BURN RATE by Michael Wolff

So we picked this book because it was one of our professor's FAVORITE books! (extra credit please).

After assembling our smallish group of six people, we thought, "Hey! Let's break the book down in chapters, read our assigned chapters, and do a presentation person by person, chapter by chapter!"

The logical choice right? Of course! This was just the wrong book to do that with. lol!

This recap of a man's personal trials and tribulations to raise money while his company is burning through it at an incredible rate is best read cover to cover. (so anyone else deciding to read this, do it solo).

We had to re-think our presentation to make this work, so be ready: we're breaking it down in a different way:

1. An introduction to this book. (What the heck is BURN RATE?)
2. About the author (Who he is, what he's done, who he's pissed off)
3. Information about the time frame the book takes place (What else was going on)
4. Our presentation of the book
5. And finally, our closing thoughts and opinions of BURN RATE.

Looking forward to everyone thoroughly enjoying our presentation and Professor Andrew giving us top honors! (Or at least not falling asleep)

Want to know more about our Professor? Click here!

Meet the team:
Nicole
Skye
Gabi
Tony
Brock

VIRTUAL TRIP: Destination Unknown

Sunny white-sand beaches, tropical palm trees, the smell of the ocean salt wafting towards me with the afternoon breeze, and the gentle lullaby of the waves meeting the pristine shoreline. Ahhh, a low-tech tropical vacation! What could be better?

Virtual trips? How could they compare? In today's technological standards, the reproduction of the touch and taste components of a trip could not be duplicated, in my opinion. However, the visual aspects could, as well as the audible and (maybe not the way I want it too) olfactory sensations.

But why would I want to go to, say, Hawaii on my computer? Maybe to check out the beaches, look at the hotel rooms, save the time and discomfort of flying there?

Then I expanded my list of destinations. If I were to take a high-tech, virtual trip, I personally wouldn't go anywhere I could do low-tech. It would be somewhere you couldn't go low-tech (or it would just be darn uncomfortable). That's when the list got larger: pre-historic Earth, the center of the planet, other planets, inside a volcano, the North Pole, Santa's workshop, the surface of the moon, the list goes on!

I don't think one particular destination would interest me, it would be moreso the expanse of all the imaginary and impossible destinations you could program! I mean click here click there you could jump from watching elves make toys for Christmas to the surface of the Sun.

Virtual trips would be a great way to explore the past or our imagined future. It could become the interactive storybook, the catalyst for keeping our dreams alive, that many think about. (Time for a start-up company!!)

Kevin Freitas: FEEDing Tacoma!

So Kevin Freitas came to our class and spoke all about his project FEED Tacoma as well as his personal blog space.

My thoughts? Wow! I didn't realize to the extent that people blogged online. I only recently heard about blogging over the past few years. To me it was more of a journal entry, a diary post, or rather something that was just an informal bit or piece of a news tidbit.

As I progress through this class and am educated by our instructor and his speakers, I realize it is so much more than that. Blogging is indeed a tool for the masses to come together, create a community, and speak/discuss THEIR topics.

So the Feed Tacoma site had some areas I thought were particularly "cool." The full automation of the site to aggregate news blogs was awesome. I kept thinking "Googlezon!" while Kevin was talking and smiling. Ya, so I amuse myself in interesting ways. :)

The "Shops" area was another intersting spot for discussion because it falls inline with a pet project of mine. I get excited about techonology and how much it jumps ahead every time I stop to look at it. I mean really, think back 5 years and look at where we are now (the easiest for me was always to look at the difference in video games from 5 years ago to today). What changes will happen in the ensuing 5-10 years?

And Kevin, stop the insanity! Tap into the Googlezon network and find a creative way to drop some GoogleAds in there! lol! I mean they shell out like $17 some-odd billion in ad commissions a year.

All in all, Kevin has done some great things. His Feed Tacoma site (www.feedtacoma.com) provides a hyper-local newspot for the Tacoma area. It was fun to listen to how his site and the followers of it (the "FeedTacoma Community") started the "Frost Park Chalk Off." Great stuff! Taking an online community and bringing it together in the real world to make a difference. I'm sure the more I think about it, the more I could ramble on, but I truly enjoyed the work that was done and the possibilities that exist for it. We are definitely moving to "Living and Working in a Virtual World."

With all the dangers, why buy online?

Online buying seems almost a natural extension of purchasing nowadays: get online statements, pay online, go green (no more paper bills), bank online, buy your food, get your dog a leash, etc. etc. etc.

But dangers are out there. Below is a link with an insane amount of statistics for identity theft, one of the most prevailent dangers out there:

http://www.spamlaws.com/id-theft-statistics.html

Here is an eye opener for why you don't want Spy/Ad Ware on your computer either:

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Dangers-of-Online-Shopping---What-You-Need-to-Know-to-Safely-Make-a-Purchase-Online&id=1574406

All interesting stuff, yet people still buy online, just like people still fly in airplanes even though it could crash. Ten years ago? Not so much. The vehicle for accepting online payments and protecting your information wasn't as strong. Online security is a major business today.

I think if you take this back a decade and compare it to today, you'll see that society more readily accepts the idea of purchasing online. It was a pioneering effort back in the 90s, cutting-edge technology to click a button and have something show up at your doorstep. Now it's rather commonplace, just about everything can be purchased and delievered from the convenience of your home.

Age has a lot to do with it too. Today's children/young adults have grown up with the idea that buying online is a normal, everyday practice. Older generations remember what it was like to pay with cash and walk into a store.

And I think the idea of the "dangers" of buying online is just a transfer of the "dangers" from buying in person. Instead of "dumpster diving" for credit card receipts or identifying information on people to "steal" their identity (big problem in the 80s and 90s) or even basic forgery that's been around forever, the underworld of getting something for now has transferred to the 'Net. An evolution of criminal activity. I think it makes the news because as with everything else online, it seems to be a lot easier to come up with metrics for identity theft than before.

So, buying online happens despite potential dangers because society more readily accepts it now, there are safeguards in effect to protect people and keep the honest people honest (hey we've got a police force, but people still rob the liquor store), and, quite honestly, could you imagine a life without online shopping?