About Movie

Everyone is a celebrity at something, and by "celebrity" I'm not talking about movie stars, professional athletes or those overnight sensations that are here today, on the cover of People tomorrow and gone by Friday.

True celebrities are experts. In a lot of cases they're experts at acting, putting a ball in a hoop or looking sexy in next to nothing. But believe it or not, most celebrities these days - the ones that keep auditoriums and hotel conference rooms and even bookstore shelves full - are folks like you and I; people who realized what they are very, very good at and put it to use by celebritizing themselves (or putting their expert status to use as a modern celebrity).

You, too, can become one of these nowadays celebrities, no matter what business you're in, how big your company is (or isn't) or even if you don't think you bring the chops.

The best part is, it's as simple as 3-F's:

Find...Yourself

To be a modern day business celebrity you have to know 1) What you're good at, 2) What are you passionate about and 3) What people need from you. Celebritizing yourself is about knowing all three of the above, not just one or two.

So, what are you a good at? It could be anything: gardening, management, economics, knitting, housecleaning, politics - the works. The experts we all know and recognize and who become celebrities, everyone from Tim Russert to Ty Pennington to Linda Cobb, the Queen of Clean, to George Stephanopoulos, may come from a wide array of backgrounds but all have one thing in common: they know what they're good at and do it very, very well.

Next, what are you passionate about? Now, being good at something and being passionate about it are two very different things. You can be great at fixing cars but hate talking about it, sharing it with other people. If so, this topic just wouldn't qualify for the expert celebrity game. But, if you look a little harder to identify what it specifically about fixing cars that you truly love and you find it's restoring classic automobiles, now that's something you could celebritize!

Finally, what do other people need from you? So what if you're good at fixing cars AND passionate about restoring classics? Is there a market for that? Do people really want to talk about that? And are you the right person for the job? Once upon a time I might have said, "No, there's no market in celebritizing yourself around restoring classic automobiles." But that was before Car Talk on NPR made its and co-hosts (and brothers) Tom and Ray Magliozzi famous. That was before Antiques Roadshow captivated the country's attention and before both the History and Speed channels became cable staples.

Nowadays, truly, if you are an expert at something, passionate about that thing and can find a market for it, you too can become a celebrity!

Focus...On What Works

We all know what's going to work for us and what doesn't.

Blink and Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell is a celebrity x 10 but I don't think you'll ever hear him screaming into a microphone on some shock jock's call-in show; it's not him, it's not his audience - it doesn't work.

On the other hand, Guy Fieri, celebrity chef, cookbook author and winner of the Food Network's first "The Next Food Network Star" contest, IS just the kind of passionate, verbal, excited and outgoing individual who has made a career out of what works for him: using his natural passion and enthusiasm for his expertise - cooking - to create a personal brand that is suddenly dominating the Food Network scene.

Of course, even a profound extrovert like Guy Fieri pales in comparison to pundit, expert, author and popular CNBC host Jim Cramer. Cramer, with his trademark rolled up sleeves and loosened tie, intense eyes and voluble vocabulary, spends every evening shouting his message of the latest stock tips to an adoring and exceedingly loyal fan base on his popular TV show, Mad Money.

With his expertise, proven credibility and solid background, Cramer could have easily been a popular and successful pundit. But by finding his niche on his very own show, Cramer has truly shone and become what most experts crave: a celebrity.

Malcolm Gladwell, Jim Cramer and Guy Fieri are all experts; all are also bona fide celebrities.

And all are doing what works... for them.

Finesse... the Message

Finally, you need finesse; specifically, you need to finesse your message. It needs to be clear, concise and focused. For instance, if you are an absolute miracle worker when it comes to organizing things, it only makes sense that your message is organized as well.

What is that message? Let's say over time you've realize that most people aren't organized and even fewer people recognize the value of organization. So to make it clear for them just how important it is to be organized, you've come up with a simple three-part message that you communicate everywhere you go: your message is that organization saves time, increases productivity and boosts profits.

That message is delivered every time you publish something, hand out a business card or invite someone to read your blog. That message isn't just the words you use but the graphics you use in your brochures, on your Web site and on your business card.

Let's say you start a blog to spread your message about how important it is to be organized. You wouldn't write about sports scores or share holiday recipes or Hollywood gossip, would you? Hardly. Your message is that organization saves time, increases productivity and boosts profits.

So every blog post must reiterate that message in articles that have to do with your core expertise. You'll want to write about how an organized office is a productive office, you'll want to link to news stories or breaking research that reveals organization boosts effectiveness by 28%, etc. Otherwise you're just wasting that message, if not ignoring it altogether.

Embrace Your Expertise

So much of expertise is confidence, but we've seen how confidence alone isn't enough to become a celebrity. The bottom line with becoming a celebrity is that once you find... yourself, focus... on what works and finesse... your message, the foundation is already in place for what promises to be a bright and celebritized future.

Becoming a celebrity next becomes a matter of taking all three of these vital core skills and truly embracing your expertise so that you will have the confidence to truly shine in whatever it is you are good at, are passionate about and can find an audience for.

Once all these elements align, the sky truly IS the limit!

Mary Poppin's comeback, "That's a pie crust promise, easily made, easily broken," echoes in my head as I listen to partners repeat marriage vows to one another. Weddings may be impressive, but statistics have it; human beings are not good at keeping their promises. The divorce rate is such that almost every person now-a-days has been affected, directly or indirectly, by broken vows. How do we experience a promise fulfilled?

A vow is a declaration made by one person to another, binding the person who makes the promise to do, or not do, a specified act. Vows are important. Promises can reveal expectations. The problem is, human vows are frequently presumptuous, preposterous, or naïve.

It is almost comical as I look back and picture my then fiancé, and I, in church, making promises to one another at our wedding. To put it bluntly, I was young and stupid! The expectation of "happily ever after" was tantalizing, yet fragile; mainly because life is not a fantasy.

So, the first year of our marriage was dicey. Settling into the practical aspects of life with a mate seemed tedious. But, instead of pushing myself, or my husband, to keep the euphoria of our relationship going, I pushed myself to sit down and be reasonable. And then, a few light bulbs went off in my head.

Light bulb number one was, no more promising (swearing) to do something I've never done before, or vowing not to do something I've done already. Action speaks louder than words.

Light bulb number two was, set practical, yet satisfying expectations.

Here is a pertinent example, on the subject of intimacy, of how those light bulbs shed light on spiritual unity within our marriage.

"Making love" is common verbiage. The cliché "making love" is repeated in movies, on the radio, and out on the streets. We've probably said it ourselves. And, we are trained to know very well "making love" means having sex. However, this framework is problematic.

In all reasonableness, how can "making love" produce a world full of disease, abortion, and unwanted children? Why does rape exist, if sex has to do with love? Why do we innately cringe when infidelity occurs? And, why are ex-partners, who previously made love, now sending out high frequencies of resentment, lies, and spite, and polluting our mental milieu?

Basically, sex is overrated, but I didn't want to underrate it either. So, I reasoned, starting with love.
Due to my religious background, the phrase, God is Love, came to mind.

