Pariah Design, LLC.

It’s funny how solving problems and finding new creative solutions can be a source of pleasure. Recently a client requested credit card payment for services rendered using a popular online eCommerce payment service. Since my volume with that service is low, the fee is high - 2.9% plus $0.30 which is subtracted from the invoiced amount. I also have to spend the time setting up the online invoice within that system. After speaking to the client they agreed to cover the fee. So the question becomes “What calculations do I make to figure out the fee to add on so that I don’t lose money?” After confirmation by two esteemed colleagues over gelato at the Bellagio*, the formula is ready to be shown to the world! I’ve also found a nifty WordPress plugin that displays mathematical formulas based on simple text notation!

x is the amount billed for, y is the tack on amount to cover the fee, x + y would be the amount on the invoice be set up with the payment service.

Example: I want to collect $840. What should the online invoice be?

The invoice billed through the service should be $865.40.

The formula plugin is called “wpmathpub” and makes displaying my text entry of y = (.029x+.3)/(1-.029) into the first mathematical formula displayed above. It does require some additional configuration that is not standard with most hosting accounts, but then you’re with a hosting company that provides first class service, right? (If not, please contact us!)

*Thank you Adi and Leslie.

This post was created on an iPhone and delivered over ATT’s 3G network using the WordPress App.

Congress has approved a four month delay for broadcasters to conform to the digital air signal standard. They should probably do a digital test day or two now so everyone clearly gets the idea of what’s going to happen.

Last month I received two discount coupons from the government program and promptly went to Target to buy two HDTV converter boxes (here’s an example Venturer Digital Converter Box). You’ll need one converter for each non-HDTV television set. With the coupon the $49.99 price gets knocked down to $9.99.

In addition to that each box needs a digital HDTV antenna - I ordered a Philips High Performance Amplified Indoor Uhf/Vhf/Fm/HDTV Antenna from Amazon.com for $39.99. I’ll write a post about setting it up as soon as it arrives.

Many people have already heard that antenna broadcast signals for tv are going all digital in February 2009, but few are aware that free discount coupons for converters to use with analog televisions (old school, built prior to 2003 for the most part) are available. Go to http://www.dtv2009.gov to register for up to two coupons. This does not affect cable and satellite customers, unless, that is, the service went down for some reason. It might be a good idea to get a converter box for use during a service or emergency outage in order to be able to receive local tv signals.

As if it wasn’t bad enough that there are spammers, sometimes the efforts taken to deal with spam actually eliminate legitimate email. There are several layers that an email has to pass through before reaching its destination and each one offers an opportunity for complication:

• Server Level Filters - hosting companies often have filters set server wide which lower level tech support staff are sometimes not even aware of, and may even deny their existence.
• Hosting Filters - a hosting account may have the option to enable and configure an anti-spam script such as SpamAssassin.
• Antivirus - The antivirus software on an individual user’s computer may have its own anti-spam features and thresholds as default settings.
• Email Client - The actual software client such as Outlook or Thunderbird may also have features for filtering and handling spam.

I prefer that all messages reach my email client - spam or otherwise, and use that software’s filtering to sort things out. One trick is to take advantage of subject line modification that may be available at each level. For example: on the hosting level add something to indicate it’s being tagged there like [*Ho*] to the subject line. Additionally the antivirus software may allow tagging of the subject line for example: [*Av*]. You can then set a filter in the email client to sort email with those subject lines automatically to the spam or trash folder. Each of these clues will give an indication of where the “offense” is taking place. Of course, if it arrives with both tags in the subject line, then you know it’s a doozy.