CordellsMind

Google has the Flu

2008-11-12T13:32:00.001-08:00

My sister sent me a great link to this Google flu tracker.

The premise is quite ingenious. They use search terms based on region to track flu trends across the country.

Open the Floodgates

2008-11-12T10:00:00.001-08:00

So, with only a few weeks left of the Bush administration, corporate lawmakers are trying hard to squeeze every last drop out of the government.

Here are the latest headlines

Pelosi's Auto-Rescue Plan Sets Up Clash With Bush

Paulson Shifts Focus of Rescue to Consumer Lending

*sigh*

Rock Star Season 3 fingers crossed

2008-11-11T06:30:00.000-08:00

Updated 11/11/08

Short Circuit to Mark Burnett: Led Zeppelin needs a lead singer

John Paul Jones Hints At Led Zeppelin Tour Without Robert Plant

After weeks of rumor and hearsay, Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones has all but confirmed the band will soon hit the road again. Unfortunately, the reunion this time won’t include Robert Plant. As Jones said to a Manson’s Guitar Show in England last weekend, Jimmy Page, Jason Bohnam and himself are all “itching” to hit the road after reuniting in London back in December 2007. However, Plant has been occupied with his tour with Alison Krauss. So while Plant hopes to reunite with his Led Zep bandmates “in a couple of years,” Jones said Led Zeppelin will instead go on tour with another vocalist in place. “As soon as we know who it is, we’ll let you know who it is,” Jones said of the new singer. (For Rock Daily’s YouTube replacement singers, click here!) This may all be just posturing in an attempt to force Plant’s hand to join them on tour, despite Plant’s claims that he won’t tour again “for at least the next two years.” In news that Led Zeppelin fans might enjoy more than the prospect of seeing the band with another singer

Updated 9/10/08

Mark Burnett talking to bands for Rock Star 3
Originally posted February 8, 2008

If you're a fan of the Mark Burnett produced reality hits Rock Star INXS and Rock Star Supernova, we have good news. On Friday, February 8, The Deadbolt took part in a conference call with reality producer extraordinaire Mark Burnett and comedian/show host Dennis Miller to promote NBC's upcoming original high-energy comedy game show Amne$ia, hosted by Miller and created by Mark Burnett Productions.

On the call, after we got the goods on the upcoming Amne$ia (which we'll be bringing to you next week before the February 22 premiere), The Deadbolt's Troy Rogers asked Burnett about the status of the Rock Star series, which launched the successful comeback of INXS in 2005 with new frontman and Rock Star winner J.D. Fortune. As well, the popular series put together the super group Rock Star Supernova the following season, which included Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke, ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newstead and season two Rock Star winner Lukas Rossi. Although we haven't seen the show resurface since 2006, it appears the demand is still high for the show to return.

So what's the current status of Rock Star, and will it be back for a third season? Here's what Mark Burnett revealed to us about the future of Rock Star:

"Yes, it’s funny... you look at these online studies and one of the most requested shows to come back, from anything I’ve done, is Rock Star. And yes, I’m in discussions with various bands. But there is one flaw as a business in that you have to find a suitable rock band that actually wants to find a new lead singer. So you’ve got a barrier to entry, but yes, we are in discussions and people do want to see that series again."

Here's to hoping a few well-known but defunct and "lead-singerless" bands step forward to answer the call. We can think of at least two in the last 15 years. Rock on!

EDIT: So here's the latest rumor and logical speculation for all of us hoping for a 3rd season.

Thanks to Scott Weiland's "increasingly erratic behavior" Velvet Revolver is now in need of a new singer.

This seems to be a logical fit for the next RockStar band. Hopefully Mark Burnett sees this as an opportunity to bring back a great show.

EDIT2: So apparently Mark B did speak to Velvet Revolver about coming on TV, but they turned him down????? What were they thinking?

VELVET REVOLVER drummer Matt Sorum recently spoke to the Artisan News Service about the group's future plans following its much-publicized split with singer Scott Weiland in early April.

"We're coming out with something in a couple of weeks and I think it's going to surprise everybody," Sorum told the Artisan News Service.

He added, "We're really seriously thinking about doing something online. Yeah, we got offered a couple of different television ideas you know. [TV producer] Mark Burnett called us and asked us to do that 'Rock Star' thing and we basically said no to that. We didn't feel it was right for us. No disrespect to him, but it just didn't feel right for what we want to do. As many years as we've tried to keep our integrity intact, we felt that wasn't the right forum for us to do it, so we got some ideas and we should have that news in a couple weeks."

Here are a couple more thinks with speculation about the next season

http://www.rockbandlounge.com/forum/forum.asp?forum_id=95
http://forums.dvdfile.com/television/65622-rockstar-season-3-a.html
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/04/07/readers-rock-list-next-velvet-revolver-singer/
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=97767

Keep the campaign going

The Redskin Rule = Obama Wins

2008-11-04T07:23:00.000-08:00

Do you know about the Redskin Rule

Since the Redskins have arrived in Washington, how they perform in their final home game determines the presidential election. It's true.

It's called the Redskins Rule, and it has an accuracy rate of either 94 or 100 percent depending on how it's applied. Every time the Redskins win their final home game before a presidential election, the candidate representing the incumbent party remains in office. Every time they lose, the incumbent party's candidate loses as well. It's a predictor that has worked in 16 of 17 presidential elections since the Redskins arrived in Washington. (Some argue the rule is 17-for-17; more on that in a second.)

