Author: gec

I recently had a user call me and explain that they couldn’t save to their offline files and folders when offline. Little did I know the can of worms we were going to open.

The troubleshooting rabbit hole involved finding out that you could, in fact, copy and paste documents in to those folders, however we couldn’t save PDF files from Adobe Reader by using the File/Save command. No error message appeared, they looked like they saved, but when you looked in the folder, the file would be missing. It was specific to Adobe Reader. Once I knew that, I had to dig further.

In the end, the problem was that Adobe Reader wouldn’t allow the user to save files in the Offline folder because it was sandboxed (an enhanced security mode which doesn’t allow Adobe Reader to react with other applications, in an attempt to prevent virus infected PDF files from infecting your whole system). To resolve this, close any open PDF documents, but open Adobe Reader. Click Edit, then Preferences. On the left click Security (Enhanced), then UNCHECK Enable Enhanced Security at the top of the Window, and click OK. Exit Adobe reader, then try again. It should work without a problem now!

Last week, news broke about “PRISM.” A whistleblower alleges the US government has direct access to the servers of many tech companies; Microsoft, Google, Facebook, their subsidiaries, and more are listed. Then, over the next several days the story softened to be “access” instead of direct access. Now it’s down to the point where they might be talking about the National Security Letters, which is almost a non-story. But regardless of what’s true, what’s known, and what’s happening – I wanted to take a look at how big-data collection works.

Believe me, there are people more qualified than me to talk about this, but I wanted to explain give a breakdown readers would understand. So let’s take the program on what people think PRISM is most capable of: monitoring, in real time, every single phone call, text message, picture message, your cell phone’s GPS coordinates, email, Facebook post, internet search, every map you look at online, and every website you visit. That is a mountain of data, the extreme majority of which is worthless. Everybody makes fun of Twitter and says “nobody cares what you had for breakfast.” The government cares even less. Think about it in terms of space. Twitter is a website that lets you post messages that are only 140 characters in length. A sentence, maybe two, at a time. Twitter, alone, generates about 12 terabytes of Tweets every single day. A terabyte is about 1,000 Gigabytes.

I can’t fathom the amount of data and pictures that Facebook is storing, or imgur, or Reddit, Flickr, Digg, WordPress, Blogger, or any of the other thousands of websites. Even comments on blogs and news sites begin to pile up. If you were capturing all of that data (UPDATE: which they’re likely doing by means of a Fiber-Optic tap, similar to what we called a vampire tap, years ago), how could you ever read it all? You can’t. At least not today. That’s why the NSA is building a one million square foot data center in Utah. Right now, it will act as a repository. Some day, the world will have enough processing power to go back through and search for key words and phrases through every bit and byte of data that is stored. But right now, it simply isn’t possible.

So what could “PRISM” be doing, if it exists right now and is already in place at all of these phone companies, and tech companies, and internet providers? Right now PRISM would be looking for patterns in “Meta-Data.” Meta-Data is the basic stuff. To. From. Subject. Dates and times. It would be designed to highlight certain numbers or email addresses. For instance, let’s say we know the cell phone number of a suspected terrorist – well, then we could punch that number in to PRISM, and see all of the calls made to and from that device. Are they listening to every single call? Extremely doubtful. But if they see that a particular number called the suspected terrorists’ number over, and over – they can start to correlating potential accomplices and other frequent contacts. Even General Michael Hayden says that’s how it works.

I’m far from the tin-foil hat wearing conspiracy theorist. In fact, if the government wants to read all of my emails, I couldn’t care less! Have fun! Read away! What concerns me is whatever happens with them next. This is the part that concerns me. As I mentioned, the Utah data center’s goal would be to capture and archive all of the internet’s traffic. Right now, we can’t really parse and understand all of that data, which is why only meta-data would be checked. But if they’re storing all of the data, it doesn’t matter what they’re looking at? They have all of the data. What if some other hacker group wanted to release all of my private emails to the public? Think about it, publically traded companies with their business reputations at stake still get hacked from time to time. A government organization with nothing to lose probably isn’t going to secure our data as tightly as someone like eBay! But there you have it, all of your emails, the attached pictures, embarrassing stories, whatever the contents may be, someone gets in to the NSA’s system and leaks come out.

