Catchall
Defies categorization.
Duncan Mcallyn had a lousy experience with FTD at Valentine's Day, and I followed up with some reasons why local florists are your best choice. Every Wednesday, I receive an industry newsletter, and in today's newsletter, there's more FTD news.
FTD recently kicked Vancouver Flower Co. and Lovin' Blooms out of its network for a number of violations, including “curtailment”. Curtailment, also known as “skimming” in the industry, where the sending florist charges one price, but sends a reduced order value to the receiving florist. For instance, a customer might be charged $50 for flowers, and $10 for delivery. This should be sent to the reciving florist as such. A skimmer would send the order for $45 with $5 delivery, and keep the additional $10 for themselves, plus whatever rebates and usual percentages they are eligible for. The receivng florist gets the order and fills it to the value of what was sent, but not what the customer was charged. While not completely illegal, it's certainly unethical.
IMHO, FTD's actions are very close to hypocrisy. If you notice in Duncan's post, he was charged a $10 “service fee”, which is not passed on to the receiving florist. You have to search FTD's site long and hard to find mention of this fee before you place your order. FTD is toeing the line of being a curtailer itself by calling this a “service fee”. In the customer's mind, this fee is part of the price of the flowers.
Another practice to be aware of is “order gathering”. This is where a company, which may or may not be a florist at all, creates websites that appear to be a florist in the local market. You'll see these in your yellow pages as well if you're in any size metropolitan area. We have 4 order gatherers advertising in our local YPs, and Butler is only about 40,000 people. FTD finds themselves playing in this area also, with its recent purchase of Florist.com and three other major web properties.
Finally, FTD is expanding its program with Wal-Mart. Avoid ordering flowers through walmart.com like the plague. If there is any problem with your order, you have to contact walmart.com to have it rectified. The price will be slightly lower, but there's still that “service fee“ to make up the difference. That will be a painless process, I'm sure.
My advice: find a good local florist and stick with them. You'll be amazed at the service and value you get. In my experience, there is a direct correlation between the design of the shop's website and the quality of the flowers. Think about it--design is what we do, so it should permeate into everyting we do. Order gatherers and skimmers do a great job of trying to appear local in an effort to rip you off. If you're in doubt, look for the florist's address. Most local florists will make their actual address pretty apparent (it is part of SEO after all). If in doubt, call and ask. If you need flowers in the Butler, PA area, please visit us at www.bloomery.com.
You can read more about skimmers and order gatherers (including a list of OGs) at The Florist Detective.
From David Waddleton:
Your chances to pass any Microsoft certification exam have just doubled. Simply register for this offer by May 31, 2005, before taking your exam, and we'll give you a free second shot at success.
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/offers/2ndshot
That offer is available through Pearson Vue centers, who also have a discount exam voucher via Amazon. Expiring April 30, 2005 are this year's discount Microsoft exam vouchers. Stay tuned, I'm sure there will be another batch for 2006 starting in April.
Steven Swafford has a sweet C#/VB.NET comparison cheat sheet over on ASP Alliance
. Double bonus: you can download as a PDF or MS Word doc. Thanks, Steven!
Duncan McAlynn had a bad experience with FTD for Valentine's Day. I spent the last three days on the other side of the counter--my wife owns The Bloomery Florist in Butler, PA. I understand the emotional nature of what we do, and feel for his plight. I want to take a little space to answer some of what he had to avoind someone else repeating his experience.
How can local florists decide their own pricing when they join a network that advertises products at a set price?
We are all independent business, affected by our own labor rates, cost of goods, utilities, etc. This isn't the fault of the florists, but rather the outdated business model being used by FTD. FTD has to set prices based on a guess and a small survey of florists in major markets. Our red roses were $55.99 + $4.50 delivery, and our colored roses were $39.99 + $4.50 delivery ($7.50 if you ordered on Monday, all roses long stemmed, but sometimes arranged in modern short styles), but another florist across town was $75 + delivery.
>Since when is $60 not enough for a dozen MEDIUM stem (not even long stem) roses?
