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First Matter newsletter
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Jeff Miller
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May 22, 2006 12:41 PDT
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Where is the month of May going? I can't believe it's well over halfway
gone!
Watts Wacker (yes, that is his real name) is someone who I find to be
most interesting. He definitely is thought provoking in what he writes
(there are several books).
What follows is a periodic newsletter that he sends out of trends and
observations that he is seeing. If nothing else I think you will be
entertained by what he has to share. Info on how to subscribe can be
found toward the bottom.
Enjoy the rest of May... and for U.S. readers, a safe and happy Memorial
Day holiday.
Be well. /jeff
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Subject: Matter On Fact - May 2006: Road Rage
From: "webmaster on behalf of Watts Wacker"
<webma-@firstmatter.com>
Date sent: Mon, 22 May 2006 05:41:24 +0000
Newsletter announcement for je-@inleadsol.com
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Road Rage
May 2006
http://www.firstmatter.com/newsletter/2006/05_road_rage
So You Think The Trend Has Subsided Since '98?
I'm so happy today to not be a person who makes my living driving a
company car throughout a geographic territory calling on everybody or
anybody that ... is a doctor, owns a hardware store ... buys space or
time ... you get the picture.
http://www.firstmatter.com/newsletter/2006/05_road_rage/200605_ww.asp
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Greetings,
* For those of you who are citizens of the USA ... were you aware that
members of the two houses are allowed to "use" insider information
without prosecution? The executive branch is not allowed to do this but
not only congressmen/women ... but their staffs are allowed to legally
buy and sell stock on non-public information. Number one on the list of
people who have prospered from this was Tom Delay's chief of staff.
* Research is now being done on the effects of 30+ years of video
gaming on the psychological make up of people. Today we have about 100
million "gamers" in the U.S. Japan has a higher percentage of its
population gaming and of the billion plus people under the age of 40 in
the first world, over 40% of the population are "gamers".
Here are the most interesting characteristics ... gaming builds a
"superiority complex" (killing so many bad guys and saving the planet),
resulting in a significant number of 20-somethings claiming to be
experts at whatever they do ... they are more competitive ... have
greater coordination ... and, they like "authority-free" environments.
* Check out the new book, The Best of Everything. It ranks the
absolute best of everything for travelers.
* The world consumes 5 billion tons of coal a year. China burns the
most at a 30% share. Europe and the USA each burn 20%. Coal is a focal
point of how we must think in a very thoughtful way about energy and the
future. Coal is going to be burned but we could employ new technologies
to radically lower both sulfur dioxide (acid rain) and carbon dioxide
(coal provides as much as all autos and trucks in the USA does), like
everything there is a social cost ... either way we go.
* DARPA, the Pentagon's "007" laboratory, has developed a motion
detector that can scan the "other side" of a wall. It can tell if
somebody in the next room is breathing!! And it can "hear" through a
foot thick wall.
* Check out the re-work on the Los Angeles City Hall. The building was
damaged about 10 years ago in an earthquake. The engineering that has
evolved to protect buildings in the past 15-20 years is extraordinary.
The building can now sway as the foundation moves beneath it so as not
to topple in future quakes.
* Thirty six countries have agreed to outlaw "shark finning". The
Northwest Atlantic Fisher's Organization had unanimous approval from its
members to prohibit the act of cutting off a shark's dorsal fin and
discarding the animal to die.
* Another of FirstMatter's long standing ideas has been to take
expectant retirees and make them into an alumni association. Intel is
now doing it.
* Five dollars says a big hurricane hits New England this year.
* Have you heard the term "therapeutic simplicity"? I'm not ready to
say that this is a trend, but it is representative of people having less
and less influence from material possessions driving their status needs.
"The Compact", as they call themselves, is looking to break the
materialism of America. Everybody has got all the stuff today.
* I've been brushing up on my Buddhist background, again, lately.
There are about 400 million Buddhists in the world. The 4 noble truths
... 1) Life is hard ... 2) We are the cause of our suffering (our
desires) ... 3) There is a solution ... 4) The cure is to follow the
eight-fold path ...
- right views
- right intentions
- right speech
- right conduct
- right livelihood
- right effort
- right mindfulness
* On-line ad spending has passed the old peak of 2000. "The bust" must
be over.
* I hate it when sources get their facts wrong!! Business 2.0 had an
article on Lacoste, the sportswear company. Rene Lacoste, who recently
died was a French tennis star who founded the company. Rene's nickname
was ... the crocodile. So, to Business 2.0 ... it's not an alligator!!
* Pay attention to major developments in "a la carte" air travel. Soon
you'll pay for baggage, in-flight services, in-flight concessions ...
and the airline will tie into everything from the parking lot to the
hotel you stay at.
* Be sure to visit the M&M web site (www.shop.mms.com). You can
personalize a sentiment on 21 different colors to have your very own
mix. This is mass customization at its best ... and I'll bet that it's
very profitable for Master Foods.
* For years we've been saying, "stop hiring cool hunters to tell you
what's 'out there', instead hire them to take you out there." Before
you do that, why not make your own people help you? Urban Outfitters
has systemically turned their employees into trend spotters. All it
takes to get people to act (and have fun) is some tickets and dinners
out!!
* Indiana University is a top 100 "national university". Now you can
obtain an MBA for $43,200 totally on-line ... O.K., you do have to take
2 weeks of on-campus instruction.
* Facts about Grand Central Station ... 575,000 people come each day to
sight see ... 10,000 meals a day are served ... 5 tons of newspapers
recycled each day ... 98% of trains run on time.
Have a great month and thanks for your continued support.
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New Quotations
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Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind.
-- Romans 12:2
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one
can go.
-- T.S. Eliot
The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a
thing makes it happen.
-- Frank Lloyd Wright
Be yourself, everybody else is already taken.
-- Oscar Wilde
You can find all of our favorite quotes here:
http://www.firstmatter.com/quotes.asp
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New Hotlinks
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USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2006-05-18-starbucks-usat_x.htm
Starbucks aims beyond lattes to extend brand
By Bruce Horovitz, USA TODAY
Newsletter home page: http://www.firstmatter.com/newsletter.
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