Latinismo!

With the revelation that Apple’s products are made in factories that have broken child labor laws, according to msnbc , forcing women and children to work long hours in their factories so rich teenagers can buy their i-toys and gadgets…. is it socially responsible to let your own kid buy one? Adding to the problem, according to CNN , Apple is now being indicted by the US government for price-fixing.

Apple has the largest cash reserve of any company in the world, so why won’t they assume some responsibility for fair wages, ensure that their factory workers in China are paid and treated fairly? Since the news broke, there has been no real reaction or care from Apple. After all, the hipster dufus crowd seems ok with it: they’re buying the gadgets, apps and tunes, falling in hook like and sinker. The Apple Cult (oops, I mean Apple Community) seems more loyal than ever … blind faith and all.

Apple fell on hard times in the 80s and 90s, almost going bankrupt at one point, before being saved by Bill Gates who invested a ton of cash in Apple. The Apple operating system was clumsy, and the software was always a year behind the Windows PC version. They brought back Steve Jobbs , some say the greatest con man since Bernie Madoff, and started selling iPods to teenageers. Suddenly, they were back in profit. Then came the iPhone and iPad. Blackberry (RIM) already had the business market sewn up, so Apple went for teenagers. They sold slick iPhones to little girls, and used high school peer pressure ads to convince them they “had to have it” to be cool. Apple had become the cheerleader clique everyone disliked in high school. But… they were raking in cash.

By 2012, Apple’s war chest was bigger than any other company, even bigger then Exxon Mobile. You don’t beat “big oil” without breaking some rules. We always thought it was the very high price of i-products that filled their coffers (after all, a Samsung android phone is less than half the price and has more functionality, including flash!). Turns out there are serious questions about Apple’s social responsibility in the world. They don’t seem to care about the “poor people” they use and abuse to get to the top. So, can you really let your kid buy an iPhone?

According to Gawker ‘s Ryan Tate: “Apple’s success has been built literally on the backs of Chinese workers, many of them children and all of them enduring long shifts and the specter of brutal penalties for mistakes.”

Support for America, Joe Apple?

Here’s an idea for Apple: Spend some money supporting Americans! You’ve got a lot of cash – a ton of cash! Open a factory in the United States and put Americans to work building your products, at a fair wage! I’m not betting on that idea going far with the board. Giving up 2% of their profits to support America, well that’s just not how Apple rolls. Rotten apples don’t roll at all.

Apple doesn’t play well with others.

You’ll have to decide for yourself if you can sleep at night, knowing your teenager’s phone is helping make the world a darker place. No one can decide but you. I already shunned Apple products when I saw how poorly they work, and how incompatible they are with the rest of technology. My friends need 2 apps, a special hookup and permission from 3 Senators before they can move an i-tune from their iphone to a laptop or to their ipod. I can move songs around easily from any PC to my android phone in seconds. Easy. “It just works!” Ironic, Apple can’t use that slogan anymore.

Greed has been the Apple motto for years. Did they ever donate any money to charity? Bill Gates and Samsung have done so, but …. has Apple? Ever?

Some of us have to start caring about more than money… at some point, don’t we?

See also:

Top Songs for the Apple I-Pad

Worst Scams of the Past 10 Years

The Positive Effects of Movie Piracy

When I was a kid, my dream was to become a fashion designer. I took French classes so I could find my way around Paris and ate fashion magazines for breakfast. Unfortunately, not everyone saw me as the next Monique Lhuillier. Like a fool, I listened. That’s why I’m passionate about encouraging others to ignore naysayers and pursue their dreams. First order of business: get your hands on a copy of Betty Edwards’ book, “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.” Edwards’ thesis — that everyone can draw — will give you both confidence and skills. The rest is up to you.

1. Purchase fashion magazines like “Vogue,” “Lucky” and fashion-forward favorites or find inspiration plus hot gossip within the pages of trendy publications like “InStyle,” “People” and “Us” to begin your dress design adventure. Rip out photos of JLo, Kim K. and celebs making the fashion scene 24/7. Use these as reference material for your original designs.

2. Sketch like a crazy person to develop a unique style of rendering fashion. Get the feel of the strokes, crosshatching, shading and optical illusions that morph your pencil sketches into ruffles, pleats, plackets and design features that define garments. Tap into drawing websites offering templates for a more guided approach to using computer tools to flesh out design ideas.

3. Become a proportion diva. Some professional fashion designers use the silhouette of a woman’s body that is seven times the height of her head while others prefer to use a measurement that is eight heads high so renderings accentuate the length of the tall, lean female figures prancing down catwalks during fashion week. Step outside your comfort zone by expanding your virtual collection to include separates, bags, accessories and evening wear.

