Angry about the dollar?
Should we launch our next venture in the US? Or should we start in Europe? The venture is targeted at helping small-businesses, a sector that the US has led. Many people think that the dollar is not the place to be, and yes I would rather be paid in Pounds right now, but then again there's nothing like a little macro-level competition between currencies. Yes the US may be living beyond it's means, but that's just going to force us to become even more productive... Let's see if Nostravo / xodpox can help trigger the next wave.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
It's been a while, so I'd better post something...
Here are some thoughts on virtual reality vs. a natural higher state of consciousness... yes it is mostly questions:
The race between virtual reality (ala matrix) and the discovery of the physical world being better.
Team 1: Dropping into a virtual reality (i.e. focusing the human experience purely on the brain and maintaining the body as the support system for shared conscious through tech). Techno-shared-conscious.
Team 2: Uncovering the subconscious might allow us to have shared conscious without technology (this would probably be an evolutionary jump). But will having a man-made artificial reality accelerate or cut-off the next step of the pure brain experience? Which would be better? An understanding of the subconscious would be required in order to create the artificial bond through technology, but we run into a chicken and the egg scenario where we are forcing acclimation through the assumed paradigm that we use to create the techno-shared-conscious.
Is there a shared conscious? Shared experiences create intersections in time between individuals. What is conscious?: the ability to process critically within a personal context. With a shared or hive structure, the context needs to shift to the group. What issues and thoughts are unique to a group conscious? What are the potential benefits to a group conscious? As individuals are we blind to facets of reality that can only been seen by a shared conscious? If so, how can individuals "create" a virtual reality with the purpose of transcending to, or just seeing, new facets of reality. Is there a way to enhance reality through the virtual? (what are the definitions of reality and virtual)
What is the interaction between humans and machines? Will this be a progressive bridge, or the ultimate block to achieving shared conscious? Will the mechanism for a techno-shared-conscious virtual reality divert us from a natural evolutionary path to shared conscious?
Here are some thoughts on virtual reality vs. a natural higher state of consciousness... yes it is mostly questions:
The race between virtual reality (ala matrix) and the discovery of the physical world being better.
Team 1: Dropping into a virtual reality (i.e. focusing the human experience purely on the brain and maintaining the body as the support system for shared conscious through tech). Techno-shared-conscious.
Team 2: Uncovering the subconscious might allow us to have shared conscious without technology (this would probably be an evolutionary jump). But will having a man-made artificial reality accelerate or cut-off the next step of the pure brain experience? Which would be better? An understanding of the subconscious would be required in order to create the artificial bond through technology, but we run into a chicken and the egg scenario where we are forcing acclimation through the assumed paradigm that we use to create the techno-shared-conscious.
Is there a shared conscious? Shared experiences create intersections in time between individuals. What is conscious?: the ability to process critically within a personal context. With a shared or hive structure, the context needs to shift to the group. What issues and thoughts are unique to a group conscious? What are the potential benefits to a group conscious? As individuals are we blind to facets of reality that can only been seen by a shared conscious? If so, how can individuals "create" a virtual reality with the purpose of transcending to, or just seeing, new facets of reality. Is there a way to enhance reality through the virtual? (what are the definitions of reality and virtual)
What is the interaction between humans and machines? Will this be a progressive bridge, or the ultimate block to achieving shared conscious? Will the mechanism for a techno-shared-conscious virtual reality divert us from a natural evolutionary path to shared conscious?
If so, people might have to pick a path which may lead to a rift between the techno-shared-conscious & natural shared conscious groups.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
NFTE Project 762 update:
NFTE's project, Project 762, a documentary about youth entrepreneurship coupled with educational materials, has been chosen as one of the Top 50 projects by American Express cardholders! Once the winning project has been selected, American Express will donate between $1 million and $5 million to bring it to life.
If you are an American Express cardholder, please register and vote at http://www.membersproject.com/ for Project 762 by Sunday, July 15. The top 25 project ideas will be announced July 17. You can find it under "Business and Finance" and titled "Inspiring Kids..."
Voting for the Top 5 projects will taking place July 17-22, with those winners being announced July 24. The final round of voting occurs July 24 - August 5. The Winning Idea will be announced on Tuesday, August 7.
You can place one vote for each American Express Card that you have, so if you have a corporate card, please register and vote with that one in addition to your personal card! And encourage your friends, family members and coworkers with American Express Cards to vote as well.
Please vote for Project 762! This documentary will help bring much-needed attention to the importance of entrepreneurship education in the lives of disadvantaged youth.
