tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16386719683983278462024-03-13T00:47:57.440-07:00Addison Technologies, Inc.Addison Technologies, Inc in Pottstown, PA provides professional business solutions to today's business problems. We provide Web Development, Online Marketing, Web Hosting and Business Consulting.Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-38839497006240993542012-10-12T13:47:00.001-07:002012-10-12T13:47:46.942-07:00
We here at Addison Technologies are a
compassionate, caring company committed to the betterment of the
human race. It is in that genre that Addison discovered a horrifying
crisis that can't be ignored.
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There are 4.8 billion people in the
world that own a mobile device and just 4.2 billion people that own a
toothbrush. You heard that correctly, more people have a mobile
device than have a toothbrush. As a company in the “Tech”
industry, Addison felt like we might be contributing to this
phenomenon.
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Addison develops web sites for these
mobile devices that are eclipsing the need for dental hygiene. No
longer could we stand by and watch the need for mobile content
deprive those with the ability to keep their teeth free of plaque
build up. So we have decided to act. From now on anytime someone
buys a mobile site from us, they will get a complimentary toothbrush
because we care about tooth decay. No more will we be part of the
problem. Partner with us in being part of the solution.</div>
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Thank you God bless you, and god bless
the United States of America.</div>
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please go to our <a href="http://addisontech.com/" target="_blank">web site</a> and contact us for more information.</div>
Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-14854673485154775792012-09-07T12:33:00.003-07:002012-09-07T12:33:49.863-07:00Sketchy Sales Tactics in Web Marketing
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<i>A woman walks into the butcher shop
just before closing. She says, "Thank Heavens I've made it in
time! Have you any chicken?" The butcher opens his fridge and
takes out his only chicken, and plops it onto the scale. It weighs 2
1/2 pounds.</i>
<i>"Ah, haven't you anything
bigger?" the woman inquires. </i><i>The butcher returns the chicken to
the fridge, takes it out again, and plops it onto the scale, only
this time, he keeps his thumb on the chicken. The scale shows 3 1/4
pounds. </i><i>"Marvelous!" says the
woman. "I'll have both of them please."</i></div>
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Sales. The mere
mention sends shivers down the spines of many, conjuring images of
sleazy, mustached salesmen in ill-fitting plaid sports coats, or
conniving merchants like in the joke. And let's face it, there are
bad apples in every industry. But today we're going to tackle the
sleazy sales tactics that are used in the “phonebook style” web
marketing sites. The rest of the world's questionable sales doings
can wait for another day, after all.
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And so you say
“what's wrong with phonebook style marketing, after all?” Well,
dear reader, there is plenty. Let's pretend that you are a business
owner, and you decide that you need some online marketing help. No
shame there, you are good at what you do, and you know when to call
in other industry experts, right? So you opt with one of the
phonebook style web marketing companies. Guess what? You're getting
ripped off. Why, you ask? It is likely that your target demographic
is not only on laptops, but on tablets and smartphones. Those people
are typically wanting more info than is usually found in a phonebook.
And what is more, while search engines like Google and Yahoo are
still growing in number of users, the phonebook sites are declining.
So, right off the bat you are not getting your money's worth as far
as people viewing and using your information.
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<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Now, let us look at
how they actually do your marketing program. You might hear that
they-gasp!- cannot find you listed on a search engine! But what
exactly were they searching for? Did they go and find an obscure
keyword for your business and then do a search for it? Or did they do
a search for keywords of your competitors, rather than your own? Ok,
so once you get that sorted out, you might be surprised to discover
that the phonebook sites are now simply middle men for the bigger
search engines like Google. They have to buy clicks from Google (for
example) in order to get their clients ranked higher. And have they
ever looked at and picked apart an analytics report? Likely not. And
after all of that, they still do not do any sort of social media
marketing for their clients. If anyone has tried to sell anything
within the past few years, is it not obvious by now that it is more
than wise to market on Facebook, Twitter , etc? Oh, and another fun
nugget of trivia for you, did you know that the person managing your
marketing campaign changes day by day? You don't own your campaign,
and there is no consistency as to who is working on it!
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So, as you can see,
a business owner who goes to a phonebook style site for marketing is
getting ripped off in more ways than one. But if you go to someone
that is a local professional, someone that will sit down with you and
listen, and see your marketing campaign through from start to finish,
then you can get somewhere. Someone who will work with search engines
directly for you, thereby getting you faster results. Someone who
will tailor the campaign to your needs, not use a cookie cutter
approach that they use for all businesses. Someone like the people
over at Addison Technologies, but we're just saying. And Addison Tech
promises that we will not keep our thumb on the scale.
</div>
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<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<strong>What You Get With a
Phonebook Plan</strong>
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<ul>
<li><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
No social media</div>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Daily changing campaign managers</div>
</li>
</ul>
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<li><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Sketchy keyword tactics</div>
</li>
</ul>
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<li><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Middle-man buying of clicks</div>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
No use of analytics</div>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Cookie cutter marketing plan</div>
</li>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<li><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
No clear understanding of SEO</div>
</li>
</ul>
Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-78990526594143257222012-08-13T12:03:00.000-07:002012-08-13T12:03:04.143-07:00You Will Be Mocked, Part IIThis is very nearly a Episode II to our previous post. It seems that there are even more morons on the interwebz, and guess what they're doing this time? They're posting photos of their debit cards.I have yet to understand how this can be thought of as a "good idea."<br />
*facepalm*<br />
I mean, really, it's not like people have their identities stolen every day or anything. And as like last time, where there are people doing stupid things, there are others around to mock them. Enter the twitter site @needadebitcard that posts them, after a quick twitter search for "debit card" and other associated terms. Thankfully though, some people, upon realization of what they have done, have deleted the photos and changed their privacy settings, but many others have not. So, dear readers, don't be like these. Tighten the privacy settings, and think before you post. The interwebz is forever, after all.Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-22291346482299109632012-07-06T11:55:00.000-07:002012-07-06T11:55:14.339-07:00You Will Be MockedSo, if you've been hanging around in society long, or especially if you've been reading <a href="http://www.addisontech.com/website_design/public/social_media.aspx" target="new">our</a> <a href="http://addisontechnologies.blogspot.com/">blog here</a>, you know that Facebook changes privacy settings like most people change underwear. People are constantly being reminded to check and update their privacy settings, and yet, somehow, there are people who don't listen. What happens on the internet, when people don't listen to something that has been hammered home again and again and again? They get mocked, of course.
