Librarian of Fortune

The virtual melds with the real

OMG. this article describes how Disney and Google have rolled out a virtual version of Walt Disney World, in Google Earth. When I think about this too much, my brain bleeds out my ears. Here we have a virtual representation of Earth, and in it we can go on virtual tours of real buildings in the real world.

I'm imagining the day when I could have my business tagged to my little corner of Google Earth (40°07'43.52"N and 105°12'59.66"W to be specific); people can actually "travel" to my home office, where I can give a tour of my business, sell my books, give workshops and consult with clients.

Steal This Wi-Fi

Here is a great column from Wired magazine about why  Bruce Schneier doesn't secure his home wifi network.   I don't secure mine, either... mostly because of karma. I appreciate using free wifi when I'm on the road, and I figure that I should return the favor. Of course, I live out in the boondocks, so my hunch is that only 3 or 4 neighbors are close enough to take advantage of my generosity. But if their ISP croaks one day, they've at least got a backup. And yes, all of them have secured wifi networks.

people@Google

Google has rolled out a series of video interviews with and presentations by various authors, filmmakers, policy wonks and others; they finally got noticed by the media when they interviewed John McCain on May 4th. He was one of the Authors@Google series, but I suspect that Google will soon add a Politicians@Google series, since they also interviewed author Hillary Clinton.

Google has the videocasts available on YouTube (where else?). You can find them all here, or search for user name: AtGoogleTalks.

LinkedIn - the new business card?

Marcy Phelps, Kim Dority and I had a great conversation the other week about, among other things, how to use LinkedIn. Kim pointed out that one of its most useful applications is as a way to surface the various aspects of your life... or at least the aspects you want to make public. Seeing who people are linked to can be an indication of what they're interested in. What I particularly like is that it's a way of listing my prior professional experience without it feeling like a resume. And, of course, I can find interesting connections to people I might enjoy knowing. FWIW, my profile is at www.linkedin.com/in/maryellenbates

Can you pick up, please?

I know how wonderful voice mail is... I'm old enough to remember the days before answering machines. If you weren't home, well, the caller had to try back later. But it's gotten to the point where it's impossible to get a live human being on the phone.

I just listed a free desk on CraigsList. Got lots of responses. I called 10 people before I found someone who would answer the phone, so he got the desk.

I remember hearing that a business can set itself apart from its competitors by just answering the phone and responding to callers immediately. Now I see why.

A positive cell phone experience (!)

I complained earlier about my experience with T-Mobile. The final resolution, after a rather brusque blow-off by their customer "service" department and a letter to the PR department and the SVP of Sales and Marketing, is that they'll let me out of my contract a no charge.

Now, natch, I'm switching to Verizon after an amazing conversation I had with their sales department. The sales rep not only knew what I wanted with a tri-band phone and EVDO broadband access, but also suggested a less expensive solution that she uses herself.

I love it when I actually get people on the phone who are knowledgeable, helpful and friendly.

May I whinge for a moment?

I go through laptops faster than I should, usually because the laptop either commits suicide (just ask me about my experience with Dell laptops) or I do something bone-headed (when a new peripheral says "be careful which outlet you plug this cable into", be careful).

Since I travel a lot and jones for a net connection 24/7, I signed up for T-Mobile's Total Internet package, which provides wireless net access over T-Mobile's cellular network, around the world. I bought the required PC card that includes both EDGE and wi-fi reception. OK, all's well. Kind of cool, actually, since I can now get my email wherever I have a cellular signal.

Fast-forward a couple of months. I fry my laptop, 24 hours before I'm heading out of town on another speaking gig. I go into CompUSA (guaranteed worst sales staff in the known universe) and buy an HP Pavilion. I like it; it works with every AV set-up I've tried and otherwise runs well. Sucky battery life, but that's why the airplane gods invented in-seat power plugs. Anyway, I discovered that it doesn't have a PC slot; it has an ExpressCard slot which doesn't support PC cards. No adapter possible from one to the other. I spent three weeks finding what I hope is an acceptable USB adapter. And no, T-Mobile does not have an ExpressCard for their not-so-Total Internet service.

Some day, our grandchildren will roll their eyes when we describe the challenges of changing and incompatible hardware/software changes, kind of like how people roll their eyes when I say how butch I felt when I could configure Trumpet Winsock for an Internet connection.

Thank you. I feel much better having gotten that off my chest.