MSN’s awesome new beta virtual “sky cam” dubbed Windows Live Local (www.local.live.com) has added Detroit to the list of cities covered, according to a recent Virtual Earth Developer’s blog

And has a zoomed up close up of the Superbowl Site (Ford Field) displayed front and center here.

Pretty isn’t it? Nice and clear and amazingly CLOSE UP!

Read the blog yourself at:

Virtual Earth Blog.

But don’t get excited about the Superbowl, there aren’t any “live footage” options available… yet!

Still not a Microsoft fan, but liking it better all the time with perks like these.

Despite my desire to get to a single hourly rate system, I still offer a discount to my those long-standing clients who have been with me for years.

In my new Microsoft Office SBA program, I figured I’d handle this with a % discount under the Price Level functionality.

So…

I get the invoice template all customized and pull in my first client’s billing to test the invoice. He’s one that gets the “longevity” discount. And, there’s my standard rate. And it STAYS there.

So I begin research…I went to the Microsoft site, which was sadly lacking in “tech support” type info for this new package.

I Googled it. Nothing.

I thought maybe it was me, so I went back to double check my price level settings. I even pulled up a new client invoice and had the same problem.

After quite a bit of time, I gave up and used the discount option on the invoice… but it haunted me. I didn’t want a bunch of “discounts” showing up in my books. I wanted to keep the new system clean and streamlined. Afterall, making things clean and integrated is why I undertook this mess at the beginning of this year, right? And it’s still not tweaked to suit me…

After revisiting all my searches and struggling with it, I went down and switched it to a tester Price Level I had created initially… and it WENT to that price level.

When I switched it back to the preloaded price level for the long-term client, Voila! It then registered the new price level.

MS Small Business Accounting will pre-load a specific price level for a given client (something you set in the details tab of the individual client) — but it won’t apply that price level until you click OFF of the price level at the invoicing level (it’s in the lower right hand corner) and then re-select the right price level.

As I go through this hair-jerking-out process, I figured I’d share with others. After all, maybe someone else trying to Google this, will hit on my blog.

I wish someone had written about this when I was looking!

Now, it’s time to get back to setting up my banking online… sigh.

*Am a word person… and am hating life while I’m forced to be a bean counter!* Grrrrr.

I love my Treo. I carry it everywhere. So, it’s not like me to feel jealousy over other small mobile device… until now…

Lately, my husband’s Video iPod has captured my wandering tech eye. It’s so sleek. Thin and beautifully designed… it also carries a wallop with a 30 gig drive onboard (and I didn’t even buy him the 60 gig version that’s currently available when I was Christmas shopping for him.)

This device has turned my non-techno, non-mobile hubby into a “I wanna take it with me” fan.

And I keep thinking to myself – why do I have to swap out SD cards to get an additional gig or two of space when his thinner device carries 30 gigs onboard?

Granted, his toy won’t do what mine does. It won’t check email, surf the net, view documents and act as a cell phone — but the video image is wonderful, the sound of his music downloads are fine, he even has a few music videos. He carries audio books too!

So, I’m thinking that if I had the ear of the powers that be in development at Treo, or at iPod, I’d whisper “merge them!”

Can you imagine the market share and the customer satisfaction that could be gained with the capture of the iPod crowd AND the Treo fanclubs? It’s awe-inspiring, isn’t it?

And with the new sites that are supporting video downloads (www.iTunes.com, www.Vongo.com, and www.CinemaNow.com) the market for secondary sales is staggering. Right now, only iTunes will support the iPod format for videos, and none will support the Treo 650. But, I have hope.

I look forward to the day when I can carry a library of all my favorite things without worrying about running out of space immediately. Without conserving every last byte. Ahhhh…. won’t that be nice?

