iStyles Community - Blogs http://community.istyles.com/blogs/ Stylish iPod Accessories For Everyone en Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:43:08 GMT vBulletin 120 https://www.istyles.com/forum/images/misc/rss.jpg iStyles Community - Blogs http://community.istyles.com/blogs/ Blog Moved to http://mk.istyles.com http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/21-blog-moved-http-mk-istyles-com.html Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:02:12 GMT This blog has been moved to Reflections of an Entrepreneur (http://mk.istyles.com) This blog has been moved to Reflections of an Entrepreneur ]]> MK http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/21-blog-moved-http-mk-istyles-com.html Peaceful Snow http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/19-peaceful-snow.html Wed, 09 Apr 2008 09:01:21 GMT It snowed in Paris two days back and it was a pity that I was not around to experience it. I love snow, not the kind that becomes a sluggish paste on the roads or the kind where you need to dig yourself out of each morning, but the moderate kind that floats down gently from the sky and gives... It snowed in Paris two days back and it was a pity that I was not around to experience it. I love snow, not the kind that becomes a sluggish paste on the roads or the kind where you need to dig yourself out of each morning, but the moderate kind that floats down gently from the sky and gives everything a nice white coating.

More importantly, snow makes everything peaceful to me. Peace is a luxury in this world, especially so in our hurried lives and on a larger scale, the conflicts of the world. ]]> MK http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/19-peaceful-snow.html Painting A Thousand Words http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/18-painting-thousand-words.html Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:13:28 GMT I'm not a man of many words, as you've probably noticed from the lack of updates to this blog, but my latest passion is one that helps me to express myself through what I see.

The world is beautiful and better appreciated at certain angles. In many ways, the same can be said about life. Life sucks as we know it but it's really up to us to make do with what we have, to continually strive for improvements and yet be happy with our successes or achievements.

Photography - the beautiful art of capturing the surroundings in a different perspective. My photo gallery is available at http://photos.mingkeong.com

Ming Keong's Photo Gallery
]]> MK http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/18-painting-thousand-words.html iPhone v1.1.3 Now Works With SingTel Multi-SIM http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/17-iphone-v1-1-3-now-works-singtel-multi-sim.html Thu, 17 Jan 2008 07:19:18 GMT previous versions. It was necessary to connect the iPhone to iTunes...]]> I'm pleased to report that the multi-sim SingTel card now works in the iPhone after the version 1.1.3 software upgrade despite problems with previous versions. It was necessary to connect the iPhone to iTunes once more for the unlock.

1) Upgrade the iPhone
2) Change to SingTel card
3) Power down the iPhone by holding the power button and slide when prompted
4) Power on the iPhone
5) Connect the iPhone to the computer. iTunes will display "Congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked." ]]> MK http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/17-iphone-v1-1-3-now-works-singtel-multi-sim.html Upgrade of iPhone to 1.1.3 http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/16-upgrade-iphone-1-1-3.html Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:51:24 GMT legally unlocked iPhone almost worth it. The icons shake and Google Map's location triangulation works amazingly...]]> The upgrade of the unlocked iPhone to version 1.1.3 worked flawlessly, which made the cost of a legally unlocked iPhone almost worth it. The icons shake and Google Map's location triangulation works amazingly well!

There's still no way to import high-res photos though. Apple, if you're reading this, please understand that some of us need to carry high-res artwork around for work purposes.

iTunes appears to be completely overwhelmed at the moment - can't try the movie rentals. ]]> MK http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/16-upgrade-iphone-1-1-3.html Unlocking the iPhone Legally On iTunes http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/15-unlocking-iphone-legally-itunes.html Sun, 13 Jan 2008 02:28:58 GMT Here are a couple of steps that I've put together to help make the acquisition of a legally unlocked iPhone easier for those of you who for one reason or other refuse to jailbreak your phone. Unlocking it the legal way is no easier.

