Secrecy and Privacy are not the same thing

I just watched an interesting video:

It is about the NSA betraying the world’s trust and it got me thinking: I’m not sure people understand the difference between secrecy and privacy. It seems that with the Snowden revelations in the news we hear this common acceptance of being monitored because “I have nothing to hide.”

For most of us this is probably the case – we aren’t doing something in secret that is illegal. We do not have anything to hide. But that’s not privacy. Privacy is not publishing conversations with friends – not because you are planning something mischievous, but because it’s a private conversation and nobody else’s business. Continue Reading

Stop it right now. Debt isn’t always Bad!

As a society we seem to have developed a hatred for debt since the economy nearly suffocated in 2008. Now clearly, when you have a choice between using debt and not using debt, the choice is probably clear. And debt can be bad when abused, but it’s not absolutely bad. Milk is good for your bones, but try to drink a gallon at once and see what happens. It drives me crazy that so many perspectives today are a reaction to the extreme case and not the normal case. I think debt is another victim of this type of thinking. Continue Reading

Stagnating Wages? It’s much worse than that.

I don’t want to say I told you so back in August, 2010 when I wrote Stay Above the Median, but…I told you so. They used much better visuals in this video than I have the capability to create – and it tells this story over a broader timeframe – so here is a great little clip from Inequality for All:

I am not a good writer, but I learned this

I don’t think I’m a great writer. When I finish writing I usually don’t have the patience to go back to proofread. Once I’m done writing, I am done. Ready to move on to something else. It’s been this way since grade school and I am, for certain, a creature of habit.

I do, however, enjoy learning new words. Like up at the top of this blog: “précis.” It pretty much means summary – and more importantly for my site – it starts with a “p.” I’m always trying to expand my vocabulary and those sorts of things.

Anyway, when I talked recently about building a personal brand, I realized that building the brand that is “Matt Chepeleff” is more important. After all, part of my brand is a 6.4 out of 10 ranking as a writer – and that’s fine with me.

I did recently learn, however, one bit of knowledge from the world of writing that had always confused me. Continue Reading

Music on the Porch

We have a screened-in porch off in our home and we love music. Already having some speakers hooked up to an Airport Express in the office (which so nicely fill the downstairs with tunes during work, parties, and in-between), we wanted to add some music to the porch as well. It was so simple and works so well I thought I’d share what we did.

First – get an Airport Express (http://bit.ly/19h8syz).

Second – get some nice speakers. I opted for some in ceiling speakers as they’d be out of the way and I had easy access to run the wires already. I went with some Micca 8″ speakers (http://amzn.to/17Kk2SH) which got great reviews – and turns out – sound super!

Third – get a speaker amp to connect the Airport Express to the speakers themselves. I went with a Lepai 20 watt amp (http://amzn.to/14jYcF3). Note: you’ll also need some speaker cable – but you can get that just about anywhere.

The installation is very simple. Start with the speakers. These install like old construction switch boxes (if you’re electrically inclined you’ll know what I mean). Cut a hole with the template you’ll get with each speaker, attach the speaker wire, then set the speaker in the hole and use 4 screws with tabs on them that will kick in and hold it right in place for you.
Continue Reading