A Sure Sign

As more and more people are turning away from the madness of holiday shopping crowds to make their purchases from the comfort of their own homes, internet sales, along with TV shopping is exploding.

At our house, we have been buying online for years, but the lure of the 24 hour shopping channels like HSN, QVC and ShopNBC has recently won my better half over. He's not computer literate, but he knows how to dial the phone and use a credit card. This Christmas he's gone crazy with ordering stuff, which leads me to my (our) personal gripe about ShopNBC.

My boyfriend decides that he has no need to "test the waters" with them as he's suddenly become an old pro at TV shopping. Our past experiences with QVC and HSN has made him comfortable with the idea of calling a number on the screen and satisfying his need for things with the instant gratification that comes from placing an order without ever leaving his recliner. His first (and last) purchase with ShopNBC was no small ticket item…it was a 61" big screen TV at the whopping price of 2 grand. He was given a delivery date of 12/9/2006 — this past Saturday.

He is so excited about getting the TV that he rearranges his entire life around it's arrival. He is self-employed in the construction business and scheduled to take the day off. He gave up an opportunity to make $250 + that day in order to be sure that someone was here for the delivery.

Saturday came and he was up bright and early making sure that the spot where the TV was going to be installed was clear and there was a straight shot to it from the front door. We stayed home rather than go anywhere and risk missing the delivery.

Day turned into night. At 4:00 pm I decided it was time to call Customer "Service" (that's in quotes for a reason). After jumping through all the hoops and pressing all the buttons required of me, I was put on hold. I stayed on hold, never speaking to a human for over an hour before I finally gave up and hung up. By now it was after 5 and still no delivery truck. I once again called Customer "Service" and rather than punch the numbers to speak to a human, I elected to try the automated info to find out what they have to say about the shipment. The automated voice cheerfully told me "Your order will be delivered today!"

I had my doubts at this point, so I stayed on the line to speak to a human. No dice. Again I gave up after roughly an hour. By this point, two normally rational people, who can be very understanding when presented with a reason for the delay, have become angry, bitter, disgruntled ex-customers of ShopNBC. We concur that the only human we might get ahold of will be the number on the screen to place an order.

Sure enough, we call and get right through! Amazing! No awful hold music/tortue. Unfortunately, the nice lady said she has nothing to do with Customer "Service" but she'd be happy to transfer us. My boyfriend, who obviously doesn't know how to get the upper hand in this situation, complacently allows the lady to transfer him…to endure the third hour of hold music we are to suffer.

I say "this is rediculous! Hang up that phone and let me call! You don't know how to handle these people…watch and learn!". He hands me the phone. Before you can say "you'll never see your TV", I was on the phone with a nice Order Taker. I figured she was used to taking orders, she could take one from me.

"Thank you for calling ShopNBC! This is ____, how may I help you?"

"Well, _____, you CAN'T help me because you can't tell me where my TV is. Put your supervisor on the phone."

<silence for a beat> "What seems to be the problem?"

"The problem is my boyfriend ordered a big screen TV from you on Nov. 25th and was told it would arrive TODAY. He took the day off from work, spent all day confined to the house, and still no TV. When I call Customer "Service" I am on hold for an hour before I can't take the hold music even one more minute and have to hang up or go insane! Is there no Customer Service department??"

"Oh, I know Customer Service is there! Let me transf…"

"NO! DON'T YOU DARE!"

"Okay, here's what I would do…call the CS number but when the computer answers, don't press ANY buttons. Pretend you have a rotary phone and someone will pick up quicker."

I fell for it. I called again and knew, as soon as I heard the hold dirge that I would never speak to anyone from Customer "Service". They won. We gave up and went to bed. They had our money AND our TV.

Sunday I get up and decided to call Customer Service and see what the recorded ship time had to say now! Would it still say "will be delivered today!" since "Today" had come and gone? Nope! The new message now says "your order is being processed. Please allow 7-10 days for delivery."

We will never EVER shop with ShopNBC again. We aren't unreasonable people. Had some nice person come on the phone and said "there's been a problem and it looks like it could be another 10 days", we would have thanked her and hung up. It was the automated torture that translated into "we have your money and we don't care" that turned us into crazed monsters.