1) Purchase an iPhone from Orange France. It will be 399 euros if you sign a 2 year contract with Orange at 49 euros monthly or at 649 euros if you purchase it with a mobicarte (pre-paid card - no contract)

2) Top up your mobicarte with 75 euros. This top-up card can be purchased from any Orange store or in some news stands in France. You'll need 100 euros for the unlock but a 75 euros top-up comes with 25 euros of credit free.

3) Dial 3972 from a French phone line. Enter your mobicarte number when prompted (in French) and when prompted again at the menu, press 9 to speak to the operator. Get a French speaking person to help as the customer service guys do not speak English. PS: This call cost 34 euro cents a minute.

4) Tell the operator that you would like to unlock your iPhone and you will have to quote the 'secret code' in your mobicarte top-up. The operator will tell you that a letter with instructions to unlock the phone is on its way via post (yes, you need a French address).

5) Don't bother waiting for the letter. It never arrived for me and I will keep all 34 cents conspiracy theories to myself. After the deduction of the unlock fees from your mobicarte top-up, you'll somehow have about 4 euros left - use it. The letter will probably have instructions as follows in the next few steps.

6) Place your Orange mobicarte SIM card in the iPhone and connect the device to your computer. In the left column of iTunes, select the iPhone and in the main window, click on "Restore".

7) Once the restore process is complete, the iPhone will reset and automatically reconnect to iTunes. You'll be asked to create the new profile for the iPhone or to restore the backup. Select either one - it does not matter.

8) Once the new profile or restore has been completed, disconnect the iPhone and replace the SIM card with your foreign SIM.

9) Reconnect the iPhone to your computer. In the left column of iTunes, select the iPhone and in the main window, click on "Restore". You'll be asked to create the new profile for the iPhone or to restore the backup. Select 'new profile' if you did not configure a profile previously and 'restore' if you already had a profile configured properly.

10) After the restore, voilà, you'll be greeted with "Congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked."



I hope that these steps will be useful to anyone attempting the unlock legally. As with all instructions, there must be a disclaimer: follow the steps at your own risk. The main risk will probably be in the restore stages - It may be obvious to many but DO NOT DISCONNECT YOUR IPHONE DURING A RESTORE.

The unlocked iPhone was tested to work with my France SFR mobile phone lines but there were problems with my Singapore SingTel SIM card - the phone was able to log on to the network with the SingTel card inserted but any attempts to dial a number with the number pad will immediately throw the phone back to the main menu. There's probably a conflict in the SIM layer because my SingTel SIM cards are multi-SIM cards where multiple SIM cards share the same mobile phone number (and data plan) but I was not able to test the phone with any other foreign cards.

There are rumors that the unlocked French iPhones may be country locked but it's probably just bull as the phone is either operator locked or not.

If you're patient and want to save 75 euros, you'll be able to unlock a French iPhone for free in June 2008. French laws require that phone companies unlock phones for free after 6 months and this will mean that you should be able to perform the iTunes unlock steps above for your 2G iPhone without paying for the mobicarte top-up, just before the 3G iPhone launches.
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]]> MK http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/15-unlocking-iphone-legally-itunes.html Nice E-mail From Customer http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/14-nice-e-mail-customer.html Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:37:40 GMT It was nice to read a nice feedback in our support system today because people who contact our support team are usually those with problems or questions.

We do get frequent 'thank you' for our assistance and we do appreciate the gestures of thanks, but rarely do happy customers contact us as follows:

