BCC Mass Mailing is Grossly Misused and Often Counter-Productive

Just a quick post about a recent pet peeve of mine... BCC mailings...

I received two mails today that were sent to me by BCC. They both went immediately into the trash.

Why? Well, I think that if I am being sent a BCC mass mailing then the message must not be important.

There's a difference in receiving a BCC mass mailing announcement of some sort of event or announcement and receiving a BCC for being privy to an inside private letter concerning some business details.

Getting a BCC that only goes to a few people about some private message between two (possibly feuding) people concerning work-related issues is OK. I think, in that case, BCC can be useful.

For example, I am having a discussion with someone at work over policy issues; I need political support from people in different departments. I might send a few trusted people BCC copies of the emails; I might need them to know the content of the discussion.

Oh, sure, in the perfect world, some might say that "All communication should be totally open and honest." Yes, and I'd agree. The problem is that in the real world (corporate world) things often aren't that way at all; there's all sorts of skulduggery going on at some companies. Inter-company politics often make totally open discussion impossible; especially in a society like Japan where people rarely will say their opinion in a direct fashion.

The two mails I received by BCC mass mailing announcements were for concerts by artists this weekend. Like I said, I didn't even open them.

I figure if the promoters really wanted me to come to their shows, they write to me directly and not "To Whom it May Concern" or "Dear Occupant."

I also received another mail, directly sent to me by another promoter, that announced a third show.

I might go to that one. That promoter actually took the time (one minute?) to write my name in the email and send it to me directly.

Personalized emails? What a quaint notion.

Anyway, the point is that I think, today, BCC is completely overused and is a lazy way to do business. I also think that this is a crutch for far too many people and companies and BCC has gotten to the point where it can be counter-productive.

If you want people to pay attention to your announcements then spending 45 seconds to send out a mass BCC mailing is a waste of your time and everyone else's. I asked several friends if they even bother to read BCC announcements and they all said, "No!" 

I ask you, dear reader, do you read them?

If the receivers are worthy of your attention, then I think you should take the time to send them a personalized direct invitation...

BCC means today, "Badly Conceived Communications."

BCC is suitable only for when a communication is between a few people and a third party needs to be informed....

Should be called, FYEO: For Your Eyes Only.

Handling Hate Mail — For Dummies

Sorry about that title, it should read: "Handling Hate Mail — From Dummies." Oh me. Will the LRC editing staff ever get these things right? Oh well, since I already have your attention…

Unless you are writing about flowers, children, balloons, Teddy bears, and other nice stuff, you'll probably get hate mail. In fact, I'll bet even the writer's of such fare get their share of hate mail too (I would imagine it would come from jealous people). On a site like Lew Rockwell, most people don't write about pretty things; so I guess we get hate mail in droves. I know I do.

I like to think that my hate mail comes because good folks don't read and understand what I have written — I'm allowed to dream, aren't I? What I actually fear and suspect is that I could be even more of a hack writer than I think I am and as such, am unable to convey my message clearly. Oh well, you learn something new everyday.

Don't do what I do, do what I say!

This article is to help you, my fellow writers — hackers, pro's, what-have-you — to gently handle those hate letters so that you don't get an ulcer, start drinking heavily, or start feeling sorry for yourself (this happens to me often). Here are a handy-dandy set of rules that I promise will help you in making the answering of your hate mail an enjoyable experience.

Rule 1: Keep in mind that love and hate are two sides of a fiat coin. Anyone who writes to you actually loves you. Some people are better at showing their love than others. This is an important rule to keep in mind before tackling that Yahoo mail account that we all use for our articles (instead of our real e-mail address).

Rule 2: Never, but never, open your e-mail account after you've been drinking. I imagine some of the good folks who have written to me will scoff at this. For that I must apologize — blame it on the booze. In fact, if you have been drinking, I think it's best to stay away from your computer all together (look who's talking!). Nevertheless, from now on, do as I say, not as I do.

Rule 3: Never look at your e-mail after arguing with the little woman. Let's face it. She's right and you are wrong — you should be ashamed of yourself, you useless worm. That's no time to start an argument with other people. Have a drink and go to bed – remember to kiss the battleaxe on the forehead before retiring and to say "Good night." It's never a good idea to go to bed angry.

