Golfers and their endless search for accessories

Traveling On The Golf Course

Your golf cart is something that you probably have pride in as it's taken on the course. There are different sizes that you can see on the course as well as various styles. Some of them are personalized with fun paint schemes and accessories while others have the natural colors that are seen when the cart is purchased. One thing that all carts have in common is that they will need replacement parts at some point. Golf cart parts can be purchased online or at businesses that sell off-road vehicles. You might need to place an order for a specific part as some stores might not carry everything needed in stock.

The brakes are a common part that needs to be replaced on many carts. While you are on the course, you are likely slowing down for other players and trying not to drive at a high rate of speed so that you don't damage the cart. However, this can harm the brake system if you continue to keep the foot on the brake. If you begin to hear any noise coming from the brakes when the pedal is depressed, then you should consider getting them replaced as soon as possible. The battery is another common item that is replaced in most carts at some point. The tires are a component of the cart that you should watch as well. There could be debris on the course that you don't see that can get stuck in the tires. If you use the cart for other activities at home, then the chance of getting something in the tire increases.

There are accessories that you can purchase to make the cart comfortable to drive. A sunshade is an option ad helpful if you plan on being in the sun for long periods of time. You can also add a fan on the cart to help deal with the heat if you are playing on a warm day. A cover for the cart can help keep it clean and free of scratches. Other accessories include radio kits and seat covers. These items can be personalized depending on what color you like or what theme you enjoy.

Children's Toys for Xmas 2012

Let the Battle of the Toymakers begin!

Seriously, its like gladiators duking it out in a victory or death competition.

Lets go down the list of "hot buys for 2012" shall we?

#1. iPad Mini / Tablets for Kids

If you have small children you should already be aware that giving electronics to children under the age of 9 is basically just guaranteeing that said electronic will BREAK within the first month. I've seen it happen. Little kids are careless. They don't realize how easily these things break and manufacturers seem to be making devices that break easily, thus guaranteeing that you either have to come back and buy another one... or give up completely.

My advice? Don't trust an 8 year old or younger with anything electronic. If you can't trust the kid not to pull a cat's tail (another thing I've seen little kids do regularly), then you definitely cannot trust them with electronics.


Now I admit, some parents out there just love to spoil their kids. They believe it is their god-given-right to spend and spoil their kids as they see fit. But all I am saying is HAVE FUN with the replacement bills when the electronics gets wet, smashed or otherwise broken. Or lost. Misplaced at school. Left on a park bench. Dropped on the subway. You name it, kids will do it.

What is a smarter buy is VTech InnoTab 2 and LeapFrog LeapPad 2. They're educational tablets that are made to be more durable. A much smarter buy than buying an iPad Mini.

NOTE: If you do decide to get an iPad Mini for xmas, remember to get protective stuff for it. eg. Screen shields and a protective case. Your kids will probably still manage to break it eventually (or lose it, get it stolen, etc), but at least it won't be for lack of trying on your part. If you can't trust your kid to feed a puppy, walk ait and not lose it somehow, you probably can't trust them not to set down their gadget in a toystore and promptly forget about it.

#2. The 2012 Furby reboot

After being gone for over a decade this idiotic stuffed toy is back and ready to be a hot selling item. Updated from the original version, this Furby 2.0 has an app connection, softer fur to hide touch sensors and more realistic expressions. The eyes have been completely changed to backlit LCD screens in order to allow the Furby to better look around the room and respond to noises.

#3. My Little Mousie

This company understands that kids are inherently rough on their toys. I have several stuffed animals in a box in my parents' attic which can testify to the abuse children put their toys through. This Premium German sigikid Baby Toys for Canada. The company in question, which you can visit at http://www.mylittlemousie.ca/, sells everything from high durability backpacks, stuffed animals, old fashioned wooden toys, rattles and even toys for nurseries. Its really marketing at the 0 to 2 years old market, but it is certainly a market that is unexploited thus far. See the company quote below:

"Children develop a deep relationship with their toys. They are a child's first love. That's why at My Little Mousie, we believe in high-quality toys that are built to last, well-designed and functional. We specialize in hard-to-find German premium toys. Right now, we offer a unique collection of sigikid products. We offer a unique collection of German premium sigikid baby toys. My Little Mousie is a Vancouver based boutique online store for Canada."

#4. Eco Toys

I actually think this will be a dud.

The tree-huggers (or those people trying to appease them) are pushing green garbage trucks made of plastic. What kids wants a garbage truck for xmas? Get real people.

Want to give the boy (I presume it is a little boy if you're buying them a truck) something they will actually like? Buy a whole collection of Hot Wheels cars. They're classics and always popular. Some of them change colour in water or heat, can be used on a track (like a roller coaster), etc.

Or find one that has a wind-up function. One of my favourite cars when I was that age was a wind-up car that you pulled back two or three times, set it down and then pressed the button on the back and it zoomed off. No batteries required. And it still works even today.


#5. Web Shooting Motorized Spider Man

Say what? Actual webs?

No, not actual webs. Just a piece of white plastic and it doesn't go that far. Still, it will probably sell.









#6. Nintendo 3DS XL

I have a friend who bought her 7-year-old one of these. He broke it in the first month. So she got him another one, but this time she got it second-hand... and he broke it too.

Seriously. You're just throwing your money away on these electronics.









#7. LEGO

Seriously, boys or girls, get them Lego. Doesn't break easily. Hours of fun. A classic toy. Get them a Lego train set with a wind-up motor.

#8.MORE LEGO

Seriously, you can never have too much Lego. (Unless you step on a Lego brick on the stairs with your bare feet...)

My parents once split up the shopping and they both accidentally got me the exact same Lego spaceship. I thought it was the most awesome thing ever that I had TWO of the same spaceship. (Seriously, one for each hand...) They thought they had goofed and even wanted to return and exchange one of the boxes, but I gleefully ripped them both open and started building.

