Delicious Thoughts

Stuff I care about and stuff you might care about

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November 13, 2008

What makes America great?

President-elect Obama and I disagree on a few things. I think Obama has a great deal of character. I just hope he makes a good American president.

Democrats like to speak of the wage-earners in our country as if they are what makes our country great. I believe that wage-earners make our country strong, but they are not the source of America's greatness.

Perhaps I am partial to entrepreneurs, but I believe innovation is what makes our country great. The ability for someone to follow their dream and control their own destiny is the stuff of greatness.

Innovators, problem-solvers, and dreamers create jobs, products, and services. I understand the importance of the middle-class and wage earner. I consider myself to be both at the moment.

The Democrats belief in universal health care, increased taxes for many small businesses, and an overall semi-socialistic mindset may hamper the innovations that entrepreneurs come up with in the next few years.

I, for one, hope and pray this does not happen. I am going to be optimistic about Obama and hope the innovator's climate somehow improves rather than think we are in for stormy weather.

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September 16, 2008

Dear America

Dear America,

I realize the stock market crashed 4% and that a lot of stupid and greedy people screwed us with their mortgage lust. I realize that gas prices are higher than we like. I also realize that the Chargers got screwed on Sunday. Here is what I don't understand: why is everyone panicking???? Panic and fear NEVER make problems get better. The stock market is still 40% higher than it was ten years ago. There is still a great deal of opportunity ahead of us. People were screaming end of the world after Sept. 11th. It didn't happen. We've survived just fine for the past 7 years. We'll be fine. Consumers need to continue saving and spending. Don't pull all your money out and put it under a mattress. If everyone would just remain calm, we can avoid a total depression. Recession is not the end of the world, depression is much worse. Don't listen to the media, they are just selling papers. Yeah, it's bad, I get that. Innovate, look for solutions, and live your lives. Oh and as for the San Diego Chargers, play defense on two more plays and you wouldn't have lost. Quit whining. You too, America.

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September 12, 2008

Long time no see

It's been several weeks since my last post. I've been so busy with my startup company that I haven't relaxed enough to do some personal blogging. My thought for the day is this: How in the world does the NCAA allow themselves to be run by a third-party Mafia like the BCS? How is it that the greatest sport on earth has the worst post season in the world at the same time? It's very interesting that in the USA we do not allow monopolies yet the BCS is clearly one of them. If you cannot already tell, I am a HUGE fan of college football. My favorite team, the Utah Utes, happens to be in a non-BCS conference. Even though they are better than the majority of BCS programs out there, they do not get to share in millions of gauranteed money each season. I would love to hear one sane argument as to why the BCS is a valid orginization. Anyone?

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August 09, 2008

A Sleeping Dragon Awakes....again

Shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in WWII, the Japanese commander Nagumo was heard saying that Japan had awakened a Sleeping Dragon. As I watched the opening ceremonies last night for the Olympics in Beijing, I could not help but think the world's newest Sleeping Dragon was awakening from a long slumber. China has long struggled to enter the modern era. Thanks to the US, however, China is finally ready to take it's place as the world economic leader. Over the past few decades, the US has helped finance the growth of China as we've bought billions upon billions of dollars worth of goods. Now they are our greatest creditors. I got the sense that China was making a statement with these games. Hopefully, China can not only become an economic leader, but can pass through reform in Human rights and environmental issues. Without those two things, a growing China will not be healthy for the rest of the world. China's GDP has been the largest in the world for 9 of the last 10 centuries, and I'm guessing it will now be 10 of 11. What will China do, however, with a shortage of clean water, air, and oil? Everything China does from here on out will affect the world for good, or for bad.

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August 07, 2008

It's Sharing Time!

When I was in elementary school we had what's called "sharing time." Sharing time was when you brought in something cool from home and told everyone else about it. I hated sharing time. I never felt like I had something cool to share. All the other kids felt like sharing cool stuff would somehow make them more popular and more accepted. Then one time we had to bring in something related to thanksgiving. This is where I hit the jackpot. My family has an old authentic eagle feather headdress from the Colorado River Basin. I wore it to sharing time and I became really cool that day. So in a way, I think Facebook is nothing more than a big giant sharing time community. People share stuff about their lives in an effort to somehow feel more popular and more accepted. Most of the time the stuff we share is stupid and the majority of people couldn't care less about it. Every now and again we find an "authentic Indian headdress" to share, but for the most part we are all searching for ways to be cool. So Facebook isn't some earth-shattering new idea that is changing the world. It's just making us all feel obligated to share stuff. We could all live perfectly fine without Facebook. I'm not even sure what the point of this post is. I guess I feel compelled to share my thoughts on sharing. So if sharing our photos, videos, ideas, hobbies, and passions is what propelled the Web to what it is today, what will be our next move? There has to be a way to move the power of sharing our lives online into the real world. I feel empty and unfulfilled with most of my  "social networking" experiences.  I have a feeling that the mobile web will be the next world-changer. When we are all connected as we go about our daily lives and the messages and pings we receive on our mobile phones cause us to change our behavior, then we will see the true power of sharing. I guess this means I need to buy an iPhone? 

