Michael R. Beck - Web 2.0's Average Joe

Weird Dream

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:16:00 +0000

Last night I had a weird dream. Here are the details I can remember.

Watching the Sopranos with my family and they had a new final episode where it turns out everything was a dream in Tony's head, and he really was this Kevin Finnerty guy.
Me and my brother had a conversation about how weird it would be to wake up and find that everything you just experienced was a dream.
My son and I had to be somewhere so Randy offered to drive us.
His "car" was a bed mattress with no box springs. We laid the mattress down on the road and it started to go.
Cars were honking and passing us frantically.
As we accelerated down hills, I could feel myself start to slide off the bed. I had to grab my son a couple of times to keep him on the bed.
We passed a car repair shop and my brother noticed his buddy's car in the shop.
Shortly thereafter I proceeded to get up and carry my son and start walking.
Just then a gang of bikers came walking by and started inspecting the mattress and commenting, "It ain't go no wheels!"
As I walked, I could feel my legs burn when I realized it could be miles before I reached our destination.
We were about to get back in the "mattress mobile" when I woke up.

What does it all mean?

Heads Up: Spam That Actually Caught My Attention

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:25:00 +0000

This morning I opened my e-mail and found a CNN Alert. I check CNN all the time, but never remembered signing up for any alerts.

I read through it, wasn't interested in the story at all so I figured it was some kind of mistake at CNN.com. I clicked on the "manage your setting" link below. It took me to the actual CNN site, so I proceeded to try and log in. I couldn't remember my password so I attempted to have my password sent to me.

CNN did not recognize my e-mail address. That's when it dawned on me... there might be something fishy about the e-mail.

I went back to the letter and checked the "FULL STORY" link by hovering my mouse over it... sure enough, it lead to a spam site. (I removed the link here and replaced it with an anti-spam site to avoid giving these criminals any credit.)

Beware of more e-mails like this one on the horizon... there's nothing legitimate about them. (Photo above courtesy of Flickr user cursedthing)

from	CNN Alerts
reply-to		Vinit-tiauqav@hapesira.org
to		mike@myemail.com
date		Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 3:31 AM
subject		CNN Alerts: My Custom Alert

hide details 3:31 AM (6 hours ago)

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Alert Name: My Custom Alert General Motors bought over by Mercedes Fri, 8 Aug 2008 09:31:06 +0200 FULL STORY You have agreed to receive this email from CNN.com as a result of your CNN.com preference settings. To manage your settings click here. To alter your alert criteria or frequency or to unsubscribe from receiving custom email alerts, click here. Cable News Network. One CNN Center, Atlanta, Georgia 30303 © 2008 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company All Rights Reserved. View our privacy policy and terms.

"Dig Dug" Dares to Use Two Trademark Infringing Words from Digg

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:36:00 +0000

Excerpt from a recent "Cease and Desist" letter from Digg's lawyers to DigPicz.com. Guess "Dig Dug" is next.

T-Mobile + Flexpay = No Shortcodes

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:57:00 +0000

I asked the question on June 14, 2007: Why can't I sent and receive text from Twitter (40404) and Google SMS (466453)? They're free.

And after 10 days I finally find out why I'm screwed:

"These services are third-party network services and are accessed through a common gateway for all such services. This gateway is not accessible to all account types, and this includes FlexPay accounts. As your account is a FlexPay account, regrettably, you are unable to make use of these services. This is what the error text is referring to. I apologize for the inconvenience."

So this is my punishment for refusing to sign a contract. Thanks, T-Mobile!

Nokia 6263 Hands Free Through My Car Speakers for $40

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 03:49:00 +0000

If you absolutely hate FM Transmitters, read no further, because that's how I pulled off this little feat.

Items I used:
Belkin F8M010 Tunecast III FM Transmitter - Universal
New OEM Nokia 3.5mm Audio Adapter Ad-50 5200 5300 8800 (included with phone)
Universal Car Phone Holder with Multiple Mounting Options(optional)
CELLULAR INNOVATIONS UY-ADT Universal Cigarette Lighter Splitter(optional)

Now the Nokia adapter was included with my Nokia 6263 phone, so I was in luck.

