Clarkson Energy Homes

Well, the an of an era for me. I lost a customer I have had for over four years over this past weekend. I hosted her web sites (6 or 7 of them), designed one web site and did a lot of web programming for her. She is a real estate investor and very successful. About three years ago I discovered that she had developed a curious negotiating tactic which I am convinced she was completely unaware of. I think she used it in complicated real estate deals and have received some confirmation of that over the years. She would dispute her bills to delay payment or to get a price reduction. She would often pay her programming and webmaster bills more than 30 days after I sent the invoice (using Freshbooks). She took almost a year to pay one of them from August, 2007. She often disputed the charges on some bills. I set a bad precedence because I sometimes caved in and gave her a credit on her invoices. (more…)

Rim shot

This is a good article at eWeek.com nanotechnology. The article lists other recent breakthroughs as well as this one.

I just ran across this web site titled:

Don’t Get Scammed – Top Internet Scams Exposed!

And in the tet I found this. I kid you not:

Our top pick is Grant Search Guide which is %100 free all you have to cover is the shipping costs ($2.95).

Let me get this straight. The bastion of honesty about internet scams is telling me a bold face lie and wants me to somehow believe that paying $2.95 is some how the same as 100% free.

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Many years ago I lived on Long Island in Suffolk County, NY. I have always been an avid bike rider and I recall a personal best where I rode solo for 42 miles. I don’t recall how I did the first half of the ride, but I took a beach road most of the way back.

I visited the beach on my bicycle at least once a week back then. I occasionally commuted to work 18 miles each way also. I even did Bike New York several times, but I remember that one day especially clear. Perhaps it was because I didn’t plan it or perhaps it was that I didn’t have to wait for others in my group to catch up. That day was just a magical day.

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I might be dating myself some, but I have liked smart people on TV and in the movies. I remember Dexter from The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and I really liked John Doe in John Doe. I love to watch anything having to do with a smart hero. Now, I have never been one for memorizing facts, like John Doe did. I don’t view the knowledge of trivia as a gauge to how smart someone is. IQ tests are biased toward white males from English speaking countries. Many other intelligence tests test test-taking skills or memory not intelligence. To me, an exceptionally intelligent person has a superior ability to solve problems. That means the top sales person in your office might be the smartest guy there. The same is true for a typical company CEO. These folks spend much of their days solving problems. (more…)

As of February, 2007, the United States now has a military presence in 144 (75%) out of 192 countries. That’s up from 135 (70%) countries in 2003. Almost a 5% jump.