Or, what if the NSA decides that they have worked for these emails and that now they “own” them and can turn a profit on them by selling them to insurance companies. Suddenly an email surfaces where I talk about pigging out on a triple cheeseburger, and my health insurance rates go up because I make unhealthy lifestyle choices. Or maybe, just maybe, a pattern that isn’t really there emerges, by mistake. It looks suspicious. But this “predictive” system has determined that I must be a threat to national security, and in a very Minority Report sort of way, I could be charged with conspiring to commit a crime – which I’m completely unaware of, but I match the criteria and profile of someone who would commit such a crime.

Having data literally warehoused in one sweet, sweet hacker target isn’t appealing to me. The system isn’t perfect. We have too many wrongful convictions, even people put to death for crimes they didn’t commit. Leaving it in the hands of a computer to draw conclusions based on correlation isn’t the best solution. No, the system isn’t perfect, but luckily, the system isn’t even online as we imagine it – at least not yet. As I set out to mention, earlier, the only thing they can possibly be doing right now is picking and choosing the data points they want to monitor, and see how X is interacted with by A, B, C, D, and E. But what does the future hold? Maybe now is the time to stop the machine from becoming the behemoth that it is set to become. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if the government wants to read my email, I genuinely don’t care. But I don’t want them storing copies of it haphazardly on external hard drives in the back seat of an employees car, etc… I don’t know if the solution is data retention policies to ensure things are deleted, I don’t know if it’s opposing the entire project and calling it a fishing expedition, I don’t know if it’s bowing to our new robotic overlord, but I have started thinking about the future.

I recently ran in to an error stating “UFL ‘u2lgl’ that implements this function is missing.” This happened when using a particular program called CYMA, which generates reports using Crystal Reports and then brings them up for a print preview. I found this not too helpful article (note: the article I link to has been updated to contain the solution I post below {with more details specific to the current version}, and they have credited me with helping to find the correct fix), which suggested that you could fix CYMA by copying and pasting the missing file into the folder. The file was already there, but I tried it anyway. Still nothing changed. From there, I found one other article saying that it wasn’t the file he thought it was, the poster, named Andy Baker, had to re-register his User Function Library – but gave no advice for users how he did that. No other advice anywhere on the internet gave a clear answer as to what was causing this issue.

When Andy refers to re-registering the User Function Library, or UFL, he basically means that he had to re-register everything. What you need to do first is to figure out what folder the file is in. For some examples, you could find the DLL in a folder such as:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Business Objects\Common3.5\bin\
• C:\Program Files\Business Objects\Common3.5\bin\
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Crystal Decisions2.5\bin\
• C:\Program Files\Common Files\Crystal Decisions2.5\bin\

The computers I had this issue on were the latter two folders. So, I’ll use the 4th directory in my example, but remember, you may need to change the second line of the command below to match wherever your files are. Here’s what I did:

1. Ensure CYMA (or whatever program is giving you the error) is closed
2. Click the Start Menu in the lower left
3. Type CMD
4. Right Click CMD.exe and click Run as Administrator
5. type the following:
   
cd\
cd "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Crystal Decisions\2.5\bin\"
for %1 in (*dll) do regsvr32 %1 /s
for %1 in (*ocx) do regsvr32 %1 /s
exit

6. Re-open your application and try again!

For me, this resolved all of my problems. No reboot necessary. The application opened, and when we ran the reports, they came up as we expected them to! The issue appears to stem from installing Office 2013, which I believe installs a newer .net 4 Framework, which de-registered these files. Leave a comment, let us know if this helped!

It’s easy to spot a “H8er.” There are people out there who will not give Windows 8 any credit, mostly because it’s a Microsoft product. Some just because they don’t like change. But the people who irk me are the ones who criticize it, but have never laid hands on it. And those people, the H8ers? They’re easy to spot. I called a few out in the comments of a recent BetaNews article. Here are some of the things I had to say.

