You can’t deny that the way the mainstream media is handling the ACORN tape scandal [LINK to YouTube search] is a bit…odd.
Lets face it, it’s not secret that ACORN is a shady organization whose ties to the democratic party hurt, but didn’t hinder President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential bid. Evidence of the organization’s dealings has been known, again, since 2008 and these series of videos obviously prove that.
However, my post isn’t about the video itself, because in the end, I really don’t care what ACORN does. They didn’t invent voter/tax fraud and they aren’t the first to do it. My post is more about what the media didn’t see.
Last night, Jon Stewart made a very good point regarding this story. The media totally didn’t see this coming and ultimately got “scooped” by two students with $3,000 and a hidden camera. In their coverage of this, it’s apparent that they aren’t pleased.
Other than FOX News, who is flaunting this with their usual swagger, I have had to do more foraging than normal on the interwebs to find some stuff about this.
I really don’t think this has to do with bias, it is pretty well known that ACORN will show you various ways to declare your Ecuadorian sex slave as a dependent in your tax forms. But rather, I think the media realized that this whole “citizen journalism” is a pretty large gorilla in a very small room.
As a current student journalist and writer, I think that this is good for us, the little guys who put together a 12-page paper three times a week or update a blog. It evens the playing field a bit for us, and lets us know that just because we don’t have the vast resources of some of the bigger players doesn’t mean we can’t get things done. But this is also good for the media, the big dogs who we one day aspire to work for.
In the end though, people like us want to work for a big player one day. Entering the jobs of writers and editors with this mindset will put a fire under our asses to get the big stories and not get scooped by a bunch of kids. I think this is a great wake-up call for not only mainstream journalists but those who aspire to be mainstream journalists. We will have to comepete.
At WWDC, Apple made a note that MMS would be coming to the iPhone, well…to every iPhone except those on AT&T.
With the end of summer, the deadline imposed by AT&T, rapidly approaching I have yet to be able to send and receive video and pictures on my device. So I decided to take matters in to my own hands…here is what I asked @ATTNews last night.
@ATTNews Guys the summer is almost over. Where is MMS for the iPhone? I can order pizza to my GPS coordinates but I can’t receive pics?
I’ll keep tweeting until I get an answer…or MMS, whichever comes first. I am starting to think that an update opening MMS up for AT&T will be announced at the iPod event on September 9th that I keep hearing about.
If only Verizon had an iPhone…I’ll keep you posted
According to CNN this morning, model Liskula Cohen sued Google for the identity of a commenter who defamed her on a Blogger site. Here is a quote from the CNN’s Newsroom blog:
Cohen went to court after a user of Google’s blogging service, Blogger.com, created a site called “Skanks in NYC.” The blog featured photos of Cohen with insulting captions. The judge ruled that Google had to turn over any identifying information it had (in this case an IP address and an e-mail address) on this blogger, and Google has complied.
After Don Lemon read a few comments on the air (one of those comments being mine, many thanks to Don) he asked a question that I think sums up this entire situation. Does “hatespeak” count as freedom of speech?
The argument in this case is that the blogger’s comments about Cohen are defamatory, and they are. According to Gawker, the blog “Skanks of NYC” labeled Cohen as well, a New York City skank. I would quote the blog, but I don’t quote gossip and smut.
Americans today throw freedom of speech around heavily. However, we can’t pick and choose what we are free or not free to say. When white supremacists spew ignorance and hatred, they have a right to do it. In the end I disagree with it, I criticize it, but I will not challenge their right to be stupid.
I once had a high school teacher who would pretentiously quote Voltaire every time students disagreed with each other, and it rings true now:
“I may not approve of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
In actuality, that was said by Evelyn Beatrice Hall in “The Friends of Voltaire”, but that’s neither here nor there.
In the end, freedom of speech is a take it, or leave it issue. People will hate and defame, but in the end unless they have definitive proof, most people are smart enough to dismiss it. If you want to live in a country where you are free to say whatever you want, you need to be able to take the good with the bad.
This ruling is going to set an ugly precedent for the Internet. This is a huge set back for the blogging community, who is heavily based on opinions and Op-Ed commentary. I have a feeling this is going to be the first of many.
You know, I am all for the Second Amendment, but what the hell is this? According to basically every major news outlet, people are going to health care town hall meetings brandishing 9mm handguns and, as of late, AR-15 assault rifles.
I really don’t get the correlation between health care and second amendment rights, unless they are talking about how Obama’s Public Option plan will cover gun shot wounds.
I am not really surprised, however seeing how heated these rallies and town halls are getting, is this really a good idea? I find it hard not to imagine a worse case scenario where different groups of protestors clash in a hail of gunfire started by those in the crowd with high power assault rifles.
Oddly enough, the Secret Service seems cool with it? Here’s a interview with a Secret Service spokesman from CNN:
U.S. Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan acknowledged the incidents in New Hampshire and Arizona, but said he was not aware of any other recent events where protesters attended with open weapons. He said there was no indication that anyone had organized the incidents.
Asked whether the individuals carrying weapons jeopardized the safety of the president, Donovan said, “Of course not.”
The individuals would never have gotten in close proximity to the president, regardless of any state laws on openly carrying weapons, he said. A venue is considered a federal site when the Secret Service is protecting the president and weapons are not allowed on a federal site, he added.
A lot of people are forgetting that the problem is not that he is open wielding and firearm near the president. The Secret Service obviously has Obama so locked down that they are cool as cucumbers.
Local police forces in the area are in a unique position here as well. These protestors are obviously protected by the law, and confiscating, detaining, or arresting these individuals would only add fuel to the fire. However they still have to consider the safety of the crowd.
The problem here is that people are walking around with these things in high traffic areas no doubt steeped in heated political debate. Frankly, I don’t trust people enough to be responsible and, most importantly, calm. This is trouble waiting to happen.
According to CNN.com, the Senate today voted to no longer fund the F-22 fighter program, effectively capping the amount of fighters to be built at 187 planes. Here is an excerpt:
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Senate voted Tuesday to block expansion of one of the country’s most controversial and expensive defense programs, the F-22 fighter jet program.
The vote gave the White House and Pentagon a key victory over congressional supporters of the F-22, many of whom represent states and districts where jobs are tied to the production of the jet.
The vote, which stripped $1.75 billion for an additional seven F-22s from the fiscal year 2010 budget, was a reversal of an earlier Senate committee decision to include money for the program. The change came in a response to strong pressure from President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and several key senators who argued that the additional planes are not needed or wanted by the military.
The 58-40 vote, which did not break down along typical partisan lines, was the culmination of a classic confrontation between the president and Congress over who is the best judge of the country’s military needs.
The reason a lot of senators are a big fan of this aircraft are twofold. First, the aircraft keeps a lot of people employed as it relies on parts and labor from 44 states, which keeps constituency pockets filled, and senators and local reps happy.
The second reason they give is that the aircraft will serve as a defense not so much for our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq but against more challenging enemies that could pose a threat in the future, such as China or Russia…or Britain. Seriously you never know.
Look, at this time spending cash on defense may look like, as President Obama said, “an inexcusable waste of money”. However, I think this specific program is vital not only for the reasons listed above but also because this aircraft contributes to this country’s image.
The F-22 keeps America safe and employed, and in the end isn’t that a good thing?
This can get confusing. Anyway it seems Jon Gosslin has found a new flame to fill the void left by Kate.
Her name is Hailey Glassman, she is 22 years old, she is kind of hot, and she is the daughter of the plastic surgeon who performed Kate’s tummy tuck procedure. If that’s not enough, according to HuffPost she is also his “business partner” and the two plan on designing a line of children’s clothing. Jon’s already got the divorced dad thing down:
Get your ear pierced. Check.
Buy and wear a large amount of Ed Hardy t-shirts not knowing that no one wears that atrocious nonsense anymore. Check.
Secure a young girlfriend with questionable morals and parade her around town. Double Check.
Who’s side am I on? Well it would have to be Jon’s and here is why. First of all Kate has basically belittled and demeaned him over the course of the entire show. I don’t know if it’s because of the cameras being around (because as we all know people tend to be different when the cameras are on) or what but she was an unnecessary bitch. Second of all lets face it, the guy really didn’t want eight kids. That’s not to say he doesn’t love them, but lets be logical here, unless you are the OctoMom who wants eight kids?
I am a product of a divorced family, so trust me if anyone can say this its me. Every divorce isn’t mutual, there is always someone to blame. Here there are two people to blame; TLC for basically making every facet of this family’s life public, and Kate for letting it get to her head.
I read somewhere that Jon wants full custody of all the children. If he does I hope he doesn’t market them like Kate did and just lets them be kids.
Chris Brown released a public apology regarding the incident that landed Rhianna in the hospital and him in a jail cell. Please do enjoy:
This is obviously an attempt to salvage his already shattered career. Chris Brown made the mistake of hitting a woman, especially a well known singer such as Rhianna, and thinks this YouTube apology will suffice. I think not. People who beat women to me are less than scum, and should be treated as such. Five years probation is too light of a penalty, which seems to be the norm when celebrities break the law.
I have written many posts about the UFC and MMA in general on this blog so I will spare you my “love for the sport” speech. I am grateful for what the UFC has been doing for the sport in terms of allowing it to gain momentum in the United States. Since Royce Gracie in UFC 1, I think this has been a long time in the works. Though I do currently have a lot of differences with the way the UFC is currently run, I didn’t feel that it was affecting the image of the sport so badly as I do now. I think the SPIKE TV show The Ultimate Fighter is absolute poison to the public image of an elegant and complex sport.
The Ultimate Fighter started off as a pretty reputable, solid opportunity for up-and-coming fighters to make a name for themselves in a short amount of time. It was this show that discovered successful fighters such as Rashad Evans and Forest Griffin which have made their own marks on the sport. But as of late, The Ultimate Fighter has become less about the sport, about finding athletes worthy of a contract who otherwise wouldn’t get one and more about locking the craziest, angriest alcoholics in a house and letting the drama and shenanigans ensue.
TUF has come a long way, but with the way the show is now, how can anyone take MMA seriously? Seeing fighters get sauced and punch each other or ram their heads in to doors and drywall isn’t the image I want this awesome sport to have.
During times of economic difficulty it isn’t unnatural for companies to tighten the belt. Lay off workers, cut salaries, reduce work weeks, there are many options for ailing companies. Recently I have been reading (and hearing) stories of companies who continue to perform very well, but are still making drastic cuts in overtime, salaries, and bonuses.
I spoke to someone the other day who was talking about how their employer was cutting all overtime and bonuses while the company continued to post excellent numbers. The overall sentiment at her office was that the owners had lost portions of personal money and are simply reacting to it by improving profits at the cost of their employee benefits.
I have always been a believer in the idea that “if you take care of your employees, they will take care of you”. During and after the 2008 presidential elections, small and medium business owners were constantly discussed as one of the most important groups of people in America.
However, small business owners have a tremendous amount of freedom when it comes to how they handle their businesses. Most of the time, that’s a good thing. Considering a good amount of successful small business owners provide their employees good health care, bonuses and incentives. On the other hand, that could be a bad thing.
Back when I entertained the idea of being a business major my financial accounting professor stressed the importance of a business owners obligation to keep their personal finances separate from their business’.
I am sure Neitzche would scold me for my “slave moralist” view, or Limbaugh would call me a socialist, but I think my point is reasonable. Whether you like it or not, a business may legally belong to one person, but in a way it belongs to everyone who works for it. These people feed and support themselves and their families with what they earn there. All the accomplishments and accolades are earned as a whole.
In times like these most people tend to huddle together. Some would rather see a 10% cut in salaries rather than watching a few esteemed co-workers walk away. Greed was what got us in to this mess in the first place, and people realize that.
We can’t afford to see hard working employees get cut due to the misfortunes of a few. If you lost money because of a few investments that went south, that is unfortunate. But don’t make your employees feel it as well.
When Apple dropped the iPhone 3GS I quickly sprinted to my nearest computer to see if I was eligible for the subsidized price. I was not.
I was okay with it, I actually was saving up to buy a Nikon D60, however out of curiosity I went to the Apple site and checked my eligibility and it now says I can purchase an iPhone 3GS despite my upgrade date not being until March 2010.
I might go snag one next month, we’ll see. But I just thought I would pass this along on the off chance that AT&T has decided to be cool and maybe let everyone with a 3G upgrade at a reasonable price.
So I was playing Xbox Live’s “One vs. 100″ for the first time tonight. One of the questions was “Which state recently passed a bill that would allow people to carry weapons inside what?”. I can’t remember the choices exactly, but what I do know is that the answer is “a bar”.
According to Associated Press, the state of Arizona has indeed passed a bill allowing people to carry concealed weapons inside a drinking establishment.
The Arizona Senate has given final approval to a bill that would allow people with concealed weapons permits to carry a gun into a business that serves alcohol.
The 19-8 vote completes legislative action on the bill and sends it to Republican Gov. Jan Brewer. She has not said whether she will sign it, but she has long been a supporter of gun rights.
You know, I got a weird look for sarcastically shouting “Yeeeah go red states!” on this one. What the hell is this? I mean seriously folks, it’s getting REALLY hard to defend this party. I know that most conservatives right now are going to “stick to their guns” on this one, but deep down I am sure they know how God damn ridiculous this is.