Seriously, best xmas ever. :)

How to Destroy your Company's Reputation and its Profits

There are many ways to destroy a company from the inside.

1. One way is to overspend on advertising.
2. Another way is to package the product improperly so it ruins the product.
3. A third way is to take on debts that you can't possibly repay.
eg. Disgraced brewer 'Steelback Brewery' did all three of these thanks to its incompetent and shamelessly self-promoting CEO and drove the company into the ground in 2007.
4. Another way is to not evolve with the times and changing technology and then fall into debt and eventually bankruptcy. eg. Nortel Telecom.
5. Another way is to make faulty investments in real estate and other things (and in some cases running a Ponzi scheme) and then try to get a bailout from the federal government.

For fun check out the list of the biggest failed banks on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_U.S._bank_failures

Note that they're losses were in the billions. $307 billion for the Washington Mutual in 2008.

Lastly another way to destroy a company is to slowly, piece by piece, destroy a company's quality and reputation. This is what now known as the "the Schlitz mistake" and you can read all about it in the article we've attached below:

The Fall of Schlitz: How Milwaukee's Famous Beer Became Infamous

By Martyn Cornell

You might think it would be good to have your company held up in business schools as a famous example. But that wouldn't be the way the people behind the Schlitz brand feel about it. Because Schlitz is held up as a dreadful warning of how not to do it.

Indeed, the company that now owns Schlitz, once "the beer that made Milwaukee famous," is currently telling drinkers that "our classic 1960's formula is back," the sub-text being that it "now tastes the way it did before we started disastrously mucking about with it 40 years ago, ruining the beer and wrecking the company along the way."

Schlitz's roots were in a Milwaukee restaurant started by 34-year-old August Krug, an immigrant from Bavaria, in 1848. Two years later Krug hired Joseph Schlitz, another German immigrant, from Mainz, to be his bookkeeper. When Krug died in 1856, Schlitz took over the management of the brewery, marrying Krug's widow Anna two years later and changing the name of the business to his own. That same year Krug's 16-year-old nephew, August Uihlein, began working for the brewery. Over the next two decades the brewery grew to be one of the two or three biggest in Milwaukee. Then in 1875 Schlitz was drowned after the ship in which he was travelling on a voyage back to Germany struck rocks off the Scilly Isles. Control of the brewery was inherited by August Uihlein and his three brothers, who had joined him in the business.

The brewery prospered considerably under the Uihleins, springing back after Prohibition, and late in the 1940’s Schlitz became the best-selling brew in the United States – the Wisconsin brewer wrestling the title from Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser, the self-styled "King of Beers." The 1950’s saw a continuous assault from Anheuser-Busch to win back the crown of America's favorite. The two brewers swapped the lead between them until 1957, when Budweiser went ahead permanently. The decisions taken by Schlitz's owners, the Uihlein family, to cope with their rival's dominance would eventually "salami slice" their company to death.

By 1967 the company's president and chairman was August Uihlein's grandson, the polo-playing, 6-foot-4–inch-tall Harvard graduate Robert Uihlein Jr., then 51. Robert decided that if he could not sell more been than Anheuser-Busch, he would at least make his company more profitable than his St Louis rival. The first step in Uihlein's plan to save money was a new brewing method Schlitz called "accelerated batch fermentation," or ABF. This cut the brewing time for Schlitz beers from 25 to 21 days, and then from 20 to 15 days, compared to the 32 to 40 days of storage – or "lagering" – used for Budweiser.

The result was that Schlitz was now getting much more beer out of the same amount of plant, with all the boost in margins that meant. At the same time Uihlein instructed his brewers to begin cutting costs by using corn syrup to replace some of the malted barley used to make the beer, and by substituting cheaper hop pellets for fresh hops. The ingredient alterations were meant to be made incrementally, Uihlein's belief apparently being that drinkers would not notice each slight change to the product. Unfortunately, as commentators later pointed out, the steps from A to B and from B to C might have been tiny and unnoticeable, but the steps from A to M added up to a big leap.

At first all seemed to be working. In 1973 Schlitz was able to boast that it had the most efficient breweries in the world, and it was carrying out a rapid expansion of its production capacity. Its profits-to-sales ratio and its utilisation of its plant – in terms of capacity against actual production – were both substantially above the industry average. Market share was growing faster than at either of the other big two American brewers, Anheuser-Busch and Miller. Rivals tried to trip Schlitz up by claiming that its ABF brewing method meant it was selling "green," or too-young beer. Schlitz responded by changing the meaning of ABF from "accelerated batch fermentation" to "accurate balanced fermentation."

Uihlein had already been given a warning about what could happen if drinkers felt a brewer was messing about with beer quality, however. In 1964 Schlitz had acquired the Primo brewery in Hawaii. By 1971 Primo accounted for 70 per cent of all beer sold in Hawaii. Then Schlitz stopped full brewing at the Primo plant, instead shipping dehydrated wort from its brewery in Los Angeles for fermentation in Hawaii. Islanders said the taste of their favorite beer had been altered for the worse with the change, and Primo's market share dropped like a brick to just 20 percent in 1975. Schlitz started full brewing in Hawaii again that year, but sales of Primo never recovered to their previous high.

Back on the mainland, Schlitz had attempted to respond to the growing success of Miller Lite, the first successful low-calorie beer, with the launch late in 1976 of Schlitz Light. But perhaps because drinkers were already suspicious about what went into ordinary Schlitz, Schlitz Light was a failure in an otherwise expanding sector.

Meanwhile Schlitz was running into trouble with its mainstream brand, after an attempt to disguise to consumers what it was putting into its beer. Because it aged its beer less than other brewers, Schlitz had to add silica gel to the product to prevent a haze forming when it was chilled. In 1976 the company began to worry that the United States Food and Drug Administration would compel brewers to list all their ingredients on bottles and cans. Its use of silica gel would show up in harsh contrast to its rivals such as Anheuser-Busch, who aged their beers longer, allowing the protein to settle out naturally, and therefore did not need to use artificial anti-haze products. Anheuser-Busch was sure to point up Schlitz's use of an "unnatural" product in its beers and contrast this with the "all-natural" Budweiser.

