DJ Table Ready for Dancing
Hot off the press. U.S. consumers, during our economic doldrums, are buying technology gadgets rather than washers, apparel and furniture that last a few years. Apparently the lure of a smartphone or blu-ray DVD player is more appealing than the five-year old toaster that…well, makes toast.
One 28 year-old guy was quoted: “Who cares about a toaster?. If it still works, let it be.” Somehow I can’t imagine techies saying the same thing about their $3,000 LCD TV hanging on the wall. If you pay that kind of money for an electronic gizmo, you expect more than “it works.”
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Posted in Homes, Internet, Music, Technology, Television, Videos
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Tagged appliances, blue-ray player, coffee table, electronic gadget, electronics, gadgets, toaster
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Surfing the Web Reveals Private Information
Worried about Internet privacy, web monitoring, flash cookies and who’s watching your website activity? Need better privacy protection in your life? Read on.
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal published the first article in a series called “The Web’s New Gold Mine: Your Secrets,” a comprehensive piece describing how ad networks and Internet tracking companies are collecting your personal Web surfing data. In the biz, it’s called “behavioral profiling,” a euphemism for discovering consumer information for advertisers.
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Posted in Blogging, Internet, Society, Technology
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Tagged adobe flash player, delete cookies, google chrome, internet privacy, internet tracking, online advertising, privacy mode, private information, tracking cookies, web cookies, web monitoring company
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In a Land of Dreams and Nightmares
I awakened the other morning while still in REM dream sleep. Although I don’t recall if my eyes opened into reality from a dream or nightmare (it could have been a mix of both), I was uncomfortable with the experience.
You’ve probably experienced a similar occurrence as your alarm clock went off. You’re in a state of disorientation for several seconds before realizing you’re “awake”–no longer sleeping in a land of dreams and nightmares.
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Posted in Internal Peace, People, health, life, universe
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Tagged awake, biology, brain neurons, deepak chopra, dream sleep, dreaming, dreams, nightmares, physiology, psychology, rapid eye movement sleep, reality, rem sleep, sleeping
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Handling Risks in Our Lives
Have you ever thought about why we buy insurance to handle risk in our lives? After purchasing auto, home, health and life insurance, you’ll probably get a sales pitch from an appliance store sales person to insure your washer, dryer and fridge. Walk into an electronics store, like Best Buy, and out you walk with a new laptop computer insured against any failure for three years.
Many credit cards come with “free 90 day theft and loss protection” in case someone steals your laptop or you leave it at Starbucks. How about credit risk when some nerd steals your identity? Have a small business? You can cover that too by having a “security risk manager” assess your business for potential disasters. Construction companies need insurance in case a crane accident crushes people to death. Own an oil derrick? You need liability coverage, especially if you like drilling in deep water.
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Posted in Economics, Health Care, Health Insurance, Homes, Internal Peace, Jobs, People, family, health, life
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Tagged business, credit default swap, economics, insurance, life insurance, mortgage insurance, risk, risks, unemployment, universe, worker's compensation
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Corn field where it's quiet except for the corn
On the fourth of July, 1976–200 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence–I stood in a corn field on a farm near Brookings, South Dakota. I had just arrived to become Program Coordinator of KESD-FM, an NPR station located on the campus of South Dakota State University. Little did I know that someday South Dakota Public Radio would serve the people of that sparsely populated state.
It was a pivotal moment in my life–my first “real job” after finishing a Master’s Degree at Humboldt State University in my home state of California. While working on my degree, I managed HSU’s 24/7 radio station with the help of 75 non-paid students and produced two six hour weekend classical music programs at a local commercial radio station.
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Posted in History, Holidays, Music, People, Politics, Society, Technology, Television
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Tagged broadcasting, fourth of july, garrison keillor, kesd, kusd, minnesota public radio, public radio, south dakota, south dakota public broadcasting, south dakota public radio, south dakota state university
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Good Idea - The Light Bulb
When was the last time you came up with a good idea? Not just a “good idea” but a mind-blowing idea that solved business or personal problems? I’m guessing, like the rest of us, you’d say “not recently.” It’s like remembering the last time you put a fresh box of baking soda in your fridge to remove odors. “Let’s see, I think it was…2004.”
Dictionary.com defines an idea as “…something, such as a thought or conception, that… exists in the mind as a product of mental activity.” Leonard Bernstein, the renowned composer, conductor and thinker, said in a recorded interview years ago that an idea is “the intersection of two facts.” In other words, our brain neurons combine random thoughts or facts into something new or inventive. Some people might even call that “creativity.”
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Posted in Learning, Society, Success
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Tagged cognition, creativity, good ideas, great ideas, idea, ideas, innovation, innovative ideas, invention, leonard bernstein, ontology, philosopy, solving problems, thought
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Fun and Friendly
Today I made a critical decision in my life. I will ONLY work for a company that is fun and friendly. I mean, life is too short to spend a third of your waking hours in an un-fun, not-so-friendly company, right?
So I searched nationwide for all jobs with the word “fun” in them using Simply Hired, a terrific website that aggregates job listings from company websites and job boards. Then I searched for “friendly.” Last, I searched for “fun” AND “friendly.”
Here’s what I discovered.
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Posted in Economy, Jobs, People, Society, Success
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Tagged friendly, friendly company, fun, fun company, fun kids, job boad, job listings, job titles, Jobs
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Spending Time
Once again, the researchers are at work with their computer models and statistical flukes. In this case, the Labor Department recently released its 2009 American Time Use Survey telling us how people spend their time.
According to the experts, here’s how we’re using our time in hours and minutes (2009/2007): Continue reading →
Posted in Economy, Homes, Jobs, People, Society, Television, family, health, life
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Tagged behavior, general motors, job hunting, Jobs, sleeping, time use research, unemployment, watch tv
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Finding Solutions in the Fortune Cookies of Our Minds
After having Chinese food tonight, I opened up two fortune cookies. The first read: “Your life will be prosperous if you use your creativity.” Kind of what you’d expect from a “fortune” cookie–nothing brilliant or earth-shaking. Tossed that one aside.
The second one, though, caught my eye: “You will find your solution where you least expect it.”
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Posted in Internal Peace, People, Success, life, universe
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Tagged creativity, fortune cookie, good fortune, hope, life challenge, possibilities, problem solving, solutions, thought
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