toddnessa

What I gleaned most from the article(s) is that it's becoming increasingly important for all of us in the tech community to take a stand ourselves along with TOR to promote online anonymity in our companies (& possibly even think about supporting the TOR Project itself in some way).

That's what I like about the mind of an entrepreneur- the ability & desire to innovate.

San Francisco has through the roof high rent? Well, why not innovate & live in an RV? An innovative way to overcome the problem of containing personal costs. Also, this is a way to actually own something that can open up some very cool travel possibilities as well.

Could not agree more. Well said!

The idea that the state is God is a rabbit-hole leading towards totalitarianism and the government being the one to pick the winners and the losers.

Crony capitalism thrives in a system in which the government is fully in control over a society and a society's economy.

Totalitarianism is on the rise and the mass surveillance age is proof of it. It could also be an observation that we the public bought the lies of safety and security that was being fed to us in erecting all of these government programs.

I guess now many of us are seeing the light that it seems much more likely that this is really all about controlling the masses to the benefit of the state and not about security at all. However, those being given such powers may very well have figured that we would later figure this out but by then it would be too late for us to do anything about it. I would like to believe that we the people will prove them wrong.

We know we have a problem when transparency is largely demonized. Allegations of "terrorism" seems to be bringing much benefit to government. I saw a movie recently from the 1980's called "They Live!" I noticed that in the movie the word terrorism, allegations of terrorism or terrorists toward those who opposed them, was the weapon of control of the disguised, camelion totalitarian regime in power. Only those with special glasses could see them. It would seem as if this would be the playbook in protecting criminal government activity done under the auspices of law. Al Capone would have drooled for such type of power.

Top Secret should not be an excuse to undermine the law, the rights of individuals, and the Constitution of the United States. Those who witness such crimes have the duty to come forward to the public. By keeping quiet and turning a blind eye to crime, one partners with it.

Crime grows in the dark while the light of day exposes it. Freedom requires transparency. A war on whistle-blowers is really a type of barometer as to the amount of freedom that we really have.

This is a great way of holding the banks accountable and asserting fairness in the citizen's fight against the corprotacracy that has a chokehold on our nation at the moment. If the banks that have received huge amounts of taxpayer money in the form of bailouts refuse to right the abuses that they created then it is incumbent upon a free people to stand up or continue to be run over. It is unfortunate that our federal legislators have allowed things to get to this point. Local governments are going to have to do something as the legislators at the federal level are unwilling to go against or are themselves corrupted by the corporate lobby. This is why we should not allow for career politicians.

I am taking two classes at the moment and the only option the college offers for them is to take them online. (One is supposed to be a hybrid but only in theory.) What I have found is that the workload in one of these online classes actually compares to one of my MBA grad school classes. Many times the assignments do not have adequate instruction provided from the text in order to complete them. For these reasons, I have been left me really desiring that this was a traditional class with a real instructor and instruction provided in the classroom. There is something to be said for classroom interaction for sure. It would at least have been nice to have been given an option to take the class in an actual classroom setting. This way I could actually be taught the content rather than left trying to figure it out by with a learning lab instructor or by myself.

God has made it possible for me when it should not have been possible at all. Somehow, God proves that He is real to me in that against all odds I keep going. All of these answers in this thread that I have read are great answers for doing all that you know how to do. Sometimes it takes God to put you over when nothing else can. If all else fails, try God! Lol!

This is something that has hit my consciousness only recently as a result of the gun debate (3-d printers are being used to manufacture magazines). Since then I have checked out some uses for it on YouTube and have seen everything it used to manufacture model airplanes that fly to hand-grenades (yikes!). I have already been pricing out units myself and would like to purchase one of these one day in the not-so-distant future. The change that this technology will bring to so many individuals around the world is nothing short of revolutionary. I believe that it will really impact our society over the next decade in ways we would not even realize yet- kind of like the Internet did in the 1990's.

I have home-schooled kids and have planned to start my daughter in Code Academy. Knowing how to code is a leg-up in the digital age. However, it's not for everybody. We still need those with basic trade-skills who seem to be getting kicked to the curb in favor of someone in China who could do the job cheaper. (If we want to build the American economy we are going to have to become self-sufficient inside of our own country again and have no trade-deficit.)

Personally, I have observed this becoming more of an issue related to the times that we live in. Let's face it, America has been so ingrained with the survival of the fittest mentality for so long that finally it is sinking in.

