The internet killing car radios?

There are more and more people using their ipods in their cars to listen to their libraries. Said by the New York Times, there are many internet music services such as pandora, slacker, and last.fm which will all be tailored by software developers, consumer electronics companies, and automakers to work more seamlessly with car radio stations.

Iphones, Blackberrys, and the Android are responsible for the internet music. These phones have free applications that play customized music channels that are streamed over the internet using the wireless data connection. When using the internet, depending on the phone, customers pay an extra fee on top of the talking service. With pandora, there are over 40 million users and 750,000 songs people can listen to in their car. When using these devices, a downfall is drivers have to change the station manually which may cause them to look away from the road even if just for a second they could cause an accident. Now there are companies that are trying to improve this situation by adding a voice control when using pandora. This device will set you back $1,200 not including installation. When using this new device, you can connect your ipod which will make the unit "shine". Here using At&ts iphone, sometimes in certain areas because of dead zones, the music can be cut off because you are using internet. The internet has been producing many opportunities for people to hear music, research, and do basically about anything on it. I dont think the car radio will ever go "extinct" because it has been around for many years and the internet has been around for some years now but people still like to listen to the radio every now and then. The radio isnt just for music, it can be used for news.

Gary Powell looses new 4G iphone, offered free trip to Munich

Apple engineer Gary Powell was out at a German beer hall in Redwood City, Califonia, when he drunkenly left the newest prototype of the 4G iphone at Gourmet Haus Staudt. The phone was disguised as the iphone 3GS and picked up by a stanger, then sold to a tech blog called Gizmodo for $5,000. You can believe that Apple is very upset with Gary Powell right now, and he must be feeling very unresponsible right now. After word about this misplacement was heard around the world, a German airline called Lufthansa, offer Gary Powell a complementary business class trip to Munich. Lufthansa's airline director of marketing wrote an open letter stating, "We all know how frustrating it can be to loose personal belongings....at Lufthansa we also note with great interest your passion for German beer and culture." The letter was posted on the airlines twitter page and they also tweeted to the followers, "If you can help us get in touch with Gary Powell, we would like to fly him to Munich." Many people can understand a marketing gimmick, and this is one of the top picks for me.

The new way to text

There is a new application called "Voice Text Pro" which is made for the apple iphone and the ipod touch. This new application lets you have hands free voice activating text messaging. On the "Voice this" website, I read that because so many states have the no texting or using the phone while driving, you can now text without pressing a button. You are able to create, edit, and delete saved messages. There is a video on this website which tells you how to use the application and actually shows you how it works.

This application is the only one out there as of now for the apple iphone and or ipod touch. The idea for this application came from "people should be able to talk to computers, and that computers should understand what we're saying." On CNN the article says "Mobile voice-recognition technology now allows people to send text messages to friends by talking instead of typing; be able to scan throught transcriptions of voice mail instead of having to listen to them all; tell the phones what theya re looking for on the web; and soon to post twitter from your phone verbally."

Right now, there is also a phone called the Google Nexus One which comes with two microphones, one for the voice of the person and the other for the noise that may interfere with the persons voice. With this new second microphone it makes it easier for the phone to determine what noise is human and what isn't. I feel that every single year, let alone every month there is something changing technologically. What will be next???

Medical Marijuana user losing jobs

For many patients around the nation like Joseph Casias, medical marijuana is a very inportant part of his life for fighting cancer. Casias has been working for Wal-Mart for the past 5 years and was awarded in 2008 for Accociate of the year. But in November 2009, he was fired after testing positive for marijuana, which he was legally able to take for treament of his nasal cancer. Even though laws defending the right for medical marijuana users to legally use the drug, the laws don't protect them from employment decisions to fire the workers. This is where the users are complaining and fighting for a new law which protects them from losing their jobs due to a failed drug test. Casias told CNN that he never went to work high, and that he always tried his best while working for Wal-Mart. Some attorneys say that every situation like this can be made into a discrimination suit. Just in Califonia alone, 37,000 medical marijuana cards have be issued since 2004 according to the Department of Community Health. This set back for Joseph has put him jobless and in debt up to 10,000 with medical bills. He has a family to support and he tells CNN reporter, "I just want my job back." Lawsuits against employers has been on the rise with similar cases. For example, the case with Mike Babbitt. A former Loaf-N-Jug employee, is sueing the company for $500,000, after being fired from the company. He had told the company while being interviewed for the job that he carried a medical marijuana card, and they said it was not a problem.

I could see where Wal-Mart was sticking to thier code of conduct, but if the employee was in Joseph's situation where he was able to use marijuana legally, then they should have tried to work something out. If he was preforming fine and no issue regarding problem with accociates and customers were even made against Josheph, then I dont see why he would have to be fired. He obviously was doing a good job, getting the Accociate of the year in 2008.

