The Hot Iron

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Controlling Your Destiny Or Controlling As Much Of It As Possible

Are you in complete control of your destiny?  Or in control of it as much as you possibly can be?  By asking these I am not trying to cause panic or confusion!  Rather I am engaging a conversation about choices we make on a day-to-day basis.

The catalyst for this thought topic was issues I have recently encountered with various vendors, both in my business and personal life.  In some cases they failed to deliver products or services they were obligated to.  Other times it was their mere responses or actions that caused me concern they may fail or flounder in delivery.  As a result, not only did I get an uneasy feeling, but I then needed to devote time to thinking through the scenario and defining a strategy to react to it.

On the positive side, we sometimes make decisions knowing they are in the best interest in the short term, and eventually may make moves that are best in the long term.  One example is outsourcing.  If we do not have the capital or human bandwidth to take on something ourselves, we may outsource all or part of the task to a person or company.  This can allow us to take on, say, a new client and offer the services now that we eventually will take on ourselves and continue in the offering.

Good or bad, we need to have an understanding of these situations, which can be considered our destiny.  Rather than dropping everything I have planned to do so I am tackling this issue methodically.  In evaluating contracts and relationships, I am looking at what I have, what alternatives there are, and how I would be able to make a switch.  Taking it a level further, I am looking at the cost of making the switch, and at what point it makes sense to do so.  Some of these changes are straightforward and others are rather complex, however it is a necessity to plan for these in advance. Going forward, I will keep this in mind as I make business and personal decisions.

Like any choice we make, sometimes we make it despite potential risks involved, especially if our choice is to do something or not do it at all.  As I think about these or face such decisions, look for my reactions here at The Hot Iron.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Silicon Prairie Social on July 10 in Chicago Suburbs

I just got word from Tim Courtney the next Silicon Prairie Social will be held on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at Mullen’s Bar and Grill in Lisle, IL.

This is the next in what has turned out to be a successful series of quality tech networking event for the western suburbs of Chicago. The event is free, though you must register, and registration is now open.  Check out the Web site for full details.

For those in the tech community in the burbs, it is a must attend, and as well for those of us in the city - as we are all part of the greater Chicagoland tech community.

Thursday, June 05, 2008

MyWay.com Drops Own Portfolio For Something That Doesn’t Work From Scottrade

MyWay.com, or MyWay for short, is a Web-based personal portal.  It was launched several years ago and later became part of Barry Diller’s Internet empire.  When it was launched, it competed head-to-head with MyYahoo!  The idea was MyWay would not serve pop-up advertising as MyYahoo! was starting to do.  This attracted me to the service and I have used it as my home page since, even though its feature set has remained stagnant.

That set of features took a hit this week with the shutdown of its stock portfolio feature.  I found out about this the hard way – I simply noticed it was gone.  In its place was a Flash widget-like box, as shown below:

I looked around my MyWay page and clicked the “my portfolio” link at the top of the page.  There was my list of stock tickers, with this message:

(its text - We are sorry. As of June 1st, My Way will no longer be supporting the Portfolio feature.  We apologize for the inconvenience. Click here for more information about the new My Way Money page. - The My Way Team)

After clicking on the message (there was not a visible link) I got this message:

(its text - My Way is pleased to announce that we will be collaborating with Scottrade, one of the leading online brokerage firms and market research providers, on our new Money channel. Many of the features on the My Way Money page will now redirect to charts, graphs and information provided by Scottrade. As of June 1st, however, we will no longer be able to support the Portfolio feature.  We are confident that our new and exciting partnership with Scottrade will provide you with convenient access to some of the most accurate, detailed and useful financial tools available on the Web.  - The My Way Team)

Not knowing what to do, I tried to enter stock ticker but nothing showed up.  Instead, ironically, pop-up windows with pages from Scottrade’s Web site appeared after a few minutes.  One was of its home page, the other a page to look up tickers, which did not work.  I was using Firefox 2 and did not try it in another browser.

That was yesterday, and today, the Flash widget is gone, and in its place is this message:

(its text - Sorry – We’re experiencing technical difficulties with Scottrade Stock Watchlist.  We are currently looking into it.  Please check back soon.)

