Skip to content

Mar 24

Onlive Logo

OnLive to go live today!

OnLive, a new company founded by Steve Perlman, will announce a new game service which makes it possible to play advanced video games on almost any PC and certain specially equipped TVs via a standard home broadband connection.  This service eliminates the game console and the need for never ending PC upgrades to support the latest games.  In fact, it appears OnLive may also jump into the console fray with a device called the OnLive MicroConsole.

OnLive will manage a datacenter of high-end servers where the games will run and the images will be compressed using OnLive’s proprietary technology and delivered to the player over a broadband connection.  Details will be available at OnLive’s website tonight at 7 PM PST.

Because I know some of the folks behind OnLive, I am really exited to test this service.

Related articles:

WSJ Online article
CNN/CNET
Endgadget

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Dec 27

6 Comments

Customer service is not dead!

In the past I have ranted about examples of poor customer service, such as the iPhone 3G launch by Apple, or the exclusive selection of AT&T as the iPhone carrier by Apple.  I thought it only fair to point out an example of excellent customer service I experienced today at Les Schwab.

With all the snow we have had in the Seattle area in the past week, snow chains are almost a necessity.  In anticipation of the storms, I purchased chains for each of our cars.  Since chains were in short supply, I had to visit more than one store to find the correct sizes for each car.  I ended up at a very busy Les Schwab store in Redmond, but was greeted within a few seconds of entering the store and after just a couple of minutes had a brand new set of chains.

Well, the chains worked very well for a couple of days, but after repeatedly putting them on and taking them off, the rubber connector for the chain tightener snapped.  Undoubtedly, I was pulling too hard on the connector when it snapped.  To me it is obvious the part is under-engineered and therefore prone to breaking.  In fact, for my second car, they sold me a slightly different version with a much improved rubber connector attached to the chain tightener.   I decided to take the chains back to Les Schwab to see about a refund or replacement.

Arriving at the store, I was again surprised at how busy the store was, but in less than 15 seconds, I was being helped by en employee at the counter.  After listening to my complaint about the poort design of the chains, the Les Schwab employee  offered to immediately repair the chains.  He left the counter to go find a replacement connector.  As my son and I stood at the counter waiting, in the space of no more than 3 minutes, we were asked by 7 Schwab employees if we had been helped or if we needed anything while we were waiting. After about 3 minutes, he returned to the counter and informed me he was having trouble locating a replacement part, and so I would not have to wait any longer, he would simply swap the chains for a brand new set.  I was amazed.

It is a testament to Les Scwab (died in 2007), and the current Les Schwab management, that every employee understands the importance of the customer and ensuring a positive customer experience.

I imagine that Les Schwab will weather (pun intended) the current economic downturn better than many of their competitors because of their relentless focus on the customer.

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Dec 21

1 Comment

Mactini

From: Mactini -The Peter Serafinowicz Show Christmas Special – BBC TwoYouTube Preview Image

Nov 16

1 Comment

Tilt-Shift Photography

Eiffel Tilt-Shift II by Hanna María & Arnar.Tilt-shift photography is a creative and unique type of photography
in which the camera is manipulated so that a life-sized location or
subject looks like a miniature-scale model. To add good miniature effect to your photographs, shoot subjects
from a high angle (especially from the air). It creates the illusion of
looking down at a miniature model. A camera equipped with a tilt-shift
lens, which simulates a shallow depth of field, is essentially all you
need to start.

For those interested in more, Smashing Magazine has a great article with 50 beautiful examples of tilt-shift photography. There is a tutorial on tilt-shift photography at Tilt-Shiftphotography.net, of all places.

,

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Nov 4

FiOS Speedtest

New broadband connection at work

After almost a month after first ordering service with Verizon, our FIOS Internet connection was finally installed at work this morning.

Some informal bandwidth testing tonight yielded some great results. As you can see, at a maximum we achieved a little over 38Mbps down and 11.5Mbps upstream (we ordered a 50/20 business plan from Verizon). Testing was done on a MacBookPro running OS X 10.5.5 with Firefox 3.03, directly connected (100Mbps/Full-duplex) to a Netgear FVS114 router.

While we did not achieve a full 50 Mbps, that is the maximum our account should support,  we are please with close to 40Mbps.  The weak link here might actually be the FVS114 router.  We will try some additional testing tomorrow and see if we get a significant change. Read more

Sep 15

ShamWow!

This is my second favorite commercial. I am pretty sure this guy could sell anything to anyone. Have any of you bought one? I don’t know it sells itself.

Sep 2

Your competitive advantage

Seth Godin 2009Competitive advantage is similar to a concept we Product Managers call “Distinctive Competence” and it is a fundamental building block of any business. Those who don’t define it (early), wander aimlessly in search of customers, revenue and success.

Here’s another brilliant gem from Seth Godin:

People are fickle, but we’re generally rational. When someone makes a choice (hiring, firing, choosing a vendor, buying a soda) they’re using some sort of internal logic and reasoning to support that choice.

As a marketer, you win when they choose you.

So, why choose you?

The answer to that question is your competitive advantage. What makes it likely that more than a few rational people will consider their options and choose you or your company or your organization?

Truth: It’s rarely a computerized cost/benefit analysis. Instead, it’s a human choice.

, ,

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Aug 22

Jason Calacanis On How To Get PR For Your Startup: Fire Your PR Company

Jason Calacanis is always controversial, and his PR recommendations for startups are sure to engender a reaction amongst PR professionals.  While I won’t go as far as Jason in saying you should fire your PR company, I do think his recommendations are critical for execs in companies of any size.  It’s also a very good idea to make sure your PR folks understand and follow these principles as they represent your company. Read more

Aug 20

The new way of Getting Things Done

Gudjon Mar Gudjonsson, has written an interesting post on his blog about networked productivity.

There are many great resources out there on the holy grail of productivity and time management. One popular method is the Getting Things Done (GTD) method from David Allen.

GTD is a work-life management system and book by David Allen that attempts to free us from a vast workload and instead operate an integrated system of stress-free productivity.

I like GTD but it can be improved. In this post I talk about a new layer to the GTD framework that I believe adds the strength of network collaboration as well; a kind of socialising layer.

I will call this the Open layer thus the methodology is Getting Things Done Open (GTDO).

Here is the post:  The new way of Getting Things Done

2 of 2012 3456781520>>