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...

An interesting article at on Web Pro News and how nobody wants AT&T' $10 DSL . (The low-priced DSL offer was required by the FCC Federal Communications Commission when Cingular.) Nearly the same price as a high-speed dial-up (an oxymoron these days...

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...

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...

Here's an interesting new blog: The Perfect Customer Experienc e , by Dale Wolf of The Cx Institute, a publishing and consulting firm. It's for "marketing leadership for those with courage to change the customer experience." OK, let's give it a whirl...

As noted in several places (by now ;) an update to Windows Live Folders was announced, renamed Windows Live Skydrive . Now an open beta is available to all in the States, UK, and India. (Maybe Canada, too?) Per the Skydrive team , this is a feature update...

Netflix chose to develop and offer video on demand (and even hired Anthony Wood , CEO of ReplayTV). Video rental chain Blockbuster is going the route of "buy." Blockbuster announced that they will acquire Movielink , the digital movie download service...

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...

Relatest to changes in Daylight Saving Time (or as some still refer to it: Daylight Savings Time ), a quick note to let you know... In case you missed my previous post on the latest Daylight Saving Time and Time Zone update , the August 2007 cumulative...

A quick break for lunch and I saw this come across the news... Windows Vista, Windows XP Service Pack Previews Released IDG News Service - August 07, 2007 "Microsoft confirmed Tuesday that it released preview code for both XP SP3 but still...

Dan Reed of USA Today (that venerable daily) that Virgin America kicks off their business in the States . "The Virgin brand, he says, is "synonymous with value, style, a little bit of fun, irreverence and caring deeply" for customers and employees." Not...

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...

As previously speculated , MSNBC reports that Microsoft will cut the retail price on the Xbox 360 by $50 - that's for the model with a 20GB hard drive. "The company said its most popular console, which comes with a 20-gigabyte hard drive, will cost...

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...

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...

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...

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." ...

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...

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...

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...