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Get Up On Those New-New Tunes - By Johnnylaw

A friend was telling me the other day that the music we listen to when we are 18 to 21 will be the music we will listen to for the rest of our lives; maybe not the specific songs or artist, but the style of music at least. I'm not citing a source to that, but it is an interesting notion even if it is entirely fabricated. Let's suppose it's true. Does it have to do with the formative years of our brain chemistry and settling into what kind of music we fancy as we mature from adolescence into adulthood? Music is always a gateway to emotions based on past experiences, so maybe those songs and style of music reminds us of the best years of our life, when we discovered a new-found freedom and came into our own? Maybe we were just finally old enough to decide for ourselves what kind of music we truly like?

Regardless of what rationale we come up to substantiate the claim, we should all know that it is not an absolute truth by any means. We discover new music everyday, whether it be in a friend's car, over the loudspeakers at the mall, or based on a suggestion from your online music streaming service. And science says new music is good for you, according to a study at the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University (check out the BBC article for all the details).  The study found that the brain reacts positively to music it likes, and found that the positive reaction occurs not only because the new tunes were enjoyable, but also because they somehow reminded the user of previous auditory experiences (presumably songs they have heard before and liked).

The purpose of the study appears to be trying to find a neurological indicator as to whether a listener would likely purchase new music, rather than just a study to discover why people like music, but we all have to pay the bills. It is interesting that marketers are now going into the brain to try and predict what consumers will purchase before the consumer herself even knows whether or not she will purchase the product. The focus of the study also reminds us that there is not much money to be made from a person buying a Sublime album once and then listening to it 400 times over the following few years. The industry needs people to constantly be purchasing new music, discovering new artist, and attending concerts for acts beyond just their 5 to 10 top bands.

So give your brain a delight and help music get made. Discover new music, branch out and treat yourself to something you may like. If you are feeling not-so-risky, you can try to find new music that won't take you too far from your favorite tunes. Like Daft Punk? Check out Da Chip. Like Sublime? Sublime with Rome is not far off. Like country? ...yeah I can't help you there, except to tell you to STOP! If you want to be a little more daring and risk hearing some good new music, I always find that the annual Coachella station on Slacker is a good place to go. You will get some familiar acts, like the Red Hot Chili Peppers or Wu-Tang, but you might also be pleasantly surprised by acts you may not have heard of before, such as Beach House, Hot Chip, Passion Pit, the Neighborhood, the Wombats, and Two Door Cinema Club. This year Coachella even has its own youtube station, where it is streaming live acts like Jurassic 5. Enjoy.

-Johnnylaw

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Nickels to Dimes, Investing for the Now - By Johnnylaw

What does the future hold for you? Can you force its hand? I'm currently struggling with trying to understand what value future money has to me now. It is easy to valuate current money:  I have $20, I'm going to grab a happy hour beer and watch a matinee movie. But what if I decide that this $20 is better suited for investment, and maybe I will get more enjoyment from having $50 down the road rather than $20 today?

Maybe Wimpy had the right idea. "I'd gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today." Instant gratification and worry about the consequences later. But how do we find the willpower to deny ourselves the pleasures at hand when we are repeatedly told that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush? Still, how many of us envision ourselves dunking fries into the oil at the local fast food chain when we are pushing 60? The question becomes, do we work now to live later, or live now and worry about later later? As the Buddhists say, find the middle road.

What do I suggest? Marry rich, win the lottery, and enjoy the simple things in life. For the rest of us that fail to pull off this trifecta, what do we do? A plethora of sites can give you advice and suggestions on how to go about enjoying your life now while still hoping your twilight years will be more pleasurable than sitting through the Twilight films. Here are a couple to check out: wisebread.com, TD Ameritrade, CNN.

So again I ask, what do I suggest, seriously? Get schizo. You are asking yourself how can the present day me and the future me both enjoy the money I am making now. I say, play both parts. You have $20 in your pocket and want to know what to do with it (other than, of course, hunting looking for a come up). Think about what you want to do with it right now (or this week, this month, etc.), and then think about if you were 60 looking back on yourself, what you would tell yourself to do with that $20. Sure I want to get a buzz on and see a flick, but am I willing to do that instead of being able to buy 60-year-old me a nice steak while I enjoy the sunset off the Mexican coast? Okay, some days, sure, but I am only human! However, every so often, my future self prevails, and hopefully that will be enough to keep me in the red meat long beyond my working days.

