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OK, it’s no secret that I’m not a big fan of Microsoft Products. I went through a period where they seemed to be working for me (last half of 2004 lol) and I wasn’t as vociferous, but I feel as though I really need to warn people about Windows Vista and Office 2007. They give me daily fits and starts, and negatively affect the productivity of my business. Here are the top ten reasons why you’ll want to buy a Mac after using them, and computer maven Chris Pirillo is way ahead of me on this.

1. Office 2007: The file formats for PowerPoint, Word, and Excel aren’t compatible with earlier versions of each program. So, EVERY time you send a file to a colleague, you have to know what version they have to know what file to send, and you’ll have to save two versions of the file if they don’t have 2007.
2. Office 2007: They’ve changed ALL the menus very drastically, and used their own twisted logic to do so, not relying on the fact that we are all used to the old menus and their logic. For example, Page Layout has about half the printing options, and the other half are on some weird menu on the left side of the window, completely separate from all the other menus. You end up feeling like someone with no logic has rearranged your garage, and you can’t find any of your tools. Heaven help the person who tries to upgrade to 2007 and prepare a document without allocating twice the time they think they’ll need before a big deadline.
3. Vista: They’ve dumbed down the file explorer windows. For some reason, they think the only thing people want to do with their computers is to view photos (the recent Mojave commercial confirms this–btw my 4 year old camera can create a panoramic photo), so all of my file folders are geared for that…I can’t see any file suffixes (.doc, .xls etc.) I’m sure there is a way to change it…but see my next item to see why this is problematic. You say “shouldn’t the colorful file icons point you in the right direction?” but look at #1 on this list…the Office 2007 files look almost identical to older versions of the files, and I’ve got a whole lot of these “duplicates” on my system. Why Microsoft software had so much potential for business, and now they are saying that your computer is simply a tool for manipulating photos, is beyond me. And btw, if this is your “position” as we say in marketing, I’m sorry to tell you that Macintosh computers are WAAAAAY better than you at things like this.
4. Vista: Control panel has been dumbed down way too much. I can’t for the life of me find how to change things like the display, reproducibly. You can switch to the old control panel view, but for some reason this is still different, and I can’t find it.
5. Vista: OS hangs and is too slow. Even though they’ve changed everything around to the point that you start to think that there must be some significant improvement in performance, the system is actually slower now. You often see programs hanging when you try to save files, etc. I estimate that Vista wastes about 20 minutes a day for me, translating to 3 weeks a year!!! I think they strove for an OS that looks good, making fancy icons for everything and making the borders of the windows partially transparent, and this slows things down. Kind of like a Corvair, looks nice but is unsafe at any speed. Microsoft, please don’t make us test drive your Corvair!
6. Office 2007: They got rid of forms in Word. This used to be really cool, you could make a form that someone could fill out and print or send back to you. Don’t even try it with the new version–it’s a pain, doesn’t work 10% as well as the old forms, and put on top of that the different file formats, and that you can’t send a form to anyone without Office 2007, I can almost guarantee it will be a frustrating experience. Again, we’re assuming that the new file formats/back end will bring us BENEFITS not DETRIMENTS…please don’t treat the consumers as beta testers!
7. Vista: They’ve set up ridiculous safeguards to combat malicious programs that end up actually interfering with your work. Every time I try to start an executable (e.g., install a program), the whole screen goes blank and it asks me if I really want to do it. It’s so dramatic that you think something is wrong (as we’re all hypersensitive to the blue screen of death with Windows). Meanwhile, the computer will sometimes REBOOT ITSELF WHEN PUT IN HIBERNATION!! Obviously I’m not OK’ing this action, even though I may lose documents in the process, but I have to OK everything else–makes no sense. Feel free to track my reboots via twitter.
8. Office 2007: They’ve retrograded the html viewing in Outlook, causing anyone who sends html email to have problems, and also resulting in fewer features for the end user (e.g., any email that has anything more than just text). Why, why, why retrograde?
9. Getting help in general: OK, like most people, I’ve learned that the best source of help (for Microsoft products, and in general) is to type questions directly into Google. This Microsoft help page for “wrapping text” in PowerPoint proves my point that their help is lame (and why on earth can’t PowerPoint truly wrap text around an image?). Anyway, since people are flocking AWAY from Vista and 2007, this means there is a paucity of help out there for those of us who are trapped. I’ve fallen into the Vista Vortex and I can’t get out!
10. After all this time and advances in technology (my current computer has a ridiculous amount of memory, and is somehow slower than my old machine), there has GOT to be a better solution. Microsoft has fallen behind because they are the market leader, unfortunately, and I think this commercial says it all.

