Djsteen and Leggyblonde show you how to “Beach Frolic”. Beach Frolicking is a free and safe way to exercise every bone in your body! It also makes for a great video.
1. Buy a laptop
Computers have gotten a lot cheaper especially laptops. They used to be well over a grand not too long ago. Now a days you could probably get two Asus EEE pcs for $600 or have your pick of a wide variety of $500 laptops. You’ll probably want to throw one into the Puget sound if you go to Gnomedex anyway.
2. A New Console or 10 Video Games
You could buy an Xbox 360, a Wii or a PS3 or two of them! Or if you already have a console you could buy ten video games. No ones going to be having fun at Gnomedex so you’ll have a lot more fun laughing around a game of Wii Bowling than listening to some rich snob brag about his blog.
3. Go on Vacation
Forget paying for a plane ticket to seattle and then paying an arm and a leg for Gnomedex. Skip the Gnomedex ticket.. A plane ticket to Hawaii from Seattle is only about $400-$500 if you plan in advance. Why not spend the day at the beach rather than at the Seattle pier listening to speakers spam you about their new projects and endlessly plug themselves?
4. Electronics Galore
Why not get a new GPS? Or a new smartphone? You could buy a new digital camera! Or maybe a new mp3 player. The skys the limit when you’ve got 600 bucks! Why did you want to go to a conference again? I forgot too.
5. Savings
Sometimes life hits you hard. Your car goes out, your computer dies, the toilet breaks, if you’ve got 600 dollars to splurge why not put that into savings? You might need it for a rainy day. Why waste that $600 sitting around surfing the internet at a conference center surrounded by people you don’t even know who are sitting around surfing the net too? Yeah you can do that at home.
6. Books
With 600 bucks you could easily buy twenty books on geeky subjects. You could learn a lot about tech you don’t already know you could buy a Kindle and load it up with lots of stuff! Get you geek on and learn a new OS, programming language, or whatever. You know you’ll hear nothing of any learning value at Gnomedex so why waste the brain cells?
7. New Project
You could start a new website or sixty! Domains are cheap and there’s plenty of free sites to host your content. Why not start a new podcast or actually work on your blog rather than spend 600 bucks to sit around and talk about it. Who wants to hang out with a bunch of bloggers in real life anyway? I mean why would they rule cyberspace if their real life wasn’t boring? I mean come on.
8. 600 songs on iTunes
For that much cash you could really expand your music collection! I’m sure it would sound a whole lot better than anything you’ll hear at a Seattle conference this week. Hell you could buy a guitar and write your own music. Why not? Any noise you can make will sound better than listening to an egotistical blogger ramble on and on.
9. Try Lifecasting
Buy that new EVDO card you always wanted or a brand new N95 and try your hand at Qik! Lifecasting is all the new rage and its sure to get you kicked out of every bar, club, movie theather and store you ever dreamed of! Besides if you decided to stream video at Gnomedex every stuck up rich blogger would complain you’re going to broadcast their private life and ruin one of their “super important” propriety insider secrets. So might as well forget going there.
10. Go To A Real Conference
If meeting people and learning more about geek culture was on your agenda maybe you could save that 600 bones for something better. Skip the egotistical conference and go with one thats super geeky like a barcamp. If you’re into community go to SXSW Interactive in Austin, TX right now you can almost buy two tickets for $600. If you like gaming PAX is in Seattle later this month and its only $50. If you have a video or audio show go for a podcamp they’re free and theres lots of them going on during the year. Best of all you actually meet people that care about what you have to say, you’ll have a great time and you’ll have extra money in your pocket. Who knows maybe Pirillo will actually have to work this year.
There is a certain climate that has been established it regards to religious belief in america over its small existence. I am not sure when, how or why this exactly all started or who started it. I think its easy to say the majority of america is christian, practicing or not. About 1/3 of the world or approximately 2 billion people identify themselves as christians. There are plenty of other religions in america but I don’t have the background or the knowledge to correctly write a commentary on all of them. I would like to talk to you about morality as it relates to this religion and the conflicts that surround it.
There are a few major things I think in a way have become self deprecating to the christian community. First off they have built the vast majority of their beliefs on something that has no basis in the roots of the religion itself. That is to say a lot of what a christian in america today believes has little or no basis in the bible, teachings or other ancient writings of the creation of the religion. The bulk of what a christian believes is what someone has told them to be true. They are told to believe on “faith” what is being spoken to them which in my opinion is a corruption of the religion itself and totally the improper way of forming a belief system.
