Interesting Times

How things are moving so fast, and we have no time to stop and go, "Wow."

It was not that long ago that only the super rich had a "mobile
phone," and that was only available in limited places. Now everyone
and their dog have one (cats don't yet, since that is what humans are
for). Now we have high speed internet on our phones, that run a
processor that is more powerful than the computer that landed Man on
the Moon!

Take a moment...

Your workplace uses computers to do their accounting, you probably
also have a computer instead of a till.

Say the computers all over the world crashed tomorrow... Could you
still do your job. Seriously, could you really? If you are reading
this post I doubt you could do your job... And for those who don't
read this post, you probably still use pen and paper to do your
invoices.

That is my point, it is absolutely interesting times that technology
is moving exponentially faster, yet we have to keep up if we want to
compete.

Thoughts? I would love to hear them.

--
Sent from my mobile device

Love all, trust a few. Do wrong to none.
William Shakespeare, "All's Well That Ends Well", Act 1 Scene 1

Have a Great Day,

Travis Ostash
E-Mail: travis@ostash.ca
IM: travis@ostash.ca (all services)

--> Please be Green and save paper, don't print this email <--

Running Away and to Technology

Technology... how we depend on you, I am no different than anyone else.  I use Facebook, Google+, and listen to music on my iPod.  But when things break, or the power goes out, I can still function.  There are these things that are called books, and there is this strange ball of light in the sky to illuminate the area.

However much the Sun shines down, and reading a book under a tree is enjoyable, there is nothing that compares to the speed of searching on Google to find an answer, or read an interesting article in Wikipedia.  But think about this, if the power went out and the batteries were dead, could you function.  I mean really function... do you know how to fix your lawnmower, your plumbing, or your generator sitting in the garage?

It all comes back to how we get out information.  Just think it was only 20 years ago, you would go to the library and borrow a book on small engines to fix your lawnmower.  Or phone your dad to find out how to fix a clogged drain in your kitchen.  Or call your buddy to come over and help you move and fix your generator.

Now we go to our favourite search engine and look up anything we need and an answer appears.  No going out to learn, no phone calls, and no physical human social interactions.  I recognize in myself these things, but how many of us do think about it.  I mean come on your reading this on an electronic device for crying out loud.

Instead of just Clicking "like" or "+1"ing why don't we say instead, "do you want to go for coffee?" and leave the computer at home.

Of course we will keep going back...

The Perception of Time

Time. It moves at different rates; sit in a boring class and it seems
to sit still, have an awsome time and it flys by.
Is there a way to make time stop all together?

Do you Google?

I have been with Gmail since we needed an invitation to even USE
Gmail. I was also one of the BETA testers for Google Apps, and I have
to say I will never go back. What surprises me is how many people do
not utilize Gmail/Google as fully as they can. To put it simply I
use: Google Calendar, Google Contacts, Google Talk, Google Docs, and
Blogger (obviously). There is always room for improvement, but I find
that those of us who honestly try to help improve the service the
better it gets. The only trouble with being an early adopter of the
technology is that there are very few people to test the products,
some don't mind "trying" it out, but they just want what they are used
to.

Yet here I am using most of Google's products, some I could not use
simply because there was no one to use it with... such as Google
wave... Great Idea, but it seemed like I was the only one who wanted
to use it.

Google Talk and Gmail, on the other hand I have been able to use
frequently, but not as extensively as everyone I know...

So here is my *rant* for lack of a better word about why people seem
to Hotmail instead of Gmail, messenger instead of google talk, and MSN
Live instead of: Google Calendar, Picasa, Google Docs, Blogger, and
the list goes on.

Why am I going on about Google? To put it simply, I like clean
programs that don't bloat my computer's memory, and I like how
reliable it is.

If you have comments, please leave them below!!!

Whatever the age "Oh So The Drama!"

