Thursday, March 25, 2010

Do you ever consider how much information you put online about your kids, yourself, your friends and your job?

I've put a great deal of thought into information on posts and social networks lately. Especially when someone I social network with commented on my "ad nauseam" postings about my toddler.

She wasn't being offensive, and I wasn't offended.

It is true.

I post A LOT of stuff about my daughter--especially on Facebook--so that my parents can feel active in her life.

But is it safe?

I think because we are forced to accept 'friends' on Facebook before they can see our posts, it leads us to some false sense of security. I post information and pictures about my daughter on Facebook that I would never post here...because it's more secure.

Right?

You may have already heard, but a Kentucky woman reported that a Facebook 'friend' broke into her house after posting she was going out for the evening.

NewsAndTribune.com reports,"Keri McMullen...said she posted a message on the popular social networking Web site stating that she and her fiancee would be watching a band play at Louisville’s Phoenix Hill Tavern."

She reports that she and her sister both connected with the thief, someone they knew from their past, about six months ago.

“I haven’t seen him in over 20 years,” McMullen
said. “He grew up across the street from us, so I wouldn’t have recognized him. I never would have put two and two together.”

I can't say I'm surprised. It was only a matter of time, and has probably happened more than has been reported.

I think about the security and privacy issue often when I see friends post about their vacation plans or related information online.

I'm guilty of it, too.

There's another Social Networking tool called "Foursquare" that lists TMI (IMHO).

The Foursquare concept is interesting--it allows you to share your real-time location through your cellphone in order to meet up with others, earn points, and, in some cases, discounts, products and services.

And when I say it shares your info, I mean IT.SHARES.YOUR.INFO.

For example, if I check in on Foursquare at a McDonald's, it lists, "Jackie has just checked in at McDonald's, XXX Main Street" and provides a map. The posts can be linked to Twitter and Facebook.

That's a lot of information to put out there in the deep and wide Web world.

Look, I'm not a big, "OOOH! Don't list anything online because the big bad social networking boogeyman is going to get you!" But, I do believe in being safe or, at least safer.

A recent New York Times article discussed online privacy, or lack of, in an unsettling article called "How Privacy Vanishes Online.

“Technology has rendered the conventional definition of personally identifiable information obsolete,” said Maneesha Mithal, associate director of the Federal Trade Commission’s privacy division. “You can find out who an individual is without it.”

So, what can we do? If people are going to find out who we are anyway, no matter what we post on social networks, what should we do?

Just be a little more careful.
It's that simple.

Need help? Check out some of these posts:

• All Facebook: 5 Privacy Tips You Need To Know Now
• Inside Facebook: How to Protect Your Privacy with Facebook’s New Privacy Settings in 17 Easy Steps
• Social CPR Blog: How to stay safe and still enjoy Foursquare
• Reputation Defender: Are Location-Based Social Networking Sites Like Foursquare Safe?

Well, I need to jump off. I'm going out tonight. The key is under the mat, right next to the file marked "LOGINS AND PASSWORDS."

I've blogged before about business signs (or building signs, or signs in people's front yards). Mostly, I've blogged about the misspellings on signs. This time, let's concentrate on the craziness of signs in general, shall we?

Businesses are a great place to start for some fun making. I mean, you have to wonder what some people are thinking? Obviously, malfunctions in signs can give off the wrong information. VERY WRONG INFORMATION. Take this clinic sign for example.

This was on one side of the building.

This was on the other (malfunctioning) side of the building.

Do you think the clinic is wondering why they're getting a sudden influx of people talking about issues with their bowel movements? Hm.

But (heh heh, transition pun intended) sometimes well-intended business signs can backfire. I mean, REALLY, this happens so often that this store had to make a sign for it?!?

Has this EVER happened to you?!? (That's what I thought...) This might be saying more about their merchandise than they think.

One of my all time business sign favs is this little gem we found during our beach vaca this year:

SIGN: Government Hotel, Bailout Denied, Stay Here Cus We Need the Money

(It must be working - I see there was no vacancy.)