Drunk people are quite a handful…but in Arizona they’re armed.
A few days ago I went looking for the “perfect” Twitter iPhone app. I use Twitter a lot, and as an iPhone user I am looking for the best app with the best experience possible. I recently went looking around the intrawebs for a good comprehensive review of the more prominent Twitter apps for the iPhone, and I couldn’t find any. So I decided to write one myself.
I scoured the App Store for the top apps, paid and free. So I will be giving you a brief review of Tweetie, TwitterFon Pro, Twitterrific, and TweeDeck for iPhone. I have used each apps for one full week and tested them on a 16GB iPhone 3G.
FYI: All the apps I review in this post have been purchased with my own money and I have not been approached by any of these developers to review their programs.
Tweetie is a very user friendly, simple and elegant app for “tweeps” who live and die by their iPhones. When I originally switched to Tweetie when it was released I really valued it because it was capable of managing multiple accounts, it was actually one of the first apps that could do that, all the others followed suit. I found this one to be a very reliable app as it has NEVER crashed on me, which for any iPhone app is rare. It handles trends and searches very well, and it allows you to reply, view the user’s profile, or favorite a tweet by just swiping your finger to the left.
What I like most about Tweetie, and this applies to both the iPhone client and the desktop client for Mac, is atebits’ love of smooth, simple designs. The app itself is very quick and isn’t bogged down by anything unnecessary, which is a very important feature on a Twitter app. The point of Twitter is to get those quick thoughts out as soon as possible, and Tweetie will allow you to do that.
Things I would like to see in future releases are trivial. Some new alert badges on the icons at the bottom would be great. I also think that the themes that ship aren’t anything to write home about but hey, if the app is solid, which it is, the theme doesn’t really matter. Another thing that Tweetie is missing is the cacheing of past tweets. I don’t really see this as a bad thing, it keeps the app moving quickly and it doesn’t bog down your memory. However, I can see some hardcore tweeters needing to see past tweets quickly.
TwitterFon is one of the more feature rich Twitter apps on the App Store. I really like this app because it does everything Tweetie does, but it has a few little features that really come in handy. First of all, the app I am reviewing is actually the paid version of TwitterFon, TwitterFon Pro. This app includes all of the features of TwitterFon, but also has:
support for multiple accounts
4 different themes
landscape keyboard
user authenticated bit.ly support
instapaper integration
and it’s ad-free.
What’s great about Twitterfon is the update badges it gives at the bottom whenever it refreshes with new Tweets. This is awesome because it allows you to actually see what you have before checking it. So say you don’t have any direct messages, you won’t have to go in and look. Another feature I really like is the fact that you have an address book of sorts that lets you go through names right from the new tweet window. That comes in handy when you want to tweet a friend but you forgot exactly how their handle is spelled.
Like I mentioned above, this version of TwitterFon supports multiple accounts. However, when it does handle multiple accounts I notice that it launches a very slowly at the beginning. I really didn’t like this because it slowed down the app significantly, which really prevented me from getting out a quick tweet. However if you are running this with one Twitter account, you’ll hardly notice anything. What I did like when using this to manage two accounts was that I could give a specific theme to each account. That went a long way to making sure I didn’t tweet anything from my personal twitter on to my work twitter.
The Search feature on TwitterFon is by far the best. Not only can it “fetch” trends quickly using a dedicated button, it also allows you to search, and pull Tweets that have been geotagged to your location using the iPhone’s built in GPS. It’s a cool feature that I hardly used, because I really didn’t care what people around me were tweeting.
As far as overall reliability I can’t say this is the stable Twitter app. It crashed a few times when I was in the middle of sending tweets to multiple people, and sometimes the landscape keyboard (which is a plus) wouldn’t come up when you rotated the phone. All in all good app, minor bugs.
TweetDeck is the iPhone iteration of the popular desktop client. What makes the desktop client so great is that it allows you to see a column-by-column view of everything Twitter, and the iPhone version is no different. Out of all the apps tested, TweetDeck has by far the best user interface. It allows you to swipe through the columns similar to the way you swipe through windows in Safari.
The column view is fantastic because it allows you to swipe through anything from your main feed, to mentions, to custom searches and trends feeds. While covering the Iran elections on my radio show, I used TweetDeck as my main program because it allowed me to monitor #iranelection prominently, rather than just as a search I’d have to initiate every single time.
Another great feature in line with the app’s design is it’s small notification system at the bottom left of the app. TweetDeck has hit that perfect balance of notifying you without annoying you and I really liked that.
However, TweetDeck is the youngest of these iPhone apps and as such it is the buggiest. The program crashed on me a few times, enough to get frustrated. Also there are some miner glitches in the app that I am sure will be worked out with time.
With a little time and a few updates don’t be surprised to see this app on the top of the hill. It has a great UI, and a great desktop client that allows you (by signing up for a free account) to sync columns between the iPhone and your computer, which comes in handy. But right now, it’s just good, but not great.
Twitterrific is the grandfather of the Twitter Apps on the store as it was the first one ever. In the past year it has played catch up a bit and is now more robust than ever. There are two versions of this app, the one I am testing is the free version because the paid version basically removes the ads only. I really like what Twitterrific has become as far as design. It features nice themes and each section of the app is nicely color coded.
Twitterrific is also very rich in features now that it has been brought up to date and it matches the abilities of the others reviewed here. However, I found using Twitterrific to be a bit overwhelming. There was too much tapping to get to different things that usually takes me less time on the other apps. The app very feature rich don’t get me wrong but it is definitely very busy. Overall it was rather stable, in the week that I used it I didn’t experience a single problem.
The app also handles multiple accounts and has an interesting way of letting you see them. It displays any accounts, the public timeline, and searches all on this sort of “home page”. It’s a very nice touch and sort of streamlines the whole multiple accounts thing, which it does very well.
What it all comes down to is value. Twitterrific itself is a great free app, however if you are going to buy it just to do away with the ads you might as well spend $1 less and buy Tweetie or none at all and get TweetDeck or the free version of TwitterFon. Twitterrific was left in the dust after it’s launch along side the App Store. Innovations in iPhone software development have yeilded a much better type of Twitter app. Though Twitterrific is a good app, there are much better options, some even cheaper out on the App Store.
And the winner is…?
This is a tough choice, and all the Twitter app reviews I have read always start off like this. However I feel the clear winner here is Tweetie. Tweetie is solid, reliable and well designed. It has a good list of features that hardcore Twitter users can enjoy, and light tweeters can discover. It delivers tweets well, responds quickly, and never crashes. Who knows, in a few months we might see a contender, but for now Tweetie is the king of the Twitter app jungle. Sure it costs $2.99, but you definitely get what you pay for. If you have any questions post them in the comments and I will be glad to reply.
On June 23rd, AT&T launched it’s GPS navigation app for the iPhone. I haven’t bought it, so I am not reviewing it. I just want to let everyone know that if you buy this, it’s another $10 a month on your bill. I love how AT&T charges for services Sprint gives for free. Palm Pre anyone?
So as I sat down finishing an article I got a “NYTIMES ALERT” on Twitter about Sarah Palin stepping down as governor of Alaska. I was a bit surprised at first, then the perplexity set in. Why would she do this? And then, she addresses her favorite group of people…the media. Please forgive the FOX News commentary throughout this YouTube video.
This speech really gave no answers. She went on about all the things she’s done, and how she doesn’t believe in “politics as usual”. I am sure resigning the governorship will be a hot topic for when she runs for president in 2012.
People have always wondered what Twitter could be used for. Most people (myself included) use Twitter to stay in touch with friends, get instant alerts from popular websites, or follow the every move of celebrities who have absolutely nothing interesting to say. However with the stolen election in Iran, Twitter has found its purpose. The Iranian people in support of opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi have taken to social media such as Twitter to spread their message to the world in a country where foreign media is gagged and lines of communication are restricted. But how reliable is it?
When I am watching the news on TV, I am watching CNN. Despite Rick Sanchez’s Twitter fever spreading to every facet of CNN (expect Larry King because he doesn’t know what a computer is) is now steeped in social media. With Twitter and this whole iReport business it seems to me like CNN is saying that anyone can be a journalist. What struck me was during most of CNN’s Iran coverage, they had a big, red, banner running at the bottom of the screen saying “Unverified Information”. CNN, like a lot of shows these days, are using social media to keep in touch with their audience. But at what point can social media be treated as a credible source?
Twitter’s use of aliases means that sources can be anyone they wish to be, and we all know what happens to stupid people when they are empowered with anonymity. Another concern is that disinformation can be easily distributed this way, and for a network reporting raw, unconfirmed information, that could be a problem. Reports from people on the ground in Iran are saying that much like the Moussavi supports use Twitter and Facebook to coordinate protests and events, the Iranian government uses it to send bad information and monitor the opposition. I just don’t think that at this point in time, Twitter can be reported as a reliable source.
Ever since the #CNNFail incident, in which the blogosphere and the twittersphere(?) accused CNN of dropping the ball a bit on the Iran Election coverage, CNN has been relying heavily on “tweeps” to provide them information on the going on in Tehran. Here is a quick excerpt from the NY Time article:
Untold thousands used the label “CNNfail” on Twitter to vent their frustrations. Steve LaBate, an Atlanta resident, said on Twitter, “Why aren’t you covering this with everything you’ve got?” About the same time, CNN was showing a repeat of Larry King’s interview of the stars of the “American Chopper” show. For a time, new criticisms were being added on Twitter at least once a second.
Andrew Sullivan, a blogger for The Atlantic, wrote, “There’s a reason the MSM is in trouble,” using the blogosphere abbreviation for mainstream media.
CNN said, “We share people’s expectations of CNN and have delivered far more coverage of the Iranian election and aftermath than any other network.”
In the end, we don’t know exactly why Twitter will be. Biz Stone said in an interview with Stephen Colbert that they are currently looking to see how they can use Twitter to make money. Other’s are touting it as the next major type of communication since the text. Twitter can be all those things, but for now, it is not a trusted source.
Pardon my lateness of this post, life has been a little hectic. Anyway, incase you haven’t been following this who Letterman vs. Palin fiasco I will bring you up to date. On “The Late Show w/ David Letterman” Letterman made a joke about A-Rod possibly impregnating Sarah Palin’s daughter while at a Yankee game. Here’s what he said…
“One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game: During the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez.”
Now most people that night I am sure heard that and thought that Letterman was refering to Palin’s 18-year-old daughter Bristol, who had a son out of wedlock. But Sarah Palin, realizing the amount of media coverage she could get by faking outrage quickly claimed otherwise, saying that her younger daughter…umm Billow? Willow? Whatever.
Letterman quickly apologized and made it clear that this was in reference to Bristol, however Sarah Palin will clamp on to the media spotlight for as long as possible, continued to press the issue. This led to Palinites leading a protest outside of Letterman’s studio. But as you can see in this video, the protests took a turn for the worst.
The protests were charged with hate. These people are shouting Letterman is a pedophile, and throwing rather brash insults to his wife and family. Never have I seen so many people so outraged over nothing in my life. The man made a joke that was misunderstood and now you are calling his son a bastard and his wife a slut.
Weigh in on this in the comment section, or drop me a tweet @jlv0628.
I am sure if you follow me on Twitter, you would have noticed that my iMac is now a paperweight due to a sudden and violent lightning storm that swept through North Miami last Saturday. In the mean time I have been using my Macbook Air as my main squeeze until I can get a replacement. That replacement comes today…I am actually heading to the Apple store in a bit.
Just wanted to give you a heads up on some stuff I will be posting. I have a quick piece on corperate deception during a bad economy. I heard some horror stories and as compelled to share. Also I am working on a comparison show down between Tweetie and TwitterFon Pro for the iPhone. I failed to find a good comparison review of these two apps on the interwebs, so I am taking matters in to my own hands.
And of course the usual news and politics (I promised I wouldn’t write anymore about Sarah Palin, but unfortunately that is hard to do…especially when she is coming after Letterman.)
I’ve always said that AT&T isn’t the shining star for customer service or appreciation, however given the fact that they hold the cell phone that I must own, it is something that I tolerate. AT&T, much like the other cell phone companies, would much rather piss you off than actually help you. Since the iPhone was released, AT&T has held the exclusive right to sell the device within the United States. Up to now AT&T has had its ups and downs, but for the most part they were doing okay. They took care of first-gen users by allowing them to move up to the 3G at the given price, but basically everything else that you experience is all Apple. But like I said, that’s up to now.
Yesterday Apple released the new iPhone 3Gs, a faster, more feature rich edition of the iPhone 3G that is making Apple fanboys drool world wide. Voice Command (finally), Compass (umm finally?), 3.0MP Auto-Focus camera with video and video editing, faster processor, 7.2MBps HSDPA, it’s awesome. To be honest, I am trying real hard not to like it, because I am as poor as a internet blogger/student can be. I was thinking of selling some stuff but I am holding off…because I want to see what AT&T will do.
