The Stand-up Philosopher

I Appear in I Will Teach You To Be Rich Book Testimonial

I bought Ramit Sethi’s book I Will Teach You To Be Rich early. That gave me access to an insider community that Ramit formed, although I ended up as usual not having as much time to participate as I would have liked.

Prior to the official launch of the book (I bought it on pre-order, and Amazon shipped mine a few weeks early prior to the launch), Ramit asked for pictures of his readers with the book. I managed to sit down within 15 minutes of the deadline, and I decided to do the best I could. I used the camera on my Samsung Epix. The self-portrait mirror wasn’t helping, so I was using the screen reflection of my Epix on my laptop to line up the shot. I took 3 or 4 pictures. None of the pictures of the book under my chin were acceptable, so I held it off to the side and fired off a shot. I then emailed the picture from my Epix to Ramit. I was surprised to see it in the testimonial clip on YouTube.

If you’re looking for advice on personal finance, get this book. Most people are stumbling around in a broke daze, accepting financial advice from other broke people, while nobody seems to want to actually read a book written by somebody who knows how to handle money. This is such a book. You can buy the book from my Amazon affiliate link.

I'm Going to Become a Windows Mobile "Hater"

I’ve decided that I”m going to become a Windows Mobile “Hater”. That will probably seem unreasonable and illogical to many, but so be it.

That does not mean I am going to become a Microsoft “Hater”. I won’t become a mobile device “hater". I won’t become a Windows “Hater”. My “hating” is going to be specifically directed at Windows Mobile. That includes Microsoft’s Windows Mobile team, their “partners”, and the telcos, at least in regards to Windows Mobile.

I am going to become overly critical of the platform to the point where I do NOT recommend it. If you’re considering a Windows Mobile device, please, to preserve your sanity, don’t get one. Get a BlackBerry or an iPhone instead, or just get a plain old dumbphone.

I’ve had several Windows Mobile devices over the years. I’m tired of the same annoyances and performance issues that are common to every device I’ve had. Here is my device history:

Microsoft Shutting Down Encarta? Did Anybody Actually Use It?

Apparently, Microsoft is shutting down Encarta, it’s long-running encyclopedia. I don’t want to be unkind, but I’ve never actually used Encarta. I think I had a computer once that came with Encarta, or it came with another MS Product I had, but I never used it. I think I tried to use it once, but the setup was painful or it asked for money or something and I decided it wasn’t worth my time.

Will you miss Encarta? Will it matter to anybody? Now if Wikipedia went down… I can remember when I used to be able to get away with using Wikipedia as a reference at the University of Phoenix. About halfway through, it wasn’t allowed anymore.

Will Evangelicalism Collapse? If So, Should We Care?

A lot of the Christian and theological blogs I read have been talking lately about some kind of coming collapse of evangelicalism. Stand To Reason’s blog is the latest I’ve read, but also the most reasonable assessment.

I figure that there are two kinds of people in this world:

1)Those who are easily lumped into convenient, pre-defined categories

and

2) Those who aren’t.

I guess among all the convenient, pre-defined labels within Christianity, I would probably be lumped in among the evangelicals. That really doesn’t matter to me. At the end of the age, the only identification that matters is me that of Christian, follower of Christ, or follower of The Way, which is what we were originally called all those years ago. I really don’t care what other labels I fall under, but for convenience I probably fall under that of evangelical.

If Galatians Were Published Today

I like humor. I came across a webpage a while back that I finally got around to reading. It deals with “If Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians was Published in Christianity Today.”

I think the editor’s note at the end is a little pointed, but other than that it’s amusing.

Odometer

TypePad's mobile client is working for me now, so I can put up small entries more frequently. I got my oil changed yesterday, and my odometer reading was noteable. I drive with the trip counter displayed so I can track how far I've gone on a tank of gas, so I only see the odometer reading after maintenance unless I think to check it. I just though this odometer reading was interesting.