Schlitz decided to use another beer stabilizer instead, one that would be filtered out of the final product and thus would not have to be listed as among the ingredients. Unfortunately, what Schlitz's brewing technicians did not know was that the new anti-haze agent, called Chill-garde, would react in the bottles and cans with the foam stabilizer they also used, to cause protein to settle out. At its best this protein looked liked tiny white flakes floating in the beer and at its worst it looked like mucus, or "snot," as one observer bluntly called it.

For months Schlitz kept quiet about the problem, with Uihlein arguing that the haze was not actually physically harmful to drinkers, and in any case not much of the beer would be kept at temperatures at which the haze would form. However, drinkers did complain, sales began to drop and Schlitz had to make a secret recall of 10 million bottles of beer, costing it $1.4 million.

Around the same time Robert Uihlein was diagnosed with leukaemia, dying just a few weeks later. An accountant, Eugene Peters, became the company's CEO, and a geologist, Daniel McKeithan, who was the divorced husband of a big Schlitz shareholder, was appointed chairman.

All Schlitz's problems with its image, caused by Robert Uihlein's tampering with the quality of the beer, were causing the company to start losing its second place in the American beer market to its Milwaukee rival, Miller. Even though Schlitz had increased its share of the U.S. beer market from 7 percent in 1950 to 14 percent in 1977, Budweiser and Miller had grown faster. Peters and McKeithan pushed Schlitz's marketing department to go for a new "high impact" advertising campaign featuring an aggressive-looking boxer who demanded, when asked to swap his Schlitz for another brand: "You want to take away my gusto?" Instead of amusing viewers, the ad put them off: Consumers found it "menacing," and it became known as the "drink Schlitz or I'll kill you" campaign.

By the end of 1977 Schlitz was on the slide, with profits, market share and capacity utilization dropping. Peters resigned after only 11 months and was replaced by Frank Sellinger, the former brewmaster at Anheuser-Busch. Sellinger returned to traditional brewing methods and improved the product. But Schlitz was now operating in the red, and by 1980 its sales had been passed by another Milwaukee rival, Pabst, with a third Wisconsin brewer, Heileman, not far behind.

The end came quickly. In June 1981 Schlitz closed its Milwaukee plant to try to solve what was now an overcapacity problem. In October of that year Heileman made a takeover offer for the still-struggling Schlitz, only for Pabst to put in a rival bid. Both bids were vetoed by the Justice Department on competition grounds, but in June 1982 the Justice Department allowed a $500 million bid by the Detroit brewer Stroh to go through. One analysis has estimated that the Schlitz brand lost more than 90 percent of its value between 1974 and that final year of independence.

However, the debt Stroh took on to pay for acquiring Schlitz was ultimately too much for the Detroit company to carry, and it collapsed in 1999. Ironically, in the fire sale that followed the Schlitz brand was acquired after all by Pabst.

The disastrous effect of deciding to reduce product quality salami slice by salami slice is now known in business circles as "the Schlitz mistake." It has been argued that Robert Uihlein's response to the increased competition from Anheuser-Busch and Miller – cutting costs to increase short-term profits – was a rational decision, and if there had been anything of a strategy of "management of decline" about it, then the complete collapse in shareholder value of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s might have been avoided.

It would have been realistic for Uihlein to conclude in 1970 that the medium to long-term future of the American brewing industry would be one where only two or three big brands would command the vast majority of sales. This is, after all, exactly what did happen, with Anheuser-Busch InBev, SAB Miller and MolsonCoors dominating the picture today. It would also have been realistic for Uihlein to conclude that, whatever Schlitz's position was in 1970, there was no guarantee it would end up as one of those surviving two or three beer giants, and it was better to go for maximum profits while allowing the company to run down gently.

However, what Uihlein tried to do was have his brewery cake and eat it too: cut costs, boost short-term profits and still maintain a long-term future for the company. The result was what the airline business calls a "controlled flight into terrain." Cost-cutting cost the company its reputation, something almost impossible to repair for a consumer goods maker, and it destroyed a concern that had once been the biggest in its field.

Why the Book Publishing Industry needs to Evolve

Book publishers are pricks. If you've ever tried to publish a book you know that publishers are basically sifting through their inbox of manuscripts and sending rejection letters back to authors claiming the book isn't suitable for whatever nonsense reason they can pick out of a jar. Wrong age group. Too much swearing in the book. They didn't like the plot. Yada yada yada.

However the problem these days is that authors are no longer forced to go via the traditional book publishing industry if they want to write and make a profit off their work.

eBook authors like fantasy author Charles Moffat and feminist writer Suzanne MacNevin are coming out with their own works via websites like Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble's Nook, Lulu.com and others. And eReaders are selling like hotcakes too. Chapter's Kobo is planning to allow self-publishing in the near future too because they've realized the potential of self-publishing.

NOTE: If you do buy a Kindle or Kobo however you will also need to buy a protective case and a screen shield to protect your new gadget from scratches and damage. After all who wants to read off a screen with a big scratch in the surface?

To better explain the woes of the publishing industry we'd like to now quote an article written by Jessica Park, an American writer who writes novels for women in the 18 to 25 age group (which apparently most publishing companies avoid for some silly reason).

How Amazon Saved My Life

By Jessica Park

I am an author.

I still can’t get used to that title, but I suppose after having written seven books–five of them traditionally published–that’s what you’d call me. The funny thing is that I feel more like a real author now that I self-publish than when I had the (supposed) support of a publisher behind me.

How did I end up on my own? It began when I couldn’t get my first YA book, Relatively Famous, published, despite getting stellar feedback from editors and nearly selling the film rights to a teen pop star. I was at a loss for what to do. I couldn’t keep writing books without selling them. What if the next thing I wrote flopped? I took a risk, in many ways, and wrote Flat-Out Love. It was the first book that completely came from my heart, and it was a book that ignored all the industry rules. I knew in the back of my head that I could self-publish it, but at the time it seemed like that would have been an admission of defeat.

