Family

Business partners require more than just work. It requires persistence and faith. Being friends comes first.

Rafael is setting the standard for presentations!!!

Let's End March With a BANG!!!

10 Things to Learn From Japan

1. THE CALM Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. Sorrow itself has been elevated. 2. THE DIGNITY Disciplined queues for water and groceries. Not a rough word or a crude gesture.   3. THE ABILITY The incredible architects, for instance. Buildings swayed but didn’t fall.   4. THE GRACE People bought only what they needed for the present, so everybody could get something.   5. THE ORDER No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the roads. Just understanding.   6. THE SACRIFICE Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-reactors. How will they ever be repaid?   7. THE TENDERNESS Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The strong cared for the weak.   8. THE TRAINING The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do. And they did just that.   9. THE MEDIA They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. No silly reporters. Only calm reportage.   10. THE CONSCIENCE When the power went off in a store, people put things back on the shelves and left quietly

Let's Get Paid on 0.5% of these!!!

Smartphone market to grow 50 percent in 2011

The worldwide smartphone market will grow nearly 50 percent this year and Google's Android will take over as the leading operating system, a technology market research firm said Tuesday.

International Data Corp. (IDC) said smartphone vendors are expected to ship more than 450 million smartphones in 2011 compared to 303.4 million last year.

IDC said the smartphone market will grow more than four times faster than the overall mobile phone market as consumers and enterprise users upgrade their basic handsets to smartphones with advanced features.

The research firm said Android is expected to surpass Nokia's Symbian in 2011 and become the leading smartphone platform.

"Android is poised to take over as the leading smartphone operating system in 2011 after racing into the number two position in 2010," said IDC senior research analyst Ramon Llamas.

IDC said Android will have a 39.5 percent share of the worldwide smartphone operating system market in 2011 followed by Symbian with 20.9 percent, Apple's iOS with 15.7 percent, Research In Motion's Blackberry with 14.9 percent and Windows Phone 7 and Windows Mobile with 5.5 percent.

By 2015, Android will enjoy a 45.4 percent market share followed by Windows Phone 7 and Windows Mobile with 20.9 percent, Apple's iOS with 15.3 percent and Blackberry with 13.7 percent, it said.

Fustrated at the J.O.B?

Today was one of those days, when you just wanted to reach across the table and shake your coworker into submission. At least for one of us.


We must be so thankful that 5linx has taught us to take petty insults, mindless bickering to a whole new level. We are not in this JOB for the long haul. We are in it for the time being, and we should all be indebted that we will not have to deal with nonsense for the next forty years, just to make someone else happy. These are only shortcomings, because short term sacrifice = long term gain.


So the next time you get annoyed or insulted, or just really, really don't want Monday to roll around, take this advice:


It's a short term thing. Our jobs do not make us. We have the choice to change our own lives and not have our jobs define us. We are very blessed, and we will be able to say very soon: YOU'RE FIRED!! =)

Persistence

"No one ever attains very eminent success by simply doing what is required of him; it is the amount and excellence of what is over and above the required, that determines the greatness of ultimate distinction."


"People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them."

The Fighter

A great movie about never  giving up was 2010's The Fighter starring Christian Bale (who earned a well deserved academy award as drug addicted boxing coach, Dicky Eklund) and Mark Wahlberg as Mickey Ward, who was a boxer who never gave up his dream. Despite serious setbacks, both physical and mentally, Ward went on to become one of the greatest boxers of our generation.

DON'T QUIT~~ was Micky's motto, and fighting till the finish, even when he "should" have lost fights, he never gave up.

What have you done today???

Every little step is important! Whether you finally finished your University training, prospected that one person you've been meaning to, ordered more marketing material, studied on new VoIP technologies, spoke to your brother about buying a new DTA box, or simply logged into your back office...we must ALWAYS remember, these things are IMPORTANT!!
Don't get discouraged, just keep finding ways to grow your business, which means starting with YOU first! Every step counts towards success!