That's good news for Barack Obama and the Democrats. The Redskins lost to the Steelers, 23-6, which means the incumbent Republicans are looking at a bad day. Why even hold the election? Just crown Obama the President at FedEx Field.

Not everyone is hurting

2008-10-30T06:57:00.001-07:00

As a followup to my last post I thought I would add the "glass half full" take as well.

At least someone is making money :) I don't suppose everyone will look at this as a positive.

Exxon Mobil: Biggest profit in U.S. history

Largest U.S. oil company surges past analyst estimates to post net income of $14.83 billion.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Exxon Mobil Corp. set a quarterly profit record for a U.S. company Thursday, surging past analyst estimates.

Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500), the leading U.S. oil company, said its third-quarter net profit was $14.83 billion, or $2.86 per share, up from $9.41 billion, or $1.70, a year earlier. That profit included $1.45 billion in special items.

McDonald's Profits Climb -- For 10th Straight Quarter

McDonald's Corp. posted a 15% Q3 profit increase yesterday, extending their 3 1/2-year string of progressively stronger results. Premium coffee sales, more 24-hour restaurants, and strong European growth were among the key areas. CEO Jim Skinner said the company will continue to expand at a modest pace with new U.S. drive-thrus and new Happy Meal entrees and beverages that meet nutritional guidelines. He also committed 20% of its children's marketing budget to promote youth physical-activity. Net income was $0.63/share ($843M), up from $0.58/share a year ago. Same-store sales improved in every international and domestic region. Its shares have gained 30% in the last year, closing at $40.77, down $0.70. Citigroup analyst Glen Petraglia said promoting health and nutrition is a strong-suit for McDonald's, calling its menu the healthiest of the hamburger-restaurant operators.

Credits
http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/30/news/companies/exxon_earnings/index.htm?eref=rss_topstories

http://seekingalpha.com/article/18909-mcdonald-s-profits-climb-for-10th-straight-quarter

What was your favorite ____________ moment?

2008-10-29T06:08:00.001-07:00

I read an article recently on the AOL Money site about Companies Hit Hardest By Credit Crisis

It was a list of 18 well known companies that are in serious financial trouble.

I was a bit surprised by some of the incredibly low stock prices listed in the article, so I pulled up the current stock prices and was even more shocked.

Here are the highlights

Company name is followed by 10/29 stock price per share.

Radio Shack - $12.55 - Caters to typically low end consumers who don't have a lot of spare cash. Tied themselves to the cell phone market which is drying up.

General Motors - $6.25 - Losing $1 BILLION per month and people that want to actually buy cars and trucks are now having trouble getting credit to do so.

Research In Motion - $46.99 - The company that brought us the Crackberry is on the way down. Apple's iPhone outsold Blackberry last quarter and look for that trend to continue.

Safeway - $20.49 - This large food retailer (grocery store) only made $451 million profit last year after posting $10 Billion in sales. Less than 5% profit margin.

Apple - $99.91 - What's missing from the stock price is the 50% drop off, down from $202. Macs are expensive and iPods last forever, I still have my original shuffle from 4 years ago. Once the iPhone market is saturated look for an even further decline.

Disney - $23.91 - While the movie business is booming for Disney after the departure of Pixar, the theme park attendance is the lowest in decades.

Wynn Resorts - $32.88 - Proving that no place is immune from the financial belt tightening. One of most successful hotel chains in Las Vegas has plenty of rooms available.

Standard Pacific - A very historically successful home builder may just disappear in 2009 where new home sales and construction could come to a standstill as thousands of foreclosed homes are on the market at dirt cheap prices.

Now here are the really bad ones with stock prices less than $1.00 per share.

Sirius XM Radio - $0.36 - Yes that's 36 cents per share. The recent merger of Sirius and XM may not ever get a chance to play out. Satellite radio is driven by the new car market. (see GM topic above)
Charter Communications - $0.40 - I am writing this while connected through a Charter High Speed Internet line but in 2009 I may need to look for another ISP. I have also called them to ask about getting some new DVRs and they are constantly "out of stock"
Circuit City - $0.27 - The replacement of the CEO may be too little too late for a company losing the battle between Wal-Mart and Best Buy.

Other trends to watch this holiday season.

Overall consumer electronics spending. Typically electronic sales boom from Halloween to New Years but don't expect that to continue this year. Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft may see all time lows of game console sales this year. Waiting in line to get a WII Fit may not be an issue.

Newspaper chains. 2009 may see the end of curling up on the couch with the Sunday paper and a nice cup of coffee. Replaced by sitting in front of your computer reading the headlines.

The Credit Roller Coaster

2008-10-21T08:38:00.000-07:00

Ok, we have all seen the ads promising to lower your payments, decrease your interest rate, increase your p##is size, ok not those ads but those are also everywhere.

So what do these ads actually do?

Well in the ad above they mention the Mortgage Bill signed by President Bush on July 30

This bill promises to clean up this mortgage mess and bring financial freedom to millions of struggling home owners.

$700 Billion later we all know how that turned out.

I was curious so I went through the motions of following the ad above and what do you think I found?

Yup, you guessed it, shady marketing tactics to continually gather personal information in order to keep calling you to refinance your home or offer a quick home equity loan to buy all the things you ever dreamed of.

THIS IS EXACTLY THE TYPE OF ACTIVITY THAT GOT US INTO THIS MESS.

People don't need a home equity loan to take a vacation. People don't need to refinance their homes and pay thousands in closing costs for a few 1/10ths of a % of interest saved.

