Saturday, May 29, 2010

Fell into Deep Sleep Right Before Waking

Sleep statistics for 28 - 29 May (Sat).

Went to bed / woke up: 12:21 AM / 7:50 AM
Total time: 7h 28m

Analysis made by Sleep Cycle.

My sleep graph for the entire night:

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Chris Weible

Posted via email from midwestguru's posterous

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Why Zuckerberg doesn't have Asperger's. Inspired by #twig

There has been several recent comments stating that Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook might have Asperger's Syndrome.  Speaking as someone with Asperger's, and the parent of someone with Asperger's, I can be sure that Zuckerberg does not have Asperger's.

The reason people think Zuckerberg has Asperger's is because he demonstrates some of the main symptoms. Mainly because he doesn't think the way most people do, and he doesn't seem to understand that other people don't think the way he does. In an Aspie (someone with Asperger's) this often leads to them unintentionally causing discomfort and harm to other people.

However, there is a big difference.  If you confront someone with Asperger's about how they've hurt someone else unintentionally, they will immediately show remorse. My 14 yo, aspie son is often reduced to tears when he finds out he's hurt someone unintentionally. Zuckerberg on the other hand, not only shows no remorse, but refuses to acknowledge that he's done any damage. 

I propose that Zuckerberg does not have Asperger's, but is instead mildly psychopathic and delusional. I have no proof of this, but he seems to have a complete disconnect with reality that will probably destroy Facebook in the next few years. We are already starting to see it start to fray at the edges as people realize that Zuckerberg has no intention of protecting our privacy or allowing us to protect it while using his service. 

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Thursday, May 13, 2010

Now Shipping...Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell

This is one of my all time favorite books.

via Trader's Diary by Nate on 5/13/10

No, not the book by Annie Proulx — Quarter Share.

Amazon now lists it in stock and Ridan reports they have recieved their initial shipments. I’m waiting for my boxes to show up here in the next day or so and you can order a signed copy of your own right now!

Pretty cool, I think.

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Friday, May 7, 2010

I find stitcher and it's ilk to be less than useful.

While stitcher and it's ilk are intriguing products, I don't really find them that useful. I listen to a lot of podcasts and to have any chance of keeping up, I have to listen to them sped up. Stitcher doesn't have a double speed option or anything similar. You have to stream the audio at normal speed. At this rate I'd never catch up.

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Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Consumer debt is not your friend


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Consumer debt is not your friend

Here's a simple MBA lesson: borrow money to buy things that go up in value. Borrow money if it improves your productivity and makes you more money. Leverage multiplies the power of your business because with leverage, every dollar you make in profit is multiplied.

That's very different from the consumer version of this lesson: borrow money to buy things that go down in value. This is wrongheaded, short-term and irrational.

A few decades ago, mass marketers had a problem: American consumers had bought all they could buy. It was hard to grow because dispensable income was spoken for. The only way to grow was to steal market share, and that's difficult. Enter consumer debt.

Why fight for a bigger piece of pie when you can make the whole pie bigger, the marketers think. Charge it, they say. Put it on your card. Pay now, why not, it's like it's free, because you don't have to repay it until later. Why buy a Honda for cash when you can buy a Lexus with credit?

One argument is income shifting: you're going to make a lot of money later, so borrow now so you can have a nicer car, etc. Then, when money is worth less to you, you can pay it back. This idea is actually reasonably new--fifty years or so--and it's not borne out by what actually happens. Debt creates stress, stress creates behaviors that don't lead to happiness...

The other argument is that it's been around so long, it's like a trusted friend. Debt seems like fun for a long time, until it's not. And everyone does it. We've been sold very hard on acquisition = happiness, and consumer debt is the engine that permits this. Until it doesn't.

The thing is, debt has become a marketed product in and of itself. It's not a free service or a convenience, it's a massive industry. And that industry works with all the other players in the system to grow, because (at least for now) when they grow, other marketers benefit as well. As soon as you get into serious consumer debt, you work for them, not for you.

It's simple: when the utility of what you want (however you measure it)
is less than the cost of the debt, don't buy it.

Go read Dave Ramsey's post: The truth about debt.

Dave has spent his career teaching people a lesson that many marketers are afraid of: debt is expensive, it compounds, it punishes you. Stuff now is rarely better than stuff later, because stuff now costs you forever if you go into debt to purchase it. He's persistent and persuasive.

It takes discipline to forego pleasure now to avoid a lifetime of pain and fees. Many people, especially when confronted with a blizzard of debt marketing, can't resist.

Resist. Smart people work at keeping their monthly consumer debt burden to zero. Borrow only for things that go...

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Chris Weible

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