ClickZ meets March Madness

I was reading this article on ClickZ news. My interest stemmed from the fact that I am actually in my own pool of 70 or so people on CBS Sportline. As of right now I am in third place, but as the games progress my success will most likely decrease (I don't want to jinx anything over here). Anyway, this article by Pete Lerma explains how March Madness is once again "on demand" for those who cannot view the games on their own televisions. I didn't see much of a need for a website hosting such a thing when every single game can be watched on basic cable, and let's be honest, who doesn't have basic cable? (please don't be offended non-basic cable users).

So, after some thought, I realized that millions of people are in their offices during the time these games are being played. I mean College basketball does sound like a delicious way to waste time in a cubicle; eventhough I doubt superiors would be pleased with their sub-ordinates screaming in their cubicles when their brackets meet a gut-wrenching, final second, 3-pointer, upset victory. Wow, try saying that one 3 times fast, can anyone say run-on sentance?

Lerma also explains that a cap limit was set on the number of users allowed to view the games simultaneously. Well, this is no fun. What the hell am I supposed to do while Reddick_lover_14 is sitting in my "courtside" seat! The author expresses that he made a number of suggestions to the website last year as to things that could/should be changed with their March Madness on demand program. The games are also offered to you via iTunes, and if you don't have that program I highly recommend downloading it as I have been so kind to offer a direct link within my own blog post. Apparently games can be purchased through iTunes at a steep price tag of $1.99 (why would someone pay anything for something that can be viewed for free is my question)??

Well enough of my opinions, as for Lerma's own ideas check out the article.

A True Gentleman

Something I like to consider myself to be perfectly honest, but you can formulate your own opinions. This post stems from my second wikipedia edit on my fraternity chapter's wiki, created by yours truly. I finally added more than just 3 sentances and gave a little bit of an idea as to what the page in essence is "trying" to be, which basically is just another wikipedia article. I also added in our fraternity's mission statement. It's titled The True Gentleman and has been echoed in the halls of Sigma Alpha Epsilon for over one hundred years nation wide. Feel free to take a look, after all this information is by no means private.

More to come on Del Alpha. As for now I must commence my wiki for DXA, my buddies rap group, which is awesome and they are something you should definetly check out. I got cds for sale, $5 bucks a pop for some quality hip-hop. Let me know if this plug for them led you to P-O-P. That's "point-of-purchase" for all you non business majors.

Wait a minute, is that a funnel hanging from the third floor window of our fraternity house? Not a chance...

AdWords

I was reading a post on the Inside AdWords blog. It seems that within the realm of internet advertising usage, there is now an ability to focus what market you are trying to target with whatever ads you may be using on your web page. The process is formulated via Google's "Demographic Site Selection." This new site tool allows the user to pick from an assortment of demographic groups by the click of a button.

Didn't I mention something in my Pheedo post about advertising eruption and accesibility via the web? Print-ad...I think it's time to join the loser's circle, sorry buddy.

Disclaimer: To those involved in the print-ad business, please take no offense to my comments. I myself one day may be in print-ad and hope that it stays more than succesful in the years to come.

Cheers.

Sopranos / 2nd wiki edit for 24

If you caught "The Sopranos" this past sunday and were somewhat perturbed by the episode , check out this guest post by Larry on SpinachDip. He does a great job of getting you to understand the greater goods of David Chase's execution on this past weekend's show. A minor side note, I actually went to Junior High School with A.J. Soprano, more formally known as Robert Iler. This kid gets some bad press, but he had some great jokes at my buddy's bar-mitzvah back in 7th grade. Hats off to Rob for coming out of Wagner Junior High School and grabbing a spot on one of HBO's biggest shows.

As for the other love of my life, 24. One question to the writers. Why did you have to kill Tony? I was furious but, these folks labeled Tony has "God" himself...I'm sure they were real pissed. Fortunately enough I was able to sneak my own comments in to the 24 wiki I am editing for class. Towards the bottom of the article there is a general trivia section, along with a list of character deaths throughout the tenure of the show. They initially had wrote that Tony almost died in the first episode of this current season, however this was never finalized on the article due to the fact that he wasn't dead, yet. Unfortunately the bloody scythe of death introduced Tony to his demise in last night's episode (sorry if I spoiled that, but if you watch 24 you should've been tuned in anyway).

My edit can be viewed here, just above the "fan phone" headline. Enjoy.

Really Simple Syndication

Today in class we were graced with a Skype presentation from a blogger by the name of Dana VanDen Heuvel. He is the Director of Business Development for a company named Pheedo. Sub-titled, "RSS +Weblog Marketing Solutions", Pheedo strives to helps those in the blogosphere develop, execute and maintain "flexible advertising solutions." It's great how during the internet's baby years, advertising across said medium was shunned. Now, the internet is littered with a menagerie of advertisements. Glad to see that the tides have turned in such a fashion, especially since I myself will be getting a degree in Marketing...someday.

Within this Skype presentation, a large emphasis was put on the convenience of RSS usage. As my title above says, it is really simple...syndication, pun well intended. This ease of use and user friendliness is displayed by subscription services such as bloglines in order to neatly organize your daily web page viewings. I have certainly come to learn how RSS is going to soon (if it hasn't already) take the internet by storm. I mean for all intents and purposes, it is really simple syndication (bad joke, but I had to say it again).

As for the Skype link up top that I barely touched on, do check out the service if you have never heard of it. I just learned about it while taking this class and was pretty amazed by the deal. It's free international calling via the web, as long as both parties have downloaded the program.

Enjoy.

Some people are so desperate

I was perusing through my teamate's blogs when i came across this hysterical display of "not reading the fine print." Scott posted about a new innovation to hack into Xbox 360s and play recorded games. This is merely a flaw in product production; but the ultimate idiot award goes to this guy right here who blew $560 on a cardboard box. Sweet deal buddy, have fun with your box.

SAE Delaware Alpha round 2

Well, it seems that creating an article and simply writing "Under Construction" is of large distaste to those maintaining Wikipedia's servers. So, I added the smallest bit of content I could to my first created Wiki in order to put my foot down and save that specific article URL. You can check it out here, or just click the link on the left sidebar of the page you're reading right now...amazing.

Is it too much of a gamble?

This past week in my Infotech class, we discussed privacy, security and legal issues with regards to the internet. During the lecture, the hobby of online gambling came into discussion. Being an advocate of said pastime, I was more than happy to admit that I have taken a stab at the online gambling scene (with minimal success). Come to think of it, my live casino experience has also amounted to me leaving "in the red." I went to Vegas this past summer and stayed here with some buddies and was up $300 sum odd dollars at one point after a solid hour of playing craps.

That same money was then burned entirely at the Bellagio after a miserable display of dice rolling. However, my loss of money did not concern me too much since I was in Las Vegas and I have never been to a cooler place. I mean, where else are their no open container laws? New Orleans I think. But, being able to sip on a bud light while walking down the strip and tipping my hat to police officers was like walking in a dream world.

I just want to say that I love craps. It's hands down the best game in the casino with the best odds, and the best feeling is obtained, provided the shooter rolls the point.

As for the online scene, my experience has been limited to Texas Hold 'em. A site I most commonly use is Golden Palace. Now I know that online gambling is illegal, but there is always a loophole. To the best of my knowledge, these sites are headquartered overseas, therefore placing themselves out of America's jurisdiction. Also, just for some extra back up, all these sites offer "play money" games, which is the same thing as Monopoly money. A plethora of other sites also host similar activities.

As for my stand point, gambling is awesome and so much fun. You just don't want to get addicted (I mean, getting addicted to anything is NOT a good thing). I think the government needs to utilize it's resources on preventing such things as 9/11 and our nation's president being a complete idiot as opposed to people trying to have a little fun with their money.

I mean for all intents and purposes, playing the stock market could be considered a form of gambling, but I'm not going any further with that one.

Next time you go to the casino, try rolling the dice. I guarantee you will love it.

24 fans

I love finding day in and day out that more and more people watch, love, cherish, and enjoy 24 just like I do. Well I actually would consider myself an afficiando of said topic, and more knowledged on it than most others, but I don't want to be too cocky over here. This post stems from a previous post of Scott's, check it out. I also felt a comment was necessary due to my intense infatuation of this topic. Any homage to 24 is a good thing, I will keep on the look out for other such posts across the web.

As for now, I have to go attend Edgar Stile's funeral (disregard that line if you did not see the 2-hour 24 special on last night).

SAE Delaware Alpha

I have finally created my first, very own Wikipedia article. Nothing's been done to it, hence the "Under Construction" welcoming you get upon clicking the link. It is suppose to be a Wiki based on my fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon and our own chapter right here at the U of D. The alpha means that we were the first SAE founded in Delaware. So, that's pretty cool I guess. We get to join the ranks with Dupont, no sales tax, and a stellar ability to mispronounce such words as: "home" and "phone"...

...sorry for the cheap shot Delaware, I must say you have given me an unforgettable college experience...

A few things...

Firstly, for those of you that eat, breathe, and dream 24 like I do; read this blogger post. I hope you laughed as hard as I did after reading the chinese food menu line. Secondly, I would like to give a shout out to blogs4bauer for hosting their own "Carnival of Bauer." Believe or not, I had e-mailed my own 24 related post "First Wiki edit" to the administrators of the carnival and after a supposed selective process, they chose to give me credit! For proof, click the blogs4bauer link, scroll down to the post titled "The Carnival of Bauer™!!! Week 1" (I wish they had seperate links for their posts, it would make this much easier) and they link to my personal post in the third paragraph from the bottom. I may be a little over excited about this, but after starting up my first blog it feels real good to receive credit from people who I have never even met before.

P.S. Monday March 6th, 8 p.m. - 10 p.m. on FOX, TWO HOURS OF 24!!! YES!!!!!

Summer: So close yet so far....

I hate the winter, cold weather depresses the hell out of me. I feel like this is a common notion amongst our society. I also feel like Newark Delaware is surrounded by a massive glass bubble where the devil himself is our personal meteorologist. It's march, if I see a drop of snow I might flip out; and as for cold rain, well you're not much better. The cold just puts a damper on everything. It makes you less willing to leave the confines of your home, something that I try to do as often as I can just to get a breath of fresh (cold) air every once in a while.

My distaste for the winter also may have to do with the fact that I was born in the summer (June 22nd 1984 to be precise). However, this whole desire to blog about the cold does stem from this posting read here. I even wanted to comment on said posting since it was something I was so passionate about.

"Down with the cold, in with the old!"...Well that quote seems to make no sense whatsoever.

Conclusively, the final straw with the cold that I know kids of my age, and similar social acceptance will certainly understand. Going out to the bar (or anywhere for that matter) with 80 layers on is the worst! Oh yea, I said it. I feel especially bad for the ladies who feel it is a requirement to dress up every single time they go out. Darling, we don't need to see your legs if its 20 degrees outside. Do both of us a favor and throw on a pair of jeans.

As for now, I'm late for class.

Ciao.