In mid-July, Microsoft will begin selling office programs to consumers on a subscription basis.   This is a bold new business model for Office that is rumored to start at about $70 per year.  The price seems reasonable for what you get (especially when I consider that I spend over $100/month on my cable bill), but you be the judge.

Equipt will include:

• Word 2007
• Excel 2007
• PowerPoint 2007
• OneNote 2007
• Microsoft Office Live Workspace
• Windows Live tools (Mail, Messenger, Photo, etc)
• Windows Live OneCare
• Upgrades and Updates

What do you think?  Good deal or bad deal?  Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Categories: Technology
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It’s hot in Seattle!  I’m not complaining, but it’s a short show cause it’s just too hot in the Crapmonkey “Studio” to stay for any length of time.  Looking for something to do this weekend?  The Rails to Ales Brewfest is coming up in Cle Elum on Saturday, July 12th.  If you’re not down with heading that far East, you might just go as far as Redmond and visit the Sub Pop 20th Anniversary Concert (July 12 & 13).  Personally, I’m looking most forward to the Oregon Brewfest coming up at the end of the month (Click here to view a video I produced at last year’s brewfest).  In Tech news, Bill Gates retired this week.  A great retrospective collection of videos is located on Microsoft.com. 

The Song of the Day is Rooftop by Sunday Morning Music.  They are not together anymore, but you might want to keep track of former members, Jeff Fielder and Zach Harjo.  The Website of the day is viewzi.com and we close the show with a song called 4th of July by Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers.

 

 The CrapMonkey Podcast Episode #129 [18:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Categories: Podcast
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In face-to-face conversations, sometimes our thoughts get ahead of us and things come out wrong.  In the Twitterverse, there are even more ways to trip over yourself and convey the wrong message.  However, Twitter has the added feature of archiving that stumble for generations to come.  Following are the top five ways to flub with Twitter:

• The Gatling Tweet:  This is when Twitter is flaking out and your updates fail to update, so you continue to re-type your check in, only to have it continually fail to update.  Eventually, the site comes back to health and all of your Twitter updates rattle off one after another like a Gatling Gun -spamming Twitter with a comment that was barely worth reading the first time. 
• The Forgotten Follower:  Once you are being followed by a decent number of people, it can be hard to keep track of the folks from your virtual posse that transcend into your real world (at least until you make a Tweet you regret): 
  • CrapMonkey is Twittering: Skipped out of work to have a beer and a shot of Jameson at the Pub.  Expensing as a “business meeting” of course.
  • (Sudden relization that the boss is a Follower)
  • CrapMonkey is Twittering: @BossMan - I was just kidding, (LOL), I’m actually filling out that TPS report I promised you.
• The Roaming Cursor:  Let’s face it, cursors tend to roam around the browser sometimes.  Nothing worse than typing in the address of your next destination only to find that your cursor was in the Twitter Update field.
  •  CrapMonkey is Twittering:  PunkyBrewsterFanClub.com 
• The Drunken Tweet: This one needs little explanation, but after a few too many - one should probably steer clear of Twitter.  Twitter is taking the drunken booty call public in a big way:
  •  CrapMonkey is Twittering: @hotmamma - I’m gonna come over and get my lovin’ on - yeah… I don’t care who knows it!
• The Truncated Tweet:  We’ve all had to train ourselves in the ways of brevity, but let’s face it, sometimes we stumble and Twitter is unforgiving.  When the 140 character limit is exceeded, you can do little more than hope the part that made it conveyed your message appropriately.
  • CrapMonkey is Twittering:  I have got to say, I’ve known jenny for a long time and work out with her at the Gym all the time. I can’t wait to be invited into her Association of Fitness Instructors.

These are my top 5 Twitter faux pas, do you have any others?  Leave them in the comments.

Categories: Uncategorized
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So, this isn’t the most politically correct idea I’ve ever had, but it seems handy nonetheless.  I’ve launched the first in my series of “the f@#K Out of it“ properties designed to provide more value around the sites you leverage everyday.  The first is dedicated to Twitter.  Try it out and let me know what you think.  Other sites are coming online soon (and I’m looking for a volunteer developer to help if you are in the mood to do some simple pro-bono work).

Categories: Uncategorized
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From time to time I speak to classrooms and groups about Podcasting and RSS.  When doing so, I’ve always struggled to communicate the impact of XML over the traditional HTML that defined the web for so long.  Today at Podcamp Seattle, Eric Weaver played this video in his presentation and I was extremely impressed at how well it delivers the message.    

