What's Noo?
A blog for noobies by Patric Welch, techie and all around fun guy.
I spend a lot of time with noobies helping them tell the difference between a legitimate software update notification and a fake or unnecessary one. Just when I think I’m finally making some headway with my customers Apple goes ahead and releases its new version of its Safari browser as a software update, even if you have never had Safari installed on your computer to begin with. I envision the conversations with my customers over the next few days going something like this: Customer: Something called “Apple Software Update” just popped up on my screen. Should I click the Install… Continue reading...
Something odd happened to me yesterday–I had a pleasant experience at the post office. It all started when I needed to send some documents to my tax accountant via Priority Mail. I gathered up the documents, drove to the post office and, once inside, headed straight towards the automated kiosk just inside the lobby. It’s then that it occurred to me that I needed the Priority Mail packaging material and a label before I could continue. It’s also then that I couldn’t remember if the automated kiosk printed the label or if I needed to make my own. Apparently my… Continue reading...
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I’ve preached to my customers many times over the past two years to stay as far away as possible from any software labeled as “beta”. For those of you who haven’t heard my speech, installing beta software is like doing free user testing for a company, with no support whatsoever. That’s because beta software is really not-ready-for-prime-time software and slapping a beta tag on it releases the company from any liability that may incur from a user installing the software. So why was I so tempted when Firefox 3, Beta 4 was released? Why couldn’t I leave well enough alone… Continue reading...
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First it was Circuit City extending its return policy for customers who purchased the now obsolete HD DVD players. Then it was Carbonite commenting on my blog acknowledging my issue with my backup software and telling me how to fix it. And now Best Buy is jumping in the good-customer-service game by offering gift cards to its customers wishing to return their HD DVD players. While exchanging gift cards for returned HD DVD players isn’t quite as rewarding as the cash back Circuit City is offering, I am pleased to see both Best Buy and Circuit City acknowledging that their… Continue reading...
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Last night I watched the Wisconsin Badgers take on the Cal State Fullerton Titans in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. What was interesting was that there wasn’t a single television on in my house. Instead, I watched the entire game on my laptop. Before I say anything more, rest assured that if the game had been on television, I would have watched it on my television. Unfortunately my local CBS affiliate did not choose the game I wanted to watch as the game they decided to show. Back to the laptop. Thanks to a new feature… Continue reading...
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