Sunday, June 30, 2024
It has been so hot in my area, I hate having to think about going out.
That said, on Thursday, June 27, 2024 I did have to go out and my worst fears were realized, when the van I wanted to use would not start.
A brand new battery was installed about a year ago, however, the van is used less than once a month and I think the combination of hot weather and disuse drained the battery.
The good news, the van started right away with the amp charger I reference in this post.
I am seldom jealous of anyone with a pool. Allow me to explain. About the time I was completing my sophomore year in college (1979) and my sister was graduating from high school (always think of it as her graduation present), my parents had a pool installed.
Though I was never home (college, work, other interests), I perhaps used the pool less than 5 times before my parents sold the house in 1984. I thought when the pool was open (May-October), it was a lot of maintenance. And then there was the bunny that could not swim. I was simply never interested in that pool.
Several years ago, one of the neighbors had a pool installed. See below, the view from my office window. I have never wished I could just jump into that pool- that is, until this year.
Maybe it is because I have been working in my office more this year and the room seems hotter than other areas of the house, but I have wanted to dive into the neighbor's pool. That said, I do not want my very own pool.
Though, the next topic is not heat related, I was hot under the collar when the issue first came to my attention.
Facebook decided my business verification was no longer valid in 2022. I mention this issue in this post. I was baffled by this, however, let it go. At the time, I was a developer using Facebook APIs, however, there seemed to be no impact to my Facebook applications (see here and here), so I did not worry about it.
On Thursday, June 27, 2024, after notification earlier in the week related to the state's renewal of my business entity, I resubmitted the business information (state & business bank documents) to Facebook.
As noted from the graphic below, Facebook verified my business and also verified that my business is a tech provider for their services- mainly dealing with their API resources.
Glad most of my heat related issues worked out. I am currently working a number of business related projects and planning for the holiday.
Tuesday, June 25, 2024
This morning, I received the three pair of slacks I discussed in the last post. I am so very pleased with this purchase and have been smiling all day.
I have made several purchases over the last month, including:
The following photos provide a closer look at the Joilcan 75" tripod. I already owned a 53" and a 17.32".
Other Amazon purchases made this month include the DEVICO portable utensils (on my
wish list & on sale) and the Miusol work pencil
dresses.
I wear many hats and I will be able to style the dresses for real estate activities as well as my software consultancy activities. I was surprised how well this dress style worked for my body type.
Amazon Purchases
I started this month thinking I wanted to sample products for inclusion to my online shop. I do not think I can source most of the products I sampled, however, happy to add updated pieces to my own wardrobe.
While working on this post, I noticed an email notification related to my Maryland small business (QiSoftware) and the trade name renewal.
Having a good day.
Saturday, April 13, 2024
On March 8, 2024, I requested my undergrad college transcripts from parchment.com via Bowie State University (see resume).
As noted from the above graphic, the issue was resolved, however, after review of my unofficial transcripts I found several issues I am more than a little concerned about.
That said, because I was a defense contractor with clearances for a number of years- straight out of college, I am quite certain my 'official transcripts' are more in line with what I know.
My concern is not with whether Bowie shows I graduated with the BS in Mathematics in 1981, (we agree, I did)- more with courses I took and grades I received.
I could write a long drawn out post about my age, why relatives call me Doogie Howser (started college when he was 15), or any number of issues, however I am not going to. I do not need to prove there is a problem with my age. I probably did not do all of the grades between the first and twelfth grades.
I did complete the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades at Arundel High School in Gambrills, Maryland and completed four full time years at Bowie State College (now Bowie State University), in Bowie, Maryland.
The FBI officially received a statement about my concerns as related to the unofficial transcripts, after I recently downloaded the transcripts. I note this in this post because government agencies can easily check their records from years ago related to investigations into my background.
I was paid as a college educated STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) defense contractor with security clearances for 14 years. This through Fortune 100 corporations. This can only be done if the transcripts were originally checked.
Why belabor this? Today college educations are not always real. Many use fake credentials, but also have important relatives.
I have a lot of important relatives.
I test well on IQ tests and my SAT scores were notable as compared to other students entering Bowie at the same time. I also applied to Howard and the University of Maryland. Here again, my scores were good.
Why question a non ivy league degree? You would be surprised by those who do not have a degree, yet claim, to. You would also be surprised by those who would want me a little less qualified. My resume probably understates my skill set. It does not overstate my qualifications.
I should have been allowed to live a quiet life. I mostly paid for my college education. For various reasons, which I now understand, I was interfered with. I am a law abiding, college educated United States citizen in good standing. FBI, I said no.
Friday, September 15, 2023
Recently, I think because of an uptick in blog posts- I noticed the numbers from the header bidding resource I integrated on areas of qisoftware.com in October 2018 began to show an increase.
Based on the information in this IAB Tech Lab discussion Why the ‘OWNERDOMAIN’ & ‘MANAGERDOMAIN’ fields are important
additions to ADS.TXT...
... I added (late September 13, 2023) the following lines to my ads.txt file as illustrated below.
My sellers.json file was left unchanged.
After updating the qisoftware.com ads.txt file the analysis resource offered by sellers.guide for my domain, qisoftware.com changed as noted below.