Categories: Uncategorized
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Well, I finally did a refresh of content in the CrapMonkey Store.  Show your CrapMonkey Love with logo merchandise.  Shirts, hats, mugs, mousepads and more (you can even get some thong underware if it suits you).  Just click here or on the cash register in the CrapMonkey.com sidebar.

Categories: Miscellaneous
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Thanks to rising oil prices and increased costs of food, many folks are feeling the squeeze in their grocery budgets.  As such, Spam had over a 14% increase in sales this quarter as people look for cheaper ways to feed their families.  Spam, of course, is also the product credited for the slang term used to reference junk email.  The name resonated with people after a Monte Python sketch referenced the product over a hundred times. 

Categories: Miscellaneous
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Let’s face it, right out of the box, Windows PocketPC phones don’t seem quite as sexy as the iPhone.  That said, these devices pack a lot of power and flexibility so with a few of the right programs installed, PocketPC phones can become pretty fun to use.  I have the AT&T Tilt and following are some killer applications that I have installed:

• Spb Mobile Shell: This UI shell makes everything easily available at your fingertips and gives the look and feel of the phone an overhaul.  A great application with a terrible name. 
• Resco Keyboard Pro: The default GUI keyboard on the PocketPC phone is designed for a sylus.  This keyboard application swaps that out with a nice touch keyboard complete with “gesture” (flick) support. 

Once you’ve installed the above applications, it will be like  having a whole new phone.  Now lets move on to some bells and whistles:

• ShoZu:  This application does a few different things, but I like it for it’s photo-sharing abilities.  Snap a photo and instantly send it to Flickr, Facebook, email or several other destinations of your choosing.
• Spb Insight or NewsGator Go:  No mobile device is complete without an RSS reader.  I prefer the look and feel of Spb Insight, but I like that NewsGator Go stays in sync with my NewsGator / Feeddemon subscriptions. Spb Insight also puts news flashes on your today screen.
• Windows Live Search (the downloadable mobile version):  This is a great application for general search, directions, traffic, movie times, and gas prices.  It even does GPS locating to help you pinpoint places near you.
• Office Mobile, OneNote Mobile, and communicator are obvious helpful tools for the mobile office worker.
• ComVu Pocket Caster: Webcast from your pocket with this PocketPC video/audio encoder.  Turn it on and be instantly webcasting to the web.  Similar to QIK but supports more phones.
• Finally, check out PocketSolutions for screen protectors.  They are pretty good quality and you can get three packs, cut to size, for under $5.  This is a much better deal than what you will find at the cellular store. 

So there you have it.  Hopefully using these applications will renew your love for your PocketPC phone.  Admittedly, the missing piece is still a web browser that lets you comfortably navigate the non-mobile web.  However, that is coming very soon in Windows Mobile 6.1 so relief is just around the corner.  Do you have other favorite mobile applications?  Put them in the comments.

Categories: Technology
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It’s a bit like the Millennium bug that threatened applications that were not prepared for the year 2000.  Some older dial gas pumps were not designed to exceed $3.99 per gallon and did not have “4″ as a possible dollar amount.  Now that gas prices have shot past the $4 mark in many places; smaller, older service stations are in trouble.  Many mom and pop shops cannot afford the tens of thousands it can cost to replace the pumps.  Furthermore, it is illegal to sell gas from a pump that cannot register the price correctly.  That said, regulators understand the bind that small service stations are in and have allowed them to stay open so long as they can demonstrate they are working to retrofit or replace the pumps.  In the mean time, service stations must calculate the price of gas manually.  I suggest we keep gas below $4 a gallon to help these guys out, what do you say?  More detail can be found in this Article from the Seattle Times.

Categories: Technology
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Lots of things going on lately.  I spent the weekend bobbing in the water off Alki getting my PADI scuba open water certification.  In this episode, we talk a bit about the Iron Maiden Concert on June 2nd and listen to a couple of clips from that show - Including some thoughts Bruce Dickinson had regarding Grunge and the media coverage of it.  In this episode we cover some beer news some upcoming events including the next week’s Seattle Podcast Meetup, The Father’s Day Washington Brewers Festival, and the Phinney Neighborhood Association Beer Taste in July.

The song of the day is Movie, by Katie Davis and the website of the day is GuerrillaMail.com.  We close the show on clips from the Iron Maiden concert.

 

 The CrapMonkey Podcast Episode #128 [31:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Categories: Podcast, beer
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