But it does point out something very important that should be understood about Apple. Ask yourself the question that is the title of this post – is Apple a hardware or software vendor? You only get to choose one or the other by the nature of the question – no blending!

This is where I love what Matt wrote in the article (which is very informative and readable – I highly recommend reading it from the link above). He says…

Bottom line: Apple is a hardware company that happens to create software intended to boost the value of its hardware. Microsoft isn’t a hardware company — at least, not a computer manufacturer. Microsoft makes software with the explicit purpose in mind of being able to run on hardware from a wide range of manufacturers. Apple creates software to make its hardware more valuable to the user.

You see Apple dong a wonderful job of marketing, of product development, creating hype around releases, and providing user’s what they want (even before many understand the needs of users). In many ways they are a model of effectiveness, and for that all can take notice and understand the magic of what Apple is – a hardware vendor.

Viewed as such, understand they are much like an automobile manufacturer . We use car’s to get us from point A to point B (and other points as needed). From a utility vantage point, you can choose many cars to do this and at a variety of prices and style to meet your needs. With the exception of the demise of this company, I see Apple like the DeLorean Motor Company – they took the utility to a different level and market. They looked at it from a different angle, created something durable, sleek, certainly functional, and made it sexy/trendy to appeal to a certain market.

At the end of the day, the question remains – what are you using the computer to do? If all you want to do is surf the web and email, you can certainly do that with less costly hardware than Apple! So the ‘need’ is something else (and please don’t say it’s somehow safer from bad stuff on the web, or easier, or greener, or smaller, or much of anything other than sexier). Some purchase because it is recommended (say, for students going in to particular areas such as graphic design, or a campus that prefers to support Apple due to the breaks they get). Others purchase because of a particular need (mostly graphic design). But the reality is computers that aren’t hardware specific and do all that Apple does because of the software – not the hardware. Adobe products cost the same for Windows and Apple operating systems – and that isn’t cheap!

Also understand you will have a consistent experience with Apple – and that is specifically because they are a hardware vendor. All too often there are folks that upgrade operating systems on antiquated hardware in the Windows world and wonder why performance suffers (because hardware DOES matter). While I have no survey data to back up the assertion I’m about to make, it is my belief that this is a huge reason for satisfaction of Apple users – they have a common experience of things working well together because… Apple is a hardware vendor that only makes software that enables the hardware to work well in concert. That’s not to say you want to upgrade to the latest Apple O/S release on a 10 year old hardware platform – however having control of the hardware that hits the streets does give an advantage to tweak, patch and support folks – they know exactly what they are dealing with/updating to.

Apple is a hardware vendor, and that does have some advantages. But you, as a user / consumer need to keep asking the same question I’ve posted about before – what do you need to do? If it is to boast you have an Apple and just surf the web… well – I certainly respect that and know it certainly can do that. But perhaps you just needed to be trendy and sexy with your gear – at least that seems to be the trend of those folks that I’ve bumped into. But I admit to not having a large sample to pull from.

What is your experience? Have something to add – feel free to comment, and thanks for reading.

Think of the differences between desktop computers (large case, plenty of space) and laptop computers (compact, not something you would upgrade with ease – that’s why you purchase what you need).  When components get smaller, there are trade offs.  With a laptop, you are exchanging the ability to upgrade components (like video cards, processor, and other items you could easily access and change in a desktop computer) for mobility / portability.  With this comes design considerations and trade-offs as well from an engineering standpoint – like access to inputs / outputs, battery life, overall dimensions and weight of the unit, and cooling.

I plan on tackling the easy part of this – the part you and I can make a difference in.  That is the cooling consideration.  As we downsize our computers, heat become an even greater enemy.  There is limited space to begin with for all the components, now we need to look at how do we cool the things that certainly get hot – mainly the processor and the graphics card.

Overheating is a problem because it reduces component lifespan as well as stability of the entire unit.  If you look at your laptop, there is a good chance the fan is mounted on the bottom of the unit.  There are slots for this to pull in air (or expel air, or both) and inside there is a methodology to get the air to flow over these components that get the hottest so that they can expel the hot air from the unit – increasing usability, reliability and the life of the unit / components.

