(One of the most inspiring clips on what our country and it's citizens can and should be - Ronald Reagan)

Plato once said: "The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men". I now realize this to be true. I've spent most of my life thus far ignoring political issues and rolling my eyes at the claims of politicians. I joined the Republican Party initially to anger my family and grandmother, as they were strong and dedicated Democrats. Yet I was excited to vote. I felt all grow'd up casting my vote the first time. As time passed, I would vote for a candidate I thought was most enlightened. Most of the time it was a Republican. When I didn't know the issues or candidates, I voted for some third party wannabee.

2008 is yet another election year where opponents from various political parties square off on various issues and what they believe is the best solution or path to improve the great country known as the United States of America. For most Americans, politics holds very little importance in their lives. They go about life excited for the next winner of Dancing with the Stars, or some other mindless alleged reality show, engaging in a never ending consumption of mindless entertainment that holds no real worth a week later. Others are so involved in taking care of their families and living paycheck to paycheck that to take their nose from the grindstone could be catastrophic. So, for most Americans, who can be bothered with politics when life is in the way and the government seems to grow bigger and bigger with no interest in listening to it's citizens? Well, now I can be bothered, and I am.

The last 2 years or so, I have awakened to the need to be involved in the political process. I have awakened to find the ideals I was taught in my youth, constitutional values, have been trampled upon, sometimes before I was of legal age. The Democrat Party of my parents and grandparents and beyond has been hijacked by fabian socialists cloaking themselves as "saviors" of the poor and creating victims of anyone they can spin it upon. If you aspire to be wealthy, they wish to redistribute the success of those that can manage money to those that cannot, including to the federal guberment. The Republicans spend and bend. They waiver in the wind instead of standing strong on the values that founded this country and that have proven true over time. America is in jeopardy of becoming tribal in nature as each party becomes more and more partisan and in one case more socialistic by forcing compassion upon the masses. Being awakened recently gives the one advantage of seeing the distraction techniques of the press and politicians, mostly the democrats in my not so humble opinion. You know the trick, where they say look at this (a meaningless sock puppet) and then with their other hand they are reaching around your back and robbing you of your wallet. Then you have the media, brand names we all grew up with and thought we could trust, covering up and pretending to be objective. In some cases they seem so convincing, yet when you dig into the facts they omit and backgrounds of those involved, you find stuff that makes Hollywood spy conspiracy plots look like childs play. The issues with the politicians and the media are so deep and disconcerting that you could write volumes on the connections to corruption, journalistic and political malpractice, and their greed for power and wealth.

Lately I've been noticing movement in the idea that all the problems will dissappear if we abandon capitalism, if we allow the government to decide how to help the poor and needy, if we allow the government to determine how patriotic we are by taxing us and businesses (large and small), and how just handing out money will satisfy us to the point we are blind to their mistakes and ambitions to usurp power from the people. But this is the key that people do not seem to remember, The power belongs to the people and not to the government. As President Reagan said: "If no one among is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else". So when you hear soundbites and various political pundits on TV that are pretending to be experts that know what's best for you or make you feel guilty or frustrated for feeling otherwise, that perpetuate the myth that government knows best or props up someone that believes in more government as the default winner, such as Barack "Hot Air Balloon Ride" Obama, you need to remember what our founding fathers said and warned against in the case of the government gaining too much power. You need to learn what other great US Presidents have said and done in the past in regards to protecing us, we the people, from growing government and over taxation in the guise of helping the less fortunate. Government's job is to provide protection of the opportunities, not equalize opportunities to bless one group of people and to punish another. It's job is to ensure personal responsibility and the opportunity to pursue happiness, not guarantee it through forced compassion or via the spreading of wealth.

Socialist and Marxist ideals that many high ranking democrats embrace and implement have failed time and time again. So those that embrace it must be aware of this fact and therefore must be desiring the destruction of the United States as we know it. If not, then they are emotionally invested and no longer practice common sense and are not fit to lead the rest of us.

