Articles by mgedwards

Spirituality and affluence

Sometimes I spend time thinking about life and what it means.  I’ve been pondering something for awhile and wanted to share it with you.  Can a person be spiritual and affluent at the same time?  Are they mutually exclusive?  Can one accumulate wealth and still be rich in spirit?   Some preach a prosperity gospel, arguing that wealth is a sign that one is blessed.  Others argue that the love of money is evil and that wealth creates the tendency to love money; therefore, wealth is something to be shunned.  Still others walk and talk in contradictory terms, arguing that focusing on wealth is wrong while they live prosperous lives.  (In fact, most Americans are far more affluent than the vast majority of people around the world.)  These beliefs cut across many faiths, not just Christianity.  Buddhism invites people to shun worldly possessions and seek spiritual enlightenment.  Islam forbids usury.  In Christianity, the belief that wealth and spirituality are incompatible is fueled by Bible verses such as Matthew 19:24, which says, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  And by verses such as Matthew 6:24, which says "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”  And by Matthew 6:19-20, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” 

Is faith inherently incompatible with wealth?  I don’t think so.  While the pursuit of money can distract one from spiritual maturity (as can any number of distractions), I don’t believe that one has to live modestly or in poverty to be truly spiritual.  One should certainly tithe and/or give to charity as their faith and heart leads them.  However, a disorderly life marked by financial trouble, poverty, and any number of personal problems can significantly impact one’s faith.  When one does not tend to their personal affairs or mismanages them, they hurt their own spiritual growth.  It’s necessary to properly manage one’s personal affairs and seek spiritual growth.  They are not mutually exclusive.  Both should be managed well.  Wealth can be a byproduct of a life well managed.  A well managed life does not necessarily lead to wealth or spiritual maturity, but it definitely helps.  When one lives a certain lifestyle and does not have the foresight to look ahead to the day when their livelihood will be gone and prepare for it, their spiritual life will be negatively impacted because they will be forced to scramble to survive once their livelihood is gone. 

In practical terms, many Baby Boomers now face the prospect of living off Social Security when they retire because they did not have the foresight to plan ahead.  They do not even realize how fortunate they are that the government looks after them at all (so many people around the world do not have this benefit).  Social security substantially reduces one’s income after retirement, yet millions of Americans neglect to supplement their income with investments such as 401(k)s or IRAs.  Most fail to plan ahead for major illnesses by purchasing long-term health and life insurance.  One does not need to become wealthy to be spiritually blessed, and you won’t necessarily become wealthy by being blessed, but accumulating assets is prerequisite to survival.  Anything less reflects personal mismanagement that speaks ill of one’s character.  After all, who wants to listen to someone who talks of a spiritual life when they cannot manage their earthly affairs?  Strong words, I know, but truth can be a bitter medicine.

Rather than focus on wealth as an inherent evil, I prefer to recall the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-28.  It’s a great parable with a wonderful message.  Some would say that this only applies to spiritual matters, but I believe it’s applicable to life.  Each of us has been given talents.  Use them wisely.  Don’t bury them by investing them unwisely. 

    14"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

    19"After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’

    21"His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

    22"The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’

    23"His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

    24"Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

    26"His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

    28" ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Pondering a new world

Is it a Brave New World for the media?  A couple of blog entries ago, I posted a link to an intriguing Web site essentially predicting the end of the MSM (mainstream media).  It predicts that two powerful online forces, Google and Amazon.com, will merge to form Googlezon, an omniscient organization that uses computer algorithms to search anything and everything, packages media content, and delivers personalized content to everyone using methods such as RSS.  With the advent of Googlezon and the dominance of the Internet in delivering news, traditional MSM operations such as the New York Times will go offline and become paper-based media that catering to those who prefer to read their news while drinking coffee (or Sprite).  It laments about the future of news content and delivery, implying that journalistic integrity will wither and people will engorge themselves on content limited to their own personal tastes.  Is the really future of MSM?

