I was debating on whether or not to stir this one up again. However while watching T.V. this evening I saw a commercial that was trying to tell me that we are running out of fresh water on the planet. That was the last straw!

I am so tired of everywhere I turn some new advertising campaign that is trying to tell us that we need to change the way we do things because some organization thinks that we are running out of water or running of O-Zone or we are killing the planet. Serious do you people have nothing better to do than play the Armageddon car ALL THE TIME. Al gore and his “Inconvenient Movie” was a total joke. Recording temperature for changes over a few years and you think you can make the statement that we are killing the planet with increases Carbon Dioxide levels.

You think you people are so smart but you contradict your selves on every turn. I keep hearing that it has not been this hot since ? Well guess what if you can say that it was this hot 50 years ago when there was 50 years less pollution and carbon dioxide in the air then obviously we are not affecting the temperature. If it was this hot 50 years ago then we are likely in the middle of a cycle. The earth revolves around the sun which affects temperature while the earth revolves around its axis affecting temperature. Do these fear mongers stop and think outside the box and look at the fact that our solar system might be in orbit around a larger solar system and rotating around its axis. Thus temperatures in our solar system are effected by it’s rotation around a larger system. This would explain 50 year temperature cycles or even million year cycles.

This planet has been around for billions of years. If we as insignificant inhabitants of the planet think we can actually destroy the planet then the human race is even more naive than I originally thought. Everything that you see you on television and in the Green campaigns is just fear tactics to try and force the world into another belief.

Here is the reality of it all folks, the human race is as insignificant as a grain of sand in the scope of the universe. We are a barbaric fearsome race that cannot even make it through a generation with someone going to war. If we actually manage to do any damage to this planet then the planet will right itself. Lets call a duck a duck. GREEN means healthy lifestyles, Global warming is a ridiculous fear tactic. Do I agree that we dump to much pollution into the air? YES Do we rely to much on burning fossil fuels? YES Are we damaging the environment by reducing the forest populations? YES But we are not destroying the planet we are destroying ourselves.

The problem is however that politics and media are involved. Fear is the only motivation that Religion, and Politics are capable of using. I have said in other posts that 87% of the population are just sheep following the brainwashing of the government they reside under. Yes I mean under because most of these people would not be able to function without someone holding their hand. The planet is getting over populated, I am in total agreement with that. We are over populated because we have spent so much time catering to the weak that everyone lives longer and contributes less. Their for the general population becomes reliant of government holding their hands and spelling out life for them. The strong no longer survive but they are responsible for carrying those that do not contribute to society. The real problem lies within our selves, we need to realize that not only are we part of a society but we are also individuals and can make our own choices. If you make a choice then live with it, don’t expect the rest of the world to carry you if you make the wrong choice. My choice today is to write this post! I will suffer the repercussions of debate and upsetting some people though writing this. That is my choice, you too have a choice and that is whether or not read it, respond, or agree/disagree with what I have to say.

If the 87% of the population that blindly follows the so called world leaders suddenly became completely self aware and stopped being brainwashed by the media and the politicians then we could fully effect any change in the world that we want. From something as easy as forcing the oil companies to lower the price of fuel and refuse to goto war for no reason other than to gain more territory or force someone else’s belief on others.

Well that is all I have to say on this topic for now, I think I have stirred up enough S__t for the time being

Part 1 - Politics
Part 2 - Religion

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Part 2 of my reality check post deals with one of the most contreversial topics in the history of recorded time, RELIGION. The eternal question of “What came first the Chicken or the Egg?” has an answer in the bible and in science. If you blindly believe in the bible then the answer is the chicken came first. In the book of Genesis the lord created everything on the earth in 6 days. In science and evolution the egg came first, the final evolution of the predecessor to the chicken laid an egg and that egg had the first chicken growing in it. With that said I will move onto my opinions on theories of religion and science.