Quote:
hi people from istyles!
i am writing this little e-mail just because i wanna let u know that your product is something that could change a sad ipod into a happy ipod. a few days ago i bought two skins from your website and i was a little skeptical about it and when i opened the box i almost faint when i saw two of what i called "stickers", i was about to contact u guys to see if i could return what i bought but my wife told me to put one first and see how it works and believe me when i tell u that u should call your website "imiraclestyles" my ipod mini look so different now and i didn't have to pay a huge amount of money to made my ipod look as good as new! the price is good and the product really amazing! oh and before then i forget i would like to see some skins with video games themes! i wish u guys the best!
MR. SAW
He may have described his e-mail as 'little' but it's the e-mails like these that make us feel that all of our hard work has come to some good. Thank you Mr Saw! ]]> MK http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/14-nice-e-mail-customer.html Happiness and Success? http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/11-happiness-success.html Thu, 13 Dec 2007 21:04:30 GMT I’m feeling really happy now, as if I was on top of the world. The half bottle of excellent Anjou from Val de Loire that I just downed probably had something to do with this euphoria of relief that rushes through my veins but I would like to think that it’s simply because of several factors – I’ve... I’m feeling really happy now, as if I was on top of the world. The half bottle of excellent Anjou from Val de Loire that I just downed probably had something to do with this euphoria of relief that rushes through my veins but I would like to think that it’s simply because of several factors – I’ve just completed a major product kitting and stock migration project here in Singapore, sales have jumped so high that I feel dizzy just thinking about it and I’ll be returning back to Paris this Sunday. Andrea Bocelli’s beautiful voice filling up my office does help to set the mood wonderfully.

I was in Singapore in the past 3 weeks to oversee several massive kitting and stock migration projects that will stock up the Singapore warehouse nicely with all the new products that were recently launched. The projects were massive by any measurement and the completion is such a huge relief as our non-USA customers can now get what they want for a mere US$3 for shipping.

Of course, our US customers can continue to select our US warehouse shipments but shipments from the US warehouse to non-US customers are costly. Worldwide shipments from Singapore on the other hand cost a mere US$3 and we even throw that in for free when more than US$30 of products are purchased in a single order. This drastic reduction in shipping cost obviously contributes to a much higher demand from non-US customers (basic economics. Price goes down, demand goes up), resulting in much bigger presence in non-US markets.

Happiness, what exactly is happiness? Different people perceive happiness in different ways, depending on their outlook in life, their culture and what surrounds them. Some people are happy if their banks are filled with money, others are happy if they’re successful in life, and the list goes on. Is a person successful because he’s happy or is he happy because he’s successfully? What exactly is success anyway?

Happiness and success can almost be used interchangeably in many cases because of the way they’re tied to each other. People measure success in different ways and I will not go into the technicalities because there is simply no right and wrong. Humans are complex creatures who can only be depended on to complicate the hell out of life, just like what I’m about to do. Some people measure success by the amount of money they earn, the advancement in their careers, the size of their car, the size of their houses, or by some other frivolous measure that I’ve yet to comprehend.

Success to me is simply the acceptance of what your life entails and the satisfaction with what you’ve achieved thus far. Your car will never be big or fast enough and neither will your house be big enough. The pursue of material wealth is never ending and quite frankly, pointless. What’s important is the satisfaction with whatever we have but with the aspiration to take things to the next level. One can never be happy if you’re never satisfied. What’s the use of success if you’re never satisfied?

Aspirations to take things to the next level are of course essential, without which, we’ll still be living in caves, but these aspirations should just be goals that we set for the betterment of life in general. Ironically, I’m probably the most demanding person for myself when it comes to such aspirations but I’ve learnt to be happy with what I have.

Happiness, to me, is simply being with the people you love, which is why I’m happy as I’m finally returning to Paris after 3 weeks of agonizing work to be with my dearest. Of course, my happiness can come in other forms, such as a new Ferrari or Lambo, but are these really essential? Absolutely not. You’ll be amazed at how happy one can be after stripping away all the non-essentials. Happiness can be as simple as a nice afternoon in the gardens staring at the fountain and holding your other half in your arms.

When I was in the army, during the tougher times, happiness to me was simply to sit still at a spot and not move. Happiness to many in this world can be as basic as having food to eat or even a roof over their heads. Be thankful for what you have. Shops will tell you that this is a season of giving, but that’s because they want you to buy things from them to give to others. I’ll say that this is a season to give thanks for what you have and be with the people you love.

My work in Singapore is done for the year and I’ll only be back next year for more pain. Of course, the daily operation of the business continues wherever I go with the help of technology and the business functions well thanks to the wonderful team we have.

