Archive for September 2006

These links don’t have a common thread, so Link Friday it is. Well, maybe a couple of common themes. But rather drown in the shameless self-promotion with comics instead of create its own entry — but seriously, I hope the resources are informative.

Comics

* Discovered a new comic strip, Being Five, a kid who blogs using voice recognition software. Is it me or is the software working too well?

* I also enjoy bLaugh from Pirillo and Fritz.

* ShaBot 6000: What you get when you partner up a Jewish man and his robot.

Shameless Self-promotion

* PSJ September 13 and 27 issues. It also has a new blog.

* September issue of meryl’s notes, the newsletter. Yes, it’s really September. I woke up so early yesterday and wrote October… oops.

* Interview with Fadtastic about CSS and the collection. Now you know why I keep the collection going even with many similar sites popping up with more features and better design.

While reading Layers Magazine by the pool on a hot Texas day, I flipped to the “Design Makeover” column where the magazine offered readers the opportunity to request a makeover. So I sent an email and the result is three distinctive logo designs in the September / October issue. You can download the PDF files here (make sure you scroll down as each file has more than one page of stuff).

You can download and preview the logos. Paul likes the red one best by Randy Nicholson. They’re all good work.

I’ve admired many of the logos presented in the Sitepoint Design Contests. Users can create a contest with a prize along with logo requirements. The prizes vary. I had thought about giving that a shot. FYI: It costs $20 to create a listing and then a decent prize to encourage high quality results.

There was a design a few months back for Subtractions and Nouns. I like the site’s final logo — not crazy about the color, but there are more designs like it with different colors in the contest’s forum.

Based on this, it looks like I prefer a simple and flat image especially since they print well and show up clearly in different media and colors. Karen Johnson’s version of the meryl.net logo comes close to this and I like the curly bracket that can be viewed as the { in CSS and turned on its side looks like a book. She did a great job — the colors didn’t ring with me, but it’s on the right track and could lead to the perfect logo. The M part with a short bracket would make a nice icon. Should it be just Meryl? Or should it have meryl.net or Meryl K. Evans?

Fellow Texan Randy Nicholson’s is classy and I like the colors. I don’t worry too much about the colors because I could change the site’s colors anytime. Concerned about the embellishes and thin lines won’t work well on small items or printing. I like the old-time yet contemporary look. The one thing I would change, if I were to use this, is replace [at] with @. Not like there’s a link on the printed stuff for spambots to attack. The pen on this one could be an icon. I like the feather’s separating meryl and net. Maybe meryl.net and content maven is all that’s needed in a logo.

Daniel Writer — was his last name a sign or something? Furthermore, his web site uses CSS for layouts instead of tables. You go, Daniel! I like the embellishes in his black and white logo. The part with my name and title seems a little plain and the URL being spread out doesn’t work for me. Besides, I like using my middle initial K — Meryl Evans looks lonely without it. K happens to be the first letter in both my middle and maiden names and my middle name is Kay — just like it sounds.

I love what each designer had to say in explaining how they come up with their designs.

If you have one, how did you come up with your logo? What about the colors?

Updated: October 1, 2006

Letting things go — what is done is done is a recurring theme this week. In today’s Early to Rise newsletter, Robert Ringer talks about Dale Carnegie’s How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, a book a read years ago as I’m a worrier (thanks, Grandma).

Ringer writes that some of the book’s content are outdated while some points still apply. I was surprised by this as I thought the book was timeless. We’re human and unlike the things around us — our nature rarely evolves. But Ringer makes a valid point about acceptance. I may have accepted my hearing loss years ago, but it doesn’t prevent me from aspiring to hear and speak better. I would think getting the cochlear implant three years ago demonstrates this.

I also found this article Rule of Life #3: Accept What Is Done Is Done and I wrote an article last night for PSJ to answer the reader’s question of the month listed here — the response comes in issue 4.41.

I’ve been struggling with something that happened over a year ago. I want to forget about it and move on. What is done is done. Yet, it creeps up every now and then and bugs me again. I accepted it and that’s it. End of story. But not to my human nature. What works in letting things go?

