For many years, I've thought about taking what I am currently doing (consulting for one client at a time), and going to the next level with it - multiple clients and even some employees. One opportunity which I don't think is being fully exploited is marketing to companies who don't have the resources for a full-time I.T. person on staff, but who ocassionally need to get someone in to fix their printer, install some new software, develop a small custom application, etc.

So when I heard about Nerds on Site, it sounded like a nice approach to me. Their marketing tagline to get consultants on board has been "You're in business for yourself, but not by yourself". I've been in business for myself for 10 years, and thought exploring this other way of doing things would be interesting. It had potential.

Well, it turned out to be unfulfilled potential.

Trying to get to talk to them has been a bit of a let down. After filling out an online application - "What is your strengths? Why do you want to join with us? etc." - they invited me to sign up for a First Step session.

And that's where they fell down, big time.

As soon as I got the invitation, I went to the URL to sign up for the next step in the "process". I was expecting to meet people in person, and learn more about what they expect, and what they can provide. The only in person session was in Windsor (4 hour drive from me), so I was basically forced to sign up for an online session.

That's not too bad, except a lot of the sessions were "middle of the day" sessions. I can't come home from work in the middle of the day to talk to them, so I could only do weeknight sessions. That wouldn't even be a problem, except all the evening sessions were fully booked.

I went back again a few days later, and it was still fully booked. No in person sessions available again. Back again a 3rd time a week later, and found 1 single session available so I signed up. Nope, that session was for Filipino's only (don't ask). Went back again (4th or 5th time by this point) and found a 6pm online session for a few weeks hence, and booked it.

I did everything I normally do. I set an appointment up in Outlook, had it remind me. I came home from work well before the time, downloaded and installed all the software they require for the meeting (yes, I had to install stuff for an online meeting). Logged in at a quarter to 6 to get things set up and then...

"I'm sorry Scott. The time is now 5:47pm. We asked you to be here at 5:45pm. You'll have to book another time in the future."

What? What the hell? The online meeting was at 6pm, I show up at 5:47pm, and I'm told "sorry"?

You know what? If this is how Nerds on Site operates their business, then it's better that I'm not part of that. I am an experienced businessman, and have a lot of client contacts. I don't need to be treated like some high-school kid trying to compete for his first job. If Nerds on Site wants to partner with me, they can contact me and we can talk one-on-one like real businesses do. But in 6 weeks or so of trying to get this "First Step" meeting set up, I'm back at the beggining? That's that.

 

I couldn't find this info anywhere online, and had to call Bell tech support. This is how you program the Next Level Communications SRC-200A remote control to control the power and volume of your TV.

1. Press and hold the MUTE button until the light flashes and stays on
2. Press the POWER button
3. Press the UP ARROW button, repeatedly, until the TV turns itself off
4. Press the SELECT button when you find the correct code.

And thats the secret.

Now let's say you think you know the right remote code. Chances are it's not going to work, but its worth trying right?

1. Press and hold the MUTE button until the light flashes and stays on
2. Enter the 3-digit code
3. The light will flash 3-times quickly if the code is recognized
4. The light will not flash if the code is unrecognized

 

There's a pretty famous book out called "What to Expect When You're Expecting", which is considered by some to be the bible for first-time parents to read. The movie "Knocked Up" contains a reference to this book.

Recently I've read some interesting articles and blog postings on what it's like to start a startup - a small Internet company. It's sort of a "what to expect when you're expecting - for internet startups". I've put together a list of my favorites:

• Marc Andreesson (founder of Netscape) - Part 1 Part 2
• Chicago Tribune - It's cheaper to start a startup these days
• Startup Spark - 5 Common Mistakes Startups Make
• 37 Signals - Getting Real

There's more articles out there. I just need to find them again. I'll post more as I find them.

 

One thing that has always stumped me, and many others I bet, is how Apple has risen to become such an admired and respected company while essentially limiting their customers choice to zero. The most anti-competitive computer company in the world is also the most admired... how odd!

For instance, in 2006 Apple was the PC World Hardware Company of the Year. Fortune named it the Most Admired Company in Innovation of the Year in 2006 as well. And almost daily consumers are faced with "Hi I'm a Mac. And I'm a PC." ads that despite their gross inaccuracies and untrue claims, are generally thought of as an advertising success story.

