HMG Where's George

02/04/08

Home
Up
HMG WG Welcome
HMG WG Bill Notes
HMG WG What's New?
HMG WG Statistics
HMG WG FAQs 2
HMG WG Public Forum Links
HMG SATS – WIHMGSA
HMG WG Mitch Memorial Links
HMG WG Credits
HMG WG Archives
HMG WG Log File

 

Hans M. Guy Where's George Profile at hansmguy.com

Summary: Hans M. GUY The purpose of my profile is to 1) assist new Georgers with suggestions and techniques and 2) centrally locate personal milestones and items of interest: a) for quicker retrieval and  b) requiring that I post repeated answers only once.  This page was written in MS FrontPage.  I hope you can view it.  Good Luck & Happy Georgering!

Note: On occasion some of my pages do not display.  Just click your browser 'refresh' (reload) button to re-display.

Welcome

What's New link

Operation Area 51 link

Profile

I am having a great time at Where's George (WG).  Hank's bill tracking concept has evolved into a very nice web site (including the Public Forums).  I first encountered 'George' (stamped) at Smithwicks Bar & Tavern in Lowell, MA.  Perhaps, I will never be on any of the George's top 10 lists.  Still, it will be interesting so see what might happen to the few dollars, that I do enter.

I have (and continue) to learn much here at Where's George: Psychologically, how people interact in our 'wicked awesome' [Boston slang and accent] Where's George community and technically: (HTML and Web page design).  Hank, Fogette, and Michele have inspired me greatly.

If you should enter any of my bills or have comments (i.e. broken links) and/or suggestions concerning my profile, feel free to contact me via anonymous e-mail, , or the Feedback form.  I would enjoy your insights.  For Where's George specific questions or comments, please contact us via the Contact Us Form.  Thank you to all who have entered my bills and assisted me at Where's George.

Goals

  • To spread the word of Where's George (So, I'll include some hints below).
  • To have Mass. included in the Top 10 State Profiles (If you have not already, please create your own profile, so we can learn more about you).
  • To be included in the Top 10 Mass. User Profiles (achieved).  To be included in the Top 5 Mass. User Profiles (achieved).  Now, I want to be included in the Top 3 Mass. User Profiles.
  • To be included in the George's Top 150 Users (in any column category).
  • To receive a hit in each state - 50 State Bingo.
  • To attain the FRB Bingo (achieved)  (See Glossary of Terms below).

New Georger Notes

First, let me say that most of the 'New Georger Notes' are not my original ideas.  I have included many of these great insights from Hank, other profiles, and various Public Forum discussions.  My intent was to create a centrally located area where New Georgers could get the information (that we all wanted to know, when we first began).  I hope I have credited all associated on the Credits page.  If you feel that I may have omitted  someone, please notify me via anonymous e-mail, , or the Feedback form - Thanks.

Words to Live By

Enter, Mark, Spend (EMS) -  Please remember that sequence, in order that Where's George function properly by keeping the data accurate.

Something to Keep in Mind

What keeps my anxiety level to a minimum is:
"My interpretation of Where's George is to track where my bills HAVE GONE, not where I WANT THEM TO GO  -  (WG is a Bill Tracker; not a Bill Forecaster)"

Very Important & Informative Reading

Frequently Asked Questions, New Site FAQs Page (search for '#6 Please explain the 'Help with this Page' link'.), Where's George? User Guidelines, User Links, and the Public Forums (please use Google Search also) are excellent sources of information.  I and other fellow Georgers are very nice and will assist where we can.

Techniques_for_Marking_Bills

Where's George does not encourage the defacement of U.S. Currency.  If you desire a long life span for Where's George, and you do not wish to cause trouble for Hank and the site, I suggest that you follow these suggestion and the Where's George? User Guidelines.  In your zeal to promote Where's George, I hope you exhibit discretion and practice bill marking restraint.

I stamp the front side of the bill with either my custom (purple) stamp or the  Hank Official Where's George (red) stamp (no longer offered).  I stamp the back side of the bill with another custom (purple) stamp.  For easier reading, I try to stamp in the white space of the bill.  One stamp on each side of the bill should suffice; please refrain from over stamping.

I strongly recommended that you NOT highlight, underline, or circle the serial or series numbers.   Please refrain from marking the portrait, watermark, and other security features.  This could render the bill unfit for re-issue.  Some bill feeding vending machines, currency verifier machines, and drop safes may reject bills that have stamps located over and/or near security features.

