August 2009 Archives

Amazing how much energy goes into keeping cool in August. I often give up on my poor ac--it works so hard and reaches a point there is just no more cool left. In the summer, I spend a lot more time reading magazines and books thinking decompression equals keeping cool. I make lots of salad, very cooling. I even signed up for Stressless Jill http://twitter.com/stressless_Jill any and all de-stress tips are welcomed when you are "trying not to let them see you sweat". In Japan, they have another approach, in August they tell ghost stories so that the "chills" may offer some relief in late night heat and it is also believed that mid-August is ghost season.

The Japanese approach may have some merit because despite all our efforts, sweat it out we do, might as well let it work for you. One day last week, my parents woke up and discovered that their dishwasher, fridge and washing machine were all broken. Only a week earlier my programmer had experienced a catastrophic power surge in his home office that took out the power supply on his main machine, gobbling (not a technical term) its two internal hard drives along with the hard-drive on our office server. Apparently, a significant power event had occurred so that others in Brooklyn had similar meltdowns. We thought that perhaps my parents had caught the gremlin of Brooklyn a week later.

Such experiences have to be contagious whether physical or psychological, right? Though, much evidence suggests that this is an August phenomenon. It could only have been in August when their Dell laptop was fried by lightening when  a strike hit the bird feeder that was over the phone wire that led to the house where their laptop was plugged into the modem. Or, perhaps it is the ghost in the machine...and the Japanese are really onto something.

When you have catastrophic power events, leaky pipes, and lightening--you know it is August offering a little saber rattling and blood letting that is a product of simultaneous heat and work.

Happy dog days of summer or early Halloween, when one-step back can be two steps forward.  When all is said and done, sweating is often the only option...but now I have inherited a new computer. The report on the Mac Pro Quad Core is that it is a "Race Truck". I can say with certainly, if you need a monitor, there are some good deals for everyone...

The good news is, yes, we all break down a bit in August and it is okay to sweat. While we should take a bit of time to put our feet up in the evening, machines require care as well:

-Keep'em cool--even at night--sorry to the green people and the pocketbook.

-Battery backup really is essential for the longevity of the machine.

-Of course, back up your data--you can replace equipment, but you cannot replace your data.

A friend invited me to attend a 90-minute workshop with her. It was a free workshop, I glimpsed at the invitation, which had markings that interested me--I saw Google, Yahoo and MSN logos, which I mistook for sponsors. I saw that the topic was learning how to make your website make money online. Always interested in what my fellow technology peers are teaching/selling, a free 90 minute education on a Saturday could not be too bad.

At least a hundred people were in attendance, dressed in their best work clothes--all looked eager. When the instructor introduced himself as John, the young man beside me said with total enthusiasm "NICE!" 

The pretty and well-known logos were not sponsors, we were watching a 90 minute pitch for a particular company (I will not mention names) that sold website templates and hosting services. "Passive residual income!" write that down we were ordered, this is what you will need when you lose your job next week. If we did not respond with enough enthusiasm he turned off the power point and stopped the lecture until he was satisfied that we understood his question---I hate it when I learn how my dog feels when I make him sit for a biscuit.

Is this information important? "YES!!!" Build a web page and sell items. Don't know what to sell--not a problem drop shippers were available to do all of this for you--jewlery, judo, bar codes, watches, you name it, sounds boring, who cares, you are making money. Get it? "YES!!!" And, just having one website is not enough, you needed multiple, why? So, you could have "MUTLIPLE PASSIVE RESIDUAL INCOMES!" 

The instructor would not lie to us, too bad, that this would not be quite enough. You also have to know how to market your website.

Suddenly, "passive residual income" was no longer passive or cheap. The website marketing workshop would be in two weeks for $499. The important proprietary SEO software cost $3600. And, I suppose each of your ecommerce pages would require its own proprietary software. Luckily for us, if we signed up today, we would get a discount on the $3600. How much could only be disclosed at the coming workshop‑whose date and location I did not write down because I was told not to.

Did we know how much Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com paid outsourced companies to manage their ecommerce properties?! While this was not a crowd that could afford $499,  the audience knew this workshop information was critical.

Just as we felt entirely suckered, no worries, it was our lucky day. The biscuit came out again. If we pay today, we were told we would get the $499 Internet marketing workshop for $48, plus a $199 website free, and one month hosting free. And, when we were told today, he meant, right now. Out came the credit card forms and card swipes.

My friend turned to me and said that she hated when people made you pay before they had handed out the information regarding what you were paying for. What if you wanted the workshop and not the website?....No questions would be answered until the cards were swiped.

We had been warned, at the beginning of the workshop, several minutes were spent explaining that this company did not want us for just one purchase--one book or one video. 

Look at the table in front and in the back, no books, no videos--nothing was being sold to us today because this company did not want a one-time purchase, they wanted multiple charges made to us for hopefully at least a decade.

Great--and this company is loving its own online recurring billing payment gateway and can keep billing you $24.95 a month until you cried stop loud enough. And charge they did.

I did check out the company and found lots of complaints, but they did have customers using their online stores--more like an online lemonade stand...or with the drop ship services perhaps more akin to the fruit consortiums you find on every street corner in New York. Based on the fees customers claimed, a fruit consortium is probably their vision--give away a penny for every 50 cent banana sold.

Total $199 + $24.95 x 12 + $3600 + unknown fees = $4000 +. As I searched for information about the company, most people quoted their experience at about $6000--the going rate for an online fruit stall--sets the market standard for bottom basement ecommerce.

Somebody would be getting passive residual income that day and it would not be any of us in the room.  My friend and I could not wait for the non-apple ipod. We needed the fresh air of Herald Square.

Beware of the biscuit.