HOW TO PREPARE FOR 2009

We all can agree that 2009 is going to be a repair year.

Stocks are in the trash, gas is going to be on the rise again, and the layoffs keep on coming in all areas. I just paid $11 for a hamburger and fries. I didn't even get the drink. It cost almost as much to see a movie in the theater as it does to buy the dvd.

Here are some tips for you in 2009:

1. STOP BUYING DVDS/Books/CDs: Go to your DVD/CD/Book collection and tell me how many you have that are still haven't been watched or read. CDs, DVDS and Blu Rays days are numbered. It's all going to be streamed or saved as computer files in the very near future if not already. Apple TV, Blockbuster and Netflix are all streaming movies in HD. Do the math. Your not going to watch these DVDs/CDs or read these books again. Trust me. Commit for a year and see if your missing out.

2. STOP EATING OUT: This is the first thing people cut, because it's easy to get rid of. So get rid of going out to eat. Soda in a restaurant is now around $2.50. That's insane. Burgers are no less than $8 for a combo in a restaurant. Steaks are off the chart at $20 and up. Appetizers are no less that $8 each. Sure, you can move from restaurant to fast food, but who wants to? Start cooking at home. It taste better, is quality time with your family and saves tons of money.

3. STOP FEELING LIKE YOU NEED TO GO AWAY ON VACATION: I can guarantee there are hundreds of things around where you live that you have not tried or done. I lived my whole life in Orange County and have never been to the Science Museum. Vacations are ridiculous. 90% of the time you do things you can do at home. Eat out, watch movies, go on hikes, drink alcohol, fish, ski, shopping. Save money on gas, airfare, car rental, and hotel stay. Take all that money and use it locally and you'll not have to travel home when your vacation is over.

4. STOP BUYING NEW CARS: buy year old cars and save $10,000 at least. I have bought four cars from Enterprise and they give me bumper to bumper coverage. The cars are the top of their line and they replace everything before selling, belts, fluids, tires, brakes. It's only got about 27,000 miles on it.

5. START READING THE SUNDAY ADS: People waste so much money on technology items. Read the sunday ads and get your laptops, jump drives, and video games on sale. Also don't buy new video games. If you buy your games 6 months old, you will save at least $25 on each game. Video games are $59 new. They will drop to $19.99 - $29.99 in about six months. I just bought "Resistance" for $20. "Resistance 2" just came out for $59. Once I am done with the first one, the second one should be on sale.

6. LEARN TO HAVE FUN FOR FREE: When was the last time you and your friends played a board game, or played cards, or dominoes, or went to the local park and did raquet ball or tennis or frisbee golf. The problem with America is that we are fat, including me. We are also lazy and selfish, but that's another post altogether. Take a moment and think of things to do that don't cost money. Stop spending to entertain yourself.

These are just a few areas to save money as America heals in 2009. What other things can you add to this post that I may have missed. Click on comments below and add your ideas.

HOME SWEET HOME

My favorite part of going on vacation is the last two days. You seem to have this renewed energy to get back home and take on the world.

I have gone to Vegas, Lake Tahoe, and Lake Havasu. We always stay in a four star resort, with great accommodations.

This trip though, gave me a new found appreciation for home. Let me tell you how.

Anyone who knows me, knows I complain about living in California. They know I crave a place in the country next to a lake. I hate traffic, people bumping into me, and having to wait in long lines everywhere I go.

I am currently on vacation in Sedona, AZ. Our resort sits up against a golf course and the golf course sits against a huge mountainous area with red rocks. That's what is so beautiful about Sedona. We are surrounded by tons of red rock structures.

I have been asleep for about an hour. Thankful I got to sleep before my wife, so I didn't have to hear her snoring. I have our bedroom window curtains wide open and from my bed I can see more stars than I have ever seen in my entire life.

Then it happened. This blood curdling whining. At first I thought it was a dog from some of the houses up on the hillside. Then it got louder and more powerful and by the hundreds. You could hear the cries of this howling whining noise from outside the resort and in the distance you could hear the replies of more howls. They may be wolves or they may be hyenas. I don't know, but it was almost like tortured babies crying.

I look out the window into total darkness and yet I could feel them running in a pack by my bedroom window. I could feel that there was a presence outside that I could not see or really relate to.

Then my mind took off. My son is downstairs in his room and his room has a sliding glass door that is locked and goes directly to the outside. I can't even type the details of what I was thinking, but I said a prayer and that thought went away.

The darkenss outside is thick. When I went out to the balcolny all I could do was hear this communication between these animals. They didn't even take turns. Without the ability to see, my hearing became even stronger giving the impression that I was right up on these crying beasts. The fact that it is 18 degress outside doesn't help. Knowing that they are probably cold hungry carnivorous creatures in the dark. Ouch!

Now, anytime I have trouble sleeping and this seems to be one of those nights, I get out of bed and do things that make me happy. Watch a comedy, eat a snack, or just blog on my creepy experience.

I am realizing how much I may not want the country. Back home, I like going outside, walking the suburbs of "The OC" and getting myself a icee at the local 7-Eleven. I like looking outside and seeing tons of street lights and the Los Alamitos Race track lighting up the sky like the second coming. I like Taco Bells that are open all night, friends that are always up hanging out at Starbucks, and cars booming music all the way down my street.

These things are familiar to me. I have grown up with these sounds all around me. I am not used to total darkness as far as the eye can't see with howling in the near distance.

I need to rethink my dream home location. I need to ask myself if the country is what I truly want. Will it be more of a cultural shock that I can handle. I have plenty of time to think about it. I won't be heading back to bed for at least another hour.

