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Success is a State of Mind
Success is a State of Mind

Windows Sucks

The raging debate these days is whether or not Windows Vista measures up to the hype that precedes its release. Speaking of the “official” release date of Vista, nobody seems to know when this will be. I tried googling the phrase “official release vista” and one of the top results says confidently that Microsoft has announced November 30^th 2006 as the official release date. November 30^th has come and gone, and still no Vista. The last edition of PC Magazine trumpets the arrival of Vista, but it is still nowhere to be seen. Talk about vapor-ware…

I am often asked if I know anything about Mac computers, and I always answer honestly, not much. It’s not that I haven’t played around with them, because I have. But I never get any calls to assist people with them, because like all Apple products, right out of the box, they just work. People often enough abandon their Windows machines for the Mac, but very few go the other way. Some of my customers have admitted that the reason they want to switch to the Mac is so that they will no longer have to pay me to repeatedly fix their problems.

For some reason the Windows PC still dominates the world, and thank god, or I would be out of work. Still, as lucrative as it is to fix buggy Windows PC’s, sometimes the problems I have to face drive me crazy. Certainly, I learned from experience that selling a Windows machine only leads to heartbreak, because the first time it breaks (and break it surely will), the finger of blame will get pointed directly at me. Since I have not sold any PC’s for over 3 years, I get to be the exalted guru and not the villain, because I provide the solution and not the problem, and I can’t be blamed for selling the danged thing.

Recently, I picked out a flashy and powerful Windows PC for my mother. I spared nothing, researched all the components, and went with a reputable manufacturer. The other day, she emailed me complaining that she could not get the microphone working. I was the one who selected the computer, so naturally she called me first. This type of thing is generally a cakewalk to troubleshoot, so I tackled the issue confidently. My parents live on Vancouver Island, so thanks to modern, free remote software tools and broadband internet, I was able to connect to and control her computer from my house here in Whistler, and fix the problem in seconds – or so I thought.

When you routinely fix the same problem multiple times, you file it in your grey matter for future retrieval whenever the problem presents itself again. I felt I was armed well enough to solve the problem with my mother’s computer; but alas, the problem had me stymied. I had to resort to calling tech support. To their credit, they answered the phone on a Sunday night, the tech didn’t know less than me (a common, frustrating occurrence), but the problem was still not resolved. The tech on the line couldn’t figure it out either, and now I’ve been elevated to tier one support, and a smarter tech will call me in a few days. Perhaps it was just the mood I was in on Sunday night, but I felt like phoning my mother and telling her to toss the whole thing and just buy a Mac.

Or should she just upgrade to Vista? Oh right, Vista’s not here yet. Sigh. Those Mac vs. PC ads on TV are really speaking to me.

Finding the right remote

This holiday season, my NLP (remember, that’s Nurturing Loving Partner) and I went over to Vancouver Island to spend Christmas with my family. My parents, who I am loathe to describe as elderly, are none-the-less slowing down a bit, and have been reluctant to host the customary family Christmas the last couple of years, and have instead fled to warmer climes. This year, they decided to host again, and it was great to be back home.

This year, the whole family agreed to change the way we exchange gifts. Instead of buying a gift for everybody in the family, which is exhausting work and usually results in a lot of gift returns, gift moth-balling, and re-gifting, this year we decided to draw names from a hat and focus on buying something really nice for just one person. The rules are somewhat loose, so if we want to buy additional gifts for others, we can (of course, this doesn’t work for children, but our whole family has grown up – sort of).

Naturally, Murphy’s Law dictates that the name that gets drawn is the toughest possible person to shop for, but that’s part of the challenge. In the process of shopping for my brother-in-law, I had the great idea of getting him a universal remote to get rid of all those remote controls on the coffee table. It was then that my sister informed me that they already have a Personal Video Recorder (PVR – see last week’s column), which comes with its own universal remote. However, I then realized that a universal remote would be the ideal gift for my mother and father. My mother, a self-admitted gadget-aholic, has a fairly extensive entertainment system, complete with 5 remote controls. The system has become so complex, there is now an instruction sheet sitting on the coffee table next to the labeled remote controls. To turn on TV, use remote “A”, to watch a movie, use remote “D”, and so on. My father doesn’t even know how to turn on the TV, he just gets my mother to do it.

So I went shopping for a universal remote control for Mom and Dad. I discovered that there are two types; really cheap, and really expensive. There are many varieties of really cheap remotes, ranging from about $9 to about $30. Then there are the really expensive types, which range in price from $130 to about $700. Interestingly, the expensive ones are all made by the same manufacturer, Logitech, which is best known for its line of computer peripherals. I started my search among the cheap remotes, then did some research (using the internet, natch), and came up with a Sony model which did everything I wanted, the most important of which was the ability to run macros (a macro is a way to combine numerous commands into a single button press), but alas, I could not find this particular Sony model in any of the retail shops. Then my NLP discovered that the $130 Logitech Harmony model, which was over my allotted budget for not-pulled-from-the-hat family members, was on sale for $80 at Staples, so we took the plunge and bought it.