While investigating the joys of Google’s new video search engine I found some pretty interesting things. First… an ad that is probably the best I’ve seen to try to help my own (and possibly YOUR own) children think carefully about what they are doing with their “free time” when there is no adult supervision. To view it…go to: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-982704336400793600 Ya gotta love that! From a “marketing message” standpoint, I’d say this ranks as one of the most effective ads I’ve ever seen. Heck, even my mother said it was a great “must see” piece for all teenagers when I sent her the link this morning.

And then, of course, on the other end of the spectrum, was a sample video hocking DVD’s that use sex to teach teenagers calculus. Now THERE’s a new twist. View it at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7172438422483406719 It just makes me roll my eyes. As IF they are going to get anything educational from that. I have teenage boys. Giving them such visual stimulation would probably only distract them from the topic.

This falls under the “book under a pillow before a big exam to ‘absorb’ the knowledge” theory to me. I think I’d rather just have them sleep on a book. Maybe my age is showing… again.

People may not like change, but search engines love it! In fact, many SEs handsomely reward dynamic content, as witnessed by the popularity of the SEO darling: the blog. MSN and Google, in particular, are enamored with websites that provide constantly changing content.

But, if you don’t want to blog, how can you take advantage of this SEO fact? By carefully describing your latest listings! Want to leverage your listings for improved search engine rankings? (more…)

After another unwelcome trip into the land of Microsoft … I had difficulty finding BCM V2 for download. I’m not sure why my BRAND NEW copy of Business Contact Manager (which is a part of Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003) was shipped with version 1, but that’s beside the point.

Searching on MS’s site did little to help me find the update, but I did find a link to it after searching around the user groups a bit.

With all the issues that BCM has, it’s amazing that the upgrade (reportedly effective for fixing many of those bugs) isn’t easier to find.

It also permits the “integration” of BCM with Small Business Accounting 6.0 (SBA 6). I’ve not managed to get that far quite yet, but I’m hoping it will work.

Download the BCM V2.0 here.

Hope this helps shorten your search time.

And here’s a link to the FAQ page about this update:

http://www.microsoft.com/office/outlook/contactmanager/prodinfo/faq.mspx

While working to get my Outlook 2003, my Business Contact Manager and my Microsoft Office Small Business Accounting 2006 programs all chummy and happy with each other (without pulling out the few sprigs of hair that remain in my head)…

a terrible thing happened.

I closed the Business Contact Manager add-in for Outlook 2003 and couldn’t figure out how to reopen it…

By right clicking on the Business Contact Manager Mail Folder Icon under “All Mail Folders” in the option to Close the Business Contact Manager appears. I, of course, must test this option. So BCM closes. Now, I just try to reopen it. Sounds simple, eh? To reopen something you closed? Simple. Intuitive… especially for someone as familiar with the MS suite of products as I am.

It’s not simple. It probably took me 10 minutes of poking around before I found out how to reopen it. And, since I “fell” into the answer, I had to close it again and go back and search a second time to be able to document it for anyone else out there that’s similarly stuck.

I have the Microsoft Outlook “bible” called Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 Inside Out (which I’m reading at the same speed a turtle would achieve while attempting to sprint through an inch-deep lake of peanut butter) but couldn’t find the answer there.

I also searched online in the MS Knowledge Base and Googled it. No luck.

So, if you had a moment of sanity lapse wherein you turned off your BCM and now need to turn yours back on…

Go to File->New->Outlook Data File

and then select “Use an existing database” and select your Business Contact Manager (be sure NOT to select the “Create a New Database”).

There. NOW it’s simple!

(… and request a “Full Monty” under the guise of protecting youth)

You gotta love it… the Bush administration is making another full frontal attack (pun intended) on American’s privacy — this time under the guise of protecting children from porn. The “federal government is trying to force Google to reveal all searches conducted in a one-week period, as well as records for 1 million Web addresses” according to an article released today by MediaPost.com.In a Search Engine Watch blog article, Google was the only one in the big four (AOL, Yahoo! and MSN) that said NO! The other search engines agreed to hand over the information. (more…)

The term “marketing” has acquired a bad rep. People equate “marketing” people with “salesmen” and that alarms me. It alarms me so much that I nearly dropped the term from my own business altogether.

