An End to all Spam

The world would be better if all Spam (which I'll define below) would go away.  All of it.  Period.  Forever.

Spam, as I mean it:

- Any e-mail communication which has been sent unsolicited as part of a bulk mailing.

It could be commercial or not, and still be spam.  It could be bulk or unsolicited and not be spam.  But if it's bulk and unsolicited, it's spam.  That's my personal definition.

And it should all go away.  I don't know how many hours I've spent battling spam -- either as an e-mail administrator in a corporate IT department, or for my own personal mail system.  Regardless of the actual number, suffice it to say it was Far Too Many Hours.

Spammers, please stop.

And if you get spam (and of course you do), please...  PLEASE, I implore you: Do not EVER buy something from a spammer.  Don't do it!  Buying something from them encourages the practice.  And the fewer people, ironically, that buy from them, the more strongly it's encouraged (to a point; read Don't Shoot The Dog for more on that).  So don't do it.  Don't.

And spammers, stop spamming.  And companies thinking about spamming, don't.

Don't Shoot The Dog - Teaching, Training, and general psychology

The world would be better, I assert, if everybody on this planet... or at least every teacher, parent, manager, or anyone else having any influence over others, would read and internalize the book Don't Shoot The Dog, The New Art of Teaching and Training, by Karen Pryor.

Seriously, everybody should read it. And internalize it, which probably means reading it numerous times, and playing "The Training Game" a lot, and... who knows what all else.

We frequently get our interpersonal interactions in ways that are pretty ineffective at actually getting things we want, and in ways that the other person (or creature, or whatever) will be happy with, too. And there are a few core concepts, discussed in this book (among other places, I just happen to like this particular presentation of the material), the understanding of which could make a world of difference in how we interact with each other.

It would make us happier. We'd never hate our jobs again. It would end divorce. It would bring world peace.

Perhaps these claims seem outlandish. I honestly believe, though, that if a bunch of people read this book, we'd actually go a long way towards each of those.

So go to your local library or book store, or even order a copy or twelve online if you must, but someway get your hands on a copy. And read it. And find someone to play the training game with.

First person to send me a private message mentioning this post and giving me a shipping address -- anywhere in the world -- gets a copy sent to them. (If you know me in person, claim it in person, and save me the shipping. :-)

The world will be better if I share my ideas...

I've come, just moments ago, to a conclusion: The world will be better if I share my ideas (with the world). This means I'm going to blog here about some ideas that I've long been considering to be more or less "trade secrets" or something. Inventions of mine, in concept, that I think the world should have. And frankly, I'm never going to make all of them happen. And I'm also never (until I die, that is), or at least I hope I'll never, stop having more of them. So sharing some now won't preclude me from making a billion dollars off them later. Well, it might keep me from making a billion dollars off the one I share, because someone else might go do them before I do. But if I'm not going to do all of them anyway, I might as well let that happen, and hope that my life can be improved for having access to the thing I wanted enough in the first place to dream it up. That said, if I happen to get any readers that are in a position to fund a startup to make some of these ideas fly, I'd be happy if you'd drop me a line before starting something going. Chances are good that I've thought about this (whatever idea it happens to be) in more depth than has made it to the blog, and perhaps for some stock in a startup, I'd be happy to be on an advisory board or something. Or maybe, for some of the ideas, I'd even be up for launching the company myself, with the help of your financial resources (and, then, by hiring the requisite number of Really Smart People to make it all happen -- hopefully, the Done, and Gets Things Smart sort of people. Sorry I keep picking on you, Steve). But really, I think the world will benefit just as much, and probably more, from someone else taking these ideas and running with them, than by helping me to run with them. I'm overburdened or something. (Which goes into a whole different story, which will likely find its way into this blog in some form or other over time. Today is not that time.) So yeah. Any idea that I don't have an expectation that I'm particularly likely to try to put into practice on my own is now fair game for me to blog about. Here's hoping the world will benefit from it. This all begins with the next post.

What Could Be Better - an introduction

Inspired by a multitude of factors, most recently Steve Yegge telling me I should (the reading of which can be indirectly attributed to an e-mail from my friend Goose), and next most recently by the movie Julie & Julia (imdb), and third most recently by... oh, I forget. But it's not important.

The point is, I'm starting a blog. On how the world could be better. This blog will be a collection of ideas, rants, and other such musings on how I think the world could be better.

Some will be about a piece of software. Others about photographic equipment. Others on Human behavior. Others on... Well, time will tell. I'll just be writing on whatever ideas I happen to have (and be warned: I have a lot of them), related to making the world a better place.

It's kind of my life's mission, actually, to show the world that there are better ways to do things. This blog will be a way for me to work towards that mission.

Thank you for visiting. Your thoughts are welcome, on this or any post. I reserve the right to disagree, agree, or just take them as food for thought. Regardless, they will surely all be reinforcing (more on that later, like as not).

Oh yes, and one final thing, about the URL of this blog. Like "everything is better with butter" (a sentiment I tend strongly to agree with in many many cases -- though I won't go so far as to say all), I believe there's a lot that could be better in this world -- and sometimes by just a simple addition of something basic. Like butter. So, "better like butter". Besides, all the other sensible variations on "what could be better" were taken.

Thanks,

- David