So, God isn't only loving, but God is Love itself? Infinite Love.

I ribbed myself. The idea of "making God, Love," was so preposterous that from then on my definition of sex was no longer overrated or underrated. My husband and I became honest about sex. When we want to have sex, for the purposes of either multiplication or birth-controlled devotion, we say just that to one another. Sometimes conversation will follow the request, usually not, but our sexual activity is respectful, spontaneous, and satisfying.

Sex is only one part of our relationship. After twenty six years of raising children, fostering children, financial ups-and-downs, career changes, traveling, family deaths, moving, anger, forgiveness, crying, laughing, having sex-human life experiences-it is apparent that, thoughtful affirmations experience a fulfilled promise. Let me explain.

Every day, my husband tells me I am beautiful. Well, maybe not every day, but it feels like it. I never expect him to say I am beautiful. I don't anticipate it. He will declare beauty even when I am sick and distraught. And, after his affirmation, I affirm to him, A beautiful person sees beauty. And, we mean it. We feel it. They are not words filling dead air. They are profound promises manifest, coming from something greater than ourselves; coming from God, Love. It is similar to saying, It is snowing outside. And, it IS snowing outside. No stopping the promise fulfilled. We don't do anything to fulfill the declaration, but we acknowledge what is done.

Human vows won't make goodness, or love, happen. So, don't work so hard to make something happen. Right now, the promise of Love is fulfilled. As we act on the spiritual truth of Love's fulfilled promises, our expectations become reasonable and we inevitably experience unbroken vows. From 21st Century Science and Health, "Love is reflected in love."

Breathing is life and different people have differing breathing patterns but all that is needed is that they all have healthy and proper breathes. Poor breathing leads to a lot of disorders but they can be prevented. There is a relation between good breathing and various breathing capability stages and their relation to the individual's health, well being and life span.

Breathing is affected by the ease, strength, depth and the smoothness with which it is taken with increased breathing volume and vitality. The condition of the body (ill health) calls for a different breathing procedure from those with sound health. Ill heath means that the body is not performing some of its functions as it should thus different levels of oxygen are needed. Denial of oxygen to the sick worsens the disorder because the body does not have enough energy to fight the disease causer's letting them spread unchecked.

The activity one is engaged in their day to day life also affects the amount of oxygen levels in the body. This means that parsons who do manual work that demands a lot of energy will have bigger breathes as opposed to those who sit on a couch to watch movies most a time. The climate and the environment we live in is also a facto as where the environment is polluted then there is little oxygen hence straining the muscles of breathes.

Breathing being life should be taken very seriously especially in regard to the age of the individual. Children whose body is growing need better breathes because the brain is still growing and failure to have enough oxygen does lead to mental retards. Supply of oxygen to all the body parts leads to faster and even growth.

It is clear that different situations lead to different responses all for good healthy breathe

Obviously, the first thing that you need in order to record sound in general and music in particular is a good microphone. In earlier recording history, the only method to record sound was by using a conical shaped object that made impressions on a wax disc and could only take a single mono input. Now, with today's ever advancing technology, musicians have it relatively easy because the choice of recording equipment ranges from the simplest most modest home studio setup at an extremely affordable price to the high-end professional international standard quality audio gear made for the creme de la creme. Since this article is made for the DIY musician though, today we will look at the basics of microphones so that we can make an educated purchase that suits our budgets and our artistic aspirations when the time comes.

Microphones are divided into 3 main categories:

1. Dynamic microphones, also known as moving coil microphones. They are called moving coil mics, because that is the mechanism with which these kinds of mics work - by using a movable coil that receives stimulus from vibrations in the air and then translates that movement into electrical energy to be fed into the signal chain. It is also called a dynamic mic, because these types of mics are usually used for live performances, or to record relatively loud and strong sounds, like kick drums or electric guitar cabinets. The main character sound of a dynamic mic is that it sounds slightly dull due to the inherent frequency response allowed by the moving coil. But this is traded with durability and endurance: dynamic mics are the strongest mics around, so they are often used in live performances when the conditions on the stage can be too dynamic for sensitive equipment. The ubiquitous dynamic mic (that is hailed as the must have in every studio) is the Shure SM57.

2. Condenser microphones, also known as capacitor microphones. Like the dynamic mic, the capacitor mic receives its nickname due to the mechanism it uses to receive and translate mechanical energy into electrical energy - by using a capacitor (or conductor) to translate the vibrations into electric currents. Condenser mics are the studio engineers favorite for sound sources that are soft, fragile, and have a high frequency content i.e female vocals, violins, acoustic guitars, and cymbals. The advantage of condenser mics is that they have a better frequency response for high frequencies, so they are good for catching material that have insinuations or rich in high frequency harmonics. There isn't a ubiquitous example of a condenser mic like there is for a dynamic, but beginner standards include the Rode NT1A and the Audio Technica AT2020.

3. Ribbon microphones. I am sure you must have seen one of these unique looking mics, if you are a musician. These are the mics that you see in classic 1950's movies, where the female singer in the bar with the red dress holds the mic stand and sings into a mic that is shaped like it has grills on the side. Ribbon mics use a very sensitive method of transducing electricity from vibrations, and are therefore the most fragile of the three types of microphones available. They're sound is a blend between the warm quality of a dynamic, but can also catch the high frequencies like a condenser. Ribbon mics are usually used for specific purposes, because if you can use it right, you can create a signature sound that can't be achieved with garden variety dynamics or condensers. The unique usage of ribbon mics make them the most expensive on the list, when compared to the other two types.

By using the correct type of microphone, we can achieve a better quality of sound recording. Granted, that art is limitless, and there are no hard and fast rules. But it always helps to have a guideline so that we can make an educated guess, and aim to achieve the same sound quality as we hear on our favorite records.

To your mic choosing prowess,
Endy

Because the room is a completely visual environment, lighting is one of the most critical elements. With good lighting, you can enjoy sharp images on the screen while safely moving to get popcorn or a glass of wine. Bad lighting, however, will wash out images and make a $15,000 projector perform like an $800 office supply store special.

From a performance standpoint, the best video rooms are a thoughtful blend of projector, screen, room and lighting, and the challenge is to provide an overall design that performs extremely well when the lights are low. Let's start with the screen. It's important to make your screen size just right for the room, because an oversize screen reduces the contrast of the image as well as accentuating pixelization. Choose a smaller screen for a sharper image - the result, you will find, is sort of like sitting in the center of the theater, rather than in the front row, where the screen is way too large for your field of view.

Next, you need to ensure a relatively dark room with very little ambient light. Forget daylight or windows, or install black out shades. The reason is contrast; it is the ratio of screen image white to screen image black. Black is actually not black, but rather, a low level of light depending on both the room's ambient light and the inter-reflected image light that bounces off the walls and ceiling of the room. Make sure that the room itself is not causing lighting and image contrast problems. Use mostly dark wall finishes, especially around the screen. Don't hesitate to paint the room, including the ceiling, a dark color, because if you don't, light from the screen's own image will be reflected off the ceiling and will wash out the image. It's OK to use saturated colors like red or blue as long as the color is deep and low in reflectance. Avoid finishes with shine or sheen, like gloss paints. The most critical surfaces are the ceiling and walls in the front of the room, and the wall in the back of the room.