-Johnnylaw

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California Ends a Small Business Tax Incentive - By Johnnylaw

The true power of taxes is the power to influence behavior. Drop the notion that taxes are about raising revenue for the government to help provide services to the public. Ask any economist and they will tell you that government is basically the most economically inefficient way to provide services to the public. However, if the government does not provide these services, who will? Can we rely on our neighbor to fill potholes; will we volunteer to teach 9th grade science; are we eager to donate a percentage of our wages to catch drunk drivers? Clearly, government must step in for the betterment of society, but the pure bureaucratic nature of government chews up too much funds in administrative costs. So, the question becomes, how does the government coerce individual taxpayers to directly provide for the betterment of society? The answer: Taxes. Case in point:  the Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) statute. Without going into too much detail of the statute (Rev & Tax. Code, §§ 18038.5, 18152.5), the law essentially provided a tax incentive for individuals who invested (i.e., bought stock) in small businesses who were mainly located and operated in California.  The goal here from the legislative standpoint was generally to encourage wealthy taxpayers to invest money in California start-ups. This way, the government was able to influence the financial behavior of individuals to directly benefit the people and companies of the state of California without having to dilute that investment with administrative expenses. Sounds great, right? So, what’s the problem? Oh, just the U.S. Constitution. According to the penumbra of the halo from the gossamer wings of the reach of the articles of the Constitution, etc., the federal government has the authority to review state taxation to ensure that its laws do not somehow discriminate against interstate commerce. The California court decided that this law gave an unfair advantage to companies in California, against companies from out of state. Thus ends the incentive provided by the legislature to promote the investment in California start-ups. What do you think? Should the California legislature be providing incentives like this for rich California citizens and not for similar citizens who live in other states? Should the federal government be able to say that this not constitutional? How far does the state and federal governments’ reach control this kind of issue? Let me know what you think the government’s authority should be, and whether you think this judicial decision or the legislative action goes too far. Before you do, be sure to read more: FTB’s FAQ;Mondaq

-Johnnylaw

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Not One More Beer For The Road? - By Johnnylaw

”...and our love become a funeral pyre.”

Boston, Massachusetts; San Diego, California; Denver, Colorado. What do these cities have in common? A Major League Baseball team? Sure. Impressive architecture? Okay. Epicenter of some great music? ...Yes, but let’s stop beating about the bush and get down to what makes these cities great: Local Breweries. What would happen if Samuel Adams closed in Boston; Stone closed in San Diego, or Great Divide closed in Denver? It’s impossible to know for sure, but some simulations show that the entire societal structure would collapse into a terrible scene reminiscent of something only seen in Omega Man, or in the wastelands Beyond the Thunderdome.

Consider lucky then, the denizens of Sacramento, California, that the Pyramid Brewhouse there is merely an alehouse and not a full brewery (the ale is brewed in Seattle and Berkeley). That’s right, after 10 long years of serving the Capitol City, Pyramid Alehouse of Sacramento disappeared quicker than that first pint after five o’clock strikes on a Friday. Well, almost as quick. This past week was Beer Week in Sacramento, and everything seemed fine for Pyramid, including bringing out seven or so new brews and hosting a special beer judging event on Sunday evening. But the euphoria was short lived, for with Monday morning came a Dear John letter that no one was expecting:

“It’s been an amazing 10 years and we want to thank all of our loyal customers who have become friends”

And just like that, she’s gone. Rumor has it that the approximately 80 employees who were unfortunate enough to wake up to unemployment were offered a severance package on the condition that they did not speak to the press. I chatted with workers just a couple days before the closure, and there were no indications of any looming closure, leading suspicious minds to wonder if anyone other than those in Corporate Headquarters had any idea of what was looming (note that Pyramid was recently acquired by Cerveceria Costa Rica).