So my message to ShopNBC is clear and concise: if you can't handle the volume of calls on your Customer Service line, get off the TV. Don't display your Order line 24/7 to entice the viewers to part with their hard-earned cash if you don't have the decency to even explain why your aren't meeting your own pre-defined shipping deadline. You have taken the cake as far as Worst Customer Service Department EVER!

Buyer Beware! You heard the story. Part with your money at your own risk.

Do you surf the web a lot and bookmark all the interesting places you visit? Do you regularly send links to friends and family so you can share your great finds?

Then it’s about time you joined the growing crowd of people who are into the latest fad…Social Bookmarking!

Here’s how it works:

There are many online social bookmarking hosts that have free membership. All you have to do is sign up! Then, some of them have handy browser buttons you can add to your tool bar, and with one click, you can add the site to your online social bookmark collection.

Why is this better?

Because you can then share your collection in a network of friends and family (or with the entire world) in an easy, organized fashion. You still have the option of privately bookmarking a site via the traditional browser tool, but if it’s a site that you know you’ll want to share, then get social with it!

del.icio.us is one I love and have personally tested out. You can “tag” all your links for easy organization, as well as choose to share or make private, and even enter your own description of the site you are bookmarking.

Yahoo’s My Web (beta) is another social bookmarking tool that I like even better. You can choose to share with “friends and family” over del.ici.ous’s choice of “share or make private” which shares with the world or noone.

If you really want to go all out, try http://ekstreme.com. You can add a site to all your social bookmark sites with one click.

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Why IBM’s patent suit against Amazon could be bad news for the entire Web
From www.blogs.zdnet.com
Posted by David Berlind @ 1:34 pm

For years, there have been a handful of companies trying to figure out how to erect a toll booth on the Web, if not the Internet altogether. In other words, they’ve been looking for some way to ensure that the Internet or some portion thereof can’t work unless they get to collect a royalty on the majority of the Internet’s traffic. Now, if a patent infringement suit filed by IBM against Amazon.com holds up in court, Big Blue may have finally found a way to collar the Web (or most of it). It may be a decade before we know the answer.

Whether it was simply the prescience of IBM’s engineers right around the time that the Web was born, or just a stroke of serendipity (perhaps connected with IBM’s original association with the Prodigy online service), IBM appears to have a patent for online advertising. And now, nearly a decade and a half after IBM filed for the patent, and long after the online advertising environment has matured to a point that it’s generating (in aggregate) billions of dollars for everybody from small businesses to Google, IBM’s patent infringement suit against Amazon is the equivalent of Big Blue saying “Excuse me everyone, we’ve got something very important to say.” Very important indeed if you own or operate a Web site with advertisements on it.

Read the rest of the article here.

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Google Gets Personalized
From SiteProNews
Author: Kim Roach

Have you ever become overwhelmed by the number of documents accessible via a search engine? If you’re like most people, then you probably have. There are often millions of results and not every result is likely to be of equal importance to you.

In addition to that, there is also ambiguity of language. Words often have multiple meanings and people can have different interpretations of the same word. How does a search engine know the difference? Well, at this point, they don’t.

They certainly can’t read your mind so the only other alternative is to track your online activities in order to custom tailor your search results based on your recorded preferences.

Google is one of the first major search engines to test this new technology. They have released a total of 15 new patent applications this month in relation to this very endeavor.

Actually, I’m not too surprised that Google is taking a closer look at personalization. Google has already begun testing many of these new search features in Google’s personalized search, which is currently in beta.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

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Things have slowed down at JeriSigns.com so in order to drum up some business and keep food on the table, I am having a 5 day sale!

Starting today, Wednesday, October 18th, you will receive 15% OFF all my already low prices on everything store wide! Banners, Yard Signs, Magnetic Signs, Vinyl Lettering and Clings — all 15% off!!

I have signs for everyone! Small business owners who need to letter up their storefront or vehicle, banners for those doing trade shows or conventions. Whatever you need, I have it!

I specialize in signs for Independent Distributors of various product lines, including Slumber Parties, Avon, Top-Line Creations, Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, Jafra, For Your Pleasure and more. Don’t see it? Ask! I will be happy to do any custom job you may have in mind.

Sale ends Sunday October 22, so hurry! Prices will never be this low again.

