Closing Time

Blogging has been fun, but I am no longer going to be posting to this site. http://www.bofe.org will be available forever. I’ll update it with anything new.

Why the hate?

This weekend I figured out why I don’t like salespeople of any kind. Their occupation involves more “moral compromise” than any other just to put food on the table.

Discuss.

Overdue Update

It’s been almost two months since my last post here.

An update:

• Work: We launched online enrollment at work. It was one of the last phases of our ERP implementation. Our old phone based registration is over.
• Geek/Work/Professional Accomplishment: My virtualization site Virtual Andy is now listed on PlanetV12N, a VMware blog aggregator.
• School: I completed my 4th semester of graduate school. This was the first time I’ve gotten a 4.0 GPA with Murray State. Two semesters left.
• TMI Alert: In late May, I had a colonoscopy. It was painless. The night before wasn’t pleasant. PS: Everything Is Just Fine. (TM)
• Geek Update: I got a sweet new machine at work. Some of my coworkers call it “Andy’s Server”. 12GB RAM, 1TB+ Storage, Dual Quad Core Xeon Processors, 2 22″ Dell LCD. I love it!
• Sad News: My parents are selling their condo at the lake, and I’m not buying it. This Is Not A Good Thing. (TM)

More On My Health:

I’ve been having some health problems, but I’m taking steps to have them fixed. The whole “eating whatever I want” isn’t a sustainable model. Hopefully this ordeal which has been going on since February (and its related costs) will be a wake up call for me. I’ve been doing good (aside from a weekend in St. Louis) and working out on an elliptical machine.

Aside from the change in eating habits, the hardest part of this all is saying “no”. My coworkers go out to eat a lot and so do my friends; I usually have to say no to them. Or I have to just go and have a water. I think most of them are understanding, but I don’t want to lose the social connections.

The Summer Reading List:

I recently finished The Lovely Bones (my GF requested I read it). My summer list:

• The Broken Window (in progress)
• I Will Teach You To Be Rich from one of my favorite bloggers Ramit Sethi
• Suze Orman 2009 Action Plan
• The Entire Harry Potter Series
• The Dark Half

The Summer Travel Schedule:

• June 13 – Wedding (Paducah, KY)
• June 19 – PHISH Concert (Nobelsville, IN)
• June 21 – Father’s Day (Owensboro, KY)
• June 23 – Taking a friend to Nashville
• July 3 – Visiting Friends in Kansas City, MO
• July 10 – Family Stuff (Owensboro, KY)
• July 11 – Pool Party (Kevil, KY)
• July 17-19 – Visit to GF (Gravel Switch, KY)
• July 26-31 – Vacation (All Around Pennsylvania)
• August 19 – Graduate school resumes

I’d better get those tires checked and the oil changed! Oh, and a vision check! It’s going to be a packed summer.

This Post Was Sponsored By The Non Existent Blog Of UnNecessary Caps, A Subsidiary Of Apostrophe Abuse, lowercase L, And The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks.

Internet vs. DVR

First, some monthly costs:

• Internet: $37.50 (I have residential Tier 3)
• Netflix: $8.95, I mainly stream tv/movies from this service. Rarely watch the 1 DVD a month.
• Cable: “Free”, it’s included in my rent

I only have a laptop set up at home – it’s hooked to my TV and I mainly stream video from Hulu, South Park Studios, and NetFlix.

I use the web quite a bit, but it’s almost all for work or school purposes. The office is < 5 miles away, and I have a desk and two monitors at work… so if I need to browse the web/buy something/do email I go to the office anyway.

DVR service would cost me $22.50. DVR can replace my internet service and Netflix. That’s a savings of $23.95 a month for $287.40 a year. I’m looking to my readers to let me know if there’s something I’m missing. Comment and vote!

26

Here’s a list of things that have happened since I last posted:

• We went to Nashville for our 1-year anniversary and visited BB King’s and the mall. It was a great time.
• I read How To Castrate A Bull. It’s a good book about risk taking and IT management/philosophy.
• I fired a gun for the first time. Correction: I fired several different types of guns for the first time. The guys at work had a shooting day out in the middle of nowhere.
• I turned 26.
• I spent my entire tax refund on a large car payment. It’s bringing me 5 months closer to having it paid off.

In other news, I’m still going strong on the Master’s program. Two more semesters left. I’m considering taking an investment class this summer, just for the hell of it.

Lies in Marketing

I’m really writing this for someone in my life that constantly complains about the amount of “junk mail” received (email or snail mail), yet when a favorite company has a “Daily Sweepstakes”, enters immediately. Every time it happens, I die a little inside. The exact thing that is being complained about is being fed by the contest entry.

It’s annoying. Lots of clutter. Lots of trash. Privacy. Most people really don’t know how their information is used and they trust companies.

Unfortunately, lots of big companies hire ad firms/agencies who are extremely cutthroat and are under immense pressure from the aforementioned big company that they’ll do just about anything to get more leads/sales. Including share the information between clients.

Show me the money!

