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I’ve been around the world and I I I..

Posted by Alex on 11 Dec, 2008 in My Stream | 0 comments

Track your travels with 29travels.com

I’ve just found an interesting site, 29travels.com, which draws up a personalised Google Map of countries in the world you’ve been. Here’s my personal map…

Still lots of white bits, I better get cracking!

Putting users first

Posted by Alex on 9 Dec, 2008 in Articles | 0 comments

SMS Haircut Reminders

My hairdresser, The Green Room, recently took an innovative step forwards; it now texts customers a reminder the day before their appointment. It struck me that this is a very smart move on their part, and a great example of how listening to your users – in this case people coming for haircuts – can not only improve their experience of your product but also help your business.

I chatted to Scott, the manager, about the process. He’d mentioned that they were having lots of problems with people not turning up for appointments. This was causing an impact to his business because those slots were lost business – which could not be refilled at such short notice. Also it meant that staff would have nothing to do during those slots.

Keeping in touch in the digital age

Posted by Alex on 4 Dec, 2008 in Articles | 0 comments

Using ooVoo for three way family webcam chats

I live in Hampshire, my brother lives in Scotland, and my parents live in Northumberland. Not ideal really, but that’s the way it’s ended up. This generally means we only get to see each other altogether about twice a year – not as often as we’d like. As you may know, my wife and I are moving to Canada next year, even further away – so I decided it was time to do something to make sure we get to see each other often. I don’t want to have even less contact due to being overseas!

First we experimented with Windows Live Messenger (MSN), Yahoo Messenger and Skype, which didn’t do the job for various reasons – we needed something that would work on Windows XP and Mac OS X, and which would allow more than two participants at a time.

We eventually found the ideal piece of software for having webcam & voice chats with more than two participants. It’s a great piece of software called ooVoo. It runs on Mac or PC, is a free 15Mb download, and is very easy to set up.

So now we can have 3 way video-conferences (in fact, ooVoo supports up to six participants) at a set time every week – which will make the distances seem a lot less. It’s so much more than just a phone conversation, it is much more like seeing your family in person. Problem solved! I love it when technology actually improves your life! If your family or friends are far away, I recommend you give it a go.

Speed up Windows Boot Time with StartupDelayer

Posted by Alex on 2 Dec, 2008 in Articles | 0 comments

Maybe you still need those apps, but do you need them right away?

I recently read this article about how US employees are suing their employers over lost hours due to the time it takes Windows to boot. It’s also struck me I really should do something about my Thinkpad’s Windows XP boot time. It typically takes me the the best part of 15 minutes from power on to “ready to work” state. So it was good news when I came across a piece of software that can really help me gain some of that time back each day!

Some of the delay is due to the so-called “quick launch” applications that the likes of Adobe, RealPlayer and QuickTime install without asking. Many of these can be shut off but there are many drivers, applications and Windows services which are less obvious and think they need to load after Windows boots: anti-virus programs, Thinkpad drivers for Touchpad, TrackPoint etc, various corporate spyware apps my company makes me install, not to mention the applications I do need to use now and then – such as Messenger, printer drivers, Nokia phone software, Bluetooth support etc.

There are programs that let you optimize your system by removing/disabling some of these. A good write up of this is on Lifehacker here. You do need to make extensive use of Google to work out what a given EXE or DLL actually does. I see that they have improved this a bit in Windows Vista which provides more information on process names in its task list.

The Ten Mistakes & Holt Uncensored – Pat Holt on Books, Book Publishing Industry, Reviews

Posted by Alex on 30 Nov, 2008 in My Stream | 0 comments

http://www.holtuncensored.com/hu/the-ten-mistakes/

some very good writing tips (non-obvious!)