Here's a small tip: most florists don't stock different lengths of roses anymore. The average rose stem in a flower shop is 50-60cm long. Longer roses are usually used for special event pieces. If you want the long stems delivered, order ahead, and ask the florist to be sure they get at least 80 cm stem length. The more contemporary designs have very short stems (like http://www.bloomery.com/detail.asp?product_id=TF68-3), though. However, if you like the long stem look (similar to http://www.bloomery.com/detail.asp?product_id=TF31-2), stick around for a few years--it'll be back. The longer the stem, the higher its wholesale cost (if you've ever grown roses, you'll know why).
Looking at Duncan's order, I think this may have been part of the problem--FTD was selling an item simply not available at that florist for that price. Also, that $11.99 “service fee“ is not paid to the florist. FTD.COM keeps that, too. I've always considered that a rip-off. The Internet greatly lowers costs, yet they tack on $11.99 to take an order that costs pennies to process? Ordering from us is free--put the 12 bucks toward the flowers, and give your girls a better surprise. Duncan didn't pay $60 for the roses--he only paid $48, which would have been a nice dozen of mixed colors, but wouldn't have gotten red ones delivered. It maddens me that FTD sticks on that fee, because it significantly increases the total order cost, and reduces the value of what you get.
Here's another tip: If you order through FTD.COM, I get paid 73% of the order (FTD keeps 27%, in addition to the $11.99 fee). If you order with a credit card, I get paid 97% of the order. When it comes to crunch time, guess which orders get priority? Trick question--at our shop, we don't differentiate between “wire orders“ (we are still members of Teleflora) and credit card orders. But I know shops that do.
>FTD isn't worth the bother
I have to agree, and this is one reason why we quit both FTD and 1-800-FLOWERS several years ago. The Internet has devestated their business model of guessing pricing and poor service. For the best service, skip FTD.COM and Google for a florist.
I know there are a lot of people who have some trepidation ordering from a business they don't know. You can use both FTD [dot] COM and teleflora [dot] com to find florists in the destination. Teleflora's findaflorist.com links directly to the local websites of its member florists, and you can also Google for that business. If you order directly through a local florist, and are unhappy with the style or quality, contact that florist directly very soon after the flowers are delivered (in an age where even the phones have cameras, you should be able to see the results in due time). Any good florist will offer to make it right. If they don't to your satisfaction, consider using another florist instead of writing off flowers alltogether. When you find one that you like, stick with them. They'll appreciate the business, and you know you'll be able to trust.
We have repeat customers who call the shop, and all they have to say is “This is Pat, I need some flowers sent to Ann today. Thanks.” That's all they have to say. Our business customers skip the phone and website entirely, and just e-mail us directly with the order particulars. It takes several orders to build this relationship, and communication is important.
source: http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=29901
Internet Explorer's share of the Web browser market is barely above the 90 percent mark, while rival Firefox now claims a 5 percent share. Reports of security problems with IE are motivating users to look for alternatives, researchers say.
By the end of 2004 blogs had established themselves as a key part of online culture. Two surveys by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in November established new contours for the blogosphere: 8 million American adults say they have created blogs; blog readership jumped 58% in 2004 and now stands at 27% of internet users; 5% of internet users say they use RSS aggregators or XML readers to get the news and other information delivered from blogs and content-rich Web sites as it is posted online; and 12% of internet users have posted comments or other material on blogs. Still, 62% of internet users do not know what a blog is.
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/144/report_display.asp
Interesting report, especially if you're interested in the marketing aspects of blogs.
I'm positng ths for a friend of mine:
Chalk Creek Software is looking for a qualified candidate to fill an open position for a C#/ASP.NET developer in our Pittsburgh office. This is a full-time, salaried position, for work on exciting and high-profile projects in a variety of industries. We are looking for a candidate who is driven, dedicated, and self-starting.
