(Please note: This particular post is most interactive. It is not nearly as interesting without going to the actual new site)

Going Live
There seems to be something quite the trouble with my LiveSpace photo gallery. I cannot upload photos. I got one, but I put that thing on there months ago, using a different computer. Now there's some error about something called ActiveX or something like that. (Ironic that my error message would contain reference to a program whose name sounds like a chemical pesticide.

To weasel my way around the apparent error. I'm going to try to post images here and upload them that way. Maybe then things will be more flexible...

TEST 1: Yosemite & Canyon



Its rather small so... I don't know. We'll see how this works and operate from there... In fact... no. No I don't like it. I'm going to try some other things with my browser (downloaded IE7 by the way.) Actually, elaboration on that. IE 7 is actually Internet Explorer 7, beta that is. Beta means "in testing phase" and I'm using it. The actual complete and finished IE7 has not yet been finished. Which means nothing to me, 90% of the stuff I use on this computer is 'unfinished' and about 60% of the stuff I write is also 'unfinished.' Recently though I've had a bit of a surge in beta filespace on this computer (I've been downloading a lot of new beta programs). These files- published by Microsoft (or at least the ones I've been interested in) are all a part of the MSN network upgrade to a new concept they have dubbed "Live." Essentially, the mentality behind all the new software is that everyone is moving into the age of high speed, always-on Internet. Everyone is connected, and they're connected fast enough to be seamlessly integrated.
This has been playing up a bit I think.
In January of the coming year- The Windows branch of the Microsoft Corporation will release a new operating system called Windows Vista. The same way that they upgraded Windows95 to Windows 98, and Windows98 to WindowsXP, this program upgrades WindowsXP to a completely new OS called: Vista. Having seen the stuff involved in this project, I must say that even if it doesn't do a single thing for productivity, it is at least absolutely beautiful to witness in action. Windows Vista is a compendium of Live software. When released, all the beta versions will have been tested and perfected and added to the list of auxilary (and often unnecessary) software that typically accompanies a new operating system (but thanks anyway Microsoft. ^_^).

Several of the beta functions of Vista software are available for testing and beyond being beautiful, like I mentioned earlier, some of these things are amazingly useful, depending on your demographic. IE7 is one such beta. In addition to that- I downloaded Windows Media Player 11 last night and have had a wonderful time with the new format, and I highly recommend it to those of you with a great deal of music resting on your computer, especially if you have multiple albums by the same artist. The new WMP is highly organized and graphically oriented for those of us who prefer not to scroll through six pages of indecipherable listings.

I also picked up the full version (beta testing was completed about a month ago) of Windows Live Messenger which, in addition to following the same look and feel of the other Live programs, involves features like the ability to send and recieve instant messages even when you are displayed as offline. It also employs a networking feature that gives you direct shared-folder functionality. Talking to someone and you want to send them a couple of things? Open their shared folder, drag junk into it like you would on your own desktop, and they are instantly avaliable for the person you are talking to. That feature I think best represents the Live philosophy. Some of the best things about the new messenger however are abilities like Call, allowing you to instantly connect via VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) to your friend's computer and share a telephone call. (And I thought my Skype was cool... Well... it is, it lets you call generic phones and cellular. :P)

With the update of the messenger to Live, the Microsoft team has also updated their infamous Hotmail system. There isn't a great deal you can do to make an email server more instantaneous, in fact there isn't a great deal you can do besides change the name. So they're calling it LiveMail. Its accessible publicly and many people have already begun to use it, even in its beta stages. The format changes allow a far greater navigational ease with an upgrade to a more 'Outlook' style interface wherein folders and files are given a sidebar, a second panel displays the folder contents, while the third, often largest panel displays the actual email. There are numerous ways to customize these settings and when using it I found it far more fun and simple than the traditional Hotmail.

That is until I found Windows LiveMail Desktop (beta). This program takes everything great about the new LiveMail, wires it full of new features, gives you a maximized interface instead of LiveMail's condensed panel boxes that are restricted to a set size within the browser window, and places all of this on your desktop for instant access. Basically it's Microsoft Outlook, just cooler. Way cooler. For one, you don't have to pay to use this one. Professionals will enjoy the businesslike functionality and features of Outlook, but what if you're not a business professional? Viola. With basic visuals that can be altered (color, size, layout) to suit the user's preference, to instant publishing tools like BlogIt (a general one click option to publish an email as a blog to your LiveSpace) LiveMail desktop has become one of my favorites of the Live betas Microsoft has released.