Rule 4: Humor, humor, humor. Don't look at mail as a personal attack. If you look closely I think you'll find most probably several remarks from the reader that are good for at least a few howls of laughter. Don't forget, you are the writer. That puts you in the driver's throne and that you are the king of all that is good and fair. The reader is a fan (see Rule 1 above).

Rule 5: Keep in mind that the readers are generally not writers and they are trying their best to convey their message. Often, they will be angry at you for what you have written and their letters will start off politely and then descend into flames like a Zero fighter at the Battle of Leyte. This is where the gist of their message comes out: That you are a hack writer (well, of course, we all know that). So what's to argue?

Rule 6: This is the best one and I've saved it for last. I have found a great way to answer extremely foul-mouthed e-mails that works about 70% of the time. It really does. Whenever you get a mail - and they are usually several pages long - but start out with a kind greeting along the lines of:

"You (expletive deleted) (expletive deleted) (expletive deleted) moran…." (They usually misspell "moron".)

I found that the best way to reply is to ignore reading the rest of their letter (I mean, if I want to be called names, I'll go home and argue with my teenage daughters or my wife) and then I will respond to the dear reader by writing:

"Dear Such-and such,

Don't you think that your mother deserves better than to have people think that she didn't raise you right because you use profanity and call strangers names? Most people know that calling strangers names is a definite sign of poor manners and upbringing. I think your mom would be ashamed to see what you wrote, and I think such a fine woman as her deserves better than that. Don't you?"

No kidding. I've used this at least two dozen times and, until now, 7 or 8 people have apologized to me. Really! Try it sometime.

If you keep in mind these simple rules, then I'm sure answering Hate Mail will come as a much more pleasant experience than it has ever been before. Let's face it, when someone calls you names, what you really want to do to let them have it with both barrels. But what good are you doing if you are adding just one more small crumb to this mountain of a hateful world we live in? Keep in mind, it is much more fun and rewarding to know that you have pissed them off even more by being kind to them; and in this way, at least one of you can go to bed chuckling. I know I do.

-For Robert Klassen

This article originally appeared on Lew Rockwell on Dec. 15, 2005

Groupon is a Disaster! What Did I Tell You?

I've been writing since last year that I thought Groupon was a flash in the pan and a crap company. I think my predictions are coming true and the recent news seems to bear me out. Read on!


Groupon has had many problems... recently, the worst being questionable accounting practices. But, besides that how could anyone think a business model built on SPAM email woud be viable? I didn't and I still don't. Groupon is nothing but an over-valued business model that is built on digital junk-mail, fer chrissakes!

Well, the results are in. The game is up. It is common knowledge now that Groupon is a disaster.


Yahoo Finance reports on Groupon's fall from grace:

NEW YORK (AP) -- Only a few months ago, Groupon was the Internet's next great thing. Business media christened it the fastest growing company ever. Copycats proliferated. And investors salivated over the prospect of Groupon going public.

Today, the startup that pioneered online daily deals for coupons is an example of how fast an Internet darling can fall.

Groupon is discounting its expectations for the IPO that in June was valued as high as $25 billion. In a regulatory filing Friday, the company said that it expects a valuation that is less than half that at between $10.1 billion and $11.4 billion.

It's the latest twist for Groupon's IPO, which was one of the most anticipated offerings this year. In June, after Groupon filed for the offering, the SEC raised concerns about the way it counts revenue. Then the stock market plunged.

Now Groupon faces concerns about the viability of its daily deals business model. The novelty of online coupons is wearing off. Some merchants are complaining that they are losing money -- and customers-- on the deals. And competitors are swarming the marketplace.

"Groupon is a disaster," says Sucharita Mulpuru, a Forrester Research analyst. "It's a shill that's going to be exposed pretty soon."

"Exposed soon"? Are you kidding me? Let me brag. I exposed Groupon many times in the past.

Let me recite just a few of them for your convenience:

Jan. 19, 2011: Groupon CEO Insults Japan With Simple Minded Apology 

Jan. 20, 2011: Obsfucation from Groupon Japan?

Jan. 20, 2011: Groupon CEO Insults Japanese With His Callous Apology - Part 2

Groupon Japan's New Year's Disaster

Feb. 08, 2011: Groupon Does Something Stupid Again! What Did I Tell You?

