One of my daily devotions today says "It is probable that God lets every human being who crosses our path do so in order that we may have the opportunity of leaving some blessing and dropping into his heart and life some influence that will draw him nearer to God." It goes on to say, we might be able to "witness" for Christ as a result.
In a few weeks I'll be volunteering to prepare tax returns for others. I'm spending a lot of time preparing for tax season. The reason is I enjoy helping others, and particularly in areas where few others are able to help them. Yes, it's a mental exercise (sport), but it's also social and spiritual in nature.
I don't think my contact with these people are to specifically invite them to join Christianity, but my actions are related. In the Christian faith, there are many roles. We are not all evangelists. Some are teachers, in the church or without; some are common servants; some are apologetics; some are leaders in other ways. We may be involved with mostly believers, or mostly non-believers. The Christian faith is not some type of life-box. Some little-known writer said we are all players in theatrical presentation. All Christians have a role to play.
Like myself, there are many unbelievers who also focus on helping others, as in a type of global community of humanity. Some of them proudly proclaim to be humanist; and some insistantly atheistic. That doesn't really bother me. God does good things for people, whether his agents are believers or not.
There may come a time when I can profess my belief to some people I interact with; maybe when someone is having one of their life crises. I'll try to be ready for that opportunity. But, then, maybe every action is a part of my profession. We have become so result oriented that we sometimes forget that every action has a result. If our actions leads others to Christianity, then that's a good thing. It's not something to worry about. After all, God, well, He's God... Let's focus on those actions, focus on our performance.
Yesterday I downloaded the Weather Channel app. As soon as it displayed (full screen), it had a large unsightly advertisement with it. I promptly removed it and went to provide feedback. Below the feedback form were feedback responses of others and every one of them said, in one wayor another, remove the ads, some with appropriate or inappropriate adjectives related to the ads.
Advertising via spam is one of the things that plagues the use of email. Television is full of advertising with one-third of all broadcasting consisting of advertising, and the same is true of many radio stations. Billboards along major highways block the beautiful scenery with unsightly advertising.
Just as in the physical world, advertising blemishes the information superhighway along almost every route. Almost every website has advertising lining one or both sides with a smattering of ads throughout the text. Intrusive software provides links to advertisers from the text on a page.
In social networks, bullish advertisers interject their message in inappropriate places. In LinkedIn discussion boards, most of the content in many groups is not discussions, but ads posted on related subjects. In Facebook, your social interactions are interrupted with suggested posts. In twitter, firms respond to subjects with their solutions to any perceived problems.
The newest phase in advertising is the use of big data, the collection of information about consumers that companies use to manipulate consumer buying decisions. Those store cards and surveys are key resources to that manipulation strategy.
Ironically, I protest the presence of so much advertising by explicitly avoiding responding to abusive advertising. On network television, some of the ads are entertaining, but I would never consider buying insurance from Geico, Progressive, or Allstate based on their advertising. When the search networks display results, the first few sites are advertisers and I skipped past them. The prolific presence of Google ads is one reason I don't use Google as a search engine. I suspect that is why there are so many ads; response is low, not just my response, but in general. The percentage of response is so low that they have to post more ads to get enough response to make it worthwhile.
I've also found that, in many cases, advertising adds to the cost of the products being sold. The most heavily advertised brands are the most expensive, and that is often not due to better quality or service.
Although the volume of advertising is destroying every media it invades, the biggest problem for consumers is not the advertising. The biggest problem with advertising is that companies are not trying to serve you better or provide the best products; they are trying to make more money. Money is more important than you are. Just the opposite may be in their message, but the advertising epidemic in this country tells the story.
If you are a business needing to inform consumers of your services make sure your advertising is very discreet, and if possible, genuine. Most isn't.
]]>My question is, what is so significant about that? It may encourage saving, but it is quite a trivial effort. Many employees, if their employer agrees, can already contribute to savings accounts through payroll deductions, and most anyone can open a savings account individually.
Since it requires employer participation, and contributions are guaranteed whether contributed to the government or to a savings account at a financial institution (FDIC), the plan is more of a marketing tool than an effective means of enabling low-income earners to save for retirement.
It seems trivial also because it is essentially a government-backed Roth IRA. Contributions are after-tax and gains are tax-exempt. It seems it would be just effective if a few modifications were made to the Roth. In fact, the MyRA may not be considered a qualified retirement plan eligible for the Saver's Credit.
Although the availability of the MyRA has been compared to the 401(k) offerings of employers to certain individuals, there really isn't a comparison since this is more of a savings account than an investment account.
My first impression (subject to change) is that this plan won't encourage most people to think more seriously about their retirement plans.
It reminds me of the commonly used annual government plan that's been used for many years to save money, the Income Tax Return. After a year of excess withdrawals (and tax credits) people use that savings (tax refund) to buy something they want instead of plan for their future.
I suspect that those people that don't have the discipline to save for the future are not likely to have the discipline to not withdraw those MyRA savings to take advantage of big sale prices on the latest electronic gadget.
]]>Also, I graduated summa cum laude, highest honors, top of the class, in Accounting and in Computer Information Systems. Does that mean I divide both accomplishments in half and become jack of two trades. This very concept is the issue that many geniuses have to deal with. (That's right; not all geniuses are in high paying jobs) People cannot grasp the idea that one person can be incomprehensibly excellent in a single field or a master of many fields.
