Notes from the Field

SAN MATEO (02/25/2000) - Jimmy knits his way into the tip business with a hot one about Palm VIISO I INTERVIEWED Jimmy this week (his real name is Tucker, so I don't blame him for going by Jimmy), and I was surprised from the get-go.

Something about his name made me think "former high school basketball star," so I was a bit shocked when I went to meet him in the reception area and found him there quietly knitting!

I didn't jump to conclusions and was pleased by his use of colors and slip stitch.

Reading my Palm

Once we got past the HR formalities and I was able to ask Jimmy some real questions, I was very impressed.

When asked how he might go about finding some good tips, he concisely recounted getting a tip from a source close to Palm.

After its launch of Palm III with a color display last week, it appears that Palm will be ready to release Palm VII in color as well, starting in August.

This was something even I hadn't heard about. Not bad for a kid fresh out of college.

PC suppliers just can't Win

Rumors are swirling that since Windows 2000 has officially been released, PC vendors are now going to stop offering Windows NT 4.0 in their products.

I've checked with my PC spies but wasn't able to find any evidence supporting this ... yet.

Of course, given the recent release of the new product and the fact that many applications running on NT won't work on Win2000, it would be as much of a shock to see this actually come to fruition.

When a Win isn't really a Win

One reader writing about all the bugs in Win2000 may have found the tarantula of all bugs.

It seems the retail version includes only two additional bytes of data left out of the trial version, a binary registry file.

This entrepreneurial reader figures all he has to do is edit the file and burn it onto a CD with the trial version, and he's got a pirated Windows 2000 to sell for half the retail price Microsoft charges.

Yahoo! I think I hate you!

One irate reader wrote in about problems he is experiencing with his small business site hosted on Yahoo Store.

It seems that he has his secure online credit card transactions set up to go through Authorize.net. However, he has never received any funds because Authorize.net does not support Yahoo Store, calling it a "competitor."

This poor reader seems to be caught up in some kind of online authorization war and hasn't seen a cent from either account.

Quick! File those taxes!

As April 15 rapidly approaches, it is fitting that my last tip comes from a reader trying to get his taxes done early this year, using Quickbooks 2000.

The software, which must be updated each year to account for changes, has some new additions and requirements this year, including requirements for an Internet connection for the machine using it and separate tax IDs for each client.

Quickbooks claims the requirements are to help customers keep up to date, but our reader can't remember a time when tax tables changed midyear.

JIMMY REALLY IMPRESSED ME, so we'll see how Madison fares this week.

Changing topics, many readers will be glad to hear that I will never again mention Rose. I went to a sports bar last night and hit it off with someone.

Stay tuned.

Tips for a first date or my next interview? Send them to cringe@infoworld.com.

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