Friday, May 09, 2008
[[Contact:26]]
[[Company:25]]
Dear [[Salutation:40]],
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‘ E – N E W S from ‘
‘ 2SS.Com ‘
‘ Compiled and Edited by ‘
‘ Mailed on: 04/01/1999 7:24 PM Number 9 ‘
‘ Int’l Standard Serial No. - ISSN: 1523-3537‘
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' Thanks for subscribing to E-News. ‘
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‘ was released this is a copy of it. Look for the ‘
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‘ In this issue (4 Items): ‘
‘ ================ ‘
‘ 1--YOUR BUSINESS ON THE INTERNET ‘
‘ 2--QUESTIONS
‘ 3--PRODUCT WATCH ‘
‘ 4--FIVE STRATEGIC / USEFUL LINKS ‘
‘ 5--WHY SUBSCRIBE?, 2SS.Com and YOUR ‘
‘ SUBSCRIPTION. ‘
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‘ --------------Item One----------- ‘
‘ YOUR BUSINESS ON THE INTERNET ‘
‘ The Internet DEMANDS that every organization, ‘
‘ company, nonprofit, government, etc. (even ‘
‘ political campaigns) re-think how they conduct ‘
‘ business. ‘
‘ A good example is the recent decision of the ‘
‘ “Forbes for President” campaign to announce on ‘
‘ the Internet. The decision let them be the ‘
‘ publishers of all the information surrounding the ‘
‘ announcement and wasn’t bad for contributing ‘
‘ to a progressive image. ‘
‘ At 2SS.Com we were awakened to this reality by ‘
‘ a number of recent purchases. For example it ‘
‘ was 6:00pm on Dec 30, 1998 when we realized ‘
‘ we hadn’t yet ordered a new Dell network server ‘
‘ as intended. For tax purposes we wanted the ‘
‘ server to be a 1998 purchase. ‘
‘ SOLUTION: Log onto www.Dell.Com, find our ‘
‘ server among every product and catalog special ‘
‘ available, configure it with extra memory and a ‘
‘ SCSI adapter for our backup tape unit by ‘
‘ choosing from an extensive list of options. ‘
‘ We then placed the order with a credit card and ‘
‘ received both an estimated delivery date and ‘
‘ tracking number. Everything was done in about ‘
‘ 15 minutes and if needed, it could have been ‘
‘ much faster. ‘
‘ Using the tracking number, we could see our ‘
‘ server progress through assembly and shipping ‘
‘ and then pick up a link to Federal Express to ‘
‘ continue tracking the shipment. IMPRESSIVE! ‘
‘ In mid-January we needed software for two clients ‘
‘ on strict budgets. As an afterthought, we ‘
‘ checked out the new Internet–based auction ‘
‘ sites. Several pleasant discoveries later, we had ‘
‘ started the process of bidding on and getting ‘
‘ brand name software at very low prices. We ‘
‘ DON’T recommend you do this without being ‘
‘ VERY CAREFUL, but the idea and the process ‘
‘ are instructive. ‘
‘ Every organization that takes orders, handles ‘
‘ orders, provides information or especially ‘
‘ customer support, is headed for new ways of ‘
‘ doing business. Can your customers place and ‘
‘ track their orders automatically? Can they see ‘
‘ where they are in your process or, if they prefer, ‘
‘ easily get answers without talking to a support ‘
‘ person? ‘
‘ The trick is not weather to put these things onto ‘
‘ the World-Wide-Web, it’s how to do it ‘
‘ effectively in a way that fits with what you can ‘
‘ afford and how your organization currently ‘
‘ works. ‘
‘ We strongly recommend that part of your ‘
‘ preparation for planning be to place and if ‘
‘ necessary cancel an order on-line, sign-up and bid ‘
‘ at an auction and request help with a Microsoft ‘
‘ product (e.g. For Outlook 98 ‘How do I use rules’). ‘
‘ Then apply what you see to formulating your ‘
‘ organization’s plans and objectives. ‘
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‘ --------------Item Two----------- ‘
‘ QUESTIONS ‘
‘ 1. WHAT’s THE RULE-OF-THUMB for buying ‘
‘ a Macintosh?
‘ (Last month we offered the following PC-Rule- ‘
‘ of-thumb on ‘BUYING A NEW PC’. It is:
‘ SET A REASONABLE PRICE LIMIT. At ‘
‘ 2SS.Com we currently like to stay in the $1,200 ‘
‘ to $1,400 range to get close to a state-of-the-art ‘
‘ PC without paying EXTRA for the privilege. ‘)
‘ E-News Strategic Advisory Panel member and ‘
‘ and Macintosh user Peter Michael advises that ‘
‘ his Mac-oriented rule-of-thumb is similar. ‘
‘ A recent upgrade found him targeting the same ‘
‘ $1,200 to $1,400 range. ‘
‘ 2. WHAT ABOUT OFFICE 2000? SHOULD I ‘
‘ HOLD-OFF OR GO WITH IT ASAP? ‘
‘ Why HOLD OFF? ‘
‘ * Some features are incomplete pending ‘
‘ the release of Windows 2000. ‘
‘ * Every dot-zero version has bugs. ‘
‘ Will this be the first ever without any? ‘
‘ * There will be incompatibilities with ‘
‘ current hardware and software. ‘
‘ Why GO WITH IT ASAP? ‘
‘ * You can work more and better with the ‘
‘ Web than ever. ‘
‘ * Install on demand makes needed ‘
‘ component software available ‘on-the-fly’ ‘
‘ when you need it. ‘
‘ * Office and HTML (e.g. Web) formats are ‘
‘ interchangeable. Any document can be ‘
‘ posted and viewed on the Internet. ‘
‘ * New clipboard features allow you to collect ‘
‘ up to 12 items and paste them one-at-a-time ‘
‘ or all together. ‘
‘ For a detailed article with many Office 2000 ‘
‘ links try ‘
http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/story/story_3227.html
‘ RECOMMENDATION FROM 2SS.Com ‘
‘ At 2SS.Com we generally recommend holding off ‘
‘ at least 6 months while a product “shakes out” in ‘
‘ the marketplace. That said, if you generate a ‘
‘ number of shared documents and/or you’re about ‘
‘ to implement an IntrAnet, it may be too attractive ‘
‘ to wait. ‘
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‘ -----------Item Three---------- ‘
‘ PRODUCT WATCH ‘
‘ DIGITAL PHONE BOOK UPDATES ‘
‘ Do you have a digital phone? If so, there is a ‘
‘ good chance that Paragon Software’s ‘
‘ (www.paragonsoftware.com) FoneSync ‘
‘ (about $40) can transfer phone numbers and ‘
‘ names from Outlook, ACT, Organizer and ‘
‘ others contact managers. ‘
‘ THE OFFICE 2000 PREVIEW SITE ‘
‘ (www.microsoft.com/office/preview) ‘
‘ includes detailed pages on what's new in Office ‘
‘ 2000, a guide on new features, individual ‘
‘ application overviews, and many other review ‘
‘ and evaluation resources. Office 2000 is more ‘
‘ Web-centric than previous versions, and includes ‘
‘ a number of rich analysis tools. ‘
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‘ ------------Item Four----------- ‘
‘ FOUR STRATEGIC / USEFUL LINKS ‘
‘ 1. E-MAIL TEXT MESSAGES TO PHONES ‘
‘ The major Digital PCV services have www sites ‘
‘ that let you send a text message from any E-Mail ‘
‘ software to a digital PCS phone. For example, ‘
‘ you can learn about AT&T’s at ‘
http://www.attws.com/general/msg_center/index.html
‘ (other vendors have similar capabilities. ‘
‘ You may want to check out yours.) ‘
‘ (Ron Ellis is currently using an Ericsson DF388 ‘
‘ flip-phone with AT&T that you can reach ‘
‘ by E-Mailing [email protected].) ‘
‘ 2. ON-LINE AUCTION WITH A TECHNOLOGY ‘
‘ ORIENTATION ‘
‘ http://auctions.fairmarket.com 2SS.Com is ‘
‘ a regular visitor and occasional purchaser there! ‘
