Archive | Personal

Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave Pro

Logitech_Cordless_Desktop_Wave_Pro_1

The way I see it, if there is anything I need to invest well in – it is a good mouse and keyboard.  With the freelance contracting and writing that I do, it is my proverbial nails and hammer to get the job done.  So when my old mouse died off, I saw it as the perfect chance to grab the Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave Pro.  I have been using it a little less than 24 hours, and thus far I love it.

That is one wacky looking mouse!

The first time you see the mouse, you might think it is the ugliest computer add-on you have ever laid your eyes on.  Once you put your hand on it though, you understand that ugly feels pretty damn good in the palm of your hand.  Also, this thing has more buttons on it than I have ever seen before.  For browsing on the web, the two side buttons are nice – because by default they are used as backwards and forwards buttons.  The big thumb button on the side is cool too, even though I don’t use the Windows Vista 3D flip all that much (and I can change what it is programmed to later of course).

Keyboard fits like a glove!

The keyboard has a really nice feeling to it to.  The keys are waved in a way to make typing on it feel more “natural”, or so it says on the box.  I can’t complain yet.  The keys have a good feeling when they are pushed too.  It feels good.  I also usually hate all the programmable keys that come across the tops, bottoms, and side of many keyboards – so nice to see this one doesn’t have that many. 

All in all, I am very happy with the purchase, and I would give the Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave Pro two thumbs up for any other web hosting guru, freelance contractor, writer, and geek out there like myself.   If you don’t trust me, Cnet has also put out a nice video review of the combo.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Sales Advice – Learn to Highlight the Good Things!

If there was one basic idea of sales and how to work sales to your advantage when you are in a business, it would be to don’t sell what you don’t have.  Day after day, I see people who ignore this one simple rule for selling anything.  No mater if you are in web hosting industry, like I am – or you are selling shoes down the block.

Highlight the Good Things, not the Bad Things!

Now what do I mean by this?

You do not bring up the features you don’t provide.  Instead, you want to highlight the features that you do provide.  Take for an example, you sell cars.  The consumer comes to you interested in that truck out back.  Now, you don’t highlight the fact that the truck has no wheels.  You want to point out to the consumer that it has a fresh coat of paint, and an all new interior.

That may be an extreme example, but it gets the point across.  Now, I am not telling you to lie.  That would be wrong.  What you need to do though, is find at least three highlights on a product for every down side.  Let’s say I want to sell you a wired computer mouse, that has a ball in it.  Now, most people would say that thing is dated and past it’s prime.

Where can you find the positive in that negative?

  • It still works, just like it was brand new
  • Makes a loud noise when you click, so you know you the button is being pushed
  • It makes a great alternative to a wireless one, just in case you ever run out of batteries

You can not be a good sales person without being able to see that the glass is half full, and not half empty.  You have to be optimistic, because if you are not – do you think the customer will be?

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Top 10 Saturday Morning Cartoons (Mitchy-style!)

They don’t make cartoons like the used to.  After buying the complete series of Captain N, the Game Master on DVD, it made me start thinking about other cartoons I remember watching when I was growing up.  Here are my personal favorite top 10 awesome old cartoons.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Continue Reading →

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Free Custom Desktop Icons from Mitch!

custom-icon-category

I have done a number of custom icons in the past few weeks and months, so I figured – why not dump them all into a category so you can pick them up one by one?  Hence, the reason for the brand new (and reeking of awesomeness) custom icon category:

http://www.mitchelaneous.com/category/desktop/free-icons/

Browse through all the past icons, and if you have any requests – be sure to let me know!  More will be coming soon too, so look forward to seeing some updates there.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

My Birthday Present for You… Freaks!

Since today is my birthday, I had to find something extra special to get for all of you.  Yes, I know birthdays usually work the other way around – but hey, I am a giving kind of guy. So what better to hand you than another public domain favorite movie of mine, Freaks.

