P.S. on the QR Codes
Real quick, ShopSavvy does not work on these QR-codes. You have to use a QR-Code Reader. For the iPhone, I use the free app. i-nigma.
If you print out this bar code and scan it, the reader will ask you if you want to open your browser, click yes and it will take you straight to back to this site.
Personal Branding
Do you have your own business website or personal blog? Want to give it a unique touch? Try using a personal bar-code.
What’s that?
It’s just like any bar-code that you would see on the back of magazines, boxes of cereal and whatever else you can think of. But now you can generate your own by typing “QR-Code Generator” into your favorite search engine, follow the instructions, and you’ll end up with something like this:
Then your potential clients can scan it with their smart phone app and it will direct them to your website or blog. You can also use these bar codes on business cards, marketing materials and even on resumes. The bar-code will set you apart (at least for now) and will show customers, or future employers, that you are ahead of the trend and can be considered an early adopter or even a futurist.
For all the apocalyptic readers out there who think this is just another mark of the beast and just one step before the end of time; don’t worry it will all be over before you know what hit you.
NYU Professor Flames Student
I have grand delusions of being a college professor one day. I guess it’s the idea of sitting around, smoking a pipe and discussing deep intellectual thoughts that turns me on. That is until I read this article about a business student at NYU who showed up to her class an hour late. The professor told her that he has an attendance policy that requires students to leave if they are over fifteen minutes late. The student left, but later wrote the professor an email explaining why she disagrees with his policy.
Professor Scott Galloway, NYU Business Professor and founder of RedEnvelope.com, wrote the student a scathing response to her email and told her to, “get your shit together.” Galloway then X’ed out the students name and sent the email to all of his other students, then the email went viral. Want to see it? Here’s the link.
http://deadspin.com/5477230/nyu-business-school-professor-has-mastered-the-art-of-email-flaming
AFTER THOUGHT: As much as I love seeing someone getting a well deserved ass—chewing, what’s ironic about this story is that Professor Galloway stepped down from the board of directors of the NY Times shortly after this email. Not because of the email, but because the company has lost much of it value since he came aboard two years ago.
That’s not to say Galloway is totally to blame for the company going down the toilet, but after I read the article on berating the student I thought, Well good for him. Then I clicked another link within the story about Galloway resigning, read a little further and again thought, Well good for him.
Black History Month
It’s almost the end of February and I haven’t even mentioned that it’s Black History Month. Probably because I’m Scots/Irish and think about this holiday month as much as most African-Americans think about St. Patrick’s Day, Haggis or Hurling. But I heard a cool song on the ride home and thought; now there’s a Black History song.
The song Black Man by Stevie Wonder really makes you think, “This World was made for all men.” And although these days it’s not PC to call people, “Black, Red, Brown, Yellow and White,” it was, and is, OK when Stevie does it.
The clip below is a tribute to all Americans who helped make this Black History Month. (Including the Black, Red, Brown, Yellow, and yes, even the White man.)
Doing the Right Thing
Have you ever been stuck between a rock and a hard place? My Office is right next to the Director’s Office. I hear a lot of things that I can either:
A) Keep to myself, stay out of the situation and let the action play out.
or
B) Tell the people it’s going to affect, but possibly get myself into trouble with the upper brass.
I want to help my fellow co-worker, but I also want to keep my good status with my employers. That, in essence, is a moral dilemma.
The book Moral Reasoning, by Victor Grassian (Prentice Hall, 1981, 1992), addresses moral dilemmas. Here are a few to consider:
1. A Father’s Agonizing Choice
“You are an inmate in a concentration camp. A sadistic guard is about to hang your son who tried to escape and wants you to pull the chair from underneath him. He says that if you don’t he will not only kill your son but some other innocent inmate as well. You don’t have any doubt that he means what he says. What should you do?”
2. The Fat Man and the Impending Doom
“A fat man leading a group of people out of a cave on a coast is stuck in the mouth of that cave. In a short time high tide will be upon them, and unless he is unstuck, they will all be drowned except the fat man, whose head is out of the cave. [But, fortunately, or unfortunately, someone has with him a stick of dynamite.] There seems no way to get the fat man loose without using [that] dynamite which will inevitably kill him; but if they do not use it everyone will drown. What should they do?”
3. A Poisonous Cup of Coffee
“Tom, hating his wife and wanting her dead, puts poison in her coffee, thereby killing her. Joe also hates his wife and would like her dead. One day, Joe’s wife accidentally puts poison in her coffee, thinking it’s cream. Joe has the antidote, but he does not give it to her. Knowing that he is the only one who can save her, he lets her die. Is Joe’s failure to act as bad as Tom’s action?”
Today, corporations are given 14th Amendment rights which legally makes them a “person.” Legally a corporation has to do whatever they can to increase profits for their shareholders. So ask yourself this, in this global economy, do corporations really want to make things that can improve our lives, but could possibly hurt their profits? Or are they stuck in their own moral dilemma?