But it isn't my true favorite... (Arby, this one is for you, buddy.) Microsoft also updated the MSN Spaces to what is now called LiveSpaces, which, as far as I can tell includes little more than a useless name change and the new flat-jewel format charictaristic of the Live name. As far as features are concerned, I have been unable to note a major difference. If there have been any and I've missed them, I blame it on my only recent use of the MSN spaces (I started using the Spaces almost immediately before the new system was implemented and hadn't a great deal of time to orient myself with all of the features.). And all of that is well and good, it looks nice, and offers the same MySpace style page layout and P2P interactivity. The things that interested me mostly was (if it wasn't obvious) the ability to blog. Whereas my old blog on Blogstream had begun doing some very strange things (locking me out, losing my posts, refusing to delete older posts when I aked it to) I figured it was about time to let her go and find a new home. It was Jessica Bond who first made me aware, perhaps unintentionally, of the MSN Spaces with her own space which I visit periodically... (okay... a lot. Geez! What? *Innocent puppy dog eyes*) Anyway- finding hers sent me on a search for my own being that apparently, the moment you sign up for an MSN passport you automatically get one (in addition to instant membership at about fifty other random web sites that use the passport as their client signature). I found it soon after my search began and I kinda fiddled with it for a while, trying stuff out, messing with my format options and putting all my information in and generally making a productive waste of my time. I still can't upload photos... I tried a few blogs, found that I liked the style, and, after leaving a brief note one the Blogstream blog, set up shop here, perhaps permanently. Why? Because this place offers something that no other blog site I've ever found can offer. (Arby, this is where you come in.)

LiveWriter (beta) was released fairly recently to my knowledge. I downloaded it, having no real idea what it was at first. (Mostly my motivations for downloading it progressed as follows: Hm... lets see here... Live betas... doo doo doo dee doo... Oh hey! What's this? Hm... Windows LiveWriter... writer. Huh. I'm a writer. I mean... I write stuff. If I write stuff and it's called LiveWriter its probably a writing program of some kind... And I can always use a new writing program, after all... I am a writer. Hmm... Okay. *click* DOWNLOAD!) Three seconds later when the download was finished I opened it up and it asked me for my MSN Passport ID (my email and password) I put it in there and it began browsing through something, I wasn't quite sure what it was doing until it came up with a list of LiveSpaces, one LiveSpace actually. It asked me if this one was mine and I'm like "Uh... yeah?" And clicked OK. It opened into a brief reproduction of my LiveSpace blog! So I'm using this program right now to construst this (I know... really long) blog and I'm doing it all offline. When I get near an internet hotspot, I don't have to go on, log into my LiveSpace, open the blog, copy stuff over, copy my links over, make sure the photo fits and is properly formatted, no- I hit ONE BUTTON and shebang! My blog updates automatically. This thing also stores my past blogs for instant offline editing or review, and the program offers all of the same features of the original blog in the same format so nothing needs to be restructured or arranged from a word document! YAY!

It also has a build in spell checker ^_^ always a plus. (Though I rarely use it... I'm so stupid... (smacks self inhead)) Okay- so I've just delivered a two-page spiel on all of Microsoft's new stuff... Wow, I should get paid to do this... Sorry. I know a lot of this is really not that interesting. This is current stuff in my world though. Oy... I'll be selling this stuff in a few months. I've provided links to all the betas is you people are interested in getting some of them, they are all made by Microsoft so they're all garunteed to be virus and spyware free or you get to sue a multibillion dollar company that has better things to do than deal with your little lawsuit and will likely offer you something in the range of a three million dollar settlement and tell you to shove it. ^_^ I'll have something interesting next time, I promise. Jess! I'll write you tonight! Arby? Are you still out there somewhere? I'll talk to you soon. I may pick up that second Vampire film if you're up for it. I work tonight at Michael's five pm to close so it will be about the regular release time for me. Take it easy everyone! It's still morning as I finish this and I have some apartment shopping to do! ^_^

Cheers!