What is the better solution? Well, Macs now can run windows (XP!) AND their own OS, and they have a unix back end, which likely makes them more stable. I haven’t used a Mac in quite awhile, but I’m certainly looking into it more and more these days.

We all know what really happened at the end of the Windows Mojave Experiment. I feel like they’re trying to simultaneously dumb everything down, but expect us to be very technically savvy to deal with all of the problems that Vista and Office 2007 pose. Microsoft, stop treating us like “idiot savants” who will be oo’ed and ahh’d by the looks of Vista and Office 2007, and just come up with something that works, because we’re trying to do work here!

I was forwarded this email from a good friend, she got it from her cousin, the author, whose family is shown in the photo above. Please read the text from the email (below) and keep in mind as you decide what to vote on Prop. 8 (California measure to change the constitution and abolish same sex marriage). Please vote no on Prop. 8!

For weeks I’ve been struggling with my conflicted feelings towards my Mormon family and friends. As a young child I knew I was gay, I was also very active in the church. As an adult who has accepted himself and has tried to create his own loving family and support system, I have encountered a mixed bag from my Mormon Family and Friends; Love, support, derision, judgment, ostracization, rejection, understanding, for the most part I am now tolerated. Some of you even love and value me.

I’ve learned to be okay with this, leaving the church and being honest about who I have always been has cost me the family I thought I had and many relationships I had treasured.

Out in the world I have made new family members, I kept my dearest friends from my mission and from BYU, and I’ve never looked back or regretted my path. Eight years ago I met my husband Eric. He is better person by far than any I have met in my life time. One week before our daughter Talia was born, I had the privilege of marrying him in Canada. Since then we have been blessed with two more children; Finn & Lily. Our young family was not accidental or easy to come by.

Earlier this year the Californian Supreme Court finally came out with a decision that confirmed what should have been obvious. Treating Gays separately under the law amounts to discrimination and is direct conflict with our state and federal constitution. Eric and I married again this time legally in the U.S. in California on July 11th 2008.

Now we are equal with your families in this state, our children are protected, they can’t be denied insurance coverage, I can’t be denied spousal benefits, we can worry less about one of us dying, I can stop demeaning our relationship, our love, and our family by finally referring to “my Husband” not partner.

I thought I’d left the Mormon Church behind and was free to live my life. But now the church is directly attacking my family.

The yes on proposition 8 in California, 102 in AZ and 2 in Florida campaigns if successful will strip my family and others like us, of over 1300 basic rights and privileges that are bestowed by the state with legally recognized marriage.

OF the 28 million dollars raised to build discrimination permanently into our state constitution, 22 million has come from the Mormon Church and its members at the aggressive pressuring from its leadership.

This is wrong. I know so many gay Mormons, so many uncles, brothers, cousins, fathers, mothers who are gay who will be permanently hurt and marginalized even further by this. Even the church has recently come out and acknowledged that same sex attraction is innate and not a choice. You can look it up on the LDS website in a piece called “God Loveth his Children”

I’m not asking any of you to stop being Mormon, but please don’t support this attempt to build hate and discrimination into our constitution. That document is all that makes a difference between countries like ours and China or Iran. You can try to take away my rights, freedom and equality, you can strip my children of their basic protections and dignity, but it’s a start of an unraveling that will come to your own doorsteps. I beg you to consider these things and speak up for what is truly fair and right.

