Opening Night

Just before the game, a 3-way deal between Chicago, Sacramento and LA fell through. Much to my delight, Wallace, Deng, Gordon & Hinrich started on the floor against the Nets. We dodged another Kobe bullet. As usual, we lost to the Nets on their homecourt, but was just glad to see the team out there, intact and deep. Out of all the offseason moves, we just lost PJ Brown & Malik Allen. In return, we got Joe Smith and Joakim Noah... some good improvements. The rest of the guys are still around.

For whatever reason, the Bulls continue to have trouble with Jason Kidd and the Nets. They were able to shutdown Carter, but everyone else stepped up. Gordon caught fire late in the game and forced an overtime, but the Nets were better in the clutch.

It's extremely important that the Bulls don't get off to a slow start this year especially because of the Bryant rumors. I'm afraid that a trade might go through if they're not doing well after the first 15 games or so. The Sixers are next on Friday.

Los Angeles Yankees

Former Red Sox Manager, Grady Little resigned as manager of the LA Dodgers. With an open position, it was only natural for the Dodgers to go after the best... Joe Torre. It's not a done deal yet as they're still interviewing (who else could possibly top Torre?), but imagine the possibilities if and when this goes through. Don Mattingly would become the bench coach. Larry Bowa would become the 3rd base coach. LA would make a bid for A-Rod. Who knows... maybe Posada, Rivera and Pettitte could follow. To stretch it even further, I'm sure Torre could even get Bernie Williams out of retirement.

The Dismantling Begins

There was a lot of Yankees activity in the past 2 days, taking away some of the spotlight from the Red Sox's World Series victory. A-Rod decided to opt-out of his contract and become a free agent. I get a sense that it's his agent, Scott Boras making all of the decisions and it's all about money. Teams are always likely to overpay, which means A-Rod is gone next year. This could certainly affect the decisions of the other players if they feel there's less of a chance to win a ring.

Today, Girardi was named as manager of the Yankees. I was really surprised that they didn't go with Mattingly. A disappointed Donnie Baseball mentioned that he would not be returning to the coaching staff next season. Mattingly was Torre's apprentice, so maybe choosing Girardi was another parting shot to Torre. Again, this could possible affect the other free agents. All the players got along with Girardi, but we don't know if they favored Mattingly for manager or not.

So far things aren't looking too good. If the Yanks don't have A-Rod, I actually think they still have a chance to do well. The negative I see is the possible affect on the guys that really matter. We need the core of Rivera, Posada and Pettitte... the champs.

Torre's Shoes

The interviews are over. Who will it be? Don Mattingly? Joe Girardi? or Tony Pena? The decision could come as early as tomorrow and an announcement on Tuesday. I'm betting that they'll go with Mattingly because he's by far the most popular of the 3 as a player. I think they should choose Girardi though. He has the most managerial experience and knows the game better than anybody. It's easy to pick that up if you listen to him as a YES Network broadcaster.

After this is over, the Yankees organization still has to deals with expiring contracts. Their season ended a while ago, but yet so much excitement this autumn!

Tech Deals of the Week (10/28-11/3)

D-Link Skype USB Phone Adapter for $24.99 @ Amazon
The DPH-50U is an adapter for your conventional phone for use with Skype. Amazon has the lowest price on this product ($49.99 - $25 mail-in rebate). It's a pretty economical way to go, especially if you have an existing cordless phone. The rebate offer lasts through 10/31, so there's just a few days left!

Logitech VX Revolution for $39.99 @ Office Depot
This is the lowest in-store price for the best notebook mouse ever created! I purchased one of these a while back for $35.99, but had to pay shipping. This offer has a $20 mail-in rebate.

Logitech VX Nano for $49.99 @ Office Depot
This is the successor to the VX Revolution. So far, this is the only wireless mouse that has a short dongle. It's an ambidextrous mouse, so it's a little less ergonomic that the Revolution. This is the same rebate offer as the above item.

500 GB Maxtor Hard Drive for $99.99 @ CompUSA
This price is pretty good if you need a huge hard drive. It's not quite the same rate as the $400 GB for $49.99 back in September, but that was extremely rare.