Hey, I wonder if Sportcenter is on.

Which do you prefer? Living in the country or living in the city?

GOODBYE CIRCUIT CITY, YAHOO, & AMERICAN CARS

Last Sunday I was looking at the ads in the Orange County Register newspaper. I wanted to see what is on sale for the holidays. I came to the Circuit City ad and for the first time ever I passed on looking at it. I threw it in the trash.

Yesterday, I was asking my wife to reconsider getting a Mega Cab Dodge Ram next year. I told her I had no interest in ever buying an American car, again.

This morning I was going through my TechCrunch newsletter. I saw a mention that Yahoo was working on some new technology/features. I passed right by the posting and didn't even care what Yahoo had developed.

At that moment, I realized how quickly I shut down a product, company, or service due to bad press. I probably will stay away from the above companies for at least the next decade, due to the fact that they are all on the deadpool list. They are there due to poor business practices or just plain greed.

I am really getting worse with age. I still haven't bought a Major League Baseball product since the players strike. Because of their greed we missed the first World Series in the history of baseball. I haven't bought a ticket to the LA Angels, an Angels hat, bumper sticker, or anything related to MLB.

I am surprised how quickly I will write off a company and never give them another thought. It's almost instantaneously. I don't believe 20 years ago people were as quick to boycott as their are today. Probably because they didn't have the internet to immediately spread the bad business practices, like we do today. It probably took a while to find out bad news.

Have you noticed that your like me? Do you boycott anyone? Who do you boycott? Will you ever go back, and if so what would it take to bring you back???

PREDICTIONS FOR 2009

I have a few predictions for 2009. Here are some of them. Not all positive. We will check back at the end of the year to see if any came true.

1. I predict the American Gov't will try to impose an internet tax. I know they have failed in the past, but I believe they will use the bad economy and the bank bailout of $700 million to justify imposing this on all internet sales.

2. I predict that housing will bounce back a little by June 2009 and start climbing.

3. I predict Britney Spears new album "Circus" is going to be album of the year.

4. I predict that gas will go back up to over $4 a gallon by Memorial Day Weekend. If not, sooner.

5. I predict that by the end of 2009 Netflix will have been bought by either Apple, TIVO, or Microsoft.

6. I predict that the Apple iPhone will have video capability by March of 2009.

7. I predict that Google is going to do huge things in wifi and WiMax for all cities.

8. I predict that Obama isn't going to do much of anything for the first six months in office.

9. I predict that Circuit City, Kmart, Sears, Blockbuster, and Radio Shack won't see the end of 2009.

10. I predict that the penny will no longer be manufactured.

11. I predict that The Simpsons will announce that 2010 will be their last season.

12. I predict that Ghost Whisperer, CSI NY, Bones, Fringe, and Smallville will go under in 2009.

13. Twitter will do something to kill itself, like integrate ads into our tweeting.

14. Yahoo and Sirius/XM radio will be bought out.

15. There will be a big decline in DVD and blu-ray sales and rentals.

16. AppleTV will finally be announced with some good features making it the next apple product to have for 2009.

Wow. Let's see how close I get. What are your predictions?????

BACK ON TRACK

I feel like I have been gone a long time.

Most of you know that I have four blogs:

All that bugs blog
Blog and Cookies
Cooking With Jack
Need Prayer Now

I have been so distracted by my other jobs that I haven't kept up on the blogs too much. I have just finished producing a movie, filming cooking videos, trying to set up my church to broadcast live on the internet, and been on Twitter like a crazy man.

BTW, my twitter id is jakatak4 if you want to follow me. I will in turn follow you, too.

I have also had time to re-evaluate my blogs and decide if they are all needed. I have decided to keep them all. YEAH!!!!

Okay now let me bring you up to date on what I plan to do with each one.

All that bugs blog: not a healthy blog since I am trying to stop complaining as much. I will still keep it up there so I can inform people about things that bug me. I will just be more selective, like for example, did you know if you have a mattress from Sit n' Sleep here in LA and you somehow (don't ask me how) get a stain on the mattress, your warranty is no longer good. These are the type of complaints I want to do. Not as often, but much healthier complaining.

Blog and Cookies: This blog is about info that you need to know about that is positive. Like Pownce getting taken over by Six Apart. I am not complaining, but it's a hot topic.

Cooking with Jack: This blog will have more cooking tips. I will be producing a cooking video each week and posting it up there. I will give great tip like: before refrigerating your package of bacon, be sure to roll it up and put a rubber band around it. This way when you unroll it to cook it, each slice will be separate from the rest. It helps separate the bacon so you don't tear each piece.

Need Prayer Now: This blog is going to stay up for anyone who needs a pray. I also will be giving some insight to my thoughts about my faith and things I learn during my spiritual growth. Things like: did you know that "knowledge" is what you know and "wisdom" is how you use how you use what you know.

All my blogs will be shorter and to the point. Sometimes I ramble on and on and on and ..... well, you get it.

I am glad to be back. It's hard keeping up with your family life, work life, Twitter, facebook, emails, texts, etc. Feel free to subscribe to my newsletter in the upper right corner of this page.

Take care and we will be taking soon.

BRITNEY SPEARS NEW CD "CIRCUS" WORTH LISTENING TO

I am not a Britney Spears fan, but this latest CD "Circus" has been playing on my computer for about 3 hours. I have to say that the songs are hot, very techo, and the production is amazing. Have a free listen before it launches on December 2, 2008.

ENJOY!!!

WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE WORLD!