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Posted by Zack Lynch

(This press release was sent over the wire this morning. Please share.)

Neurotechnology Industry Organization Launched to Advance Treatments for Brain and Nervous System Illnesses

New Global Trade Association to Advocate for the Brain Industry

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – (BUSINESS WIRE)– More than 20 leading pharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostic companies, along with major academic brain research centers and patient advocacy groups, have joined together to form a new trade association called the Neurotechnology Industry Organization (NIO). Based in San Francisco, California, NIO is a non-profit group created to accelerate the development of treatments and cures for brain and nervous system diseases.

The $110 billion neurotechnology industry includes pharmaceuticals, biologics, cell-based therapeutics and medical devices, as well as diagnostic and surgical equipment for critical unmet needs including: Alzheimer’s, addiction, anxiety, depression, epilepsy, hearing loss, insomnia, multiple sclerosis, obesity, pain, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia, stroke and other brain-related illnesses.

“Despite the clear need and significant market opportunity, neurotechnology companies face a host of issues that stifle innovation, growth and rapid delivery of effective therapies. NIO will provide a collective voice for commercial neuroscience organizations to address these issues,” said Zack Lynch, Founder and Executive Director of the newly formed Neurotechnology Industry Organization. “We will kick off our first year with a global awareness campaign highlighting the industry’s progress and a public policy tour for members to interact with government officials.”

Over 1.5 billion people worldwide and nearly 100 million Americans suffer from a brain or nervous system illness. In addition to untold human suffering, the annual economic burden has reached over $1 trillion worldwide with $300 billion a year in the U.S alone. This burden is accelerating as the population ages and population increases. These factors are creating unprecedented demand for treatments that delay, prevent and cure chronic neurological and psychiatric diseases.

The 500 companies involved in commercial neuroscience face fundamentally different investment requirements, research and development challenges, and regulatory milestones than other life science and healthcare companies. NIO was created to help governments, patients, and the public understand the unique needs of the neurotech industry.

“We are delighted to be a founding member of NIO,” said J. Donald deBethizy, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Targacept, Inc. “We are pleased that this advocacy group has been formed to address the important issues of our industry.”

Founding member organizations span a broad spectrum of drug, device and diagnostic companies from across the world unified by common interests. They include: Acumen Pharmaceuticals (South San Francisco, CA), Amarin Corporation (London, England), Brain Resource Company (Sydney, Australia), Ceregene (San Diego, CA), Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems Inc. (Boston, MA), NeuroPace (Mountain View, CA), NeuroNova AB (Stockholm, Sweden), Sound Pharmaceuticals (Seattle, WA), Targacept, Inc. (Winston-Salem, NC), and United Therapeutics (Silver Spring, MD); neuroscience research centers including: Allen Institute for Brain Science (Seattle, WA), Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (Morgantown, WV), McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT (Cambridge, MA), and the MIND Institute (Albuquerque, NM); patient advocacy groups and research foundations including: Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (New York, NY), Epilepsy Therapy Development Project (Reston, VA) and Neurotech Network (Tampa, FL); venture capital firms NeuroVentures (Charlottesville, VA) and Technology Partners (Palo Alto, CA); and strategic partner Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds LLP (Washington, DC).

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About the Neurotechnology Industry Organization

The Neurotechnology Industry Organization (NIO) is a non-profit trade association that represents a broad spectrum of companies involved in neurotechnology (drugs, devices and diagnostics), neuroscience research centers and brain disease advocacy groups across the United States and the world. NIO’s mission is to accelerate cures for brain and nervous system diseases by promoting the neurotechnology industry’s progress, advocating the industry’s position to government officials, and providing business development services to its members. For more information on the Neurotechnology Industry Organization, please visit www.neurotechindustry.org

About the Neurotechnology Industry

The neurotechnology industry includes companies researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing pharmaceuticals, biologics, cell-based therapeutics and medical devices, as well as diagnostic and surgical equipment for the treatment of brain and nervous system illnesses including: Alzheimer’s, addiction, anxiety, depression, epilepsy, hearing loss, insomnia, multiple sclerosis, obesity, pain, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia, stroke and other brain-related illnesses. In 2005, neurotechnology companies generated over $110 billion in revenue, according to NeuroInsights.

