The new, shiny version of WordPress has been released and I’m still on the fence.  This is the best review I’ve read so far, what do you think?

(h/t to my twitterfriend @CoolB)

He follows 3 others (that’s a Holy Trinity reference for those who don’t know) but only has 52 followers? That’s really sad!

If you love Jesus, follow Him!

(click image for a closer look)

This week’s “Austin in 10 Pics or Less” pertains to our Monday night out for the SXSW Interactive mixer. We sure had a lot of fun, check it out:

[PIC ONE]

We arrived at Mohawk on 9th and Red River at about 7:30 and parking sucked because the Frank Erwin Stadium is up the street and the Kansas Jayhawks had come to visit Austin with sad hopes of winning (which they did not):

[PIC TWO]

I’m on the left with devil eyes- we were hanging out with Grant and met tons of other peeps like Ryan, Alex (aka Bald Man), Omar, and Thom- most of whom we’d talked to on Twitter prior to the mixer (thank God I look the same in my pics so people recognized me)!

[PIC THREE]

Benn found the fountain of youth via a couple of cadillac margaritas (margaritas w/ Patron).

[PIC FOUR]

I’m more of a beer girl myself. I was thirsty.

[PIC FIVE]

We shut this place DOWN! At 10:30 there were 5 of us left and the free drinks ended. The staff was staring at us, having swept the bar and started kindly tapping toes for us to leave.

[PIC SIX]

Hipster bar, Club Deville is next door to Mohawk so three of us headed over to close THAT bar down. (they were watching the original King Kong or Godzilla on a bigscreen inside, so we sat on the outside patio- it was gorgeous outside)

[PIC SEVEN]

Scott Belmonte, local tech genius was part of our three-person-party at Deville. He had a trendy shirt underneath the Abercrombie jacket, we swear!

[PIC EIGHT]

As did many people, Scott had his laptop and whipped out his Chris Walken SNL collection and proved how ridiculously good his Walken impression was. I think it would have been funny, even without beer!

[PIC NINE]

We then took the beautiful but looong drive home from downtown Austin to Leander. Maybe that’s why we don’t go out all the time…

So, we did it in under 10 pics- sweet! We look forward to seeing all of our new friends from the mixer at “SouthBy” (I learned the trendy shorthand for South By Southwest this week) in March!

Benn, since you won’t tell me what your current cryptic article means in person, I’m calling you out online- WTH is up at AG???  Get ready for WHAT???

The CSI Factor (the grade a customer service provider receives) short for the “Customer Service Index- Factor” series (Episode One here, Episode Two here) is back.  Today is PART TWO of our Sprint experience and on a scale of 1-10 (1 being the worst, 10 being the best), they receive a 0.

Here’s what went down:
1.  Tuesday, we had a nightmare experience with Sprint.  I learned in the comments that many others have had similar experiences.

2. Wednesday, we thought we’d try again.  Because my husband’s Treo650 is insured, if repairs can’t be done at a Sprint store, it is relatively easy to have it replaced.  Well, if you’re in a Sprint corporate repair center (SCRC), not to be confused with a Sprint repair center that is a reseller.    I look online for another inconveniently placed SCRC and set out for Round Rock, hoping for a better experience.

3. We arrive at the SCRC and go to the little host booth where the guy who has apparently had a recent frontal lobotomy said “we don’t have a repair center.”  The Sprint website said it was a SCRC.  “Obviously we’re not,” he said as his slumped arm lazily pointed to the back wall where there was no repair center.  We asked for suggestions and he pointed us to another location which was contrary to the website (which we now determined was bunk).  So, do we rely on the bunk website or the guy who could give a crap less that we were at our wit’s end?

4. Neither.  I call Sprint customer service and ask for them to locate a SCRC for me.  They told us the same address and we let them know that we needed another one due to our new knowledge.  They were very friendly over the phone and instead of just saying “uh, I’m sorry but that’s the only one unless you go to where you went last night,” he said, “let me call and find out what shopping center this one is in.”  I asked if he would verify that it was a SCRC and not third party.  Nearing the 7:00 cutoff of SCRC, we sped to the next Sprint store and walked in to the host podium.

5. We’re sorry, but they’re not taking phones anymore (it’s 6:55).  Now, I’m a kind person and I am very nice in person, but I’m pretty sure there’s some section of my brain where the blood vessels popped and the freakin’ Hulk was about to come out.  This poor girl had no idea what we’d been through.  Benn calmly asked if she could go check because we’d been through hell and back to get there.  My clenched fists and shallow breathing and new posture of “I may snap” helped.  As she walked away, I said audibly “I think this is the final straw- we’re leaving Sprint.”

6. “Okay, he said he’ll look at it,” she said as the clouds parted, a beam of light shone on her and I think I imagined that she sprouted feathered wings and grew a halo.  “Thank you so much,” we said exasperatedly.  The other customer was being helped, so the Sprint lady asked what we’d been through.  We told her.  She was upset with us but wasn’t surprised.  “Yeah, Sprint corporate stores are just like that.”  WHAT?  “You’re not a corporate store?”  You’ve got to be effin’ kidding me- Sprint told me they’d called and verified that it was a SCRC.  I could sense the Hulk coming out again.  “Don’t worry- we’ll take care of your phone here.  If he doesn’t fix it, we’ll replace it at no charge.”  I may have told her that I love her, but I’m not sure.

7. The non-corporate Sprint store was my new best friend.  The guy in repair had a personality and said we’d experienced a great disservice by our past experience and assured us he would do more than just push the reset button.  After a long examination, he simply came out and told Benn that it could not be repaired and he didn’t have a replacement in the store but it meant that when he ordered it, Benn would probably get an upgrade in 3-5 days.  Sweet.  I may have told him that I love him, but I’m not sure.

