We have all heard the old adage “You gotta have a gimmick.” Of course I never thought I would see the day when it would become the mantra of an Internet browser. Of course, when you are Microsoft and you are seeing your stocks slip, your head honcho start taking time off, and your products losing retail placement, you begin to adhere to “by any means necessary” as well.

For those who don’t know, the BETA download for Internet Explorer 8 is out and it has some bells and whistles that have all the tech journalists talking. The first and most obvious of these is the “porn mode” in which when you browse in this mode, it leaves no tracks in your browser. It is rightfully called “InPrivate Browsing” but we all know a NSFW device when we see one. This may cause problems for technicians and troubleshooters as now we will have no idea where a malicious code was picked up or a virus downloaded from. We won’t even know what pages have been surfed.

On the flip side of the coin though this is a great feature for anyone who is uncomfortable with the rising Big Brother level of user tracking that online ad companies do nowadays. That stealthy monitoring is the obscenity everyone encounters on the Web. I mean, nobody really wants Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Microsoft and other tech companies following us around the ‘net, building customer profiles and targeting us with SPAM. This sort of privacy is long overdue.

Keep in mind, Internet Explorer 8 won’t restore the level of privacy that existed before the Web. It also won’t satisfy privacy fanatics who have more complex ways to mask themselves online. But IE8 will make it easier for average users to have more control over their browsing privacy…oh, and it looks attractive too!

Photo courtesy of Swingnote

I had a really cool call tonight. It was about 9:15pm EST and I was in ‘Q’ when David from Burbank, California logged in with a Windows 2000 problem. Windows alone freaks me out because I have been on Mac for about six years now. But Win 2000? I thought that was a computer joke, not a real operating system. Hmmmmmm. Anyway. David was having problems getting his desktop icons to respond and kept getting “Access Denied” messages. As David and I went through some basic questions and tests he began telling me how much his computer meant to him. You see, David is a professional storm chaser and specializes in tornadoes. His computer is his primary weapon and companion. It was so fascinating to hear him talk about the role of technology in modern meteorology.

After we had solved his problem (issue with admin permissions) he told me what an awesome company MinuteFix was and how he was dually impressed with my willingness to help and to give him my phone number should he have problems while on the road chasing. He promised he would pass on our information to all the other chasers he works with. Before we hung up he said he appreciated my speed and reminded me that in life, like in storms, every second counts!

Photo courtesy of www.extremeinstability.com

I do hope that we are all prepared for any sort of technology based issue that may come down the pike. For just a second, let us assume that a seemingly young man contact MinuteFix and says that his MP3 players is having issues buffering a song to play it in its entirety. He assures us he is using Windows XP and iTunes as an interface. What he fails to leave out is that the computer processor is also serving as a brain for a highly amplified radio system that boasts some 3000 watts of heavy hitting subwoofer sound…..and all this jury rigged on a bicycle.

Ok, so maybe that is a bit fantastical. But if this movie is any indication of the future, you better start reading some audio magazines now!

• It seems that not all was what it seemed for the opening of the Beijing Olympics. Two days ago Beijing organizers confirmed that some of the fireworks display featured prerecorded footage.
• It seems that Apple does know how to share. About 600 Best Buy stores will begin selling the 3G unit. This should be pretty interesting, I think, since the iPhone is exclusive to AT&T and Verizon has a kiosk in every Best Buy. Could a merger be in the works?
• Knowing when to buy and when to sell is a science in the investment world. I bet all those people who never sold their Apple shares from the IIPC days are feeling pretty good now.
• Community is key and WOM is a must in the marketing sector right now. No one knows that better than Mac.
• Dell knows Walmart and Walmart knows everyone. At least that was part of the story behind Dell computers being sold at the mega- box store. But why would Dell want to become affiliated with such a corrupt and capitalist chain?

The August 1st print edition of the San Jose Business Journal finally realized what we have known all the time - MinuteFix is set to disrupt through revolution the precepts of customer service and technical support. Featuring CEO Diego Orjuela, the biz journal gave a great insight into the ideas and theories of MinuteFix as well as introducing us in print to the movers and shakers of “the Valley.”

Unfortunately the article only ran in the print edition and archives are only available through e-subscription, I highly encourage you to search for the article. In fact, because I am so proud of the team here at MinuteFix, I have made a .jpg of the article available for download here.