Until people start valuing others more in society I do not feel that this will change. Behaviors flow out of beliefs. When the beliefs change then people change. Loving our neighbor as ourself is not a cherished value right now.

Look for Microsoft to try to squash those in open source who are already nicely serving up quality office products without charge. Could this be why Oracle stopped working to develop Open Office (who btw allowed you to not only open but also save in MS Office file formats)? Did they know something about this that we didn't know? What happened with Open Office did not pass the smell test. Perhaps this is why. Hopefully, Apache can revive the efforts and get things moving forward again with Open Office.

I have used Ubuntu since 2008. I have seen it grown increasingly more user friendly over the years. I have always been impressed with it's stability and would never go back to running Windows. If you want something that is easier on your equipment then this is a great option.

It is amazing the ideas out there. A one time use URL... Why didn't I think of that! With the code open source, this should catch on.

It is only through the responsible use of freedom that people can continue to remain free. Freedom used for selfish ends leads to bondage. History has proven over and over again that in cases when self-serving attitudes spread throughout the culture that they are ripe for picking by their enemies with freedom soon lost. Freedom used responsibly always is to the benefit and welfare of others.

George Washington: "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indespensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars."

To those of you who out there who are consumers of this type of material... buyer beware.

Novel idea... make learning both desirable & fun. Sounds like Code Academy might just be on the right track.

Dennis Ross is my congressman as he is based in Lakeland, FL. I am also pleased that he is one of my LinkedIn connections. It's a small world. Good job Dennis! (Yes, I voted for him, fyi.)

A really great idea. I have been befriended by a native pastor in Kenya. His son came down with something unexpected and had to go to the hospital. The hospital did not want to let the kid out until he was fully paid up and he couldn't pay it all . This escalated the bill even further. Something like this could have really helped.

Something anyone working on a startup idea should bear in mind. You may find similarities out there to what you have vision to do once you get started working with your idea. However, it is helpful to realize that just because something is similar to you does not mean that it has to be the same. Adding your own personality, twists to the product that differentiate yourself, and your own insight as well can set you apart from others. That's getting it right by focusing less on what others do with their ideas and more on what you want to do with yours. Focusing more on innovation & less on the competition is a much better way to succeed in the long-run.

When I was searching for a domain name for my startup idea, it became very evident to me rather quickly that a number of domain squatters have used the dictionary to snap up domain names. Let me first say that I really don't have an issue with someone purchasing a domain that goes along with an idea that they do intend to use at some reasonable future time. However, I do have an issue with those who search the dictionary for every possible domain name that someone with an idea might want to later use in order to later profit off of you and your idea. To combat this, I found myself having to come up with a creative variation of what I initially wanted to use in order to register a domain. In the end, I feel it benefited my creativity and led to a really catchy name. It is nice to now be aware of a tool that can help someone facing this process and hope that it falls only in the right hands.

View Your Mind (VYM for short) is a great brainstorming tool that is free software that anyone can download. It would be one available tool that a marketer could use for their brainstorm sessions. I thought maybe someone else out there may not have heard about it and could use it as well. It's one of my favorites.

I thought the article gave out some good basics that are prudent to implement as foundations for anyone's marketing activities. It's a beginning point (as the article suggests). However, it would not be real wise to stop and go no further.

There is no substitute for learning all you can from somebody like Philip Kotler as well as from other business leaders who are successful in the field. Then when you get big enough you hire a marketing department- :).

Although it may be seen as a little unusual, it is nice to see someone who has succeeded financially pay thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own money in order to inspire, encourage, and strengthen the spirits of children who are in the hospital- many of which are seriously or even terminally ill. Mr. Robinson demonstrates the benevolence that should be seen as a responsibility of those who have attained financial success and does so in a very creative way. You can't question this persons heart to see to it that a child who is suffering is given a bright-spot in their day, and a highlight of their life by a visit from a super-hero- Batman.

In life there are often short-term gains that can be made by someone either lacking in principle or who simply fails to exercise it. In simple terms, in this world there are always going to be temptations to travel down a road that in the end leads to death. In this case, it is eventual financial death for the marketer.

I know the temptation is for this road to be traveled because it's most often the easier road in the short-run for someone to take. There is no doubt in marketing a product or service that you are going to have to knock on many doors. Most often this will mean having to spend money in the process of running ads in order to get the word out. Bots such as those used by the Pinterest spammer automate the process but do so by taking advantage of loop-holes in the system and in so doing exploit whatever platform they are using (in this case Pinterest).

