> > > I am going to start a small, home based PC service center. It will be the usual service center stuff as far as repair/upgrades are concerned. Until I build a clientel I *will* have to buy parts retail from a couple of local venders, which means little to no profits on parts, but I *will* have the lowest labor rates in Tahlequah. It helps since this is extra income and not my sole meens of survival.
> > >
> > > What I am asking my RinkWorks friends (and outside of my family here at home, you're the only ones I'm asking) is help with a name for the business. I have a couple of options I'm milling around that I kind of like, but also want to hear what you all can come up with. The only thing I ask that you keep in mind is phonebook placement. Keep the first letter of the name within the first 3-5 letters of the alphabet so the ad in the phonebook is near the top.
> > >
> > > What I have so far is "A+ PC Services", which I don't really like and "Alpha-Omega PC Services" with the slogan "Your first and last source for PC repair", which I do like.
> > >
> > > I'd appreciate any help you can lend.
> > >
> > > Drac "Entrepreneur" imas
> >
> > Okay..."Reality Bytes". That's my favorite, although I know it's not the first 3-5 letters of the alphabet, it's still quite cute. But probably already taken...hmmmm how about "Another Computer Company" NO! Well why not? Hehehe sorry, couldn't resist...
> >
> > Ti'cant think of anything else, sorry.'cia
>
> Actually, Ticia, I kind of like "Another Computer Company". Has an eye catching quality, and would make me the second listing in the local phone book. I think I'm seriously going to consider it. Thanks.
>
> Drac "No really, I'm serious... No, really... Really I am" imas
The idea of using "A+" to get your name at the top of the listing got me to thinking... (and I'm not sure of the legality of this, but I'm curious...)

Suppose the first character of your business name wasn't some alphanumeric, but one of the high-ascii characters that comes before "A" does? Perhaps that assumes the phone book's program was based in dos, but regardless, the program has to have a way for alphabetizing foreign letters, odd characters, bullets, question marks, etc. The trick is to find one that looks good and comes BEFORE the letter A, rather than after Z...
You could balance it out by having a cool character before and after your name.

Back in the good ol' days of ANSI graphics, you could do some really neat stuff with the following sequence:

[Alt] 176
[Alt] 177
[Alt] 178
[Alt] 219

It doesn't work with most windows fonts, but you can still see it if you go to dos prompt. You have to hold down the Alt key while hitting the 3 digit number on the keypad (with numlock on). Then you reverse the sequence to complete the effect.

For Example: in this Reply box, the font has the capitol letter A assigned to ascii code 65. So if you hold down Alt and type 65 on the keypad, it types A on the screen. Assuming (a big assumption) that the alphabetization algorithm is based on this ascii sequence, then [examples clipped thanks to SOMEbody's anti-html cgi script *cough*cough*sam*cough*] the words "Reality Bytes" bracketed by greater-than and less-than signs (instead of quote marks) will come before A+ Computing. "§ome ¤ther Computer Store" will be before all of the above.

So, who is the company who makes your phone book? Maybe a little research can come up with a letter that begins before A does...

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