I consider myself a member of Generation @, the group of people that is really focused in on the news and developments in technology, but it occurs to me that this obsession as a culture and a global generation with tech, in the sense of programming, applications and online activity, is probably not a good thing.
The world is a wide open place full of different kinds of things, and the focus of humanity on the one area of development, electronics and programming, is probably coming at the cost of developments in other areas that are more critical, like food security and sustainability, life science, genetics and mechanical advances.
It is currently a problem for us to house, feed and support structurally all of the people that populate our planet, and this is only going to worsen as time passes and the population grows.
We need another tech boom, but this one can't be online. It's got to happen in the real world.
If you like what you see, check out some other posts that I have written:
It Doesn't Matter What you Do As Long as You Keep Things In Perspective
http://www.bubblews.com/news/9603904-it-doesn039t-matter-what-you-do-as-long-as-you-keep-things-in-perspective
Supporting Small Business
http://www.bubblews.com/news/9603588-supporting-small-businesses
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
The New Economy
In the old economy, the one that most of our parents probably took part in, when you took a job you took it long term. That job was going to pay you enough for you to live in the town where you worked, you would be able to afford necessities, you could expect raises if you performed well, and you would get benefits while working and when you retired.
In the new economy, jobs are taken with the expectation that there will only be so long for you to work there, and you will probably leave within 10 years. Jobs will pay you literally as little as regulations will allow and the market will permit, and you can only expect as much in benefits as you are willing to sacrifice in salary or status.
Many people, such as myself, work but cannot actually afford necessities or the cost of living in the city that we work, so we either find a second job or make do by cutting costs or increasing income in various ways.
Even college education, the hallmark of social advancement, no longer has the same effect on lifetime income as it once did, since so much of the additional benefit is siphoned off to pay student debt.
So, the new economy is not a very happy place.
But it offers some unique upward potential, especially for those who have education, skills, training, and the passion to pursue innovative business ideas. If you can pitch it, sell your idea to investors or the big companies, or run a business successfully, you can skyrocket in popularity from one day to the next, and make it big in this new economy.
But nothing is guaranteed.
This post was originally published on Bubblews.com here
In the new economy, jobs are taken with the expectation that there will only be so long for you to work there, and you will probably leave within 10 years. Jobs will pay you literally as little as regulations will allow and the market will permit, and you can only expect as much in benefits as you are willing to sacrifice in salary or status.
Many people, such as myself, work but cannot actually afford necessities or the cost of living in the city that we work, so we either find a second job or make do by cutting costs or increasing income in various ways.
Even college education, the hallmark of social advancement, no longer has the same effect on lifetime income as it once did, since so much of the additional benefit is siphoned off to pay student debt.
So, the new economy is not a very happy place.
But it offers some unique upward potential, especially for those who have education, skills, training, and the passion to pursue innovative business ideas. If you can pitch it, sell your idea to investors or the big companies, or run a business successfully, you can skyrocket in popularity from one day to the next, and make it big in this new economy.
But nothing is guaranteed.
This post was originally published on Bubblews.com here
Sunday, November 23, 2014
New Yorkers Deal with A Hotel full of Homeless People
I was rolling on the floor laughing when I heard about this one.
Apparently the chill of the fall in 2014 was so severe that the City of New York ran out of capacity in its conventional shelters for the homeless, and as an emergency measure they reserved 100 rooms at a hotel in Jamaica, Queens, ostensibly for a "government group"
In fact, the people that the city of New York intended to occupy the rooms were a large number of homeless people, and while the hotel staff did not report any disruptions in normal hotel activity over the course of their 10 day stay, the management also confirmed that there would be no more allowances for this kind of thing.
In order to preserve their professional image they will be attempting to prevent this from happening again.
To read more about this, check out the following:
http://mashable.com/2014/11/20/hotel-for-homeless/
Apparently the chill of the fall in 2014 was so severe that the City of New York ran out of capacity in its conventional shelters for the homeless, and as an emergency measure they reserved 100 rooms at a hotel in Jamaica, Queens, ostensibly for a "government group"
In fact, the people that the city of New York intended to occupy the rooms were a large number of homeless people, and while the hotel staff did not report any disruptions in normal hotel activity over the course of their 10 day stay, the management also confirmed that there would be no more allowances for this kind of thing.
In order to preserve their professional image they will be attempting to prevent this from happening again.
To read more about this, check out the following:
http://mashable.com/2014/11/20/hotel-for-homeless/
One of my favorite sites on the web is gutenberg.org, and I recently found out about an opportunity that they have to do volunteer proofreading of their published works.
