Antibiotics? Hell No, Grab Some Garlic

Posted by Theodore Maestranzi on Apr 3, 2017 in Blog Posts, It's Just Business, Philosophical Diatribe | 0 comments

I have had the pleasure of being raised by a skeptical mother.  Throughout my life, I have been told to question what I see on television and never believe what I read on the internet (so don’t trust or believe this post).  Furthermore, it is important to acknowledge that being skeptical doesn’t mean you disregard everything that is around you.   Being skeptical is questioning the asymmetrical knowledge that permeates all of our lives.  To be a true skeptic, you should even question or validate your own knowledge on a regular basis (something most forget to do, including myself).

But with all this questioning, when will I have time to chow on some sausages?  Simple, never, but I will give you a quick hint… it is possible to have time for fun without believing everything you see.  If it sounds batshit crazy, odds are it is batshit crazy.  If you are on a social media site and see something that is wholly unbelievable, don’t believe it (one because it is a social media site and getting you engaged pays their bills, and nothing will engage you more than: Garlicman appears and destroys Godzilla with breath attack).  If you go to a blog that is promoting the healing powers of garlic and there are advertisements everywhere for GarlAxe (An axe made out of garlic that you can munch on) you are probably on a website that is promoting garlic to help sell more GarlAxes – they are either lying to you or inflating the results of studies on garlic. [more hidden, click “Read More” for super secret access]

Haiku

Posted by Theodore Maestranzi on Mar 31, 2017 in Haiku | 0 comments

Mouse Crosses the Den
Adrenaline, but I’m a Cactus
Poison Dazed Rodent

~Theodore Maestranzi

Small Questions: Sheep

Posted by Theodore Maestranzi on Mar 28, 2017 in Blog Posts, Small Questions | 0 comments

There are so many questions we could purpose about sheep.  Their weird eyes… and um… so… okay maybe not that many questions.  There is one that specifically has been bothering me stems from a weird social media post.  I checked into the article, it was true, but that didn’t solve the weirdness.  It raised way more questions about sheep and their wool.  Like one, do sheep shed their wool?  The answer is simple, some do and some don’t (the reason is much darker (selective breeding and side-stepping natural selection)).  Furthermore, if they never shed their wool and it continually grows, how do they naturally live to old age?  You see, a sheep that never sheds its wool would be fine living, but eventually, a predator would be able to take advantage of the extra weight since the sheep would eventually be unable to flee (effectively).

So, if humanity just disappeared, would it be possible for a sheep that didn’t shed to die of old age?

Just Theodore asking the hard questions.

Weaponizing the Internet

Posted by Theodore Maestranzi on Mar 23, 2017 in Blog Posts, It's Just Business, Philosophical Diatribe | 0 comments

When I created my website years ago, I made a simple promise to everyone who ever visited it.  That promise is on the About the Website page and it is about advertising and it simply states: No Advertising.  I take that seriously, to the degree that I don’t promote anything in my blogs on purpose.  Sometimes, I have to use the names of companies but they are not advertisements.  Furthermore, I make it clear that I am footing the bill for this website and I own all of the content.  Why would I not monetize (weaponize) my website and generate income from it?

Simple, I hate advertising on the web.  Perhaps I am remembering the past with rose tinted glasses, but I think many of you would agree with me – the internet has gotten out of control.  [There is a lot more below, click read more for my full analysis]

New Project Launch – Manuscript 8

Posted by Theodore Maestranzi on Mar 13, 2017 in Blog Posts, Manuscripts, Project's Progress Update | 0 comments

It has been sometime since I posted on here and I apologize.  I’ve been focusing on my short fiction in order to produce some publication credits.  Some of the work is out for review, some of them are still in progress, but I decided two weeks ago that the project sitting on my easel needed to see the light of day.  It has been there since last year and it was destine to be Manuscript 7 (then a short story got too long, I expanded its scope, and it became Manuscript 7 (a novella)).  After prepping a bunch of work and short stories, I decided I needed to get back to my true joy of novel length fiction.  So being insane, I took my first vacation day in years to being the new project.  Over three days I outlined, cooked, and wrote – rinse and repeat.  I am sitting at ten chapters at the writing of this post.  I forgot how much more joy I get in writing a novel where I have zero limitations on length.  I can let the piece breath and go down rabbit holes.  I am excited.

Let’s Talk About Jobs

Posted by Theodore Maestranzi on Dec 19, 2016 in Blog Posts, It's Just Business | 0 comments

Normally, I wouldn’t post about the climate of the nation, but I feel it is important to discuss jobs.  Personally, my career has me working in a technology space that works on analytics.  We collect and display data for our customers, and this allows our customers the ability to make decisions based on in depth information.  However, it also allows them to be more productive with less.  As such, there is a logical conclusion that can be made: producing more with less will mean you need less workers.  Which brings me to my main point, many positions in this country (the ones that are growing) are for highly educated individuals, and those positions, are working aggressively to automate systems.

Every business begins with a basic idea, and that business, if it catches on, will need to continue to grow and evolve their core product.  This is the root of capitalism, you grow and produce more profits.  This leads to innovation.  However, with the core being growth, a business is not focused on the impact to the surrounding systems around them (environment, population, and the entire ecology of our world) – some business do actively try to review what they are doing to the surrounding world before making a decision. (click [Read More] for the rest of this diatribe)

New Category Alert: It’s Just Business

Posted by Theodore Maestranzi on Dec 19, 2016 in Blog Posts, It's Just Business, Website Modifications | 0 comments

I’ve created a new category for the website: It’s Just Business.  As an Italian American, I find this humorous though it is rooted in the mythos of the Mafioso – who have killed over money many times.  I think legitimate business also kill people, just not with a gun, and through legal means.  Therefore, I chose this as the title of the category for a specific reason.

In this category, I will use my master’s in business administration (MBA) to analyze business and our surrounding world.  These reviews will be coupled with my bachelor of science in philosophy and sociology.  My goal here is not to “stir the pot” but provide an objective (which is not even possible because we all have biases based on our background (there’s my philosophy and sociology degree)) review of what is happening around us through the lens of business.  These will be longer posts, so the [Read More] button at the bottom of a post will actually be useful, I will call out when to use the button.  I hope you enjoy these posts, and that they help you analyze what is happening around us in a different way.