You can now throw out your TV - 2006 in review

Why do we all want to buy a Willi Waller 2006? Why did Time Magazine choose YOU as the person of the year? The answer: Web 2.0.

This year, we saw the rise of sites like www.youtube.com which also coincided with the rebirth of lip-syncing. We all share our pictures using www.flickr.com. Google has become a verb. BitTorrent or iTunes has become the way to get TV shows, allowing you to watch what you want, when you want it. We no longer go to Tower Records (Closed) or any other CD shops to buy music, we go to iTunes. Podcasting (or Netcasting as Leo Laporte started) has become my listening choice in the car (plus, I have two shows on iTunes myself: Outside The Artist's Studio - The podcast that would have saved Van Gogh's ear! and Cuddle Podcast - bedtime stories with daddy). A community has gotten together to form a knowledge based called www.wikipedia.com. Sites like www.digg.com allow you to choose which stories are relevant and should be placed on the front page.

In terms of entertainment, Web 2.0 is changing how we consider the media. I can laugh out loud for a good hour just watching Tetes a Claques, which is funnier than most sitcoms! One of my clients - www.twistimage.com prepared a nice little review of the best viral videos of 2006.

>>http://www.share2006.com/<<

Take the Evolution of Dance as an example. It was viewed 37,545,830 times so far. Obviously, people are watching. Web 2.0's best and worst quality is that it lets anyone have a voice. Leo Laporte quoted someone saying that if you recognize that there is a small percentage of excellence in everything, then more quantity would bring more excellence. Basically, just because anybody with a digital camera can make a movie, some will actually make something worth watching, that otherwise would not have been able to do before Web 2.0.

So, instead of watching uncreative TV, throw it out, download the few series worth watching, and look for those that produce something worth watching!

Mozart VS Marilyn Manson Part II

Well...I stand corrected. Zeke, one of the most prolific art bloggers in Canada, has corrected me, and informed me that there is indeed room for interpretation in Classical Music.

Elevator music aside, he makes a valid point.

Check out his blog at http://zekesgallery.blogspot.com/.

Bell Sym-pathetic High Speed

In the last month or so, I have been involved in two client moves. The first one went fine, as far as phone service goes, but guess what? No Internet on the promised date. We were told 24-48 hours would be the standard waiting time to get it resolved. A few weeks later, Internet goes down again. I spoke to one of the most knowledgable techs there, and we figured out that the modem was defective. I actually asked to speak to his supervisor (He wasn't around) to let them know how pleased I was with the service (Oh...suddenly, the supervisor is sitting right next to him!). I was promised a new modem and I left confident that the next day, all would be fine again. Two days pass, we call...no record of our request for a new modem. They will now ship within 24-48 hours...

Today I went to another client who moved, and all phone/fax lines have been transferred, but guess what? No Internet. It will be moved one week later? Doesn't make sense. Four business days is the best they can do.

Come to think of it, I have another client with a new office. They sent the modem, but the office was under construction, so they left no note, and eventually sent the modem back to Toronto, without letting us know...

Pathetic. Sym-Pathetic.

Bet you Jack Bauer doesn't own a Gerard Darel "24 Heures" bag!

The following takes place between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. This week, I attended the opening of the first Gerard Darel store in Canada at Ogilvies, Montreal.














While sipping great champagne, I browsed the collection, and was quite surprised to find that I really liked the wearable look his collection had (when I say wearable, I mean my wife!). You sometimes see these fashion shows with a models wearing something similar the the Bjork "swan" look, but Gerard seems to actually make clothes that you can wear.

The big hit of course is the "24 Heures" bag, pictured above with Charlotte Gainsbourg, whose music was heard during the event. Unfortunately, I did not win the "24 Heures" bag as the door prize, but had a good time nonetheless. What I did find ironic, is that the ones serving us the "Scooby Snacks of the rich and famous", were sometimes better looking than the models!

So maybe Jack Bauer should think about getting himself one of these bags, where he can stuff a few items such as guns, cel phone, toothpaste, etc...before going after the bad guys.

Mozart VS Marilyn Manson

I went to the Louis Pasteur Canadian Foundation benefit at the invitation of Normand Lebeau from Mandrake, one of my clients. The event raised over $260k to help develop new vaccines and fund research. The event theme was homage to Mozart. Now, as you can tell by my previous posts, I'm not what you call a Classical music enthusiast, but I do enjoy it on occasion.

Yannnick Nézet-Séguin & Suzie Leblanc gave us a great sampling of some of the more obscure Mozart selections. What I enjoyed was a small explanation before each song of some of the lyrics, to help us understand the theme or style of the song. What a minute...lyrics...Mozart? Speaking to Harry Trihey sitting next to me, we both were surprised that Mozart even had lyrics. Now Harry is much more educated than me in this type of music, but nonetheless, we were even more surprised to learn that Mozart composed a few French songs, which were sang at the event.

Now here is the deal with Classical music, and remember that I am in no way an expert. In contemporary music, artists will often cover another's song. I thought of a good extreme example: Marilyn Manson covering Sweet Dreams from the Eurythmics. It is almost a new song it is so different. But when it comes to Classical music, I just don't see too much room for interpretation/improvisation. It seems that to be a great artist in Classical music, you must reproduce exactly the sounds of so long ago, getting every nuance, tone, pitch, and so forth. True it takes much pratice and discipline and those who do it, are remarkable. How many languages did Suzie have to learn before being able to sing all these songs? So with this line of thinking, all these Classical music bands are in reality cover bands.

