Every weekday, our guide to the Web takes care of business, tackling tech topics that really matter to everybody. From topic definitions to topical rants, Dan Gray\’s pieces inform as much as they entertain.
The field of print on demand publishing has been hot for quite some time now. And for good reason … you stand to save a substantial amount of money by printing only the number of pieces you need at a given time. With print on demand, you only pay to print what you […]
One day, chartering a private jet will be as common as taking a limo to the airport is now. For what was once seen as a luxury is now commonplace. But for the time being, private jet charter is reserved for the well to do and the corporate crowd that sees the value in getting […]
With worries over the safety of travel and the escalating price of gasoline, the business world is showing renewed interest in conference calling. Forget the hassle and expense of flying and driving. For companies that want to keep their employees safe and productive, a conference call is the way to go. And for telecommuters, conference […]
Need to quickly gather information from a bunch of people?
Whether you want to query 10,000 customers or two dozen friends, nothing comes close to web survey software for rapid feedback, data storage, and most importantly, the speed at which you can make use of the information.
In the bad old days, before the advent of […]
Instant Messaging cost me $150 this month. Yep, one hundred and fifty bucks.
Here’s how …
After switching from satellite Internet, our wireless network here at ranchero indebto was down for a while. While I previously used Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) to have my PC act as the network router, I dumped that setup after moving […]
If you’ve ever had to scan an original much larger than 8-1/2-inches by 11-inches on a standard desktop scanner, you’re likely to have wished for a large format scanner. Unlike their smaller desktop brethren, large format scanning devices allow you to scan the entire piece of oversized artwork–whether it’s a survey, architectural rendering, poster, maps, […]
As it turns out, I ended up with a Cisco router, after all … but it wasn’t a used Cisco router; rather it’s a Linksys EtherFast. Linksys is owned by Cisco. Small world, eh?
I had a bear of a time installing the router. I’m not sure if the problems were left over in the […]
There’s a considerable rant in today’s edition of Lockergnome about outsourcing call centers and IT functions. Outsourcing jobs from America to far flung lands has created quite a firestorm of late. I’ve blogged about the subject of outsourcing a couple of times in recent weeks and no doubt will blog about it again […]
These days, you can get a website started with an inexpensive hosting service on a shared server for under ten bucks a month. But what do you do as your site grows and your needs change? Should you opt for a bigger hosting plan on a shared server or should you step up to dedicated […]
I dumped my two-way broadband satellite Internet connection today, in favor of a two-way cable modem. I had been putting off the decision for quite some time. While I knew that the satellite Internet connection had to go, it took a nice offer from our local provider to (finally) get me to make […]
Is it time for you to look for a new web hosting service?
Congratulations! The good news is there are lots of web hosting companies to choose from these days. Likewise, the bad news is there are lots of companies to choose from these days. So how do you choose which web hosting company to […]
I happened to be watching CNN last night when Lou Dobbs did a segment on outsourcing. To great effect, Lou relayed the heat he’s taken for being vehemently opposed to the practice of outsourcing work overseas. I was amazed to hear the venom that was spewed towards his views.
He relayed how the Wall Street Journal’s […]
When your boss comes to you, out of the blue, and says “hey, I need you to create a trade show exhibit,” (say for Gnomedex) where do you start? Knowing that the the wild world of trade shows is fraught with design details, tricky logistics, and potentially exorbitant expenses, it pays to tread carefully. […]
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to use a private jet charter service for that big trip out west next month. Back in January, I started to scheme a way to take a trip to Reno via private jet. You see, Reno is unreachable via non-stop … and I hate changing planes.
A trip by […]
When I wrote about mortgage leads back in January, I expressed a bit of frustration at the number of mortgage-related calls we receive here at ranchero indebto (courtesy of those pesky predictive dialers). Of course the offers come via snailmail, too … but they’re not annoying, whatsoever.
Online is a different story. Online, they’re almost always […]
When I wrote about trade show exhibits a few weeks ago, it brought back many memories. I mentioned that I’ve participated in trade shows in three different ways: as a consumer, as an exhibitor, and as a member of the working press.
But I forgot one.
For six months, I worked for a company that produced […]
A couple of days ago, I wrote about how my eleven year old daughter had received an offer for a payday loan. I thought that it was preposterous that anyone would offer a payday loan to a kid. Today, her mailbox has an offer that promises that “Uncle Sam Can Help You Get A Better […]
I’ve been registering a lot of domains lately. Well, not a lot, considering how many domains some people own, but a lot for me. It looks like I will register more new domains in 2004 than I have in any prior year. It’s become a no-brainer. When I have an idea for a new […]