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OMG I need to vent- Norton SUCKS

2010-09-16T11:49:00.002-04:00

I have been a loyal Norton customer for the past 10 years. Recently, I have been seeing a popup virus that I struggled with back in 2009 reappear again. I have Norton 360 and Windows Vista and religiously run live update and complete system scans. I am a responsible computer owner who takes time to ensure that my temporary internet files are cleaned, pop up blockers are on, and my system is maintained in top working order. The last time I saw this virus, back in late 2009, the Norton technical rep was extremely knowledgeable and helpful and took remote connection to fix my problem free of cost to me. After many months of no issues, I recently began seeing these mysterious pop ups again. I called earlier this week and talked with a rep who advised me to try the Power Eraser. It found nothing, and the pop-ups continued.

After a chat session with a rep earlier today, she advised me to try the Norton Bootable Recovery Tool and after some time downloading, even that found nothing. Finally, the other night I called in and began talking with a rep. He explained that if I have already tried the "self removal" and it did not work, then I would have to pay for a technician to manually remove the virus. I explained to him that this was seemingly the same virus that I was assured was gone many months ago. In addition, my annual subscription to Norton is by principal supposed to keep me virus free provided I maintain responsible updating, therefore when it fails to do so- I should not be forced to have to pay AGAIN.

After gaining no reasonable explanation from that rep, I asked to speak with his supervisor. He put me on hold and came back 5 mins later to tell me that his supervisor had told him to, "just tell her those are her options". I asked him if there was a reason why I couldn't speak with his supervisor and he repeated that "well he will just tell you the same thing.". I told him that I would wait but that I would like to speak to him.

This supervisor said his name was "Joya" and that there was no additional information he could provide me- for “security reasons”. Right. I wonder how many “Joya’s” there are in INDIA. This supervisor told me that it was not Norton's fault that I received a virus. That it’s “just a software”. From the very beginning of our conversation, he was cutting off my sentences and talking over me. After I tried at length to explain my situation, but he got even ruder and then proceeded to mock me. He said, "well then it must be a miracle then that the virus got on your computer". I was blown away.

I explained to him an analogy: If I purchased a NEW car, and the engine blew up after only a few months- who fixes it? The car dealer would fix it. Because when you purchase something for a sole intended purpose there is ALWAYS some implied warranty. He then proceeded to tell me, "well Ma'am before you buy another car, I suggest you learn how to drive it." Insinuating that I don’t know how to use a computer! I was speechless. I then asked for his name and ID again and he then proceeded to hang up on me! I received no “call back” even though he had my number from the beginning of the call INCASE we got disconnected. Unbelievable.

I am truly shocked that after this many years of using Norton and having good experiences, this lousy "Supervisor" could be so outrageously rude. I pay religiously to renew my subscriptions so that when something like this attacks my system- I am PROTECTED. It’s really sad to think that in my hour of need I would have to deal with such insolence and mockery. Why is the customer monetarily penalized when the program paid for fails?

Top 10 Bathroom Etiquette Tips

2010-08-12T11:09:00.004-04:00

An Ode to my fellow ladies,

Recently, I have been slightly scarred by some bathroom encounters I have had. I was brought up to be respectful and mindful of my manners in public, but apparently others were not taught such things. So to those ladies, I would like to help fill you in on the following “common sense” tips for using the rest room.

Top 10 Bathroom Etiquette Tips

1. Do not talk on your cell phone while in the stall- it’s just gross.

2. Do not provide me with any sort of commentary on your situation in there, no noises at all.

3. Do not have entire conversations with your coworker in the other stall.

4. PLEASE wash your hands- and use soap.

5. Courtesy flushes are a requirement not an option.

6. Do not place your belongings on the stall floor- that’s totally gross.

7. If someone is in there for an extended period of time- do not do a “Mexican standoff”- just come back in 15 mins.

8. Clean up after yourself- if you sprinkle when you tinkle, be a sweetie and wipe the seatie.

9. If you see that there is an “issue” with a stall- ie. Over flowing, clogged, whatever… CALL it in! Don’t wait for someone else to be surprised.

