Call Me What You Want's List: Conduit of Passion

• Actually, some parts of the economy are pretty much the same, do you know that people create fake scarcity all the time? Colanta, one of the big milk companies in the world actually throws tons of milk when it suits them, why? to avoid lowering the price of milk thanks to too much offer. And Market Manipulation is a very common practice in all industries, and even if it's illegal in most parts that's not enought to stop them, you can throw away a bunch of milk and say it was spoiled, who is going to say or proof otherwise?
• Company makes MMO that is only fun if you grind to level 60. Guy pays third world country citizen to play the game for him until he reaches level 60. You claim that is a good thing because it gave a job to someone in the third world. I put it to you that is madness akin to digging and filling holes over and over. The company could sell you a level 60 character at no cost to them (changing a few bits on a server) and give the money to the third world citizen in aid (obviously not going to happen) and nothing would change except he could do something productive rather than slave away at a PC 12 hours a day (like we do).
• That's where the definition of "value" gets blurry. If in your analogy you use the hole I dug for raising plants, does that mean you created 20 dollars worth of value? It's uncertain, neither "yes" or "no". Maybe the plants bring unwanted insects to the yard. Maybe the plant has to be removed just 2 months later because you need to build a new room. Maybe you forget to feed the plant and it dies two weeks later.
• Value isn't the right word here. "Global utility" would be better, but how do you define that? Take heavy drugs for instance. They can have a high positive value but most definitions of utility would assign them a low negative one, I figure.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimal_decision#Formal_mathema...
• The author seemed pretty convinced that many of the prices he was spotting were probably supposed to be real-money prices -- e.g, an item that was supposed to sell for $100 would instead be sold for 100 gold. (Which is a trivial amount, even in game.)
• this happens more often than you think in games that have two systems that can be confused with each other. EVE online is a good example (except instead of real currency, it's just mis-typed zeros and bad UI queues)
• And with Blizzard getting a cut of the Real Money Auction House sales, there seems to be little incentive for them to really crack down on this. The perfect "crime"!

  Blizzard gets some extra revenue, deep pocket players have a constant selection of rare items to buy, botters make a nice chunk of change, semi-oblivious sellers turn their items into gold instantly (reminds me of payday loans) - everyone* wins!

  * Except the folks who list the RMAH price in gold and, of course, the normal players ;)
• And beside that there are laws that are enforced because it is not legal to create money out of thin air. Ok, it is done anyway (when the government prints more money and thus increases inflation) and to a degree banks are allowed to do that in some sense as well (they loan can a certain percentage more money than they actually have). The whole system isn't perfect (hence the economic crisis), but there are enforced laws that aren't written by companies (well, mostly).
• Awesome article. I remember running a bunch of D2 farm bots in high school, and waking up every morning to put them up on Ebay, ended up making a few hundred bucks - first time I've ever made any money.

  Really appreciate the writeup; it was very well written and its cool to see the guy figure it out and scale out from his initial experimentation.
• Along with the other approaches mentioned, another interesting one is to intercept the graphics library function calls before they enter the library code.

  This strategy has been successfully used for a variety of game automation, including WoW auction house arbitrage and a multiplayer Starcraft II AI / bot.

  This method is advantageous because it doesn't have the overhead or uncertainty of going from pixels back to information but it also does not require patching or inspecting the game's address space which is fragile and often triggers anti-cheating or anti-botting systems.

  You can read a good write-up about this method here:

  http://graphics.stanford.edu/~mdfisher/D3D9Interceptor.html
• 4-5 years ago this was how you did it in World of Warcraft:

  http://www.lavishsoft.com/wiki/index.php/Inner_Space

  http://www.lavishsoft.com/wiki/index.php/LavishScript
• WoW's botters took this one step further, disassembling the game to the point where they made WoW "clients" which could bot/gold farm at <15MB of memory - meaning you could have a hundred accounts botting on one PC.
• Here's a Blackhat video with a complete C# WoW client from 2006. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKbZdlUFAK4 11:55
• Would you rather grind for hundreds of hours to maybe get a rare item, or freelance for an hour and spend that $100 on the item you want?
• I'd rather uninstall that shit and play a game that's fun immediately. Why on Earth would I spend either 100 dollars or 100 hours to be allowed to enjoy a game that I already paid for?