So what can you do the help your laptop breathe easier and live longer?  Here’s a short list of things to avoid while your laptop is operational:

• Don’t put it on the bed – your bed is soft and conforms to you and your laptop, this restricts the air flow (remember where your vents and fan are?)
• Don’t put it on the carpet – again this conforms to you and that thin and sexy laptop you want to keep using (but are stifling with that shag / plush carpet)
• Don’t put it on a pillow – you are probably doing this for your comfort because you have noticed the laptop gets a bit warm, and putting it on that pillow helps you and hurts the laptop as it comfortably blocks the air flow of the unit
• Think of where you are using your laptop – if it is soft, conforming material that restricts air flow – don’t put it there!

Below are some options for those of you that like to use the laptop in your bed, favorite chair, the carpet, and other places that are not conducive to the health and air flow needs of a laptop:

We have the first item and use it daily at our house.  These are just 4 examples of what you could use, however, if you are not using a hard flat surface, I would recommend you do yourself (and your laptop) a favor by purchasing some solution so you can extend the life of your laptop!  Thanks for reading.

An article titled ‘This Creepy App Isn’t Just Stalking Women Without Their Knowledge, It’s A Wake-Up Call About Facebook Privacy‘ by John Brownlee was my introduction to the Girls Around Me app that was available for a while via Apple’s app store (it has since been pulled due to privacy concerns according to this article written by CBS – Seattle).  According to the author’s website:

Girls Around Me scans your surroundings and helps you find out where girls or guys are hanging out. You can also see the ratio of girls to guys in different places around you.

Browse photos of lovely local ladies and tap their thumbnail to find out more about them.

In the mood for love, or just after a one-night stand? Girls Around Me puts you in control! Reveal the hottest nightspots, who’s in them, and how to reach them…

By now you may be a little creeped out.  That’s understandable.  The app uses a Foursquare account and gleans information from Facebook and other social media information.  But don’t get too mad at the writers of the app, the fact remains that this is information individuals (of course you could find GUYS through this app as well…) chose to make publicly available.  These folks just had no idea that the information they willingly offer up to the world could be used for purposes they could not envision.  Well – perhaps it’s time to get a clue…

The main point I want to make is – how much are you sharing, and do you pay attention to the privacy settings?  Many companies – like Facebook – allow you to opt out of sharing information with everyone.  However, that is the rub – you have to opt out (you are automatically opting in for public consumption).

Another issue is that companies that you place your information on can still sell your information OR can change the settings as needed (they just change their policy and can then update settings globally so that it requires no intervention from you).

While this was just one illustration, it is my hope that you review the privacy settings and only share what is really necessary.  Don’t think others do not use the data you provide for any and ALL purposes.  Thanks for reading!

A toothpaste factory had a problem: they sometimes shipped empty boxes, without the tube inside. This was due to the way the production line was set up, and people with experience in designing production lines will tell you how difficult it is to have everything happen with timings so precise, that every single unit coming out of it is perfect 100% of the time. Small variations in the environment (which can’t be controlled in a cost-effective fashion) means you must have quality assurance checks smartly distributed across the line, so that customers all the way down the supermarket don’t get upset and buy someone else’s product instead.

Understanding how important that was, the CEO of the toothpaste factory got the top people in the company together and they decided to start a new project, in which they would hire an external engineering company to solve their empty boxes problem, as their engineering department was already too stretched to take on any extra effort.

The project followed the usual process: budget and project sponsor allocated, RFP, third-parties selected, and six months (and $8 million) later they had a fantastic solution – on time, on budget, high quality and everyone in the project had a great time. They solved the problem by using some high-tech precision scales that would sound a bell and flash lights whenever a toothpaste box weighing less than it should was detected. The line would stop, and someone had to walk over and yank the defective box out of it, pressing another button when done to clear the alarm.

A while later, the CEO decides to have a look at the ROI of the project: amazing results! No empty boxes ever shipped out of the factory after the scales were put in place. Very few customer complaints, and they were gaining market share. “That’s some money well spent!” – he says, before looking closely at the other statistics in the report.

It turns out, the number of defects picked up by the scales was zero after three weeks of production use. It should’ve been picking up at least a dozen a day, so maybe there was something wrong with the report. He filed a bug against it, and after some investigation, the engineers come back saying the report was actually correct. The scales really weren’t picking up any defects, because all boxes that got to that point in the conveyor belt were good.

