It is a nice concept really. People reviewing books and sharing thoughts on various topics and authors…and publishing information and the ability to order any books you come across are right at hand. Nifty.
You might even strike up some friendships. If so, you can add those newfound friends to your friends list, much like other social networks. It’s a nice niche social network for those who are tired of getting swamped with pointless widgets or “poked” on Facebook and thousands of irrelevant bulletins and invites to events in another reality on MySpace.
Wow…what not a great way to beat the expense of high dollar gas—blowing $1495 for a few hours of driving a car. Not that I don’t appreciate muscle cars, hot rods, racing, dragsters, etc., as I totally do. But what a perfect example of how to drop the ball with demographics. CNN could use some help in their marketing department it seems.
Okay, if you have read any of my posts on open source, you know that I have taken issue with Suse and Novell for their Microsoft deal. However, I am curious to check out the upcoming release: OpenSuse 11.0 should be out Thursday, June 19th.
Why?
Well, while I don’t like that Novell caved in to Microsoft and bought into their fear-mongering tactics, I can appreciate the direction of the OpenSource distro and the progress it has made. One thing I can say from first-hand experience is that Suse will install more smoothly on more systems and has the polished look and feel that makes it a prime candidate for luring corporate/office users away from Microsoft’s ailing platform.
So, I’m going to take a hard look at OpenSuse 11.0, put it through its paces as I consider what distro I should recommend to folks. This is, of course, an ongoing issue/challenge when it comes to Linux as I look for a good SOHO distro that also has the potential to step up and handle the duty at the SMB and Enterprise levels…all while staying user friendly and easy to use.
And, since I am going to take another look at OpenSuse, I might as well give XandrOS another look (I had written it off as well since it climbed in bed with Micrsoft also). Then again, maybe not. I understand the need of businesses to work with integrated networks and can appreciate the difficulties and justifications of cost and ROI when facing the prospect of phasing out legacy systems…but some of the XandrOS licensing and pricing schemes/tiers are starting to look an awful lot like those that come out of Redmond’s greedy resident.
Others I’m about to test include Mandriva Spring 2008, Zenwalk Linux 5.0, Simply Mepis 7.0, Freespire 2.0.8 and the latest Fedora release (which I have put off trying out for some time because of lingering memories of how the Fedora project was being run).
I have run across a lot of fun distros, a lot of slick distros, and some really dismal ones as well over the past few years. A lot of distros have great potential, but there seems to be a common underlying theme of poor project management, lack of focused direction, and ego clashes…with far too little marketing and business sense in the mix. Just when you feel like one distro might make a nice home on the digital range…something comes along to spoil the idyllic moment.
It is my great frustration that I’m not a programmer or I would have started my own distro by now. In the meantime, it gives me something to do on slow days when caffeine levels are climbing, this constant installing and kicking around under the log-on prompt.
It’s a brand protected domain with four other extensions available (.net, .org, .info, .biz) for a total of five domain variations. A great generic domain name that’s easy to spell and remember and can be put to a wide variety of uses. It is about to be a featured listing on Sedo’s USA and UK sites.
Part of the reason I haven’t been posting as much as I would like the past week and a half is work related. Murphy reared his head with a vengeance, and let me tell you, it hasn’t been pretty.
It was supposed to be a rather routine data transfer, from an old, failing NAS to a new one. For the most part it was routine. But then problems developed, requiring calling the programmer and troubleshooting the software. We determined the applications were working fine…but data was corrupting, and the likely culprit was dropped packets somewhere.
Replacing some cabling seemed to take care of the issue and a third attempt had the network and apps up and running. And then a storm came through that took out the power, just ever so briefly. Well, guess what device was not working? The UPS. Guess what new piece of hardware got fried? The new NAS! Murphy was in the house…
So, we ordered a replacement. Same model. Company assures us they have one, the LAST one in fact and so we order it, overnight shipping…they even seem surprised we want to pay the incredibly high cost. The next morning we have an email stating the box was mislabeled and they don’t have one and don’t know when they’ll get one. Murphy is doing pirouettes on a razor’s edge, he’s in such fine form.
