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Why Do We Rent Some Stuff but Buy Other Stuff

post from Steadfast Finances on 04 July 2009 11:14:10 PM. © Steadfast Finances

I read an interesting post at PBS earlier today entitled Why Do Brides Buy Dresses While Grooms Rent Tuxes?, and I must say, the question has been bouncing around in my head all day.Not because the question is all that difficult, but that it got me thinking about all the other things in my daily [...]

This was an original post from Steadfast Finances. For more, follow me on Twitter.

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Why I'm More of a Believer in GM

post from How to Change the World on 04 July 2009 06:44:00 PM. © How to Change the World

What better pictures to post on the 4th of July than ones of a good ole, red-blooded Corvette. My buddies in the GM PR department loaned me one to drive for a week after we connected on Twitter?yet another frequently overlooked of tweeting!

This guy shows up at my house with the keys for a 2009 Corvette.

I had never driven a Corvette before, and it?s not what you would call subtle. But then again, it?s not designed to be subtle.

This is the essence of the Corvette: a big, bad-ass engine. But I was amazed that the car is rated for 26 mpg on the freeway. Popular Mechanics even got 32 mpg in its test.

I don?t think I got beyond fourth gear. The acceleration and it?s accompanying sounds are a delightful way to blow one?s carbon footprint concerns to hell.

I loved the embossing in the hood?s soundproofing material.

If you flip a few levers like this, the roof pops out.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that you could carry hockey gear with no problem. For those days when you?re really in a rush to get to the rink, this is the car for you.

Tires can?t get much lower profile than this.

This is the heads-up display unit.

It displays RPM, MPH, and lateral acceleration. This was my favorite feature of the car.

Our solution to early-morning, top-off touring.

This shows how much space there is beneath the front air dam. Holy kaw: Is there a driveway in America that this can clear?

After driving a Corvette for a week, I am more supportive of General Motors. I missed some features like a backup camera and lane-switching warning signals, but wow, the torque and engine growl makes me proud to be an American. And at approximately $65,000, it?s half the price of most German sportscars. If you?re a hockey player with one or fewer children and a flat driveway, it may be the car for you.

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http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2009/07/why-im-more-of-a-believer-in-gm.html

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Leaders Make The Future by Bob Johansen - Book
review

post from Blog Business World on 04 July 2009 05:39:00 PM. © Blog Business World

Leaders Make the Future

Ten New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain World

By: Bob Johansen

Published: May 2009
Format: Hardcover, 194 pages
ISBN-13: 9781605090023
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

"My goal is to help leaders make the future a better place in which to live", writes futurist and Fellow with the Institute for the Future Bob Johansen in his visionary book Leaders Make the Future: Ten New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain World. The author describes the vital new skills, that leaders must learn, to meet the challenge that their organizations, our society, and the world will face in the future.

Bob Johansen understands that the change is happening very quickly in the world around us. Whether at the level of the business or non-profit organization, a community, or on a global scale, new leadership skills are essential to avoid being swept aside in the many transformations taking place around us. The old leadership techniques will no longer be effective to move organizations forward in the rapidly changing business, societal, and political landscapes. The author points out that leaders can only make sense of the present if they examine and listen for the challenges presented by a very different future.

Bob Johansen (photo left) recognizes that change will also present new, and seemingly unsolvable problems. Indeed, those problems are beyond the ability of many traditional leadership skill sets. Future leaders will not only need their can do attitude, but must also have can make skills to rebuild and remodel their organizations and communities to meed changing needs and circumstances. The author suggests that many current leaders are not listening to the changes as the future draws closer, and are even in denial that the current order is in transition to a new, and different world. The author forecasts that what was regarded as stability, and a familiar set of rules, are about to be changed forever. Failure to address the future will lead to failure of the organization and of the community as a whole.

For me, the power of the book is the author's understanding that the world around us is changing very rapidly in all areas. Bob Johansen recognizes that no one can predict the future, but through careful examination of current trends, that reasonable forecasts of future events is possible. Because the future will be so different from today, and with an entirely new set of problems facing leaders at all levels, a new set of leadership skills must be learned now. The author describes those new leadership skills in detail, and shares ideas about how a leader won't have to simply react to change, but can be a positive change agent for the betterment of the organization, the community, and the world as a whole.

