"The Age of Easy Money" was a great Film

 Recently, I watched a YouTube video documentary from Frontline|PBS called, Age of Easy Money.

If you ever wanted to get an idea and quick history about how flimsy the stock market and other schemes that might be at play, it might be worth watching. The video covered everything from the rescue of the economy in 2008 all the way up to speculation and Crypto. It focused a lot on the Fed… as it should.

It exposes the fact that uncontrolled "free markets" and "capitalism" doesn't work when mostly the rich benefit from it. You should check it out.

Resources: 

Link: https://youtu.be/EpMLAQbSYAw?si=FPkVzztjL3hQqs6P 

YouTube Image from "The Age of Easy Money"

Explore Your World From Where You Are… Then Travel!

DHSpeller Image: Beach/Cove TGOW Project

In my opinion, exploring is part of human nature.  Some people like to do it a little, others like to do it a lot.  Today, I'm here to encourage you to not be discouraged if you can't do it as often as you like. As a matter of fact, I would argue that actually going to a location is only part of the journey.  Start the trip by seeing it in your mind's eye first.

Take some time to learn about destinations right from where you are. Use resources like your cellphone, computers, books, and even people that you might know who have been where you want to go or might be native to where you want to travel. That will help build  upon the overall experience and prepare you for what you might encounter when you get there.

I currently live in a rural area, but I've traveled some in the past.  And some of the things I learned from the military when preparing to change duty stations is to learn about the place you are going to.  That has endured as such a lesson to me that I often look up places I intend to visit even now!  I often go to YouTube and pull up live webcams for Florida, Hawaii, the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, Africa, or even New York or D.C. just to put my mind in position of being there.

I encourage you to explore more--right where you are and prepare for the journey!

Happy travels and safe journeys!

Thank you Udacity l OneTen and BIT

My Udacity/OneTen Nanodegree: Digital Marketing

A very cool thing happened to me on Monday. I graduated and received my Digital Marketing Nanodegree from Udacity. It all started when I was awarded a scholarship to attend the online program. I believe the scholarship was a joint venture between Udacity, OneTen, and BIT (Blacks In Technology).

It was a great experience for me because I was able to pick up new skills, and be exposed to new methods concerning marketing, that I was unaware of.  As you may know, I'm a blogger and I write content primarily because I enjoy it.  But, the new knowledge will help me manage and operate my site more efficiently.

The techniques and the Insight that I gained from the program will hopefully help me increase my social media reach so that I can in turn, help others with their awareness campaigns.

Some of the topics we covered, and projects worked on, were data analytics using Google Analytics, scheduling content for posting, creating user personas (to identify your intended audiences), and managing marketing campaigns from start to finish. We also worked on ad creation, and AB Testing. Some of these things I had heard of before, but most I have never used/implemented.  Now, I can put into practice my newly acquired skills and take my site to the next level.

So, shout out and  thank you Udacity and OneTen and BIT for the opportunity.  I appreciate the knowledge and it was time well spent.

#DigitalMarketing #Udacity #OneTen #BIT #BlacksInTechnology #DanielSpeller 

History, Culture, Life. Now is the Time for Change.

Sunset image from Bing

I was sitting and thinking today that if there was ever a time for black people to  learn about history, culture, and life, now would be that time.  With modern technology, so much is available at your fingertips.

Even if people are trying to lie and keep the truth from you, you can find it.  Even if mama and 'em never said another word about the past, so much truth is crying out from everywhere that it is undeniable. Now, is a wonderful time of opportunity and discovery.

Of course you can't believe every single thing you read on the internet; and things have to be researched and verified, but just simply being exposed to so much knowledge and information is  simply amazing.

In many of our conversations, I think we get side tracked and focus on the wrong things.  Even when distractions are plentiful when in the effort of some trying to hide the truth--knowledge is still there. Right in front of our faces.

For instance, even though some conservatives like the Florida Governor, don't want you to learn about the civil rights activities  of circa 1954, if we just do the math-- that was only 69 years ago.

The Truth is many, many people are alive who are 69 years old... and much older. So the question is,