Earthquake!

A huge earthquake hit Japan recently, followed by a humongous tsunami. Crazy footage can be seen of cars being swept away like dust on the kitchen floor from the relentless blankets of water originating from the earthquake. Sometimes, it's amazing to see what nature can do. No matter how much we seem to evolve, the world still holds the power to pull us down and wipe our slate clean once again. The tsunami is a couple hours away from hawaii, where people are either grabing their surfboards, or are getting ready to gtfo.

Frustration with Technology

My school has issued a new filter for our internet... which sucks. It now takes 5 more minutes to log in and dozens of sites are blocked that, in my opinion, don't need to be. I had to go through 2 verification windows to access my blog, teachers are suspending lessons because they can't use reference videos on Youtube, and half of the websites I use for games are gone :\. Its already hard enough to find new game sites that are remotely useful, why did they have to block more?! I think our school is paranoid. Block the porn sites and the sites with answers to tests and call it a day.

Online Television

You can now watch television on the internet. Woopdedo. Sounds ok, I guess. It may prove to be cheaper to purchase online television then actual cable. It may be an investment that I would care to make because I can watch whatever I want, whenever I want, and for a lower price then standard television. I don't watch television enough anyway, so I don't think it would be worth it until I was out of college.

State-bound

Our basketball team is about to have our district matchup on Saturday. Yay...

I'm not too concerned about them, I don't really follow the games. But they seem to be doing good, and I believe that they've beaten the opposition before, so i figure we'll be going to state anyway.

A Dream Job

I have to get a job this summer... and that is one thing I really don't want to do. I have never liked working the mindless toil of useless, unproductive professions. Unstead, my dream job would be to become a successful musician. To play in places filled with people who came to hear you perform. There are multiple ways to perform, like in musical pits, jazz combos, or even bands. The possibilities are endless, and all I need is the will to practice and a desire to succeed in an inovative, constructive way.

The weather?!

SURPRIZE! Ice.

I was fairly surprized this morning for multiple reasons. One being that my car was coated in a layer of cold, textured ice. The other surprize was that I woke up an hour later then normal. Luckily, by the time I left my house, most of the ice had melted on the roads. I only had to run my defrosters for a while and I was free to drive to school... 30 minutes late.

When I had gotten to school, I was thrilled to learn that the office was not counting late sign ins on account of the weather. I picked the perfect day to sleep in.

Summer Job

I will be enrolling to Missouri State University this fall for my college career. The tuition will be hard to cover, but hopefully student loans will be helpful. For some extra cash, I plan on getting a summer job. I have a couple of different plans, one of them being the mega super busy work plan. This consists of me finding a 2nd shift job that I don't like and waxing boats during the mornings for the entire summer. This isn't likely. My other option is trying to work at a place I would enjoy for less money, but more fun and more free time. One of the places I would die to work at is Brunzwik Zone in St. Peters. I love that place. Bowling is always been something I would love to do more, but don't have the money to play much. Hopefully I can get some pretty wicked discounts if I get a job. Wish me luck?

DeVry Speaker

In class the other day, we had a speaker come in from DeVry University talk to us about future career opportunites after college. Equiped with his wireless arsenal of PDAs, which each of us were lended for the duration of the program, he was able to assign us to teams and lead us through interactive puzzles and challenges based on career interests and personality types. He operated on the premisis that your personality matched a job description and that you should not pick a career to do for the rest of your life if you don't enjoy that job. He was very informative and was very kind and funny.

Dragon Age II

The trailors for Dragon Age II came out recently. For those of you who don't know, this is a massave, advanced RPG for Ps3, X-box360, and PC. I, personally, am a fan of RPG (mostly the lesser complex ones, but they're RPGs nonetheless) and love to see the progress made in the gaming industry to front new ideas and fun gameplay for the genre. I'm very excited to see more trailors for this game, and may plan on purchasing it. It MIGHT be my mental replacement for Fable 3 (the only game to make me wish I bought an X-box360)

The Superbowl

The most riviting, jaw-dropping, fist-clenching, rivalry-stirring football game of the year has just occured and the Packers are victorious over the Steelers. Me, hardly being a football fan to begin with, can still find a nitch to plop down in for a practically guarenteed epic game, a gathering of friends, food, and commercials to laugh at.

