Me My Own Boss

http://blogactionday.org/get_involved

As many of us prepare to be the "grown ups" of the Earth; the responsible and positively contributing members of society that will continue to further our nation and planet, we are seeing what past generations' choices have resulted in. Unfortunately in some cases the effects to their decisions haven't been pleasant. While we're seeing an increase in environmentally conscious business practices (or at least an increase in publicizing them), and an increased awareness in American homes, it's going to be our responsibility as business people, technological innovators, artists, and humans to develop and implement our own standards and solutions in business as well as life.

Alternative energy, hybrid or at least fuel efficient cars, minimized waste,  knowledge about our food and where it comes from. These are just a few of the things that  we can adapt to in our first big life decisions; our first cars, our first house. Keeping tabs on the health of yourself and your future family. We have to some extent accessible tools if not solutions to some of the nation's biggest problems. While it may be hard to change your ways of living after 50 or 60 years, at 19 or 20 it's not really that difficult to set a healthier, more beneficial standard of living that includes being conscious of your environment and how you affect it. While some may argue that high school or college students either don't make the decisions or don't have enough money for the best choices to be available, I think just educating yourself and those around you will definitely have some positive influence on the choices of who knows how many people. Blog Action Day  

Rubik's Cube World Champ

What region is strange enough to hold a rubik's cube world championship? Budapest, birthplace of the colorful, frustrating block that's sold more than 300 million units since it's creation by Hungarian architect Emo Rubik.   

The nation lucky enough to boast supreme rubik's abilities is Japan, whose Yu Nakajima took first place for a 12.46 second solve of the 3x3 cube.

Nearly 300 people felt confident enough in their skills to enter the competition. Believe it or not, the battle's been going on for 25 years. That means there are thousands of people who can accomplish in half a minute what I have never been able to do (although i did once peel off all the colored stickers and arrange them in winning order. Take THAT, Hungary).

I'll leave you with a picture of Finnland's Anssi Vanhala, who won in his category with a time of 49.33
(WARNING: feet!)
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/07/01/daily.snapshot/index.html

Can We Really Have It All?

    As young women exit college and enter the workforce, most of us are confronted with the challenges our futures hold as mothers and wives. We want to be the strong, independent, Prada- business-suit-wearing editors-in-chief/ceo/marketing genius' while juggling a perfect family and never missing a thing. Now thirty years from the third wave feminist push that led many women into offices around the country not as secretaries but as essential members, these women are looking back with some regrets. Will our fate be the same?

    The last few years have seen a new group emerge among professional women; women close to retiring, unsatisfied with the return they've received for their decades of hard work. They entered the workforce as ground breakers being faced with opportunities no other generation had seen. They're leaving it as women with  gaps in  the  history of their families and ultimately unfulfilled careers.
    These women have been documented in Women Confidential: Midlife Women Explode the Myths of Having It All. Author Barbara Moses, Ph.D explains why this feeling is common among both men and women:
     "Since the mid-'90s at least, employers have demanded more for less. Competition for rewards - money, promotions, perks - has intensified, and many men also feel their hard work has been undervalued and underappreciated,"

     Should we, the budding generation of women in business, be daunted by the tales of our mothers? These women's presence and prominence in every field has paved the way for us in careers no one would've ever dreamed off just thirty years ago. They changed an entire nation's perception on what women could and couldn't do in a relatively short period of time.  Despite any feelings of inadequate success at the expense of life at home, they've changed our social situation more than we know.

    I believe women can have it all. Maybe not by the time I retire, but by the time my daughters graduate. The advice of the former generation should be heeded; we can learn as much from their failures as from their successes. There is no perfect balance between work and home for the majority of women, but a more cooperative setting in both family (should women really have to bring in half the bread and cook dinner every night? Give and take, please) and career (80-hour work week and two or three kids? Yeah right) will lead to  great strides in the quality of life for both men and women. 

Living in the Mall... parking lot

Always looking for a creative way to cut living expenses? I've got a great one for you.
A group of artists have spent the past four years creating a cinder block disguised apartment in a Rhode Island mall parking lot. The cozy abode had the amenities of home, including a breakfast table and video game system. Michael Townsend was getting ready for a one year stay in his makeshift apartment when he got caught up by mall security. They must've been too busy chasing shoplifting teenagers to notice people going in and out of a strange building for four years.
On the ultimate fort building scale I give this one a 9 1/2, would've been 10 if he didn't get caught.
Seriously, who doesn't want a secret hide out?

Update on Last Years FSB Winners

CNN features the progress of last year's Fortune Small Business' business plan contest winners.

First place. Students from Harvard and U of Chicago put together a moderately successful SAT and PSAT test program, (prepme.com. pretty catchy name). The company's in the profit margins now, and evidence that a relatively simple idea can be turned into a profitable business. They certainly didn't invent test preps, which goes to show that a new take on an idea can be just as valuable as inventing something entirely new.

Two doctors have come up with a new way to gauge brain pressure using fiber optics through the eyes instead of drilling into the skull. Don't ask me how that works, but with $100,000 from the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse and testing to commence on animals, this idea could change the face of medicine. Definitely says something for constantly challenging the way things are done.

Third place went to a business (bigfootnetworks.com) that sells interface cards designed to speed up online games. The business plan was written while the inventor was a student at U of Texas. Can't imagine what kind of success something like that would have in, say, Korea. True, American geeks <3  WoW but boy do those Koreans love gaming.

http://money.cnn.com/popups/2006/fsb/where_are_they/index.html