Hard Core Gaming. Is saving up your money to buy a Neo Geo AES System from Japan for about $1200 US since 1996, then
buying a game called View Point for $800+ US after searching for it for over five years, to find a guy in Iceland who has a
copy but will not sell it to you and eventually finding someone else in the world who will part with it for said $800+ US, then
playing that game for ten + years only to be able to get to level 3 in a five level game.

This was / is the true inception of the words " arcade at home " as the game cartridge is identicle to the one inside a arcade machine,
only I have it playing through my home system through a converter which cost $500 US. So it isn't " Arcade Perfect ", rather
literally, it is the real deal arcade game - for real.

I don't think you guys know what it means when you say " hard core gamer " these days. I'd say I was about half a hard core gamer,
when I can get to level 5 and beat this game - then I can call myself a " Hard Core Gamer ".

But there are more important things to do in life then playing video games, like making money, building a business, buying a house,
getting married, having a kid, ya know, the adult stuff. Don't worry, it will happen to you youngsters one day too.

Right now . . . I'm thinking about making my own games, not playing them, cause I get to have fun, be creative and make a living at the
same time. Learning Objective C and mandarin in parallel could be an interesting next year me thinks, perhaps I should opt to learn
Japanese instead.

Just thinking for now . . . .

Haven't written on here for a while, was a bit ( understatement ) snowed under with work load if you know what I mean.

Ok, today I was talking to a friend, who had just come back from over seas, I had been minding a business for them and had got everything organised and operational, so I started to talk about now and what's going to happen in the future and it went a little something like this, ok I need you you to attend some meetings with me so we can sell some products, I need you to arrange some other things, I need you to train a person to also handle this and look I'll won't be so generous like my other half, but write down your hours and I'll pay you $10 dollars an hour. Wait a minute - lets rewind that back. ( insert audio of a record being spun back ) Ten dollars ? Ok.

I'll do the wonder years thing now . . . " ten dollars ? , was she serious ? " ha ha ha ha . . . I had a chuckle to myself in my mind. Now this has been going on for a while, as the title says manipulation and some other tactics. Lets have a look at those.

Now if you are working between two companies which occupy one building who utilise your service, that you would be getting paid from two sources. That would be ideal, but what usually happens is that once you are in the midst of this then you would be actually doing work for both companies and you would be " manipulated " to take in once source of income. Not fair is it ? So it starts - we have to get him to give up on his set price, you offer him this for a little while until he settles then I'll start at my end, we can play the game of compassion and eventually he will be working for peanuts or cashews and then we've got him ! We can also utilise the element of attraction to exploit his weakness ( I'll get onto this subject a little later ).

So say you manage everything, yet suddenly the people who you are doing the work for  for feel as if you have too much power , well they should you hold the keys to the entire operation and once again it was you who built the thing up from nothing into something. So the manipulation starts, first thing the people do is go and talk to other people and get advice they then try and whittle you down. Like for instance trying to over burden you work load so that you look as if you cannot cope and are unreliable, but in reality if any other person were to be set this task then they wouldn't know where to start.

Ok so you manage to over come all obstacles and still deliver on the impossible, ok time for plan B, lets make an offer he surely will refuse. So we go back to the ten dollars an hour thing - they knowing very well that you will not settle for this, so they know that you will either :

a) Break out in anger and explode - giving them more of a reason to tell you your services are not needed. that you are not a nice person an that they will not recommend your services to anyone, especially now that you have gone out and blasted them and that they didn't want the other people or the public to know that you were the guy creating their image.

or

b) You tell them " sorry I can't work for $10 an hour - sorry and walk out of there.

So at this point they have just used you for all you are worth, they have just used what they would think is like a Jedi mind trick or something to get you to submit to their whim. What fools.

But here is option C for those in the know. So you acknowledge that this is happening, you can't exactly burst out can you ? That would be " unethical " like a angry postman who loses the plot and starts to gun down everyone, kinda like Michael Douglas in the movie Falling Down. Yes, they would like that wouldn't they ? The media would love it, at last some real home grown excitement, I suppose you didn't know that violence outsells sex on a ratio of 10:1, did you ? But you are not going to give them the satisfaction. I'll tell you how.

Ok, so you are not going to crack it for the games they have been playing, you are far too cool for that and you are definitely not working for $10 an hour when your worth over $55, so what are you to do ? Simple choose option b) You tell them " sorry I can't work for $10 an hour - sorry and walk out of there - effective immediately. Yes you heard me - you get up and go, meaning you leave all the work that needs to be tended to and walk off, you leave the website, you leave the printing you just plain leave, you don't train any one and you go and do what you were doing before to make money, real money not $10 an hour. Are you a qualified professional or a kid working at maccas ? Even fresh migrants have better sense then to accept terms like this.

By doing so you have won and taken the advantage ? Why ? Well first off the block, to find someone as a replacement of your capabilities, who has created the system and knows it like the back of the hand and who can manage all the facets which you have created is a difficult to an impossible task. They might need two to three employees as a substitute for what you were doing. Smart companies call this becoming more efficient  by breaking down things into smaller and more manageable departments- but we know that they are not really smart at all. More employees, equal more things to keep track of and manage which means more time spent for nothing, not to mention that you just walked out of there so they have already been put back a month or so to try and find a suitable replacement. Hah ! I say that with confidence and from experience because I have been in that situation more times than I care to remember. So advantage number one, you have just caused the company to lose over a months downtime across all its departments, and possibly more due to them spending more time to find a replacement.