Puzzled, the CEO travels down to the factory, and walks up to the part of the line where the precision scales were installed. A few feet before it, there was a $20 desk fan blowing the empty boxes out of the belt and into a bin. “Oh, that – one of the guys put it there ’cause he was tired of walking over every time the bell rang”, says one of the workers.

Some will look at this and say that management needs to actually talk to the workers to obtain effective solutions.  Others will have other insights into this story.  For this posts let’s just say this – use some common sense!  If you really want to address the issue, a comprehensive look at it (not just numbers of defects, not just amount of effort or cost of failure, and not just a project plan to go forward to address the defects) and make sure you really address the issue, not the perceived issue.

Another lesson that can be taken away from this is less obvious -  don’t think this issue is the first one of it’s kind ever (that is very rare).  Today it is advisable to look at other companies or businesses that have tackled identical or similar issues, so why reinvent the wheel?  Start to review the lessons learned from others and perhaps they can apply to the situation you are faced with.

Lastly – be flexible.  Your approach may not be the only one that works or produces the desired result.  Try to think ‘outside of the box’ and be innovative in your approach.  Your customers (or management) will notice that you have a good grasp of the issues facing you and are working to produce the expected results, and that is a good thing!

This certainly could apply to your troubleshooting techniques with computers, networking, software, and many other areas you come into contact with.  It also applies to web design (and re-design).  What are the pain points the business talks about?  How can they be minimized or alleviated?  How are you working to address the needs of the business and the customer using the product so that both are winners?  As always, thanks for reading!

Some sites, like YouTube, make it easy for you to upload most anything that is in a video format (see their list of supported formats).  But what you may not be thinking of is the file size of what you have created (and then need to use your bandwidth to upload).  There are digital container formats that do a great job of compressing the information into something smaller in file size but still fantastic in quality.

An example would be creating a video in a program that saves in .AVI format.  That is not a bad format, but the file size can be quite large for a short (say, 30 second) clip.  My son created one that was 1.3Gb in file size… and uploading it took some time and was noticeable for the rest of the family on the network (read that – Dad was experiencing lag time while trying to work).  We looked at some options and decided to save / render the file in MPEG2 and the file size went down to under 200Kb – much faster upload, less bandwidth, same great file.

The same goes for web design.  Depending on what you are doing or how you are using the technology, you need to determine the way you will save files (.htm, .html, .asp, .php, etc.).  This would include any video / sound / other files that you add to their site.  Many require other applications to open (think of Flash, PDF files, Quicktime, etc.) so you need to understand if your potential viewers have those items available / installed on their computers (and you can link to them to make it easier for your viewers).

You also need to understand that just because you may have the latest, greatest, shiniest software and capabilities does not mean everyone else does.  So if your software saves video in the latest (say, MPEG 23 – which is a non-existent format just for illustrative purposes) but viewers (Microsoft Windows Media Player, Quicktime, et al) don’t render that format – perhaps you would be better served to save it in a format that could be seen by a wider audience!

So – my answer to the question of what format should I save a file in would depend on how I was to present it to the target audience AND the potential for them to see what is being posted.  If you look around on the internet and see that what you are doing isn’t being done by many others, it could be because you have found a great niche market to cater to – or it could be because not many others can view what you are trying to do (since other designers have done this and have experienced less than desirable results).  Give it some thought before you post it!

Below is a video that talks about this little-known program included with Windows 7.

Once you capture these steps, the results can be saved to a file that can be used by a support professional or someone else helping you with a computer problem.  Pretty neat!

This could be useful for you – but I thought I’d give you another tip here – how to run Problem Steps Recorder as an administrator.  When I first went to use the program, I would get a message telling me some programs I was using were being run with administrator privileges, and if PSR was running with less permissions it would not be able to capture some information.  Well… that can easily be fixed by following these steps as shown in the image below and the text that follows.

First we need to get the program started.  To do that go to the Windows 7 Start button, then in the text field at the bottom (see item # 1 – has in that box the words ‘Search programs and files’ then the magnifying glass at the end) type in ‘prs’.

