Bush, The Icky Man, Turns My Stomach

My morning coffee trip includes a path through the student lounge at
the school I work. This morning I happened by as George, the Icky Man,
Bush was giving a live press conference. He was rambling, as usual,
contradicting himself (referring to the claims that staying the course
were only 25% accurate, and then saying stay the course meant
changing when things don’t work and getting the job done, which is what
he is doing :-p) as usual. But then he said something that caused me to
blurt bullshit out load and forced me to leave the room before I vomited
on the pretty girl sitting in the couch next to me.

“If we leave before getting the job done the enemy will come after us.”

How can he dare to insult us in such a way. How can he dare to insinuate
that what we are doing in Iraq, even to this day, is protecting us in any
way from terrorist threats? It has been shown, definitively in my mind,
that Iraq does not, and has never, been a direct threat to the United States.
If you believe anything else you are an idiot. Not only has Iraq been shown
to have never been a threat, we now know the actions Bush is taking to “get
the job done” are actually increasing the risks to us, here, at home.

I am quite certain Bush is doing what needs to be done to “get the job done”.
He is not being honest about what that job is. I am convinced things in Iraq are
going perfectly, according to the Bush plan. His desire to be the leader of “the
idealogical battle of the 21st century” requires the continued unrest in Iraq. It
requires the increased hatred of our country. It requires the systematic removal
of Generals, through attrition, to be replaced by Bushite straw men willing to
execute the commands of an armagedonist. These are very scary times and we
must pay attention or face dire consequences.

One thing you can do to show Bush, and the world, we are paying attention is to
link from your sites, as I have, to:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/

using the term: Icky Man

Here is a link for you to copy:

<a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/&quot; rel="tag">Icky Man</a>

Leave a comment here so we can all see the progress of our efforts.

Cheers,
J Andrew Morrison

Tags: Bush Racism Iky Man stay the course getting the job done Bush Administration armagedon Iraq

Firefox Losing Market Share, Don’t Think So

Here’s an Information Week healine today:

Firefox Losing Market Share, Internet Explorer Gaining, Says Dutch Metrics Firm

The numbers come from OneStat. I am wondering, are they on the MS
bankroll? First, they contradict the findings on Firefox penetration
presented by Net Applications which shows IE is losing ground. So is it
he said she said? Of course, so I have to side with the report matching
my data.

I run a Myspace tutorial site. I figure if there is a mix of users that
represent the typical Internet surfer, it’s a crowd looking at things related
to Myspace. I am receiving 350 – 500 unique visitors per day and am
showing my viewers using Firefox consistently at 21% – 23% (Safari is
at 3%, also more in line with Net Applications). I have other sites showing
similar results but the traffic is too little to draw additional support from.

Finally, the article also says:

Mozilla Corp.’s Firefox has the largest share of browser users in Germany
(33.4 percent), Australia (25.6 percent), and Italy (21.6 percent), said OneStat.
In the U.S. only, IE accounts for 80.8 percent, Firefox 14.9 percent, and
Safari 3.4 percent.

So I applaud the rest of the world for recognizing the value of quality and for
breaking the bonds of Microsoft propaganda. Here in the U.S. I hope we follow
suit soon. And don’t forget, it doesn’t matter that IE7 will be released before Firefox 2.

Do us all a favor and get Firefox now.

Cheers,
J Andrew Morrison

Tags:
firefox
ie7
internet explorer
2.0 beta
get Firefox
myspace
myspace tutorial

Microsoft’s IE 7 May Beat Firefox 2.0 To Market, Who Cares

The first part of the title is a headline from Information Week. The who
cares part is mine. Firefox 1.5 is already a better browser than IE7 so
the point is moot. We all need to do each other a favor and give up on IE.
It’s an insecure beast designed to perpetuate Microsoft proprietary
technologies that reduce usability, cost standards savvy web developers
time and money in hacks, and limit the experience of web surfers.

Firefox is gaining in market share for a reason. It’s a better browser. If
we, as a web community, can push Firefox to 50% market share we will,
at the very least, force Microsoft to pay attention to standards and come
up with a comparable product.

If you are a Mac user, help out by using Firefox instead of Safari or other
Mozilla base browsers, at least for a little while. Safari and the others are
great browsers, but only diminish the impact of our fight against Microsoft.
Firefox is a great browser and you won’t miss your stand by. You can always
return as a loyal fan when the fight is done. with 10s of millions of us, and
growing, we can make a difference.