In essence, you spend your time reviewing published text, and if you note any errors you can report them to the Gutenberg Project.
But the interesting thing about this is, the Gutenberg Project is the sole activity for a 501c3 nonprofit registered in one of the states of the United States, and as a result one could claim this volunteer time as a charitable donation.
I went to college for a long time, and the market rate for my time is about 50 dollars per hour.
So if I was able to deduct the value of my time that I spend on "reviewing text" for the gutenberg project every week, about 10 hours weekly if I count all the time I spend reading, that adds up to 2000 dollars a month, every month, or 24000 dollars per annum of deductible income as a charitable donation.
Sure, everyone's tax situation is different, but this is easy money if you ask me.
It might not be so relevant to people who don't read, or have lower income, but for me it's a home run.
In essence, you spend your time reviewing published text, and if you note any errors you can report them to the Gutenberg Project.
But the interesting thing about this is, the Gutenberg Project is the sole activity for a 501c3 nonprofit registered in one of the states of the United States, and as a result one could claim this volunteer time as a charitable donation.
I went to college for a long time, and the market rate for my time is about 50 dollars per hour.
So if I was able to deduct the value of my time that I spend on "reviewing text" for the gutenberg project every week, about 10 hours weekly if I count all the time I spend reading, that adds up to 2000 dollars a month, every month, or 24000 dollars per annum of deductible income as a charitable donation.
Sure, everyone's tax situation is different, but this is easy money if you ask me.
It might not be so relevant to people who don't read, or have lower income, but for me it's a home run.
Friday, November 21, 2014
Inventions
This might sound crazy, but for the longest period of human history there were no inventions at all.
The generations of people used the same tools, weapons, and techniques for over 100,000 years, and then when people became more intelligent and creative, we began the rat race of development.
Looking at the fossil and paleontological records, this holds out to be true.
There are fossil pieces that show anatomically modern humans existed for many millennia, and the exact same types of artifacts appear in the same geological layers as the fossils do, up to a certain point between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago.
At that point in the fossil record, the bones remain the same, but the artifacts change. They grow suddenly more complex, and begin to be quite different from region to region, and more complex and varied as time passes.
In the fossil record, things were the same, but in the paleontological record, everything changed. We had discovered the key to true humanity: invention.
The generations of people used the same tools, weapons, and techniques for over 100,000 years, and then when people became more intelligent and creative, we began the rat race of development.
Looking at the fossil and paleontological records, this holds out to be true.
There are fossil pieces that show anatomically modern humans existed for many millennia, and the exact same types of artifacts appear in the same geological layers as the fossils do, up to a certain point between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago.
At that point in the fossil record, the bones remain the same, but the artifacts change. They grow suddenly more complex, and begin to be quite different from region to region, and more complex and varied as time passes.
In the fossil record, things were the same, but in the paleontological record, everything changed. We had discovered the key to true humanity: invention.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Hunting Season is Here Again
I am not a big-time hunter. I am a consumer of meat, however, and as an inhabitant of a relatively healthy environment encounter an overabundance of deer.
I see nothing wrong with eating hunted meat; it is completely acceptable to me religiously, is free, and I can usually get some without actually hunting just by knowing and being nice to people that do hunt.
I like knowing where the animals that I am eating were killed or caught, and I know just how the meat was processed. My friends actually use local butcher shops to cut and pack their catch every year, and I have been on a list of people to call for quite some time.
This year, I've gotten about 20 pounds of venison for nothing. That is a great deal, when beef is 3 dollars or more per pound, and good quality meat too.
For hunters, at least in the Northeast portion of the United States, hunting is strictly regulated. The season for taking animals can be as short as a couple of weekends in a month, or just a couple months out of the year, but the number of registrations for licenses to hunt and take animals is really astronomical.
I see nothing wrong with eating hunted meat; it is completely acceptable to me religiously, is free, and I can usually get some without actually hunting just by knowing and being nice to people that do hunt.
I like knowing where the animals that I am eating were killed or caught, and I know just how the meat was processed. My friends actually use local butcher shops to cut and pack their catch every year, and I have been on a list of people to call for quite some time.
This year, I've gotten about 20 pounds of venison for nothing. That is a great deal, when beef is 3 dollars or more per pound, and good quality meat too.
For hunters, at least in the Northeast portion of the United States, hunting is strictly regulated. The season for taking animals can be as short as a couple of weekends in a month, or just a couple months out of the year, but the number of registrations for licenses to hunt and take animals is really astronomical.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Saving Money on Groceries
I spend a good amount of time going over people's finances in my free time, and I encounter a lot of situations where people make good money, but they just don't know where it all goes.
