I do realize that my blog has been a little quiet for some time – i apologise for that. Kinetic Gal has taken on some new responsibilities and the festive season has been one of catching up with friends and family for me. As Kinetic Gal, I dedicate a lot of my time to my performing… because i love magic and i love children. You can imagine hence, that every one of my weekends are filled to the brim with parties and more birthday parties… Little time is actually left for my family and friends. Thankfully i have a supportive family and the best friends who can bolster me as i go along! So this Christmas, i made the conscious choice of dedicating my time to my family and friends. But even before that i of course, still have my Christmas events and parties to perform at.

One of the few events that i was at was the Winter Wonderland events at the neighbourhood malls. I had the great fun of meeting Cruz Teng (ok, used to be one of my favourite deejays until i stopped listening to radio all together) but i was unfortunately not feeling well. The other one was at Woodlands and it was hosted by Desmond Koh.

Jen, one of the parents whom i hosted the birthday party for also sent me some pictures that she took during the party.

This was one of the most elaborate Princess parties that i hosted! Thanks Jen for the pictures!

And now, on to Christmas. Me being me, i had to give a shot at what i usually do to spice up my own family Christmas gathering… As i have talked about in many of my past posts, cupcakes are all the rage right now, and i thought why not join in the fun and have a cupcake tier for the christmas instead of the normal logcake… That was before i got to understand that two of my relatives had ordered logcakes for the gathering. OOppps.

So, we switched the cakes for party favours!

Tadah!

So the tier became a centrepiece for the party and our de-facto christmas tree for this year. How does it look? Technically you can do this for your birthday party too! Just switch out the christmas tree on top and have some birthday wordings on the tiers instead.

And of course, we couldn’t do without some decorations. And what other simpler (for me) decorations then balloons?

My favourite Christmas balloon – cartoon Santa!

Rudolf at the corner. If you noticed, the gold balloons are actually filled with water. This is an easy way for keeping your balloons from flying off everywhere!

Mickey!

Again one of the easiest way of decorating with balloons…

I had a couple more other sculptures sitting around – hearts with flowers, flower stands and such but didn’t take anymore of those photos.

Anyway this was for my own family gathering more than a party so i did some simple and basic balloons just for the festive cheer. Well you can do the same for birthday parties too!

Kinetic Gal wishes everyone a happy new year in advance!

In Part One of this series I discussed a technique for the OFFLINE matching of a booby skin to the skin it will be next to. Assuming you’ve done that, and gotten the very closest match possible, the next step is apply the skin to the breasts themselves.

UPDATE: Following the publication of this post, I was informed that there is a way to also apply a new skin using the Developer’s Kit that comes with your Implant Nation purchase. Jennifer Vultee supplied this information. It works and its much faster then the method I describe below. Even if you do not choose to use the technique I describe, it is still a good thing to know how your implants are put together. Jennifer’s method can be found here.

Doing this requires a comfort level in editing a prim object with several layers. It’s not hard, but it can seem a little scary the first time. So do yourself a very big favor. Make a copy of boobs as you have them NOW and store them in a folder in case of a disaster. Make another copy and put it a folder where you can find it for your work.

Upload the skin texture you modified (see part one) to SL the normal way. I like to use PNG versions of these files, but some people say that JPGs are safer. Your choice, I guess. So you don’t go crazy, I would put this file into the same folder as your working copy of your boobies. Or in another folder. But somewhere you’ll be able to find it fast.

Now to the fun. You have to get thru two layers – the tank top layer and the bra layer – on the boobies to get to the actual skin layers. Doing that requires you to MOVE these layers out of the way.

Before you begin, go to World, and set the Environment to Midday…that’s a great light to see what you’re doing.

Here is how the boobies will look when you first click on them to edit them (note: I have deliberately used a skin that does not match so you can see the difference as we go along):

Notice how complicated they really are.

Next, click the box in the editing menu that says “Edit Linked Parts” and then click the boobies…try just above the nipples. You should get a view that looks like this:

Two things to notice: a single blue outline around your boobies. This is the tank top layer. BUT to be absolutely sure, click on the General tab, the description should say: UIProtoNoNipples. That is for sure the bra layer. Now the scary part…we’re going to move it out of the way.

For safety and sanity, move the layer up or down ONLY. Like this:

Next comes the bra layer. Unlike the tank, which is a single layer, your bra is actually TWO layers, one on each breast. You have to move both.

While still in Edit Linked parts, click on one of the breasts. It should look like this and note that in General Tab it says Bra Layer.

If all looks correct move it…I prefer to move it UP and away from the tank layer for easy reclicking and moving later. It should now look like this:

Don’t worry about the tank layer, which you can’t see right now…it is there. Move the OTHER bra layer of the way now.

You are now at the skin layer. Like the Bra layer, the skin textures are seperate and on each boob. Select one so it looks like this and verify in General that it says, appropriately enough: Boob Right (or Left, depending).

Click the texture tab and you will see a small image of the boob skin in the left box. Click that box so it looks like this:

Navigate the texture inventory folders to the one that contains your new skin. (Full disclosure: The skin you see here is one I corrected specifically for my avi. The one made available in the first part of this series has not been touched in anyway)

Select that skin and PRESTO, new skin applied:

Now, if you were really, really good when you did your color matching OFFLINE in your photo editor, you’re done. But it’s likely you’ll need to do a bit more in the SL editor. If you do need to tweak, use the sliders and pickers. Once you have what you want, note down all of the numbers in the color tool…i.e, the numbers for the red, green, blue, hue, sat, and lum. You’ll use these same numbers to color correct the OTHER boob.

Do the other boob now, put in those numbers if need be, and you should have two perfectly matched ones.

Now we move the bra layers and tank layers back. Move the bra layer FIRST, Both of them. you’ll now they are about correct when the blue outline around each looks this way:

Finally move the Tank Layer back so it looks like this, and note the “air” around the perimeter:

Final cleanup work: Check that the tank is fitted right. If not, edit the boobies, edit linked parts and move it until it’s correct. Same with the bra. But remember: you need to move the tank out of the way first. Quick tip: leave the tank showing when you go to edit and move it…it’s much easier to do. Same with the bra…use the Hud to show the bra, THEN do the editing.

The last word: Is getting an absolute, dead-on match is it possible? I suppose if you are far more skilled with a photoeditor then me, it is possible. But keep in mind that skin shading on an avatar is tricky and it’s not easy to get the shadows, especially under the arms, just dead on. But you can get very close. And with a good photo editor and patience with the SL tools, which are quite good you can get a far better look then with the HUD…and that’s not meant as disrespect to Bart Seymour, who created these wonder products and has been amazingly generous.

Good Luck and I hope this helps.

PS: at some point I’ll move on to even more tricks with booby skins.
PPS: As mentioned in my update, I’ve received information about other techniques for applying skins. I welcome this information.
PPPS: I know there are peeps who will do skin matching for you. Some for free, some paid. Drop me a line if you have further information!

In the first post in this series I described the basic structure of your boobies with an emphasis on getting you to the tanktop layer. I did this because I assume that most readers would be interested in how to make their OWN tops and then apply them.

I want to be extremely clear about several things before going further.

First, these instructions are meant for folks with intermediate skills in graphics editing programs and object editing in second life. These are NOT for total beginners and I’m in no position to teach these skills.

Second, the whole issue of copyright is for another discussion, but suffice it to say you have “fair use” of anything YOU make from scratch.

