Thoughtful Thursday

Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn't block traffic. - Dan Rather

Hmm...




Note: Sorry I forgot to press publish on this last week :-/

Teach It Tuesday: Qwerty

Look at your keyboard.

Ever wondered why the keys are in that order? Ever even thought about it? I bet you are now...

Here's the answer:
In the 1860s Carlos Glidden and Samuel W. Soule were trying to create a typing machine. The found that when the keys were placed in alphabetical order the arms that printed the letters onto the paper would crash into each other, especially with speedy typists. They tried many configurations and discovered if the most used letters were operated by the pinky fingers it slowed the speed of the typing and prevent the arms from hitting each other and jamming. Also the four row configuration meant the hands had to move around more and therefore also slowed down the speed at with which one could type.

In the age of computers this logic doesn't matter anymore but it's ingrained in use that this is the way keyboards should look and so things will remain that way.

And that my friends, is why it so hard much harder to go from IMing on your computer to texting on a 9 button keypad... and why your Blackberry has a QWERTY keyboard.

Money Monday: WWGD (What Would Grandma Do)?

We are a very credit dependent society. We buy things with money we are going to earn because they are 10% off and then charge them and have to pay 10, 15, or maybe even 25% interest on it. That makes NOOOOOO sense. I guess it's our society's "it will get better" attitude. But we are in need of a serious reality check and it starts with everyone individually looking out how they spend money and use credit.

I personally have a general rule about buying things: I don't pay for anything longer than I'm going to use it.

What does this mean?: Financing a car for 5 years is fine (but not ideal) because you're going to be using it in 5 years. Charging (which is the SAME THING as "financing") my Starbucks is not ok because I'll be paying for it after the 20 minutes I took to drink it. Now I'm not saying this is the perfect way to run your finances, but for someone starting out in the real world I don't think it's a bad start.

I think young Americans need to stop thinking about financing and finances like our parents' generation of "I can have it all now and pay for it later" baby boomers and start thinking like our grandparents' generation in a more "I'll buy when I can afford it" mentality.

I found this article on MSN Money that I think brings my point home: People need to learn to live on cash (meaning money in your checking account so your debit card is fine.)

Totally worth the read. :-)