The picture says it all; a birthday greeting from Windows Live.

For the curious out there, I turned 35 today.  Only 32 more years until retirement!

Personally, I believe you are never too old to stop learning.  Currently I’m working on my MBA, and who knows what will be next on my list after I get that.  I just find education “exciting” and a great way to keep the brain active and firing on all cylinders.

Apart from the educational experience, there is also some other benefits of being a student – namely discounts and free offers.  Recently I came across Dreamspark by Microsoft and found out that as a student I could get access to products such as Visual Studio 2008 and Windows Server 2008 free of charge.  That certainly “sparked” my interest!

Microsoft has opened up its developer line of tools (SQL Server, Visual Studio, Windows Server and xna Game Studio) to both college and high school students with the hopes that they will be able to create the applications, web pages and games of tomorrow.  It’s a great program and I wish when I was a high school student back in 1990 we had a program such as this!  Of course, back then we were happy to just have our IBM XT machines with Turbo Pascal!

If you are a student, or know anyone who is, pass on this information to them.  Some of the best ideas, and “killer applications” of the past decade have come from students.  Even Microsoft was founded by a student, Bill Gates who left college to chase his dream. 

Where will your dreams take you?

The following is a comment I made  to a thread over on SK-YOU (Sears, Kmart & You) in response to a posting about Customer Service.  You can see the original thread here.

It's good to hear these stories and I hope that you see a common thread in all of them -- customer service.  Kmart and Sears needs to focus on this and not try to compete with Wal-Mart.  People will return and buy more when they feel they are appreciated.

Back in the 80s when Kmart was king my mom and I shopped at Kmart for most of the household goods.  Why?  Because you never had to wait 30 minutes to checkout, there were always people to help you and they had such a great variety.  Today it seems stores just plain don't care about the customer (especially Wal-Mart).

Let me tell you that about 2 years ago I purchased a 3 year battery from Wal-Mart that had a "3 year free replacement guarantee" on it.  My mechanic advised me that a cell in the battery had gone bad.  I went back to Wal-Mart to replace it and after waiting 10 minutes in line at customer service I was treated like I was robbing the store. "Well sir we just don't hand you a new one like that!" and I was told to haul it back to the sporting goods department where someone would check it out and then they would determine if I got a new one or not.

I lugged it back there and waited 20 minutes -- not an employee to be found.  I went to the fabric department -- nobody there.  Electronics?  Nope, nobody.  I finally drag this heavy battery back up front and standing right by the lady who told me to go back to sporting goods is the employee from sporting goods just gossiping.  I asked her why she sent me back there knowing good and well there was nobody to help me.  She looked at me like she could care less.  I finally told her, and the rest of them, that I was sick of it and immediately pulled out my cell phone and called the 1-800 Walmart line.  Well that was a waste. 

I finally gave up and the next day went to Sears.  I purchased a Diehard battery and couldn't be happier.  The auto guy putting the battery in said that the Wal-Mart battery was not the right battery to begin with for my car.  Imagine that.

Basically Wal-Mart sold me the wrong product and then wouldn't honor it's warranty or provide any type of customer service.  Sears on the other hand found the problem, addressed it and then made sure I was ready to go on my way.

CUSTOMER SERVICE -- that is what matters.

You know what – I’m fed up.  Fed up with what I call the Wal-Marting of America.  When you can’t walk into a store and find anything made in America anymore.  You would think it is a mortal sin to carry any product made in the USA.  It’s nothing but “Made in China” junk courtesy of the Wal-Mart family. 

About a month ago I decided during this economic mess that I was tired of seeing more and more American workers jobs being shipped overseas and these dedicated workers getting the boot.  I decided that I would buy American when I could, even if it cost more.  I kept thinking about what I read regarding Henry Ford’s $5 a day workday back in 1914.  Ford knew that in order for him to sell his cars he had to make sure that his employees would be able to afford them.  Today CEO’s and stockholders couldn’t give a care less about the workers – they ship their jobs overseas faster you can blink.  Then they complain because nobody is buying their junk – well how can they when nobody has a job?  You have to provide good jobs and a living wage to your workers so they can buy your goods – it’s simple economics.  Apparently nobody has told Wal-Mart this, though, as they believe in paying poverty wages with their workers living off government programs (which end up costing the taxpayers).  It’s pretty sad when Wal-Mart workers can’t afford the Chinese made junk Wal-Mart carries.

