Selfish Government

Candidates are now declaring their intentions to run for president in 2012. Millions and most likely billions of dollars are spent on elections every four years. It has made me think about the amount of money spent on elections in this country and what that money could be spent on.

I think we have to ask ourselves what makes more sense? We have found out this year that governments can be toppled by Twitter and Facebook. These social media websites are free to use, so why do candidates for the office of president of the most powerful nation in the world not grasp this technology and spend their campaign funds on something that will definately make our country a better place to live?

Many of these politicians who have announced their candidacy have fought against President Obama's healthcare plan and our budget and taxes. Everyone knows that our healthcare system needs reform. Everyone knows that the government has the potential to employ people that will shape the future of our country. We need good, quality teachers to teach our children so they can grow up to be leaders of the world. Budget cuts affect our ability to hire these qualified teachers, forcing our children into overcrowded classrooms that make it difficult to learn.

Our politicians need to stop being selfish. Our politicians need to embrace the technology that is changing the world. For as much as we consider our country the most wealthy, powerful nation in the world, we are still selfish and slow to change. We believe that nobody can tell us what to do. We do things the way they should be done. We cannot look at something that is successful in a third world country and make use of it here. We are better than that. I am tired of this type of thinking and call on our leaders to truly embrace change. I am asking them to stop spending money selfishly and start thinking about the greater good.

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Am I An Apple Fan Boy?

I bit the bullet and preordered the iPhone 4 yesterday. But let me tell you, it was not easy. I started doing some research on Sunday in anticipation of the preorder date. I did a little more research on Monday evening to try to figure out what time the preorder would start. Nobody knew for sure, but the iPad preorder started at 5:30 AM, so that was what I went with.

I woke up and went for a run in the morning. I got back home at about 5:30 and jumped on a computer. The post it note saying they will back soon was up on the Apple site. I jumped in the shower. While getting ready I jumped back on the computer and saw that the Apple site was back up. It was not working correctly though.

I went to work and kept trying both the Apple and AT&T websites with no luck. I was checking for updates on Google as to the status of preorders. I finally noticed that there was a new Apple Store app that allows you to order hardware so I downloaded it at about 10:00. I tried it and it did not work, but it gave me a number to call at Apple. I called the number and actually got to speak to someone within about five minutes. He told me that the AT&T site was having problems so they could not verify accounts. He took my name and phone number and said he would call me as soon as everything was back up. He never called me back.

I kept trying the AT&T site and was soon able to preorder my iPhone 4. The process was slow, but it did work. At least I hope it worked. I got a confirmation and received a confirmation email message within an hour. I just checked my order and it is being processed.

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A Lot of Information

My meetings here in Rosemont have been very good. I am learning a lot that I can take back to my company. I have met a few customers that are great contacts to get us in the door of a few target companies. It has been a very productive trip.

This year the meeting have focused a lot of time on marketing, in particular internet marketing and social media. I know there is a lot more that I can do in both of these areas, it is just hard to carve out the time and to justify it. I have learned some things this week that should help me with both of these.

Last week I had a conversation with my advertising agency and was about to throw in the towel with regards to social media. I had a bad attitude about it and I think my account manager felt that and just went along with it. Our meeting turned into a trash talking session about what social media cannot do for my company. I admit that I was not seeing any potential. I came to my meeting this week all ready to dismiss social media as a waste of time.

Two sessions really changed my mind. One session was led by a marketing person from a company in my industry. He focused more on web site analytics, but he started to change my perspective. The second session was led by a consultant who works with companies to establish their social media presence. I think that he convinced me that I am not wasting my time and need to actually spend some more time on social media. I really need to get other people in the company involved with blogging, Facebook and Twitter. He told us that we cannot do it alone. It needs to be a company focus. I agree.

I am planning to get started with the implementation of a social media strategy when I get back into the office. I am already thinking about who in the company will buy into the strategy and really work to make it successful. At this point I only have about two people who I have identified.

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The iPad

I am not sold on the iPad. I think it is too large and just does not fit into a well defined nitch. I think there is some very cool technology in the device, but I just don't think I will be purchasing one.

I like the size of the Kindle better and I like the fact that you don't need to pay for internet access to download a book from Amazon.com. I like that it has a paper-like display which will make it much easier to read books on. I don't like the navigation. I don't like that the screen is so much smaller than the overall device. I don't like that you cannot go into a store and touch one and try it out. I am impressed that it is the best selling item on Amazon.com.