Do I always blog when I’m half drunk? Yes.

Happy holidays everyone! Be happy. ]]> MK http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/11-happiness-success.html Dear Sony, What I Want For Christmas Is… http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/10-dear-sony-what-i-want-christmas.html Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:10:37 GMT Dear Sony, Work has been overwhelming lately and I’m sure that it’s no different at your end thanks to the year end orders. I’ll however take a moment to indulge in my fantasy, in an attempt to preserve whatever shreds of sanity I have left. I have always been a VAIO fan since my first TX... Dear Sony,

Work has been overwhelming lately and I’m sure that it’s no different at your end thanks to the year end orders. I’ll however take a moment to indulge in my fantasy, in an attempt to preserve whatever shreds of sanity I have left.

I have always been a VAIO fan since my first TX laptop about 3 years back. This gradually evolved to the current SZ model that I run iStyles on. Solid computing hardware has always been essential to our operations as technology plays a major role in the backend daily activities of the company. The SZ is wonderful but it’s starting to strain my aging muscles as I travel too much. The battery life is the other major disadvantage in the SZ as mine only lasts for 2.5 hours on the standard battery, unlike a TZ’s 7 hours.

I’ve always heard non-Sony believers complain and laugh at how stupid people are for buying VAIOs because they think that the laptops are simply overpriced. I feel sorry for these people as their words are based on unsustainable facts and other “I heard from A who heard from B” experiences. I’ve had laptops from practically ever major laptop vendor in the past and yours were the only one that works for me. My laptop is probably the next most tortured equipment around here other than my own body and yours not only survived, but continue to serve me well. Technically, you’ve stuffed your laptops with more than most people can appreciate but I do see the beauty underneath that shiny carbon fiber chassis as my background is not very much different from the crazy engineers you hide in your design centres.

What I want for Christmas is a Sony VAIO TZ laptop, but not just any VAIO TZ, but one that I simply cannot find anywhere else. You have got TZ models with 48GB SSD available in Singapore but with absolutely no 3.5G connectivity whatsoever. I need both SSD and 3.5G because there is unfortunately no way to stuff in my nice little Option Globetrotter 3.5G card as PCMCIA could not fit into the TZ range. Fine, I will settle for the slower Expresscard but my Novatel 3.5G Merlin sticks out bigger than two sore thumbs and completely destroys the beauty of a TZ laptop, not to mention the increase risk of accidents due to the protrusion.

I can grab a 3.5G laptop from UK SonyStyle for shipment to my home in Paris and I am glad that you’ve finally decided to make a SSD model available, but why just 32GB for the SSD? A third of that will go into the basic software and that leaves me with less than 20GB free. I need at least 32GB free because iStyles’ data is a major data hog that continually grows. Why can’t we have 48GB with 3.5G available in European models?

I dug through the Japanese on your website and found my dream models, but these are only available in Japan, with Japanese operating systems and keyboards. What will be nice is a model with a 64GB SSD and 160GB hard disk. I don’t need the DVD drive and rather have that 160GB in there. I know that you have this in Japan but they are only equipped with a local 3G standard that does not work elsewhere.

And yes, I need 2GB of RAM. The models in Singapore only come with 1GB and it’s a waste as there’s only 1 memory slot, but it’s good that you realize that 2GB should be available as standard in your European models.

It’ll be nice if the laptop comes with digital TV capabilities that work with DVB-T as well. I know that those you have in Japan work with a local digital broadcast standard but the rest of us watch television too and we use DVB-T when on the go.

Please do not keep all these yummy technology only within Japan. Just a recap – I need a TZ Duo core at 1.2GHz with 2GB RAM, 802.11a/b/g/n (yes, I know you’re hiding those n models in Japan only), 3.5G, 64GB SSD, 160GB HD, Vista Ultimate and pretty much the standard for the rest, oh and in Bordeaux (ps, SonyStyle UK spells this wrongly) with carbon fiber please. Throw in the DVB-T if it fits but that's not a must-have.

