tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51797402024-02-28T01:41:26.530-05:00Starbird FamilyRayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.comBlogger109125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-20373079453294373322012-04-17T19:28:00.000-04:002012-04-19T09:54:51.544-04:00Less FillingEvery evening I look forward to reading James Taranto's "<a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/search?article-doc-type=%7BBest+of+the+Web+Today%7D&HEADER_TEXT=best+of+the+web+today" target="_blank">Best of the Web Today</a>" column in the <i>Wall Street Journal</i>. <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304299304577350043192145080.html" target="_blank">Today's</a> featured this image with a classic caption:<br />
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<b><span style="color: #666666;">Everything you've always wanted in a president. And less.</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg49kTETQIk9hnlXIbpM5YiUaoJzbGwvTATGbOXcoHg0nCdpJ_P0A3yKCusTzVt2Jywq4Ta3v7G4doRXENwO5lq9_u_MTwt1plubvxRJmke-C05zegbMxCtlfuhCpn9HpopIeTzgQ/s1600/less_filling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg49kTETQIk9hnlXIbpM5YiUaoJzbGwvTATGbOXcoHg0nCdpJ_P0A3yKCusTzVt2Jywq4Ta3v7G4doRXENwO5lq9_u_MTwt1plubvxRJmke-C05zegbMxCtlfuhCpn9HpopIeTzgQ/s320/less_filling.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-46946290691897055912012-04-14T06:44:00.000-04:002012-04-19T09:55:34.281-04:00TNT knows drama... and how to scare BelgiansLove this commercial for TNT in Belgium:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/316AzLYfAzw" width="560"></iframe>Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-72713371403220432992011-04-19T11:15:00.001-04:002011-04-19T11:39:17.182-04:00Something worth postingWorking on other projects has prevented me from contributing to this blog, but this video is so funny I had to share it. When you're done with it head on over to my new project, <a href="http://traveltechreview.com/">Travel Tech Review</a>.<br />
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<object width="512" height="328" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" id="ordie_player_0247468f28"><param name="movie" value="http://player.ordienetworks.com/flash/fodplayer.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value="key=0247468f28" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed width="512" height="328" flashvars="key=0247468f28" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="high" src="http://player.ordienetworks.com/flash/fodplayer.swf" name="ordie_player_0247468f28" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object><div style="text-align:left;font-size:x-small;margin-top:0;width:512px;"><a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/0247468f28/when-harry-met-sally-2-with-billy-crystal-helen-mirren" title="from Billy Crystal, Helen Mirren, Rob Reiner, Adam Scott, Mike Tyson, Mike OMalley, Rob Riggle, Maya Rudolph, Lindsay Crystal, Jennifer Crystal Foley, Howie_Miller, MichaelFoley, Dustin Bowser, Josh Fadem, PatB, BoTown Sound, FOD Team, allyhord, Samantha Sprecher, and Andrew Elvis Miller">When Harry Met Sally 2 with Billy Crystal & Helen Mirren</a> from <a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/billy_crystal">Billy Crystal</a></div>
</center>Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-6117802905231324822011-04-18T23:37:00.001-04:002011-04-19T11:38:49.314-04:00The glorious iPad -- no, wait, the evil iPadWith all the problems facing this country, Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) finds time to deliver a speech on the House floor (with props!) decrying the Apple iPad as a job killer.<br />
<blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">"Now Borders is closing stores because, why do you need to go to Borders anymore? Why do you need to go to Barnes & Noble? Buy an iPad and download your newspaper, download your book, download your magazine."</span></blockquote>
Some would say that Borders is closing precisely because it lacked a coherent digital strategy and failed to meet the changing demands of the marketplace. Not Mr. Jackson. Surely he's still upset at the automobile for decimating the horse and buggy industry.<br />
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Read more at <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/04/15/rep_jesse_jackson_jr_blames_the_ipad_for_killing_jobs.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Real Clear Politics</a>. As noted in <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/148879-jackson-an-ipad-for-every-schoolchild" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this article</a>, only last month the same Mr. Jackson hailed the iPad as a game-changer:<br />
<blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">"These devices are revolutionizing our country — and they will fundamentally alter how we will educate our children."</span></span></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Mr. Jackson should fundamentally alter his logic.</span><br />
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</center>Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-23362425564224466302010-10-14T11:23:00.001-04:002010-10-14T11:25:34.857-04:00Companies scrape your personal information from private forumsAre you aware that your posts in online forums -- even private, password-protected forums -- may be collected, deposited into a massive database, and even linked to you personally? And these personally-identifiable data about you may be sold repeatedly, even used by prospective employers? As <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703358504575544381288117888.html">this article</a> from the <i>Wall Street Journal</i> reveals, there's an arms race between web site operators and data 'scrapers,' and our privacy is in the cross hairs.<br />
<br />
The article is one of a <i>WSJ</i> series on digital privacy. The special section may be found <a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/page/what-they-know-digital-privacy.html">here</a>. Some articles are behind a pay wall; to view them, simple copy the headlines, paste into Google, and click the links back to the articles. <br />
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It's not just your online behavior and identity that are tracked. <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/10/04/iphone-apps-transmit-phone-id-numbers-study-finds">A recent study</a> showed that 68% of popular free iPhone apps transmitted unique identifying data when launched, including the user's name, phone number, and even location. Android apps did this, too.<br />
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Unfortunately it seems there's little we can do to protect our privacy. We can attempt to keep our online personae completely separate from our real identities, but that's exceedingly difficult. <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/10/11/escaping-the-scrapers">Another <i>WSJ</i> article</a> details how to request your profile deletion from multiple databases, but this, too, is not a complete solution. <br />
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Do you post information online that you would consider private? Will this knowledge of 'scrapers' make you change your behavior? Should we have an expectation of digital privacy, especially when posting in "private" forums? Are these 'scrapers' any different than those who would tap a phone line to listen to your conversations (which is illegal)? Should we ask Congress or the FCC to get in the middle of this debate, or will they just make matters worse?<br />
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Article excerpts after the jump.<br />
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At 1 a.m. on May 7, the website PatientsLikeMe.com noticed suspicious activity on its "Mood" discussion board. There, people exchange highly personal stories about their emotional disorders, ranging from bipolar disease to a desire to cut themselves. <br />
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It was a break-in. A new member of the site, using sophisticated software, was "scraping," or copying, every single message off PatientsLikeMe's private online forums.<br />
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PatientsLikeMe managed to block and identify the intruder: Nielsen Co., the privately held New York media-research firm. Nielsen monitors online "buzz" for clients, including major drug makers, which buy data gleaned from the Web to get insight from consumers about their products, Nielsen says.</blockquote>
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<blockquote>
PatientsLikeMe's president, Ben Heywood, disclosed the break-in to the site's 70,000 members in a blog post. He also reminded users that PatientsLikeMe also sells its data in an anonymous form, without attaching user's names to it. That sparked a lively debate on the site about the propriety of selling sensitive information. The company says most of the 350 responses to the blog post were supportive. But it says a total of 218 members quit.</blockquote>
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<blockquote>
