We've got Chris Chambers

Well, for those of you who didn't know already, I am quite the Chargers fan. I would say that it's definitely the sports team that I follow the most closely--based on the number of players I can name for any given team. I can trace the beginning of my football following to when I first started playing fantasy football. What a great gift to humanity that is. I started learning the starting players (on both offense and defense) on a lot of teams around the league... but the Chargers are always my number one. In any case, just before the trading deadline, the Chargers decided to acquire WR Chris Chambers from the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a 2nd round draft pick next year. I'd say it's a pretty good deal since the Chargers have struggled to have a REAL #1 Wide Receiver for a number of years now... at least we now have someone I've heard of... ha. I'm excited to see where this one goes...

Unleash the Leopard

Apple made an official announcement this week that their next OS, Leopard, will be released next Friday, October 26th. I'm really excited about this for a couple of reasons -- 1) I've been waiting to buy a Mac until Leopard came out so I wouldn't buy one and then have to shell out another $130 sometime soon afterward to pay for the upgrade and 2) I've never owned a Mac before, so I'm really looking forward to using it-- figuring out the new benefits and differences from the world I have become so accustomed to. I'm not one to say that Macs are better than PCs running Windows or Linux or anything else, because they all have their advantages and disadvantages... but I am really, really excited about giving Leopard a try!

Selling a home is overrated

Dear Friends and Family--It has been quite some time since I have written anything, and I can pin point my excuse to two different things. First, we were trying to sell our home. But, after little response, watching the market continue to fall in an endless downward spiral and remembering that we don't really need to move, we've decided to give up--for now. However, the benefits of this process include: learning something... we always do, having a painted garage, picking up the place and a variety of other little things. So, all in all it was a good experience, but definitely something to put off for the time being.

My second excuse is that I'm working on a new project at work that is consuming every minute of my time. I'll usually catch myself working during my lunch break, and it's on my mind a lot even outside of work (as proof, I accidentally mistyped the word "myself" as "mysql" first in this sentence). In any case, it's what I call a good problem. As I become more comfortable with my new job, I am getting more responsibility and more to do... it's definitely better than the alternative.

Anyway, just wanted to at least put something up!

Uh Oh...

I glanced at my Google homepage this morning, which contains a few stocks of interest (this actually started as a game with my friends Mirko and Brandon to have an imaginary portfolio to see what would happen with $10,000), and noticed something interesting that I haven't seen before. The stocks for both Google and Microsoft were listed as being "null" at $0.00. It looks like the epic battle between the two giants has caused an implosion that no one was expecting. Based on this listing, Apple (AAPL) and Yahoo! (YHOO) are clearly reaping the benefits of this.

A Little Over a Year Later

So, just over a year after the picture below with my nephew was taken (the one with his sights set on me), I took this picture. Any hope that his desire to take me down had subsided is surely gone. Before, he used his powers to simply manipulate time and space independent of anyone or anything else around him. Well, apparently he has learned to channel those energies and take this to the next level. If you look closely, you'll notice the open hand in this picture, just moments away from using the force to send that water bottle into my face. Look at the determination in his eyes... It's definitely the end for me.

Apple Unleashes the iPod Fury

What do you do next with a product when you already have the most market saturation? If you ask Microsoft and Apple, you'll get two totally different answers (look at Vista, and this new line of iPods as evidence). In any case, Apple unleashed a new line of iPods yesterday. The Nanos are now "phatty" little video iPods, the old video iPods have increased storage, and there is now an iPod Touch (which is essentially an iPhone without the phone). I have no interest in buying a new iPod (since the one I currently have has plenty of room and functions properly), but what I'd really like to see is an "iPhone Nano" in the sense that it's an iPod and a Phone, but none of the other stuff that's on the iPhone (I don't need web browsing, etc.).

Secondly, Apple dropped the price of the iPhone by $200. That's a pretty big drop considering the product has only been out for 2 months. But at the same time, it makes perfect sense with the price point they were setting for the iPod Touch. Either way, I guess a lot of people (early adopters of the iPhone) felt ripped off, so Jobs has responded with a $100 credit to the Apple Store for all of them. Here's his response. That's a pretty sweet deal if you ask me.

All the while Microsoft is not worried, and is planning to stay on their current track for the Zune (if you haven't heard of the Zune, you just proved my point). In any case, here's an article about Microsoft's response to yesterday's event. Microsoft has their work cut out for them. Not to mention the negative feedback Vista has received, but that's a whole 'nother story.

Fantasy Football Returns!

Oh, how I look forward to this time of the year. I'm not a HUGE sports guy (for example, I'm not one of those husbands who come home and just have to watch Sports Center for a couple of hours to make sure I'm up to date on all of the latest happenings in the world of sports). However, I do enjoy football season a great deal--particularly fantasy football. I definitely would not know as much as I know about teams or individual players if it weren't for this fun game. Of course, also having an excuse to talk smack to my friends and family is also welcomed... he he.

And of course, I can't just sign up for one league... that's like putting all your eggs in one basket. No, I must sign up for many to increase the chances of actually having a playoff team... I must also avoid the temptation of adding the same players in every league--all of my "favorites" if you will.

Anyway, I'm participating in three leagues this year, two of which have already drafted... I can already tell it's going to be a good season! I also wanted to mention that I know that there are people out there who when watching a game on TV, including their favorite team, end up rooting against them, just to get the extra fantasy points. Let it be known that I will never stoop to that level. The greater good must always prevail--the greater good always being the Chargers winning the Superbowl.