E-commerce

I’ve been so busy making truffles and trying to catch up on other work that I completely forgot to post the obligatory pictures! Here’s the pre-truffle photo, with several of the truffle ingredients shown. Looks like the fun’s about to commence, no?

Each of those big blocks is ten pounds of chocolate. The smaller packs of chocolate, still in their wrappers, are the milk chocolate. Yes, this is the luscious dark milk chocolate I’ve been raving about for a couple of years now—it’s Omanhene chocolate and they do make candy-bar type chocolate and other products. One may browse and buy their goodies online.

Now, what does all this stuff look like when I’m done with it? Peek behind the curtain to see how I decorated each flavor ...

If you’ve been missing my caramels and honey-roasted almonds, wait no longer! Clicking on the pretty green snake will transport you to my current offerings ... I will add more items once I am more caught up on other work. Special orders are always welcome, however; please email me to discuss your needs and ideas.

Thanks very much for your interest in my homemade, HFCS-free, old-fashioned candies and other treats!

I’m not sure that that’s the most accurate way to describe Prosper—although the home page’s title says “people to people lending” so I guess I’m not too far off. What an intriguing idea ...

Judge tosses suit challenging wine ban, reads the BusinessWeek headline. Thinking that it was an Institute for Justice case, I clicked through. No indication whether that’s true, but the article was informative in other ways.

“Are you a giver or a taker? I’m a trader.” As soon as I read that, in Nothing Comes Easy by Adem Kupi, something started shifting in my brain; that continued—and an insight coalesced—as I washed the dishes.

Well, our stove doesn’t have a pilot light, but I trust you get my point. It’s almost time to start caramelling and chocolatiering again, and I invite your ideas on what flavors I should consider.

That’s life in a neat, tidy package, isn’t it? It seems to be for me, anyway: at any point in my life, I’m making progress in some areas, some more than others; in other areas I seem to be moving backwards; and in a few others I have either deliberately or accidentally routed around what I originally thought was the best course. Step into my cozy kitchen for an update, if you dare (more like if you’re in need of a soporific). But first, for anyone wondering which eddress to use to contact me, my primary one at this domain is the best bet at the moment. More on that over a cup of coffee or tea ...

Well. Now that I’m finally here, I don’t know where to begin. Oh, yeah, that should be easy: HughesNet sucks.

Something big—a grand adventure—has been in the planning for several weeks now. Even though critical steps toward its execution have been completed, I am only now beginning to think it’ll really happen. I am more excited than I can say. But I don’t foresee saying much more about this here, either pre- or post-event.

However, I will give anyone wishing to order treats from me some advance warning: there’s only a couple of weeks left to order goodies before the adventure preps will assume center stage. This page has all the relevant, current information; plus, please remember that with sufficient notice, I can fill volume orders (say, for parties, weddings, etc.) at discounted prices; and I can handle special orders. As always, I appreciate your interest, and your business. [For those interested in chocolates, I will resume making truffles and other chocolate delights in the fall.]

I can appreciate how someone immersed in the Amerikan consumer culture would welcome a means by which he or she could reduce the plastic card proliferation that apparently just won’t stop. But I really don’t think National Payment Card’s solution is the best way to accomplish it.

The USSA fedgov certainly doesn’t have a monopoly on legislative stupidity, but all the same it’s a bit surprising to see that a few states are apparently trying very hard to match its record. And they have arguably succeeded.

Information and pricing on this page supersedes all previous data and will be updated as necessary. Please bookmark this page if you would like to order something from me.

Thank you for your business this season! I hope you’ve enjoyed your candies half as much as I enjoyed making them for you. I might be back in a while, offering cookies, other candies, or other food items that I can make and ship during warmer weather ... or I might not be back until the fall. Either way, thank you very much for your business. I appreciate it in many ways.

If you think you’ll want to peruse my shop again, please keep this page bookmarked! I’ll post any and all business-related news here.

US authorities lose patience with e-gold, says the TechWorld headline. The details are rather more ominous, though:

A federal grand jury has indicted online payment provider e-gold and three men on charges of money laundering and conspiracy.

According to a four-count indictment unsealed Friday, Dr. Douglas Jackson, Reid Jackson and Barry Downey, and their company e-gold, transferred funds even though they knew the monies were proceeds of child pornography, credit card fraud and bank fraud.

E-gold carried out these transfers over a six-year period from 1999 to 2005, the government said.

"Criminals of every stripe gravitated to e-gold as a place to move their money with impunity," Jeffrey Taylor, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, said in a statement. "The defendants in this case knowingly allowed them to do so and profited from their crimes."

After the indictment was passed down, federal prosecutors seized funds in 58 e-gold accounts and froze the company's assets. E-gold can continue to operate under government supervision, however, and use existing funds to cash out unaffected accounts.

E-gold, which was founded in 1996, has been a favourite of online scammers because it is completely anonymous, said Ron O'Brien, a senior security analyst at Sophos. E-gold required only an email address to register, and as a digital gold exchange it is not required to perform background checks on users. "E-gold has attracted cybercriminals because of the anonymity," said O'Brien. ....

"It's great that there is punishment doled out for these types of activities," said O'Brien. "But we'll have to see if [this indictment] serves as a deterrent."

And that’s really what this is all about, methinks. With the fedgov hemorrhaging money into Iraq and other black holes, the dollar’s ongoing slide against other funny monies, and other shenanigans, the hunt is on to find “revenue” sources wherever possible. Anonymous digital transfers are a serious threat to the guys at the mints, so the push is on not only to shut down E-Gold, but to scare off anyone considering a similar business.

Someone hinted recently that he’s missed my caramels. I am gaining sufficient ground to be able to make some later this week. Anybody else interested in placing an order? Options and prices are as follows [updated 3/28 with new items] [please see here for current offerings and price information]:

Earlier this week, I ordered supplies for the Easter products I’ll be offering. One site sent me a confirmation email which read, in part, “Your order will be processed after credit card approval”. I’m not sure what world they’re living in, but in mine, electronic transactions are processed pretty much instantaneously under normal conditions. However, it took two and a half days to get my order filled and shipped. I’m still waiting for it to arrive (and I need to have it before I can post the product list, so yes, I’m aggravated at these delays).

This e-tailer also has a brick and mortar business, and apparently is a small, mom & pop type business. I understand that such places often don’t have a lot of employees, and sometimes things get backed up as a consequence. That said, I wish they’d be forthright about possible lag times in filling orders instead of blaming the credit card transaction—if I had urgently needed the items I ordered, I would be fuming by now at the unexpected delay. As it is, I find myself wondering what else the company might not be so truthful about ... and thinking about searching for other sources.

[Update 3/10:] Ian’s comment has prompted me to rethink my snark here, because his point is a very good one: just because a retailer opens shop online doesn’t necessarily mean she has the willingness and/or resources to take advantage of all the benefits that offers. All the same, being more clear on how long order fulfillment can take is still a good idea. Rightly or not, many online shoppers have come to expect near-instantaneous transactions and suchlike; I think knowing in advance that a small shop is unable to meet those expectations is better for the business.