Management
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Dealing with bank inventory management
April's dealing with a problem that I've dealt with many times before: bank management. The other day I posted some tips on inventory management, but bank management is a knot that even I can't quite figure out how to untangle. On the one hand, bank space is supposed to be your refuge -- you can only pick things up out in the field as long as you have an empty inventory space for it. But on the other hand, especially on your main, you pick up a lot of things that seem important at the time -- tier gear, your first trinket, that piece you farmed for months until it finally dropped, that Blizzard Bear that you know is account bound, but you just can't bear to give it up. Stuff piles up after a while, and eventually you're carrying stuff around in your backpack that should really be sitting in your bank... and would be if you had room to keep it in there.The only real tip I have is that you have to be ruthless -- you'll probably never use those trinkets again, that Tier 0 armor won't ever really be needed anymore, and you might as well eat those Delicious Chocolate Cakes that you made for a rainy day. You might as well use those cooking and profession mats you've got sitting around now, because if they aren't worth anything at the moment, they probably won't be worth any more in the future. And yes, I know you've only got so much Noggenfogger left, but you might as well go ahead and drink it on the next fun guild run. It sounds harsh, but in a game that's really about collecting, we all tend to have a packrat side.And if worst comes to worst, just create yet another bank alt, charter yet another bank guild, and start filling those bags up also. With all of the junk we've got coming through, they'll probably be full to the brim in no time.
Sega considering managerial changes to better take on West
Sega is looking to change its management structure to better integrate its east and west divisions. Edge reports that Sega's corporate strategy exec., Takayuki Kawagoe, believes that the current system doesn't take full advantage of everyone's experience and expertise within the company. The publisher is looking toward new growth in the West and leveraging its IP in new media, like the Valkyria Chronicles anime, for example. Sega certainly has to do something to turn things around. Laying off 18% of its workforce, with a lack of recent hits in the portfolio, doesn't really instill confidence in investors.
Sony Ericsson's US president steps down
Quite honestly, we can't imagine now as being an awesome, jovial time to be heading up any division of Sony Ericsson. Thus, we're not too awfully shocked to hear that Najmi Jarwala, President of Sony Ericsson USA and Head of Region North America (comprising the US and Canada markets), has decided to leave his corner office at the end of March in order to "pursue other career opportunities." The announcement comes just a weekend after SE proclaimed that its Q1 sales were down some 50 percent, and with the outfit's somewhat lackluster showing at MWC (Idou notwithstanding), we can't imagine things magically turning around in the near future. At any rate, Anders Runevad (pictured), Executive VP and Head of Global Sales & Marketing will be taking over until a successor is named, and that's assuming anyone is willing to walk into such a severely precarious situation.[Via MobileBurn]
Toshiba selects Norio Sasaki as next President and CEO
We needn't tell you that things haven't been going awesome for Toshiba ever since HD DVD hit the skids and slid right into its coffin, but the company has yet to lose hope in its future. As a sign of impending change, Tosh's board of directors has just selected Mr. Norio Sasaki -- who is currently a senior executive VP in the company -- to become the next CEO and President this June. Sasaki will replace Atsutoshi Nishida following an ordinary general meeting of the shareholders, and he'll also succeed Tadashi Okamura in becoming the next chairman of the board at Toshiba Corporation. If you're curious as to whether or not this chap has what it takes, check this: the man is into mountain biking, smooth jazz and golf, and his personal motto is "perseverance will open the way." How dare you doubt that?
Samsung separates LCD and television units in restructuring
Samsung, like most other companies in the free world, has suffered of late. To that end, it has just announced a reshuffling of divisions that will actually separate its LCD manufacturing business and its television business into two distinct areas. Reportedly, Samsung's semiconductor and liquid crystal display (LCD) units will be bundled into a "parts" division, which will be headed up by current CEO Lee Yoon-woo. The TV unit will be joined by the mobile phone and "other electronic products" in the "products" division, which will be led by the current head of the telecommunications business, Choi Gee-sung. It's not clear the financial impact that these adjustments are expected to make, but we are told that they're being made "in response to the global downturn and [in an effort to] reinvigorate the company."
TypeDNA to pick up where other font management software leaves off
TypeDNA is previewing its advanced font management software at Macworld booth 4037, and gave TUAW a sneak peek. TypeDNA (also the name of the product) is cross-platform, standalone font management software that also includes some advanced features to help you select fonts based on similarity and type features. Along with standard activation and grouping features, TypeDNA includes Font Harmony and Similar Fonts tools to help you select aesthetically-compatible fonts for your projects. TypeDNA will begin a public beta program soon, with an eye to releasing the software in March. If you want to sign up for TypeDNA's public beta, you can.
