Billions Lost

It seems that the global economic downturn has even made paupers out of billionaires. Here is a top list, compiled by Forbes, of billionaire who lost billions of dollars from their net worth over the last year.

• Anil Ambani (was worth: $42 billion/current worth: $12 billion)
• Oleg Deripaska ($28 billion/$10 billion)
• Bjorgflur Gudmundsson ($1.1 billion/$0)
• Luis Portillo ($1.2 billion/$15 million)
• David Ross ($1.4 billion/$150 million)
• Tulsi Tanti ($3 billion/$500 million)
• Wong Kwong Yu ($3.5 billion/$2.5 billion)
• Larry Yung ($3 billion/$750 million)
• Konstantin Zhevago ($3.4 billion/$350 million)

You can read the full story on Billionaire Blowups of 2008.

Marketing Hall of Fame

Entrepreneur, January 2009 edition, has a nice compilation of the best use of marketing. I definitely have to agree on some of there selections, such as the following top five…

• Best Contest: Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest
• Best Slogan: Got Milk?
• Best Jingle: NBC Jingle
• Best Logo: Nike Swoosh
• Best use of Outdoor Advertising: The Goodyear Blimp

Keep Your Eyes on the Franchise

Franchise allow you to be your own boss while using an establish business plan. Entrepreneur magazine recently released their 30th Annual Franchise 500 list. According to the 2008 Franchise 500 list, the top 10 franchises are the following…

• Subway
• McDonald’s
• Liberty Tax Service
• Sonic Drive In
• Intercontinental Hotels Group
• Ace Hardware
• Pizza Hut
• The UPS Store/Mail Boxes Etc.
• Circle K
• Papa John’s

The fastest growing franchises are in commercial cleaning, fitness, and eateries. The top ten fastest growing franchises are…

• Jan-Pro Franchising Int’l Inc.
• Subway
• Instant Tax Service
• Stratus Building Solutions
• Snap Fitness Inc.
• Dunkin’ Donuts
• Jazzercise, Inc
• Bonus Building Care
• Anytime Fitness
• Vanguard Cleaning Systems

Bailout Bonanza

Here is a stream of my tweets on the possible economic bailout.

• Bailout = No Bankers left behind. Stop Loss = Soldiers left behind in war zone.
• Strong economy, it is a bull market. Weak economy, a bear market. Economy collapses, a bear will maul you while a bull gores you..
• bull market ^ bull shit = collapse + bailout = taxes * people + prices hikes * products = bankers @ vacation homes.
• I am short on liquid assets, I want the fed to bail me out too.
• An idea that makes money, even if it doesn’t make any sense, will be considered a great idea. An idea is only dumb when it loses money.
• The government will not bail out the people, they will only bail out the system.
• If I fail, maybe my family will bail me out. If the bankers fail, with billions of investors money, then the government bails them out.

Bush Foreign Policy Revealed

President Bush is as committed to finding Osama Bin Laden as OJ Simpson is committed to finding the murderer of Nicole Simpson. After nearly eight years of his administration, secret documents outlining his foreign policy have been released under the Freedom of Information Act.

• Find a map.
• Find Putin’s soul.
• Find oil.
• ??????
• Profit.
• Find Osama

Technorati Tags: bush brigade, president bush, bush whacked, foreign policy

America’s Best Place to Live

In searching for the best place to live, what do you look for? Great schools? Good jobs? Affordable housing? Plenty of open space? All of the above? Money magazine just put out their top 100 places to live, many of the cities selected are in the small, with a growing economy, good schools, and close to nature. Here are the top ten places to live, according to Money…

• Plymouth, Minn.
• Fort Collins, Colo
• Naperville, Ill.
• Irvine, Calif.
• Franklin Township, N.J.
• Norman, Okla.
• Round Rock, Texas
• Columbia/Ellicott City, Md.
• Overland Park, Kans.
• Fishers, Ind.

Technorati Tags: housing, cities, top, money

National Security Agency Security Oath

Via a Freedom of Information Act request (which involved paying $700 and waiting almost 4 years), The Memory Hole has obtained blank copies of over 400 forms used by the National Security Agency. Here is the Security Oath required used by the NSA.

Upon being cleared to protect the sensitive information of the National Security Agency, I subscribe to this oath freely, without mental reservation, and with the full intent to exercise meticulous care in abiding by its items.

I solemnly swear that I will not reveal to any person any information pertaining to the classified activities of the National Security Agency, except as necessary toward the proper performance of my duties or as specifically authorized by a duly responsible superior known to me to be authorized to receive this information.