Unidentified Flying Chickens

Visits: 10+

We continue to get stuff here for family occasions. Usually it's the standard soy-garlic flavor, but tonight we tried out the sweet & spicy flavor. It's just OK... nothing special. We all still prefer the soy-garlic or hot & spicy described in my initial post. The sweet & spicy had the texture of sweet & sour Chinese chicken, but had a light spicy flavor to it. Next on the list... spicy mustard!

Captains, Pre-Season & Blogs

Congratulations to Kirk Hinrich on being elected team captain for the 4th straight year and to Luol Deng's first year. Hinrich continues to be the field commander and seems even more confident this year. I think it's a combination of time away from Team USA, getting married and powering up his body. Deng made a great leap in leadership ability when he became England's go-to-guy over the Summer and elevated the game of basketball in the eyes of the Brits.

It was a relief to see Ben Gordon play in the last 2 preseason games. At the same time, the Bryant rumors have quieted down a bit. The Bulls looked great in their preseason closer last night. As usual, there were 5 players in double digits, spreading out the scoring. Hinrich was the hero with 20. Ben Wallace suffered a sprained ankle though. Hopefully he's not out too long. The Bulls can't afford to get off to a slow start again. They're in a tough division, especially since the Bucks were upgraded over the Summer with Yi Jianlian.

Luol Deng started up a blog for this year and Ben Gordon continues his. Check out the updated links in the right navigation, below the Tech Product Search.

Ten Random Chain Survey Questions for 2007-10-26

1. Do you chew with your mouth open or closed? Closed. Alfred forbids open mouth chewing, even in the cave. Sometimes Tim does it though.
2. Is your bed against more than one of your walls? Yes. It saves space that way.
3. Do you go to the dentist more than once a year? Yes... twice.
4. Are any of your friends more than 10 years older than you? Yes
5. Do you think the legal drinking age should be changed? Yes... it should be raised. And yes, it would reduce accidents. And yes, the city would make less money that way.
6. How much water do you drink daily? 1 gallon distilled
7. Do you normally say "cute" or "hot"? Cute because there's more substance behind that word.
8. When is the last time you visited Google.com? I'm always on it.
9. What is your dream car? 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT-500E converted to a batmobile
10. Do you have a need for speed? Hmmm... let's see... parkour-grade shoes, a turbocharged engine and a Core Duo.

3 Birds = Turducken

I just read Andy Roddick's latest blog entry and am cracking up about his "fines" as usual. In particular, this one...

Butthead: whoever invented the “turduckin”…apparently the new thing for Thanksgiving is a turkey stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a chicken….what chefs are calling a "turduckin"…gross.
--Andy Roddick

Just thinking about that makes me want to throw up! That can't be too healthy either and has to be the densest meat dish on the planet. As if it wasn't gross enough, Wikipedia displays a turducken coated with bacon.

Clockwork Apple: Wall St. Park

Wally "Wall St." Park is my first ordinary character of the Clockwork series. He's not a superhero and he's not a scum of NY... just an ordinary guy I see all the time, following a set routine.

Mr. Park takes the downtown 1 train at about 7:35 and rides in the second car from the front. Every day he's dressed in a nice suit and is immersed in his Wall St. Journal. He seriously reads every single article in that paper! He probably has tons to talk about when he gets to the office and knows all of the happenings of the market from the previous day.

OK... that was kind of boring, but it's still a slice of life!

Teacher & Student

"In my eyes, Joe Torre is more than a Hall of Fame manager. He is a friend for life, and the relationship we have shared has helped shape me in ways that transcend the game of baseball. His class, dignity, and the way he respected those around him -- from ballplayers to batboys -- are all qualities that are easy to admire, but difficult to duplicate. I have known Mr. Torre for a good majority of my adult life, and there has been no bigger influence on my professional development. It was a privilege to play for him on the field, and an honor to learn from him off the field."
- Capt. Derek Jeter

I don't think anyone has summed up who Joe Torre is better than the Captain. That's what we would expect from the perfect student talking about the perfect teacher. Personalities like Torre and Jeter's are ideal in type of team and are rare. It's important for the Yankees to keep the core team together because they possess this type of camaraderie. Whatever manager they choose will probably keep the Torre tradition since they're picking from Mattingly, Girardi & Pena. The question is... will Posada, Rivera & Pettitte return? All three of these guys along with Jeter are great influences for the kids on the team. They can teach the younger players the same way Torre taught them.

