Why Entitlement Killed the Dollar

Entitlement:  noun: belief that one is deserving of or entitled to certain privileges whether they deserve it or not.

People that don't make enough money:  ENTITLED to being homeowners whether they can pay for it or not.

People with bad credit:  ENTITLED to being homeowners even if they have a bad history with money.

John McCain:  ENTITLED to a never-ending defense budget.

Bush and our wonderful Congress:  ENTITLED to throw money (the U.S. does not have) at financial assets that are sinking giant financial institutions.

Big Banks:  ENTITLED to survival even if they make terrible decisions that would sink smaller banks.

Illegal Immigrants:  ENTITLED to the benefits of an American education for them and their children if they were fortunate enough to sneak into this country without getting caught.

Homeowners:  ENTITLED to their homes increasing in value because they have leveraged so much debt against it even if they haven't sold their home yet.

American Auto Industry:  ENTITLED to survival even if they produce inferior products.

American Commuters:  ENTITLED to low gas prices, even in a system that encourages heavy consumption of gasoline and few alternatives.

If you cannot afford something, you can't have it.  That applies to consumers, politicians, and business.  Politicians on both sides are rushing to print $700 BILLION dollars to save our economy.  I believe that this will absolutely kill the value of the American dollar; causing inflation that citizens my age have never seen.  The rest of the world, including OPEC, will see how mismanaged the U.S. financial system is and will stop using the dollar as a standard for trade.

Our defense, our security, our technology and research, our education, our healthcare, and our influence in the world are only as strong as our economy.

Cuil the Google Killer?

People like rising stars, but once they get to the top, everyone wants to dethrone the suckers. I remember when everyone loved Walmart. They were the amazing store everyone wanted in their hometown. People rallied around the stores waving the American flag. But then something happened. All of the sudden they went from a champion of the little guy to becoming "The Man". They went from suburbanites waving American flags to rednecks waving Confederate flags. What was the difference? They got TOO big, and people don't like that.

So is the story of Google. Everyone cheered for Google as it attempted to 'not be evil'. People were excited to see them take on the giant before them (Microsoft). Google is now the big company on the block and people are looking for the next David to slay the giant.


Introducing Cuil.com

Cuil.com has a lot going for them. It was founded by some ex-Googlers who raised nearly $30 million because they had a better way to search. After years of development, they have arrived. On Monday, July 28th 2008 they lauched with a big announcement. They search over 121 BILLION websites to get you the content you are looking for! Some estimates have that at over 3 times as many sites as Google searches. Cuil is getting a lot of press. Google even came out with a statement about Cuil on the Friday before it launched. I don't know what it said because I don't really care what it said.

I played with Cuil. My assessment? I think Cuil.bomb will last a while, but a lot of investors will lose a lot of money trying to keep it alive. What a crappy search engine. I did about a dozen searches ranging from "The Office Downloads" to "NPS". It doesn't matter how many sites you scour, if you return garbage, people won't use your search tool.

I use Google because it displays the results I'm looking for. I am not looking for a better search because Google works. I've tried many different search engines just to see what results come back and I always turn back to Google.

Cuil recieved a lot of press, but the press obviously didn't try to search with it.

Talk Jockey YouTube Challenge

I've really enjoyed making videos. For those of you that want to know how they work, here's a quick summary:

1. Find a video
I first watch a bunch of videos on YouTube. I choose YouTube because they are easy to access and cover a wide range of topics. I use a YouTube video download tool found here. There are many of them out there, but this one is about as easy as they come.

2. Cut it up
I next use video editing software to cut the downloaded video up into usable pieces. My favorite software is Adobe Premiere Pro.
3. Shoot me, baby!
Next, I get a rough script together then go out and shoot it. I have not chosen projects that are terribly complex because I've wanted to keep this step down to a minimum. Sunny has been nice enough to allow me to paint a green screen in our garage for added ability. For instance, in the Afgan Idol audition, the background was actually a green screen and I used the background from the YouTube clip to help give the appearance that I'm there.


