TECH SOFTWARE:

Saturday, June 30, 2007

FROM AN MLPF EMAIL

>Re: FLASH: Hoovers seems to be making a move into LinkedIn’s space
>Posted by: “vmwusa_2000”
>Sun Jun 24, 2007 8:55 am (PST)
>Nice job on the blog, by the way!
>And thanks for capturing the screenshot for us…

Vincent,

Thanks for the kind words. But, my blog is more of a whine. :-) Sort of like “Do Not Go Gently Into … ” as performed by Rodney Dangerfield. :-) I’m “raging”.

On a technical note about the screen capture, windoze users are often frustrated by capturing screen shots. As was I, until I found a free utility that makes it trivial. Gadwin Systems Print Screen 4.0 at http://www.gadwin.com/download/ is my “silver bullet”. (It’s free, so I’m not getting out of this message other than the satisfaction of helping my fellow human. And the acclaim at being a big fat old but TRICKY turkey.) So I use the PrintScreen button to trigger the GSPS software, edit the resultant JPEG with MSPAINT (i.e., cut the appropriate part, drop the old file, get a new file open, paste the good stuff in, and save it). From there getting the JPEG onto the BLOG is trivial. It’s then accessible to the millions of MLPF readers. If anyone needs further help, feel free to contact me on or off list and I’ll try to create a better explanation. Usually just knowing that there is a solution is enough for people to try to find that solution, their own solution, or a better solution. That is, if you think something is impossible, it is (AKA learned helplessness?).

I’m sure there are faster, better, easier, but I doubt cheaper solutions.

With being around you (i.e., VW creates the MLPF and genre), there’s no doubt that this is a very minor contribution to the whizdum wars. But we all do what we can to spread light.

Again thanks for the kind words,
fjohn

# # # # #

Leave a Comment » | SOFTWARE | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

YAHOO ANSWER: inet ads for free

Saturday, June 30, 2007

http:// answers.yahoo.com/question/
;_ylt=Ajc.cSp3s66dlx8NU73r
fQ6WxQt.?link=answer&.crumb=C7jGH16mRJ0&qid=20070630
041431AAdkq6W&.done=http%253A%252F%252Fanswers.yahoo.com
%252Fquestion%252Findex%253Fqid%253D20070630041431AAdkq6W

http://tinyurl.com/36dp3o

inet ads for free

QUESTION

Asked by “btenderlisa2”

Where is the best place to advertise on the internet for free?

We are a small business with a very low advertising budget. We want to get our name out there but are unsure what’s the best way to advertise with little or no cost upfront.

ANSWER

Dear “btenderlisa2”:

With a near zero budget, you have to be tricky. You didn’t say what you business does. That might make it a little hard to answer. If you’re selling pencils, then you’ll need a different strategy than if you are remarketing one of the various enlargement crèmes my dearest friends from Nigeria are always telling me about.

Let assume that that your business offers a legal product or service that just needs a little “voice” in the crowded marketplace. How do you get that “voice” at a price you can afford?

I’m going to refer back to one of my Yahoo Best Answers that I gave to the “party purse” lady who had a similar question.

https://reinkefaceslife.com/?s=%22party+purse%22

http://tinyurl.com/36f486

You can create a blog as your website and talk about your business.

In a nutshell, you find an available domain that aligns to your business, go to the wordpressdotcom free blog site, get a free blog, for 15$US you upgrade to your own domain, and you start to write about your business. I’d suggest that you write both about your products and or services, as well as the “behind the scenes” tales about your business. What problems you face, how you solve them, the successes, AND the failures. You have to be “authentic” to develop an audience. Once you have an audience, you get a conversation going. Then come sales and buzz.

All for some sweat and 15$US.

Hope this helps. I’m interested how it works out for you. Drop me a note sometime. My blog may have helpful “stuff”.

