It’s like the endless search that can’t be finished. You think you’ve found it, but another year passes and that $9.75 bottle of wine that was so great last year just isn’t the same this year. Years ago it was Veo Grande that made their mark on the under $10 category, but for whatever reason they couldn’t keep the level of quality consistent year to year. So one year it tastes great, and next, well.. perhaps more like sand and water.

Hear me now, believe me later - this bottle continues to satisfy. Year after year, this proprietary red blend has kept the quality and the value pricing. Fleur De Lyeth is the best bottle of red wine under $10. I know some of you might argue shelf space hogs like Yellow Tail, a coastal Mondavi, Bogle, or what have you, but I would say different. While all those bottles have had their time in the spot light the quality consistency from year to year fluctuates like Texas weather. It just can’t be trusted. And by no means am I dogging those other brands, but their entry level priced wine just isn’t holding up right now.

You want to spend less than $10 on a bottle of red, and impress your company? Don’t bother rolling the dice on several dozen bottles of junk in that $6 to $10 range. Just find the Fleur De Lyeth, and call it a win. You can’t make nine dollars and change taste any better.

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So far, they’ve done a great job of bringing the big budget of Hollywood to reenactments of some of the Bible’s most pivotal stories. Creation, the Ark, Abraham, Sodom, Pharaoh, Moses, the Exodus... they’re putting it all in there, and they aren’t watering it down either. The Bible is full of love, justice, and violence, so prepare your eyes and shield those of younger age.

After watching part one of The Bible, I was led to a question that seems many people are asking. Is Mark Burnett a Christian? The answer is yes. Not an assumed yes, but from the mouths of he and his wife Roma. In recent months they have consulted numerous evangelical leaders, and sat down with Focus on the Family, Rick Warren, and many others. After reading as many articles as I could get my hands on, I found it fascinating to learn of one of Mark Burnett’s biggest fears.

In his words, "If I die on a plane tomorrow, did I make a difference?" It sounds like he is often dwelling on whether or not as a Christian; did he step up to the plate? Did he doing anything that made a difference? What will he be remembered for? At the prompting of his wife to create The Bible miniseries, he simply took a walk, prayed, and agreed it was a project they should take on.

Hat’s off to Mark and Roma for pouring so much into a project of incredible magnitude. Their challenges are great, and few people tackle a project like this. How do you recreate the parting of the Red Sea, the plagues on Egypt, the justice of God, the fierceness of His angels, the day to day life of His people, the hardships, the doubt, and the sheer amount of death that is written about in the Bible. No question about it, it’s a tall order.

I hope the ratings reflect the greatness of the world’s number one best selling book. Set your DVRs, and don’t miss The Bible on The History Channel.

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I went to work for KPMG in the late 90s. I got the job there because my parents sent me to Baylor University after my lukewarm high school performance. I was a Sigma Nu at Baylor and there I met a friend named Jocelyn. She walked my resume in to KPMG and landed me the job after one 45 minute interview. I was trained in web technologies at Baylor, which ultimately got me hired at Scient, which I left KPMG for. My friend Chad called me from Scient and convinced me to leave KPMG. At Scient I learned the important stuff to all things internet and web.

So who’s responsible so far? What’s the score card?
Parents & friends: 100
Government: 0

The government increased interest rates 6 times in a short period time around 2000. That dried up lending and that caused venture capital to fall apart. That started the bust of the dot com bubble. Government’s oversized intervention in economic success created failure there.

Being laid off in 2001, with thousands of web workers out of work, the jobs dried up too. What were my real options? Starting my own business was really the last option left. It’s certainly not like I woke up one day and said, "I can’t wait to start my own business. You know the government has made that so easy to do, that’s what I should do."

To keep the list short, my wife Katie believes in me. My parents believe in me. If I told them I was going to go into the garage and build a space shuttle, they would say, "you can do it, I believe in you." If I succeed, I learn. If I fail, I learn more. Either way, I have the support of those who matter most. The encouragement from loved ones is hugely responsible.

So what’s the score card now?
Parents & friends: 200
Government: -100

Incorporating costs money. The paper work to the state and federal government is absurd. Then every year I have to re-fill out a couple cubic tons of paper work to basically say, I’m still here, not dissolving, & still working. Rinse & repeat.

