How I'm using Google Schemer. Need an Invite?

Though it's still in private, beta mode, I've been playing around with Google's secret Schemer application enough to know that it's definitely the kind of kick in the butt someone like me needs.  I view myself as one of millions of dreamers.  As I started playing with Schemer's functionality and seeing other "schemes" that fellow users were creating, I was reminded of a very powerful Langston Hughes poem I learned in a literary criticism class in college:

A Dream Deferred

by Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

I remember how I reacted to that poem, too (fyi, I was a precocious and arrogant teen at the time).  I memorized the poem, word-for-word, and mastered a delivery that'd knock the socks off any impressionable female.  Long story short, the poetic words became meaningless to me; the purpose became simply to showcase my ability to be excellent in the presence of whomever happened to be the object of my affection.

I'm older.  I'd say wiser, smarter or other things but I'm just going to leave it at older.  I've known for a very long time that I'm capable of crazy, brilliant achievements.  I'm really no different than anyone else in that the potential is intrinsically available and merely awaiting its summons.  Sure, there are various methods of getting from point A to point B, but I have to think that publicly committing to achieve something will have the most shocking effect on the body, mind & soul.

Find out what happens when you commit to achieve a dream.  Assemble your goals in life and feel free to use the Google Schemer invite link below as one of your first steps towards checking "Done."  I have twenty (20) invites total.  First come, first served. :)

Google Schemer Invite Link

Mastering New Product Hype... without our friend, Asterisk

Whether you realize it or not, the asterisk ("*") is probably one of the most costly symbols here in our modern world.  Big, bold words can make a crazy claim.  But using the * can mean zero accountability if any converted believer/purchaser doesn't take the time to read the fine print.

But using the * can also be a purposeful boon to the responsiveness towards any marketing language when the entirety of the disclosure is actually meant to be read as a single pitch rather than hidden away at the bottom of a document using a -2 sized font.  Of course, the next step when trying to make a crazy claim would be to simply do away with the * and just up the ante of the marketing message itself.  Use weasel words or a :) and some extra !!!! or an "LOL" and be blatantly misleading in your claims.  If nobody would believe the marketing message on its face then mission accomplished.

So I have some new Huskers T-shirts to sell.  Well, actually, they more or less sell themselves because the messages are right there on the product.  That's just the nature of the T-shirt business.  But how about tossing in a few claims about how incredible these T-shirts are?  Better yet, how about combining the format of two claims into a two-sentence master claim that's both a boastful disclosure and a 100% serious half-truth?  Here we go:

• We believe this shirt is even more aromatic than a home-cooked meal of steak, mashed potatoes and corn.  Born in 2011, the CornBorn® brand has already survived three (3) chance encounters with Chuck Norris.
• We believe this shirt is even more delicious than a buttery ear of Nebraska sweet corn.  Born in 2011, the CornBorn® brand was designed to knock the socks off Bo Pelini.
• We believe this shirt is even more savory than a freshly popped and buttered bowl of Nebraska popped corn.  Born in 2011, the CornBorn® brand was designed to knock the socks off Bo Pelini's wife.
• We believe wearing this shirt can increase the performance of anyone who has to get up at 6:30AM and spend anywhere from 8-10 hours detasseling corn.  Born in 2011, the CornBorn® brand was designed to make other NCAA programs jealous.
• We believe that the world without this shirt would be like Halloween without candy corn.  Born in 2011, the CornBorn® brand is already able to says its ABCs and 123s.
• We believe that anyone wearing this shirt will see an immediate increase in energy and focus while experiencing visions of fields of golden corn.  Born in 2011, the CornBorn® brand is already a 3rd-Degree Black Belt.
• We believe that wearing this shirt will cause an immediate urge to start growing chickens, soybeans & corn.  Born in 2011, the CornBorn® brand has already gotten your father's blessing.

CornBorn, LLC announces licensing agreement with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

CornBorn, LLC, a small Midwest business, announced today a licensing agreement with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to create co-branded Huskers® and CornBorn® apparel and more.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Press Release) - February 05, 2012 - CornBorn, LLC, a small Midwest business, announced today a licensing agreement with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to create co-branded Huskers® and CornBorn® apparel and more.

As Nebraska natives, founders Randy Farwell and Tony Maibaum explained that while the licensing agreement definitely has a special, personal meaning to each of them, it wasn't a decision they made on a whim. "When we initially reached out to [the University of Nebraska-Lincoln] it was after we had already gotten feedback that many small companies and individuals had sought a similar licensing relationship but were either turned down or failed after the first year," says co-founder Tony Maibaum. "We wanted to make it clear to the University that we had not only developed a solid business model - drawing on our years of experience in the fields of Technology, Product Management and Business Management - but we had also cultivated an added dynamic with our CornBorn® brand."

"We're starting with a lineup of co-branded Huskers® and CornBorn® clothing offered exclusively via CornBorn.org," adds co-founder Randy Farwell. "We're also in the final stages with a large retailer to bring on our expanded lineup for this spring."

With a distinct focus on women's apparel and unique designs, CornBorn.org is also featuring an inaugural "Love Red" campaign that includes a charitable commitment for the month of February. Farwell explains, "Because February is Heart Disease Awareness Month, it made sense to us to not simply support the cause monetarily but to also devise a campaign that would actually promote awareness in its own way. Wearing a symbolic 'red' ribbon is one thing. With 'Love Red,' we're creating apparel that on its own is also a perfect fit for the 'sea of red' that shows up to Memorial Stadium, Hawks Field or the Devaney Center. Our hope is that our 'Love Red' lineup will also promote awareness well beyond February."

