With all the swivel-store commercials that I see, and my disorganized spice cabinet, I went on Amazon to look at them only to find they had bad reviews about their flimsy and overall ineffectiveness. Then I found this thing, and while it is a little pricier than the swivel store, it was rated much better.

The box does take up all of the space where my spices were littered about in my cabinet, but now I can actually find them within seconds as opposed to rooting around and looking through all of them. You can double (maybe triple) the little spice bottles in one slot, and there are bigger slots for things like a big bottle of onion powder.

It also comes with pre-printed and blank labels to cover all your bases for organization.

With all that said, if you own your home (or can otherwise make permanent changes to your dwelling) and have a pantry with a door, I would suggest getting one of the racks that you can mount to the inside of the door. It will hold more spices and other miscellaneous things and is easier to grab things quickly. A friend of mine has one of these and I liked it a lot, but since we are renting we don't want to put holes in the doors.

However if all your spices are just shoved in a cabinet right now, pick up one or two of these so you can organize and go right for the chili powder the next time you need it.

This is my 2nd pair of Klipsch IEMs. I also own a set of Promedia in-ear phones. Bass is a bit deeper with the S4i vs. the Promedia (maybe it's my imagination) and having the iphone control on the earphone cable is great. The sound is a bit bright/harsh at high volume but at moderate/low volume it's exceptional; smooth and balanced. For the price these Klipsh phones are a steal for the sound they produce.

The same can be said about the overall sound quality of the Klipsh Promedia phones too, excellent sound for a great price. The main thing you get with the S4i over the Promedia is identical control of your iphone as with the Apple earphones (minus the lousy Apple earphone sound quality and better background sound isolation).

I was looking at some of the pics posted here about cables falling apart at the plug. I have to wonder if those images are from an older model (or a fake) since my connector is different. There's a definite strain relief on the cable and it looks like only abuse would fray in my unit I've had the Promedia IEMs for 4 months now (same strain relief) and they've done wonderfully so far.

I expect the same from the Noise-Isolating  S4i.

The first chapters of American Sniper are a perfectly suited introduction to the aw shucks, God, Country Family school of American kickass manhood. It is mind-bendingly simple to understand exactly why this nation will continue to be greatly defended for generations to come, because anyone who reads Chris Kyle's book and knows where Kyle is coming from (I do!) will recognize in a heartbeat the kind of Texas cowboy we will always have millions of. Kyle himself would never tell you that he's a one man army, but he is just the kind to fill the top ranks of the best army on the planet so long as it's funded.

There's only a little to say about the metastory here, as I will be slightly intrigued but much informed and entertained by the story to come. That is that you see in Kyle's story, the new soldier - the prototype by which humanity will be defended for generations to come.

He is not an outsider. He is not from the dregs of society. He loves his father and his family - his is not desperate for approval. He rises to the challenges of defending his country, and it makes all the difference that he is a volunteer and that this remains a free country. So long as our military institutions retain their transgenerational links, then they will be the fuel that will power militaries of the future. We must hope and indeed pray that armies comprised of such free men will remain victorious from here on.

It's corny. It's easy to understand. Because of that we are most fortunate. We retain the formula. He's just a fighter and he hates to lose. He understands that he has become a weapon and he is serious about his patriotic committment. His mission is a job and he is remorseless and relentless. He understands the deal of morality he has made, and he values an American life first. That is the kernel of it. The rest is training and experience, and now his knowhow is plowed back into instruction. That, my fellows, is a professional, and that is what we want our military forces to be.

One more thing. I would compare this book unfavorably to Wasdin's SEAL Team Six. I must confess that I like Wasdin's sense of himself as a warrior and as a person better than I like Kyle. Kyle is his own worst enemy talking about the kind of man he might have been if he were better. It's the kind of explanation those who are apt to respect him don't ask for and the kind those who are apt to disrespect him will find ridiculous. He's a soldier. Period. I'm sure it comes off much better in person than it does in the book. At any rate, we are fortunate to have all sorts on our side.

With the world of social media dominating high volumes of b2b and b2c communications, what’s happening to email?

There is no doubt both the use and success of email has been in decline over recent years. What this means to marketing professionals is that of you want your email campaigns to succeed, then they need to be exceptional.

For me, email campaigns simply don’t work in isolation, especially in the b2b world. Perhaps that’s due to the nature of the business I work in but I believe to get the best results, email must be one dimension of a multi-touch strategy.

Anyhow, here are my top 5 tips for successful e-mail campaigns.


1. Subject Line
I believe around 80% of writing and design time should be spent on a compelling, engaging subject line and 20% on the rest of the content. If the subject line doesn’t scream ‘READ ME NOW’ then the content is pretty irrelevant.

2. The Hook
I can honestly say I don’t think I have ever replied to a ‘marketing’ email that did not have a great hook. We need to engage our audience with a great subject line the POW, give them an offer of something they can’t refuse. Take Tesco as a good example, I have used the £10 off your next shop voucher countless times.

3. Personalisation
Which brings me onto one of the most important factors. Personalisation is not just about adding the recipient’s name to the top of the email. It’s about understanding you target market. With a good knowledge of your customers needs and wants, your emails should render dynamic content based on the segment of people you are sending it to. Do not underestimate the important role CRM plays in marketing.


4. Screen Real Estate
People receive and read emails in different ways and as the sender you need to be acutely aware of this. Some recipients open their email fully in Outlook, others use the preview pane, others on iPhones etc etc. This means that you need to get you key message in the top left corner of your design so it has the beat chance of being seen, no matter what device the recipient is using.

5. Follow Up
Sadly, in my experience this is rare. I must get 30+ marketing emails a day and perhaps only 1-2 followed by a phone call. It is however those 1-2 that get my attention as they usually prompt me to revisit the email in my inbox. It’s the lack of professional follow-up that is usually at the centre of failing campaign, invest the time to do this properly and you will be more successful.

Next time you create a campaign review these 5 steps and see if you have them covered. Good luck

For those looking for a nice and free way to start 2012, there's free MP3s to download right now on Amazon.com. You will need to hurry though as the free download offer ends this week.

You don't have to buy anything - just select the whole CDs or any of the songs you are interested in and start downloading. If you are not familiar with any of the songs, there's a sample player on the site to help you listen before you start downloading. Who cares anyway, the whole thing is free so if you are not happy with the songs, just delete.

I have downloaded some of the songs myself so I thought I would put it up here in case anyone is interested. I believe in sharing - especially when it's online and free.

Why pay for something when you can get it for free - I say.

Hurry over here and start downloading NOW.