Michigan Blog - Featuring Michigan Shopping, Travel, Business & People

The New Ford Flex

My ten year old son recently told me to say goodbye to my current minivan - Ford had developed a new model called the "Ford Flex". I am not really a carbuff - but had to take a look at it and along the way

I found the Ford Direct interactive application. Now that was cool! If you are in the market, you will want to try The FordDirect website You can get free quotes and design multiple cars.


Now a little bit on the Ford Flex - since I will be getting one as soon as they are out (according to my 10 yr. old)

Room for six is the standard, buy you can easily opt to forego the 2nd-row bucket seats for a bench that does a 60/40 split. No matter which configuration you choose, though, theater-style seating suits everyone - placing the 2nd and 3rd rows slightly higher than the one in front. So, what abou the view from the driver's seat? We like to think of it as SUV-like - without the SUV-like effort to get in.

Interior Flexibility


You can pretty much split the world into two groups, Those who need to carry people along with their stuff, and those who just need stuff. So for starters, Ford made sure every seat except the driver's folds flat. And for those in the people/stuff category, there is an optional 50/50 split 3rd row seat that lets you use one-half to load longer items while still bringing some people along.

Interior Room


Remember the last time you were in a limo? Or, longingly looked at that seat in forst class as you made your way back to coach? Well, the 2nd row legroom in the Ford Flex will make you feel like you're there (So much so, some six feet three inch people are still in shock.) In fact, everything inside has been thoughtfully laid out so that it won't interrupt your line of sight, creating an open sense of space no matter where you sit.





Voice Activated Navigation


With the capability to read real-time traffic info, pronounce street names and store up to 2,300 songs on it's hard drive, this optional voice-activated Navigation System is everything you could ask for in a copilot. Bonus? Climate controls and a SIRIUS tuner are seamlessy incorporated into it's beautifully smudge-resistant 8-inch touch screen. Bigger bonus?

You get to choose if your copilot has a male or female voice.

More on the Ford Flex and FordDirect Quote and Interaction system tomorrow.

Design a new Ford online and get quotes from local dealers!

Labels: FordDirect and The Ford Flex

Spam is only one email issue that robs us of our productivity! - Here is a recent question from a client on email and the solution to save you time!!

QUESTION FROM CLIENT: A few of our customers have started using read receipts and they are jamming up the outboxes causing all other messages in the outbox to not send until we delete the read receipts from the outbox.

We are seeing the issue on all our computers using outlook 2000, and outlook 2002. Any ideas of what setting we need to change to take care of this?

Are you tired of dealing with read receipts?

Me too... do this and you'll never have to worry with them again.

Everybody in my office uses read receipts.

A read receipt is a message that goes back to the original sender that confirms that the receiver has read the email. It annoys the crap out of me. Why can't Janet just ask me if I received his email the next time I see him at the water cooler?

Anyway, these receipts have been around forever...

If you always deny or always send these receipts, then just tell Outlook to do it for you.

1. Open Outlook
2. Click Tools menu
3. Click Options
4. Click the Email Options button under the Preferences tab
5. Select Tracking Options
6. Select Always, Never, or Ask Me under the section titled "Use this option to decide how to respond to requests for read receipts" at the bottom of the dialog box.
7. Click OK until you are out of the Options dial

Good luck in the path to productivity!

The name becomes the software. Norton 360 is going to steal alot of business from a few different industries.

• Norton 360 Defends your PC against a broad range of threats. This is what we typically think that a Norton antivirus product will do. As always, the Norton 360 product does a fabulous job in this category
• The new Norton 360 safeguards against online identity theft. Although this is not a product like Lifelock Identity Theft Monitoring - it will surely compete with identity theft software products to a certain degree.
• Protects important files from loss
• Keeps your PC tuned up for peak performance. Once again - it does not do EVERYTHING that Tuneup does, but it will compete in this category.
• Provides a hassle-free user experience. Well it better be easy to use! We have been spoiled in the past! Norton has always been intuitive and a quick learn.
• Protects against the latest online threats. This is expected.
• One-click access to expert support right from your Norton 360 product
• 1 year protection for up to 3 PCs

Since I do alot of work on large graphics files and have over 100 websites on my hard drive - my biggest beef with Norton was that it took SO long to scan my disk. Not so with Norton 360. They have enhanced the performance including faster scans and browse speeds, faster start-up times and more.

