When I grow up.

Compare and Contrast

In the quarterly report to the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, Warren Buffet stated that he expects the U.S. economy to stay in shambles through 2009. His profits in the forth quarter fell by 96% down to $117m. This is the 5th straight quarter of falling profits for the Wall Street giant. The price of Berkshire stocks has fallen 44% this year. In this economic crisis, everyone is being affected. From your billionaires to your first time home buyers, people are feeling the effects.

Constantly people are comparing this economic disaster with the ‘Great Depression’, but one thing needs to be clear. What we are going through now is nothing like the Great Depression of the 30’s. Yes, there are some similarities: It’s hard to find jobs, the stock market is down, housing market is almost a joke and banks are closing, but what we need to remember is that we are a much richer society than we ever were in the 30’s.

There is almost no way our society today could ever get to where we were in the 30’s unless there was a complete collapse of the American Government. Today, we might have to go a few months without our direct TV, in the 30’s they went months without an income. Today we are producing things relatively cheaper than 80 years ago. Also another great difference between then and now, communication is so much faster. I can call or email anyone in the world, and it’s instant. People are not loading up everything they own into vans and driving around the country looking for jobs. We are so much wealthier now, that even our low class is rich compared to the low class of the 30’s.

Be thankful that we are not pulling our kids from school so they can work in factories. History repeats itself? Not quite. We are much better off than back then. Compare, contrast and learn from the 30’s, but what our grandparents and great grandparents went through was much more than we’ll ever know.

Movie Review: Pulp Fiction

Ranked number 5 on IMDB's top 250 movies, Pulp Fiction is known as one of the best pictures of all time. It was released in 1994, a year that included other movie greats such as Forrest Gump and The Shawshank Redemption. Directed by Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction has an "A" list of actors including Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Bruce Willis, and Uma Thurman.

Pulp Fiction is the story about how four different person's lives intertwine with violence and mob activity. The movie shows glimpses from each individual's viewpoint and brings it all together towards the end. When viewing the movie, the viewer can feel the uniqueness of it's directing style, which is very intriguing.

I laughed out loud when I first saw John Travola as a mobster, knowing him from movies such as Grease and Hairspray, but he fit his part extremely well. Samuel L. Jackson was very entertaining through his "bad-ass" attitude towards the other characters with amusing punchlines in almost every scene. I also enjoyed that Pulp Fiction included 3 or 4 main characters, not focusing on one specific person.

By using great actors as well as impressive directing, Quentin Tarantino did a fantastic job with Pulp Fiction. I recommend this movie to everyone except children because of the use of vulgar language and frequent gore. This movie offers much more than just explaining why a quarter-pounder with cheese in France is called a royale with cheese. Go see it!

Front Page News?

Yesterday, I was skimming the paper and the headlines when I ran across something that made me stop. On the front page of the Wall Street Journal was an article at the bottom named: “Silencing the Lambs: Scientists Target Sheep Belching to Cut Methane”.

You might ask yourself, “Why would scientists care about stopping sheep from belching?” I know that I asked myself that question. Well it turns out that sheep methane is a large cause to “global-warming”. Then I thought, “This is front page news? It really must have been a slow day for you Wall Street Journal!” Was there no other news in the entire world that could have been slightly more interesting? Personally, I do not even want to hear that scientists are being paid to figure out how to keep sheep from belching.

After noticing the article, my first instinct was to laugh. “Is this article a joke?” For the sake of my sanity, I am going to say that this article wasn’t even true. Wall Street Journal, you have let me down.

Obama's Gameplan

Forest Laboratories Accused of Fraud

The manufacturer of Celexa and Lexapro, Forest Laboratories, is in deep trouble with the US government by failing to report the negative side-effects of their drugs on children. Their studies showed that the drugs were not very effective in children and that they could lead to suicidal feelings as well.

By hiding these facts, Forest did not adequately inform the health care industry about the detrimental effects of their drugs, which is illegal. This led to doctors prescribing drugs that they did not know the whole truth about; therefore, the government is suing Forest for 3 times the amount of federal money spent on all pediatric prescriptions for Lexapro and Celexa.

In addition, Forest also used incentives such as gift certificates to restaurants and paid vacation to entice doctors to prescribe their medications. When Celexa’s active ingredient became generic in 2002 (citalopram), they marketed Lexapro, which is a different version of citalopram, an anti-depressant.

