Welcome To The Machine

Before baby's first words, they'd say goo-goo ga-ga. Maybe baby was onto something.

We could talk circles around our parent Baby Boomers about what we grew up with that they never did; color TV, mp3 players, energy drinks, laptops, the Internet, graphically designed clothes, reality shows, apps, emails, FaceBook, the list could go for pages.

But our biggest ally in the 21st century?-- Google. The true power of G.

How incredible is it that all of us share the world's most popular best friend; Google.

Google knows everything; it has built it's foundation of success on being the most reliable, highly accessible, global genius that it is. Need directions?-- google maps. Need a closer look?--Just street view your destination.

Want news from across the world?-- google news. Want to buy something but compare prices from 50 distributors?-- google shopping. Need to translate a language?-- google translate. 

You can even ask it simple math, science, lifestyle, and finance questions. Need a history review before a test? Just type in your questions and key words. GoogleInstant literally does the thinking for you, and it even remembers the type of searches you perform.

 Google is by far is the most genius, life altering, day-by-day simplifier. In social settings, it can be fruitless even asking a group questions; "well when did rock legends Pink Floyd all split up?" Response: 'dude, jfgi.' (JFGI, coined by my friend Craig stands for Just Fucking Google It). His methodology rests in the idea of why waste time asking when the answer lies fingertips away.

And we aren't just googling from our laptops anymore, we google from iPads, smart phones, we google more than we dig for facts and answers from primary sources--Google is our primary point of contact for all things unknown!

So is this a good thing-- all this googling around? It certainly makes days easier and our daily schedules less hectic. But in a quasi twist of ironic events, it also adds to our all ready over convoluted lives. ( I literally just googled over convoluted because at first I spelled it as one word, when in fact it is two.) 

We become so reliable on it, that our brain functionalities and memory kind of turn into mush. Our competitive edge is diminished because everyone uses the same friend and relies on him for answers!

Having said this, students spend a lot less time paying attention to documented, researched, and factually backed studies. Instead of spending time in libraries where hard copies exist, google allows people to scan the web seamlessly for multiple answers to single faceted questions. Google literally opens the flood gates for answers. And if it's on google it has to be true, right? Wrong!

Some individuals even think Google has a plan to take over everything, because if they have access to your brain and what you write, think, want, do-- then couldn't they blackmail you later on in life? I mean, I guess...but it isn't too likely. Why would an entity like this use its' powers for evil?

But with complicated and thorough search engines comes advancements and ventures into new possibilities for newer enterprises to emerge. Google all ready has billions of hits each day in every country and the sky seems to be the limit with what they have in mind for the future.

 

They have the google phone, are working on the google tablet, google Chrome, and this past year they dropped the google TV which will only further revolutionize the way the world views and interacts with television screens.

And did you hear about the Google cars that drive themselves using GoogleMaps? Yeah--they've done that too.

I use google probably on average, 15-50x a day. I use it so often for pictures, videos, word definitions, spelling, news, answers, EVERYTHING! It's so habitual that it has become second in nature. A good habit that only perfects itself. The more you use it; the more fluent you become with it.

Google is our best friend. And all the negatives I mentioned about using it too much (memory turning to mush, not always credible websites, not always correct answers, stealing your brain and thoughts) really aren't that concrete of reasons to not use it. If anything-- in time Google will figure out a way to have all of those concerns perfected so that you feel 100% safe always using their service.

In the meantime just be sure to hit up Google whenever you need the help! He's here for all of us, 24/7, and will always do his best to give you the best and most detailed of answers. (No I am not insinuating Google is a male, or a gender at all. Just for the sake of blogsphere writing). 

I cannot wait to see what will come this next decade w Googs, but count on it being over the top and ground-breaking. 

Who knows, maybe one day we'll be pledging allegiance, to the flag, of the United States under Google-- hey, it isn't so far fetched. In the future none of us know where we will be--but I know this for sure; Google will be there with us.

Broke: the New Rich ?

"Being poor is trending right now. If you want to find something to have in common with somebody, chances are you both will be able to agree on being shit-broke," chimes Justin Bitensky, a close friend and an even closer eye-witness to Gen-Y news.

I haven't blogged in while, life gets in the way, not to mention I am still trying to adapt properly into the 'blog-sphere' culture. So you'll notice some color schemes that have been opted out, my blogs will tend to be shorter and more concise, that sort of wonderful stuff.

But right now it's time to talk serious about money, the almighty dolla, the green that dictates our purchases and how we spend our time and hard earned cash.

Now more than ever I think Gen-Y'ers are all asking the same thing; "why am I not making more dough?" It's like being broke is the new thing to be. If you are broke, then who cares, no money means no responsibility. When you can't buy stuff you don't have stuff to ruin, wreck, use, etc. But being broke aint no joke.

We are used to getting what we want immediately, if there's a wait time-- we hop online and find alternative ways to get that product or service faster. There are books and studies all about our shopping habits and how our decision making and consumer purchases are revolutionizing how money is spent in this country.

And does it really help that we all have credit cards and debit cards? Credit scores build instantaneously, debit accounts overdraft, ultimately there is no real way to keep money from the Millenials.

But does this teach good habitual use? Of course not, because we spend; we buy, we put wants before needs and desires before debt. Who is to blame? Nobody really, ourselves I suppose. It certainly isn't the nature of the beast though because it isn't normal for people to spend money they don't have. However, again, us GoogleDegenerates don't give a flying-fah'q about consequences down the road. We live for today, we buy for today! We make money happen but can't even explain where it comes from!

Were we instilled with smart buying habits? Again, no. But we can't just blame our parents for spending paychecks on us. They did the best they could, and having not grown up with so much stuff, they might have helped contribute to the evolution of our modern day shopping habits by giving us so much stuff. 

So what should be done? It's clear I believe that we need to become more fiscally responsible for our actions and long-term savings. We need to realize that money doesn't grow on trees, and we should quantify our priorities better; ie: quantifying our DBMs (dominant buying motives). Always ask yourself if you need what you're buying. Does your salary and commission allow for the sort of luxurious lifestyle that you're living?

Because face it, money is tight and the times are tough. If you have a job consider yourself lucky, because tons of folks are still out of work. Some people are being underpaid and underutilized, whereas others have scored big and found their passion in the workplace. Some recent college grads (RCGs) are just simply holding out for something better! But all jokes aside, broke is the new thing to be; whether it means you're broke from spending, from saving, or from never having money; broke is trending.

You might not like it, but I bet that doesn't stop you from having a beer or cocktail this weekend with friends. If anything-- befriend some rich kids who literally have oodles of cash to throw at you; you know the kids I mean: parents completely support them, they have never had a job, they plan on taking over the family business, etc. Those young adults won't understand the value of a dollar or the concept of being broke, but I bet you can finagle something from them through trickery and disguise.  

Again-- being broke isn't all that bad. You share a lot more common ground with people than you might expect, and again-- being financially unstable means very little responsibility: because you can't do shit! 

Being poor is trendy right now, and being thrifty is like being the coolest person at the party. If you can show-off your thrifty ways as being beneficial and chic, you'll be all set to go. Otherwise Gen-Y'ers, save your money and work on bettering your finances, because we have a long haul ahead of us with a ton of debt to overcome.

Spend wisely, buy cautiously, and purchase necessities.