We resubmitted with said “PORN” removed and they accepted it after days of review…I’m sure they had to masturbate to it several times once they took their halo’s off.

They also rejected our “Tourettes with Audio” swearing app even though it was classified in the Adult over 18 group.

We are resubmitting this one as well, but with it toned down…we removed all the swear words one finds in Webster’s dictionary…cause I guess Webster does not actually undertand english and it’s just a pulp document of no real value.

The good news is we pulled out 3 more apps from the rejected swearing one. We made a PG version to follow the toned down swearing one and are co-branding the “Tourettes” as “Swearing with Audio” to find out which name people like, or dislike, more. It might do well in that there are over 7 million word combinations with my voice hollarin the words at you.

So it appears we have figured out what makes Apple tick, kinda up the the reviewer and what they deem appropriate and once the App is released they forget about it. Which is funny because our “Insultiple Deluxe” has the items that were rejected in our cheaper product. So if you want to see a shot of Salma Hayek in a t-shirt…a whopping 25 x 25 pixel image…spend $1 more and you can start your own porn site!

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Seems its the mantra of us all. Even the bum on the street with the outstretched hand has to have a bit of it to keep whatever keeps him going, going. I have sympathy for him, I’ve been there. The only difference between the two of us is I have a greater change of making it out of the dark isolated corners of hell and back into the light.

The bum who asked for money for the 9,354th time made me reflect on the odd psychological monetary dichotomy I’m in. I just released three iPhone applications to Apple for review.

I feel absolutely rich yet my pockets are lined with lint and copper. It’s very strange having no capital but creating items that can make tons of it. I’m living in the in-between place.

I’m walking with the air of an aristocrat who is on sabbatical dressed as a transient to divert attention from himself but he can’t hide his lineage and gets called out anyway. That’s happening to me. I must have “crossed over” somewhere this month past the tipping point of who I was to what I will be.

It’s an aphrodisiac to women I’ve noticed as well. It amazes me how a mental state can alter the perceptions of others. I don’t think this is a place one can “think” themselves into. I think it is a spot that one has to make.

This post is only here to segue into a discussion of the iPhone applications that were just released so I’ll end with:

Money money money…its all on my tree. The only issue is…they haven’t given it to me.

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But I’ve noticed people also wonder how I can start a viable business when I’m only 22. Sometimes I feel like countering: “What the hell were you doing when you were 22??” This kind of attitude does piss me off even though most people mean well. First of all, if you go to the coasts, a shitload of startups are led by people around my age. That’s what this whole thing is supposed to be about. Why not start a business now? The earlier the better. Why wait for financial freedom? Why wait on anything you want to do, for that matter?

I read something in Business Week that said most entrepreneurs rated previous experience as one of the most important factors in their success. Of course experience is important, but without intelligence and passion, you aren’t going anywhere. Plus, I don’t have to unlearn all of these bad habits people seem to pick up in the corporate world, like expecting a paycheck or security. I’m only kind of kidding on that one. I think the willingness to learn and the drive to see it through is what you need in any endeavor. And that will ensure you pick up the right experiences.

Happy New Year Everyone. I’m here in Germany and wishing you all a wonderful time as you age into the next year. :)

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To me business is a much better way of affecting change in this world.

Somehow politics always seemed far too restricting. Maybe I’m ignorant. But in my chosen profession, whatever that is, I’d like to know I have the freedom to call someone a dickhead if they are, in fact, a dickhead. So I guess politics is out.

So wait, am I a “business woman?” Fuck no. I always wanted to be an adventurer. Or a crazy inventor. Like some sort of crazy mix between Lara Croft and Willy Wonka. Business is just a means to that sort of end. I blabbed on about how I think it’s the goal that allows all my other goals to follow.

The motives for art and passion can come from the crudest places. Who cares about landscapes? People care about the fact that Van Gogh cut off his ear for some woman. But he’s only rich now that he’s dead. Bummer. Business gets a bad rap, though. I saw a book on “Business” ethics in the library the other day and was floored to see that the image these geniuses chose for the book cover was of a guy walking a tightrope over a dangerous city.

Um…..wow, was my only thought. Being ethical in the business world is not really that hard, is it? Isn’t that the entire point of being your own boss? You can follow your own rules. Besides the fact that there is no such thing as “business ethics”. Ethics are ethics. If you have a different set of ethics for the work portion of your life, then your code of ethics is not valid. Sorry.

But back to making change. Change is affected by people, in the end. And whether that’s a politician or a scientist or the next Larry Page depends on the type of person, I guess. I always thought starting your own company was much less restricting and more effective than something like politics. The motives for change and passion don’t have to be entirely selfless in order to be legitimate. Many, many great things come out of forms of selfishness.

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That’s the hard part about projects that you created, they have self-imposed deadlines; and that makes it hard to know when to quit, when to declare success, and when to move on.

You can always convince yourself that you just need a little more time, a little better luck, to get things going.

You don’t want to be the next aspiring writer, business mogul, or whatever, only to find yourself in the same place 20 years down the line: Still just an aspiring writer, business mogul, or whatever, but not having anything to show for it.

People might tell you to “be realistic”, but this means comprising your ideals. So figure out a way to not have awkward conversation at christmas dinner parties when your family asks you why your chosen profession is still not making any money, and carry on. If you have an ability to learn and self correct, you’ll get there eventually. But if you find yourself not enjoying the journey, then it’s time to quit.