FaceBook Applications

I'm sitting on the couch with my wife "discussing" FaceBook applications. Honestly, I've never gotten the point to these things. It takes more time to accept the requests than it seems worth to me. She just sent me a "coffee". Actually, it's a picture of a Starbucks beverage. I said it would have meant more to me if she'd brewed a pot and poured me a cup of the real stuff. She asked what kind of wine I'd like, and I said whatever we have in the house. She asked what kind of desert I'd like, and I said whatever we have in the house again.

At least it's giving us some time together. I took my Redfly out to write this blog post.

Honestly, I don't get the point to most of these FaceBook requests. I like FaceBook for the most part. I've seen several bloggers shut down their FaceBook and Twitter profiles. I keep mine up so people can find me, and so I can interact with other people. I've recently enjoyed trading comments back and forth with a Navy buddy from my first ship. I like leaving comments on other people's statuses, and I like when people leave comments on mine. All (or most) of my Twitter posts go to FaceBook. I sometimes forget that. But for the life of me, I can't understand the point to trading coffees, San Antonio Spurs waves (some of my high school friends are on FaceBook), and giving plants and deserts and KFC and Krispy Crème donuts. I don't get it. It seems to take longer to deal with this stuff than it's worth.

My wife logged onto my account and she's going through 40 some requests and "gifts". That's a relief for me. Maybe I'll let her handle it for me.

If none of this makes sense, it's almost 11 PM EST. I'm almost never up this late.

Book Review: I’ll Make You An Offer You Can’t Refuse by Michael Franzese

I’ll Make You An Offer You Can’t Refuse is the latest book I’m reviewing as part of Thomas Nelson’s Book Review Blogger program. I’ve greatly enjoyed a chance to take part in this program. This is also the first book I’ve read as part of Thomas Nelson’s new Nelson Free program, which gives you multiple formats of the same book. I had the hard copy, .pdf and MobiPocket, and I have the audiobook on my iPod. Amazing, and exciting. I hope this catches on with other publishers. I was able to work through the eBook during some extra time at work, and finish up with the hardcopy this evening.

I’ll Make You An Offer You Can’t Refuse is written by Michael Franzese, a former mob boss. The book is subtitled “Insider Business Tips from a Former Mob Boss”. Thomas Nelson’s product page for the book is here. I think the product page is a little bit off. It lists a page count of 224. There are 155 numbered pages. I count between 160 and 164, depending on whether the thicker paper pages at the front and back count for page numbers. The book is listed on Amazon for $16.55. It was an amazingly fast read. I’m not the world’s fastest reader, yet this book took me two sittings in one afternoon.

Microsoft’s New Advertising Campaign

As I was going through my RSS feeds in Google Reader this morning, I found this. It’s interesting. I watched the video as well. Microsoft has a new advertising campaign in which they find people shopping for new laptops, let them set a budget, follow them around with a camera crew and then apparently paying for the laptop. The “Laptop Hunter” sets his or her own budget. The video featured in the first blog entry shows a woman who set her budget at under $1000.

I wonder if I could be part of this campaign. I need a new laptop. My laptop died on me. It’ll still boot up, but there’s no telling how long until it goes down. I think it has a short in one of the USB ports. In any case, I need to figure out what I need to do to be part of this campaign. I’ll go on camera and talk about how I like Windows Vista, which is true, in exchange for a laptop and my 15 seconds of fame.

I left a comment asking what it takes to be part of the project. I wonder where they draw their participants from?

Saved By My Own Post

A few months back, I posted how changing one setting fixed a multitude of problems on my Samsung Epix. On Sunday, my Epix (my 2nd one) died on me. I had to get a warranty replacement, which arrived yesterday. While setting up, I ran into all kinds of instability issues which had me ready to call AT&T’s warranty department and tell them that this warranty replacement would not be acceptable.

Then I remembered this post, in which I posted how unchecking ClearType fixed a lot of problems on my Epix. I went into the menu, and sure enough. ClearType was selected right out of the box. I unchecked it, and I don’t believe I’ve had to reboot since.

