Showdown at the Verizon Corral

Today was the day I had to throw-down at the Verizon shop. I had been led into testing multiple phones on the basis of 30-day trials and so I did. I've now spend many afternoons in the local store at Corte Madera testing and returning the items I didn't like, Samsung with Vindows, Netbook with Wifi and a variety of other phones that did this and that. Now that I am somewhat satisfied with the Droid, which I was unaware of when I started this escapade, I am faced with multiple accounts and some lousy free phones that looked good when they were "free". Free is a word for nothing left to lose and since those phones weren't really up to speed my wife and kids didn't really care for them and we have been switching up since day 1. Finally they must've gotten tired of this and since they give me a different sales person each time I show up it has usually required me to call up the manager to get the switches approved. Today they gave me the same guy, the problem solver guy I assume.

Simply put they didn't want to let me dump or trade my Blackberry for a phone my wife would want since it had already been switched out from a Windows based Samsung Cell Phone / PDA to begin with. WTF! Why didn't they say, limited switching or that we are going to make you yell to switch again instead of "go ahead and try this phone and return it within 30 days if you don't like it", eh? The funny thing about this story is that the "problem solver" went over to a sign on the wall and pointed to it like they made me read that before I agreed. I don't think so. Take down the sign and hand it to customers then. If I am correct I think I have several legal points. Verbal agreements are binding too. F that shit about a sign on the wall. They brought out a printed copy upon demand, but it took a long time and basically it was no agreement, only the things the sales people are supposed to explain.

Here is the legal point. The sign says you can only exchange a phone once in the 30 days, however it doesn't say what happens afterwards. They tried to imply that it meant that I was forced into a 2 year agreement or that I would have to pay the retail price of the phone to turn it back in. No so fast. An agreement that is not direct on the effect of a termination within the terms of the 30 days does not in debt the user to a contract or a purchase for products that are being returned. Moral of story, is terminate and return all products instead of doing an exchange. With a termination you won't have to yell as much and the sales guy will bring the manager out quicker to upsell you on some other product. Most corporations are really just legal arrangements created by Gangsters and they just give people jobs to help them screw people with a smile, while the real culprits are coming up with new ways to rope us into contracts and obligations. In the end you may have to act like a Gangsta to not get screwed, no guns, just logic. I like Verizon, but I don't want to give them more credit than they deserve when they start pulling out the friggin' wall signs as if I agreed to that because it was hanging on the wall. LOL.

Final part to the story is that I had confused the pen I had scribbled some notes on in my pocket with a pen of my own and the "problem solver" proclaimed it was his, however, I could have it. Sensing a contract I looked at the pen closer to make sure it wasn't mine, then handed it back to him. For all I know if I had taken the pen I might've been suckered into a 2 year contract for the ink or worse. Luckily I found my pen in my pocket, that looked similar, then went back and shaked it in his face to show him I was only slightly confused and I did not want his pen. Congenially, he answered, "that's a nice pen", and I left proud that I did not fall for the old "take the pen, owe the next 2 years of my life to the Mob" scenario.
Enough with business;
Viva La Droid!

I've got the Droid now what? Tethering...

I showed up at the Verizon store at 7a.m. and was the 9th person in line to get the Droid. It was a light rain and my bagel was damp, but that didn't matter. I hadn't been this excited since the batman costume was available for my 5th birthday around Halloween. One potential Verizon Droid customer in the store was dissappointed when he determined the droid may not synch with a Mac home computer, but overall the crowd seemed happy to dump their Blackberry for the bigger screen and keyboard. My daughter wanted one too, but she wants everything new and shiny.

Now I've got the phone and all seems well, except that it eats up batteries and the screen may be getting looser from use sliding it back and forth to use the keypad. I'm about ready to port in my AT&T phone number, but I'm not 100% convinced this phone is going to allow me to tether my laptop to the internet without having to pay an extra $30 a month. I've downloaded an FTP app and setup my Gmail account to access Google, but I didn't instantly get access to all of my Google apps like Adwords and Adsense. I may be able to reach them through a browser which with the bigger screen makes the web more accessible.