Feb. 10, 2011: Groupon Image and Branding is Horrendous 

Feb. 13, 2011: Is the Boycott Groupon Movement Anti-Business? No!

Feb. 21, 2011: More Trouble for Groupon in Japan - Again!

Feb. 23, 2011: Groupon Ex-Partner Chimes In

August 02, 2011: The Great Groupon Japan Disappearing Act 

My, I am surprised to see that I have been kicking Groupon so much. But then again, it is easy to kick such a poorly run and inept company. It is also fun to do so when their management are so brash and conceited.... Especially in Japan.  

As I predicted long ago.... Groupon is a flash in the pan and their business model is not good nor sustainable. Any good business deal must be beneficial for all parties concerned. Businesses were losing big money on Groupon and the promised repeat customers generally didn't materialize.... Many companies actually lost customers and reputations!

I have an idea though, why doesn't Groupon give out 50% ~ 80% off coupons on their IPO? 


If that fails too, then they can stick that in their liberal refund policies! I predict that their IPO will be the failure of the decade.

Twitter SPAM = Twitter Sucks

I don't get it. In the last 24 hours I've gotten at least 50 (no exaggeration) SPAM mails from Twitter. Now, think about that for a second... Why in the world would anyone send you SPAM mail through Twitter?


Last night I got several mails from friends asking me why I sent them messages through Twitter... Considering the fact that I rarely send messages through Twitter (Duh? I think that's what I have an email account for, isn't it?) there's no way I'd be sending mails through Twitter.


Two friends wrote to me about it. One friend, who I work with daily and talked to on the phone twice yesterday, called me up and asked me what the hell was going on with a weird Twitter message she got from me? I knew immediately that she had been getting SPAM through Twitter just like I had... 


Ha! Spam through Twitter? Doesn't Twitter suck enough as it is without other people making it even worse? As my psychotic friend Ron E. Fast used to say (with a twisted face and an evil grin) "Why can't people just learn to love one another?"

"Live and let live, I say! Or are you calling me a liar?"

I also got this message from another friend yesterday. She wrote:

brenda B..... S........

@mikeintokyo2004 Mike, forget that last message,I think I've been hacked! Happened to quite a few on my timeline. Why unimportant me?Regards

Oct 05, 5:57 AM via web

Here are several examples of the nonsense mails that filled my inbox yesterday:

-----

- - Automated DM, You are tweeting too much! click here s78.biz/k/bvxq to avoid account suspension! Direct message sent by Ats..... N....(@......) to you (@mikeintokyo2004) on Oct 04, 9:58 PM.

Twitter might suspend my account!? Oh, stay my beating heart! Please, by all means, do!

"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you to suspend my account!"

More...
-----

I saw a real bad blog about you, you seen this? s78.biz/k/bvwxq Oct 04, 5:07 PM に VOUCH (@TR……….) からあなた (@mikeintokyo2004) に送信されたダイレクトメッセージ

This one is funny for two reasons... One is that I know this guy very well and know that there is no way in the world he could construct a sentence in English this well (or, if you examine the grammar, this poorly - this is a tad bit better than the mails I get from rich princes in Nigeria who have left me lots of money upon their death). And, two; because I don't need to go read a blog to see about the bad things people say about me; I can just go to work to hear all I need on that front...


And another thing... I live in Japan. At least 1/2 of my Twitter friends don't speak English. There's no way that they'd be writing Twitter messages to me in English. Laughable!


Anyway, just another reason that Twitter sucks. My first friend, Brenda, wrote and asked why someone would hack her account and use it for SPAM. She writes, "Why unimportant me?" Brenda, my dear, you are important. 


The question should be "Why send SPAM mails through unimportant Twitter?"


Twitter, Facebook and Groupon are in a tight race to see which can suck the most. It's a close race...


In the last 24 hours, Twitter has taken the lead in suckiness. Another 24 ~ 48 hours of this and Twitter is going down the Crapper.


UPDATE! THE SPAM IS STILL GOING! I just got this message in my mailbox:

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LARGER VIEW

More on "Why I'm a Twitter Quitter!"

Drinking Way Too Much and Touching a Computer is a Very Bad Combination

Having a blog is great. It is just like an online diary of life. When you blog, you get to record everything that happened in life. Like today. Today, I am going to write about getting drunk and acting like an idiot.