An article in the New York Times suggested that this is a common situation with many antidepressant manufacturers. Antidepressant makers try to hide the negative symptoms to further promote their drug. Most antidepressants can have negative side-effects, so doctors should take extra care when prescribing them.

Many doctors require a check up with patients several weeks to a month after prescribing the antidepressant to verify that the drug is doing its job. This is the best way to approach the problem because it minimizes potential problems caused by antidepressants. The healthcare industry is a lucrative business, but patient care must continue to be the highest priority for doctor’s in order to further benefit the health of our nation.

Our Slump (Part 2)

Our Slump (Part 2)

Here is a short list of a few elements that put us in this economic crisis:

Housing Industry,
Mortgage Crisis, --> Today’s Topic
Banking Decisions,
The fall of the Dollar.

The people blame the lenders for allowing their loan, the lenders blame the government for not restricting the loan, and the government blames the people for lying about the loan. I call this the tri-fecta-of-unethics. While everyone is sitting around rationalizing reasons as to why they were actually the ethical ones, in reality the correct answer is that all of them are to blame.

People making $30,000 a year were walking into banks and getting approved for $500,000 houses. How? They lied. The banks did not think twice about the family’s income, instead they said: “Have you heard about the adjustable rate mortgage?” Both parties sitting in the office, knowing that they can’t afford a $500,000 house. Everyone knew this was going on, including the government. Is it not the government’s job to protect the citizens, even if it is from themselves? It did not take long till people could not pay, and loans were going bad. To make matters worse, banks were selling and buying bad loans back and forth for years. Ethical?

So the plan is take the tax payers money, give it back to the banks (the same ones that made all these bad loans), because we do not want them to go out of business. On top of that, since the government is giving them tax payer money, they want to own a portion of the bank. Nationalizing the banks is not the way to go about solving this problem.

People say: “The banks shouldn’t go under!?!”

So here is the solution: People should be able to make a ‘tax-free’ private donation to the bank that they feel shouldn’t go under. I bet less people would donate if its money from their pockets, but what these people don’t understand is: taxes do come from their pockets. Theirs. Ours. Mine. Yours. Let me keep MY money that I have worked for. If I do not want to help a bank, I should not have to help a bank. My money and your money, is going to make an investment that will never pay us back! Our taxes are going to help private (although, possibly not much longer) organizations.

To sum everything up: the lender, the government and the lying home buyer are all guilty.

The Bailout!

Movie Review: Slumdog Millionaire

After winning 8 Oscars and 63 other movie awards, Slumdog Millionaire has had a very successful year. Winning best picture at the Oscars has put it up with likes of Schindler’s List (1993), Forrest Gump (1994), and The Godfather (1973). Slumdog Millionaire, however, does not deliver the same level of perfection as past winners, and viewing it does not give a feeling of “this is the best picture of the year.”

Slumdog Millionaire is the story of young Jamal Malik, a teen from Mumbai that gets chosen to be on India’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” He does not have much education, but he answers many questions correctly based on life experiences. When a question is asked, the movie flashes back to the past to reveal why he knows the answer for that particular question.

Director Danny Boyle did do a good job with presenting the movie in a fresh way, but it did not have the expertise of a typical “best picture.” The story is fairly interesting, but there are not any surprises with the story’s direction, therefore the story is predictable for most of the movie. Best pictures should show audiences fresh and unpredictable stories, but Slumdog Millionaire does not. A question is presented when the movie first starts, and it is answered at the very end. The way this was designed, and the question itself for that matter, seemed tacky and irritating as well.

Flaws aside, Slumdog Millionaire is a good movie. I do recommend seeing it even though I do not believe it is best picture material. When it is released on DVD, rent it and decide for yourself.

Political Spotlight: Bobby Jindal

Whether you are a Dem or a Repub, liberal or conservative, socialist or a capitalist, you need to keep an eye on Bobby Jindal. He is a young, fresh face in the Republican party, and presently the Governor of Louisiana. Jindal could be considered a threat to the Dems in future presidential elections.

Jindal called Obama’s stimulus plan “irresponsible” and even turned down over $95 million that would have gone to pay for unemployment benefits. He has a back bone and is not afraid to say what he believes. Jindal was scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention this past August, but cancelled his plans to focus on Gustav, the hurricane that was on its way to hitting his state. Yes, he sacrificed a huge political advancement to help his state.

Although I do not agree with many topics Jindal stands for, he does seem to be less of a politician and more of a real person. He could care less about what the press says about him, and cares more about helping his state. Jindal is currently the youngest governor in the country at 37 years old, and there is much more political career ahead of him.