Dying Art of Logo Design

I can't believe how much the principles of logo design get lost in the business world these days. The company I work for is releasing a new product that is in need of a new logo. So the graphic design department held an internal contest amongst themselves. If you're a true artist, you wouldn't believe the crap they produced. Most looked more like graphical compositions laid out to fit within the dimensions given. Some of them even used photos! Did these people ever create a logo before?

A good logo should be usable at various sizes. The traditional practice is 1" for business cards and stationery. That's why photos and intricate elements shouldn't be used. Logos should work in one color because they're often used on B&W media. The one color rule also allows the logo to be beveled or embossed easily. Closed forms also tend to be appealing. This means the logo should form some kind of simple shape and a conceptual shape. It shouldn't have several random objects sticking out of it.

Transformers: Alternate Movie

YouTube user alexfung23 has posted the entire Transformers video game story. For the most part, it follows the same sequence as the movie, but there are tons of bad guys and it's all out action. I played the demo before and the graphics are really good. And more importantly, the transformation animation is fluid and fast. It takes a while to get used to the play controls though. I don't really have time to play these games anymore, but still like to look at the graphics. So it's cool that someone posted the whole game. It's like watching an alternate version of the movie. I just embedded the first part, but you can get the rest by clicking here and typing "Transformers" into the "Videos" box (alexfung23 has over 500 videos). Enjoy!

Raging Bulls

It still surprises me that the Bulls have a tendency to win the second game of a back-to-back instead of the norm, which is to win the first game. Most teams will win the first, get either complacent or fatigued and lose the second. The Bulls will usually get beaten in the first game, get pissed and win the second. Fatigue never seems to be a factor for this all-hustle team.

The Bulls looked sharp against their division rival Pacers. Nocioni is as consistent as ever. It was good to see Duhon get some minutes. I'm glad he made it through the trade rumors so far since he adds a lot of depth to the bench. Gordon is still injured and missed both weekend games. I'm anxious to see him because the fact that he's sitting out so long has fueled rumors of a trade with the Lakers. We all know Ben Gordon isn't as good as Kobe Bryant, but when you factor in personality, work ethic, off-court behavior and chemistry with teammates, I wouldn't even trade Gordon alone for Bryant. Hopefully we get to see BG play this week.

Joe Torre

Joe Torre showed why he is loved by his fans and respected by his rivals at today's press conference. He's just a master at handling the media and is able to express everything on his mind in a diplomatic way. He didn't point fingers and didn't demean anybody although us fans think some people deserve it! A leader like Joe is very rare in any type of organization. He's always calm, can solve the worst conflicts peacefully, can stitch together teamwork from unmatched pieces. Whenever Joe Torre is on camera, it's not just about baseball. He's teaching us how to be good people. If he's not managing for the Yankees, someone should hire him for a more important job.., and I'm not talking about sports. Someone with Joe's personality and ability would be perfect for UN diplomat. I think this guy can get Bush and Bin Laden to shake hands. God help us if he ends up managing an American League rival.

3 Birds, 1 Stone

We have the worst elevator etiquette in our office. Check out what happened this morning: Two people were already in the elevator on the first floor. Two slow walking, lazy, chatty women were walking towards the elevator at an incredibly slow speed. The people in the elevator were waiting for the two conceited bitches. I was trying to move quickly, but was behind them and being blocked. Minutes later, when they finally entered through the doors, they took their time moving in, which caused me to move in more slowly. To top it off, as the elevator moved up, one of the chatterboxes realized that she never pushed her floor number.

1. The two people in the elevator were delayed
2. I was blocked and slowed down
3. One of the idiots missed her floor and delayed herself

...three birds with but a stone.