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My father, who passed away in 2000, was an amazing man. One of his favorite hobbies was baking, and he taught me the love of kneading bread at an early age.

My favorite recipe is one that he made quite often, and since his death I have become the “keeper of the recipe”. It’s my duty to bring 2 loaves of this wonderful bread to all family gatherings. Making it is a way for me to feel close to him again — the aroma of the baking bread flooding my mind with great memories.

Wild Rice and Onion Bread
Makes two 1.5 lb. loaves

Ingredients:
8 c. bread flour
1/3 c. chopped dried onions
1/3 c. brown sugar
3 Tbsp. active dry yeast in 4 Tbsp. lukewarm water
1 1/2 c. cooked wild rice
1/3 c. buttermilk
2 c. water

Directions:
Cook wild rice according to directions and set aside to cool. (can be made a day ahead).

Mixing:
Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl, adding in yeast and cooled rice blend. Add in liquid ingredients, reserving a little water for later adjustments during kneading.

Kneading:
Turn mixture out onto a floured counter and knead for 10-12 min. or until dough is elastic, unified and tacky but not sticky.

Proofing:
Return dough to mixing bowl, cover with a damp cloth. Put in a warm spot and allow 45 min – 1.5 hrs. to rise. (Until double in size).

Remove dough from bowl, divide into 2 equal portions and form into loaves. Place in loaf pans, cover with damp cloth, and let rise again in a warm spot for 45 min. to 1.5 hrs.

Baking:
Bake at 350 for approximately 45 min. (if making rolls, 12-18 min.)
“Thwack” on the bottom — hollow sound means it’s done.

Enjoy! Makes great sandwiches and toast.

A new pill that makes it easier to walk could have a major impact on the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

The tablet contains a drug that helps damaged nerves communicate with each other. It has proved so successful in trials that scientists are now investigating whether it can also help treat spinal injuries.

Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic degenerative disease affecting the mylin sheath (protective coating) that covers the spinal chord and brain. The cause of the disease is not known, but the immune system goes haywire and sees the myelin sheath as a foreign enemy that needs to be attacked. The result is that your immune system sends out an army to wipe out your own nervous system.

The symptoms are as many and varied as the number of people afflicted. Many have limited mobility due to the nerves not sending messages to the legs. This can cause numbness, pain, weakness, burning, etc. Over time, as the myelin sheath deteriorates, the message between the brain and the limbs becomes garbled.

The new drug was actually being developed in the early nineties but was deemed to toxic to market. Now Acorda Therapeutics, based in New York state, has developed a slow-release version that lets tiny quantities of the active drug seep into the central nervous system over several hours.

The drug works by stopping potassium leaking from cells. When myelin gets damaged, potassium can escape, weakening the electric current that helps to carry messages.

The drug stops these leaks and helps electrical signals pass through areas of damage.

Results showed 35 per cent of those on Fampridine-SR showed improvements in walking, compared with just eight per cent in the placebo group.

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I have been in printing and sign making for an entire lifetime. My father owned and operated a print shop in our 2 car garage when I was born, so I have ink for blood.

Over the years I have seen many a bad business card design, and since the age of personal computers, with people now able to do their own “graphic design” work, the bad designs abound.

Here are 10 tips for creating a business card. These tips are just rules of thumb. By following them you will have a business card that functions to get your message across in an easy to read format. How fancy or plain the finished product turns out is totally a matter of personal preference.

Here’s an example of a “good” design:

Here’s an example of a “bad” design:

1 ~ Choose one main font for the business name. It should represent what you do. A lawyer would not use Comic Sans, for instance. Lawyers go for formal fonts like Old English, or Copperplate.

2 ~ Choose a plain font for the rest of the card. The point of sharing the info is to be legible to the end user, and easily accessible.

Using many and varied fonts only aids in confusing the reader and gives a first impression of one who is not professional. Using all caps on decorative fonts is my biggest pet peeve. All caps has it’s place, but never with decorative fonts. Stick with san-serif or otherwise plain fonts for the majority of the card’s contents. This will make your one font you used for the business name look that much nicer!

3 ~ Leave a margin around the edge of the card of “white space” that should measure 1/4 inch.