Times, they are a changing. OMG!

OMG, LOL enter Oxford English Dictionary

OMG, LOL and FYI are among the latest additions made to the Oxford English Dictionary in a new update.

The online edition revealed that it had selected a "number of noteworthy initialisms" for publication. The latest three, used widely in online and text speech, join previous entries IMHO, TMI and BFF.

"Of course in such a context initialisms are quicker to type than the full forms, and (in the case of text messages, or Twitter, for example) they help to say more in media where there is a limit to a number of characters one may use in a single message," the OED said in a statement. "OMG and LOL are found outside of electronic contexts, however - in print, and even in spoken use where there often seems to be a bit more than simple abbreviation going on."

However the OED insisted that the abbreviations are not just associated with a younger generation and revealed that research has unearthed former uses.

"OMG is from a personal letter from 1917; the letters LOL had a previous life, starting in 1960, denoting an elderly woman [as 'little old lady'] and the entry for FYI, for example, shows it originated in the language of memoranda in 1941," they revealed.

A surprise new entry also came from the heart symbol '♥'. Referenced "as a symbol for the verb love", the heart has become widely associated with the 'I ♥ NY' tourism campaign.

Meanwhile, the term WAG - used to collectively describe the wives and girlfriends of footballers - will also enter the collection, following its first cited use by the Sunday Telegraph in 2002.

"It is remarkable to see how much the environment has changed over the ten years since the OED first went online," OED's chief editor John Simpson said.

Other new entries include: muffin top, dotbomb, non-dom, tragic [when used to define someone said to be boring or socially inept] and yuck factor .

EXPOSURE

“We learn simply by the exposure of living, and what we learn most natively is the tradition in which we live.”


"During exposure, interference takes place between the incident rays and those reflected by the mirror, with the formation of interference fringes half a wavelength distant from each other."

Hispanics reach 50 million!!

Hispanics accounted for more than half of the U.S. population increase over the last decade, exceeding estimates in most states as they crossed a new census milestone: 50 million, or 1 in 6 Americans.
Meanwhile, more than 9 million Americans checked two or more race categories on their 2010 census forms, up 32 percent from 2000, a sign of burgeoning multiracial growth in an increasingly minority nation.
The Census Bureau on Thursday released its first set of national-level findings from the 2010 count on race and migration, detailing a decade in which rapid minority growth, aging whites and the housing boom and bust were the predominant story lines.
Analysts said the results confirmed a demographic transformation under way that is upending traditional notions of racial minorities, political swing districts, even city and suburb.
"These are big demographic changes," said Mark Mather, an associate vice president at the nonprofit Population Reference Bureau. "There is going to be some culture shock, especially in communities that haven't had high numbers of immigrants or minorities in the past."
"By 2050, we may have an entirely new system of defining ourselves," he said.
According to data released Thursday, Americans continued their decades-long migration to fast-growing parts of the Sun Belt. Their move to big states such as California and Texas as well as fast-growing Mountain West states pushed the nation's mean center of population roughly 30 miles southwest to a spot near the village of Plato, Mo.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/03/24/state/n000320D76.DTL#ixzz1HYk6tRN0

Should Rain Stop You From Success??

A little rain shouldn't stop anyone from coming to San Jose tonight!! PLEASE INVITE YOUR GUESTS AND BUSINESS PARTNERS TO THIS ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY! LEARN FROM THE BEST TO BE THE BEST!!!

TONIGHT, THE SILICON VALLEY LEADERS PRESENT:

SHERRY ALBERTO & JOSHUA BERGER!!!

Learn the simple and duplicatable strategies to reach massive momentum

in your 5LINX business! An advanced training will also be held to help you move to the next level!!

Registration: 7:15

Business Overview: 7:30

Members- $5/ Guests- FREE

Advanced Training Will Be Held!!!

Please promote, promote, and SUPPORT!!!!

MVPs!!!

Yes, there are TWO of them!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=119244861485862&comments

Happy Birthday ND Joy Brown!!!