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And thus we have to present to you the website <a href="http://weknowwhatyouredoing.com/" target="new">We Know What You're Doing (And We Think You Should Stop)</a>. It uses data that is publicly available to post people's status updates in the categories of “Who wants to get fired,” “Who's hungover,” “Who's taking drugs,” and “Who's got a new phone number<sup>1</sup>.” But what happens if you *gasp* see one of your status' on the website, and want it to disappear? Delete it, and change your privacy settings. Simple as that.
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<br />
Wait, haven't we said that before? Something about “don't post stupid things like “dude, i'm soooooo wasted” and then be shocked when your employer isn't thrilled.” Or, you know, we may have said “change thy privacy settings” once or twice. Just sayin...
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<br />
<sup>1 And note, the guy behind the website does block out the phone numbers, so we applaud him for being responsible. Bravo, sir.</sup>Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-33775736029415565792012-05-18T11:52:00.001-07:002012-05-18T11:52:13.325-07:00Google, Chicken Fingers, and Marie Curie<a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/introducing-knowledge-graph-things-not.html" target="new">Interesting blog from Google</a>, lately...what? What's that? You don't keep up with Google's blog, and how their search engine works? Oh, right. That's why you hired us, right? Well, at any rate, there's a blog that they posted that is interesting to normal people, not just us geeky types that work at <a href="http://www.addisontech.com/website_design/public/web_marketing.aspx" target="new">Addison Tech</a>. It seems that they are slowly rolling out a new, more intelligent way of gleaning search results for their users, that they are calling the Knowledge Graph. The Knowledge Graph will be able to tell more precisely what you are searching for, when you type “chicken fingers” into Google—ie, that you are wanting nearby restaurants who serve chicken fingers, rather than the origins for the chicken strip being called a “finger.”
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That's great, you say. But how do they know what I'll be asking about? Are they spying on me? No, quit being so paranoid. They're looking at what other people are searching for, and clicking on when they search for chicken fingers. By the fact that few are looking at historical origins of chicken fingers, they know that the probability of you wanting that is low, therefore the higher clicked options—restaurants, recipes, etc, will rate higher on your search results. Google also says they're looking at relationships now, as well. So your chicken finger search may result in things that are related-but-not-precisely chicken fingers (the example they used was of Marie Curie and her family...much more effective than the chicken finger thing that we've been using here. No, really. Go read the blog post.) Both factors will influence your search results, therefore giving you—hopefully--a better and more accurate searching experience. Which will in turn help us at <a href="http://www.addisontech.com/website_design/public/web_marketing.aspx" target="new">Addison Tech</a> give your website a better ranking out in the interwebz.Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-17632927181721647432012-05-02T09:07:00.000-07:002012-05-02T10:40:42.576-07:00QR codes: Great marketing tool or mark of the beast?Yeah, we get that question quite a bit, actually. Whenever a new technology comes out, and gets popular, people ask “is it the mark of the beast?” It's a modified bar code, people, we're not asking that you tattoo it on your head/hand. But past that, the question of is it a good marketing tool depends on who is asking the question. As with anything, some technologies are a better fit than others. But <a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/tag/989" target="new">QR codes</a> are unique in that they can fit with most every business, and most every person, in one way or another.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGxRgFVW2nb7HL0llwxkWO2YBp4fqkjGjxUMD3bGlcm_pdzJtrDL5ahy5U5CE4G6CRVeAAEI_mkfck9O-XmFCWhW7epD7l-U3dGJK5EqAIuA4zEcuB8CsNEN7Ky4-2HECtxfc7tsNJhQk/s1600/QR1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGxRgFVW2nb7HL0llwxkWO2YBp4fqkjGjxUMD3bGlcm_pdzJtrDL5ahy5U5CE4G6CRVeAAEI_mkfck9O-XmFCWhW7epD7l-U3dGJK5EqAIuA4zEcuB8CsNEN7Ky4-2HECtxfc7tsNJhQk/s320/QR1.jpg" /></a></div>
Ok, ok, I’ll slow down just a moment. QR codes are not from the dark underlord, but what precisely are they? QR is short for "Quick Response" code, which is a two dimensional bar code. Being two dimensional, rather than one (like the traditional bar codes that you all know and love,) means that it can hold much more information. They are a square with smaller dots on it, with three squares within it, one in each corner. Anyone with a smart phone and a free barcode app can then scan the QR code. Great, but then what? Then, the code can do any number of things—it can take the user to a web page, it can automatically add contact information into the user's phone, it can send a SMS, tweet a specific text on twitter, automatically do a location check-in on Foursquare or Facebook; the operations are limitless
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Right, then. But who actually are the people who use the QR codes? In easy terms—just about anyone who has a smart phone. Oh, but you want numbers, ok. The digital market research firm comScore found that roughly 20.1 <i>million</i> people scanned QR codes within a three month average period, ending in October 2011. For such a relatively new technology, that is huge. As more and more people become smart phone users, and more businesses offer QR code options, those numbers will continue to increase.
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<br />
So, pretend you're a business owner (If you already are a business person, then you're doing great! Keep it up. Everyone else, pretend.) As a business owner, you need to be learning now how to creatively and uniquely provide valuable (ie, not spam) information to your customers and clients.
However, that does not mean that you should ever use QR codes (or any technology, for that matter, m'kay?) simply because everyone else is, or because it's cool, or because it's the norm. Remember the lectures about peer pressure from school? Well even if all the other kids are doing it, if it's not a good fit for your business, then you shouldn't do it. Period. But if it would be an asset for your company and for your customers, then you should consult with a professional. With their help, you can get it streamlined into your business plan.