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• Hero History: Bouncing Boy

  
  --by Matthew Peterson   

      

  Or - “How To Really Make An Impact As A Legionnaire…”
• the early days of the Legion of Super-Heroes are a continuity cop’s nightmare, with strange developments galore as the team cameoed their way across the Superman universe, rolling through the accumulated lore of their parent title on their way to building an empire.  On the way, the varying writers made for some really inconsistent storytelling, such as the fact that all Legionnaires were supposed to have one UNIQUE super-power even though Kryptonian powerhouse Tom Welling and his identically powered cousin Laura Vandervoort were allowed to be concurrent members, or even the varying characterizations of Saturn Girl.  But of all the odd choices made in those days, you have to question the decision-making of a team that rejected the relatively-powerful Polar Boy, Night Girl, and Fire Lad, but inducted Matter-Eater Lad, Shrinking Violet, and today’s Historical subject.  
• Known primarily for his up-beat nature, Chuck Taine is the Legion’s everyman, the unlikely Legionnaire who nonetheless made the most of every chance he was given, the regular guy who still managed to bag the ultimate male fantasy wife.  This is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Charles Foster Taine of Earth…  Bouncing Boy!
• We begin this week the same place we did last time ’round, in Adventure Comics #276, mere moments after Brainiac 5 and Supergirl have made their bids for Legion membership.  Now, I will grant you that inflating and ricocheting around the room like a portly Daffy Duck isn’t exactly the super-power equivalent of gold bullion, but when you’re up against a man whose mind makes a Cray look like a Timex T-99 and a woman who can crush cars with her breasts, it’s easy to see why Chuck was overlooked.  Heck, even Dirk Morgna, the much-decorated Legionnaire known as Sun Boy paled in comparison to the star-crossed supercouple…
• 
• Astonishingly, both Dirk and Chuck were rejected from the Legion in this issue, as glowing and bouncing weren’t considered Legion material at that time.  Dirk was the first Legionnaire to join AFTER S-Girl and B5 (a story for another time) but Mr. Taine wasn’t so lucky.
• Chuck made a fool of himself by mistaking an advertisement for a bomb before finally showing how truly useful his powers could be when Saturn Girl faced down a criminal with electrical powers.  Chuck’s rubbery body and bouncing kept him from being grounded, making him immune to the electrical bolts, and he succeeded where even a founding Legionnaire failed to stop the villain.  Cosmic Boy himself reversed the decision on Chuck’s powers, and let the tenacious human basketball join the Legion.
• 
• Chuck was shocked soon after to find that his body could expand and take on a rubbery texture, (luckily he wore futuristic stretch fabric, though the fact that vertical white stripes are not the�portly man’s friend must have escaped him) giving him the ability to bounce to great heights.� A chance encounter with Lightning Lad gives him the idea that will change his life forever…
• 
• In a weirdly ham-handed 1960’s kind of way, you have to wonder if this wasn’t DC’s way of making even the fat kids feel like superheroes…� Once in the Legion, Chuck took on the role of cheerleader and unofficial morale officer, keeping his teammates spirits high even in the worst of situations.� Knowing how hard it was to be rejected, Chuck even took it upon himself to encourage the new crops of Legion applicants during tryouts, telling them the story of his three rejections, and reminding them that even if they don’t get in, they shouldn’t give up on their heroic dreams.� Shepherding the young superheroes would eventually become a career for him, ironically…
• 
• “If that idiot Bouncing Boy made it in, certainly my power of�mentally creating�many, many sharp angles on my stupid red jumpsuit will get me into the Legion!”� Heh…� I’m confused as to why Chuck styles his hair to look like�a Weeble, though.� The only thing I can think of is that Dippity Doo no longer exists 1000 years from now.� After Bouncing Boy has been in the Legion for a few weeks, the team is made aware of the threat of a villain called “Jungle King, the Monster Master” and draws lots to see who will face the terrible threat.� Care to guess who took the prize?
• 
• The Earthquake beast’s power brings down the entire wall, freeing the other creatures, and the Monster Master is defeated by his own beasties, thanks to Chuck’s quick thinking and bouncing abilities…� Even with this win under his not-inconsiderable belt, the future doesn’t look bright for Bouncing Boy.� As is always the case with the Legion,�though, there’s a killer robot or a precognitive computer or a strange ray-gun around every corner, lying in wait.� It’s a miracle that these people weren’t all melted into slag by the end of their second issue…
• 
• Even powerless, Bouncing Boy’s courage keeps him in the game, and he becomes the first Legion reservist, an honor seldom given to anyone who didn’t know Clark Kent in high school.� When the menace known as Computo breaks free, and begins capturing Legionnaires for his nefarious plans, Bouncing Boy shows the guts to step up, powers or no powers.
• 
