10 Thoughts about USC's Holiday Bowl performance.

1. USC's performance at the Holiday Bowl was an encapsulation of their season, fit to a T, including the ending. It is no mere coincidence that in 13 games, USC has been involved in 5 games decided in the last few seconds (three hail mary throws and two field goal attempts).
2. Even some of the players had that feeling of, "here we go again" going through their minds, apparently. The way I see it, it's not the players, but the coach who came up with the defensive scheme. This defense was arguably more talented than last year's squad, but last year's squad was a throwback to Pete Carroll's era, when it held opponents to 335.2 yards per game (more on this stat in#8).
3. USC allowed Nebraska to break the Holiday Bowl record for most plays in a game by a team, with 94. This isn't on the players so much as it's on the terrible defensive game plan. Prevent defense is not a means to survive limited player numbers, as it keeps them on the field longer, giving up chunks of yards. Nothing else can explain how a mediocre Nebraska quarterback, who averaged 193 yards passing per game, exploded for 381 yards in the air, or that a guy who averaged just a completion rate of 51.7% during the regular season, boosted his numbers against USC with a 62.7% completion rate.
4. On the other hand, the USC defense did hold the highly esteemed Ameer Abdullah to 88 yards rushing, which is below his 127 ypg rushing average. Meanwhile on offense, USC's Buck Allen had 152 yards rushing, which was above his season average of 111 ypg.
5. At the end of the first quarter, USC had been assessed more penalty yards (67) than they had gained on offense (65). The rest of the game, they gave up 30 yards in penalties. Emotionally, they weren't prepared.
6. Speaking of penalties, those 12 penalties by USC, tied the Holiday Bowl record. Coincidentally, the last time a team had 12 penalties in the Holiday Bowl was in 2010, by Nebraska.
7. No disrespect for Nebraska, but everyone predicted a USC win, wider than just a field goal. Maybe Nebraska played up to the competition, but then again, I keep seeing those three dropped interceptions in my head. True freshman John Plattenburg could have had a record night, but instead all he gets is a note about how he could have had a record night.
8. So you say that you don't believe me, that Wilcox's defense is bad? With the Holiday Bowl game in the books, I just went through 40 years of USC stats (I got tired and stopped when I hit 1975): No previous Trojan defense in the last 40 years have allowed more yards than this year's squad (407.9 ypg). The next worst defense, was Monte Kiffin's first year as DC - 2010 - when USC allowed an average of 400.1 ypg. Everyone should be seeing red (get it?) on this stat. In my humble opinion, Wilcox had as much talent on this squad as in any season in the past 40 years.
9. This 9-win season is a big deal for Sark -- his first, ever, as head coach -- but falls short of last season's 10 wins. So, the question we all want to ask is, is USC's talent only good enough to get one more win over Sark's lone 8-win season (five total seasons) at UW? I'm quite sure that USC has vastly more talent, even if limited in scholarship players, in a gap that is embarrassing. So, despite Sark's statement that next year's team will be incredibly talented, the thing we're all wondering is, how much more of an already wide talent gap, does Sark need, to win the PAC-12 and play for the national title? You can see the theme of this season, can't you? The tandem of Sark-Wilcox has severely underperformed.
10. In the end, hey, USC won! That the Trojans got their 9th victory this season and ended it by beating Notre Dame, then Nebraska, has to count a whole lot, right? Also, this sets up the PAC-12 at 3-0 in bowl games. (End on a positive note, I say.)

10 Thoughts for December 27, 2014

1. Holidays: A nod to Canadians (and Brits) and Boxing Day. I don't know where the patience comes from not opening presents at 6:30 am Christmas morning, but somehow parents have found a way.
2. Tech: It looks like Acer's 13" touchscreen Chromebooks are just about ready to land in the US. CDW's US store has it listed with availability in 9-11 days (though you cannot add it to your cart) while the same model -- CB5-311P-T9AB -- showed up for the US, listed in ePeat's certification. (4GB RAM / 16GB SSD / 13.3" 1366 x 768 touchscreen / WiFi AC / Tegra K1)
3. Football: There are three things I don't like about Steve Sarkesian. The first is his penchant to call plays that are horizontal and not vertical, which, more often than not result in no gain (or a loss). The second (and most aggravating) was his decision to bring Justin Wilcox with him, while discarding Clancy Pendergast. There is so much talent on defense, but rather than maintain the high-spirited and top-5 nationally-ranked defense of Pendergast, we've been tortured by a below average defense that doesn't know how to blitz. I don't buy the bullshit that you need your own personnel; any other defensive coordinator with USC's talent could have outperformed Wilcox. The third thing I hate about Sark, is his desire to go conservative in the 4th quarter -- or as I call it, playing to lose. The tandem of playing to lose on defense and offense had cost USC two games for sure, this year, and nearly resulted in two more losses.
4. Spying: On Christmas Eve, the NSA released a redacted report of all the violations of its own rules, committed by employees. The majority of the media called it a report on "accidental" spying. I just don't get the media's penchant for accepting and using loose language. There is no accident in breaking a law that you're supposed to know; there is no accident when you intentionally spy on your spouse or love interest.
5. Internet: Kim Dotcom took credit for ending the DDoS attacks on PSN and XBox networks -- he offered a bounty of vouchers for his own Mega storage service. So if you're a hacker or otherwise terrorist, you now know who to go to, when you want something.
6. Geopolitics: Even though talks between Russian-backed separatists and Ukraine broke down, they still managed to swap prisoners on Christmas Day. In other words, there remains hope for peace (unless Russia keeps sending the separatists arms and allows its soldiers to cross the border). 
7. Geopolitics: The irony should not be lost on Russian advocates, that Russia gained Crimea, but lost the rest of the border countries. A majority of Fins and Swedes want their county to join NATO, while Ukraine voted to end its neutrality, in what would be a prelude to an official application to join NATO.
8. Geopolitics: According to the neutral Levada Center, Russian sentiment of well-being and economic prospects have dramatically dropped, while at the same time, support for Putin remains very high. We'll see what happens when their recession is in full stride and Russia can no longer afford to cap prices on goods. 
9. Internet: I was searching for walk-in tubs in SketchUp's 3d Warehouse, and it returned dozens of crappy McMansions. I shake my head, that people look at shit designs from a two-bit designer-wannabe, and think it is beautiful. But more than that, I'm pissed off that some shithead would add a bunch of irrelevant tags to their shitty models -- these people should be banned for life from 3D Warehouse and/or executed.
10. Climate: Think about it: If you get a 30-year mortgage on a beachfront condo, before you've paid it off, your condo will be under water, in the literal sense -- who's going to pay for this shortsightedness, the government? In several beach towns, there already is regular flooding at high tide. It's irresponsible for local jurisdictions to keep current zoning. Developers don't care, because the costs for remediation will not be their responsibility, decades after construction.

