SERVICE: TABZON — not recommended

Thursday, May 6, 2010

http://www.tabzon.com

*** begin quote ***

The best little in-out board for your office.

Tabzon is a free online in-out board designed to help you keep track of your co-workers’ whereabouts.

   * Centralised Team

   * One-Click Updates

   * Quick Contact Lookup

   * No Software

   * Safe, Private, & Secure

   * Completely Free!

*** end quote ***

I tried it to solve a person problem. I learned about it on blog. (Unfortunately, I forgot which one.)

I thought it would be like a public bulletin board that who show anybody status. It only shows if you have defined users. So it’s a closed community that you have to “invite”. Argh! I didn’t get that from the description. It doesn’t have the granularity of control.

I gave them other feedback as I worked with it.

“You need to declare what it costs on first screen. Always will be free? Freemium? Something else?” (Addressed!)

“Email address restrictions should be up front. Not after you wipe out all the input I did. Argh!” (Don’t know.)

“Your activation email goes directly into spam folders. Unlike what others do. Something needs fixing.”  (Don’t know.)

I was trying to use it as a bulletin board for family to know when to call my wife.

Yes, realized. And, yes. It appears to “reset” to unavailable for no apparent reason.

On May 5, 2010, at 12:07 AM

>Hi again,

>Nice to see your finding the idea useful in a way we handn’t intended.

>This behaviour is odd indeed. Just a couple of things to confirm :

It’s always showing “unavailable”. I’ll try and find another solution. Argh! Sorry. It looked good.

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SERVICE: UofP blows it by not offering alumni email

Friday, April 23, 2010

*** begin quote ***

A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of
its recipients. The following addresses failed:
<xxxxxxxxx@email.uophx.edu>
SMTP error from remote server in greeting:
host email.uophx.edu[204.17.28.37]:
550 Requested action not taken: mailbox unavailable.

*** end quote ***

Interesting! University of Phoenix takes down email when it’s student’s graduate. How short sighted is that?

Obvious, even if I had to cut a deal with Google for Gmail to offer to all my alumni that’s a great marketing ploy.

Future sales. Referrals. References. Social networking. Free advertisign when folks use it. Alumni networking.

Boy, did they blow it.

They may have the next generation in the “education” model, but they still have old thinking at the top.

Traditional schools most flub it as well, but they’re dinosaurs so what would you expect!

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SERVICE: 2 Google Voice invites

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

*** begin quote ***

You have 2 Google Voice invites left.

*** end quote ***

Anyone want them?

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SERVICE: Use a Google Voice number for reminders

Friday, April 16, 2010

http://www.macworld.com/article/147288/2010/04/googlevoice.html

*** begin quote ***

Send Yourself Voicemails After Calls to Remember Important Info

I have created a Gmail account and gotten signed up for Google Voice on that account (btw, don’t set it to your cell phone number for this setup.)

Once that GV account is in place, I enable the Do Not Disturb feature which sends incoming calls straight into voicemail.

I also have the settings such that it sends a Speech-to-Text translation to an email address on my Blackberry. Further, I set up my phone to speed dial “Q” (Quick Msg) so, as soon as I get done with the call, I dial Q and go straight into VM. I leave an articulate VM of the details I just committed to and almost instantly, upon completion, it feeds back to my Blackberry signaling that I have a new msg.

I DON’T look at the msg so that when I get back online, I can pull up the Unread msg (or listen to the voicemail attachment) and update the appropriate calendar entry or whatever is necessary to follow-up on the commitment.

Even if the translation isn’t verbatim, that’s fine because it’s usually pretty close and that should be PLENTY to serve as a reminder that I can act on. It’s really a great system, very simple and free. Not too shabby.

*** end quote ***

I have it setup, but I have to play with it a little.

?

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SERVICE: Yahoo and Facebook are cooperating

Saturday, April 3, 2010

*** begin quote ***

facebook

Hi XXX-owner,

Use the automatic Friend Finder for XXX@YYY.COM. Now it will be easier than ever to share and connect with your friends.