Just for information, how my Google Adsense and header bidding resource
(UAM) accounts report my seller
information...
On September 14, 2023, my header bidding numbers decreased to ZERO and today, though still early, the numbers appear to be headed in the same direction (ZERO).
My header bidding numbers are now zero after updating my ads.txt file. It also appears someone else is selling my ad space. Maybe I should not have done all of my site's ad integrations, however it seemed pretty straight forward after lots of research. What am I missing?
Reference discussions about QiSoftware advertising resources and integrations:
Tuesday, June 20, 2023
I feel in good health, however sometimes I seem to be very hungry and thirsty. I am losing weight anyway. The only medication I use is Advil on the rare occasion I have a headache. A bit of research provides I am probably a type 1 diabetic, however need a doctor to confirm.
Based on this information, I borrowed a glucose kit to check my levels over a period of three days. The levels were 67, 102, and 102. The 67 seems a bit low.
Other stats:
Age:
Weight: 160lbs (or so)
Height 5'6"
BMI: 26 (overweight)
HIV Status: Negative
Education: BS Mathematics 1981
Other: Maryland Licensed Real Estate Salesperson 2022
Why leave my age blank? A visiting relative once called me Doogie Howser. There is a lot of evidence to support this statement (started college at 15) however, official documents supplied by state and Federal governments provide a different age. Do I need to prove this? No.
You studied math, how could you question your own age? Actually, I do not. It was the many who came to me with questions that provided the research and answers as to the how and why it was done. Believe it or not, some of the questions came from classmates in my middle and high schools. I continue to have ties to my high school.
Using the glucose kit is a little new to me, so last week the pin prick setting was on 3 which did not draw enough blood. It worked with a setting of 4. This morning I used a setting of 5 to ensure it worked the first time and think I drew too much blood. This can be noted in the following video.
Why would I think blood pressure is tied to HIV? Awhile back I was in a situation where most participants were HIV positive- stats provided. My pressure readings were consistently higher than most in the group using the same equipment. My HIV status was reconfirmed at the time. My stress cards routinely show -no stress or green/blue rather than black. One of the secretaries had a stress card. Hers showed tense (black). Mine always showed not tense. Check with your doctor for the possible meanings. Why note all of this? Public statement in case there was a misunderstanding. That said, I believe there is a National database that provides this information. Temperature readings in offices and other public venues I believe are key. Is my information correct? Do the research.
One other note- I smoked for about 19 years. I loved smoking and used this vice to maintain a 6/8 suit size. I stopped smoking in December 1998, cold turkey. I did not know much about HIV in 2012 about the time I started to understand so many things I had not understood before. This was a major topic I researched. I was always busy with career that I understand now how I missed somethings. People are living HIV positive with beautiful lives. X-smokers have a harder time. I am an x-smoker who currently now needs to look at glucose issues. I had no health related issues before my recent observations with my sugar levels. As a heavy x-smoker, I cannot afford more health issues.
Saturday, April 01, 2023
It was a long March. Seemed as if upon resolution of one problem, another turned up. Summary of the issues:
- Auto problems with another of the vehicles.
- Research into a tax question that I had not expected. Dealt with an IRA account.
- Web hosting issues with both of the services I use to host my sites.
- Issues with Amazon Native Ads.
- After years of being a verified business on Facebook- QiSoftware is no longer verified. I have been working this problem on and off since June 2022. Looked at it again in March. Business bank statements, domain specification, business phone, and state records. Nothing seems to work. Not sure why my business was declassified on Facebook. Anything to do with layoffs at Meta? Not sure.
Accomplishments for the month of March...
- Business bank appointment to update business related information. This went so smoothly I was on cloud nine. These days changing anything related to my business seems difficult.
- Filed all of the tax returns I needed to take care of.
- Minor updates to my new site- Maryland Bloggers
- Updates to my Amazon Stores (see upper sidebar)
- Work on a new video short that I hope to release next week.
- Opened another HYSA with CIT.
- Installed software on the new laptop.
March was mostly about taxes and business related issues. I have to say, I am happy all of that is behind me.
Tuesday, February 07, 2023
Yesterday, Maryland updated their records reflecting the change of address for my business (QiSoftware). See this Business Blog Remix post for how to search Maryland's records for current business related information.
The comptroller's office updated the records in November 2022, however, the Trade Name Program with the Maryland State Department of Assessments & Taxation took a little longer.
Though the old address will be available for a limited time, on
Monday, January 30, 2023 I stopped by the post office to submit the permanent
forwarding address.
I have held the same business address since 2004 when I setup shop. The
many updates I have to make reflecting the new address is staggering. Shown
below, just some of the updates I have started to make.
I started the update process in November 2022, and continue to find services affiliated with my business that I need to update.
That said, I am happy the Maryland update is now official, in that my business bank required the state to update their records before they (the bank) would update theirs. I will set up an in person appointment for the bank update.
Tuesday, January 31, 2023
Every morning, I check my sites, various site analytics, and my current financial picture.
As I have discussed in recent posts; CD Shopping Update and mid December 2022 post, I have been tracking annual percentage yields (APYs) for 5 year CDs offered by two of my banks hoping to take advantage of rates in the 4.2-4.5% range.