New York-based PeekYou LLC has applied for a patent for a method that, among other things, matches people's real names to the pseudonyms they use on blogs, Twitter and other social networks. PeekYou's people-search website offers records of about 250 million people, primarily in the U.S. and Canada.</blockquote>Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-79250014232815807432010-08-24T09:09:00.006-04:002010-08-24T09:23:32.051-04:00Michael Been of The Call dead at 60Many of my peers who came of age with the music of the '80s have never heard of <a href="http://www.the-call-band.com/">The Call</a>, although they'd likely recognize a song or two. But those of us into the Simple Minds, The Alarm, U2, and Big Country know the every note of the <i>Reconciled</i>, <i>Into the Woods</i>, and <i>Let the Day Begin</i> albums. And now we mourn the passing of singer/bassist <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:kcfwxqr5ld0e">Michael Been</a>, who died of an apparent heart attack while working with his son's band at a music festival in Belgium. He was 60, which seems old for a rocker from my youth, but young given my age of 40.<br />
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One of my first concerts was The Call opening for The Simple Minds at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine, around 1987. The band's hits were "Everywhere I Go" and "I Still Believe." I wore out my <i>Reconciled </i>tape, and didn't yet own a CD player, so I listened to bootlegs and tapes recorded off the radio. <br />
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The <i>San Jose Mercury News</i> opens <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15871716">its obituary</a> thusly:<br />
<blockquote style="color: #666666;">
<span id="mn_Global"><span id="mn_Article">"He played John the Baptist in
a Martin Scorsese film. He once beat John Belushi in a comedy
competition. He counted as friends Bono and Peter Gabriel. Al Gore
borrowed one of his songs as the theme for his 2000 presidential
campaign."</span></span></blockquote>
<span id="mn_Global"><span id="mn_Article">So dust off your box of tapes, listen to music from your youth, appreciate the synthesizers, and thank gosh your friends didn't have camera phones in high school.</span></span><br />
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Watch videos after the break...<br />
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<object height="405" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_kX8lqXAONg?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&border=1">
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<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_kX8lqXAONg?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="500" height="405"></embed></object>Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-88489101510965266902010-08-15T07:34:00.002-04:002010-08-24T09:56:26.861-04:00In this <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/matt_ridley_when_ideas_have_sex.html">fascinating TED talk</a>, British author <a href="http://www.mattridley.net/">Matt Ridley</a> argues that, through history, the engine of human progress and prosperity has been, and is, "ideas having sex with each other." A few quotes to whet your appetite: <br />
<blockquote style="color: #666666;">
"Trade is ten times older than farming."</blockquote>
<blockquote style="color: #666666;">
"What's relevant to a society is how well people are communicating their ideas and how well they're cooperating, now how clever the individuals are." </blockquote>
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</center>Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-84433501425428937352010-08-02T17:18:00.000-04:002010-08-24T09:50:26.721-04:00How hot is it?Here's the thermometer. Granted, the paved parking lot is warmer than the air temperature, but 108F is still hot. Africa hot.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisCK9hyphenhyphen4DIJEu699Ca532E5YQmtq_QlaOXPDmFSLxnro9MOjZOmJA-peA5AfkTmhWoeoi1RM5R4qom07jDEA-crJiYXA7IuF8F49JeClJWMAXirVHJCC-RHeiktBPXrsWOQdEHJg/s1600/IMG_3689.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisCK9hyphenhyphen4DIJEu699Ca532E5YQmtq_QlaOXPDmFSLxnro9MOjZOmJA-peA5AfkTmhWoeoi1RM5R4qom07jDEA-crJiYXA7IuF8F49JeClJWMAXirVHJCC-RHeiktBPXrsWOQdEHJg/s400/IMG_3689.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
Yeah, I gotta dust my dashboard.Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-3925005079995652212010-08-01T11:50:00.003-04:002010-08-01T11:51:45.848-04:00Just how long are Red Sox games?<a href="http://search.espn.go.com/bill-simmons/">ESPN columnist</a> and Boston sports fan <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Simmons">Bill Simmons</a> recently <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/100729">wrote about the boring nature</a> of the 2010 Boston Red Sox. The factors he listed were:<br />
<ul>
<li> Injuries - 10%</li>
<li>Front-Office Paralysis - 5%</li>
<li>The Hangover - 15% (I believe this should be 25%)</li>
<li>Bandwagon Effect - 5% (I'd drop this to 0%)</li>
<li>Steroid Era Hangover - 5%</li>
<li>Decline of Baseball in General - 5% (I'd increase this to 10%)</li>
<li>Time of the Games - 55% (I'd drop to 45%)</li>
</ul>
