Looking for an Xcelsius 2008 Best Practices Guide?

I think I may have found what you are looking for. This is an excellent guide that you can use to bring best practices to all your Xcelsius work. This 16 page guide is an well thought out guide for using standard around colors, data organization, testing, etc. Implementing these best practices will undoubtedly improve your ability to create world-class Xcelsius models that are easy for others to maintain after the fact.

This guide was written by Matt Lloyd with contributing materials from Ryan Goodman and Richard Reynolds.

Download it today!! You’ll be glad you did.

Next Generation Computer Interface

Remember the Mouse revolution? I’ll never forget the first time I saw a Macintosh and used the mouse to move a pointer across the screen. I could start programs, paint pictures and do all kinds of cool things without learning a new interface.

Well, Jeff Han recently introduced the world to an entirely new generation of user interface during the annual TED conference. It is a Minority Report moment.

Its a new multi-sensor touchscreen which allows the user interface to completely disappear. You have to see it to believe it. It is truly incredible.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jeff_han_demos_his_breakthrough_touchscreen.html

Now that’s what I call a vacation!

Since the merger with SAP, we’ve begun to adopt most of the SAP policies. One policy is related to vacation. SAP strongly encourages employees to take their vacation each year and not allow it to pile up. In fact, the maximum amount of vacation you are allowed to roll over each year in 5 days. This has lead some individuals to get serious when it comes to using up their vacation.

Here is an email reply I received from a colleague recently:

Now that’s what I call a vacation!!

The whole world reduced to 100 people…

Here’s a different time on “the numbers” - some we look at all the time in the world of Business Intelligence.

A good friend of mine send me an email that explains our world in numbers. It’s fascinating and I recommend you check it out. You’ll be grateful you did!

The whole world reduced to 100 people. What would it look like? Watch this video, “The Miniature Earth”, to find out.

Domain Registry of America Renewal Notice - Watch out!

My wife grabbed the mail today and brought to my attention an important expiration notice from the Domain Registry of America. These guys are incredulous. Here they are trying to act like a reputable company and try and trick people into sending them money for no reason. People - you can renew or subscription to your domain withou the Domain Registry of America!. I immediately googled this Domain Registry of America and found that it was referenced in a number of other blogs.

Here is the low-down. If you have your own domains like I do, they get your contact information from your registrar and then send you these letters that make it look like your domain is able to expire. Here is my letter.

At the top of the letter it makes it very clear that it is a expiration notice and no one wants to get one of those right? So what exactly is expiring. Well, they tell me that my domain names are about to expire. This is bogus. They are trying to get me to fork over money for something I don’t need. My registrar already notifies me when my reserved domain name is about to expire. This company is NOT affiliated with your domain manager.

Notice this in the header of the letter:

Pretty scary, huh!

After reading a couple of other blogs, I found indeed the address on my letter goes to a Mailboxes, Etc address! Yep, The address listed on my letter said, Domain Registry of America, 2316 Delaware Avenue #266, Buffalo, New York, 14216-2687. This is the address of a Mailboxes location!

In fact, I found one thing quite funny the more research I did the more I got turned off by these guys. Check out this threating letter that one blogger received from these guys.

Click here to read more…

Some people are asking… who will stop these guys?

What You Should Do

First of all, don’t pay this company (or any other company that sends you a renewal notice) unless you want to transfer your domain name from your current provider to them! If you pay them, the fine print gives them permission to transfer your domain name from our existing service to theirs.

Secondly, pass this warning on to your accounting department or person who normally pays your invoices, to make sure they aren’t taken in by it.

Finally, you should file a complaint with the FTC to inform them that Domain Registry of America is still engaging in illegal trading practices — they can’t take action unless people who receive the notices complain. You can file a complaint online by clicking this link.