Don  Lancaster's Guru's Lair Blatant Opportunist Library
auctions bargains books contact email home library map ?new? rss

The Blatant Opportunist is an older group of  Don's columns.  The main
focus is on  product development ideas and on solving real-world
problems of small scale technical ventures and startups.

Note that starting with Blatant Opportunist #74, continuing  columns
will be presented in GuruGram format with GuruGram numbering.

Most library files require an Adobe Acrobat 4.0  plug in for online
viewing.  Offline, these may be accessed by an Acrobat Reader or
an eBook Reader or any other .pdf" accepting program.

Starting with Blatant Opportunist #74, continuing columns will
be presented in GuruGram format using GuruGram numbering.
And will not be repeated in this Blatant Opportunist library..

Additional ( and often more technical ) GuruGrams are found here.

My eBay Photo Secrets EBAYFOTO.PDF #22      Hightly detailed tutorial on creating successful eBay product      photos. Fundamentals. The "hex" method. The "square" method.      Dealing with image theft. Links to dozens of postproc utilities, more...

Click here for EBAYFOTO.PSL sourcecode.
Click here for the My eBay Secrets tutorial.
Click here for the Son of eBay Secrets tutorial.

"

Blatant Opportunist #73 MOREEBAY.PDF      Son of eBay Secrets. Update & continuation of MYEBAYS.PDF     The $19.95 minimum sale. Drop shipping & pallet lots. Trucking info     Reducing weight. Reducing wait. Not shooting yourself in the foot.

Click here for our current eBay offerings.
Click here for more surplus bargains.
Click for the MOREEBAY.PSL sourcecode.
Click to visit the Auction Help library.

Blatant Opportunist #72 FUNSTUFF.PDF      Fun with Stuff.. Bubble accelerometers. HPNA home phone networks.     Tut LR2000T's. Acrobat 5.0 upgrades. PostScript transparency.      Tower fans. Hexapods. Stewart Platforms, Lumeloid, more...

Click here for Tut LR2000T bargains.
Click here for the Adobe Acrobat library.
Click here for more Hexapod info.
Click here for FUNSTUFF.PSL sourcecode.

Blatant Opportunist #71 ENERGFUN.PDF      Some energy fundamentals.. Work, power, & energy. Sources,     carriers, sinks. Energy density. Thermodynamics. Efficiency. Exergy.     Hydrogen realities. Electrolysis fantasies, Photovoltaics, more.

Click here for the It's a Gas hydrogen resources.
Click here for ENERGFUN.PSL sourcecode.

Blatant Opportunist #70 AUCTSCNE.PDF      The live auction scene. Finding events. How to become a crooked     auctioneer. Before you bid. Bidding strategies. Seeking value that     others miss. Random thoughts. Opporknockity tunes but once.

Click here for more Auction Help
Click here for AUCTSCNE.PSL sourcecode.

Blatant Opportunist #69  MARCIA.PDF      An annotated collection of The Worst of Marcia Swampfelder.     Mass teleportation, bob wahr speaker connections, underwater     pigeon searchlight controls, $9 per kilowatt homebrew solar pv, etc...

Click here for more history of Marcia.
Click here for more Marcia products.
Click here for MARCIA.PSL sourcecode.

Blatant Opportunist #68  EMERGOP7.PDF      Another in a continuing series of Emerging Technical Opportunities.     Steplocked magic sinewaves. PostScript as Language. Intelligent web     Technology. Scalable Vector Graphics SVG. Playing with pixels. More..

Click here for the fonts & bitmaps library.
Click for a Magic Sinewave development proposal.
Click here for EMERGOP7.PSL sourcecode.

Blatant Opportunist #67  STEPPREP.PDF       Secrets of Step-by-step Image Prep. Postprocessing. Scanner vs      camera. knockout knockouts. Pixel locking. Adding detail. Improving       lettering. The small stuff. For more help.

         Click here for a companion bitmap.
            Click here for STEPPREP.PSL sourcecode

Blatant Opportunist #66  REFURB.PDF       Don' Thoughts on Refurb. Reselling test equipment on eBay      and elsewhere. Establishing value. Scoring the goodies. What to      avoid. Manuals. Actual refurb. Stripping. Oscilloscopes. More...

         Click here for more auction help.
            Click here for REFURB.PSL sourcecode

Blatant Opportunist #65  MYEBAYS.PDF      My eBay Secrets. Fundamentals. Getting stuff. Listings. Images.     Geting paid. Closing your sale. Guarantees & refunds. Reserves,     Dutch,  BIN. Promotion. Storage. Protection. Snipers. Lots more...