10 Thoughts for Christmas, 2014

1. T'was the night before Christmas, and I never really did do much shopping. The nieces and nephews are all grown up. Still, I've failed to complete some tasks -- I forgot to do my usual thing and send flowers to my mother. Well, I forgot to do it early, but I still managed to get them out, same-day.
2. Funny story. Sitting that one night at Waikiki Beach with my plate lunch from Rainbows, a couple of mice were stirring, running around, hoping to pounce on my food. I let down my foot and let it be known: they weren't getting any.
3. I was thinking about going to the midnight Mass, but then I decided that it was nicer to stay inside and watch the broadcast of the Mass in Rome, instead. It gets so crowded and if it's raining, it's a miserable time to find parking in the dark, walk to the church, and find a space if one is lucky. Did I mention the rain?
4. I don't really have a bucket list, but if there was one thing I'd like to do, it's to go to Christmas or Easter Mass in Rome. The enormity of St. Peter's, and the sound of chanting echoing throughout the halls would be amazing, I think.
5. True story: My brother, a lawyer, for the first time in years, actually sent me something. I've been sending them at least a card for eons. He sent it without sufficient postage, requiring me to pay the difference -- $1.43. Holiday cheers, folks!
6. Seahawk fans with visions of Super Bowl wins in their heads. And with good reason: Nate Silver's ELO ratings show the 'hawks at the top (once again) of the NFL. Also: we can expect a crushing win on Sunday, thanks to the snub of Pro Bowl picks -- Russell Wilson's best season and he was left out.
7. The lights went out in the Cleveland / Miami game during halftime. The Griswolds turned on their decoration lights, apparently.
8. I've skipped decorations for the last several years; this year -- or more accurately, today -- I got them all up and lit. No big tree -- I found a cute little thing that I can grow and use for years to come.
9. Forget the TV channel with Christmas music with the video of a fireplace. I'm watching the Chromecast plugin for Google Play Music, Fireplace Visualizer, while I stream one of my two Christmas playlists.
10. Peace on Earth and Goodwill to all. Mele Kalikimaka.

Merry Christmas.

10 Thoughts for December 23, 2014.

1. Football: I didn't need another reason to cheer for Oregon, but now that Jameis Winston has gotten away with rape, with the help of his three roommates, here's to hoping that good guys finish first, and that the Ducks embarrass Winston and FSU on national TV.
2. Football: Looking over the NFL standings, 2 out of 3 teams currently pegged for the playoffs, hold a 11-4 record or better. There's so much parity on the face of it, it's rather scary. But then if you take a look at the team stats, something remarkable can be discerned. Last year Denver (#1 offense) had a crazy, high-powered offense averaging 457 yard per game, while Seattle (#1 defense) allowed just 277 ypg -- we know how that ended up in the Super Bowl. This year, the top offensive team, New Orleans, won't make the playoffs, but they're averaging 416 ypg, while Seattle is once again the top defense, and, unbelievably, averaging 269 ypg -- even better than last year. Yep, I'm feeling pretty good on the Seahawks' chances.
3. Football: Because there is no such thing as too many great plays, if you missed that Seattle-Arizona game, you must catch up to some incredible plays that leave you laughing and/or jaw-dropped. First up, Russell Wilson's amazing run for a touchdown by stiff arm and shake-n-bake. Then, an amazing Beast Mode 79-yard run that shook the foundations of the Arizona stadium. Here's a different view of that same run -- listen and feel that crowd in Arizona go nuts! In Arizona, are you kidding!?!
4. Football: Okay, just one last point here about Seattle. Half of that Seahawks staff has ties with USC. Chad Morton, Jamie Yanchar, Brian Schneider, Chris Carlisle, Kris Richard, Rocky Seto, Ken Norton Jr., Carl Smith, Dave Canales, Nate Carroll and Pat Ruel. I think that should say a lot about just how good USC could have been, despite the sanctions, if Carroll had stuck around. 
5. Politics: Elizabeth Warren will be the next POTUS, or at least the Democratic nominee, I believe. She is not afraid to get angry nor is she afraid of explaining things in plain language. Neither Hillary Clinton nor Elizabeth Warren have officially entered the ring, but they are polling 1 and 3 respectively among Democrats.
6. Geopolitics: NK's internet outage was blamed on data overload, by NK officials, and I think it's probably true. So here's the joke: In attempting to post more Sony data to Pastebin, NK hackers overloaded their own, meager network by accident. ;) j/k
7. Geopolitics: You shouldn't believe the BS that many media hacks are passing off as personal knowledge about what both the US and NK can and can't do, wouldn't and would do, in cyber warfare. BS: NK doesn't have the capability to launch a cyber attack; the proof of NK's chops is in a devastating attack on SK banks and their ATMs a few years ago. BS: US was involved in a DDoS attack on NK; the same people who created Stuxnet would not be so stupid as to launch a run of the mill DDoS attack on the already extremely limited internet infrastructure of NK. If you read or hear anyone actually saying that NK can't launch a devastating cyber attack, or that the US was involved with a simple DDoS attack, it's your signal that the person doesn't know what they're talking about in the least, and you should ignore them. Maybe one of these days I'll compile a list of stupid media hack arguments, and break them down.
8. Obits: Far from the world we know, up where the clear winds blow. RIP, Joe Cocker.
9. Tech: You often come across adds touting the comparable price of Windows laptops with larger screens, to Chromebooks. It's a ruse. Those laptop screens are using the same or worse pixel counts, and in turn, have much lower pixel densities than Chromebooks. And, those Windows laptops invariably use traditional 500GB spinning hard drives, compared to the SSDs (or rather, a special type of flash memory) used in all Chromebooks. Even if a Windows laptop had an SSD, the boot up times are vastly different, but Windows with 500GB standard hard drives are about 10x slower to boot up. If you were to try to match up spec for spec, the Windows machines will have to come out higher in price unless Microsoft is giving away free software. Take into account the battery life, and it's no comparison.
10. Music: 160+ tracks of ballads -- that's my latest Google Music playlist build. I'd share it with you, but unfortunately, Google Music only allows me to share single tracks, not entire playlists. It spans several decades, but most heavily focused on the 80s and 90s. From Sade's "No Ordinary Love", to EWF's "After the Love Has Gone", to Savage Garden's "Truly, Madly, Deeply" and The Stylistics' "You Are Everything", those 163 tracks add up to nearly 12 hours of ballads. I wanted to add more, but I haven't yet finished ripping all of my CDs. My official count of tracks uploaded into Google Music is 11,672; Google has a hard upload ceiling limit of 20,000.

Why Google Wallet is better than Apple Pay.

Having discovered NFC, Apple fans now believe that Apple Pay is da bomb. Well, NFC would certainly be awesome, but there are some things NFC can't buy, because it's not everywhere you want to be (puns intended).

To bridge that (extremely wide) gap in NFC availability, you need another payment option. Google Wallet filled that gap with a debit card that is tied to your Google Wallet.

The Google Wallet debit card

Obviously, you could just carry around a credit card with your phone. However, as you've seen in the news just about every other week, there are widespread vulnerabilities in merchant transaction systems, and no matter how guarded you are with your credit / debit cards, you'll never know when someone has stolen your card and used it.

That's where Google's debit card is a huge improvement over current protocols, and makes Google Wallet a superior platform compared to Apple Pay. You see, the second any transaction goes through with your Wallet debit card, it rings up on your Wallet app on your smart phone -- you will never have another unauthorized transaction escape your view, ever.

Instant notification of purchases on your Wallet app

And, your debit card balance is limited to what you put into it. No longer will thieves have the ability to take every cent out of your checking account (that is linked to your debit card), resulting in your having to wait weeks for your bank to clear your account and return that stolen money.