Should it be Easier to ask Forgiveness Than to Seek Permission?

During my time in the Navy, I was introduced to the concept that “it is easier to ask forgiveness than to seek permission.” I thought that was a catchy concept and it became part of my philosophy. Having grown up in the military, I wondered why I’d never heard this earlier. I was an E-5 when I first learned of this concept.

Normally, this is applied to silly little requests that could just as easily be granted but for whatever reason, it is expected that they won’t be granted by whomever is in authority. As an example, I could ask my wife if I can stop at Wawa tomorrow morning, take out $20, and buy a breakfast sandwich. It’s a silly request, and as an engineer I obviously make enough money to buy a sub $3 breakfast sandwich. It won’t kill our budget at all. I know that if I ask, my wife will at best try to talk me out of it or at worst tell me no. I also have the choice to go ahead and do it. At worst, she’ll notice a $20 withdrawal and ask me what it was for. I’ll explain. She’ll be disappointed but will eventually forget about it. (I’m not trying to pick on my wife; I’m only trying to make a point. I also occasionally throw things out to see if she’s keeping up with my blog).

Test of TypePad Mobile

Disregard this post. I'm testing TypePad Mobile on my warranty replacement Epix.

Cool DARPA Project of the Day: Biodog

Check out this link. Watch the video. This thing is cool. It’s a robot with 4 legs that can run, climb steep terrain, and carry a heavy load. I assume it can do all three at once. The video shows it taking on a variety of obstacles, from a steep hill in the woods, to a swift kick in the sides, to a pile of cement blocks, to ice, to a snowdrift. It’s also featured carrying a 400 pound load, and running and jumping. It looks strangely life-like in many ways. The legs almost look like spider legs.

I’m not joking when I say I look forward to concepts like bio-horse and bio-camel. I think there is a lot that can be done with this.

I’m not entirely convinced that artificial intelligence will ever achieve any likeness to a human soul or spirit, but I do get excited by robots that perform valuable service roles. We only have one room in our downstairs with carpet, so a Roomba is out, but we have talked about getting a Scooba robot to keep the floors clean. Yes, I know it requires maintenance and service.

Technorati Tags: Biodog,robots,service robots

Dumbphone

This is going to be a long week. As you might have been able to tell from my blog posts and Twitter feed, I’ve gotten just about fed up with Windows Mobile, especially when I see a lot of iPhone users running around, and my own experience on the iPod Touch does not match that of Windows Mobile at all.

My Samsung Epix was growing more and more frustrating each day. I was spending way too much time rebooting it and complaining about it. I’d launch an application, use it for a minute, then be told that I didn’t have a connection to the Internet. Pocket Internet Exploder had long since stopped storing my cookies.

I came to the conclusion that it must be time for a hard reset. I’ve had this Epix since November. My first one had all kinds of problems, the biggest of which is that the screen kept turning on for no reason, which drained the battery life. It also inadvertently closed or launched programs when it turned on in my pocket. I had to get a warranty replacement.

Mobile Blogging

I've been wanting to write blog posts on the move. TypePad does offer mobile blogging clients, but for some reason, the Windows Mobile and BlackBerry clients don't work on my devices. The iPod Touch client works flawlessly, which only makes me want an iPhone more. I've been trying to talk my wife into letting me get one. I already used our upgrade, so I'd have to pay full price. Still, I wonder if it's worth the trouble. I've already determined that the Samsung Epix will be my last Windows Mobile device. I'm tired of the instability. I also don't see much real progress for all the releases of the platform I've seen. The iPhone 3.0 announcement pretty much pushed me over the top. Good bye, Windows Mobile team and your buttplug "hardware partners". I'm jumping platform the next chance I get. I have to reboot my Epix a minimun of 4 times a day. I might reboot my iPod Touch once every 2 months. The other day, I was on a 5 hour drive back from a business trip. When I got back to the office, I found my Epix locked up so hard the only way to get it back was to pull the battery. That happens 3 to 4 times a week. It's not the Epix in particular, because I've had these problems on most of my Windows Mobile devices. Although in general, Windows Mobile has more potential, I'm reaching the point where I want a device that I can use. That's why I'm setting my sites on the iPhone.

