Cool News Update: Flying cars are here

The FAA just allowed an exemption for the first road/air legal vehicle. It's not what I imagined, but I definitely want a car that can fly!

I've been looking at new phones for a while

There has been much speculation (much of which has now been revealed) about the new technology being introduced in the mobile phone industry.  HTC introduced the Evo back in April, Apple stirred up their rabid fan club again with the iPhone 4, and now Motorola has announced its new Droid X.  This kind of stuff gets me excited.  That's mostly because I'm a gadget nut who's also in the market for a new phone.  Since no one has decided to let me play with any of these devices myself (also after pre-release hype and research), the majority of my knowledge is based on what I've read, mostly stat sheets and all that good stuff.

When HTC announced their new super phone for Sprint, the Evo 4G, it was all the talk of the mobile device gurus.  It had everything you could want: 1GHz processor, 8mp camera, 720p video recording, HDMI output, front facing camera, etc (all of which now seem standard).  The biggest selling factor was the fact that the phone was 4G (WiMax service) capable, which always ridiculous connection speeds.

Only a month after the announcement of the Evo came Apple's earth shattering, remarkable, miraculous, walking on water iPhone 4 for AT&T.  It was announced to set the standard for what every other mobile device would do in the future, which would be done by catching up to what everyone had already been doing in the first place.  The iPhone 4 has all of the specs the HTC Evo boasts with a few differences.  The camera is a 5mp instead of 8, and I think it's important to note that the iPhone's processing speed is unknown but believed to be near 1 GHz.  Also, the iPhone lacks a HDMI output.  The largest advantage that the iPhone 4 has over other devices is that it sports what Apple calls a "Retina Display," which is a high resolution screen that is supposed to condense pixels to such a small point that the retina doesn't notice.  Is it awesome? I don't know.  I haven't seen it, but this display has received rave reviews.

What I find most amusing is that one of the marquee features of the iPhone is the Face-Time app that allows users to make video calls.  One reason this is amusing to me would be because I've been looking out for technology like this to be made available for a while.  In fact, this is technology that has been available for a while, and the HTC Evo was actually the first device in this lineup to offer the feature, although if you read the reviews of the iPhone 4 you would think video calling was something that Steve Jobs created just for the iPhone.  It's also important to note a major difference between the Evo and iPhone video calling features; the Evo can make video calls over 3G, 4G, and WiFi networks while the iPhone's Face-Time app can only be used over a WiFi connection.

Finally, the latest flagship phone for Verizon Wireless was recently been announced to be the Motorola Droid X.  The original Droid was the first device to actually put a dent in the iPhone's sales, and is seen to be the device that brought Google's Android operating system into the mainstream.  The Droid X sports all the usual specs (1GHz processor, 8mp camera, HDMI output, blah, blah, blah) however, the Droid X surprisingly lacks in specific areas.  The Droid X doesn't have a front facing camera (no video calling) and sports a fairly unimpressive display (barley an upgrade from the previous Droid).  Also, the length is reported to be fairly bulky at 5 inches in length.  Does it sound like a terrible phone?  Absolutely not.  In fact, the preloaded Blockbuster application that allows  a user to rent movies and play them in HD on their TV is pretty impressive; however, I can't help but feel like Motorola didn't quite do all they could have for the Droid X.

What do I think?

I've been impressed with the strides HTC has made to become a premier manufacturer of elite smartphones (see Evo and Incredidble); however, I can't think of many circumstances that would cause me to switch to Sprint.  I will admit that the iPhone is a stout device but (like all phones) not without its flaws.  It's not light years beyond the competition (it has finally caught up to the rest of the smartphone industry), but there's no way anyone can take anything away from it.  With that said, there's no way you could convince me to go to AT&T for anything.  AT&T's lack of a reliable network has been well documented, and I don't see any reason to jump to a piece of hardware that doesn't even work.  Also, it's hard to argue that at the rate Android devices are growing that Apple won't get left in the dust, and I believe that's something that will happen soon unless Apple changes its development strategy.

What am I going to do about a phone?