Now, before I finish, I'm not happy with Republicans either. If I could find a party that truly embraces the constitution, our founding values, personal responsibility, limited government, helping the poor by encouraging compassion from it's citizens instead of mismanaged guberment programs, protecting the environment without buying into whimsical data like that of man-made global climate change or forcing everything to be studied and litigated to death, as well as embracing religious freedom - not freedom from it; then I would join that party. But for now the choices are where we have are: socialists, renamed as progressives as if their idears are new and unheard of, posing as democrats. Then we have goof balls with holes in their wallets pretending to be conservatives. Then a bunch of so called independent parties that have nothing of substance to offer but wastes of time when looking at their platforms/candidates - think Green party and the gal they nominated as their candidate for President ... she slapped an officer for inconveniencing her as she went through security screening at a congressional building ... now that really instills confidence.

So when you go to the polls this year, think deep down in your heart and reflect upon what you know about history, and then think about which candidate will embrace the values our country was founded upon, even at a local level. Then ask yourself: Which one promises to do the hard things that need to be done? Which one is less likely to be buying off your vote with free stuff we all pay for anyways? Which one sounds like they will cost less to us as taxpayers? Which one will allow you to be free and make your own decisions with your money and not meddle in your private affairs? I know who I am voting for, after 2 years of research and study, even if I do not like all my choices. But I refuse to let my country become a socialist country and I will fight the rest of my days to keep this it free for us all, as best I can, and no matter how small I can assist in such an endevour. So, on a personal level, I ask you to please support those that believe in smaller government and those that will "fight" for you and what is truly important.

We do not need nor should we desire the guberment and our representatives to tell us otherwise nor to ignore us. Change is good, but only if we know what that change is and that it is soundly rooted in principles that are proven to work for us, not against us.

Remember this, Compassion can be exercised individually, but freedom can be taken from us collectively.

AgoraCart announced a new add-on module that will enhance the buying experience on Gold Version based storefronts. The new module allows a visitor to tabulate shipping on an order at any point of the shopping experience prior to checkout. Shipping methods supported are all real-time rating services supported by AgoraCart Gold, such as USPS and UPS, as well as any custom shipping logic used by a store administrator. Included with this new enhancement is the ability to indicate ship-to state and provinces as well as ship-to countries in the store shipping managers.

The module was initially coded and donated to the AgoraCart project by Tim Copeland, aka DigitalArtifact in the project's user forums. The projects leader, better know as Mister Ed, enhanced the module for to use dynamic settings and additional features.

AgoraCart Gold Version storefronts with the separately purchased booster pack option may update their storefronts with this enhanced feature using the module updater/manager.

AgoraCart Pro version 5.5.000, the enhanced version of the popular AgoraCart Open Source ecommerce storefront platform, is now available.

Enhanced features include search engine aware URLs, speed enhancements in dynamic category building and creation of cart session files. 50+ new database fields have been added for customization of order management and future expansion of the AgoraCart order management modules. A new and cleaner look for the web based manager also come with version 5.5.x

More details on the changes from version 5.1.000 to version 5.5.000 can be found at:
http://www.agoracart.com/version_updates.html

Links to the purchase of AgoraCart Pro version licensing, which supports the AgoraCart project directly, can be found by visiting:
http://www.agoracart.com/proforum.htm

AgoraCart Pro version 5.5.000, the enhanced version of the popular AgoraCart Open Source ecommerce storefront platform, is now available.

Enhanced features include search engine aware URLs, speed enhancements in dynamic category building and creation of cart session files. 50+ new database fields have been added for customization of order management and future expansion of the AgoraCart order management modules. A new and cleaner look for the web based manager also come with version 5.5.x

More details on the changes from version 5.1.000 to version 5.5.000 can be found at:
http://www.agoracart.com/version_updates.html

Links to the purchase of AgoraCart Pro version licensing, which supports the AgoraCart project directly, can be found by visiting:
http://www.agoracart.com/proforum.htm

NiftyPay and NiftyPay to Play payment processing services have been added to AgoraCart 5.0.x and AgoraCart Pro 5.1.x as standard and freely available gateway options for AgoraCart users.

NiftyPay is unique in that it will allow a merchant to accept credit cards, echecks and PayPal payments securely and without the need to use multiple forms in AgoraCart or any other order script for that matter.

NiftyPay to Play is a low cost option for small or new startup merchants that want to have more control over their payment processing options but desire low or non-existent monthly fees. NiftyPay to Play has the same features as the standard NiftyPay, but without the larger financial commitment every month and/or to sign up.