Last night was only the second time I got pretty drunk this year. I know that because I blogged about the last time I got drunk which was, dangerously, recently I see. I say "dangerously" because, you see, I have gout. People with gout shouldn't drink at all. So you might say that since I have gout not only did I get drunk and act like an idiot, I must be an idiot to drink in the first place!


If you said that then you'd have a pretty compelling argument. 


The time before that recent drinking episode, when I got too drunk was Dec. 27, 2010. I know that to be true because I blogged about that time also. (See? I have an online record of my booze escapades! Wonderful me!)


I used to really like getting drunk and, of course, I don't get drunk very often at all anymore. In fact, since I got Gout a few years ago, I basically stopped drinking.  


If you've ever wanted to stop drinking then I highly recommend Gout.


Gout will will stop your drinking forever. And, since I blog, I know that I got my first bad case of gout in Feb. of 2009 when I went to New Zealand and ate and drank like a king! I wrote about those adventures with gout in Gout Sufferers of the World Unite!:

The first time I had a Gout attack was in February of 2009. I was staying at a friend's ranch on the beach in New Zealand and, of course, I was eating and drinking to extreme excess every night. Then, one morning, I woke up and my foot hurt like it had been run over by a Sherman tank! I thought I was going to die! The pain was excruciating!

But, still, that didn't deter me from fishing. I hobbled down to the ocean and waded up to my waist (which really felt good on my foot) and I sucked it up like a real man every day. Caught my limit too! I mean, we have to consider what's more important here; is it my quickly deteriorating health or my heading down to the beach to catch fish?

Then the second time I had a gout attack was in early December of the same year. I had to fly up to northern Japan to meet some big shot executives from a Chinese Airlines and arrange their TV/newspaper promotion in Japan. By the time the promotion ended, my foot hurt so bad from gout attack that I could hardly walk. 

When I checked into the airlines, the girl at the check-in counter saw me noticeably having trouble not looking like a spastic. She then asked what was wrong and I whispered to her, so that no one else could hear, that I had gout. She looked genuinely concerned and said, "Oh, you poor dear! My father suffered gout too!"

So, instead of my flying back to Tokyo in Economy Class, that kind young lady put me in First Class. How lucky I was. I began thinking that maybe this gout thing isn't so bad after all.

Later on, I was trying to quietly enjoy the flight (though my foot was killing me) when I saw one of the flight attendants smiling and looking right at me. I straightened my tie and smiled back but then I figured that since I am near sighted, she was looking at someone else. I tried to get some shuteye and peeked at her to see if she was looking at me anymore. She was! After awhile, I noticed that she kept looking straight at me and smiling over and over again. My heart sang. I thought, "The old boy's still got that magic!" I gave her a mischievous grin and she smiled back.

Oh, stay my beating heart! I'm old enough to be her father… er, older brother, I surmised. Then while I was picturing holding hands with her and running madly in love up some faraway sandy beach laughing together, she started walking up to me.

I braced myself. I wondered if my breath was OK. Maybe she wanted my phone number. Maybe she'll be lonely tonight in Tokyo? Great, but what will I tell my wife?

She came directly to my seat, offered me a blanket and said, "Mr. Rogers?" I jumped a few feet in the air. How did she know my name? And her English was perfect! She continued, "Mr. Rogers, can I have your phone number?" I smiled knowingly at her as I pulled out a piece of paper from my pocket, wrote down my number and, with a half-wink, I handed it to her.

"What's this?" She said.

"Silly," I whispered while slowly flashing my bedtime eyes to her, "You asked for my phone number."

"Pardon me, Mr. Rogers," she replied, "There must be some misunderstanding. I didn't ask for your phone number, I asked, ‘Is your foot feeling better?' I'm sorry my English is so poor."

My face turned beet red. I told her that I was fine and acted like I was sleepy so she would leave me alone. She walked away, out of my life forever, and behind the curtains where the other stewardesses were… A minute later I could hear them giggling.

I'll bet they were giggling at my expense too. Talk about poor service! I'll never fly on that airline again! 

Later on, when I got home, I told this story to my wife (well, not all of it) and she accused me of trying to pick up the stewardess in First Class.