Beyond the company's initial launch the founders have also revealed their intention to expand into apparel specifically targeted to infants and toddlers. "I have a 2-year-old boy running around the house and another baby boy due next month," explains Maibaum. "My intent is to develop clothing for them that will last for years and can become hand-me-downs. Randy [Farwell] and I have been extremely selective at every level of production. When you're working with a premiere brand like the Huskers® and if the intent is to build a new brand, too… simply put, you just can't cut corners when it comes to quality materials and workmanship."

SCAM: Your Federal Tax Payment ID: 010363142 has been rejected

I use Google's Mail service for all my personal and business email accounts. In my opinion, they do a great job of managing all the spam and potentially malicious emails that are thrown each seconds at anyone's email accounts. That said, I still see the occasional email that's bogus and doesn't nearly everything right when it comes to being an effective scammer. Just this morning, I got hit up with an email that used my Google Checkout post ID to fill my Inbox with the following heads-up from the "IRS":

Your Federal Tax Payment ID: 01037542 has been rejected.

Return Reason Code R21 - The identification number used in the Company Identification Field is not valid.

Please, check the information and refer to Code R21 to get details about your company payment in transaction contacts section:

http://eftps.gov/R21

In other way forward information to your accountant adviser.

EFTPS:

The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System

PLEASE NOTE: Your tax payment is due regardless of EFTPS online

availability. In case of an emergency, you can always make your tax

payment by calling the EFTPS.

 The .gov link that was included in the email is actually a link to (DO NOT CLICK THIS LINK) http://eftpsid3532.com/contacts/s3 (I HOPE YOU DIDN'T CLICK THAT LINK).  I've been on the Internet a long time and I've learned to be constantly suspicious.  I know the IRS doesn't communicate directly with us taxpayers like this.  I also know the IRS wouldn't send a bulk email to not only me but dozens of other very similar email addresses to my own.  Here's how the email looked:

Also interesting to me is that I had purchased an item from Squishable.com over a year ago when my son was born and I did use Google Checkout to complete the transaction.  My guess is either Squishable.com's login credentials have been compromised or they're interested in another revenue stream - scamming customers with malicious links.  It's big business after all.

"The Last Airbender " Teaser Trailer or: How I convince you to watch an incredible, underappreciated animated series.

A couple years ago I fell in love with the Nickelodeon cartoon, "Avatar: The Last Airbender." It's not too often that a cartoon is able to bridge the gap between a powerful story and playful, kid-friendly characters. The series came to an end last July with a finale that I still periodically revisit because of the emotion, action and internal conflict that distinguished both the main character and the entire series from any other serial production I've seen. Seriously. It was that good. Watching the series with my 8-year old boy was also a special treat because he and I had the chance to not only enjoy the incredible action sequences and genuinely comic moments together, but also talk about the universal themes of good vs. bad, power & responsibility, friendship & love. Watching "Avatar: The Last Airbender" with him made those discussions incredibly easy because the talking points were framed so well and were especially accessable to his age/demographic.
If you're completely clueless to the story of "Avatar: The Last Airbender," I'm not even going to bother going into the story. What I can tell you, though, is that if you're in your 30s like me or have kids who watch TV (don't they all?) or, basically, are between the ages of 6-99, you'll love this series.
With the new "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" movie hitting theaters this week and with a new, world-premier teaser trailer of M. Night Shyamalan's live-action"The Last Airbender" set to precede the Transformers movie, I want to encourage anyone at all interested to please, please, please take advantage of the time in between now and the release of the live-action film to watch the three incredible seasons of the animated "Avatar: The Last Airbender."
By the way, early reviews of the new Transformers have ranged from "sucked" to "sucked hard." With that, I'm more than happy to spoil the only reason I would have wanted anyone to see the movie:

If the above teaser trailer does anything for you (personally, I'm a little conflicted but hopeful), here's where I'd tell you to go next:
Avatar - The Last Airbender: The Complete Book 1 Collection
Avatar - The Last Airbender: The Complete Book 2 Collection
Avatar - The Last Airbender: The Complete Book 3 Collection

Alternatively, for all you Netflix users (I love you!), head over and add the following to your cue: Avatar - The Last Airbender - The Complete Book 1 Collection.

Pooh & Piglet take a walk... but Pooh's got H1N1 on his mind...

The Banking Crisis Explained

Young Chuck moved to Texas and bought a donkey from a farmer for $100.00. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day.

The next day he drove up and said, "Sorry son, but I have some bad news, the donkey died."

Chuck replied, "Well, then, just give me my money back."

The farmer said, "Can't do that. I went and spent it already."

Chuck said, "OK, then, just bring me the dead donkey."

The farmer asked, "What ya gonna do with him?"

Chuck said, "I'm going to raffle him off."

The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead donkey!"

Chuck said, "Sure I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he's dead."

A month later, the farmer met up with Chuck and asked, "What happened with that dead donkey?"

Chuck said, "I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars apiece and made a profit of $898.00."

The farmer said, "Didn't anyone complain?"

Chuck said, "Just the guy who won. So I gave him back his two dollars."

Chuck now works for the BANK.