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I Don’t Know Nearly As Much As I Think I Do

March 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I Don't Know Nearly As Much As I Think I Do
As someone who works with technology every single day, I pride myself on knowing a lot about it. I manage blogs for other people, I give talks about social networking, and I'm always reading up or playing with the latest gadget.

Whether it's an Android smart phone, a digital camera, or rigging up said camera to my computer and using it for a video conference, I try to stay up with most of the latest consumer technology developments, so I can answer questions for friends.

I recently won an Apple TV, the little black box that uses your home's wifi connection to stream TV shows, movies, and YouTube videos over the Internet. Although we watch NetFlix over our Nintendo Wii, I thought I would try the new device out.

Our TV uses an HDMI (high definition multimedia interface) cable, which produces an ultra-sharp picture that's almost more vivid and clear than real life. When I pulled out the Apple TV — which is as big as stack of 10 CDs — I saw that it only had a plug for an HDMI cable.

Problem was, it had a smaller HDMI plug than I expected. It was actually a mini-HDMI plug, and I didn't have the appropriate cables. I had a regular HDMI cable, which had standard-sized plugs on both ends, but nothing to fit a smaller HDMI socket.

I headed to Fry's Electronics (think Wal-Mart for the geek set) because they have reasonably-priced HDMI cables. I found a guy in the TV section, and explained what I needed.

"Seriously? I didn't think the Apple TV had a mini HDMI plug."

"No, it does. I looked at it last night."

"Huh," the guy said, staring into the distance, trying to wrap his head around the idea I had just presented to him. I waited patiently for the little hamster to get up to full speed on the wheel.

I always have various degrees of success at Fry's. It's not that they don't have what I need, it's that they're not always as knowledgeable about what I'm looking for

For example, a year ago, my wife and I went to Fry's to get her a netbook, a very small laptop that's more suited to surfing the web than storing anything on it. Two different salespeople tried to steer her toward a laptop, saying the netbook would get slower as time went by, and couldn't store photos and music. I explained that she needed it primarily for web use, not photos and music, but they were undeterred We ended up buying a netbook from another store for the principle of it.

My guy finally clicked into gear and said, "let's just go ask the Apple guys which cable we need. They'll know."

We walked to the Apple section, and he explained the situation.

"I didn't know the Apple TV needed a mini HDMI," said the Apple guy. "Does it have the standard RCA plugs on the back too, or just the HDMI?"

"Just the HDMI," I said. "It's the new version."

"I didn't know the new Apple TV came with the mini HDMI," he repeated, trying to wrap his own brain around the idea. "I mean, I've got one, and it needed the regular HDMI cable."

I was getting a little impatient, because my family was waiting out in the car for me. "Look, I know it's the mini HDMI because I checked it out last night."

"I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm just surprised." He pointed me to the right aisle, and I found the right cable for $14. When I got to the car, I told my wife why it had taken so long. She rolled her eyes at the memory of the netbook debacle. When we got home, I opened the package, and plugged it in.

"Uh oh," I said.

"What's wrong?" asked my wife.

"It's too small. It needs a regular plug," I said, my face turning red, little beads of embarrassed sweat popping out on my forehead.

I stared at the Apple TV that had betrayed me. Do I take the cable back and risk embarrassment, or do I just keep it and learn a $14 lesson that I'm not nearly as smart as I thought.

I decided to keep it, because I actually will need a cable with a mini HDMI plug. Also, I didn't want to go back and admit defeat. A man has to keep what shreds of dignity he has left. But I thought I should send Fry's an apology for my impatience and questioning their product knowledge.

Or at least I would have, but my daughter was using my laptop, and my wife's computer is too slow to be much use.


My book, Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself (affiliate link), is available on Amazon.com, as well as at Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores. I wrote it with my good friend, Kyle Lacy.

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It’s not all bad news in economic development

November 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
indianapolis startup weekend.

My friends and family who are all Cable TV junkies are always down and out about where the country is headed. I even have one relative preparing for the upcoming revolution, if it would happen. (Note: He is not participating in any group, he is just preparing himself to protect his property). This is all foreign thought to me.