For the last point regarding the length of games Simmons provided data on game times through eight significant seasons, starting in 1975 and running through 2010. Generally data mean more to me when presented visually, so I plotted them on a bar graph (less the incomplete 2010 season). Note the ever-expanding purple bands, which denote games that lasted between three and four hours. Not shown is that through 101 games in 2010, the Red Sox have played one (1) game in less than 2:30 hours. Maybe I was spoiled by watching a number of Greg Maddux's two-hour masterpieces in Atlanta, but this is absurd. Bud Selig would do well to adopt a few of Simmons' suggestions.<br />
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<br />Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-74705044294852413982010-07-22T19:59:00.001-04:002010-08-01T20:20:51.965-04:00The Last NavigatorOn July 12th the world lost master navigator Mau Piailug, as noted in <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/16635898">this obituary</a> from <i>The Economist</i>. You may have seen <i>The Last Navigator</i> on TV as part of PBS's <i>Adventure</i> series, or read <a href="http://www.stevethomashome.com/navigator.html">the book</a> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Thomas_%28television%29">Steve Thomas</a> on which it was based. <br />
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Steve writes on his <a href="http://www.stevethomashome.com/index.html">web site</a> about the lessons learned from Piailug during their time together. One late night Piailug shared this wisdom with Steve:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
"To be a palu you must have three qualities: fierceness, strength, and wisdom; The knowledge of navigation brings all three. Fierceness, strength, and wisdom, Steve. That is a navigator, and a navigator is a man."</blockquote>
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<br />Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-43932782959537709052010-07-15T09:41:00.002-04:002010-07-15T10:03:01.624-04:00After a year, what could possibly inspire me to post?In these turbulent times we are desperate for heroes to step forth and lead us back into prosperity. Today I found my hero. A courageous man on a mission to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of Mullet-Americans and eliminate mullet prejudice.<br />
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<a href="http://mulletlikeme.tumblr.com/">Read the blog</a>. Watch the videos. Feel his pain. Share his dream.
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<a href="http://mulletlikeme.com/">BIFPIB, my friends</a>.<br />
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<br />
But that's fiction. The new #1 is reality. Apparently reading sports highlights is far more difficult than one would imagine. Force yourself to watch the entire clip, as the response from the anchors when they go to commercial break is priceless.<br />
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I was reminded of this clip on Doug Richards' <a href="http://liveapartmentfire.com/">Live Apartment Fire</a> blog. A long-time Atlanta TV reporter, Richards excels at sharing his insightful and humorous perspective of local news.Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-61717628268499997912009-05-30T18:33:00.006-04:002009-05-30T19:01:41.474-04:00TOTUS<a href="http://michellemalkin.com/2009/03/23/fun-with-totus-teleprompter-of-the-united-states/">Much</a> <a href="http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/tales-of-totus-the-presidents-teleprompter/">has</a> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/us/politics/06web-baker.html?_r=1">been</a> written of TOTUS, the Teleprompter of the United States. It has its own <a href="http://baracksteleprompter.blogspot.com/">blog</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/TeleprompterOne">Twitter</a> <a href="http://twitter.com/BOTeleprompter">accounts</a>, even an official <a href="http://mikemoody.wordpress.com/">seal</a>. A key role in President Obama's speech at the <a href="http://www.c-span.org/Watch/Media/2009/05/09/HP/A/18462/Pres+Obama+at+the+2009+White+House+Correspondents+Dinner.aspx">White House Correspondents' Dinner</a>. Fox News released this three-minute piece introducing TOTUS, and reminding us how things really work in DC.<br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://foxnews1.