Finally, you need to take into account the fact that the room, like video, should be dynamic. When you enter the room, the room décor and architecture is very important. Then through the use of dimming and systems integration, the lights fade, and the room's function and comfort become the dominant issues.

Lighting for the room tends to be divided between functional lighting, which ensures the ability to move about and see critical tasks, and decorative lighting, that is chosen more for the appearance and character of the lighting fixture and effects. Decorative lighting should be turned off during the program, so it can be anything whose style and appearance are a proper match for the décor. There are literally thousands of choices of wall sconces, pendants, and chandeliers that fit the bill. (I'm not sure I'd recommend a crystal chandelier, because the crystal facets could actually cause disconcerting reflections from the screen, but that's up to you.)

The hardest part of home theater lighting is the functional lighting. With a good design, you can read a detailed description on a DVD cover with a minimum impact on the screen contrast, and then find your way to the door while others watch the program. For this type of lighting, a little bit goes a long way, and finesse is highly desirable. Most importantly, use lights that throw absolutely no light onto the screen.

I tend to use two separate functional lighting systems. One of them is the higher level "task" lighting, and the other is a safety/step lighting system. For the task lights I prefer low voltage fixtures, usually with good shielding and narrow flood MR16 lamps. Keep lights at least 4 feet away from the wall so that no light spills onto a wall. You can get good results from low voltage recessed, track lighting and monorail lighting systems. Be certain to place these lights on their own dimmer, as you will want to turn them off once you've settled in to the movie. Avoid regular "cans" in home theaters - they tend to wash out screen images.

There are many ways to provide step lighting. Consider actual step lights, keeping in mind that the smaller LED and xenon lamp step lights are typically all that you need. Other designs, such as those using linear light strips under steps in the floor, will be inspired by the room's architecture and finishes. Always remember to highlight steps and changes in level - it's OK to move from pool to pool of light on a flat floor, but if steps are involved, make sure that the step is in a one of those pools of light.

Connect these lighting systems to modern dimmers and permit the integrated control of lighting along with the rest of the home theater electronics. Even if the home does not have a dimming system, use preset dimmers in the theater. This will make it easier to push one button and have lights - projection - action, the ultimate feature of a real home theater.

The world of gaming has developed to the extent that even choosing a way to play games is a difficult decision in itself. As well as the range of gaming platforms, there is also the cost to consider, and you wouldn't get much change from a few months worth of mortgage payments if you were to buy every gaming system and console currently on the market. With the cost of the actual games too, you can literally go broke staying on top of things if you are a avid gamer. The cost of involvement hasn't hindered the development of the gaming industry though, which is now more popular than ever before.

The online capabilities of most gaming platforms and games has been highlighted as the principal reason for the beyond expected growth of the gaming industry. Whilst online gaming has been around in one form or another for some time, it is only lately that it has come into its own. From the days of simply playing 'Pong' with a friend in the same room, we now find ourselves in a time where we can play games with graphics resembling a movie, against 20+ people simultaneously, from all around the world.

Not long ago the dream of online gaming was a pipe dream, because while the computers might have been fast enough to manage it, the Internet connections were generally not that good. Today, with the advent of high speed connections like Cable and DSL, it is possible to play online as well as you would if you were physically wired into the same console as your opponent and in the same room.

Obviously, the range and type of games available these days has also contributed to the boom in online gaming. There is something, and more, for everyone, regardless of their age, tastes and gaming experience. Gaming companies have recognized that there is serious money to be made from producing quality games and are investing more time and money into pushing the boundaries of what can be done. The better the games they make, the more people become gamers, the bigger the market, and more reason there is to make an even better game next time around - everyone is a winner.

Most of these various games come with a plethora of online support from various communities, and the more popular the game, the more involved the community becomes. There are many groups out there that are dedicated solely to the enjoyment and play of a particular game. Much like fans of Star Trek have been known to have gatherings and such, the online gaming community has been known to be a very enthusiastic bunch. In fact, a good many online gamers actually use this as a networking opportunity, where they can meet others that share in the same desires and interests.

So, the future is bright for online gaming!

Would you pay thousands of dollars for a pair of sunglasses? Apparently, most people won't. But for many celebrities that's not a problem. After all, expensive shades can make your favorite stars look more glamorous and certainly add to their sex appeal. This has transformed a lot of stars into celebrity characters.

Take Brad Pitt for instance. The handsome star of Troy, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Ocean's 11, reportedly delights in designer sunglasses that are said to be worth more than his stylish clothes and fashion accessories. Like Kate Hudson and Lindsay Lohan, one of Pitt's picks in shades is Moss Lipow which costs thousands of dollars.

The brand is named after the New York artist who is known for his eccentric designs which run as high as $3,800 as in the case of his ostrich and alligator leather framed sunglasses. Still, that's nothing compared to Dolce and Gabana's DG2027B. The gold-framed sunglasses boasts a logo made of diamonds with a price tag of a whopping $383,609! I wouldn't be surprised if Angelina Jolie wears them one of these days.

Georgia Rule star, Lindsay Lohan, has been a favorite of tabloids due to her erratic and wild behavior, her numerous boyfriends and her stays in rehab. But she certainly has taste when it comes to eye wear. One of her prized possessions is a $30,000 pair of sunglasses from Nefarious called Auric. These were worn on the Nefarious Fine Jewelry holiday party in December 2006. The shades are in 18-karat gold and covered with diamonds. Not bad considering the string of flops Lohan has starred in recently.

Rap artist Jay-Z who has sold millions of albums, sports a pair of Louis Vuitton Millionaire sunglasses that cost $1,500. It has two rows of gold and mini-Louis Vuitton logos that run across them. The shades were inspired by the movie Scarface. Not surprisingly, the reigning rapper's sense of style is shared by fellow performers Kanye West and Rhianna.

Other popular celebrity sunglasses include Ray-Ban, Oakley, Dior, Gucci, Oliver Peoples and Tom Ford. Of course, as I stated earlier in this article, looking like a celebrity can cost you a lot. Thankfully, you can get lots of celebrity sunglasses at better prices without spending a fortune. The Internet is full of sites that carry these popular brands at great prices. That means you can still look like a celebrity and feel like a million bucks without draining your wallet.

Beautiful skin is not as difficult to achieve, and do not need movie stars on account of which place is all about technology and how often you feed your skin care. For a long time after cosmetic surgery seems to be the preferred method but times are changing and women are learning that more natural methods are available. Health benefits, however, the products of more natural beauty care is the order of the day, and now may take a little longer to get results that are more durable, and others.

The days are creams and other modern forms of light-years ahead of what it once was. They often forget that our skin is an organ that needs attention because it is a difficult task and needs regular help. The first and most important of all skin care is cleansing facial to remove a makeup, dust and bacteria, which occurs during the day. It will remove dirt and other material from the face, the cleaner to a soft surface and soft skin is removed eventually massage with hot water provided.

