Archive for the Business Category

Kathleen and I were talking about making dinner tonight and she says, “Oooh, wouldn’t a beer be great tonight?”

Oh, man, yes it would. Especially a bottle of 1554 from the local New Belgium Brewing Company. Boy, that would be tasty. “Why don’t I run down to the grocery store and pick us up a 6-pack?”

Oops, wait a minute. We live in Colorado, one of the last holdouts of the so-called “blue laws” which were created to prevent anyone from doing anything construed as enjoyment on God’s holy day. Laughing counts, so cut it out. And I just now realized the irony that the only states that have blue laws are red states.

This is almost enough reason for us to move back to Seattle. Don’t worry, parents, we’re staying. For now.

But, I swear, if the laws for selling beer, wine, and liquor on Sundays (and in grocery stores at all) are not repealed this coming election year, I’m slapping somebody. How else are we going to get Trader Joe’s to open a store here?

I’ve read that the objections to repealing the laws don’t come from irate fundamentalists but actually from outspoken liquor store owners who have an effective lobby in the local government. And it’s understandable, too. If the laws were repealed they might have to compete like real businesses do and that would be a shame. I mean, I wouldn’t want you guys to have to rely on ingenuity or anything. Heaven forbid you have to alter your business model. (Technically, I guess it does.)

This is starting to sound like a rant against the RIAA.

Best Buy, the AOL of consumer electronics, has acquired Speakeasy. This is like GM acquiring Maserati. After reading the newsletter to customers it’s evident to me that Speakeasy CEO Bruce Chatterly doesn’t understand the new internet, the one in which customer conversations play a major role in a company’s success. For example, had he searched Google for “best buy customer service,” there’s no way he would have written the following in the newsletter:

Best Buy, like Speakeasy, is known for its high level of customer service. Our reputation as a trusted provider of voice and data services with stellar customer service will not change. Our values are similar too — Best Buy shares our customer passion, respect for individuals, and drive to do the right thing while achieving results.

Laughable, man. HA ha.

Wake up, CEOs. Please. It’s been almost 10 years since this information was published.

If you’re a business owner and you’ve been looking for web hosting, online storage, and web-based communication and office productivity software, now’s the time to swing down to TextDrive and choose either the Mixed Grill or 3-Martini Lunch plan. These one-time payment, lifetime-guaranteed plans are going bye-bye on January 15, 2007.

$499 and $1,399, respectively, which may sound like a large chunk of change, but when you look at the features and consider that you’re getting everything for the rest of the life of the company, it makes great business sense.

Head over to TextDrive* now and find the link to Specials and select either The Mixed Grill or Three Martini plan.

* The first link to TextDrive is a referral link that will give me some hosting credit if you continue to sign up, should you feel so inclined. :)

http://www.carchops.com/car-discussions/t-jifffy-lube-scam-230.html

See the video linked from the web site above. 5 out of 9 Jiffy Lube centers scammed a TV news crew and were caught on tape.

This is the type of experience I had at Jiffy Lube at Northgate. They recommended 20 extra services I didn’t need, including changing the radiator fluid. A week later, having never had any radiator problems in the 14-year life of the car, it overheated on the highway when the radiator failed and leaked fluid all over the engine. I won’t be going back and I wouldn’t recommend their services to anyone.

Could the process of building web applications in an environment you enjoy really be that simple? There’s only one way to find out. Read, then build.

37signals, the Chicago-based, web contructioneer firm, has just released its latest book, Getting Real, in PDF-only format. I’m in the middle of it and loving it. If 2005 was about tagging, Ajax, and Web 2.0, 2006 will be about putting the Getting Real principles into practice wherever web sites and applications are built. At least, one can hope.

They aren’t saying anything new. They aren’t saying things most of us haven’t read or thought about before. But they’re saying it. They’re bringing the ideas of simplicity, focus, and transparency back to the table. And given their reputation and credibility I think it’s worth sitting up and listening for a while.