Short Live Telecomsก Monopoly

Short Live Telecomsก Monopoly

by: Patrizia Demaria

กFree will cannot be debated, but only experienced like a colour or the taste of potatoes.ก

My question: can we really experience it?

In a world in which everybody talks of nothing else than Democracy, is our wolrd slightly democratic?

Have we really come a long way through History?

Or are we just repeating the same mistakes all over, just changing the pattern of them?

ก We go on discovering that we are this, that and other things and sometimes we have astounding experiences. We are unfinished, we are growing and changing.

Yet that future personality which we are to be in a yearกs timeis already there, only it is in the shadow.

These potentialities naturally belong to the dark side of the ego.

We are all aware of what we have been, but we are not aware of what we are going to be.ก

But do we really change and improve or we are just the same all over?

ก In point of fact what is interesting about people is the mask that each one of them wears, not the reality that lies behind the mask.

It is a humiliating confession, but we are all of us made out of the same stuff.

Where we differ from each other is purely accidental:in dress, manner, tone of voice, religious opinions, personal appearance, tucks of the habit and the like.

The more one analyses people, the more all reasons for analysis disappear.

Sooner or later one comes to the dreadful unioversal thing called Human Nature.ก

For two thousand years or more man has been subjected to a systematic effort to transform him into an ascetic animal.

He remains a pleasure seeking animal.

And some are pleasure seeking animals at any cost.

Cheating, robbing, killing is nothing that a mean to achieve it.

The biggest the Corporation, the more polithically involved, the more cheating and crooking.

Look at the Politicians of today, at the big Monopoly corporations…

When will we wake up?

They try to shut our mouths and minds with any kind of stupid fullfilling devices, but still keeping the hand ( and the profit) in it.

Once they said man built his own pleasures, now they say he has to pay for them.

They also say it takes gut to be a dreamer and a visionary, I think on the contrary it comes naturally, either you are or you are not.

Either you see reality or you see what they want you to see.

The economy of means is founded on the richness of thought.

I have just started my personal peaceful war and I am looking for people who can share my dreams.

Short live the Telecom monopoly!

http://www.worldonip.com/community

About The Author

Patrizia is an ebook publisher, her website has more than 700 free ebooks for the TK3 reader

[email protected]

This article was posted on November 28, 2003

by Patrizia Demaria

Don’t Get Above Your Business

Don’t Get Above Your Business

by: Fernando Soave

Young men after they get through their business training, or apprenticeship, instead of pursuing their avocation and rising in their business, will often lie about doing nothing. They say, กI have learned my business, but I am not going to be a hireling; what is the object of learning my trade or profession, unless I establish myself?ก

กHave you capital to start with?ก

กNo, but I am going to have it.ก

กHow are you going to get it?ก

กI will tell you confidentially; I have a wealthy old aunt, and she will die pretty soon; but if she does not, I expect to find some rich old man who will lend me a few thousands to give me a start. If I only get the money to start with I will do well.ก

There is no greater mistake than when a young man believes he will succeed with borrowed money. Why? Because every manกs experience coincides with that of Mr. Astor, who said, กit was more difficult for him to accumulate his first thousand dollars, than all the succeeding millions that made up his colossal fortune.ก Money is good for nothing unless you know the value of it by experience. Give a boy twenty thousand dollars and put him in business, and the chances are that he will lose every dollar of it before he is a year older. Like buying a ticket in the lottery, and drawing a prize, it is กeasy come, easy go.ก He does not know the value of it; nothing is worth anything, unless it costs effort. Without selfdenial and economy, patience and perseverance, and commencing with capital which you have not earned, you are not sure to succeed in accumulating. Young men, instead of กwaiting for dead menกs shoes,ก should be up and doing, for there is no class of persons who are so unaccommodating in regard to dying as these rich old people, and it is fortunate for the expectant heirs that it is so. Nine out of ten of the rich men of our country today, started out in life as poor boys, with determined wills, industry, perseverance, economy and good habits. They went on gradually, made their own money and saved it; and this is the best way to acquire a fortune. Stephen Girard started life as a poor cabin boy, and died worth nine million dollars. A. T. Stewart was a poor Irish boy; and he paid taxes on a million and a half dollars of income, per year. John Jacob Astor was a poor farmer boy, and died worth twenty millions. Cornelius Vanderbilt began life rowing a boat from Staten Island to New York; he presented our government with a steamship worth a million of dollars, and died worth fifty millions. ‘there is no royal road to learning,ก says the proverb, and I may say it is equally true, ‘there is no royal road to wealth.ก But I think there is a royal road to both. The road to learning is a royal one; the road that enables the student to expand his intellect and add every day to his stock of knowledge, until, in the pleasant process of intellectual growth, he is able to solve the most profound problems, to count the stars, to analyze every atom of the globe, and to measure the firmamentthis is a regal highway, and it is the only road worth traveling.

So in regard to wealth. Go on in confidence, study the rules, and above all things, study human nature; for ‘the proper study of mankind is man,ก and you will find that while expanding the intellect and the muscles, your enlarged experience will enable you every day to accumulate more and more principal, which will increase itself by interest and otherwise, until you arrive at a state of independence. You will find, as a general thing, that the poor boys get rich and the rich boys get poor. For instance, a rich man at his decease, leaves a large estate to his family. His eldest sons, who have helped him earn his fortune, know by experience the value of money, and they take their inheritance and add to it. The separate portions of the young children are placed at interest, and the little fellows are patted on the head, and told a dozen times a day, กyou are rich; you will never have to work, you can always have whatever you wish, for you were born with a golden spoon in your mouth.ก The young heir soon finds out what that means; he has the finest dresses and playthings; he is crammed with sugar candies and almost กkilled with kindness,ก and he passes from school to school, petted and flattered. He becomes arrogant and selfconceited, abuses his teachers, and carries everything with a high hand. He knows nothing of the real value of money, having never earned any; but he knows all about the กgolden spoonก business. At college, he invites his poor fellowstudents to his room, where he กwines and dinesก them. He is cajoled and caressed, and called a glorious good fellow, because he is so lavish of his money. He gives his game suppers, drives his fast horses, invites his chums to fetes and parties, determined to have lots of กgood times.ก He spends the night in frolics and debauchery, and leads off his companions with the familiar song, กwe won’t go home till morning.ก He gets them to join him in pulling down signs, taking gates from their hinges and throwing them into back yards and horseponds. If the police arrest them, he knocks them down, is taken to the lockup, and joyfully foots the bills.