So my quest began, to buy American.  I knew I wouldn’t always be successful, but I was going to try to purchase American made every chance I could.  One of the first things I needed was some pens.  Nothing fancy, just plain ballpoint pens.  Surely Staples would have an American made pen – after all, they must carry hundreds of different selections of pens.  Oh how wrong I was…

I went to the Staples store in Columbia, MO over my lunch hour to find some pens.  Now let me state that the folks at the store are some of the nicest, customer-focused employees I know of.  Staples in general is a good company, and they do carry a number of items Made in America.  However, pens is not one of them.

For over 20 minutes I looked…and looked.. and looked.  Made in France, Made in China, Made in Japan, Made in Mexico.  I kid you not I probably found every country you can think of except America.  I finally gave up and checked out with some paper towels I bought there (made in the USA) and told the cashier of my woes.  She definitely understood where I was coming from and said she agreed with what I was trying to do.

As I drove back to work NPR was filled with more bad news – more layoffs, more companies begging for a government handout, etc.  Hearing that made me even more determined – if I couldn’t find American-made pens in the store I’d buy them online!  This is one fight I was going to give up.

When I got home this evening I started my search.  I pulled up Microsoft’ Live search and typed in “American Made Pens”.  I found a lot of sites that were selling patriotic pens (made in China) and a lot of places that imprinted pens in America, but the pens themselves were made in China.  That simply wasn’t acceptable.  Then I stumbled across a small site that wasn’t fancy at all, but delivered exactly what I wanted – 100% American Made Pens.  Minuteman Pen of New Jersey, which is a part of Rotary Pen – a small family owned company that has been in business since 1924.

Now here is the funny part – the American made pens that Minuteman was selling?  They were cheaper than the Chinese junk at Staples!  I couldn’t believe it!  I thought the reason we shipped so many jobs overseas was because it was cheaper to produce everything over there.  I guess that is another untruth told to us by CEO’s and Boards of Directors.  Imagine that.

I ended up ordering a little over $25 worth of pens and markers.  Even with shipping added in I think I still came out a dollar or three ahead.  Add to that the fact that I feel good I bought from an American company that produces the pens here in the USA.

Staples, why not devote a tiny bit of shelf space to Minuteman pens?  Would it kill you to offer ONE pen Made in America?

For the first time since the U.S. government started keeping records over 50 years ago Americans have reduced their household debt.  In the period of July – September (2008) the annual rate of debt held by households fell by 0.8 percent.  While this may not seem like a big number, it does represent some $30 billion dollars.

Normally news like this would be something that should be celebrated – for far too long most Americans have been living well beyond their means using credit and other debt instruments.  However, there is more to the story than just the numbers alone.

The main reason that debt is falling is because Americans are maxed out – they have drained their equity in their homes and maxxed out their credit cards.  In many cases the credit card companies, trying to save themselves from more bad debt on their books, have drastically reduced credit lines.  Throw in a global economic crisis and massive layoffs and you have the perfect storm – debt is falling because people are just flat out broke.

At the time when most people need money it simply isn’t there.  In the same period of time debt went down, net worth also fell – by $2.8 trillion dollars.  Add to this the sinking value of homes and it becomes evident that people aren’t reducing their debt on their own accord – they are being forced too.

Things will get better – though the real question is when – but will consumers learn a lesson from all this and reduce their debt on their own accord?  Time will only tell.  After the Great Depression many people lived their entire lives with the memories of how it was firmly implanted in their minds.  Perhaps 2008 will be yet another reminder that people will remember for decades to come – or will it simply be forgotten about as soon as the dark clouds over the economy break up and the money starts flowing freely again?

The following is a reprint from my newspaper column that originally appeared on December 8, 2008.

“I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's work, banks are going bust…”

Sound familiar? No, it’s not a recap of last night’s news, but rather it’s from the 1976 Oscar winning movie “Network”. Things aren’t looking good right now for a lot of people, but even in these troubling times there are a few online resources you can turn to for advice, help and ideas to help you ride out our current crisis. Many people find turning to online websites and blogs for financial advice to be easier than to ask for help from people they may know locally. Perhaps it’s because of the anonymity the Internet offers, but whatever the reason know that you aren’t alone in this downturn. Turn to these online resources to help you weather the storm!

www.mo-river.net is the local Boonslick area community portal that has a wealth of information you can use not only know, but even when times aren’t as tough. You’ll find information about local government programs, information on who to contact for assistance in paying your utility bills and even links to local food pantry information and other community resource programs. It’s a great site to keep at the top of your favorites list!

