Amos Tamam and The Wired World

It's incredible how little I use cash any more these days. When I buy groceries, I use my debit card. When I buy clothes, I buy my debit card. It's gotten to the point where I rarely have cash in my wallet anymore.

The other day I nearly got into an embarrassing situation. I hailed a cab and realized midway through my ride that I did not have any cash on me. I was so embarrassed that I didn't even say anything about it until the cab driver stopped. When I explained that I didn't have any cash, he pointed to the credit card machine - they have them in cabs now! I was saved!

Later on, I looked up information about when cabs introduced credit card machines. I learned that Amos Tamam spearheaded the plan several years ago. Amos Tamam was born in Israel and began driving cabs when he emigrated to America. After years of moving up through the ranks, Amos Tamam developed the system of installing credit card machines in cabs. And boy, am I thankful that he did that!

New York Eyeglasses Trends

In the past, the official eyeglasses of indie rock have been square frames - they make you look intelligent, but in a cool way. Since moving to New York City a few months ago, however, I've noticed that trends have moved on. Whenever I go to concerts or walk around trendy areas, I notice that thick circular frames are really in. One really prominent example of this is Matthew Schnipper, a staff writer at Fader magazine. Every week, he appears in a photo with a record in his hands while sporting very trendy ovular frames.

Looking through the archives at eyeglasses.com, I can see that there are a lot of possibilities for circular frames as well. As soon as spring rolls around, I'm definitely investing in a pair of circular sunglasses!

I Fixed Up My Basement with K-Designers

I had a very pleasant surprise today when I saw my electric bill for this month - it had gone down by about 50 dollars! Although I have been making sure to follow obvious electricity saving measures such as doing laundry during off-peak hours, watching less TV and turning off lights when leaving the house, I think the main step that made the difference was hiring K-Designers to remodel my basement.

I initially hired K-Designers to add a countertop so that I can have a bar area in my den, but when K-Designers visited, they told me that I could save a lot of money by better insulating my home. They did some work around the edges of my basement with caulk and insulation and insulated my hot water pipes and I've found that it was worth it. At first I was worried that hiring a home remodeling company would be needlessly expensive, but I'm very happy to see that it's actually saving me money!

Deven Parekh and the Many Uses Of Business Degrees

It's incredible how many different ventures people can go into with business related degrees. Deven Parekh is one personality I recently learned about. After majoring in economics at University of Pennsylvania. Currently, Deven Parekh became a managing director at Insight Ventures Partners, a venture capital firm that focuses on software and internet-enabled businesses.

Like many prominent businessmen, Deven Parekh also has done important humane work. He is a Henry Crown fellow at the Aspen Institute. The Aspen Institute does work to encourage business leaders to maintain ethics and fair behavior. Thanks to his work, business leaders he influences are helping to build a better society. I'm amazed that one man can do so much work in so many different fields.

Learning SEO with Carl Sgro

Did you know that SEO is a major growth industry in internet communications? Do you even know what SEO means? Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is a new field in which web programmers find ways to give websites a favorable place in search engines such as Google. When a consumer Googles a product, he can sometimes choose from hundreds of sellers. Search Engine Optimization helps a company's product be placed in the top results of Google searches so that consumers will be more likely to click on their product.

Carl Sgro is an entrepeneur who founded Internet Reputation Management, a site that uses SEO technology to maintain a good public image for its clients. Many people are unfairly defamed on the internet and do not deserve the negative credibility that a Google search reveals. Carl Sgro and his employees use SEO to promote truthful, positive content about clients on search engines. In a world where advertising is quickly changing and becoming increasingly dependent on internet search engines, Carl Sgro is at the forefront of the new media that utilizes the most current search engine technology.

The Complex Beauty of Iris Flowers

I was visiting with my in-laws last week and was left alone in the house for a few hours while the rest of the family went on errands. In my boredom, I took to looking through the ornate decorations of their living room. Since they are quite wealthy and quite tasteful, the paintings on the walls were all very lovely and intellectually stimulating.

What surprised me was how interested I was in an Iris they had sitting by the window. I've never been particularly interested in flowers before, but I was completely amazed by the elegant, extremely complex beauty of these flowers. It made the paintings hanging on the walls seem coarse and simplistic. It just goes to show that no matter how talented an is, he can never match up to the pristine, overwhelming beauty of nature, the best artist.

I ended up ordering a lot of Flowers for myself from 1-800-Flowers and have been obsessing about them ever since. I've never been so happy to have visited my in-laws!

A Friend's Patent Idea and The Success of Amos Tamam

I have a friend who's been bragging about some patents lately. As he says, "I have ideas that will be valuable to many companies." Still, I find his confidence in it kind of laughable. As with everything in this world, pursuing a patent isn't simply about imagining something useful; a successful patent comes from somebody with industry experience and connections.

Take Amos Tamam for example. After a thorough education in Israel as an electrical engineer, Amos Tamam came to America and began driving taxi cabs in New York City. After several years, Amos Tamam began to repair taxis and eventually managed a fleet of taxis. After many years, in 1992, he began developing a machine that has become very valuable to cab drivers: a box to enable credit card payment for taxi rides. After years of developing this idea, Tamam is still developing the infastructure and perfection of his invention.

This is a perfect example of the kind of dedication that I don't think my friend understands is necessary for a successful patent.