Version 7

Lotus Notes version 7 is coming out. What is Lotus Notes, you ask? It’s IBM’s software competing with Microsoft’s outlook application. There’s whole set ofother products competing with office, but that’s another topic I’ll never go into. The Lotus development group (recently re-name WPLC) decided to give us IBMers a 30 minute promotional presentation on the new version, to be released internally in the beginning of 2006. We were incented by free ice cream… and toppings that were to be given out after the presentation. Not only that, but the person who writes the best article about the coolest new feature on Lotus v7 will win an ipod.

It was amazing how hyped up office workers can get. The first feature introduced was developed to manage overload of e-mail… Do you ever come back from two days of vacation, sit down at your desk, and see 100 new e-mail messages waiting to be answered? Well, now Lotus Notes v7 can help you manage that. This new application will mark messages based on whether you’re in the TO line, one of several recipients on the TO line, or even better if you’re in the CC line. “Ooooooooh” goes the audience. Yes, even I was pulled into the magnetism of the new Lotus Notes Application.

There’s definitely some great new features, lots of oohs and aah, and even applauds. But then I thought about it later. In order not to be on low priority and to get an answer, I need to remember to put the person alone in the TO line and possibly send multiple e-mails if I have questions for several people on the same subject. I’m sure everyone else will figure it out. I wonder how many people will abuse the work arounds. Ah well, the ice cream was good, I had strawberry with marshmallows and nuts. It was a fun presentation.

Love Voodoo

A friend of mine recently gave me a love voodoo doll kit. At first, I was slightly disappointed it wasn’t a regular voodoo doll, which I could definitely use in my free time. But I’m dating again, so I’m sure this one could definitely come into use. It covers spells from breaking up couples so you can get your guy to dealing with bra straps. Most of the spells are pretty generic ie. if you want to be more articulate, put the doll between a dictionary and thesaurus. But some spells are way out there, ie if you want to get the guy to pick up the check you need to attach a picture of Czech leader Vaclav Havel to the hand of the doll. Now I have no clue who this guy is or what that has to do with paying a bill, but let me know if you do. But the best part is that the book is hilarious. Even for the most superstitious person, you can tell straight off that it’s just fun and games. The author “Voodoo Lou” makes you smile with his sardonic logic. So if you’re looking for a no brainer, and want to poke holes into something you should pick up this kit.

The infinite search

Trying to find an affordable place to live in NY with a dog is like trying to find an affordable place to live in LA when you’re a full-time unknown actor. You can be responsible, considerate, clean, but once you mention that one seemingly trite liability, the rental agents don’t call, the landlords hang up, and you get rejected right and left. I even got a solicitation on roommates.com from a lesbian couple, but was unwanted once they found out about my dog. Then you start thinking of settling. Looking farther away so it takes 45 minutes ….50 minutes….or even a little over an hour to get to work. Or thinking, you really don’t need to be close to a laundry, it’s a luxury item if you think about it. Or maybe the place you’re at is just fine, even though you can’t use more than two appliances in the kitchen without blowing a fuse; the stove is missing; and there’s annual floods and periodic rusty brown water. After all, it has a pretty view and a washer/dryer. Well, let’s hope something good happens. Maybe someone will get evicted from the one pet friendly apartment in White Plains. Or I receive an inheritance from a long lost relative, so I can just buy a place. Well you never know miracles can happen.

Small dog personality

It's been confirmed again. This time from tickle.com, I have a small dog personality. *_*

You're a Yorkshire Terrier!

No bones about it, you're a social, bustling Yorkshire Terrier. Active and enthusiastic, Yorkies like you have a ton of energy — which means you're probably always running around like a mad dog. You're never without a project to work on, an errand to run, or a party to catch. (Where do you find the time?) You're a chatty little pup, too — talking is one of your favorite pastimes. That's why all your friends and acquaintances see you as their own personal Entertainment Tonight and rely on you for the latest gossip and social bulletins. You always liven up a dinner party or cocktail gathering, and people simply adore your affectionate nature and get-up-and-go eagerness. Woof!

Free Cell Phone! (only w/ the activation of a new contract)

I have fallen into the craze and am going to get the new “Special Edition” Black Razr v3 phone. Since I found out that Cingular actually has decent signal in my area, I decided to switch providers. And I've been dying for a bluetooth phone. So how am I going to afford this phone, which Cingular now offers for $200? Yes it is more affordable than the price in December, when the silver version was just released. Yet I’m still on a budget. So I need to find a deal right? Not so easy…. I figured I’d pass on what I discovered, in case it might be useful to someone.

I realized that most of the on-line sites offering free Razr phones are actually supported by a company call Inphonic, ie intelenetwireless.com, wirefly.com, buy.com, A1wireless.com, etc. On some of these sites, you’ll notice that the company address and phone numbers are the same. There are steady complaints from the customers in regards to difficulties receiving their rebates or fixing problems with new phones. Also if you want to keep your phone number, sometimes they’ll port it before your phone is shipped, so you won’t have a phone for a few days. The good points about these companies? Well the phones almost always come unlocked and are extremely cheap, sometimes you can even earn money. There were some satisfied customers, I've had friends who used the sites and never had problems with the phone or rebates. But they were "earning" money and initally spent a lower amount so had lower risk.
(Side note: if you ever want to see some of the most pessimistic ratings/reviews for on-line stores reviews, go to resellerratings.com. More positive ratings/review can be found at bizrate.com.)

Amazon.com has better reviews and will still offer the phone for free. In general, customers are satisfied with the customer service, and they have a reputation to maintain so they won’t scam you on the rebate. I heard that they're pretty good with replacing/fixing malfunctioning equipment, and they'll pay for return shipping. The bad thing is they can’t port your old phone number to a Cingular phone. They're OK with other providers though.

For Best Buy, the on-line deals are much better than the store deals. I understand though, that you can order a phone on-line and pick it up in-store if it's in stock. It sounded odd, so I’d probably want to double check that one. But the phone isn't free. The black Razr v3 phone is offered for $150 in store, and $90 on-line. I heard you shouldn’t go for their extended warranty, since their service isn’t that great. But again they're pretty reliable in that they'll try to fix any of your problem and they won't try to scam you on the rebate.

The Chinatown option was suggested to me by friends. Many people know that Chinatown usually has some awesome deals for cell phones. In addition, you can bargain for free accessories, they can unlock it for you, and when paying cash you can avoid taxes. These guys usually know what they’re doing. You can get the phone immediately and they’ll port it for you. But Chinatown isn’t the most reputable place to receive a phone. If you walk into the wrong store you might be getting a bootleg version. I'm not sure if just going to “authorized dealers” will solve the problem. Also you might have some difficulties in getting problematic phones fixed or your rebate back, if the store manager wants to be difficult. But if you have no problems after the fact, you’re set. I've had friends who bought phone there with no problems as well. I also heard that if you really have issues with the phone, you can try going directly to the manufacture (in this case Motorola) and they'll help you there.

Btw if you’re wondering how these guys can afford to offer free phones, there is an unconfirmed rumor that the dealers tend to get extremely good commissions (over $200) for each new account they activate. Plus, you get locked into a 2 year contract with these deals. I guess another condition for the dealer is that the s/he has to show proof that you are a good customer and fully paying off your bills, because most rebates you need to show a fully paid bill after 6 months. Amazon allows you to send in a statement showing your bill is fully paid after one month, but they have in fine print: if you default on any of the bill in the next 6 months, they can charge your credit card for the rebate amount.

So what am I going to do? I’m going to try for Amazon, and just give up my phone number. If I really wanted someone to get in contact with me, then I probably gave them my e-mail too. But don’t worry if I still like you and remember you exist, you’ll probably get a message from me with my new phone number in a couple weeks.