So the President says its time to update our energy grid and add more clean fuel technology to it? Well its kinda a tricky situation. Its really a whole chicken and the egg situation here where determining what to build first is not easy. Building new transmissions lines is important to connect new power plants to the grid, but it takes years to build the plants. Renewable energy power plants like wind turbines need to be where its windy like the midwest but there currently no major transmission lines there. So who goes first? Until now, no one.
Hopefully the availability of Federal incentives will spur both sides of the industry to start doing both. New wind and solar power plants in the West and Midwest need new transmission lines to connect them to the smart grid.
I am planning the most awesome Vegas Vacation in 2012? Why wait so long? Well its nothing to do with the current economic situation. Its actually because I am arranging a big trip with my friend from Europe and we’ve decided 2012 is the best time to go. Actually, when you look at the current economic situation in the U.S., you’ll see that now is the best time ever to visit Las Vegas Nevada. Why? Well the answer is easy. First off airline tickets are low. Fuel prices are low and when you combine that with a drop in travellers, many airlines have cut fares drastically. Secondly, once you get to Vegas you will find great deals on Hotels, Casinos and Las Vegas Shows. Its the same situation — low demand due to the recession means that casinos, hotels, and show venues are pulling out all the stops in order to drum up business and impress the people who do show up. Here’s a show that fits that bill in an exciting way — the Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas! Cirque du Soleil is a world-class event. If you have ever been to a Cirque du Soleil show, then you understand what I am talking about. It is really amazing. If you haven’t ever been to the Cirque du Soleil, then I can describe it to you as the following: A mix between a circus, theater, illusions and magic, and world class entertainment. And when I write “world class”, I mean you will see some of the best acrobatics, arts and performances from around the entire globe.
There are actually several different Las Vegas Cirque du Soleil shows to see. They are the KA, Mystere, Believe, LOVE, O, and Zumanity. One I would really like to see is Cirque LOVE. Located at the Mirage Las Vegas, LOVE - Cirque du Soleil is a performance of Cirque set within the world of the Beatles. What you get is all the magic and mystery of Cirque du Soleil set to the best soundtrack in the world — the music of the timeless Beatles. Its really a magical experience and whether you are a huge Beatles fan or just a casual music fan, this performance will really knock your socks off.
How old is Google? Well Google is turning 10 years old and they are celebrating themselves on the Internet with a pretty nifty looking timeline. Check it out here. The timeline is organized by several different types of information:
* Milestones
* Culture
* Products
* Stats
* Image
* Video
* Definition
Check out these great hypotheses on what the next 10 years will bring to technology and Google. One final thing to check out is Google’s Ten to the One Hundred party. Its a pretty nifty idea and might just get you $10 million for your best world-changing idea.
Here’s my recent train of thought which lead to a great new product idea. Steal it please! Just remember to remember me when you are rich!
What’s so great about DVD players versus VHS? Well one major point is that you can skip to different scenes with fast forwarding. I mean, its digital — like a CD versus a cassette tape.
Second thought — when you see a movie on TV, its been edited for content. Language, violence, nudity. I mean, I want to let my 3 year old see Iron Man but he’s too young for so much violence.Put the two thoughts together and what do you have? A DVD or DVD Player where you can “set” the rating on each play. G, PG, PG-13, R — all available once a single disk! Its just a matter of “editing” out some parts and bleeping (or silencing) some audio parts! Why hasn’t this been done yet? Its shouldn’t be that difficult.
What do you think about my idea?
If you haven’t heard, President Elect Obama really loves his BlackBerry (as do I mine).
Luckily the feds have come up with a secure BlackBerry type device he can keep using while President. Why the need for so much security? Here’s some potential reasons:
- BlackBerry / cellphone users may be tracked / triangulated and this poses a security threat
- National archive / sunshine laws means the correspondences need to be recorded.
- BlackBerries are easy to misplace and lose!
Are you still investing in the U.S. stock market? No, well you are missing out on a great opportunity. If you haven’t heard about dollar cost averaging before, then listen up — it could be the strategy you need to make 2009 your best investing year ever. After 2008’s horrible market returns, you could be ready to give up, but now is actually the perfect time to invest! Why? Dollar cost averaging! Here’s how it works:
- You make regular investments. Set it and forget it! For example, $200 a month.
- You forget about it!
No seriously, that’s it. Your accounts automatically invest $200 in good times and in bad times — $200 when its up and $200 when its down. When prices are low, e.g. a down market, you buy more shares with your $200. When prices rise, you buy less (because $200 affords fewer shares). When prices drop, you get to buy more shares, so when prices rise, you make more money on each one! Its called dollar cost averaging because your price per share paid gets averaged out over time, thus making it less susceptible to volatility.
See this website? Well it is hosted on a shared server somewhere out there in the world. I don’t know where the server is, but I know what it does — its allows people to visit my site 24/7 from anywhere in the world and it allows me to remotely log in and access my site and account. That’s basically what web hosting boils down to but its also why its so important. The right web host means high availability and affordable pricing. When it comes to choosing a web host, I recommend doing your research first with Web Hosting Choice. It’s a free online comparison resource to find the best host. Their famous “Best 10 Web Hosting Sites” is updated on a daily basis, so you also know who’s got the best offer and most reliable service. Beyond that, they also offer a comprehensive free Learning Center that explains the whole process of web hosting and what all the different terms mean.
