The New Ideas Blog

I just got a sales brochure in the mail from a local rent-to-own store. It’s one of the big companies, but the name is not important since they all operate about the same way. They target the young and irresponsible and ignorant.

Let me give you a quick example. One item in the brochure is a Toshiba 26-inch LCD TV. I went online just now and found that you can buy one for $399, not to mention that you can buy cheaper brands in that size as well. So what does it cost you to own one by making payments? Just $18 per week, the advertising says. But look at the small print, which the law must require.

“Total of all payments: $1,637.08.” That’s right. You get to pay four times as much as a cash buyer. By the way (more…)

Somebody asked me what was in my ebook “99Lies,” which comes with The Secrets Package. Here are some samples, but I have to warn you. These are “teasers” - meant to get you interested in the package. For the “rest of the story,” you’ll have to check out The Secret Information Site.

Lie # 1 - You Should Change The Oil Every 3,000 Miles

Why has 3,000 miles become the standard for oil change frequency in cars? Is it because that’s what’s best for your car? No! It is because it has been effectively promoted by the oil change industry. This lie makes them (more…)

I was an angry young man many years ago, so I know a bit about the phenomenon. Unfortunately being angrily opinionated is not limited to young men or women, but during youth is when this negative power seems to be at its most dangerous. Here is what I see in the angry opinions that many people feel the need to voice.

The angry young man (or any angrily opinionated person) has discovered the TRUTH. What’s more, now that he has discovered it, it is (more…)

How far should we go when selling a product or service? We may disagree about where the lines are when it comes to marketing ethics, but hopefully we can agree that they exist and are not simply “whatever is legal.” There are many things that marketers do that stay this side of legal, but are clearly meant to be deceptive, which to me crosses the line.

For example, many products are advertised on television like this: “Just $9.99 - buy now and get a second one free.” Of course you (more…)

I am reading “The Four Hour Workweek” by Timothy Ferriss and enjoying it very much.  Some of his ideas are the same one I have had over the years, but he has organized them (and his business) in a much more consistent way.

For example, I have written about how having time makes life richer - and I mean in monetary ways as well as in the ways one can use that time to directly pursue (more…)

We say a cat is “ours,” but who chooses who?

He was hesitant to come near us at first, but soon he was laying on the porch steps and letting us pet him. We fed the cat a bit of tunafish at some point, and he began to visit us regularly. He even ran inside the house when we opened the door. We didn’t object, and soon he made the house his own.

By the time he had started to spend hours at a time with us, we wondered where he lived (more…)

I wrote an ebook called “You Aren’t Supposed To Know - A Book Of Secrets,” and I sell it with several bonuses, including my ebook, “99 Lies.” That ebook has lies we are lead to believe, ranging from the necessity of an oil change every 3000 miles to how manufacturers hide how much sugar is in their products. The format for the first 50 is “the lie, the reason for it, the truth, and why it matters.” I thought you might like a sample, so I’m reprinting one here:

Lie # 34 - A Juror Has To Judge Only The Facts (more…)

Does too much arguing get in the way of effective use of your brainpower? Maybe.

Suppose you say the moon is closer, and I say the sun is. Obviously one of us has to be right, and this argument has clearly defined terms, so it should be possible to “win.” On the other hand, arguing with someone who insists that the sun is closer to the Earth than the moon may be a waste of your time, to say the least. Don’t forget the saying I just invented: Arguing with a fool creates another.

Now what about a more common type of argument (more…)

A recent article in Newsweek magazine (October 14, 2008) reported on research into how processing digital information can “rewire” the neurons in your brain. UCLA neuro-scientist Gary Small says that the ways in which we gather information and communicate has caused a rapid evolution which could change the human brain. He says, “As the brain evolves and shifts its focus towards new technological skills, it drifts away from fundamental social skills.” (more…)

Futurists suggest that we can know something about what will happen by looking at trends that are in place and have reason to stay in place. Saying when something will happen is difficult, but certainly anyone who watched the trend in ever riskier loans and constantly increasing debt could have safely predicted that at some point we would have serious financial trouble in the United States. Many people did predict it.

Look closely at the trends in China and India, and you can see that (more…)