For the rest of your pH is guaranteed not to be disturbed, you should use a tone after the detergent has been applied. To reduce wrinkles and keep your skin soft and supple, use creams or lotions when done with graphite leather. Moisturizer skimp also has the added advantage of locking in moisture, which can be lost not use, so this product of beauty.

Every week, at least once, and under the care of the skin, you should be in dead skin cells, which cleans a deep exfoliation to remove. Remember that if you do this, peel continue later with a full and clear sound.

Body creams and eye care products, beauty can now be used to help the skin very fragile outline of this sector and reduce swelling and signs of aging such as lines, but to improve the elasticity of the skin in that area. Water is a product that helps to detoxify and improve skin tone dumped with regular exercise and good nutrition. They often forget how much we rely on but take our skin, fine, but if damaged can lead to all sorts of problems.

I was brought up in the small Midwestern town of Coffeyville, Kansas. It is an interesting town that really has nothing to do with the dark inky beverage of the same name. My parents rarely drank wine. They preferred drinks like whisky sour, Tom Collins and liquors you mix with soft drinks. I never really enjoyed these. If I want my drink to taste like cola, I'll just have a cola. I like beer okay, but it has never quenched my thirst. I could always do better with water, lemonade and eventually Gatorade. In college I tried White Russians, then Black Russians and fancy brandies. They just didn't do it for me.

It wasn't until I got out of college that I dabbled in Riunite Lambrusco and Martini and Rossi Asti Spumante, but I could take them or leave them. And then it happened. I was working for a major oil company in 1979 when I first tried it. Business had been very good that year and profits had soared. I was invited to a sophisticated steak dinner at a 4-star restaurant, and the main beverage was 1976 Robert Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Dozens of bottles of Mondavi were opened. Not a drop went to waste. I had never tasted anything so extraordinary. It was wet and dry in the same mouthful. It was leather and sautéed mushrooms with a hint of mineral, violets, cassis and chocolate, plus layers of ripe oaky blackberry all rolled up into one delectable nectar of the Gods. Okay, maybe the sautéed mushrooms were a stretch. That night I fell in love with Cabernet Sauvignon as only Robert Mondavi could produce it.

In the 1980s I started frequenting a local liquor store that sold fine wine. The proprietor turned me on to Far Niente, Cakebread and Grgich Cabernets. They all sold for around $20 a bottle then. I didn't know how good I had it, for these are still some of my all-time favorites, but the prices have increased substantially. If only I could go back in time when I'm thirsty.

I continued to try various wines for many years. In 1997 I traveled to Napa Valley. I toured and tasted at Far Niente, Jarvis, Honig, Grgich, Beringer, BV, and several more. I had a personal tour of Far Niente by Gil Nichol before he passed away. His car collection was very cool. I walked through the vineyards at Honig with Michael and explored the caves at Jarvis.

I was certain that Batman and Willy Wonka were alive and living in Napa Valley that year. Gil Nichol was Batman with his exotic car collection and cellar that connected the Far Niente Chateau to the steps leading up to where his new house would be built. I walked away from the Far Niente tasting with a complimentary 750-ml bottle of Dolche late harvest wine. It was sweet, liquid gold, and I enjoyed every ounce of it. William Jarvis was Willie Wonka with the subterranean stream that flowed out of the top of the Jarvis caves into a clear pool of water that I assumed helped humidify the entire operation. It was simply amazing as was the Jarvis Crystal Ballroom with gigantic amethyst and quartz crystals from around the world.

We found the rest of the superheros at Honig with marvelous Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and their fun-loving postcards. That was 12 years ago, and I remember the vineyards and beautiful gardens at Far Niente like it was yesterday. I recall the taste of the wine right from the stainless-steel fermenting vats at Honig, and I'm still overjoyed to find several bottles of Jarvis Lake William under the tree on Christmas morning.

Two years ago my wife and I built an outdoor kitchen. It is definitely the nicest room in our house. It's kind of crazy that it's outside, but we love it. It has everything you'd want in an outdoor kitchen, including a crab boil pit, refrigerator, sink, and stainless steel gas and charcoal grills. We've had several wine tastings there. If you get to know the local wine representatives at your favorite wine store, occasionally you can score a great wine tasting by a very informed wine person and they will bring the wine for free. It's loads of fun, and I can't think of how to spend a better Saturday evening with friends and family.

Recently we built a wine room, and we did it on a budget. It's probably more of a wine closet than a full-fledged room. Little did I know that a 300-bottle collection would cost thousands of dollars to stock or about ten times what it cost to build and refrigerate the room. The coolest part is the biometric finger-print entry lock. I purchased a small safe with a finger-print entry system, cut off the metal door of the safe and mounted it on the door of my wine room.

My wine room is my sanctuary. I run my finger print through the lock and pull on the door. The floor is smooth black slate, and I get a cool burst of air as I walk through the doorway. The light scent of cedar fills my lungs as all woodwork and trim are made from my favorite aromatic wood. The first thing I see is a colorful Monet print that is perfectly enclosed by cedar shelves with various areas for full case storage. To each side there are wooden racks for about 100 bottles of wine - red to the left and the center and white to the right. I pull a bottle of Stags Leap Merlot from the rack. It's as regal looking as it was in the 70s when the Stags Leap name helped put Napa on the map. I know the elixir of life awaits within. I run my hands over the bottle like I am caressing the curves of a beautiful woman. It is the spice of life that I enjoy most.

I update the inventory of my wine room periodically and have done so today. I keep an inventory list inside the door of the wine room and inside the door to a kitchen cabinet so I can think about what I might drink tomorrow without the need of swiping my finger across a laser beam.

Here's the kicker, my wine room is located in an oversized closet in my 3-car garage. Before I would even consider putting the wine room out there, I first had to completely redecorate the garage and throw away more than half of the contents. It took a month of cleaning, painting and cabinet building. I even painted the garage floor using epoxy with multicolored flakes and bought a new stainless-steel refrigerator to make it look more like an extension of the kitchen than a place to store what you can't take into the house. Everything in the garage now has a place and when you walk to the wine room, it's like walking through a pristine playroom with a few cars and bikes parked in it. I installed a remote thermometer in the wine room, and although I don't go into my special room every day, I do see the temperature there every time I walk into my house via a wall-mounted readout. It's very reassuring to see the temperature somewhere between 55 and 60 degrees on a hot summer day.

I'm thinking I should make some recommendations here. For $12 a bottle it's hard to beat the current vintage of Chateau St. Michelle or Columbia Crest Grand Estates Chardonnay. I understand they are under the same ownership nowadays. We've even put some vintage Columbia Crest Grand Estates Chardonnay back for later. The 2005 and 2006 vintages are exceptional, and I have a case of each. The 2007 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay is extraordinary, but there is a shortage around here since the movie Bottle Shock was released. The price went up too, and is now around $45/bottle, but this is still one of the most consistently exceptional Chards on the market. I'm also a Robert Mondavi and Jordan Chardonnay fan. And to give the French their due, we purchased a case of 2007 Fat Bastard Chardonnay recently and enjoyed it very much. We've delved a little into Viogniers, sparkling wines and various other whites, but I'd have to say that I still prefer Chardonnay if I'm drinking white wine.