NFTE's project, Project 762, a documentary about youth entrepreneurship coupled with educational materials, has been chosen as one of the Top 50 projects by American Express cardholders! Once the winning project has been selected, American Express will donate between $1 million and $5 million to bring it to life.
If you are an American Express cardholder, please register and vote at http://www.membersproject.com/ for Project 762 by Sunday, July 15. The top 25 project ideas will be announced July 17. You can find it under "Business and Finance" and titled "Inspiring Kids..."
Voting for the Top 5 projects will taking place July 17-22, with those winners being announced July 24. The final round of voting occurs July 24 - August 5. The Winning Idea will be announced on Tuesday, August 7.
You can place one vote for each American Express Card that you have, so if you have a corporate card, please register and vote with that one in addition to your personal card! And encourage your friends, family members and coworkers with American Express Cards to vote as well.
Please vote for Project 762! This documentary will help bring much-needed attention to the importance of entrepreneurship education in the lives of disadvantaged youth.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
An excerpt from Al Gore's book:
http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1622015,00.html
I agree that our society has truly regressed to a celebrity-addicted morass. To an increasingly alarming degree, all sides (even those outside of our country) judge individual Americans based on what the media choses to broadcast. I have no say in what is forced out over the airwaves... until now. What will we call this new enlightenment?
http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1622015,00.html
I agree that our society has truly regressed to a celebrity-addicted morass. To an increasingly alarming degree, all sides (even those outside of our country) judge individual Americans based on what the media choses to broadcast. I have no say in what is forced out over the airwaves... until now. What will we call this new enlightenment?
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Seven Year Cycles: Part 1
About ten years ago, while in college, I worked over my winter break. One of the professionals I was assisting sat me down and shared a perspective on life. I am not sure to whom this "theory" should be attributed, but I found it a fair way to evaluate one's progress through life.
Basically, with a +/- of a year or so, life is divided into seven-year segments.
0-7: You are really not a person, your main priority is to learn how to use your body, speak, and understand basic social function.
7-14: At this point you pretty much know you are an individual, but are still devoid of responsibility. The main goal is to learn about responsibility and to learn how to organize ideas.
14-21: Technically you are an adult now, although modern society still sees you as under the umbrella of education and parental control. This segment is focused on "developing a sense of identity - a process often label teenage rebellion.
21-28: Here you are likely out on your own for the first time as a functioning member of society. You are working and are setting yourself up for a stable place in the working world so that you can be the source of your own means.
*Note: The purpose of my mentor sharing this with me was to highlight the fact that if you are screwed up at one of these crucial "gateways," i.e. 7,14,21,28..., it will take you another seven years for society to allow you to progress to the next segment. By screwed up, he meant using drugs, in jail, or not working.
**Note: Timing the creation of a family plays a role in these cycles, and in this dimension there are differences with regard to gender. This is a little complex so I'll leave it for a later post.
28-35: This phase is built upon the confidence and experience of the previous. A time where one is expected to contribute to society, not just focus on surviving, exploration, and personal development.
35-42: You are likely in a more senior role in your job, and you have likely started a family. The cycle repeats here with the addition of your offspring who are themselves starting their cycles, and therefore look to you for guidance.
42-49: Again more seniority in career and a more developed family.
49-56: Thinking about retirement, kids are moving on.
...
I can go into more detail, but the main concept I want to get across is that setting goals for these landmark ages can be very productive. Re-evaluating one's life, on a macro-level, every seven years is good. Knowing that you have to stop bad behavior by a certain year in your life will only help you move to the next phase. Every seven years (and I am now in my second iteration since learning about this), I re-read books, revisit journals, and objectively evaluate every aspect of my life. I'm not perfect, and there are things that worry me, but I am able to say to myself, "if I want this in seven-years, I need to get these things fixed in the next 8 months."
About ten years ago, while in college, I worked over my winter break. One of the professionals I was assisting sat me down and shared a perspective on life. I am not sure to whom this "theory" should be attributed, but I found it a fair way to evaluate one's progress through life.
Basically, with a +/- of a year or so, life is divided into seven-year segments.
0-7: You are really not a person, your main priority is to learn how to use your body, speak, and understand basic social function.
7-14: At this point you pretty much know you are an individual, but are still devoid of responsibility. The main goal is to learn about responsibility and to learn how to organize ideas.
14-21: Technically you are an adult now, although modern society still sees you as under the umbrella of education and parental control. This segment is focused on "developing a sense of identity - a process often label teenage rebellion.
