Archive for April 2005

Got a list of Amazon deals and I think there are a few goodies worth sharing.

50% OFF Quickbooks 2005 Pro – $149.99 after rebate: I finally got around to USING Quickbooks more than a year (or maybe two) after I took a class. I tell ya that accounting is my weak spot.

Start Date: May 01, 2005, at 12:00 a.m. Pacific time
End Date: June 4, 2005, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time

Over 70% OFF until Mother’s Day – 1ct. tw diamond ring – $169.00. Not a bad price and it’s a nice simple ring.

Start Date: Current
End Date: May 08, 2005, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time

80% Off – Sharper Image’s Portable Arm-Cuff Blood Pressure Monitor. Measures blood pressure and pulse rate in 30 seconds. $19.95. Hmm, I should get this for Paul. His family has a history of high blood pressure. Interesting, the price says $49.95 on Amazon, but that’s half off. Be sure to contact amazon about this, if you want to buy it.

Start Date: Current
End Date: May 13, 2005, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time

Yes, I misspelled cwazy on purpose. Kind of feel like a cwazy wabbit. I took the baby to the dentist on Monday to get his broken tooth repaired. This was no ornery toddler tooth-chipping. About a third of his tooth disappeared when he fell. The other tooth turned gray because the fall damaged the nerve. The tooth could return to white on its own. I hope so. The little guy ain’t losing baby teeth for at least three to four years!

My daughter lost her first tooth at four. My older son hasn’t lost one yet and he turned six last January. He ain’t happy ’bout it. At the last appointment, the dentist predicts the first tooth will fall out by August. Bets anyone?

On the day of his dental repair, the baby got a fever. There’s no relation between the repair and his fever. Just a lousy coincident. Mom thinks maybe his two-year molars might be fighting their way out. I haven’t checked in a long time, so not sure. Right now, he’s under Grandma’s spoilage as she’s kindly invited him to stay with her. He’ll be home this evening. He BETTER BE! Because…

His birthday is today!

I’ve been reflecting on his arrival a lot for the past few weeks. What a blessing it is to have him in my life. That curly-hair boy makes me smile many times every day. I, of course, smile as I write this.

You’ve seen them. It’s hard to miss at some point while you’re surfing the Web. Long Web pages promoting a product or service. Mainly text and maybe with an image here and there along with some bolding and yellow highlights. Why long web pages are better than short ones. Now, I don’t mind scrolling and reading something that’s long when it’s useful.

I understand these “ads” are trying to erase every doubt and question you might have about making the buy. These pages also strategically place a closer at the end and in obvious places in the middle for those who scan the page. Seriously. When I arrive at such a Web page, my eyes glaze over. Most of the time, they’re not good reading. Yet some of these folks pull big bucks.

I asked an expert copywriter about this. He claims they would make bigger bucks if the writing improved and captured our attention longer. Roy Williams shares a few words on the topic. I agree that the higher the price, the more information provided. I’ve been taking a course on this kind of writing, but so far it hasn’t clicked with me. I do not have the ability to sell like my dad and brother. But I thought it would come naturally in writing. So far, nada.

The April 2005 issue of meryl’s notes newsletter has arrived for your reading enjoyment (at least, I hope so!). You can subscribe here.

I can’t help but use the cliche’—I am shocked! Shocked. Ben Harrison of Trafford emailed me saying he saw me in the May issue of Writer’s Digest. Say what? 2005? I was in it once, ages ago and I knew about it. Not this time.

Apparently, meryl.net made it on the list of 101 Best Sites for Writers. Whoever put the site in—Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I, of course, voted for Jenna Glatzer‘s AbsoluteWrite.com. It’s the first place I send those asking about writing. I’m used to writing about others and not being written about.

PalmOne has released a new version of its Tunsten E. I’m in shock that this, too, doesn’t come with wi-fi. I thought with all the wi-fi hotspots coming out and more users leaning towards the technology that the Tungsten E2 would come equipped with it AND Bluetooth. Instead, it only has Bluetooth. Oh, you could make it a wi-fi thingy by buying another item (Secure Digital wi-fi adapter for roughly $100—not available yet) to add on to it.

When you figure out the numbers, it’s about $350 for the Tungsten E2 and the SD wi-fi. Dell’s Axim X50, which comes with both Bluetooth and wi-fi, costs $399 and the X30 with the two added costs $279. I give PalmOne credit. Some people don’t care or know about wi-fi and won’t want to spend $300 for it, so getting the Tunsten E2 provides them with an affordable option without wi-fi. Since the E2 with the wi-fi adapter costs $300—more than the X30, would a user rather have built-in wi-fi as opposed to using up a card slot with the adapter?

