With my wife's new Kia Soul came a complimentary 3-month trial to Sirius radio.

I was really excited. Planned on falling in love with it.

No longer would I be limited to the personal tastes of my local radio stations. In this world of limitless channels, I would finally be able to find ones that match my eclectic taste.

I couldn't. Sirius' channel selection is incredibly small.

2 Christian stations in total. Both worse (less hipster) than my local Chicago options.
2 Indie Rock stations in total. Both worse (less hipster) than my local Chicago options.

What's going on here? How can satellite radio be so limiting? Offer so little control and personalization?

What am I looking for that I was hoping Sirius would be?

Oh...thank you, Spotify.

This weekend, my wife and I heard a tragic story about a local home health therapist that has left me wrecked.

A home health therapist is a physical therapist who travels to people's homes for their therapy sessions, when it would be difficult for the patient to get to the clinic on their own.

When she arrived at the house in a relatively dangerous part of Joliet, she was confused for someone else, shot multiple times, and killed.

At her funeral, her 1-year old child attempted to climb into the casket, in order to be with her mother.

It is the worst story I have ever heard. It left me sobbing and shaken. And I still don't know what to do with it.

My relatively amazing circumstances have left me forgetting that monstrous things still happen - just minutes from our house.

Lord, save us.

One week into my new Kindle Fire, I thought I'd give a hasty review - in case it influences any of you looking to grab a tablet on Black Friday.

PRIMARY REASON FOR PURCHASE:
I bought (rationalized) the Kindle Fire for the interactive books. Specifically, the trailer for Alice in Wonderland won me over. I loved the idea of my daughter interacting with books in a way I never could. I was equally excited with the educational app possibilities. In short, I think the Kindle Fire is going to be her teacher in a few years, so I wanted to get a jump on it.

CONTENT LIMITATIONS:
The problem is that, since the Kindle Fire is so new, publishers haven't created a whole lot of awesome interactive e-book content for the Kindle Fire yet. But that's sure to come....I hope?

WHAT IT IS:
Until then, it's a fun toy for me to play around with while my wife is using our laptop. Streaming video (Netflix and Hulu Plus) works and looks great on it.

WHAT IT'S NOT:
I assumed I was going to be reading a lot of e-books on the Kindle Fire. After all, it's a Kindle. But, the Kindle Fire uses an LCD screen, rather than the new e-ink technology that more deeply mimics a book. I personally can't read large amounts of content on a PC. And in the same way, I can't read large amounts of content on my Kindle Fire. That's a bummer I wasn't expecting.

WHAT IT'S ALSO NOT:
It's not intuitive like Apple products are. It took me a little while to figure out how everything worked. I was able to figure it out eventually. So, no long-term issues. But, it's not Apple easy.

BUT, WHAT IT IS:
It's a cheap and more portable laptop replacement for $199.

"Kids simply don't have the attention span they used to."

A few years back, when Bradley University's basketball program made the NCAA Sweet 16, my resume instantly became more interesting - for a few months at least.

And Boise State's recent football success has made my friend's degree from that institution much more valuable than it was back when he graduated.

More recently, Penn State graduates from 30 years ago have been instantly downgraded, now and forever.

So, with all that bias that has no bearing on your abilities as an individual, if I'm a hiring manager, I don't want to know where you went to school.

Today's reminder to stop doing good stuff, and start doing great stuff comes from an article sent in by loyal reader, Chris Stapel.

Every year, before the Super Bowl, the NFL prints 100,000 Super Bowl Champion hats and sweatshirts... for what will end up being the losing team.

Those clothes end up being worthless. So each year, the NFL donates these clothes they can't rightfully sell to World Vision for global distribution - to clothe the poor. And right now, some kid in Haiti is wearing a Chicago Bears: Super Bowl 2006 champion shirt.

Awesome, right?

Here's the problem. It costs World Vision, on average, 58 cents to ship and distribute each shirt to Haiti. For less than that, World Vision could actually purchase secondhand shirts in these same developing countries. World Vision could clothe the same people, while financially supporting (rather than damaging) these local economies - all for LESS money than they're currently spending giving out stuff for free.

This past week, Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith decided to go for it on 4th down and a foot, deep in his own territory, rather than punting the ball away to Drew Brees and the Saints.

They didn't make it. The Saints kicked a field goal to win the game. And ever since, Mike Smith has been widely ridiculed for "not playing the odds"... even though he absolutely did.

It wasn't the odds he went against. It was public opinion. And this public opinion has been shaped by coaches trying to avoid what Mike Smith is going through right now.

You see, if Smith had punted the ball, and still lost, he wouldn't have been blamed.

You don't get fired for getting beaten. You get fired for losing. You get fired for going for it, even when it makes complete objective sense, and you fail.

And so most coaches play by those rules. More than that, most of us play by those rules, thinking our job description is "try not to get fired." We never go for it on 4th down, to ensure we'll never get in trouble for failing.

But fear is a sucky motivator. And it's time for the wusses to get fired.

Why are we still studying Plato, Aristotle and Socrates?

We've had 2,000 years to build off where these guys brought us. So, where are their successors today? Even Freud (a "modern-day" philosopher) died more than 70 years ago?

Are the modern day Platos out there, and we're simply laughing at them - only to worship them after they're dead?

I don't see in poetry anymore.
Too much non-fiction, I guess.
Now, I see cause and effect.
Victims of their own circumstance.
The romantic language of Main St. vs. Wall Street gets lost on me.
I only see the truth.
But, there was truth in the leaves laughing.
Perhaps even more of it.

5 years ago, after witnessing Facebook's success, I remember a couple of my friends talking about how they were going to build their own social network.

How stupid does that sound now?

The entrepreneur in us wanted to mimic Facebook. But what the entrepreneur in us should be more excited about than ever is that Facebook has already been built. The foundation has already been laid for you. Everything and everyone is already here.

It's never been easier to build whatever you want. Just do it on Facebook.