First, with regards to not being a brand loyalist: “Maybe, and – I get that this could be an impossible stretch – but just MAYBE Brian Fagioli just isn’t a brand loyalist? Maybe he genuinely LIKES Google Music AND Windows 8???? Maybe he doesn’t think that because he likes a music service that means he must live his life on a Chromebook!?”

I continued: “I know… it’s a stretch that there might be people out there who use more than one brand of device.
If it makes you feel any better, those people must all also be swimming with STDs.” I was clearly joking about that last bit, of course, and the author of the post (Fagioli) responded, clarifying but in essence agreeing with what I described: not being locked in to any one “ecosystem”.

Addressing a few complaints based on theory from screenshots, I explained busted a few myths for the commenters: “You can pin any icon to the Start Screen, even if it’s not a Live tile – you don’t have to dig through the ‘all programs’ menu. “To launch the calculator on any Windows 8 computer, you simply type “calc” and press enter. No more bringing up the run menu, or clicking the start button – the start screen is a giant Run prompt.”

Further: “I’m a Windows 8 user who thinks the whole thing needs improved. The name “WINDOWS” indicates a multi-tasking ability that is sorely lacking from the Modern UI experience (and no, snapping apps to the left or right doesn’t count). But it’s easy to spot someone who doesn’t like it but hasn’t given it a fair shake. Windows 8 has a steep learning curve, but once you learn it, it feels like everything you do is just more productive.”

In closing on that thought: “It’s easy to laugh off Microsoft – but the jokes are old. It’s not 1997 anymore. Linux has gotten stale. Microsoft is innovating for the next several generations.”
When asked what benefits I found in Windows 8, I promptly devised a list:

1. Direct sky drive integration with multiple applications.
2. Live Tiles.
3. Push Notifications (no matter what your smartphone may have you thinking, no Windows desktop OS had these, prior).
4. (Windows Server 2012) the ability to perform a chkdsk on the C: drive without requiring a reboot.
5. “Universal design” – all apps can benefit from a similar experience, take advantage of features such as:
6. In app searching via the charms bar.
7. In app settings (again, in one location).
8. Touch not required, touch pad can be effectively used.
9. App Results (Start Screen as Run prompt).
10. Old familiar keyboard shortcuts stll work (Windows Key + E, Windows Key + R, for example).
11. A free mail app fully compatible with everything from Exchange server to GMail.
12. A free calendar app akin to those found on mobile devices, which allows syncing of appointments, meetings, and To-Dos.
…

In closing, I added this: “Again, at first I thought it was “change for change sake” – but the more I use Windows 8, the more I like it. Remember, when Windows 95 came out, nobody knew what a Start Menu WAS. We all asked Microsoft what was wrong with the Xerox/Apple/IBM/Windows 3.1 interface of folders on a desktop? Then we wondered if Microsoft BOB was going to take over the world with skeuomorphism. Then we joked about clicking on Start to Shut Down.”

“–then we just got used to it.”

Tuesdays are my tech articles, and I admit I’m behind on a few articles over the last few days, but I had to pop in and remind people that the #XboxReveal is today. You’ll be able to watch it live at Xbox.com/Hub. I’m also interested to see what Microsoft does.

There will be a new console, but I’m almost wishing they would blow people’s minds and say no box! “Xbox” should become a service on the PC, comparable to Steam. And I don’t mean the “Xbox for Windows” games that we see in the Windows 8 Store, but really an environment that you load in to, much like the Games app, but from there it exists as its own platform, and any game available on the console, is available on the PC. Okay, I highly doubt that will happen, but there needs to be some kind of seamless integration among the Windows 8/RT, Windows Phone, and Xbox platforms – and I hope they give some great detail on that today. E3, next month, June 10th, will talk about the games. Today? I’m expecting some general media and entertainment information.

I plan on having some follow up comments on this later today or tonight, and I promise I’ll bring back some regular posts to the website, but I’ve had some hectic days, lately, and I don’t expect things to calm down – but I assure you, I’ll make time for you folks!

I’ve been holding out for a good Windows Phone. Windows Phone 8, so far, isn’t drastically different from 7.8, from what I’ve seen. Sprint’s lack of Windows Phone 8, or what people are calling poor or sloppy CDMA support from Microsoft, is also killing me slowly. I’m long overdue for an upgrade and have been tempted by the beautiful design of the HTC One, or the refinement of the Samsung Galaxy S4. But I continue to wait. I want to invest myself in a single ecosystem, to be embedded in a platform. I’m not interested in a Mac, and a Chromebook is laughable.

