4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss Kindle Ed.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Isaac Asimov: The Last Question



Isaac Asimov, prolific science fiction author, said his favorite story he ever wrote was The Last Question.

What is the last question? It's about Entropy and how based on what science tells us the Universe as we know it will one day run out of energy. We know this because the stars that power our Universe will all, eventually, burn out.
What will Mankind do then?

This is a superb story about Asimov's vision of cosmology and it takes less than 15 minutes to read. It also has one of the best endings of all time.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Consumer Privacy Online and the FTC

The issue of online privacy can be argued from the standpoints of two main camps: consumers and marketers. Which side are you on?

If you are a consumer, most likely you do not want marketers using their websites to gather personal data on your websurfing habits, purchasing patterns, and what you are most likely to click on. It's creepy.

If you are from the marketer camp, your argument will be that the more data you gather on your market and consumers, the better you are able to serve your market and consumers.

A recent report by the FTC promotes guidelines for online businesses to follow in how they respect the privacy of their consumers.

An excerpt from this report:

“Companies should adopt a ‘privacy by design’ approach by building privacy protections into their everyday business practices. Such protections include reasonable security for consumer data, limited collection and retention of such data, and reasonable procedures to promote data accuracy."

I love how the report uses the word "reasonable" over and over again. What is the definition of "reasonable" in this regard? Who sets the standard for "reasonableness"? The word "reasonable" is just like the word "normal". When you really think about it, there is no such thing. It is all subjective. For example what is a "normal teenager" nowadays? In a previous post, we see that a "normal teen" is one that sends an average of over 2,000 text messages a day. I do not consider that normal.

But I digress...

Back to the issue of online privacy, we can see that the FTC has adopted what I like to call "strategic ambiguity". The phrase is used often in military strategy and foreign policy, allowing policy-makers wiggle room for their decisions. This is just a nice way of saying that it lets them do what they want.

The FTC will use the "reasonableness" standard to persecute who they want to persecute and ignore who they want to ignore.

My opinion is that the consumer culture in America should be an Opt In culture and not an Opt Out culture. In other words, it should be assumed from the start that consumers do not want to be contacted by marketers, but if they do, they can Opt In to be part of the marketing data collection. This is not how it is now, where you have to check or uncheck a box saying that, "no, I do not want to be spammed."

The great thing about Opt In consumer culture is that it forces marketers to offer value up front and soft sell their product. Soft selling is offering value first that compels the consumer to seek out the product/service for themselves. Hard selling is all the SPAM you find in your inbox.

Hopefully the new FTC report will guide marketers away from hard selling and direct sales techniques. I've just had to call a telemarketing firm to stop calling me and threaten to sue them. These new guidelines should make marketers go back and refine their techniques.

Until next time...

Monday, December 6, 2010

JWUs Farrow Midterm Study Guide

Dear fellow IMBA students, I have prepared an exhausting but not "exhaustive" study guide for chapters 4-8 on the exam. I am meeting with Farrow this week to confirm what is relevant material and I will update the document accordingly and make it available on this blog.

Here is the link.

JWU's Farrow Mid Term Study Guide

Please if you download leave a quick thanks in the comments!

PS. If you have any free time (yeah right) please check out my favorite blog in the world, Four Hour Blog by my hero and mentor, Tim Ferriss.

Good luck on your exams!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Texting: An Insidious Threat To Society

Imagine walking with your gaze directly forward while walking through a crowded breezeway. Nearly everyone else you see has their eyes cast down focusing squarely on their hand-held device. Their somber faces are lit by an bluish light giving them an unnatural glow. Their fingers move quickly and deftly from built in routine. Their legs--they are barely aware of them as they cycle forward--carry them onto their next destination. It's a wonder how they can avoid crashing into each other with out looking up.

"Who walks without texting nowadays?"

A legitimate question, but a disturbing one. Indeed, who does?

Has it become acceptable to completely shut out your immediate surroundings? I feel like the words PAY ATTENTION should somehow be inserted into our daily consciousness.

Does it take the sensational to make us snap out of our absorption with distractions such as Facebook and text messaging? Studies on the Reticular Activating System show that there is a link between ADHD and the constant distractions that texting provides.

Your real friends are the ones you spend more time with in person than online or in a chat session.

Lets face it: Texting is a crutch for real interaction:



Particularly disturbing from this clip:
"Oh I don't have to, like, carry on a conversation, or, oh, I don't have to like, think of things to say..."

Looks like Aldous Huxley was right.