4. Expand your use of media as you build a portfolio of original designs. Experiment with fine-point markers, pastels, charcoal, mixed media pencils and watercolors. Learn Adobe Illustrator or another software if you’re a fan of computer draw programs and like the feel of a mouse over a pencil. Discover the magic of electronic draw tablets that bridge the gap between the sketchpad and computer software.

5. Become a fabric stalker. Collect swatches. Practice drawing fabric patterns in velvet, corduroy and complex textiles on your sketchpad or computer screen to add authenticity to your creations. Invest in a clothes mannequin to take your skills to the next level. Sign up for a draping class through a community college fashion design program.

6. Dig up your grandma’s sewing machine or put one on your Christmas wish list. No dress design creator worth her salt can call herself a professional without spending time cutting and sewing her creations – just ask competitors on Lifetime’s “Project Runway” how critical this old-fashioned skill can be to achieving your ambition. Fortunately, you don’t have to sketch, cut and sew on the tight deadlines competitors on this popular show must adhere to, so grab your dreams and run [down the runway] with them.

Matt Lauer announced last Friday that he’ll be staying on NBC’s “Today” show as host for a bit longer. There has been quite a bit of speculation on what Lauer would be doing in the coming months, but he noted last week, referring to the show, that “This is my family.” The news from Lauer was met enthusiastically from co-workers and from his fan base. The speculation on what Lauer would do in the future began arising after he reportedly had a conversation with Katie Couric about his future.

He said on Friday, “I love this job, I love working with you guys.” Rumors had been swirling that Lauer would be leaving, but apparently executives at NBC were confident all along that Lauer would remain with the show and the network. Of the various rumors that arose during that time, one included a report that Ryan Seacrest was potentially being groomed for Lauer’s position when the latter decided to leave his post.

Noted Lauer, “Truth be told, I was developing an idea for a new show, where viewers could tune in every morning and see someone they know lose a little more of his hair every single day right in front of their eyes, but then I thought, I could just stay here and do that.” A bit of levity ensued during Friday’s show as well. When Lauer turned to Al Roker for a check on the weather, Rocker replied wryly, “Yeah, because it was either you or Keith Olbermann.”

Design-oriented retailer Fab.com has seen its referral traffic from Facebook double since upgrading for timeline, and its membership has shot up to 3.2 million from 1.8 million.

In a post on the Facebook developers blog, Fab.com was touted for using action verbs including bought and faved, and for aggregating content including purchases, favorites, and I just bought this. The blog post went on to say:

Fab.com offers a limited-time, promotional monthly credit to encourage people to opt into the social shopping experience. Fab.com also displays a face pile of friends during authentication to make the experience more relevant to each person, which increases conversion.

Fab.com prompts people to use the most popular feature — add to favorites — on their product pages to increase sharing and generate stories that appear in news feed and timeline on Facebook.

If you learn nothing else from reading this next article, you should at least take away that there is no reason a cover letter should not be submitted with any business plan.

When creating a cover letter for a business plan, many people attempt to summarize the entire plan in the cover letter. If you do that, what’s the point of the Executive Summary of the plan?

The true purpose of a cover letter is simply to introduce your business plan. Though it is not a component of the actual plan, it should be delivered along with it. If you think about it, you are actually addressing two separate audiences. The cover letter should address the one person you have been in contact with and the actual business plan should address a larger audience, meaning all of the others who are going to have any involvement.

With this being said, by forming your cover letter with similar characteristics of that of a personal letter, you will do more to assist your efforts and leave the nuts and bolts of the operation in the actual business plan. In other cases, it will be more appropriate to create a more formal cover letter, but in both cases, they should have a personal touch.

A Personal Touch

When it’s appropriate, your cover letters should be as personal as possible; mirroring the type of dialogue you have been using in your previous correspondence. A good opening would be to thank your contact for their time and attention, making a special effort to point out specific areas in which they have been of assistance.

Cover Letter Example:

Dear Chris,

Enclosed you will find the business plan that I promised.

I also want to take this time to thank you for all of your assistance. Designing a suitable business plan for your company required me to become familiar with your products and industry. As a result, your answers to my questions and guidance proved to be invaluable. Through your assistance, I was able to create the enclosed professional business plan.

I will contact you on Thursday to discuss this plan after you have had a chance to review. As always, please don’t hesitate to call me or send me an email if you have questions or if I can be of further assistance.

I look forward continuing to work with you.

Sincerely,
Joe Salesman

Despite sending this type of letter because of the cordiality of it, a personalized cover letter should also be sent because it is more persuasive than a stodgier, professional cover letter. Haven’t you realized that when you receive a compliment, you are more likely to give one in return? This may result in a leg up with having your business plan accepted.

What it boils down to is that a cover letter should always be included when submitted your business plan. But in doing so, you should not overstate the obvious and try to be something or someone that you aren’t. Keep it professional, with a slight personal appeal; appropriate to the relationship in which you have already established with your reader.