Things to be Happy About: 2008

Enough of the bad news already! Stop paying so much attention to the national media and "if it bleeds, it leads" mentality that so pervades everything we see, read and hear. To help further the happy view that "any day I wake up is a great day" I am proud to present my rose colored glasses view of the world.

Here are the Mitch Klein Top Ten Things to be happy about 2008:

10) Good news! The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) — the massive particle accelerator straddling the Swiss-French border — didn't destroy the world! The contraption didn't really work either. Maybe THAT was the good news?
9) iPhone 3G and the newest software release that actually makes the iPhone a pretty decent phone.
8) Chicago Cubs made it an even 100 years in a row without a championship ring. Nothing like keeping a streak alive!
7) Another Indiana Jones film. One of the most entertaining film trilogies lives on. Who said anything about the importance of storylines and acting anyway?
6) HDTV hits the mainstream. Now EVERYBODY has one. Let's make sure everybody soon gets two. Or Three. Or how about that front projector system for the REAL big screen experience?
5) Oil prices drop to new lows. Those $4 gallon prices really did WAKE UP AMERICA and as long as we continue to press for green, efficiency, and energy alternatives, these low prices will help us all get to work in the morning. Let's keep innovating...
4) A new President was elected, and proved Americans really can share a positive view of the future. Even though it took 8 years to find it.
3) Quality TV gets a lift from AMC (Mad Men) and FX (The Shield), proving to the world that compelling programming is not only possible on commercial television, it's achievable! Networks, pay attention: we're on to you! We know that reality shows are just an uncreative and lazy way for you to grab advertising money.
2) Boston Celtics return to greatness. Remember when basketball was a team sport? It's Baaaack...
1) URC launched our first 2-way touchscreen remote. Now what could be better? How about even more cool stuff in 2009....

Do you have any to add to this list? I'd love to read them! Please comment below!

Meanwhile, stay tuned. More things to be happy about will be appearing here shortly. And to all a happy & healthy New Year!

This Year and Next

SPOILER ALERT: I get sappy at Christmas. If you don't want to read anything positive and cheerful, turn back now, because the next four paragraphs will either make you smile or gag. Whichever path you choose, I wish you the very best.

Wow... another year has come and gone. It seems like only yesterday I was preparing for the holidays with the cool little secret about URC's two-way MX-6000 stowed quietly away in my desk. It's always cool to watch the evolution of a product as it makes it way to market. It's even nicer when all that hard work pays off with a product that installers immediately see the value of, and are eager to spec into their jobs. 

There's no doubt that this year saw more than its fair share of challenges. It would be pretentious to ignore the economic environment we find ourselves in today. However, as all cycles do, these challenging times will also come to an end, and before we know it, we'll all be up to our ears in the jobs that "had to wait" when times didn't look so cheery. So as I look forward now to 2009, I'm keeping a bright eye on the potential for a better year. This year the United States had a historical presidential election, the iPhone changed the way we all think about software distribution, and HDTV finally took center stage in the average American home. Some of these events are more important than others, and there are many more I won't list here, but the important point is that this has actually been a pretty amazing year if you really look at it.

In the coming year URC has some cool things in store. Some of them you know about already; others you don't. I find myself thankful to be a part of this great team, who so tirelessly dedicate themselves to providing the best solutions for installers. I wish I could pull back the curtain and show the whole world how much my co-workers put into bringing you these products, but alas, doing so would tip our hand regarding what's heading your way next. So let it suffice to say that as this year comes to a close, I am proud and honored to live in this great land, and to be one of the people who helps bring some really cool products to installers and their clients.

Thanks to all of you who specify and install URC products. And a very happy holiday to each and every one of you. As I tug back the edge of the curtain just a tiny little bit, the one thing I can reveal is that things are happy back here. I sincerely wish all of you the same happiness, and even greater prosperity for the coming year.

Hey Buddy... Can You Spare a Paint Brush?

Since I'm the guy who does most of the graphics for URC's graphical remotes, I get a lot of emails asking me questions about... well... graphics. Besides the number one question ("Will you draw this or that for me?"—to which my answer is nearly always, "I'll put you in my queue, and your number should come up sometime around February, 2047), the second most common question I get is, "What program do you recommend for making my own graphics for my client's remotes?"

The answer to that one is tricky. You see, my personal choice for a graphics editor is a little-known, seldom used graphics program that was designed and built for the sole purpose of creating the user interfaces for web sites. Web sites and touch screens have a lot in common. Primarily, what appears to be a single image in both is really composed of bits and pieces of smaller images, arranged nicely to create the illusion of a seamless user interface. So I use Fireworks by Adobe to design nearly all of the graphics you see on URC remotes. (Yeah, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve with other programs, but Fireworks covers the groundwork for me.) 

The other reason I use Fireworks is that it was originally published by Macromedia, who was purchased, lock, stock, and barrel, by Adobe a few years back. The only reason this is relevant is that before I came to work at Universal Remote Control, I was a multimedia designer and technical writer for... you guessed it... Macromedia. And since I was the lead technical writer for the documentation for Fireworks, I know that program inside out, upside down, and other directions normally only described in boy-band pop songs. It kind of gives me an unfair advantage.

So here's the kicker. I don't recommend that you use Fireworks for your graphics editing needs. "Wait... What?" I hear you say. Yeah, really. Fireworks is dandy for creating graphics. It has some wonderful features that make bulk graphics go much, much smoother, even than the far-more-capable PhotoShop (also by Adobe). But for the average installer, you don't need to create 500 device icons in a similar style. You probably only need to create one or two. Most installers maybe need to edit a couple of buttons per client. And so for them, they need a graphics program that is designed to edit graphics, not to create them from scratch.