Ferdinand J. Reinke
Kendall Park, NJ 08824

SOURCES

http://tinyurl.com/36f486
http://tinyurl.com/lxu93
http://www.reinkefaceslife.com/…

# # #

Update: Was never able to get this in. Yahoo kept 999-ing out. No matter what I did!

# # # # #

Leave a Comment » | YahooAnswers, YahooAnswers - Tilt | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: Questions for the Ron Paul Campaign

Saturday, June 30, 2007

FROM A POSTED REQUEST FOR INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

***Begin Quote***

>Questions for the Paul Campaign
>Posted by Nick Bradley at June 29, 2007 07:02 PM
>I’ve been informed that we should be able to interview members of the
>Paul Campaign (maybe we’ll get lucky and interview Dr. Paul as well),
>so if there are any questions that you would like to be asked, please
>send them to me.

#1 You’ve said you want to eliminate the Federal Reserve and bring back a real dollar. How will you do that and how will you get it thru Congress dominated by Big Government Statists on both sides of the aisle?

#2 Ending the welfare dole for both businesses and individuals is going to be traumatic. How are you going to sell it to the country and how are you going to ease it in to minimize pain and allow people time to adapt?

#3 The BATF, IRS, DEA, FDA, and EPA have to be the most hated Federal government agencies. How do you close them down, put a stake thru their hearts, and ensure they don’t resurrect themselves?

***End Quote***

# # # # #

Leave a Comment » | INTERESTING | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

MONEY: Zimbabwe Today; USA tomorrow

Saturday, June 30, 2007

http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/?storyID=7501

A non-currency country
Zimbabwe Today
It’s a daily struggle trying to survive in
a society where money is worthless

***Begin Quote***

I popped out for a Z$25,000 loaf of bread last Friday. It had gone up to Z$30,000 dollars. I ran home for the extra, ran back to the shop – and the price of my loaf had risen to Z$44,000.

That’s life in Zimbabwe today – or at least it was, until this week when our government took bold and decisive action to reduce the inflatory spiral, and predictably everything got even worse straight away.

***End Quote***

I love when the Universe provides us a “labratory demonstration” when the meme we call gooferment falls afoul of economic law. Not content with shaving a few coins, the gooferment in Zimbabwe can’t print paper money fast enough. (Sounds a little like “helicopter ben” at his Senate confirmation hearings!)

When humans are infected with a mental virus, or meme, we can become irrational. Look at the “pet rock” which was pretty harmless. Look at the tulip craze in Holland’s history, the German hyper-inflation, our Great Depression, or any of the “monetary disasters” of the last century. They are all characterized by a failure in our own thinking.

Gold coins anyone?

If you were traveling to Zimbabwe, then I bet they’d hold their value!

The question is how does the human population of Zimbabwe throw off their “mental virus”? If you are in that society, how do you survive? How does it unwind?

Sadly, I think it involves a lot of pain and suffering and even deaths.

# # # # #

Leave a Comment » | MONEY | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: Maybe a blog with “fresh” content draws better?

Saturday, June 30, 2007

FROM EMAIL IN LINKEDINBLOGGERS

>Re: Jeff Atwood on Blog Ads
>Posted by: “Jason Alba”
>Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:01 pm (PST)
>That’s a great post.
>secret on my blog about staying on-brand.

My secret is staying on whine! Having no “brand”, I just try to not be too annoying.

On a more serious note, has anyone done any “studying” about the concept of “freshness”? In my monologging career (as opposed to blogging), I noticed that most of my posting is done at night after dinner. I can usually find 5 to 10 things worth commenting on. imho

OK, whine about!

Like the state employee speeding to work, bullying the serfs just trying to go to work, out of the way by tailgating. Or, why yet another POS (piece of software) has let me down.

In looking at the time stamps, it struck me. Perhaps my blog would be “popular” (i.e., read by other than my relatives who I quiz any time I see them — only the offline Luddites are safe.), if I had content posted on a regular basis over the time span. If I have 6 posts, then, instead of dumping them all in between six and eleven pm, I could use the time stamp to have “fresh” content every four hours.