If Proposition 8 passes in California, My family won’t stop being a family, Eric and I won’t stop loving each other, our children and many like them will still go to school with your children, gay people won’t “choose to be straight” We will be however sitting ducks for a wide variety of discriminations. Eventually these bigoted unfair ideas will be seen by history for what they are; the rights and dignities of a powerless minority put up for a vote by a religious driven homophobic lynch mob.

Most of you can’t imagine the kind of pain one goes through when a learned core belief is in direct opposition to one’s core being as you grow up. But it is something every dedicated Mormon kid who happens to be gay, goes through. This scenario is repeated in other religions that demean their gay adherents and across societies that prey on their gay members throughout the globe. As a parent I would never want this for my children, but I won’t try to prevent it by asking my gay children to be straight or by denying them fair and equal treatment under our laws.

Try to place yourselves historically in every great move forward for freedom & civil rights. The thirteenth amendment to our constitution ended slavery, we fought for Women’s suffrage, interracial marriage, etc. What side of the fence would you have been on? It’s easy to think you would have been on the side of freedom and fairness, but most religions of the day vehemently opposed every one of these movements.

IF you read this far thank you. I hope you know plenty of gay people besides me and that you understand we don’t have a special agenda to convert people into becoming gay. The fear mongers want to depict us as sex crazed, dancing naked on floats, pedophiles, deviants, less than human, not your brothers, sisters, friends who struggle everyday to live decent lives like yourselves. We can certainly paint the straight community with broad strokes in a similar fashion but it’s not who I know all of you to be. We are people good and bad just like the rest of you, hopefully we all value freedom and fairness.

If any of you can do anything in any of these states to help stop these initiatives please act now! Polls show we are split evenly in California and every vote counts.

Remember Sniglets? Ahhh, the 80’s. Sniglets were invented by Rich Hall on Saturday Night Live, they are words that “aren’t in the dictionary, but should be.” I think that so-called neologism (fancy talk for making up words) has become more mainstream these days. Of course, it’s been around forever, that’s how languages are born and evolve, and one of the most famous neologists was William Shakespeare. Isn’t it funny to think that people who went to his plays were hearing some words for the first time, and they must have been thinking how weird they sounded, and now they are considered a standard part of our language (he coined “watchdog,” “eyeball,” “unreal”, for example)? There are also a host of other authors who were/are neologists.
Sometimes I find myself making a comment that Mimi from the past would have had no idea what Mimi from the future is saying. “I IM’d her and told her I’d be at the Meetup.” “I saw from her Facebook status that she’s out of town.” Here is some internet and 00’s culture-inspired neologism for you, a la Mimi (mimologism):

You can also check out NetLingo, a website that lists new words created and used to describe the internet and its content. Feel free to list your Sniglet 2.0’s in the comments below!

OK, folks, it doesn’t get easier than this. Think you have to fry fries? WRONG! Cut up a small potato, in french fry-sized pieces (duh!), toss in a little olive oil and garlic seasoning (I used Mrs. Dash’s Garlic & Herb blend, I heart Mrs. Dash), and arrange in a single layer on a George Foreman grill. Grill for 10-15 minutes, or until they have brown grill marks and a fork penetrates the fries easily (test one if you have any doubt–be careful not to burn your mouth). Let them cool for at least 5 minutes, and that’s it. I like them this way, but others have suggested cooking them a lot longer. I have undercooked potatoes many many times, but rarely on a Geo. Foreman grill, so this recipe rocks. So, there you have it, effortlessly easy–wish I had this recipe in college! And, well, a George Foreman grill–all i had was a hotplate for soup and mac-n-cheese. And the number for the local pizza joint. This serves one, but I’m sure if you have a big fancy GF grill that you can make lots more.