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<br />
Right, so you do think it QR codes would be a bonus for your business? Well, aren't you in luck? You know some qualified professionals at <a href="http://www.addisontech.com" target="new">Addison Technologies</a> who can help you out. Contact us and set up a conception consultation (that sounds kinkier than it is, really. We'll brainstorm with you.) and get things lined up to help you apply this technology correctly.Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-29826546241899147792012-04-20T12:59:00.002-07:002012-04-20T13:06:43.628-07:00Windows 8- Facts and Dirty RumorsSo, if you're a PC person, you're likely aware that Windows 8 is in the works. Of course, that means that there is a lot of speculation going on about Windows 8, and what all it will or will not do. The official word from Microsoft is that the idea for it is simplification and streamlining. Instead of offering six options (starter, home basic, home premium, etc) as Windows 7 did, Windows 8 is offering only four editions: Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, Windows 8 Enterprise, and Windows 8 RT. What is the “RT” you ask? Windows 8 RT will be the edition built to run on tablets, but will only be available pre-loaded on mobile devices. <br /><br />What really peaks my interest, however, is that word has it that will be the biggest redesign for Windows since Windows '95. As someone who helped upgrade many machines from Win 3.1 to Win 95, I’m very, very curious about this next generation of Windows. It will be based off of the Windows Metro interface, giving it much more of a tablet-esque feel for the PC, though we are assured that it will be just as comfortable with a keyboard/mouse as with a touchscreen. I am interested to see exactly how user friendly this turns out to be—if they do it well, then they've scored big. If they have only done things halfway, then I foresee users getting tired of getting all the bugs worked out. <br /><br />Thus far, rumors say that the release date will be sometime in October 2012, so we have until then to sort through all of the rumors and speculations. To help fill your time, here are some links, including the consumer preview from Microsoft themselves. <br /><br /><a href="http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/consumer-preview" target="new">Windows Consumer Preview</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/231601340" target="new">Windows 8 Revealed</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/operating_systems/232900407" target="new">Windows 8 Coming in 4 Editions</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/unanswered-questions-about-whats-in-windows-8-editions/4839?tag=mantle_skin;content" target="new">Unanswered Questions About Windows 8</a>Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-48639371250140004402012-03-28T11:35:00.002-07:002012-03-28T11:54:00.115-07:00Hands Off My PasswordsSo, if you keep up with much in the land of interwebz, you've most likely seen the articles about some employers asking for interviewee's Facebook user names/passwords, so that they can check up on what the person is posting. I follow their logic, in that they want to know what kind of person are they hiring, and if that person is trustworthy or not. I get that. However, I also have to ask: <br /><em>what kind of alternate universe are you operating in, where you would think that asking for personal passwords is a good idea?!? </em><br />In a time where we have privacy laws like HIPPA, anti-discrimination laws, and other right to privacy things, how would they think it is ok to ask that? *facepalm*<br /><br />Facebook has officially weighed in on this, thankfully. So, should you find yourself in this situation, you don't have to worry about your employer finding out your real age, sexual orientation, or embarrassing photos of cats in sweaters. All you have to do is say that you aren't going to violate the terms of responsibilities and rights for your Facebook account. And it goes without saying (though I'm going to say it anyway) that you shouldn't be sharing passwords for anything, be it Facebook, Twitter, iTunes, email, anything. No password sharing, got it? <br /><br />And, because we're all about you reading this stuff for yourself, here's links to stories about it, plus Facebook's official post about it.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-and-privacy/protecting-your-passwords-and-your-privacy/326598317390057%20target=" target="new">Protecting Your Passwords and Your Privacy</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Facebook-on-Passwords-During-Job-Interviews-Dont-Ask-Dont-Tell-74706.html" target="new">Facebook on Passwords During Job Interviews-Dont Ask Dont Tell</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/27/tagblogsfindlawcom2012-lawandlife-idUS138461664920120327" target="new">Facebook May Sue Employers Who Want Passwords</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/252514/hey_employersmy_facebook_password_is_none_of_your_business.html" target="new">Hey Employers--My Facebook Password Is None of Your Business</a><br /><br />Plus a good "Devil's Advocate" read:<br /><a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/technology/blog/bal-asking-for-facebook-passwords-20120322,0,2111923.story?track=rss" target="new">Why I would ask for your password as an employer</a>Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-71918795597298475372012-02-28T09:09:00.002-08:002012-02-28T09:13:10.317-08:00Rooty Tooty Fresh-n-FailI like pancakes. Everyone likes them, right? To paraphrase Donkey from <i>Shrek</i>, you never hear people say “Hell no, I don't like no pancakes.” I know, you're right now thinking “That's nice...” as you start really contemplating my sanity. This is a blog for a company that does websites, marketing, and things like that, right? Look, I have a method to the madness, just hang with me. <br /><br />So, IHOP, the illustrious International House of Pancakes, is having a promotion right now, that among other things, is offering free pancakes. Fantastic, right? I know! But in the “among other things” area, they've also offered a reminder “wake up call” recorded by a celebrity to remind people about the free pancake day, that you signed up for on the website. Great, you say. Lots of pancake'd up people are going to be running around today, after getting a wake up call from someone in <i>Twilight</i>. Lovely. No, no, that's not my point. My point is, their website is down.<br /><br />See, America loves pancakes and celebrities <i>so, so much</i> that the IHOP website is down. <br /><br />My point: don't let this happen to you. Think about how much your consumers love your product (and celebrities) before you offer a promotion like this, and make sure your website can keep up. After all, you do know <a href="http://www.addisontech.com" target="new">folks</a> who can help with that.Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-84582240674358976212012-02-14T10:21:00.001-08:002012-02-14T11:06:35.082-08:00Social Media "Fads"Do you know someone in business who is still holding out on this whole “social media fad” thing? Someone who thinks that social media has nothing to offer their business, that's for teens and nothing more? Well, here's another factoid that you can use to help drag them, kicking and screaming, into the year 2012:<a href=”http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2012/02/12/linkedin-is-disrupting-the-corporate-recruiting-market/” target=”new”> LinkedIn is making a name for itself as a recruitment tool.