Farewell Joe Torre

So the Joe Torre era ended today after he turned down the Yankees offer of $5 million for 1 year + a potential $3 million in post-season bonuses. I felt that coming during the post game interview after the Yankees were eliminated. He said his farewells and looked very relieved. He wasn't going to come back whether it was rejecting an offer or getting fired. That's disappointing for both the players and the fans, but I totally understand him and think he deserves to relax now. Torre enjoyed managing such a great group of guys, but the unnecessary pressure of Steinbrenner is more than enough reason to retire and relax. Hopefully the players still stick with the team after this. It's a little uncertain because Torre's departure wasn't under bad terms. If he was fired, I think Rivera and Posada would most certainly not come back. The offseason should be very interesting and it's going to start with A-Rod, who needs to make a decision 10 days after the World Series.

Enjoying the Preseason

With the Yankees early exit, I'm left with 3 weeks of no TV watching almost... just waiting for the NBA season to start. I've been following the preseason and enjoying it. The Bulls are looking good so far. In the first game, they were killing the Bucks with their starters on the floor, then gave the game away when the bench came out in the 4th quarter. That's OK though. Preseason is the time to test things out. Hinrich looks great as he put on over 10 lbs of much needed muscle. I'm glad he took off from Team USA. Nocioni looks fully recovered and is in much better shape than the end of last season. In their second game, they beat one of the best offensive teams in the Mavericks. And last night, they dominated the Wizards. They've had the Wizard's number ever since being eliminated by them from the playoffs 3 years ago. If this pattern continues, the Bulls will hopefully dominate Detroit this season.

The Knicks just lost to the Celtics by 40 points! I know it's preseason, but I still have to laugh. That's bad... 40 points! If this is a preview of things to come, then the Celtics on paper is the real deal and the Knicks still can't translate their stats onto the floor. 12 Days left!

Clockwork Apple: Diego de Vega

East Coast Black Fox

When I see Diego, I know that I'm on time. He rides towards the middle of the 7 train because it provides optimal positioning for getting out at Grand Central. He's about 6 ft tall if not taller, well built and has a neutral facial expression. Diego wears a nice business suit each day for his daytime alter ego. The large briefcase he carries contains the garments of his true identity, Zorro! No kidding... this guy looks more like Zorro than Antonio Banderas. He's got the perfect 'stache for it too! I can't figure out where he keeps his sword though... maybe he has one in the office and one in his cave.

It's no wonder that the 7 line is one of the safest trains in the MTA with Batgirl watching the rear and Zorro in the middle. I wonder which hero's taking point!

Ten Random Chain Survey Questions for 2007-10-15

1. When was the last time you took a nap? today @ 11am on the train.
2. Do you only drink bottled water? most of the time
3. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? Mom
4. To text you? Charlene
5. Who was your favorite teacher in middle school? Mrs. Ekdahl
6. What are you doing tonight? Web design
7. What will you be doing in 2 hours? Web design
8. What did you do over the weekend? Watched District B13, The Hard Corps & some baseball; B-day party
9. Most hated food? chicken feet
10. Who was the last person to annoy you? sales rep

Joba's Job

It's been talked about and planned that Joba Chamberlain will be part of the Yankees starting rotation next year. I think that's crazy! He's done such a great job this year at the setup role and was the only reliable bullpen player other than Mariano Rivera. It makes more sense to keep him as the setup man. The Chamberlain taking the 8th inning and Rivera the 9th, the Yankees only have to play 7 innings of baseball. They just need to find a 7th inning guy so they can have the Quantrill-Gordon-Rivera combo of a few years ago. Assuming the team stays intact, they should look to get some starting pitching that can rotate with Wang and Pettitte. Leave Chamberlain where he is. He's nearly perfect there!

Happy Buddha

Vegetarian Restaurant

Location: 135-37 37th Avenue, Flushing, NY
Cuisine: Vegetarian, Chinese, Organic
Phone: 718-358-0079
Website: www.happybuddha.com
Prices: About $17 per person
Credit Cards: n/a

Food: 8
Service: 7
Value: 7
Environment: 9

Visits: 1

I ate at this place years ago and finally got a chance to go back recently. I didn't realize that they used organic ingredients, but then again, I wasn't paying attention to that until a few months ago. This is a Buddhist restaurant, so none of the meat, eggs or dairy items here are "real." Since my first visit, this place has been completely remodeled. The staff and menu are also different, so I just listed this as one visit. Here's what I had with my family:

Organic Crab Cakes
This dish is actually a crab cake salad with fresh organic vegetables and a soy-based dressing. The taste was great, but it could have used a bit more than 3 pieces of crab. Either that or they should rename it to "garden salad with crab."