• Perhaps Apple was a bit overzealous in pushing out the 3G iPhone and, in extension, the MobileMe platform. Yesterday Mac Mail was down for a few hours causing a loss in communication for a number of users.
• Do you want to impress your friends on the next night out by ordering your food in the native language of the menu? Well, if you have an iPhone Google is ready to help you do just that.
• Geotagging has become increasingly popular with photographers and especially Flickr addicts. I guess you can’t like about that picture of the “African mountain lion you were 5 feet away from in lower Ghana” if you actually took the shot at the San Diego zoo. But seriously, Nikon has just launched the Coolpix P6000 point and click has amongtst other things a full size ethernet port, GPS capabilities and 13.2 megapixels of digital glory.
• Windows Media Player 11 is availble for download on the Microsoft site if you don’t already have it. Borrowing from the cult classic Spinal Tap, MS ensures us that you can now “turn it up to 11.”
• If you’ve tried to catch the opening ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics you may have noticed that many of the videos have been removed and a photographic montage put in its place. While quite annoying it has left many watchers wondering what is behind the censorship. With no concrete answers you may find it interesting to read about the onslaught of copyright infringement suits that have been implemented in less than a week.

Hey there MinuteFix technicians! It’s your old buddy and MinuteFix Customer Experience Officer Phil Gerbyshak, back from the nearly dead, here to share an article with you about GREAT service and how YOU can provide this for our clients! If you’re one of our new techs who doesn’t yet know me, or if you’re one of our senior technicians who thought I was never coming back, I am super excited to be here with you, and apologize I haven’t been around as much as I will be soon.

On with the article…

Bill Taylor recently shared the Geek Squad’s guide to great service, which seems very similar to what our fantastic technician’s here at MinuteFix live every day:

1. Never violate the trust of my clients or disrespect their property.
2. Never say, “I don’t know.” Instead, say, “I’ll find out.”
3. Always understand that my clients’ time is more valuable than my own.
4. Assume every problem is my fault, unless proven otherwise.
5. Consider my job done only when my client is completely overwhelmed with joy. And instead of assuming they’re happy, I’ll ask them.
6. Keep every promise I make. Including this one.

I think these are great rules for MinuteFix techs to live by. Here are 2 more to help us not only deliver great service, but also help each other help the next person who gets the problem.

7. If I learn something new, I will share it with the rest of the technicians. Douglas Wong and many others do this amazingly well at our Certified Technician Community.

8. I will not take it personally when clients get frustrated with their computers. After 15 years in tech support, I’ve talked to thousands of VERY upset people, and only once or twice has it debased into a personal attack. If a client is using our services, chances are they are not as technically savvy as you are. Unfortunately it also means they are not a happy camper with their computer and may be using us as an absolute last resort. It’s NOT your fault, just help them and don’t take it personally.

What are some other great rules to live by so we can create great customer experiences for all of the MinuteFix clients?

Flickr photo credit to pyrator

At MinuteFix we do more than just get rid of a virus and install some free software. We do much, much more. One of those things is we also offer advice on any area of expertise our Technicians may have. For some it is the Mac platform. For others it is PC Gaming. And yet for some it is PDA’s, camera phone and cell phones. But how can we know what to prepare for? Well, find out what is saturating the market. According to Amazon the top 5 selling cell phones as of today are:

5. Sony Ericsson W580i Black Phone
4. Pantech C810 Duo Smartphone

3. AT&T Tilt Smartphone

2. Motorola RAZR2 V9 Phone

1. BlackBerry Curve 8320 Smartphone Titanium

Image by DPStyles

Many of make YouTube a mandatory stop on our daily browsings. So I thought today would be a good day to take a look at their top 5 videos.

Personally I was expecting something like lonelygirl15 or a Spider-Man trailer or something to be number 1. But no, the most popular video of all time on YouTube, so far, has been Evolution of Dance by comedian Judson Laipply. Added to YouTube on April 06, 2006 it has amassed 55.8 Million views. It’s had 60,476 comments, the first of which was: “That was freaking AWESOME! Thanks for sharing!!” The comments for this video are still going strong today - the latest 6 comments have all come just today as I was writing this post.

The next 3 most viewed YouTube videos are all music. Two of them professional, one amatuer.

• Avril Lavigne’s Girlfriend video, uploaded by RCARecords 5 months ago, has amassed 50 Million views.
• My Chemical Romance’s Famous Last Words is third, with 35M views.
• Guitar, is fourth with 26M views. It’s 5 minutes of Queen-like guitar licks, by some very talented dude.

And coming in at number 5 (and perhaps a cult classic now showing a new side of J-Tim):

• SNL - Digital Short - A Special Christmas Box (comedy)