Let me start by informing you that I am versed both in Christianity and in Evolution, my religious beliefs are founded on my own choices that are made with an education on both major beliefs. All religion stems down to a belief in a higher power that has control over what happens in the world and rules over the afterlife. The need for human beings to believe in a higher power stems from the fear of death. Religions are formed to relieve people of these fears by creating faith that when they die their soul moves on to a better place. I am not saying that religion is not a good thing for people to believe in or that it is wrong. Like everything too many people take a good thing and push it too far. The belief in a higher power does create faith and relieves the fear of the unknown in death. The problem is that like politics the founders and leaders in religion try to force others to follow them instead of another belief.

All wars can be traced back to one of two sources. Religion and Politics. The things that people have done in the name of religion or disputes in politics is horrific. Why can’t people believe in what they believe in without trying to force others to bend to their will. I believe that we are organic beings that are individual, each making his/her own choices and destinies. We are all made from energy as are all things, when our physical bodies cease to function our souls return to raw energy and continue life as another being. This theory ties strongly in with evolution with transferal of memories that are embedded in the raw energy allowing for the new being to start not from the beginning but as a continuation from the previous existence.

My point is simple if you want world peace then each an every individual person needs to accept the beliefs of others and not try to force their opinions on others. Debate and conflict leads to a higher education and intelligence. With this intelligence comes understanding and tolerance. The smartest people in the world don’t wage wars, they create things to make the world we live in a better place. Why the majority of the populations of the world have to follow blindly the few is beyond me.

So in closing I can only say this:
Faith and belief in something is merely a way to elevate a fear of the unknown. Through belief in yourself and in life its self you will be stronger in mind and body. There is no need to try and explain why we are here. Just relish in the knowledge that you are here and free to make your own choices. Do not blindly follow those that spread fear.

Part 1 - Reality Check Politics

Tomorrow will be Global warming.

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This is the start of a 3 part post detailing my opinion on some major topics of discussion in the world today.

Every day I see more and more of the fear tactics used to control the population attempting to force us to do whatever the power hungry elements in our society want us to do. Fear of loss, fear of prosecution, fear of destroying the planet(OMG wait till I post on that one). Fear tailored to control the masses by offering protection from some unseen, unknown or manufactured enemy. Is this not similar to what the mafia but outside of the control of government. Government is hypocritical to say the least.

Fear of Global warming, Religion and Politics can all be grouped into one category, Fear and Control. The only thing accomplished through Religion, Politics and Fear is the control of populations using fear. Hence expressions such as “God Fearing”. When 87% of the population is controlled by 13% we have a problem. I call it sheep syndrome. Sheep are herded in masses by dogs, the fear of being bitten by the dog so they herd to where the dog is told to herd them. The general population is controlled by fear. Fear of Persecution/Prosecution (politics), fear of the Wrath of God, fear of destroying the planet. I am going to touch on each of these fears over my next few posts. Post one(this post) is going to detail my opinions on politics. Post 2 tomorrow will detail my opinion on religion. Post 3 on Monday will detail my opinion on the Global Warming topic and the conclusion to this post.

Fear of persecution and prosecution (Politics).
Let me start by saying I am not a advocate for anarchy but seriously we are human beings with minds of our own we don’t need to have every aspect of our lives controlled by some governing force. We cannot do anything without paying some government for the right do do so. Every aspect of our days are predetermined by some government ideal that is forced down upon us. Where did government come from? It came from a bunch of rich human beings that had nothing left to accomplish in finance so they turned their focus and efforts to creating power. The fasted way to feel the sensation of power is to control something else. The ultimate power is to control a population. Government was formed when a group of men decided that they wanted to control the surrounding population by promising protection and for said protection they will pay a tax. As other governments formed power struggles began to arise, alternative power cells battle to increase their control over the populations that follow. Over the hundreds of years that we have been controlled by government fear has been so ingrained in us that every step we take another control is placed on us and we just accept it.

I was watching A Bug’s Life with my daughter the other day and somthing dawned on me. When hopper and his gang where in New Mexico living off the spoils they stole from the ants. Hopper explained to the gang that they were out numbered 100 to 1. If the ants ever figured that out, the fear and control over them the grasshoppers had would cease to exist. Sounds kind of familiar to me, we are all controlled in some way by fear. In the next few posts I will detail links to religion using the same fear to control the populations that “Believe”.

