The Soap Box

Addicted to Rock & Roll

2007-08-22T12:35:00.000-04:00

What's up with rock stars, actors, and celebrities being addicted to drugs and alcohol? Why does it seems that such a high percentage of 'stars' have chemical addiction problems? Here's a look at a few potential causes and some thoughts on each.

Money - It's well accepted that athletes, movie stars and musicians are all fairly wealthy. Feeding a drug habit takes a substantial amount of cash that most people can't afford- at least not without this spending controlling the rest of our lives. Wealthy stars can afford even the most expensive of drug habits. While less wealthy addicts need to steal, beg or otherwise spend their days feeding their habit. This cause is probably a contributing factor to many celebrities' habits, but taken by itself would imply that anyone with the enough extra cash would have a drug habit.

Opportunity - Being a 'star' provides many new opportunities that ordinary folk never have. Exclusive clubs, exotic vacations, and privledged access to people, places, and services that most people could only dream of. These opportunities give stars the chance to purchase and use drugs in a nearly consequence-free environment. Stars are less likely to be caught and can obtain the finest in court counsel when dealing with the legal ramifications of their actions. They are also in contact with dealers or other users that could provide them with drugs. If I were to decide to start using hard drugs, I wouldn't even know where to start or even who to ask.

The "Creative Mind" - There has long been an association between drug usage and creativity. Whether addictive substances do truly contribute to the creative process is a question for someone more experienced than I, but there has historically been a connection. Stars are frequently artists in one form or another and depend on creativity to do their work. Musicians, actors, writers, and artists may feel the need to dip into some artificial creativity when they need a new idea.

The "Stress of the Spotlight" - PR representatives, agents and other media spinsters suggest this cause frequently in an attempt to lure the public into sympathizing for -not criticizing against- the chemically troubled star. The idea is that the pressure of being in the media spotlight and the high-stress nature of their jobs drives them to turn to drugs to cope. I don't buy this argument. Sure, there can be a lot of pressure from the paparazzi constantly snapping photos of you as you walk the beach or drive your car, but would this not be offset by the benefits of stardom? The tradeoff between being followed by photographers and having and doing everything you've ever dreamed of is surely weighted toward the benefit side. Furthermore, there must be many jobs that are more stressful than acting, singing or sports. How many brain surgeons, air traffic controllers or CEO's are caught up in drug habits?

Lack of Education - One commonality between many drug addicted stars is the lack of a formal education. Schooling provides more than book knowledge. It teaches discipline, self-control, time management, and even drug resistance. Many stars skipped higher education altogether, and others started their celebrity careers much younger, and therefore were not exposed to formal schooling.

Everybody's Doing It - It's worth considering that perhaps the number of chemically troubled stars isn't particularly high. It's just that because they're in the spotlight, their problems are brought to the public conciousness. If one in ten celebrities have drug related problems, maybe one in ten Americans do too. We just focus on the famous cases- not the crack addict down the street. When you consider how many celebrities you can think of that have drug problems, how does that compare relatively to the amount of celebrities that you can think of at all? This comparison could also be done with drug addicts you know compared to everyone you know, but there's other problems with that analogy. (Mostly because drug addicts befriend other drug addicts, and non-users befriend non-users.)

Publicity - This theory is perhaps the most cynical of all. Stars may induce drug problems (or over-hype them) in a concious effort to garner media attention. With the amount of focus paid by tabloid television shows and grocery check-out magazines, a shortcut to the public spotlight might go through the bottle or pipe. I'd like to think that even the dimmest of stars would have enough sense not to sacrifice their health to appear on the cover of National Enquirer, but I don't put it past them.

Personality - This idea is similar to the "Creative Mind" theory. Simply put, same personality features (quirks and all) that drive individuals to be charasmatic, popular, and likeable are the same features that drive them to the downward spiral of drinking and drugs. I'm no behavioral psychologist, but we've all experienced some type of effect such as the lower inhibitions and attitude adjustment received from food, drugs or alcohol. Perhaps the two are more intertwined than we believed.

The list of stars with drug problems is far longer than the Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and Britney Spears trio we here most of today.

How many drug afflicted stars can you think of?

Wikipedia -List of Drug Related Deaths
CelebGuru -Top 20 Celebrity Drug Confessions
FunTrivia.com -Death by Drugs Quiz

Another night in Paris and a trip to the Normandy coast

2007-07-28T19:28:00.000-04:00

Upon returning to Paris, I rode the bus from the airport in the middle of nowhere back to the city. It was late- maybe about 11:00 or later by the time the bus arrived in central Paris. I hopped off the bus and was about to head for the subway when I saw the two guys from Notre Dame. Remembering how difficult Paris could be for an unseasoned traveler, I offered them my assistance in getting to their hostel. They immediately accepted my offer and we headed for the subway.

The metro was a couple of blocks away from the bus stop. After crossing a few streets and heading underground, it became apparent that the Metro ticket office had closed for the day. The subway was still running, but there was nowhere to purchase a ticket to ride. Fortunately, I had purchased a pack of 10 tickets while previously in Paris, and I managed to rummage through my bag enough to find 3. We caught the next train and I showed the two Notre Dame guys where to get off at their stop. All they seemed to know that their hostel was 'near the Louvre'. I took them that far, but because I didn't think I'd be able to get back on the Metro, they went off on their own. I'll just assume that they made it just fine.

The hotel for that night for Clay, Charlie and I was on the other side of the city. As I stepped out of the subway, I realized that I had never seen this section of the city before and had no idea where the hotel might be. After some searching, I found my way into hotel, which was poorly marked (of course). So much so that the address I had was actually for a hotel on a neighboring street. When I walked in that building, the receptionist acted as if this happened all the time- and sent me down the street. After dropping off my stuff, I headed back out to the subway stop to grab the guys before they had to search the neighborhood too.

The next morning we left for Bayeux, which is a small town on the Normandy coast. In order to spend a decent amount of time there, we had to leave on the first train out. After a train change in Caen, we made it to our destination. To our surprise, the town wasn't exactly on the coast, nor was it a very walkable place to be. There were a bunch of signs -in English- advertising cab companies and tours. We had French-speaking Charlie and his cell phone with us, so we chose one almost at random. The tour guide picked us up about ten minutes later and off we went.

Our first stop was the American Cemetery. The newly completed visitor center was full of World War II artifacts and exhibits. A lot of it was similar to exhibits I had seen elsewhere in London's Imperial War Museum or in many different American museums. We left the visitor's center and headed for the cemetery, which was one of the most immaculate outdoor locations I've ever seen. Even Arlington cemetery in Washington wasn't this perfect. The landscaping was professionally done, with a tree lined path along the beach and into the cemetery itself. Even the grass was at uniform height throughout the area. We stepped into the main area, which consisted of a arc-shaped monument and reflecting pool on one end and a mausoleum on the other. A path led between the two major features at each end of the cemetery and off to either side were rows and rows of grave stones. Each was an identical white cross or star of David that was precisely in line with other stones in every direction. Nothing looked the slightest bit out of place. The rows were a perfect parallel to the way soldiers would stand in uniform on the parade grounds. We spent several quiet minutes among the graves, appreciating the loss of life that was sacrificed for such a noble cause. Unfortunately, time was becoming scarce.

We went back to the cab and the driver took us to Omaha beach- arguably the most infamous place on the Normandy coast. We walked through the sand and to the water, then looked back up at the cliffs. I could only imagine how daunting of a task it must have appeared for a soldier landing on that beach in 1944. Standing on the sand and seeing the entire continent of Nazi Europe ahead must have made the mission appear impossible. By 2007 however, the concrete emplacements of the Atlantic Wall had been removed as well as the tank traps, land mines and thousands of German soldiers defending their seized territory.

From the beach we returned to the train station and rode back to Paris, taking with us an appreciation of a landmark battle that could only be attained by seeing the site in person. When the train arrived in Paris, we had get across town to catch another train to Bordeaux. It was in the Monparnasse station where we were supposed to meet up with Sean.

Sean was flying in from Chicago that morning and planned on meeting us in the station. We had approximately 45 minutes to find him or we'd miss our train. Sean was nowhere to be found. We scoured the platform for 30 minutes trying to find him, but to no avail. With about 90 seconds til departure, we took off down the track and jumped aboard the TGV to Bordeaux, only minutes before it left the station. We frustratingly tried calling Sean, but with no answer.

Rome Part II

2007-06-23T13:50:00.001-04:00

I didn't reach my hostel til 1am, thanks to the riot caused by Bush's arrival in Rome. I could actually see the riot going on from the bus as we drove into town. Several exits were blocked as the hundreds of police officers decked out in full riot gear tried to control the crowd. I walked to my hostel and checked in, then asked if Charlie and Clay had arrived. The front desk had no record of their reservation, so we had apparently booked two different hostels. I was staying at the Hostel Beautiful, and the receptionist informed me that there was also a Hotel Beautiful just a few blocks away.

In the morning, I had to find the guys. I woke up early in hopes that I could find their hostel before they left for the day. I know Charlie wanted to try to catch mass at the Vatican, so I had to be quick. I first walked down the street that their hotel was on, but I couldn't find it. I did discover an internet cafe however, so I sent them an email stating that I would wait at a specific place in the train station until noon. I waited near track one at Rome's Termini station for about an hour before I decided I should look for the hotel again. It was only a block or two from the station, so I could make it back quickly if I couldn't find it. This time around, I was more successful.

I finally found their hotel, which was on the fourth floor of the building. The exterior sign was quite small and completely overshadowed by another hotel in the same building. I ran up the stairs, still concerned that I might miss them at the train station. When I got to the reception desk, I asked the clerk if they had booked Charlie and Clay. Before he could answer, a young woman who was also standing at the desk, but was a guest, looked at me and asked "Are you Tyler?" She told me that she went out to a bar with the guys the night before and that they waited for me until 2am near the train station. She also said that Charlie and Clay had already left for the day. I asked if they had internet access at that hotel, to which they replied "yes." With that, I thanked the young woman, whom I never saw again, and took off down the stairs. I started back toward the station when I caught what looked to be a familiar face down the street. I yelled out to Charlie, who was standing outside an internet cafe, looking in to where Clay was checking his email.

I was pretty relieved to find them, and it turned out not to be as difficult as my initial fears. They had gone out drinking the night before, so they were in no shape to go to early mass. Charlie told me later that he tried to think of what I would do if I was trying to find them, and sending them an email (virtually the only telecommunication tool we had) would probably be on the list.

-----------

We walked many miles the rest of the day, starting at the Colosseum and working our way through the forum. We saw the Pantheon, the Piazza Navona, and the Trevi Fountain before finishing our evening with some traditional Italian pasta and a bottle of wine.

The next day we went to the Vatican, which required a two hour line outside the building, followed by being herded through the actual museum and Sistine Chapel. At some point this day we decided that when people at home asked us about our trip, we'd reply, "Well, it's hot, there's a ton of stairs, and you have to wait in line for everything." Really though, sometimes we walked up stairs, sometimes we waited in line. Sometimes we stood in lines on stairs, or walked up stairs to get in a line. There was a gazillion people most everywhere we went in Rome. Frankly, with the climate of Italy, I'd recommend traveling there in the spring or fall and skipping the summer rush.

On our third day in Rome, we had to fly back to Paris later that evening. We were really tired from the previous two days of walking and line standing, so we went to the fortress that sits in front of the Vatican on the Tiber river. Our intentions were to go inside, but that quickly changed when we realized it would cost 8 euros. That's about $10. I was on a budget as is, and paying a bunch of money for the privilege of climbing a bunch of stairs didn't sound to appealing. Instead we sat in park area near the fort and relaxed for a few hours. Sometimes it's nice just to enjoy the fact that you're on vacation.

The flight back went without incident. On the flight, I met two guys from Notre Dame who were traveling a bit before starting their summer study abroad program. They were a couple years younger than me and were clearly traveling around Europe for the first time. More on them when we get back to Paris.

Rome: Part I

2007-06-11T10:40:00.000-04:00

After my last post, Charlie and I went to the airport to pick up Clay. His flight arrived after noon so we easily made it to the customs area of the airport that he would have to come through. Charlie and I held up signs for him- mine simply said "Samsonite". Getting back to the city was easy enough, and Charlie couldnt resist but pull a trick on Clay. We gave him an already used Metro ticket. When he tried to put it in the machine, it would read it as invalid and not allow the turnstile to move. We kept telling him to keep trying, saying that he already "broke France" within hours of arrival.

The rest of that afternoon was spent seeing some Paris sights such as Sacre Cour and the Eiffel Tower. This time however, we went to the top. We went right at dusk, so we were able to see from the tower with and without the daylight. At 10 oclock and every hour afterward, the tower sparkles with strobe lights. We watched from the grassy park below.

The next day, we took the RER out to Versailles, which is the famous palace just outside the city. We took the standard tour that included the king and queens living quarters, the rooms and rooms of art and riches, as well as the hall of mirrors. We had to fly to Rome that evening too, so we didnt stay too long.

Charlie and Clay flew separately from me, because I opted for a cheaper flight from a farther airport. The two of them left a little earlier, then I found my way to thebus stop that would take me an hour away to the Beauvais airport. While it was cheaper, taking this alternate flight proved more difficult than I hoped. On top of it being a late flight, the plane was also delayed. I didnt get to the city of Rome until 1 am, at which point I realized that I was booked at a different hostel than the other guys. I found it just fine, but I needed to find a way to catch up to them in the morning. We didnt have cell phones or any other way to quickly get ahold of one another.

Were going to get some food, so ill finish this story later. By the way, this keyboard apparently doesnt have an apostrophe button.

First Days in Paris

2007-06-07T11:52:00.000-04:00

I arrived in Paris yesterday morning. I was tired from flying, but it wasn't as bad as it was in previous trips. With some help from a walmart brand sleep aid, I managed to get myself to sleep instead of watching the movie. From the Paris airport, which looks like it was built in 1957 and not touched since, i took the RER into the city. Charlie told me to meet him at the St Michael Fountaine so I navigated the metro to that stop. I got there an hour and a half or so before he would be in town from Bordeaux, so I took the time to walk around the neighborhood. From there, I could walk to Notre Dame and the nearby Latin Quarter. Around 11ish, Charlie showed up at the fountain. It was good to see him- he's been in france since january.

From there we took our things to the hostel so we wouldn't have to carry them. We found our hostel near the train station and went inside. I had a booking confirmation page I had printed from the internet booking service. The woman at the desk was completely confused. She had no record of our booking whatsoever. Charlie conversed with her in French and she looked all over for any indication of our reservation. Everything seemed to be done on paper, which made it a bit mystifiying that the hotel would be listed on the internet at all. That hotel was full, so we left and were able to find elsewhere to stay for only a bit more money. I wrote an email to the hostel booking service and they said they'd refund my money.

After getting settled, Charlie took me on a brief tour of the city. We rode the Metro to the Latin Quarter and walked around the island in the middle of the Seine. From there we walked to the Louvre, which is enormous. It was a gorgeous day so we did a lot of walking. We didn't go inside the Louvre because we weren't ready to dedicate the time necessary to really take it in.

We did go to the Arch d Triumph though, which requires an aggressive stair climb. The arch is gigantic. It really stands out along the skyline, and from the top you can look down all nine roads that lead to the circle in which it stands. You can also see down the Champs Elysee.

For dinner, we went to a local grocery store and bought some cheese and ham to make sandwiches with a baguette. Not the most gratifying dinner, but for the price it was a great choice. We also had a couple beers, which was a nice way to relax after a long day. Somehow I stayed awake til 11pm, which was very helpful to adjust to local time.

Today we went first to the Catacombs, which is where the French put a whole bunch of dead bodies that were causing health problems because they were originally put in a mass grave near the city. After walking through hundreds of yards of tunnels, you get to a section of tunnels that are lined with bones. Lots and lots of bones. Thousands of skeletons worth. There are human skulls, femurs and other parts in rows and rows. Many of them are arranged in patterns of crosses or hearts. The tunnels go on and on, with intermittent plaques with french philosophy on death. It's a really strange place, and by far the creepiest place I've ever been.

After grabbing some lunch (chinese), we walked to the eiffel tower. Which is also bigger than I thought... I'm sensing a theme here. We walked below it and through the nearby park. We didn't go up to the top because it's somewhat expensive and requires a long wait in line. We also toured some of the surrounding area. That brings me pretty much up to the moment.

We got a message from Clay saying his flight has been pushed back an hour or two, so instead of him arriving at 1030 as we previously thought, it could be as late as 1230. Even after checking with Air India, his chosen airline, we're still not sure of his arrival time. Him getting in later might hamper our chances of going to Normandy that day as we previously planned. Hopefully we can move some plans around and still get out there before coming back to the states. We'll see.

In other news, I was offered a job at Southeast. I'll need to call them. Hope everything is going well at home. Feel free to email me, I've been able to check it the past two days.