The Belkin Tunecast III installed like a champ. Toss in the batteries, connect it to the AD-50 3.5mm to 2.5mm jack adapter and insert into the phone. Set the radio to an unused frequency (88.3 FM worked great for me) and set the Belkin Tunecast III to match.

The Belkin Tunecast III comes with a DC power adapter for plugging into your car's cigarette lighter, or can be powered off of 2 "AAA" batteries. I recommend using the adapter. If your car is like mine, you only have one plug-in available, so if you want to use your phone's charger as well, you'll need to get a splitter, like the one I've linked above. Completely optional.

I opted to get a phone holder as well for keeping my phone up on the dash and free from sliding around the car. This also made it easy for wrapping the cords and twist-tying them so they were hanging loose all over the place. Again, this is optional.

When placing your phone, make sure it is not too far away from you, as the microphone on the handset is what will be picking up your voice. When you first connect the headset, the phone will ask you if you want to use the microphone. Be sure to select yes.

I did notice some interference when I first attempted to use the phone (slight buzzing), but simply wrapping the extra cord length around the cord track on the Tunecast FM Transmitter seemed to clear it right up.

In making test calls I was able to hear the person on the other end very clearly and loudly through the car speakers, and on the other end they reported hearing only a slight echo, much like a speakerphone. Nothing too distracting.

My main goal was to be able to play my music stored on the phone over my car speakers, and I was very impressed with how the clear stereo sound came out.

Your mileage may very depending on how many stations you have in your area or how close you live to a major metropolitan space. Overall, this is a very cheap method to having an ultimate hands free phone system in your car.

I Was Hip Back in the Day and Didn't Even Know It

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:18:00 +0000

I upgraded to MS DOS 5 back in the day because I was a geek. Too bad this wasn't released to the public back in the day; it could have upped my street cred too.

Why in the world do...

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:52:00 +0000

Why in the world do people pay anywhere from $2 to $5 for directory assistance to their mobile phone carrier, when you've got options like 411 Google or 1-800 free 411? Why do people still continue to pay outrageous charges for directory assistance? My question to.... listen

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Collin and I spent Fathers' Day at the Detroit Zoo

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:12:00 +0000

Sometimes pictures really are worth 1,000 words.

The Well Hidden "Gotcha" on T-Mobile's FlexPay "Unlimited" Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 04:54:00 +0000

I didn't want to get sucked into another 2-year contract with T-Mobile, or any carrier for that matter, until I was certain who I wanted to end up with. In reviewing all the pre-paid plans out there, I decided to go with T-Mobile's Individual Unlimited plan for $99 per month, and do so month-to-month using their FlexPay program.

In addition to unlimited calling to anyone on any network or landline, the $99 plan also came with unlimited text messaging, IMs, video and picture messaging and that was exactly what I needed.

However, two of the services I use heavily via SMS (text messaging) are Twitter and Google, which both provide free shortcodes for accessing their service.

It turns out that T-Mobile blocks access to these shortcodes, making you unable to send text messages to them.

Surely that's outlined in the plan details; I must have just overlooked that disclosure. After combing through my materials several times, I fail to see where T-Mobile discloses such a blockage.

Where have I seen that business practice before? Oh yes, when I discovered the hard way that T-Mobile blocks Internet access for 3rd party java applications on the Nokia phones they sell.

The bottom line: If you rely on being able to send messages to SMS shortcodes for services such as Twitter or Google SMS, T-Mobile FlexPay plans are not for you.

Photo credit: Flickr user Zach Klein

Collin Gets a Hole-in-One!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:33:00 +0000

Took Collin putt-putt golfing the other day, and he had a blast. He loves all things golf, so I am definitely encouraging it... although I wouldn't be sad if he picked up a hockey stick.

Here's a video I made of him in the pinnacle of putting form, scoring the celebrated hole-in-one in putt-putt golf.

(I shot this using the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic (before I took it back), for those of you in the market for a cell phone and were curious about that phone's video quality.)