As you can see in the image, this program should show up under programs (as shown in # 2).  You then right-click on that file and you will be presented with a menu of things available – including the one at the top that says ‘Run as administrator’ (as indicated by # 3).  Left click on that.

From there you will see the information asking you ‘are you sure’ (well, technically this is user account control asking you if you want the program to make changes to your computer – and in this case you initiated this action and want to say YES).  Once you have allowed this activity the program will start and you can record the issue you are experiencing.

The software will save your captured information in a ZIP format so you can easily email it to a friend or support personnel.  You may want to take a moment to see the output (just to make sure nothing you don’t want to send is in the file).  For my testing purposes, I went to my bank’s site and recorded logging in and moving around a bit, then looked at the information.  My password was not captured, but the screen shot did show the account number (no surprise there).

Also keep in mind you can add comments as you are going through the steps that lead to the problem.  This could also be useful for the folks trying to help you, so don’t forget to include any notes that they may need to know about as you are recording the steps taken!

If you want more information on how to use the program, be sure to read How do I use Problem Steps Recorder? on the Microsoft site.  I hope this will be of some use to you, as always thanks for reading!

The information we share is important, not just for ourselves, but for others (or else… why are we sharing it?).  Specifically I would like to refer to older posts here and here where these concepts have been pondered on this very site.  However, when I look on the social network(s) I most frequent, I am still a bit surprised at what folks share – and what parents allow they children to post.

In one example, a youth got a new cell / smart phone.  Unfortunately none of their contacts were transferred from the old device to the new device.  Solution?  For this youth it was posting to the social network their new number and asking others to send them a text to populate the information.

Probably not the best venue to do that knowing all the vulnerabilities of social networks and how your data may be used and who actually can see that information you posted (well, I don’t mean I actually know all the vulnerabilities, but a quick Google search for many of the existing ones that are known provide a ton of information).  Just to see the response, I texted the number and did not include my name or other information.  Of course I got a text back asking who this was – and I could have replied any way I wanted.  Not the best situation from my (some would call me an adult, others would argue I really never grew up) point of view.  But pretty normal stuff from the youth’s point of view.

It put the recipient of the text in an awkward place.  They want information, and to get it they put themselves out there.  It also left them ‘out there’ for folks that have less-than-honest purposes to gather information.

With the growth of social networking come enhancements.  Let’s use Facebook and their new Timeline as an example.  A few weeks back Facebook announced the integration of 60 new apps into Timeline.  These apps will allow users of these apps (and more are certainly on the way) to share everything they’re doing – things like what they are eating, music they are listening to, and where they’re going – with their friends and family on Facebook.

That sounds like a great thing, until you put on a different hat and try to understand how pulling all these sources together under one roof may share more information than you realize.  It makes it much easier for folks to see patterns (think of ‘date night’ all you couples…) where your home could be unoccupied, or (gulp) is only occupied by your children.  Or information on the show you are attending from the information shared from the Ticketmaster app, or the location you have checked in at, or – the list goes on and on.  What a treasure trove of information for those wanting to have less risk to obtain or harm your property!

Put on a different hat (especially those that are younger than me).  All the information you are sharing, how do you look from a perspective employers point of view?  As noted in the article I read from Lockergnome (Facebook Adds New Apps to Timeline – Are We Sharing TMI? posted by Kelly Clay) that prompted this post,

We’ve also discussed how some of these “undercover” users are now more often a future employer or potential educational institution using similar methods to become your Facebook friends and learn more about your characteristics before offering employment or admission to college or graduate school. In a recent survey by Reppler, over 91 percent of respondents said their company has used social media to screen applicants. Additionally, 69 percent of those polled say they have actually rejected a candidate because of something they saw on these social networks. According to the respondents, inappropriate comments, photos, and updates were among the reasons an employer rejected a candidate. However, 8 percent of those who responded said they actually hired a candidate because of content found on the applicant’s social network, indicating that updates demonstrating positive personality or creativity could sway the opinion of the candidate.

All the information we choose to share can be used either to your advantage or detriment.  How are you using the posts you make on your personal page work to show who you really are?  If you have a business or fan page, are your posts staying on a professional level to reach those that have connected with you for professional purposes?  Or are you using them to your businesses detriment by promoting something other than your business?

