Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego

Where is the World is Carmen Sandiego Richy Raine headed to next?

http://www.picturesofchina.net/Chinese-Flag.html

Red with a large yellow five-pointed star and four smaller yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward the middle of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner; the color red represents revolution, while the stars symbolize the four social classes - the working class, the peasantry, the urban petty bourgeoisie, and the national bourgeoisie (capitalists) - united under the Communist Party of China.  CIA World Fact-Book Chinese Flag

Synchro32 has landed in the Peoples Republic of China and will be doing an installation in mid September.  

Until next time, See you on down the road...

Shane Allen - Synchro32 Head of North American Operations

Will the Real SHANE ALLEN Please Stand Up?

Got my postal snail mail today and received a credit card for a national store.  Guess what, I didn't open the account, haven't been to one of their stores in a long time, haven't been to their website, etc.  It's official, there is another Shane Allen running around out there in CYBERWORLD - Wild West Web - with all of my personal/confidential information including DOB, Social Security number, phone numbers, address, etc.  The only thing they had wrong was my email address.  They are using something from Yahoo. 

Spooky.

Trust me.  If this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone.  I'm beyond careful with my information.  I have twenty digit long passwords, firewalls, firewalls on firewalls, don't allow online merchants to store my information - I'll enter it each time.  Fortunately,   being the type of forward thinking person that I am, I signed up for an independent credit protection service when I joined Synchro32.  Due to business expenses, travel, etc. I use my credit card a lot.  I don't have time to deal with identity theft nor chasing it all down.  Paying over $100/year has just become the "new norm".  The credit reporting agencies certainly won't protect your information and make it as difficult as possible for you to prevent just this.

Anyway, things are very well at Synchro32 and I have some very exciting news of where Richy Raine will be doing the next install, but I'm saving that for later in the week.  Synchro32 is rapidly expanding it's global presence as the platinum provider of metalcasting specific software to the industry!  Barbara, get ready to update the maps!

Till next time, one of the Shane Allen's will see you on down the road...

Well, It Was Bound to Happen...

Howdy from sweltering Texas where I'm sweating into my ten gallon Stetson!  Since the last report on the BLOG, no rain and no relief from the unrelenting temperatures.

Anyway, it was bound to happen eventually.  All of my personal information floating around in cyberspace that I have no control over.  I have become one of the many that has had their identity stolen.  However, I had the foresight several years ago to sign up with a company that continously monitors my credit reports and assists with identify theft.  It's a paid for service, but it is proving to be well worth the money.

I got an urgent notification yesterday that someone had opened up a credit card account with a major big box electronics retailer using my name, social security number, and date of birth.  After verifying that I did not in fact open this account, the credit service is contacting the retailer and everyone else regarding this.    So, a little prevention goes a long ways.  I've heard of horror stories about people whose identity has been stolen and then it takes them years and lotso money to get this all straightened out - as the burden of proof falls on the person whose identity was stolen.

I know for a fact that there has been at least three breaches on my information as of late.  I was notified by my credit card company that "some unnamed/undisclosed" retailer I use had been hacked and my information stolen.  They refused to disclose the merchant, but closed down my credit account and issued me a new card.  Additionally, the State of Texas had a HUGE breach of security with all sorts of personal/private information in the open for anyone to gather.  This information was based on State records of employment, retirement, etc.  There is just so much information floating around out there about you and me and much of it we have absolutely no control over.

On to more important things, Synchro32 is moving along quite nicely.  Richy is wrapping up his final week "down under" and I am sure is longing to return home.  We are all still busy following up on the multitude of GIFA leads and issuing quotes.  I personally did three demos last week spanning the globe.

Well until next time, see you on down the road...

Shane Allen / Head of Synchro32 North American Operations

How Low Will it Go?

and I bet you thought I was talking about the global financial markets?

Nope, not getting into that deep water.

Anyway, I ventured over to a local lake over the blazing hot weekend on an inspection tour.  I wanted to see for myself just how low it had gotten during the throes of this drought we are engaged in.  Plus, as an added bonus I got to take the new ride out for a drive.  I like my new truck.  If you're going to live in Texas, you'd better be driving a pickup truck...

The lake is very low.  All of those landowners that paid the premium prices for lake front property now have beach front property.  Someone told me that it would take 15" of rain or more to bring the lake up to pool level.  Unfortunately, there is no rain on the horizon.

Anyway, enjoy a few pics from our Sunday evening ride / in the cool cab of the pickup truck.

