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Thursday, February 1, 2007
Source: Slate
Bill Gates on The Daily Show pumping up Vista. John Stewart tries to guess Gates' password..."
Paul Boutin says that after playing around with Vista and Office for the last few weeks, he can condense his thoughts into one sentence. "Upgrading to Vista is mostly painless but not necessary, while upgrading to Office 2007 is painful but inevitable." While we were all inundated by the Vista launch, Boutin notes that Office is Microsoft's real monopoly. Is there anyone out there that doesn't use some combination of Word, Excel, Powerpoint or Outlook? Because they changed everything in this release of office, he calls it "the most annoying computer upgrade since Windows 95."
Posted by mwelch at 05:09 AM
Source: Kevin Maney's USAToday blog
 Kevin Maney says that it turns out that simple really is better...that is if you go by the recent profit numbers for Sony and Nintendo as reported by the New York Times. Apparently the Nintendo Wii is doing much better than the Sony PS3. "It seems folks would rather have something interactive than something really pretty and rich, graphics-wise." I can vouch for that, in my household Wii rules.
Related:
Not a wee Wii launch
Posted by mwelch at 01:06 PM
Source: CNET Missing Links blog
Originally uploaded by joshhough via Flickr
Can't make it to the holy land in person? An Israeli startup called POIP (Pray Over Internet Protocol) makes it possible for you to broadcast your prayers over the Internet. The company sells phone cards that allow you to record your prayers in your own voice and then send them via Internet phone and webcam speakers to places like the Western Wall or the Sea of Galilee. The company's chairman says it's a better deal than buying a lottery ticket. "It's just $5 or $10, and you get eternal life."
Posted by mwelch at 10:24 AM
Source: 37signals blog
Originally uploaded by Kevin Labianco via Flickr
Among other things, 37signals makes easy-to-use web-based software that does project management, chat and calendars. On the company's popular blog they claim that people are always asking them "How do you get so much done with such a small team?" To which they answer that pouring tons of money, resources and people at a problem "is like using a jackhammer to break out of jail." Instead 37signals says they put a few smart people on a problem, embrace constraints, don't try to solve the wrong problems, focus on precision and take the time to get things right. So instead of using a jackhammer to break out of jail, they use a spoon.
Posted by mwelch at 06:19 AM
Source: CNET
Tomorrow Nickelodeon will launch Nicktropolis, a virtual world aimed at 6- to 14-year-olds. Kids can go there to play games, watch TV and interact with animated characters like SpongeBob. Kids choose and personalize an avatar, with various hairstyles and clothing. They can also create their own 3D room and decorate it with items bought with Nick points. (Members get points by joining the world and playing various games.) So kids get to watch and interact with SpongeBob and hang out with friends. No ads yet. But you can bet they're coming.
 I wrote last week about Generation We...and how my son chooses to watch SpongeBob on his PC. I have no doubt Nicktropolis will take off. They have incredible marketing power online and on TV and they’ve got SpongeBob and Jimmy Neutron. Powerful stuff.
Illustration by James F. Kraus
Posted by mwelch at 05:49 AM
Source: Web Worker Daily
 I'm on teleconferences several times a day. They're either great or a mess. Some people don't know how to start one, other times there's no one in charge of moving the call forward or there's no agenda. Sometimes you don't know who is on the call. Save yourselves! Here is a great set of guidelines that help to ensure that you don't have a botched call. They cover everything from freeconferencecall.com (my fav) to how to prep and behave on calls. They even include this key advice: "an audible toilet flush is never acceptable, so if you feel you must take a bio-break during the call without missing a single comment, make sure your BlueTooth headset and mute button are functioning properly."
Illustration by James F. Kraus
Posted by mwelch at 01:43 PM
Source: Scoble Show
Intel claims that they are fabricating new chips that will put them two years ahead of the competition. How? Because they are getting rid of "Silicon Dioxide dielectrics." Robert Scoble knows that regular people have no idea what that means. That's why he's created a video (below) that gives you a sneak peek into Intel's new 45 nanometer chips which use High-K dialectrics. The net-net? These new processors generate less heat, take less power, and have more transistors than previous chips...bringing you 20 percent more performance.
Take a tour of the new fab:
Posted by mwelch at 06:38 AM
Source: CNET
A new study from Nickelodeon on families says that the TV is used as a relaxation tool, family bonding device and babysitter. Deprived of the Internet and TV? Families may be exasperated, but they miss TV most (it’s their way to kick back). A full 25 percent of parents believe it's no longer necessary to spell well, reference printed dictionaries or read the newspaper and 20 percent of parents don’t think reading a map is important. While mobile phones (electronic leashes for kids) and MP3 players are key converging them into one device isn’t compatible with how they’re used. One is "used for checking in and the other is for tuning out." Get this. More parents (68 percent) use game consoles, compared with 58 percent of 8- to 14-year-olds. Welcome to the digital family.
For the record, I have a "digital family" and there's no way I'm raising kids that can't spell or read a map.
Posted by mwelch at 03:09 AM
Business Filter in today's Boston Globe
 Generation We
Illustration by James F. Kraus
Super Bowl ad winner
Scheduled to death?
SixDegrees.org
Firing the CEO
Greenwashing
Posted by mwelch at 03:03 AM
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