About that new Microsoft Answers service

A report in  Ars Technica describes Microsoft's attempt to replicate Apple's Genius Bar by offering high-quality technical support for a Windows and Office products. Prices range from $49/hour for one-on-one online training up to $99 for two hours of virus removal, malware protection, or PC performance tuning. All of the services are handled remotely.

I'm relying on the Ars Technica article for this information because Microsoft, geniuses that they are, require that I agree to their terms of service before I can read their Frequently Asked Questions page.

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Dress for success in the 21st century

Older workers, take note. A lifetime of gravitational effects makes us shorter. That may have an effect on your income. What medicine can't correct can be helped by fashion.

The correlation between height and income has been known for a long time, although a U.S. study suggests that the correlation only works for aggregate numbers, not for individuals. If you chart the height of 1000 people, for example, the income distribution curve will match the height distribution curve. If you compare two individuals, however, too many other factors come into play to make the height difference significant.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="303" caption="via Statistics Say These High Heels Will Get You A Pay Raise"][/caption]

That distinction, however, isn't stopping a German shoe company from running a series of ads suggesting that this set of bright red high heels would do wonders for your income.
The ads show a closeup of the heels, with headlines such as "Men over 180 cm earn 10% more money" and "80% of top managers are over 180 cm tall."

So, if you see me in a pair of these shoes, know that it's only for the money.

Online newspapers not ready for the web

The Boston Globe introduced its HTML5 paywalled edition in October. The paper works well on a variety of devices, including the iPad. It's easy to read and navigate. We have free access to the online version because we subscribe to the Sunday print edition. (Some papers, including the New York Times, are seeing a slight increase in the number of print subscriptions because of the online paywall.)

The content, however, hasn't made the jump. Two stories in today's paper illustrate the problem. Scott Kirsner's Is the price right? Mobile apps can help you find out story profiles several interesting mobile phone apps that let you make quick price comparisons while you're out shopping. The online version would be more useful if there were links to the app's website or to the iTunes Store and Android Market.
Similarly, On the Hot Seat with Martin Romitti by Megan Woodhouse mentions that Romitti, director of the UMass Donahue Institute's Economic and Public Policy Research, was editor of "the UMass journal on the economy" without naming the publication or providing a link. It took a while to locate MassBenchmarks.

A web-first editorial policy could mitigate these issues. Writers and editors would realize that the story isn't complete unless it's sourced with links.

[Full disclosure: I am a part-time correspondent and blogger for Telegram Towns, an online publication of the Worcester Telegram and Gazette. Both the T&G and Boston Globe are owned by the New York Times. ]

Keeping WiFi awake on my Android phone

The other day, I described a problem I was having with my Android phone. When the phone went into sleep mode, the WiFi connection would break. Even after setting the Wi-Fi Sleep Policy to Never, the connection would drop when the display shut off. It made listening to a music or radio stream or downloading anything pretty much impossible.  Security settings on my wireless router didn't matter. The only consistent workaround was to keep the phone plugged into a power source (wall connection or USB). When away from home, the WiFi connection seemed to work as intended.

None of the keep-alive apps had any effect, nor did reinstalling the phone's operating system.

I called Verizon tech support. Their conclusion was that there was probably something amiss with the phone. There were other reports in various forums around the 'net that supported this idea. Because my phone is out of warranty, I couldn't get a replacement. I started thinking about a new phone and gave the iPhone serious consideration.

One Android app, WiFi Analyzer, showed that the neighbors have a couple of access points that occasionally reach into our yard. All of the access points were broadcasting on channel 1.

With nothing better to do and nothing to lose, I switched my router to use channel 6.

Joy.

Since making the channel change, my WiFi connection has not dropped when the phone sleeps. Declaring the problem solved to the extent that anything is ever solved.

Configuration notes

Phone

HTC Incredible on Verizon Wireless
Android 2.3.4. (Gingerbread)
Build version 4.08.605.2 CL185897 2011

Router

SURFboard SBG900
Software version: SBG900-2.1.15.0-SCM00-NOSH 
Hardware version: 3

Bridge

Linksys WRT54G/GL/GS 
DD-WRT v24-sp2 (07/22/09) mini - build 12548M NEWD Eko