Most of you know I’ve been working from home since March. Now, starting a business has kept me busy, but I’m sure you’ve noticed I have had more time to do things like post videos on Facebook, etc. Working from home does change your state of mind, here’s how you know it has affected you a bit too much:

1. You’re not sure whether you still fit into most of your nice clothes, as you spend most days in Tshirts and shorts (I have even considered several times buying “dress sweats”).
2. When you do go out “all gussied up,” you make a point to run all your errands so that people can see your attire and think you have a “real” job.
3. Things that are used to make you look and smell nice that used to be “necessities” become “accessories,” used only on those special occasions where you see other people.
4. You’ve not only played “hide and seek” with your pet, but they are growing tired of playing with you, and know all of your hiding spots.
5. It seems as though your neighbors are CONSTANTLY making noise: mowing their lawn, vacuuming their car.
6. You worry that you are becoming one of those people who forwards “funny” emails uncontrollably, and you spend WAY too much time on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Netflix (they have a friend feature), anywhere that you can get some social contact. (I even joined Second Life recently, but decided that is a bit too out there for me (someone did tell me it has a lot of potential for business)).
7. You IM anyone that contacts you with great enthusiasm, keeping them “on the line” too long, making them start to feel a little uncomfortable.
8. Your comments to your pet become more like discussions, and you basically ask their opinion on things and tell them what you’re doing all day (cut to Roger reading marketing copy).
9. You have a tan, and you didn’t even really try to get it (OK, I am never really “tan”, but I am a darker shade of pale right now).
10. You have learned a few things the hard way:
    1. Under no circumstances should you drink a beer before 5 p.m.
    2. You shouldn’t work with your laptop on the couch, no matter how appealing it is (good way to throw out your back).
11. You can’t remember the last time you worked a Friday afternoon, or the last time you didn’t work on a weekday night.
12. You’re pretty sure you won’t be able to get through a day without a nap ever again.

This phenomenon of going a bit wiggy when working from home is addressed by these new office spaces that allow you to come in and interact with others (in Seattle, not surprisingly). I do like what I do, and talk on the phone, meet, or IM with people all the time, so it’s really not too bad. I really do meet quite a diverse group of people with my new co., it’s much better than being in a stale office all day with the likes of Lumbergh. In addition, it is nice to hear the birds all day (over my neighbors–they’re really not that bad) and to be a little more in touch with nature. I drive a lot less too, to the point that my battery went dead this week (interesting to jump start a Prius). I don’t know what my dog will ever do if I go back to an office job . . . he has separation anxiety and is getting very used to me being here. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!

Oscar’s been gone for a year now, this weekend last year was the last I spent with him. Sometimes it seems like it just happened yesterday. Which is weird, because a lot has happened since then. He affected my life even after he was gone, and will continue to. I will continue to be a vegetarian (I started in memory of him) and remembering him and talking about him with friends still brings me happiness. He taught me that I really like to take care of someone, and he took good care of me too. I still talk to him every day (and don’t care if you think I’m crazy). I really miss giving him “shih tzu hugs” where I would wrap my arms around his body and burrow my head on his side. Give your pet lots of hugs while you can.

His successor, Roger, is different but the same. Same breed (he’s a rescue), twice the size, black not brown (similar to my Dad’s dog Spike), has a tail he likes to wag, howls at sirens, likes to do some of the same things, has some of the same looks and habits, but has his own lovable quirks. I try to use different nicknames for him than I did for Oscar, and I’m successful most of the time. I like to say that we rescued each other. I don’t know who has been more successful in breaking the other’s bad habits, him or me. I’m sure after 12 years I’ll be almost as attached to him as I was to Oscar, but these things take time.

I told a few of you that I’d do a photo montage of Oscar pics, but I haven’t had the heart to, yet. Maybe after this anniversary passes, I’ll be able to. Thanks to everyone for your love and support, I couldn’t have gotten through it without you. This has been a crazy year, but stay tuned, I’ve still got some tricks up my sleeve . . . I’ll prove you CAN teach an old dog new tricks.

OK, if you’ve been within 10 feet of me, or the internet equivalent of one degree of separation over the past few months, you know that I have been “living with Windows Vista” and it is completely horrible. Crashes, file loss, slowness, lots of software incompatibility, and the feeling that no one at Microsoft will help (I haven’t specifically asked, but I did ask my computer manufacturer about installing XP, and didn’t hear back). Honestly, do you think they would listen to me tell them that they need to completely overhaul the OS they spent so many years developing?