I was asked, what do you think? I pointed out that there are a lot of smart people in this country always generating new ideas for business. Business is happening. The problem is Cable Television is not reporting on it because good news does not conform to the “economy of fear and anger” ruling our flat screens. I conveyed a story about a friend who I had not seen in a while.  Last time we had met, he was involved in a startup dealing with medical informatics. I asked him how it was going, he says, “I sold that company. It got bought by a big company recently.  I am now onto building a new company.”

And, this weekend, there was the Startup Weekend at Purdue. It was a marathon event where 60 bright people came up with several ideas to start a new business. Out of Indiana, one idea has made it to the Global Battle.

Startup Weekend Indianapolis

“StartUp Weekend Indianapolis has brought together people with ideas and people with skills. A mix of seasoned vets, and lots of rookies are spending the weekend, building something truly exciting. .. The weekend is filled with opportunities to learn new things, try new things, and possibly even build something. Check out the Schedulee .. Busy this weekend? Join us for just the Pitches Sunday night and see who goes on to compete in the Global Battle.”

It is a national program where hope is ever present. Let’s take some ideas and build a new company from it.

It really is time to turn off Cable TV and the “Economy of Fear and Anger.”

Look around your community and I am sure you will find an economy of Entrepreneurs in your area. People who live to turn ideas into action. These people are your leaders. They are the ones that turn ideas into jobs. Here in Indianapolis, there are several groups specializing in supporting their industries. Techpoint, Indiana Venture Club,  and Bio-Crossroads to name a few. These groups support new businesses and ideas in our community.

Now, we have Startup Weekend.  How cool is that? Turn off Cable TV, look around, you will find there is Gold in your community.  Join the real revolution – Entrepreneurs building new industries. It’s the American Way.

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Social Commentary Tagged With: , , , , ,

Stop whining

October 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment
picture of stop walking sign - stop the whining

picture of stop walking sign - stop the whiningWe should have a national day of, “Turning off Cable TV”. We need to ween people off the we are all going to die channels and get people back into their communities actually solving problems.

It’s about the economy. Join your local Entrepreneurial group. Learn about new companies that need support. Find out where your local economy can engage into the global economy.

Our problems do not stem from minority groups or Mexican immigrants.  It’s because we moved all our manufacturing off shore along with the jobs. It’s because we need skilled workers today, not unskilled. It’s because our economy has been on a slow decline since the 1950s.

Yet, we can not look back to the 1950s. The advantage we had at the time is gone – a world devastated by war and rebuilding. The United States economy was the only one intact. Now, we have to compete again. Yet, today, we choose to compete with each other’s opinions about right and wrong – black and white – left and right – forwards and backwards.

Government can not solve the problems.  It can be part of the solution. Here in Indiana, laws holding us back were the inventory tax and daylight savings time. When the State Government repealed these laws, the logistics companies were able to take advantage of the Indianapolis being the Crossroads it always claimed to be. Government has a role. It can work towards the future without disrespecting the past.

This country was built on idea generation like no other in the world. You can still try anything you want here. You can succeed, but you are allowed to fail. Let’s stop arguing about social issues and encourage ideas, investment and creation of new industries. We are the only nation good at doing those things.

My favorite line from John Stewart, “We are not living in the “End of Times”, we are living in difficult times.” Let’s all stop whining and pointing fingers at each other.  If we lose hope as a nation, it’s too late to fix our problems.

Turn off the Cable Television and join a local Entrepreneurs group. If there is not one, start one because the future depends on it.

Paul is the President of Professional Blog Service. PBS works with clients making strategic investments into blogging, social media and search engine optimization.

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Social Commentary Tagged With: , , , ,

Nostradamus and the Anti-Christ

September 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Last night, my Son and I watched Nostradamus on the History Channel.

According to the program, my Son and I learned that Napoleon was the first anti-Christ in his prophecies.  Wait?  What?

He was a change agent for his time.  He invaded Europe to eliminate the Monarchial structures.  After his defeat, the royal families quickly put them back.  They continued their repressions, until the 1848 revolutions which forced a compromise to their rule.

