Tretakoff Musings
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Understanding The Customer
ChainLove, a "Woot for bicyclists," had a deal I could not pass up today. I got in on it, pressed the buy button, and I was good. Got an order confirmation in moments. Less than 1 hour later, got the e-mail you see on the right. Their opening line is perfect, and reflected exactly my feeling.
Nicely done, gentlemen. Holy crap indeed.
ChainLove, a "Woot for bicyclists," had a deal I could not pass up today. I got in on it, pressed the buy button, and I was good. Got an order confirmation in moments. Less than 1 hour later, got the e-mail you see on the right. Their opening line is perfect, and reflected exactly my feeling. Nicely done, gentlemen. Holy crap indeed.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Woot...Two Wheeled Style
Now this is a site to add to your RSS feeds: ChainLove comes from the folks at Backcountry.com. While they have done Woot-like sites before for various sports, they have finally gotten around to the cycling community, and ChainLove does not dissatisfactory. With an average discount of more than 40%, they don't stick firmly to the Woot model; instead, they put up a single item, in limited quantities, and when it sells out, up goes another.
So far the selection is definitely slanted more to the women and cold weather items, but there have definitely been some ones I've wished I grabbed. I like this "specialized" Woot evolution: I can see this expanding to all sorts. Heck, Woot themselves already do specialized ones for wine and t-shirts; let's hope for even more selection in the future!
Now this is a site to add to your RSS feeds: ChainLove comes from the folks at Backcountry.com. While they have done Woot-like sites before for various sports, they have finally gotten around to the cycling community, and ChainLove does not dissatisfactory. With an average discount of more than 40%, they don't stick firmly to the Woot model; instead, they put up a single item, in limited quantities, and when it sells out, up goes another.So far the selection is definitely slanted more to the women and cold weather items, but there have definitely been some ones I've wished I grabbed. I like this "specialized" Woot evolution: I can see this expanding to all sorts. Heck, Woot themselves already do specialized ones for wine and t-shirts; let's hope for even more selection in the future!
Friday, December 07, 2007
Cruise on down to Nokia Avvenu
Interesting news, as Nokia has purchased Avvenu. Not familiar with Avvenu? Not surprising, if you weren't a Palm OS user. They make a little program that lives on your PC, making the files available to be accessed with a mobile phone. The revenue model was invisible, so it was always a little headscratching. As to access, well, it was OK, but never amazing. And the idea of having all of your files open to be accessed by anyone hitting a URL and entering a username and password always seemed a bit harebrained to me.
On the odder side, Nokia immediately discontinued access outside the US and killed Avvenu's streaming music service in favor of their own.
Here's what they had to say:
Interesting news, as Nokia has purchased Avvenu. Not familiar with Avvenu? Not surprising, if you weren't a Palm OS user. They make a little program that lives on your PC, making the files available to be accessed with a mobile phone. The revenue model was invisible, so it was always a little headscratching. As to access, well, it was OK, but never amazing. And the idea of having all of your files open to be accessed by anyone hitting a URL and entering a username and password always seemed a bit harebrained to me.On the odder side, Nokia immediately discontinued access outside the US and killed Avvenu's streaming music service in favor of their own.
Here's what they had to say:
Dear Avvenu Customer,
As a registered user of the Avvenu service, we wanted to let you know that Nokia and Avvenu have signed an agreement under which Nokia has acquired Avvenu Inc.
Nokia intends to continue the Avvenu Access 'n Share service, and enhance Avvenu's secure remote access and private sharing capabilities moving forward. The sharing features of the Avvenu Music service have been discontinued, as Nokia already offers a separate music service.
During the transition it is necessary to limit access to those users based in the United States. We plan to resume service in most other countries within a few weeks. Until that time, if you reside outside the United States, you'll be unable to remotely access your PCs. If you'd like to be notified when service is restored in your country, please go to http://www.avvenu.com/countries.php and register for email notification.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact customer support at http://support.avvenu.com.
More information on the acquisition is available at http://www.avvenu.com/acquisition.php.
As all of us at Avvenu join Nokia, we look forward to bringing you improved access and sharing services.
Best Regards,
Avvenu Customer Support
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Apologies for the long absence...
It's been a crazy time. First, the move to the new house. Then, the arrival of the in-law family: first my sister-in-law and my mother-in-law, then the arrival of my brother-in-law, followed by the departure of my sister-in-law. Essentially, for the better part of a month, we've had houseguests. On top of that, work went crazy this week: growing pains from scale, along with the surge of the Mother's Day holiday, and several new clients (and a new team member!)...man, what a ride.
The good news is that I survived. Now, to get back to this blogging thing. :-)
I decided to finally listen to Charles and chuck the mountain bike for my daily commute: I'm now 8 miles, each way, to the Ferry. So, last Saturday, we headed to the bike stores for the test rides. First, I was amazed they let you test ride these things on the street: hand over an ID and a credit card, and away you go. With bikes that were, on average, well over $1000, and some stretching up to $5k, this seemed crazy to me. However, instantly I noticed a difference: hills, which I have come to loathe, were now a minor inconvenience. Straightaways were like going downhill. And downhills? For the first time, cycling was not just enforced exercise, but fun!
After 5 test rides, I settled on the Fuji Robaix, from Performance Bicycle. It's light as hell, has carbon fiber for strength and comfort, and let me fly. Plus, it was the least expensive of all of the bikes I rode. I was not thrilled about the shifters or the racing handlebars, but the position of both makes it much more comfortable to ride and take on hills. I added toe clips, but, thanks to Performance's loyalty program, I earned enough with my purchase to spring for those uber-cycle shoes/pedals; I'll be picking those up ASAP for the increased power.
Last week had some unseasonably warm days here, and I was delighted to finish off my ride home a couple of days with a dip in the pool for the first time. That is the ultimate in luxury: a hot, fun, fast ride home (11 minutes less than the mountain bike), followed by a cool swim. Man, now that's living. Not to mention my brother-in-law Brian cleaned up the whole kitchen after dinner every night. Almost made me forget about the insanity of work. Almost.
On the great deal front, only one major new one to report: Ikea has a pretty sexy glass display cabinet for only $60. Finally, Amy can get the various art pieces out and displayed in style. Add a halogen display for only a few bucks more, and it's stylin'. Off to pick up a third one tomorrow.
Finally, a "only in Marin" moment tonight. Yu Shang, a local sushi/Chinese food place, is a regular favorite. Cheap, high quality food, and you can't beat the service, especially with a mother-in-law in a wheelchair. We hit it every week or two for a quick bite. Tonight, busier than usual with the other folks who've found it. Imagine my surprise as we dined in the main dining room (we usually can be found at the sushi bar, but hard to do with the wheelchair), and sitting down across from our table was George Lucas and family! I don't know why I was surprised: he was raised in Marin, and probably knew about Yu Shang long before I ever did, but still, nice to have the validation. The man can eat anywhere, but that's his choice for a Saturday night out with the family. Try it, you will.
Ok, back to a more normal post schedule soon!
The good news is that I survived. Now, to get back to this blogging thing. :-)
I decided to finally listen to Charles and chuck the mountain bike for my daily commute: I'm now 8 miles, each way, to the Ferry. So, last Saturday, we headed to the bike stores for the test rides. First, I was amazed they let you test ride these things on the street: hand over an ID and a credit card, and away you go. With bikes that were, on average, well over $1000, and some stretching up to $5k, this seemed crazy to me. However, instantly I noticed a difference: hills, which I have come to loathe, were now a minor inconvenience. Straightaways were like going downhill. And downhills? For the first time, cycling was not just enforced exercise, but fun!
After 5 test rides, I settled on the Fuji Robaix, from Performance Bicycle. It's light as hell, has carbon fiber for strength and comfort, and let me fly. Plus, it was the least expensive of all of the bikes I rode. I was not thrilled about the shifters or the racing handlebars, but the position of both makes it much more comfortable to ride and take on hills. I added toe clips, but, thanks to Performance's loyalty program, I earned enough with my purchase to spring for those uber-cycle shoes/pedals; I'll be picking those up ASAP for the increased power.Last week had some unseasonably warm days here, and I was delighted to finish off my ride home a couple of days with a dip in the pool for the first time. That is the ultimate in luxury: a hot, fun, fast ride home (11 minutes less than the mountain bike), followed by a cool swim. Man, now that's living. Not to mention my brother-in-law Brian cleaned up the whole kitchen after dinner every night. Almost made me forget about the insanity of work. Almost.
On the great deal front, only one major new one to report: Ikea has a pretty sexy glass display cabinet for only $60. Finally, Amy can get the various art pieces out and displayed in style. Add a halogen display for only a few bucks more, and it's stylin'. Off to pick up a third one tomorrow.Finally, a "only in Marin" moment tonight. Yu Shang, a local sushi/Chinese food place, is a regular favorite. Cheap, high quality food, and you can't beat the service, especially with a mother-in-law in a wheelchair. We hit it every week or two for a quick bite. Tonight, busier than usual with the other folks who've found it. Imagine my surprise as we dined in the main dining room (we usually can be found at the sushi bar, but hard to do with the wheelchair), and sitting down across from our table was George Lucas and family! I don't know why I was surprised: he was raised in Marin, and probably knew about Yu Shang long before I ever did, but still, nice to have the validation. The man can eat anywhere, but that's his choice for a Saturday night out with the family. Try it, you will.
Ok, back to a more normal post schedule soon!
Thursday, February 22, 2007
VOIP continues to pay me off
Did you know the IRS is refunding Excise taxes collected between 2003 & 2006 this year, if you have long distance service? Depending on how many deductions you claim you could get up to $60 back. Hell, $30 is there for the taking.
Curiously, this new blog, Nextlust, was what turned me on to it, but they implied it was VOIP users only. My bad.
Did you know the IRS is refunding Excise taxes collected between 2003 & 2006 this year, if you have long distance service? Depending on how many deductions you claim you could get up to $60 back. Hell, $30 is there for the taking. Curiously, this new blog, Nextlust, was what turned me on to it, but they implied it was VOIP users only. My bad.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
This Blog Just Saved Me $60!
In my recent posting about AT&T's VOIP Service, I wrote:
To which, a commenter, the mysterious SamIam, kindly said:
Well, I logged into my CallVantage account today, saw a link to change my plan, and was able to switch it to the $25 plan instead. There is NO difference between the $30 and $25 plans; just different price.
Thanks, SamIam: $60 a year savings, because of your comment!
In my recent posting about AT&T's VOIP Service, I wrote:"Yes, Vonage has a few more features I would like, and is $5 less;"
To which, a commenter, the mysterious SamIam, kindly said:
"AT&T CallVantage isn't $5 more than Vonage. Call them up and change your plan. The new plan (same as the old plan) is under $25 -- The FCC requires you change to the new plan!"
Well, I logged into my CallVantage account today, saw a link to change my plan, and was able to switch it to the $25 plan instead. There is NO difference between the $30 and $25 plans; just different price.
Thanks, SamIam: $60 a year savings, because of your comment!
Thursday, January 25, 2007
AT&T CallVantage: putting the Service in VOIP service
I've mentioned before that I ditched my landline some time ago in favor of a Voice Over IP (VOIP) line from AT&T, with their CallVantage service. $29.95 a month, with unlimited local and long distance calling, with crystal-clear sound quality. Uses your broadband Internet connection, and comes with almost every feature you can imagine: voicemail, caller ID, privacy time, and dozens more...all included.
What I have not mentioned is why I think their service is the best thing going. Yes, Vonage has a few more features I would like, and is $5 less; yes, SunRocket will give you a deal for $199 for 2 years of service. What AT&T gives me is some of the best customer service I could ask for, as well as the best phone quality you can imagine: far better than any landline I ever had.
Examples of their service: call them, and speak to a human, 24 hours a day. Try that with any other VOIP provider. Got a problem? They will patiently try to fix it, and, if all else fails, they FedEx you a new VOIP adaptor, FREE. While troubleshooting my internet connection, I spoke with them about the speed reduction in my connection. They offered to replace my adaptor, and even timed the delivery to my return from vacation.
Imagine my surprise and delight to see that they not only delivered it when they said they would, but that the adaptor they sent was a full fledged 802.11G Linksys router, with the VOIP service built in! FREE! I had just bought a $50 WiFi router, practically the same one, from Amazon, days before, which I can now return. This AT&T/Linksys box replaced my router, my VOIP adaptor, my old 802.11B WiFi access point, and my residential gateway (splits and shares the internet connection across multiple computers). It even works with my now-banned Linksys WiFi signal booster! Setup took a 10 minute call with them, and I now have 54MB per second wireless, with 3 less boxes!
