Thoughts

Consolidate Your PCs

~ randyaa ~ 4 Comments

Random Home NetworkThere are many reasons to have and use multiple PCs. Until recently I, like many of my friends, had several computers to accomplish the simple tasks I do with them. I had a web server, a file server, a laptop and my PC. However, I had lots of reasons to consolidate my PCs.

  • My PC has grown to old to be useful for gaming, which was its original intention.
  • I switched from hosting my own sites to using powweb.
  • Upgrading to Media Player 11 allows me to stream to my PS3 eliminating the need to use a separate file server running a media server.
  • Running only one PC costs less money than running three PCs 24 hours a day.
  • All my files were being stored on a Raid 1 array by the file server. This was easily transferred to my PC since it was just two SATA drives.
  • When working on my PC I would often transfer files locally to do work and then move them back to the file server. Now I can always work locally and still have the data being duplicated.
  • Running on a standard installation instead of a server configuration allows me to use services like Mozy for off site backup.
  • My printer is now directly connected to my PC instead of shared through my server.

So Consolidate your PCs today and simplify your network and your life!

It's your content

~ randyaa ~ Leave a comment

If you’re on the web you’re creating something whether you like it or not. If you’re watching a youtube video, enjoying a post by Matthew Mullenweg, letting your friends know what you’re up to on facebook or just doing a search for some needed info your actions are likely recorded somewhere and this becomes part of the giant repository of information that is the Internet.

There are basically 3 types of information about you available on the Internet.

  1. Your Content. This includes things like comments on a video, Blog posts, uploaded photos and forum topics that you replied to.
  2. Your Status. Things like your away message, your facebook status and Twitter let people know what you’re up to and where you’re at.
  3. What You’re Reading. You can intentionally share what you find interesting via tools like Digg, Del.icio.us or Google Reader shared items or you can let general web trends speak for you.

Different people are probably interested in different information about you. Luckily we live in a world that includes syndication feeds. This means that if you’re interested in a person’s contributions to the Internet, and they’re savvy enough to help you, you can subscribe to ‘groups’ if Information about them.

So, If you’re interested in what I have to contribute to the Internet I’ve created the following feeds to help you.

My Content

My Status

My Shared Items

To Serve or Not to Serve (The Customer)

~ randyaa ~ 1 Comment

He who wishes to secure the good of others, has already secured his own. ~Confucius

We are affected by Customer Service more than once every day. It makes a difference when you get your coffee in the morning, it matters when you fill your gas tank on your way home and when you buy your weekly groceries. The way in which you are served leaves a lasting impression on you. To that end it is my belief that Customer service should be the most important part of any business regardless of its particular niche. This week two companies left their impression on me and I’d like to outline those impressions below.

The Good News

Sometimes when you’re at the brink of never shopping somewhere again they can unexpectedly surprise you. That was the case with Circuit City this week. I live approximately 5 miles from the nearest Circuit City and rather than go there and find out they didn’t have what I wanted in stock i decided to give them a call. Literally 20 minutes after being on hold, being transferred 10 times, calling back twice and complaining, I finally got in touch with a manager who then instructed me she’d check the inventory and call me back. All this for a simple inventory check?

She called me back to let me know what I needed was in stock and that she’d have it held at the desk. Perfect. I headed over picked up what was held at the desk for me and went home. The problem arose when I tried to use it. The item I picked up turned out not to be the item I had asked for. Furious, I stormed back to Circuit City the next morning expecting a fight since I had already opened the package. When I arrived back at the store the same person was working the counter and instantly recognized me (it was also the Manager who I had talked to on the phone the previous day) and said:

You’re just not having any luck with this are you?

I said “no I’m not” in a gruff early-morning voice and she then proceeded to do the exchange without any more complaints. At the end of the transaction she explained that she had also credited my card for $8.50 (when there was no price difference) simply for the ‘inconvenience.’ Instantly she transformed my frustration into acceptance and even happiness. Not only did she fix my original problem but went above and beyond to simply make sure I wasn’t frustrated with their service.