Yes, it does not matter what age you are there will always be drama in
the workplace. When the mix is all guys for instance, we tend to give
each other hard times and insult each other... that is the way it is.
Granted it can go to far and past professionalism, but the drama is on
a baser instinct level. Women on the other hand, are more
intellectual than men... no let's be honest, women ARE more
intellectual than men when it comes to social dynamics in the
workplace. Now here is where it gets interesting, when the workplace
has a mix of men & women, the drama seems to rise exponentially. So I
fall back on Shakespeare...

Love all, trust a few. Do wrong to none.
       William Shakespeare, "All's Well That Ends Well", Act 1 Scene 1

And if that is not enough... use your problems like clay pigeons...
"Pull!" and shoot the bastards

Global Economy Swirling Down the Drain...

Going Global was supposed to be the way for companies to make money...
and it worked the "Companies" made money, but no one else seemed to.
It has been my direct experience that having a group of people (a
significant portion of the population) that were paid well drove the
economy. Once the companies went global, the largest cost for a
company moved to the lowest cost of employment. Sounds familiar
right? Now that these well paid people are out of work, there is less
to none in money flow in the LOCAL economy. So smaller companies who
are paying as little as they can to their employees in order to
compete... no longer have the business to support that little. So
they close. Sounds familiar, right? All that are left seems to be
the bigger chains and box stores; but they are paying as little as
possible for the best people they can find.

So let's look at it in perspective, every company is in business to
make money (I know a stupid statement, but let's be honest most people
lack common sense) and prosper. Let's break down every business: 1.
One third goes to labour 2. One third goes to facilities and
maintenance 3. One third goes to products that make the business
money. So profit comes from lessening any or all of the three
sections of costs. Debts incur when all three add up to more than
100% This is as simple as it gets when it comes to business
practices, obviously I have to point out that each business is
different, but sometimes a simple framework is all you need to see the
larger patterns. So what does this have to do with the Global Economy
Swirling Down the Drain? Simply put, the drive to ever higher profits
are pushing companies into areas of the world that will a) reduce the
cost of labour, b) lower the cost of facilities and maintenance, and
c) lower the cost of their products. Where all three of these
conditions meet, is where you will find all of the jobs.

My point is that the local economy suffers as the global economy
shifts. And with the global economy becoming more and more fluid to
get at the dwindling profits there is an increase in buyer
uncertainty, and less spending. Do you see it yet? This vicious
cycle of cause and effect: buyers have money when they have good jobs,
if that job can be moved at a moments notice, they spend less. If
they are buying less companies are making less, if they are making
less they move again to make more. It is not a chain by any means yet
it still locks the buyer and the "companies" together. Can you see
it? It is not necessary for the companies to move to make more money,
they need to invest in the local economies so that more people around
the world can BUY more from them. The cycle can stop, we just need to
work TOGETHER!!!

More Paper for the "Computer Age"

Paper... we needed it for our Memos, our invoices, our communications,
our bills, you get the idea. The computer age was supposed to reduce
our dependency on paper; but what actually happened is an ever need
for MORE paper. This is why I like eBooks, I read what I hope to
like, and if I really like it... THEN I buy it.

Let me give you a real world example: You order product it arrives
with a paper invoice, you check to make sure you have everything then
verify it online. Once verified online you print off the verification
for your records in case the computer crashes.

We worry so much about the "computer crashing" that we print
everything off. And we still make a backup on either disk, dvd, or
jumpdrive. We almost have a trust/distrust relationship with
computers. We love them to do most of the work but hate to trust them
to keep our data safe. Below is a sample of my email signature:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Love all, trust a few. Do wrong to none.
       William Shakespeare, "All's Well That Ends Well", Act 1 Scene 1

Have a Great Day,

                           Travis Ostash
                           E-Mail: travis@ostash.ca
                           IM: travis@ostash.ca (all services)

--> Please be Green and save paper, don't print this email <--

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I follow through with what I say by pointing out, in a subtle way,
that we don't need to print everything off. Why do we NEED to print
everything off, well I don't unless I have to. The only situation
where it is required is if I have to sign something. So even *I*
can't escape the need for paper.

Until next time...