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August 04, 2008

What Are Brick Walls For?

I am reading a book called "The Last Lecture". The author is Randy Pausch. He recently died of pancreatic cancer. Before he died, he shared his thoughts and lessons learned in this book. One of the lessons he learned was that brick walls only exist to see how bad people want things. I tend to agree with Randy. In this month's issue of Website Magazine, it talks about the difficulty of adding video to a site can seem daunting and overly complex. However, those that want it bad enough will discover that there are solutions available to make this process easier. In other words, if you really want video, all you have to do is start looking for solutions and you will find them! Qgia is a great way to make your videos powerful. It's easy, affordable, and effective. The rewards of adding video to your site are enormous. Direct response videos can increase your conversion rates up to 400%! It will take effort to research solutions and find the one that works for you. It will take effort to create a script, shoot a video, and add it to your site. But once you break down that brick wall, it will create great rewards and a lot of opportunity for your site!

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July 21, 2008

Heroes

I saw The Dark Night on Saturday. Watching Batman go around thrashing people, saving the day, and doing so without any political gain got me thinking: who are the real life heroes we look to in our own reality? Sure, the most popular answers are our parents, church leaders, maybe some of our friends. But who can we all look to together for inspiration and hope? I've often felt that Winston Churchill was one of the last political heroes. I actually do not feel any of our political leaders today are really heroes. Barrack talks a big game but I don't believe in him yet. There are very few athletes who can be considered heroes. Most of them are self-centered. Oscar Pistorius is one of my heroes. Beating the tar out of people without real legs is really inspiring. I think that if we don't see the kinds of heroes we'd like to see around us, we need to work harder on becoming those figures ourselves. Who are your heroes?

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July 18, 2008

I'm going to miss George Bush

Actually I'm not. I just wanted to post a few thoughts about politics. The real question is whether Barrack or John can really make any difference in the next four years. At the end of the day we still live in a Democracy and change will be brought about only by the people, for the people. Consider this: high oil prices have caused us all to change the way we look at our day. Many of us are driving differently or just going about our day differently. There are some positive affects as well. Green is now trendy. Renewable energy is now a common term (by the way, only 5% of the world's renewable energy sources are being used.) Most of all, the problems we face are being solved by innovators, not government. I'm not sure it matters who we elect this year. What does matter is how we can affect change as citizens of what I still consider to be the greatest nation on earth.Oh and last but not least, here is the greatest Campaign video ever made, thanks Jib Jab!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1sRWzFUHH0

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July 11, 2008

Killer Startups

I am going to indulge myself a little be today. My startup company needs to be pimped! We are now being reviewed on killerstartups.com. This site is a great way for new companies to get exposure and my site qualifed to be featured on the site! However, now I need all the help I can get to get some votes and become more visible on the site. Go here to vote for me! If you own your own company, I highly recommend this site! After the jump you will see my logo!

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July 10, 2008

Black Gold

I'm not sure why I have been on an energy kick lately. I suppose it's because the high price of oil has caused me to examine my daily lifestyle. Any time Americans feel like they can't do what they want, they start to act and change whatever is affecting them. So, that may or may not be a good thing, but here's the point: we NEED to do something about oil prices. That is a fact. Recently, the major airlines got together and wrote a letter to their customers. This letter is intended for you and me and all Americans. This is what it said:

"An Open letter to All Airline Customers:

Our country is facing a possible sharp economic downturn because of skyrocketing oil and fuel prices, but by pulling together, we can all do something to help now.

For airlines, ultra-expensive fuel means thousands of lost jobs and severe reductions in air service to both large and small communities. To the broader economy, oil prices mean slower activity and widespread economic pain. This pain can be alleviated, and that is why we are taking the extraordinary step of writing this joint letter to our customers. Since high oil prices are partly a response to normal market forces, the nation needs to focus on increased energy supplies and conservation. However, there is another side to this story because normal market forces are being dangerously amplified by poorly regulated market speculation.

Twenty years ago, 21 percent of oil contracts were purchased by speculators who trade oil on paper with no intention of ever taking delivery. Today, oil speculators purchase 66 percent of all oil futures contracts, and that reflects just the transactions that are known. Speculators buy up large amounts of oil and then sell it to each other again and again. A barrel of oil may trade 20-plus times before it is delivered and used; the price goes up with each trade and consumers pick up the final tab. Some market experts estimate that current prices reflect as much as $30 to $60 per barrel in unnecessary speculative costs.

Over seventy years ago, Congress established regulations to control excessive, largely unchecked market speculation and manipulation. However, over the past two decades, these regulatory limits have been weakened or removed. We believe that restoring and enforcing these limits, along with several other modest measures, will provide more disclosure, transparency and sound market oversight. Together, these reforms will help cool the over-heated oil market and permit the economy to prosper.

The nation needs to pull together to reform the oil markets and solve this growing problem.

We need your help. Get more information and contact Congress by visiting www.StopOilSpeculationNow.com."

If we can reduce the price per barrel by $30-$60, it will significantly improve our economy. So visit the link above and let's tell Congress to get their act together!

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