No, it isn’t.  I thought the site gave an intriguing look into how online media could develop, and it was accurate in some respects.  Google is a force to be reckoned with.  However, the site missed out on some of the biggest technology advances in recent years.  One is podcasting.  Podcasting is a new phenomenon where people download audio content to listen to on portable media players such as iPods.  Podcasting is exploding online and is increasingly becoming a viable alternative to traditional radio and blogging.  Google and other search engines haven’t even begun to explore the potential for cataloguing podcasts.  Another is the eBay phenomenon.  eBay provides an alternative vision to Google’s.  Where Google seeks to universalize everything through its ubiquitous search engine, eBay creates personalized, online communities that connect people.  Amazon.com, an e-tailer, is often described as an anti-eBay.  That is, it finds users the best bargains through its search engine, A9.  Google essentially uses the same model as Amazon to search content.  eBay, Friendster, Tribe.net, Craigslist, GeoCities, and Overstock.com, etc. all reflect a community-based model contrary to Google’s open-end model.  Third, the site ignores another fast-growing media, satellite radio.  Sirius and XM are at the forefront of this fledgling industry that some say may one day rival traditional AM/FM radio.  Satellite radio is not even on the radar screen for a company like Google.

The most intriguing phenomenon we have not seen yet is the development of online news communities rivaling MSM outlets such as the New York Times or CNN.  Blogging is becoming an increasingly acceptable source for news, and although bloggers have begun collaborating and web sites such as Technorati have started cataloguing them, the eBayization of online news has not yet begun.  Bloggers are an eclectic bunch that cherishes independence.  The future of blogging however lies in the development of blogger communities governed by a set of journalistic rules that reach ever-large audiences.  This goes much farther than simply creating a blog listing.  Blog communities will become quasi-news organizations.  Wikipedia, an open source encyclopedia, reveals glimpses of this vision—blogger news organizations will consist of a worldwide group of accredited bloggers who collaborate as freelancers and deliver news in a coherent effort, much as programmers joined Mozilla to develop Firefox, an open-source Web browser.  I envision that in the future open-source online news organizations will develop to rival MSM, and they will not be undermined by the Googlization of the Internet.  They will be recognized as viable alternatives to news organizations such as the Associated Press and will not be beholdened to media moguls, shareholders, or political organizations.  They may lean politically liberal or conservative, but they will not function as a corporate or political entity.  This vision is much different than what the site I mentioned implies when it argues that Google will take over the media world.

Wade3016 wondered what will happen to Microsoft, at least according to this site.  Well, of course Microsoft, at least the content it provides through MSN (and possibly Friendster), will wither and die.  Googlezon will take over everything online.  I’m sure that won’t happen, although the rumor has been going around for years that the plug will be pulled on MSNBC because it can’t compete with Fox News and CNN.  Microsoft hasn’t excelled at online content like it has in other areas such as its operating system and productivity suites.  Google is fast becoming a formidable competitor to Microsoft online.  In many ways, Google is the antithesis of Microsoft, and it appears to be winning the online war on many of the fronts where it is competing Microsoft.  For example, the day MSN announced its beta search engine cataloguing 4 billion web pages, Google announced that it had catalogued 10 billion pages.  Not bad for a 7-year-old company.

I couldn’t resist ending this entry with some investment guidance.  Here are a few observations in case you’re thinking of investing based on this Brave New World.  If this is the world we face, you might as well make some money in the process.

  • Google’s stock price is at nose bleed prices.  Wait until it falls below $225/share to consider buying it.  I’m sold on Google’s future, but its price now is in a bubble while there’s speculation it will be added to the S&P 500.  Google’s move towards grid computing is revolutionary.  It will likely success where others such as Sun Microsystems failed.  For example, why use a mail client on your PC when your Gmail account stores 2GB of messages and has a comprehensive search engine?  And if you do, why not try the free E-mail companion for Firefox, Google’s Web browser of choice?  I believe Google will continue to move toward platform-less computing and will be much more than a search company in the future.
  • Do not buy TiVo on speculation Google will buy it.  TiVo’s price reflects this spectulation.  TiVo doesn’t fit Google’s open-source model well because it is just one standard in set-top boxes.
  • Consider buying Amazon if you think Google and Amazon will merge.  Amazon’s price is stable and the stock is stale because the dot.com glory days are over.  I doubt that they will merge.  Amazon is an e-tailer.  Google is a technology company.  If anything, it is in Google’s interest to buy A9 or sell Amazon on the benefits of using its search engine over Amazon’s A9.
  • Microsoft’s stock price moves glacially.  The company is too big now to be a hot buy.  Microsoft might buy Friendster, but more likely they will build something home grown like they did with MSN Spaces.
  • Electronic paper developed by Sony will not eclipse traditional paper anytime soon.  Google i
    s digitizing entire libraries, but it is running into copyright issues and will only digitalize a miniscule portion of all available literature.  Besides, anytime Sony develops anything cool they make it proprietary and kill the idea.  Remember Betamax?  You may actually see a standards issue when it comes to digital paper.
  • Don’t bet on NYTimes.com going away anytime soon.  As Wade3016 mentioned, if not the New York Times, other papers such as the Seattle Times will happily stay online.  They may be Googlized, but they won’t go away.  The MSM is here to stay.