Best site for organization tips: Lifehack. I’ll share my tips every now and then. Feel free to share yours. Maybe you do something more efficiently than I do.

Spices

One of my favorite tips that I actually use is writing the date I bought something or when it expires. More and more products are coming with expiration dates on them, but there are still plenty that don’t come with the date stamped or make it impossible to read. As soon as I buy spices, I add two years to the day’s date and write it on the bottom with a Sharpie.

TV

I don’t have time to watch TV, so I record everything. Still have two tapes of stuff containing episodes that ran in April and May. How do we keep track? Using sticky notes. We write the show name and the date. We rarely have incidences of lost stickies due to not enough sticky on the sticky or toddler hands.

I also put stickies on filled tapes from the camcorder with the date the tape was filled. So when we get around to copying the tape to media over a year later, we know the timeframe. You can do so much more with stickies as this book tells all.

Mail

Touch once. Go through it, toss what I don’t need, set aside mail for other family members, and take action on the rest. Unfortunately, Paul doesn’t prescribe to this method and has a mound of mail in the kitchen. One example of taking action is paying a bill — I don’t pay it immediately. For bills I pay online, I go to the web site as soon as I can to pay and enter the date I want to make the payment. It’s much easier than the old method of entering a reminder in my PDA.

Conversation

You run into someone who asks you for information or gives you information that you need to act on when you get home — what are the chances you’ll remember considering all the things going on between running into the person and getting home? For me, not good. I use my Sidekick II to send myself an email with a reminder. No email? Enter the note into a cell phone or call your answering machine and leave a message.

If you use plain ol’ paper to write the note, be sure to put the paper with something that you know you’ll touch when you get home. Also, make sure it’s securely attached to the item.

I’ve also sent myself an instant message so I could remember to do something as soon as I got back on my computer. Of course, this means having your PC’s instant messenger on and having the capability on your cell phone or handheld.

It’s no surprise that blogs are catching on with B2Bs (business-to-business). BtoBOnline confirms it by referencing a Knowledgestorm and Universal McCann survey.

“Blogs are the perfect forum for business and IT professionals — readers want to hear about a company or a product from ’someone like them,’” says Matt Lohman, director of market research, KnowledgeStorm. “And technology buyers seem to be more than happy to pass along relevant information from blogs — 70% of survey respondents recommend or pass along content from blogs at least once a month.”

Benefits of Business Blogging

No one can argue the benefits of business blogging especially when it helps with the following:

* Credibility and expertise: Thoughts do the talking.

* Becoming part of something big: Blogosphere and networking.

* Updating the site more often than if it had no blog.

* Easy way to gain word of mouth (mouse) considering 70% recommend or share content from a blog.

Tweaking the BtoB Blog

I’ve been installing blogs for PSJ (Professional Services Journal) and another BtoB web site. In working with the publisher, he asked me to change the terminology of coming blogging terms:

* Comment: “Post a comment or read other comments”

* Trackback: “Other sites referring to entry”

* Tags: “Related Topics”

* Removing permalink and other entry footer items from individual entry pages so the only thing that appears is comment.

These go against the standards us long-time bloggers have taken for granted. My publisher has a good point though. Blogs are new to BtoBs, but I told him that they may be new in the BtoB arena… there could be BtoB bloggers or readers who have been reading blogs for a long time.

Besides, I remember a few folks tried to rename RSS and got more complaints than support. So I wondered if the same thing would happen if we tried to change the names to something more understandable. Are the standards said and done? Or should BtoB blogs take a different approach?

In setting up these BtoB blogs, we’ve taken an approach to turn the blog into a web site slash blog rather than pure blog approach. PSJ’s blog matches the newsletter which it’s based on and adds a few bloggy components including subscribe, archives, categories, related topics (tags), and comments.

Are we off the mark and asking for trouble in modifying the verbiage? Or could we be taking a step toward change to things others have taken for granted?