When the iPhone 3G was released, AT&T (whether at the behest of Apple or not) took care of first generation iPhone users by allowing them to upgrade to the 3G with the new customer price of $199 and $299 respectively. This was a great move on both Apple and AT&T’s part because this opened up ownership of the new device to the group of people who are guaranteed to buy it again. Rather than sulking away, waiting for the upgrade eligibility day to come, these people are out buying the iPhone 3G for a reasonable price. However, I was rather surprised to see that AT&T is not doing the same thing this time around. Instead, AT&T is insisting current users under contract must pay anywhere from $399 to $699 for their 3Gs. Awesome job AT&T, shut out a solid consumer base who just so happen to be your loyal subscribers.
Though the best part of WWDC today was Apple going ahead and pressing on with the release of the iPhone 3.0 software and the iPhone 3Gs despite AT&T not being ready to support two of it’s key feature, MMS or data tethering. As I read that during the live blog I was reading I was not only proud of Apple, but pretty happy with how embarrassed AT&T should be. At the time of a major product launch, and a major software update, AT&T cannot support MMS? Something that it supports on its other devices. Some have their guesses as to what it may be, but AT&T are sticking by their guns for now and saying that MMS is to be expected by the end of summer. As far as data tethering is concerned, AT&T has said that it will support it, but has given no definitive timeline.
This years WWDC was a great show for Apple, but a wake up call for AT&T. Rumors have been swirling around for quite sometime that Apple has been shopping a custom iPhone to Verizon, and perhaps thats a good thing. That, coupled with the increasing number of iPhone users taking their software unlocked phones to T-Mobile (and T-Mo welcoming them with open arms) should be a wake-up call to AT&T. Go out of your way to get new customers sure, but don’t forget the ones that pay the massive bill every month. Compliment the quality products you carry with quality service and support.
I am sitting here, writing my blog on Microsoft Word and huddled around my iPhone watching Engadget’s WWDC 2009 Live Blog. I am doing this because on Saturday, the Lord saw it fit to strike my home with a lightning bolt and fry my iMac, DSL line, cordless phones, bathroom lights and oddly enough, my front stove burner.
Scott Forstall just introduced the new iPhone 3.0 software (available June 17 to everyone), however there is something missing, AT&T’s support. According to Forstall, support for MMS will come “by the end of the summer” and though every carrier is supporting tethering, there was no mention of AT&T.
Frankly, I am a little outraged. MMS is supported on every other phone except the iPhone? I am glad Apple went ahead and released the update anyway…makes AT&T looks even more like the bunch of jerk they are.
Dog abuser Michael Vick is now out of prison and back on the streets according to ESPN. I think Michael Vick is a scum bag really, got nothing more to say. This post was solely intended to post that hilarious Family Guy video about him. Enjoy…
Sorry, I couldn’t think of a better title for this post.
Anyway, I am not really surprised Apple has chosen WWDC to not only be their main gig, in terms of iPhone announcements and development details. I think the iPhone has sort of surpassed the “MacWorld Expos” and the “Apple Town Hall” type announcements. The iPhone itself has become a development platform on it’s own, running a mobilized version of OS X. Since its debut, the iPhone has evolved slowly as Apple released it grip gradually and started letting developers in. Proof positive that whenever you let developers in, things turn out pretty awesome. With the World Wide Developers Conference on the horizon, we have a lot to look forward, in both hardware and software.
Software-wise we are looking at the new iPhone 3.0 update. It’s been in beta since earlier this year and already we are expecting a lot of updates that bring it up to par with what the Palm Pre will be offering when it’s released from June 5-7 (according to the New York Times). MMS, a full phone search feature, cut & paste, are just a few features in the massive update. The update will also allow for features such as turn-by-turn navigation (along with some hardware help, we’ll get in to that later) and much more. Lastly, this update will activate the long awaited Push Notification Service that Apple has kept locked up for quite sometime.In fact the notification server is now also in beta testing today along with a new Associated Press app. I guess they were too scared to test it with a Twitter app, we would no doubt be having more “fail whales” than normal.
Critics, myself included, argue that this update is a long time coming. That this is an example of Apple’s stubbornness to satisfy its loyal consumer base and that nothing happens unless Apple absolutely HAS to do it. I have said numerous times on this site that I love phones like the Palm Pre, because it reminds Apple that they are not invincible. Either way, change is coming to the iPhone…sooner or later it always does and it always will. I have always said that features such as MMS and copy & paste WILL come, it’s only a matter of time and motivation.
On the hardware front we have…umm, rumors. New camera with on phone editing capabilities that will shoot video? Better processor and larger memory and storage space? Probably. A lot of rumors are swirling around. However, I am fairly certain that Apple will release some new hardware to go along with 3.0. Don’t be surprised if it’s awesome too. Given the way things are going in terms of screen technology, we might see some OLED action with our new iPhones. Who knows?
WWDC will be on June 8th and the keynote address will be on the same day, given by Phil Schiller.
According to both the New York Times and Politico.com President Obama is set to announce new mileage standards tomorrow. The new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards are going to incorperate California’s strict standards for fuel mileage and emissions. The ultimate goal is to achieve 34 mpg by 2016.
Look, lets be realistic. This is a great thing for the Obama Administration to do. Automakers are fully capable of achieving these levels of fuel efficiency in most of their models. However, I think President Obama needs to be more aggressive when it comes to this, especially when it comes to the American auto makers. Demand hybrid vehicles in exchange for bail out cash, enact a “gas guzzler” tax accross the board on any vehicle that does not conform to the new standards (cause frankly, if you are buying a $230,000 Italian sports car, you can afford the gas guzzler tax), push for alternative fuels and cellulosic and sugar based ethanol, and much more. But none the less, this is a great step forward.
Porn is have become this massive movement in the United States. According to video put out by Good Magazine:
89% of porn is created in the U.S.
$2.84 billion in revenue was generated from U.S. porn sites in 2006
$89/second is spent on porn
72% of porn viewers are men
260 new porn sites go online daily
Those stats are insane! The fact of the matter is a lot of of people watch porn in this country. But I have noticed that pornography is starting to affect most men in really strange ways.
First of all you have your full blown case of porn addiction. This is actually pretty serious in that this is a psychological condition that affects people’s lives. There is a lot of debate whether or not this is actually an addiction or not. Though it is not officially listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, some psychologists see it as an addiction similar to sex addiction. It can be described as a “obsessive viewing, reading, and thinking about pornography and sexual themes to the detriment of other areas of one’s own life” (jacked that from Wikipedia thank you very much). Either way, situations like these can and do affect healthy lives and, most importantly, healthy relationships.
But thats not really what I wanted to address here. I just mentioned that so I can avoid the “But Jorge, pornography addiction is a serious problem” emails. What I want to talk about is how porn affects the way we think. I have noticed that I can usually identify how much porn a person watches simply by having a generic conversation with them. Here’s an example:
The other day I was in the car with my friend Jordan and we were discussing the topic of high paying jobs that don’t require a college education. After a while of witty banter and pointless back and forth I mentioned that a UPS delivery men actually get paid well and receive pretty good benefits from what I had heard. He agreed, citing that usually they make deliveries to sexy women who are home along and are “asked to come inside and deliver their package.” I started to laugh, and then I noticed that…he wasn’t. He actually thought that was a frequent occurrence in the priority package delivery business! I didn’t even want to begin to discuss that cable repair guys make pretty good money too.
The poor writing and character development in pornography is really affecting the we see real life situations and is preventing us from reaching logical conclusions about those situations. If a man delivers a pizza to a woman, the woman will pay for and take the pizza. She will not pay you exact change and give you a “generous tip” of impromptu sex. Like I told Jordan, that shit simply does not happen. Just a little food for thought.
Up until a few days ago I was fairly against the idea of gun control. I held tightly to the mantra that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. I don’t really hunt or anything but that doesn’t mean that I couldn’t see myself doing it. Hell, I myself even own a gun and so does my grandfather. I was raised knowing that a gun is not a toy, that it was something to respect and in many ways even fear. I fired my first gun at 15, and bought my first at 21. I know most people own a gun for personal protection, and I’m fine with that, it is after all a person’s right.
The other day I was talking to someone about a recent purchase they made. “Well I got me and AR-15 with a red-dot sight, vertical fore grip with laser/flashlight mount, collapsable stock and extended mags.” Sounds impressive, I know. But as with every person who owns something so elaborate is this, when you ask them what they will use it for they will always respond the same: home protection and hunting. First of all, what are you going to hunt with that thing? A rancor?
Hunting with something like that kind of takes the sport out of everything you know? The deer or what have you isn’t some wild beast who lives in Jabba’s palace, it’s a f***ing deer.
But hey, if you want to be ready for the zombie invasion and be able to take down Tatooine monsters with Luke Skywalker-like ease then by all means. All I’d hope for is that they are responsible with their new toy and that it never gets stolen by someone who would appreciate it’s ability to penetrate body armor. This guy I know, however, is a pretty trust worthy guy and is some one who I think is competent and cool headed enough to respect something like that. Let’s move on to some one that isn’t…
I have known a man for quite a while now that really concerns me, and it practically an argument for gun control himself. Full of his own bullshit self-importance, the man is so pro-gun, pro-second amendment, pro-killing shit that it scares me to death. One of these people that has a gun to fight terrorists and, most recently, to fend off Obama’s “Firearm Removal Squads” of the future. This is the type of guy who ultimate aspiration is to own a magnum firearm, so as to not only kill the intruder (or terrorist, criminal, etc.), but also the five people behind them.
It’s because of this person that I can’t be so against gun control anymore. People like this tool are what really put the fear in me that perhaps most some people are just too stupid to own a weapon. People like this guy see guns as something that they can use to gain respect, and therefore don’t have any respect for it. They gloat and they show it off when the fact is they are probably as insecure as ever and probably in some cases don’t even know what kind of gun they have (which is this case, is very true).
I think as of late I have changed my stance a bit on the “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” statement. I do think people will always kill people, with or without guns. But the fact is that when you empower someone who who embraces the second amendment not for what it stands for, i.e. to be armed for protection, but sees it as a sign of power then we have a concern. When a man walks around and sees his firearm as something powerful, something to impose will, and something that elevates him above everything else, THAT is a man I fear.
Today, as I was browsing my Facebook inbox I received a link from my friend that I found particularly disturbing, but sadly not surprising. According to Newser.com, a pastor in Baltimore, MD had a man killed in order to collect on the man’s various life insurance policies. Did I mention the victim was disabled and mentally challenged? Here’s the story:
(Newser) – Baltimore police say a pastor has admitted to killing a mentally disabled and blind man to collect on his life insurance money, theBaltimore Sun reports. Charged yesterday, Kevin Pushia, 32, confessed to hiring a hit man with $50,000 in church funds to kill Lemuel Wallace—one of several mentally challenged people who have listed Pushia as an insurance beneficiary.
Police found Wallace dead in a park bathroom. Following a tip, they searched Pushia’s townhouse and saw a note on a calendar: “L.W. project completed.” They also uncovered six insurance policies in Wallace’s name worth $1 million. Police are seeking other possible victims in Pushia’s alleged scheme. “We’re all kind of in shock,” said a former co-worker.
Let me just say that as of late, my faith in humanity is slowly dwindling to nothingness. This is a perfect example of how the people everyone looks to for spiritual guindance, are in need of some themselves. To be honest, makes me wonder about the foundations of all religions themselves.
If we look to man to be our intermediary with God, as in we go to church and listen to someone who says they are speaking “God’s word”, we seek advice from these people when it comes to our spiritual progression, who’s to say they are right? Human fallibility is understood, but for those whose convictions are not as strong as others and require help and leadership, can they really rely on pastors and priests who commit heinous acts like these? Shit like this is indicative of the times we live in. Comment in with thoughts…
Here is a video from CNN yesterday that we talked about on PantherWire this morning. Here, Kyra Phillips is discussing a new factor that she will be judging Barack Obama after his first 100 days in office. Topic: “Swagga”
WTF CNN? It’s not like you ran out of news today? We have swine flu, Obama’s budget plan, Chrysler flushed down the bankruptcy toilet? Did you really compare Barack Obama to Lando Calrissian? TO SHAFT?!
However the best part of the clip has to be TJ Holmes trying not to be offended by the segment as a whole. Anyway, you can check it out while I look for another television news source that hasn’t completely lost it’s mind. I’m running out of options…
An Air Force One back up plane “buzzed” over Manhattan yesterday, effectively freaking out the townsfolk below. Here is the scoop according to CNN:
NEW YORK (CNN) – A White House official apologized Monday after a low-flying Boeing 747 spotted above the Manhattan skyline frightened workers and residents into evacuating buildings.
The huge aircraft, which functions as Air Force One when the president is aboard, was taking part in a classified, government-sanctioned photo shoot, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
“Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision,” said Louis Caldera, director of the White House Military Office. “While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it’s clear that the mission created confusion and disruption.”
Witnesses reported seeing the plane circle over the Upper New York Bay near the Statue of Liberty before flying up the Hudson River. It was accompanied by two F-16s.
According to officials who knew about the planned flight, they needed new file footage of the President’s plane flying in front of the Statue of Liberty. President Obama is said to be furious about the incident, and though FOX News is pretty adamant about blaming this whole thing on Obama himself, I think common sense should show that the President really does favor micro-management for things like this…even if he does have a Blackberry.
