Google Killed This Blog!! Good-Bye and Happy New Year!! FY Google for becoming the Evil Empire who kills free speech!

FY Google for becoming the Evil Empire who kills free speech!

Google killed my blog. It is hard to imagine that Google has such power, but they ‘accidentally’ killed this blog. On November 23, all traffic from Google (about 98% of my 200-300 daily visitors came from Google search) to this blog stopped.

Even though I had not posted in 2 months, they felt I had some how violated their quality. No clue as to what the real issues was, just “We don’t like your site, fuck you, your dead now.”

I wrote them saying they made a mistake, and a few days later, they wrote back and said “Sorry, we made a mistake.”

It has been a month and change, and I am lucky to get 10 visitors to the site in a day. They have not restored my traffic, the site is not visible on the Google index, and I have no clue as to why.

Below are the messages of this issue:

Google Webmaster Tools: Quality Issues on https://pusz4frog.wordpress.com/
Nov 23, 2012

Dear site owner or webmaster of https://pusz4frog.wordpress.com/,
We’ve detected that some of your site’s pages may be using techniques that are outside Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. If you have any questions about how to resolve this issue, please see our Webmaster Help Forum for support.
Sincerely,
Google Search Quality Team

Reconsideration request for https://pusz4frog.wordpress.com/
Nov 27, 2012

We’ve received a request from a site owner to reconsider how we index the following site: https://pusz4frog.wordpress.com/
We’ll review the site. If we find that it’s no longer in violation of our Webmaster Guidelines, we’ll reconsider our indexing of the site. Please allow several weeks for the reconsideration request. We do review all requests, but unfortunately we can’t reply individually to each request.

Reconsideration request for https://pusz4frog.wordpress.com/: Manual spam action revoked
Nov 29, 2012

Dear site owner or webmaster of https://pusz4frog.wordpress.com/,
We received a request from a site owner to reconsider https://pusz4frog.wordpress.com/ for compliance with Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.
Previously the webspam team had taken manual action on your site because we believed it violated our quality guidelines. After reviewing your reconsideration request, we have revoked this manual action. It may take some time before our indexing and ranking systems are updated to reflect the new status of your site.

Of course, there may be other issues with your site that could affect its ranking without a manual action by the webspam team. Google’s computers determine the order of our search results using a series of formulas known as algorithms. We make hundreds of changes to our search algorithms each year, and we employ more than 200 different signals when ranking pages. As our algorithms change and as the web (including your site) changes, some fluctuation in ranking can happen as we make updates to present the best results to our users. If your site continues to have trouble in our search results, please see this article for help with diagnosing the issue.

Thank you for helping us to maintain the quality of our search results.

Sincerely,
Google Search Quality Team

FY Google!!

I will keep this site up, since there is some traffic from Yahoo and Bing, and it is a free WordPress.com site, but I am not going to post to it anymore.

FY Google for ‘accidentally’ killing this blog.

FY Google for becoming the Evil Empire who kills free speech!

In Wake of Sandy Hook Elementary School Shootings, the National Rifle Association’s Response is to Say that All Schools Need Armed Guards!

In Wake of Sandy Hook Elementary School Shootings, the National Rifle Association’s Response is to Say that All Schools Need Armed Guards!

It is insulting enough to have to sit through the daily humiliation of the whole Fiscal Clift debacle, but now in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shootings – we have to have our basic intelligence and humanity insulted by the National Rifle Association.

One week after the senseless gun murders of 26 people, the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) executive vice president stated, “The most effective way to protect our children from horrors like last week’s school shooting in Connecticut is to provide armed security personnel at all schools”.

Really, is that all they could come up with, more guns in schools?

Is it simple, when you get a gun, bring a gun, buy a gun, the probability that the gun will kill somebody goes way up. If the there is no gun, then the probability is closer to zero.

The solution is not more guns, it’s less guns.

In the United States, there are 3.2 gun homicides per 100,000 residents every year. Switzerland has the next highest rate of any advanced Western democracy, at 0.7 per 100,000.

HOW MANY GUNS IN AMERICA?

In a 2011 Galup poll, 47% of ofhouseholds said they have at least 1 gun at home.

According to CNN:

40% of guns are sold through unlicensed, private sellers.

There are 5,400 Licensed firearms manufacturers in the United States in 2011.

310 million — Total number of nonmilitary firearms in the United States as of 2009.

1 gun for every man, woman and child in America.

MONEY BAGS

The NRA has approximately 4.3 million members, and they claim they are the standard-bearer for protecting the Second Amendment of the US Consistution.

They are a wealthy organization, who promotes thier policies and protect the consummer weapons industry by bribing government officials with standard lobbying practices and generious campaign donations. During the 2012 election cycle, the NRA donated $719,596 to various candidates around the country. Of course, Republicans received most ofthat money ($634,146) according to the Center for Responsive Politics’ analysis of federal campaign data. There are Democracte who get bribed as well, $85,450 went to various Democrats, most of them in states that are considered more conservative when it comes to gun control laws.

SOLUTIONS

1) Write your congressman (www.dearpolitician.org is an easy way to do this) and tell them you want an Assault Rifle ban that include limits on clip sizes and the amount of ammunition one person can buy at a time.

For more information on http://www.dearpolitician.org:

dearpolitician.org

2) Support local Gun Buy Back programs. There are usually city based programs in which money is paid to people turning in their guns. These programs have been show to have great effect in getting guns off the streets.

In closing, I would like to say, good luck America, and remember to duck when you hear gun shots.

In Wake of Sandy Hook Elementary School Shootings, the National Rifle Association’s Response is to Say that All Schools Need Armed Guards! – Thanks NRA

The Newest 802.11ac Routers Don’t Have Wi-Fi Certification, and Why You Should Wait Till Q2 of 2013 to Buy a 11ac Router

Wait to buy a 802.11ac wireless router till the Wi-Fi Certified routers from the Wi-Fi Alliance will be available in Q2 of 2013 – searching…

I have been thinking about routers lately. I know, it is not the most sexy thing to think about, but I recently moved and I don’t have a wired connection in my upstairs room. This means I need a Wi-Fi router in order to get Internet in my room. As usual, I like to make simple things complicated, which means I went on the Internet to do some down and dirty research.

Over the past year or so, I have been trying to get more technical, learning about computers and how they work and how to use all the technology I find myself dealing with – whew, it is a full time job!

For Wi-Fi routers, I started looking for a simple solution, and came to realize that a router is not just an internet connection for your computer, but it is now becoming a portal to connect everything (your computer, your phone, TV, DVR and other home electronics) that needs internet access.