I highly recommend the groundbreaking and insightful book Leaders Make the Future: Ten New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain World by Bob Johansen, to any leaders who seek to be positive change agents within their ever evolving organizations and communities. The leadership skills outlined in the book can be the difference between meeting the future head on in a positive way, or falling by the wayside, as the world passes the outdated leadership behind.

Read the essential guide Leaders Make the Future: Ten New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain World by Bob Johansen, and learn the ten new leadership skills that help a leader meet the future successfully. Discover how studying the future can build better leaders for the present. The future is coming, and smart leaders must be prepared for its myriad of problems and challenges.

Tags: Leaders Make the Future: Ten New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain World, Bob Johansen, future leadership skills, business book reviews.

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http://blogbusinessworld.blogspot.com/2009/07/leaders-make-future-by-bob-johansen
.html

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11 Most Expensive Catastrophes in History

post from pocket Financial planner on 04 July 2009 05:23:00 PM. © pocket Financial planner

I received this in an e-mail today and couldn’t resist posting it myself. I have not verified the accuracy of the information, or who has the rights to the images, but I found it intriguing and thought I’d share.#11 Titanic – $150 Million The sinking of the Titanic is possibly the most famous accident in the [...]

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When You Think: Think Big!!!

post from Business Growth Weblog on 04 July 2009 04:07:00 PM. © Business Growth Weblog

Former football announcer John Madden was also a great coach in his day. One of his most dramatic pre-grame pep talks came during a Super Bowl when he simply told his team: "Don't worry if the horse is blind; let's load up the wagon anyway."

It's a philosophy most businesses should embrace, especially now as companies start planning for 2010. Don't worry is your ideas or plans have some holes in them (or maybe seem like they won't work), think them through anyway. Think through ways they CAN work, instead of ways they can fail.

You might be surprised at the outcome.

Years ago, 1947 in fact, a competition was held in St. Louis for an architect that could design a monument on the Riverfront. Architect Aero Saarinen actually won the competition with a unique Arch. Although Saarinen had no idea if the Arch could stand without falling into the River (many engineers told him it would never work), he and the City pushed on with the project. Design began in 1963 (some engineers still thought it would never work). In fact, until the final piece of the Arch was put in place in 1965, some engineers still didn't think it would work.

However, thinking big paid big dividends. Even though it was once thought impossible to construct, engineers figured out a way to make it happen.

The Gateway Arch has been the crown jewel of St. Louis. It is the landmark the City is known for around the globe.

As you make future plans for your business, don't let the naysayers derail your dreams. Think big. There is plenty of time to figure out logistics and whether or not your ideas will work.

--Ron Ameln, SBM

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http://smallbizsuccess.blogspot.com/2009/07/when-you-think-think-big.html

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Thedrfund Thedrfund.com update

post from Stfmonitor.com on 04 July 2009 12:18:00 PM. © Stfmonitor.com

I received the email below, with an update from DRF - The DR Fund - the Dominican Republic Fund.
I have pasted and copied the email so you can make your own conclusion of the situation. ...

DRF Members,

We know that you are all anxiously awaiting the issuance of payments as are we. We were told that we would have the funds in hand from the offline revenue source much sooner than this. I know that it is difficult to keep everyone's patience during this waiting period. I have asked the programmer to extend everyone's subscriptions another month while we await the return of our offline revenue. I am very positive that we will see the return of our funds very very soon and then we can begin to make payouts. The offline revenue source sounds very positive that they will be able to send out the funds very soon. In the meantime I encourage everyone to please be patient as we are waiting just like you and to not send endless tickets asking when you will be paid. I assure you will be send out an update when the funds become available. If there are any new developments, I will be sure to send out an update to l! et everyone know as soon as we have something solid to share at the earliest possible time. If I honestly thought that they (the offline revenue) were never going to return the funds, I would tell you so. You have every reason to believe and be patient that the funds will be available shortly so we can pay you the members.

DRF Mgmt

Thedrfund ? Thedrfund.com

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http://stfmonitor.blogspot.com/2009/07/thedrfund-thedrfundcom-update.html

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Mortgage Refinancing Tips

post from Mortgage Facts on 04 July 2009 12:14:50 PM. © Mortgage Facts

If you are looking for a mortgage, the following is a list of five simple tips to help you on how to refinance an existing loan.How to refinance an existing loan The credit score that you have will be pulled out when you start the application process for a mortgage refinance. You will need to submit [...]