Zhi Zhi Beef
The fake beef was pretty close in taste to real beef. The familiarity of the sauce and vegetables that come with the conventional version of this dish also helped the flavor. This is a fun dish for omnivores like myself to order.

Seafood Casserole
There were a lot of ingredients in this one including fake fish and fake shrimp.

Eel
The fake fish meat was placed in a cylindrical mold and wrapped in a seaweed sheet to look like a section of eel. The seaweed added a fishlike taste.

Smoothies
The smoothies are all freshly squeezed organic fruits. The one I had was made up of kiwi, apples & lemon.

Tech Deals of the Week (10/14-10/20)

Sony 8 GB Flash Drive for $74.98 @ Staples
Last week's 8 GB PNY drive for $57.98 was super rare. This Sony model at $74.98 is the normal sale price, so it's still good.

Targus USB Keypad for $9.99 @ Office Depot
This accessory is a must for laptop users who do a lot of calculations on their computers.

Battery Charger for $9.99 @ Radio Shack
This charges AA & AAA batteries. At $9.99 it's even worth the Radio Shack risk! Actually, this is a good product. My father has one and uses it all the time.

Keep it Simple, Starbucks!

I don't usually go to Starbucks for coffee despite being surrounded by 5 of them. If I go, it's for social occasions like catching up with friends. I always order the same thing no matter which coffee shop I go to (there are 3 different ones around my office that I frequent)... a medium iced hazelnut coffee with milk and sugar. So it confused the Starbucks barista when I said "medium iced hazelnut coffee with milk and sugar." In Starbucks, it's called "grande cafe con leche with hazelnut flavor." Can you believe that? All of that fanciness for the same damn drink! One of my instructors used to say K.I.S.S. for "keep it simple stupid!" It's more efficient for everybody if Starbucks uses normal names for normal everyday things. So... keep it simple Starbucks!

Bryant Trade is on... Again!

This time, the Lakers acknowledged that they're going to try to work things out. Of course this makes me nervous again because I wouldn't want Bryant on the Bulls for any combination of players... and we still Jerry Reinsdorf on staff. This time around, Bryants value is lower and the team that receives him won't have to deplete as much as before. We've already got a good team with 4 solid starters and a deep 12-man roster. Messing with any of that still risks not making the playoffs. John Paxson worked hard to put together an egoless team that's all about chemistry. The Bulls have Wallace, Hinrich, Gordon and Deng as definite starters. There's so much other talent that they can't decide on the power forward position. And their versatility allows them to switch from a small, fast lineup to a big defensive one. They would lose a lot of this if Bryant came aboard. Hopefully Bryant ends up on the Mavs or something... anywhere but Chicago!

A Yankees Exodus?

It's been a few days since the Yankees' elimination from the playoffs and Joe Torre's fate is still up in the air. I've mentioned before that the Yankees are a close ball club... very family like, with Joe Torre as the father figure. It's been reported that if he goes, so does Mariano Rivera, the greatest closer in the history of baseball. I have a feeling that it wouldn't stop there. Anyone with an expiring contract could end up leaving if Torre isn't the manager. Jorge Posada, another Yankees lifer and ringbearer can also become a free agent. 2007 MVP and potential greatest player in baseball history, Alex Rodriguez can opt out of his contract at the end of the season. Andy Pettitte, yet another champ could also decide not to play and return back to retirement. All of these players are key components to the Yankees' core. If they all left, there's no chance of even making the playoffs next year. They just wouldn't be the Yankees without these guys.

If we look back into history, we all know that if Jordan's Bulls stayed together, they would easily have 10 or more championships. If the players & Phil Jackson got along with the management, Jordan would never have had the baseball break and wouldn't have retired so early. Rodman wouldn't have retired and Pippen wouldn't have gone to the Rockets.

Hopefully Steinbrenner isn't dumb enough to repeat history!