Hypermiling: Update

2007-05-29T17:37:00.000-04:00

Late last week I finished my first tank of hypermiled gas. Using the techniques I described in a previous post, I managed 38 miles per gallon. Unbelievable. That's a 20-30% increase over the standard mileage.

The biggest lesson learned is how far the car will really coast. When you take your foot off the gas, the car keeps moving for quite a distance without slowing too dramatically. I've become almost obsessed with seeing how far I can coast and avoiding the brake pedal whenever possible. It's to the point now that I cringe at drivers ahead of me who use their breaks every time they see another car move.

Nevertheless, it's a driving style that I intend to continue. If you haven't tried it yet, do so. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Wii-demption!

2007-05-08T18:12:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the efforts of a friend, we managed to locate a wii. It only took about a month! As it turns out, the system is every bit as fun and entertaining as expected, if not more so. We picked up an extra controller and 'nunchuck' so that we have equipment enough for two players. We mostly play Wii Sports, but have also tried the Rayman game, which makes full use of the three dimensional motion ability of the Wii. The full motion sensing control of the system makes it unlike any other video gaming system I've ever played.

Beyond that, there's only been two destructive incidents (so far), both involving yours truly. The first came in the form of a loud whack to my elbow by my tennis doubles partner. The other, just yesterday, resulted from leaving a glass of lemonade sitting on the coffee table during a game of Wii bowling. I managed to roll the virtual bowling ball straight through the glass, breaking it with my hand and the controller. The glass went everywhere, spraying all over the carpet, and even bouncing off the tv and back to where I was standing. Fortunately, I was uninjured. Gotta be more careful next time.

If you're still on the fence about purchasing a new gaming system, I highly recommend the Wii -if you can find one.

Hypermiling: How I'm Fighting the Fuel War

2007-05-07T18:15:00.000-04:00

We've all seen the gas prices lately and it's no news that they're going to keep going up. Everyone has their own commentary on the gasoline price hike, and as much as they complain and tell stories about how it cost them $60 to fill up the tank of their Chevy Suburban, no one seems to be doing anything about it. I, however, am taking a few small steps. More on that in a minute.

In the midst of the $3+ gas pricing, we're proving just how inelastic the demand for gas is. For those not so economics minded, that means that as the gas prices climb, the demand, or how much gas we buy, is not changing. If the demand for gas were more elastic, the public would react to the price hike by purchasing less gasoline. So far there hasn't been much change in the quantity of oil purchased, therefore indicating two things:
1. Gas prices won't go down much because they don't have to.
2. People would generally rather pay increased fuel costs than create an alternative solution to this problem, at least at current prices.

Have you changed your driving habits recently? How does your current fuel usage compare to that of a year ago or five years ago when gas cost less than half what it does today? And if your driving habits haven't changed much, how high would prices need to climb before you took action?

I was talking to a friend last weekend who lives in a Cincinnati suburb and works just north of Dayton. Every day he drives about an hour to and from work, and spends many of his weekends in Athens, which is 130 miles or so to the east. I asked him how the gas prices were affecting his commute and weekend travel. He told me he still planned doing the same commute every day and making the trip to Athens most weekends. I followed up by asking how high gas prices had to go before he'd seriously consider moving to Dayton or driving to Athens less frequently. He thought $4 per gallon would be about as much as he could take.

Four bucks a gallon? Sheesh. In high school, which was really not that long ago for me, I could fill up my tank to the brim, starting from nil, for $20- and I'd get change back. Today, I spent more than double that amount for the same gas in the same tank.

I've been driving the same car -a '96 Corolla- since I got my license. Even though I'd love a new car, it's pretty much out of the question. I can't do it financially because I'm still working on that whole long-term employment thing. If I could, I'd get something with superb mileage. I'd seriously be considering a hybrid too. For now, I'm making do with what I have. Despite the fact that it'll hit 170,000 miles this week, my car is holding up very well mechanically. Throughout its life, it has maintained a solid upper twenties mpg. But I'm now making efforts to take that even further. In fact, my current goal is to hit 35mpg.

It's called "hypermiling", and it's becoming almost a competitive sport. Contenders use car modifications and driving techniques to squeeze every mile out of each gallon of gas. One driver who is a hypermiling extremist gutted the inside of his Honda Insight (already a high mpg vehicle) and added a few other modifications to hit 99 mpg. I'm not ready to commit to permanently altering my car, nor do I have the cash to replace engine parts. But I can use a few of the techniques to save some gas money and the environment.

To understand hypermiling, look no further than this article that illustrates a Wisconsin driver who can get 59 mpg with a 2005 Honda Accord -and it's not a hybrid. His techniques take the notion of avoiding braking a sudden acceleration to the max. The journalist who wrote the piece talks about how the driver would take curves at 50 mph, just so he wouldn't have to slow down (and then use gas to speed up again).

Here's what I'm going to do to improve my mileage. Many of the following techniques can be done by anyone, so see what you can do. I'm fortunate enough to drive a manual transmission (god bless it), but I'd imagine that you can make some of these work in any car.

Put the car in neutral when going downhill or when needing to decelerate. - This happens more often than you'd think. While driving, pop the car in neutral and be amazed at just how far the car can coast without becoming a traffic hazard.
Watch the speed. -Cars optimize their highway fuel economy around 55mph. When you speed up to 70, you're not only increasing your chances of getting a ticket, but you're wasting a significant amount of gas to stay at that speed. Furthermore, traveling at 70 instead of 55 only gets you there a few percent faster... no more than about 75 seconds on a 30 minute drive.
Drive in the highest gear that works. - Instead of pushing the engine into 3-4,000 rpm in third gear, use fourth or fifth gear. This is especially helpful if there isn't a reason why I'd need to accelerate quickly.
"Ridge-ride" -This is taken straight from the Mother Jones article. Especially when it's raining, keep your right tires on the white line on the side of the road. This will keep all four wheels out of the subtle grooves in the road that are created by years of use. These grooves collect water that your engine must move in order to keep the car going.
Use the A/C sparingly. It's well known that the air conditioner lowers fuel economy. If you don't believe it, try it. With your car sitting idle, turn on the a/c and watch the tachometer. You'll see a slight increase when the air is on. A la Mythbusters, I'm going to lower the windows when I'm going slower than about 40 to keep the car cool, and turn on the air above that speed.
Keep the tires fully inflated.-This tip has been around for as long as there has been an interest in mpg. Keeping the tires inflated keeps the least amount of rubber on the road and therefore produces less friction for the car to fight.
Get the lead out. - Keep heavy items out of the car. Every pound in the car is one more pound the engine must move. I need to get my golf clubs out of the trunk, now that I think about it.

This list is just a beginners' guide, but that's probably more than enough for most of us. Just think, if we could each raise our mpg by just a few miles per gallon, we'd use that much less gas, save that much more money, be less addicted to foreign oil, and contribute to a greener planet.

Something Wii Don't Understand

2007-04-10T11:52:00.000-04:00

~~Wii~~ We have finally decided to purchase one of the current generation video game systems. The choice is between the Nintendo Wii, the Playstation 3 and the X-Box 360. We've come to the conclusion the Nintendo product is the one we should invest in, if we can find one.

The Nintendo Wii hit the market back in November- nearly 6 months ago. Despite this, they're nearly impossible to find. I've scoured a number of local stores looking for a Wii, but they're all perpetually out of stock. If they are expecting more units, they generally don't know when they might arrive. I've made notes of when some of the major stores get shipments in, but that's iffy at best. It's frustrating that I have to go through this much work for the privilege of paying someone $250.

I don't understand how Nintendo has not been able to produce enough of these systems to meet demand. Now, months after its release, you'd think they would have caught up on their distribution. Sure, there's something to be said for creating an artificially high demand for the system to create a 'buzz' about it, but I don't think the benefits from that strategy outweigh the costs.

While the Wii is out of stores, the XBox 360 and Playstation 3 are easy to find. Most stores have a number of 360's on hand, and at least one lonely PS3 behind a glass case. Many potential Wii owners are opting for an available system instead of chasing down stocks of Nintendo Shipments or paying a premium to purchase one on eBay.

In addition to losing system sales to its competitors, Nintendo is missing out on millions of dollars of accessory a game sales. After all, no one is going to buy additional controllers, games, and battery rechargers if they don't own the actual Wii. For video game makers, most of their profit comes from these accessory sales- not the sale of the actual system. Currently, the Playstation 3 and XBox 360 are actually being sold at a loss, and the Wii at a very small profit. But those losses are worth while because of the huge profit margin on the accessories. When I last checked Wal-Mart, they had no Wii's available, but were actually quite overstocked on Wii accessories and games.

If I were a video game console manufacturer, I would make as many units as I could before the release date (and immediately afterward) to take advantage of all the demand. And within six months, I'd fully intend on it regularly being in stock at major retailers.

All I want is the chance is to destroy my personal property with one of those 'wii-motes'. That's all.

Fertilize This

2007-04-07T17:59:00.000-04:00

Every now and again we get mail that doesn't belong to us.... but sometimes we get mail that doesn't belong at all.

Case in point:

I live in an apartment building that has 16 individual residences. No one within a quarter mile owns a lawn. Oops.

Bush Works Around Congress Yet Again

2007-04-05T00:03:00.000-04:00

Today, Bush made another one of his infamous recess appointments, placing a one Sam Fox as ambassador to Belgium. Mr. Fox was a major contributor to the ‘Swift Boat’ campaign ads that slandered John Kerry’s military record during the 2004 Presidential race. President Bush had made earlier efforts to place Fox in an ambassadorship, but was quickly shut down by the Democratic congress. While Belgium may not seem at first to be an incredibly key foreign post, Brussels is the headquarters of the European Union, as well as NATO.

Bush has a record of making these ‘recess appointments’, which allow him to bypass Congressional approval when making Presidential appointments. In addition to Sam Fox, controversial UN Representative John Bolton was put in office this way, as well as numerous others:

An 11th circuit court judgeship: http://www.crosswalk.com/1290806/
Department of Labor officer: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2006/08/31/bush-appointment-draws-quick-fire/
An Iran-Contra crony to Assistant Secretary of State: http://www.sptimes.com/News/122301/Worldandnation/Bush_recess_appointme.shtml
And here’s 20 more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-07-31-recess_x.htm

It’s all legal– check Article II section 2 of the constitution. Recess appointments were initially created so that the government would not be held idle because Congress was not in session. In ‘ye olde’ days, it could take days or weeks for congressman to gather in Washington. If important work needed to get done immediately, the President had the power to make necessary appointments so the important work could go on. Today, our legislative representatives can get to and from the Capitol in hours. If it were a dire emergency, representatives could congregate immediately and address a situation. Despite this, the rule still still in effect, and President Bush has aggressively taken advantage of this system to subvert democracy and do whatever he wants.

This law needs to be changed. If not removed entirely, it should make any presidential recess appointments valid only for a certain amount of time. I would suggest 30 days, or 14 days past Congress’ first day back from recess. This would be a change from the present rule, which allows appointments to remain in place -unconfirmed by congress– until the end of that congressional session. Of course, changing this rule would require a constitutional amendment- no small task.

We're all gonna DIE!

2007-02-20T12:09:00.000-05:00

A contingent of astronauts, astronomers and yes, rocket scientists, are urging the U.N. to do something about an asteroid that's heading straight for Earth.

On April 13, 2036, the asteroid "Apophis" is scheduled to pass near our little blue planet and will have a 1 in 45,000 chance of colliding with us. The identified space object is 460 feet long, (which is about where I max out with my 8 iron) or about a football field and a half for those who are length-measurement challenged.

I think it's funny that they're asking the UN to aid in absolving a potential crisis almost 30 years away. This is an organization that has made minimal efforts to combat terrorism and has been hit and miss on averting genocide... not to mention the Secretary General's position being loaded with so many funny multi-cultural names.

The project to 'deflect' the asteroid could cost $300 million, which is less than one tenth of one percent of what the Iraq war has cost -and it could potentially save the world. Priorities, priorities.

Escape Club: Wild Wild West

2007-02-18T22:40:00.000-05:00

Nowadays it's rare to actually see the music video for a current song. It's even rarer to see the video for an 80's song, as it requires tuning into VH1 Classic at exactly the right time to catch it. Thank god for the internet though- YouTube provides a place for us to find all of these outdated video goodies.

Here's the video for Escape Club's Wild Wild West. I've known this song for as long as I can remember, but have never seen the video. I'm not sure what exactly I expected, but it certainly wasn't this. Really, this video seems like a demonstration of one particular video effect.

Video Director (to video editors): What kind of effects can you guys do?
Editors: We can do wipes, captions, fluorescents, that sort of thing.
Director: Seen it. Anything new?
Editors: We can take specified part of a shot and mirror it, like an arm or something. (Editor demonstrates)
Director: Perfect. I want four minutes of that.

Anna Nicole Smith Dead at 39

2007-02-08T17:30:00.000-05:00

Forgive me in advance for speaking ill of the dead, or blasphemy, or whatever. Anna Nicole Smith was found dead today in her hotel room, and I can't say I'm all that choked up about it. I'd never wish such an ill upon anyone, so it's not like that, but I certainly won't be in tears over her passing.

Anna Nicole Smith has annoyed me for years. She came to fame with a pretty face (I actually find her gummy smile sorta gross) and a place in Playboy. She became even more famous when she married an 89 year old billionaire, who then died shortly thereafter. That's what really brought her to the center of entertainment news. She was caught up in legal disputes for years regarding his money, as the man's family, friends, the media, and quite possibly the entire American public believed Smith was just after his money.

Later, she starred in her very own "reality" show, which focused on her wealthy life. In every tv appearance, news story, or other media coverage, I always thought she fulfilled the stereotype of the ditsy blond she was. The media in and of itself was her vehicle to stardom. In the end, she became famous because she was famous, in a situation reminiscent of Paris Hilton. Smith had no positive impact on society, and never accomplished anything more than establish a 'party girl' image.

Doctors have already stated that her body had high levels of methadone and anti-depressants. For those who don't know, methadone is a heroine substitute that is used to ween addicts off of the real stuff. Much of the time, heroin users are just as addicted to methadone as they were to heroin, but because it's considered a "treatment" drug, they can acquire it much more easily.

The media has already begun 24 hour coverage of Smith's death, and no doubt will continue for days. Look for coverage of her death on every channel from CNN to E to the major news networks and beyond. I'm sure Larry King will have a few words about her too. I fear that the death of Anna Nicole will spiral into one of those decade long controversies that are inescapable- sort of like Jean Benet Ramsay, Marilyn Monroe or Kurt Cobain. Because her death wasn't witnessed, the media will produce new theories about it for years to come.

Maybe me writing this now is a tad premature. In fact, yeah, it probably is. But I thought I should say something before she is canonized on tv. CNN already called her a modern Marilyn Monroe. The fact is that Anna Nicole Smith was a con artist junkie who brought on her own death by using countless drugs. She leaves behind a 4(?) month old child with an unknown father, and several lawsuits regarding her children and late husband. Her other son, who was older, died last fall as well. The investigation on her son suggests that it may have been foul play, and Anna Nicole could potentially have been involved.

I'm not going to let the media fool me into thinking she was an angel whose life was tragically cut short, because I'm in tune with reality enough to know that that is not the case.

Proof that life isn't fair.

2007-02-06T10:21:00.000-05:00

One of the chief duties of my current job is to process new-hire paperwork. The recruitment side of human resources takes care of the actual hiring, then after the person comes in for orientation and fills out all of the tax paperwork and whatnot, we put it into a legible form then file it away.

Included in these packets of papers from orientation is everything that was used during the process. This includes a copy of their resume, job application, interview schedule, interview notes, offer letter, and other related info. Of course, I end up seeing all of these documents as they come across my desk. I’m required to pull certain information from each of these papers then sort them as needed.

While most of the hiring that I see is of qualified applicants with substantial industry experience, once in a while I get one that just doesn’t belong. This company imports employees from all over the world. I’ve seen many visas from Europe, Asia and Australia, and a group of people just walked by speaking in Spanish. When a company goes through this much trouble to gather the best workforce it can, it really makes me wonder how some people can slip through the cracks.

Today I did the paperwork for a new HR coordinator for the New York City office, at a salary that is easily three times what I make. The recruit had no relevant work experience. Not even a little. They were a former minor Broadway actor who had appeared in several shows, but had never worked in an office before. They also had no college degree, and went to a ‘fine arts’ type high school. In essence, this person isn’t qualified to run the copy machine, let alone be in charge of recruiting, hiring, and managing employees at one of the company’s biggest offices.

As if that wasn’t enough, I also saw the interview notes. These were actually written down in his application packet. The highlights:
-“No relevant work experience”
-“No degree”
-“incoherent at times”
-“communication skills are a bit poor”
-“struggled through specific questions”

And my favorite:
-“would be a big risk”

And this guy has a job, but not me.

Nintendo 22 years old. Holy crap.

2007-02-02T12:50:00.000-05:00

It caught me off guard because I really haven't thought about it in a while. The Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES, is 22 years old.