8. Within 48 hours, they called us to let us know that the new phone was in and it WAS an upgrade.  They under-promised and over-delivered which has never once happened in the entire time we’ve been with Sprint (10+ years).  I generally have the theory that if something ain’t broke- don’t buy a new one and I prefer to replace phones when they are completely dysfunctional (like missing pieces or having to hold the battery in with your hand while talking) while Benn likes the shiny and new tools.  When we picked up the new phone, we decided (and informed them) that in the future, we would purchase ALL of our phones there and refer everyone there because of their level of service.

So, the lesson is that Sprint corporate earned a 0 but the Sprint Reseller earned an 11.  Thank you, Round Rock Sprint for not giving me an aneurysm as we all know that I was pretty dang close to having.  We decided to stay with Sprint and drive the 20 minutes away when we need any help of any kind.  It only takes a few people that are caring to keep a corporation alive.

Benn posted a very thoughtful article on AG about the fallout of being a tech pioneer and posited that people who sell Web 2.0 as THE way are damaging their followers because Web 2.0 is only A way.  In the comments, he notes:

“…it stands to reason that if you’ve removed your focus from standard marketing/cut your mailers out, cut out your phone calls, cut out your door knocking then yes, someone will fill that void and take that business- because it does still work.”

Web 2.0 is great for the people online, but my grandparents aren’t online, most people at my church haven’t heard of a blog, even a NAR rep sent to speak at a local conference (who runs their “blog” by the way) hadn’t heard of Agent Genius, Bloodhound Blog or even (gasp) RErevealed, supporting the theory that an internet presence is important but if you put all of your eggs in one basket, you make yourself vulnerable and as mentioned above, someone else who has a balanced marketing plan will take business you could have had. 

I think most readers here would agree that flashy Internet marketing is one of many tools you should have in your toolbox, that you should still keep at least a portion of your marketing diversified.  Most readers herewould agree that people buy homes because of the qualities of the home and usually because of their invaluable agent’s time negotiating the contract to close process, not because they clicked “buy” on some MLS search.  If you think Web2.0 is the only way and that the Internet alone sells homes, don’t they call you a Redfinner?

A dear friend of mine is struggling through her husband’s illness that leaves him unable to use his hands or move much at all.  His employer has been very understanding and allows him to work (as a software programmer) from home.  NOW, the problem is that the software application that is voice activated (allowing him to work hands-free) is PC-based but the hardware he programs on is MAC-based.

If ANYONE knows of a mac-based voice activation program, please please let me know so I can pass the word along.  Like I said, she’s a dear friend of mine and solving this problem on the checklist would ease their situation.  HELP!

YourStreet initially launched as a real estate community for buyers and “real estate enthusiasts.”  In an oversaturated sea of real estate “communities,” YourStreet is the first domino to fall in a line of “real estate community” sites built by techies aiming to cash out on Realtors, home buyers and home sellers.

In the world of public relations, words like “failure” or “closure” are replaced with epithets like “retool” or “relaunch.”  The fluffy term “relaunch” is used to pad the site slipping into Plan B- make the website an info aggregator.  Mashable noted that YourStreet has the potential to be a cool tool, but after visiting the site I learned the following:

1. In Austin (not a small town), there is only one user that has registered.  The “news” events are all submitted via the Houston Chronicle (huh?) and the third function of YourStreet is chatting which totals zero conversations so far in Austin.

2. The site offers embeddable widgets for your blog so you can show off your neighborhood, but in the crowded world of “communities,” YourStreet will find difficulty in gaining users (especially since it doesn’t offer anything new and lacks topical focus making it difficult to reach new users). I find it hard to believe that a map with no users shown will impress anyone reading your blog.

3. The WORST PART of this relaunchedpointless site is that Google ads litter the entire page.  Instead of allocating a strip of valuable Internet real estate, YourStreet has dedicated what feels like more than 50% of their page to Google ads.  Yuck!

Do I need more reasons that YourStreet is just a sign of things to come?  I wonder how they’ll spin it when the site is shut down… “YourStreet Retires?”

Do you recall the ads where the idiot dog gets all excited about the treats that taste like bacon but it’s just a chewy animal byproduct?  I love that the dog gets so excited for something that he craves with his entire soul.  The catch is that he needs one treat to calm his craving, but give him the whole bag and he’s got to sleep outside tonight, if you know what I mean!

In the Internet world, we do the same thing- since we want one treat, we permit ourselves to eat the entire bag of “bacon.”  Let me explain- this week, a new term was coined that addresses this problem.  “Bacn” refers to all of that email that you consented to but has somehow clogged your Inbox- it’s one step up from Spam and one step down from a meaningful personal or business email.  Subscribing to comments, newsletters, Google Alerts, read receipts, twitter alerts, travel sales notifications, ebay bidding alerts, etc. are considered to be “bacn.”  You asked for it, you just didn’t mean to get quite this much of it and you’re about to have to sleep outside tonight, if you know what I mean!

So how do we combat Bacn when we meant that we wanted one treat and not the whole bag?  I’m not the tech savviest tool in the shed, so I hope others of you will chime in!  I would suggest the following ways of fending off having to scarf down the whole slab of bacn:

1. Use a separate email for “alerts” of any kind.
2. If you’re an Outlook user, create a bacn folder.  You want to read these emails but don’t have time right now, so just like you’d love to eat a bag of bacon treats, you should pace yourself, buddy!
3. Think twice before subscribing to alerts and don’t feel guilty for unsubscribing (Orbitz and Facebook won’t take it personally).

In this virtual world of self-imposed overindulgence, how do YOU combat bacn?

Technology can only take us so far…