Marketing, or at least my form of it, is (and always will be) about communication. Marketing isn’t about selling, it’s about serving.

It isn’t about what’s in it for the company, it’s about conveying — communicating — what’s in it for the client. (more…)

Amazon.com offers some free MP3 downloads so you can try some of the most diverse audio offerings on Amazon.

To learn more…

free MP3 downloads from Amazon.com

If you are interested in a few classical MP3s (also free) to download, try eClassical.com.

I’ve tried and tried… and tried to get the Adobe version of the PDF viewer to work without headaches.

I have failed.

But now, I’ve finally found the Best PDF viewer for my Treo 650 — and it’s FREE! If you want to get your own copy of this little freebie gem, go to www.palmgear.com and grab your own copy of PalmPDF from www.metaviewsoft.de.

I put mine on my expansion card to conserve precious handheld memory space, and you may want to do the same thing.

I can now read the PDF files I need from anywhere. What a joy!

As a Foxfire convert, I only open IE when I must — and I usually begrudge any website that requires me to change from Firefox to IE.

With that said, I’ve also missed the opportunity to see the alt tags with a mouse “rollover” on websites using Firefox. To see the alt tags on most sites when using my FireFox browser, I have to right click on an image and select “properties” to see the alt tag text.

But, today, I tripped across a design approach that will fix this problem. Adding a title tag to the alt tag will create a mouseover text for FireFox. If you want to add this to your own website to invite in the FireFox crowd… add the following code (using your own jpg name, title and alt tags, of course!):

<IMG src=”InternetMarketingImage.jpg” ALT=”Internet Marketing Plan Flowchart” TITLE=”Flowchart Plan for Small Business Internet Marketing”>

Yesterday was lovely. An excellent birthday. My sister and I went to the “big city” and did some lazy shopping. Not too fast and furious. Just a nice, casual day. We had lunch at an organic cafe, searched and found some organic products I’d been seeking for some time (Wayne always gets cagey when I browse too long) and I topped the day off by making the decision to invest in a nice pen (and get rid of the dozens of lousy ones that I have at home and in the office).

You know, a decent rollerball — even a disposable one — isn’t cheap anymore. It’s not like in the days of the 39 cent Bic Stick. And…

I’m tired of never having the pen I want when I want it. I know that when I have two nice pens — one in my purse and one at my desk — I can always find the pen when I need it.

And, when I have fistfuls of the little disposable suckers, I can never find one. People (even my own family) will swipe them and make off with them… hoarding them like a hamster hoards seeds in its cheeks. I’m tired of it.

About three years ago, a client sent me a nice pen — a rollerball. It was a Retro 1951 — a brand I’d never encountered. It was seriously cool because it was leather covered like this but — the one he sent was purple crocodile printed leather. Now, I know that sounds odd, but it was perfect. WickedWordCraft was fairly young and that pen seemed to be an extention of my brand, my business identity. That pen has a great balance and a heft that feels good, even when used for extended periods of long-hand. It’s a great signature pen too.

Every adult should have an excellent signature pen, and every writer should have a good pen for signatures that they use for everything else. I always liked fountain pens, but the mobility end of me always seemed to have problems with leaking fountain pens. I’ve planned for years to reward myself with a fancy fountain pen model — Mont Blanc (the Agatha Christie model) or the Parker Silver Snake pen when I sold my first novel.

But this year, for my birthday, I gave myself permission to not work on a book, and to not feel guilty for not working on one. I created my list of ten goals. I’m working toward them now and it feels good. I feel a bit lighter after removing several of the heftier items from my annual list of things to accomplish. These things always appeared on my things to do this year list in January and weighed on me for 12 months. Not accomplishing them sent me into a tailspin at the end of each year. So I changed my normal pattern. This year, I trimmed the list to ten — anything that didn’t make this year’s list can always be added (and probably will be) to next year’s Top Ten list. Then, that trimmed list was added to the front of my new Moleskine Small Notebook — the one I opened up yesterday. I wrote that list with my purple leather Retro 51 pen. It was added in blue ink. I hate blue ink. But I was out of black refills for the pen, and they seem to be rather hard to find. I’d quit using my pen because it only had one refill left — one BLUE refill. But yesterday morning, I really wanted to write those ten items in my notebook with the purple Retro pen.