It’s one thing if MyWay decided to partner with Scottrade, but do it right!  Inform people of the change, don’t just remove it and hope people will find a link to it (I never use any other portfolio features of MyWay).  As Scottrade is guided by all kinds of SEC regulations, do I have to open a Scottrade account now?  And what about a migration of my tickers, or do I have to re-enter them?  I only have a few so it would not take too long, but I need to know either way.

Perhaps its time to move on and find a replacement service – maybe iGoogle or even look at MyYahoo! again.  MyWay surely isn’t doing it the way I would.  And how about the irony of my fortune, displayed below the widget?

Monday, May 19, 2008

Looking For Someone To Take ASP.NET Training in Chicago June 3-6

A colleague of mine is hoping to take an ASP.NET class in Chicago from June 3 to 6, 2008.  The class only needs 2 people to take place, and so far he is the only person enrolled.  As he is coming into the Windy City to take this class, he asked me to promote this in hopes of finding someone to take the class.

If this is something of interest to you, please contact me by posting a comment here at The Hot Iron and I will contact you off the blog.  If this is not something of interest, please pass along if you know someone who may be interested in the training.

Thanks in advance, and I hope the power of the blogs can support my colleague!

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Save Windows XP

Imagine having a product you sell that people want, yet you create one they don’t, then decide to pull the one they want from the market?  If you need an example of this, you need not look beyond Microsoft and its promotion of Windows Vista and pending threat to remove Windows XP from the shelf.

To many, Windows XP is all they need for their PC’s operating system.  Finally, after years of enduring with issues with various Windows versions, a stable and reliable version exists in XP.  Well, as stable and reliable as Windows can be, I guess.  But this hasn’t held back the people in Redmond, Washington from selling Vista, an unstable and bloated operating system that has more incompatibilities that Democrats and Republicans.  As a result, people have denounced it and have refused to upgrade to Vista.  Since some of these people are the key technology decision-makers in Corporate America, traction is gaining in extending the life and support for XP.

InfoWorld Magazine is running a petition to save Windows XP.  I have signed it myself, and if you are a fan of XP, I recommend you signing it as well.  Whether or not it will make a difference, it is a way to show the size of the resistance.

Sign the Save Windows XP petition!

Friday, May 16, 2008

Reporting Web Site Bugs to Web Site Owners

Have you ever had a problem with a Web site?  Notice how I did not ask for a show of hands, otherwise there would be a lot of arms in the air right now.  When you encountered this error, what did you do?  Did you call the company, or try to contact them via email or the contact form on their Web site?

As someone who spends most all of my days on the Web, I encounter many.  If I do find an error or something out of the ordinary, sometimes I report it.  I say sometimes as when I do, I am often confronted with the sounds of crickets on the other end of the phone, get an automated, generic response or something that contains words but is not necessarily a sentence.

Why is this?  There are many contributing factors to this, including the typical siloing of functions within a company, the fact that who answer the phone or check the email from the Web site has no knowledge or way to process such a contact, and the Web site being accessed may be managed by a third-party or other entity outside the company and there are no lines of communication in place.  Where these are all realistic scenarios, they do absolutely nothing to serve those actually use the Web site, otherwise known as paying customers.

As an Internet consultant and Web developer, I work closely with my clients and sometimes directly to their customers to resolve any issues with a Web site solution I have provided them.  When I do get such a report, I check to ensure the following 4 questions are addressed:

• Who are they – their computer, operating system, browser, Internet connection speed and any programs that may be running while they are accessing the Web site
• What are they doing – the Web site they were accessing, including any and all links and where they linked from, and how they got to this point
• What happened – as much detail as possible, including a written or verbal description and screenshots
• What did they expect to happen – this is always helpful as it could be a case of mistaken expectations, or it could be they knew what was supposed to happen and it didn’t work that way

Generally people are willing to provide this information, especially if they are treated with courtesy and respect.  Armed with this knowledge, a troubleshooting path can be put together rather quickly and hopefully a resolution is close at hand.  That is, if you take the time to do your best to support the Web site user.

