KevinSauls.com

Let me say at the outset that if you are reading this blog for financial or any other advice, don’t. I am hardly an expert on any of the topics I might choose to discuss here. My purpose is simply to share with the reader my personal experiences, observations and thoughts regarding the various topics covered.

The web is an awesome place. On it you can find any information you seek, though it may take a bit of time to really track it down. The problem, though, is that while there are tons of valid, useful and accurate resources available, there are also many more times that number of sites whose information is of questionable usefulness, accuracy and validity. The simple fact is that when you go to your local bank and sit down with a financial planner, odds are pretty good that the person on the other side of the desk has some legitimate knowledge and experience with financial planning. But, when you turn to the web the person from whom you are getting advice may not have the educational and experiential background to provide you with valid information. You are reading this blog even though you have no clue who I am, what I do for a living (or even if I actually do work for a living!) and what qualifications I might have that back up the information I’m sharing.

While I read many blogs — including quite a number that address financial issues — I take them all with a grain of salt and a healthy dose of knowledge. You can do yourself no greater favor than to actually sit down with books from legitimate publishers and educate yourself on the basics of personal financial management. Then apply that knowledge to what you read online. Some of it you might find quite good and helpful, much of it you might find to be little more than one person’s opinion or generalization of one person’s experiences into “rules”.

When you understand the basics, you’ll be able to evaluate the latest “get rich” scheme, or “hot tip”. if you don’t understand how money works, you’ll be hard pressed to understand whether the scheme is legitimate, or designed to benefit someone other than yourself.

Second, know your writer. What are his or her qualifications? There seem to be quite a few “experts” out there who are self-proclaimed, for they have no formal training in the topics they write about. Now, to give the Devil his due, it is entirely possible for someone to educate himself to the extent that he might well be considered expert — but how would you know?

Finally, recognize that what works for one person may not only not work for another but may, in fact, have exactly the opposite result. There are few hard and fast rules when it comes to money management; you have to adapt your activities to what fits your temperament, talents and values.
Having said my peace now, I invite you to read my observations, thoughts and experiences as I begin my own journey toward retirement.

One of the most interesting statements I’ve heard today was from Bank of America to the effect that Wall Street businesses aren’t allowed to pay people based on performance then those businesses will lose the best people to turn the company around.

Two things immediately come to mind. First, if they were paid for performance they would be unemployed because these same executives ran their companies into bankruptcy. They have jobs today only because of government intervention. That intervention came in the form of tax dollars. Tax dollars that came from the same people that they are now screwing over daily with outrageous interest rate hikes, imposing a wide range of fees, and thumbing their noses at with outrageous pay packages while so many are out of work (many because of the irresponsible management of these companies.)

The other thought that came to mind was in response to the argument that the top people would leave. What these folks are really saying is that this “top talent” has no allegiance to the company, but operate solely for their own benefit (which is, again, how we got into this mess.) They are saying that these people have no integrity (a fact that most us suspected.) People of integrity, already having large incomes and investments that exceed what the majority of Americans will make during their working lives, recognizing their contribution to the failure of their businesses would take it as a personal challenge to turn it around, regardless of remuneration.

But, alas, they have no integrity. They have no sense of responsibility for their actions. They have no comprehension of what their selfish and irresponsible actions have done to others. They are only concerned with themselves. Clearly they’ve learned nothing.

In recent weeks I’ve been researching backup options for my home computers. At the top of the list, of course, is Windows Home Server. Other options I’ve tried include Amahi running on Fedora 10. Now, as I’ve written previously, I’m pretty OS agnostic. I work with all of them and really don’t have a preference. Well, I do have one preference: If I’m aiming to get something accomplished, rather than just futzing around with it, I’ll choose the product that helps me do that. After all, Isn’t that the purpose of computers: to make life easier?

The challenge — and frustration — is that every time I try to get reasonable information from an internet site, some idiot has to interject his personal opinion in a way that basically says anybody that doesn’t agree with him is wrong. Even when he’s posting on a site that has a very clear focus on a given topic.

Let me give you an example. Windows Home Server is a very good product. It does exactly what it says it’ll do and it does it with virtually no intervention on my part. Nor does it require any significant skills to get set up. In other words, it helps me to quickly and efficiently accomplish the task of ensuring that my network is properly backed up.

Now, yes, I can do that with Amahi, too. Except that it isn’t as easy to do. And, for the person who isn’t as technically adept, it doesn’t provide (yet) that easy setup and essentially hands off operation. I think it’ll get there, but it’s not there yet.

But, go to any WHS website and you’ll find somebody who has taken on himself the responsibility for evangelizing Linux. To me that’s about like going into a synagogue and preaching Christianity. It’s just plain disrespectful and betrays the ignorance of the evangelizer. There is a time and a place.

More importantly, and the real thrust of this post, is that some people like Fords, others like Chevy. Neither is wrong, just different. Why can’t people just accept we’re all a little different, with different tastes, interests and preferences and leave it at that? why do some people feel the need to abuse others who don’t believe as they do? Especially on something as trivial as OS choice?

Well, after four years, we’ve finally gotten a vacation. The Florida Gulf coast is a nice place to visit. The soft, white sand, gentle breezes and surprisingly not quite so much traffic as other places I’ve been. But then, maybe I’ve just not really gotten out at the right times of the day yet.

And, the friends with whom we’re staying have an awesome 24″ iMac. I’ve seen them, lusted after them, but never really played with one. But, this is being written on one. So far, I’m impressed. The keyboard is really nice and easy to work with — much more than the Windows counterparts I’ve owned through the years. Of course, it might be that I tend to be rather, shall we say “frugal” in my purchases. Still, I’ve worked on a lot of machines and this is one of the best keyboards I’ve used.

Lest you think me a Mac fanatic, I’m not. I work with virtually every kind of machine out there. And really don’t have a preference. I think my interest in Mac is its versatility. After all, I can use Windows on it if I like. Linux, too, for that matter.

Anyway … I’m gonna just kick back and enjoy the sun and sand and take a few days off from even thinking about work.

Wow! I didn’t realize it had been so long since I posted. Then, I just found this site: http://lastyearsmodel.org/ and thought it was pretty cool.
Here’s my version and my list of “old tech”:

• A 9 year old no-name, many-times refurbished PC with a 1gig processor, 2GB memory and 40Gb HD for a linux file server/test bed.
• Another 8 or 9 year old no-name many-times refurbed for a test bed — Windows Home Server
• Two nokia 1900 cell phones (with basic Net10 service $15/month!) for cell service. The newer phone is 2 years old, the older 4 and both still working great. Not even a battery problem!
• My scanner is a 6 year old Canon Lide20
• And my Laptop is a Toshiba A25-S207 == 6 years old and still going strong.

Truthfully, every bit of this stuff meets my needs (and I demand a lot of my equipment)

So, what is YOUR technology status? Do you really need the latest and greatest?