When it comes to the iPad, I like that it has a color screen which will make it great for viewing magazines and browsing the web. I like the navigation because it is very intuitive. I like the fact that the screen dominates the device. I like the fact that it uses Wi-Fi. As I said before, I don't like the size of the device. I don't like the price tag. I am very impressed that they sold 51,000 preorders for the iPad in the first two hours it was available.

I am not in the market for one of these devices yet. I am going to wait and see how things shake out. I think Apple has a better idea of how it should work because they have experience with the iPod and iPhone and iTunes. Their system will be much easier to use and will be a much better experience. They just have years of experience with user interface design which Amazon.com is lacking. At this point I would lean toward the iPad, but I saw another reader in Popular Science magazine that had a paper-like display on one side and a color screen on the other. It opens like a book with one on each side. Now that is a great idea.

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What Not to Buy in 2010

I came across an interesting article on Yahoo Finance today. It is titled "10 Things Not to Buy in 2010." Here is the list:

1. DVDs I think it is still safe to buy DVDs, especially Blu-ray. Internet downloads of movies just take too long and if you are looking for a high definition movie it will take even longer.

2. Home Telephone Service This one is a toss-up for me. I don't want to have a home phone, but I don't want salesmen bothering me on my cell phone. I have Google Voice, but have not really used it to its full potential. I actually have not even given out my phone number. It is a nice service because you select which of your phones you want to ring when someone calls the number. I will have to experiment with it in 2010 to see if I can eliminate my home phone.
3. External Hard Drives I strongly disagree with this one. There is still a place for an external hard drive. The online backup services are much more expensive and you are putting your cherished photos and music collection in someone Else's hands.

4. Smartphone Also-Rans Other than the Blackberry and iPhone, none of the other smartphones have really caught on. The Blackberry is still the business phone of choice. The iPhone walks the line between hipsters and wannabe hipsters. I personally really like my iPhone, but it does have limitations and annoyances.

5. Compact Digital Cameras I made the switch several years ago and have not looked back. I think there is still a use for a compact digital camera. The size is ideal and the ease of use is what many people like. A digital SLR is more expensive and is more complicated.

6. Newspaper Subscriptions Newspapers have been dead for several years now. They need to change their business model if they are going to remain viable businesses. Our society wants news now, not in in 12 hours.

7. CDs Song downloads are fast and the quality is good. There is no reason to buy a CD in a store or online when you can get it almost immediately from iTunes.

8. New College Textbooks With ebook readers catching on and Apples tablet about to be released, there is no longer a need for printed textbooks. The transition will take some time, but I see it happening soon. Printed books are bad for the environment and are too expensive. They stretch our education budgets thin.

9. Gas-Guzzling Cars These went out with the 70s. I love my Prius and while I am not looking forward to the projected gas prices in 2010, I am also not afraid of them. My car has enough power, cargo capacity and gets great gas mileage as well. I don't think there should be any new cars sold that don't get at least 30 miles per gallon and have a hybrid drivetrain. We have the technology, we just need the car makers to embrace it.

10. Energy-Inefficient Homes and Appliances Again, we have the technology we just have to use it. Appliances have come a long way. Home building technology has as well, it is just very expensive still. Appliance prices benefit from economies of scale. Home building technology does to a certain extent as well, but prices just aren't falling fast enough for most types of items. A lot of people just don't want to pay the extra money for energy efficient items other than windows, doors and insulation.

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Easy Ways to Give

Who ever said that there is no free lunch was wrong. There are several easy, free ways that we can all give this holiday season. I have tried these and recommend that you do as well.

1. Give blood. With increased travel during the holidays, there will be increased need for donated blood.
2. Free Rice. Play some games and rice will be donated for each question you answer correctly.
3. The Animal Rescue Site. All you have to do is click on a link.
4. The Breast Cancer Site. Again, all you have to do is click on a link.
5. The Hunger Site. Just click on a link again.
6. Welch’s Harvest of Help. Click on the link and Welch's will donate juice through Feeding America. Their goal is 1 million glasses of juice.
7. Leapfish & Make-A-Wish. Tweet the provided message and Leapfish will make a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
8. Kraft Foods. Send a FREE holiday e-card and Kraft will donate 10 meals to Feeding America.
9. Land O’Lakes – Click where it says “You click, we donate” in the upper right corner of their website and they will donate to fight local hunger.
10. Box Tops. Found on hundreds of products like Cheerios, Chex Mix, Cottonelle, and Kleenex. Clip the Box Top symbol from the package and give it to your child’s school, or a teacher you know. Each Box Top is worth 10¢ for your school. Clipping the Box Top takes just a second and doesn’t cost you anything.