Use our Friend Finder to find your email contacts on Facebook

Find Friends

Thanks,

The Facebook Team

*** end quote ***

Looks like Yahoo and Facebook are cooperating to accomplish something. What I have no idea?

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SERVICE: CAREMARK WEB SITE and catch-22

Sunday, March 7, 2010

*** begin quote ***

From Caremark

To Caremark Portal User

Date Sent 02/10/2010

Subject Important Information: New Security Enhancement

Message New security step on Caremark.com starting Feb. 20!

The security of your personal and health information is of utmost importance to us. For your protection, we’ll ask you to answer a “challenge question” the first time you log on to Caremark.com on or after Feb. 20, 2010. If you’re using your own computer, you only have to answer the question once, or if you prefer, you may set your User Profile to require it more often. If you are logging on from a different computer, you will be asked the question each time. If you cannot remember your answer, contact our Web Customer Care at 1-800-378-9442.

Thank you.

*** end quote ***

Arghhhhhhh!

First, this email is only available on their “portal” AFTER you logon. You can’t logon because “secondary questions” were NEVER set up. You can’t email into them because they only respond to your inbound email on their “portal” which you can’t get into. And, more aggravating is that they send you an email to saying “look at the portal inbox”. From an unattended email address.

Are they kidding? Has any one THOUGHT about this “barbara streisand”? Doubtful!

Arghhhhhhh!

(I HATE “secondary” identification. It merely provides hackers an alternative way to crack your account. How many favorite colors or mother’s maiden names do you have? My mother’s maiden name changes by web site as does my color. Here’s my five favorite colors: Cxu14, H4v4j, s7Jb5, T9B68, and 1dsz6. And, yes, I use different passwords on every site. Also stupid are those sites that force a format for passwords.)

Arghhhhhhh!

Then, you’re left with no choice but calling in to “tech support”. Innumerable prompts, and delays.

Arghhhhhhh!

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SERVICE: “twitter sparks…” a customer service revolution!

Sunday, February 28, 2010

http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/28/cherchez-la-fame

NSFW: Cherchez la fame – or why the media’s obsession with Twitter campaigns will make customer service smell French

   * 5 Comments

   *

   *

   Share3

   * Buzz it

by Paul Carr on Feb 28, 2010

*** begin quote ***

Time was, companies knew how to keep track of their important customers.

*** and ***

Two years ago, none of this would have been news. A cult film maker was kicked off a flight? So? What was he going to do? Make a film called ‘Jay and Silent Bob hate Southwest airlines’? (Admittedly that would still have been better than Jersey Girl). An entrepreneur’s got quietly kicked out of a members’ club to make way for more profitable clients? Tough shit: that one’s not even newsworthy enough for the most desperate trade magazine. A little known designer gets ripped off by a gigantic retail chain? Boo hoo. Tell it to someone who cares. Without a major celebrity angle, there was little to no chance of the media picking up a run-of-the-mill intellectual property complaint and forcing the company into action.

*** and ***

Really there’s only one answer – and it’s one that strikes at the very heart of the established hierarchy of customer importance. Companies are going to have to start treating every single customer like a VIP. Actually, no, it’s worse than that – consider the Hidden Eloise example; she wasn’t a customer, but just a humble designer. Companies are going to have to start treating every single person in the world like a VIP.

*** end quote ***

Twitter will burn more and more organizations that are inconsiderate, fraudulent, or deceptive.

I love the strategy: form up your ‘David vs Goliath’ story and get people tweeting and retweeting about it.

Then, watch the “blood”!

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SERVICE: Your ISP email address is a trap; any ATT users as well?

Saturday, February 27, 2010

FROM AN EMAIL CORRESPONDENT

*** begin quote ***

AT&T has made some major changes to its internet system. They included removing the term “worldnet” from the Email address that some of you use to contact me. They will not transmit emails that contain that term after 3/15.

*** end quote ***

https://reinkefaceslife.com/2007/07/14/productivity-changing-email-addresses/

*** begin quote ***

In my mind, it’s impossible to communicate the change to everyone who has your old email address. It may have been given to them by someone else.