Not only is it more professional looking, it also serves a function. Pick up a business card and notice how you hold it as you read. Are you holding it by the edge? Your thumb probably covers a portion of it. That’s the reason for the quarter inch. Don’t make it hard for someone to read your card just because they have to switch from hand to hand or set it down to see all the info.

4 ~ Keep it short and sweet. Don’t include every possible thing you do or have for sale on the card. Business cards are only 2″ tall by 3.5″ wide. If you have a lot of stuff on there it will end up being so tiny that nobody will read it anyhow. Choose the most important points and leave the rest for when they call or come to you.

5 ~ Make your phone number large enough to read without a magnifier If you want the end user to be able to contact you, make it easy for them. Don’t go below 10pt. on the small stuff, and you can even make the phone number more prominent by bolding it.

6 ~ Choose a logo that represents your business. If you have to choose from a clip art selection because you don’t have a professionally designed logo, make sure the one you select represents your business or profession. A cute bunny is nice, but if you have a nail salon it doesn’t tell people at a glance what you do.

7 ~ If you are going to have your card printed by a print shop, check to see what their limitations are before you design the card. A small local printer might have a good deal on printed cards, but if you have incorporated full bleed backgrounds,intricate logos with color combinations that touch,etc….. that might be too much for their one color printing press to handle. Multiple colors require multiple passes through the press. Each time the new color must be perfectly aligned with the previous color. Many times this is a difficult feat for a single color press.

8 ~ Make sure they are the right size. If you are printing the cards from your home computer and cutting them apart yourself, they need to be 2″ tall by 3.5″ wide. Cutting them the wrong dimensions will mean they won’t fit in someone’s business card holder and will seem awkward to the end user.

9 ~ If your company has a tag line, use it! Nothing sticks in your head like a good tag line. If you want your potential customer to choose you, having your tag line firmly implanted in their noggin betters the chance that when they need your services/products they will think of you. Sort of the way we all remember jingles from commercials.

10 ~ White space sells! That mantra has been drummed into my head since birth. Give your info room to breathe. Filling the card up with as much info as you can possibly fit defeats the purpose of getting someone to read it.

Have fun designing! I’m sure you can come up with something better than my “good” example.

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The following rules for survival are included with the permission of Bob Parsons (http://www.bobparsons.com) and is Copyright © 2004-2006 by Bob Parsons. All rights reserved.

Here are the 16 rules I try to live by:

1. Get and stay out of your comfort zone. I believe that not much happens of any significance when we’re in our comfort zone. I hear people say, “But I’m concerned about security.” My response to that is simple: “Security is for cadavers.”

2. Never give up. Almost nothing works the first time it’s attempted. Just because what you’re doing does not seem to be working, doesn’t mean it won’t work. It just means that it might not work the way you’re doing it. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn’t have an opportunity.

3. When you’re ready to quit, you’re closer than you think. There’s an old Chinese saying that I just love, and I believe it is so true. It goes like this: “The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed.”

4. With regard to whatever worries you, not only accept the worst thing that could happen, but make it a point to quantify what the worst thing could be. Very seldom will the worst consequence be anywhere near as bad as a cloud of “undefined consequences.” My father would tell me early on, when I was struggling and losing my shirt trying to get Parsons Technology going, “Well, Robert, if it doesn’t work, they can’t eat you.”

5. Focus on what you want to have happen. Remember that old saying, “As you think, so shall you be.”

6. Take things a day at a time. No matter how difficult your situation is, you can get through it if you don’t look too far into the future, and focus on the present moment. You can get through anything one day at a time.

7. Always be moving forward. Never stop investing. Never stop improving. Never stop doing something new. The moment you stop improving your organization, it starts to die. Make it your goal to be better each and every day, in some small way. Remember the Japanese concept of Kaizen. Small daily improvements eventually result in huge advantages.

8. Be quick to decide. Remember what General George S. Patton said: “A good plan violently executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow.”

9. Measure everything of significance. I swear this is true. Anything that is measured and watched, improves.

10. Anything that is not managed will deteriorate. If you want to uncover problems you don’t know about, take a few moments and look closely at the areas you haven’t examined for a while. I guarantee you problems will be there.

To see the rest of the rules and read the article Click Here.

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