Blueprint for an Athlete

Last month, Ben Gordon posted his daily offseason schedule, summarizing a typical day from 7am-11pm. If you read the whole thing you'll see that he spends is entire day building his body, working on his game and taking care of the business aspects of basketball. This is the ideal schedule every athlete should follow to improve their games and stay out of trouble. All of the Bulls follow a similar schedule. They concentrate on basketball and community service all the time and avoid parties, drinking and strip bars. That's why they have the reputation of being the hardest working team in the NBA and why they were able to make it into the 2nd round of the playoffs, taking 2 games from the best team in the East.

I also didn't get a chance to praise Ben Gordon on the 3rd annual Ben Gordon Day event in August. Ben Gordon Day is a basketball camp sponsored by the city of Mt. Vernon (it's in NY, but this city follows whatever team Gordon is on... Bulls).

Yanked Out

It appeared that things were about to turn around when the Yankees won Game 3 on Sunday. Phil Hughes pitched a great relief effort to bail out the injured Roger Clemens. The offense came alive finally. However, Game 4 felt just like Game 1. Wang pitched another bad game... at home this time. Mussina came in to relieve him, but also gave up runs. The offense was somewhat there, but not enough and not at the right time. Jeter had his worst post-season ever. The blame will go on Joe Torre, who seemed to give a farewell speech during the post-game conference. The real cause of this early exit is George Steinbrenner though. The big baby at the top just wants a ring and no excuses. This kind of pressure caused players to go for the homer every time instead of playing baseball and enjoying the game. Well... at least the Yankees had an amazing 2nd half comeback to make it into the postseason. And unlike the Mets, at least the effort was always there.

Ten Random Chain Survey Questions for 2007-10-08

1. Do you cook naked? No... that's gross... and dangerous
2. Do you do laundry regularly or let it pile up? regularly
it's piling up...
3. Do you prefer tap water or bottled water? distilled
4. Are you a night owl or a morning person? both
5. Do you prefer blinds or drapes? blinds
6. Do you prefer a car that gets good gas mileage or one that looks hot? neither... it's all about speed
7. Are black garments a large part of your wardrobe or only for funerals? yes... I'm Chinese... we wear white to funerals
8. What's the yummiest food in your fridge right now? organic red apples
9. How many places have you lived? 6
10. Do you enjoy writing in your blog more or reading other people's? writing because I'm getting something off my mind

PKNY Live

David Belle, founder of parkour was in town today for a live, outdoor interview with Alec Wilkinson of The New Yorker and of course, a demonstration of his sport. It was a pretty good turnout at Jacob Javits Plaza. I got there about 20 minutes before the event and it was already packed. I was able to get a standup spot in the front and off to the side, but still saw most of the action. The demo itself was amazing. Traceurs from all over were part of it. I saw representatives from The Tribe and APK. David Belle scaled the 20+ ft free-standing walls three times and hopped across some of them as easily as a normal person would walk across a street. And this was all live... no cuts, no special equipment or stunt doubles. If he messed up, his career would've ended today. Even more amazing, this guy practices parkour on a daily basis and has never broken a bone! Belle also didn't break a sweat after his demo!

Related Links: APK, David Belle, District B13, No Obstacles, Parkour (definition)

Tech Deals of the Week (10/7-10/13)

WOW! The flash drive sales are back this week!

Sony 1 GB Flash Drive for $4.99 @ Circuit City
This is the lowest price per GB I've come across. The only con is the storage. Only the 1 GB model has this price ratio. I guess it's still a good size for backing up your office documents still. You can't go wrong with $4.99, but it just might take up more deskspace than you'd like!

Sandisk 2 GB SD Card for $19.99
This is the lowest flash card I've come across for the week.

PNY 4 GB Flash Drive for $29.98 @ Staples
This is the lowest price for a 4 GB flash drive since July 22 and the lowest price ever for the PNY 4 GB model.

PNY 8 GB Flash Drive for $57.98 @ Staples
The price/GB on this one even beats the one above and is the lowest price ever for any 8 GB flash drive.

Acer 19" Widescreen LCD for $139.98 @ Staples
The Acer 19" widescreen makes yet another appearance.

TrendNET 54 Mbps 802.11g Router & Adapters for $2.99 @ CompUSA
They're back down to $2.99, but only for Sunday & Monday.

