Thanks for recommending this Nate.

Music Tunnel had tons of rooms, excellent sound insulation, and a great sound system. It was clean and comfortable except for the small bathroom, just like seemingly every business around here. They had a cool touch-screen menu for picking songs which worked fine for the two of us, but would have been tricky with more people.

The quality of the music was really good, many also included the video from the original artist’s version of the song. The selection of English songs was good, not great. For example, they didn’t have much classic country (but I’m starting to get used to this). They had plenty of modern pop (which I can’t sing) and a good collection of oldies (Beatles, Elvis, Carpenters).

My friend was having fun with Chinese pop songs that had the actual videos. It was pretty neat.

This is my current favorite Karaoke place in the Bay Area. You should check it out.

I give the new Roku XDS a C. Great for video, but terrible for audio.

I picked up a new Roku XDS for $100 at Amazon. I had pretty high expectations after reading some reviews and checking out the product page. I planned to use it to listen to my MP3 collection and Pandora, as well as to stream video from Netflix and Hulu Plus. That’s all I wanted from it. Sounds simple. I figured I’d be able to get rid of my prior generation Apple TV that is only being used to store and play my music. I was wrong.

Video

The Roku really shines with streaming video. When comparing its Netflix interface to that of my Internet-connected Samsung Blu-ray player, the Roku is great. Not only can I access my instant (streaming) queue, but I can also search for movies – something I can’t do with my Blu-ray player. Also, Netflix loads faster, the videos play at a higher resolution, and the UI just seems speedier. Netflix is great on the Roku.

Hulu Plus is also pretty good, but not perfect. There is some overscanning going on, but it’s not enough to worry about. Also, I have to pay extra for it ($7.99/month) which sucks considering I still have to watch commercials. But it’s still better than plugging my computer into my TV.

I recently downgraded my DirecTV package. The combination of Netflix and Hulu Plus are good enough to allow me to stick with the downgrade.

If I had one wish, it’s that Roku would work something out with ESPN so that I can watch ESPN 3 on my TV. I’d pay extra for that. I get it free on my PC as a Comcast subscriber. Currently ESPN only makes it available via deals they cut with ISPs. I can’t buy it as an individual. I hope this changes.

Overall, the Roku gets an A- for video.

Audio

The Roku seriously disappoints here. First of all it doesn’t have a built-in application to play MP3s connected to it via USB or over my home network. The only way to hear my own music is to first upload it MP3Tunes.com. This comes with an annual fee and it takes forever to complete the upload – multiple days for around 50GB of music. But I was willing to give this a shot since this would solve my offsite backup needs for my music.

The UI for MP3Tunes on Roku is terrible – it’s sluggish, under-featured – i.e. doesn’t support browsing/shuffling by genre – and it’s buggy. What’s worse, the service doesn’t  handle playlists well, especially big ones. This is a known bug confirmed by their tech support. The Web-based UI for MP3Tunes is better, but only slightly. It’s still buggy and slow. I hate it and wish I hadn’t wasted my time and money on it.

Pandora works decently well on the Roku, but not appreciably better than on my Blu-ray player.

Overall, the Roku gets and F for audio.

Recommendation

If you don’t care about audio, then by all means get the Roku. You’ll love it. If you want to listen to your own music, this isn’t the device for you. You will be very disappointed. Get an Apple TV instead.

Regarding which model to get, the XDS is great because it has more connections and it has a replay button that is missing on the entry-level model. Spend the extra money for the XDS.

The book is very engaging and easy to read. But don’t let the simplicity fool you. It’s packed full of great ideas to make you a better communicator that gets results.

The premise of the book is that to be a successful communicator, you need to learn three habits:

1. Connect
2. Convey
3. Convince

You have to connect with your audience, so you can convey your message and convince them to act.

Recurring themes throughout the book are that “less is more,” you have to be “likeable,” and three is “the world’s most powerful number.” These simple ideas will take you a long way when applied properly. This book will show you how to do that and more.

