Blog #5

The Laker's start of the season was similar to watching a Ferrari stall out while still in the driveway. It was unexpected, awkward, and you had to wonder if the driver knew what they were doing. Those at the at the Staples Center Tuesday night were expecting the new look Lakers to have some great ally oops, some fast breaks, and more importantly a win. They would be disappointed as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Lakers easily 99-91 and were up by as much as 15 in the game. The game was surprising for a few reasons, the first being that the offense was so slow, the Lakers front court was not dominant, and the Mavericks played so well despite not having their best player Dirk Nowitiski.



Grades

Dwight Howard	C	Howard looked like the dominant force that the Lakers were expecting early on. In the third quarter however, he got manhandled by Eddie Curry who might be one of the least athletic big men in the game. Howard was as advertised unfortunately that brought upon the same old bad free throw shooting (3-14). I expect a few Hack-a-Howard scenarios later on this season and his inability might cost the Lakers a few games this season.
Pau Gasol	B+	Gasol had the best game as he led in scoring with 23 and also added 13 rebounds and 6 assists. He had some nice passes and looks like the most comfortable player in this offense, but for the Lakers to succeed he will not be leading the team in scoring very often.
Meta World Peace	F	While Meta World Peace looked in far better shape than last year, his game did not show any improvement. He was almost completely useless as he only had three points in 37 minutes and two of those came in garbage time. World Peace has to get his game together soon, because teams will primarily focus on the other four superstars so much that he might want to change his name to Meta Wide Open Three.
Kobe Bryant	B+	What foot injury? Bryant showed little signs of the injury that had kept him off the court in the last week. It was business as usual for the Mamba who took less shots, but was by far the most efficient player in the game scoring 22 on 11-14 shooting.
Steve Nash	F	Nash did not look at all like the general on the court that he has been his whole career. He did not put any pressure on the defense, consistently looked to Brown to call plays, and did not make any nice passes with only four assists in the game. The offense that Coach Mike Brown has in tact with this team almost completely takes Nash out of his element, which was apparent as this was his only game where he had than 10 points and 5 assists while playing over 20 minutes.
Bench	D	Hill was a bright spot as he was aggressive on the boards (4 offensive rebounds) showing that he is a workhorse and gives the Lakers that much more of a dynamic front court. The rest of the bench however, provided no spark when the team needed them and got outscored 37-17

Blog #5

                                                      Siri, Can You Reroute My Company?

            Hold on to your Iphones folks, but the beloved Apple, the most profitable company in the world, is seeing a major shakeup and there might be reason to worry.  Apple has had a major shake up today firing Scott Fostall who is their head of mobile software. He has reportedly been fired because he refused to sign an apology letter sent out to customers about their failures on the mobile front, specifically Siri and Apple Maps.

Forstall had been seen as an abrasive part of the company with some co-workers even refusing to take meetings with him. His departure is so well received that his co-workers are splitting up his workload with Eddy Cue taking on Siri and Maps, Craig Federighi taking on iOS, and legendary designer Jony Ive will take on the task of refreshing the mobile design, which has remained largely stagnant in the last few years.

            The shake up is huge for a few reasons beyond just the likely change of your Iphone looking different. First of all this is Tim Cooks first major move as CEO after Steve Jobs passed a little over a year ago. Secondly this could be a major change that signals a small downfall of Apple in terms of market share.

            In the past year many have looked at Apple and agreed that they have lacked an ultimate decider. This was what Jobs had done best. He was a meticulous leader who made sure every detail was looked at in a product before a launch. Cook has said he spends less time on products than Jobs did, which leaves more freedom and responsibility to the managers.

After the maps incident however he saw the effects that can happen when not all managers pull their weight.  There have been many photographs on the Internet similar to the one below which show the issues with Apple maps and most declare that Jobs would never have let this happen.

The Tim Cook era of Apple has officially begun and while it has started with amazing profit revenues it is hard to forget Apple’s dark ages without Jobs. I personally remember the first iMac computer my family owned in 1998 which was a glorified box that was incompatible with even the most necessary of applications such as Microsoft Word.  There was almost nothing you could download to enhance your computer, nothing to entertain yourself, and it cost more than almost every other computer on the market. It took years for Apple to climb back to the top and it was because of Jobs attention to detail, and his constant vision for the best and most simple user experience. 

Apple can only justify charging so much more for their products as long as they have quality products with the best software. Software developers choose which platform will rule.  If there continues to be applications such as Apple Maps and Siri that are not ready for prime time then developers and eventually customers will move elsewhere.

Apple is now in the Tim Cook era, and the change in their mobile software will not just change how your Ipad or Iphone looks, but may also change how you view the company. 