กAh! my boys,ก he cries, กwhat is the use of being rich, if you can’t enjoy yourself?ก

He might more truly say, กif you can’t make a fool of yourself;ก but he is กfast,ก hates slow things, and don’t กsee it.ก Young men loaded down with other peopleกs money are almost sure to lose all they inherit, and they acquire all sorts of bad habits which, in the majority of cases, ruin them in health, purse and character. In this country, one generation follows another, and the poor of today are rich in the next generation, or the third. Their experience leads them on, and they become rich, and they leave vast riches to their young children. These children, having been reared in luxury, are inexperienced and get poor; and after long experience another generation comes on and gathers up riches again in turn. And thus กhistory repeats itself,ก and happy is he who by listening to the experience of others avoids the rocks and shoals on which so many have been wrecked.

กIn England, the business makes the man.ก If a man in that country is a mechanic or workingman, he is not recognized as a gentleman. On the occasion of my first appearance before Queen Victoria, the Duke of Wellington asked me what sphere in life General Tom Thumbกs parents were in.

กHis father is a carpenter,ก I replied.

กOh! I had heard he was a gentleman,ก was the response of His Grace.

In this Republican country, the man makes the business. No matter whether he is a blacksmith, a shoemaker, a farmer, banker or lawyer, so long as his business is legitimate, he may be a gentleman. So any กlegitimateก business is a double blessingit helps the man engaged in it, and also helps others. The farmer supports his own family, but he also benefits the merchant or mechanic who needs the products of his farm. The tailor not only makes a living by his trade, but he also benefits the farmer, the clergyman and others who cannot make their own clothing. But all these classes of men may be gentlemen.

The great ambition should be to excel all others engaged in the same occupation.

The collegestudent who was about graduating, said to an old lawyer:

กI have not yet decided which profession I will follow. Is your profession full?ก

‘the basement is much crowded, but there is plenty of room upstairs,ก was the witty and truthful reply.

No profession, trade, or calling, is overcrowded in the upper story. Wherever you find the most honest and intelligent merchant or banker, or the best lawyer, the best doctor, the best clergyman, the best shoemaker, carpenter, or anything else, that man is most sought for, and has always enough to do. As a nation Americans are too superficialthey are striving to get rich quickly, and do not generally do their business as substantially and thoroughly as they should, but whoever excels all others in his own line, if his habits are good and his integrity undoubted, cannot fail to secure abundant patronage, and the wealth that naturally follows. Let your motto then always be กExcelsior,ก for by living up to it there is no such word as fail.

Fernando Soave

Editor and Publisher

CUTTING EDGE MLM

http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk

Free Cutting Edge MLM

Newsletter.

This article comes with reprint rights. Feel free to reprint and distribute as needed. All that we ask is that you do not make any changes and to be sure that the web site address http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk and is hyperlinked correctly.

About The Author

Fernando Soave is the author of กCutting Edge MLM News.ก He has been in marketing for 20 years and is helping individuals succeed online. Visit his site to find out how you can get free reports. http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk or Subscribe to the Free Cutting Edge MLM Newsletter and receive your +$585 MLM Value Pack. Subscribe here http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk

[email protected]

This article was posted on December 14, 2004

by Fernando Soave

Discover How To Attract The Help You Need To Build

Discover How To Attract The Help You Need To Build Your Network Marketing Business

by: Fernando Soave

Positive thinkers dare to believe that the biggest and best men or woman in the world can be attracted to their cause or project. Try for the best man or woman in the world and you can secure his help.

How do you attract the help of the best man or woman you need ?

1. Be prepared to pay for the help you need.

Watch out for that negative money trap : ขYou probably can’t afford not to spend the money to hire the help.ข Be prepared to pay top price for the top man or woman. The best man or woman are usually worth more then they are getting. It almost always pays to hire the best.

2. Be a team builder, not an empire founder.

Successful man or woman are those who have a ขteam complexข, not a ขstar complexข. Positiv thinkers are team builders, not empire founders.

3. Forget about ขstatusข, credit and glory.

Statusseeking, creditgrabling and gloryhunting executers generate unimaginable jealousy. Instead of inspiring their associates to really produce, they stimulate negative emotions that contribute to a terrible letdown. The smart and successful men or woman finds joy in watching his associates get ahead. They never allow themselves to view their associates as threats to their own proud position. They know that this very thought will be the beginning of their downfall. You can surround yourself with skilled specialists if you will establish a ขsharethecreditplanข. As the proverb says : ขTake good care of your people and your people will take good care of you.ข

4. Offer your people a unique pacesetting challenge.

Promise them the chance to join in creating something bigger and better than has ever been done before. Great men or woman are attracted to great challenges.

5. Give your teammates great freedom.

The greatest men or woman are attracted by a great challenge coupled with the promise of great freedom. Promise them freedom :

to plan

to dream

to imagine.

Great freedom generates maximum energy and extracts unbelievable dedication.

6. Make up your mind not to lose a good man or woman once you have him on your team.

Any man or woman you hire will have his weaknesses. Try to strenghten them where they are weak. If that fails, fill the gap in the job by rearranging and reorganizing.

7. Learn to live with difficult people.

Learn from them and learn to work with them. Some of the people you may need to help solve you problems or develop your dreams may be the kind of people who are not always easy to go along with. These are people who seem to like to argue. Try to keep your differences with them on the plane of disagreement. Try to prevent these disagreements from becoming violent arguments.

Find and hire people who are smarter then you are. Whether your business is building a business empire, your success will be enhanced if you learn how to be a team builder.

Fernando Soave

CEO CUTTING EDGE MLM

http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk

Free Cutting Edge MLM Newsletter.

mailto:[email protected]

This article comes with reprint rights. Feel free to reprint and distribute as needed. All that we ask is that you do not make any changes and to be sure that the web site address http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk and mailto:[email protected] is hyperlinked correctly.