Recent experiences with Windows Phone have put a sour taste in my mouth, and after watching the Google I/O 2013 Keynote, I’m reminded how important it is to constantly be improving your platform. I hear rumors of “Windows Phone Blue” but just a name. More about iOS7 changes being drastic. But Windows Phone? The changes seem like they never come, and even when they do, the poor end users either wait forever or are forced to hack the update onto their phone.

I feel like I’m grasping at straws, anymore. Microsoft talks about how they have 80% of the top 25 apps, and thousands more. But the Windows Phone Marketplace is tiny. And finally getting the apps is different from having had those apps. Seeing the radical improvements in Google Now, even since its launch, just make me wonder what it is that my phone is doing in my pocket all day? It could be doing much more.

I just wonder if I’m missing out on substance, or buying in to hype? I think I’ll see what iOS7 offers up, and wait for some more news on Windows Phone Blue before I commit to this generation of devices… which still seems like a life-time away in the technology-timeline, but it will just have to wait.

Facebook REALLY wants your phone number. They’ve encouraged you to add it for years, but the latest round of “pop ups” at the top of the page want to remind you that it’s important for your security. I never did it, because in the early days, your phone number was visible to anyone who is your friend. And while you might be “Facebook friends” – it doesn’t necessarily mean you want that person to be able to call or text you. Having your number on Facebook leaves the potential for them to be able to provide it to their advertisers. And now, if you don’t have your permissions set just right, then just by playing a game, filling in a survey, or liking a page, you run the risk of sharing or publishing your phone number with companies you did not intend to give that information to.

To ignore Facebook’s latest plea, and close that annoying banner at the top of the page, simply click the “X” that is hiding out on the left side of the banner (see the picture above). We’re used to looking for the “close” / “X” icons in the right corner, so it’s easy to overlook it. But for now, just click the “X” in the banner at the top of the page, and don’t give in to Facebook asking for your number. They don’t need it. It’s just another data point they can use to find out your location based on area code, your carrier based on the number, and the aforementioned “just giving your number away.”

I first wrote an article about malware in 2009. It was for a government funded organization and spread across five counties in Pennsylvania. It has been updated annually since then with my best suggestions. The previous version is still available here, but this year I wanted to do something a little more direct. I have included the usual screenshots of fake programs you should look out for, but on top of that, I wanted to give you some additional programs that I like to use, including at least one I didn’t mention back when I talked about my IT Toolkit.

First, Shut your computer down. You heard me. (more…)

People have asked for a while, how to put the Start Menu from Windows 7 back in to Windows 8. Now, if all you’re looking for is a “button” – you’re in luck. There are quite a few rumors that Microsoft’s Windows Blue will bring back the Start Button. But that button simply brings up the Start Screen, not the Start Menu. At least, that’s the going theory right now.

The idea seems to be that people can’t figure out how to get back to the tiles once they’re in the desktop, and finding the desktop in the first place can be kind of difficult. I can attest to that based on the number of searches and reads I get on articles on my website. Even simple things like Shutting Down Windows 8 actually get more than a few reads!

So, what if you want something like the Windows 7 Start Menu? I’ve avoided writing this article for a long time, because I like to force myself to get used to things I don’t like. In the early days of Windows XP, when I still preferred Windows 2000, I famously called the colorful Start Button Windows Crayola Edition. But eventually I get used to each interface. But for those of you who just won’t adjust to Windows 8, there are options. Start 8 from Stardock is an inexpensive ($5.00) program which gives you a full blown Start Menu and the ability to use apps in Windows, etc… Classic Shell by Ivo Beltchev is free, and offers the return of the classic Start Menu, the Windows XP Start Menu, or the Windows 7 Start Menu, as well as other “explorer” features, like showing the full folder path in the Windows Explorer address bar, etc…

I encourage you to check both out and see if something works for you. But me? I’ll be here… using the Start Screen, and waiting to see what Microsoft does with Windows 8.1.