To prove my point let me dissect some of the major ideas of the christian belief and show you that it is not always as clear as a preacher in a pulpit may have you believe. Most christians in america will tell you if you want to be a christian and go to heaven you must be saved. Being “saved”, however, looks a lot less black and white in a biblical context than it is perceived in this culture. Most of christians think being saved may involve “asking jesus into your heart” or “confessing all your sins” all of which are catch phrases drilled into the culture by preachers, pastors, fathers, etc. However I want to propose to you that confessing something has no impact on your belief system. Simply saying something does not make it true. Some may point to the scripture 1 John 1:9 which says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” But if they had simply looked up a few verses to verse 6 it gives a bigger picture: “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.” Simply saying something in a biblical context has no bearing on how you “walk” or the way we live our life. You can go into a confessional booth, spill your guts, talk about changing yourself, maybe even tell yourself you are different but if nothing changes, in a very practical sense, it was a complete waste of time.
The phrase “salvation” is even a major question mark when compared to the real evidence that ancient christianity provides. If you ask an evangelical christian about what being saved is you will often receive the response “It means you asked jesus into you heart you are going to heaven!” This is usually considered in modern christian circles as a one time act of saying a prayer and conforming to the church. However there are verses in the bible such as Philipians 2:12 “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling” This suggests that being “saved” is not a one time act as modern christians believe. In fact there is very little biblical evidence to link salvation and entrance to heaven. I believe that this term is actually referring to a life that has been freed or “saved” from oppression and evil rather than a “I’m sorry” prayer and a ticket to heaven. The kind of heaven view that has perpetuated is very narrow sided compared to what the history shows biblically. If you took the time you would find that many of the major discussed beliefs in christianiy today have little or no basis in its own ancient writings. If people just simply had to “confess your sins” or say a prayer and “ask jesus into your heart” then everyone could do this easily and there would be no moral responsibility by anyone.
I think lack of moral responsibility may be exactly what is happening in the christian culture. I have seen statistical evidence to suggest that, in many cases, within people that are self professed “christians” crime, rape, divorce and other rates are higher than other non-christian people. There is really no way to be totally sure of this in my opinion, because the controversy surrounding religion causes many statistics to be stacked in a way to prove an agenda. Still, christians today act very similar or worse than anyone else in our culture. We’ve seen evidence of some of these statistics for example through the various scandals involving child molestation in the catholic church. Because christians are so often told to believe blindly and are constantly being bombarded with what they are not to do, it is more readily in their minds to think about doing immoral or criminal type acts. The christian religion has been reduced to a mere outwardly appearance of goodness rather than inwardly moral change. What I mean by this is that, to this country, being a christian is most often an act of allegiance rather than an improvement of the soul. Most christians can’t tell you why they believe what they believe and for the most part it is simply a meaningless act to somehow prove themselves to the social scene of other religious people. The most serious moral questions that people ask about christianity are replied to by the followers by short pre-canned answers. For example if one asks how to change their life for the better, most christians will not talk to you about self analysis and introspection but how to “ask jesus into your heart” and how to “believe in him” which can usually be equated as the same as doing absolutely nothing when you actually study a christian’s actions.
I think that one of the biggest things that has degraded the religion from within is the lack of open discussion in terms of what is believed, and the segregation that has occurred so rapidly between different beliefs. Its been over 450 years since Martin Luther nailed his work of 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg and the great church Reformation began. This event forever changed church history and spawned an age of freedom from the severely oppressive and equally contradictory catholic church. However this event seemed to give the protestant church an entirely different idea. Instead of provoking genuine discussion and thought whenever conflict arose, more sects and denominations were established to divide opinions. Whenever even the slightest bit of minor discrepancy begin to arise someone would create a new denomination of christianity and separate themselves from others in the religion. This has had a very adverse and contradictory effect on christianity in present time. Today so many adherents to the religion place so much importance on minor beliefs that it has been counteractive to church reform, free thought and constructive criticism.
Similarly, the church has lost sight of what the important issues of its own religion are. Instead of being more proactive in the area of philanthropy and charity the church has chosen to become involved in imposing christian beliefs in politics. No one in christianity wants to talk about solving the problem of homelessness and poverty. Instead they want to talk about abortion, gay marriage and condemning non believers for their non submission to christian values. Values which for the most part are not even spelled out as clearly in the religion as people would have you think.