• That Computo is a sadistic little Erector set, ain’t he?� Giving a guy his powers back so that he can fail to help his friends?� That is cold, folks.� Not only that, Compy claims that the powers will last 30 minutes, but they only last about ten.� Computo was defeated by Brainiac 5’s secret antimatter projector, and not long after, a super-genius named Zan Orbal decides to right a few of the wrongs that were perpetrated on the Legion by callous fates, including Matter-Eater Lad’s temporary obesity problem and the arm that Lightning Lad lost battling the Super Moby Dick of Space…
• What?� You think I make this stuff up?� Anyway, Orbal’s herbology skills put Neville Longbottom to shame, as he creates a series of potions that cure everything short of Saturn Girl’s ingrown pinky toenail…
• 
• Bouncing Boy once more leaps into action with his pals, and defeats the Wild Huntsman and his ever-so-effeminate little green hat.� Chuck also shows off his mental prowess, playing detective to discover the seeming betrayal of Gim Allon (Colossal Boy) and even acting as prosecutor in C.B.’s trial.� He also learned from his peers, taking Karate Kid’s self-defense class and earning impressive marks.� When the entire Legion loses their powers due to a villainous plot, Bouncing Boy shows that being a Legionnaire is about more than just super-powers.� Sometimes it’s about a mean right cross…
• 
• Though he occasionally seemed to flirt with Saturn Girl, (even vowing once that he would die to save her) the next phase of Chuck Taine’s life would take him in a very different direction.� With most of the team in the field, only he and Duo Damsel (the former Triplicate Girl…� a long story that I’ll get to later) remain at headquarters.� When a mission arrives, Duo D. sends her better half off on the mission, leaving her free for her date with density…
• 
• Gotta love the simple romances.� With all the drama of Timber Wolf/Lightning Lass and the sparks of Ultra Boy/Phantom Girl, it’s good to see one Legion couple who isn’t ready for a sub-plot on “As The Galaxy Turns.”� When her second self returns, Luornu is horrified to find that she’s created an entirely new life for herself, complete with a fiance and a new name.� Growing up on a planet where this kind of mental disconnection is the worst aberration imaginable, Luornu turns to the heart of the Legion for support.
• 
• Thankfully, Lu’s situation is only temporary, and she finds that having Chuck in her life is worthwhile, and the two of them continue their relationship.� When the United Planets reviews the Legion, and tells them that they must lose a member or lose their funding, Chuck quickly takes the initiative, ready to sacrifice himself rather than ask one of his friends or his beloved Duo Damsel to quit.� The only problem is, she’s as protective of him as he is of her, and has the same idea…
• 
• Chuck’s belief that he is “the least useful” of the Legionnaires is echoed in the attitudes of many of the Legion’s villains (as well as the writers who keep powering and depowering him with various changes of regime on the title) especially one Otto Orion, son of Orion the Hunter.� Having seen dear old dad defeated by the assembled LSH, Otto has decided to take them down one at a time, starting at (in his estimation) the bottom of the barrel.� Capturing Bouncing Boy as he returns from a mission, Orion reenacts ‘The Most Dangerous Game’, but he has seriously underestimated Mama Taine’s bouncing baby.
• 
• Chuck’s pride is uncharacteristically wounded by the snide attacks of a man wearing zebra skins and pigtails, and Bouncing Boy lets himself be taken into custody again.� But there’s a method to his madness, as the dip in freezing cold waters has done what Chuck hoped:� given him�a nasty cold to reckon with…� When you’re roughly 400 pounds of elastic with a tendency to ricochet, the last thing people want you to do is SNEEZE.
• 
• Now, we all know you can’t get a cold from being dipped in cold water.� But thanks to 30th Century super-science, even the most ridiculous wives’ tales (like getting a cold from being soaked, or stepping on a crack and it’s effect on matriarchal vertebrae) are true for the Legion kids!� The Human Billiard Ball returns home a conquering hero, but once again the “permanent” powers given him by the various elastic serums prove to be temporary.� Brainiac 5 is heartsick to give him the news that he’ll never bounce again, but Chuck won’t be beaten.� If his life as a superhero is over, then he vows to start a NEW phase of life…� as a husband.
• 
• Lu has likewise lost her super-powers (a long story blah blah blah fishcakes) and the two Legionnaires decide to tie the knot in style:�at the Nix Olympia mountains on Mars.� Their wedding is the first of the Legion’s big life-changing moments, as two of their own take the plunge in front of their teammates, The Wanderers (Silver Age Version, natch), The Substitute Heroes, and two DIFFERENT Martians (one who resembles J’Onn J’onnz, directly above the head of the person performing the marriage, and Tars Tarkas in the top row, towering over Sun Boy and Element Lad on the far left in the pink cape).�
• 