You do NOT have fair use to take someone else’s design, copying it and SELLING it. It’s a little vaguer when it comes to giving stuff away, but I would advise NOT doing that either. Keep your creation for yourself and stay out of that whole mess.

I want it SUPER CLEAR that I make NOTHING out of anything I don’t own or make and I DO NOT ever sell anything. Here is a a pretty good article on on Copyright and the DMCA.

And finally: to the professional clothing makers out there. I KNOW there are many, many ways to make tops. This is my way. I will be very pleased to publish your tips because I do not claim, in anyway to know all the possible options. I use this technique because it works for me. Share yours.

If you read first post in this series you are now able to identify the TANKTOP layer of your boobies.

The first step, before you do this, is to have a “standard” top of some kind that you’ll wear under the boobies. I made this one for the purposes of this tutorial:

The top you’ll make for this is fairly simple because there is, basically, only a whole for your neck and the texture uses a HORIZONTAL pattern. Vertical patterns can be very tricky. And I’ll show you why now.

Your boobies are rounded, sculpted prims. They curve dramatically and that has a huge impact on what they do to a clothing texture.

To demonstrate, I’ve made an alignment grid. You may use this freely. Here is how it looks in a photo editor:

The two small circles are where my nipples center up. The larger circles are my “safe area” where I know the nipples won’t show in an outfit.

Now here is how this grid looks when uploaded to SL and added to the TankTop Layer:

You can see how pronounced the stretching really is.

Now, to demonstrate further, I’m going to skip ahead and bring in the top I made. Again, I will show you how in detail this was done, but I want you to see what the effect of all that stretching really is.

Here is the tank top file, with alignments showing, as it appears as an image:

And now here it is as a top:

Look at the way the lines bend from the side…and notice, most particularly, how few of the grid lines actually SHOW when the texture is put on the boobies.

Pretty interesting how the lines bend, isn’t it? Where these lines show up has a major impact on your clothing textures. I use them all the time before uploading a final image. When we get to actually making a top, you’ll see very clearly how valuable having grid alignment is.

For now, here is the final version

You may use both the shirt texture and the top texture freely. They are below. You may also copy and distribute them to friends. Please do NOT sell them. These are for us.

Booby Top to match:

Next Time: Creating a top from scratch

This is clearly one of the biggest and most difficult issues we girls have with our IN wonders. I know that some have had good luck with the HUD tool, but it never really did the job for me.

There is a solution, but before you read on, you need to have two important skills:

1. A good photo editor. Photoshop and the like are ideal, but you can use GiMP, which is a FREE Photoshop clone.

2. You have to be comfortable working on the boobies using Edit Linked Parts.

Let’s get the ball rolling

You are going to create a perfect skin match OFFLINE and then upload it to SL. Grab and copy this picture. It’s provided free by Bart Seymour, creator of the IN Boobies:

Next step, get a very very good clear pic of your chest using midday light in SL. You’re going to need this picture OFFLINE to do the next things:

1. Open the booby skin and the one of your chest in your photo editor
2. Darken or lighten the booby skin using the photo editor tools. Take you time…But it’s not likely you’ll need to do more then darken or lighten…if you must adjust the colors, then do so.
3. Save the file as a PNG file. Then upload it to SL the normal way.

Next: Applying the new skin to your Boobies

This post is the first in a series that is intended to get you to the point where you can create and add your own tops to your boobies.

This tutorial about the Implant Nation boobs so I will apologize in advance that this tutorial doesn’t discuss other brands.

It has two goals:

1. To show you the basic structure of your boobies, with emphasis on the layer that contains your tank top.
2. To show you how to isolate the tank top layer.

Most of us who have bought good quality products from our marvelous vendors apply our tops with an application that the vendors include in the purchase. This is a great value-add and not to be minimized.

BUT you can also add your own top to your boobies manually. And if you want to create your own, you’ll need to know how. This is about manually adding your top.

Before we go any further, let’s look at the basic knockers:

Now, as you have no doubt discovered, the boobies are an attachment. They are composed of a number of parts. Let’s Edit them …(If you click the pic you’ll see this in a much larger image…)

Notice that in the texture box, it says “multiple”…that’s because there are a number of textures associated with the boobies, including the most important: the tank top layer, bra layer and skin layers…

Today, we’ll only look at the top tanktop layer, because that is the one that you’ll mostly work with if you want to add your own texture or color them (you can always color a tank in the IN HUD, but I like the SL tools better…your choice)

Now, before we even TOUCH the boobies, make sure you are working with a copy you can afford to trash. We’re gonna move stuff around.
To make this easy to see, go to your HUD and put on a tanktop.
Next select the boobies and do the Edit thing in the pie menu.
Now, check the box that says Edit Linked Parts and click on the the boobies so that you have only the top layer, the tank top layer, highlighted:

You can verify that you have the correct layer selected by hitting the General Tab in the editing box…It should say you are working on the UIProtoNoNipples.

Now, for this tutorial I selected a texture I had made for the boobies and placed it in the layer.

I know that some of you are saying: I want to make my own tops and do this too! Well you can. Bart has thoughtfully provided all the templates for the tops here:

http://implantnation.biz/downloads/

You’ll find them in the Basicclothing.zip file

They are a little difficult to work with as is, so I’ve made a set of them for you all that may be a little easier to work with in Photoshop or your graphics editing program: Cindy’s Mods of Bart’s Basic Clothing Templates Hopefully this file, which is about 5 Mb will download for ya!

Sadly, you do need to have a grapics editor to make tops, just as you do for nice clothing elsewhere in SL. But if you are familiar with graphics programs you’ll have a great time!

Next time: Creating, uploading and adding a new top to your outfit.

Whether you are pre-planning a funeral or planning after a death in the family has occurred, this is information you will need to provide for a death certificate. If you don’t have easy access this information, the process will be much more stressful. It’s better to pre-plan and pull the facts together before you need it!

Legal Name: first, middle, last

A.K.A.: other names the person was also known as

Sex: male or female

Date of Birth: month, day, and year

Birthplace: city, state, and country of birth

Date of Death: month, day, year, and time

Place of Death: name and type of place, such as a hospital, nursing home, etc.

Race: White, Black, Native American (and tribe), Hispanic (from where), etc.

Citizenship: citizen of what country

Social Security Number: an especially important piece of information

Marital Status: married, never married, widowed, divorced

Spouse: if spouse is the wife, her maiden or birth name, and date of birth

Residence: last address where the deceased resided, including county and state

Father and Mother: provide the maiden or birth name for the mother

Usual Occupation: the kind of work, business, or industry of the deceased

Armed Forces Service: yes or no

Veterans Information: Social Security or serial number, wars fought, branch of service, highest rank, enlistment and discharge date/location, disability and pension information, discharge papers

Attending Physician: name and contact information

Disposition: burial, cremation, donation, entombment, removal from state (distant burial)

Cemetery or Crematory: if such services have already been selected

Plot Location: again, if already selected

Other information provided by others that may appear on the death certificate include:

Manner of Death: natural, accident, homicide, suicide, undetermined, pending investigation

Cause of Death: such as diseases, injuries or complications that directly caused the death

Contributing Factors: other significant conditions related to the death, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and/or other diseases or conditions

In addition, for funeral services, Muslims or Jews may need to provide the person’s name in Arabic or Hebrew, as well as the translated names of their parents. It’s better to find this out while the person is still alive to tell you!