And it is often the case that people are spending money on food that they don't really like, so they don't eat it, and then they end up wasting it.
I think that there are really three ways to make sure that you are getting the most for your money when shopping for food.
First, you need to be sure that you are buying foods that you actually like and will eat. No matter how good of a deal you get, 100% of the food that you won't be eating is going to waste.
Next, look into foods that are in and of themselves not expensive foods.
I buy a lot of dried and frozen goods, and usually these are quite cheap compared to fresh produce. I also make good use of ingredients, as opposed to fully prepared or convenience foods, to cut down on costs. I usually avoid things that are temporarily elevated in price, or look at trends to minimize my cost by buying such an item in bulk or in exchange for an in-kind payment.
I can often get venison from hunters in exchange for help on projects, for example.
Finally, look for good prices on the food that you want, and don't feel obligated to get everything at one place.
So, if you can follow all of that advice, you can end up with a pantry stocked with food you like, at prices you can live with.
Of course, you could also attempt to secure an independent food supply by producing your own goods, but that is another subject entirely.
I recently wrote about this on bubblews.com.
And it is often the case that people are spending money on food that they don't really like, so they don't eat it, and then they end up wasting it.
I think that there are really three ways to make sure that you are getting the most for your money when shopping for food.
First, you need to be sure that you are buying foods that you actually like and will eat. No matter how good of a deal you get, 100% of the food that you won't be eating is going to waste.
Next, look into foods that are in and of themselves not expensive foods.
I buy a lot of dried and frozen goods, and usually these are quite cheap compared to fresh produce. I also make good use of ingredients, as opposed to fully prepared or convenience foods, to cut down on costs. I usually avoid things that are temporarily elevated in price, or look at trends to minimize my cost by buying such an item in bulk or in exchange for an in-kind payment.
I can often get venison from hunters in exchange for help on projects, for example.
Finally, look for good prices on the food that you want, and don't feel obligated to get everything at one place.
So, if you can follow all of that advice, you can end up with a pantry stocked with food you like, at prices you can live with.
Of course, you could also attempt to secure an independent food supply by producing your own goods, but that is another subject entirely.
I recently wrote about this on bubblews.com.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Carrying a Seed for the Tree of your Life
I've been thinking a lot about minimalism lately. It is fascinating to me, someone with a wealth of things, to consider life without those things around me.
Just existing in a bare, stark place, a sterile space with few, if any, visual distractions from the thoughts in your head and the task at hand sounds almost zen-like.
The closest that I can think I've ever come to this was when I moved into my current place. I carried just the few things that I thought that I would need to set myself up, and all of them fit easily into my little old car.
Because they all fit into two suitcases.
Those suitcases contained a wealth of supplies that had both practical and sentimental value to me. Things I had purchased, or were given to me by family and friends, and were sure to be important to me as time went forward.
Of course, I threw myself into the fray, and acquired many more things: clothes, furnishings, appliances, tools, all kinds of stuff. But I still think that if I was in a situation where I needed to, I could pare all of it down to those two suitcases, and still be okay.
My life is like a tree, in a sense, with a great deal of mass, but only a small fraction of it is alive. The rest is dead weight, but the living part is currently dependent on the rest for support. The trick of minimalist living is to remove as much of that dead weight as you can, and then teaching the living part to stand on its own.
To understand this, all I have to do is think back to when I carried those suitcases, the seeds of my current lifestyle.
This was published online at http://www.bubblews.com/news/9432004-carrying-a-seed-for-the-tree-of-your-life
Just existing in a bare, stark place, a sterile space with few, if any, visual distractions from the thoughts in your head and the task at hand sounds almost zen-like.
The closest that I can think I've ever come to this was when I moved into my current place. I carried just the few things that I thought that I would need to set myself up, and all of them fit easily into my little old car.
Because they all fit into two suitcases.
Those suitcases contained a wealth of supplies that had both practical and sentimental value to me. Things I had purchased, or were given to me by family and friends, and were sure to be important to me as time went forward.
Of course, I threw myself into the fray, and acquired many more things: clothes, furnishings, appliances, tools, all kinds of stuff. But I still think that if I was in a situation where I needed to, I could pare all of it down to those two suitcases, and still be okay.
My life is like a tree, in a sense, with a great deal of mass, but only a small fraction of it is alive. The rest is dead weight, but the living part is currently dependent on the rest for support. The trick of minimalist living is to remove as much of that dead weight as you can, and then teaching the living part to stand on its own.