Sometimes, signs are just about placement and wording. When we lived on the East Coast, a popular fast food chicken chain posted "Dark Family Meal $4.99" on their sign. It stayed up there for one afternoon before it was reworded. *duh*

So, wording placement is key to getting across what you mean. For example? I really don't care how cheap Porta Potty water is, I'm still not drinking it.

Sometimes it's just fun to create your own sign placement so that you can blog about it later (heh heh). (Wonder what kind of fish "baby bait" catches?!?)

Speaking of using your baby for fun and games (until someone puts an eye out...):

When you're dealing with baby stuff, you find some pretty interesting signs and labels. Many leave you scratching your head in the "HUH?!? WHAT THE...?!?" kinda way. Recently, I found this choking hazard on a solid piece about the size of a large, tall thermos. NO ATTACHMENTS. NO PARTS.

Now, if my baby can get this down her throat, I would expect some kind of choking. (Well, perhaps not even choking, just sudden asphyxiation and then death. Or, at the very least, a large, goiter-like protrusion the rest of her life.)

But thanks for warning me about THAT hazard...

This caution sign found on one of those storage tubs really bummed me out.

APPARENTLY you can't put your baby in one of those big, plastic storage tubs. Imagine my disappointment when this information ruined a Friday night out on the town for me. I also had to rethink packing for vacation.

Sometimes even smart people have stupid signs. For instance, this bumper sticker is on the back of a SAAB *ahem*:

Don't worry. You'll get it later...

Lastly? I leave you with this sign that can be found in my home office:

'Nuf said.

So, what's your sign?

Dear Guy Sitting at the Table Behind Me:

I'm sorry I keep unplugging your computer from the outlet right by my a**. Sucks to be you. Get here earlier next time for prime seating.

Signed,
Big A** Means No Electricity for You

__________

Dear Overdressed Woman:

A black mini skirt, black tights, red fold-down suede spike-heeled boots and outfit accessorized with a red scarf and matching red flower in your hair might be wee overkill for a day of working remotely in Panera.

I'm just sayin'.
Signed,
Girl in the Hoodie
__________
Dear Public Online Video Chatter:

DUDE! Take it to your house.

Signed,
Thank Goodness It Didn't Involve Nudity

__________

Dear Military-Jet-FlyBoys:

Thank you for making my day. Please feel free to come in whenever I'm here.

Signed,
Needed a Distraction from Writing About HIPAA

PUBLISHED: Wednesday, January 28, 2009, The Voice News

Creative entrepreneurs secure online customer base
Business owners work right at home

By Jeri Packer
Voice Staff Writer

As the World Wide Web continues to address consumer needs, a new window of opportunity has opened up for entrepreneurs - online businesses.

In this economy, where many conventional stores are being forced to close their doors, business owners are coming up with creative alternatives to connect with potential customers. Laurie Riehl of Algonac found a way to reach her clientele six years ago when she began an online jewelry-maker's supply store called FineDings.com.

"I'm not sure how it exploded like it did," she said, "but it's ballooned beyond my wildest dreams."
To get started, she tracked eBay sales for 20 different product items - paying attention to who was selling what and what was selling, she said. She also researched sources for inventory and made a spreadsheet to record her findings.

She started small, to keep her losses to a minimum, in case the business went belly up.
"I started out with $200 cash and eight inventory items," she said. "I thought, 'what the heck. If I end up losing the money, it's only $200.'"

Her gamble paid off.

"Everything sold, so I turned it around and added another product and slowly started growing," she said. "I had 700 customers in the first year on eBay and it's definitely growing."

She now has 4,700 mailing customers and has gone from eight to 2,100 inventory items, opening an online store through Yahoo.

Riehl advised any future online entrepreneurs to sell a product versus a service.

"More than likely, they'll have a better start," she said. "With products, customers can compare apples to apples. With service, nobody knows the quality of your work."

Riehl also said people need to be patient and keep expenses to a minimum at first, unlike a friend of hers whose business didn't make it.

"I had a friend selling gourmet salts," she said. "She did the whole thing - the logo, a business banking account - all right away. Don't do it."