I have not been blogging due to all the calamity in the world. I have been trying not to complain blog. I have been doing that a lot lately on my "All That Bugs" blog and it's getting me down.

So I decided to write about my thoughts on what's going on in the world and see if I can't give you some insight on these issues.

1. HOME LOAN BAIL OUT - I know we needed the bank bailout but please explain to me something. How is it I am going to pay higher taxes so we can give that money to the banks because they made bad business decisions. When I make bad business decisions I have to suffer the consequences. I think what the worst part is, I am going to pay taxes so we can give to the banks and yet I still don't own a home. Not even one of the foreclosed homes that I just paid for through higher taxes. So when I bail out the bank, the bank gets to reap the re-sale of that house. How is that right?

2. AUTOMAKER BAIL OUT - This is simple. This isn't a bank situation. This is the unions strong arming the US for money. They think we will go under if the automotive industry tanks. How about you take some of that union money and bail yourselves out. In the 70's first time employees were starting out making $17 an hour. I can't even imagine what their salaries are today. How about this. We will bail out the automakers only if they go non-union FOREVER. We will rehire everyone as non-union workers and they can join the rest of the world with crashing 401ks and no pension.

3. OBAMA / HILARY CLINTON - Wow. Nice job Obama. You promised new ways of thinking. You promised change. That's great. How is Hilary Clinton change?

4. THE HEAT IN CALIFORNIA - I am over the heat in southern California. We have been hotter than Las Vegas for over a month. We have been as high as 100 degrees in the past week. This Thanksgiving week we are going to start the week off in the 80's. Where is autumn. The tree in my front yard is so confused it's dropping leaves while sprouting new ones. California is so screwed up in the weather. I know we will never get snow, but at least give me a reason to wear pants.

5. SIRIUS SATELLITE IS NOW LESS THAT $0.20 A SHARE - I am going down hard with this stock. I have 1740 shares of garbage. I bought 740 around $5 and the lovely FCC desided to make the XM / Sirius merger the longest drag out merger ever. Long enough to see the ipod come out with two different design updates. Then the housing busted so it dropped below a dollar. I bought another 1000 shares at $0.69 cents. Why not. It's gonna go up and I am going to laugh. Well, I am not laughing. I am crying in shock. Now the automakers are tumbling and no one is buying cars with satellite radio in them. Now the stock is under $0.20. Ouch. Just when gas was cheap enough to start increasing car sales, it's too late. So my advice to you all is to gamble $200 and pick up 1000 shares. If this does pull itself out of the nose dive you'll be sitting pretty. If not, it was just $200. How screwed is the stock market.

6. THE CALIFORNIA FIRES - Lovely. We can never catch the criminals that set these things and so our government lies to us and tells us it was set by campfires. Who the heck is lighting a campfire in 100 degree weather and isn't that person liable. Here is what needs to happen. If your caught for arson, you go to jail for minimum 15 years then killed. Let's make it so bad that people will think twice before lighting up the hillside. It's getting really bad out here. The stupid media doesn't help. They always announce fire warnings. "Okay, kids. Don't you going in the kitchen, get the bbq lighter, and start a fire on the hillside at the corner of Maple St. and Garfield Ave., especially when no one is looking." (media needs to keep their big mouths SHUT. The do more damage that good in this world.

7. CHRISTMAS IS COMING AND NO ONE CARES - Did you even notice that no one is in any holiday spirit. I don't blame them. The black friday ads are horrible. 160 gig HD for $69.00. How is that a deal. They are all horrible. Some stores like Mervyn's, Circuit City, and Linen 'n Things are just trying to keep from going bankrupt until Christmas. Plus, I think in California you can be arrested for saying Christmas. So if you weren't counting, there are 36 days left.
I know what I am getting for Christmas....... more shares of Sirius Satellite. It's the only thing we can afford. :-(

(See. This is much better than complaining)

HOW TO COOK A TURKEY

With Thanksgiving coming as quickly as Halloween did, you will want to watch this video. Jack shows you how to cook a turkey and keep it very moist. It's easy and delicious.

HOW TO CARVE A PUMPKIN

Jack shows you how to carve a pumpkin for Halloween and gives you some cool new tips, too.

JOHN MCCAIN STOPS CAMPAIGNING FOR PRESIDENCY!

I have just received a newsletter from John McCain stating that he is stopping his campaign to return to Washington D.C. and help resolve our economic crisis. He has asked Obama to do the same.

I am a little impressed with his initiative. I am curious to see what Obama decides.

Here is the newsletter that McCain sent out:

John McCain's Remarks on the Economic Crisis
New York, NY
Wednesday, September 24, 2008

America this week faces an historic crisis in our financial system. We must pass legislation to address this crisis. If we do not, credit will dry up, with devastating consequences for our economy. People will no longer be able to buy homes and their life savings will be at stake. Businesses will not have enough money to pay their employees. If we do not act, ever corner of our country will be impacted. We cannot allow this to happen.

Last Friday, I laid out my proposal and I have since discussed my priorities and concerns with the bill the Administration has put forward. Senator Obama has expressed his priorities and concerns. This morning, I met with a group of economic advisers to talk about the proposal on the table and the steps that we should take going forward. I have also spoken with members of Congress to hear their perspective.

It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the Administration's proposal. I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time.

Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me.

I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.

We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved. I am directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to delay Friday night's debate until we have taken action to address this crisis.

I am confident that before the markets open on Monday we can achieve consensus on legislation that will stabilize our financial markets, protect taxpayers and homeowners, and earn the confidence of the American people. All we must do to achieve this is temporarily set politics aside, and I am committed to doing so.