This position will start immediately and will be located in the Cranberry, PA area. Projects that this candidate will be included on range from multi-week to multi-year web-based projects. Travel will be minimal at first but may change depending on the nature of future projects. This position will include hands-on, relative work and close customer interaction. Previous consulting experience is a plus. Excellent written and verbal skills are required.
Benefits:
Salary with performance bonus
Full individual medical coverage
401k
Fast-paced, exciting technical environment
Opportunity to participate in conferences, presentations, and speaking engagements
Chalk Creek Software is an Internet development company specializing in high-performance, database driven custom and product-based web application development. Located in the Pittsburgh PA and Boston MA regions, Chalk Creek is dedicated to providing superior products, consulting services, and customer service. Visit www.chalkcreek.com to find out more about our company.
Required experience:
C#/ASP.NET design, development and deployment
SQL concepts, relational database design and development
HTML/XML/Javascript
Relative web and networking concepts, technologies and methodologies
3+ years OOP web development
3+ years commercial database integration experience (SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, etc)
IIS/Web server familiarity
Bachelor's degree
Preferred experience:
BS Computer Science
.NET Winforms development
Crystal Reports
Java and Java J2EE (JSP, Servlet, taglib, EJB, AWT/Swing)
Apache
Tomcat
Struts
Hibernate
Relative Java concepts, technologies, and methodologies
Design patterns experience
Experience with commercial Application servers (WebLogic, WebSphere, JRun, etc)
Linux
Other experience a plus:
Delphi
ColdFusion
Linux/Unix/Windows System administration
CORBA
Rational Rose
Shockwave
Flash
Graphic art development
Salary is commensurate with experience. Please contact Dennis Butler at dotnetjobs@chalkcreek.com.
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| Your Dominant Intelligence is Interpersonal Intelligence |
 You shine in your ability to realate to and understand others. Good at seeing others' points of view, you get how people think and feel. You have an uncanny ability to sense true feelings, intentions, and motivations. A natural born leader, you are great at teaching and mediating conflict. You would make a good counselor, salesperson, politician, or business person. |
Per Raymond Lewallyn's Superbowl Predictions...One For The Thumb! Let's straighten out a few misguided ideas:
First of all, Pittsburgh is spelled just as you see it here.
>we all know that their only major obstacle would be the Steelers backed by their freezing stadium
Freezing stadium? In Pittsburgh? In January? Never happens...
>the first duel btwn these two powerhouses, there was no Ty Law or Corey Dillon
So? Pittsburgh was missing 6 key starters, and NE still was manhandled.
>get into Rothlisberger's head
NE did such a good job last time they visited Heinz Field.
>and losing TO is the only reason I think they'll lose to Pitt in the Superbowl
Having TO didn't help them against the Steelers earler this season.
>Alexander is only the BEST rusher in the league
Takes more than one person to win a game, though. Steelers have the best depth a running back. The fourth-stringer went for 102 yards against a “surging” Buffalo Bills team. Oh yeah, and QB who dominated the second half was signed off the practice squad eariler in the week.
>Injured players are comming back to the starting line up.
Yep. Steelers have the most Pro-Bowl players in the AFC. Philly has more only because the rest of the NFC is terrible this season.
>STEELERS & PATRIOTS. My team the Patriots WILL win AGAIN
Ummm...Steelers and Patriots are both in the AFC. They can't meet in the Superbowl.
>Will he live after a thrashing by an inspired, healthy, NE defense? NO!! He does NOT have experience
He has more experience now than when he beat the Patriots earlier this season.
>PITT will have to take the super bowl championship from NE, a team that went 14-2
One of those two was to the Steelers, and the other one is the only reason the Dolphins pick second in this year's draft.
>Steelers are great, but cockey and young
Cocky? Are we living in the same universe?
>Patriots are smart, have a much better coaching staff, and win in clutch situations
Except in Pittsburgh and Miami.
>steelers had a easy easy schedule whoopty due they beat the patriots EARLY IN THE YEAR
Steelers had one of the toughest schedules in the league, playing the Pats and Eagles back to back (weeks 7 and 8, BTW--middle of the season), and the Jets, Jags, Bills and Ravens twice.
