What little experience I have regarding owning a business, I have learned that tax cuts for businesses do not make jobs. I’ll take my business as an example. We may be hiring in the next six months or so, because as the business grows, I become less capable of performing the ever growing list of tasks that must be (more…)

I never thought that having one’s own practice would be so much fun. That’s not to say I think it to be easy. I would hardly say “I’m successful” as of yet.  As with any new business, it can sink or swim.  I’d like to think (more…)

There is something unnerving about the way the stock market is behaving. I for one don’t invest in it because I do not trust the information we get from corporations. Corporations are extremely concerned about short-term gain without giving one iota to the prosperity of the corporation in the long term and actually being productive. R&D in many companies is non-existent save a few: IBM and some others which are almost entirely R&D. Remember Lucent Technologies?…. (more…)

As some of you may be aware, Essilor purchased 50% of Shamir Insight. Let me start by saying that I absolutely love the Shamir Autograph II. It is my go-to lens. I have had zero complaints from patients. I’ve compared them to Essilor’s Physio Enhanced and although it is pretty decent, there really isn’t a comparison. Shamir wins hands down. So upon hearing this news, I was a little disappointed. Too many become monolithic giants who don’t care about workers or patients. A certain Volde-mart Vision Center comes to mind. I really didn’t understand the decision. Shamir is a kibbutz. Their entire way of life could be threatened if Essilor owned them.  I thought that it was possible that the kibbutz was dissolving/disbanding. I called Shamir Insight to find out. I was patched through to (more…)

Started my own practice with my wife. Having lots of fun setting up the place. It’s amazing having a dream finally come to fruition.

Microsoft Quarterly Revenue Falls

I am inclined to believe that the root of the problem lies with Vista and I know I am not alone. Despite the economy, MSFT shot themselves in the foot. This is the situation I am in. I can’t update my website because Vista is extremely temperamental. Some of the site is powered by Java beans and JSP which is run through Caucho’s Resin. After some really bad experiences, I can’t program any updates to my modules that would otherwise improve my site.

I also love gaming. The only games that run OK are Warhammer Online, Halo 2 (and that only runs well with a Xbox 360 wired game pad and also jams LIVE down your throat), and Supreme Commander which is a real-time strategy game. I’ve purchased about 4 others that crash to desktop or cause the computer to commit seppuku. So what”s a PC gamer to do? In the case of Vista, switch to a console. Fortunately, having a Wii or Playstation 3  will get you out of that bind. Sadly there are a lot of great games I want to play, but my computer [AMD Phenom x4 2.6 Ghz chip with 2 Gigs of RAM ] has been reduced to a word processor/browser. Sony and Microsoft have been competing heavily. Now that I can’t use my computer the way Bill Gates thinks I should, looks like I’ll be playing Dead Space into the wee hours of the night on my PS3.

I have never invested money in the stock market…and I’m glad I never did. A few years ago, my brother managed to gather about 3 grand that he wanted to invest. He asked for my advice. We both didn’t know anything about investing, but we consulted many online resources, such as The Motley Fool and others. Within this past decade, we have seen 2 financial bubbles burst: The internet bubble which affected me directly by evaporating any chance for landing a job within a reasonable amount of time and the current housing bubble which burst because banks were lending money willy-nilly without giving any thought to one’s finances. This risk was repackaged into securities that started going belly-up as soon as the foreclosures started to happen. With capital now tied up in houses that have been foreclosed and a decrease in buyers, banks are now (more…)

Vista is a true piece of garbage operating system reminiscent of Windows Millenium.  It is extremely geared towards DRM to the point that it’s not even worth buying any songs or videos out of fear of running out of licenses because of Vista’s  instability. Vista is like a diamond encrusted turd. It’s very pretty, no doubt about it, but fundamentally short of being useful. Microsoft has lost its way. It is writing software instead of operating systems.

Don’t believe the non-sense Mojave commercials. If Microsoft had any balls they would show someone bring in a program to install. They don’t because the look of horror on the face of the one installing the software would look as if someone had just killed their loved one as the machine commits suicide, right in front of the installer, to a brand new screen of death color.

Microsoft has basically declared war on the human race and would probably turn on humanity if Roswell really happened.

My advice is to stick with Windows XP or get an Apple. In retrospect, Apple has been excessively kind to Microsft in their advertisements. I would personally get an apple if the programs I like were on it.

As some of you may know, VSP has merged with Marchon. This in and of itself isn’t a bad thing, but it further shuts out the private opticals. Please refer to the OAA response to this. There is no reason for VSP to continue to maintain their current position. I would urge everyone who has Marchon in their office to make the necessary decisions to remove their merchandise from your offices until VSP changes their position.

Contact VSP

My submission is below:

As a licensed optician, I resent being excluded from your insurance plans. The merger doesn’t benefit licensed opticians at all. As someone who has used Marchon extensively, I will gladly replace all Marchon lines with other frame lines. It’s time to be fair. Eyemed, Cole Managed Care and others do not impose any rules similar to VSP. I urge you to consider a change in policy.