The field of print on demand publishing has been hot for quite some time now. And for good reason ... you stand to save a substantial amount of money by printing only the number of pieces you need at a given time. With print on demand, you only pay to print what you need when you need it, which can cut down on shipping, storage, and disposal fees.
Depending on your needs, everything from complete books and manuals through multi-page brochures and single page ad slicks can be printed on demand. And not just in boring old black and white ... if you have the budget, full-color print on demand can be a powerful tool.
But print on demand is not a cure all. It's not always the best answer to every print problem. You will lose money by printing a job with the wrong technology. Depending on the situation, you can easily spend more printing on demand than you can printing conventionally.
It all comes down to a numbers game ...
Lets say it right up front: print on demand technologies are best for short run print jobs.
It's usually more cost-effective to put longer runs on conventional printing presses. The cost breakdowns depend on the exact technologies you're using and the specific jobs you're running. Generally speaking, runs under 1000 pieces are the best candidates for on demand digital printing. And if you're running 10,000 pieces or more, you're likely to be best off on a conventional printing press. There's that fuzzy area in-between where you'll have to compare digital vs. conventional on a per project basis.
It's important to note that today's conventional presses can hardly be considered conventional. It was a different picture in days past when comparing toner (digital) to ink (conventional). These days, conventional presses may run ink similar to their ancestors, but the preparation process may be completely digital--all the way to plate.
No matter how you print, Adobe Acrobat PDF files are the best bet for delivering files to your print house. When you create an Acrobat file for print, you'll include everything that your print house needs to get your job on press. When prepared properly, PDF files include all of the graphics and fonts in one tidy bundle. This beats the old-fashioned method of sending an archive that includes all of the application files, graphics files, and fonts. With a fully pre-flighted file, you'll know that your job is ready to run just as soon as it hits your print house's FTP server. (There's nothing worse than holding up the press while they wait around for a stray font or graphic file.)
So the next time you only need 500 copies of a document, ask your printer: why should I pay to have 5000 printed? Would print on demand help reduce my total cost?
Let he who is without sin score the winning goal.
ESPN reports that Louis Saha said some unfortunate things about his Manchester United teammate, Ruud van Nistelrooy. Give Louis the benefit of the doubt; things can often be blown out of proportion or taken out of context in the press. Nonetheless, soccer players--like all athletes--can say the wrong thing at times, both on and off the field.
Ruud Van Nistelrooy's response to Saha's comment showed the highest degree of sportsmanship. Putting on the Manchester United Jersey is a great responsibility, one that Van Nistelrooy wears well.
I'm looking for a new set of shed plans.
After picking up a cart for the trusty old John Deere STX 38, there's no room left in my shed. I'm actually thinking of building two little structures: one for the excess lawn and garden stuff and one for the recycling and trash.
There's a big pile of railroad ties behind the vegetable garden, just begging to be turned into something. I'm going to ask some of my barn buddies what they think ... I'd love to experiment with the timbers, and build a post and beam frame. The big question is whether I'll be able to find any shed plans to match the ideas I have in my head. Those big timbers are overkill for a little structure, no doubt.
Of course, I'll want everything to match, more or less. The project(s) should give me the chance to experiment with those board and batten siding and cedar shake roof ideas.
I have big plans for that little cart, too. The factory black powder coat is just begging for some flames ... I'm thinking that John Deere green flames with yellow tips would look nice. :) And when I'm done with that, I'll move onto the next project: casting a new hood for the STX 38, complete with a gnarly hood scoop ...
One day, chartering a private jet will be as common as taking a limo to the airport is now. For what was once seen as a luxury is now commonplace. But for the time being, private jet charter is reserved for the well to do and the corporate crowd that sees the value in getting from place-to-place in less time and with fewer hassles.
NetJets, owned by Warren Buffett's legendary Berkshire Hathaway, is one company that's working hard to change the world of private jet charter. NetJets sells fractional ownership in their fleet, which includes light cabin jets like the Cessna Citation (Bravo, Citation V Ultra, Encore, and Excel) and Raytheon Hawker 400XP; midsize cabin jets including the Cessna Citation (X and Sovereign), Raytheon Hawker 1000, and Gulfstream 200; and large cabin jets such as the Dassault Falcons, Gulfstream (IV-SP, V, and 550), and the Boeing Business Jet.
For those companies and individuals wanting to ease into the world of fractional jet ownership, without a huge commitment, NetJets offers the innovative Marquis Jet Card. Think of it as the ultimate travel credit card--offering 25 hour increments of flight time. For $109,900, you can have 25 hours of time in a Citation V Ultra. Step up to the Raytheon Hawker 1000 for $169,900, or take the leap to the Gulfstream V for a tidy $339,900. Pretty cool, if you have enough cold hard cash to afford it.
The company also offers fractional interests in pre-owned aircraft, with a minimum 1/16 increment (beginning at 50 occupied hours per year). For $265,000, you could be jetting about in a Citation V Ultra. Of course, there are monthly management and occupied hourly fees to consider.
With worries over the safety of travel and the escalating price of gasoline, the business world is showing renewed interest in conference calling. Forget the hassle and expense of flying and driving. For companies that want to keep their employees safe and productive, a conference call is the way to go. And for telecommuters, conference calling has become a way of life.