This device was pretty definitive of my childhood... that is until super nintendo came out in 1991ish. For the record, the N64 probably ate up more of my time then the two combined, and don't even get me started on the PS2.

I'm sure many of us remember the glory days of the NES. It was the first truly mainstream in-home video game player. Sure, atari and commodore 64 preceded it, but those didn't have the pizazz of an 8 button controller a zapper and plumbing duo. Duck hunt, mario, dr mario, mario 2, mario 3... a lot of mario really. That was the bread & butter of the NES, though it didn't blossom into much of a blockbuster in theaters (1993).

It's still pretty easy to find a working NES console. I know my family has at least one or two around the house, and it generally works. You usually have to wiggle the cartridge a little bit from one side to the other and have to blow the contacts to get a game to play, but wasn't that half the fun?

Maybe not, but it's something we all dealt with at one time or another. After all, who's never played NES? I always wondered how much good came from blowing into the cartridge. I mean yeah, it could get the 'dust' off of the contacts, but how much of the true benefit was just taking it out and readjusting the cartridge when you put it back in? And how much damage did it do when you'd blow into it and get spittle all over the place? I remember that happening more often than not.

Those games were so much simpler. About 75% of the time, the objective was just to move the character from one side of the screen to the other. Come hell or high water (or goombas) you could get the hero, often clad in ninja attire or overalls, to the right side and move on to the next "world". Those games are too easy and too simple for today's youth who have grown up without ever seeing an actual music video on MTV, or played a video game that involved fewer than 12 buttons and an optical drive.

What brought the notion of 22 years of NES to my attention was the following comic from xkcd.com. I think us NESers can relate.

Bush OKs Killing Iranians

2007-01-26T12:51:00.000-05:00

According to this article from Slate, President Bush has officially authorized U.S. forces to kill or capture Iranians fighting with Iraqi insurgent militias in order to stop Iran's influence in Iraq.

If U.S. forces on the ground in Iraq are attacked by Iranians, I expect, nay, encourage them to return fire and defend themselves. There's no reason they shouldn't be able to protect their own troops. What concerns me is that this could potentially be seen as authorization to pursue and attack groups that definitely are from Iran- potentially throwing gas on the Persian-American fire that is already building.

Iranian insurgents fighting amongst Iraqis is not only possible, it's probable. I would have preferred that soldiers just did what it took to defend themselves without having an officially sanctioned policy that target Iranian citizens.

While this policy is not the same as declaring war against Iran, it still does mean the killing of another nations' citizens... and the Bush administration insisted this wasn't an escalation! It's only a matter of time until enough Iranians are killed or captured that Iran officials get really upset about this and does something drastic, or mobilizes their military to defend themselves in Iraq.

The Working Poor

2007-01-16T22:53:00.000-05:00

My whole life, that is, until I finished college, I considered myself a part of the middle class. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a nice house in a nice neighborhood and went to a good public school. I always had a roof over my head, a warm bed to crawl into, and all of my needs were met.

After working through 4 years of college, I'm poorer than ever, with no sign of change soon. Today, I align myself with the working poor- a struggling group that doesn't seem to get ahead despite hard work and dedication.

I live with my girlfriend. She's a 4-year graduate of one of the best journalism schools in the country who managed to achieve a 3.8 GPA. I graduated with a masters degree in economics. Neither of us make more than $10 per hour.

Ten bucks an hour would have sounded like a lot just a few years ago. Even today, it's more than I've ever made in my life. I've had a number of jobs, and this one has more hours and a higher wage than any other. Despite this, I'm ineligible for health benefits, sick time, vacation time, 401k, or anything of the type. I also drive 40 minutes to and from work, so extra cash goes straight into the gas tank. Worst of all, I've been working temporary assignments for the past few months. I figured it would be a way of building experience, but it doesn't provide any permanence. I have no certainty that I'll still have a job here next week, let alone next month.

My girlfriend has made more money than this before. She used to be a waitress, and while it doesn't carry much in the way of prestige, it brought home more cash than her current job- bank teller. She's thought of going back to that line of work, and does often. The catch is that a restaurant won't provide health benefits. We need that medical plan, as we're both on it.

We don't have much spare money. We pay utility bills, rent, and car insurance with the majority of our paychecks, and the rest goes to food, car insurance and debt. She has credit card debt left over from college that she's been able to maneuver through 0% interest cards, and I have $20,000 in student loans that I'll be paying back for the next decade or so. Even though we each pay only half of each bill, it still seems like money disappears so fast.

If one of us could land a real job, it would take a lot of the pressure off of the other in so that they could find salary somewhere too. If we could each get a decent job, say, somewhere around $35k, (which is still well below the US GDP per capita of 41,000) we could substantially improve our predicament. It would alleviate the pressure to pinch pennies and use credit cards to keep afloat.

It bewilders me how we've had such a hard time finding work. We're both smart kids, well educated, with spotless legal records. We're friendly, respectful, and thoughtful. We're willing to take just about any job that promises opportunity. We've made substantial efforts to get ourselves out there, and have applied to several positions per week for months. I know we've submitted well over a hundred resumes, to job openings near and far. I've managed one interview, and she has had a few calls back, but nothing promising. Neither of us know why we're failing. It's unknown whether we're tremendously unqualified for the positions to which we've been applying, or if simply no one is reading our cover letters and resumes.

Maybe my presumptions were simply off the mark, but I expected more. I truly thought an advanced degree would put me on some kind of career path out of college. My girlfriend thought that good grades were a ticket to a good job. In this new year, we each only make a couple dollars more than minimum wage. That is to say that our college degrees and other credentials only benefit us a tiny bit over the least educated, least talented, and least qualified individuals employed in the state. If there's anything to be learned here, it's that a degree guarantees you nothing.

As downtrodden and hopeless as my words may read, I haven't given up hope. I am mindful that a job opportunity may be only a phone call away. One day, things will work out. We'll get jobs and be able to establish a better life. We'll even think back to today in few years, and laugh about how frustrated and stressed we were. However, when I do get to that point, I don't want to forget what this felt like. The lifestyle I lead now is the past, present, and future for so many people. I don't want to forget what it feels like to struggle.

--------------------------------------------------------------
I've been reluctant to publish this posts because it largely just sounds like me whining. And in a lot of ways, that's exactly what it is. But it's a way for me to air my frustrations with the system that's been pushing me back for months- isn't that what blogging is for? I do understand that even our frustrating lives are significantly better than so many others. We do have a lot to be thankful for. At the same time, I don't want use that as a rationale to cast my thoughts aside. Everyday I talk to people that don't seem to be any more special than anyone else, yet they hold down successful careers. Why not me? What it comes down to is the simple fact that I expected to have more by this point than I currently do- and I mean that in an overall life sense, not necessarily materialistic. Most of all, I'd like to share my experience with those younger than me. My friends, siblings and others who have yet to embark on this stage of your life. I sincerely hope that you have better luck than I- but don't get your hopes too high too fast. It's a difficult struggle ahead.

New Bush Plan in Iraq: Bigger Shovel

2007-01-10T23:26:00.000-05:00

Bush announced tonight his new plan for Iraq. Just as described by the media leading up to tonight, his plan is simply to send 20,000 more troops in a 'surge' to attempt to quell the violence in Baghdad and other regions of the country.

While I expected nothing less from his naive and out-of-touch mind, I thought the overall plan would include a little more strategy than simply sending forth more American young people, I was not so lucky. Bush stated:

Our troops will have a well-defined mission, to help Iraqis clear and secure neighbourhoods, to help them protect the local population, and to help ensure that the Iraqi forces left behind are capable of providing the security that Baghdad needs"

Call me crazy, but I thought that was what were already doing. I thought all along that U.S. forces were being deployed for the purpose of protecting Iraqi civilians from insurgents. Bush is failing to recognize that such a strategy, defined so broadly, isn't enough. U.S. forces have been using the same tactics since day 1, and that was back in 2003. This is the strategy that dug the United States into the hole that it is in. Mr. Bush: when you're in a deep hole, a bigger shovel isn't going to help you get back out.

After all of the hoopla last year about new Iraqi strategy, and the multiple reports explaining the situation (not the least of which, the Baker-Hamilton plan), this is what we get. Sounds to me like Bush just didn't want to do the reading, and instead just did what made sense to him and him alone. After all of the work that was done developing a strategy, after all the analysis of what's happening on the ground, after all the consideration of diplomatic strategy, increasing Iraqi troop levels and criticism of Iraqi leadership, the best we can get is a 'surge'. It's as if the only message he understood from any of the reports was "Failure = Bad". For something so bad, he's damn good at it.

As if the situation isn't bad enough, Bush claimed that Al Qaeda is attempting to seize control of the Anbar province of Iraq. We know Al Qaeda wasn't in Iraq before the war, and we know that there has been a flood of jihadists moving into the area since, and now they're going so far as to take over a province? What the hell? Didn't this whole operation begin as a 'war against terror'? So not only is the U.S. apparently not winning that war, the terrorists are actually gaining ground? I certainly hope not. I'm going to call Bush's bluff on this one, and I hope I'm right. He and his cronies need to incite Americans to back his stale war, and they turn to the only words that many of us would respond to. There were ten mentions of al Qaeda in his speech, and one mention of September 11... just in case we forgot.

I'm tired of his 'whatever it takes' for 'victory' attitude. The man knows no limits, nor understands the reality in which we live. No American would say they want anything but victory in Iraq. Nobody wants to lose, and we are all in debt to those who have been lost. However, our definition of victory needs to change. The day will never come when Muhammad Jefferson, Jihad Madison and Osama Franklin will quill a constitution and bill of rights that will provide for the freedom of Iraqis the same way we have those freedoms in the U.S. That outcome was never an option, and anyone who thought otherwise is completely out of sync with the middle east, and really the world as a whole. The Bush administration needs to find what they believe to be an acceptable level of success and make progress to get out of Iraq and let the original objectives go. It's not worth it anymore. It's not as easy as you thought it would be, and it's not going to get easier. The beehive has been thoroughly shaken, and an extra baseball bat or two isn't going to put the bees back in the nest.

Even the generals are criticizing this whole 'surge' plan. Normally, generals are the most trigger happy of all government staff, eagerly awaiting the opportunity to utilize new weapons systems and demonstrate America's military might. When the generals get hesitant, you know there's a problem. Bush acts as if he's doing the generals a favor by giving them 'what they want'- he's insisted for some time now 'if they want more troops, they get more troops. if they want less troops, they get that'. Ceding too much authority to the military top brass is worrisome on its own. No general, corporal, admiral or lieutenant is an elected official- meaning there is no political recourse for citizens, nor is there a lawful obligation to serve the people... Only indirect obligation and recourse via the elected President, aka Commander-in-Chief. Fortunately, what those generals want now is strangely nonparallel to Bush's strategy

The most frustrating part of the whole scenario is the hopelessness I feel about the whole situation. It doesn't seem like there's anything you or I can do to slow down this boat ride down the river Styx. Even Congress has its hands tied on the whole thing. They can't directly stop the deployment of more troops- and if they decide not to fund the operation, they look like they're the ones putting U.S. forces in danger.

Just as Bush foresaw back in October, it very well may turn into just him, Laura, and Barney believing in the Iraq mission. And Barney was recently seen humping someone else's leg.

Two Trees of Knowledge

2006-12-21T12:20:00.000-05:00

Starting out after college is like a rebirth. After everything one has worked for in their 16+ years of education, 'the real world' is truly starting anew. As much as we think we learn during years of living with the parents and at college, there's so much that is new and different and yet to be experienced. This has no doubt been the case for myself these past months. In many ways it can be compared to our first coming into the world, but one parallel stands out as a tragic commonality.

According to Christian tradition, man is brought into the world tainted with sin. This 'original sin' is the remnant of Adam and Eve's decision to give into temptation against the request of God. Adam and Eve choose to take a bite of an apple that grew from the Tree of Knowledge, which opened their souls to the capacities of evil. Religious types believe that this decision permeates each and every one of us, as we are all decedents of Adam and Eve. When we are born, we are already shadowed by this sin, despite being only capable of limited consciousness.

For many of us, the second rebirth of entering 'the real world' is also coupled with an 'original sin'. Because we all took a bite of the apple from the tree of knowledge that is America's collegiate system, we are doomed to decades of suffering. The sin of which I speak is of course, student loans.

Some of us took bites from the collegiate apple because of personal temptation and desire, while others only did so because of the demands of society and the economy. For any reason, those not so fortunate to have indulgences paid for by their parents are subjected to loan repayment for any number of years following their birth into real world.

Entering the real world carrying the weight of tens of thousands of dollars in debt is frustrating- particularly so in this age of intense competition for limited jobs. I graduated in early June, and for six months I have struggled to find a job. Even with a masters degree, it has been a struggle to become employed. Employed or not, I have to start repaying college loans now. I made my first payment yesterday. I'll continue making payments every month for the next ten years.

This original sin of ones' rebirth serves only to slow us down- especially in these early times of being a recent graduate. Having to pay a few hundred dollars a month toward my education loan keeps me from turning the heat on in my apartment as often.

I find it frustrating that we pay to go to college with the outlook that a university education will get us a 'good' job. Even though it hasn't provided any employment, I'm required to pay for it. Is there a customer service desk somewhere? I'd like a refund.

Realistically, it's common thought to believe that college costs too much, particularly when higher education is free (or close to it) it many other western countries. At the rate that tuition has been rising, I consider myself lucky to have matriculated when I did. Not only was tuition lower then, but I also started my higher education when the economy was down a few years ago, meaning I had a lower interest rate as well.

I checked into deferments on the Department of Education website. It is possible to extend the loan for a while if you're unemployed. However, there isn't a way to defer if you're underemployed. That's the real trick- I couldn't last being completely unemployed. How would I put food on the table or a roof over my head? But at the same time, that doesn't mean that I make enough to dedicate a few hundred dollars a month to repay a loan. Repayment should be held for 24-48 months after graduation so that a former student can find a solid job with a sufficient wage before having to repay loans.

It's hard not to feel that the serpent of society has tricked me into committing a sin while I remain unemployed. If the scourge of student loans is the modern equivalent of original sin, I best start praying.

In the game of Christmas, I'm a winner!

2006-12-12T12:46:00.000-05:00

Today is December 12. They say there's twelve shopping days left til Christmas, and to this point I haven't made a single trip to the mall!

I despise the mall this time of year. It could stem from my junior year of high school's holiday season working retail in the mall, or maybe I flat out don't like the mall period. I can't stand the crowds, parking a mile and a half from the entrance, or waiting in line for 20 minutes to pay for an overpriced gift.

This season I've done much of my shopping online. Through Froogle and others, I've managed to find great prices for the same gifts. The selection is great, I can immediately check out reviews for an item and price shop. They do all the leg-work and ship it to my door! I don't even have to leave my computer... I don't even have to put on pants!

I have made a few concessions to my girlfriend in all this. I have gone to a couple of stores to purchase gifts that we are buying 'together'. But those stores have been more necessary, and include trips to Meijer, where we need to go get groceries anyhow.

For a myriad of reasons, I'm not all that wild about Christmas. But online shopping helps me deal with it a little better.

Cell 'Faux'ne

2006-12-09T11:58:00.000-05:00

I'm in the market for a new cell phone. It will be my 3rd phone ever, excluding the one I used in Germany for three months. I'm changing services for the first time too- going from Sprint to Cingular. This time I'm going to get a phone I really like. The choice is all mine, so I want to get one that has a good grouping of features and won't be obsolete once i get out of the store.

The problem I'm having is that I can't quite find a phone that has the features I want and still functions as a phone. Today's cell phones have cameras and mp3 players packed in so tight that there's barely room for a functioning battery.

I'd prefer if the R+D money was spent not on video recorders, but instead on giving me a stronger signal or longer battery life. I don't understand why I can take pictures with my phone, yet can't get signal inside my own house. I seldom use the camera function on my current phone, and I doubt I'd ever use an MP3 feature, because I have an iPod.

I understand, accept, and look forward to when the cell phone becomes the all-in-one pocket item that does anything you need. But I don't think the technology is quite there yet. So many phones are trying to accomplish that feat now instead of waiting until its affordable to have a 4MP camera and a 2GB MP3 player inside a phone. When that day does arrive, however, I'll certainly jump on that bandwagon. I'm sure those days aren't too far ahead.

I've had enough hubris

2006-12-05T14:21:00.000-05:00

The Iraq study group led by former Secretary James Baker will meet with Bush tomorrow to brief him on the results of the study. While a "phased withdrawl" is supposed to be the primary option selected by the commission, the real question at hand is not necessarily what the recommendations will be. Instead, more focus is on Bush himself, and whether he will heed any advice he is given. To date, Bush has been quite stubborn when it comes to outside advice. On issues from Iraq to social policy, he has chosen to lend an ear only to those in his administration, or his neo-conservative political base.