Government: -200

The government wants an increasing piece of the pie. The state wants theirs too. After making my first hire in 2008, the government penalizes me through all kinds of various taxes to the tune of thousands of dollars per year. Thank you for creating a job and keeping yourself off the streets, now pay up. More, over & again. Rinse, repeat.

Government: -300

As the business grows, the paper work gets deeper, the taxes get worse, and new penalties & taxes show up. The more you succeed, the more you are penalized, and I’m not even getting into healthcare.

Government: -500

Now, I can only speak for myself. I don’t know what everyone else has experienced. But it seams painfully obvious to me that when government gets out of the way, businesses start working. When government intervenes, bad things start happening.

Laissez-faire - If only the government could put that in their pipe and smoke it.

So who’s responsible for the building of my business? I think my family & friends are hugely responsible. You can credit me for the failures, and God for the successes. My best ideas have come to me in dreams in the middle of the night, which I appreciate because that means I can’t take credit for them. I work hard (arguable I know) because I have a family and the cost of living keeps increasing. The gap between the rich and the poor keeps widening. Social Security is a joke (actually a government Ponzi scheme), so if & when I retire, that’s on me.

Perhaps I’m biased (because I own my business), but I see government intervention like it’s cancer of the economy. I’m just not seeing how the government helped me build anything. And you can’t really argue that the government laid a foundation or put a framework in place that allowed me to succeed. Well, maybe you could, but whatever they did isn’t all that special. I could move my business to dozens other countries and do just fine. There are so many places and people to give credit to, but none of them have anything to do with government.

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Interesting - It first shocks you. Then it desensitizes you. Then it entertains you.

You know what else follows that pattern? Everything else that wrecks your brain.

The first time a child snaps back at their parents is really something. The adrenaline flows. They get that rush to the head. They were frustrated, and the medicine for that frustration was to conquer the situation. It creates an emotionally heightened state. It’s shocking at first. There’s nervousness & anxiety there. It’s there because you don’t know what the outcome is yet. The first time you tell anyone off will produce that adrenalizing rush. You do it enough, and it’s not very shocking anymore. You’re used to it. Now it’s just a part of life. With practice, that abrasiveness can come naturally. You can even get good at it. But is that a good thing?

What about drugs? That first time is really something isn’t it? Didn’t take much. But there’s release, comfort, and mind bending pleasure there isn’t there? It’s all better now. Until you come down. But you have to try it again, because that first time was too sensational to leave it alone. A little more. Now it’s just as good as the first time. But eventually you need more. That first time dose doesn’t really do the trick anymore. You need more. Now you’re back to where you want to be; cloud nine. Eventually it’s routine, and you’re used to it. It’s a part of life now. It’s not shocking anymore. You’ve been desensitized. You know what to expect. There’s no more surprises, just temporal enjoyment. You know what it does, and you like it. You may not like that you like it, but you like it when it’s there. But the law of diminishing returns continues to set in. Perhaps move to a heavier drug. Take the training wheels off. That’ll do it. What happens when you chase this rope to its end?

How about lying? There was nervousness that first time. Like a shock to the system, you didn’t know if your lie was going to hold water. The outcome was uncertain. Anxiety was there. Then they bought it. You got away with it, and now you can try it again. You’ll be more experienced this time. You’ve done it a few times and you know where the line is now, or at least you think you do. How much lie can you package up and deliver? If you are good, a whole lot. But is that a good thing?

We could keep on going couldn’t we? Violence, porn, drunkenness, racism, adultery, swearing, promiscuity, gossip? All of these things follow the same pattern, and all of these things wreck your brain. It just takes a little to start. You work through the shock & uncertainty. Once desensitized, you can actually find value and/or enjoyment in these things, at least for a while (until they wreck your brain). Don’t worry, you don’t ever have speak from your mouth that you value these things. That would be awkward. Your time, your money, and your actions will say it for you. The problem is that we humans are really bad at listening to ourselves. Once we have the entertainment blinders on, we turn a blind eye to the message our time, money & actions are telling us. We can even get real good at some of these brain wrecking activities. Our culture might even reward us for it.

But is that a good thing?

