New Web site re-design.

Singer Farms in Appleton, NY is a family farm established in 1915 and now owned by the Bittner and Singer families. Jim Bittner is President and General Manager of the overall operation.

The unique climate and soils along the lakeshore allows Singer Farms to consistently grow a wide range of high quality fruits. Most of the fruit is sold wholesale to farm markets, food processors and wineries.

Many of their products are now available for retail purchase on-line through the Winery at Marjim Manor web site. Offered are such things as dried apples and cherries, tart cherry concentrate (a natural source of powerful antioxidants) and even fresh apples available from October- June.

U-Pick Cherries are another big part of their business. Singer Farms has the largest orchard of dwarf sweet cherry trees in the eastern United States. In the month of July*, you can pick large sweet cherries without using a ladder!

*Please check ahead for availability. As they say at Singer Farms – “Because we partner with Mother Nature, harvest dates are approximate.”

I created the original website in 2003. The new design includes a fresher look, a new U-pick Cherries page, updated wholesale information and products for retail purchase on-line.

Here are a few short news clips from recent e- Marketer's Daily newsletters that show how the Internet continues to be an integral part of our daily life. I found them interesting and I hope you do too!

According to a new Harris Interactive Poll, Internet use is still growing! The number of Internet users in the US reached 172 million in April 2005, a 5.5% increase over the previous year, with projections of strong growth through to the end of the decade. As the proportion of Internet users rises, the Internet user profile more closely mirrors the US population as a whole.

Harris calculated that 77% of US adults are now online. Compare this to 1995, when Harris first began tracking Internet use - only 9% of US adults were online!

It is no secret that employees who work online also play online - on company time. In a survey, 61% of respondents admitted that they spend at least some time surfing non-work-related Web sites during the workday, the average time being 3.06 hours per week.

Employees say they go to map sites (83%), news sites (80%) and weather sites (76%) most often. Also worth noting is the fact that where employees say they go and where systems administrators report they go do not always agree.

According to another poll, an amazing 92% of US employees agree that their companies have the right to install web-filtering technology to manage which types of websites they visit on the job. Reasons include fear of losing their jobs if they visit adult content sites using their Internet connections at work and being fired if they infect the company systems with malicious spyware or a virus.

Funny thing, only 11% believed they would lose their jobs if they fell asleep at their desks!

An eMarketer's recent report shows more people are shopping online. Sales will be up 20% in 2006, reaching $211.4 billion. After travel, the largest categories this year will be computer hardware and software, autos and auto parts, apparel, accessories, and footwear. In addition, retailers reported that 22% of offline sales are influenced by Internet visits. Customers are going online to compare prices, find gifts and research high-ticket items.

According to Pew Research, 35% of US Internet users have created and posted content online. That implies a total of 48 million American adults. People are interested in the Internet being an outlet for creativity, as well as, a medium for creativity. Creative undertakings include on-line journals, blogs, personal web pages and sharing photos, artwork, stories or videos. Broadband users are more likely to put content online than dial-up users. Online content comes more often from younger people, but we do find that older people are sharing photos and videos," said a Pew representative.

So much for the stereotyped image of the burned- out, bleary- eyed 'net surfing zombie. But we, um I mean they, still exist.

Have you seen the video about two mad scientists, 101 two-liter bottles of Diet Coke and 523 Menthos?

One of my clients sent this to me. I was checking my email after a particularly grueling day and I laughed until I cried! Check this out and keep it on file for the next time you need to chill out!

IMPORTANT: This video has music that absolutely must be played for full impact. So make sure your speakers are cranked up. If you are at work, I guess you should wait until you get home.