Advantage number two, did you have a work contract in place ? No you didn't ? Well that's great, because now you can absolutely delete the crap out of everything. What you are going to sue me ? On what grounds ? Can you produce  a contract which says I was employed by you ? No ? and if you did where is the superannuation payments which you were required to pay by law ? No ? Ok then. Delete, Delete, Delete, Delete, Delete . . . etc. You could do a petty thing like that but you should be the bigger man and just leave the rubbish there, unless you want to use it in your folio or what ever just leave it, it's like spilt milk. So by taking option b you have allowed you self to not be backfired upon by the client, which means that they have to write you up a reference for what you have did for them thus far, which means more kudos for you come next job interview or to just plain old have it up there for people to see what you accomplished in such a short time.

Advantage number three, you are free. Oh yes, so now that you have left, you still hold a couple of strings such as websites etc. No biggie, here you go, your website on a disk. Best of luck for the future and so the case is closed. Hey did you make some money ? You did ? Well what's there to complain about, move on and so you move on.

Then, one day you get a phone call, hey can you come and help us to do this from the same people. Advantage number four, " Hey how you going, oh look I'm really busy now, just send me an email and I'll have a look at it , oh it's like this and that, I see, well, my hourly rate is $120 an hour  and a travel allowance will be required on top if I am expected to do this work on site, you see I'm really busy  writing a movie script and authoring a book and I have very little time to spend on external activities, but I'll make an exception, do it any lower ? No sorry, I can't, I'm sorry . . . do I know anyone else ? No, sorry I don't know, I've been out of that circle for a while now I only work on my personal projects . . . yeah look if you need it done urgently I'm afraid that's going to be the price, I'm sorry I can't help you out any more. Ok, cool. Bye bye. Now didn't that feel just great ? It did didn't it.  Just think back to the time you said sorry and walked outta there and it hurt, now in the present you used the same word - but in a different context . For a little bit of pain you get so much pleasure.

And you know what ? You lost but you won. Which makes you a winner, always. So yes in the face of manipulation, always take option b, because you get your's back with a smile and then some. So this is the option C of the ABC's of fighting manipulation.

For the next article, I will write why companies employ sexy women . . .  to hook stupid, weak minded, pathetic male workers who think they have a shot at them and stick around and output work at a rate of 200% , to try and impress them and to crack on to them, so John, " I see you're working a shit load of overtime, John ! "  ( But John is staring at Kristey over yonder in the desk in his blind ambitious day dream and not noticing you - " JOHN !!! ", John, " err sorry mate what was that . . . ", never mind mate, ( dumb schmuck ) , never mind. . . .  wow  that was a pretty short article wasn't it ?.

Just thought I'd write about how people can take initiative to help themselves, really this comes around at a time as I sit back and enjoy the sweet rain outside and reflect back to the events which have unfolded in the last couple of years, the many changes which have occurred and the stage which it has built up to. As I sit and think, the word " initiative " keeps popping into my head, this word together with the word " ambiguity " keeps cycling through my mind as I think. These were some of the most important things to keep in mind told to be by one of my mentors.

Always have initiative and never be ambiguous.

What is Initiative ?

• The power or ability to begin or to follow through energetically with a plan or task; enterprise and determination.

• A beginning or introductory step; an opening move:

• The power or right to introduce a new legislative measure.

• The right and procedure by which citizens can propose a law by petition and ensure its submission to the electorate.

These are just some of the things which it means. I would like to add another definition if I may, initiative as showing promise or anticipation. In the game of life, taking initiative is not just as defined, but a choice of anticipation. More along the lines of how many initiatives you have in the bag given the point reached in any given scenario.

Working for so many different people over the years I have grown aware of what is beneath the ground, or beneath, the beneath. Cryptic huh ? You figure out what that means. So, how do you figure out what is the true agenda and the " beneath the beneath ". Its quite simple, you research, how do you research ? You talk to people, some times this means that you have to talk to allies and enemies alike to construct the bigger picture so to speak. At every step you will encounter people that will illuminate you understanding or lack off in any given situation. Think of it as you exchanging experience, or knowledge or some research you have uncovered.

In a work scenario, especially if you work for yourself and you actually are capable of thinking for your self, you are put in the " dangerous " category. Regardless if you work for a company or you are doing work for a company, time will come where ploys will be put in place to try and control you. Here are some examples for what to look out for and why it is so. In this day and age, as sad as it may seem, if you are skilled, you are often perceived as a threat rather then an asset, you are perceived as a threat if your knowledge exceeds that of the people who employ you or your services, this is where the control scheme comes into play.

The Control Cycle Scheme, what is it ?

The control scheme is designed so as you become reliant on one source of income and you answer to every call or beacon. This includes entering into a working relation or scenario where you give your client above and beyond 30 days on account terms. Usually these terms start out on a basis of friendship.

Welcome to the real world - there is no such thing as friends in business. There is Business and then there is Friendship - the two can seldom coexist in parallel. So choose one or the other and make sure that you have set clear guide lines to protect yourself in such scenarios.

