FLYING TAXIS IN DUBAI

#FlyingTaxis #DriverlessVehicles #drones #drivers
If you are old enough to remember, there was a cartoon series in the 1960s called “The Jetsons,” a tale of what the future may look like.
“Cars” flew through space.
In Dubai, commuters in The United Arab Emirates may soon climb aboard automated, driverless taxis, soaring over busy streets and past the desert city’s gleaming skyscrapers at the push of a button, writes Russell Goldman in The New York Times.
The article was published in the Feb. 20, 2017, edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
USA Today has also written about tests for driverless big-rig trucks.
The flying taxis will be capable of carrying a single rider and a small suitcase, Goldman writes. So, that probably means a group cannot pool resources for a taxi fare.
The taxi is an eight-rotor drone made by the Chinese firm Ehang, writes Goldman. It has flown test runs past the Burj Al Arab, Dubai’s iconic, sail-shaped skyscraper.
It can fly up to 31 miles, or about 30 minutes, on a single battery charge. Passengers can weigh up to 220 pounds, Goldman writes.
Let’s think about this for a minute. If you live in a populated area, with lots of traffic, you may someday be able to fly over that traffic, if this concept proves sustainable.
Air travel will be redefined. Would car travel become obsolete?
There is much else to ponder. What happens to the many folks who now drive for a living? Will ALL transportation become driverless?
When one is disabled, or too old to drive, will he or she own a driverless vehicle and not miss a transportation beat?
What about those who fly, sail and otherwise transport for a living?
Will all transportation be changed?
Perhaps those who make their living moving people and things about would be wise to find a Plan B to make money. The technology, therefore the trend, won’t be halted. The good news here is that if you fit that description, there’s time to plan. The technology won’t be commonplace tomorrow.
There are many good, Plan B options available. To check out one of the best, message me.
Technology alters life in good and bad ways. Competing rental car companies at Logan Airport in Boston decided to set up a common shuttle service to and from the terminals, stopping at each rental car base, instead of each company having its own drivers. The move saved money, and lessened traffic jams around the airport, but a lot of good drivers lost their jobs.
Now, imagine every airport doing the same thing, with driverless buses, cabs etc. Even Uber and Lyft are talking about driverless vehicles.
So what will flying taxis, driverless vehicles of all types, do for your life? That might depend on how you make your living now.
It might make sense to visualize that eventuality, and plan accordingly.
Peter

THE RIGHT OF IGNORANCE

#truth #facts #opinion
Here’s a test: have you ever talked with anyone who passionately asserted that something was correct, when it clearly was not?
Perhaps we all have. Washington Post columnist George F. Will quoted Tom Nichols, professor at the U.S. Naval War College and the Harvard Extension School as calling it “a storm of outraged ego.”
Will, whose column on the subject was published in the Jan. 29, 2017, edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, also quotes Nichols, who wrote an article in The Chronicle Review on the matter, as saying there is an increasing phenomenon among college students who “take correction as an insult.”
Nichols writes, as quoted in Will’s column, that the students have been taught to regard themselves as peers of their teachers.
“College, in an earlier time, was supposed to be an uncomfortable experience because growth is always a challenge,” Will quotes Nichols. It is supposed to replace youthful simplicities with adult complexities, Will writes.
Today, according to Will, “A” is the most commonly awarded grade, given 30 percent more frequently than in 1960.
“Unearned praise and hollow success build a fragile arrogance in students that can lead them to lash out at the first teacher or employer who dispels that illusion, a habit that carries over into resistance to believe anything inconvenient or challenging in adulthood,” Will quotes Nichols.
We all probably know people with whom discussions are akin to talking to walls. No matter the correct facts, they’ll believe what they believe.
Sometimes, people gain leadership positions while completely oblivious to the truth.
The moral here is that we should embrace truth, no matter what it reveals. We should form opinions based on truth, rather than some alternative to truth.
That isn’t to say that we can’t have faith. Faith, by definition, is believing something to be true that has not been proved so. Faith can lead one to the truth.
But we must guard against treating truth as a matter of opinion. There’s nothing wrong with an opinion based on truth, but there is much wrong with truth based on opinion.
Do you know someone who seeks real education, is willing to be coached by others who clearly know more than they do and who is in search of something that might give them the financial prosperity they want? If you know such a person, have him or her message me.
Meanwhile, always search for the truth. It may present itself in ways you might not expect. When someone tells you something is true, verify it as best you can. Read about it from reliable publications. Don’t necessarily compare it to what you believe is true. Show yourself whether it is true, or not.
Shun arrogance. Allow yourself to learn. Alter your opinions if you must, but always base what you believe on what is true.
Truth may or may not set you free, but something other than the truth definitely will not.
Peter

SOCIAL EROSION: COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS DECLINING