Yesterday, while shopping, I got a new moleskine notebook as a gift for a client who needs it. They are the best little idea catchers in the low-tech world. There is a part of me that will probably never be able to release my death-grip on a Moleskine and a good ink pen… no matter how high-tech I become.

Now, getting back to yesterday… when my sister and I were out, she encouraged me to visit an upscale leather goods shop that has a fantastic collection of pens. I went, I looked, I “ohhh and awwwed” over the selection and my eyes fell on a beautiful pen. A rollerball. It was really pretty and was not carrying the price tag that many of its neighbors in the showcase displayed. A Retro 1951 Tornado Cioppino Rollerball Pen. I was afraid to touch it, knowing that actually touching it would make me want it even more. So, instead, I was practical. I asked if they had black refills for the Retro 1951 models. They did! The refills had proven rather hard to find so I was thrilled to find a local source.

So, I should have been happy. I bought a couple refills and headed out the door. We went to a couple other places and did some window shopping. I did some errands while I was in town. I made purchases I’d needed to make — both personal and some for the office. And even after leaving that geographic area… the pen called to me.

Finally, right before leaving town, I returned to the store and purchased it. The Lucite barrel is covered in abalone shell chips is a beautiful rainbow of green and purple (and yes, just a touch of blue) on a field of black. It’s stunning.

The joys of having a pen like this and like the purple leather version? They are mine. They aren’t used by anyone else and I don’t lose them. They aren’t disposable. I have a glorious pen for my purse and one that stays at my desk. I don’t have to grab my purse and hunt through it to find MY pen when sitting in my deskchair, and I don’t get out only to remember that I left the good pen on my desk.

I used to believe that I needed only one great pen. Now, I know I need two. One for the desk, one for on the go. And now, I have them.

Tomorrow, I’ll dispose of all the extra pens I own. And I might just look really hard at getting a couple really nice mechanical pencils too… one for my desk, one for on the fly.

Who needs a pencil and pen cup when you can have an excellent specimen of each, which are essentially useful works of art on your desk? And one in your pocket? Now, my next treasure hunt will be for the perfect way to store and display them on my desk — eBay is calling to me. An antique pen stand with slots for the pen I have and the pencil I’ll be getting sounds perfect, doesn’t it? All hail eBay!

I’d like to resolve this year to buy only refills for the rollerballs and lead and erasers for the pencils and quit throwing away so much money on disposables… and quit spending so much time searching for the pen I JUST had that someone picked up and carried off — because, after all, it was just a disposable. For three years, I’ve been able to keep my purple one — even if I had to dig in my purse while in the office and even if I had to borrow a lousy one from a cashier to sign a receipt, because I’d left it on my desk. For three years I used it until I ran it out of ink over and over again (and these refills last for a LONG time). And for several months it sat unused because I couldn’t find the refills.

Now, I have a source. Now I have my second excellent pen. It’s a small thing, but to me, it matters. And it represents a simplification and a new approach to problem solving that will be reflected in several areas of my life in 2006.

I’m looking forward to the adventure!

After my harassment last year, when Wayne turned 40, I deserve a hellish birthday. I’ve earned it. You know, one of the highest hitting keyword phrases on my blog for awhile was “Mean things to say to people turning 40.”

That cracked me up. Hubby was not amused. LOL.

Well, now it’s my turn to get older, to pass into that next decade. And I can say that turning 40 isn’t the drama I’d expected. I do hope that my 40’s are spent a little less hell-bent on proving myself to me. I think that job is mostly done. It won’t be spent proving myself to others — I’m too old for that foolishness and time is too valuable.