I spent months thinking that I needed a big publisher in order to be a writer, to legitimately carry that “author” title. To validate me, and to validate Flat-Out Love. I needed a publisher to print my books and stick a silly publishing house emblem on the side of a hard copy. They were the only way to give my books mass distribution, and having them back me would mean that readers would know my book was good.

I also, apparently, thought that I needed to be taken advantage of, paid inexcusably poorly, and chained to idiotic pricing and covers that I had no control over.

I was, it seems, deluded.

It turns out that I was entirely wrong. I was missing what I really wanted. One of the major reasons that I write is to connect with readers, not publishers. The truth is that I couldn’t care less whether New York editors and publishers like me. I don’t want to write for them. I want to write for you. The other undeniable truth is that readers could care less that my books aren’t put out by a big publisher. They read for the content, not the publishing house emblem.

I have a lovely, smart, powerhouse agent, who tried to sell my next book, Flat-Out Love, to every major publishing house. She adored the story and thought it would sell. Fourteen editors turned it down, although each one said how strong the book was. But, editors seemingly didn’t give a crap about whether or not they liked the book. What they did pay attention to were their totally misguided ideas about what would and wouldn’t sell. I heard two things over and over again about my book. The first was that my story starred an eighteen-year-old college freshman, and that age was “categorically” too old for YA books and too young for adult books. It seems that one is not allowed to write about characters between the ages of eighteen and…what? Twenty-five? Because… because… Well, I’m not sure. The second thing I heard was that because my simultaneously-too-young-and-too-old heroine was not involved with anything slightly paranormal, the book wouldn’t sell.

Did I cry over some of these rejections? Absolutely. Did I feel inadequate, untalented, hurt? Yes. Did I doubt my ability to craft a story that readers could fall in love with? You bet.

And then one day I got yet another rejection letter and instead of blaming myself and my clear lack of creativity, I got angry. Really, really furious. It clicked for me that I was not the idiot here. Publishing houses were. The silly reasons that they gave me for why my book was useless made me see very clearly how completely out of touch these houses were with readers. I knew, I just knew, that I’d written a book with humor, heart, and meaning. I’d written something that had potential to connect with an audience. As much as I despise having to run around announcing how brilliant I supposedly am and whatnot, I also deeply believed in Flat-Out Love. I knew that editors were wrong.

And I finally understood that I wanted nothing to do with these people.

I snatched the book back from my agent and self-published it. With great relief, I should note. I could finally admit to myself that the only thing I had really wanted was to be told, “You’re good enough.” You know who gives me that? My readers. My generous, loving, wild readers.

Publishers pay terribly and infrequently. They are shockingly dumb when it comes to pricing, and if I see one more friend’s NY-pubbed ebook priced at $12.99, I’m going to scream. They do minimal marketing and leave the vast majority of work up to the author. Unless, of course, you are already a big name author. Then they fly you around the country for signings and treat you like the precious moneymaking gem that you are. The rest of us get next to nothing in terms of promotion. If your book takes off, they get the credit. If it tanks, you get the blame.

No, thank you. I’m all set with that.

You know who I do like, though? Amazon. Well, all online ebook sites that let me self-publish, but Amazon is the true powerhouse right now. Say what you want about this company, but it’s because of them that I can continue writing. It’s unclear to me how a big publisher thinks that I could live on their typical payouts, and why they think I should drop to my knees in gratitude for their deigning to even publish my book in the first place when I’ll do all the work myself. I’m not going to be grateful for that nonsense, but I am going to be grateful as hell to Amazon.

Bestselling trad-to-indie-author Barry Eisler, famous for turning down a six figure deal from St. Martins Press to go out on his own, took a lot of heat for having compared an author’s relationship with a big publisher to Stockholm syndrome. The truth is that it’s not a bad comparison at all. Snarky, funny, and exaggerated, perhaps, but there is more than one grain of truth there, and I just know that authors across the country were nodding so violently that we had collective whiplash. When writing for a publisher, you learn to be overly thankful for every pathetic little grain of positivity that comes your way. A disgustingly awful cover? Smile broadly and say how gorgeous it is. Contracts arrive months after arranged? Whip out your pen and sign with no complaints. You’re eating Ramen noodles while they are taking all of December and January off and while they essentially shutdown during the summer to vacation on the Cape? Slurp your soup and be happy.

Because of Amazon and other sites, I’m making enough money that I can continue writing. I’m averaging sales of 3,500 books a month, not including the month that Amazon featured Flat-Out Love in a list of books for $3.99 and under. That month I sold 45,000 Kindle copies, and sold over 10,000 the next month. Those numbers are insane to me. Absolutely insane. The fact that I continue to sell well a year after the book’s release is humbling. Yes, I wrote a book that has earned me excellent reviews, so I take credit for that, and I worked myself to death finding bloggers to review my book (God bless my loyal bloggers who took a chance on me!), but I have to credit Amazon with giving me such a strong platform with such overwhelming visibility. I can be a writer. I am a writer.

And it’s not just me. Self-published authors, many of whom are writing about college-age characters, are finding viable careers. Abbi Glines, Tammara Webber, Jamie McGuire, Tina Reber, AK Alexander, Angie Stanton, Stephanie Campbell, Colleen Hoover, Liz Reinhardt, and plenty more. I’m seeing more and more traditionally published authors walking away from the headaches and turning to self-publishing. It can be tricky to leave because very often an author needs the advance money in order to survive, and then gets stuck contracted for books that quite likely won’t earn out that advance or won’t ever provide much in terms of royalty checks. When authors break the cycle, get the hell out, and flourish on their own, it’s a wonderful thing.