I finally got around to trying out my digital camcorder that I lucked out and found a great deal on it. I recorded my daughter’s team’s volleyball game last night and experimented. First, I would start/stop between plays to keep it short, but it has a slight delay when starting and stopping, so I stopped that.

In volleyball, the referee stands atop the net on a small platform. That platform gets in the way when watching the game. You miss out when players move into specific spots. I tried filming while directly behind the ref, standing on the gym floor where I could see the whole game in front of me, and sitting on the side where our players played.

The camcorder came with CyberLink PowerDirector Express and CyberLink PowerProducer. I started with Express hoping it would be a quick job — pull the videos together and burn to a CD. Instead it was time-consuming and frustrating. In Director, I added the title and text at the start of each game. Unfortunately, the text appeared over the video rather than on a blank screen. It didn’t have any features to add text that didn’t overlap the video.

OK, fine. Not a big deal. Moving on. I put the videos together in order and produced an MPG file. When I was ready to publish it, PowerProducer opened. There, I could create chapters and a menu like you see on videos. Once done, I burned it as a VCD. It created four folders and nothing that was obvious for clicking on to watch the video. I could play it, but an average user wouldn’t know what to do when confronted with folders with no executable.

The VCD didn’t work on our DVD players. Paul said he has created VCDs before and they worked on DVD players. But that wasn’t important it would be viewed on the computer rather than a DVD player. So I tried making a VCD using Nero instead. Same result. Another wasted CD. In the end, we burned the MPG to the CD using the regular burning option. The MPG landed on the CD and it plays fine on a PC.

I’m no media expert as I’ve never had a need to edit videos and burn them till now. There has to be an easier way to produce the CD and have it load the menu or run the movie as soon as the CD is inserted into the PC. I’d like to figure out a simple process for creating DVDs for DVD players and for computers that may not have a DVD drive. Anyone? Anyone?

Last week, I spent way too much time surfing blogs for inspiration and referencing. Sometimes, I come up with blog topics with ease and save them. Other times, blank. I do have saved unpublished entries for later posting. After not finding something to blog about, I grabbed the another entry from the unpublished bank.

I try to be aware of my work especially when solving a problem and then make note of it to share it in a future blog entry. But haven’t had many ah-ha or “worth sharing” moments. Even as I work on planning a major family event, I think about the roadblocks and the “what worked wells.” I found a few, but they’re more suitable for the Bionic Ear Blog and not this one.

I think about working with clients and building relationships through online networking. I think about my experiences as a customer. But the fact is — no matter what — you’ll have moments when nothing inspires a blog entry. After six-plus years of blogging, I’ve gotten better at coming up with ideas.

Just like athletes have an off-day, bloggers can have off-days, too… although I wonder if the frequent posters (more than once a day) ever get stuck and what they do when it happens. This doesn’t apply to blogs with multiple contributors although some do require their bloggers post a certain number of entries per week. Those popular bloggers also get suggestions from readers as I do get one from time to time mostly for the Bionic Ear Blog.

I emailed a few bloggers asking about their experiences with blogger’s block. Only one replied and asked not to be quoted. Is there something shameful about having blogger’s or writer’s block? I don’t think so. We all have bad hair days, bad work days, bad people days … nothing to be ashamed of.

More and more businesses are adding tech support reporting features, knowledgebases and expanding frequently asked questions — including businesses whose core business doesn’t include technology. Michael Port, author of Book Yourself Solid, has a tech support-like reporting tool — the kind of tool you expect to find on web server hosts and software development companies.

Michael Port is a coach. He helps people grow their businesses by getting more clients. When you contact his company, you send a regular email. No filling out a tech support-style form. The reply has a tracking number and indicates whether the problem is open or closed much like what you see in tech support-style emails.

This is a creative use of a tool that was originally meant for technical businesses. It helps companies ensure they follow up on all issues. A one-person business could benefit even if the person is well-organized. I’ve recognized Kayako’s application on a few web sites.

