• “WHEREAS STRATEGY IS ABSTRACT AND BASED ON LONG-TERM GOALS, TACTICS ARE CONCRETE AND BASED ON FINDING THE RIGHT MOVE NOW… Questions, and discovering the right ones, are the key to staying on course… The wave of information threatens to obscure strategy, to drown it in details and numbers, calculation and analysis, reaction and tactics. To have strong tactics we must have strong strategy on one side and accurate calculation on the other… Opposite pairs working in harmony – calculation & evaluation, patience & opportunism, intuition & analysis, style & objectivity, strategy & tactics, planning & reaction – is the theme to perfect decision-making. Success comes from balancing these forces and harnessing their inherent power.” DCG perspective has historically been the critical element to such success. [HOW LIFE IMITATES CHESS – Gary Kasparov]
  • A BATTLEGROUND IS BREWING OVER DIGITAL ASSETS – the e-things we have like music, books, photos, videos, games, movies, messages and other stuff “that exists only on a computer on in the cloud,” most of which is “not technically sold to you, just licensed for personal use.” The landscape for this digital shift to things we never ‘touch’ has become quite fuzzy with regard to ‘rights’ when the user dies. Survivors and executors struggle with varying rules (from Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Google, Yahoo, etc) when expectations of inheritance “conflict with Terms of Service agreements – those novella-length contracts everyone approves and no one reads… 600,000 U.S. users died last year, but Facebook, wary of violating privacy even after they’re gone, has resisted calls to release content… Google has lobbied against a digital assets bill proposed in Massachusetts… Apple does not have a policy to will or inherit an iTunes collection… Yahoo allows transfer if deceased users leave consent and their password.” So far, at least Domains are protected since GoDaddy allows transfer within 24 hours “if paperwork is in order.” [TIME – Feb 11, 13]
  • “TOO MUCH TIME INDOORS MAY LEAD TO NEAR-SIGHTEDNESS” where distant visions become blurry. A dramatic increase in ‘myopia’ over the past few decades is alarming – particularly for now nearly 40% of U.S. young adults and up to 95% at some Chinese colleges – which “coincides with a whole generation of children raised on computers, videogames and, especially in the Far East, intense pressure to achieve in school… involving excessive reading or other ‘near’ work.” Research now strongly suggests that “reading, writing and computer work contribute to myopia,” and scientists think the trend reflects behaviors among young urbanites who, compared to rural youth, spend too little activity time outdoors where “bright light stimulates the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine… bombarding the retina with colors and contrasts to help guide proper eye growth.” [SCIENCE NEWS – Feb 9. 13]
  • “ALL BUBBLES GO SOUR... Thanks to the Federal Reserve’s massive ‘easing’ program, a bubble is brewing in the residential real estate market, and it’s not going to end pretty… In a world of medicated money by the central bank, things aren’t what they appear to be… We don’t have a real organic, sustainable recovery… Money is rolling in to buy or rent on a speculative basis for a quick trade; as soon as they conclude prices have moved up enough to produce a return, they’ll be gone as fast as they came.” [MONEYNEWS – David Stockman, former White House Budget Director – Feb 5, 13]
  • NEW THOUGHTS ON DREAMS: Research suggests that dreams “may be the result of your brain de-fragging – probably processing the same thoughts, fears and hopes that you have while awake, much of it nonproductive… but also consolidating memories, anticipating dangers, and solving problems.” To boost your likelihood of recall: (1) Turn off the alarm, since sound or movement (like hitting ‘snooze’) can wipe everything out; (2) Don’t move when you wake, since prolonging the physiologic state of dreaming makes it easier to remember; (3) Make up and jot down a quick title for the most intense emotion you experienced in the dream. “If your dreams seem jumbled and/or nonsensical, it’s because the common theme is usually emotional, not logical.” [MENS’ HEALTH – Mar 13]
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:
    “A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him or her.” -David Brinkley“To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, subtract things every day.” –Chinese Philosopher Laozi