Please take today (and all the days that follow) to think about the information you are posting.  Take a moment to look over your Information page to see if you are sharing phone numbers, birthdays, addresses, etc. and ask yourself WHY you are choosing to share that information.  Look over the apps that you have allowed access to your information, then ask yourself if the trade off is still worth it for those games and apps to have access to your growing treasure trove of information.  Thanks for reading!

You may be most informed about the use of facial recognition on social networks – especially by Facebook.  This gives many pause for concern of their privacy because … well, let’s face it, Facebook has not had a stellar track record in the area of privacy with their user data.  Imagine if someone decided to use the data gathered from this large user base – either without telling you or by a hacker that tapped into this resource – for less than noble purposes.  It is not the makings of that warm, fuzzy feeling we would like to have!  For a good article on this issue, check out Why Facebook’s Facial Recognition is Creepy by Sarah Jacobsson Purewal (PCWorld).   Sarah challenges us with

‘… the end of privacy as we know it–imagine, a world in which someone can simply take a photo of you on the street, in a crowd, or with a telephoto lens, and discover everything about you on the internet.’

Sound far-fetched?  It’s not, and we are helping Facebook do this by tagging our photos.  A different look at privacy and how our data is being used!  Perhaps a better explanation can be found in this short video and in the article that accompanied it, titled ‘In the future, can you remain anonymous?’ by David Goldman (CNN).

Speaking of government or use by authorities, while the intents and purposes are certainly good, the potential for abuse also grows.  One article that addresses this is ‘Crime-Fighting Facial Recognition Technology Stirs Controversy‘ by Jamie Colby.  But it’s not just law enforcement, think of the various functions of government that will eventually adopt such technological solutions – the division of Motor Vehicles, the regulatory areas that handle hunting, fishing, firearm purchases, finances, and other agencies that will jump on this bandwagon.  Top that with private industries like social networking and advertising agencies, you have a recipe for misuse and abuse of your privacy.

If you are interested in how this technology works, check out ‘How Facial Recognition Systems Work‘ by Kevin Bonsor and Ryan Johnson (HowStuffWorks).  Another good read is from Wikipedia (which also treats the subjects of weaknesses, privacy concerns and effectiveness of existing systems).  Now is the time to better understand the potential uses and pitfalls of these systems so you can make educated decisions on them as technology moves forward.

I find it fascinating that we have seeming lost our ability to clearly communicate with each other.  And with this post I don’t mean we no longer talk – I believe we talk more and say less!  We try to cloak our true meanings on Google+, Facebook and other sites – and say next to nothing.

In thinking about this issue of talking with little / no meaning, the easy targets are found on the political stages of the world.  Here in the United States we have politicians that actually do say most anything to get elected.  Once they are in office they seem to continue to say most anything to stay in office.  But instead of cherry picking, what about other areas of our lives?

Perhaps we have leaders speaking from their pulpits saying what we want to hear (this would include religious pulpits, however I am including many other areas here along with religion…).  You see, that could be just the ticket to their longevity in a position, or for us to continue to buy or use their product(s).

Maybe they are persons in other positions that continue to string you on for less than worthwhile purposes.  Some of these areas could be personal trainers (who continue to push you to get in shape when you have already met or exceeded all your ‘get in shape’ goals), counselors (keep your appointments to talk about all the things you already have talked about – breaking your appointments could impact their income), or even your boss!

And that is what I want to focus on here – speaking the truth in your business relationships.  Oftentimes what you are going to get from HR and management is doublespeak.  I would say we have become accustomed to it.  In fact, we expect it because they have to cover their talk with words that have enough wiggle room to allow them to function in they way they are accustom to – with a hoped-for impunity (but often they do face repercussions for the language they choose not to use).

Wouldn’t this year be very different than past years if we actually used the language to say what we meant?  I’m not advocating losing all tact, but am saying quit using doublespeak to cover yourself in the event things pan out differently than you anticipate.

Reading an article in Wired Magazine by William Lutz gave an interesting column of information to translate doublespeak.

Wouldn’t we all be better served if we said what we mean?  While some may want to hide what is really happening or try to make something appear more important than it really is, what happens is a loss of credibility and trust because we attempted to cloak the truth using different words.

