Takin' Care of the Business of Me
This week, I instituted a little more structure in my life to make sure all the odds and ends of my life are taken care if. A lot of times, administrative work for your own behalf takes a back seat to all the things you need to do for your startup, for school, for others. Making time becomes an exercise in fixing the squeaky wheel... the unpaid bill, the pile of mail on your table, the friend who complains they never see you.
So yesterday, I drew myself a chart for the week. On the list, I put Gym, Read, Fix, Clean, Build, Friend. Gym is what I want to do during my workout. Read is to manage between the book I'm reading for pleasure and various career related books I'm reading for Path 101. Fix is because things generally seem to need a lot of fixing in my life, from my bike to my bedroom door which has never had a handle on it, to the keyboard on my home computer which just crapped out yesterday. Clean is about clutter. It usually means clearing old mail from my living room table or putting away clean clothes. Build most often means food, actually...like making lunch to save money or just because I like to cook. Friend means catching up with a friend either by IM or email (and maybe the phone, but unlikely because I hate the phone) and really being somewhat purposeful and focused on it, vs just casually paying continuous partial attention to someone.
I wrote down targets for each of these things and hope to get one of each category accomplished each day.
Aren't networks made of people? What's The Action Network and who are they?
I just got an invite to a "Meet and Greet" hosted by The Action Network. The Eventbrite invitation gives invitees plenty of opportunity to donate--citing a "suggested" donation--but you can go for free if you want.
There's only one problem with the invite. I have no idea who The Action Network is, what they do exactly or how I got on their e-mail list. I checked out their site and it says their mission is to "encourage, sustain, and develop volunteerism among young people in New York City." When you click on "Program" to find out how, you get a "This page is under construction" message. There are no names and no pictures of any actual people on the site.
I'm going to assume that there are well intentioned people behind this endeavor (hopefully) but there's absolutely no way I'm going to show up to an event that asks for money before I even know who's asking that is run by people who won't publicly associate their names with the program.
Does anyone know who is running this and whether or not this is real?
Six years ago today
What to say, except that I'm pretty sure this is the first year that we didn't get that same perfectly blue sky we had that day. It's raining here. Seriously, if there's anything that stood out to me about September 11th, it was how amazingly blue and clear the sky in NYC was.
And let's see... we're mired in a war we can't seem to get out of, Ground Zero is still a whole in the ground, 9/11 workers are sick, Bin Laden looks better than he did a few years ago and our immigration policy now seems to keep the people we actually want to come here out, and we still have no idea who's even here.
I dunno, but I hope that by the time the 10th anniversary comes around, we have a little more to show for what happened...
Running out the quarter: Bo Jackson in Tecmo Super Bowl
Bo Jackson: Greatest video game athlete ever
We are talking about Bay Ridge, right Jason?
Jason Calcanis "grew up in the famously gritty Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, where violence was as ubiquitous as graffiti", according to Fast Company.
Bay Ridge?
This Bay Ridge?
So, um... I guess if the violence is as ubiquitous as the graffiti, then there's... um.... no violence.
We do have tornadoes, though.
Robert Sexton of Star Positions is a Spammer and I'm filing a complaint with the LA Better Business Bureau
I just received an unsolicited e-mail from Robert Sexton of Star Positions.
I've posted the text of the e-mail below.
Basically, Mr. Sexton and his company are offering search engine optimization. Of course, the problem is that he's offering his services unsolicited by spamming e-mail addresses, bulletin boards, and forums, and what's worse, threatening anyone who attempts to out him.
Want proof? Google ""star position" "robert sexton" spam". You'll get this link which contains a really interesting thread.
"You know,
I also received this email from a Robert Saxton""Robert Sexton and his Star Position company are notorious spammmers. He tries to play high and mighty but a few of our company email alias are bombed with UCE from him on a regular basis."
"This outfit sends from comprimised open-relays such as the current one 66.174.76.167
I was once getting over 10 spams from this guy everyday until firewalling the blocking all the sending IP's"
Other people have gotten similar spam from Star Positions, like this woman.
Apparently, Mr. Sexton doesn't know about the CAN SPAM Act, which has the following requirement:
It requires that commercial email be identified as an advertisement and include the sender's valid physical postal address.
Yeah, um, Bob, I don't see a valid physical postal address with this e-mail.
I wonder what the penalty for that is.
"Each violation of the above provisions is subject to fines of up to $11,000."
Hmm... that's going to cost them a pretty penny.
Now about that valid posital address?
Google says it is:
Just in case anyone wanted to know. :)
The law that Mr. Sexton IS however familiar with is the one he uses to threaten people who try to out him. Using Google's index cache, I found a site that is no longer up that posted an e-mail from our spammy friend:
Seems that Star Position employees make these kinds of "errors" all the time. Good thing there is absolutely no reason why this company would have any reason to fear their safety if I posted the same phone number that they not only e-mail out to thousands of people, but is also available on Google.One of my people emailed you in error. You've seen fit to put her phone number on it. In case it has not dawned on you, you are actually by doing this in violation of certain Penal Codes for the State of California -> look up 'cyberterrorism' 'cyberstalking' specifically California Penal Code 646.9 'actions which would be designed to put an individual in fear for their safety'
I'm going to look at your site again in 24 hours. You are going to be a good chap and remove any phone numbers from any postings relating to my company, Star Position. And before you blow this off, or do something truly even more stupid than what you have done, I suggest you do a google search for California Penal Code 646.9 and related topics. We are based in California.
Best Regards,
Robert Sexton
Director of Business Development, Star Position US and Star Position UK
That number again? 949.215.0022
I did find a really useful posting to a thread related to Star Positions:
But what about the actual service? Is this a legit business just using illegitimate marketing techniques?"This loser SPAMs everyone. Forward his crap to spam@uce.gov (the FTC). If enough people do it, they'll finally investigate his a**"
From the same forum above...
So the full text of that note?"Star Position does not deliver.
I know because I paid for their service almost a year ago.
I received at most, 200 visitors.
Many of the visitors were from outside of the US,
Many of the visitors were the same person repeatedy.
(I know because I dropped cookies on them)"
Check it out below, while I go file a complaint with the LA Better Business Bureau.
"Without being seen
first on the major search engines, your website can be little
more than a glorified business card." "If your site is seen
first on the search engines, chances are you're the one people will tend to contact. It's
that simple." What do a Realtor, a major bank, an
attorney, and a natural health clinic have in common? They are
among the over 13,000 companies who have discovered a better way to
be seen first on YAHOO, MSN, GOOGLE and thirteen other
search engines. A way in which their sites are always seen first, 100% of
the time, across the major search engines, even above the sponsored
links, but WITHOUT having to pay the sometimes exorbitant charges
associated with the 'pay per click' sponsored links. This is possible due to search
toolbar technology, with over 26 million downloads, which are predominantly US-based. This
allows us to place you first 100% of the time across the major search
engines,
exclusively, across our whole Network! For everyone who has the
toolbar installed on their PCs, you are about to
see what they see on the major search engines! This is the placement we do
for Chase Bank. What you see above
even
the names of the search engines is
Chase Bank's actual website! The search term 'BANKING' always points to
their site on the Network, across
the top sixteen search engines,
including GOOGLE, YAHOO and
MSN!
This is the placement we do for a Los Angeles Realtor, Kathryn Bishop.
What you see above even the names of the search engines is her actual
website! The search terms 'LOS ANGELES REAL ESTATE' and several others
always points to her site on the Network, across the top sixteen search
engines, including GOOGLE, YAHOO and MSN!
And lastly, this is the placement we do for Stone Canyon Mortgage, What you
see above the names of the search engines is Stone Canyon's actual website!
Stone Canyon has the generic search term 'MORTGAGE' pointing to their
website on our Network, across the top sixteen search engines, including
GOOGLE, YAHOO and MSN! What we've done for Stone Canyon on a nationwide
level, we can do for other mortgage companies on a more localized level.
You too can have this guaranteed type of exposure. Our normal run on the
Network goes for one year, but for those who register with us, by the end
of this week , you will only pay for the first six months. As for the cost, you'll
probably spend more over the next year for your morning coffee than you
would spend for this.
We do make specific guarantees,
including a money back guarantee. Call for details.
I can be reached at my office, from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Pacific time.
Please feel free to call me if you have any questions.
Best regards,
Robert Sexton
Director of Business Development, Star Position
Phone: 800.481.2979, ext 2001
Direct Line: 949.215.0022
Sah-weet... My Voki has a car... props!
Ok, so its not a Mustang, but now some of our characters (and soon all) will have probs. Check out his little convertible. Vroom!
Self Deception
I've been reading the Moral Animal and it had a really fascinating observation about self-deception.
It turns out that self-deception is likely to be a natural evolutionary advantage, developed as our perception about our outside world improved. As you would expect, humans with better sensory perception had an advantage over rivals--they could sense danger, forage better for food, size up opponents, etc.
Our increased sensory perception also allowed us to read body language, facial expression--look past a bad poker face, essentially.
The self-deception comes in when it becomes and advantage not to give away a lie with your body language. And, as we all know from George Costanza, "It's not a lie if you believe it." To an extent, deceiving yourself first is an effective way to decieve others, and, for better or worse, the ability to deceive others is an evolutionary advantage. Perfect example: standing up to a bully twice your size. Perfectly translated observation to cognition to observation should tell you that you're going to get your ass handed to you. However, if you can delude yourself enough that you actually have what it takes to win, you might get the other guy to think twice, versus smelling blood.
Of course, in this case, the combination of speed and self delusion turns out to be the best advantage.
I wonder if self delusion isn't a natural advantage of entrepreneurs? You have to admit, attempting to knock off Google or Microsoft or whoever must come with some kind of evolutionary kool aid consumption.
This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard... An underground blob of oil in NYC
Ok, nix Greenpoint of my list of places in NYC I'd like to move to....
Avatar Humor: The 5 Worst things you can hear from a Voki
You should definitely check this out... If nothing else, to hear the cameo by my grandmother, who recorded her scene totally ad libbed and on the fly.
Things that really suck: Getting your minivan crushed by a tree in Bay Ridge
I went to go move my car last night and I happened upon a really unfortunate sight:
Some poor shlub got his car buried by a bunch of fallen branches. At first, I pitied the owner of the little black car, until I went around for a closer inspection:
Turns out it wasn't the black car that got the brunt of the damage, and it was, in fact, the whole damn tree that game down. Actually, what I didn't show here is that the tree actually completely missed the little black car, other than a few light branches here and there... by inches!
The whole damn thing got yanked right out of the ground at the roots:
Man, if I would have come out to discover my car like this, I'm pretty sure I would have cried.
It's about time... David Blaine to jump off Brooklyn Bridge
I'll be there right under the bridge with my kayak to smack him on the head with my paddle on the off chance he actually pops back up alive from under the water.
I think it's just a trick to get rid of this idiot once and for all. We'll let him jump, and then he'll realize there are no boats in the water to pick him up... no rescue divers. Hopefully, we'll just get swept out to see and we'll never have to hear about his next idiotic stunt.
"I don't see any boats under there..."
"Trust me, they're under the bridge... they just don' t want to get in the way."
Petsi's Pies: Going the extra 344 feet
If you live in Somerville, MA, you know Petsi's Pies. I've never had the pleasure of having a piece myself *hint, hint* , but everyone in the area raves about them.
Well, I happen to know a couple of Harvard Law students busy studying for their exams that live right down the street. Only problem is, I'm in NYC and Petsi's doesn't deliver...not usually anyway.
But I called the shop and asked if they would be willing to hand deliever a blueberry pie down the street, which they happily obliged. A lot of places might not have bothered, but Petsi's went the extra 344 feet (according to Google Maps) to close the deal. Apparently the owner delivered the pie herself, "in her pie-making outfit". Thanks!
Cool NYC Apartment for Sale
No, not mine... this place belongs to a friend. Tell him I sent you...