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IdeaWins: Microsoft Contest for Innovative Small Business Idea

Posted on November 16, 2006 ·

I still don’t know if Microsoft’s Software by Parachute initiative was real or just a prank, but here’s another one:  IdeaWins: The Ultimate Challenge – a contest for Innovative Small Businesses.

Software and techie types don’t get your juices flowing just yet: apparently “innovation” is limited to retail businesses, and the award is not only $100K but a year’s rent of a Manhattan storefront, too.

It appears MS released the site in a rush and not all components are ready, as for now submissions are by emailing a downloadable form, but starting November 27th there will be an “innovative” interactive way to enter.

Four Finalists will be selected who can submit a video and the winner will be picked by a public online vote. (digg it? smile_wink)

This contest is basically a PR campaign to promote MS Office Accounting 2007 which is quite evident if you arrive to the IdeaWins Home Page: the FAQ is actually all about the Accounting package, and the contest terms are somewhat hard to find.  If you follow my link from the pic above, you get right into the contest page, where there is a seconds set of FAQ, this time about the contest.  Oh, and of course you’ll be prompted to download MS Accounting a few times along the way…smile_omg

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Filed Under: Business, Marketing / PR, SMB / SME, Software, Startups ·
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Six Stages of Debugging

Posted on November 15, 2006 ·

I am not a programmer but even I can appreciate Charlie’s humor:

The Six Stages of Debugging

  1. That can’t happen.
  2. That doesn’t happen on my machine.
  3. That shouldn’t happen.
  4. Why does that happen?
  5. Oh, I see.
  6. How did that ever work?

smile_teeth
 

Filed Under: Humor ·
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Web Security: How to buy a 65” Plasma for $.99

Posted on November 14, 2006 ·

I have no clue if this is real:  Edgeblog describes a way to change the price on certain shopping sites using the CartIt.cgi shopping app before the item is submitted to the server.

He than goes on:

Doing a simple Google search for cartit.cgi+plasma, I found a web site that sells plasma TVs (Which shall remain nameless to prevent being sued). The website thinks it is selling TVs for $7,599, but we can pay whatever we want by intercepting the POST and changing the price. If you think the company would catch this error, think again. Many companies outsource the fulfillment of orders, and never check the prices being charged. Note: I do not endorse e-shoplifting, so I did not complete the above transaction, but I know for a fact that the site will accept the order for $.99. Now, $.99 is extreme enough to *maybe* raise a flag. A simpler approach is to just move the decimal over 1 or 2 places. This way, if the company does notice, they will assume it was a processing error on their side. So maybe this article should be titled: “How to buy a 65″ plasma for $75.99.”

Wow.

 

Filed Under: Business, Misc, Technology ·
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Zoli’s Z-life

Posted on November 14, 2006 ·

(Updated)
I’m living a Z-life.. quite fitting for a Z-guy.  I’m a life-long Z-lister, writing this post in Zoho Writer and embedding photos from Zooomr. 

I frequently use several other Zoho apps, especialy Sheets and Show, and am previewing a few more to come. (But no, rumors of me being renamed to Zoho Zoli are not substantiated smile_thinking)

I labeled Zvents  Probably the Best Event Calendar in the World! and  I think I was right, even though I use it less often nowadays.  But that won’t keep me from joining the celebration partymartini

Any other Z-apps I should use?

Update (12/16):  I guess being a Z-lister comes with certain perks, Robert Scoble counts on Z-listers.

Technorati Tags     ,,,,,,,

Filed Under: Blogging, Humor ·
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Microsoft Filters out Gmail

Posted on November 13, 2006 ·

ZDNet finds that every time they open Gmail, a warning is displayed telling the user they are infected with “BAT/BWG.A“.