I got in last night about 20 minutes after the last post (around 5am) The reason for that fortune was that at 5am, David Idleman, my stepdad, leaves for work at the hospital. I was lying in my car, and I hear movement, and a strong mechanical mutter. It's the garage door. And it's happy to see me. So basically I grabbed all of my stuff and bolted forward. I made it under the door just as it was closing again and just in time to see Dave roll away in his truck. I got in and found myself somehow, not at all tired. And even struggled to go to sleep for about 2 hours into the early morning, even watching the sun rise as I rolled beneath the blankets in futile attempts to rest following such excitement. ^_^

I awoke at noon; four to five hours following, and I prepared for work. (Thank God for showers) Made sure I had all the appropriate apparel, and then I took a minute or two to experiment with F.E.A.R. (After a while I'll be sure to post a full review, even though Arby will probably be the only one interested... Oh well) For a brief explanation: F.E.A.R. stands for First Encounter Assualt Recon. The program itself is a next generation FPS and has the audacity to be so graphically stunning that it makes my Dual Core, 64bit, AMB Turion processor with a full gig of RAM laptop- actually lag with some significance... Which isn't possible. (Shrug) The game is hailed as the benchmark of our time for the FPS genre, and screwing around with it as I have, I'd have to say I can present no argument to counter that. I downloaded the game last night; all 1.76 gigabytes of it. Took about 2 hours. I had to restart the computer and the game automatically calibrated itself to suit my system. (Basically it went casually browsing through my computer to check out what kind of processor and graphics card I had, laughed at me, and set the game to minimum performance so that it wouldn't fry my machine. Thanks... what a reassurance.)

So far though, as an initial experience review- I'd describe the game as generously creepy with just a hint of freakism, a slight pinch of basic thrill, and a dollup of mystery. I normally don't describe a high end PC game in the same format as one would a simplistic cookie recipe, but it seemed to fit in this instance.

I'm at Hardees now. Sitting as I do sometimes late into the night, and now seems as good a time as ever to fulfill that Customer description I promised. After all, today I witnessed a perfect example of one. And running the show? My very own Richard Winters.

The "My-Friend-Is-A-Computer-Guru" Customer: Description and Thesis

These creatures can be any variety of shapes and sizes and are growing in number every year, and present a growing threat to the retail technology industry, and themselves. Their general innattention to reason has baffled many psychologists and retail industry associates the world over. They can be often spotted as exhibiting some of the following common charictaristics:

Carrying a Mobile (Cell Phone) - Used to quickly contact their Computer-Guru friend and double check all the stuff you've just told them.
Smug Expression - Generated by the illusion that they possess superior technical support and that they can get it for free.
Paper List - Often details several notes about superior brands or processors, typically drawn up by their Guru before they entered the store.
Travels in Pairs - The two or more rule often applies for this customer. Generally this customer relies heavily on exterior support (thus the Guru) even if it is someone who knows even less about computers than you do; AKA: Husband, wife, pet eskimo, etc.)
Close Cropped Haircut (Males) - I have yet to find an underlying reason for this consistency.
The majority of times, this genre of customer will not even enter a store without having first consulted their 'computer-guru-friend' who, for the sake of simplicity, will be furthermore referred to as the CGF. The dependance upon the information provided by the CGF is usually, entirely void of open-mindedness. The psychology of the CGF customer is mostly paranoia-based with a tendency towards general distrust of salesmen. Beware when attempting to contact them, and use the most careful caution. They can be edgy at times.

