If you’re at the computer as much as I am, you know how important it is to use a mouse that’s comfortable to use. That’s why I want to tell you about an ergonomic mouse that I’ve been using for a few months now. It’s called the Wow-Pen Joy and it’s SO comfortable.

I reviewed one of its siblings last year. It’s called the Wow-Pen Eco, which is a small pen-like device that works very well. I still use it when I travel with my laptop.

Where the Eco is designed to be held like a pen (it even includes a scroll wheel), the Wow-Pen Joy is made to fit your hand very comfortably in an open-handed position. (Check out the photo to see what I mean.) To describe it another way, think about the way your hand rests next to your leg when you’re standing. If you were to “freeze” your hand in that position and place it on your desk, that’s what it would look like while holding this mouse. Like I said: a very natural position.

It’s optical and compatible with Windows and Macs. It has five buttons: your standard left and right buttons, a scroll wheel that doubles as a middle button, and two other buttons to the left of the device that you operate with your thumb. These two come in very handy when browsing forward and backward while surfing the Web.

You might call this a “vertical” mouse though comparing it to other models I’ve seen, I think the Joy is designed to fit a person’s hand more naturally. For years I’d wear something called a “mouse mitt”, which is a fingerless glove that had a cushion covering my wrist. But with the Wow-Pen Joy, my hand is positioned in such a way that it’s laying on the right side of my hand, which keeps the pressure off my wrist. I no longer use the glove.

It weighs practically nothing — about 4.6 oz and that’s with the USB cable. And you know how you sometimes have to pick your mouse up to get your cursor where you need it to be? Well, you might think that with this unusually shaped mouse that it might be a problem. Nope. It’s very easy to pick up with a simple squeeze of your thumb and index finger.

Whatever your choice of mouse, make darn sure it’s not causing you problems like carpal tunnel syndrome. For me, this mouse is something I’m going to be using for a long time.

Sorry for the suspense. It took longer than I thought to count and verify all the points. Now that I have done that, I began using random.org to randomly select my winners.

The trouble I ran into while doing that this evening is that random.org imposes a quota on the number of randomly generated sessions. Simply put, I met the quota and have to wait another 18 hours approximately before I can generate the next batch of winners.

I’m very sorry for the delay and appreciate your patience. I have an idea in mind that may help shorten the delay. I’ll post as soon as possible an update or, hopefully, the winners.

I took last week off for vacation, so that’s why things have been pretty quiet around here. I could use another week, but gotta pay the bills so it’s off to work tomorrow.

It has been exciting to see the responses for my contest that keep coming in. If you have already entered, be sure to do so because it ends this Friday. Tell a friend to enter, too!

I’ll also be mentioning ways you can earn a few more points to increase your chances of winning a prize, so stay tuned!

I know it happens. It has probably even happened to me. Maybe even you.

I’m talking about people who strip the affiliate IDs from your links when they make a purchase so you don’t get a commission on the product you promote.

Does that affiliate ID stripper really understand what they’re doing? Seriously, let’s analyze this.

Let’s say Johnny is our affiliate ID stripper. He reads your post about a product that interests him. Clicking on the link you provide, he notices what appears to be an ID in the URL — the magical connection that tells the service the product was referred by you.

“Oh my!” Johnny says. “I can’t have someone else benefiting from my purchase. I want ALL the money to go to the company I’m buying it from.”

Johnny, you’re a moron!

Is it really that important to you, Johnny, where your money goes? So long as you get the product you are intending to purchase, why do you trouble yourself so? Honestly, the product is the same, heck, even the price is the same, but you have the time and energy to create a worry over how that money is divided among the players?

Let’s break this down even further, so that Johnny can understand the math.

MeAndMyDrum Insiders: I’m going to provide you with more information on how you can increase your profits and tell Johnny to chill. Not an MAMD Insider yet? Subscribing is free. Get the extra tips I send just to subscribers.

Product X sells for $30. You, the blogger, promoting Product X, get $10 of every sale you refer. So that means $20 goes to the company who owns the product.

Let’s see: $20 plus $10 still equals $30. So exactly what are you trying to achieve, Johnny, by diverting that $10 to the company and leaving the promoter empty handed? The price is the same, your product hasn’t changed?

So we must conclude that Johnny is like the bully in school that would trip people in the cafeteria as they would pass him by, thus causing an embarrassing display of food flying everywhere. Why? Well, because he can of course!

But let’s imagine that Johnny feels the promoter is only singing the product’s praises in the hope of making a sale. Well, duh! Who is going to buy a product with the headline, “Buy this product, it sucks!”

Of course, we hope the product is being advertised as truthfully as possible. And there are some promoters out there who, shall we say, may be just a tad over zealous about the product they’re selling.