Ain't no party like a west coast party....

Nothing Better Than Natural Healing

What are the Benefits of Meditation?

It may seem strange, but you will feel happiest when sitting in perfect silence. The experience is difficult to express in words. It is akin to the “peace that passeth understanding”. It is also true that every meditation is not the same. Sometimes meditation is a struggle to control the mind, while at other times it feels effortless.

These are some of the benefits of meditation:

1. Improved concentration – A clear mind makes you more productive, especially in creative disciplines like writing.
2. Less bothered by little things – Do you sometimes allow yourself to get upset by little things? It is the nature of the mind to magnify small things into serious problems. Meditation helps us detach. We learn to live in the here and now, rather than worrying about the past or future. We do not worry about meaningless things, but see the bigger picture.
3. Better Health – There have been numerous studies pointing to the health benefits of meditation. The reason is that meditation reduces stress levels and alleviates anxiety. If we can reduce stress, many health benefits follow.
4. Knowledge of Self – Meditation enables us to have a deeper understanding of our inner self. Through meditation we can gain a better understanding of our life’s purpose.

How To Meditate

Like anything worthwhile, meditation requires practice. To get the most from meditation you need to do it every day. This requires a place and time where you will not be disturbed. Check out this cool mindmap pdf for inspiration: meditation.pdf

1. Sit with a straight back. Don’t try to meditate lying down because you are likely to fall asleep. Meditation brings relaxation and peace but at the same time this is a dynamic peace. Meditation is quite different than the relaxation of sleep. When we really meditate, we are fully alert and conscious. Our sense of awareness is heightened. Afterwards you’ll have a positive feeling for the world and a renewed sense of dynamism.
2. Don’t eat before meditating. After a heavy meal your body will be lethargic with digestion.
3. It is not necessary to mediate in the lotus posture. It is fine to meditate in a chair, as long as the back is straight.
4. It is helpful to take a shower before meditating.
5. Burning incense and having a candle are not necessary, but they can add a little extra inspiration.
6. It is good to meditate early in the morning. It is said the best time is 3am, although, I feel it is more important to be awake and not sleepy, I meditate at 6.30am.

AT&T-Mobile?

NEW YORK — AT&T Inc plans to pay $39 billion for Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA to create a new U.S. mobile market leader, but the pricey purchase is likely to attract intense antitrust scrutiny over potentially higher customer bills.

AT&T Inc. has agreed to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion, but the deal isn't set to close until a year from now, and it will likely face tough regulatory scrutiny. Here's what a completed deal could mean for customers:

• Bigger choice of phones for T-Mobile subscribers. T-Mobile, as a much smaller carrier than AT&T, doesn't get as many exclusives on top-line phones, and it doesn't have the iPhone. This won't be a big benefit to T-Mobile subscribers who don't have contracts — if they want the iPhone today, they can sign up with AT&T or Verizon Wireless. But subscribers under contract would find it easier to upgrade to an iPhone.
• Fewer pricing plans to choose from. T-Mobile and AT&T have different offerings, some of which might disappear from the market.
• No more unlimited data plans. AT&T has stopped offering unlimited data plans in favor of plans with monthly data usage caps and overage fees. T-Mobile USA still offers "unlimited" data for smartphones for $30 per month, but slows down downloads after 5 gigabytes of traffic in a month. If the deal closes, current "unlimited" subscribers would likely be grandfathered in, but AT&T would probably stop offering the plan to new subscribers.
• Better network coverage. Combining the two networks will improve performance is some areas, because there will be more towers available. However, today's AT&T phones can't use T-Mobile's 3G wireless data network, and vice versa, because they run on different frequencies.
• Wider rural broadband coverage. AT&T is pledging to increase spending on the construction of a new ultrafast broadband network by $8 billion, to cover rural areas.
• The big question is whether the combination would let AT&T, Verizon and Sprint raise prices on wireless service once competition from T-Mobile disappears. AT&T points out that prices have fallen through a decade of mergers in the industry, but public-interest groups are raising concerns.