Mac Automation: Rename multiple files efficiently
With Automator, you can easily streamline common tasks. If you work with many files (i.e. pictures), then you know how easy it is to lose track because of incorrectly named files. With this Automator workflow, you'll never lose your place (or a file) again. Building the Workflow To create this workflow, simply add the following Automator actions (in the same order): Get Specified Finder Items Rename Finder Items When you add the "Rename Finder Items" action to your workflow, Automator will ask if you want to copy the files so you don't mess with the originals. Choose "Don't Add." Configuring the Workflow In the "Rename Finder Items" action, you have almost unlimited choices for renaming schemes. To get started, select a scheme from the first drop-down box. You can choose from: Add Date or time, Add Text, Change Case, Make Sequential, Replace Text, Name Single Item. Once you select your renaming scheme, choose the options you want based on the scheme. For instance, if you wanted the "Make Sequential" scheme, you could choose to use existing naming, or create a new name. You can also select options for where to place the numbers, which number to start counting from, and how to separate the number from the rest of the text. Running the Workflow Once you have your naming scheme figured out, it's time to run the workflow, and have Automator do the heavy-lifting. Drag and drop the files you want renamed onto the "Get Specified Finder Items" workflow. They will be added to the list of files to be renamed. You can then click the "Run" button in the top-right corner of the window. Your original files will be renamed, leaving you with perfectly renamed files. You can now save your workflow. Want more Mac Automation or AppleScript tutorials? Visit TUAW's Mac Automation and AppleScript sections.
Officers' Quarters: Three questions for Wrath raiders
Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership.With Wrath nearly in our hands, it's time for us as officers to go over a mental checklist and make sure we're adequately prepared for this expansion. (Please no Illidan jokes -- poor Arthas has no catchphrase and it only makes him angrier.) I can't possibly tell you what should be on that checklist -- it all depends on the type of guild you run and what your guild's goals are. You do have goals, right? However, here are three questions that you should start thinking about -- if you haven't already . . .1. How will you distribute BOE raid drops?Epic BOE raid drops aren't new. World bosses in Outland had their loot changed to BOE to encourage guilds to go after them. But it's been a long time since most guilds have had to deal with them on a regular basis -- not since Molten Core, if memory serves. They weren't too difficult to manage back then. With 40 people tagging along, odds are someone in the raid wanted whatever dropped. If not, the drops were all class-specific, so the number of people who could request them was relatively small.
Microsoft Mac BU gets a new GM
The Macintosh Business Unit of Microsoft, that company we love to hate, has announced that a new General Manager has taken over the group. Craig Eisler, the former Mac BU big cheese, has moved onwards and upwards into the bowels of the Redmond-based software giant in a position with the Entertainment & Devices division. His new replacement is Eric Wilfrid, a 14-year veteran of the company who has been with the Mac BU since it was organized in 1997. Wilfred started with Microsoft in 1994, working on the Mac version of PowerPoint. He was also involved in all five releases of Office for Mac, the Mac versions of Internet Explorer and MSN, and Virtual PC. Wilfred announced the change in a post to the Mac BU blog today. I don't know about you, but I'm hoping that Wilfred takes the Macintosh development team in a new direction -- preferably away from Steve Ballmer's recent comments about Mac users not getting "the full version" of Office. If you had one thing to tell Mr. Wilfred as he takes over the helm of the Mac BU, what would it be? Leave us a comment!
LANrev 5.0 adds power management to workstation admin tools
Managing the power consumption of your Macs just got a little easier with the latest version of the LANrev cross-platform client management tool. In the new 5.0 build, the headline feature is bright green: you can assign power saving preferences to machines, including toggles based on whether a user is logged in and new reporting fields to monitor energy savings. For government users, the new FDCC SCAP component helps Windows clients meet Federal Desktop Core Configuration standards for 300-odd security settings on XP and Vista (yee-ikes).LANrev's sometimes-confusing UI has been simplified, bringing many of the server-oriented functions (software distribution, license monitoring, etc.) under a single window; machines can now be categorized for ease of searching and organization. Software deployment has been jazzed up with new metapackage/multi-payload options and Adobe Creative Suite CS3 direct deployment for installers and updaters (no word yet on CS4 support). LANrev still offers one-click Mac reimaging without setting up a Netboot server, which is a big plus in large deployments.Pricing for LANrev starts at about $50 per seat for corporate buyers ($40 for education markets) with tiered discounts for larger installations.