How a router deals with all these things, and with the fact that all these things are trying to access the internet at the same time, is what defines a good router.

Wait to buy a 802.11ac wireless router till the Wi-Fi Certified routers from the Wi-Fi Alliance will be available in Q2 of 2013 – cutting the cord

GO SPEED RACER, GO

When it comes to routers, speed is not just on my mind, but everyone else’s as well. A wireless router is in essence a radio transmitter and receiver, and like all transmitting and receiving devices – they have a limit to how much information they can send/receive at any given time.

In the USA, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) determines which parts of the radio frequency spectrum are used for the different types of technologies. How various electronic technologies use these frequency bands is controlled and defined in various standards by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

These IEEE standards are important, because they make it so that every ones wireless products can communicate with any other product based on the same standard. For wireless networks, these standards are known as the 802.11 standards.

In 1999, the 802.11b standard which uses the 2.4GHz frequency, was used in the first mass market wireless routers. The 11b routers had data transfer rates of about 11 Mbits per second (Mbit/s). As Wi-Fi began to take off, people needed some way to know that different brands worked together. The Wi-Fi Alliance was created to “certify” products from different vendors, so consumers wouldn’t be stuck buying one brand of wireless equipment for everything.

A couple years later in 2003 the IEEE issued the 802.11g standard, which use the 2.4GHz frequency, but offered data transfer rates that were five times faster than 11b. The 11g routers have a data transfer rates of about 54 Mbit/s.

11g was good for the first few years, but with the rapid growth of wireless devices and the demand of better wireless internet connectivity; the industry was clamoring for more speed and better coverage. So in 2007 the first 11n routers became available, even though the IEEE 802.11n standard actually wasn’t approved till 2009. The 11n standard uses multiple antennas and operates on both the 2.4 and 5GHz radio bands. Depending on the number of antennas they use, 11n routers can have a data transfer rates ranging from 150 Mbit/s to 600 Mbit/s.

This year (2012), the IEEE is in the process of developing and finalizing the 802.11ac standard, which makes 1 gigabit data transfer rates possible (again, depending on the number of antennas, width of the channels, and other factors). Depending on the number of antennas they use, 11n routers can have a data transfer rates ranging from 500 Mbit/s to 1 Gbit/s.

Basically, 802.11ac routers should be about 4 to 8 times faster than 802.11n routers.

HOW FAST?

8 times faster!! Wow!!

Well, not exactly. You see here is where reality and theory meet, sit down and have a coffee.

You see, to get the maximum transfer rates, your 11ac router must talk to another 11ac device. It can still work with the other components in your current system (most of which use the slower 802.11n standard), but you certainly won’t get gigabit speeds.

Say, you install an 802.11ac router in your house. Well your 1 year old laptop will only be able to send and receive data at the 11n rate of about 150 Mbit/s – NOT the 1 Gigabit per second of 11ac.

Of course, if you buy a 802.11ac router now; later when you get a new laptop or phone, they will probably have 802.11ac chips in them and they will get very fast data transfer with your router. On the other hand, who knows how much 11ac routers will improve – and how much cheaper they’ll be – between now and then.

Wait to buy a 802.11ac wireless router till the Wi-Fi Certified routers from the Wi-Fi Alliance will be available in Q2 of 2013 – Wi-Fi Certified Logo

IS IT WI-FI CERTIFIED?

This brings us to the second issue with 802.11ac. It won’t be Wi-Fi Certified till Q2 of 2013.

What?

“Wi-Fi CERTIFIED is a program for testing products to the 802.11 industry standards for interoperability, security, easy installation, and reliability.  The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED logo is an assurance that the Wi-Fi Alliance has tested a product in numerous configurations and with a diverse sampling of other devices to ensure compatibility with other Wi-Fi CERTIFIED equipment that operates in the same frequency band.”

http://www.wi-fi.org/wi-fi-certified%E2%84%A2-products

The Wi-Fi Alliance does this by allowing companies to put the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED logo on the products that have been tested and certified as meeting the various IEEE 802.11 standards.

If you buy a wireless product, it should have a Wi-Fi Certified logo – and if it doesn’t, then you know it was tested and verified that it will work and perform correctly.

This is the problem with the current 802.11ac product that have recent come out – they are not Wi-Fi CERTIFIED, because the testing will not even begin till early next year (2013).

WAITING TO RACE

The process for defining and approving a wireless standard is one that has many steps and seems to take a long time. As a result, the global electronics tends to release wireless products based on ‘drafts’ of the standards, which is a little risky since the final standard may be different then the ‘draft’.

Basically, the IEEE develops the technical specification, and puts this out to its members for comments. In the case of 802.11ac, the 802.11ac draft was released in 2012.

The theory goes that the draft is reviewed, feedback is given to the IEEE, and then they vote to make revision and changes based on many technical considerations. This process can be painfully slow (it took 3 years for the 802.11n standard). But after a few rounds of revisions, the draft specification is considered fairly stable, and manufacturers feel confident that there won’t be any more significant changes – so they begin building products and race to be first with the new draft standard.

The second part to all this, is that the Wi-Fi Alliance needs time to develop the testing procedures, so that they can test the products to make sure they will be fully functional can compatible with the other product for that standard. For 802.11ac, the test procedure and testing is expected to start in the beginning of 2013.

Wait to buy a 802.11ac wireless router till the Wi-Fi Certified routers from the Wi-Fi Alliance will be available in Q2 of 2013 – Wi-Fi Certified connections

RADIO GAGA

The certification issues here were really brought out in 2006 with the launch of 802.11n. Almost all the world’s largest manufacturers quickly launched product from the 802.11n draft, and even before Wi-Fi Certification had started. As a result, many of these products did not perform well and had lots of compatibility issues.

This resulted in manufactures having to do a lot of returns, firmware updates and PR damage control. It resulted in consumer feeling ripped off, and losing trust in the wireless brands who products they bought.

For 802.11ac, several manufacturers have launched their 11ac routers in the last couple of months. But what is positive, is that some are waiting for the Wi-Fi Certification to start before launching their 11ac products.

Qualcomm is a chip manufacturer who provides the wireless chips to the router companies, and they have stated that they are using a more mature product strategy for 802.11ac:

“For the 11ac launch, Qualcomm Atheros is taking a more mature approach. Certainly we played our part in the industry hubbub that surrounded the launch of 11n, but it seems the vibe is different this time around. With the development of 11ac (in which we’re playing a large role), there is a spirit of collaboration that didn’t exist with the launch of 11n. The process is more open and transparent, which allows many voices to be heard, making 11ac a much better, cleaner and implementable standard than 11n.”

http://qca.qualcomm.com/thewire/qualcomm-atheros-bringing-forth-a-new-paradigm-for-11ac/

At least some people have learned from their mistakes, and I have no idea why a few companies are willing to repeat the mistakes of 11n, by launching 11ac product now.