Calling nearly every computer and IT store Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas to be told that NO ONE has a NAS in stock takes 6 hours. Finally one is located. So, off goes someone on a trip to Richardson, TX to pick it up in person. They will be back late and I will be working late tonight.
Who would have thought it was so hard to find Network Attached Storage? I mean, it was insane. I called manufacturers who could not tell me what dealers might have their products in stock. Being in a remote location far from Silicon Valley, the only other option (and it was probably further down the list of options than reconfiguring the entire network was) would have been to buy a PC somewhere and set it up as a server.
I was even thinking up contingency plans for a FreeNAS box.
The company that screwed up our order (TigerDirect.com) has never failed me in 8 years, but when I needed that reliability most they didn’t just drop the ball, they turned around and ran it into Murphy’s endzone for him.
What ever happened to customer service? What ever happened to a company saying, “We know this was a critical item, we dropped the ball, we’re sorry. Let me tell you what we’ll do. We’ll upgrade you to the next model which we DO have in stock at no charge and we’ll overnight it to you.”
I’ll tell you what happened. No one understands customer service in America. No one understands taking care of a client that buys regularly from you. This particular client has been considering moving away from Dell and ordering hardware in bulk to build their own systems. I had been pushing the company that never failed me before. Now, the guy who makes the decisions is having to drive out of state and employees will have to work late and tensions are high…and this computer company’s very name brings twinges of pain to everyone’s face.
All because someone can’t work an inventory system. All because someone mislabeled a box. All because someone is too lazy to have someone in a warehouse physically locate and confirm the presence of a product in order to make a guaranteed sale (the client had on the same order bought a new UPS…and just days before, the NAS that was fried.). Now, over that tiny mistake, they stand to lose all the future business that they had pretty much locked up.
Who would have thought locating a NAS was so hard? If the network were actually set up the way it needed to be, I could have resorted to an attached USB drive. However, the setup is so site specific and would require basically rebuilding the network (and uninstalling/reinstalling software on all the workstations needing to run the apps as well as transferring data)…and then we would need to change the network back when a NAS did come in. All of which would double the costs on what is already spiraled higher than it should have.
Sometimes, you need to spend money on your network and not wait until it is failing to be willing to do so. It’s that simple. Oh, and redundancy is your friend.
Any SMB ought to—in my humble opinion—have a spare of every critical component—even if you don’t have any in-house IT staff. Any competent tech or otherwise geeky sort can probably do what needs to be done if they have the right hardware that is known to work with your particular network setup or workstations. Discovering you can’t find something when time is critical is not fun.
And customer service? What the hell is that?
Perhaps my expectations are too high in that area since I majored in eBusiness and look at things from a marketing perspective? Some phone-jockey and some person working in a warehouse with no concern for their company’s bottom line cost MY CLIENT more money and probably just cost THEIR EMPLOYER a lot of prospective business.
The good news? MicroCenter gets a tip of the hat and if I or any future clients need some hard to find item, their phone will be ringing.
Now, that SOB Murphy. Just let me get my hands on him… I’ll show him how wrong things can go—even for him—I swear.
Wait a minute. What if…?!?!? What if it’s Baron Greenback and he’s got The Bad Luck Eye of the Little Yellow God?
Danger Mouse and The Bad Luck Eye of the Little Yellow God - Part 1
Danger Mouse and The Bad Luck Eye of the Little Yellow God - Part 2
Update - 06/02/2008: The cost of dropping the ball is already mounting. That’s how quickly it goes. TigerDirect did not get the several hundreds of dollars spent today by my client. It only takes one screwup to lose a customer, and when there are a lot of companies online readily available and eager for new business, you can’t afford to be so careless. I’m sure TigerDirect could care less, but I never understand why so many companies are happy to throw money away. I also wonder whatever happened to the most basic customer service/sales training that tells those answering the phones that most of your business comes from repeat customers and how important they are?