The big difference between the Logitech Harmony and the cheaper ones is the method of programming. Harmony remotes are designed to be programmed through a PC using a USB cable; then it’s a matter of picking the component model names from a list, and the software then downloads the appropriate driver from the internet. The wizard asks a few questions, and the appropriate macros are built, and hopefully all is bliss. This is all theoretical, it’s Christmas Day as I write this, and we haven’t opened our presents yet, so stay tuned for the real story on Universals. Meantime, Merry Christmas!

How Fragile is Our Technology

Our recent trio of storms, while bringing us an abundance of fabulous powder snow here in Whistler, has not brought good cheer to many of our neighbors in Vancouver, or those on Vancouver Island. The arctic cold front descending south, combined with the low pressure system coming from the west, has produced hurricane force winds on the west coast. This has cost hundreds of millions of dollars in damages due to fallen trees, and consequently knocked out electric power to many regions, causing considerable financial hardship to retailers who are usually experiencing the busiest week of the year, as Christmas shoppers scurry to buy gifts at the last minute.

Whistler has been lucky, though not exempt. Ordinarily, I submit this column via email; this week, I had to use something I rarely use any more – my fax machine. As we all know, there has been no internet in Whistler since Friday morning, and as of this writing (Sunday evening), there is still no internet service from either of the two local providers. The reason? The weather has taken out the fibre-optic line between Vancouver and Whistler, though there is precious little information about the severity of the situation. Rumor has it that it may be as many as ten days before service is resumed.

Keeping this in perspective, it is certainly not life-threatening to be without internet for a few days, but for many businesses it is inconvenient and extremely costly. A few of my clients, who run accommodations businesses, depend on the internet for the majority of their bookings. Many of their customers use email as their sole method of communications; the booking companies, in order not to lose business, must resort to phoning or faxing every single customer in order to avoid losing their bookings, and to reassure customers that their unanswered emails were not being ignored. Others who have been hard-hit are all the retailers whose Interac and credit-card processing terminals have been converted from dial-up to high-speed internet authentication – these businesses are unable to process bank card transactions, and have had to return to the old imprint swipers for credit cards, for the duration of the failure. What a hassle!

Walk around this town and you can’t help but notice the number of internet cafés and internet kiosks that are temporarily out of business as well. I own nine internet kiosks, and this is ordinarily one of the best times of year for usage, so I am somewhat less than happy myself.

I decided to tackle the issue head-on and find a work-around. I thought, what about returning to dial-up? So I phoned Telus and asked for the local number. It didn’t work, as I had suspected it might not, because it probably uses the same fibre-optic line that was damaged. I phoned Telus again, asking for the toll free number to Vancouver. The agent said sure, here it is, but it will cost $2 p/hour. At this point I became terse with the agent; I asked - why do you call this toll-free when you charge a toll? I also explained that a toll seemed unreasonable given the circumstances, but of course he was just an agent. In corporations the size of Telus, mere agents have no ability to provide customer service (though in my opinion, this is a casualty of modern times). Anyhow, I tried the number and it worked. If internet is still down when you read this, the so-called toll free number for dial-up is 1-877-666-1179. You will need your Telus username and password. Hopefully, you still have a dial-up modem – many new systems today ship without them.

If not, forget your worries, and just go skiing. It’s epic right now.

Convergence, TV's and PVR's

Convergence is a term you may not have heard yet; it is the merging of PC technology with home entertainment technology. I remember about 10 years ago I got all excited about one of those Multi Level Marketing companies that promised to make me rich, and its product was a set-top box, a home-entertainment component that would bring internet to the TV set. High speed internet was still not widely available, and the set-top box provided low-res, dial-up internet on TV. Unimpressive as this sounds now, I was excited about it, and I felt that having internet on your TV was the future, so I signed up. Eventually, I was shipped my first evaluation unit. I spent a bunch of money having a TV wall-mounted in my retail store so that I could demonstrate the unit to all my walk-in customers. Unfortunately, that early prototype was an absolute piece of garbage. The modem rarely connected to the internet, and when it did it was agonizingly slow, even when compared to dial-up on an ordinary PC, and the image-quality looked horrible on a low-resolution TV. I phoned the company to complain, and they told me to send the unit back; I was promised a replacement unit. This must have been shortly before the company went bankrupt, because I never saw the replacement unit, and never heard from the company again. I began to think that this “convergence” thing was just a flash in the pan, and would never materialize.