 

There's No Time Like the Present!

Self Help Articles - Overcoming Procrastination Now

By Keesa Renee DuPre (All rights reserved by the author)  (Feedback)

Overcoming Procrastination Now
Benjamin Franklin once said "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today."  That's excellent advice, and if we could take it, we'd go far.  Unfortunately, it's much easier to put something off than it is to actually do it, as we all can testify to.  So how do you manage to beat those procrastination habits—and how do you convince yourself to actually beat them now, instead of putting that off, as well? 
You can begin the first step as you're reading this article.  Think about what you would accomplish if you were to stop procrastinating.  What have you been putting off?  Imagine for a moment that you never put anything off.  Where would you be right now?  What things would you have finished long ago? 
Now think of something you've been putting off, and imagine yourself actually doing it.  Maybe it's something as small as the dishes you didn't wash right after breakfast.  Maybe it's a week's worth of laundry in your hamper.  Maybe it's something big, like signing up for karate lessons or redecorating a room.  Imagine yourself getting up from the computer and washing those dishes or doing that laundry or signing up for that karate class. 
Now.  Do it. 
No arguing.  Get up and go do it.  Don't worry—the article will still be here when you get back. 
Have you done it?  Wonderful!  You've just proved to your mind that you can do something without putting it off.  The next step is to do it again.  Doing it once is one thing, but if you really want to convince your brain that you're not a procrastinator, it will take many more tasks. 
At random points in the day, whenever you think about something that needs doing, try this: tell your mind, "I am not a procrastinator."  (Say it aloud, if you can!)  Then go do the thing you need to do. 
When bills come in, tell your brain "I am not a procrastinator."  Sit down, pay them, and file them. 
After a meal, tell your brain "I am not a procrastinator."  Wash the dishes and wipe down the counters. 
When a big project comes in at work, tell your brain "I am not a procrastinator."  Break the project into steps and tackle each step in turn. 
This will have a cumulative effect on your brain.  You'll start out with the conviction that you are a procrastinator; telling your brain that you're not feels like a lie.  But when you reinforce that "lie" with an action, it starts to become true.  After a few weeks, you'll actually start to believe it; you aren't a procrastinator anymore. 
Of course there will be times when you'll think of something that needs to be done and old habits will win out; you'll put it off.  When that happens, it's important to forgive yourself and (this is the key) go do it.  If you realize you've put something off, don't wallow in your own helplessness; go do it.  Even if it's the middle of the night, go do it. 
When you're trying to control your temper, and you fail and lose it, there's no way to take back your outburst. 
When you're trying to diet, and you eat a piece of cake, there's no way of taking back those calories. 
The lovely thing about procrastination is that it's so easy to beat.  If you find you've put something off, you immediately have a chance to rectify that by doing it.  The task won't go away because you didn't do it.  Every moment of every day offers you a new chance to beat procrastination by taking control and doing those things that you've been putting off. 
Now.  Go do something. 

Henry David Thoreau

One of the greats, also one of Benjamin Franklin's most trusted:

• Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.
• The law will never make a man free; it is men who have got to make the law free.
• Things do not change; we change.
• You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.
• A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.
• After the first blush of sin comes its indifference.
• Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something.

It's Raining!

Should that stop you from working hard on your business this weekend?? Doubtful. 

Android vs. iPhones

If anyone asks..."Andrioid or iPhone"...now you have a great answer! SELL, SELL, SELL!!!

A new study finds that Android phones load webpages more than 50 percent faster than iPhones.

Running a series of field tests between the iPhone 4 and the Google Nexus S, Blaze Software found that the iPhone's median load time is 3.2 seconds, while the Nexus S's median load time is 2.1 seconds. Over the course of 45,000 tests, the Android beat the iPhone 84 percent of the time.

The results actually contradict a study released a month ago that found browser speeds for both iPad and iPhone beat those of Android smartphones.

