Incongruity

Young people often comment on the old fashioned nature of older folks. But truth be told everyone is old fashioned in our own respect. Grandma may not have the lastest fashion, but what she's wearing now was the signet of style at one point. And chances are, what you're wearing now isn't what your younger sister or your son is wearing (and for this your children and siblings are thankful). The older you get, the more you realize that keeping up with the latest trend isn't what life is about.

And if we flip the coin, we end up with another issue. If a middle aged mother ever donned the same outfit that her teenage daughter is sporting, you'd be the first to think how inappropriate that looked for a woman her age. And you wouldn't be the last with such criticism either. There is something to be said for time and place, and in this case the time is measured in decades, and place is your point in life. Both come with expectations.

We all should be comfortable in our skin. And just as a twenty something isn't going to be comfortable in clothes from the 70s, a seventy something isn't going to be comfortable in most contemporary clothes. And they'd both look out of time anyway.

The Easy Button

There is value in making something simple. And where there is value, there is the potential to make money. Therefore, simplifying a process is an excellent start for a business idea. Airplanes simplified travel. Coffee makers simplified getting a caffeine fix. Google simplified finding things, in the catacombs that is the Internet.

Like Google, Facebook has also made a name for themselves online. What have they simplified? They simplified finding and connecting with people online. While their stocks have been taking a beating, they remain popular amount the social networking crowd, and will remain that way for the foreseeable future.

Twitter simplified sharing things online. They make it easy to tell the world what you had for breakfast, to give others an opportunity to read that interesting article that inspired you, to get traction on your newest blog post, and even to share the latest fake celebrity death.

I don't know any celebrities, but I regularly write on my blog (which you should read sometime). And I recently found a new use for Twitter. I linked my Twitter account to my Facebook page, my LinkedIn account, my Blackberry Messenger profile, and my blog. Now, if I want to share something, such as a new blog post or an article I read, all I do is compose a tweet using the Twitter client on my Blackberry. The link is automatically shortened, my BBM status is updated, my Twitter feed is fed, my Facebook timeline gets a timely new post, LinkedIn gets the link, and my blog is logged.

I never used Twitter much before now. But this integration simplifies my desire to share things with my readers. Twitter's business model is built on simplifying sharing with the masses.

If you're interested in starting your own business, look for opportunities to simplify something. It gives a new meaning to easy money.

No Pings? Please!

What is it with people who set statuses like: "Sleeping, DO NOT ping me", "Studying, NO PINGS", "Busy, don't ping", and the everlasting variations. What's the point of such status messages? If you don't want to be interrupted, well here is an idea: turn off your phone.

Ok, so maybe you don't want to turn off your phone in case there is an emergency - like a fire in the room and your room mate in the next bed needs to call you to tell you to evacuate. So turn off notifications; yes you can do that. There is a Blackberry profile for calls only - you will not get beeps and pings, only phone calls. "What?! How do I do that?" you ask incredulously.

Here is how you activate this mode. You see that little speaker icon at the top left side of your screen, just below the date?  Click it. Scroll to the bottom of the menu that appears. Ta da! "Phone Calls Only" mode.  Now you can sleep, study, eat, or watch TV in peace.

If you want, you can even customize the profiles to enable and disable certain notifications, have it vibrate instead of ping, and even add special alerts for one or more contacts. This last one might be great if, for example, you want your significant other to be able to get you around the clock. Useful for midnight, um, conversations.

I'm gonna chalk this one up to a lack of familiarity with the technology. Now that you are duly educated about this nifty feature, stop with the silly status messages. That is all.

Response To "Muscular Men Make Poor Boyfriends"

This is a response to the article "Muscular men make poor boyfriends: study" published in the Jamaica Observer on July 9, 2012.

My first problem is with the title of this article. I've seen a couple of muscular farmers and mechanics, but I don't think that's who the researchers had in mind. So let's call these men body builders. Wow, what a positive term. These men are building themselves. This immediately softens the sensational nature of the headline. But given the weak nature of the article, it's best that it avoids drawing any extra attention to itself.

Now let's get to the meat of the matter. The researchers assert that "those who aim for bodily perfection, to the point of obsession, are usually narcissistic". Unless narcissism is muscular disorder, I think these researchers have missed the point of their findings. The problem isn't muscle mass, it's narcissistic personality traits which can exist in any group of men - or women for that matter.

Interestingly, one of the researchers admitted that the problematic boyfriends aren't regular gym users, but fixated ones. Thanks for pointing out the obvious! If someone is fixated on something, they will neglect other things, girlfriends included. But it's also possible that they are mistaking dedication for fixation. Is someone who religiously goes to the gym five days a week fixated? And is that a bad thing? If the answer to those questions is yes, then supremely successful men who work six days a week, and men who go to worship...um...religiously are also fixated and would make bad lovers.

