Christopher Welle's Blog

I’ve been a paid Pandora.com subscriber for a couple of months. Well before Pandora One came out. I did this because the value of the services I got was more then worth the small yearly fee that I was asked to pay for.

I was surprised to login one day last week to find a new menu called Pandora One.

So lets get down to the new options that come with this service.

1. Custom Skins – You can now change the background of your Pandora account to a few select tasteful graphics. Nice to be able to put in a Kiosk type window for parties.

2. Pandora Mini Window – This will create a small Web window of the Pandora site so you don’t need to take up so much space. Its again nice, but this still uses the web browser that can crash at times like all other web browsers.

3.  Audio Quality – Now you can update your stream quality to 128kbits.

4. Pandora’s Air application – This is a really nice feature that I am enjoying a lot. Unlike the web browser that takes up a bit more memory then it should, the Air App runs nice and small and still allows for the great features of Pandora in one small window. When the music changes a short timed display comes up in the upper right hand corner giving some information about the new song.

 

So is Pandora One worth it? Yes. Not only is the above options good add ons but the paid solution of no Advertisements and the ability to skip songs 6 times per channel in 1 hour.

I decided I need some personal business cards for when I go out and meet other people. I have been just emailing them or using a web service called My Drop Card. Essentially you txt a number the email address you want your business info sent to and it then emails them. This would be fine and all for getting them the contact info via the email but it still leaves you with not having something to hand to the people your meeting.

So I decided to print up a small batch of cards for myself.

Moo.com is perfect for this solution. You can add the pictures you want and the text you need on the cards. They sell the cards in packs of 50 so you don’t have to have so many hanging around that you don’t need or no longer correct. Moo also has a Green Paper that is Eco friendly for those that are interested.

This is my card that I designed on the website. I have cut out some of the info that is not needed publicized here. It was really simple. I paid with a credit card, but tried to pay with my PayPal account but ran into a error every time. So I just used PayPal’s Virtual Card Firefox plug in that creates a virtual CC for just this purpose.

So if your interested in getting some new cards, check out www.moo.com.

I truly don’t remember when I applied to get a Beta Invite for the BumpTop desktop application, but I finally received the accepting email on April 7th.

I was very happy to try out this cool desktop app that claims to change the boring graveyard that is full of lost and forgotten files to something the suits your needs and style. I followed  the link provided to download the software and try it out. The web pages states to copy the beta code which will be asked for when installing the application.

I down load the application and go through the install process.

The application starts up and asks for the BumpTop Pro Key, the one that was listed in the webpage.  

I enter the key and click OK only to get a message that the “Beta  invite codes are no longer supported.”

WHOA! FAIL! WTH??? I try the manual way and it takes me to another webpage that has me cut and paste a code to the entry box but it fails too.

I decided to email the company about this and see what is up. I sent off the email that same night stating the issue I was running into. I received a reply that was a little concerning on my part.

When a canned support ticket reply starts off with “Respect Yo,” you really need to ask “What the hell software did I install on my machine that this company responds this way?”

Two days later I receive a response in email from Mike Jurka of Bump Top. It states:

Hi,

We invited the last of our beta users shortly before launch, but then launched to the public; for users that didn’t open their email in time we could see how it’s confusing. Sorry about that.

The good news is that your beta invite code entitiles you to a discount! Just visit: http://bumptop.com/buy/ExistingUsersDiscount.php

Mike Jurka

WOW… so its not the fault of BumpTop’s that they sent out several Beta invites, but then decided to go launch publicly canceling out those Beta invites they just sent out. Then only to say that its the Beta users fault for not opening up their email in time?

WTF!

Well I guess the time it took from when I received the email for the invite (Tue, April 7th, 2009 at 12:26am) when I downloaded the software and went through the whole thing that I listed above to the time I emailed them at 10:58pm that night is enough time to Launch and invalidate my beta invite.

You can see the emails below with date and time stamps. I’ve even capture the header information for the original email for all you.

As for my thoughts on the actual software, I believe this is a pretty desktop overlay that makes working on the same old desktop more interesting, but until it can replace the Explorer of the Windows system and change how the way the applications look to match the rest of the desktop, its just another application that eats away memory and processor time that could be put towards running the many applications that you would be using. Eye candy, nothing more. I’ve removed it from machine.

I am going to go out on a limb here and make a couple of predictions as to the key things I see in IT Services in the next year.

• Lower payments to keep and gain more customers that are tightening their wallets.
• Many companies are going to cut their budgets this year if not already. One place they always look at first is things they consider overhead, which is IT services. No need to get new servers, upgrade software or upgrade the network this year. Best to try to keep status quo or look at alternative Applications like Open Source.
• IT Companies will need to lower their prices to keep these customers or the customers will go else where. There is a large pool of IT Talent out there that will freelance to small/medium size businesses for less then regular IT Service Company.
• Micro Work will become more popular.
• Services like OnForce.com will become more popular. Being able to put out work orders for bidding by local IT Talent is a great option.
• Small projects will be the way to go.
• Customer Service is going to add much needed value to IT Services.
• IT Service Providers need to work more on their Customer Service technique and not charge more for it.
• Techs that can be kind, courteous, and do what’s needed for the customers will be hired over and over.
• This provides word of mouth and generated leads to other jobs.
• Open Source apps and OS’s will become more important.
• Experience with Linux, Open Office and other Open source apps will be more needed in this next year.
• Blogging and providing free services to those that are able to follow directions.
• Providing tips and tricks on a regular basis on a blog for customers to follow.
• News on applications and hardware that users might be interested in.
• Show that you are up to date on new technology and can provide step by step services for users to follow are going to be highlights in this next year.