Do us all a favor and get Firefox now.

Cheers,
J Andrew Morrison

Tags:
firefox
ie7
internet explorer
2.0 beta
get Firefox

Microsoft, Illegal Dominance or Death Throws

I can’t believe what I just read in Information Week. It appears we
now must trust Microsoft, unanimously viewed as a security disaster by
supporters and proponents alike, to be the sole protector of our computing
environment. The headline reads:

Following rival Symantec’s lead, McAfee complained that by
locking access to the Vista kernel, Microsoft was also blocking security
vendors’ access to the operating system core.

I guess Microsoft has gotten over the post anti-trust syndrome and is back to
its old practice of underhanded business tactics instead of innovation and
quality to keep its market share. Here’s another quote:

‘”They’ve leveraged their access [to the kernel] to give themselves an unfair
advantage,” said Viega. “That will leave users less secure.”‘

and:

‘”Microsoft has repeatedly said that its own products — security
software included — must also abide by the PatchGuard restrictions. Viega
didn’t think Microsoft would be able to resist the temptation. “I don’t believe
them,” he said when asked about Microsoft’s promises to steer clear of the
kernel.’

I don’t believe them either. Microsoft’s history of bad conduct Microsoft is too
overwhelming to give anything they say about good behavior any credence
what so ever. Overall it’s a desperate play by a desperate company. I don’t
think anything they do will save them in the long run. It might even accelerate
the decline, at least in the EU, as they thumb their noses at regulators and
bring down the wrath of government legal action once again.

There may be immediate hope, though, in the growth of Apple Macintosh computers in the coffee houses.

Cheers,
J Andrew Morrison

Tags:
computer+security
windows vista
mcafee
symantec
macintosh

Let’s Clean the House

It’s time we made a stand for ourselves. The only way this can
be done is to break the chain of corruption in DC built by self
serving, power hungry, profit mongering scoundrels. The only
way to this is voting everyone out. The problems we face are
caused, in a large part, by the committees on the hill. These
committees are run by the old guard who are in turn run by the
lobbyists of powerful corporations. I realize an entire government
of freshmen congress and senate members would cause a certain
amount of chaos and inefficiency. I think we should be willing to
accept this considering both the ultimate outcome of the continued
course and the incredible power we, as a nation of individuals,
would gain in the long term. It would send a clear message that we
stand in absolute disgust with the current state of our leadership
(or lack therof) and that we are willing to do something about it,
now, and in the future.

Compared to what lies ahead, the turmoil of this move will be but
a flesh wound. Let’s dodge the bullet of arrogance, deception, power
mongering and greed seeking to blow our brains against the wall.
Let’s accept the fall of those who might be innocent bystanders on
The Hill in order to foster creativity and balance. Creativity and
balance are the natural outcome when problems are faced by people
on the same level playing field.

Level the playing field, vote for creativity and balance, vote for
yourselves, vote everyone in office out.

Cheers,
J Andrew Morrison

Tags:
bush
cheney
congress
senate
election
vote
we the people

IE7, Just Stop Supporting It Already

This is a message to web developers, IT Managers and eTailers as much as users. Here is a quote from Information Week:

“This isn’t even about IE 7,” Litofsky argued. “IE 7 could be bug free and sites would still have these issues. In a typical browser roll-out, a site may get dozens of hundreds of customer support [and access] problems. With IE 7, though, it’ll be that times several thousand.”

Come on, why do we continue to accepting this? Users, download Firefox and start using it. Web delevopers, just write W3C compliant code and stick to JavaScript and XML. We’ll all be a lot happier in the end.

BTW, Microsoft, if you force me to upgrade to IE7, I’ll hack a big loogey at you.

Cheers,
J Andrew Morrison

Tags:
firefox
IE7
web developers

Simplx, My Final Warning to You Posted

This is a copy of the post I made at learnbyexperiences.wordpress.com so if you read it there you don’t need to continue.

First, in case you are the type that gets bored with details, here are the
facts about Simplx as provided by the owner [original post by owner]:

1. To gain access to the full Simplx product costs a minimum of $3,500.
    
2. The offer for $79.95 plus $35 per month is not for membersip in Simplx, but in ClubDropship which, “includes limited access to our merchant supplier network and an introductory mentoring session for around $100 and $35 per month.” The mentoring session, by the way, is a sales pitch for Simplx.
    
