naFirici

I found a new Microsoft commerical that slams Google Apps, ironically enough it was posted on youtube. It's a clever commercial that tries to make Google Apps sound like some sort of beta product that will drastically change while you're using it and will disappear altogether someday and you'll lose all your documents and spreadsheets.

So a few months ago, I bought and moved into my first house. It wasn't long before I noticed how much wind we get being right next to Lake Michigan. That got me thinking, should I get a windmill and put it in my yard so I can get some clean energy and maybe even save some money? Is this something that is even possible?

The other day, I bought a Sony t.v. equipped with Google t.v. from Amazon. I enjoy watching shows that I've missed on their respective stations web sites and don't really enjoy doing so on my computer. So I thought, hey a Google t.v. has a real Chrome web browser, I'll buy one of those and watch the shows that I've missed. What I should have done was to first do a search on Google's search engine to make sure this was possible. Had I done that, I would have learned before I purchased the t.v. that all the major networks block Google t.v.

This morning I read an article that stated the music and movie industries are losing and estimated $135 billion a year because of piracy. That made me wonder, how are they calculating this? When I was younger, I knew of people that would participate in illegal downloading, but it was because they couldn't afford the music and movies otherwise. Once they got older and started making some real money, they stopped illegally downloading music and movies and started purchasing them legitimately.

Today I learned about a bill that is going through Congress called SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act). I'm not for piracy, I don't partake in stealing movies, tv shows, music, etc. I am against people being able to shut down websites that unknowingly have this type of copyrighted material. From what I've read so far today, this bill would give content owners the ability to make a claim that a website has their copyrighted material and have their ad revenue cut off and even have their shopping carts turned off.

Tonight 60 Minutes did a segment on Congress trading stocks on insider information (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57323527/congress-trading-stock-on...). I'd first like to thank 60 Minutes for reporting on this topic. This was something that I always thought was going on, but never heard any news organization reporting on it. I also thought that this would have to be illegal and that they were likely hiding their actions.

The DOW lost 634 points today, the biggest drop since 2008. As much as I hate to see my 401k drop so much so fast, I'm going to take advantage of the lower cost per shares and raise my 401k contribution to buy as much as I can at these lower prices. Today was the first trading day since S&P downgraded the US credit rating from AAA to AA+ with a negative outlook. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could also be on the credit rating chopping block.

Here's a hint, they can drive cars. That's right, Congress officially acts more like a bunch of kids than kids themselves. I'm sick and tired of listening to these clowns in Congress point the finger at each other about who's to blame for all of our problems. Here is the answer, all of you in Congress are to blame. When you clowns can't sit down and figure out any solutions to these issues, you have no right to be in Congress.

This week, Verizon announced that it would follow suit with other cell phone providers to stop offering unlimited data plans to new customers. They will be offering data plans between 2 - 10 GB. You're probably wondering what exactly a Gigabyte is, well it's 1024 Megabytes and 1 Megabyte is the same as 1024 Kilobytes. I'm currently a Verizon customer with an IPhone 4 and an unlimited data plan. I love having an unlimited data plan because it allows me to not worry about my usage. I can read the news, look at facebook, email pictures, watch netflix and youtube, etc.

....Probably not.

Lately you may have noticed lots of news reports about hacking. There is the group that calls themselves Anonymous, that has hacked many sites and organizations because of the WikiLeaks scandal. Sony Playstation Network, Citi Bank and now Sega have all been hacked. This may make you nervous about what personal information you put on a website, it should scare the crap out of you!!! Aren't there government regulations that force companies to protect our personal data? Yes, however the oversight to ensure they are followed is minimal.