Say, have you started making your plans to attend the ICI-Investment Casting Institute annual conference in Covington KY?  If not, then you need to give it some serious consideration as this is an equipment show.  Simon Adlington and myself will be manning the Synchro32 booth.  Looking forward to seeing you there. 58th Annual Technical Conference and Equipment Expo

Until next time, see you on down the road.

Don't drive off the boat ramp into the water!  

Have to go 4x4 to put the boat in the water...

That all used to be water...

Synchro isn't the Only Thing That's HOT!

While the DOW might be cascading and unemployment hovering at or near 10%, Synchro32 is moving along quite nicely.  Being able to the serve the global community is one reason, however, many metalcasters are coming to the realization that they need the global leading ERP/MRP solution only for metalcasters - Synchro32.  You owe it to your share holders, stake holders, employees, and customers to take a good hard look at what Synchro32 has to offer.  This isn't no generic software package - no sir!  This is the real deal - the real McCoy.  Give me a ring at 800-323-2808 xt. 1 or email me at sales@synchro32.com so that I can understand your needs and arrange a demonstration for you.  Trust me, it will be well worth your time.  Did I mention that Synchro32 is extremely affordable?

We are sweltering in Texas still.  It's the dog days of summer.  Got home last night and my chilled air was cycled off.  I've got one of these fancy new fangled  thermometers that lets the electric company throttle back my chilled air unit when demand reaches critical levels.  It's the ole supply and demand curve at work again.  Demand is exceeding supply and they are warning us of rolling blackouts today!

 

The forecast for today is more of the same.

 That sure looks very sine wavish to me...

Here is what the electrical demand currently looks like...

Well until next time, I'll see you on down the blistering hot road...

Shane Allen
Head of Synchro32 North American Operations

Surveyed to Death...

What is the deal?  The world has gone totally bonkers over survey's! 

For two nights in a row I have gotten a survey phone call from a major automobile manufacture wanting to do  a survey on service on my moms car.  I took her car in for it's first oil change and tire rotation two weeks ago.  They have been pestering me ever since to complete a survey on "my experience".   Of course, they call at the worst time - like when I'm working or having dinner.   I finally told them tonight - everything was great - no issues - no complaints they did a good job - I liked the price they charged and to leave me alone!

I stimulated the economy recently and purchased a new vehicle.  I don't know how many times the dealer has called me to make sure "everything is ok" and that will I make sure that I complete the survey from the manufacture and make sure I check everything as excellent and if I have any issues I need to contact them before completing the survey.  Folks, I'm not talking about one or two calls, I'm talking about eight or ten phone calls over the past few weeks.  It's gotten very annoying.  I've had to complete two different survey's from the manufacture.  Enough!   

Just now, I was checking on hotels and a survey popped up as I was trying to do something asking me to take five of my precious minutes to complete a survey.  NO!  This is happening more and more frequently, everyone wants my five minutes until I've been five minuted to death!


One website recently that I was attempting to order from demanded that I complete how I heard about them - when I clicked "other" it demanded that I put in a reason.  I could go no further and complete the order until I put in a reason.  Guess what?  I took my hard earned dollars of disposable income and went somewhere else - somewhere where I didn't have to complete information for their marketing department.  Now, I have to wonder if their "survey" takes into account the number of people that complete the order information, get to that question, and then punt.

The problem with surveys that by and large they are created unscientifically.  I have taken two college level courses in statistics along with calculus and applied methods and also another course devoted to nothing but the creation of surveys.  There are scientific psychological and mathematical methods of creating surveys that produce accurate results.  The vast majority of the surveys are anything but scientific. 


I can save the world a lot of paper - and I mean a lot of paper.  Seems as every brick and mortar store you visit from the grocery store to the big box retailer tacks on an extra 5 inches of paper to the receipt wanting information from you  - to complete a survey and be registered for a monthly prize and to give them your email address.  When keeping up with receipts for tax purposes and reimbursements, that extra 5 inches of paper adds up and I have to continually rip it off so that I can scan it into the computer.  The worst receipts are those that put the message right dab in the middle of the receipt - so that the items you purchased are at the top - then their message - then at the bottom is the information of date, total, tax, etc.  Makes it a real nightmare to scan.  
 
Now, to end this blog entry on a very positive note, I'll tell you about the best survey I ever completed.  I purchased a home / RV gasoline powered generator.  It was anything but inexpensive.  I got a request from the manufacture to complete a survey that took about fifteen minutes.  However, I wasn't entered into a drawing for $1,000 shopping spree, no, I was given a $50 gift certificate to a major online retailer to spend anyway I wanted to.  Basically, they bribed me out of fifteen minutes for fifty bucks.   TVM - the Time Value of Money and the Law of Diminishing Returns...