Friday, May 02, 2008

Radio Button And Checkbox Survey Hell

Not a day goes by where my inbox is not loaded with at least one email message asking me to take a survey.  I typically don’t mind sharing my opinions, however it has to be a win-win situation.  This is where I am able to respond to survey questions using a Web-based form that is not loaded with a million radio buttons or checkboxes, and after completing the survey I feel good about completing the survey.

By the use of the word Hell in the subject, you can guess I am not winning with many of these surveys.  Most times I click on a link, answer a few demographic questions, then I am onto the bulk of the survey.  And bulk is the right word, as I am presented with a page jammed packed with radio buttons – typically to answer questions on a scale of 1 to something – and checkboxes.

The problem is there is usually too many, tightly spaced, and I always miss some if not many.  There are usually no visual elements, like different colored backgrounds or lines, to differentiate each question.  When I am confronted with such a page, I usually click the “X” in the browser tab and close the survey, never giving my answers.

If I do make it through the survey, many times I have an empty feeling that I didn’t really provide any information, rather satisfied someone who was looking for some response unknown to me.  I once was told you can write a survey to get you pretty much any result you are seeking, and I believe it.  Surveys that either do not offer a general text box or offer too many seem to fit the bill.

When someone asks you for an opinion it generally gives you a good feeling.  Perhaps the real reason I find these surveys painful is that I never see any changes or results from them.

What do you think?  No radio buttons necessary for the response.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Remembering The Boston Computer Society

In my never ending quest to rid myself of as much unnecessary paper as possible and replace it with PDFs, I ran across the final newsletter for the Boston Computer Society from October 1996.  Of course I pulled it apart and scanned it, and I am offering it to the public here.

The Society, or BCS, is how it was in the “old days” - large computer clubs that had many special interest groups, or SIGs, on a variety of topics.  I don’t recall membership being all that much, maybe $30, and some meetings had a fee and others were sponsored or free.  I was only a member for a few years and attended a few meetings and presentations.  I recall seeing Dilbert’s Scott Adams at one annual meeting.

Comparing organizations like the BCS to today is like comparing corporate America to a commune.  Where things were much more organized, there was also more structure.  Today there are a plethora of forums, chat rooms, blogs and Web sites on all aspects of computers and technology, but the only way they are organized are with search engines.

Even if you are not from the Boston area you may still find this last BCS Journal interesting to read, if not for the articles then for the advertisements.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

freeagentnation.com Points To Nothing

If you are a regular reader of The Hot Iron you may know I am reading through all of the books on my bookshelf, blogging my takeaways from them, and passing the books along to friends and colleagues.  One book I just finished is Free Agent Nation by Daniel Pink, published in 2001.  Look for my takeaways on this great book soon.

At the end of the book it mentions the Web site for the book at freeagentnation.com.  So I entered the address into my browser and it resolves to nothing, no Web site.  Daniel Pink has a Web site for himself and one of his most recent books, Johnny Bunko.  According to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, the last pages of freeagentnation.com archived were on November, 2005, and it was a link to his personal Web site.

This surprises me, especially as the book is probably still sitting on the bookshelves of many entrepreneurs and in circulation.  I am glad to see at least he still owns the domain name.

Web sites can and do have a shelf life, and taking it down can be the right move.  However people still may be seeking the site or its topic.  Routing Web traffic to another site at a minimum is straightforward and can suit those looking for the Web site, and maintain value for the topic as well as the domain name.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Is Windows XP Here To Stay?

Despite efforts by Microsoft to push its Vista operating system and get users to stop using Windows XP, the previous version isn’t going away.  Why?  With the performance and compatibility issues of Vista, plus the stability of XP – not to mention the fact there is little need to spend the money to upgrade – XP remains popular.  But don’t just take my word for it.

As a self-professed Internet Generalist, I keep abreast on all elements as much as I can, from hardware to software.  One source that keeps me in the know on all issues regarding Microsoft operating systems and software is WServerNews.  They provide both expert opinion and detailed information, with a touch of humor.

In their latest edition, interestingly #666, they talk of the upcoming release of Windows XP service pack 3, or SP3, as well as link to a detailed comparison of XP and Vista.

So will XP go away?  Not for a while, and not for a while on the computer where this was written!