Finance.yahoo.com is a great financial portal that delivers all of the current financial news right to your desktop. You can keep tabs on news of interest, see how your stocks are doing and also join in community forums to talk with others about current financial issues.

www.stretcher.com is one of the original budgeting sites on the Internet, and still one of the best. Here you will find all sorts of ideas and stories about how to make your dollars go further. You can participate in chats and discussions with others, find out information on where to get the best bank rates for your savings, and find information on how to deal with financial situations depending on what stage in life you are in. An invaluable resource!

There are also numerous others that have valuable tips – and completely free. Always remember that you should never have to pay for any advice or to “access information” on these sites. If you find a site that wants money they aren’t there to help you – just to make their pocketbooks fatter at the expense of your bank account!

Here is a list of sites I recommend you check out for additional information and resources to help you stretch your dollar, get your finances in order and help you with your job search:

· www.thedebtcycle.com – Great information on getting out of debt and staying out!

· Career-advice.monster.com – Great information on starting or re-entering any career, plus resume writing tips!

· www.thesimpledollar.com – Financial information we can all understand.

· www.energysavers.gov – Stay warm, save energy and save money!

· www.betterbudgeting.com – Advice on how to create a budget, and stick to it.

This week Microsoft launched the newest version of their Windows Live services – and by all accounts, the new features are being accepted with open arms.  A few of the things you will find is a new streamlined interface, a new profile service, a new group discussion service and a lot of revamps and tweaks of your existing favorites (Spaces, Skydrive, etc.).

However, one of the best revamped features of Windows Live is one that many people may never knew existed – your personal Windows Live Homepage.

Available at home.live.com, the Windows Live Homepage is your private start page for everything to do with Windows Live.  Only you can see it, and it’s a great way to keep tabs on what’s going on within all of your Windows Live services.  For those of you familiar with Facebook you may notice a few similarities of how it displays updates across your networks.

Over the years I’ve tried a lot of different “start pages” as these type of things are often called, but have not been impressed.  I will say that Windows Live has finally impressed me – I love the streamlined interface and how it integrates well across all my different services.  It’s definitely a step in the right direction to helping me keep track of my digital life – plus Microsoft has made it so other providers can “hook into it”.  You aren’t limited to just Windows Live material and updates!

For those of you unfamiliar with home.live.com I’ve put together a screencast to show you a few of the features and help you get started setting up your “start page” for Windows Live.

Windows Live Home Page Video

Ok, ok.  So maybe Kmart was never exactly cool – but let’s not forget that it wasn’t too long ago (1986 to be exact) when Kmart was the most popular store in America.  However, lately it seems that it’s becoming almost “fashionable” in a sense to shop at Kmart.  I have noticed their commercials are getting more “sleek”, their ads are more relevant and they seem to be stocking what people want.

Granted, I live 30 miles from the nearest Kmart.  We are over-run with Wal-Mart’s in this area.  However, I find myself more often than not driving those 30 miles just to see what Kmart has and to stock up on a few items.  There are things we find at Kmart that we can’t at Wal-Mart, and to be honest there are things we find at Kmart that are just plain cheaper than Wal-Mart.

Aside from the prices, though, there is something else.  Take the Christmas decorations this year.  Kmart just had some cool stuff.  It wasn’t the “look how cheap this stuff is I doubt it will last more than a year” Wal-Mart is overrun with.  Instead Kmart had some pretty cool Christmas items.  We found a terrific snowman centerpiece as well as a very nice lighted wreath at Kmart that not only looked GOOD, but was priced reasonably.  We also picked up some ornaments that are very trendy, and you’d swear we paid 4-5 times what we did for them.  This is stuff we are proud to show off.  It’s priced right, but doesn’t scream “CHEAP" like so much of the Wal-Mart stuff does.  In a word, it’s “cool”.

I hope Kmart is getting its cool back – for me personally I have so many memories of shopping with mom in my childhood at Kmart in St. Louis.  For years it just seemed Kmart didn’t know which way to turn, and they were just spinning.  Now, well now I don’t mind driving the 30 miles to check out what’s happening at the “Big K”.

Keep the blue light on, I’m heading to the K….

The following is a  letter I wrote to Wal-Mart corporate after the tragic death today of a worker killed trying to unlock the doors for the Black Friday nonsense.  Of course, I have zero faith that they will reply with even a canned response, let alone take any of it to heart.