3. There are no refunds. You will most likely not be able to get one through
   a dispute.
    
4. Simplx does not provide a drop ship opportunity. Simplx offers a complex
   affiliate commission scheme. They are affiliate middlemen. Here is how it works.
    
1. You access the Simplx network product catalog. Here they list the products of companies they have an affiliate relationship with, not the products of distributors or manufacturers that will ship a product to your customer on your behalf. You will be trained to locate products with high current discounts/rebates and a good affiliate commission.
2. After finding a product above you sell that product either on ebay or through your own ecommerce site.
3. When a customer purchases the product you in turn purchase the product, at retail less discount/rebate, from the retailer, through an affiliate link provided by Simplx.
4. You then wait for all of the commissions to be aggregated by Simplx until it is time for them to cut you a commission check

Those are the facts in a nutshell. If you think you can offset a minimum of $3,500 plus monthly fees on affiliate commissions go for it. I just want you to be clear that is what Simplx is offering.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not illegal. My beef with Simplx is that they took my money on the premise I was entering a drop shipping opportunity and it wasn’t. Now they won’t give my money back. My beef with Simplx is they consistently use deceitful tactics and are not adverse to outright lies. They even lied to Capital One in the letter they sent in response to my dispute. In that letter they state, “Mr. John Morrison was issued all that was promised to him, he did receive his coaching session that stated in the invoice that was sent to him.” I did not receive a coaching session. On these matters I will be filing additional complaints with the BBB Utah and with the FTC.

My research also indicates this is just a bad business model for the brokers. One reason is you can do this yourself. Within an hour I was able to secure my own affiliate relationship with many companies offering the same products in the Simplx network. I contacted the affiliate managers and, with the exception of Amazon, they have no problem with you buying through an affiliate link and having the product shipped directly to your customer.

Another reason is customer satisfaction. If you are interested in repeat customers and good ebay reputation you need to consider the consequences when something goes wrong. How will you handle it when a customer complains about the product or shipping since you can do nothing about it? How will your customer feel when the invoice and advertising in the package they receive is all about the retailer you purchased it from and has nothing about you?

Finally you have to ask yourself if there is enough profit in commissions to offset listing fees, monthly fees, the minimum $3,500 you pay up front and any other marketing and administrative expenses you will encounter. My research shows that, even if you use the unethical practice of inflating shipping prices, the margins are too thin to effectively cover all of this. Plus, I know there are more effective ways to spend the $3,500 in promoting affiliate products, one of which is the old technique with the new name, click flipping.

Now on a related note I would like to add that you will not find protection
from your credit card company from companies like this. Apparently they
are more concerned with the profits they receive from business employing
deceptive business practices than protecting their customers.

I have learned from my dispute with Capital One that Simplx has the ability,
and takes advantage of that ability, to extract money from consumer under
false pretenses; the false pretense being they are a drop ship provider when
in fact they are a broker network. This means you do not make your profit
based on the difference between what you pay for a product and what you
sell that product for, instead you are a commissioned sales person receiving
a check based on the aggregated affiliate commissions you generate for
Simplx by purchasing products throgh Simplx affiliate relationships.

I was not able to get the refund I requested in my dispute with Simplx through
Capital One. I filed my dispute on two premises. First, I was not informed of
the no refund policy. Second, I requested a refund based on the product being
misrepresented. It turns out the credit card companies, at least Capital One,
are more interested in protecting scum companies than the consumer.

Based on a single letter from Simplx, Capital One told me they must accept
the no refund policy. They confirmed my written statement that I was never
told of a no refund policy. They refused to require evidence from Simplx that
I was told there was a no refund policy. The Capital One representative
acknowledged that the only way a customer was ensured a refund was if the
company stated in the affirmative that there is a refund available. So make
a note to yourself, ask if there is a refund available, and if not do not do
business with that company.

Worse yet, after more about an hour on the phone with the Capital One
representative he conceded that the product offered by phone and on the
Simplx website was different than what I was charged for and, in his words,
“appeared to be a fraudulant company”. Even with this acknowledgement,
and my request to investigate further to protect me and other consumers,
Capital One is not willing to do anything about it. I was offered a token
$50 from Capital One. I am offended and angered and hope that some day
I will have the necessary influence to change the course of business in a
more ethical direction.

So that being said, I won’t be posting further about Simplx.

Tags:
ClubDropship
Simplicity Group
product sourcing
dropship products
click flipping
Simplx