she said, he said; adellelijah
Forget about converting your video files into an iTunes friendly format! Import all your DivX files and Xvid as well as other formats via iTunes' built in file manager then play them using Applidium's new VLC for iPad app. Check out the preview below or download it available now on the iTunes store via VLC Media Player.
(via AppAdvice)
What are your takes on the Samsung's Galaxy Tab??? Worthy foe against Apple's iPad or just a copy cat failure? Since we sold our iPad, we're definitely missing it's handiness.
Using a 7" screen, running Google's Android 2.2, weighing in at 13.8 ounces and being marketable as back pocket portable (don't sit on it), it looks pretty bad ass.
Running errands for the better half of the day, Adelle and I found time to hit up another local shop in San Diego called Baby Cakes. After an amazing meal at Arrivederci Ristorante, we rounded the corner in continued search of the Best Cup Cake in San Diego. Had I known that it was housed in a 1889 Craftsmans Home, I wouldn't have drove past the little cottage tucked away between two large cement walled buildings. Parking is scarce in front of the shop but there is one spot reserved for those that are picking up or taking out. Apparently they are serious when they mean 15 minutes only with a large sign taunting you that they WILL tow your car.
Upon entering the front yard, you're greeted with a gate that leads you to a well designed and organized patio allowing you to enjoy the San Diego weather coupled with a cup of coffee and their token dessert. Then, all of sudden, entering the house, you have a pub style bar mixed in with two display cases of goodies. Low and behold, they also serve food! Soon to be serving liquid desserts and lunch 7 days a week!? Looking for minis...we didn't see any. Who are we kidding anyways with mini cupcakes?! If you're going to indulge, do it right with the "regular" sized dessert.
Ordering a half dozen for the Monday night "Chiefs" Game, we headed home happy and excited for the little babies. We were so excited that the pictures below were snapped rather rushed. We'll be sure to update the blog with better pictures of all the places and cupcakes in the near future cataloging the entire experience. For now, please excuse the amateur quality, but hey, it's the real deal; no confetti, setup or over exposure touch ups.
Elijah's Take: Times have changed. I actually enjoy Pistachio and this cupcake is no exception. The light green provides a heartening feel that it's a sweet dessert and nothing more. Sprinkled with bits of pistachio on top of the light frosting, it's sponginess wedges itself perfectly in your mouth. It's just the right amount of sweet and nutty that I've come to love. There's even a chance that I might be able to overzealously consume a half dozen of these bad guys before I'd get sick. As for the traditional "Baby Cake" flavor, it was the definition of the cupcake taste. I mean, if you go to an ice cream shop and order cake batter, that'd be the taste. Or maybe the scratch-n-sniff sticker when you were a kid with a cake on it, that's what "Baby Cake" smelled / tasted like. I recommend partaking in the ambiance outside of the cottage. The next time we are there and you spot us, call us out and we'll buy YOU a cupcake! Just follow @adellelijah on twitter to find out when and where.
On the flight from Atlanta to San Diego, a neighboring passenger asked me a very personal question: "What should we do in San Diego?" I say personal because San Diego is a city that I am proud of. Some can say I'm overly proud to be a native San Diegan and for this, my passion runs deep. Without surprise, I had a hard time coming up with a definite list because if you were to ever come to my hometown, I'd zoom you around on a whirlwind tour to make sure, by gosh darnit, you experience EVERYTHING. So I guess the during the month of September, instead of the "back to school" moniker, adellelijah will be posting on...Finding and Sampling the "Best" Cupcakes in San Diego. As snobby as Yelppers & their reviews can be, one cannot help but search and read reviews on the locale. Querying "Cupcakes in San Diego" the result yielded over 200 different places! I decided that I was not going to let reviews cloud adellelijah's take so we'll try to make it as uninfluenced as possible. No, we're not going to spend over $500 sampling, but we will definitely hit as many places as possible.
The first cupcake stop immediately after the traditional Pt. Loma Seafood lunch (Fresh Alaskan Halibut Sandwich) was Cupcakes Squared Inc. We've heard multiple amazing reviews from peers and even a "2009 Voted Best in San Diego" that it would be without a doubt the best place to start. Located in Point Loma on 3772 Voltaire St (between Poinsettia Dr & Worden St), parking was ample while the shopping center looked a bit "older." Walking in, you're instantly greeted by square cupcakes! You would have thought that the "Squared" moniker would have prepared you but it's different. Not in a bad or good way but more of an exciting, lets get some in my mouth already way. There is a table or two outside of the store, but it's mostly just a bakery and not a cafe that some might be accustomed to when venturing to a place of sweetness. So don't be alarmed.
We ordered a large Smores Square and 4 minis; Lilikoi, Not So Red Velvet, Chocolate Peanut & Cheesecake. In one word: Decadent...maybe another word to describe would be Lushious, Moist, amazing... I Loved it!
Upon cutting into the cake and placing the morsel onto your tongue, it's just complete. I know that I have a lot to learn in reviewing food, but you have to go there yourself and check them out. You won't be disappointed. It's smooth, not too light or heavy, it's the Goldilocks of cupcakes.
When you do go to their store, makes sure to navigate to their website first and check out the Daily Baking Schedule as certain flavors are rotated.
Foodview also has a great rundown of the best places in San Diego which they conducted in October of 2008 so adellelijah.com is here to conduct a two year updated
So i downloaded iTunes 10 last night to play with the social networking component Ping. I didn't listen to the Apple Press Event yesterday so I didn't know what to think. I had this grand idea that it would integrate with all the other social networking sites that I frequent (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.). I also though that it was kind of weird since there are existing online music sites that have integrated social networking and have a very mature model, like LastFM. I also thought to myself that this could be something huge with the 100 Million worldwide users of iTunes. That's a huge user base to start with! With that being said, there is a very high bar for Ping to at least get close to.
In the few hours that I've had to play with Ping I have to say, I don't get it. What is the point to Ping? Upon activating Ping to my iTunes account the options are very rudimentary. Basic stuff about you and what picture you want to use as your avatar is available to you. If you have an acccount, you've been asked this a Million times over.
You are then asked a simple set of questions to gauge your musical tastes. Strike 1: I can only choose 3 genres of music I like. I"m very eclectic with my choice in music. This does not set well with me. Strike 2: When asked what albums to represent the music I like, I'm limited to 10 items. This DOES allow me to get past the 3 genres failure, but I'm going to need more than a couple minutes to define myself with 10 albums. To some audiophiles, this is going to take more than a couple minutes.
Getting past the account creation part, I'm still confused by the use. In my opinion there aren't enough people that are registered on the site to get any value. I THINK the point is to find like minded people who are making reviews on the music they purchase via iTunes and befriend them because they have similar musical tastes as I do. Since the release last night, none of my Real Life friends are not on. I value their input 1st before some random person I met on the interwebs.
Getting past the Friend finder, I attempt to register for a couple artists that I want to follow. I start off with their suggestion for Dave Mathews Band. Hey, Under The Table Dreaming, was like the anthem to my 1995. My knee-jerk response is, this has potential. I can see some simple posts by the band about Tours, Music, and Videos from the band and comments from their fans. Honestly, most of the posts are pictures from their current tour. OK, this is starting to look like all the other social networking sites now. It even has it's own comment bombers that want to peddle their get-rich-quick schemes. I followed Jack Johnson as Ping suggested and I see several comments to his posts about how to get a free iPhone.
In my few hours of exposure to this feature of iTunes, I'm at a lose of how they are going to bring something new to the social networking environment. As I mentioned before there are several existing behemoths that do this job well. I'm reminded of LastFM and their format. They allow their users to discover new music, follow the artists tour schedules and even has a wiki like interface for fans to dump their knowledge about the band. LastFM also allows the users to listen for free. Apple, why didn't you just partner with them? There's an existing user base with lots of content?
That brings me to my point; this experiment into social networking via iTunes brings no value add for me. I've already spent the time on other sites like Facebook's Liked pages, MySpace Music, and LastFM to want to recreate in Ping. The current Ping user base is not very helpful and the artists that are using it are few. I think Ping might have some growing up to do before it becomes useful. I think I"ll let it sit for a month and come back to it and see what it's become.
Additional Links:
iTunes Ping: http://www.apple.com/itunes/ping/
LastFM: http://www.last.fm/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/
MySpace Music: http://www.myspace.com/music
Twitter: http://twitter.com/
Dave Mathews Band: http://www.davematthewsband.com/
Jack Johnson: http://jackjohnsonmusic.com/
I've been using the new Netflix iOS application on my iPhone for a couple weeks now. Initially released on Thursday, August 28, 2010. This is a wonderful addition to my already growing application library on my iPhone. This app allows you to access the Netflix Instant Streaming library of Movies, TV Shows, and Documentaries .
Cost of the App:
The Netflix iOS application is available for iPhone and iPod touch in the App Store for free. Who doesn't like free? I also have a Slingbox. To access it, via my iPhone, I needed to purchase the SlingPlayer Mobile app ($29.99 USD) plus the cost of the Slingbox device. When looking at how much a somewhat similar application costs to access a device you had already purchased, free is a great move by Netflix. This allows more people who do not have a Netflix account consider joining.
Netflix :
To access the content, you will need to have a Netflix account. The most basic Netflix account allows you access to 1 DVD out at-a-time and unlimited instant access for $8.99 USD per Month. Don't bother with the Limited account, you won't have access to the instant streaming library.
I've been a Netflix member for a while now and I have to say the online library gets better with each week. There have been recent agreements with studios that allow their content to be streamed online increasing the quality of the content avoidable to users.
Use:
I've had the pleasure of using the app for a couple weeks now. I've tried it out on both by home wireless network and the AT&T 3G network. I have to say, it works well. The online content streams at a resolution of 480 x 360. On my iPhone 3Gs this looks great. I can notice some jagged edges, but the normal everyday user won't see those imperfections. On a mobile device, watching online content in HD resolution is a waste. It would cause a lot more bandwidth to stream the content and the mobile device size wouldn't do it justice. The only other reason to upscale the resolution would be to connect your iPhone to a TV.
The interface is rather easy to use. The layout is simple which is good. When you start the application, you are brought to the Home menu which displays Netflix's categorized recommendation to you. If you don't want to view those recommendations there is a option to browse via Genre. If you are looking for something specific, there is a Search option available. You also have access to your pre-existing Instant Queue. All of these feature work as they well as they should. The only improvement I would recommend to Netflix is to add the functionality of using the horizontal on screen keyboard instead of slaving me to making spelling errors with the vertical one.
I've been using the Pushing Daisies: Season 1 content as my test for this application. Using my home WiFi connection, the content load quickly and streams well. I also turn off my WiFi connection on my iPhone and do see a slight degradation in quality of the picture, but not enough to lessen my enjoyment. It's so insignificant that a normal person wouldn't see it. So big kudos to Netflix for the online content on the iPhone. The only issue that have is with switching from WiFi to 3G on the same episode. When I stopped the playback and changed to the 3G network, the app seams to have an issue with picking up where it left off. Sometimes it's able to correct itself, but often I'm having to start the show over again.
One last warning. If you already have a Netflix account and have several Netflix approved streaming devices (PS3, XBOX, Roku, Approved TV... etc.) you want to make sure you haven't reached your limit. Netflix allows for 6 devices to stream online content. Using your preferred browser counts as a streaming device. I was surprised to find out that when I added my iPhone I maxed out and was not able to watch the online content from my browser unless I removed one of the devices from my profile.
Overall:
I would recommend this app to anyone who has an iPhone and unlimited data plan. If you don't have unlimited data, you don't want to be wasting your data minutes on watching movies at work, on the bus, or on the train. Go out there and get it! Watch some good movies on your iPhone and recommend some to me.
Additional Links:
Netflix: http://www.netflix.com/?
Official Netflix Blog: http://blog.netflix.com/2010/08/netflix-now-available-on-your-iphone.html
Sling Media: http://slingmedia.com/
I just downloaded, updated and installed Magic Trackpad and Multi-Touch Trackpad Update 1.0 and BOOM...I have inertial scrolling on my Apple MacBook Pro 5,1 (late 2008)! I've been dreaming of this moment for quite a while since using my colleague's newer MacBook Pro that touted this feature. Thanks Apple for looking after the older guys with the first-gen trackpads. =) If you have any of these models below, update away and be impressed! Supported gestures include a three-finger drag and inertial scroll for MacBook and MacBook Pro systems.
MacBookMacBook (13-inch, Early 2009)MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2009)MacBook (13-inch, Late 2009)MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008)MacBook ProMacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010)MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010)MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2009)MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53 GHz, Mid 2009)MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009)MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2009)MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009)MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2008)
In other normal tech news, just in case you haven't already heard, Apple released the "Magic Trackpad" to accompany the newer updated iMacs and Mac Pros. Paving the way for a complete mouse-less computing experience, the glass is here to stay!
People are forgetting that next Tuesday is going to be HUGE! Why do you think that Apple decided to have a press conference the week before this event? Since the ongoing issue and media coverage of the iPhone 4's FAILtenna Antennagate, class action lawsuits have been filed, Consumer Reports has gone back and forth in recommending the device and even a Senator had time to write a letter to Steve Jobs addressing the issue (antenne-gate).
Free cases for everyone!!! Not just Apple's Bumper but any case that you want from from a list of approved partners. (updated from Mr. Steve G's comment for a more accurate quote....Thanks Steve!) Apply on Apple's Website starting next week. What are your reactions to how Apple has addressed this issue? Is that going to quench everyone's thirst?
Here's the video that Steve Jobs and Apple played at the beginning of their press conference. Awesome!!!
Yesterday, there was news that the new Hulu Plus service would be available to select PlayStation Network Plus users. This is something that I've wanted on my PS3 for a while now, the ability to play Hulu content on my PS3 since they disabled it to move to the newer version of Flash. Really, this is allowing us access back to what we already had, but this time you have to pay for it. Let's break this down for a second:Now let’s look at Hulu Plus. Hulu Plus is like regular Hulu but now you have the option of watching seasons of select shows and you get to watch the same amount of commercials as the rest of us. Yes, there might be all of the 5 seasons of News Radio up there, but I'll still have to sit through commercials. I can also accomplish the same task with my subscription to Netflix, and I'm already paying for 1 disc in the mail and unlimited use of the online content. Granted the availability of some shows up there is limited to maybe 1-4 seasons, but Netflix's content database is becoming deeper as we speak. Did I mention that Hulu Plus membership is $9.99/Month? Well I just did!
Putting the two together, Hulu Plus and PSN plus, is something of a joke. I would consider a Hulu Plus subscriptions if the option to use it on my PS3 was free. Hulu's going to take $9.99/month from me already, come-on PSN be the cool kid and let me watch the content for free. Now if I really dig into it, the PS3 isn't what it was suppose to be for me, a full Home Entertainment device. Yes, I can play games, watch Blu-Ray movies, and listen to music, but it doesn't seem to go as far as to replace my laptop. If I’m going to buy into he Hulu Plus brain washing, I might as well as hook my laptop up to my LED TV via HDMI and be done with it.
PSN, give me something to excite me, like cloud based storage and DVR functionality. Think of it, I could go to a buddy’s house and ask them if they saw the last MMA fight, when they say no, I could just pull up my PSN account and start playing it from the network. I know this is a little counter-intuitive with the PSN Movies Store and some of that content, but when you any Shows or Movies from the store, you can only watch it on the PS3 you purchased it from. LAME! Also, PlayStation USA let me have that DVR attachment you've been taunting me with from your European division. That's just mean! Booo!
Double Plus Power, I'm going to have to skip it!
Playstation Blog post about Hulu Plus http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/07/14/hulu-plus-streams-its-way-to-the-ps3/
Information about PlayStaiton Plus http://us.playstation.com/psn/playstation-plus/
When did people ever care more about functionality than design; is your iPhone 4 completely useless because of it? No. The consumer public has been aware of this issue the last few weeks but are still flocking to Apple stores in droves to purchase the new iPhone 4. Some of us (females) wear the most ridiculous and uncomfortable shoes sometimes just to look good so that's the same idea right? We have seen people complaining left and right about the loss of reception under the "Death Grip" but I can't say that I've actually experienced it myself nor have I encountered an individual that is holding out for this very reason. My fiance hasn't complained much about reception issues greater than her negative AT&T coverage on the previous iPhone 3G, but then again, we both have Apple's Bumpers as our solution to protection. We're enjoying FaceTime moments and it couldn't have been done without Apple's new iPhone 4. It also became law this past year that you need a handsfree device to talk in the car, and in other states, you cannot text while driving which might cover browsing the internet and reading up on your tweets. So what's the big deal? Put the phone down already while talking. This post is a response to this morning's Bloomberg's article which unleashed a storm startling us out of bed with the inside scoop that one of Apple's senior antenna experts, Ruben Caballero, warned Steve Jobs about how the innovative antenna design might lead to dropped calls. We all know what the final outcome led to; one of the most beautiful devices on the planet hands-down. Now it's under fire. Apple's image is under fire being compared to Toyota's recall debacle. Apple's stock has taken a 9% dive since it's record breaking all time high of $274 and the world doesn't know what to do. So Apple is finally dealing with this issue. Stay tuned for tomorrow's event at 10am Pacific Time. Will Steve Jobs be around?
In the meantime, how do you hold your phone? Here's how I hold mine
Update: Apple's online store is showing shipping times of 3 weeks from today. Does this mean a hardware change is in place in their China factories?
Here's the article about my internal debate with trying to buy into the Apple's new iPhone 4. Elijah has been pestering me for a while to start writing for his site; I guess persistence is the key, because here I am writing my first article. Readers: please be gentle with me, it's my first time.
I have a few hesitations with just going to the store and demanding the new iPhone 4, ignoring the fact that I wouldn't be able to do that with the inventory shortages. So here we go with Part 1: Hardware.
#1: Hardware
I've read enough articles on Gizmodo, Engadget and various other Tech Blogs to know that that the guts of the new iPhone are better than the 3Gs, but I'm still not impressed by it.
-Camera -
Lets start with the 5.0 mega-pixel camera. I know that I should be excited about this, but it feels like we're adding something to the iPhone that probably should of be replaced by some better devices features. When I think of the all the additional mega-pixels that I can add to my sub-par photography skills, it seems like a waste because these pictures will be posted to Facebook in all its glorious 530x660 maximum resolution. See, with Facebook albums, you are only looking at that small picture. At that resolution, I can't tell the difference if the picture was taken with a 5.0 Mega-pixel iPhone 4 or a 3.0 Mega-pixel 3Gs. Moving away from Facebook, what would I do with those high resolution pictures? Nothing. When I get an urge to look back at pictures of all the fun times I've had, I look at the pictures online to never print them out on a photo printer or edit it in Photoshop. Again, what would I need all those mega-pixels for?
I'm a normal every day user. It seems to me that an internal projector or an actual zoom lenses should of been added to it. Think of the implications of having a projector available to you. Imagine that you are in a meeting and you have a PowerPoint that you want to show the return on investments for your project. Awesome, you just made your company a ton of money using your iPhone. Getting back to the camera, if you have a physical zoom lenses then those pictures would make more sense to me. I hate trying to pinch-zoom for a software zoom on your picture. It seems like cheating and not a good idea in the long run.
-Antenna-
There are a lot of articles and videos documenting the iPhone 4 FAILtenna. Documenting my frustrations with this would be like shooting fish in a barrel, therefore, I'm not going to get into details about it. I like the idea of integrating the antenna into the chassis of the device thus adding more space to implement more tech particularly the larger battery. I just don't get how it made it through QA without someone noticing the "Death Grip feature." Maybe that's exactly what it is, an undocumented feature. This could be a new game that was installed with the phone so you don't have to purchase anything though the iTunes Apps Store. Just knowing that this is still a known issue that's probably software related, creates doubt in my mind about buying a new iPhone. In the videos that I've seen, that's exactly how I normally grip my phone if I'm looking up something on the go. So this brings me to my next subject, chassis because the workaround for the FAILtenna is put a rubber band around your iPhone so you don't complete the circuit between the WiFi and Cell antennas.
-Chassis-
I like the look of the new iPhone 4, but I'm pretty rough on my phones so an all glass enclosure scares me. I normally carry my phone in my back pocket because I've grown out of wanting to clip my phone to my belt like it was a Peace Maker and I'm about to get into a gunfight at the O.K. Coral. I know that I could buy a case to protect it, but isn't that deterring from all the time the designers and engineers spent on developing such a nice looking chassis? That would be like saying the Venus de Milo is a great piece of art, but since it's no longer structurally sound, we're going to spray it with a layer of rubber around it so that it doesn't further deteriorate. It's just cheating. I'll admit, I have a case for my 3GS so, I'm not stranger to cases but that's to cover a metal backing that get scratched up, not a "unbreakable" glass backing.
Bottom line, I still have hesitations about the Apple's new iPhone 4. I probably will buy one, eventually, but these are some of the things that I think about. Sorry about the random string of thoughts but it's my first blog. More to come so stay tuned and keep reading adellelijah!
Greetings readers! This is my first post on adellelijah so I thought that I would kick it off with the fact that Apple is going to address their "FAILtenna" this Friday, June 16th, at 10:00am Pacific Time.
I can't say that I know what they will have to say but I'm leaning towards the fact that iOS 4.1 is addressing the over exaggeration of reception bars and maybe...just maybe...FREE BUMPERS FOR EVERYONE!!! Since this is my first post and the news isn't really anything more than just an announcement, I'll leave it at that. Stay tuned for my ongoing internal debate with trying to buy into Apple's new iPhone 4.
Warning: I get blunt near the end.
Since the release of the iPhone 4, there has been a plethora of praise and negativity culminating in today's repeal of Consumer Reports recommendation of Apple's latest device due to possible interference and degradation of reception. On July 2nd, Apple released a Press Report addressing this issue found here upon multiple complaints and initial reports of loss of reception. Consumer Reports demonstrates the loss of reception when the iPhone 4 is held a particular way in this video below. Mind you, there are multiple YouTube videos that also demonstrate this but there are also fellow tech bloggers that aren't reporting this issue.
During the first week of the iPhone 4's release, Techworld posted an article how an early adopter figured out a way to "improve" and prevent interference with the addition of scotch tape to the bottom left side of the the critically flawed device. Since then, multiple lawsuits have been filed, a class action suit has been submitted, and random people and friends are inquiring me asking if I'm experiencing the issue. (list of lawsuits via @Gizmodo)
Bottom line: AT&T has always been terrible. I was always using my iPhone 3G on Edge to save battery coupled with the face that the 3G service was horrible. I've always had Apple's Bumper on my iPhone 4 since day 2 of ownership and cannot specifically admit that I've experienced this issue. Sincerely, it's not any worse than my two year ownership of the iPhone 3G. In fact, I'm loving my iPhone 4 which allows me to do SO much more. Yes, I'm an early adopter, I love Apple Products but I'm not going to be a little bitch and complain about something that a simple a fix can't solve. Everyone needs to get over the flawed American Mentality of suing companies for "flawed" products and just don't buy the damn thing. It's not flawed! How can it be when 1.7 million people bought the damn thing in the first 3 days! (Apple's PR)
Grow a pair, leave AT&T, dump the iPhone 4 and get an Evo already. Because of the Apple and the success of their iPhones, I was able to sell my two previous versions (1 black iPhone 3G 8GB and 1 white iPhone 3G 16GB) almost paying for the new phones! It's ingenious that their hold a certain value on the used market which makes me a happy consumer. Yeah there might be an asterisk and for some unknown reason when Apple was beta testing the design they missed this detail, but come on, the iPhone 4 is awesome!
The most painfully obvious one is the lack of toughness in the players. There is no doubt in my mind that soccer is a physically demanding sport that rewards the players with the most talent, strength and speed. So why is it that they have universally adopted a strategy of manipulation and helplessness? On first thought I understand why they roll around on the ground acting as though their leg has just been amputated when in fact they "tripped" on a blade of grass. They're working the system. Hoping to get that call that gives them the free kick. But as I thought longer about it I realized that the referees are good at making snap calls. They don't wait to watch the players reaction when determining whether or not to blow the whistle. So why the extracurriculars? I can only imagine it's a mindset that they have drilled into their psyche. These are after all professional athletes presumably capable of a disciplined psychological approach to the game. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them actually believe they are getting injured. This is far from an admirable quality in an athlete let alone a human being.
There was one other factor I noticed in the game on Saturday. Miraculously, once Ghana took the lead (and I can only assume this is a common occurrence) their players began taking injuries far more frequently. Again, they're working the system. Trying to kill as much time as possible. And their trainers have no issue bringing out the cleanup crew to asses what catastrophic injury has occurred. It's like they're all in on this big lie and the referees are powerless to stop it. But do they realize how transparent it is? Do you think these players go home and apologize to their families for appearing so weak in front of the world? I would hope that they do! How does a soccer player's wife describe what her husband does? I see it going something like this... "My husband has the greatest job! He tries as hard as he can to succeed, and when he's incapable of doing this with his physical abilities he rolls around on the ground like an infant pitching a fit until someone helps him out." Seriously. And how much are they getting paid?
Let's do a little comparison. A hockey player will go face first into the boards and jump back into the play bleeding from the mouth as if nothing happened. A baseball player will take a 95 mph fastball to the elbow and trot to first base with nothing more than a quick glance (or glare) at the pitcher. The mighty Brett Favre comes to mind jumping up after getting sacked by someone three times his size, grabbing the big man's face mask and head butting him with a smile. These guys personify everything we admire in pro athletes. They're capable of extraordinary human abilities that include avoiding injury. When I watch soccer I find myself feeling like I can handle more adversity than the pro's in front of me. My 1 year old niece accidentally kicked me harder the other day picking her up than that guy on the tv screen being carried away on a stretcher.
The World Cup players that I have been watching leave me feeling embarrassed to associate my gender with them. I don't know what to make of the idea that this sport is so universally loved around the world. Are that many people manipulating schemers at heart? I'd think you would have to be to get such a thrill watching it happen on such a grand scale.
Will the USA soccer hype translate into more fans watching MLS? I highly doubt it and at this point couldn't care less. It was only fitting that the face of the USA team, Landon Donovan, is as meek and soft spoken as your average player on the high school chess team. There is no killer instinct in soccer. If you really want to help your team you must possess the qualities of the helpless. The weak. The one seemingly incapable of avoiding a slide tackle you can see coming 20 yards away. This is why I can never fully get on board with soccer. I tried. Oh I tried. But I watched too closely. That ruined it for me.
At the end of the life cycle of last generation's consoles, many critics speculated whether Nintendo could rally back from its less than stellar GameCube console, which lagged considerably behind the processing power of both the Xbox from Microsoft and the PlayStation 2 from Sony. Then in November of 2005 Microsoft kicked off the “next gen” console wars by debuting its Xbox 360, the first console to ever offer the power to play High Definition games. Microsoft enjoyed a full year’s lead on its competition by releasing its next gen console in 2005. Finally in 2006, Sony released its PlayStation 3 which also boasted High Def gameplay, and Nintendo released its Wii console which displayed games in a meager 480p. Nintendo bet the farm on the Wii simply because it utilized a novel control scheme: motion controls. Many critics bet that Nintendo, for yet another hardware cycle, would occupy the 3rd place spot falling prey to its High Def competitors. What happened over the course of the next 2 years shocked the gaming world, not only did the Wii sell, but it outsold both of its competitors nearly every month for 2 solid years. Nintendo, much like Apple, reinvented the way we perceive common things in our lives; they created a paradigm shift. Many people found traditional gaming too intimidating to really enjoy, Nintendo sensed this and created a control scheme that was intuitive for anyone to pick up and play, and many non-gamers found themselves truly enjoying video games for the first time.
Much like in 2007, Nintendo just created another paradigm shift in the entertainment world. On Tuesday, Nintendo announced at their E3 presentation (E3 is the Electronics Entertainment Expo the largest gaming conference in the world) a new handheld console called the 3DS. What is so impressive about this handheld is that not only can people bring games with them on the go, but this is the first handheld console that displays games in 3D...oh and did I mention it does not require any special eye wear of any kind to view the games in 3D? Not only will this system change the gaming world, but will make inroads in the entertainment industry because it now proves that there is technology available today to manufacture 3D viewing experiences that do not require the viewer to wear a pound of plastic on their face for the duration of a 2 to 3 hour movie or throughout their favorite sporting event such as the Super Bowl. While pricing is not yet available it is certainly impressive to marvel at the technical feat that Nintendo has accomplished, and only 3 years after some critics predicted the end of the biggest name in video game entertainment history. It just goes to show you that while many companies choose to compete on price and similar features, the smart companies like Nintendo prefer to innovate their way out of financially depressed times. If the technology leaders of tomorrow are able to take a page from this book, we definitely have a bright future to look forward to.
I grew up in a household that placed little value on sports. I was lucky to have an Aunt and Uncle next door with a cousin my same age that were a little more encouraging in that direction. My cousin and I started playing sports when we were 7 years old. It began with soccer and t-ball and morphed into football, basketball, snowboarding, paintball and later hockey as I grew up. So was it all just for fun or was there some value to the years I spent kicking or hitting a ball around? Am I better off today for having played sports growing up or would that time have been better spent studying or spending time with my family? I am entirely convinced my life is improved having played sports. As my siblings and cousins begin having children I find myself having this discussion off and on. So far I've found in my generation a general consensus that sports are good. But my parents don't think that way and I'm sure there are many out there that think sports are pointless, barbaric activities that do harm to our culture. I'll admit, I can see how some of those arguments can be made.
Let's take hockey as an example. It is perceived as one of the more brutal sports played professionally in the U.S. There's a lot of fighting, swearing, cheap shots and anger in that game. How could playing or watching something like that possibly be beneficial to our kids? Hockey is probably the hardest sport to justify and for that reason I will choose this to base my arguments. After all, if I can convince someone (or myself) that hockey is not only ok but good for our society, surely you would find it easy to justify other sports.
The first obvious benefit to playing hockey (or any other sport) at a young age is the social interaction. It's an outlet for kids to develop outside of the more sterilized classroom environment. They're allowed to open up more and express their emotions whether it be frustration or disappointment. It also provides a physical outlet to allow some relief from those emotional outbursts. Expressing frustration or disappointment is obviously not always good. Unchecked it can be done inappropriately and even cause harm to others. When you're playing a sport like hockey you are far more likely to materialize these sorts of emotions, in a most extreme way, than you would during normal daily activities. This is probably because sports draw the competitive side out of us. That drive to win makes you vulnerable to losing control of your own emotions. This is one of the greatest assets of sports, and not for the reason you might think. I believe losing control of your own emotions is a learning experience, especially when you are a child. Those times when it feels so right in the moment only for you to realize later how ridiculous and embarrassing it was (easy to to do these days when most phones take video now). These are the moments when kids are developing themselves into the person they are going to be as an adult. I'd like to believe someone who learns to control their emotions when someone hacks them in the back with a hockey stick will be able to do the same when someone cuts them off on the freeway. Maybe an adult that had less exposure to this growing up might feel more inclined to run someone off of the road. And of course, these things rely on proper mentors to allow this to be a positive experience. If the emotional outbursts lead to violence on the ice and the coach doesn't explain to the kids why what they just did was wrong, they will have no way to learn from it. The first step is realizing you're wrong. You can only go up from there.
The motivating force for me to believe in the therapeutic qualities in sports is my own personal experience. Through the magic of video and hindsight, I realized many years ago that who I was on the field, the court, or the ice was not who I thought I was away from those places. When I decided to make fundamental changes in my mindset and my approach to life as a teenager I started right where my weaknesses were most easily exposed. Sports. I began talking to myself (in my head) between plays. Whenever I felt justified in retaliating I would try to pause initially or in the best case just walk away. It's not like I showed up one day and was a better person. This process was only the beginning of over a decade long struggle that still continues to this day, albeit in a much more subtle way. I play hockey every week. When I am having issues away from the ice I find myself driven to express those at the rink (usually against someone wearing a jersey that is a different color from my own). It gives me just the opportunity I need to address the issue and stop it where I want to express it most. Win or lose the game, I always feel great when after the game I can say I don't regret anything I did that night. Honestly, I don't know how my life would be different now if I didn't have that outlet growing up. I would probably be in worse physical shape, maybe have fewer friends (or maybe not), probably have less confidence, and I'd have one less thing to look forward to week after week. I can't imagine a single way my life would have benefited from not playing sports.
Of course, there are definitely down sides to sports that can negate everything I just said. A debilitating injury would be one of those. But we risk that every time we get in a car. Perhaps the emotional highs could lead you to do something in a game with legal ramifications that you'd say were out of character. It can eat up a lot of your free time, cost a lot of money, and potentially cause your grades to go down in school. But those are all short term issues (outside of injury) that can be remedied and I believe the benefits of playing sports materialize over your entire lifetime.
I'm not saying make your kid play sports. But I would like to say that if they're interested in it or any other after school activity, it should be supported! It's one of the sacrifices parents should make to ensure their kids have a well rounded, interactive, diversified upbringing. Maximize their exposure to this stuff now so that they're better equipped to deal with it as they grow older. If they try it and hate it, encourage them to try something else. If you're lucky they will find something they are passionate about and draw on this motivation throughout their entire lives. Maybe even make a living of it!
Waking up to a phone call from my fiance in San Diego while I was sound asleep in a hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, she informed me that her friend had successfully pre-ordered the newest Apple iPhone; the iPhone 4. I got out of bed admittedly a little excited but fretting the next few minutes (what would turn out to be hours) anticipating the horror and onslaught that the process would be. I was right to suspect that many others would be trying to do the same and lock in an iPhone but now, not only do I despise Apple more so but AT&T as well including this "pre-ordering" process.
To make my story short, three hours later, I successfully added an iPhone 4 to my cart, then went back to add another one for the 2nd line on my account. Of course, I was told, when ready to check out, that my shopping cart had too many iPhones! I only had two freaking iPhones! Why didn't you tell me two hours ago that I could only order one?! So basically, after all that, I was no where. Two hours later, I get back to my cart, removed one of the iPhones, placed the order and was forced to repeat the same excruciating experience!
Refresh after refresh, checking eligibility after eligibility, processing on AT&T's servers inundated with multiple failures, I'm going to say that this experience was the biggest failure in online pre-ordering history. If you're going to make an annoucement that pre-orders will begin on the 15th of June, then man **** up and expand your services in anticipation! I better not see some stupid Press Release announcing that they servers were over loaded and they did not anticipate the overwhelming response. That's just going to be another crappy PR Stunt.
Condensed time line:
6:00AM - get up and start trying to pre-order the Apple iPhone 4 (excitement)
6:01AM - the store is down (excited still)
6:20AM - I've been refreshing the screen on Chrome, Safari, and Firefox noticing that Google's Chrome is giving me faster results.
6:30AM - I see that I'm able to actually click the shiny blue pre-order button.
7:30AM - frustrated after multiple attempts to proceed to the next step, I lay back down
7:42AM - I get up again and start the process over
7:50AM - trying to get AT&T the verify that I qualify for the "discounted" price by inputting my phone number, billing zip code and social security number then hit continue.
7:51AM - I think I'm there....but the process fails while authenticating on AT&T side.
7:52AM - I have to start the stupid process again.
8:30AM - I'm pissed!!!
8:45AM - the last freaking thing I want to see a website display is "Oops?!" WTH
8:51AM - You tell me that I can't have it shipping and I have to pick it up!? Do not pass go and try again.
9:15AM - I was successful in pre-ordering 1 iPhone 4 but still have 1 to go
9:50AM - I decide to write this post and vent my frustration! And, no I still have not been able to get pass the processing part.
Throughout this whole time, I'm seeing the Apple Online Store go up then down then up again while noticing that the store address is changing / continually evolving.
First from: http://store.apple.com/us/go/iphone4 then: https://buyiphone.apple.com Good for apple but just a little too late!
Final Thoughts: Standing in line at the Apple store isn't nearly as frustrating but actually fun!?
Maybe you've heard of the term "scab", maybe not. If you work in the airline industry you most certainly have heard it and probably cringe at the very sound. Up to this point in my career as an airline pilot I have only been aware of scabs from our past. Things that happened in the industry before I was a part of it. Saturday I see my first real time exposure to real life, unmistakeable, scabs. And no, it has nothing to do with a healing scrape or burn. A scab is the label put on a pilot who does any flying, and I mean any flying, that has been deemed struck. In other words, when a pilot group goes on strike as Spirit Airlines based in Ft. Lauderdale, FL is doing right now, if you work a flight that flies their passengers under their name with compensation going to that airline (in this case Spirit), you are forever known for the rest of your career as a scab. It doesn't matter what the motivation is behind it. Whether your job was threatened or even your families, the unionized pilot groups in the U.S. will generally turn their back on you. There is even a "black list", mysterious as it is, floating around the industry making permanent record of anyone who has crossed the picket line. Generally, this keeps you from hitching a ride on other carriers and in many cases will even prevent you from being hired by another airline! And the debate goes on... Is it really fair to essentially destroy the career of a pilot for what could equate to simply doing the job that his or her boss demanded they do? That of course is up for debate. And many unionized pilots may feel sympathy for a given scab depending on their circumstances. But the fact remains, it happened. And in the environment we have today at the airlines, as has been the case for decades, there is no tolerance for it. Essentially those pilots that chose to cross the picket line are undermining the guys and gals picketing out front. Mind you those pilots on strike have lost all benefits from their job during the strike, including pay.
Beginning early Saturday morning, the pilot group at Spirit Airlines went on strike over a dispute in the contract they have been negotiating for years. This has led to stranded passengers, overworked ticket agents, and a reallocation of law enforcement to provide security inside the airport. The pilots and management at Spirit knew exactly what they were getting into when neither could agree on a contract by the pre-determined deadline. Today they're all paying for that. Whether or not the pilots are right or management is right is another topic altogether.
A charter airline by the name of Falcon Air Express was hired by the Spirit Airlines management team to provide transportation to their passengers. They were Spirit routes, with Spirit call signs flying Spirit passengers. The union representing Spirit Airlines pilots (Airline Pilots Association) made it clear before the strike that they would consider any pilot that did any flying for Spirit during the strike a scab as permanent record. Saturday, 2 pilots did just that. From what I can tell, they were the only two pilots in the Falcon Air system that did not refuse to do the flights. The other crew members under Falcon Air's employment assumed a great amount of risk themselves by refusing to work the flight. Having no union representation, you could even argue they assumed more risk than the Spirit Airlines pilots that have walked out on their jobs. The names of the two scabs have been made public record already but I will refrain from publishing them myself as I have no way to legitimately verify them nor do I have interest in vilifying them further than they already have been.
And the question remains, is it really justifiable to destroy the careers of two pilots who may have a family at home they're supporting? For all we know that could be the very reason they took the flight in the first place. Scabs have been around in the airline industry for a long time. Whether it has been pilots crossing picket lines or alter ego airlines being created by a given airline to undercut their own workforce, the list continues to grow. At the dismay of most unionized pilots that may be reading this I will dare say that I would never refuse a jumpseat to an alleged scab if they had legitimate reasons to act in the way that they did. A person with 2 kids at home making $30,000 a year can't afford to refuse a flight. The industry is asking them to make personal and family sacrifices for the sake of airline pilots around the world. Those that do refuse that flight should be commended. They are making a sacrifice for what they perceive as "fighting the good fight". Those that cross the picket line or accept employment with a scab airline because they have no other options deserve at least some compassion. Is it a problem? Absolutely. Would we all be better off if they didn't exist? Well, if by all you mean pilots then of course. But it seems today that the accuser could very easily be the accused. They throw stones that may come back to knock them right in the head. What happened to dignity, compassion, and professionalism? It certainly seems to be lacking in the airline industry today. Any maybe it's lacking in the American culture altogether.
The action of scabbing and the reaction of those pilots being scabbed against are really dark windows into the flying profession. Much like I did for the umpire the blew a perfect game with a bad call recently against the Detroit Tigers, I feel for the 2 crew members that work for Falcon Air and will probably never work for another American airline. Until I get all of the facts straight, which I may never do with absolute certainty, I will refrain from passing judgment on the two Falcon crew members. When I find out they knowingly undercut the pilots picketing out front of the airport I will feel comfortable in labeling them scabs knowing the consequences that follow. And even then, if they had a compelling reason, I'd welcome them into my own jump seat in the future.
On the morning of June 12, 2010 at 5AM, the end of negotiations and the beginning of a strike by the Spirit Airlines Pilots Union began. Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale since 1999, the airline announced its transition to become America's first Ultra-Low-Cost Carrier in 2007 alongside a re-branding effort. Continuing the race to the bottom, charging passengers for baggage, carry-ons and drinks, Spirit Airlines is asking for more. Targeting not only the pilots wages, which are currently 30% below industry standards, as well as work rules dealing with fatigue and pilot seniority, Spirit Airlines is fighting. Just a little after three years of failed contract negotiations, the National Mediation Board "permitted" the pilots the right to strike. Since then, various media outlets from the New York Times via The Associated Press to the Miami Herald and MSNBC have failed to mention the certain plights that members of the striking pilots union have gone through, have lived with and are being asked in the company proposal. Since when does a sports athlete without a contract show up to practice or continue to play the game? Rookies don't practice until they have a firm contract and heck, even seasoned veterans sometimes holdout even before their contract expires! In what other industry do we see contract negotiations outlasting their expiration and workers forced to continue laboring under older work rules which can sometimes be up to ten years old? In the case of Pinnacle Airlines pilots, they are still flying without a contract going on five years with negotiations currently stalled. It took Atlantic Southeast Airlines right around 5 years to negotiate a new contract that was amending a contract created 3 years prior to the start of negotiations! Back in 2007, Atlantic Southeast Pilots were getting paid rates that were negotiated back in 1998!
The mindset of the mass public, due to misinformation from the media as well as an old school mentality left over from the golden age of flying, is that most pilots make upwards of $200,000 a year. I'll admit that some do but the majority do not. I'll tell you right now that in 2006, the average wage for a first year commercial airline pilot ranged from $14K-$50K. A public website called Airline Pilot Central has most of the US Carriers wages listed as hourly but taking a closer look, an hourly wage earned by a pilot doesn't calculate to 40 hours a week. It varies throughout the airlines, but an average month can range between 65 hours to 80 hours of pay. Taking that into consideration, max flight time is federally regulated to 30 hours in a seven day period, 100 hours in 30 days and 1000 per year.
I pulled data from the public website Airline Pilot Central, specifically these airlines; [Spirit Airlines, AirTran, Virgin America, Southwest, JetBlue]. I have done the easy part and posted the wages that are current of this publishing comparing airlines that fly comparable equipment. In this specific case, ignore the A321 category under Spirit as well as the E190 category under JetBlue.
Taking a look above specifically at the 6 year scale moving clockwise (highlighted in red boxes), captains make $118 / $124 / $120 / $193 / $147 where first officers make $67 / $74 / $72 / $129 / $96 on an hourly basis. These graphics do not take into account the vast differences in medical benefits, compensation and work rules. Note that Virgin America is the youngest of these airlines and is already offering to pay their pilots more than Spirit Airlines. One might inquire on why Southwest Airlines is incredibly higher in pay? It's because they did not take contract hits as much as the Major airlines in the post 2001 collapse and have maintained an industry leading management / employee relationship. Southwest was once the lower paying of the bunch.
I hope that I have enlightened you to some simple facts where the media has miserably failed in its duties. Furthermore, I have included a website that details the history and current issues that plague Spirit Airlines. I encourage you to read further and comment away.
http://www.spiritairlinesscabs.com/THE_LONG_ROAD_TRAVELED.html
Here is an excerpt from the aforementioned website:
~~~~~~~~ POST STRIKE ~~~~~~~ Understanding the hostilty and frustration, one can easily see why this strike occurred: In the last 30 days, the Investors (1) publically threatened to close the airline if a strike occurred; then (2) went back to the bargaining table while informing customers that if the pilots went on strike it would (fully knowing it could not) continue operating "through the crisis" using other carriers; and (3) today, every Spirit flight has been cancelled stranding thousands of passengers; passengers, many of which chose not to make alternate travel arrangments based on the promises put forth by Spirit.
Their pattern is self-evident. This is exactly how the Investors have approached federally mediated negotiations for the past four (4) years. They have outright lied, stalled and been blatantly deceitful -- so much so -- that at one point ALPA brought suit in Federal court to enjoin their blatant refusal to bargain in good faith. Pointedly, the Judge dismissed the case finding, essentialy, that the Court lacked jurisdiction to enjoin the right to bargain any way one wants.
And to this deceit, where do the needs of the passenger fall? Right behind the pilots'.
Let me preface this article by saying that I am by no means an expert in the area of education. I simply have a degree in a social science and have my own life experience to draw from. Whether or not you choose to give any weight to this at all is entirely up to you. It's no shocker to see the words "failing" or "inadequate" when you're looking at something in reference to the American education system. A country that would seem to have it all can't figure out how to educate it's children. The system is entirely out of control. I believe one of the biggest obstacles keeping it from being overhauled is the lack of urgency from the public. It really doesn't seem like the general population understands the consequences of a poor education system. Every politician makes a point to mention in their campaign slurs that they will fix it. Everyone knows it's broken and hearing empty promises by someone potentially highly influential makes the public feel like they're helping to fix it simply with a vote. Still, no urgency and nothing gets done. The fact is the system is still broken after every attempt to fix it. I believe that is because the politicians either don't understand why it doesn't work or they're too afraid to address it. So why doesn't it work? Let me try my hand at this. Let's talk about the public school system at the elementary level.
I couldn't give all the reasons it's broken in one short article. Nor do I know all of the reasons. But there are a few glaring ones I'd like to point out. The first one is the control the government has over the curriculum. There is obviously a plus side to this. The uniformity of the curriculum across all schools prevents a less capable school from teaching their students with bad information or irrelevant subjects (we won't yet mention the lack of control over bad teachers). But the down side to this is paralyzing. It also prevents better curriculums from being used. There are no "cutting edge" teachers out there because "cutting edge" would be illegal to teach (assuming it hasn't yet gone through the motions to be approved teaching material). Remember, this doesn't apply to private schools or colleges, we're just talking about public elementary schools. They can't make the curriculum any harder or too many children will fail. What's worse, failing children that don't grasp the subject or preventing those that do from reaching a higher level? I would argue the latter. I know it sounds barbaric to leave kids behind and I think there should be things in place for those kids to bring them up to speed. In fact the bulk of the attention should be on those kids. The over-achievers won't require as much attention. The higher learning programs just need to be available! On a societal level, it is far more beneficial to embrace the over-achievers and encourage them to reach new heights than to allow them to over-achieve in under-performing classes. A child should never be able to reach the peak potential of a class before their own has been met. Programs should always be in place to push them to higher learning. It's those children, after all, that will be running the country for their generation. Slowing them now has grave consequences for the future.
By now you're probably thinking I'm way off base. How could anyone expect children to perform at higher levels when the failure rate is already so high in the curriculum we have now? We have a new problem that's harder to solve than the first ones. Imagine you live in a castle and you see the enemy just 100 yards away bombarding your walls as they crumble around you. The enemy is clear. But unfortunately you don't have the ability to stop them so all you can do is watch as your fortress is destroyed. This is the threat teacher's unions pose to any politician willing to take them on. It is a very powerful union because of its vast resources. Those resources are votes. If the governor of your state decides to challenge the union it is likely they will be a one term governor. Especially in a state that's more liberal than conservative. Now you're thinking I just have issues with unions. Not so. There is a place for unions. But when it comes to educating kids, it is wrong. It is the union's role to protect the teacher's best interest. Who's role is it to protect the student's interest? The student's union? That is an area a union would be beneficial. Of course the idea of children forming a union is ridiculous. So the only option left is to dump the teacher's union. It should be in no ones best interest to protect the job of an individual who is negatively influencing children with their work. That is what bad teachers do. A good teacher can push kids harder because they're better equipped to ensure the children keep up. A bad teacher will have high failure rates, or worse, will change their testing standards to "fudge the numbers" and allow more children to pass with lower scores. Granted, teachers are underpaid which causes some justification for the union. That is an issue that needs to be addressed. But not at the expense of the students.
To fix the system it needs to be changed from the ground up. There should be incentive for teachers to do well and they should be compensated for their skills. Teaching in low income, underachieving areas shouldn't be the low paying jobs with brand new unproven teachers. Those less desirable working conditions should warrant higher pay and thereby draw in better teachers. There is no question that pay and performance go hand on hand more often than it doesn't. With the union in place, you could never build a system like this. It just doesn't work. There are casualties when you make drastic changes and the union would fight to the end to prevent them, as they should. It is after all their role. There should be more benefits for teachers, better compensation, and recognition for fields they may specialize in. A NASA engineer should be given special consideration to teach a class on engineering over a college graduate with a teaching credential and a few classes in engineering. To accommodate that they need to be compensated for that specialty. The only way to do these things is to drastically increase funding to public schools at the government level. But only after the system is rebuilt.
I've really only scratched the surface on what's wrong with our school system. Lack of public urgency, government curriculum control and poor teacher performance (tied to union protection) are three issues I feel should receive urgent attention. It would take a bold move from a bold person to fix this. They wouldn't be popular today, tomorrow or maybe even in their lifetime. But they would leave a legacy of smarter more capable Americans. And that should be good enough.