• Interestingly, (and quite off-topic) this two-page spread is sometimes referred to as “The Picture That Created The X-Men.”� When the late Dave Cockrum drew Superboy Tom Welling and The Legion #200, he asked the editor for this piece of art back, as he was an old-school Legion fan, and wanted it for himself.� The editor was going to give it to him, but publisher Carmine Infantino intervened, insisting that DC did NOT return original art, and angering Dave in the process.� Cockrum soon left DC for Marvel, and took over the pencilling chores on a relaunch of their lowest selling title, even bringing a character he had intended to bring to Legion with him.� That book was, of course, the All-New All-Different X-Men, and I wonder what the world would have been like if he had indeed completed his plan to have Nightcrawler in the world of the Legion…
• Not long after, the Legionnaire known as Chemical King was killed in action, saving the universe from World War VII.� With the active members off-planet for his funeral, only no-longer-Bouncing Boy is left to handle things at headquarters.� When the alarm indicates an intruder, he once again shows that it’s not the powers that make a Legionnaire, it’s their testicular fortitude, and Chuck has it in spades!
• 
• Worst of all, the intruder isn’t a villain at all, but a Science Police rookie named Dvron who was sent to take care of headquarters with the team off-planet.� Both Dvron and Chuck are quickly captured by the Legion’s defense systems (malfunctioning due to Dvron’s tampering.)� Dvron angers Bouncing Boy by calling him a “laughingstock” and Chuck punches the energy field in frustration.� His hand swells up as it used to when his powers were active, and�Chuck has a very dangerous brainstorm…
• 
• His powers fully restored, Chuck busts them free and repairs the systems, asking Dvron not to tell anyone about his new powers, since he doesn’t want to return to action and divert his attention from his beloved Luornu.� Awww…�
• The two of them travel with a group of colonists, and help to set up a new settlement, but when the Khunds launch an all-out assault on the Earth, even the retired-due-to marriage Legionnaires leap back into action.� Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel engage the Khunds on Earth, allowing their teammates to stop the war in space…
• 
• The secret of his returned powers out in the open, Chuck fights the good fight again, as the reservists find themselves on nearly active duty status again, with one crisis after another vying for Legion attention.� Forced to return to action, Chuck finds himself feeling guilt about wanting to return to his simple life with the girl(s) of his dreams, making the decision to leave the Legion…� His reverie is interrupted by Luornu, and he puts on a brave face.
• 
• Not long afterwards, the Legion is called to Orando, for the Royal Wedding of Projectra and Karate Kid, leaving Bouncing Boy in charge of headquarters again.� But this time, he brings his lady-love with him, taking advantage of a little down-time with the Missus, and coincidentally explaining how she’s the most important thing in his life.
• 
• Chuck and Luornu soon became the headmasters of the Legion academy, and Chuck’s enthusiastic and encouraging nature is once again given free reign.� Their joint leadership produces future Legionnaires Tellus and Magnetic Kid, and trains dozens of heroes to know that they can contribute, even if they don’t get into the Legion.� When the United Planets collapses, the Academy continues to operate, and after the Five Year Later gap, we find that Chuck is the leader of one of the finest military units extant in the world.� When the Khundian warlords�attack Earth at it’s lowest point,�Chuck and Lu’s�forces are more than ready to respond in kind…
• 
• Unfortunately for the Legion, the Khunds are under the control of Glorith of Baldur, a creepy little blonde who managed to usurp the power of the Time Trapper, and nearly destroyed the entire universe.� When the battle gets ugly, Jed Rikane (the purple skinned gentleman above, previously known as Power Boy) is killed, and Chuck’s battalion is thoroughly trounced.� Chuck is ready to leap into action himself, before Lu reminds him that his OTHER talents are needed.
• 
• With Glorith’s immense magical powers in play, the Legion has only one counter-force:� The White Witch, Mysa Nal.� Unfortunately, she has been broken by Mordru, forced to be one of his slave-wives, and hasn’t been able to return to her old self.� Bouncing Boy once again channels his morale abilities (combined with the military tough-love he learned with his recruits) to force Mysa back to reality.
• 
• Some years before, Luornu, Mon-El, Saturn Girl, and Brainiac 5 were involved in a conspiracy to attack the Time Trapper in his lair, and her last alternate body was lost, (See:� Story, long, explained later) but it is later discovered that she was NOT killed after all, but was instead enslaved by the Trapper and later Glorith.� With the help of the Legion, Chuck is able to reunite with BOTH his wives.
• 
• This is one of the few times, I might add, that anybody took a look at the sexual implications of being married to a woman who can create more of herself.� Soon after these events, the Zero Hour crisis began unravelling the time-stream of the 30th century, and the Legion was forced to intervene.� For the first time in their proud history, the team pulled even their oldest members out of mothballs, and united to stop the threat.� But even their powers were no match for the end of the universe themselves, and the team found themselves being erased from reality.� When only a few Legionnaires remained, they realized that the problem came from the Legion itself:� more properly, from the existence of the SW6 Legion, time-lost versions of the young Legion brought forward in teim.� The teams realize that they had to reconstitute themselves in order to reconstitute time, and Chuck and Luornu accept their fate as best they can…