Blog 3.5

Dixonville’s Doom

Dixonville has two problems bigger than its million dollar deficit and they were both speaking at the chamber of commerce last night. Both Bill Smith and Frank Jones have been in the heat of their election campaign for mayor of Dixonville, but neither have pulled away in public polling. A reason for this is because both men seem as if they are questionable candidates at best.

Challenger Smith an entrepreneur of sorts whose latest business venture of glow in the dark hats. Smith has faced some criticism about his past, mainly his arrest for methamphetamine. On the other hand Mayor Jones has also faced heavy public criticism for being in office while Dixonville got in its deficit. The debate last night was integral for each candidates campaign if they were going to become the leader the city.

The room was packed past capacity as some of the 200 people in attendance even had to stand during the important debate. The heat from in the Chamber of Commerce just seemed to add to the pressure of the event.

Challenger Bill Smith addressed the audience first explaining his economic proposal of closing both the parks on Elm Street and Kennedy Avenue, as well as closing the city’s senior center.

Smith explained to the audience, “My economic plan does close down two city parks and our senior center, but the city is losing money. We have to be sensible about our budget. We simply can’t afford all of the services we are paying for during this crisis.”

Although it may be sensible, will the city want to close the park which holds many city events as well as other community building activities such as little league games, barbeques, and birthday parties? As for the senior center, it is another popular establishment that the elderly have attended for years, and is often revered as the activity they look most forward to.

Mayor Frank Jones approached the podium with a little more confidence than his opponent, knowing that he has won an election before, and he can win another. He came out on the attack, striking directly at his opponents proposed plan.

“He says two of our parks and our senior center have to be closed. Yes, painful cuts must be considered in the coming year. But to take out the bad economy on our vulnerable seniors and precious children is nothing short of cruel.”

The statement landed with some applause, but the mood of the room quickly changed when the audience learned that Jones had no plan of his own to fix the deficit but would be open to working out budget cuts at public forums. This was when an old narrative of Jones began to resurface, that our current mayor was unfit to lead the city and did not hold himself accountable for the mistakes he made in his first term.

Jones said, "To blame the city's economic crisis on me loses sight of the bigger picture. We are in a down economy and have been faced with unanticipated cutbacks in state and federal funding. No one could have seen this coming."

The debate did give the public a good look at the two candidates. They let the public into their policies which seemed lacking or nonexistent. With the Dixonville Daily showing a public polling of the two candidates at 46 percent each it is imperative that one candidate strengthens his campaign with the election coming up in the next five weeks.

Dixonville's Doom

Dixonville has two problems that are bigger than its million dollar deficit and they were both speaking at the chamber of commerce last night. Both Bill Smith and Frank Jones have been in the heat of their election campaign for mayor of Dixonville, but neither have pulled away in public polling. A reason for this is because both men seem as if they are questionable candidates at best.

Challenger Smith a entrepreneur of sorts whose latest business venture of glow in the dark hats has had heavy criticism from the public for being arrested for methamphetamines in his past. On the other hand Mayor Jones has also faced heavy public criticism for getting the city into such a big deficit in the first place, while holding very little accountability for his actions. The debate last night was integral for each candidates campaign if they were going to become the leader of our city.

The room was packed past capacity as some of the 200 people in attendance even had to stand during the important debate. The residents of Dixonville were hoping to hear a well thought out plan from the future mayor of the city. Instead the attendees got two candidates who were not quite prepared for the daunting task of fixing Dixonville’s economy.

Challenger Bill Smith addressed the audience first explaining his economic proposal of closing both the parks on Elm Street and Kennedy Avenue, as well as closing the city’s senior center. Smith explained to the audience, “My economic plan does close down two city parks and our senior center, but the city is losing money. We have to be sensible about our budget. We simply can’t afford all of the services we are paying for during this crisis.”

Although it may be sensible, will the city want to close the park which holds many city events as well as other community building activities such as little league games, barbeques, and birthday parties? As for the senior center, it is another popular establishment that the elderly have attended for years, and is often revered as the activity they look most forward to. While the residents of Dixonville did not seem too enthusiastic about this plan they waited patiently to hear incumbent Frank Jones speak.

Mayor Frank Jones approached the podium with a little more confidence and swagger than his opponent, confident that he has won an election before, and he can win another. He came out on the attack, striking directly at his opponents proposed plan. “He says two of our parks and our senior center have to be closed. Yes, painful cuts must be considered in the coming year. But to take out the bad economy on our vulnerable seniors and precious children is nothing short of cruel.”

The statement landed with some applause, but the mood of the room quickly changed when the audience learned that Jones had no plan of his own to fix the deficit but would be open to working out budget cuts at public forums. This was when an old narrative of Jones began to resurface, that our current mayor was unfit to lead the city and did not hold himself accountable for the mistakes he made in his first term.

Jones said, "To blame the city's economic crisis on me loses sight of the bigger picture. We are in a down economy and have been faced with unanticipated cutbacks in state and federal funding. No one could have seen this coming."

This was an all too familiar response from the mayor, one that many citizens were tired of hearing. Dixonville needs a leader who is going to anticipate and prepare for the worst of times and help the city get through them. What happened to the politicians who believed that the buck stops here?

The debate did give the public a good look at the two candidates. They let the public into their policies which were lacking or nonexistent. With the Dixonville Daily showing a public polling of the two candidates at 46 percent each it is likely voters are choosing between who is less unqualified to ruin our great city.   

Blog Post #2

The mistake he made wasn’t just embarrassing for himself but it was a mistake that was hurtful to some of the people he loved most. That’s just the sort of trouble Olivier Orban was in as a young 15 year old boy. Olivier is a sometimes quiet, but confident young man who finds little embarrassment about anything, but when I ask him about his most embarrassing moment he delves through his memory bank and quickly his eyes light up. “Oh there was this one time, but I don’t know if I can even say it.” That’s when I knew I found the gold mine.

He starts his story as he lights up a cigarette, something he does a lot just to calm himself. “I was 15 at the time and I was emailing my girlfriend because we had just...well, you know, the week before, he said as his cheeks were turning slightly red even. “I was explaining to her that we could still take things slow and that I loved her. I don’t remember what the email said exactly, but I know that it was mushy things you tell your girlfriend.” Then is where he made the biggest mistake a young teenager could afford to make. “I hit the send to all button on accident,” he said as I laugh directly in his face. No guy wants anyone to see their private conversations with their girlfriend, but they definitely do not want everyone to see  very private conversation about their sex life. I couldn’t help but prod him with more questions asking him how he felt. “As soon as I hit that button I panicked,” he says through his French accent. “I did not know what to do I just felt frozen. I wasn’t worried about myself or my reputation however, but I was worried about my girlfriend.”

Once he recovered from his frozen stage he knew what he needed to do. He called his girlfriend over and over, worried about the consequences he would have to face. He said,“I expected her to be pissed off, and she was upset, but in the end she did not care all that much, except she did have one request.” The one request was that Olivier find a way to delete the email from his Richard’s computer, his best friend, who just so happens to be Olivier’s girlfriend's brother.

As school went on the next day a few people he knew made fun of him which was he fully expected, but he took it all in with a sense of humor and pride. “I did not really mind the other boys at school making fun of me, I just cared about Richard not finding out, he said.” So during school he ditched a class with his girlfriend to delete the important email. “I was shocked when I got to his computer to see that he didn’t read it, and I quickly deleted it, he said.” I felt relieved that and ask him if everything ended up alright in the end. “Nope,” he replied quickly. “A few friends sent him the email anyway later that day. Some friends they are”

"So why did you choose to go to Sweden of all places?" It has been the most unavoidable question in the past 18 months of my life. Once those words have been spoken by a passing acquaintance I cringe and search for an answer to get out of this particular conversation topic as fast as possible. I have told people that my lifelong dream is to manage an Ikea and they send you to Sweden for intensive training. I have said that I was on a mission to get Abba back together. When I am feeling tired and unoriginal however I just say  I took a year to see all the beautiful women Sweden has to offer and that usually gets me off the hook pretty quickly. To be honest there aren't a lot of reasons for a sandal wearing, surf enthusiast from Southern California to travel to one of the coldest countries in the world. Yet as a 19 year old I made the journey for what would become the most unforgettable year of my life.

To actually find out the answer to why I chose to go to Sweden would require one to get to know my personality. I prefer the life of a vagabond, consistently changing my setting. I find an excitement in the unsettled, and when pushed out of my comfort zone is when I get to experience life's greatest rewards as well as its greatest struggles. I just love the act of travel when others find it as a burden. There is relaxation in staring out of the window of a train as the landscape changes before my eyes. I love to examine an airports big board of destinations and arrivals and often wonder what everyone's alibi for going to a place like Krakow or Kansas. I have boarded over 40 airplanes in the past 18 months and as well as countless trains and I still love to travel.

Thats not to say a life of travel is a life of luxury. On the contrary, I have had nights sleeping on the streets of Stockholm huddled with friends for warmth. I have panicked while watching a friend run after a train while I head for Rome without him. I've been interrogated by the dreaded TSA and had to have a full blown investigation. Those are mishaps that happen with travel, but it isn't the worst part. The worst part is I often wonder if a life of travel and change has any huge effects on my life and the people around me. This year at Sonoma State will be the first time I attend a school for more than two years. Sometimes I feel as if I will never play a giant role in anyone's life but rather I make cameo appearances. Every time I get down or I miss home though I realize how much there is to explore in this world and how suffocating some of those suburban nights can be. I realize that there is plenty of time to settle into one place and that I am always ready for the next adventure.