Check out Kiva.org and find a project that interests you to invest in.  When you give money to this cause you are helping to invest in a person and a community at the ground level and truly stimulating their economy.  Here’s a clip to show Kiva.org in action:

Try typing it in for yourself and see what you get.  For more funny Google search suggestions check this list out.

Nobody has a clue…what the world will look like in five years’ time. And yet we’re meant to be educating them for it. So the unpredictability, I think, is extraordinary.

I heard a great story recently — I love telling it – of a little girl who was in a drawing lesson. She was six and she was at the back, drawing, and the teacher said this little girl hardly ever paid attention, and in this drawing lesson she did. The teacher was fascinated and she went over to her and she said, “What are you drawing?” And the girl said, “I’m drawing a picture of God.” And the teacher said, “But nobody knows what God looks like.” And the girl said, “They will in a minute.”

Picasso once said this. He said that all children are born artists. The problem is to remain an artist as we grow up. I believe this passionately,that we don’t grow into creativity, we grow out of it. Or rather, we get educated out if it. So why is this?

Note: Sir Ken Robinson has an excellent book called “The Element”

Bottom Line: The education system works for some but not for all.  The system is created to dilute creativity and promote conformity.  Some call the education system broken but when given the task of creating an education system that can correctly serve 300 million American individuals, who really has the right answer?

• Facebook users have uploaded more than 15 billion photos to date, making it the biggest photo-sharing site on the web.
• For each uploaded photo, Facebook generates and stores four images of different sizes, which translates into a total of 60 billion images and 1.5 petabytes of storage.
• Facebook adds 220 million new photos per week or roughly to 25 terabytes of additional storage.
• At the peak there are 550,000 images served per second.  (courtesy Gigaom)

With these kind of numbers, it becomes clear that technology will probably never hinder the amount of media that can be stored and served effectively.  The real question becomes – Do we really need so much media?

In the old days (ten years ago), photographs were something that held more personal value.  Many people remember taking time to plan a shot and say “1 2 3 cheese!” to coax the best picture out of that frame of film and then going to store to get the real film developed.  If it’s a bad picture now days you push the button on the digital camera one more time and just decide not to post the bad ones on Facebook.  Delete the picture?  Why?  You have storage space for hundreds more and they are now just memories for the vast digital archives.  I’m not saying technology hasn’t made photography quality better, or more convenient, however the value of photographs and memories become more diluted as this technology progresses.

A discussion I had with uncle about the progression of media revealed similarities between our generations and media consumption.  We both understand what it feels like and have a shared respect for holding a piece of media in our hands whether it be a DVD or a printed photograph.  Yes it is easier for me to select from a vast library of movies to stream through my internet via Netflix than to go rent or buy a DVD.  However there is still a nostalgic feeling and appreciation for a movie when you take the time to drive to a video store and search until to find the one that you will take home for movie night.  From Redbox to Netflix, increased accessibility and distribution are going to drive prices down for consuming movies as well as drive down the intrinsic value of the movie.  Your local Blockbuster is going out of business and learning hard lessons taken from the disintegrating music industry driven by record labels and physical media distribution.

Bottom Line:  Traditional physical media doesn’t need to be something of nostalgia.  A blend of physical and digital media can coexist as long as we use discretion in our production and consumption of media.   Creating quality media will be the driving force for maintaining genuine value and keeping traditional methods of consuming media alive.

One idea filter that makes or breaks most ideas:

Does the idea add enough value to the customer for them to pay for it?

I find myself planning and sketching out certain ideas that seem interesting, innovative and doable however they just don’t have that one feature or core model that would get a customer to pay for the service.  Without revenue being generated there’s no potential to develop a business around an idea.  You have two main options when generating revenue:

1)   Advertising Based - This is a proven model for sites that can scale and reach mass amounts of audiences.  If you have a site that generates millions of views and keeps users coming back, you can develop a business around this type of revenue.

2)  Paying for a Service – If you provide a unique feature or service, customers will pay for it.  This is the common model for successful internet businesses.  Using a “Freemium” model of generating revenue has its advantages and is typically used for sites with multiple levels of services.

Training your mind to think of ideas is nearly impossible, however you can train your mind to automatically filter out certain types of ideas.  Try to develop a system for filtering your stream of ideas – from brainstorm to development – and eventually your brain will subconsciously apply this filter to your new ideas.   Leave any feedback about how you come up with or filter your ideas!

Ludacris had an amazing performance in the movie Crash

Ludacris in “Crash”

vs. Actors who transition to Rapper:

Joaquin Phoenix is a great actor that I have respected and loved his movies such as Walk the Line and We Own The Night. However, he recently tried his hand at rapping and has grown a beard that would rival any Amish man.  I think this video of Joaquin making a fool of himself speaks for itself:

Joaquin Phoenix Raps

Similarities:

-Pay money to join (dues vs sign up fee)

-Paying money gives you instant friends that you become associated with

-You become associated or “friends” with people that you had few prior similar interests

I know many fraternity members who do have fun, but end up having no genuine social bonds with other fraternity members.  This happens because they have artificially created and synthesized a friendship through pledging, initiating and partying instead of seeking out friends in a more natural and organic way.  This isn’t to say that some people can’t develop meaningful relationships this way, it’s just in my experience the longest lasting friendships are ones that are formed more naturally.  More on the intricacies of the fraternity system in a later post.

Bottom line: Paying for friends and contacts to increase your social stature does not guaratee any genuine social interaction or happiness.

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Chris