‘ 3. THE ON-LINE AUCTION THAT GETS ALL ‘
‘ THE ATTENTION ‘
‘ http://www.EBay.Com where, like Alice’s ‘
‘ Restaurant, you can get “Everything you want!” ‘
‘ 4. THE MICROSOFT SITE FOR TECHNICAL ‘
‘ SUPPORT ‘
(http://support.microsoft.com/support/c.asp?M=F) We’ve given this one to you before. It’s still a ‘
‘ good example of how to provide support using ‘
’ the World-Wide-Web. ‘
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‘ ------------Item Five------------ ‘
‘ 2SS.Com and YOUR SUBSCRIPTION ‘
‘ Maybe the best reason to subscribe is ‘
‘ the ‘E-News Strategic Technology ‘
‘ Advisory Panel’, a growing list of ‘
‘ professionals in a variety of disciplines ‘
‘ who have agreed to: ‘
‘ 1--Review each month’s issue in ‘
‘ advance of its release. ‘
‘ 2--Contribute year-round from their ‘
‘ respective areas of specialization. ‘
‘ 3--Accept your strategic systems ‘
‘ technology questions. (This is a free ‘
‘ EXTRAORDINARILY CONVENIENT, ‘
‘ multi-discipline resource available to you.) ‘
‘ Computer Hardware and Software ‘
‘ Acquisition, Service and Repair by ‘
‘ Ron Ellis of 2SS.Com. ‘
‘ Legal issues and specific expertise in ‘
‘ corporate and securities law, nonprofits, ‘
‘ licensing, and franchising by William Van ‘
‘ der Mei, Principal of The Van der Mei ‘
‘ Law Firm. ‘
‘ Accounting and Financial expertise inclu- ‘
‘ ding Audit, Tax and General Business ‘
‘ Consulting by David Ljung, Principal at ‘
‘ Gilbert Accountancy Corporation. Visit ‘
‘ them at www.GilbertCPA.com. ‘
‘ Human Resources expertise, including ‘
‘ problem employees, policy and procedures, ‘
‘ and customized training by B.J. Flora of . ‘
‘ B.J. Flora Associates. ‘
‘ Computer network design, implementation, ‘
‘ maintenance and support by Ron Ellis, ‘
‘ Managing Director of 2SS.Com. ‘
‘ Computer and printer rentals of all ‘
‘ types by Rick Randall, President of ‘
‘ RenTech Computers. Visit them at ‘
‘ Corporate and professional skill training ‘
‘ by Ann McCandless, Owner and founder ‘
‘ of Computer Assistance. Visit them at ‘
‘ Strategic Planning, turnarounds, marketing ‘
‘ analysis, and litigation support by Peter H. ‘
‘ Michael, President of The Michael Consulting ‘
‘ Group. Visit them at www.mcgmcg.com. ‘
‘ Internet WWW authoring, database ‘
‘ development and connectivity by ‘
‘ Michael Nelson, President of SacWeb.. ‘
‘ Visit them at www.SacWeb.Com. ‘
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‘ you with timely and interesting ideas ‘
‘ that help you identify and implement ‘
‘ strategic systems. You can SUBSCRIBE FREE ‘
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‘ questions, comments, or suggestions ‘
‘ for technologies that interest you, please ‘
‘ send a message to [email protected]. ‘
‘ (A sample issue is available by fax or by mail ‘
‘ upon request. Please fax requests to ‘
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‘ addressed envelope to 2SS.Com at P.O. Box ‘
‘ 163391 - Sacramento, CA 95816.) ‘
‘ Please advise us of any changes to our ‘
‘ current contact data for you. It is: ‘
‘ Contact: [[Contact:26]] ‘
‘ Company: [[Company:25]] ‘
‘ Title: [[Title:46]] ‘
‘ Address: [[Address 1:27]] [[Address 2:28]] ‘
‘ City: [[City:30]], State: [[State:31]] Zip: [[Zip:32]] ‘
‘ Phone: [[Phone:35]] Fax: [[Fax:36]] ‘