Aaron Klein's Corner

Microsoft Finally Learns How to Make an Ad

I installed Windows 7 about a week ago. It really does rock...I've been very impressed.

Now, it appears Microsoft has learned how to make an engaging ad. If they keep this up, and even learn how to move beyond "adorable" to "hip, funny and irreverent"...they may be back.

One example: the old Microsoft would have told her to say "I plug this USB cable into the correct port." The new Microsoft lets her say "I plug this thingie in here." :)

Twitter

Are you on Twitter? I find that I'm posting on it even when things are hectic, since you can be short. If you are, friend me at http://www.twitter.com/aaronklein.

On the other hand, I don't know why I don't do short posts here too. Not like there's a minimum post length or something. :)

Another of those "how did I ever live without it" technologies

I had to do a quick post on one of my favorite and most useful tools. It's so great -- I barely think about the fact that it's there, until all of a sudden, I need it.

I'm talking about a service called SugarSync. I stumbled upon it when I decided I should get serious about backing up my files. It sits in the background and uploads any files I change over the Internet to my secure backup account. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. SugarSync also...

• Lets me sync folders (for example, my iTunes Music folder) between multiple computers
• Lets me easily access files from my other computer
• Lets me log in over the web to access a file from any computer in the world
• Lets me log in over my BlackBerry to select and e-mail a file to anyone
• Lets me send big files as a downloadable link, rather than an attachment that bounces or gets stuck in my outbox
• And a new feature I haven't even tried will let me share entire folders with other people

All this, and the pricing is amazing. 10GB is just $2.50 a month; 20GB (they've upped it to 30GB, and kept the price the same) is $4.95 a month. And I never have to worry about losing a file, or not having access to the files I need on the right computer!

Sorry, just had to share that. No, I didn't do it just for a free t-shirt. It really is one of the coolest things I've run across in a while, and you won't know how you lived without it after you get it.

Catching Up

Hey, blog friends...sorry for the long delay between posts. I'm sure it won't be the last time. I just got back from a week and a half of vacation to Seattle, Chicago and Indiana. Cacey, Spencer and I had a great time visiting Pike Place Market, the first-ever Starbucks, Giordano's deep dish pizza, the Sears Tower Skydeck, De Brand Chocolate, and visiting with family near Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Now I'm back, attacking the hundreds of e-mails in the inbox, and we had a board meeting last night as well. I'll try and post a bit more about that soon...we had a very interesting dialogue with the Omniparty, which is the bargaining group for our unions. The state budget issue seems to be mired in gridlock (what's new), but Sierra College is really rising to the occasion in an incredible way -- more on that soon.

The documents from last night's meeting are now posted in Your College @ Work. Have a great week, and I'll post more soon!

PS: I'm on Twitter now. One description for it is a "micro-blog" because each post is 140 characters max. Still sort of figuring this out, but I have it working on the BlackBerry. If you're interested, you can check it out here.

Check out The Madcast

I've just recently become a fan of The Madcast, a weekly podcast show that is hilarious and irreverent...sort of like our own local version of Imus, but still funny without crossing that line. These guys are a crackup!

Check out The Madcast at www.themadcast.com.