Formatting: Crain’s E-mail Alerts
I follow local business news very closely and Crain’s Chicago Business is an incredible source for Chicago business news. They have excellent reporting, a broad range of stories, and even a well produced daily video podcast (iTunes). However, Crain’s E-mail alerts have some opportunity for improvement. And as many of my friends and colleague know, I am a “Formatting Nazi”.
Here is a quick “1-minute” formatting improvement.
Original
Improved
The improved segment is easier to read; looking cleaner, better structured, and more professional. I made five improvements, each of which made a dramatic difference.
- Move the date below the “Top Headlines” title -> cleaner look.
- Used an Un-ordered list instead of inline, text bullets -> cleaner look.
- Decreased quantity of words in each headline -> no wrapping text.
- Standardized text sizes -> all headlines match, cleaner look.
- Used Blagojevich’s real last name, not slang -> improved professionalism.
Fixed: Windows XP Logon Logoff Loop
One of my clients caught a virus on her computer this last week. In an attempt to correct the problem, she installed Norton Antivirus 2010 before doing a full system scan using the boot disk. The first time she rebooted the computer, she got into a logon logoff loop; after entering her login information and submitting it, Windows XP would automatically logoff the account. It was at this point she contacted me and I came to help her solve the problem. [See the bottom of this post for the solution]
Fixed: LN-S4095DX Overscan
I had a problem with my Samsung LN-S4095DX cutting off the edges of the image and was able to fix it with a firmware update.
A Visit to Best Buy
A recent trip to Best Buy encouraged me to Tweet about a slow line and unhappy employee. After my Tweet, a concerned Best Buy employee responded and asked me to elaborate on the problems I was having. I decided to write him an e-mail.
Dvorak Uncensored: ATMs on Craigs List
After the Vegas DEFCON ATM debacle where hackers hacked hackers by setting up a fake ATM in front of the facilities security office, I needed to see how stupid easy it was to buy an ATM and just set it up anywhere. So my search began.
I started looking on e-bay and found plenty of new and used ATMs ranging from $500-2500 but quickly determined I didn’t want to pay $300 for shipping. Next was Craigslist…
Business Plan for Lakeview Business
Over the past few weeks I have been developing a business plan for a business I would like to open in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago Illinois. It has been quite the learning experience, but I have a lot more to do before it is completed. As it stands, I have a rough business plan generated and a preliminary cash flow statement.
To develop the cash flow statement, I used my extraordinary Excel skills and created a tool that is quite robust. The tool has a multitude of settings including options for new or used equipment, leases, energy, Point-of-sale system, labor, and raw materials, among others. All which can be edited on a granular level, down to the cost of each raw material. Utilizing a bill-of-material, expected sales quantity, and retail price for each item, a revenue stream and cost-of-goods-sold is created to develop a net margin. Along side fixed costs, initial equity infusion, and loan payments, the tool can generate the first eight quarters of cash flow. It is quite the tool if you ask me!
Hopefully in the future I will post the plan here to get some feedback. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day!
