There have to be some perks to being a temporary refugee in the US , so I obviously couldn’t resist visiting the local Best Buy store with company credit card in hand. I found myself intrigued by the iPad display, and it didn’t take long for the first (of many) irritatingly friendly Best Buy’ assistants’ to ask me how I was doing. … Read More
Stranded by volcanic ash
Last week I attended and spoke at the Chinese Software Global Summit in Shanghai. Thanks to the oddity of a volcanic erruption in Iceland, my flight back to the UK was cancelled on Saturday, leaving me stranded in Shanghai for at least a few weeks. I’m now working from Chicago in the US, as it has to be easier to … Read More
Print media and the inability to adapt
I had a phone call yesterday from a free business magazine that I receive in the mail each month. They wanted to know if I was happy with my subscription (?) and whether I wanted any additional copies for our office. When I told her that we’re only a small company, she offered to send me five more copies each … Read More
China, Google AdWords and me
One week from today I’ll be on my way to China for the Chinese Software Global Summit in Shanghai. I like to think of myself as well educated, and yet have realised how little I know about so much of the world. I’m going to a country with a population of over 1.3 billion, and despite the fact that we … Read More
Worst product description ever?
We recently started working with a client who sells SharePoint solutions. I personally am not handling the account, but after looking at their website, realised that although I have heard about SharePoint, I don’t know exactly what it is. So I went to Microsoft for the answer: “What Is SharePoint? Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 is an integrated suite of … Read More
Stop torturing your website visitors
Remember when 468 x 80 banners were the big thing? I do. In fact I used to sell advertising on some of our websites using the format, as did most websites at that time. Then we hit ICO – Inevitable Cycle of Overuse. Stage 1 – the format takes off; now “everybody” is using it. Stage 2 – we see … Read More
Beware – another Google AdWords phishing attempt
Watch our for yet another phishing attempt pretending to be from Google AdWords: The usual rule of thumb applies. Don’t ever click one of those links. Login to your account normally through your browser. The other rule of thumb is that Google’s emails usually make sense. They don’t say things like “make sure your keywords are jighly relevant” and “if … Read More
Google and China – the bigger issue
Yes, yes, we know. Google China users are being automatically redirected to Google Hong Kong. But more importantly, why is the Google Hong Kong homepage so much funkier than everywhere else: Google.com: Google.com.hk: When are we going to be upgraded?
Google hypocrisy reaches new levels
According to a post on the Google Analytics blog, Google are developing a “global browser based plug-in to allow users to opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics“. The writer explains that this is in the interests of “protecting use data privacy“. Sorry? This has the potential to cripple the accuracy of Google Analytics data, and will effectively be … Read More
CNET Downloads reviews changes – better late than never?
From CNET’s Software Publisher Newsletter: “As of March 16th, reviews on CNET Downloads are changing in a small but significant way. Since we began reviewing software nearly eight years ago, we have reviewed only the trial version of any software title that was also available for purchase. Going forward, we will begin reviewing and rating software based on the full … Read More