Tomorrow, February 1, 2023- no matter where the rates, I planned to open the
new CD. This morning I was a little more than surprised to learn that APY rates
were down with American Express, the bank I wanted to use. I am not sure
exactly when the rate dropped, but it went from 4.25% to 3.75%.
I was so busy Monday (January 30, 2023) morning, three trips to different area markets, Columbia, MD to my business address, and then the post office to submit a permanent forwarding address for my business- that I may have missed an update on APY rates later in the day.
In addition, in the afternoon (Monday), I had several calls to Maryland taxing agencies concerning business mail I picked up earlier in the day.
On Friday (January 27, 2023), the van I use to do most of the chores would not start. Yes, I do have other vehicles available, however I allowed the van that would not start to annoy me.
Lucky for me, I noticed a charger my brother used once and I purchased something similar not long after. I used the charger to start the van, and then reconditioned the battery (button on the charger), however did not do any of the shopping I planned for Friday. I waited until Monday. I was so happy I could get to all of my shopping and Columbia that I was not going to do anything but handle issues that came up.
Translated, the (AMEX) bank CD rates going down did not jump up and scream like all of the mail from my business address.
This morning, wide awake and happy most of my business issues were resolved, I got back on track and discovered I missed the CD American Express bank rate change that was lower.
Before eight this morning, I opened the new CD with Synchrony for 5 years at 4.30% and directly set up an external transfer from the American Express savings account to the new Synchrony CD account.
I decided not to bore you with some of the details, however to change a business address in Maryland seems so hard I believe they want me to ask an attorney to do it. I set up the business, I am not sure why I need an attorney to change the address. That said the Comptroller of Maryland (taxing authority) had no problem updating the address when I sent Form 109-B MARYLAND CHANGE OF ADDRESS FOR BUSINESSES in October 2022. One of my calls on today- spoke with Brittany. I also registered with bFile the interactive business tax filing service even though I have had no sales since setting up my ecommerce shop. I file something known as a ZERO Return each quarter.
When I check the APY rates tomorrow morning, I am not going to scream if Synchrony's rates are higher.
By the way, I think all girls with vehicles should have automotive accessories in their garage similar to these in my garage.
Monday, November 14, 2022
In a recent blog post, I discussed issues I noticed with my FICO score when I applied for the Amazon Store Card.
This post provides a bit of an update in that my FICO score, as reported by Mint- as of November 9, 2022, based on the TransUnion VantageScore® breakdown, increased by 7 points to 766 from the low of 759 after the application process for the Amazon Store Card.
What happened on November 9, 2022? There was another credit inquiry from Chase Bank because on that day I applied for the Amazon Signature Visa Card. So why did it go up? I am researching all of this.
Why was I applying for credit cards, anyway?
- Credit reporting agencies contend negative data because I did not have enough debt or credit cards. Only one Mastercard and several personal & business debit cards.
- Rewards on existing Mastercard not as attractive as offerings from other banks.
- Amazon Signature Visa offers rewards, not the Amazon Store Card I applied for on Oct. 6, 2022. In both cases I received Amazon Gift cards when my applications were approved for a total of $160.00.
Why do I share this type of information? I need total transparency. Odd things happen to me. Recently (Sept. 30, 2022) I received two invoices via PayPal claiming I owed $299 each for something to do with Microsoft applications. Had no idea why those invoices were sent to me.
When I tried to have Paypal correct these issues, they indicated I could just ignore them. That said, the invoices are still showing on my dashboard and I cannot seem to report I did not order any software from Microsoft.
I use PayPal for my ecommerce shop, and most other payment options. I have had some pressure to switch (not sure why since I get no hits on WiredShops), however, my business bank and other payment options are not as cost effective as PayPal at this time. I am not sure if this is why I have noticed more odd issues than normal.
Prior to that, for some reason, Facebook decided QiSoftware was no longer a legal business entity. Instagram thinks QiSoftware is a business, my banks, PayPal, etc. all consider QiSoftware a business entity. Facebook recorded QiSoftware as a business entity in 2008 when I first joined.
In June 2022, they decided QiSoftware was not a business. I can ask them to reverify, however during the time of the verification process I was getting strange calls on my business line from characters with heavy accents. It may have been one of those calls that determined I was not a legit business, however I am not sure what happened. Just not in the mood to argue about this with Facebook. After I have my banks and Maryland update my business address I will look into this again.
I should also provide, in April 2022 QiSoftware was again verified as a business on Facebook and then in June 2022 for some reason they requested a reverification. It failed. If you are a Facebook developer you may know they do this a lot with applications. Why do you need those permissions, etc? I can easily prove QiSoftware is a business entity so I was surprised they did this.
Other minor issues that seem odd. Decided at this time, I want full transparency.
Saturday, November 12, 2022
I am always looking for cost cutting business moves, so last month when I decided to move my business address from Columbia, MD to Hanover, MD I knew I had several tasks to complete- in preparation for this change. Cost cutting? Since I reside in Hanover, MD I am making the trip to my business address much shorter.
My original attempt to notify the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation of the address change failed because I used the wrong form and did not remit a $25.00 payment to have the amendment recorded. The check was debited from my business checking account on November 10, 2022.