The Norton 360 now has online backup. It provides for new backup destinations including HD-DVD and Blu-Ray disc and iPods, while continuing to support the widest range of mapped and networked storage drives. Included with purchase is 2GB of online storage. This feature will compete with products like

• Mozy Online Backup
• ElephantDrive
• Box.net Online Storage

For you Firefox users, Norton 360 has Phishing Protection for Firefox. Phishing Protection guards online attempts to steal your personal information using real-time analytics to identify and block fraudulent web sites, and now supports both the Firefox and Internet Explorer browsers.

It is going to be interesting to see how McAffee AntiVirus, WhiteCanyon and ESET NOD32 are going to respond to Norton's launch.

Kudo's from the Michigan Business Directory Editors!

Labels: Anti-virus Software

Labels: Caring for new Rabbit, Happy Easter

• Alpha Arbutin
  A natural skin whitening agent: Arbutin, is a Tyrosinase inhibitor, it inactivates Tyrosinase ( the enzyme responsible for skin darkening) by chelating with its vital copper ion and acts as a reducing agent on the melanin intermediates, thus blocking the oxidation chain reaction at various points from tyrosine /DOPA to melanin.


• Tego® Cosmo C 100
  A nature identical amino acid derivative with revitalizing properties. It supports the protection of the skin and is a conditioning agent for hair care as well. Water soluble.


• Gigawhite™
  a skin brightening complex of botanical origin, which was developed with the help of 'in-vitro' assays, human cell cultures and a skin model with barrier effect. Gigawhite™ at 5% has been proven to have a significant skin brightening effect with regular topical use. It was additionally shown to reduce the color and size of age spots in a twelve week 'in-vivo' study. Gigawhite™ is appropriate in topical emulsions, gels and serums.

Meladerm works by combining the properties of the these effective and safe active ingredients. I researched the safety and found a number of great articles that convinced me that Meladerm was safe and if anything was going to help me, Meladerm was the answer. The best article I found is here: http://www.emedicine.com/derm/topic528.htm

I bought Meladerm and will keep you informed on the progress of the age spots and skin brightening - here are Meladerm Coupons

Labels: meladerm

The title of this blog entry doesn't necessarily tell the whole story - because you do not have to be a senior citizen to enjoy the benefits of Memory Foam.

Memory foam is polyurethane based and sometimes referred to as Visco-elastic foam - it is widely used in hospitals and is now economical enough to be sold to consumers for bedroom and living room pillows, mattresses and supports.

In the 1970’s NASA developed memory foam to help astronauts combat the pressure of G-force when leaving the earth’s atmosphere. NASA never did use their own invention, but hospitals were given the technology and the use exploded in the medical community.

Memory foam was used to reduce bedsores, and gangrene in some medical patients, as well as improving comfort and sleep in most all patients. This, in turn, quickened thehealing process and lowered insurance rates.

Memory foam works by deforming or changing shape when weight is applied to it. This is done through tiny holes in the cells of the foam that allow air to pass through.

The weight is spread evenly and reduces pressure points on your body. Thus, the foam easily shapes to your body - the unique chareristic of memory foam. Memory foam is temperature sensitive. The lower the temp, the more firm your memory foam pillow will be. The higher the temp - the more elastic or soft the memory foam is. That is why you get a “sinking” or “floating” feeling when you lay on memory foam. Check here for Memory Foam Coupons.

It surrounds your body by using your weight and natural body temperature.

Pictured above to the right is the ACID REFLUX sleep wedge. This is only one of the cool products that SlumberMart carries. Relax the Back also has some great Memory foam products.

Don’t let acid reflux keep you from sleeping. Doctors recommend an elevated sleep position for a better night’s sleep. This is especially true for anyone who has issues with acid reflex, snoring & constricted airways, heartburn, sleep apnea or sinus irritation. The Sleep Wedge™ positions you properly at the perfect angle for optimum elevation and support. 2 layer foam offers breathability, air circulation and comfort. Designed for use by one person in a twin, full, queen or king size bed. Can be placed under a fitted sheet or on top. Zip-off, washable, padded, quilted
cover. 32" x 26" x 5".