• 
• Even in his last moments, Chuck works to keep everyone positive, even when it’s himself…� sort of.� The Bouncing Boys disappear from the universe, and the entire 30th Century hits a reset button.� A new Legion is formed, and many familiar faces join up.� But this dark and serious universe seems to have no room for a concept as gentle and silly as “Bouncing Boy.”� When rogue Daxamites destroy LSH headquarters, the Legion’s benefactor, R.J. Brande calls in a specialist, a young architect named Taine…
• 
• It’s here that we are given the full name Charles Foster Taine (and if you don’t get that, you probably think the Martians landed in Grover’s Mill.)� The young man is nearly overcome by hero worship for the Legion, but manages to do his job, even though the LSH keeps damaging the building.� At a time when the Legion members (drafted by the United Planets) are nearly at one another’s throats, with the leadership of the team in contention between Cosmic Boy and Leviathan, (Colossal Boy to those who hate biblical superhero names) it once again takes Chuck to make them all realize how good they’ve got it.
• 
• His words actually help to turn things around, bringing this new Legion together and remaining as part of the ‘ground crew’ to help with the repeated damage to the HQ.� He strikes up a friendship with Tenzil Kem, the head chef in the LSH commissary, and they console one another over being busted from hero to supporting cast member just because comics fans in the 90’s had no tolerance for whimsy.� They drown their sorrows in Kono Juice and three-dimensional billiards.
• 
• Elastic powers may not be in the cards in this reality, but Chuck’s eye for geometry remains keen, so much so that when aliens rush in brandishing weapons, he’s able to take out two elvabirds with one stone…
• 
• Tenzil and Chuck (along with R.J. Brande) are able to defeat the attackers, really Durlan shape-shifters in disguise.� When the Legion regroups after the Durlan assault, the team enjoys some downtime.� Chameleon, Spark, and Sensor prepare to go dancing with one of Triplicate Girl (now called Triad)’s selves, the flirtatious one, who invites Chuck along.� He’s not really a dancer, and when the quiet, shy Triad asks him out for tea, Chuck also is forced to turn her down.� Turns out he has tickets to a ballgame, and even thought Triad and Triad aren’t interested, luckily Triad is.
• 
• History repeates itself, as Luornu gives up her crush on Valor (the post-reboot version of Mon-El) for the man her alternate, original self married.� Chuck stayed on with the Legion, taking a higher profile role as the caretaker of their new Legion outpost, an orbital station from which the Legion begins operating.� When the Stargate systems begin to collapse due to the effects of the alien Blight, Chuck is one of the first to recognize it, and is key in devising the strategy to overcome it.
• 
• Several Legionnaires are lost through a collapsar, spending a year outside conventional space, a year in which the world of the Legion asks “Where are we going?� And why are we in this handcart?”� When the team returns to reality after a year, they find a few things have changed, and one of them goes a long way towards undoing one of the great injustices of the reboot era.
• 
• Chuck Taine has, in the Lost Legion’s absence, helped to create an entire planet, called LegionWorld, as well as developing his special ship, the Bouncing Boy, designed to act as a high-speed juggernaut, ricocheting off other ships as an offensive weapon.� Chuck acts as official pilot and majordomo for this new Legion, and becomes a much more integral part of the team afterwards…
• 
• Chuck continued appearing with this Legion until they were torn free of the timestream in the Teen Titans/Legion special, when the 31st century once again reset into the current Threeboot version of the Legion.� Chuck has yet to appear in this version of the Legion, except as a joke in the letter column, �but the last issue did introduce a character who seems vaguely familiar.� If this is a new version of Bouncing Boy, I’m kind of hoping that he gets the same reimagining that has made the rest of the new team so enjoyable.
• The greatest part of Bouncing Boy was reading about a character who was AWARE that his power was, essentially, ridiculous but wasn’t about to let that slow him down.� No matter what the odds, no matter how stacked the deck might have been, Bouncing Boy was ready with a joke or an encouraging word to keep his teammates heads on straight.� Being voted membership in a team so overtly powerful should be testament enough, but his career speaks for itself.� People can talk about their Element Lads, their Wildfires, their Tom Wellings and Mon-Els, but history has proven one thing:� When the chips are down, Bouncing Boy is the one Legionnaire who will always find a way to pull out a victory, even if it means that he himself comes out worse for wear…� and isn’t that what a truly great hero should do?