The icing on this cake? My bandwidth went from an anemic 1MBPS to a full 16MBPS! I'm in the fast lane, wireless, for free, thanks to these folks. AT&T CallVantage, you've got a customer for a long, long, long time. GREAT example of how service trumps price in a competitive marketplace.
I've mentioned before that I ditched my landline some time ago in favor of a Voice Over IP (VOIP) line from AT&T, with their CallVantage service. $29.95 a month, with unlimited local and long distance calling, with crystal-clear sound quality. Uses your broadband Internet connection, and comes with almost every feature you can imagine: voicemail, caller ID, privacy time, and dozens more...all included.What I have not mentioned is why I think their service is the best thing going. Yes, Vonage has a few more features I would like, and is $5 less; yes, SunRocket will give you a deal for $199 for 2 years of service. What AT&T gives me is some of the best customer service I could ask for, as well as the best phone quality you can imagine: far better than any landline I ever had.
Examples of their service: call them, and speak to a human, 24 hours a day. Try that with any other VOIP provider. Got a problem? They will patiently try to fix it, and, if all else fails, they FedEx you a new VOIP adaptor, FREE. While troubleshooting my internet connection, I spoke with them about the speed reduction in my connection. They offered to replace my adaptor, and even timed the delivery to my return from vacation.
Imagine my surprise and delight to see that they not only delivered it when they said they would, but that the adaptor they sent was a full fledged 802.11G Linksys router, with the VOIP service built in! FREE! I had just bought a $50 WiFi router, practically the same one, from Amazon, days before, which I can now return. This AT&T/Linksys box replaced my router, my VOIP adaptor, my old 802.11B WiFi access point, and my residential gateway (splits and shares the internet connection across multiple computers). It even works with my now-banned Linksys WiFi signal booster! Setup took a 10 minute call with them, and I now have 54MB per second wireless, with 3 less boxes!The icing on this cake? My bandwidth went from an anemic 1MBPS to a full 16MBPS! I'm in the fast lane, wireless, for free, thanks to these folks. AT&T CallVantage, you've got a customer for a long, long, long time. GREAT example of how service trumps price in a competitive marketplace.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Bandwidth Anchors
I'm the kinda guy who has LOTS of betas, bleeding edge programs, and other sundry things on his computer, looking for the next great thing. I'm also not necessarily one who associates reduced performance with those programs. Good example: the Tab Effect I recommended a few days ago: great idea, but really slows down Firefox's performance: I ended up jettisoning it. Not quite ready for prime time.
However, I recently found out about other such programs, sapping not performance of my computer, but bandwidth. Remember when I mentioned about my aborted efforts to move to DSL? Well, my nephew Jeremy read that post, and IM'ed me this:
Well, I took his advice. While it was more accurate, it reported I had a connection not much better than a 56K modem. For $60 a month, that sucked. I called Comcast. First, they asked me to connect the cable modem directly to the PC: no gateway, no VOIP, no router. Ok, doubled the performance, but still not anywhere near the performance: about 900KBPS. Then they asked the question:
"Sir, do you have any other programs using your internet connection on right now? If so, can you close them?"
I shut them all down, and tried again. Suddenly, I was at 16MBPS! Holy...! I spent the rest of the evening adding each program back in, one by one, to determine the vampires. What did I find? FolderShare, which I blogged so effusively about, was sucking my connection dry. I immediately removed it. After reconnecting everything else, I was at a respectable 6MPBS. Still, I had a taste for the fast lane now, and there's no going back. The culprit seemed to be my gateway and AT&T's VOIP adaptor. Amazon got me a new wireless router/gateway for $50 (also allows me to finally upgrade to 802.11g instead of B, doubling my wireless speed), and a quick call to AT&T had them sending me a brand new Linksys VOIP adaptor to replace my aging Centillium one.
Occasionally, I can recover from my own errors. :-)
EPILOGUE: I called Comcast back, and mentioned that, 12 months ago, I got a great package deal from them. Now, my combined modem & cable bill had swelled to nearly $200. I said the magic words:
"I'm thinking of reducing my services."
The operator immediately asked me to hold. I waited, curious. About 90 seconds later, she came back with an offer: they would cut the cost of the cable modem by 50% for 12 months, and knock $30 off the cable TV service for 6 months. No commitment required, no hassle, no supervisor. Just with one call, of less than 5 minutes, I saved over $500 for the year.
A cable company that offers to reduce my price without hassle, and a phone company that sends me new upgraded equipment, just for asking. As a longtime hater of telcoms, I am floored. Perhaps there still is hope yet!
I'm the kinda guy who has LOTS of betas, bleeding edge programs, and other sundry things on his computer, looking for the next great thing. I'm also not necessarily one who associates reduced performance with those programs. Good example: the Tab Effect I recommended a few days ago: great idea, but really slows down Firefox's performance: I ended up jettisoning it. Not quite ready for prime time.However, I recently found out about other such programs, sapping not performance of my computer, but bandwidth. Remember when I mentioned about my aborted efforts to move to DSL? Well, my nephew Jeremy read that post, and IM'ed me this:
Hey Josh...you know, Cnet's speed test is horribly inaccurate. Go retest with Speakeasy's. http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ I get (on average) 5.7 megs a second....6.1 or so on good nights. I'd stay with Comcast, I've only had a problem maybe 4-5 times in the 3-4 years we've had it, and the reviews on Yahoo and Verizon in your area suck.
Well, I took his advice. While it was more accurate, it reported I had a connection not much better than a 56K modem. For $60 a month, that sucked. I called Comcast. First, they asked me to connect the cable modem directly to the PC: no gateway, no VOIP, no router. Ok, doubled the performance, but still not anywhere near the performance: about 900KBPS. Then they asked the question:"Sir, do you have any other programs using your internet connection on right now? If so, can you close them?"
I shut them all down, and tried again. Suddenly, I was at 16MBPS! Holy...! I spent the rest of the evening adding each program back in, one by one, to determine the vampires. What did I find? FolderShare, which I blogged so effusively about, was sucking my connection dry. I immediately removed it. After reconnecting everything else, I was at a respectable 6MPBS. Still, I had a taste for the fast lane now, and there's no going back. The culprit seemed to be my gateway and AT&T's VOIP adaptor. Amazon got me a new wireless router/gateway for $50 (also allows me to finally upgrade to 802.11g instead of B, doubling my wireless speed), and a quick call to AT&T had them sending me a brand new Linksys VOIP adaptor to replace my aging Centillium one.
Occasionally, I can recover from my own errors. :-)
EPILOGUE: I called Comcast back, and mentioned that, 12 months ago, I got a great package deal from them. Now, my combined modem & cable bill had swelled to nearly $200. I said the magic words:
"I'm thinking of reducing my services."
The operator immediately asked me to hold. I waited, curious. About 90 seconds later, she came back with an offer: they would cut the cost of the cable modem by 50% for 12 months, and knock $30 off the cable TV service for 6 months. No commitment required, no hassle, no supervisor. Just with one call, of less than 5 minutes, I saved over $500 for the year.
A cable company that offers to reduce my price without hassle, and a phone company that sends me new upgraded equipment, just for asking. As a longtime hater of telcoms, I am floored. Perhaps there still is hope yet!
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Cigars...auctions...color me happy!
I like good, cheap cigars. Sure, I love my Zino's, but as a startup guy, it's hard to justify dropping $100 a month on such class. Instead, I've made it a passion to search for good cheapies. I'm talking a buck a stick kinda cheapies.
In the past, Cigars International has been my 1 stop shop for this. They have amazing weekly specials, and I try them frequently. They've turned me on to some nice cheap brands that won't leave you thinkign you've just smoked "floor sweepings." But now, I discovered Cigar Bid: an auction site for cigars. I think it might be owned by CI, as it features many of their products and brands, but the prices...WOW. I've got three bids in now...we'll see how it goes!
I like good, cheap cigars. Sure, I love my Zino's, but as a startup guy, it's hard to justify dropping $100 a month on such class. Instead, I've made it a passion to search for good cheapies. I'm talking a buck a stick kinda cheapies. In the past, Cigars International has been my 1 stop shop for this. They have amazing weekly specials, and I try them frequently. They've turned me on to some nice cheap brands that won't leave you thinkign you've just smoked "floor sweepings." But now, I discovered Cigar Bid: an auction site for cigars. I think it might be owned by CI, as it features many of their products and brands, but the prices...WOW. I've got three bids in now...we'll see how it goes!
