In the entire history of this blog, I do not think I have been moved to make a stellar recommendation about any vendor I have no personal relationship with.

Today, I will be doing exactly that. For years, I have had stacks of 35mm negatives sitting in various envelopes stored in a box in my closet. These are photos I have taken since the early 1980’s up until a few years ago when I finally made the move to all-digital photos.

I love photos because they can tell a story about how one lives life. It also allows you to relive those special (and not so special) moments in life. It is also great if you are building a legacy to leave behind. I have photo albums assembled over the years. However, in later years, the photos simply accumulated because I did not put a high priority in organizing them into albums.

I find that while having photo albums are nice for yourself, they are not conducive to sharing with others. Also, physical photos deteriorate and degrade over time.

I am not sure how it came about but I started researching companies that could scan in photos into digital JPEG format. There are many companies that do so but I ran into one that was exceptionally inexpensive compared to its competitors. It was ScanCafe. And for that inexpensive price, they offered a LOT. Normally, I am skeptical so I try to do my homework. After doing so, I took a chance on ScanCafe by sending 100 photos on 35mm negatives.

After a very uncomplicated process of selecting which photos I wanted to discard from scanning, I was left with a selection of photos that were going to be sent to me on DVD-ROM in high-resolution format. I have to say that photos from the DVD are amazing! It is like traveling back in time looking at these 15-20 year photos that look so clear and colorful. I have definitely changed in appearance from 15 years ago! (Look at the photo and you will see what I mean!) I was definitely moved by the experience of looking at these photos which are 15-20 years old.

I was so impressed, I assembled another batch of 800 photos on 35mm negatives to send to ScanCafe. That is 8 times the number of photos I sent during the initial trial run.

If you are 30 years old and over with older photos, chances are you will love and appreciate what ScanCafe has to offer. People under 30 most likely jumped directly into digital photos. They have limited experience in 35mm photos.

I don’t personally know anyone at ScanCafe, get no referral fee, and simply a happy customer. But I am so absolutely hooked that I am scrounging around for more photos to send to them. Having high-resolution photos of old photos at my disposal is amazing. I can print and email any of them at will. I am no longer constrained by envelopes and photos albums.

Go check out ScanCafe. I think you will want to dig out old photos and negatives once you do. They are an awesome vendor with a great service.

I am not sure when the commercials took hold in my brain but after nearly 2 years of seeing Apple put on different “Mac vs. PC” commercials, I decided to go to YouTube.com to find more of those “Mac vs. PC” commercials to view.

Can you imagine that? I actually went out of my way to go view MORE commercials! I guess the ads appeal to two sides of me: the techno-geek and the entrepreneurial marketing sides.

I have long listened to both the PC and Mac sides fight for their side. I personally use the PC and Windows XP simply because there are so many more hardware and software options to choose from. Yes, I admit I have had my share of of PC and Windows problems over the years. But, at the end of the day, it is very much in the majority and well supported.

In any case, I don’t have a lot of emotion either way. However, I found it interesting that there were some very negative comments regarding the same commercials I found quite funny and charming. I know the commercials are supposed to be in favor of Macs. Duh, it was made by Apple. And yet, some of the PC-mongers are bent out of shape because they think the commercials are “malicious” and “hateful”. Are you kidding me?

Yes, there are friendly jabs at the PC but I found them to be honest and truthful. What I like about the commercials…. it is consistent, simple, and humorous. It doesn’t take itself too seriously. As a student of marketing, I thought it was genius.

According to Wikipedia, there are 3 dozen versions of the “Mac vs. PC” commercials. Yikes, that is a long series of commercials. I think through YouTube.com, I saw at least 20 of them.

Anyhow, here is a batch of 15 short commercials from YouTube.com. (The videos were deleted from YouTube. You can do a search on “mac vs. pc commercials” to find samples to watch)

Do you agree with me that they are funny and charming commercials? Or do you really think, they are truly “hateful, malicious, and offensive”?