10. Do not use the work bathroom to completely get dressed, do your makeup, your hair, and cut your toenails- GET UP EARLIER!!

Together we CAN make a difference. LOL. :)

Expectations

2010-08-03T13:14:00.000-04:00

“Live life for today, for tomorrow is promised to no one.”

Isn’t that so true? How do we know what tomorrow brings? We plan and schedule based around a loose expectation of how we think tomorrow will go.

Recently, my husband launched a new franchise. We learned firsthand how important it is to set reasonable expectations. Over the nearly 8 months of preparation we were never given anymore than 10 steps at a time. Our rep wasn’t always available and so we ended up wasting time waiting for her to forward us her next set of steps. If we had been given a FULL list of all the activities involved, we could have moved at our own pace and would have had a better gage as to where we were in the process.

As an employer, it is so important to let your employees know where they stand. Set expectations for them for all new projects and procedures. Allow them a line of sight into the bigger picture. You may just see that folks work faster and smarter when they see the whole pie instead of only a small slice.

Got Bruises? Not anymore!

2010-06-16T09:25:00.001-04:00

So I went to my doctors last week and he is wonderful. He is about 75 years old and has seen it all. He always cautions me on what over the counter things work and what is a total rip off. Well the other day, I told him that I keep bruising and it just takes a while for them to go away.

He told me there is a gel that his wife uses that TAKES BRUISES AWAY. I was like, shut up! Really?? They really have thought of everything. So I bought it from him- $15. I probably paid too much because on google it was listed for $1.99, but oh well.

It's called "Arnica Gel" and its made by Arnicare and suprisingly- its french! Just like my doctor. :) Here's the website from the back of the bottle: www.arnicare.com Check it out. Let me know if you try it. So far its worked and cleared up my bruises in 1-2 days. It says on the Wikipedia page,
" Arnica preparations used topically have been demonstrated to act as an anti-inflammatory and assist normal healing processes by facilitating transport of blood and fluid accumulations through a dilating action of subcutaneous blood capillaries"

Pretty cool I say. Check it out and let me know what you think-

Top 15 Android Apps

2010-06-01T13:24:00.000-04:00

I had a friend of mine ask me this weekend what I thought of my android phone. She said her husband just bought them both the Motorola Droid and she was having a hard time getting used to it. This is very common, I have several friends who went through this adoption period- but one thing was consistent- when they finally got their phones set up- they LOVED them! So for all you newbies to the android community and to those who are vets just lookin for some cool apps- here's my top 15:

1. Advanced Task Killer: This one allows you to shut off any apps that run or update in the background with one easy touch. It comes in handy when you are low on battery and want to conserve.

2. Any Cut: Love this app. You can create a shortcut for any action or program. I use it to create a one touch button that calls my husband right on my home screen.

3. Astrid Tasks: This app is cool cause you can keep an ongoing to do list and sort it by due date and importance. You can also create a widget that will show your astrid list on your home screen by holding down on an empty spot on the home screen and choosing widgets- then select Astrid.

4. Calorie Counter: This one has the nutritional info for just about every restaurant and fast food place out there. The entire menu is in there- so helpful when you are watching what you eat- or just want the calorie info for that Five Guys double cheeseburger.

5. My Coupons: Super cool for keeping up with crazy promos like "National Doughnut Day" and other deals you would not otherwise know about. It's geographic too so it pulls deals in your area.

6. Easy Tether Pro: This one is pretty neat, but it's the exception- It's the only one in my list that costs money but I believe its well worth the $10. It allows you to connect to the internet through your phone. Connection speed is good and solid. Well worth it if you want to connect your laptop where there is no available wifi. Just make sure you have the "unlimited" data plan.

7. Facebook: There's nothing like the original, but this one works pretty well. Its much faster than going to the mobile browser one and has more features. You can also do a widget for this one that will show up on one of your home screens.

