Not a day goes by where my inbox is not loaded with at least one email message asking me to take a survey. I typically don’t mind sharing my opinions, however it has to be a win-win situation. This is where I am able to respond to survey questions using a Web-based form that is not loaded with a million radio buttons or checkboxes, and after completing the survey I feel good about completing the survey.

By the use of the word Hell in the subject, you can guess I am not winning with many of these surveys. Most times I click on a link, answer a few demographic questions, then I am onto the bulk of the survey. And bulk is the right word, as I am presented with a page jammed packed with radio buttons – typically to answer questions on a scale of 1 to something – and checkboxes.

The problem is there is usually too many, tightly spaced, and I always miss some if not many. There are usually no visual elements, like different colored backgrounds or lines, to differentiate each question. When I am confronted with such a page, I usually click the “X” in the browser tab and close the survey, never giving my answers.

If I do make it through the survey, many times I have an empty feeling that I didn’t really provide any information, rather satisfied someone who was looking for some response unknown to me. I once was told you can write a survey to get you pretty much any result you are seeking, and I believe it. Surveys that either do not offer a general text box or offer too many seem to fit the bill.

When someone asks you for an opinion it generally gives you a good feeling. Perhaps the real reason I find these surveys painful is that I never see any changes or results from them.

What do you think? No radio buttons necessary for the response.

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In my never ending quest to rid myself of as much unnecessary paper as possible and replace it with PDFs, I ran across the final newsletter for the Boston Computer Society from October 1996. Of course I pulled it apart and scanned it, and I am offering it to the public here.

The Society, or BCS, is how it was in the “old days” - large computer clubs that had many special interest groups, or SIGs, on a variety of topics. I don’t recall membership being all that much, maybe $30, and some meetings had a fee and others were sponsored or free. I was only a member for a few years and attended a few meetings and presentations. I recall seeing Dilbert’s Scott Adams at one annual meeting.

Comparing organizations like the BCS to today is like comparing corporate America to a commune. Where things were much more organized, there was also more structure. Today there are a plethora of forums, chat rooms, blogs and Web sites on all aspects of computers and technology, but the only way they are organized are with search engines.

Even if you are not from the Boston area you may still find this last BCS Journal interesting to read, if not for the articles then for the advertisements.

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If you are a regular reader of The Hot Iron you may know I am reading through all of the books on my bookshelf, blogging my takeaways from them, and passing the books along to friends and colleagues. One book I just finished is Free Agent Nation by Daniel Pink, published in 2001. Look for my takeaways on this great book soon.

At the end of the book it mentions the Web site for the book at freeagentnation.com. So I entered the address into my browser and it resolves to nothing, no Web site. Daniel Pink has a Web site for himself and one of his most recent books, Johnny Bunko. According to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, the last pages of freeagentnation.com archived were on November, 2005, and it was a link to his personal Web site.

This surprises me, especially as the book is probably still sitting on the bookshelves of many entrepreneurs and in circulation. I am glad to see at least he still owns the domain name.

Web sites can and do have a shelf life, and taking it down can be the right move. However people still may be seeking the site or its topic. Routing Web traffic to another site at a minimum is straightforward and can suit those looking for the Web site, and maintain value for the topic as well as the domain name.

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Despite efforts by Microsoft to push its Vista operating system and get users to stop using Windows XP, the previous version isn’t going away. Why? With the performance and compatibility issues of Vista, plus the stability of XP – not to mention the fact there is little need to spend the money to upgrade – XP remains popular. But don’t just take my word for it.

As a self-professed Internet Generalist, I keep abreast on all elements as much as I can, from hardware to software. One source that keeps me in the know on all issues regarding Microsoft operating systems and software is WServerNews. They provide both expert opinion and detailed information, with a touch of humor.

In their latest edition, interestingly #666, they talk of the upcoming release of Windows XP service pack 3, or SP3, as well as link to a detailed comparison of XP and Vista.

So will XP go away? Not for a while, and not for a while on the computer where this was written!

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There’s nothing like a Web site being down when there’s a big event or a breaking news story. For a high-profile Web site to be down can be detrimental to its owner, especially if the particular event – or any type of event - can be predicted. Black Friday online shopping and Super Bowl ads mentioning Web sites come to mind.

Last week, it was mistakenly posted on the Web site of the NFL’s Green Bay Packers its star quarterback Brett Favre was retiring. It turned out the “story” was merely a preparation for whenever the announcement of his retirement was made. It caused a small panic for Cheeseheads everywhere.

Today it was announced Favre is retiring. So I went to the Packers’ Web site at packers.com to see how they handled the announcement. The team and its Internet consultant apparently anticipate a deluge of traffic, so they redirected traffic to the home page to a special “breaking news” page as shown below.

(click on the link to view a larger version)

On the page is the following text:

Welcome to the Packers.com Breaking News page.

Due to the magnitude of today's Packers news, Packers.com is offering this Breaking News page in lieu of our normal Packers.com site. With minimal graphics and no ancillary content, page loads should be quick, even in this period of high demand. All news stories from today will be listed right here on the Breaking News page. If you are seeking archived Packers.com material, you may still access the regular Packers.com site here.

This is a wise move, and interesting they actually stated it as they did. And to Mr. Favre, thanks for the memories, except for Super Bowl XXXI.

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