Update - 2: I managed to get the replacement NAS in place, up and running. But it has problems with the managment interface. Can you believe it? I ordered another one (same as the one that was inadverdently fried in the power outage rather than whatever was handy), directly from Visionman. After several days, they let us know they were behind with some parts and so we wouldn’t be able to get the model we had ordered for some time. You know what the company did? They upgraded my client’s order to the next model higher up the line (which makes use of 4 drives instead of two) at no charge. Now there’s a company who knows how to do business. I completely am happy to suggest Visionman as a company worth doing business with. I love their Storango NAS management interface on the Smart NAS series of appliances, too. It’s easy to set up, use, and really versatile—and really polished!
Pundits have been decrying Yahoo! for fighting off Microsoft’s takeover bid. Now, Carl Icahn, the self-righteous “I know what’s best for the Internet and investors” guy is trying his own version. I say hats off to Yahoo! for doing what is best for the end user of their product and stockholders.
While short-term stock holders might be unhappy, long-term stockholders will benefit. How? Yahoo! has earned itself the kind of credibility in some circles that no PR firm can generate for you. All they have to do now is find the right angle to work it. What exactly am I talking about? Let me explain…
Microsoft has been dropping the ball lately with several products. Not the least of which is Vista. How many times have you seen an operating system hit the market where customers ended up looking for downgrade licenses?
If you haven’t heard about the group of women from the small Spanish village of Serradilla del Arroyo in the northern province of Salamanca, Spain, who posed semi-nude for a calendar in order to raise money for their tiny rural school and its children, you have now. They ran into financial trouble after not selling many of the calendars and found themselves in debt.
Not knowing much about marketing or publishing, they missed the Christmas rush (extremely important in Calendar marketing it seems) and were left with about 5,000 unsold calendars. The printer has pressed the issue of their being behind on payments and media attention has put the spotlight on their efforts.
Their tiny village of around 400 has one teacher for its one room elementary school spanning four grade levels. The mothers decided to try and do something that would raise money for their children to have a recreation center. I certainly have to give them credit for trying. However, it wasn’t as easy as it was for the British women who did so—and whose story inspired these Spanish ladies. These concerned moms owe $16,000 to the printer.
You can help out by purchasing one of the calendars. Better yet, buy one for yourself and as many of your friends as you can. How often do you get to honestly say you bought a semi-nude calendar to help out children in a remote Spanish village?
Calendars can be purchased here: La Casa de Medico (Calendar is towards the bottom of the home page, Calendarios Madres de Serradilla)
The company is hoping to build a community experience around the biodiesel industry and has some new forums that have just gone live. If you’re interested in helping the adoption of renewable fuels along I hope you will read the article on Red Herring and then visit the Fillmore Fuels website at: http://www.fillmorefuels.com/
[Note: The link to the company's site was miswritten in the HTML code in the article, so I have included it here. I sent a note to Red Herring about the link issue and am sure they will correct it soon.]
[Note: I wish WordPress had better support for embedding videos from other sources besides YouTube, as I had tried to include the video here. Sorry.]
I’m interested in learning more about it since getting an inside glimpse into ethanol production. My hometown is putting in what will become the first ethanol plant owned and operated by a municipal government in the state of Oklahoma. I’ve been to the plant and had a look inside and it is fascinating to hear how the process has gone. The City has no real template for the whole process since no other municipal governments have done this, but things are coming together. There is already another ethanol plant here (not bad for a place with a small population) commercially operated, and the two plants will certainly put the place on the renewable energy map.
It is exciting to see rural economic areas embracing technology and creating renewable energy initiatives. The expected revenue from the plant will do wonders for the community. A lot of people have their eye on the project—people in important places (it might surprise you, just who). Anyway, enjoy the articles!