</a> <br /><br />I mean, think about it. It makes sense.<br /><br />LinkedIn already is the place for corporate networking. They've evolved now to offer job postings, recruitment, and a management system for those pesky resumes you get when you advertise for a job. It has virtually taken the place of the corporate recruiter, or at least made that guy learn how to head-hunt via the interwebs—assessing talent, interviews, etc. <br /><br />And of course, you already know some talented people who know their way around the social media “fad.” The good folks at <a href=”http://www.addisontech.com” target=”new”>Addison Tech</a> can help you out. Cause we're good like that.<br /><br /><br /><sup>And no, LinkedIn isn't paying us to say this. LinkedIn, in all likelyhood, doesn't know that we exist. All opinions here are exactly that: opinions.</sup>Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-44101066104006796452012-01-25T13:08:00.000-08:002012-01-26T07:45:04.794-08:00ReputationA man can get a reputation from very small things. -Sophocles<br /><br />Reputation. We all have one, whether we like it or not, from the moment we are born. There are plenty of wise people who have written famous things about having a reputation, be that in a good or bad sense. No surprise there. But, really, how much does the average person think about their reputation? Not a lot, most likely. We live our lives, interact with our friends on social media, without giving it a thought. Except that increasingly, we should give it a thought, especially if you’re one of the many people today who are looking for a job. <br /><br />Now, I’m talking about more than your co-workers seeing embarrassing photos from your recent Vegas trip. No, now there are businesses offering services to look into your online reputation for potential employers, advertisers, and anyone else, really. Who would benefit from knowing if you are a slacker, hard worker, trustworthy or not? Anyone who would enter into a contract with you. Kinda creepy, but it should only be the latest in the reminders to be thoughtful about what you post online. <br /><br /><a href="http://jonbischke.com/2011/01/26/reputation-graph-vs-peoplerank/" target="new">Reputation Graph VS. People Rank</a><br /><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/technology/like-it-or-not-the-reputation-graph-is-here-to-stay-01042012.html" target="new">Like It or Not the Reputation Graph is Here to Stay</a>Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-31586514383039905102012-01-17T12:01:00.000-08:002012-01-18T07:30:58.414-08:00Do You Know What SOPA Is?So, unless you’ve been vacationing underneath a rock for the last few months, you’ve probably heard of SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act, or more boringly referred to as House Bill 3261. In its most basic form, it hopes to protect copyright holders from infringement, by enabling court orders to be granted against offenders. Sounds benign, right? No one wants a person’s intellectual property to be stolen from them, unless they’re a scumbag. <br /><br />No problem.<br /><br />Except, as things are prone to do, it has gotten more complicated than that.<br /><br />Proponents of the bill say that it is needed to protect copyrights, to provide teeth to the current laws. However, because the wording of the bill is nice and vague, it threatens websites with user-submitted content (think Wikipedia, etsy, and YouTube) with taking down the entire site because of one user’s post. Opponents say that this opens up the door for internet censorship is a threat to first amendment rights. Though the proponents of this bill claim that it will also protect jobs within industries such as media and entertainment, some companies have said that should the bill pass, they would move their company outside the reach of US laws. To me, that seems like less jobs, but maybe I’m missing something. And it would threaten the growth of the internet itself by making more legal liability for those who would start a new website or business. More legal liability=less new competition/trade/start-ups/creativity. That’s not so good for jobs, either, the way I see it. <br /><br />So, what, pray tell, is there to do about it? Well, we all know that people on the interwebz, when good and toasty ticked off about something, like to take action. So tomorrow, January18th, some sites are having a 12 hour blackout of their sites as a protest. Others, though not blacking out their sites, are making it easier to black out your own site with apps. And just so you know, we’re not just talking about small websites here, we’re talking about some major internet players—Wikipedia, Reddit, the Cheezeburger network, and Mozilla are just a few of them. But dont just take all of this at my word, here’s some articles that are about it too. Go, read, and make yourself better informed.<br /><br /><a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57359763-93/wikipedia-to-join-web-blackout-protesting-sopa/?tag=mncol;topStories" target="new">Wikipedia to join Web blackout protesting SOPA</a><br /><a href="http://www.webmonkey.com/2012/01/protest-sopa-blackout-your-website-the-google-friendly-way/" target="new">Protest SOPA: Black Out Your Website the Google-Friendly Way</a><br /><a href="http://www.webpronews.com/sopa-blackout-set-for-january-18th-heres-all-the-info-2012-01" target="new">SOPA Blackout Set For January 18th: Here’s All The Info</a><br /><a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-57356544-52/reddit-to-go-silent-in-sopa-protest/" target="new"> Reddit to go silent in SOPA protest</a><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act" target="new">Stop Online Piracy Act, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</a>Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-11081479205211573662012-01-06T11:01:00.000-08:002012-01-06T11:31:19.884-08:00SOPA, Buzzwords, IE6, and SquirrelsThe beginning of a new year always seems to make me a little ADD, it seems. There are so many new things abounding, that I find it hard to focus on one, and write a coherent blog about it, because -squirrel- there's so many other interesting things competing for my eye. And so, since we haven't done a blog round up in a bit, here's a good one for you:<br /><br />Heard anything about the whole GoDaddy/SOPA debacle? well here's some other SOPA -themed activities that might be in the works:<br /><a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/igeneration/google-amazon-twitter-and-facebook-consider-nuclear-blackout/14307" target="new">Google, Amazon, Twitter and Facebook consider 'nuclear' blackout</a><br /><br />Buzzwords always are fun things to me. Oh sure, they convey what you're trying to say in a lovely jargon, but folks like me tend to make fun of them. Example: one that has been mocked here for nearly a decade: "multi-faceted revenue streams." Yes, we have heard that said in seriousness. teehee:<br /><a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/howlett/words-and-expressions-i-want-banned-in-2012/3656">Words