About The Author

Fernando Soave is the author of กCutting Edge MLM News.ก He has been in marketing for 20 years and is helping individuals succeed online. Visit his site to find out how you can get free reports. http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk or Subscribe to the Free Cutting Edge MLM Newsletter and receive your +$585 MLM Value Pack. mailto:[email protected]

[email protected]

This article was posted on September 18, 2003

by Fernando Soave

The Secret to Success!

The Secret to Success!

by: Fernando Soave

I must tell you about a rich manกs son at Niagara Falls. He was an indescribable specimen of anthropologic potency. He had a skullcap on one side of his head, with a gold tassel in the top of it, and a goldheaded cane under his arm with more in it than in his head. It is a very difficult thing to describe that young man. He wore an eye glass that he could not see through, patent leather boots that he could not walk in, and pants that he could not sit down indressed like a grasshopper. This human cricket came up to the clerkกs desk just as I entered, adjusted his unseeing eyeglass, and spake in this wise to the clerk. You see, he thought it was “Hinglish, you know,กก to lisp. “Thir, will you have the kindness to supply me with thome papah and enwelophs!กก The hotel clerk measured that man quick, and he pulled the envelopes and paper out of a drawer, threw them across the counter toward the young man, and then turned away to his books. You should have seen that young man when those envelopes came across that counter. He swelled up like a gobbler turkey, adjusted his unseeing eye glass, and yelled: “Come right back here. Now thir, will you order a thervant to take that papah and enwelophs to yondah dethk.กก Oh, the poor, miserable, contemptible American monkey! He could not carry paper and envelopes twenty feet. I suppose he could not get his arms down to do it. I have no pity for such travesties upon human nature. If you have not capital I am glad of it. What you need is common sense, not copper cents.

The best thing I can do is to illustrate by actual facts wellknown to you all. A. T. Stewart, a poor boy in New York, had $1.50 to begin life on. He lost 87 cents of that on the very first venture. How fortunate that young man who loses the first time he gambles. That boy said, “I will never gamble again in business,กก and he never did. How came he to lose 87 cents? You probably all know the story how he lost itbecause he bought some needles, threads, and buttons to sell which people did not want, and had them left on his hands, a dead loss. Said the boy, “I will not lose any more money in that way.กก Then he went around first to the doors and asked the people what they did want. Then when he had found out what they wanted he invested his 62 cents to supply a known demand. Study it wherever you choosein business, in your profession, in your housekeeping, whatever your life, that one thing is the secret of success. You must first know the demand. You must first know what people need, and then invest yourself where you are most needed. A. T. Stewart went on that principle until he was worth what amounted afterward to forty millions of dollars, owning the very store in which Mr. Wanamaker carries on his great work in New York. His fortune was made by his losing something, which taught him the great lesson that he must only invest himself or his money in something that people need. When will you salesmen learn it? When will you manufacturers learn that you must know the changing needs of humanity if you would succeed in life? Apply yourselves, as manufacturers or merchants or workmen to supply that human need. It is a great principle as broad as humanity.

Fernando Soave

Editor and Publisher

http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk

Free Cutting Edge MLM Newsletter. mailto:[email protected]

This article comes with reprint rights. Feel free to reprint and distribute as needed. All that we ask is that you do not make any changes and to be sure that the web site address http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk and mailto:[email protected] is hyperlinked correctly.

About The Author

Fernando Soave is the author of กCutting Edge MLM News.ก He has been in marketing for 20 years and is helping individuals succeed online. Visit his site to find out how you can get free reports. http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk

[email protected]

This article was posted on May 07, 2004

by Fernando Soave

The Ghost in the Net

The Ghost in the Net

by: Sam Vaknin, Ph.D.

However far modern science and technology have fallen short of their inherent possibilities, they have taught mankind at least one lesson: Nothing is impossible.

Today, the degradation of the inner life is symbolized by the fact that the only place sacred from interruption is the private toilet.

By his very success in inventing laboursaving devices, modern man has manufactured an abyss of boredom that only the privileged classes in earlier civilizations have ever fathomed.

For most Americans, progress means accepting what is new because it is new, and discarding what is old because it is old.

I would die happy if I knew that on my tombstone could be written these words, ‘this man was an absolute fool. None of the disastrous things that he reluctantly predicted ever came to pass!ก

Lewis Mumford (18951990)

Dear Sam,

We begin our series on great personalities of the 20th century with Lewis Mumford. Of course, this is only an excuse to develop our own ideas. Those who are interested in the ideas of กourก characters can go to the nearest bookstore and read directly form the fountain. Anyway, for the sake of those who are not acquainted with Mumford, I will draw a brief biography.

Lewis Mumford was born in 1895 (the same year Xrays were discovered by Roentgen and the Dreyfus affair was another significant กsuccessก). Mumford started his career in the US Patent Office (overseeing กcement and concreteก), which gave him a first person insight into technological innovation processes. Later he made contact with his late master Patrick Geddes (and other great thinkers like Victor Branford). These encounters converted him into a generalist. His writing career extended over six decades in which he made significant contributions to the literature of history, philosophy, art, and architectural criticism. Perhaps best known for his work on urban planning and the study of technology, Mumford was cofounder of the Regional Planning Association of America and, for 32 years, wrote the กSky Lineก column on architecture for the New Yorker. He served on the faculties of several institutions, including Stanford university, the University of Pennsylvania, and MIT, and was appointed to the New York City Board of Higher Education. He received many awards, as the National Medal for Literature and The National Medal for the Arts.

His first literary work was ‘the Story of Utopiasก, which advanced one of the major themes of his life: the utopian (technological) literature and its impact on human development. After some other minor works (which included a beautiful book on Herman Melville, 1929), he published his first great opus, ‘technics and Civilization (1934)ก, one of the first historical works on technology. It was even incorporated in the curricula of technological institutes, like Cal tech, the first technological university to have a historical course. This book was, though with some doubts, technologically oriented. After the war, his point of view, regarding this as well as other matters, changed somewhat. In 1938 he presented ‘the Culture of Citiesก, the first work pertaining to the other leitmotif of his life: urbanism and architecture. In the forties and fifties, Mumford produced sevearl works on the กhuman conditionก, sanity, city development and arts. In 1961 appeared another major work of his, ‘the city in Historyก, a complete survey of the city and its cycles.