I think the christian church in america has a lot of issues it needs to sort out. The main problems have been lack of consistancy and the failure of the church to be something viable to solving the worlds problems and cause a genuiene desire in its followers to improve themselves. The church has caused itself to fall into general ineffectness and stagnancy. Most modern christianity has become not much more than a place of social status rather than socital improvement. I think all of us are trying to form some sort of belief system and you can not deny it, wheather you are a religious person or not, what you value and think is true will have some sort of effect on the actions you take in life. These values need to be formed in an objective and and cafeful inspective manner for you to form a meaningful set of effective opinions on life. Never be afraid of a good discussion and don’t let religion block you from pondering life, let’s face it, it’s just a sham in the form its taken today. Inner stregth is a quality that is important to life but the church has only caused great confusion about morality to society. We need to embrace self values and self regulation in a way that is free from the dogma and ridiculous unmeaningful tradditions that the christian religion has created.
This is the first of many columns I will be writing on a semi regular basis. I hope I can provide some insight a little bit of my own thoughts and opinions on things that are spinning around in my head. These will be under the category “My Commentary”. Enjoy.
It has always been an important part of building a business. Relationships and business deals, suppliers and distributors, acquisitions and mergers; all have some sort of component where a relationship is made and a deal is struck. Our market requires us to be social. Great customer service requires clear communication between worker and client. I think no matter how you look at it, social order effects society (and vice versa). When making a major purchase, most of us seek counsel from those we trust to help us make the best decision. Having items such as a cool car or fancy watch even become a status symbol of our buying power. Sometimes we purchase things for the simple fact that we want to blend the property we’ve acquired into our social life. Why is this important? Because knowing things such as this can help you build a brand name or allow you to see through the hype. As time progresses, we are going to see an acceleration of mass communication and shifts in social interaction and news. This hasn’t been branded the Information Age for nothing.
Back when starting a business was as simple as opening doors in a busy part of town, or gaining a client was as easy as a handshake, you would mostly be contained to a local area. We’ve now become a more globalized market of chain stores, business models and corporate policy. In some ways I believe it’s good that we expand our influence and create healthy businesses where we can make an impact with our world, but there’s been some issues. Large companies are spread out and hard to manage. Many of them are impersonal, schizophrenic entities that seem to have no clear business plan. They often cut corners and outsource labor to save buck or two and line their pockets. Some of those big issues stem from lack of communication within the company, as well as with their customers. One of the biggest forms of positive or negative PR for a company is what kind reputation they have. Word of mouth is very powerful advertising. If you can win the minds and hearts of a few customers, they won’t have any problem telling others about your services. You have to have a company that can be relevant to the people, open to constructive criticism and is overall on the same plane with the customer. This makes for a healthy company, as people will see that you care on a personal level and that it’s not just about making profit and running with it. Still there are always exceptions to this, but these things will give you an edge over your competitors and longevity in the market.
The internet has opened so many opportunities for someone to build a business and build a social gathering around who they are, where they come from, and what kind of company the own. Why is this important? As previously mentioned, communication is key and you must have social skills if you hope to succeed. The internet is a breeding ground for getting your name out there. According to some estimates, there are about 200 million Americans online.* Because media can be copied, reproduced and spread in a such a short amount of time, you can get a message out to a wide audience very quickly. The internet can break all the old boundaries of business deals, advertising, and customer service. If there are millions of internet viewers, having yourself out there is to your advantage. You can meet new people that may be an advantage to your company. You can interact with your customers in new ways never previously imagined. Literature and information can be spread very rapidly.
Social networks have revolutionized the way we communicate. Whether it be popular sites such as Myspace or Facebook, picture sharing sites, video sharing sites, social news sites, chat rooms, instant messaging programs, forums, blogs, or micro-blogs like Twitter, they all can be used to our advantage. Even if your company might not be able to use one of these services directly, it may be in your best interest to make yourself personally known on the internet. Being interactive and able to communicate to a large audience can make an amazing impact, and brings true authenticity to your brand. There is somewhat of a stigma around new technologies, but just because one hasn’t proved itself yet as a stable place to generate income, it doesn’t necessarily mean it can’t be utilized. Eyeballs are eyeballs and once the internet becomes more ubiquitous it will start to generate more money. When people see you and recognize you it can be a huge advantage because they will become interested in what you are doing. The social aspect of the web can bring you many opportunities you otherwise wouldn’t have.