I recently saw that Microsoft has launched a new marketing campaign called The Mojave Experiment, which is basically the “Pepsi Challenge” for Vista. Basically, they tell users that there is a new version of Windows called “Mojave”, and show the users how it works, and they’re all very impressed and surprised to find out later that it’s Vista, since they’ve heard such negative things about it.

Now, I SWEAR I had a completely open mind when I tried Vista, I was even a little excited to see what a new operating system would do. After months of frustration, and feeling like I have invested so much on software for the Windows platform, I am seriously very worried about my choice. Honestly, I would have chosen a Mac hands down if I had known it would have been this bad. Interestingly, you can do all sorts of cool things on a Mac like run windows . . . which is intriguing option, getting you around any software issues you might run into. Plus, macs are cuter and cooler (this is good marketing, by the way).

Why is this Mojave Experiment bad marketing on Microsoft’s side? Well, they’re battling Word of Mouth advertising, as people like me are telling EVERYONE how bad it is–and I’ll admit it, I am using internet/social media such as Facebook and Twitter to complain (check out the latest Twitter “Windows Vista” Search). Part of it is the daily frustration, part of it is to try to turn the tide so that they will do something about it. Also, when I’m waiting for Vista to respond, I’m here waiting at my computer, and my Twitter window is there waiting to “listen” to my complaint. What MS doesn’t fully realize is that word of mouth advertising can be 10’s of THOUSANDS of times more effective than any advertising they can do, according to the book Word of Mouth Advertising. Think about it. How many Ads have you been exposed to over the past week on the radio, TV, billboards, etc. 100? 500? Do you remember any of them? Did someone suggest a product or movie to you over the past week–just once, and you remember it, right? So, they’re going to have to spend a lot of money advertising to overcome people who have used Vista, are frustrated, and are spreading the word.

Microsoft needs to realize that this problem isn’t going away. Yes, they can get a computer up and perfectly running with Vista and impress a few people. Whether those people will still be happy once they install and run the program is a VASTLY different question. The Pepsi Challenge doesn’t apply here. They need to go back to their PRODUCT and improve it, there is absolutely no question about it. This is at the heart of good marketing. Changing people’s opinions and perspectives is VERY hard. And, as you can see here, this marketing campaign is just spurning people like me on, to use the power of word of mouth advertising even more, because we FEEL AS THOUGH MICROSOFT IS NOT LISTENING.

I honestly think MS’s foibles with Vista will adversely affect business over the next 5-10 years, if they don’t do anything drastic to fix it (remember XP stayed around for 7 years). Yes, I think it’s that bad. And honestly, I don’t have time to complain about things that are working, so know that I’m not just blowing smoke through broken Windows.

P.S. upon further research, I found that in the Malcolm Gladwell book Blink he points out that the Pepsi Challenge was actually misleading because people prefer Pepsi’s sweetness when they have the initial sip, but prefer the satisfaction that comes from drinking a can of Coke. The similarities to the Mojave experiment are intriguing (a test of Vista in a controlled environment is a “sip”), and I’m not the first one to realize this. Criticism of the Mojave Experiment has also filtered up to the NY Times.

I recently watched the DVD called “The Secret” which is based on the book of the same name. OK, here’s the secret: imagine yourself achieving your goals, and you will. Not exactly rocket science, because I think every successful person is goal oriented and consciously or subconsciously moves towards their goals with everything they do. The problem I had with the movie is that it made it look like you could just spend all day looking at a picture of a corvette and you’ll get it. They even said “expect checks to come in the mail, instead of bills, and they will start appearing.” What??? Achieving goals is about hard work! Do you think Einstein looked at the E=MC² equation all day, trying to derive it, without a ton of hard work? Wait . . .

