But here’s a thought. Since Congress is all about stimulus packages and tax breaks, let’s give everyone a $200 rebate on tuning up their car

Like the idea. But it will never happen, but then again it seems most good ideas don’t get through congress recently.

This bookmarket allows you to generate random passwords using a word or phrase.  Basically what you do is you choose a Master Password.  Now when you visit a site you want to log into, you input your Master Password into the password field and click on the bookmarklet and it generates a random password.  Now the great thing about this is that it allows you to use the same Master Password for all websites, but when it generates the random password it uses the domain you are at.  In my blog’s case it would use connermccall.com as part of the password creation process. Using a random test phrase as my master password, this bookmarklet generated this password ‘zTew5ZoSsfjU’.

This means that you only need to remember your master password, but you can use original and secure passwords at all of your sites, and since it’s a bookmarket, as long as you have access to your browser or the web, you can always recreate your passwords.  This is a great way to increase your safety and security on the Internet, without causing much inconvienence, which really should be the point of all security software.

Learn them for whatever system you are using, they can be a huge time saver.  It’s a lot quicker and more convenient to just press control and S to save your document instead of moving your mouse up to file, clicking and moving down to save.  Learn the common shortcuts and amaze your friends and co-workers with the speed and efficiency you accomplish your tasks.

These keys should be pressed at the same time, I usually press and hold the control key and then press the corresponding letter, use it frequently and it will become second nature.

• control and c - This is used to copy the selected text same as edit and then copy
• control and v - Used to paste copied text, same as edit and then paste
• control and s - used to save, use this frequently and you will never fear a power outage again
• control and a - selects every thing on the screen, same as edit and then select all
• control and p - Prints the current document same as file and then print
• alt then tab - cycles through open windows and programs that are listed on the task bar

There are always more shortcuts to learn.  Check out these links for even more.

• Windows Keyboard Shortcuts - Microsoft.com
• Microsoft Word Keyboard Shortcuts - Microsoft.com8
• Essential Windows XP Shortcuts - lifehacker.com
• Internet Explorer Shortcuts - Microsoft.com
• Firefox Keyboard Shortcuts - mouserunner.com

1. No processed sugar; no soda, no candy, no high fructose corn syrup.
2. No white bread, only whole grain high fiber bread
3. Eat Yogurt, stick with plain yogurt and add fresh or frozen fruit

Of course exercise is important to but those three things have definitely made a difference in my energy level.

Within my office, I pretty much assumed the role of the “computer guy”.  Not that it comes with a pay increase, but it does get recognition, and I get to know nearly everyone in the office.  One thing I have noticed is that when contacting our company help desk, I have a remarkably higher success rate and much quicker turnaround on my calls than most of my co-workers.

This led me to post a quick idea of what I think you should do when contacting technical support.

1. Be able to describe the problem, this includes what steps cause the problem and how it affects the system you are using.  If your system shutdown down when you launched your virus scanner, try the same steps again and see if you can recreate the problem.  Do not assume what you think causes the problem actually creates the problem, and if you are not sure let the person at the other end of the line know that you really don’t know what caused the problem, don’t just assume you know.
2. Realize the person at the end of the line will probably ask you to repeat some of the steps you have tried.  Don’t get irritated, unfortunately they deal with people who say they have restarted their computer when they never actually did.
3. Try and make a personal connection, you will always get better service if the person can relate to you.  Asking about their day can make a world of difference
4. Don’t blame them, even if it’s a problem caused by a recent software update or a change to the way the system operated, you can bet a good chunk of change that their opinion of the change wasn’t solicited, now they are dealing with an increased workload, and are likely just as annoyed with the change as you are.
5. Unfortunately you will occasionally get someone who really is incompetent, I don’t hesitate to either request a transfer or just hang up and call back to get someone else.  Your time is valuable and if you are wasting it don’t feel bad about taking steps.
6. Educate yourself; try to know enough about the systems you company uses that you can at least find the settings dialogue if you are asked to.

To summarize, a few simple steps could lead to 90% of your problems beings solved in 10-15 minutes.  The most important thing is to be able to recreate and describe the problem for the help desk, be polite, and have at least a passing knowledge of the technology you are using.  Doing those three things should lead to much better results the next time you call technical support.  However, remember number 5, if you are not getting anywhere go ahead and try to get someone else on the phone.

If you are trying to position your company as a price leader, then tell your salespeople to focus on cost savings for their customers. Are you trying to position yourself as a leader in quality after years of being a price leader? You had better be sure your salespeople know that quality is foremost. They should know it is okay to lose a sale because the customer wanted to save a few dollars by cutting some important corners, which would jeopardize quality.

If you are a restaurant that has decided that you want to become the number one spot for Fantasy Football, then talk to your staff and find out who participates in Fantasy Football, and ask them if they would like to work on the nights your are hosting drafts. For that matter host an employee only draft and post the results for your customers to see. Are you trying to entice local football fans? Get your employees into it, let them have fun by watching the game with their customers even if it just means spending five minutes cheering when the home team scores.

There is so much more to marketing then just fancy commercials, great stories, and sticky ideas. You need to get everyone involved in the act. I am always amazed when I call a company that has feel good billboards and TV spots and the person who answers the phone just does not care. If your employees do not buy your marketing strategy, why would your customers?

One company that I think exemplifies this kind of marketing mistake is Best Buy. If you watch Best Buy’s ads, the employees are always excited to help you and seem like the kind of people you want to invite over to check out your new big screen on Sunday. Is this the case when you walk into Best Buy? Rarely, typically their employees just go about their business without having much fun at all. Why not let your employees play video games with your customers, show off last nights game in HD, or turn up the volume on the car stereo a customer is interested in? Your marketing story is about having fun with electronics, so let your employees participate.

The point I am making is marketing starts with the customer already in the store. Marketing should have an impact on everything you do, and internal marketing is the cheapest kind of marketing. A company wide memo costs nothing compares to a single radio ad at 5:30 PM, and the memo can have a bigger effect on your customer base than even the most well designed radio spot.