Also, I have encountered (what I call an Anti-Georgers) who disagrees with marking (interpreted as advertising) on US currency.  The Anti-Georgers had crossed out the WG URL.  Had a stamp been located on the serial or series numbers, the Anti-Georger would have inadvertently rendered the bill unfit for re-issue - which is illegal [smarty pants].

Seldom do I use a highlighter.  If I do, then I highlight the borders (margins) above or below (parallel with) the serial # and series #.  I'm not sure of the highlighter's longevity (wash durability).  However, the bills are fun to look at in those (aahh, ummmm...) clubs with those black lights *looks over shoulder and laughs*.  Sometimes, I use the 'Smart Moneytm Counterfeit Detector Pen' by Drimark on the back of the bill.

 

(click on image to view full size)
More recent 4-liner custom stamp

(click on image to view full size)

Hank's official Where's George stamp is no longer available.  Frank's profile and Wosto's WG-Virtual Museum are valuable source of stamp information.   Custom stamps are usually secondary and are used to emphasize items that the official stamp did not.  In the rare occasion that I have to make a bank deposit, I leave the front of the bill blank and only stamp the back - Chicken George.  I do not want to create any unnecessary problems for Where's George and Hank.  While other Georgers have been successful at handwriting on their bills, I do not handwrite; I'm too lazy *smile*.

I cannot remember the font size of my stamps, but the 2-liner is 1/4" tall, the 3-liner is 3/8" tall, and the 4-liner is 1/2" tall.  Basically, I made a copy of a bill that had a WG stamp on it and brought it to the stamp shop.  They measured it for the equivalent font size.  If I had to guess... Arial Font size 10 or 11.  I guess you could print out various font sizes on a piece of paper, cut them out, and see which size fits best in the white space of the bill.  Good Luck.

Techniques for Entering Bills

First of all, let me say that, I HATE manually entering bill information.  However, I enjoy Where's George so much, that I guess I will have to do it.  *smile*  In any event, if something must be done, I have found that, if I use a set procedure, the task at hand becomes easier to manage.

1)  I quickly scan both sides of the bills for distasteful comments that I do not want associated with WG.  If I locate unsavory comments, I will exchange the bill at the bank and not enter it into WG.

2)  I sort and separate the bills into the following stacks: 

  • Where I received the Bill
  • Denomination
  • Series
  • Condition

3)  I enter the bill's information in all the corresponding required fields.  In the optional 'Notes' field, I denote what was purchased, where the purchase occurred, and the condition of the bill (poor, fair, good, and excellent). 

4)  I verify all fields (especially the 'Denomination', 'Series', and 'Serial Number') before hitting the 'Submit this Bill' button.  In the 'Serial Number' field, I use the [left-arrow] key to count the digits entered.

5)  If either the 'Denomination' or 'Series' changes, in order to triple check the previous bills entered, I go to YOUR BILLS (in a new window) and select the 'Most Recent Bills'.  If there was a mistake in the 'Denomination', 'Series', or 'Serial Number', I can delete those bills, and correctly re-enter them.  Rarely do I incorrectly enter bills anymore; but I still double and triple check.  This is also a good time to check for the rare Natural George.

I have chosen the following sorting order, because the 'Notes' field carries over from one bill to the next; and previously when the 'Denomination', 'Series', and/or 'Serial Number' changed,  I would forget to change those fields for subsequent bill entry.  For Where's George to function correctly, each bill must be entered into the database correctly.  If someone were to enter an incorrect 'Denomination', 'Series', and/or 'Serial Number', that bill will probably never get a hit (O.K. - I have a knack for the obvious).  Please have the bill in your possession before entering any information and enter the zip code of where you are currently sitting.  Surgeon General has stated that: 'Guessing' causes cancer in laboratory animals.  (joking)  But seriously, 'Guessing' will skew the data and give Hank and Team Aqua headaches.  Bill Entry - New Features… (Hank)

Techniques for Spending Bills

Personally, I have not changed much of my spending habits...  Well, maybe....
  • Should I make a bank deposit, I prefer to deposit a few newer, better conditioned, bills (no markings on the front of the bill, only markings on the back - Chicken George).  Older, worse conditioned, bills have more of chance of being returned to the Federal Reserve Banks and taken out of circulation (no more hits).

