A brief branding rant: from Quicken to Quicken Classic

About a week ago, Quicken (formerly Intuit until the company split years ago) announced that it was going to “rebrand” its desktop financial software (for Windows & Mac) from Quicken to Quicken Classic. Supposedly this is to “differentiate” the product from Quicken’s web-based (online) product called Quicken “Simplifi”. Just so …

Reporting SPAM emails to SpamCop via Outlook (2022 update)

Awhile back, I posted about using a Windows registry hack to cc: Junk Mail reports to SpamCop using Microsoft’s Junk Email report add-in for Outlook. That approach still works. However, there’s a gotcha. The add-in will always SEND the report using your default email account. That can be problematic if …

Energizer batteries and deliberately bad customer service

How to avoid standing behind your product Since I had nothing better to do on a rainy day, I sat down to replace the battery on my wife’s smart car key. I keep a few spare coin batteries for just such occasions but when I tested the first battery (new, …

Importing ICAL / VCalendar (.ics) calendar files and making them your own

If you’re like me, you may have to download ICAL appointments now and then from various sites like Zoom, Meetup, VRBO or your doctor’s office. About half the time, I need to invite others to the same appointment. But, with the usual way that ICAL files come formatted, you can’t. …

Marketing and COVID-19

COVID-19 has presented unique (disatrous) challenges for companies of all sizes. From not being able to fully operate to losing customers, it has not been a happy time for anyone (except maybe Amazon). We’re not going to debate closures or mask requirements or government policy here. Instead, let’s focus on …