Chronicles of the Bored

What's wrong with this picture?

2010-07-01T09:05:00.002-04:00

If any of you know the douchebag that didn't give up his seat to this little old lady, please punch him in the nuts.

Is Google gearing up to wage war on Facebook and Myspace?

2009-04-06T17:57:00.005-04:00

Buried under several settings and account menus within Google's products is the ability to create a "Google Profile". Up until now, the extent of your Google existence was your status message on Gmail and the various pieces of content that you've uploaded to Google's products, such as Picassa and YouTube. While this may have been out for a while, this is the first I'm seeing on this. In the explanation of Profiles (http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=97703): "A Google profile is simply how you present yourself on Google products to other Google users." From your profile, you can:

Send and Receive messages without revealing your email address
Share photos on your profile
Create a page about you
Add contact information
Show your location

I don't know about you, but this sounds a lot like what Facebook does, doesn't it? Facebook started essentially as a page that defined who you are, and then developed modules to better define yourself through pictures, events, and groups. Google, on the otherhand, is starting with several products that define you, and creating a profile to tie these products together to define who you

are. Starting with Picassa pictures and Maps location for now, just wait until Google starts to allow users to integrate YouTube, Blogger, Calendar, Docs, Finance, and more into their profiles. Just thinking about how many Google products I already actively use, and Google's initiatives with OpenSocial, Facebook may be in store for a war to dominate the social web.

Google to buy Twitter?

2009-04-03T10:23:00.003-04:00

While reports have indicated preliminary talks, I think people's imaginations have run wild with this one and have made it a far bigger issue than it really is at this point. To use a sports analogy, it would be like a team acquiring an all-star to add to their roster. Given Google's track record, it would seem that their strategy is more in line with drafting a rookie (read: new technology) with high potential and developing it within its system. However, this doesn't mean that this isn't a good idea. Here are some random thoughts if this were actually to go through:

Twitter would benefit from the beefier Google infrastructure => extinction of the Fail Whale.
Google would gain a larger foothold in the social space and gain more ammunition for its war against Microsoft.
Twitter would gain resource support against Facebook's attempts to become more like Twitter.
There would be a plethora of opportunities for integration between Google's Mail, Calendar, Reader, etc. with Twitter's information stream.

While I think this will eventually make it into the same rumor bucket as when Google were supposedly buying Digg, you never know what can happen. Just look at the New York Yankees and the Boston Celtics.

My New PC

2009-03-16T18:59:00.003-04:00

After weeks of painstakingly comparing different components, brands, and technologies, I've finally finalized my new PC setup.

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16 GHz

ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 P45 (Crossfire compatible)

4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 1066 Dual Channel RAM

Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit video card (Crossfire ready)

500 GB SATA 3GB/s 7200 rpm 32MB cache HDD

20x DVD+/- R/RW Burner

Linkworld 500W ATX Tower + Power Supply

Total Cost: $650

Comments?

Interesting Thought Regarding Bush and Obama

2009-01-20T11:17:00.004-05:00

In the second Batman movie, Harvey Dent was considered Gotham's "White Knight", because he represented a change from the dangerous and corrupt society Gotham city had become. At the end of the movie, Dent was killed after commiting several crimes caused by manipulation from the Joker who sought to tarnish Dent's image. Looking to save the hope that Dent had built up for the people of Gotham City, Batman took responsibility for Dent's crimes. In the end, the people of Gotham wound up hating and fearing Batman, but thanks to him, Gotham's "White Knight" image stayed untarnished, and hope continued to live on. Thus, Batman became Gotham's "Dark Knight".

To quote another movie, "It's only on the brink that people find the will to change. Only at the precipice do we evolve. This is our moment."

Why do I bring these two movies up? Well, I had an interesting thought this past weekend. Up until now, this country deteriorated slowly and the general public tolerated it, particularly the nation's youth. People complained, yet did nothing about it. They were content to simply let it continue the way it has and maintain the status quo because although it wasn't optimal, at least it was comfortable. Change is not comfortable.

So what if events had turned out differently? What if Senator Kerry had won 4 years ago? Was the country ready for change 4 years ago? Would we still be swearing in President Obama today? So as much as America and the World have criticized former-President Bush, we would not be where we are today without him. He has been assigned responsibility for more things than a single person could, in reality, be actually responsible for. America needed to believe that if a single person could cause such a deterioration in such a short time, than a single person, like President Obama, can bring about change. So, in a sense, former-President Bush is America's Dark Knight and President Obama is America's Hope. Had America not had its focal point for deterioration, it would not have realized that it was on the brink. America has found the will to change. Yes, this is our moment.

How Badly Do You Want to Play Starcraft 2?

2008-10-08T14:30:00.001-04:00

I know I am not the only one who seems to have been waiting an eternity to play Starcraft 2. In fact, I'm pretty sure there are at least 660 Million people out there who have been dying to play this much anticipated game. So here's my plan...

At the time of this writing, Blizzard's parent company Activision is trading on the NASDAQ at approximately $12 per share. If every person (660 Million in total) who's been waiting for the continuously delayed SC2 purchases just ONE share of AVTI, we, collectively, would own 50% (of the total 1.32 Billion) shares of the company. With the majority stake, we could force Blizzard's management to release the game!

The revolution starts now! Do your part!

How Badly Do You Want to Play Starcraft 2?

2008-10-08T14:21:00.002-04:00

Will You Marry Me?

2008-08-08T10:36:00.002-04:00

My girlfriend and I had been dating for some time and it was getting to that point in my life where you want to settle down with that special someone. I was debating the best way to "pop the question".... I needed a sign....

And I got one, in the form of a hot sauce packet from Taco Bell. At first, I couldn't believe it. But then, I knew that it was time. So right then and there, I knelt down and handed her the packet. Not knowing what I was doing, she opened the packet and squeezed it onto her soft taco. I thought to myself, "maybe this isn't the best way to go about this." But then I realized that if she was the one for me, it wouldn't matter if it were a hot sauce packet, or some fancy, elaborate proposal. It turns out that she is the one, and we are getting married very soon.

Happy 8.8.8

5 Reasons Google's acquisition of Digg will be good for Diggers

2008-07-23T09:46:00.002-04:00

5. Ads will make more sense than they do now

How about some ads that actually have something to do with the content being Dugg? Imagine reading a post about the "World's Sexiest Parties: 13 Global Hot Spots You Can't Miss" and having ads for airfare deals by Orbitz to get you there. It would be something like this: http://i36.tinypic.com/2ajuf0h.png but done intentionally. I know that most Diggers can "Stop.Stare.Flirt." and fap away for hours on end, but I'm sure it gets tiring after a while. Who hasn't seen enough Snorg tees to last them a lifetime?

4. Exposure to a larger community

Can you imagine that some people haven't heard of Digg? The acquisition of Digg and its integration into the Google "collective" will mean more and more will learn of the power of Digg. Users can have a single username and password for Digg, Gmail, GoogleTalk, YouTube, Blogger, etc. and will have the ability to reach out and communicate with even more people. Strongly agree or disagree with someone's comment on your submitted article? Chat with them on GoogleTalk. Make it a full discussion? Create a Google Group. So on and so forth...

3. Integration with other Google technologies, such as Google Maps/Earth

With Picassa, you can geocode your pictures and overlay them onto a Google Map to see where they were taken. Why not do the same thing with a Digg article? There was a recent post about pics of the Egyptian Sphinx from behind and there was quite a number of users who commented on it's relative proximity to modern buildings (and KFC) in Cairo. Integration with Maps would allow a satellite shot of the Sphinx and show how close the buildings really are. When StreetView makes its way over there, you could "walk" to the KFC from the Sphinx. Google Earth will allow you to "fly" there from where you are. Picassa can show other pictures that were geocoded nearby. The list goes on and on...

2. Leverage the power of Google Search

Let Digg tap into what Google does best: Search. This could potentially decrease the number of redundant articles by improving the ability of Digg to find similarly submitted articles. Now if there was only a way to get users to truthfully answer "Totally original, I swear!" Digg could then also increase capabilities, such as the ability to search through Comments and Shouts.

1. A Way to Combat the Digg Effect

How many times has it been where by the time you get to the page, the Digg Effect has already sucked up all the bandwidth and brought the server to it's knees? You scroll through the comments with fingers crossed, in hopes that another Digger was kind enough to post a mirror? Wouldn't things be much better if Google Cache automatically cached a page as soon as it became popular and provided the link for you?

Thanks for reading and remember, this is only the beginning. Feel free to comment back on other reasons Google's acquisition of Digg will be good for Diggers.

I am Legend (Movie Review)

2008-02-20T11:17:00.005-05:00

Two days before the last theater in NY/NJ area would stop showing "I am Legend", I was finally able to watch it and I must say, I was quite pleased with the experience, which was well worth the wait. In fact, I would rate it 5 stars on NetFlix and have even been inspired to start a whole separate blog on how to survive a zombie outbreak -- http://zombie-protocol.blogspot.com/

*spoilers below*

The first thing I noticed about the movie was that it was so intense, and kept that level of intensity throughout most of the movie. That first scene where the dog runs into the building really kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time he was in the building. I liked how the initial sighting of the "monsters" were of them huddled in a dark room. The movie in all didn't go into the gory/bloody aspect of it, focusing more on their aggression. Also, the surprise shocks weren't overdone and were spread out enough throughout the movie.

The "monsters" themselves were more of a hybrid between zombies and vampires. The inability to go into the sun is a key weakness with regard to zombie infestation because it allowed him to basically have free reign of supplies and resources during the day. This weakness, however, was countered with superior strength, speed, agility, durability, and sense of smell to that of regular zombies. It was also interesting that they had domesticated zombie dogs and had the ability to communicate (similar to Land of the Dead). In some cases, the "monsters" seemed a little too CG, but then again I suppose it was because they were diseased, not dead, and that you can't really get people to move with that speed and agility. To this effect, it made the day safer, but the night even more dangerous. I suppose when infested by zombies, you can't pick and choose.

I feel that he could have been better prepared and secured, given that he has had 3 years. I suppose his time was spent more on finding a cure than actually securing his surroundings, but then again, I guess it was also to move the plot along. I will go more into detail as to how he could have better prepared himself in my zombie protocol blog.

All in all, I was exceedingly satisfied with the movie, though I would have liked to see more flashback of the island being overrun, rather then being just empty. This leads to the potential to parallel storylines, such as the mother and son, as well as the VT colony. However, I think that despite how much I would like to see another one, the producers should just leave a good thing be and not look to make any sequels. The story was well done and should be left that way.

Small issues I had with the movie:
- It was a big Apple commercial (ipod, mac, etc)
- If he had 6 redundant drives, why did he keep them all in the same place?
- Why didn't he just throw the grenade through the small opening in the glass?

Other things I found cool/interesting about the movie:
- In Times Square, they had an ad for a Batman/Superman movie.
- In the opening scene, he was driving a Ford Mustang GT500.
- I liked how he "rented" movies.

Blog from your Blackberry

2008-02-19T20:04:00.002-05:00

Apparently, you can blog from your mobile device. Let's see how this works...

--
Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com

To all the Apple wannabe posers....

2008-02-19T17:53:00.001-05:00

This is for you...

Read the full story at StuffWhitePeopleLike

except you can replace "white people" with any Apple wannabe posers...

Stop Hanging Out With Women and Start Dating Them

2008-02-19T17:48:00.000-05:00

Read the full story at ArtofManiless

Haha, this is so true! "Instead of telling a person directly that they’re interested in them by asking them on a date, Generation Y sends Crush alerts [and SuperPokes] on Facebook....If you’re over 18 and you’re still using Facebook applications to let someone know you’re interested in them, you need to be punched in the face."

Farewell Fidel

2008-02-19T17:44:00.000-05:00

Read the full story at MarketWatch

At the ripe old age of 81, Fidel Castro has stepped down as President of Cuba, handing the position over to his brother, Raul. Without sounding too much like a communist, it'll be interesting to see if, and how, this is will impact the US politically and economically.

Kidd-to-Mavs Trade Official

2008-02-19T17:35:00.001-05:00

Read the full story at ESPN.com

I guess it's finally done. While it's sad as a New Jerseyian to see a player of Kidd's caliber leave the team, I suppose it's for the best in the long run. Jason wasn't happy anymore in NJ, and the way I see it, the Nets are getting key pieces to rebuilding a team for the future. Oh well. I wonder how this will shape things up for the 2nd half of the season.