I’m a simple man with simple needs. I assume there are others out there with similar needs. In a free market, one would assume that the needs of a viable consumer base would be met, perhaps even prior to that consumer base being aware of their own need. And yet I have been looking for [...]
Product / Service Reviews
If I use it I’ll tend to review it. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
I buy USB hubs so you don’t have to! Not on purpose, that’s just how things have worked out. Allow me to explain… A few years ago I needed more USB ports. So I bought a USB hub for $50. It didn’t work. Ok, it did at first. Then it did sometimes. Then it didn’t. [...]
27
Apr
Apple Magic Mouse
I got Apple’s Magic Mouse along with my new Mac the other day, and I’m about as impressed with it as I’ve been with other wireless mouses (mice?) I’ve tried, which is to say, not very. Problems: 1. Imprecise. I find it difficult to accurately click on what I want to click on. 2. Skipping [...]
Although I’d like to switch to a iPhone, I’m currently using an Android phone, and one of the issues I’ve had to deal with that has been a real pain is managing podcasts. DoubleTwist is no replacement for iTunes, nor is Google Listen, nor mSpot, nor WinAmp. What I want is simply this–an easy way [...]
Last week I switched to a Mac. This meant I had to figure out what I was going to do about Quickbooks. I’ve used Quickbooks on a PC for my business for the past 10+ years, so this was a bit of a switch. Most recently I’ve been using Quickbooks Pro 2009, plus payroll. In [...]
03
Mar
Rework Book Review
I can’t believe I haven’t already written a review of this book. I read Rework months ago, several months ago, in fact. It’s by the guys over at 37signals, who make the Basecamp project management software, which I’ve used for many years and have come to rely on heavily. I’m often surprised I’m only paying [...]
I’ve been using Appriver’s hosted Exchange email services for a few years now. I have virtually no complaints. I don’t recall ever having a major problem with uptime. I think they may have had some minor issues but the only reason I knew about them was because they sent me an email telling me so. [...]
My firm recently launched a redesigned ecommerce site for a triathlon store using the NSCommerce system from Network Solutions. We didn’t choose that solution, it was already being used by the client. Our work was to apply the new design we had created, and we are now providing ongoing PPC management and SEO services. As [...]
Some of those who know me think I’m a “techie” type of guy, always first to jump on any new technology. I guess they think this is the case because I work with websites, but I’m actually a laggard. I generally wait for everyone else to test something out before I jump in. I’m usually [...]
Maybe radio advertising has a future? I keep hearing these ads for “The UPS Store” that have been intriguing to me because the UPS Store appears to be able to solve a few problems I have: 1. Driving to the post office to check my post office box only find out I didn’t get any [...]
I’m not looking for suggestions for myself, but rather for the freelancers and contractors I work with and who send me their invoices. I especially like it when I get an invoice that has a button in it allowing me to pay using PayPal or a credit card. It saves me the effort and inconvenience [...]
I used to use Mozy a year or two ago, but the service was too spotty. I got errors all the time and it took forever to create the first backup. That is, I left it on 24/7 and I think it took well over a month. Maybe it’s better today. I then didn’t use [...]
I hate progress. I mean, I don’t…but I do. Wouldn’t it just be easier to live on a farm somewhere prior to the invention of the cotton gin and penicillin? We wouldn’t have to worry about cell phones, the Internet, auto repairs, paperwork, Al Gore, or…Twitter, ugh. I admit, I readily jumped on the Linkedin [...]
First of all, if you spell “fluorescent” as “flurorescent” or “flourescent” then you’re not an idiot. At least, not unless I am too. Moving on, this is a product review of one of the most basic products known to American mankind–the light bulb. I say “American” mankind because there are still countries today where most [...]
iStockPhoto.com is a great website. It allows photographers, graphic designers, and other creative types to upload photos and artwork which can then be purchased as “stock” photography or artwork. This is great for aspiring photographers, who learn how to take photos that people want to buy. This is great for print and web designers who [...]