What people aren't realizing yet is that the credit splurge will become the credit desert very soon. High risk refinances will disappear, banks will not be able to give out home equity loans at the drop of a hat and credit card max limits will start to get lower and lower.

It's just sad that it constantly feels like we are riding on this giant credit roller coaster, when all we really need is just a bit more self control and responsibility.

Are We Ready?

2008-10-17T08:56:00.000-07:00

So, I'm not a huge Dixie Chicks fan but I do admire their ability to stand up for something and not simply cave in to all the media pressure.

Ironically, after almost every radio station boycotted their music they ended up winning "Album of the Year"

I thought this song was relevant with the election only a few weeks away.

I wonder if she's ready yet?

I Want a Distressed Asset

2008-10-13T11:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, hopefully by now the average American has some ideas on how we got into this current financial mess. You have probably heard about the recent $700 Billion Bailout plan.

SO, the next big question is Who Gets The Money???

"is a law authorizing the United States Secretary of the Treasury to spend up to $700 billion to purchase distressed assets, especially mortgage-backed securities, from the nation's banks."

On the surface it appears that we are assisting the irresponsible in buying up "distressed assets" aka mortgage foreclosures.

I found the above image humorous when doing a Google search for "who gets the money from the bailout"

Notice "This question hasn't been answered yet"

Financial Crisis Explained

2008-10-10T06:40:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine sent me this video which I think does a nice job of explaining the current mortgage mess.

Crisis explainer: Uncorking CDOs from Marketplace on Vimeo.

When will we learn?

2008-10-08T13:51:00.000-07:00

Pop Quiz the following is a title to a paragraph from a wiki article, I want you to guess which one.

Imprudent real estate lending

No, not the current mortgage mess we are in now. It comes from the S&L crisis article

In an effort to take advantage of the real estate boom (outstanding US mortgage loans: 1976 $700 billion; 1980 $1.2 trillion) and high interest rates of the late 1970s and early 1980s, many S&Ls lent far more money than was prudent, and to risky ventures which many S&Ls were not qualified to assess. "The banking problems of the '80s and '90s came primarily, but not exclusively, from unsound real estate lending."

DOH!

Sound familiar?

This isn't the first time we have been in this mess but hopefully we can learn from this mistake.

From 1986 to 1995, the number of US federally insured savings and loans in the United States declined from 3,234 to 1,645. This was primarily, but not exclusively, due to unsound real estate lending.

The market share of S&Ls for single family mortgage loans went from 53% in 1975 to 30% in 1990. U.S. General Accounting Office estimated cost of the crisis to around USD $160.1 billion, about $124.6 billion of which was directly paid for by the U.S. government from 1986 to 1996.

The concomitant slowdown in the finance industry and the real estate market may have been a contributing cause of the 1990–1991 economic recession. Between 1986 and 1991, the number of new homes constructed dropped from 1.8 to 1 million, the lowest rate since World War II.

Some commentators *raising my hand* believe that a taxpayer-funded government bailout related to mortgages during the savings and loan crisis may have created a moral hazard and acted as encouragement to lenders to make similar higher risk loans during the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis.

DOUBLE DOH!

3 Reviews

2008-10-05T13:06:00.000-07:00

So, I thought I would review 3 new unrelated items all in one post today so here goes.

1. Burn After Reading

This was a another great Coen brothers movie. If you liked Fargo or No Country for Old Men, you will definitely like this movie. I hate to admit it but Brad Pitt steals the show in this one. I was surprised at how little violence there was however. I have been accustomed to a lot more in these movies but in this case it didn't need it to succeed as a great dark comedy.

2. 4th Generation 8GB iPod Nano

I recently purchased one of these for my wife and I'm already jealous. This was an upgrade to her existing Nano and so far this one is superior in many ways.

For starters the sound quality seems better, not sure if that's the headphones or something in the playback technology.
Secondly, the new "shake to shuffle" feature is very cool. The first Nano model to have an embedded accelerometer similar to the new iPhones. This feature not only allows you to shuffle up your songs but when tilted sideways you can access the Cover Flow and view your pictures in landscape mode.

It also includes the new "Genius" feature, introduced by Apple the same day. The Genius feature automatically creates playlists based on a selected song using an algorithm built by Apple. This feature should feel very natural for all those Pandora streamers out there.

3. Google Chrome Web Browser

Yes, it's true Google entered the browser market now. I wouldn't be surprised if they launched a new line of frozen entrees with all the new stuff they keep creating.

Well, I have to be honest I haven't fully switched to Chrome yet. It still feels very beta to me. I'm sure Google will continue to make improvements but let's examine the new features.

Stability - One of the main features of the Chrome browser is to run a separate process for each browser tab you have open. What this means is fewer complete browser crashes and more efficient use of memory and garbage collection. In my initial tests Chrome was able to recover after certain sites were misbehaving without the need to close the whole browser.
Speed - Since Javascript doesn't appear to be going away Chrome took on the challenge of speeding up the rendering, parsing and overall presentation of JavaScript prevalent on most web sites. The end result was a faster browsing experience with most sites. In my testing some tests did appear to load faster but for those sites with lots of embedded Flash animations, there were no noticeable speed differences.
Security - The Chrome developers wanted their browser to be the most secure browser available and from what I can tell they have implemented all the features to make end users "appear" safe. The end result however is that it takes the combined effort of a secure browser and a semi-intelligent user to truly have a secure browsing experience. Also, Google has been criticized already by the amount of personal browsing data collected by Chrome. It collects this information for marketing of course and I don't believe they are doing anything malicious but personal data is should remain personal in my opinion.
User Interface - Chrome is definitely sleek and clean, it definitely makes the web itself the main feature and not the many toolbars present in most browsers. If you ever used the F11 feature in IE you will be very happy with the overall look and feel of the Chrome UI.

