You forgot accomodation, spending money needs a bit more padding as well. That and transfers between hotels etc. Oh and dinners oh and lunches...
On Wed, May 21, 2008 at 5:10 PM, Dale Fraser <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Plane Tickets $2k pp = $8k > > Spending Money $2k > > Total = $10k > > > > Which means $5-$10k worth of coke, no wonder your body gets confused :) > > > > Regards > > Dale Fraser > > http://learncf.com > > http://flexcf.com > > > > > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] *On > Behalf Of *Scott Barnes > *Sent:* Thursday, 22 May 2008 5:03 AM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* [cfaussie] Re: Microsoft Uses Flash!!! > > > > Or for Disneyland packages: > > > > "Come to Disneyland, spend 15hrs on a plane, pay around $15-20k in total > for 4 people only to line up for 60mins per ride in 35 degree heat with > little or no shade whilst drinking Coke (see below) that has enormous > amounts of Corn Syrup which your body gets confused over and decides to > store as fat" - Believe in the Magic. > > > > (sorry, that was my exp anyway heheh). Anyway it's about promoting a > experience, people want to hear the positives and the experience associated > to the said products, it's the glass is always half full > > On Wed, May 21, 2008 at 11:57 AM, Scott Barnes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > Nope, more towards the one after yours. > > > > As for the "Widgetsoft"... fair enough, don't agree but understand with > regards to your current opinion. Everything someone does to promote a > product will have marketing spin to it, as all marketers are liars (Seth > Godin). I mean would you buy coke if it had on the package: > > > > "Will rot your teeth, give you a massive sugar high with an equal massively > low to follow and although you assume you're re-hydrating your body, you're > in fact dehydrating it more" > > > > Scott. > > On Tue, May 20, 2008 at 10:24 PM, Mike Kear <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Scott, it you're referring to my post in this thread, I specifcally > said that it isnt a "Microsoft is the evil empire" rant. It's about > how so many people (not just Microsoft but they're the most prominent > offender in my view) think that merely using the name of something is > enough. > > How many times have we all seen someone announce proudly that 'version > 3.2 of WIdgetSoft is now released!!" and wondered, "what the hell is > WIdgetSoft?" > > I have a machine that's groaning under the weight of around 100 > processes. It's working ok, but if i installed everything that people > wanted me to install, then I'd end up with a bazillion conflicts and a > whole lot of precious RAM used up for things i don't need. As it is, > i havent got a clue what some of those 100 processes are. I just > know that if i close some of them, things break. So I leave them > running, and trust my anti-virus to make sure they're all ok. So > my policy is 'just because someone says i need to install this, is not > good enough reason. I need to decide for myself whether i need to > install it." I remember back to the days when i had Real Audio > installed, and it kept taking charge of things and changing my > settings, installing spyware and other things. it was a thoroughly > unpleasant piece of software to have on my machine. > > And I had two calls this week from clients asking me what this > "Silverlight" thing is, and should they install it. I was hoping to > be able to call them back and say something like "yes it's ok to > install. have a look at <http://url here> and you can see for > yourself what it does". But there's no such page. The one that I > eventually found after 5 clicks to get there by the most direct route, > says things like : "Custom branded experiences using 2D vector > graphics, animation, styling, and skinning". I think i know what > that means but it's totally meaningless to my client who's a furniture > manufacturer. And the other client who makes and imports > high-performance car parts, doesnt understand the difference between > Vista and XP. Is confused about the difference between RAM and hard > drive storage. I wouldnt even try to explain it to him. It's a > pity that Microsoft didnt think any of those uses might want to know > what it is. > > Some more examples of this lack of explanation: When Windows Update > says i need to update my machine, i just get a message saying "you > have some updates" but no easy way to find out what those updates > are, and decide whether I need them. or XPPro Service Pack 3 - says > there are some feature enhancements included, but no way to find out > what those enhahcements are. (I have discovered after installing SP3 > that my Remote Desktop no longer works, so presumably the SP3 changed > something there without my knowledge or approval. I now have to > spend time tracking it down and changing whatever it is back again). > > A few years ago, I found myself on someone's mailing list and was > bombarded with stuff about an international SOA conference that was > coming up. I had never seen that term before, and nowhere did they > use the term in full, so i found myself curious as to what SOA was, > and was it some technology i needed to know about. It went on for > weeks - SOA this and SOA that - inviting people to this SOA conference > - the speakers and SOA experts speaking at the conference none of whom > i'd ever heard of. I assumed it was something in IT but no idea what > SOA was. So their entire marketing was wasted on me at least. > Perhaps they figured 'if they dont know what SOA is, they're not going > to spend thousands to come to the conference." Probably right i > suppose, but all it would have taken was a simple sentence saying what > SOA is, or maybe just spelling out the term in full once. ONCE. > Yes, I know that Google is my friend, and i could have gone looked it > up, but why should i bother. It's THEIR product. THEY are the ones > wanting me to spend my money on it. In fact if you do google "SOA", > you'll find lots of references to SOA and rarely find a single mention > of "Service Oriented Architecture". And a plain-language explanation > of that term is even more rare. > > So this isnt just a Microsoft thing. I've often seen here on > ColdFusion lists someone proudly anounce that the latest version of > their application is released, but just assuming everyone knows what > it is and what it does. I find myself frequently asking myself, "do I > care? Is that something I should know about?" More often than not, i > say 'no - cant be bothered right now." And all it would have taken > is a simple "for those that havent seen it yet, WidgetSoft is a > small, application that gets you coffee when you need it, and delivers > it to you desk 15 seconds before you think of the idea." > > Crisp, plain language that is free of marketing gobbldegook and > motherhood statements. Phrases like "gives users a richer experience" > should be banned, because every product since DOS has claimed that and > it's meaningless. > > That's all I'm saying. And I mentioned Microsoft because it was the > Silverlight download thing that prompted two clients in one morning to > ask me the same thing, when with a little bit of thought and a little > less arrogance, the marketing people who thought up such splendid > graphics on that SIlverlight page could have explained it themselves > and saved everyone a lot of trouble. It's their bloody product after > all, not mine. > > One of the great truths of motivation is 'if you want to persuade > people to do something - get their credit cards out and buy something, > change their opinions, vote for you, join your religion, install > your software - you have to paint a vivid picture of them getting the > benefits. They have to be imagining themselves better off in some way > as a result of doing what you want them to do. Confounding them with > flowery gobbledegook and motherhood statements wont do it. > > > Of course you might not have been referring to my post. In which case > i've taken the opportunity to rant again. And im not sorry. <g> > > > Cheers > Mike Kear > Windsor, NSW, Australia > Adobe Certified Advanced ColdFusion Developer > AFP Webworks > http://afpwebworks.com > ColdFusion, PHP, ASP, ASP.NET <http://asp.net/> hosting from AUD$15/month > > On Wed, May 21, 2008 at 2:17 PM, Scott Barnes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > I have no idea what your point was :) > > > > Is this another "Microsoft is a monopolistic company therefore they are > evil > > - sent via Windows owned PC" rant? > > Confidence in which customer? Do you think the average say "YouTube" > punter > > sits there and ponders about Adobe's ethics, their history and overall > what > > does this runtime install mean to me should I hit "Install". I think the > > whole Flash vs Silverlight debate's are stupid, as usually it's used as a > > soapbox to denounce Microsoft which *shrug* each to their own. I like the > > company I work for as do billions of other folks around the world. > > > > We have 1.5million+ downloads a day of the runtime. If there were no > > confidence in the product, it would decrease, not increase? > > > > -- > Regards, > Scott Barnes > http://www.mossyblog.com > > > > > -- > Regards, > Scott Barnes > http://www.mossyblog.com > > > > -- Regards, Scott Barnes http://www.mossyblog.com --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "cfaussie" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cfaussie?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