Quit smoking and avoid alcohol (causes the esophageal sphincter to relax, letting acids through) Do not wear tight clothing when going to bed. Use a foam bed wedge to raise your upper body while you are trying to sleep (4 to 8 inches is recommended, depending on the individual)

Happy Snoring!!

Dietary Supplement Coupons

Labels: Memory Foam Sleep and Support Pillows

In Chinese culture feng shui reflects the Yang and Yin, the dragon and tiger, the earth, planets and stars. Contrary to our western culture - the wind and water does not only refer to the actual elements themselves but also the invisible energy of the magnetic directions. This is the core of what we believe the benefit of Feng Shui reflects. Feng Shui brings peace - and I believe that the most important place to practice these rituals, if you may, is in your home.

Visit the GoodOrient (but check for our coupons first by clicking here) and take a good look at the Maneki Neko. Maneki Neko literally means the "Beckoning Cat"; also known as Welcoming Cat, Lucky Cat, Money cat or Fortune Cat.

It is a common Japanese sculpture, often made of porcelain or ceramic, which is believed to bring good luck to the owner.

The sculpture depicts a cat beckoning with an upright paw, and is usually displayed in stores, restaurants, pachinko parlors, and other businesses.

A raised right paw supposedly attracts money, while a raised left paw attracts customers.

Personally, I'd like to find a cat with both paws raised ..but maybe I am attracting bad Karma by being too greedy.

GoodOrient is my favorite Oriental products store. As you browse, you can learn a bit more about the fascinating eastern culture that many of us know so little about.

Speaking of Feng Shui - At Serentity Health - we found this fountain:

The Feng Shui Prosperity Tabletop or Floor Fountain will relax any home or office. This water fountain is available in two sizes, both with a stainless steel frame for ultimate beuty. This quality engineered water fountain is constructed from polished stainless steel. With non-corrosive plumbing fittings, flow control valve, built in leveling system and one year warranty, this water feature will fit almost any envioronment.

Take a peek and peace to bring closure to this Easter Season.

Labels: Feng Shui Eastern Culture and Easter

SCSI Hard Drives - Storage and more

Although this blog entry won't be too interesting for many of our readers - I am sure that the technical gurus, IT directors and corporate IT purchasers will appreciate this information.

Whether you’re a small or medium business or a large enterprise, having the right server and storage solution for your business is key to your success. Seagate offers a broad range of server and enterprise storage hard drives for multiple business applications - and DiscounTechnology carries them all.

I recently made a purchase from DiscounTechnology and was very pleased.

They were light years cheaper than the local IT guy that has to charge $100 for his time - including travel time to our office. Buying Computer storage devices, Hard disk drives, Storage arrays, controllers, trays, SAN, NAS, DAS online can be confusing and you must understand the reliability of the company that you are ordering from.

For a business with limited resources, a significant data loss could be catastrophic. Implementing the right data storage solutions for your business will help protect your digital information and your business.

Here is a general overview of the types of storage devices that they carry:

SCSI SCSI hard drives, controllers, and enclosures for computers/servers. SCSI stands for Small Computer System Interface, and if you don't want to pronounce each letter individually, it's OK to call it "skuzzy." SCSI, like ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) or SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment), can be used for connecting more than just hard drives to a computer system, and some of the other peripherals that can support SCSI include tape drives, optical drives, printers, and scanners.

SAS SAS / Serial Attached SCSI delivers new levels of bus performance and connectivity while retaining the functionality and reliability that has made SCSI the defacto enterprise storage I/O standard for over twenty years.

Fibre /Fiber Channel Fiber / Fibre channel drives, FC storage arrays controllers and cables for Storage Area Networks (SAN)and enterprise computers / servers.

SATA SATA hard drives, external cases, kits & DVR eSATA upgrades.

IDE / ATA / PATA IDE / ATA / PATA hard drives, controllers, cables, enclosures and accessories.

Laptop 2.5" IDE laptop hard drives.