It was with great sadness I found out that an employee of Wal-Mart was killed today during this Black Friday nonsense.  I noticed the first words out of Wal-Mart's corporate mouth were to stress he was a "temporary employee", later to be followed by your regrets.  I am convinced you do not regret it in the least and I have no doubt you will fight with a team of lawyers any attempt to hold Wal-Mart responsible for this tragic death.  Your company cares about a dollar, and I always said I wondered how far you would take your zeal for a dollar -- now we know, you are willing to sacrifice people's lives in order to make a buck.

There is no reason for this Black Friday nonsense.  It's a gimmick put on by your store, and others, that has resulted in more and more injuries -- and now a tragedy -- year over year.  One would think that you might stop and think for a minute about what you are doing, but then again I forget you are Wal-Mart, you think you are above the law.

I knew a Wal-Mart far different than the monster we have today.  I knew a Wal-Mart run by Sam Walton, and I know Sam would have never stood for this nonsense.  He cared about his workers.  Today, all Wal-Mart cares about is making a dollar.

Wal-Mart is responsible for so many jobs being lost in America and shipped overseas.  Finding something in your stores not made in China nowadays is next to impossible.  Week after week we hear of new lows for this company -- locking employees in at night; overcharging people repeatedly for items; not paying overtime when overtime is due -- and now, this.

PBS had a show on a few years back called, "The High Cost of Low Prices" -- it seems today we've paid the highest price of all.  I hope your shareholders and Board of Directors are happy. 

Robert Stinnett

Let’s hope it was not because they were pushing out changes to the site, and instead it was because of volume.  Not a good thing to be offline during the busiest shopping day of the year. 

About a month ago we decided that our trusty Kenmore canister vac that we've had for more years than we care to remember was just about shot.  The poor thing, its wheel was missing and it had been repaired so many times I doubt any of the parts were original.  It had served us well, but we knew it was time to move on.

So what to buy?  Well if you believe the hype Dyson vacs are the "coolest thing" out there and are the best at cleaning.  So we decided we'd start there.  Our journey first took us to familiar online stores such as Amazon to read the reviews.  Sure, the reviews we found were usually positive -- but the price for one of those things was just ridiculous.

While using Google Search for Blogs we typed in "consumer reports best buy vacuum" hoping to get some information about what consumer reports had to say.  Luckily for us, they had just released their latest best buy recommendations for vacs.  We were happy to find out that Kenmore had recently released a new progressive vac that was rated as the #1 best buy by Consumer Reports.

But, we wanted more proof.  We wanted to hear from others who had bought it as well.  So off we went to sears.com and checked it out.  Sure enough, a ton of reviews for the Kenmore Progressive with an average rating of 4.5 stars.  Not bad, not bad.  We then did more searches online and found that a lot of people were saying the same thing -- great vac, great performance and great price.

Now, this wasn't a cheap vacuum -- good ones never are.  The retail price was $349.  However, Sears was having a special and it was $100 off according to their online website.  So we get in the car and make the trip to Sears.  As soon as we walk in the door there is a huge display setup with the vacuum on it along with signage proclaiming, "Rated #1 by a leading Consumer Reports Magazine!"

Well that was good enough for us.  We tracked down a saleslady and told her we'd take it.  Now what happened next we haven't seen in years.  Instead of just selling us the vac, she insisted she show some of its features to us.  She spent a good ten minutes showing us all the bells and whistles and talking about how it works.  Now that is customer service! 

We left Sears almost $329 poorer ($249 for the vac, plus tax and $65 for a 5-year protection agreement). However, I can tell you that we made the right choice -- this is hands down the best vacuum we have ever used.  It is amazing.  Our carpets have never been cleaner!

This morning Amazon rolled out a new way of ranking reviewers on their site that attempts to solve a lot of the classic problems that have plagued the ranking system over there:

* “Fan” votes – People who vote for the review just because who the person is.

* Freshness of the review – Newer reviews have a higher ranking

* Review helpfulness – Did people find your review helpful or not?

I was surprised to see that my rank went from almost 4,000 to a Top 500 reviewer during the change over.  I’m now ranked at #401 on the Amazon site. 

It’s good to know people are reading my reviews and getting useful information out of them.  Even if I was ranked 999,999 I’d still keeping doing it.  The more information we have out there on products the better consumers can make informed decisions.  And, besides, its a lot of fun!

There has been a lot of noise made recently about small businesses by the McCain campaign.  They keep harping on and on that under Obama we’ll see our profits fall, our taxes raised, and a bunch of just plain nonsense.  The truth of the matter is, myself, like so many other small business owners I know make far, far less than $250,000 a year.  We all stand to benefit from Obama’s plan to help not only us – but also our customers out.