As if a low flying 747 wasn’t enough, it was being tailed by two F-16 fighter planes who looked like they were escorting a wayward airliner rather than taking pictures of Air Force One…Two (?) with their polaroids onboard cameras. Here is what May Bloomberg had to say about the whole thing:
The incident outraged many New Yorkers, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
“First thing is, I’m annoyed — furious is a better word — that I wasn’t told,” he said, calling the aviation administration’s decision to withhold details about the flight “ridiculous” and “poor judgment.”
“Why the Defense Department wanted to do a photo op right around the site of the World Trade Center defies the imagination,” he said. “Had we known, I would have asked them not to.”
Next time, I hope the Dept. of Defense decide to fly the God damned plane over a field or something and not over a crowded city who was attacked by flying commuter planes eight years ago.
So there is this big thing going on about Miss California’s comments regarding gay marriage at the Miss USA pageant. Perez Hilton posed the question to Carrie Prejean about whether or not she thinks that states should follow Vermont’s example and pass legislation allowing gay marriage. Here’s what she said:
“I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other,” Prejean responded. “But in my country, and in my family, I think that I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised.”
I would link to Perez Hilton’s reply, but I try to keep TJZ as classy as possible.
Look, whether I think Miss California was right is irrelavent. The point is that she was asked her opinion and she replied with that, her opinion. Perez Hilton, I don’t think, should be making any comments about another person’s belief. Frankly, Perez Hilton is the reason bloggers in general aren’t taken as seriously as we should. Because for every solidly written, reputable blog, there is another that seeks to copy and imitate the trash that Perez Hilton peddles. The man is lower than a super market tabloid. Further more, I don’t consider him any sort of educated representative for the gay community.
Gay people I have asked to comment on this have told me that though they do not agree with what Miss California said, they defend and understand her right to say it. Perez Hilton is most likely using this as publicity for his website.
A large amount of people are outraged by the fact that President Obama shook the hand of Hugo Chavez. But really, partisan bullshit aside, what would one hve him do?
For those of you who may not live in Miami, or are not well versed in Latin American politics, Hugo Chavez is a big anti-American douche and communist dictator. The man is complete scum, but should that mean that formality and human decency should just fly out the window? They are both heads of state, imagine what would have happened if Obama had declined to shake his hand, or worse, slapped him in the face with a cold salmon.
Barack Obama is president of the United States, at a time where America’s standing with the global community is beginning to diminish due to our worsening economic situation and the fact that we are in debt up to our eyeballs. America has always wanted the world to conform to it rather than it to the world, and this situation is reflective of a new direction in American politics. We have lived eight years under the auspices of The Bush Doctrine and look what that has gotten us? We have lived eight long years without diplomacy that the sight of it gives people the creeps.
Yes, Hugo Chavez is an ingnoramus, a tyrant, a coward, and a feind, but should Obama’s perogative really be to give him more kindling for his fires of hatred towards America? No. He handled him professionally and as a head of state should treat another head of state regardless of their differences.
Hey guys, sorry for the check out. Been busy with school and life, FIU Student Media keeps me busy. Anyway, now that summer is approaching I will have a lot more time. I have some great ideas and stuff to write about so definitely check in. Until then I will leave you with a funny picture of me in a sombrero….
I am happy to be posting my first blog with the new WordPress 1.2 software fir the iPhone! New features include a landscape mode with the bigger keyboard, comment moderation, and the ability to edit and create pages. Thanks to WordPress for not only making a great platform, but also a great way to use that platform. If you use wordpress and have an iPhone, I urge you to give this app a try.
Looks like AIG is up to it’s usual tricks again. This time paying out large bonuses to executives with bailout money. Here is a quick excerpt from CNN Money:
Anger over $165 million in bonuses doled out to American International Group senior employees reached a fevered pitch on Monday, prompting the Obama administration to vow to recoup the money and a New York prosecutor to subpoena the firm for recipients’ names.
President Obama said Monday that he has asked Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to use the government’s role as a majority owner of the troubled insurance company and “every legal avenue” to stop the bonuses.
“It’s hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses,” Obama said.
So AIG doles out $165 million of OUR money and now what? AIG has been a black hole for tax dollars since the bailout began. Too much money in, not enough transparency, and not enough accountability. While these guys are paying out bonuses, the company itself is continuing to hemorrhage money and no one can seem to close the wound.
Barack Obama needs to come down hard on this. This is the type of corporate bullshit that cannot be tolerated during these times. AIG states that these are existing contracts that they must honor in order to stave off legal battles and maintain their reputation, however we all know that too is bullshit. GM union workers were forced to renegotiate their contracts during this time, and frankly AIG shouldn’t be any different.
Sadly, we are majority shareholders AIG and President Obama and Tim Geithner are our representatives on the board so to speak. Find these bonuses, stop them from happening again and make sure that this money is returned back to the company.
UPDATE: In between my moments of sleep this morning, CNN reported that most of the people who given the bonuses left the company shortly there after. People infuriate me sometimes.
Apple has announced (in it’s usual cryptic manner) that it will be demonstrating iPhone 3.0 and the new SDK on March 17. Now, what may be included in this update? At this point who the hell knows? However what I do know is that with the Palm Pre on the horizon, Apple is going to have to make a few changes in order to stay competitive.
First of all, Apple needs to add an MMS application in some way. Be it a new, separate application, or simply just allowing the SMS app to receive pictures and video, something has to be done. Steve Jobs has been quoted as saying that MMS is on it’s way out and email is the next thing, but I don’t think thats the case.
MMS may be on it’s way out, but not anytime soon. A lot of people use MMS (because they don’t have email on their phone) and it’s something very cool and very useful. Steve (or Tim) should grant iPhone users MMS and then sit and wait until it goes away on it’s own. Not force people who use and enjoy MMS to sacrifice it. I am sick of that stupid viewmymessage.com bullshit. Not that I can copy and paste the login and password anyway right?
Copy and Paste would be a very welcome addition to iPhone 3.0. This is seeming as a very likely addition for the simple reason that during the Palm Pre debut at CES, presenters made it very clear that the Pre was able to do this while the iPhone did not. Not having copy and paste on the iPhone is like not having a steering wheel in a Ferrari. Apple wants this phone to be the end all be all Blackberry killer but without a functioning copy and paste solution, I doubt it will. People who use their iPhones to run their day-to-day lives, like I do, we need copy and paste.
Another thing that Apple seems to constantly resist for no reason is video recording. If my old, $60 Motorola RAZR can record video, then my $299 iPhone should be able to as well. In fact, my RAZR has MMS, copy & paste, and video recording when my iPhone didn’t. Frankly, that is unacceptable. The camera has the capability, so come on Apple, flip the switch on the video.
The “iPhone 3.0″ event is scheduled for March 17 at 10 AM Pacific (1 PM Eastern). I’ll be back on here with the post game.
Steve Jobs leaves for six months and this thing comes out?
Seriously Apple, no buttons?! What’s next? No, seriously I have no witty remark, no guess as to what could be next? Oh wait, it talks to you? Wait, so does my Nano…and that has a screen, and buttons! Apple is taking this simplicity shit to a whole new level. Eh, what am I saying? Of course I am going to buy this. I am an Apple nerd, and just because Dear Leader is recovering at home, doesn’t mean I should stop now.
This thing is…I guess…pretty cool. Though I really don’t like the fact that it puts all of the control in the headphones, basically forcing people to use Apple’s headphones instead of the ones they prefer (*cough* Bang & Olufsen A8’s). But it’s nice to see that for only $80 you too can have the most overly simplified flash MP3 player on the market. A think digital screen would have been nice…but hey what can I say? Apple likes to fool you with “implied simplicity” sometimes. Let’s see…
I’m back guys, sorry for the long absense, FIU Student Media keeps me busy. Anyway let’s get to it:
According to FOX News, Levi Johnston and Bristol Palin have called off their engagement. As all of you no doubt heard, during the election it was revealed that Bristol Palin was pregnant with the child of fellow student (and douchebag) Levi Johnston. Here is a quick excerpt from the article:
The teenage daughter of former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her fiance have broken up just over two months after the birth of the couple’s child.
People.com reported Wednesday that sources said the split between Bristol Palin, 18, and Levi Johnston, 19 occurred a few weeks ago, and Johnston confirmed to the Associated Press that he and Bristol mutually decided to end their relationship ”a while ago.” He did not elaborate.
Palin said in a statement to the Associated Press that she is “devastated.”
First of all I would like to be the first to reply to this by saying I told you so. And contrary to what people say (“I didn’t want to say I told you so…”) I did.
Does this run contrary to my personal beliefs? Yes. Is this, in my opinion, the wrong thing to do on his part? Absolutely. I don’t know about him, but true gentlemen don’t pull that shit. Then again, one can’t expect a 19 year old to act like one. However, if you honestly thought that was going to last, you are crazy.
This kid went from banging the governor’s daughter to being thrust in to a full on political shit storm. The GOP’s PR team turned him from a long-haired, whiskey drinking, 18 year old kid and tried to mold him in to a model citizen, father, and apparently model from a Brooks Brothers catalog, and they failed as I knew they would.
In the end, Levi Johnston isn’t just “the queer that knocked up Palin’s daughter” as my friend Joel (who was the one who emailed me the story) put it. In fact she is kind of hot and most importantly a woman, so he is far from a queer. He is a guy who had a night of passion with a girl and paid a WAY bigger price for it. You can’t put this amount of pressure on an 18 year old and expect him to cope. And with the intense scrutiny from Palin, the GOP, and the media, well that just makes it even worse. I would gladly argue that if his ex-mother in law weren’t pursuing a massive political career, he wouldn’t feel so pressured.
And now, that the sensation that is Sarah Palin is slowly fading, does it really come as a shock that this child wants out of a situation he was no doubt forced in to for the sake of a, now failed, political campaign? The answer is invariably no.
Is this the end of the world for either of them? No. There are plenty of kids being raised by single moms, and the turn out okay (At least, I hope I turned out ok).
Bristol Palin has the benefit most single moms out there (my mom included) don’t have. She has money, fame and a stable family to give her support. Levi will be okay too, I am sure he will get to see the kid and play a role in his life. Sadly, seperated families are a reality we see in society today. Though I don’t think it is great, I by no means a hopeless situation for anyone. A marriage where one person feels forced, will only mess up that kid even more than Sarah Palin will. Leave a comment, let me know what you think.
The GOP had their response ready to go last night after Barack Obama’s address to congress. Sarah Palin had a great speech…wait what? Bobby Jindal? GOP has had a fit of genius and decided to go with a viable, credible candidate to be the face of their party. Good job GOP…good job.
In News, Politics on February 23, 2009 at 11:22 am
Since the election of Barack Obama, and even during most of the election season, MSNBC has seemed to have this sort of love affair with our new president. MSNBC’s attempt to become the voice for this administration is so obvious that it borders on indecent. Chris Matthews said one that he ”I felt this thrill going up my leg,”. Now, slightly homosexual comments aside, MSNBC is now worthless to me in terms of media objectivity.
Oddly enough, I have noticed that with either extremes, CNN has become much more middle of the road, especially with all this twittering and i-reporting stuff. With MSNBC and FOX at either extreme. Look, bottom line is, all this Obama pandering isn’t doing anyone any good. If media outlets like MSNBC continue to kiss ass and talk about how Obama makes their legs feel, to what end does that help.
We, the Media, have an obligation to bring an unbiased perspective to you, the reader/viewer/consumer/person. Does it inform you when Chris Matthews goes on a rant about how great Obama is? No. Does it help you when Rush Limbaugh starts going nuts telling everyone how much he dislikes Obama, and how he wishes he could fail? Negative.
If MSNBC wants to be a news leader instead of the lapdog of an administration, they need to hold this administration accountable for everything, and not let one thing slide. I am not going to go as far as saying that FOX does this, as FOX usually pulls a lot of stuff out of their ass (and their top two pundits are egotistical blowhards who refuse to hear anyone over the sound of their own uninformed, biased opinion) but at least they are…doing something?
Hey guys, every now and then I like to give a shout out to a cool NFP. And this one is the coolest of the cool. The fact that I graduated high school with Ryan Alexander, the guy who created it, has nothing to do with that assesment haha.
The NFP is called NotFashionable.com, and it’s addressing child starvation around the world. Here is their message, straigh from their site:
“The UN estimates that between 26,500 and 30,000 children die of hunger and preventable dieases everyday. Hunger. Not war, not natural disaster. Hunger. Totally treatable, clearly curable and absolutely preventable. When the UN says that up to 30,000 children die of hunger everyday, they are only talking about kids five and younger. But we let it happen. They don’t get a mention in the obituaries or make headline news. They die silent, painful, lonely deaths. They die off camera and in the poorest places on earth.
We can change this. You can bring change. We don’t have to let this sort of thing happen. The point is not to guilt people into pinching a couple pennies so that we can let ourselves off the hook. The point is to restore humanity to these children. To let them die like this, night after night, is saying something about the way we view life and people. We aren’t talking about making everyone rich or inventing a new concept. We are talking about equality and compassion. We wouldn’t let our own brothers and sisters starve to death if it was within our power to save them. Know that it is.
And they say that apathy never killed anyone.