The Bad News

My wife Rachel and I are planning on going to the Brian Regan show with some friends in our hometown in a few weeks. Since I sent out the notice to let people know about the show I offered to buy tickets for everyone so that we would be seated together. Originally I priced the tickets on TicketMaster at $30 a piece. This is what I told everyone and what I collected.

When I actually ordered the tickets The real bill included $2.50 (per ticket) for a facility charge, $7.50 for a convenience charge(per ticket) and a $3.60 service tax(total). That’s $10 per ticket more than advertised and an additional $3.60! After giving them a call I found out that the facility fee is actually charged by the venue so there’s nothing we can do about that however the tax and convenience charge is something Ticketmaster applies on top of the ticket price. Also I found out they only charge this convenience charge on the phone or on the Internet. If you go to the Ticketmaster counter the fee is waived.

How in the world does this make sense? Because it’s more convenient for me order my tickets from the comfort of my home you get to charge me more money? I say shenanigans! When I order from home especially over the Internet, I’m not distracting your customer service people from their real jobs, serving people who really need their help. It costs you no additional money to let me buy over the Internet. In fact I say it costs you less because you don’t need to have someone standing at a counter.

So what did I end up doing? Going to the actual venue and buying them direct. I had to leave work early just to get there while the box office was open. Such a complete inconvenience and utter customer service failure.

In Summary

The age old statement

The Customer is always right

Shouldn’t just be a saying on some old warn out poster behind your counter. Make it your policy, your goal, your JOB. After all, who pays your salary? What’s the best type of advertising?

That’s right Customers.

Keep it Simple Stupid

~ randyaa ~ 1 Comment

Keep it Simple Stupid (or what’s commonly know as the KISS principle) is something I picked up in my Software Engineering classes during my tour of duty at RIT. It is something I try to carry over into my every day life. That being said I’d like to share a few simple ideas I try to utilize to simplify my digital life.

Your Blog

For those of you reading this directly from the website you should have already noticed a complete redesign. This is only part of my new Zen overhaul. I have taken several points from Skellie‘s post 50 Tips to Unclutter Your Blog. If you’re interested in exactly what I did please check out the article. You may find some additional tips which I haven’t yet implemented as well.

Your Wallpaper
My Simple Wallpaper
A recent simplification I have made is my wallpaper. I was a fan of scenery wallpaper, most often shots that I took were my favorites, but I recently decided that this just adds to clutter. Photographic backgrounds can hide icons and can be a distraction. I created this simple background which provides a central focal point for any icons you wish to display on the desktop. I’ve provided several sizes so feel free to download it if you’d like to try it out.

Your Feeds

Chances are, if you’re like me, you subscribe to a lot of feeds. You probably also generate a lot of content on the Internet and therefor a lot of feeds (whether you realize it or not). If that’s the case why not manage both in the same place? I use Google Reader extensively and this is one of the biggest reasons why. Essentially I maintain two feeds: My Shared Items and My Content. Both are exactly what they sound like. My Shared Items is a feed in which articles, Videos, pictures and anything else i want to share will appear. I do this by utilizing Google Reader’s Shared Items feature. My Content is another feed in which any content that I produce will appear. For example, Any post on this blog, My posts on Randy and Rachel, My Comic Strips and my Youtube videos.

Your Archives

Lets face it, in this digital age chances are you have a lot of digital stuff. Stuff you want to keep. For most people this might just mean photos. For some it means photos, videos, music, software and more. To store all this and keep it organized you need a system. I have dual 250Gb SATA drives in a Raid 1 array which i use strictly for storage. On the root of this array I have the following directories:

  • Files
  • Music
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Software

Everything I need to store fits somewhere in these 5 categories. Music and Videos are broken down by genre. Files and Software are broken down by category. Photos is broken down by date. This is probably where I’m the most organized. My Photos directory contains photos dating back to the 1950s all the way up to the present. To do this I created decade directories (1950s, 1960s etc) and within that year directories(1951, 1952 etc). Finally within the years directory I list the actual albums which also have a naming convention (MM – DD – name). Because of the shear amount of photographs I store I needed a system and this has greatly simplified things for me.