I’m not greedy and am only asking for existing technology that you have available in Japan, but just not in the right order for any model available out there. Hey, be glad that I’m not asking for a SLK like I tell everyone else! I’ll leave my little purple box on the table beside my bed. The laptop should fit in it. Thank you!

Your loyal fan ]]> MK http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/10-dear-sony-what-i-want-christmas.html Web 3.0 on iStyles? http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/9-web-3-0-istyles.html Tue, 30 Oct 2007 13:00:46 GMT Web 3.0 is frequently referred to as the next evolution of the Internet, where machine interactions start to become more prominent as machines start to understand each other. Artificial intelligence will drive the growth of this new era where the web will literally evolve by itself as machines... Web 3.0 is frequently referred to as the next evolution of the Internet, where machine interactions start to become more prominent as machines start to understand each other. Artificial intelligence will drive the growth of this new era where the web will literally evolve by itself as machines learn from each other and from humans. All these mambo jumbo sound like the basic backdrop for "yet another" machine takes over the earth movie but if you dive into the details, you'll find that the concept is not as far fetched as it seems.

I have always been a firm believer in the use of technology for businesses for a couple of reasons:
1) Technology, if implemented correctly, simplifies business processes
2) Technology usually results in cost savings in the long run
3) Business processes that are enhanced by technology usually runs more effectively and efficiently compared to a non-technical implementation
4) Algorithms are more predictable than humans and can be fine tuned to near perfection
5) Machine failures can be reduced to virtually zero through proper redundancy and procedures
6) Machines do not take breaks, sleep, eat or go on strike

This posting was inspired by the creation of a number of new bots on iStyles recently. As the number of orders increase, the manual stages of order processing start to become tiresome and time consuming. If something was not done to refine these processes, we'll soon be doing nothing else all day but order approvals and processing, which is a painful and boring job. We would rather focus efforts on more exciting hobbies like the enhancement of the shopping experience and expansion of the product range, while leaving the boring stuff to our robot pals.

I will not go into the details of the technologies we employ for competitive reasons but an example of the order processing refinement will be to phase the shipping notification e-mails from the warehouses automatically into meaningful data that is then used to immediately trigger the shipping notification for our customers and update the orders accordingly. Such processing of information, I believe, is bordering on the edge of the much hyped Web 3.0 technologies, but without the artificial intelligence. The machines in the different systems start to understand each other and communicate via e-mails in our case. Such machine interactions remove the need for a human component to read the e-mails and manually "ship" orders as was the case in the past, resulting in near zero lag in shipping notifications and zero manpower required for such a stage at our end.

Over time, we will be developing more bots to automate other processes. In short, we are lazy people as we automate everything that we can through technology so that we can focus on more value add and interesting work. Many of the interactions and e-mails that are sent out are not written by humans, but rather, by intelligent agents that were taught to converse like us humans, but unlike us, they can access a wealth of information relevant to an order almost instantly for a richer presentation, respond and process jobs in record time, and complete tasks with virtually zero errors. Despite the automation, it is always important to us that the human touch is never lost as we train these bots to write what we ourselves would write.

Tom, for one, is not human and you can find him happily posting in the Blog Comments forum or in his little thread in the Off-topic forum. His job in the Blog Comments forum is to gather all mention of iStyles in any blog in the world and post the information accordingly. His role in the Off-topic is more for fun as users can chat directly with him. You will also find him sending e-mails to customers during the order approval process. ]]> MK http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/9-web-3-0-istyles.html ERP Software For All Start-Ups http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/8-erp-software-all-start-ups.html Tue, 16 Oct 2007 15:19:38 GMT I'll make this short as there are several chunks of stuff to be completed before I fly back to Paris on Thursday and the massive headache is not helping. ERP softwares are absolute necessities in any business and I cannot imagine any business that has hopes of doing anything decent not using one.

Intuit recently released QuickBooks Simple Start 2008 for free in their bid to compete with the free web-based softwares popping up every other day and Microsoft's Office Accounting Express. There is simply no excuse for entrepreneurs not to use an accounting system anymore. The $100 barrier that kept small companies in their warm stone age comfort of Excel or paper based accounting is no longer an excuse.