Following September 11th, our national leaders came together at a time of crisis. We must show that kind of patriotism now. Americans across our country lament the fact that partisan divisions in Washington have prevented us from addressing our national challenges. Now is our chance to come together to prove that Washington is once again capable of leading this country.

THE FUNNIEST 6 SECONDS EVER

I still am laughing as I am typing this. Here is the funniest 6 seconds ever:

BARACK OBAMA REMOVES AMERICAN FLAG

I didn't believe this when I read it. In fact, I didn't want to blog on it. I was waiting for Snopes.com (urban legend website) to confirm it was true.

Well America, the presidential nominee Barack Hussein Obama HAS removed the American flag off of his 747.

How can a presidential nominee even think that was a smart idea.
What country is he trying to become president of?

Here is the full story on Snopes.com for confirmation and more details. I have included the two pictures of the plane below.




Americans need to think long and hard. How can you vote for a man who refuses to pledge allegiance to the American flag, refuses to wear the lapel pin of the American flag, and has the American flag removed from the 747 that Americans paid for.

I will not vote for this man. I would love to hear from someone who will.

Testing out mobile blogging

this is my first blog posting from my blackberry. It's pretty easy.

the weird thing is that my cell phone doesn't work to make calls due to the earthquake here in CA, but my data plan works just great. hahahaha.

Earthquake just hit

about 10 minutes ago California was hit with what they are saying is a 5.8 earthquake and it came from Chino Hills, CA area (not Vegas like the radio said). Hope everyone is alright. I have no phone or cell service right now.

I am unable to get a hold of my family at the moment. I just emailed everyone. The earthquake was so hard that it felt like my car got rear ended.

that was the hardest jolt I have felt in 40 years. I expect the number to be higher than 5.8

UPDATE: 12:22PM
We have already had 5 aftershocks in the last 50 minutes. Not big ones. Ranging from 2-3.7 in magnitude. I am still hearing emergency vehicles.

UPDATE 2:41PM

Amazing how many more aftershocks there have been. here is the latest list.

FACEBOOK IS BLOWING UP!

There isn't anything you can't do from a Facebook page. For those of you unfamiliar with Facebook, it's a social network place. Kind of like MySpace.com. It's a place to build your online profile. You can tell the whole world your likes and dislikes from books, to movies, to who you would like to meet someday. Once you have build your profile you can then set privacy settings that only your friends can see your profile, or anyone in the world.

After that you can customize your Facebook page with applications (apps) that allow you to do things from within your Facebook page.

Here are just some of the things I do through my Facebook profile.

1. I maintain my online profile. (tons of information about me)
2. I keep in touch with friends.
3. I can check on my Netflix movie queue and see what is new in the DVD rental world.
4. I can follow my favorite baseball team the Los Angeles Angels.
5. I can listen to my Pandora radio stations.
6. I can get all my birthday reminders for all my family.
7. I can play games like Chess or Scrabble with other people around the world.
8. I can even keep updated on my MySpace.com profile from within Facebook.
9. I am even typing this blog through my Facebook app called Ping.fm.
10. I can even Twitter my friends.
11. I can even update my physical location and what I am doing through Loopt on Facebook.
12. They even have multi-player online games that can be played by thousands.

If you don't know any of what I am discussing above, don't worry. You will. Some of these applications are very new and some just aren't in the public eye, yet.

I have to go on the record and say that Facebook has nailed the all in one place to do things.

RANDY PAUSCH HAS DIED AT AGE 47

If you don't know who Randy Pausch is, don't worry about it. I didn't either. After watching his video below, I will never forget who he is.

Randy Pausch lost his fight against cancer on 7/25/08 at age 47. If you don't send flowers, or send a card, or even say a prayer, at least watch his last video titled "The Last Lecture".

It truly is inspirational. His original lecture was viewed over 4 million times on Youtube.com. This is a short version of his lecture that appeared on Oprah.

RAIN FREE IN BEIJING

I still don't believe it even though I read it in the April 28th, 2008 edition of Fortune magazine.

Beijing has a machine that will launch rockets filled with silver iodide into the incoming clouds to flush out any excess moisture before it reaches the Olympic stadium.

It's going to be the rainy season in China and they are going to shoot the water out of any incoming clouds. Is this the Jetsons or what. I still have to see it to believe it.

Not that I care about the Beijing Olympics since I am pushing to Boycott Beijing. Now Beijing is playing with Mother Nature.

Is there anything that China won't do to look good at the Olympics? Do they even know what this chemical will do to the Chinese people once shot into the clouds?

Since I WON'T be watching, maybe someone could let me know how it works.

INDYMAC BANK VS. YOUR MATTRESS

When I heard that Indymac Bank went under, I felt another horrible pain in my stomach. Not like a punch to the stomach pain, but more like "The Twin Towers are falling" kind of pain.

People ran for their money. The police were called to do crowd control. It's wasn't a pretty pictures. I thought this kind of thing only happened to Jimmy Stewart in "It's a Wonderful Life." I didn't think I would see this in my lifetime.

It reminds me of when people swore that pensions and 401k's were protected and there was nothing your employer could do to take, lose or destroy them. Well, we now know that isn't true.

Now they are telling us that the Federal Gov't has everything under control. Yeah, like gas prices.

What if everyone panicked and took their money from their bank? There isn't enough to go around and cover all of us. Especially since the USA's money is continuously being given to other countries. (that's another blog post on it's own)

So what to do? Do I trust that the Federal Gov't has us covered? Do I pull my money out of the bank and stick it in my mattress? Do I go to Bank of America thinking they are never going to go under?