So think. Think about how blessed you are. Don’t forget that justice and mercy are at the very center of why you are the way you are. Remember that anytime you have a conversation about these kinds of things that you are actively making someone aware of something that they cannot ignore. Always remember that you are fighting for the people who aren’t going to make you famous or rich, but people whose hope you are restoring.
God is on the move.”
You can help them by buying one of their extremely cool and poignant t-shirts…for a small $15 donation. Check out his site and make a difference!
I’ve had a Twitter for the longest time, but I’ve never really knew what it did. But alas, meeting other people who have Twitter has made me realize why Twitter rocks. So I reactivated and am now posting on Twitter quite often. Look me up here. Or search for my Twitter name…JLV0628. My Blog is also fed to that site using the awesome Twitterfeed service. So you’ll be up-to-date on all things TJZ…and hear my inner thoughts and random phrases throughout the day. Peace Out!
Folks, I find myself usually disagreeing with Al Sharpton. That guys plays the race card better than anyone else. But this time…I am on his side. How is this NOT racist? Please somebody explain this to me. The New York Post has lost it’s motherf***in’ mind. Eh, then again this is the Post…
Copy and paste, data tethering, and now Flash — it looks like the Pre’s going to fill in a lot of unchecked iPhone feature boxes, doesn’t it? Yep, Palm’s just joined Adobe’s Open Screen Project, and there’s no two bones about what that means: the press release flat out says “the Open Screen Project will help deliver Adobe Flash Player for smartphones on the new Palm webOS platform.” That’s especially interesting since the webOS SDK is so heavily based on web technologies and native player support potentially opens the door for Flash-based apps, which would instantly bring a ton of new devs to the Pre. That’s not a bad thing. We’ll find out more at the end of the year, when the mobile Flash player is due to arrive.
There is no doubt that this is the second coming of “the Jesus phone”. And frankly Apple needs something like the Palm Pre. iPhone users are clamoring for features that the Palm Pre gives them and manages to give users more than what they iPhone can do. Everyone says that the Palm Pre is the iPhone killer I say no. The Palm Pre has the potential to make the iPhone the single most definitive piece of technology since the desktop computer. It’s products like the Palm Pre that force Apple to evolve the iPhone.
Trust me, for the iPhone user, this Palm Pre is a blessing in disguise. Apple knows that now there is a actually viable product that can directly compete with the iPhone. The Blackberry Storm is a valiant effort, but with a awkward input method and lack of refinement. The T-Mobile G1 is the first “open source” cell phone with Google’s Andriod OS. Though it has potential it lacks, again, the polish and smooth input that makes the iPhone so seamless. The Palm Pre has everything the G1 and the Storm have with the polish and finish of the iPhone. Not to mention the features the iPhone lacks like copy & paste, MMS, and a native instant messaging app. It will be interesting to see how Apple responds.
Sorry my fellow TJZ’ers (and by TJZ’ers I mean the three people who read this consistently, one of them being my mother…hi mom). Life has been a little hectic, writing for FIU Student Media, exams, classes, and Gracie Jiu Jitsu are taking a toll on my time. But I am back, and have plenty of catching up to do. I have a ton of ideas and stuff so let me get to it. Peace Out!
You know, I was once the type of guy that if I didn’t have a girlfriend, I was looking for a girlfriend. But after constantly dating around I lost a bit of focus on the right things, and when a great girl came a long, I wasn’t ready for it. So I decided to take a hiatus for a while, regain my focus and cool my jets a bit.
But the other day I heard a story about a cousin of mine who is about to face a terrible divorce. After 17 years of marriage and two kids, suddenly she doesn’t feel the love anymore.
Because she doesn’t feel the love anymore she is going to be taking half the house, alimony, child support x 2, and 3/4’s (or all) of his 401k and pension. Oh and not too mention that before she stopped feeling the love, she racked up a substantial amount of credit card bills on the family account.
The reason I am doing this post the day before valentines day is because I want to make a point. That sadly we live in a world where marriage can be dissolved as quickly as it can be created. Marriage in 2009 is not marriage in 1960.
That being said marriage is not doomed from the start. I think it’s up to the individuals involved to understand that no matter what, they will always fight for the relationship. And in the end if she takes all your money, and your house, you will know that you fought for it and this is God putting this in your path.
For the longest time I have always been the biggest “pre-nup” fan. My good friend Joel and I have arguments about it all the time. But in the end I see his point a little more than I see my own.
When you sign a pre-nup, when you bring that factor in a new marriage, it adds a sort of underlying level of distrust. It’s saying “Hey, I hope we don’t fail at our marriage, but I want to be prepared if we do.” I mean most will agree that regardless, it says a lot.
So tomorrow while everyone is with their sweetheart (or writing a philosophy paper and studying for a math exam like me) just keep that in mind. Keep that vigor for the relationship that you have tomorrow every day. Valentines day shouldn’t just be a once a year thing.
Being a blogger, I love to take advanatage of the abilities the web has to offer for streaming content. I think adding a video, or a picture to my words adds a lot of color and substance to my posts.
Yesterday I wanted to post a video a few from The Daily Show’s website. One was Jon Stewart describing Barack Obama’s withdraw from bipartisanship in regards to the stimulus bill. And the other was him talking about how Bill O’Reilly talks about privacy for celebrities but doesn’t practice it himself.
They were really funny, but I couldn’t post them on my blog because they have their own streaming video stuff. And so does CNN, and every other major site.
All these major websites lack uniformity in this respect. Having one or two standardized streaming video systems would be great for websites and bloggers to take advantage and spread that media on a wider scale.
I don’t know, I guess I am complaining because I can’t embed Daily Show videos on my site without a huge hassle. But am I being unreasonable?
Today the market reacted to Tim Geithner’s New Bank Rescue plan…by dropping 382 points (or 4.6%).
Geithner outlined the plan today. CNN Money did a great job summing it all up so I’ll post an excerpt:
Testing the health of big banks to weather an even deeper economic downturn. Geithner said the Treasury will “stress-test” the biggest banks and provide capital to those that need it, as the nation sinks deeper into its worst recession in decades.
He said the stress test will apply to institutions with more than $100 billion in assets – a list that comprises 13 banks, from giant JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) to Cleveland’s KeyCorp (KEY, Fortune 500), according to a report from analysts at the Stanford Group in Washington.
Analysts say big U.S. banks could use at least $1 trillion in new capital as job losses mount and more borrowers default on mortgage, auto and credit card loans. But Geithner said the administration won’t ask Congress now for more money – raising the question of how much capital it actually expects to provide.
Making credit more available to consumers and businesses. The Treasury will provide $100 billion in seed money to expand the Federal Reserve’s Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, in which investors in bonds backed by credit card and other loans can swap those bonds for Treasury securities, enabling them to get additional financing.
The move – which could create as much as $1 trillion in financing for consumers and businesses – shows the government is eager to bolster the capital markets, which provided a large percentage of funding for consumer loans before the bond markets seized up in late 2007.
Creating a private-public partnership to take toxic assets off banks’ balance sheets. Policymakers believe clearing bank balance sheets of badly deteriorated loans and securities is a prerequisite for restoring the normal flow of credit into the economy. Geithner said the plan will aim initially to use public financing to create as much as $500 billion in private sector buying capacity, with the prospect of an expansion to $1 trillion down the road.
Observers say drawing private capital back into the market is a key objective of any workable plan.
“Because the new program is designed to bring private sector equity contributions to make large-scale asset purchases, it not only minimizes public capital and maximizes private capital,” the Treasury Department said in a fact sheet about the plan. “It allows private sector buyers to determine the price for current troubled and previously illiquid assets.”
It remains to be seen, however, how the administration can break the stalemate between banks that are holding troubled assets at one price and investors who would buy only at a lower one.
Addressing the housing crisis. The Fed and Treasury will commit $50 billion to reduce mortgage payments and establish loan modification guidelines. Firms that receive federal aid will have to commit to participate in foreclosure mitigation plans, the Treasury Department said.
Am I optimistic? Not really. These banks are basically walking zombies. They are poorly capitalized and illiquid. Further more, the amount of money in this plan seems to be bit inadequate, given the fact that yes, we are talking about a large group of banks, not just one or two. However [which I will detail in another post] it does have a few strengths, but I think Geithner really didn’t go in to very much detail, so I am not going to outwardly condemn this plan either.
Let me know what you guys think. Will it work? Will it not? Leave a comment.
The other night a friend of mine said something rather inappropriate to someone else over dinner. It was a bit out of left field, a bit vulgar, but all in all the term I would use to describe it is “inappropriate”.
I decided to confront this person privately and remind them that “Yo, you can’t just blurt crazy things like that out.” To which this person replied with the eight words that have protected acts of ignorance acts for so long.
“Well I don’t give a shit what people think!”
The problem with that statement, is thatit doesn’t absolve you from being an asshole. Sure, if some one says “Well Jorge’s shirt is ugly.” Then I can rehtort with “Well I don’t give a shit about what they think.” But if I am in court charged with murder, and the judge asks me why I killed the guy, he won’t let me off the hook just because of my blatent disregard for people’s thoughts and feelings.
You see, not giving a shit is not some sort of blanket statement to justify whatever action you deemed appropriate. You can’t just offend someone and say you don’t give a shit about what they think, thats just not cool. Sure the person who keeps this in their armory of responses will argue that they go against the norm. Well, there’s being different and going against the norm, and there’s being an asshole.
Don’t be an asshole.
Consider this a The Jorge Zone public service announcement.
You know, I think Joe Biden is a cool dude. And if you don’t like Joe Biden well you can go sit on a tack. But like most people, Joe Biden has his faults. One of Joe Biden’s major fault is the fact that he has more friends in the RIAA and the BSA than a pro net neutrality guy like myself would want. Sadly, his scumbag friends are now full fledged scumbag government employees.
According to CNET, President Obama, Mr. Net Neutrality himself, is filling the Department of Justice with the RIAA’s best and brightest. The DOJ’s latest acquisition is Associate Deputy Attorney General Donald Verilli. His list of legal douchebagery includes shutting down Grokster, filing a lawsuit against Google and YouTube on behalf of Viacom, and suing a woman by the name of Jammie Thomas, who was accused of sharing 24 songs on KaZaA to the tune of $220,000. Yep that’s right, for 24 songs. Fortunately the judge threw out the verdict based on misleading jury instructions given by the RIAA. The RIAA I believe is still in the process of appealing the decision.
Gizmodo(one of my favorite tech blogs, props to you guys) sums up the rest of the new appointments quite nicely:
This follows up the naming of Tom Perrelli, from the Perrelli Family, as associate attorney general, the third-in-command post at the DoJ. Perrelli was and probably still is the favorite lawyer of the RIAA, suing people and companies left, right, and center in the name of the recording gang. He will be in charge of the DoJ’s civil, antitrust, and civil rights division.
But don’t go away, because there’s more. Who is the deputy attorney general, the second in command at the DoJ, do you ask? Mr. David Ogden, who-according to his previous job’s biography-represents “media and Internet industries, as well as major trade and professional associations.” He also as “part of the department who successfully defended the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act before the U.S. Supreme Court.”
Not enough? Don’t worry, because the VP has otherfriends in other places. Take Neil MacBride, another associate deputy attorney general, who previously was an aide to Biden himself. MacBride was the king of the legal hill at the Business Software Association. As the BSA’s antipiracy enforcer and general counsel, MacBride oversaw the creation of the program that rewarded people for phoning tips about suspected software piracy.
Honestly, all that net neutrality, “I love the Internet”, “come check out my Facebook” bullshit Barack Obama fed us during the election is very much going out the window with these sharks on the government payroll. Obama was notorious for proposing less restrictions for Internet and less power for the RIAA during the election. As soon as he mentioned that the joyfest in the tech community was heard far and wide. But with Joe Biden came a strong foothold for the likes of the RIAA to use to propagate their bogus agenda.
Take the RIAA’s case against Jaimme Thomas. Is $220,000 fair for sharing 24 songs on a P2P network? Do you think in times of economic strife it’s important for an organization such as the RIAA to start coming after individual citizens for large sums of money on the basis that quite possibly, MAYBE, someone could have downloaded one of those 24 songs? Her case for appeal was central on jury instruction No. 15, “which told jurors that she could be found guilty even if it couldn’t be proven that anyone actually downloaded the tracks she was sharing.”
Am I surprised? Hardly. I know how politics works, and regardless of the administration, the political party, or the person in charge, the RIAA will lobby, and make campaign contributions and buy politicians left and right. Barack Obama, sadly, is no different.
My worst fears have come to fruition. According to a Politico.com article yesterday, Samuel Joe “The DouchebagPlumber” Wurzelbacher was invited to give his “input” at the Conservative Working Group meeting on capitol hill. This is usually organized and attended by congressional aides…who are dumb enough to apparently like Joe The Plumber.
My God people…
Is this it? Is this what the GOP considers an valuable opinion? Is this who they want the face of their party to be? Joe The Plumber is like Sarah Palin except he’s not a governor. Republicans of the world, if you enjoy being the minority in the government, if you enjoy having a democrat in office, keep listening to pompous, self-important like Joe the Plumber, who lack understanding and ability to progress.