Click here for our current eBay offerings.
Click here for more surplus bargains.
Click here for MYEBAYS.PSL sourcecode.

Blatant Opportunist #64  DEGUB.PDF      Debugging Secrets. The LAN of the nineties. Synchronized     Four-wheeling. Demolishing eexec. Eternally leaking hot tub.     Tearing method. There it went. Lady, you picked it. Guidelines.

Click here for more InfoPack details.

Blatant Opportunist #63  WAYWERE.PDF      Dons unauthorized autobiography that sheds some light on early     personal computer history. Includes the TV Typewriter, SWTP,    MITS, columns, books, Marcia Swampfelder, and bunches more.

Click here for a Don Lancaster Book List.
Click here for WAYWERE.PSL sourcecode.

Blatant Opportunist #62  BOUNCY.PDF      A tutorial on Bouncy Bricks and related web page insider secrets.     Meta tags. Safe colors. On-site searches. .ASP files. Includes. Banner     rotations. JavaScript. Bouncy buttons & bricks. Fast nav. more...

Click here for additional Webmastering info.
Click for ASP, IIS, Web, & JavaScript book info.

Blatant Opportunist #61  STEPLOCK.PDF         A tutorial on Steplocked Magic Sinewaves for power electronics.      Secrets of steplocking. Analysis & Synthesis. Getting fancy. Carrier     suppression. Constant power. Delta Friendly secrets.

Click here for additional Magic Sinewave info.

Blatant Opportunist #60  EBAYPHEN.PDF         The eBay Phenonomen opens up new possible revenue streams.      Intro. Photos and art images. Promoting the goodies. Mining the      seconds. Some secret guidelines. For more help.

Click here for more Money Machine tutorials.

Blatant Opportunist #59  WEBIMAGE.PDF       Don looks at web imaging secrets. New "scanner" method. Image      data formats. Bitmaps, GIF, JPEG, Acrobat. Getting your image on the      web. Some eBay specifics. Image prep secrets. Editing methods.

Click here for more Webmastering tutorials.

Blatant Opportunist #58  STEZINE.pdf"        Some thoughts on ezines. Benefits to advertiser, reader, author, and      publisher. Dynabooks and the straw man. Subpixel tricks. "wag the      dog" survival strategies. Getting paid. For more assistance.

Click here for more Publishing tutorials.

Blatant Opportunist #57  IMAGIMAG.PDF      A scanner makes a ridiculously better digital camera than digital      camera does. Here's Don's insider secrets on propping, scanning,      enhancement, and conversion of digital images.

Click here for more Webmastering tutorials.

Blatant Opportunist #56  FUNDWEB.PDF       Secrets of Funding your Personal Web Site. Be worthy of funding.     Three tier sales. Banners. Other ads. Hard copy & CD's. Consulting.      Referrals. Community listings. Syndication. Site design., more...

Click here for Webmastering books.

Blatant Opportunist #55  EMAILETI.PDF        Some Eminently Effective Email Etiquette Avoiding addiction. Keep       messages short. Proof carefully. Watch humor. Age responses. No       spam. Shopping carts. Regions. Stalking the emailee. Tips. More...

Click here for additional webmastering tutorials.

Blatant Opportunist #54  AUCTION.PDF        A look at the Surplus and Auctions scene. Some useful venues.       Community colleges. Mil surplus. Distress sales. Hamfests and       online auctions. Some guidelines. The "Never be underbid "ploy.

Click here for military surplus buying secrets.
Click here for Used test equipment bargains.

Blatant Opportunist #53  EMERGOP6.PDF        Some more Emerging Technical Opportunities. These include pulse       radio, metalloradicals, "D" cell turbines, carbon nanofiber hydrides,       EIS spectroscopy, RFID, massive FPGA's, and brain parity.

Click here for Pulse Radio tutorials and resources.
Click here for additional Hydrogen information.

Blatant Opportunist #52  PDFLINK.PDF          Secrets of PDF Links and PDF Link Checking. Reference docs.       Creating Acrobat PDF Links. Exchange. Document Generators       Gonzo utilities. Internal linking solutions. Link checking routines.

Click here for PDF Link Checking sourcecode.
Click here for Adobe Acrobat utilities and tutorials.

Blatant Opportunist #51  BWHISTLE.PDF        Adding Website Bells and Whistles. Tables. Acrobat. Byterange.       Last loading banners. Searches. Fast nav. e-commerce. What's New?       Kaizan. Referral logs. Bookstore Redirects. Roller mice. Link patrols.

