Coming up to the SharePoint Conference in March, the Senior Product Manager for the Office Business Platform at Microsoft talks about our Document Imaging Solution...

http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/blogs/partnersonpoint/default.aspx

This past fall I decided to stop messing around with cheap MP3 players and buy a device from Apple or Microsoft.  I was looking for both audio and video and finally decided on the Zune rather than the Ipod for one main reason.  I already used Windows Media player and the Zune software was based on it so my transition would be easy.  That was the first of many bad assumptions.

The very first disappointment I must blame on my lack of research, but it was the fact that without hacking the device, there was no way to copy files directly to it.  The only way to move media back and forth was to use the Zune software.  I was still happy with my purchase however since I was still able to use my existing WMP playlists and such and this was the primary reason I chose it over the Ipod.

A couple months ago however, like everyone else that had a Zune, I anxiously awaited the big update that would update my Zune to match the new models on the way.  I thought this was a great move by Microsoft (and still do), however this was the first of my major frustrations.  Microsoft decided to change the way Zune used "tags" on media files.  Previously they were completely based on WMP and they changed the software to be based on "Vista" tags instead.  When I updated my software my well organized music library was a complete wreck.  I never used Vista tags before because I had no reason.  At least Microsoft could have converted them for me.  I should have wised up immediately, put the Zune on Ebay and bought something else.

I trudged forward however and spent several hours changing tags on my favorite files.  I finally got the device functional again... for a couple weeks anyway.  Getting ready for my trip to Japan I decided I better load up the device with more music, videos and podcasts.  While I was dragging and dropping songs into my collection (another dumb Zune idea) it suddenly stopped letting me.  Close Zune, reopen, still no drag and drop.  Reboot, same thing.  Ouch, why do I punish myself.  It was late and my plane left the next morning, so I just packed my little MP3 virus in my bag.

So last night, I had some time, and decided to try and fix the drag and drop problem.  I'm here in Japan now, so I have no access to my libraries so neatly organized on my home servers.  I started by trying to update the software to no avail.  I noticed there was a firmware update so I figure it couldn't hurt... but I was bitten by my Zune again.  The firmware update deleted 99% of my music, left my podcasts and one video.  Of course I'm not at home so I can't reload from my libraries.  AHHHHH.

Last resort to at least try and get the drag and drop back was a complete uninstall.  I followed this by removing anything Zune related.  I downloaded the latest software from Zune.net and I bet you'll be really surprised to hear it didn't fix a thing.  So hear I sit typing my frustrations in another blog entry. Yes it does make me feel better.

Good day,

Chris

Konichiwa,

New Year and new adventure, or should I just call it a repeat adventure.  I had to head back to Japan for some joint engineering work we are doing with a new product we are building.  We squeezed the trip from St. Louis to Kanazawa into one day (23 hours from STL to my hotel here) this time.  The trip reminds of planes, trains and automobiles, but you'd need to substitute the train for a bus.  We had to first fly to Dallas and lay over for 2 hours.  Then we flew to Narita, which took 14 hours.  After getting through customs we took a 1 hour bus ride to Tokyo and then flew another hour to Komatsu.  Once we landed there we just had a 30 minute care ride to the Hotel Nikko in Kanazawa.  Staying up for almost 30 hours straight is tough, but it helped me sleep good my first night here, so I think the theory of staying awake as long as possible it correct.

Our first day here was mostly site seeing.  Having someone with me that had never been here I wanted to make sure he saw the best places, which included Kenrokuen Gardens and the Kanazawa Castle.

[Karasakinomatsu Pine Trees with yukizuri for winter protection]

The rest of the pictures can be found in the album at:

http://chrislcap.spaces.live.com/photos/cns!2B396B3160473E4C!1099/

After the castle visit we ate yakiniku (Japanese BBQ) and Brett got his first taste of ox tongue and pork intestines.  I just love how the restaurants let you cook your own food right at the table.  Especially food we'd never get back home.

Once we finished lunch we went to an see and old market in historic Kanazawa where we introduced to a process of turning gold into square flakes.  They use these flakes to coat many different things for decoration and protection.  The pictures in the above album show a tea room coated by gold.  The tea rack was solid gold and for sale for about 1/2 million US dollars.  I guess gold is also healthy because we drank tea with gold flakes, rubbed some into our skin and then ate jelly with the precious metal.  I feel so rich now.

Next thing to do was buy a pre paid cell phone (my bad idea), which we discovered the hard way that it could not be done by a non-Japanese resident.  Evidently the government has blocked these devices for the most part because they were aiding "illegal activities".  This is the type of thing I hope our "Bill or Rights" continues the protect us against.

After that failure we bowled a couple games and came back to our hotel where I type.

Ja matta,

Chris