A benefit of the CGF customer is an easy ability to tell when they are becoming discontent with the information in your sales pitch. If your CGF customer is wielding a cellular phone (please note that wield is actually the appropriate term) the easiest indicator when giving your pitch is when they begin to toy with the phone, fiddling with it, perhaps opening it as if to check something, or raising it to shoulder level as if to scratch a part of their upper body with the same hand. If any one of these things should begin to occur throughout the pitch it is normally a good idea to ease out of the current topic and perhaps take the sale in a different direction. Watch the customer's reactions to provide an outline for your overall sales strategy and create a more desireable approach for your CGF customer. Also, if at any time during the sale the customer opens the phone and begins dialing their CHF, be advised: BACK THE HECK AWAY - IMMEDIATELY. A direct phone conversation in the middle of a sale is both awkward and disruptive to the sale process. In addition, you will have no idea what crazy stupid the Guru is telling the customer, which means when they get off the phone, you cannot add to or detract from anything they were told without risking a contradiction of the Guru's knowlege, which will often result in a loss of the sale.

For those few CGF customers not carrying a cellular, the best way to gauge their interest and trust is to watch their reaction to your sale directly. Typically the more confusion registers on their face, the less they are likely to believe anything you are saying. This is typically because of the initial knowledge base of the customer. The information they are provided is specific to what the guru has told them, anything else will register as unfamilliar information and will, in all liklihood, just confuse them.

For the daring associate, it is sometimes possible to speak directly to the CGF through the cellular phone. This rarely occurs and takes the cooperative agreement of all three parties to be effective. I witnessed one such a thing today at Best Buy, as Richard Winters boldly took the bull by the horns and spoke with the Guru through the customer's mobile and, to my knowledge at least, successfully completed the sale with the Guru's blessing. Way to go, Richard!

So I awoke this morning and my eye felt like I had a splinter in it. It lasted the majority of the day, and as work drew closer and closer, I began to fear. Glancing at my eye in a mirror, it kinda looked like I had a splinter in it too. It was all red and puffed up around the edges. And, I mean lets face it: no one wants to buy a computer from someone who looks like they're strung out on crack. I wouldn't anyway... I called ahead, they said call again if I am sure I can't make it. I said screw it and came in. People were like- "Whoa, that looks like it hurts!" I'm like "Well, it hurts about like it looks too."

I survived, and the pain subsided by the end of the day. At least enough for me to make one killer sale to this particular woman named Patsy. The gal bought everything bless her heart.

Alright, this is a good long post and I've said everything I want to say and now I'm going to end it because I want to talk to Jess. Goodbye! ^_^

Good morning everyone! Its 4:41! Goodness, getting around to my next actual post seems to have been quite a bear hasn't it? I'll write it when I'm under better conditions because I am afraid I have been rather unintentionally locked out of the house. There's a good reason why, I left earlier without my key. Which is something that I do now and again. I didn't realize it till I got back and found my key not in my pocket where it should be. The hope so far is that I left my key at home and that it didn't fall out and one of my many, many locations today. Because if it has, I'll have to once again go to Arby to create a copy. (Thank God I made that investment) So as of now, all I can do is merely sit outside on my front porch with this laptop plugged into the external outlet and type the sad tale to you all, as it happens. The best I can really do is to go stand beside my window, an estimated two feet from where my key normally is within, merely an arms distance away, and shiver in the cold because there is quite a wall between myself and that key...

I did make decent use of the time spent in this darkness however. I watched the remainder of the movie that Arby and I rented a week ago. I only saw half of it the first time, so now at least I'm all caught up for when we get to the sequel. Both movies are plenty old, which I suppose is why we're watching them. We haven't seen a recent film in longer than I can remember.

As to little Jessica Bond, please don't worry about me, I'll get my sleep, and my warmth. I just had to step outside for an outlet, thats all. My battery was threatening to die near the end of the movie, I'll just go back to my 'dar' here in a sec, after I'm done writing, and settle up for the night. I've eaten plenty so I'll not need to worry about breakfast. In fact, the problem of getting in is only a problem if I can't enter by the time I have to go to work at Best Buy. Because my work clothes are in there... And they won't appreciate it if I try to go to work without them.

Okay so its getting kinda cold, this post was destined to be short. Not so much about customer types... We'll get to that eventually, I promise. (Yeah, as if they're all dying to hear about it...) For those of you still following my competition with random inanimate objects I encounter day to day the score stands at-

Caleb - 2
Microwave -1
House Lock - 1
Chicken Noodle Soup - 0
(I won the chicken noodle soup battle. It was pretty intense to say the least. I was fighting it for Jess's affection. I nearly lost, but I won out in the end. ^_^)

Okay, so I'm freezing to death now. It's not the warmest night, as we are moving into fall... The days are just cooling down. Next post I'll put the relevant scores at the beginning of the post, and not halfway through so no one has to search for them again. Now I'm going to go. My fingers aren't moving as fast across the keyboard, and I keep making a typos because they're shivering! (You Sent Phoenix a Nudge!) As if...