21-28: Here you are likely out on your own for the first time as a functioning member of society. You are working and are setting yourself up for a stable place in the working world so that you can be the source of your own means.
*Note: The purpose of my mentor sharing this with me was to highlight the fact that if you are screwed up at one of these crucial "gateways," i.e. 7,14,21,28..., it will take you another seven years for society to allow you to progress to the next segment. By screwed up, he meant using drugs, in jail, or not working.
**Note: Timing the creation of a family plays a role in these cycles, and in this dimension there are differences with regard to gender. This is a little complex so I'll leave it for a later post.
28-35: This phase is built upon the confidence and experience of the previous. A time where one is expected to contribute to society, not just focus on surviving, exploration, and personal development.
35-42: You are likely in a more senior role in your job, and you have likely started a family. The cycle repeats here with the addition of your offspring who are themselves starting their cycles, and therefore look to you for guidance.
42-49: Again more seniority in career and a more developed family.
49-56: Thinking about retirement, kids are moving on.
...
I can go into more detail, but the main concept I want to get across is that setting goals for these landmark ages can be very productive. Re-evaluating one's life, on a macro-level, every seven years is good. Knowing that you have to stop bad behavior by a certain year in your life will only help you move to the next phase. Every seven years (and I am now in my second iteration since learning about this), I re-read books, revisit journals, and objectively evaluate every aspect of my life. I'm not perfect, and there are things that worry me, but I am able to say to myself, "if I want this in seven-years, I need to get these things fixed in the next 8 months."
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Thought for Food
This evening I attended a panel discussion titled Setting the Oldways Table. Oldways is a Cambridge-based food issues and culinary think tank founded over ten years ago in hopes of recalibrating America's perspective on diet and sustainable food sources. The founder of Oldways, K Dun Gifford, is a familiar figure to me as I know many of his relatives and we both share a passion for pulling striped bass out of the Atlantic. He anchored a panel of scientists, culinary icons and restaurateurs who everyday ramble through a love affair with food. Ideally I would have learned a bit more from the actual discussion, but the event did provide a fertile backdrop for some of my own musings on food, nutrition and health in general.
The book provides a context for a food-lifestyle that combines health, social awareness and social interaction. A table set for friends, a myriad of fresh ingredients, and some good wine will not only result in great memories, but also better mental and physical health. As a personal rule, I always try to avoid eating alone. One does not need to dig in with one's hands, literally sharing a pot of food with others as they do in some cultures, to find the ritual of eating with someone a strong one. My shared meals are purposed to catch up with friends and family, or to extract new ideas from business and social networks. Adding the experience of preparing the food, or at least appreciating hospitality amplifies such interactions, and the book contains the first steps to perfecting the content and setting of a meal.
The details of recipes, science, and cultural origins are best left to the book, but the concept of proximity to one's food is key and it will vary based on where you live --proximity in knowledge as well as geographical proximity. A farmer who grows vegetables for the market may chose not to eat their own due to the amount of pesticides they use to ensure a "healthy" product. Mass-produced poultry and livestock from the center of the country taste different from their grass-fed cousins an hour away from your metropolitan area. Finding a local butcher or monger (maybe just behind the counter at your supermarket) and being able to ask about the source of one's ingredients is not only educational but also reassuring. With Oldways' stress on vegetables, it may even be better to grow your own food in the yard or in a victory garden. As one panelist put it, "I look at the green worms on my cabbage and know that if they are healthy, its healthy for me too."
One concept that came to mind during the discussion was the idea of the aesthetic of the table. Aesthetics, and the efforts that I feel most people put into aesthetics, is popularly associated with interior decorating and home improvement. In our capitalist society showing one's wealth through one's assets, and in this case one's home, is the most popular pastime. Home Depots and hardware stores are booming as people attempt to increase their property and personal values through stylish additions. For the effort given, the immediate return is likely to fade as the aesthetic dulls with time and shifting style. In contrast, if society placed more premium on the pleasant aesthetic of healthful variety, balanced diet, sustainable processes, and social communication, we would greatly improve the quality and value of our intangible "home" and likely find a new way to add to our own personal value.
This evening I attended a panel discussion titled Setting the Oldways Table. Oldways is a Cambridge-based food issues and culinary think tank founded over ten years ago in hopes of recalibrating America's perspective on diet and sustainable food sources. The founder of Oldways, K Dun Gifford, is a familiar figure to me as I know many of his relatives and we both share a passion for pulling striped bass out of the Atlantic. He anchored a panel of scientists, culinary icons and restaurateurs who everyday ramble through a love affair with food. Ideally I would have learned a bit more from the actual discussion, but the event did provide a fertile backdrop for some of my own musings on food, nutrition and health in general.