Watch This Video: Small Business Defined

I’ve been on a kick the last few months to try to figure out how entrepreneurs think, in the hopes that I can be one. I have a decent job and for the most part I do enjoy it, but I also realize that it might not last forever. I’d like to find a way to generate additional income, not only to boost my family’s standard of living, but also to make up for the risk that I could lose my job, which thankfully isn’t that likely at present. Not that that can’t chance…

Orrin Woodward put a post on his blog that I finally got around to reading, and watching the video. It’s a short video, but I think it clearly defines how to succeed in small business. I’ve gone about repeating what I hear from Rabbi Daniel Lapin, though I haven’t found a way to implement it yet: Become obsessed with meeting people’s needs. This video explains a similar concept for a small business: solve problems. If you’re in small business, or are trying to get into it, read the post and watch this video. Take it to heart.

On a side note, I think I have discovered a problem that small businesses in my area (or in general) have, and I think I have identified a solution. Now to find a way to let them know…

Book Review: This Is Your Brain on Joy

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a book review. I finished reading “This Is Your Brain on Joy” several weeks ago, but I haven’t had a chance to get the review put together yet. I guess like most amateur writers, I go through ups and downs. I’ve heard that the difference between an amateur writer and a professional writer is that the professional writes when he (or she) doesn’t want to. I also assume that the professional writer also writes when he (or she) doesn’t have time to either. Of course, a professional writer probably doesn’t have pesky interruptions like a non-professional writing job getting in the way either.

This book was a real sleeper surprise. At the time, Thomas Nelson didn’t have any books available for bloggers to review that interested me. This one sounded like it could be interesting in the right context. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a book with a product page that starts “What does the latest research in brain science and brain imaging say about our ability (or inability) to experience joy and happiness?” Honestly, I was expecting a bunch of psycho-babble. I was wrong.

Trevin Wax: How To Be A Reader When You Can’t Afford Books

Trevin Wax has an interesting blog post with tips on how to read a lot of books when you can’t spend a lot of money on them. If you’d like to read more but don’t want to spend the money on the books, check this out.

I set a goal to read 100 books this year. I’m not sure I’m going to make it. I’m working through a biography of Martin Luther right now that has me really bogged down. It’s fascinating, but it’s a deep read and requires a lot of attention to follow. I’m going very slowly.

I have been going to the library a lot more lately. It can be kind of exciting. I like to go through the shelves near the checkout line, because I can find some interesting books there. I also sometimes just walk through the non-fiction shelves. Last time I did that, I found more books than I could have read and I had to leave them behind. I saw one book about Stalin, one about the CIA, and plenty more.

Often, when I hear about a book that I should read, I check online to see if the library has it. I can reserve a book, and I’ll get an email when it’s ready to be picked up.

I have Kindle for iPhone installed on my iPod Touch. I’m not sure if I’ll use that or not.

Technorati Tags: Books,Reading,Reading when you can't afford books

How Can I Drive in New Jersey and Not Influence my Kids?

I’m mostly serious with this one. I want to be facetious, and there is a little of that in this post, but the subject is a serious one. My wife relayed a story to me. She took the kids to the Amish market a few weeks ago. I was home from work sick and not about to go anywhere. At dinner that night, she told me that Joshua ran into Caleb with the shopping cart, and Caleb said “What where you’re going, idiot!” Note that Caleb is 3, so I should applaud him for his application of this concept however misplaced it may have been.