In the กdecisive yearsก, during the sixties, Mumford wrote, in our humble opinion, his major work: ‘the Myth of the Machineก. It was partly based on the ideas of Oswald Spengler as refined by Alfred Toynbee, and, distilling nearly sixty years of investigation, Lewis Mumford brings to a head his radical revisions of the stale popular conceptions of human and technological progress. ‘the Mythก is a fully developed historical explanation of the irrationalities that have undermined the highest achievements of modern technology speed, mass production, automation, instant communication, and remote control. These have inevitably brought about pollution, waste, ecological disruption and human extermination. And he makes a comparison part historical and part artistic between the state machine of the Pyramid Age and the global cybernetic technomachine of our กstrange daysก (the Pentagon of Power).

As the generalist work of Mumford covers practically all fields of knowledge, I propose to you to focus our dialogue on the problem of technology and life (with some linkage to his other major field: urbanism). Indeed, this is a hot topic nowadays (the กmad cow diseaseก issue).

Highlights of this theme are:

Mumford discussion of cybernetics and the กautomation of automationก (Wiener)

Mumfordกs polemics with McLuhan and the audiovisual tribe a humbug, in LM words

And especially, his proposal to change the actual megatechnology into the life plenitude of organic polytechnology anticipating the ecological views of today.

As you are interested in technological media (i.e. your essay on the Internet), here is a first strike courtesy Mr. Mumford:

ก…. It is to replace human autonomy in every form by an uptodate electronic model of the megamachine. The mass media, he demonstrates, are กput out before they are thought outก. In fact, ‘their being put out tends to cancel the possibility of their being thought out at allก. Precisely. Here McLuhan gives the whole show away. Because every technical apparatus is an extension of man´s bodily organs, including his brain, this peripheral structure, by Mcluhan´s analysis, must, by its very mass and ubiquity, replace all autonomous needs or desires: since now for us ‘technology is a part our bodiesก, no detachment or divorce is possible. กOnce we have surrendered our senses and nervous systems to the private manipulations of those who would try to benefit from taking a lease on our eyes and ears and nerves, we don´t really have any rights (read autonomy) leftก ก.

‘this latter point might well be taken as a warning to disengage ourselves, as soon as possible, from the power system so menacingly described: for McLuhan it leads, rather, to a demand for unconditional surrender. กUnder electric technologyก, he observes, ‘the entire business of man becomes learning and knowingก. Apart from the fact that this is a pathetically academic picture of the potentialities of man, the kind of learning and knowing that McLuhan becomes enraptured over is precisely that which can be programmed on a computer: กWe are now in position…ก, he observes, ‘to transfer the entire show to the memory of a computerก. No better formula could be found for arresting and ultimately suppressing human development…ก

Well, this is my opening movement, Your turn, Mr. Vaknin.

Dear RCM,

Good to renew our dialogues. I will get straight to the point, or, rather, to the points. I intend to deal with each and every one of them extensively but, as is our habit, I am just mapping the territory.

1. Is it meaningful to discuss technology separate from life, as opposed to life, or compared to life? Is it not the inevitable product of life, a determinant of life and part of its definition? Francis Bacon and, centuries later, the visionary Ernst Kapp, thought of technology as a means to conquer and master nature an expression of the classic dichotomy between observer and observed. But there could be other ways of looking at it (consider, for instance, the seminal work of Friedrich Dessauer). Kapp was the first to talk of technology as กorgan projectionก (preceding McLuhan by more than a century). Freud wrote in กCivilization and its Discontentsก: กMan has, as it were, become a kind of prosthetic god. When he puts on all his auxiliary organs he is truly magnificent; but those organs have not grown on to him and they still give him much trouble at times.ก

2. On the whole, has technology contributed to human development or arrested it?

3. Even if we accept that technology is alien to life, a foreign implant and a potential menace what frame of reference can accommodate the new convergence between life and technology (mainly medical technology and biotechnology)? What are cyborgs life or technology? What about clones? Artificial implants? Life sustaining devices (like heartkidney machines)? Future implants of chips in human brains? Designer babies, tailored to specifications by genetic engineering? What about ARTIFICIAL intelligence?

4. Is technology INhuman or Ahuman? In other words, are the main, immutable and dominant attributes of technology alien to humans, to the human spirit, or to the human brain? Is this possible at all? Is such nonhuman technology likely to be developed by artificial intelligence machines in the future? Finally, is this kind of technology automatically ANTIhuman as well? Mumfordกs classification of all technologies to polytechnic (humanfriendly) and monotechnic (human averse) springs to mind.

5. Is the impact technology has on the INDIVIDUAL necessarily identical or even comparable to the impact it has on human collectives and societies? Think Internet the answer in this case is clearly NEGATIVE.

6. Is it possible to define what is technology at all?

If we adopt Monsmaกs definition of technology (1986) as ‘the systematic treatment of an artก is art to be treated as a variant of technology? Robert Mertonกs definition is a nondefinition because it is so broad it encompasses all teleological human actions: กany complex of standardized means for attaining a predetermined resultก. Jacques Ellul resorted to tautology: ‘the totality of methods

rationally arrived at and having absolute efficiency in every field of human activityก (1964). H.D. Lasswell (whose work is mainly mediarelated) proffered an operative definition: ‘the ensemble of practices by which one uses available resources to achieve certain valued endsก. It is clear how unclear and indefensible these definitions are.

7. The use of technology involves choices and the exercise of free will. Does technology enhance our ability to exercise free will or does it detract from it? Is there an inherent and insolvable contradiction between technology and ethical and moral percepts? Put more simply: is technology inherently unethical and immoral or amoral? If so, is it fatalistic, or deterministic, as Thurstein Veblen suggested (in กEngineers and the Price Systemก)? To rephrase the question; does technology DETERMINE our choices and actions? Does it CONSTRAIN our possibilities and LIMIT our potentials? We are all acquainted with utopias (and dystopias) based on technological advances (just recall the millenarian fervour with which electricity, the telegraph, railways, the radio, television and the Internet were greeted). Technology seems to shape cultures, societies, ideals and expectations. It is an ACTIVE participant in social dynamics. This is the essence of Mumfordกs กmegamachineก, the กrigid, hierarchical social organizationก. Contrast this with Dessauerกs view of technology as a kind of moral and aesthetic statement or doing, a direct way of interacting with thingsinthemselves. The latterกs views place technology neatly in the Kantian framework of categorical imperatives.