Questions as to how important they will be in the next year:

• Certifications vs. Experience??
• Will certifications make you more employable?
• Which certificates will be the key skills in the next year?
• Will customers see more need for Experience over certification?

I will try to touch on this again at the end of the 2nd Quarter.

Thought I’d do a little Thanksgiving Video using the Qik.com Phone Streaming to show you How to Carve a Turkey for large groups.

This is my father in law who is an expert at cooking for large groups. Today he is cooking for a dinner of 50.

This was taken with a Sprint Touch Pro on the EVDO Network.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

*sigh*

Just wanted to test creating a post using the email function on blogger frommy cell phone.

Currently my Lenovo X61t is not booting and I'm running a full system test on it. Its taking forever.

I just realized how lost I feel without it. I cant work, cant play, cant communicate with others. Not a good thing.

After the test is over im going home to built another backup laptop for just this reason. I have a couple that should do the minor work.

Yuck. Not a good day.

If the Android that was released last week by T-Mobile is not good enough for Sprint then I’m done with Sprint.

Sprint: Android not good enough yet

Sprint may be having a lot of problems marketing its own brand in the last few years, but according to Chief Executive Dan Hesse, Google’s Android mobile operating system isn’t perfect either.

He told the National Press Club in Washington that he didn’t think Android in its current form is ”good enough to put the Sprint brand on it.”

I’m tired of all the crappy phones I get from them. I spend over $100-$200 a month with Sprint between my wife's Cell, my cell and my Cellular Modem.

I currently have the HTC Touch that Sprint upgraded when they couldn’t fix my HTC Mogul and I’ve had nothing but trouble with it and with the company. Whenever I call them up I end up with a problem with my account. I then have to go into a store for the reps there to fix the issue.

I’ve been patient with the iPhone and I was going to be patient with the Android as well for Sprint to get it, but with all their problems in the past year, they are deciding to wait for the Android then I’m not going to wait for them.

 

Hello T-Mobile?? Ya interested in my business? Lets talk.

I’ve been interviewing with different companies in the past month. These are some skills they are looking for.

VMware ESX is the highest need I’ve seen. If you have experience with VMware ESX in a production environment then you pretty much have your foot in the door.

Network skills are still a top need. Router, network traffic manipulations, and the experience with more then one Network Router OS’s.

Project Management skills. The ability to manage your own projects are a big factor in IT skills right now.

Microsoft Enterprise Domain experience. The ability or experience to design a Enterprise Microsoft Domain over several sites. I think this will change as Open Source is more and more adopted by corporate America.

 

What are some other skills you are seeing needed in IT right now?

With the current financial issues going on in the USA World, how will IT be effected?

Will companies think again about Microsoft Licenses? Maybe invest in Virtual Server technology to cut hardware costs?

Will open source become a main focus to companies?

If so then people with experience with Open Source Software need to start advertising their skills.

Presidential Candidates need to go back to Kindergarten. My wife is a Kindergarten teacher and she has said many times that if the president wanted to know how to deal with an issue he should think back to kindergarten and what their teacher taught them.

 

1. Sharing is a must. Be kind.
2. Name calling is uncalled for.
3. Tattling won't be tolerated.
4. There is a time for snacks and play.
5. If someone hits you, you don't need to hit back.
6. Your more likely to make friends from being kind then mean.
7. Helping your neighbor is good. They may help you in the future.
8. Can't make peace you have to build it.
9. Alternative energy sources means fruit vegetables and healthy things.
10. Cut back on Sugar.
11. Even hurts that are not seen are cured by a kind word and a colorful Band-Aid.
12. Isolating bad children doesn't help.
13. Punishing a child is not as effective as providing incentives for them to behave.
14. Give up put downs.
15. Seek wise people.
16. To notice and speak about hurts that I caused.
17. Listen to your teacher.

I have a Lenovo X61T and a Asus EeePC 901. On the Lenovo I have Vista Business and on the Asus I have XP Pro. I installed Chrome on both machines. I setup all my information and bookmarks on the Lenovo but wanted the same settings on the Asus. So I had to copy the data over, but there is no Export option in the Chrome application.

To copy the settings over you need to copy the User Data folder to the other computer.

On Vista the User Data is located at C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome.

I zipped up the User Data folder and then copied it over to the Asus.

I extracted the folder to C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\local settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome

 

Once I opened Chrome on the Asus, all the tabs that were open on the Lenovo opened up as if I just closed it.

I tried to subscribe to the Chrome Blog while in Chrome. Found out its not yet available.

Click on the Tab in the browser and drag it out to the desktop outside of the Chrome Browser.

The website tabe is then is separate from the Chrome Application.

Looks like Google’s Cache Servers are default set with this Browser. Certain sites come up faster then other sites that are on the same network.

Otherwise first impressions is I like the simplicity of it and the ease of use. I need to play with it some more before I can say I like it or not.

I'm a computer consultant and hence live on the Internet. I use it at least 10 to 20 hours a day. I access the Internet from Home, Work, Coffee Shops and like now using my Sprint Cellular Modem.

With the cap being announced for Comcast users I was wondering how much bandwidth I use on a monthly basis.

At my home I have a Sonicwall firewall that is my gateway to the world. It has a reporting function that has captured how much bandwidth is used per IP on the network.

Added up what my home uses and came up with about 30Gb of Bandwidth a month. This used to be more when I had my Web Hosting company servers out of my home before I moved them to GoDaddy.

I'm now interested in what I use total in a month for home, work, cellular, etc.

I plan on using one of the application suggested at GigaOm 250Gb Challenge capture all my bandwidth usage in a month. I'll report it back here in one month.

If you know how to get the information, What is your monthly Bandwidth usage?

 

Great Comic! Highly Suggest reading. Click on the image and it’ll take you to the site.