I've been a great fan of Quickbooks Premier since the early days of iStyles (then iPodStyles) because of the extensive range of features and simplicity of use where an accounting degree is not required to create an invoice, unlike some of the other alternatives available. We've since migrated all our systems to SAP BusinessOne for more robust database performance and features that our business needed as we grew, but QuickBooks will always be remembered fondly.

If you're running a small business and using your good old excel sheets, go grab the new Quickbooks now. You'll never regret the step and will look back wondering how you ever survived without it. If you handle inventory and want more capabilities, look at the other members of the QuickBook family. Either way, you will need a basic accounting software at the very least and QuickBooks is probably the best way to start. ]]> MK http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/8-erp-software-all-start-ups.html Social Networking For Entrepreneurs? http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/7-social-networking-entrepreneurs.html Wed, 03 Oct 2007 18:38:03 GMT I've never been one for social networking in the past simply because of the ill-conceived notion that such activities were for the younger generation to fill the void of what would otherwise be real world relationships. It was only recently that I gradually embraced social networking, rather late for someone who loves to live on the cutting edge of technology, and am gradually discovering the advantages and disadvantages of such a networking medium. Sure, I was on Friendster many years back when it was cool to sign up and add friends but I've not touched that account for years.

Social networking is part of what is otherwise known as Web 2.0, the explosion of user generated content, a massive topic where long dissertations can be written about, whether be it about the intelligence of the masses or about the amount of crap out there, but I'll just focus my thoughts on the networking component for now. How effective is social networking for an entrepreneur?

After dabbling in Facebook and more recently, Linked In, for the past week or two, I can safely conclude that networking on Facebook will be of little value and may not be worth the time and effort in growing relationships if the sole purpose is only for the business. I am however a little hooked because the platform has enabled me to keep in touch with all the friends I had in the past. Without such a platform, it would have been impossible to track where everyone went or even to communicate with them.

I am pretty new to Linked In and will hold my reservations till later, but I've thus far been pretty impressed by the implementation of the service and the possibilities that it holds for businesses in the search for partners and employees.

Business owners explore new technologies to determine how these can be used to grow their businesses. The participation in social networking is not going to bring about any significant or even tangible benefits to a business in terms of sales or growth but the links can be useful in the search for a new employee with a good fit in the organization. The secret to business growth is not in the participation of web 2.0 services, but in the creation of tools to facilitate the grown of the community and their contributions, to facilitate web 2.0 - this is till we reach web 3.0 where we have a semantic web of machines that interact with each other intelligently and grow. Painful lessons learnt from my previous work on Hayek's theory of artificial intelligence evolution in an economy of agents may actually come in useful after all. :cool: ]]> MK http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/7-social-networking-entrepreneurs.html Anyone Can Do Accounting http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/6-anyone-can-do-accounting.html Thu, 27 Sep 2007 13:20:29 GMT An accountant from another firm once told me that “Anyone can do accounting” and this is about as far away from the “truth” as the flatness of the world. I like to think of myself as someone with a pretty decent intelligence and comprehension skills but accounting is something that makes that big... An accountant from another firm once told me that “Anyone can do accounting” and this is about as far away from the “truth” as the flatness of the world. I like to think of myself as someone with a pretty decent intelligence and comprehension skills but accounting is something that makes that big vein in my head double in size and causes my head to spin faster than, well.. nothing comes close to making my head spin in this way.

“Anyone can do accounting”? Yah right, as I limped away from today’s two hours meeting with my accountant, shaking a little, but trying hard not to let it look obvious. This big A hurts me even more than parallel computing and artificial intelligence algorithms put together!

A word of advice to all entrepreneurs out there running sole-proprietorships or partnerships – do not convert your company to a private limited unless you have a very compelling reason to do so. Please do not do it just for the sake of the pretty “private limited” in the company name or you will be in for a very rude shock when the administrative overheads kick in.

