Hi there! I’m Winifred, the resident word witch here at WickedWordCraft.com! I keep an eye on things while Angela is working and when she’s away from her computer. In celebration of the third anniversary of Wicked WordCraft, Angela and I have brewed up a special treat for you…

The Wicked Quote Cauldron!

Now, to be able to see and play with the Cauldron, you will need to download Flash 8.0 or higher. So do that before you click over to see the Wicked Quote Cauldron.

The Wicked Quote Cauldron was Angela’s brainchild. She wanted to find a way to return the “popping” bubbles that were so popular with visitors of the earlier incarnation of the site and she wanted to share some of her favorite quotes with fellow language lovers and quote collectors. (more…)

A few weeks back, my mother told me that my father was into “Sudoku” puzzles. I hadn’t heard of them, and when she told me they were math puzzles, I mentally rolled my eyes and quickly forgot about them.

The next time I went home to visit, my father called me into his office and handed me a paper off his printer tray so fresh that it was still warm to the touch.

“Try it,” he ordered, “You can only have the numbers one through nine in any given line vertical or horizontal and each box of nine you can only have one of each number one through nine too.”

I whined. I hate number puzzles. I’m a WORD person. I don’t like math. But he said “I’m timing you, I did mine in 40 minutes,” — and I can seldom resist that sort of challenge.

So I started. And started over. And scratched my head. And finally — something clicked and it started coming together. And, I beat his record.

Now, a couple weeks after that day, I find that there are a number of Sudoku puzzle programs for the Treo. I had to buy one to try it out. (more…)

I accepted a new client last week. He asked me for help with his marketing approach. He was disappointed in his return on a recent direct mail campaign and needed a bit of direction on this and and other marketing issues and projects.

He had done several things right:

1.) He had his assistant hand-address the envelopes.
2.) He had her attach REAL stamps to each envelope.
3.) He had included a small, unique give-away item in each envelope.
4.) He hand-signed each letter.

After sending out several hundred letters over the course of three weeks, not a single response was logged. So he called me…I reviewed his situation through a phone conference and I think the details are important enough to share with other small business folks attempting the same approach to marketing via snail mail.

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Cold weather makes me take a moment to think about life. Life is good. This morning, when I got up (from a toasty-warm bed), it was cold in the cabin. Quite a chill hung in the air.

Then my husband got up and said “Want a fire? Are you cold?” and immediately began the wood-burning stove ritual to get a blazing fire roaring.

Life is good. I spent some time with my sister yesterday and she stayed the night. After I finished work, we went to the Amish food store and got an armload of nuts and dried fruits and fresh fall apples. Then, we went to my favorite cheese place — a family owned business in Casey County called Zimmerman’s Homestead Cheese. They make the BEST cheese in the world there. We buy several pounds from them every month. (There’s a reason I say my family is “cheesy,” I suppose.) When we started eating organic, cheese was the thing we missed most — then I found Zimmerman’s. (more…)

WickedWordCraft.com turns three years old this month!

Although I’ve been working online for more than five years and following the  entrepreneurial path even longer than that… this month is special.

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This weekend, when I blinked, all the leaves turned. I was watching them carefully. I knew that there would be a quick turn this year, I knew the colors wouldn’t last long — you can just tell these things — especially when many of the tree leaves go from green to brown and crispy in a matter of hours.

But, we had a bit of chill in the air, and then the drizzle set in… and now everything is yellow and red and brown –and falling quickly.

And as we go into the end of the year, I look around at my own stuff and feel a bit like a tree myself — like I need to be rid of stuff, like I need to shed a few layers of “things” that are clinging to me, weighting me down too. Between the time that the leaves begin to change and the time that the calendar flips over to a new year, I get the undeniable urge to purge. It’s almost a physical thing for me. I MUST get rid of stuff. (more…)

Around this time every year, I buy a new computer. I wear mine out. Literally. I didn’t have to buy one last year because the desktop replacement laptop I had died and my warranty covered a brand new system. So I lucked out (if having your system die can be considered good luck.)

Hey, I always look for the silver linings — and I always keep a good, up-to-date backup! ;o)

But this year, I’m thinking more about how I use my computer, how I WANT to use my computer and where the technology IS at this moment in time. For several years, I’ve opted for an all-in-one system. A high-powered laptop with desktop features — so I could take one computer with me and have all my “stuff” with me too. (more…)

How would you like to see the personal sketches and notebook of the original Renaissance man… Leonardo Di Vinci? How about the handwritten texts of Jane Austen? How would you like to flip through a beautifully hand illustrated, leather bound edition of historical botanical prints?

How would you like to do it all right now? From your computer? Without moving an inch?

I’ve just discovered the British Library’s website Turning the Pages and as a book lover, I must say it’s AWESOME!

So, when you get a few moments, go take a peek at some of the greatest works in history presented in a form that really IS the next best thing to hopping a plane and going to view the originals! There’s even a magnifying glass that will let you get really close to the handwritten words and hand illustrated pages. Simply amazing.

Warning: You will need ShockWave downloaded to “turn” the pages. I had avoided it up until now… but this website alone makes the download worthwhile.

Are you headed to the NAR conference this week? Want to learn a bit more, “hands-on” with a Treo?

You might want to check out the Palm exhibit. According to a news release that landed in my inbox, Palm will be demonstrating the Treo 650 as a Real Estate tool, and will be giving away a Treo 650 to boot.