When you schedule a conference call, you get all of your players on one page at one time. And you do so at a fraction of the cost of conventional meetings. But the field is fraught with tough decisions. With a horde of conference calling providers and scores of different types of programs, it can be a daunting task to compare one program against the next.
Some conference calling programs charge per minute, while others offer flat rate plans. You might see per minute plans as low as five cents per minute and flat rate plans starting in the neighborhood of fifty bucks. But like most everything, there's always a catch. You'll need to look closely at each plan to see where in the fine print the gotchas may lie.
The big push these days is to move the conference call beyond the mere telephone and onto the computer. Web conferencing, as the genre is known, allows you to deliver presentations over the Internet as you teleconference. This genre has become one of the hottest areas of Internet development.
Companies like WebEx, Genesys, Oracle, Sonexis, Centra, IBM, Raindance, and yes, even Microsoft, want a piece of your web conferencing budget. (Microsoft was not content with just NetMeeting, and purchased Placeware early in 2003.) Even Macromedia could not resist the Web conferencing market--their Breeze offering uses Flash technology to deliver voice, video, Powerpoint presentations, chat, and polling into an innovative delivery system.
Web conferencing presents some unique challenges for telecommuters--especially those in outlying areas not adequately served by broadband providers. A fast net connection is essential for solid web conferencing. A slow connection cannot be tolerated. (I used to run into problems with my old satellite Internet provider, before I ditched them.)
But most importantly, telecommuters will have to shower, shave, comb their hair, and get out of their pajamas to save face in a video conference. (You'll probably want to straighten up your home office, while you're at it ... lest your associates get the impression that you are an unabashed slob.)
All this sounds great, save for those on a tight budget. But fear not, as I have a nugget for you, too! Last month, I learned about a company that offers free conference calling. This is one heck of a gimmick, and while it's not exactly free, it's a pretty cool idea, indeed ...
Need to quickly gather information from a bunch of people?
Whether you want to query 10,000 customers or two dozen friends, nothing comes close to web survey software for rapid feedback, data storage, and most importantly, the speed at which you can make use of the information.
In the bad old days, before the advent of web survey software, a survey operation would commonly take place over weeks, not days. Once the survey was written, it would have to be typeset, printed, stuffed in envelopes, and mailed out. Then you had to wait for the responses to trickle in to your snailmailbox, and worst of all, the info had to be brought into the computer--either through scanning or (horror of horrors) manual keyboarding. It was heinous!
Nowadays, you can crank out your web survey in the morning and watch a running tally accumulate over the course of a day. By lunchtime you might have a pretty good feel for how the tide is flowing. And by the time the sun sets that evening, your instant web survey may have provided enough information on how to move forward with your plans.
The world of web survey software is crowded with entries from the likes of SurveyMonkey, Zoomerang, Perseus, WebSurveyor, Snap Surveys, Raosoft, Corvus, Prezza Technologies, eXplorance, Apian Software, LiveSurveys, InstantSurvey and many other companies. As you can see, it's quite a crowded market. The good news is that many companies offer free trial periods--and even free basic memberships--for you to take their web survey software for a test drive.
There's a broad range in the cost of web survey software, and significant differences in the way that surveys are implemented. Some web survey solutions work entirely online, with the software hosted on the provider's servers. Others allow you to prepare and serve the survey on your own computers.
SurveyMonkey is one example of a hosted survey solution. If you're doing things on a small scale, it might be all you need. And best of all, their basic subscription is free. Of course, free won't buy you the world--a free SurveyMonkey subscription will only allow ten questions per survey and is limited to just 100 responses. For $19.95, SurveyMonkey's professional subscription allows for 1000 responses per month. (with additional responses charged at five cents a piece). Zoomerang is another company that offers a free basic membership. With either of these solutions, you'll prepare and watch your survey from your web browser. They may be all you need for a small group.
(Here's a example web survey I created with SurveyMonkey in under five minutes. Responses are limited to the first 100 people.)
As your needs increase, so do your choices and costs. Perseus, for example, provides their web survey software in both self-hosted and hosted flavors. The self-hosted Perseus SurveySolutions 6 Standard edition starts at $495 and the Professional edition is $995. The pricing for their Enterprise edition is not publicly listed. If you need Perseus to host your survey, you can expect to pay $99 for the first page and $25 for each additional page, for a six month period. Additional costs may include charges for collection, security, reporting, review services, and consulting. Needless to say, Perseus is a very powerful solution and is priced accordingly.
If you've never prepared a web survey, you'll be amazed at how easy it can be to create one. You can sign up for a free account with one of the providers and start implementing your survey in the wink of an eye. ;)
Instant Messaging cost me $150 this month. Yep, one hundred and fifty bucks.
Here's how ...
After switching from satellite Internet, our wireless network here at ranchero indebto was down for a while. While I previously used Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) to have my PC act as the network router, I dumped that setup after moving to cable (performance was horrible with ICS). But I didn't have the chance to get out to the store to pick up a router/firewall ... so no router, no wireless network, no instant messaging.
Of course, this disrupted the family routine. While I had a speedy connection out in the studio, the laptop was without a connection in the house. This drove my daughter absolutely nuts. She was miserable without her AIM fix--life without instant messaging is tough for a pre-teen!
But then she discovered that she could instant message on Mom's mobile phone.