I use these sites daily as my part of staying informed and to help me see the “BIG PICTURE”

NEIL BOORTZ

MICHAEL SAVAGE

RUSH LIMBAUGH

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage.”

This quote is from Alexander Tyler talking about the fall of the Athenian Republic over a hundred years ago.

I believe that only certain people should have the right to vote,and there should be some kind of a test to see if your smart enough to vote. As i see it the requirements for voting should be

1.  A property owner

2.  Not on any government aid

3.  A citizen by birth or naturalization.

4.  Be able to prove who you are.

5.  Be without a felony conviction

6.  Pass a simple test, A few questions on who hold what office, Random questions on the Constitution, and other things a informed voter should know .

In writing this I know that under these rules i would not be able to vote, But people that fit these requirements would vote for whats good for the country and not whats good for themselves.  Who knows we as a country might last a little longer.

Everyday more and more people cross our borders that shouldn’t be here and we just sit back and let it happen, then when a group gets together and wants to help patrol our borders they are called vigilantes. When in fact we should have offered to help them and tell them thank you.  I know this is the so called MELTING POT but its time to stop adding to it, the pot is about to over flow. If they don’t belong here get them out of here,  and put a limit on who can get in.  If they want in they would have to put up and bond equal to what it would cost to send them back home if they became a drain on the system. Some say the Mexican’s will do the work the American’s won’t do anymore, Get rid of the Mexican and tell the man living  on extended unemployment benefits, food stamps, and whatever else he can get, Here’s a job do it or lose everything. I think he might work then. And don’t tell me we can’t control the border. Big Brother has too many high tech toys not to be able to watch the border. They could use the aviation branches of the military to patrol the border, use it a training program “see who can find the most border jumpers on a mission”.

I have a few ideas on what we should do with the kids of today. First of all make them work harder for their grades more time in schooland set up prograns for at risks kids and if the program doesn’t cut off funding and start a new one and keep doing it till you find one that works . Make our kids smarter. Allow voucher programs easier to get and use. My kids go to a private school and it cost less for them to go there than to a public school. Then when they graduate all 18 year old male, female wheelchair bound person would have to join a group that is like a cross between the job corps and the military. They would be trained on non-violent crowd control, be used to fill sand bags in a flood area, fix up the homes of low income families, help feed people in their hometown or go half way around the world to help build a fresh water plant.  Instead of sending  a country a check to help them out send these people and you have more control over how the money is being spent. If a natural disaster happens you have a mass fo trained people that could go and do some real help. As far as the military training no weapons or hand to hand combat. Teach then to march and respect a chain of command and to function as a team. Give them a chance to learn life skills and have a chance to figure out what they want to do with their life and have training programs set up to help them get a head start on what they want to be.  Everyone would do a 2 year duty. they’d receive pay for their work and be housed and feed by the program. Everything they would need to survive and medical would be taken care of.  When they get out there would be certain benefits for them  like special student loans and other programs to help get them on their way.

Hi, Welcome to the everyday happy site… from this  day onward we’ll be sharing each other how to tips to make life fun and fruitful. learning different kinds of stuff in your everyday life is indeed a fun way to celebrate life.

Enjoy different kinds of tips this site has to offer — say goodbye to the gray days and say hello to the Happy days of your life

stay with me… happy lass, and lets enjoy each other’s company. aryt? yay!!!

if you have any suggestions that you want me to tackle in this site.. please feel free to leave a comment.. thanks and have a happy da…

sincerely.

Happy Lass

What if a person dies one place but needs to go someplace else in the U.S. for burial?

If Aunt Martha dies in Arizona but has a burial plot back east in Massachusetts, what do you do to get her there? You can’t just fly Aunt Martha home in the back seat of your Cessna. Driving her there in the back of a pick-up truck is another story.

Shipping a body domestically, while simpler than international shipping, still has many parts to address. International shipping of bodies adds a whole other layer of time and activity to the process. Both domestic and international shipping can be either a quick or lengthy process. This information comes courtesy of Bill Piet, a funeral director with Porter Loring Mortuaries of San Antonio, Texas, which ships 60 to 80 bodies a year.

Whole body shipment by air is handled as airfreight. You need to work with a funeral home to ship a body, as they know what to do, how to handle the paperwork, and provide the proper containers. And in today’s post-9/11 world, it’s a requirement.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has a “known shipper” policy, which became effective July 1, 2009. It states that all human remains shipments that originate in the U.S. or its territories must be tendered by a known shipper, which in this case is the funeral home. Funeral homes are required to register with each airline and become part of the TSA Known Shipper database.

If pre-need arrangements have been made with a funeral home at the destination, start the process by contacting them first. The funeral director will then work with a local provider at the origination point. If no arrangements have been done in advance, it’s time to get on the phone and do some research for mortuaries at the destination city.

A Burial-Transit Permit is required when transporting a body out-of-state and for transporting by Common Carrier (airlines or trains). Permits are obtained from the local health department or county clerk’s office (this varies by state) by providing a Death Certificate. While a fully completed death certificate can take two or three weeks to obtain, the certificate for a Burial-Transit Permit can be completed by the funeral home with biographical information about the deceased, minus cause of death confirmation. There can be delays getting a permit over weekends and holidays.

Within the U.S., very few states require embalming before shipping, and those states have exceptions for religions, most notably Judaism and Islam, which prohibit embalming. If the body is to be embalmed, it should occur before shipping. Embalming, or not, impacts the choice of containers for air shipping. An un-embalmed body can be preserved with cool packs in the container. The use of dry ice as a refrigerant in air shipping is now prohibited, as it can pose a danger at high altitudes.

An embalmed body can be shipped in a casket enclosed by a shipping case called an Air Tray, a heavy cardboard box with a wood bottom designed to protect the casket. There’s also a combination container specifically designed for body shipment. If the body is not embalmed, the funeral home must use a Ziegler Container, a metal box that seals tightly to prevent seepage of fluids or escape of odors. Whatever the container, the Burial-Transit Permit is enclosed in a sturdy envelope and attached to the shipping case.

The cost for these containers varies. One funeral home charges $175 for an Air Tray, $195 for a combination container, and $785 for a Ziegler Container. Ziegler Containers are typically destroyed after one use.

Some considerations when shipping by air include the size of the destination airport – a small airport may only accommodate smaller planes, which don’t have large enough cargo space to carry human remains. The smallest plane that can easily carry human remains is an MD80. Most airlines elect to not ship bodies on the popular 737. And most airlines have a carrying limit of 500 pounds gross weight, which includes the body, the casket or container, and the Air Tray – something to keep in mind if the deceased was obese.

The funeral home needs to know the operating hours for an airport’s Air Cargo center, and when to arrive and receive air cargo. It would be a shame if Aunt Martha got parked in Air Cargo over the weekend when the office is closed. Another consideration is whether the routing of your precious cargo has airline hub changes. Two hours between flights should be enough time to make sure Aunt Martha makes her connection and gets to her funeral on time.

Shipping by train, another Common Carrier, is not done as much as it used to be, but it’s still do-able and the same regulations as air cargo apply. It can be a most appropriate way to send a loved one home. Bill Piet related how Porter Loring Mortuaries used Amtrak to ship a retired conductor from Texas to St. Louis, Missouri, fulfilling the man’s wish to be transported to his final resting place by train.

