The Nearest Book

"Again, nothing by itself is a huge matter, but it adds up, and it's all non-billable."

from The Software Developers Guide, 3rd Edition.

* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence along with these instructions in a note to your wall or on your blog.

Its a bit of fun.
Grab another book and do it again.

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Human beings are the most....

pathetic species on the planet.

Why?

The only thing that separates us from the animals is our brain.
So why does that make us pathetic?

A little story first.

I was just outside, having a glass of wine and a cigarette, looking the the rain falling into our pool. (Sorry I don't have a picture - my camera is crap at night-time)

I saw a frog swimming around in our pool.

I thought, "what a great life you have - no societal worries on your back (or on your mind)"

As long as that frog has breath, it'll just do what it needs to do to survive.

Think about that for a moment.

Imagine this:

Don't go to sleep in your bed tonight.
Try and sleep outside (regardless of weather) or even, in the closest hallway or corridor near your bedroom. That's right - no mattress, no blankets, no covering whatsoever.

At the very minimum, I can guarantee that you'll want to keep your socks on (let alone a t-shirt and/or shorts) - trust me - been there done that.....:)

I wonder how long you'll last before you have to come inside into the warmth of your home, or your bedroom, let alone your nice soft warm bed.

Ok, now its a new day. Go out into the sunshine all day - forget the sunscreen, the hat, the long sleeves.

Now go to bed outside in the elements - with only socks, shorts and t-shirt (or as you did the night before)

Wake up in the morning - go out with no sunscreen, hat or long sleeves.

Do this cycle for a week.

Are you beginning to get a picture here?

We humans are completely reliant on our brains to get us through - we cannot survive the way we're made, nor the way our skin is, nor any natural way that you can think of.

If we are left to the elements without protection, we die.

We die.

Its as simple as that.

Yet a little frog in my swimming pool will be there tomorrow morning, just like the birds who sing in the trees, just like the Christmas beetle that flew past me this afternoon.

Their lives may be a lot shorter than mine, but at least they live their lives in the best way they can - to survive and to adapt to their surroundings so that they do survive.

I thought that was pretty special.

Can you survive this current global financial turmoil?
Can you adapt to the challenges that face you?

How?, you ask?

Use your brain, I say!

Your brain is the most specialised instrument you have - don't waste it!
Educate yourself - start today!

You can do it! YOU CAN!

Get out from in front of the TV.
Go for a walk around your local suburb.
Look around you.
Opportunities abound!

They absolutely do - you only need to remove the blinkers on your eyes, and see the world in all its splendour to realise that you absolutely can make a difference - not only to your own life, but to everyone around you.

And your brain is the thing that will bring you abundance.

That small grayish lumpy thing that sits inside your skull is the absolute key to all your dreams. Nurture it, feed it, do anything you can for it to grow and show you a whole new way of living.

You have the capability - you do.

Now, get out there and make the most of each and every day - because you have the most powerful weapon ever bestowed on a human being: the human brain.

You can waste and destroy it, or you can treasure and grow it.

The choice is yours, and yours alone.

So are you willing to move from pathetic to outstanding?

I am.

Come and join the journey - I would love to have you by my side.

Get your head out of your...

asinine thinking.

Global financial crisis?

You work, don't you?
You actually have a job, do you?
And you're doing it tough?

OMG.

You have no idea of how people who have a very limited income survive.

And yet you whinge and bitch about how bad you have it.

I'll say it again - OMG.

Get over yourself.

I had the absolute pleasure the other day of helping a family friend buy a new laptop.

This friend is 86 years old.

Read that again.

86 years old.

I'm "in computers". I don't have a problem helping a family friend buy a new laptop. I'll put in a couple of hours to help this family friend.

What absolutely blew me away was the "compensation" that this family friend paid me.

I was quite willing to do this for nothing, however, I received a card, with an amount of money inside, from this family friend.

Now, understand this.

This is a family friend. Not a relative. No ties to the family at all. And who is 86 years old.

This family friend, 86 years old, still found the money to give me for the work I did.

So I ask: if someone, at 86 years old, who doesn't work, and has no other income source, is actually prepared to compensate me for my time, what does that say about the rest of you who do have a job, or own a business, or have some sort of income, and you need something done?

Why won't you spend your money?

Ok, so you don't know how to do a certain thing. Ok - I agree. (Hell, I don't know how to change a fan belt thingy on my V6 Magna) but do I try and do it myself?

No I don't.

I pay someone to do it for me.

Granted, there are a lot of "cowboys" out there (in every industry), who will make themselves out to be your saviour, but, get some references.

Ask for references. Phone those references. Make your own decision about who you pay for whatever service you require.

But - if you want to keep it in-house, remember this: you're still paying, in time if not in dollars, for someone to do the work. And when the work required is not what you're actually paying that person for, and the result takes a day or two to resolve, have you really saved yourself any money?

What if staff can't print?
What if staff can't access the Internet?
Can you really wait until someone on staff who "knows" something, actually gets around to getting in and fixing whatever problem you have? (And what happens when they have to admit to themselves that they don't really know how to fix said problem, and have to call someone else to help them? Just to save you a few dollars, or more importantly, to hide their inadequacy?)

Its a false economy. And what about out of hours? Do you really want to call someone in of a Sunday evening (who purports to know how to do stuff) at 9pm? Are you willing to compensate them for their out-of-hours time? Are they willing to give up their Sunday evening to help the organisation out, just because they "know" a thing or two?

Probably not on both counts.

Back to our family friend.

Given that our family friend found the money to compensate me for my time, (without me asking) I will now say: "If you want something done, I will charge you."

Our family friend found the money (without being asked) - why not you?

I guess it comes back to my old time rant and rave. Education.

If you want to save money, then go and educate yourself about how to do something.

If you don't want to educate yourself about how to do something, then be prepared to pay someone to do it for you.

If you want a "multi-skilled" workforce, you need to spend money on training (education).

If you don't want to, or don't have the time to educate yourself or your staff, then be prepared to pay someone to do the work you need done.

Just like our family friend did. And who is up and running, with no problems, in the first instance.

Because this family friend called on someone who knew what they were doing, and, at the end of the day, were prepared to pay for it.

Are you willing to do the same?+

DES, the Delivery Express System for Australia Post Parcel Contractors,

is now ready for release!

After months of getting the software ready for commercial release, its now available.

Visit its website at http://des.ath.cx:8080

If you know your local parcel contractor, please let them know (and let me know too, because if they sign up, you win too!)


Cheers all round for everyone I reckon.

Have you seen....

it all before?

"While it’s likely that some people in your audience have seen almost everything, it’s also quite likely that there’s nothing (nothing!) that everyone in your audience has seen. There are going to be people who don’t get this reference or that reference. There are certainly going to be people who, given the needle in a haystack culture we live in now, just haven’t seen the particular idea you’re riffing on."

Seth Godin - http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/11/seen-it-all-bef.html

And for me, this is the best part.

You now have an opportunity to tell your tribe about new stuff, stuff they haven't heard (or even dreamed of!) or stuff they thought was "so far out there".

Nothing is so far out there.

Form a tribe.
Be the voice of that tribe.
(People want to be led.)
Lead them!
Profit!

Can you get a tribe together?

Barack did it.

So can you!


Don't wait - start now!

You know, you really do have some good things going for you, whether....

you believe it or not.

Take me for instance.

I have never thought of myself as someone that others might want to hear what I have to say.

I have always, and I mean always, cowered in the back and tried to take the lowest profile.

In the last couple of days, I have put myself out there, and have had such great responses!

I just can't believe it!

For example:

• I am twittering with Robert Scoble who is in China no less (well, not without some problems)

• I am well on the way to becoming a "Compatriot" (a greyhair "consultant")

• I have an opportunity to become a "Geek on Call"

all because I put my "virtual" voice out there, contacted people, told them about myself.

People - you can do whatever the hell you put your mind to - truly - just get yourself out there.

Sign up for all the social media accounts you can find. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, FriendFeed...

Post your thoughts - interact with others.

You will not believe the contacts you will make.

And the best thing of all, there are others who think like you do! There truly are!

You are not an island - reach out to everyone else.

You'll be surprised (and pleased) where your online journey takes you.

Do it now - reach out with your virtual voice.

There are many who want to hear what you have to say.

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• China gags Scoble but blogging still lives

Thank you, thank you, thank you.....

Theodore Roosevelt.

http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/trsorbonnespeech.html

Teddy Roosevelt's "Man in the Arena" speech:

"It is not the critic who counts;

not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;

who strives valiantly;

who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;

but who does actually strive to do the deeds;

who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions;

who spends himself in a worthy cause;

who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."


Well said.

We need more people like Roosevelt in this day and age.

Image via Wikipedia

I am really, really, really, really excited because...

I am working on something that I think will really fly.

I used to be an Australia Post Parcel Contractor, and with my background in computers, software and databases, I thought there must be a better way to sequence the parcels that I had to deliver than write them all down on a sheet of paper.

So I started with an Excel spreadsheet, where every location was on a separate sheet in the workbook, and every street was listed in delivery order within that location.

Each morning, I would print out my spreadsheet (20 or so pages), take them to the delivery centre, and then fill it all out with a pen. I would then take these sheets with me as I delivered the parcels, and then cross them off the sheet after delivery.

I thought there must have been a better way, and there was.

What did I have?

A big list of streets within my delivery area.
A set of locations - individual areas, connected by main streets within my delivery area, having a set of streets from the master list.
A delivery sequence, so as to minimise the time needed to visit each delivery point.

I came up with a computer program to help me with this, and I used it everyday from January 2007 to January 2008.

I am now in the process of finalising it for commercial release.

Its been a fun, if sometimes painful ride, (those van seats aren't the best !) but its almost ready to go.

So, if you're a parcel delivery courier, you might want to visit the website - regardless of where you live in the world.

Parcel contractors in Australia are paid per parcel. The cost for my system is just one parcel per day per month.

Keep checking the website, because I'll be putting more and more content there as the days go by.

Leave a comment here if you want to. I would love to hear from you.



What do you think?

If you really want to start a business on the Internet...

NOW is the time.

I've signed up for a no-cost training course called The Thirty Day Challenge #30dc

Its all done and dusted for 2008, but 2009 is looking to be massive!

Join Ed Dale, Dan Raine, Phill Mason, Caro and Robert Somerville (and all the rest!) and all the gang for a no holds barred, completely without cost training course on how to build an Internet business from the ground up.

And today's live broadcast from Ed hinted at much more to come!

So if you're looking to supplement, or even supplant, your current income, you simply cannot go past the 30DC

Check it out now.

Can you believe that these sorts of scam...

emails are still doing the rounds?

And worse still, that people are losing their hard earned dollars to them?

COME ON PEOPLE, WAKE UP!

If you ever, ever, *EVER*, *EVER EVER EVER* respond to crap like this, then you honestly deserve to be fleeced of every single last dollar you possess.

Whenever you get an email like this - DELETE IT.
I cannot be any more plain.

This is my education process to you.

I give it freely in the hope that you won't be fleeced by these.... well, this is a family blog.

Learn from this. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to leave a comment.

(Gee - the name Rothschild should be enough to make alarm bells ring!)

Dear Friend,

This letter may come to you as a surprise due to the fact that we have not yet met. Firstly, I have to say that I have no intentions of causing you any pain.

My name is Mr. Lionel Meyer Rothschild, a European merchant. I have been diagnosed with Prostate and Esophageal cancer that was discovered very late due to lack of caring for my health. It has defiled all form of medicine and right now, I have only about a few months to live according to medical experts. I have not particularly lived my life so well, as I never really cared for anyone not even myself but my business.

Though I am very rich, I was never generous, I was always hostile to people  and only focus on my business as that was the only thing I cared for. But now I regret all this as I now know that there is more to life than just wanting to have or make all the money in the world. I use to say to my self that if God should give me a second chance I would live differently from how I have lived. I was meditating on my hospital bed and something told me that God is giving me a second chance by keeping me alive though doctors said I
wont last long. I know my time is near, thats why I have willed and given most of my properties and assets to my immediate and extended family members as well as some few close friends.

So far, I have been able to give alms to a few charity organizations in the U.A.E, London, Sudan, Zimbabwe I gave donations to the Global Fund for Children, GCF and I met two people over the internet that have successfully distributed my funds to charity organizations in their country. Now my health is deteriorating so badly, I really need you to help me distribute the last of my fortune. I want this to be one of the last good deeds I do on earth. You might be wondering why I did not pick my close relatives for this task, but I once asked members of my family to close one of my accounts and
donate the money there to a charity organization in Bulgaria. They closed the account but refused to donate the money to the organization, but instead shared the money amongst themselves. From the way they are acting around me, something tells me they want me dead so they can split my last remaining assets and money. Hence, I do not trust them anymore, as they seem not to be content with what I have left for them.

The last of my money which is a huge cash deposit that I have with a
security firm will be put in your care if only you will agree and are capable of seeing this through. I want you to help me collect this deposit and dispatched it to charity organizations of your choice and let them know that it is I Mr. Lionel M. Rothschild that is making this generous donation.

I am writing this from my laptop computer in my hospital bed where I wait for my time to come. I pray for you to support and assist me with a good heart. I hope we can build a relationship based on trust because I want to do this by all means possible before I die.

But the choice is yours Please you can contact me through this email
address: 
Be blessed my beloved,
Mr. Lionel Rothschild.

I hate ads on my web pages so much, that...

I've decided to take control of my browser, and just not see them!

If you're running Windows, search for your hosts file.
(It may be in different places depending on your version, but its there. Click Search (wherever that is on your system) and just type "hosts" (without the inverted commas))

When its found, edit it with Notepad. You'll see something like:

# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

127.0.0.1 localhost


At the end of the file, type in the following lines:

127.0.0.1 mjxads.internet.com
127.0.0.1 pagead2.googlesyndication.com
127.0.0.1 pic.adbrite.com
127.0.0.1 ads.adbrite.com
127.0.0.1 banner.tattomedia.com
127.0.0.1 www.britepic.com
127.0.0.1 ads.socialmedia.com



with tabs (or at least one space between the 127.0.0.1 and the actual hostname)

Save the file.
Restart your browser.

Hopefully, you'll eliminate a good number of ads now.
Faster surfing - that's always good especially on a slow connection.

You can always find out other ad serving sites by looking at the source code of the web page, but I'll leave that as an exercise for you!

Let me know what you think.

Here's to faster surfing (which we'll need if the Australian Government goes ahead with its stupid mandatory internet filtering at the ISP level of sites it deems illegal or otherwise not in the best interests of Australians.....)

I was wrong...

about Barack Obama not winning the Presidency.

Congratulations sir.

Loved your use of social media to galvanise the voters.
That is what democracy is all about.

Global Cooling is Here....

so why are we embarking on a CETS? (Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme)

Global Cooling is Here

Now, I don't even pretend to understand the graphs and stuff on the website mentioned above, but its a damn sight more informative than our government simply "saying" that trading carbon emissions is the best way to stop global warming.

Honestly.

Think about it.

So a company has to pay to pollute.
If they're earning mega-bucks anyway, its just a cost to their business.
And the cost gets passed on to their consumers anyway!

Its really you and I who pay (eventually) for the pollution.

So.

Does an emissions trading scheme really help to reduce global warming?
I don't think so.

What do you think?

WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? This has got to be...

the biggest load of shit that I have heard in a long time.

McCain sends condolences to Obama | The Courier-Mail

Obama's grandmother, dying from cancer just hours before the US presidential elections.

I just don't understand.

Why not just after? Or a week ago? Or two weeks after?

Why just before?

If it looks like shit, and it smells like shit, it's very probably shit.

What do you think?

Here's a prediction - I really don't think that

Barack Obama will be President.

Why?

@Mobasoft: If what the zeitgeist points out is true, the establishment takes out Obama, and Biden takes over. Which makes sense to keep the status quo.

@Mobasoft: Four corporations own the entire media industry.

@Mobasoft: People are not put into positions of power in order to change things - they are put there to keep things the same. Sleep on it, it's true.

@Mobasoft: if 100% of us understood the first 20 minutes of this, oh what a vastly different place it would be - Zeitgeist Movie

@Mobasoft - Zeitgeist - Addendum

Monetary society? Might be good for some, but for most of us, no.... we don't stand a chance.

And even if Obama does actually become President, I really don't think he'll last too long....

This post was written on November 3rd, 2008, in Australia, by an Australian.

Some things just don't ring true.

Its no good saying "yeah, I knew he wouldn't get in" after the event....

I could be wrong, and I really hope I am, but..... I had to post this.

Educate yourself now.
Turn off the television news.
Ignore the daily newspapers.
Go to your local library.
Become an avid reader.
Talk to your much older folk.
Learn from history.

There is more going on in the world than you can possibly imagine.

ASK QUESTIONS - DECIDE FOR YOURSELF.

Self-education is the key.

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Have you seen....

Zeitgeist - Addendum?

At about 00:49:25, there appears this text:

"The truth is, there is no Islamic army or terrorist group called Al Qaida. And any informed intelligence officer knows this. But there is a propaganda campaign to make the public believe in the presence of an identified entity... The country behind this propaganda is the US" Robin Cook Former British Foreign Secretary
who incidentally, committed suicide.

Or did he?



You decide.
You have the power to change what is going on.
You are not helpless.

Educate yourself.

Educate yourself now.

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