She complained quite loudly--at first--about not having any Internet connection in the house. And then she grew curiously quiet about it. I mean, she REALLY complained at first. I guess I should have paid more attention to her sudden change of demeanor. For when she found out she could instant message to her hearts delight with Mom's phone, it was the beginning of the end (of the $150 that I didn't have in the first place).
Imagine my surprise when I went to the snail mailbox today ... I thought it was a bit odd that my T-Mobile bill arrived in a 9 x 12 inch envelope (when it usually comes in a #9 or so). I thought it quite curious, not just in the size of the envelope, but the heft, as well. It didn't look like any mobile phone bill I'd ever seen, no sir. I figured it was some kind of marketing offer or perhaps some updated paperwork. Little did I know it would be a big fat bill filled to the gills with instant messaging charges.
Now when I say big fat bill, I'm not using the term lightly. My mobile phone bill was fifty-two pages long this month.
That's right. Fifty-two pages long. Fifty-two pages crammed, I mean crammed with instant messaging charges.
When I picked my daughter up after school, I asked her for the mobile. I put the phone in my coat pocket and didn't say another word until we pulled in the driveway, when I said "hey, something came in the mail for you today."
I gave her the bill after we walked into the kitchen. She was dumbfounded. I didn't raise my voice or have a single cross word. I just explained that she would have to work off the debt.
Come to think of it, $150 for a months worth of instant messaging charges isn't a bad trade for six months of laundry services and dish washing. :)
A reader wrote in and asked what I thought of steel buildings used as barns. While I love real wood post and beam, more than anything, I can understand the justification for building with steel. Steel buildings go up fast and can be relatively economical to build.
Like anything else, there are many different kinds of steel buildings. While some are downright ugly, others are outright handsome. I don't have any love for those Quonset hut-looking monstrosities. I'd much prefer a traditional barn look.
While I appreciate the large steel barns, I'm not a fan of small metal sheds, nor vinyl sheds, for that matter. Smaller structures should be be made of wood, in my book.
For big barns, its fine to build with steel. But if you're looking to buy a little shed kit, be sure to check out the wood stuff first ... :)
If you've ever had to scan an original much larger than 8-1/2-inches by 11-inches on a standard desktop scanner, you're likely to have wished for a large format scanner. Unlike their smaller desktop brethren, large format scanning devices allow you to scan the entire piece of oversized artwork--whether it's a survey, architectural rendering, poster, maps, or what have you--in just one pass (rather than many passes). Not only is the large format device faster to scan, it's faster once you get into Photoshop, as it avoids stitching together all of those chunks 'o art.
Once upon a time (in the early 90s), I had the good fortune to have a large format scanner in my corporate design shop. We all thought it was pretty cool that the device could handle 11-inch by 17-inch artwork without a hitch. While it wasn't a super high-end prepress scanner, it did all we asked of it. But as cool as it was back then, scanning technology has rocketed over this past decade or so, and the prices have plunged ...
The scanner we had in our shop was a PixelCraft flatbed. It was made by Xerox, and was fairly unique in its day. PixelCraft is long gone, but there are still a number of large format flatbed prepress scanners out there today, including the Purup-Eskofot Esko Scan, Heidelberg 2400, Screen USA Cezanne Elite, and the Scitex EverSmart Supreme.
Large format desktop scanners can be had from the likes of Epson and others. I always recommend going with a solid brand. The Epson GT-15000 Professional Scanner is certainly worth a look, as is the Epson Expression 1640XL Special Edition Scanner. But don't overlook the Microtek ScanMaker 9800XL. If you're shopping on prince, Mustek offers one of the most inexpensive models capable of handling an 11-inch by 17-inch scanning area.
Flatbeds are not the only type of large format scanners these days. Thanks to Hewlett-Packard and other companies, ultra-wide large format sheet-fed and roll-fed scanning have become commonplace. And while you might not find the HP DesignJet 4200 large format scanners at your local CompUSA or BestBuy, you can order them from leading catalog retailers. But don't expect that 42-inches of scanning goodness to come cheap ... the price of the HP DesignJet 4200 rivals that of a nicely-equipped compact car. If you're in the market for a large format scanner, you might also want to take a look at Contex--their scanners range from 25-inches up to 54-inches wide.
I won two auctions for Holland soccer replica jerseys on eBay today--both are home (orange) jerseys. Here's the kicker: one of the jerseys is authentic, while the other is (most likely) not.
The authentic jersey sounds like it's an irregular. The seller (located here in the states) noted that the jersey does have a small flaw. The knockoff jersey (from Asia, of course) was a bargain, however ... I won that auction for just one cent. Yep, one cent ... just like the Liverpool Jersey I wrote about a while back.
The Liverpool jersey arrived here last week. It doesn't look half bad, but then again, I don't have an authentic jersey to compare it against. But that's where I'm heading ... I'm hoping to provide jersey-to-jersey comparisons between the authentic jerseys and the (purported) knockoffs. The Holland jerseys are the first two I will get to post (once they arrive in the post, that is).
Just as importantly, I want to see how these (purported) knockoffs hold up after a few washings ...
As it turns out, I ended up with a Cisco router, after all ... but it wasn't a used Cisco router; rather it's a Linksys EtherFast. Linksys is owned by Cisco. Small world, eh?
