New Start

I haven't blogged for a while. Probably because it's hard to get things in my mind organized into a blog post. It might be because of my increasingly long list of interests. I envy those who know exactly what they want and have a focus in their lives. I lack that. My interests as of now not including the obvious (my family and friends):

• Sports
• Writing
  
• The World of Warcraft
• Starcraft II
• Probably Diablo III in the near future
  
• Healthcare (most recently relating to my torn ACL)
• China
• Social Media
• Comic Books
  
• Zombies

I will try to get to these things in more detail in the future. I love to write but don't do it enough. Hopefully this can be a sanctuary for me to grow and discover myself. No homo.

Crown His Ass!

I live in China. I am working when most people are sleeping or just getting off work... So when Lebron James was carving an even deeper place for himself in the annals of NBA history I wasn't there to see it. I WASN'T a Witness... I didn't see the corenation of King James. And I'm jelious. Fortunatly I have youtube.



My favorite stuff is when he taking those off balance, off the dribble shots from 3-point range. Hard to describe the feeling a fan get's when he's watching an undeniable force on the court.

Links:

Simmons' Take

Broussard's Take

True Hoop's Take

google.cn

Google the world powerhouse of search engines has decided today to bow down to the powers that be in China so as to have more access to their more than 111 million internet users. Whether this is a good business decision or a cop out is irrelevant (for me at least) considering you can access the America version of google here as easily as it is to make fun of Paris Hilton (Something I have surprisingly stayed away from in this space so maybe this isn't a good metaphor...).

Google agreed to omit Web content that the country's government finds objectionable, and Google will base its censorship decisions on guidance provided by Chinese government officials. Even the most idealistic person can see that there was really no other choice if the company was going to continue it's battle with yahoo. Maybe Sergey Brin and Larry Page need to change their corporate policy from "Don't Be Evil" to, "to make an omlette you need to break a few eggs."

It's entirely possible that somewhere down the road, China will lift it's restrictions on the complete dissemination of information, but by then, if Google hadn't had made a move there would have been no move to make. That being said, I don't applaud Google for it's actions, but I can't really blame them either. It also needs to be mentioned that Google denied US authorities in their attempts to subpoena the searches of millions of Americans just last week, one of only 4 companies to do so. You must say that where they have the ability to make a difference they try to do so.

The Fact that they are not offering the gmail or blog applications in China show a foresight that may have prevented a major PR blunder if Google was eventually asked to give up information from individual users. Both Yahoo and Microsoft were either forced to give up information or shutdown sites the government was opposed to. If gone unappeased China would most likely boot whoever was not giving them what they want out of the country.

In the end China is only doing what the Bush white house would be doing if they had the power which doesn't exactly instill confidence in my already shaky opinion of 'Dubya'. This can be seen in Bush's secret wire tapping of phones that he didn't have the right to tap as well as the aforementioned subpoenaing of search results. Maybe we, as Americans should be looking closer to home before nailing China to a cross for their censorship laws. China is far from perfect but America is sneaking up on them faster than we think.

From the, "that's very interesting and almost scary because it makes sense in a conspiracy type of way but I'm not actually saying that..." Department

Most of the world's supply of [Shikimic acid] comes from the seed of the star anise, the fruit of a tree grown in China. As demand for Tamiflu has soared, the price of shikimic acid from that source has spiked from $45 a kilogram to over $600 in the last year. There are also persistent fears the Chinese government will ban export of the element in order to secure its own supplies.

Shikimic acid is used to make the synthetic element oseltamivir, marketed by global pharmaceutical megafirm Roche Laboratories Inc. as Tamiflu.

Here's a link to the full article.

So the trouble started in China, and most of the world's supply of the only thing that really can stop the bird flu is in China... Forget I said anything.

You would worship him as a god too if he got you 3 super bowl titles in 4 years. Can't wait for the games tomorrow. Being in China I can't get the games at a decent hour. 9:30 tomorrow morning is as decent as it gets. My picks are Seattle, Indy, Chicago, New England, all against the spread. I love this game.

Golblet of Crap...

I was just trying to get a rise out of you... So I just got back from the new Harry Potter and I have to say it was OK. I've never been to a theater in China so that was a new experience. I just felt like I needed to see a good copy of the movie to evaluate it properly. The sound quality is horrible in the theaters here so they try to make up for it by putting the volume up to "ear bleeding" levels. And it cost 70 RMB, which is about 9 dollars. Surprising considering most things in China are cheaper than their American counterpart. I was feeling truly American after having lunch at McDonald's so I didn't mind much.... besides, it's Harry Potter for god's sake!

So the movie is alright until I realize that I'm 23 and alone in a theater full of Kids and their parents. I spend the rest of the movie thinking about what this means. A couple of quick thoughts on the movie that I had between pondering my life:

1) Love Voldemort. Fiennes was and is going to be good in this role. I want to know if they pushed his nose down using makeup or they just used CGI.

2) Not enough time to cover everything. Minor characters are given the backseat to harry and his crew which is good and bad. Good in that it's the only way the movie stays 2 hours 20 min or so, but bad in that what's great about the books is the many characters and the virtual world that Rowlands weaves.

3) What's with moaning mertle hitting on potter when he's taking a bath? That was a little disturbing... pretty soon they are just going to go all out with sex scenes and an NC-17 rating. Mark my words.

4) Why doesn't harry just conjure up his broom for the third task like he did in the first. I mean he did have his wand didn't he... and he was allowed to use it...

5) since when was "Bloody Hell" considered not a curse and something Children should be subjected to numerous times? Think about it... and then think about what this world is coming too. And no I'm not 80 years old.

6) I say we need a new Harry Potter. Daniel Radcliffe has lost his edge. (I'm just saying this to incite discussion amongst my readers... yes readers)

7) is anyone else excited for the day the 7th movie comes out on DVD so as to facilitate the worlds most magical marathon ever? If you didn't already know, I am a major dork.

8) I also can't wait for the scene in the near future when the entire Griffindor House has an intervention for Neville Longbottom to confront him about his weight loss, punctuated by Hermine's line "Bloody hell! you need to lay off the Blow you git!"

9) Why is Harry continually amazed by magic? At the beginning of the movie he walks into a smallish sized tent and the inside is huge. It's takes him a couple minutes to get over this and all he can utter is "I love Magic." Get over it Harry. You've been a wizard in training for too long to let your jaw hang agap over magic.

I give the movie props for moving in a darker direction but it was something that was called for so not too many props (should I say "much" here... is props plural or not? Maybe if I was black I would know this...). The movies have become a little to cookie-cutter to me if you know what I mean. Maybe a little too fast paced but all and all I think they did a good job on it. Will be looking forward to the next one because I really can't stop now. Everybody is doing it, is another one of my excuses. The End.