I’m not aware of calling many other drivers idiots (at least not with my kids in the car). To be honest, the terms I use are far worse. For some reason, New Jersey drivers have some weird mentality that it is better for both you and them to die than to ease up and let you change lanes. These people often get downright hostile when it comes to letting another car in front of them. When I leave work in the afternoon, I always run into somebody who refuses to let me over as I’m merging onto the Walt Whitman bridge. I’ve had several times in my 10 years of living in New Jersey when another car refused to let me merge on the highway. I would be coming up the onramp and another car was in the left lane and we were side by side. I would accelerate, and the other car would match my acceleration. It always seems to happen when there is a tight line of cars following this one person so slowing down and hoping somebody else will let me over isn’t a good option. I once had an ambulance try to run me off the road like that. It was the same ambulance company a family member works for. I should have written down the number, but that family member assures me a person who drives like that probably didn’t last long.

TSA and the Butter Knives

John Maxwell posted an entry on his blog yesterday recounting an incident in which he was given a gun as a present, forgot it was in his carry on, and it was noticed by TSA. I've been meaning to write a story of my own for a while.

On March 3, I celebrated one year in my current job. When I started the job last year, our finances were fairly tight. Though I did get an increase in salary from my previous job, the benefits cost more, I have to pay Philly's city wage tax, and a $4 a day toll to cross the Walt Whitman bridge. In effect, at first the job was a net loss but the opportunities were better so I endured mine and my wife's economic fears for a few months until things stabilized. This job requires a decent amount of travel. Honestly, to this point I could do more. It seems like I'll have two weeks of travel back-to-back, then I won't travel for 2 months. I actually enjoy the job more when I'm traveling. I find myself bored sitting in my cubicle in Philly.

When Surveys Get Pushy

I can remember back to the days of the last NJ Governor's election in 2005. Let's see, it was Demonican John Corzine vs. ideological duplication Republicrat Doug Forrester. Seriously, if I were voting AGAINST Corzine, what was my point of voting FOR Forrester, who came out at the last minute and basically said "I am Corzine!" Anyway, that's not the point of this post. I don't care about Demonicans and Republicrats.

During the course of the election, I had a knock at my door. It was a woman with a clipboard wanting to know who we were planning to vote for, and insistent that it be Corzine. I said I wasn't likely to vote for either of the carbon-copy party candidates, and I would either vote Libertarian, or since voting anything BUT Demonican in New Jersey doesn't count, maybe the New Jersey Weedman. He's a stoner candidate. This woman wanted to know for sure who I was committed to. I don't remember the exact date, but the election was somewhere between two months and three weeks away. Caleb was born that August, so he was between 1 and 3 months at the time. Neither of us got adequate sleep, but Christina took more of it. I decided to be nice and go back to the family room to ask her. When she said she didn't care. I went back to the door.

This Is An Interesting Email Tip

I might have to try this. Change your email signature (doesn't matter which client) to "Sent from my iPhone" and write 1 sentence emails. I'm tempted to change my work signature to "Sent from my Verizon BlackBerry".

To be honest, thanks to years of instant messaging, I've already reached the point where most of my emails contain just what I need to convey or ask for. There was a time when I would spend a great deal of time composing an email just like the days when we all wrote letters (honest, you kids weren't missing anything). After using IM, text messaging, and Twitter, I just can't spend any more time on an email than necessary. I try not to be too short or to appear rude, but I say what needs to be said, double check to make sure it's acceptable, then hit send.

Technorati Tags: Email

Forbes: How To Make a Million Before You Graduate

This is an interesting article on Forbes.com about teenagers who founded businesses and made a lot of money. I’ve always been curious how entrepreneurs think. Personally, I dread the moment when I’ve gotten all I can from one job and since there’s no possibility of advancement, I have to find a new one. I really don’t like that moment. I’ve always wondered how some people can see opportunities all around them and go for it. Honestly, I don’t believe they’re much smarter or harder working than I am. I’m sure I have the intelligence and the work ethic to succeed at anything. What I don’t have is the mindset. I don’t currently have the capability to see opportunities.

Lately I’ve been trying to study the mindset. I’ve been trying to learn how entrepreneurs think so I can emulate their thinking. I’d love to set up a business, or a few systems that generate other income streams besides a job. I actually do have a few ideas, but I’m not quite sure how to get them off the ground.