Bye!

Not a lot that can be convered today. Well at least not in the 'now' portion of today. After work I expect I'll write a bit more. Key points to note, Steve Irwin died yesterday. A stingray got fiesty with him and shoved a barb through his chest. The famed 'crocodile hunter' was killed struck approximately 11am Tuesday morning Australian time. Which means it was 8pm monday for me. Exactly as I was getting off the clock at Best Buy. He was in process of shooting a documentary when the incident occured, his crew immediately called for emergency medical evacuation, but Irwin was dead before they arrived. He will be greatly missed. The fate of the stingray has not been determined. But I can not imagine it turning out well for the beast.

In other, less dramatic news, I awoke this morning to find my left eye burning and red. I have been putting some eyedrops in it throughout the day and it seems to be cooling a bit. I'm in Hardees right now, when I pulled in here to write some guy on a bicycle comes up to me and asks if I can give him 75 cents or a dollar or something to buy a drink, says he's been riding since Desquene and the heat is killer. Which it is. I had no cash so I bought him a large drink at Hardees. I'm generally opposed to giving out cash, I'd rather know what is being purchased. But I am never opposed to charity. He thanked me and we had a talk about Steve Irwin and then he went on his way. Now I have to go to work... I'll be back around 9:45pm CST and 1:45pm Australian time. I imagine that hanging out here, instead of on my curb, I will encounter far fewer dunken teenagers driving too and fro, stumbling across the streets, and engaging in loud and shameless sex within earshot.

Cheers mates.

