 What is the window of exposure for interruption or interception? All good questions without ready answers (at least that I can see).
What is interesting to consider, also, is how fundamentally disruptive this and other similar services are to the traditional carrier market. Why should I pay Verizon (my carrier here in VT) anything beyond the very, very basic service if I can use these services for my connections? Given that the model today here in the US is that incoming calls are free, what is my incentive to go beyond the very basic plan? Suddenly instead of paying $50 or $70/month for an unlimited NA calling plan, I’m paying $15/month for rudimentary service. Just use a click-to-call service… especially a free one from Google, and you’re set. Now, granted, I need to use some other service for calling residences, since Google is only businesses, but still, the point is that these services have to be giving carrier execs severe cases of agita.
It will also be curious to see the effect this Google effort has on JaJah and friends, where Google is making it free. Given that JaJah’s business model seems to be around charging people for calls longer than 5 minutes, a move like this has got to be a threat to that model. On the other hand, they may be wagering on the “stickiness” of customers… once they have started using Jajah, they’ll stick with it. However, customers are fickle and we’ve seen time and time again that free beats everything else (witness Skype’s growth).
What I am not entirely clear on is the business model for Google. Obviously this service can drive people to use Google Maps, but okay… so what? As of this moment, there is no blatant advertising on any of the queries I’ve done. Now this may just be that no one has sponsored any links relevant to my very local queries. I note that when I did a query on “map store, boston, ma”, I got sponsored links above and below my search results. So maybe that is it… which seems kind of weak to me personally. If I’m looking up a business, for me odds are pretty certain that I’m going to call that business. But maybe that’s just me. Maybe enough other people are clicking on the sponsored links that giving away calling minutes is an effective loss leader to bring people to the site. I’m sure Google being the behemoth that they are they can get very aggressive pricing, so all the collective minutes may just be noise in their balance sheet.
Anyway, it’s fascinating to watch all of these services evolve, and yes, as you indicate, there are serious security issues that do need to be addressed. We shall see how this all shakes out.
One of the more interesting questions I have been asked recently, the answer seemingly came out of my mouth with very little thought. My answer? “I would encourage any person to adopt a meditation practice into their lives, immediately.” He was very intrigued by my answer, which led to a great conversation and inspired the theme of this week’s blog!
Around this time of year, we often wait until New Year’s resolution time before we commit to a new habit or goal. There are 78 days left in 2018. Why wait until 2019? If there is one “habit” I would encourage you to adopt or resolve to do, without a doubt, it would be meditation. I’ve written in the past of how much meditation has influenced and changed my life, and it has and continues to do so.
Are you currently a meditator? If so, amazing! This week’s blog is just a casual reminder of how powerful the practice is for your daily life.
Not meditating quite yet? That’s ok too! We all have to begin somewhere! This week I want to talk about the common hindrances I hear about adopting a meditation practice, help you overcome those hindrances, and challenge you to commit to this practice for the rest of this month!
Solution: Yes, you do! If you have time to browse Facebook or social media (or even read this blog), you have time to meditate. The truth is, we all have time, even the busiest of us. We create time for the things we value. While meditation might not feel truly valuable to those just beginning, I promise you the time set aside will never be wasted. My tip for you here is to start small. You don’t need to dive deep into an hour long, daily meditation practice. Set aside five minutes in the morning, before you get out of bed. 
Solution: Yes, you can! Just like anything else, meditation is a practice. It requires practice. At first, meditation can feel very challenging. We are used to being on the go 24-7. It’s natural to feel restless and even anxious when you first start to take time out of your day to seemingly sit and “do nothing.” Remind yourself that you’re starting something new, and you might be challenged, but that it will be worth it in the end.
Solution: You don’t need to! In the same notion as the solutions above, meditation is a practice, and will feel more natural over time. Again, we have been taught to be on the go, thinking, pondering, reading, all the time. It’s natural to feel like you have millions of uncontrollable thoughts running through your head. The whole purpose of your mind is to think! We need our minds to think in order to be the creative, compassionate, inventive people we are meant to be in this world. The purpose of meditation is not actually to quiet the mind, you will feel insane in trying to do so. The purpose is to slow the thoughts of the mind, to be more purposeful with our thoughts, and to find the simple space between our thoughts.
Solution: Meditation is what you make it. Meditation isn’t a religion or cult or devious practice. Meditation is a practice of connecting with yourself, of turning off the external world for a few moments, of giving our bodies and minds a break, of remembering to breathe, of listening to your intuition, of being at peace. Make your meditation practice your own. Follow a practice that feels most comfortable to you, it doesn’t have to be weird; it truly is what you make it.
Solution: Have patience. This was one of my biggest hindrances for a very long time, as I truly thought I was one of those people who just wasn’t meant to meditate and who was missing out from the big “aha” of it. Some people may experience seismic shifts, new thought processes, brilliant ideas, and wild synchronicities. For others, it may be more subtle in the beginning. All I ask of you is to pay attention. Some of the most valuable aspects of meditation come in the very mundane moments. Perhaps you are more patient in the check out line at the grocery store, or you are more compassionate to someone in need. These small positive actions matter. They will add up. Your life will change. And for the better.
I hope these simple solutions help you on the way to cultivating a meditation practice! If there are some that I haven’t touched upon that you would like help with, please let me know in the comments below!
Like I said above, I would love to challenge each and every one of you to begin a meditation practice today!
Remember meditation is the practice of sitting, noticing, becoming aware and being in the moment. It has often been said meditation is the practice of clarity. What a perfect want to end this year, to begin the next, with clarity.
Imagine the world we would live in if every person on the planet meditated for five minutes every day. It starts with us! You can do it!Adam Sandler made another movie and apparently invited everyone he knows to jump on board and have fun. And the cast in Grown Ups really does appear to be having a good time in the trailer—I'm just not 100 percent sure I'm right there with them. The film follows Sandler and his childhood friends (Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, David Spade) as they reunite one Fourth of July weekend to honour the death of their basketball coach. Sounds kinda like The Big Chill, but as to be expected with a Happy Madison film, it's ridiculously slapstick. I love all of these guys, but the bits in this teaser definitely aren't as roll-on-the-floor funny as I had hoped with such a star-studded cast. (Really, a breast-milk joke?!) But maybe I'm just judging it too quickly. The film opened on Thursday, so take a peek at the video and tell me your thoughts when you keep reading. Will you be catching Grown Ups this weekend?
Parnassus Books is thrilled to welcome Mark Z Danielewski as he reads from and signs The Familiar, Volume 4.
The Familiar, Volume 4 brilliantly combines inventive visuals and a paradigm-shifting narrative to create a stunning multisensory reading experience.?
Mark Z Danielewski was born in New York City and lives in Los Angeles. He is the author of House of Leaves, The Whalestoe Letters, Only Revolutions, The Fifty Year Sword, and The Familiar.package cryptkit

/*
DO NOT EDIT!
This code was generated automatically using github.com/gojuno/minimock v1.9
The original interface "CertificateHolder" can be found in github.com/insolar/insolar/network/consensus/common/cryptkit
*/