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In 2008, the U.S. Market performance was as follows:
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) = -33.84%
- Standard & Poor’s 500 (.SPX) = -38.49%
- Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) = -40.54%
- Russell 1000 Large Cap = -39.02%
Did you know that the Sony PlayStation 3 is still selling for a loss. Yes, its true! For every PS3 Sony sells, its actually losing money. According to the Wall Street Journal, it now costs Sony about $448.73 to build a new PS3. That’s more than its $399 selling price. But even crazier is that a few years ago (with the 1st generation model) it cost upwards of $690.23 for each unit. Why would Sony sell PS3s for a loss? Here are some reasons:
- It is competing with rich Microsoft (who can afford losses) and cheap Nintendo and needs to be competitive.
- Sony makes a profit still on the games, so its a case of the loss leader.
- Sony wanted to get the Blu-Ray player popular and include it as built-in functionality.
So what can an internet marketing company do for your business? Well they not only help you advertise online but more importantly they can help you analyze every last dollar and click of your marketing campaign to see what works and what doesn’t. This is the true value of Internet marketing — you get real time results and tons of data on how your campaigns are working (or not). Forget spending dollars on TV ads and magazine spreads — you really need an SEO company which can show you your real return on online advertising. Whether you are targeting a specific area like Charlotte or a certain demographic (teens and 20-somethings), you can maximize your advertising dollar when you do it online.
How Did We Go From -3.8% to -6.3%? I mean, last month the U.S. government bean counters predicted that the U.S. economy shrank by 3.8% in the last quarter. That was bad enough but the news out today is that the actual figure is more like 6.3% decline in GDP. How does what amounts to a $350 billion mistake occur? Well the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis is responsible for coming up with these numbers. They actually make three guesses at GDP — at three different times — and depending on how much info they have, they have to estimate the missing stuff. Unfortunately this time around the drop in U.S. exports was underestimated at first, leading to he 3./8% figure. When we got a better idea of the real picture, the GDP drop edged up to 6.3%.
Let’s face it — gas prices are going back up. You better get on the waiting list now for a new Chevy Volt. The Chevy Volt is the all new electric car GM is introducing next year. But with the company’s current financial condition, will they pull the plug? I mean, it costs a lot of money to introduce a new product to market and the Volt won’t be cheap. Let’s hope that GM will continue to push the envelope on this one and make the car a reality.
How long will this current bear market last? Well its anyone’s guess but some reports I’ve read on the Internet is that it could be up to 5 or 6 years. That means no growth in the stock market (or maybe continued declines) for the rest of the decade and well into the next one. So what exactly are you supposed to do now? Well if you own a house, you probably can’t sell it anytime soon. I know I can’t. My house has dropped $40,000 in value int he past year. I will have to stay put or I will have to declare bankruptcy at the sale.
Focusing on what you CAN do in the immediate future, I feel its important to look at your finances and get them in order. That means first evaluating your accounts and looking into debt consolidation if you have debt. Debt consolidation means you try to minimize your interest payments and shorten the time you will have outstanding debt (e.g. the time to pay it off). This will do two things. First it will allow you to get control of your debt. Secondly, it will help save you money in the long run. The sooner you can pay off your debt, the sooner you will have extra cash each month to save or to put towards investing.
One step further than this is debt management. Debt management is learning to effectively use debt and manage it as a financial instrument. All debt is not bad — in fact it can be quite useful. Think about a credit card used properly — you can delay payment for new goods and services until the next billing cycle. That’s a free short term loan for up to 28 days. Why not take advantage of that? Combine that fact with the possibility to get cash back rewards or travel rewards and you can see why learning to effectively use and manage debt can be so valuable. Learn how to get you financial house in order and then learn how to live with financial wisdom. Now is the time to get it right — the next 36 months will be a rough one and you need to be prepared.
OK, maybe you can blanket your house or car with enough solar panels to really take care of all your energy needs. The technology really isn’t there yet. But what about instead of this all-at-once solution, we start to see mini-solar power applications. Need an example? Well how about a cover for your cell phone with solar panels? It could charge your phone and keep you from having to plug it in to the grid? And how about jacket with solar film on it which captures power for future use?
I’ve written about this before, but today’s article on the Fortune site of CNN Money Wireless HD coming to homes just reiterates my previous thoughts. Think about it — what is next in home entertainment? We already have flat TV, TV to mount on walls, and high definition TV (1080p), so what was next? Well it was 120 Hz technology for picture refresh rate, but that is so 2008. The future and the next big step in home entertainment from your TV is the ability for your DVD player, Blu-Ray player, and digital cable to wirelessly transmit the HD signal to your TV. No more cables (sorry MONSTER) and no more clutter. The future is coming soon to the TV near you.