Synopsis and Comments

Habit 1: Connecting – give your audience what they want and value up front so they’ll tune in. There are 3 strategies, each with multiple tactics provided to help you connect.

• Strategy 1: Stay In Their Moment – Be Fully Present
• Strategy 2: Frontload – First Things First
• Strategy 3: Goldilocks Candor – The Right Level of Candor Is Crucial to Stay Connected

A large part of this section deals with how to reach and work with difficult people. It’s full of tips that will prove very useful in product management as you try to sell your ideas internally and to get your projects implemented.

There are also great tips on how to read your audience and adjust your presentation accordingly which is very useful in business development.

My favorite tip – you have to know your recipient’s preferred method of communication (PMOC). Use their PMOC, instead of yours, and you’ll increase your chances of getting a response. If you don’t know their PMOC, just ask. Then put it in their contact file and always use this method as your default means of communicating with them. This is especially useful in business development.

Habit 2: Conveying – manage information by using portion control to get your point across with clarity. The chapter starts off with 10 signs you might be a weak conveyor and tips on how to address the problem. Next up are the 3 strategies, each with multiple tactics provided to help you convey.

• Strategy 1: The Eyes Trump the Ears – Use the Dominant Sense
• Strategy 2: Talk in Triplets – Tap into the Trilogy
• Strategy 3: Tell Stories – Gain Longer Shelf Life

A great visual example of strategy 1 is the contrast used in before and after pictures by weight-loss companies. Here’s an example from the book:

Strategy 2 is another of my favorite tips – the concept of triplets. The brain is wired to think in 3s. Examples include:

• “Stop, drop, and roll”
• “Stop, look, and listen”
• “The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”
• “Hop, skip, and a jump”
• “Blah, blah, blah”
• “Yada, yada, yada”
• And my own addition: “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” from the three wise monkeys.

Things just flow better in 3s. Try it.

One of the tactics for using triplets is to “preload three choices.” Start with the most important item first, the second most important item last, and the third most important item in the middle.

Alliteration is also recommended when telling stories – think Dr. Seuss.

Telling stories is the hardest thing for me to do. But the author gives some nice tips. If you can tell a story about how your product can solve a problem, show some visual examples, rattle off the benefits in triplets, and use some alliteration, then you should have a very powerful and memorable value proposition.

Habit 3: Convincing – use to create commitment and influence decisions, actions, and results. The chapter starts off with 10 signs you might be a weak convincer and tips on how to address the problem. It then follows with the 3 strategies, along with their tactics for helping you to convince your audience:

• Strategy 1: Sound Decisive – Stop Babbling and Backpedaling
• Strategy 2: Transfer Ownership – Create Commitment, Not Compliance
• Strategy 3: Adjust Your Energy – Start Attracting, Stop Repelling

Product Managers and Business Development Managers need to be able to convince their audience in order to sell their products and get the deal done. This chapter helps you to put it all together to do just that.

Strategy 1 – You have to sound decisive. “If you sound like a wimp, you’ll be treated like one.”  The author provides 9 signs that you might have a problem.

Here are some things not to say:

• “I’m not an expert, but…”
• “I could be wrong, but…”
• “I guess what I’m saying is…”
• “I kind of feel like…”
• “I’m only an assistant, but…”
• “I’m probably the only person who feels this way, but…”

For those of you that sit on your hands and bite your lips in meetings, “it’s crucial to contribute to meetings if you want to convince others to see your viewpoints and act on them.”

Bottom Line: If you ramble, waffle, or never speak up, no one is going to take you seriously.

Strategy 2 is a biggie – transferring ownership.

Transferring ownership means shifting your ideas and decisions to others so they will embrace them and act on them.

It’s the difference between others feeling actively involved in their destiny and, therefore, committed to it versus feeling forced to comply. Buy-in leads people to change behaviors, decisions, and actions…

People should feel as if they’re volunteering, not surrendering.

The lesson here is that you shouldn’t shove your ideas down everyone’s throats. Ask for opinions. Find a way to use some of those opinions. Share credit.