8. Is technology IN ITSELF neutral? Can the the undeniable harm caused by technology be caused, as McLuhan put it, by HUMAN misuse and abuse: ก[It] is not that there is anything good or bad about [technology] but that unconsciousness of the effect of any force is a disaster, especially a force that we have made ourselvesก. If so, why blame technology and exonerate ourselves? Displacing the blame is a classic psychological defence mechanism but it leads to fatal behavioural rigidities and pathological thinking.

Sam

About The Author

Sam Vaknin is the author of กMalignant Self Love Narcissism Revisitedก and กAfter the Rain How the West Lost the Eastก. He is a columnist in กCentral Europe Reviewก, United Press International (UPI) and ebookweb.org and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory, Suite101 and searcheurope.com. Until recently, he served as the Economic Advisor to the Government of Macedonia.

His web site: http://samvak.tripod.com

This article was posted on February 2, 2002

by Sam Vaknin, Ph.D.

The Tale of the King and His Wealth

The Tale of the King and His Wealth

by: Arun Pal Singh

Once lived a great king who was getting old and wanted to retire. One day he announced that all his personal wealth would be distributed to the public. However one would have to earn his share as the king did not want the wealth to go to unworthy.

His wealth would be in the seven stories of his palace. One might take whatever one wished, he announced. The word spread fast and people gathered. No one wanted to miss this opportunity of getting rich.

The entrance was opened and people eagerly rushed in. Presented to them were common items of pottery, glass and earth. They checked every place. Nothing else was there. People got disappointed. This was not what they had expected. Many left cursing.

Others decided to try second floor. As they moved there they found things which were costlier but nothing which could be called wealth. Many left again. It was wastage of time after all. The king either had gone mad or played a bad joke

Rest of them pushed themselves to the next level through a passage that was narrower and steeper. Here displayed were some coins of lesser value. Discouraged quite a number left again. I was clear now that the king had really played a joke. There was no wealth to be found.

Few who were encouraged enough resolved to go to further. They had to walk a path harder than previous. Those who could not tread returned. Only a handful reached fourth storey and were rewarded with silver coins.

Joyfully many stuffed and left. Thank God! The day was not wasted on some misadventure. They had come from far. They were tired now. They did not want to go further. They had work at their homes too.

However, ten people decided to go ahead. It was a very difficult journey. The was almost vertical and very rough. Only four could reach next level. Others left, not being able to continue. Those who reached found gold coins in abundance. Two decided to end here and left with gold happily.

Two went further on a path that was almost impossible to walk. They did manage to reach sixth floor. It was a hall full of diamonds of finest quality.

Pleased with this one started filling his bags whereas other went into deep thoughts.

ขWhat happened? You don’t want thisข asked the one who was filling.

ขI wonder what could be next!ข

ขWhat else do you want? This is more than enough for seven lifetimes. Moreover I can’t see any doorwayข Other man was astonished.

ขBut there is one floor leftข said the man who was determined and began his search.

ขYou have gone madข said other and left with diamonds.

There was actually no door. The man searched every corner but none was to be found. That was until he saw roof and a rope hanging too small to reach. He jumped and failed.He tried repeatedly without success till he could not jump.

There has to be some way, he thought as he lay exhausted. There must be some way.

It was then an idea struck him. He made a heap of diamonds to reach and pulled the rope. A doorway appeared in one of the walls. Beyond that was a beautiful ladder. As he climbed a hand pulled him to seventh floor.

The king himself stood there ขWelcome O worthy one! I can retire in peace nowข

The man was appointed as king next day.

Nature too offers us a fortune of wealth that we can earn. Everybody wishes to be rich but not all are ready to fully walk the path that leads to. Most of us who start get discouraged by initial unsuccessful attempts and stop. Others remain satisfied with the nickels they are offered and leave the journey.

Rare ones have the determination to find actual wealth.

We can stop at silver or go beyond diamonds.

How far would you go?

Copyright 2004 Arun Pal Singh

About The Author

Arun Pal Singh runs a successful business from home at http://www.homeforprofits.com. He is also publisher and editor of Home business tips and tricks, a free newsletter with hundreds of tips for home business which can be subscribed by mailing to [email protected].

This article was posted on December 13, 2004

by Arun Pal Singh

Manchester United: Top of the web accessibility le

Manchester United: Top of the web accessibility league?

by: Trenton Moss

A while ago Manchester United launched a separate accessible version of their website, manutd.com/access. Thereกs been lots of publicity surrounding this accessible website and it even picked up an award. This accessible version doesn’t offer as much content as the main website but it has all the accessibility features you could dream of: resizable text, ALT tags, screen reader optimisation etc.
Wow! Everyone should make a separate accessible website for disabled people, right? Wrong.
Buffet no oneกs happy
Last week I went to an allyoucan eat buffet. The tables were on the ground floor but the buffet was situated on the first floor, up a flight of steep stairs. In order to serve their disabled customers, the restaurant had decided to offer an alternative version of the buffet, with most of the main dishes, on the ground floor.
The nondisabled customers weren’t happy that they had to walk up and down those stairs just to get some food; the disabled guests weren’t happy at not being able to eat any pickles (they weren’t deemed popular enough to be placed on the ground floor buffet); and the waiters were unhappy that they had to work so much harder to maintain two separate buffets. Plus, they’re being told by their manager that the ground floor buffet should eventually offer all the same food as the upstairs regular buffet, which means even more work for them!
What a ridiculous situation! If only the restaurant had set up a travelator to get to the buffet then the nondisabled guests wouldn’t be unhappy about climbing those stairs, disabled guests wouldn’t feel marginalised and the waiters wouldn’t have to do the same job twice. And from what I hear travelators are quite cheap and easy to install nowadays.
Manutd.com no oneกs happy
Actually, I never went to this restaurant; in fact, it doesn’t even exist, except as a metaphor for the Manchester United website. The buffet on the first floor is their main website, a pain for nondisabled users due to its high inaccessibility: Menus rely on JavaScript (not supported by 5% of Internet users); ALT tags are missing from images (just one in four UK Internet users are on broadband users on slow connections may turn off images to speed up download time); and usability is incredibly poor.
In the upstairs buffet part of the Man Utd website there are over 100 choices in the navigation menu. The downstairs buffet, manutd.com/access, has eight. Thatกs a lot of pickles being withheld.
Then there are the waiters/web developers, having to manage two buffets/websites, and ultimately they’re expected to provide the same amount of food/information to both.
Man Utd have got it all wrong
What Manchester United has done goes against the whole concept of web accessibility. The positive press coverage they’re getting for their separate accessible website is actually damaging to the promotion of web accessibility as a whole if companies think they have to go to these extremes to make their website accessible then it will surely discourage them to do so. To top it all off, manutd.com/access, although Iกm sure is fully accessible to disabled and blind people, doesn’t even pass the W3C Priority 2 accessibility checkpoints!
So come on, Manchester United, ditch this ‘alternative’ accessible website and fix up your main website so that itกs accessible to everyone, both disabled and nondisabled. Itกll save you time and money in the long run and there really isn’t that much you need to do. Web accessibility isn’t rocket science and doesn’t have to be taken to the extreme lengths itกs been taken to here. Itกs often just a case of a bit of tweaking here and there. You certainly don’t need to make a whole new website.