and expressions I want banned in 2012</a><br /><br />If you recall <a href="http://addisontechnologies.blogspot.com/2011/03/where-were-you-in-2001.html" target="new">This post</a> then you will do the happy dance with us:<br /><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/01/04/1416242/ie6-almost-dead-in-the-us" target="new">IE6 Almost Dead in the US</a><br /><br />Not so much a shock, really:<br /><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/04/0240206/us-survey-shows-piracy-common-and-accepted" target="new">US Survey Shows Piracy Common and Accepted</a><br /><br />The ability to get your friend's opinions of places to travel (without actually pestering your friends), instead of wondering if the reviewer on Trip Advisor is being a troll:<br /><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/top-news/how-expedia-plans-to-make-travel-more-social-01032012.html" target="new">How Expedia Plans to Make Travel More Social</a><br /><br />Are you boring? Dull? Not so much gifted with interest? Well then, this is for you:<br /><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/jessicahagy/2011/11/30/how-to-be-interesting/" target="new">How To Be More Interesting (In 10 Simple Steps)</a><br /><br />Another shocking development, Facebook and Twitter have been invaded with spammers. Wait, so you mean that the random hot chick that tried to follow me on twitter, yet only tweets in (*i think) Russian is a spammer? Dude, WTH?<br /><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/mobiledia/2012/01/05/facebook-twitter-battle-spammers/" target="new">Facebook, Twitter Battle Spammers</a>Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-14279790512588304072011-12-22T11:46:00.000-08:002011-12-23T06:21:04.071-08:00Although it's been said many times, many ways...Here at <a href="" target="new">Addison Technologies</a> we are gearing up for Christmas, like many others. We've made our lists, wrapped our gifts, or procrastinated until the last minute, depending on who you're talking about. And so, in order to let you, dear reader, get to know us all a bit better, here are the things that we would love for Santa to place under our tree:<br /><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhThQgokNu4yxMKThJIK_HP2Vp0JRn6wnXYx6cyaxDTQ4iriETh2etWcSMDJx2i2GPRl9Dt3Wj5TQpdcEvvbc0NDn7PRqVVRwraCZdzhTANJ-A6n07t4Pu3I1fThAAq4f9rbbia4TwAPlY/s320/ski.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689042523861642338" />A vacation to Alaska that includes Heli-Skiing (for those at home following along, that's where you jump out of a perfectly good helicopter at the top of a mountain to land and ski down).<br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 208px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg57xiCD9XBjGageWmdHAavDENFeL-vihsH7rk1vi6rFXjHm9PbgXsCJo-XTNLCzdzfDuz891yj7L58IPpduwxr805oAG_B4iZA-j1CJGxRf_3grUCipT70_QJKhNY1iwwytAW1JchezSc/s320/pool.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689046263942396930" />Indoor Olympic Swimming pool<br /><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 255px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0yJk3doh63T61psTgYrDYHNM2kQbYuhp7xGRIBoAEW853WgVRVlQ6DcNEGOIVIpF4Ep-OoCmq0Nn4cwgqA4YOmHIcmUvDQjDDU248p-qmoomnm66ZDGU0VuzkrKJmyIUMEarDMPrHg2k/s320/employees.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689042730053152930" >Two additional employees for Addison Tech<br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>br><br><br><br><br><br><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 156px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY-xivqv1Tbja5axweXlpUJBgP86ymQfi1L7iYzrlCMyT_qyeohksrgDe4bJXOe7xmNkyaBr6hyphenhyphenlFEID8zSUJA0kMoKEwzEv9GBcPmXGUBps58PZApT9N6bsuCYeNBV-GHzAaljJrAuTk/s320/car.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689043573923794498" /><a href="http://www.lamborghini.com/en/models/special-and-limited-editions/sesto-elemento/overview/" target="new">Lamborghini Sesto Elemento</a><br /> <br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 161px; height: 179px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3vQ34A1HcJ58cVQ0s5UWpNjlESVXc2OCxckB3n8kTjaaflBqCYQzcm_1eYj6idz4AhQXiAhhVmqETGoOA5nzdTx1myqqyK7AdEFP_s73pNsQF78TzC6aAuV6H7BCvMYIAepdZhnWavVE/s320/nfl.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689044792655184194" />NFL Tryout<br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br /><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-oHeBDXshqqYtO4AN3kZgVt11-ZMTeYx07cCvWTDmFuTrDoKX7NAazI64BO6wi5h7GjBZLB5Q22aXpPF-69MLM02fLkD-6FdxP8Rd6ycpSVwbdvfntzx5myJlekwCmlTdDSWUoCgp5p0/s320/robot.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689044657133502210" /><a href="http://www.irobot.com/gi/ground/710_Warrior/" target="new">Robots</a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br /><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 188px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjziuGVVgA52NDZgePpReTnGz8DhyphenhyphenZbedgtFutOOCYf1EvU2zFm80d6Bo6LMxsIbmc6eG36NcW74xv9avk6iN9MRGeKpc7O_1ouKpMi43UMk2lGeTvJIFKmVJw4-vD_s3qHOLoZ13DuciQ/s320/island.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689045889032794786" /><a href="http://www.privateislandsonline.com/lagoon-island-fiji.htm" target="new">Private island in Fiji</a> (and a house/helipad/dock to go on it)<br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br /><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik50hNw67NncHlcbVhEai34YJmxmSqjun9PZ5mTvOXCA-gClrMTdpPKdOgQ6Ce-i8HL2vtfsw7OpyC49fzv6diqZf-tl0SnH6vghGT1XZbNmbfoxLr_wZPqCJLnA9L-3nSHZD8S3EKzdI/s320/iss.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689046127124886658" />Round trip to visit the ISS (bring us t-shirts from the giftshop if you get this one)<br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br /><br><br><br><br /><br><br><br><br /><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 183px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb-4C1Ayz8-2wNL7ic7kFCZgSF3XE34bLe6ExXF3BQ5vAzYHmCdayDPlNIVseNFphaSP5voS9TGkCQ2vfdb628Ydi09Xo9isTqDgg3vuuGenhGN7SdhPTnMtFqXDCPyASWLEaYnbu55WA/s320/car2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689327366381862530" /><a href="http://www.astonmartin.com/cars/v12-vantage" target="new">Aston Martin V12 Vantage</a><br /><br><br><br><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />Bonus Points if you can match the gift with the AT employee: Brad, Woody, Keith, Corey, and Ann.<br /><br />Merry Christmas, From Addison Tech, to you!Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-45544342691369002992011-12-13T11:33:00.000-08:002011-12-13T11:40:30.795-08:00IE Users and IQStart stretching out your fingers, I know the complaint comments will be written, even as I write this. But I read a small article on <a href="" target="new">slashdot</a> about Internet Explorer users, and their intelligence. No, no, not the <a href="http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/08/03/1350224/aptiquant-browseriq-study-was-likely-a-hoax" target="new">hoax</a> that went around, that IE users were less intelligent. This is a study about the Risk Intelligence of IE users. <br /><br />Now, before I even give you a cute little link to go and check out the study, I'm going to cover my hindquarters. We may find out this, too, is a hoax for all I know. their site is certainly nothing to look at (we at <a href="http://www.addisontech.com" target="new">AT</a> could help them out with that...I'm just sayin.) And I have not looked through any of their data to see if they're being honest or not. But even they tell you that it's not a scientific study, and they had a small pool to work from. So don't gripe at me, all right?