During my trip in Hawai'i, I limited my pocket to my Google Wallet card, my smart phone, some cash, and my ID. Apple Pay is a one-trick pony. Google Wallet has many tricks under its belt that add up to a stronger ecosystem.

---

Update:
The technology behind Wallet and Apple Pay -- NFC -- is also behind MasterCard's PayPass. According to the Wallet FAQ, "If you’re using the Google Wallet app on an Android device, you can tap your phone to pay anywhere MasterCard® PayPass is accepted."

This means Subway, McDonalds, Peets, Chevron, Nike, Macy's, Walgreens, New Seasons, Whole Foods, Uwajimaya, and even Home Depot, can be used with your Android phone and Wallet, or your iPhone 6.

Of course as I wrote previously, there are benefits to using Wallet over Apple Pay. Live your life accordingly.

10 Thoughts for December 21, 2014

1. That pineapple express that hit Oregon this weekend, fizzled out. It turned out to be the same system that rained on my visit to Hawai'i, which I guess means that I brought the rains back with me.
2. I mentioned previously that Hawai'i has a lot more beautiful women there, I should also add, that there are also fewer morbidly obese women there, than here in Oregon. Oddly, I think the percentage of morbidly obese men in Hawai'i and Oregon are about the same -- not sure why that is so. 
3. I really don't understand why the San Francisco 49ers want to kick Jim Harbaugh to the curb, even as Harbaugh has gained multiple inquiries while still on the job. I hate the guy, but I totally respect his abilities as a coach. His record speaks for itself, even if this season hasn't gone as planned.
4. Wow, if you haven't seen the final episode of the Colbert Report, it's a must-see. The best-ever ending for a show. Ever. It's a reminder that Stephen Colbert will do a solid to the Late Show. Those who've seen the iconic classic movie, "Dr. Strangelove" will find that song familiar -- Vera Lynn's, "We'll meet again".
5. If you think that Saudi Arabia's decision, through OPEC, to keep the spigot wide open, is meant to lower US output, think again. Producers in the US and North America may have taken advantage of higher oil prices to invest (both R&D and in-field) into newer, more expensive technologies, but those costs are now sunk. Lower oil prices may shut down some extraction, but it will also shift extraction to lower-cost projects while the money sits on the sidelines on the more expensive projects. With Russia, the story is different, as its national budget is based on the oil price. They've previously pegged their 2015 budget to $95 / barrel oil. As we reach $50 oil, that's a massive cut in Russia's budget. Assuming Russia wants to offset that cut by selling off its foreign currency reserves, that only ends up exacerbating the fall of the Ruble. So I again tell you, it is the Obama Administration who has used its ties with SA to put the clamp down on Russia and others, and not the other way around. Who's the second-largest producer, whose budget relies on high prices? Not the US.
6. North Korea was angry at the US for blaming North Korea for the Sony hacking that North Korean media called a "righteous act". They demanded that they be included in the investigation. That's like Dick Cheney asking to be included on the team that vetted the Senate Torture Report.
7. Oh the fools who openly expose their naivete, when they state that NK doesn't have the capability to perform the hack on Sony. That they think that all of NK lives in the 19th century, is a testament of their idiocy. I'm not saying that NK absolutely performed this hack, but to suggest that they're incapable of such a hack is absolutely dumb.
8. Stare at this list. Ask yourself, how can Apple have an average salary of $45K while all other tech companies are much higher? Either the numbers are cooked, or Apple employees are *blissfully* underpaid.
9. I don't understand the anger against normalization of relations with Cuba. I remember back when the US was officially against the Sandinista in Nicaragua, but today, we have bilateral trade and good relations with Nicaragua, despite the continued power of the Sandinista. We have good relations with China, and they're the leading Communist nation in the world. Surely we can let Cuba be Cuba.
10. A couple of weeks ago I thought that the Seahawks looked like they were surging at the right time. And then tonight they blew out the Cardinals by manhandling them on both sides of the ball. They're one game away from locking up home field advantage throughout the playoffs, and that's a huge boost given the 12th man. BTW, were Seattle to repeat there are interesting coincidences shared with Jimmy Johnson and Pete Carroll, all of which everyone will be talking about, come February 1.

If you're going to check luggage in...

...you might as well max it out on the scale, don't you think? I was slightly over 50# when I initially finished packing my suitcase, so I removed a 2# bag of Hawaiian rock salt and placed it into my carry-on luggage. A wise decision, it turns out, as seen in the photo below.

But the story doesn't end there.

You see, that bag of salt looked an awful lot like a bag of plastic explosives or fluids on the x-ray machine. So as I was going through security check, it got flagged and I had to wait there for about 10 minutes.

Nothing serious or anything. I was talking story with the TSA guys about the cost difference of Hawaiian and Asian foodstuffs between Hawaii and Oregon. Even though there are multiple Asian food stores here, the prices of these foods are much cheaper in Hawaii.

This is the opposite for other, generic foodstuffs. A dozen large eggs are easily $5. Bread is at least $3, even the cheap ones. Meat is killer, as is fresh fruit that doesn't come from the islands.

I recouped the $25 check-in baggage fee, easily. Half of that was absorbed by the rock salt and the Costco-sized bag of poi.

Mmm...food from Hawaii.

Rubles and Bitcoins.

On August 18, Bitcoins (on bitstampUSD network) hit an intraday high of 510 Bitcoins to USD, and an intraday low of 442 -- a 13.3% difference in a single day. On October 6, the difference between intraday high and low was 19%. From November 13 to today, Bitcoins have declined 30.8%.

In that same period (November 13 to today), the Ruble has declined by 26.1%. In a particularly volatile day last week, the Ruble's intraday high and low spread was 26.2%.

One payment system is asserted as fiat money (without inherent value) while the other is said to hold intrinsic value. Funny then, that both are equally volatile -- and this matters a great deal, whether fiat or not.

Regardless of paper or gold, currency must be relatively stable or else it is not so useful as a payment system. Which is why we're now seeing foreign companies (Apple, GM, Audi, and others) stopping sales in Rubles.

Therein lies a critical problem for Bitcoin: It is not a stable currency; it is not a store of value.

Its backers have said that, over the long haul, Bitcoin will become stable as it gains wide acceptance, and therefore a store of value. Except, Bitcoin is faced with a chicken-egg paradox: Does stability come as a result of wide acceptance or does acceptance come as a result of stability?

It'll never gain stability. As a completely free-market system, its value is fully subjected to perfect supply-demand elasticity. Panics and bubbles have no limits whatsoever. The mechanisms for stability, such as monetary policy, are absent, and in fact, loathed by free-market purists.

Of course, these Bitcoin fans will point out, then, that the Ruble has shown that stability mechanisms have failed Russia. Except, Russia's problems are multiple, stemming from crony capitalism and a flight from the Ruble by the same people who most benefited from Putin's cronyism.

Furthermore, Bitcoin fans have not shown why Bitcoins are better than sovereign paper currency. All they've shown is that Bitcoins are no worse than the worst currency stuck in a currency crisis -- and that should say something about Bitcoins.