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• I will admit that I admire skeptics. I look up to guys like Robert Shiller, who first pointed out the tech bubble, then for an encore pointed out the real estate bubble. Despite all of the pundits who talked about structural changes in the economy, how things are different, Dow 36000, stocks as less risky investments, etc, Shiller held his ground. From my perspective though, it doesn't seem like anyone decided to start listening to him after 2000. Warren Buffett was the same way - lambasted in the late 1990s as too old school, even though he turned out to be right. He's simultaneously worshiped as one of the world's greatest investors, and despised for being a value, buy and hold kind of guy in an age when quants rule wall street. It's sort of paradoxical.
• It has just been my experience that when I get to the core of any idea, person, company, or organization, I almost always find that it has been overhyped. As a result, skepticism is my natural starting position.

• In the early days of the web, I was always the guy responding to chain emails with links to Snopes or Urban Legends. And now, with this blog, I've been critical of "wisdom of crowds," of Google's strategy and stock price, the book "Good to Great," and lots of other things people on the web seem to love. Sometimes I turn out to be right, and intellectually it always feels good, but it's always a pretty lonely vindication. The next time I turn negative on something, no one says "better listen to Rob…"

   

  You see, people really prefer positive people. People need hope, and that is why it sucks to poke holes in the stuff they believe. Our delusions are very dear to us. We want to believe that there is at least the small possibility that Bill Gates really will send us $1000 for every person we forward an email to, and we don't like it when someone tells us it isn't true.
• So I find myself in a perpetually uncomfortable position. I feel compelled by the virtue of intellectual honesty to say what I think, even if I disagree, yet I know that people don't want to hear disagreement. And, I know that if I turn out to be right (obviously, I'm not always right, but I do have a very good batting average), it will probably cause bitterness more than anything else. So what's a businesspundit to do? That's why I prefer to keep to myself as much as possible. The less time I spend around people, the less they ask me what I think.
• The point of it all, I guess, is that sometimes I just wish I could turn off the skepticism. But on the flip side, I feel like I've avoided many of the problems that I've seen others experience because I am skeptical. As a result, I have this simultaneous pride and disgust for my skeptical leanings. It's weird. What I really want is just to do something day to day where that aspect of my personality can come through and be an asset. I just don't what that is.
• Skeptics who go against the popular theories and are right belong in financial markets. Go work for a hedge fund. Be a trader. If skepticism is that much of you, the entrepreneurial route may not be enough to satisfy.
• Your skepticism is probably best characterized as “critical thinking” in other circles, a unique and immutable skill that has and will continue to bring you success. Keep it up.
• I think that you miss the point with your comment that “people like positive people.” While that may be true; it’s tangential. The important point is that nothing happens if people always say no. It’s the person who says yes who gets things done; and generally they are saying yes in the face of nay-sayers.
• I further assert that the final score in life is not how many times someone was “correct” but rather how much they accomplished. In the end, it’s not about being “right”. It’s about making things happen. I’d rather be right on a “yes, lets do it” 1 time out of 10 than right on a “no, lets not do it” 9 of 10 times.

• Now that’s not to say that every idea is a good idea or that there is not a place for healthy skepticism. But it is to say that a skeptical mindset can really get in the way of accomplishing things.

   

  As a final comment, my personal advice to everyone is to know your bent and then “go for the no.” That is, if you are naturally a “no” person, you should consciously spend time looking for the “yes” reasons. If you are naturally a “yes” person, spend time looking for the “no.”
• The tough thing is while no is usually the right answer, it is the question that is usually wrong. One has to search for the correct question which can be answered affirmatively. Entrepreneurs often end up stumbling over it when they pursue their misguided objectives, which is why yes can be correct even when it is wrong.