4. Post It!
Right now I have just been posting my videos to my website. I plan on making a bunch more. At that point, I'll experiment with YouTube and see how it goes.

Your Ideas
Ok, so now I'm seeking your help! Please post ideas or specific links to videos you would like to see me make. I'm always up for a challenge, so bring on your ideas!

Video: My Afgan Idol Audition

So the "American Idol" thing didn't work out for me. I'm not upset. There were age requirements and I am too old. After a little investigation though, I found that the equivalent show in the middle east does not have an age requirement. Here's my audition where the middle east got a good taste of the mid west.

Video: My American Idol Audition

This has been a good season for American Idol, but it would have been a lot better if they had not disqualified me. Oh well...

When Virtual Girls Get Creepy

Here is an example of someone you would meet on a virtual blind date... click on the photo to visit with her live (just like a real date, you may have to wait for her to load).


Motion Portrait
This virtual freak is a creation of a Japanese company called Motion Portrait. Motion Portrait is a Sony spin-off that was created based on this one technology. The idea behind this is that they can take a single flat photo and create a 3D rendering of the person. The purpose of the tool is widespread, but I would assume the clients of theirs with the biggest pockets will be video game shops who are always looking for, and developing better ways to animate more realistic characters. Any actors scared that they'll be out of a job? Don't worry, there is always voice work; Motion Portrait "can match lip movements with voice through microphone in real-time".

This technique is not limited to just humans. Check out this little fury friend.

I can't wait until I go to order at a drive through and that hottie is there to help me. Here's a list of possible solutions Motion Portrait offers...

Transmorphers: More than Meets the Eye!

My wife and I were sifting through my mother-in-laws movie collection for something to watch when Sunny found a particularly deceiving title, "Transmorphers". It's cover actually resembled another recent blockbuster, but I don't remember seeing the advertisements for this one. That's because there were no ads. This one was a low-budget piece of crap film that they made solely for three audience types:

1. The elderly buying gifts for their grandkids
2. People in a huge hurry (my mother-in-law's situation)
3. Immigrants
   

These little straight-to-video gems are going to become less-and-less sellable. Not because there won't always be a large immigrant population pushing these things at swap meets, but because more and more movie sales will come from online. Let's explore:

Apple TV
Apple's recent consumer electronics genius is that they design great products and then give you a full delivery system to fill your electronics up. Most are familiar with the iTunes and iPod method. iTunes delivered music in a convenient model to their 1st generation iPods. With the advent of the video iPod, iTunes moved into television shows. People loved spending a half hour watching episodes of The Office, but 2 hours watching Office Space wasn't as big a hit. So Apple introduced Apple TV. The purpose of this devise is to allow you to use the iTunes format you are familiar with and deliver it to an appliance that's tied to your home entertainment system... a system you already watch movies with. If there is only going to be one winner in electronic movie distribution, your best bet is Apple.

Netflix
I am a huge Netflix fan. I hated walking up and down the isles at Blockbuster judging movies by their covers. Netflix has an elaborate recommendation system based on your feedback. If you don't trust their recommendations, you still have the reviews of the Netflix customers. Netflix has a digital download system that works pretty well, but the selection is limited and it's streamed to your computer. If you are a Netflix customer, you get this included as a part of your service. Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Amazon Unbox'd
One of my favorite companies ever launched a video download service called Amazon Unbox. I'm bias to bet on success with Amazon. Amazon has amazing sales power and has a die-hard audience of reviewers that will help steer people in the direction of good movies vs. transmorphers.

Proof that I'm Right
Meet Duane. Duane is the only guy on Amazon who wrote a review for Transmorphers. He gave it 2 out of 5 stars. His review was called, "Could Have Been Worse". Here was the first paragraph of his review:

"When I saw this movie first listed, I thought that some one had misspelled 'Transformers' for the title. But, it turned-out to be a separate film entirely. Being curious, I decided to invest the 86 minutes of my night off to watch it."

Genius.