Fast-forward to the present, and convergence has become commonplace. There are all sorts of PVR (Personal Video Recorder) products on the market, the best known being Tivo, which offer far more utility than mere “internet on your TV”. With these products, internet-on-TV is a given; what the new products bring is the ability to record TV broadcasts onto a hard-disk for later viewing, the ability to view digital photo collections on TV, and to rip CD collections to mass-storage (a big hard-disk) for convenient listening without all the hassles of shuffling, storing, cleaning and cataloguing all those CD’s and CD cases. The only problem is deciding which technology to choose.

In my most recent edition of PC Magazine, the front page topic is about HDTV. HDTV technology and the shift to LCD PC monitor technology have accelerated the evolution of convergence. Before HDTV became commonplace, TV resolution was terrible compared to the resolution of PC monitors. Now that the technology is shared between the two, making it easy to view TV on your computer, or vice-versa, displaying PC output on your TV.

If you have a modern computer with decent specs and a large hard-drive, preferably 500 Gbytes or more, without too much effort or cost you can build your own Media Center PC which will nearly match the capabilities of a Tivo set-top. You need two things; a TV tuner card and an upgrade to Windows Media Center Edition. The windows upgrade provides you with a nifty remote control unit which will put all your entertainment center functions on your TV screen. Alternatively, you can buy a Media Center computer which has been designed specifically for placing with your existing stereo components; some are even rack-mounted systems which will blend right in with your existing components. One example is the Niveus Media Center (http://www.niveusmedia.com).

So there you are; an over-simplified guide (due to my word-quota restrictions each week for this column) to the world of Convergence. If it captures your imagination, try googling “PVR” or “DVR” on your computer.

The high-tech world of skis

Let’s take a break from business technology and celebrate the snow! Wow – what a fantastic opening season! We’ll take a look at ski technology for this week’s topic.

Skis and snowboards have benefited greatly from advancement in high-tech modern materials, some manufacturers even incorporate microchip technology, to the great advantage of us wanna-be super-hero powder hounds and weekend warriors. Thanks to these advancements in technology, it is now easier than ever to ski or snowboard like a pro. It goes without saying that since the advent of “shaped” skis, a design innovation evolved from snowboard design, beginners more rapidly become intermediates, and intermediates more readily master the perfect carved turn.

Head Ski Co seems like one of the top technology innovators, and also happens to be one of my favorite ski manufacturers. Head has a few key technologies worth highlighting, namely Intelligence technology, incorporating “smart” fibers, a microchip in the premium models, Liquid Metal and SuperFrame construction. According to Head’s website, the Intellifiber technology is a kind of energy feedback system. The fibers react to mechanical energy; the flex of the ski can generate up to 400 volts of electrical energy, and this energy is fed back into the fibers, causing them to stiffen, thereby reducing torsional flex and increasing edge grip with the snow. Head’s premium ski models also incorporate a microchip, whereby the electrical energy produced by the Intellifibers is not just recycled, but accumulated and released bit by bit through a pre-programmed chip – individually timed to match the oscillation properties of the ski.

To describe Liquidmetal technology, Head’s website gives us a physics lesson, and describes the differences between water and ice as a way to describe how Liquidmetal works. Quoting directly from the site, “Water and ice are the same material – H2O. Water is H2O’s liquid state, ice is the solid state. The molecules in ice are in a fixed array, with more distance between the molecules and thus, less dense than the free-moving molecules in water.” Presumably, this means that Liquidmetal has a liquid-like molecular structure which cannot break, and does not break down with use.

It is highly unlikely that the average skier is consciously aware of all these physics principles at work while blasting down the couloirs, or racing down the groomers, but if the sport is easier and more pleasurable as a result, who cares? Expert skiers can feel the difference this technology provides, and will settle for nothing less. It’s kind of like the increasingly popular “active handling” of modern cars, perhaps not noticeable to the average driver, however indispensable to the driver who likes to push the limits.

Most ski manufacturers now integrate ski design with binding design, and nearly all ski models now have a “floating” binding bed. Instead of simply bolting the toe and heel of the bindings directly to the ski, which until recently was the norm, modern bindings are secured with a single screw in the center. The toe and heal slide on a rail as the ski flexes, allowing the ski to maintain a perfect arced shape as load is placed on the ski, providing a superior carve.

Go grab a set of these fantastic, modern boards, and shred like never before!

Getting high tech in business has never been cheaper

For anyone wanting to start a business, there is no better time from the perspective of cost. Thanks to the booming economy of China, the production of most electronic consumer goods, like PC’s, has moved offshore. Dell, Acer, Gateway, even IBM computers, all bear the label “made in China” now. It is now possible to have a fully equipped, computerized office, with a powerful PC, 17” flat panel monitor, and color multifunction printer, the whole package costing south of $1000. A color laser printer, which only 5 years ago cost $6000 or more, can now be had for under $500.

