Why is there cold brew tea, but not coffee?
Microsoft should make more of the games that come with Windows Multiplayer.
Quick mobile app Idea - why not create software that would allow managers in companies to get instant feedback on tax or accounting benefits of buying cretin products.
Quick Game Idea - Fighting game mmo - allow players to customize their characters by gaining new abilities as they go, but keep it balanced
Why is it that when a hacker group hacks a game console they publish how they did it? It seems like they would get further if the game companies had no idea how they did it.
Why is it always so quiet on public busses? They should play some kind of music so when somebody talks everyone doesn’t just listen to their conversation.
If contractors get their tools stolen a lot, then why not install a gps unit on the really expensive tools?
Why does Apple only use negative advertising now? It might have worked for marketing against Windows Vista, but most people will agree that Windows 7 is clearly superior to Mac OS.
Why do you still need a separate disc to install windows? Why not have the OS create a new partition that can store a clean install of the OS so when you want to start over you don’t need the separate disk.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Homemade DLC
The future of video games lies in digital distribution, or distribution through the internet instead of disks or cartridges. Some people may not like it, and some people may disagree, but I think that for most gamers and most people in the game industry digital distribution is the future of videogames. Companies have already started doing this in the form of DLC or downloadable content. This content allows game developers to add on to games that they have made, and allows gamers to get more out of their games for a small price. Thought this cuts costs for game publishers, the cost for game development would be the same. One way companies could better regain some of their development costs would be by allowing user created content to be sold through their game. For example; the game Fallout 3 is vast, in fact it is so vast that if you just play through the main story line then chances are that you will not see 40% - 60% of the game’s content. If the game’s developer, Bethesda, allowed users to use the game modification tools that they have already released, to make content that can be sold. This way a lot of professional quality additions could be made to their game at no cost to the developer. The best way for this to work would be by using Apple’s app store model, and change people a small fee to use the tools then make them submit their content to then be reviewed by the developer. The content would then be sold and some kind of profit split would happen.
This plan could help developers in more than one way. Not only would it give them practically free DLC, but it just might encourage more people to buy their games. This system could also be used to help small independent game companies to work on a small project that could give them practice and make a little money to fund other projects. The system would also help create future game designers as it would be a lot easier to create new content for another game then it is to create a new game. Overall it would not end up costing much to the developer, especially if they already release the tools and make their own DLC.
This plan could help developers in more than one way. Not only would it give them practically free DLC, but it just might encourage more people to buy their games. This system could also be used to help small independent game companies to work on a small project that could give them practice and make a little money to fund other projects. The system would also help create future game designers as it would be a lot easier to create new content for another game then it is to create a new game. Overall it would not end up costing much to the developer, especially if they already release the tools and make their own DLC.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
How to make pot legal
It seems like over the last year or so there has been a huge movement on the internet to legalize marijuana, but it seems like the movement can get past just trying to make it legitimate. Though I don’t smoke the stuff, I can see why it should be legal, and at the same time I can see why it is not. For anyone else that would like to see it legal, pot head or not, I have posted five things that could make a difference.
Change minds at an academic level
If people start to learn more about the drug while in college then they might see things in a different light. A lot of older doctors that went to school during the 60’s and 70’s grew up during the hippie years when pot was still seen as a drug that can make you crazy and a communist. The best thing that people could do is ask a lot of questions about it in school and learn as much as they can and try to get their classmates involved in the discussion. College professors could help sort fact from myth about pot and other drugs, not just in biology or health classes, but in classes like political science, criminal justice, and economics. Just remember that people don’t want to hear a student argue with a teacher about it, so if the teacher says something that you don’t agree with, then just let it be or do more research to see if what you thought you knew is fact or not.
Change minds at an economic level.
If people knew how many of their tax dollars were spent on enforcing marijuana laws, there would be rioting in every city. It is not just on a federal level, but state and local governments spend millions if not billions every year enforcing the marijuana laws. Anti drug programs in schools as well as on TV cost a lot of money and tend to focus on getting people to not smoke pot. These costs do not include the lives of law informant lost every year.
The laws don’t just cost money on a short term basis, but in the long run as well. It cost a lot of money keeping people in jail for breaking these laws. This would just constitute the fiscal loss, but the economic loss is much greater. By making it illegal, billions of dollars of income that should be taxed are not because drug dealers don’t pay taxes. Not to mention that thousands and maybe millions of jobs would be created in the US not just by the growers and sellers, but companies that make farming tools and fertilizers would grow as well. If people want to make a big change in getting pot legal, then they should contact their local politicians and tell them to find out exactly how much these laws cost our country. If these numbers turn out to be high enough then politicians would have a hard time keeping it illegal.
Don’t be high in public
If you are a pot smoker and you want it to be legal, don’t be high in public. Just because you think that you can do your job the same or better when you have a little weed in you does not mean that you can. People generally notice people that are high in public, and it does not help their opinion of them. Think of it this way: you wouldn’t be drunk in public, so don’t be high. It also doesn’t help to have a coworker that is frustrated with your little mistakes that you made because you are high. If you keep it at home and don’t reek of it in public, then at the very least you won’t be hurting the cause.
Don’t compromise with it
A lot of people think that it should be legal as long as there is a special tax on it. To them this would make it legal but at the same time raise money to help society as a whole. This may not be true, as special taxes would cause the price go up, which would cause demand to go down. With demand down there would be less production, which means fewer employees and less materials purchased to grow it. Companies that sold it would also make less money and pay less in income taxes. The government may also try to keep people from growing it themselves. This would also cost a lot of money as it would be very hard to police. The best thing to do would be to let people grow it and sell it from their homes. The only regulation that should occur would be in making sure that no dangerous chemicals are added to it, and if people grow it themselves then this would not be much of a problem.