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/rt/1/site/foxnews1-foxnews-pub01-live/current/largeplayer011008/fncLargePlayer/client/embedded/embedded.swf" id="mediumFlashEmbedded" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" bgcolor="#000000" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" quality="high" name="undefined" play="false" scale="noscale" menu="false" salign="LT" scriptaccess="always" wmode="false" flashvars="playerId=011008&playerTemplateId=fncLargePlayer&categoryTitle=Politics&referralObject=5503767&referralParentPlaylistId=14dd8d0f134b75c8565df1685e721eff8f003aac&referralPlaylistId=c985e69916535a2170b2b18ab0ab7eb60401f9bb" width="305" height="275"></embed><br /><br />If only Vice-President Joe Biden would stay ON the teleprompter:<br /><object width="375" height="228"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/q-BL46iWf4g&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/q-BL46iWf4g&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="375" height="228"></embed></object>Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-35409376825176776982008-10-23T14:12:00.003-04:002008-10-23T14:21:36.843-04:00Tax cuts in beer languageThis one is <a href="http://www.snopes.com/business/taxes/howtaxes.asp">making the rounds</a> again, but is worth a second read. Will the "takers" in America discover only too late that the achievers have moved on, or have simply stopped achieving? Then what?<br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">A brilliant explanation of our tax system using actual percentages, the impact of a tax cut, and the public reaction that even Obama should be able to understand:</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><blockquote style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;">Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"> The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"> The fifth would pay $1.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"> The sixth would pay $3.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"> The seventh would pay $7.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"> The eighth would pay $12.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"> The ninth would pay $18.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"> The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. "Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes, so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"> And so...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"> The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"> The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"> The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"> The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"> The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 ( 22% savings).</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"> The tenth now paid $49 instead of $ 59 (16% savings).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,"but he got $10!"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">"That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!<br /><br /></span></blockquote><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:arial;" >And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.</span>Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-8712379963742285472008-10-17T19:55:00.001-04:002009-05-30T19:02:49.626-04:00Check out GeoffAchison.org<embed wmode="opaque" src="http://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/music/swf/MusicPlayer.swf?v=4.2%3A22680" FlashVars="configXmlUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geoffachison.org%2Fmusic%2Fmusic%2FshowPlayerConfig%3FconfigVersion%3D1%26brand%3D0%26logoImage%3D0%26isInternalRequest%3D1%26ck%3D638093943%26showPreview%3D&playlistUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geoffachison.org%2Fmusic%2Fplaylist%2Fshow%3Fid%3D2318445%253APlaylist%253A12%26fmt%3Dxspf%26xn_auth%3Dno%26x%3DLyRD5RxB8FUhkHCCLncyZsFL1vTyAfNJ&playlistType=network&networkUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geoffachison.org%2F&showPlaylist=1" width="500" height="295" bgcolor="#000000" scale="noscale" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><small><a href="http://www.geoffachison.org/">Find more music like this on <em>Geoff Achison Fan Club</em></a></small><br /><br /><small><a href="http://www.geoffachison.org/">Find more music like this on <em>Geoff Achison Fan Club</em></a></small>Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-33429552350268925852008-07-10T23:08:00.001-04:002008-08-06T23:15:27.407-04:00Barack Obama will hurt growing businessesIn the <a href="http://www.starbird.com/2008/07/mccain-campaign-event-for-small.html" target="_blank">first post</a> of this series, I discussed how Senator Obama’s proposed tax increases would affect a small business during startup phase. The financial case one makes when determining if a startup is even feasible would be heavily burdened by Mr. Obama’s tax increases, leaving many potential businesses to stall in the ideation phase. Fewer small businesses means fewer jobs. Provided an entrepreneur forges ahead despite these challenges, self-funded growth would be further hampered by Mr. Obama’s proposed increase of capital gains and dividend taxes, and his failure to understand that many small business owners include business income on their personal tax returns, making them seem like individual high earners, even though the expenses often eclipse revenues at first.