All the big tech boys have been slowly cornering more of the value chain. I am almost embarassed to confess that I hadn't explored Microsoft Office Live in all its entirety. For some time now, I've written off anything that says "live" from MS, largely because Live 'Spaces' trash is just another MySpace wannabe (I don't even want to write the f*ceb*k 4 letter word).
But Office Live is different - and I am starting to think, it might be a good idea for start-ups to take a look at it - free online collaboration, project management, SEM/SEO, and above all free online CRM with basic capabilities and integration with Outlook.
Integration with Outlook is the best part - something that made me bang my head on a wall trying to make SalesForce.com's Outlook integration work - it slowed my machine down to a grinding halt. I do believe, SF's latest integration with Google Apps is a move away in the other direction - and good for them. Anyone on Goog's side is ok with me, even though SF will not be able to hold their absurd pricing for long.
Ok, too much tech stuff.
Basically, get cheap domains from hostgator.com, great websites via open source applications like Joomla and WordPress, free corporate email and Intranet from Google Apps, and free CRM from Office Live (or even Zoho) and you're good to go. You're really good to go. I am excited enough about this thing to take a day off from work, go to the beach, and just fool around with Office Live. Please don't disappoint MS.
The point is this - everyone's upping the ante, eating into more of the value chain - it's not just about giving you free email or office tools anymore - it's about packaging everything together - bundling it in such a way that you get seamless solutions from one vendor - so you stick to one guy for SEM, online CRM, Online Office, email ... and they make money with their various revenue models.
The funny thing is till a short while back, MS was kinda happy saying it was happy with it's large corporate base. Goog scared the sh*t outta them with Apps and Sites.
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Presenting Curry Chicken ... or something like that ... I worked hard at this thing, but at the end, the onions were doing their own thang in one corner, the tomatoes were chilling at the bottom of the pot, and the chicken tasted like chicken ... quite literally ... I used a hand-held blender to make the thing look even and photogenic ... But, what the hell ... fresh, hot food tastes so much better than something out of a cold, heartless box ... the roommate also agrees ... he also finished his plate (the image fx are courtesy this open source image editing software called GIMP ... been fooling around with it ... a cool alternative to Photoshop ...)
Not sure what I'm talking about
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(Van Morrison's 'Real Real Gone' ... you might be prompted to let your browser run a Microsoft ActiveX control ... then the player at the bottom might show up)
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I am usually not very fussy about giving folks my email address.
But that is about to change. I am going to create a dummy email address for IDIOTS (to think these are people I know) who can't breathe without forwarding me "funny" and "amazing" pictures and "send this to 7 people or else ..." emails. #*c&ing idiots STOP. I don't like you anymore.
Better yet, I am going to get even ... I will enter your email address on every damn pr0n site I can access in a day.
Seriously, I am going to have create a new address (thank you Google for being the coolest people on earth), so I can stop receiving junk from idiots (former co-workers and more), inconvenience myself, having to inform my bank/card companies and intelligent friends that my address is changing. I am sick and tired of looking for important mails between the trash. If you've got something important to tell me, call me. or just p*&& off.
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I kinda like the cute librarian at the public library next to work. I go there sometimes after work to kill an hour or two till the trains get less crowded. I am not sure how old she is or what ethnicity she is.
Not sure how to ask her out. If she says yes, then cool. If not, then I wont want to come back to this one place I really like coming to after work - great Turkey Sandwiches, Snapple and peace of mind.
Dunno - the sandwiches and snapple are more precious I reckon. End of the shortest love story in the world.
]]>If someone asks me what's the biggest scam out there these days, I would have to say 'cellphone functionality hype'.
It's all bullsh*t. Oh, this one has GPRS/EDGE and you can browse the net and oh, this one has a 3.2 mp camera and your pictures will turn out like those from a digital camera. And, boy, are you going to flip for this 3.5G touchscreen phone.