Strategy 3 is the hardest one for me to get a handle on. It focuses on your voice, your face, and your body language. Most people don’t pay enough attention to how these things influence people’s opinion of you.

This section is full of great tips. Here are my favorites:

• Record yourself to see how you sound. Likewise, video yourself to see how you look (watch it with the sound off).
• Use shorter sentences.
• Emphasize action verbs.
• Use pauses for emphasis.
• Don’t suck in your stomach. Breathe deeply from the diaphragm. This will help to calm you down and make your voice sound lower.
• Maintain eye contact, but try looking at just one eye and then switch to the other eye.
• Keep your lower body still.
• Use the power stance – “When standing, keep your feet about shoulder-width apart. Soften the knees a tad. This is the best position for the lower body to come across as relaxed but powerful.” Shift your weight from one hip to the other to mix it up a bit.

Remember: connect, convey, convice.

I’ve only scratched the surface of all the great stuff that’s in this book. I highly recommend it to anyone in product management or business development looking for an edge to better sell your ideas, your products, or your proposals.

The premise of the book is that your message should focus on what your product can do for your customer. There’s nothing new or revolutionary about this idea. In fact, most of it boils down to understanding the difference between features and benefits (it’s benefits that matter), figuring out which benefit matters the most to your customer, and then making sure that they hear it. It’s a good reminder that many marketers need to hear from time to time. But where this book excels is in helping you apply this idea in ways that you might not have thought of. This book is a nice evolution in how you can market yourself, your product, or business.

Key Take-Aways:

1) Your potential customer or partner is thinking “so what?” All your thoughts and efforts as a marketer should be focused on finding the “So What Benefit” for your customer or partner. They don’t care about you, your product, or your company until they know how it benefits them.

Having taken hundreds of phone calls from other companies wanting to partner with my company, I can tell you that this is the only thing I cared about when taking these calls. If the caller couldn’t quickly articulate what was in it for me, then it was over.

2) Think through the “So What Matrix” when giving a presentation:

• “For What?” – Why are you giving the presentation?
• “So What?” – Why is it important to the customer?
• “Now What?” – What do you want the customer to do as a result of the presentation?

I’ve always been been stunned by how many product and partnership proposals I’ve seen that didn’t get these points across.

3) The goal is to get your customer to say:

• “I love it.”
• “I need it.”
• “I’ll buy it.”

4) If you can’t think of a “So What Benefit,” just ask your customer or partner. The author suggests saying the following: “One of the the things that I have found that is really helpful in prioritizing what’s most important is to ask  you to complete the following sentence regarding this product/service.”

“All I really care about is ______________ .”

This is the recommendation that I really like. It’s so simple, why not just ask what someone wants? The problem is that people don’t always want to tell you what they want or can’t articulate it. The author gives good tips on how to get past this.

5) The author suggests creating a “personal biography” – a little about you, your background, what makes you different, and how you can benefit your customer. This helps your customer or partner better relate to you. The book goes into detail on how to do this and provides good examples.

This really changed my thinking in regards to the “about me” section on my blog, as well as my resume, my cover letter, and my personal business cards.

6) Next the author suggests creating a “So What Positioning Statement.” This helps you to answer the question “What do you do?” in such a way that people will easily understand how you can benefit them or other people they know. Most people waste the opportunity every time they are asked this question. The book goes into detail on this.

Answering this question properly isn’t easy to do. The author completely changed my thinking on how to do it.

7) And, finally, the author suggests that once you’ve identified your “So What Benefit,” you have to make sure that your product or service is always visible and consistent, and that your “So What Benefit” is constantly repeated. He calls this the “So What Reminder” – visibility, consistency, and repetition. Don’t assume people will remember your message. Make sure they remember it.

DirecTV = Terrible Customer Service

DirecTV has an exclusive on NFL Sunday Ticket in the US. They use this very effectively to grab subscribers from cable and to lock them in for 2 years. I’m one such person.

NFL Sunday Ticket is great, when it works. It’s expensive, but it’s the only way I can watch Cowboys games in San Francisco, plus I love the Red Zone channel. Today I missed both because of an incorrect satellite configuration (a configuration that was done by DirecTV).

