10 Thoughts for September 30, 2014

1. The University of Michigan's embroiled.  Last Saturday, Wolverines quarterback Shane Morris, visibly affected by a hit, wobbled around, needing help to walk off the field.  He was sent back in to play.  Commentators during the game and thereafter have pounced on head coach Brady Hoke.  There's a discrepancy between what Brady Hoke said one day, compared to what he's now saying, but I'm not even going to get into that discussion.  You see, this current uproar is not really about Shane Morris, I suspect, but about Hoke having lost three games in September -- a first in UM football history.  I say this because no one in the media reacted this way in 2012 when former UM coach Rich Rodriguez, as head coach at Arizona, allowed Matt Scott to continue to play despite getting hit in the head and vomiting in the field of play, against the USC Trojans.  Come this past preseason, Matt Scott threw up in a game as a Bengal, in formation.  No members of the media expressed outrage that Scott's health was being compromised.  The media has joined the criticism bandwagon, though, on Brady Hoke.
2. We got let out early from jury duty today, before noon.  The waiting is not much fun, but serving on a jury is enjoyable, at least in Oregon.  Some observations while waiting: There were a lot of people using iPhones, Apple notebooks and iPads, and not a single one of them was using a Bluetooth stereo headset.  It seems the Apple crowd isn't aware of this thing called wireless stereo headsets, instead, stuck in an earbud world; if in Portland everyone is using Apple products, then I'm the exception who, in keeping with Portland's motto, is keeping it weird; one woman who was busy with her iPad, was playing...Solitaire; I did see one person sporting a Kindle e-ink reader; I actually got a lot through a lot of digital sketches of ideas and paged through a bunch of my magazines on my Nexus 7; I wrote a medium-sized email completely using just my swiping keyboard, which reminded me of why I think Blackberry's pursuing the wrong tact with its Passport.
3. I got an email notification the other day, informing me that, if I did not use my Google Voice number, it would be revoked.  That would be bad, because I've only just begun to implement my goal of using my GV number for work-related calls.  So naturally, I picked up my phone and changed the settings to let me choose between my cell phone or GV to make phone calls every time I place a call, then immediately placed a phone call with my GV number.
4. I completed a binge of the fourth season of Hawai'i Five-O last week, just in time to catch up before the new season started.  I liked all the new characters and direction the show took, but most of all I'm glad that they didn't leave any crazy cliff-hangers in the season finale.
5. Just about the only people who can't get past the front door of the White House, are journalists.  All others, lone wolf terrorists included, don't seem to have problems getting through.
6. California became the first state to enact a plastic bag ban, though many local governments have long had a ban in place around the nation, including right here in Portland, Oregon.  At first it seems like taking choice away will be bad, but in practice you get used to it quickly and it's no big deal, especially when grocers switch to paper bags with handles.  Those paper bags with handles make it easy to collect shredded papers (and other recyclables) and transport them to the recycling container.
7. China must be facing an existential threat, that they've decided to slip malware apps onto the iPhones and Androids of Hong Kong democracy protesters.
8. Wait, didn't Apple tell the world that their "closed" ecosystem was more secure than the open environment of Android?  I love throwing that one out there -- Apple fanboys were lined up outside the Apple store in Portland this morning when I walked past.
9. Just completed my order of mini cards and business cards, through Moo.com.  Today was the deadline for 25% off -- something that happens about once a quarter or so.  Best deal anywhere, because you can print much smaller orders than traditional print jobs, and you can customize each and every single article, such that if you order 50 business cards, you can have 50 cards each with a different front image.  It's quite awesome.  Use this referral link -- http://www.moo.com/share/r8spjj -- to get 10% off, any time, if you've never used it before, as it gets me referral bonuses.
10. There was just one thing that I decided not to use Moo.com to print: My portfolio.  As much as I love their quality and choice of paper, I just realized that I need to do this in-house and allow myself to use my choice of papers and sizes that aren't limited to Moo's largest print size (8.5x11 letterhead).  Everything else I send to them, though, including my holiday card sets.