The article is a humor article but having gout is no laughing matter! Gout hurts like hell! Anyway, thanks to gout, I don't drink and I really don't miss drinking so much. I feel much better when I don't drink (even one beer makes you tired the next day... Really! Try it and see!) 


Anyway, last night I got too drunk. Since I've stopped drinking regularly (I used to drink every night!) I've become very weak when it comes to alcohol and it seems that I get really drunk really fast and very easy on a small amount of liquor. I guess even a few drinks is way too much for me anymore in my old age. But, that's OK because I really do think that drinking is bad because it makes me  stupid and lazy.


Since getting gout a few years ago (I also wear bifocals!) I eat at least 70% of my diet in only raw food. Eating raw food is great.  I want to feel young again and have lots of energy for work. Raw food works wonders for that! Raw food, though, does not go well with drinking alcohol. I love eating raw food. That's why I don't miss drinking too much and find it easy to avoid alcohol.


In the old days, I could down an entire 750 ml liter bottle of Korean liquor (25% alcohol) or two or three bottles of good wine all by myself at dinner time. I did that every night! Then I'd take a shower and still think "I better have a nightcap before bed." 


Now, since I don't really drink anymore, I have to be really careful because I get really drunk on just a little bit of drink. Seriously, last night I had two shots of Korean liquor and three 350 ml cans of beer (it was hot) and got way too drunk... Actually, I am surprised at how drunk I got! Of course, having an empty stomach plays a big part in how drunk one gets and I was very hungry when we started drinking. Also, since it was blazing hot, I think I guzzled those three beers quickly since I hate warm beer in cans. Yuck!


But I know I got way too drunk when my friend complains to me about emails that I sent when I was drunk (like an idiot) and I don't remember it at all... Nope. I remember writing and complaining about something, but do not remember writing so many emails on the same subject (sign of drunkenness) and, when I woke up this morning, I didn't feel so hungover.... At least not nearly as much as I did the last time I got drunk. So, not feeling hungover means that I didn't drink so much.... But not remembering means it hit me like a freight train.


As many people know, drinking and writing emails are usually a bad combination and I don't usually do that. But, I am so ashamed and embarrassed that I did that last night. Yikes! 


Once again, I feel ashamed of myself... When? Oh, when will I ever learn?


I have heard (and read about) others who were guilty of the same thing; drinking too much and writing emails. I didn't think well of them. Now it is me who is guilty of that (maybe not the first time?) and I feel like an idiot and feel very ashamed. I apologize to my friends who I sent stupid emails to and I also apologize to the people who wrote emails on a drink before and I thought poorly of them. 


How does the old saying go? "People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones!" The next time I hear about someone getting drunk and writing stupid emails I won't say, "That idiot!" I will say, "Oh? I hate it when that happens!"


I guess it is not stupidity (maybe it is) but a definite problem with drinking booze is that you loose good common sense and do stupid stuff like driving a car or sending emails.


I see where they have been developing new features on cars that won't allow the user to drive if they are drunk. Now, when Apple computers comes out with this device for MacBooks, I bet every person in the world who likes their drink, will buy one. 


Maybe my wife will buy me one for Christmas.... Which, if all goes to plan, will be  the next time, and last time, I drink booze and get drunk in 2011.

Almost 10% of Babies Have an E-mail Address

I thought it was ridiculous that 6-year-old first graders had their own cell phones in Japan. That just goes to show you how much of an old foggy I am.


MSN reports that 7% of all babies have their own e-mail address!

They may not know how to use a computer yet, but a recent poll revealed that some children as young as six months already have an online presence, including their own email address.

Antivirus maker AVG conducted a poll of mothers with children under two years old to see when they began uploading pictures of their kids to the web. The results, taken from mothers in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, U.K, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, show that there’s no time too early for parents to post their little tots’ pics.

According to the survey, the average age children acquire an online presence is six months, with more than 70 percent of mothers posting baby and toddler pictures online and sharing them through social networking sites. By the time they are two, 81 percent of kids have what AVG CEO J.R. Smith called a “digital footprint.”

The study revealed that 33 percent of children have had pictures posted online from birth. And it goes back even further – 23 percent of parents uploaded their child’s pre-birth scan to the Internet. Not that they could use it, but 7 percent of babies even have an email address set up by their parents at birth.