I called DirecTV to resolve the issue and request a pro-rated refund for the week since I didn’t get to see what I wanted to see. They wouldn’t issue a refund. The person on the phone was nice and seemed to understand, but said she couldn’t do anything. It’s great to be a monopoly.

It’s clear that DirecTV has adopted the mindset that customers will do anything to keep getting NFL Sunday Ticket and that they’re locked in to the service, so why bother doing anything to keep them happy. They’re probably right, but this is exactly why monopolies and exclusives are bad for customers. Another great example is AT&T and the iPhone.

When I asked about my contract and service level, I learned I have 11 months left. I found out I could downgrade and save $33/mth (of course, I’d lose some channels). When I offered them the choice of issuing me a refund for 1  week of service for NFL Sunday Ticket vs me downgrading by $33/mth going forward, they still wouldn’t issue the refund. I immediately downgraded my service. They just lost $33/mth * the 11 remaining months on my contract or $363 in revenue to save issuing a one-time refund that couldn’t have been more than $15-$20. Plus they’re going to lose me as a subscriber at the end of that 11 month period, so they’re going to be losing even more future revenue and a little piece of all important market share. Unbelievable!

There are multiple rooms of various sizes. We had a group of 4 and paid $25/hour. The room was comfortable and had plenty of space for our group.

You could see the lyrics on screen easily from any location in the room. The sound system was good and loud, though this also meant you could hear sounds from other rooms if you didn’t have any music playing.

The selection of music in English was adequate. The background music for the songs wasn’t the best that I’ve heard, but it wasn’t the worst either. It definitely doesn’t sound as good as CD+Gs that you might buy yourself. Also, the songs were only listed by title. It would have been nice to have them cross-referenced by artist and genre.

They sell water, soft drinks, and beer at the front counter. It’s reasonably priced – water is $1. There’s no food.

The bathroom was clean.

You park on the street, so you might want to leave the big SUV at home.

Technology I used in 2001:

- Nokia cellphone for mobile and long-distance calls

- landline for local calls and Internet access

- dial-up Internet access

- company provided laptop with Windows NT 4 for work and for getting online at home

- basic cable

- standard definition 20″ TV

- cheap battery-powered alarm clock

Technology I’m using in 2010:

- iPhone 3GS for all calls, MP3 player, Pandora, yellow pages, maps, mobile web access, gaming, e-mail (personal and work), controlling my Apple TV, alarm clock, calendar, and contacts.

- NOTE: no landline

- cable Internet access with wireless router

- Apple TV

- Mac mini

- 17″ HP laptop with Windows 7 (personal)

- 10″ Dell laptop with Windows XP (work)

- Samsung Internet-connected Blu-Ray player

- 65″ Panasonic Plasma HDTV

- DirecTV with dual tuner HD DVR, NFL Sunday Ticket, and ESPN Game Plan (no premium channels)

- Hulu for catching up on shows that I may have missed

- Netflix for DVDs and streaming video (but I’m unimpressed with their streaming content, so I’ll probably cancel when football season resumes in Fall 2010)

- PS2 used primarily for Karaoke games

- Harmony remote that controls my Sony receiver, Samsung Blu-Ray player, DirecTV DVR, Apple TV, and Panasonic HDTV

They’ve got a great web site with access to all of their music. Here’s one of my favorite albums:

The process took 5-6 hours. It was easy, not a lot of hand-holding needed. I didn’t wipe the drive and start fresh. Rather I installed it as an upgrade to Vista.

After using it all evening, I’m underwhelmed. It doesn’t seem to boot any faster. It does wake up from sleep faster, but it also takes longer to go to sleep.

The OS assumes way to many things, like the fact that I would want to put all of my pictures and videos into Windows Media Player to be viewed at once. NO. I do NOT want to do this. It was a pain to undo this.

After installing, I decided to start uninstalling a bunch of software that came on my HP laptop. It took forever to uninstall things. This felt much slower than Vista and XP.

I wish I’d kept my $49.