About The Author

This article was written by Trenton Moss. Heกs crazy about web usability and accessibility so crazy that he went and started his own web usability and accessibility consultancy (Webcredible http://www.webcredible.co.uk) to help make the Internet a better place for everyone.

This article was posted on July 13, 2004

by Trenton Moss

Reinventing Failure: Designing Success!

Reinventing Failure: Designing Success!

by: Harald Anderson

I am fascinated by problems. I like to think of myself as a solution oriented individual. However when problems creep into my life as they always do I know that I am in for a major learning experience.

I just finished reading a book this week that belongs on the bookshelf of every entrepreneur. It is called ขJuice, The Creative Fuel That Drives WorldClass Inventors by Evan I. Schwartz.ข This book allows you to take a peek inside the labs of the brightest minds and better understand how they relentlessly question and discover the infinite number of ways that we can imagine and create solutions. The book is an awesome expose on how world class inventors on the planet search for problems, seek to understand them and develop solutions that can only come about by perceiving the problem in a different manner. Every entrepreneur should read this book! It is chock full of wisdom that we can apply to our business lives.

Albert Einstein once commented that the most fundamental question we can ever ask ourselves is whether or not the universe we live in is friendly or hostile. He hypothesized that your answer to that question would determine your destiny. I feel that most people have decided that the universe is hostile. In so doing their immediate response to any problem only compounds the hostility. However, the great minds always teach us that regardless of the problem there is a major lesson to be understood if we only learn to look for it. The history of the world is literally the history of transformative breakthroughs.

In the book ขขJuice, The Creative Fuel That Drives WorldClass Inventors by Evan I. Schwartzข the author clearly demonstrates that the one factor that separates world class inventors from wannabes is that they celebrate the feedback they receive from FAILURE. The most innovative minds recognize that within every failure lies the true and genuine information that is required to learn how to better understand the problem and overcome the obstacles that it presents. They are fascinated by the feedback they receive and are consistently focused on experimenting further because of the feedback that will provide.

A powerful lesson for all of us! Failure is feedback and within that feedback is the wisdom of incredible success. Or as Dr. Wayne Dyer as stated, ขWhen you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.ข

Take for example the story of Dean Kamen the inventor of the Segway, the two wheeled personal electronic vehicle that is revolutionizing transportation in our major cities. One day in 1990, Kamen witnessed a wheelchair bound man trying to navigate a curb en route to a shopping center. He followed the man into an ice cream store and was astonished at how the man struggled to reach for the counter and grab his ice cream cone. Within that experience Kamen was both outraged and inspired. The seeds of the Segway were born.

Two years later after numerous disappointments Kamen slipped on a wet bathroom floor and realized that the real problem he was confronting in his technology was one of balance. He and his team of engineers honed in on the enabling technology of electronic gyroscopes that could provide ขautomatic balance.ข It was only after years and years of failure and celebrating the feedback he received that they could focus on the successful introduction of the Segway prototype. Today, according to Kamen the Segway is the answer to the urban transportation problem. 43% of the world’s gas is used by cars and almost 20% of individuals’ disposable income goes to car payments and gasoline. The market for the Segway is several billion people! A fascinating creation brought about by someone who simply disagreed with limitations imposed by the status quo.

What is your greatest problem in life right now?

What is the greatest problem in your business?

The late Dr. Norman Vincent Peale was fond of saying that,

ขWhen God wants to send you a gift he wraps it up in a problem and the bigger the gift that God sends you the bigger the problem.ข

If the Segway can be born by witnessing a wheelchair bound man in pursuit of an ice cream cone what are the possibilities that can occur in your life if you learn to seek the lesson in your problems?

An Nathan Myrhrvold, the former Chief Technologist at Microsoft Corporation has prophesied ขThere’s never been a better time to have big ideas.ข

Eureka! When you reinvent failure youl design your own success.

Copyright 2004 Harald Anderson

About The Author

Harald Anderson is the cofounder of Artinspires.com a leading online gallery of Motivational Posters and inspirational prints.ขWhen Art Inspires, Dreams Become Realities. His goal in life is to become the kind of person that his dog already thinks he is. http://www.artinspires.com/

This article was posted on October 04, 2004

by Harald Anderson

Time Management: How To Manage Your Time So Your H

Time Management: How To Manage Your Time So Your Home Business Will Flourish

by: Ikey Benney, CEO

If you operate any kind of home business, you must have become familiar about the difficulty in managing your time effectively.

Operating a home business can be challenging.

Organization and efficient management of your time and resources will be the greatest factors that will determine the degree of your success.

This may require a complete change in your daily schedule.

It may mean giving up or changing a few of your favorite pastimes such as having a couple of beers with the guys or watching TV but if you score big with your extra income project, you will have all the time you want for doing whatever you want to do.

