What Wall Street & Bloggers Have In Common

Since the days when Marshall Mcluhan uttered those famous words “The Medium is The Message” we have entered a new kind of revolution that was jump started by the industrial revolution. A strange blend of art, science and the age old game of sales. I will leave others to put a name on it but it exists and is played out in board rooms, garages and in cyberspace.

It’s a frenetic thing, resembling the incomprehensible chaos that is displayed on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange. This new way of doing things is part savvy side show barker and proficient craftsman with a dash of business sense to keep the thing on the tracks. It’s amazing that it works; especially for those of us who were brought up in another era.

The place where this seems to most evident is in cyberspace. Bloggers, Facebookers and Tweeters all competing for attention; like fishermen crowding a very short pier for a limited number of fish. It’s sort of a controlled chaos that frankly I don’t understand but I see it working everyday.

It remains to be understood what sort of standard “it” operates by or how it is taught but by standards does a thing stand or fall.

Social Media: When Maven’s Reciprocate

If one makes the investment in supporting others but there is a noticeable lack of investment in return; it begs the question… How social are we, really? Is it time or the fact that the tweets fly by faster than a Bugatti Veyron. I wonder. Or is it that we are simply fixed on our own analytics? Perhaps we aren’t sure we wish to align ourselves with “that one” and hence we are faced with the fact that we are very human after all. In spite of our semi anonymous persona online, those unspoken social instincts still apply.

All 1st Generation iPod Touch Owners Need This

If you want to get the update from iOS 2.x to 3.1.3 then follow this link. It will cost you 4.95 from the App Store™

If you have a minute more, here’s why. I knew from looking at “Mac Tracker” that the highest possible iOS for the 1st Generation iPod is 3.1.3 but could not find any way to get it. I looked high and low; on forums, websites and youtube. Then! Quite by accident I stumbled onto a link that led me to Apple’s support site and the link above. On that page is a link that will take you directly to the App Store™ and the ability to download the 3.1.3 software for 4.95.

If you don’t know why you should do this, it’s quite simple. There are tons more apps available with the new software and will breathe new life into your 1st Generation iPod.

Leave us a comment if you have a minute or at least email this to all your friends. 🙂

It’s usually something simple

Most of the problems I’ve encountered have been due to something simple. A switch that wasn’t flipped or an action not taken. We get tripped up by the things we take for granted. In the previous piece about food we see how much we have left to others and easily it would be for that system to hit a snag. Without a basic infrastructure we’re pretty much sunk; whether it’s one you’ve created or has been created by others. Without the essentials for human life, all of our high ideas go right out the window.

The Future is Food

Having suffered through prolonged power outages and some disasters of my own making I’ve developed a healthy interest in being prepared. But interests have to be turned to actions or it’s simply a mental exercise. Although I’ve compiled more than one list of what it takes to be prepared; I’ve concluded that there is one item that stands head and shoulders above the rest —Food.

Regardless of how well stocked your kit is, you are going to need something to eat. Without this precious fuel for the human body all other endeavors become hard to do and not very interesting. Food not only gives us energy but creates a sense of well being that encourages us to forge ahead. Here’s and example. 

During an all night recording session I was tasked with going out for some food for the whole team. Upon returning with the burgers and sides the mood seemed to pick up as the savory food was consumed. Upon finishing the meal the musicians went back into the studio and did the best recording of the night. We called it “the burger take”. Food is not only essential for life but also for invention and creativity.

Profound truths are so simple, we often walk right past them. As the earth nears seven billion souls we are come face to face with the fundamentals that we have relegated to the farming, processors, truckers and food handlers. Can we say “vulnerable”? The food economy, like everything else has become a huge complex machine which is problematic at best.

In “the old days” you remember those. The farmer trucked his goods to a local market where city dwellers could get good fresh produce and the supply chain was very short. The food was also better, I might add.

The problems are too big for any one person or group to solve but I would suggest the following: Take a proactive approach to your own food growth, storage and production. Hopefully, as we become more self reliant the strains placed on the food system won’t trickle down and leave us hungry. We all need to take steps now to insure perhaps our greatest natural resource; Food.

 

An Army marches on it’s stomach. —Napoleon Bonaparte

Time Experience and Methods

Too bad you don’t get 30 years experience when you earn that degree; Ph.D., MBA or whatever. It’s true that methods change over time. We only had mechanical adding machines when I started in business; but the real value of experience is not about methods or equipment. The real value of experience is perspective. Being able to see people and situations for what they are. Although rules and methods change from on company to the other; what doesn’t change is human nature. Our deadly sins never change and can only be overcome by convictions of good moral character. That good moral character is parceled out by God to the soul who is willing to be influenced thereby.