Hard Disk Drive Trays / Caddies - SCSI, SAS, SATA Caddies, trays, sleds, brackets for the installation of SCSI / SATA hot swap hard disk drives in servers or attached storage arrays with hot swappable / hot pluggable 80-pin SCA-2 SCSI HDD interfaces
For example: Dell PowerEdge Servers, HP Proliant Servers, Compaq Proliant Servers, IBM Netfinity Servers, IBM eServer xSeries Servers, Sun Enterprise Servers.

DVR Upgrades DVR Hard Drive Upgrades

Seagate Barracuda ES enterprise hard drives offer the best combination of capacity, performance, reliability and value for all your enterprise storage application needs. Best suited for 24 x 7 business-critical, multidrive server and storage system environments, Barracuda ES enterprise drives feature a SATA l interface and deliver best-in-class rotational vibration (RV) tolerance. - A new 500GB Barracuda from SeaGate is coming out soon - Stay Tuned!

Labels: Enterprise Computer Storage

Labels: Auto Detailing Products and Supplies

Watching Mom and Dad age isn't easy and resists from them for assistance - from you or certain medical supplies can be difficult to hear.

Wright Stuff Medical supplies has everything you need for your Mom and Dad and it can be shipped direct to thier home.

The Wright Stuff Mobility aid section has Canes and Cane Accessories: - inclding folding canes, flashlight canes, bed canes and couch canes. The accesorries for canes include ice cleats for canes, cane holders and cane straps.

They have a unique "How to Size a Cane" guide for proper measurements - that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to go over and measure Mom or Dad.



Wright Stuff also carries a number of Sitting, Standing and Transfer Aids such as transfer belts, transfer boards, bed caddies, and car transfer assists. At first your Mom or Dad may resist - but I guarantee that they will truly appreciate the increased mobility in the long run.

If Dad uses a crutch - check out the Crutch Accessories including the ice cleat attachment, gel hand pads, gel grip pads, hand pads, and crutch holders. Gel grip pads make a difference in the constant day in an day out use of a crutch and would make a wonderful, economical Father's Day gift.

Walker Accessories are similar in that hand pads or a walker basket could bring a smile on your parent's face. Choose from a great selection of walker bags, cup holders, walker skiss, walker glides, walker tips, walker trays and walker holders.

Wheelchair Accessories include wheelchair backpacks, seat-back bags, armrest bags and under-seat bags for a comfortable booty.

Also - take a look at the cane holders, crutch holders, oxygen tank carriers, walker holders, equipment holders, rim covers, wheelchair cushions, gel seat cushions, positioning aids, wheelchair safety aids and more.



My favorite arthritis aid that they have is the ring pen. Handling a pen is something that can be difficult and tiring for people with arthritis and other dexterity problems.

The ring pen is an ergonomically correct designed pen that helps make it easier for these people to write. The index finger slips through a hole in the pen and offers a place for the writing finger to be rested while writing. The ring pen removes pressure from the wrist and joints while writing.


Click here to check for the latest Wright Stuff Coupons and be on your way shopping for Mother's Day, Father's day or just a day to make you Mom or Dad's life easier.

Labels: Mobility Devices and Mobility Products

Labels: Getty Photos and Creative Coupons

I came across the most unique website called Bridal Party Tee's that has a collection of customizable t-shirts and novelty items for Bridal Parties, Shower, Bachelorette Parties, After the Wedding, Honeymoon Tees and more.

What's really neat about the website, is that you can design your t-shirts, polos, long sleeve shirts or other apparel with a super cool online tool.

Visit the Michigan Wedding Guide and Information Portal

Choose the font you want, the wording, center the saying, add an icon, add a name to customize or just about anything else.

This would be a really cool idea not only to make you and your hubby custom shirts for the airplane ride to your honeymoon, but also an economical meaninful gift for your bridesmaids, maid of honors and groomsmen. CLICK HERE to check for any coupons from Bridal Party Ts

----------------

Skipping over to some other neat bridal stuff I found: Check out TJ Formal Bridesmaid dresses

God almighty TJ Formal is a good idea. I say that with so much emphasis because I wish there was something like TJ around when I got married and during the years that I was standing up in girlfriends and relatives weddings.