But then you compare their actual product offerings with what competitors offer, and you're left wondering why their customers are often repeat buyers given the way the company treats them sometimes.

* The iMac is a beautiful machine. A computer hidden inside an LCD monitor. But as a PC owner, I upgrade the memory, hard disks, DVD writers, and video cards on my machine every so often. Sometimes I get a new LCD for my computer, as the prices of large 21" LCD screens have dropped a lot. How do you upgrade an iMac? You don't. You buy a new one every couple of years for $1,500-$2,000...

* In the time it took Microsoft to go from Windows XP to Vista (Oct 2001 to Jan 2007), Apple had 5 versions of OS 10 (10.0 to 10.4) and is expected to ship their sixth one this year. That's five times the Windows upgrade costs. Outraged that Vista Home Premium Upgrade costs $149.99? OSX users pay $129.00 for each version, or $645 for those 5 upgrades from OSX 10.0 by the end of this year. Microsoft releases service packs for free, while Apple rolls it into a DVD and calls it a new version.

* Apple TV looks awesome. Even I've been at the Apple Store watching the demo. But just like its iPod cousin, it only works with iTunes and iTunes Store. And iTunes Store has almost no video content in Canada. So while Americans are happily paying for and downloading TV shows and the like, Canadians do not. So why by an Apple TV for which there is almost no content?

* Speaking of Apple TV, it falls into the same no-upgrade trap as the iMac. It comes with a puny 40GB hard drive. In a world of 1000GB hard drives becoming affordable, why should Apple limit you to 40GB? And when they release the 80GB version later this year and then the 120GB version next year, what about the poor saps who bought this version? Sorry, you'll have to throw away this one and buy the next release...

* Which reminds me of the iPod. For years the iPod has been part fashion-accessory, part-music player. It seems like people were waiting for the iPod Video for years, and even when it eventually came, it wasn't the full-screen device consumers wanted. We're on the 5th generation iPod now aren't we? I own a 4th generation one (iPod Photo) that can't play videos. Wait, why can't my device play videos? There is apparently no technical reason. People have hacked their iPod Photos to do it. I guess Apple wants me to throw this $400 device away every year and buy a new one too. I hate when a device CAN do something, and the only reason it doesn't is that the company wants you to buy a newer model.

* Let's not get into the famous Apple FairPlay issues. Apple (the dominant music seller on the Internet) refuses to license the technology to other companies, thereby enforcing its MP3 player monopoly. And the only reason they are beginning to offer DRM free music is because consumers and governments worldwide are starting to complain. It's like throwing a dog a little bone, hoping he'll be distracted enough for you to get away. Meanwhile their monopoly persists.

So I ask - why is this company still so highly regarded and loved? Are consumers really so enamored with the shiny packaging to ignore the handcuffs packaged inside?

 

Every once and a while I like to post my XBox Live Gamer Tag, since I'm too lazy to update the template this website to permanently display it.

 

For fun I'm going to try this. Google has a new service that lets you create your own search engine. As an example. .NET web developers will find http://www.searchdotnet.com/ useful as it only returns authoritative Microsoft sources. MSDN, microsoft.com, MS blogs, etc. I've added that to my custom Google homepage.

So what should I create a search engine for? How about poker - a search engine that will search only the top poker blogs nd ignore the ads and such?

Check http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=007309252445351814162%3Aym0xcd0ajbk in a little bit to see how that goes. :)

 

The next adventure in my journey from Visual Studio 2003 to the wonderful Visual Studio 2005 is to convert our large source control repository from SourceSafe (VSS) to the new Team Foundation source control. This should be fun.

Visual Studio 2005 comes with a tool called VSSConverter which analyzes your existing VSS database, and then when things look good it migrates it for you. Very handy.

VSSConverter will migrate the files, including check-in history, to a new project in Foundation Server. In my practice, the migration happened almost flawlessly. The one big hiccup for me is that there are some developers who have left the company, and since Foundation Server is built off of Active Directory, I had to map those users to Guest. So you lose some user names in the conversion from people who have left.

Is there any way around that? Any tips or hints would be appreciated.