4 reasons why not to buy expensive phones that pretend to do more than ringing:
1. Pictures with cellphones come out sh*tty. No matter what.
2. You will NOT access the net on your cellphone unless you are accessing a corporate application like your company's CRM or ERP application. How many of us do that? I access my CRM on my computer only when I return to office after my meetings. I have never found myself keen enough to update an account immediately after a meeting.
3. Touchscreen phones suck. I am 6'2 and my fingers are proportionate. That means they are too big to use with that little bullsh*t on-screen keypad.
4. These critters are BIG and heavy.
Why am I so p*ss*d? Because yesterday I finally sold off the last two fancy phones I bought recently and got paid peanuts. One with a 3.2 mp camera with a Carl Zeiss lens (whooo) - one that simply refused to take good pictures. It's music player sucked and you had to press a million buttons just to get to the song you wanted.
The other one - ah, touch screen - wonder of wonders - a keypad so small, I had to use my pen to type stuff - which means at any point I was using two hands to type an SMS. Try doing that on the train. With people standing inside your armpits.
I got rid of both of them, and went in for a basic Nokia. I paid for a phone and got a phone. I don't even care what other features it has. It syncs with my Outlook, so I get to carry my calendar, tasks, contacts and notes around. That's all I want. It has a camera and a music player - basic - very basic. Ones that make me happy I didn't throw my money away. And it is this tiny little thing that fits horizontally in my top shirt pocket.
It's a phone and does not pretend to be anything else. I respect that.
]]>First, as I write this post, there is a banner ad on the right with a picture of Angeline Jolie ... wait ... lemme take a screen shot ...
She is just so beautiful. All the drama, the kids, how Jennifer Aniston probably feels about her ... whatever ... that is as perfect as a face can get. I remember watching the Sixth Element, and thinking about Mila Jovovich (Leelu Dallas Multipass), that a woman couldn't get prettier. I think I was too young to know Ms Pouty Lips. Damn, I forgot what I wanted to write about.
Anyway ... been way too busy at work, just trying to stay afloat, like the recently rescued European Divers stranded somewhere near Indonesia. They say they warded of Commodo Dragons. I get that at work every day. Big deal? Next thing you know they'll say their perspectives in life have changed.
Bah. Hillary Clinton Concession Speech and other things included, the week went by in a blur ... she spoke well, and increasingly I am starting to think, Chelsea Clinton really does take the best from both her parents. She is cute and smart.
The point of this post? I have been very busy at work, but still been stealing time to read your blogs - your blogs have grown on me like a habit - call it familiarity, call it my comfort zone - call it what you will.
You may not realize it, but your blogs could mean a lot to an Angelina fan somewhere. Maybe he's got you on his favorites list ... because every time you update, the guy knows the world that matters to him is doing just fine.
Keep writing people.
]]>Don't ask me why I am working on a presentation at this hour, today, while friends are at a movie. Don't ask obvious questions. That's the way my life is (hopefully for only today).
Anyway, the point is - can't work with any other background music except numbers from the Boss. The Boss sings for the working man - construction workers, execs stuck at home on the weekend writing presentations - real people who work hard to bring home the bacon. You know - guys who get grimy after a long hard day, come home, open a can of beer, kiss their women and watch the 9pm news and fall asleep on the couch watching late night war movies.
I am a hardworking beer drinking war movie watching man. And I listen to the Boss.
For today, no Van Morrison please (I'll save that for when I do have a sugar cookie to come home to).
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The really good die young - James Dean, Heath Ledger, Jimi Hendrix - good men - all passed on in their 20s. Stevie Ray Vaughn was slightly late - died in a chopper crash at 36. But still a very good man.
But none of them died of clogged arteries. So read the above article.
On Jimi Hendrix, I always wonder, how much more the man would've contributed to music, had he survived even another 10 years. I love Little Wing - Jimi's version and the guitar version by Vaughn. I am just a nostalgic guy who never did move past 70s/80s/early 90s music.
Mr Stevie Ray Vaughn, in a Fender promo, playing little wing >
The tune, the warm tonality of Vaughn's guitar, the nostalgia video - love the video - it's just music - no stupid story telling videos. It's just music.
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