Microsoft's Windows 7 home operating system comes out on 22 October 2009, less than three years after the launch of Vista.  In order to get people "buzzed" about their new product, they are encouraging Windows 7 House Parties! 

Doesn't that sound like fun!?  Naturally, I want to use my Saturday preparing to encourage my neighbors to use an overpriced Microsoft product (I vote Linux).  Don't forget - Microsoft wants pictures!

I was laughing really hard this morning, as I learned how to host my Windows 7 party (yes, they are serious):



What's the incentive?  Why would anyone do this? The answer: a party pack which includes...

* One limited Signature Edition Windows 7® Ultimate (32 bit)
* One Deck of Playing Cards with Windows 7® Desktop Design
* One Puzzle with Windows 7® Desktop Design
* One Poster with Windows 7® Desktop Design
* Ten Tote Bags with Windows 7® Desktop Design for hosts and guests
* One table top centerpiece for decoration
* One package of Windows 7® napkins

I didn't even add in those little R's!  They came straight from the responder at Yahoo Answers!

Excuse me???  You want me to host a party in exchange for Windows themed napkins?  And playing cards!?  There are no streamers or balloons involved because those extras are only shipped in America.  For a keg and some meat to put on the BBQ I may be tempted.

So I've applied to be a host. I'm not sure why, because I don't need ten Windows 7 tote bags and I have a Mac at home. Maybe my roommate could use the "Signature Edition Windows 7® Ultimate" for work.

Two parts of the application process made me chuckle - and it made the whole experience so PC-ish. First, I had to go on a duck hunt running tests and confirming my PC here in the office is capable of running Windows 7. Okay, fine, no, I didn't actually do this, but I could have...
Secondly, I had to decide whether or not I wanted to receive emails about Microsoft products.  Oh wait - did I say "decide"?  Microsoft actually made the choice for me, kind of like when my Windows XP decides to restart at 11am to do some random updates I will never need.



And the "legal jargon" section - was FOUR PAGES LONG - single spaced size 12 font!  I feel bad about the internet trees, so I wont publish the whole thing but it's over 1,500 words.   

I don't know if you have heard about a website called "Good URL  Bad URL"? I've been a huge fan of this basic looking but phenomenal website for a long time and I regularly visit it for latest photos of examples with good URLs and not so good URLs. I guess this blog post is a humble dedication to this website.

An URL is the company brand which is meant to connect with an audience, most times the connection is spot on but sometimes things go really wrong. "Good URL Bad URL" is a brainchild of Aaron Goldman, on the website he says his aim is to give businesses some guidance when choosing and promoting their URLs.

"Good URL Bad URL" is packed with interesting points and examples. It says whenever possible, use YourBrandName.com. CapitalizeTheFirstLetterOfEachWord and/or UseDifferentColorsOrBoldToHelpEachWordStandOut. Don't use acronyms, abbreviations, or numbers unless your brand is widely known as such. Don't use YourProduct.com or YourCategory.com as a replacement for YourBrandName.com.

Here are a couple of examples, all are from the Good URL Bad URL website.

Good URL



This is a very clever URL from Corporate Express, the URL show up properly in the rear-view mirror of the car ahead.

Better URL



This one gets the message across. Spot on. Concise and to the point.

Bad URL



Here the URL is lost in the mass of text and at first view it's actually difficult to spot the URL. The use of different colours and mix of upper- and lower case letter would improve and get the message across.

Worse URL



This is actually not a bad URL but the all lower cases makes it's message look really bad.

Check out "Good URL Bad URL" website for many more excellent photos of URL examples.

This morning I did an interesting and funny discovery when searching for Google on Yahoo.com.

Yahoo is telling people to "please stay with us - pretty please - we can do better - don't go!". When searching for Google or MSN this comes up. Have a look for yourself below. Not very Christmassy of Yahoo.

The "You could go to Google or..." message only come up when using Yahoo US and both Google and MSN are targeted.



Merry Christmas everyone!!

It's ok folks you have not read the title wrong, I have not posted in a euphoric state, we can make http error codes fun!

A while ago I was introduced to this by Lisa Ditlefsen and Chewie, I have named checked Lisa specifically for the reason of my family having someone to blame at the sad, sorry state that I have become, one of which is often described as a geek.

I invite you now to break the conversation codes below and also to create your own conversations in the comments section.

Enjoy!

Person A:  I had a row with my girlfriend the other day; she said my actions were 406

Person B:  Oh, bit of 409 at home I see. What happened?

Person A:  Well it was my birthday and she said she had a surprise waiting for me;                             unfortunately the surprise I was thinking of was 501

Person B:  So you made a 400?

Person A:  Yep, it was a 405 apparently and it was 403

Person B:  Not even on birthdays?

Person A:   No,  that was not 202
 
Person B:  So your 417 then, shame

Person A:  Yeah not the best birthday, I 408, said I was going out and was 410.
                 Hopefully I will come back and find out she has 301


Here is the full list of http error codes to help you in your quest:

• Full list of HTTP Error Codes

100     Continue
101     Switching Protocols
200     OK
201     Created
202     Acceptable
203     Non-Authoritative Information
204     No Content
205     Reset Content
206     Partial Content
300     Multiple Choices
301     Moved Permanently
302     Moved Temporarily
303     See Other
304     Not Modified
305     Use Proxy
306     Unused
307     Temporary Redirect
400     Bad Request
401     Unauthorised
402     Payment Required
403     Forbidden
404     Not Found
405     Method Not Allowed
406     Not Acceptable
407     Proxy Authentication Required
408     Request Time-Out
409     Conflict
410     Gone
411     Length Required
412     Precondition Failed
413     Request Entity Too Large
414     Request-URL Too Large
415     Unsupported Media Type
416     Requested Range Not Satisfiable
417     Expectation Failed
500     Server Error
501     Not Implemented
502     Bad Gateway
503     Service Unavailable
504     Gateway Time-Out
505     HTTP Version not supported

Just thought I would share some amusing 404 error messages with you, a bit geeky I know, but chances are if you are on this blog you will appreciate a little bit of geekilicious fun.