Free Hugs

Maybe all this internet stuff really will save the world. But probably not.

However, I did find it interesting when I was browsing YouTube and I came along this little video: (Click here for video) It's basically a 3 minute long video of some guy giving lots of people hugs, hugs getting banned, then the hug guy getting 10,000 people to sign his petition so hugs were legal again. It was mildly touching and even made me feel like giving people hugs; not my every day normal kind of thing. But the real shocker came when I looked below the video to find that it was added less than a month ago and already had been played 3.5 million times. Thats a lot of views for one month.....
Then I got to thinking; the reason that this video has 3.5 million views is obvious: because 3.5 million people want to see videos like this. Every day on the news, in the media, all we hear about is people dying in Iraq, kids getting shot by their father, or hurricanes running a muck. Never would the guy on campus trying to give people free hugs find himself on the 6:00 news. Why you ask....? Because the news guys in their Viacomm office think that 3.5 million people wouldn't want to hear about this; they think (like the blood sucking vampires they are) that people want to hear about death murder kill. Well, they are fucking wrong!!! I think it's great that we now get to select our content vs. filter through poo-poo on the cable.

BOOM! BAM! then...... WHAM.

Where are all these loud explosions coming from? North Korea.... maybe. But more likely they're coming from the year 2000 in a time portal named Google. The YouTube aquisition has caught the attention of many people and in every article I have read, they have payed homage to the 2000 bust, just as I have started this blogg. But is it really all going to be the same thing over again? I think not.

I admit, it is scary seeing Google buy an internet website that doesn't make any money. But I'm going to break the cardinal rule and just say it right now:

It's going to be different this time.

But "why" you may ask. The reason is that Google has acutally figured out a viable way to lots and lots of money. If it is a bubble, at least it has backbone and is made out of unpoppable materiel this time.
I believe that Google will be able to place their AdWord technology with YouTube content to increase their revenue. Simple. And it has already proven to work. As well, Google had 9BILLION dollars in cash. Now, they have 7.5BILLION dollars in cash. Not investor money, not a loan, CASH. But they are paying the YOUTUBE guys in stock. Someone thinks Google's stock is undervalued/prebubble....... just make sure you get out in time.
Whatever.
The whole point of this rambling is that I think this single aquisition is great considering the circumstances. But if this trend were to pick up like it did before 2000, that would be bad.

I think irresponsible investors have learned their lesson. I hope.

Party at My House

This weekend, I'm going home to Dallas to watch the football game. But unlike everyone else from UT thats going north this weekend, I don't have tickets for the game. Instead I will be found at my parents house in McKinney, TX with at least 5 or 6 of my friends, drinking beer and watching the game on TV. While this is going to be fun, I thought I might one-up myself a little bit.

When I was thinking about flash mobs, I decided that they are cool as hell. So today, about 4 hours ago, I started contacting everyone that I know via text messages, emails and Facebook telling them all to meet at my parent's house at 1PM this Saturday to drink beer and watch the game. Short notice, but I would love to crash my parents house with 40 or 50 people. I guess you could say that's my goal right now. Already, I've gotten a lot of responses off of Facebook. 5 confirmed, 17 maybes, 29 NOs, and 167 people haven't responded yet.

I will update on how the party goes.

By the way, your invited.
1318 Lakewood Dr.
McKinney, Tx

UPDATE: Party went well. Had 25 or so of my friends come over, no strangers. Most effictive means of communication was the mass text messaging. Facebook was second most effective. Once I was in town, the telephone worked well too.

Paying Bills

Today I used the internet to set up automatic payments for Earthlink cable internet to charge my credit card automatically every month. The cost of the cable is 40$ a month and I verify that this amount is charged correctly to my credit card bill, which isn't due until a month after I recieve it. This service is great for me and the whole world because I never miss a payment and don't have to worry about writing a check every month. As well, I don't have to worry about getting ripped off because I can still deny payment if something goes wrong with the transaction. Improved services with no compromise in security or my rights.
However, one must trust the credit/debt card company.
I think they have proven their legitimacy thus far before the internet revolution, therefore I believe they will continute keeping up with their reputation.

Podcasts

Since I barely have enough money to pay for internet, I don’t have cable in my apartment. This is not a huge deal because 90% of the content on TV sucks. But there's still that 10%.

So sometimes when I want to relax or zone out or just have a nice laugh, I watch podcasts that I am subscribed to. And then when I'm feeling adventurous, I subscribe to new podcasts that catch my eye. They are free, and its extremely easy to cancel your subscription. I hate canceling subscriptions for magazines and newspapers.
This new medium for media content, available via the internet and iTunes, is great for parents, people who don't want to waste time, and just about everyone. Parents can more easily filter out bad content by manually blocking a show or only allowing certain "ratings" in the iTunes control panel. However, its possible that the average parent user of iTunes may not know how to use the "preferences" button. I know my mom does't. But then again, she probably wouldn't have cared if I subscribed to Bill Maher's "Explicit" marked podcast. This feature is the same with cable TV, however podcasts must be asked for and then they are transferred to the computer. TV channels are all sent to your house constantly, simultaneously and mostly unfiltered. (How many people actually use their vChip? iTunes preferences may be hard for average users, but the vChip is nuclear science to this same audience)
Podcasts are free. Digital cable and satellite, each of which have the same capabilities on the surface as iTunes, are inferior and cost 40ish dollars a month. When using ITunes (or any equivalent software that comes along in the future. Microsoft. Zune sucks) you can transfer this content to an iPod portable media playing device, or you can wirelessly stream the podcasts to your TV that your already have in your living room via wireless 802.11n technology. (Much faster than the current 802.11g standard) Say goodbye to wireless connections lagging on streaming high quality video.

If you ask me, iTunes will modify podcast play back rights to not be skipped ahead, and will soon replace cable. but who knows. Sucks for the cable guys but kicks ass for the iPod maker.

Right now im listening to Episode 83 of Real Time with Bill Maher. The audio content (that I believe is also available on HBO?) is free on iTunes right now. I also subscribe to the video podcasts of MacBreak, Strong Bad Emails, and the lightning round from Jim Craimer's TV show.

This technology is great for the world because with the stupid amount of commercials that are on TV, the content should be free. Now some of it is. Podcasts worked for me.

www.itunes.com