my comments on Google Checkout… it doesn’t work. One failure is one failure too many when you are dealing with online purchases, and we are four days after my original order was placed and my order is in stalemate.
The Google Checkout order actually messed things up with my second order directly with Dicks Sporting Goods, as the customer service representative kept confusing the two orders and mixing them up. The lack of customer service contact phone numbers is unacceptable for anyone looking to be a payment gateway. In addition, if email is your only source of contact it should not take two business days for a response. Google has a long way to go with this service, and it will be a very long time, if never, before I trust my online purchases to Google Checkout. As for Dicks Sporting Goods, they have lost me as a customer permanently. There are too many options for a customer these days for me to return to the horrible customer experience that Dicks Sporting Goods gave me.
I ended up canceling both orders, and just going to a local store and paying full price for my item. I am now trying to get my credit card information removed from Google Checkout. Wish me luck.
