Academic-Capital

The blog discusses current affairs and development of national economic and social health through unique idea generation. Consider the blog a type of thought experiment where ideas are generated to be pondered but should never be considered definitive as a final conclusion. It is just a pathway to understanding and one may equally reject as accept ideas as theoretical dribble. New perspectives, new opportunities, for a new generation. “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”—Thomas Jefferson

Friday, November 29, 2013

Wine Review: Rex Goliath-Lots of Value for a Little Chicken Scratch

Are you seeking a wine that is good for sports night sipping that can cater to a variety of tastes? You may want to pull together a few dollars and buy HRM Rex Goliath 47 Pound Rooster Merlot. Some of the words that might describe Rex Goliath’s Merlot dark, ripe, smooth, plumb, cedar, and cherry. Very little back of the tongue tannin aftertaste but still maintains mouth-filling flavor. It is a medium-bodied wine from California. One of the best wine values I have come across for under $5.00.

According to WineSearcher.com Rex 47 Pound Rooster is the 1152st most popular wine on their site. Various other reviews rank the wine 3.5-4 out of 5 stars. This means that most of the customers found the wine to be of quality value and a discount price. Comments such as “great taste”, “smooth”, and “candy” are common.

My personal impression is that the wine is great for casual drinking. It is likely to cater to a very broad range of non-serious wine drinkers. Low tannin and acidity help make the wine comfortable to the average crowd. By no means is it a high quality wine but it tastes just fine for the price. Some love it, some call it flat, but I am somewhere in the middle.

In case you are wondering whom that big bird is on the bottle it is Rex Goliath the world’s largest rooster. People came to Texas’s fairs to see and hold the large rooster. The label is part of its vintage artwork and circus banner. The wine’s label is designed to honor the animal by providing a strong option for everyday chicken pairing.

http://www.rexgoliath.com

Silver Medal

2013 Critics Challenge
2013 Long Beach Grand Cru
2013 World Value Wine Challenge

Best Buy, 89 Points

2013 World Value Wine Challenge

88 Points

2013 Ultimate Wine Challenge

Healthy Cooking: Chocolate Biscotti for Less than 50 Calories

Snacks, cookies and fudge are great for the holidays. The problem is that they contain loads of calories and fat grams, which are probably not the best for you. However, if you are looking for a great dunking biscotti with 50 calories this might be the recipe for you. This type of chocolate biscotti is offered at Starbucks, Pete’s coffee shop, or other similar places and have 150-200 calories. This is a low calorie alternative. Use with coffee or tea.

Mix in bowl one:

3 egg whites (no yellow)

1/3 cup avocado oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tbs. concentrated (strong) coffee

Mix in bowl two:

1& 2/3 cup all purpose flower

½ cup sugar

¾ cup cocoa mix (sweet or unsweetened)

1 tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

1/3 cup walnuts

1/3-1/2 cup cranberries

Slowly mix all of the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients. Using a mixer will save your arms and effort. Once a consistent mixture is completed, two logs which are 12” inches long 1.5 inches high and 6” wide, and formed on a greased cooking sheet.

Place the two logs in a 350-degree oven for approximately 30 minutes. Let the partially cooked logs cool for around 10-15 minutes. Cut 1.5” width biscotti size pieces along the entire length of the log. Flip the pieces on their side so that the cut side faces upwards. Place back in the oven at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes.

Upon their completion, the biscotti should cool on a rack. It is also possible to adjust this recipe to include melted chocolate or icing poured onto each piece to give it additional flavor. Keep in mind, this will change and adjust the calorie count of each piece.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

David Hume’s Construction of Senses, Thoughts and Science

David Hume was a Scottish Philosopher (1711-176) who gained fame and wealth as an essayist and historian. He spent a considerable amount of time discussing the non-intellectual aspects of human experience and the factors that create knowledge. His arguments were more in line with naturalist, pragmatists, and positivists. He believed that the relations of ideas and matters of fact are the greatest place to start a concept.

In his work, Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding the section Origin of Ideas is of significant interest. He believed that the senses are only representations of actual objects within the environment. There is a fundamental difference between experiencing and the reflection of experience. The experience and then the reflection lead to the formation of thoughts.

Impressions come from the senses. The senses of taste, sight, smell, hearing, and touch draw information from the environment in different ways. This information is used to make conclusions from the available data. Multiple conclusions can be used to construct larger and larger understandings of the environment. To have full understanding one must conceptually blend the conclusions to make stronger cognitive maps.

Rational thought is the process of understanding clearly, what the five senses are bringing forward. Those who have the ability to sense their environment more are able to draw greater amounts of information that leads to higher complexities of thought. This creates an accuracy that is rooted in rationality but beyond the sensory impressions of others.

Science is the testing of senses to ensure that the most information is drawn from the environment, a type of cause and effect. Validity increases when multiple people experience the same phenomenon and can describe that phenomenon in rational ways (i.e. we all know what the color red is). The problem is that this is a common experience but ignores the concept that red is more accurately based in the reflection of light (a non-common experience that is valid).

Learning and thought formation is a concept of awareness. Awareness is processes of helping other people construct various data to come to rational conclusions. If they do not understand the factors, cannot put them together, or are not willing to pay attention they cannot come to the same conclusions. Open mindedness is a frame of mind, meaning that one is open to different possibilities and makes rational judgments based upon the quantitative (rational) analysis of those possibilities.

What are your assumptions not based in fact that hold you back from understanding?

The Origin of Color

Thanksgiving as an Example of How Business can Further Societal Interest

In 1620, a small ship named the Plymouth with 102 passengers landed on the new American shores. In 1621, the colonists and the Wampanoag Indians shared a meal together from the harvest. By this time, the 102 members were down to about half due to their first year spent on the ship trying to survive the cold. They were greeted by a Native American who spoke English after returning home from a slavery escape at the hands of an English captain. Without that Native American’s help, the Plymouth visitors may have perished.

I wonder what was going through this Native American’s head and why he took such pity on the European settlers. Regardless of the reasons, he decided that him and his band of people would help the settlers find a stronger footing. The peace seemed to have worked out. Perhaps it was his familiarity with the values of human life that made all of the difference in his decision process. Certainly, he and his band could have made it difficult for the Puritans to get off the ship.

It is also important to remember that the Puritans would have stayed in Holland if they did not find some way of starting over. They had a need to create their own destiny and the new land seemed like a great opportunity. The problem they faced was that they did not have the money or resources to pay for such a trip on their own. They needed the business community’s help.

An investment group by the name of Merchant Adventurers looked upon the Puritans who fled to Holland to avoid English persecution positively and decided to finance their operations. As the Merchant Adventurers were a joint-stock company that invested in fine clothing, trade, fishing, and other activities they thought the trip may someday prove fruitful. The Puritan group was seeking more freedom and the investors were seeking greater opportunities. It seemed to have worked out in mutual self-interest.

Business and societal change are part of the same existence. We often view business as separate from these wonderful moments in human history. Yet they are the motivations, resources, and pressures that help create meaningful interactions. Business can be a problem solver or a problem creator and this depends on the person making the decisions and the environmental pressures they face. Yet, when we think outside of conventional approaches, we may find that there are times when business can further human interest.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Three Searchable Black Friday Sites

If you’re planning to avoid the long lines and enjoy holiday shopping while not having to skip out on the family you may want to enjoy some Black Friday Sites. Nothing is more annoying than freezing in a line all evening in order to be a“door buster” who screams, clobbers, and pull products out of each other’s hands. Why go through the mess when you can search online?

Each of these sites is chosen because they allow for a searchable function. Because I am seeking a T3I Cannon Rebel 18.1 Megapixel professional camera for under $350, I decided to wait until Black Friday to make my purchase. Instead of banging down the door I better spend the holidays with family and let my fingers do all of the work. It not only saves time but also saves the masses of crowds.

Black Friday started somewhere in Philadelphia and expanded to other areas as a time when holiday shopping starts. Before this time, it was associated with Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade and the 1864 stock market crash. Some believe it is a time when large retailers with huge overhead start to turn a profit for the year. This profit is one reason why the Holiday season, including Black Friday, becomes a major benchmark for retailers. A few percentage points can make a huge difference.

http://www.gottadeal.com

http://bfads.net

http://slickdeals.net/

Book Review: Brand Asset Management by Scott Davis

Brand Asset Management by Scott Davis discusses the development of a brand image that sells within the modern market. Brand asset management is the inherent value organizations gain by having a proper image and brand for both the company and the market. Ensuring that the brand meets customer expectations is one way in strengthening your marketing prospects.

A brand is the forward face of the company that comes with significant competitiveness. According to the book 72% of customers will pay a 20% premium on their brand, 50% a 25% premium and 40% of customers will pay up to a 30% premium. This makes developing a brand a very lucrative endeavor.

Developing stronger brands can lead to some of the following benefits:
Loyalty that drives business.
Brand-based price premiums that offer higher margins
Strong brands that lend credibility to new product releases
Greater shareholder and stakeholder returns
Clear, valued and sustainable point of differentiation relative to competition
Clarity in internal focus and brand execution.
Forgiveness when a company makes a mistake
70% of customers use brands to guide their purchases.

Developing strong brands takes some time. It is processes of creating the right image for the company by having commitment to the right values. The book will help highlight the concept of brand pictures, brand asset management strategies, and supporting a brand management culture. It is a process of creating an external image by focus on internal principles.

Davis, S. (2002) Brand Asset Management. San Francisco: Josey-Bass

Art: The Concert by Johannes Vermeer

The Concert was painted by Johannes Vermeer in 1664 and was stolen in 1990. The painting features a harpsichord, singing and other pictures. Items are thrown around in the foreground in a haphazard manner. These items include jugs, carpet, mirrors and other items. The impression appears to be a casual meeting within a manor or home familiar to the author.

The meaning seems obscure and many don’t understand what message the painter is trying to portray. There are some hints with the paintings on the wall. Many have come to the conclusion that the author is trying to discuss harmony but hinting at something improper by nature. A special time and a special place with each member focused squarely on the process of music production.

It is also possible to see a lute and violin by the table indicating that this room may be one for music only. The people within the painting are completely unaware they are being observed indicating that they are true musical lovers. The room appears to be a blend of the real and the imagined indicating that Vermeer used both real objects as well as his memory.

The painter Johannes Vermeer was born around 1632 and died in 1675. He was seen as a middle class painter that appeared to complete much of his work out of local scenes as well as his home. Most of his paintings were with women. He did not complete many paintings and appeared to take considerable amount of time with each one which is apparent in their depth. His death left his family in debt.