Indeed, it is difficult to measure a person's abilities based on either education or experience. A person with 10 years of experience may only really have 4 weeks of experience doing the same thing and not even doing it well. Similarly, there is a large percentage of honor graduates of Ivy league schools who have not actually earned those honors other than through generous donations from their parents. Even IQ tests may be biased toward a certain types of logic, though they are rarely taken anyway.
One of the marks of expertise is essentially based on what a person has accomplished and those accomplishments can only happen when that person has been given the opportunity to prove himself. Although we are in a land of opportunity, opportunities are still very limited and many times they are wasted. Those geniuses that are labelled as jacks will continue to carry that label until an opportunity in given to them and they actually take that opportunity to demonstrate themselves. Even then there are those who cannot believe that a jack of many things is actually a master of them.
In the job market, there is a wealth of talent on the street because employers can't see beyond preconceived ideas such as this. Like in "Good Will Hunting," geniuses are working as janitors because they haven't found a path of opportunities. In the movies, some of those geniuses have the opportunity to show their accomplishments to those who previously dismissed them. In reality.. I'm curious..
]]>To make it even worse, I don't spend a lot of money on goods and services that I don't need. When we eat out, it's usually with a coupon or other discount, and with other purchases we try to be smart about what we spend. So the recession may be the fault of people like me.
On the flip-side, I'm fairly financially independent. I don't have a lot, but I don't need a lot, and hopefully I'm not going to be a burden on society in the future. Unfortunately, there are many people that are not so inclined, and are dependent on the entertainment and wares of this world, or being served by everyone else. They are enjoying the present without being concerned about the future, including retirement, and sometimes with no reservations about next week. Their appetite is so developed that when the time comes, they will have a problem when all of that dries up. When that happens, as in Greece, I suspect it will be that strata that will be the burdens on society, not necessarily the misers. Who knows?
]]>Today I completed my third day at University of Texas at Tyler. I am studying Computer Information Systems and have 2 years of classes to complete the degree requirements. Many IT professionals have opinions about the direction that IT education is going most from the perspective of an employer or IT manager. That's important but there is also the perspective of the student that may need to be considered. Or even the instructors in a computer science department. That's what I am going to try to log. Whereas most students are in their early 20's and are going to get their degrees I am an older student with a perspective that may be a little more practical that looks at workplace opportunities and needs. Instead of looking at the value of having some letters behind my name when I'm looking for a job I wonder how my education is going to help me perform in my field. What am I missing and what am I looking forward to? Similarly what does the university and credentialing organization think I need to know to earn a B.S. and the right to be called an IT professional?
I come to class with a 20+ year background in personal computer experience and study based on need and availability. I know a number of languages lots of applications and much of the basics behind computer building and maintenance. What I would like to learn is everything there is to know about networking and security. I'm not criticizing the value of an IT education at least not yet but I do have questions.
An answer to one of those questions came from an instructor yesterday when he described the experience level of a group of IT professionals. His assurance to us as a class was that we would be learning more than most systems analysts working today or something to that effect. Paraphrasing he also said that most IT professionals don't have 10 years experience but 6 months experience repeated about 20 times. Many pros live and work in a narrow swath of the industry but we would be learning new things every day we study participate and evaluate our abilities.
That prompts another question. So what's more important experience or education? My answer to that must begin with "It depends." A person's professional value must combine education (formal or not) and experience with performance and take into consideration the scope of both education and experience. You can learn from both and it is that applied knowledge that makes an IT professional valuable.
But then what applied knowledge is valuable in this field? That's what I'll be finding out.
There is a blog on ITToolbox that regularly covers an individual's Pet Peeves. When I hear the phrase pet peeve I think of out of the many things that a person dislikes there are a few that are his pet peeves. The blog in question however features a pet peeve most every day. At least in this case the term has developed a meaning all its own.
In any case using the term as he does one of my pet peeves is the use of the term Geek to imply expertise in computers or electronics.
If you look the term up in a dictionary you will in fact find that one of the definitions may be "A knowledgeable and obsessive computer enthusiast". As it is used in advertising such as The Geek Squad Geeks R Us etc. the term is almost used as a qualification for the job. "He's good at computers because he's a geek." The way in which it is most used it might best fit the words primary definition "a carnival performer". It's an advertising term suggesting that eccentricity is akin to expertise.
Then there's the pet peeve that implies that your 12 year is a computer expert since he knows so much more than you about computers. It's a common joke that the family needs to get his 12 year to figure something out. He may know more than you but he's very likely not an expert.
In my early days with computers I was involved with a BBS network and related computer interests that attracted a lot of teenagers. Over several years I got to know several of them. They were always doing new things trying things showing off the things they made their computer do. Sometimes malicious things. But only one in dozens was tracking a course that would eventually lead to expertise in the field.
My irritance however is not with your offspring. Your 12-year old knows more than you because you didn't learn stuff that you could have been teaching him yourself.
In both cases this points out our own state of human intelligence in the United States. People don't learn. They would rather spend their time watching TV following sports golf or other recreational activities. In the US entertainment is king. Our judgment of products and services is based on cliquey phrases and general kookiness and not on an intelligent review of their reliability quality and value. It's no wonder that we are being taken over by business monopolies and other forces that dwarf political entities like China.