For those of us who live here, it's frustrating. Tons of scams and bullshit.
But we can name 10 recent transplants who built new, very large homes at water level in the past 5 years (ever wonder why they tell you hurricanes are getting more expensive??)
Then these same transplants scream bloody murder if the water gets close to their house. It has dominated political discussion in areas where, imho, these homes shouldn't even exist and other, less wealthy residents are lacking proper infrastructure maintenance.
Many of those transplants lost their shit after the recent hurricanes, even though anyone who is native knows it's always a possibility when you live 25 feet from the water at water level.
Then these same transplants want the cities to work impossible magic and "fix it." These same city officials, from my experience, are almost certainly in the pocket of big real estate investors.
Anyway, I get it. It sucks to flood out. But many of of these rich transplants clearly do not have the SLIGHTEST idea how the physics of water works. They're lucky it recedes so fast in my metro too.
I studied linguistics in college but never used FLEx. Sounds like an interesting project. Why do you say it's not very good (outside being windows only) and what keeps you from starting this project?
Maybe not a cash drain per se but we've decide it's not worth it. For us, it feels less like an intentional product and more a total shitshow. Increasingly so.
It's always felt like a haphazard set of products right at the level of toleration. But that gap has become smaller and smaller, where we simply feel like there is no clear vision and there's always new annoyances. If I described our email troubles alone over the past two or three years... absolutely brain-dead issues. Ones which themselves cost a pretty penny in lost revenue. It feels like its becoming a pervasive sink of hangups.
I've come to detest their products as a whole, not unlike Salesforce. A few months ago, we decide we'd make a change to companies with more intention. We started with email. "Solid intention" is a hard thing to define but making major changes to my personal workflow made me see things in a different light.
Someone can rip me on this, cause idk if it's silly, but Obsidian for personal use set me off on a journey to try new methods and platforms, ones with maybe different philosophies and different communities around them. I've never been happier nor more productive. Same for my team.
Yes, this is part of it, (but I'll say, only a fraction of it.)
Big crisis at the company? Some businesses deal with very sensitive situations, which can include deaths or serious financial/info breaches. I discussed one of these with an org just this week.
Can you imagine the reaction to an AI that's scripted out a response?
"We're genuinely sorry... [insert 1000 words of generic feel-good garbage]."
We all know the AI isn't genuinely sorry, and good luck having it respond to the angry reactions from its own de-humanized response.
Or not...it likely wouldn't be able to tell when to respond and when to leave well enough alone. Not that every executive knows either, but still.
So, maybe 10 years ago, I wrecked my hand so bad that I switched to my non-dominate hand for mouse use for about 3 years. Even trying to go back to my dominate hand after a year, I could only use it for 10 or 20 minutes before it flared up again.
Switching took a little practice, obviously, but it worked wonders. All my roles have involved intense deadlines, and I was still able to perform.
After that time period, I was able to switch back to my dominate, which I tend to use 95% of the time now. However, I made a lot of changes to my workflow to avoid the issue ever happening again. There's lots of good ideas here, but I also switched in my personal life to make it more analog, which helps.
Listen. I'm going to give you some on-the-ground perspective here. Mostly because I'm drunk. ;)
I've started businesses (and by most measures, successful ones), and despite what all the gurus will tell you, I would not wish it on anyone.
I tell people often, don't do it. Unless you're a certain type of person, do something else, and even if you're that sort of person, it's probably going to suck. A lot. We're not honest enough about this in our society, because people have a certain respect for entrepreneurs and aspire to be one themselves. And there's an entire cottage industry that preys on these aspirations (yes, that includes some of these startup incubators, etc).
Really, you know if you're the sort of person who will keep going or not. You know if you'll love the challenge of pulling together a million different pieces (half of which you know nothing about sometimes) and when to check yourself... or not. You know what to listen to others... or not.
Most people are not built like this. I'm close friends with a number of very successful entrepreneurs, and they're... weird. Good folks, but always weirdos.
That said, since it's in your title, I have a high IQ (145) but I think it's important to add, I grew up in the ghetto, where such an IQ is not considered an asset... instead, force and street savvy often are.
The reason I bring this up is because I've done okay for myself. Not insane, but decent. I thrive in organizing chaos. Not to be too dramatic, but that's what starting a business is like, especially when it's your own money on the line. Most of the successful people I know in starting businesses are also smart, process-oriented, and curious as all Hell.