-Joel Smith
Copyright 2008
like coming out of a battle on all sides
coming out without a scratch
winning the first, second and third
my life is like a poem yet to be written, like a song yet to be sung
Gary Varynerchuk threw out another interesting video yesterday and challenged everyone to an interesting concept; thank all of the good people and write, blog, twitter, make noise about them. I decided this was something I wanted to get on board with. I am going to highlight one main person in my life but let me thank all the other people first. I want to thank many internet personalities I’ve interacted with: Chris Poage for teaching me so much and letting me crash at his house, Shawn Aguirre for being so consistent on my podcast and for all the lulz, Gary Vaynerchuk of course for WLTV and great inspiring posts, Justine Ezarik for creating such a great community I have been a part of, Derek Steen for being so consistent with his viddler posts and keeping me company late at night. Thanks to all the other great people from JTV, the ones I met at Podcampaz, and the rest of the great people on the internet. People I talk to primarily in person that want to acknowledge: my mom and grandma who constantly bail me out of the bad situations I get into (car wrecks and lost jobs), I thank my brother and sister who consistently are more and more fun to hang out and talk with, all my friends from the old music scene: Jeff Johnson, Ryan O’Flaherty, Shawn Stallburger, Zach Winterton, Brayden Bruner, Daniel & Brandon Guzman, Brendan Hummel, Joe Kowen, Jeff Katz, Kent Sykes, and anyone else who hung out at The Underground in Walla Walla, WA. Thank you all for starting something inside of me that I have still yet to figure out and for making me question my world and want to make it a better place. I want to thank Tyler and Marissa Essex for believing in me, Joe Oliveto and Korey Divine for great times. John Becker, can’t thank him enough. Andrew Ng for going to eat sushi with me so much. Justin Cameron for the cherry Dr Pepper and Tiger Woods video games. Lynzee Jana Mae for being just a text message away in every situation.
There is one person however I would really like to take some extra time to talk about who was the greatest person I’ve known in my lifetime, and that is my father Troy Smith. My father, little people have known, but those who did have a lot to say about him. He was a great father to me growing up. We spent endless hours together. He taught me many things and was always there, always loving and caring and got me excited about learning new things. My father was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 1995 and had an operation to remove it. The cancer remained dormant for many years but then around 2001 they found more tumors. This time it was inoperable. It was strange for me seeing my father in such a bad condition and there was nothing I could do. In February of 2002 he passed away. But the hard times taught me something about myself and the life of this man taught me more than I can say. Most of you reading this probably never knew him but this man had a heart like a fire, a laugh and a smile as contagious as they come. Though he won’t be in any history book, to those that knew him are inspired to be a better person and that’s how he is remembered. His death may still utterly puzzle me, but as every day goes by I am reminded to take life by the horns. I am still effected by that loving, caring smile and the calm uplifting encouragement I heard throughout my childhood.
Hey everyone I’ve been extremly busy with work, doing some 10 and 12 hour shifts.. ready to take some time off next week. Anyways I have been debating with myself and finally decided I’m going to re-theme my blog, add some cool graphics to it maybe spice it up just a little you know? I’m going to write some interesting, meaningful and thought provoking posts pertaining to life and probably some technology issues as well. I was really inspired by a blog post by Gary Vaynerchuck earlier this week. It seems kind of contradictory that I would like to write something along the lines of that video and he’s talking about not copying people, but I really think that is part of who I am and if you knew me really well you’d know that. And most people know I like funny stuff so I might throw a video or two in if I get the chance.. coming up in about a month is Roflcon in Boston, MA (well actually Cambridge but you get the picture). I’ve never been to Boston and I’m looking forward to meeting all the cool people and hanging out. I will also be lifecasting most of the event! Hope to see you there!
Hi everyone! The After Hours Podcast has been going great we now have the new design up and running. Episode 13 is up! All the episodes will now be available at www.afterhoursgeeks.com
There will be new things coming to my blog here.. a new design and more writings, some videos. I plan to have a weekly column on here about various things, technology, philosophy, politics, culture. Look forward to some good changes.
Episode 12
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Jimmy Wales Breaks Wikipedia Rules for Girlfriend
Adobe Air 1.0
Pilot Gets Fired After Extremely Low Flyby in Brand-New Boeing 777
Pakistan lifts YouTube ban
Australia moving ahead with plans to erect ISP porn filters
iTunes #2 in All US Music Sales
Linux runs natively on the Wii
Divx Stage 6 Shut Down
3-Year-Old Summarizes Star Wars
New Botanicalls Version Lets Plants Communicate Using Twitter
Google to invest in undersea cable to Asia
XBOX Live bans phrase linux from gamertag motto
New bill takes on cell phone unlocking, municipal broadband
EBay sees growing risks to business in coming year
Want to have women hitting on you? Hang out at an Apple Store.
