John K. Davis, Independent Distributor, SendOutCards

Playing with Google Wave

I have been fooling around a bit with Google Wave. It is a rough application in the current Alpha form, but Google is promising a number of improvements including cool enhancements before moving the software into Beta.

The biggest limitation at this early stage is the lack of users combined with the inability to communicate via email using Google Wave. This restricts the pool of corespondents to include only those who are both already in one's Google Contacts or participants in a Public Wave AND people who have a Google Wave account. At this point, for me, that is 12 people--many of whom got their account because I sent them an invitation. Until these limitations are removed, Google Wave is a curious and restricted glimpse into the future of communication via the Internet.

Here is an image I captured from about 1/4 of an open Google Wave window:

If you click on the image you can view it full-size in a new pop-up window.

You will note that I have 16 additional invitations to give, so let me know if you want to play, too.

Heartfelt Stories

SendOutCards and Brownies-

Sent in by: Helene Larson

I am the only one from my large family that moved away from our home. One of my four sisters, who is a twin, had a seriously ill husband. I was unable to fly home so I sent heartfelt cards of encouragement to her and ones of courage and amusement to him.

It soon became obvious that he was not going to recover. There was no way I could fly home to see them, or attend the funeral. So I sent more cards. When he passed I sent her condolences the same way.

Afterward, I didn't really know if my sister understood my absence, and I thought she might have bad feelings about it. I sent her brownies, just to remind her to take good care of herself.

I got an email from her a few days later saying that, unknown to me, she was going to ask her twin sister to make her brownies but just didn't have the heart to. Then, quite unexpectedly, my brownies appeared on her doorstep - she was so surprised and so grateful! She expressed how much my cards had meant to her.

I couldn't go home to comfort her, but the cards took my place and the brownies "sealed the deal." Before SOC, I would never have thought something as wonderful as this could come out of a few cards and some brownies.

posted by SendOutCards Blog @ 10:30 AM   0 Comments

via soc-blog.com

I have many touching stories about the cards and gifts Janet and I have sent that made a positive impact on the lives of the recipient. I hear many others from my customers and other distributors.

Heartfelt stories are beginning to appear on the SendOutCards Blog and this one reminded me how powerful a card or small gift can be when we are prompted to reach out in love and kindness to people we care about. "SendOutCards, Changing Lives...One Card at a Time."

Posted via web from jkd's posterous

"DOE Should Be Less Selective When Funding Green-Car Companies, Siry Suggests" Green Car Advisor

Green Car Advisor

DOE Should Be Less Selective When Funding Green-Car Companies, Siry Suggests

Darryl Siry, the chief marketing officer of Tesla Motors from December 2006-2008, has an uncommon opinion regarding the U.S. Department of Energy loans Ford, Nissan, Tesla and Fisker Automotive have received under the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program, which seeks to hasten the development of green cars.

----------
Energy Secretary Steven Chu addresses Ford workers last June after announcing automaker will receive a $5.9 billion loan.
----------

Together, the four companies received about $8 billion in all out of a $25-billion budget. The problem, as Siry described it in a recent article posted at Wired's Autopia blog, is that "this massive government intervention in private capital markets may have the unintended consequence of stifling innovation by reducing the flow of private capital into ventures that are not anointed by the DOE."

In other words, a fledgling automaker might have a much harder time of raising funds from the private sector than one that has received millions of DOE greenbacks  due to the tremendous amount of money needed to bring a car to market.

Siry writes that several sources within startup companies seeking DOE loans or grants have admitted that private fundraising is complicated by investor expectations of government support. Siry, incidentally, is a special adviser to Coda Automotive, which has not sought an Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan.

The former Tesla spokesman notes that Aptera Motors has struggled this year to raise money to fund production of the Aptera 2e, its innovative aerodynamic electric 3-wheeler, recently laying off 25 percent of its staff to focus on pursuing a DOE loan.

According to a source close to the company, Siry writes, "all of the engineers are working on documentation for the DOE loan. Not on the vehicle itself. Another highly placed source at Aptera told Wired.com many potential investors wanted to see approval of the DOE loan before committing to invest."

He concludes that a potential solution to the problem he outlined "may seem counter-intuitive. The best way to avoid market distortion would be for the DOE to cast the net more broadly and provide loans and grants to a larger number of companies -- which ironically means being less selective."

We're not so sure we like the sound of that, because a lot of companies simply don't deserve our tax dollars. At a time when many Americans are worried about their financial situations, do we really want to encourage the government to be less selective regarding the companies that receive federal funding - to "start spreading the love," as Siry put it?

Posted by

Scott Doggett December 8, 2009, 12:04 AM

Permalink

Categories:

Coda, Emissions, Fisker, Ford, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Legislation, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Tax Incentives, Tesla

Technorati Tags:

Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing, Aptera, Chu, Darryl Siry, Department of Energy, DOE, Fisker, Ford, Grants, Loans, Nissan, Tesla Motors

• 
• 

• 

• 

Leave a comment

aaClick here to comment on this entry.

Interesting take from Tesla Motors about Aptera's situation. We certainly hope the DOE loan to Aptera happens soon--we want to test drive our new car!

Posted via web from jkd's posterous

SendOutCards Holiday Gift Catelog

For all of you card senders out there, take a look at these fresh new gifts today, and please keep in mind that we have limited quantities of seasonal items.

Download SOCGiftCatalog2009