Black Friday Actually

It turns out that Black Friday did very well this year. So maybe it just failed in the electronics department... or maybe I was just disappointed in it. I had a lot of friends find great deals on clothing, no one I knew went crazy with electronics like we used to. There were a few good deals on flash drives, memory andd mice, but nothing verly exciting. The Asus Eee Transformer was on sale for $250 @ Best Buy, but it's well known that the Transformer Prime is coming out soon and also, you can't expect Best Buy to have enough stock with their avenue long lines. Strangely enough, Amazon did well with it's Kindle Fire despite it not having a sale price. It was just it's standard $200. I guess people already had their eye on it and felt the $200 was already a steal.

Cyber Monday was more of the same with stores selling leftovers and some even continuing the sales all week long, futher diluting what used to be a one-time Black Friday event.

Clockwork Apple: Jill Chu

Jill looks just like a friend of mine, who she'snamed after with her long, curly brunette hair. I don't always see her because she's not as exact as some of  the other clockwork characters. She won't pick the same spot in the same car each day, but seems to have a range of 3 car, like myself. She gets on before  I do, probably at a very early stop because she's already settled in and doing makeup for almost the entire commute. She does it with precision and experience too, so she's used to the curves, fast and slow points of the ride. That says that she's been at the same job for a while. 

Something else noticeable about Jill is her iPhone 4 case. It's a silicone one with long rabbit ears sticking out of the top. And she has this in more than one color. I've seen her with pink and orange. That can't be an efficient case. The ears would just get in the way all the time as it takes up a lot more space than it needs to. It would also look silly when she uses it as a phone or takes pictures with it. Jill also carries a matching red and white backpack and duffle bag.

Game On!

The players and owners finally agreed to a deal earlier today, so it seems like there will be an NBA season after all. Training camps will begin on 12/9. They are able to get in enough games for it to matter... 66 instead of 82. In the 1998 lockout, the season was just 50 games. The season will push a little bit later into the Summer than usual and will begin on Christmas Day. The Bulls will face off with the Lakers as previously scheduled, which will be part of a nationally televised triple header. The other 2 games are the Final rematch between the Heat and Mavericks and New York/Boston rivalry. Those are going to be 3 great games.

This should be interesting for the Bulls because with the late start, the Bulls are passing by their annual Circus Trip. Hopefully they can take advantage and get off to a good start.

This isn't a done deal because the agreement still needs to be finalized. Either side can still reject it and we'd be back to square one, but this is the first time I actually feel positive about it. They're talking about the season layout in detail. Both sides just want to get some games played. We'll stay tuned and see.

Derrick Rose - Assassin

This is a fitting commercial for Derrick Rose because he shoots like an assassin with his clutch circus plays!

Black Friday Fail

This was the first Black Friday I skipped. I didn't see enough items or any single item that motivated me to wake up at the crack of dawn the day after Thanksgiving. I usually hit Radio Shack and Staples because they historically have carried enough stock to follow through with what they advertise. But I didn't see that many good deals this year. Staples had some good flash deals, but nothing that blew me away. Last year, I at least picked up some mid-range items like projectors and DVD players. Flash drives/memory aren't enough motivation. Many stores were advertising "Black Friday," but actually just offering regular sale prices. Could this be the death of Black Friday? I feel like the term has gotten corrupted. CompUSA throws around that term all the time on random Fridays. Some stores open their doors on Thursday night.

Subway Tales: Clark Kent Effect

On my way home today, a colleague of mine sat right across from me. I looked right at her to give him a "hello" nod, but he didn't notice. He looked away and then back. I waved and he still didn't notice. We couldn't have been more than a few feet apart! I finally called his name and he really didn't recognize me without the glasses I wear during the day. I also changed my shirt as usual. So I simple change really does a lot for appearances. This colleague is someone I'm very friendly with, so he wouldn't do the typpical NYC ignore. You might think that Superman's disguise as Clark Kent is silly, but people really do look different with/without glasses, expecially in a city used to looking the other way.

Subway Tales: Face-to-Back

Some people just can't stop talking. There are many situations during a commute where people need to move in single file, like on an escalatror, narrow path or revolving door. I notice a llloot that people who trvel in twoss will keep talking even when switched to single file formation. IIt makes no sense because the guy in the back won't be ablle to hear, especially with all of the city's ambient sounds. It's a step worse on an escalator because the 2 peoples' heads will be at different levels, allowing for more interference. And through a revolving door, it's even worse because all sound is cutoff anyway. 

Transformer Prime: Ultimate Tablet

ASUS is on a roll. Their U series is the best all around laptop in the market. I played with the U36 in the store and it really lives up to its specs. They also released a wave of tablets that were all interesting in their own way. The one that had my eye was the Eee Transformer as it tried to be a laptop and tablet at the same time. Less than a year later, the 2nd generation is already about to come out and it kills all tablets in specs. Check it out...

iPad 2
- 1 Ghz Dual Core Processor
- 512 MB RAM
- 16-64 GB Storage
- 1024x768
- .3 MP Front Camera
- .7 MP Rear Camera
- 10 hr Battery (really around 9)

Eee Transformer Prime
- 1.3 Ghz Quad Core Processor
- 1 GB RAM
- 32-64 GB Storage + Micro SD Slot
- 1280x800
- 1.2 MP Front Camera
- 8 MP Rear Camera
- 12 hr Battery

It beats he iPad 2 in every way and significantly.