<br /><br />This post centers on the growth stage, when a business starts hopping. Expenses are often highest, as the concept has proven out and investments in marketing and infrastructure can be heavy. Senator McCain proposes expensing equipment and technology investments in the first year, rather than amortizing over many years. This simple change should boost capital spending and more quickly reward businesses that make these investments.<br /><br />The growth stage typically involves hiring, which tremendously benefits the community. Senator Obama’s plan to increase the minimum wage will make it more difficult to justify lower-skilled positions, leading to higher unemployment. These positions are often filled by younger people just entering the workforce, hoping to gain valuable experience to help them land their next, better job. Unfortunately for the next generation of workers, anti-free market minimum wages will delay their progress.<br /><br />Senator Obama also intends to burden business owners with a “pay or play” scheme, in which they must provide health insurance for employees or pay a fine up to $12,000 per year per employee. This mandate will certainly result in fewer new jobs, a greater reliance on contract labor, and stunted business growth. When the costs of adding people are so high, many businesses will opt to delay or forgo expansion opportunities.<br /><br /><br />To summarize, Senator Obama’s naïve proposals will harm growth-phase businesses in many ways:<br /><ul><li>Investment in growing the business reduced because tax burden on individual filers will jump.</li><li>Hiring postponed or canceled due to higher, artificial minimum wages, and huge penalties for not provided mandated health insurance.</li><li>Capital spending would increase under Senator McCain’s plan to allowing expensing of such investments in year one.</li></ul>Look for a continuation of this theme in my next post.Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-11906321278397137382008-07-07T20:12:00.007-04:002008-12-12T03:48:25.086-05:00McCain campaign event for small businesses<a href="http://www.cbs46.com/video/16813424/" target="blank"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221491611532377954" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8A7QF3eOgaAvngqjZDH-7wtg4D4188jDP_ItoMgtNmOhGCrfXwfhHjXbQ3O0eKcVuRgqx_iA4zsE1jb4SmRPYCkJnPcjyEF8W9FiFxk3a0r0wvcHRrDXYZsL9DXZS7E7CnCJlfw/s320/20080707-McCain-Small-Busin.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Recently I joined Senator John McCain’s <a href="http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/News/PressReleases/Read.aspx?guid=566a4164-ae67-4f5a-a726-710529f8169c" target="_blank">Georgia Small Business Leaders</a> steering committee, and this morning I participated in a <a href="http://www.cbs46.com/video/16813424/" target="_blank">press briefing</a> organized by the McCain campaign, with the objective of highlighting the differences between the candidates' economic plans. As this was my first speech of this sort, I asked the campaign folks for guidance. They urged me to personalize the suggested talking points.<br /><br />As it turns out this was not difficult. Over the next few posts I'll discuss the issues that directly affect my small business, beginning with the basic philosophy of the role of government.<br /><br />Thankfully starting a business in Georgia isn't hard. The <a href="http://www.sos.ga.gov/corporations/" target="_blank">secretary of state</a> makes it easy to register an LLC, and even the IRS simplified obtaining an <a href="http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=102767,00.html" target="_blank">employer identification number</a>. My business doesn't require a special license, which can be onerous to obtain in some states. I share Senator McCain's belief that the best government is a small government, whereas I have yet to learn of a program or policy proposed by Barack Obama that doesn't involve government growth.<br /><br />While planning the start-up phase of my business, I understood that my income would drop substantially from my previous corporate gig. To help bridge that gap I’m depending on income from my investments, which are taxed as capital gains. Senator McCain will maintain the current taxes on capital gains, while phasing out the AMT (alternative minimum tax). Senator Obama, on the other hand, has proposed increasing not just capital gains and dividend taxes, but income taxes, Social Security taxes, energy taxes, and business taxes.