App Store For Jailbroken iPhones Coming?

I can’t figure out why people are so excited about the App store concept, but apparently somebody is going to create a paid app store for applications for jailbroken iPhones. I know a BlackBerry App store just launched, and Microsoft is salivating at the concept of a central app store for Windows Mobile devices. Me? I don’t care. Really, I don’t care. Let me explain, again.

The iPhone App store works for Apple because the iPhone is a locked down platform. Apple wants to maintain Stalinistic control over the platform for a variety of reasons, some of them actually being good. Others are just paranoid, but it’s Apple’s platform and they can do this if they like. Personally, I’m not that thrilled with the App store concept. A lot of good applications never make it because they either duplicate functionality already present in the device, or top-secret functionality to be added later. It takes forever to fix bugs and re-release software for the platform. The app store also doesn’t guarantee that applications will be useful, just that they pass Apple’s requirements.

Personally, I have no enthusiasm for app stores on either Windows Mobile or the BlackBerry platforms. I guess if they want to maintain a central repository, so be it, but I don’t mind the way things currently are.

Financial “Experts” Are Idiots: Jon Stewart Smacks CNBC

I’ve paid little to no attention to networks like CNBC. It’s funny now to watch mashups of the predictions and enthusiasm of financial journalists and other assorted self-proclaimed “experts” in light of history.

Things That Don’t Suck About New Jersey

When I met my wife, she had The Bloodhound Gang’s CD. It listed a track as something like “10 Things That Don’t Suck About New Jersey”. I’m not sure about the exact wording, but when you sequence the CD to the track, it’s about 10 seconds of silence.

I can be very hard on New Jersey in my talking and writing. I got out of the Navy in 1998 in San Diego and started working as an alarm installer, which was the first job I managed to get after 2 weeks of not having an income. It was fun while it lasted, and I appreciate the time I had on that job and the men I worked with. In 1999, I got a job offer to move to New Jersey to work at a development site. This job was to be more inline with my training and experience from my time in the Navy.

I Almost Wrecked My Car Because of an Idiot Cop

I’m just about shaking with rage and shock right now. I picked my boys up at AWANA a few moments ago at the Berean Baptist Church in Magnolia, NJ. As I was driving home on Atlantic Avenue, I was stopped at the light at the intersection of Atlantic and Warwick. I know this means nothing to most people except for locals, but I find my blog makes a convenient record of events.

I noticed a few cars on the oncoming side waiting to make a left turn, but this is New Jersey and in older parts of town like Magnolia and Somerdale, there really are no protected left turns, and this intersection is no exception. The light turned green and I started to drive through. Suddenly, I realized that a car was making a left turn right in front of me. I jammed on my brakes as hard as I could, and my ABS kicked in. The other car stopped and I stopped. I saw right in my headlights on the side of the car “Somerdale Police Department”. That for some reason made me much angrier than if the driver was your ordinary impatient New Jersey douchebag driver, although I guess that’s the same stock from which we draw our police officers. As I drove off, I looked at my clock and saw it was 8:43 PM.

A freaking cop almost wrecked my car with my boys inside. You freaking idiot! Some paragon of public safety. I looked up the number for Somerdale PD and called it. It turned out to be the dispatcher, but I was told they would have an officer give me a call. I doubt they’ll do anything, but maybe they should force their officers to sit through some kind of safe driving class, like I have to sit through IT training whenever some idiot gets caught bypassing the firewall or looking at porn or pirating movies on the network.

I’m still shaking.

On the other hand, I do remember how many times I've almost had a New Jersey Highway Patrol car almost run me off the road when i had to take I-295 in to work. They'll tailgate you up to 85 MPH, and when you finally move over, they'll blast past you up to over 100. Maybe New Jersey cops are all totally unsafe drivers, and more of a threat to public safety than a gaurantee of it.

