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Projectswww.permanent.com is my main life project. I worked on this almost continuously from the early 1980s until about 2002 when I ran out of money and time. I finished and self-published a book in 1998. I created a website in 1996 and maintained it until 2002. I have resumed work on this website intermittently from 2007 to 2010, updating databases behind the scenes, and am working on a completely overhauled website which will be made available all at once. www.GainExtinction.com is what drives me to focus on permanent.com -- the realistic, nearterm threats of human extinction by advancing biotechnology, genetics, and possibly nanotechnology. It also covers the impact of artificial intelligence exceeding humans in about 20-30 years due to advancing computer hardware and software, something of awesome impact which such a tiny percentage of people have fathomed, but we probably won't survive on Earth that long due to the above extinction threats. This will surely happen in the generation of our children. My goal is to help bring about self-sufficient space colonies outside Earth's biosphere before the biological extinction events happen. Meanwhile, I have needed to make a living, and I prefer working with people who care about the world, though I also strive to set up companies which run themselves and can give me enough free time and financial support so I can do my work for the world. From the late 1980s up thru 1994, I did a lot of work for humanistic nonprofit organizations, as well as work or USAID (US Agency for International Development), and the latter resulted in what was supposed to be temporary consulting at the Asia Regional Office in Bangkok, Thailand. That's where I jumped ship at the beginning of 1995 and struck out with consulting to purely private multinationals in engineering, construction, and property development from 1995-1997 (Asia economic crash) and even after that. I have two companies, Export Quality Services Co., Ltd., which I will call EQ from now on, and a new property company. (I previously had a company called Complete Quality Systems Co., Ltd., but it died with the 1997 Asia Economic Collapse, and it was more techie oriented.) CURRENT: www.ThailandGuru.com - This started as a hobby in the 1990s, but I met so many interesting business expats this way, and did such a diversity of consulting, that I developed this website further. However, it's not greatly profitable, more of a hobby. Company: EQ CURRENT: www.ThaiEnglish.com - I started this business and then turned it over to others. My friend Sam (PERMANENT artist) here in Thailand took over this business. We had a big multinational customer almost right off the bat which made enough money to expand our company a little bit. That project is finishing, and translation is not really very profitable, and definitely not supporting expansion much at all, but we will continue to take care of our good clients and take on other good customers. Company: EQ CURRENT: www.kkBkk.com - Property rentals and sales, "Knock Knock BangKoK". This is my current business. We took nearly all our profits and plugged it into here. Having worked in engineering and construction in Thailand in the 1990s, I had a good inside feel for the property market, but not enough money or time to launch anything significant myself until 2004 when we started to slowly bootstrap this business. Now, it's going fairly well, largely due to referrals. OLD: www.ThailandCompany.com - company legal setup in Thailand, and support services. I initially did this as a part of Thailand Guru, for interesting customers, but then split this out into a small division of my company. However, I was dependent on a series of Thai lawyers but I wasn't satisfied with their reliability and quality of service, and other business was easier to handle, so I started just forwarding all inquiries to the best guy I know who does this stuff, Steve Sykes of www.indo-siam.com in 2006. I would still like to do this service, as I enjoy meeting entrepreneurs, so maybe I will work more closely with Steve on this. UPCOMING: www.ssBKK.com - something my Thai staff can do for some money, but having a hard time getting anyone to manage this and get it all together. Started in 2004, put on hold until 2007, and it's still between neutral and first gear. UPCOMING: www.SidelineNews.com , no website yet, but is for "citizen amateur journalists". Instead of headline news, there is sideline news by sideline amateur journalists. Anyone with a digital camera and who can write a story can report news on anything. In fact, most newsworthy items never make it into the newspapers because there didn't happen to be a journalist there... This can be supported by advertisements, with the news writers getting a percentage of the gross, and the advertising salespeople getting a percentage of the gross. The rest goes to the company. A key will be editorial staff and management. I believe this could be a big money maker as well as traffic magnet. It is also a project I've wanted to do for almost 20 years, since I was so frustrated with poor news reporting ... UPCOMING: www.ExportBay.com , no decent website yet, an import-export database. I have a business plan on this, but I don't want to discuss it publicly. Company: EQ UPCOMING: www.MedicalVacations.com , www.ThriftyThriving.com , and some others for offshore health care and retirement. Need a good business partner for this particular sector. Want to help out? UPCOMING: I have some ideas on how to ride at the forefront on the emerging GPS market of handhelds and internet applications. Need a good business partner for this specialization. OLD: www.thailandpi.com , Thailand Private Investigations, website initially created in 2002 when we needed money to invest in our other divisions ... Three areas of investigation -- Thai girlfriends, foreign husbands in Thailand, and finding the biological parents of Thai children adopted by western parents. Nothing dangerous. We have stopped this business for the most part, though I still employ the Thai lady agents who are well trained and a good manager, though we have switch this staff to helping us with our property business and upcoming exports business. I learned a lot of things living vicariously... Actually, I did private investigations going back to the 1997 Asia Economic Collapse when I checked out the Thai girlfriends of expat friends who had left, as well as whether debtors could pay their bills or were blowing money while not paying their bills. I also helped people overseas verify that exporters who they wanted to buy from were legit on the ground, not just a website. I stayed discreet about my private investigation work, based on word of mouth referrals, but also a few advertisements under a presumed name on internet forums when money ran out in 1999. In 2002, when I was expanding my company and needed the extra cash, I created this website and went public, and trained staff to do the work. As I don't need it anymore, we don't do much of this anymore, though I still read emails and we may do an occasional family related case. Funny, some of my customers in other businesses have used Thailand P.I. to check out their girlfriends, too, and a few of these have shown just how nuts people go over love. Some of these guys were people I knew who were so penny wise and dollar foolish in their own businesses, especially about paying for quality solutions, just too cheap and accepting of poor quality, and sometimes arrogant armchair intellectuals, but when their Thai girlfriend turns off her mobile phone or something suspicious happens, they suddenly dish out many times the amount of money they had refused to spend before on their business... And, of course, are not interested at all about supporting a humanistic cause like www.permanent.com ... And beyond raw animalistic desire, there is also ostentatiousness, selfish power and egos ... There are some other business projects I have considered launching, but it largely comes down to trustworthy and competent partners with shared values and interests who are reliable over the longterm. Meanwhile, I will focus on the above projects, for which I do have some staff who are able to make them successful and run fairly autonomously. I'm always open to an influx of new, good people!
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