Tethering the Droid: Here is what I've found out so far. JuneFabrics has a software for this here, JuneFabrics, but once I attempt to download the software it claims that I can't because it is not supported by the Droid / Verizon. I may have to manually download the file and transfer it over. Basically I think I can do most of my network solutions by simply FTP, email and Web browsing, but for the special circumstance when I need to print a label and communicate with other software I feel this may be too difficult to manage on the Droid or a Blackberry or an Iphone, but I can't afford another $30 a month. This always brings me back to a high tech phone is still only 1/2 a computer and more of a fun expensive toy when it comes to doing anything useful. If I could spend $30 a month and have internet everywhere, then I wouldn't need these fancy phones. It really is the contracts I hate for these services more than the money. I hate being locked into 2 years for something that will most likely be free and or cheaper in a matter of months. Other Droid Tethering articles

Will the Android at Verizon change my life - or turn me into a robot?

Personal Day: The Motorola Android Droid Phone is coming, The Motorola Android Droid Phone is coming; It's coming to cut you in two. It's on the way, it will be here today, it's coming just for you.

Today I am going off at 7am to buy the Android at Verizon and test the phone service and internet capabilities of this phone. I've been working over the last month on finding the best solution for my multi-tasking, driving, remote working business orientated lifestyle and have been captivated by the ads for this item. Needless to say I just want one to try.

I've got a BlackBerry in my pocket now. I've tried the Samsung Windows operating system phone and Apple Iphone and Ipod through Wifi. I've got a netbook and have tested the Mi-Fi card, as well as, the pci style car for internet connectivity. I've got AT&T phones, Vonage, Jfax, and a Magic Jack and have tried Skype. Where will it all end? Hopefully here, with the Android.

My problems are legion as I need to download files for artwork from different warehouses without the internet, process email and orders via a secure connection, take pictures of samples and send them to clients, update this blog and get decent phone reception. I like the idea of using a phone for my tether to the computer, but the additional cost seem high for the service and if I can combine it with a phone then I would feel like I am getting the right level of service for my money.

I suppose no phone can solve all my problems, but since I spend much of my time working on Google anyway, Analytics, Adsense, Searching, Google Checkout, Maps and more, then it is possible that this may provide a smoother internet when I want to use their services. That may make my other issues irrelevant as I go forward with my business, more on Google through the phone should substitute many of the things I have to use a computer for remotely anyway.

The way it is....Not the way it was - Frankie Say Relax Don't Do It

Just when you think you've paid you're dues you find out you've been dumped. That's the modern web. You can't count on anything. Par example, I have been printing this Frankie say Relax shirt, which has haunted me from the Eighties. The style is Garrish, Large block letters, the design is ubiquitous, in fact the word Ubiquitous came from this shirt. We wrote about it, sold it cheap ( to keep it real ). Then some television advertisement comes out with the shirt featured in it and it starts selling rather well online. All of a sudden I can't even find my links on the web in Google (I haven't bothered to check Bing yet). WTF. How does Google go about dropping people and juggling content and more importantly this reinforces the idea that real-world information is completely edited by strange coincidences.

It really doesn't make sense when I know I have the best printed t-shirt for this in the most colors, the cheapest price and all and all the most authentic version of this item around (I even hated it in the eighties, which is why I like it now). Overall I'm not super upset for this pariticular instance, but it is a good example since it is Halloween and I think a bunch a people want this item. I'm more upset at the unpredicatable nature of the beast within. Here is the write up we gave this item years and years ago:



"Set the dial in the wayback machine to the summer of 1984 and listen closely. That sound you hear is Frankie Goes to Hollywood's one and only hit "Relax". And associated somehow with the song are these shirts. Frankie say relax-- what the hell does that mean? Listening closely to the lyrics, we get the impression that it has something to do with what the Romans called "coitus interruptus", which translates in to english as something like "extremely frustrating". Why would you want to wear a shirt that encouraged such a thing? Beats the hell out of us, but they sure were popular, and if like us you weren't very well dressed that particular summer, this is your chance to make up for it. Buy several and take 1984 with you wherever you go."