I remember having to drive 2 hours to pick out dresses one time. How easy would it have been to have a web video conference with all the Bridesmaids and pick the dresses out online.

Each girl could then order at her convenience and get her's altered economically in her own neighborhood rather than driving 2 hours for fittings.

Congratulations to you if you are newly engaged!!

Labels: Wedding

Labels: Computers and Software

WhiteSmoke is a writing program that aims to help professionals produce better-written documents. It does this by analyzing the spelling, punctuation and grammar in any document, and then suggesting corrections and possible improvements.

WhiteSmoke is compatible with Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista. It will work in almost any text-based application, including word processors, content management systems, html editors, email programs, web-based forms, and so on.

Once WhiteSmoke is installed on your Computer, you use first write your text in your chosen application (for example Microsoft Word). Next, you select the text you want to WhiteSmoke to analyze by highlighting it in the normal way, then press the WhiteSmoke shortcut key.

In Word a separate "Enrichment" button is created on the toolbar, and you can click on this as an alternative to pressing the shortcut key.

WhiteSmoke will open in a new window, with your selected text in a box in the middle of the window. Spelling mistakes are highlighted in red and grammar mistakes are highlighted in green. When you move the cursor over any item, suggested corrections appear in a box at the foot of the screen. You can accept or reject any correction just by clicking on it.

Perhaps the most interesting feature for writers, however, is the enrichment function. The WhiteSmoke software analyzes your writing and looks for ways it could be improved by using an alternate word or phrase (thesaurus function), or by adding extra words. This makes your writing fuller, verbose and more professional.

All phrases that could use enrichment are highlighted in blue in the WhiteSmoke window, and suggested additions and alternatives are shown in the boxes below. You have total freedow to accept or reject any change. Whitesmoke coupons

Once you have gone through all the program's suggestions, just save the changes and close WhiteSmoke, and the corrected and "enriched" version will automatically appear in the original application.

We are impressed with how easy WhiteSmoke is to use, and its effectiveness.

Word has its own spelling and grammar checkers, but WhiteSmoke's appear to work better with more options. This is especially so with the grammar checker, which is far more user-friendly than Word's. The "Enrichment" function is particularly good for revealing ways in which text can be improved.

Obviously not all the changes the software suggests will be appropriate, but simply seeing the suggested alternatives can jolt you out of using the same old words and expressions, and give your writing a new, fresher feel.

WhiteSmoke also offers a version of the software specially tailored for use by creative writers. If you're a novelist or short story writer, this would probably be the version to go for. It has a larger vocabulary than the standard version.

WhiteSmoke can give you a fresh perspective, and suggestions for improving sections of text and paragraphs that you may have become "tongue tied" on.

For more information about WhiteSmoke, click on any of the links in this article to first check for coupons and specials.

Labels: Business Productivity products, WhiteSmoke Writing Software

Labels: Business Productivity products, Shipstream

What a Merchant Account is.

A merchant account is the ability for a business owner to accept credit cards or checks at his/her place of business in a retail atmosphere or online, over the Internet. The merchant account allows a merchant to accept the credit card transactions and check transactions which get processed and deposited into the merchants' bank account.

• PayNet Merchant Services, Inc.
  
• United Bank Card Merchant Services
  
• Credit Card Processing Services / Equipment
  
• Credit Card Processing & Merchant Accounts
  
• Merchant Express -Free Credit Card Processing
  
• Charge.com Online Credit Card Processing

Merchant Account Info
Ultimately only a bank can provide a merchant account but processors can sell via agents by a sponsoring bank and under the umbrella of that processing bank. The agents are acting on the processors behalf on signing up merchants. The agent may represent themselves as their own payment processing company but are selling merchant services from a processing bank.

You need to have a business license as a merchant through the city even if you are a sole proprietor.
If you do not have a tax id you can use your Social Security. Once you have obtained your business license you can go to your local bank and open a business account and get started in accepting credit cards and checks.

Legitimacy
The next step would be proving to the bank that you have a retail store to sell your product or service. If you do not have a retail store you need an online store or some type of marketing or selling material to present to the bank for legitimacy amongst other things.