Indie writers owe Amazon big time for what they’ve given us. Are they perfect? No. Do they make mistakes? Yep. And they’ll continue to make mistakes. But I promise you that traditional publishers never call up their authors and ask what they can do better. I nearly wet my author pants when I got a call from someone in the Kindle publishing department who wanted to know what publishing and promotional features I’d like to see. He wanted to know all about my experience with them, what I liked, what I didn’t like, and on and on. I was floored. Amazon messed up their sales reporting page not that long ago, and you know what they did? They sent a goddamn email out to their authors explaining what had happened! And then they fixed it! Do you think a big publisher would do that? No, they certainly would not.

But you know what these silly NY publishers are doing? Running around trying to buy now-successful self-published books. I know more than one author who is making $50-150,000 a month (yes, a month) who are getting the most stupidly low offers from big publishers to take over that author’s book. Why would my friends take a $250,000 advance (if even offered that much), take a puny royalty rate, see their sales hurt by higher pricing, and completely give that book up for life? They can and will earn more themselves and continue to reap the benefits of a 70% royalty while maintaining all the rights to their work. If publishers want to play the game, they have to pay according to what authors can make without them. Offer something that we can’t do on our own. Help us, believe in us, support us, and play damn fair for once.

While I’m certainly not making $150,000 a month, Flat-Out Love has done very well for me, and I’m earning enough that I can keep writing. I’m in the middle of another book right now, and I realized that one of the many fabulous things about working for myself is that I have complete freedom to write whatever the hell I want. A publisher certainly could have bought Flat-Out Love and signed me for a two or three-book deal. One of the many whopping hitches with that would have been that I’d then have to write another book or two that were in a very similar vein to Flat-Out Love. But I don’t want to do that. I want to write the book that I am now. The book that has swearing and sex. The book that is darker and edgier. The book that is definitely not for younger readers. A publisher would never have let me do that.

The New York Times recently ran an article about authors who are now writing two books a year instead of one. Why? Because they need the money. Of course they need the money! Their publishers are gouging them out of money that is rightfully theirs. When I read about one highly successful author who is now writing for fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, I thought, “What a lunatic. That’s not a life.” Look, I don’t think any author needs to release two or three books a year to earn a living. If that’s what you are comfortably able to do creatively speaking, go for it. Being on a publisher’s deadline to deliver a book every four to six months can be pretty rough. Life gets in the way, and emotions and creativity ebb and flow. Yes, writing is work and requires dedication, but it also has the capacity to be amazingly fun. Publishers, if you ask me, take a dump on much of the good stuff. For now, I’m happy to do one really strong, solid novel once every twelve to eighteen months. If I tried to bang out a book every few months, they would be crummy books, and I would be broke.

What’s funny is that despite loathing publishing houses these days, I actually hope that they pull their act together. They have distribution power. They have dedicated, talented people in the industry. They have the capability to do wonderful things. But for now they are so messed up, so outdated in the way they structure their contracts, and so often very out of touch with what readers want. Smart editors are often ruled by archaic designs. Do I have plans to seek out a publisher? Um, no. I can’t imagine one would take me anyhow. And I wouldn’t consider working with a publisher unless (until?) they make drastic changes to their business model.

Indie authors are writing for our readers, not for publishers and what they think will sell. And now we can afford to write! And I can assure you that freedom fuels creativity, risk-taking, and passion. We get to bring you our stories in the way we want to tell them, without the dilution and sculpting from publishing houses. And the fans? Oh, the fans are simply unbelievable. We are so directly connected to them, and the ease of communication and feedback is unparalleled. I’m learning what readers want, and I can incorporate that into my work without worrying that an editor will nix all the good stuff. Their support and enthusiasm breathes life into days when I feel particularly challenged.

And there are some spectacularly moving experiences. I’m in a circle of authors who have been dubbed The Cancer Warriors because our books have become saving graces for people going through cancer treatment. Readers are escaping hell on earth through our books. We sell smartly priced books with sharp content, books that never would have reached these readers without the ability to self-publish. We get to do our small part to help them fight. Getting to be part of something like this is at the top of my list for why I write. It makes me want to face New York publishers head on and scream, “You see that? Do you see what we’re doing without you?” Indie writing brought me into readers’ lives in ways that I never could have imagined.

I wouldn’t trade that for all of New York.

So yeah. Want to publish your books? Screw the old publishers. Self-publish and then let them try and woo you with a contract actually worthy of your hard work.

Free Amazon Kindle

ENTERTAINMENT/TECHNOLOGY - You can buy an Amazon Kindle gadget for reading eBooks for $109 or one of the more expensive versions like the Kindle DX (for $379).

However its not really WORTH that much.

When you consider you can read eBooks on a tablet like a BlackBerry PlayBook for $199, an iPad 2 for $519 or an HTC JetStream LTE tablet for $799 then what you realize is that the Amazon Kindle is a cheap piece of obsolete junk.

Same goes with the Kobo eBook reader and other eReading gadgets. They're all obsolete as tablet prices keep dropping and more tablets hit the market.

Which brings me to the topic at hand... If Amazon and other publishing companies really want to push their eBook readers they're going to have to resort to the same tactics used by the cellphone companies:

Start giving away free Kindles on some kind of contract basis. They will make more money off the book sales from people downloading and paying for eBooks...

Although to be realistic eventually (maybe 10 years from now) tablets will also be free and being sold on a contract basis, with the goal of selling eBooks, music, movies, games and internet service. For now the early adopters of this technology will have to pay.

Right now you can get a free Notepad computer just by signing up for Rogers Mobile Internet.

Or you can get $300 off a HTC JetStream LTE tablet (normally $799) by signing up for a 3 year contract for Rogers wireless internet.

So you see its already happening. Just give them time and before you know it eReaders and tablets will be free and they will be selling wireless internet, music and games to a hooked and addicted populace.

Antenna sales booming as TV goes digital

ENTERTAINMENT/TECHNOLOGY

At the end of August digital-only broadcasts replaced analog transmissions in most parts of Canada. People with older TVs that rely on rabbit ears must either buy a digital television, or a digital-analog converter box.