What's worth more, the security that your money is with you and no one can take it or getting that stupid little interest payment that really never makes a difference.

Where is the safest place for my money? All of my business accounts are with Washington Mutual, but they are hurting more than Chase or B of A.

Once again, this is due to greed. The banks gave too many loans and now are paying for it, which in turn makes us pay for it. Let's not forget the stupid average American that took out a fluctuating loan. (stupid Americans is another post)

Here is my decision. I am going to withdraw all of my funds from business and personal leaving only enough to pay the monthly bills. Anything above that is going to stay with me for awhile. I have seen the public do some strange things. I don't believe we are protected financially, especially since the American dollar is so weak. I will make another educated decision once Real Estate recovers and the banks are more stable.

Keep one last thing in mind. The Federal Gov't only insures each person up to $100,000 and each joint account up to $200,000. That does NOT mean per account for each person. It means per bank. So if you have five accounts with $100,000 then only one of those accounts are insured. You could lose the rest. That is the FDIC guarantee.

My parents are smart. They have spread their money around so that no bank has more than $200,000 in it.

There you have it. I don't believe all banks are going under, but I do believe this isn't over, yet.

COINSTAR - IS IT WORTH IT?

About once a year I take a week long vacation to Las Vegas. Not so much to gamble, but to just get away without wasting too much money on gas.

The first thing everyone does before Vegas is to gather all their coins in one big jar. Usually I have around $200 in change saved up throughout the year. My only dilemma is whether I want to drive 8 miles to my credit union and pour my coins into a machine that will give me back 100% of the money or go across the street to the local Coinstar machine that takes an annoying percentage of your hard earned money.

If I do drive the 8 miles, I will be using about $8 in gas. If I pour $200 into a Coinstar machine I will be charged 8.9% handling fee, which comes to $17.80.

BUT WAIT......THERE IS ONE MORE THING YOU DIDN'T KNOW.

Did you know that if you take your money to Coinstar and you cash out in the form of a gift card, you get 100% of your money back? I didn't know that either. My brother called me and told me.

There are tons of stores to choose from for your gift certificate. My brother chose Amazon.com which has everything under the sun.

The next time I need to cash in some coins, it will be with Coinstar. I will be cashing it in for a gas gift card. That is one gift card I will use immediately.

THE USA HAS PLENTY OF OIL

The following is very interesting.

Lindsey Williams talks about his first hand knowledge of Alaskan oil reserves larger than any on earth. And he talks about how the oil companies and U.S. government won't send it through the pipeline for U.S. citizens to use.




How Do We the people of the United States get our government back to taking care of us???

PREDICTION #2: FACEBOOK IS ON IT'S WAY OUT

If you are keeping up with all the crazy websites popping up (Twitter, Friendfeed, Mixx, etc.) then you will know why I am going on record as saying that Facebook is on it's way out.

Here is why:

1. Facebook said they would share their members information with Google in an open source format so Google could develop new concepts. Google built Google Friends Connect with this understanding. Then Facebook changed it's mind and got greedy and locked Google out.

2. Facebook is getting really protective of it's information and is now messing with one of the top social media design companies called Slide. Most of you know their Top Friends app. Slide is the developer of that app. Well, Facebook has now locked them out.

Facebook has not been playing well with others. With so many social networking sites available like Myspace.com and new ones launching daily, you have to play nice with others. It just takes one bad headline on TechCrunch to destroy your rep. If you don't believe me ask Twitter.

How can Facebook be saved:

1. apologize to Google publically and open up your code.
2. Work with Slide to redesign any apps your not happy with. Don't shut them out completely.
3. Redesign the Homepage. They have a the worst layout ever. My Facebook homepage is a headache. I can't stand looking at it. It's not organized. Fix it before Myspace fixes theirs.

There. I said it.

PREDICTION #1: STARBUCKS IS ON THEIR WAY OUT

I have been telling close friends how I hate Starbucks and how I believe their days are numbered.

I should have gone on record stating this fact when McDonald's put out a better coffee than Starbucks and it was for 1/2 the price. But I didn't.

I should have gone on record again when Starbucks closed 600 stores on July 1st. But I didn't.

So better late then never, Starbucks is going to fall hard. Here is why:

1. Starbucks coffee has gotten worse over the years.
2. McDonald's offered better coffee 1/2 the price.
3. Starbucks charges way to much for their CDs. In all my years of going to Starbucks, I have yet to find one sucker that will pay $15.99 for 10 songs.
4. McDonald's is offering wi-fi all the time for free. Starbucks finally offered wi-fi for free and yet the limit you to two hours.

If your going to save Starbucks then five things need to happen:

1. Get better coffee
2. stop selling CDs for 15.99. No one will pay that price.
3. make each locations localized by allowing the area to dictate the image. Have local guitar players or horn players coming in on Friday or Saturday nights. Have poetry readings or spoken word night. Whatever brings back that coffee house feel.
4. Sell CDs ONLY from local or unsigned artists.
5. free wi-fi ALL THE TIME!!!!

STAR WARS GAME COMING FOR THE NINTENDO WII

First I want to give credit to TechCrunch for bringing me this information. I love my newsletters from TechCrunch and GearCrunch.

Just when I felt I wasn't wielding my Wiimote enough in front of my 50" plasma, I received good news from the Dark Side.

Here is the video clip. Get a bib. You might start drooling profusely.

