Printing from My iPhone and iPad

Sam Harrelson on May 14, 2013

I love my Epson XP-400. I picked mine up at Best Buy but you can find them on Amazon (linked) for about the same price of $70.

It’s not a fantastic picture printer, but for crisp documents or archives or tickets etc, it’s all I need for my home office and our Harrelson Corps office.

The biggest benefit is that for $70, we can print straight from an iPad or iPhone just by connecting the printer to the wifi network in the office. It’s magical to print a document or contract from your iPhone in five seconds.

Secondly, with the printer’s support for Google Cloud Print (takes about 2 mins to setup), you can print any Google Doc (from a laptop or device) from anywhere in the world as long as you’re logged in to a Google account or domain (harrelson.co in our case). That’s awesome.

We don’t print a ton of things at Harrelson Corps, but having the ability just to tap a button on the iPad and make it happen makes me feel like I’m finally living in the future.

Highly suggest.

How to Heat a Soap Mug When Using a Safety Razor

Sam Harrelson on May 14, 2013

I’ll post later on why I love my Merkur razor, but this is the greatest tip I’ve ever read on how to get the soap part of using a razor like this just right (found deep in the Amazon reviews of my next brush)…

Amazon.com: Parker Safety Razor 100% Silvertip Badger Bristle Shaving Brush (Chrome Handle) and Free Shaving Brush Stand: Health & Personal Care: “Everyone has his own method, but if you’re new to this game, here’s mine: Fill half the basin of your sink with the hottest water you can get out of the tap, and place a mug full of this water in the basin. (this allows the mug itself to heat up, which will keep the lather warmer longer.) Let the mug and the brush soak in this water for about two minutes. Squeeze most of the water out of the brush, and swirl your brush in some shaving soap, 4-5 rotations, like you’re mixing with a paint brush. No need to overdo it. Then empty most of the hot water out of the mug, saving just enough water to coat the bottom of the mug, and work up a warm, thick lather in the mug, adding water as needed. Then come back and write a review of the best shave of your life.”

Shaving snobbery is one of my little joys in life. The process takes way too much time in the morning and is expensive upfront but the joy it brings to my life and my pocketbook (do you know how much those Gillette blades really cost??) make me happy before work.

On-Demand Marketing

Sam Harrelson on May 12, 2013

Not totally on-board with everything here (by 2020 we won’t be tapping things to enable NFC connections nor will companies be texting us when we already have their app installed on our device or wearable), but this is an thought-provoking overview of just how much the web and coming improvements in consumer technology and IT infrastructure (more agile databases in the cloud etc) will change marketing itself in the next decade:

The coming era of ‘on-demand’ marketing | McKinsey & Company: “What’s next? Deploying tools that rapidly assemble databases of every customer contact with a brand, companies will need to push every customer-facing function to work together and form an integrated view of consumer decision journeys. With longitudinal pictures of customers’ touches and their outcomes, companies can model total costs per action, find the most effective decision-journey patterns, and spot points of leakage. As more contacts become digitized—and they will—the data will gradually get easier to create.”

Mobile is the linchpin of the user experience in 2015-2025, but we can’t forget wearables, such as Google Glass, and how much those will impact marketing as well.

via @similarweb on Twitter.

Uncle Herbert’s Autobiography

Sam Harrelson on May 6, 2013

My Aunt Lib died this past Fall and while we were preparing for her funeral at her home, I happened upon my Uncle Herbert’s old wallet in a closet. I had to take a peek inside and found this piece of blue paper folded up…

2013 05 06 18 53 32

It was his autobiography.

I wish I had known more of this story when he was alive…

Here is the transcription with a few links that I’ve thrown in for my own benefit:

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Uncle Herbert’s Autobiography

Born in Florence 1920 one block from American Bakery. Worked on farm. Worked Tyler Veener Mill, Roofing Co. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad at Station and in round house. Fueled first diesel train that came into Florence.

Joined Navy March 1942. Went to Newport Rhode Island Boot Camp then to Chicago Navy Pier Aviation Mechanical School about 10 months.

Then to Phila for Catapult School, then west coast waiting for ship corridor.

On ship went to Honolulu. Changed ships then to Marshall and Gilbert Islands in combat their. Liscomb Bay sunk. Then over Equator and then to invade Guam and Saipan. Typhoon on way 3 days.

5 battle stars.

To states for discharge after war. Started working at Koppers Wood Preserving after layed off at R.R. then back in Navy 1950 for 18 months Korea War on USS Saipan.

Then back to Koppers Co.

Heart attack in 1978. Retired 1980. 5 operation and 3 heart attacks one of them bypass.

Built 2 houses.