<br /><br /><strong>The increased burden of Senator Obama’s proposed tax increases would A) make it much more difficult for potential owners to make the financial case of starting their own businesses, and B) reduce the money available for existing owners to invest back in their businesses.<br /></strong><br />How important are small businesses? In Georgia alone there are ~860,000 small businesses, and these are responsible for an astonishing 98% of all jobs in the state. Senator Obama’s proposal to nearly double the capital gains tax would clearly hurt the 618,000 Georgians who reported capital gains income in 2006.<br /><br />Taxes aren’t painless, esoteric nuisances that affect only the wealthy. They directly impact business owners’ ability to reinvest in and grow their businesses, and small businesses are responsible for the majority of job growth in this country.<br /><br />In future posts I’ll note how the proposals of Senators McCain and Obama influence other aspects of small businesses.</div>Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-40712592997411536692007-10-09T23:13:00.000-04:002008-07-07T23:14:24.815-04:00NASCAR at Talladega<p><object height="346" width="400"><param value="true" name="allowFullScreen" /><param value="disabledControls=link,email,html" name="flashvar" /><param value="http://www.vuvox.com/presentations/13510.swf" name="movie" /><embed height="346" width="400" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="disabledControls=link,email,html" src="http://www.vuvox.com/presentations/13510.swf"></embed></object></p>Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-51150453019416842342007-10-05T23:14:00.000-04:002008-07-07T23:15:47.573-04:00Wedding slideshow<p><object height="346" width="400"><param value="true" name="allowFullScreen" /><param value="http://www.vuvox.com/presentations/13018.swf" name="movie" /><embed height="346" width="400" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" src="http://www.vuvox.com/presentations/13018.swf"></embed></object></p>Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-54569407244436570662007-05-29T23:15:00.001-04:002008-07-07T23:17:21.135-04:00Think you can take me down?<p><script src="http://playmygame.com/embed/?g=quyu3&hl=en" type="text/javascript"></script><br />Link: <a href="http://playmygame.com/?g=quyu3">PlayMyGame</a></p>Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-25172915550261200822007-05-07T23:17:00.000-04:002008-07-07T23:18:18.950-04:00New Zealand - Milford Sound, Fox Glacier, and the Pancake Rocks of Punakaiki<embed height="346" width="400" allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.vuvox.com/presentations/2527.swf"></embed>Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-79059326802905975372007-03-22T23:18:00.000-04:002008-07-07T23:18:48.882-04:00Zombies on Vuvox<p><object height="346" width="400"><param value="http://www.vuvox.com/presentations/2037.swf" name="movie" /><embed height="346" width="400" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.vuvox.com/presentations/2037.swf"></embed></object></p>Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-18216146161539622772007-01-26T23:18:00.000-05:002008-07-07T23:19:33.787-04:00Mike Vick smuggling pot? Really.<p>Since this skit aired Vick was <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/nfl/01/22/bc.fbn.falcons.vickinve.ap/index.html">cleared of suspicion</a>, but not of exceptionally poor judgement. Arthur Blank must be so proud of his investment...</p><embed height="350" width="425" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RjtVnqZCndo"></embed>Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-56255532333955166782007-01-03T23:20:00.001-05:002010-08-01T20:22:45.221-04:00Which Superhero are you?The results of my "Which Superhero are you" quiz from <a href="http://www.thesuperheroquiz.com/">TheSuperHeroQuiz.com</a> (that's right, I'm an inventor, businessman, and genius!):<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
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Your results:<br /><b>You are <span style="font-size: x-large;">Iron Man</span></b> <br />
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<table><tbody>
<tr><td><table><tbody>
<tr><td>Iron Man</td><br /><br /><td><hr align="left" noshade="true" style="font-size: 1.2em;" width="70" />
</td><br /><br /><td>70%</td></tr>
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<tr><td>Spider-Man</td><br /><br /><td><hr align="left" noshade="true" style="font-size: 1.2em;" width="60" />
</td><br /><br /><td>60%</td></tr>
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<tr><td>The Flash</td><br /><br /><td><hr align="left" noshade="true" style="font-size: 1.2em;" width="60" />
</td><br /><br /><td>60%</td></tr>
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<tr><td>Green Lantern</td><br /><br /><td><hr align="left" noshade="true" style="font-size: 1.2em;" width="60" />