When it comes to software, the news is even better – most of it is free these days. Except for Microsoft, which has managed to buck the trend and still charge exorbitantly for its software, it is now possible to obtain nearly all your essential software tools off the ‘net for zero cost. Even the cost of internet is cheap, so setting up an office is significantly less expensive than it would have been ten years ago, I would venture to guess one tenth as expensive.

With ubiquitous internet everywhere, suddenly there are an endless variety of online services that can also save money. Online banking, online recruiting, online payroll are all easy-to-use, cost-reducing services. Services like Vertical Response and Intellicontact provide sophisticated marketing tools for as little as $10 p/month. One of my customers brought to my attention a service she uses called Virtual Assistant, which is a contracted employee who does computer tasks from a home computer. The virtual assistant concept makes a great deal of sense – a worker that you use only when needed, a worker that does not need to be supplied with a computer or workspace, who invoices only for work done (no payroll hassles), a worker that does not need to be provided benefits. The virtual assistant can work from any town, or indeed any country. Virtual assistants are not paid for cigarette breaks, sick days, powder days, whatever, and can be fired and replaced without hassle. My customer claims that virtual assistants are a higher caliber worker because they don’t need to be trained to use computers; this is a given. Virtual assistants usually have an entrepreneurial mindset too – if they aren’t good at their work, they won’t have any. The virtual assistant enjoys many benefits too – no commute, no transportation costs, no micro-managing boss; it’s a perfect fit for a stay-at-home parent. I just love win/win ideologies.

Most big businesses use Microsoft Exchange in conjunction with Microsoft Outlook and Blackberry devices. To set this up used to be very expensive because it involved the installation of dedicated file servers, expensive operating systems, expensive backup solutions, and expensive professional installation and configuration. Exchange Server systems usually require a full time IT staff to keep it humming along, and any downtime will cripple a company, as it strikes at the very heart of its communications. This type of system has also become virtualized, and now it is possible to use Exchange with a Hosted Exchange provider like AppRiver; all the server equipment and IT staff are already in place, and the user can “rent” Exchange on a monthly basis for as little as $20 p/month, and enjoy most of the same benefits as big corporations with deep pockets.

Don't waste time with networking problems

As we continue to investigate the role of technology in business, this week we’ll focus on computers, and describe a few simple things you can do to make you love your computing tools rather than hating them. It goes without saying that you need to protect your computers from virus and spyware infections, but I will say it anyway, and you should also be sure that you have a firewall of some kind to prevent unwanted intrusions.

Most small businesses, and many homes, have some kind of basic computer network with a shared internet connection, and though these small networks are pretty simple to set up, they are prone to failure for a variety of reasons. Internet failure is a very common problem, and it is usually very easy to fix, but most businesses panic and immediately call the help line. Use the “divide and conquer” methodology when troubleshooting this type of problem. If any type of failure is narrowed down to a single component, it is then very easy to diagnose. Learn to distinguish between your modem and your router and take a close look at the LED lights on each of these devices – they will often tell the whole story. If either of these devices has become unplugged (very common) or has a failed power supply, there will be no lights and the diagnosis is complete - plug it back in or replace the power supply. In general, lights solid-on is good, lights steady-blinking is bad. If all the lights are lit as expected, try unplugging the modem for 30 seconds. If this fails, unplug the router for 30 seconds, and try again. Check to see if all the computers are affected or just one. If only one computer fails to connect to the internet, it is probably not going to find shared files or printers on the network either, so now you can focus on the computer rather than the network. It’s all just common sense; don’t be afraid to solve your own problems.

Very often, computer networks are thrown together without giving any thought to cable management. There is nothing more frustrating for me than finding a mass of tangled, knotted network cables stuffed behind a desk, right next to a baseboard heater, with a bunch of cheap power bars interconnected to each other, and the modem and router just tossed into the tangle. This situation makes troubleshooting very tough, if not impossible, and is probably best approached by ripping the entire mess out and starting over. If your office is not pre-wired for networks, get an expert to make your wire runs so that they remain neat and tidy; troubleshooting, if ever necessary, becomes much easier and subsequently less expensive. Keep network cabling well away from baseboard heaters, or the cable will become brittle over time and ultimately fail. If your “computer guy” is confident that there is no problem with the cabling, he can very quickly troubleshoot a network problem. If the cabling is suspect, such as cable runs that lie next to heaters, intermittent symptoms are often the result, and they are a nightmare to troubleshoot.

Having a rock solid network with tidy cabling provides many benefits and ensures minimum down-time. Internet will be dependably delivered to all the computers on the network, and resources on one computer can dependably be shared by others. If you build your network on a well-designed, solid foundation, you can expand your network and add more computers with confidence; if you don’t, you’ll waste a lot of time wondering why they don’t work right. Time is money! Don’t waste it; have it done right from the beginning.