It is a horror movie about sideshow performers.  Instead of using makeup and actors though, the films director (and producer) Tod Browning hired actual carnival performers.  That, in its own right, makes it even stranger.  The film was also banned in the United Kingdom for thirty years.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

My SumoSac Finally Arrived (and I have a very happy rear end)

2892635180_393c05364a_m Well, after complaining a lot – I finally got my SumoSac I ordered a few weeks ago.  It took about a week to get here, which is not too bad.  The people at SumoLounge.com though really need to work on their customer service.  The day after I posted my previous thoughts on the shipping problems, I called them up to see if I could figure out where my package was.

The nice lady on the phone told me that it had not yet been shipped, and it might still take 4 to 5 more days.  “Ok, fair enough” I thought to myself.  At least now I know when to expect it.  Well, about an hour later, I finally get a response to one of my week old e-mails.  They tell me my order is out for delivery right now.  So now I was left with, it’ll be here in another week or in a few hours.  I am happy to say it was the “few hours” on which was correct.

Back the the chair though, the SumoSac has to be the most comfortable one I have ever sat in.  Instead of beads, it is filled with foam.  If it gets too dented up, all you have to do is fluff it like a huge pillow and then plop back down onto it.  It’ll be interesting to see how long it stays fluffy – into the next few years.  As for right now though, I am really happy with the purchase. I just wish their customer service department would get an overhaul.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

SumoSac Still Not Here, Amazon Spoiled me to Fast Shipping

SumoSac I was in need of a new chair, so I figured – why not order one of those SumoSacs?  They do look pretty cool.  So where does the problem come in?  Well one week later and I have yet to hear anything about the order I put in.  The way I see it, places like Amazon.com have spoiled me to good customer service.  Over at SumoLounge.com (where I picked up my sack of sumo) the only support they have is via e-mail – which NOBODY has answered in over a week’s time. 

Starting to wonder, where it all gets dumped to?  Is there some poor sap somewhere looking at my e-mails and laughing – or maybe somebody has been sick? 

So where is my SumoSac?  Not a clue (hopefully somebody from Sumo Lounge might be reading this.  Coming from somebody who does nothing but customer support day in and day out, makes me feel good that I’m delivering better support than these guys right now.

Come on, Sumo Lounge – prove me wrong!

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Geeking it Up (or yes I joined another network)

Maybe I am a sucker for trying new things?  Just got an invite to Chris Pirillo’s new project that is simply named Geeks.  You can kind of think of it as another Facebook or MySpace for the geekier people in life, no matter what type of geek you are.

Here is Chris explaining the basics about Geeks:

It is a cool idea, and I like it thus far.  We will see where it goes from here.  If you want to give it a shot, feel free to make friends with me.

http://geeks.pirillo.com/profile/Mitch

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

New Web Hosting Show Theme Suggestions?

images I have been looking for a new theme to use for my podcast, the Web Hosting Show.   I have been using the same awesome theme (which I still have much love for) but after so many years, I am getting the itch to try something new.  Really want something with a little less techno beat and something more “rock” related.  Think I have narrowed it down to these two choices:

Which one do you like more?  Found them both at PremiumBeat.com, which I am really looking forward to seeing how well working with them will be.  Thus far, for the budget podcaster – they seem to have the cheapest deals for royalty free music.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Fun Interview with Lunarpages Newsletter

Hey for those of you who wondered what it is  do for a day job, here’s your chance.  Was looking back this morning at an interview I did for the Lunarpages monthly newsletter.  Here is how things start out…

Hey Mitch! Thanks for taking some time out from writing our Newsletter articles to handle a quick interview. 

Not a problem. Nice to be on the other side of the content stream every once in a while in front of my close and personal amigos, the always awesome Lunarpages clients.

You’re another one of those people who work for Lunarpages and does just about everything in every department. So what’s your official job title and what do you do for LP?

I don’t know if I have ever been given one? I guess officially I would be considered a Level One Customer Service Representative, Senior Forum Moderator, Content Writer, Sales Guy, Blogger and Official Odd Jobs Associate. Think I almost got everything covered there.

You can check out the rest of the interview on the web site.  Had been a while since I had done any sort of interview, hope I wasn’t rusty.  I guess what they say about, “time flying by when your having fun” is true.   End of next month will mark my two year anniversary of being with the company, and hopefully I’ll have many more years to come.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }