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Consulting: Is The Customer Always Right?

I run a small business. I handle customer service and I’m also a customer to other businesses. Often, the phrase “The customer is always right” is mentioned in passing or sort of in jest when someone talks of a customer/business disagreement. There is actually a history to this phrase that dates back to the early 20th century. But I wanted to talk about whether, as a consultant and a business owner, is it really true that the customer is always right?

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Opinion: Stop Griping! Email Is The Perfect Form Of Communication

To many, electronic mail seems to be the last thing they look forward to. In a typical day, I might see and hear so many people gripe about email that it starts getting to me too. There are “email zero” movements and people that help you manage email clutter – but what’s wrong with this picture? Email has to be one of the most perfect forms of communication we have. Proof of that is on it’s enduring longevity, but also in the many ways we use it today.

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Why I Loathe Trade Shows

With what I do, you’d really think I would love trade shows. As an IT Consultant and a writer, you might imagine the trade show is like the “perfect storm” for a guy like me. Well, it’s actually the opposite. I’m somehow endlessly bothered by trade shows and fairs. In fact, I find trade shows to be a mind numbing process of marketing, sales tactics and walking in circles. I’m not one to be overly negative about things, and I really don’t want this to be like that – but if you’ll indulge me, I can show you why these events an really suck.

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Blogger: Generate A URL Before You Publish

One of the difficulties with great new features is when other features don’t get updated or created to accommodate the new usefulness. In Blogger you have the ability to “Schedule” a blog post. This is not the newest feature, but new enough that other features are downright missing. One of the features they should have included, was a way to determine the URL (Universal Resource Locator or the full link to your article) of a scheduled post before it’s posted.

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Use Windows Easy Transfer To Automate User Backups

I’m always looking for interesting challenges, and this one is no different. I came across this question in Microsoft’s Answers forum and I was intrigued. Windows Easy Transfer is actually pretty good for migrating user accounts and pulling out settings, but what if you wanted to use this tool to attempt a full user profile backup (to disk) at regular intervals? Is it even possible in any reliable way to do this?

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Mobile Solar Chargers: A Gimmick Or Useful Tools?

I wanted to take a look and give it a try. The packaging indicated support for the iPhone and iPod devices and look to have a number of different connectors to use. Heck, it was $14.99 too, so you really can’t lose there, right? I’ll take you on a tour of how this device works, what I liked and what I didn’t like about it – and whether I think this is a useful tool for mobile users.