The best way to get it to be totally free would be for people to not compromise over it. If it takes longer to become legal, or never does, it’s better than giving in to things that could give the government more power over people.
Don’t lie about it
Saying that marijuana helps people with cancer or how hemp can be used to make cheap paper, while may be true, only turns people off. Paper is cheap, and if you don’t have cancer then just shut the hell up. Just tell people that you like smoking it, and that you will keep smoking it legal or not. People will respect your opinion on the subject more if you are direct about it.
Change minds at an academic level
If people start to learn more about the drug while in college then they might see things in a different light. A lot of older doctors that went to school during the 60’s and 70’s grew up during the hippie years when pot was still seen as a drug that can make you crazy and a communist. The best thing that people could do is ask a lot of questions about it in school and learn as much as they can and try to get their classmates involved in the discussion. College professors could help sort fact from myth about pot and other drugs, not just in biology or health classes, but in classes like political science, criminal justice, and economics. Just remember that people don’t want to hear a student argue with a teacher about it, so if the teacher says something that you don’t agree with, then just let it be or do more research to see if what you thought you knew is fact or not.
Change minds at an economic level.
If people knew how many of their tax dollars were spent on enforcing marijuana laws, there would be rioting in every city. It is not just on a federal level, but state and local governments spend millions if not billions every year enforcing the marijuana laws. Anti drug programs in schools as well as on TV cost a lot of money and tend to focus on getting people to not smoke pot. These costs do not include the lives of law informant lost every year.
The laws don’t just cost money on a short term basis, but in the long run as well. It cost a lot of money keeping people in jail for breaking these laws. This would just constitute the fiscal loss, but the economic loss is much greater. By making it illegal, billions of dollars of income that should be taxed are not because drug dealers don’t pay taxes. Not to mention that thousands and maybe millions of jobs would be created in the US not just by the growers and sellers, but companies that make farming tools and fertilizers would grow as well. If people want to make a big change in getting pot legal, then they should contact their local politicians and tell them to find out exactly how much these laws cost our country. If these numbers turn out to be high enough then politicians would have a hard time keeping it illegal.
Don’t be high in public
If you are a pot smoker and you want it to be legal, don’t be high in public. Just because you think that you can do your job the same or better when you have a little weed in you does not mean that you can. People generally notice people that are high in public, and it does not help their opinion of them. Think of it this way: you wouldn’t be drunk in public, so don’t be high. It also doesn’t help to have a coworker that is frustrated with your little mistakes that you made because you are high. If you keep it at home and don’t reek of it in public, then at the very least you won’t be hurting the cause.
Don’t compromise with it
A lot of people think that it should be legal as long as there is a special tax on it. To them this would make it legal but at the same time raise money to help society as a whole. This may not be true, as special taxes would cause the price go up, which would cause demand to go down. With demand down there would be less production, which means fewer employees and less materials purchased to grow it. Companies that sold it would also make less money and pay less in income taxes. The government may also try to keep people from growing it themselves. This would also cost a lot of money as it would be very hard to police. The best thing to do would be to let people grow it and sell it from their homes. The only regulation that should occur would be in making sure that no dangerous chemicals are added to it, and if people grow it themselves then this would not be much of a problem.
The best way to get it to be totally free would be for people to not compromise over it. If it takes longer to become legal, or never does, it’s better than giving in to things that could give the government more power over people.
Don’t lie about it
Saying that marijuana helps people with cancer or how hemp can be used to make cheap paper, while may be true, only turns people off. Paper is cheap, and if you don’t have cancer then just shut the hell up. Just tell people that you like smoking it, and that you will keep smoking it legal or not. People will respect your opinion on the subject more if you are direct about it.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
5 years or $50,000 plan
One thing that hurts businesses more than anything else is taxes. Though large corporations have to pay large amounts of taxes they still have plenty of cash lying around to run their business and expand. Even if large corporations start to run low on cash they still have a large amount of assets to sell or borrow agents. Large corporations also get to take advantage of tax breaks like deprecation of assets that were purchased for investment purposes.
For small corporations it’s a whole other story. Small corporations often need a larger portion of their profits to expand, so taxes in general have a much larger impact. They also tend to not have the money to invest in a full time CPA or tax attorney to help them manage their money in a way that would lower their tax bill on a day to day basis. As the people that run most small corporations get paid dividends based on what the company makes, after it pays taxes, and then they have to pay personal income taxes on their dividends. This double tax makes it hard for small business owners to justify expanding their business into a corporation.
For these reasons I suggest a 5 year or $50,000 plan to help small business to become a corporation. Under the plan the newly formed corporation would get their first $50,000 in taxes waved, or all of their taxes for 5 years for a total of $50,000. This would help corporations during that new growth period and help their owners survive.
For small corporations it’s a whole other story. Small corporations often need a larger portion of their profits to expand, so taxes in general have a much larger impact. They also tend to not have the money to invest in a full time CPA or tax attorney to help them manage their money in a way that would lower their tax bill on a day to day basis. As the people that run most small corporations get paid dividends based on what the company makes, after it pays taxes, and then they have to pay personal income taxes on their dividends. This double tax makes it hard for small business owners to justify expanding their business into a corporation.
For these reasons I suggest a 5 year or $50,000 plan to help small business to become a corporation. Under the plan the newly formed corporation would get their first $50,000 in taxes waved, or all of their taxes for 5 years for a total of $50,000. This would help corporations during that new growth period and help their owners survive.
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