The bottom line is that it comes down to you, Johnny, to determine when a product is right for you. If the promoter has done his or her job by providing the products strengths, and they appeal to you, thus causing you to make a purchase, the least you can do, Johnny, is to give the promoter the credit they deserve.

I’ve signed up to a few lists. I’m sure some of you have too. You know, the ones that promise great deals or exclusive content? Some deliver on their promises while others are a case study in how not to communicate to readers. This has caused to me wonder what the best approach is when trying to inform your audience or persuade them to buy something you may be promoting.

Don’t Tick Me Off!

So what kind of sales approach do you find appealing to you, as the recipient? What kind really ticks you off and makes you want to unsubscribe in a New York minute?

For me, my biggest gripe has to do with the ones that go on for miles and miles explaining how wonderful the product they’re selling is. Really? If something is so wonderful, so Earth-shattering, shouldn’t they be able to list off its features and let the product speak for itself? I mean, if so much effort has to be put into selling something, wouldn’t that make you suspicious? It does me.

“I have the power to raise the price,
and I’m not afraid to use it!”

And what about the ones that warn you that the price will go up every x number of minutes, so act now! I completely understand that there should be a call to action. I also find it acceptable to include a sense of urgency in the message; that’s Marketing 101.

But seriously — if the product is worth $10, $20 or whatever right now, then why wouldn’t it be worth that much in the next 30 minutes or even the next day? It’s not the value of the product that’s increasing, it’s the seller who is more interested in making a buck from you than he is with providing you a product that can serve you well.

A large portion of the relationship you build when you subscribe to something relies on trust. Without trust, there’s not much reason to do business with someone. Would you continue to do business at a grocery store if their products were always low quality? Would you continue to eat at a restaurant if the service was bad? I know I wouldn’t and it’s no different than online business relationships.

What are your thoughts?

I was listening to a local radio talk show the other day. The topic of discussion was about a man who had solicited sex online to who he thought was a 14-year-old girl. When he arranged to meet with this girl, it turned out that the “girl” was really an undercover cop. Yikes!

The talk show host had an approach on this story that I wasn’t expecting. Read on and tell me what you think.

His position was that the man was being arrested for what amounted to a “thought crime”. Of course, it’s against the law to solicit sex with a minor, no argument there. But the host contested the man didn’t really go through with it. He (the offender) was soliciting sex with someone he thought was a minor (yuck!), but in reality it was an adult.

Let me just tell you that this whole thing disgusts me, but the host’s angle on this subject did intrigue me enough to think he actually had a point. The man was clearly intending to do a bad thing, but he ended up not doing it because there was no real minor involved. So when you add it all up, it amounted to someone getting arrested for thinking of doing a crime rather than actually committing one.

Law enforcement has been doing sting operations like this and others like it for years. It’s also known as entrapment, which has been the recipient of much heated debate.

What do you think? Are we now to the point of arresting people for what they’re thinking?

Give me a freakin’ break, I’m begging you!

I saw a TV news magazine show last night that explained the world of Doga (pronounced just like yoga, but with a “d”). It’s a combination of yoga and…dogs. Seriously, I’m not making this up. This is April 4, not April 1.

Puh-leez.

As I was watching the people stretch and bend along with their dogs, I couldn’t help but wonder if the dogs felt a tad bit embarrassed. I could swear I saw one dog mouth the words, “Help me.”

Clearly their owners were having the time of their lives doing the “downward facing dog” — with their dog!

This is just another example of how our society has too much money and not enough things to spend it on. Mind you, I don’t want people to be poor, but aren’t there other things that are more productive and meaningful than stretching with your dog? I mean, stretching WITHOUT your dog is more meaningful than stretching with your dog.

Are you with me?

Here’s a thought: why don’t we all come up with ideas like this one and we can all cash in on them? What do you say?

Bloga — the act of bending down from a standing position to reach your laptop on the floor to blog.

Kleenex-agami — like origami, only with Kleenexes.

Bring your fish to work day — we need more business-minded fish.

Cat signing — teaching sign language to deaf cats

Synchronized swimming — oh wait, that’s already been thought of. Moving on.

Bird waving — not that they can wave back, but it’s your way of saying you appreciate them even though they haven’t a clue of what you’re doing.

Come on, folks! What else can you come up with? Leave me a comment so we can get rich!

For readers outside of America, you might not have heard that we’re in the middle of a political showdown (circus?) called the Race for the Presidency. As each day goes by, we hear the latest in the mud slinging and name calling that goes on between the political parties and their candidates.

As I was IM-ing with Garry of Garry Conn dot Com this evening, he posed the question, “What would the USA be like if Bill Gates were president?” Interesting concept and one thing I think deserves a little focus as it could also be an entertaining idea.

After all, the choices we have to work with right now, in my opinion, aren’t much to work with. In fact, this November when the presidential election is held, I’ll probably be voting against rather than for someone.