I had a bear of a time installing the router. I'm not sure if the problems were left over in the PC's system from the ICS settings with my old satellite Internet hookup. Back then, I had to use the PC as my router. It wasn't a pretty setup.
As it turns out, the system had to be configured manually. My cable ISP wasn't much help. Admittedly, when I dialed up their call center, it was late in the evening. I could hear the office cleaning crew in the background. They didn't want to deal with setting up the router ... which I can kindasorta understand.
Nonetheless, I believe that it should be the broadband providers responsibility to provide a firewall/router. They're charging a good price for their broadband access. Why can't they include a fifty dollar firewall/router? Sure seems like it would save everyone a whole lot of heartache, in oh so many ways.
It took a call into Linksys to get everything worked out. The technician was wonderful. She had a pretty strong accent, but I couldn't identify it. I'm not sure if she was working at a call center, outsourced overseas. I wanted to ask her where she was located, but I didn't want to seem too forward. I was just thankful for her kind help.
Once we were done, everything was fine. I'm sorry, in hindsight, that I didn't see the signs ... I hadn't manually configured a TCP/IP setting in years. Situations like this have me pondering the brouhaha over outsourcing call centers.
There's a considerable rant in today's edition of Lockergnome about outsourcing call centers and IT functions. Outsourcing jobs from America to far flung lands has created quite a firestorm of late. I've blogged about the subject of outsourcing a couple of times in recent weeks and no doubt will blog about it again in the future.
My reading list has a number of books about outsourcing, which I hope will help me understand both sides of the topic. I'm most interested in gaining a perspective from the management side, as in why would a company outsource IT functions? And what are the ultimate benefits of call center outsourcing?
It's easy to understand from the other perspective. Employees rarely see the value of outsourcing. The practice of shipping jobs overseas is hardly seen as a positive thing by those who are displaced.
Should outsourcing be outlawed? Should penalties be put in place? Or should there be incentives for those companies wise enough to put an end to their call center and IT outsourcing plans?
Here it is, another snowstorm, and I'm daydreaming about Hamptons real estate again.
I just peeked at a fabulous place in East Hampton for the tidy sum of $11.5M. Taxes are an absolute bargain at a few ticks over $42K per year. "Mummy, have Jeeves pull the car around!" With six bedrooms and seven and a half baths, there'll never be a line for the loo, and all the best, it has a waterview.
There's another interesting property in East Hampton for a tad under $6M. Six bedrooms, (this must be a trend) seven and a half baths, and four fireplaces sound good to me. Not sure what the taxes are on the lovely cedar-sided house, but it does have a slate patio and pool.
My favorite piece of East Hampton real estate is a contemporary that's going for just under $3.5M. The pool looks spectacular and the taxes seem to be a marvelous bargain at under $8K. That math doesn't add up, but who am I to argue.
Ah but that's just East Hampton ... it's West Hampton and the water that make me want to forget the snow this morning ...
I saw a marvelous new sandcastle in Westhampton Beach for $3M. An absolutely fabulous chunk 'o real estate ... with amazing low taxes, to boot. When I land that big book with the big advance, I know just how I'm going to spend it ... and where ...
These days, you can get a website started with an inexpensive hosting service on a shared server for under ten bucks a month. But what do you do as your site grows and your needs change? Should you opt for a bigger hosting plan on a shared server or should you step up to dedicated server hosting? There are pros and cons to both approaches, without a doubt.
I've been considering dedicated web hosting for my little string of sites, but I'm not completely convinced I need to take that route (yet). Although going with a shared server might be lighter on the wallet, you may end up being disappointed with the lack of control. And if you spend a (good) bit more on dedicated server hosting, you'll get the control, along with a whole raft of responsibility.
Lets take a look at the reasons why you might want to make the leap and switch to a dedicated server (or not).
I'm lucky, as I don't have to face this decision alone. A bunch of my friends run their businesses on dedicated boxes. Seeing that I'm new to the game, I asked my pals for some pointers on dedicated server hosting.
To start, lets look at the differences between a shared web host and a dedicated web host:
A shared web host is a single computer that hosts multiple web sites--multiple being anywhere from a few to a few hundred--for a variety of customers. When you sign up for hosting on a shared web server, your website lives on the same physical machine with many other sites and many other businesses, with whom you have no relation. With many plans, you might even share an IP address with other unrelated web sites--this is never a good idea, but it’s often the case with plans on the less expensive side of spectrum.
A dedicated web host is a single server that is controlled by a single customer. Control is the key word, here. With a dedicated host, you own the neighborhood. You can put a slew of sites on your server, but no one can put a site on your box without your permission. With a dedicated host, you don't have to worry about unscrupulous neighbors who may bring your server down with bad coding or get your IP banned for something out of your control. As Paul explains, "a dedicated IP helps to avoid getting caught in overzealous block lists."
Advantages to Dedicated Server Hosting:
Control - Don't just think control, but complete control. "To me, the aspect of 'control' that's most important: knowing who else is on your server," my friend Randy writes. "Trust me: if I had a 'virtual server' and was on YOUR box with MINE, and I got some good publicity, you wouldn't like the slowdown on YOUR site(s). If it were ONLY you and me, it probably wouldn't be an issue; but if there were 50 *other* sites and just a few were getting good hits..." In this instance, server slowdown could be a monstrous issue. With a dedicated server, "your site isn't subject to the vagaries of traffic generated by other sites on a shared server," explains Paul. "Meaning: You don't get hit if they suddenly get swamped with traffic."