Most of all buyers beware!! For 802.11ac, it is better to wait to buy an 802.11ac router, laptop, tablet or phone – till the beginning of next year when Wi-Fi Certification starts. The Wi-Fi Certification logo is your friend, and the best way to assure you that your hard earned money is not wasted on inferior products.

Wait to buy a 802.11ac wireless router till the Wi-Fi Certified routers from the Wi-Fi Alliance will be available in Q2 of 2013 – global connections

WHAT TO DO NOW?

So, for my own situation, after looking at the whole 802.11ac thing, I have decided to wait till next year for 11ac.

To solve my current problems, I started looking at mainstream consumer 802.11n routers. These range in price from $20 (no, not kidding) to $300 – and there is significant difference in features, range and performance between the low-end and high-end 11n routers.

After looking at several of the more popular 11n routers, I narrowed it down to two routers:

Western Digital My Net N900 HD Dual-Band Wireless-N Router – about $150

http://www.buy.com/prod/western-digital-my-net-n900-hd-dual-band-wireless-n-router/232277136.html

TP-LINK N750 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router – about $100

http://www.buy.com/prod/tp-link-tl-wdr4300-n750-wireless-dual-band-gigabit-router/232934237.html

Why these 2?

Well, I wanted to look at two price points at around $100 and $150 – to see what I get for the difference, and when looking at all the routers at these 2 price points. I felt these two wireless routers had the best features for me, good reviews and great value for the price point.

Western Digital My Net N900 wireless router – 802.11n

WD My Net N900

Western Digital is new to wireless routers, but it makes sense for them to get into the router game, since wireless data storage is becoming a critical part of many home networks. The new Western Digital My Net N900 routers offer some of the latest wireless technology and features, with two of the three models sporting 1 Terabyte or 2 Terabytes of storage. These storage oriented routers are perfect for downloading movies, and accessing them from any wireless device in range of the router.

For me, the WD My Net N900 routers had several features that I felt made them stick out from the crowd:

1)     Dual Band – transmits on both the 2.4 and 5 Ghz frequency’s – this means that it can ‘talk’ to most wireless devices

2)     450 + 450 Mbps – This means the router can transmit at data rates of 450 Mbps on both bands, doubles the bandwidth

3)     FasTrack technology – monitors your incoming traffic and instantly detects the services that need more bandwidth and prioritizes them automatically – it is this kind of smarts that I like:

http://wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=710

Video: http://wdc.com/global/products/video/?language=en&typeid=1&id=1632623342001&plid=

4)     2 USB ports – makes it easy to add external storage, shared printers and scanners

T-Link N750 wireless router – 802.11n

TP-LINK N750

You might not be familiar with T-Link, but this $1 billion networking company is looking at expanding their consumer line of routers in the US market (http://www.tp-link.us/ ), and the N750 offers a lot of features for it’s price.

The N750 features:

1)     Dual Band – transmits on both the 2.4 and 5 Ghz frequency’s – this means that it can ‘talk’ to most wireless devices

2)     450 + 300 Mbps – This means the router can transmit at data rates of 450 Mbps on the 5 Ghz, and 300 Mbps on the 2.4 Ghz band

3)     External detachable antennas allow for better alignment and stronger antenna upgrades

4)     2 USB ports – for easy file sharing

SUMMARY

In the end, I decided the extra bandwidth, the FasTrack technology and cleaner looking design was worth the extra $50 and chose the Western Digital My Net N900 HD Dual-Band Wireless-N Router.

I was just about to buy it, when a friend offered to give me his old 802.11g router. I really wanted the WD N900, but what I really want is a Wi-Fi Certified 802.11ac router next year. The free 11g router isn’t fast, but it works and it’s… well, free.

So, I will wait till next year and buy an 802.11ac router when the Wi-Fi Certified ones hit the market, and then I will be a 1 Gbps speed freak!!

$22 Million for Cookies? FTC Regulators Will Require Google to Pay a Civil Penalty of $22.5 Million to Settle Charges of Safari’s Cookies Privacy Violations

FTC regulators will require Google to pay a civil penalty of $22.5 million to settle charges of Safari’s cookies privacy violations – Big Brother

I found this on Reuters today:

“ U.S. regulators will require Google Inc to pay a civil penalty of $22.5 million to settle charges that it bypassed the privacy settings of customers using Apple Inc’s Safari browser, two people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Members of the Federal Trade Commission voted to approve a consent decree that will allow Google to settle the agency’s investigation but admit no liability, said one of the sources, who was not authorized to speak on the record.”

It is expected, that in a few days some kind of official announcement will be released – after their lawyers, advisers, negotiators and marketing people review and approve it for distribution.

FTC regulators will require Google to pay a civil penalty of $22.5 million to settle charges of Safari’s cookies privacy violations – A sign.

HEAVY WEIGHT

$22 Million is a big fine. It certainly grabbed my eye, and so thought I would put it up here.

The whole things was started by allegations that Google set the sites “cookies” to trick Apple’s Safari browser so Google could monitor users who had blocked such tracking. The Safari browser can be set by the user to block sites ability to track the users browsing habits and patterns.

Ah Google, the new new evil technology company (Microsoft is the old new evil technology company and IBM is the original evil technology company).

Yes Google has been, lurking in the shadows, waiting to violate it’s customers… Well, Google said that the tracking was inadvertent – just a tiny mistake – and that it collected no personal information like names, addresses or credit card data. Just trivial info like how the users browse their site, and what they are looking for on it.

FTC regulators will require Google to pay a civil penalty of $22.5 million to settle charges of Safari’s cookies privacy violations – Evil Meter

TIME FOR A PROBE

The problem is that this tracking was done despite public announcements that Safari could be set to protect users’ privacy and it was this aspect that prompted an FTC probe into whether Google violated a consent decree it signed last year. That decree said that Google would not misrepresent its privacy policies, which this cookie code actually does. Opps.

To make matters worse, Google also faces potential sanctions from other governments around the planet, and it is being investigated by the European Union to determine if the company complies with Europe’s stricter privacy laws.

In addition to those probes, the worlds most used search engine provider (Google) is also the subject of a big antitrust investigation by the FTC and European regulators over accusations that it manipulated it’s own search results to favor its own products. No, that’s not evil.

OK, for a company that has tens of $billions in the bank, $22 million is not that much. The question is weather Google will lose some of it’s customers trust, and that could hurt the bottom line later in the future.

Ah, the future… I wonder who will be the new new new evil technology company…

FTC regulators will require Google to pay a civil penalty of $22.5 million to settle charges of Safari’s cookies privacy violations – Google 2084

FTC regulators will require Google to pay a civil penalty of $22.5 million to settle charges of Safari’s cookies privacy violations – Google B’s

FTC regulators will require Google to pay a civil penalty of $22.5 million to settle charges of Safari’s cookies privacy violations – Doctor Evils

 

 

Supreme Court Upholds the Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare – John Roberts sides with Liberal Justices and Hand President Obama A Stunning Victory

Supreme Court Upholds the Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare – John Roberts sides with Liberal Justices and Hand President Obama A Stunning Victory

Chief Justice John Roberts revealed in the final Supreme Court ruling, that he had joined the liberal wing in a 5-4 ruling that the federal government indeed has the power to impose a penalty on those who fail to buy insurance, and that as a whole the law is constitutional.

It was a truly stunning moment for many, especially President Obama; since everyone in Washington and the country had expected the Supreme Court Of The United States (SCOTUS) to issue a narrow 5-4 decision along party lines striking down all or part of the Affordable Care Act as unconstitutional.

The man of the hour for this, was actually Chief Justice John Roberts, who determined that the individual mandate was valid since the government could impose it as a tax, not under the Interstate Commerce Clause, as the administration had argued.

Roberts joined the high court’s liberal wing – Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan – in upholding the law. Four conservative justices – Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas – dissented.

Full SCOUS release:

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2.pdf

 

Supreme Court Upholds the Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare – John Roberts sides with Liberal Justices and Hand President Obama A Stunning Victory

WHO REALLY WON

As to whether the Affordable Care Act will really benefit you, or the country will be left to history to decide.

As you can tell from my article on Healthcare:

https://pusz4frog.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/us-healthcare-costs-in-the-are-rising-disproportionately-compared-to-quality-of-care-what-are-the-options-to-solve-the-problem-for-profit-or-single-payer/

As a solution for America’s healthcare issues, the Affordable Care Act doesn’t really fix the problem, but at least it is a step forward.

This decision by the Supreme Court gives both sides something to work with in this election – spin.

Obama

This is a victory for the President, anyway you look at it. His signature act, has been validated as constitutional, and although the Republicans and their SuperPAC’s have spent hundreds of millions of dollar telling everyone that this act is evil and unconstitutional, SCOTUS cleared it of doubt and will allow it’s implementation in 2014. The evil Kenyan President has been declared constitutional…

Romney

He can now claim that President Obama has raised your taxes, and that on the first day as President he will repeal the Affordable Care Act. OK, he can’t actually do that, since he will need 60% of the Senate to vote to repeal the act, and this election will not allow that to happen. His current new theme this day is ‘Repeal and Replace’ and that Obamacare is a tax increase. Since he doesn’t release any details about how he is going to do anything, Romney will probably not define his ‘replace’ details so nobody will be able to compare and/or criticize it.

Supreme Court Upholds the Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare – John Roberts sides with Liberal Justices and Hand President Obama A Stunning Victory

HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF

Although the SCOTUS decision on the Affordable Care Act was a surprise with Roberts moving to the liberal side, some of the dissenting judges have a valid point – this decision effectively allows Congress to tell people they must do something, or get taxed.

I don’t see this being a big issue, since Congress is now so divided and useless that they will really never pass many acts that have something like the Individual mandate. This is not the death of freedom in America, but it is something that we all should be aware of and watch Congress carefully on this issue.

President Obama has done something unique, he got a compressive healthcare act passed by Congress, and found Constitutional by the Supreme Court.

He was helped by Chief Justice John Roberts who came up with the ‘it’s a tax’ argument that made the individual mandate constitutional, but I think Roberts sided with the Liberal because he was conscious that his 5-4 Bush election, and the 5-4 Citizens United rulings where votes that will historically be seen as partisan court rulings.

I think Roberts has become aware, that if he wants to have history judge him well, he can’t vote on party lines, but instead he has to focus on the Constitution.

I also think he was smart about it, and gave Romney the Obama is raising your taxes with Obamacare, but I think the American people will see through that one easily.

Supreme Court Upholds the Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare – John Roberts sides with Liberal Justices and Hand President Obama A Stunning Victory

How Technology is Making High Unemployment a Fact For the New Work Force of Our Future – What You and Our Government Can Do About It

Obama Romney 2012 – How Technology is Making High Unemployment a Fact For the New Work Force of Our Future – What You and Our Government Can Do About It

The 2012 American election is going to be about one thing – The Economy. Why the economy? Because unemployment is high which mean a lot of people do not have jobs, and this makes everyone nervous with the fear that they will never get a job; or for the employed, that they will become unemployed soon.

So really, the election is about Jobs, and which Candidate/Party can change the situation in a positive way that will give people hope that the can get a job, or keep their job.

The sides are clearly divided; one side is less government, low taxes, the rich will help the poor –  the other side is more government, higher taxes, and wealth redistribution will help the poor.

The fact is that elections are won by the person who has the most money. For this election, this will be the Republicans.

That is cynical you say:

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/11/money-wins-white-house-and.html

In the 2008-2010 elections, 93 percent of House of Representatives races and 94 percent of Senate races; the candidate who spent the most money ended up winning, according to a post-election analysis by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. The findings are based on candidates’ spending as reported to the Federal Election Commission.

The Buck Will Not Stop Here

OK, so Romney wins, how will that really affect the economy and jobs? That is a good question, because Romney has yet to actually spell out the details of his economic plan, except to say that it is based on ‘Republican economics principles’.

The U.S. economy has expanded at a healthy clip for most of the last 70 years, but by a wide range of measures, it stagnated in the first decade of the new millennium.

Job growth was essentially zero, and modest job creation from 2003 to 2007 wasn’t enough to make up for two recessions in the decade. Rises in the nation’s economic output, as measured by gross domestic product, was weak. And household net worth, when adjusted for inflation, fell as stock prices stagnated, home prices declined in the second half of the decade and consumer debt skyrocketed.

The below chart shows a definite flattening of job growth curve during the Republican term of George Bush:

Job Growth Chart by President, Since 1950 – How Technology is Making High Unemployment a Fact For the New Work Force of Our Future

The numbers below are the overall jobs growth data for each presidential term from Carter till Obama and based are Bureau of Labor Statistics.

President                Party    Term              Ave. Job Growth for Term
Jimmy Carter           D         1977–1981      +2.30%
Ronald Reagan        R         1981–1985      +1.75%
Ronald Reagan        R         1985–1989      +2.53%
George Bush            R         1989–1993      +0.69%
Bill Clinton                 D         1993–1997      +2.60%
Bill Clinton                 D         1997–2001      +1.60%
George W. Bush       R         2001–2005      +0.51%
George W. Bush       R         2005–2009       -0.84%
Barack Obama         D         2009–2013      +0.75%

The Republican polices of George W. Bush clearly show the lowest and worst job growth numbers since his father. The decade of the 2000’s (The W Bush Decade) shows stunningly low job growth rates, even though the Republican policies of low taxes (Bush Tax Cuts), less government regulation, strong military spending were in full effect:

Job Growth Chart by Decade, Since 1940 – How Technology is Making High Unemployment a Fact For the New Work Force of Our Future

The main gist of Romney’s campaign right now is that there have been no jobs created during the Obama administration, except for the public sector (government). The data actually shows significant private sector job growth, and declining public sector job growth:

Private and Public Sector Job Growth Chart – How Technology is Making High Unemployment a Fact For the New Work Force of Our Future

Damn Commies

The Republicans are positioning themselves against the Democrats by stating that Obamas policies are ‘Socialist’ and are destroying job growth in the USA.

The Facts say something else:

654,000: The net gain in jobs since the national job number hit a 10-year low of 129.6 million in December 2009, seasonally adjusted.

54.2 million: The number of jobs created during the nearly 30 years in which Democrats have held the presidency, beginning with President Truman in April 1945. (Comparable BLS data is not available for full presidencies before then.)

34.6 million: The number of jobs created during the 36 years in which Republicans have controlled the White House during the same time period.

4.3 million: The jobs created since President Barack Obama took office in January 2009. More than the 8 years that George W. Bush was in office.

1.1 million: The number of jobs gained under President George W. Bush, the smallest job growth for any president completing at least one term. The seasonally adjusted jobs number fell in each of Bush’s last 12 months in office as 4.4 million jobs were lost.

22.7 million: The number of jobs gained under President Clinton, the biggest job growth of any president.

This chart shows how job growth experienced it worst decline ever as the Bush/Republican policies achieved full effect:

Private Sector Job Growth Chart for Bush and Obama – How Technology is Making High Unemployment a Fact For the New Work Force of Our Future

The Obama/Democrats policies clearly had a positive effect on job growth, even though we still have traditionally high unemployment:

Unemployment since 1950 – How Technology is Making High Unemployment a Fact For the New Work Force of Our Future

Job Creation in the 2000’s flattened out, one of the lowest in history, and now unemployment number are coming down at the slowest pace ever recorded after a recession.

The question: Is the flat job growth, and slowly declining unemployment number related to the economic policies of our government who has been purchased by the 1% percent and the corporations, or is it something else?

Flat Top

There are many factors related to the question of why job growth has flattened in the last decade, and why employment is taking too long to recover from the recession.

I think one of the most over looked and least discussed factor is the effect that technology has had in our society and economy.

How Technology is Making High Unemployment a Fact For the New Work Force of Our Future

The current conventional thought on technology is that even though technological change may adversely effect the demand for labor in some industries, the overall effect of technological change on total employment may be positive.

Technological change tends to increase the rate of economic growth. Higher rates of economic growth are generally associated with lower unemployment rates.

“Okun’s law,” states that this relationship between changes in the rate of economic growth and the change in the unemployment rate. It says that a 1% increase in the rate of economic growth lowers the unemployment rate by 0.3%. While there is some doubt about the exact magnitude of this effect, there is substantial evidence that unemployment rates tend to fall when the rate of economic growth is higher.
Basically, the jobs created by the economic growth provided by new technology, will off-set the job loses created by the new efficiency and productivity that a new technology will provide.

The question of whether the widespread use of computers in the workplace has enhanced productivity, is an important debate. Preliminary studies suggested that the introduction of computers had no significant effect on productivity. More recent studies have generated mixed results.

It is fairly clear, though, that the widespread introduction of computers has, to date, had a less dramatic effect on productivity and economic growth than resulted from the widespread introduction of such earlier innovations as the steam engine, electricity, and the internal combustion engine.

I think that this train of thought about technology is missing and important point.

How has the technology changed society and the way business functions?

Remote Control

Recently I have discovered through my own work experience in the last year, the real effect of technology on jobs – and why they are not coming back.

20 years ago, in order to run a small service business, you needed 10 employees and a building for them to work out of and meet.

10 years ago, you would need 5 employees, and a building to work out of and meet.

Now, you could run the same business with 2 people, and work out of their homes.

Actually, this is exactly what a growing number of people are doing. They work from home. They find work as a small business, with a website as their business face, and they cruse other websites and Craigslist in search of work.

Many small businesses run with a minimum of people, often spread over the country, working out of their homes.

This way of running a small business is due to the technological advances such as VOIP telephone, video conferencing, internet, payroll and accounting service now provided by you bank and a whole host of other innovations.

For years it has been said that small business power job growth. Well, then if that it true, no wonder job creation has flattened out and slowed in the last decade.

Small businesses are not hiring the numbers of people as they did in the past, and they are not renting small offices like they used to, which is why industrial real estate is so bad.

This does not mean small businesses are not hiring people, but as more and more small businesses become more virtual, then the less people they will need to hire.

There is only so much business to go around, small business can now run very lean, which means there are more of them, but they need significantly less staff with the technology now at hand.

So What to Do About It?

Here are some things that America and it’s people can do about jobs in the new and efficient 2010’s:

1) Create manufacturing jobs for workers who need they type of job, by sticking tariffs on imported goods from countries that have tariffs on our products (like China)

2) Train yourself in the basic computers skills and technologies: Office suite, teleconferencing, basic networking, VOIP, accounting software, website technologies like WordPress and mobile technologies and apps.

3) America needs to find a way to make higher education affordable again. Students are having to take on a mortgage in order to get a basic university education, and there is no really good reason for this high cost.

4) Vote this election.

Good Luck America!!!

Here is the chart the Republicans and Romney don’t want anyone to see or think about:

Causes Of Deficits – How Technology is Making High Unemployment a Fact For the New Work Force of Our Future

Tigertext – the future of HIPAA compliant text messaging for hospitals and doctors, and the solution to doctors BYOD requirements

Tigertext - the future of HIPAA compliant text messaging for hospitals and doctors, and the solution to doctors BYOD requirements

As you know from my last post, I am doing some writing work in the healthcare industry:

https://pusz4frog.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/us-healthcare-costs-in-the-are-rising-disproportionately-compared-to-quality-of-care-what-are-the-options-to-solve-the-problem-for-profit-or-single-payer/

As part of this work, I have been spending an inordinate amount of time in hospitals and doctor offices.

Part of this process is that I have learned about HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) laws:

http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/summary/index.html

HIP HIP HIPAA

The main purpose of HIPAA, is to “address the use and disclosure of individuals’ health information – called ‘protected health information’ by organizations subject to the Privacy Rule – called ‘covered entities,’ as well as standards for individuals’ privacy rights to understand and control how their health information is used.”

Let me give you an example. One of the thing I noticed while in hospitals and doctors offices, is that the doctors would send a text message with some patient info such as a condition and patient name to another doctor for a quick consult, or to a hospital admissions administrator.

The reason why doctors do this is because it allows them to handle more patients and the patients get better service since communication is faster.

The problem is that in order to be HIPAA compliant, the ‘protected health information’ (PHI) can only be transmitted in such a way that it can not be accessed by someone who is not authorized by the patient to view such information.

Text messages are sent on an open network, multiple copies of the messages are stored on various servers, and they are also stored on the sending and receiving phone/tablets.

This means that it is possible for an unauthorized person to get this information by hacking a server, or getting it from a stolen or lost phone. The method of transmission is on an open network, multiple copies of the message are made and the portable device is easily lost or stolen – all this means the doctors and hospitals are wide open for lawsuits from patients whose information is publicly released.

http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/text-message-use-among-providers-raise-hipaa-concerns.html

ANGELINA’S BABY

Hospitals and doctors are already exposed to a lot of lawsuits, and text messaging just open them up to a whole lot more.

Imagine Angelina Jolie’s gynecologist sent text messages about Angelina’s future baby for a consult, and later loses that phone which is found by a kid who knows how to hack it and realizes what it is and sells the images and info to TMZ who publishes it. Do you think the doctor, or the hospital she works for has enough money to survive the resulting lawsuit?

Now this is an extreme situation, but HIPAA lawsuits have been flying around since 1996 when HIPAA was passed, and it is a real cost for doctors and hospitals.

http://www.hipaatext.com/phi-security-demands-leave-life-coach-feeling-doomed/

BYOD - the future of business, and a HIPAA issue for hospitals

BYOD

The real issue is very big, and includes more than just the healthcare industry. The main issue here is BYOD – Bring Your Own Device – which means that you/employee uses your/their own personal device such as a phone or tablet to send and receive business/work information.

From talking to IT managers, I have discovered that they think of BYOD like they think of Godzilla, earthquakes, volcanoes and asteroids from space on a collision course with Earth – all happening at the same time.

http://byod.us/security-concerns-with-byod-trend/

BYOD offers organizations both benefits and risks, but the fact is that almost all organization will need to deal with BYOD, and put in place some kind of BYOD policy.

For hospitals and doctors the benefits are that doctors can communicate quickly with other doctors, hospital admissions, administration and patients, which allows them to handle more patients with a higher level of care.  The most use form of communication is text messages, followed by emails and phone calls.

http://excapite.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/twitter-vs-sms-vs-facebook-vs-email-in-2010/

The risks are more simple – a breach of HIPAA compliance from a BYOD communication will probably result in a very expensive lawsuit and/or fines and penalties from the government.

TWO PATHS

After digging in to the BYOD situation and talking to several IT department managers, it looks like there are two main approaches to BYOD:

1) Large complex and complete enterprise systems:

The IT department develops a BYOD policy of company issues devices only, or one of taking total control of personal devices and allowing no use of uncontrolled devices.

Then the IT department spends a lot of time and money to find, purchase and implement one of the large BYOD systems like Centrify and Enterproid.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Centrify-Enterproid-Tackle-Android-iOS-Mobile-Management-611092/

The advantages to this, is that it puts total control of the devices and communications in the handles of the IT department. They also allow the total control and security for all forms of communications.

The disadvantages are that these systems a very costly, very hard to implement and take a long time and a lot of resources in order to train and educate everyone in the use of the systems and there is a lot of resistance from employees about the company having such control and access to their communications.

2) Piece by piece system – app based:

In this scenario, the IT department makes a flexible and developing BYOD policy, in which the users are giving devices, or use there own devices with the products/systems/apps put into the BYOD policy for security.

An example of this is that a hospital BYOD policy uses a secure text messaging app like Tigertext and it is install on all the mobile devices of doctors, nurses and admin of a hospital.

The advantages to this approach is that they are much lower in price, easy to implement, require very little training, works on company controlled devices and employee personal devices, not invasive and allows for privacy, meets HIPAA compliance and lowers risk of lawsuits, and can be used to address one area, then later address a different issue based on priority.

Disadvantages to this type of system are that they are not a complete system, but require several components to address all the areas of security and HIPAA compliance, cost of different component vary and your require multiple vendor set-ups and accounting.

HOW TO KEEP THE LAWYERS AT BAY WITH TIGERTEXT

Many hospitals don’t have the funds, time, resources or IT staff to handle implementing one of the large enterprise BYOD systems to deal with doctors using their phones to text patient information.

The hospitals like the new efficiency BYOD brings them, but they are rightfully very nervous about the security and HIPAA related law suits it opens them up to.

Since Text messaging is the most used form of communication among doctors now, hospitals can significantly lower their exposure to legal actions and fines related to PHI breeches and HIPAA violations by securing the text messaging of it’s doctors and other personnel.

I looked around for various apps to address the major areas of HIPAA related forms of communications – Text, email, messenger apps, etc.

The only area that I found something that was HIPAA compliant, was for text messaging and that is the Tigertext app.

www.tigertext.com

Tigertext is an app that is installed on iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and Android devices and allows for HIPAA compliant text messaging and attachments.

Tigertext is a HIPAA compliant closed network app, that costs a hospital or doctor about $10 a month per seat. The closed network can utilize Tigertext servers, or the hospitals own servers, and can also securely archive all messages.

In addition to the control that a closed network provides, the main function of Tigertext is that it automatically deletes text messages after a user controlled period of time – which significantly reduces the likelihood that any confidential patient information (PHI) will be released or compromised.

For even more security, security network administrators can force pin lock protection as well as remotely wipe data from the app in case a device is lost or stolen.

Other important features are group messaging, an integrated company directory, and delivery and read notifications.

Tigertext screen image showing an expired text message and the time left for the other messages before deletion

Since Tigertext is a simple phone or tablet app, the learning and implementation curve is measured in minutes, which makes it very quick and easy for a hospital to roll out to all it’s doctors.