Can we dial the hyperbole back just a tad? It’s like people in various walks of life got a new computer this week, it came with Windows 8, they didn’t like it, so they decided to say nasty things about Microsoft. (more…)

I ran in to this one yesterday and thought I should tell you all how I got around it. First, a quick description of the problem.

After a recent downgrade from Internet Explorer 10 back to Internet Explorer 9 (by going to the Programs and Features menu and simply uninstalling IE10), problems started to crop up. Now, this doesn’t happen 100% of the time, I’ve successfully uninstalled 10 and gone back to 9 before, but this does appear to be a bug that has happened more than once. When you click a download link: NOTHING HAPPENS! I mean less than nothing. There is no “Run / Save / Cancel” window popping up, it just sits there. I spent hours trying to figure this one out, and the final solution isn’t pretty, but I’ll tell you what I had to do. (more…)

This is an oddly specific error, and I don’t have any good screenshots to go with it, so I apologize, but it’s something I stumbled on to last week. When opening Outlook I got a very cryptic error message, but what jumped out at me was in the error it blamed the problem on “DPOfcx.” I found nothing useful about this error online, so I started picking through the computer until I realized it was an issue with HP ProtectTools. Generally, when we ship an HP out from our Help Desk, we uninstall this program (which is a pain in itself, because you need to first uninstall all ProtectTools modules, then the application itself). But this computer still had ProtectTools on it. Some users suggested changing your “DEP” settings in Windows, but that will open up an entirely different can of worms. Here’s the best solution I found: (more…)

This has been an interesting week. Several articles and interviews that I have stumbled upon seemed to have collided in my brain. I sat down and watched a 2010 interview with Gary Vaynerchuck. He’s the founder of Wine Library, but he’s used the lessons he has learned starting his own business to travel around the country advising business that have been much longer established than his own. Vaynerchuck has the kind of personality that people should fear. He represents an undercurrent that is changing the way the world does business. In the interview, one of the interviewers, Tom Merritt, mentions writing a letter to Bazooka Joe as a child. The first day he received the response, he was so proud to see it… shortly thereafter, he realized it was a form letter response, and the magic wore off. I had the opposite experience growing up, writing a letter to video game giant Nintendo and actually receiving a response back from the staff that specifically addressed my questions. This was nearly twenty years ago, but that kind of behavior is exactly what Vaynerchuck is advising companies to do.

Gary Vee understands how to build a brand. As an example of this, in the interview, he describes using the Brisk Iced Tea Twitter account to debate the best rapper of all time. It has nothing to do with plugging your brand. It has everything to do with treating your customers like people – not dollar signs. The twitter account for @XboxSupport does the same thing – they are good at joking around with and discussing hot topics with their community members. Interact with your demographic, talk with them. He talked about having his own employees call and thank their customers without having to “drop the other shoe” and try to sell them something. The world has changed and the person-to-person business is as important as it was five hundred years ago, when you worked face-to-face reputations to uphold.

It is important to balance that, however. Everybody has an opinion, and you can’t always take them to heart. You also can’t ignore every comment – some complaints may be legitimate, they may have to do with things you haven’t considered. “Trolling” on the internet is a term that fascinates me. I have no facts to back it up, but my theory is that it began with the verb usage of the word, like trolling a pond or lake. You’re putting something out there as a sort of bait and trying to see what you can drag up. They did this because it got laughs – having an anonymous persona allowed you to say things you might not otherwise say. Mob-Mentality sets in and before you know it you have groups of “Trolls” roaming the internet. As you can see, the word later evolved a noun, where a person exhibiting this behavior was a “troll” – like the kind that live under bridges in fairy tales. And no matter how many times you’re told not to feed the trolls, you shouldn’t ignore them completely. Eventually, you may even be able to win the trolls over.

“Every person you look at you can see the universe in their eyes, if you’re really looking” said George Carlin. He was talking about how he loved individuals, but not groups of people. It’s easy to dislike people, but it’s fascinating to become absorbed by one. I’ve always thought, as a bit of an introvert, that I hate people. But he’s right, I don’t. I’m fascinated by them – forcing yourself to have one on one interactions, even in a crowded room, is key. Their unique story, their perspective, their experiences, and personality. Whatever makes them unique. The world has detached from that idea. It’s not about a person, or even groups of people.

