So you have just installed Windows 7 – and if you have upgraded from Windows XP or done a clean install you are going to need to reinstall all those applications you just lost. I just found a quick way to download it all in one go: Ninite.

It installs all the apps default settings, saying no to toolbars and the like. The best thing I can say is that the whole process was quick and painless. All you have to do is select the apps you want from their website; click “Get Installer”; run the downloaded file and watch everything get installed (or go get a coffee!).

Oh and did I mention its free for personal use?

Install apps in one step after installing Windows 7 is a post by riaz kanani You should follow me on Twitter here

So installation of Windows 7 this morning was a breeze – a clean install took a little over 45 mins – not bad! But there was one minor hiccup at the start. I am presented with 2 dvds – one 32 bit version and another 64 bit version. Now dont get me wrong – it’s great to have both versions (Vista didnt provide this in the retail package even though both versions were available) but there was nothing telling me which one to use.

So how do you pick?

Well there is a not so great page on Microsoft’s website which you can read here or you can read on

First off what does 32bit and 64 bit actually mean? Well it refers to the technical architecture of the computer which in non technical terms means that the overall data throughput and memory capacity of 64 bit machines is significantly increased. I can already hear you inserting that 64 bit dvd But wait..

Only specially built applications (surprisingly enough called 64-bit applications) can use the extra capabilities and uinfortunately in some cases the 32 bit applications which whilst they will mostly run fine on a 64-bit operating system will sometimes run slower.. ouch!

So how do you decide?

Well if you have 4GB of RAM or more then you can only make use of the extra memory if you use a 64 bit OS.. so thats an incentive. There are some possible incompatibilities with software and drivers though and so you should check on the relevant company’s website for any problems. If you dont have that much RAM and you aren’t a heavy user editing images; using CAD or editing videos then for now you should install the 32 bit version. That’s what I did.

In the future though; we will all be using 64 bit systems – and Microsoft just started talking about 128-bit operating systems.

By the way; if you are a European user confused as to what happened to the E version you ordered – Microsoft scrapped the E edition in July after an agreement with the European Union (It was only offered in the first place because the anti-trust investigations by the EU forced Microsoft to offer it).

Windows 7 – 32bit or 64 bit is a post by riaz kanani You should follow me on Twitter here

With all the hype surrounding the Windows 7 (it really is an excellent OS -- have been using it for over 6 months now and just installed the retail version); this video made me chuckle. Obviously it is the age old Mac vs PC argument and I am pretty certain it is actually quite old given the Windows XP references but its really nicely put together.

More on installing the release version of Windows 7 in the next post..

Windows vs Mac -- transformers style ;) is a post by riaz kanani You should follow me on Twitter here

Here is the latest ad from Microsoft -- promoting the new Windows 7 operating system.

One word definitely describes the marketing approach -- cute!

Looks like Windows 7 is going down a vastly different approach to previous Windows OS adverts which were more image orientated (I am a PC) or random (Seinfeld ads).

New Windows 7 ad goes cutesy is a post by riaz kanani You should follow me on Twitter here

I love finding new opportunities to see new information even if around 50% of marketers are supposed to feel overloaded with data (Forrester) – if you think about how much data is out there, it is not difficult to understand the issue. The difference is that everyday there are new and simpler ways to act on that data and do something useful. The trick is to approach it in small bites and understand what you want to achieve.

Anyhow, before I get sidetracked on data – this is more informational and interesting than a tool to deal with data better. Inside twitter there is a way to favourite tweets. It is not the greatest feature ever as it is not searchable so you only ever browse through the most recent items. I have ended up using it more as a save for later feature than a favourite/like feature.