8. Pkt Auctions eBay: So cool and useful. I have been shopping before and been able to compare the price in the store to the price on eBay. eBay almost always wins of coarse, but I have had some shop owners match their price- which saved me bunches.

9. Shazam: How cool is this app? Seriously. It's like having a friend who is a music fanatic right in your pocket. I use this one mostly in the car when I hear a song on the radio and I don't know who's singing it or can't remember what it's called. Plus, it saves your search so you can look the song up on iTunes later on when you get home.

10. Text Easy: This app is nice to have because it allows you to mass text. I use it mostly on the holidays when I want to tell everyone Happy...whatever.

11. Tweetcaster: There are many twitter apps and I haven't tried the new official one yet- but this one works well and I like it over all the other ones. Easier to read and update. More functions and uploading photos works well.

12. Weatherbug: I love the bug. He is way better than the weather channel app. Better maps and it loads in your pull down screen so you always know the temp.

13. Where: Where has a ton of features, but what I like to use it for is local gas prices, the Starbucks finder, and local traffic updates.

14. ShopSavvy: This is a bar code reader. Super useful if you are shopping and like to compare. It will show you the prices at other merchants locally and prices at large online shopping sites like Amazon. Doesn't compare to eBay though.

15. Quick Uninstaller: This one takes apps off your phone easily in one click. Very useful for those apps that you thought were cool but then you hated or never used. If you test out apps like me, you should get this one.

Customer Relations #FAIL

2010-05-07T13:34:00.001-04:00

So, the other day, I went to the lunchroom to heat up my Lean Cuisine. Not paying much mind, I popped the little frozen tray in the microwave and set it for 4 mins. After waiting and drooling from hunger, I sat down and peeled the plastic cover off to find, 2 PIECES of chicken. Seriously, people? 2 pieces?

I glanced back at the box and recalled how excited I was to try this new flavor, Chicken Pecan, and noticed that there was 5 pieces of chicken on the box cover.

I just felt a little disappointed that my lunch was so incredibly small and unappealing. So I emailed Lean Cuisine. I attached my photo and told them how I felt.

They emailed back after a few days and said that their meals are portioned by weight and they would notify the quality control people. Oh and that I should expect some coupon"s" in the mail. A very predictable response.

It was all sort of what I expected, until I received their letter with the coupon"s". It was ONE voucher. LOL. I thought, wow, it cost them more to mail me the letter than to give me a voucher. I just thought that was so very lame. At least put 2 or 3 in there. Especially when the other lady referred to multiple coupons on their way. When a customer has a bad experience, why not take the chance to go above my expectations and impress me?

With all the other options out there for consumers, manufacturers should capitalize on consumers who reach out to them. That little extra, often pays ten fold with consumer brand loyalty and word of mouth advertising. What do you guys think?

Wanta be an expert? It's easy.

2010-04-30T10:18:00.001-04:00

Ok, I use the term, "expert" loosely. :) I can't imagine where I would be today without the web. Google is my BFF, as many of you already know from my previous posts. And it still amazes me that people are as ignorant as they appear, especially lately. When I don't know how to do/fix something, I Google it. That's it. Just look it up and absorb the various opinions and direction of the multitude of other users in the world. No matter how obscure the task/question, I do believe if you search the internet long enough you will find the answer.

Thats what amazes me is that even with all this wealth of knowledge at our fingertips, folks still remain in the dark. Whether its a question about a specific computer program, social media, trade show ethics, or even how to work on your car. Whatever it is- YOU to can be an expert.Or at least have a clue. Just look it up. It's that easy.

I am no expert for sure. Just a self taught, driven, thirsty for knowledge individual who makes it my mission to stay informed. I get that these "in the dark" individuals may think its easier to just ask someone who knows, but then you only get that one opinion. What if they're wrong?