Now, the whole Hitler idea made sense.  But, when the guy tried to explain that Nostradamus predicted 9/11 by using numbers that if you convert them to something else, it comes up 9/11/11.  See, he had secret code because he did not want people to know they were the one.  Wait? What?

I used to have an employee that was a born again Christian.  We would have heavy discussions about religion, satan, etc.  He made reference to someone being an anti-Christ.  I said, “Of course he is, if you want to believe.”  “For all you know, I am the anti-Christ!”  I gave him an evil look and I think he almost pooped his pants.

As I was watching the show, the construction of the essay, I realized that we can see the things they were sharing, if we want to see it.

Who is Mabus that they speak of?  Well, if you move the letters and assign mathematical equation to the the letters, Mabus is Bush.  Wait?  What?  I thought he just had a hard time speaking English and had a “I don’t get any respect from my Daddy syndrome.”

If you Google the question, who is Mabus.  The answers are all over the place.

The anti-Christ is who we want to see.  For right wing Republicans, it is Obama.  For Liberals, it is Bush and Cheney.  According to Google search, it is a host of Middle Eastern leaders whose names mysteriously translate to Mabus.

I think the solution to all of this is simple.  If we would spend a little more time loving each other rather than hating each other, the world would in fact be a better place.  If we stopped listening to other people’s opinions about how things are and should be and start loving, things could get better.  Maybe we need to aspire to a higher level of consciousness.  A consciousness that understands our fears, our anger, our sadness, and embraces the joy, instead of allowing others to manipulate our fears and convert it into anger.   This could free us from ourselves to truly experience the love we all want and raise us to a higher consciousness.

Ah…who am I kidding.  We fear and hate because it feeds our egos.  Love is for suckers and hippies.

Filed Under: Social Commentary Tagged With:

SEX SEX SEX

December 9, 2008 By Leave a Comment

SEX SEX SEX…

I never thought of myself a prude. Today, everything seems to have a sexual connotation to it. All my favourite sitcoms have explicit sexual content in it.

What ever happened to Abbott and Costello? (I know, they are dead). I mean, where is the humour in just simple word play. “You want me to tanked up with Ethel? I don’t even know the girl.” Fine, there was a lot of sexual innuendo back in the day. It just seemed to have a little class with it.

Today?

I watched a deoderant commercial that was highly suggestive to say that when you get married and are getting ready to consumate your marriage, you don’t want a deoderant to ruin the moment.

Or, I love the Levi commercial where the guy and the girl take off their clothes and jump off the pier. That is a great image to show my raging hormoned teenage Son and his friends. These images do have an impact on a teenage mind. (As a parent, this one kind of pisses me off).

Or, watch any sitcom today. They kiss, then they have sex. Yes, this has been written about many times. When you step away and really look at what is happening, it does condition teenagers to see sex as a kiss and a roll in the sack.

We rented Scrubs from the library this weekend. Great show, I love the daydream sequences. But…holy crap, the Surgeon that is always talking about his thing. Isn’t that sexual harrasment in the real world? And all the kissing and making out in the hospital? Isn’t that a little over the top? The writers are obviously creative, but all the sex kind of takes away from those really truly funny and even real moments.

It is everywhere!!

Like I said, I never thought myself a prude and I am not writing this from some Reverend Jeb place. I just wonder if marketers and writers only creative form of expression today is to inject sex into every freaking thing we do. It is not a moral outrage, it is a creative outrage.

Or, as a society, are we so dumb now that the only way to motivate us is through sex. Have we already transported ourselves into an Idiocracy world where Starbucks performs handjobs, and Fuddruckers is now called Buttf***ers.

Has the English language denegrated to such a low point that people no longer understand that Abbott and Costello are really funny?

(Deodorant?! Sex to sell Deoderant? Whatever happened to “Strong enough for a Man, but made for a woman.” SEE, it was effective, I still remember it!)

So, I have decided that one of these nights when I am watching a couple of sitcoms, I am going to keep track of the amount of Sex that occurs in the show and during the commercials.

Then the next question is, why did everyone get up in arms over a wardrobe malfunction in one moment of time, when they are seeing it at least x number of times in an evening?

Filed Under: marketing Tagged With: , ,

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