Casper, my little ghost, is back. This time 5:30 AM I saw flickering lights coming from the TV. My old Panasonic TV turned on by itself again. This time it was not a movie, but an infomercial for exercise.

I did smirk to myself. That was an appropriate wake up call. It did cross my mind that Casper was suggesting I get into a routine. This was a Zumba informercial, you know those are lively!

Casper – My Little Ghost

This TV situation is a bit odd, isn’t it? How can a TV turn on by itself?

My engineering friend suggested that the internal timer has gone wacky. This TV is from the old days where you would set the timer on the TV to record your shows. This is a plausable idea.

I’m curious to figure this out, but I don’t care to pay a repair man over $200 to tell me I need a new TV. We know that will be the end result. Also, there might not be a repair man out there.

I wanted to have an old Apple scanner/printer/fax machine fixed and was told they don’t fix those anymore. WHAT? I knew it was a small fix, I had Googled what needed to be done, but it was not something this non-engineer could take care of on her own. That was frustrating.

Like it or not, at some point we are forced to “upgrade!”

Everyone needs their own “little ghost.” Thanks to Casper, I did exercise today, because I kept thinking of that Zumba infomercial.

Well, here you go, social media explained in one easy graphic from http://www.themetapicture.com. At least that seems to be where it came from. Does anyone understand the use of online content (graphics, videos, articles, etc.) that are floating around the internet? When can we use them? How can we use them?

Social Media Explained

There must be copyright laws that apply. I did some investigating on this subject; however, rules and regulations were not clear.

I’m sure this has crossed ALL of your minds when you are passing along a post, a graphic, a video, an article, etc. How does an author “own” their own content. This is a big question, because social media is about “sharing.” I think rules/regulations are evolving on a “case by case” basis. Yes / No?

I just read an article about cyber thieves stealing domain names from up and running companies. The company realizes this has happened when they are not receiving foot traffic or any orders. They think their site went down. They investigate and find their site was stolen. Lots of legal work to get their site back!

One thing I have noticed is that some authors have started putting their name / website address on their graphics. Like this one I am sharing with you. This way, we all know where the content came from. Excellent idea!

Back to this social media graphic. Great, right! What a concise way to explain marketing using social media. It looks like the graphic came from a Google marketing meeting. When put in layman’s terms suddenly social media is easy and understandable.

So, if you are good at social media, the sky is the limit on how you can market yourself and your company. Where do Blogs fit in on that white board though!

I’ve always been fascinated by the Sahara Desert in Morocco. A few years ago I was reading the travel section of the Chicago newspaper and there was a beautiful picture of runners in the desert. The caption read, “Marathon Des Sables: Toughest Footrace on Earth!” That caught my attention.

I started reading and was fascinated from the start. Why so tough? Well, the race is six days long. You basically are running a marathon each day in extreme heat. On the 4^th day they really put you to the test by having you run about 46 miles. Keep in mind that you have your entire week’s supply of food, clothing, sleeping bag, etc. on your back as you run.

Did I mention extreme heat of over 100˚ Fahrenheit? During the day runners are given water at different rest stops. At night you sleep in a designated tent with seven other people, who become your family. Yes, there could be scorpions, but it sounds like you don’t care… at that point you are so tired and dealing with blisters that you plop down to sleep.

I fantasize about doing this race; although, I know it’s not realistic. I cannot take the heat, I really dislike running, I have never been in a marathon, I am currently not in marathon shape and I am not in my 20s – 30s. Did I miss my chance?

The appeal for me with this race is crossing the desert – having an adventure. Of course, there is the question of stamina, endurance, and determination as well. So, when are we too old to attempt something like this? They say some people in their 60s have walked the race. Yes/No? What do you think?

FYI – registration for 2016 is now.