i’m sure this can be done a million ways … but I just found a pattern that I consistently …

• Open New Tab
• Then Click Bookmark

Instead, it would be nice to just open the bookmark in a new tab window.

To encode/decode URL’s, I use this site a lot. http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/dencoder so I have it bookmarked.

There are two tips/tricks to use, which will both open bookmarks in a new tab.

1. CTRL+Click it (Works on Windows and Mac) – opens the shortcut in a new tab.
2. Edit the bookmark target, with this javascript, and everytime, it’ll open in a new tab.
   javascript:( function(){ window.open(‘http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/dencoder/’); } )();

Thanks to my buddy Jonathan Kressaty for the javascript snippet.

Most of you know I’m pretty very well connected into Microsoft. Mostly because it’s been my playground for the last few decades. I’ve been an MVP since 2003, and Regional Directory since 2011, and my company is an Approved Vendor with Microsoft that gives me corpnet access. I’m on email list after list, and have access to too much NDA information. I’m grateful to be considered a trusted resource from Corporate Vice Presidents, to Product Managers, to Regional Offices etc.

Ya, ya, so what’s the point?

Well, I was thinking …. with all the access I have into Microsoft, who are the most helpful people (to me)? It turns out the same group of folks that are out in the field working with you (named “The Audience”) are the same group of folks that I find most helpful. Their official title is Evangelist, but you can think of them as the kick ass Concierge you met at the last 5 star resort you saw on TV. You know the staff member that knows everyone, and will stop at no end to find you that special over night dry cleaner? That role … is the role that Evangelist play at Microsoft as the inward facing representatives to Microsoft.

So with all the over 100,000 people employed at Microsoft, if you don’t know your Developer Evangelist for Microsoft that serves your area and expertise, you should. Ask someone, find them, hunt them down, email them, Tweet them, Facebook friend them, and get to know them on a first name basis.

In no particular order, these are the four most helpful people I know in Microsoft. If you ask me a (Microsoft) question that I don’t know, 90% of the time, one of these folks is going to be my go-to email.

Call it smoke, call it gratitude, call it whatever you want. I call it public thank you.

So …

• Daniel Egan ( Daniel.Egan@microsoft.com )
• Michael Palermo ( mpalermo@microsoft.com )
• Bruno Terkaly ( bterkaly@microsoft.com )
• Ricardo Villalobos ( Ricardo.Villalobos@microsoft.com )

Thank you! You all make my life easier, and are always willing to research, help, introduce, correct, and guide me towards the solutions I’m looking for.

I was on a plane yesterday reading my Kindle, and the guy next to me says something like “I used to have a Kindle, but I left it on a plane”, while he was pointing to the Seat-Back Pocket. And another time this week, I saw something on TV about the volunteer staff that work at airports, that have thousands and thousands of found items, that they simply can’t return. Not that they don’t want to, there is just no way to, because there is no Personally Identifiable Information ( also known as P.I.I. ) on them.

Then I started thinking, what if I left my Kindle behind, how would someone return it, assuming that they wanted to? Sharpie? Maybe. Here is a better option. Shown below is the Amazon “Manage Your Devices” screen shot, where you’re allowed to name your Kindle Device. As you can see on the right, I have named Jamie and My Kindles, with both our name, and our Cell phone number, so if someone turns it on, they’ll see the P.I.I. where hopefully they’ll return it.

I thought this was a good enough idea to write about, and hopefully let others know!