General Sherman

I have always been fascinated by the leaders of the Civil War, not just the North, but also the South. In this instance, I am highlighting General Sherman, who has a reputation of steamrolling the south, basically leaving a path of destruction as he moved deeper south towards the end of the war.

In the end, he did rout out the enemy, and took Atlanta and later Savannah. I thought it was interesting that he held to his convictions about war, which he basically said is "Hell". He did not glorify war at all. He realized that destruction and cruelty were part of the war and that war itself could not be refined.

I think I would characterize General Sherman as a wise man, who used strategy, and stern measures to complete his objectives. 

Who was St. Nick?

Thought I would share an interesting story about St. Nicholas. One of the interesting things is that the story of St. Nicholas has survived so long. St. Nicholas a 4th century Bishop of Myra.  He was reputed to have worked many miracles and is the patron saint of many different groups. I was simply amazed at the number of works he accomplished in his life, and that he had such an impact on the lives others.

This is a short article about St Nick that I found, but also I provide a link to Wikipedia as it is a very detailed account of his life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas

A Charlie Brown Christmas

One of the most memorable parts about growing up was watching Charles Schultz' "A Charlie Brown Christmas". Many of you probably remember this wonderful program and story. Do you remember the music?

There are two very famous pieces in the program, performed by Vince Guaraldi. One of the instrumentals is called "Linus and Lucy", and other one is called "Christmas Time is Here". I never knew anything about the composer, and just recently learned it was Vince Guaraldi.  Linus and Lucy is such a catchy song, just about everyone remembers it.

Anyway, I wanted to share an article about the composer that I recenty read. I think this is another story of persistence, which has kind of the been the theme of this and last article I posted.

We all need to remember to keep on keeping on, even in the face of many obstacles.

Check out the Vince Guaraldi Website here: http://www.vinceguaraldi.com/

Or pick up the music for "A Charlie Brown Christmas from Amazon."


From an article adapted from PETE BARLAS, Posted 12/22/2010

Vince Guaraldi made a habit of beating the odds.He overcame the effects of a broken home, the Great Depression, a wartime sickness, a near-debilitating injury and early career misfires to become one of the world's most acclaimed jazz composers and pianists prior to his death at age 47.

Although Guaraldi (1928-76) appeared on more than 50 albums as solo artist and sideman, he is perhaps best known for providing the music for 16 Peanuts cartoon TV specials that aired from 1965 and 1976.

Guaraldi's instrumental compositions such as "Linus & Lucy" and "Christmas Time Is Here" pumped up "A Charlie Brown Christmas," the first holiday TV special from Peanuts creator Charles Schultz. Those tunes keep the Charlie Brown show alive at Christmas to this day, says Lee Mendelson, Peanuts' executive producer and former Guaraldi collaborator.

Sir Francis Drake - A lesson in persistence

Sir Francis Drake, that name sounds vaguely familiar if you have studied any history of England and its mighty naval fleet of the 1500 and 1600's. Francis Drake was the first Englishman to sail around the world and the key leader in destroying the dreaded Spanish Armada.

Francis Drake never gave up, he is a true lesson in persistence. See, he failed on a voyage, and it cost him dearly. He never forgot that failure, and he used it as his weapon and reason for much of what he did and accomplished.

The Spanish destroyed one of the ships he sailed, but he survived. He was financially held responsible for the loss of several ships, however, he never forgot the loss. He vowed to recover the loss from the Spaniards, and made it his business to go after the wealth they were shipping from South America and other places. Eventually, he conquered enough and accomplished enough to be knighted.

Now, he is not the perfect example of a person engaged in 100% legitimate activities, but you gotta respect the man for persistence and seriously knocking out one of the greatest naval fleets ever (that of the Spanish Armada).

Abraham Lincoln, one of the truly great leaders of all time

Lincoln was one of the best leaders of all time. I have studied his actions, especially how he dealt with the war. He was a chess player no doubt and studied much about the opponent, and knew what he ultimately had to do. He had hired many Generals to do the work, however, it was only General Ulysses S. Grant that got the job done because he undestood that it wasn't about pushing Lee out of the area, it was about decimating him. If he did not, he would not have won the war and the great US of A, may have been two countries. Notice how Lincoln gives all of the Generals a chance, but it was the General from Illinois who truly understood only a complete victory over Lee would win the war.

Leadership

I am always trying to become a better leader, and trying to learn as much as I can. I have been doing some research on this subject and foung the following article on Leaderrship from Karlene Sugarman that sums up leadership quite succinctly.

Hundreds of articles on line for internet marketing

I happened to stumble upon this website the other day. It literally has hundreds of links and articles about Google, Adsense, blogs, business ideas, Adwords, etc.

The ideas are assembled from all places on the web and they are all free. Take a look, you can spend time learning a lot about how the internet and making money online works.

Here is the link:

http://www.myhomeincome.co.uk/

Hexbugs - Another great toy for Christmas

Hexbugs - have you heard your children talk about these yet? Hexbugs are micro sized robotic "bugs' that come in an array of colors and types. It is where nature meets science. The micro-robots are designed and manufactured by Innovation First Labs. The "bugs" are designed to look and behave like a real bug.

The Nano is actually a very cool little robot that uses the physics of vibration to propel itself along and explore its environment. It runs, it skitters in all directions, it flips over and then pops back on its feet. This things are really amazing little toys for around $10.

Chech out the Nano - it has 8 legs and comes in a few different colors. Enjoy.

Site Build It

Okay, I have done some research on how to create websites and montetize them. The best way I can see, and for the one of the lowest investments considering the tools offered is site build itm(SBI, SiteBuildIt, or SiteSell).

They offer a 90 day money back guarantee, plus a methodology for creating an information generating web site. I have decided to give them a try. I will keep you all posted on how it works out.

Check out Site Sell yourself

The basic premise is that it takes BAM;  brains, action, and motivation. Then, add in their unique methodology to create content, market it and monetize it, and you have created a true online business. I am looking forward to creating some value for people, and will let you know of the process and how successful it is. I hope the $299 is worth it. If anything, the investment is worth it, just to learn what they can teach.

Best of luck to you all.

Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg was named person of the year. Mark as many of you know or didn't is the founder of Facebook. It is interesting that he started Facebook as a college project during a course he was taking on artificial intelligence.

I have to say, for me, Mark is right up there with the founders of Google and Groupon. The young man stumbled upon something that became sucessful far beyond his wildest dreams and imagination. I use Facebook and really enjoy the application. I read my friends posts and view their pictures; I liken it to a newspaper that only contains information about people I know.

Anyway, way to go Mark, I hope that Facebook continues to develop and that you lead even more people to connect to it in even more interesting ways.

More information about making money with Google Adsense

FrIs it easy?

The real answer is that to get started with this, you do need to do a lot of research. But, does seem to be truth in the fact that you can make money online with Google.

So far, the basic rules are as follows:

1. Do some research - use a search engine, and search for terms related to making money with websites. There is a wealth of free information.

2. Read any blog or free report you can get your hands on. Here is a link to a free report.

Free e-book on making money with a website

Google makes bid for Groupon

This is an amazing story of entrepreneurship and how new companies can change the landscape. It is no small task to go from a start up to being worth $6 Billion dollars in 2 years. Groupon seemed to come along at the right time - consider the economic climate where everyone is looking to save money.