Comments - Family - Duncan Mackenzie .NET

RE: Ratatouille preview article up on Xbox.com

Jyoti — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 23:07:00 GMT

Your site is really very nice.

RE: Hey, I'm on Channel 10 ... just in time for Father's Day

Arztek — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 15:50:00 GMT

Yet another wonderful segment with the beautiful Miss Wood. I heart Tina, even if she is pregnant.

RE: I'm inappropriately excited about something I just found on the web

Jim — Sat, 26 May 2007 22:52:00 GMT

"Inappropriate"? :) If so, I'm right there with you and my son will love it for sure.

RE: I'm inappropriately excited about something I just found on the web

Adam — Thu, 24 May 2007 10:31:00 GMT

I think there is going to be a series of these crossover titles. i hope they can work with marvel, and not just dc. i want to see a marvel univers game w/ lego. the punisher would be great! or how about lego transformers! or he-man legos? thundercats?!?! i...er...my 3 boys would love those games.

RE: I'm inappropriately excited about something I just found on the web

steven vore — Thu, 24 May 2007 09:48:00 GMT

if it's as good as Lego Star Wars was, it'll be a blast!

RE: My kind of use for a webcam

Tim Aidlin — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 16:14:00 GMT

Hi, Duncan. Thanks for the link. It really has been great to see her every once in a while. I feel a lot more connected, and so does my wife ...

RE: After the Wind Storm: I want my power back!

Carlos Fuentespina — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 16:51:00 GMT

Hi Duncan,

Nice pictures. I hope you didn't get too cold like we are here in Winnipeg. It's -47 with the windchill right now.

RE: After the Wind Storm: I want my power back!

Aaron Axvig — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 21:30:00 GMT

I just read your article in the December 2006 MSDN Magazine. Great read, even though I already knew about on10. Keep up the good work!

RE: Trying out the embedded Soapbox player

rajesh — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 13:10:00 GMT

Your website's style sheet is different in internet explorer 6.0

RE: Trying out the embedded Soapbox player

Diana Mackenzie — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 13:37:00 GMT

Type your comment here.
Too cool!
That child is adorable :)
Keep the videos coming!
Love,
Your Mother

RE: Heading out on parental leave... 10/26/2004 to 11/23/2004

Coleman Isaac — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 13:46:00 GMT

Hey

RE: Heading out on parental leave... 10/26/2004 to 11/23/2004

gdliyvk@google.com — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 02:35:00 GMT

ringtones free

RE: Christmas pictures

Kent Sharkey — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 13:11:00 GMT

My word, but "the pink thing" has become a gorgeous little lady!

RE: Heading out on parental leave... 10/26/2004 to 11/23/2004

Anita — Sat, 30 Jul 2005 02:24:00 GMT

I wich you good luck too! nice picture!

RE: Heading out on parental leave... 10/26/2004 to 11/23/2004

Bim — Sat, 30 Jul 2005 02:22:00 GMT

Good luck<i>.</i>

RE: The Spouse Acceptance Factor

Roman — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 20:41:00 GMT

I thought I'd look it up on wikipedia. I didn't find anything on SAF, but I did come across a link about "technology acceptance model", which included a rather clinical description of the phenomenon you described:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_acceptance_model

I did a little more digging and came across this site with mounds and mounds of research on the topic, primarily related to business:
http://www.guuspijpers.com/TAM.htm