*** end quote ***

May I suggest that you might want to avoid giving out your ISP’s email address?

Your ISP’s email is a trap to lock you in to their service. It can leave you high and dry at the most inopportune times.

They can: (1) be acquired; (2) sell out; (3) change their brand; (4) go out of business; (5) do something dumb; OR (6) have a meltdown of some type.

And, you can be out of luck. No email temporarily or permanently. Then you’re forced to change.

Good luck finding everyone who HAS your email address. They may have been given it by someone you know. But you don’t know them.

You should NEVER permit them to own almost the mort important thing you “own” — your email address. It’s a key to your digital identity. if they get bought out or go out.

Argh!

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SERVICE: Meme – Yahoo’s Twitter

Thursday, October 29, 2009

http://meme.yahoo.com/home/

Meme – Yahoo’s Improvement on Twitter

# – # – #

I don’t care for the name. Meme, like gene, is supposed to represent a defining concept. Paradigm is perception. Meme is the mental construction that we can share. (A meme can be “wrong” like government. But it’s something (an idea) we can exchange and understand. I think Yahoo has muddled the pond. IMHO!

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TECHNOLOGY: QIPIT down

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Thanks for signing up for the Qipit online service, the company that specializes in high quality mobile copy solutions. We are making a change in the focus of the company toward the development of smart phone applications and technology for the enterprise. In fact, our first application Qipit White, is available now for the iPhone, with more applications and platforms to follow. Starting this past Wednesday (October 21, 2009), the Qipit online mobile copy service stopped accepting new user registrations.

What this means to you?

As an existing user, you can still use the service as normal until November 9, 2009, at which time the ability to create new copies (using Web upload, our facebook applications, Shozu, copy@qipit.com, and color@qipit.com) and to share (by sending faxes and emails) will be discontinued. On December 6, 2009, the service will be completely taken offline. We encourage users to download all of the information you would like to keep, prior to this date. After the service is taken offline, your information will no longer be available.

As we say goodbye to Qipit the online service, Qipit will live on in a series of smart phone applications and as a technology for the enterprise. Back in September we launched our first smart phone application, Qipit White, for the iPhone, it shares much of the same functionality of the online service, but works much faster! We will continue to support Qipit White and future applications based on the technology behind Qipit for the iPhone, Android and other smart phone platforms. Be sure to keep an eye on http://www.qipit.com and the Qipit Blog for the latest news on new applications.

You can read more about the changes at Qipit at our blog. Please feel free to share your thoughts and farewells to the Qipit online service.

Many thanks,

~ the Qipit team

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SERVICE: KODAKGALLERY makes itself less valuable

Sunday, October 11, 2009

http://beta.kodakgallery.com/gallery/footerLinksContent.jsp?pageID=600010

*** begin quote ***

3. Availability

Kodak Imaging Network uses reasonable endeavors to ensure that the Service is available 24 hours a day 7 days a week. However, there will be occasions when the Service will be interrupted for maintenance, upgrades and emergency repairs or due to failure of telecommunications links and equipment that are beyond the control of Kodak Imaging Network. Every reasonable step will be taken by us to minimize such disruption where it is within the reasonable control of Kodak Imaging Network. You agree that Kodak Imaging Network shall not be liable to you for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Service. You are responsible for creating backups of any content you post to the Service.

*** end quote ***

Argh! Why make me responsible for backups. That’s why I subscribe to the service by my purchases!

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SERVICE: Google Alerts become more usable

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

By using Google search with the site option, you can get your “favorite author” feed from sites that don’t directly support it.

Steps:

  • Get your Google search string the way you need it. Example: “Stossel site:wnd.com”
  • Get over to Google Alerts and set one up for email.
  • Save it.
  • Change the alert from email to feed.
  • Subscribe to it in Google Reader.
  • Enjoy

Pretty neat.

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SERVICE: Google password change forced

Friday, September 18, 2009

Google forced me to change a password based on “suspicious activity”.

It gave me no further information.

Google doesn’t enforce three strikes and your out so what use is a password!