<br /><br />Right. Now, here's your <a href="http://blog.projectionpoint.com/?p=244" target="new">link</a>.<br /><br />Their risk intelligence study asked true/false questions, and had the participants answer the question and rate how confident they were in the answer. 100 = they were sure it was right, 50 = they were only kinda sure, 0 = not sure at all. Not rocket surgery. And out of the participants, the Internet Explorer users scored the worst. Go ahead, flame me now. But, I'll tell you, this does help enlighten things. Like the fact that my mom would call and ask if the pop-up proclaiming "Your Anti-Virus Isn't Working!" was legitimate, when she used IE *. Does it mean that IE users are more trusting, and that the rest of the users are more cynical? I'm not sure on that, but I would be interested to see a larger, scientific study done. Assuming that this one isn't a hoax as well.<br /><br /><br /><sup>*It's a moot point now, as we have my mother using Linux. Booya.</sup>Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-88262551588861805622011-12-08T11:18:00.000-08:002011-12-08T11:34:14.364-08:00Are You Listening?We've covered a lot of social media themed ground around here, gotten on some kicks, and beaten a few drums. All for worthy causes, but for what good? Sure, your password will be safe (what do you mean that your password isn't a 16 character alphanumeric and special character acronym? Gah!) and your company has a nice, complete social media policy that everyone's signed and familiar with (right? right...) but what after that? Well, as <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/dell/2011/12/06/when-it-comes-to-social-media-how-big-are-your-companys-ears/" target="new">this article points out</a>, if you don't then listen, you've just waisted a lot of time. Social media isn't just sitting at a keyboard, talking into an abyss. It's about listening to what your customers/clients/users/prospects say back to you. And, I can't emphasise this enough, it's about listening to both the good and the bad. Listen. Hear and take into consideration the bad that is said. Try to analyse what is going wrong, and fix that. Let your consumers know that you've heard them, and are working to fix whatever the error may be. At the same point, listen to what is right, and try not to screw that up, shall we? I've seen many products "improved" badly, when they were perfectly fine to begin with (New Coke, anyone?) <br /><br />Ignoring what your consumer says about your company, your brand, is nothing but disaster awaiting. Back in the pre-social media days, it was said that one person would tell 80 others about a bad experience. Now, that number is not capped at 80. Nor is the number limited for the amount of people that will see your praises sung. Listen, be helpful and attentive to your clients, and you will see the benefits.Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-49799197949362679442011-11-29T14:45:00.000-08:002011-11-29T15:04:09.072-08:00Gawk While You CanThe question has been raised just about everywhere about if tablets are going to overtake PCs in Joe User's life. I've seen varying arguments for it happening, and others saying that it'll never happen. I've always read them with a grain of salt, gleaning what I can from them, and discarding the chaff. Until yesterday, that is. I read an <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/getting-past-the-missing-keyboard-on-tablets/5723" target="new">article</a> that, well, I pretty much agree whole hearted with. <br /><br />Wait. What?<br /><br />Yeah, I know. Shocking that I don't have a "Yeah, but..." statement to go along with it. Gawk while you can.<br /><br />I'll wait.<br /><br />Now, let me explain.<br /><br />The keyboard. It's all about the keyboard. Some people don't mind not having a physical keyboard to peck out their manifestos on, but me, if I'm doing something that requires more than a <I>Words With Friends</I> game, I want a real keyboard. It's a quirk of mine. Hunt-and-peck sends me into a spiral of flashbacks to my first computer/typing class, and it's not pretty folks. And before you suggest it, I don't want to lug one around with me, as a peripheral for my ipad. I have enough things to carry and remember, what with purse (heavy enough already, thanks) diaper bag (not storing it with the sippie cup,) cell phone, etc. I have a hard enough time remembering my cheap-o sunglasses, for goodness sake. Thus far, I haven't forgotten a kid or the ipad, but honestly, it's just a matter of time.<br /><br />Another thing about it, is that I realize I'm not Joe User. I am, however, friends with lots of them. While they want real keyboards to type their emails on, they also want it for things like hot keys.* Several fancy themselves as amateur photographers, cooks, bloggers, etc. As such, things like photo editing and more in depth applications require a real keyboard/mouse in order to not be a frustration. They are similar to me, in that their ipad/tablets have replaced the laptop for some things (Facebooking, Twitter, shopping, music, etc) but not for the things that are a bit more time/labor intensive. When the powers-that-be figure out how to resolve that issue, I think the tablet is gold.<br /><br /><br /><SUP>*hot keys = keyboard short cuts. think "Crtl + C" instead of clicking the menu option for "copy." </SUP>Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-59995843175449990342011-11-15T11:24:00.000-08:002011-11-15T11:35:14.980-08:00Peer PressureRealizing that I've beaten the <a href="http://addisontechnologies.blogspot.com/2011/01/we-told-you-so-again.html">social media policy</a> drum <a href="http://addisontechnologies.blogspot.com/2010/04/now-what.html">before</a>, I shall try to refrain from rehashing it all again. However, I had to share a triumph: my son's school has adopted a formal social media policy. We were notified yesterday that the school handbook had been updated regarding the school's policy for social media and its students (and before you ask, I had nothing to do with it.) If a tiny school in the middle of nowhere can have a social media policy, what's stopping your company? You don't want to be outdone, do you?* Don't be lazy.<br /><br /><br /><br /><SUP>*Forget everything your mother told you about peer pressure for this. You want to be like the cool kids, who have social media policies. Only the losers don't have one. No, really, they lose the lawsuits. It sucks to be the loser.