I do have difficulty with finding the right direction sometimes… and this last week has been really hard on me in that area — especially after all the dust settled from the previous three weeks of personal/family trials and tribulations.

But things have settled down… and I think I’m starting to get a grip on what’s next. My sister says I have a genetic disposition toward having “issues” with the new year. I can laugh when she says this because she has them too. She says I set my barre too high and that I’ll never be satisfied with what I have accomplished. She tells me to look back at what I have done and compare my now to my personal best instead of my ideal.

My friends (both professional and personal) tell me the same thing. They understand my frustrations — apparently there is an epidemic of them this new year — but they say I need to relax. (more…)

Wayne and I got our sugar gliders on the same day — the day before his birthday.

His, Nimetz (aka “stinky”) is an overly active — ok, HYPERACTIVE, little thing that dashes about like his tail is on fire.

Mine, Trinity, is a doll.

She’s calmer than Nimetz, and is MUCH quieter than Sheena (aka “Noisy”). She enjoys sitting on my desk, cuddled in her pink furry hat, while I work. She occasionally explores things on the desktop, or hops on my shoulder or even climbs my hair like a mountaineer attempting Mt. Everest — arriving safely on my crown before repelling back down to my shoulders. While active, she’s not spastic and seems to have warmed up to me immediately.The larger cage has still not arrived, so we are making do with a smaller one. This means that the gliders need lots of “out of cage” time. That gets pretty exciting some nights (did I mention they are Nocturnal?)

Right now, as challenging as the rest of my life has been, I must admit that having a furry little thing crawling on me and cuddling up to me has really helped. Trinity sleeps more than the others do, but seems to have the same calming effect on her cage mates as she does on me. Wild-things that the other two are, the second they are placed beside Trinity in her little pink hat, they roll around and curl up around her and are soon asleep.

When left to their own devices, inside the cage or out, they are loud and active — but with her, they are sweet and cuddly and quiet — and STILL.

Their fur is as soft as down, they are terribly inquisitive and quite smart. They like attention — even if it’s playing “you can’t catch me.”

I didn’t want to wait for mine, I didn’t want to pay more for mine — but I did both. And, I was rewarded with a wonderful, well-tempered little girl glider.

She helps around the office, with “filing”:

Trinity likes “riding” my wireless computer mouse around and it is a little distracting when she shimmies up the shelf on my desk and lunges from my reference books, landing squarely on my head. That requires a little adjustment. And, when she’s particularly playful (like right this moment) she will chase my fingers around on the keyboard — hopping back and forth at them as I type. I guess it’s a good thing that she sleeps during the day and plays only in the evening — or I might not get much done right now.

What a little doll!

It’s a brand new year!

And… all the stuff I wanted to have organized, cleaned out, simplified, decided and completed are still staring at me — threateningly.

Januarys are tough on me. I get this urge to purge in the fall of each year, this  overpowering need to re-evaluate every single thing about my life and give it a  “checkmark” for ontrack or a complete overhaul if it’s off the mark.

This year, a whole boatload of poo hit the fan just as the first week of December was coming to an end — and the work I’d done to clear myself some scheduled time to work on preparing for the new year was suddenly taken over and then some, along with new demands on my time… and on my conscience. (more…)

Suddenly, all your good work is paying off. You have great referrals. Business is booming. You are also in demand for every school function, community project, and online organization known to man. You have arrived! Now, the next step in building your business while maintaining your sanity is simple. You only need to know one word.

(Psssst: The word is “No”.)

Right now, even family members are calling you (and having their friends call you) when they have a question about how to look something up on the Internet, a question on which software they need, or help because their computer is acting flaky.

You have arrived!

Now, the next step in building your business while maintaining your sanity is simple. You need to know one word. That word is No.

It’s not enough to just know the word, and use it in casual conversation like, “there is no way the current economy can continue to…” or “No, I think I’ll have the roast beef instead.”