Server OS and Control Panel - Religious OS wars aside, the dedicated web host's operating system and control panel might be considered as personal preferences. "If you're a *nix gearhead, it doesn't matter," Randy explains. "If you're like me (read: only enough *nix to get into trouble), a good CP is a must. My advice: stay away from Ensim (neat, but not powerful); cPanel is good (powerful, but a bit clunky -- though runs nice once it's up and going)."
Flexibility - Running your own server lets you do thing the way you want. It allows for "more flexibility in the types of things you can install," says Paul. "Because the host doesn't have to worry about YOU swamping their other customers or chewing up 'excessive resources.'" This also means that you can centralize your projects on one machine, rather than having your web site spread out across a bunch of different hosts. And more so, you can, as Paul puts it, "tailor your complete enterprise in ways that are most convenient for you."
Dedicated Server Specification Tips:
Bandwidth - It's absolutely essential that you get a plan that allows enough capacity to serve your audience. Choose a plan that's short on bandwidth and you may end up paying through the nose for overage charges.
Adequate Hardware - While processor speed might not be the biggest issue, memory certainly qualifies. Make sure you get plenty of RAM and a sufficient amount of hard drive storage.
Backup Strategy - A dedicated web server allows for easier backups. Cover your rear and make regular server backups part of your routine.
Service - While dedicated server hosts are thought to provide better service overall than share hosts, all hosts are not created equal. Check around and look into a number of hosts before you sign up for the service. Be sure to talk to existing customers to get their feedback.
Dedicated Server Hosting Caveats:
My friend Don came up with an interesting caveat for cases where multiple sites run on the same dedicated host. "With most dedicated servers all of your sites will end up in the same IP range, so that search engines using Hilltop will see that they are all coming from the same person and could take your whole business out in one fell swoop by penalizing your IP block. Dedicated server companies definitely need to look at providing multiple totally different IPs as an option."
Like the line from the Spiderman movie goes, "with great power comes great responsibility." If you're thinking about getting a dedicated server, you want to make sure either that you're up to the task or that your managed host will provide a higher level of support. "Somebody's got to work the thing, and if you're not a programmer, you're liable to get yourself into trouble," as Don put it. "Once you get yourself into trouble, you're in serious trouble." With a dedicated server, you're the one that must watch for and install any updates. If something goes wrong (heaven forbid horribly wrong), you're the one that's responsible, unless you have a managed hosting solution that provides support for said installs and emergencies.
Then again, if you have some serious (and seriously reliable) geeky friends, you might just be covered ...
Rancho Indebto needs a new router. A friend of mine suggested that I look for a used Cisco router. I laughed at him and said, "dude! I don't need a used Cisco router! I need something small and cheap." He snickered at me. "How cheap?" he asked. "You know you can get that used Cisco gear on eBay."
As if. There's no way I need heavy-duty iron like that. But now he has me thinking that I might be able to boat anchor the satellite modem I no longer need. That might give me the fifty smackeroons required for the new router.
If you're really looking for Cisco routers, especially used routers, they're not that hard to find ...
I dumped my two-way broadband satellite Internet connection today, in favor of a two-way cable modem. I had been putting off the decision for quite some time. While I knew that the satellite Internet connection had to go, it took a nice offer from our local provider to (finally) get me to make the switch.
And I'm glad I did (finally).
Satellite Internet service is wonderful for remote locations that are not served by any other broadband connections. You can achieve blistering downloads on large files over a satellite Internet connection, although there are significant caveats.
There were a number of things that I didn't like about my satellite Internet connection:
This is the week to start the first set of vegetable seedlings--at least by my calculations. If I start my tomatoes and peppers inside now, I should be able to move the flats out to the garden shed by mid-April or so. While there's no heat in the garden shed, the south-facing greenhouse windows warm it pretty well during the day. The gamble, of course, is whether the shed will maintain enough warmth through the night.
I picked up eight packets of Burpee seed: Crispy Hybrid and Jalapeno peppers; Roma, Salad Choice, Big Boy, and Fourth of July tomatoes; and some Black-Seeded Simpson lettuce and a Mescalun salad mix. It'll start the tomatoes and peppers inside. The lettuce will go straight into the ground (although I have successfully grown tubs of lettuce in the garden shed).
Once I get this first round of seeds started, I'll need to get off my duff and clear all the clutter off the shed's potting shelf. There's lots of room for the flats on the potting shelf, so it's just a question of getting rid of the junk that's currently in the way.
Shed storage space is always at a premium ... :)
Before you build a shed or buy a shed, think about how much storage space you'll need. No matter how much storage space you think you'll need in your shed, you'll likely need more.
Hidden storage proved to be one of the nicest features of the shed plans I used for my greenhouse garden shed. Because it's a relatively tall saltbox design, I was able to use the rafter space to store lots of long stuff, including lawn edging, sections of PVC pipe, weed whackers, and other garden tools. By storing this stuff up high, I've been able to keep the clutter off the floor.
Well, okay ... there's still plenty of clutter on the floor. :) But the shed's overhead storage space is still indispensable.