Another of my business cost cutting moves? In July 2016, I decided because I seldom write checks, to start printing my own for both my business and personal checking accounts. I discuss my custom check templates in this July 2016 blog post. See the image below for more on the blank checks I ordered.
Recently, I mentioned the keyboard on my Acer Windows XP Netbook is malfunctioning, so I am moving tools to other platforms. I developed the custom check templates using the Publisher version that came with Microsoft Office 2000 Professional version. Happy to report, had no problems converting the custom check templates from Office 2000 Publisher to Microsoft Office 365's Publisher version. See the illustration below.
In the above referenced blog post, I mention I use the Sunset version of Microsoft Money for Business (no longer available online for download). I used GNUCash for many years, however had too many issues so decided to use Microsoft Money for Business instead.
I mention this because I have been researching Quickbooks both as a developer and for use with my business, and believe I have the most cost effective solution for my business and personal finances.
One of the big advantages of Quickbooks over Microsoft Money for Business, is its ability to interactively communicate online with all of your banks to ensure account synchronization. I use both the Net Worth service offered by my personal primary bank (Bank of America) and my online Mint account to ensure all of my banks align with my offline copy of Microsoft Money for Business.
At this time, I do not mind I have to input some of the data to MS Money. Recurring debits, transfers, and deposits are automated, however a lot of the data is not. Bank of America and Mint use automated processes or aggregators to access real-time account balances from external account references.
I also use the non-business Sunset version of Microsoft Money to maintain financial and tax information for someone close.
I have to say, without Microsoft Money the cost to maintain these financial records would be a lot. I have cash assets that I need to be able to move quickly, especially now with the Fed's moves on interest rates. I am able to maintain this financial data effectively and efficiently with the Sunset versions of Microsoft Money.
Below, an illustration of some of the accounts and features I use with my version of the Sunset version of Microsoft Money for Business.
When will the business address change go into effect? The state has not updated the online business information, however I have begun to add the new address to some of the many areas I will need to update.
Thursday, January 06, 2022
Recently, I developed a Java JDBC Servlet that connects to the WiredShops Opencart database- allowing real-time quick reports of sales data.
The illustrations below show the development (local) mode output of the program.
I have ported several integrated databases, i.e., CIA's World FactBook, Commentrics, and Opencart to my local development environment.
I was pleasantly surprised with the ease in which I was able to access the Opencart data. In comparison to the other databases, Opencart is very straight forward as related to executing queries without having to make joined or multiple requests.
The new program is installed on Remix (Business Blog) and this blog in the lower area of the sidebar as illustrated in the graphic below.
Can a program like this be written in PHP rather than Java JDBC Servlet technology? Yes. I prefer Java because it executes faster and is less resource intensive. Opencart is written in PHP. That said, all of my websites use Java hosting services in addition to Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP (LAMP).
To learn more about my WiredShops Opencart installation see this promotional article.
Monday, December 27, 2021
As previously discussed, site promotion for the new QiSoftware shopping site, WiredShops, was cancelled for the upcoming holiday season. The site went live the beginning of November (2021), however because of problems with payment processing and shipping times, the decision was made to forgo heavy site promotion.
Though the site has been live since November, there have been no sales. If you feel this is in error, please contact the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
The site is driven by the Opencart platform. At any given time, the Opencart administration panel reflects the number of visitors to the site.
Payment processing issues included problems with non-registered PayPal buyers. For some reason the payment processing for these types of purchases would hang and not process debit and credit card information.
Tests showed, buyers registered with PayPal accounts had less problems.
At this time, PayPal is a cost effective solution which protects both my commerce enterprise and buyers. I have no immediate plans to switch to merchant services offered by my business bank, even though this option is available.
Since mid-September, I have submitted 5 separate orders to my suppliers to check products and understand the process. I am pretty happy with the products I received and received all of the items ordered.
The early orders seemed to take forever to arrive, so I have tested other shipping options with better results. A big reason for the "no holiday promotion" decision this year, I wanted to understand how to correctly select shipping options.
The items I ordered as holiday gifts, using revised shipping options, arrived well before the holiday. I did not use next day service, and the order took about 12 days. WiredShops does offer next day service for an additional fee.
Abstract noise has provided that I have other problems that I would like the proper authorities to look into. Since, I cannot prove any of the allegations, I am looking into other ways to have this checked.
Thursday, December 09, 2021
In March 2020, because of COVID-19, spending outside of normal upkeep was only done if absolutely necessary. Some years earlier, I setup all of my accounts in in the Microsoft Money Sunset Business version. I have 4 banks, PayPal and at any given time, several accounts associated with each bank, including checking, CDs and savings accounts. Today, I have 8 bank accounts, including the funds I maintain via PayPal.
All of my accounts are linked, in that I can easily transfer funds between external accounts if needed.
In 2020, I started handling all my mother's accounts. Mainly, because the trip to HR & Block was a trip she did not want to make at the time. My mother has 3 banks, however she is not a business owner, so I setup her financial data in the Microsoft Money Sunset version for personal use.
Before my father died, I used to do their taxes. Because of my own legal issues, I stopped doing my mother's taxes about 5 years after his death, then started again in 2020 because of the pandemic.