For perspective, I'm comfortable reading scientific papers outside my expertise and seeing the potential business applications that the MBAs likely aren't looking at, because, well, they're thinking about other things. I'm comfortable shooting the shit with my plumber... or my siblings in very niche tech or science. I love breaking things and asking both these types of people for help, so they can laugh at me. I've done some incredibly stupid things in the name of curiosity.
My advice? Stop reading, stop talking. Flip a coin and take a risk on something you want to see to its end. Then burn yourself out to see where it goes. But be prepared for a lot of heartache and pain.
If you do this, hit me up after. Would love to hear how it went.
Like others here, I doubt UBI in the US will look like relaxation and leisure.
But I think of 3 demographics the most on this topic:
1. People with disabilities
A bit different situation, but one of my siblings is somewhat unique in their disabilities (I speak publicly about the topic), and their SSI money is not what you would call "rolling in it." They have still had to work very low level jobs to pay for their Section 8 housing.
2. Most people who are bad with money
Also, we're friends with more than a few couples who already receive hefty sums from the govt (for some reasons, understandably so); yet even at $150k in the South, they're unable to make it work. They are blackholes of money for kava, video games, eating out, Disney trips, etc. They're all useless people, in my not so humble opinion.
3. Entrepreneurial folks
Then there's my wife and I: no interest in UBI. We don't want it and wouldn't take it. For me, I enjoy what I do and don't like to be dependent on anyone, if I can help it. I grew up poor, so I want to remember everyday that if I don't apply myself, I won't eat.
Each of these demographics is going to respond differently. IMHO, #1 needs more support generally, #2 no amount of support or money will fix their problems, #3 I would get frustrated if it was forced on me, even by circumstance.
Although I've worked in tech for a long time, I finally went to a conference a year or two ago, expecting maybe to have some fun conversations. Kind of went on a whim to see who I'd meet, even paid for the VIP.
Instead, it was 99% filled with everyone in my region shilling their ChatGPT wrapper like it was going to change EVERYTHING. There were nearly zero interesting tech or business conversations.
Edit: to more directly address your comment, it's interesting to see which businesses and sectors want to ram through AI with no clear reason and which have no interest in it.
Our kids? Hell, my wife and I don't use social media, except in very limited doses for work reasons. Our kids have zero access to it and never will. Their device usage is kept at a minimum and used for mostly educational or quality conversational purposes.
I hate how many people now, whenever we're around them everyone has their phones out scrolling through 30 sec videos. They want to show you things which aren't funny, aren't entertaining, aren't informative... it's damn near Idiocracy levels of content consumption.
[Insert video of someone badly dancing with caption that says "me."]
Personally, I find it bizarre and extremely boring.
Every week since she was about six months old, I've taken my daughter with me to get groceries. She's absolutely fascinated by the grocery store: the rolling cart, the colors and textures of produce ("ta-to!"), the other shoppers, the illustrations on packaging ("bear!"). I hand her items and give her their names. She shakes them, rotates them, repeats their names back to me.
But every time we go, I see at least one child my daughter's age or younger staring mindlessly at a phone or tablet, oblivious to their environment and the parent pushing their cart. It just seems sad.
I used to judge parents who resorted to tablets to keep their children quiet. I don't really anymore. You don't know how exhausted the parents might be or how many hours they've already spent trying to entertain their kids in a more wholesome manner.
I've taken a 2 year old on vacation and some of that time is spent going to unique restaurants that take a couple of hours for a meal. My toddler would get bored and squirmy and would quickly ruin dinner for the entire restaurant. Same thing for airplanes. Of course I don't resort to it immediately but if talking, interacting, and other toys don't do the trick, iPad is a very useful tool in the arsenal. A carefully curated list of educational, offline content is acceptable in my opinion.
Grocery store, or any other short errand? Sure, that's too much.
Since you're getting some responses to this, I'll add to what we started.
It's important to note: I think "judging" parents isn't productive. People don't understand there are an insane amount of variables involved in raising kids, especially day-to-day.
So even though, I agree with you: we have tried since the beginning to raise children who can go to museums, who can read for long hours, etc. On vacations, we always packed a big bag of books, mini-games, etc. This will keep little kids busy for hours.
The BIG part though...
