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.