Clockwork Apple: Mitu

Normally I don't write about people that are obviously there everyday... just people who by chance are. I'll make an exception for Mitu Busuioc though because he operates like clockwork. Mitu is the accordion player in the Bryant Park station. He's in the tunnel between 5th and 6th Avenues during the morning rush. He's playing with a smile all the time and proudly has a banner hung up next to him for self promotion... that's how I know his name. The thing I noticed is his precision. I go through there about the same time each day and he's playing the same song. If I'm a little late or a little early, it's a different song. So he follows a fixed schedule. It's actually possible to tell time when passing through the corridor!

Sword of Azrael: Guilty Forever

Since there's no NBA right now, I've been watching a lot of random TV shows. Last night, I caught an old episode of Law & Order: SVU. It was the one about a rape victim protecting her rapist because over the years, he became paralzed from the waist down from a bicycle accident. The victim became very spiritual after her atttack and had since forgiven the rapist. The main characters, Stabler and Benson made thhe arrest at the end which revealed the crippled attacker to the shock of the detectives. The episode was supposed to give sympathy to the criminal or at least make people think twice about it. But the guy in the wheelchair should be locked up, no questions asked and no second thoughts. He still raped 4 women and an unrelated bike injury should have nothing to do with it. Most of the episodes of SVU are good, but this one was kind of pointless.

Mike Tyson "Never Ducks Anyone"

The Pacquiao/Marquez fight would have been good for boxing if it wasn't their 3rd stalemate. It was a great fight between 2 evenly matched athletes. The problem is the fans wanted something decisive... a KO. While this may pave the way for a 4th match, it will likely be better than Pacquaio/Mayweather if that ever happened. Here's Tyson on the fight and the state of boxing:

Pacquaio vs. Marquez III

Round 1: There was no major damage this round, but Pacquaio landed more and countered more. Marquez missed with a lot of big ones, which left him open for a few hits. It was a good opening round that got the fans into. Both fighters swung and hit. Pacquaio

Round 2: Unlike the first round, the 2nd was a chess match. Marquez hit with a good combo halfway through. Pacquaio countered shortly after, but I think Marquez was slightly better this one. Marquez

Round 3: There wasn't anything notable in this round. Both guys threw combos and blocked each others. Pacquaio just got a good right hand towards the end. This one could go either way. Pacquaio

Round 4: Pacquaio went on attack mode fron the beginning of this round. There asa good variety of punches by both guys. Marquez did a good job of switching high and low punches. Marquez

Round 5: Marquez took this one as he hit with a lot of well-timed punches. He did a good job of matching Pacquiao's footwork, mirroring his movements and choosing when to fire. Pacquiao picked up the pace at the end, but Marquez finished with a nice combo. Marquez

Round 6: Both fighters hit with combos this round, but Pacquaio had the power shots, including a nice uppercut as Marquez dipped. He took the blow though. Pacquaio

Round 7: An aggressive round for both fighters, but this time Marquez got the more power shots. What's amazing is both guys have taken big shots and still look fresh. Marquez

Round 8: This was tough one to judge. Both guys landed good ones. If you listened to the announcers, it sounded like Marquez won. If you turn off the sound, it felt like a draw. Tie

Round 9: Both guys opened fire during the 2nd half. Pacquaio clearly landed more. Pacquaio

Round 10: Another fast-paced round with a lot of exchanges. Both guys hit with power punches. Draw

Round 11: Nothing heavy this round, but Pacquiao hit with a bunch of flurries in the beginning. Marquez looked a little bit tired here. Pacquaio

Round 12: Pacquaio had the stronger finish. Marquez threw a lot, but most were blocked or missed. Pacquaio

The decision went to Pacquaio. I came up with the same, but as you can see, there were 2 rounds I couldn't decide on. If you award those to Marquez, it's a draw. So this one really could have gone either way... it was THAT close.

Panini

My day started out really nice during my morning commute. I sat in my usual spot. Another guy sat 2 seats down because the train wasn't full yet. A couple  of stops later, another guy went between us. He was one of those guys who couldn't judge space. He was obviously too wide, but he sat down anyway. Then he tried to lean back and squeeze in. I didn't give an in inch and neither did the guy to his right. In fact, as he pushed more, I pushed more into his space. A stop later, he got up and went somewhere else. He was replaced by a woman who fit into the space correctly. One  extra flat panini served!

Locked Out

By now each of the NBA team should have played 2-3 games, but we're still in lockout mode with little hope. The 2 sides are meeting pretty often... 2-3 times a week. Each time a meeting is scheduled, the news around it so positive, saying that that there's progress and that there could be a season. There was talk about still getting all the games in... just extending the dates further into the Summer a bit. But all of the meetings have the same results... the 2 sides can't agree after hours of talking. The players want to retain their 57% income... owners want them to get 47% but will settle for 50%.