Legitimately, some of us read & do things that we don’t know are bad for us. That is ignorance. It needs education. It needs investigation, and proper assessment. When you didn’t know basic arithmetic, you were taught. You turned ignorance into knowledge. You can do that with the rest of life too. Turn foolishness into wisdom. If you don’t know if something is good or bad, then find out. Ask someone you trust. Ask someone whose approval of you is valuable.

On the flip side, some of us read & do things we know are bad for us. That isn’t ignorance, it’s stupidity. Certainly no one wakes up in the morning and looks in the mirror to say, "You know what I want to do today? I want to be stupid. I want to excel in stupidity. I know stupid actions produce problems, and I choose to be stupid, and I’m looking forward to the problems." No one with 1% of their brain functioning can honestly say that... with their mouth.

Maybe you’ve read this before: The wages of sin is death.

I think many of us have heard or read that before, but I also think many of us haven’t investigated the meaning of it. It’s straight out of the world’s number one best selling book. The reward for engaging sin is death. Not necessarily the kind of death where you are literally six feet under. You’re not going to die if you read the book. But you’ll kill off a little piece of your brain (heart, or body) that is still good. Just like adultery kills marriage, porn kills intimacy, and lying kills trust; to knowingly engage in something that will wreck your brain will kill off that precious part of your brain that’s still good. Once it’s gone, it’s a naked in the winter’s climb up Mount Everest to repair it.

Don’t wreck your brain.

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Remember when lying was a problem in lending? I mean, it’s not anymore, but remember when it was? Like in 1968 when they wrote the Truth in Lending Act? Or what about 2004-2008, pre- real estate bubble? It’s almost as if lenders would say anything to close a loan, or lend money to just about anyone? After all, once the loan closed, the home buyer was in the hands of the bank and no responsibility remained with the agent that "sold" the loan. Many lenders figured out if they could cloak certain line items here, make light of information over there, they could talk there way right through a maze of financial details, qualifications, points, disclosures, and simply make sure that loan closed. It’s the ABC of deal making. Always Be Closing. Ultimately, that flood of dishonesty created a melt down and yielded more regulation. I know that kind of stuff doesn’t happen anymore, I was just reminiscing.

History tends to repeat itself doesn’t it? It’s a song & dance that goes something like this:

Investors demand growth >> Thirst for profits ensue >> Lying commences >> Problems occur >> Regulation results.

Around and round we go around the merry-go-round of making money.

So let’s take a look at real estate photography. We can all agree that a seller needs to post good photos of their home. In fact, they need to post great photos, if not amazing photos. Fortunately, for less than a $1000 you can get a great camera and a copy of PhotoShop. You may even be tempted to call yourself a Professional Photographer just minutes after your purchase. But whether you become a professional, or hire one, you must know that it only takes a few clicks of the mouse to go from Professional Photographer to Professional Liar. I’ll explain.

The home buyer of today is shopping for homes online. They are virtually walking in and out and taking tours of homes at a mind bending rate of a dozen per minute. To catch the buyer’s eye, the seller needs amazing photos to stand out in the crowd. However, it’s that desire for amazing photos that has many swimming in a sea of photo manipulation, and the water is murky at best. This is where photographers and real estate agents need to understand the difference between editing and manipulation to mislead.

Is that sky not blue enough? No problem, just import whatever sky you want. Grass not green enough? A little click of color correction could have your yard looking like the 18th fairway of the PGA Masters. Oh what Photoshop can do. It can wash away the blemishes of celebrity skin, and it can turn your home into castle, French decorated and fit for a king.

So where is the line?

To find the line, you have to be honest. Are you truthfully representing a space? I’m not talking about touching up, color correction, contrast enhancement or even applying one (or ten) of those stupid filters. Did you distort the proportions of the space? Did you stretch that image to make the kitchen look bigger than it really is? If you did, you’re a professional liar, not a photographer. If you plan to take your photography skills beyond the pond of real estate and into the rest of the business world, misrepresenting a photo like that will get you fired. Stretching, transforming, and distorting a space to better market it for sale is false advertising. There’s the line.

When the world is looking at your photos, the round clock on the wall should still be round like it is in person - not a stretched oval. That TV mounted on the wall should look like the 16:9 ratio that it is - not the 24:9 that it looks like in the stretched photo.

