What the Heck is This?

Oh, yeah! It’s the dumbest ad campaign of the past decade…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImyK29QLs_A

Top Open Source Downloads…

Kudos to the folks at Datamation who put this list together…

“Tired of your boring screensavers? Need a game that allows you to survive the boring hours before quitting time? Wish your PC looked more like the terminals in the Matrix?

Or maybe you’re more business-minded: do you need an open-source solution for ERP? Project management? Bookkeeping? CRM?

If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, keep reading. These 75 noteworthy projects – each deserving of your love and affection – will help you do everything from creating desktop widgets to avoiding repetitive-stress injuries to visualizing distant, exotic landscapes. Or at least dreaming of life beyond your cubicle… “ 75 Popular Open Source Desktop Downloads

There are other lists for specific applications here…

It is possible to have a rich computing experience without paying through the nose for Apple Hardware or Microsoft software. You betcha! It all begins with Ubuntu! Use the contact form if you want to know more…

While you were sleeping 2/12/2010

Image via Wikipedia

In no particular order…

“Here’s a nice surprise from Google’s Maps team: just like Gmail, Google Maps now also have the Labs feature (it’s the little green vial in the top right menu), which brings experimental new features for you to try out.” Source: Google Maps Get Labs With Nine Cool New Features

Chrome has some love for the Mac fanbois…

“Mac OS X only: Chrome for Mac Beta just updated with support for Chrome extensions. Windows and Linux users have been enjoying support for Chrome extensions for a while, and while Mac users who’re subscribed to the dev channel of Chrome have had extension support since January, this is good news for Mac users who prefer the relative stability of the beta release. Ready to get started installing some saucy Chrome extensions but not sure where to start? Check out these 13 excellent extensions, or just head to our Chrome extensions page to browse other extensions we’ve covered. ” Source: Chrome for Mac Beta Updates with Extension Support – Google Chrome – Lifehacker

Gizmodo has an analysis of where Microsoft’s money comes from…

“It’s no shock to see that with unglamorous but vital products like Windows and Office, Microsoft is basically printing money. But where’s the Xbox? The Zune? Windows Mobile? Bing? Oh, they’re there. You just have to look a little closer.” Source: Where Microsoft’s Money Really Comes From – Microsoft profit – Gizmodo

Elsewhere, Google has acquired Aardvark…

“Aardvark is easy: just send Aardvark a question in plain English, like you do when talking to a friend. Aardvark figures out who might be able to answer, and asks on your behalf — Aardvark is the hub.” Source: Aardvark

In the meantime, if you want a few laughs, search the internet for [Bad Valentine]. Have a great weekend…

Stop the presses!

Image via CrunchBase

I’m admitting that I may have been wrong. Yup. That’s right. I MAY have been wrong…

Last summer I battled with 64-bit Vista and lost. I wrote about the experience here and here and here. One of my readers — a young computer genius named Paul from St. Norbert took issue with me in the comments saying…

Used x64 Vista for a full year… contrary to what they told me, all of my 32-bit drivers worked just like they were supposed to. The speed increase over XP was enormous.

Upgraded to win7x64 the day it came out, even better…

Granted most of my software is still 32-bit, but a 64-bit processor will run in 32-bit mode anyway – it just uses half of the register length. I don’t see why using x64 should slow anything down…

Well, contrary to what my wife and children say I’m not close-minded. At least not on technology issues. Or something like that. Let’s not go there…

Anyway, I had a chance to use Windows 7 64-bit on a project for a week. My assessment? It doesn’t suck. Far from it. I hesitate to say it, but it may even rock!

365 ways to build your personal brand

via thingstodoingreenbay.com

There are few people I know that have leveraged the internet more effectively to build their personal brand than ‘Green Bay Greg‘ Dallaire. The video is one that he shot for a client of mine, Tailwind Flight Center, and it demonstrates the quality of the work he’s doing at ‘365 Things to do in Green Bay’ along with Tony Rouse from MindSeed Labs. If you want to know how to use the internet and social media to build your brand you don’t need to look much farther than Greg Dallaire…

Related articles

• Building Your Brand with Social Media (entrepreneur.com)
• Future Ready 365 | Are You Ready Today? (futureready365.sla.org)
• How Guest Blogging Can Increase your Blog Brand Recognition (shoutmeloud.com)
• The Social Media Press Kit… the New Weapon to Grow Your Personal Book of Business (prweb.com)
• How to Maintain Your Personal Brand as a Corporate Employee – Smashing Magazine (seome.me)

The search is finally over!

Image via CrunchBase

I write frequently about my disdain [hatred is too strong a word] for Microsoft and their evil licensing practices and my newfound love for Ubuntu. Over the weekend, the two final barriers to moving ‘full time’ to Ubuntu were removed. I wrote about one last night — VirtualBox allows you to run Windows seamlessly inside Ubuntu for the application or two you just can’t do without. The last remaining app I needed was a text expander like Texter for Windows or Text Expander for Mac that takes blocks of text and reduces them to keystroke combos. Lifehacker puts it this way…

“You write some blocks of text over and over. “My address is …” for example, or addresses you enter frequently into mapping web sites, or a list of email addresses. Text expansion tools instantly write those blocks for you when you write a trigger word, and are smart enough to auto-insert dates, text you’ve just copied, and then move the cursor to where you’ll be. On Windows computers, your Lifehacker editors use Texter, while the Mac writers run TextExpander (your sole Linux stalwart is tinkering with AutoKey at the moment). Save yourself a few words at a time, and soon you’ll have freed yourself from hours of mechanical typing.” Source: Top 10 Productivity Basics Explained – Productivity – Lifehacker

So today I found Autokey and while it’s a different paradigm than As-U-Type which has been my Windows favorite for many years, it shows great promise. Henceforth, I’ll be working on an experiment on my home computer to NEVER boot into my Windows partition. The transition is now as complete as it’s going to get for awhile. So long Windows — hello, Ubuntu!

btw, go to the source on the blockquoted article; the top 10 productivity basics post is priceless!

Wisconsin has an IT worker shortage

“A common perception is that in the aftermath of the dotcom crash of 2001, the market remains flooded with information technology (IT) workers with skills, but no jobs.

However, the reality is just the opposite. In fact, an IT worker shortage is hitting companies across the nation, including southeastern Wisconsin.

As the baby boom generation drifts off into retirement, the next generation is not as large, and the talent pool is not as deep. That equation recently prompted Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates to declare that North America has a “pretty significant shortage” of IT workers.

The Wisconsin Department of Work Force Development projects that there will be approximately 12,745 IT jobs in Wisconsin by the year 2014, which would be up 12.3 percent since 2004.” Click here to read more…