All those little Ipods have a flash memory, meaning when the power is off it retains its memory, and it has NO moving parts, the demand is growing so fast chip companies are scrambling to get more production, as with all things these days the prices are dropping like a rock, take a look at this:
as reported by Forbes:
The culprit here is price declines brought on by technological advances, increased competition and a desire to capture more of the market. Last year, the average price of a 512-MB flash chip was $6.84, according to Gartner. This year the price dropped to under $3, next year it's seen falling to $1.50. By 2010, it's anticipated the chip will cost 18 cents.
A race to the bottom, as this becomes cheaper look for products to pop up in just about every product you can imagine.

?Cathedrals inspire. It is not only their grandeur or splendor, but the thought that they often took more than fifty years to build. Those who designed them, those who first worked on them, knew for certain that they would never see them finished. They knew only that they were creating something glorious which would stand for centuries, long after their own names had been forgotten.They had their own dream of the sublime and of immortality. We may not need any more cathedrals but we do need cathedral thinkers, people who can think beyond their own lifetimes.?
Charles Handy

I have a book: The Christian book of List, its amazing Randy Peterson has created just about any kind of list from the bible you can ever imagine, here's one:

10 People who prayed their way out of Trouble

1.Jacob from his brother Gen 32:9-12
2-9 a lot of people
10. Paul on his Voyage to Rome, Acts 27

Imagine making that list, lets try this week, look for a problem you are having and try praying, asking God to help you out, he promises to answer. Then tell me and others about it! Take a risk if you don't have any problems and try to get one or just think real hard and I'll bet you have one,

"You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try."
Beverly Sills
Opera Singer

"Forget about the consequences of failure. Failure is only a temporary change in direction to set you straight for your next success."
Denis Waitley
Author and Speaker

"Hollywood is a place where people from Iowa mistake each other for stars."
- Fred Allen (1894-1957)

Creative problem solving solutions:

"Just as a dog guards a bone safely between its paws when not actively chewing it, creative people nurture an idea even when not actively thinking about it… Creativity does not result from mysterious visions that come in dreams, or from fortuitous circumstances. Creativity and persistence are synonymous. Constantly thinking about the problem, consciously and unconsciously, maximizes the possibility that a chance occurrence is likely to be useful in solving it." – Dr. Richard Cytowic, neurologist

Sugar prices, I remember the days in the 70's when my mom and her friends smuggled sugar across the Mexican border,the price of a pound of sugar went sky high, with it inflation in all food containing sugar--now we are in a similar time: "The scramble for sugar reflects America's sweet tooth.

The U.S. scarfs down about 10 million tons of sugar a year between retail, food service and manufacturing uses, according to Jack Roney, director of economics with the American Sugar Alliance in Arlington, Va.

Typically, more than 80 percent of that need ? up to 8.5 million tons ? is homegrown."

An article appeared in the Wall St Journal today, here's a quote from it:

Pest Ground Planes

Every year, planes around the globe are held up by mice, rats, snakes, spiders and other unwanted stowaways. Insects and reptiles can terrify passengers, though they rarely pose a health threat. Airlines worry that despite back-up systems, some well-placed nibbling by a rodent could hobble a 100-ton, $200 million aircraft. Risks range from knocking out a reading light, to sparking a fire, or even crashing a jumbo jet by severing the networks for control, navigation or communication.

"If rats gnaw on a cable, who knows what they're going to do?" says Paul Hayes, director of flight safety at aviation consultants Airclaims PLC, in the United Kingdom.

Just another good reason to De-Rat the plane before take off.

BE + do = have

"When you affirm big, believe big and pray big, putting faith into action, big things happen."

~ Norman Vincent Peale
Clergyman

Its cold in Texas today, 11 degrees when I left the house at 5:50am this morning, here are some sayings we use in Texas:

Cold
This is hog killing weather.
There's only a strand of barbed wire between here and there and its down (after a blizzard).
Cold as a frosted frog.
Cold as an ex-wife's heart.
Cold as a cast iron commode.
Cold as a banker's heart.

"I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition."
Martha Washington
1732-1802, First American First Lady


I wonder what it would have been like to be around Dolly Madison?
I have eaten my share of the Dolly Madison cakes, and they are very good---must have been some great baking parties!

Some where in my life I've seen a church sign that said, "if you stand for nothing you will fall for anything"!
This makes a lot of sense.
Today we are headed for a high of 28 maybe in Abilene, Yea winter finally arrived.
Today I stand for heat,

How about you what is the "something" we should stand for?

"My father used to say to me, 'Whenever you get into a jam, whenever you get into a crisis or an emergency...become the calmest person in the room and you'll be able to figure your way out of it.'"
Rudolph Giuliani
Former Mayor of New York City

Tonight I hosted our first End of the Semester Meet the Entrepreneur cook out. The beginning of the fall semester Dr. Phil Vardiman and I decided to invite 2 students to meet me for breakfast at the Town Crier resturant, over 20 have had breakfast, one fringe benefit is at the end of the semester I host a party. Tonight was our first--it was a real joy to be with everyone.
How was it?
Looking forward to hearing the stories on the impact these guys and gals have on our world---
Keep us posted.

Mangosteen, I am totally sold on this product as a natural anti-inflamation source--yesterday I had a friend tell me how after just a few days his pain has been eliminated by taking Mangosteen---I've eaten the fruit and If I could get a train load today I'd do it----watch this video:
My Vemma

Great ideas:

Everyone knows what Post-it� notes are: They are those great little self-stick notepapers. Most people have Post-it� Notes. Most people use them. Most people love them. But Post-it� Notes were not a planned product.
No one got the idea and then stayed up nights to invent it. A man named Spencer Silver was working in the 3M research laboratories in 1970 trying to find a strong adhesive. Silver developed a new adhesive, but it was even weaker than what 3M already manufactured. It stuck to objects, but could easily be lifted off. It was super weak instead of super strong.
No one knew what to do with the stuff, but Silver didn't discard it. Then one Sunday four years later, another 3M scientist named Arthur Fry was singing in the church's choir. He used markers to keep his place in the hymnal, but they kept falling out of the book. Remembering Silver's adhesive, Fry used some to coat his markers. Success! With the weak adhesive, the markers stayed in place, yet lifted off without damaging the pages. 3M began distributing Post-it � Notes nationwide in 1980 -- ten years after Silver developed the super weak adhesive. Today they are one of the most popular office products available.

I sent this to C-Span journal today to the question: Is Wal-mart good for America?

I think the question needs to be: Is the concentration of buying power, selling power in one company healthly for a country? In Texas there are 410 Wal-Mart stores,
you can blind fold yourself and start walking and you'll end up eventually in a Wal-Mart. In Abilene Texas we just raised the speed limit for freight trains to 70mph through our down town area---now Wal-Mart can get containers faster from China, which is the supplier for most of Wal-marts hard goods.
Wal-mart has brought massive savings to people by cutting out sales reps who were our neighbors, If I want to sell Wal-Mart they will ONLY buy direct, if I have a product they will only source it from the direct source. No middlemen, the Norman Rockwell America had commission salesman who sold a lot of goods to many companies. Last week I visited with a group of sales reps, not only Wal-mart but other big box stores have taken control of the publishing business, books, music-
So, its a very sad time, its a buying it at the cheapest price no matter how it effects our neighbor--not a good cultual shift in my opinion

Homer H. Hillis, Jr.
Abilene Texas
2 Wal-Mart Super centers
1 Sam's Clubs
Over 300,000' of retail

Preacher Mike Cope gets 63 feedback one one subject, I think the biggest feedbacks were on SEX, when he talked Sex everyone had feedback, and the invitation song, for or against---I have 2, and I am VERY thankful for 2 comments, do I covet feedbacks? not really, I can leave my own and if I'm talking to myself, I'm normal. Its kinda like the multi billion dollars we are spending to find extra terresterial life, I suppose you could conclude we are listening to ourselves, no feedback, we send messages all day, nothing, since all sound and noise goes some where, and most of it is produced in the USA I'm sure, we might hear ourselves back.

This week I flew to Nashville, had a wonderful time visiting with old friends, its such a booming area. In fact Nissan is moving its north American headquarters there. Wow! Big.

I learned that if a person lives in an assisted living center like the one my friend Robert Springer operates, they will spend 50% of there time either getting dressed and/or eating. I learned that if I end up there just give me a catheter and that will free up most of my remaining time.

What if I lived in Homer City Penn., wouldn't that be a cool thing, Homer from Homer City. I tried to name a small dead end street in Abilene after my company Friendze Lane, they voted me down, and said it would cause a big bad slippery slop for people to want to name streets after there own company, they called it a "marketing stunt", Yes! to all, Wal-mart wants a tower of babbel size sign on the interstate and they get one, so does cracker barrel. Big guys get it, small fish don't.