The Republican Party is a sinking ship, and they look to a [unlicensed] plumber for input on a stimulus package. That speaks volumes on the mental state of the GOP.
So after doing some soul searching, the GOP decided to revamp it’s website. Look familiar? Yeah…this is the new changified GOP website, GOP.gov. We got a couple of RSS feeds, some lame YouTube videos, and a bunch of other crap in what I like to call ‘”Barack New Roman”. New look, same crappy taste? Is this a move in the right direction for the GOP in terms of reaching out? Or is this just a shiny new wrapper on the same crap. What do you guys think? Drop me a comment. Also check out the original story over at Ars Technica for details and specifics on how they designed it.
The other day I was speaking to someone about politics. It wasn’t my choice, but this person is particularly submerged in their own [short] list of “political accomplishments”. Any conversation with them eventually leads to, of course, politics. Particularly their politics.
All throughout the discussion were various attacks on the opposite party. “Oh, so and so is such a dirty liberal, I could just kill her!”. I am sorry, I promise for the sake of non-partsianship I will find a douche bag democrat for my next anti-partisanship post. It’s not hard.
After a momentous election, and the inauguration of an African-American president, the world declared racism dead as a door nail. But assuming that is true (which it isn’t) then I think the next thing to replace it will be good ol’ fashion partisanship. Partisanship that extends beyond Washington and resides inside everyone.
Right now, all these political parties do is divide us as a nation, and empower close minded, ignorant people to form opinions based on party loyalty and not on logic, reason, sense of goodness, or self learning. They build walls between people, close them off from others. I ask you, is that any different from racism? When one person is insulted (or in this case threatened) based upon what they believe, how is that any different than insulting a person based on their race, gender, or religion?
These divisions form this sort of vernacular of…let’s face it, hatred amongst people. “Oh so and so is such a liberal I f**king hate them.” or “Oh so and so is a major conservative asshole.” How is this different from calling someone a spick, a cracker, or a nigger?
There are two types of people. People who like politics, who seek to understand it from both sides. Who read everything to stay educated, and who seek the opinions of others rather than push them away. Then there are those that gorge themselves on one side of everything. Who shun opinions and relaxed discourse for brash outbursts and personal attacks. Those who use their party loyalty as justification for not hearing another person out. For saying “No, I’m right. You’re wrong. Deal with it.”
People who are fiercely loyal to their party aren’t really helping anyone, least of all themselves. When one follows blindly, there is no one to call foul. No one to say “Hey guys, we’re doing this wrong why don’t we rethink this.” People will just continue to vote, learn, discuss, speak with party loyalty in mind.
In the 2008 elections, experts constantly reminded us that this election is going to come down to the swing voters, voters who don’t neccesarily ride on the party bandwagon. In a perfect world, we would all be swing voters.
“I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party, generally.” – George Washington
Seriously, who gave George Washington a crystal ball that let him see in to the future? Even Washington noticed the potential walls political parties can build between people. Though not as high or as thick are they as the walls of Racism now, they can be.
Racism has held us back, and divided us. It has hurt us, and it’s scars are visible on the face of American history. Though my argument is that this hard line party loyalty that resides in most people has that same potential, now more than ever. We have a president who seeks to end this partisanship and unite where there was once division. But is it too late? Can our nation deal a blow to partisanship, much like the swearing in of Barack Obama dealt a blow to racism? Who knows.
“I adore political parties. They are the only place left to us where people don’t talk politics.” – Oscar Wilde
It was today that Denny’s made good on their Super Bowl promise, to give out free Grand Slam breakfasts from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lines headed all the way out to the parking lot at over 1500 Denny’s locations showed just how poor America truly is. According to CNN:
“Some patrons were still wearing their pajamas and slippers, and strangers were crowding together into booths, CNN affiliate KSL-TV in Salt Lake City, Utah, reported.”
You see that? You see what a free meal can do? It can bring strangers together, and for one moment ignore the fact that the entire country is going to shit around them. Just sit down, eat some pancakes that are remarkable uniform in both look and taste and ignore all the politics, all the depressing news and strife and just be people.
I for one think that this is something Denny’s should be proud of. Let’s face it, no one is giving anything away like this for a while. And no doubt, this type of thing helps people out. Today a friend of mine was sitting in a booth at Denny’s enjoying a free grand slam with a single dad and his son and a philosophy professor.
“You couldn’t beat it. I mean it was a beautiful, beautiful breakfast. It was fit for a queen or a king,” diner Annah Shoffner told CNN affiliate WNCN-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina.
I definitely think that we will see more example like this as time passes, and as things continue to get worse. Much like the stories of hope during the depression, I think this is a story of hope fitting to our time. My hats off to Denny’s and their CEO Nelson Marchioli. Today Denny’s has set it self apart from all the IHOPs, Waffle Houses, and Perkins, my hats off to them for doing something great at a time where people need it the most.
Tom Daschle asked President Obama to withdraw his name for consideration as health and human services secretary. And today he has accepted it. Here is an excerpt from the CNN report:
(CNN) — Former Sen. Tom Daschle has withdrawn his nomination to head the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a statement Tuesday from the White House.
Former Sen. Tom Daschle apologized for making mistakes on his tax records.
Daschle had been fighting to save his nomination as HHS secretary following controversy over his tax records and questions over his work in a field that some consider lobbying.
In a statement announcing his withdrawal, Daschle said it was an honor to be chosen to lead the reform of America’s health care system.
I am starting to question President Obama’s vetting process. However, Daschle is the classier of the two tax cheats and decided to withdraw his name. If only Tim Geithner would have done the same. Perhaps we would have had Treasury Secretary Larry Summers after all.
Point is, that all these cabinet choices are starting to shine some light on politicians and their neglegent tax choices. I could only imagine who else probably doesn’t pay their taxes.
I’ve never been a Porsche admirer. In the time that I have been alive, I have never seen a Porsche and said “I need to figure out a way to own that car.” Whenever I saw a dude in a Boxster I would say “Well, there’s a guy who couldn’t afford a Carrera.” Well things have changed…
This is the new 2010 Porsche Cayman S. You’ll note the subtle changes such as bigger front air intakes, double barreled Carrera GT like headlights with LED daytime running lights, and LED tail lights. Under the hood, you’ll note a new 3.4L, direct injected flat six. This thing does 0-60 mph in 4.9 seconds with the PDK transmission (which in my opinion is better than manual) and launch control. Top Speed 170mph.
I guess the question has shifted from “Why didn’t you get a Carrera?” to “Why would you want a Carrera?”.
I woke up today and put on CNN, and instead of getting some market predictions, an update on Obama’s quest to keep his Blackberry, or the weather, I saw this. Michael Phelps has been photographed taking a hit from a bong. The world as we know it will change forever.
Who cares? Our economy is crashing down all around us, Israel and HAMAS are at it again, Bernie Madoff stole $50 Billion, people are killing their families in acts of financial desperation and we are all outraged because Michael Phelps smokes pot?
Let’s save our outrage for something much more deserving. Whether you agree with Phelps or not, whether you forgive him or not is irrelevant. I am sure we can all agree that other issues merit our attention much more than this.
Michael, you want to smoke pot, thats fine. You won eight gold medals at the Olympics, you are one of the greatest athletes of all time. Smoke pot. You’ve earned it. I apologize that fickle, hypocritical people are coming down on you when I am sure they have smoked pot themselves at some point in their lives.
Grandmaster Hélio Gracie passed away yesterday at 95 years old. He is the inventor of Gracie Jiu Jitsu and a legendary Brazilian mixed martial arts fighter who laid the foundations for the sport we know today as mixed martial arts. Grand Master Hélio is a testament to his fighting system and his lifestyle.
“The Jiu-Jitsu that I created was designed to give the weak ones a chance to face the heavy and strong. It was so successful that they decided to create a sportive version of it. I would like to make it clear that of course I am in favor of the sportive practice and technical refinement of all athletes, whatever their specialty may be, as well as good nutrition, sexual control, avoidance of addictions and unhealthy habits. The problem lies in the creation of a sport-oriented Jiu-Jitsu, based on rules and time limits, which benefits the heavier, stronger, and more athletic individuals. The primary objective of Jiu-Jitsu is to empower the weak who, for not having the physical attributes, are often intimidated. My Jiu-Jitsu is an art of self-defense in which rules and time limits are unacceptable. These are the reasons for which I can’t support events that reflect an anti Jiu-Jitsu.”
- Grand Master Hélio Gracie
As a student at Valente-Gracie Miami, it has been privilege to learn what I sincerely believe is the best self defense system ever created. It transcends beyond a self defense system in that Gracie Jiu Jitsu is applicable to every aspect of your life. Though as a white belt I am constantly learning, it’s nice to know that what I am learning has a history. Gracie Jiu Jitsu has taught me to be disciplined, and to invest in my body because at the end of the day, the most important thing is health.
I am blessed to have good friends who love Gracie Jiu Jitsu and who have introduced me to it. I am thankful for the best instructors who have a passion for what they practice and teach. But most importantly I am thankful for Grandmaster Hélio, who is an example to all who study this art.
So I am standing in line at Target, waiting patiently to pay for my bath room rug and my copy of Pineapple Express on Blu Ray, all while on the cell phone with my Dad. We were having a discussion about how bad ass that new Shelby GT500 that debuted in Detroit was.
After that discussion was over I quickly went to the “So when is that Audi R8 V10 coming out, I hear it’s pretty f**king sweet.” Shortly after the small child behind me was shouting “f**king sweet! f**king sweet!” like a parrot on speed. His mother giving me a scornful look as her son is dropping f-bombs like a B-52 on approach.
Sure that sucks, but I mean he is going to learn it anyway right? Anyway, after some thought I am bringing the famiy swear jar is back. Proceeds go to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. So if you catch me, remind me to put a dollar in the jar. Peace out.
Joe Biden apologized today for the first absolutely hilarious, yet mildy inappropriate comment he made about John Roberts. Here’s a excerpt from CNN:
An aide to Vice President Joe Biden tells CNN he called Chief Justice John Roberts last week to apologize for a light-hearted remark he made over the flubbed Inauguration Day oath of office.
“My memory is not as good as Justice Roberts, Chief Justice Roberts,” Biden said last Wednesday, as he asked for a copy of the oath he was using to swear in senior members of the White House staff.
Several staffers reacted to the comment with groans and laughter, though President Obama, standing next to Biden, did not crack a smile.
Another great thing is that this not only gave us a view in to the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory that is Joe Biden’s mind, but we did get to see Barack Obama’s STFU face. And it is priceless.
Come on guys, this is Joe Biden at his best. Where most people think that this is Joe Biden’s flaw, I disagree. Joe Biden is one of my favorite democrats because he lives off the cuff and basically says what other people are thinking. Frankly in the dull world of politics, soaked in formalities and “ho hum” pleasantries, Joe Biden is REAL.
Barack Obama has potentially eight years in office, can you imagine what Joe Biden could say (or do) in those eight years. I personally can’t wait. Keep up the good work Joe.
Well, the end of the world being 12/12/2012 is starting to sound quite reasonable now.
Sarah Palin decided she’d up and form a political action committee to fund and support political candidates who share her views on politics. Here is an excerpt from CNN’s Political Ticker:
WASHINGTON (CNN) –Sarah Palin has launched a new political action committee called SarahPac, signaling that the Alaska Governor intends to remain a player in national politics even after her failed bid to become the country’s first female vice president.
“SarahPac will support local and national candidates who share Gov. Palin’s ideas and goals for our country,” says the PAC’s Web site, which promises that Palin will be “a strong voice for energy independence and reform.”
So basically, if you are a self absorbed individual who doesn’t read anything, doesn’t know how to answer questions, suffer from delusions of grandeur and want to run for a political office, Sarah Palin will give you other people’s money to do it.
I think she is starting to amass her clone army. Someone notify the Jedi Council.
The other day I found myself in a heated discussion with one of my friends about bloggers and the media, spawning from this post I wrote here. He argued that most bloggers are idiots and write whatever the hell they want and make broad accusations on baseless arguments, citing the example of how the blogosphere went nuts after someone thought that Sarah Palin’s baby wasn’t her baby. Being a blogger myself I quickly came to the defense of blogging community. Soon after that, he basically dismissed everything I had accomplished in the past 10 months by saying that I wasn’t a blogger I was just “some dude who writes stuff on the internet and doesn’t even get paid”. Knowing full well what this website has done for me, and the things I have accomplished because of it, it’s quite an offensive thing to say. Especially coming from a friend. But as soon as it all wore off, it got me thinking…
In the past two years, bloggers have been getting major amounts of respect from the media. And while yes, anyone can be a blogger and write whatever it is they want, it is still a respectable format for those who normally wouldn’t be heard to voice their opinions. Sure, we have a few people who do write off the wall, crazy stuff, like Sarah Palin’s baby conspiracy. I chose not to but hey, if someone thinks it’s a valid concern, who am I to say no? Now, if you want to write that stuff on your blog, knowing full well it’s highly speculative and debatable then that is up to you. It’s your right, you can say whatever you want..The media knows this. They do filter what they collect from the blogosphere to an extent. I don’t remember a single mainstream media outlet reporting the allegations that Sarah Palin’s kid wasn’t hers.
