Notes from Customer Support in a 140 Character World at SXSWi
Disclosure: I work for HP. 140 character customer support Caroline McCarthy – covering social media for CNET news Frank Eliason – Comcast Frank @comcastcares Toby Richards – Microsoft. Everything that’s not phone support Lois Townsend – @ltownsend, HP’s Social Media Strategy Jeremiah Owyang – altimeter Recently in the news Kevin Smith, getting kicked off the Southwest plane
WordPress’s popularity and usefulness as a multi-purpose content management system, continues to grow, and the more people flock to using this CMS the more an understanding of some of the basics of how it operates becomes necessary. In that vein, I have put together this post that examines the WordPress template hierarchy and the use of conditional statements
Covad Nationwide Ethernet Service Launches on Tax Day
Covad Communications , which has been testing their Ethernet service, announced today the launch date for nationwide Ethernet services – namely April 15th (aka Tax Day, “Pay the Man Day”, etc). I almost went with Covad’s solution when TMC moved to our new headquarters , but decided to go with Optimum Lightpath instead ($2500/month for bundled 45Mbps data + voice). In any event, according to Patrick Bennett, President and CEO of Covad, “What will differentiate this product in the market are the integrated QoS and CoS options that give our partners immense flexibility in optimizing network performance based on their application requirements.” Covad designed these services to run business-class, real-time applications like Voice over IP, video, gaming, VPNs and video conferencing through multiple traffic-handling options via Quality of Service (QoS) and Class of Service (CoS), and are backed by Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
All eyes will be on the new Windows Phone 7 Series at MIX10 next week. But I’m getting ready to ask a bunch of questions about the other big news set for release in Las Vegas. I’ve got plenty of questions about Internet Explorer 9, starting with “Who cares?” I’m also planning to ask about HTML5, performance, and compatibility
Sprint Nextel Loses VoIP Outsourcing Contact with Time Warner Cable
As if the financial news for Sprint couldn’t possible get worse, according to Kansas City Journal , Sprint Nextel Corp. is losing an outsourcing contract with Time Warner Cable Inc.
VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting is the next level up from shared hosting. You get a lot more server usage for each of your dollars, but the catch is that you lose all of the easiness of shared hosting . One of the most important things you need to set up with your VPS is automatic backups
Single and unhappily married men are at 64% higher risk of dying from stroke
Men who were single in the 1960s were 64% more likely to suffer a fatal stroke over the next three decades than their married counterparts. The risk of fatal stroke was also 64% higher in men who reported dissatisfaction with their marriages than in men who rated their marriages as successful. That figure is comparable to the risk of fatal stroke faced by men with diabetes
There has been a bit of cognitive dissonance recently concerning the netbook sector. GigaOm has posted some graphics (with additional materials available from its subscription service), giving credit to washingtonpost.com and displaysearch.com.
Google Opens Apps Marketplace for Biz Users (and Developers)
The new Google Apps Marketplace is open: The online store ties directly to Google Apps (of course), so online business applications can integrate directly into the existing Apps, including Gmail and word processor. The store is launching with 50 companies providing apps, including Intuit, Dimdim, TripIt, Box.net, Aviary, and even the company’s direct competition at Zoho. You can read the full story about the Apps Marketplace in PCMag News.
The trouble with Photoshop Tutorials is that there are a lot of them out there, but you only want the very best, most creative ones. In this post, we’ve collected 40 of the very best and most extravagant tutorials for working with type. After working through a few of the most appealing looking ones to you, you should have more than a few ideas for creating your own, unique effects! Tutorials: How to Create a Stereoscopic Image for Crossed Eye Image Viewing This tutorial will teach you how to create a stereoscopic image for cross eye viewing and you will be able to view the final image in 3D and full color without any other objects
This week Ray passes along the latest photographic news relating to Nikon: -Nikon instant rebates being offered -Still image quality will be number one priority for Nikon -”I am Nikon” campaign -New Super Coolpix may be coming soon -Wacom releases Cintiq 21UX -Topaz Labs releases version 4 -Sanho announces “Hyperdrive Album” -Apple releases Aperture 3 update -Earn Nikonians membership discounts -Nikonians Rewards -Photos from Atlanta Area Nikonians Download Nikonians News Flash #148 (NPC-NF-2010-03-07.mp3; 3:50; 3.51MB; MP3 format)
The rise in 3-D printing is not just about being able to create your own customized cufflinks or action figure. Researchers are discovering that the technology is helping to create better prosthetic limbs . An article in CNET News by Daniel Terdiman looks at a presentation by industrial designer Scott Summit that discusses “the idea that the era of blind adherence to uniformity may well be at an end,” thanks in part to 3-D printing
AT&T’s network has been the source of much concern because it is the sole carrier of the iPhone. It has had chronic problems dealing with the stress added by the ultra-popular phone, particularly in New York City and San Francisco. Though there have
Verizon Wireless customers are experiencing a 3G outage nationwide. Some have been able to rectify the issue by unplugging their battery and plugging it back in, while others are still having a complete outage – both voice and data. (Verizon) Blackberry users are also offline, so no email access
My colleague Charlene O’Hanlon has an interesting post up at CTO Edge questioning the significant growth in VoIP predicted by In-Stat Senior Analyst Dave Lemelin. Indeed, the In-Stat numbers are surprising. Lemelin suggests that VoIP, which is used
Twitter addiction: Could you get by without Twitter?
From BBC : A popstar gave up on social networking after a dinner party at which she realised she spent more time updating Twitter than interacting with her companions. Online communities like Twitter, where people follow each other without being acquainted in real life, can be brutal: “If you’re going to broadcast as a tweeter then you need to be thick skinned,” says Dr Yeung, “If you’re the kind of person who takes things personally, opening yourself up to criticism from strangers is not a good idea.” A Twitter user: “I could not fully concentrate on anything for longer than 20 minutes,” says Carolyn.
Today on News Flash Extra, Ray speaks with Kiwi Nikonian Wayne Lorimer Download Nikonians News Flash Extra #5 (NPC-NF-2010-02-28.mp3; 17:37; 16.1MB; MP3 format)
Google Analytics gets an upgrade – Limited functionality on March 2nd
Google Analytics users should note that on Tuesday (March 2nd) Google will be upgrading their analytics system. Between 7am -11pm (US Pacific Time), users may experience limited functionality. In this message on the Google Analytics blog , Trevor Claiborne explains; This upgrade is to further increase the scalability and reliability of Google Analytics to meet the demand of an increasing number of enterprises using Google Analytics.
Valley Entrepreneurs Vent Frustration at Department of Energy
Cleantech entrepreneurs urge Washington to make better use of Bay Area intellectual capital. At an event in downtown San Francisco on Tuesday, a representative of the Obama administration went before a gathering of Silicon Valley cleantech entrepreneurs to spread the good news about what’s resulted from the stimulus package, and to get their feedback.