I have no idea.  I definitely won't make a decision without first testing a device.  I'm keeping a close eye on one that seems to be flying under the radar, the Samsung Galaxy S.  It has all of the features of the previous three devices mentioned and will be made available on all carries as it will not be considered a flagship device for any of them.  For now though, I can't say what I intend on doing; however, I do look forward to keeping up with all of the newest and latest gadgets hitting the market in the future.

things are about to get interesting in the world of college football

This is what I assume will happen to the Big XII if Nebraska leaves

Many ramblings have been going on about conference realignment for a while now.  So and so wants to leave this conference for that conference and so on and so forth.  Well it's happening now and in unexpected ways. I always assumed the Big 10 would somehow talk ND into joining and that would be the end of it, but as of recently there has been a huge bombshell dropped on the college football world.  As of today, Colorado announced that they're leaving the Big XII to head to the PAC-10.  Rumors have been flying around that we'll know about whether or not Nebraska decides to leave for the Big 10 as soon as tomorrow. The Big XII is not only shaky but sinking.  The PAC-10 has officially sent out invites to most of the remaining Big XII schools and most experts expect other schools to follow Colorado. 

What does this mean for the SEC? Well I don't know. I've seen reports saying that Texas A&M and OU have expressed interest in joining, but nothing has really seemed like there's any indication it would actually happen. Regardless, one this is for sure: college football is about to endure a massive reformation.

100th Post!!!

This marks my 100th post (as seen in the title). Since I've reached such a miraculous milestone in my blogging career, I decided it would be appropriate to go back and revisit some of the good times we've shared together.  Just consider this a collection of greatest hits.

My first post

AU-UGA post and others that accompanied

Crack donuts!

Worst Christmas Songs

Christmas Card

My Fall Semester Exam Breakdown (Sock Massacre of '09)

Billy Christmas (video included)

Tampa/Orlando Trip (Video)

Snow Day! (video included)

Big fish

No realted post. Just a funny picture.

If you can think of any better posts that I didn't include then please post the link in a comment below.

I got it

If you can remember back to a few weeks ago I was whining about not having a trophy fish. Well that's changed now. Here it is:

The scale we used weighed this fish in at around 8 1/4 lbs. It's going on my wall ASAP.

this is a sandwich my dad would be proud of

3 slices of bread

4 fried eggs

turkey 

ham

mayo

It was absolutely delicious.

I have a ton of pictures of fish that aren't that big

and here they are:

  

 

Most of these were caught with a fly rod, but these bring about a realization about myself.  I've never caught a trophy fish.  I've fished most of my life, and I would consider fishing one of my top favorite activities.  Here's the closest I've ever come to a trophy:

All of these fish are between 1 and 5 lbs (except that bream).

I think the AU logo on the helmets are bigger than they used to be

Here's a comparison:

   

I'm still alive

and I have a clean front porch 

Yeah, I'm still here. It's been a while. I don't really have much to say. After presenting the trophy to Coach Saban last week I got swept up in schoolwork. The end of this week hasn't been too terribly busy, but instead of blogging about anything, I decided to hang out and be a bum. 

Tomorrow's A-Day and I'm pretty pumped. If you aren't going then you should. After the game tomorrow I'm planning on having a small get together, which is why I cleaned my porch. It went from yellow to normal in about 30-45 minutes. I'm pretty glad that it's usable again.

I gave Saban the trophy

Was it difficult? Yes. Did I want to? No. Did they deserve it? Yes.

After all it's not up to me to say who gets the Fan's Poll People's National Championship Trophy. Contrary to what some might think, it has never been up to me. It's up to everyone who participated and voted.

Having said that I believe there's something to say for Coach Saban's contribution to Team Focus, which was the benefit where the trophy was given out. He has done much for such a great organization, and I'm a firm believer that, Auburn fan or not, that kind of contribution deserves mentioning and a great deal of respect.

Ferguson Update: an unforeseen event may unfold shortly

Not too long ago I thought the fate of Ferguson's Cup would be wrapped up with West Virginia's victory in the elite 8. It turns out I was wrong. Here are the standings for Ferguson's First Hair Cut going into the championship game:

1) Me (FO SHO!)

2) The Warblogler (snuck up from the sub top 3)

3) Stephen Kolander

Here's the deal. There are two challengers that chose Duke as the national champion: The Warblogler and Matt Ewasko. If Duke takes down Butler then the rankings will look like this:

1) The Warblogler

2) Matt Ewasko

3) Me (it's cold and lonely down here)

COME ON BUTLER! If Butler wins then the top 3 will reflect the first set of rankings I showed you, but if not then I end up carting home the bronze. It's not over yet. Now more than ever, I have a real legit reason to pull for the underdog. 