IF THINGS TURNED OUT DIFFERENTLY

I am not one to pass around jokes, urban legends, videos or chain emails, but this video is good enough to break my rule.

Here is a video that shows you how things could have been if things turned out different. At first I didn't get it and then I got it and it was funny. I even went back and watched it again. You may not catch all the references due to lack of knowledge in certain areas, but you will enjoy it anyway. Check it out:

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

Did You Know It Was So Easy to Get Marijuana from a Doctor?

In no ways is the following story an endorsement for smoking marijuana.

In fact, it's quite the opposite. It is to bring attention to how bad things are getting in California. It's a shame that anyone would use a mind altering substance. It just means that they are not happy with their life. As with most lazy Americans, it is easier to use drugs than to fix your life. This is sad.

In California, marijuana is supposed to be prescribed only to people suffering from life-threatening conditions but David Willis finds the reality is quite different. With more than 200 dispensaries now operating legitimately, the street dealers are all but obsolete and the state is happy because it collects the taxes.

read more | digg story

WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE WHAT GOOGLE HAS NEXT!

I never really understood what Google's Friend Connect was until I saw this video. Google's Friend Connect can be used on anyone's website. I can't explain it as good as Google so watch the video below and here is a link to Google Friend Connect so you can sign up for the program.

COOLEST "ALL MAC" VIDEO

This is for all you MAC geeks and some of you PC geeks.

this video is so cool. Check it out. It's all done on the MAC.




Here is the title and artist. it's also a link.
(warning: This CD has explicit lyrics)
THE SONG IS CALLED: AGAIN AND AGAIN
THE BAND IS: THE BIRD AND THE BEE

MAC + PC = MAC

What if I asked you to choose between buying a Mercedes or a BMW.

What if I also said if you choose to buy the Mercedes, I will also give you the BMW for $80 more.

WHICH ONE WOULD YOU CHOOSE?????

Duh. It's a no brainer. Choose the one that gets you both cars.

Now here is another no brainer.

What if I asked you to choose between buying a MAC or PC.

What if I also said if you buy the MAC, I will let you run Windows also on the MAC for $80 more.

WHICH ONE WOULD YOU CHOOSE????

VMware has a program called "Fusion". It will let you run Windows on your MAC without rebooting and it's only $80. Here is a link: VMware's FUSION

If you don't understand the above then you deserve a Dell.

End of Blog!

HAPPY ARBOR DAY

I want to wish everyone a Happy Arbor Day. I didn't realize it was today until I looked on my calendar.

I hope you all enjoy........(hold on. I have to look something up).......planting trees. Make sure you water them well.

let's all meet back here again next week on May 1st when we will all be celebrating.......(hold on......just need to check one thing)..............May Day. Yep, that's right. May Day is coming. It seems just like yesterday we celebrated May Day.

SORRY. NO CIGARETTES HERE!

Congratulations to Wegmans supermarkets (based in Rochester, NY) for standing up for what is right.

We have proven that tobacco products kill people. Billions of dollars have been paid to family members who have lost loved ones to smoking.

Blog & Cookies has just found out that Wegmans' 72 locations will NO LONGER SELL any tobacco products.

Two smaller chains in NY and California have also followed Wegmans lead.

I applaud this action and hope to see this lung killer removed from the market permanently.

Everyone is so into saving the environment and recycling and global warming and all this other stuff. Yet no one has stood up to decades of a poisonous substance being inhaled by millions of people, some against their will.

Be sure to thank the manager at Wegmans the next time you run out for a gallon of milk.

MONA-VIE PART 3 (Final part)

After writing about my leg pain going away, it came back later that night. So that problem wasn't cured.

I bought one bottle of Mona Vie for $30. I have seen it as high as $40 from other distributers. I took the highest recommended amount (2 oz. twice a day) until the bottle was empty (6 days0. And here are my results:

My diabetes didn't go away or get better. My sugar numbers did reach a low of 86 for one morning, but then was back up to 150 by afternoon. My numbers have been between 129 - 155 before, during, and now after the test.

My leg pain is still there. I don't know if it's a pinched nerve or the diabetes or what, but the pain is still there.

I am still bald. Not that I thought hair would grow back. I just wanted to throw that in.

My weight is still the same.

In my opinion, Mona Vie is probably healthy for you like any other juice, I just believe it's being marketed as a cure all and that to me is a SCAM.

This test is concluded. If you would like to try your own test let me know. I am selling bottles for $45 each. just kidding!

10 ways to fight soaring gas prices.

Nothing was better than sitting in my v6 Pontiac Grand Am waiting for the light to turn green and then blowing the tires off a crappy 2001 Mustang. My heart would race just for the pleasure of putting some punk 19 year old in his place.

Those were the good old days.

A few years ago, it took me $20 dollars to fill up my car. Now it takes me $62.00. Everytime I accelerate I can hear money falling out of my pocket. So I decided to sit down and come up with ways to not use gas or to at least use very little gas in my life.

Hear are ten ways to fight soaring gas prices:

1. Kill Two Birds With One Trip: If you have errands to do, don't do them on the weekend. Spread them throughout the week. Each day on your way home, stop and do one errand. Then the next day on the way home do another errand. The whole idea is not to make separate trips. If your going to pass the cleaners on your way home from work then pull over and get your clothes. This will also give you plenty of free time on the weekend, since you'll have no errands left.

2. Carpooling: Seriously consider carpooling. Split the gas bill each week and spend half as much on commuting.

3. Different vehicle: Consider a scooter, motorcycle, or downsizing your car. How many of us really need the Yukon or Suburban? I can't remember the last time I saw a Suburban full of kids. If you have to have the SUV then your spouse should have the Toyota Matrix. Use the economy car for as much as possible.