It is one thing to offer a product or service and to let people know about it and quite another to use technology to exploit a Platform for the purpose of sending unsolicited information to those who you do not know. There are better ways to market products and to profit from the sale of them through proven, sound marketing strategies.

The use of spam bots are not a reflection of anyone who has pursued an education of good marketing techniques. Such people only serve to give marketers in general a bad name. Those who pursue get rich quick strategies like this are not they type of people that endure for the long-run.

I believe that one reason why things can get overcomplicated is because often this has proven to be profitable. Why did it cost millions of dollars to create a pen in space when a pencil would do? Obviously, someone benefited greatly financially from the government contracts that were given to them for the purpose of creating a pen that would work in space- even when it wasn't truly necessary. Many believe the old saying that "money makes the world go round." Could this be the reason why else we have legally allowed for financial instruments such as derivatives which are so complex that the majority of the public does not even understand them? Is it profitable for someone to have something such as this be so complicated that the general public will fail to see their inherent danger? While overthink is dangerous for productivity, someone has also figured out that it is profitable- at least for them.

After looking at the venturebeat.com list, I am always excited whenever I gain a new awareness of some of the innovative ideas of other upstarts. As for the All Things Digital article, the opportunities coming together for the Y Combinator groups of the future are growing. It's nice to know that there is a real hunger out there among investors to invest in the advancement of innovation.

As demo day grows, it no doubt provides evidence that Y Combinator is giving investors comfort in knowing that those individuals in which they are investing have been first selected and then have taken them through the process of mentoring them for several months in a tech company "graduate school" type of training. I am sure that an added benefit to investors is also knowing that those in which they invest will also receive an ongoing mentorship support that can only serve to aid stability and growth. That's a win-win for everyone involved.

Sounds like a valuable contribution that increases the value of MS Access for its users by allowing it to become accessible for web-based applications. I'm searching for the company website that he did not want to mention in the article (if that says anything).

Great ideas alone do not make great entrepreneurs or profitable companies. At the end of the day, the way a person thinks is where they will eventually return. An employee can have a great idea and make an attempt at being an "entrepreneur" for a while only in the end to return to being an employee. Entrepreneurs think differently about how money is generated from someone with the mind of an employee- thinking on different sides of the quadrant. It takes a different set of skills and a different mindset. "Safe & secure" can be alluring.

The article points out reasons as to why many of us are leaving Google for other search engines that protect our private data by not recording our search information. Startpage for instance does not track your private data. You will not have your IP address recorded or have tracking cookies put on your computer. I know we now live in a world where it is difficult to get away from Google altogether. It seems like they want to collect data on everybody in various ways. However, many of us are beginning to try. My gmail account may be the next to go.

It definitely crosses the line to ask or require your employees to access their private information. In cases such as this, employees are being treated more like company property than as free individuals. That's not cool.

To me the article speaks to the frustration of past funding models giving way to new ways of monetizing creative works. The gateways that have been necessary for works to be promoted are changing from an executives sitting in an office somewhere to everyday people who like your work and have the ability to spread word of it throughout their social networks. As the technology is further developed to further empower these everyday people with even greater ability to spread creative content, such as Spotify is doing, this will accelerate even more. It's my feeling that a new way of monetizing creative works is underway. This will be a paradigm change that will allow works to be seen or heard that would have otherwise never been allowed to see the light of day. We all win when we have the greatest number of individuals having more of a say in things rather than just a select few. Authors, musicians & other creators in the future will be more in the driver seat than in the past and will be given new & different options for monetizing their products.

I have found that open source software is often far better in quality than other products that you would pay big dollars to buy. I am an Ubuntu user and an Open Office user. I found the way that the way my computer ran with a Windows operating system was horrible. The hard-drives were spinning hard all the time. I felt that with every automatic update that my computer would run worse and worse. When I switched my computers ran better and cooler.

Open Office has been a staple for me and has been great office software that I use daily. VYM mind maps have been a blessing to me as well and very frequently use it. Moodle was something I used while in business school as some of the professors on campus required using it for submitting projects and for working with a group.

Open source software and Apple products are really all I use anymore. Also, I would rather use a server running on Ubuntu than one that runs Windows. My feeling is that free and open innovation is something worth supporting.