To understand this, all I have to do is think back to when I carried those suitcases, the seeds of my current lifestyle.
This was published online at http://www.bubblews.com/news/9432004-carrying-a-seed-for-the-tree-of-your-life
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Linkslap.com: The Image Site that Pays
I've recently found out about another site that pays users, but there is a significant twist that may be a dealbreaker, or may be an attractive option.
The site pays out in Dogecoins only.
The premise of the site is that users will write and rate descriptions for .gif animated images, and in exchange be rewarded with Dogecoins. I've been able to get a little bit over a thousand Dogecoins by doing this for about 20 minutes, which is about a quarter's worth of them at current spot prices.
But the cool thing about being paid in Dogecoins is that the currency is rather steadily appreciating in value. I have about 2500 of them currently from various sources, and they are projected to go up in value to at least a few cents as time goes on. Right now spot prices are not sufficient to pay for the cost of mining, so there is a clear market advantage to obtaining them cheaply or at no cost right now and holding them until prices rise.
I'm going to hold onto all of the Dogecoin that I get for the next year or so, and try not to forget any passwords like I did over the past few months. I lost tens of thousands of Dogecoin, as well as about a hundred dollars in Bitcoin too, just because I forgot the passwords I was using to access my wallets.
Head on over to www.linkslap.com , and give it a try. You might be pleasantly surprised!
This post was published on Bubblews.com at http://www.bubblews.com/news/9398217-linkslap-the-image-site-that-pays
The site pays out in Dogecoins only.
The premise of the site is that users will write and rate descriptions for .gif animated images, and in exchange be rewarded with Dogecoins. I've been able to get a little bit over a thousand Dogecoins by doing this for about 20 minutes, which is about a quarter's worth of them at current spot prices.
But the cool thing about being paid in Dogecoins is that the currency is rather steadily appreciating in value. I have about 2500 of them currently from various sources, and they are projected to go up in value to at least a few cents as time goes on. Right now spot prices are not sufficient to pay for the cost of mining, so there is a clear market advantage to obtaining them cheaply or at no cost right now and holding them until prices rise.
I'm going to hold onto all of the Dogecoin that I get for the next year or so, and try not to forget any passwords like I did over the past few months. I lost tens of thousands of Dogecoin, as well as about a hundred dollars in Bitcoin too, just because I forgot the passwords I was using to access my wallets.
Head on over to www.linkslap.com , and give it a try. You might be pleasantly surprised!
This post was published on Bubblews.com at http://www.bubblews.com/news/9398217-linkslap-the-image-site-that-pays
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Budget Travel
Also known as vagabond travel, truly shoestring
travel is not recommended for people with children, or even people without a
stomach for some hardship. Much avowed by edgy teenagers and young adults,
budget travel is a way to get around and obtain travel experiences without
spending much money.
Thanks to the wonders of the internet, we are now able to get by doing things like volunteering on organic farms in exchange for a bed and a meal, or crashing on people’s sofas via Couchsurfing.org.
Many people are also having success crashing in a bed and breakfast operated out of an apartment building, or just asking for a place to stay for a night via social media.
All in all, I would recommend at least exploring your options for budget travel for the entertainment value, and if you like what you learn you can consider giving it a shot.
Thanks to the wonders of the internet, we are now able to get by doing things like volunteering on organic farms in exchange for a bed and a meal, or crashing on people’s sofas via Couchsurfing.org.
Many people are also having success crashing in a bed and breakfast operated out of an apartment building, or just asking for a place to stay for a night via social media.
All in all, I would recommend at least exploring your options for budget travel for the entertainment value, and if you like what you learn you can consider giving it a shot.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Making Plans and Taking Names
I've got a very dynamic mind, I suppose, but that is nothing to be ashamed of.
I feel like I’m always finding a new activity or setting a new goal for myself, but that is just the kind of person that I am.
I consider myself to be unbelievably disorganized by nature, but I’m really trying to develop into a more organized person bit by bit.
The best way that I’ve found to do so is to make things perfectly clear to myself, both in terms of what I expect myself to do and what I’m thinking about at any given time, so the documents where I write out what I’m considering are both entertaining and useful to me on a logistical level.
I don’t make my plans for other people, I make them to keep myself accountable.
I feel like I’m always finding a new activity or setting a new goal for myself, but that is just the kind of person that I am.
I consider myself to be unbelievably disorganized by nature, but I’m really trying to develop into a more organized person bit by bit.
The best way that I’ve found to do so is to make things perfectly clear to myself, both in terms of what I expect myself to do and what I’m thinking about at any given time, so the documents where I write out what I’m considering are both entertaining and useful to me on a logistical level.