That or start paying for cable TV.

But some people find the concept of paying for TV silly when they can get up to 30 Canadian/American channels for free with a good quality antenna (like the one shown here)... or simply download their favourite TV shows online through a variety of websites which offer free TV downloads. ie. CBC, CTV and numerous other Canadian / American networks already offer streamed TV shows.

But for those who go the antenna route its an one time payment and they get digital stations broadcast in wide screen high-definition quality, and in many cases, with multi-channel surround sound audio.

This has caused a huge spike in antenna sales across Canada, according to Elliott Chun, communications manager for Future Shop. "Some people simply refuse to subscribe to cable, and since the [analog] cut-off the other week, we've seen a lot of customers coming in to buy an antenna."

So much so that Future Shop and many other stores are SOLD OUT of antennas. Sales associates are referring customers to their website to order antennas.

"Everything went bananas about two weeks ago when stations switched from analog to digital and sales are just as strong," says Jeff Bayly, owner and operator of the Ottawa-based OTA Canada (OTA = "over the air") which sells mostly outdoor antennas with a stronger reception. "We recently got shipment of 50 to 60 antennas and sold out right away, both in our storefront and online, but we've since brought in more inventory."

Bayly also wrote an iPhone app, OTAMap ($1.99) that lists all the HD OTA stations available and guides users on where to point the antenna (typically south, but there are exceptions) to get the best reception.

There's also "internet cable" now too. A box you plug into your internet service and download cable. Several companies available too: Apple TV, Boxxee Box or LG Smart TV Upgrader (all between $100 and $200).

Here is a list of pros and cons to using antennas:

PROS

Over-the-air HD broadcasts are free after the initial costs of an antenna (typically $40 to $150) and perhaps $40 for a chimney mount or $10 to $30 for an antenna mast. (If you're a smart cookie you can even BUILD your own antenna.)

The video and audio quality of these "uncompressed" HD broadcasts are often better than what you'd get from cable or satellite.

Canadians will get American commercials on American channels (great for watching Super Bowl ads).

CONS

Some set-up is required, such as buying and placing an antenna to pick up a signal; a digital TV with integrated ATSC tuner is required to process the signal. Reception can be affected by obstacles (tall trees, buildings) and weather (fog, hard rain, snow), but will still be better than satellite.

Station selection is limited. You can get the major Canadian and perhaps American stations, but few specialty channels, if any. But hey, you probably should not be watching TV 24/7 anyway. If you don't live close to the American border you probably won't be able to access ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX.

SMART PHONE SOLUTION

These days you can also just download / stream TV on your computer, laptop, tablet or SmartPhone. Now granted, nobody wants to sit there and hold their phone for 45 - 50 minutes watching a TV show... your arm and hand will get sore using the same position constantly. But there is a solution for that... you can either find a way to rest your phone up against books / etc so it is upright and you can see it easily, or you can buy a special stand for your phone so you can rest it there.

In a day and age when TV is becoming obsolete technology is still providing solutions.

Virgin Mobile overcharging you on your bill

TECHNOLOGY - Remember to check your bill. Your cell phone company may be defrauding you.

This doesn't just apply to Virgin Mobile customers either. Rogers, Bell, Telus, AT&T... they're all overcharging customers.

And there is a number of ways they do it.

#1. Company is Forgetful

You sign up for your phone and they "forget" to add a service you requested and then overcharge you that service. ie. You signed up for unlimited text messaging and they instead wallop you with extra charges for every text message, even though it supposed to be unlimited. See Virgin Mobile overcharging me for text messaging.

#2. Extra Fees

Charging you extra for 911, road side assistance, insurance, etc. Things you didn't even sign up for. ie. Bell Mobility is notorious for adding road side assistance to customers' bills without asking them, often adding it to people who don't even drive.

#3. Bogus Fees

These are things like "utility usage", "connection charge", etc. Anything that sounds "official", but they're not legally supposed to be adding to your bill.

#4. Faulty Math

If you've ever had this happen you know they're messing with you.

#5. Multiple Bills

Ever been on a group plan with family members? But for some reason they keep charging you separately straight to your credit card...

HOW TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST CELL PHONE COMPANIES

1) NEVER EVER GIVE THEM YOUR CREDIT CARD INFO. Always use online banking because at least then it forces you to look at your bill and know how much you're paying.

2) Remember to check your bill regularly if it looks like you're being overcharged. Look for anything suspicious.

3) When talking to customer service representatives make it clear you are not paying for their mistakes and demand retroactive changes / credits to your account. If they refuse to make those changes you know its time to start looking for a new company.

4) If you are forced to go look for a new cell phone company refuse to pay your old company anything until they fix the amount they were overcharging you. You may get a few calls from debt collection agencies, but you can explain to them you are not paying Virgin, Bell, Rogers, whatever one penny until they make retroactive changes / credits to your account. (If your credit rating is good a little dent will be worth it to stake a stand for your rights as a consumer.)

5) Remember that you always have rights as a consumer. Don't be bullied by the "big cell phone company". They're the one acting illegally, not you.

6) Organize a boycott on Facebook. Watch it go viral.

For more info check out the Ontario Consumer Protection website.

Flatscreen TVs, how flat can we get?

ENTERTAINMENT/TECHNOLOGY - Flatscreen TVs are getting thinner and thinner and lighter and lighter...

So lightweight companies like Samsung, Sony, LG, Logitech are pushing the idea that they're super easy to transport. Its essentially the same technology used in iPads and tablets, but on a larger scale.

Of course, no serious person is going to carry a whole TV around with them... unless they really want it to get stolen or broken. But its really just the concept that they're that easy to transport.

In the case of Samsung they're also pushing the idea that their TVs are "Smarter", as per Web TVs and Internet TVs, or whatever name you want to call them. The concept here is to make TVs more like SmartPhones, so people can do a lot more on them than just watch TV or browse the internet. This new era of TVs will come with downloadable games (just like a SmartPhone) so that even if there's nothing on TV, people can just play a game instead.

