Md. couple receives threatening, vulgar voicemail after posting negative business review | WJLA.com

By far, this is very poor customer service. I can't imagine anyone calling me to tell me to get my wife in line. Wow



Md. couple receives threatening, vulgar voicemail after posting negative business review | WJLA.com

Using AdWords to Max Out Dropbox Referral Bonus

Dropbox is an excellent cloud storage service and it is available on all popular platforms. The catch is that new users only receive 2 GB of storage. Compared to other cloud services, this is low side for storage. The positive side is that Dropbox pays users with bonus space to perform certain activities such as reading the Get Started Guide, using the app to upload photos, and linking to Mailbox and social media accounts. After performing those activities and receiving 1GB after OnCloud was purchased by Dropbox I had 7.88 GB of space. Not bad, but I needed a bit more room for growth. My remaining untapped bonus area was referrals. For every friend that is referred and installs the app you will receive 500 MB in additional space up to 16 GB. To max out at 16 GB you need 32 friends who A) are not users of Dropbox and B) will sign up and install the desktop app. I'd likely need many more than 32 friends to achieve this goal. What to do....

AdWords Ad Keywords for Dropbox Referrals 

I found a Life Hacker article Use Google Adwords to Quickly Max Out Your Dropbox Referrals from 2011 and I was curious if it still applied in 2015. Using the instructions from the Life Hacker article I decided to try to replicate the results. I opened a Google AdWords account and set the keywords up similar to those in the article.

As in the article, I maxed out the Cost-Per-Click (CPC) at $0.05 which maximize the number of ads over the day without quickly killing the daily budget. I did deviate and set the max daily budget to $13.00 instead of $20.00 as used in the article. 

 Same as in the article, the keyword that drew the most impressions and clicks was "Dropbox".  

AdWords Dropbox Campaign

To achieve the same results of having 32 people sign up for Dropbox, I needed 4.7 times the number of clicks but only half of the impressions. The Click-Through-Rate (CTR) was higher than in the article and that resulted in a 4 times greater cost compared to 2011. 

Dropbox Referral Results

Out of 1,029 add clicks I had 77 first time users sign up for Dropbox accounts with only 37 of the 77 users installing the client. To max out the referral bonus space, it only required 32 users to install the client so the campaign brought in 5 additional users without a bonus. The proof, with email addresses hidden, shows that referrals using the link in the ad were received. 

Replicating the Google AdWords campaign was successful but it did cost 4 times more than in 2011. The goal of 32 signups with desktop installation was achieved in 2.5 days. Dropbox does have more subscribers than in 2011 and my theory is that it took more to reach people who do not currently use Dropbox and are not tied to a different cloud storage service. Each user that signs up using the referral link also receives a 500 MB bonus so their accounts all started out at 2.5 GB instead of 2.0 GB. If you are willing to pay $40 for 16GB of Dropbox storage then this avenue may be for you. I now have plenty of space on Dropbox and I don't need to pay $99 a year for 1 terabyte of Dropbox space which is much more than I require.

If you try this out for yourself, leave a comment and let us know how it worked for you.

The Van Der Hagen Safety Razor

Target carries a double edge safety razor with a branding of Van Der Hagen. Up to this point, the only methods that I have found for purchasing a safety razor are through one of the on-line speciality stores or Amazon. This is the first safety razor that I have encountered that any person can easily purchase. The razor costs $19.99 at Target so I decided to purchase one for a test drive and review.

As some background the razors that I own are:

1957 Flare Tip Super Speed

1960 Fatboy
Edwin Jagger DE89
Feather AS-D2

The Van Der Hagen is a twist-to-open (TTO) razor allowing for easy blade replacement. I was not sure what to expect from a $19 razor but the TTO works flawlessly. It is easy to use; however, when it is closed the end cap at the bottom of the TTO mechanism rattles. This doesn't affect the shave but I'd prefer to not hear a rattle with every shave stroke.

