After some offline and online discussions about the amazingly dumb things I see job applicants do on social media, I’ve decided to compile them for posterity. As an employer, I hope that potential applicants don’t read it. These FAILS make my job so much easier in deciding whom to work with. Here are some particular [...]
When is a duck not a duck? When it’s listed on Google as a local duck. We now tend to use Google searches more than we use the yellow pages or 411 (does 411 even work anymore?) However, those “local” searches can be heavily manipulated. This NY Times article () talks about how in a [...]
While I’m pretty darn proud of our reviews on such websites as Google, Angie’s List, and Insider Pages, I urge everyone to be a bit cautious about relying solely on online reviews for purchasing decisions. While this Consumerist post talks about how “shills” are being paid to post reviews on Yelp , this is not [...]
Last week I attended another excellent social:IRL boot camp, this time with none other than Peter Shankman. Peter promised the conference would be about how to generate revenue, not friends or followers or influence scores. Some people have already covered some of the basics here and here as well as a here. Instead of telling [...]
This recent article in the Wall Street Journal really annoyed me. Customers ask me all the time about children’s safety online. My general opinion is that “parental control” software is ineffective and a poor substitute for parental supervision of computer usage. This article reinforces my opinion. Even on “kid-safe” websites, your children’s’ privacy is at [...]
Quickbooks and Intuit products in general come with a “sunset policy” which means that after about 3 years they can’t exactly turn off your program but they won’t provide any technical support nor will they allow you to do any online activities such as payroll or banking. They give you three years on a product [...]
I’ve written about this before, but I’m still pretty amazed that customers allow complete strangers to control their computers without any supervision. The business model, of course, makes sense. Have a bank of technicians working from anywhere in the world fixing a long list of computers simultaneously. While waiting on something to load on computer [...]
“Results not typical”, “Paid Spokesperson”, “I approved this message” and other disclaimers are not only a good idea, but the law and that law has expanded recently. While my “day job” is doing computer repair in Lawrence, Topeka and Kansas City, I do have a side professional writing gig and have to deal with disclosure [...]
When I first heard this morning that Google’s Fiber project was coming to Kansas City, KS, I thought it was an April Fools joke. I then watched the presentation and tears came to my eyes. I’ve watched Apple keynotes and gotten excited, but nothing to this level. New iPads and other gadgets are fun and [...]
Last week I talked about Lawrence residents using national companies instead of local merchants for services, yet the delivery of those services is by actual Lawrence residents. After that post, I received many emails telling me this is a common practice when it comes to floral delivery and job placement. Why should the computer industry [...]
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