If you had bought $1,000.00 of Nortel stock one year ago, it would now be worth $49.00.

With Enron, you would have $16.50 of the original $1,000.00.

With MCI/Worldcom, you would have less than $5.00 left.

If you had bought $1,000.00 worth of Miller Genuine Draft (the beer, not the stock) one year ago,
drunk all the beer then turned in the cans for the 10-cent deposit, you would have $214.00.

Based on the above, 401KegPlan.com's current investment advice is to take that $5.00 you have left over
And drink lots and lots of beer and recycle.

http://401kegplan.com/keg/

Free and green. Those are the goals of a pilot program launched today by the U.S. Postal Service that allows customers to recycle small electronics and inkjet cartridges by mailing them free of charge.

The “Mail Back” program helps consumers make more environmentally friendly choices, making it easier for customers to discard used or obsolete small electronics in an environmentally responsible way. Customers use free envelopes found in 1,500 Post Offices to mail back inkjet cartridges, PDAs, Blackberries, digital cameras, iPods and MP3 players – without having to pay for postage.

Postage is paid for by Clover Technologies Group, a nationally recognized company that recycles, remanufactures and remarkets inkjet cartridges, laser cartridges and small electronics. If the electronic item or cartridges cannot be refurbished and resold, its component parts are reused to refurbish other items, or the parts are broken down further and the materials are recycled. Clover Technologies Group has a “zero waste to landfill” policy: it does everything it can to avoid contributing any materials to the nation’s landfills.

It was this philosophy that won Clover the contract with the Postal Service, besting 19 other companies, said Anita Bizzotto, chief marketing officer and executive vice president for the Postal Service.

“As one of the nation’s leading corporate citizens, the Postal Service is committed to environmental stewardship,” Bizzotto said. “This program is one more way the Postal Service is empowering consumers to go green.”

The free, postage-paid Mail Back envelopes can be found on displays in Post Office lobbies. There is no limit to the number of envelopes customers may take.

The pilot is set for 10 areas across the country, including Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and San Diego, but could become a national program this fall if the pilot program proves successful.

The Postal Service recycles 1 million tons of paper, plastic and other materials annually. Last year, USPS generated more than $7.5 million in savings through recycling and waste prevention programs. The nation’s environmental watchdog, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded the Postal Service eight WasteWise Partner of the Year awards, the agency’s top honor.

The Mail Back program is another example of the Postal Service’s commitment to sustainability. USPS is the only shipping or mailing company in the nation to receive Cradle to CradleSM Certification from MBDC (McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry) for human and environmental health. More than half a billion packages and envelopes provided by the Postal Service annually are nearly 100 percent recyclable and are produced with the least harmful materials. Based on the recycled content of these envelopes and packages, more than 15,000 metric tons of carbon equivalent emissions (climate change gases) now are prevented annually.

“We know our customers are interested in real solutions for proper disposal of personal electronics,” Bizzotto said. “Everyone from consumers to businesses to non-profit organizations use the mail, and the Postal Service works to manage resources wisely to minimize environmental impact.”

Check out Microsoft's new site that will allow you to have 5GB of free public and/or private online storage.

http://skydrive.live.com

Sony and Waste Management have announced a one-day recycling event on Saturday, March 8, Qualcomm Stadium, from 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.  Both residents and businesses are encouraged to drop off outdated electronic equipment to be properly recycled at no charge courtesy of sponsors.  All brands of equipment will be accepted.  Items accepted include TVs, computer monitors, computer systems, VCRs, DVDs, cameras, phones, stereo equipment, videogame consoles, keyboards, cables, scanners, printers, fax machines, ink jet and printer cartridges, phones (including cellular), computer mice and rechargeable batteries. 

Items that cannot be accepted are:  microwaves, humidifiers, thermometers, air conditioners, smoke/fire alarms, and large household appliances such as dishwashers, refrigerators and washer/dryers. 

Sony and Waste Management and its Recycle America locations, hope these types of events will build awareness for the importance of proper e-waste recycling and come closer to a goal set by Sony to recycle one pound of old consumer electronics for every pound of new product sold.

Microsoft has wrapped up development of two major products, Windows Server 2008 and the Service Pack 1 update to Windows Vista, CEO Steve Ballmer told financial analysts Monday.

"Both products have released to manufacturing today, which is good news," Ballmer said.

Ballmer highlighted a few big corporate deployments of Vista, including at Continental Airlines, which is in the process of upgrading 10,000 systems.

"We think we are turning the corner in terms of enterprise deployment, and Service Pack 1 will be a huge boon," Ballmer said.

Microsoft will begin distributing Vista SP1 via Windows Update in mid-March, according to a Microsoft blog post on Monday.

Microsoft is due to formally launch Windows Server 2008 on February 27 at an event in Los Angeles.

In this day of age with the Internet, you would think customer service would be better? Well I'm amazed at how many large companies totally ignore you when you send them an email or submit a support request. Below are companies that I never hear from or they take a long time. I will also list the good ones (one day or less turn around).

Bad Customer Service

• I sent Corel (the makers of Paint Shop Pro) a support request the week of 1/7/2008 because the dang program will not accept the serial number from the invoice when I purchased the program. I even followed their online instructions that that did not help. I never heard back from them. 

Good Customer Service

• On 1/22/2008 I sent an email to Symbol about .NET Framework install for Windows CE for one of their barcode scanner devices. I received an answer back in less than a day!

Check out this 2008 calendar of sunsets all taken in and around the San Diego, Ca area.

Makes a great holiday gift! All photo's by David McCarter. Click here to purchase.