If you want to read more on Moral Dilemmas, go to
http://www.friesian.com/valley/dilemmas.htm
And for my own moral dilemma I will say this, number 1 through 3 was copied directly from the site above, hence the quotes; and regarding the first paragraph, I ended up keeping my mouth shut.
Sleepless in St. Louis
Last night I had to do a sleep study. I’ve snored since I was young, but I have been having headaches more often than usual, so the Doc wanted to rule out sleep apnea.
The sleep tech scrubbed my head in seven different places with a Q-tip and some sort of glue. It felt like he was giving me seven miniature noogies. After that torture test, he ran several electrodes down my shirt and pants. I kept thinking, I hope these things don’t shock me when I take a leak tonight.
The tech then hooked up a few more wires to my head and nose, showed me how to work the TV and literally tucked me into bed.
I haven’t been tucked in since I was six or seven years old and what made it awkward was the tech was a man right around my age.
In the morning, after a horrible night of sleep, the tech told me I woke up 85 times an hour when I slept on my back, 35 times an hour when I slept on my side and 12 times an hour when I slept on my stomach. “Twelve times is normal,” he said.
“So I’ll just sleep on my stomach,” I said.
“The problem is you usually don’t stay too long on your stomach. You roll around,” he said. “So we’re going to have to fit you for a CPAP.”
If you don’t know what this CPAP contraption is, think of Darth Vader, only sleeping in the bed next to you.
Oh well, if it’ll help me not wake up 85 times an hour, I’ll give it a shot. In the mean time, I leave you with this clip.
Flavor Of The Day
Yesterday I started taking Kali-Silat classes. My wife got me six lessons for my Valentine’s Day present. Yes, we’ve been married a while, but it was exactly what I had asked for.
Kali is a Filipino martial art. It is mainly known for its stick fighting; but we didn’t even get around to that yesterday. First we had to, “build a house,” roof—walls—floor—door—all blocks. Basics first, Daniel-san.
The quick history of Kali, as explained to me by my instructor: back in the day, the men would go off to hunt in the mountains and leave the women behind. The men would give the women a knife or stick to fight off animals if need be. The techniques evolved over the centuries to be used against humans, mainly against the Spaniards and Japanese. These techniques were passed down from generation to generation.
So why the Flavor Of The Day? I love to take classes. I wait for the community college continuing education catalog like a twelve-year-old boy waits for the Victoria’s Secret catalog. Guitar lessons, writing classes and martial arts, anything that grabs my attention for the day, I want to try.
So today my interest is Kali-Silat, tomorrow it could be something else, in a week who knows what? You can always pop in and check out what else is going on, after a month you should have about 31 flavors.
Nevada’s First Prostidude
I missed the biggest news story last month since civil rights and nobody told me about it. The Shady Lady Ranch successfully won state and county approval for Nevada’s first male prostitute. The male prostitute, who has been dubbed a “prostidude” is also known as “Markus.”
“Markus” is unwilling to have sex with men, which pissed off the other Nevada prostitutes. Apparently prostitutes are not allowed to have boundaries.
But what really created a stir is when the Prostidude had the audacity to compare his role in the brothel business as “just the same,” as civil rights activist Rosa Parks refusing to move to the back of the bus.
Civil rights vs. a guy who wants women to pay him to have sex with them; yeah, I can see how that’s, “just the same.”
This dude looks like he belongs on the Jersey Shore. Want more on the story?
Here’s the link: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-01-22-male-sex-worker_N.htm
Web 2.0 Suicide-Machine
Are your only “friends” on Facebook or MySpace? Ever wonder, “Would these people miss me if I ever stopped posting?”
If you’ve ever thought about suicide, then maybe you should try Web 2.0 Suicide Machine first.
Web 2.0 Suicide Machine kills all of your on-line social media profiles. You can pull the plug on all your time-sucking “friends” on Facebook and MySpace; and kill all your “followers” on Twitter with one shot.
A person I’m very close too recently committed suicide on Farmville. She sold off all of her Farmville possessions to stake claim in the real world. She said she wanted to use the extra time to reconnect with her real-life friends and family. Hopefully they’ll have time for her.
Facebook is not taking the Suicide Machine lightly. They’ve excommunicated them. But don’t worry; I’ll be the Dr. Kevorkian of the blogosphere. If you want to commit on-line suicide, here is the link: http://suicidemachine.org/
Personally I like having an online presence. I can say whatever I want and have it published right away. I don’t necessarily like the fact my mom, grandma and my three bosses are reading my pages all the time. But it doesn’t bother me enough to commit on-line suicide or even “unfriend” them. If they don’t like what I’m writing about they can click away. And if they ever mention anything to me about it, I will be committing on-line homicide when I erase them from my list.
(Just kidding grandma.)
But if the Facebook/MySpace/Twitter thing has got you down, then go ahead a commit on-line suicide. I dare you.
Don’t worry, you will be missed, but only for a little while, because my bet is you’ll be back. That’s the great thing about a virtual world, you can always resurrect yourself from the dead. Kind of like Jesus, but without the millions “followers.”
Harley
Just for proof. Rescue dogs rule.