10 Thoughts for December 18, 2014

1. When I booked my flight, it turned out that with just two days advanced booking, I could have grabbed a flight to Hawai'i at just $220, with the return flight at $200. (For comparison's sake, most of the time the cheapest price each way would be $198, and were you to try to early book a flight for March of next year, the price would be higher than what I paid.) I was so sure that I'd have to pay well over $300 each way.
2. Words that, when broken down, can be understood: "hemodynamic compromise" = Hemo (blood) dynamic (movement) compromise (blocked). Or how an industry preserves its value through nomenclature. Why did this pop up on my radar screen? Well, because I added the New England Journal of Medicine to my RSS feeds a month ago, and the words popped up in a post this week. Geek.
3. I have an admission to make: I totally ignored Twitter while I was away in Hawai'i. I didn't have the time to keep up with what was going on, but moreso, I just don't use it to keep in touch with folks who matter most.
4. I saw a lot of single people taking selfies while I was in Hawai'i. The sight was amusing. Here I am, taking photos of the things I enjoy -- Rainbow's, Leonard's, Diamond Head, the beach -- and there I see people taking pictures of themselves with the things they enjoy, obscured in the background of their photos.
5. All because I was wearing my Seahawks shirt, I had the pleasure of teasing the 49er fan at Leonard's Bakery, while also exchanging shakas with a fellow Seahawks fan at Hoku Bakery, the day before the Seattle beat down.
6. I forgot just how naturally beautiful women in Hawai'i were, and I'm not talking the tourists walking around in bikinis. I think I stared too much at my dad's head nurse and doctors. Geez, did my eyes just pop out? Sorry about that, Nurse Alice and Dr. Lee.
7. True story: Even in the middle of Winter it was still too hot to sleep well at night in Hawai'i.
8. In two terms, President Obama has certainly shaped the future of America for years to come, but the last two years have been a barnstorm of change, with gay marriage, marijuana, immigration, Net Neutrality, Iran, Cuba and Russia all coming up on the radar. He's so far gotten everything right (in my textbook), even if partisans vociferously oppose his measures so far -- were a Republican in office to do exactly what he's done, Republicans would be surely voicing broad support for his / her actions on these issues.
9. I haven't yet read -- nor might I ever read the entirety of -- the torture report, but c'mon now, if you actually believed that the US did not engage in torture, or that the tactics resulted in actionable intelligence, then you're just not capable of dealing with cognitive dissonance. Or perhaps your name is Dick Cheney. I didn't need to know about Abu Ghraib to know that the CIA were engaged in fishy and probably illegal actions. The problem here, is that the partisan Republicans have their heads stuck up in their arses to see the light of day.
10. One last thing: The Hawaiian Air planes all had USB charging plugs (Airbus A330), which is quite awesome. I never had to worry about losing juice -- probably a bigger issue on very long haul flights.

Something I learned about myself, while on vacation.

First off, it really wasn't much of a vacation; nonetheless, I was mostly separated from the internet, not by a lack of access, but a lack of time.

The obvious point here, is that one begins to prioritize when faced with limitations, and these were my choices:

• Instead of blogging via Blogger, I stuck to the faster, easier and plain Google+ platform. I did not make a single blog post, but I posted several photos on Google+. I just didn't have the time to do full posts and edit photos / edit HTML.
• I skipped a lot of reading of design-related articles, but I nonetheless read most tech stories, though I completely skipped out on commenting on any of the stories that piqued my interest.
• I did not watch a single Hulu video, which means that my queue is now a dozen videos long.
• Along a similar vein, I mostly skipped watching any YouTube video from my subscriptions.
• I totally ignored my Twitter feed and didn't touch Pinterest.
• I still played my games, but barely. By the time I finally got down to playing a game or two, it was late at night and I'd end up falling asleep shortly after a few games.
• I completely passed on reading emails from retailers and skipped out on daily deals.
• I ignored my Yahoo email 100%.
• I stopped obsessing.

Aside from Hulu / online videos and using Blogger, I'm probably going to cut back on all other items to focus on design.

During the flight to and from Hawai'i, I found myself focused on reading and working on design ideas, which came pouring out like crazy. Upon observing other family members, it became clear that most of us had ADHD.

So there it is.

If only I could tame my limited attention span, I could probably break through what I've long suspected was a self-imposed ceiling.  I might go see the doctor to grab a prescription to test out what happens if I limit my ADHD, if I can't keep to my plan to limit my online activities.

About Ferguson.

I wanted to write about what happened in Ferguson, and I had actually reached 400+ words on the subject, before erasing it all. You see, all of my experiences so far, have shown that Ferguson is no longer about an incident, but about themes.

So here's the deal.  I've taken multiple implicit association tests -- tests that indicate potential unconscious biases -- and not only do I moderately favor (like) African-Americans over White-Americans, but I have neutral bias between Asian-Americans and European-Americans.

Yet, if I open my mouth (or take to writing) to explain my opinion, based on the fairly extensive research and reading I've done on Ferguson, people shut their minds and revert to their bias. It is absolutely frustrating.

I can't tell you about how there is truth to all of the themes of racism in America, but that they don't apply to Ferguson, because your mind is already made up that racism applies to what happened in Ferguson.

Likewise, I can't tell you that racism remains a systemic problem in America, most pointedly demonstrated by what happened to Trayvon Martin down in Florida in 2012, because the rest of you are also biased and have long made up your minds that we live in a post-racial world.

I can't explain that, in fact, police brutality widely exists because there are idiot police officers out there who fail to follow their training and deescalate confrontations.

I can't do any of these things, because people have turned their ears and eyes away, stricken by their biases.

I am juror 8, and the world is full of angry people.

