Video Sharing the New Wave of Learning Anything Anywhere!

I keep thinking how much time I can waste blogging and watching video, but shared videos as part of learning are definitely a way to speed up the learning curve. Whatever the process or subject you can almost certainly find people around the world who share the same interests. Chris Anderson on TED discussing "How Web Video Powers Global Innovation"

Consolidation of Power--Where does it end and should you care?

Although times change people and their motivations do not.  We seem to be in a world where large corporations, the military and big government are becoming more powerful while ordinary people are becoming less empowered. Much of our acceptance is that we enjoy peace and are distracted in our personal economic battles to maximize our resources and get the most for our dollar.  In my lifetime I have witnessed the growth of all these large entities, while many Americans now find themselves battling over a smaller and smaller piece of the economic pie leftovers.   If we are to learn anything from the past it is that we are not alone in our concerns and that our actions or inaction have great consequences.  A few quotes--hopefully to remind us that complacency and comfort may  come at a very high price if we are not vigilant in our efforts to protect personal freedom.


“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war. God grant that my suspicions may prove groundless.” – Abraham Lincoln, from a November 21, 1864 letter to Colonel William F. Elkins


“By this means government may secretly and unobserved, confiscate the wealth of the people, and not one man in a million will detect the theft.” – Lord John Maynard Keynes, “Economic Consequences of Peace”


“I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by it’s system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the world… no longer a government of free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men.” – Woodrow Wilson


“The one aim of these financiers is world control by the creation of inextinguishable debts.” – Henry Ford


“The study of money, above all other fields in economics, is one in which complexity is used to disguise truth or to evade truth, not to reveal it.” – John Kenneth Galbraith, in his book “Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went”, 1975


“The world is governed by very different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes.” – Benjamin Disraeli, First Prime Minister of Britain


“He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will one day reach himself.” – Thomas Paine


“If you’re in a card game and you can’t figure out who the patsy is, you’re it.” – Warren Buffett


“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” – Benjamin Franklin, 1755


“If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. The loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or imagined, from abroad.” – James Madison

Interview on Fox 59

Recently I was interviewed by Scott Jones of Fox 59.  Its always interesting to see what you look like on TV.  It's somewhat of a humbling experience.  It makes one have a much greater respect for Newscasters.  

The link from interview on Fox 59 on Paintless Dent Repair

Another great Video by Bob Parsons-- Getting out of your comfort zone!

I switched this video so that it is no longer the video "Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone". This video is about "How To Make it in a Tough Economy".

The Not So Complex Successes and Failures of Technology & Automobiles

As you may or may not know I work on a lot of cars. All kinds of Cars! Most times things are predictable or at least understandable in terms of how and why automobiles are put together. Competition has written a whole new rulebook for innovation and economics when it comes to automobile manufacturing. Most times if I take apart a headliner or a door panel its quite easy to put it back to its original condition with of course some notable exceptions. Ironically those exceptions are not typically done for innovation but for economics. Companies who have prospered the most seem to be those who have carefully studied where to cut corners in the least notable manner to the end consumer. Let me give you a few examples that are changing the way your vehicle is put together and how it is quite apparent that some car manufacturers have been more clever than others.

The use of plastic has become extremely important to some manufacturers by substituting it for metal parts with screws. In most cases this has been a success, especially where companies like Honda or Toyota use more twist and pull plastic push parts that hold firmly in metal frames. I find German automobiles have indeed went to more technology and robotics than apparently the Japanese or American made automobiles, although it also creates unique problems. For instance if I have a part placed in by a robot prior to a windshield being put in then I also do not allow for the possibility of making changes without the windshield being removed to do things in a natural sequence when making changes to say a headliner. Often specific brands or types of companies use similar ideas to put things together. For instance German cars like Mercedes and VW may use some similar ideas, while KIA and Hyundai, Honda and Toyota etc. American manufactures ironically may use ideas from foreign manufactures but not so much say between Ford and GM.