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Dale Carnegie said to become genuinely interested in people and that means asking questions, finding out what they’re about. That’s especially important for selling something, because you can’t just assume you know what people want.

You can’t take yourself too seriously. Most of the time I’ve seen people fail to ask questions out of sense of self importance or fear, mostly. Being the slick nonstop talking salesman is a turn off. You’re not going to sell yourself by overwhelming people. Most businesses fail because of lack of sales, pure and simple. You have to persuade people to take action and use your product. So start asking questions.

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Why?

If you want it Fast and Good…it doesn’t come cheap.
More resources are required to be thrown at the project to get it done quickly. That means more people have to work on it and possible overtime.  Also, to get it done well, you have to get the best people on the job and their time is at a premium.

If you want it Good and Cheap…it’s going to take a long time.
If you hire a software company to do work for you and you want the results good but cheap, they will put a decent programmer on it but only let them work on the project during their down time. If that company gets a client who is willing to pay more than you are, you get relegated to the back of the line and have to wait.

The other option is they will throw a newbie at your project.  That way the company you hired gets to train them and you will just have to live through that persons learning curve.

If you want it Fast and Cheap…it won’t be good.
If your having your kitchen floor installed and you want it cheap and fast, the person showing up is in dire need of money and that will be their focus versus doing the job right. And because your paying them next to nothing, your going to get the bottom of the barrel in terms of quality of workmanship.

If your needs are for a custom software solution, the company you hire will toss the lowest paid employee at it.  You will then receive a non-disclaimer stating they are not held responsible for the quality of workmanship.

Fast and cheap is usually not good for anything.

So that’s the motto, tried and true. Decide what fits, then pick two.

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I’ve been looking at the same thing for what seems like eons. So much shit floating around me. My ‘Day to Day’ states:

“At the fishbowl looking at the world and letting everything fade but 1 thing. iPhone databases. Very very complex, yet very very simple. Just focus…focus. See this one thing as the world…the future. Let the energy of it fill you. Feel its fire. I am above the bullshit, I ride alone, this beast is mine to tame. Talk seems to be the appeal in all the twitters and facebooks I see flicking around me. I shut it all out and only see this. I shall sit here till I have it or I will die in my seat. Fishbowl is open 24 hours. Give me database or give me death.”

Within minutes of writing that statement, of letting everyone around me fade, the hundreds of minds dicking around with some shit, when BAM it hit me! I heard myself say “Holy Shit!”.

My Holy Shit was that I finally found out how to take a vast database of data and simple query it for use in my iPhone application!

I just stared at my computer until the screen faded under screen saver. Stared wide eyed. It must be the same feeling a scientist has when they stumble across something no human has ever seen before. They see the truth in it and just pause.

I have been on this for months. Over all the bullshit. The meetings. The talks. Its the persistence that is of the only value. No matter how you feel. The key is shutting it all out, looking at the world, letting it go and rising above it.

In the article “If you want to be rich, first stop being so frightened“, billionaire Felix Dennis says “The number one reason why people fail is because of a fear of public embarrassment”. We fill our minds with this mind clutter. We worry about what others will think. About not making the money. About missing out on all the parties where everyone is mingling, networking, having fun and moving forward.  The fear that you will be left behind. It’s bullshit.

The real value is in coming back to the core. For me it is here. In a room of 500 buzzing computers and freeing my mind of all of it. My passion flared a few minutes ago. Vast and beautiful. My skin is still goose bumped. My breath is short. So persist. Persist again. Read this post on overcoming fear if your having trouble letting go of the inner monologues.

The only other answer to how I feel is I had a stroke and am lying on the fishbowl’s floor unconscious dreaming all this…someone call 911.

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Paul places the small bronze key in the left inside desk lock, he vomits in his mind, “God, I hate this”. Turning the key; he sees it turn a thousand times before, “One half turn up, insert with the ridges down… was it down…or up.” Leaning forward with elbows on knees, it’s the most comfortable he’ll feel all day.

Repeating the process to the other side, he opens the upper right drawer fishing for his favorite pen. Not sure what he’s going to do with it but wanting to feel its familiar smooth cool metal surface with the curled thumb grip. He extracts the pen from the menagerie of markers, pens, scissors and rubber bands that always seem to end up in the pen section of the plastic divider entangling themselves to the frustration of anyone wishing access.

Looking up at the P.C., “PROCESS 41 IS COMPLETE”. He marks the next state to be processed. “South Dakota”. With experienced hands he flicks the sliding keyboard into position from under the desk and whacks the keyboard a dozen times “D: [TAB] [TAB] \temp [ENTER] [F8]“.

Selecting Dakota, he completes the command initialization and is gone. Vaguely aware of what he’s doing, he sees tall grasslands flowing and ebbing in a symphony of winds. Each wave carrying him through luscious fields, across old wooden fences, neat, well maintained and weather worn to a soft grey.

Images of riders wearing Hudson Blanket styled jackets, swede brown with matching wide -brimmed hats. And hair. A woman. Gold-yellow hair. Moving like the rolling hills, swept back. Her gaze; solid; blue-green; penetrating; turn to meet his.

“BEEP!” He snaps back. “PROCESS 42 COMPLETE”. Feeling his heart beating the way it was meant to beat, he knows he has to get out of here.

The point is: When you find your days are like Paul’s, a mix of daydreams and repetition, its time to get the fuck out.

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