russt

Category: Life

  • My Newest Love: Economics

    Sugarland aka Supermarket

    Economics is a fascinating subject. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I am entranced. Now, before you go off thinking that I’ve totally lost my mind, let me explain.

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  • Finally Launching the New Design

    new-layoutI know that it’s been many months since I said that I was working on and getting close to implementing a redesign and restructuring of the site. Well, the day has finally come. (more…)

  • The Epitome of Laziness

    hammock

    Hammocks are wonderful things. The problem is that I don’t have one nearby. But if I did, oh man… I would use it daily. There’s nothing better than a good ‘ole hammock, skillfully woven together from strands of soft rope… I think I need one in my bedroom. Heck, why don’t I use one as my bed? I think that would be absolutely stellar. Somehow I think it would cause back problems or something of the sort, but it would sure be a comfy way to ruin a back. (more…)

  • Roman Chariot Races

    As the chariot maneuvers to the left side of the track, the other chariots swerve aside – a horrendous collision could’ve occurred had such measures not been taken. The smaller vehicles in this Roman race swerved in and out – a dangerous web of high-speed objects weaving between one another. The Italian music on the radio set the perfect mood for the stunning display of land-based aerobatics. (more…)

  • Creativity vs. Productivity

    Regrettably, I don’t remember exactly where it was that I read something about this, but wherever it was, it certainly illustrated an important part of many people’s lives.

    Many of us, myself included, need to exercise a certain amount of creativity in the workplace. Whether it be in creating a graphic, drawing something, coming up with a new marketing scheme, or whatever, it is an important part of what we do. Creativity is an essential part of nearly all business pursuits.

    But, on the other hand, we must also have points in time where we focus entirely on what we’re doing – when distractions make us lose valuable time.

    And these two aspects of work involve completely different approaches. With creativity, we don’t want to disregard or throw out any idea. Distractions, random suggestions, or seemingly ridiculous ideas can prove invaluable. A little flash of inspiration often makes all the difference. Additionally, simply surfing the web looking at random photos or works of art can be one of the most productive parts of the process.

    But when we’re doing in-depth study, creating charts, etc, we don’t want to be random. It is important to focus on the task at hand – without distraction.

    This really came as a surprise to me, truthfully. It makes complete sense when thought through, but before I simply hadn’t realized it – or its potential impact on my life. But it’s helped me much. Now I’ll be able to be much more productive in my specific pursuits – adjusting my environment and mindset to the task at hand, therefore optimizing my use of time and brainpower (however limited that may be).

  • What the Dog?

    [local /files//dog-eats-lunch.wmv nolink]

    So, I figured that this video was pretty funny. My dear mother sent it to me via email.

    I also wanted to test out what exactly my blog does with video. I guess I’ll find out soon, eh?

  • I’m in the Future

    gmail-futureI’m pretty sure that none of you knew this, since I didn’t even until a few minutes ago, but I can send messages to people in the future. Yeah, that’s right. I sent a not-yet-email to someone.

    Mostly I’ m writing this because I haven’t written anything in awhile, and believe it or not, that makes me feel lazy. So, in an effort to make myself feel less lazy, I’m writing this post. There’s actually been quite a bit of interesting stuff that’s happened lately, like a trip to St. George, constant singing of the song (whatever it’s called) that goes, “Are we humans, or are we dancers?”

    Plus, I’ve scored pretty well on a couple of tests, found a huge bug on Priceline, and been to Ikea for the first time. So, yeah. I’d say that I’ve had an interesting couple of weeks. But I have to blame the fact that I haven’t posted on one simple thing: I haven’t really been actively seeking topics about which to post.

    So, from here on out, I’ll be better at it. I promise. Also, I promise that the redesign of the site will be up & running soon.

  • The Intuos 3

    intuos-2Today I received my amazing Intuos 3 tablet from Wacom. So far, I’m super-excited about it. It took me awhile to get the settings figured out and whatnot, but man am I happy with it.

    I didn’t get to use the Cintiq tablets down at BYU, sadly, since they wouldn’t check out the pens to my level in the program. But now, I’ve got my own. Well, okay, it’s not the same thing, but it has the same purpose.

    intuos

    Anyway, so far I’ve only played around with it for a bit, but what I’ve done so far has made me pretty darn happy. It should be awesome for when I’m designing stuff. Plus, it allows you to just draw. I don’t know about you, but my drawing with a mouse has always been sub-par. So, now I can draw with a pen.

  • Scheming Pyramids

    pyramid-schemeThis past week, I had the wonderful opportunity of hearing a presentation about what can’t truthfully be called anything but a pyramid scheme. Well, that is, except for under the strict definition placed by the government. You see, pyramid schemes, strictly defined, are illegal in most countries. A straight-up pyramid scheme involves people dolling out money for no service or product with hopes that the people they recruited would fall for it and pay their money. The issue is that depending on the scheme, an average of  less than 12% of the people involved in the scheme – those who got in early and were able to recruit effectively – are the only ones that actually benefit. The rest simply lose their ‘investment’. Despite the fact that pyramid schemes are illegal, organizations that deal in a similar fashion but that don’t do that specifically (for example, involving products or services) are not considered illegal.

    A diagram of a pyramid scheme which has each person recruit six more.

    The scheme about which I had the pleasure of hearing isn’t technically illegal, because it has to do with $30 bottles of juice (apparently extremely healthy, which may or may not be true). The catch is that you have to be committed to it. You’re set up buying a minimum of eight bottles every month. So, you’re stuck paying $240 every month so that you can get your bottles, which you can’t use all by yourself. They consider you to be a ‘distributor’ of the product, and therefore you’re set up buying their product and potentially trying to sell it.

    Now, even that practice could be considered somewhat beneficial if you are really dedicated to the juice that you are shelling out large sums of money to purchase. However, the people introducing this plan to me were emphasizing only the benefits of the ‘business’ aspect. They claimed, “You’re not selling juice, you’re selling businesses.” The irony lies in that they were discounting the very practice that made the organization legal. It seemed to me that they did not understand the implications of a business model following that plan. After a short period of time, they are doomed to failure and imminent collapse, with only those in the very top tiers making a profit, while the rest lose all their investment.

    Sadly, however, it seems that people don’t recognize these basic facts. A company supported on these principles is going against the fundamental values of the economy, which is based on transactions that benefit both parties involved. In these, however, the flow of money is endlessly up, and the approx. 88% that don’t receive any of the ‘profits’ are left stranded.

    I guess that my point is that pyramid schemes are bad. They are the opposite of Robin Hood – they steal from the poor and give to the rich.

  • Free? Free My Foot!

    credit-report‘Free’ generally implies ‘free of charge,’ in my experience. How about yours? Well, apparently not for freecreditreport.com. The revenue that they generated from the advertisements and pop-ups on their site wasn’t sufficient, so they decided that they should automatically get anyone that applied for a free credit report and sign the up for a monthly service and charge them $15.

    Apparently this has happened to a good number of people, as is made clear by the Better Business Bureau of Los Angeles, which has listed 7800 complaints for the company in the past 36 months.

    I’m sorry, but the whole idea that you would base something completely off of being free and then charge the consumer shortly thereafter isn’t the best way to conduct business.

    I’m sure that they’ve got it listed in their terms of service, somewhere, that they were going to do it. But apparently they don’t make it all that clear. So, enjoy your extra money and questionable ethics, freecreditreport.com… And I’ll enjoy being ripped off. Thanks.

    Note: I still do have to admit that I like their commercials. They’re pretty darn funny.