Do you think about brands? You probably do but don’t realize it. If you are looking for a Starbucks for example, when you see one you know coffee is close at hand. Or maybe you see a sign for the mobile phone provider you just moved away from and you have a negative thought, only to be replaced by a happy one when you see a sign for your new mobile phone provider.

The elements of the brand – the logo and its design, colors and the products and services behind it – are supposed to have an effect on us. But what is that effect? This is the idea behind the Brand Tags project.

Noah Brier, a strategist and one of the 2 people behind likemind, created this Web site with a simple premise – display a brand, and then enter the first word that comes to mind when you see it. These words are the tags that represent people’s thoughts and feeling on a brand.

Anyone can visit the site and try it – you don’t have to be a marketing guru to do so. You can use it anonymously or create a login and track the tags you have entered. Interestingly, I found many of the tags I assigned to a brand tend to repeat themselves. There are many common terms that I have tagged to brand (e.g. old, tasty), and others that are probably unique to me (e.g. cities where I visited the merchant).

Give Brand Tags a try and let me know what you think... besides the fact it can be addictive.

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Imagine having a product you sell that people want, yet you create one they don’t, then decide to pull the one they want from the market? If you need an example of this, you need not look beyond Microsoft and its promotion of Windows Vista and pending threat to remove Windows XP from the shelf.

To many, Windows XP is all they need for their PC’s operating system. Finally, after years of enduring with issues with various Windows versions, a stable and reliable version exists in XP. Well, as stable and reliable as Windows can be, I guess. But this hasn’t held back the people in Redmond, Washington from selling Vista, an unstable and bloated operating system that has more incompatibilities that Democrats and Republicans. As a result, people have denounced it and have refused to upgrade to Vista. Since some of these people are the key technology decision-makers in Corporate America, traction is gaining in extending the life and support for XP.

InfoWorld Magazine is running a petition to save Windows XP. I have signed it myself, and if you are a fan of XP, I recommend you signing it as well. Whether or not it will make a difference, it is a way to show the size of the resistance.

Sign the Save Windows XP petition!

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Have you ever had a problem with a Web site? Notice how I did not ask for a show of hands, otherwise there would be a lot of arms in the air right now. When you encountered this error, what did you do? Did you call the company, or try to contact them via email or the contact form on their Web site?

As someone who spends most all of my days on the Web, I encounter many. If I do find an error or something out of the ordinary, sometimes I report it. I say sometimes as when I do, I am often confronted with the sounds of crickets on the other end of the phone, get an automated, generic response or something that contains words but is not necessarily a sentence.

Why is this? There are many contributing factors to this, including the typical siloing of functions within a company, the fact that who answer the phone or check the email from the Web site has no knowledge or way to process such a contact, and the Web site being accessed may be managed by a third-party or other entity outside the company and there are no lines of communication in place. Where these are all realistic scenarios, they do absolutely nothing to serve those actually use the Web site, otherwise known as paying customers.

As an Internet consultant and Web developer, I work closely with my clients and sometimes directly to their customers to resolve any issues with a Web site solution I have provided them. When I do get such a report, I check to ensure the following 4 questions are addressed:

• Who are they – their computer, operating system, browser, Internet connection speed and any programs that may be running while they are accessing the Web site
• What are they doing – the Web site they were accessing, including any and all links and where they linked from, and how they got to this point
• What happened – as much detail as possible, including a written or verbal description and screenshots
• What did they expect to happen – this is always helpful as it could be a case of mistaken expectations, or it could be they knew what was supposed to happen and it didn’t work that way

Generally people are willing to provide this information, especially if they are treated with courtesy and respect. Armed with this knowledge, a troubleshooting path can be put together rather quickly and hopefully a resolution is close at hand. That is, if you take the time to do your best to support the Web site user.

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This coming Monday, May 12, 2008, postal rates increase in the US. For the most common postage value, the rate for a 1 ounce first class letter increases from 41 cents to 42 cents. I never understood why they don’t raise it by a nickel every several years rather than a penny every year, but I digress.

To avoid the catastrophe of post offices running out of 1 cent stamps to cover the increase, the US Postal Service last year introduced “forever” stamps. The premise is once you buy the stamp, it will always be valid for the 1 ounce first class letter rate. So if you bought a forever stamp at 41 cents today, you would not have to add additional postage when using it on Monday when the rate increases.

I laud the post office for introducing forever stamps, as there is surely a significant cost for printing and distributing the additional postage stamps. Not to mention you and I enduring huge lines at the post office to buy another penny stamp. Plus you get some small satisfaction of beating the system.

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Not too long ago I heard Joffrey’s Coffee was offering samples for bloggers to try. As someone who is powered by coffee, I couldn’t resist to take them up on their offer.

Shortly after signing up on their Web site I received a sample pouch of Jamaican Me Crazy, a flavored coffee. For the sake of full disclosure, the darker and more robust the coffee is the better it is for me. A couple of my favorite coffees are Trader Joe’s Bay Blend and whatever is roasting when I am at Costco – seriously! I brewed the pouch of pre-ground coffee in my Cuisinart Grind and Brew with the thermal carafe.

My verdict – I liked it. Though a flavored coffee, it did not taste like there was syrup poured into regular coffee, as some flavored coffees taste to me. It was a mild blend, but had a good flavor. Plus there was no noticeable difference in my performance that day!

On Joffrey’s Web site they offer a huge variety of coffees, and I will eventually get through the extensive list. I like to keep milder coffees on hand for visitors, and I will look into their bolder and darker coffees as well.

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