Which promises to really open up the market for makers of video games.

It also means the market is now ready for "Wireless TV", meaning you won't need an antennae, cable or satellite any more. It will just automatically connect to the wireless network the same way your cellphone does.

But you can be sure it won't be cheap. Wireless providers will probably be charging a fortune for service.

Microsoft buys Skype

TECHNOLOGY - Microsoft is in the final stages of a deal to buy Skype, the popular VOIP phone service. It is Microsoft's biggest acquisition in its 36-year history with Skype being valued at $8.5 billion USD. The sale became official earlier today.

Which is a bizarre price when you consider Skype has comparatively low profits and a chunk of debt.

The previous biggest acquisition was the $6 billion purchase of ad service aQuantive in 2007.

The purchase of Skype gives Microsoft a valuable communications tool as it tries to gain ground online vs. Google, which itself is gaining ground with both Google phone and its growing majority of the smartphone market. Google's Android OS is now used in over 55% of all smartphones.

Skype has 663 million users worldwide who make voice and video calls over the Internet, amounting to 207 billion minutes of phone calls in 2010 according to records.

HOWEVER we should point out the only reason people use Skype (or Google Phone) is because they're both (for the most part) FREE. Trying to make a profit off a free service is like going to India and hoping to find and Outback Steakhouse. Futile.

As a result Skype is really more of a "money losing enterprise" than the type of company that actually makes money. In 2010 Skype's losses was $7 million, despite efforts to boost revenue.

It makes sense that the previous owners (Ebay Inc.) might want to sell it and ditch their sinking ship. Instead they thought they might sell shares of their company by making an initial public offering of stock. The IPO is now forgotten since Microsoft is apparently dumb enough to think they can make money off it. (Its likely Microsoft will add Skype as a standard feature on all Windows systems in the future, thus becoming the default VOIP service for internet users. Whether they can make money off it is another matter.)

Microsoft says it will also be adding Skype as a feature available on future Xbox game consoles, Outlook Email and Windows Mobile smartphones.

Three years ago Microsoft made a desperate bid to buy Yahoo! for $47.5 billion bid... although it should be noted that Yahoo! stocks are undervalued (they're deliberately deflated by constantly splitting the stock) when you consider Yahoo! still maintains impressive global profits, and thus Microsoft's bid was ridiculously low.

We would estimate the real value of Yahoo! of being in the range of $110 billion (approx. $84 per share for 1.31 billion shares). Furthermore Yahoo! profits continue to grow steadily, up 84% in 2010.

Thus Yahoo! executives laughed off Microsoft's attempt to bid on their company.

In related news Facebook is thinking of getting into the VOIP business too, a risky move considering Facebook (like Skype) has its own problems with healthy profit margins.

NOTE: Ebay Inc. bought a 70% stake in Skype for $2.6 billion in 2005, but failed to unite the phone service with its online shopping business and has since given up trying. The other 30% was owned by private investors and equity firms.

Egad! Digital Cameras and Video Editing Software!

TECHNOLOGY - We are on a quest to find video editing software that is top notch, doesn't charge an arm and a leg, and is super easy to use (like your illiterate 5 year old kid could use it).

Last year Lilith News bought a new camera, an el cheapo Canon camera which came with a video function. Photography wise we don't have any complaints, but we scarcely use the video function because of three reasons:

#1. Even though we bought an extra large storage disk, the amount of time you can actually record is rather pathetic.

#2. We have difficulties getting the video off the camera and onto a computer properly. It sometimes develops errors while transferring the file from the camera to the computer. Maybe we are doing something wrong. Not sure.

#3. Once we have the video on the computer properly, its an issue to edit it. Since our computer runs Windows 7 (arrrrrggg!!!) it instead has "Windows LIVE Movie Maker" instead of the classic "Windows Movie Maker" (which was a much better program in terms of its range of options, ease of use, etc).

What we wish was that digital cameras and video cameras came with compatible *HIGH QUALITY* video editing software. You know, something which is standardized but really good quality, similar to the classic Windows Movie Maker but with even more options.

A friend of ours has recommended Honestech Video Editor, which unfortunately costs $59.99. There is a free version that we are planning to try using sometime, but there is a watermark on the video. According to CNET its only got 2.5 stars out of 5 and the reviews were mostly disappointment.

Sadly in the field of digital cameras/video cameras there is a lot of competition, both in hardware and the editing software. Every company out there is trying really hard to be "the cool one", but it would be nice if they went a step farther and was also the smart one.

Lets take for example the Samsung SH100, as seen in the video above and the photo shown here. It doesn't look very special.

But what is smart is that it has WiFi connectivity. It allows users to upload their images to the internet (to a location of their choosing, ie. Facebook or Picasa). This effectively means you have UNLIMITED space to store photos and/or videos made using the camera.

Furthermore the camera can be used remotely, like a spy camera, via the internet. That is impressive. And with video recording capabilities of 720p the quality is pretty good.

So that would solve problems #1 and #2 which we listed up above. But what about video editing?

Well as it turns out this camera DOES come with video editing software, a program by the name of Intelli-Studio. According to the video tutorial below Intelli-Studio is pretty easy to use and similar to Windows Movie Maker (which is exactly what we want).

So yeah, that solves problems 1, 2 and 3. The only problem is we're stuck with our Canon camera for now. The Samsung retails for $249.99 CDN.

Cellphone fees taken to task

CANADA/TECHNOLOGY - A Liberal politician in Ontario wants wireless companies to stop confusing consumers with complex cellphone contracts and high fees. David Orazietti has introduced a private member's bill in the provincial legislature that would stop unfair practices by wireless service providers.

If passed, the bill would:

Reduce cancellation fees;

Make advertising and costs transparent;

Clarify and simplify contracts.