Anyway, I do think it is a good idea to have goals and to even go so far as to imagine yourself in your dream position or relationship. It even gets into running a business–you need to have a plan, otherwise you’ll end up where your competition wants you to be. However, I think anyone who has parents who care about them has a “built in” secret because parents usually have an image of what they want you to be, and don’t they nudge us along pretty regularly? My Dad is really funny, ever since I went out on my own with my company, he still wants me to work for a big company. I’ll tell him that I met with a client and he’ll wait a little while and say “Do you think THIS will lead to a full time job?” He hasn’t quite bought into the fact that I’m going to stay with this new company I started, and do well at it (as I’m imagining myself doing ;). I love my parents for guiding me as much as they have, and supporting me, I just need to ease them into this new idea of my own company. I like having them as my “secret,” even if my goals are a slight detour away from theirs, we both have the same ultimate goal in mind: my happiness. And me not needing a big loan from them

p.s. I don’t link to my company here, b/c I’m terrified that my goofy blog will end up “in the wrong hands,” but if you want to know more about my company, just ask me! Facebook and LinkedIn: never the twixt shall meet!

OK, this recipe could only have come from me, a vegetarian from Illinois living in California. Growing up, of course I had plenty of diner comfort food, and there are some great establishments like Steak and Shake that I still love (for the fries and the atmosphere). My Mom loves this place called Maid Rite, which serves something really simple: loose ground beef with simple seasoning on a bun. She grew up eating them at the Maid Rite in Springfield, Illinois, which I’ve found is on the historic register because it is the first drive thru restaurant in the US!

Of course, I haven’t eaten maid rites for awhile, but came up with something pretty good that is vegetarian/vegan, and Californianized. It’s soooo simple, too. What makes it is that the fake ground beef comes seasoned already, and the vegan mayo is awesome.

• 3/4 cup MorningStar Farms Meal Starters: Grillers Recipe Crumbles
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• Vegan Mayo
• 1/2 cup chopped lettuce
• small tomato, diced
• 1 Burrito sized flour tortilla, or 2 taco sized

This is pretty simple, folks. Make the vegan mayo (or can use vegannaise). Cook the onion and the MorningStar crumbles in a skillet with a little oil for about 5 minutes. Spread the mayo on the tortilla(s), add all the ingredients, wrap and enjoy! Sound too simple? You can add tofu, other cooked or raw veggies, but really, the recipe above is good, Veggie Swear.

P.S. My Uncle Rich and Aunt Nancy, who live in Springfield, just sent me the “real” recipe (for beef) which contains a few more spices . . . let me try it out with the vegetarian crumbles and I’ll adjust as necessary. Here at brunetteblogger.com, all recipes are tested first!

OK, this recipe is not yet kick ass, but it was pretty good. I’m trying to be a vegan at home (at restaurants and parties it is almost impossible) and I’m trying to “let go” of eggs, which were a staple in my diet. I descend from Brits, so this is difficult for me. But, not as hard as I thought, and it appears as though my cholesterol has taken a nosedive since I stopped. Here is a fake/vegan scrambled eggs recipe I came up with. Now, you can substitute to your heart’s desire, just remember that tofu has almost no inherent flavor, so you really need to keep a minimum number of spices and other things around to help it out. We all need a little help from our friends. You can also add diced potatoes (cook first until done, then add veggies) and vary the veggie-to-tofu ratio as you like.

• 1/2 to 1 cup Firm Silken Tofu (Mori-Nu makes a great brand that is in the asian section of Henry’s, non-refrigerated)
• 1 cup Veggies chopped to 1/2 inch pieces, I used:
  • Leeks
  • Kale
  • Zucchini
• Vegetarian breakfast sausage (I used Gimme Lean, available at Von’s near the cheese, usually)
• Spices, I used:
  • dash turmeric (don’t use too much, it will turn really yellow and unnatural looking)
  • dash paprika (or to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dill
• 1 Tablespoon Nutritional Yeast Flakes (optional) (Find at Henry’s in Bulk Section)

Chop veggies and put into pan on medium heat with a small amount of olive oil. After a few minutes, add the tofu and mash/break into pieces with spatula–not too much. Add turmeric and paprika, and cook for a few more minutes. Add yeast flakes (they give a cheesy flavor and are a good source of vitamin B12) after it looks “done”, and stir a bit to blend them in. Add dill or other spices when served. Mrs. Dash is always good to use with Tofu. Serves 1 but is likely easily doubled.