The book provides a context for a food-lifestyle that combines health, social awareness and social interaction. A table set for friends, a myriad of fresh ingredients, and some good wine will not only result in great memories, but also better mental and physical health. As a personal rule, I always try to avoid eating alone. One does not need to dig in with one's hands, literally sharing a pot of food with others as they do in some cultures, to find the ritual of eating with someone a strong one. My shared meals are purposed to catch up with friends and family, or to extract new ideas from business and social networks. Adding the experience of preparing the food, or at least appreciating hospitality amplifies such interactions, and the book contains the first steps to perfecting the content and setting of a meal.
The details of recipes, science, and cultural origins are best left to the book, but the concept of proximity to one's food is key and it will vary based on where you live --proximity in knowledge as well as geographical proximity. A farmer who grows vegetables for the market may chose not to eat their own due to the amount of pesticides they use to ensure a "healthy" product. Mass-produced poultry and livestock from the center of the country taste different from their grass-fed cousins an hour away from your metropolitan area. Finding a local butcher or monger (maybe just behind the counter at your supermarket) and being able to ask about the source of one's ingredients is not only educational but also reassuring. With Oldways' stress on vegetables, it may even be better to grow your own food in the yard or in a victory garden. As one panelist put it, "I look at the green worms on my cabbage and know that if they are healthy, its healthy for me too."
One concept that came to mind during the discussion was the idea of the aesthetic of the table. Aesthetics, and the efforts that I feel most people put into aesthetics, is popularly associated with interior decorating and home improvement. In our capitalist society showing one's wealth through one's assets, and in this case one's home, is the most popular pastime. Home Depots and hardware stores are booming as people attempt to increase their property and personal values through stylish additions. For the effort given, the immediate return is likely to fade as the aesthetic dulls with time and shifting style. In contrast, if society placed more premium on the pleasant aesthetic of healthful variety, balanced diet, sustainable processes, and social communication, we would greatly improve the quality and value of our intangible "home" and likely find a new way to add to our own personal value.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Hypermiling
Yesterday I read this article about individuals motivated to maximize their mileage per gallon. Obviously waste is bad, and often the negligible difference in arrival time is not worth the added consumption of fuel (the cost, both direct and indirect, of fossil fuels have been rising in the last few years). Obviously, taking things to the extreme (not slowing for turns, killing the engine while drafting a tractor-trailer, and puttering along in the slow lane) may lower the probability of a successful arrival.
This morning I achieved 23.8 MPG on my ~25 mile commute -- a "score" that I am not that happy about. I was hoping to have a higher score because I was able to leverage a double-trailer UPS truck for the majority of the ride. Regardless, there have been days where I rushed in at 10 MPG, and therefore this is a move in the right direction. Reading the article did shift my focus from minimizing travel time to minimizing fuel consumption while still conforming to basic commuter standards.
Yesterday I read this article about individuals motivated to maximize their mileage per gallon. Obviously waste is bad, and often the negligible difference in arrival time is not worth the added consumption of fuel (the cost, both direct and indirect, of fossil fuels have been rising in the last few years). Obviously, taking things to the extreme (not slowing for turns, killing the engine while drafting a tractor-trailer, and puttering along in the slow lane) may lower the probability of a successful arrival.
This morning I achieved 23.8 MPG on my ~25 mile commute -- a "score" that I am not that happy about. I was hoping to have a higher score because I was able to leverage a double-trailer UPS truck for the majority of the ride. Regardless, there have been days where I rushed in at 10 MPG, and therefore this is a move in the right direction. Reading the article did shift my focus from minimizing travel time to minimizing fuel consumption while still conforming to basic commuter standards.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
New York may ban iPods while crossing street
From this Reuters story today:"Government has an obligation to protect its citizenry," Kruger said in a telephone interview from Albany, the state capital. "This electronic gadgetry is reaching the point where it's becoming not only endemic but it's creating an atmosphere where we have a major public safety crisis at hand."
This problem of idiots stepping into oncoming traffic has been solving itself for decades, and no, Rep Kruger, the government does not have an obligation to protect its citizenry from themselves. I have no problem requiring hands-free headsets for cell phones, and yes I agree with the current law that it is illegal to listen to headphones while driving (or biking on the road).
Links
Example of Virginia Driving Law
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