I don’t make my plans for other people, I make them to keep myself accountable.
Monday, November 10, 2014
Writing Online with Bubblews.com
I've been writing on Bubblews.com for four good months now, and I've accumulated a good amount of experience in doing so.
I have nearly a thousand live pages on Bubblews as of November 2014, and I've been able to derive a respectable income and a good deal of fun just developing content and sharing it with others while chatting about things that interest me.
Bubblews is an interesting site, because it was founded with the intention of sharing the spaces occupied by social networks and content sharing platforms, with a twist.
Most companies of this nature allow the users to provide content and generate advertising revenue, but do not directly compensate the users at all. In fact, in some cases the users are directly charged for the costs of site maintenance.
Bubblews is different because the creators of the site decided to share the income generated by the user base from advertising with the user base. The content creators share in the income generated by their content, at rates that vary with the rates of compensation from the advertising clients.
If you would like to start posting on Bubblews.com, there are a number of things that you would need to consider.
1. There are rules and Terms associated with writing on Bubblews.com, as spelled out in their Terms of Service. In brief, the site forbids users from publishing non-original material written by others, even open source material as is commonly available from Wikipedia or other creative commons ., unless permission has been granted.
2. Bubblews is not, and should not be considered a job. It is a means of sharing content with the world, and while the monetary benefits are nice, they are neither stable nor plentiful enough to provide a long term income stream sufficient to support a lifestyle of substance in the United States.
All in all, I have found Bubblews to be a great way to do something productive with my time, as opposed to just wasting it, or sharing my content in similar communities without any kind of compensation.
I have nearly a thousand live pages on Bubblews as of November 2014, and I've been able to derive a respectable income and a good deal of fun just developing content and sharing it with others while chatting about things that interest me.
Bubblews is an interesting site, because it was founded with the intention of sharing the spaces occupied by social networks and content sharing platforms, with a twist.
Most companies of this nature allow the users to provide content and generate advertising revenue, but do not directly compensate the users at all. In fact, in some cases the users are directly charged for the costs of site maintenance.
Bubblews is different because the creators of the site decided to share the income generated by the user base from advertising with the user base. The content creators share in the income generated by their content, at rates that vary with the rates of compensation from the advertising clients.
If you would like to start posting on Bubblews.com, there are a number of things that you would need to consider.
1. There are rules and Terms associated with writing on Bubblews.com, as spelled out in their Terms of Service. In brief, the site forbids users from publishing non-original material written by others, even open source material as is commonly available from Wikipedia or other creative commons ., unless permission has been granted.
2. Bubblews is not, and should not be considered a job. It is a means of sharing content with the world, and while the monetary benefits are nice, they are neither stable nor plentiful enough to provide a long term income stream sufficient to support a lifestyle of substance in the United States.
All in all, I have found Bubblews to be a great way to do something productive with my time, as opposed to just wasting it, or sharing my content in similar communities without any kind of compensation.
This is Where it All Begins
I know that this is my first introduction to my readers, and at this juncture I would like to go into a bit about what motivated me to start writing here.
I've been writing online for quite some time, and steadily growing my income derived thereof on a month to month basis. I have been a paid reviewer, a blogger, a chat-box, and so much more, but one thing remained constant between all of these experiences.
I was enriching myself, and gaining valuable experience creating content on my own terms and with all the benefits of a ready audience and the ease of suggested topics, but I was working for someone, building up their content base, and broadening their portfolios.
This site, as well as any that I will make in the future, is for me.
It is a way for me to share my content in a forum of my choosing, that I control, without regards for the formats and impositions of others.
I hope that all of those who will read these words are eager to continue along this path with me, for better and for worse.
I can personally attest to the quality of my writing, and hope that you will be interested in the content that I provide on the topics and plans that interest me the most.
I've been writing online for quite some time, and steadily growing my income derived thereof on a month to month basis. I have been a paid reviewer, a blogger, a chat-box, and so much more, but one thing remained constant between all of these experiences.
I was enriching myself, and gaining valuable experience creating content on my own terms and with all the benefits of a ready audience and the ease of suggested topics, but I was working for someone, building up their content base, and broadening their portfolios.
This site, as well as any that I will make in the future, is for me.
It is a way for me to share my content in a forum of my choosing, that I control, without regards for the formats and impositions of others.
I hope that all of those who will read these words are eager to continue along this path with me, for better and for worse.
I can personally attest to the quality of my writing, and hope that you will be interested in the content that I provide on the topics and plans that interest me the most.
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