Category: Business

When HoTMaiL Was Too Hot

Business

In the late 1990s, while living in Redmond, WA (Seattle), I traveled to another state for work. This was long before smartphones, laptops, Wi-Fi, and the expectation to access the internet anywhere we happened to be. While I was there, I wanted to check my email. I had been teaching internet classes at the Redmond Public Library for a while at that point, so I figured the local public library would also a publicly accessible computers like we did at home. So I stopped in and signed up …

Microsoft Removed Desktop Office Apps From Its Free Nonprofit Grant – and That is Disappointing

Business / Microsoft / Software / Technology

For years, Microsoft’s nonprofit program gave a wonderful benefit – free Microsoft Office licenses for up to 10 users. For the nonprofits I help, it’s been a huge benefit to give volunteers and employees access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and the other Microsoft Office applications. (Although Google Workplace is superior, it’s hard to break people’s old habits of using Microsoft.) Sadly, Microsoft discontinued the license grant for nonprofits to get free licenses for Microsoft Office. Nonprofits can still receive the “Microsoft 365 Business Basic” for free, but …

Google Rail View

Business / Technology

I love Google Maps, and especially Google Street View. I use it a lot. Not just for directions, but to understand places, and especially for looking up history. Where is that building? What was there before? How has it changed? Where was that movie location filmed? Street View is one of those tools that still feels like magic, even though most people take it for granted now. You can drop onto almost any road in the world and look around as if you’re standing there. That can be …

Don’t Trust Freshdesk / Freshworks

Business

Freshdesk / Freshworks turned what should have been a simple account issue, into a typically frustrating and terrible customer service experience. What’s worse, it was over customer service software! Until last week, I had used the free version of Freshdesk for roughly 10 years for my small business. Yes, I got my money’s worth… then, with no warning – no emails, no notifications on the website – nothing I could find, the free account was shut off without notice. Freshworks claims they sent an email saying the free …

2028 Walt Disney Stamp Reissue Campaign

Business

The original Walt Disney stamp was issued September 11, 1968, with first-day ceremonies right here in Marceline. USPS has now shown that stamp reissues can happen. USPS just announced that the 2018 Mister Rogers Forever stamp will be reissued on June 1, 2026. Of course, this doesn’t mean they would reissue the Walt Disney stamp, but it proves they are willing to bring back a past design under the right program. The attached letter to USPS from Marceline requests a reissue of the 1968 Walt Disney commemorative stamp, …

Own Your Online Content – Don’t Trust Platforms

Business / Marketing / Technology / Websites

TLDR: Social platforms should be used to amplify your presence, not define it. When you own your domain and your content, you’re no longer at the mercy of arbitrary censorship. You’re building your brand, and something that can last. For many people / content creators and businesses today, they think “social media” IS the internet. They are mistaken. They think facebook pages replace websites, and instagram profiles are portfolios. LinkedIn acts as resume (now with more spam than ever before.) People and businesses put almost all of their …

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