Archive for October 2004

PETA folks, I promise no real cats are harmed in this addicting game. Play Cat Bowling. I bowl better at the alley than in this game.

Vote for one of the books in Fast Company’s November Book of the Month. I’ve reviewed The Art of the Start and believe it deserves a vote. Have you read any of the other books? How do they compare? Speak your mind.

With a sub-title of, “The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything,” the book makes a big promise, which might make a doubter out of a reviewer. Note that “starting anything” refers to a business, not a career, school, or hobby.

Obviously, it’s impossible to create a comprehensive book of business best practices because every business has its own variables. What works great for one may kill another. However, the book doesn’t take that approach. Rather, it tells how it is starting a business and the rough road of dealing with VCs (venture capitalists). If you expect a positive spin on stuff that’s hard to do. Read a fairy tale instead.

Rather than abrasiveness and a “do this, don’t do this” attitude, Kawasaki uses humor to explain the process. Anyone who has a small business including those around for a few years will benefit. When ready to take action, use this book as the manual that doesn’t come with starting a business. Thinking about it isn’t going to make a business successful.

Every chapter begins with the GIST of it, an overview of what’s to come. Each ends with FAQ, frequently AVOIDED questions, to review the chapter’s content and drill it in deeper for better understanding and implementation.

Get simple, but important hints on everyday business practices such as how to give a strong presentation. How many times have you sat through a presentation where each slide has over 20 words in size 12 point and the presenter practically reads the words adding little to what is on the slide? Kawasaki smartly covers the 10-20-30 rule. 10 slides, 20 minutes, and size 30 font. Making changes to the small practices can lead to reaching the next milestone.

This book can be likened to a quick reference guide for starting a business and useful strategies: has just what is needed without heavy-duty or dry language. It is, however, larger than most quick guides, but a fast and easy read into the world of startups and dealing with VCs. If a VC isn’t involved, the book provides valuable tools and ideas to help with any business. However, technology start ups seeking VCs will benefit most.

Stuck on a business plan? Learn what is needed and not needed. Don’t waste valuable time and use the book to do what’s necessary without going overboard.

If long hours and challenges aren’t in the plans, then read a romanticized business book instead. The Art of the Start shows how it really is and it’s hard, but it can be a little easier with this book as a guide.

Get a taste of the book by reading its manifesto, a free PDF download. The 34 page document should give you a clear idea of whether or not the book is for you as it includes the same components found in the book. As a bonus, the manifesto includes Great Ideas for Starting Things, covered in the first chapter. If the material and the table of contents sound enticing, get it.

Title: The Art of the Start
Author: Guy Kawasaki
Publisher: Portfolio
ISBN: 1591840562
Date: September 2004
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 226
Cover Price (of course, it’s marked down and these are the original cover prices):
US: $19.99
CDN: $28.99
UK: £15.99

It’s a spooky time of the year in the U.S. with Halloween on October 31. Who can resist a holiday when you can be someone else for the day and eat lots of sweets? Not me. My family attends an annual neighborhood party, a great opportunity to come out from behind the tall picket fences and get to know each other.

The costume I’m most proud of is the telephone I made out of a cardboard box. I’ve also been a ballot box (1995 elections), Snoopy, Bugs Bunny and the ever-traditional witch. I love to dress up, but I admit it feels awkward when the costume doesn’t “fit” who I am.

Much like the way I feel when putting on a costume that doesn’t suit me, the feature story, When Good Newsletters Go Bad, looks at newsletters that gradually change identities, become unrecognizable and provide content without value for the reader. In the article, you’ll find ways to be more successful with editorial that reflects your voice.

Read the latest issue of eNewsletter Journal.

You probably know about the recent release of the Tungsten E Handheld. I am surprised about one thing: it comes with Bluetooth instead of Wi-Fi or both. I have a Tungsten T3 and am happy with it. Although, it has Bluetooth and not Wi-Fi. With more Wi-Fi hotspots coming out and SBC recent announcement of offering the service for USD$2 a month, it’s a shame it doesn’t have it included. I have nothing that is Bluetooth-compatible to connect to the T3. If you wonder about a cell phone, I don’t have one.

The cell phone is probably the best reason to have a Bluetooth handheld. If it has Internet access, you can Bluetooth the handheld to the cell and use the Internet on it. Wi-Fi would be a cheaper option for me.

What is your opinion on the fact the Tungsten E comes with Bluetooth instead of Wi-Fi or both? Comment away.

As a result of the Back up, back up, back up! entry, several have asked what and how to back up stuff on a home computer since the article focused on business computers.

I have not had personalized license plates since 1986 as they got too expensive in Texas. Mine said MerylK (my middle name is Kay and my maiden name also began with K). Don’t know why my dad didn’t get Meryl or if it was already taken.

It was cool to get this photo from Jon. In the UK, he spotted an Audi II sports plates with “m3ryl.” I’d love to know the story behind this plate.