Needless to say, I have my doubts about how well he will receive the report tomorrow.Bush's plan of "staying the course" until "victory" is entirely flawed. First and foremost, Bush has only vaguely explained what victory in Iraq is. At what point has the war been won? There are no benchmarks to test any result of the Iraq conflict- that is to say, we'll never know if the war has been won. The qualification of the outcome is entirely subjective. The U.S. will have won when Bush says so.

This is quite unlike other wars in American history. In the Revolutionary War, the colonies won when the British packed up and left. In the Civil War, the North won when the South formally surrendered. In World War II, it was again the surrender of the Axis leaders that decided the outcome.The enemies in Iraq consist of fragmented, factionalized groups with no single leader. When (and if) this war is won, there will be no signed surrender document on the USS Missouri or at the Appomattox courthouse.

What needs to be determined is what the criteria should be for a victory. Bush claims that the Iraq government needs be able to stand on its own in order for the U.S. to pull out. What constitutes standing on its own? Does the government need to establish a certain amount of laws? Raise an amount of funds through taxes? Create an army of a certain size? Have an election? Specific criteria need to be established to quantify or better qualify the circumstances that would constitute "victory." The country is owed this simple idea. If U.S. troops are going to stay until they are victorious, a well defined 'victory' scenario is necessary. For all we know now, the victory conditions in Bush's head could be quite maligned, such as the completion of an oil pipeline, imposition of an Israel-friendly leader, or the agreement that an Iraqi army will have a stand-off against Iran.

If the U.S. government wants to salvage foreign relations in the Middle East, it needs to be proactive about it. While the warring factions continue to destroy buildings, kill civilians and be otherwise unruly, the United States should find a moderately civil region and begin rebuilding the infrastructure. Start by constructing a few roads, water wells, bridges and continue with schools hospitals and the like. Such an endeavor would be inexpensive by comparison to the amount of money ($315 Billion) currently being spent on destroying those same pieces of infrastructure and society. These kind of projects would remind Iraqis, Arabs, and Muslims why America is a great place. It would also bring proof to support the rationale originally used to invade Iraq. If we wanted to remove Saddam and promote Iraqi freedom and prosperity all along, why aren't we making efforts along those lines?

Bush has been stubborn to alter his actions on just about every issue. It seems as if he's worried about being seen as having made the wrong decisions originally. Or worse, he's worried about being a "flip-flopper"- the very thing his campaign accused Kerry of being back in '04. I don't see there as being anything wrong with changing ones mind. Different times call for different actions.

I appreciate a candidate who is willing to vote for something one time, then 10 years later switch sides and oppose the same issue. It's not 'flip-flopping'- it's called pragmatism, and its an age old methodology. Not all situations are the same- it takes a learning experience to fully understand an issue or an idea. Think about how much Iraq has changed since 2003. While invading Iraq may have seemed like a good idea to the administration 4 years ago, the time and tide has changed and new ideas are required to alleviate the problems in that region. There is nothing wrong with changing a perspective or stance on Iraq. Adjusting ones perspective to reflect a new situation is a symbol of responsibility and leadership, not carelessness or immorality.

At this rate, I should prepare my Crayolas.

2006-11-30T12:59:00.000-05:00

Throughout my life, the things I do during the day have become increasingly more complex. As an infant, I focused on things like eating and sleeping. As a toddler, I spent time playing with toys or coloring. In school, I learned the alphabet, then arithmetic, then science and civics and so on. Each progressive stage built upon prior learned lessons, with each stage being more complex or difficult than the previous. The trend continued through high school and college. As per the pattern of 20 years, I assumed such development would continue.

Thus far it has not.

Last June, as I finished graduate school, I wrote a 20 page paper discussing international economic regimes, their changes through time and the impact they have had on world trade. For another class, I evaluated the current world perspective on terrorism: its causes, impact and potential solutions. A year prior, I analyzed American foreign policy and how trade relations with China have created trade deficits, partly caused by an undervalued Yuan.

Yesterday I was coached on how to file things alphabetically. Seriously.

Apparently I'm good at doing mundane tasks. So good, in fact, that the Boston office has shipped multiple boxes to me overnight so that I can put them in to folders and send them back. True story.

Upon receipt of one of these boxes, I called the sender to ask what specifically he wanted me to do. His explanation was something like this:

"Okay, in the box there's a bunch of envelopes (there were probably a few hundred). Open them, then look at the name of the account it specifies and file it alphabetically. Like my last name is 'Smith'. So put it under 'S'. Or Mike's last name is 'Wilson', so put it under 'W'. Get it?"

He explained it this way at least twice, being sure to be painstakingly clear about how the alphabet works. He didn't bother much to explain what the documents were or why they were important. He was just extra particular about the fact than an individual had two names, a first and a last, and that they consisted of 'letters' which go in some sort of 'order'. Whatever the heck that means!

Yeah. I get it.

Talk about regression. I could have done this as an elementary schooler. Why does he feel that he needed to explain it this way? Is the assumption that the average Joe is too dim to understand the concept of alphabetizing? Are most employees like this? Whatever the matter, this dumbing down thing has gotta stop soon. I need a real job.

A Semantically Civil War

2006-11-29T12:32:00.000-05:00

News agencies are now referring to the conflict in Iraq as a 'civil war'.

Taken from wikipedia's definition of "civil war":

A civil war is a war in which the competing parties are segments of the same country or empire. Civil war is usually a high intensity stage in an unresolved political struggle for national control of state power. As in any war, the conflict may be over other matters such as religion, ethnicity, or distribution of wealth. Some civil wars are also categorized as revolutions when major societal restructuring is a possible outcome of the conflict.

As a matter of fact, yes, you can call what's going on Iraq a civil war- it certainly meets all the criteria. All participants (aside from U.S. forces) are from the same country, it is highly intense, there is an unresolved political struggle for state power, the conflict is of religion and ethnicity, somewhat of wealth, and there will be restructuring when the conflict is resolved. So yes, NBC, NY Times, and U.S government, it is a civil war. Duh.

Maybe this new terminology can get the government to realize what it has created, and perhaps leverage this into a new idea of how to control it. With Iraq in total chaos, some sort of power broker is going to take charge of the region. They could be friendly, they could be foe, or they could be Iran. Anything is possible, and there are a number of groups who have more power in the region than the United States does.

Regardless of what others call it, I still prefer to call it a clusterf*ck.

The Steak and Shake Bean Crock 2nd round College Football Playoff

2006-11-28T12:14:00.000-05:00

So the talk of the sports world is on the upcoming college bowls. Every year there is controversy, and this year is no exception. With one game deciding the top team in the country, the two best contenders must be selected to take a chance at winning the national title.

This year, one of those spots is a shoe-in. Ohio State has been dominant all season and more than deserves a spot in the title game. Their opponent however, could potentially be any one of the number of one-loss teams from USC to Michigan to Florida. Worth consideration is the undefeated Boise State team, who despite dominating their conference will not get the opportunity to play for more than their own pride. The same thing happened to Auburn a few years back.

The grab bag of bowls pair teams as low as 5th or 6th in their conference (as long as they have a 6-6 record or better) for games that are rather meaningless, beyond a cash reward for their school. The BCS games are more prestigious by far, and only one bowl has a meaningful trophy at stake.

There has been talk by sports pundits that the bowl system should be eliminated and replaced by a tournament. I agree with this suggestion. Following the season, there should be tournament similar to that of college basketball, but much much smaller. The top 8-10 teams should play in a single elimination tourney with the victor receiving the championship prize. To get a bid to the tournament, you must win your conference. Seeds could still be determined by using the current polls and rankings. I considered also having at-large invitations, but the fact remains that no team should be able to be the national champions without also being conference champions.

For non-winners, there could still be bowl games to create inter-conference postseason matchups. I'm aware of how important these games can be, as participants can rake in millions. Sponsors could even buy the naming rights for tournament round games, like the "Steak and Shake Bean Crock 2nd round College Football Playoff."

In addition to the aforementioned benefits, the playoff series would keep viewers engaged for an extended period of time. Instead of having Ohio State play its last regular season game on November 17, then waiting til January for the bowl game, the team would need to prove itself through December. Every single game would be big and important, with even the most boring matchup consisting of two solid ranked teams. Unless your team was involved, few remember who played in most bowl games more than a year ago, and that includes non-championship BCS bowls. A elimination tournament would be better- think of it as a final four of football.

It seems like every other sport, college or professional, has some sort of playoff structure to determine the top teams in the league. Why does football insist on this backwards and obsolete system when a playoff structure would be more profitable and more entertaining?

Remember Remember the Lexus of December

2006-11-27T22:25:00.000-05:00

Lexus is at it again with their "December to Remember" sales campaign. Every year they do this promotion where they advertise their luxury automobiles as christmas gifts. As if Christmas ad campaigns weren't already forcing us to spend enough money, this car company comes along and makes it worse.

They make those goofy commercials where some guy gives his wife (or vice versa) a $45,000 SUV as a Christmas gift, complete with oversized bow. Personally, if my wife bought me a luxury automobile for christmas, I'd be pissed. There is no reason or excuse to spend that much money for any holiday, with or without Jesus' involvement. Buying a car is a commitment. A commitment to years of car payments, raised insurance premiums, maintenance, and because its a Lexus, premium gas. (Frankly, I'm not too wild about a car ever being bought for me outright. I'd rather select the right vehicle myself, but I digress.)

The average salary in America is about $36,000. (This figure is likely skewed by the number of people that make hundreds of thousands per year) The majority of these cars cost well over that, meaning the average American couldn't possibly afford one. I have a hard time believing that these commercials really speak to more than a few percent of the population.

Does anyone actually purchase one of these cars as a gift? If so, damn. You must have some serious disposable income. And for the kind of cash these cars call for, it better come with that big ass bow.

If I ever decide to give a Lexus as a gift, it's gonna be because I stole it.

Diagnosed with Oral Roberts

2006-11-26T01:24:00.000-05:00

If A>B and B>C, then logically A>C also, right?

If so, that makes for some interesting college basketball rankings. Last night, Kansas beat the #1 ranked Florida Gators in overtime. Hardly 10 days ago, Kansas was beaten by Oral Roberts University at home.

That means that Oral Roberts is now the best team in College Basketball. The math logic proves it.

Oral Roberts University was founded by its namesake, Oral Roberts. Contrary to popular belief, this is indeed the name of a person, not a sex act or a mouth disease.

Oral Roberts is an interesting character. A devout christian, he has raised millions of dollars through faith to build a university and a nearby medical center. He claimed, and I swear this is true, that a 900 foot tall Jesus told him to do it. For a later project, he told his followers that he had to raise 8 million dollars in a few short months or god would "call him home". He ended up not getting that call, as more than enough money was raised.

An interesting fact about his City of Faith Medical Center is that the buildings are constructed to Noah's specifications for the ark. Had to be an interesting construction project- I can only imagine the difficulties caused by using a 2000 year old, inconsistent, inaccurate measuring system... or a bunch of guys crawling around using their arms to measure things on the construction site.

Spectator Slowdown

2006-11-22T12:07:00.000-05:00

I manage to live on the exact opposite side of Columbus from where I work. Every morning I take the highway straight through downtown (70->670) during rush hour. No one is a fan of traffic, and that includes me. I deal with it every morning though, as I try to get to work in less than half an hour.

I can usually make the journey in either direction in under a half hour if I leave at the right time. By adjusting my departure time by only 10-15 minutes, my arrival time can be changed by 20-30 minutes. That is to say that if I leave too late, I hit the worst part of traffic and it ends up taking me significantly longer to make the same trip.

"What causes traffic?", I wonder some days. Sure, the obvious answer is the volume of cars, but that's not specific enough. Additionally, we've all hit traffic at times that aren't rush hour.

Some of it seems to be caused by people driving too slow in the left lane, preventing cars from getting by. Some is people who are flat out lost, or are not paying attention to exit signs and merge late. Some people don't know how to merge it all. Other slowdowns are caused by people who insist on cutting into traffic from an outside lane even though there were signs suggesting that that very lane ended ahead. Lastly, I think much of traffic is caused by hair-trigger brakers, as I call them. These people who see a car's brakelights a mile and a half ahead and feel the need to slam theirs on immediately, causing a chain reaction.

Accidents can slow things down temporarily, but most of the time the involved vehicles are moved to the shoulder before there's a serious slowdown. Often this results in what is referred to as "spectator slowdown", where passers-by drive really slowly to get a good look at any available twisted wreckage or mangled bodies. Don't lie- you've done it. We've all been stuck in this traffic too- you spot the collision vehicles on the side of the road, no lanes are blocked, yet traffic is backed up for a mile and suddenly lets up as you pass the accident.

The only way to stop the rubbernecking is to stop doing it yourself. Instead of checking out the carnage, keep driving. I've made this effort before, but it's hard. After waiting in bumper-to-bumper traffic for the better part of an hour, I felt I'd earned a chance to take a look.
What is it that compels us to look at certain things this way? Why do we want to see crashes on NASCAR, big hits in football and hockey, or entertain ourselves with gory movies?

Bigger than Jesus

2006-11-17T15:47:00.000-05:00

Maybe it only seems like it because I live in Columbus, but tomorrow's Ohio State vs. Michigan football game appears to be the biggest event in the history of the universe.

You can't look out your window, turn on an electronic appliance, open your mouth or answer the phone without hearing something, somehow about this football game. Today I even saw some OJ-esque footage from a helicopter showing the Michigan buses leaving for Columbus. This game is the greatest, most important event in the history of the universe.

Here's why:

1. The biggest rivalry in college sports (arguably in all sports)
2. The media has nothing else to talk about (see ESPN today)
3. #1 vs. #2
4. National title hopes directly on the line
5. Heisman candidate at QB
6. The election is over - sort of.
7. An excuse to not accomplish anything serious this week.
8. Nickelback can't even get tickets.
9. Bo Schembechler died (see below)
10. The rapture has been postponed to next week. (or has it? They're calling it Judgement Day)

And today it got bigger still with Schembechler's death. Bo was the long time coach of the University of Michigan. During his career he coached for many schools, including Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Miami, Northwestern, and as an assistant under Woody Hayes at Ohio State. Many suggest that Bo's defection to Michigan was the biggest catalyst in this Big 10 rivalry.

I live in bona fide Columbus, aka ground zero for the game. With the history of violence following football games, I fear for my life if the Bucks win, and fear for the world if they lose. May god have mercy on our souls.

OU! OH YEAH!

2006-11-17T12:05:00.000-05:00

I am in complete disbelief. Totally unreal.

The Ohio Bobcats Football team, which used to be an oxymoron, has clinched the MAC East!

For the first time in nearly 40 years, the Bobcats get to play in the post season. The MAC championship is going to be held at Ford Field in Detroit, then pretty much win or lose, OU will appear in a bowl game.

I've been a Bobcat fan since I first set foot on the Athens campus back in '02. Most of my focus has been on the basketball team, however. The football team was generally only expected to win a game or two per season, and most fans attend the games only to see the Marching 110 perform.

Not anymore.

After McDavis brought in Frank (the tank) Solich, the team has certainly picked up. Last night's result is all the proof I needed.

I couldn't be prouder of this Bobcats squad. It's about time for some good action in Peden Stadium. I just hope I can manage to get to the bowl game.

GO BOBCATS!

Sudo Penguins and Partitions

2006-11-16T13:00:00.000-05:00

I finally got myself to try Linux this week. Given that I don't know anyone who uses it regularly, I never had the opportunity to get to know the operating system. I've been a fan of the open-source movement for a while now, I figured it was time to take Linux for a spin.

I quickly realized that Linux was not like Windows or Apple, where there was effectively one version of the overall platform. Linux has a large number of what they call "distributions", and each varies from another. The differences seemed to based on how recent the version is, and what kind of user it was designed for.

I used a Linux Distribution Chooser to help me narrow down all the options. I ended up settling on Kubuntu 6.06. All along I had intended on adding the OS to my computer as to make it dual-boot with Windows XP. The guides I found to walk me through this process led me to believe that it was much more difficult to accomplish this than it really was. All I had to do was create a new partition on the hard drive on which to install Linux. Using PartitionMagic, this was actually fairly easy. Even if I didn't have the more advanced software, the Kubuntu iso comes loaded with a partitioning program.

Long story short, I rebooted the computer with the Kubuntu cd in the drive, and I was able to install the system very quickly. It even took care of the operating system menu. No fuss, no muss.

Using Linux for basic computer functions such as web browsing, word processing, etc, was pretty straightforward. The OS is easy enough to navigate for a windows user, but installing drivers was more of a challenge. In order to alter much of the system, you have to use a dos-like Terminal interface. The initial commands were a bit of a challenge, but eventually I managed to get my ati drivers loaded. That's all I had time for last night.

On the upside, I now understand this xkcd.com comic:

A Royale with Cheese

2006-11-15T12:19:00.000-05:00

I am all about the James Bond movie: Casino Royale. This long awaited film is actually a prequel to every other Bond movie. The story is based on Ian Fleming's first Bond novel, which was never made into a movie. It will be the story explaining how Bond became 007.