As for the women who had bad relationships with 'gym freaks', soldiers, good looking men and the like, we sympathize. But please don't generalize. If you had a bad relationship with a rich guy, would you warn all other women off rich guys?

Finally, let's tackle that comment about the 'scrawny guy with the nice personality'. First, calling someone scrawny is just not nice.  Shame on you for picking on him! And suppose that guy decides to go to the gym, and gets himself some big muscles, what then? Does he suddenly become less of an option? Highly unlikely. But even if he remains a little guy, don't stereotype and overlook him. While you're at it, stop stereotyping the weightlifters too.

Interpersonal Ozone

The core of the sun burns at a tremendous temperature of fifteen million degrees celsius. That is roughly the equivalent of one hundred million nuclear bombs exploding every second. Its surface temperature is five thousand five hundred degrees celsius - a temperature achievable briefly by a nuclear bomb, but sustained by the behemoth star at the centre of our galaxy.

The earth hides a distant ninety three million miles away from this nuclear powerhouse. Though separated by immense dark space, we feel it's wrath daily. Were it not for the protective layer of ozone enveloping our planet, we would be burned out of existence by solar radiation.

 

At our most passionate, human beings are capable of radiating emotions rivaling our sun. We glow with affection for our loved ones. We spew vehemence when spurned. We expect the world of our children. We erupt in anger when we feel cheated. We shower a love interest with feelings that radiate from our core.

 

Sometimes our radiance is too much for another to endure. Our expectations seem too bright, or perhaps are expressed prematurely. Well intentioned actions are delivered with more intensity than the recipient is prepared to handle. There is no ozone between us and them. They will either suffer from emotional sunburn, or retreat to a safe distance in the cool darkness.

 

Unchecked emotions can be explosive, even the good ones. In the absence of an interpersonal ozone layer, we must learn to temper our emotions, so as not to overwhelm our recipient.

 

All Men Are...

In a world where tolerance is word of the day, there is one prejudice which remains rampant and unchecked: negative views toward men. While discrimination cuts both ways, negative stereotypes are predominantly attached to men, and no one seems to be rushing to our defense - not even men ourselves. We seem to be content with being labeled as dogs, unfaithful, violent, and careless with a good man being considered the rare exception. Well I for one have had enough!

I argue that most men are great, and should be viewed as such until proven otherwise! For every man that cheats, I will show you ten that love their women. And I will venture to say that even the unfaithful ones do as well. Love and sex are not inseparable for everyone, including some women. And you can't tell me that women don't cheat! So drop the holier than thou attitude please.

Now I'm not going to sit here and argue that there aren't men out there who are all about sex, and see women primarily as sex objects. There are also men who view women negatively, and are adversarial in their interactions with the opposite sex. Guess what? In many cases a woman is to blame for this. Sometimes it's the very views expressed by women around him which warp a man's view of the opposite sex. All it takes is a woman to be burned by one man, for some impressionable boy to hear that his entire species is flawed. He will either grow up believing what he hears, or subconsciously develop a protection mechanism by hitting out against the offending source of this personal assault. After having his entire gender denigrated, do you think he's going to be any less indiscriminate?

And let's not forget the men who have had their hearts broken. Yes, we have hearts too, and not just the kind that pumps blood. Heartbreak is a human experience not a female one! And just as a woman can be emotionally affected by a bad relationship and subsequent breakup, so can a man. But no one is sympathetic to a man whose heart has been broken. It almost sounds pathetic, unman-like. Don't be surprised if such a man decides to play the field, instead of committing his fragile heart again.

When you assume that all men are the same, you will miss out when a good one passes your way. Your prejudice will blind you, and you will not see that he is different. So quit with the stereotypes. All men are wonderful, amazing human beings in their own right, if you give us a chance to be.

Growing Pains

When you are a small, new company you have to do things differently to carve out your place in the market. You have to be faster, customer centric, better. You move quickly, adapt readily, you're nimble and innovative.

With success comes baggage. As you grow, so do your expenses, and you become more concerned about making the money you need to continue to exist. It begins to seem as if your existence isn't as much dependent on innovation, as it is on cash flow.

Cash flow is important. But when it all starts to go south is when the business begins to compromise on the things that made it successful, in exchange for a quick dollar. And when they start to focus on the minutia of business, and lose sight of what made them different, the battle is lost. No need to be as customer centric, because losing one customer of 1000 isn't as devastating as losing one of 10.

In order to keep their edge as their business grows, entrepreneurs should always be mindful of what made them succeed. And instead of cutting off old roots, they should keep them firmly planted as they also add new ones.