My plants are doing well

No it's not pot. I wish I had a dollar for every time one of my friends referenced me growing herbs and peppers being like me growing pot. It's not drug. Shut up. 

The tray pictured above consists of basil, thyme, cheyenne peppers, and bell peppers. It's been a little over 10 days since they were planted and they're growing fast. Not too long before I can transplant them to pots outside, but for now they're growing quick. I hope at least some of them get to where they can be harvested.

Looking For a New Phone

There has been much speculation about two new handsets coming to Verizon, both of which already exist on other carriers. I won't lie. I'm pretty excited that Verizon is about to get both the Google Nexus One and the Apple iphone. 

So you might ask, "why not go to AT&T and get either one?" Good question. Verizon is the most reliable network where I live, hands down. There's no way I'm gonna be another tool carrying an iphone that doesn't work. It's like buying a sports car with four donut tires on it that can't go over 55 mph. It doesn't make sense. Now if I moved to a big city where service was a bit more reliable then we'll talk, but until then I'm not going to carry a phone just because it has a piece of fruit on the back of it. Get off my back.

The big question you have to ask yourself when deciding what to do is, "what will the new iphone look like?" Speculation is rampant. Apparently the one thing we can count on is the unveiling around late June.  There's one speculation that can be put to rest. 4G won't be available anywhere around here until 2011. But you might be asking, "what about the iphone 4G? why would apple potentially come out with the iphone 4G this summer if the networks can't support it?" Simple. The 4G iphone coming out will only be the 4th generation iphone, not the 4G capable iphone like many think. But let's not talk about what's not coming out. 

No one really knows what will come out on the new iphone, but I think it's safe to say that whatever does come out needs to be a major step up from the iphone 3GS. I hate to inform everyone that has one, but when google started rolling out the new android phones they delivered a swift kick to nuts to the iphone, especially with Google's Nexus One. The specs for the Nexus One absolutely blow the iphone out of the water (1GHz snapdragon processor, AMOLED screen, browser supports flash, google voice, 5 megapixel camera, noise canceling mic, customization options galore). Once you peek under the hood the Nexus One makes the iphone look pretty outdated.  

In order to keep up, Apple is going to need to make the new iphone just as fast and good looking as Google's handset, and everyone knows Apple is the king of aesthetics. I believe that apple can match and exceed what the Nexus One has done. However, not everyone is sure that they will. Some reports are saying that the newest iphone (iphone 4G) will only come out for AT&T and that Verizon will end up with a comparable 3GS handset. There's also speculation that the newest iphone will sport a front facing camera, which means video calling. 

For me, the only two things that would make the iphone worth taking over Google's Nexus One is a front facing video camera and a faster processor. However, there's no way I would jump carriers to get one (see paragraph two about a sports car with 4 donut spare tires). Tell me that AT&T could support video calling and I'll laugh at you. Unless an iphone with a front facing camera and faster processor comes to Verizon then I don't see how you could go iphone over Nexus One (unless you just have to have an iphone because it's an iphone and you don't feel pretty without one). 

Ferguson Watch

Here's looking at the top 3 in the only Bracket Challenge that matters, Ferguson's First Hair Cut:

1) Me (booyah!)

2) Brad Henderson

3) Kurt Branch

It's all come down to this next round. If West Virginia beats UK in the elite 8 then I will take home the prize. If UK beats West Virginia then there's a large chance that Brad will take home the crown. I just put Kurt's name on here so I could post a link to Warblogle.

Who will take home the Golden Squirrel? We'll find out sooner rather than later.

UPDATE: West Virginia beat Kentucky and I'm the front runner. Doesn't look like anyone will catch me, since the two behind me picked UK to win it all. The ceremonies will be held on this blog early in the week.

I haven't blogged in a while

Since I've left everyone high and dry recently, I figured I would leave you guys with some links that have peaked my interests over the past few days

Auburn's new QB went to his first practice as a Tiger on Wednesday. This video appears courtesy of me taking it from the HABOTN. It's one of my favorite AU blogs (except for Warblogle).

Auburn hired a new head basketball coach. He's gonna make a lot of money, and won't need to buy any new colored neck ties.

For everyone who jumped carriers to get an iphone, it looks like you're going to have to do it again. The new 4G iphone is coming out soon and it doesn't look like it'll be available for AT&T.

Oh yeah, and this country is screwed.

Hope you guys enjoy. Leave comments and I might feel more dedicated to blogging.