</td><br /><br /><td>60%</td></tr>
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<tr><td>Superman</td><br /><br /><td><hr align="left" noshade="true" style="font-size: 1.2em;" width="55" />
</td><br /><br /><td>55%</td></tr>
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<tr><td>Supergirl</td><br /><br /><td><hr align="left" noshade="true" style="font-size: 1.2em;" width="45" />
</td><br /><br /><td>45%</td></tr>
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<tr><td>Robin</td><br /><br /><td><hr align="left" noshade="true" style="font-size: 1.2em;" width="45" />
</td><br /><br /><td>45%</td></tr>
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<tr><td>Catwoman</td><br /><br /><td><hr align="left" noshade="true" style="font-size: 1.2em;" width="35" />
</td><br /><br /><td>35%</td></tr>
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<tr><td>Wonder Woman</td><br /><br /><td><hr align="left" noshade="true" style="font-size: 1.2em;" width="30" />
</td><br /><br /><td>30%</td></tr>
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<tr><td>Batman</td><br /><br /><td><hr align="left" noshade="true" style="font-size: 1.2em;" width="20" />
</td><br /><br /><td>20%</td></tr>
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<tr><td>Hulk</td><br /><br /><td><hr align="left" noshade="true" style="font-size: 1.2em;" width="20" />
</td><br /><br /><td>20%</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td><br /><br /><td>Inventor. Businessman. Genius.<br />
<img src="http://www.thesuperheroquiz.com/pics/ironman.jpg" /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="http://www.thesuperheroquiz.com/">Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz</a>Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5179740.post-52903380674729371652007-01-03T23:19:00.000-05:002008-07-07T23:20:09.637-04:00First the Superhero, now the Supervillain<p>Your results:<br /><strong>You are <span size="6">Lex Luthor</span></strong><br /></p><br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><table><tbody><tr><td>Lex Luthor</td><br /><td><hr width="63" align="left" style="font-size: 1.2em;" /></td><br /><br /><td> 63%</td><br /></tr><br /><br /><tr><td>Apocalypse</td><br /><td><hr width="60" align="left" style="font-size: 1.2em;" /></td><br /><br /><td> 60%</td><br /></tr><br /><br /><tr><td>Dr. Doom</td><br /><td><hr width="59" align="left" style="font-size: 1.2em;" /></td><br /><br /><td> 59%</td><br /></tr><br /><br /><tr><td>Kingpin</td><br /><td><hr width="57" align="left" style="font-size: 1.2em;" /></td><br /><br /><td> 57%</td><br /></tr><br /><br /><tr><td>Riddler</td><br /><td><hr width="56" align="left" style="font-size: 1.2em;" /></td><br /><br /><td> 56%</td><br /></tr><br /><br /><tr><td>Juggernaut</td><br /><td><hr width="52" align="left" style="font-size: 1.2em;" /></td><br /><br /><td> 52%</td><br /></tr><br /><br /><tr><td>Magneto</td><br /><td><hr width="50" align="left" style="font-size: 1.2em;" /></td><br /><br /><td> 50%</td><br /></tr><br /><br /><tr><td>The Joker</td><br /><td><hr width="45" align="left" style="font-size: 1.2em;" /></td><br /><br /><td> 45%</td><br /></tr><br /><br /><tr><td>Green Goblin</td><br /><td><hr width="36" align="left" style="font-size: 1.2em;" /></td><br /><br /><td> 36%</td><br /></tr><br /><br /><tr><td>Mr. Freeze</td><br /><td><hr width="32" align="left" style="font-size: 1.2em;" /></td><br /><br /><td> 32%</td><br /></tr><br /><br /><tr><td>Dark Phoenix</td><br /><td><hr width="30" align="left" style="font-size: 1.2em;" /></td><br /><br /><td> 30%</td><br /></tr><br /><br /><tr><td>Venom</td><br /><td><hr width="27" align="left" style="font-size: 1.2em;" /></td><br /><br /><td> 27%</td><br /></tr><br /><br /><tr><td>Catwoman</td><br /><td><hr width="20" align="left" style="font-size: 1.2em;" /></td><br /><br /><td> 20%</td><br /></tr><br /><br /><tr><td>Mystique</td><br /><td><hr width="20" align="left" style="font-size: 1.2em;" /></td><br /><br /><td> 20%</td><br /></tr><br /><br /><tr><td>Poison Ivy</td><br /><td><hr width="19" align="left" style="font-size: 1.2em;" /></td><br /><br /><td> 19%</td><br /></tr><br /><br /><tr><td>Two-Face</td><br /><td><hr width="0" align="left" style="font-size: 1.2em;" /></td><br /><br /><td> 0%</td><br /></tr></tbody></table></td><br /><td width="250">A brilliant businessman on a quest for world domination and the self-proclaimed greatest criminal mind of our time!<br /><br /><img src="http://www.thesuperheroquiz.com/villain/pics/lex2.jpg" /></td><br /></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p><a href="http://www.thesuperheroquiz.com/villain"><br />Click here to take the Supervillain Personality Quiz</a></p>Rayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309202539913060978noreply@blogger.com0