The Tunsten E series is meant to be an affordable option for those who want more power and a better display than the Zire. Then why didn’t the Tungsten T5 come with wi-fi? One year ago, I didn’t care about having wi-fi. Now, I do.

According to PalmOne, the Tungsten E2 has the following advantages over the E, “…the additions of a brighter color screen, flash memory, Bluetooth wireless technology and a more powerful battery.” Does it live up to this? PC World attempts to answer that.

David Strom wrote fascinating editorial regarding formats and provides a historical lesson (ah, the old days of floppies… first black, then green, orange, red, and blue). Imagine if an automotive company decided to produce a car that uses a new kind of gasoline—not leaded, unleaded, or diesel— a brand new one also manufactured by the company.

How stupid would that be? Customers won’t buy the car knowing it limits their gasoline options and the places to go for filling up the car. The company thinks it can make more money by requiring its brand of gasoline for the car. Let’s try to spell it out as I am lousy with numbers.

Note: An average car puts on 10,000 miles. We’ll give this car a rate of 15 miles per gallon (higher than SUVs and lower than energy efficient cars).

5 cars using the company’s gasoline purchased
One car costs $10,000
Gas costs $2.20 per gallon
15 miles per gallon
667 gallons per year
Gas cost for one year: $1467

Company earns $57,335 for five cars and gas.

But if ABC Automotive had brains, it would build a car that uses the standard unleaded fuel. People like the car and since it works with standard fuel, the gasoline barrier doesn’t exist. Thus, more people buy the car.

6 cars using standard fuel purchased
One car costs $10,000

Company earns $60,000 without selling gasoline. However, it’s likely to sell more than six cars since the gasoline barrier doesn’t exist. It’s only a one car difference and the company makes more money.

We haven’t covered competition. Someone out there will duplicate the gas and offer it for a lower price, thus taking money away from the company.

My point? Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft do this with their game consoles. I had considered the Sony Clie, but one factor prevented my buying it… the memory stick. I don’t like its limitation of working with only Sony products.

When we wanted to get Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), which only comes with PS2 and Xbox—we learned PS2 had better DDR choices, but Xbox had a better collection of games and features. Imagine how much more money each company could make if the software could work on both systems? But the software development companies stand at the mercy of the hardware companies. Hence, many games have a version for various platforms including the PC and the handheld devices.

But it’s gaming and they are going to make it proprietary. The companies want it that way. The PSP is Sony’s jump into the handheld gaming arena where Nintendo has a monopoly.

The 5.25 floppy was not a standard when it came out. The standard was 8″ floppies. 5.25 became the standard when the two biggest bullies on the block (Microsoft for software and IBM for hardware) got in bed together and made it the standard by sheer market dominance. Same thing here.

Nintendo has the dominance in the handheld arena. Sony wants in on the action… SO what do they do? Sony creates its own handheld and format
(UMD – Universal Media Disk). Furthermore, a couple movie companies Disney, Columbia (Surprise! Sony-owned) will produce movies in the format. So Sony is furthering its efforts by having their movie company make movies for the format. Disney just jumped on board.

Until a uber-dominate power is in place, you are going to have the multiple formats. HDTV has been around since 1996 or so. The “standard” has finally settled will be in wide distribution 2007. I expect gaming to take much longer… if ever.

David Strom wrote fascinating editorial regarding formats and provides a historical lesson (ah, the old days of floppies… first black, then green, orange, red, and blue). Imagine if a automotive company decided to produce a car that uses a new kind of gasoline—not leaded, unleaded, or diesel— a brand new one also manufactured by the company. Read the rest of the rant…

The April issue of eNewsletter Journal looks at fee versus free when it comes to newsletters and ebooks (ereports, whatever you call it).

The March issue barely got noticed since April went out too soon. Mistakes happen. Humans run the newsletter.

An eNewsletter Journal reader asks about templates. If you can help and submit a response, your name goes into a drawing for a pair of Garmin Rino MP3 GPS. You can also ask a question of your own about online marketing, newsletters, and content. Here’s the question.

My new job as a communications manager includes creating a monthly newsletter for distribution to our global business offices and agents. The newsletter will contain graphs, pictures and AutoCad layouts. I need a simple, efficient template that can handle these requirements. How do you choose the right template, and can a newsletter be put on a SharePoint site?

If you live outside of New York state and do any work for a company based in New York, ensure you’re paying taxes. I live in Texas and I had to write a check to New York to pay state taxes. A guy in Tennessee ran into a A Taxing Situation.

New York probably has this rule in place because so many of its workers live in surrounding states Connecticut and New Jersey. Of course, this all happened before telecommuting became a reality. Maybe the rule needs to change to a set number of miles? I can’t vote in New York. I can’t use any of its services. So why am I paying taxes there? Don’t get me wrong—I love New York. My dad grew up in Brooklyn.