</SUP>Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-2562742845354932852011-11-09T10:53:00.000-08:002011-11-09T11:34:18.506-08:00Gamers to the RescueLet me clarify something, before I get into the meat of this blog post: I am not a gamer. Geek, yes. Nerd? About some things. But gamer, I am not. I was doing good to beat Super Mario Brothers, back in the day. Pinball, I'm golden. Air hockey? A more ruthless soul has not been met. Video games, though, notsomuch. But, being a geek and around computer people on a day-to-day basis, I know gamers. And knowing them, <a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/11/protein-folding-game/" target="new"> this article</a> doesn't surprise me much. In fact, it makes me proud that gamers are helping do something so useful. <br /><br />What I am curious about, is how will this information be utilized later. No, no, not the protein folding data. We pay medical researchers for that stuff. No, what I'm curious about is who else will start utilizing gamers as cheap problem solvers. We already have complex problems being solved via distributed computing* in other areas of science as well—SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) uses it to analyze radio telescope data, for example. What intrigues me, is the question of who else will turn a problem into a video game, and then let gamers do the dirty work, as it were. We already have folks who are using twitter as cheap research and development and open source code operating systems, so why not make a game out of problem solving? I'm not talking about the stuff that's kind of a given, I'm wondering what non-lifesaving problems could we solve. Could they figure out how to make my dishwasher load itself (my laziness knows no bounds, sure) or figure out how to find that one sock the dryer always eats. Figure out how to make flying cars an affordable reality; how to make my regular car's heater work faster on a cold morning. Would those things change the world? no. would it help the common man? Oh yeah. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />*lotsa unrelated computers, networked together to compute a common problemAddison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-33218781890653764622011-10-28T10:38:00.000-07:002011-10-28T10:46:30.410-07:00Wishing You a Geeky HalloweenIf you have spent any amount of time around geeks, you have an idea that Halloween is a big deal for us. It is our high holy holiday, the day when you normal folk act like we do year round. For one dark, murky night of the year, we are not given odd looks for traveling with a robot or broadsword, nor are we mocked for our obsessive attention to detail. Sure, we made that costume for a *con earlier in the year, but hey, we arent going to turn down another chance to use it! <br />So, out of our love of Halloween, we at <a href="http://www.addisontechnologies.com" target="new">Addison Technologies</a> are going to give you a roundup of things techy for Halloween:<br /><br />Number 7 is my personal favorite:<br /><a href="http://www.cio.com/article/626263/Ghoulish_Gadgets_Cool_Halloween_Tech?page=1#slideshow" target="new">Ghoulish Gadgets</a><br /><br />While I *want* the vortex tunnel, the haunted toliet paper would be pretty fun too:<br /><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39750861/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/t/terrifying-halloween-gadgets/" target="new">Terrifying Halloween Gadgets</a><br /><br />Halloween up your cube at work:<br /><a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/supplies/a777/" target="new">Think Geek</a><br /><br />What geek Halloween post would be complete without jack-o-lanterns:<br /><a href="http://www.geek.com/articles/gadgets/the-best-geek-jack-o-lanterns-20101019/" target="new">Geek Jack-O-Lanterns</a><br /><br />Or some nasty looking edibles:<br /><a href="http://www.theidearoom.net/2009/09/jell-o-blood-worms.html" target="new">Jello Blood Worms</a>Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-49458895073734913572011-09-22T11:42:00.000-07:002011-09-22T11:52:11.983-07:00Make Me an Offer I Can't Refuse...If you've been on the interwebz in the last two days, you've noticed that people everywhere are griping about the changes that Facebook has just rolled out, just like every other time that they moved the cheese on the social media giant. And there, of course, are some great, snarky memes parodying both sides of the argument. but I ran across an article about Facebook that intrigues me far more than the volumes of others, crying out "My news feed is different! Wah!"<br /><br /><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/onmarketing/2011/09/22/want-to-be-successful-on-facebook-dont-run-a-campaign/" arget="new">This article</a> states that, in order for a business to be a successful entity on Facebook, you should not run a "campaign." That's a bit contrary to what we have been taught, isn't it? But it says that fewer people are liking brands, and recommending that their friends like the brands too. My experience on fb says that this is true--I'm very selective about the brands that I like, and I rarely recommend things to friends (my logic: I detest spam in any form, and do not, therefore, want to inadvertently spam my friends with my fondness for a certain brand of widget.) If I am not alone in that sentiment, then you can understand that some people will view an active campaign on facebook as a potential annoyance. <br /><br />Well, lovely, you say. How do I reach my target audience on facebook, then? One way is to engage them with a program, as opposed to a one time campaign. Customer rewards can make it worthwhile for a person to like a brand. Using myself as an example again, I "like" a local deli for the sole purpose of finding out what the discount code for the week is. Say the word of the week to the cashier, you get a percentage discount. Other places keep me updated on the daily/weekly specials, free shipping, or any other bonus that they are not offering to the general Joe Customer. If my friends would like the bonuses that the business is offering, then I am more likely to send it on to them.( IE, because of me, my father, husband, and many friends "like" the local deli that offers specials.) Keep in mind that you can reach a more vast audience if you use your social media together. Use your geo-location program, your Twitter, Facebook, etc, all together. I cant tell you how many RT's I've seen on twitter, where someone was entering a weekly contest. <br /><br />Before you go, however, do go read the article referenced. No, really. I only graced you with an opinion about part of the article, but it has more little nuggets for you to internalize. Consider it homework.Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-7859459299882110822011-09-02T12:50:00.000-07:002011-09-02T12:51:15.522-07:00Labor Day PolicyAddison Technologies has always supported Labor day and its meaning. A Holiday created for the purpose of work, putting everything else on hold and giving thanks to having the ability to produce. We have tried many times to institute a policy of donating a day of work to your employer on this day, however for some reason employees would rather stay at home. It just seems counterintuitive to celebrate labor by grilling out as opposed working for free.
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<br />Until, Addison is successful in implementing free work day on Labor day, we sadly inform you our office will be closed Monday due to the policy of the current observance of Labor Day.Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-52219992350203097032011-08-31T12:34:00.000-07:002011-08-31T12:41:24.899-07:00Hey Look! Another Steve Jobs Blog!