A rather nice piece by our now deceased staff writer. Even the photo shot in our store is a real customer in a real store, not pretencious or overbearing at all. Nonetheless, this CafePress, Zazzle, Amazon, Ebay Bullshit dominates the web and keeps giving people crap. I know we aren't the best at everything, but I know we are the best at somethings and most importantly culturally relevant historically correct kitschy low-brow humor is our thing. This Frankie Say Relax shirt is essentially that and the fact that I can't find any reference to this item just goes to say that there is something wrong.

Is Y-Que banned for adult content? It really doesn't matter because there is no answer to this type of problem in a complex world of linking. I just have to go back and decide if it is worth it to rebuild from scratch something that should just be there in the mix, but that has disappeared, like Robert Dinero as Tuttle in the Movie Brazil. Not much difference. Just don't try to fix anything and your life should be fine.

If I have to keep rebuilding web pages just to stay in the mix for a public service type message like Frankie Say Relax then it makes the web seem like too much work to keep things "live". Balloon Boy is a big deal, but how many people are looking to dress up like him on Halloween (maybe I will), but he's so non-descript. Darn. The bigger issue is Frankie was a good Halloween costume, but now I've got to push on to Xmas since my main design has been mysteriously vanquished. Maybe it was a Mystery Shopper (whatever that is) and the Mystery of Shopping for a t-shirt that was soooo obvious confused them and it was edited from existence.

By the way, I spent an hour the other night trying to find an original version or image of the "Touch of Class" transfer that was famous in the 70's as a transfer. Can't be found. No where. If you have an image of this please send it over for historical purposes. On the plus side, I was researching the origin of the Mudflap girl and actually discover that Whiz Enterprises in Long Beach created this icon of our Modern World. I consider it the only true American female Madonna representing Sex versus Virginity. To think that being placed on Mudflaps, the dirtiest place on a truck, made that image famous is even more amazing. But the internet did lead me to an answer of an otherwise missing link in the world of Graphic Art. God Bless the Mudflap Girl.

It's just a game called Bizniz - that's Business or (Busyness) for the rest of us

Every business is the same. Cost of products, overhead, expenses and the creation of a product that people want to buy or use. Ideally there will be a profit to justify the effort, otherwise it is what it is and that can also be called "Busyness". Once we boil down our personal efforts and realize that staying in business is just a way to stay busy, then the shit hits the fan and the ends may not seem to justify the end. Who wouldn't want to do something else than to trade goods and take risk with very little potential for financial benefit? I only bring this up because the word on the street is that the hoopla about a recovery seems false at it's core. I was at my dentist today, Dr. Randolph Yip, a family dentist who also offers Cosmetic Dental Care in San Francisco, and it was very clear that even his customers are delaying dental care because of losing their dental insurance and employment, thereby affecting the bottom line of his business. Yet, simultaneously the stock market is up 35% this year???

The unemployment rate is still rising and in the end the net effect of more people being out of work will remove cash from the retail world and thereby continue to slow the potential for profit for real-world stores. Facts are facts and the fact here is that the stock market is a projection of better days ahead for some of us. If I had the time I would detail a rationalization on why the stock market is an accurate barometer and if we all believe then it's predictions will come true, but I have loss my innocent optimism for such folly. The only way I can accept the numbers is by assuming there is a major detachment between the reality of peoples lives and the numerical statistics that we tend to gauge our lives by. Speculation is a beast that we have incorporated into our capitalistic system, which is ballsy to say the least. The only way we can say that a 35% increase in the stock market is rationale is to recognize that the market was oversold before this rise began. Otherwise we have to reach the conclusion that it is now overbought. Regardless, in the real world of business the types of people who have lost jobs are not finding an equal number of jobs available for every 100 points that the market is rising. There is no industry replacing what has been lost. There is no super product that we are making that will provide us with a backbone to rebuild the economy and provide mass employment. We are wishful, but these are not the times for mass delusions.