Really, sometimes you simply have to let stuff happen. Part of being a parent is engaging your child when they're frustrated and bored, NOT getting rid of them. It's a HUGE part... walking with them outside to talk through their feelings and your expectations.
Is it a pain in the ass? Absolutely. Is it one of the most valuable things you'll ever do with them? Without question.
I've walked out of plenty of places to deal with my kid being frustrated. And sometimes we're in a restaurant for the first time in months and he's getting bored and antsy after an hour and a half and we'll put up some Bluey on my phone while we finish off desert. You win some, you loose some.
I've seen a wide spectrum in that. There are those that only wheel out the mind-numbing Youtube videos as a last resort, but I have seen other parents where the kid basically never has dinner without staring at a screen.
I took my 1 year old camping this weekend without my wife. I plopped him in the car seat and put on a Ms. Rachel video so that he would be quiet/calm while I packed up the campsite.
I felt a little bad resorting to using a video like that to "control" him, but then I carried him on a 3 mile hike where he spent the whole time looking at the trees, before eventually falling asleep.
I'm hoping that as he grows up I can just teach him to have a healthy relationship with things like social media and use it like anything else for entertainment.
Man, if you don't want to deal with the challenges of children, why have kids? I don't lie to myself, I know I couldn't do it and I didn't.
Maybe you just don't get to go out for dinner or ride on planes until they don't need to be hypnotized with a screen? You know it's bad for them but you're putting your comforts and freedoms above theirs and everybody else's.
I can't help but feel like the next generation has been completely fucked.
I feel like this mindset is part of why so many people are nervous about having kids, and I couldn't disagree with it more.
Your kid is not an optimization problem, they're a part of your family. If you want to do something unique that's going to bore your kids, it's fine to give them something to do; a half hour of screen time while you enjoy that fancy restaurant while traveling is fine. Your kid will be fine.
Sometimes you should put your comforts and freedoms above your kid's. You are not their servant, you are your own person who has your own wants and needs, and those get to win out sometimes. If your kid throws a tantrum when you're in an art museum, yeah, try to discipline them and calm them down and teach them. If you have a rare opportunity to visit a museum you've always wanted to, though, then it's fine to lose a battle or two here or there if the alternative is missing out on unique experiences that you value.
There are sacrifices to being a parent for sure, but the mindset that it's taboo to allow anything to happen that's not immediately in the best long-term developmental interest of your child is mind-boggling to me. Don't raise your kids in front of screens, but being a parent isn't some phase change that means you have to abandon all your interests and dreams and desires; it just means there's one more person whose interests and dreams and desires you have to care about now.
If you can't deal with the challenges of being on a plane where someone else's kids are screaming, maybe you just don't get to go on commercial flights. Just charter a jet.
Non-parents always have all the answers about how kids should be raised.
Don’t judge until you’ve been there. Screens are more of a last resort for my family but we do use them. We avoid most activities where kids will bore quickly but it’s impossible to avoid all situations like that.
This is so off-base I don't even know where to begin. "Maybe you just don't get to ... ride on planes" -- so the kids never get to meet their grandparents or great-grandparents who are too unwell to make the trip because you won't give them a screen for an hour or two? Like everything else in life, dealing with screens is a balance. Every day for multiple hours is too much; a couple hours on twice-yearly trips is not going to have any effect on them.
We haven't had to resort to an iPad yet, but I won't rule it out eventually. Especially on a long trip.
However, everyday errands just shouldn't require extended screen time. Children are naturally curious, making it even more surprising when one is glued to a screen instead of investigating their surroundings.
Yeah I don't judge other parents, this stuff is hard.
We do use downloaded stuff on netflix on flights or rarely long drives if we need to keep them awake. But we use colouring, activity books etc on planes before resorting to Netflix.
To be honest, sometimes I feel that if they are on a device too much they just get frustrated and wound up anyway, so you end up shooting yourself in the foot a bit.
Having said that we do let them watch TV at home. If you're parenting alone, sometimes it's the only option to get stuff done.
We live in HK where it's part of the culture to have restaurant meals with family from an early age. We started bringing him weekly around 4 months old. At least our son got quickly used to it and it's the same for a lot of our friends. They can handle 2 hours dinner without tablets...
I think it's culture dependent and maybe the fact that in most cases the food is in shared in the middle of the table makes it more engaging?
Ahh I just had to share that my 1 year old daughter also loves the grocery store. She doesn't want to leave the cart when it's time to go. Thanks for the comment.