 

A false positive sure to be fixed soon.  Don’t get the wrong idea though: Microsoft is not biased against its competitor… they had done the same to themselves:

Sure, just remove Windows Explorer smile_devil.    After all, A Dead PC is a Safe PC.  Or one that only plays the startup sound smile_baringteeth

 

Filed Under: Humor, Personal Productivity, Software, Technology ·
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Valleywag an Eyesore

Posted on November 13, 2006 ·

Valleywag’s Nick Douglas is leaving. Nick *was* Valleywag. Not much to add here, it’s the top item on Techmeme:

Good Morning Silicon Valley, Mathew Ingram, Master of 500 Hats, Thomas Hawk’s Digital …, Things That, WebProBlog, Federated Media …

 

But WTF is this new design?

Frankly, it makes me want to puke… except that it looks like someone has already puked on it smile_omg

 

Filed Under: Bay Area, Blogging, Business, Misc ·
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18 Months to Develop, 4 Seconds Long, But You Can Kill It

Posted on November 13, 2006 ·

AP, Seattle: “Some musicians spend 18 months working on a whole album. At Microsoft Corp., that’s how long it took to perfect just four seconds of sound.” 
That’s the Vista Startup Sound. Microsoft hired famous guitarist Robert Fripp for the job. 

Originally, in a perfect demonstration of product-focused thinking ignoring users, Microsoft planned to make this sound mandatory (impossible to modify or even shut off), but when Robert Scoble leaked the news, there was a huge backlash eventually Microsoft gave in, making the sound optional.

So in the end, 18 months of effort went into 4 seconds that you will turn off anyway. smile_party  Much ado about nothing… in the end, this is all that matters:

 Ready for Windows Vista?

Update (11/13): I’ve only discovered after writing this post that you can actually listen to the startup sound by clicking Play under the photo in the AP article. Wow… is that it?  The heavenly experience? smile_sad

18  months…. LOL.  Several years and latops ago I had my new mail notification sound set to a 3-4 second harp piece from Franz Liszt‘s Les Preludes.  It took me a good 30 minutes to cut/edit  it. smile_tongue

 

Filed Under: Business, Humor, Software, Technology ·
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But I’ve Already Booked 4.0

Posted on November 12, 2006 ·

Lots of noise about Web 3.0:

The NYT, Between the lines, Valleywag, Screenwerk, Scripting News,  Center for Citizen Media, larry borsato, A VC, Mark Evans, deal architect, Rough type, Ross Mayfield and just about the entire Blogosphere…

But I’ve already “claimed” Web 4.0 smile_tongue

 

Filed Under: Blogging, Humor ·
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SMS Lingo Allowed at School Exams

Posted on November 11, 2006 ·

Secondary school students will be able to use text speak in written examinations this year, legitimizing a language loved by teenagers.

In New Zealand, that is.  Here’s a reader comment:

“u mst b joking. or r u smoking sumthg? lol. so what if kidz pruv they no sbjct mtr? f u cant communic8 yr noldg, it’s prty much wrthlss. nz alrdy has svr prbs w stndrd nglsh speling, punc. and grmmr. dont make wrs!!! “

I think I undestand (?)what the commenter says, and I wholeheartedly agree. Or, to quote another reader comment:

“Wot a ld o rubish! Our edukshun sys is bad ’nuff alrdy. Mre dum kids who cant spel.”

Update (11/12):  the AP version of the story got Slashdotted and it’s on Techmeme today.

Filed Under: Misc, Technology ·
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Drug Attack on the Euro

Posted on November 11, 2006 ·

I know drugs kill .. bankrupt.. but apparently they also eat money, quite literally:

“BERLIN, Nov 11 (Reuters) – A mystery substance that caused some euro banknotes in Germany to fall to pieces may be linked to the party drug crystal speed, Der Spiegel magazine reported on Saturday, quoting regional police. Users of crystal speed inhale it through the nose using rolled-up banknotes and chemists think impurities such as sulphates, mingled with sweat, could have created an acid that ate away at the notes, the magazine quoted police as saying.

Around 1,500 banknotes worth between 5 euros and 100 euros ($6.44-$129) crumbled shortly after being withdrawn from cash machines, the Bundesbank said earlier this month.”

Filed Under: Business, Misc ·
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