The New Version of MS Office Is Free

Microsoft surprised the tech world recently when they announced that they are introducing a free online version of Office 14 (Office 2010).  It offers Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote with support for all popular web browsers. 

This is exciting news for anyone looking to save a little money.  I will certainly take advantage of this going forward.  I have several PCs at home and wasn’t looking forward to upgrading them all to the latest version.  Especially for the systems that rarely get used for anything other than “consuming”.  

Here’s a list of Office 14 features:

• Ribbon interface and Backstage View across all applications
• Background Removal Tool
• Letter Styling
• The Word 2007 Equation editor is common to all applications, replacing MS Equation 3.0
• New SmartArt templates
• New text and image editing effects
• Screen Capturing and Clipping tools
• Live collaboration functions
• Jumplists in Windows 7
• New animations in Powerpoint 2010

They are adding Office 14 to the Windows Live platform; which I find extremely useful.  I’ve been using my Live Skydrive as my personal drive in the cloud.  With Office 14, it will be a great way to collaborate with others since its easy to share files.  It has a nice security feature that you can use to protect your files by assign permissions and access rights.  This is a big win for consumers. 

Here’s the URL: http://office.live.com/

Enjoy :)

Internet Explorer 8 and Parental Controls

I remember when my parents first signed up for cable television.  Even though we didn’t have cartoons 24/7 like we have today, it was still really cool.  Mature programming wasn’t an issue my parents ever had to worry about.  They simply didn’t subscribe to adult channels and made sure we weren’t in front of the tube past 8 pm.  Today, I see a trend where television and the Internet are converging.  The television networks are encouraging viewers to go online to access special programming and enjoy interactive content.  Due to this, my kids are requesting access to the laptop to visit Cartoonnetwork.com.  This has me a bit concerned as I don’t want my kids to get exposed to all of the evil content floating around in cyberspace.  I think it’s important for my kids to go online, but I don’t want them to come across content that is not suitable for them.  Although I supervise them while they are online, I came to the conclusion that it was best to take certain precautions… Time to enable Parental Controls to protect their innocent little souls. 

Enabling the Parental Controls in IE 8 is pretty straight forward.  I created an account for each of my two kid and set the content restriction level.  I logged in as one of my kids and took it for a test drive. In no time at all I found myself extremely frustrated with the browser.  Every time IE came across web content that it couldn’t determine to be safe, it popped open a dialog box prompting for the Parental Controls password.  This got old really fast.  It even prompted me for a password to get to cartoonnetwork.com.  The browser couldn’t determine if that was a safe site.  Really??? 

I convinced myself to continue testing… perhaps there was something weird about cartoonnetwork.com.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t the site.  I had the same experience at several sites.  It prompt me for the password to enable certain sections of the front page.  The banner adds needed approval.  The embedded video content needed approval.  The embedded games needed approval.  Just about every section of the site was sourced from some other site and it all needed approval.  But wait, there’s more…The deal breaker came when I logged off from my kid’s account and logged back in with an admin account.  I opened up a browser window to test the experience.  Sure enough, the parental controls were being applied to this account. I couldn’t even visit my banking site without being prompted for the Parental Control password.  The parental control setting is a “one size fits all” approach.  I had no choice but to disable Parental Controls.  I’m going to have to give IE Parental Controls a big “TWO THUMBS DOWN”. 

Note to Microsoft:  Make Parental Controls for IE smarter.  Take into account the banner adds and embedded content that is found in 99.9% of all web sites.  Make it so that we can assign each user a unique level of content management to improve the overall experience.    