Malkin Heads to the YMCA Pool to Practice Diving During the Offseason

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:31:00 +0000

I'll make this short and sweet.

Congratulations to the Detroit Red Wings for winning the Stanley Cup this year!
Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins for saving face and avoiding a sweep and making a series out of this year's finals.

Glad to see Evgeni Malkin didn't get to hoist the Stanley Cup.
He is a whiner, a crier, and a blatant diver.

Everyone made such a big deal out of this slapshot goal he scored against the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference finals, but nobody points out the fact that the only reason why he got that opportunity to be all alone at the blue line is because he was limping off after a big hit by Mike Richards and looking for a referee all the way back towards the bench.

Sergei Gonchar was the hero on that play, not Malkin. That easily could have been a Philadelphia goal if it wasn't for the heads up defense of Gonchar.

My Love Affair With The Nokia 5310 XPressMusic Abruptly Ends

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:53:00 +0000

While grooving to a tune on my Nokia 5310 XpressMusic T-Mobile phone in the McDonald's drive thru this morning, the oddest thing happened: the phone rebooted itself.

Strange, maybe it was just a glitch. So I resumed listening to my music, and then on another song the phone rebooted again. No warning, just a quick reboot.

So a quick little Google search for "Nokia 5310 reboot" uncovered this little gem, with this problem happening to customers over 5 months ago. I just bought this phone on Friday and they still haven't fixed this problem? See you later, XPressMusic. If you're a "music phone", and you reboot at random when trying to play music, that's just sad. Really sad.

I'm going to take the phone back tomorrow and exchange it for the Nokia 6263. Seems to be a decent phone to get me by until my T-Mobile contract is up.

Then again, I'm 0-1 when I praise a Nokia phone thus far.

Photo credit: ME

T-Mobile and the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 03:46:00 +0000

Anyone who's been following my Twitter posts knows exactly how sick I was over the T-Mobile Dash. The way it leaked memory like a sieve causing you to reboot the phone several times a day, the poor audio quality on the videos, the rapidly deteriorating battery life, and inability to play streaming video were just a few of the reasons I hated it so. (I'm not the only one who had problems.) Well, what ended up killing it was the fact that it would randomly shut off during any type of over-the-air data transfer or any phone call that took longer than 2 minutes. (The phone would just go black, not actually go through a power down T-Mobile logo love fest cycle.)

The best part of all? I got swindled into signing a 2-year contract extension to upgrade so I could get $100 knocked off the price plus a $50 rebate that T-Mobile never honored for me. All of the functional problems I discovered weren't until several months later and at that point T-Mobile had no obligation to assist me with that T-Mobile Dash. How can a company look its customers in the eye and feel good about signing them into a contract so they can get a deep discount on a piece of technology that won't survive up 25-50% of the contract period?

So after one cut off conversation too many last Thursday, it was time to go look for another phone, as I'm locked into a T-Mobile contract for the next several months and have no desire to reward the pirates at that company with a severance check for customer no-service.

My premise was simple: I needed a phone that could run the Google Java applications so I could check my Gmail account and look at maps while out and about. I also wanted Bluetooth compatibility, a camera that could shoot video as well as stills, and I did not want a Windows Mobile device as that operating system is about as reliable as a dollar store diaper.

So in all my searching and comparing reviews on CNet, I came up with the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic as my phone of choice, weighing in with a $200 price tag, and set off to the T-Mobile store the very next day to buy it.

Apparently this is a pretty new phone, and I knew more about this particular model than the sales representative who helped me. The first thing I did when I took it out of the box was try out some music. Worked very well, and the music came out of the speaker very crisp and clear.

The next thing I played with was the camera phone. Also very easy and the quality of the audio was a night-and-day improvement over the T-Mobile Dash. The video looked how all cell phone video quality looks to me - grainy and dithered, but you could at least see what's going on.

Now it was time to put the phone through the real paces. I sent a picture message to a friend. Worked very well. Sent and received some text messages. I liked the intuitive "guess what you're trying to type" text entering method, as it saved me from having to push the 7 button four times just to get an "S".