However, a company wants to help a customer find the answers before receiving a direct contact. Yes, it saves resources — but helping customers help themselves also gets them their answers faster. Many support applications search the database for keywords resembling a customer’s trouble ticket before submission. The best results appear and the customer might have the answer right there. If not, then contacting the business is the next step.

This application can be tied to a knowledgebase to ensure the customer checks there first. Not all users are savvy about online self-help and may not consider looking for answers in the knowledgebase, FAQ, forums and numerous other online resources before resorting to direct contact. Some sites, however, did a lousy job of trying to help the customers help themselves. One experience had me going through the knowledgebase, entering keywords to get relevant results … after all that, I still didn’t have my answer and it was time to contact the company. It took a lot of effort to find out how.

Companies need to work on leading the customer in the right direction going through the various routes before giving up and making contact. I prefer to find the answer myself. It exercises the brain, keeps the problem solving skills sharp and gets answers faster. More reading on Do-it-yourself Support from Target Marketing Magazine.

Failure to adapt could doom Palm is right on target. I found a great calendar app to use on several PTA web sites I manage. Trumba.com lets you import events into Yahoo! Calendar, Outlook, MSN Hotmail Calendar, MSN Alert, Apple iCal, and Google Calendar.

Trumba also offers options for downloading events by email, iCalendar (.vcs), text messaging, RSS, forwarding, and downloading. Not one option would make it possible to get it on my PalmOS-based device. Just the old-fashioned way — email it to myself and copy and paste the stuff into the Palm Desktop. The download is a .ics file. Palm’s calendar can only import .vcs and its own format.

I could switch the Palm to work with Outlook — tried that for a little while and went back to the Palm Desktop.

Almost every calendar app I’ve seen supports iCal. Tried to track down a program to convert .vcs-type files into Palm files, but no success. Palm2ical is for Apple’s iCal, not iCalendar’s vcs. There were a couple of other possibilities, but nothing concrete.

I’d like to get a PalmOS-based device that keeps me connected to the Internet so I can use instant messaging. Treo is the only option and it’s not keeping up with the eJoneses. Carrying a Sidekick II and a PalmOS device gets old. Based on feedback from the market, it sounds like the Sidekick has the best keyboard. So ideally, I’d like to see a Treo-like device with a more usable keyboard and the ability to import iCalendar and other standards.

I have a Windows Mobile device I use for writing articles and still prefer PalmOS. But when I run into a brick wall trying to use something like Trumba, it makes me wonder if it’s worth sticking with PalmOS when it can’t be integrated with other applications using common standards.

Things aren’t looking good. Palm didn’t renew its agreement with PalmSource (Access) for future releases of PalmOS. Furthermore, the company doesn’t plan to pay royalties after its contract ends on December 2, 2006 because PalmOne didn’t deliver on promises.

Do you ever have a time when you’re using a pen (not that we use a pen very often) that just feels right and helps you write better? For a long time, my favorite was a cheap-o PaperMate stick pen with a blue body, blue ink, and medium point. I bought it in bulk and most of them didn’t work. Gave up on the pen.

The cheap-o (when it works and doesn’t leak — it was a bad leaker) contains a roller that feels smooth not scratchy like some fine point pens and felt tips. I prefer blue to black ink because it’s more readable. Not long ago, I discovered PaperMate’s X-Tend (click image to view larger), a pen that feels comfortable without having big bulky grips. Got a set in various colors. Should get these in blue and put them in places around the house and office so I grab one every time. But why spend money on pens when you’ve collected a gamut over the years? Events, service people who encourage we keep the pen, giveaways…

We have three lefties in my childhood family out of five. In my current family, I’m the only lefty. Every one in my childhood family has a lovely distinctive handwriting style except me. Unfortunately, that doesn’t apply to my current family where three of us write messy. There’s still hope for the younger two.

I’ve kept a journal since 1989 and always vow to write neater, take my time — and I never do especially since it takes little time for my hand to cramp — so I write fast to get everything down before the hand quits. I use the X-Tend, but even a nice pen can’t help you write better. I know I said the opposite — but I meant that I write a little better than I would had I used a scratchy or uncomfortable pen.