As a result of the Back up, back up, back up! entry, several have asked what and how to back up stuff on a personal computer since the article focused on business computers.

Backup on business computers is typically not the user’s concern unless it’s a small business. A business should have a policy in place for managing backups especially due to Sarbanes – Oxyley.

Four options for backing up:

* External hard drive

* CD-RW (CD rewriteable) drive

* Tape

* Network server

Two options for what to back up:

* Everything

* Data files (.doc, .xls, .db, .ppt, .txt, etc.)

Personally, I use an external hard drive (this is a 120 gig hard drive, they also have 20 gig, 40 gig, 60 gig, and 80 gig available. I suggest getting one that is 20 gigs bigger than your hard drive.). It saved me when my computer had to be reformatted a few months ago. Typically, the hard drive is supposed to be rebootable and load everything back exactly as it was before the crash.

Obviously, that didn’t happen. It worked out for the best because some of my system files were bad. The hard drive still had my data files and programs. First, I referred to my latest copy from Belarc Advisor. This is a free program that lists all the applications on your computer. Since I don’t have a CD of every program I use, this was handy.

Using this list, I reloaded all applications first starting with the most important working down to the least important. It takes time to load everything, so you won’t want to reload everything in one sitting.

As soon as an application was reloaded, I copied all of its data files from the external hard drive back on the computer. I try to keep all of my data files in as minimal folders as possible. That is where My Documents, My Music, and My Photos comes in handy, but I hate those names. For the most part, I have /docs, /media (with subfolders for music and photos), /sites (for Web-related docs).

Keeping data files in as few folders as possible makes it easier to keep them organized and to find them when you need to restore data.

Programs like Norton’s Ghost, AlohaBob, and NTI Backup Now are useful for creating and managing back ups.

Using a RW-CD and tape back up are also viable solutions. I prefer the external hard drive since I don’t have to use an external media like a tape or CD. No sitting around and waiting for the CD or tape to fill up and inserting the next one.

Thumb drives (portable hard drives) are helpful, but typically can’t hold enough if you have as much data as I do. It’s great for critical data and data that you need at all times.

When buying a USB drive, make sure you have USB 2.0 not 1.1 as most the drives require 2.0.

At a minimium, back up your data files – the products of your work. Have a copy of these file somewhere other than your hard drive. Ideally, I’d like to back up my data on a network server because:

* if my house were on fire (ptpthpthpth), the files are safe on a server located somewhere else.

* if the computer goes crazy and ruins everything in its path including the back up hardware, the files are safe on a server.

However, storage is not cheap enough for personal use just yet. I am sure it’s one of the future options we can expect to become a regular part of safe computing.

Next question?

This is not your typical lost data story. I was a good girl and I kept my files on the network drive just like the company recommended. The only thing I put on my hard drive was junk files – things that wouldn’t bother me if the hard drive crashed. But not on the network drive. The drives are backed up and even my PC has a local back up program. Can you see where this is going? [ Read more... ]

This is not your typical lost data story. I was a good girl and I kept my files on the network drive just like the company recommended. The only thing I put on my hard drive was junk files – things that wouldn’t bother me if the hard drive crashed. But not on the network drive. The drives are backed up and even my PC has a local back up program. Can you see where this is going?

On Wednesday, August 25, I accessed my work from the network drive as always. I kept copies of my time report and my daily activities there. Since I was going to be out on August 26 for surgery, I saved everything and did the usual end of day sign out routine.

I returned to work on Wednesday, September 1 and accessed the drive through my ‘Favorites’ and got an error message. Thought nothing of it — figured the network was down or something. Eventually, I went into File Explorer and accessed my private network drive from there. Ah ha! They moved me to a new server. Fine, fine. Whatever.

Not fine! On that drive were two folders: /windows and /log. That’s it. Nothing else. I opened a ticket. Turned out the data wasn’t migrated from the old to the new server. Thankfully, they kept archived data for 30 days, so the ticket should take care of that.

Thursday, I went home early. My surgery wore me out after half a day. Friday, September 3, I had to go to the ER and ended up not returning to work until October 5. I checked the drive and nothing changed. I checked the ticket and it was closed! According to the ticket, the problem was resolved. My foot! I immediately contacted support and explained the ticket wasn’t resolved.

He asked for permission to remote control my PC. By all means. I watched him do all the things I had attempted. He passed the ticket to a specific group. I kept checking on the ticket and emailing the contact. I heard stuff like it’s past 30 days so it may not be archived. Well, hey, I reported the problem within five days of the last time it worked! Why wasn’t it properly resolved while I was out?

If you work for support or have worked for them – don’t get me wrong, I am married to a guy who has worked in it and managed it. I’ve lost serious data here.

Lesson learned? I should’ve backed up the data onto my hard drive. If I had, then all would be cool. What are the chances of losing the network data AND hard drive data? Wait, don’t answer that.

Back up early and back up often. Oh, and vote, too!