John C Dvorak - Stop Complaining about .docx!

I'm a big fan of yours, John, but one thing that really grinds me is your condemnation of Microsoft's 2007 office file formats. As you know, they changed .xls, .ppt, and .doc to .xlsx, .pptx, and .docx. This annoyed consumer users when they started getting attachments in this new format. It's a shame that Microsoft didn't inform the public enough that downloading and installing a compatibility pack takes care of the problem.

What Microsoft DIDN'T do in the morning is highlight the incredible benefits of this new format. Files saved in this new 2007 format are sometimes more than 50% smaller than the same file saved in the 2003 format. For a consumer user, this is no big deal since chances are, most consumer use of Office documents doesn't get too heavy duty. However, the only people who actually pay $500 for an Office license reside in the corporate world and use Office for corporate use. This means sending big-time presos, excel database table exports, and large training manuals just to name a few. These files are being thrown through emails and choking email servers, not to mention setting everyone over their corporate imposed mailbox limit in no time.

I took some sample files that I received in my email inbox that were saved in the Office 2003 format. I resaved them in the same folder in the Office 2007 format. The file size difference was massive. Take a look at the photo below to see the results.




Again, if you are a consumer user, please don't use office unless...

1. You go to a college that has one of those great deals with MS where you can get Office for $45. I got my copy for $10.

2. Your business gives you a license for "work purposes" on your home computer.

3. You have a bootleg copy that seems to work ok.

There are plenty of free options such as Open Office that work just as well.

Make your computer faster

One way to do it is to get rid of adobe reader.  It is a monstrous program and it installs all kinds of extra garbage you don't need.  Why does a pdf reader need to be a 100MB download????

Save yourself a lot of trouble and download foxit reader.  It is a smaller, much faster, and has better features.

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/

Cheers,

Joe

Got this from the Tiger Woods Foundation

Not sure how I got on the email list, but looks like his PR people are trying to bring him back??

Did anyone else get this email?

	Foundation Expands Earl Woods Scholarship Program to 35 Students Foundation to Welcome 11 New Scholars to the Program in Spring 2010 The Tiger Woods Foundation has launched its 2010 program efforts with a significant expansion to the Earl Woods Scholarship Program. Beginning this year, the Foundation will support 11 additional scholars in the program, bringing the program total to 35. "The majority of our scholars are first-generation college students, and I'm thrilled that we are able to provide financial support so these bright, young individuals can attend college despite incredible odds," said Greg McLaughlin, President & CEO of Tiger Woods Foundation. "We are grateful to the generous individuals and dedicated sponsors that allow us to continue providing support for youth around the world." >READ MORE about Scholarships. Op Ed Runs in OC Register The Orange County Register recently published an Op Ed piece from Sandra Barry, a long-time superintendent of Anaheim City Schools and TWLC Board Member, about the quality and value of the programs offered at the Tiger Woods Learning Center. Below is the article that ran on December 27, 2009. Tiger Committed to Helping Kids  By Sandra Barry - Board Member, Tiger Woods Foundation. Ms. Barry is also the retired superintendent of the Anaheim City School District, the largest elementary school district in Orange County with approximately 22,500 students. Lost in the avalanche of stories about Tiger Woods is the story of the Tiger Woods Learning Center. A 35,000-square-foot building that opened its Anaheim doors in February 2006, the TWLC has benefitted over 25,000 students, in Orange County and in Los Angeles communities via its plethora of outstanding programs and services. In spite of recent media coverage, the TWLC continues its laser focus on helping youth be the best they can be. My relationship with the Tiger Woods Learning Center began long before the facility existed. In fact, as the former superintendent of the Anaheim City School District, one of several local school districts whose kids benefit from the center, I was invited to advise the Tiger Woods Foundation throughout the design and building of the facility and the development of its programs. I also was invited to serve on the TWF and TWLC boards of directors. I have, in these capacities, observed firsthand Tiger's commitment to create a better tomorrow for kids. Moreover, I have been impressed with the number of people, corporations, and organizations that believe in and support the work of the Tiger Woods Learning Center. >READ MORE of Sandra Barry's Op Ed. TWLC Students Support the Troops Students and their families came together November 19th during the Fall Career Exploration Program Family Night to assemble care packages to send to troops overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq. In appreciation of the hard work and dedication by the military, families packed various snacks and other non-perishable items, as well as hand-written cards filled with heartfelt messages. One unit of the 543rd Military Police Company responded with thanks for TWLC's gesture, saying, "It's great to know our work over here is being appreciated. Thank you for your generosity...and a taste of home!"

Go here to leave this mailing list or modify your email profile.

This email was sent by: Tiger Woods Foundation 121 Innovation, Suite 150 Irvine, CA 92617, USA

--
Joe Petrides

MLK Day. Horray!

Interesting take by an Econ professor of mine.

http://consultingbyrpm.com/blog/2010/01/strategy-of-nonviolent-resistance.html

Even if your ends are good, using the Federal Government as a means to achieve them is not a good thing.... and.... you are less likely to have long term success.

Anyway - read the article.

Interesting article about Obama's performance

Numbers tell a different story than words, though both are necessary.  I've always enjoyed the "by the numbers" articles.  They tell a story that your typical pundits don't.

 

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9DA7L580&show_article=1

 

Here's one that the Left always tried to pull on Bush.  And, of course, now the Right is using this same argument against Obama.  Yes, the stock market is up, but where are the jobs????  We can see this in some of the numbers below.

 

7,949.09—Dow Jones Industrial Average close on Jan. 20, 2009.

10,609.65—Dow Jones Industrial Average close on Jan. 15, 2010.

13 million—Number of people 16 and older unemployed as of January 2009.