Bookstore goes online

Jackie Wilson checks her online book and women's boutique businesses on her home computer.
Courtesy Photo

The small mom and pop stores seem to get hit the hardest when the economy takes a dive. Todd and Jackie Wilson closed their downtown Marine City bookstore, The Book Blues, after more than two years in the community and reopened the business online only - well, almost online only.

"We still want to maintain a community focus," Jackie Wilson said. "We plan to continue sponsoring book-signing events as well as offering free classes on topics including marketing small businesses and building Web sites. There's a huge audience for it, especially in this economy."

Wilson is no stranger to online sales, which made it easy for the East China Township couple to transition the bookstore online. For the last six years, she has operated an Internet business selling a rather unique specialty item centered on a sentimental theme.

"I have a trendy women's T-shirt boutique based on lips or a kiss," she said.

The idea started out one Christmas when she made gifts for her family, using her lips for the creative design. It was such a hit that her husband encouraged her to market the item - hence the birth of the Explosive Kiss Web store.

Wilson said there are businesses, called fulfillment companies, already in place that provide all the services needed to run an online store.

"They take care of everything," she said. "They set up the online store. They warehouse your items so you don't have to rent a warehouse, and take care of credit cards payments, even detecting fraudulent cards. It runs itself."

That frees Wilson to do what she loves best.

"I do the creative, artsy stuff," she said. "I create the product designs and the Web site that I link to the store."

Besides the lagging economy, there was another reason the owners decided to change the way they were doing business - daughter, Ella, who celebrates her first birthday next month.

"With a new baby, it made more sense for our family to close the physical retail storefront completely and go online only," she said.

Wilson also has a background in corporate education and operates a consulting business. She has some practical advice for future online entrepreneurs that began with - of all things - education.

"The biggest thing I can recommend is do the research for the industry," she said. "Great ideas are nothing if you didn't understand the business aspect. It's just not going to work out. Take a basic business class. It all might seem boring, but you have to go through all the boring stuff first. And it comes in handy later when the creative ideas run out."

Contact Jeri Packer at (586) 716-8100, ext. 302 or jeri.packer@voicenews.com.

Word of the Day for Monday, February 2, 2009
chaff \chaf\, noun, verb:
1. the stiff strawlike part of grains such as wheat, oats, rye
2. to make good-natured fun of someone
3. worthless material; detritus


Dear AT&T:
Thank you for automatically debiting over $300 from my account after I terminated services on that phone number and closed the account in November 2008. Equally thanking you for admitting the ERROR; however, CREDITING the account within the next 6-8 weeks instead of immediately cutting a check or putting the money BACK into our account really isn't a resolution on a CANCELLED ACCOUNT.

You're welcome for the interest-free loan.

Thank you, too, for sending me an email bill this morning. AGAIN.

WE.CANCELLED.THAT.ACCOUNT.THREE. MONTHS. AGO.

Signed,
A Former AT&T Customer for a Reason

__________

Dear Comcast:

We recently upgraded our services for more money. We greatly appreciate that once we upgraded you (for some reason) cancelled our automatic monthly payment system without our knowledge.

Imagine my surprise when I got up this morning to do email support for my college students and had no Internet access. We appreciate that you put our account on hold instead of just TAKING OUT THE MONEY THAT YOU ALREADY HAD ACCESS TO WITH OUR PRE-APPROVED PREPAID AUTO DEBIT PLAN. It's always fun working with you over customer support for something that should've been a non-issue anyway.

Thanks again for all the love.

Signed,
Looking for the Candid Camera in My Life Today

__________

Dear Small Business Person:
Before opening your small business, you may want to understand HOW to open a business and WHAT you need to do to open a business. It's really simple to find the information you need in this day and age -- it's called THE INTERNET.
(Try it sometime, you'll like it).

Thank you and GOOD LUCK.

Signed,
Having a Hard Enough Time Running Her Own Businesses, Let Alone Yours, Too

__________

Dear Wilson Dogs:
If you want to go outside and lick up all the salt ice melt, please vomit while you're outside instead of waiting for the inside of the house.

Signed,
Had It Up to HERE with Animals

__________


Dear Jackie:
If you are going to put a gift certificate you received for Christmas "away so for safekeeping", you might want to remember where that safe place is.

