Quick plug: Perkins Mailing (www.perkinsmailing.com) is a Data, Imaging & Mailing solutions firm located in the downtown Toronto area (Dundas & River Street).

It may interest some to know that I actually run my own I.T. consulting firm. Up until recently it’s been very informal; no business cards, no website, just word of mouth and referrals getting me new clients, and in all honesty the hours can be very scarce (not that I’m complaining, it’s a side gig). I thought that if I invested a little time and money into it, I could get some positive return on my investment… so I decided to formalize the whole operation a little more.

Needless to say, I finished putting www.marcitpro.com together, and then had the much more arduous task of putting together a business card (…that didn’t totally suck). I started out with many five or six slightly different designs before finally starting from scratch with a new idea I had. The pictures you see are the first print of my final design (which I’m sure will be revised eventually).

Two things I had seen in previous business cards that I wanted for my own:

• Embossing, in this case a thermal raise to give the writing a textured feel.
• Linen-esque paper because I’m not a big fan of the plastic/glossy feeling on a business card.

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MagicJack and USB Extension it comes with

Are you currently satisfied with your long distance plan? Are you spending money as you call or are you paying a flat fee, like you should be? Spending more than $20.00-$40.00 a month? A year? Well you shouldn’t be.

MagicJack is a USB device you order from www.magicjack.com, that plugs into your computer and a home phone device, and gives you unlimited local and long distance calling anywhere in North America… for $20 a year. Caller I.D., call waiting, voicemail, directory assistance; all included. If you happen to live in the United States, or want to register your MagicJack with an American phone number, it’s free; if you want a Canadian (or a vanity) phone number, it’ll cost you $10.00 a year… for now. For one reason or another, they can’t offer free Canadian numbers. On top of that… it’s free to try for 30 days, except you pay the $3.95 shipping cost.

Anywhere you have a computer and broadband internet connection,you can use your MagicJack. If you ever move around, you’ll need to change the address for the 9-1-1 services to work properly; I don’t know about changing the phone number as I have yet to do so; but it really seems like there is no downfall to using MagicJack, and if there is, please speak up.

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www.marcitpro.com & www.marccizravi.com on my custom frames.

I was recently putting the finishing touches on a website for my I.T. consulting firm (www.marcitpro.com), and was thinking of all the ways I could get some low cost advertising out there.

Television, radio, movie previews, internet, billboards, public transit (to name a few). It’s pretty endless how many different ads you can put up for a business, however, there are costs associated. Usually, they’re on going: you need to pay for every time an ad is run on T.V., or clicked on the Internet.

Since I wanted to increase the value of my monthly car payments (and all the other costs associated with driving), I decided that it would be a good idea to put some form of advertising on my car as I drive around. I find bumper stickers to be tacky, and putting decals on my car… well, that’s a little desperate; I don’t want it to look like I’m GeekSquad junior driving all over town. The reality is that my I.T. practice is something I do on the side, and doesn’t maintain a huge focus in my overall life. Some months I’ll go two weeks without a service call, and some weeks I’ll spend 20 hours working. Needless to say, it’s not something that’s going to be part of my future (as far as I’m concerned at the moment), so I don’t want it to overtake the vehicle that I’m driving daily.

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I was at work last week and thinking to myself – I haven’t really spent money on anything I’ve *wanted* in the past little while. A new toy or a gadget or something to just treat myself with. I’ve been working a lot and covering a lot of expenses here and there and thought to myself: “If I wanted to spend money on something right now… what would it be?”

Well, the answer that quickly came to me was tinting the windows on my new car. I’ve always been of the opinion that cars are black holes for your wallet. Gas, insurance, maintenance, parking, tolls, cleaning, and of course accidents. Above all else, I thought that ‘customizing’ a car could get really expensive really quickly. At the same time, I thought it was stupid that people who had cars worth $4000 were spending that amount or greater in customizing the vehicle. It didn’t make sense to me. However, when I thought of tinting my windows, I didn’t just think of the aesthetic value, I thought of what it would accomplish.

I’m a night person, except when I want to be in the sun. If I’m on the beach, playing sports outdoors, working at my outdoor patio bar, or on vacation, I absolutely love the sun and the light. However, if I’m in my room trying to work on the computer, or trying to sleep, or on the road trying to drive, I would prefer less light – I feel like it’s easier on the eyes when the sun isn’t glaring down on you when you’re trying to be functional. Rationalizing to myself for a second I thought: “hey, well I can tint my windows on my car, and not only will it look really good, but it’ll be easier for me to drive.”

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Front & Back picture of Scosche's Solchat, Bluetooth Speakerphone.

When this new law came into effect, I was working at the Apple Store, and I first tried out a bluetooth headset, but didn’t like it for numerous reasons:

• Small, easy to lose (which would need to be replaced), liable to fall off my ear while I’m driving.
• Difficult/inconvenient to charge; likely to bring it back and forth from your car and home… which would raise the risk of losing it.
• Uncomfortable, and inefficient – always having trouble understanding or being understood during conversation.