# # # # #

And, next time into GMAIL it asked to verify a secondary email address.

Perhaps, three strikes and you’re out is coming.

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SERVICE: Cloud Computing has risks

Sunday, September 13, 2009

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/10/yeah-ok-so-facebook-punkd-us/#comment-2977957

Yeah Ok, So Facebook Punk’d Us by Michael Arrington on September 10, 2009

*** begin quote ***

Today that changed. They punk’d us, and we fell for it. Hard.

*** end quote ***

With all due respect to some good clean fun, it does make a “teachable moment”.

(1) Cloud computing is not without its risks. You can’t run “production quality” “books and records” type applications on services that you don’t control.

(2) Not everything is as it appears on the internet. The bad guys have the ability to hide behind a “web front”, stand in the middle of your conversation, and read all your traffic.

(3) Without end to end encryption, nothing is private. Every packet is a post card.

(4) In the desire for a scoop, confirm that others have seen the phenom you’re scooping about. Nothing is ever as good or as bad as it is reported on the internet.

(5) TANSTAFL! Every once in while, someone plays a practical on you. It’s the cost of doing business.

Hmmm!

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SERVICE: Amazon updates their sales process

Friday, September 11, 2009

AMAZON changes it’s sales process

*** begin quote ***

Dear Seller,

You recently signed up for Charge When Ship in your Seller Account.

With Charge When Ship:

* When you ship an order, you confirm the shipment, and provide shipping information in Manage Orders. If you have a Pro Merchant Subscription you can also use text-file feeds for this.

* We charge the buyer after you confirm a shipment, rather than when the order was placed, providing a better buyer experience.

* To keep buyers informed about their shipments, we display the shipping information in the buyer’s Amazon account, and we also send the buyer an e-mail notification with all the shipping information.

* You can cancel an order, if necessary, instead of confirming the shipment, and then we will not charge the buyer at all and you will not have to issue a refund.

We think you will find managing your orders is easier and more efficient with Charge When Ship. If you have questions, contact us using the “By e-mail” or “By phone” button in the Seller Support box found on the right side of seller Help pages.

Thank you for selling on Amazon.com

===========================================================

IMPORTANT REMINDER

===========================================================

For each order you ship, you must confirm shipment within 30 days of the date the order was placed. Any order that has not been confirmed as shipped will be automatically cancelled after 30 days. This means we will not charge the customer and you will not be paid for the order.

—————————————-

HOW TO CONFIRM SHIPMENTS

—————————————-

You can confirm shipments easily in Manage Orders:

1. In your Seller Account, under the “Manage Your Orders” heading, click “View your orders” to find the order you want to confirm.

2. Click the “Confirm shipment” button next to the order (or below the order if you are looking at an order detail page).

3. Select the Ship Date and Carrier (such as USPS) from the drop-down lists.

4. Enter the Shipping Service (such as Ground) and the Tracking ID, if any (supplied by the carrier).

5. Click the “Confirm shipment” button.

For information on using a Shipping Confirmation feed to confirm shipment of multiple orders at once, follow this path in Amazon.com Help:

Selling at Amazon.com > Confirming Shipment > How to Confirm Shipment of Multiple Orders at the Same Time

———————————-

HOW TO CANCEL ORDERS

———————————-

If you are unable to ship an order, you can cancel it easily in Manage Orders:

1. In your Seller Account, under the “Manage Your Orders” heading, click “View your orders” to find the order you want to cancel.

2. Click the “Cancel order” button next to the order (or below the order if you are looking at an order detail page).

3. Select the appropriate reason, and then click Submit.

For information on cancelling orders using an Order Cancellation feed, follow this path in Amazon.com Help:

Selling at Amazon.com > Confirming Shipment > How to Cancel Orders

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SERVICE: BLUEHOST problem; but whose?

Saturday, September 5, 2009

#DEN-45763-514


*** begin quote ***

Unfortunately, your server is still under a DDoS attack and will move extremely slowly (if at all). As soon as the attack discontinues or is otherwise resolved, the server will function normally again. A DDoS attack is essentially a terrorist attack on the server, usually done by a hacker getting viruses in thousands of computers and having them send as many connections as possible, as quickly as possible, to the box.