Driving a Body to Its Final Resting Place

If the destination is drivable, either the funeral home or the family can transport the body by vehicle. In Texas, for a body transported by a funeral director in a company van or SUV, no container is needed. They can use a cot or stretcher. If you’re taking Aunt Martha in the family pick-up or mini-van, her body must be encased in a container that insures against seepage of fluids or escape of offensive odors, i.e. a sealed casket or Ziegler Container. State regulations can vary, so if you’re going to do the driving, especially across several states, find out what you need to do from a local funeral home or your state’s department of health.

And, if the trip is long so long that you’ll need a good nights’ sleep along the way, your local funeral director may be able to help arrange for a mortuary in the city where you plan to stop to hold the body in their facilities overnight. We’ve all heard about items stolen out of vehicles parked at motels. While I doubt someone would want to steal Aunt Martha body, it’s better to play it safe. And it’s more respectful of the body to put it in a secure spot overnight, rather than leaving it out in the parking lot.

Out-of-state transportation requires a Burial-Transit Permit with the body. In-state transportation (in Texas) requires you have a Report of Death form with the body, but again, check for your particular state’s regulations. After all, you wouldn’t want to be pulled over by the cops with a dead body in your car and not be able to prove it’s really okay.

Viruses are ubiquitous and dominant on the Windows platform. No matter how careful you are, there is always a chance that your computer gets infected with a virus that just won’t go away.

If you are facing a similar situation, here are a few steps you can take to make sure you get rid of the trojan horse/virus and most of its ill effects if not all.

Scan thoroughly with the antivirus

Sounds trivial right? Why would you get infected in the first place if your antivirus could detect the virus? Well there can be a few reasons, make sure you get them out of the way. It will save you a lot of trouble:

• Update the antivirus to the latest version, and update the virus signature database.
• Harden the scan options, check on heuristics, potentially dangerous applications, early warning system or whatever fancy names your antivirus uses. Set the antivirus to scan within archives and choose wisely when you specify items to exclude from the scan or leave everything out for scan.

Now perform a system scan, this way you give your antivirus a better chance to detect newer viruses.

Scan the system in safe mode

Very important to do this once before you get into manually removing the virus and its effects. Sometimes the infected files might be locked by the operating system when working in the normal mode. So to increase your antivirus’ odds to detect and clean the virus, you should restart the computer, boot into safe mode and then perform a thorough scan of your system.

Keep in mind the above mentioned points as well. You can generally boot into safe mode by pressing the F8 key during bootup and choosing the safe mode option.

Use special virus removal tools

Various antivirus manufacturers offer special tools for removing viruses once your system has been infected. Try McAfee’s Stinger or Microsoft’s Malicious Software removal tool or Kaspersky’s Virus Removal Tools. These are special tools that do a great work of removing certain infections.

So once your antivirus has detected the infection, make sure to Google it, this way you can easily find specialized solutions, removal tools and advice on your situation.

Take things into your own hands

There are times when, due to various reasons, none of the above methods works. Even in such cases everything is not lost, you can still rid your computer of viruses and trojan horses by manually deleting the offending file and attempting to nullify the effects that it caused.

The effects vary from changing mouse/keyboard settings to infecting all files in RAM, to infecting all files using a particular library to corrupting the MBR and so on. Your ability to rollback these effects no doubt depends upon how much of a computer nerd you are, but with Google, various forums and Twitter there is a good chance you can make things work for you without having to make that call to your technician.

Here are some tips that may help you:

• Check what processes are currently running. Use task manager, make sure to show processes from all users. If you see any suspicious process name or description just Google the name and you will get all the information you need. Make sure to prevent it from running again if you think you found the problem. You can use msconfig and manage startup items to do so.
• Use HijackThis to diagnose a problem and create a log in case you want someone else to help you with your problem.
• Try to find the nomenclature various antivirus products use to refer to the type of infection you have on your computer. Once you know that, you will be able to find detailed step by step instructions provided by various antivirus vendors to get rid of it. It also makes it easier to search for specialized tools to get rid of the trojan horse/virus. Here is an example of one such page.

All of these methods will surely help your cause. However, your ability to completely rid your computer of a particular virus would depend on how early you are able to detect it, the type of the virus and the harm it was intended to cause (sounds a lot like cancer, isn’t it?).  Always take regular backups in case something goes wrong while attempting a clean up.

Do you have your very own ‘Get Rid of a Virus Workflow’? We would love to know about it in the comments.

Those who think that the Mozzilla Firefox downloads window is a bother please raise your hands. Good! There are quite a lot of us out here.

Heck, I am just kidding; but it’s true for me at least that sometimes the Firefox download pop-up is a bit too in my face. I like all downloads to be behind the scenes and unobtrusive. I wouldn’t like to do away with the Firefox browser for this minor ‘inconvenience’.

Thankfully, the gallery of Mozilla Firefox add-ons lets me do away with just the download window by giving me three options to choose from.

These three add-ons go a long way in improving the download job by replacing the default download window.

Download Statusbar (v 0.9.6.5)

Download Statusbar saves screen real estate by handing the download job to the goodish little status bar. It’s a wonder of coding that the 445KB add-on packs in a lot within its small size. The add-on can be configured as a separate status bar (Full Mode) or kept within the Firefox status bar (Mini mode).

This is just one option within its quiver of configuration settings. Some other features are…

• Progress notifications give detailed information about downloads. Notifications can be switched on and off. Tooltip notifications add to instant feedback.



• Retain, remove or trim download history.
• Automatically continues downloads with the Firefox download manager, even if the main browser is closed. Pops up a confirmation alert when a download is halted or deleted.
• Pause and resume downloads with a single click (i.e. if downloads are resumable).



• Play a sound when the download finishes.
• Run a finished download with a double click.  Also one can open containing folder, visit source website, and rename the file.
• Appearance of the download status bar can be customized. For instance, Speed Colors allow you to visually appreciate how each download is progressing.



• Virus scanning using default anti-virus can be configured to automatic or manual. File type filters for scans can be set.



• The add-on auto hides when not in use.
• It is also available in 25 languages.

Download Statusbar is a recommended Firefox add-on. Alternatively, check it out at the Mozdev community site.

Custom Download Manager (v 2.1b90630)

The custom part of this add-on is that the user can choose to open the download in a separate tab, sidebar or a fresh window. Though it’s not feature rich as Download Statusbar it introduces some control over the process. User friendly customization features include…

• Decide the buttons, the look and their location with a few checkbox settings. Two important buttons which you can set are – Copy Download Link and Go to Download Page.
• Decide on the behavior of the download manager window. For instance, close the download manager when done.
• Set an alert for an exe file operation.
• Enable/Disable virus scan for a completed file.

Custom Download Manager is compatible with Mac OS X, Windows and Linux.

Downloads in Tab (v 0.0.9)

If you like your download control to be sans any frills, then this add-on fits the need. Downloads in Tab moves the job from the pop-up windows to a regular tab. It’s actually just a tab version of the pop-up. The features are also limited to the regular tab controls…

• Opens a tab automatically with a download and closes it when downloads are finished.
• You can move the download tab to the background by choosing the only from menu setting in the Options panel of the add-on.
• The download tab can be set to become the first tab of the browser window.

Downloads in Tab is an 18KB recommended download from Mozilla.

Karl has also taken us through 11 add-ons he can’t live without. You might want to check out his post for a brief mention of Download Statusbar and the nifty download manager/accelerator called Download Them All.

The three add-ons profiled here cover the gamut of download operations. From the bells and whistles of Download Statusbar to the plainness of Downloads in Tab. And somewhere in between we have the Custom Download Manager. We all have our requirements and thankfully a whole gallery of options to pick for them. Which is your pick of the heap?