This goes to the heart of many web design issues – and remains a reason that Google and other search providers are constantly tweaking their algorithms.  We are tasked with doing our best as designers to cover all the bases to ensure our customers stay focused on saying just what they mean – but we also need to ensure they have coverage for other closely related areas and terms.  It is quite a quandary, however if the business focused on what they truly do in the words they use, the job of the web designer becomes one with a goal that is easier to reach – tell the truth about the product and/or service.

Perhaps it is time for us in business (web development along with any other business you can think of) to say what we mean.  And I believe it is well past time for everyone else to call others on doublespeak language – don’t let them get away with it!  Ask that folks define terms and give you exactly what you need to hear so you understand the issue(s) facing you and then make an informed decision.  Don’t take doublespeak as something acceptable and normal – it shouldn’t be either.

Talk about changes!  Most of the commercials now are talking about getting your favorite sporting events, movies and concerts on your smartphone.  Entertainment is everywhere.  It is this writers opinion that entertainment is now so pervasive in our culture and society that it is now an expectation for everything we desire to partake in.  If we watch sports, we also expect some entertainment before the competition, during any break in the action, and as we exit the event.  In our work places, just to keep our attention during training many times elements of entertainment are introduced (for security training a game show type of question and answer section – just to make sure you got the concepts).  Pumping gas at our local refueling stations entertain us with targeted songs, messages and images on the screen so they don’t lose the opportunity to upsell.  Even going to church has – in many ways – changed from a time of learning about and meditating on a higher power to entertaining us (want to leave happy with a ready-made slogan for the week, looking forward to see what rabbit can be pulled out of the hat next week).

Now don’t get me wrong, entertainment is not evil or bad, but I don’t believe it is the end goal of our existence – it has a time and a place in our lives, just like most other things!

In my lifetime it has been a progressive shift – I remember the radio and listening to music as well as watching TV (especially watching on Saturday mornings – it was the only time to watch cartoons).  Then we moved forward to portable music (from 78 rpm’s, 33-1/3 rpm and 45’s – then to 8-track, cassette tapes, CD’s, now MP3’s and keeping our tunes in the cloud).  We have moved from spoon-fed programming on the TV to the offerings on cable and satellite providers.  We went through recording our favorite shows on Beta or VHS to on demand offerings and streaming movies and events.  Each of these are great advancements – but I wonder if we are progressing in our appetite for entertainment or are just becoming a culture that yearns for entertainment to the exclusion of things that actually matter.

Video games are another huge growth area of entertainment.  Long gone are the days of traveling to some area to put quarters in a machine to play your favorite game (I use to go to our local campground to do this – it was within biking distance).  And we certainly have traveled quite a way from the entertainment of pong in the comfort of our own homes.  Now we have choices to gathering the ‘band’ at our house to play (Rock Band), or we could compete in dancing (Just Dance), or go out on the battlefield to meet up with very realistic combat (by ourselves against scenarios or on the playing field with others from around the globe online).  Many of these games are also portable, so you can take them with you on your gaming device, smart phone, tablet or eBook device.

With the availability of the internet in the mix, the opportunities for entertainment increased exponentially.  Think of how many times you have been to YouTube (founded in 2005 – it’s ONLY 6 years old) or other sites to see either a music video, someone doing something just plain dumb (what were they thinking?) that was caught and shared on camera, or to see a creation by someone that commemorated a trip or other noteworthy event.  Or perhaps you see social networks (like Facebook) as your form of entertainment (of note – many here will argue that this is ‘news’ and not entertainment; I would say that this is akin to a long running soap opera with all the drama, therefore should be included in the entertainment category!).

Yes, things have changed in the area of entertainment.  The good news is we have more advances to make in these areas of entertainment!  My concern is that we become more and more consumers of entertainment so that it becomes the goal in many of our lives.  I’m certain that each generation has similar concerns, but it seems to me that other generations never had so many opportunities to use up so much time in this area – time that will not be recovered.

Do you have concerns about the entertainment industry and the impact it has on consumers?  Perhaps you want to comment on how much entertainment has added to our culture and society – either way I look forward to hearing from you, and thanks for reading!