Left to Right: Van Der Hagen,
Flare Tip Super Speed

Left to Right: Van Der Hagen,
Flare Tip Super Speed

The look, as evident in the pictures, is similar to the Gillette Flare Tip Super Speed. The head of both razors when open and closed have a striking resemblance. I don't know if this is to pay homage to the great Gillette razors of yesteryear or for a different reason but either way the appearance is similar. The Van Der Hagen's handle measures at 3 inches which is slightly longer than the Super Speed's 2 and 7/8's inch handle. Both are shorter than the Edwin Jagger's 3 1/4 inch handle. The handle is in the ballpark for what I usually use so I didn't notice a difference. Also, the overall weight and balance of the razor feels fine in the hand. The head weighs less than both the Edwin Jagger and the Feather but it is on par, if not slightly lighter than the Flare Tip. The weight didn't affect my shave but it did feel a tad light in the hand.

I performed a WTG, XTG, and ATG shave using a Feather blade and I didn't not notice any irritation; however, the shave is not all that aggressive. I did not have as close of a shave as I get from the Edwin Jagger. Comparing the shave to my commercially available razors, the Van Der Hagen is less aggressive than the Edwin Jagger, and more aggressive than the Feather (which is known as a mild razor).

I'm glad to have tried this razor and it can compete with other DE razors.
Strengths:

• Available to anyone through Target brick and mortar stores
• Low price ($19.99)
• Good starter razor - mild to Medium aggressiveness shave

Weaknesses:

• Rattle from the handle when shaving
• Weight is on the light side

Overall, I feel that this razor falls into the category of a starting razor and would benefit someone new into the world of DE wet shaving. Instead of purchasing a $35-$60 razor off Amazon someone new to shaving could begin with tis razor. Once he (or she) gets used to DE shaving they can upgrade continue with this razor or upgrade to a more aggressive razor. Personally, I plan to hold on to this razor. For me this would make a great travel razor. I get a good shave, it doesn't weight a lot, and if I were to forget it at a hotel it I'd be out $19 and could always pickup another.

I do want to thank Target for offering a low cost DE razor in their stores as DE shaving is more cost effective than disposables and is easier on the environment.

Flying in a genuine 1929 Ford Tri-Motor

1928 Ford Tri-Motor at the Frederick Municipal Airport

Today my son and I had the opportunity to fly in a 1929 Ford Tri-Motor aircraft. The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is performing a tour with two of these beautiful aircraft. The aircraft that came to the Frederick Municipal Airport was from the Kalamazoo Air Zoo.
My son and I went to the airport to look at the aircraft and ended up paying for two seats on the aircraft. The cost for an adult is $75 and for children under 17 it is $50. It is free to fly with a child under 2 years of age. Yes, it is pricy, but how often do you get this opportunity to share this type of experience with your children.

We were the first to enter the aircraft so we sat in front. The aisle is very narrow but passable. We were

Inside of the 1929 Ford Tri-Motor

in the aircraft for a very short time before the engines started and we were on our way. Keep in mind that when they start the engines there is a guy outside of the aircraft with a fire extinguisher. Practical, but not something I generally see with modern aircraft. Alas, it was not needed!

After the short taxi to runway 23 up into the air we went. The total time for taxing, takeoff, flight, landing, and taxing is about 20 minutes. The cruising speed is 90 mph which in modern terms may seem slow but this was fast for 1929. For an added enjoyment it just so happens that the flight path took us over our house. This added just one more fine touch to the experience.  We landed and made it back to the loading / unloading area, deplaned, and took some pictures.

The cockpit of the 1929 Ford Tri-Motor

If you are interested in either seeing the plane and its history or taking a ride please take a look at the website www.flytheford.org/ for the upcoming tour locations and dates. If you are looking for possibly a once in a lifetime activity for the family or just yourself then the EAA tour is something it check out. It will be visiting the following cities through the middle of November 2013 (but please check the website in case there are changes):
Manassas, VA
Wichita, KS
Newton, KS
Oklahoma City, OK
Myrtle Beach, SC
Fort Worth, TX
Monroe, NC
Columbia, SC
St. Simons Island, GA
Georgetown, TX
Savannah, GA
Jacksonville, FL

Note to self: As I learned after the flight I had asked my 3 year old son "Do you want to go for a ride?" And of course he said yes. At the age of 3 he has logged a number of hours flying commercial; however, I should have asked if he wanted to go fly. I think he took "ride" to mean driving around the airport. After we landed he said he didn't understand why we left the ground. I laughed to myself and this experience and his comment is one that I won't soon forget.