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• You can have brilliant ideas; but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere.
• the story of rock star Bono's visit to then-Senator Jesse Helms' Capitol Hill office to enlist his help in the global war against AIDS.
• Bono had all the facts and figures at his fingertips, and launched into a detailed appeal based on this data. He was, in essence, speaking to Helms the same way he had recently spoken to executives and technical experts at the many foundations and corporations he had approached about this issue. But within a few minutes, Bono sensed that he was losing Helms' attention, and he instinctively changed his pitch. Knowing that Helms was a deeply religious man (and drawing on his own born-again Christian values), Bono began speaking of Jesus Christ's concern for the sick and poor. He argued that AIDS should be considered the 21^st century equivalent of leprosy, an affliction cited in many Bible stories of the New Testament. Helms immediately sat up and began listening, and before the meeting was over had promised to be the Senate champion for Bono's cause. 
• "woo": It's the ability to "win others over" to your ideas without coercion, using relationship-based, emotionally intelligent persuasion.
• "Here you have a rock star with tinted glasses and an elderly, conservative Southern senator. But when Bono had the good sense to switch from public policy talk about debt relief -- what we call in our book the 'rationality' channel -- to religious talk about poverty and disease -- what we call the 'vision' channel -- he touched Helms' heart. He sold his idea and, in the process, created trust."
• The word "woo," the authors note, has many meanings, but all of them relate to focusing on the person you are trying to persuade more than on your own needs and fears. "There is the obvious meaning related to courtship and romance," says Shell, "but there is also the more general idea of wooing people to seek their support. In addition, Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton have recently used the word 'woo' in their books to describe the ability to easily establish rapport with many different people." However "woo" may be defined, the authors argue that effectively selling ideas -- using persuasion rather than force -- is one of the most important skills that everyone from CEOs and entrepreneurs to team leaders and mid-level managers need to learn if they want to be effective in their organizations.
• The Art of Woo presents a simple, four-step approach to the idea-selling process.
• First, persuaders need to polish their ideas and survey the social networks that will lead them to decision makers. To illustrate this step, Shell and Moussa recount how an unknown mail pilot named Charles Lindbergh turned his dream of being the first person to fly nonstop across the Atlantic into a reality. His idea was radical: He would make the crossing in a single-engine plane flying without a co-pilot or even a life raft. The idea was followed by his campaign to overcome people's disbelief that such a venture could ever work and to win over supporters in his hometown of St. Louis. Lindbergh started with contacts at the local airport who could see why his plan made sense and eventually worked his way up to the most influential businessmen in the city, using each person along the way to leverage an interview with the next.
• The second stage of the Woo process is confronting what Shell and Moussa call "the five barriers" -- the five most common obstacles that can sink ideas before they get started. These include unreceptive beliefs, conflicting interests, negative relationships, a lack of credibility and failing to adjust one's communication mode to suit a particular audience or situation.
• For example, when Napoleon was a young officer at the siege of Toulon, he set up an artillery battery in such a dangerous location that his superiors thought he would never get troops to man it. They would have been right had Napoleon relied on the conventional "authority channel" and issued threats and orders to get his way. Instead, he demonstrated his social intelligence by switching to the visionary channel and creating a large placard that was placed next to the cannons. It read: "The Battery of the Men without Fear." The position was manned night and day.
• Similarly, when Nelson Mandela was incarcerated on the notorious Robben Island in South Africa, he managed to obtain blankets and other necessities for his fellow prisoners by foregoing the expected high-minded appeals to politics and human rights. He worked instead on the relationship persuasion channel. By learning the guards' Afrikaans language and reading their literature, Mandela earned their respect and won them over to his idea of fair treatment -- even as he continued to face hostility from the officials who ran the prison.
• The third stage is to pitch your idea in a compelling way. Shell and Moussa note that at Google, employees selling ideas to upper management are given a challenge: to distill their business concepts into short, punchy presentations that get right to the essence of what they are proposing. This discipline forces them to figure out exactly what problem their idea addresses, how their idea will solve it and why their idea is better than both the status quo and available alternatives. The authors offer a template for pitching ideas in this format and give examples of distinct ways one can personalize an idea to make it memorable and distinctive.

