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!!!!