I don’t know why but I can’t stop playing this Flash game. I guess it’s not really a game but more of designing a track that doesn’t kill your sledding pal. Even your kids will like it.

James Surowiecki of the New Yorker has written an excellent article explaining why third place isn’t such a bad place to be after all for Nintendo.

Nintendo has dropped out of this race. The Wii has few bells and whistles and much less processing power than its “competitors,” and it features less impressive graphics. It’s really well suited for just one thing: playing games

Link to full article

A new take on the best Christmas special.

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John Cass is conducting a blogger survey and asked me to comment on Heather Hamilton’s blog: One Louder. Heather is a Staffing Manager for Microsoft and is one of few blogs I check each day.

I’ve been reading her blog for a few years now. I really enjoy her writing style and she provides an interesting look into Microsoft and how she goes about finding the best fit for the many jobs she’s looking to fill. If someone were to ask me if they should apply to work at Microsoft, this is the first blog I’d tell them to read. Her insight into the hiring process and various groups something you won’t find elsewhere.

Link to interview

I’ve been a Nero user for many years. But when I tried to install Windows Vista the first time, I received a warning message that Nero had to be uninstalled before Vista could continue. Once Vista was installed I went looking for new burning software and came across a blog post where someone recommended trying SwiftDisc.

I figured SwiftdDisc would be a stop gap until Nero was updated for Vista. But after a few months of using SwiftDisc I’m convinced this is exactly what I need. It has a very simple but slick interface. It just plain works and is well worth the $20. It makes Nero feel expensive and bloated.

Update: CPU Magazine says the next version of Nero will include VOIP. Huh?? Since when did users start demanding cheap internet phone calls with their DVD burning? I thought it was strange when they added all the media center functionality. I expect them to add an office suite to the next version. Nero jumped the shark this time around.

Our family drove to North Bend to hop aboard the Santa Train that travels into Snoqualmie where the kids get to sit on Santa’s lap and warm up with a hot chocolate. If you have kids and live in the Seattle area I highly recommend this activity if you can still find tickets which sell out quickly.

But I noticed something about the people who organized this activity: they were mostly volunteers and they were genuinely happy to see the kids and perform their job. Most were over the age of 50 from what I could tell. As we waited in line for about an hour, several of the volunteers talked with those in line, telling jokes and sharing the history of the train. On the ride, several volunteers went from coach to coach singing Christmas carols and having a blast with the kids. One volunteer had a hat full of bells (Mr. Bells was his name according to his name tag) and he took extra time to give each child extra attention.

I suppose it would be possible to find people who loved to be around kids and pay them to perform the same duties as those volunteers. But I doubt they would have done a better job. Those who would volunteer to be around noisy and rambunctious kids all day would have to enjoy the experience and enjoy the kids. Whatever the reasons they chose to select volunteers, it was the right choice for this family activity.

It took nearly 11 months but I saw my favorite film of the year tonight on DVD: An Inconvenient Truth. I highly recommend checking it out even if you’re not an Al Gore fan, although he presents his case very well. There’s so much information packed into 90 minutes that I’ll have to watch it a few more times in order to take it all in.

“In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to.”

–Roger Ebert – Link to his review of film

We had family in town from Utah this week. Our kids were very excited to spend Thanksgiving with their Grandpa and Grandma. After the feast we watched the Snowman on DVD. I bought this a number of years ago and it’s become a tradition to watch on Thanksgiving night. I really enjoy the story and the music from George Winston.

I went to Fry’s tonight to look around. I found a Zelda: Twight Princess guidebook for 15 bucks and went to register where this dialog took place:

Fry’s Clerk: Did you find everything you were looking for?

Me: Yep, I did. (as I’m holding out $17 in cash)

Fry’s Clerk: Would you like to put this on your Fry’s account?

Me: No thanks, I’ll just pay cash

Fry’s Clerk: I see that. We have to ask everyone and I don’t want to get fired

I wrote about these dumb questions employers force their associate to ask customers a few weeks back and here’s yet another example. I have the cash out of my wallet. The clerk can clearly see I want to pay with cash. But because of some lame corporate mandate, he has to ask me a dumb question and make both of us uncomfortable.

Why not train your employees to use good judgment in offering credit and let them figure out the best time to make such an offer? Asking me to put a $15 book on a credit card I probably don’t have is just lame and the clerk who asked me that knew it. I knew it and Fry’s corporate should know it too.

I knew a Nintendo Wii was going to be a hard find on the evening of the launch. I showed up at Fred Meyer around 10 pm, a couple of hours before the Wii would go on sale at midnight to stand in line with a group of passionate Nintendo fans. The crowd included a lot of teen boys but mixed in were moms, grandparents and a number of teen girls with $250 to burn. It was an eclectic crowd to say the least.

I was #60 in line and there were only 54 Wii to go around. Bummer. But I was so impressed with the manager of Fred Meyer in how he treated the crowd, many of which were surely disappointed after having spent hours standing in the cold rain only to come up empty handed. The manager walked up and down the line of people explaining to everyone how things were going to go down. He explained that, although only 54 consoles were available, he expected shipments every Tuesday. He expressed empathy to those outside the lucky 54. He was kind and respectful and hung around to answer all questions. He made me want to support Fred Meyer with my business.

Contrast that experience I had a while later at Wal-Mart who was also selling the Wii at midnight. I went from Fred Meyer to Wal-Mart hoping they might have more than 54 in stock. The line here wasn’t as long but there was no manager to be found. People in the line were confused. Nobody knew how many Wii were available. There was contention in the air. It was cold and raining and this crowd was in no mood to go home without a Wii. Just before midnight a police car pull up near the entrance of the building and escorted the Wal-Mart manager to the Wii crowd. He didn’t say a word as he passed out vouchers to about the first 30 in line. No explanation. No questions answered. No going through the crowd to explain when more might be available and expressing sympathy to those customers who waited in line to purchase a $250 item from his store.

It left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Both Fred Meyer and Wal-Mart had the same opportunity to show appreciation to those who stood in line to purchase an expensive game machine. At Wal-Mart I felt like an inconvenience. It was as if Wal-Mart corporate required the store to open at midnight while the manager wished he was back home watching Conan. On the other hand, the manager at Fred Meyer made me feel like I was valued as a customer. He was happy to be out amongst his passionate and sometime rowdy customers.

This experience has made me think about the companies where I choose to spend my money. Are the people there excited to help me find the right item, or do they just want to sell me something? Or worse, am I viewed as an inconvenience when what I’m there to buy, is out of stock? How do you treat your most passionate customers? If you have customers who are willing to stand in line for hours, in the middle of the night, in the rain…how can you make sure they will return when all they need is a gallon of milk instead of a hot gaming console?