I run a very small consulting firm (mainly IT related) in Boonville, MO – a small town along the Missouri river.  I have one part-time employee who helps out, and I also work full time at my regular job down the road in Columbia.  In a darn good year, we gross around $50,000.  In a bad year (like this year), well let’s not even talk about the bad years….

The thing is, even if tomorrow I suddenly had more business I knew what to do with and was earning over $250,000 a year I’d still vote for Obama.  Why?  Because I know that in order for my customers to be able to afford my services they first must have the means to pay it.  For years, far too many years, the burden of the tax system has fallen squarely on the shoulders of the poor and middle-class.  If Sally the schoolteacher can’t afford my services then I’m out of business – period.

Many people who could be defined as “rich” (by whatever yardstick measurement you want to use) have tax advisors and accountants who know all the loopholes.  The sad fact of the matter is that they often end up paying less taxes than a family of 3 who are just struggling to get by.

McCain just doesn’t get it.  This country is in crisis; people are scared to death of losing their jobs and their homes; we have a system that rewards the rich over and over again, while the poorest of the poor can’t even get basic necessities for survival.  McCain gets up and mocks Obama for trying to give people hope – just what exactly does that say of him as a person?

This small business owner has had enough.  It’s time for a change, it’s time for Barack Obama.

The following editorial appeared in the Boonville Daily News on October 14, 2008.  It is reprinted here for those who do not subscribe to the paper.

It has always been my pleasure to write in this space from time to time about the many wonders of technology and how the digital revolution is helping our lives. In recent weeks I wrote about how you could research your favorite candidate online, remaining neutral on political issues because that was the right thing to do. Yet I put down my pen this week to write about a terrible problem that is happening in our country right now, and implore you to do your part to stop it.

I’m not talking about the economy and its stomach churning ups and downs, what I am talking about is hate. In the past week, reports of divisive tones and hate speech at political rallies have come into the spotlight. Individuals and small groups have crossed a line in their support for their candidate. While just a few people in nature, divisive and racial hate speech has no place in America (or anywhere in the world) in 2008. If we, as a country, do not stand up and say “NO” loud and clear to this kind of speech we run the risk of silently encouraging it to continue.

Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy, Rosa Parks and Lyndon B. Johnson are just a few of the figures from the 1950s – 1960s that helped make this country great and finally put an end to the racial divide that had gripped us and divided us. They showed us what a great country we could be if we could put our differences aside and work together as a country. In the years following the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 America did amazing things – we put a man on the moon, we started the computer revolution and we became the country that the rest of the world looked up to and respected.

Now we are called upon to act again. However, this time we have the opportunity to stop the hate before it has a chance to grow and show the younger generation, our children, that we can have different opinions without resorting to inflammatory speech. In your own homes, your workplace or amongst your friends you can make it known that hate speech against any person, be they black, white, Asian, Indian, etc. will not be tolerated. If your children ask you about what they have heard in the news use it as an opportunity to talk about the civil rights movement and the history behind it and how they can carry on that movement in their lives. Encourage open debate, not closed mindedness.

We face an America that is going through difficult times. Yet, we’ve been here before. Countless chapters of history have already been written showing that America has, time and time again, pulled through times of crisis. We will pull through the current economic crisis and come out stronger because of it. Let’s work together to find a solution to the problem instead of spending our time trying to pit one side against the other.

This is America in 2008 – let’s embrace our differences, celebrate our diversity and talk about the issues of the day. Vote for your candidate of choice, but do not just vote for or against the color of their skin. You have a chance to lead by example and the world is watching.

I don’t claim to be a political expert, but I do know what is right and wrong in my book.  Ethics violations are wrong.  Lying about a candidate is wrong.  Trying to stir up race riots is not only wrong, but should be grounds for being put in jail for life in my opinion.

I’m glad to see though, aside from the nonsense being spread by the McCain campaign, there is better news coming out day after day.  Some of my favorites are below.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote one of most well written pieces of journalism I have read in many years endorsing Senator Barack Obama for President.

Conservative Wick Allison, formerly of the National Review, wrote a piece endorsing Senator Obama for D Magazine of Dallas, TX.

Christopher Buckley, son of William F. Buckley, and a conservative endorses Obama.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s official website has a list of a whole slew of Republicans endorsing the ticket.

Now the question is, if all these people realize that Obama will bring this country back together and help make us great again, why aren’t you voting for him?