The internet has given us so much content to absorb. No matter where your ignorance lies, you too can learn- it just takes a little research. And the help of Google. ;-)

Angelic Intervention

2010-04-27T11:49:00.000-04:00

So, normally I'm not the overly religious type, however it seems that whenever things don't quite go my way I always find myself going back and asking why. I do maintain my faith that what happens is for a reason and seem to accept that no matter how hard I try, if it's not meant to be, then it just isn't going to happen.

However, that doesn't make the disappointment settle any easier. It's tough when you plan on things one way and they just completely turn out the opposite. A friend of mine's Mother told me last week, that you are supposed to "ask him, try on your own, and then accept the outcome." (presumably because its for the best).

I guess thats all you can do. It sucks though. Monday was a tough day for me. Lots of bad news. Here's hoping that this Angelic Intervention into my seemingly well planned future was for the best.

Earth Day

2010-04-22T11:51:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone. Happy Earth Day! What a funny "holiday". What do you think of when you think about this day?

My childhood memories of Earth Day involve outdoor "field day" activities like sack races, tug of war, and face painting. There was usually a ceremony involving the planting of a tree or burying of a capsule or sorts.

You know whats funny, as a child I always thought "how cool will that be when we dig that up in 30 years." I guess I assumed that one day I would be notified that the elementary school was unearthing this message we all planted so long ago. But now, my adult self is unfortunately spoiled with the harsh reality that no one is going to hunt me down all the way in Florida to tell me that they found our capsule, LOL. Isn't it funny how our view on things changes so dramatically as we get older.

So what are you doing for Mother Earth today? As adults, what can we do to make a difference. Recycle our trash, use high efficiency bulbs, or drive a hybrid? I think today I will go online to my trash collector and request the recycle bins. I have never been one to recycle but I think it's my time to lend a hand.

So, what are you doing today?

April Fools Day

2010-04-01T09:55:00.001-04:00

So as you know I am a Googler at heart. I own a G1 and am practically married to Google with nearly every service fully embraced. And nearly every year on April Fools, Google has created a tradition to publish a "hoax" thats usually so incrediably far fetched that it's hilarious. This tradition started back in 2000 and ever since, I have looked forward to seeing just what they would come up with this year. In case you haven't been following these, here's a brief history:

2000 - Google's "MentalPlex" search. Basically a mind reading search engine.
2002 - "PigeonRank" a play on their PageRank system with references that no animals were hurt in the creation of this system.
2004 - "Luna/X" a moon based operating system who was posting ficticious job opportunities.
2005 - "Google Glup" A new drink who's benefits included improving your knack for Googling and came in 4 flavors: Glutamate Grape, Sugar-free Radical, Beta Carroty, and Sero-tonic Water.
2006 - "Google Romance" a search engine who offers users a soulmate search.
2007 - "Gmail Paper" Google changed the login page for Gmail to showcase this "new" process where they would print your emails and mail them for you. This year also featured a "Google TiSP" or Toilet Internet Service Provider a broadband service by Google who uses your toilets and sewage lines to deliver your internet.
2008 - This year had many goofs, but my personal fav was the "Gmail Custom Time" which seemingly allowed users to pre-date their emails and select to have them display as read or unread in the recipients inbox. "Be on time. Every time." LOL. I still love that one.
2009 - "Google 3D" using Chrome, users were able to see the screen in 3D or sunken in, whatever, it was cool.
2010 - And finally, this year:

Google Books available in Anachrome 3D
Google books has introduced a feature which allows any book to be read in 3D, assuming the viewer has appropriate glasses. It is enabled by clicking the "View in 3D" button in the menu bar above the book.

Store anything on Google Docs
Google announced that Google Docs will have the capacity to upload anything, including physical objects like keys, remote controls, etc. The site declared that one could use this to find items like keys using CTRL-F and send objects around the globe by "uploading" and "downloading" them, at the low price of $0.10 per kg.