You may have noticed that I wrote weed whackers, as in more than one. Yes indeed, I have more than one weed whacker in the shed. While I use a Stihl these days, I still have the old John Deere. I don't use the old one, however ... it's just hanging around (in the rafters, of course) until we have the time to figure out how to mount it on the weed whacker powered go-cart that's currently under development ...
Is it time for you to look for a new web hosting service?
Congratulations! The good news is there are lots of web hosting companies to choose from these days. Likewise, the bad news is there are lots of companies to choose from these days. So how do you choose which web hosting company to use? And which web hosting package should you pick?
It’s very easy to spend far more than you need on web hosting. This is especially true if you are using the same web host today that you signed up with years ago. I can speak from experience on this one … I admit it … I’ve wasted a lot of money over the years by sticking with the same web hosting companies (tried and true tho they may be). These days, the capabilities and features of basic web host packages that cost, say $25 or $50 back in the ‘90s can be had for just a fraction of that.
I’m happy to say that I have cut my hosting fees by better than 75% on specific projects.
Up until a few weeks ago, I had been running a virtual server at the cost of $55 per month. The virtual server hosted roughly half a dozen sites. In the early days, that was a pretty fair price. But as competition in the hosting market has ratcheted upward, prices have plummeted. And that’s good for you and me. When the business model changed for the primary site on that virtual server, I took the opportunity to close the virtual server account and move the web sites to their own servers--at a cost of $3 to $7 per site.
The purpose of this article isn’t to plug one web host over another--not at all--it’s merely to help you find the right host for your needs. Web hosting is now a commodity business. While it is certainly technical, it’s no longer exotic. You can compare apples to apples.
Here are some things you should look for when comparing basic web hosts:
And most importantly:
Is support provided 24/7? How is it provided? (i.e: phone, email, chat)
Peace of mind is at the top of my personal list when choosing a web host. I want to know that the web host will be there when I need them
You might have noticed that there’s one thing left off the list: the price.
You should only compare price after you’ve compared all of the other web host’s features. Make sure you’re getting exactly what you need with regard to capabilities, before you start shopping around on price. If you’ve sacrificed needed web hosting capabilities for a few dollars, you can count on it to come back and nip you in the rear.
So there you have it … a bit of a primer on comparison of basic web hosting capabilities. We’ll look at why you might need dedicated server hosting in an upcoming article.
I dragged the fertilizer spreader out from behind the tool shed to get ready for spring, only to find out that the adjustment device was broken beyond repair. After having been held together with duct tape for a couple of years, the cheap little piece of plastic had finally given up the ghost.
I went into the shed and puttered around, looking for something to fix up the fertilizer spreader, but didn't come up with anything. So I worked the problem out in my head and eventually put the picture that had come into focus in my mind's eye down on paper.
I figured I could fix it with a simple turnbuckle and a clamp. So I hopped into the hot rod and took a ride to see what I could find.
While I was at the Farmers Co-Op picking up some fertilizer, I stopped to take a gander at the new spreaders. At $125 a pop, they looked nice, but not all that nice. I convinced myself that I had to fix the old unit, by hook or by crook.
After spending five minutes looking through the hardware store, I found what I was after: a simple turnbuckle and a ground clamp. I picked up an extra turnbuckle for good measure, got out of the hardware store five dollars lighter, and headed back to the tool shed.
Once I had the fertilizer spreader up on the bench, it took just five minutes to get it fixed up and back in working order. And it didn't take any fancy tools, either ... just a flat screwdriver and a hefty pair of pliers ... one of my few inheritances, and a handy one at that.
Every time I successfully fix something with one of the tools that my late step-father-in-law left behind, I thank him. And come to think of it, everything I've set out to fix using one of those tools has been fixed ... kinda cool, that.
Thanks, Pop Pop. :)
I happened to be watching CNN last night when Lou Dobbs did a segment on outsourcing. To great effect, Lou relayed the heat he's taken for being vehemently opposed to the practice of outsourcing work overseas. I was amazed to hear the venom that was spewed towards his views.
He relayed how the Wall Street Journal's Daniel Henninger got off a good one with "It's as if whatever made Linda Blair's head spin around in 'The Exorcist' had invaded the body of Lou Dobbs and left him with the brain of Dennis Kucinich." Pretty funny stuff, if it weren't so laughably stupid. Perhaps someone should outsource Henninger's job to India so we could see how he feels about it, as he stands in the line at the soup kitchen for his bowl of retched green pea soup.
I don't often find myself agreeing with the media, but Lou's views on outsourcing are right on the money. Lou threw down the gauntlet when he stated "Frankly, I would love to be proved wrong in my views, and I would gladly change my position, if only my critics would answer a few questions factually, empirically and straightforwardly."
His three points on outsourcing need to be answered: "One: How many more jobs must we lose before they become concerned about our middle class and our strength as a consumer market? Two: When will the U.S. have to quit borrowing foreign capital to buy foreign goods that support European and Asian economies while driving us deeper into debt? Three: What jobs will our currently 15 million unemployed workers fill, where and when?"
One American company outsourcing jobs--such as IT or call center functions--to another American company within American shores? I don't have a problem with that. But outsourcing American jobs overseas is bad news. Keeping the jobs here, rather than outsourcing to another country isn't protectionist, it's patriotic.