I think that Tigertext offers a big advantage in the healthcare situation, and that is that doctors are very particular professionals, who don’t like the idea of someone controlling or monitoring their communications, so with many of the large enterprise BYOD systems the doctors will resist it or in doctor owned hospitals simply reject such a system.

Tigertext doesn’t have this issue, since all they see is another app on their device, that provides them HIPAA compliance for their text messages – and easy solution for them.

NOT GOING AWAY

BYOD is not going to go away, actually it is going to become a bigger part of business, life and healthcare in the next few years.

It offers the benefits of easy and efficient communication, and the risks of lost, stolen and exposed data.

In the end, the BYOD solutions may encompass many different solutions all working to together to keep all data secure.

END

Tigertext allows doctors to text confidential patient info and stay HIPAA compliant, or how to stop worrying and love BYOD in your hospital

US healthcare costs in the are rising disproportionately compared to quality of care, what are the options to solve the problem? For Profit or Single Payer?

US healthcare costs in the are rising disproportionately compared to quality of care, what are the options to solve the problem? For Profit or Single Payer?

Recently I started a writing job for a healthcare company, and as a result I have had to look very carefully at the healthcare industry. By coincidence, I also had a medical issue which landed me in the hospital (I am now alright), and gave me a much deeper insight then I expected.

Especially, when I got the bill.

IT’S REAL?

Everyone says that US Healthcare cost are too high. OK, what evidence is there to support that statement?

Percent of GDP:

US healthcare costs in the are rising disproportionately compared to quality of care, what are the options to solve the problem? For Profit or Single Payer? - Percent of GDP Chart

This chart shows that our healthcare costs are the highest in the world, as a % of GDP, we are about 6% more then the next highest – France.

Per Captia spending on healthcare:

US healthcare costs in the are rising disproportionately compared to qualitof care, what are the options to solve the problem? For Profit or Single Payer? - Cost per Capita chart

The average income in the US is about $47,000 a year, the average amount spent per person on healthcare is $7,538

Per capita healthcare spending vs. per capita income:

US healthcare costs in the are rising disproportionately compared to quality of care, what are the options to solve the problem? For Profit or Single Payer? - Per Capita Income vs Per Capita spending chart

When you map it on a graph, you can see the USA is way above the average by a large amount. US citizens spend a much larger percent of their incomes on healthcare, then another country.

Healthcare costs over time:

US healthcare costs in the are rising disproportionately compared to quality of care, what are the options to solve the problem? For Profit or Single Payer? - Cost ramp

In addition to higher health spending, the United States is increasing its spending faster than other countries.

So the data clearly indicates that as a percentage of GDP, and percentage of Income, the US healthcare costs are the highest in the world by a large amount. The rate of those is climbing faster than any other country in the world.

LONGER LIFE?

So we pay the most, but we have the best care, correct? Well, according to the data, that is not a true statement.

Per Capita cost vs. Life Expectancy:

US healthcare costs in the are rising disproportionately compared to quality of care, what are the options to solve the problem? For Profit or Single Payer? - Per Captita cost vs life expectancy

A different view of the same data:

US healthcare costs in the are rising disproportionately compared to quality of care, what are the options to solve the problem? For Profit or Single Payer? - Per Captita cost and life expectancy

We see the doctor the least, our cost is the highest and our life expectancy is below the average.

MORE FACTS

Need some more data, well try these facts on for size:

The least efficient payers in the world are American private insurance companies with administrative costs of 20-30%.

Just 5% of Americans accounted for half of all US health care costs in 2009.

Taiwan went with a “single-payer” insurance model in 1995 and the number of uninsured dropped from 41% to 8% in one year

In the UK, the Brits spend about $3,500 per person on health care. The US spends around $8,500 per person, yet the British have a higher life expectancy then Americans.

OK, so clearly the US has a real problem in controlling healthcare costs.

Healthcare costs for various operations:

US healthcare costs in the are rising disproportionately compared to quality of care, what are the options to solve the problem? For Profit or Single Payer? - Healthcare costs for various operations chart

WHY SO MUCH?

Most of all the industrial countries in the world have a “single-payer” system, which means people pay taxes, and the government provides the healthcare.

Americans call “single-payer” a socialist program, big government and bad service – even though all the charts above, especially the per capita vs. life expectancy show that this is not a true statement.

American insurance administration cost are 20% to 30%. Remember, the US healthcare system is a “for profit” system.

Now, the profit margin for healthcare companies is not as great as most people expect.

US Healthcare Industry Profits:

US healthcare costs in the are rising disproportionately compared to quality of care, what are the options to solve the problem? For Profit or Single Payer? - US Healthcare Industry Profits chart

The numbers look small, but lets look at it a little closer.

Let’s say you went to the hospital, and after you had to buy a medical device and had to go on medication.

Let’s say the total cost of you health care that year was $100,000. How much of that went to profit?

Well, your healthcare insurance was 3.5%, and the pharmacy and hospital was 5%, and your home medical equipment was 11.5% and your meds had a 16% profit. That means there was a cumulative profit of 36% for your care.

Of the $100,000 of healthcare cost, $36,000 went for profit.

When you look at the Percent of healthcare vs. GDP, the difference between the US and the nearest most expensive healthcare country (Norway) is only 5%

So the profit in the US Healthcare system clearly makes it more expensive than any other county.

HOW IT EFFECTS AMERICANS

So, how does our “for profit” healthcare effects average Americans?

Insurance premium increases:

US healthcare costs in the are rising disproportionately compared to quality of care, what are the options to solve the problem? For Profit or Single Payer? - Insurance premium increases chart

We love our ‘for profit’ capitalistic healthcare system of patriots, but we pay the most for it, visit the doctor the least, and have below average life expectancy.

A large percent of our healthcare costs go for profits and insurance administration cost.

Conservatives say that big government, higher taxes and single payer system would be worse – but every other industrial nation in the world has lower costs and higher life expectance with their single payer system.

At the rate we are going, healthcare is going to bankrupt our country and our citizens.

Something is going to have to change.

Everyone loves Medicare, so why not make it for everyone?

Oh yeah, the for profit health industry who pays for our elected officials to win their elections, dose not want to be controlled and limited in order to lower costs and make America and Americans safe from bankruptcy.

Remember, protecting profit is more important then protecting life, right?

So what if some people can’t afford life in our “for profit” healthcare system, if they can’t afford to live, they shouldn’t, right?

Is that really what being a patriotic, conservative, capitalistic American really means?