<br />Yeah, I know, there's a lot about him right now. But <a href="http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Steve-Jobs-Exit-The-Day-the-Magic-Died-73157.html" target="new">love him</a> or <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/gadgetreviews/what-steve-jobs-means-to-me-absolutely-nothing/27162" target="new">hate him</a>, Steve Jobs has been an extremely influential person in the world of computing. And while reading through countless articles about him, and mocking those which sounded like obituaries (mentaly calling up Monty Python's "I'm not dead yet" and the SNL "Gerald Ford, tragically died this weekend" skits) you see a lot of adoration. A little fewer in between is the negatives, but all have to admit how much the guy has influenced the way we view computers now days.
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<br />My first experience with his product was the lovely green monitored Apple IIe, playing Oregon Trail so many times that we were trying to kill off our pioneers rather than get them to California (oh, and we played the learning games the school provided. But we finally wore our lab teacher down so she would let us play Oregon Trail.) My first experience with a computer with a color screen, GUI, and mouse was the Mac, in that same computer lab. Fast forward to college, and I used the design lab's blue candy-shelled iMacs to do my class assignments. Then I married a computer geek, and we now have three Apple products in the house: a Macbook, and two iPads. Our kids know how to operate Netflix, Angry Birds, and Kindal on the iPads--such a different experience than that of the 3 1/4 floppy'ed IIe. And as always, I'm curious to see what Apple will come up with next. What will make my kids think of the iPad as a relic, in their future? The Apple-sans-Jobs company will have all eyes on them in that respect, to see if they can continue in that tradition of innovation.
<br />Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-79906414775287925702011-08-22T08:00:00.000-07:002011-08-22T08:09:21.495-07:00Death of the HP Tablet"As I write this, I’m sitting in a cafe. Around me, there are five people on laptops — four of them are MacBooks. Four other people are using tablets — all four are iPads. Welcome to the Post-PC world."<sup>*1</sup>
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<br />Yeah, that pretty well sums it up. HP announced last week that it is discontinuing its tablet division and webOS products, and is trying to spin off the PC division. The part of this that rather surprised people is that this comes only a couple of months after buying the Palm brand and webOS, in order to try to really compete in the tablet world. They launched commercials with celebrities (that chick from GLEE and Russell Brand are the ones that I remember right off the top of my head.) But apparently that did not compensate for the fact that the OS, while smokin fast on other hardware, was bogged down and slow on the HP tablet hardware. And while their PC sales are good, they still are being eclipsed by Apple's MacBook sales. In my own house even, with two computer industry professionals, the numbers are three Apple devices, one PC, and an ancient dinosaur of a desktop that I *think* is running a version of Linux. I personally only know of one person who has a non-Apple tablet, and that was bought after this announcement, when the price dropped. Was HP merely getting out early in this situation, reading the writing on the wall, or is it jumping ship that could be fixed? Time will tell.
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<br />In the meantime, here's what other people are saying about it:
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<br /><sup>*1</sup><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/18/apple-wins-without-throwing-a-punch/" target="new">http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/18/apple-wins-without-throwing-a-punch/</A>
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<br /><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/18/okay-hp-lets-make-some-lemonade/" target="new">http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/18/okay-hp-lets-make-some-lemonade/</a>
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<br /><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2011/08/19/hp-down-20-now-officially-hated-by-almost-everyone/" target="new">http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2011/08/19/hp-down-20-now-officially-hated-by-almost-everyone/</a>
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<br /><a href="http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/rumors-of-webos-death-are-greatly-exaggerated-20110819/" target="new">http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/rumors-of-webos-death-are-greatly-exaggerated-20110819/</a>Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638671968398327846.post-68957057182115860592011-08-09T12:35:00.000-07:002011-08-09T12:49:10.975-07:00One Stop Blog SpotIf you're anything like me, you may read blogs and think link round ups are a cop-out. In writing for this blog for a while now, I realize they are not necessarily so. For me, it is a by-product of adult ADD and not wanting to miss showing you all informative/uber neat/completely random things! It was near-to-impossible to narrow things down to one (coherent) post, there were security topics, hardware topics, awesome save your live apps, and so here you are:
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<br />UPSM is working on an app that will document the locations of all AED's (automated external defibulators.) So if someone is experiencing cardiac arrest, you or the 911 operator could locate one nearby, thus getting help more quickly.
<br /><a href="http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/08/this-app-could-save-your-life/" target="new">http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/08/this-app-could-save-your-life/</a>
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<br />If you find your laptop is lost or stolen, change the passwords that are stored in it immediately. Duh, I know. But it can be hacked from the laptop, and you could be screwed.
<br /><a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20089726-281/lose-your-laptop-change-all-passwords-pronto/" target="new">http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20089726-281/lose-your-laptop-change-all-passwords-pronto/</a>
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<br />A PC with Mac Air specs? Why yes, I likee. Oh wait, read that last paragraph. Fail.
<br /><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/09/acers-aspire-3951-leaks-with-macbook-air-like-specs-available/" target="new">http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/09/acers-aspire-3951-leaks-with-macbook-air-like-specs-available/</a>
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<br />Wait, what do you mean that mobile banking on your android went wrong? How could banking on an easily-lost, app'ed up device go wrong?</sar>
<br /><a href="http://www.technewsworld.com/story/The-Future-of-Android-Part-2-Security-Snafus-73036.html" target="new">http://www.technewsworld.com/story/The-Future-of-Android-Part-2-Security-Snafus-73036.html</a>
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<br />Price versus Function, Tablet versus iPad.
<br /><a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/are-cheaper-tablets-the-answer-to-the-ipads-dominance/14138" target="new">http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/are-cheaper-tablets-the-answer-to-the-ipads-dominance/14138</a>
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<br />For the truely geeky amongst us, we mourn as news of SyFy's Eureka is cancelled.
<br /><a href="http://geeks.thedailywh.at/2011/08/09/eureka-cancellation-of-the-day/" target="new">http://geeks.thedailywh.at/2011/08/09/eureka-cancellation-of-the-day/</a>
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<br />And, for good measure, something from the tinfoil hat file.
<br /><a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/has-the-united-states-already-suffered-its-cyberwar-pearl-harbor/53901" target="new">http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/has-the-united-states-already-suffered-its-cyberwar-pearl-harbor/53901</a>
<br />Addison Technologies, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06828507849297532612noreply@blogger.com0