I recently wrote a user review of PropertyBoss 2006, a property managment software, and submitted it to the good folks at PropertyBoss Solutions.  I like their product so much, I am posting a copy of my review here.

I will soon be upgrading our office to PropertyBoss 2007.

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PropertyBoss is a property management software developed and supported by Property Boss Solutions based in South Carolina.  PropertyBoss was originally developed for property managers managing single-family houses.  It has since been expanded to include multi-family unit apartment buildings and student housing.  However, I have found that it is flexible enough to be used for a slightly different segment of the market of which I work in, using Lease-Options within the single-family house market.

PropertyBoss has gone through different revisions over the years.  What makes PropertyBoss different from many software packages is that they actually include new features with their minor revisions, not simply bug updates.

In the property management software marketplace, there are different kinds of offerings.  Some cater to the lower-end of the market, some cater to the higher-end of the market where the larger management and investment companies exist.  Some have different features than others.  Or they implement the same features differently.

When it comes to value pricing, I find PropertyBoss pricing to be somewhere at the mid-level.  There are property management software more expensive and there are some less expensive.  But in evaluating software, I believe you have to go beyond pricing.  Less expensive does not always mean inferior functionality or usability just like more expensive doesn’t always mean superior functionality and usability.  You have to evaluate software holistically.

The flagship PropertyBoss software product starts at 100-units for $795.00.  In the multi-family apartment arena, that is actually a relatively low number of units and a reasonable entry point.  I happen to come from the single-family house market.  And so, most companies working in a similar segment would consider 100-units a high entry point.  In those cases where a company or investor may only have 10-20 units, you have to break it down to see if it is “worth” paying the additional 100-unit cost.

From what I have been told by the company, setting the software at 100-units allows the company to separate themselves from the “lower-end” of the single-family house rental market and the technical support involved in servicing that market.  It doesn’t mean that if you only have 10-20 units (or rental houses) you cannot use PropertyBoss.  But it does make for a higher management software cost per property than if you had 50-75 units.

Technical support is an important issue to discuss for any software user, large or small.  PropertyBoss Solutions tends to avoid the lower-end of the market because of the costs involved.  I respect that the company understands the importance (and costs) of technical support.  It is simply smart business.

However, do not take that in the wrong way that they do not provide good technical support.  They do.  They are responsive to both email and phone requests and they are friendly!  I will admit I do not know if they are simply friendly with me because they know me and I have some history with them or if they are friendly with everyone.  I tend to think they are friendly with everyone because at one time, I was a new customer and I was treated in a personable way.  Friendliness is always a nice touch beyond the normal, standard polite call.

Their views on technical support may be contrary to what many customers think companies should do but I respect PropertyBoss Solutions for holding to their convictions.  Too often, companies will try to be too many things to too many people.  What happens then is their limited resources are stretched too thin and no one is served well.

Having said that, I do believe the company wants to provide a growth path for “up and coming” companies.  And so, they provide PropertyBooks which is a slightly scaled down version of PropertyBoss.  You have to pay extra for technical support (through their annual PASS program) but it does provide an easy, affordable way for smaller companies to get involved with the product.

I admit I am biased towards their flagship product.  The company allows you to download and “play” with the trial version.  I must say that sales strategy worked with me.  When I installed and saw how easy the software was to use, I was won over.  Although it was somewhat more expensive than some other products I evaluated, I decided I need to “step up” and work with a different type of company. 

For me, user friendliness is important.  PropertyBoss has a pleasing user interface and it is logical to my sensibilities as a user.  The software provides a wide variety of reports (more than we ever use).  And it is customizable to the way we do business.  There is a feature that allows you to integrate PropertyBoss to Quickbooks.  However, I cannot give an opinion on how well this is implemented as my office does not currently use this function.

The underlying technology appears to be solid and supports the most current versions of Windows.  Installation and upgrades are relatively painless.  However, I did find the multi-user implementation a bit unusual.  I got through it but not without getting some clarification from technical support.  Single-user implementation is by far the easiest and most convenient.  However, I found that multi-user access is inevitable for any growing company.  That cost has to be factored in.

In the realm of the software industry, it isn’t often you find a company that releases a great product but also pleasant to interact with.  Most of the time, the interaction between software companies and their customers is relatively cold and impersonal.  But I find PropertyBoss Solutions to be a personable company.

Overall, I highly recommend PropertyBoss as a comprehensive property management software with many helpful features.  And it is backed by a company that is responsive and seem to care about the happiness of its customer base.

Although I left the I.T. business over 7 years ago, one of the skills that have served me well is selectively picking and implementing technology that has helped all aspects of my business life.

It has helped me meet new people, establish valuable contacts, expanded my credibility, extended my reach to the world audience, buy and sell investment property, publishing, promote & sell my books & audio programs, create branding, generate income, etc.

Whether it is my Internet, publishing, or real estate businesses, there is a common denominator that has been instrumental to making these things happen…  It has been my ability to continually identify and find the right technological tools that fundamentally shift how smaller businesses operate.

Through technology investments, labor costs are dramatically reduced and mundane tasks are automated.  Technology will work 24-hours a day, 7-days a week without fail.  IN essence, so much can be accomplished for relatively low expense.

In my own life, I take many of these things for granted.  However, in training and counseling new entrepreneurs, I have realized there is a need for a comprehensive list and description of technology tools that I use.  If for no other reason, I really would like to take inventory and stock of what I have and how I use it. 

In compiling this list, it is now becoming a manual.  The list was much longer than I imagined when I discuss our information system, websites, autoresponder, shopping cart, hosting services, blogging, discussion forums, bookkeeping, computers, digital recorders, and audio and video studio equipment.  There are simply so many pieces that make up a greater whole.

I anticipate I will finish the first draft of this manual within the next month or two.  This will be a niche product.  I do not yet know how I will publish this or what the title will be.  It may could be an e-manual, a spiral-bound manual, or simply another perfect-bound manual like my other books.

Most of the information I have dispensed freely in little bits and pieces.  But when I finish this project, the reader will literally know the behind-the-scenes technology operation that makes my Internet, real estate, and publishing businesses.  This will be tremendously valuable for those entrepreneurs who want to bypass the pain of trial-and-error of untested and untried technology hardware, software, and devices.

In many ways, I consider this manual to be a trade secret of how I operate that very few people know about.  This is really a case where the whole is much more valuable and greater than the sum of its individual parts.  I expect that this manual will have to be updated at least once a year because of how quickly I adopt new technology or make changes and improvements to what I do.

Another reason I have not posted in a month is that I lost a couple of weekends jumping through technical hurdles trying to accommodate Windows Vista.

It turns out that my PC notebook (even with upgraded memory) was just too slow to run Windows Vista.  It was simply a dog.  It made me appreciate Windows XP Professional a whole lot more.

The upgrade process of my main PC worked but it left a pile of unwanted programs and files from Windows XP that was uninstallable from within Windows Vista.  Ick.  So, I thought I would do a new install of the 64-bit version of Windows Vista.  Boy, it was finicky.  It turns out that program and driver compatibility is a huge problem by going to the high-end 64-bit version of Windows Vista.

So I was once again forced to reinstall Windows Vista with the 32-bit version which was far more friendlier than the 64-bit version.  Along the way Norton Internet Security 2007 annoyed me.  In years past, it was such a light but helpful program.  However, it has gotten larger and much more intrusive.  I don’t care for it.  But because of Windows Vista, I was forced into it.

Things have stabilized on the Windows Vista front.  I am glad I upgraded but wished it had not been so painful and time-consuming.  But I have to say I did learn a lot going through the process.

My Windows Small Business Server 2003 crashed due to hard drive problems over a week ago.  But it did compel me to giving it a hardware upgrade.  I installed the server software on a more powerful machine.  Jeez, that took an entire day.  I almost decided to abandon having a server because of that ordeal.  No wonder I left the I.T. industry.  But it was nice I still have the know-how to deal with such problems.