One thought about the reason for the closure are that the area where Pyramid is located (known as K Street, or more recently as “The Kay”) has become more populated due to recent revitalization efforts by the city and local businesses. Does it make sense to close down a business that has defiantly struggled to maintain an enjoyable establishment through the hard times once the times start getting good? Others suggest that the Alehouse lasted as long as it could, but the deteriorated downtown wore too heavily upon the local watering hole. What does this bode for other local businesses that have remained through the hard times? Think of the local watering holes in your town, ones that you’ve been stopping off at a couple times a week for a couple years or more, and what would your reaction be to stopping by for lunch one day and seeing a goodbye note taped to the locked doors?

Let’s make an effort to support local businesses, breweries or otherwise, and voice our displeasure when when the places in our city that make it the place we want to live are taken from us.

Read more from:  Sacbee.com; Brewbound.com; CBSlocal.com

-Johnnylaw

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Don’t get left in the digital dust - By T. Aaron Carter

At first it was just a game; who wouldn’t want to be the mayor of their favorite venue? Lost Coast Brewery: “Checked-in.” Masaki’s Kyoto for sushi: “Checked-in.” Even our local community bank: “Checked-in.” At the time of this writing, I am acting mayor and duke of all three, among others, titles I have earned by checking into these places so frequently.

So what is all the hubbub about putting your privacy on the chopping block just to become virtual royalty? The answer isn’t as complicated as it sounds, certainly not as difficult as it was 10 years ago trying to convince a local business that they needed a website, and even less of a sale than attempting to get the companies that make up our modest economy to understand the value of Facebook and Twitter.

Did you feel that? All those buzz words and we haven’t even gotten to the meat. Enter Yelp, Foursquare, SCVNGR, Urbanspoon, Facebook Places, Google Places, Gowalla and the list goes on. What are these things and why should we care? These are the evolution of a book my parents once kept in a drawer near the phone. It had names and numbers in it and always seemed to come in yellow. They called it a phone book but I couldn’t even check my Facebook status with it, let alone do a quick Google search to find my desired restaurant. “Really? I have to search each page by hand?”

Think of these services as a phone book and customer loyalty card all in one. A potential customer will use their smartphone or computer with one of the mentioned services to locate your business. Then once they find you, they are a click away from directions, business hours, contact info and even reviews. “Reviews” — did that send a chill up your spine? We’ll get back to that in a second. These services allow you to offer rewards to your potential and existing customers and grab that searcher over your competitors. These rewards generally come in the form of discounts for frequently using your services or picking your business over your competitor and creating a lasting relationship. Holding the current Foursquare title of Mayor of Masaki’s Kyoto has paid off for this writer more than a few times. So what is so cool about this from a business standpoint? You can track it, analyze it and measure it. We still care about a return on investment, right? Now we have the tools to not only measure our own presence but also enhance traditional media like billboards, magazines and newspaper advertisements.

A little overwhelming, I know. The fact is that it really doesn’t matter if you aren’t up with these Web services; more than likely, your business has already been listed by one of your customers, and if they spent time adding you, they had the time to leave a review. I remember consulting with a local business that was afraid to use Facebook because “what if they say something bad about us?” Guess what? They can do that without you, and you will be left with no easy recourse to resolve the issue. There will always be customers that have a negative experience and we have all had the “bad service: tell 13 people, good service: tell three” permanently imprinted on our brains. Not only has that 13 climbed to 300-plus because of Facebook and Twitter, but now YOU have the opportunity to defend yourself, own up to any mistakes and let everybody know that you care. If a customer has a bad experience, it is highly likely they are not the only one, and because they chose to post their experience on your Facebook page, you have been given the opportunity to respond, not just to them, but to all of your followers, current and future. For that reason alone, social networking for business is an indispensable platform.

Is anybody using these services now? A couple of local businesses are using them with grace. Arcata Scoop uses Twitter to update followers on their latest ice cream flavors. A few local breweries are using Facebook and Twitter to update followers about their latest beers and specials. Pro Sport Center and The Outdoor Store are updating their customers with local events, sales and industry news. Even the CHP has been effectively using Twitter to post accidents and other traffic hazards as they occur. But like most things tech in Humboldt County, the adoption rate for these location based services could prove sluggish. On the plus side, it gives you a little more time to marinate in it before you take the plunge, but don’t wait too long or you will quickly be left in the digital dust with old videos of cute kittens and some guy all stoked about a double rainbow.

- T. Aaron Carter