Anything But Coffee

Today at work I was setting up a Local Business Center account in Google and discovered yet another bug in their system.

As some of you have noticed recently, Google started forcing you to select at least one category from their suggested category drop down in order to move on to the next step of the local business center creation and verification process.

Since this listing was for a Laser Eye Surgery office I chose to select the LASIK Surgeon as suggested by Google’s drop down box as seen here

This example is a quick one I tested tonight with out much information but you can see clearly the auto suggestion is LASIK Surgeon all capitalized. The term LASIK (laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis) is often capitalized because that is proper name and accepted spelling for this procedure.

Now here is where the bug comes in. Google doesn’t allow excessive capitalization in their listings in an effort to help prevent spam and to make for an equal playing field for all local business listings as seen here

Just for good measure I even attempted to spell LASIK Surgeon in all lower case just to test this out but as you can see, Google just wont accept it as I can only imagine because of the capitalized version in their auto suggestion.

Apparently there doesn’t seem to be a way around this so unfortunately as for my clients listing I had to just go with a generic eye surgery listing as that was the only one that seemed to go through.

I havent tested this on any other categories but if anyone else has had a similar experience I’d like to know about it.

Randy Home Google Local Business Center, Google Maps, LASIK, LASIK Eye Surgery

Most people aren’t sure what the difference is between the legal terms DUI and DWI, hopefully this will help to explain in very short and simple terms the difference between the two. Keep in mind, each state may vary in the specifics of this so always be sure to check with your local law enforcement agency to know the laws of your state.

In most states the legal definition of DUI means Driving Under the Influence. Driving Under the Influence (DUI) doesn’t always just apply to alcohol. Under the influence can refer to an alcoholic beverage, illegal narcotics / drugs or even over the counter prescription drugs. Basically any substance that impairs your ability to operate a motor vehicle; and in some states like California, can even refer to your inability to operate a bicycle.

Now in most states the term DWI stands for Driving While Intoxicated. If you are arrested and or convicted of Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) then that means that you were in the act of operating a motor vehicle while at or above the legal blood alcohol level of your state; such as 0.08 in California.

Again be sure to check with your local authorities or even a local DUI Attorney or DWI Attorney to know what your legal blood alcohol content is for your specific state.

Randy Home DUI, DUI Attorney, DUI Lawyer, DWI, DWI Attorney

On my last column that I wrote I left you wondering what decision I was going to take in regards to my life. To answer that question I didn’t make one, or I did.

My world travels, my schooling and everything in between has been put on hold in order for me to pay down my debt. Will I ever take that path again to discover the world and see different cultures with no strings attached to a particular geographical location, a job, a person or a child? I’m not sure, as Robert Frost put it:

“And both that morning equally lay, In leaves no step had trodden black,
Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.”

Life has an interesting way of unfolding in front you and you never know what may lay ahead. I was thinking of this and missed opportunities while watching the movie Big with Tom Hanks. While watching the movie I discovered that everywhere you look and if you pay attention you see opportunity. This came about because in this movie Tom Hanks’ character wants to create Digital Comics, it took a while, but years later those have become reality in the form of RPGs and basically any video game that is out there today. You can also see in a scene that the device they are trying to use to play these Digital Comics resembles a Kindle.

Toward the end of the movie Tom Hanks’ ask Elizabeth Perkins character if she would like to come along with him. She responds by saying, “I’ve been there, it was hard enough the first time”. That got me to thinking about second chances and life. If you had a chance to go back to highschool and make the most of it, would you change the way you approached things?

How about now, looking at your life today, do you think in 10-15 years from now you are going to be sitting around saying, “If I had the chance to go back 10-15 years I would make different decisions.” I wonder how many of us would say that? When is it too late to start over and when is it too late to change your ways or learn something new. Is it too late for me to be an astronaut or a race car driver?

While watching Big I also discovered that this movie introduced me to my first cougar. If you think about it Tom Hanks ends up falling and sleeping with a woman much older then him, a cougar by today standards. By the way if you want to make a wish to Zoltar you can do that at Old Town San Diego, you never know it might just work.

Randy Home Big, Debt, San Diego, Zoltar