Photos like these litter the MLS sites on the internet, and they are sending a message to the buyers out there. The message is this: Hey buyers, you’re too stupid to notice that we’re lying about this space. When lies and selling cross paths, you have to ask yourself: what else are they lying about? What else are they hiding or misrepresenting?

For you real estate agents that hire these professional photographers liars, you’re lying too. Lying to make the sale. It’s no different than the hated wall street broker that fudged some tiny numbers to make a million. Misrepresenting a space to make the sale is lying, and it’s false advertising.

Don’t make your living from lying.

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Yes, they are. And it’s shameful, childish, and embarrassing to reality television. X Factor should be ashamed of running a vocal competition only to put those hopefuls out there like puppets for a dog and pony show with fake animals.

For some reason, during group numbers and many other performances they have the contestants sing in the studio, and use all the studio trickery in the world to optimize their voice, and then play it back on TV while they act like they are singing live.

Come on X Factor, loose the tracks, loose the lip syncing, and replace the host while you’re at it. The rest of the show’s content and production is way too top notch to stoop to such ridiculousness like lip syncing.

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Sharon Bialek says, "He suddenly reached over... put his hand on my leg, under my skirt, and toward my genitals." She then says that Cain added, "You want the job, right?"

Herman Cain spoke today in a press conference and stated with confidence that Bialek is lying. Three times he said, "I have never been inappropriate with a woman." I do find it interesting that in his language he repeatedly "rejects these claims." For better or worse, the words reject and deny are two different words in my book. I reject gas prices, but they are what they are. But seriously, I knew lots of people in college that viewed their actions as appropriate, when many would easily argue the same actions inappropriate. The choice of words was to grey for the subject at hand.

Still, at this point I error on the side of his innocence. There are just a few things I would have had him say had I been on his team.

At length, Cain described how he and his team watched the allegations on TV "over and over, over and over, and over and over." During that time he says, "I tried to remember, if I recognize her, and I didn’t. I tried to remember if I remembered that name, and I didn’t."

Now wait a minute. You mean to tell me a woman has come forward and accused him of putting his hand on her leg, up her skirt and then some... and he his racking his brain trying to think, do I know this woman? Have a seen this woman? Do I recognize her? Do I recognize her name?" Really?!

Let me say this. If you’re a guy, and you were in a car, and you’ve been married for 30 years, and you put your hand up another woman’s skirt where Sharon says you did.... you’re going to remember that. So his thoughts racing to, "do I recognize her" and "do I remember that name" is really something else. Certainly any man, including Cain, can think to himself, "I either did, or did not sit in a car with a woman that I was not married to, and put my hand up her skirt." That either happened, or it didn’t. Who cares if you recognize the woman? Who cares if you remember her name? It’s the primary allegation that needs refuting.

Why couldn’t he have just said, "This claim of me sitting in a car with this woman and putting my hand up her skirt is the dumbest thing I’ve heard since Obamacare. That never happened. I don’t know this woman, and I’m pretty sure I’ve never even seen her in my life."

It’s a tough call to judge at this point. I do think he came off real strong in his press conference, much stronger than I expected. What he said and the certainty in which he said it were very compelling. His strength in answering the reporter’s questions was exceptionally strong. But still, at its core, I think he must emphatically deny the actions that he has been accused of. That has to be in addition to him not recognizing her. Without doing that, he isn’t slamming the case shut. He’s closed the door, but there’s still a draft coming in, and it doesn’t smell quite right.

What do you think?

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The iPhone Facebook app has had a bug for sometime now that yields an annoying error every time you try to upload photos through the app. Error: Your photo could not be uploaded at this time. You can save this photo and try to upload it again later.

However, you can save and try later, but it still won’t take it. Until Facebook fixes their iPhone app, you’ll have to use the work around fix.

Go to www.Facebook.com/mobile from your iPhone browser. Log in. On the landing screen you will see a link near the bottom left that speaks to uploading photos via email. They will assign you a random email address like blabla123blabla@m.facebook.com. Add a contact in your phone named Facebook and type the assigned email address in as the contact’s email. Now, when you view your pictures on the iPhone picture viewer you have the option to email that photo to someone. Email it to your Facebook contact and just put your comment/caption in the subject line and wa-la, it will show up on your wall lickity split.

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