Now I was ready to install my Gmail and Google Maps applications. I went to m.google.com and clicked on the download link for Gmail. Google detected my phone and the link downloaded the newest version of the Gmail Java application. So far so good!

After the application downloaded, I gave it a whirl. I was suddenly presented with an error message: "Application access set to not allowed." Seemed like it would be easy to fix; all I'd have to do is just go into the options and change a setting for this application.

I clicked on Options, then scrolled down the menu and saw where it said "Application access." Now we're really cooking! Er, but wait... it's grayed out. No matter, T-Mobile certainly wouldn't be criminal enough to cripple a feature on a device I paid them full price for. Furthermore, I know T-Mobile in their wise and sound judgment would surely allow me as a customer currently subscribed to the "Total Internet Access" package to grant 3rd party applications access to the data network. But alas, this was not so.

I can't stomach anymore sarcasm. Truth is, I knew damn well what was going on as soon as I saw the option was grayed out and I got pissed. Really pissed. Shouldn't those thieves and villains at T-Horrible be forced to disclose when they've disabled a feature on the phone in a manner that is easily visible? If you're buying a product that has set capabilities, as a customer I would expect those capabilities to be there when I open the box and use the product.

The story gets better. For kicks I clicked on "Application access" anyways just to see what would happen, and I received the "Not available for this application" error. Now it was time to call T-Mobile's Technically Challenged Support department.

After saying a couple of prayers and having sadtrombone.com loaded and ready for comical relief, I dialed up T-Mobile and was connected to a representative after a short few minute wait. I explained very clearly what the problem was and that I needed to know how to unlock the "Application access" feature for Java applications. The T-Mobile representative's solution? The phone will magically unlock itself after 48 hours and I will be able to use all the Java applications my little heart desires.

And when I expressed disbelief, the representative offered me clear and convincing proof: my t-mobile.com profile still displayed that I was using a T-Mobile Dash. Wow. It wasn't because I hadn't logged in and updated which phone I owned, it was because the magical towers of T-Mobile haven't detected my new phone.

After it was clear to me I was talking to a brick wall, I decided to go another route: online chat support. I had the pleasure of typing to Sanja, who was very polite in his cut and paste conversation. After diligently typing out the problem and my request, I was told flatly: T-Mobile does not support any 3rd party applications on their phones. What an odd response, as they probably make a fortune selling 3rd party applications on T-Zones. And if I didn't like the answer? Take the phone back within 14 days I was told.

The problem with taking this phone back is the rest of the device lineup is so pathetic, I don't think there's a viable choice I would want to exchange for. I don't have much longer to go on my T-Mobile contract, so I think I will just cancel my Total Internet Service package and tough out the last few months of T-Horrible, then move to a company that makes me feel like a valued customer and not a moronic sheep.

If there's a phone that works really well in unlocked mode or if you're in love with your mobile carrier, I'd love to hear any suggestions you might have.

And if you want to know anything else about the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic, I'd be more than happy to answer your questions in the comments. I will point out it has weak e-mail support (no IMAP, all messages are downloaded via SMS service) and the web browser does not present non-mobile sites well at all. Other than that, it's a decent phone. T-Mobile just crippled it, that's all.

My Boy Can Draw!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:05:00 +0000

In all the wonderful things I've done or seen in my life, nothing has brought me greater joy than watching my own flesh and blood develop into an amazing human being. In four short years I've seen Collin learn to crawl, talk, walk, play, read, learn how to tell a joke, say "I love you", and so much more.

I've seen him draw from time to time, but he never seemed very interested in it when he was with me. And when he would draw, it would be semi-legible scribblings of stick figures.

But the other day, when Collin brought these drawings to me, I was absolutely blown away.

It's great being a dad!