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100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know

There is a list of 100 words that every high school graduate should know. The list was compiled by the editors of the American Heritage dictionary. These are the words that they say identify if you have a superior command of the English language.

I took a look at this list and I must say that I do not have a superior command of the English language. I would bet that there are not any high school graduates in the Central San Joaquin valley who can use every word on this list correctly in a sentence.

Here is a link to the list. Let me know if you have a superior command of the English language.

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Parent-Teacher Conference

I am so proud of Meg. Last night was her parent-teacher conference and her teacher had nothing but great things to say about her. She said that Meg is a quite leader and that she is really well behaved and scholarly. Wow! I was about to tell her teacher that she acts totally different at home, but decided not to.

I told her teacher that Meg is still interested in math and that I want to help her keep progressing before she learns to hate it like most kids. I asked her how best to do that. Her answer was not what I was looking for. She mentioned a website to go to that has math games and that was about it. Meg has played those games at school and seem uninterested to do so at home.

I am going to have to really start working with her on her times tables. Then, we need to keep working on her addition and subtraction. I really want all of it to be second nature to her so she does not get frustrated and start to hate it. I wish I had worked harder when I was younger so that I was faster with my math. Helping her should also help me, so it is a win-win situation.

Meg is very strong in the language arts. She really likes to read, has great penmanship and likes to write. Her teacher said that is her strongest area, and I agree. We need to keep encouraging her to read so she loves it like Tina does. I go throug reading spurts, but I would not go as far as to say that I love it. I wish I did, but I just don't. More on the book I am currently reading in a later post.

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Definition of Prius

I was thinking about the word "prius" just yesterday. And when I start thinking about something, I need to hit the internet and find the answers to my questions. I spent a little bit of time doing my research and found what I was looking for, that is if you can believe what you read on wikipedia.

The word "prius" is a Latin word. It is a comparative adjective or adverb with meanings "ahead, in front, leading, prior; before, previously, first." Latin has gender divisions for some plurals. The masculine for prius would be prium, the feminine would be prieau (pronounced Pre-ay). There is a quote on wikipedia from a Toyota spokesperson who stated that "Toyota chose this name because the Prius vehicle is the predecessor of cars to come."

That is all fine, but what is the plural of Prius? I did some more research and found a quote on a Prius owner's forum. The state that they, asked a Toyota executive in charge of the initial Prius rollout how his people refer to more than one Prius. His response was "Prius". Since Toyota built and named the car and they refer to more than one as a "Prius", that must be the plural form of the word. Some people do like to refer to more than one as "Prii" and I even saw an arguement that said that if we say two "geniuses" it would follow that we say two "Priuses'.

I still don't know what I will call more than one Prius, but I do know that I am happy with my purchase so far.

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How Hard is it to Buy Something?

I sure cannot believe that we are still in a recession if I have to judge by the response I am getting to purchasing two items. I am currently starting to shop for a new car and am also exploring my options for a swimming pool. I am really having trouble getting people to respond to my requests.

I used the Toyota website to build my Prius and then searched for a dealer in my area. Once I selected the dealer, my information was sent to them. I have been contacted by them via email, which I prefer, and have responded with questions. My email replies have only been responded to one time, but they keep sending me other emails asking how their service has been. I guess I really need to reply and let them know that it has been two weeks since this started and they actually have the car I am interested in sitting on their lot.

I tried to contact a pool builder that I saw at a home show last year. I could never catch a live person, so I thought maybe they were out of business. I made contact with three other builders with no problems at all. I continued to call the first builder and began leaving messages for them to call me back. I finally received a return call. I got all four builders to come to my house and start the work for estimates. One of them got back to within a few days, one got back to me within a week and one set a follow-up appointment for me at the original appointment, though it was almost two weeks later. The fourth, however, did not get back to me after almost two weeks. I finally called them and they got back to me the next day.

Two builders still owe me drawings. One of them told me they would email me the drawing on Monday and I still have not seen it yet. I am meeting with the fourth builder, who is my leader at this point, tomorrow. They are installing a pool down the street from me, which is how I found them in the first place. I am concerned that they did not get back to me until after I called them back though.

All I can think from these experiences is that either the recession is not as bad as everyone thinks and the car business and pool business are just slammed with customers or they are just two very flaky industries. I am inclined to believe the later at this point, until proven otherwise. I wonder if I would have the same luck trying to give away my money if I just stood on the corner with a sign that read, "I will give you all my money, just ask for it?"