Apple Cider Vinegar Miracle Health System

By Patricia & Paul Bragg

I've been using apple cider vinegar mainly as a natural cure for acid reflux. I had no idea it could be used for all of these other things. Apple Cider Vinegar Miracle Health System mentions things like applying it to skin to heal cuts and burns, bathing in an ACV solution for skin problems and vaporized ACV for headaches. Patricia Bragg covers more than just ACV though. She also goes into the organic diet and basically says all of the same things as Kevin Trudeau in Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About though the two are not associated. Patricia Bragg and the Bragg family are also the name behind Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar, Bragg Organic Olive Oil and Bragg Liquid Aminos. So I expected this book to be very salesy, but it's totally not. It's a great health book and an easy read. It's also a good reference book to go back to for looking up the various ACV applications. The back of the book also lists 3 full pages of uses for conventional vinegar so that you won't have to throw it out after reading this book!

Related Sites: Amazon, Bragg Health Products

Too Many "Artists" in the Studio

No matter what product is being developed, whether it's a book, video game or website, design will always be part of it. Product development teams usually consist of artists, technical people, editorial, marketing, sales and business people, but everyone wants a piece of the design. Depending on the company, the artist (the one person qualified to do design work) is usually overruled by salespeople who don't know jack about art. That's why we see a lot of hideous looking products out there. Design is an important factor because it's the first thing a customer sees. Everyone is buying Apple's iPod and iPhone for the look. Many other manufacturers have products that are much cheaper with more features, but Apple put a lot of thought into their design and took over the MP3 market almost immediately. Website designs have a psychological effect on its users. Certain colors, shapes and layouts can suggest users to read, click and interact. However, sales wants to riddle the page with ads because ads make money. They're not thinking about how poor placement can drive users away from the site. In order for products to be successful, companies need to trust design work to their artists. Salespeople should just stick to selling and tech people should stick to working on the functions.

Bugged

The New York Yankees played the Cleveland Indians, but lost to the Canadian Soldiers. Does that make sense at all? Pettitte pitched a great game in a duel with Carmona. The Yankees had a 1-0 lead going into the 8th inning, but that's when the stadium was overrun by swarms of bugs called Canadian Soldiers. Chamberlain, who pitched a great 7th inning was obviously distracted as he pitched the worst inning of his year in the 8th and allowed the Indians to tie it up. Naturally, this went to the 11th inning with Rivera taking the 9th & 10th. But as we all know, there's nothing left once Rivera's night is done. The Yankees had to win it in the 9th or 10th, but couldn't score any runs. This whole series has the same feel as last year's 1st round exit. If it wasn't for those bugs, the Yankees would have won. That's home field advantage for you! Maybe we should fire a few stray bullets during game 3 in the Bronx!

Digging Another Hole

The Yankees are digging themselves another hole by losing the opening game of the ALDS. Wang pitched one of his worst games of the year and gave up 2 home runs. The weakness of the Yankees is pitching. Wang was their only sure win, but he's not that good on the road. There's not much hope after him. Pettitte probably has a 50/50 shot at a win. Both he and Clemens are used to pitching big games and have a lot of experience, but the reality of it is... they're both old. Without a Game 1 win, they're going to face the same fate as last year and have a round 1 exit.

Some other notes on the night: LeBron James was at the game... and as a Yankees fan! I never knew he was a Yankees fan before. It must've been tough to be surrounded by Cleveland fans and route for the opposing team. There was also some dude wearing a Mets shirt in the crowd. I always wondered why fans of other teams show up for the wrong game. A Yankees/Indians game has absolutely nothing to do with the Mets.

Subway Tales: It Doesn't Suck!

It's an unwritten rule in NYC subway stations that you're supposed to walk on the left side of the escalator and stand on the right. It's like the fast lane and slow lane on the highway. I'm not going to rip people in the wrong lane though. That's too obvious. This post is about the people who walk up and down on the left side as they should, but then stop walking before they hit the end as if they're trying to avoid getting sucked in. Come on people! It can't suck you in... there's not enough space! Just keep walking... it's totally safe... as long as your name isn't Kenny and you're not wearing an orange hooded jacket.