4. Use the Bus: Taking the bus is now the smart way to travel. You can get monthly unlimited passes from your local transportation office.

5. Mail Stuff: See if it's less expensive to mail something than to drive something. How about messenger service. Check the cost. Especially in the big city, it could save gas and time.

6. Air Conditioner: Stop using the air conditioner unless absolutely necessary. It puts a strain on the engine causing it to work harder using up 10% more gas.

7. Video Conferencing: don't drive to visit other offices or other friends or family. Try video conferencing. It's free. Mac users use iChat and PC users use AIM. Do your meeting online or say hi to relatives and chat all you want face to face on the computer.

8. Car Wash: Try filling up when you need a car wash. Some gas stations allow you a 5 cent discount if you pay for their $8 car wash.

9. Shut the car off: I see people park their car at their destination and keep it running while they finish up their phone conversation. Shut the car off! I have also seen parents wait for their kid to come out of school. Shut your car off. People leave the car running to listen to the radio. Not smart.

10. New Job: I truly believe people will need to be closer to their jobs than ever before. Start looking for a job that's within 5 or 10 miles from your house. It's always easier to look for a job when you don't need one.

These are just a few of many things that you can do to conserve gas. it's only going to get worse. I don't think this problem is going to go away. We definitely are using up the gas. We just don't know how much is left.

MONA-VIE PART 2

So it's time to test this Mona-Vie juice to see if it's a scam or not?

Now, I have had three people tell me they are taking this drink and they are feeling better. One had back pain due to his line of work and he no longer has back pain and is getting 30% more work accomplished.

Another friend woke up with soreness and headaches. He no longer has either in the morning.

Another friend is doing weight loss along with this and I don't have an update on him yet.

Let's talk about me and my experiment.

Let me give you my ailments. I am overwieght (around 300 lbs.) I am diabetic and taking pills to control my body from making too much sugar. I have what I think is a pinched nerve on my lower back which causes numbness in my right thigh. I have been having some blurred vision due to my being diabetic. Sundays I am on my feet all day working and at the end of the day, my thigh is not numb any longer. Instead, it's aching with pain. I can barely sit still from the pain. I usually take Motrin to help the pain.

Okay. Now that you know more about me than you wanted to know, let's begin the experiment. I started Mona-Vie two days ago. It cost me about $30 a bottle and I think it's only going to last a week. I drink 2 oz. twice a day.

Last time I drank this it tasted nasty. Well, this bottle doesn't taste bad at all so the one I must have tried a year ago had to have been old and rotten. Lovely. I just did on fermented juice.

I didn't see any changes in my sugar numbers in the past 48 hours, but I did see one thing different. I worked all day today and my leg isn't hurting. My back is achy and so are my feet from being on them all day, but my leg isn't hurting at all. Kinda weird.

I will give you another update as soon as I have something to report.

To be continued......

Twitter isn't my thing.

So I am in the bathroom reading my INC magazine and their is an article on Twitter. It's says "Twitter - total brilliance or utter nonsense?"

For those of you who don't know what Twitter does, it's like AIM, but shorter. It's a quick snippet of a thought that you can send to everyone you know.


For example, let's say I am watching an amazing show on National Geographic. I can send out or Twitter everyone that I am watching this show. It will go to everyone in my network. People will be on the train or bus reading my Twitter.

Here is what I don't get. Why would you Twitter. You look at your Twitter page and all your friends are sending brief messages around the clock. It's like being in Chat rooms all over again and it's non stop.

I don't have time to listen to a bunch of Twittering going on all day around the clock. I don't want it going to my phone. I can barely keep up with AIM and regular phone calls. Why add another thing to my life.

I have a home phone, cell phone, AIM account, iChat, text messaging on my phone, a Facebook page, MySpace page, Linkedin page, web page, and three blogs on Blogger that I can't even keep up with. Ooops. Sorry. I just started a fourth blog called My Company Sucks.

I can barely breath. I think I am in overload. If I didn't have my crackberry in my hand I would choke myself.

Twitter isn't for me and I can't imagine who would need it. Okay. I thought of someone. The person at your company who answers the phones all day and does nothing. Or even the person who has no life and tries to avoid work by cruising the net. That's almost next to nobody.

Evan Williams was brilliant when he made Blogger. I think he missed the mark when he made Twitter. I do however look forward to what he has up his sleeve next.

Is Monavie (Mona Vie) a scam?

I have had three people in the past year tell me about this miracle drink called MonaVie. My mechanic, my karate partner, and my good friend. I trust all of these people. My buddy said he used to wake up with body pains and headaches every morning. He no longer has pain or headaches in the morning.

So I tried it for a few days and almost threw up on the stuff. It is the nastiest tasting tasting drink ever.

It's been a few months now since I have tried it. The other day I heard about this drink again. I heard that Oprah and Matt Lauer loved it and blah blah blah.

So I do my infamous "Scam" search. If you ever want to find out if something is a scam do a google search for the product with the word scam after it. well, obviously the Monavie people know of my scam search. The first 100 entries is about people telling you it's not a scam. That alone makes me wonder. Why would all these people take the time to tell me something is not a scam.

This is what I call scam deflection. When scammers know your going to do something, they try to head you off at the path. Flooding the net with positive things about this drink with the word SCAM is going to keep me from finding the people who really know it's a scam.

So let's try this product again. I am going to do my own test. I am overweight, diabetic (recently), and have a negative attitude about things (that's why I go to church).