And more so, curbing overseas outsourcing is just good business.
When your boss comes to you, out of the blue, and says "hey, I need you to create a trade show exhibit," (say for Gnomedex) where do you start? Knowing that the the wild world of trade shows is fraught with design details, tricky logistics, and potentially exorbitant expenses, it pays to tread carefully. Mess up on that trade show assignment, and--at the very least--you'll end up with a horrendous stack of bills. Mess up badly enough and it just might mean your job.
Before making the decision to participate, you need to be sure that you have enough time to adequately plan your trade show exhibit booth. Because if there is one factor that has the potential to skyrocket your trade show costs, it's time. If you do everything at the last minute, you will pay through the nose for exhibit production costs and shipping. Failing to make your ship dates, can easily triple the amount of money you spend on shipping.
Once you've determined that there's enough time to do it right, you'll need to set a budget for your trade show exhibit. Just keep in mind that whatever you budget, you're very likely to exceed. So set an overall budget, but try to keep the up front costs to just a fraction of that. No matter how carefully you plan, once you hit town and you start setting up your trade show exhibit in the show hall, you're likely to run into expenses that you hadn't planned upon.
Keep a close eye on the cost of your trade show exhibit booth graphics. The display graphics business is very competitive and you may be able to save a bit by farming the work out directly to a graphics shop. Just be sure that you know what you're buying--there are big differences in the methods of printing that are suitable for trade show graphics and there are huge variations in the types of mounting and laminating materials. When you get a price quote, make sure that you take this into consideration. Shop around, but don't buy on price alone. The service will be remembered, long after the price is forgotten.
Shipping costs are a huge consideration, too. Of course, if you're setting up a small trade show exhibit in a pipe and drape booth, it's easy--you can just waltz in the rolled up graphics you carried with you on the plane (or had stuffed in your trunk). But if you have a good-sized booth, you'll spend a good bit of time planning (and worrying) about how everything will get there (and at what cost). Avoid same day shipping at all costs--this should only be used as a last resort.
As with many things, it pays to shop around. You may have a great trade show exhibit company nearby. If so, that's great. If not, you'll want to look around on the Internet. Just be sure to check out all your options and don't forget their references, while you're at it ...
Here it is, the second week of March and I'm thinking about the beach. We may be in the midst of a little last winter snowstorm, but I could think of nothing lovlier than a piece of the beach, perhaps a delicious slice of Hamptons Real Estate.
The stuff of the Great Gatsby, Hamptons Real Estate is ... and lets not forget Gordon Gecko. For would Gordon ever have become who he was without that gorgeous stretch of the Hamptons? Now that's real estate.
Real estate is not a poor man's game, certainly not in the Hamptons. Lesser kings might opt for LBI, and for the working class, even the mainland is getting out of reach. The brave and the faithful might take a gamble on Asbury Park.
I want to let that flight of fancy fly and take some time browsing Hamptons real estate online. Don't you? What better to do on a snowy Monday? (or Tuesday, or Wednesday, or Thursday, or Friday for that matter ...) :)
Unfortunately, I won't be able to use a private jet charter service for that big trip out west next month. Back in January, I started to scheme a way to take a trip to Reno via private jet. You see, Reno is unreachable via non-stop ... and I hate changing planes.
A trip by private jet would save lots of time. Well, the conference is growing ever closer, but I'm not any closer in my quest to charter a private jet.
Not that I'm happy about it ... I usually end up in coach. Once in a while I get the upgrade to business class. I had hoped to be able to pull something together to make charting a private jet a reality for this trip. Alas, that won't be the case.
So it's back to the cattle car. Or maybe not. I might upgrade for the red eye back home. I don't know that I'll buy travel insurance for the trip, tho ...
When I wrote about mortgage leads back in January, I expressed a bit of frustration at the number of mortgage-related calls we receive here at ranchero indebto (courtesy of those pesky predictive dialers). Of course the offers come via snailmail, too ... but they're not annoying, whatsoever.
Online is a different story. Online, they're almost always annoying. But Internet mortgage leads are quite hot, these days. At least that's what one would be lead to believe when looking in the right places.
When the mortgage companies start chasing leads that are too young to vote, much less own a house, you know something is amiss. Yes indeed, my daughter must now be perceived by someone as a bona fide mortgage lead, because an offer landed in her mailbox this week. I don't make this stuff up, folks ... it's all for real.
For the record, my daughter's not the the Glengary mortgage lead that got away, either ...
Our garage spilleth over, and the garden shed is brimming, too. Spring's here and it's time to start throwing out the stuff that's just sitting around taking space. We have a wall full of excellent Ikea wooden garage storage shelves. But that garage shelving is crammed with crates of long-forgotten goodies.
We need more garage storage, that's clear. A good floor-standing bicycle rack is at the front of the list. I'd rather that the kids bikes stay on the ground--rather than hang them from the walls--to make it easy to get them in and out. I'm looking for a unit like the ones you might see at the park--heavy-duty galvanized steel would be nice, but I'm wondering if it might be possible to build something similar out of cedar 2x2s.
I penciled out an idea along those lines a few months back. Penciled as on paper, which I'm not likely to find. Now if I had knocked it out on the computer, I could have easily found a file named "garage storage - bike rack" ... alas, that's not the case. If I have time, I may try out some ideas in Maya, but I'll have to start the designs from scratch.