Sony Announces New Hannah Montana PSP - Why?

To further add to the current phase of irritating Hannah Montana items, Sony has just announced that they will be releasing a special Hannah Montana version PSP for $199 (left photo). This pack includes a lilac-colored PSP, a Hannah Montana game, a memory stick, and some Hannah Montana stickers.

It is obvious that Sony is gearing toward pre-teen and teenage girls with this product. This would seem to be a good strategy to try and get more girls to play hand-held games, but Sony is ignoring the fact that Hannah Montana viewers don't like to play video games! In my life, I have seen two girls playing handhelds, but they were the exact opposite of girly.

I could see this being a good option if the product they are trying to sell is $20, but $200 seems a bit much for girls who wouldn't enjoy more than 3 games on the PSP library. The Nintendo DS, on the other hand, has seemingly hundreds of girl games (nothing to brag about). They released a DS targeted for girls as well, which was pink-colored (right photo). Both companies need to realize that designing feminine hand-helds does not pay out in the end. It might encourage some girls to purchase the product, but it will also steer many male gamers away.

At the end of the day, most girl gamers will enjoy many similar game titles as males. Designing systems geared towards pre-teens will not benefit the company; it will hurt it. Opinions aside, the Hannah Montana PSP will be released later this year. The worst part of all of this is the fact that it means one more Hannah Montana product will be out there in stores. Great...

State of the Union

Book Review: "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy

On a monthly basis, I make a trip to the bookstore and search every single shelf until I find 3-4 books that I feel might be worth reading. I usually get a classic, a light reading, and something I know nothing about. This past trip resulted in: “The Complete works of Edgar Allen Poe”, “The Wealth of Nations” and “The Road”.

I knew very little about the story “The Road” but I decided to read it first. Do you ever get that feeling in the first couple of pages into a book: This is more than a book, this is a masterpiece! Only a few other times have I ever enjoyed a book as much as this. McCarthy is not just a writer but an artist. “The Road” is the story of a father and his son traveling through a post apocalyptic world, trying to survive with nothing more than a revolver and a shopping cart.

In late 2009, Hollywood is planning on making “The Road” a movie. I would recommend to any solid reader, to pickup and read this book before the film comes into theaters. McCarthy is also known for writing “There will be Blood” which was also made into a movie.

The Future of HDTV: OLED

LCD televisions have dominated the HD market for the last couple years. Their thin display coupled with great color has been very attractive to consumers in the HDTV market. It is believed that LCD televisions are the best option for HDTVs, but that viewpoint will soon change thanks to OLED displays.

OLED stands for organic light emitting diode. This technology is much more advanced than LCD because the display does not require a backlight. This means that OLEDs are capable of being significantly thinner than LCDs, most only several millimeters thick!

Another area where OLED shines is in picture quality. In the past, LCD has boasted for having a 2,000:1 contrast ratio. Sony's first OLED television has an astounding 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. This high contrast ratio can produce deep blacks as well as vibrant color.

For environmentaly friendly consumers, a 20" OLED television requires 40% less energy than a similar size LCD television. This energy efficiency gap only widens as the display size increases.

With all of these advantages, why not purchase an OLED TV now? Because the technology is very new, the prices of OLED televsions are extremely high. Sony's first OLED TV costs a whopping $2500 for an 11 inch television! At the same time, LCD television prices have dropped significanly over the past 5 years, and picture quality has increased in the last several years as well. LCD televisions are also improving in viewing angle for optimum picture quality from many different areas of a room.

OLED will be the HDTV technology of the future, but for now LCD is the best option. LCD televisions are a great deal for the money, and the picture quality is still very good. For now, LCD is the way to go for HD televisions.

Tiger Woods Returns

After almost 9 months of inactivity, Tiger Woods is finally back on the golf scene. Today marked his first official practice since he had knee surgery last June. He teed off at 7am this morning at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Marana, Arizona. Tiger started his round with an audience of over 100 photographers and reporters. He seemed to be swinging in good form, hitting 8 of his first 9 fairways.

In an interview with ESPN, Phil Mickelson, who also was practicing in Marana, commented on the large crowd. "I came here for a Tuesday practice round, and as I'm walking to the range, I've never seen so many cameras and photographers and so forth, especially that early in the morning, waiting for Tiger to get there." Tiger had practiced several times this year, but this was the first open to reporters. He recently practiced in Las Vegas, and he also practiced at his home early this year, as well.

Many golf fans are not looking forward to his comeback because he has been so dominant. His recent leave did give more opportunities for other golfers succeed, but no specific golfer stepped to the plate. Many fans believed Phil Mickelson would take over the domination role, but he did not. If anything, Tiger's absence hurt the sport because it lowered media attention. Golf was not shown on sports websites to the same extent as when he was playing. Tiger is a great addition to golf, and his dominant role has led to golf's increasing popularity over the last 10 years.

Our Slump

Here is a short list of a few elements that put us in this economic crisis:

Housing Industry, -->Today’s Topic
Mortgage Crisis,
Banking Decisions,
The fall of the Dollar,

Many people would say it was the housing industry that started and solidified this economic slump. One of the ways economists can watch an industry is by job gains/losses, and since a large majority of the house building industry consists of undocumented workers, keeping track of this is nearly impossible. For quite some time, the builders could see that the industry was in a slump. When America finally noticed the housing starts were down, many builders were already considering closing up shop.

According to http://www.census.gov/ “Privately-owned housing starts in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 466,000. This is 16.8 percent (+/- 11.0%) below the revised December estimate of 560,000 and is 56.2 percent (+/-4.4%) below the revised January 2008 rate of 1,064,000.” It was also just announced that housing starts are at an all time low. People are surprised to read these statistics when in reality, builders could have told us this is where we were headed for years. America feels the slump now, builders started to feel it five years ago.

If people started to notice the beginning of this slump five years ago, it could have been traced to the unethical mortgage industry then. We are now playing catch-up, trying to solve the problems of yesterday by giving handouts to the same banks that gave these mortgages to anyone that walked in their offices. Now don’t go blaming Obama for these problems, he is only doing exactly what he said he would do: More restriction, more handouts and more taxes.

It seems like the only way to have a voice to the government is to have a lobbyist, when in reality the government should the corporation’s voice to the world. In the future, America could avoid these problems by simply asking each industry how they are doing, and what are their largest problems? But that might be asking too much from our hard working, underpaid, under-thanked government.

The United States Ski Slopes

Review: IFL Wallpapers

In the past, I never had much luck in finding a good desktop wallpapers. Searching for wallpaper sites in Google typically leads to cluttered pages with poor wallpapers and too many ads. I happened to stumble upon a site the other day called Interface Lift.

They have a huge selection of user-submitted landscapes as well as many HDR photos. The landscapes are very diverse, and there is an extremely large selection to choose from. The best part, however, is IFL's choice of wallpaper resolutions. Many different aspect ratios and resolutions are supported.

They also allow users to create an account. This lets users comment on wallpapers and add them to their favorites. The quality and selection of Interface Lift is unmatched, which makes it one of the best sites for desktop wallpapers.

Election Process

From the beginning the Dems made it very clear that Obama was going to be their presidential candidate for the 2008 election. On the other hand, the Repubs had a tougher time. As we all know the “McCain Train” was chosen to represent the party. Looking back now from our current situation, we must ask ourselves, “Would McCain really have been chosen if the current economic crisis was present one year ago?”

McCain never hid the fact that economics were not his expertise, but instead used his knowledge on foreign policy to get him as far as he did. Rudy Giuliani on the other hand, talked only about economics, but presented himself and his whole campaign very poorly. As time over this past year went by, economics became a more pressing issue, but the Repubs were stuck with McCain.

It takes two years to vote for the president of the United States. This is much too long of a process. No one can pick someone today to solve the country’s problems of tomorrow. By shortening the election process, even by a few months, would let Americans be able to choose a candidate that is more relevant to the present times.

Why iPhone Cases?

The folks over at PC Mag recently wrote an article on the 10 Coolest iPhone 3G Cases. I'm asking why? Cases for phones and mp3 players are completely pointless. They usually make the device much uglier than the manufacturer intended, and they don't "protect" the device very well. I bought a hard plastic cover for my iPod several years ago, and it was completely useless. The plastic cover for the screen got many annoying scratches that made it hard to view videos, and the back of the case scratched up the stainless steel backing of the 3rd generation iPod. The case itself did much more damage to the iPod than what I would have done normally using the device! It also was a clear plastic case, which was much less attractive than the iPod's original exterior, and it significantly added to the thickness of the iPod. Basically what I'm trying to say is don't waste your money on pointless cases for your cell phone or mp3 player!

Several American Banks Could Be Nationalized

Source: New York Times