Your Two Bits

You know those little boxes you see when registering for a site? They’re called CAPTCHAs, and you probably knew that they are used on sites to ensure an actual human is registering, rather than a spambot. However, Did you know that they also help in digitizing books?

You can read a more complete explanation, but I’m just going to summarize by stating that the words you see are words that have been scanned, but the OCR software isn’t certain of the word. By showing the words to multiple people (who theoretically all type the same correct word), the OCR software can be more certain that it “knows” the right words.

What I love about this is how mutually beneficial this process is. An organization needs assistance from human beings to verify scanned text. Other companies and people want to protect their sites from being abused by spambots. CAPTCHAs provide a solution for both.

I was thinking about these and started thinking about skills I have and that the company I work for has and wondering if there was any secondary benefit I/we are missing that we should develop.

As I talked to a friend at work about this, I mentioned doughnut holes. The baker could toss the the extra dough—which would be a complete waste—or make another big dough ball and cut out some more doughnuts—not a waste of materials, but it does take time—or he could just throw the “holes” into the grease as well and sell them as bite-sized doughnuts—not a waste of materials, and almost no additional time.

My friend said, “So you’re asking, ‘What’s our doughnut hole?’”

“Exactly!”

I liked the way he phrased it and said I was going to use that when referring to this concept of creating a secondary value from a product.

So what do CAPTCHAs and doughnut holes have to do with this blog’s general theme?

Nothing.

Actually they relate in that a lot of us have skills or things that we like to do. I’m just recommending we try to think outside the norm and consider ways that we can use these skills or activities to benefit ourselves and others in ways we hadn’t considered before. It’s all part of managing and investing your resources.

So what’s your doughnut hole?

Related Posts:

• Traffic Jams and Investing

What do traffic jams teach us about investing? That investing is infuriating and you have no control over how your investments do, especially because of buffoons making the traffic jam worse? Not exactly. While there are plenty of buffoons who affect our investments, buffoons don’t control our investments (unless you are one or hire one, which would also make you one).

Aside from patience and long-suffering, freeway gridlock can illustrate good ways to approach investing. Have you ever noticed the car that keeps switching lanes, trying to get into the one that is moving the fastest at that moment? I have seen that countless times, and when I was younger, before I had much experience sitting in traffic jams, also did that. However, when I started commuting to work longer distances on a regular basis I tested my assumptions. Rather than anxiously watching for the lane that was moving at 8 miles per hour rather than 6 miles per hour like my current lane, I tried picking a lane and sticking with it. I tried inside, outside, and middle lanes. What I found was that generally, if I just got in what is normally the fast lane, I fared just as well as the fidgety speed demon trying to maneuver in and out of lanes but with a lot less stress.

I take that same approach to investing. Rather than trying to constantly pick the best new stock or mutual fund or any other random fad, I look for a good mutual fund that I can get in and ride. It may have its starts and stops, but I will get there with less stress than the person trying to time the market and having done better than the person who also picked a lane and stuck with it but only chose a CD fund. (View the short video illustration below, by clicking its Play button.)

Link zu Google (HTML in Multibox)

The fast lane tends to work best, if you have a longer time horizon. Likewise, if you are going to get off the freeway at the next exit or two, it may be best to stay in the slow lane to make sure you don’t miss your exit.

There are different ways you can approach investing and freeway congestion. A lot of it has to do with your attitude. If you want to keep life simple, just jump in the fast lane and be patient as you work through the jam.

There’s my two bits, what about yours?

Related Posts:

• Should I Pay Off Debt or Invest?
• What’s Your Doughnut Hole?
• If My Employer Drops the 401(k) Match, Should I Still Contribute (Part II)?
• Why Ride a Loser?