One of the more unique blog posts from Ben Casnocha flew into my inbox this morning: Contrasts in How Google Suggests Searches. Something I've thought about before, but never really compared various word(s)/number(s)/grammatical combinations in the Google search box. He suggests that there "is nowhere we are more honest than the search box. We don't lie to Google. Period."From blogger Michael Agger, "the graphic compares "less intelligent" queries with "more intelligent" queries such as "how ... Read Full Story

I must say there have been some really funny websites launched in the past 6 months. I’m going to give my rundown of some of the best funny sites I’ve found. Please email me if you find more:People of Wal-Mart: www.peopleofwalmart.com Instant sensation and one of those “why didn’t I think of that” websites. Reports say the traffic jumped 700% in one day alone and crashed the web-server. Anyone can submit pictures of the ridiculous people they see while shopping at Wal-Mart. VexBoard: w... Read Full Story

Yahoo has a pretty good article out today called “The 7 Most Overrated Businesses”I agree with the article in a sense, but question the author’s motives with respect to the intent of the article. After all, small business is the backbone of our nation. If every start-up entrepreneur running a successful company today followed this advice, where would we be now?Regardless, the article is worth the read for those of you thinking it will be easy. Read Full Story

For those of you that don’t know me very well, I have this constant entrepreneurial spirit that just won’t go away—in fact, I’ve had it all my life. So why not put it into action? Over the past few months, I have been throwing around ideas, brainstorming, and bouncing various concepts off of some of my mentors. Well, the first one is up and running at www.vexboard.com. The mobile site is www.mobile.vexboard.comThe original idea was born at work – with a whiteboard, dry-erase marker, and a... Read Full Story

I’m sure many of you are wondering: Where is Brian? Well, I’m still here, working, studying, learning, loving married life, traveling, and working on a variety of business ideas. This blog has certainly had its ups and downs and I appreciate you bearing with me through the light postings. Some thoughts and random musings since my last post in February:1. A friend of mine at work let me borrow the best book on leadership that I have ever read. It should be a mandatory read for every Officer in... Read Full Story

All too often, we tend to overemphasize the unimportant—meaning: Why can’t we just let things go? What is so important about today, tomorrow, work, children, etc, that hinders us from living in the present? Why do Type A personalities tend to live in the future while Type B personalities tend to live in the past? Who, then, really lives in the present? I have a few thoughts on this topic because I lean towards the former. Some advice on how to live in the present:“What Ever You Are, Be a Goo... Read Full Story

Some things I have been thinking about:*****It seems as if the “historical” truths of the stock market have become obsolete. What if we have entered a period where history won’t repeat itself? Would we even know it if we are throwing our money away? Is it possible that the market won’t recover? Will traditional “buy and hold forever” strategies fail to deliver the way they have in the past?*****There is way too much garbage on the internet. Moreover, it is becoming increasingly difficult... Read Full Story

1. If you constantly focus on organizational and process driven improvements you are probably a manager.2. If you would rather focus on improving people who will improve the processes to make your organization better, you are probably a leader.3. If you succumb easily to higher authority rather than providing thoughtful and intelligent counter arguments you are probably a manager.4. If you respectfully challenge the status quo and seek to improve not only business productivity but also the wa... Read Full Story

In an attempt to reflect on this past year and then some, I decided to write a personal executive summary after reading a great one by entrepreneur/blogger extraordinaire Ben Casnocha. Here goes in no particular order:Married the love of my life in Plano, TX. Honeymooned through the Western Caribbean visiting Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and Cozumel. Wrote 125 blog posts and received hundreds of comments from readers. Read 25 books. Worked on two business start-ups. Witnessed a friend and men... Read Full Story

As a self-certified finance geek, I’ve had the pleasure of receiving various comments, concerns, and frustrations about your portfolios (stocks, bonds, real-estate, etc). No offense to anyone out there, but it amazes me how little faith we have in our decisions. Most of my portfolio is down 35% or more and guess what I’m doing: BUYING! The S&P 500 Index Fund is as low as it’s been since 2003. Most individual stocks are at 52-week lows at least—some are trading at 5-year lows. Current head... Read Full Story