I further solemnly swear that I will report without delay to my security representative the details and circumstances of any case which comes within my knowledge of an unauthorized person obtaining or attempting to obtain information concerning the classified operations of the National Security Agency.

I fully appreciate and understand that the security of the information and activities of the National Security Agency is of vital importance to the welfare and defense of the United States. I affirm that I am familiar with the provisions of Section 793, 794 and 798, Title 18 United States Code.

I do hereby affirm any understanding that the obligations of this oath will continue even after severance of my connections with the National Security Agency and that they remain fully binding on me during peacetime as well as during wartime.

Technorati Tags: nsa, security, homeland, oath, gov, form

Invisible Hand Down Your Pants

If Adam Smith was right, that there is an invisible hand, then there is also an invisible chain and cage, there is an invisible gitmo.

If Adam Smith was right, that there is an invisible hand, it is because that is all that is left after corruptalism disembodied the corpse.

Adam Smith was wrong, because his premise was wrong, there is no such thing as free markets, there are deceitful gouging corruptalist markets.

I feel like Adam Smith’s invisible hand just went down my pants and stole my money as I was paying for gas.

Technorati Tags: economics, gas, oil

Brain Rules

In his new book Brain Rules, Dr. John Medina describes 12 mental principles that will help in one’s life. Dr. Medina is a molecular biologist and basis the 12 principles he describes in his book on peer review research. His 12 principles can be stated as follows.

• Exercise boosts brain power.
• The human brain evolved, too.
• Every brain is wired differently.
• We don’t pay attention to boring things.
• Repeat to remember.
• Remember to repeat.
• Sleep well, think well.
• Stressed brains don’t learn the same way.
• Stimulate more of the senses.
• Vision trumps all other senses.
• Male and female brains are different.
• We are power and natural explorers.

Dr. Medina has made several interviews where he talks in detail about the 12 brain rules he describes in his book. You can find an audio interview of Dr. Medina on the Ruby on Rails podcast. There is also a presentation from Authors at Google.

Technorati Tags: brain, rules, medina, mind, evolution, cognitive, creativity

The Last Lecture

Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon Professor, gave his last lecture Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. The lecture has been spread across the internet as fast as LOLcats. Randy is also dying from pancreatic cancer. Since giving the last lecture he has written a book, The Last Lecture.

The Last Lecture became an instant best seller. In the book, The Last Lecture, Randy tells the many stories that inspire the presentation. My favorite section of the book is Section V: It’s About How To Live Your Life. In this section he provides a few rules to live by, or as he says it, that worked for him. Just reading the headings of this section is enough to get a feel of the book.

• Dream Big - There is no limit to how big you can dream.
• Earnst is Better Than Hip - Hip is fickle.
• Raising the White Flag - Know when to concede.
• Let’s Make a Deal - Know when to offer an agreement.
• Don’t Complain, Just Work Harder - Complaining expends energy.
• Threat the Disease, Not the Symptom - Get at the root cause.
• Don’t Obsess Over What People Think - You can’t please everybody.
• Start By Siting Together - If you need to work together.
• Look for the Best in Everybody - They will surprise you.
• Watch What They Do, Not What They Say - Actions speak louder than words.
• If at First You Don’t Succeed - Try a Cliche.
• Be the First Penguin - If you fail, let it be gloriously.
• Get People’s Attention - To get your voice heard.
• The Lost Art of Thank-You Notes - A simple hand written note speaks volumes.
• Loyalty Is a Two-Way Street - Go out on a limb for someone and they might just return the favor.
• The Friday Night Solution - there is no shortcuts to working hard and long.
• Show Gratitude - Thankfulness is being thoughtfulness.
• Send Out Thin Mints - as reward for personal request.
• All You Have Is What You Bring With You - So be prepared.
• A Bad Apology Is Worse Than No Apology - Be sincere.
• Tell The Truth - All the time.
• Get in Touch with Your Crayon Box - The world is not black and white.
• The $100,000 Salt and Pepper Shaker- Good customer service can reward you with a loyal customer for years.
• No Job Is Beneath You - There is dignity in hard work.
• Know Where You Are - When in Rome be yourself, but remember you are in Rome.
• Never Give Up - Perseverance goes a long way.
• Be a Communitarian - Foster community building
• All You Have to Do Is Ask - Don’t be afraid to ask.
• Make a Decision: Tigger or Eeyore - Choose to be Tigger.
• A Way to Understand Optimism - Optimism is not about being unrealistic, its about being prepared.
• The Input of Others - Inspire others

Technorati Tags: randy pausch, canegie mellon, cancer, last lecture