Of course, if the company starts off small, with a small number of transactions, adjusting to the accounting requirements will be less painful and doing so gradually will be a good way to gain familiarity with the system, but iStyles unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) started with this big giant rolling ball that was passed on from ObjectsFusion. As with all big giant rolling balls, this one picked up little bits of dust, grime and moss over the years. Matters were further complicated by the migration from QuickBooks Premier to SAP BusinessOne in the second half of the year.

A solid ERP platform will be an absolute necessity but even that alone will not be sufficient to cover all angles. An accountant will be necessary.

iStyles Pte. Ltd. was previously ObjectsFusion, a sole-proprietorship that existed since July 2004. We ceased ObjectsFusion and started a private limited company with a sole purpose – to qualify for a Verisign merchant account. Despite the merchant fees of two thousand odd yearly, a merchant account will work out to substantial cost savings for us, compared to existing methods at the current transaction volume, and even more so as the business expands. In addition, a merchant account will potentially improve sales by radically simplifying the checkout and payment process on our store.

The acquisition of a merchant account as a Singapore business does not come about easily as it is strictly available only to private limited companies with a paid up capital of more than S$100k, unlike the case in other countries where a merchant account can be acquired with barely more than a corporate banking account, social security number and company registration number. A quick glance at our statements shows that we may be able to put in a paid up capital of S$100k but I’ll only be able to verify this after the statements are compiled.

Not everyone can do accounting and I sincerely thank Su Yen for her patience in working with me. ]]> MK http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/6-anyone-can-do-accounting.html Crumbled Bottle Cock Solution http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/5-crumbled-bottle-cock-solution.html Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:08:24 GMT Some old wine bottle cocks simply crumble during the opening process due to old age and lousy material. (hey, it's not my technique as I used an automatic bottle opener) What I learned today in my desperation to open that last bottle of red wine to pair with the foie gras is that there is a technique to get to that red goodness after all! Red wine is necessary with foie gras. Foie gras is all that I have left in my fridge anyway, it's 2am+, I've got a long night ahead and I'm hungry!

Ensure that the cock opener has already punctured right through the cock to compromise the vacuum, then stick a small parring knife (with a height no larger than the diameter of bottle opening) right into the cock. Push the knife in till it's stuck (don't push it till the cock goes deeper in though) and then, twist and pull the knife out slowly. The trick is in the twisting and pulling action as friction ensures that the cock 'adheres' to the blade of the knife. You'll notice the cock slowly coming out and after a few more patient seconds, voilà! wine! ]]> MK http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/5-crumbled-bottle-cock-solution.html Full Registration Integration on iStyles http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/4-full-registration-integration-istyles.html Fri, 14 Sep 2007 23:12:15 GMT The impossible has been done and the user registration for the various software components running on iStyles has FINALLY been integrated into a single registration form at https://www.istyles.com/create_account.php There are two major software components that power iStyles - OsCommerce and... The impossible has been done and the user registration for the various software components running on iStyles has FINALLY been integrated into a single registration form at https://www.istyles.com/create_account.php

There are two major software components that power iStyles - OsCommerce and vBulletin. OsCommerce is the engine that powers the online store while vBulletin is the engine that powers the forum for the community. OsCommerce and vBulletin are unfortunately not good bed fellows but they have finally been forced together.

The creation of an iStyles account with the link above now creates the account in both vBulletin and OsCommerce. Our new Support Center uses the same member login as OsCommerce to complete the trilogy.

What all these simply means is that customers fill up a single form and they can have access to all sections in iStyles with the same e-mail/username and password that they register!

We will create a tool in the next few days to link member accounts on both systems for users who have registered on both in the past, but for those who have not, please use iStyles Community - Forum Rules to create your forum account. ]]> MK http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/4-full-registration-integration-istyles.html Supporting Customer Support http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/3-supporting-customer-support.html Wed, 12 Sep 2007 14:41:00 GMT Customer support is the dark mystical art that some companies tolerate, hate or simply ignore, but what makes this subject so frightening to companies? Is it really that dark and mystical? The solutions lie not just within the customer support department but in almost every other department in a... Customer support is the dark mystical art that some companies tolerate, hate or simply ignore, but what makes this subject so frightening to companies? Is it really that dark and mystical? The solutions lie not just within the customer support department but in almost every other department in a company.