10 Thoughts for December 2, 2014

1. Football: Bitcoin Bowl? There are 39 bowl games in total, including the two playoff games and the championship game. Bowl season is officially out of control when you have a bowl game named after an intangible currency.
2. Football: Great win for USC over rival Notre Dame, and a great way to end the season on a very high note, with Cody Kessler taking the weekly honor of PAC-12 offensive player of the week. If we -- fans -- are upset at Sark, it is because we saw the potential of this year's team, and if not for a couple of plays, USC would be a two-loss team playing Oregon in the PAC-12 championship and possibly in the CFB playoffs and Kessler would be competing with Marcus Mariota for the Heisman.  That's all.
3. Football: Oregon Ducks fans may be about to hit the sweet spot and win a national championship while seeing its starting quarterback win the school's first Heisman. With Heisman in tow, the Beavers no longer have anything to brag over the Ducks -- a very big deal in these parts of the country. Enjoy it, soak it up, Duck Fans!
4. Football: Michigan Wolverines football head coach Brady Hoke was fired. I said it before and say it again, that it was never about his handling of a player showing concussion symptoms on the field. Rich Rod, the former UM head coach, had his own moment of truth when he allowed his quarterback to play, even as he threw up on the field in a game against USC during a commercial break, following a blow to his head. Rich Rod made UA competitive while Brady Hoke's teams have gotten worse. This was always about winning and never about the health of athletes.
5. Football: Nearly 3 weeks ago I said that the top 4 in the first college football would be Oregon, TCU, Alabama and Ohio State. FSU has so far escaped losses to mediocre teams and has dropped to #4, while TCU has leapfrogged them to #3 and Ohio State is at #5 knocking at the door.  Unfortunately, with OSU losing its (second) starting quarterback to injury last weekend, it does not look good for them against Wisconsin for the B1G championship. As a result, the CFP may be stuck in a difficult position of allowing two Big-12 teams into the playoffs or a 2-loss team.
6. Geopolitics: Russian Stagflation? Russia's Central Bank has raised its key rate to 9.5%, just as its core inflation rate is expected to hit 8.59% for November. The value of its GDP has shrunk significantly as its currency undergoes rapid devaluation (~69% decline) making its boot from the G7 a moot point, while it is expected to hit an official recession in 2015, with a -0.8% decline -- might it get booted from the G20, as well? I think we're starting to see the effects of forced deglobalization.
7. Race: I had a true epiphany yesterday, that racism is part of a series of biases that make us a less-efficient capitalist market. When you decline to hire someone because of their skin color, religion or creed, you may have turned down a future leader of the company or your future top employee. When that bias is systemic, then society is less prosperous and less efficient than what it could otherwise be. Similarly, inequality is driven by the insidious bias that the richer you are, the smarter you are, and therefore again, creates inefficiency.
8. Race: I had an entire piece, written in draft, on the results of the Ferguson / Darren Wilson / Michael Brown case. But then I realized that when I popped my head up and looked all around me, no one gave a damn about research and truth. Ferguson is about themes, and practically no one in the media or politics is willing to tackle the discomforting contrast between themes and reality. In other words, not only are we not in a post-race world, but most people are trapped or otherwise caught up in these overarching themes. These are dangerous times to be an independent thinker; these are dangerous times to attempt to disentangle racial themes from Ferguson. It bothers me to no end, that the nation has taken up Michael Brown as a worthy martyr, even while Trayvon Martin has become nothing but a footnote in racism.
9. Race: Well, since I'm on the topic of race, this is an interesting test to see if you have preferences towards Black or White Americans. The instructions seem to me to be a bit oddly written, though, and I had to sit there for a minute to verify that I understood what they were saying. Interestingly, I belong to the group with the lowest percentage -- I have a "Moderate automatic preference for Black people". I can definitely empathize with Black Americans, far more than White Americans, though I find it difficult to believe that I lean towards Black Americans. [add:] I found the European / Asian American IAT bias test (among many others) here. In this case, I have "little or no association between Asian American and European American with American and Foreign." In other words, I have no bias between Asian and European Americans.
10. Economics: You might have heard that the EU is looking to break up Google. Meanwhile it is also looking to boost its domestic companies' competitiveness by investing in a private-public venture capital fund. In a nutshell, this perfectly illustrates Europe's problems as an old-world system: On the one hand they cannot compete with foreign countries, therefore have taken to anti-competitive actions. While SpaceX uses private money and minor federal (competitive) grants to create its own rockets, Europe has announced billions in public investments to bolster Arianespace to compete with low-cost space transportation from SpaceX.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I'm thankful for a dog that amuses me, who never seems to grow old, and football on Thanksgiving.

Was shopping Eddie Bauer website and...

... I came across this.  I wonder why the delay?

10 Reasons why USC got pwned by the Bruins.

1. The defense's 3-man front could not reach the quarterback. No surprise here, when you've got 5 on 3. When they switched to a traditional 4-man front (with the rush linebacker up on the line), they performed better.
2. The defense blitzed so little during the season that they looked like they didn't know how to blitz.  Rushing 5 or 6 players, only to have them stood up at the line of scrimmage, left the secondary exposed.
3. The o-line had trouble handling twists and stunts of the basic 4-man rush, so when UCLA blitzed with 5+, the outcome was predictable.
4. Even when there was space in front, the quarterback did not tuck the ball and run.  In previous games he's taken advantage of the defense, but against UCLA he didn't.
5. They looked like they didn't do any game planning. 90% of the time, it was as though they'd never seen the Bruins play.
6. A team with an offense that had previously used the wide receiver bubble screen with few positive results in live games, could not figure out how to defend the wide receiver bubble screen. I guess this just points to the defense's consistent inability to defend the bubble screen, whether against another team's offense or their own in practice.
7. The coaching staff got out-coached at halftime and the offense came out of the locker room without a sense of urgency while the defense could not get a stop.  It's telling that in their four losses, USC had scored a total of just 3 points in the third quarter -- see the charts at the bottom.
8. The players are extremely talented, but sometimes the most-talented players made mistakes at the worst time.  
9. Sark screwed up the offensive play calls at critical moments. Just once, I'd like to see a rollout with multiple options, instead of tricking no one with a run up the gut at the goal line, or likewise on 4th down. And more to the point, when your o-line is getting beat, why would you expect them to miraculously get a push to convert two yards?
10. Yes, the sanctions hurt. At almost every position except the o-line, the third-string players are all walk-ons or former walk-ons. When a player gets injured or is otherwise unavailable, the game changes significantly as the talent level drops off. Had those juniors who'd left for the NFL draft (but failed to get drafted) stayed, the team would have been three-deep at multiple critical positions.

The lack of consistency:

In wins
	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
Points scored, ave	15	8	10	4
Points allowed, ave	-2	-6	-5	-6
In losses
	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
Points scored, ave	8	8	1	10
Points allowed, ave	-5	-12	-8	-9
In all games
	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
Points scored, ave	12	8	7	7
Points allowed, ave	-3	-8	-6	-7

Ever seen what a Flash cookie looks like?

I use a Flash blocker extension in Chrome, called FlashControl.  Doing so allows me to block a lot of crap.  It also allows me to see when a site is using Flash to track me.

Those blocks are the pieces of Flash that I did not grant rights to -- essentially Flash cookies.

It's not quite the same as a standard cookie, but it nonetheless operates in the same way. To manage your Flash data, you have to use Adobe's manager, here.

Not to make you paranoid, but just about everyone is tracking you.

10 Thoughts for November 18, 2014

1. Technology: The first consumer hardware that Nokia produced after jettisoning its mobile phone division and its former CEO Stephen Elop, to Microsoft? An Android tablet.  That says a lot about what Nokia's engineers and management really thought about Windows Phone and Stephen Elop, don't you think?
2. Security: I am soooo excited that my credit union has put 2FA into place!  We're talking ahead of the curve, where most banking institutions have not yet moved to 2FA.
3. Internet: You know, it's a damned good thing that I don't use my Yahoo email account for important stuff.  It's been suffering a lot of short interruptions these past few days.
4. Easter Egg: This is an older one. Using Google's voice search in Android, say, "Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right."  Only works if you do a voice search.
5. Easter Egg: This one is a day old. Using Google search, say or type in, "roll a die". Also, "flip a coin."
6. Tests: Take this test on reading facial expressions.  I scored 17 out of 20. Maybe it's because I'm INFP?  Actually, I don't believe in the limiting Myers-Briggs / Carl Jung systems, so, whatever.  It's all just for amusement.
7. Geopolitics: Putin must be concerned that his popularity is about to tank, because he's just offered the oddest quote about the US, that only appeals to Russian nationalism: "They do not want to humiliate us, they want to subdue us, solve their problems at our expense."  I had to laugh, because the US has done practically nothing to subdue Russia -- ask any US conservative.  The US has not reinstated missile defense systems, nor pivoted back to the cold war.  Further, Russia is in economic trouble, not the US.  The US is doing quite well, thank you very much, compared to almost all other parts of the world.  Perhaps Putin's wall is crumbling?
8. Politics: Keystone XL vote to overcome the 60-vote filibuster failed in the Senate, but then, I really didn't think Mary Landrieu's runoff chances would have improved, anyway.  Meanwhile, Senate Republicans blocked a bill to limit NSA spying, saying that they didn't want to handcuff the NSA in its anti-terrorism duties.
9. Climate: This rendering by NASA, of simulations of atmospheric CO2, is rather cool.  In the comment section, you'll find the usual climate denier talking points, which, having done the research already, I can sit back and laugh at them.  Suffice to say, these people really don't know what they're talking about; not that I'm an expert, but I do spend much more time researching the various arguments on all sides, to know their weaknesses.
10. Football: I want to reiterate what I wrote last Wednesday about the college football playoffs.  The following teams will make the playoffs: Oregon, TCU, Alabama, Ohio State.  Like I said would happen, MSU was knocked off their perch on top, and while they remain in the top-4 for now, they still have to play at Ole Miss, and Ole Miss has been on the upward swing for a few years now, whereas MSU is more like a golden season with lots of seniors.  I'm still confident that FSU will lose a game, and that the committee will chose TCU over FSU by way of strength of schedule.  Regardless of who makes it into the playoffs, it seems that we could end up with as many as 7 1-loss teams with only 4 playoff spots available -- that would make for an interesting challenge for the committee.