Ready Check: Leading the fray
Ready Check is a weekly column focusing on successful raiding for the serious raider. Hardcore or casual, ZA or Sunwell Plateau, everyone can get in on the action and down some bosses. Or motivate 24 other people to do so!For many guilds, raiding is in a bit of a lull at the moment, with far more focus on the future rather than the present. One of the things that can keep raiding life interesting is to try out different things; play an alt, try a weird setup, revisit old content...How about a slightly different challenge? Something that will stretch your ability to multitask, to communicate, to deal with people; it'll try your patience but provide immeasurable rewards when that patience pays off. No, I don't mean running for an election. I'm talking about raid leading.
Leopard Tips and Tricks for client management will improve your admin life
Keeping up with the Leopard-centric changes to managed preferences and mobile accounts is crucial if you're responsible for a labful or campus-ful of Macs, and you want to gracefully control what permissions or resources your wanton users have when they log in. One great resource for Mac admins diving into MCX (managed clients for OS X) for the first (or hundredth) time is Apple engineer John DeTroye's Tips & Tricks documentation.We mentioned John's Tiger edition of the T&T docs last year, and now that he's updated the handbook for Mac OS X 10.5 and Server 10.5, you'll want to bring your library up to date. Gone is most of the material specific to machine imaging techniques (I strongly recommend NetInstall [PDF], which is working better under Leopard than it ever did before), making room for more discussion of MCX settings and portable home directories. Download your free copy of the T&T file today and it'll make your life easier tomorrow.
The Economist on games and profit
Newsmagazine The Economist ran an article titled "Playing for profit" about using video game technology to increase productivity in the workplace. The article -- which was a sort of book report on "Changing the Game: How Video Games Are Transforming the Future of Business" by David Edery and Ethan Mollick -- looked to trends such as game mods and web-based-games-as-marketing-tools for inspiration, but special emphasis was placed on MMOs, including World of Warcaft and EVE Online. Believe it or not, the WoW feature that was heralded by the writer was the soul-crushing grind! Or rather, the grind was compared to the sorts of tasks that your average office worker has to sit through each day. WoW provides a context -- the leveling system and other rewards -- that (supposedly) makes the grind worth the trouble. Companies should emulate that, the article says.EVE, on the other hand, was used to demonstrate what not to do. That's pretty ironic, since The Economist's editorial stance is all about economic and societal openness! Regardless, the author pointed to the famous incident in which a CCP employee provided inside help to a corporation at war, using it as an example of the dangers of game-playing in a business environment.
Mac 101: Managing Dashboard widgets
Is your Dashboard cluttered with tons of widgets that you don't want to see any longer? You can easily hide widgets from your Dashboard by holding down the option key while mousing over top of your widget and clicking the "x" button that shows up. Clicking the "x" button does not, however, delete the widget -- it will only hide it. To delete a widget, click the "+" button in the bottom left corner (or hit the command and + key combo) then select the "Manage Widgets..." button. From this widget manager, you will be able to click the red minus button beside the widget to completely remove it from your Mac. The deleted widget will show up in the OS X trash can.
Nintendo has a vacancy for Hotel Giant
The trend of PC porting continues with Hotel Giant, a simulation title heading to the DS in Q4 2008. Instead of getting stuck with the same boring people every single day, you'll be able to build some luxury hotel and routinely get new guests to roll in, drop you some cash and get out.It's a six-year-old game, but that pretty much makes it perfect for the DS. You'll be designing rooms and adding various hotel-y items, all the while ensuring John Q Guest is satisfied enough to pay the upgrade fee for the ultra-chump room. All joking aside, the original PC title was a big hit and it should be very well-suited to the stylus and touch screen when it comes out in Europe and -- pending iron-clad confirmation -- North America. Bellboy![Via press release]
Acer promotes Gianfranco Lanci to CEO, J.T. Wang becomes Acer Group CEO
It's not like Acer's Gianfranco Lanci (shown right) was hurtin' for cash -- after all, the guy was (and still is) president of the company -- but there's just nothing quite like slapping "and CEO" on the end of said title. Approved by the outfit's Board of Directors today, Mr. Lanci has been promoted to Chairman, while the previous CEO, J.T. Wang, will serve as Acer Group CEO. From what we can tell, there's no hard feelings about any of the moves, and c'mon, it is nice to move from one corner office to another every now and then, you know?[Via PCWorld]
RWThemeMiner 2.0.5
Did you just upgrade to the latest version of Realmac Software's RapidWeaver? Then you might notice RWThemeMiner, which lets you edit your RW themes, is no longer working. Fret not because RWThemeMiner was just updated to version 2.0.5 which works with RapidWeaver 4.RWThemeMiner is available for $15 (US) and you can download a free 20 day trial version from the developer's website.