US healthcare costs in the are rising disproportionately compared to quality of care, what are the options to solve the problem? For Profit or Single Payer? - Joke is on US

US healthcare costs in the are rising disproportionately compared to quality of care, what are the options to solve the problem? For Profit or Single Payer? - Joke is on US 2

Guggenheim Baseball Partners which includes Magic Johnson will buy the Los Angeles Dodgers for $2 billion – twice the amount ever paid for a baseball franchise

Magic Johnson - Guggenheim Baseball Partners which includes Magic Johnson will buy the Los Angeles Dodgers for $2 billion - twice the amount ever paid for a baseball franchise

As I posted a little while ago, the poor LA Dodgers have been driven into bankruptcy by the smarmy and incompetent Frank McCourt.

See:

https://pusz4frog.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/los-angeles-dodgers-file-for-bankruptcy-owner-frank-mccourt-has-obtained-150-million-in-interim-financing-in-order-to-save-the-club-from-a-take-over-by-major-league-baseball/

Today, it was revealed that a group called the Guggenheim Baseball Partners; that includes former basketball star Earvin “Magic” Johnson, will acquire the Los Angeles Dodgers for $2 billion.

The price tag is almost 2 times that amount ever paid for a baseball franchise, and the most ever paid for a North American sports franchise, according to MLB.com.

THE GBP AND THE MBL
The Guggenheim Baseball Partners will officially acquire the team, one of baseball’s most storied franchises, after the deal is approved by the judge overseeing the Dodgers’ bankruptcy.

The Guggenheim Baseball Partners is controlled by Mark Walter who is the CEO of Guggenheim Partners, a Chicago-based financial services company which formed GBP.

The Guggenheim Baseball Partners includes Magic Johnson, who guided the Lakers to five NBA championships during the 1980s, is a partner in the group along with movie executive Peter Guber and baseball executive Stan Kasten.

The Dodgers has won the World Series championship six times and, for decades, boasted an intensely loyal fan base.

UGLY
Under the ownership of real estate developer Frank McCourt, the Dodgers started it’s current downturn. The troubles really began when McCourt and his wife, Jamie, decided to get a vicious and expensive divorce, which was followed by a messy court battle.

Frank McCourt and ex-wife - Guggenheim Baseball Partners which includes Magic Johnson will buy the Los Angeles Dodgers for $2 billion - twice the amount ever paid for a baseball franchise

The couple fought bitterly over ownership of the team and last April, Major League Baseball took charge of the beleaguered team. Two months later, the team filed for bankruptcy.

This October, McCourt and his wife had reached a settlement in which he is supposed to pay her $131 million, and the joke is that the attorneys’ fees alone could reach $35 million.

In an effort to hold on to the team, McCourt tried to score a $3 billion television deal with Fox, but the MLB decided they really didn’t want this loser to remain and owner, so the deal was rejected by Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.

Good move by the MLB, since they knew that could earn some serious bank by selling the team, which it did in the auction that Guggenheim Baseball Partners won for $2 billion.

A NEW FACE
Guggenheim Baseball Partners propped up it’s face – Magic Johnson, who said the sale will start a new chapter for the Dodgers.

“I am thrilled to be part of the historic Dodger franchise and intend to build on the fantastic foundation laid by Frank McCourt as we drive the Dodgers back to the front page of the sports section in our wonderful community of Los Angeles,” said the former Los Angeles Lakers’ icon.

It is reported that some members of the group will also partner with McCourt to acquire Dodger Stadium and several other nearby properties for $150 million.

Legendary former Dodgers coach Tommy Lasorda applauded the sale, “I am happy for them. I just feel they are going to do everything they can to bring a championship to Los Angeles,” he told LA TV station KTLA.

The Dodgers finished in third place in the National League Western Division last season and did not make the playoffs.

Yes, $2 billion for a club has not won a World Series since 1988. Sounds like a deal.

Maybe hope is now on the horizon.

Hopefully after the sale, Guggenheim Baseball Partners will still have enough money to buy a famous Dodger Dog hot dog…

Dodger-Stadium - Guggenheim Baseball Partners which includes Magic Johnson will buy the Los Angeles Dodgers for $2 billion - twice the amount ever paid for a baseball franchise

The best 8Tracks.com mixes for March, and why digital music is the future social media.

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Some writers like to write in silence, just pounding away at the keyboard in silence with the only sound being that of the fans in the computer and the click of the keys of the keyboard. Some writers are like me, always having music playing in the background. I am always  listing to music, at home writing, at the gym and at the airport waiting for a flight.

Music is a big part of my life, and as a result I am always looking for new music to listen to. The music industry knows that there are many people who are like me – always listing to music and always searching out new music.

Worldwide Digital Music Revenues in 2006 was $2.9 billion. Six years (2011) later it is $14.8 billion. Growth = 486%

Worldwide Music Industry Revenues in 2006 was $60.7 billion. Six years (2011) later it is $67.6 billion. Growth = 11%

It is clear to see that digital music is the strongest growing segment of the music industry, and is the future of music.

Even though Pandora and other ‘digital radio’ are a good way to listen to music, people still like to buy music, have collections and share them with their friends. For me, the best way to do this is with 8tracks.com

I listen to it, like I would to a digital radio, but I get to also have the social media experience by putting up my own mixes. This allows me to contribute my own ‘digital radio’ station. For me, this is the future of music, collect, share, discover – social music.

Since 8Tracks.com has iPhone and Android apps, I can listen anywhere on my phone, and I can even make mixes right off the music on my phone. The future is truly here.

As you can tell, I am ‘sold’ on 8tracks.com and can’t not say enough positive things about it.

So, to help share (and to make it easier for me to listen to these on the fly), below you will find my latest mix, as well as some of my favorite mix from other members of 8track.com

Enjoy:

aNILESation Alternative Rap Fuck My Head Up Mix – mix by pusz4frog

alternative rap

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Havin’ gr8 fun goin’ to Heaven and Hell – mix by iyamdman

indie rock, pop and swingy rock

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Fun at the Office #1 – mix by RickyRoll

indie

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True Love for the Heartless – mix by myopenshirt

rock, alternative, techno, hip hop

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Sweet dreams are made of these – mix by Missyem Savannah

dubstep, electronic, dance, tance

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Alternative music for alternative people – mix by silent-alarmm

indie, alternative, rock, folk

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Wha wha wha WHAT IS Duh duh duh DUBSTEP? – mix by iyamdman

dubstep, dance

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Just keep going – mix by BrockUgirl

indie, hip hop, rock, dance

 

Slushbox Hellcat – mix by myopenshirt

rock, alternative rock, indie, dance

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feelgood – mix by muzik3

rock, dance, techno

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Clap Hands For Spaced Out Music – mix by sonic schmidt

indie, dance, rock, rap and house

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Island Tunes – mix by michellebda27

reggae, island music