I’ve got a secret way you can get free books, movies, and music, that’s totally legal and totally free. I’m not sure why the RIAA, book publishers, and Hollywood don’t have a problem with this, but apparently they don’t since I’ve never heard a peep from them about it. It’s totally legit, and it’s been [...]
I can’t take it any more. The Wall Street Journal, a most highly respected publication offline and on. The homepage. The top of the homepage. The line – “The Illinois House voted overwhelming to impeach Gov. Blagojevich one month after he was arrested on corruption charges, setting up a Senate trial.” Are you kidding me?!!! [...]
My father is trying to get a bunch of 8mm, Super 8mm, and 16mm film rolls digitized and transferred to DVD. He’s been using Costco‘s service, but so far they’re not doing very well. He’s sent in several rolls, waited a while to get them back, and then when they come back they’re out of [...]
I just bought Adobe Premiere Elements 7.0 and I love it! Or at least I assume I would if it worked the way it’s designed to work. But instead of working, I’m having two major problems: 1. While capturing video from my DV camera, I get frequent errors that say “Unknown Recorder Error” at which [...]
An actual online chat between my wife and a Snapfish customer support representative: Please wait for a site operator to respond. You are now chatting with ‘Sunil’ Sunil: Hi, Sunil: Welcome to Snapfish Live Help. How may I help you please? Brynn: I am about to order a calendar, but it is a gift and [...]
If you’re considering upgrading to Quickbooks Pro 2009 and you use the Online Banking feature, I have some advice for you–DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT DO IT!!! I just upgraded from Quickbooks 2006 because you have to upgrade every three years–they force you to by not supporting versions that are more than three years [...]
I tried out Mozy as a solution for online backups about a year ago. Perhaps it’s improved since then but at the time it stunk. It would error out all the time, it took me almost 2 months to create the first backup (even though I had it on all the time and my connection [...]
Remember how a few week ago I set up temporary mail forwarding so that I could receive my mail in Ohio while I was out of Utah for a month? Well, it was easy enough to set up, but the experience afterwards has been less than ideal, which is a shame, because the post office [...]
I was just turned on to Earth Class Mail, a service that scans your postal mail and shows you images of it online and then allows you to shred it or forward it to the location of your choice, by Chris Knudsen. I haven’t signed up yet, due to the lack of a Salt Lake [...]
I’ll put this bluntly–you and your spouse should try this place out. MWI did the website for the Johnson Mill, a Utah bed and breakfast in Midway, which is right next door to Heber and just a few minutes from Park City, back around 2003. We’ve recently started providing SEO services for them as well. [...]
I have Comcast’s business Internet service, and I love it. I can’t remember ever having an issue with it. I have 8-10 mbps down, and 1 mbps up for $160 per month. The problem is I’m not supposed to have that. You see, I called in two months ago and downgraded to their 6-8 mbps [...]
I’ve had our office’s Internet connectivity provided by Comcast’s business services division for about a year now and I love it. It’s less than $200 per month and speeds average between 6-8mbps down and are always 1mbps up. It’s hard to beat. However, I recently tried to change my billing address, and that was a [...]
10
May
Walls
There’s the Great Wall of China, but there are bigger walls that do more to hold us back from achieving our goals and those are the walls we create in our own minds. You know how it works. You’re exposed to new information, and you get this feeling in your head that says “This is [...]
We recently switched our corporate email to a hosted Exchange solution from AppRiver. It happens to be down right now (which is why I have time to blog), but this is still a positive review. Frankly, getting this Exchange server from AppRiver and having their spam filtering is one of the best things we’ve ever [...]
Well, I finally did it. I got neither a Treo nor a Blackberry but the Motorola Q. It’s been about two weeks ago and I’m liking it more every day, as opposed to other smartphones I’ve had in the past, the allure of which wore off as time went on.