I have not converted my credit card transactions to cash transactions.  However, I have noticed the following changes:

  • When I receive change, I look for Where's George marked bills.
  • If I pay my employees in cash, I usually keep the newer, better conditioned, bills for myself (Again, they may stay in circulation longer).

I love seeing other Georgers' notes on hits.  To be fair, I thought that I should update my bill's notes with 'where I received and released' my bills.  Also, tracking bills via their notes should indicate which bills have more successful hits.  When I first started Georgering, I tried to update every bill entered.  This proved to be too time consuming and a lot or work for a bill that may never receive a hit.  Thus, I decided not to track all the bills, but only update the notes of bills that had received hits.

When I enter my bills, I make sure to keep them in the same order in my wallet.  On my 'WG Spending Journal' - (actually, a 3" x 6" piece of folded graph paper), I also record the Date Entered, Denomination, Serial # (1st six characters), Date Spent, and Purchased Item.  When I purchase something... if I have time, I update the 'WG Spending Journal'.  If I do not have time (sometimes, I do not want to look like an idiot... writing down every purchase *frown*), I write a short note (spent 7 ones on ABC or 2 ones and 1 five on XYZ) on the receipt.  Then, I wrap the receipt around those bills that I received as change.  Later I can figure out which bill corresponds to which purchase (all my bills are in order in my wallet, remember?).  When I make a purchase, I store my change, new non-Georged bills; in a separate part of my wallet, until I George them.  When I receive a George hit, I can update the bill's 'Notes', including a date that clarifies the history for future readers.

Recently, I haven't updated the 'Notes' of where the bill was released, only where I acquired the bill.  I'm trying to work on my obsessive behavior (smile).

Other Items of Interest

  • George Score - (Unofficially speaking) you need 5 hits to receive an official George Score.  There may be a minimum amount of bills entered.  Although, I have never seen this documented anywhere.  Hank has very good reasons for keeping the requirements a secret.  Please be patient.  It's worth the wait *smile*.

Public Forums

  • Please use the Google Search feature before posting questions.  There is a lot of useful information already posted by other Georgers.
  • Please post Hit Celebrations & Profile posts in their appropriate Hit Celebration! & User Profiles Forum.  Please do NOT post Hit Celebrations & Profile posts in the Main Public Forum.

  • Enhancement and Bug Fix Requests – should NOT be posted on public forums.  Please contact Hank via the Contact Us Form.  Hank reviews all requests.  Please be patient.

  • Fake Hits Discoveries - should NOT be posted on Public Forums.  Hank has procedures for detecting fake hits, and then he deletes them.  It is too time consuming to notify all concerned, that he has deleted a suspected fake hit via e-mail.  Be assured that Hank has been doing this long enough to recognize fake hits.  You would be wise not to disagree with his decisions.  Should you feel compelled to announce your discovery, please contact Hank via the Contact Us Form Related Request Link (Hank).
  • Spam on the Public Forums – Spam is not desired.  Please do not make additional postings to Spam.  Spam Alert Link (HMG).  Oh, and advertisements will set you back $500.00  *smile*.
  • Full Serial Numbers - Please do NOT post complete serial numbers in public forums, on profiles, on bill images, and/or in the bill's User's note field.  Please continue to mask the serial number with '---'.  In the past, it has lead to bogus entries by very bad Anti-Georgers *frown*.
  • Please do NOT feed the Trolls. - When they don't received their desired response, they soon move on.  (Netiquette, ,Flame Warriors, and Phil's Field Guide to Trolls)
  • Please be Polite When Redirecting Others to the Proper Fora (HMG).

Glossary of Terms

Here are some common terms used at Where's George. Some terms were defined before Slowpoke maintained The Encyclopædia Georgetannica - a more complete list of terms.
Terms Definitions
50 State Bingo Having received a hit in all 50 states.
Chicken_George A bill that is NOT marked on the front, but only marked (stamped) on the back.
FRB Bingo Having received a hit from each of the twelve Federal Reserve Bank regions.
Naked George A bill whose 'notes' suggests an association with the adult entertainment industry.
Natural George An unmarked bill, previously entered by another Georger (natural in the sense that the person now  entering it, did so without any influence from a stamp).  Link to terms discussion 
Pigeon George 1) A bill that I enter at home and take to another location where I do not have a hit or 2) a bill that I enter and spend at another location, where I do not have a hit; then the bill returns home for its first hit.  Pigeon George is a term that I coined and is not commonly accepted, yet. *smile*
Team Aqua A group of Georgers who assist Hank by answering e-mails received via the Contact Us Form.
Wild George A marked (stamped) bill, previously entered by another Georger (found in the wild).

