My Green(er) Aquarium

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I added to the green in my desktop aquarium by removing all the fake plants and replacing them with actual live flora. The Marimo ball that I added to the tank looks like a green tribble as it floats around with my betta fish.

I also added a 2nd African dwarf frog to keep things interesting.

Google Needs a Twelpforce

It’s pretty obvious that Google’s biggest strength is their technology. It seems like every month involves some new Google technology meant to strengthen the company’s position as the Internet’s information phone book. On the other hand, as the company releases more and more products, I’m starting to see a small, but growing, backlash against their weakness: customer service.

When Google’s product line consisted of “beta” products like Gmail or Google Maps, they could get away with providing very minimal customer service. Users with issues are often directed to an email address or forums for support. Now that Google is developing operating systems, like the Android platform on a growing number of smartphones such as their own Google-branded Nexus One, or the Chrome OS that they hope to have on netbooks, relying on email or forum support just isn’t going to cut it for potential buyers.

Google is absolutely going to have to invest in more traditional customer service options, such as call centers, as their product families grow. However, I also believe they’d also significantly benefit from looking at how Best Buy’s Twelpforce handles both customer service and technology questions.

As a Best Buy employee who has helped a number of people via Twelpforce, I know very well how the model allows a company to use the collective knowledge of its employees to provide help to the public on a wide range of topics related to a company’s products and services.

If there’s one thing Google is very strong in, it’s the technical knowledge of their employees. Imagine how many questions they could answer for the public by using a Twelpforce model to bring that knowledge straight to not only those asking the questions, but to anyone else who might have similar problems as well.

Google wouldn’t have to rely on only Twitter as a means to answer those incoming questions either. Best Buy has been developing a tool alongside Twelpforce, called BBYFeed, that allows for both questions and answers that won’t fit within Twitter’s 140 characters. This tool is being designed to open up future avenues for both incoming and outgoing interactions beyond Twitter.

If any company would be good at creating a way to collect those answers in a way that could be easily searched and available to answer future questions, it would be Google.

So Google, where’s your Twelpforce?

Rock and Roll in New York City

               

I had one of those “once in a lifetime” trips this week when I went to New York City for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 2010 Inception Ceremony. This year being the 25th inception ceremony made it even more special.

Although you never seem to have enough time while there, visiting various sites around New York, such as Grand Central Station and Times Square, were as great as you’d expect. I look forward to visiting again to see more, though I doubt I’ll ever see “everything” the city has to offer.

Flickr Photo Set: New York – Rock Hall Inception 2010

Tips to Save Your Wet Cell Phone

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There’s nothing that can ruin your holiday cheer like losing your cell phone to water damage.

Fortunately, even if you drop your mobile in your Guinness this St. Patrick’s Day, Geek Squad has some tips to help save that phone. No lucky four leaf clovers required!

I had a chance to speak with Wayne Dawson on Fox 8 News this week to demonstrate these tips that may save your cell phone.

I later provided the same tips to the Wills & Snyder show on WTAM 1100. Click below to listen:

Geek Squad Tips to Save Your Wet Cell Phone

Twelpforce Space Experiment No. 2

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One of the best parts about living in the technological age we do is how the average home computer can be used to create your own media.

I’ve been playing around with a few different “entry level” consumer video editing programs like Sony’s Vegas Movie Studio HD 9. I created the test video above using only a few photos and music, and as you can see, the results can pretty pretty stunning as you become more comfortable with the program.

With the wide availability of inexpensive HD camcorders, it’s quickly becoming a world where a little time and some creativity can really unleash your inner director.