Well, as usual, the big players in the music industry lag behind the reality on the ground. Sort of like politicians. a recent article on Ars Technica by Nate Anderson takes a look at the recent roundhouse kick to the head that killed the music industry in its first incarnation.
Music exec: “Music 1.0 is dead” is a great article. Indie musicians have been changing the industry in ways that even the corporate giants cannot ignore, and—as the article points out—they have finally grasped that the old model is an untenable position.
Of course the talk is about Music 2.0 (is anyone else getting tired of the old model of versioning, by the way?) and new models. All good stuff, and focusing largely on technology and digital delivery.
They’re still missing the point. Knock the stupid versioning technology away, it is about music and that means it is about interaction. Call it Music 3.0 if you are stuck in that particular paradigm and you like to feel comfortable, but the model that needs to be embraced is still to come, and I have a pretty good idea what it will be.
In the meantime, enjoy how the realization that sometimes you can’t fight the tide and instead get swept along with it is impacting even the major record labels.
Props to The Kings of A & R, a great site that ought to be in your bookmarks, for leading me to both those great stories.
I had been mulling over joining the community at Facebook for most of the past year, however, their recent unveiling of new marketing methodology/technology (Beacon) saved me the bother.
I don’t work for free, so I do not feel much like playing to role of marketing intern (you know, standing on the side of the street in a chicken suit with a large sign) for Facebook’s 23 year old helmsman. Facebook is embracing one of the most intrusive marketing methods the Net has seen so far. Now, every member will act like an advertising billboard! Whoo-hoo!
I want even more cookies and monitoring of my personal online habits! I want advertisers to fool people I know into thinking I actually use crappy products and shop at unsecured websites and buy things from companies who think customer service means doing you the favor of letting you buy their stuff!
OK, now back to reality. I do NOT want all of those things. And I have no intention of encouraging friends to deal with such things either…
There is a great new service available to musicians that offers a way to permeate the digital marketplace with their music. It is called TuneCore.
What makes TuneCore so fantastic is the centralization of the distribution of digital music, making it much easier for musicians to market their songs and albums. Best of all, you get centralized payment collection and distribution to go with that.
What that means is that you can upload an album in once location and have it sold on iTunes, Rhapsody, GroupieTunes, Napster, MusicNet, eMusic, Sony Connect, and Amazon MP3. Payments from each service are consolidated through TuneCore.
It is not a free service, charges a tiny fee for hosting your album. You chose which services you want to sell your music on ($0.99 per song, per service), so you can sell through just one or through several. Check out the TuneCore FAQ for complete details.
The only negatives I perceive with the service are: (1) they do not offer Ogg Vorbis formats for your music and (2) a vendor might sell your music for a higher price and keeps the additional money rather than passing it on to the artist(s).
However, for those musicians who can be satisfied with the standard fee paid for their downloads, it is a fantastic opportunity to get your music spread through the digital marketplace and reach more potential fans.
You can sell music videos through the service as well. That, combined with the distribution and payment centralization may make this service an indie music standard in the near future. Check it out and see what you think. I would love to hear from any musicians who have tried the service.
Now, if you’ll excuse me…I think I’ll go record some music.
The view is that proprietary software is created to come between people (which I agree with), and that it is driven by money and companies that hinder social activism by making those seeking social change “dependent upon software owned and exclusively controlled by entities that design their software in ways directly opposed to grassroots social change.”
Derek Wall, Green Party principal speaker said, “Free software offers social activists an alternative to what Vista represents. Using free software we can further social and environmental justice without supporting growth based on waste, control and short-term profit.” He continued, “I would urge social movements to develop a migration strategy, including a commitment not to move to Vista.”
The statement highlights the disposable-computer mentality embodied in the excessive hardware requirements of Microsoft Windows Vista. Often new hardware is necessary to support new software features, but the coalition says in this case, Vista’s requirements are to enable the operating system to more effectively restrict the user at the request of media companies seeking to prevent copying of music and video files.
It is more of the sort of social conscience millions of computer users need to embrace.
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Seed Newsvine