Now let's see the Montreal Symphony Orchestra remake a Marilyn Manson song...that I would pay to see!

Logitech - A new hope.

So the saga unfolded finally with another call to their support line. I gave my case number, and mentioned how I brought my dongle to the office (I have 2 of these Bluetooth Keyboard + mouse combos) and swapped it with the working one, and I got the same detection issue as at home, but if I put the working one back in, it worked fine.

In the matter of a few minutes, they had my shipping address to send me a replacement unit. No explaining what a "firmware" was...they understood.

How important is customer service? With that one call, I almost stopped selling Logitech products. I influence the choices for such items to my clients, and not only would they have lost CompuQuest as a client, but all the clients we sell to. But, I gave them a chance, and I got the good service that I did not get on that nightmarish call.

Logitech...you are back in my good books.

Logi-non-Tech Customer Support

In my 15 years of working in the tech industry, I finally met her. The worst tech support person in the industry. Now, I'm not saying she is not intelligent, funny and probably great at a party, but wow...talk about a non-techie! In the hundreds of tech support calls I do each year for clients, I have talked to all kinds of people. Some are better than others, and I'm happy to say that gender and race have nothing to do with it. Sure it's hard to understand some support people in India, but most are very fluent and friendly.

In this case, it is simply a case of not being able to listen (see previous Blog!). I always start my calls with what I did to troubleshoot the problem myself (thereby saving myself much time redoing what I just did with them once again), and usually a good tech will sense that I seem to know what I'm doing. I don't talk down to them, I just clearly explain all the steps I took, and then I ask for their help since I am at a dead end. Usually, we solve the problem together, saving both of us precious time. In this case, that short explanation took close to 1/2 an hour! Here is a sample (I wish I had the recording):

Randal: So I updated the software and it instructed me that it was going to flash the firmware. When I rebooted, Windows could not load the drivers for the Bluetooth dongle, even when I forced it to install (since I know where the file is located). I think the firmware was corrupt.

Tech: What's a firmware? Did you update the with the latest software?

Randal: Yes. (I go on to explain for several minutes what a firmware is...not registering with her).

Tech: What error message do you get?

Randal: Nothing works because the Bluetooth dongle (made by Logitech) will not detect. I get the Windows found new hardware wizard. It tells me that it can't find the drivers for the device.

Tech: What error message do you get?

Randal: (I proceed to re-explain all of the above, saying that the only error message I get is that Windows will not install the driver properly, because I suspect the firmware got corrupted during the update...I then had to explain what a firmware is again.)

Tech: What is the error message again?

Randal: (I then proceeded to read what is being detected several times...I don't think she even knew what Device Manager or Found New Hardware Wizard was!)

Tech: ...puts me on hold to ask someone else...(finally)...Sir, you have to update your USB from Microsoft.

Randal: All my USB ports are working fine. (I then repeat that it only happened after flashing the firmware...I then explain what a firmware is...that all my USB devices are fine. I ask for a link to the Microsoft site where I can do this task she asks of me. There is no USB update from Microsoft apart from the Service Packs...so I have no clue what they want me to do, but I know they are passing the buck). I finally got frustrated (30 minutes into the call...I think I did pretty good) and ask if she mentioned anything about the firmware to the other people while she put me on hold. NO. That was too much. The link between me and technical support was being communicated by someone who had a hard time understanding what Device Manager does in life.

---end of call---34 minutes and 41 seconds

At my hourly rate, I could of bought a new keyboard and mouse. I don't even want a new one, I just want a working dongle!

I have always sold Logitech products, mainly because of their incredible support and return policy. No hassles...until now.

Will this painful saga ever end? I will keep you posted.

Need a job? Do you have what it takes?

My company is currently looking for an additional tech person. Based in Montreal, CompuQuest Corporate Services have been serving the SMB market for close to 10 years now. We have expanded into VoIP solutions, leaving us with a need to hire one or possibly 2 techs to take over some of the work.

What we are looking for:

Certification to me is not important. I remember getting a call from an MSCE (the high Microsoft Certification) and I asked him to send me a C.V., but he was unable, since his computer was not working...
Intuition + personality= job
I would safely say that 70% of our work involves intuition. If you are certified, you are given a problem, and you have memorized the solution to that problem. In the real world, you don't have a problem laid out before you...you have symptoms and you have to figure out what that problem is! Using past experience, Google skills and intuition, you narrow down the issue to get to the cause of the problem. That's what makes a great tech.

Communication. The greatest part of being a tech is communication. First, comfort to the user having a problem by having a calm disposition. Next is listening to the symptoms, to get a good idea of what is going on. Once the work is done, explaining what caused the problem, how you fixed it (in easy terms) and in many cases let them know that it is not their fault. Sometimes, you might have to try one solution, but only time will tell if you took the right path. If you clearly explain to the client that you are attempting one solution, and will follow up to see if it worked, then they will not complain that it wasn't fixed right the first time.

I compare this to being a doctor. When a patient comes in, the doctor asks questions, and get a history from the patient, along with the symptoms. The doctor might prescribe medicine and it might or might not work. If it didn't, then one cause is eliminated and another is tried, till you get the right one. Some doctors have a great intuition and get it right the first time, most of the time.

It a great job, and the clients are like family for CompuQuest. If you think you have what it takes, call us at (514) 932-5516 or send a C.V. to info@compuquest.ca

We look forward to hiring you!