Continued tomorrow with Religion…

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You know, sometimes there are times things need to be validated by members of the industry and this is one statement that I need to validate. Being the President, Founder and Lead Designer for a successful Multimedia company I have to get a few things off my chest.

“Web designers” are everywhere, anyone with a copy of front page and the internet are calling them selves web designers, seeking out clients to make a living from selling their services. Everyday while surfing the web I come across FrontPage built sites with stick on animated gifs and bloated Microsoft html code. There was obviously no thought to the end user or design principle while these sites where in development. Open new word document >slap in some stolen gifs from the web > save as html and WHAMMO you are a web designer. NO YOU ARE NOT.

Too many times I meet with a prospective client and they show me a horrible site that they paid obscene amounts of money for and I mean obscene, some of these sites are 3 times what my company charges and they look like they were done by a no talent hack in the basement of grandma’s house. Seriously how do you sleep at night ripping people off like that. My rates are not cheap but my portfolio is large and I have a steady flow of referral business coming in. I even have repeat customers that have multiple sites. No wonder there are so many clients that I meet that get visibly sullen when I show them my company portfolio and quote them on a new site. How can I blame them? They paid more than double what I am quoting for the mess they have now. Many of these poor people convince themselves that they have a great site because their “Web Guy” told them that it was a great site and they got a good deal on it.

I spent years in school and training in art to do what I do. My credentials include a Multimedia Diploma with Honors, Certificate of Business Admin. Marketing and Sales Major, Sales management experience, 15 years of art training and practice. During my training I spent time learning about Humane Interface design, optimization, scalability, graphic design, color palettes and more. These are some of the many tools that a true web designer has in his or her arsenal. I am a registered Adobe client using the latest in graphic design software, my companies programming principles are strict and clean and we write our own code. (Some times we write out code in notepad just to make sure we don’t get reliant on WYSIWYG editing.) We know where the code editor is in Dreamweaver and understand the differences between different versions of IE, Firefox, Opera. We understand color wheels, beta testing, bandwidth, image optimization. This list could go on forever I think you get the point.

I am going to explain what a true web designer/developer does when dealing with a new client. Before I start on any project for a client I have a FREE (YES I said FREE) consultation meeting with the prospect. Instead of spitting out some arbitrary number to them and telling them what their site will do. I have a full interview with the client and educate them to the benefits of a website. Take the time to introduce them to new technologies available for websites such as blogs, news, CMS, flash etc. After this meeting which usually take 1hr or more, I thank the client for their time and let them know I will work out a quote for them and email it later that day. If the client insists that I ballpark a quote. I will ask a few more questions and ballpark a range based on other sites that I have developed that are similar. Once the quote is approved I layout a project guideline for the client with milestones and payment schedules at each milestone reached. This helps keep things scheduled and gives the client piece of mind throughout the process.

To those guilty parties out there, you should be ashamed of yourselves. You are preying on people that want to grow their business or are just starting out. All you are accomplishing is helping these poor clients fail. Before you start demanding exorbitant amounts of money for your services try going to school and taking a few art classes, at least now you will do your clients and your reputation justice. To anyone that is out there looking for web sites PLEASE do some research and make sure that your choice in designer is based off their experience and previous work. If they have no work to show you then you are well within your right to ask for a mock-up before signing on to have them launch your web site project.

Us multimedia people are not all rip off artists and if you find the right one for your business you could be developing a long standing relationship for the better of both parties involved. As mentioned earlier I have many repeat clients and referrals making it unnecessary to advertise. No newspaper ads, no billboards, no mass emailing. My advertising consists of a small link on clients sites that allow it, linking to my main company site. My phone rings from new clients and 9 out of 10 times it is because they got my info from someone who I did work for.

Here are some other posts that give prospective clients some insight into the minds of web developers.

choosing-a-web-designer
artist-vs-programmer

My company site is located at www.mk2solutions.com if you click clients there are links to work that I have done. For other samples you can always contact me through the contact form as I have lots of sample layouts etc that are archived. As busy as we are I am always open to meeting a new prospective client to discuss their project. Worst case I will put a team together to develop it while I oversee each phase to insure the level of quality is at a level that I accept.

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