This all sounds like a lot of "what does it really matter", but as I've mentioned from my personal experiences companies that can best hide these cheaper parts in places that are seldom noticed seem to be the best at getting higher consumer satisfaction and getting the resulting higher profits. For instance Trucks do not all now come with completely metal liners in wheel wells, but does the customer care -- probably not.


Personally I think the German concepts have a lot of long term value by using technology as in the video below, however they too can get caught in the web of unintended consequences when certain types of body work must be done and there are no easy solutions to a human correcting what a robot originally manufactured. Toyota recently has shown that things can begin to unravel, when problems are not anticipated but most likely created to save production costs.





On the other hand some companies may be losing because they simply haven't made necessary changes while other manufacturers are cutting those corners in ways that cheapen the product, but rely on the adage "What the customer doesn't know won't hurt them." This of course means you shouldn't be surprised when some little things of your must prized automobile are surprisingly oddly put together by a machine, made of cheap plastic or simply no longer there, because the prize ultimately in the long run goes to the manufacturer who does it the best and at the lowest cost.

Gulf Oil Spill -- Is it a big disaster or not?

I think its interesting to see Brit Hume downplay the oil spill. I'm only putting this up so we can remember who was right and who was wrong. He seems to believe that the natural release of oil from the ocean floor is just as bad and that this spill does not compare to the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska. I'm not sure how comforting this video is to Beach Front Homeowners or those people planning a beach front vacation to the region.

Coming Soon! Preview my new How Too Book!

"People seldom improve when they have no model but themselves to copy after." Oliver Goldsmith

Benefactors and Discriminators Run the World?

Thought I'd write a note today! Its amazing how we constantly are reminded what to believe which often contradicts with our experience. Although I would like to limit this to religion it is intertwined with the basic concepts of reality we face each and every day. Its in education, politics and economic theory. It is most certainly about change. What changes should be made and who will benefit from those changes. Most of us have been the recipient of these decisions ultimately made by an individual or group of individuals. For instance you made or got cut from an athletic team, got hired or fired from a job or got accepted or not accepted to a prestigious school. What's even more interesting is what makes one successful---getting to the opportunity or learning from the opportunity. Its most often a little bit of both.

This sounds like a small fries idea, but it is the basic framework for the biggest questions of our time. As a business owner this is a constant reality that I have tested on numerous occasions. Donald Trump may host a show to support the concept that finding and developing a restaurant in New York is all about the management-- But is it really? I might for instance claim that it is based on location and who owns the real estate where the restaurant will be located. The concept that the very best will survive may ultimately be factual in most cases in our Capitalistic society. But often I look at good people who could have been or should have been more successful but unseen or unknown obstacles stood in the way. Often conglomerates, unions, associations and groups of people get together like corporations to basically control markets and people. This is why the US is in such a particular quandary at this moment in time. Capitalism is the ultimate victor and takes no prisoners. We either comply or find others (even foreigners who do not support our Democratic ideas) to help us comply with the only rules of the game which undermine our rights to choose as we wish more so than as we should. The rules must be broken or many of us will ultimately lose.

This leads us to the biggest benefactor/ discriminator and that is those who wish to control change. Typically this is our leaders in government, corporate and military establishments. Unfortunately they have found all kinds of rules they say they abide by to keep this change fair. But this is the most dangerous contradiction to the primary rule they want us all to believe. That we get what we deserve. That our efforts and accomplishments are due solely to our aptitude and efforts. When enough people look around and say they no longer believe or even trust these leaders in a real democracy this should mean change.

Unfortunately these leaders control this concept too! The necessity to stop opposition, make accusation and enhance real forces of control like the military or police forces is often about controlling not bad people but people who might create changes that would be adverse to their rights as benefactors and discriminators. Ultimately change is inevitable but these leaders would be advised to promote it not control it.

Window on the Future