You must know how to use it when you really need it. For instance:

Business requests:

You have a client who pays slow and is difficult on a regular basis. He’s a nice enough guy, but you just don’t seem to “mesh” in work style and priorities. After multiple attempts to collect, he pays. Now he calls again:

Joe (client): “You have been great with my other projects and I want to do more work with you, but I can’t afford your rates. Another VA has offered to work with me for $20 less per hour and I can get a part time person for a fraction of your fees. I’d prefer to work with you, however, so can you lower my rates?”

You: “Hi, Joe! Great to hear from you! I appreciate your loyalty and wish I could lower my rates, but I can’t.”

Joe: “I just thought it would be nice to work with you and still be able to make a living myself. So, can you reduce it by $10 per hour?”

You: “No, I really can’t. I extended you the old rate for several months past the time I raised it for everyone else. In fact, my current rate is now $XX per hour. But, I do appreciate you thinking of me. If you want a lower priced VA, I can offer you some possible resources.”

Volunteer work:

You have spent ages volunteering and building your reputation locally, even as you were building your business on the web. Now, you have a thriving business and you are so busy that making time for your family and the other aspects of your life must come to the forefront.

Sarah: “It’s that time of year again! I’m looking forward to working with you on the bake sale! Our first meeting is Monday.”

You: “Oh Sarah, it’s so sweet of you to think of me! I do wish I could help with the Orphan Home’s bake sale again this year, but I’m already committed.”

Sarah: “You MADE the bake sale last year, we can’t possibly do it without you!”

You: You flatter me, Sarah, but, no, I really can’t. You have Jane and Ellen to help you, and I’m sure this year will exceed last year’s sales! I’ll pre-order one of Claire’s cherry pies now! Let me know how things go for you.

Family calls:

You are working in your home office when your 11-year-old bursts in:

Jessica: Dad, will you look up the habitat preferences and eating habits of Badgers in the UK for me?

You: No, you can look it up yourself on the other computer (or at the library, or at school).

Jessica: But, it will only take you a second you are an expert! (*batting eyes*) And it just takes me forever, and I never get the right kind of stuff. (*small pout*) When it comes to this computer stuff, you rock! (*beaming grin*)

You: The reason I can do it quickly is because I’ve done my own research for years. No, I won’t do your research for you, but if you want to sit down with me I’ll show you how to use some advanced techniques. Then, you can get any information you want just as quickly as I can! We can do this when you get home from school tomorrow if you like.

Just because you are overextended, your clients are stacking up, your volunteer work is coming out your ears and you have finally succeeded in becoming the go-to person for everyone you have ever known, doesn’t mean you have lost control permanently.

Consider it a great accomplishment. You have done well. Now, all you need to do is look over your list of priorities and ensure that what you DO aligns with what you WANT. If you do what you love, the money follows. But you have to make room for it. One of your best financial decisions as an entrepreneur is to decide to say No.

You can do it elegantly if you offer something to support the person making the request. In the examples above, you offered resources for Joe, the purchase of a pie to Sarah, and a tutorial for Jessica.

So go forth and learn how to say no.

I’m all about the mobility, about keeping things small, about living within your means, about portability… and my family now has the ULTIMATE small, amazing, adorable pet… a sugar glider.

These little exotics are marsupials (not rodents, like flying squirrels) and are simply delightful. We bought one for my daughter for her birthday (and it was supposed to come with a second one for my OWN birthday nine days later, but the second one was sold to someone else). Now, we await the second Sugar Glider to the family — which will be a little boy glider for my husband. Wayne’s birthday is four days before my own, so my little sugar glider girl will be “on order” until I can locate a sweet little baby girl for me.

Since we adopted “Sheena” for Alex, my son Derrick has also become enamored with the little creature, and wants one of his very own.

I’m afraid we may soon be over run with the darlings, but I don’t care. Last night, we ordered a much larger cage and I’m scouring the web looking for a reasonably priced baby girl in our geographic area. I found one online source in Somerset, Kentucky — and am awaiting word on availability via email.