Google Street View available in Anachrome 3D
When using Google Street View you can change the view to display anachrome 3D images. It can be enabled by clicking on the orange Street View icon, now depicting a man that is wearing Red/Cyan glasses. The man seems happy when wearing the glasses, unhappy when he just has them on his head. The 3D is genuine, with the red/green offset being greater for closer objects.

Google Maps OCCA
Google Australia changed directions for Google Maps Australia to use Australian Slang terms in the direction results. Examples of the altered directions include "You need to go south towards [street name] mate", "Hang a right when you get to [street name]", "Chuck a left when you get to [street name]", "Ya gotta take the turn off onta [street name]" and saying "Ya might have to cough up some cash along here" to indicate toll booths.

Search results generated in different units
Google's search results page displayed the time taken to load the results in different units than seconds; for example microfortnights, microweeks, nanocenturies, epochs, femtogalactic years, parsecs, 23.00 skidoo, jiffies, shakes of a lamb's tail, gigawatts, hertz, Planck times, centibeats, centons, warp factors and "times the velocity of an unladen swallow", a reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The value for gigawatts is always 1.21, a reference to Back to the Future.

YouTube ASCII video filter
The logo of YouTube was changed to an ASCII-style one made out of 1s.[17] The YouTube logo is a reference to some videos having a new quality setting, namely "TEXTp". According to a notice underneath the videos, viewing the video with this quality setting enabled allows YouTube to save one US dollar ($1) per second on bandwidth costs. The notice also remarks on the source of this new "feature", wishing the reader a happy April Fool's Day. However in accordance with the announcement, the video quality on some videos can indeed be set to 'TEXTp' and video output will be rendered through an ASCII filter.

Animal Translator BETA
Google placed a link on the main page, advertising a new Google Animal Translator service to add to their Language Translator service. Clicking the link would take you to a page advertising an app for Android phones for the translator, with the tagline being "Bridging the gap between animals and humans". http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/landing/translateforanimals/

Once the app is installed on an Android phone it provides some amusing translations depending on the animal you select.

Topeka
Effective 1AM (CDT) on April 1, 2010, Google jokingly changed its name to "Topeka."

Standard Voicemail Mode for Google voice
Google placed a New! Standard Voicemail Mode link in the Google Voice main page.

Evil Bit
Google added an "evil bit" to their API, to aid in generating an appropriate response to nefarious deeds.

Wave Wave Notifications
Google Wave can be set to have a human being wave at you to notify you of a change to a Google Wave.

Google Annotations Gallery
The Google Annotations Gallery ("GAG") is an exciting new Java open source library that provides a rich set of annotations for developers to express themselves.

Japanese Input System
Google's proposed keyboard includes a single key for each Japanese character.

Gmail vowels
The home page of GMail (English version), including its logo, has been disemvowelled.
Virgle
An update to 2008. Google's going to mars and taking Richard Branson with them. http://www.google.com/virgle/plan_1.html

Social Marketing and the Future of Publishing

2010-03-25T09:54:00.001-04:00

So this morning on my favorite blog feed, "Responsible Marketing Blog" I clicked on a link to a video they were showcasing on YouTube: http://bit.ly/9EGOY8

I thought at first that this vid was a little bit annoying, especially because my target audience for my marketing efforts is so far from what is being portrayed. However, once the "twist" came in this video, I was highly intrigued because it showcases the reality of the web's social revolution.
As marketers, the faster we shift into this type of approach to direct marketing the better. The higher education arena has a reputation of being highly traditional and sluggish to adopt upcoming trends- but I wholeheartedly believe in the value of adopting these strategies into your media mix.