"People Playing Catch" by Collin Beck

"Mario and Blooper" by Collin Beck

"All The Things You Could Be Doing When Twitter is Down" by Collin Beck

Robert Scoble vs. Rob La Gesse: "Noise" Pollution

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Mon, 26 May 2008 17:21:00 +0000

“Heh, Rob La Gesse just deleted his FriendFeed account along with all my comments (he hates that comments were happening here on FriendFeed)” (Link)

The above comment was posted last night by Robert Scoble after Rob La Gesse ~~deleted~~ removed his feeds from his FriendFeed account shortly after an extended conversation regarding one of Rob La Gesse's blog posts started taking place on FriendFeed.

Robert Scoble's FriendFeed comment was about all that needed to be said on the subject, as the conversation took off from there.

Instead, Robert Scoble took to hounding Rob La Gesse on Twitter about the deletion, first claiming La Gesse did so because he didn't like how heated the conversation got, then went on to change his story to claim Rob La Gesse did so because he didn't like where the conversation was taking place. I'm not going to argue the motives behind La Gesse's ~~account~~ feed deletion on FriendFeed.

What I will discuss is how last night Robert Scoble went from"noise" to noise pollution.

First, let's not lose sight of the fact that this whole conversation-turned-schoolyard-shouting-match started over some bad press for Robert Scoble. Rob La Gesse wrote a critical piece about Mr. Scoble that claimed Scoble had a tendency to promote the hell out a new technology, then leave it behind when the next new bit of technology arrived on the scene.

Robert Scoble was first on the scene to drop a comment on the blog entry, then soon many of Scoble's followers from FriendFeed began to trickle in (myself included). Shortly there after the conversation started to shift to FriendFeed, and that's when all hell broke loose.

Rob La Gesse ~~deleted~~ removed his feeds from his FriendFeed account and the entire conversation that had taken place regarding his recent blog post was lost.

Robert Scoble says: "What a nasty thing to do. He just deleted his account and took all MY content with it!" (Link)
But then Robert Scoble said: "Chris: actually the person who started the comment cluster does "own" the cluster. For instance, you are commenting on my cluster here. I can delete your comment. I could also delete the whole cluster including everyone's comments on it. I've already deleted one comment to remove spam. This is like you are commenting on my blog and I have the same rights there." (Link)
My thoughts: Wasn't La Gesse just exercising the very rights you say he has?

Robert Scoble says: "Mike: >>You obviously do mind, you're moaning that kr8tr "deleted" your friendfeed comments. Yeah, I do mind. I mind that he took his marbles and went home cause he didn't like what I was saying here on top of his Twitter messages."
But last night says: "I answer this post further in a place that I control: http://friendfeed.com/e/7ea9b75a-b30a-8cac-15c7-64e1da674b69" (Link)
My take: Robert Scoble took his marbles and went home because he could not control the conversation on someone else's blog.

Robert Scoble says: "Me? I follow wherever the conversation takes me." (Link)

So much for that.

Photo by Flickr user Don Fulano

The Secret To Life

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Mon, 26 May 2008 16:07:00 +0000

I don't take credit for writing this. This came to my inbox and thought it was worth sharing.

A walker noticed an old lady sitting on her front step, so he walked up to her and said, 'I couldn't help noticing how happy you look! What is your secret?'

'I smoke ten cigars a day,' she said. 'Before I go to bed, I smoke a nice big joint. Apart from that, I drink a whole bottle of Jack Daniels every week, and eat only junk food. On week-ends, I pop pills, get laid, and do no other exercise at all.'

'That is absolutely amazing! How old are you?'

'Twenty-four,' she replied.

"It was better than we could have imagined"

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Mon, 26 May 2008 02:32:00 +0000

That's what Barry Goldstein, project manager for the Phoenix mission, told CNN tonight, and I was privileged enough to watch history in the making.

The Phoenix Mars Mission had a successful landing on Mars this evening, and Congressman John Culberson streamed it live (via QIK.com) from the command center at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA.

Watching the excitement of these NASA scientists as the first images from the Phoenix lander came beaming in at a whopping 700 bits per second. To put that speed into perspective, you'd have to go back to the average speed of a dial-up modem from around 1985. But the fact that the images and data are being beamed to Earth from the surface of Mars makes this an inspiring technological notion, and whether it is 700 bits per second, or 70, does not make this short of amazing.