If you, like me, want a sweet, tiny, intelligent, delightful and portable pet — you may want to consider a sugar glider too.

Since my family already eats organic food, there’s not high cost to provide the little one pesticide-free, all organic faire for mealtime. Being omnivours, they love many varieties of foods — in particular fruit.

I’ve created a recipe that Sheena likes in our blender, and I’ll share the ingredients in an upcoming blog entry. But, for now, I think I’ll go play with the new baby — it’s evening now and she’s nocturnal — so the fun is about to begin.

Want to learn more?

Sugar Glider Books

It’s not easy to cut through the financial red tape of running a small business or your own real estate business. On January 19, with the help of a teleseminar from www.RemoteProfessionals.com, it might get just a bit easier.(Jupiter, FL – December 19, 2005) One of the most difficult aspects of running a small business is often managing the books. The financial and tax implications of the entrepreneurial and small business endeavors can be overwhelming. On January 19, 2005, a 15-year veteran bookkeeper will offer tips to help make preparations for April 15, and the rest of 2006, a little easier for small business owners. (more…)

The Treo 700w has now hit the market, one day after my post on no reviews being available. The good folks at TreoCentral have offered up a complete review with the pros and cons.

As expected, there is some tweaking yet to come to make it a dream machine — and it’s not being marketed as a Treo 650 replacement, but is rather trying to attract the Microsoft loyalists, according to the article.

The article is a whopper with a great amount of detail and particulars. I recommend it for anyone seriously considering which product to buy.

For instance, the author explains that the new Treo 700w is equipped to handle the faster Verizon connection speeds (something I really wanted to see) but sacrifices screen resolution (something I didn’t expect, but according to Ducker is a requirement of the Windows specs).To read the entire review, visit:

http://www.treocentral.com/content/Stories/735-1.htm

Happy reading and thanks to Michael Ducker of TreoCentral for the info.

I look forward to a few more reviews for my browsing, but if I had to base my own decision on this one review, I must say I’m going to wait for the next generation of Treo before replacing my 650. Since I don’t live in a major market, and can’t take advantage of the Verizon super-fast wireless broadband (with reported DSL-like speeds), all I see are first attempt drawbacks to making the change (and there are always drawbacks and bumps with a first release — so I hope many of these are worked out by the next model’s release.)

I would like to have more seamless sync with my core apps. The idea of a more easily handled version of Word and Excel is extremely exciting — and the rave review on the PDF viewer solves a major complaint I’ve had with ever Treo I’ve had — I want, I NEED a PDF viewer in a mobile device in my business.

But, the idea of a slower launch is not something I care to endure. I like my Treo because it’s QUICK to respond and let me get the info I need in a flash.

I don’t like the interface and skinless graphics options I saw displayed in the article — one of the sweetest things about the way my hubby’s new Christmas IPOD Video is how easy it is to use with one hand, and how well the interface works while it looks good too. That’s not the case with the Treo. I do like the improvements on the notepad option. I’d prefer a OneNote version for the Treo — THAT would be really sweet.

What do I want? I want improvements in all areas. I want a quick-booting, thinner and sexier Treo with high quality skins and improved graphics (not lower definition ones). I want a higher quality camera with more than the 1.3 megapixels of the 650 and the 700 w even thought the 700 offers larger photos). I want video now (not later, as is promised on the 700). I have that now on my Treo 650 — and I’m not willing to give it up.

I want an included bluetooth headset that has mic and works to keep my music and movies sounding good when I’m not on a call. And I want excellent 5-way navigation integration — I use my Treo with one hand as much as possible — and I’d like to do it more.

The promise of this new machine is exciting — but I still want more, and I’ll probably wait for the next version to see what gets ironed out.

Now, this is from a single, although rather extensive, review. But, it did answer many of the questions I had about what would improve and what would remain the same. I didn’t expect any backslide — that caught me off guard.