KISS

Regardless of what you’re doing, when something seems like its too complicated it is. Simplify it. Do whatever it takes to reduce the clutter and the complexity in your Digital Life. I will be making this a recurring theme for this blog so let me know if you have any specific topics you’d like to know how to simplify.

Do something with it

~ randyaa ~ Leave a comment

Information in itself is of no value. It is like a blueprint. The blueprint of a building is worthless; only the building has value and significance. The blueprint may be destroyed with impunity, for another can easily be made, but a building cannot be destroyed without careful deliberation. ~ Garrett Hardin

The Internet is filled with producers and consumers of Information. It is estimated that a person is bombarded today with more information in a single day than a person in the 19th century would have come across their entire lifetime.

Does The amount of information we’re being given benefit us?

Some of us maybe. Most of us? probably not. Information is only as useful as its implementation. You can read all day about Quantum Mechanics or Molecular Biology or even Modern Fashion. You can even become the worlds greatest expert on the Nile without ever stepping a foot in Egypt. How useful is all that information? Will you ever build a Quantum Computer? Will you ever make a startling discover for the Human GNOME project?

Produce Something (not just more information)

Take the information you absorb and do something with it. Telling others is not enough. Society only moves forward due to innovation and creativity of the masses. If people only share what they hear from others then all we have is a giant information chain letter.

  • You remember 10% of what you read
  • You remember 20% of what you hear
  • You remember 30% of what you see
  • You remember 50% of what you hear and see together
  • You remember 70% of what you say
  • You remember 90% of what you do

By doing something with the information you’ve gathered, you not only aide your memory but you also run the risk of creating something new and unique.

Produce Substance

If all you’re producing is information then what value is it adding? The information needs to yield some results otherwise you’re just creating information that was created from information which will create more information and we’re in an endless cycle.

With all the information out there its bound to give you some ideas. Do one of them. Don’t just say you’re going to, follow through. You’ll be amazed at the sense of accomplishment it gives you when you can look at something and say “yep, that was me.” While you’re at it document your efforts and share them. This doubles your efforts as you’re not only producing the end result, but also the information on the process for someone else to duplicate and add to. Before you know it you’ve collaborated and built the first home brew Quantum Computer.

Now, stop reading this and go out there and do something with it!

Strike a Balance

~ randyaa ~ Leave a comment

There’s lots of different definitions of Web 2.0 but the common consensus is that it’s about user generated content and social networking. Ask anyone about Web 1.0 and they’ll all tell you the same thing, it was strictly about consumption. It was the advent of the information age.

In this world it’s hard to strike a balance. When do you stop consuming and start producing? when do you stop producing and start consuming? You need to strike a balance. To often I find myself reading a ton but not making use of it. There are just too many wonderful new sites out there and not enough time to look at them all.

There is certainly a point at which the marginal rate of return for content consumption begins to shrink. The rate of return for production begins to reduce as well, but at a much faster rate. To truly add any value or knowledge you need to first know what is out there and secondly know what people are interested in. To do this you need to be reading (or consuming). The amount of appropriate production is directly related to your knowledge or experiences. Therefor unless you’ve experienced everything and know everything you have more to gain from consuming than you do from producing.

An interesting letter from SunRocket

~ randyaa ~ 2 Comments

As most of you probably know, SunRocket, the Voip service Rachel and I have been going with (we paid $199 up front for 2 year contract, roughly $9/month not bad) has recently gone under and is closing up shop. We took this in stride and determined it gave us the opportunity to get away from a land line completely and go all-mobile which we’ve wanted to do for a while.

SunRocket Satisfaction Survey E-mail

Today I received an Interesting E-mail from SunRocket. Apparently they haven’t shut off all their features yet because I received an E-mail that essentially says I was randomly selected to participate in a Customer Satisfaction Survey. They want to know how my experience thus far with SunRocket has been. Well, SunRocket, It was pretty darn good until you took away my ability to use the service!