What added to the wonder of the moment was the fact that while all of this was happening, and my mind was trying to comprehend the sheer magnitude of the scientific achievement that was unfolding before my very eyes, I was sharing the moment with people from all over in a small chat room attached to the video, and were watching and describing the very images I myself were seeing.

What a magnificent time we're living in. Here we are, landing an unmanned machine on the surface of another planet over millions of miles away. Who could have dreamed such things were possible a century ago? 100 years ago our great-grandparents were amazed that man could leave the ground and travel great distances with the aid of a machine. Today we're discovering the terrain of an alien world.

When I was 4 years old, NASA was planning a space station. Today my 4-year-old is seeing us explore Mars. Now one day my 4-year-old boy will be a 30 year-old man. When he reaches that milestone, where will science be then? It completely captures my imagination to think of the possibilities.

I cannot thank Congressman John Culberson enough for taking the time to share this moment in scientific history with all of us on the Internet, and thank you to Qik.com for providing such an extraordinary service that just keeps on getting better every time I am exposed to it.

Photo Credit: Flickr User Bluedharma

What can FidoNet teach us about today's fragmented conversation dilemma?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Thu, 22 May 2008 04:03:00 +0000

Remember the good old BBS days? When you could find good conversation on FidoNet?

We talk about the noise and the fragmenting of the conversation online, but if you ask me, what we had back in the day wasn't so bad.

FidoNet was much easier to the average person to follow than USENET, and SysOps could pick and choose which message board topics to offer to their subscriber base to better streamline the conversation. It was about connecting the users and the conversations. Someone in Dallas, Texas posts about the election of Bill Clinton, and I could add my thoughts on a separate bulletin board system in Michigan. Then someone in California would look at what we both had to say and share their opinion with the both of us.

In the days before the Internet was widely accepted, this was one hell of a way to connect to people around the globe that had access to the FidoNet. And it worked.

FriendFeed, Twitter, Pownce, Digg, Google Reader Notes, Blog Comments, etc... the conversation is fragmented terribly these days. Maybe it's time we take a page from some "old school" technology.

What if someone developed some type of standard "protocol" for the conversation to flow upon. Blog comments, Twitter posts, Pownce, FriendFeed, Digg, StumbleUpon, etc... if it all flowed on some type of standard protocol that synchronized within an agreed upon and coordinated network, you could pull the full conversation into your Blog or Website much like the SysOps pulled the conversation into their Bulletin Board Systems from FidoNet back in the early 1990s.

Then you'd have a system where someone who comments on a story on Digg could have his comment replied to by someone viewing the original blog post, and then several people could throw their two cents in on Twitter, and the entire thread could be followed on FriendFeed.

Easier said than done by a long shot, but if we start thinking FidoNet, maybe... just maybe... it'd be a step in the right direction.

Photo by Flickr user edans

Is the Nightlife still calling in Flint, Michigan?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:45:00 +0000

The only time I ever end up in Flint is to go to the Bishop International Airport to catch a flight to Georgia now and then. But once upon a time, there was a thriving nightlife in Flint... let's say, in the 1980s.

Is there still anything going on for nightlife in Flint other than the Déjà Vu strip club?

Ring My Bell: Helping Customers Recognize Your Commitment to Service

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Wed, 21 May 2008 01:07:00 +0000

On my way home this evening I was definitely thinking Arby's, and stopped in at the location at M-59 and Telegraph Road in Pontiac, MI to get one of those mouthwatering and delectable "Market Fresh" sandwiches that Arby's dishes up. I had some time to kill, so I skipped the drive through and went inside to order and eat.

When I got inside, the manager was right there to take my order quickly and accurately. My food was ready within a couple of minutes and served with a smile. The restaurant was clean, the condiments were fully stocked, and the beverage area was clean and presentable as well.