I have left the I.T. industry but still heavily invested in using it within our own office.  Gotta love technology but sometimes it can be a real pain.

First off, a disclaimer.  I have no financial incentive whatsoever in making the following statements.  I have no Microsoft stock and I am no longer involved with them in any way except for being a customer.

Having said that, I am excited about the upcoming release of Microsoft Windows Vista.  Although, I don’t have a good idea which version I will be choosing.  It looks like it is a toss up between the “Business Version” or the “Ultimate Version”.

I have no false illusions Windows Vista will be perfect when I do upgrade and install it.  However, I am looking forward to many of the new features.  Some of it will be the “cool factor”.  But I am also guessing there will be some features which will be very helpful and make my computing life easier.

Clearly, I am not a Microsoft or Windows hater.  But there are plenty of those people out there.  I find a lot of those folks a bit irrational and nonsensical in there reasoning for “hating”.  First, it is a waste of emotional energy.  Second, operating systems and software is not a religious war.  They are simply business and personal computing tools.  This is one reason I got out of the I.T. industry.  Many are far too distorted in their thinking to get a healthy perspective of it because many are purists and don’t always take a pragmatic view of life.  To those people, I say, don’t buy it.  If you want to gripe and write negative reviews, fine.  But I tend to look foward to new and exciting things.

I am a practical guy.  If a different operating system came into prominence and really became significant such as a desktop Linux operating system or even the Mac OS, I would simply change out of a sense of practicality, not because of this irrational hate of a successful company.

Windows Vista comes out in a few short days.  And while I do not plan on being among the first in line at midnight to buy and install it within my personal and office computers, you better believe I am prepared to start using it and using myself as a guinea pig.  If it does all the good things, Microsoft says, I will be upgrading the computers that can run it.  The rest, I will leave on Windows XP.

There are few rewards to being first to embrace a new operating system.  But I can promise you that being among the last on a learning curve will not score you any points in a world that rapidly changes.

The brand-new operating system, Windows Vista, by Microsoft has been released to bulk business customers.  ON January 30, 2007, the rest of us regular consumers will be able to buy and install it.

I have to admit, I love new toys.  In this case, new software.  I know the naysayers will say it isn’t that significant and functionally, it won’t be much better.  But that has been said since the days of Windows 95.  Frankly, I am tired of the same rhetoric.  It almost inevitably turns out that people are compelled to upgrade if for no other reason old computers have to be put out of their misery and new computers are brought in which have the new operating system.

The software industry often writes new software to accomodate and take advantage of the features of any new operating system.  So unless someone is planning to never upgrade their applications ever again, you are “forced” to upgrade.

There are those who are always cynical and basically have to be brought kicking and screaming.  My thinking is, I understand the hassle of having to upgrade.  However, if something is somewhat “inevitable”, why not just learn to embrace it?

Many people have a love/hate relationship with Windows.  That includes me.  It is aggravating when software and hardware don’t always cooperate.  In fact, that is the largest arguing point for Macintosh computers.  I have nothing against Macs.  Beautiful computers, beautiful operating system.  But, only 5% of the computers run it.  Guess where most the software industry is going to spend their resources and development on?  Windows, of course.  Guess what computers most businesses will be using?  Windows.

In any case, I am not trying to provoke an argument.  However, I am ready to embrace Windows Vista when it comes out.  By the time, the cynics embrace it kicking and screaming how it is so unnecessary to upgrade, others who upgraded will be quite comfortable, become experts, and have moved on to other things.

I am pretty fed up with spammers. I am generally protective of my email address but if you have an email address long enough, a spammer will catch wind of it and start abusing it.

I am doing my part here by encouraging all of you to report spam to the FTC. Spam makes it tough for the reputable people such as myself to do legitimate emailing only to people wh o provide email addresses to me.

Forward all your spam to spam@uce.gov. That is the spam database being compiled.

For more info, on the FTC’s role on spam, go to:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/spam/index.html