My Experience with the Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator

I received my Vinturi wine aerator as a birthday gift from my sister in-law this past winter.  I was skeptical about it… I remember seeing the Vinturi wine aerator on display at the mall and thought it was a bit pricey and gimmicky.  That evening, I was having a little get together for my birthday and we all decided it would be fun to experiment with it and see if it really did what it claimed to do.  I opened a bottle of one of my favorites to experiment with: a 2006 A to Z pinot noir (blended from 16 different Oregon pinot noirs).  I gave everyone a sample poured directly from the bottle.  I then gave everyone a sample poured through the Vinturi aerator.  To everyone’s surprise, the difference was remarkable.  It truly enhanced the wine’s bouquet, flavor and finish.  Needless to say, it was a hit that evening.  I have since continued to experiment with every bottle of wine I open and continue to have the same results.  It makes every bottle of wine better and it’s a wonderful conversation piece.  You will not be disappointed.  

http://www.amazon.com/Vinturi-6700-Essential-Wine-Aerator/dp/B000UPOJ5W

Is There A Microsoft Handheld Game System In The Works?

I have reason to believe that Microsoft is cooking up something to compete in the handheld gaming space.  I’m simply speculating here but my speculation is based on a recent survey I was asked to take part in.  In it, I was asked very interesting questions that lead me to believe that MS is looking to build a handheld game system.  The features that are being considered are pretty slick!  In fact, if these features happen to make it to production, it will be a big win for us gamers!

Here’s a list of some of the features that stood out:

GPS / Support for Apps / Downloadable games and content / Streaming Movies and Music / Synch with your Music Library / Internet Browser / Social Media Integration / Skype / email / Video recorder / Camera / Text Messaging

The most exciting feature of all is support for 3D games!  That sounds extremely cool.  It is obviously the next step in the evolution of gaming.  3D movies have been a big hit in the theaters and its just a matter of time before the technology arrives home.

I was asked several questions around form factor.  They wanted to know which form I liked most; DSi, PSP, or iPhone.  The iPhone games are somewhat limited since the phone lacks a directional pad and buttons. The DSi has your traditional gameboy style buttons but also makes good use of the touch screen.  The PSP only offers buttons and can be somewhat uncomfortable to hold for an extended period of time.  I suspect is going to be a combination of iPhone style controls and DSi. 

Since this is all based on speculation, there is no telling when this game system will be available.  I’m hoping that it’s sooner rather than later. 

Microsoft has been building the Xbox Live Market Place (Online Store) for years.  They’ve managed to make a lot of improvements to it since it was first released.  I was beginning to wonder if they were going to expand on it by enabling other devices to access it.  I was hoping that the Zune HD would have a software library on the Live Market Place and that MS would eventually enable the Xbox 360 and Zune HD to interact.  Looks like they are finally going to take it there. 

The Death of Personal Email

Ok so email isn’t dying anytime soon.  However, I’ve noticed a considerable reduction in the amount of email I’m receiving.  I find that most people reach out to me via LinkedIN, Facebook and Twitter.  They leave messages on my wall or write me a direct message to keep the conversation private.  These sites also do a pretty good job of organizing these conversations so it is much easier to manage and maintain than email ever was.  No longer do I have to worry about cleaning out my mailbox because I’m approaching the size limit.  What gets posted on my wall will simply disappear from view.  Out of sight, out of mind.  heh :)

Instant Message clients are pretty much dead to me.  FB has caused me to retire my Yahoo, AOL and Live IM clients.  I find that people rarely use them any more; which I believe is a good thing.  In fact, at one point these clients were a real distraction.  I cloaked myself as soon as I went online to reduce the amount of messages coming through.  There is such thing as making yourself TOO available.  It was very distracting/annoying.

Email will continue to live on in the corporate world for decades to come - similar to how people still use voicemail systems.  However, as social media solutions are introduced into the corporate space, we will witness a major reduction in the amount of corporate email generated.  There's a huge upside to all this; better communication, stronger security and less spam.  Social media sites have enabled us to collaborate and communicate with each other more effectively.  These sites also offer a layer of protection that makes it more difficult to spread viruses through messages.  And because you have to “friend me” in order to send me a direct message, we should also see a reduction in spam.  :)

What’s Tomorrow Like?