Ninja Strikers...ruh roh!

I said that with my single 6-star ninja in hand, I was coming after those of you who spent tons of money to upgrade to a full lineup of 6-star ninjas.

That time is now.

Imagine what'll happen when I get a second and third 6-star ninja. I might not even need a third 6-star ninja to achieve world domination.

I'm going to monopolize the top spot and no one -- not even the developers with the half dozen software bugs that keep stealing things from me -- will stop me.

Well, that is until I get bored being at the top of the mountain, unchallenged.  Once you've beaten everyone far stronger than you, I think the novelty of it wears off.

10 Thoughts for November 17, 2014

1. Video: If you haven't seen the Super Bad Mario videos, you're missing out.  It's what I'd call a guilty pleasure -- you'll see what I mean.
2. Internet: I'm stuck in an odd spot right now.  I'm trying to return that plumbing part that did not quite fit, but the problem is, I need to print out the return label and RMA tag, but I can't at this moment.  You see, one of the things that I had ordered, aside from this plumbing part, was a new power supply for my recently deceased unit that is attached to my printer.  Ha.
3. Internet: And of course, I had to follow up that prior post about waiting to get my power supply.  I got it, tried it, and it didn't work.  I don't know if it was the power supply or the printer, but I think that the new power supply was defective.  So, now, to return this part, I have to go buy a new printer anyway.  Funny how this whole thing ended up.
4. Space: Well, Philae has gone to sleep, because of low battery reserves.  It should wake up occasionally as the battery slowly recharges, so there's hope.  But space exploration is hard (a comet is harder than a planet) and sometimes frustratingly so, especially when the time between launch and final destination is measured in several years or a decade in the case of Rosetta / Philae.
5. Football: Does a 9-0 Marshall deserve any consideration in the college football playoffs?  I don't think so. As a member of a mid-major conference, they haven't played a single game against a power-5 team.  That should be seen as a low-risk and therefore low-reward schedule. If they want consideration, they need to play the big boys in their non-conference schedule, instead of other mid-majors and FCS teams.  As such, they're not even ranked in the top-25 by the playoff committee, even as the AP and Coaches' Polls have them ranked at 21.
6. Football: The Trojans would like to thank the Beavers.  Well done, Beavs.  USC still in the hunt, are you kidding me?  Sark and the Trojans may yet redeem those terrible losses this year.
7. Football: So, right after OSU turned the PAC-12 South into a wide-open battle, Disney booked the USC - UCLA game on ABC in prime time for next Saturday night -- no kidding, less than an hour following the game, ESPN already had it listed.  Gonna be epic, I think, but regardless of who wins on Saturday, the South won't be decided until the final week of the season.  Meanwhile, the North was determined last week when Oregon beat Stanford, knocking the last contender out of race.  What happened to Stanford?
8. Football: It's just too bad that Seattle's o-line is really bad without Max Unger in there.  Before Unger left the game, Marshawn Lynch averaged 5.7 yards per run.  Following Unger's departure in the 4th quarter, two Lynch runs gained just 4 yards.  So, on 4th and 1, with the Chiefs selling out on defending the run, why would you hand the ball off to Lynch up the middle? I'm baffled at Bevell's playcalling, here.  Why not slip the TE out into the flat with a QB rollout?  Why not throw the bubble screen?  I'm just as confused why they'd try to pass for a TD in a floater to the corner of the end zone, when a tailback wheel route would give your best runner the space to grab and go with momentum, or if that were foiled, you'd at least have Wilson able to extend the play and improvise -- something he'd been successful with, most of the game.
9. Geopolitics: When you're the 6th largest country, by rank of Purchasing Power, but placed at the end of the front row.  And when you have to deny rumors that you're leaving early because of the shellacking you're getting over Ukraine.  Or why you're not that guy, Mr. Superstar.  That's how you know no one respects you, outside of your country.
10. Holidays: It's not even Thanksgiving and there are pre-Black Friday sales.  We live in strange times.  I imagine the near-future will bring us pre-pre-Black Friday sales starting November 1st.

