velvetackbar's blog

DEMAND MORE

Submitted by velvetackbar on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 17:30

This Christmas, I want you to do something new and different: I want you to talk to your relatives about what kind of world you want this to be. And I want you to NOT stop talking, even with that blowhard brother in law ranting on in his best bellicose impression of El Rushbo.

I want you to look at your kids, and your parents and your cousins and your brothers and your sisters and tell them that its time for a 15 minute promise.

Pledge to call your elected representatives EVERY WEEK and tell them how you feel. It will take 15 mins a week. Think of that as your 15 minute promise.

wasteful idiots

Submitted by velvetackbar on Wed, 08/10/2011 - 21:06

A thoughtful person looks at a broken program, idea, or thing, and says to him or herself, "Hrm...what can I do to fix this thing and make it better?"

An idiot looks at the same broken program, idea, or thing, and says to him or herself, "Shut it down. Throw it away. Dispose of it."

Both may well reach the same conclusion in the end, but the idiot generates a lot more waste along the way.

Talking point for 2012

Submitted by velvetackbar on Tue, 08/09/2011 - 18:33

If I was a person with a sworn hatred of hamburgers you wouldn't put me in charge of running a hamburger stand. If I was a person that openly stated that I hated dogs and cats, you wouldn't want me to be in charge of your pets. If I hated kids, you wouldn't want me as a teacher. If I was incapable of compromise, you wouldn’t dream of making me a hostage negotiator. If I openly stated my goal was to destroy your business and grind it to a halt, you wouldn't hire me as CFO. You you would probably even think twice about hiring me to take out the garbage.

buggy whips are sexy too, but *not in that way*

Submitted by velvetackbar on Sat, 08/06/2011 - 21:30

I came up with an idea for a device back in the early 2000's that was remarkable similar to the Kindle and Ipad of today. I tried to get it built, and even discussed this device with venture capitalists and several publishers. One publisher was interested: Jim Baen. He had just launched his Baen Library, and saw immediately that this would be a compliment to his business model, but wasn't able to finance the creation of the device.

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