The processor will be looking for what you are selling, how much you are selling it for and what your refund policy and service policy, this is a requirement of Visa and MasterCard.

Chargebacks
You as a merchant must be careful of what type of marketing techniques are being used due to charge backs. You are usually allowed up to 1% of sales for a charge back or dispute of charge. A charge back is not a refund or return. Visa and MasterCard has a right to terminate your account and you need to practice good business, whether it be online or in a retail atmosphere.

Many payment processing companies make themselves look bigger than they are on the Internet, yet are really just advertisers and high pressure sales people who are not really a payment processing company at all. They sell processing for whoever pays them the most commission. Beware!

It is a known fact within the processing industry that more than 75% of new Internet businesses have a slow start or fail altogether. Avoid companies who's high monthly fees will drain your resources. Remember that many of them are depending on those monthly fees to compensate their sales and marketing efforts.

More tomorrow on Credit Card Processing and Merchant Accounts!

--

Labels: How to Accept Credit Cards Oline

Labels: basketball training

My excitement can't be contained today! I have the newest and coolest tool for my company and you are going to want to hear all about it.

Ring Central

RingCentral is great at business communications - in particular small business communications. As a small business owner, you can sign up for the service and get a toll free number with extensions.

Through a very simple to use web based login area, you can administer any aspect of your account. Options such as "different caller greetings" for "different times of the day", "what extension goes to which phone" and "what happens when someone dials an extension".

Unlike consumer oriented VOIP Solutions, RingCentral is geared towards doing business and making sure that important calls find you and unimportant calls get put on hold. The fax system is great also. RingCentral has solved all of my spam phone call problems

All the cool features are there but there's so much more.

RingCentral has the voice and fax part down great but they are still missing SMS text messages. I still dream of a day that I can have a universal number for life that will follow me no matter where I go.

Once you signup - your RingCentral local or toll free number can route calls to multiple numbers, either simultaneously or in a specified order or, alternatively, record and save voice messages 24-hours-a-day.

You can screen and block phone calls or route phone calls to any telephone on the fly. Online business VOIP Phone tools include call logs, RingCentral internet fax, call recording, RingCentral voicemail to email, one touch dialing, Microsoft Outlook integration, user-friendly system maintenance tools and the unique RingCentral Call Controller

Best of all, the monthly cost of RingCentral is competitive with other services that offer less or no enhanced functionality.

Labels: RingCentral Small Business Phone Service

My last purchase of contact lenses for myself, my son and my daughter were online.

We have worn contact lens for quite a while now, but I never took the step to buy them online because I thought that it would be much more difficult than it actually was:

Step One: Check Your Insurance
Do you have a health insurance plan that includes vision coverage? Check to see what benefits are provided for contact lenses. You'll typically find one of two scenarios:

1. You get a simple percentage discount (for example, 15% off) at participating brick-and-mortar retailers and ECPs.
2. You can mail-order from a lens seller that either is owned by the plan provider or has a special arrangement with them.

Step Two: Find your contact lens prescription and brand on your contact box or on the prescription provided by your eye doctor at your latest eye exam.

Step Three: Find a discount or coupon for your contact lenses brand.

Enter your prescription information using drop down fields provided on the website that you found the coupon for.

Select quantity (Typically, you get better pricing if you buy a years supply of contact lenses).
Enter the patient first and last name in the fields provided.

Click Add to Cart.

Step four: Enter Doctor's Name on Website Most contact lenses discounters allow you to enter your doctor's name:
Enter the name or clinic name of your eye doctor.
Enter the state and city of your eye doctor.
When your eye doctor information comes up, select the box next to your eye doctors information.

Contact Lenses Coupons

1. Acuvue
2. Ciba Vision
3. Cooper Vision
4. Freshlook
5. Focus Dailies
6. Toric
7. Bausch & Lomb
8. Johnson & Johnson
9. Focus Night
10. SofLens
11. Biomedics
12. Oasys
13. Visitint
14. SoftColors

The website normally has to contact your doctor - in most cases, you can speed up the shipment of your contact lenses, by faxing in the prescription from your doctor along with the confirmation email that you recieve.

Best of luck .. once you do this one time - you will be hooked!

Labels: Online Contact Lenses Purchase