The commercials have grown almost as big as the game itself. Companies spending millions of dollars for a meer 30 seconds of advertising in front of the whole country. Personally, my favorite was the Pepsi Max "First Date" commercial. I found it wonderfully displays the seemingly reoccuring thought process of the "first date experience."

LinkedIn

Another social networking program has surfaced to join the masses. But unlike Facebook and Twitter, this site serves a little different purpose. Unstead of having the purpose of informing you of your social life, LinkedIn works to inform you of your business life.

Primarily for perfessionals, LinkedIn allows communication between businesses and co-workers. References can be transfered and job openings can be found. All-together, this seems like a very smart idea. I know I wouldn't want someone looking for my job experience and references on Facebook : \. The success of this program will allow people to peek directly into your professional life, create an easy place for workers to meet and discuss future plans or dates, and perhaps make application processes obsolete. It would be great to avoid filling out multiple resumes and applications to jobs you wish to apply to. Instead, just send them your LinkedIn address.

LinkedIn plans to go public in the next few months. I wish for it's success and hope that when I graduate into the real world, it reaches a widly known basis and I am able to use it regularly to further my professional career.

Want to Work at Google?

Google plans to hire more than 6,200 workers this year, claims local press. This is great!... for the smart ones. "Trying to get a job at Google is akin to trying to get into Stanford University," says Michael Liedtke of USA Today. As the biggest search engine in the world, Google receives over 1 million applications a year. Application processes include endless background checks for SAT scores, GPAs, intelligence performance tests, and questions complicated enough to turn your brain to a steaming pile of pudding.

The benefits are exactly that; beneficial. At "The Googleplex", the self-titled home base of Google Ind. located in New York city, spans 2.9 million square feet and offers there workers free food and drink and shuttles to anywhere within 50 miles of the building. Shuttles are also equipped with internet to make the workers lunch more enjoyable.


Cool, huh? Although Google would be fun to work at, I don't think I would like the pressure to drive on innovation and shoot out inventions like paper from a school office printer. I try to be much more laid back then that. Not to say it isn't a great job, though. Feel free to apply and good luck :P.

Obsession with Apple?

I've noticed my teachers obvious obsession with Apple Ind. and I'm puzzled as to why? Seeing as these are articles taken straight from USA Today, perhaps the public is obsessed with Apple? Sure, they're a mass media industry, but there are other mass media industries that populate the world...

How about the new operating systems for PC that are up and rising?
How about the constant feud between Microsoft and Sony?
Thoughts on the piles of dead birds?
Are we all getting drunk on 12/20/12 before everything explodes?

Maybe these are subjects I will explore when my teacher assigns another Apple Ind. blog post :\

Ipod Apps

10 billion applications for the Ipod have now been downloaded! That's quite a lot in the few years of Apple has held these portable play things available for download and purchase. This got me thinking that, if I had the choice, what application would I create?

As a musician, I could think of multiple applications that would benefit me in music class or during performances. Many applications have been created to benefit musicians and their needs, so the normal necessities like a tuner or metronome would not be needed. What I would need is something to combine everything together. An application with everything, from a simple tuner or metronome to more complex necessities like Real Book heads or scale modes/diagrams, would be extremely useful, regardless of the instrument or genre I may be playing. Perhaps even an up-loadable content section, similar to a Finale program, so I can arrange my own chords of staff music to play back to me. I'm sure there is already something like this, but I am yet to find it.

Apple's CEO: Does He Matter?

A news artical came out on the Usatoday website about how Steve Jobs, the head CEO of Apple Ind. is on medical leave, and that Apple had suffered a "stock slump" recently after his departure. The big question: "Will Apple Ind. survive with him gone?"

Personally, I say we have nothing to worry about. Myself, not being an Apple Ind. fan, would not be impacted by the failure of the major media industry. It would allow for multiple Mp3 and media companies to surface and gain a little ground. And maybe docking stations for Mp3 devices OTHER THAN Ipods would be easier to find, and maybe a little less expensive.

Dispite how wonderful all those things would be, Apple, being the HUGE industry as it is, has nothing to worry about. Even if a teeny-tiny bit of stocks start to fall, their CEO is on medical leave, not dead or never to return. If anything, I predict this just to be a possible investment for stockmarket buyers and sellers. Jobs will come back and the Apple industry will be better then ever.