On my way out of the restaurant as I was throwing my trash away I noticed a large bell on the wall with a chain hanging from it that said "Please Ring If You Received Good Service." I most certainly rang the bell for all the reasons I mentioned above. Almost instantly I heard several voices yell "thank you" from the kitchen.

This got me thinking about how many businesses including mine do everything they can to provide the best service possible to our customers. If you aren't doing that in today's competitive market, you're as good as dead in the water. But do customers truly recognize this? We set up customer service departments not to field calls of appreciation, but to assist our customers to make sure they are getting the most out of the products and services we provide to them.

Many businesses are getting a handle on their service by asking customers to fill out a comment card or by taking a survey. Most chain stores now print a toll free number and a survey code and entice you to provide feedback by offering cash prize drawings for everyone who completes the survey. While much of that data may be useful, how can you be certain that a significant portion of your customers didn't just fill random numbers out in order to quickly enter into your contest? Are these customers giving you an accurate reflection of their experience?

My focus in business has always been to send the message to customers that great customer service is my number one priority, and to facilitate a relationship with my customer base where they are as comfortable in telling me what I've done right as they are in bringing bad experiences to my attention. And when you have customers telling your employees "thanks for doing such a great job", morale goes through the roof.

By having a bell right out on the floor in plain sight and encouraging customers to ring it when they've received great service, this Arby's restaurant is creating a service oriented culture within its doors.

What better feedback than when you have ten customers come in, and only one rings the bell. Time to take a look around and see what can be improved on the fly. Likewise, if your bell is ringing all day long, you may want to treat those employees to some movie passes.

How are you getting feedback from your customers? Are customers ringing your bell?

Photo by Flickr user Luis Alves

Seattle Does the Math: Fines > Lives

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Tue, 20 May 2008 04:17:00 +0000

In what can best be described the most deplorable money generating scheme hatched by a government against its own citizens, the city of Seattle has opted to shorten the length of the yellow lights on their traffic signals as they expand their red light camera program across the city.

In an article posted on TheNewspaper.com, a city traffic engineer admitted to shortening the length of yellow lights in downtown Seattle, Washington by a 0.5 seconds.

States like Michigan and Texas have discovered that they can actually reduce the number of traffic accidents by lengthening the time the traffic light stays yellow. It infuriates me to see a government going the other way with the length of the yellow light when studies prove that accidents are reduced with a longer yellow light.

It is of my opinion that city officials in Seattle saw the flip side of that study, which indicates that infractions for disobeying a traffic signal rose over 100% when the length of the yellow light is shortened. At $124 a pop, those fines would add up pretty quickly.

From TheNewspaper.com article: "Seattle Traffic Management Director Wayne Wentz told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper that the reduction was not designed to increase the profit of the city's expanding red light camera program."

Shame on you, Mr. Wentz. How stupid do you think people are?

Personally, I'd love to see a class action lawsuit filed against the city of Seattle by any citizen involved in a traffic accident at one of these lights that were "adjusted for traffic flow".

Photo by Flickr user slopjop

Collin's Blog Post Idea: Super Mario Brothers Music!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Tue, 13 May 2008 23:47:00 +0000

While browsing the Internet tonight, my 4-year-old son, Collin, came in to sit on my lap. While he was with me, I loaded up this blog to take a look at some of the comments I've been left recently. My son noticed it was his daddy's picture at the top of the page and started asking questions about the site.

Thankfully Collin was satisfied with the overly simplified answer that this blog is a place where, "daddy writes about all kinds of stuff." I went on to show him where I've written about Super Mario Brothers 3 coming out for the Nintendo Wii, and about music from Super Mario Brothers.

So Collin asks me, "what about Super Mario Brothers 2?" Smart kid. Yes, what about Super Mario Brothers 2?

The music from Super Mario Brothers 2 is just as catchy as Super Mario Brothers 1 and 3, but never gets the same "air time". This is probably due to the fact that Super Mario Brothers 2 was a departure from the previous formula, and was never played as much as the others. Super Mario Brothers 2 had no level time limits, the bonus game took mastering to earn extra lives, you could select different players between levels, and to beat enemies you had to throw things at them instead of jumping on their heads. Seemed more like Megaman than a Super Mario Brothers game.