Together updates to 2.1
Together 2.1 is a major upgrade for this ever-evolving information management application. Steve Harris, author of Together (and Feeder), has listened very carefully to user feedback and is turning up the heat with features that I've personally been waiting anxiously for. I'm a fickle suitor of many apps in this genre, constantly switching amongst the likes of Yojimbo, DEVONthink, Evernote, EagleFiler, SOHO Notes and some of my own concoctions. I've always liked Together's interface ... it just lacked certain functionality in some key areas of my workflow. Version 2.1 makes great strides to fill those gaps. My current workflow -- one that's lasted long enough for me to call it my system -- is heavily based on Spotlight comment tagging for gathering project-related information. This is rapidly becoming a universally-accepted method and is supported by many applications which can read and write their internal tags to and from Spotlight comments. Together has added both read and write functionality for such tags with a user-definable prefix, as well as the option to import keywords as tags. This means that the system I use in applications like Leap, Mail.app (with Mailtags), FileSpot and directly in Finder (with Spotlight) work hand-in-hand with Together now. You can even define default tags for groups and folders to assign to imported items, and Together can now automatically import files saved by external programs into its Library folders. The new support for external linking to internal items and a complete AppleScript dictionary kick off the highlights of the extensive release notes. A few other highlights include: Smart groups can now be based on other groups (including other smart groups) Recording of the date items are imported The option to create visually accurate Web PDFs instead of web archives A system-wide import hotkey A more useful Shelf that can tag and sort quick notes Quick Look in the Shelf Performance improvements in multiple areas Text highlighting in notes and documents Extensive preview options Text in imported emails is now selectable One deciding factor for me in choosing a system is the database vs. file system debate. It's a debate that spurs quasi-theological discussion, but ultimately it's a personal choice and somewhat dependent on your particular needs. I like file system storage as found in Together and EagleFiler because of its automatic integration with the rest of my applications. Files edited in an external application from Together are treated just like regular Finder files (because they are) and will show up in Recent Files menus and your Spotlight index. Yes, Yojimbo and DEVONthink have Spotlight plugins, but they have to go the extra step to write out their metadata. Together is also quite adept at dealing with filetypes it doesn't necessarily understand, letting the system handle default applications and Quick Look handle the previews. And lastly, all of my files are easily accessible outside of Together and not locked into a proprietary database. Together 2.1 is a free upgrade for current users. A new license will run you $39 and there's a demo available. And if you're thinking of switching from Yojimbo, there's an importer just for you on the downloads page. Update: If you're in the market, be sure to check out what's new with Evernote, too!
Harvard looks to MMOs for online leadership styles
While much has been said in recent weeks about raid leaders and whether the job necessitates being a jerk, nobody seems to dispute that the position engenders players with valuable leadership skills. In fact, according to a recent report by the Harvard Business Review, big companies may have a lot to learn from MMOs in terms of fostering leadership roles in a business world that is every bit as geographically decentralized as the roster from your typical raiding guild.But before you go and put your guild leadership experience on your resume, you might want to read the report in full. While they say that there are parallels between leadership in-game and leadership in a board room, the report focuses more on how the games themselves engender these leadership qualities, by creating an environment that fosters honesty, duplicity of leadership, non-monetary incentives, and transparency. It's interesting to think that games might actually change the way business works in the future, but we guess only time will tell if that proves prescient or not.[Via GamePolitics]
MotiMotion Prospects manages your cash
There are many good ways to manage your money on a Mac (oh yeah, there's also QuickBooks). We at TUAW found yet another money management application for your Mac, and this one looks really good. MotiMotion's Prospects allows you to keep all of your banking accounts (and credit cards) organized with graphs, a register book, and more. When you start the program, you get an overview that has a graph of your assets and liabilities -- giving you the ability to see everything you need to. In addition to pretty graphs of your cash, you also can create: budgets, reports, categories, rules, and more. You can import QIF, OFX, and QFX files from your online banking website or from other money management applications. So, if you are in the market for a good money management application, then you should give Prospects a try. You can download Prospects from the MotiMotion website. They offer a free version that limits you to 100 transactions across your accounts or a single-user license for $35 (they also offer a family license for $10 more).