For the RSS types and the email readers, it wouldn’t make any diff.

But the real-time readers, thirsty for new content at 4AM, could find something. Find me. And, be so enamored of my great wit and wizzdumb, become life long fans. (No huh?) I’d get possibly a slug on the the free, and unequaled, wordpressdotcom dashboard overnight? That might get an eye ball. Bleary but it could convert to a reader.

If the blog – o – sphere is an open air market of ideas, does the din die down (I like that alliteration) at certain time? Can a pipsqueak be heard during that time? In the end, we all dead. But in the short run, to attract an audience, does timing matter? I think I have a firm grasp on the eyeballs of six relatives and three friends. Should I just be content with that? Or does fame and fortune await, if I could just be “discovered”? Or, am I doomed to “obscurity” as a blogger? Maybe I should focus on my spelling?

Timing of posting may be of greater import and impact to the “brand”, and other more serious, blogs.

Sigh, just a thought,
fjohn

Leave a Comment » | INTERESTING | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: Is a comment spam if it is misdirected?

Friday, June 29, 2007

EMAIL TO COMMENTER THAT SEEMS TO BE WRONG:

Dear Ms. X:

Please pardon the intrusion.

While I appreciate, “publish”, and cherish all comments on my blog, I do try to ensure that they are not spam, spim, sphishing, or whatever the latest “sp” word is. Your comment was flagged as possible spam. No idea why?

I went to your blog, but since I’m from the USA, (that means I only speak one language) (Well courtesy of the USAF in the Seventies I do “speak” Thai, but I don’t count that since most Thais speak better English than I do), so I could ascertain anything. Other than a cute pix. But, on the net, no one knows you’re a dog.

Any way, your comment references “Leo”; that’s not me. So I wanted to confirm that you intended the comment for me. Once I release it, it’s hard to get it back. There’s no “retract” button on the internet. And, if this email bounces, then I can be even more circumspect.

With respect to your comment, I’m not sure that from a job seekers perspective that you would want an “interactive resume”. IMHO the resume’s only purpose is to provoke a conversation. A resume that give up too much info, too little, or the “wrong” info (i.e., pointing to the wrong image you wish to display) is “bad”. It would seem a business diary could also be a bad thing.

I’m still confused by the difference between a blog and website. I know at they are (I have lots of each) and how they are different. It’s just in the philosophy of their relation. Is a blog nothing more than an easily updated website? Should we view a blog as a freshening agent to drive traffic to the “store”?

Any way thanks for the comment, if you meant to leave it. And, either way, please let me know if it should be “published”?

thanks,
fjohn

[NOTE: No response!]

Leave a Comment » | Technology | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

MONEY: How transition to a metal backed currency

Friday, June 29, 2007

FROM AN EMAIL TO ECONOMIST WRITER

Dear X:

As an injineer, I’m not a social scientist. Some say I am not even social. As a “gold bug”, I am adding to supply of that relic. My question is one of philosophy, history, and practicality.

I first became aware of inflation (i.e., monetary fiat inflation as opposed to all the other distractions that are called inflation) when in Manhattan College in some course or another, vonMises was an assigned collateral reading. I had a prof, who I can’t remember, was always on Crusoe’s Island. I got a D, so I didn’t take much away from the course. My next brush with education about it was a visit to the Smithsonian where I saw the incredible shrinking French franc. The original French Franc of Louis I was a gold coin that looked more like a small hockey puck than a coin. The last French Franc of the monarchy Louis XVI was a tissue paper thin button. That is what governments do. They debase the currency. They redefine money to give themselves more and the people less. Paper money is even easier to inflate. No coins to shave! I then experienced the Carter inflation of the 70’s with 18% interest rates. And the WIN (Whip Inflation Now) absurd buttons. Lately I’ve read about the Liberty Dollar, silverization of the Mexican peso, and the golden dinar. I’m also remotely aware of Say’s Law which I will paraphrase as “if you had some gold and some paper, which would you spend first?”. I think is a fair translation.