10 Thoughts for November 14, 2014

1. Internet: My attempts to save money on plumbing parts by ordering it online didn't fare so well. It turns out, my part is only applicable to the models built after 2005. Same model, but pre-2005 was a slightly different version. As I put the old part and the new part next to each other, it was clear that the spacing of the valves were different, by about 2mm. Go figure. And online, the description does not highlight this fact. Of course I already had the wall open and the part removed, plus I had shut the water valves off (in-wall), and the hot water valve's thread is already worn, so I decided to take it to Geo Morlan and get the right part, and that's where the guy told me about the pre-2005 versions being different than the post-2005 units. I'm blaming Delta for using the same model number but altering the valve design.
2. Plumbing: So, funny thing: I couldn't get the collar back on because it wouldn't get past the o-ring.  I even added some grease to it.  So I went to YouTube to see if anyone else had ways to pull it off.  Surprise, surprise, but no one showed the collar going back on with the o-ring.  I went back, tried it again, and for some odd reason -- perhaps the grease soaked in? -- but the collar finally slipped over the o-ring.  Awesome.  I think.  Good for another 10 years or so, the guy at Geo Morlan plumbing told me.  BTW, those folks at Geo Morlan are automatic -- they know inside out anything you need to know about plumbing.
3. Plumbing: Oh, and one important advice that I wanted to mention about doing any sort of plumbing work.  When you DIY, I strongly urge you to do it on a weekday, during normal work hours.  Take a half day off if you need to.  You see, if you run into an emergency and you're panicking, you're going to have a very difficult time getting the parts you need or a professional available and nearby.  Sure, they do have on-call plumbers available all hours of the day, but you're going to pay a crazy premium for it, and they still might not have the part you need.  This is why I performed my work in the early afternoon, just in case something went wrong.
4. Space: Just as I thought was the case when I looked at the first image sent back by ESA's Philae, the lander indeed had critically missed its mark by a significant distance, and is now facing some stiff challenges, because of where it actually landed and how it's situated.  All is not lost, but the landing was nowhere the success that ESA thought it was, and I think anyone who watched the video stream live, could sense the concerns that were growing, even as they were celebrating.  Still, those images of the comet are spectacular.  So when do the comet mining operations begin?
5. Weather: So, the Polar Vortex and a storm front collided over Oregon on Thursday, but because the Polar Vortex brought with it a ton of extremely dry air, most of the moisture actually evaporated before it even hit. When it finally did hit, it was mixed precipitation (rain, freezing rain, pellets, snow).  Being warm enough that it wasn't snowing, meant that I was able to drive to Geo Morlan to get the part I needed.
6. Football: Wow, USC scored 31 points in the first half, then fell asleep and scored just 7 points in the second half.  You could see the freak out expressions on the faces of the USC coaches as Cal was just one onside kick recovery away from possibly tying the game and sending it into overtime.  If you watch the end of the post-game press conference, Sark's showed his impatience with questions over the frequent late-game falloffs.  In 10 games played, four were decided in the last minute, with USC ahead in each game, but in two -- Utah and ASU -- they lost.
7. Football: Yes, USC does fall asleep.  In the 10 games played, USC has outscored opponents 129 - 22 in the first quarter, but then that margin completely falls away to 223 - 211 in the remaining three quarters.
8. Holidays: I completed my design for my holiday greeting cards (three different card designs) and ordered them via Moo, to take advantage of the 25% discount deadline of Nov. 18.  I've tried Cafe Press to do cards, but the quality is nowhere close to that of Moo.  Their business cards are far superior to anything you'll get from other online shops and, when it comes to customization, there's no match.
9. Geopolitics: You know, I don't quite understand the point of Russia's display of naval power, near Australian waters, upon the G20 meetings in Brisbane.  Is it to imply a threat to the other G20 nations not aligned with Russia?  It's not like the Russian navy poses a threat to anyone, when the US' 7th fleet can outflank the entire Russian navy.  Or maybe it's a ridiculous show of force for the home crowd in Russia, who are subject to propaganda by their state-controlled media?
10. Internet: AT&T said yesterday that it would halt investment in its rollout of its fiber network, until the issues surrounding Net Neutrality were resolved.  In response today, the FCC asked for information on AT&T's announcement, with particular point that it appeared that AT&T was backtracking on its promise, with regard to its attempts to secure federal approval for its attempted acquisition of DirectTV.  Of course, my theory is, AT&T shot itself in the foot if it thinks that the market won't use this pause as an opportunity to beat AT&T, and that includes Google Fiber.  Remember, Google Fiber is set to announce the cities that have qualified for an immediate rollout, before the end of the year.

10 Thoughts for November 13, 2014

1. Space: That's so European.  When watching the live streaming video of ESA's coverage of the Rosetta comet landing, one couldn't help but notice how ESA had over two dozen speakers talk.  The science took up a dozen minutes in total; the speeches took hours, and in the end they all drank champagne, except for the scientists still trying to figure out what went wrong.  The crowd did not want to end on a down note, so when a scientist started to describe some of the problems they were having -- a gas cartridge not firing and the hooks not deploying -- the live stream coverage quickly broke away back to the emcee as she paraphrased the scientist by explaining that Philae had landed.
2. Space: The Philae lander has sent back its first image from the comet's surface, which, if you compare photos from the area it was targeting, to the image before it was about to touch down, it sure looks like it might have missed its mark a bit and got stuck next to a rocky spot rather than a flat area, no?
3. Ukraine: You gotta be kidding me...Russia is at it again, sending troops into Ukraine? Putin is truly attempting to wag the dog away from Russia's impending economic collapse.
4. YouTube: We know a lot more details about YouTube Music Key, the subscription music video service, now.  It's a twofer program (as I had previously suspected), where for one price you'll get both YouTube Music Key and Google Play Music All Access.  The key here is that you'll get YouTube music videos without ads.  Which of course means that if you want to stream music video mixes, you'll be seeing more ads than before.  But it also means that YouTube has now built up a library of mixes for you, already -- a new thing you'll find in your personalized YouTube page without having to join Music Key.
5. Portland: The proposed Street Fund, meant to help the backlog of streets in disrepair, will dedicate just 47% of the tax money to repairing streets.  I've never heard of such a ridiculous proposal, ever.
6. Internet: Fire Tom Wheeler.  His attempt to state that his department is beholden to no one, is a farce, as he is supposed to work for the American people.  The American people spoke loudly and clearly when we sent in millions of comments to the FCC against his previous proposal to cement rules that would have destroyed Net Neutrality.  Fire his ass, now.
7. Football: Let me answer the obvious question as to why Jameis Winston's lawyer requested a delay of his student code conduct meeting at Florida State University, over a 2-year old rape allegation.  The delay was strategically timed to avoid being kicked out of school before FSU gets a chance to play in at least one bowl game, and perhaps two (the national championship on January 12).  With the minimum 10 school days between the hearing and the official decision, it means that the soonest Winston would receive any punishment would be January 8, when taking the FSU academic calendar into consideration.  Oh, and it's also long after the Heisman vote and award.  This, after his lawyer complained about the long delay between the original complaint and the previously scheduled hearing.
8. The other Football: Via SI, "The Russia 2018 bid gave the “dog-ate-my-homework” excuse to Garcia, saying pertinent e-mails and documents had been on computers that were leased and returned to their owner. The owner told Garcia the computers had been destroyed. Russia was still cleared by Eckert." So, FIFA is itself so corrupt as to excuse the laughable BS from Russian officials.  No really, read the SI summary of the attempts to curry favor with FIFA officials from multiple nations.  That FIFA accepted Russia's excuse is just telling how corrupt FIFA is, at its core.
9. Android: The moment that we've all been waiting for has begun, Android Lollipop is now rolling out to Nexus devices.  This is why we buy Nexus devices, after all.  :D
10. Blog: A tiny note, that this blog passed the 100K views mark on Wednesday.  All-time traffic, in order of views: US, Russia, Germany, UK, France.  Apparently I don't insult Canada enough, because they came in 6th place -- sacrebleu! Les Canadiens avec les grandes tetons, ooh la la! (Channeling my inner South Park.)