We’ve all been there. Every computer has this problem. Whether you use a Mac, PC or Linux; your system, at one point in time, will start feeling sluggish and less responsive. For Macs, the ever-popular symptom is the spinning wait cursor, also known as the spinning pinwheel or more ominously, the spinning beach ball of death! Usually, if you’re running a very old system, a simple hardware upgrade will solve the issue. Most of the time, this involves buying a larger, faster hard disk or by adding more memory.

More often than not, all your Mac probably needs is some maintenance. Here are some tips to optimize your Mac and keep the system running healthily.

1. Quit Inactive Applications

Probably one of the most overlooked causes of a slowdown is running an app in the background without knowing. Sometimes, this happens to me as well — I can’t tell you how many times I’ve left Photoshop running by accident.

Apps running in the background use memory even if they’re inactive, depriving the operating system. Hence, forcing it to use the available hard disk space as virtual memory; leading to an excessive amount of pagings and slowdowns. This also puts unnecessary strain on your hard disk, especially so if you’re running low on free space.

So, keep an eye on the Dock for apps that shouldn’t be running. Be frugal with your memory usage and you’ll notice a different in the system’s performance.

2. Disable The Dashboard

If you hardly use widgets, then you should disable the Dashboard in order to prevent the widgets from loading. The less memory you have to spare, the more reason you should do it.

Disabling the Dashboard requires the use to Terminal. Before you get all frightened, relax. It’s not that difficult.

Launch Terminal from Applications > Utilities > Terminal.app. Copy and paste this line of code into Terminal and hit Enter:

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES

Don’t quit Terminal just yet. The Dock has to be restarted in order for this hack to work. So copy and paste this line of code to restart the Dock then hit Enter:

killall Dock

You can quit Terminal now by pressing Command+Q. With Dashboard disabled, nothing will happen when you press on the dedicated Dashboard button (F4), hit F12 or click on the Dashboard dock icon; preventing the widgets from launching and hogging precious memory.

To re-enable the Dashboard, copy and paste this code into Terminal and hit Enter:

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean NO

Then, restart the Dock by using the code above.

3. Look Into Preferences

There is a lot you can do within System Preference to make sure that your Mac is running as smoothly as possible. For starters, you could take a look through your list of apps which automatically launch on login. You can find it under Accounts setting then hitting the ‘Login Items’ tab. I’ve listed this tip in a previous article but I can’t emphasize how important it is. Apps that launch when your Mac powers on prolong start-up time and take up memory. Keep this list lean and mean.

Then spend some time examining other options and evaluate if they’re absolutely essential to be running. For example, if you’re don’t use Bluetooth, then make sure to turn it off. Enabling File Sharing shows that you’re generous and kind but is taxing to your hard disk — especially if you’re sharing the Movies folder. Having someone stream movies from your Mac while trying to run Photoshop is well, for lack of a better word, hazardous. My advice is to disable File Sharing and other unnecessary Sharing options, and revert to using a pendrive to share files.

One last tip regarding System Preferences. After using your Mac for a while, there must be a load of preference panes installed. They are listed under the ‘Other’ section. Take a look at what’s installed and whether or not they’re needed. Preference panes are loaded during start-up and take up memory as well. If you find something that you deem not essential, right-click on it and remove it.

4. Make Room To Breathe

Hard disk space isn’t only meant for storing files. I’ve seen some people fill their hard disks to the brim. Mac OS X requires at least 20% of the hard disk drive to be free in order to perform smoothly. It uses this space to swap memory with the RAM (paging), write system files and other temporary files. By leaving OS X very little free space, you are choking the system, metaphorically speaking.

How can you free up used disk space? Run an inventory and remove applications that you hardly ever use. Take iDVD and Garageband for example, it uses up free space in the gigabytes. If you don’t frequently use these apps, remove them — you can always reinstall them from the OS X Install Disc.

Buy an external hard disk and store your large movie files over there instead of occupying the space on the primary (system) hard drive.

You can also use applications like Filelight (direct download link, Snow Leopard compatible), GrandPerspective or OmniDiskSweeper to display your hard disk usage in an easily-digestible graphical interface and find the culprit that’s hogging your valuable disk space.

5. Update Frequently

Updating your system may feel troublesome to certain users, especially when it involves restarting. It should be made known that Apple releases updates to fix bugs and potential errors which may harm the system. Occasionally, performance updates are issued to address issues regarding improper hardware operation like this one, for instance, which was developed to fix hard drive stalls on Macs running Leopard and Snow Leopard.

To scan your Mac for available updates, run System Update from the Apple menu in the menubar.

So there we have it, five (frequently overlooked) tips to keep your Mac optimized and running smoothly. I hope that this helps solve the dreadful spinning beachball of death syndrome.

How often do you run maintenance on your Mac? Do you have any other tips to keep OS X running lean and mean? Jot them down in the comments, I’d love to hear your ideas.

There’s an alarming trend in paid newspaper obituaries, the general thank you note to the public. The family places a notice in the classified obituaries section that reads like this:

The family of John Doe would like to thank all of their relatives and friends for the kind expression of sympathy extended to them during their bereavement (then naming specific people) Name of Funeral Home, contact info

Or:

The family of Jane Doe wishes to thank their many friends and relatives who reflected on her life. Your sympathy and thoughtfulness will always be gratefully remembered and deeply appreciated. Name of Funeral Home, contact info

Perhaps these ads are placed as a way of thanking people who may have been inadvertently overlooked to receive a personal thank you note in the confusing days after someone has died. Part of the challenge of writing thank you notes is keeping track of what everyone did. That’s one reason for sign-in books at funerals and memorial services, so the bereaved family can know who attended and they can thank each person. It also helps to have a friend make a list to keep track of who brought food and what they actually provided.

But I don’t think that’s what’s going on with these thank you ads. The grandmothers and great-aunts who drilled the importance of writing a personal thank you note into the psyches of the Baby Boomers have died. Younger generations, the text-messaging crowd, know nothing about the niceties of sending a few words of thanks, and that’s a shame.

The writing of thank you notes can actually be a healing activity, an opportunity for grieving individuals to count their blessings. Thank each and every person who helped in whatever way they contributed with a short note, written by hand on a piece of paper. It can be on stationery, a blank art card, a Thank You card – heck, even notebook paper works. All right – you can send a thank you note by email, but write something.

A basic thank you note expresses your gratitude for the kindnesses extended to you during this very stressful time. It can be as simple as, “Thank you for your presence at the funeral. It’s comforting to have you in my life right now.” You don’t have to write a letter – it’s a note. You can say plenty in three sentences.

Vary the note based on what the person did for you. Start with two sentences specific to the recipient:

“Thank you for being a pallbearer. Having you carry (name) to the grave means a lot to us.”

“Thank you for the delicious casserole. It helped sustain us when none of us felt like cooking.”

“Thank you for your moving words at the funeral. We will remember your tribute always.”

“Thank you for your card. We were so moved by the outpouring of support we received.”

“Thank you for the flowers you sent. They were so fragrant and lovely.”

“Thank you for traveling here to attend the funeral. Your presence meant so much to us.”

Your third sentence can be a sign off you use for everyone. “We are (or I am) so blessed to have you in our lives (my life).” “Mom would have been pleased.” “Thanks again for all you did for us.”