Ok, so now you are doing work for someone and they keep delaying your payment, since you are relying on this payment as means to your livelihood you are stuck. While your client keeps taking their time to pay, your living and operating expenses compound, till you start getting those annoying calls from your debtors. So now you have put yourself at the mercy of your means of income generation. Do this a couple of times and you have entered into a cycle, what I meant  by the " underneath the underneath ". Don't be fooled into thinking that this is the way it is, it is designed to trap you. Money aside, this scheme can be utilised in a number of ways, the classical " Look at the Big Picture " spiel vomited by most of these people use a cleaver tool of an inciting you, they are selling you a dream, but unfortunately it is something you cannot bank on. You want to see bricks and mortar, you want to see paper.

Ok so you want me to do all of this " work " for free and in a short period of time we will be millionaires ? My only investment is time and my skills ? Oh, so you want me to do the whole thing and you are going to sell it and WE will make money ? UhhHuh. This is classical. If someone approaches you with this scenario walk away. Think of successful people, successful entrepreneur made it this way, they all did it by themselves of with one other like minded person. So that situation as presented above is total bullshit. The reality is that these people are out to hustle you. Take some initiative, think, " ok, so you want me to do all the work, then you will sell it for me to your connections, ok . . . how about I do this for my self and I go and sell it ? ". If you product is good enough, it will sell itself, because it communicates to its target market by itself. Give out some free samples to allow people to experience it for themselves in full - not in constrained way, then when the people approve, they will buy it. You don't need to get hustled by anyone.

The control scheme is not only regulated to money, as I said, these people prey on your dreams, so whatever it is that you want from life is taken as a weakness to use to exploit you and to get the most out of you they can before they move onto the other sucker. You desires or rather your weakness can be anything, you could like material objects or longing for companionship whatever it is that you desire, you do the work or " help " in order to get closer to your destination, the carrot has been dangled, you have been sold your dream and you have taken the bait. After twenty years of pouring you very soul into this, one day you wake up and realise that life has slipped you buy, that the dream that was sold to you which you saw in the horizon still remains in the horizon, that you haven't taken a step forward since the day you started on your quest and when you look in the mirror, you see that you have changed and grown older and that your dreams have not come to realisation.

How to break The Control Cycle Scheme.

So now you turn in anger as you realise this, you turn around to put blame on these people who did this to you, but wait a minute, it was your choice all along. You did this to your self and you have to take the responsibility. What you should have taken was initiative. Taking initiative involves keeping an open mind, you have to have answers to questions or all the bullshit that is pushed through to control you. The power of knowledge gives you this freedom.

Ok so, in a particular scenario, I was well informed about how certain people do business, basically straight from the information sources mouth, " what they do, is wait for the last possible moment, then when you have nothing left, you get discarded, while they have you they tag you along, out live your usefulness or run out of money they move on to the next or you make the deal on their terms because your hands have been tied down ". How very fitting a description to apply to any and all manner of people from all around the world who use these tactics. It is not tact used by any particular race, but by all of us, some just do it better then others, but then again that would be all dependant on your weakness or desires huh ? Right.

So there you have a insight into what I have coined as the "  Control Scheme ". The first step to not get caught up in this is to take control of your desires, then a second avenue to generate funds so you are not reliant on one source of cash flow. Then you have levelled the playing field. Always remember that a entrepreneur can make money from nothing or not much, it is the way that you think. It is all in the mind as my family doctor says and it is quite true. Where do you think nasal delivery drugs get administered ? Yes in your brain to harness your mind which controls the functions of your body. So mind over matter does indeed apply if you want to be successful.

I occasionally work in industrial, labour jobs to get away from the plastic world, often I would end up at Visy Boards recycling program, one day as I was talking to another worker, we were standing in piles and piles of paper stretching for miles, there were mountains of it, all of it rubbish which people had thrown away, there were bails of paper mountain high as far as the eye could see, but what took me back was what the worker said to me. We got on the subject of money, because workers like to talk about wages and overtime and that sort of real world stuff, so he goes, " look at all that paper, they sell the paper at this much dollars per tonne, how much tonnes of paper do you think is here ? ", he asks me, I look and go hmmm . . .  how many tonnes is one of those bails of paper stacked up over there. I ask back. The worker tells me about X much, since he has seen them weighed on the industrial scale outside, so I pulled out my phone and calculate an approximate value of the paper, wow, I thought. That is a lot of money. The worker looked back to me and grinned, do you know what he said to me ? " Mate, all that money is being made from rubbish ".

Yes. Mind over matter. I got this knowledge from going out and talking to people, not gass bagging about what I did on the weekend or what I'm going to buy next week in tea room. Aside from that, I made over $1800 for working four days @ $78 per hour, lucky for me, two of those four days were public holidays so I was paid time and a half and double time for two days. That's almost a months worth of wages for a lot of people, and you know what ? I made it all out of rubbish.

This is another definition of taking initiative.

What is Ambiguity ?

• Lacking clarity of meaning.

DON'T DO IT. This usually involves speaking the truth or being certain of a decision.

Many people don't like the truth, it's a fact. The allure of the dream, a lie is much more appreciated, it's easier to digest then the awful truth. Reminds me of the usual Few Good Men thing, " the truth, you want the truth ? YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH !!! " . Put a sock in it Jack, I can take the truth and in fact I speak the truth, so I rouse up some feathers by speaking the truth, so what, at least I am true to my self and I got nothing to hide.

In business never be ambiguous, answer a question with a straight answer, don't flounder, don't say ummm, or let me think for a sec, or wait a minute, because that minute is all it takes for the other party to make up their mind or retort. Speak your mind and you will be speaking the truth and you will not be ambiguous. You have to speak with affirmative prose and reaffirm this in a solid manner. For instance, " how do you take your coffee ? ", me, " black ". You will always get a quizzical expression from the person asking you the question in this sense, the norm is, " white with two ". But no, with out ambiguity, I take it " black " , no milk, no sugar. Why does that bother you ? Oh why I don't take milk ? Well my usual answer to that if asked is, " I don't take milk in my coffee, because I won't have to cry if the some one spills the milk ! ". See, no ambiguity. You have a laugh and carry on with the meeting. Simple straight and to the point, end of bullshit chit chat and on with the work at hand. What can I say, I was taught by manly men with burly chests and chest hair who smoked a pack of smokes a day and two to three packs while on the piss. Yes, these guys all wore suits and didn't put up with bull shit or arse kissers.

Initiative, Ambiguity and the Control Cycle.

What does ambiguity have in common with initiative and the control cycle you ask ? Well quite a lot. Let me explain, we have talked about the control cycle and we have talked about taking initiative, now we will add ambiguity to the formula to make the foundation rock solid.

Breaking out of the control cycle involves coupling these two together by way so as you can talk and deal with people and businesses who show the traits of the Control Cycle. There are of course supplementary additives which are required to fulfil the formula. One of the most important being a great accounting system. The method which I was taught and the most simplest in accounting is utilising traditional ledgers. While this is great for small to medium size business, it would really not be applicable for enterprise level applications. Good book keeping habits are akin to good house keeping and are not necessarily a complicated procedure for small business or those looking to start into self employment to follow. Yes we are all and are capable of being a self sufficient, walking and talking enterprise, once again being a man or woman which is an island. So supplementary one is good book keeping. Besides good book keeping skills save your money with your accountant, the more you do the less they do and the less money you have to outlay, not to mention you know more about your business or company's finances which once again ties in with taking Initiative and Ambiguity.

Supplementary number two, is knowing your legal rights and copyrights and all that jazz, I'm not going to talk about this as you can write a whole book on that subject alone. The internet is your best friend, government websites are your best friend. All the information that you could ever want is available on the internet, it's actually good for something else besides free porn. A good knowledge of laws and rights will fuel both Initiative and Ambiguity relations.

Supplementary number three goes hand in hand with number two, its part legal and part accounting, the legal side is to ensure that you have work contracts in place. Once again, it helps to talk to people about this and read up on the internet and books. I was quite fortunate as a architect friend of mine gave me copies of his work contracts, yes they were drawn up by his Collins street lawyers and solicitors for rather a large sum of money - which I would have had to pay, but otherwise, I had to apply amendments to sections related to design and remove some aspects of architecture, needless to say the first company which I placed this work contract on the desk of the CEO shit bricks, errr . . . Aldo we can't do this it has to go through our lawyers, uh huh, that's a thirty eight page contract, so I had to develop multiple versions of the contract so as not to scare people. My norm is pretty much a one page contract now, but I am well prepared to tackle much much larger companies, from this one contract, I have ended up with eight different contracts based on application at the time. Even without a contractual agreement, if you provide a quote and the client has signed off on it - then that becomes a legal binding contract. Simple huh ? I mentioned this elsewhere in another article, under " amicable business ", dig around in " Aldo's World "you'll find it somewhere.

Invoices, ok I use MYOB - but after dealing quite briefly with this company I have found out that they follow a Microsoft method of business and products. Very very stiff. So eventually when I get around to it and I can actually afford some responsible and reliable application developers, I will develop my own accounting software and pass the benefits to you.  Of course I'll need to make some money to pay my excellent staff, but it won't break your bank and free you from bullshit.

So there are the three supplementary requirements to help you with Initiative and Ambiguity. How so ? Ok, if you know your finances, you know your rights and you have the backing paperwork, it takes the guess work out of pretty much everything, if you have been talking to people and have practised in the field then you should know ball park prices off the top of your head - BUT - a quotation is essential. You give your quote, the client accepts, but what are your terms and conditions ? Ahah !

Back to The Control Cycle Scheme.

Now we go all the way back to the start, on the subject of Control Cycle. Cash flow is the most common means of a businesses success or failure. If you are determined to succeed in your chosen business, then nine out of ten times you'd rather go hungry, or make little or no profit just to keep the business doors open, so why does this happen ? Simple. The control cycle. Even though you have taken the liberty to ensure the supplementary requirements are in place, you did not affirm YOUR terms of work. Big companies will tell you that THEIR terms are " around " thirty days, but " hang on a minute ", if you owe debtors and you are thirty days late, not only will you be charged significant interest on the amount that you owe, but your credit rating will also be in jeopardy . Now do you see what the control cycle amounts to ? Your terms MUST state YOUR terms. If your terms are not met - decline the job.

But I need the money to keep my business afloat ! NO YOU DONT. Going back to the start, if you have created another source of income like " making money from rubbish ", then you shouldn't have a problem, should you ? Great. You have broken the control cycle. Not only can you reject the business if they don't play by YOUR TERMS, if your services or products are indispensable the prospective client will come to the party.

If you didn't, then you would settle to play by THEIR TERMS, you would do the job, then do some more, then by the time you get paid, it would actually be forty days, because of the time it takes the cheque to filter through all the bureaucratic accounts system as employed by the client company or business. So you get the cheque, you go to the bank, it takes three to five business days to clear, the money comes through, you pay your debtors, you have no money left, but your business stays open, once again, you are standing on the same spot, looking at the horizon line thinking one day I will go there. Yes. Keep on dreaming. I am not sorry if I am making you feel ill at this stage. This is the truth of the matter.

So had you taken the initiative and the non ambiguous method of conducting yourself and your business terms, you would be like the Fonz ! Eeeahhhhhiiiiii !! The money that your business generates would just be a bonus - NOT bread and butter at this stage. Then eventually it could be bread and butter if you continued along this path. The right way is never easy.

I am a hard arse, so here are my terms. Jobs between $100 - $2000 require a 50% upfront deposit. Jobs between $2000+ are on 33% deposit, 33% midway and 33% on delivery. Very simple. If I design a concept, then that is charged for, not for free, amendments cost.

The Control Cycle Scheme making money.

You have to get through your head that ANYTHING that a client commissions you to do - requires you to labour and therefore charge. An example. In advertising, a advertising agency puts out a job for companies and studios to " Pitch " for ( same thing for a television and broadcast ). Any material which is a pitch belongs to the Advertising company as it has been commissioned by them. Only certain companies are selected to pitch and they get paid by the advertising company because the Advertising agency keeps all the pitch materials ( most of the time ). So, they ( the studios who pitch ) get reimbursed for their creations. Same thing working with any clients. Another scenario, an architect gets paid regardless, when they submit a plan to a client - because they have to design it and they have allocated working hours. Same thing. That is why a deposit on commencement is crucial. If the clients are not happy and you have spent time to do their work then you have been reimbursed whether they like it or not. DON'T EXCEPT JOBS WITHOUT A DEPOSIT.

Ok. So you have got a deposit, if the clients decide to opt out, at least you have made up for spent time and nothing else. You have broken even which isn't such a bad thing, at least you got paid a portion straight away which gives you breathing space and possibly some profit, as you can now spend the time YOU WOULD HAVE SPENT on completion of a job or beginning a new one or unnecessarily going around in circles and wasting time and money.

So there you have it, what a control cycle is, don't worry, this has never been documented because it one of those, " beneath the beneath " things. I'm letting you all in on it because it pisses me off that people conduct themselves like this. Stick to what I have said and you will see the difference. I'm not selling anything, I'm giving you my advice, for FREE when I could charge $$$ for a consultation practice. I am saying this without ambiguity and because I have taken the initiative to help people who are starting or can't think outside the bullshit.

Ok. Recently I went out to quote a job for a client and we got into a detailed conversation on the subject of art and design. He loved the labels which I designed for him yet he continually hinted that I should lower my prices in a very very subtle manner. He tuned the conversation to a point where he was commenting about street artist, it went along the lines of something like this :

" I went into the city and there were these guys, these artists doing this crazy artwork with chalk on the pavement, they were doing it for free on the footpath, but I went over to one of the guys and asked them how much would it cost to have a mural painted on my property and they told me $25,000. This is ridiculous, so they do this stuff for free on the road, but when I ask them they want to charge me twenty five grand "

He looks into my eyes to see if I am showing him any sympathy for this story, of how I should feel sorry for him and then think that I may be charging him too much for my label designs and hence lower my price where I would be giving him my artwork for next to nothing. Did I show sympathy towards him ? Hell no.

People especially younger designers with stars in your eyes take note. This is how to handle this type of situation. Firstly you have to know what your worth is - meaning what your time is worth an hour. If you have just started out you'd be worth only $15 - $18 per hour. If you are intermediate then you would be worth around $20 - $25 an hour. If you have five years plus experience then you would be worth around $45 an hour.

Remember that your service is based on intellectual creation, sure you could earn more money at a younger age in a factory driving forklifts, warehousing or being a lackey in some trade, but you wanted to pursue a career in Graphic Design - so put up with the fact that you have to earn your keep - which is all relative to experience, you get out what you put in. You have to go out there and expose yourself to the many, many different situations and scenarios, put up with bullshit in the work place and carve an identity for your self. Your best calling card is what people say about you - not what you can actually do - because you should already know that, right ? Good lets move on to the next part of this story.

Ok so I sit there and look at this guy, who thinks that he can utilise this tact, I wasn't dressed up or anything so I must have looked like some kid straight out of uni or tafe. I took the stance of educating this fool and bringing him a couple of levels down in a subtle manner. Ok I said, so you mean to tell me that you would ask a plumber and electrician to come to your house and run all your cables and pipes for almost free ?

He gasped. Ok. If you think it's easy to come up with this stuff or that you can do it yourself, why are you wasting my time ? ( Basically this is what is really communicated by the previous retort back to the client )

You see " John " ( I am not going to be naming any real clients names ), this ( Graphic Design ) is a skilled trade just like any other trade, I have over ten years experience so you are paying me for professional service and what I can do which is pretty much everything right about now - so you pay for this just like any other trade. My price is set at this level because the service I provide equates to this level. In the case of the street artists, can I ask you a question ? Can you paint a mural like the one your saw on your property by your self ? No was the reply. Then you can't do it. You can try and do it however but when you stuff it up you will call the street artist again and they will charge you more because they have cover up what you tried to do. Isn't that right ? Yes was replied. So why put yourself in the situation where it is going to cost you more - then when you can save your time and money to get a professional to do the job you want. Do you see what I'm getting at here ?

In any trade - not just graphic design it is of the utmost importance to educate the clients. But really clients and people are not dumb, they just want something for nothing which is the norm in any business. There is the difference between CHEAP and GOOD VALUE.

What do I mean when I say Cheap.

Cheap is low quality, its like a cheap business card. The first impression one gets in a business is the handing over of a business card, the impression is " felt " on the stock of the paper used. A thin and flimsy business card says a lot about who you are, you are so cheap that you even skimp on the quality of your business card, so what does that say about the work you do ? Hmmmm . . . ? A business card printed on a nice stock, coated or uncoated says that you take pride in your work and the client " feels " this from the finish and weight of the stock. I'm not saying that you should all go out and print up die cut, foil embossed business cards which coast a buck each ( Like some Jaguar Car dealerships ). All I am showing is how to differentiate you from the rest of the pack, let another element speak of you and what you are about. Its like the difference between a Mercedes and other prestige cars - but I won't get into that subject here.

What do I mean when I say Good Value.

Good value lays with education. From the scenario presented above, we can see the tact and mind game as played between the client and service provider. Instead of the service provider bowing down to the tact and simulated pressure from the client, the service provider assumed the role of an educator to foil the advances of the client which is aimed at lowering prices. So, we educated the client that value lays in the ability of the service provider to save the client from double handling a job, either by commissioning a service provider with lack of field experience and skill or attempting to carry out the job themselves with limited knowledge and skills, thereby the client calling upon a professional to address the situation and actually adding more costs in time and development from the professionals end, had they called upon the proper required service and paid the immediate fees from the out set. This is what is meant by good value.

There is something on my mind and it ain't the gormet coffee.

Good value is not lowering the service providers fees - rather adding value to the client to save them from paying unnecessary costs. That is the added value when you commission my services - this is what you as a designer or trade must think and communicate to a prospective client in any given situation. Think of your self as the Winston Wolf from Pulp Fiction. " I understand that you have a problem ? How long does it take to get to your place Jimmy ? 20 Minutes ? I'll be there is 10. Upon arrival, " I talk fast, I act fast so pretty please with sugar on top, clean the fucking car. ( or do what you came to do in a very efficient time, give your invoice to the client and zoom out of there. You have to leave the impression of awe on the client. When they have another problem - they will cal you again - because you delivered. ) " - But this only comes from field, life experience and your level of skill - which all three are relative to one another, you have to have experience to have the confidence to deal with any situation presented to you. So think of good value like so, but you have to educate the ignorant about what it actually means sometimes.

Ok, getting back to the topic of what graphic design actually means. We have discussed the way to explain it to people but what actually is graphic design ? Why do people look down upon it as a bullshit job and hence do not respect it a a career or legitimate job. My outlook on this is quite simple. Graphic Design. We make you look good. This is the motto of my new business trading name, Silikon Graphics. We make you look good. One lady thought that it sounds like something a cosmetics company would use. AHAH ! Cosmetic. We live in a very materialistic world and appearances make the man or woman instead of the capabilities and skill. It's all smoke and mirrors yes ? So we as designers, our job is to take a sows ear and make it into a extravagant purse. That is what it is akin to. So is graphic design bullshit ?

No. On the contrary it is s significant and very important aspect of society and business communications. We make you look good so you can make money. How does that sound ? Suddenly the room goes quite. Graphic design, or the term design goes into all facets of life, for instance we as humans are DESIGNED in the image of god as some books say, everything is designed one way or another. Genes can be DESIGNED, cars are DESIGNED, media is DESIGNED, Society and the foundations of are DESIGNED and so forth. So you see the real power of the term design. Graphic Design is using graphics and imagery and type to communicate a thought, an idea or an image to beat the drum about, you, your skills and your business and you place in this crazy world. The term design is arbitrary in application and applies to so many different scenarios, you may be participating in a form of design just by participating in life itself.

So do you now understand what design means ? Specifically Graphic Design. If you do, what price would you pay to make your self look good ? Its about adding a wholeness to a subject and making that subject look good and appreciate in value.

See . . . now thickens the plot. Graphic design is important and it is worth something. I went to Sydney to attend this years CeBit expo, I was given a card from Freelancer.com. Upon coming back to Melbourne, I registered on this site just for fun, the site allows you to post up your services and then bid for jobs posted up by various companies and individuals not dissimilar to ebay. I bid on one job and within minutes was outbid by eighteen people. The Job ? Design a T-Shirt graphic. The budget as set by the company soliciting the design service was set at $250, the bidding lowered the paid amount to $60 from a budget of $250. So now had I won the bid, my winning bid to get the job would have to be lower then $60. So had I approached the client directly, I would be paid $250 instead of $60 or less - BUT only if I wanted the job. There is a point to this, the bidding lowered the price so significantly that it would not be worth my time to design anything. Over all, if I add the time I spent bidding on the job just so I could win it, I would actually be out of pocket $250.

This website is a very clever way to de value Graphic Design as a trade and intellectual skill and I therefore strongly urge people to stay away from utilising such websites. What you don't realise is that, yes it all looks good and legitimate, I can source jobs from a global resource pool - but at what cost ? You are unknowingly shooting yourself and the entire design community in the foot buy helping to lower prices and devalue your skill and speciality for just a couple of bucks. Don't do it. Stand unified and quote what you are worth this has the opposite effect, it raises your worth, value and appreciation rather than lower it by bidding on jobs, I thought artists had more dignity than that. I have a set price for my skill, the client has to pay this else they can take their business else where at their expense, it doesn't matter either way but the fact remains that my set price is non negotiable because I have paid a significant portion of my life to acquire the skills which I have and you cannot really put a price on that.

This is what you all must think. Undercutting one another only leads to thin blood, low profits which is a no no. After looking at the state of all this it sickens me to think that the once proud design community has stooped to such lows. Rather then sell out, I have opted to actually use my hands and earn money in a factory, more money in fact then what I would be earning freelancing or sitting in a studio, all without bullshit politics. In my spare time I can indulge in my own projects and have the financial means to push my ideas and products which I develop, without having to stoop to such lows as to bow to pressure like what I have set above.

My mum and dad told me that money is money any way you look at it. Just because one avenue closes doesn't mean you can't make more, it is out there in abundance, you just have to go and take it. That is how you win at all instances and situations. Some where along the line I forgot this little piece of advice. Now this advice will be paying me dividends come the next 12 months. Now from all the things one has learnt we know to invest wisely into wealth creation so as to procure a healthy financial life style - once again this is relative with life experience although nothing to do with the subject being discussed - it is one of design.

So there you have it. What Graphic design means, what I think of it and how you should tackle the situation that this industry is facing. Intellectual property is a piece of your mind and it is worth something, don't believe what the other people say, trust your instincts and go a bit further for the sake of survival or take over the world if that's what you want. You can design your way out of any situation. I dare you.

I can't believe I wrote all this now without bringing up Apple® Computers. Opps !

The revenge of El Kabong. I think I'm getting my humor back along with some other things . . .

Some times, Ya gotta FIGHT ! For your RIGHT ! ta PAAAAARRRRRRTTAAAYYYY !!!

This is for the guy who took that Ferrari for a spin from Crown, mate, ya shoulda driven it like it was stolen ! What a waste of a good time.

Was just reading The Age huuuuuh!!! ON MY COMPUTER !! I came across this article, " Who is Kevin Rudd ? No One Really knows !", by TOM SWITZER, published on May 10, 2010.

I actually really like the bloke, Rudd I mean, I'd have to say I'd catagorise Rudd with the likes of Clinton, happy go lucky chaps. Yah know, I might make a movie where bill clinton actually comes out and says the truth and then the whole of the USA is cheering him on cause they are all red blooded blokes, " My fellow Americans, I did have sexual relations with that woman ", there is a short burst of silence, then the crowd abrupts with applause, laughter in tuned with " WHOO HOO HOOO, USA, USA , USA !!! " etc. etc.

They were comparing Big Kev to THE Nixon, oh my gawd ! My quick witted brain instantly thought of the above cartoon. Who is Kevin Rudd ? Well according to the article, he is a bloody enigma from his latest bunch of actions. So there you have it folks, my rendition of Kevin Rudd, as an E.Nigma.

In reality, think about it like this for a second, as a politician, you can please some of the people a lot of the times, but you cannot please ALL the people most of the times. It's as simple as that, because we all think different and have different needs, wants and desires.

But then again, I suppose being an entertainer is also part of the preserden. . . err Prime Ministers role as head of the nation and the media is the channel for delivery of this entertainment, can you imagin if there was no events to report in the news . . . how boaring would that be . . . .

You try running a country for a day . . . think how God must feel . . . anyone watched Bruce Almighty ? Uh Huh. It ain't easy to be greasy.

What I wanna know is WHO THE HELL IS JAMES BOAGS ? Who the hell cares, I got a slab of VB's mate.

Presenting the Hanvon Touch Pad ! Ok kiddies, I have had the pleasure of playing with this cool touch tablet PC for the last couple of months and I gott tell ya it's a really cool and productive device. Ok you have just read my rant on the iPad, which I did to build the other guys, the tech savvy and younger generation crowd to look at this. Be prepared for the Hanvon brand to start appearing in the market place, I have been working, closely as an affiliate and tester for the Australian arm of the company and they have some neat stuff up their sleeves which I will be reviewing very very soon.

Ok, so basically we have here what the ipad is not, namely, a full blown PC, running Windows 7 Home Premium, powered by an intel celeron processor, 1.5 ghz Model Ba10 E ( Pictured ) or 1.3 Ghz for the BC10 C Model this little ripper flies ! No joke, the first thing I loaded on it was yep, you guessed it, GAMES !!! Intel Mobile Express Chipset or the Intel GMA 500 for the BC10C model - rocks on games.