We are working to reduce the effect of the attack and find out which account is being targeted. At that point we will have to ask that account to find a new host. Unfortunately, we can’t know which account is being attacked without extensive steps, as the IP Address on the server is Shared.

DDoS attacks can last anywhere from hours to days.

Your data is safe. Just currently inaccessible.

If you’d like to learn more about this kind of terrorist attack, check

*** end quote ***


SERVICE: Voice out from text

Thursday, August 6, 2009

http://tts.imtranslator.net/566L

Free Text to Speech software online for English

# – # – #

Entertaining?

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SERVICE: Warranty Elephant; sounds like a good idea

Monday, July 27, 2009

https://www.warrantyelephant.com/html/howitworks.aspx

Welcome to Warranty Elephant .com, a unique website designed to organize your warranty information on all purchased goods. Your warranty information will be stored for free on our secure server and will be listed by date of warranty expiration. An easy click on the item will allow you to obtain all valid warranty information on that product, including handy telephone numbers and your product’s serial number.

In addition, you can even upload a copy of your warranty itself and your invoice, so that you don’t have to search through stacks of paper to try and find the documents needed to exercise your warranty rights.

We will send you reminder emails at 3 months, 1 month and 1 week before your warranty expires. This will remind you to check your item and ensure it is in good working order. If it is not, you will have all the information needed, right in front you, to arrange for warranty service. You will never again spend money to purchase a warranty on an item only to have it break down and not be able to remember whether the warranty has expired or if you had even purchased the warranty in the first place.

# – # – #

Seems like a good idea to me.
Warranties, especially extended ones, seem worthless.
Maybe an organized approach would change that opinion.
I view stuff I buy as a “used car”. Caveat emptor.
Maybe saving this information might make it easier to return stuff.
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SERVICE: BUG HUNT! WORDPRESSDOTCOM prime suspect; ECTO secondary suspect

Friday, July 10, 2009

I lost content on my Jasper Jottings blog. The the free, and unequaled, wordpressdotcom is the prime suspect. But, it might be ECTO, my secondary suspect.

Only on Jasper Jottings. Happened once last week. Didn’t have time or attention to chase.

Now I do!

*** begin quote ***

Using ECTO, I posted a story on 7/10. “JBlogger: Stagnaro, Melissa [MC1997?] Cancer runner. Donate?”

*** and ***

When I looked at my FEEDBLITZ daily email collection of stories, one was blank. So I recreated and reposted it with today’s date. It was blank on the site as well (so it wasn’t feedblitz).

*** and ***

It happened last week, but I didn’t think to much of it. I thought maybe I screwed it up. Today, I’m positive, I didn’t.

I’m not sure it’s the free, and unequaled, wordpressdotcom that has a bug. It could be ecto. But, why all of a sudden, starting last week do I suddenly have a problem? I’ve been using ecto for a while and no updates. Whereas, WP being outside of my control, might have had a change last week. So I suspect, WP. No proof.

But, I’m on a “bug hunt”

*** end quote ***

# # # # #

UPDATE: The the free, and unequaled, wordpressdotcom responded that the items were store blank. This makes ECTO prime.

UPDATE: Certain posts, prepositioned, are blank. That content is lost. Argh!

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SERVICE: ALUMTWEET doesn’t support adding schools?

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

# jasperjottingsIcon_lockhttp://alumtweet.com – Doesn’t have Manhattan Prepless than 5 seconds ago from web

# jasperjottings Just added myself to http://alumtweet.com – Manhattan Prep ’64 and Manhattan College ’68

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SERVICE: CCBETTY use isn’t obvious to me

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

http://www.ccbetty.com/home/faq

*** begin quote ***

What is Cc:Betty?

Cc:Betty makes it easier for everyone to follow group discussions and collaborate with dates, places, pictures, videos, links and more! Cc:Betty can be used with any email service so there is no download required. To get started, just include betty@ccbetty.com on your group email and Betty will set up a shared Mailspace page to make it easier for everyone to follow the discussion.