10 Thoughts for November 12, 2014

1. Football: This quote sums up Mark Sanchez's night: "His supporting cast was infinitely better now with riches everywhere, a belated gift from the football Gods who owed him a solid." -- Manish Mehta, Daily News.
2. Football: According to ESPN, the CFB committee apparently has sent a message to teams, thinking that an undefeated season full of weak opponents will earn them an automatic.  I'm not so sure about that.  Mississippi State's got wins over worthless opponents like UT Martin, Southern Alabama, UAB and Southern Miss, but they're ranked #1.  Of course, I really don't think MSU will end up in the playoffs anyway.  They're just temporarily enjoying the view from on top.
3. Football: It can't be coincidence, that both Miami and BC have bye weeks before playing FSU, while Florida plays Eastern Kentucky before FSU.  Expect an upset along the way, and the room for the CFB to kick FSU out of the playoffs.  My playoff prediction, in order of rank: Oregon, TCU, Alabama, Ohio State.
4. Geopolitics: I'm curious what the Chinese President thinks of Vladimir Putin's actions with his wife, in front of the cameras.  This wasn't the first time he's tried to flirt (skip to last 11 seconds of video) with China's First Lady, after all -- instead of posing to face cameras, he's posing staring at the First Lady.
5. Geopolitics: So while Russia's president is trying to woo the Chinese First Lady, the presidents of the US and China were making huge plans on a bilateral agreement to slash greenhouse gases. Republicans, of course, were upset -- upset that they were caught off guard admiring Putin with adoring eyes, while POTUS did some real work negotiating with the Xi Jingping, that is.
6. Geopolitics: Remember when I said that Saudi Arabia's push for lower oil prices was surely a plan to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine?  It is working, insofar that Russia's economy is on the brink of a multi-year recession.  The irony of the Russian oil trade agreement with China, excluding USD, is that it cannot benefit from expanding oil exports to China while the Ruble-USD value falls.
7. Security: Who uses 2FA?  This website tracks who does and doesn't use 2FA.  I know that my credit union uses 2FA.
8. Temperature: I knew something was up when the central air kicked in, late in the afternoon -- the edge of the Polar Vortex descended upon us in Portland.  For the last 8 weeks or so, it's been moderate enough that I haven't had the unit kick in at all, and then in the afternoon it started up like we were in late December and the temperatures were dropping into the 30s.  The winds were howling mad, but though the temperature was above freezing the winds were so strong that shallow pools of water had already iced over by midnight.
9. Internet: FCC chair Tom Wheeler says he may ignore what Obama said, regarding Net Neutrality.  I say fire his ass, for ignoring the will of the American people who overloaded the FCC's system with comments in support of Net Neutrality.
10. Space: Trying to check in with ESA's Rosetta Mission and the landing on Comet 67P is a bit trying on the patience.  To start with, the entirety of the process takes more than 9 hours. And that process is left mostly to the imagination as the live video feed is that of the ESA mission control center and not of the actual landing -- which isn't going to be available in video form anyway, only photos.  If that isn't bad enough, the Livestream video channel is overloaded at times.  And don't get me started on the weird robotic anthropomorphism of a satellite and its lander offering emotional tweets, with the satellite retweeting its lander's tweets.

10 Thoughts for November 10, 2014

1. Video: Like steampunk?  You might enjoy the 2004 Japanese stylized movie, Casshern.  The ending is very much Japanese-like -- unfulfilling -- but the blended visuals are epic.
2. Road Trip: I've just finished building a map of a route that'll take me through 10 covered bridges in Oregon, from Pleasant Valley in Southeast Portland, south through Stayton, around Albany and Corvallis, and back to Portland.  It'll take a whole day to do.  You can follow it, if you wish: Map.  It's based off the Covered Bridge of Oregon Society's map, except, my map is precise (some of their placemarkers were completely off) and with a route plugged in. Note that Google Maps does not allow me to input more than 8 points to build a continuous route.
3. Football: Kaelin Clay's dropped football at the one yard line, and subsequent return for a TD by the Ducks, was most certainly a game-changer.  Had Clay held onto the ball as he walked into the end zone, the score would have been 14 - 0 and the Utes would have been playing defense with an extra step.  Instead, the stadium and team were confused and shaken while the Ducks got a fire lit under their butts.  I feel sorry for Kaelin Clay, but at the same time, mental discipline is an important attribute in sports and those who have it go on to do well while the rest tend to either fail or never become the player everyone thinks they could be.
4. Football: The Jets beating the Steelers was unexpected, but I had to laugh when I read that the Bieber had met for bible study with the Steelers, apparently inflicting the Bieber Curse on the Steelers.  I'm at a loss for words, as it seem a contradiction that Bieber goes to bible study (given his propensity for drugs, speeding and cursing).  Hey, it's all okay, so long as you've got a gold cross on a chain around your neck, right?
5. Internet: You know, I feel bad for all of those people who rent Comcast routers.  DOCSIS 3 router modems are available for the equivalent of 16 months of renting.  Oh, and there is the issue of Comcast's routers having their USB disabled -- seriously, it is referred online as "future capability".  But the worst indignation, is that Comcast is renting you that router modem while it is taking advantage of a split wireless channel on that modem to give other customers access to the bandwidth that you thought you had paid for, for your sole use.  I mention all this, because I was researching whether or not I could hook up an external drive to my friend's Comcast router modem, to enable them to access saved content.  It really bugs me that people complain about spending money, but can't see the savings right in front of them.
6. Internet: President Obama officially announced his support to reclassify broadband so that we can haz Net Neutrality.  The technoscenti are all on board while all the idiots who place politics ahead of everything else in their life, have taken to the internet to express their displeasure. The stupidity of conservatives, is that they don't realize that without Net Neutrality, tech titans could slow the speeds to conservative outlets compared to liberal ones.
7. Politics: While a majority of Americans have low confidence in President Obama, the world at large seems to have a very high opinion of him, which contrasts to what the world thought of George Bush.  While true that it had peaked when Obama was first elected, it still remains exceedingly higher than under Bush.  I think if you were to ask people of most other countries if they thought that their leaders performed better than Obama when it came to economic recovery, they'd almost all say that they'd prefer Obama.
8. Chromecast: So, I'd been having trouble with casting a video with the stable channel of Chrome with the update from two months ago, so I switched my laptop to the beta channel (my desktop was already on the beta channel), and it works fine, now.  That's a bit ironic, that the stable channel failed but the beta channel worked. 
9. Ferguson: It's just a guess, but I think most people know that officer Wilson will not be charged with any crimes, and are therefore bracing for the consequential rioting that will occur. I also think that the feds will decline to prosecute officer Wilson on civil rights violations.  It's just going to be too difficult to get a conviction on either manslaughter, homicide or civil rights violations, when the facts of the case include Michael Brown directly assaulting the officer and trying to take his gun away.
10. Internet: Just ordered plumbing parts via Amazon -- technically I had a cart full of other stuff but weren't of high importance, whereas the plumbing parts were, and once I added them to the cart, I completed the transaction.  I had not thought to do so previously, but the savings are substantial over brick and mortar stores, even ones like Home Depot.  If you factor in the cost of gasoline to drive back and forth, we're talking a 30% savings, you know?  Next up: groceries?  Oh, there is one downside: My order of 7 different items is being shipped via 5 separate packages.  I can manage.

The US smart phone wars are over.

I'm declaring the US smart phone wars, over.  Reviewing comScore's tracking since December 2009, Google reached stability two years ago, while Apple achieved stability about 16 months ago.  Meanwhile, the market share of Blackberry and Microsoft have bottomed out and stayed there, and smartphone penetration has slowed down.  This seems to show that the US smart phone market has fully matured, making it difficult for anyone to gain on Google in a meaningful way.

So, can we stop talking about the smart phone wars?  We can still talk tablet wars, but eventually even that will end up with Google (Android) on top.  It's inevitable.

Peak penetration?

Blackberry's epic slide has finally reached bottom ... and stayed there.

Microsoft hasn't done much since hitting 2.9% bottom, currently at 3.6%.

Apple has been relatively stable for 16 months now.

Google peaked two years ago and now remains stable on top.