You have read what I’ve said, but you can’t actually play with a Treo here on WickedTreo.com — maybe at NAR you can give one a test drive.

And, for those of you headed to San Francisco…Have a blast!

As many of my regular readers know, privacy is a big issue for me. As such, I wanted to send you a bit of info about the RFID chips and cards that are quickly being adopted as a “marketing” technique and as an “inventory” technique. Currently touted as an “improved bar code” these little gems aren’t at all like bar codes. They aren’t the same for every identical item as barcodes are, and they transmit (electromagnetically) information about themselves, and YOU, also unlike traditional barcodes.

To learn a bit more about these invasive things…Visit: http://www.spychips.com/what-is-rfid.html. And you may want to follow a few of the links on this thorough site to learn more about what your grocery “saver club” cards and other newer technologies are really doing to your privacy.

Makes me glad I’ve gone “organic” to avoid most of the tracking and privacy destroying tactics of these so-called marketing experts. Marketing should not be confused with these tactics.

Ethics should be observed before monetary gain, IMHO. Call me old fashioned. (It’s ok, I don’t mind.)

Last month’s poll indicated that information on productivity tools is what you want most. To help save you money, time, and effort — I’ve developed the following list. (Consider me your own personal field-tester.) After downloading and testing, buying and discarding, dedicating and reconfiguring —I’ve come up with a few Treo gems I consider essential.

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I’ve hit a wall. I have everything going exactly the way I want it to go with the business. It’s a bit busier than is comfortable — but how many people running their own business wouldn’t jump at the chance to complain about that?

Business is good. (check) My husband is awesome. (check, check) and my daughter has gone from struggling with single syllable words to burning through “chapter books” and novels on a fourth to fifth grade level in the last six months. (check, check, check). (more…)

It amazes me that now that Mobile windows has now discovered the Treo, and has announced a windows based project for next year, that the BlackBerry software folks are also jumping ship over the the Treo. BlackBerry does a great job with email, but they stumbled a bit when they added voice. Treo does it better, collectively speaking. (more…)

One of my articles “Mobility Matters” on the expanded use of smartphones to improve mobility and productivity for real estate agents, appeared in the most recent issue of Real Estate Business Magazine for brokers, owners and managers.

To read the article, pick up a copy of the magazine or view an online PDF copy here.

I’m back in my home state again now. Florida was nice and I did make some wonderful progress on the book.

I also made progress with getting to bed at an hour before the a.m. and I even took a couple naps during my time away!! Naps, I say! I think they boost my creative juices… yeah, THAT’s the ticket! If I’d managed to squeeze in a dozen naps, the book may well be complete my now ! :O) (more…)

Ok, well maybe it’s not a vacation — but it is a little time away.

I’m packing my bags today to fly to Florida for a bit of time away. While in the Sunshine State, I’ll be meeting with my RemoteProfessionals.com partner to go over a bit of business, and I also hope to catch a few rays on a sunny beach (if it’s not too chilly). (more…)

Palm’s Treo 650 firmware update for Verizon phones is now available. It reportedly remedies several of the capacity problems experienced by the Verizon service customers.

Download it from Palm at:

http://www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/treo650updater/verizon.html

When you become a real Treo nut, you notice that the concept of pen and paper often leaves you.

Even as a writer, I have to REMEMBER to take my composition book (I stock up on those old-fashioned school book ones with the hard cover that go on sale for 50 cents every August during back-to-school sales at Wally-World).

But, even when I forget to grab my comp book and a pen, I always remember my Treo. And, often, I find myself standing at the checkout somewhere with my tiny keyring-attachment credit card in one hand, my treo in the other and no pen to sign my name. (Not every store is up to speed on the digital signature consoles.)

Now, I can even sign credit and debit card receipts with my Treo… sort of… (more…)

Check out a cool new outsourcing professional’s personal blog!

Jodi Diehl, of Sunfrog Services, has just launched her own business blog, personal hobby and rant forum, aka SunFrogBlog.

This online database artist and PHP master does amazing things with the backend of my own sites, and the sites of my best clients.

Jodi is a herpetology nut — unlike the old song, she LIKES spiders and snakes — ok, well maybe not spiders so much — but snakes, lizards, frogs (go figure) and other cold-blooded creepy-crawlies.

Now, suddenly, I don’t feel like the ONLY weird one. (I used to keep such pets around all the time as a kid and… well into adulthood.) As a matter of fact, when my hubby and I were dating, he caught me a fence lizard on the farm because he knew I’d love it. It occupied a terrarium on the corner of my desk for several days before I returned him to the wild where he would actually eat. But… I digress.

So, if you need custom database design services, or php programming that runs smooth as silk, give her a call. And if you want to get to know more about WHO she really is… or more about what to feed critters and how to keep furless pets happy, read her SunFrogBlog!

I’ve read several negative reviews of the Treo, and today I spoke with a well-respected colleague about her own Treo 650. She’s on Treo number FIVE — all with the same hardware/software issues and firmware problems.

What do the bad reviews all have in common? Their cellular service carrier…Sprint.

My colleague says her husband’s boss has endured the same issues with his multiple Treos through Sprint as well.

Personally, I have Cingular service and couldn’t be happier. My aunt came up from Alabama this weekend (*waves at Alicia who is now a regular reader*) to get her own Cingular Treo 650 set up.

She’s loving it.

Several of my clients using a Treo 650 are using the Cingular service without issues.

Now, maybe it’s just a coincidence… but it’s worth noting, just the same.

Proceed with caution folks. :O)