Quick frankly, my business does have assets, so mostly to avoid any legal issues where tax filings were concerned, in April 2021, I setup legal assurances to ensure everyone was protected.
I have always had my mother's permission to act on her behalf, as many of her household account organizations i.e., electric, phone, cable, etc. can attest to. I also set her up so she could pay bills online. She likes checks and the USPS.
Me, when I write a check, I use a form I created using Microsoft Publisher and blank checks I ordered from Amazon. I seldom write checks. The last, a redacted copy as rendered by Microsoft Publisher is shown below.
The check was deposited from my personal checking account to my business savings account before I linked all of my bank accounts.
I am very happy with Microsoft Money, in terms of cost to own, and the power it gives me to track everything to the penny for both me, my business and all of my mother's personal accounts. She has many.
Over the last 2 years, interest rates on CDs have not been great. I used to routinely, setup 12-18 month CDs at Synchrony (one of my banks) with rates well over 1%. The only CD I have now is a 5 year CD I setup in Sept. 2017 at my business bank. The rate is only .35%, however I set it up to ensure I avoided a $14.00 monthly maintenance fee on my checking account.
At the time, if I maintained $10,000 or more in combined accounts I could avoid the monthly checking and savings account fees. So I set up a CD for $10,000.
Since then, my business bank has revamped their charges (COVID impact), and now the fees are under $10 however I continue to maintain the combined balance to avoid maintenance fees, altogether.
CD rates are picking up again. Both my mother and I maintain too much is low interest bearing checking accounts and I have been researching ways to invest in CDs with higher rates. Why not stocks? I like more guaranteed returns on investments. When setting up savings accounts with the corporations I worked for, i.e., Boeing, GE, Rockwell, I always selected guaranteed returns though I could have invested in higher return options with less guarantees. I never gamble with money. Not mine, not my mother's.
When I setup the legal paperwork for handling financial planning, I was taking a real estate course and did quite a bit of research into the types of legal documents I needed to protect all parties.
I am told, I did a great job with the legal documents I created which were notarized in April 2021. Actually about 2 years ago, it was a customer service rep with BG&E who suggested this legal solution.
Why all of the transparency? You would not believe the legal issues I have had over the years, or maybe you would. I am owed an explanation from DOJ.
FBI, over the many years I have maintained my business (since 2004), I have noticed anomalies where my business banking is concerned. This is a legal notice of shorts. I am aware you have looked into some of these issues. I am hoping you are still looking into these issues.
Wednesday, October 06, 2021
I spent most of September (2021) learning about online commerce and why Amazon.com is amazon.com.
WiredShops is now open and the cart is in production mode. Note, I am using PayPal exclusively to handle all transactions securely through their gateways.
I am happy I decided to add to my skill set in this area. Opencart was an easy application to install and configure for my needs and I am satisfied with the results. Some of the major tasks associated with this project, included:
- Understanding drop shipping.
- Automating the process using APIs.
- Creating a Microsoft Access database to track all of my orders.
- Selecting and obtaining inventory I could afford to maintain.
- Analysis of shipping times and costs.
- Ensuring compliance with the state of Maryland insofar as sales tax.
- Research of products, sourcing the products (ensuring I can backup sales activity with actual inventory), and adding the items to my shop.
- Issues with browsers and CORS. Spent a Sunday afternoon researching Font-Awesome problems which turned out to be because of browser CORS related issues and the fact my sites use Apache Tomcat.
- Legal disclaimers.
The illustration below shows the new sales and use tax number I applied for to ensure I am in compliance with Maryland laws and sales tax regulations.
My core business is software consulting and advertising. I pay taxes on income derived from consulting and advertising activities as reported to the state and IRS. Sales tax on items sold in state through commerce is different and must be reported and collected at the time of sale.
As noted above, I also created a new database to maintain orders. I needed to ensure my orders and the drop shipping orders were in sync. Below an illustration of the design view of the Orders table.
Finally, one of the items I wanted to have on hand, the earrings shown below.
Quite honestly, I used to wear a different type of earring to the office. Today, I wear a pair of inexpensive diamond-like studs. I do not want my mask to snare an expensive earring. I was pleasantly surprised by the weight and how these earrings looked. I can also afford to lose one.
I enjoy researching products and adding them to my shops. I wish I could afford to order everything and ensure it is exactly- what I hoped it would be, however WiredShops does accept returns.
I will probably get back to programming and other projects, but I have to say- I thought this whole experience, very interesting. I am happy I have something to do if other areas of my life and business are not taking up too much of my time.
I worked at Circuit City part time for about three of the four years while in college. A lot of the part timers were college students. I enjoyed my experience in this area-- and understand retail operations in the "brick & mortar" sense. I love learning new things.
Saturday, September 11, 2021
In August (2021), I began researching how new commerce initiatives are being adopted. I wanted to understand how independent retailers are using services like PayPal Here and PayPal Zettle. See this post.
Pop up shops are becoming very popular and owners are using their card readers to handle their (POS) transactions. Listed below, several Youtube videos I watched to get an idea of how these Popup Shops work.
I researched Artsy Ki's (last video) online shop which showed how she used her online presence to help drive sales.