Everyone played the original Super Mario Brothers because it came packaged with the Nintendo Entertainment System. Everyone played Super Mario Brothers 3 because it was so widely anticipated and packed full of surprises and fun features. Super Mario Brothers 2 never got the same play, period.

Collin helped me do a little Super Mario Brothers 2 research on YouTube, and we came across this little gem posted by ceedjay. Here's a couple of guys, having fun playing one of the beloved tunes from Super Mario Brothers, but they did something very interesting with it. They combined piano with guitar, and the result is absolutely amazing. The fact that it only has 319 views (as of this posting) tells you that Super Mario Brothers 2 just wasn't as well received as the rest of the series. The performance these two guys give deserves many, many more views than that.

With no further ado, Collin and I present to you the sound of Super Mario Brothers 2.

If you like what you heard, swing over and give them a Digg, will ya?

I Saw It On CNN, Now I'm Wearing It

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:49:00 +0000

How many times have you been on CNN and saw an outrageous headline and said, "damn, I wish I could get that on a shirt!" What, you neither?

Well your non-existent wish has been granted! Now you can click the handy little t-shirt icon next to your favorite headlines and order a custom "I saw it on CNN" t-shirt, complete with the CNN logo and the time stamp when the headline appeared on the CNN.com site!

(Click the shirt icon and have the story immortalized in fabric forever!)

If I see someone wearing one of these shirts in public, the temptation to walk up to them, poke them in the chest and shout "why isn't the story loading?!?" will be too great.

The Beatle Barkers - You'll Never Hear the Beatles the Same Way Again

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:29:00 +0000

Ever wonder what it would sound like if it was Bingo instead of Ringo? If it was Poodles instead of Paul? Fido instead of George? Or Rex instead of John?

Wonder no longer, because here they are... the Beatle Barkers!

Today's Open Question: "Does having a bluetooth earpiece make me a 'douchebag'?"

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Beck) — Mon, 12 May 2008 20:42:00 +0000

Earlier today I posted the above picture with TwitPic with this question on Twitter:

"Does having a bluetooth earpiece make me a 'douchebag'?"

What got me thinking about this was a picture Thomas Hawk posted on Flickr of a man who was angry about having his picture taken in public. When you hover your mouse over this guy's bluetooth earpiece, you'll see a user, Leela.a, tagged it as "This explains it all..."

Is there something generally understood about people who walk around with a bluetooth earpiece dangling off the side of their face?

Here are some of the responses I received on Twitter:

fireton @ hoopadoo Used to be when we saw someone talking to themselves we called the funny farm. Now we just check their ears. about 5 hours ago from web in reply to hoopadoo

swhitley @ hoopadoo It is really difficult to tell the crazies from the bluetooth wearers. Those Oakleys aren't going to help. about 5 hours ago from web in reply to hoopadoo

JeannieGrrl @ hoopadoo http://twitpic.com/106i <- Nope, not a douchebag. (biased here) My hub has one about 5 hours ago from TwitPic in reply to hoopadoo

metrogal84 @ hoopadoo douchebag? no. only if you're in an elevator...I always think ppl. are talking to me when they aren't. it can be confusing! about 5 hours ago from web in reply to hoopadoo

brianhewitt @ hoopadoo http://twitpic.com/106i <- I love 'em, but if you walk around all day wearing it even when you're not on the phone.... about 5 hours ago from TwitPic in reply to hoopadoo

RhiRhi @ hoopadoo Only if you walk around the grocery store talking to it. about 5 hours ago from twhirl in reply to hoopadoo

sigsegfalt @ hoopadoo Possibly. Do you wear it (in public) regardless of whether or not you are actually talking to someone? about 5 hours ago from twhirl in reply to hoopadoo

Speaking of those people who seem to hold an "imaginary conversation" whenever they're out in public with a bluetooth earpiece glued to their face, I think Larry David may have come up with the best solution for handling that situation:

Now I ask the rest of you... what do you think about bluetooth earpieces?