Steve's wife's refusal is poignant in the distinction between amount of understanding desired by users. In IT, the booting process is overlooked as something that is automatic and part of the process of starting a PC. It's somewhat analogous to the checklist pilots go through at every stage of a flight. Even though everything is done automatically (find the bootsector, load the OS, etc), a software engineer (in a similar role as an airline pilot) often wants to be informed of this process when needed for their tasks. But that masks the fact that to a non-technical person this is all gobbledeegook and irrelevant to their task.
Passengers don't need to know how much fuel is in each wing. While all the plane setup occurs, passengers do their own relevant tasks (boarding, seating, eyeing flight attendants, feeling nervous, etc), which have nothing to do with technically being able to get the plan off the ground. When was the last time passengers were accepting of flight delays? Ground staff can tell waiting passengers the exact technical reason why a plane is 3 hours late (a plane I was to fly on once had lost its air-conditioning system and ended up being replaced by a different plane), but acceptance will not be by all. Airlines know this and have staff trained to deal with the inevitable user backlash to try and keep the customer. A lot of these "acceptance-factor" interactions apply to activity like the boot process on high-tech devices. Users don't care why it doesn't work. When a Media Center PC breaks down and incurs user backlash, what happens? it gets replaced (in the cases above with TiVO).

Doing technical things like eliminating the causes of user rejection is only one step towards successful device adoption. Airlines and trains still have flight delays after 90+ years of commercial operation. The accepted (and presumedly successful) companies are the ones who get their customers to accept these problems without rejecting the service (or device).

RE: The Spouse Acceptance Factor

Steve — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 20:11:00 GMT

Yup - totally hear ya - I had the same thing happen last year:
http://www.furrygoat.com/2005/02/critical_mass_t.html

Wife loves the Tivo, booted MCE out the door. She refused to "boot the TV'.

RE: The Spouse Acceptance Factor

josh — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 13:56:00 GMT

Yeah it's tough. I find myself at odds with my Media Center (2005) from time to time. It is not nearly as bad as the original release was for needing a keyboard and mouse hooked up, but every now and then you do need to type or click around in the standard windows interface and the ol' remote just doesn't cut it. I ended up installing VNC (http://www.realvnc.com) on my Media Center so I can take care of most of my non-remote input needs. Out of curiousity, what hardware are you running your Media Center on? I ended up using a Shuttle chassis with a P4 3 GHz and 512 MB of RAM, but it still seems to lag from time to time.

RE: The Spouse Acceptance Factor

Kevin Dente — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 10:18:00 GMT

You've got to give it up to TiVo on this one - their stuff just works. One of the reasons I haven't been gung-ho on switching to HD is because there isn't a great, reasonably priced TiVo based solution there. I'm starting to look at Myth as a potential option once I go down the HD route.

From what I've heard about cable company-provided PVRs, there isn't much to like there (with the possible exception of the Microsoft Foundation based solutions, which are supposedly OK). I'm looking forward to when the Comcast/TiVo partnership bears fruit, and we can have the best of both worlds (if you're a Comcast customer, anyway).

RE: A post about new MSDN Content? Nope, not quite...

Dominic Shakeshaft — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 09:48:00 GMT

Way to go Duncan :)

RE: Heading out on parental leave... 10/26/2004 to 11/23/2004

Medusa — Thu, 02 Dec 2004 01:25:00 GMT

Congratulations and the best regards for you and your family as a new-born healthy baby come to a new world ;much more happiness follows.Beyound doubt ,the come of a new life is in the spotlight in aroud the whole house in recent days. The little kid amuses u more than ever before.Here is my email:medusa-echo@126.com

RE: Heading out on parental leave... 10/26/2004 to 11/23/2004

John — Tue, 30 Nov 2004 13:50:00 GMT

Good luck to you and your family.

RE: Heading out on parental leave... 10/26/2004 to 11/23/2004

Praveen — Wed, 24 Nov 2004 12:09:00 GMT

Nice picture, Have a great time....You must be back pretty soon to work...

RE: Heading out on parental leave... 10/26/2004 to 11/23/2004

Isaiah — Sun, 14 Nov 2004 08:11:00 GMT

Good luck to you!

RE: Heading out on parental leave... 10/26/2004 to 11/23/2004

murphy — Mon, 08 Nov 2004 05:46:00 GMT

Shes got her big brother wrapped around her finger all ready......the second ones are more fun.. the parents have a little more experience :~)

RE: Heading out on parental leave... 10/26/2004 to 11/23/2004

Michael King — Mon, 01 Nov 2004 15:21:00 GMT

Congratulations and best of luck to you and the family.