Cigarrette Facts

~ randyaa ~ Leave a comment

Please take these tidbits with a grain of salt. They have not been proven and I make no claim to their authenticity. If even 50% of these are true the cigarettes should be outlawed.

  • Of kids who smoke, 86% smoke the three most heavily advertised brands. The majority of adult smokers don’t smoke those brands
  • Of all people who have ever tried a cigarette, 88 percent tried their first cigarette by age 18.
  • Every day, the tobacco companies get about 3,000 new customers — kids.
  • Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is responsible for approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths per year among nonsmokers.
  • 75% of all teenagers who smoke have parents who smoke.
  • After the first month of life, infants of parents who smoke have higher mortality rates through the first year of life, mostly because of an increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome and respiratory conditions such as bronchiolitis
  • If both a child’s parents smoke, it is the equivalent of the child actively smoking between 60 and 150 cigarettes per year.
  • Children under five who are exposed to secondhand smoke have a higher risk factor for the development of food allergy
  • Tobacco companies fought and won in the Supreme Court to advertise cigarettes near schools and playgrounds.
  • They add licorice and cocoa, which sound innocent, except when you burn them they act as bronchodilators — which makes you inhale more smoke so the nicotine gets further into your body.
  • The tobacco industry lets people believe that light cigarettes are better for you, when actually, they can be even worse
  • Tobacco companies put ammonia in cigarettes which makes your brain absorb more nicotine than it normally would
  • The product they sell kills more people than AIDS, murder, suicide, fires, alcohol and all illegal drugs COMBINED
  • Smokers are admitted to hospitals twice as often as nonsmokers
  • Tobacco companies know that 70% of smokers want to quit but can’t.
  • No one knows exactly what they’re putting in different cigarette brands, but we do know that there are 599 ingredients tobacco companies mix and match any way they want to
  • Tobacco companies know that nicotine changes your brain so, eventually, your brain can’t function normally without it.
  • They also know that of the ones who try to quit only about 3% succeed.
  • “Marlboro…and Kool…have their largest share among very young smokers (18 and younger).??
  • “Realistically, if our company is to survive and prosper, over the long term, we must get our share of the youth market. In my opinion this will require new brands tailored to the youth market.?? ~ Tobacco company
  • “We have been asked by our client to come up with a package design… a design that’s attractive to kids.?? ~ Tobacco Company
  • “The base of our business is the high school student…It is the ‘in’ brand to smoke if you want to be one of the group.?? ~Tobacco Company
  • “The desire to quit seems to come earlier now than before, even prior to the end of high school. In fact, it often seems to take hold as soon as the recent starter admits to himself that he is hooked on smoking.”
  • “Products yielding .4mg of nicotine or lower failed to satisfy the smoker.”
  • “It’s a well-known fact that teen-agers like sweet products. Honey might be considered.?? ~ Tobacco Company
  • “Would disclosure of urea as a tobacco additive have a negative effect on consumer perception given that it is a constituent of urine??? ~Tobacco Company
  • In 1953 they knew: “Studies of clinical data tend to confirm the relationship between heavy and prolonged tobacco smoking and incidence of cancer of the lung.??
  • Tobacco companies have called kids replacement smokers. That means we’re supposed to replace the 1200 smokers who die every day
  • They spent $9.57 billion on advertising and promoting their products in 2000.
  • Look at your watch. In the next hour, the tobacco industry will spend over $1 million on advertising
  • Amonia is Added to Cigarrettes
  • Cigarette smoke contains Arsenic
  • Smokers Inhale Cyanide
  • Tobacco Contains Radioactive Lead
  • Tobacco Companies put propylene glycol into Cigarrettes the same stuff found in Anti-Freeze.
  • Nicotine is addictive. Tobacco companies manipulate the nicotine delivery of cigarettes.
  • Cigarettes contain amonia. So does dog poop.
  • Ammonia is great for cleaning toilets, AND increasing the impact of nicotine in cigarettes.
  • Your Pee Contains urea, thanks to tobacco companies so do cigarettes, Enjoy.

50 years ago i could understand smokers. Today? Try again.