I lean slightly towards the players because they represent the NBA. They do all of the work on the court. Many of them promote the sport outside of the court because they love what they do. The NBA doesn't make any money if not for the stars. We don't go out to watch games because of the owners. Look at the fan base when LeBron James moved from Cleveland to Miami. That changed both franchises significantly. But in the end, no matter what percentage each side gets, both will be filthy rich. 47% or 57%, players will still have the same lifestyle.

Siri Sucks

One of the features of the new iPhone 4s is something called Siri. This is a voice recognition system that tries to answer questions you ask it. It uses other software on the phone like your calendar or maps. The commercials make it look good because they're scripted. An office worker asks how his day looks and Siri mentions that he has 2 meetings. Another guys asks if he can walk to a location and Siri pulls up a map.

A number of colleagues are super Apple fans, so they got the 4s when it came out. After one of our meetings, we were all playing with Siri and asking it some normal questions like "who won the xxx game last night" and "what is xxx." It could not give an answer that made sense. The idea was to see if it would look up sports news or connect to a dictionary. So Siri is very limited... maybe to the few questions in Apple's commercial. I don't see it as a daily practical thing, especially when it eats up an already short battery life.

DST

Over the weekend, we got an extra hour since it was that time of the year to turn our clocks back. Several years ago, the beginning and end of Daylight Savings Time was expanded in both directions. The objective was energy savings. The more daylight we have, the less electricity people will using turning on their house lights. But when I analyze this, I think it cancels itself out. I woke up this morning and it was bright outside. I didn't have to turn on my studio lights for the 30 min it took me to get ready. But now it's dark earlier. When I got home, my lights went on. That didn't happen last week... I turned them on a little after 6pm.

Bali Open

Ana Ivanovic won the Bali Open Championship over Anabel Medina Garrigues in straight sets, 6-3, 6-0. Maybe a tournament like this will get her off to a good start in the 2012 season. She ends the year on a positive note and in no time, she'll start her annual training for the Australian Open.


Congrats, Ana!

Sword of Azrael: Double Fail

Yesterday, an off duty copy noticed a robbery in progress and was able to call for backup to bust the thieves. A Midtown West store was getting robbed, but both the stealers and victims were criminals. It turns out the store was selling counterfeit Air Jordans. And the thieves were stealing the fakes! So that's 2 levels of robbery! The store owner should get tossed in jail for selling fakes and a double penalty to the guys trying to steal them. All that effort for fake shoes... they'll certainly feel stupid about their efforts when they're sitting in their jail cell.

Phone Size Trend

When cellphones first came out, the goal seemed to be to get their size down as they were larger than cordless landlines. They probably got as small as the Motorola Razr before they became too small for the average hands. I noticed now at business meetings, everyone has their phone on the table because phones have taken steps back to being large again. No one wears it on their belt or sticks it in their pocket anymore. This is due to the popularity and lowering costs of smartphones. Almost everyone on my team has a smartphone now. The iPhone made things popular with it's 4" screen and some Droids have gone larger than that... namely the ones with a slider keyboard. I think 4" is the comfort zone. Anything smaller means a tougher time browsing and using the keyboard. Anything larger makes it a media player and would look silly held to the ear like a phone... almost as silly as someone taking a picture with an iPad.

Screen Size Definition for Devices

A while ago, I did size definitions for laptops because there was a laptop for every size and some gray areas. The same goes for handheld devices.

1-4"
This is the most common size because it covers several small devices like phones, MP3 players, GPA and PDA's. We're seeing a trend towards the 4" size because of the iPhone and myriad of Android smartphones.

5-7"
At this size, I consider the device a media player... a portable item used to watch movies. I feel that it's too small to be considered a tablet. There's not enough room for interaction. The iPad at 9" feels just about right... a little smaller and it wouldn't be the same.

9-12"
These are the tablets, dominated by the 9" iPad and several widescreen 10" Androids. I think the tablet category should max out at 12", The ASUS 12" slate is as large as they should get and it's borderline. That device is almost as heavy as a laptop.

13"+
Handheld devices shouldn't be this large. At 13", we're starting to see low-end LCD's for desktops. It would be silly to carry around a tablet of that size. Thankfully, I don't think anyone makes one!

Fast Break

It was only in recent news that NJ Nets Forward Kris Humphries married Kim Kardashian and they're already getting a divorce. It was a rumor yesterday, but official as of today. I think everyone saw that coming, but it was the short length of marriage that was a bit of a surprise! It was 72 days actually. It takes longer to plan a wedding than that! Just a few days before, there was news circulating about how Kim was looking for an NBA player to date for publicity and how her first choice was former Knick, Danilo Gallinari. Gallinari smartly declined. The odd thing is that it was Kardashian that filed for divorce and not Humphries. I guess the young and rising star was looking for a boost of star power himself. Hopefully he'll be OK if the NBA season gets underway. He's one of the pieces I think the Nets should keep as part of their building process. It would eb a shame if something like this affects him.