Experience sees the situation for what it is and character works to make the best of that situation. The values that make up good character come from our parents and those who are close enough to have a impact on our impressionable hearts and minds as we grow up. This process is made difficult by inter generational problems in society that prevent the normal development of the child.

Understanding the world around you and being able to respond with the right attitude whether you feel like it or not, is what helps us be more successful in all areas of life. When a healthy socialization process is interrupted, all kinds of bad things start to happen; our sins will find us out. Moral fiber is what holds a nation together and without it we are at the mercy of the puppeteer.

The Young Pioneers

For every person who is young, healthy and prospering there is someone who is old, sick and living in despair. While it may be better to be pathologically optimistic it is not an option for everyone. We understand this but don’t like to mention it because it is the opposite of how we wish things to be. Time is the great changer of all things and is the key to understanding why some seem to succeed and some do not.

The current situation is not a matter of who is right or smartest or most powerful; it’s the time frame. The right ingredients are always available in the collective cupboard but not everyone knows or can find the recipe.

It is the young pioneers who are in the kitchen. Invention, creativity and guile are folded together in bowl and rolled out to the marvel of the masses because, if nothing else, it’s new. We always create on the frontier whether right or wrong even if it means trowing some folks under the bus.

Your Personal Survival

If “things” go south for any reason you will be faced with the following challenge: You must reinforce or replace “everything” that you had previously relied on others, to provide. Another way of putting it is, creating your own personal economy.

In time those personal economies will evolve into one large economy and the cycle begins all over again. The past reveals the future. What causes us to repeat history is that our experience tells us an incomplete story.

Fire Water and Food

With fire you can stay warm, prevent hypothermia, “purify water” and cook; that is if you have something to cook. Water can keep you hydrated, which is to stay alive and provide a way to keep your rice from burning. Two great elements to have around if they are on hand. 

Food however is going to be your biggest challenge. Ed Wardle Went ninety days in the wilderness alone with a backpack a small cache of food and ample hunting gear. His greatest challenge besides loneliness was the lack of a suitable food supply. The bottom line is that most of the world is hugely dependent on others for their daily bread. Growers, processors and transportation networks are all vital to our daily sustenance. To replace that system takes a good deal of skill and knowledge in order to feed ourselves and our families. It would be a good idea to have some sort of backup plan in case the aforementioned system fails.

Oh, back to the fire thing for a minute. Starting a fire is easy, just light a match; right? Wrong. Making a fire from scratch is not as easy as you might think. Forget the log lighters etc and try making a fire with some tinder and whatever fuel you can gather. It takes a bit of skill. If you don’t believe me, clean out the fireplace and start one from scratch; it’s a real education.

You’ve made fire and found water but it’s food that will be what saves you in the long term. There are a myriad of ways to find food, be it the hunter gatherer method or growing your own but somehow you will have to find a way to eat.

In the age of high tech gadgets of all kinds and technology that boggles the mind it’s interesting that the fundamentals of life are still our greatest needs and wouldn’t it be a great idea if we all turned our attention to the skills that will keep us going but have taken for granted because we thought we didn’t need them anymore.

Are you prepared at work?

Being prepared is just good sense. Things are changing rapidly and “nobody” knows for sure what will happen or when. Natural disaster, Utility failure, forest fire, flood and social unrest. The list goes on. While it’s prudent for each person to have their own plan and supplies it is also prudent to think about your work environment.

Suppose you’re snowed in at work; you can’t get home and travel in the city is reduced to foot traffic. They say it will be a few days before they can get the roads cleared. Here are a few things to consider. Will the heat be on in your place of business and of course what about food and water? Those items alone is enough to give anyone pause.
The first response will be to look to “the boss” for answers. What sort of preparations have been made will become evident very quickly.

If nothing has been done and there are only a couple of people who have some energy bars; those won’t last long if you have a dozen or so employees standing around. If the power is still on you may have water but if not the situation will get dark pretty fast.

No electricity means: No heat usually, city water will not pump, no lights or anything else that plugs in. On top of basic survival there may be other concerns such as health issues.

There are dozens of scenarios but the picture is pretty clear. The best remedy is to make your own plan that fits your area, climate etc. To get the ball rolling you can look here.