Some Interesting Developments in eBooks Today

Today brought some very interesting developments in the world of eBooks. The information also came to me in interesting ways. My wife was sick, so I stayed home from work to take care of the boys. I was using my mobile devices heavily. First, because the iPhone and iPod Touch have Exchange server support, I was able to keep up with a few things at work because of my Touch, which is set up for my company's Exchange server. I have a work issued BlackBerry, but I was carrying my Touch around with me anyway to listen to my podcasts rather than let a bunch build up. I was also using my Samsung Epix heavily today. I'd let a bunch of email pile up lately, so I was bouncing back and forth between the two devices to get through my personal account. I like the larger screen on the iPod Touch, but some of my html mail reads better in FlexMail 4 on the Epix. Also, the Epix's keyboard is slightly easier to use than the touch keypad on the iPod Touch.

I was catching up on some Twitter traffic on my Epix in Twobile when I saw that Michael Hyatt had downloaded something called "Kindle for iPhone". I switched over to my Touch, brought up the App Store, and searched for Kindle. I found it and downloaded it. From what I've read so far, using this application, I can purchase Kindle formatted books WITHOUT having to buy the $359 Kindle, but if I buy the Kindle, my books will sync between the devices.

Tim Ferriss: How To Be Jason Bourne…

Tim Ferriss has an interesting post with excerpts from a book about how to disguise assets and become an international citizen. I’m almost paranoid enough to get this book. In any case, it sounds interesting. I have no idea if things will ever get THIS bad in America, but it never hurts to be prepared or have alternative plans, does it?

Don’t Tell Sellers at a Yard Sale That You’re Going to Sell on Ebay

I’ve written several posts about how the words we use and the way we say them can cause seriously negative consequences for us. I’m just as guilty as anybody of this, which is scary because I try to be conscious of it.

My wife and I have had a few yard sales over the years. We’ve also been to a lot. My wife loves yard sale shopping. I’m sure that within the next month, when yard sales start back up, she’ll expect me to get up on Saturday and start driving her around. I’ll do everything in my power to get out of it, including offering to keep both kids at home with me.

Do Schools Really Not Teach Personal Finance?

I was reading through some posts on I Will Teach You to Be Rich when a thought suddenly occurred to me. Robert Kiyosaki sold quite a few copies of his book by claiming that there are secrets that the rich teach their kids that the poor and middle class do not. Perhaps there is something to that claim, but personally I think it’s just a catchy phrase to sell books. Yes, I’ve read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It was very inspirational.

I’m not going to try to debate Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I think John T. Reed has done a better job with that than I ever could. I just want to look at the claim that public schools don’t teach kids to handle finance, and that poor and middle class parents don’t teach their kids how to handle finance.

Dr. Jay Adams: Pastors and Problem People

For those who know of him, Dr. Jay Adams is blogging. He’s known for popularizing Biblical Counseling. I believe that he started the modern movement. Now at 80 years old, his ability to travel is more limited and he’s been using a blog as a ministry tool. I find many of his articles interesting. I once started a Biblical Counseling program, but didn’t get very far. The school wasn’t accredited, and by the time I figured out what that meant and why it was a problem, I came to realize that the world would be a happier place if I remained involved in lay ministry and kept my professional expertise in IT or engineering. I dropped out of that program and enrolled at the University of Phoenix for my IT degree.

I still maintain a lot of enthusiasm for Biblical Counseling, and I was happy to see Dr. Adams start blogging last year. I read a few of his books during my studies, and I do own a copy of the Christian Counselor’s Manual.

Is There A Better Way To Create a DVD?

This is a rant I’ve started several times, but never managed to make it good enough for posting. It’s something I want to say, and I’m sure 99% of people agree with me. Those who don’t agree with me on this particular issue have GOT to be VERY, VERY Weird, or they work for a movie studio or the RIAA or MPAA.

Here’s the scenario, which I’ve been through several times. It’s the middle of the night. You’ve got a long string of meetings the next day and desperately need a decent night’s sleep, but your one and a half or two year old is wide awake, screaming. There is only ONE thing in the entire house that will calm him down: Disney/Pixar’s Cars.