Sincerely,
Your Dumb*ss Alter Ego

__________
Addendum to the day
Dear Book Vendor:
Please explain to me why, after changing my address with you and receiving MULTIPLE shipments, this week is the week that you've decided to start using my old business address, resulting in returned customer shipments?

Signed,
Un-effing-believable

Struggling bookstore makes plea to patrons
Marine City's Book Blues faces closure

By NICOLE GERRING, Times Herald

MARINE CITY- For a year and a half, the cozy bookstore on the corner of Water and Broadway streets has been a haven for young moms, retirees, teenagers and other community members.
Now, like many locally owned shops, the Book Blues is feeling the pinch of Michigan's struggling economy.

Earlier this month, Book Blues owners Jackie and Todd Wilson sent an e-mail to loyal customers with some bad news. If business doesn't improve by late January, the popular bookstore will close.
The Wilsons are turning to their loyal customers for survival and have launched a campaign called "Save the Book Blues: Shop locally or there will be no local shops."

Although Jackie, a former college instructor and marketing manager, acknowledges it was an unorthodox move to make the store's status so public, she said she wanted to inform her regular customers of the precarious situation.

"The people who have supported us deserve to know instead of what many businesses do, which is packing up in the middle of the night without an explanation," she said. "Now's the time to show your love or we won't be here."

The Wilsons prize themselves on their connections with customers and on the store's inviting atmosphere. The store, which sells used and new books, offers free coffee to customers and features comfortable chairs and couches where people can rest their feet while turning pages. A children's area includes small chairs, bean bags and plush toys and allows young customers to scope out books filed away in a cubby.

Kim Mucciante of St. Clair dropped by the store Thursday morning looking for the latest Harry Potter novel.

"(My kids) love the children's section," she said. "It's really cozy in here. This is a nice cultural thing. It's more cultural than what we usually have around here. It's a great bookstore."

Mucciante was surprised the store may have to close its doors. The "nice personal touch" makes the Book Blues stand out from big box retailers such as Barnes & Noble Booksellers, she said.

"There's nothing here like this," she told Jackie. "I hope you stay."

The Wilsons, who on a whim moved to Marine City from northern Virginia a few years ago, don't want to close. Before a lull arrived this fall, the store was doing pretty well, Jackie said.

The business usually brings in only a little more than what it spends, so even a short slow spell can have a large impact, she said.

"It can change overnight for a small business," she said. "We run pretty close to what we make."

Recently, the family has had to subsidize the business with their own money.

Todd Wilson works full time as a sales director for a home entertainment company. Jackie, who manages the store, never has paid herself a salary.

As the couple prepares to have their first baby in March, they can't continue running a slow business, she said.

"How the community reacts and continues to support us could really save us," she said.

Contact Nicole Gerring at (810) 989-6270 or ngerring@gannett.com.
Originally published December 22, 2007

From the Shelbyville News, September 21, 2005

Triton Central graduate stays busy with T-shirt company, writing books
By STEVE TALBERT NEWS correspondent

Embracing the basic business strategy of “find a need and fill it,” Jacqueline (Williams) Wilson launched a unique line of trendy-yet-affordable T-shirts for women when she couldn’t find what she was looking for in department stores.

“Up until a few years ago, I spent anywhere from 50 to 80 hours a week dressed in business suits or proper business attire,” Wilson said. “Although I always liked to dress trendy, I soon found that my wardrobe contained fewer and fewer jeans and even fewer casual shirts.”

When Wilson, a 1987 Triton Central High School graduate, started working at home, she began looking for fashionable-yet-comfortable clothes to wear around the house and out with friends. “I soon found that I was disappointed at many of the casual shirts on the market. Too boxy or manly or unoriginal or expensive,” Wilson said.

“When shopping at a department store, I was amazed at the price of some of the T-shirts.”

Inspired by the idea of creating her own shirts, the former Fairland resident found a California-based company to print the T-shirts and to take care of the e-store part.

“My T-biz came about the same way that everything does for me,” she said. “It just starts as a thought, and the next thing I know, I’m doing it!”