Too many business owners see themselves as the operators of a gigantic money-making machine where the employees and the cogs are replaceable entities that allow them to make more money. Rather than using the human touch to keep someone happy, they simply try to extract the maximum potential yield from that particular cog, eject it, and replace it with another cog. People have meetings, and emails, and discussions about resolving a problem, but what happens less and less is genuine interaction and concern with finding the right solution for the right company. That doesn’t always mean maximizing profits right now, it means grooming a long term relationship with your client.

I was recently working on a completely unrelated issue, and someone asked “while I’m talking to you, can you look at this?” They opened Outlook 2013 on their computer and were greeted by a Script Error. I hadn’t even seen Outlook 2013 before this (I skipped the Office 2013 preview last year!), but I was pretty quickly able to figure this one out.

I don’t have Office 2013 in front of me right this second, but I believe the steps were very similar to these:

1. Right click on your account name / email address on the left side of the screen.
2. Click Properties.
3. Click on the Home Page tab.
4. Uncheck boxes for Outlook today – you want Outlook to open straight to the Inbox.

These steps may not be precise, but they should be close. My instructions will be refined once I get a personal copy of Outlook 2013 – comments for clarification are always welcome!

I’m a huge fan of a process known as “Dogfooding.” I wanted to share it with you.

This is by no means a new concept. It began to take flight with the 1970’s Alpo Dog Food commercials, featuring the founder of Alpo doing a commercial in which he showed that he fed his own dog with his own product. It is reminiscent of the Hair Club for Men (“I’m not only the president, I’m a client!”). The legends say that in 1988 a corporate email went out to Microsoft employees saying that Microsoft, as a company, needed to start “eating [their] own dog food.” Meaning, they needed to start using their own products more. If they wouldn’t use their own products, how could they expect to sell them?

I’ve always been fascinated by this phrase. I love it. If you make something, you should love it so much that you want to use it. You should trust it enough to make your business run on it. Microsoft creates their own platforms, and uses them. Occasionally they get busted using a Linux web server somewhere, or they get a little good will by contributing to Linux development, but all in all, they build their own tools, and use them. Typically they use those tools to build newer tools! If you work for Ford, you should probably drive a Ford car!

If there is something out there that you would rather use than your own product, how can you make your product better? Before there was Microsoft Word, there was Microsoft Works. Before that, one of the biggest names, for the longest time, was IBM’s Lotus Notes. Lotus Notes was one of the best word processors and really defined what all future word processors would be and how they would look and behave. Microsoft knew they had to take cues from IBM, and make their product better.

I like to constantly think about if I were my own customer, would I like this? “This” being any number of scenarios, of course. I remember a few years ago, I was attending a wedding. Prior to the ceremony, a few of my former co-workers and I from a job I had once held got together for a few drinks. We chatted, and talked about where we were working at the time of the wedding – many of us had moved on to newer jobs, and have of course moved since. He asked me about a service the company I was employed at was offering, and I told him the features I liked and some of the things I didn’t like about the product – he then asked if we used it internally? “No,” I responded, “it doesn’t give us the flexibility we need.”

He shook his head and replied, “you’ve got to eat your own dog food.” I nodded, but I surprised myself with a response I had never even considered: “not everyone needs the flexibility.” And there it was. I, a firm believer in dog-fooding, realized that while it is good in theory, it cannot be implemented in practice. But was that it? Did I just destroy the preached-practice of eating your own dog food?

Although I agree a company should be so invested in their own products and services that they should be willing to use them, it is important to remember the scale of your product or service’s target audience. If your product is designed for a small company, but you’re a large corporation, you’re probably going to need something bigger to suit your needs. I would bet that the people who started companies like TurboTax are probably intelligent and knowledgeable CPA who probably don’t use the TurboTax software to file their own taxes. But that should be their fuel to keep developing and improving! Maybe you aren’t your own target audience for your current product. But your next product could revolutionize your industry!