Anyway- watch the vid and you'll see what I mean. ;)

Second thoughts

2010-02-10T09:08:00.001-05:00

So recently, my husband and myself have embarked on a journey to open a small franchise restaurant. It's something we have talked about doing for a very long time, so when the opportunity presented itself, it was a no brainer. The only problem/frustration so far, aside from the mountains of paperwork, is the haunting feelings of “what if”. What if we do all this work and it doesn’t make money? What if the economy isn’t stable enough yet to support our business? What if our costs rise and we have to declare bankruptcy? My husband shares the same fears as I do, but he believes that nothing ever worth doing is easy.
I wonder if all small business owners go through these feelings in the beginning? If you have insight, hit me up. I am curious to see what others believed were the anchors in their ships- like “if you have these 3 out of 5 things- you will be successful.” I wonder what those things are. It may be different for everyone, but there has to be some constants.

GoDaddy

2010-02-09T13:26:00.001-05:00

You know, I read a few articles about these GoDaddy commercials from the super bowl last weekend, and it got me thinking. I wonder what the exec's at GoDaddy were thinking when they produced those commercials? Because they were neither funny nor responsible. The Doritos commercials to me were the best. They were funny and memorable. WITHOUT being irresponsible and degrading.

Danica must be ashamed and if she’s not, then she certainly should be. Her driving matches the quality of these commercials, though, so I don’t feel too bad for her. :) Don’t get me wrong, I value a great athlete, but I am not going to allow you a handicap for your race or sex.

If you missed these commercials, they can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/adblitz

Super Bowl Fun Facts

2010-01-20T13:17:00.000-05:00

Here are some statistics for this year’s advertising during the Super Bowl .

 Last year there were 98.7 million total viewers of the Super Bowl.

 This year’s Super Bowl ads are pricing between $2.5 million and $2.8 million.

 This year is the first time since 1996 that the average price for an ad has dropped from the previous year.

 Anheuser-Busch has appeared in every big game in the last two decades, followed by PepsiCo, then GM:

 Anheuser-Busch has spent $311.8 million on airtime

 PepsiCo has spent $254.2 million on airtime

 General Motors has spent $80.5 million on airtime

 PepsiCo will not be advertising Pepsi, but will run ads for Doritos.

 GM will not be running ads.

 Foreign car makers will be spending more on ads this year.

 A total of about 30 companies will run ads during Super Bowl XLIV.

 The 2009 telecast on NBC included a record 45 minutes and five seconds of ads.

 Typically, about 20% of the commercial time is given to plugs by the network for its own shows.

 Since 1990, more than 1,400 spots have run during the Super Bowl.

 The Super Bowl over the last twenty years has generated $2.17 billion in network sales.

Thank you to Adweek, NYDailynews, and 60 Sec Marketing Blog for this exciting info!

2010-01-15T09:01:00.001-05:00

12ft Anaconda in Kissimmee! http://ping.fm/rqn45

2010-01-11T09:10:00.001-05:00

Look at these funny billboards http://ping.fm/p6TWx

Another funny

2009-12-16T19:54:00.002-05:00

www.autocompleteme.com is so funny!! Google is brilliant!! LOL!

2009-12-04T13:55:00.001-05:00

SO FUNNY! Have you guys heard the Tiger Woods slow jam yet? http://ping.fm/SdP6F

2009-11-25T09:13:00.001-05:00

Tons of new pictures of the RoyalCaribbean OasisoftheSeas: http://bit.ly/ZI8vC

2009-11-20T13:11:00.001-05:00

This is hilarious! Expense reciept generator- http://ping.fm/k9UXE

2009-11-18T14:12:00.001-05:00

WOW look at what a great alternative to Evite! http://www.pingg.com

2009-11-17T14:14:00.001-05:00

Finally bacon flavored mail!They really have thought of everything. http://bit.ly/2GYaoV

2009-11-12T13:45:00.001-05:00

As a proud owner of a German Shepherd, I wanted to pass along this link to you all incase you wanted to send help support the military GSD's. http://bit.ly/14ohJV

2009-10-25T16:02:00.001-04:00

Am I the only one who wonders if this Large Fry is going to be the one who wins me a million dollars? http://ping.fm/1719Y

2009-10-11T13:46:00.001-04:00

Wanta laugh? http://ping.fm/Z6w09