• The final stage of Woo is to secure both individual and organizational commitments. "One of the most common mistakes people make in selling ideas," says Shell, "is to think that their job is finished once they succeed in getting someone to say 'yes' to their proposal. That's only the beginning. Research shows that in most organizations, a minimum of eight people will need to sign off on even simple ideas. The number goes up from there. So after you move the individual, you also have to move the organization."

   

  Shell and Moussa use a number of cases from business history to illustrate this point. For example, they tell the story of Charles F. Kettering, a brilliant inventor and engineer from the 1930s whom many consider an equal of Thomas Edison. Kettering invented such things as the automatic transmission and safety plate glass, but one of his best ideas -- the air-cooled automobile engine -- sat on the shelf for decades until the Volkswagen Beetle incorporated it. Kettering convinced Alfred Sloan, GM's top executive, that producing the air-cooled engine was a good idea, and the company's executive committee gave the go-ahead to make a limited number of cars with the prototype. But instead of following the idea through, Kettering went back to his lab to concentrate on the technical aspects of the project. The committee handed the production assignment to the Chevrolet division, whose top managers had never been brought into the persuasion process. They let the idea languish and it was eventually abandoned. "Kettering made a fundamental mistake: He didn't follow up and keep the pressure on," Shell notes. "He didn't do the political coalition-building needed to implement his idea."

• Andy Grove's 'Constructive Confrontation'

   

  Individual personality plays a key role in how you influence others, Shell adds. The book therefore includes two personalized "diagnostic" tests that readers can take to discover their persuasion strengths and weaknesses. One of the diagnostics is the "Six Channels Survey," which is designed to help people learn which of the key channels of influence they feel compelled to use most often at work and which they would prefer to use if given a choice. These channels include Authority, Rationality, Vision, Relationships, Interests and Politics. The idea is to help readers understand both how these six channels work and when they should adjust their pitch -- as Bono did with Senator Helms and Mandela did on Robben Island -- to appeal to different kinds of audiences.

• A second self-administered test, the Persuasion Styles Assessment, helps readers determine the degrees of assertiveness and natural social intelligence they bring to the idea-selling process. The authors point out that there is no one "correct" style of persuasion; rather, the key is being self-aware so you know how you perform and how others will perceive you.

   

  For example, Shell and Moussa illustrate the "Driver" style (a highly assertive type who gives only limited attention to the social environment) by examining how Intel CEO Andy Grove managed the persuasion process at Intel during his years as that company's leader. Labeled the "screamer," Grove could be intimidating to people who didn't know him well. But he was also willing to listen if people stood up to him and matched his passion. To facilitate communication, Grove instituted what he called a culture of "constructive confrontation" that freed everyone to be as blunt and assertive as he was. The result was a high-stress environment, but one in which everyone could speak their minds.
• The Art of Woo goes on to describe four other distinctive styles with examples drawn from business history. Banker J. P. Morgan is given as the model for the Commander (a Grove-like person who has a quieter demeanor), John D. Rockefeller exemplifies the Chess Player (a quieter person who attends strategically to the social environment), Andrew Carnegie's life provides the example for the Promoter style (a gregarious type who uses high levels of social intelligence), and Sam Walton is the model for the style that strikes the balance among all the others -- the Advocate.
• "Whenever a new idea might affect resources, power, control or turf," Shell says, "politics will be part of the problem at the implementation stage. You need to prepare an idea-selling campaign, not just a presentation."
• True yes- and frighteningly so. It illustrates why political personalities- whom we instinctively loathe because of their chameleon-like and Machavellian instincts- rule over us. 
   
  The ability to speak the other man's language, empathize with his prejudices, wear his skin and tell him what he wants to hear- these are what wins elections. It's also what guarantees success in corporate environments. The result is, too many skilled political animals make it to the top, while those that can get things done suffer for the sin of not being sufficiently oleaginous. 
   
  Many people cannot violate their personal integrity to the degree needed to persuade others. If you think Christianity is hogwash, how would you persuade Helms using Bono's approach - without being an utter hypocrite? If you think a new product will boost the bottom line, why should you have to deploy the skills of a snake oil salesman or back room horse-trader to get it approved? 
   
  Things won't change. Corporate politicians will become leaders, while the execution wonks will remain their subordinates. But I can't help feeling that the organization that is better at looking at the underlying idea - rather than the way it is packaged and sold- will always have some sort of competitive advantage.
• For the first time someone has taken the care to study the bewildering array of successful styles that all of us encounter throughout our work-lives. Typically, and simplistically, we tend to dismiss them as "politics", "sweet talk" or worse. This framework is well thought out and looks like a good place to get started.

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