Of course, if you want to say more, feel free. It just seems that people are scared off from writing thank you notes, perhaps thinking that it requires essay-length effort. No, when the death of a loved one blows your world apart, thank you notes are little pieces of writing that add up to a quilt of gratitude for the people in your life that come together in support.

And when you sign off, sign it “love,” or “with love,” no matter to whom you write. Expressions of love are what living is all about. Share the love, as it has been shared with you.

by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director of Atomic Tango LLC

"Let's talk about a sensitive subject: breakage..."

So you finally found that gadget you’ve been dreaming about — you know, the one with the 60″ screen, built-in WiFi, and ability to make a perfect crème brulee at the touch of a button. Better yet, you found it advertised at just the right price… but you didn’t notice the fine print. Only after getting to the store do you notice the word that causes blistering steam to blast out of your ears and nostrils…

REBATE

Ah, the R-Word: for most consumers, that one word causes more irritation than “assembly required” and “batteries not included” combined.

Why can’t the store just cut the cost of the damn gadget? Why force their customers to endure the painstaking hassle of clipping and cutting and filling out and mailing?

Because, amigos, the hassle is the point.

Price Discrimination: Yes, It’s Legal

There’s this practice called “price discrimination,” where companies charge some customers more than others for the same product. “That can’t be legal,” you’re thinking. Well, you’re right: companies can’t practice price discrimination on legally-protected bases like race — but they can on behavior. Examples:

• a bar’s happy hour gives discounts to patrons who come earlier
• a buy-two-get-one-free deal benefits volume purchasers
• a frequent flier program give deals to loyal customers

Rebates feed discounts to people who are so hungry for a deal, they’ll jump through flaming hoops to get them. Those customers who are too wealthy or too lazy to go through the process don’t get the deal — they pay full price.

In that way, a seller can advertise a competitive low price, but not have to give it to everybody. Indeed, even those who bought the product for the discount don’t always go to the hassle of redeeming the rebate.

For example, I recently bought a bottle of shampoo that promised a rebate greater than the actual price. “Cool,” I thought, “they’re paying me to use it.” When I got home, I discovered that redeeming the rebate required filling in a 3×5 card. I haven’t owned a 3×5 card since PostIt Notes were invented, and I wasn’t going out to buy 100 of them to get a few dollars back on shampoo. My laziness factor kicked in. The shampoo company won. For now.

Breakage: No, Not The Basis Of A “Seinfeld” Episode

Failure to redeem a rebate is called “breakage,” and can range from 2% of customers to as high as 80%. This “tax on the disorganized” occurs most often during the frantic holiday season. For example, according to a BusinessWeek report on rebates, in 2005, “About 50,000 of TiVo’s 104,000 new subscribers failed to redeem mail-in rebate offers [for $100], reducing the company’s expected rebate expense by $5 million.”

Yes, there’s serious money in breakage. And that’s not necessarily a good thing.

Some companies resort to sneaky tricks to ensure breakage, like making redemption instructions unclear, or providing insufficient time to redeem the rebate on a mail-ordered product.

I once ordered some “free after rebate” products from an online electronics retailer. The rebate forms required that I submit the product UPC’s within ten days of placing my order, but after I paid, I was informed that my free products would be delayed “up to two weeks.” In other words, I would not have the UPC’s in time. I immediately emailed the company and threatened to file complaints with the Better Business Bureau and the State of California. I got a rebate credited to my card the same day.

I don’t consider deceptive or difficult rebates to be marketing. In my view, that’s borderline criminal behavior — and simply being dumb about one’s brand. Yes, there’s money in breakage, but there’s even more money in building a large, trustworthy brand. I’ve never purchased from either the shampoo company or that electronics retailer again. By being honest and straightforward, you create long-term customers, and you’ll avoid smacking into the law, which could lead to embarrassing, brand crushing stories in the news.

The Value of Rebating

Rebates can be a worthwhile activity for all involved if they’re used for the following:

1. Ensuring That Discounts Are Passed Through To Your End Consumers: A company can suggest a specific retail price on their product (the MSRP), but in most cases, the final pricing call is up to the retailer. So if you cut your wholesale price and ask the retailer to pass on the savings, the retailer may just laugh, keep the retail price as is and enjoy the extra profit. Your alternative is to offer a rebate directly to the customer.

2. Learning About Your Customers: Companies should know as much as they can about their customers, even the stingy ones. So in order to get a rebate, customers may be required to answer questions about themselves. As long as the questions are relevant and not too invasive, most customers see that as a fair trade-off. Hence, a rebate can help you learn about your customers for less than the cost of hiring a national research agency. Just remember that it’s your most discount-hungry customers that you’re learning about here.

3. Shaping Behavior: Rebates can jump-start sales during quiet times, get consumers to sample new products, or unload products that are cluttering the warehouse. Because they’re strictly a promotion for that one product for that limited time, they don’t impact the company’s overall brand as do across-the-board price cuts. On that note, if you use rebates all the time for everything — as did the automotive manufacturers — consumers will come to expect them. That’s not the behavior you want. Use rebates sparingly and for a limited time only!

Now For Some Strategic Rebating (Without The Breakage)

Let’s consider some ideas that don’t stoop to encouraging breakage — and that might increase sales and enhance your brand. (Note: every state has different rebate regulations, so brush up on them before launching your campaign and implementing any of these ideas.)

1. Encourage Website Redemption: It’s the second half of 2009 already: enough with the snail mail. Enable your customers to redeem their rebates online by providing a unique redemption code. They’ll be grateful for the convenience. From a marketing standpoint, an online form will make it immensely easier for you to collect information about your customers — and to present them with other products and deals. It’s hard to get people to your store or site in the first place. A rebate presents that opportunity. Envelopes and stamps don’t.

2. Encourage Spending That Rebate With You Or Your Partners: If you have a store or ecommerce site, offer customers the option of a larger rebate in the form of credit. Be sure to make it a choice, not a mandate. For example, if the rebate on the gadget is $100, give customers the option of $120 in credit. This keeps the money in-house. If you have a promotional partner, offer the rebate in the form of a gift card with that partner. Alliances are a great way to boost your brand, and cross-incentivizing customers is a great way to share traffic.

3. Solicit Donations To Charitable Partners: You’ve used the rebate to spur a sale. Now, enable your customers to donate that money — or at least part of it — to a worthy cause. Your brand will score an equity boost, and your favorite non-profit scores a donation.

Can it work for B-to-B?

Finally, rebates aren’t just for business-to-consumer transactions only. Their ability to shape behavior should also be leveraged by B-to-B firms.

For example, getting on-time payments is critical for companies that rely on cash flow to finance their operations. When quoting a project fee, state your 30-day payment deadline (or whatever your standard), then offer a rebate if the payment is made early. If your client doesn’t take advantage of this rebate option — yes, B-to-B breakage — you’ve essentially earned a late-payment fee in advance.

Then There’s G-to-B…

Entire state governments are getting in on the rebate action by offering tax refunds in exchange for, say, filming a movie in their states. Considering all the Hollywood productions that are filming elsewhere, it’s clear that for a lot of people, rebates are not a dirty word.

Related Articles:

• Betting To Lose: Don’t Blow Good Gambling Money on Warranties!
• Marketing During a Recession, Part 1: Pricing
• How to Win a Price War (Hint: Don’t)

***

Shameless Plug: For professional consultation on pricing and other marketing strategies, contact Atomic Tango…

by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC

Hunger-inducing visual courtesy of PhotoXpress.com

Maybe it’s the bacon.