This way consumers will know what they're paying for and aren't getting ripped off when their cellphone bill comes and has extra charges on it.

Companies would also be forced to unlock any phone once it's paid for, even if they haven't agreed to a contract, so buyers can switch service providers the same day without their phone being relocked and re-unlocked.

Quebec already implemented similar legislation in July.

HP Slate for Businesses

TECHNOLOGY - The HP Slate 500 will begin being shipped from warehouses on November 11th, 2 days from now, but unless a miracle happens it won't be in stores until January or February 2011.

At $799 USD it boasts front and rear webcams, a pen and a host of other items not found on the Apple iPad... more so its been designed to be more user friendly and business friendly, especially since it will be compatible with lots of devices that Apple iPads are not compatible with.



See Also
Google Tablet and TV coming
Apple Gadgets becoming Lame
$35 for an iPad?

The Hydrogen Bandwagon

CARS - Ford, Renault-Nissan, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Daimler, Chrysler, Kia, Toyota, Lotus, BMW, Volkswagon and numerous other car manufacturers are all building their own versions of hydrogen-powered cars which will be sold on the mass market. Almost every major manufacturer is on the hydrogen bandwagon.

There's even a hydrogen supercar, hydrogen buses, hydrogen motorcycles and hydrogen bicycles coming out. Boeing and several other aviation giants are also making hydrogen powered airplanes.

It really makes you realize that hydrogen power is the way of the future. The only real delay is getting the infrastructure in place so we can power our cars this way... infrastructure which is dependent on having more electricity to create hydrogen using sea water.

But the good news is that electricity plants will now have something to do with all the excess electricity that is left over (they always produce more than is actually needed to prevent brown outs). That excess electricity can now be used to create hydrogen and government-owned electricity grids will be able to turn an extra profit by producing hydrogen (which currently costs about the same as gasoline).

In the meantime here is some videos for you to enjoy!







However they really need to do something about the ENV hydrogen motorcycle. Its just not "manly" enough for the average motorcyclist. Give it some noises, up the horsepower, make it bigger and more impressive. They can still sell the wimpy version to those people who just want to get to work/etc, but most motorcyclists are in it for the enjoyment and need more than 8 horsepower. The ultra-light version might sell well in countries that want a cheap go-to vehicle, but it won't be popular in North America.

Android and RIM squeezing Apple Inc.

TECHNOLOGY - Google Android's software is now on 95 SmartPhone handsets, up from 60 in May. Revenue from mobile advertising is boosting Google's profit line and benefiting phone manufacturers like LG and Motorola because they don't have to pay to create their own operating systems for their SmartPhones.

Mobile advertising is still a very new idea, but Google is trying to cash in on an untapped market where competitors Microsoft, Yahoo! and Facebook will be unable to compete in without creating and marketing their own SmartPhone operating system. By being the only OS which is widely used Google has beat all the competitors to a market which analysts believe will explode with potential.

In the last 4 quarters Google had $27.6 billion USD in advertising sales. Google estimates that its mobile ad sales will break $1 billion in 2010.

And then there is the matter of YouTube, which is increasingly coming with ads before the video loads. Evidently Google is close to creating a monopoly on advertising. Its surprising that Google hasn't tried buying up television networks as part of its expansion.

Google recently purchased Teracent and Invite Media.

Meanwhile...
Research In Motion Ltd. demonstrated their new PlayBook tablet computer at a conference yesterday in L.A., scrolling through images and displaying video on the device.

The demonstration showed off how powerful, versatile and overall better the PlayBook is and how it out performs the Apple iPad, making the Playbook the "top pick" of RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky.

The PlayBook was first unveiled last month and will go on sale early next year. Unlike the iPad, the PlayBook can handle Flash technology, is more versatile, has front and back video cameras. The Apple iPad can't handle Flash videos or animation, including YouTube.

Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, is refusing to allow Flash video compatibility on the iPad because of rivalry with Google-owned video website YouTube.

With both Google and RIM working from opposite sides, Apple is looking more and more obsolete.

Review of CSN Boxing Products

We have an upcoming review of CSN boxing products. CSN stores sell a variety of things including kitchen items, houseware goods, bathroom things, fitness and health stuff... and so on. So if you are looking to buy a dining room table or a punching bag, its a company worth browsing.

The boxing items review will be posted on our new Product Reviews Canada blog, as well as mentioned on here.

Canadian Winters: Are they really so bad?

CANADA/ENVIRONMENT - We are firm believers that Canadian winters aren't as bad as some people think they are.

Although I should point out that 90% of Canadians lived in the southern 20% of the country.

But seriously, how cold is Canada? Not very, as far as 2010 is concerned, which has broken almost every heat record in the book and is on its way to becoming the hottest year ever recorded in Canada.

Still, depending on where you go in Canada the temperatures in the winter can drop to as much as -50 C. That is enough to freeze your gonads off. ie. The kind of weather in which you're wishing you had hired someone else to do your snow removal for the driveway.

And if its consistently cold then your heating bills just keep going up. You could try cutting back, but we find its usually better to just insulate your home better. See my blog post about Eco Renovations in Canada or go out and research ways to insulate your home better.

ie. One really good way to save is when you're building your home in the first place is to use economical energy saving materials, like insulated concrete forms, energy efficient PVC trim and insulated metal roofs.

Outside your home we recommend wearing scarves, hats, a hoodie, gloves/mittens... and if its really COLD outside, thermal underwear!

And if you don't expect to get a cold, frostbite or both. At the very least you might get dry skin and need to buy some natural skincare products.

But for all our complaints don't forget about all the wonderful winter sports we enjoy in Canada, starting with hockey. (Curling isn't a real sport in my opinion. It sounds too much like sex to be taken seriously.)

Check out:
Wayne Gretzky
Hockey Fight in Canada
Women's Hockey at a Crossroads

However regardless of where we live in Canada, we all make fun of how cold it is in Siberia. When we're not making Newfy jokes that is.

"Hey, that is offensive against Newfies!"