It’s important to understand the “why” behind all of this. Always follow the money. Personal information has a quantifiable dollar value. The more detailed information, the more valuable.

For example, I have 1,000,000 email addresses.

50% of them don’t get delivered. Now I have 500,000 email addresses.
10% of those are opened. Now I have 50,000 email addresses.
10% of those click a link to a website. Now I have 5,000 email addresses.
5% of those make a purchase for varying dollar amounts. Now I have $50,000 revenue. Eventually that may be $15,000 profit.
Revenue per e-mail address: $0.05. (or $0.01 profit per email address)
There are fixed costs to send the campaign, but companies will find a break even point and also calculate target profit. (Hint: Variable cost per unit = email addresses. Fixed cost = A number you think to send an email campaign.)

This works across the board and sometimes it can scale (1,000,000 email addresses = PROFIT, therefore 2,000,000 email addresses = MOAR PROFITS!).

Now, think of a targeted mailing. Target mailings are where there specific groups of people being emailed. Think of people who have lots of disposable income (Ever wonder why your household income is asked when you register for some sites?) and live within 50 miles of a lake. It makes perfect financial sense for a wakeboard company to spend money targeting those kinds of consumers.

1,000,000 email addresses of consumers, but we know that they make >$100K a year, are male and live within 50 miles of a lake

With the same percentage returns from the earlier example, that $0.05 revenue per email address can go way up. So will the profit per email address.

Lies, damned lies, and marketing calls to action

Information Honeypots are just veiled lies to get your personal information. The best way to attract bees is with a honeypot. There is unlikely benefit to the consumer and much more likely benefit to the companies.

Calls to action are ways to entice consumers to take action. Most of them are direct, like “Buy now!”…but there are many that are flat out lies. Some create a false sense urgency because agencies know if you don’t act soon, the message will be forgotten.

Examples:

• Surveys (information honeypot)
• Contests/Giveaways (information honeypot)
• To view, you must register (information honeypot)
• Text ____ to Vote NOW! see AT&T and American Idol (information honeypot)
• Order in the next 15 minutes and get _____ for free! (call to action)
• Mail in Rebates (call to action AND information honeypot)
• ________ Show this weekend (Boat, Bridal) (multiple information honeypots + sales pitches)
• Newsletters (information honeypot)

I know, I’ve ranted about marketers before, but what it really boils down to is dishonesty. That’s what ticks me off.

Only at August Moon

Only at AM.

My Account of KY’s Ice Storm 2009

Here’s my account of the earlier parts of Ice Storm 2009. The times aren’t entirely accurate, but are sort of close.

Tuesday, late afternoon and evening -

Classes officially cancelled for the night. I have a bad feeling about this one.

Wednesday -

4:00 AM

Barely got any sleep. Power’s gone. Cell’s gone. I’m going to scope out our setup at I&T building. Hopefully it is still operational and we have a place to go.

4:30 AM

Servers are all up, I&T is whirring. The power is on upstairs in the E-panel outlets and that looks like it will be our home base. Headed to dorms to see if GF is ok.

4:45 AM

Can’t get ahold of GF. No land line, no cell, and desk worker won’t let me in and won’t go check. I don’t think they realize how serious this situation has become. I am not amused. Headed back home to pick up supplies and JB, a co-worker who lives nearby.

5:30 AM

JB and I have set up at I&T. He has packed up a lot of stuff. Coffee is on. He is setting up some kind of stove that runs on gas used for camping. Internet is operational, but quiet. No one is online. Still trying to figure everything out.

Snow has started to pour down.

6:50 AM

We just ate some Ramen noodles. I called public safety, letting them know I can update www.murraystate.edu and wrote down a statement from our emergency coordinator. The university is closed today. Wow, this is bad. Called my manager – he will be heading this way. Can’t get WPSD online, can’t pick up any radio stations (or their websites) besides WKMS.

8:15 AM

Frantically trying to get ahold of someone who can inform us of our generator’s power. How long will we be on until we fail to battery? More co-workers are here. We apparently have a water pressure problem. None is flowing. We are heading around campus to pick up friends and family that will be huddling up in the I&T building.

9:00 AM

Loved ones have been rounded up. They’re a little confused (it’s still early) but I think they understand what’s going on. We have made contact with most of our group, but not everyone. I hope they’re okay!

The new public safety building is called the Emergency Operations Center and is serving the entire area. Apparently the generator has 6 hours left unless it is refueled. We are starting to make a list of essential servers that have to remain up (and their dependencies) along with a server shutdown order. All I can think of is our DR meetings. And payroll.

9:45

Generator is being refueled. YES!!!!!!!! 350 Gallons of Diesel should keep us up for a good amount of time.

10:00

Making a run for more supplies now that we understand how bad things really are… we need food, trash bags, disposable utensils/plates, blankets, pillows, everything.

—————————————————–

We eventually headed to Owensboro (my hometown) and camped out at my mom and dad’s house. Two weeks prior, they had skipped town and went to Florida.

Icey Fun

Just keeping this for posterity.

It’s icey