However, seeing as bloggers are rapidly becoming fixtures of the media, I think we owe it to our readers to be some what objective. We need to hold ourselves to a higher standard because we are now at the forefront of this sort of Media 2.0 revolution. We must remember that in this environment we can, and in fact should be held accountable for our words, even if the only one holding us accountable is ourselves. I put that in bold face because I think it’s important. If nothing else I want you to take that with you. The media is held accountable every day for things they say, and even though the blogging community tends to be out on its own (for now), my question is, given the current state of affairs should we be any different?
We are witnessing the media and the Internet slowly become one. I mean turn on CNN and you’ll see it. Rick Sanchez looks to Twitter, Facebook, and Blogs for live, on-air feedback. CNN as a whole looks to it’s iReports for on the spot reporting as soon as news breaks. Print publications look to blogs for great writers who can contribute and keep their print publications competitive in a world where print media is fading.
Another thing that hit me hard is the “…and doesn’t even get paid” part. I promise you, the day The Jorge Zone starts making money, is the day I stop writing for it. This definitely isn’t what I intended it for. This is a launching point, something that will lead me to something else, something to get my name out there and make my mark. If you are a blogger who wants his blog to make money, then might not happen. I don’t do this for the money, and that is the reason why 99% of the stuff I write here is QUALITY. I do it because I LOVE to do it, and if you blog because you love to write and you want readers then your blog will be successful. Just because we may not get paid, doesn’t make this any less of a profession.
I have noticed in the short time that I have been doing this is that you can either be a blogger, or “some dude who writes stuff on the internet and doesn’t even get paid”. I am a blogger, and The Jorge Zone is A BLOG. My track record on this site speaks for itself. Do I expect someone who doesn’t do this to understand the difference? No. But at the same time I think the burden is on ourselves to establish that credibility. We need to form our reputation not as individuals on the Internet, but as a community. Wea are voices once lost in a crowd but now given a stage to speak, and an audience who listens. We are tomorrows journalists, writers, poets, and authors. The blogging community, whether you respect it or not, whether you like it or not is definitely here to stay. But the least we can do for you, the reader, is to class it up a bit.
So now that the inauguration is over, and the only thing George W. Bush is running is a tractor on his ranch we, collectively as a nation need to take a deep breath and a couple of steps back. Sure Barack Obama is a cool guy. I mean come on he is a president who has a cool website, he uses a blackberry, and he is determined to change government and fix everything the Bush Administration has messed up in the past eight years.
But I think right now we as a nation (and by that I mean the people, the media, etc.) have lost a lot of objectivity and perspective. You’re probably saying “Oh Jorge probably lost his remote and his TV is stuck on FOX News again…” but I promise you if that ever happened I’d just unplug my TV. But lets face it, we are all SO jazzed that tomorrow Obama can light a kitten on fire and we wouldn’t think much of it.
But he is a politician. And all I know is that usually when someone new comes in to power, I tend to aim my expectations very low. So that way, when they do f**k up, I won’t be so disappointed. I am sorry, but the past couple of years have only fueled my distrust in politicians. So aim low America! If Barack Obama saves this nation it will rock extra hard, and if he turns out to be like all the others, well at least you didn’t have your hopes up.
Recently, Apple announced that 100% of it’s iTunes library will be free of DRM by the end of the quarter. With Amazon and Wal-Mart running a DRM free operation as well, I think it’s safe to start buying music again.What the RIAA never understood is that people WANT to buy music. They just don’t want them ramming restrictions down our throats after we purchase it. That’d be like Samsung telling me what channels to watch on the TV I purchased. Or Audi Honda telling me where to go after I bought my car. Instead of realizing this and trying to fix it, they sue twelve year old girls that bootleg a $20 Pussycat Dolls album and wonder why she’s doing it.
In the end, piracy isn’t to blame for the recently decline in record sales, it’s DRM. Piracy is but a protest towards the RIAA’s shady practices. Services like iTunes, who provide a la carte options or whole albums at very reasonable prices are no doubt the future of this business. Maybe thats why iTunes is now the #1 music store, and after axing DRM will be for a long time. The CD is dead (if you don’t believe me come check out the stack of CD-Rs I bought at Costco three years ago) and the DRM free MP3 shall live on.
I was enrolled in Dade Christian School in the fifth grade, fresh out of public school and a newbie in to the deep, sheltered bubble of private school. In the eight years that followed I began a journey that would lead me here to this very chair where I am sitting. It was at DCS that I came to Christ, it is here where I was educated, and it was here where I met my closest friends. I cannot deny that this place helped make me who I am, the person God wanted me to be. Dade Christian School has always been a sort of fixture in the local community. But in the past few years, DCS has been steadily declining from what it once was back when I was attending to what it is now.
I have always had my gripes with Dade Christian and New Testament Baptist Church as a whole. Both philosophically (we’ll save that for another day) and financially. Even in my high school years, the lack of transparency in every aspect of the school’s financial operations was apparent. The school’s resources (textbooks, computers, furniture, sports equipment etc.) were dated, as was the over all appearance of the campus. While we were students there, we and our parents were promised the world. A pool, an air conditioned gym, a nice weight room, and I think at one time even a new wing and some tennis courts? That never happened. Tuition rates were high then, but it seemed as though very little was being put back in to the school. Small renovations and SMART Boards would come by every now and then, but nothing too overwhelming.
Soon after our class graduated, the school’s teachers started to jump ship. These were teachers I would have been honored to have my children learn from, and who seemed to enjoy doing what they did in an environment such as that one. Something must be wrong. I understand private school teachers make less than their public school counterparts, but at Dade Christian it seems to be significantly less. People working there constantly tell me that they could “spend their lives working there and never see a single cent more than what they make yearly”. In fact, teachers this year didn’t even see a Christmas bonus, which I am sure given the current state of the economy they would have appreciated. I am a firm believer that if you take care of your employees they will ultimately take care of you. Instead higher ups continue to communicate to it’s staff that the school is facing a massive financial crisis. The school is starting to lay off large groups of personnel in order to cope. But why?
Normally I would pass these claims off as being economic woes, but according to dadechristian.org, current monthly tuition rates for student from Pre-K to 12th grade vary from $500 to $900 (not including fees and additional expeditures) depending on grade level and are steadily rising, with no change in services or curriculum provided. On top of that, according to a few parents and faculty I have spoken to, DCS has acquired a organization that schools at-risk youth. Though admirable, its incorperation in to DCS has led to an increase in violent behavior and misconduct. As a result paying parents have removed their children from the school. One has to ask themselves, where the money is going to?
Sadly, DCS/NTBC defenders will dismiss what I have said here because I have listed no sources by name. Frankly, I don’t care. This isn’t a forum to do so, nor do I want to start some sort of witch hunt. This is an Op-Ed blog and I am giving my opinion based on what I know and what I have been told. If you blindly defend this place you aren’t doing it any good. My goal with this post wasn’t to bring down institutions or rattle sabres as an act of defiance. My goal was to bring a moderate amount of attention to a growing problem. To get decision makers and church leaders to say “Hey this time it’s a blogger on a small website, next time it might be someone bigger.” To get people who work hard at making our kids functional, educated members of society the compensation they deserve. Dade Christian was once a great place to learn, but now that’s not the case.
I think organizations that people pay to educate their children should have a certain amounts of transparency in their day to day finances. Parents are ultimately investing in places like Dade Christian, hoping that by handing their child over to them for a few hours a day, investing their money and time they can recieve an well educated, Christ-minded individual in return. A church is a business much like Best Buy is a business. A church is selling a good and service, in this case that good is salvation, and that service is the community of the church. For a church to be successful it must manage itself like a business. Parents shouldn’t be seen as customers, they should be seen as investors. They are not only investing their money but they are also investing their children. Not to sound like some politician, but children are our biggest investment. Maybe they should open their finances, much like a publicly traded company, so that everyone can see the cash flow.
As parents complain about the declining curriculum and higher tution rates, it comes as no surprise to me that enrollment is low. That, however, isn’t a sign of a bad economy. That is a sign of a company who couldn’t anticipate a downturn, got caught with their pants down and is now desperately cutting corners to maximize profits. And those corners contain the quality that DCS once possessed. Whether that’s due to poor management, or some sort of unknown, money devouring endeavor is beyond me or anyone that I know. But all I know is that cutting costs and bringing down quality won’t get students to come back through the doors like they used to.
Today we have shown to the world that America is about something more than war and money. We have peacefully transferred power to our 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. And while mindful of the past, I am optimistic about our future. Today is a great day in our nation’s history, and it’s been a long time since we had one of these. Happy America Day.
I promised myself I wouldn’t post about Sarah Palin anymore, but after this video from a new conservative documentary, it’s on like donkey kong. Watch this video…and then we’ll discuss. I am sorry to expose you to nine minutes of Sarah Palin, but it’s for a purpose:
Sarah Palin is blaming media’s bias for the fact that her ticket lost the election. I was going to let this video go by, considering it’s basically the same song and dance this woman likes to perform every time she is in front of a camera, but this time around she decided to spew her ignorance about bloggers, and well that just doesn’t fly with me. Just to refresh your memory, here is what she said:
“It’s a sad state of affairs in the world of the media today, mainstream media especially, if they are going to rely on anonymous bloggers for their hard news information. Very scary.”
See what Sarah Palin doesn’t understand is that the phenomenon that is blogging has taken us in to a sort of “Media 2.0″ situation. The blogging community has become so vital to mainstream media, because it gives the mainstream media something that it cannot achieve on it’s own, omnipresence. Currently with the help of bloggers, Twitter, Facebook, iReport, the media has an unbelievable reach, and it gives people like me, a common ground with mainstream media.
Sure, anyone can be a blogger, and anyone can spew misinformed ramblings on the internet for all to see. So I’ll give that to Palin, frankly I thought the rumors about her child not being hers were a bit much. But to say that it’s a “sad state of affairs” that bloggers are regarded and acknowledged by the mainstream media is just ignorant. Frankly, I as a blogger couldn’t let that slide.
The rest of the video speaks for itself. From the fact that she thinks people like Katie Couric and Tiny Fey exploited her (one mocked the ridiculousness that is her and the other just asked her questions…like a reporter should do) to her comparing a vice-presidential nomination to Caroline Kennedy’s Senate seat (come on…) just proves that Sarah Palin lives in her small, narrow world. Katie Couric might not be the center of the universe Sarah, but neither are you.
In the end, this documentary asks the question “How did Obama get elected?”. Where Sarah Palin is quick to cite the media’s “bias” towards Obama, she is ignoring the rather large gorilla in the room. Obama won this election partly on his own merit, his superbly run campaign, and his excellent election staff. But the major factors that secured the election for Obama were the Bush Administration’s gloriously awful track record for the past eight years, the GOP’s inability to provide an adequate candidate in this election, and Sarah Palin. If Palin is all the GOP has for 2012…then that is indeed a sad state of affairs.
A couple of years ago, my Treo 650 and I were best friends. The Treo was a nice phone, reliable, good looking, great third party app developer base, and best of all I had Drug Wars on it. But one day I switched over to the Blackberry and never looked back. Since then Palm has been slumping big time. They have been pushing odd looking phones with a very dated OS. Since then Palm’s stock has been tanking, and people have been jumping ship to RIM or Apple in search of their Smart Phone needs. Palm event went as far as to smack on Windows Mobile to a few of their devices, but I guess that didn’t take. Cell phone makers like HTC quickly stole Palm’s thunder on that front, leaving Palm trapped in limbo, and the company’s fate in question. Well that might not be the case any more.
Yesterday at the Consumer Electronics Show, Palm announced the new Palm Pre, a brand new form factor and most importantly, a brand new OS. The new Palm Pre OS, from what I can see in the demo videos ( I wish I were at CES) looks amazingly quick. The phone is equiped with a touch screen and a gesture pad by the click wheel so it is intuative to use. The best part of the whole thing is that it’s OS is basically a Linux core with WebKit. Meaning that any web developer who knows HTML, CSS or Java can basically write apps for this. Palm is promising an App Store and an SDK soon.
I guess I wasn’t expecting much, which is why I am so wowed by this phone. But I seriously think that if any phone out there can be worthy adversary for the iPhone, it’s the Palm Pre. I can’t wait to play with one of these and see what it’s really like. Right now Sprint is Palm’s exclusive launch partner for the Palm Pre, but hopefully it will be making its way over to GSM carriers (T-Mobile get on this asap) very soon. Head over to Engadget for all things Palm Pre. Pay particular attention to the video demos and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
And by jail I mean JAIL jail not house arrest in his two story Manhattan penthouse jail.
Bernie Madoff is a massive crook. The Madoff Ponzi scheme now holds the title of “biggest investor fraud case perpetrated by a single person” which is nothing to sneeze at considering he solidly wiped out $50 Billion in people’s hard earned cash. Last night on Mad Money, Jim Cramer had on advertising bad ass Donny Deutsche, who summed this entire situation up very well.
He called Madoff a “serial killer”, and the fact that he was not in jail yet was “an abomination”. Deustche cited a personal example of the parents of some close friends of his who lost all of their money in the scheme (close to $4 million). I agree with Donny 100%, Bernie Madoff IS a serial killer, and his victim isn’t so much the people he took money from. His main victim, the loss everyone has to mourn is the fact that now people are scared to invest. They are scared to buy and put their money out there because WOLVES like Bernie Madoff lurk in the shadows.
I think Obama has the right idea in putting financial crimes management under jurisdiction of the Justice Department. But he, and Eric Holder need to go further. People like Bernie Madoff need to pay, they need to be brought to justice. Bernie Madoff has ruined lives and torched accumulated wealth of people who have legitimately worked hard for their money and who are now left with nothing. At a time when consumer confidence is low, the Obama administration needs to make their stand clear and drop the hammer on crimes like these. If you have to bring back the RICO laws like Jim Cramer wants to then do it. Right now Obama and his administration needs to take a stand against financial killers like Bernie Madoff. These crimes will no longer carry lenient sentences in white collar prison resorts, they will be punished severely.
According to the Associated Press, Joe The DouchebagPlumber is headed to Israel to cover the war as a correspondent for pjtv.com. Here is the article…
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Joe The Plumber is putting down his wrenches and picking up a reporter’s notebook.
The Ohio man who became a household name during the presidential campaign says he is heading to Israel as a war correspondent for the conservative Web site pjtv.com.
Samuel J. Wurzelbacher (WUR’-zuhl-bah-kur) says he’ll spend 10 days covering the fighting.
He tells WNWO-TV in Toledo that he wants to let Israel’s “‘Average Joes’ share their story.”
Wurzelbacher gained attention during the final weeks of the campaign when he asked Barack Obama about his tax plan.
He later joined Republican John McCain on the campaign trail. At one stop, he agreed with a McCain supporter who asked if he believed a vote for Obama was a vote for the death of Israel.
Yeah Sam Joe that’s exactly what the general population needs, your perspective on a conflict you learned about three days ago on Wikipedia. I am soglad that you “want to let Israel’s “‘Average Joes’ share their story.” Do us all a favor Joe, head down to the Gaza strip, hand out a couple of copies of your book and see if you can find some Average Joes there, and ask them to share their story.
I wish I can go back in time, and stop John McCain from mentioning this guy’s um…self given title? Joe The Plumber is not a plumber. He is not a politcal expert, a journalist, a country singer, and I would venture to say he didn’t write his own book so he is not even an author. Joe the Plumber is a man who was a poor choice to be an example of the working class. Sadly, he continues to cling to his already finished 15 minutes like a sinking ship. Now he thinks he is a journalist? I guess the whole plumber thing isn’t working out.
Being a car aficionado, I do get a certain ego boost when I am at the wheel of sweet ride. I remember I would wake up in the morning and stare at my Audi A4 while I sipped my cup of coffee. And I consider that a nice car…for a 22 year old college student that’s the closest I ever got to a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder. But recently I came across a rookie so to speak, a person that crossed the line that separates car lover from poser. Someone who no doubt memorized the Wikipedia page and just enjoys spewing it in the face of the truly informed.
I have all the respect in the world for a real enthusiast, a guy who truly knows his stuff. But the arrogant newbie, who spits out facts and baseless, uninformed opinion is just offensive. “Well the <insert owner’s Corvette here> is the best Corvette ever made, hands down.” Whoa, whoa, whoa…I appreciate the fact that you love your low mile, used beauty, and there is no doubt that it’s a nice car, but be reasonable. As this guy droned on and on about his nonsense I began listing Corvettes that were better in my head.
The 1953 C1 (the original), 1965 327 Stingray, the 1980 C3 Shark (a personal bias, I had a poster of that car in my room well in to 1998), 1990 ZR-1, 2001 C5 Z06, 2006 C6, 2009 ZR-1.
In the end, a car guy must be as knowledgeable as he is humble. I feel this is key because just as I love what I have parked in the driveway, I must also understand that it’s not the best. I didn’t go around yelling “Screw the R8! My Audi A4 is the best Audi ever made!” did I? And neither should they. One must always be willing to bow out to the better entry. Tell a 1990 ZR-1 Blue Devil driver that your ‘04 ‘Vette is the best ever made and you might be disoriented from all the tire smoke as he leaves you behind.
Just finished browsing Engadget’s live blog of Apple’s final Macworld keynote, it was the best nap of my life.
Phil “The Schill” Schiller was manning the engine room on this one, as Steve was on the sidelines for reasons I am sure you have read everywhere. Schiller first introduced a much expected new version of iLife ‘09, that adds facial recognition and geotagging to iPhoto, along with compatibility with Facebook and Flickr. iMovie gets a few new tricks up it’s sleeve as well. The new iMovie will have image stabilization, for those shaky camera shots, and visual effects (similar to Photobooth) just to name a few. Garageband ‘09 has a new feature called “artistic lessons” where for $4.99 you get a lesson on how to play an instrument from the people who play them best. Frankly I am a little surprised Sting decided to play the guitar instead of the lute. I don’t really care for this feature but hey, it seems pretty cool and maybe someone out there will love it.
Next up is the new version of iWork, which adds a lot of features to Keynote and Pages. I do like how they have a new Remote app for the iPhone/iPod Touch that will allow you to control a keynote presentation from your handheld. But other than that all the new updates to iWork were boringminor. Apple announced a beta of iWork.com, a sort of Google Docs killer. It will be in beta for a while but be a paid service later on…something Google Docs is not. And if it’s anything like MobileMe get ready for some crazy bugs and crashes.
Shortly after the nap inducing lecture and demo of the new iWork and iLife, The Schill brought us the only hardware offering of the day, the very much expected new 17″ Macbook Pro. This thing is a beast. Check out the specs on the Apple website but make sure you have something to collect the drool. The reason I am not listing the specs here is because I forgot them, and I want to prove a point. The reason I don’t remember it is because my mind was too distracted by all the attention given to the battery. Schiller went in to excruciating detail about how great this battery is, to the point where I really almost hated the battery.
One more thing…
I hate DRM. So when I saw that not only iTunes would be 100% DRM free (8,000,000 songs now, another 2,000,000 by the end of the quarter) but that it would be slashing prices to $0.69 per song, I was amazed. Take that Amazon MP3! This is a major step in the right direction for Apple and iTunes. Being DRM free and competitively priced will definitely keep iTunes at the #1 music retailer spot for a while.
So in the end we didn’t get the iPhone nano, nor the new Mac Mini, nor the nine inch wide iPod Touch. But I guess beggars can’t be choosers. Maybe Steve is saving the good stuff for WWDC?
I hate nightclubs, so most of the time when I am there, I usually let my mind wander as I explore a bit and do some people watching…
You know the next time a girl gives me some feminist rant about how men make more money that she does I am going to remind her she doesn’t have to pay twenty dollars cover to get in to a night club. I should be able to get in free at nightclubs, I’m cool.
Man this music sucks. And why are there so many damn sirens? What do you do during a siren? You can’t dance to the siren, you can’t have a conversation during the siren. So do I just stand here? Oh okay, siren’s over. Wow that girl is hot…ah but her friend isn’t. Oh crap, here comes the weird shot girl…
Shot Girl: Hey you want a shot?! Jorge: Nah, I’m good thanks! Shot Girl: Why not?! Jorge: Well, I don’t make it a habit of drinking stuff that comes out of a test tube in the middle of a nightclub! Shot Girl: ::confused look:: Um…okay!?
Later on that evening…
Aw they are kicking the ugly girl off of the dance platform, that sucks. Is she crying? Somebody should tell her that life isn’t all about dancing up by the speaker. I don’t think that’s worth crying for. Let me go check my phone, it’s 2 A.M. and my mom probably has an Amber Alert out on me. Hey look it’s Jordan…
Jordan: Man there are more dudes than chicks out there…it’s a sausagefest! Jorge: Bro tell me about it! Did you see the girl who got kicked off the dancing thing by the speaker!? She was crying! Jordan: Which one the ugly one!? Yeah well what do you expect?! I mean that sucks but she has to understand that there are certain requirements you need to have to dance there! Jorge: Yeah I guess you make a good point! Jordan: Man I haven’t eaten anything, I’m tired, I’m cranky, I’m pissed…this shit sucks! Jorge: WHAT?! Jordan: THIS SHIT SUCKS! This is proof that if you aren’t drunk in a nightclub you don’t have a good time. Like why bother coming if you aren’t gonna drink? Jorge: Can you believe some midget asked these girls if they wanted to be in a porno upstairs?! Jordan: Dude that is nuts, society is going to hell! Jorge: WHAT?! Jordan: SOCIETY IS GOING TO HELL!
I bet midget porn stars make good money…it has to be a niche market. Oh God, here comes another shot girl…
Shot Girl #2: Hey, you want a shot?! Jorge: No, I am fine thanks! Shot Girl #2: Aw come on why not?! Jorge: No I can’t actually I have two surgeries scheduled in the morning! Shot Girl #2: You’re a doctor?! Jorge: Not quite, I am a cardiovascular veterinarian! Shot Girl #2: Woooow thats sooo cool. Good luck tomorrow! Jorge: Yeah thanks, good luck ummm selling shots?!
Later on that evening, dancing in the salsa room…
Man the Chargers rocked the Colts tonight, I love when games go to OT. Man, I think Jen is a bit drunk…
Jorge: Jen are you drunk?! Jen: WOOOOOOOOOHOOOO!!!
Yep Jen is smashed. I think I am going to watch Wall-E when I get home, I love that damn robot. Whoa! Did somebody just grab my ass? I have been groped a few times in here already. Everyone is shoving everyone around, this is chaos. You know next time we are going to Bongos…at least it’s better there for latin music. Hey here comes Juan & Joey…
Juan: Dude next time we are going to Bongos, this place sucks for salsa! Jorge: I was just thinking the same thing! Joel: Bro, you want to go home? I am tired and this place kind of blows. Jorge: Agreed. Lets get out of here.
Man I’m hungry…I want some freedom toast. My ears are ringing big time, I feel like I took a grenade in Call of Duty 4. Wow that girl is really hot. Is that a forty ounce beer in her hand? Damn she doesn’t mess around.
So there you have it…thats what goes through my mind in a night club.
It’s that time again for a new Macworld Expo to begin. This year’s expo is already under the community’s spotlight as it is not only Apple’s last event, but the famed Apple Keynote Address will not be given by the big cheese Steve Jobs, but by the moderately smaller cheese Phil Schiller. The rumors are already flying left and right. Let’s see what we may or may not see at the show this year:
iPhone nano
Supposedly Apple is planning a smaller, EDGE only version of the iPhone to sell for about $99. Where normally I would laugh at this, reports are flying in left and right that third party case companies are already manufacturing cases for an “iPhone nano”. This would be very cool, and would no doubt make investors smile. Apple needs to keep the iPhone fresh, and releasing a new model every year keeps it competitive, and keeps that hype factor up. I won’t be surprised to see this, nor will I be surprised to hear Schiller tell us it will be available in July.
New Mac Mini
This one seems like a sure thing. Refreshed Mac Mini, looking a little bit like the Time Capsule, with a new SATA slot loading drive that can be swapped for a second HDD for the mini home server types. I would love to see some sort of HDMI out on this that would be great. I definitely think the Mac Mini can be so much more than just a mini desktop. It has the potential of being a killer home theater computer, and until Apple TV has Safari and bluetooth for a keyboard and mouse, I’ll be wanting this a lot more.
Bigger iPod Touch
This one seems a little farfetched but it would be welcomed none the less. Word on the street is that Apple is working on a version of the iPod Touch, with a bigger screen, 7 to 9 inches to be exact. I guess this would be the perfect balance between an iPod and a netbook. But I am definitely throwing this one in the “maybe” pile.
iWork ‘09 Goes the Way of the Web App
This one makes sense, in order to compete with Google Docs, but I don’t know. I have iWork and currently I find myself using MS Office for Mac a lot more. Sure having it as a web app may be convenient in a pinch, but people still appreciate the reliability on installed software. Then again…having Keynote online would be sweet.
If I am missing anything or you want to add something…comment below. I’ll see you on the day of for the post-keynote analysis!
Welcome to The Jorge Zone! This is my blog, my mental exhaust pipe, slowly filling the atmosphere with my opinions, favorite links, news and the like. This blog is all about the political and social issues we face today. Current events, political & economical happenings, religion & faith, global warming, stuff like ... Continue reading »
At WWDC, Apple made a note that MMS would be coming to the iPhone, well…to every iPhone except those on AT&T.
According to 
You know, I am all for the Second Amendment, but what the hell is this? According to basically every major news outlet, people are going to health care town hall meetings brandishing 9mm handguns and, as of late, 
When Apple dropped the iPhone 3GS I quickly sprinted to my nearest computer to see if I was eligible for the subsidized price. I was not.
People have always wondered what Twitter could be used for. Most people (myself included) use Twitter to stay in touch with friends, get instant alerts from popular websites, or follow the every move of celebrities who have absolutely nothing interesting to say. However with the stolen election in Iran, Twitter has found its purpose. The Iranian people in support of opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi have taken to social media such as Twitter to spread their message to the world in a country where foreign media is gagged and lines of communication are restricted. But how reliable is it?
Sorry, I couldn’t think of a better title for this post.
According to both the 
So there is this big 
I’m back guys, sorry for the long absense, 