So with that context, how do the people of say New Hampshire, with all those willing Free State Project members, transition from Federal Reserve Banknotes (that I sarcastically called FRBies) to a metal backed currency (i.e., the Liberty Dollar, gold or silver bullion coins, something else)?

I’ve posed this question to Walter Williams, Lew Rockwell, and anyone else who I thought might have an answer. Never had a good answer. Care to take a stab at it?

Does it take a TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) scenario to get rid of the Federal Reserve? With all the fighting and bloodshed to get to peace and economic honesty? Or is there a peaceful path to end “counterfeiting”? With all the “stuff” that the Federal Gooferment could sell off, it would seem possible to make good on all the promises. Sell off land in Nevada and Alaska to pay for Social Security? I can’t see how anything good will come out of our current direction. Nothing likely except more inflation.

Care to share your thoughts about this topic?

# # # # #

3 Comments | MONEY | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

YAHOO ANSWER: Save the house?

Friday, June 29, 2007

http:// answers.yahoo.com/question/
index?qid=20070629064900AA
YApu9&r=w&pa=FZptHWf.BGRX3OFMiTdUUu5YLEDi8eGRoafGUuX
AW0FILEo9DIr0vuSzxq4r5ZBFWi4H5BfoXtU4FBCOVA–&paid=answe
red

http://tinyurl.com/yqkrn9

Save the house?

QUESTION

Asked by “miss_spunderella”

Can someone PLEASE help us come up with ways to earn $15,000 so our house doesn’t get auctioned off?

We fell behind in our payments and our house is going up for forclosure in August. We are a family of six now and are happy in our home. with the struggles of school, work and availability for a babysitter, things have been more than we could manage. plus no male to help with the burden. We can work with someone on a private auto loan, or any kind of possible opportunities you can suggest. We are now employed and have a live in babysitter to help, so the loan will be re-paid promptly. PLEASE help with ideas, and possibilities so we are able to keep our home.

ANSWER

Dear “miss_spunderella”:

Well, losing one’s home is no joke. Coming to Yahoo Answers means you’ll have to take ALL advice, especially mine, with a large grain of NaCl.

As, I understand the gist, you’re behind in your mortgage payments and are at risk of foreclosure. Did you get a foreclosure notice from the lender? You need an attorney, a cpa, and a counselor to help you get thru this.

Assuming, a big assumption, that you hit a temporary bump in the road, and can NOW afford your payments. Your lawyer can help you get straight with the lender. No lender WANTS to foreclose. You may have legal rights to slow the process down and make it attractive to the lender to “cooperate”. Your accountant can help you understand what goes in, what goes out, and get you organized to avoid this in the future. A counselor can help you with the emotional roller coaster thru the processes. Your local social service agency may be able to help you with a grant or loan to keep you from getting throw out on the street and being homeless.

Assuming, again big assumption, that you just need some interim financing, say to overcome some unemployment, I’d aim you at your local bank, a credit union (the website to find a local one is below), and the PROSPER website (i.e., they mediate people to people loans; website below).

Hope this helps. I’m interested how it works out for you. Drop me a note sometime. My blog may have helpful “stuff”.

Ferdinand J. Reinke
Kendall Park, NJ 08824

SOURCES

http://prosper.com/
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/09/eveningnews/main2457400.shtml
http://www.creditunionsonline.com/
http://tinyurl.com/lxu93
http://www.reinkefaceslife.com/…

# # #

UPDATE: Chosen best by voters. One vote between eight answers. Ten points!

