Thor's Archive
Congratulations is in order for the following 10 Top Affiliate Challenge contestants. After months of campaigning, voting, and working they have emerged as the best affiliate markets in the competition:
- Ty Hurd
- Big Jason Henderson
- Jonathan Van Clute
- Devin Hunter
- Tom "the Furry Hat Guy"
- Jani Gaffor
- Jonathan Ryan
- Carl Zetterlund
- Chad Van Norman
- Ronda Del Boccio
With the Top 10 taken care of, we are now required to select two contestants from the top 25% of the auditions to round out our cast at 12.
We spent some time this morning reviewing the videos, traffic statistics, public interest, and raw affiliate marketing abilities to determine who would best round out the cast. It's not an easy choice.
On top of that, there is a concentrated effort to market Eric Green to the producers. I have personally received about a half-dozen emails this morning asking me to pull for Green. A few of the emails came from Norway and Sweden.
We are going to be reviewing the paragraphs that others in the top 25% submit in the Top Affiliate Challenge Forum and we will have our decision on the final two by Monday at noon CST.
Schrock Innovations received a call today from one of the nation's leading data recovery companies, Drive Savers. They saw my post about the discounted data recovery we are offering for tornado victims and they have offered to help out as well.
There is only so much we can do to recover data in our Service Centers, and when the damage is beyond our ability to handle, we send our problem children to Drive Savers.
Drive Savers has always been able to get what our customers need, although off-site data recovery can be expensive depending on what has to be done to get to the data.
Drive Savers has offered a VERY GENEROUS 30% discount for all jobs we send them related to Nebraska tornado damage through July 9th, 2008. I say very generous because the data recovery industry never works for free and rarely gives a discount. Here is a portion of the email Doug received today at the Service Center:
For the next 30 days, Drive Savers will offer your Tornado victim customers a 30% discount.
Here are a couple of areas people can look over in their insurance policies.
There is a small movement in the insurance industry for both home-owners and renters insurance where they have been covering the cost of data recovery. It could be called "loss of intellectual property" by them and would probably be in the section under valuable records and documents - possibly in the liability coverage section. Another section to look over would be in the property/casualty coverage. If they have blanket coverage, this could include data loss along with the property damage. "...the damage, destruction or loss of property from an identifiable event that is sudden, unexpected or unusual."
Insurance Covering Data Recovery
For some people it is worth pursuing - nothing ventured, nothing gained. Others are not willing to talk with their insurance company over concerns their rates will go up. This is certainly a very personal decision on a case-by-case basis.
For business insurance the terminology used would be "business critical". Basically, the business/company can't move forward without getting their data back. (Also, in the majority of cases, fees for data recovery can be written off as a business expense at tax time. Customers should check with their accountants.)
Wishing the best for both you and your customers. All of you are in my thoughts. - Meg
Thanks again to Drive Savers for helping out those in need. If you have data that you need recovered from a tornado damaged computer you can visit one of Schrock Innovations' Service Centers or call for a free pickup within Lincoln or Omaha.
If you are not sure if your hard drive was damaged, visit the Drive Saver's tips page to listen to what a damaged hard drive sounds like.
If you follow the news you might have heard that Millard (a subdivision of Omaha, NE) was hit by an EF-2 tornado last night. My wife and I heard the sirens at 2:30 in the morning, grabbed our sleeping son and headed for the basement
We were among the lucky because the tornado and the bulk of the storm went North of our home, but watching some of the homes in Millard on the news it is easy to see that there are some trying times ahead for those whose homes were damaged.
Schrock Innovations wants to do its part to help those who were victims of the storm by offering free computer repair services as well as data recovery services for damaged hard drives.
While possessions are easy to replace in most cases, data on damaged computers like pictures, letters, homework, and genealogy can not be replaced.
Schrock Innovations' Omaha Service Center is located at 3032 N. 93rd Street in Omaha NE. Simply drop off your damaged computer or hard drive and we will do everything we can to recover your data.
A few years back an F4 tornado hit the small city of Hallam, NE and our Lincoln service center saw some of the worst of the damaged computers. If we can recover data from computers with blades of grass driven through the cases, there is a chance we can help victims of this tornado too.
If you have any questions or need to schedule an in-home pickup of your system at no cost, simply call opur office at 934-9423 and we will be happy to help.
It appears, barring some unforeseen miracle, that the mess that was the Democratic Party's nomination process has finally ended and Barack Obama has emerged as the victor over Hillary Clinton.
In a contest this divisive and energized, you can't fault Obama for being excited over his victory. One of Obama's greatest assets is his ability to deliver a speech that resonates with a crowd, so it wasn't surprising that his victory speech was pretty impressive.
Like most of his speeches it was filled with vague or meaningless generalities that nevertheless sound great when delivered properly. But the last few lines caught my attention because it started to sound like Barack Obama believes he is the messiah or something.
Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth.
Again, I give Barack's speech writers major props for a well constructed speech, and huge kudos to Barack himself for a skilled delivery, but if you look deeper into these lines there is really something disturbing about how this man feels about the country he wants to lead.
1. Care for the Sick and Good Jobs to the Jobless
Don't Americans already care for the sick? Don't families seek out the care that their loved ones need? Isn't there already a safety net in place to help those who can't afford care? Seriously... My 92 year old grandmother lives off of Social Security and just had a cancerous tumor removed from her spine - the back of her neck. The doctor was hesitant to even do the procedure, but her death was certain if he didn't. After the operation she is doing well (all things considered) but more importantly, she got the care she needed despite the fact she couldn't pay for it.
As for the government providing jobs, the country's unemployment rate is right around 5% at the moment. There are certainly pockets where things are worse than the national average, but the idea that the government should guarantee you a job that you (in your subjective opinion) would consider a "good job" is insane. Who will make these mythical "good jobs"? The last time the government provided busy work for the unemployed was during the great depression. While all of the park benches looked cherry with a fresh coat of paint, I think we can all agree that the Great Depression this is not.
2. The Rise of the Oceans Began to Slow and our Planet Began to Heal
I find it difficult to believe that Barack Obama will "cure" the planet when the United States does not have the ability for all of its wealth and technology to do jack without the cooperation of China, India, and other emerging countries. Considering the fact that their cooperation will require the neutering of their rapidly growing economies, we probably shouldn't hold our breath.
I have to assume that this was an attempt to say he will lead the fight against man-made global warming (not to be confused with the scientifically proven natural climate warming that is taking place). The only way to lead in this fight is to make less energy available to the masses. That means higher gas prices, cap and trade systems, and disincentives to further fossil fuel exploration.
The American economy is built upon the consumption of energy, so if you artificially limit how much energy is available, the economy will respond with less output of goods and services. That means less corporate income, and that means fewer jobs, and less tax income for the government. How can #2 be compatible with #1? Well, at least it sounded good, Barack.
3. Ended a War and Secured our Nation and Restored our Image as the Last, Best Hope on Earth
With surge troops already coming home and more reductions on the horizon, Barack might actually be able to see the war one through. I give Barack Obama the benefit of the doubt on this one. Even the most anti-war individual can certainly see that anything less than victory in Iraq will cause even more war and chaos. Some people say we shouldn't have fought the war in the first place, and who knows... they might be right. But that's not the issue now. I don't think Barack will suddenly and dramatically pull the troops out of Iraq all at once.
As for the second part, I don't believe Barack Obama can do much if anything to "restore America's image." I would actively debate the fact that America's image needs restoration at all. People have been protesting, burning American flags, kidnapping our citizens, and teaching their children to hate the United States since the 1950's. That doesn't go away over night, and certainly not because one man is going to spend 8 years trying.
Even if he was 100% committed to working on America's image overseas, we have tried this before. Jimmy Carter wasn't able to do it in his 4 years in office, and leaders in the Middle East saw his efforts as a sign of weakness. In fact, they thought he was so weak that it took Ronald Reagan's election to end the Iran hostage standoff (as well as a boatload of weapons). Reagan accomplished with diplomacy in weeks what Jimmy Carter failed at despite 4 years on the job.
I am certainly no John McCain Cool-Aid drinker, but there is certainly something familiar about Barack Obama. If he actually believes what he is saying, I have to seriously doubt his sanity. Jesus Christ himself might be able to accomplish what Barack has laid out in front of him, but Barack is no Jesus.
If he doesn't believe what he is saying, then his speech was targeted toward bringing together a fractured Democrat Party by pandering to its base - environmentalists, people against the war, unemployed factory workers, and unions. For a candidate who represents himself as change we can believe in, this kind of pandering looks a lot like politics as usual.
Either way, Barack Obama will eventually have to get down to specifics. When he does I will listen, but I have serious reservations that he is prepared to be the President of the United States.
If you are looking for something fun to do with the kids online tonight, this is just what the doctor ordered.
NASA is inviting people of all ages to include their name on a microchip that will land on the moon aboard the Lunar Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, spacecraft.
Its actually pretty neat. You input your name (or the name of your children) and NASA will program the names on a microchip and launch it to the moon.
You get a nifty Adobe PDF certificate that says your name is on the moon that you can print of save for posterity.
When I was a kid I wanted to be an astronaut more than anything, and all things space related still strike a chord with me.
All you have to do is fill out the form on this website and someday (hopefully in our lifetimes) someone will land there from Earth and read the names. I submitted my son's name and I can't wait until he is old enought to let this experience spark his imagination.
The deadline for submitting names is June 27, 2008.
When the space shuttle Colombia disintegrated on reentry, some of the debris survived the initial reentry and crashed on Earth. One of those pieces of debris was a hard drive containing data from an experiment the crew conducted in orbit.
Of course, it was assumed that the data would never be recovered from the hard drive when it was found. Just to be certain, the drive was handed off to a data recovery company to give it the old college try.
"When we got it, it was two hunks of metal stuck together. We couldn't even tell it was a hard drive. It was burned and the edges were melted," said Edwards, an engineer at Kroll Ontrack Inc., outside Minneapolis. "It looked pretty bad at first glance, but we always give it a shot."
Shockingly, they were able to recover all of the data from the drive. The recovery was primarily due to the fact that the computer that held the 360 GB monster was equipped with a DOS operating system.
Dos saves data linearly on the disk, unlike modern operating systems that scattered data all over the drive. The pieces of the drive that were damaged happened to contain no data, so a full recovery was possible.
The engineers were presented with a couple other hard drives in a similar state, but were unable to recover any data from them.
Its pretty cool that one of the last experiments those astronauts did was able to be salvaged from such a severe situation.
It seems that Schrock Innovations is developing quite the reputation across the country for doing the impossible - we have forced another big-box brand notebook computer to run XP withouit the help or support of the manufacturer.
This time it was a Dell Inspiron 1721 from Louisiana. OUr customer shipped their notebook all the way to Nebraska to have Vista removed and Windows XP installed in its place. Dell's website does not provide ANY XP drivers for the notebook and their online support chat sessions go quiet with the mention of the dreaded XP.
If you are in the same boat and need your Dell Inspiron 1721 and want to run Windows Vista instead of Windows XP, here are some of the drivers you will need to get the job done:
**Note** You do not need SATA drivers to install XP on this model. You need to adjust the BIOS to use ATA instead of SATA and no drivers are required.
Video Driver: http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx
Network Driver: http://www.downloadsource.net/d17370/Dell-Broadcom-440x-10-100-Integrated-Controller-Driver-Windows-2000-XP-DOS/
Audio Driver: http://support.us.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R158235&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=211297
SM Host Driver: http://ati.com
Multimedia Driver:
This one was baffling for a bit. This is the driver for the SD card reader, but the driver installation file that applies to the chipset will not install. We had to go about getting it to work in an odd way, but we documented everything :-)
We had to manually go into the device manager and install a new IDE ATA/ATAPI controller using the 3rd party driver (R141246.EXE). After the driver was installed we rebooted the laptop.
Once it booted back up there were redundant IDE controllers that installed. Remove them and they will not come back again. hen remove the redundant IDE controllers that were no functional. Once you have installed the driver, the Ricoh media card devices should be installed and functional.
Do you have a laptop that came with Vista that you need rolled back to XP? Call Schrock Innovations toll free at 1-866-496-8772. We haven't been beat yet.
This morning Jennifer received an email at Schrock Innovations from a father searching for his daughter's stolen Toshiba notebook computer. Apparently 20 or so cars were broken into at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo over the weekend, and her laptop was stolen in one of those break-ins.
Hi – My name is <-removed-> and I am trying to recover my daughter’s laptop that was stolen from her car while it was parked at the Omaha Zoo on May 24th. I am offering a $300 reward for its return, please keep an eye out for it.
All my daughter Meredith’s school work is on that computer and I will gladly pay a $300 recovery fee for its return. This robbery has also been reported to the Omaha police department.
The laptop is a dark blue (might look black from a distance) Toshiba model # 4697 with a serial number of S67545663K.
I admire the father in this situation for taking the initiative to contact the computer repair shops in Lincoln and in Omaha just in case this system might turn up for some reason.
So here is the deal. If anyone drops this notebook off at either of our Computer Repair Service Centers in Omaha or Lincoln, we will pay you $300 for turning it in. No questions, no police, no problems. If you try to fence this notebook on eBay, Craigslist, or at a local pawn shop, you will get caught. Take the $300 and call it a day.
If we get our hands on the unit, we will certainly contact the father and get it back to his daughter immediately.
After all of the bad publicity Google received last year for not doing some kind of special logo for Memorial Day, you would have figured they might have done something nice this year. I guess I was wrong.
Once again this year, Google gives the shaft to the veterans who fought and died to establish the very principles upon which their business is founded.
Rather than just griping about it again this year I decided to do something that Google was unwilling to do. I slapped a job up on Rent-a-Coder (I would NOT recommend using them EVER EVER EVER Again - rant coming on that one tomorrow) and one hour later I had an awesome Google logo.
A great graphic artist from the UK whipped it out for me and I loved it. So for all of America's fallen heroes and the familes who suffered though their sacrifice, I salute you - even if Google doesn't.
Its amazing how things can change in 2 months time. A few months ago I officially launched my idea for a real-time affiliate marketing reality show called Top Affiliate Challenge. We were begging, calling in favors, burning up the phone lines in search of sponsors and prizes.
Today the shoe is on the other foot it seems. After securing a 2008 Jeep Patriot from Russwood Chrysler, a $5,000 championship ring from Wright's Jewelers, and tons of other assistance from companies like Real Networks, Pepperjam Network, Myvu Corporation, CPA Empire,
Over the past week I received 6 emails and three phone calls from companies I had approached about sponsoring Top Affiliate Challenge originally who weren't really sure about the idea. Things have changed, and now the show is like a snowball rolling downhill.
The more sponsors we add, the more inquiries we receive. Auditions are at an all-time high, traffic is through the roof and our Alexa rankings have never been better.
In fact before the holiday weekend we managed to add Logitech, Symantec, Pinnacle, NeverblueAds, the Prosperity Cast Network, and Slingbox as sponsors!
We have a few limited slots available for show prizes and affiliate network sponsorships remaining. We have not solicited any information products or memberships for prizes at this point, but if you have an irresistible offer let me know!
No one really thinks about the surge protector that lays quietly in a pool of dust and pet hair under your desk. At least once a year we try to highlight the need for surge protectors on your computers and other high-end electronics and some of the myths that surround them.
To completely understand what a powerful surge can do to your computer, take a look at what happened to this computer that came into our Lincoln Service Center for repair. Needless to say you must have a surge protector, but how do you know if yours is still up to the challenge?
How to Tell if Your Surge Protector is Bad:
Most surge protectors have a light of some sort. Newer models will have an LED, while older models may have a standard light bulb. If your light is burnt out, dim, or flickering, your surge protector has taken a surge and is no longer fully capable of protecting your PC.
Surge protectors do not heal. Once they are damaged by a surge their ability to keep your high end electronics safe is directly reduced by the cumulative amount of the surge damage it has absorbed.
With that said, if your light is rock solid and bright or you have a fancy UPS battery backup system that doesn't mean you are safe. Some cheaper surge protectors have a "protected" light that is simply a power light. If these are more than a year old, it's time for a replacement. Your UPS is only a battery backup with a cheap surge protector strapped on it in most cases. While the batteries in these units last for years, their surge protection does not.
Whole House Protection is a Myth:
There is no such thing as "whole home surge protection" despite what your electric company tells you. Whole home protection keeps you safe from outside surges from weather, transformer malfunctions and rabid squirrels.
They do not however protect against surges generated by high voltage appliances like your refrigerator, mixer, washer or drier. As these units switch on and off they can create surges on your line that act like Chinese water torture to your computer.
What Should You Look For When You Buy a Surge Protector:
Surge protectors are rated by the number of joules of energy they can absorb before they die completely. For home use I recommend between 3,000 and 4,000 joules of protection. You can get away with less, but that just means you will have to replace them more frequently. The cost over the long run of buying cheap protectors is greater than the cost of doing it right the first time.
Aside from the number of joules, the damage alert mechanism is also important. At a minimum a protector should have a light that WILL GO OUT when the unit is damaged. These can be tough to find because most models today offer a "protected" light that is really just a power light. Look for 2 lights on the unit for a true protected light.
I prefer the audible alert surge protectors whenever they are available. These units will actually chirp when they need to be replaced. This is desirable because most people tuck surge protectors out of sight, so a dimmed or extinguished light may be difficult to see.
For a limited time Schrock Innovations is offering our preferred surge protectors for $25. They typically cost $50 each, so we will sell them until they are gone. Our shipment is scheduled to arrive on Wednesday of next week.
I received an email from Revver.com yesterday announcing they will have a scheduled outage while they move to a new datacenter. After I FREAKED for a second (all Top Affiliate Challenge video auditions are served through Revver.com) I realized we would be done with auditions when they make their move. *WHEW*
Service Interruption Announcement
Dear Revver partner,
This email is an official Revver notice of service outage. We are planning on moving our datacenter and as a result we will have a planned outage of service. We are writing to inform you of this so that you can take the necessary actions on your side to minimize your customer impact.
The outage is split into 3 phases. Most partners will only be affected by the outage in Phase 1, as they have a local store and don't connect to the API in real-time. Phase 2 will affect anyone that uses our API in real-time and Revver.com will be down as well. Phase 3 shouldn't affect partners, although there will be a transcoding backlog.
1. Phase One - Media Serving Migration
1. Outage: 8 hours, Sat June 7th, 11am-6pm
2. Affected Services: Media Servers, Upload2. Phase Two - Website & Database Migration
1. Outage: 5 hours, Thu June 12th, 11pm-3am
2. Affected Services: Website, API, RSS, Widget3. Phase Three - Remaining Servers Migration
1. Outage: 5 hours, Tue June 17th, 12pm-5pm
2. Affected Services: Transcoding, Development, Staging, MailAdam Lee and Jim Kass (contact info below) are available for support and to answer any questions this may create. We are sorry for the inconvenience but please know that this move will allow us to grow our business with you significantly.
Best regards,
The Revver Team
I have been working nonstop on Top Affiliate Challenge for months now. I have negotiated free hotel rooms, free high-tech prizes for challenges, free bandwidth for airing our show, free food for contestants, free transportation for contestants, free internet access, free cell phones, and a ton of other stuff that I can't even remember.
So why is it so hard to get some credits from PPC companies like Google AdWords, Yahoo Publisher Network, or Microsoft AdCenter? Emails have gone unanswered, insiders have intervened with their contacts on my behalf only to be stonewalled for a response.
These companies have no public phone numbers, no email addresses for sponsorship requests, and not even a single web page outlining their policies on sponsorships. I might be silly but I think giving 12 internet marketers a few bucks in credits to drive traffic to their websites on Top Affiliate Challenge would be excellent exposure to a very desirable niche.
That's what affiliate networks think anyway. I get an average of two calls a day now from various networks who either found Top Affiliate Challenge too late or reconsidered their previous "no" answer. That's what local businesses in Lincoln think too as they watch us negotiate exclusive TV and radio deals in the local market.
So folks, I need some help on this one. If you have a contact with a PPC company that would like to be a part of the biggest affiliate marketing event on the web this summer, have them email me at service@topafiliatechallenge.com.
If you are a PPC company reading this and perhaps I just haven't talked to the right person in the right department, please provide me with the contact information I need to work out the details.
I noticed that Revver has stopped using Google AdSense to monetize videos in favor of another network named Pulse360. I have not done anything with them in the past, but maybe they are worth a look. Thoughts, suggestions and opinions are welcome.
Yesterday I was working with a couple of my technicians in Schrock Innovations' Lincoln Service Center, and we started noticing a problem with the adapters in the notebook computers on the bench.
One by one each notebook's wireless network adapter stopped working. We were getting the following error from the Windows Zero Configuration Service :
Windows is unable to find a certificate to log you on to the network [Network name here]
After comparing our notes on the three separate units, we realized we had all just installed Windows XP Service Pack 3 before the problem occurred.
We went into the properties for the network adapter and turned off the 802.11x Authentication (the source of the error) which was somehow turned on by Service Pack 3 as far as we could tell. But after rebooting the computer the authentication would turn its self back on every time.
After some trial and error, we developed a procedure to resolve the issue. Leave me a comment if this has been helpful to you.
- Right click on Network Places
- Left click on Properties
- Right click on the wireless connection icon
- Left click on Properties
- Select the Wireless Networks Tab
- Left click on the Properties button
- Left click on the Authentication Tab
- Uncheck Enable IEEE 802.1xx authentication for this network
- Left click OK
- Remove all wireless networks from the list of networks
- Pres OK
- Reboot your computer
- When Windows pops a balloon about available wireless networks, click it
- Reconnect to your secure wireless network with your WEP or other key
It's second nature to avoid legal problems like the plague in our society. People know that this natural aversion to attorneys and lawsuits exist, and there are some on the web that would use that fear to their advantage.
If you ever find yourself in a situation that has the potential to turn into a legal problem, here is how my company handles it on the web. My way might not be the best for everyone (I am certainly not a lawyer) but we are 2-0 following this advice to date.
I received an email yesterday from Alexander Peter Kowalski. He was upset that a program he created was identified as a malicious piece of spyware by the Schrock Innovations Maintenance Checkup Home Edition anti-spyware software as well as by Computer Associates.
Here is the email he sent me, edited for length:
<My program> was not written for any malicious purpose -> apkapp2backgrounddaemonprocessengine.exe
(it was in fact, written so folks with older versions of Apache Webserver
could lanuch it & not see it onscreen.So - answer me this:
What is it doing there in your tools under "Threat Details". Above all else, why didn't you write me, & ask me about it - as I am easily found online, since my program has "resource strings" that are visible showing my name?
Remove my program from your lists as a malicious tool, as it associates me in a "threat details" list.
My reputation as a professional in this field clearly shows in multiple publications in this field in written print, & also online in various GOOD capacities since 1996 to present day. This has happened since I was first published in Windows NT Magazine in 1996 & others to present day, with helpful tools online in programs, & professionally sold wares that were finalists @ Microsoft Tech Ed 2000-2002 for EEC Systems.
It's rather insulting. Please remove it as a "threat", it is NOT one, not by a long shot & smears MY GOOD NAME.
Thanks.
Alexander Peter Kowalski
The MCHE is designed for home use and not enterprise or server use. Your program makes it on our list if at least 2 of 3 independent sources deem it a threat.Send me the names of the files in question, and we will double check their detection status.
Sent from my iPhone.
1 site has already responded, & has removed apkapp2backgrounddaemonprocessengine.exe already! Write he to verify if need be, here: <Media Bit Design email removed>I am giving you every opportunity to do this in a nice quiet way, & I'd appreciate that, as I feel you may have been misled. Here is why:
CA (Computer Associates) will be contacted in the a.m.... & if it is not removed by they, I am suing for libel. In fact, I feel that they intentionally misprinted my name (missing my first name & listing it under Peter Kowalski only, here:
http://ca.com/us/securityadvisor/pest/pest.aspx?id=51276
Listing ONLY "Peter Kowalski" not my full name, easily apparent in the program itself, as Alexander Peter Kowalski. Thus, I'd never find it online) & this would be part of the grunds I am suing on if need be for libelling me online since 2004. This is not an idle threat, it is a certainty. I am rather insulted & furious regarding this incident that has long been hidden from myself via what I feel are nefarious means.
This is libel, no questions asked.
Once again, I would warn you not to threaten a lawsuit. Our corporate policy is to let people who threaten go ahead and spend the thousands of dollars in Federal court to sue us. In fact once you threaten to sue you are actually breaking the law if you don't follow through.
My attorney will be met with by myself tomorrow in regards to this & we shall see what is what, in regards to Computer Associates, Spybot, AdAware, or any others involved at this point, including yourself apparently. I was fair about this to you in asking nicely that you remove it. Now, it is time to do what I have to.(Trust me, I intend to follow thru on consulting her in this matter since you are now apparently involving yourself in this as well in refusing to remove my wares from your lists)
No need for reply.
I was doing show prep for my radio show last Saturday and I came across an interesting story. It is completely ridiculous, but it goes to show how things in our culture can get turned on their head in the dumbest ways.
The original story (as I found it) appeared on ZDnet.com. It seems a helicoptor crashed and actually killed a man who was checking his mail at the mailbox.
You might think he could have heard the inbound chopper heading for him, but alas, he was yet another victim of the iPod.
It seems this poor unsuspecting man was blasting his iPod at its highest volume setting while he was heading for the mailbox. If only the iPod would not have existed... He might still be alive today!
The original media story read:
The death of a pedestrian in Cranbrook, B.C., on Tuesday has raised the question of how loud is too loud when it comes to listening to iPods and other personal music players.
Isaiah Otieno, a 23-year-old student, was killed when he was struck and dragged by a helicopter that crashed to the ground as he was walking to the mailbox.
Seriously, how in the WORLD is it the fault of the iPod that this guy got snagged in a crashing helicoptor?
Everyone knows that iPods don't kill people. Earbuds do :-)
One of my employees at Schrock Innovations was doing some vanity searching with Google and decided to pop in his Social Security number.
When the results came up he was surprised that a telecom company in the Czech Republic had his Social Security number posted in an Excel Spreadsheet on a public server.
Never mind the obvious question of what a Czech company needs an American's SSN number for or how it got there... The real question is if the data was legitimately compiled, what in the world is it doing on a public server?
Being the coder that he is, my employee decided to refine his Google search to see if there were any other Excel spreadsheets on the public server. The results of his search revealed more than 163 results containing HUNDREDS of what appear to be Social Security Numbers.
I am not familiar with telephone numbers in the Czech Republic, so I suppose it is possible that the numbers in the spreadsheet could be something else that happens to be nine digits. One of those nine digit numbers could have happened to be a social security number as well. In fact, some of the lists appear to have near sequential numbers.
Either way, I was spooked and I popped in my number and received zero results. What do you find for yours?
One of the nicest guys on the Internet is launching a book tonight called, Impact: How to Get Noticed, Motivate Millions, and Make a Difference in a Noisy World
I met Ken McArthur when I attended one of his JVAlert Live events as a guest with Joel Comm and the cast of the Next Internet Millionaire. There is so much BS in the info-product marketing world that it can be tough to stomach at times. That is one of the reasons you do not see me promoting every info-product that comes across my inbox.
Ken is truly a diamond in the rough. Every other seminar I have been to was very official and business like, but Ken's events are more like a networking party. People come together to find out how they can combine what they have with what others have to help everyone involved. AT the end of his event people actually CRY because they have made new friends, made a ton of money, or both.
The book will provide a valuable insight into who Ken is, and how you can get your message out in a way that everyone walks away from the table feeling like a winner. After you purchase Ken's book, you will also be entitled to a massive list of bonus offers he has put together for the launch of his first work that is sure to go NYT Best Seller in days.
For my part, Top Affiliate Challenge kicked in a bonus that is an absolute no-brainer. Buy Ken's book and then go to his website at http://impactfactor.com and submit your Amazon receipt number to his system. ONce verified, you will be directed to a massive list of FREE bonuses. We are giving away a $100 ad spot on the Top Affiliate Challenge website that you can use to promote your product or website for an entire month!
In addition, you will be entered into a drawing to get a FREE $5,000 advertising package to showcase your product or website during Top Affiliate Challenge. That means commercials, mentions, bottom thirds - the whole bit.
Purchasing his book will help Ken further his reputation in the online community and will probably motivate you much as the sample chapter he sent motivated me. I JUST bought the book myself and I am looking forward to cashing in on all of the bonus offers others are contributing!
In about 20 minutes I will be live on the web with Tracy Repchuk, author of the bestselling book 31 Days to Millionaire Marketing Miracles and host of the "Today's Guest" on blog talk radio.
From her website:
The "TodaysGuest" FAB-5 Radio Team provides a like-minded community for entrepreneurs and those seeking an empowered and enlightened lifestyle, and introduces you to people making that happen.
We are going to be talking Top Affiliate Challenge with some interesting behind the scenes information that has never been shared before. As this interview is being conducted, the voting system at the Top Affiliate Challenge website is under a complete audit.
The top 10 is shifting as we speak, and if you want to know why, you should listen to the live show or the podcast :-)
About a week or so ago I was interviewed for a podcast that is currently up on Podnutz.com. The interview was originally supposed to be about techie computer stuff, but it kind of morphed into an interview about starting a business and learning your marketplace.
We talked about how my computer repair company Schrock Innovations was started, some of the common pitfalls a new computer repair company should be careful to avoid, and how one of my local competitors in Lincoln is making a decision right now about his business that he will regret later.
This is a lot different than what you will hear on Compute This every week, but if you are an aspiring entrepreneur or an experienced business owner you will probably enjoy this one.
I was very impressed by Steve's interview style. A lot of people on the radio (myself included) tend to draw out questions sometimes. Steve was sharp, to the point, and his questions cut through the BS and asked what his listeners were probably thinking.
In fact, one of his listeners even started a thread in the Podnutz Forums about the episode. Thanks for the interview Steve and I look forward to talking with you again in the future :-)
If you have ever wondered how data recover works when your poor backup habits come back to bite you, you should watch this video. It pretty much says it all.
I am always interested in new ways to monetize my blog and make money online. Yesterday I received an email that peeked my interest. It appeared to be highly personalized, specific to my blog, and was very complimentary about my writing and traffic levels. A lesser person might have been suckered.
Yes, the email could have been spam, but they said I could have up to $4,800 a month for my content. That's a heck of a lot better than the $1.04 I have earned this week with TextLinkAds. A lesser person might have succumb to temptation.
Here is the email that attempted to capitalize on my vanity, pride, and plain old greed:
We've seen your website at http://www.thorschrock.com
and we love it! We are very impressed with
your content and would like to work with you.We see that your traffic rank is 240557
and your link popularity is 12.
Also, you have been online since 26/11/2002.With that kind of traffic, we will pay you up to $4,800/month
to advertise our links on your website.
As my feet settled back down to Earth I looked at the email from a coding perspective. I could imagine each bit of "personal" information looking less like "we see your traffic rank as 240557" and more like "we see your traffic traffic rank as $alexa_rank".
I decided to do some searching and see if I could find anything more about where this email came from that toyed with my basic human emotions.
I tracked the email all the way back to its evil source. It turns out that a guy named Stephan Ducharme (pronounced douche-are-me) has a software package that scrapes information off the web and then blasts unsuspecting webmasters and bloggers with dreams of *up-to* a gagjillian dollars.
So I decided to see how far this Douche-are-me fan would go. Here is what I emailed back to the spammer:
Thank you so much for your kind words! I have been working hard to get my Alexa numbers up and it is nice that people are noticing!
Let me know what kind of ads you want to place on my website and what kind of performance would be required to sustain a long-term advertising commitment.
I am looking forward to hearing from you!
Its only fair I guess... They wasted my time, so I suppose I should waste a little of theirs as well :-)
Another lesson learned in blog maintenance... Upgraded to the latest version of Wordpress and the comment problem was resolved. I posted a test comment just to be certain.
So here is your chance! Post a comment now to win a FREE copy of Parallels for Mac! This is the software that allows you to run Windows software on your Mac.
If you missed out on this prize, next week you can win a free copy of Norton Internet Security just by subscribing to this blog's RSS or subscribing by email!
A few readers have pointed out that they are unable to place comments on my posts since we installed the Feedburner Email Subscription code on the blog.
We have a ton of maintenance to do on the blog today and we are working on the comment problem as we speak. Normally I would have drawn for the Parallels card this afternoon, but with no one able to comment, that wouldn't be too smart ;-)
Stay tuned...
Windows XP Service Pack 3 is coming out on the 29th and NASA is working on computers that can fix themselves! We have a lot to talk about and of course, your calls and emails!
We will have a new Top Affiliate Challenge update for you with new sponsors and new developments in Lincoln's own reality show as well.
Tune into the show at 10:00 CST on KFOR 1240 Am, or online at kfor1240.com You can call in at 489-1240 or #1240 on your Alltel wireless. We also have an 800 number available at 1-866-TALK-UNL.
We will talk to you then!
Have you ever seen something on the news that just made your blood boil? I actually thought about not posting this today because it will just feed the story and help these tasteless opportunists make more money. In the end the story needs to be told, and I am going to do something about it.
You might have heard the "Bush Lied They Died" anti-war catch phrase over the past five years. This is not a post that supports or opposes the Iraq war in any way. This is not a political post. This is a post based in human decency.
The website carryabigsticker.com is selling a T-Shirt that has the names of almost 4,000 fallen US soldiers on it with the words Bush Lied They Died superimposed over the names. There are also other variations of the shirts available including "When they ask why we died tell them it was because our fathers lied."
Ok, I get it. You are against the war and want to express your free speech and sell T-Shirts that have anti-war slogans on them. That's cool. No problem. But it crosses a line when you start using the names of the men and women who died fighting that war to pad your company's bank account.
The parents of one of those soldiers politely asked the company to stop using their son's name on the T-Shirts. Spc. Brandon Michael Reed was killed by an IED while on patrol in Iraq in 2004. Put yourself in the place of this company. A mother and father whose son gave the greatest sacrifice to his country ask you to stop using his name. What would you do?
I would stop using the soldier's name. But that's not what Carry a Big Sticker did. They refused, and now the parents are suing the company to get them to stop. In the meantime, the company is printing even more shirts sighting the increased demand caused by media coverage.
Dan Frazier, the owner of the website, confidently claims that he will continue to print the shirts until demand dries up or "they throw me in jail."
I am no lawyer, but I don't think Frazier is looking at any jail time. However, no decent person could argue that this man's entrepreneurial activities are distasteful and seek to profit on the death of U.S. Soldiers.
I have decided to do something about the situation. I have pulled my lead graphic designer off of his current projects to design a T-Shirt of our own. I have placed calls to several T-Shirt shops asking them to heavily discount the shirts or provide them for free. I am going to sell these shirts on the web and through my local computer repair service centers and donate every penny of the money I make to the Freedom Alliance.
Unlike Mr. Frazier, I am not going to presume to use the names of fallen soldiers to sell T-Shirts without the permission of their families.
Everyone I spoke to today thinks I am over reacting to this story. But I just can't help to think about how I would feel if my son's name was used like this. This guy may have a right to print things in bad taste, but that doesn't mean that decent people can't show him that there is a better way to do things.
What do you think?
Ok, so the famed "Big Thor" HDX Computer from HP died today. Hard drive crash completely unrecoverable. I called HP and experienced some of their "quality" support.
I was getting pretty upset with this guy named "Pierce" so I decided to start quoting song lyrics to see if he recognized them. Lets just say he was not in the US. How many songs can you name from the conversation?
00Here's the transcript:
Thor Schrock: ok
Pierce: Could you please let me know was the Notebook sealed in a box or open condition?
Thor Schrock: sealed
Thor Schrock: booted 1 time then nothing
Thor Schrock: no system disk
Thor Schrock: is the error i get
Pierce: Thank you for confirming the same.
Pierce: May I know which Operating System (Windows Vista or Windows XP) is installed on your Notebook?
Pierce: Am I clear with the above quiery regarding the Operating System, Thor?
Thor Schrock: Vista Home Premium
Pierce: Thank you.
Pierce: Thank you.
Pierce: To assist you better, could you please provide me the serial and product number of the notebook (eg: Serial :-CNS34915MC), (eg:Product :-DS542U) which are specified on the sticker underneath the Notebok
Thor Schrock: SN=cnu8115dt
Thor Schrock: pn=gw473av
Pierce: Thank you for confirming the product information details.
Pierce: Let us start some troubleshooting steps to isolate the issue.
Thor Schrock: k
Pierce: Thor, as the issue could be due to the hard disk not being detected or malfunctioning, we need to check its working condition.
Thor Schrock: ok
Pierce: So we can perform hard drive self test to check its working status.
Thor Schrock: what do i need to fo?
Thor Schrock: dio
Thor Schrock: omg i cant type
Thor Schrock: what do i need to do
Thor Schrock: hello?
Pierce: Yes, I am with you.
Pierce: Just to confirm, you are not chatting from the same Notebook which is not booting. Am I correct?
Thor Schrock: uh, yes that is correct
Thor Schrock: different notebook
Thor Schrock: new notebook thatt was to replace this one is dead
Thor Schrock: DOA
Thor Schrock: Still with me 'Pierce'?
Thor Schrock: this is not the kind of service I expect with a $2000+ retail cost notebook
Pierce: Yes, I am with you.
Pierce: I apologize for the long delay in response due to technical issue I am expereinceing at my end.
Pierce: I realize how trying the situation is, and I certainly hope we can help.
Thor Schrock: I am not trying to be rude, I just have other things to do this afternoon
Pierce: I can understand your concern.
Thor Schrock: I was actually writing a blog post about the new HP notebook that HP sent me to review
Thor Schrock: that is the notebook I am having problems with'
Pierce: I will provide you the steps to perform the hard drive selft test.
Pierce: Here are the steps:-
Pierce: Please try below steps to check the condition of the hard drive using the built-in hard drive test on HP notebook PCs:
1. Turn on or Restart the computer.
2. Press and hold down the F10 key before anything is displayed on the screen.
3. Use the arrow keys to highlight the TOOLS tab in the setup menu.
4. Use the arrow keys to select Hard Drive Self Test from the menu.
5. Press the ENTER key to start the test.
Thor Schrock: Entering Setup
Thor Schrock: I am in the computer setup screen
Thor Schrock: my options are file, security, diagnostics, and system configuration
Thor Schrock: diagnostics i assume?
Thor Schrock: Under diagnostic, the HDD self-test option is greyed out
Thor Schrock: can not select it
Pierce: Okay..
Pierce: Let me check for the other options how we can proceed.
Pierce: I am still searching.
Thor Schrock: ok
Pierce: Thank you for your time and patience.
Pierce: Could you please let me know does the Notebook unable to boot only on battery or even using AC adapter?
Thor Schrock: i have tried both
Thor Schrock: battery doesn't work alone, ac doesn't work alone, and when hooked up tother its a no go
Thor Schrock: hard drive is seated properly, power drain already done,
Thor Schrock: either a bad bios or bad hdd
Thor Schrock: but i did the power drain again so we can check that one off
Thor Schrock: still has a badd hdd after the power drain
Pierce: It is good to hear that you are a technically sound person.
Pierce: Please let me know does the power lights glow or power button.
Thor Schrock: the power ligt is solid
Thor Schrock: so is the hdd indicator and the AC light
Thor Schrock: some time i just think live and let die, you know hat i mean man?
Thor Schrock: seriously every rose has its thorn
Thor Schrock: just like every night has its dawn
Thor Schrock: i gues every cowboy has a sad sad song
Thor Schrock: but i digress
Thor Schrock: still non-system disk
Pierce: I realize the gravity of the situation and I certainly would like to assure you of our best services as your satisfaction is our primary goal.
Pierce: Could you please let me know have you connected any external device or inserted any disc into optical drive?
Thor Schrock: no
Thor Schrock: no discs or drives
Pierce: Allright..
Pierce: In this regard, I recommend you to once reset the BIOS.
Pierce: Shall I proceed with the steps?
Thor Schrock: please
Pierce: Here are the steps to reset BIOS:-
Pierce: 1. Turn on or restart the notebook.
2. Press the F10 key when the "HP Invent" logo appears on the screen.
3. Under Exit menu, select "Load Setup Defaults."
4. Make sure the 'Yes' is highlighted and hit enter.
5. Press F10 to save the changes.
6. Make sure the 'Yes' is highlighted and hit enter.
7. The computer should then shut down and reboot.
Thor Schrock: done
Thor Schrock: rebooting
Thor Schrock: just one of those days
Thor Schrock: one of those he said she said things
Thor Schrock: no boot
Thor Schrock: take me to the other side
Thor Schrock: like th devil and teh deep blue sea
Thor Schrock: still with me?
Thor Schrock: put me in coah
Thor Schrock: im ready to play
Thor Schrock: today
Pierce: Yes, I am with you.
Thor Schrock: cool
Thor Schrock: im ready to play center field
Thor Schrock: any other iadeas?
Pierce: I understand that the Notebook does not boot even now. Am I correct?
Thor Schrock: you are syill correct
Pierce: Thank you.
Thor Schrock: when you dream dream big
Thor Schrock: big as the ocean blue
Thor Schrock: and when you dream it might come true
Thor Schrock: i dream my notebook boots
Pierce: I too wish the Notebook booted after going through these troubleshooting steps.
Pierce: Could you please re-confirm the serial and product number?
Thor Schrock: sn=cnu81125dt
Thor Schrock: pn=gw473av
Pierce: Thank you.
Thor Schrock: im a slave for you
Pierce: Could you please confirm the shipping information along with the contact number?
Thor Schrock: no doubt about it
Thor Schrock: my shipping address and phone number?
Thor Schrock: 3477 S. 16th Street
Thor Schrock: Omaha Ne 68108
Thor Schrock: 402-212-5393
Thor Schrock: is there anybody out there?
Thor Schrock: and im thinking how small the world seems now
Pierce: Could you please also confirm the order number?
Thor Schrock: ok
Thor Schrock: jas
Thor Schrock: H102903069
Thor Schrock: love potion #9
Thor Schrock: so just out of curiosity, where are you located?
Pierce: We are not authorized to reveal any personal information as it is beyond our limitations.
Pierce: I apologize for the inconvenience caused to you in this regard
Thor Schrock: Im just curious
Pierce: Thor, I am directing the case over to the phone support.
Thor Schrock: not in the US then>
Pierce: Shall I arrange a call for you right now for further processing?
Thor Schrock: please
Thor Schrock: I am at my phone here in the US
Pierce: Thank you.
Thor Schrock: np
Pierce: Please provide me the correct phone number?
Thor Schrock: 402-212-5393
Pierce: I recommend you provide the phone number which you used while ordering the notebook
.
Thor Schrock: that should be the number
Thor Schrock: try one more time
Thor Schrock: i just edited it inmy hp account
Thor Schrock: 867-5349
Thor Schrock: j/k
Thor Schrock: 402-212-5393
Pierce: Thor, the phone number which you provided is seems to be incorrect.
Thor Schrock: the numbe rthat was provided was 402-423-9595
Thor Schrock: but i am not at that number right now
Pierce: Please provide me the alternate /mobile number on which we can all you right now.
Thor Schrock: and time goes by so sloly and time can do so much
Thor Schrock: 402-212-5393
Pierce: Thor, we are trying to reach you but the call is going in voice mail.
Thor Schrock: please try again
Thor Schrock: i as on the line temporarily
Thor Schrock: 402-212-5393
Pierce: Do you want to receive the call at 402-212-5393?
Thor Schrock: yes
Pierce: Please wait while the concerned department is busy trying to reach your number.
Thor Schrock: i just got the call
Thor Schrock: man his accent is think!
Thor Schrock: thick
Thor Schrock: he is transferrring me somewhere
Thor Schrock: couldn't understand where but i guess they can help me
Pierce: Please continue. They will take care of further process.
Pierce: Is there anything else I can assist you today ?
Thor Schrock: i guess not :-(
Thor Schrock: its been nice talking to you tho
Thor Schrock: I feel like we have gottent o kno each other
Thor Schrock: what are you doing on Friday?
Thor Schrock: I have a huge blog and I would love to have a HP tech onn it
Thor Schrock: you could be huge
Thor Schrock: a guest blogger
Thor Schrock: i bet you have lots f stories about people
Thor Schrock: saying stupid song lyrics and such
Pierce: It is great to hear that you are into blogs.
Pierce: It was my pleasure assisting you today.
Thor Schrock: so is that a no?
Thor Schrock: you could be famous...
Pierce: Thank you for using HP Total Care and giving us an opportunity to serve you through Real-Time Chat.
Thor Schrock: ouch
Thor Schrock: that must be f10
Thor Schrock: macro
Pierce: I wish I could be a part of your bloggs.
Thor Schrock: np
Thor Schrock: thanks anyway
Pierce: You are welcome.
Thor Schrock: youre prolly not cool enough any way
Pierce: Have nice time ahead.
Thor Schrock: have a great day!
Pierce: Good bye.
Pierce: Please contact us again if you require any further assistance. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For information on keeping your HP and Compaq products up and running, please visit our Web site at:
http://www.hp.com/go/totalcare
The absolute falsehood that humans are causing the climate of the planet to change because of our carbon-emitting habits is beginning to get on my nerves.
Last year I was repairing a computer at one of my customer's homes. My customer had a 12 year old son who just came home from school. As I worked he was telling me what he learned in school that day. His teachers told him that global warming was caused by humans and all of their wasteful habits. He was told that the fossil fuels we burn were going to destroy the planet unless something is done soon.
I really felt sorry for the poor kid. Students should be able to trust the information they receive from their teachers, yet this child was obviously the victim of environmental propoganda.
I asked him to explain to me how burning fossil fuels was destroying the earth. He replied that its all of the carbon we pump into the atmosphere and that is bad. I asked him if it was possible that volcanoes, or just human breathing could be emitting more carbon than any human source. He was adamant. No, it was OUR fault and we are all bad for doing it.
Anyone who tells you that human induced global warming is a consensus in the scientific community is flat out lying. One very prominent scientist named William Gray has been speaking out for years about the false claim that humans cause global warming. He concedes that the globe is in fact warming and he also admits that humans emit chemicals that might contribute to global warming (albeit .3 degrees Celsius over 30 years). Has anyone ever heard of the Little Ice Age?
Global warming and cooling is a cyclical process that has more to do with solar activity than human carbon emissions. Of course, its is hard for people who base decisions on emotion to step back and see that.
A great example was the propaganda I was exposed to when I was in grade school about how humans were destroying the ozone layer. I remember insisting that my mom use a pump bottle of hairspray instead of the evil CFCs in the aerosol cans of the 1980's.
It is now established science that the ozone layer depletes and heals cyclically. The CFC's of the 1980s definitely had the ability to help the depletion cycle, but no one ever mentions that the ozone layer would wax and wane regardless of anything humans can do.
The Global Warming cult movement is rapidly moving away from science and moving toward an eco-religion.
To Al Gore and anyone who subscribes to his dogma, thanks anyway but I already have a God.
Desperate times call for desperate measures! My back is all sorts of messed up from countless hours of working at a less-than-ergonomic desk. The countless hours of work came back to haunt me last Monday when my back decided it needed some down time.
Days later I could still hardly get out of bed without severe pain, so I went to visit my chiropractor. After a couple days of excruciatingly painful adjustments, I had made some progress but was still pretty much unable to sit or stand without pain.
My wife suggested (once again) that I should try Yoga. She showed me the Cobra pose (who comes up with these names anyway?) and I figured what the hell - its worth a shot.
The key to this pose is to completely relax all of your muscles while you lay face down on the floor. Anyone who has experienced muscle spasms associated with back pain knows how hard it is to get them relax. After a few minutes of trial and error I was able to completely relax my back as I laid on the floor.
Next I placed my hands flat on the floor and VERY SLOWLY pushed my chest upward in a push-up like motion. Every step of the way I had back pain that would cause the muscles to cease up again and I would just hold the pose until I was able to relax into the pain. Then I went further.
Soon I was successfully into the pose and holding it. After about a minute I let myself down again, very slowly. The last part of the pose is to completely relax again and "melt into the floor."
As I focused on relaxing I felt a pop around my L5 vertebrae. I was a little stunned because I am used to having to twist or contort my body to get my back to crack. After a minute or so I stood up and had noticeable less pain than when I started.
Over the next two days the pain and stiffness continued to subside. I still have some muscle pain from my back muscles contracting for days on end, but I am able to move again, work again, and most importantly blog again :-)
I probably won't become a Yogi anytime soon, but there is definitely something to gaining flexibility through Yoga. I have seen it for myself!
This week we have a lot to talk about on Compute This! We will share the highlights of our annual company BBQ from last night and take your calls!
Of course we will have a new Top Affiliate Challenge update for you with new sponsors and new developments in Lincoln's own reality show.
Tune into the show at 10:00 CST on KFOR 1240 Am, or online at kfor1240.com You can call in at 489-1240 or #1240 on your Alltel wireless. We also have an 800 number available at 1-866-TALK-UNL.
We will talk to you then!