Yesterday I had a positive experience at a new business in Appleton, Postal Express & More (1835 E. Edgewood Drive, Appleton - at the southwest corner of Ballard and Edgewood), a great place for shipping, mailing, bulk mailings, printing, poster creation, passport photos, and many other services. I went there because I needed to get a bicycle shipped from Appleton out to Utah. Dan Hoslo was there and really went the extra mile to get the bike shipped. He took it apart, labeled the parts, and shipped it to a bike shop in Provo, Utah where it will be re-assembled for my son. He went the extra mile to keep our costs low by fitting it within as small a box as possible to reduce shipping fees. I was very impressed with the service.

I talked with Dan about the shop which is owned by his wife, Chris. I learned that in addition to the typical office services you might expect at such a shop - UPS, FedEx, and DHL shipping, delivery services, copying, binding, etc., they also provide much more:

• Mailbox rental with the US Postal Service - and since they have a street address and storage capabilities, you can also receive FedEx shipments and other shipments that a normal P.O. Box won't give you. Large packages can also be received and stored there for you to pick up.


• Advanced color printing up to 42 inches wide. They can print out posters and other photos on beautiful photographic paper to create large images at surprisingly affordable prices. Chris will also work with you to help you in creating a poster by selecting the right backgrounds and borders. I saw an example where people just brought in a collection of photos, and these were customized to create the image of a bulletin board with lots of framed photos tacked on. And printing on real canvas is possible with the new printer they have acquired. I might be one of the first to try it out.


• Assistance in bulk mailings. They can provide mailings to carrier routes or demographic units in presorted arrays that bring mailing costs way down. Was impressed with their knowledge and resources in this area.


• Many other services such as notary public services, passport photos, binding and laminating, etc. And for binding, they can do true spiral binding, not just the plastic comb binding that is so common these days. A true spiral bound report can be much easier on the reader.

Best of luck to Postal Express and More, a valuable new addition to Appleton's small business community.

Phone: 920-993-3333
Email: postalexpressmore at sbcglobal.net.

Big Tomatoes is a fairly new Italian place in downtown Neenah that I strongly recommend for a quick and tasty lunch with a variety of outstanding salads, pasta dishes, paninis, etc. It's located on the heart of Neenah at 124 W Wisconsin Ave. You have to go inside a complex on the south side of Wisconsin to find the entrance (it's where Luna's used to be).

For lunch, Big Tomatoes is somewhat like Zuppas. You place your order at a deli-like counter, and then go into the dining area where your food will be brought if it's not ready yet. I had the fresh green salad with carmelized pear, gorgonzola cheese, and pistachio nuts. Spectacular. The paninis were also good. I've taken people there twice with positive results both times. Reasonably priced, fast, and very friendly.

The completely different dinner menu looks great as well, though I haven't tried dinner there yet. Look forward to the experience. One of the staff there told me that dinners there are truly excellent. No reason to doubt that based on what I've tasted so far. Phone: (920) 729-9712.

Some curious readers might be wondering where to find businesses that still use DOS. Perhaps you are a college student or younger with no idea what the world was like back in the dark and primitive DOS age, but interested in getting a taste. There's no need to travel hundreds of miles to a museum of ancient computing history: you can experience the crazy forgotten days of DOS right here in the Valley! Just schedule an appointment for photos at the Wal-Mart photo studio. It's amazing what you will learn.

Back in the DOS days, memory was extremely limited. That's why most people have forgotten about it. But not Wal-Mart, as I found out in a painful experience where I and several others were roped into a photo session at their budget studio. I actually enjoyed it for the learning experience and the taste of history.

The digital camera system they use for professional photography is tied to a DOS-based computer. It's amazing how that system was able to demoralize a group of consumers, in spite of working with a very nice and helpful photographer. In this modern era of Windows or Mac operating systems, consumers have been spoiled with things like choice and flexibility. Apparently the world didn't have much of that in the DOS era, as we saw when we were asked which proofs we wanted. Spoiled consumers expect a bunch of shots to be taken, followed by a chance to review and select which ones they like. But that would take lots of memory - memory for each photo. With the DOS system at Wal-Mart,immediately after each shot, you have to look at the grainy, chunky, off-color, low-resolution DOS-based image (right - that's another fascinating thing about DOS: it's amazing how poor a good photo can look when viewed on a DOS system, sometimes almost beyond recognition). And then you choose on the spot if that's the one you want to keep (or one of whatever number you are paying for). You either say yes and keep it, or no and it's erased - permanently. No changing your mind - because, I guess, that would take memory and flexibility beyond the realms of Wal-Mart's DOS system.

For a photo of a baby, for example, when the shot is taken, you might think it's good, but not good enough, so you'd like to get a few more shots and pick the best - but that's not for Wal-Mart. You look at the shot right after it's taken and decide to take it or to throw it away and hope the next shot is better. But maybe the baby starts screaming then and all the rest of the shots are hopeless. Too bad - you said no to the near-perfect early shot and it's erased forever. You'll get a shot of your little screamer looking pretty miserable, which is about how we felt after encountering this remarkable business model based on antique DOS-based business models.

If you're a history buff, don't delay. Schedule an appointment with a Wal-Mart photo studio today (our experience was at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Darboy on east Calumet Street). Don't wait, because there's a good chance that sometime in the next decade or so, Wal-Mart will upgrade their computer system in their photography studio.

But don't be too worried. They recently "upgraded" their computers in their photoprocessing area, and now the system is much slower and less friendly. Feels more DOS-like than before, perhaps running on an ancient 286 chip, but the on-screen display is good enough that I think they at least have a modern video board and drivers. Still, you never know.

You should also know that the Wal-Mart studio is so small that any more than four or five people becomes a big problem. We had six people and a baby, and even staggering people and putting people in uncomfortable positions to get everyone to fit in the narrow viewing area of the camera didn't quite work due to uneven lighting.

There are lot of fine high-quality studios in town. If you're looking for low-cost budget services, consider the studio at Sears. Very good quality at a budget price is possible, with a more spacious and well-equipped studio. But Wal-Mart does have some ridiculously cheap packages available (like a $5.88 special - intending, of course, to sell you packages in the $100+ range afterwards).

Sorry for the delay in posting. I've been through an intense couple of weeks associated with the transition to a new phase in my career. In early July, I announced my resignation from Kimberly Clark Corporation, where I was Corporate Patent Strategist and Senior Research Fellow. Had a wonderful 13 years with that outstanding company, and really hope they do well. My last day at K-C was August 8. I am very happy to announce that I have joined Innovation Edge, the new firm of Cheryl Perkins, former Chief Innovation Officer of Kimberly-Clark Corporation, named by BusinessWeek in 2006 as one of the "Top 25 Champions of Innovation in the World." I work as Director of Solutions Development, building on mt past work as an inventor, patent agent and intellectual asset strategist, working with companies and inventors to strengthen their approach to intellectual asset strategy (not just patents and trademarks, but also aggressive publication strategies and other tools) and to craft the right business models to bring their concepts to market. It's been incredibly fun and intense, and as much as I loved working for Kimberly-Clark, I am thrilled with the new opportunities Innovation Edge provides, especially the opportunity to work with and learn from some world-class experts in innovation and strategy.

Received an email from someone looking for a book about an Appleton family with roots in Czechoslovakia. Can you name this book? Here's the email:

I am hoping you can identify a book for me. I have recently read a book about a family from Czechoslovakia that emigrated to Appleton after undergoing the abuses at the hands of the Nazis and then the Russians. The father was a biochemist and almost executed. They moved to india and then to Appleton. Sure hope you can help me identify the book.

At a gathering of innovators in Appleton last week, I met a very interesting person dealing with hypnosis and other areas way outside my realm of experience, but knowing that some of you will be interested in this, I'm happy to share the information. Patricia M. Poole is an expert in meditation, hypnosis, energy healing (Reiki & Reconnective healing) and other topics. She lives in Green Bay and helps people throughout the Fox Valley and beyond. While I know almost nothing about these topics and might find them challenging to accept within my collection of paradigms, I was pretty impressed with her. You can also read her biography on her Website, PatriciaMPoole.com.