What is a Mailspace?

Your Mailspace is the central page where your discussion will be tracked – along with all of it’s related files and assets. In your Mailspace, you’ll not only view the history of the conversation, but also any images, events, places, video, links, and more. Check out the video below to see a Mailspace in action.

*** end quote ***

Not sure how useful this is.

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SERVICE: FACEBOOK allows custom urls; no big deal?

Saturday, June 13, 2009

http://www.facebook.com/reinkefj

200906131013.jpg

Now if I just had some friends to tell … …

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SERVICE: Microsoft’s BING does NOT do my search correctly

Monday, June 1, 2009

My “favorite” search for my fellow alumni is:

“manhattan college” -marymount -“marymount manhattan college” -“borough of manhattan college” -marymount -manhattan.edu -bmcc.cuny.edu -msmnyc.edu -mancol.edu -gojaspers.com

which Microsoft’s BING search engine translates into:

http://www.bing.com/search?q=%22manhattan+college%22+-marymount++-%22marymount+manhattan+college%22+-%22borough+of+manhattan+college%22+-marymount+-manhattan.edu+-bmcc.cuny.edu+-msmnyc.edu+-mancol.edu+-gojaspers.com+&go=&form=QBRE

and returns:

*** begin quote ***

http://www.gojaspers.com

*** end quote ***

What part of “-gojasper.com” didn’t you understand?

Argh!

Who test this stuff for them?

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SERVICE: Looking for a job?

Thursday, May 14, 2009

*** begin quote ***

Job Track – A Free service from EasyWebSitesToday
Posted by: “Job Track”
Mon May 11, 2009 6:33 pm (PDT)

Are you looking for a job? Do you find yourselves applying for way more jobs than ever before? Are you finding yourselves, in a situation where they are calling you 3 months after you have applied for that dream job and you are trying hard to remember, which job is this guy talking about, what is the job description, what salary did I mention to them or that they mentioned to me and what was the resume I sent to them?

If you have answered yes to any one or more of these questions, if that is any consolation. know you are not alone,

The unemployment rate in the US is right now in double-digits and it is taking a very long time to land on a job.When the phone rings, you ask who the person on the other side is, and they start asking questions about you and the job you applied for. You don’t want to miss the call or ask her to call again later, just because you do not remember, which job this is, which resume you sent and other details. You want to be prepared, ready and be able to pull up the information exactly how they pull up your information when you call.

In short, you need to keep track of your job search, like never before and for this you need JobTrack from EasyWebSitesToday.

To help you keep track of your job search and also to be able to meet some the requirements from the Dept. of Labor, we introduce a tool called JobTrack <http://jobtrack.easywebsitestoday.com/&gt;.

This tool is meant to help you to be on top of your job search, by letting you know, “what are the top five jobs that I am pursuing”, “what does my calendar look like for this week, in terms of interviews, either phone, follow-up or face to face”. When you are on the phone with an interviewer, it critical to keep all the relevant information, all on the same page, including the Job Description, the targeted resume and cover letter, the name of the HR person or the hiring manager, the notes you had jotted down about this job and all such relevant information at your finger tips.

So go ahead and sign up for this free service JobTrack<http://jobtrack.easywebsitestoday.com/&gt;, and check it out for yourselves, today!

*** end quote ***

I did. The sign up process isn’t friendly. So!

Not really ready for prime time, yet.

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SERVICE: domain email appears down via smtp

Friday, May 8, 2009

Need to figure out what to do when the mail client can’t seem to pull mail.

# # # # #

Opened up a new email on GMail. It can’t reach imap.1and1.com or smtp.1and1.com.

# # # # #

Went up on VWBBIE (Verizon Wireless Broadband)! <Why didn’t I think of that sooner?> Picked up one of the accounts but not the others. Now I’m really confused.

# # # # #

ping works. everything working. confused!

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SERVICE: Generate random passwords

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

http://www.thebitmill.com/tools/password.html

Generate random passwords

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