RE: Heading out on parental leave... 10/26/2004 to 11/23/2004

Jennifer — Wed, 27 Oct 2004 17:36:00 GMT

Great picture!
Now the fun really begins. I wish you all the luck in the world.

RE: Heading out on parental leave... 10/26/2004 to 11/23/2004

Phil — Tue, 26 Oct 2004 06:25:00 GMT

good luck

RE: A post about new MSDN Content? Nope, not quite...

Sean Gahan — Tue, 19 Oct 2004 00:37:00 GMT

Congratulations on the new addition, and you will be missed as the Content Strategist. I hope that you will continue blogging and authoring great articles.

Best wishes,
Sean Gahan

RE: A post about new MSDN Content? Nope, not quite...

[ Willy Marroquin ] — Mon, 18 Oct 2004 18:37:00 GMT

Is Your Best Compilation Duckan . Congratulations from Colombia !!

Willy

http://www.WillyDev.NET

RE: A post about new MSDN Content? Nope, not quite...

Steve Butler — Thu, 14 Oct 2004 08:21:00 GMT

Woohoo! Grats!

RE: A post about new MSDN Content? Nope, not quite...

Tom Mertens — Thu, 14 Oct 2004 05:32:00 GMT

Congratulations Duncan!

RE: A post about new MSDN Content? Nope, not quite...

Wayne Taylor — Thu, 14 Oct 2004 03:36:00 GMT

Congratulations to you and your wife!!!!!

RE: A post about new MSDN Content? Nope, not quite...

Julie Lerman — Wed, 13 Oct 2004 15:19:00 GMT

Oh a girl! I know you already find it way too hard to say no to your son, but this is going to be even harder!! Congratulations!!!

RE: A post about new MSDN Content? Nope, not quite...

Bob McKenzie — Wed, 13 Oct 2004 10:22:00 GMT

Congradulations Mr. MacKenzie, on the beautiful baby girl!!!

God Bless you and your family!!!

And thank you for your contributions as a trusted resource.

Regards,

Bob

RE: A post about new MSDN Content? Nope, not quite...

David — Wed, 13 Oct 2004 08:21:00 GMT

Congrats, Duncan! God Bless!

RE: A post about new MSDN Content? Nope, not quite...

Bill Burrows (MVP) — Wed, 13 Oct 2004 08:04:00 GMT

What a beautiful baby ... congratulations.

RE: A post about new MSDN Content? Nope, not quite...

Nick Parker — Wed, 13 Oct 2004 06:29:00 GMT

Congrats Duncan!

RE: A post about new MSDN Content? Nope, not quite...

Serge Baranovsky — Wed, 13 Oct 2004 03:29:00 GMT

Congratulations Duncan - a cute one!

I am sure you will many great moments with your little baby - please post progress reports over the coming months

RE: A post about new MSDN Content? Nope, not quite...

Geoff Appleby — Wed, 13 Oct 2004 02:59:00 GMT

W00t! Congrats!

Is this your first?

RE: A post about new MSDN Content? Nope, not quite...

Sam Gentile — Wed, 13 Oct 2004 02:58:00 GMT

Congrats!

RE: Good Guys and Bad Guys

Rickard — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 10:59:00 GMT

In the 80's there was a French cartoon series shown on Swedish television that depicted this pretty well.

I can only find it on the French Amazon site though, - http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000059R7P/ref=pd_qpt_d_2/171-8491856-1039434 -.

Episode 3 is the one you want for your son.

Some images from this series can be found here, - http://pagesperso.laposte.net/ieuf/galevie/index.php3?debut=0 -

RE: Good Guys and Bad Guys

mikeb — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 10:32:00 GMT

"Ben's Game"

I haven't actually seen the game in action - I just heard about it in news stories:

http://www.makewish.org/site/pp.asp?c=bdJLITMAE&b=81924