Ever stop to wonder what tomorrow holds?  If we were to take a quick poll I’m certain the majority will be fairly optimistic about the future.  It’s fair to assume that we all save and plan for a better tomorrow.  We go about our daily routines knowing that the future is ahead of us and that if we stay the course we will be ok.  Some of us may even have some money stashed away somewhere to deal with those unexpected twists that life throws at us.  That’s all nice and all, but the purpose of my question is to spark up your creative juices.  What do you think the future will be like and how can you position yourself today to take advantage of it? 

To help you better understand the question, let’s turn back the clock 10 years.  It is now the year 2000 and you have to relive 10 years of your life all over again.  However, this time around you know exactly what’s going to happen and you have a fair idea of when these major events will take place.  What can you do to take advantage of this knowledge?  Forget about sports gambling for this scenario.  Instead focus on business and technology trends that will unfold through the next decade.  Now, ask yourself, what can you do to participate and be a contributing factor?  What can you do to position yourself to succeed?

Now that I’ve taken you back a decade I need you to come back to 2010.  I now need you to look forward 10 years to 2020.  Picture what’s different.  How do people live?  What’s the latest craze?  Is health more or less important to people?  Have we made any improvements in energy?  Have we answered the question of whether or not we are alone in the galaxy?  What’s the dominant operating system?  Who’s ahead in the fast food war?  Who’s the new leader in the never ending video game console wars?  What do people compute on and what’s the form factor like?  Are bell-bottoms back in style?

Now ask yourself again… are you a contributing factor to what this future is like?  What can you do to position yourself to succeed? 

Apple iPad

There was an insane amount of hype around this announcement and everyone seems to have an opinion about it.  Here’s mine…

Any time Apple releases a new product, people expect that it will revolutionize the way we live, work and/or play.  There is no possible way that a company can ever deliver to those expectations.  Ultimately, Apple will disappoint simply because people are unrealistic. 

Regarding the iPad… I don’t have an issue with the device, but I do have an issue with what Apple is trying to tell me it will do for me.  They are trying to reprogram my brain to believe how much of a game changer the iPad will be.  They are trying to convince me that if I drink from this cool-aid, I can chuck my laptop out the window and that life as we know it will change for the better.  Sorry Apple, I don’t need anyone to tell me that the game will change.  Change happens naturally, you don’t have to force it.  The iPad is no game changer.  (Bubble bursting sound goes here)

My thoughts on the iPad is that it isn’t revolutionary.  It is simply a sexy device that certain folks will find entertaining.  A device doesn’t change the game simply because it has a web browser and a sexy interface.  Let’s not forget that the Nintendo Wii was sexy when first introduced.  It had a great interface, web browser and it sold like hotcakes.  Ultimately, it is nothing but an entertainment device just like every other game system on the planet.  It didn’t change the game, it just added a new dynamic to it.   I think we will see the same thing with the iPad.  People will find it attractive and some may even find it useful.  However, it will not cause the value of laptops to collapse or cause your local library to close its doors.  I’m referring to the ridiculous claims that the Apple eBook store will cause book publishers to go out of business.  Say what???  Ok, first of all, eBook readers have been around for years.  The Sony eReader is cool in its own way and serves a distinct purpose, but it did not send ripples through publishing industry.  Sorry but that’s just crazy talk Apple.

Apps are proving to be a nice chunk of continuous revenue for Apple.  I think the iPad is another channel that Apple is carving to take advantage of this latest craze.  This is a smart move.  I think you will see a lot more devices taking advantage of this.  I expect to see a new type of App store designed to work with all the non-Apple devices looking to take advantage of the App revolution.  When that happens, Apple will be at risk of isolation and may see a disadvantage.  Especially if the demand for the non-Apple App store is stronger… all it takes is for a shiny new device with a bargain price.  This is the risk that you run when you isolate your business too much in an attempt to maintain control. 

As for the future of the iPad, it will be as popular as the PS3 was when first introduced.  I think they sold about 50 of them in the state of Oregon the first year.  It wasn’t until a huge price adjustment that Sony started selling them at a respectable rate.  Supply and demand.  :)