Northern Iowa = The Death of My Bracket

Northern Iowa's defeat of Kansas just turned everyone's NCAA bracket upside down. I'm pretty sure it looked something like this.

Ferguson Update

I will be updating this post frequently with the progress of my NCAA bracket.

UPDATE: Day 2- Finished 16-0 which brings my overall record to 26-6 (tied for 1st in FFHC) Other bracket pools. What other bracket pools?

Ferguson's First Hair Cut

UPDATE: 6 MEMBERS!!! 

Join my NCAA bracket challenge.

Go here to find it. The password is "georgerbrown"

It Needed Salt

Homemade bread using whole wheat flour and sweetwater blue. It turned out pretty well  for a first run. Next time It's gonna get a good few dashes of salt.

I'm tired

That is all.

Congratulations USA. You went the distance with the Champ and never backed down

These are just some random pictures

Had to have something cut off my forehead. Here are the stitches.

Panda decided he would get Lao Hot from the Green Papaya. It was so hot that he made this face.

Rachel on a dirt bike. Looks pretty mean doesn't she.

I don't even know what to say about this one.

Notice the funny little appendage coming off of this tomato?

This has to be the most awkward way to serve hotdogs

Next time you're grilling out and want to make everyone feel awkward then just put all of the wieners in a cup.

I can't take this guy seriously

This is what makes hockey fun to watch

The Team USA men's hockey team pulled one of the biggest upsets of this Olympic Winter Games.  They stunned the fully loaded Canadian team 5-3 Sunday night. If you didn't watch it then I feel sorry for you. This game is what makes hockey fun to watch. I would find it hard to believe that even the most apathetic hockey observer would not have enjoyed this game. Two teams fighting it out until the final seconds is what any sports enthusiasts craves, and that's exactly what you had in this game. This was only a preliminary round, so there's a lot more hockey to come, but I would advise you to pay attention. This Team USA is pretty special and a heck of a lot of fun to watch.

It's a beautiful day

Bummed around in the hammock, and went on an embarrassingly exhausting run. It's too nice outside to stay on the computer. Be back with more sometime in the not so distant future. I think.

I bet I know what these guys are thinking

Yes, I found this picture courtesy of ESPN

Jones (Oklahoma QB): "I'm just as damn good as Sam was. I'll show 'em"
Gilbert (Texas QB): "The Big Ten...what?!"
Lee (Nebraska QB): "I NEED TO POOP!!!"

What happened to music in our culture?

I was listening to this song in the car earlier...



and I couldn't help but wonder, "what has happened to music in our culture? What have we done to talent and creativity?" And then it hit me...



like a swift kick to the nuts.

*If you need any more examples then youtube "Lady Gaga"

I would vote for this guy in the next Presidential Election

Snow Days Are Awesome!!!

Here are some photos and a video from our snow day.

Texas Talking to the Big Ten?

It sounds crazy. I mean, the closest Big Ten school to Austin is probably Illinois. It just doesn't sound reasonable. Well if that kind of talk seems crazy then you can call the Lawrence Journal-World John Forbes Nash. They earlier reported that preliminary talks have begun between the school and the conference. 

What could this potentially mean? Personally, I think we could see a great deal of conference restructuring. Some have suggested that in order to retain their storied rivalries, the Big Ten might include Texas A&M as a package deal. Jon Solomon suggested that this could be the beginning of what could be considered "super conferences" that continue to further the gap between historically winning programs and the more obscure D-1 FBS schools. 

The obvious reason for all of this is TV revenue. The SEC really threw a wrench into college football TV payouts when the conference secured it's mammoth ESPN deal. Now, other conferences are trying to figure out how to even the playing field. 

All of this talk about the Big Ten expanding has even fueled the debate within the PAC 10. It seems like the Big Ten, Big 12, and PAC 10 are going to experience some massive rearranging. This type of musical chairs might affect every conference except the SEC and the ACC (let's be honest, who wants any of those teams?). Also, don't forget the smaller guys like Troy. This may be the opportunity they've been looking for to jump into the Big East. 

Ultimately, when the snowball starts rolling, we could potentially end up with 3 or 4 super conferences. Before you know it, college football is split, and thus making it more feasible to implement a playoff system. Imagine if the Big 12 and Big East disband. All of the surrounding conferences absorb those teams. That goes from 6 BCS conferences to 4. The Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, and Pacific conferences. The BCS payouts for conferences would become diluted to the point where it isn't really worth it. Also, don't forget the post season bowl landscape. My head's hurting just thinking about that. At this point I think you would have no choice but to do a 4 team playoff.

