A number of years back, there was an internet marketing guru named Corey Rudl who advocated using software like his Supersonic Email Harvester to collect email addresses for websites that you would like to contact. Of course, it did not take long before people were using this technology to SPAM every kind of offer you can imagine to any email address that was published on a website or newsgroup. Today, many sites are using CAPTCHA technology to prevent automated bots and crawlers from automatically logging in to systems like Google Adwords and Overture’s Pay Per Click backend. We decided that this would be a great technology to use to make sure people who send you an email are actually real people. We think it is similar to “double opt-in” technology where you must confirm your subscription to an online newsletter or account sign-up so that webmasters and companies can be sure that you are giving them a real email address. Our Spam Block software does just this, to make sure that the people that are sending you an email are real people. The best part is, our Spam Block service is 100% free to use. All we ask is that you let us know how we can improve the service and maybe tell a friend. If you really like it, then you might want to link back to our site from yours. All you have to do is sign up and configure any number of email addresses you would like to send email to, place the code on your website in place of the email address, and our system will do the rest.

Well, I have to hand it to the people over at Van Dyke Software, they actually listen. A few months ago a number of people, including myself, requested that they add the ability to have multiple windows open in “tabs” like in the FireFox browser in their Secure CRT software. Secure CRT is an SSH client which is basically a secure way to Telnet into a server. For those of us who use multiple servers and have an SSH session window open for many at once, the tabbed setup was a no brainer once we saw it in FireFox. Well, today the people over at Van Dyke emailed me letting me know that the tabbe feature has been implemented in their new 5.0 Beta release of Secure CRT. I have tried it and I am in love all over again. Thank you Van Dyke.

Remember those Ford commercials where, “Quality was job #1″? That was Ford’s response to the complaints consumers had about all of the domestic cars manufactured. The fit and finish on all of the American cars in the late 70’s and early 80’s was just plain terrible. Ford decided to launch that campaign to try and combat the perception that American cars were junk. Well, times changed and Ford adapted. I have owned two Ford’s since then and I have to say they were great cars/trucks. It makes me wonder how companies like AOL are going to fair when it comes time to adapt. AOL faces some difficulties ahead as broadband internet access becomes cheaper and cheaper with DSL service from people like SBC/Yahoo as cheap as $20 a month. That is less expensive than a dial up account costs from AOL. The “added value” services AOL provides are a joke, as most of us “geeks” know already and have known for some time. As the average internet user becomes more savvy and computer literate generations mature, AOL will soon find itself in a very tight position. Will they be able to adapt? Or, will AOL become a dinosaur and die a quick, sudden death? Personally, I have no love for the company. I used to have an AOL account to test website compatability with their browswer. This proved to be more hassle than it was worth and when it came time to cancel my AOL account, it was like pulling teeth from an angry tiger. I hope for AOL and their employees’ sake that they are able to adapt, but something tells me that they will be left behind.

Yesterday I called SBC to change a few things on our bill and to cancel our SBC/Yahoo DSL (more on that in a second). I was greeted by the sweetest girl who asked me how she could make my SBC customer experience better. She was happy, up-beat and just plain nice. So, all I wanted to do was be nice back to her. While we were discussing our bill and what we could do to get a better deal, we discussed all kinds of things including how her husband is starting his own business. It was a great experience. Since she could not deactivate my DSL, she transferred me to Belle in the DSL department. Belle was the same way! I couldn’t believe it. Belle was happy to assist me in cancelling service and made sure that it happened ASAP (two days). All in all, I was very happy with my SBC customer service experience and really wish that every time I called the customer service department for a company I felt the same way.

Well, it is going to be interesting to see how the technology world plays out over the next year or two. I believe the “internet hype” has finally disappered and the last of the tech company merger/unmergers has come and gone. So, maybe now companies like AOL will realize that they need to start providing their customers with decent service. When it comest to AOL’s customer service, the complaints just don’t seem to stop. Most of them seem to come from AOL’s tactics when it comes to terminating your account…they don’t want to do it. While I can understand them not wanting to give up some revenue, no means no. At least that is what my mother always told my sister and me (yes that is the proper way to say that). Our AOL customer service forum is now in place, so if you want to vent your frustration, or need help with an AOL issue, we may be able to help each other. Our Yahoo! customer service forum has helped thousands of people (Yahoo! doesn’t like to give up it’s phone number). We hope that our new AOL forum will do the same.

It has been a while since I have posted here and there is good reason…I asked the love of my life to marry me. She said yes by the way. So, I was looking around one day, since everyone expects that once you get engaged that you know where and when you will be married, where you will live, and where you will go on your honeymoon. The last one sounded most appealing to me, so I started poking around on the web one day and came across a pretty cool idea for a honeymoon, a luxury yacht charter. I used to own a small boat when I lived in San Diego and I swore that I would never again own a boat myself as they are the biggest money pits I have ever seen. I guess that holds true for mega yachts as well because there are hundreds of the worlds finest yachts available for charter year round. The best part is, you can rent these boats complete with a crew that can sail you and your significant other around and cook you gourmet meals. So, I was thinking that it might be fun to to one of these honeymoon yacht charters with Danielle and sail around the British Virgin Islands for a while, sipping on champagne and eating fresh seafood. I can take out the wind surfer in the morning and then go water skiing in the afternoon. I will keep you posted.