Let’s see, here are some things that come to mind:

• A PC in every home.
• Tax refunds would be in the form of Microsoft shares.
• You’d bet your sweet bippy that technology would be the first thing on his list.
• He’d make it mandatory to vote online…using Internet Explorer, of course.
• He’d probably outlaw Apple.

What are some thoughts you have? Would he make a good president? If not, maybe some place else in our government. Be creative!

How many organizations have you come across that have the color of the skin of its members in the name of that organization? Or maybe it included their ethnicity? Or maybe their sexual preference?

I’ll bet that of the ones that came to mind, not one of them had “white”, or “American”, or “straight” in their names. Am I right? Yet we see more often than not names like:

• The Organization of Black Airline Pilots Inc.
• Chicago Chinese Computing Professional Association
• Gay & Lesbians Alliance Against Defamation
• Association for the Advancement of Mexican-Americans

These are all real organizations. They all have the best interests of their members at heart. But they’re also telling everyone outside of their organizations that other people come second. True, they won’t tell that to your face, but the whole purpose of their existence is to provide a benefit of some sort to their members based on their skin color, ethnicity/nationality, or sexual preference.

Now I’ll make a subtle switch:

• The Organization of White Airline Pilots Inc.
• Chicago Americans Computing Professional Association
• Heterosexual Alliance Against Defamation
• Association for the Advancement of Americans

What’s coming to mind? How about these:

• Club for White Men
• Americans for Border Protection
• Straight Men & Women Association

Striking any nerves yet? Are those last three causing you to think they’re racist somehow, or hate people from other nations, or hate gays and lesbians? I’m guessing that more people would think those things than not, and that’s what disturbs me.

What do you think?

Do you think the pendulum has swung to the other end of the spectrum? Has it gotten to the point where the special interest groups now cry foul if you do nothing more than copy their methodology yet simply change the name to show your own interest?

What about groups like these:

• The Home Buyers Association
• Association of Journalistic Standards
• Opera House Renovators
• Doctors Without Borders
• Friends for Deaf Children

Granted, some I made up, but even so, they all demonstrate a commonality based on characteristics that are devoid of controversy when you take them at face value. They can benefit their members while simultaneously benefiting those they’re focusing on.

So Doctors Without Borders benefits its members by providing the means for doctors to do good for others, while benefiting those they make healthy. The Association of Journalistic Standards (something I made up) could give their members the gratification of knowing they’re setting quality standards and procedures for writing in the media, while benefiting audiences everywhere who will read or listen to what is written or said in the media.

I long for the day when we can stop isolating ourselves from one another and simply live as one.

I was eating a burger I had purchased from a fast-food restaurant, Wendy’s, last week. As I was eating it, I was reading the cup my soda came in. On the side it said, “Your deserve a download with your burger.” which was encouraging me to download a free music file from Rhapsody.

At first, that struck me as an odd statement because of all the burgers I’ve eaten, it never occurred to me that to make my burger more satisfying I needed a music download. At times I’ve reconsidered my choice in sodas, perhaps I should have gotten a shake instead. But I don’t recall ever saying to myself, “You know what this burger needs? A music download!”

Stay with me. I’m leading up to something.

Then I pondered the use of the term, “deserve”. Really? I deserve a download? Who is Wendy’s to tell me what I, a perfect stranger, deserves?

As I scarfed down the rest of my meal so that I could get back to work, this whole idea of being told I deserved something stuck with me the rest of the day.

Of course, it wasn’t really about me deserving something. It was more about one company, Wendy’s, trying to influence my behavior by making me think I was entitled to something. This behavior would eventually (hopefully) lead to a sale.

I haven’t downloaded the music, but I’ll make an educated guess that it will involve me giving my personal information to Rhapsod and face some junk mail in my future. Or maybe it would ask me to enter my credit card information for a free trial of which I might forget to cancel and be charged for something. It doesn’t matter; these are just guesses anyway. But I’ve seen enough free things in my life to get an idea.

This whole idea of being told we deserve something for nothing, this feeling of entitlement is what I think plagues our society today. In fact, I think it’s the reason we see many people act so selfishly these days. I’m not saying that Wendy’s is at the root of all evil, but it’s the message they and others are delivering that are causing our wounds to fester.

Someone sues someone else because they feel offended. “Well, by golly, I deserve to be treated better, so I’ll show you!” A candidate running for office feels they deserve to be the winner, so they’re going to make sure everyone else running against him looks bad whether they have to lie or not.

No matter if what we hear or see is true or not, we’ll eventually believe it to some degree or at least that’s what advertisers are betting on. We’d like to think that whatever makes it between our ears is true, and indeed I’m optimistic enough to think that it is. But, I for one, will stop to examine what information I’m being fed to keep from becoming an automaton acting on someone else’s will. I encourage others to do the same.

What do you think? Is advertising going too far?