The magic answer to the economic problems is not to give up because the facts don't make sense with the reality. Everyone needs to crunch their own numbers and find a way to survive. I've turned a lot of corners and have somehow made ends meet over the years and realize that change is required and our old paradigms simply provided for survival, but that is no longer a guarantee as we move into a new era. I have always believed that creativity and inspiration are the essence of individual success and that translates into societal success. Trying to interpret that for our current times is like a fly swatting itself. I like to work on several different levels and mix the results. I feel like my art influences my skills and my skills give me something to do, which in the end is my business and marketing my business keeps me busy and so on.

My current problem is that I don't believe that the market reality doesn't match the real-world factual reality. At the same time I have been running ads on my websites and find that I get more business when I run ads that often times show my competitors. This is a real problem, because when I cut my ads I am cutting my revenue which helps supplement the cost of my web presence. My basic assumption is that by redirecting traffic to my competitors I may be losing business, but the opposite seems to happen each time I stop running ads. I don't want to believe the facts, but more ads seems to equal more business. I don't have a full-proof way to test this because my main revenue stream comes from my main website at yque.com. Is there any rationale basis for this?

My conclusion is, if it is true that more ads equal more business, that by running ads I am providing a form of comparison shopping. In fact I think I will rename my ads and encourage my competitors to publish on my best web pages as a way to provide comparison shopping. I assume that the people advertising must have the most agressive pricing and products or they wouldn't be advertising to begin with, so if I can beat them then I am more likely to close the deal. This is my Mad Men moment when I push a new concept onto the market. Most likely other companies will benefit from this more than me since I work in a niche that is like a guy selling watches on the street corner, but WTF, it doesn't bother me to be the Guinea Pig for other businesses, I'm used to it. Packaging is the key so I am going to rename my advertising sections as Comparison Shopping Links and push forward in getting more competitors to sell through my spaces. I still don't totally understand if this makes sense from the customers standpoint, so if you have any ideas on this please send me an email or post a comment. thnx

Nobel Prize Winning Chia Obama

It is never too late to come out with another Chia and it's never too late to make fun of a controversy with a t-shirt. The Obama Chia is way crazier than any other Chia and it won't be around for long since the major seller of the item CVS Pharmacy has pulled the item. Now we are going to be left with ad after ad of the Obama Chia kinda like Head On or whatever that stuff was you are supposed to rub on your head. I do want one of those Snuggie blankets though before it gets too cold around here and they run out. Obama may definitely be the first Nobel Peace Prize winning Chia. Fact Check.

Pantone Color matching for T-shirt printing - A great place to start, but...

Yes and No. Yes t-shirt printers and match pantone colors and many have complex systems and ink mixing machines that help with the process. However this is only reasonable for large jobs. I've found that even when you do match a pantone color for a print job the inks can look different wet than dry and surprise it's still not exact. Also the color of the shirt next to the ink can affect your eye which changes the perception of the color. Mixing a pantone color for screenprinting also must take into account that the person using the pantone book should use Uncoated reference chips and not coated. Screen vibrancy is nothing compared to flat cloth, so don't think that a backlight design shown on a computer is going to look the same. In fact, I think it often looks better in ink on cloth, but that is a matter of opinion. Pantone numbers are great references for screenprinting but they only put you in the ballpark. Always think of pantone colors as a range of colors or as a reference for the rest of us. The final result will be hue on one side of the color or the other. Paper printing is different and Pantones were created for that industry, which explains the difference. Screen printing is like starting a fire with two rocks compared to the detail and accuracy available in offset printing. Here is a link to links for Pantone Color systems.