After trying and return one of the headsets, I picked up one of Scosche’s bluetooth speakerphone units. Much to my surprise, it was actually solar powered too – something that turns out is incredibly helpful.

I’m sure there’s more than one kind of solar powered bluetooth speakerphone unit, but I’m going to focus on the one that I have. The model I have specifically, is called the Scosche solCHAT II, CBHSOL2.

• Hands-free bluetooth speakerphone.
• Integrated solar panel re-charges the internal lithium-ion battery.
• Includes two mounts: one visor, and one suction cup for the windshield.
• Address book import, name announce when receiving phone calls (Up to 1000 contacts).
• DSP echo cancellation ensures a crystal clear conversation even in noisy vehicles.
• One-touch voice dialing (majority of phones).
• Comes with usb cable and car charger… just in case!

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Ten years ago you didn’t really have much of a choice; laptops weren’t that prevalent; so if you told someone you had a computer, they probably assumed you had a home PC or Mac; one that was on a desk somewhere in your house that didn’t have the great luxury of portability. Those were the old days though; we don’t have to deal with that anymore.

For the past little while they’ve been on the move; executives, young professionals, students – all need to use a computer, and require it to be portable most of the time. The fact that a computer is portable means that engineers have to make some concessions when they’re designing units; obviously this means draw backs. Typically: a smaller display, congested and less than full keyboard, no external mouse, smaller hard-drive, and an audio system that is nothing to brag of.

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All routers are not created equal. Sometimes you bring one home and for one reason or another; you have to restart it a couple times a week. It isn’t configured properly, it isn’t compatible with an older machine, it’s a hassle to manage, and doesn’t make life any easier. There are obviously plenty of routers out there that work great, that are problem free, and maybe it’s the Apple fanboy in me that wants to push this product, but believe me, it’s worth it.

Front & Back View of the Airport Extreme Base Station

With a USB slot, you’re able to connect a printer turn your wired printer, wireless. You can also choose to connect an external/portable drive and turn it into an extra hard-drive for everyone on your WiFi network. If you feel like having one or the other (or several of each), you can go out and also buy a USB switch, and turn one port into four or more. Share a printer, and a couple hard-drives on your network. Did I mention that you can also share your drive over the Internet? It isn’t just for local networks, you can choose to broadcast your drives over the internet, so they aren’t just local.

One extra perk that Mac users get, is the ability to use ‘Back to My Mac’ if you’re a MobileMe subscriber; allowing you to remote back into your Mac connected to the router at home, from wherever you are; it’s pretty sweet.

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If you’re a TV and or Movie buff and you’ve never heard of Apple TV, you’re missing out. Apple has had (for a couple years now) been selling a unit called ‘Apple TV’ that allows you to view your computer media on your high and/or standard definition television. Movies, television shows, high quality movie trailers (streamed directly from apple.com), podcasts, photos and more; all viewable at the touch of a button. You’re even able to purchase or rent movies & television shows directly through your TV using the iTunes store; it’s really cool.

Your Apple TV unit connects to your television either by HDMI, DVI or High/Standard definition composite cables, and to your home network (wirelessly, or directly via ethernet). For Mac OS X users, you’ll be happy to know that the interface much resembles (if not replicates) the Front Row application experience. For Microsoft Windows users, don’t you worry; Apple does a great job of making this little piece of technology as easy to use as your microwave.

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iCan't Internet - All About The Internet

After viewing it I immediately thought to myself “No, this one doesn’t appeal to me at all…” but as I was taking a look around, and found that the content was actually extremely useful. As I had just started putting a website together, and was looking to sponge up any useful information I could get my hands on, I found that iCan’tInternet had a ton of information on search engine optimization, setting up and using Google’s popular Adsense, as well as a great way to go about internet marketing and advertising for a cause you’re passionate about.

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This one is for the local greater Toronto area; a killer bargain & deal-finder all rolled up into one. RedFlagDeals.com has a great community of users who are well informed, as well as helpful.

RedFlagDeals.com - Bargain Hunting Galore!

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Don't be helpless, let www.ticketcombat.com help you out of a jam.

We’ve all been young and dumb at one point in our lives; some of us, have the misfortune of also having been unlucky. I wish that after having been issued my first speeding ticket, one of my friends directed me to www.ticketcombat.com, an excellent Canadian resource for fighting pesky offences. I remember finding this site (by chance) and being so impressed with how thorough and informative it was, even to someone like myself who has been through the court systems forwards and backwards close to a dozen times for these kinds of things.

This website carefully outlines steps that are easy to follow (by anyone) so that you can use the court system to your advantage. Tips, tricks, and loopholes that you’ll become familiar with will help you beat your ticket, keep your driving record clean, and save your hard earned cash.

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