Today the ragtag team of Best Buy employees were encouraged to make technology fun and exciting. After all, technology is a fast changing phenomenon these days and one of the best ways to get a customer who has no experience with the technology genuinely interested, is to create a demostration that will be both fun, and... well yes. Exciting. After all, in the day, I'll talk to customers who's knowledge of computers is comparable to common man's knowledge of the inner schematics of a woman's mind. Severly lacking at best. But while our retail store does not sell the inner schematics of women's minds, we turn our focus towards the comprehension of product. Like computers. The best ally in a sale is if the customer knows what is good in technology and what is bad in technology, and then he asks you just test you and you follow through and say exactly what he knew in the first place. The reason for such purposelessness is mostly to confirm to the customer that we know what we're talking about, and give him or her the silent thrill of actually, for once, knowing what they were talking about. After all, it doesn't happen often in the category of modern technology. That's why we're here I guess.
I didn't make my in-home's goal today by the way. Sold a ton a service plans and advanced security set ups though... Everyone wanted laptops, selling an in home system set up on a laptop is like trying to sell an in home set up demonstration... on a folding lawn chair, two hundred dollars. A laptop, even for being a part of the great unknown category of "technology" is not actually all that complicated for a piece of machinery. At least as far as set up. In fact, if I were a Geek Squad agent assigned to an in home set up of a laptop, I'd probably feel pretty stupid upon arrival. I mean... what do you do?
"Alright, we're going to get your computer set up now. I'm going to take the laptop and uh... plug it in, and turn it on... well there you go. That will be 200 dollars." Okay okay, so its a little more complicated than that. Best Buy goes inside the software, makes about 100 changes here and there, deletes a lot of programs that will just pop up and annoy a new user, and generally speed up the computer by 35%. All of which can be done in store, but then again... you can do the same with a desktop computer. The main selling point for an in home set up with a computer is the hassle of components and wiring, and internet. When we do an in home on a desktop, we unpackage all of it, your monitor, your tower, keyboard, mouse, peripherals, connectors, power cables, EVERYTHING. Then we ask you where you want it. You tell us, and we put the entirety of it together in perfect working order in a nice, neat little compilation of... (drum roll) technology... Following that, we'll also set up your internet so that it operates seamlessly, and we'll do the 100 or so enhancements, the excess program removal, and the 35% speedbooster. The best way to sell that to someone, at least so far, is explain the entire process to them and then tell them that we can send people to their house at your leisure and have them do all of it, or you can do it yourself... would you like me to go through the process again?
And then they all buy in-home set ups from me. But you just can't make that kind of pitch to someone buying a laptop. At least... I can't, not yet. I haven't found it yet. But I will. So far, a laptop is simple (not a lot of parts to coordinate), mobile (so even if there were parts, theres no "set up" to be done because it is designed specifically to not needto be stationary), and the internet is automatic wireless (so no need to seamlessly connect wirelessly.)
It seems to me that our recent trend is to develop 'technology' to be smarter and smarter, while the people buying it become less and less intelligent. That, for us, can be a good or bad thing. Normally we prefer our customers to be intelligent, mainly because stupid customers don't buy things they need with a computer (like antivirus or a service plan) and come back in angry that our "piece of junk" didn't work. Those are our "I told you so." Customers. We get a lot of those. A smart customer can be a great sale or a boon depending on the smart-level (someday I'm going to draw up a graph for all of this.) A smart customer may not necessarily be an informed customer, the difference is that an informed customer will immediately recognize the importance of a good antivirus program and set up. And is also more prone to comprehend the value of a 3 year service plan for their hardware. Now the 'smart' customer will read a brochure and assume he/she knows anything and everything ever needed to know about computers (or whatever they're buying) and will be convinced that they can do all of the stuff our 4 year university graduated and certified technical experts can. Which means, 'Ah, I don't need that anti-virus stuff... I could just delete it myself..." or, "Yeah... I don't need that service plan, I've worked on computers and I could probably fix anything that goes wrong with it." These are also the guys that come back in a few weeks later telling us that our 'piece of junk' didn't work. Which is when we say- "So did you have a service plan? Oh you didn't? Oh sure we can still fix it... it'll be about $300."
I think next blog we'll cover the "my friend is a computer genius and knows everything" customer. Those types are great... (smacks self in head) Anyway, on to the overall point of this blog.
We're encouraged to make technology fun and exciting, naturally, its a great selling point. Being that I'm not the most average of persons (much less, employees) I figured as long as we're making technology fun and exciting, and technology is getting to the point where it is smarter than our customers, it shouldn't be beyond the bounds of reason to screw with its head... right?
For example, Best Buy sells a microwave with what is called new GeniusSense or something like that, that allows the microwave to alter the power level of the microwave as its cooking, based upon the amount of steam coming out of the food. Like... it actually measures the steam and adjusts itself so that the food cooks absolutely perfectly till done. And I figure, hey... its a new smart microwave, its got a big, fancy smart brain in it, lets mess with its head.
So we take a cup of boiling water, set it in the microwave, and turn it on, just to see what it does. I mean from the initial the thing was generating a ton of steam, and there was nothing the microwave can do to reduce the amount of steam coming from a pot of boiling water, and the microwave can't undercook it... because its just water. So I watched the little thing toy with itself, dropping the power level, finding out that it didn't work, raising it again... bsaically it ran circles around itself and gave the impression that it was very confused. Which I thought was, naturally, fun and exciting. It was like I had proved my mental facilities to be superior that its own...
Yeah... I outsmarted a microwave...
I suppose in retrospect, actually thinking that a microwave is actually capable of being confused is pretty unintelligent of me in the first place. So at the end of the day (which is when all of this took place) I chalked it up to a draw. So for those of you interested in following this competition, the standings are:

ME :: 1
MICROWAVE :: 1

Now my battery is going to die. I've been here typing for some time now and I only had about 25% of it in the first place. These blogs have made me realize the power embedded in an extremely fast typing speed. Jess, if you're reading this, I know you're in uni... or you were before you got home and read this... I hope those classes weren't too troublesome for you, and I might be on later tonight. I have to go home and recharge this thing. Some good news for you though! I have finally compiled enough random music that I love to write your CD, I will probably do that tonight. For everyone else reading this...
Yeah... all none of you. ^_^
I'll see you again some other time. Next time we'll cover that other customer type and perhaps have a funny story to tell you.