Yaesu VX-8GR APRS use while sailing

Recently we went on a bareboat sailing charter and along with my other sailing essentials I packed the Yaesu VX-8GR that I received as an early birthday gift from my family while at

Yaesu VX-8GR along side my Garmin GPS

Hamvention in 2013. I have used the APRS capabilities a few times on his HT but I was not sure how it would function while sailing. I forgot the battery charger but as I learned with this experiment that wasn't an issue.

Radio setup:
Call sign: k8esr-8
Single frequency receive
Transmit an APRS packet every 10 minutes
Battery : FNB-102LI (extended battery)
Transmit power: 5 watts

Over the course of the week I ran the radio for 10 hours:
Monday: 1 hour
Tuesday: 2 hours
Wednesday: 3.5 hours
Thursday: 1.5 hours
Friday: 2.5 hours

I was very impressed with how well the radio worked while sailing. After the week of use I was only down to half of the bars of battery remaining. To get an idea of the battery usage running APRS I chose to not use the radio for voice communications.

Map of the received packets from aprs.fi 

After sailing on Wednesday I pulled up the data on aprs.fi and took a screen shot. In areas of the bay there were fewer points plotted but packets in other area were still well received. That said, the performance is not totally based on the transmitter but also on the location and height of the receiving digipeter or I-gate.

Overall I was very happy with the performance of the HT considering it is transmitting at 5 watts. The antenna was attached to the radio but had I mounted the antenna higher I probably would have had even better results. The VX-8GR has been discontinued by Yaesu but the performance characteristics may be similar on the other Yaesu radios like the FT1DR.

Chesapeake Bay Sailing Charter - The Final Day

Our final day on the Chesapeake Bay charter was not rushed and we spent the morning at the Rock Hall Landing Marina. To amuse the kids we lunched the dinghy from the back of the boat and gave them a water tour around the marina. The act of bringing the dinghy back onto the boat took 4 guys. During the checkout process they neglected one critical piece of information - how to telescope the boom to lift the dinghy. This is one of those situations best left to pictures but unfortunately I have none. We will leave it at this: it was more difficult than it should have been and required 4 guys again to get it back on the boat.

After giving the kids a break on land we departed at 11:30 AM to

return to the marina in Back Creek. A cold front was moving through so we had 10 kt winds with waves of 1.5 to 2 feet. At this point we motor sailed with just the jib which gave us an extra knot of speed. At this time I fell asleep with my youngest child (I hear that there are good pictures of us sleeping) so we will just fast forward...

We made it back to the marina, waited in line a bit for fuel /

pump out, and proceeded back to the slip for Dream Cat. We transferred our belongings to our cars, said our goodbyes, and drove back to reality.

While I didn't exactly like the configuration of parts of the boat it was the first we have chartered with an electric winch to raise the mainsail (a plus!). The winch was also very helpful to have for raising the dingy onto the boat.

Everything considered it was a great charter and we had a lot of fun and stories to reminisce on our next charter.

Happy sailing!

Chesapeake Bay Sailing Charter - Rock Hall

Today was a mix bag of land and sea activities. We spent the morning on land to give the kids some non boating playtime. In the morning there was some decent wind so we decided to head out of the marina to do some sailing. Poof, there went the wind. After putting the sails up we achieved a whopping 1 to 2 kts of speed. We were able to get some slow sailing in today but after the wind decreased to the point that we were making half a knot of speed we dropped the sails. The decision was also prompted by the storm building on the west side of the bay. Back to the marina!

The main adventure of the afternoon was many of us being

caught by a rapidly building and fast approaching storm. My child and I were trapped in on the main street of the town. After trying to stay dry and failing next to someone's garbage cans I made the run to the other side in hopes for a dryer location. After about 30 minutes of standing on a porch we headed back to the boat only to find that we were not the only members of our crew trapped by the storm.

It wouldn't follow the tone of the these posts if I failed to say that our sewage tanks were full from the start - Oh yeah, stinky. The current theory is that the cleaning crew may have filled the sewage tanks with water thinking it was the fresh water tank. I do wonder what they put in our fresh water tanks.

Tomorrow is our last day on the bay. Hopefully we will find some wind and no other issues.

I do want to give a shout out to Rock Hall Landing Marina. They have great facilities (bathroom and pool), helpful staff, and excellent wireless even at the end of the dock.