The good news is that PhotoShop is already here for that very purpose. The bad news is that PhotoShop, depending on which configuration you get, can cost you a grand or more. That's a big pill to swallow for turning a blue button green and cropping a client's family photo to use as a background once a month. Especially in this economy.

But don't worry... I've got your back.

See, being somewhat of a design nerd, I keep track of what's going on in the design world (or at least, in the software-for-design world). And have I got some good news for you. It turns out that PhotoShop has some arch rivals, kind of like Windows has Linux as its nemesis. And like Linux, some of those arch rivals are free. Even better, some of them are available on the web. As in, a fairly worthy competitor to PhotoShop, but it runs inside your web browser. You don't even have to install anything. How's that for free? That's like "extra free" if you ask me!

Enter Sumo Paint. 

Now if you've ever run any web applications before, you're probably thinking okay, this is going to be slow. And if you've ever run any graphics software, you're really thinking at least I'll have time to drink my coffee. Well, you'd better skip the foam on your latte this morning, because Sumo Paint isn't slow. Honestly, I don't know how they do it. I've got stand-alone graphics packages that run much slower and are far less capable than this web app. 

Is Sumo Paint a feature-for-feature PhotoShop killer? Absolutely not. But does it offer 100% of what nearly any casual graphics editor would need? You bet. And did I mention it's free?

So if you're one of the many installers who has an occasional need to edit graphics, but no particular desire to unload ten Benjamins to do it, get yourself over to SumoPaint.com and get cracking. It's always best to get in some practice with any graphics software before the day when you really have to make that blue button green before the client's wife gets home at 5:45. It's graphics software—they all work differently, so you'll need some time to learn the ropes. But that small investment in your skill set can turn into a big payoff on job after job.

Just in case anyone asks: No, neither I nor URC are affiliated with the makers of Sumo Paint. And no, I'm not switching from my beloved Fireworks. I'm still in the graphics creation business, so I basically need the computer equivalent of an art studio. Most likely, that's not you. Most likely, you don't need a studio at all. That would be overkill, and a waste of your time to learn to use it. But from time to time, the thing that's going to impress your client is that one little graphical tweak. For that, you could really use a paint brush.

No problem! Borrow one of mine. It's called Sumo Paint. You don't even have to wash it out when you're done.

The Extra Mile

A wise man once said to me, "You may think you're in the business of satisfying customers, but you're not. You're in the business of earning referrals. When your clients send friends and family to you, you've done far more than satisfy them."

Whenever I share that advice, I tend to bring up one particular story: A few years ago I got involved with a one-man software house called tripleBsoftware. By involved, I mean "the guy let me have a free copy of his software because I work for Universal Remote, so I spent some nights and weekends creating some graphics for a new user interface for him." 

Some of you may know tripleBsoftware's cool DMX-3000 software. It lets MX-3000 owners append their MX-3000 files with an onscreen menu of all the DVDs in their changers. Users can select a DVD just by touching its cover art. In the latest version, users can read a synopsis of the DVD, search for titles with an index, or easily select individual discs from a multi-disc set. When you see it in action, it's hard to remember that you're looking at an MX-3000 file. Yet there it is, all Mac-OSX-looking, right there on the remote.

The software is for sale of course, but the amazing thing is that the author didn't create it to make money. No, he had a good friend who owned several DVD changers and a huge library of DVDs. So the guy who owns tripleBsoftware told his buddy he'd help him out and write a little utility for choosing DVDs on the MX-3000. Version 2.0 of DMX-3000 is ready to launch any day now. When it does, you owe it to yourself to go take a look at it. The work involved in setting it up for your clients is probably too time consuming to be profitable for most installs, but that's not the point. The point is seeing this incredible functionality on a device that was never designed for this level of interactivity.

There are ten thousand shortcuts the developer could have taken that would have still resulted in a usable program for his friend. But instead, he went the extra mile and created something that, as one of the designers of the MX-3000, I would have never thought possible. But it turns out it is possible. So much so that when people visit my home, I sometimes tell them to pick up the remote and choose a movie without telling them how. Sure, they look puzzled at first, but I smile and say, "Just give it a shot." 

No one has ever failed to find a movie they wanted and get it playing. And none of them has ever failed to ask how this magic is possible. We end up talking about the MX-3000, Universal Remote Control, my job, and usually, DMX-3000. Several friends are now MX-3000 users. I know at least one of them also uses DMX-3000. 

But you don't have to spend hundreds of hours to go the extra mile for your clients. Much of the time, the extra mile is just a few extra steps. And in the current economic situation, those few extra steps can be the difference between having your clients refer friends and family to you, or not. That's advertising you can't buy. It's good will you can't invent. And it's pride you can't beat.

So when a job has you frustrated because the homeowner is finicky or some blunder has you over budget, never forget that even the most challenging job could be the one that lands you your next five clients. Get the slack out of those cables before you zip-tie them. Carefully straighten the components on the shelf if they're not rack-mounted. Add some Favorite Channel macros for the client's kids. The things that make your client's neighbors pick up the phone and call you are often not the things you put on the job spec sheet. No... the things that make for referrals are those extra steps, one at a time, that made the job human, and made the client trust that with you, his money was well-spent. 

One at a time, those extra steps are what make up the extra mile.