Wouldn't it be nice to be able to hire a garage organizer to just come in and take charge of those messy garage storage details? While they're at it, perhaps they could lay down a nice coat of garage floor paint, too ...
The word is out: Manchester United is the world's richest sports franchise. The Red Devils' Premiereship season may have hit a stall and they may very well be nine points behind Arsenal, but Deloitte has pegged ManU as the numero uno money-earner. This is due to their massive gate and, in no small part, huge sales of a great many Manchester United soccer jerseys.
Deloitte's List of Big Buck Soccer Clubs (in million euros):
1. Manchester United 251.4 2. Juventus 218.3 3. AC Milan 200.2 4. Real Madrid 192.6 5. Bayern Munich 162.7 6. Inter Milan 162.4 7. Arsenal 149.6 8. Liverpool 149.4 9. Newcastle 138.9 10. Chelsea 133.8 11. Roma 132.4 12. Borussia Dortmund 124.0 13. Barcelona 123.4 14. Schalke 04 118.6 15. Tottenham 95.6 16. Leeds 92.0 17. Lazio 88.9 18. Celtic 87.0 19. Olympique Lyonnais 84.3 20. Valencia 80.5
Being in the top twenty is a good indicator of whether a team is capable of selling lots of authentic soccer jerseys. Manchester United's kit is supplied by Nike, as is that of Juventus, Inter-Milan, Arsenal, Barcelona, and Valencia. Adidas supplies kits to AC Milan, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Newcastle. The Chelsea soccer jersey is supplied by Umbro, while the Liverpool soccer jersey is supplied by Reebock. The Tottenham Hotspurs soccer jersey is supplied by Kappa.
Among the Italian Serie A teams, the home AC Milan soccer jersey, with its red and black stripes, is particularly handsome. The away Juventus soccer jersey, on the other hand, is puzzlingly pink.
No word on whether those snappy red and white Arsenal soccer jerseys are currently outselling those of ManU.
When I wrote about trade show exhibits a few weeks ago, it brought back many memories. I mentioned that I've participated in trade shows in three different ways: as a consumer, as an exhibitor, and as a member of the working press.
But I forgot one.
For six months, I worked for a company that produced trade show exhibit graphics. It was six months, in many ways, that I'd like to forget. I learned a lot about trade show exhibit graphics in that short time. And I really liked the technical end of things. But lets just say there were some aspects of the business I didn't enjoy, whatsoever.
The firm I worked for marketed itself as a digital color printer, although it primarily produced trade show exhibit work. As an account manager, I had to call upon a wide range of clients--from the very smallest design shops and exhibit houses to the very largest pharmaceutical corporations (of which there are plenty here in joisey).
A huge amount of money is thrown around in the trade show exhibit world--much of it due to the tight time frames and crazy logistics. Did you want that rush, rush rush, or triple rush?
I could only stand to ride that monkey for so long ... and I won't get into the gory details here. But ply me with a tropical drink (or two) at your trade show exhibit booth some time, and hey, I just might share.
A couple of days ago, I wrote about how my eleven year old daughter had received an offer for a payday loan. I thought that it was preposterous that anyone would offer a payday loan to a kid. Today, her mailbox has an offer that promises that "Uncle Sam Can Help You Get A Better Home."
Even better then a payday loan, eh?
The offer screams, "Free Money for Real Estate!" It's a come on for Best Selling New York Times Author, Matthew Lesko's report which purports that there are "4,000 Little-Known Government Money Programs That Give Out Grants, Direct Payments, And Other Free Money For People to Buy Their Dream Home or Become a Real Estate Investor."
Maybe I should buy my daughter the report so she could earn enough money for college ... if she made enough, she would never consider a cash advance payday loan. But there are plenty of people looking for a payday loan online, no matter if they're in New York, Chicago, Canada or the military ... folks just seem to want that fast payday loan, whether it's for $500 or $1000.
Faxing is an issue, too. Folks are looking for a no fax payday loan in droves. Why they need their cash advance payday loan with no faxing, I'm not sure. Maybe they can't afford to go to Kinko's to use the fax machine?
I can't really recommend one payday loan company over another. If you need a loan until payday, and you need your payday loan quick, just look around ... and check out all of your options.
The ads scream, but what do they really cost? Before you sign on the dotted line, check out this information on payday loans.
I've been registering a lot of domains lately. Well, not a lot, considering how many domains some people own, but a lot for me. It looks like I will register more new domains in 2004 than I have in any prior year. It's become a no-brainer. When I have an idea for a new domain, I spend a tiny bit of time thinking it through before registering.
Now I would never have done this back in the early days. No way. It's only become practical because of cheap domain name registration.
Back in the old days, domain registration was way too expensive. Remember paying $35 per domain name per year? It was hideous! The Goliath that held the reigns has long since been reigned in, thank heavens, and cheap domain name registration is here to stay.
With cheap domain name registration, I pay just a fraction of what it used to cost. Although I've seen prices in the eight dollar and change range, I pay a tad more than that, because I like the service that my registrar provides.
But if you're looking for cheap domain name registration, you owe it to yourself to check out all the options. As with so many things, all cheap domain name registrars were not created equal! ;)