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Time to Tame Inflation Is Before It Strikes - The
Wall Street Journal.

Readers know I believe inflation will be a risk in the near future. This article covers a few options for hedging that risk. Consider commodities as well. Time to Tame Inflation Is Before It Strikeshttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB124605287991763101.htmlThe Wall Street Journal Mobile Reader for iPhoneTM delivers the latest global news, financial events, market insights and information to keep you ahead of the curve. Get the information you depend on plus entertainment, culture, and sports coverage when, where, and how you want it from the most credible source for news and information. Click below to download the WSJ Mobile Reader for free from the iTunes App Store.http://www.wsj.com/iphoneinstallSent from my iPhone

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flation-is-before-it-strikes---the-wall-street-journal.html

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How I Tweet: Just the FAQs

General

Question: How can you follow so many people?
Answer: I don?t read the timelines of all the people I follow. Instead, I only deal with @s, Directs, and searches for tweets that contain ?guykawasaki? and ?alltop.? I am not reading everything everyone I follow tweets, but I answer almost every @ and Direct.
Question: Why do you use @GuyKawasaki and @GuysReplies?
Answer: I created @Guysreplies in order to reply to @s that all my followers do not need to see. For example, when people tweet, ?@guykawasaki I loved Reality Check,? I don?t want to burden everyone with my thank-you @ reply. Also, people publicly attack me as a kind of ?tweet bait? to get more followers. Because @GuysReplies has few followers, this scheme won?t work, and I can still appear to be ?engaged? with the losers.

Ghostwriters

Question: Do you use ghostwriters?
Answer: Yes, four people contribute to my tweets: Annie Colbert, Gina Ruiz, Noelle Chun, and Neenz Faleafine. This is why you will see the initials ?AC, ?GR,? ?NC,? and ?LF? at the end of some tweets. If there are no initials, then it?s me.
I use ghostwriters because I want to provide as many interesting links as possible, and five intelligent people looking for interesting stuff are bound to find more than one. Incidentally, I measure the quality of my links (and that?s what matters most to me) by how many times people retweet me. One objective measure of retweets is here.
Question: How do you and your ghosts find so many links?
Answer: We mostly use Alltop to do this. For example, Most-Popular.alltop, Science.alltop, Psychology.alltop, and Oddities.alltop.
Question: Do your ghosts respond to @s and Directs for you?
Answer: No, they only tweet outgoing links to interesting sites and blogs. They never respond for me or as me.
Question: Why did you hide your use of ghostwriters?
Answer: I?ve never hidden this fact. As soon as I started it, I disclosed it (way back in January, 2009) here.
Question: How can I see only tweets from you and not from your ghostwriters?
Answer: You are making a mistake because they find great stuff, but try this search.
Question: Why do some people attack you so much for this?
Answer: Most are angry, little ?SEO experts? who cannot generate content, so they try to generate controversy in order to drive traffic to their blogs or get other angry, little people to follow them.

Alltop Promotion

Question: Why do you constantly promote Alltop?
Answer: Twitter is a broadcast marketing tool for me. This is why I put so much time, energy, and money (my ghosts don?t work for free) into it. The Alltop ?advertising? justifies and pays for my tweeting?you can think of my tweets as PBS content and the accompanying Alltop promotion as the fundraising telethon.
Question: Okay, but what if I don?t want to see Alltop promotions?
Answer: You can UFM (unfollow me).
Question: What if I don?t like the Alltop frame that you place around the stories that you link to?
Answer: You can click on the ?x? to close the frame, or a more permanent solution is to UFM.

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http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2009/07/how-i-tweet-just-the-faqs.html

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Why is everything all lined up

I walked past a work station last week and noticed something different. The base of the station had been rotated 45 degrees from the orientation it has had as long as I've worked here. "What's the story on the table shift?" I asked one of our associates. She grinned and told me the story. Bottom line was one of her colleagues had correctly and creatively observed that in the current work flow, rotating the table created more room. "It really works like a top," she exclaimed, "much less congestion as we move material in and out." Which got me thinking. We like things lined up. Everything at right angles. Evened off. Matching. Usually, that's a good place to start. But, once you see the vision of the value in a steady stream of small improvements (as this work team has), knocking something out of line makes even more sense. Keep learning.

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-lined-up.html

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