Windows 7 -- may actually be the best Windows ever

I don't really expect that Microsoft will ever make Windows perfect. I mean, the only organization I know of that releases bug-free software is NASA. And, like Apple, they control the hardware end-to-end.

No, what Microsoft is finally doing is making it easier to identify and debug issues in Windows 7. I just hope this feature is as easy to use as it sounds.

Windows Troubleshooting Platform

The Windows Troubleshooting Platform is a new, comprehensive approach to solving end user problems via troubleshooting packs that can be applied to PCs throughout the environment. And the Windows Troubleshooting Toolkit allows you as the administrator to create your own troubleshooting packs when you identify specific problems within your own infrastructure. Also, a separate new tool called Problem Steps Recorder allows an end user to record the steps he takes leading up to a problem and then capture those steps into automatically created screen grabs, and e-mail them to an administrator or help desk representative for easier problem resolution.

[from CIO.com]

My favorite XKCD arc of all-time

Ten points if you can list all the inside jokes (from XKCD and pop-culture references) in the comments!

Read it at XKCD

w00t! Geek rap!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM

Nozbe Signup -- Sneaky, sneaky!

This is a very sneaky job by Nozbe, getting you to sign up for a long period of time.

You might have noticed that the selected radiobutton is at the bottom, instead of the top. Traditionally, one wants to put the preferred choice (the item you want the user to select) at the top (of a vertical list) or left (of a horizontal list).  This is because users are predisposed to select the first item in a list; or barring that, an item that occurred earlier in a list.

Here are a couple of possible reasons for Nozbe's approach:

• They wanted to keep the "Sign Up!" button and the selected radiobutton close together.
• They wanted to "lead" you into the "Sign Up!" button by gradually decreasing the price as you scroll down the page.

Overall, I think it's pretty clever, but I don't like how faint they made the "total price/contract duration" text. It's barely visible, at least on my monitor.

Coming next time: an analysis of Nozbe's payment page.

ZipInstaller - great for freeware junkies

I admit it, I'm a total freeware junkie.  I'll try out just about any tool I can get my hands on.  Unfortunately, this often leads to a downloads folder cluttered with zip files and discarded extraction folders.

Well, no more! Thanks to ZipInstaller, installing files from a zip file is now even easier than installing a Java Update. (okay, maybe that was a cheap shot)

ZipInstaller will:

• Scan the zip file for .NFO or other description file
• Automatically extract the files to a folder in your "Program Files" directory
• Create an uninstall module, so you can use the regular Add/Remove feature in Windows (or "Programs and Features" in Vista)

 

Screenshots:

 
The ZipInstaller main screen.  You can browse to your zip file, or just drag'n'drop.

The install screen. ZipInstaller will automatically create a folder in Program Files, and adds an uninstaller so you don't have to worry about tracking down files all over the hard drive

Get ZipInstaller from the NirSoft ZipInstaller download page.

Helping Others Make Money is Good Business

Lately at work, I've been looking for a way to integrate issue tracking with BaseCamp.  When I initially posted my quest on Twitter, Fixx got back to me very quickly.  I admit I wasn't totally enthused that they were promoting themselves so directly via Twitter, but the information was helpful.

After checking Fixx out, I realized that we needed a hosted SaaS solution -- not something that we would have to feed & wrangle on our own server.  So I reply to Fixx, and get this conversation thread back:

How cool is that?! Fixx recommended a product that they have no apparent relationship with.  They're helping somebody else make money.

Obviously, they're also hoping that this sort of respect for potential customers will pay off. And you know what? It has.

Overload. Yep, definitely overload.

I had a great time at SocialMediaCamp Boston, SummerMash Boston, and TechKaraoke Boston yesterday. It was great to reconnect with some "old" friends (that I first met at PodCamp Boston 3), and to meet so many new people. I'm almost suffering new-people overload, but I'm sure a week in Amherst will cure that problem real quick. I've also started diving into Twitter, for real this time -- you can find me at @cristoslc.

Why the silence for the last few weeks? I was recently promoted to CIO at Dexrex! Now, in addition to UI Design and Business Evangelism, I also get to groom and feed our servers, find more people to hire, and help plan our upcoming move to new office space. Because, as you all know, there's never enough work to go around at a startup :-)

Upcoming plans for August:

• Go on vacation to Maine. Take photos. Organize and post photos to my flickr account.
• Hire people. Need a UI designer and a couple of programmers.
• Attend all the tech parties I can find in the Boston area. You guys are awesome!
• Shift EVERYTHING from "livebythechip.com" to "cristoslc.com". That one is going to be real fun, I'm sure.
  

Information Overload vs. the Social Web

It's been a busy few months, since I moved to Amherst -- evidenced by the fact that I haven't updated since I first moved.  But I just came back from PodCamp Boston 3 with a renewed enthusiasm for all things bloggish, so I'm going to be appearing here a lot more often. (Bet you've never heard THAT one before)

The past week has been a busy one.  Tuesday, I attended the Information Overload Research Group (IORG) inaugural event.  It was a fairly small conference, hosted at the Penn Club in New York.  Some of the speakers were very interesting, including Professor David Levy from the University of Washington. 

Dr. Levy's presentation centered around the lack of "deep thought".  Essentially, he posits that scholarship at universities has declined in spite of (or as a result of?) the digital tools that are now readily accessible.  Instead of deeply reflecting on subjects, he contends that scholars are flitting from subject to subject, always moving on to the next idea or the next piece of research.

This was a huge contrast to my second conference of the week, PodCamp Boston 3.  Imagine a cocktail party of over three hundred people, all talking in the background at a lecture or group discussion to which you're paying close attention.  That's a rough idea of the Twitter discussion during PCB3. Although I've had a Twitter account for almost a year, it lay fallow for a long time after my co-workers at MVI gradually stopped updating.  It wasn't until PodCamp that I realized what I had been missing -- a source of constant chatter, underlying the steadier pace of the presentations.

I'll post more detailed write-ups of the two conferences here during the week, but I think you get the idea.  My brain is still reeling as it tries to reconcile the two perspectives.