Every week, I shoot pool in the same joint. Is it the cheapest pool hall in town? Nah. It’s actually pricey. Is it the service? Not really. The people are friendly, but service isn’t a big factor when renting a pool table. Is it the ambience? I do love pure pool halls like this — not some bar with a coin-op table, but a dedicated pool hall with 8-foot Brunswicks and a jukebox playing Soundgarden. What about the location? The House of Billiards is one of the few remaining pure pool halls on L.A.’s west side, and although L.A. is a car culture, we Los Angelenos generally hate to drive, so it wins there. And then there are the BLT’s…

You wouldn’t think a pool hall would be the go-to place for a bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwich, but the BLT’s at the House of Billiards are everything a BLT should be. I generally don’t feast on swine, but I make an exception with these BLT’s. The combination of textures and temperatures and flavors makes me drop everything just to chow down, even though I’m paying by the hour.

So, yes, perhaps it is the bacon that made a loyal customer out of me.

The conclusion: loyalty is a complex, multi-layered issue. Kind of like a good sandwich. More fundamentally, loyalty isn’t rational — it’s emotional. And emotions can’t be represented on a spreadsheet or a 2×2 matrix.

And that’s what drives many business geeks crazy, particularly in dotcom land.

Online services, such as search engines and even social networks, are built largely on rational criteria: efficiency, low-to-no prices, and a hassle-free/bug-free experience. That’s why I compare them to utilities: they exist simply to provide a basic service. Most consumers don’t have loyalty to a utility — we couldn’t care less who provides our natural gas as long as it’s dependable and cheap. Rather, we provide loyalty to brands that stir our emotions and serve a more visceral need: sports teams, religions, political parties, even some fashion and automotive brands.

Web services? Not so much.

Consider how Friendster gave way to MySpace which gave way to Facebook which could give way to the next hot social site that comes along. Consider how America Online was the dominant Internet player of the late-90’s — AOL addresses were as common as Twitter accounts are now — peaking at 30 million cash-paying members in 2002, then rapidly deflating into a cautionary tale of mergers gone wild and wrong (“You’ve got fail”).

Another consideration: in the physical world, consumers will put up with less-than-optimal combinations of product and price if the place is convenient. But on the Web, distance is not a factor: consumers can check out the competition by simply clicking a few keys. Indeed, there are entire websites that enable you to compare various ecommerce sites in one glance: Shopping.com, Shopzilla, Bizrate, ePinions, Pricegrabber, Shop.com, mySimon, and Google’s Froogle (which wins the prize for best name), to name a few. Loyalty shmoyalty — you’re presented a list of options, with price being the key criterion.

Ready for some irony?

One of my pool buddies works for one of those shopping-comparison sites, and he tells me that they just embarked upon a loyalty-building program. That’s right: a company that undermines consumer loyalty by emphasizing price is now trying to figure out how to keep its own users from straying. Apparently, his company is spooked by the cashback offer from Microsoft’s Bing shopping service, so they’re making some special offers of their own.

The problem: practices such as giving cash back and other discounts are not distinctive or copy-proof. That’s not competitive strategy — that’s just putting out. And putting out only engenders loyalty until the competition puts out even more.

So how can a company inspire loyalty in a fickle realm, where allegiance can be switched at the click of a mouse?

Loyalty, laziness, or hoping to become a bedroom slipper?

1. Cross-pollinate with a worthy cause. As I mentioned in my article on collaborating, companies should seek out exclusive partners with whom they can share customers and costs. Ideally, that partner should boost their brand at the same time. So cold, emotionless Web services should seek out warm-and-fuzzy non-profit groups that have large, loyal followings.

Imagine a shopping service that gives a meaningful percentage of all its transactions to the Humane Society. Now their customer isn’t just shopping — they’re giving a homeless dog or cat a chance at life. I say “meaningful” because the Yahoo-powered search site GoodSearch does give money to non-profits, but only a whoppin’ $0.01 per search. Not exactly inspiring there.

(Update 6/14/9: What do you know: Microsoft has decided to go this route by partnering with Feeding America to promote IE8 — though Microsoft is being mocked for being absurdly penurious about it. So if you’re going to collaborate with a charity, don’t be stingy. You might be saving money up front, but you can’t afford the PR damage.)

2. Appeal to laziness. What some companies think is customer loyalty is actually customer laziness. We consumers often patronize the same stores and services again and again even though we’re not entirely satisfied, simply because it’s too much hassle switching to something else. (Note my comment on Los Angelenos not really liking to drive.) So while I despise my Internet service provider (Verizon DSL), I haven’t switched because it would be a hassle, and from everything I’ve heard, all ISP’s are equally despicable.

In terms of computers, some people refuse to switch from PC to Mac, even if they can afford to, simply because they’re comfortable with Windows. Who needs the hassle of learning another system?

Amazon tapped into customer laziness by combining an unparalleled selection with lots of shortcuts. Their prices are not always the lowest, but they’re low enough to make lazy shoppers (like myself) forgo the price check at Barnes & Noble. I know that, by going to Amazon, I can find a book and purchase it in less time than it took me to type this paragraph, and the deal will be “good enough.”

On the search-engine front, there’s a new battle afoot: Microsoft’s Bing vs Google. Of course, Google is built into most browsers and many websites, so it currently has the upper hand in convenience, but Microsoft just made Bing the default browser in its IE6 browser, and it’s hard to imagine that the Beast of Redmond will stop there.

(Update 6/7/9: According to the latest stats, Microsoft needs to really step it up, as Bing’s market share is already in decline just weeks after its launch. According to TechCrunch’s MG Siegler, “Microsoft needs to keep pushing those TV and web ads to keep its name in people’s minds. Otherwise, Bing runs the risk of having already peaked.” Although I love to endorse advertising, the issue here is the laziness factor. Google works well enough for most people, so why surf over to Bing when the Google search window is sitting right at the top of their browser?)

3. Create switching costs. This is related somewhat to laziness, but there’s also a financial incentive: it simply costs too much to change brands. I cited a few of these switching costs in my article “How to Win a Price War” .

Harvard Business Review Editor Karen Dillon notes that, when it comes to picking an airline, frequent flier miles are more important to her than great customer service. Such rewards-based loyalty programs do bind people to a company in a way that is more rational than emotional. The only catch: you need to sign up customers before the competition does.

Apple used its early dominance of the digital-music market to lock in a serious switching cost: all those songs on our computers that can only be played on iPods. Sure, we could convert them to more compatible formats or purchase them anew, but who needs the effort or expense? So when our current iPods get lost or wear out, we simply purchase another iPod. When you combine that fact with Apple’s powerful brand, it’s hard to see any other MP3 player ever taking that market.

4. Make it personal. It’s easier to be loyal to a person than to a faceless institution. That’s why smart brands often position their people — or even a fictional representative — up front and center. That may be a CEO, a spokesmodel, a star player, a spiritual leader, or even a talking gecko. If consumers like that person (or reptile), that helps bond them to the company.

And it’s not just for the ads. All company-to-consumer communications, from newsletters to even bills, should come from a person. I’m not suggesting that an individual sign every letter; it’s enough to have a full name and virtual signature printed somewhere on the document.

One final note: just as loyalty can be won, it can also be lost.

Even the strongest cult brand — whether it’s a sports team, religion or political party — can lose its followers if it betrays them. Churn out a crappy product or get involved in a scandal, and all that hard-won loyalty will dissipate like so much spilled Dom Perignon.