When it comes to software development, your work is never done. If you think that what you have is great the way it is, then you should be proud of what you have – but you should think about ways you can make the next big leap. When it comes to owning and running a business, no matter what it is, you should always find that drive to continue making the experience better for your client, make a higher profit, or even make your business the kind of place talent wants to work. Yes, they are broad statements, but your mind doesn’t always need to be dreaming up new ideas, just improving on old ones. Even if it’s a banana stand.

I recently read an interesting take on Why Intel can’t kill x86. Even video game console manufacturers are encountering the same issues. The solution I’m about to propose must have been proposed a hundred times over, but I think now is a good time to revisit it. Virtualization and emulation. Let me explain. (more…)

Google is so pleased with themselves. They’re seeing success with the recent Chromebook releases. Which made sense, in some form, when it was a few hundred dollars and had an impressive screen and physical design. But the Chromebook Pixel, which starts at $1,299 and goes upwards of $1,599, looks to many people browsing store shelves like a full blown “laptop.”

I will be the first to admit that over 80% of what I do on my computer is within my browser, these days. We live our lives on the World Wide Web, even if we don’t call it that anymore. Email is in the browser, Netflix is in the browser, Facebook, all of our news websites, even the tool I’m using to write this blog (and obviously how you’ll read it!) is all in a browser. Kudos to Google for identifying this. But for those other things? We need computers. Real ones. Not just browsers, or environments that look like Windows but are little more than a browser, like Google’s ChromeOS.

Google can pat themselves on the back all they want, but Google isn’t getting phone calls every day asking them “how do I install Quickbooks on this thing?” They would, except Google has gotten into the market of selling things without support. This was fine when everything was free. So what if GMail is down? It’s free! Or, it’s in beta! These were Google’s favorite defenses. But now they’ve achieved widespread use. They need to offer support. They need to hear the complaints their customers have, because right now, they’re marching onward so damn proud of their Chromebook sales. Meanwhile, every person I’ve met with a Chromebook so far? I’ve successfully talked them in to returning it to the store.

What do you mean I can’t install Word?. Well, Google offers Google Docs! It’s free! And it looks kind of like Word! But no, you can’t install the program you’re used to. And if your internet ever goes out, your productivity literally, not figuratively, just dropped to zero.

Google still lives in a Google world. Where everyone is a geek, who loves the idea of Google Buzz. Google forgets that there are still non-technical users out there. The people drawn to the iPhone? Are the same people who ask me why Word didn’t come with their new Windows computer. They don’t understand that Word 2007 and Windows 7 are different products. They don’t understand why they have to pay for Office 2011 on their new Mac if they want Outlook installed. They don’t understand that a Chromebook isn’t a computer, it’s a browser. And the people who pay over a thousand dollars? Are expecting a hell of a lot more than a browser.

Maybe I haven’t seen the right use case or product review, but I think the Chromebook, especially the Chromebook Pixel, is a waste of money.

Another one of Microsoft’s little messes. It’s the year 2013, and Microsoft is still so afraid of jumping head first into 64-bit computing that, by default, Office 2013 users who need to download their installer will download the 32-bit client. As if it’s impossible for Microsoft to run a script on the web page to identify what version of your OS is loaded on your computer? It’s just another one of those SNAFU’s that you get used to, I guess.

First you buy a license at a store like Best Buy, or Amazon. Then you have a product key, nothing more. You have to enter your product key to download the software. But don’t start the download right away! After you click the “get started” button as pictured above, you need to look for (I wish I screenshot of this, sorry, I don’t have one right now) “Language and Install Options.” Then there will be another link that says “Additional Install Options.” There you will find your 64-bit installer.

Perfectly logical, right?

You might have some travel planned and need to spend some time away from work. In the age of mobile phones it feels like we can never be too far away from our email, particularly when it is work related. Still, it is professional courtesy to leave an “Out of Office” message on when you’re gone – so that people who send you email get an automatic response to their email. I generally put in a blanket statement saying I’m out of the office, and I’ll be back at a certain date; including a contact number for someone they can reach quickly if they need help is a nice addition. But how do you DO it when it comes to the “vastly different than its predecessors” Outlook 2010? This is how: