Parking Karma in Johannesburg

by Ramon Thomas in Beliefs on 3030/040404/2007200720072007 • No Comments • , , ,

The traffic in Joburg gets worse every year. In one sense its a very positive sign because there is a lot more money floating around although much of it is in the form of credit. Anyway I first learned about parking karma from David DeAngelo in one of many programs on dating and success in life. And more recently one of the teachers from The Secret also mentioned it. So I started incorporating it into my daily thoughts. Until today I could never tell if it was working or not. However, today I went to Southgate mall to deposit a cheque, and practically the entire parking lot was full.

So I drove around some of the cars turning away from the entrance. And as I looked around I remembered that I sent out the message to the Universe to open a parking for me close to the entrance. So instead of looking for a parking spot further away I just turned and drove towards the entrance. Two cars pulled out and the parking lot were almost immediately filled. A few seconds later another opened and this one was mine.

So if you want to start exploring how visualisation really works this is one simple experiment you can start doing today. Steve Pavlina has convinced me that we do in fact life in a subjective universe where our consciousness when seen as a interconnected whole allows us to manifest thoughts into our reality.

Leykis 101 – Spending Limits on Dates

by Ramon Thomas in Dating on 2323/040404/2007200720072007 • No Comments • , ,

Tom Leykis 101This is first of a series of Leykis 101 rules I’m republishing with some comments to put it into context for guys in South Africa. Upon some reflection I decided that R200 is a fair equivalent to the US$40 limit on a date. As you’ll know R200 is one of the options on a ATM in South Africa. As the argument goes spending more on a date is not going to make a woman like you more. So decide on a limit for yourself and stick to it.

This rule reminds me of something a good friend of mine, who happens to be an accountant, said once. In most cases guys are spending money on women because they want to have sex with them. So it instead of spending money getting into a club and buying drinks for women, you should instead just go find a prostitute and get it over and done with. I do not agree with his suggestion because as I have progressively improved my skills with women and dating I have spent less and less money and get better and better results. If you’re a guy who’s spending to much on women sign-up for my coach programme.

Here’s the full explanation of this rule. Where you see $40 think R200!

Leykis 101 students are cautioned against spending more than $40 on a date. The reasoning behind this is Leykis’ opinion that more money spent during a date will not necessarily lead to a better chance of sex, contrary to the belief of most ‘uninformed’ men. If the person a student is dating does not want sex by the third date, a Leykis 101 student is instructed to “dump that bitch”. Leykis asserts, as a matter of convenience to his students, that if a woman doesn’t have sex with them by their third date, it means she has no intention of ever doing so.

If you have to go on several dates before reaching your goal, this can make girls very expensive. How do you do this? There’s several ways to cut costs. If you are going out to dinner, eat first. Then at dinner, just order a salad or bowl of soup. What girl is going to eat more than the guy, especially if it’s the first dates? Does she want to look like a little piggy in front of him?

Try to avoid the dinner. When you’re asking her out, say something like “Well, what time are you eating dinner?” She might think you’re asking her to dinner–but no. When she gives an answer, like “Oh, I was thinking about 7:30,” you make your move. Say, “Ok, and about an hour and a half to eat, I’ll pick you up at 9, and we can get some drinks?”

You’ve done it. She’ll probably look dumbfounded for a second, or think that you are a little “dense,” but you have just won. That’s an entire dinner you don’t have to pay for. The money can be better spent on buying her liquor and getting back to her place for some fun.

You can read more Tenents of Leykis 101 here…

The Warren Buffet Way by Robert Hagestrom

by Ramon Thomas in Books/Business/Reviews/Role Model on 1818/040404/2007200720072007 • No Comments • ,


ISBN 0471743674
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
2nd edition, 2005.

Warren Buffet is the greatest investor alive today. His track record speaks for itself and this book goes some small way towards explaining the inner workings of this investment genius. A few years ago I passed on buying Buffettology because I thought I wasn’t ready for it and now found this book from my best friend Vergal Walton (checkout his new Jack Higgins website coming soon here).

The Warren Buffet Way is the most readable book I’ve come across on investment so far. The essence of this book is summarised in the various chapters of the book. The stories of the companies that Buffet invests in from the earliest days to the most recent are all entertaining and extremely insightful. One of the core underlying principles is to take the long term view of with investments. And when buying shares to think of it as buying a business and behaving in a way that the owner would behave. The Dot com crash was almost a directly result of short term opportunistic investments. And the whole investment philosophy of Buffet rests on theories expounded more than 50 years ago by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd in Security Analysis as well as The Intelligent Investor also by Graham.

Historically Buffet bought sizeable interests in publicly traded companies from the Coca-Cola company to the Gillette company. And more recently he has moved into purchasing privately held companies outright. As he says he is willing to own these businesses forever. That is an exceptional attitude in investment. Hagestrom described Buffet as the focussed investor. Rather investing large sums of money in a smaller number of companies.

The Focus Investor’s Golden Rules:

  1. Concentrate your investment in outstanding companies run by strong management
  2. Limit yourself to the number of companies you can truly understand. Ten to twenty is good, more than twenty is asking for trouble.
  3. Pick the very best of your good companies, and put the bulk of your investment there.
  4. Think long-term: five to ten years, minimum.
  5. Volatility happens. Carry on.

You may also be interested in reading the archives of the annual letters from Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. to the shareholders here.

If you live in South Africa purchase The Warren Buffett way from Kalahari.net

18 Tips to Safe Surfing on the Net

by Ramon Thomas in Advice/News on 1717/040404/2007200720072007 • No Comments •

In response to recent national and local headlines concerning child online safety, PCPandora.com launches “18 Tips to Safe Surfing” and Pandora’s Blog. Both serve as resources to parents looking for ideas and effective ways to keep their kids safe on the Internet.

New York, NY (PRWEB) April 16, 2007 — In response to recent national and local headlines concerning child online safety, PCPandora.com launches “18 Tips to Safe Surfing” and Pandora’s Blog. Both serve as resources to parents looking for ideas and effective ways to keep their kids safe on the Internet.

Three recent events have brought the issue of online child safety to the headlines once again:

it’s a place where we will talk about current news surrounding the issue. We want parents to share their stories, chime in on our thoughts… and maybe even find answers.
1. In March, a federal court judge in Philadelphia blocked the 1998 Child Online Protection Act… 2. Soon thereafter, Project Safe Childhood launched the educational “Think Before You Post” campaign… And 3. A couple weeks after that, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) rejected the application for an official redlight district “.xxx” Internet domain.

In addition, stories of Internet predators being caught by undercover agents, and local/state government-hosted seminars being held in communities across the US also make daily headlines. For example, recently, 28 men were arrested over one weekend in Florida, and a Pennsylvania man was sentenced for having sexual relations with the 14-year old Connecticut girl he met on MySpace.

Now more than ever, the message is clear: it is 100% parents’ responsibility to safeguard their child’s Internet activities.

In response to the plethora of recent news surrounding online child safety, Pandora Corporation, makers of PC Pandora, have posted 18 Tips to Safe Surfing on their website. In addition, the company has started Pandora’s Blog, the focus of which is to provide an open forum for discussion of current news concerning child online safety.

“We want to be a resource for parents,” says co-founder James Leasure, “a place where they can come to discuss issues, get tips, educate themselves and find answers. Online safety is an important topic, now more so than ever — and it’s up to parents to make sure we succeed.”

The company pulled tips from all over the web, added a bit of common sense, and gave them a home in one place on their website.

“Simple solutions like start early, talk to your kids, be the boss of your PC, establish rules… they may all seem to be no-brainers, but you would be surprised at the number of parents that overlook these basic guidelines,” says Leasure.

With Pandora’s Blog, the company hopes to keep the issue of online safety at the forefront of America’s parents’ minds. Leasure says, “it’s a place where we will talk about current news surrounding the issue. We want parents to share their stories, chime in on our thoughts… and maybe even find answers.”

He adds that, “progress is being made everyday, and more people are aware now of the dangers that lurk online — but we still have a long road to travel.”

The company’s monitoring software, PC Pandora, serves as a valuable tool in monitoring children’s activities online. Executive members are available for comment; copies of software, images, and video are also available for help in story development.

Some Alarming Stats Concerning Kids’ Online Activity:
· According to 2006′s Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later report, approximately one in seven youth online (10 to 17-years-old) received a sexual solicitation or approach over the Internet.
· The same report found that 34% had an unwanted exposure to sexual material – pictures of naked people or people having sex. 27% of the youth who encountered unwanted sexual material told a parent or guardian. But if the encounter was defined as distressing – episodes that made them feel very or extremely upset or afraid – 42% told a parent or guardian.
· According to a 2006 survey, by Cox Communications in partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, teens have been exposed to the Internet’s accompanying potential risks:
–71% reported receiving messages online from someone they don’t know
–45% have been asked for personal information by someone they don’t know
–30% have considered meeting someone that they’ve only talked to online
–14% have actually met a person face-to-face they they’ve only spoken to over the Internet
· 71% of all parents stop monitoring their child’s use of the Internet after the child turns 14, not knowing that 72% of all Internet-related missing children are 15 years of age or older. – Dist. Attny, Cnty of Los Angeles

About PC Pandora: Pandora Corporation was formed with one goal – to help our customers monitor, control and protect their families and themselves online. First released in 2005, PC Pandora has been constantly upgraded to industry-leading specifications and has received accolades from users, reviewers and even school districts and law enforcement agencies, who use the program to help in the day-to-day supervision of the children and citizens they are charged with protecting. With the release of Windows Vista-compatible version 4.2 and a newly upgraded interactive website, PC Pandora has vaulted into a leadership position by boasting a combination of features that unparalleled in the monitoring industry. The company website devotes space to helping parents with 18 Tips to Safe Surfing and the new Pandora’s Blog, where current news in the world of online safety are discussed regularly.

Toastmasters Body Language speech

by Ramon Thomas in Body Language on 1212/040404/2007200720072007 • 2 Comments • , , ,

On Tuesday evening I won the Best Preprepared Speech (2nd time) for my C&L 5 Body Language speech at my Toastmasters club. This was weird because I chose to speak about the basics of body language and the objective of the speech was to demonstrate body language.

Some of the basics that I covered were:

1. When you arrive at a new venue pause when you enter the room. Allow people to notice you. This is an extremely powerful statement especially in a bar or nightclub. You must pause for several seconds about 10 to really allow the room to become aware of you. When you do this you will experience society pressure in your subconscious. Ignore that breath and walk through the centre of the room. Whether you realise this or not you have just demonstrated using only body language to be a very confident man. Much more confident than most guys in bars and clubs. Most of the women will have noticed and be more open to speaking to you later on when you approach them. Some may even come up to you after you have positioned yourself somewhere visible.

2. When you are walking always push your shoulders back. So whenever you are out always remember to do this. You will automatically push your chest out. And this reminds me of that feeling of a gorilla clobbering it’s chest. It’s really something that gives you the best possible posture for walking and standing up. Your back will be straight and this is also healthy for your spine.

3. When you are sitting down try to take up as much space as possible. For women it’s acceptable to cross their legs but for men it’s not recommended. So when you are in a public place…say at a fancy lounge, chances are they will have sofa’s. Sit down in the middle of the sofa stretch out your arms over the back and spread your legs like you own the place. This sends a very loud and clear message of your alpha male status.

Lastly Tracey Cox is her many books on body language states the most common mistake people make in dating situations is trying to read the other person’s body language. You should instead focus on the body language signals you are sending. This is the one thing you have completely control over. So don’t forget this fundamental lesson. Focus on your own body language and your non-verbal communication will increase in impact.

Research has shown that 60% of communication is non-verbal. Another 33% is voice tone. And only seven percent, that’s 7% is the actual words we speak. And when you realise how superior women are to ready body language. As a guy this is a crucial area for all men to improve.

Why do women keep falling for Badboys?

by Ramon Thomas in Dating on 1010/040404/2007200720072007 • 2 Comments • , ,

This morning I did my regular KayaFM interview with Pat Cash and Ed Jordan. The question for me as resident dating expert was why do women keep falling for bad boys. Before I even consider the answer to that it’s important to define what a bad boy is…

David DeAngelo, author of Double Your Dating, described the “Bad Boy” as a dominant lover. And more specifically a man who’s dangerous and thrilling to be around. And of course we know that bad boys can be dangerous. They tend to be heavy drinkers or driving a motorbike or sometimes both. In Hollywood the most famous bad boys include actors like Jack Nicholson, Mickey Rourke and the now deceased Marlon Brando, who must have been the ultimate bad boy in his early days. And when you consider a relationship like Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston, who now finally divorced, you see how blind women can because of the emotional high they derive from being involved with a bad boy.


In the book Bad Boys by Carole Lieberman you can find out much more details about why women like bad boys. My own stance is that we are all addicted to our emotions. And a nice guy does not stir any emotions in women. So therefore the excitement and the unpredictability of being around a bad boy is the ultimate emotional rush.

On a side note checkout the Google Answers Q&A on Reformed Hollywood Actors.

How strange the tale of a ordinary man loosing control

by Ramon Thomas in Movies on 0808/040404/2007200720072007 • No Comments • , , ,

Stranger Than Fiction Will FerrellStranger Than Fiction starring Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman and Queen Latifah.

This is story of ordinary man who becomes involved in an extraordinary tale. Will Ferrell in a dramatic turn, plays Harold Crick, an IRS Agent who lives a monotonous and mundane life. But one day starts hearing the voice of a women with an British accent narrating his life. He really wakes up to the reality of the situation when the narrator says that he will die. After seeking some help from a psychologist and eventually a literature professor, Jules Hilbert, played by the ever brilliant Dustin Hoffman, he begins to explore a life he only dreamed of living. And as with all the best stories there is a love story at the epicentre of this tale.

Maggie Gyllenhaal plays the contemptuous and rowdy Ana Pascal, a direct opposite of Harold Crick. She tempts him, teases him and confronts him. They begin a love affair that drives Harold’s life into new territory. Because he actually begins to care about his life. He enjoys is now because he is living his dreams. And he is having an adventure.

Some of the best moments in this film is when Professor Hilbert instructs him to determine certain outcomes. Like whether he is in a comedy or a tragedy. And also whether he is in control of the plot or the writer/narrator. And while he spends the whole day in his house, not even going to the bathroom or answering the phone, the dreaded answer is revealed. A crane smashes through his living room as the complex is about to be demolished. The conclusion – it turns out the writer is in control and Harold has to accept his destiny.

There is moments of madness, moments of laughter, and moments of angst coupled with beautiful cinematography in this film. And it reminded me so much of Truman Show with Jim Carrey.

Anyway this is a film that stretches the imagination just a little bit. You may discover you are in fact the writer of your own destiny. So like Harold Crick take action. Don’t wait until it’s to late. After all you are going to live the rest of your life in the future.

Growing impact of MXit and chat rooms on adults

by Ramon Thomas in News on 0808/040404/2007200720072007 • 3 Comments •

There is a growing impact of MXit and chat rooms on adults in South Africa. You can read about the previous article reported on this website from the Sunday Times about a “sorid sex scare” here.

A married woman went behind her husband’s back and she chatted to strangers on MXit. She ended up having sex with an under age boy and subsequently claimed it was rape. In my opinion this is the only way she can justify her actions. Loneliness and depression cause people to do irrational things. But that does not justify any actions. And the first step to recovery is take accept full responsibility for your own actions. This growing impact of chat rooms and anonymous messaging in chat rooms is going to have a greater impact on relationships in the future. These incidents reported in the news media is just the tip of the iceberg.

Read the full article “MXit affair destroyed my life” on Weekend Post website here.

Have you spoken to Mr Deity today?

by Ramon Thomas in Humour/Video on 0808/040404/2007200720072007 • No Comments • , ,

Who is Mr Deity? Your friendly neighborhood omnipotent, omnipresent God or as Dr John Demartini says, Grand Organised Designer. This hilarious send-up was created by Brian Keith Dalton.

This is one of those shows popping up on Youtube along with the likes of Chad Vader, that has the potential for mainstream success. In fact Brian’s goal is to turn this into a weekly sitcom and is currently negotiating with some tv networks. I really find it amazing how much wit and intelligence these 5 minute webisodes contain. Without explaining more about Mr Deity I include a clip of the very first one to get you started…

Online public relations and top keywords

by Ramon Thomas in Media/Search Engines on 0606/040404/2007200720072007 • 1 Comment • , , , , ,

The Web will go down as one of the greatest equalisers in history. It allows small companies or even solo entrepreneurs like myself to compete with large and established companies. NETucation generates all it’s publicity through sending emails to over 500 journalists in South Africa. These journalists include everyone from newspapers, magazines, radio, television and online media.

No matter how big or small your company consider monitoring your public relations profile using Google News Alerts. I’ve been monitoring my own publicity and other important keywords that pop up in the news media using these alerts for the last few years. And it has proved to be one of the most effective ways of keeping track of what’s important to me.

Keywords are a mainstay of searching and search engines. And with the various specialised search engines now available the basic principles applies. So whether you are searching for websites, blogs, news articles or images certain keywords and tags are more effective. One of the best ways to determine those keywords is to use certain tools that ranks popular keywords.

The first one I used was the still free Overture Keyword Selector Tool. There is also the Google AdWord Keyword Tool which does not give the same kind of information but helps to determine trends. The best however is Wordtracker, a commercial service and by far the best.

Anyway Wordtracker offers a superb newsletter. And this month published a superb article on optimising press releases with top keywords for news aggregators like Google News and Yahoo! News.

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