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I have joined the Twitter party!

I don't want to be thought of as a staunchy old man or as someone who technology has passed by, so I started a Twitter page or feed or post or whatever the correct terminology is. I have this blog set up to feed directly to Twitter so you can follow me here or on Twitter and you will not miss any of my tasty nuggets of truth.

Since I am new to the whole Twitter thing you will probably see many changes. Don't get frustrated as I am still learning.

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Is Technology Passing me by?

I was having a conversation in the office with some of my coworkers today about technology. It started off innocently enough as a work related conversation about robots. It slowly evolved into a critique of current and near future technology that is mostly being developed for the military. We started talking about that advancements in drones, the electronic jamming systems that can disable them and sonic canons.

After the conversation was over, I turned to the newest member of our team who is a recent college graduate and asked him if I sounded like an old man who is afraid of technology. He was nice enough about it and said no, but I sure felt old. I wondered aloud if this is how people felt when computers or cell phones started getting popular.

This afternoon I received an email from someone who does some work for me and noticed that he had links to company Facebook and Twitter pages. I clicked on the Twitter link and was annoyed that it is very difficult to follow the posts when people start replying to them. I see it as a tool with some potential, but it just seems to be lacking ease of use. Maybe I just need to play with it some more to see if I am the one making it more difficult.

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Famous for what?

I think that we are living in a unique age where reality TV and tabloids are making people famous for no reason at all. People like Paris Hilton, the Kardashians, John and Kate, Spiedi (Spencer and Heidi), Sarah Palin, the reality show millionaire who killed his wife and even Levi Johnston. These people may not be interesting at all, but we make them famous and someone like Palin can ride it all the way to a career so lucrative she doesn't need to be governor anymore.

What is so special about these "stars" that makes people want to read about them or see them in magazines or on TV? I can't explain it and for the most part I have no interest in them at all. Spencer is always saying outlandish things and the media plays right into his hands and gives him the attention he is seeking. His most recent stunt is that he is talking about changing his name to King Spencer Pratt.

Now, I have done exactly what the media has done and given them the attention they are seeking. My mistake!

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The Summer of Death Revisited

The Summer of Death hit close to home for me. I attended the funeral of my Wife's great uncle this past Saturday. I did not know him as well as I would have wished, but I am glad I did get to know him. He was a busy man. He had a successful ranch and had several hobbies. He also really loved to spend time with his family. He raced Jeeps, built Jeep trails in the mountains, used his Jeep for rescue and recovery in the mountains and built and flew RC airplanes to name just a few of his hobbies. He was described as being 'elegantly casual' at his funeral. He will be missed.

Two more famous people also died in the last week. Eunice Kennedy Shriver was the founder of the Special Olympics, the sister of JFK and the mother of Maria Shriver. In addition, Les Paul died today. Many consider him the 'father of modern music.' It sure seems like the Summer of Death will never end.

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The Summer of Death

Kevin and Bean have been calling this summer the Summer of Death. David Carradine, Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Billy Mays, Fred Travelena, Karl Malden, Steve McNair, Walter Cronkite, Gidget (Taco Bell dog), Corazon Aquino and now John Hughes. I thought this was going to be a long, hot summer. I had no idea it was going to be the Summer of Death. Here is a link to a slide show of all the people who have died this year.

John Hughes made some of the most iconic movies of my lifetime; The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink to name just a few. I think most people my age can quote lines from some if not all of these movies. Here is a link to some of them.

I thought celebrities died in groups of three. This would be four groups of three. Maybe that old adage still holds true. Anyway, this has been a really sad summer.

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Will you be my friend?

I witnessed an interesting moment yesterday. A young, macho guy asked a much older coworker if she had a Myspace page. She said she did. He then asked her if she would be his friend. Beside the fact that they are much different people and come from much different backgrounds, this seemed very odd to me. When did our online lives crossover to our real lives? Is this the way things are done in the Myspace world or is this as strange to you as it is to me?

I personally am not a fan or user of Myspace, but I thought the purpose was to totally eliminate personal contact. From what I have seen, it allows you to ask someone to be your friend without having to actually hear them say no. Online you can always make excuses. You know...maybe they don't use Myspace anymore, or maybe they didn't know it was me or one of many other excuses. It is a virtual high school quad where you don't have to risk rejection. Maybe I need to rethink my view of Myspace and consider it a real tool for making real connections with people.

What do you think?

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