My Spam: Mister X

Mr X wants to make me money. I don’t have anything against mysterious millionaires, but there’s this and there is Mister X (Vortex), so I have some concern.

Tech Sessions: Don’t get duped by overpriced cable

I hate cables; I wish everything were wireless. I spend hours trying to find ways to hide wires at my home and office. I went so far as to build a faux wall in my office to hide all the television cable (it is hard to explain to contractors why you want a wall that doesn’t do anything).

Besides being unsightly, cables are often overpriced. Retail stores typically carry only expensive ones, blaming the price on quality.

A few weeks back, right before the second digital transition, I went to pick up a couple digital converter boxes with my government coupons. With the $40 coupons, I grabbed two different converter boxes from the shelf - one costing $29, the other $55. As I began to walk toward the checkout, an employee asked me if I needed any cables. I tried to blow him off, inching my way towards the door. But he strongly suggested I get a $74 indoor antenna and a $24 Dynex six-foot Composite Video/Stereo Audio Cable because I would need a quality connection.

I also dislike big box stores, so I usually make an effort to avoid eye contact with employees to avoid theses types of situations. So in my defensive state, I wasn’t sure how to respond to the suggestion of buying $100 in accessories for a $30 device I planned to keep under glass for emergency purposes and knowing I could get an equivalent six-foot composite cable online for $3. After a pause, I asked him how well it worked at his home. As he began to brag about his HD satellite setup, I slipped away.

Retail stores make money off consumers’ accessory and cable purchases. Their margin on the Blu-Ray Player you just bought isn’t great, but the margin on the $100 HDMI cable they helped you pick is. Sure, they sell a $13 HDMI cable if you check on line, but good luck finding a store that has the $13 model in stock.

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Via Columbia Business Times

COLORS Event Today

From the COLORS Website:
There seem to be a million different ways to use the Web for social networking—Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, to name a few.
How can a business make the most of the opportunities?

Join Tech Expert (and Columbia Business Times Columnist) Jonathan Sessions as he shares tips for using social networking tools to improve your business. He will also lead a discussion so participants can learn from each other.

Wednesday, July 29th, 11:30-1:00

Sandwiches from Hoss’s are included in the ticket price—$12 for members of COLORS and $15 for non-members.

Miller’s Professional Imaging (Conference Room)

1717 East Point Drive

Columbia, MO 65201

(Miller’s Professional Imaging is a large building, located just past Hollywood 14 Theaters)

If you want, you can pay ahead, online, at http://colorsevent.eventbrite.com/

For questions or to RSVP without paying online, contact Sean Spence at seanspence@earthlink.net or 823-1308.

This event brought to you by the COLORS Member Benefits committee.

Tech Sessions: Evaluating Mediacom’s business phone service

As Internet speeds continue to increase, service providers are able to utilize the expanded bandwidth for new services. Phone companies are now offering TV services, while cable companies are providing phone services. Mediacom has been providing phone services to homes for a while and just started a business phone service, providing much needed competition to CenturyLink (formerly CenturyTel).

Already a Mediacom cable and Internet subscriber, we at Tech 2 were offered the chance to be the first customers of Mediacom’s Business Phone Service.

It felt risky being the cable company’s guinea pig. But I was willing to take the risk because of Mediacom’s track record with its phone service to homes. Also, our office is directly across the street from Mediacom, so we knew where to find them if we had problems.

I felt even more confident after the preliminary visit by a Mediacom representative. I was copied on an e-mail sent to Mediacom corporate with the subject line, “It doesn’t get any better than this!” The e-mail outlined all the things that would make the Tech 2 install easy.

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Via Columbia Business Times

MJ Dance Party at Teller’s Tonight

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