I prefer red wine, which I refer to as the grand spice of life. I've been enjoying the 2007 McManis and the 2005 Guenoc Petite Sirahs. Both are exceptional values with McManis coming in at less than $10 per bottle and Guenoc coming in at about $13 per bottle. When I want to step it up a little I have been enjoying 2006 Educated Guess Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006 Bogle Phantom, 2005 Dynamite Merlot, 2002 St. Supery Merlot or an old standard, 2005 Robert Mondavi Merlot. If I'm going to pull out the stops and serve the best from my wine room then I'm into the Jarvis, Pine Ridge, Stags Leap, Freemark Abby, Frogs Leap, Mollydooker or Jordan reds. And whether it is Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Zinfandel, Malbec, Shiraz or Petite Sirah, the experience is similar; watch it decant for 30 minutes, capture the various scents evolving off the deep red elegance then let a myriad of ripe berries, spices, seasoned wood flavors, sweet violets, coffee, leather or black licorice explode in your mouth with a final relaxing, "Ahhh."

I find Bogle Phantom to be an exceptional wine for a reasonable price. The current 2006 vintage sells for around $20/bottle. Everything about this wine is mysterious, from its combination of three varietals, Old Vine Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Old Vine Mourvedre to the definition on the cork, "bogle [Scottish origin] a friendly spirit; a phantom." This is a wine that definitely has to be decanted. Straight from the bottle it exhibits a tangy nose and musky taste, but let it breathe and develop for 30 minutes to two hours and it will astound you with its bold aromas, explosive flavors and buttery velvet mouth feel. It goes on to reveal intense black fruit, vanilla, cloves, figs and anise with a hint of leather on an extensive finish.

Three years ago I purchased at least half a dozen cases of Australia's Jacob's Creek Reserve Shiraz. It had an awesome nose, it drank well and was inexpensive at $12/bottle. If you like inky wine this is the one for you. It was in such demand that the last case I purchased had the words, "Outback Steakhouse" printed on the box. I need to revisit this wine. I've seen it priced recently for about $13/bottle for the 2006 vintage.

For the deal of the century I would have to look to Columbia Crest. I still have 23 - 750 ml bottles and 6 - 1500 ml bottles of 2003 Columbia Crest Two Vines Merlot. This is their lowest tier wine, and I understand it is mass produced, but it has aged very well. I bought all I could find at less than $10 per bottle, and I received an additional 10% off for case pricing. The 2003 Columbia Crest Two Vines Merlot has an awesome nose with lots of spice and all the vanilla, cocoa and ripe cherry and berries you can savor with a lingering hint of chocolate on a smooth finish. I highly recommend you buy all that you can find.

When anyone in my family, among my friends or at work has a question about wine they usually come to me. A young man at work in his late 20s came to my office in a panic before Christmas last year. He had purchased some expensive red wines for his father-in-law and had left them in his car in the garage overnight. He was concerned they might have been ruined. I told him as long as the wine hadn't crystallized and frozen I thought it would be okay. He didn't think the wine had gotten that cold. I told him I was confident the wine was still good. He gave it to his father-in-law and I hear that the nose, taste and mouth-feel were as expected.

I'm a wine lover just like you. I certainly don't know everything about wine. There are thousands of wines that I have never tried. But, I know what I like, and I think the Aussie's, Californians, and most of the visionaries in Washington State are making some great wines. Wine is my greatest passion. Some of the best moments of my life have been centered around wine with family and friends. Here's to the best in all of us and here's to your next glass of white or red wine. Salute!

© 2009 by Mick Harrison

After 5 years of being a single mom, I have heard and practiced many different words of advice regarding dating and involving the children. With my children only being 1, 3 and 5 at the time of separation and with me being primary custodian, this did not leave much time to "date" when I did not have my children.

Many people scoffed at me when they found out that I would invite prospective dating partners to meet me for walks with the children at the beach or to sit with while the kids played at a local park. Just as any female friend or coworker, I would introduce them to my children as a friend or a coworker. With my children being such an important part of my life, I needed to see how someone would fit in with my children and, more importantly, with my parenting style.

Whenever I have dated someone for a while without involving my children at the beginning, I have found the relationship is quick to end when the children are exposed. Not only does the significant other have expectations regarding how the children will react, I had expectations regarding how they would relate to my children. Realistically, these are never going to mesh after being fantasized about for too long. It is much better to see at the beginning of a relationship whether the reality can fit into the personalities and expectations. This way the relationship is driven by the reality, not forced into the expectations.

It is also important to note that you need to know your children. If your children are craving another adult in their life and they form attachments easily, obviously don't involve them. My children have never wanted to share me with anyone else, so I have never been concerned about them being hurt when a relationship ends.

My children are also on their absolute worst behavior when they meet any male friend of mine, this way i know that there is full disclosure going into a relationship. With all the cards laid out, we can both decide whether it would be worth it to invest more time an energy into a relationship.

If the decision is to move on, you don't start having family vacations and planning holidays together. You maintain the separation between your dating life and your family life. Continue to have special occasion dinners and events with only your children. Have dates alone with your significant other. Depending on your schedules, share some time together with all of you. Maybe go to dinner, a movie, hiking, or bowling occasionally. At this point, your significant other is your friend that is involved minimally in family life.

If you then decide that you want to proceed with a commitment and more serious relationship from there, then start building the relationship between the children and the significant other. Let them have some special alone time to get to know each other and get a feel for where there relationship will be. Mostly, the children need to see consistent behavior to know that they can trust this person to remain in their future.

Above all, go slow! Don't try and force a relationship, it will come in time with the consistency and the trust. Also remember to always spend quality individual time with your children so they don't feel they have "lost" you and the intimate family they relied on.

Film, animation and television industry creatives should take notice: new technology is now available that allows you to instantly share dailies in full HD, work with remote studios or work from home - while keeping your movies secure.

* Keep large video and animation file sets in the server room and off the desktop
* Protect against pre-release piracy
* Enable free seating for creative collaboration

The technology has been available for a while which allows companies to centralise their desktop IT, removing the computers from under people's desks and replacing them with an energy efficient, small, quiet box called a "thin client". A thin client is basically a screen directly connected to the internet.

Remote working

Many companies are choosing this strategy for their desktop computing because of the advantages of centralised management (no more crawling under desks fixing computers), as well as the ability to access a remote desktop from anywhere, allowing for remote and home working.

Technical limitations of thin clients

Hardware manufacturers are well aware of the current limitations of their technology, especially in terms of displaying streaming multimedia. Although standard thin client technology works really well for 90% of the cases where companies need to perform the usual office functions, there are some industries which have had technical issues which prevent them from fully adopting thin client technology. This is especially the case for the entertainment industry, which relies heavily on having instant access to large files of content rich multimedia.

New technology

This is where PCOIP comes in. PC-over-IP is a new technology that allows the desktop computer to, effectively, be moved to a central computer room so that the user only has a "thin client" on their desk. This is the same concept as with standard thin clients. The difference is that PC-over-IP uses a new technology which allows for improved streaming multimedia.