The first thing to do is to sit down with pencil and paper and list your daily schedule. What time do you wake up?

Then stepbystep, list everything you do each day. Most people will find that they have about three hours each day that can be utilized in a more constructive or efficient manner.

As weกve noted above, you may have to give up the time you waste in your local pub or a few television programs you watch, but it will be worth it in the long run.

Efficient time management boils down to planning what you’re going to do, and then doing it without backtracking.

Start by making a list of the things you want to do tomorrow, each evening before you go to bed.

Schedule your trips to the store or wherever to coincide with the other things you have to do, and with your trips to or from work.

Organize your trips to take care of as many things as possible while you’re out of the house.

Take stock of the time you spend standing around shooting the breeze especially the time you spend on the telephone and eliminate all that isn’t necessary.

Whatever chores you have to do at home, set aside a specific time to do them, and a specific amount of time to devote to them.

For instance, just one hour a day devoted to yard work would probably make your property the envy of all your neighbors. Don’t try to do a weekกs work in one big flurry.

Whether itกs painting your house, fixing leaky faucets, or mowing your lawn and trimming your shrubs, do a part of it, or one particular job each day, and youกll be amazed at your progress.

Take care of all your mail the day you receive it. Don’t let those bills and letters pile up on you.

If you’re unable to pay a bill immediately, file it in a special place thatกs visible, and note on the envelope the date you intend to pay it. Answer your letters the same day you get them.

The important thing is to think of time as your most valuable asset, because it is.

So organize!

Decide what you have to do, and what you want to do. From there, itกs just a matter of arranging priorities.

Once you start listing and planning what you want to do, and then carry out your plans, youกll find plenty of กextra timeก for handling virtually any kind of homebased incomeproducing project.

People in general may not like routines or schedules, but without some sort of plan as to what is supposed to be done, the world would be mired in mass confusion

Laws, ordinances and regulations are for the purpose of guiding people. We live according to an accepted plan or way of life, and the better we can organize ourselves, the more productive and happy we become.

The secret of all financially successful people is simply that they are organized and do not waste time. Think about it.

Review your own activities, and then see if you can’t find a couple of extra hours in each day for more constructive accomplishments.

When you begin planning, and then when you really become involved in an extra in comeproducing endeavor, you should work it exactly as you have organized your regular daytoday activities on a timeefficient basis.

Do what has to be done immediately.

Don’t try to get done in an hour something thatกs realistically going to take a week.

Plan out on paper what you have to do what you want to do and when you are going to do it. Then get right on each project without procrastination.

Finally, and above all else, when you’re organizing your time and your business, be sure to set aside some time for relaxation.

Be sure to schedule time when you and your spouse can be together.

You must not involve yourself in anything to an extent that you exclude other people particularly your loved ones from your life.

Taking stock of the time you waste each day, and from there, reorganizing your activities is what itกs all about.

Itกs a matter of becoming more efficient in the use of your time. Itกs really easy to do, and you will not only accomplish a lot more, you will also find greater fulfillment in your life.

May these time management insights help you succeed in your home business.

Warmly,

Ikey Benney, CEO

About The Author

Ikey, a Millionaire CEO from New York City is the creator of กMscsrrr: Millionaire Secret Cash Systemก, a home based business opportunity which has helped thousands of ordinary people from all over the world to attain financial security and shining success during the past 2 yrs.

Mscsrrr Millionaire Secret Cash System (http://www.homebasedbusinessopportunitycenter.com) helps you to generate $1,500+/Week for life, from home or office, part time or full time. No large investment or hassles. Win $1000$2000 free ขcashข…

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 11

by Ikey Benney, CEO

Preserve Your Integrity.

Preserve Your Integrity.

by: Fernando Soave

It is more precious than diamonds or rubies. The old miser said to his sons: กGet money; get it honestly, if you can, but get money.ก

This advice was not only atrociously wicked, but it was the very essence of stupidity. It was as much as to say, กif you find it difficult to obtain money honestly, you can easily get it dishonestly. Get it in that way.ก Poor fool! Not to know that the most difficult thing in life is to make money dishonestly! not to know that our prisons are full of men who attempted to follow this advice; not to understand that no man can be dishonest, without soon being found out, and that when his lack of principle is discovered, nearly every avenue to success is closed against him forever. The public very properly shun all whose integrity is doubted. No matter how polite and pleasant and accommodating a man may be, none of us dare to deal with him if we suspect กfalse weights and measures.ก Strict honesty, not only lies at the foundation of all success in life (financially), but in every other respect. Uncompromising integrity of character is invaluable. It secures to its possessor a peace and joy which cannot be attained without itwhich no amount of money, or houses and lands can purchase. A man who is known to be strictly honest, may be ever so poor, but he has the purses of all the community at his disposalfor all know that if he promises to return what he borrows, he will never disappoint them. As a mere matter of selfishness, therefore, if a man had no higher motive for being honest, all will find that the maxim of Dr. Franklin can never fail to be true, that กhonesty is the best policy.ก

To get rich, is not always equivalent to being successful. ‘there are many rich poor men,ก while there are many others, honest and devout men and women, who have never possessed so much money as some rich persons squander in a week, but who are nevertheless really richer and happier than any man can ever be while he is a transgressor of the higher laws of his being.

The inordinate love of money, no doubt, may be and is ‘the root of all evil,ก but money itself, when properly used, is not only a กhandy thing to have in the house,ก but affords the gratification of blessing our race by enabling its possessor to enlarge the scope of human happiness and human influence. The desire for wealth is nearly universal, and none can say it is not laudable, provided the possessor of it accepts its responsibilities, and uses it as a friend to humanity.