I love Bond movies. It's kind of like a superhero movie without the superhero powers. Much of the time, the situations Bond faces are moderately realistic- the difference being the presence of not-yet-achieved technology, such as a watch with a high powered laser, a car that turns into a submarine, etc. There's something so possible about the Bond series that makes it exciting. It's far fetched enough to have a twisting storyline involving interesting fictional characters, but Bond can't fly or use x-ray vision on his own power.

The movie debuts this Friday, which is really unfortunate. My girlfriend's birthday is also on Friday, making it a difficult decision. It's a good thing I like her. She should consider herself lucky. I'll go see it as soon as I feasibly can. Sunday or Monday, I'm thinking. 'Cause you know what Saturday is.

Seeing this movie will probably send me back to my childhood fantasy about being James Bond. Of all the major movie heroes, superheroes, and other fictional characters that men wish they could be, I'd like to be James Bond the most. C'mon! The lifestyle, the technology, a cool British accent? It's like it was made for me. I've even been an avid player of nearly all James Bond video games, as it has been as close as I've been able to come to the real thing. In anticipation of the movie, I've begun to revisit the games on PS2, as that's the only console system available to me at the moment. Rest assured, if my N64 was handy, I'd be playing Goldeneye for sure.

Lastly, here's a comic from xkcd.com. I love this site for its witty science and math related comics.

It's impossible to get around talking about this.

2006-11-15T10:29:00.000-05:00

This town is about to explode. No, not from terrorists, despite the Democrats winning in the last election.

This city has football fever, and if The Game wasn't big enough already, this season made it double in size. You can actually taste the excitement in the air, and it tastes kind of sweaty, really. Not only does the winner get bragging rights for a year, but they go undefeated in the regular season, win the Big 10, and go to the BCS National Championship Game.

The football experts called this back in the first weeks of the football season. They said that both Michigan and Ohio State have the capacity to go undefeated this season. I was skeptical. I knew the Ohio State team would be fantastic on offense, and good enough on D, but I had no idea Michigan was up to the same caliber. They proved themselves many times over, such as when they played Notre Dame, just as OSU toppled Texas.

It's next to impossible for a fan of either team not to hold at least some reservation or doubt about this Saturday's game. With two teams this good and neither having been seriously challenged this season, this game is too close to call. We all know it has the capability to go either way.

Both teams have a solid defense and some major playmakers on offense. The Buckeyes' spread offense has performed extremely well this season, but the availability of the pass may hinge on whether they can simultaneously get the ball moving on the ground. Michigan's offense is more balanced, with more focus on Mike Hart's running abilities, as well as multiple deep threats.

A lot of the sports pundits are suggesting that the national championship could end up being a rematch between these two teams. While a few more cards would have to fall into place in order to make that happen, I'd say it would make for an interesting Fiesta Bowl. The bottom line for the BCS title game is that I want to see a good match-up. A championship game should not be a blowout, but a close fought game between two teams who dominated other opponents all season. If The Game is a close one, then it would be worthwhile to see these two contend once more. After all, this rivalry is about as big as it could ever hope to be. What's a few more flipped cars, couches on fire and a few hundred more arrests? They'd be a drop in the bucket at this point.

It's hard not to get psyched for The Game with the atmosphere in Columbus. I can't turn my head 30 degrees without seeing Ohio State paraphernalia. I just gotta remember that it's still 3 days, 4 fours 34 minutes and 12 seconds away.

Go Bucks! Beat Michigan! My score prediction: Ohio State 24, Michigan 17

BASICly inept

2006-11-13T15:43:00.000-05:00

Just like so many others of my generation, I am the in-house IT guy for my family. I cannot visit my parents or other relatives for even a few hours without a, "hey, while you're here, can you take a look at my computer?" or "my ipod isn't downloading right" or "the wireless network isn't working again."

I don't mind being that guy, no, not at all. I enjoy being the one who's knowledgeable enough about technology to be able to repair any techno-issue that arises. When I fix the problem, I get a certain level of satisfaction, success, and a bit of a power trip. Usually it's just a matter of plugging in a cable the right way or editing a configuration page properly. Occasionally I bring in the 'big guns' and use Ad-Aware, Avast, Tune Up Utilities and others to clean up the system to as usable state. I appreciate a good challenge though, and more than once I've been recruited to repair an entirely defunct system.

Last night was one of those times. My step-mom's laptop recently had its hard drive replaced and needed to load an operating system. Easy enough, I thought. Grab a Windows XP cd, boot from CD and in 30 minutes we'd have a fully-functioning computer.

Not so, I found out. The cd-rom drive was on the fritz too, and would only actually access the cd once every 5-7 tries. When I finally was able to start the setup program, i was hardly able to create a hard drive partition before the cd quit, leaving only a few files copied. The cd drive refused to cooperate any further.

To make a long story short, I spent the next few hours trying to find other ways to load the operating system. The floppy drive was no avail- it would have taken over 500 disks to copy the XP cd to the hard drive. Then I created a boot disk and tried to activate the network port from dos- maybe I could install from the network. This seemed feasible at first, but I learned that I probably need Windows Server edition to make that work. Lastly, I copied the entire cd to my dad's external USB hard drive. If I could activate the USB port from dos, I might have a chance.

That was the right track. Using some drivers I found online, I was able to get the system to recognize the usb drive. Unfortunately, it wouldn't also recognize the internal hard drive. I may have been able to force it to work if wasn't for my fleeting dos skills. I couldn't remember all the commands to make the computer change drive letters and do the copying I was hoping for. I used to be quite talented at working with MS-DOS. As a former owner of a 486, I had to be. I could even do some programming in BASIC. It wasn't any prizewinning software, mind you (I was what, 12? 13? years old?) but I could make it work.

So much of those old skills have been forgotten, or more likely replaced by newer XP era skills. What I knew about floppy disk formatting, basic coding, and boot disks has been replaced by wireless networking, graphics cards, and blogging.

DOS was fun though, back in the day. It was a system that you couldn't just figure out on the spot. You had to know the steps necessary to achieve the intended results before you even started. It did so many of the same things that windows explorer does graphically by point-and-click today. However, there was always something empowering by being able to use DOS to its potential when no one else around you could.

It's practically cliche now, but technology times move so fast. Think of the things we do everyday in Windows like downloading, email, and all sorts of media, and how next to impossible it was in DOS. Just look at that picture. There's no way that dweeby little Gates (bottom left) could have forseen that he would have $50+ Billion in assets within twenty years. I should probably start working on my long hair and matching beard soon.

I had to leave the laptop unfixed for now. I'm still working on a solution. Let me know if you have any good ideas. Repairing the cd-rom is an option, but a difficult one as I'm not sure what exactly is wrong with it.

I, Pod

2006-11-10T11:36:00.000-05:00

Though I've owned it for nearly a year, I've recently become an even bigger fan of my iPod. I started taking it to work with me every day. I noticed recently that a lot of other employees listen to a radio or headphones during the day, so I decided to give it a shot.

My iPod is a black 2GB Nano, purchased by my wonderful girlfriend for me last Christmas. I quickly added a nice leather protective case and better quality headphones, as the iPod is particularly vulnerable to aesthetic damage and comes with very poor quality (though trendy) headphones.

I'm by no means an iPod obsessive. I enjoy listening to it, but it's not a way of life. I've seen a number of new iPod owners who take pictures of the unwrapping process when they purchase a new one. Not me.

It's interesting how well the iPod has taken off. At the time they first came out, MP3 players had already been on the market for quite a while. I can remember them pretty distinctly 6 or 8 years ago, when I worked at Circuit City. There was usually not much more than 128Mb of storage space on the unit though, which made for a short listening experience. When the iPod hit the market a couple of years later, it was accompanied by not only a very large hard drive at a marginal (but still high for high school kids) cost, but also an absolute barrage of marketing. Apple made the MP3 player cool. It could hold virtually your entire music library and it came with hip headphones.

I originally didn't particularly want an iPod. After all, I'm tech savvy enough that I don't need the user-friendly interface to get the gadget to do what I want. A cheaper competing model would be adequate. The more I was exposed to the device, the more I was drawn to getting one for myself. It had a color screen, could hold pictures, categorize everything automatically, and it would sync perfectly with iTunes, which I was already using to store my 20Gb music collection.

Recently, I've thought about upgrading to a full-fledged iPod. One with video and a huge hard drive. I'm not gung-ho about it yet, so we'll see. I'd just like to take advantage of the video podcasts and be able to put my whole music collection on it instead of just a fraction of it, as I have now.

Because I listen to my iPod pretty much all day long now, I've had to add more than just music to keep my mind occupied while I cut & paste spreadsheets from 9 to 5. I started downloading podcasts regularly, which is something I unsuccessfully tried before. When I didn't listen to the iPod on a regular basis, the podcasts quickly became outdated and pointless to listen to when I remembered they were there. But now that I listen to it everyday, podcasts are a highlight of my day. Here's a brief list of my favorites, all of which can be found through iTunes for your listening pleasure:

The Body Odd - Two doctors discuss interesting things your body does in a funny but interesting 10 minute cast. Look under NBC to find it.

PTI - Also known as Pardon the Interruption, this cast is taken directly from the ESPN show. No commercials, and you get to listen to Tony & Mike badger each other.

ABC News Nightline - Also straight from TV, this cast tackles a major news story each day.

NBC Nightly News - Straight from Brian Williams everyday.
Travel with Rick Steves - The famed guidebook writer discusses travel destinations.

And then there was one...

2006-11-08T14:39:00.000-05:00

This entry is written early Wednesday afternoon, just following Bush’s speech.

What a day for politics. For all those in favor of change, we could not have asked for much more. The House of Representative is secure and great strides have been made in the Senate. The only Senate races left uncertain are those of Montana and Virginia. Montana’s winner has been called by CNN in favor of Jon Testor, a Democrat. Virginia’s race is far to close to call, though the current count places Jim Webb (D) ahead by only 7,000 votes from a pool of 2.5 million votes. (The independent candidate has received 26,000 votes- enough to cover the spread between the main party candidates 3.5 times over.)

If the Dems can take that last Virginia Senate seat, they will total 51 in the upper house, which is enough to gain “control.” If that seat goes to the GOP, the 50/50 split will be broken by none other than Dick “Bulls-eye” Cheney, everyone’s second favorite oil man cowboy.

I’ve been glued to CNN.com today, checking up on the close races and witnessing another tidbit of outstanding news- Rumsfeld is stepping down from his post as Secretary of Defense. This may be an act that should have taken place ages ago. With the debacle in Iraq and all its detail, Rummy should have left the Pentagon years ago. If I recall correctly, he did try to resign but Bush would not accept his resignation. More recently, military generals and other political elites have been making efforts to encourage his removal.

Thus far I have only one major theory as to why he selected today to leave. It was clearly a reaction to the election (obviously). The GOP clearly did not expect to lose as much as it did in Congress, and Rumsfeld may have been waiting it out. If the Democrats were to take control of Congress with Rummy still in the war room, chances are good that he could be investigated, prosecuted, or otherwise for Iraq, Abu-Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay prisoners, use of torture, use of illegal wire-tapping, an unsuccessful search for Bin Laden, and other military leadership failures. By getting out now, Rumsfeld may escape any such investigation- and exposé I would love to see.

Anyway you cut it, today was a solid victory for the Democrats, as well as those who are just plain fed up with the right-wing leadership of our country. I voted for change, and I hope we get it. While no candidate promised to fix Iraq, I think the odds are better than they were yesterday.

So now we wait. If a Virginia election is close within a certain percentage of votes, there is an automatic recount. With it being such a close finish, neither candidate would be willing to concede their candidacy and finalize the election.

Web 2.0? More like Web You.0

2006-11-06T15:12:00.000-05:00

For a long while I didn’t know it had a name, but I noticed the evolution. Web 2.0 is upon us, or rather, it is us.

If you’re reading The Soap Box, there’s a good chance that you’re old enough to remember the early days of the internet. Those days when you had about three options for an ISP using your 14.4 kb modem and had to pay-per-email. We’ve certainly come a long way in a short time.

The internet has evolved into countless ISPs, millions of websites, free email, and connection speeds that put any type of phone modem to shame. While the internet used to be corporate or organizationally driven, it has turned into an outlet for individuals.

From blogging to personal pages on Facebook, MySpace, Xanga, Flixster, to Wikipedia, Wikihow and so many others have empowered individuals to access, use, and share their slice of the internet. What’s more, the number of slices of the internet is pretty much infinite. Anyone with access to a computer, or even a Smartphone or PDA can do it effectively for free. Even the previously standardized web pages like Yahoo, Google, and many others are fully customizable. The web is now all about the user, and scarcely about the provider. Compare this to a Henry Ford quote from the 1910’s “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black" versus today’s age where you have dozens of car styles, colors and options to tailor your ride to your personal preference.

With all this personal empowerment, we have achieved the ability to share human knowledge and experiences with the entire world at any time, instantly. Readers of Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat will recognize everything I’m talking about as part of Globalization 3.0. (If you haven’t read this book, it is highly recommended.) Look at Wikipedia. Its creators designed it as a resource to contain the world’s combined knowledge. And with personal pages on the social networking sites, we can learn more and more about each other as human beings.

Other features of Web 2.0 include the new dynamic of software. When was the last time you purchased software and used your CD-ROM drive to install it? It is far more common now to acquire applications and games from the web. Even the programs you already have utilize the internet to update or sync with a distant source. Or examine the Open Source movement- millions of individuals whom have never met in person are now collaborating to develop software for all sorts of uses, all for free.

When considering at what point this new era began, I don’t think there is a solid answer. The internet has been going through an evolution. Because the web is neither centrally located nor centrally controlled, there was no single force that guided it to where it is now. Certainly the most palpable answer is simply that the individual empowerment started when it became economically feasible to extend this sort of technology to the masses. Like any other major technological innovation, it is generally prohibitively expensive to most in the early stages, but cost goes down steadily and availability increases.

Most of us are only beginning to embrace the possibilities of this new era of the internet. Like all evolutions, it will take time. For now, I’m taking every opportunity to explore new facets of the internet and my stake in it.

I found this picture on Google Images, and it does a bang up job of summing up Web 2.0. It’s eerily reminiscent of the socialist movement.

A Little of Each, All of Neither

2006-11-06T12:09:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in my post regarding Iraq that I was not a democrat or a republican, and I thought I best explain that before the election. Not to say that it would become completely irrelevant after tomorrow, but politics certainly takes a back burner in most people’s minds after Election Day.

Most people in this country identify themselves politically by siding with a political party of choice. Unfortunately in this country, there’s effectively only two from which to choose, so it becomes a very polarized electorate. However, I seek out some sort of middle ground. I’m not a Democrat or a Republican. My voter registration information does not declare me as either, nor do I belong to any formal organization. I don’t attend meetings, I don’t donate money to any candidate, and I don’t volunteer for any campaigns. To call myself a member of either party without any level of participation above the ballot box would be a flagrant overstatement.

Beyond campaign participation and general support, I do not necessarily agree with either party on enough issues to substantiate supporting them in all cases. For a broad example, I am generally left leaning on social issues and more right leaning on economic ones. (i.e. support stem cell research and free trade) Few candidates stand on this kind of platform, and seldom is it regular in any one party.

Additionally, I can’t possibly agree with the Republican Party as a whole as they sit right now. Even though one of this party’s charter members was the much respected Abraham Lincoln, today they seem tied up with cronyism, sex scandal and a blunder of foreign policy. So many GOP politicians seem so much more focused on their own wallet than the direction of this country. Tom DeLay and Dick Cheney are great examples.

The Democratic Party isn’t much better. While they may not be locked in scandal, they frequently seem completely unable to organize themselves. So much of their political base has been fragmented by groups that do or do not support the Iraq war, and those that may or may not believe in “the defense of marriage.” What’s more, as the Republican Party has sabotaged itself so many times in the last five or so years, the Democrats have routinely failed to take advantage. Lacking organization and a spine, they don’t seem able to stand up for anything. They have sat silent through so many prime opportunities. That kind of political apathy makes them no better than their opposition.

I’ve never been a fan of the polarizing effects of a two party system. I much prefer the multi-party structure that is commonly found in the parliamentary systems of Europe. Germany, for example, has a solid government that allows for more than two political views to be expressed. Unfortunately, that is not an option in America.

In the mean time, I’m just going to stick to the issues and vote for candidates that agree with my line of thinking. I don’t go out of my way for red or blue. Colorblind voting, I’ll call it.

The Chipotle Blend

2006-11-03T13:58:00.000-05:00

I love Chipotle. Who doesn't? Since moving to Columbus I've had thier delicious burritos on a number of occasions. Nevertheless, I've developed a solid idea that could maximize my tex-mex burrito experience.

The Chipotle burrito is pretty wide. (I'd say 4 or so inches across maybe, by two inches? That's 8 square inches!) Which is too wide to get a bite that encompasses the entire girth of the tortilla. Because of the way the burrito is made, the distribution of ingredients is uneven, and a bite of any one section of the burrito yields only one or two flavors. Often the rice is on one side, the cheese in the middle and your meat on the other end. Usually the salsa of your choice only spices up a third of the burrito to boot.

What I propose is an extra step in the burrito creation process. After you pick out your ingredients, everything should be dumped into a bowl and stirred gently to create an even burrito distribution. The burrito ingredients can then be re-integrated with the tortilla for your eating pleasure. I propose the name "Chipotle Blend" for the new product.

Think of it- spice mixed with meat, rice mixed with cheese, and all of this blended together for a cornucopia (horn of plenty) of flavors and deliciousness. Chipotle, I'm waiting by the phone for you to call and ask me to go on a national tour demonstrating my new product.

Make the check out to: Taste Wizard Tyler

Stem Sold

2006-11-03T12:49:00.000-05:00

Stem cell research is becoming one of those "hot-button" issues this election season. It seems that more liberal candidates support the study, while conservatives have made an effort to block research. President Bush himself used his first ever veto to block a congressional act allowing research. (Finally he uses a veto... I guess it shows how aligned Bush and the Republican congress are!)

Why is this such a big deal? It seems like any medical effort that could be made to save lives and fight diseases such as cancer, Parkinson's and heart disease would be a shoe-in. Well, it's complicated. But here's the short of it:

Your entire body is made up of cells, but there's lots of different kinds. Skin cells, heart cells, nerve cells, bone cells, etc, are all a little bit different, because they have different functions. They can't be interchanged to help heal other body parts not of their same type. (i.e. a skin cell put in your brain won't regenerate neurons lost from a stroke) Stem cells aren't any specific type of cell. Or rather, they're any type of cell you want. Follow me on this.

A stem cell is like a blank piece of paper that can be written on with a pencil. However, the pencil has no eraser. Stem cells can be conformed to be nerve cells, heart cells, or whatever else is needed, but it can't work backwards. So theoretically, we could use stem cells to create heart cells and help someone with heart disease. Easy enough, right? Sort of. Adult humans do have a limited number of stem cells in their bodies which can be used, but the process isn't as effective or promising as the alternative.

Embryonic Stem cells (or ES) is the same concept, but the cells are obtained from an embryo, where all the cells are dividing to become different body parts. Cultures of human embryonic cells can be used for this research, and this is the most controversial idea surrounding stem cells. The political problem arises when people believe that stem cell research requires the "murder" of a baby to access these cells. This really isn't the case. Most stem cell research is done using embryonic cell lines that were already created for the purpose of in-vitro fertilization. After a successful fertilization, the remaining embryonic cells are set to be destroyed anyway, so using them for research is a lot better than nothing. Furthermore, the embryo that is used is at its very earliest stages of development. We're talking 32-64 total cells. A far cry from the 50-75 trillion cells it takes to make a living, breathing human.

I'm all-for stem cell research. I think the possibilities that lie within a handful of cells vastly outweighs the claim by a few that we're murdering babies for the benefit of a few. Much of the opposition (frequently the religious right) claim that "life begins at conception". I disagree with that statement, especially when there are fewer than 100 cells in question.

Even if not everyone agrees that we should allow embryonic generation for the purpose of research, it cannot be denied that the medical possibilities that could be unlocked are powerful and numerous. At the very least, researchers should be given full access and permission to utilize embryonic cell lines that already exist to further understand what possibilities may await. Perhaps then we can more fully understand their potential and develop a strong case for additional embryonic research development.

Most Saints Day

2006-11-01T14:26:00.001-05:00

Today is November 1st, what the Catholics call "All Saints Day". Something about this fascinates me. Saints are supposedly among the most important people who ever lived. Being Sanctified is more elite than being called "Sir", "Dr.", "Your Honor", "Mr. President", or probably even "Pope".

I thought it was odd that all the saints would have to share one day until i realized how many of them there are. This list on Wikipedia clearly shows that there are many, many saints. The article also states that in Roman Catholicism there are "10,000 saints and beatified people." So even if they were divided up equally each day (and not exempting time for Jesus' Christmas and Easter) 27 saints would have to share each day. So i guess it only makes sense that they should all combine for one Saint-tastic hollapalooza on November 1st.

I figured the most stand-out saints would get their very own day, but I'm curious as to why the ones that do were selected as such:

St. Patrick: Patron saint of excuses for drinking.
St. Valentine: Patron saint of chalk flavored candy hearts with out-dated messages written on them. (Fax Me!)

Perhaps we'll stay, but not on this course.

2006-10-30T12:35:00.000-05:00

Many of you have probably heard Bush's standard go-to phrase when talking about the plan for Iraq. When asked about an exit timetable, or when he figures the mission will really be accomplished, he insists that no timetable is necessary and the United States will "stay the course". When reports inquire upon the ultimate goal of the mission, his response is to the effect of "victory".

This ambiguous and arbitrary rhetoric may be acceptable to the jingoistic crowds of America immediately following 9/11, but is no longer enough today.

The occupation of Iraq needs to be working towards some specific conclusions or it will fall apart and become one of the most disasterous foriegn policy farces in recent decades. Being that most Americans understand that the efforts being made at present in Iraq are ineffective, Bush is finally recognizing this fact and is changing his rhetoric to reflect that.

The administration has decided to Cut and Run from 'Stay the Course'. The media wizards and press represtentatives in the White House are no doubt working on creating new nomenclature to express the same ideas in a new way. In the mean time, Bush has already denied ever saying "stay the course" at all:

“Listen,” Bush insisted “we’ve never been ‘stay the course,’ George. We ... will complete the mission. We will do our job and help achieve the goal, but we’re constantly adjusting to tactics.”

I can't wait to see The Daily Show's take on this. I'm sure they will have a long montage of clips with Bush using those very words.

As for me, I certainly disagree with "stay the course". However, the media term designated to oppose the Bush plan, "cut and run" does not appeal to me either. Invading Iraq was certainly a mistake. The entire operation has been longer, more expensive, and more costly than ever expected, not to mention the missing weapons of mass destruction. But leaving now would not solve the problem. If the United States was to pack its bags and return home tomorrow, Iraq would likely fall into greater chaos than it is in today. Like it or not, the fact is simply that we're already in this mess and we can't just sweep it under the rug.

For the U.S. to save face and remove itself from such a volatile situation, a timetable must be established. Major landmarks must be set for the slow but sure removal of troops, the establishment of an Iraqi peacekeeping force and a stable government that can withstand the conflicts of differing cultures and ethnic groups. Guidance for development should come not from the U.S., but instead from the U.N. (if they'll take it) which could utilize a multilateral peacekeeping force to encourage stability, growth and development in the new Iraq. Washington must accept that the U.S. is not capable of winning "hearts and minds" in the Middle East by itself, especially not on the track we are on.

A new plan for Iraq is needed, and we need it now. The Bush administration has made it very clear that they have little intention of changing their current plan, whether you listen to today's rhetoric or yesterday's. This is why I'm voting Democrat this election. Not because I am a Democrat (not a Republican either. I'll explain another time.), but because I'm simply voting for change. We need some new people with new ideas and new strategies in Washington to try to solve this Iraq debacle. The ones there now sure aren't doing it.

One in a Billion? 8.259 Billion?

2006-10-15T23:13:00.000-04:00

We've all used the phrase "one in a million" before. Often it describes someone really special; someone who stands out amongst everyone else you know or ever met. I'm thinking that this particular saying is outdated, or at least not quite as flattering as it used to be.

Today's current world population is roughly 6.55 Billion. To say that you're one in a million would mean that as unique as you are, there's 6,550 others equally as special as you. To put that into perspective, realize that there's only 1,800 or so players in the NFL, 793 billionaires, and 43 U.S. Presidents. So to say someone is a good as a professional football player, you'd have to say they are 1 in 3,638,888. To be as suave as a billionaire: 1 in 8,259,773. And do be presidential caliber: 1 in 152,325,581.

It sounds saddening at first, realizing that one in a million isn't what it was, but odds are you'll never run into the other 6,549 people anyway! And according the global average of 7,900 people per square mile (in urban areas) you're the most special person in 126 square miles! Think of it that way!

Haley Joel Osment Would Be Proud

2006-10-09T01:22:00.000-04:00

The other day, Shannon and I were on the way to the park. We thought we owed it to the little guy to have a chance to run around out in the open for a while. On the way to the park, we decided to stop at a pet supply store to get a tennis ball for the dog. Shannon ran in to get one while I waited in the car.

Having sat in the parking spot for no more than a minute or two, a middle age woman walked up to the driver side window. I turned down the radio and lowered the window. She started by explaining that her car had been towed by AAA because her transmission broke. She then asked me if I could give her a ride to her “auntie’s” house down the street, or give her a couple of dollars towards cab fare. Everything I had ever learned about strangers from a young age had popped in my head. What's more, we were in what is oft considered a "rough side of town." Was this woman about to rob me? Kill me? Use the “cab fare” to buy crack? My parents and the news media would have me believe that there was a greater chance of a crime to be committed than an honest person needing a helping hand.

I decided to cast away my white-flight suburbia fears and lend a favor to someone in need. Shannon came back out to the car and I quickly explained why there was a stranger in my car. We turned out of the shopping center and continued down Broad street toward her destination. During the trip she explained how she had asked so many other people for a ride and was repeatedly denied. She even tried the police, and to her claim, their “to serve and protect” mantra didn’t serve her at all. She also considered taking a bus, but did not know which to get on or where to get off. I can’t blame her on that point. Despite having used dozens of public transportation systems in the U.S. and in countries where I don’t speak the native tongue, I still have no idea how to use the Columbus bus system. Our passenger was very appreciative of us taking the time to help her out, as she expressed that a number of times.

Her “auntie’s” house turned out to be only a mile or so from the park to which we were headed, but it would have been a long walk from the shopping center. It was located in a neighborhood that most of my ilk would do anything to avoid. There were run down houses, others that looked like they hadn't been painted since the Nixon administration, and what any suburbanite would depict as unfit for the middle class.

I thought about my decision to help this woman later. Why had I decided to allow a complete stranger into my car, despite everything I had ever been taught? We’re not supposed to help the under classed and under privileged this way. Think about what you know about hitchhikers- haven’t you always been advised against giving them a ride? I was led to believe they were all murderers who carried various weapons in their bandana-on-a-stick.

Call it cliché, but I think part of my decision to help her out stems from the concept of “paying it forward”. I’m sure that I owed it to the universe to help someone out when they needed it. For those not familiar (or not having seen the movie), “paying it forward” means when someone does a favor for you, big or small, you should not focus on “paying them back”, but instead “pay it forward” to someone else needing a favor. It works kind of like Karma, I think.

On a total side note, did you know Bon Jovi was a character in that movie? Weird.

(Update: While doing some Haley Joel Osment "Where are they now?" research, I came across this little tidbit: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/osmentmug1.html
I guess he's old enough to know how to take two and pass...)

Gnarls Barkley: "Crazy" like a fox

2006-10-04T02:30:00.000-04:00

I recently read in Wired magazine that Gnarls Barkley’s song “Crazy” was the first to hit #1 on the charts based entirely on downloads. The song was originally released without an album and has been extremely successful in the US and abroad.

This isn’t the future of music anymore- it’s the present. Music is now available at many different outlets online as well as on CDs at your local Wal-Mart. What I can’t figure out is what took the recording industry so long to realize this and capitalize on such a profitable opportunity.

Thinking back, I’ve been downloading music since the late 90’s. I can remember finding songs in the MP2 format on AOL servers and FTP sites. It was possible to acquire electronic versions of hit songs well before Napster came along. Even in the post-Napster era, we are easily able to access other servers. Limewire, Kazaa, Morpheus, DC++, and so many others link consumers to free copies of music. Instead of coming to some sort of realization or epiphany about a new way to distribute music, the RIAA and its dominant labels proceeded to file lawsuits against downloaders. They have fought a losing battle for the past decade, when all the while they were sacrificing their own potential profits.

Instead of spending money to pay lawyers and court fees, music labels could have set up music purchasing sites earlier. Imagine if iTunes and similar sites had existed 5 or 6 years ago. Think of how many illegal downloads would have been unnecessary. Many music fans who have since learned of ways to download music illegally may have chosen legitimate means to get their music. And the music companies would have made more money too. As cheap as it already is to produce a CD, the marginal cost for downloading an electronic copy of a song is next to zero. All companies need to pay for is some web design and a server to contain the files.

Another huge benefit of the ability to download music is the very reason Gnarls Barkley was able to be so successful. Music fans have the option of downloading just the song(s) they want from an album, instead of spending money on the whole CD. Today, albums are not put together in a creative “total package” configuration, the way they were a few decades ago. Look at the Beatles “Revolver” or “Sgt Pepper”, or the best example, “Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd. These collections of songs were destined to be together. Individually, there are a few stand-out songs, but the album creates a whole new work of art. Most albums today are a collection of songs assembled by executives at a recording label. They work hard on a few songs, promoting them extensively as “singles” but the rest is filler. They need to fill space on the CD so it sounds worth it to spend $15. I would much rather spend a dollar apiece on the specific songs I want to hear.

Let’s face it. We’ve all purchased a CD of an artist that has been a disappointment. There may be one hit song, maybe another song or two that’s pretty good, but the rest isn’t worth spending money on. How many CDs have you actually owned where most or all of the songs on the CD are really worth purchasing? How many CDs do you own that you can listen to straight through without wanting to skip a few tracks?

The music industry is only now catching on to a concept they should have discovered years ago. Gone are the days where they could get consumers to spend almost $20 for two good songs and an album full of filler. The 80’s may have been called the “me generation”, that I would argue that this generation has demanded (and received) more capacity for individualization than any before it. We can tailor our spending to our personal wants and needs, and this is the audio example.

A Crazy Idea

2006-09-29T00:05:00.001-04:00

During the last few years of college, I had a crazy idea. I knew that graduation was approaching and time left in school was limited. I had to figure out what I was going to do. Should I pursue a PhD? Should I get a job? What’s to come after June? That’s when it hit me.

My crazy idea was that I would finish school as planned and pursue a career. I would get a job at a nominal salary, at which point I could afford to live in a decent apartment, start paying off school loans, be able to go out and have fun once in a while and maybe even afford a car that’s less than 10 years old. I mean heck, I figured having a graduate degree would put me leagues ahead of much of my competition. I had good credentials, office working experience, communications and computer skills, leadership experience and I studied abroad to boot. I didn’t need the perfect job, definitely not right off the bat. But that wouldn’t be an issue. Undoubtedly I could send out some resumes, get a few offers then take one that I like. After all, I was willing to move anywhere in the country, or even the world.

So I started putting out some resumes in April. I figured that it was as good a time as any to apply for jobs. Maybe I could beat some of the college graduate rush. Applying for jobs was quite exciting at first. As I filled out applications, wrote cover letters, and searched through so many pages of job listings, I imagined where I might find myself or what I might be doing in a few months. Some days I would apply for three or four jobs. I’d say the average week yielded at least ten. I continued this pursuit of a job through the end of spring quarter and into the summer.

Now it is nearly October, and I haven’t worked a day since graduation. The nearly one hundred resumes have yielded only one or two phone calls and no real interviews. To make things worse, the calls I did get were for the jobs I wanted the least- the ones that required a move across the country for minimal pay and maximum hours. Things have been looking grim. I have applied for jobs that have little or nothing to do with my degree, nor my intended career. Frustration only describes the half of it.

Only now have things been starting to look up. All I can say is that the old adage “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” has proven true. The leads that I feel so fortunate to have right now are only due to people I know.

The biggest of these is a consulting firm based in Chicago that my cousin’s husband works for. He’s considered a big shooter there and was able to land me a phone interview that has parlayed into an invitation to visit their office next month. Even this lead has been time consuming and stressful to arrange. I began the application process in mid August. Even if I get the job, I won’t be able to start until February.

In the shorter term, a friend of my girlfriend was able to set up an interview with the Associate Dean of a local adult tech education center. I received a call early this week stating that I got the job, though I have yet to start. I would be teaching economics for four hours, one night a week. Pay is minimal, but minimal is a positive integer greater than zero. In other words, it’s better than nothing.

I’m confident with the Chicago job, and if this teaching job would get started, it would resolve some of my problems. I’m good at interviewing and to my recollection have landed pretty much every job I’ve interviewed for. The hardest part has been getting that opportunity.

To all those still in school, plan ahead for graduation. Plan way ahead. I would start looking for job opportunities six months ahead of when I did, which does mean the calendar year before you actually graduate, for most of you. Apply for jobs you’d really like to have, but scour your friends and relatives for someone who works for a company that might have something you’d be good at or eligible for. After all, many employees get a referral bonus if you get hired.

If you want to get a job quickly after graduation, you need to think outside the box. Sending out dozens resumes sure didn’t cut it for me. Maybe you know someone, or know someone that knows someone, or know someone who knows someone who knows someone that can get you an interview. There’s so much competition out there. Think about that when you’re sitting in your chair at the commencement ceremony awaiting your diploma. Look around- see the other 3,000 students in the room? They’re your competition. Not just them either. Factor in all the new bachelors’ degree holders at all the universities in the country, plus all those already in the work force with real job experience. You need to find a way to get ahead of these other people- a way to get noticed in a sea of college grads.

I don't want to be too discouraging. I hope my experience is unique to me. I wish only the best of luck to you and your job hunt. I do know that if I ever have the opportunity to help a friend get a job, I’ll be sure to do all I can. Things are starting to work out finally. If nothing else, I've located some temp work that pays fairly well. Well, it'll pay the rent anyway.

What is the value of human life?

2006-08-17T15:28:00.000-04:00

Some of you might respond to this question simply by saying that it is priceless. You may suggest that life is a gift that can not be bought or sold for any amount of money. I contend that human life has a finite value. Take, for example, a severe illness has bestowed itself on a dear family member. What price would you be willing to pay to save that person’s life? What if the disease necessitated a $10,000 operation? Would you pay it? What about $100,000? Even with fundraising, insurance and loans, there eventually becomes a price that is just too much to pay. The maximum amount that could be afforded is then the value of that life.

But the real depth to this concept isn’t the price you would pay for a loved one; it’s the price you wouldn’t pay for someone else. Are some people’s lives worth more than others? Consider if the sick individual wasn’t a relative. What if the person was actually a child, half a world away, in a developing country? Would you pay the same amount to save their life? As the commercials and NGO’s insist, often times it only a few hundred dollars to save a persons life from malnourishment and diseases that have been eradicated in the western world. So is a relative’s life worth the lives of tens or hundreds of others?

The value of one’s life is determined by a few factors. Individuals may vary in value by their earning potential. Someone who is well educated with an established career has more earning potential than a hobo, for example. Our value is also established by the people around us. Our social value to our family, friends and community is an important factor. A person who is well liked has more redeeming value than someone despised by all.

In this world, we’re not created equal. Our value is determined on where we live, what we do, and who is important to us. How much I may value an individual’s life could be vastly different from your valuation. Regardless, it shows that human life is not priceless in a monetary sense, nor is it uniform across the human population.

The Challenge of our Generation

2006-07-26T17:35:00.000-04:00

Every generation faces a major challenge. In the past 100 years we have seen wars, economic depressions and an iron curtain that divided the world for decades. Undoubtedly, our generation too will have to come to terms with a major crisis. While we can only speculate what that may be, the challenge of developing a new fuel source ranks very high.

For centuries the world has utilized coal, oil, and other non-renewable fossil fuels as the primary source of energy for everything from lights to spacecraft. At our current rate of consumption, the planet cannot endure this kind of energy expenditure. With globalization offering empowerment of millions every day around the world to own cars, use air conditioning and power electronics, the rate of energy use is skyrocketing. China and India in particular are each bringing over a billion people into the modern energy world. In part, this competition has driven the costs of fuel up as demand for energy is increasing much faster than the available supply.

While the supply-demand problem of energy is becoming easier and easier to see through our wallets, it is only a matter of time until this becomes an even bigger international issue. It will not be long until countries begin to compete over access to oil. Because fuel is such a necessity for the modern economy to power our computers, trucks, cargo ships, cars and trains, no country is willing to go without it. As if the soon-to-be intense competition for oil between India, China, the US, Europe and others were not problem enough, a sick twist of fate has left the majority of the worlds' oil supply in the hands of a few rogue nations. The world's largest oil producers are Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Iran and Nigeria. Each has a history of human rights issues, social problems and most importanty, international political difficulties. When oil supply gets worse, the countries wielding the most power will be those who least deserve it and least able to handle it.

Beyond the supply of fossil fuel, its very use is causing tremendous environmental damage. The notion of global warming used to be almost a joke. Even if it were true, it was happening so slowly that no one alive today would survive to experience its real effects. But look at the last 12 months. Last August demonstrated a hurricane season unmatched in decades. As you may recall, the national weather service actually ran out of names to give all of the hurricanes. The following winter was unusually mild. Here in Ohio there was hardly snow to speak of. Now this summer has shown an incredible heat wave throughout the whole of the United States with temperatures of 100 degrees no longer limited to the southwest, but into the northern plains and Midwest.

The challenge of our generation may be to find a solution to this compounding problem. We need to discover a new form of energy that is clean, renewable, and sustainable. No time soon will fossil fuels be entirely replaced, but they need to be subsidized as soon as possible to alleviate today’s energy woes.

Foul pLay

2006-07-13T17:44:00.000-04:00

Though it was covered a lot less in the news than one would expect, ex chief of Enron and W. henchman Ken Lay died last week of an apparent heart attack. The reaper found him at one of his vacation homes in Aspen, Colorado. Since the collapse of Enron and the theft of countless individuals’ jobs, salaries, retirement packages and stocks, Ken Lay has been on my list of hated individuals. I firmly believe that this guy and his partners committed a serious crime and deserve to pay the penalty for their unbelievable greed.

That day will never come, however. In May, Lay was found guilty on counts of fraud and conspiracy, as well as for being an outright asshole. Sentencing was to take place this coming September, in which Lay would be likely forced to spend the rest of his life in prison and return $183 million of stolen funds. Because you can’t put a dead guy on the stand, and nor can you stick one in jail, the trial is being vacated. That means that the Justice department is giving up on seizing Lay’s assets. Yeah- his family gets to keep all of the money, even though Lay was convicted.

I hate to be “that guy” when it comes to conspiracies. I don’t like to be thought of as crazy because I believe there’s more than what meets the eye. However, Ken Lay’s death seems altogether too convenient. After losing the trial, Lay was out of prison on $5 million bond- pocket change for him. With millions tucked away in offshore bank accounts, it would be easy for Lay to fake his own death, and could be anywhere right now sipping daiquiris on a beach in the Caribbean.

Lay has the money and the connections to pull something like that off. Frankly, if you have enough money you can do pretty much whatever you want. His close ties with the Bush administration including large donations to the president’s election war chest could have allowed him to obtain a new passport, safe passage out of the country, or even a position within the witness protection program- any of which could help him skirt the sentencing trial, jail time, and hefty fines.

I’ve consistently been very skeptical of the Bush regime and the whole Enron situation. Honestly, I find anything coming out of Texas to be a bit unnerving. So maybe its fitting that I’m suspicious of Lay’s opportune death, but I think someone needs to be looking into it. The autopsy was too fast, the body was cremated, and I have yet to read a report that suggests that a member of the press actually witnessed Lay’s deceased body.

Interestingly enough, Lay is not the only one connected with the Enron fallout that has recently died. A British banker who was questioned regarding his involvement in the collapse of the energy giant was also found dead.

After doing some googling for other Ken Lay conspiracy theorists, I have found a few other ideas of what happened. I find these to be a little bit farther fetched, but still worth reading. Some suggest the Bush administration may have disposed of Lay to take away some negative press. Others believe that Enron attorney Jeffery Skilling may have had something to do with it. With Lay gone, Skilling may be off the hook.

Any way you cut it, Lay was found guilty of a crime against thousands of hard working Americans who lost thier financial lives to the greed of a handful of executives. Those victims will never get justice, nor will they retrieve thier lost money. The Ken Lay- Enron story is altogether a chilling tale of what people in high places can get away with.

And the oscar goes to...

2005-06-28T14:58:00.000-04:00

Last Friday night, Shannon and I drove to Parkersburg for a nice dinner and movie date. I was definitely disappointed with my movie experience though. We saw “Batman Begins” at the theater there, which turned out to be a pretty good movie. I give it two thumbs up. My problem isn’t with the movie at all, but with the theater and the movie industry.

We paid eight bucks to get in. That alone, I believe, is ridiculous. Back in Columbus at a nicer theater, I don’t remember it ever costing more than 5 or 6 bucks while I was in high school. Presently at the uptown Athena, movies are 6 or 7, and at the Nelsonville Movies 10, which is not an especially nice theater, prices were recently increased from four to five dollars. Concessions there are also value priced.

It seems that the prices have skyrocketed in the last few years, though. Hollywood has complained lately of drooping business. It’s clear though that they cannot be suffering too greatly. Beyond the high prices for tickets and concessions, marketing in the movie theater has hit new lows.
While waiting for the movie to begin, theaters used to display a slide show referring to classic movies, famous Hollywood figures, quotes, and other movie themed displays. Today, those still exist, but they are few and far between. They are now separated by countless advertisements for local businesses, Coca-Cola propaganda, and dozens of pictures of concessions available in the lobby. With those ads playing probably hundreds of times a day, no doubt they are worth a fortune.

That’s not all though. Between that slide show and the beginning of the movie, there used to be a few previews. Some people used to believe this was the ‘best part’ of the movie experience. You’d learn what new movies were coming and begin your anticipation, and sometimes even a cartoon. After all, that’s where Roger Rabbit began. Though previews are obviously a form of marketing, it has gone from trailers to ridiculousness.
Now days, before those previews even begin, you must sit through countless full motion commercials for all sorts of products from cell phones to airlines to who knows what else. Finally, the previews arrive. The idea of a handful of trailers is long gone. Now you’re in for a bunch of previews to the point where I lost count.

We bought tickets to the 10:15 showing and the movie didn’t start until after 11.

With all this marketing income and increased prices, how could the movie industry be suffering? Some might argue that there are increasing numbers of people renting movies, or worse, (as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) commercials would suggest) people are illegally downloading them. Of course they are! The fun of going to the movies has been strangled out of us! A two hour movie date now costs 16 dollars with no soda, no popcorn, raisinettes or goobers, and it lasts nearly three hours by the time they jam all those commercials down your throat.

The movie industry has become one giant marketing machine. Have you bought a DVD lately? When you put in to watch it, did numerous advertisements come up? Did it actually prevent you from skipping them by disabling the chapter skip, fast forward and menu functions of your DVD player? Hollywood is choking us with advertisement when they have us as captive audiences in the theater, and now in our own living rooms. I’m fed up with it, and have become more selective about what movies I bother to watch. I don’t have any interest going to the theater anymore unless there is a particular movie that I desperately want to see.

Though Batman Begins was a decent movie, I believe that Hollywood has given up on creating new and creative titles for our entertainment. This is why they’re losing money. Their focus is now on selling advertising via product placement and advertisements in the theater, not on creating a product that consumers want to buy.
The creativity is gone. When was the last time you saw a truly ‘new’ movie? Plotlines and stories are now recycled, or are mere spin-offs of other movies. The list of the current top ten movies according to the link above includes these five: Batman Begins, Bewitched, Herbie: Fully Loaded, Star Wars III, and the Longest Yard. What’s similar about these titles? They’re all recycled. In other words, they’re generating revenue not on their own creativity, but instead on the legacy and reused stories from the past. Think of other movies like Gone in 60 Seconds, Ocean’s 11, the upcoming Dukes of Hazard, The Thomas Crown Affair, Dr. Dolittle, and the Manchurian Candidate. All remakes, or adapted from earlier movies and TV shows. Furthermore, so many movies have at least on sequel. Do we really need Son of the Mask, Miss Congeniality 2, The Ring 2, Nutty Professor II, Police Academy 7, Speed 2, and The Lion King 1 ½? These aren’t quality creative ideas either. They’re merely cheap imitations of what we already saw.

Hollywood is losing money because half of what they’re making, we’ve already seen!

After my experience seeing Batman Begins, I don’t care about how much money Hollywood insists that they aren’t making. They are still ridiculously profitable despite their ineptitude.

At the peak of idealism

2005-05-01T14:58:00.000-04:00

I was talking to my dad this weekend about politics. He, a staunch non-religious conservative, is for privatization of social security, the war in Iraq and other Bush related initiatives that I despise. I argued my side of the case(s), using my background in political science and armed in readings from Friedman to Machiavelli. Despite this, he consistently put down my arguments by insisting that I was a typical 20 year old college student. I’m a liberal idealist with the hopes and dreams of saving the world but still unexposed to reality.

It was really discouraging hearing this from my own father. I mean, yeah, what he said was at least partially true. I suppose in a lot of ways I’m a liberal idealist. I don’t expect to be able to save the world or anything though. I just see things differently.

The biggest issue we debated was in regard to health care. He insisted that his tax money should not go to pay for poor people’s health care via Medicaid and social security. Since they do not pay into the system, they should not reap the benefits and be afforded the best health care for free. I argued that health care is not something anyone should have to pay for anyway. It is a necessity of life, and everyone should have that right to get necessary health treatment. I’m not going to get into it any farther than that as I’m not writing this to argue that issue.

Anyway, his views were very much oriented around money. They weren’t about what “should be”, they were more of about what “can be”. The government and economy can’t afford to take care of everyone and therefore shouldn’t. And he’s not going to pay any more taxes to do it. It made me realize that he is beyond idealism. At 50, he’s accepted the realities of life, and is a lot less likely to offer some sort of change. At 20, I’m at what Ralph Nader called “the peak of (my) idealism.” I’m all about change. I’m perfectly willing to shake things up and try something new (within reason, of course).

You’ve probably heard the quote “If you’re not liberal by 20, you have no heart. If you’re not conservative by 40 you have no brain.” What happens in those 20 years that changes us in that way? Having not yet lived them, I can’t say from experience. But judging from what I’m seen in other people, a lot happens. We finish our educations, start careers, get married and have kids. I guess when you have all those things, you may not be the happiest guys on earth, but in a lot of ways, you’ve made it. You’ve lived your life the best you could, and you want to believe that that’s the way they’ll be forever. If something changes, what will happen? Will you lose the nest egg you’ve worked your life for? Will your relationships with your wife, children, or anyone else change? I think on that level that it is an issue of social security. Not the government entitlement, but the meaning of the very words themselves- security in society.

At 20, we’ve got nothing to lose by trying new things. Sure we’ve got friends and family, but we don’t have careers, wives or kids that are going to be damaged by our mistakes. If there’s a fork in the road, we can take into either direction without second thought. I’m enjoying my viewpoint at this age, and I think it’s important that we all believe what we want to believe. We have the rest of our lives to realize (or simply accept) what’s possible and what’s not.

Have you really been there?

2005-04-24T14:56:00.000-04:00

here are songs out there that it seems like everyone knows and loves. I’m not talking about the latest Top 40 hit necessarily, but songs that have been around for years that upon hearing the first few notes, we’ll put our arms around each other and sing every word. Even as college students, we seem to cherish songs like “Summer of ‘69”, “Sweet Home Alabama”, or “Piano Man”.

What makes these songs in particular so radically popular? While the instrumental parts of these songs are undoubtedly well written, so are many other songs. The only reason I have heard and can seem to be accurate is that so many people “can relate” to the words and melodies. I can only assume that by ‘relating’ to something, a person is able to think of the situation or ideas described in the lyrics and put themselves in that spot because of their own experiences in life. They’ve ‘been there.’

But have they really? Let’s examine these songs and you be the judge.

The classic “Summer of ’69” describes the story of a guy, perhaps Bryan Adams himself, and his dream of starting a band with his friends in the summer of 1969. Have you ever bought or played a six string? Have you ever been to a five and dime? Do you even know what a five and dime is? Have you ever started a band? He then talks about how he met what can be assumed to be a girl, while hanging out at a drive-in who says she’ll wait for him, likely on Mama’s porch. My mama didn’t have a porch, and I’ve only been to a drive-in twice, and it was merely a novelty. Also- did you know he was Canadian? Yeah, this wholesome tale happened in Ontario, not small town America like I had previously believed.

“Sweet Home Alabama” is another popular song that everybody knows. It was actually written in response to Neil Young’s song “Southern Man”. (Hence the lyrics in the second verse.) Have you ever been to Alabama? I drove through it once, and I wasn’t impressed. Do they really love the Governor in Birmingham? Do you? Does Watergate not bother you? Really? Are you really going home to Alabama?

Everyone loves “Piano Man”. Have you ever been a piano man, or worked in a piano bar? Honestly, I think this song is kind of depressing. Have you ever been a regular at a bar and shared your loneliness with a stranger? I know I haven’t. Can you wallow in your sorrows about memories of being much younger and regret what your life has become?

I was just thinking about this recently when I heard a large group singing along to one of these songs. In all fairness, each person has their own right to interpret the meanings of these songs as they see fit. They mean different things to different people. Even I can extrapolate a meaning. For example, “Summer of ‘69” could represent a dream we had when we were younger that we never realized, but now reflect on. Do most people take the time to think about it and consider what the song really means? I don’t know. I think it’s more likely that we’re simply caught up in what we believe to be a “classic song” and join the chorus.

The Right Place at the Right Time

2005-04-12T14:56:00.000-04:00

It’s been a busy week. We had ritual on Friday night which finished off I week. We now have two more active Lambda Chi’s to cause trouble around Athens.

The last few days have been pretty nice around here. The sun has been shining and it has been warm. Under these conditions, I love this town.

I love the bright warm days where you can walk up college street and see all the greeks hanging around outside, then through college green to see the hippies building their rope bridges between the trees. I love the squirrels and chipmunks running across the paths, and how they’ll stand right in front of you to nibble on an acorn and not move til you almost step on them.

I love the OU golf course, the intramural fields and the tennis courts. I love being outside on nice days just doing whatever. I love sitting on the porch with guys, either shooting the breeze, reading, or enjoying some suds. I love cooking out in the evenings and making a special trip to Kroger to get a nice steak for dinner.

For these reasons, I love Athens. I love being here at OU, especially in the springtime. Days like these make the whole rest of the year worthwhile. I can’t stand those nasty rainy days we have in winter quarter, where the weather is just miserable. That kind of weather just brings me down. The opposite is also true. The nice days totally pick me up and put me in a great mood.

The thing about Athens though is that it’s a place I can only see myself living at this time in my life. I couldn’t fathom growing up here, and I certainly couldn’t imagine living out my career in this Appalachian town.

I come from the suburbs of a decent sized city, so rural Athens would have been quite the change while growing up. Being this far from the entertainment and excitement of the city would have killed me… I would have to drive at least an hour and a half to catch a blue jackets game or to see a concert. I would definitely have become quite bored here.

Having a career in Athens wouldn’t be all that much fun either. For the same reasons, I wouldn’t want to be this far from the worldly things I like to do. The nearest major airport is so for away, making my dreams of traveling the world difficult. Exploring other career options would be difficult too. The only career in Athens I could see myself ever pursuing is as a professor- an occupation I’m not completely jumping for at this point.

In Athens, little changes. I’ve been here all but a few weeks of the past year. The students come and go, the seasons change, and that’s pretty much it. The lifestyle here just isn’t me at any other stage of my life. However, as a 20 year old college student, it’s perfect.

Athens is a great place to go to school. When and where else can I be immediately surrounded by almost 20,000 people my own age? Where else can I walk to just about anywhere I’d conceivably want to go? Athens has geography too- there’s a river, plenty of hills, and lakes nearby. There’s open fields for coed sunbathers, and a crazy nightlife. The roads and the buildings are both made of bricks, and the quaint small town atmosphere gives it a different feel from the suburbs.

If only for these four years, I love Athens and wouldn’t trade it for anyplace else.

Our Debt to Society

2005-04-04T14:55:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, four of us at the house paid our debt to society. In order to make up for community faux pas last quarter, we “volunteered” at the local Red Cross.

Apparently our party was too loud, and the police noticed. The law for that sort of thing in Athens doesn’t necessitate that someone actually complain about the noise. The police can use their judgment and assess a citation without it actually being a problem to any other member of the community.

As retribution for or crime against society, we were assigned 4 hours community service and had to pay a fine. The fine was around 100 bucks, I think, and we paid for it out of what we’ll call “communal funds”. I was surprised that we were only given 4 hours of community service. Four hours seems like so little service for the community. Stranger still, but also fortunate, was that other people could help with that service. We were assigned to the Athens Red Cross. They were holding a Disaster Relief Drill on Saturday, and we were to go there to help with whatever they needed.

We arrived at our assigned time of 8:30am. The place was full of volunteers, and only a couple of people seemed to really know what was going on. After filling out some quick paperwork, we were instructed to load a van full of water in milk jug containers. Being four of us, we made short work of that. We also had to put a few large supply containers in the van.

Much of the time was spent standing around, waiting for instructions. Eventually we were sent to the back room to wait for “the call.” Everyone else it seemed was in it for the whole day’s affair. They were setting up a drill to rehearse their relief skills and the call would tell them the situation.

The call finally came right around 930. According to the scenario, there was an explosion at the technical school in Nelsonville. Shots had been fired; there were casualties and a potential hostage situation. Four hundred people were being evacuated to the student center at Hocking College. In a matter of minutes, all of the volunteers were out the door and headed for Nelsonville.

The whole situation was pretty neat. It’s admirable that these volunteers take the time to rehearse their services so that they’ll be ready for a future disaster. I did find it puzzling that they chose this sort of scenario to use as a drill. I mean, what’s really the likelihood of some sort of terrorist attack in Nelsonville? In my mind, they should rehearse a more likely situation- like flooding. Southeast Ohio and Athens County in particular flood all the time, throughout the winter and spring. That would be a much more useful drill.

Regardless, the whole situation was pretty neat. We picked up some information on how to volunteer again in the future. If they needed us, we could bring twenty guys to help disaster relief efforts. I’d completely be willing to help out.

Learning Curve

2005-03-14T14:54:00.000-05:00

Finals week- some of us are pulling our hair out, and others are already on spring break. I’m a little of both. Two finals and 4 papers due before this week is over. Fortunately, I got a little bit ahead last week and can chill this week. After all, the Bobcats are going to the NCAA tourney. I’ve got more important things to think about than class.

CJ and I were discussing classes earlier. He was trying to beat Mario 1 in under 10 minutes again, and I had just got home from turning in our ticket lottery papers at the Convo. We talked about grades and how they could vary so greatly between professors.

Some professors work your ass off all quarter with hundreds of pages of reading, papers, and impossible tests. No matter how hard you struggle, getting a decent grade is nearly impossible. Another teacher with the same class, but a different section may hand out A’s like that’s all there was. Either way, after the completion of the classes, credit is given for the same course. This is the reason why websites like “Pick-a-Prof” are so useful.

Often in my college career, difficult classes have proven to be the best ones. My favorite classes have been the ones I have learned the most in, and simultaneously have gotten the lowest grades.

The best class I have taken at OU was the late Professor Frank Henderson’s POLS 270: Political Theory. He was considered the most difficult professors in the Political Science department, but he was also named Professor of the Year so many times that they named him University Professor in Perpetuity so that someone else could win. He deserved it. In that class, I learned more about myself, my political views, and why than ever before or since. I learned the viewpoints of many political theorists from Plato to Machiavelli and compared them to modern activists.

The tests were impossible: 80 True/False, and 80 matching. That sounds easy, but believe me, that kind of test is very deceptive. I had never taken a harder test, despite ACT, SAT, AP tests and countless other college classes. No other tests came close to being as challenging as Henderson’s. In the end, I received the most difficult C- ever. It was my only grade that low, and it stands as my worst grade ever, including high school and college. Sadly, Professor Henderson died hardly three weeks after the completion of that class, and I never had the chance to see him again.

I ended up retaking the class last summer for a much, much better grade.

I guess I’m saying that grades are misleading. They often don’t reflect how much you learned, nor how hard you worked. I do believe it is what you learn that is more important. I wish there was a way to quantify that.

Now & Later

2005-03-07T14:52:00.000-05:00

mentioned in a previous entry that I intended to discuss the trade of today’s labor for tomorrow’s leisure. (See March 2) This is a concept we all recognize and follow, but I doubt that many people really sit down and think about it.

College is a lot of work. We read, write, study, go to class, participate in extracurricular activities, work, and otherwise keep ourselves busy. We’re working hard now in hopes that the fruit of our labors will be a better paying job down the road. Granted, some want a genuine education just to “know stuff”, but even that has an ends in mind. There is an objective to all of this.

When we get to the “real world” just about all of us will have an entry level position. We’ll have the cubicle instead of the office, work late shifts, and have minimal vacation time, all for low pay. At this point, we’ll be “paying our dues” to our careers, or “getting experience under our belts”.

Eventually, we’ll claw our way to the top, or at least to an acceptable level of mediocrity. From here, we’ll have the jobs we always aimed to hold, be paid well enough to have our homes with picket fences in suburbia and send our kids to “good” schools. We’ll be able to enjoy our leisure time thanks to the efforts we had made previously.

We’re paying for that riding lawnmower, Volvo, and vacation to West Palm Beach just as much now as we will be in 20 years. Our labor now, both academic and physical, is an investment. Education is considered capital- the same as the machinery of an industry. It’s an asset that provides for a better likelihood of gains in the future.

We are trading today for tomorrow.

To put this into a microcosm, think of a big final you have to take. To prepare, you could very likely spend 8 hours in the library, studying, cramming, and rereading the chapters. In the course of doing so, what are you missing out on? Time with your friends or family? A party or social event? A date with your significant other? You make the choice to skip those activities and study because of the promise of a better tomorrow because of it. You believe that if you nail this test, you can celebrate that evening, or just enjoy the satisfaction of an A. Regardless of the grade you get, you missed that time with friends, that party, or that date. It is now gone because you traded it away.

The converse is also true though- sometimes we trade tomorrow for today. To demonstrate with an extreme, think of a drug addict. A person who is ruthlessly addicted to heroin surrenders time, money, their work, and much more to get that high. They’re trading away their potential tomorrow for that buzz right now.

Another microcosm you may be familiar with is drinking alcohol. On a Friday night, you may go out with friends and have a fun time. You may drink excessively, knowing full well that Saturday morning is going to be less than pleasant. You’re willing to exchange the hangover for carousing the night before.

The exchange is a sacrifice for one to improve the other. Is the trade of today for tomorrow and vice versa worth it? That of course, is up to you.

Greek Animosity

2005-03-04T14:51:00.000-05:00

I’m feeling good. Last night was a great time, and a great start to what I know will be an awesome weekend. Last night we had a social with a sorority that a lot of our guys know, and a fraternity that we really didn’t know anything about.

The guys turned out to be pretty cool actually. It’s not that I’m surprised, but it reminds me of a stigma that seems to exist in the Greek world. All fraternities are competing against each other, and the sororities do the same. We compete for recruitment, for IFC athletics, for highest GPA, for attention from sororities, and for a heavier presence on campus. There’s nothing wrong with this competition- I see it as healthy and natural. But because of the competitiveness, a lot of the time Greek organizations get really antagonistic about it.
For example, in our chapter, one of our guys may mention one of the bigger fraternities on campus, and we begin to verbally bash them. We imply that they’re a bunch of meatheads, that they’re rude to women, or that they are otherwise un-cool in every conceivable way.

We stereotype our competition in any way that we can. The guys even do this to sororities that we don’t know, or have had a bad experience with. We accuse them of being a bunch of sluts, of being cokeheads, or many other insulting things. Many of these impressions are passed down from the ‘elders’ in our chapter, who may base it on an incident 4 years ago, if any basis at all.

In my experience, especially this year, many of the fraternities are all about the same. We all have our share of different types of guys, as do the sororities and their women. Some are jerks and assholes, and I’ll admit that- but some are genuinely nice and interesting people. It’s a lot easier to insult them than it is to admit that they’re an okay group of folks who we just haven’t met.

It’s really a shame when our crude opinion is so unwarranted. My advice to all the younger Lambda Chi’s is to not let any of the older guys influence your opinion on other Greek organizations. Make it a point to meet them and form your own opinion. With Greek Life at OU struggling the way it is, we can’t waste our time and energy forming crude opinions of others.

School Burnout, the Census and Redskins

2005-03-02T14:50:00.000-05:00

It's that time of the quarter again where we all complain that we're sick of school. We're tired of class, completely burned out on reading and can't stand the thought of another paper to write. We also know that the end is near. Another week, then finals, then alas, it will be spring break.

It can't come quickly enough. I'm definetly in the same boat as what seems like everyone else.

It's still funny though. I've dealt with this problem for the past 16 years, if you take it all the way back to kindergarten. Despite this, here I am again, burned out and struggling to keep my head in the game for the last two weeks. Us college kids are choosing to do it though. We're in school working hard so that life may be a little easier down the road. We're trading todays labor for tomorrow's leisure. (Actually a topic I intend to discuss when I have time to climb that soap box.) So we do it by choice, and its a choice I'm proud to make.

I was in the library today, and with nothing better to do, I was playing with census data in the 5th floor government document center. (Some of you are saying, "Alden has 5 floors?", or more likely, "Alden has a government document center?", or even more likely, "You are such a dork.") I examined a few things closely. First, I looked at a map of the average household income color coded by county. It painted an interesting picture, indicating just how poor south east ohio really is. I later examined it city by city, checking in on specific towns I am familiar with. Contrasting Dublin with Grove City and Upper Arlington was surprising, let alone to cities like Athens, Hamilton, or other places. It was really almost frightening. If you'd like to see it, check it out yourself. You can get to it all at www.census.gov. I almost couldn't believe my eyes.

I also examined another statistic. I checked out the percentages of college graduates across the state. This was also surprising. Only 21.1% of Ohio's citizens aged 25+ have a bachelor's degree or higher. It's a fact I've known to be true for some time, but I never looked into it myself. Again, south east ohio was the site of a major disparity in this area too, save Athens county of course, where OU is a bastion of the educated. What this means is that when I finish my degree, I will be more educated than almost 80% of Ohioans. That's 4 out of 5.
This all brings me back to the fact that I choose to be here. Remember that when your classes get you down. The struggle for that $80,000 piece of paper with your name on it isn't that far from over, and when it is, you'll be placed in the top 20% most educated in the state. (That 1.1% we're above is Miami. Yeah, you heard me, you collar-popping nancies.-I'm just kidding, I know there's a couple Redskins reading this.)

I can't believe I'm doing this

2005-03-01T15:57:00.000-05:00

So I started one of these blog things. I know what you're thinking, and I don't believe it either. I always thought these things were for high school girls and corporate whistle blowers. Either way, I've read a few of these from different people and it doesn't seem too bad. It's not even that I really want to maintain a journal or anything. I mostly want to just write some random stuff down that people can read if they want. I realize that OU provides web space that I could have done this with, and I almost did. I downloaded Dreamweaver and everything... but then it hit me. That requires work. Either HTML editing, or screwing around with Dreamweaver, which isn't quite so bad, but it would probably make me want to focus more time on making the page do neat things than actually being a reflection of things I'm thinking. That part scares me too though, especially after talking to Nate the other day. He said that when he talked to an Army recruiter they knew all sorts of crazy things about him. I fear that. I just know that in a few years when I'm applying to the CIA, or farther down the road if I run for public office, I'm going to be asked about this. "So Tyler, I see by your web log that you liked the movie 'Farenheit 9/11'. Does this mean you're a card carrying communist or a liberal hippie? Which one is it?" The book 1984 frightens me. I loathe Big Brother. Ah well. Here I am. So anyway, I'm going to give this a shot and see what happens. P.S. Before I forget, I'd like to ask that you leave a comment or two on what you read. I'm always curious about other people's opinions on some of this stuff, so post away.

Unusual Circumstances

2005-02-28T15:59:00.000-05:00

I had to write a paragraph or two about "Unusual Circumstances" that I have gone through for a scholarship application. Apparently, I need to have suffered difficulties for the organization to give me money for college. I have applied for this scholarship 4 times now, and have never received a dime. I can't help but think that this segment is what's holding me back.

The first year, I wrote about my parents' divorce. This was pretty hard on me, so I thought it to be eligible. However, I later realized that 50% of families are divorced. So this would actually be considered "usual". The second year, I wrote about my dad teaching me lessons about working hard, as he climbed his way out of a small farming town to college and beyond. This was also to no avail. I'm guessing it must not be a "circumstance". Last year, I wrote about how I came into college with AP credit and was then subjected with taking classes that were more advanced (and therefore more difficult than I was ready for), since I had credit for a lot of my 101 and gen ed classes. They didn't like this either. So this year I tried something new. Here it is:

Unusual Circumstance: I’m typical. My unusual circumstance is that I don’t have any unusual circumstances. As a 20 year old white male, I’m just like everyone else. I’m marginalized by society and put through the motions with the millions just like me. I don’t receive the perks of being from a minority, such as special scholarships or other awards. My achievements do not get recognized because I didn’t come from a poor urban neighborhood, nor did I have to overcome a handicap to get here.

I worked hard to be where I am, and I continue to. I juggle more than a quarter’s worth of classes, work, and extracurricular organizations and struggle to maintain my place at this university, but I am always overlooked. Currently I am set to graduate at the end of three years with a major, minor and certificate, then to continue my studies at Ohio University for a master’s degree. Simply choosing to try hard and set my aims high aren’t enough, even when I succeed.

I wasn’t blessed with a difficult background to struggle out of to merit any special recognition. I have never received any sort of scholarship at all, including this one, for which I am applying for the fourth time. I’m only applicable for loans, according to FAFSA. My father apparently makes too much money to get any other federal money, despite the fact that I’m the one paying these loans for the next 10 years, like so many others.

Fortunately, I’m getting used to it. As I get older, it becomes easier to accept my inevitable fade into the marginalized mediocrity that society has set out for me.

Thanks CJ for suggesting this. I enjoyed writing it, maybe because I'm a little bitter. I also want to say that I mean in no way to take away from those who are disadvantaged by race, class, economic status, or other means. I have nothing but the utmost respect for those that have overcome the odds and disadvantages to get where they are. I'm just saying that there are some challenges in being a white boy from suburbia. Let me know what you think.