Other features are nice such as "Application Shortcuts" and "Incognito" browsing but these features are also present in other browsers and aren't the main attractions for using Chrome.

Finally, because it is still in "Beta" many sites just don't work properly with it yet, such as ESPN, CBS and a few others that I ran across.

As far as competition goes, I will continue to use Firefox for now but I'm sure Google will continue to make improvements and enhancements to the current version in hopes of gaining mainstream popularity.

Definitely Saw This Coming

2008-09-16T06:30:00.000-07:00

EDIT: In case you haven't been following the fallout I thought I would post an update.

The following is copied from THIS wiki article.

In August 2007, the firm closed its subprime lender, BNC Mortgage, eliminating 1,200 positions in 23 locations, and took an after-tax charge of $25 million and a $27-million reduction in goodwill. Lehman said that poor market conditions in the mortgage space "necessitated a substantial reduction in its resources and capacity in the subprime space". ^[31]

In 2008, Lehman faced an unprecedented loss to the continuing subprime mortgage crisis. Lehman's loss was apparently a result of having held on to large positions in subprime and other lower-rated mortgage tranches when securitizing the underlying mortgages; whether Lehman did this because it was simply unable to sell the lower-rated bonds, or made a conscious decision to hold them, is unclear. In any event, huge losses accrued in lower-rated mortgage-backed securities throughout 2008. In the second fiscal quarter, Lehman reported losses of $2.8 billion and was forced to sell off $6 billion in assets.^[32] In the first half of 2008 alone, Lehman stock lost 73% of its value as the credit market continued to tighten.^[32] In August 2008, Lehman reported that it intended to release 6% of its work force, 1,500 people, just ahead of its third- quarter-reporting deadline in September.^[32]

On August 22, 2008, shares in Lehman closed up 5% (16% for the week) on reports that the state-controlled Korea Development Bank was considering buying the bank. ^[33] Most of those gains were quickly eroded as news came in that Korea Development Bank was "facing difficulties pleasing regulators and attracting partners for the deal."^[34] It culminated on September 9, when its shares plunged 44.95% to $7.79, after it was reported that the state-run South Korean firm had put talks on hold.^[35]

Investor confidence continued to erode as Lehman's stock lost roughly half its value and pushed the S&P 500 down 3.4% on September 9. The Dow Jones lost 300 points the same day on investors' concerns about the security of the bank.^[36] The U.S. government did not announce any plans to assist with any possible financial crisis that emerged at Lehman.^[37]

On September 10, 2008, Lehman announced a loss of $3.9 billion and their intent to sell off a majority stake in their investment-management business, which includes Neuberger Berman.^[38]^[39] The stock slid 7 percent that day.^[39]^[40] Lehman, after earlier rejecting questions on the sale of the company, was reportedly searching for a buyer as its stock price dropped another 40 percent on September 11, 2008.^[40]

Bankruptcy

On September 13, 2008, Timothy F. Geithner, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York called a meeting on the future of Lehman, which included the possibility of an emergency liquidation of its assets.^[41] Lehman reported that it had been in talks with Bank of America and Barclays for the company's possible sale.^[41] The New York Times reported on September 14, 2008, that Barclays had ended its bid to purchase all or part of Lehman and a deal to rescue the bank from liquidation collapsed.^[42] Leaders of major Wall Street banks continued to meet late that day to prevent the bank's rapid failure.^[42] Bank of America's rumored involvement also appeared to end as federal regulators resisted its request for government involvement in Lehman's sale.^[42] Also on September 14, 2008, The New York Times reported that Lehman will file for bankruptcy protection for its parent company, Lehman Brothers Holdings, while keeping its subsidiaries solvent during the bankruptcy proceedings.^[43] A group of Wall Street firms agreed to provide capital and financial assistance for the bank's orderly liquidation and the Federal Reserve, in turn, agreed to a swap of lower-quality assets in exchange for loans and other assistance from the government.^[43] Lehman's bankruptcy would be the largest failure of an investment bank since Drexel Burnham Lambert collapsed amid fraud allegations 18 years earlier.^[43] The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) offered an exceptional trading session on Sunday, September 14, 2008, to allow market participants to offset positions in various derivatives on the condition of a Lehman bankruptcy later that day.^[44]^[45]

In New York, on September 15, 2008, shortly before 1 a.m., Lehman Brothers Holdings announced it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, although its subsidiaries will continue to operate as normal.^[46] The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) suspended Lehman's Australian subsidiary as a market participant however, after clearing-houses terminated their contracts with the firm.^[47] Former Lehman Brothers workers were shown leaving the Lehman Brothers building in Times Square, New York, with boxes of their belongings.^[48]

Lehman Brothers (LEH) shares tumbled 80% in U.S. pre-open trade. Macquarie Private Wealth associate director Marcus Droga stated: "You've probably seen more in one day of financial history than we've seen since the great crash of 1929. I'm not suggesting the US market will crash tonight, but in terms of landmark events, it's an historic day."^[49]^[50]

In the UK, the investment bank has gone into administration with PricewaterhouseCoopers appointed as administrators.^[51]

Ok, I really should have just shut down the blog after the Talent Show posts because how in the world do I top that?

So anyway, back to reality and a serious topic for today. Unless you have been living on a remote tropical island (in which case you can totally ignore this post) by now you have probably heard about what many are calling the Mortgage Mess

The subprime mortgage financial crisis refers to the sharp rise in foreclosures in the subprime mortgage market that began in the United States in 2006 and became a global financial crisis in July 2007. Rising interest rates increased newly-popular adjustable rate mortgages and property values suffered declines from the demise of the housing bubble, leaving home owners unable to meet financial commitments and lenders without a means to recoup their losses.

Of course with any difficult situation comes finger pointing.

Predatory Practices of Subprime Lenders (my daughter gets applications in the mail)
Mortgage Brokers directing people to unaffordable loans (Adjustable rates = $$$)
Inflated housing prices largely from appraisers (you mean my house isn't worth 400k)
New home buyers overstating income (people would never do that)

So, is anyone surprised by the outcome of this? Where is the real problem?

Well, here is my opinion. GREED! and the illusion that everyone can live the American Dream.

Individual home buyers with already maxed out credit cards being told "of course you can afford that new home" This in turn gives the buyers unrealistic expectations of what they can afford and with very little checks and balances what is the end result? In the next few months/years thousands of homes will sit empty waiting for the market to rebalance.

Don't get me wrong the buyers are just as guilty if not more for complete lack of self control. First of all, how many new "neighborhoods" have you seen lately? Brand new house after brand new house popping up like pills at a Lindsay Lohan party.
What the mortgage companies and realtors conveniently forget to mention is the total cost of ownership of that fancy new house. Yes, people can probably scrape by with just the house payment itself but the moment they move in all hell breaks loose.

Curtains, furniture, appliances, BBQ grills...Where does it end? The spiral is out of control and as long as consumers continue to have ridiculously aggressive spending behaviors we will continue to have these problems.

As with any finger pointing what always comes next? LEGISLATION of course, because "people are just too darn stupid to control their own finances. " (let me make it clear this is not my view)

Congress to probe credit crisis

The Sept. 5 hearing will examine fall-out for U.S. consumers and economy, with Fed and Treasury officials set to testify; lawmakers demand answers from ratings agencies too.

So, where does this lead us? Are we headed for a recession? Personally I don't know, but I don't think it's time to panic. One possible solution would be for consumers to simply get the credit under control, allowing the rates to come back down and ultimately the equity to return to the housing market. Of course this is just my opinion and what do I know, all I can do is solve a Rubik's cube while standing on foot reciting Green Eggs and Ham.

Undefined Musical Decade

2008-09-08T10:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, those that know me understand my passion for music. I have thousands of MP3s a 500 disc CD changer at home, XM radio in my car, Pandora at work. I even loved watching Rock & Roll Jeopardy with Jeff Probst on VH1.

So, on my way to work today I was in the car listening to Pride by U2 and a couple thoughts came to mind.

1. What will be the defining musical factor for the 00 decade?

The 60's were obviously the decade of the Beatles, Beach Boys and the anti-war message
The 70's were the rebellious Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Aerosmith classic rockers
In the 80's Madonna & Michael Jackson led the pop music charge while hair bands like Bon Jovi and Guns N Roses filled the arenas.
Then came grunge in the 90's with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Alice in Chains leading the way.

Now what?

This is the first decade in history where more music will be listened to online and on portable players than it will on the mainstream radio.

Of course I wasn't the first to ask this same question.

How Will We Categorize Our Current Decade of Music?

This brings me to my second thought

2. What type of music do I want to share with my children?

It's now easy to understand why I like singer/song writers like John Denver, Jim Croce, and Cat Stevens once I realized my parents listened to those same artists.

I know my kids will go through their own musical genre phases but in general what bands or artists do I think are "worth sharing" not only for their music but for the cultural influences.

It's a very subjective list obviously so I will simply pose it as question for you the readers to answer, rather than just giving you my opinion.

Hey Mark Burnett Check This Out

2008-09-04T08:41:00.000-07:00

So, a good friend of me bought me this T-shirt which epitomizes my personality.

In fact, I must have 15 projects at home all started, none finished.

Well today a few people were in my "office" (I don't have an office, it's just a big cube but I like to think I have an office) and came up with this great reality game show idea

DISTRACTION

There are two teams, 1 player and a list of tasks

You take an average A.D.D. office worker like myself and assign them a list of random tasks.

Paint the fence
Mail this letter
Copy these documents
Create a new renewable energy source

Team A tries to DISTRACT the player to NOT complete the tasks

Team B tries to assist the player in an effort to complete the tasks

The player would have some incentive, monetary or otherwise for completing the tasks.

For example, you could increase the stakes by having the player's IPod suspended 100 feet in the air and each unsuccessful task cuts a piece of the rope holding it up.

The variations are endless but for now I need to get back to work.

Team A - 10 pts
Team B - 2 pts

Is Your Web App Chrome Compatible?

2008-09-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

Google launches internet browser

Google's new web browser is called Chrome

Google is launching an open source web browser to compete with Internet Explorer and Firefox.

The browser is designed to be lightweight and fast, and to cope with the next generation of web applications that rely on graphics and multimedia.

Called Chrome, it will launch as a beta for Windows machines in 100 countries, with Mac and Linux versions to come.

"We realised... we needed to completely rethink the browser," said Google's Sundar Pichai in a blog post.

The new browser will help Google take advantage of developments it is pushing online in rich web applications that are challenging traditional desktop programs.

Full article here

GOLD is Spelled ..P-R-O-J-E-C-T 1-1-9

2008-08-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, I admit it I'm an Olympics junkie. Whew, there I said it, feels good to get that out in the open. Something about the multiple sports and multiple countries competing against each other on the world stage is entertaining to me.

However, the real behind the scenes story of this Olympics is China's Project 119

What's Project 119 you ask?

Well wikipedia has a page for it but it's a simple redirect to China at the 2008 Olympic Games

We will get back to that page in a minute, but first some Chinese Olympic history.

Historically China has always done well in the mainstream events of diving and gymnastics as well as less published events such as shooting and badminton. Yes, there really is badminton at the Olympic Games. *sigh*

However, during the Olympics in Sydney, the Chinese team won only one gold in the following events:

Track and field, Swimming and other water events such as canoe and sailboat.
Guess how many gold medals were awarded in those events? Yup - 119

119 gold medals awarded in very publicized and televised events.

In 2001 China won the right to host the 2008 Summer Olympics and at the same time the Chinese State General Sports Bureau put forward “Project 119” with the aim of coming to the top in those events.

After winning the right to host this summer's Olympics, China was ecstatic. Officials promised the greatest Games ever held.

The following are excerpts from this article from BBC News.

There seems little doubt that China expected a glorious Olympic Games.
Speaking after being awarded the event in 2001, Liu Jingmin, vice-mayor of Beijing, looked forward with great hope.

"We have seven years to ensure that our country and our city are ready to host the best Olympic Games in the history of the world," he told state media.

China seemed eager to show the rest of the world how it had changed from a poor, isolated country into one with growing strength and prosperity.

"Hosting the Olympics would both mark China's triumphant arrival as a fully respectable country on the world scene and demonstrate exactly that to the population at home," said Andrew Nathan, a professor of political science at New York's Columbia University.

Hosting the Games has been a long-time dream of the Chinese authorities

At a rare briefing for foreign journalists last week, Chinese President Hu Jintao said that as far back as 1908 some of his countrymen had wanted to host the Olympics.

That thought is perfectly expressed in a slogan that has appeared in parts of Beijing. "Seize the opportunity of a century to realise the dream of a century," it says.

In the 2004 Athens Olympics, the Chinese team won four gold medals in those events, including Liu Xiang in the track and field men’s 100-meter hurdles; Xing Huina in the women’s10,000-meter race in track and field; Luo Xuejuan in the women’s 100-meter breast stroke; and Meng Guanliang and Yang Wenjun in the men’s C-2 500-meter canoe.

In the 2008 Games the home team could win more than a dozen medals in the Project 119 events—potentially enough to make a difference in a tight battle with the U.S. for the No. 1 spot. Given their traditional strength in table tennis, diving, badminton and gymnastics; their domination of shooting; their depth in women's sports such as weighlifting; and the usual surge in victories by the host country, the Chinese should easily top their 2004 totals of 63 medals.

FINAL RESULTS

	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Flag of United States	36	38	36	110
Flag of China	51	21	28	100
Flag of Russia	23	21	28	72
Flag of Britain	19	13	15	47
Flag of Australia	14	15	17	46

Remember that link early in the post. China at the 2008 Olympic Games Now would be a good time to visit it and check out the latest medal count.

Clearly this strategy is working but it's not without controversy.

BEIJING - Just nine months before the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government’s news agency, Xinhua, reported that gymnast He Kexin was 13, which would have made her ineligible to be on the team that won a gold medal this week.

Is China Cheating and Covering it Up?

Either way, I'm sure the US isn't infallible in their gold medal chase either.

Just look how quickly America forgave and forgot about Michael Phelps' DUI in 2004?
A bit different than outright cheating but everyone makes mistakes. Maybe the Chinese government just lost her birth certificate?

CREDITS

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1142310/index.htm
http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/beijing/archive/2008/01/09/gold-rush-china-s-olympic-strategy-and-project-119.aspx
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/45023,features,chinas-119-olympic-dreams
http://opensourcemd.wordpress.com/2008/08/09/chinas-gold-medals-project-119/
http://lasvegasrater.com/news/is-china-cheating-in-the-olympics/

Creepy or Cool, you be the judge.

2008-08-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

A friend sent me the following link to a video so I thought I would send it along.

I will paste a link to the article below the video so I don't spoil it for you.

ARTICLE HERE

$62 and Worth Every Penny

2008-08-06T18:31:00.000-07:00

So, I finally did what millions of other people already have.

No, I didn't sleep with Paris Hilton, I finally saw Dark Knight.

All I can say is WOW... Best Superhero Movie Ever. Seriously that is worth repeating.
It's the best superhero movie ever made. Even if you aren't a first run theatre type person, this is worth the trip.

Movie tickets -- $20
Baby sitter -- $20
MMM snacks -- $22

Heath Ledger's performance -- Priceless!

It's really not necessary to hype it up any more than it already has been and you certainly don't need to just take my word for it. There are plenty of online reviews floating around.

So, on that note I bring you the

Summer 08 movie season

First a quick review: My predictions for the year were

1. Iron Man
2. WALL - E
3. Indiana Jones
4. Dark Knight
5. Hancock

Actual Results As of August 1, 2008

The Dark Knight	$393,751,065
Iron Man	$315,687,768
Indiana Jones	$314,331,661
Hancock	$215,883,222
Kung Fu Panda	$210,480,901
Wall-E	$204,078,076

results courtesy of boxofficemojo

I don't think even Warner Bros expected this much from their latest masterpiece so hopefully this fuels the Marvel fire even more to make the next few movies just as good as Iron Man.

I have seen eight of the current top 10 movies so in case anyone is interested I will post my reviews in a few days.

Even with the incredible success of Dark Knight my two big surprises of the summer are.

1. Kung-Fu Panda, didn't see that coming, but shows just how many kids still go to the movies.
2. Prince Caspian, negative $59,000,000 to date, just might be the end of that franchise.

Overall a good summer in my opinion. Now let the Oscar races start.

Great News for Satellite Radio Subscribers?

2008-08-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

I LOVE my XM Radio. About a year ago I bought a used XM radio from a friend and I've never looked back. I listen to it everyday in the car, at home through Direct TV, I sign in and listen online and also pull my radio out for vacations etc.

At this point I am very pleased with the service and stations I currently receive.

Needless to say I was a bit excited but leery at the latest news below.

Excited for more channel and programming offerings but nervous that this will mean a chance to jack up the monthly costs by offering programming "packages"

$2 for this, $3 for that etc

SIRIUS AND XM COMPLETE MERGER

SIRIUS XM Radio Chosen as New Corporate Name

Combined Company Has Over 18.5 Million Subscribers, Annualized Second Quarter Revenue Exceeding $2.4 Billion

Company to Offer Consumers Best of Both Services, While Maximizing Significant Efficiencies

SIRIUS XM Reiterates Financial Guidance; Expects 2009 Synergies of $400 million and 2009 Adjusted EBITDA of over $300 Million

NEW YORK, NY – July 29, 2008 –SIRIUS Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) and XM Satellite Radio today announced that they have completed their merger, resulting in the nation’s premier radio company. The new company plans to change its corporate name to Sirius XM Radio Inc. The combined company’s stock will continue to be traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “SIRI”.

SIRIUS XM Radio begins day one with over 18.5 million subscribers, making it the second-largest radio company, based upon revenue, in the country; and, based upon subscribers, the second largest subscription media business in the U.S. With under 10% penetration of the home and car market, the opportunity for continued growth is significant.

The Impact of Technology

2008-07-29T06:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, normally I would do a bunch of research and comb the internet trying to find some articles backing up my theories but this time I'm simply going to make a blanket statement.

Technology is destroying fundamental skills

Two everyday examples of this:

1. Google
2. Cell Phones

How many times have you mispeled a word only to have Google conveniently correct it for you?

In fact, even as I'm typing this blog Firefox is "helping" me correct my spelling with an inline spell checker.

*Sigh* Do we really need that much help?

Secondly, I wanted to share a story from my vacation.

A friend (we will call him Doris) and I recently took our families on vacation together.

Of course like almost all other Americans we brought our cell phones and we had this marvelous idea to contact each other the day we arrived since we were staying in the same cabin.

Well, for those who know Doris (aka Glenn) he's an even bigger geek than me and had just purchased a new iPhone. Also no surprise for those who know Doris, he didn't transfer his address book. Doh!

So now we have a problem.
I don't know his new number, he doesn't have my number, anarchy ensues.

To this day I can still remember my first girlfriend's phone number...I won't write it here but just trust me on it.
Ask me to recite my own mother's cell phone number and I have no clue.

Obviously these are only two small examples but hopefully you see my point.

Alas, I did find a couple articles worth mentioning.

This one from Wired

Your Outboard Brain Knows All

This wiki page

Spell Checker

and finally an oldie but a goodie post from Bex

Nope! I Don't Own a Cell Phone

Ode To Randy Pausch

2008-07-27T13:24:00.001-07:00

So, if you didn't hear Randy Pausch passed away over the weekend.

Randy was one of the founders of the Alice programming language and a very good speaker.

If you haven't listened to his "Last Lecture" speech it is well worth the time.

One of his quotes during the speech is

"Experience is what you get when didn't get what you wanted"

Geez Make Up Your Mind

2008-07-20T08:52:00.000-07:00

April 2001

Borders Turns to Amazon for Outsourcing

Renting online infrastructures is Plan B for struggling dot-coms

After three years in the red, the second largest U.S. bookseller is calling it quits online, choosing instead to outsource its operations to Amazon.com Inc.

In turn, Seattle-based Amazon is adopting a well-established model for drumming up additional revenue used by other dot-com companies with infrastructure to spare.

For an undisclosed fee, Amazon.com will take over the Web operations of Borders Online Inc. and relaunch it as a co-branded site. It will be powered by Amazon's e-commerce platform and technology infrastructure. The online retailer will also handle inventory, customer service and shipping services for book, music and video sales. Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Borders Group Inc. will receive a commission on sales, officials at both firms said.

"It's only gravy for Amazon," said Carrie Johnson, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. in Cambridge, Mass. "They're already in the book business, they've eliminated a competitor and they will possibly get new customers and some incremental revenue."

Amazon officials said the online merchant would also seek out additional opportunities to outsource its application infrastructure to other Web-based retailers, though no additional deals are in the works.

March 2007

Borders shelving Amazon alliance

Book company to compete directly with Net retailer

When Borders needed a high-powered and efficient Web-based delivery service six years ago, the book giant courted Seattle's Amazon.com.

But now the marriage has ended, and it could put a crimp on Amazon's revenue and earnings, one analyst says.

The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Borders Group Inc. said Thursday that it was severing ties with Amazon and will compete directly early next year against the Internet retail company, which has gone from selling only books to a wide range of products, from DVDs to clothing to food.

"We expect to drive sales and profits with it," Borders spokeswoman Anne Roman said of the company's planned Web site.

"We can mesh the in-store sales with online, which is something we have been missing."

Roman said the Web site would allow Borders to connect with 17 million customers who are part of the company's rewards loyalty program. Roman declined to disclose if its contract with Amazon had ended.

Patty Smith, an Amazon spokeswoman, said the company had no comment.

Before 2001, Borders had its own Internet business, but it wasn't profitable, Roman said. That led to the arrangement with Amazon, which operated Borders' Web site, took orders and delivered books.

Amazon obtained all the sales and gave an undisclosed cut to Borders, Roman said. Amazon also runs the Web sites for Target and Bebe and fills the orders.

The loss of Borders could cost Amazon $80 million to $160 million in annual revenue, according to an estimate by Scott Devitt, an analyst with St. Louis-based Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Amazon and Borders wouldn't confirm or deny those figures.

Devitt said the loss isn't material to Amazon, which had revenue of $10.7 billion last year and $190 million in profits.

Devitt said the loss of Borders could result in a 2 percent decline in profits for Amazon.

Have We Lost Perspective?

2008-07-15T04:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, what's wrong with this routine?

1. Roll out of my nice comfy pillow top bed
2. Climb into my nice hot shower
3. Wrap up in my nice soft towel
4. Put on my nice shiny shoes
5. Eat my nice crunchy cereal
6. Drive to work in my nice climate controlled car
7. Sit in my nice ergonomic chair
8. Close the shades on my nice bright window
9. Login to my nice fast internet (ok since I'm at work it's not fast but you get the point)

So, as I sit here and ponder what to write I stumbled across an interesting list about the

Top 25 Things Disappearing From America

Of course things like Yellow Pages, VHS players and Dial Up Internet were fairly obvious but a few things did surprise me.

Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs

Ash Trees &

Honey Bees

Well, I was so fascinated by the honey bee topic that led me to a wonderful educational video

After watching that video I couldn't help but think to myself....Are we losing perspective?

Don't get me wrong I'm not here to go off on some complete "Humans are Bad People" rant but yesterday I saw a woman yelling at a checkout clerk for not carrying her brand of cigarettes anymore.

Have we completely lost focus recently or am I just waking up?

Say Hello To DIABLO 3!!!

2008-07-14T10:39:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: July 14, 2008

FLAGSHIP STUDIOS HAVE CLOSED THEIR DOORS

Full Article here

Sad, to see what seemed like such a promising game fall short like this.

Ohh well, I guess with Flagship's doors closing the doors can now open on the real

Diablo 3

That's right Blizzard has confirmed the development of the official Diablo 3

Ok, we knew it was inevitable. Some new game would come along to pull myself and others away from the World of Warcraft we all grew to know and love.

Hellgate: London (HGL)

Huh? I thought the title said Diablo 3? Sorry to get you excited but in all respects this game is basically DIABLO 3

Ok, let me start with a brief history for those playing along at home.

HGL is produced by Flagship Studios

Flagship Studios is a computer game company founded by Bill Roper along with Max Schaefer, Erich Schaefer, and David Brevik, the original developers of Diablo and former high level Blizzard North executives. The core of Flagship Studios has been collaborating as a team since 1993 when they founded Condor Studios (later bought out and renamed Blizzard North) and in addition to the Diablo franchise were key high level executives in the development of Warcraft, Starcraft, and World of Warcraft. Flagship Studios was formed following the en mass resignation of Blizzard North management following a dispute with Blizzard Entertainment parent company Vivendi. Flagship Studio's primary target platform for their games is the PC.

Make Sense?

Fast Forward to 2005 and you have the beginning of HGL

Hellgate: London

In March 2005, following months of teasing concept art for an unknown game, Flagship Studios' first title named Hellgate: London was announced via an exclusive article in the computer magazine PC Gamer. The developer has so far released only basic information about the game, although it is now known to be an action role-playing game (RPG) in the same vein as the Diablo games, but with the twist of being played in 3D, primarily from a first-person perspective.

Author Note: You can play from multiple perspectives so if FPS games aren't your thing don't panic you can zoom out. If you like FPS then keep the camera close and bingo FPS.

Now onto some game info.

GAMESPOT has a great newbie guide to the game posted HERE

The following is the first few paragraphs from the article.

There’s something to be said for games that foster a sense of addiction in their players. Whether you stay up all night trying to get another level in World of Warcraft, or play Lineage II so long that you die, these games offer up a decidedly unhealthy, yet enthralling gameplay experience.

Blizzard’s World of Warcraft game wasn’t their first exercise in free-time-stealing, however: its Diablo and Diablo II games were arguably the progenitors of the category. Given randomized loot and the opportunity to obtain it quickly and repeatedly, the games encouraged players to make just one more Mephisto run in the hopes of finding that Buriza-Do Kyanon crossbow, to the point where people stayed up all night obsessively clicking on enemies.

The zombification of America’s youth is apparently about to get another game proponent with the release of Hellgate: London, which was put together by a team led by veteran Blizzard developers. It’s a slower gameplay experience than Diablo II was, but it still retains the same addictive qualities. Here’s what to expect from GameSpot’s Game Guide to Hellgate: London.

=========================

My review will follow in another post but the bottom line is go check it out and tell me what YOU think?