The Acer Guy

I was looking through my logs to see just how people get here and what they’re looking for (or even what they expect to find) and came across a curious Google query.

Now I have written about Gridvista before, but this query was not about Gridvista per sè, but how to turn it off, for which, at the time of writing, The Acer Guy is ranked 9th :-).

Joking aside, this struck a chord with me as I often find myself reading and even describing the benefits of the latest, mind-blowing features without mentioning that you can, in fact, turn them off.

Acer’s Gridvista is no different from the next application but I can see where it could be annoying as you’re sort of locked into “efficiency mode” once it’s on.

Anyway, in aswer to the question “how to turn off gridvista”, pull up the taskbar (where the clock is), look for the Gridvista icon (looks like a monitor with white dividing lines across it), move your mouse over the icon, click the right button and select “Exit”.

Hope that helps.

Got any more questions?

UPDATE: If you’re here, chances are you got here from Google, where T.A.G. is now ranked No. 1. Gloat.

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I don’t know about you but the allure of historical racing cars is, to me, one of life’s irresistible forces.

I grew up with Mario Andretti and James Hunt, and through them discovered Gilles Villneuve, Jackie Stewart, Jack Brabham, Stirling Moss and many many others.

I love those old black and white photographs showing the race winner sitting in the car just moments after crossing the finish line wearing an open shirt, their faces black except for the ring around their eyes from the goggles! Timeless..

Love them or loathe them, of the various teams competing today at the highest levels, only Ferrari has successfully carried a tradition of sporting excellence from the beginning, which is why it’s a truly magical sight to see these historical cars running - they’re just so damned evocative!

Shell has put together a very special TV advert that I haven’t seen yet (UK only perhaps?). In any case I simply couldn’t resist putting it up here, if nothing else so that I know where to find it every time I need that Ferrari fix.

Oh and what’s it got to do with Acer? Have a look as the 2007 F1 car pulls out of the petrol station. You can see the Acer logo in front of the left rear wheel. Not for long mind..

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This is getting worse than the European pre-season football player market…. Found this on Engaget.

Is Acer getting ready to buy Gateway? There’s no official word from either company, but the Associated Press reports that shares in Gateway jumped today after analyst firm ThinkEquity released a report concluding that Acer was considering making an offer for the company.

read more | digg story

Both Acer and Gateway have denied that any negotiations are underway, with Gateway yesterday issuing a stern “we are not in talks with Acer“, while the story gets slightly more coverage over on Business Week.

Ooohhh the power of rumours!

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What do you get when you cross street culture with the IT world?

You get weird pieces like this. Or is it a tag? No maybe it’s just a throw up…

Whatever. I personally can’t see this appearing soon on, say, an Aspire iDea..

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Not an Acer-related story but IT is IT and I love the way companies are scrambling over themselves to deliver cutting edge mobile solutions.

And you know it’s going to be a big scramble when Google takes part.

This morning I read an article over on Australia’s Herald Sun about Google’s latest brainchild. A phone.

I have long thought that mobile phones were the search engines of the future and Google’s potential foray into this market is only adding to my belief which started once the 3G mobile phone company, Three, launched its X-Series, offering broadband mobile access to Skype, Sling, Orb, Yahoo!, Microsoft’s Windows Live Messenger, eBay and Google at a flat monthly rate.

I’m wondering if there’s a new category of web-surfer emerging here. Come to think of it, I’m actually pretty sure of it.

I mean, I can’t work without my notebook. I can’t produce copy, analyze PPT charts and check PDFs on a 2-inch mobile phone screen so a mobile phone with high-speed internet access is not going to change that part of my life. But what would happen if you offered millions of people (including me) instant access to VOIP services or streaming video or multimedia files (I can think of a dozen distance-learning opportunities waiting to happen over this medium, one of which is my own :-)), not to mention the possibility of finally realizing the dream of free international calls?

Personally, I wish Google the best of luck as it’s about time something big happened at a hardware level and I can’t think of anyone more qualified than them to make it happen.

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Just a quick note to explain some of the changes on TheAcerGuy.

First off, you have all noticed (if you’re here) that TAG has it’s own domain now. That will make it a darned site easier to place in the Search Engines and write on a business card

It’s changed platforms. We’re on WordPress now hosted on my own shared server (thanks Dreamhost!). I’m having fun exploring widgets and plug-ins and just having more freedom to do what I’ve always wanted this site to do.

I am also exploring the advantages of community networking and have signed up to MyWebLog to share other blogger’s experiences and generally link up with whoever turns up on this site. I’m really looking forward to meeting, hearing from and listening to new readers.

I’ve lost the Swicki but it’s coming back. It was always interesting to track and share what people looked for Acer-wise and TheAcerGuy Swicki was (and still is) a great indicator. It’s still tied to the old domain so give me a minute or two to update it… Look for its re-appearance soon….

Oh, also in the transfer, I lost ALL the comments to my posts. RichardAtDell et al, you haven’t been forgotten!

So we’re (almost) back on track. I’ll be writing some more Acer stuff shortly.

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Last week alarm bells were ringing across the globe after a leading Wall Street analyst suggested that Dell might buy Acer.

This week it’s a little different.

Over at The Inquirer word is Acer’s about to buy another PC company, going so far as to write: Acer told the Wall Street Journal that it wants to buy a PC player this year and is looking at some “candidates”…

However it goes, things are heating up in the PC market…

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Another sports announcement: Acer has now teamed up with Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd., becoming Official Sponsor of Yamaha Factory Racing Team.

Rumours of Valentino Rossi’s association with Ferrari have been circulating throughout his global fan base for years.

Acer, already Official Sponsor to Scuderia Ferrari, has just given them another direct link as can be seen in the photo kindly “borrowed” from Derapate.

Joking aside, this announcement, published here, is yet another step forward in Acer’s aggressive sponsorship campaigns announced this year and, according to the press release, will see the Acer brand placed on both the motorbikes and on the race suits of Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards, all pit crew member uniforms working in the box and on all transport vehicles of the team.

If the excitement over Valentino’s riding skills this season are anything like his performance last year (check out this French commentator at the 2006 Donington GP), Acer’s popularity will be catapulted through the roof!

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