# # # # #

Leave a Comment » | YahooAnswers, YahooAnswers - Best, YahooAnswers - Best by Voters | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: Why we don’t want “electronic voting”

Friday, June 29, 2007

SUBMITTED TO RISKS

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0483726/

Man of the Year
with Robin Williams
as President Elect Tom Dobbs

*** begin quote ***

Tom Dobbs, comedic host of a political talk show – a la Bill Maher and Jon Stewart – runs for President of the US as an independent candidate who, after an issues-oriented campaign and an explosive performance in the final debate, gets just enough votes to win. Trouble is he owes his victory to a computer glitch in the national touch-screen voting system marketed by Delacroy, a private company with a rising stock price. To protect their fortune, Delacroy executives want to keep the glitch a secret, but one programmer, Eleanor Green, wants Dobbs to know the truth. Can she get to him? Written by jhailey.

*** end quote ***

Correct me if I am wrong, but did this movie just put a stake thru the heart of the vampire known as “electronic voting”?

Systems provided by Delacroy … err I mean Diebold … could manipulate the results of an election. Based on the movie, I’ve just emailed Ron Paul to change his name to Ron Paaul. (SPOILER: In the movie, the buggy computer program elects the candidate with the “best” double letter.) So if anyone wants to debate about paperless electronic internet voting and tell you how good it will be yada yada yada, just rent them this movie. That should finish up the discussion!

They say many a true word is said in jest.

Some times concepts can get thru via humor. My non-techie spouse said after watching this that it would now never be approved here. Hope she’s right.

This film IMHO says it all about that topic. And, says it in way that comes across to the average person.

fjohn

p.s.: The movie did have one other great line. Tom Dobbs says “Politicians are a lot like diapers. They should be changed frequently, and for the same reasons.” If you gather I’m no fan of politicians, you’re correct. They are like diapers!

# # # # #

Leave a Comment » | INTERESTING | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: The Paris Hilton Ad

Friday, June 29, 2007

http://www.bradbensonhyundai.net/contact_form.htm?bhcp=1

Re: The Paris Hilton Ad

Dear Mister Benson,

I know in your ads you go for “yucks”, and I particularly like when you skewer the politicians. Maybe you could offer the Guv a set of free seat belts?

Now about the “Paris Hilton” ad where you asked for appropriate punishments for Ms. Hilton — like cleaning your stable; again I know you are going for yucks, but in this case, I think we should go for a punishment that benefits everyone. So here goes.

Paris was supposedly jailed for basically drunk driving parole violation. I think “drunk driving” is one of the big “sins” for a driver.

(I thought it should have been Number #1 on the Pope’s list. When I go out and hoist even one, I won’t drive for fear of harming my fellow human. Good thing my old lady is a teetotaler!)

Notice I said drunk; not drinking. I think that if you have an accident and have been drinking, then you were drunk. Real simple. No roadside stops. No random checks. Cop sees you swerving or asleep at the traffic light, you go to jail for endangering your fellow drivers and their passengers. You kill someone, we throw away the key.

Anyway Paris is a celebrity. Politicians love celebrities. The media loves celebrities. AND I think the billboards that put a face on drunk driving fatalities are moving. So let’s use the “Paris Hilton” spotlight to some good.

So here’s my suggestion for Paris’ punishment. It’s not cleaning a stable but it might have a better result.

For EVERY county in California, let’s have Paris and the local California “legislators” visit the family home of a drunk driving fatality. Paris has to stand outside and ask for a picture of the victim. If the family wishes to tell the story, she has to listen. Then she has to turn to the camera and show that picture. Every day for THIRTY days.

Maybe, she’ll take away a lesson. Maybe, the “legislators” will take away a lesson. Maybe, the media will report the lesson. Maybe, we can all learn the lesson.

Maybe, the People will put a face on a human tragedy. And everyone will get serious about “drunk driving”.

How’s that for punishment? Now you know why I’ll never be a judge. Thanks for listening.

fjohn

# # # # #

Correction: I had the wrong URL for the contest so I put the correct one at the top.

# # # # #

By return email, a sales pitch:

bensonhilton

# # # # #

1 Comment | INTERESTING | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »