The Spinning Beachball In My Brain
el rolio might just be an info-addict
The Simplicity Test: A Simple Policy Guide for Job Growth
In: Shared| Uncategorized
31 Jan 2010I found this @ blog maverick
The simplest way to create more jobs is to allow small business and entrepreneurs to spend less time and money on lawyers and accountants and redirect that intellectual and financial capital to the core competencies of their business.
Any new government policy that requires the hiring of lawyers and accountants will not lead to new jobs, it will lead to time and money being wasted and fewer jobs being created.
Like the administration before it, the current administration seems to have no concept of what it takes to start, run and grow a small business. None.
Here is a hint. If you want to see more jobs created by Small Businesses and entrepreneurs REDUCE the amount of paperwork required. Dramatically simplify the tax code. In other words, if you REDUCE THE OVERHEAD of small business, you effectively create capital for them through reduced costs. Not only do you improve their financial position, but you reduce that great big time suck known as dealing with your accountants and lawyers. The more time wasted with “professional services”, the less time spent doing your job. This seems to be a concept lost on government.
One last thing. It appears to be a goal of the administration to free up loans to small businesses. For the sake of this comment, let me re-define Small Business as those companies with fewer than 20 employees. There are exceptions, but more often than not, the stupidest thing a business of this size can do is borrow money. Its stressful enough for a small business in these times to be profitable. Add to that stress the need to repay a loan and success becomes far more difficult.
If we want to accelerate the formation and growth of these small businesses we need to first reduce the costs imposed on them by the government (at all levels) and then simplify and reduce the costs of raising capital. Forget government loan guarantees. Make capital gains on investments up to $1mm in small companies tax free. Make this process paperwork free for the small business and a 1 page form for the investor.
Thats how we will see economic and job growth in this country
Op-Ed Columnist – The Populist Addiction – NYTimes.com
In: Shared
27 Jan 2010I found this @ www.nytimes.com
Shared by el rolioPopulists of both parties can’t seem to grasp that a politics based on punishing the elites won’t produce any of the things required for progress and growth.
Great post, and speaks to something I've been talking about a lot recently in light of budget freezes and the rise of behavioural economics etc.
Its simply this: capitalism, and the base belief in the pursuit of self interest is really the best. Serves a social good, leads to self-actualisation, allows people a chance to change their situation (maximising the portion of life that is strictly meritocracy), etc.
So for Brooks to take the step back and explain it simply in reference to Hamilton and Lincoln resonated with me. No one should be making ridiculous 9-figure money. That world is gone. The value and benefit of earning multi-generation money has evaporated. What we need is a playing field where the boundaries are constructed in a way that allows everyone to pursue self-interest strictly without the illusion of a zero-sum game being present.
I think its this simple: even if only 40% of society actually tries to act in their self-interest, the whole society still benefits. This income inequality shit needs to end. Just look and read about bill gates. I think its plainly obvious he got so far into the level of ridiculous money he was then enlightened. Gates realised there no reason one person should have a billion bucks when 1 million have only $10 between them.
Avatar vs. Modern Warfare 2: By the numbers
In: Shared
15 Jan 2010I found this @ The Cut Scene - Video Game Blog by Variety
While there's going to be quibbling about the numbers from both sides, the gist of the comparison remains valid. "Avatar" is the sales leader, but also carried a production budget that was more than four times what Infinity Ward spent on "MW2". Particularly interesting, though, is the fact that more marketing dollars were spent on the video game than the film. If nothing else, that speaks to the drawing power of Cameron's name.
Neither product, of course, is close to being finished with its revenue generation, though both are past their peak. "Modern Warfare 2" sales were still strong in December, but nowhere close to the launch numbers. And while "Avatar" continues to rule the box office, it's not doing so by the same wide margin it used to.
Both have a few tricks up their sleeve, though. The DVD release of "Avatar" will spur another round of buying by film fans, while "Modern Warfare 2" will have downloadable add-on packs that will almost certainly set new records for Xbox Live.
Click on the graphic above for a better look at the comparison.
Sunday Fanvid: Skerrit Boy Daggerin in BestBuy
In: Shared
10 Jan 2010I found this @ Mad Decent
This is the Major Lazer show at BestBuy a little while back. It was crazy how many people were there… Dr.Dre, Will.I.Am, Jimmy Iovine, The Owner of Best buy and Skerrit Boy daggered a girl in front of them all. Hahahaha
Ten years of BlackBerry
In: Shared
28 Dec 2009I found this @ Engadget
Continue reading Ten years of BlackBerry
Ten years of BlackBerry originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsDirt Poster
In: Shared
26 Dec 2009I found this @ Shiny Squirrel
This is incredible.
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- Tags: Art
The Early Adopter APIs For Foursquare | InventorSpot
In: Shared
4 Dec 2009I found this @ inventorspot.com
Shared by el rolioTop 10 Foursquare APIsWhat catapulted Twitter and Facebook into the Stratosphere? One innovative approach opened the doors to the most successful social media experiments to date? An Application Programming Interface or API is what did the trick! And
Foursquare releasing the hounds. Let's see how this turns out. #optimistic
Huh… whaddaya know, there are smart people here.
In: Shared
3 Dec 2009I found this @ HBO
Shared by el rolioThere have been a couple of interesting threads on our forum recently that set themselves apart with two features: they both introduce questions that focus on the wider gaming world (Halo can certainly play a role, but the ideas are much grander than one game), and they're bringing out some really thought-provoking discussion. Both threads are well-attended; they don't NEED to be front-paged, but I figured there were probably people who read the Halo news, and would be interested in the intellectual discussion, but don't often delve into the forum.
both interesting what with what I believe to be a VERY relevant discussion about a return to storytelling in this increasingly fragmented media/attention world (the former). Whereas the latter speaks to gaming culture (which permeates good marketing/engagement) and what should be the psychology behind game mechanics in one of the largest forms of entertainment nowadays.
also, if you make great hooks as part of your core mechanics, you produce modern warfare 2 addicts like myself.
- Miguel Chavez brought in a video essay comparing videogames to 'tentpole movies' - and wondered whether games can tell stories in a way that's meaningfully different from the way that movies tell stories? (There are some pretty opinionated people in this thread.)
- psychophan7 spent a bunch of time formatting his ideas on gaming difficulties, and how game designers can reward more people than they currently cater to - I don't agree with his conclusions, but I'm heartened by the discourse that the thread is generating.
Drop into both of these threads, read some of what's been written - and if you find this stuff interesting, by all means, join in!(Louis Wu 14:25:09 +0000)
I found this @ FirstShowing.net
Empire released their 20th anniversary issue back in April, which you may remember because they had all sort of brilliant photo debuts and exclusives. The main reason they were able to pull off so much is because they had Steven Spielberg guest editing that issue. Well, one of the features in that issue was a photo shoot where they recreated iconic performances using the actual actor. It's not as complicated as it sounds, as you can simply see by looking at any of these photos, but it is pretty brilliant. We saw a lot of these back in April when they first hit, but now Empire has debuted an entire gallery of photos. You need to check these out!
I've pulled some of my favorites above and you can click any them to be taken to the gallery on Empire. As Dave Chen from SlashFilm points out, there's some minor discussion worth having over whether the role they chose to feature for each specific actor was truly their most iconic role. Then again, maybe it had to do with what would look good on camera and what could be recreated quickly (as in, with the actor wearing a suit and using minimal props). I just think these are very cool to look at and quite nostalgic for anyone who loves any of these actors. Plus, I'm happy to see Vanity Fair isn't the only one doing creative photo shoots!
Discover More: Cool Stuff, Opinions, Photos
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- Tags: Cool Stuff, Opinions, Photos
Arianna Huffington: Journalism 2009: Desperate Metaphors, Desperate Revenue Models, And The Desperate Need For Better Journalism
In: Shared
2 Dec 2009I found this @ www.huffingtonpost.com
Shared by el rolioI was asked to give a speech this morning at a journalism conference in Washington sponsored by the Federal Trade Commission. The topic, as it so often seems to be these days, is what can be done to save journalism? Since Rupert Murdoch was scheduled to address the conference a little before me, I thought this would be a good time to take a look at Murdoch's increasingly bellicose war against new media sites that aggregate the news, the increasingly desperate revenue models being discussed for online news, and what, in fact, needs to be done to ensure that journalism will not only survive, but thrive. The new paths to media success are still being charted, and much remains uncertain. But this much is clear: we can't use an analog map and expect to find our way in a digital world.
Really good, and funny take on all this news corp vs the web stuff. Wish she would have touched on what it takes ($$$) to get proper investigative journalism done. But overall the content is clear, especially the bit about aggregation (should be as that's what her websites bread and butter is)
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I’m a plannery-type, always reading something, glued to a screen when I’m not sporting or drinking. These are some of the interesting/fun/pretty things I’ve read and wanted to share with you. If I’m moved to expressing an original thought, then it might show up here as well. Enjoy! Subscribe! Win!
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- The Simplicity Test: A Simple Policy Guide for Job Growth
- Op-Ed Columnist – The Populist Addiction – NYTimes.com
- Avatar vs. Modern Warfare 2: By the numbers
- Sunday Fanvid: Skerrit Boy Daggerin in BestBuy
- Ten years of BlackBerry
- Dirt Poster
- The Early Adopter APIs For Foursquare | InventorSpot
- Huh… whaddaya know, there are smart people here.
- Empire’s ‘Iconic Performances Recreated’ Nostalgic Photo Shoot
- Arianna Huffington: Journalism 2009: Desperate Metaphors, Desperate Revenue Models, And The Desperate Need For Better Journalism