Detroit experienced that painfully as we Americans decided that Ford, GM and Chrysler would have to do a lot more than simply appeal to our patriotism. So the first and most important rule of commanding loyalty is to give some in return. Being loyal to your customers doesn’t mean listening to their every wish and whim — which could be a mistake — but providing a consistently high quality product would be a great start.

Throw in some bacon and you’ve got me sold.

Update 6/25/9: No real surprise here. According to TechCrunch, “Study Suggests People Prefer Bing’s Design To Google’s, But Still Won’t Switch… Brand loyalty is a powerful thing, especially when it comes to technology.” I believe that, until Bing offers a “killer app” that compels people to switch, basic consumer habit and laziness will prevail.

***

Shameless plug: Want to build your customer loyalty? Contact Atomic Tango…

by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC

"Hmmm... should I move a piece or just eat it?"

“War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Uh-huh
War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again, y’all…”
– Edwin Starr, “War”

Imagine you’re minding your own business, selling lemonade from your friendly neighborhood stand, when — BAM! — you’re torpedoed by a rival who cuts his lemonade price in half. That bastard! Here you two had settled upon a comfy price point — legally, of course, with no collusion whatsoever — and he had to upset the balance…

Now if you retaliate by cutting your lemonade prices below his, he simply sneers and does you one better. It’s like watching two ultimate fighters compete to see who can beat himself up the quickest. Ultimately both sides lose. One goes out of business, and the other is so seriously damaged he has to go on life-support.

Welcome to the world of price wars, the business equivalent of mutually assured destruction. It’s death by a million price cuts — undermining your brand while denying yourself profits at the same time. And yet, we’re seeing a lot of price wars these days as businesses scramble for all the sales they can get. When there’s no organic market growth, companies try to steal market share from each other, and the unimaginative resort to price cuts, even in luxury markets.

Here’s the problem: only four kinds of companies can win a price war mostly unscathed…

1. Those who have really deep pockets.
2. Those who sell multiple products or have other sources of revenue, so their discounts only hurt one product.
3. Those who are fundamentally structured to have the lowest operating costs in the market.
4. Those who base their brand identity on low pricing.

Only one company comes to mind that has all four attributes: Wal-Mart. Want to engage in a pricing war with Wal-Mart? Wait, let me get my blindfold first — I can’t bear to watch.

But sometimes you have no choice. What do you do if a competitor launches a price war against you?

Prepare

Before hostilities ever break out, anticipate the worst. That runt competitor you feel comfortable ignoring now — or the one who’s not even in your industry — might be feeling a little aggressive and/or desperate. So while you’re still rolling in the money, here’s what you should do:

Create Switching Costs: Make the idea of switching to a cheaper product undesirable for your customers. For example, some companies enact loyalty programs (like frequent flier miles) to retain customers. Major MBA programs don’t allow you to transfer credits to another school. And for computer users, switching might entail buying new software and peripherals, or even learning a new operating system.

Think Different Already: Make your product very different from the competition. Hundreds of marketing experts and executives — including Jack Trout, Al Ries, Guy Kawasaki, Seth Godin, Adam Morgan, and Marty Neumeier — have been saying “differentiate, differentiate, differentiate!” for decades. Yet we still see rampant copycat behavior in all industries, mostly perpetrated by MBA’s and engineers who were taught to worship spreadsheets and “best practices” instead of creativity.

By emphasizing your non-price differentiation — like service, image, design, and particularly quality — you can turn a price war into a comparison of apples and oranges. Or Apples and PC’s. Right now, Microsoft is launching a full-scale pricing attack on Apple, but current and prospective Apple users are laughing it off. A low price will not entice them back to using a PC. If anything, Microsoft’s price-based attack is reinforcing the position of Macs as high-end products.

Team Up: As I mentioned in an earlier post (“Marketing During a Recession Part 4: Come Together Right Now”), a great way to differentiate is to collaborate with another company. No, not with your competitors. That’s illegal. Rather, form an exclusive alliance with a complementary company or charity. This not only distinguishes you from your competitors, it also extends your reach to a new customer base, and it can strengthen your brand through association. So let’s say you form an alliance with a Boston terrier-rescue society, to whom you donate a portion of your revenue. This helps justify a higher price and retain customers who are mad about terriers.

Diversify: Build your product portfolio so that a price-based attack only hits one product. You can then live off the earnings of your other products and ignore the pricing attack until the competitor tires out. If your attacker has only one product, you can even lower your price on that one product below cost and scare him off. Established companies with large portfolios or simply big bank accounts often react that way when a tiny startup tries to “steal market share” with penetration prices.

Respond

Let’s say that even with all your preparation, some kamikaze pricing manager decides to hit you anyway. Here are some alternatives to joining him in pricing self-immolation:

Launch an Ad War: So your attacker has cut his profits to the bone? Don’t wait: before too many customers gravitate to the lower price, strike back with a salvo of creative advertising — which your cash-strapped competitor might now have trouble matching. This works particularly well in markets driven by image. Sure it’s expensive, but unlike a price war, creative advertising will boost your image. And if your assailant joins you in the ad war, there are additional benefits for both of you: as I described in “Rules of Competition: The Magic Number is 2,” an ad war draws additional attention to your product category, and it cuts other competitors completely out of the picture.

Hit Close to Home: Your competitor’s home, that is. Nothing will shiver the timbers of your competitor more than seeing you go after his home market. So go ahead and lower your prices — but only in his backyard. This isolates any damage to your brand, and tells him you mean business. If you can afford it, throw in some ads as well.

Offer a Twofer: Offer your customers a 2-for-1 deal (or 3-for-2 or some other such combo), rather than, say, lowering your prices by 50%. This loads up customers with more of your product, so that they won’t be back shopping for a while. It’s also a good way to clear out inventory and convince stores to give you more display space.

Surrender: Yes, really. Give it up. No, it’s not cowardice — it could actually be a great business move. If your competitor launches a price war, analyze the situation and determine if this market is really worth the fight, particularly now that he has knocked the profit out of it and turned a perfectly good product into a commodity. If you think there’s still value in it — and you’re well prepared — then go ahead and fight. But if the market is flat or shrinking, and you determine it’s not worth fighting over, then simply throw up your hands, tell him “you win” with a big toothy grin, and devote your time and energy to pursuing a more profitable product category.

A smart company continuously uses its high profits to develop better products to launch as soon as — or even before — any of its other products becomes a commodity. The leading electronics firms do this all the time, abandoning commoditized products like CD players to some back-alley sweatshops in Shenzhen. During the ’80s, Intel did this when low-priced competitors entered the memory chip market: Intel simply abandoned the entire industry so it could focus on more sophisticated — and infinitely more profitable — processors.

One added benefit to surrendering is that you’ve now burdened your competitor with a bunch of price-centric customers that he taught to be cheapskates. Your brand gets the halo of being a cutting edge innovator, while he falls into the oozing muck crawling with other low-equity bottom feeders. (“Oh, hi, Dell, funny seeing you here…”) Ironically, by launching a price war, he did you a favor by alerting you that it was time to move on — while he wound up paying the ultimate price.

Related Articles:
•    “Cows and Dogs in a Bear Market: Applying the BCG Matrix to Marketing”
•    “Marketing During a Recession, Part 1: Pricing”
•    “Saks and the City: How to Lower Your Standards for Fun and Profit”

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