Command and Control with Treo 700w: AnthaVPN and Terminal Services Client

The Treo 700w comes with a VPN client, but my company uses a Cisco 3000 VPN concentrator, and the bundled VPN client doesn’t work with this.  I am trying a demo of the VPN client from Anthasoft, and it’s working like a charm.  Installation was a snap—copy a certificate manager CAB to the device and install it, then install the VPN client from the desktop and sync.  Somehow, the user guide didn’t make it into the distro, but if you e-mail them, they’ll send it to you.

Once I got the user guide, setup was easy, and I connected to my company’s VPN in only a couple of minutes.  I then fired up the terminal services client which comes on the Treo, and I was able to log on and administrate a couple of server.  In a pinch, this combo will work great, but I can’t see too many people working full time on a 2”x2” screen.

Now playing: The RaconteursSteady, As She Goes

SixApart Buys SplashBlog

According to Download Squad, SplashBlog (the photoblogging app I use with my Treo 700w) has been bought by the makers of Movable Type:

Six Apart, the company that owns popular blogging software Movable Type and web services TypePad and LiveJournal, has been busy lately. According to TechCrunch, they’ve raised $12 million in VC funding and, more interestingly (to me, at least), acquried SplashBlog. SplashBlog is a service for blogging and photoblogging from mobile phones and PDAs, and it’s reasonable to expect Six Apart to integrate SplashBlog’s offerings into its current line-up.

That’s the entire post, but if you’re interested, full story at http://www.downloadsquad.com/2006/03/16/six-apart-gets-funding-buys-splashblog/.

Now playing: The Human League(Keep Feeling) Fascination

Office Dares

ONE-POINT DARES

1. Ignore the first five people
who say ‘good morning’ to you.
2. To signal the end of a conversation, clamp
your hands over your ears and grimace.
3. Leave your fly open for one hour.
If anyone points it out, say, “Sorry, I really prefer it this way”.
4. Walk
sideways to the photocopier.
5. While going in an elevator, gasp
dramatically each time the doors open.
6. When in elevator with one other
person, tap them on the shoulder and pretend it wasn’t you.
7. Finish all
your sentences with “In accordance with the prophecy…”
8. Don’t use any
punctuation.
9. Interrupt your conversation with someone by giving a huge
dejected sigh.
10. Use your highlighter pen on the computer screen.
11.
Run 3 laps around the office.

THREE-POINT DARES

1. Say to your boss, “I like your
style”, wink, and shoot him with double-barreled fingers.
2. Kneel in front
of the water cooler and drink directly from the nozzle.
3. Shout random
numbers while someone is counting.
4. Every time you get an email, shout
”email”.
5. Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has
got over his or her caffeine
addictions, switch to espresso.
6. Call
I.T. help desk and tell them that you can’t seem to access any po*n*graphy web
sites.

FIVE-POINT DARES

1. At the end of a meeting,
suggest that, for once, it would be nice to conclude with the singing
of the
national anthem (extra points if you actually launch into it yourself).
2.
Walk into a very busy person’s office and while they watch you with growing
irritation, turn
the light switch on/off 10 times.
3. For an hour, refer
to everyone you speak to as “Dave”.
4. Announce to everyone in a meeting
that you “really have to go do a number two”.
5. Call someone in the office,
when they answer, say “I really can’t talk right now I am very busy.”
6.
After every sentence, say ‘Mon’ in a really bad Jamaican accent. As “The
report’s on your
desk, Mon.” Keep this up for one hour.
7. In a meeting
or crowded situation, slap your forehead repeatedly and mutter, “Shut up, da**

it, all of you just shut up!”
8. At lunchtime, get down on your knees
and announce, “As God is my witness, I’ll never go hungry again!”
9. Repeat
the following conversation 10 times to the same person: “Do you hear that?”
“What?”
“Never mind, it’s gone now.”
10. Present meeting attendees with
a cup of coffee and biscuit; smash each biscuit with your fist.
11. During
the course of a meeting, slowly edge your chair towards the door.
12. As
often as possible, skip rather than walk.
13. Ask people what s*x they are.
Laugh hysterically after they answer.

More Reasons Why Blogs Are Important For Florists

Let’s take a look at FTD over the past few months for some guidance.  In December, FTD reported a decrease in orders because they decided not to play in areas like Google’s AdWords, since keyword bidding is becomming so expensive  (http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=17140 and http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=17389).  Granted, FTD was part of the problem in inflating keyword prices, but they’d rather we didn’t consider that.  Total revenue was up slightly for the last quarter, and recently, FTD announced its 2006 Valentine’s Day orders were up 14% year-to-year (http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=17691).  What are we to take from FTD’s experiences?



  • Keyword bidding for floral-related search terms is expensive, with the big players pushing each other around
  • Reducing online marketing efforts will probably reduce online orders
  • Customers are buying more and more everyday flowers online
  • More and more customers are buying on-line at the holidays
  • Customers are using search engines to research for floral purchases

Now, here’s a very interesting study that came out recently:



A new study says that though a majority of shoppers use the internet to research products, nearly half still prefer to make their purchases through bricks and mortar retailers.
(http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3588131)


This is outstanding news for us local florists, especially the ones with a good website.  Probably the #1 facing local florists is simply getting found in the search engines.  Aside from the big players bidding keywords way up, and the skimmer sites, it’s tough to be found.  And that’s where a blog comes in. 


Blogs are quickly and happily indexed by search engines.  Your posts themselves will become pages in the search index promoting you.  If you’re a member of a site such as floristblogs.com, links in your blog posts to your site will count as inbound links to your site.  Blogs also help build your brand.  People know about FTD, and familiarity builds confidence.  Your blog will give your customers a good idea of what you’re about.  You want to try to write your blog posts as if you were conversing with your customers face-to-face.


Here are today’s reasons to blog:



  • Blogs are cheap.  Even FloristBlogs.com works out to $5/month.
  • Writing a blog will increase your on-line marketing efforts
  • Your customers will find you easier, and get a feel for your brand