Dillon On The Web

Business Training for 12 Year Olds!!!

2008-09-14T11:29:00.000-07:00

If you've been looking for a fun way to teach your kids (or students) about owning and operating a business, then the latest release from the NFIB (The National Federation of Independent Business) is just the ticket.

The Johnny Money online game teaches kids the essential factors to operating a successful business in the real world - but it happens in the virutal Johnny Money world - so you won't be risking real money.

Games last about 45 minutes, but if you don't have time to finish a game, you can always break it up into smaller units. This makes it perfect for the classroom setting where you may want to cover individual concepts and use the game as a great way to demostrate the concepts at the end of the class.

You can play the game for free at the NFIB website at http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_38451.html

Organic Flim Flam

2008-09-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

If you feel like eating "Organic" fruits and vegetables gives you more energy, then I have some placebos for sale on my website that will help you lose weight, and make you rich and successful in life!

You hear it all the time. People going out of their way to broadcast the fact that they only buy Organic foods. But what does that really mean? Is there a difference?

Clearly not.

This video shows in an entertaining way what many of us know from experience - the benefits of organic foods rests primarily in our heads.

Now, I know, you're saying, "But all those chemicals can't be good for you or the environment."

Why not? Afterall, those "chemicals" in the fertilizer are really just pumping up the naturally occuring chemicals in the soil - many times replacing what is depleted by the farming process.

And the other chemicals - you know, the pesticides - what are they doing? They're keeping nasty bugs from making a home in YOUR tomato!

Would you rather eat the bug? What if it was a larvae of some yuck monster that wants to use your intestines as a breeding ground for the next seven months.

Yeah, that sounds like an interesting (and fun) trip to the doctor. "Ma'am, do you realize you have a three foot long worm in your gut?"

Or how about getting some E.Coli or Staph infection.

I guess that's one way to lose weight. And hey, with the right marketing spin this could be the next Botox!

Breaking News: The Sun Is Involved In Earth's Climate

2008-09-01T11:29:00.000-07:00

The Sun's spotless month during August is making news, err sortof.

According to some Astronomers (see the article here), the spotless sun could mean bad things for our climate; and I'm not talking about the Gorian Warming either.

Apparently sun spots going away indicates one thing - cold. And cold isn't good. Cold is way worse than warm.

The article includes a graph that shows increased sunspot activity during the first part of this decade - correlating very nicely with the increased temperatures we've been seeing the last few years.

However, the graph makes a dramatic downward curve and this could mean downward temps coming really soon.

Better get the hot chocolate ready.

OPEC Rakes in Billions, But Blames BioFuels… Confused?

2008-07-21T08:54:00.001-07:00

That’s the title of the open letter published last week in the Financial Times by the World BioFuels Industry. Check out the letter at www.goodfuels.org/opec/. The letter addresses this ridiculous claim by OPEC that the reason for high oil prices is biofuels.

C’mon. I don’t think anyone with an IQ over 50 would buy into that. Increased competition always means lower prices. Not higher! What’s going on here?

Spin – pure and simple. OPEC wants to divert attention away from their collusion by generating false statements about the biggest threat to their monopoly on energy – biofuels.

Yeah, I know people think that Ethanol isn’t efficient, or that other forms of biofuels aren’t scalable. And in their current form, probably some of these assertions are legitimate. But the pace of evolution in biofuels is so fast right now, we’re going to have far cheaper fuel from biologicals than from petroleum in the very near future.

At least that’s what I’ve been able to gather from some of the reading I’ve been doing on the subject.

Declare Your Energy Independence!

2008-07-04T10:50:00.000-07:00

Yes, it’s the 4th of July today, and I hope you all grab a beer, a flag and some hot dogs and run around shouting like a bunch of drunken rednecks.

But before you do…

Sign this petition to help promote the use of Ethanol and decrease our dependence on foreign oil: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/declare-july-4th-energy-independence-day

It is being put together by DrivingEthanol.org, and my friend DarkPalmer has a really good article, “The Case for Ethanol” on why you should sign.

Keep the TelCos Out of Policy Making

2008-07-01T16:12:00.000-07:00

AngelTalks (http://angelatalks.blogspot.com/2008/07/kos-going-off-deep-end-again.html) brings up a good point in questioning today’s post on Kos. I think that generally the bloggers go around fanning the flames on these stories in an attempt to create controversy and link-bait.

But the fact is that the part every one likes about Barack Obama is the unity message.

Now, I’m not in favor of allowing the government to surveil the American people without a warrant. But Kos is ignoring the point of the amnesty portion of the FISA bill.

The purpose is to remove the reluctance of the Telcos to participate with the government when the government asks them for information. In truth, the government should be responsible to the people for what it does. If it over-steps its bounds then it should be held accountable.

But what I don’t want to see is Telcos making up their own policy by refusing to give legitimate information to the NSA simply because they are afraid of lawsuits. We don’t need lawsuits determining the course of our intelligence gathering activities.
We don’t need to empower our enemies that way.

Get a Social Networking Site – Like NOW!

2008-06-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

I love all these pre-built web systems. For just a few dollars you can benefit from a year or more of some developer’s time. It really cuts out the barrier to entry to building new sites.

One really great one is http://www.ning.com/. This company is actually behind many of the social networking sites you see out on the net.

Their basic system is free, and it allows you to completely customize your system.

If you want a custom domain, or additional bandwidth, then you’ll pay a few bucks per month. But the price point is very reasonable: $4.95/month for a custom domain and $9.95 for each 100 GB of transfer and 10 GB of space you use above the 100/10 you get for free with the system.

You’ll also pay about 20 bucks if you want to control your own ads. I’d pay the 20 bucks. Even if you just put adsense up, this would almost certainly pay for itself very quickly.

Visit http://www.ning.com/ for more information.

This Onion Will Make You Cry

2008-06-09T10:53:00.000-07:00

…of laughter that is. The Onion (http://www.theonion.com/) provides a satirical look at the great state of our politics, our media, show business, and sports. Just don’t start taking it too seriously or you’ll hurt yourself!

Oh, and don’t miss their “special coverage” of the White House race at http://www.theonion.com/content/whitehousewar! It is definitely worth the time.