And how many times do you see something like this:

This email was sent because you signed up and/or registered with us or one of our affiliates. To stop receiving email from (insert company name), click here or mail us as (insert snail-mail address here). (Company name) is a mailing service and does not guarantee or support any of the offers advertised in this email. This email may be a part of a continuing campaign.

Exactly “when” did I sign-up and or register? Most of the places that I’ve registered/signed up over the last few years, when and if I have, have been with sites/forum/programs/apps that promised me my email would never be shared. Never. Ever. Promise.

So who exactly is zooming whom? Is the emailer lying? Were those angelic sites lying?

And forget about “clicking here”, as it is my belief that that in itself is a means by which ‘mailers’ can verify they’ve got a live addy.

Wouldn’t it be nice if there were no spam email? Wake-up, you’re dreaming, but here’s a thought.

Why not force them to include the date that registration or sign-up occurred, and whilst we’re at it, include the place from which we did the registration/sign-up.

After all, if they have our data, they have our data.

Yeah, but…

• Installation: Easy
• Blog Hookup: Easy
• Category/Posts retrieval: Easy
• Overall Setup: Easy

Now, let’s see how easy it posts.

Today, one of the alerts for which I received an email reminded me a bit of Jay Leno’s “Headlines”.

Here’s the headline:
West Carrollton police conduct 3 illegal gambling raids

Now, did the police raid 3 illegal gambling establishments?
Or did they perform 3 ‘illegal’ gambling raids?

Might it have been wise for the editor to insert a hyphen?
West Carrollton police conduct 3 illegal-gambling raids

Lo, the lowly hyphen. Where for art thou gone.

Here’s the link to the entire story.

If you’ve not checked Samual’s blog out at Wake Up Later, which speaks to the free-lancer/Moonlighter in all of us, I encourage you to do so now.

And whilst your their, subscribe! You never know what specials Samual has in-store that someday may surprise you. If not for the free stuff, go there for his great insight.

Here’s the link.

I thought my strong interest in the new operating system was justified since I’m going to take the opportunity to replace my 4½ year old Titanium Powerbook with a new Leopard-powered notebook. But then I got thinking, it’s just a tool. Using a Mac isn’t my goal per se. I might as well get exciting about all the tools at Home Depot — and I do — but if I don’t build anything with them, they’re useless.

i too find a need to remember that the tool is for building, not playing. every once in a while my aDs will lead me to a tool that cuts my production time, but i always seem to find a way to use that extra time to search for new tools.

so follow the comments of mr. miller. tool often, but work wisely.

I too have often pondered the same question. Once, to a car dealer that not only attached a license plate frame to the back of every car sold, but put on an attractive but nastily-sticky decal/extrusion-logo on the back trunk of every car sold, I asked how much they were paying me to drive around advertising their business.

He said nothing.

I walked away.

as i was driving out of the park this morning, i was struck by the contrast of this view.

Here’s a link to a couple of photos taken today.

True, naysayers might equate Apple’s response to something like “milk on sale” where customers need to fight the urge to get back to where the milk is without succumbing to a stragtegically placed impulse item, but even so, Apple has without a doubt not only done the right thing, but has done it in yet another “We set the mark” example.

Full story here

Viral Marketing Dead?

I’ve always admired the virility of viral marketing, in-so-far as it relates to getting a good word– about a good/great product– out to the masses, in the fastest (read: and least expensive) way possible.

I had previously read the same story in last week’s AdAge, and now I see it again via Seth’s Blog.

I couldn’t have summed it up better than he.