2007-2008 Bulls: Longer & More Athletic

The Bulls retained their core and most of the supporting cast from last year. So how did they get longer and more athletic? The great thing about keeping a hard-working core is they grow and improve rapidly. Deng's experience at FIBA Europe this Summer allowed him to play a Michael Jordan type role since he was "the man" on the English National team. Because of this, he can be used as a shooting guard for the upcoming season... perhaps, the long, defensive guard they've been looking for. When Deng is playing a guard position, it allows the front court to get bigger. They can have Thomas and Noah out there. The hard-working Ben Gordon has been getting better as a point guard every year. He's a great backup for Hinrich. They can easily switch up if one of them has a bad shooting night. Sefolosha's experience with the Swiss National Team probably gave him a lot of experience as well. He'll be another guard option. Hinrich is in top shape after skipping out on Team USA. Once again they are a deep team with no egos.

Willie Survives the Collapse

It was confirmed today that the Mets will retain Willie Randolph as their General Manager, which is the right decision. He's the one guy that's responsible for the good things this season. The Mets did an organizational face lift 2 years ago that tried to build the Mets from the ground up, basing it on Yankee-like values. Randolph was a Yankee and will always be a Yankee, so he's brought Joe Torre's mentality and way of managing to the Mets dugout. This gave the team a sense of camaraderie. Guys got along with each other. They weren't just teammates, but friends... like Torre's Yankees. However, this system only works if you have a team made up with the right personalities. The Mets obviously don't because they had guys throughout the year acting cocky and overconfident during interviews. I think what the Mets should have done 2 years ago was replace the management and not the players. Think about how successful this team would be if Randolph had guys like Mike Piazza, Mike Cameron, Richard Hidalgo, Todd Zeile, Shane Spencer, the list goes on. These guys aren't as physically talented as the current team, but they play the game the right way. A coachable team has great chemistry. Remember that many of the Yankees championship teams had high chemistry and almost no star power. I'm glad the good guys like David Wright and Jose Reyes didn't get mixed up in the arrogant quotes.

Enough about the team of the future. I can go back to them when we actually reach the future. Stay tuned for the postseason, featuring the team of the present, the pride of New York... the Yankees.

My Utility Belt

Adding an RSS feed to a reader, email client or website isn't the most user-friendly thing to do. I loaded my feed into this site called Grazr so I could offer my blog headlines as a gadget. It's at the bottom of the right navigation. You can simply click on the "+" sign to customize the look and grab the code for embedding on your site or community profile.

Clockwork Apple: Cassandra Chan

Dark Angel

When I see Cassandra, it means I'm running late going from Flushing to Manhattan. I try to catch the Manhattan bound train by 7:30am. Cassandra comes in at around 7:40am. I see her a lot because we have the same positioning preferences. We like riding in the 2nd or 3rd car from the back. Years ago in one of my previous jobs, I would ride the 7 to Times Square and being in one of these cars gave me perfect position to be the first one up the stairs at the final stop. For another job I had, I would take the 7 to Grand Central and would try to position myself in the middle. So I saw Cassandra only on days that I had to get onto the 3rd car because the train was leaving. My next job required me to get off at 5th Avenue, so like the Grand Central plan, I would head towards the middle or front and only see her if I was barely catching the train. Throughout my 5 years in these 3 different jobs, Cassandra has followed the same pattern, riding from Flushing to 5th Avenue and transferring to the uptown B, D, F or V like clockwork.

What's even freakier about Cassandra's pattern is I've seen her several times on the evening commute too! And again we have the same car preferences, going for the 1st or 2nd car at the front of the train. She rides the Manhattan bound train 1 stop to get a seat... which I do all the time when I'm catching the 7 at 5th Avenue. The front of the train on the Flushing bound 7 has the best positioning to exit on the modern side of the station. I now operate mostly in Manhattan, but still see her when I do my Queens rounds.

So why do I notice Cassandra of all clockwork characters? Well... if you see her, you'd agree that she's hard to miss as she's one of the most attractive people I've ever seen. She also reminds me of Cassandra Cain (aka Batgirl). She dresses in all black (occasionally gray), doesn't seem to speak and moves like a ninja. I've seen her in the middle of rush hour crowds entering a train and she somehow manages to get a seat all the time.

So here's a positive post about someone for a change. NYC could use more Cassandras and less of my other Subway Tales characters!