Its, fast, with a very great build quality of aluminium, carbon fibre and plastic. Man, I was so happy when I was playing with it ! It looks sexy, has all the features that you could want, hey HDMI out with full High Definition playback, a massive 250 gig drive to store everything you could want. Say this for a scenario, you are doodling around with trying to make a PC entertainment center - WELL all you gotta do is load all your stuff onto this device, plug it into your High Def Tv and you have your entire multimedia library and remote control ALL IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND ! How about that for just one way you could use it for entertainment at home ?

The Hanvon Touch Pad has built in Wifi, Blue tooth, great back lighting and crystal clear 1024 x 600 res screen, its a bit heavy, but it ain't no laptop, I can comfortably hold it with just one hand and use the other to navigate and operate it, the touch is very responsive and natural, second mouse click is achieved by touching and holding the position on the screen, then a little circle draws and opens the right click menu, you can adjust the reaction speed of this in the settings. Great innovative way to do the second mouse click on a touch panel.

I don't know about the HP touch PC or the Toshiba one, but THIS IS GOING TO BE THE FIRST TOUCH PC AVAILABLE IN AUSTRALIAN MARKET and I think it ROCKS !!!.

So it being a pc, you can run all you Microsoft Office and pretty much any other applications that you would want on this Touch Pad, want mobile internet ? Well just get on a data plan from Telstra, 3, Vodaphone, DoDo etc. etc., slap in that USB model and surf the web and conduct your business from any where in the world. How easy is that !

We will be launching and showcasing this along with other new and exciting technology at the 2010 CeBit in Darling Harbour Exhibition Centre, Sydney, starts 24th May, if you have got the time rock on down and check it all out ! Oh I don't know ? In the corporate sector, going to a show is called " market research " so do some market research already for thesake of your company - or on behalf of you company - wink wink nudge nudge - If anyone want's to catch up, I will attending and demoing some of the cool stuff, we can go and have some beers afterwards !

Yeah , so the bottom line, THIS IS NOT AN iPAD - OR WANNA BE, ITS JUST BETTER FOR DOING EVERYTHING ELSE THAT THE iPAD ISN'T GOOD AT!

The iPad. Ok, there seems to be much confusion about this device. Before the tech heads get their nickers in a knot,I will tell you why this device is going to be successful and why people will buy it and why once again, Apple has defined a new key segment and a new market with a new device.

So Red Siimons sold his ipad when he came back to Australia and the Age has been giving it pretty big rap, probably cause they are intimidated by it's presence, infact all news paper companies would be intimidated by it, as well as book publishers etc. etc. Even Apple loyalists are asking questions and now they say that Apple is the next Microsoft. Ok Then.

Lemme break it down to ya'll, the KEY feature of the iPad - IS NOT that it's a big version of the iphone, or that it's a ebook reader replacement or even a portable computer ( cause it doen't run a proper operating system ), or you can watch movies on it or that it doesn't play flash, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, BLAH !

The iPad is designed for people who are not computer savvy. That could mean you mum, you auntie, your dad, grand dad, grand mum or whatever. It is SPECIFICALLY designed to bridge the gap in technology with the old and young generation. To the younger crowd who are all technology savvy, the iPad may appear somewhat lame and retarded in the features. If you are used to the latest gazillion mega herts processor and video card run of the mill pc or what ever and you reckon that the ipad is crap, THEN it means that the iPad is not designed or intended for you. But you can still have one if you want.

Think of how easy an ipad is for non tech savvy consumers, like the older generation, who can pick up this device, write a letter, or send an email, sort their photos and all of the other stuff with relative ease, there is like, four buttons on this thing so you really couldn't stuff it up if you tried. Add in the touch interface and you make a easy system even easier to use for the novice. Aside from defining this market, they will expand upon it, why ? Well I just told you, people who would have a phobia of a computer or computing device will suddenly be able to pick up the ipad and just use it to do what they need it to do. Well how about that ! gandmomma is with the times and all it took was this little device and a little bit of ingenuity.

But, you can still use it even if you are a tech savvy dude or dudette, so aside from all the blah, blah, blah and what it can and can't do, LOOK at how and WHY it is designed and for WHAT purpose, before running at the mouth. No one says that you have to buy one. But you can even if you are a die hard windoze person and use it in secret, I won't tell a soul.

The bottom line. The iPad IS NOT a substitute for your laptop or your PC - even though I'd love a REAL 17" mac tablet ( Hint Hint ! ) I will wait until Apple make one or if I get really desperate, I'll shell out the horrendous price for a 15" Axitron Mod Book in the mean time. So now you understand where the ipad really fits in and what purpose it serves. See, they look at the big picture and you guys are accusing Apple of becoming like microsoft, Apple is the company M$ aspires to be, not that there's anything wrong with that. See they really do, Think Different, and as far as their policy of protechting their name and brand, jeez, ask yourself, you'd do the same damn thing if you were in that position. Don't kid yourself. If you really want a mobile PC with a OS in a small form factor and with touch stay tuned for my review on the Hanvon Touch Pad - which I have been playing with for the last couple of months and I'll tell you how good it is ! Oh, yeah , I've been every where man, I've been every where man . . .