#SocialInstitutions #churches #CommunityServiceClubs
Some may not remember a few decades ago, when labor unions were not only strong, but one of the many fibers that brought communities together.
During that time, more people attended church, community service clubs such as the Lions or Rotary were flourishing, two-parent families were the norm etc.
Bob Davis and Gary Fields discussed this social erosion in a Sept. 16, 2016, article in The Wall Street Journal.
In those decades past, the union hall was the place to be in many blue-collar towns.
Today, as union membership is declining along with job security of any sort, we see the reaction of those affected by this decline. They are looking for someone, or something, to save them, and take the country back to that time.
Technology advances will not allow it.
But the question is not who will save those disaffected by technological change and lack of job security. The question becomes who, or what, folks can turn to who have had their lives changed forever, if not for better.
Some community institutions are still around, and not all have seen membership decline.
Technology has also given us social media, but social media, though a fine creation, is no substitute for in-person interaction.
As life changes, one must look at not only what is GOOD about his life, he must be open to find ways to combat the life changes the modern world has wrought.
If you had a good job that’s gone away, and have either had to take a job that is less rewarding or have not been able to find a suitable job at all, the answer is to look for ways other than a traditional W-2 job to make money. Easier said than done? Perhaps not. Message me to find out more.
Getting back to basics, one must check his bad attitude at the door, and not reclaim it as he exits.
There is so much good in the world today, and so many reasons to be thankful, to have faith, enthusiasm and optimism.
If you think you can find those things by reconnecting with some of the older institutions in your community, by all means, go for it.
If you think you can find those things by hanging around different people – you can still have your friends, even if they don’t inspire you – by all means look for those different people. There’s no telling to what, or to whom, they could introduce you.
Looking for that one person who is going to change the world by bringing things back to the way they were is a futile exercise. However, looking for that one person who is going to change YOUR life, who will make YOUR life better, can not only be productive, but also can be very fulfilling.
In short, being optimistic, enthusiastic, open and happy can not only bring you joy, it very well could bring you success. Plus, it’s certainly better to be happy, even if you have to work at being happy, than being miserable.
Go for happy.
Peter

SIMPLICITY CAN BE DIFFICULT

#simplicity #multitask #organize
We all strive to have simple lives.
Yet, we do more each to complicate our lives than we probably need to.
Sure, your employer wants you to do as many things as possible. Your children make many demands on you. You feel the need to keep as many people in your lives happy as possible.
Joe Calloway discusses how to de-clutter your life in his book, “Keep It Simple: Unclutter Your Mind to Uncomplicate Your Life.”
The main point of the book is that those who focus their lives on what’s most important, spend the most time on the activities that will bring the most success, will have great lives.
We all know this intellectually, but still, we bring in clutter. We seem to find the hard way to do something, or we spend our time doing things we should delegate to others.
Calloway quotes the great folk singer and songwriter Pete Seeger as saying, “Any darn fool can make something complex; it takes a genius to make something simple.”
What can you do to simplify your life? First, examine what you spend your time on. Then, determine how important those tasks are. Once you’ve determined the important tasks, figure out ways to make those tasks take less time. Or, figure out that, though those tasks might be important, are YOU the one that needs to do them?
Darren Hardy, entrepreneur and former editor and publisher of Success magazine, once told of a conversation he had with Joel Osteen, the globally recognized minister. Hardy said Osteen figured out that the most important thing he should spend his time on is the 20-minute sermon he will give on Sunday.
Those 20 minutes will determine how successful he is. Therefore, according to Hardy, he spends most of his time on crafting what he is going to say, how he’s going to say it etc., and delegates most everything else to others.
For Osteen, it’s simple. Success is in the sermon.
So, what is success for you? Over the years, we’ve heard stories about how we must multitask. We must juggle many things at once to be successful. Now, we read that most successful people devote the lion’s share of their time to the one or two things that will make them successful.
Rather than organize, prioritize.
If you have activities and tasks that take time and energy away from the one or two activities you need to focus on for success, then eliminate and delegate.
An example might be cooking. We all know that, for most of us, if we want to eat, we must cook, or go broke eating out. Eating is certainly important, but rather than cooking once and eating once, how about cooking once and eating multiple meals over a week. Some meals are even better when the ingredients and flavors have melded for a few days after preparation.
Some of us would love to simplify our lives, but don’t know what we need to do to be successful. There are a number of ways out there to find success that you may not know about or might be afraid to check out. To hear about one of the best, message me. You’ll learn a very simple way to improve your financial life.
But to improve life in general, focus on the few things that are very important to you, i.e. family, faith and future. If your boss gives you many tasks, find ways to do them in minimal amounts of time. Spend some time doing things that will benefit your family, ensure your future and bolster whatever faith you have.
Simplicity may be difficult, but, if you think about it, it’s not complicated.
Peter