All is well on the Synchro32 end.  Simon is safely back in the UK and will be returning very shortly to bring on another excited customer into the world of Synchro32.  Richy is hard at work on the other side of the world bringing up new customers in the Oceanic region.  Our esteemed marketing director Barbara Nolan Collins recently had a well deserved week off to recover from the onslaught of getting GIFA put together and is already hard at work on the next advertisement campaign..  Chris Collins, our leader, is hard at work keeping the company on track and keeping the development team churning out the new releases.  Jean-Marie - our Agent/Partnership manager is getting the agency lined up.  Bianca is doing a lot of background work for everyone - work that needs to be done - mostly is never really acknowledged.  Here is your three minutes of fame! :)  My buddy Lee is busy pushing the baby carriage around - maybe he will grace us with some new pics soon - perhaps pictures showing off a variety of new outfits - hint hint...  :)

Until next time, see you on down the road...

Shane Allen
Head of Synchro32 North American Operations

No Hidden Fees

I was reminded yesterday the importance of Synchro32 having no hidden fees or costs associated with getting the worlds platinum standard of ERP/MRP software for the metalcasting industry.

What reminded me of this is when I got home and opened up my landline phone bill from the major carrier in the US.  I normally pay X a month - same amount month after month.  It never changes more than a penny or two.  This month, my bill was X + ~$5.00 which got my attention.  I'm an "annualized" type of guy, I look at things on an annual or on-going basis.  What is something going to cost me for a full year.  There are all sorts of seemingly innocuous things  that we get ourselves into on a "monthly" basis.  That extra ~$5.00/month turns out to be ~$60.00/year - which is real money.   I'm not "tight" and my shoes don't squeak when I walk, but I am prudently frugal and also "risk averse".  

Turns out this extra $5.00 a month by the major phone provider is a "minimum" usage fee plus surchrges, recovery fees, and taxes on a service that I don't even use - long distance.  I use my mobile phone and SKYPE for long distance calls.  Thus, I am being charged for something I don't even use.  Thus, I cut the cord and have gone rogue and no longer have a land line at home.  It was a convenience - a few people still called me on it - but mostly it was telemarketers that refused to obey the "do not call list" so that they could sell me something, reduce my credit card debt that I don't have, give me some politico message or want donations.

It's not really an inconvenience not having a land line as I have this neat phone setup that allows my mobile phone, via BlueTooth, to "tap into" all of the phones in the house.  I have a number of phones through the house and garage that automatically connect anytime my mobile phone is in the house.  Thus, I can answer my mobile phone anywhere in the house or make a call from anywhere in the house via mobile phone.  Therefore, I don't have to carry a mobile phone from room to room.  It's really quite neat and inexpensive.

Doing a quick search of the Wild West Web, turns out many consumers across the land are enraged by this fee for not using and are en mass cutting the cord.  One has to wonder what marketing genius came up with this "revenue enhancement" plan - it seems like it might backfire.

So, let me assure you, at Synchro32 we have NO HIDDEN FEES, COSTS, NON-USAGE SURCHARGES, etc.  READ MY LIPS - NO HIDDEN FEES! Our contract is a simple one page document which is defined as the terms of business and it is not even in fine print.  Our price schedule is visible for all the world to see on our web page and we make them freely available in multiple currencies.

So, what's next - I expect the major communications provider to sneak a charge into my mobile phone bill of "no land line fee".  :)

Until next time, see you on down the road...

Shane Allen / Head of Synchro32 North American Operations.

STOP THE INSANITY!

Texas, like many parts of the country, is mired in the depths of a massive heat wave with no relief on the horizon.  Come on over Simon, I just know how you savor the heat!  If you thought it was hot last week while in Texas, you ain't seen nothing yet...

By the way, this 91 degrees Fahrenheit is at 9pm - 21:00 hours!

Speaking of insanity, I continue to run across metalcasters that are mired in the last century and still "do it" with pen and paper or green screens.  I can not fathom running a metalcasting operation with pen and paper and by the seat of the pants when there is such an affordable, user friendly, software suite called Synchro32.  Synchro32 is dedicated ONLY to the metalcasting industry.  Synchro32 knows metalcasting.  Don't you think it is time to put away the slide rule and the #2 pencil and make your life so much easier and your metalcasting operations more profitable?  Give Synchro32 a try - as we have a pilot/trail system available for three months with three users at no cost - other than three days on-site to get you on your way.

Until next time, see you on down the road...