Customer support does not start and end with the customer support department. Having fantastic customer support does not ensure a satisfied customer as customer satisfaction is based on his or her perceived level of satisfaction in the usage of a company’s service, which in turn determines whether his or her expectations were met.

It’s all about managing expectations. A company has achieved perfect customer support when it receives zero customer issues to support. Of course, this is impossible in the real world and some of you may even be wondering what I’m drinking (a yummy 2004 bottle of “grand vin” from Chateau Petit-Village in the Pomerol region of France by the way) as I write this article, but just think about it - customer support issues are nothing more than a failure of the other department to perform their duties.

For example, if a customer is frustrated to learn that his order has still not arrived after five days, it’s due to the failure of the IT, content and/or sales department to present the facts clearly that orders shipped via xxx service will take between 6 to 12 days. If a product has mechanical flaws that result in constant failures and support issues, it’s a failure of the hardware engineering team. If a software is hard to use, has improper documentation or simply does not function well, it’s a failure of the software engineers, UI designer or documentation officer.

Resolving all these issues in the other departments is of course easier said then done but it is a state of perfection that we constantly strive towards in iStyles.

A company that has zero customer issues in the real world is a company that is not opened for business. Customer support is thus the final line of defense to ensure customer satisfaction and this is a department that must be taken seriously. Customer support is no less important to a company brand or image than the other components.

The customer support on iStyles has thus far been accomplished via e-mails and forum conversations. We’re pretty much focused on being people oriented and our customer support has been constantly praised for its quick and helpful responses. In an effort to enhance and take this step further, we have acquired a license for Kayako’s excellent SupportSuite and have integrated the software into our web platform. The integration has been completed at the back end at http://support.istyles.com , but we will still have to update the flow of information accordingly for the other support pages, in addition to populating the knowledgebase and troubleshooter so that customers can easily find a solution to any issues they encounter, should they encounter any.

All e-mails sent to us are currently handled by the new system. The public launch will be done at a later stage, once the full integration is complete. ]]> MK http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/3-supporting-customer-support.html Website Enhancements http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/2-website-enhancements.html Tue, 11 Sep 2007 13:56:00 GMT It’s amazing how far every little bit can go to enhance the customer experience, which in turn results in better visitor traffic and higher sales When it comes to an e-commerce store, it’s not about splashing the most intensive flash animations and 3D world immersions but about the presentation... It’s amazing how far every little bit can go to enhance the customer experience, which in turn results in better visitor traffic and higher sales

When it comes to an e-commerce store, it’s not about splashing the most intensive flash animations and 3D world immersions but about the presentation of a tool that showcase products well, allow customers to find what they’re looking for easily, complete the purchase easily and yet not have that popular ‘as little graphics and colors as possible’ Web 2.0 look as it is still necessary to immerse the customer in the branding of the store as part of their shopping experience. It all sounds simple but it’s a mighty fine line to thread.

We revamped iStyles.com slightly on 1 Sept by replacing the rounded box look in the main content sections with horizontal lines for a more clean cut look, rearranged the presentation of the front page slightly for a clearer focus on the products, added an automatic refreshing “good comments by other websites” section, and added new tools such as “Other products with the same design” in the product pages, amongst other little refinements.

The changes, though technically non-spectacular as it was pretty much like rearranging the furniture in a room, took only one day of tweaking but resulted in a steady increase in web traffic since 1 Sept that’s currently 50% higher than it was on 31 Aug, and a 70%-100% increase in sales volume. Every little bit goes a long way but it requires careful planning and analysis of how your visitors use your site. ]]> MK http://community.istyles.com/blogs/mk/2-website-enhancements.html