Didn't care about grades, sat in the back, rarely took notes.
One of my Christmas presents this year was Joel Spolsky's new book, “Joel on Soaftware:...“. The first thing to take note of with this book is the lengthy subtitle:
And on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Deelopers, Designers, and Managers, and Those Who, Whether by Good Fortune or ill Luck, Work With Then in Some Capacity
I'm serious. Read the entire subtitle.
That pretty much sums up the book. As you read through the book, you'll find yourself trying to devise ways for your boss, coworkers and even spouse to take notice of relevant passages and entire chapters. It's that good.
Every chapter in the book is a posting from Joel on Software, but rather than arrange them chronologically, Joel chose to arange them by subject. Where reading his blog from start to finish might seem a discombobulation of ideas, the chapters segue naturally and flow easily from one into another as arranged in this book.
"Joel on Software" is an easy read--I finished it in 2 days, and didn't ignore my family too much.
One of the more interesting chapters has to do with dogfooding, or using your own software in the conduct of your own business. It's a relevant concept. My first experience with a company that didn't eat its own dogfood was with an e-commerce software company whose product you could not order online. I inherited two websites that used the software, and I thought it was terrible. As of 2002 (four years after the initial version was launched), their site still did not use their own software, and I ended up buying four licenses of a competing product I could order online, not to mention all the recommendations I have made for one and against the other. I checked yesterday, and the site does finaly have e-commerce capabilities finally, so I'm sure their product is getting better. But it has cost them all of my business, and it's doubtful I'll even look at a trial version, since I have a substantial investment in a competing product, and there is no easy way to change.
In another chapter, Joel talks about removing barriers that prevent potential customers from adopting your product over a competitor's product, and uses Excel and Lotus 1-2-3 as examples. Half of my lifetime ago, I ate, breathed and shat Lotus 1-2-3. I was a "slash menu" god. Kiddos earning ther driver's license this year have never lived in a time where they would encounter a *.WKS or a slash menu. The complete transition took about 2 years. Yet even the latest versions of Excel still have Help >> Help for Lotus 1-2-3 Users, and still support slash menus. "Slash" to me these days is a former Steelers QB now riding the pine for the Ravens.
In between the incredibly useful insight into the process of software development, Joel sprinkles in interesting anecdotes of his careers at Microsoft and Juno, and right decisions vs. wrong decisions. Whether you're looking for development process insight, or just some insider information into the workings of Microsoft, you'll enjoy this book.
This is both hilarous and sad. I pity the poor squirrel once I stop laughing. And then I want to build one...
http://rjdudley.com/media/squirrel_launcher.wmv
That 1954 mock-up of a “home computer“ is actually a very, very good Photoshop creation:
Though it has been significantly doctored, what you actually see in the image above is a full-scale mock-up of the maneuvering room of a nuclear submarine.
The original photograph, taken at a Smithsonian Institution exhibit called "Fast Attacks and Boomers: Submarines of the Cold War," became the basis of a Fark.com Photoshop contest in September 2004, for which the above image, including caption, was created.
source: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_rand_home_computer.htm
You can see the contest and other entries here: http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=1115586&mode=voteresults
Additional story here: http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/computer.asp
source: http://msdn.microsoft.com/events/pdc/
You can sign up for alerts from the above URL. I have to give props for the PDC 2003 (“Make the connection!“) logo on the page.
Announcing the 2005 Microsoft Professional Developers ConferenceSeptember 13 – 16, 2005
Pre-conferences September 11 and 12
Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA |
Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC) is the definitive developer event focused on the future of the Microsoft platform.
PDC 2005 offers attendees the opportunity to learn, connect and engage with Microsoft’s platform developers and the global developer community with keynotes, breakout sessions, interactive labs, access to the latest code, community forums and much, much more.
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Here's a cool tool: http://healthmonitor.sourceforge.net/
HealthMonitor is a .NET app that runs as a Windows service and monitors the status of a number of counters, and can notify admins via E-mail, SMS or network popup (NET SEND?).