The performance of this technology is impressive. At a recent demo, the author saw a large monitor attached to a thin client the size of a VHS cassette (and mounted neatly to the back of the screen), with 3D animation, CAD imaging and an animated film streaming in realtime from a server in Canada. The one concern is network bandwidth utilisation, and any company considering this technology should make provisions for a very fast network.

This has some massive implications for the entertainment industry.

For animators, this means that remote animation teams working in different continents can now have centralised desktops located at the company headquarters, all working on the same servers and with all data stored centrally - and closer to the render farms.

You can share dailies in HD without file uploads. Because the compression used in this technology doesn't effect the final pixel colour, you can review dailies in native playback.

You can relocate to your home studio. Because the experience of working on this system is just as it would be in the office, you're no longer tied to your desk at work.

---- Amanda Dahl, Director at AWIC - Optimising your IT

About the author:

While not all bed wetting solutions will work for every child, here are a number of steps you may perhaps want to think about when hoping to stop bed wetting.

Parents and children alike can find that wetting the bed is not only uncomfortable and exasperating, it is also very uncomfortable for your child when they start to have or attend sleepovers with their friends. That said, it is most likely that you are looking for some way to help your child conquer this irritating yet common problem.

Number One:

You may consider using a bed wetting alarm given that research shows that they can be among one of the most successful ways to help stop bed wetting. There are a number of different types available and when you consider the alternatives, the price is usually fairly reasonable, given the peace of mind that you and your child will encounter.

Number Two:

You may possibly want to check with your doctor to be sure that your child does not have a kidney or bladder problem, particularly if they are still wetting the bed after the age of five. These problems can be very serious and early detection is of course the best way to prevent any further damage.

Remember though, just because your child still wets the bed after age five does not necessarily indicate a problem but it is always better to be safe than sorry and your doctor may be able to give you answers to why your child is still having problems even if there are no underlying medical problems.

Number Three:

You can also try a technique called lifting, where you will awaken your child 2-3 hours after they have fallen asleep and have them go to the bathroom. This is probably the least desirable of all bed wetting solutions as it does not necessarily help your child learn to wake up and go to the bathroom on their own when their bladder is too full.

Still, if you have the time and the patience, it is a method you may want to try if you want to find a solution that won't cost anything but your time.

Number Four:

Set up a plan where you reward your child for each dry night they have. You can let them pick out a movie or take them for ice cream, etc. You get the idea. Perhaps even a sticker book or a wall chart that your child can put cute little stickers in or on every time they don't wet the bed.

Nearly all if not all children love to get little stickers as a reward and this can help motivate them to wake up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night if they need to. After all it is quite possible that your child wakes up slightly but simply goes back to sleep instead of remembering to get up and go potty.

Number Five:

Last but not least is to just simply let your child grow out of their bed wetting problem naturally. Around 80-85% of all children will stop bed wetting by the time they have reached the age of five and the rest will most likely have outgrown the problem by the age of 7.

Nevertheless, there are some who can continue to wet the bed all the way up to age 12 and for a lot parents that is going to be unacceptable and really annoying.

Another point I would like to mention is that you should never blame your child or yell and scream at them. They do not wet the bed on purpose and they are almost certainly already embarrassed and have a feeling of low self-confidence. While it is frustrating as a parent, you should try to let your child know that you do understand and that you will do all that you can to help them with their bed wetting problem.

While this is by no means a total list of bed wetting solutions, it is a place to begin to help your child learn to stop bed wetting.

The big secret to internet affiliate marketing....is that there IS no big secret to internet affiliate marketing! If you want to know how to make passive money on the internet, this method of making money is as simple a passive income system that there is, and the good news is, it really works. I know, because about six months ago I looked at my pay check. I mean really looked at my pay check. I work full time which is 80 plus hours a week, but the pay check was just not enough. Actually it was just enough to live on, but certainly not enough to take the family out to movies or dinner, far less pay for the braces that would eventually be needed for the kids.

I was sick and tired of worrying about every last cent and how to stretch it.

That's when I decided to look into the Internet and see how people were making money there. I knew that there were lots of people were making huge amounts of money on the Internet but I just could not figure out how.

For a newbie (that's what they call us new timers to Internet marketing) there was just so much to learn, and it comes at you so quickly. After a while it becomes overwhelming. The problem isn't that Internet marketing is hard, but it is hard to learn the easiest steps to take to making money.

I plugged along learning how to buy a domain name, how to set up my domain, how to create a website, how to make original graphics for my site, then how to upload them using FTP... as I said information overload.

Sometimes it felt like the Internet was a big high school, with a few big-name teachers or gurus that are mainly more interested in lining their own pockets with your money than helping you line your pockets with money. The rest of us run around trying to find out what the big secret is to making money online, and usually never finding it.

Well, I can now tell you what the secret is to making money online. There is no secret, it is common sense. Find an experienced mentor or find a coaching program from a reputable internet marketer. There are many people online now to give complete detailed video courses, with step-by-step instructions on how to do everything that you need to do to make money online. I know this because even though I spent countless hours learning how to do everything that needs to be done to create a website that will make money, I never was able on my own to make more than a couple of dollars a day. That is until I joined a coaching program.

Coaching programs are excellent for a number of reasons. The main reason is because they are coached by somebody who already makes money on the Internet, and is more than able to show you the step-by-step ways that you can make money too. A very popular ways to give out the information with coaching programs recently has been through video. Video has totally revolutionized the learning aspect of Internet marketing. Until video became popular, e-books were practically the only way that people could learn knowledge and different techniques, and still it was very difficult for newbie's to understand a lot of what the e-book with saying. With video the phrase "a picture is worth 1000 words" has never been more true.

One of the most popular ways to make money online is through affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketing is a popular method of making good money. You promote a service or product and in return for this promotion get a percentage of the profit generated from the sale. The idea is, you promote something and when it sells you get a percentage of the profits. An experienced mentor will be running the coaching program, will know all the ins and outs and will fast-track you into receiving weekly pay checks from affiliate marketing.

My advice to you is don't be like me, spending months learning how to crawl on the Internet, as compared to days learning to fly under an affiliate coaching program. I am now making money every day through affiliate marketing.

Ah, Christmas, my favorite time of year. Tis the season for parties, great food, meeting up with family and friends that I haven't seen in a long time and yes, don't remind me; a season for getting the cold or flu.

As lovable as Santa is, I am gonna think twice about letting my child anywhere him, let alone kissing him.

You never know, Santa might be bearing gifts other than toys for children. Him living all the way in the North Pole he just might be having the sniffles or worse.

Last Christmas, I used my radiator heater heavily because I hate living in a cold house. Despite the heating and wearing multiple layers of clothing outside, I came down with the flu once and had the sniffles a couple of times.

Maybe a 'couple sniffles" is not bad but when I got the electricity bill, it wasn't the sniffles I was worried about, it was my heart. Man was it high!

Any how, maybe I can use a little less heating this season and include extra practices that will help me from falling prey to the flu.