You can find more information on NiftyPay at www.NiftyPay.com

Budget Lighting Inc recently sponsored, with a financial contribution to the AgoraCart project, the development of a new add-on module for the AgoraCart ecommerce shopping cart system. The new module, suggested selling, will allow a store owner to suggest other items to a store visitor that compliment or are similar to the items being viewed.

Features of the new module include: ability to specify the use of an image in the suggestion either from a list of installed images or manually typing in the image location; use of a product identifier by category of products, an individual product ID, or a unique keyword used within any product range; selection of product page layouts form installed list, and a simple code snippet (agorascript - which is perl in html pages) inserted into the layout(s) of choice in order to display the suggestions.

All functions come from a single file, uploaded from AgoraCart's revolutionary update/upgrade modules manager, that performs all the complete install and directory setups dynamically while saving the initial suggested selling manager settings.

The new module will be available shortly to Booster Pack members / supporters.

The Echo payment gateway is now available to current Pro members for use in AgoraCart Pro version 5.1.000 and above.

Thanks to the leg work of an AgoraCart user, named Chad (CDC Warrior), completion of the gateway was expedited. As a result, Chad earned a complimentary lifetime membership to the AgoraCart Pro web site.

Information on becoming a Pro member in order to access AgoraCart Pro is available at: http://www.agoracart.com/proforum.htm

The long awaited AgoraCart version 5.0.000 is available to the general public. Version 5.0.000, an open source ecommerce solution. offers significant improvements over the prevous 4.0K-4b version, including CSS (cascading style sheets) design controls, greatly enhanced order management, drop-in templates and button sets with online manager/selector, international shipping with the new USPS (United States Postal Service) module, ability to have layout/header/footer files per category just by dropping them into the html-templates directory of the store, and more security. Version 5.0.000 is has a nifty module updater that allows you to update core program files that are typically not customized by most users, which results in easier upgrades saving store operators a lot of time and hassles.

This is a quantum leap forward over the previous version that was released in late 2002. There are so many features that have been updated that it does not look much like the AgoraCart of the past.

Downloads are only in tarball forms: .tgz and .tar.gz. Semi-automated installer and upgrader scripts will be available by mid-October 2006.

Check out the new version. You can dowload the new version on the download page at AgoraCart.com

We are proud to announce that USA ePay has sponsored the development of a new payment processing gateway package this past week. This new payment gateway is a great addition to the payment gateway line up that AgoraCart already supports. The new gateway is available now for AgoraCart version 5.1.000 Pro and will be available to 5.0.0 users when that release/version is ready for the public. Gateway files for version 4.0K-4b will also be available within the week for users of the well established 4.0K-4b series offered by thousands Cpanel based web hosting companies.

About USA ePay
USA ePay is a full-service ECI and Retail certified payment gateway which supports the First Data Nashville, TSYS [Vital, Paymentech and Global platforms. USA ePay, is a PCI compliant gateway and is certified with the Visa USA CISP and MasterCard SDP programs. The gateway supports the Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode programs. The USA ePay gateway also carries the basic features of Address Verification System, CVV2 and CVC, Recurring Billing and a free developer’s library on their website. For more information, please visit www.usaepay.com or call 866.USA.EPAY (872-3729).

My oldest daughter sent me this and I just had to share it and "show me the funny". For those thinking that this resembles my sense of humor, I half-heartedly deny any personal resemblance to the feller in the story ... on atleast half of the "infractions". Enjoy ...

Letter from a Retailer

Mrs. Ed,

Our store is considering banning your family from ever shopping with us
unless your husband stops his antics. Below is a list of offenses over the
past few months, all of which have been verified by our surveillance
cameras:

MEMO - Re: Mister Ed - Complaints
Sixteen things Mister Ed has done while his spouse was shopping:

