Don't worry if no one has stopped by to admire your brilliance today. Remember, many brilliant stars of the past endured obscurity.

Well at least I have the courage to be a little ridiculous for the sake of a laugh. You didn't laugh? You must be really......

The poor pay the highest prices for living http://pioneer.posterous.com/why-you-need-success

I am not cynical, I simply prefer to keep my eyes open.

If your head is in the clouds, you will not be able to see your feet.

It's easy to preach to others when there is no army of giants in front of you.

It must make one giddy, waking up everyday and having every opportunity.

On twitter, saying "don't mention it" probably is not what you want.

Blogging, social media, marketing, life coach, mentoring, and a host of other titles seem to be making the rounds. In essence everyone wants to make the internet work for them.

The fine print isn't always so fine. They mean small print. What's in there? Lots of legalese that no one understands or lengthy contractual obligations. Or, is it something more sinister? Say, ...if we came right out and told you in plain language what you can and cannot do it would sound really bad, limiting and unattractive. So much so that you would bypass our product, service altogether. Hmmm "sneaky, I tell you".

Is it small so you won't read it at all?

After all, they hope you assume that these conditions will never come up so why bother to understand them anyway. But just in case they do we have warned you that you the consumer are obligated in every way possible and we, the products creators are in no way obligated at all.

And, if there is any money to be made, rest assured that you the consumer will receive nothing and we the product creator will make all the profit however remote, FOREVER.

Houston, we have a problelm!

Society as we know it is changing; rapidly morphing, dynamic and unpredictable. The values of the nineteenth century are valuable in that they protect us and are largely based on liberty and justice. The methods of the nineteenth century are however, not able to keep pace with the modern, post modern, techno revolutionary world.

Fine print is simply a way to throw protection around the profitability of a given entity. Some of that is valid and has a place in keeping the entity viable but clearly we see more and more instances where there is a lack of thinking things through.

Companies are having to backtrack on their Terms Of Service agreements because of privacy issues and violations of intellectual copyright. There are other problems. Consumers are basically being hijacked into agreeing to things whether they like, understand or agree with it or not. If you wish to use a service such as iTunes™ you have to agree to their Terms Of Service (TOS) or not use the software at all. The implications are obvious.

We have entered a new era. There will have to be reform and understanding on both sides if we are to find common ground where consumer and provider are both protected. We've all had run ins with these pesky little details.

Are we there yet? No Jr. it will be a "few" more miles.

In the early days of desktop publishing I thought that this was "the" thing and began to seek employment in the new field of graphic design on the computer.

Sure enough the very next Sunday I found the opportunity I was looking for. A big display ad for a graphic design job using the latest Mac Hardware. Called the company, got the interview and began to dream of "an impossible career that only existed in my head".

The fateful day arrived and with great anticipation was ushered into the inner bowels of what I was later to discover, not a graphic design firm at all. They sat me down in front of this huge monitor and began searching for some files supposedly to show me what they had been working on. My mind began to glaze over as their ineptness was revealed layer by layer. Actually what they were working on was some really rough animations that in some way related to their manufacturing process. I left disappointed.

Translation: What actually happened was this; a company had invested a lot of money in some state of the art Mac hardware and the latest software and thought they could recoup some of their investment by using it to "do" "desktop publishing" They were as disillusioned as I was. They were not able to answer the questions I asked and my hopes faded as fast as they had formed.

The lesson here is simple. There are no shortcuts to success. You still have to do the research, be grounded in the fundamentals and have the talent. The company, by the way went back to their core strengths and today I saw one of their trucks still delivering their goods.

To illustrate this point, lets look at the fast food business for an example.

What does it take to open a fast food restaurant? If you were to peer into even the paper files you would be astonished. Here are a few items; Architectural plans, financing, fees, approvals, legal fees, filing fees, insurance, product reviews, pro forma statements, financial statements, business plans, meeting notes, real estate documents, sign approvals, certificate of occupancy, and on it goes.

All of this, so some 17 year old kid can put a few ounces of beef between two pieces of bread.

The dirty little secret behind every shiny star of success, is a lot of blood sweat and tears. So while keeping your eye on the prize, don't trip over the mundane details it may take to get you there.

Have a nice day :-)

Social Media perceptions run the gamut. I say this, observing that my expectations differ widely from those I have encountered. Apparently "some" people are reticent to type their thoughts into those little boxes and hit send or share. Further, if you're not offering a horn of plenty there is much reluctance to engage with anyone outside their close circle of friends and family. NOT TRUE, they say. Yes, but for a large number, staying close to the wall is much preferred.

My own expressions don't make sense if you look at them as a list. The thread, if there is one, consists of rambling thoughts or quotes, very dry humor and the odd link that I think might be of useful to someone.

It's really no different than being invited to a party where you only know a few people. Do you stay with the familiar or do you branch out, introduce yourself and befriend someone who is clearly as uncomfortable as you are. But, they're not like me! To be sure, that is true; My "friends" online would not constitute a list of everyone I agree with. Clearly some of them I don't agree with at all but that doesn't prevent me from being kind or helpful if I can be. If my influence is ever to be felt it won't be aided if I have made someone an enemy.

So, take a moment, answer a question, add a thought, laugh and don't be afraid to offer something of yourself. Go ahead, "Send It In".

2. Don't tweet what you wouldn't want written in the newspaper with your name attached.

3. If you want to be RT'd or Re Tweeted. make it possible. Keep it short so the RT doesn't bust the 140 limit.

4. Save or back up your tweets.

5. If your tweet/link has a narrow audience say so. Your readers will thank you.

6. Engage your fellow internet citizens with replies etc. Also remember not everyone thinks like you do.

I learned to set type by hand in school and that was the beginning of my life long love of type. My first job was secured because of my ability to letter and the lettering was developed through copying from the kid who sat next to me in third grade.