So here is what I am gonna do

1. Get more sleep. Not sleeping enough can make your body more susceptible to sickness by decreasing the amount of cells dedicated to fighting bacteria.

2. Practice good hygiene. Isn't this something our parents drilled in us from a young age so as not to spread germs.

When you sneeze, do so in a tissue and not in your hands. If you are using a public bathroom, wash your hands and then wipe them in your own tissue.

Before and after meals wash your hands.

Getting some of those antiseptic hand wipes is also a good idea for wiping hands. My grandmother always said "a clean wash and a dirty wipe makes no sense"

3. Drink clean water, filtered preferably. Keeping the body properly hydrated helps keeps the tissues of the respiratory system moist which helps prevent bacteria from settling and making us ill.

4. Take It Easy. A body that is under stress is more susceptible to catching a cold. People that are under stress often have low energy, a sure sign that their immune system is feeling the pressure.

Get a message, meditate, do yoga, see a movie, listen to music etc. Such activities will do wonders for you.

5. Air Out The Place. Perhaps last year I used my heating too often and didn't open the windows enough. By opening the windows, you'll be letting out potentially harmful pollutants that could attack your immune system.

6. Take supplements. Dietary supplements give you the vitamins, antioxidants and other nutrients that you might not be getting from food. These nutrients promote immune system health and give you more energy.

Even if you think you are eating a balanced diet and that you don't need a good multivitamin, think again. The soil our food is grown in is so nutrient-deficient that by the time you cook it, whatever little nutrient it had might be totally gone.

So do yourself and your children a favor right now. Take a quality multi vitamin and antioxidant supplement today and boost your immune system. And please, say hi to Santa for me.

The blue screen of death can be one of the most frustrating things that can ever happen to a computer. One minute, you are sitting on your computer looking up valuable information or playing games, then all of a sudden it happens. You freak out and you have no idea on how to fix it. With a little work, you should be able to get your computer back up and running today. Here are 2 ways that you can fix or avoid your blue screen of death.

Tip #1

The very first thing that you should do is always update your drivers. Your drivers are the backbone of your computer. They relate all of your hardware/software to your operating system. If these are not working properly, then your computer will not work properly. To update your drivers, you can go to the manufactures Web site or download a program that will automatically do it for you.

Tip #2

The next thing that you can do is download a registry or virus cleaner. If you are one of those people that download music, movies, games, etc., then there is a good chance that you have a virus on your computer that is causing your error. Be sure that you get a registry cleaner that will fix your error. Some cleaners will only remove files, rather than correcting and fixing them.

The blue screen error is frustrating but if you take the time to update your drivers on a monthly basis and always scan your computer for virus, you should not see another error on your computer again.

I am a big fan of Eastenders and love the character led storylines, and while I think Pastor Lucas has an intriguing and mysterious sickness in the head, I am getting a bit tired of seeing every committed Christian that appears in movies or TV films these days portrayed as a psycho. Certainly it happens in real life, that people just don't get what faith is all about and the will of God becomes a ball of confusion in their heads leading them to do the wrong things. Instead of standing back and letting God take the reins, some people project their own will onto God to justify wrongdoing. But when these ideas are being expressed to mass TV audiences, it is vital to get the balance right.

For those who don't know, Pastor Lucas has now murdered his second victim, Owen, his wife-to-be Denise's ex who found out about Lucas' first murder (which was more of a failure to report a fatal accident than murder) of his own ex-wife. As always with Eastenders, quality scriptwriting comes to the fore, cleverly building up the obsession and the motives that have led to the poor tragic character of Lucas. Particularly skilful was the way tension prior to the wedding ceremony was increased by the unravelling of two story lines which became one: Lucas' spat with Owen and Phil's problems with the loan shark. Phil, desperate to hide his Jaguar from the repo merchant, hands the keys to Lucas and tells him to get it out of the square. The car then becomes the scene of the crime when Owen appears in the back seat to torment Lucas, and ends up strangled in the boot (or trunk). Comedy is used to good effect to highlight the tragedy, both in the characters of Denise's sister and brother-in-law, who cannot keep their hands off the gin, each other or anyone else they happen to fancy, and in the presence of the Jaguar at the wedding, with murdered Owen's mobile phone going off periodically in the boot as his mother frantically tries to contact him to no avail.

Great story-telling brilliantly produced, so what's my objection? Perhaps there was a time in the past when ethnic viewers might have made the same criticism I am making whenever a member of their race was portrayed as a criminal without reservation. Now it seems it is Christians or religious people of any kind who get the scapegoat treatment. Just as in the past it became necessary for filmmakers to introduce balance whenever ethnic characters were involved, so it is important that whenever we have psycho Christians as crime protagonists, we should also have just as many in the show doing what they normally do, good, selfless, charitable work.

The issue of an employee using his official email account for personal purposes is something only the company can resolve. While it may or may not approve the practice, management has to establish certain rules that employees should know and agree to before they are allowed to use the company's network resources.

If you've been contemplating on this issue yourself, it will be fair to analyze it beginning with the premise that your business and personal affairs are two things that matter to you differently. Naturally, they should be treated differently as well. No matter how tempting it is to simply use one email account for all your online communications, don't. Your personal email should be treated differently from your business email and for this reason, you'll always want to keep them separate.

Examining the nature of business and personal communications will help you understand how far worlds apart your personal and business emails are. Business email, for sure, will need strict adherence to stricter rules on passwords. Business communications between you and your clients will also usually need encryption for more security. If sensitive or confidential corporate information needs to be sent, this can be sniffed or and stored on email servers when proper security techniques are not employed. If you work in government, the more communication will have to be secure and the more you have to adhere to even stricter rules. In other words, when dealing with business email, you have to submit to certain controls that have been put in place for a purpose that promotes the best interest of the company or entity you are associated with.

When you use your personal account for business purposes, official email communications will not be protected using such established controls set up by the company. Hence, there is significant risk of compromising the security of corporate information. Obviously, this is something you can get in serious trouble with as far as your relationship with management is concerned.

One thing that makes ordinary web users more susceptible to hacking is their negligence of the fact that the threat is real. People who do not know enough about the technical aspect of the Internet still tend to think that such threat exists only in movies and passwords are secure unless willfully revealed by the owner. The point is, passwords may be obtained without permission and this is possible through the genius of people we know as hackers. Unless one learns to accept this fact, he will remain to be unable to understand the reality of Internet threats.

As an employee, you will be incapable of appreciating protective measures that your company employs to secure its network. Hence, you will always tend to break rules, not necessarily because you want to put the company's safety on the line but simply because you think the consequences are not as serious as they are.

For your own PC, hide your IP to enable you to surf anonymously and be kept safe from interlopers.

We have to applaud the Balanced Scorecard for the evolution it triggered in organisational performance measurement and strategy execution. But no model is without its limitations. Certainly, on account of the Balanced Scorecard, we're now seeing the measurement of non-financial results rather than just the financial, and we're seeing strategies laid out in logical and cause-effect linked plans designed for execution rather than shelving.