No, I am not planning a pop up shop, however I did want to learn more about software support services or advertising I might offer retailers who are thinking of- or actually working in this area.
- Researched where and how to setup an online shop.
- OpenCart- self hosted option selected.
- OSCommerce self hosted option.
- Shopify shop- (hosted on their site) and similar sites researched. Cost factors an issue. Most who use these types of services, do not have the time to come up to speed in terms of the software skills required to maintain a self hosted shop.
- Because I chose a self hosted service (OpenCart), I had to use the drop shipper's API resource to link my shop's products to the service's products. So I also had to come up to speed on the use of the API. Automated linkage was provided for shops hosted on eBay, Shopify, WooCommerce, SquareSpace, etc.
- Registered a new domain, wired-shops.com. Cost $10.74 per year. wiredshops.com was available, however cost was well over $4000. (As of 9/11/21, visitors may access the site, however the PayPal hookup is set to the sandbox account). I was lying in bed early, Tuesday morning (Septemeber 7th, 2021), and decided on a site name wiredshops.com. Half an hour later, I had wired-shops.com registered. I used to provide web hosting services, the reason it was easy for me to register the domain so quickly. I then added the domain to qisoftware.com hosting as an addon domain for testing.
- Drop shipping services researched.
- Legal issues researched. Keep in mind, Qisoftware is a registered business entity in the state of Maryland.
- Used FormSwift.com to create a shop Privacy Policy.
- Currently, working on a Terms & Conditions statement for the shop.
- Sometime ago, I signed up to use the USPS API resource (see this QiSoftware demonstration page), so it was easy to insert the correct registration information in the OpenCart shipping module to handle shipping estimate calculations.
- Thinking about a couple of programs to write Excel and json data for import to the drop shipping service.
Below, a screen shot of the homepage of the new shop. It is still in setup mode. I liked the default template that was installed when I setup OpenCart.
Currently, I am adding more products to my shop and linking the products via the API service. I plan to make this a more automated task, however right now it is rather tedious. What is the reason drop shippers cannot automate the service for self hosted shop owners? Self hosted shops tend to have more custom mods and are inconsistent insofar as how to handle import and export data.
This has been a good learning experience for me and I feel I know a great deal more.
On Thursday, September 2, 2021, there was a major issue in my life which has been mostly handled, however the fact that I have been able to get this far with this project (during this time) surprises me, given I knew nothing about drop shipping. This is not for everyone. I want this post to show, I had a lot of pieces in place to be able to do this. This could be very expensive if the proper research is not in place.
Tuesday, May 18, 2021
In late 2004, I converted my local news service, MarylandWired to WiredPages which offered more in the way of national/international news and services.
I wanted to showcase my custom software solutions and felt a news service would be the perfect vehicle to highlight what could be done with software to enhance any online presence.
Recently, because of security and cost issues related to the online installation of new tools and interfaces for WiredPages, I have sought less costly development avenues using economic data provided through the Federal Reserve FRED resource.
Two of the latest FRED interfaces will be showcased on the WiredPages Business & Markets page and are illustrated below.
A potential client of QiSoftware may inquire- if you cannot afford to install your software online, why can I? Reference the following link while going through the list below.
- I host my software on two sites, qisoftware.com and hosting-q.com. There is already a lot of software running, more than a normal personal or small business site, simply because my business is software.
- Software security, I noticed long ago my custom databases were being hacked. The celebrity birthday database is one example. I keep a master copy of the MySQL database offline for development purposes. I also have the CIA World Factbook database. Both databases are very popular. My servers at this time, are not as secure as I would like and I cannot afford to install software that others can access and decompile. Why is DOJ/FBI not on this? I am not sure of the answer to this.
- Cost to run tools like Alexa Site Rank, Google Places (replaces the eventful tool on the WiredPages Style & Events page), real time market data, etc., cost.
- Tools like the Youtube Music Video Search and FatSecret were installed a long time ago, however although the software is ready for installation, are not installed. This is because, even though I believe I grandfathered in with Youtube API services, once installed online, this status may change. The old Youtube interface was rewritten to handle updates to the API service.
- The NPR offering, was complicated to implement. I want a secure server.
Someone once advised, look into hosting your own sites and perhaps think about employing your own expensive security team. Did I think they were kidding? No. I can afford to do neither of these things.
He felt my two biggest expenses should have been, hosting my sites and a personal security team. T1 lines are very expensive. In any case, why on earth would I need personal security? What I can say, I have seen some pretty amazing things since the mid 90s. I used to ask why me. At the time, I had not developed the custom solutions, I have today. Part of the legal case, provides that my business is being interfered with. I did not start my business until 2004.
What happened to me-- insofar as a legal case, could be worth a lot. As a matter of fact, I am told my legal "worth" is considerable. My actual worth? One other factor. When I am out, people do suggest they understand that part of the equation. What do you think?
I get a lot of offshore partnership requests. In response to these requests, I provide, because of ongoing legal issues I cannot afford to partner with anyone. I have to be able to account for anything I do as related to business or my personal activities. Sometimes other business organizations do not see the problems that might happen. I can assure you, problems exist.
FBI/DOJ, problems you see and hear. I said no. I cannot afford my own security. The front door was smashed in, August 2018. I said no. Hard heads are not listening.