People talk about kids being addicted, but I had to deal with my dad constantly showing me some Instagram video. Not necessarily a dumb video, but still not something I cared to watch.
These type of people are the people who haven't realized they've been indoctrinated, addicted, and tortured.
They have been induced towards a corruption by dependency scheme in subtle ways, and as a result their rational thought has diminished without them realizing it.
This naturally happens in any totalitarian state where you become dependent on the state for your decisions and values.
Religion in a way used to help protect against this, but with the spread and rise of nihilism and pacifism, religion has taken a back seat especially given the recent controversy and destructive path orthodoxy is taking.
These are the values that are so widely promoted and embedded in things today, following a War and Peace philosophy, which is acceptance of evil, or rather towards inducing a wilful self-inflicted blindness towards evil.
You may find the book "On Resistance to Evil by Force", by Ivan Ilyin, an enlightening read, written around the early 1900s, near the dawn of modern psychology. It discusses the topic of evil, in a objectively tied way (not delusion or mere opinion). It does this in a fairly refined way properly following rational principles, first with definition, and then building from there following Method, and the Hyper-rational practices of that generation. A translation to English only recently became available, it was originally written in Russian prior to and through the Bolshevik/Communist takeover.
There are aspects discussed that you can see were used incompletely in the design of the modern day prison system in the U.S and many other insights.
The book was published to refute War and Peace, since the philosophies written about in that book induce evil over time which follows in line with the Banality of evil (the complacent/slothful) becoming the radical evil (related to the Nazi's, and the Wannsee Conference). A semi-recent movie was produced in 2001, that uses the minutes taken at that conference to depict how it happened (quite excellently, albeit dark). Conspiracy(2001).
The problem with totalitarian regimes is people in these societies will attack those that threaten their belief systems, and that threat might include the imposition of the responsibility of deciding things for themselves.
See these authors for more material on the torture/menticide aspects:
They are all experts in their fields, or have been recognized by established experts for the excellence of their published works.
Joost Meerloo, "Rape of the Mind" (1950s)
Robert Cialdini, "Influence" (1990s)
Robert Lifton, "Thought Reform and the psychology of Totalism" (1950s)
One reminds me of "global trade winds." Not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but that's how it reads. It also feels very generic and unmemorable to me. Even though I have a lot of experience in product and company naming, I don't know the international trade industry, so there's that. Can you give more context, like who your target market is or which part of the industry you focus on?
Two, as @not_your_vase mentioned, sounds like JohnSmith2. Also, "X," imho, will be the "gimmick" name trend of the 2020s, which will possibly look very lame and outdated in the near-ish future (if not now). Do you use Exim specially somehow? Why the reference? Will your market appreciate that reference?
I've been kicking around the name "Orbital Edge" this week for fun. There is an Orbit's Edge in some other industry, but I think that domain is available. Other random ideas (because that's what I do), and which may pair well with a memorable logo: Vertical Bridge, Meridian's Gate, Obsidian Sail, Ocean Divide.
Obviously I'm in a double-word mood. Your mileage may vary.
My target market consists of wholesalers and companies seeking raw materials, as well as suppliers looking for merchants like me who can purchase their products in volume.
For more information, please feel free to visit my website: [ebastiban dot com].
Regarding Exim, in the trading world, "Exim" is shorthand for Export/Import.
As for your domain suggestions, all of them are good. I especially like Obsidian Sail and Ocean Divide, but I feel they might sound a bit unfamiliar to customers in the trading industry.
I’d be happy to find a name that combines "global" and "trading."
But we can name 10 recent transplants who built new, very large homes at water level in the past 5 years (ever wonder why they tell you hurricanes are getting more expensive??)
Then these same transplants scream bloody murder if the water gets close to their house. It has dominated political discussion in areas where, imho, these homes shouldn't even exist and other, less wealthy residents are lacking proper infrastructure maintenance.
Many of those transplants lost their shit after the recent hurricanes, even though anyone who is native knows it's always a possibility when you live 25 feet from the water at water level.
Then these same transplants want the cities to work impossible magic and "fix it." These same city officials, from my experience, are almost certainly in the pocket of big real estate investors.
Anyway, I get it. It sucks to flood out. But many of of these rich transplants clearly do not have the SLIGHTEST idea how the physics of water works. They're lucky it recedes so fast in my metro too.