June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's carts
when they weren't looking.
July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute
intervals.
July 7: Made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the rest rooms.
July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official tone, 'Code 3'
in housewares... and watched what happened.
August 4: Went to the Service Desk and asked to put a bag of M&M's on lay
away.
September 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.
September 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told other
shoppers he'd invite them in if they'll bring pillows from the bedding
department.
September 23: When a clerk asks if they can help him, he begins to cry and
asks "Why can't you people just leave me alone?"
October 4: Looked right into the security camera; used it as a mirror, and
picked his nose.
November 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, asked the clerk
if he knows where the antidepressants are.
December 3: Darted around the store suspiciously, while loudly humming the
"Mission Impossible" theme.
December 6: In the auto department, practiced his "Madonna look" using
different size funnels.
December 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browse through, yelled
"PICK ME! PICK ME!"
December 20: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumes the
fetal position and screams "NO! NO! It's those voices again!!!!"
And, last (but not least!) -
December 21: Places prominent stickers on all the Microsoft branded computer accessories on the shelves that read "Not Compatible with Microsnot Windows XP".
And, last (but not least!) -
December 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door and waited a while;
then, yelled, very loudly, "There is no toilet paper in here!"

Howdy,

Cpanel has enhanced the interface that installs and manages initial installations AgoraCart from within the Cpanel environment.

If you have access to the latest and greatest versions of cpanel via your hosting account, you will find the ability to upgrade your store as Cpanel updates their core files, the ability to move or copy your store to another directory (duplication and moving with the click of a link), and a cleaner interface.

All in all, it's very nice and adds more functionality in managing your initial AgoraCart based store installations.

Mister Ed

After a year of discussion and study, and in anticipation of the AgoraCart version 5.0.0 release, the manuals and documentation for AgoraCart, a ecommerce shopping solution, has been moved to a wiki format at AgoraCart.com . The new wiki format will allow users of AgoraCart to contribute to and improve, in meaningful ways, the much needed documentation.

Powered by MediaWiki, the existing manual pages and guides were converted to wiki format earlier this month. The new wiki format will allow users of AgoraCart to contribute to and improve, in meaningful ways, the much needed documentation for the Open Source software project.

The new location of the manual and guides is located at:
http://www.agoracart.com/agorawiki/

Experienced users of AgoraCart are encouraged to contribute to the manuals and/or make a request to become a moderator of the documentation to maintain it's integrity. Editors are standing by, so all skill levels of the written word are welcome if any person wanting to contribute needs assistance.

In the end, the new documentation format will be a giant step forward in making AgoraCart easier to use for those that are newer to online marketing.

A client of mine from the midwest sent this funny pic to ME in an Easter message. I just had to share it...

I just finished reading the book titled "Object Technology - A Manager's Guide" by David A. Taylor. I must say it made me think alot about how our lives revolve around objects and how even business processes can be modified to be a lot more proficient in the use of the concepts of objects. The result would also make implementing those business processes into programs a bit easier, and maybe even make those processes more efficient in their own right.

I've never read a book on object technology, but this book was a short read and recommened by a friend, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. It takes a generic look at how objects might be and should be without tying the concepts into any particular language. It uses real world examples to show how an object might be used and is explained very well. However, it's not a book to read if you are neededing to apply objects directly to a specific language. But, it is a good book to help you think a bit deeper, or start to, on the subject of objects in programming and how they operate within a web of business units. It's also a good book for managers that might not have a lot of programming skill but need to oversee such departments or projects.

Overall it's been a pleasant read and helped me to personally think of a few changes I could make in processes at my own companies as well as help a few businesses I consult. I would definately recommend this book to those folks looking to understand and/or manage objects better.

Just an update to my venture into mail-in rebates posted in January 2006 ... The Dreaded Mail-in Rebate

This last month I finally received the rebate check from CompUSA. So, this new system they have called eRabates, which are filed very easily online, ended up being a positive experience. Plus, I actually got my money .... of course in the normal 7-8 week waiting period ... but hey, I'm not going to complain when I get a check back from an item that was a good deal to begin with.

I also tried this process with Staples and was pleased with the results.

I still do not trust manufacturers rebates nor any that I have to actually mail in. I believe many other people feel the same way. So all the retailers of America should take note: let us file our rebates online with automatic validation based on our receipt in your system and then and only then will you will win the confidence of consumers when using rebates in your promotions and advertising. Otherwise, keep running your mail-in rebate scams and be left in the dust by your competitors. I, for one, will not bite on an advertisement with a mail-in only price promo, no matter how good the deal appears ... I just don't trust I'll ever see the rebate check.