I am ordering a bottle from a friend of mine. I will monitor my physical being in every way possible and blog back her with results. Give me about a week or so and I will let you know how it works.

I HOPE YOU ALL ARE APPRECIATE ME DOING THIS TEST SINCE THIS STUFF IS THE NASTIEST TASTING LIQUID TO EVER PASS MY LIPS.

To be continued........

Aspartame - another silent killer

Aspartame is a sugar substitute used in many foods and beverages and it is amazing how harmful it is for your body.

Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi are the biggest culprits, but even Crystal Light uses it.
(note: Pepsi One uses Splenda)

I first was warned about Aspartame 4 years ago. A friend of mine told me that she was addicted to Diet Coke. She drank two or three a day. She told me that she stopped drinking Diet Coke for two weeks and the first thing she noticed was her joints. Every day her joints would ache and hurt. As soon as she stopped drinking her diet drinks, the pain went away.

So I decided not to drink or eat anything with Aspartame. I couldn't prove the dangers related to Aspartame, but after the scare with Sweet & Low's saccharine, I wanted to be safe.

I have finally found what I believe is a reliable support that Aspartame is dangerous. This is a test that someone did with rats and Aspartame. The results are disturbing and so are some of the pictures.

The website report is 7 web pages long and well worth the read.
Go to myaspartameexperiment.com

Thankfully there is Splenda. At least until they tell us that Splenda is bad for you. It's funny how the food world works. It's kinda like the software industry. Put out a bad product and do damage control later.

INDIANA JONES IS BACK!

It was as painful as waiting for the video game Duke Nukem Forever.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is launching on May 22nd (memorial weekend).

This is probably one of my favorite film series. I just introduced my 8 year old to the Indy movies and he is hooked. We will be there in the theater on the first showing even if it's a school day. If my wife behaves, she can go, too.


Here is the trailer:



I love the fact that they don't pretend that Harrison Ford is young. They even wrote some humorous lines to support that he is much much older.

As for Shia Labeouf (Character name in movie: Mutt Williams), he is Steven Spielberg's new project. Speilberg loved Shia in Disturbia, which then landed Shia in Transformers. And now he is in this move and will probably become the heir to the Indiana Jones dynasty.

I don't mind Shia as an actor. I just wonder what was going on when the parents named him Shia Labeouf.

Anyway, mark your calendar for May 22nd and good luck to any movie coming out on that same weekend.

Whole Foods - paper or nothing?

Whole Foods Market just announced that they will not be using plastic bags for groceries. It will be paper or nothing. This industry changing decision will launch on Earth Day, April 22nd.

I am so cool with that. I really never understood why they went to plastic in the first place. I guess when petroleum was inexpensive, so was plastic.

Funny how times have changed. It's one of the rare times in the world that progress takes us back in time. It's like going to 1978 when all you had was paper bags.

I remember my mom always made me fold the bags up after we emptied them of groceries. That was my big job. I was only 11 at the time. Not like she was going to trust me to put away the eggs and light bulbs.

Let me warn you about something else that is coming. The day is coming quickly when we will need to bring our own cloth bags. Many stores are already selling their own cloth bags for $2 - $5 each. It's their way of telling us that we will need our own bags soon.

This also is okay with me. I don't mind bringing my own bags to the store and I will even bag my own groceries. I just want them to pass the savings on to me. Because if not, I will go somewhere else. Fresh & Easy here in Southern California is one place that asks you to bag your own groceries and then passes the savings on to you.

One last predicition. I also am going to predict that Walmart grocery is finaly going to bust into Southern California. Right now we have Walmart stores, but they won't allow these locations to sell full grocery. It totally sucks. You gotta love unions. Working nice and hard to keep the money flowing to their memebers and not caring about the public. Of course, this is another post.

You can only keep the biggest company in the world down for so long.

Get ready for change.

Gesture Based interactive screens

One day after I blogged about new technology, it already has been trumped and is starting to show it's wrinkles.

Yesterday's blog, I told you about a cool SMART board touch screen where teachers can teach and write on digitally, erase and even save their work directly to the computer.

I am now telling you to wait and save your money. What if I told you there was a screen that you didn't have to touch. All you have to do is wave your hand in front of it and move items on the screen like magic.

Take a look:

Classrooms are getting a little SMARTer

Back in the day when I went to school, it would take the teacher about half an hour to write 30 math problems on the chalkboard. it would take her another 10 minutes to draw the outline of the United States. Then she would erase the board and for the next week you could still see the faded outline of the United States.

Chalkboards sucked. I should know. I had to always clean erasers when i got in trouble. You would get chalk dust all over you and you'd start coughing and choking. What a great classroom feature that was.

My 17 year old son had it a little better than me. The white boards were the new thing. You still couldn't clean them completely, but they were easier, cleaner and visually more attractive than chalkboards. At least, until little Johnny took his permanent marker and wrote his thoughts for the day.

Well, now my 7 year old is coming home from school talking about the next new thing called SMART boards.

The SMART board is fully interactive. Imagine a giant touch screen with the capabilities of a computer. Imaging loading your Social Studies software into the SMART board. The teacher has a map of the US immediately pop up on the SMART board. As the she touches a state, it lights up. She can drag that state off the map and set it to the corner of the SMART board so she can continue discussing that history of that particular state. Pretty cool, huh?

The teacher can use her finger on the screen to point and click.....ERRR.....touch, and she can even write in digital ink with the special SMART board pens.









I have just learned about this myself and still don't know much about it.
Feel free to look at the video below for a better explanation. This is very cool.