Tuesday, April 27, 2021
In the summer of 1995, I decided to take the LSAT. The LSAT is like the SAT test given to high school students who wish to go on to college, however it is for people who already have at least a four year degree- and wish to go to law school. Both tests evaluate a student's potential for success, given their higher education goals.
At the time, I lived in Bowie, Maryland and I chose the US Naval Academy (Annapolis) as my testing site.
So why then? Beginning in 1994, I asked the US Government to investigate an employment issue. I thought the investigation went well, however was surprised when my employer of ten years, rather than correcting the problems, asked me to leave.
When I explained this to the government investigation service, the case supervisor said- "go shopping". I went shopping for lawyers. Should I have had a lawyer when I first asked the US Government to investigate? In hindsight, I believe the answer is yes.
That said, with 10 years, an engineering excellence award, and what appeared to be retaliation for an earlier internal complaint I filed with our corporation's office in Anaheim, the US Government found merit for my 1994 complaint.
In 1995+ (1996 1997) or so, I think, I had a meeting with every single major law firm in Washington. All interested on some level in my case. One of the smaller employment law firms recommended a large law firm which took the case, however handed it off almost immediately, to another large DC law firm. This should have raised flags immediately, however I signed a check anyway.
The US Government had run a 9+ month investigation into my allegations and found my case had merit.
My tenure (10 years) with the Fortune 100 defense contractor and an internal complaint filed about 5 years prior to my leaving the company, complicated things. Most of the small employment law firms in Washington, DC and Northern Virginia felt the defense contractor was too large for them to handle.
One or two of the large law firms in Washington- ran conflict checks, and found issues. A conflict check usually determines whether the law firm has any dealings with an entity- a potential client wants to file against.
I thought, what happened next was because the defense contractor was so large. That is when I decided I wanted to go to law school (Where Was I?).
In earlier years, I had filed suits on my own or handled most legal issues on my own. I had the car plates for a hit and run driver, a traffic ticket I felt was unfair, issues with two landlords, etc.
I mostly handled my own legal issues, and was pretty happy with the results. I fired the law firm in Washington that took my case, because the lawyers would not stop asking me to make it a contingency case. They returned my check upon request. I felt I had no choice. The last straw? I asked to see the Government case file that the law firm had pulled, and my lawyers (a partner and jr associate with a large DC firm) asked, "Why kill a tree?". Newspaper print? Not sure.
Earlier this year, I took a real estate course online with Anne Arundel Community College. I was very pleased with how much I was able to learn in this environment, especially as related to legal matters. This mostly through my own independent study, so I decided to look into other courses that would be useful in running my business.
Business law and contracts are areas I felt would be of great use. When I looked into what AACC offered, I found to take a credited course like Business Law 101, I had to have several prerequisites, i.e., math and english 101, which I have. So I had Bowie send over my transcripts.
The real estate course was a non-credited course and required no advance studies. The business course I wanted to take was part of a specific curriculum offered by the community college- Law and Jurisprudence. This curriculum is specifically setup for students who may wish to transfer credits, if they later decide to look into a JD program with a law school.
The following illustration, shows the 29 undergrad credits accepted by the AACC Law and Jurisprudence program I have selected.
Why would I provide this information? So many these days, falsify school records. I did not go to an Ivy league school, however a Maryland State Police Officer once thought I had lied to him about my work and educational background. I knew the officer socially. I did not know issues like this were still on the table.
Late last year, when I signed up for the real estate course, I was surprised by some of the noise associated with my decision to take the course. I was so hyped by being back in the school environment, I decided to take a business law course.
In addition, at the beginning of the year I began research to help with preparation of legal documents which required notary seals. I was pretty happy with the results of this effort, however I did quite a bit of research and crossed checked everything again. I think if I could have afforded a lawyer, the work may have cost well into the thousands.
Apparently, the transfer of my school transcripts, had some in the legal community asking more questions. I recently took part in a Zoom forum that involved 5 Judges and a law professor. It was promoted as a Judicial Forum based on my curriculum selection, and I was notified after my undergrad transcripts were transfered. Why were some surprised? I am not sure. I have found many have falsified their school credentials. Was it assumed mine were false? Why would I falsify something like that? I can find professors and classmates from my undergrad days. As I have indicated, I am still trying to correct my situation.
Have you checked my finances and asked why? Here are my latest FICO scores for both personal and business related activities.
I said no to everything except DOJ. I want them to come in with the explanations and resolutions. Why would a community college and a request that my undergrad transcripts be sent to another school, cause any noise whatsoever? What am I missing?
I have not had the opportunity to post as much lately. I added statistical graphs to WiredPages, and have been researching a lot of legal issues. I was going to research the legal issues anyway. Something I have known I had to do for some time. I was surprised by the noise that resulted from some of this. I should be easy to check and verify. In the past, I have claimed I have many well known relatives. I do. This is not important to my rights and the rest of my life. I believe many are aware of this. Too many I have known over the years were asked to provide any negatives, in hopes of justifying what was done. I work hard. There was no justification. No one officially said I did anything illegal. I told every employer since high school about limited marijuana use in high school. That is the only illegal substance I have ever tried. I thought I suffered with migraines most of my life. The actual problem, my eyes are offset. This caused dizziness which made it unlikly I would want to use anything that would affect my head. I do not even drink.