Why I Created and Linked My Profile on a Separate Web Host Site.

  • It was easier and quicker to code and modify my profile with MS FrontPage than in native HTML.  (I like to think that I am efficient... not lazy.)
  • I needed a web-hosting site to store images, before Hank offered Image Hosting at WG.
  • In the rare occasion, when the Where's George is experiencing database maintenance, I can still access & update my profile, that resides on a separate server.

Other Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I'm new.  I received a bill marked with 'www.wheresgeorge.com'.  So, I entered the bill at Where's George.  I wanted to see the bill's history, but nothing was listed.  Even though the bill already has the web site address on it, am I the first person to enter this bill at Where's George?
A:
  • Actually, the bill may have a history.  Scroll down the entry screen.  The bill history is listed in descending chronological order.  Right above the entries is the text: "This list is in reverse-chronological order".
  • The person, who originally entered the bill, may have entered the bill incorrectly.  On occasion, when entering many bills at once, a user may incorrectly enter a bill.
  • The person, who originally entered the bill, may have stamped the bill without entering it at Where's George.  This is very bad.  Enter, Mark, Spend (EMS) [in that order] is very important.  This will reduce the amount of Contact Requests to us, asking why someone cannot find a bill's history.
  • You may have entered the bill incorrectly.  Please verify that the “Denomination”, “Series (Year)”, and “Serial Number” are correct.
  • If you do not have a link to the bill, please verify that you are registered (if not then select 'Register!') and that you are logged on to Where's George, in order to review the bill via 'Your Bills'.  On the top of the page is the Where's George? Navigation panel.   If you are logged on, you should see: You are currently Logged on as [name] (# [user_number]).  Go to 'Your Bills / All recently entered Bills' (if not present, press the “YOUR BILLS / *** To REFRESH this report, Click Here ***” link – not the browser refresh button).  Locate and select the bill in question.  Review the bill's notes.  Link to Bill History not Found
Q: On the YOUR BILLS screen, it refreshes only once per day and the report 'All Hits by State' no longer displays my hits by zip code.
A: Due to amount of resources required, you will only get one refresh per day (no longer 3 or 10), and you have limited access to various 'YOUR BILLS / Hits by State' reports: Hits by Zip/County/City/Zip Bill Detail Reports.  So, any hits that you receive today will be displayed tomorrow.  If you want to see your bills entered reflected, either 1) go to “YOUR BILLS / All recently entered Bills” or 2) enter the bills before pressing the YOUR BILLS 'refresh' link.  To ensure that all bill statistics are included on YOUR BILLS, please run YOUR BILLS and press the “*** To REFRESH this report, Click Here ***” link - after the Daily Scheduled Database Maintenance (DSDM) reports have completed – after 5:00 AM EST.  Please visit Friends of Where's George? Benefits and New Site FAQs Page for more information.

Personal Statistics link

2002 WG Profile Contest link

Inspirations, Credits, and other Cool WG links

Log File for Hans' profile at Where's George link

In Closing

Should you desire to use items from my profile (ideas, images, or links), please feel free to do so.  It would be a compliment to me.  Because I have incorporated other people's ideas, I just ask that you credit (and if possible... supply a link to) those individuals.

Please use your browser bookmarks and/or favorites to quickly access items of interest, for future reference (hmmm, maybe... like my profile... hint, hint  *smile*).  Recommend my profile to your friends new to Where's George.  Come on back again.  I try to update my profile routinely (especially at month end).

And if you have not already done so, create a profile for yourself, so that we can learn more about you.  If you do create your own profile, contact me via anonymous e-mail, , or the Feedback form.  I would love to see your efforts.  Again ,for Where's George specific questions or comments, please contact us via the Contact Us Form, thanks.

Have fun.

HMG in MAss,


Traditional Counter

Free counters provided by Honesty.com.


For a direct link to my profile, use this URL:
http://www.wheresgeorge.com/user_profile_popup.php?ukey=ecfdf3f6a8ded70cbe08f1a9b83fe2a2

Back to Hans' profile at hansmguy.com
Back to Hans' profile at Where's George

Home | Up | About Me | Interests | Favorites | HMG Music | HMG NASCAR | Photo Gallery | HMG Puzzle | HMG Fallen Sword | HMG VON | Site Map | Feedback

This site was last updated 02/26/05