There is an amusing image on Apple's web site that compares the cable mess that apparently doesn't burden the new Apple imac as compared with the Dell XPS 410 . OK, for a second, dispell belief. The Mac has a single cable coming from it, assuming...

I received a couple of questions today about the just-announced changes to DST in Venezuela... "I just read that Venezuela which is apparently changing from GMT-4 to GMT-4:30 on September 1. If this is true, how might this affect DST for customers...

Rats. I hate it when an app crashes on my PC, especially when it's caused by an issue with Windows Vista and one of its bundled Microsoft apps. In this case, a mainstream staple of my online use, Windows Photo Gallery . But with Vista, I don't lose...

Our second Xbox 360 is going in for repairs... nearly a month after the last one. I'm beginning to sound like a broken record. As noted in my post late last night , our family Xbox 360 went south... officially, the video output no longer, well, outputs...

Willy had a question today... "A customer got this e-mail about DST 2007 update - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933360/en-us , which supersedes and replaces update KB931836, released in January 2007. Is this a mandatory update?" It depends...

(cross posted from http://blogs.technet.com/dst2007/archive/2007/08/18/kb-933360-on-wsus-081707.aspx ) Q: Will update KB 933360 be released for WSUS deployment and will it be classified as an Update Rollup? A: Yes, Microsoft Windows operating systems...

A quick post between meetings... in their current poll MCPmag.com asks readers (IT managers and network administrators... perhaps you, too) the question: will you be... "Upgrading to Vista or waiting for "Windows 7"? " You can choose one of the...

This evening whilst trying to set up Dance Dance Revolution for our boys and their friends, we ran into a small problem: no video. Hmmm... Could it be that I set the switch incorrectly on the Xbox 360 Component HD AV Cable ? The cable may be switched...

Crystal Dupré is publisher of The Meridian Star in Meridian, MS , and wrote an op-ed piece for the paper today on "Customer service at its finest ." "This experience got me thinking: what did these two people do to make the service they provided...

Seth Godin writes yesterday about his recent trip to the Soho Apple Store and how it is really, an "it" store. This is my paraphrase of the 'it' girl : Apple Stores have become the young, hip retailer, famed for the good presentation, charm of their staff...

A number of people have left some great comments on the blog re: my post on how Apple compares the simplicity of their iMac vs. the cable mess associated with a Windows PC . And again, the standard disclaimer: I own PCs, Macs and other various computer...

First off, if you're in Washington State, check to see if it's time to go and vote in your county primary elections . Now, on to the news as I break early for lunch and out to vote. MTV Networks will drop its Urge digital music offering , partnering now...

It's returned home. Our Xbox 360 that suffered from a severe case of the dreaded three red flashing lights arrived on Friday and is now up and running. Well, not exactly the same Xbox 360: we were informed that the unit we received was a replacement...

Benjamin J. Romano has an insightful article in today's Seattle Times on the preparations "for the post-Gates era" at Microsoft by the leadership. "Building a bank of collective wisdom is one part of the preparations going on at the highest levels as...

A quick note and a thanks to the folks for the fwd of this article from Harvard Business Online on " Companies and the Customers Who Hate Them ," an excerpt from the Harvard Business Review article by Gail McGovern and Youngme Moon... "The Idea...

I like it when a meeting ends early and up pops an IM on Office Communicator from a friend in media and entertainment (with a link no less) on something just too strange that you have to ask: "what the heck were the thinking when they did that?" This...

Of interest... the InsideMicrosoft blog news channel says that there's drop coming in the street prices on the Xbox 360... "Leaks are coming at the rate of several a day that an Xbox 360 price drop is imminent, sometime in the next ten days. A Circuit...

A quick post as I run off to lunch... a question I received yesterday from a friend as I was doing mail on my 8525... "What's the difference between the AT&T 8525 [aka HTC Wizard] and the new iPhone?" Let's point the wayback machine to June, 2007...

In case you hadn't seen the posting on the Windows Vista Blog today , the team announced the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Beta as Nick writes... "Now is the time and the time is now: let's talk about Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1). ... we're...

I have a couple of quotes that I hang on my office cork board, one of which is this one from the customer service guru, Ken Blanchard : "Customer service should not be a department, customer service is everyone's job." Customer service is everyone...

That e-mail from the IRS? It’s not from the IRS... so says local reporter Herb Weisbaum, an MSNBC contributor, on MSNBC (and the IRS warns taxpayers of the scams in a press release here ).... "The Internal Revenue Service is trying to be more...

Today in the Seattle Times, Charles Bermant writes about the best and worst in customer service . He writes... "... that some companies actually know how to respond electronically. And those who do so might not be the ones you would expect." ...

As noted, customers can usually request hotfixes for issues via their support contact or by placing a call in to Customer Support. Now, you can request hotfixes associated with a particular KB article via a simple web application that allows you to submit...

My wife and I took our boys to see the US Navy's Blue Angels fly over Lake Washington this afternoon as they do every year during Seafair . ( Here's a link to a video of their flights during Seafair last year .) It looked like the weather was going to...

Richard J. Dalton reports in Newsday this past Sunday that customer service industry experts report the "inability to reach a live representative is one of the top complaints of consumers calling customer-service centers." I'm sure that it's right up...