Favstar.fm allows you to see who is favouriting your tweets as well as showing a leaderboard for the most favourited/most recent tweets. v cool

As I said, more interesting than anything else – it did allow me to find some new people on Twitter though – assuming that is a good thing

[image credit: kevin dooley]

find some secret twitter stats.. is a post by riaz kanani You should follow me on Twitter here

Google has added the ability for other ad networks to publish their ads through the adsense platform; almost certainly providing a boost to Google and adsense publisher’s revenues. Each ad network is pre-approved by Google so in theory at least Adsense should not descend into anarchy Each ad network will have to meet Google’s standards for user privacy, ad quality, and speed..

You have complete control over which networks can appear (though they are all enabled by default..) though it would be nice to have a better understanding of how each network is performing. That way you are able to at least make an informed decision! Google also says that the third-party ad networks that support better targeting and therefore more relevant ads based on the content on your site will not necessarily be able to use that functionality unless they adhere to Google’s privacy standards.

Overall, this is an interesting move by Google – it could allow them to become the “operating system” of online advertising. There is an abundance of advertising space available online. Unlike the offline world where ad space was in short supply; there are more ad impressions online than can actually be sold and if Google can fine tune the platform to display ads from the best performing networks then more people will want to use the Adsense platform over others.

It may also help them argue that rather than having a monopoly position in the online advertising space they are a facilitator of online advertising though that would be a stretch

[image credit: Phil_NZ]

Google targets better online ad performance and revenues is a post by riaz kanani You should follow me on Twitter here

In an effort to promote both Google Reader and its bundles*, Google has asked leading journalists in technology, fashion and food amongst others to identify the blogs/websites that they read the most.

Some of the people that caught my attention were:

1. Chris Anderson (Editor-in-Chief, Wired)

2. Adam Pash (Editor, Lifehacker)

3. Thomas Friedman (Foreign-affairs Columnist, NY Times)

Would have been nice to have some presence outside the US and also some non-journalists mind!

[update] Forgot to add.. you can see the bundles online here.

*Google Reader bundles are lists of RSS feeds which you can subscribe to using Google Reader – it is a quick way to find other websites/blogs that have content that might be of interest to you.

[image credit: Kevin H.]

what do the pros read? is a post by riaz kanani You should follow me on Twitter here

Encouraging discussion and community is an important part of the social web and Disqus has played a big part in one the most underrated parts of the social web – comments.

So I am intrigued by the teaser campaign that is going out around the web – expectations are definitely being raised. The video really doesnt say too much.. but it does sound like they are planning on uping the battle against Echo and Intense Debate.

On the administration side, I am definitely looking forward to a better management interface.. and hopefuly an easier way to find other people commenting on similar sites (though that last bit is speculation on my part); whilst for commenters the ability to go back and edit comments is a god send – how often do you notice a typo right after clicking submit?

What I really want is the ability to respond to comments on posts within my RSS reader (similar to the way Feedly does this with Friendfeed) and though it is not something Disqus can resolve, real time delivery of RSS feeds as most of the time conversations have already been had on the post by the time I receive it and everyone has moved on to the next conversation.

In this hype-bubble of real-time; they have managed to squeeze in the phrase on the video.. without really saying what it is. Maybe Daniel Ha will elaborate..

Anyhow here is the video.. and of course as soon as it launches it will be live on this website

DISQUS V3 from Giannii on Vimeo.

disqus 3 to launch next week is a post by riaz kanani You should follow me on Twitter here

Following on from my previous post on how communicating and reaching your audience is changing and providing more power to the individual, this video only served to reinforce the message.

The video is of Clay Shirky talking about the history of media and how it is changing how not just the media publishers but companies as well interact with people. There are some great slides and anecdotes that I am sure I am going to reuse a multitude of times going forward.

Clay Shirky: How social media can make history (TED) is a post by riaz kanani You should follow me on Twitter here

If you haven’t got the message yet, this presentation by Paul Isakson at Marketing 2.0:unfiltered should help. I am wondering when these ideas will finally become broadly accepted.. marketers now have no choice but to move closer to the customer – this is something the music industry in particular has learnt the hard way.

What’s Next In Marketing And Advertising is a post by riaz kanani You should follow me on Twitter here