14.7 million—Number of people 16 and older unemployed as of December 2009.

7.7 percent—Unemployment rate January 2009

10.0 percent—Unemployment rate December 2009

 

The Right's response to the Left when it was criticized?

"The stock market always goes up first, then jobs follow behind it."  This might be true

 

The Left's response to the Right now?  Has anyone heard anything yet?  If they had any brains about them, they would say the exact same thing that the Bush-lovers did.

 

The more things change, the more they stay the same, I guess.

Chavez Says US Occupying Haiti in the Name of Aid

Chavez is a nutball, and he hates the United States, that's for sure.  I respect him for also hating Obama.  After the lovefest that was the Obama election, Chavez is back to blasting the United States including Obama.  I have to at least applaud Chavez' consistency across administrations as I feared that his hatred of the US was focused only on Bush.  Thankfully, it doesn't look like Obama is going to be "friends" with this lunatic.  Chavez' time is running out.  We all know where socialism leads, and it was always clear that Chavez' game was only going to last as long $100 oil.  Oil prices have fallen, and now Venezuela is bankrupt.  Nothing like 40% inflation and a currency devaluation to ruin a wannabe tyrant's party!

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60G2DW20100117?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&rpc=22&sp=true

I think Chavez is partly correct in his assertion.  No doubt, we will be the leaders in assisting Haiti as the United States tends to do in most situations such as these.  However, I won't be surprised if we ask the Haitians to allow us to keep a military presence there after this is all taken care of.  With the US running the show, I bet it will become a nice vacation spot for the well-to-do in our country.  Yes, that's imperialism, but nothing else ever seemed to work with that country.  Maybe it's wrong, but it IS a better situation.

One clarification about internet service

When you see an internet speed advertised... as in.. FiOS Internet 15Mbps/5... or Comcast Performance 15Mbps/2 etc, this does NOT mean Megabytes per second.

Internet speeds are measured in Megabits per second, NOT Megabytes. We think of Megabytes because of the size of computer files etc... For example, your average 10megapixel point and shoot photo is 2.5 megabytes. This is different than your internet speed.

Here is how it works.

There are 8 bits in a byte. Simply take your internet speed and divide it by 8. That is how many megabytes per second your internet provider says is the fastest you can go. I have 15Mbps service from Comcast. So I can expect to see transfer speeds cap off at about 1.875 MegaBYTES per second.

One way to see the difference.
MegaBITS per second usually can be seen as Mbps.
MegaBYTES per second normally is listed as MBps.

Note the difference in capital letters.

Just a bit of clarity for anyone who might be wondering.

I love Comcast.... for now.

Got a great deal upgrading my internet from 1Mbps to 15Mbps.

Look what I can do!!!!

I agree with John C Dvorak

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2357137,00.asp

The iPhone is ruining the country.

People spend much more time dabbling on these apps and bragging about how cool they are than they actually do being productive.

Here are some guesses.

Time saved per year by apps..  (ex. google maps getting you out of being lost, movie app helping you confirm the time of a movie etc..)
15hrs

Time wasted per year piddling around and trying out "cool" new stuff and engaging in useless conversations with friends.
300 hrs

Time spend showing off your phone to your friends
120hrs

Why do people keep trying to convince me that the 15hrs saved is worth losing a total of 420hrs out of their life?

I pay 39.99/mo to Verizon for voice service and a little more for texting which I don't need anymore now that the gf is back overseas.  Even as a tech nut, I still don't feel like I'm missing anything.  In many ways, I feel much more free.

Cheers,

Had a great day at work

Worked from Home on Friday.  Here is the setup.

Worked from my new desktop computer.
quad core Phenom II / 8gb ram / 750gb hard drive / 23inch 1920x1080 monitor.  Let's just say that plenty of juice was available.

However, this computer has 3 problems.

1.  It does not have any bluetooth hardware.  This is a problem because I am on a lot of conference calls throughout the day, and I don't want to burn cell phone minutes.  I pay $3 or so per month to skype for free calls to the US/Canada/Mexico and I don't have a USB or analog headset.  I only have my Motorola bluetooth piece that I use with my cell phone.  I figured out how to make it work as a headset on my old laptop from 2003 since this laptop has bluetooth hardware.  So, I can only use skype on that computer.

2.  It does not have all my work files.  I need to use work files for, well, work stuff.  All those spreadsheets, ppts, etc.. are all saved on my work laptop.  How can I access them on my desktop computer?

3.  It runs Windows 7.  In order to connect to my work network, I need windows xp so that I can use the VPN software.

Here is how I solved them.

1 and 2.  Microsoft Live Mesh solved the problem.  <a href="www.mesh.com">Live Mesh</a> is a data syncronization program by microsoft that provides remote desktop support.  If you create a mesh, you can syncronize your files across all your computers in an extremely easy way.  In addition, if any other of your computers are running with the Mesh software running, you get free remote desktop capabilities to that computer.  I have Mesh installed on my desktop, personal laptop, and work laptop.  So to run skype or dial in to a bridge, all I needed to do was remote into my personal laptop (across the room), activate the bluetooth radio and dial into a conference.  In order to use my work files, I used a great feature in Mesh's remote desktop that is not in other remote desktop programs.  That is.... drag and drop of files from one remote desktop window to another.  How easy is that??  Most remote desktop programs have a special process that needs to be done in order to access files on the remote machine.  Kudos to Microsoft on this one.

3.  Installed Virtual PC 2007 and installed Windows XP as a virtual machine on my desktop.  That way, I am able to run Windows XP inside of Windows 7, have my VPN access, and do whatever I need to do.

Technology has erased so many small issues in our lives that it's amazing what can be accomplished with free software and a little understanding of how everything works.