But a few challenges continue to baffle those that embrace the Balanced Scorecard way. One of the challenges is easy and quick to remedy within the current Balanced Scorecard theory. But the other two, I believe, require a more radical re-think.

In this first part of a three part series, we'll look at one of those challenges that does indeed need a more radical re-think.

CHALLENGE 1: The Balanced Scorecard is hard to cascade meaningfully.

You might argue with me on this point, because part of the Balanced Scorecard's claim to fame is it's focus on strategy execution and cascading strategy to operational levels. But those famous four perspectives that were the revelation of this framework are also the limitation on meaningfully cascading strategy.

What Happens Is "Mini-me" Syndrome.

I call it the "Mini-me" syndrome (inspired by the Austin Powers movies), where what ends up being cascaded are localised scaled-down copies of the corporate scorecard. Each department or team has the same perspectives as the corporate scorecard, almost the same strategy map, but tailored to the scope of their work.

If injury reduction is in the corporate scorecard, then every department and team has injury reduction in their scorecard: even those departments where injury risk is infinitesimal. If cost reduction is in the corporate scorecard, then every department or team has cost reduction in their scorecard: even those departments (like Human Resources or Process Improvement, whose costs must increase in order for other areas' costs to decrease.

That's not true cause-effect thinking, and it leaves many managers and employees bemused and cynical about having to measure things that don't really matter to them, and that don't really focus on their specific and unique contribution to the corporate direction.

Additive Thinking Is Not Cause-Effect Thinking.

When the focus is on maintaining the four perspectives in everyone's scorecard to link up to the corporate scorecard, the attention has moved away from where it needs to be: focusing on the performance results and process improvements that have the highest leverage to achieve the corporate strategy.

What happens instead is a collection of additive scorecards, where you can add up or combine the metrics from scorecards across the departmental tier, and end up with the values for the corporate scorecard. Likewise, you could add up the add up or combine the metrics from scorecards across teams within a department, and end up with the values for the departmental scorecard. This isn't cause-effect thinking. It's additive thinking.

Cascade True Cause-Effect, Not The Scorecard.

To apply true cause-effect thinking, we have to let go of structure. We have to openly explore and analyse how the performance of a part truly does impact on the performance of the whole. The four perspectives of the Balanced Scorecard don't encourage that open exploration and analysis, and that's why we have the Mini-me problem.

I haven't found a sensible and easy way to help departments and teams cascade the Balanced Scorecard in a way that's sensible for them and truly aligned to the corporate direction. Instead, we use a more open approach called Results Mapping, which encourages them to start with a conversation about the corporate direction (or scorecard) and explore the question "How and where do our results and our processes most impact on the corporate direction?"

Two More Challenges...

In parts two and three of this series, I'll discuss two more things I don't like about the Balanced Scorecard, and suggest some tips for compensating for these challenges also.

TAKING ACTION:

Where are you trying to cascade the Balanced Scorecard? Is it making sense to the teams it is cascading to? Is there anything in their scorecard that isn't really that important, or anything missing that actually is important? What questions are you asking to guide the way that strategy is cascaded in your organisation or company?

A friend of a friend had her first child leave the nest. She did it a bit too soon, left before graduating from high school to go live with some boy. The daughter did get her GED and fortunately is not pregnant. Despite the silver lining of moving out of a dysfunctional home, the daughter is not making good use of her life. She has no job, doesn't even try for one, lives off her husband's meager income and spends money like its water. As a result there are frequent calls home to mom and dad begging for money to cover the rent, the utilities and even groceries. Yet they have lots of computer toys, games and movies whenever they want.

As a parent of young children I look at this situation and try to learn from it. My first lesson is this: no matter how hard it is, I cannot continue to support an ungrateful lazy child so she can squander everything I work for just to play house two states away. I know that some lessons have to be learned the hard way. It would be very difficult for me to tell my child, "no, I will not send you food money. You have to get a job." It would be very tough. But it's something that must be done in order for that child to learn that life is hard and you cannot suck your parents dry. That poor daughter is very immature and in order to keep her from disappearing from their life completely they continue to feed her habits. But this only serves to destroy the potential for this young woman to learn how to lead a good life. I honestly can't imagine what she does all day long with no job, but her Facebook account talks about frequent shopping trips and she comes home with useless junk. I'm guessing it's all funded by mommy and daddy.

Take this as a lesson if you are a parent. If you give your kids free license to abuse you chances are they will. If your kids are still really young take the time to teach them about life's responsibilities and back it up with actions, not just words. Life is hard and it's not a free ride. The lessons can be painful but they must be learned.

I've always known that a marketing message should "connect" with your prospective customer's emotions. The traditional explanation has been that emotions truly rule the decision making process. This book explains why this mantra isn't quite right.

Dopamine, a neurotransmitter chemical in our brain, controls not only the "pleasure center" but all of our emotions. Dopamine neurons send and receive these chemicals based on different inputs. For example, prediction neurons produce dopamine when they anticipates a pleasure (think of Pavlov). Our brains continually are fine tuning our receptors based on real-world trial-and-error.

Our emotional brain is a stew of these dopamine receptors. Think about seeing someone you love. Do you tingle? It's dopamine coursing through your body. Now think about an almost car-crash you were in. Does your breath get shallow? It's dopamine again.

We assign emotions to certain physical responses: love, fear, hate, etc. Not everyone defines the responses the same way, but we all know how these emotions make us feel. When it comes time to make a decision, we weigh the emotional brain's answer ("a hunch") with the rational brain's ("calculated results").

While we can explain how our rational brain answer arose ("...based on a class I took last year, the answer is obviously...") we have an almost impossible time explaining our emotional brain. The emotional brain, it turns out, is wired to our unconscious. And our unconscious has been programmed by our lifetime of dopamine receptor programming. Our unconscious is processing information that our rational brain doesn't perceive.

So what does this all mean to your marketing? It means that while we're trying to evoke certain emotional responses, we need to talk directly to the emotional brain (and bypass the rational brain). A careful reader will read your marketing copy, think about the words, and in thinking, may trigger the emotional brain's response. A graph showing improved results likewise requires the rational brain to interpret the message. What we need to do is appeal to another set of neurons in our brain: mirror neurons.

Mirror neurons are what make us feel empathy. When we see someone smiling, we feel happier because our mirror neurons are giving us the same physical response as if we were smiling. It's true for all of the emotions that people express around us. (Aside: It turns out that one of the causes for autism are non-functioning mirror neurons. People can see other's physical responses to emotion, but their mirror neurons aren't causing the feeling within their own bodies.). Therefore, to evoke an emotional response, we need to trigger the mirror neurons. And the best way to do this is with images and sound. An image of someone happy makes us feel happier. We know that a great movie plays with our emotions (mostly controlled by our ears).

The goal for any marketing message is to arrive unfiltered to your prospect. Not only past the spam filters, but the emotional filters as well. Pick your images and sounds well, and you'll likely trigger the mirror receptors to evoke the emotion. As a prospect, it means that when it comes time to make a decision, you need to understand the kind of decision you're being faced with and the type of thought you need to solve it. You need to think about how you think.