While certainly well-intentioned, the theory of global warming has possibly caused more harm than good.  Allow me to explain. An Inconvenient Truth As highlighted in Al Gore’s immensely popular movie, “An Inconvenient Truth”, the pace at which the Earth is warming today has no historical precedent.  How can it be explained other than by human activity?  Sure, the planet has had long periods of warming and cooling since millennia, but the rate of warming today is so alarmingly fast that most would come to the same conclusion:  it must be us. Just A Theory It’s a great movie and a wonderful theory that sounds totally plausible, right?  Personally, I have no reason to doubt its truthfulness.  Just look around at our astonishing rate of consumption:  houses, cars, TVs, computers, phones, furniture and fast fashion to name a few.  We live in a world of never enough and more is better.  More, more, more. Our voracious... read more ›

Every few years or so my 81 year old father muses “I’m still trying to figure out what to do with my life”.  Unfortunately, I’ve carried on this family tradition. For my entire adult life I’ve been confounded by the question of career.  Recently, I discovered, there is no ‘right career’.  In other words, no career will save me or make me happy. If, like me, you’ve grappled with the question of work and career trying to reconcile financial needs with work that is meaningful and fulfilling, then I would invite you to read this book.  It offers a powerful, compelling argument with many examples for why “working right trumps finding the right work”. The title of this book comes from Steve Martin’s interview with Charlie Rose.  The main premise is to dispel the myth of “follow your passion” and to replace it with a more concrete, practical and systematic method for finding... read more ›

Below is one of my favorite lists.  Somewhere along the road of inquiry it jumped into my hands.  Lifespring perhaps? What I love about this list is it beautifully captures how to live a practical life well.  For years now, it has served as a trusted template throughout my own struggles and growth. Mind you, it’s not for the timid.  Implementation thereof takes enormous courage, energy and discipline.  But like all things challenging, adhering to this list will pay enormous recurring dividends!  Trust me. Personally, I’m currently working on clutter busting, getting my body back in fighting shape and returning texts daily. What are you working on? Now for the list... Clean my house from top to bottom and keep it clean Get my office clean and keep it clean Return my phone calls every day Get my car clean and keep it clean Give away or throw out what I don’t use or wear Get up-to-date on all communications and... read more ›

I wholeheartedly admire people who appear to live happily in the busyness of life moving from one activity to the next seemingly without questioning and without the need to go about their lives in a systematic and orderly fashion. Not me.  I'm constantly seeking simplicity, order, processes, efficiency, best practices.  How best to live my life, maximize fulfillment and squeeze every drop from the juice of experience.  For years I've been keeping, implementing and experimenting daily with personal best practices.  This takes intention and discipline (both of which I've only really begun to learn the past few years). The other day I was standing at a urinal in the Googleplex.  I'm not usually one for bathroom propaganda, but this particular blurb caught my attention.  Apparently Google has it's own guru, and the guru had quoted a line from the movie Gandhi where Gandhi says to the effect 'It's a particularly busy day,... read more ›

Cover is a sweet new app that enables diners at sit down restaurants to pay for the tab, including tip, without having to present their credit card.  Billed as the Uber of restaurant checkout, it provides diners seamless payment without the usual back and forth associated with paying with a credit card.  In other words, Cover allows you and your friends to focus on what you came for - the food and conversation. Here's how it works.  First, you download the app to your iOS or Android device.  Next, you set up your cloud-based account and add your credit or debit card.  When you arrive at a restaurant that accepts Cover, you simply create or join an existing table and tell the server you'll be paying with Cover.  Cover automatically splits your bill evenly among the guests at your table and leaves your preset tip percent.  It's that simple. As the company... read more ›

Over the past six decades, plastic has gradually replaced cash and coin, most notably for consumer purchases.  It’s more convenient, provides detailed reporting and offers protection.  However, for all its ease of use, credit cards still require carrying around a separate piece of plastic, (for most of us several when you include debit, HSA, etc).  They're also labor intensive for retailers, especially sit down restaurants. Largely since the iPhone was launched in June 2007 payment companies have been trying to figure out how to make the process more convenient and secure.  After the usual trial and error, the shift to payments is gaining momentum and beginning to take form.  However, the buying experience on mobile has a long way to go before being optimized. Mobile transactions now account for 2% of all credit and debit card volume in the US.  According to Gartner, 2013 worldwide mobile payments totaled approximately $235 billion, a... read more ›

How do you know when the markets are white hot?  When you start seeing advertisements for credit.  In particular, the conspicuous Barclays' Visa Black Card.  Whether on the Internet or in my car, their advertisements are 'everywhere you want to be'.  Business is brisk.  Q4 2014 consumer credit rose by the most in more than six years (biggest gain since Q3 2007 right before the last bull market peaked). First the promises, then the perils.  The card is a patent pending design of "black stainless steel front unique carbon back".  It offers rewards like 25,000 points if you spend $1,500 in the first 90 days, a VIP program at 3,000 hotels and resorts, 24-hour concierge, "black card magazine" (undoubtedly filled with advertisements of Aspen priced luxury-like goods that you can purchase...with your Black Card), double points on airfare, VIP airport lounge visits and "Luxury Gifts from some of the world's top... read more ›

Don’t get me wrong.  Like any insatiably curious or just normal human, I use Google search thirty times a day.  It’s an indispensable part of of my life.  Just like a dictionary, 9 times out of 10 if I don’t know something I Google it.  “Hmm, I wonder what Axl Rose if up to lately” or “Let’s see what is the world’s GDP”.  Increasingly I search “Images” though ashamedly about 70% of the those have something to do with a pretty girl.  I confess, I’m a slave to beauty. I use Gmail, too, and it works just fine. However, where Google search and Gmail leave off and the myriad other services begin is where my gripes start.  Whereas Google search’s strength lies in its robust ability to find what one is looking for and it’s clean if not boring user interface, the rest of the services are overbuilt, not user friendly and... read more ›

Visa:  World’s Best Business Model? Three entities make the credit card world go round.  Card Associations (Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover), banks (JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, etc), and processors (First Data, Chase Paymentech, Elavon, etc).  The Card Associations control the networks, the banks issue credit and charge cards to people like you and me, and the processors process and settle credit and debit card transactions. The primary function of the card associations is to operate their respective networks to facilitate the movement of money from one bank account to another.  In doing so the associations acts as virtual or electronic toll bridges.  Every time a merchant wants to move money from a customer's bank account to theirs, they have to use and pay for the privilege to move money across the card association’s respective network.  Of the networks, Visa owns and operates the biggest, in other words the one with... read more ›

DINERS CLUB Diner's Club is recognized as the first multi-purpose charge card in the world.  Founded in 1950 by Frank McNamara, Matty Simmons and Ralph Schneider in 1950, it revolutionized how patrons pay for restaurant meals and later other travel and entertainment categories.  (insert image of card?) In place of cash, Diners Club enabled diners to settle their bill in full at the end of each month through a credit account.  Instead of merchants extending credit to customers directly based on a trusted, long term relationship, Diners Club became the creditor.  In doing so, it enabled consumers to acquire a meal today and pay for it later.  Not just with one or two local restaurants but restaurants across the country.  This was particularly ideal for business travelers during the boom in airline transportation. Restaurants benefited from increased sales without the associated risk of extending credit directly to customers. The idea was conceived in... read more ›