The relatives? Should not have been a problem. I did not know most of my life.
I now believe HIV is a factor. Not because my status has changed, but more because I did not know it was an issue for some of the people I have known. I am HIV negative. This should not have caused the issues I have had. When I showed my tests results in a blog post in 2004 or so, I thought I put to rest any questions on this issue. I thought, I was simply answering any questions that may have been on the table. I did not understand everything I should have understood.
That said, where are my hospital bills. I was a heavy smoker (as I hit 30 more for weight control) starting my junior year in college until December 1998. HIV patients cannot smoke the way I smoked and not have medical issues. Where are my medical and prescription bills. I take nothing but Advil. I wear contacts.
Fraud? Does anyone think, I would put all of these ads on my sites and risk a fraud charge because I claimed education I did not have? Do you know what fraud is? If you put up an ad, then claim a law degree you do not have, it is fraud. Those in the know, would suggest- if there was a legitimate charge that could be brought, it would have been done. There should be no question about my undergraduate degree, employment history, or conservative background. DOJ/FBI, I repeat- I said no.
I am not going to go into a lot of detail as to why, I seem a bit upset of late. I am in the public. I zoom, school, business forums. I have to do the shopping because of the health crisis. People are ill and I am worried. Maybe this is why I am feeling a little pressed at this time.
Sunday, April 18, 2021
Online registration and renewal services for small business owners are more prevalent than in years past.
For example, in 2004 when I first registered my sole proprietorship (QiSoftware) with the state of Maryland, everything was done- mostly via US mail with limited services for facsimiles (faxes). You can search for my Maryland business entity here use "qisoftware" for the search name.
In 2019 or so, when I registered online with the newly created Maryland Business Express site (came online March 26, 2018), I could not link my existing business records (since September 2004) with my new Maryland Business Express registration.
This meant, in 2019 when I had to renew (every 5 years) my business registration, it was all done via US mail.
Earlier this year, I found I could link the existing business records with my Business Express registration, so now, I can renew and update business registration information online.
Are you doing business in Maryland? No, is your state online insofar as business filings, renewals, etc.? I am so pleased Maryland is coming online with all of these new features.
Tuesday, September 01, 2020
Normally, I love this time of the year. Well, that's to say Autumn, but it will be here soon.
I used to look at my site stats and think, DOJ, affiliates, lawyers were good for their word. Their claim- "we are trying to clean up a lot".
Normally, around this time of the month, I hear about the number of people who did not get their first of the month check. Supposedly, because he or she interfered with me or my business. I do not want to explain the other reasons-- but have you noticed the difference in my recent photos versus from 5 years ago?
Nevertheless, I often hear- "yes we do owe and yes this will be cleared up". No, I did not hear of any recent firings. Yes, all the time I hear about how much my sites are making. Do you want to see my earnings from those sites?
DOJ-- did you want the screen-grabs? I am not demoralized. I want these issues resolved. I want to walk away. I said no.
Sunday, May 31, 2020
Some of you may remember, the WiredPages Reference page maintained a mini version of CIA's popular World Factbook.
The original interface, parsed the actual World Factbook site files to provide abbreviated data for WiredPages' visitors. As soon as they redesigned the site, my interface was dead. However, I have the original code for proof.
Several years ago, I found online, a 2013 SQL database of the World Factbook. Periodically, I work on the new interface, a Java Servlet that incorporates JDBC to access the underlying SQL data tables.
I am in no hurry to install the interface because my online server is too open and not secure enough. I have no desire to provide the data nor my interface to anyone who wants the data. Some justify, access to my servers by claiming an ongoing investigation. I have reminded the FBI and other legal authorities, they claimed in 2012 a huge mistake was made and they were looking at cleanup efforts. What are they investigating where I am concerned? I said no, I do not authorize illegal access to my sites. I repeat, FBI what questions do you have for me?
I am told that Q's Wire has been tampered with so much, those hoping to claim a libel suit, cannot, because the FBI knows about the tampering. My Thingamablogs [this blog, Remix] are maintained off-line so I do not have the same concerns.
That said, I keep all of the original text files for all posts to any blog on qisoftware.com. So, I can prove what I wrote and what I did not write. The other problem? Timeliness. There is a statute of limitations on a libel suit. I am also not malicious. I wanted others to notice the odd things about my case.
In any case, I stopped posting to Q's Wire long ago, however will add a post every now and again. This post is typical of the type of post I used to post to Q's Wire.
That said, as I have done with many of the interfaces ready to install however sitting safely in my briefcase or a hard drive that goes where I go, I provide a preview of what I am doing and how it will work.
This morning, I did a little more work on the World Factbook interface.
I did not anticipate any problems with development of the new World Factbook interface, just how to get it done in my local environment. You might be surprised by how hard it is to work in a secure area even in my local development environment.
I am pretty pleased with the number of interfaces I have ready to install on WiredPages. Part of the problem, malicious users might take my server down just playing around with the many tools. The other problem-- just too many have too much access to my online sites, and I said no... FBI this is repeated here.