A plethora of thoughts

Today I have a plethora of thoughts running through my mind (for example, whenever I think of the word “plethora,” I recall the hilarious movie "¡Three Amigos!” starring Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, and Martin Short, where the bad guy “El Guapo” asks another villain, “A plethora? What is a plethora?” Yes, just what is a plethora? Shouldn’t I just write the word “many” instead? I mean, it’s easier to write and easier to understand. Oh, I don’t know. Maybe I like words like "plethora" because it’s more fun to pepper monologue with some five-cent words like “pepper.” I think it spices things up a bit.

At work, I started working on a project that would bore just about anyone who isn’t interested in operations management. The project has to do with implementing a quality management system (QMS) based on ISO 9001, a well-known international QMS standard. My goal is to make our workplace ISO 9001-compliant and eventually pursue certification for our operations. It entails creating a plethora of documentation to ensure that we have documented quality standards (see, there goes that “plethora” word again). I realized today just how much work it will be. It’s a huge task that will definitely keep me busy for the next two years. My goal is to create something that can survive without me; that is, anyone can walk in and take it over. I won’t be here after 2007, and I need to build something lasting that will continue. Right now, ISO 9001 compliance in my workplace is a nebulous concept I’m trying to get my proverbial arms around. I made some progress today and was happy to see it finally underway.

Tonight, my son and I had a great time hanging out while mom went out for a networking event. He’s settled down since he returned from Gyeongju. His mom and I did what we could to prepare him for her departure. He still cried for a long time after she left. I tried a new strategy that seemed to work with him. I let him cry until he got it out of his system. I kept asking him if he wanted something to eat, drink, watch, or do. He kept telling me no. Finally, he cried himself out, and when I asked if he was hungry, he finally answered yes. I fed him, and after that he behaved very well. We put together puzzles, played with stickers, watched some videos, even sneaked some ice cream. By the time mommy got home he was a happy kid. He enjoyed spending the evening with dear ol’ dad! It’s hard to say whether this will continue, but I hope that it’s the start of something good.

Before I sat down to write this entry, I put together a spreadsheet of potential vendors for our employee cafeteria. If you recall, we haven’t had a vendor for our cafeteria in over two months. It’s busy season now, so having a cafeteria would give employees a fast casual option. For now, most employees either dine at restaurants downtown or bring their own lunch. Lately though, many of us have been too busy to dine outside. Simply put, we need a cafeteria. The spreadsheet I put together comparing the four vendor business plans we received reveal an eclectic mix of proposals. The most attractive choice was not one I had anticipated. I was certain that the best proposal would come from a restaurant specializing in Korean or American cuisine. Interestingly, I think the best proposal was submitted by a vendor who runs a Persian restaurant in Seoul. Imagine that. The proposal satisfied our need for American and Korean food, yet it offers an intriguing alternative to what’s available downtown. I will meet with the selection committee on Friday to tentatively select one vendor to run our cafeteria.

Sometimes you go with your gut feeling. I had some extra cash to invest after scooping up shares of Morningstar through Dutch auction IPO. I read the prospectus for the upcoming HemoSense Dutch auction IPO. HemoSense sells handheld blood monitors. Having done well with Google and Morningstar, I thought about participating in this IPO too. However, I decided to defer because I don’t know enough about HemoSense to buy shares of it. Instead, I used the cash to buy shares of Cogent, a company that develops biometrics technology. It went public last October at $15.50/share and peaked at $38/share. I picked it up for $22.80/share. I was sold on Cogent after reading that it ranked #1 in BusinessWeek’s top 100 microcap stocks. In a new, security-conscious world, biometrics is a hot field. Biometrics is a critical security tool used at security checkpoints and in security devices. I still do not know much about Cogent, but I know the biometrics field and have a good feeling about buying its stock. We’ll see if I’m right in the coming months and years.

I’ll conclude “Brave New World” tomorrow. I will tell you tomorrow what I thought of the web site I posted last night. If you haven’t seen it yet, have a look.