Could this be the beginning of super conferences and the death of the BCS? I don't know. I need to graduate college before I waste anymore time thinking about this. Regardless of what happens, take note. This is a massive shift that almost every team, conference, and any other entity that relies on college football will feel.

This is awesome

UPDATE: Click on this link to watch the video of Region's commitment. Notice the limited number of applause. God bless that poor kid. You can tell how hard that was for him to do by watching the video.

According to Doug Segrest, offensive lineman Spencer Region (Cullman High), who was thought to be a Bama lock, changed his mind at the last minute and decided to commit to Auburn for the 2011 recruiting class.  Region was set to announce his intentions at a sporting goods store in Cullman. The store was full of Alabama beat writers and fans all dressed up for the occasion. However, they were all very disappointed. According to Phillip Marshall at Auburn Undercover, there were no AU beat writers or anything there. They're all playing catch up because no one expected this. Here's an awesome excerpt from Mr. Segrest's article:

"Due to changes, I am decommitting from Alabama and I am committing to Auburn," Region said. "I will be an Auburn Tiger, where I feel they really care about me."


Is it me, or does it seem like Chizik is starring down the Saban machine and holding his own. Everyone said that Auburn would never be able to out-recruit Saban as long as he was at Alabama. That might be wrong depending on who you talk to, but you can't deny that Chizik is fighting as hard as he can and winning a few battles. Of course, this all means nothing until Auburn actually beats Saban on the field, but you still have to be very impressed with what Chizik has done so far.

This is just awful

I'm sorry that you might have lost time of your life listening to her. I've always though Taylor Swift was a bit overrated and just another product of today's pseudo-music industry, and then I listened to a live performance. Wow. I would suspect that even someone with an untrained ear would be able to tell that not only does she have pitch problems, but Taylor Swift has the vocal range of a midget hitting a golf ball with a wet noodle. It's just plain bad. Sorry, I just had to rant about this.

I Love It

Gene Chizik just assembled one of the best recruiting classes in Auburn history. All major recruiting services have Auburn in the top 5. Go check out warblogle for more info.

Ok, I'm Back

You can thank this guy too. He accounts for about half of the comments.

Unfortunately for you guys I don't have much to say. LOST's season premier finale season premier was tonight, and as usual I have no idea what to think. I'm really tired, and I'm going to attempt to wake up in the morning and try to catch some National Signing Day coverage. By the way, good luck at Carolina, Lattimore. If I were a bammer then I'd come up with excuses about how we didn't really want you, Chizik really told you we had no room, or something stupid like that. Anyway, I'm out. 

Health care reform project for Rachel

This isn't a full post. Since I only got 5 comments, you only get half a post. Get to commenting.

I'm Being A Brat

This has nothing to do with anything. I just thought it was funny.

As you may have noticed, I've been fairly absent from blogging recently. Let me first say that I'm sorry, but let me also inform you that I've decided to take a blogging hiatus until I get at least 10 comments on this post telling me to come back. Yes, that's dumb. Yes, I'm being a brat. But come on y'all, I just want a little bit of love!

Table Football

The other night Rachel, Peggy, Panda, and I came up with the newest most awesomest game ever. We call it (and by "we" I mean me) table football. It's a slight spin-off of paper football. The only difference is this time you spin jacks in an attempt to get them to stop in designated areas of the table in order to accumulate points.

As you can tell from the top picture, there are two lines on opposite ends of the table. They designate the boundaries for the scoring areas. The space between the back line and the edge of the table represents the endzone, or 7-point area. The space between the endzone line and the front line represents a field goal, or 3-point area.

A player has two attempts to spin their jack towards the opposite end of the table from them and land in either the 3-point or 7-point area after it stops spinning. At the same time there is a defender from the opposing team sitting to either their left or right who has the chance to spin his or her defender in the direction of the offender in an attempt to either knock the jack out of the scoring area or off the table. The defender can choose to no use his defender on the first spin so that he can have two defenders to throw on the offender's second try. If the defender knocks the offender's jack backwards into their own endzone then that results in a safety (2 points). If at anytime one player scores two touchdowns in a row then they are awarded an extra defender (3 defenders instead of 2).

We've recently had a lot of fun playing this game, and we've probably spent a lot more time playing it than we should have. However, if you're ever bored then I suggest giving it a try.