For mobile sites, Android lost its edge--though both phones loaded at rates 39 percent faster than for standard sites, at a median rate of around 2 seconds. iPhone users may want to stick to mobile sites: the phone loaded at times 66 percent faster than on regular sites. Researchers note that simplified mobile sites tend to have fewer elements, and therefore are designed to load faster.

Still, when it comes to tablets, Android's speed advantage might be something for Apple to worry about. Researchers noted that while the devices "use the same OS and similar hardware phones do," "users expect the full experience on tablets, not the simplified mobile sites."

Most of the tests were run over a Wi-Fi connection, with some done on the phones' built in 3G. Wi-Fi was faster 82 percent of the time, but by a mere half a second. But these times owe something to the conditions of the testing. Researchers ran the study at night, in an area with good reception. Download speed at night is over five times faster than during the middle of the day.

Seven Days Later...

We must never forget...

TONIGHT!!

R.I.P to One of the Greats

 (CBS) Nate Dogg, one of the most recognizable and smooth voices in rap and R & B, has died. He was 41.

Born Nathaniel Hale, Nate Dogg suffered from ill health for years. His death was first reported in the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

The cause of death is not immediately known, though the Press-Telegram reports that he suffered two strokes, one in 2007 and another in 2008. TMZ reports it's confirmed Nate Dogg's death.

The hook singer first came to national attention on Dr. Dre's 1992 masterpiece "The Chronic." Nate earned the first of four Grammy nominations in 1995 for "Regulate," a collaboration with Warren G. His fourth and most recent nomination came for Eminem's "Shake That" in 2007.

Since the news broke of Nate Dogg's death, his friends and collaborators have sent messages out about him. "We lost a true legend n hip hop n rnb. One of my best friends n a brother to me since 1986 when I was a sophomore at poly high where we met," tweeted Snoop Dogg, who continued on for several tweets before concluding, "RIP NATE DOGG."

On Twitter, "Nate Dogg" quickly became a trend.

Nate Dogg released several solo albums, including a self-titled effort in 2008.

It Happens Now [Message of the Day]

What is the most valuable, life-enriching thing you can do in this moment, in the place where you are, with what you have? All you must do, is do it.
You don't have to burden yourself with worrying about all the problems in the world, for worry will accomplish nothing. Your most loving, compassionate and fulfilling choice, is to be your best right now.
How can you possibly find the strength to take full and unequivocal responsibility for your whole world? It's easy when you realize that all you ever have to do is give your best to the moment you're in.
There is no limit to the good and valuable things you can accomplish to fulfill your own purpose and to lovingly serve the needs of others. Doing your authentic best, right now, in this moment, is more than enough to change the world for the better.
Let go of the chatter that runs through your thoughts. Focus instead on feeling the immensity of positive possibility in which you're immersed.
As you journey through this very moment, leave real, honest value where you go, in the best way you know how. A life well lived, and a world well served, happens now.

-Ralph Marston

Regionals 3/12/2011 Vallejo, CA

It's always nice to see our group is the biggest one there. Loud and boisterous, but always on TOP. Our team rocks through and through...always. 

Marlin Brown causing a unified ruckus.

 

Complaining is For Dummies

However bad you think your life is. Nothing really compares to what is going on around us.

GET YOUR PEANUTS! GET YOUR HOT ROASTED PEANUTS! (or whatever else is in our bags)

You can always leave it up to SVL to bring healthy goodies (some more than others) to Regionals, Super Saturdays, yes, even Nationals. We won't mention any names, but you will often find a can of Pringles and a large size peanut M&Ms in her purse. (hint hint, her name starts with an M).


Just a sample of today's zip locked pleasures:

Katherine's Sweet & Salty Concoctions

Sherry's Berries (literally)

A Starbucks Fruit & Cheese Platter (no, seriously)

Drum Roll Please!
The winner of the day was those delicious dark chocolate almonds!! (via Sherry)