Tuesday, July 24, 2018

AppsJacks' Take on the Troubled USA Voting and Election Systems


  • Eric, Bruce, Larry, Louise (Larry's wife), David, Mike Pritchard, Lisa (Mike's Guest, leadership coach), April, Susan Stringer, Scott Pierce (knows John Sechrest), John, Scott Elliott
  • John
    • Election administrator
    • "Australian Secret Ballot"
  • Data
    • Who voted and how they voted

  • Scott Pierce
    • Civic Engagement
      • Voting
      • Other Mechanisms
      • Accountability of Rep
    • How to know when reps vote 'against public opinion'
  • Australia has fines for not voting - Mandatory voting - Disincentive
    • Problems with homeless?
    • They have a social safety net
    • Scott was from Australia
    • 58% in USA
    • 94% in USA
    • Does rank choice voting
    • Aussies also primarily have two-party system
  • Germany
    • Green party had a big impact
  • England - David
    • Simple majority
    • Brexit, like Trump, was a close call
  • Is a two-party system good enough?
  • Term Length
    • 6 years
    • 4 years
    • 2 years
  • Security, Privacy, Transparency

  • "Mechanisms of Influence" - Scott P.
    • Voting

    • Lobbying

    • Gerrymandering

    • Fundraising

  • Reforms and Solutions
    • Cut the election cycle

  • Risk
    • John
      • We're barely hackable - Russians didn't and couldn't make it very far
    • Political Media Complex - Scott P.
  • Questions
    • How would we know public sentiment (signals, polls, etc.) early?
    • We know where the money comes from but where does it go *to*?  - David
  • Majorities and Decisions
    • Electoral Collect

    • Process
      • Roberts rules of order
    • For Death Penalty?
      • 99%?
      • Consensus
    • 50%

    • 2/3 vote

  • Literacy and who votes?  Tie to education...

  • Levels
    • Political
      • Influence
      • Will
      • Action
  • Primaries
    • Issues - Larry says
    • Top 2
    • No party declaration required
  • Heuristics, Cheats and Guides
    • Progressive Voters Guides
      • Influenced by money - John says
    • Pamphlet
    • Voters Guide from the Stranger - Lisa
    • Commercials
    • News & Media
    • New Media like podcasts
    • Social Media
    • Friends & Family
  • Corruption & Inequality
    • Citizens United - Scott P. mentions
  • Tech
    • John
      • Self-Sovereign Identity
    • April
      • What is the impact of the votes I've made?
      • How would I know the impact I made?
      • What were the outcomes?
  • Voter registration process
    • Requirements
      • Location
      • Citizenship
      • Membership
      • Paying
      • WIIFM
      • Technology
      • Access
  • Voter Suppression
  • Voting Methods
    • Day
      • Sundays
    • Channel
      • Vote by Mail
        • People less connected, at home
      • Absentee

      • Electronic
        • Kids
          • Mock Voting in Schools - John
      • In Person

    • Mechanism
      • Ranked Choice
  • Getting Involved - What, So What, Now What?
    • Indivisible
    • Barbra
    • Get involved locally
      • Can be non-partisan and more about issues
    • Lobby
    • Third Party - John
    • John
      • Fair Vote http://www.fairvotewa.org/
    • Louise
      • Small groups that role up into larger groups
    • Scott
      • Pinion https://www.pinionvote.com/
      • Tender  for politics meets wikipedia for polls
    • Take Action Network
    • Election Trust - John
    • Govurn - John
    • Work with and on the kids! - John & Susan
    • When public opinion corresponds with the voting - Scott P.
    • Trump is "only President of the United States" - John
    • "Bush on the Couch" book - Bruce
    • Nick Hannauer - The Pitchforks Are Coming - Bruce
  • Next Meeting
    • Round two on the political topic

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Some Quick Amazon Seller Tips

Gleaned from the Seattle Profit Pirates Meetup on 7/5/18:
  • Amazon Seller Central has an app store now.  This is a good place to look for tools and whatnot for selling on Amazon.
  • Tech
    • Feedback Whiz is a handy tool for boost business, repairing feedback, improving product reviews, and automating high-volume emails.
    • Viral Launch is another tool for selling on Amazon.  It provides stats of how much people in categories are selling and helps with research.
    • Zon pages is another tool for boosting Amazon sales. 
  • Instagram good.  One guy at the group recommended focusing on building up cred on Instagram in particular.
  • Basics of the listing.  Multiple attendees agreed that great pictures are very important for the listing, as are the title and bullet points.  
  • Reviews are important but sales are more important.  Attendees said that reviews help stickiness of the listing but sales are the main driver for searchability. What if we were to try to sell these products for a deep discount (and state how big the discount is) so we can get sales up?  
Enjoy!

Eric