Death toll at 795 in Chile

The 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Chile last Saturday has left 1.5 million without power and water. This earthquake was much bigger that he recent one that hit Haiti. Many locals from Chile have yet to see any aid from government, but President Michelle Bachellet tells media that they are working hard to get the aid out to everyone. Michelle has order a curfew for everyone at 6 p.m. today (Tuesday) until noon Wednesday. This was due to the increase in violence and looting that has been going on all over the disaster zones. I think this is a good idea to get people off the streets and keep the looting on a decrease. 13,000 military solders are standing guard at many stores and out to restore order, but CNN has still witnessed looters getting away.

In the past 24 hours there has been 12 after shocks that have ranged between 4.8 to 5.3. The thing that shocks me is how many total after shocks Chile has actually had, and that number had reached over 90 since the main quake! The strongest of the more than 90 after shocks registered at 6.2. With more and more after shocks the effort on saving survivors is being cut short. The more after shocks that occur, the harder it is to get to those who are injured and trapped. The 795 death toll is of course more than likely to keep on raising as the days go on and more rescuers find more bodies in the rubble.


I personally had a connection with this earthquake in the reason that after the earthquake hit Chile, it cause a tsunami wave to travel thousands of miles away towards Hawaii. I talked to my family and friends, and they said many people were evacuaded from the beaches. Businesses were shut down and the sirens for the tsunami woke everyone up sunday morning before 6 a.m. With all of the preperation of tsunamis in the past, the state of hawaii was ready and prepaired. I was thankful to hear that the tsunami missed Hawaii, but high surf was in effect on the shores of Hawaii.

Tiger Tiger Woods Yall

As most of us already know the interesting and shocking story about Tiger Wood's and his mistresses, he finally went public and offered an appolgy on Feburary 19, 2010. In his apolgy speech he focused on his wife, his children, friends, co-workers, and the public fans who looked to him as a role model. The speech was around 14 minutes and with 40 of his closest associates. The apologetic toned Wood's keep his speech on a constant flow, only to raise his voice during the time in his speech where he defends his wife from violently attcking him. He makes a point that the reason he thought he could get aways with such behavior was because he, "worked hard his whole life" to get to where he is (finacially and famously) and "normal rules didn't apply to him." He felt he was "entiled" to act the way he did, and "thanks to money and fame," his tempations were easy to find. Tiger basically knows he was selfish and knows about all the people he has hurt and dissapointed. He wants to live a life of entegrity and he believes, "its not about what you achieve in life, its about what you overcome."

There are three kinds of people the circle around Tiger Wood's issue and they all will have a different approach on forgiving him. First is the people that will never like him again, second is the people who will forgive and help him on his way to a postive future, and lastly is the people who realy don't care about the issue. I simply was pretty shocked at first when I heard about his issue, but I didn't go overboard and what to know every little detail about it. I guess I was one of those people who didn't really care much for it. Either way the guy is doing the first step to a better life and he cant change the past.

On another note, Tiger Wood's behavior gave the media a craze to work with and he will always be known for this. Many comedians have made jokes and quotes about this issue and the audiences thrive off of celebrity mess ups. I recently play a simple game called Tiger Woods Wife Outrun, I got the score of 62 on it. Try and play, its nothing special but kind of funny if you are simply minded like me. Tell me your score in your comment below..haha

Taking Concussions Seriously

Being a competitive football player myself, I never want to be pulled out of any game. I have played through arms that lost feeling, sprained ankles, broken fingers, and even stayed in after feeling the effects of a concussion. Yes most impact athletes know the importance and the blah blah blah about concussions, but after reading this article and watching this video, I myself will take the signs of concussions more seriously.

The Issue

The CNN article that I came across was about one 17 year old quarter back named Max Conradt who was playing through concussions. Focusing on his struggles, his recovery, and his over all life after he got out of the hospital showed the first hand seriousness that needs to be taken.
After one of Max's games, he was staggering off to his parents, complained about his head and chin hurting. Before his mother could respond, Max collasped. At the hospital the doctors told the Conradt's that he was going to die. Not many people are aware of this, but durring football games, some player have pasted away from bone crushing hits. From the NFL, down to High school and junior high, all these levels have had player die from concussion related injuries.
In 2008, a 14 year old player past away after complaining about headaches, but still practicing and playing in games. In the same year a 16 year old linebacker from New Jersey died after suffering two concusions in a few weeks. A better outcome came to Max, but at the cost of his mental abilities. He survived his brain injuries, but he has the mental capacity of a 9 year old. It is almost eight years from the day that he suffered his concussion, and now 25 years old, he has to be cared for in a assisted living facility.

What needs to be done? What is being done?
Coaches need to be aware of the signs of concussion. If there are any signs, the coach need to take the player out and not let him back in until cleared. Physical trainers will have to have certain test that they can conduct on player to see is they past the tests. In many state the legislation of "Zackery Lystedt Brian project" is being passed to pull out players after suffering a concusion, and have coaches go through rigorous trianning before being able to pursue jobs.