Tablet and E-Book Reader Ownership Nearly Doubles

The share of adults in the United States who own tablet computers nearly doubled from 10% to 19% between mid-December and early January and the same surge in growth also applied to e-book readers, which also jumped from 10% to 19% over the same time period.

The number of Americans owning at least one of these digital reading devices jumped from 18% in December to 29% in January.

via Tablet and E-book reader Ownership Nearly Double Over the Holiday Gift-Giving Period | Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.

Faithful followers are aware this author abandoned his Read a Book a Week project sometime in 2011.  Workload got very busy so I ultimately had to trade non-work reading time for revenue.  Not a bad trade-off but I still miss my recreational reading time.

I’ve owned a Kindle for over a year now and received a smart phone this past Christmas.  I can now access my Kindle books on my phone.  We’ll see if this helps me read more books this year.

Click through to the Pew website where you can download a PDF copy of this study.

The Advantages of the Middle-Age Brain -TIME.com

A study in the British Medical Journal lit up the Internet last week with the conclusion that cognitive decline begins at age 45. While it’s true that some innate skills like memory and speed of reasoning fall off as we age, other aspects of intelligence related to learning and experience actually improve.

via Patricia Cohen: The Advantages of the Middle-Age Brain | TIME Ideas | TIME.com.

Positive proof the older brain improves with time.  I found an article on some positive aspects of the aging brain.

Now if I could only remember where I put my car keys…

Do Positive Emotions Increase Life Satisfaction?

The answer is yes and they do it by building resilience. University of North Carolina professor Barbara Fredrickson has spent the past two decades looking into why we have positive emotions and what we do with them. She even has her own term for her work: positivity.

via Do positive emotions increase life satisfaction?.

As a general rule try to avoid overly negative people.

Bob MacDonald on What’s So Hard about Doing the Right Thing?

In the abstract it is easy to say that doing the right thing is – at the very least – reporting the improper activity. But what if your report seems to be ignored? Are you off the hook and have no further responsibility? Even worse, if you do report it and your boss survives with nothing more than a reprimand, what might this do to your personal well-being and your future with the company? In theory, of course, you could quit your job and find another; but in this economy, is that possible? Is now the right time to put you and your family’s financial future at risk? You could go halfway and say nothing while you look for another job, but is that the right thing to do?  This type of enigma is not an academic exercise. Anyone who has ever been in the business world, with ambitions to be successful and rise up the pyramid and support a family knows this type situation – and a wide variety of others – is more reality than theory. The real questions are: At what point are you willing to dilute or even trade in “doing the right thing,” to protect your career by “going along to get along”? At what point do you break and become willing to rationalize the elements of “doing the right thing?”

via What’s So Hard about Doing the Right Thing?.

Bob’s right.  Read his entire blog post to understand why it is not easy to do the right thing.  Thanks Bob and please keep writing and sharing.

Thought for Today – 09.18.11

New Economic Perspectives: William Black: Why Nobody Went to Jail During the Credit Crisis

We have known for centuries, that if you don’t underwrite loans, or if you don’t underwrite insurance, you’ll get something called “adverse selection”.

This interview answers the question of why nobody went to jail for our recent financial crisis.

For this underwriter, it’s all about prudent underwriting and strong internal controls.

John Locke – Lessons From a Expert

How I Sold a Million Books on Amazon in 5 Months

In case you missed the message, John Locke is a serial entrepreneur who loves to write. He also loves to earn a profit from his writing. He sees writing as a business and the selling of books as a marketing effort. And this is what he shares in this book.

John Locke Author: Secrets to Self-Publishing Success

I owned a life insurance company. I quit college with one week to go before graduation in order to sell insurance door-to-door on straight commission. By age 28 I was one of the top insurance sales people in the world.  By age 35 I bought my own life insurance company and appointed nearly 7,000 agents in 34 states.

A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing: Guest Post by John Locke

ESC: European Society of Cardiology Congress Meeting

ESC News, Meeting Coverage News plus CME
Medical News: ESC: Afib Doubles Mortality in Stable Angina Patients – in Meeting Coverage, ESC from MedPage Today

The top link takes you to the MedPage Today home page for articles covering this meeting.  The second link is to an article that underwriters may find interesting.