Called “Explosive Kiss,” Wilson’s original T-shirt line features large lips and cute sayings, including the popular “Kiss the Bride,” “Kiss the Bridesmaid” and “Kiss the Boys and Make Them Cry.”

Advertisements for the former Fairland resident’s apparel have appeared in US Magazine and Elegant Bride magazine. Her exclusive items are available at authorized specialty boutiques and online at www.explosivekiss.com.

Wilson, 36, designed her Web site and all of her products. “I make the artwork,” she said. “I come up with the ideas, and then make the sayings and art.” The shirts incorporate an imaging process that Wilson calls “artography,” the melding of art and photography.

“Sometimes images are digitally manipulated,” Wilson said, “and sometimes they are physically manipulated to capture a unique perspective.”

Wanting something unique and catchy, Wilson created artsy images of her own lips.

“I made a print of my lips with an ‘exploding’ background a la ‘Explosive Kiss,’” Wilson said. “I’ll be expanding beyond kiss-themed stuff someday.”

Wilson’s passion for design stems from a lifelong love of photography.

“My experience came from playing with my father’s old 35 mm camera ... and then later a Polaroid camera,” she said.

“My photographs and artography are representative of moods and situations that capture my attention.”

Since its launch in 2004, “Explosive Kiss” has garnered attention from both buyers and sellers.

“I get lots of e-mails from people who love my stuff,” she said, “and I have a huge amount of interest from boutiques who want to be re-sellers. Right now, I’m in the conundrum of deciding whether I want to be a retailer or a re-seller solely.

Deeply moved by the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, Wilson is creating a non-kiss-related category of T-shirts and cards. At least through 2005, 50 percent of the profits will be donated to the Red Cross, Convoy of Hope and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for relief efforts.

“That covers things that are near and dear to my heart: helping people, New Orleans and animals,” she said.

A registered health-information administrator, Wilson is a freelance writer and consultant in the health-care arena. She also has taught medical-specialty college courses — including medical terminology and anatomy, standards in health care, technology in health care, fundamentals of health-information systems, curriculum development and clinical-documentation standards — in classrooms and via the Internet.

The author of several unpublished children’s books, Wilson recently finished “The Quarter,” a mystery novel that is set in New Orleans. “‘The Quarter’s’ main character is Tory Rockton — a psychologist living in the Washington, D.C., area,” Wilson said.

“Tory’s affluent life is turned upside-down with the sudden and inexplicable death of her relatively healthy mother. A box of unusual family clues takes Tory on a journey of twists and turns through New Orleans voodoo country — including plantations, bars, cemeteries and hospitals — in search of answers.”

Incorporating fact into her fiction, Wilson is rewriting the book epilogue to include Hurricane Katrina.

“The Payer,” Wilson’s second novel in a planned New Orleans mystery series, also reflects the Katrina Hurricane damage and devastation. Soon, Wilson will post excerpts from both books at www.JacquelineWilson.info.

Wilson has never lived in New Orleans, but she has been a frequent visitor. “I’m fascinated by New Orleans and its mix of extremes — from Catholicism to voodoo, from extremely wealthy to extremely poverty-stricken, from the highly educated and cultured to uneducated and the mix of English, French, Cajun and Creole languages and cultures,” she said.

“People have always fascinated me, and I love to see interaction of people with different backgrounds and viewpoints.”

Wilson is currently working on a large-scale philanthropic program, called Project KISS, to help women in unfortunate circumstances.

Project KISS evolved because it was a given that my company would be involved in some humanitarian effort,” she said. “I always have been involved ... have always volunteered.

Still in the developmental stages, Wilson’s Web site will include valuable information and links to free resources, including suicide hotlines and abuse help. She even hopes to provide, through donations, free business outfits suitable for interviews.

The former Fairland resident received a Bachelor of Science degree from Indiana University School of Medicine, School of Allied Health, in Indianapolis in 1992. Wilson recently received the 2005 Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers® award to honor her commitment to students and teaching in the medical field. She and her husband, Todd Wilson, a sales director for Epson’s home division, reside in the Southeastern Blue Water Region of Michigan. Her older brother, Jeff Williams, lives in Fountaintown. Their parents, Ken and Linda Williams, still live in Fairland.