Click here for home page creation books info.
Click here for HTML books info.
Click here for webmastering books info.

Blatant Opportunist #50  TWENTY47.PDF         Secrets of 24/7 publishing where content is continuously provided       to online and hard copy venues. 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.      Advantages. The downside. Income options. Insider techniques.

Click here for book-on-demand publishing info.

Blatant Opportunist #49  BASHPSEU.PDF          How to Bash Pseudoscience. Meta studies. Looks like a duck. Binary       consequence tree. Ockham's razor. Follow the Cash . Avoid negatives.       Roswell. Dowsing. Brown's Gas. Homopolar gens. Magic lamps.

Click here for bizarre pseudoscience website access.
Click here for Nokoli Tesla book info.

Blatant Opportunist #48  INFOPACK.PDF          Don's secrets of "Cash and Carry Consulting". InfoPack       concepts. Efficiency. Putting the Info into the Pack. Some       mechanics. For more help. Extensive web hot links.

Click here for more InfoPack details.

Blatant Opportunist #47  TRIMODE.PDF        Guidelines for tri-mode publishing. Advantages of electrons       and plastic over paper. Use Acrobat. Optimize for PostScript.       Colorize. Link up. Provide search options. Optimize web viewing.

Click here for more Acrobat details.
Click here for more PostScript details.
Click here for PostScript book info.

Blatant Opportunist #46  BANNYEAR.PDF        Insider banner advertising secrets. Opportunities. The downside.       Creating a banner. Measuring response. Using log files. Redirection.        Payment options. Some hints. Additional help.

Click here for more banner ad info.

Blatant Opportunist #45  BUSTPAT.PDF        Essential Tools to Bust a $650 Patent. Showing prior art. Showing       failure to disclose. Obviousness to a practitioner. Technical errors.       Procedural errors. Lack of due diligence. The paper blizzard.

Click here for additional patent avoidance info.

Blatant Opportunist #44  EMERGOP5.PDF        New ways to make a buck on upcoming technology. The baby PIC.       Bodaciously better BOD bindings. Linearized phase controls. Three       phase magic sinewaves. New directions for PostScript.

Click here for book-on-demand tutorials.
Click here for bookbinding books info.

Click here for PIC Microprocessor tutorials.
Click here for PIC Microprocessor books info.

Click here for PostScript tutorials.
Click here for PostScript books info.

Blatant Opportunist #43  DONTSICK.PDF        The simplest solution to outrageously high medical insurance       premiums is: Don't get sick. Here's some tested and proven       alternates involving fitness, exercise, and nutrition.

"As an M.D. who believes that the health of Americans has not measurably
improved in spite of our ballyhooed successes in the technology of medicine,
I am convinced that lifestyle is the key to augmenting health. Don Lancaster's
approach, as outlined in "Don't Get Sick," is a masterpiece of incisive wisdom
and sound advice. If people implemented his suggestions, their well-being would
skyrocket and their need for expensive drugs and surgery would plummet.

Mr. Lancaster knows the path to health. Follow it."     --  Dr. Kevin Pezzi

Click here for a fitness awareness quiz.
Click here for an aerobic heart rate chart.
Click here for medical website access.

Blatant Opportunist #42  PRIMREST.PDF        My primary research tools to find who is doing what to whom       in any subject. Trade journals, Ulrichs. Alta Vista. CD ROM phone       books, EITD, data books, amazon.com, Dialog, others.

Click here for web research access tools.

Blatant Opportunist #41  WEAVEWEB.PDF       Secrets of webmastering in this weaving a tangled web tutorial.       Content, profit, promotion, "demand pull" advertising, speed,       glitz, avoiding HTML, log files, hits, Kaizen.

Click here for home page creation book info.
Click here for webmastering book info.

Blatant Opportunist #40  SPOTCOLR.PDF         Insider secrets to making B/W print more colorful include       papers, preprints, toners, diecuts, color toners, Kroy Color,       Bakerizing, highliters, and a sneaky new PostScript Colorizer.

Click here for bookbinding books info.

Blatant Opportunist #39  PUBALTS.PDF       The five main options for self publishing these days include        ink, toner, electrons, video, and CD ROM. The strengths and        limitations of each alternate are explored in depth.

Click here for book-on-demand tutorials.

Blatant Opportunist #38  MICROWIN.PDF                   The key secrets to using and profiting from microcomputers                   and microcontrollers are revealed here in Don Lancaster's                   winning the micro game tutorial.

Click here for PIC website links.
Click here for PIC microprocessor tutorials.
Click here for PIC microprocessing book info.

Blatant Opportunist #37  EMERGOP4.PDF       Fourth annual release of emerging technical opportunities.       Push me pull you. The TeraHertz mystery band. PIC microcontrollers.       Magic Sinewaves. Solitons. DNA computing. Binary chain codes.

Click here for Magic Sinewave tutorials.
Click here for robotic books info.
Click here for pushme-pullyou Hexapod  links.

Blatant Opportunist #36  CONTESTS.PDF       Industrial contests can end up as very useful and very profitable       tools. Here's some insider info on winning announced contests,       unannounced contests, and running your own promotions.

Click here for some recently reviewed books.

Blatant Opportunist #35  MAGSINE.PDF       Magic sinewaves are a brand new method of driving ac induction       motors, solar panels, inverters, or electric cars. Offering outstanding      simplicity and efficiency. Introductory Don Lancaster tutorial..

Click here for Magic Sinewave  tutorials.
Click here for a Magic Sinewave development proposal.

Blatant Opportunist #34 ACROCAT.PDF       An Adobe Acrobat tutorial that shows how to upgrade existing       printed catalogs into interactive online net marketing tools. Has       been newly revised to include Acrobat 3.0 capabilities.

Click here for more Acrobat details.

Blatant Opportunist #33  GRAMTRAM.PDF        An engineering analysis of the Mount Graham Aerial Tramway,       a 7.5 mile long lumber delivery system with a vertical drop of over      one vertical mile. With lessons for today's engineering development.

Click here for more tinaja questing secrets.

Blatant Opportunist #32 RATHOLES.PDF        Avoiding Engineering Ratholes. Charging madness. U-turn insanity       Thermoelectric coolers. Sterling engines. Subsurface radars. High       power piezo. Anti-Qwerty. How to avoid bad engineering.

     Click here for more Incredible Secret Money Machine tutorials.

Blatant Opportunist #31 HELPLINE.PDF        Some Helpline Hints. Know your goals. Have info on hand. Set       time limits. Be a careful listener. Answer the real question. "4073".       Tailor response to region. Dealing with problem callers. More...

  Click here for Surplus Electronic bargains.

Blatant Opportunist #30  FLUTWUMP.PDF        A flutterwumper is an X-Y-Z device that chomps or spits. Key       design secrets include don't sweat the mechanics, minimize chomper       load, no gantries need apply, use two-brainers, PostScript, and PIC's.

Click here for flutterwumper tutorials.
Click here for robotic books info.
Click here for Santa Claus machines tutorials.

Blatant Opportunist #29  WHEN2PAT.PDF       Guidelines for when to patent. Do not even think about       patents and patenting unless you can honestly give yourself       positive answers to all of these key questions.

Click here for additional patent avoidance info.

Blatant Opportunist #28  BLATCAT.PDF       Some Catalog Musings. Perception is the reality. Catalog as a       business plan. Your best names. Avoid post office hassles. Make       it easy to order. Do on-demand publishing. Make it a keeper. More.

Click here for more on Book-on-demand publishing.

Blatant Opportunist #27  EMERGOP3.PDF          Some more Emerging Technical Opportunities. These include short       haul telemetry, nonlinear editing, the Digital Bogey, FM RBDS,       cheap air turbines, sonoluminescence, and Postscript robotics.

Click here for PostScript robotic tutorials.
Click here for additional video editing info.

Blatant Opportunist #26  PICOJUST.PDF       Don's "third stage" text justification scheme gives you outstanding       results. Justification fundamentals. Fill justify basics. Adding bells       and whistles. Picojustification concepts. Sourcecode listings.

Click for Gonzo picojustification sourcecode.
Click here for more PostScript info.
Click here for more Acrobat info.

Blatant Opportunist #25  ELESIMP.PDF       The quest for elegant simplicity. Doing more with less.       The P-38 can opener. Schmidt oscillator. Vortex cooler.        H-P audio oscillator. Duracell tester. NE-2 neon lamp.

Click here for our auction bargains.

Blatant Opportunist #24  RISKDOWN.PDF       The "real" way to "invent" something is to become a purveyor       of risk reduction instead. Using and understanding the idea       mortality curve. Getting paid. Mining fallout. Two examples.

Click here for test equipment bargains.

Blatant Opportunist #23  REV1001.PDF       Book promotion and publishing options include the thousand       and one reviews. Explores traditional and self publishing, book       packagers, service bureaus, marketing and promotion.

Click here for book-on-demand tutorials.

Blatant Opportunist #22  PATNTHOR.PDF       Some Patent Horror Stories. The solar burn. A contest winner.       The Grand Duchy of Fenwick. The night the music died. Ignoring       Sallen & Key. The little engine that couldn't. For more info..

Click here for more patent avoidance tutorials.

Blatant Opportunist #20  BODRES1.PDF       First half of an annotated directory of Book-on-demand publishing       resources. Includes a discussion of selecting a BOD printer and       links to a few related files.

Click here for recently reviewed book info.

Blatant Opportunist #19  BOUNDDET.PDF       Workable binding options for Book-on-demand publishing. Tutorial       covers Velobind, various thermal binding options, and commercial       alternatives. Improving cover durability. Shear nonsense. Directory.

Click here for book-on-demand tutorials.
Click here for bookbinding book info.

Blatant Opportunist #18 INVENORG.PDF      A state-by-state listing of Inventor's Organizations. Along with      a comprehensive review of the perils of patents and patenting.      Essential reading for any wannabe product developer.

Click here for additional patent avoidance info.

Blatant Opportunist #17  EMERGOP2.PDF      A second review of emerging technical opportunities. Dye based      solar electricity. Wavelets. GPS navigation. Spread spectrum comm.      Switched reluctance motors. Aerogels.

Click here for wavelet tutorials.
Click here for wavelet books info.

Blatant Opportunist #16  POSTJUST.PDF       Insider secrets of post justification editing. Typeset first and edit last.      Match form AND content. Fill justify with care. Playing with fonts. Edit      down, not up. The phrase bomb. A last pass by hand.

Click here for more Acrobat  details.
Click here for more PostScript details.
Click here for PostScript book info.

Blatant Opportunist #15  TONERTRX.PDF       Supplier directory for terrific toner techniques. What is toner?       Photorealism. Specialty toners. Transfers. Hot stamp foils. Improving       durability. Thermography. Water transfer decals. Printed circuits.

Click here for some other superb bargains.font>

Blatant Opportunist #14  REVISBOD.PDF       Don Lancaster tutorial on Revisiting Book-on-demand. The bad stuff.       Key secrets. Economic factors. Selecting a printer. Speed issues.       Bound and determined. Who needs it? For more help.

Click here for book-on-demand tutorials.

Blatant Opportunist #13  RESSCRTS.PDF       Classic Lancaster pre-web tutorial on Insider Research Secrets.       The research continuum. The greatest resource. Library stuff.       Dialog. UMI. tech books. Service info. Networking. Consultants net.

Click here for web research access tools.
Click here for cost effective research solutions.

Blatant Opportunist #12  WHYLIKE.PDF       Superb Why I Like PostScript intro to an incredible general purpose       computer language that also can dirty up otherwise clean sheets of        paper. Fundamentals, options, and emerging opportunities.

Click here for more Acrobat details.
Click here for more PostScript details.
Click here for PostScript book info.

Blatant Opportunists #10 & #11 ISMMINTR.PDF      The introduction and first chapter to the second edition of        Don Lancaster's Incredible Secret Money Machine classic        book on your own small scale technical or craft venture.

Click here for additional ISMM info

Blatant Opportunists #9 DIRTONER.PDF     Classic tutorial on direct toner printed circuits has been edited       and updated. Review of old pc methods. Benefits of PostScript..       Transfer media and machines. Supplies. Insider secrets.

Click here for surplus bargains info.

Blatant Opportunists #8 PARADIGM.PDF       Don's tutorial on stalking the wild paradigm. Small scale startups         and tech ventures do best during times of change. Dealing with shifts.        Business as usual. Avoiding sucker bets. Some GoFers.

Click here for instant research answers.

Blatant Opportunists #7 ADVETORL.PDF     Don's unique secrets for Mastering the Advetorial. Understanding      RCF reverse cash flow. How an advetorial works. Dealing with      blatancy. Using the editorial exchange. Avoiding ripoffs.

Click here for Don Lancaster Books info.

Blatant Opportunist #6  CASAGPAT.PDF       For most individuals and small scale startups, any involvement with       the patent system is guaranteed to cause you a net loss of time,       money, and sanity. Here's why in Don's The Case Against Patents

Click here for more patent avoidance info.
Click here to place a Case Against Patents order.

Blatant Opportunist ARCHIVE #1-5  BLAT1-5.PDF       Temporary older file of the earliest five Blatant Opportunist columns.       Book-on-demand publishing. Stupendous stuff sources.  Desktop       Finishing ideas. Emerging Technical Opportunities I.

Click here for banner advertising info.
Click here to place a custom consulting order.

Ask Don a Blatant Opportunist question.   Explore an Energy Efficiency opportunity.  Find Instant Research Solutions.

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