The history of moneygetting, which is commerce, is a history of civilization, and wherever trade has flourished most, there, too, have art and science produced the noblest fruits. In fact, as a general thing, moneygetters are the benefactors of our race. To them, in a great measure, are we indebted for our institutions of learning and of art, our academies, colleges and churches. It is no argument against the desire for, or the possession of, wealth, to say that there are sometimes misers who hoard money only for the sake of hoarding and who have no higher aspiration than to grasp everything which comes within their reach. As we have sometimes hypocrites in religion, and demagogues in politics, so there are occasionally misers among moneygetters. These, however, are only exceptions to the general rule. But when, in this country, we find such a nuisance and stumbling block as a miser, we remember with gratitude that in America we have no laws of primogeniture, and that in the due course of nature the time will come when the hoarded dust will be scattered for the benefit of mankind. To all men and women, therefore, do I conscientiously say, make money honestly, and not otherwise, for Shakespeare has truly said, กHe that wants money, means, and content, is without three good friends.ก

Fernando Soave © 2005

About The Author

Fernando Soave

CEO CUTTING EDGE MLM

http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk

Free Cutting Edge MLM Newsletter.

Subscribe at http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk

This article comes with reprint rights. Feel free to reprint and distribute as needed. All that we ask is that you do not make any changes and to be sure that the web site address http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk and is hyperlinked correctly. Fernando Soave is the author of กCutting Edge MLM News.ก He has been in marketing for 20 years and is helping individuals succeed online. Visit his site to find out how you can get free reports. http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk

This article was posted on February 09

by Fernando Soave

How to Manage Your Extension through Dreamweaver M

How to Manage Your Extension through Dreamweaver MX

by: Kay Zetkin

The latest version of Macromedia Dreamweaver, Dreamweaver MX works with a standalone program that is a wonderful assistant in managing your file extension. Macromedia Dreamweaver MX offers extensions to improve the functionality and scope of Dreamweaver. This program is the extension manager that can be relied upon to install and remove your file extensions. Through this program, you can turn your extensions on and turn them off, as you please. Plus, true to Dreamweaver’s integrated capabilities, the extension manager program works well with Flash and Fireworks to manage their extensions as well.

If you haven’t got any idea on how to manage your extensions through Dreamweaver MX, then, after going over these simple steps, you will find out how reliable and easy it is:

First, open the Extension Manager. Do this by going to the กCommandsก menu and choosing กManage Extensions…ก

Second, if you haven’t gotten around to downloading the extension or extensions you want to install, then start downloading them before we go another step further.

Third, since the Extension Manager handle extensions for several programs, as mentioned above, you must make sure that Dreamweaver MX is displayed in the dropdown menu.

After checking out the dropdown menu, go to the กFileก menu and choose กInstall extensionก. This command will open a standard file selector box. Once opened, browse to the file you downloaded and click กInstallก. A disclaimer announcement will appear before you. Be sure to read it and that there are no unexpected requirements for use of the extension, since some extensions happen to have these. After reading, click กAcceptก. And lastly, click กOKก and close and restart Dreamweaver.

If you don’t like to go through all these process we gave you above, you can skip them and install the extension by double clicking on it after you download. You can also import extensions from Dreamweaver 4 into Dreamweaver MX, but not all Dreamweaver 4 extensions will work in MX. There are important points to remember in installing your extension, though, whenever you install quite a large number of extensions, optimal function of Dreamweaver can slow down. Thus, always make sure that you disable extensions you don’t necessarily need.

It’s very easy to disable your extension: first, open the Extension Manager by going to the กCommandsก menu and choosing กManage Extensions…ก Then highlight the extension you want to disable and uncheck them by clicking on the check box next to the extension. Always remember that you may need to restart Dreamweaver to fully disable extensions. If you want to reenable the extensions, just go to the same process. Make sure that the กOn/Offก check box is checked. 30

About The Author

Kay Zetkin discovered the pleasure of writing through her daily journals as a teenager. Writing in it helped sort out her thoughts, relieve her feelings and record what she observes of the world.

For her, writing is an effective tool to express your viewpoints… To write is already to choose, thus, writing should be done along with a critical mind and a caring soul. She hopes to become more professional, skilled and mature in her craft.

Aside from writing Kay likes to spend her time reading. Reading lets her travel to faroff imagined places and situations. She also learns a lot from books, especially from the sociopolitical and historical ones.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.ucreative.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 25

by Kay Zetkin

Are You The Master?

Are You The Master?

by: John Colanzi

Have you noticed some of these posts in the forums or the feedback sections of the marketing ezines?
<> Is anybody really making money online?
<> Iกve been promoting this program for months and Iกm not making any money. Is it a scam?
<> Whatกs the best program to promote?
<> Whatกs the best product to sell online?
Well if you’re still asking these questions, you don’t under stand.
Product doesn’t matter!
The program doesn’t matter!
Unless the product or program is a scam, you can make money!
If someone is making money selling that product or service, you can too!
Are they better than you?
Are they smarter than you?
I don’t think so.
Youกve got to get it in your head before you can carry it on your hip.
When you’re ready the money will come.
I remember listening to an audiocassette years ago by a marketer by the name of Rich George. He told the story of "The Fiddle And The Bow."
Itกs been a long time since I listened to that tape, but the ideas are just starting to sink in.
I wasn’t ready to hear the message back then, but I am now and hopefully so are you.
There was an auction in a small town and the next item to be auctioned off was a dust covered fiddle and a bow.
The auctioneer announced "How much will you bid for this fiddle and this bow?"
The bids came slowly and gradually reached $10.
The auctioneer was ready to bang the gavel to complete the sale, when an elderly man in shabby clothes came up and tugged on his sleeve.
They whispered for a short time and the auctioneer finally gave in to the man.
The man walked up and took a handkerchief out of his pocket to polish the fiddle and dust off the bow.
That old man began playing the most beautiful music that the town had ever heard. As he finished he handed the fiddle back to the auctioneer.
The auctioneer walked up to the microphone and announced "How much will you bid on this magnificent violin and this exquisite bow?"
The bidding was fast and furious and that violin sold for ten thousand dollars.
What was the difference between that fiddle and the magnificent violin?
The touch of the masters hand.
Are you the master?
I hope you don’t take as long as I did to let this lesson sink in.
Stop selling steaks and start selling the sizzle.
Wishing You Success,
John Colanzi
PS: Rich, thank you wherever you are.

About The Author

Copyright © 2001 John Colanzi. John publishes the "Street Smart Marketing". To subscribe visit: http://EZMAILER.listbot.com If youกd like to see how John uses this strategy to make money in network marketing visit: http://johncolanzi.com/cash.html

This article was posted on January 16, 2002

by John Colanzi