Generalities

The Domain Name Game

I have registered several Domain Names - just some interesting URLs that I hope to develop in the future. Here is my list (so far) -

DIGITALPICTURESFRAMES.COM
GLOBALPRODUCTMANAGER.COM
IWANTTOLIVEINHOUSTON.COM
LATINHYPERCUBE.COM
PAYWITHYOURCELL.COM
PAYWITHYOURCELL.INFO
PAYWITHYOURCELL.NET
POSITIVEBUSINESSIMPACT.COM

Even though I'm looking to develop these myself, I'm willing to listen to any fair business proposal involving these domains. You can contact me via email at robhiltbrand "at" hotmail "dot" com (I did this to avoid web crawlers from harvesting my email address) and reference the Domain Name in the Subject line of the email.

Open Source and Information Technology

Open Source refers to a piece of software which has the source code available to the general public for use & modification from its original design and is based upon open standards. Typically the source code is created in a collaborative effort in which members of the open source community improve upon the original code. There are those that equate the phrase "open source" with free. But don't think of free as in "free beer"; it is more along the lines of free as in "free speech."

The Source Forge dot Net is a great resource for anything Open Source. The future is open and those who embrace it will have a future, while those who hoard their goods will be left on the side of the road watching as the World passes them by. Open source was the subject of my thesis work and research project at the University of Houston.

Blog, Blog, Blog..........

Guess what, I have a blog!?! So what - everyone has a blog these days. What's great about a blog is how easy it is to update it with fresh content. I have this as my professional site while my blog is a more personal expression of myself online. It includes lots of pictures.

Some Thoughts On Life.....

Why does America garner such extreme feelings from the rest of the World? That is hard to say. But one complaint that comes up often has to do with American culture. Americans travel overseas and then complain when they can't find a Holiday Inn hotel or Denny's restaurant. Americans want to travel but they also want American culture to be everywhere that they travel to. Here is what I like to call the "Wal-Mart " analogy.

In many small towns in Texas, Wal-Mart has moved in and wiped out all the local vendors. Grocery stores, pharmacies, and garden shops have all been run out of business because Wal-Mart comes in with a big store and cheap prices. Now this is the nature of business. But the local communities say that they have lost some of what made them unique. The same goes for places all around the world. McDonalds, Starbucks, and the Gap are everywhere you go. McDonalds went into India and tried to sell hamburgers. Here is a hint, they don't eat cows in India because it is against their religion. We, as Americans, need to make the effort to understand how other cultures work. Imagine an American woman going to Saudi Arabia and being told to wear a traditional veil and other clothing. Well, it happens. Now reverse the situation. Imagine a Saudi woman coming to American and being told that she is required to wear a t-shirt, blue jeans and sandals. Something to think about.

Miami Vice - the TV Show

I am a child of the 80's. I freely admit that watching this groundbreaking television show is still one of my guilty pleasures. By today's standards, the actors are poorly dressed, the plots thinner that Kevin Costner's hairline, and the acting overdone. But I still love the show, despite it's shortcomings. The show lasted from the September of 1984 to May of 1989. The first few years were great, but like everything else on TV, the show went down hill towards the end. And of course I've bought all five seasons on DVD - what true Miami Vice fan wouldn't?

George Michael

I know, I know, why George Michael? I am secure enough in my manhood to say that he is a pop music icon from the 80's that has managed to stick around through to modern times. He is still very popular in Europe (wait a minute, isn't that what they say about David Hasselhoth?). George's Internet site is one of the best that I've seen. George has embraced the Internet as a means of distribution for his music. He is back on tour and my wife & I will go to his Houston concert during the Summer of 2008. You gotta have Faith!

Bill Gates or something like him..

I might disagree with some of Bill Gates' business practices, but I think he is right on when it comes to other issues. This is a common mistake, but the speech below is attributed to Bill Gates purporting to be him speaking to a high school graduating class and dispensing considerable wisdom. Whoever gave this speech talked about how feel-good, politically correct teaching has created a generation of kids with little concept of reality, thus, setting them up for failure in the real world. Here is his "Top Ten List."

The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You WILL NOT be a vice president with a company car until you earn both.
If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss. He or she doesn't have tenure.
Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different world for burger flipping - they called it opportunity.
If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine out your mistakes. Learn from them.
Before you were born, your parents were not as boring as they are now. They became boring by paying your bills, cleaning your clothes, and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This does not bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
Television is not real life. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.