Football Season is back

It is now the second week of the NFL preseason. It feels like it has been a long time since the last season. Even though the regular season doesn't start until the beginning of September, there is already a lot of anticipation for the new season. With last years Superbowl disappointment, the Patriots look like they're ready for this year. With the first preseason game, their defense looks a lot better than last years.

I'm doing two fantasy football leagues again this year. Last year I won one of them, hopefully I can do the same this year. It's a lot of fun competing against your friends to see who has a better team and to see who has been paying attention to their players.

Sports on the Internet

With the great bandwidth we have today, we can now enjoy most TV shows on the internet. If you miss a show you enjoy, you can just go to the broadcasting's website and it is most likely you can stream from their website with a few commercials. What is even greater is streaming live videos. You can stream ESPN live depending on the TV service you have. I have Comcast and I can stream ESPN3 for free on my computer or on a smartphone. NBC has been advertising the availability of the Olympics online. You can view all of the events live or replay events if you missed it.


With this trend of streaming shows online, I can't wait to see what is next for online streaming. Will more broadcasters be willing to stream live TV shows on the internet in the future? I hope so because not everyone is available to be at home and enjoy their shows, it'll be great to view them on the go.

Interactive Website for kids

When I was a kid and was beginning to learn to use a computer (this was when there was only MS-DOS) there were games for kids to learn. I think we need more of those instead of kids going online and playing senseless games. I remember there was a Mario Learning to Type game. I was hooked because it was Mario, a character I knew and it made me want to learn. We just need a well-known character that kids would know today and put them into a game that would teach them to read, type or to do simple math. Kids would be addicted to see their superhero and at the same time, they will learn a lot.

The Dark Knight Rises

The last movie to the trilogy of the Batman series has been released this past Friday. I was able to get my hands on an IMAX movie ticket on the release day. IMAX has the greatest experience when going to the movie theatre.

The movie was great, it was the best of the trilogy. Through the entire movie, it was unpredictable. Most movies, you would watch it and you can guess what going to happen next, this movie was the total opposite. There were ongoing problems in the city of Gotham. You were in suspense to see what was going to happen next. The acting, the sounds and the directing was perfect. You couldn't ask for a better movie.

I'm sad that this is the last movie of the series. Director Christopher Nolan decided not to do another Batman movie. Without his expertise, another Batman movie wouldn't be the same. There may be a chance that he can be a co-producer if there was another sequel. He is the co-producer of another DC Comics film, Man of Steel, which will be released in summer of 2013. It is a reboot to the Superman series, this may be as great as the Batman series.

A Great Web Application

I think it would be very useful if there was a simple web application similar to iMovie. iMovie for Mac makes it very simple to edit videos. With devices that can record 1080p videos, everyone would want to edit videos. There are millions of bloggers and YouTube users who would appreciate a simple video editing site.


A web application can be a great advantage because all of the video that you can editing can be saved on the Cloud and can be accessed on any computer. All you need to do upload the videos and your account will have a collection of videos that you plan on changing. When you are ready, the web application can be directly link you videos to YouTube with a click of a button.

An Era of Smartphones

I have a contract with AT&T, as most of you know after a 2 year contract we have the option to upgrade our phones and extend the contract. My parents uses a phone for basic use, they just need to make calls. I was browsing for a new phone for them, but they showed were old cheap flip phones. The decent phones required a data plan. After a few hours of discussing with my parents, we got frustrated with the amount of phones that were available. We decided to just get a smartphone with a data plan along with it. Both of my parents now have an iPhone that they barely know how to use, so the phone isn't being used to it's potential.

After purchasing these, I then realized, is this a new era of smartphones? What I mean is, everyone might as well get a smartphone in order to have a decent phone because of a data plan requirement. If you're in a group of friends and you have a basic phone, it is bizzarre because it isn't the "cool thing." I just don't think its fair to force customers to have a data plan when they can have an option to just use the wifi around them.

A Possible Interactive Vacation Generator

I'm not sure if this is available yet but I think it would be a cool idea if there was an interactive website that would help give families options and advice where to take vacations.

For example: I have family all over the northeast, from Philly to Jersey to Toronto. We would enter in our locations and interests, then it would generate a list of vacation spots that complimented the locations and interests.

I think this would be helpful for me because a bunch of my friends are very indecisive and we've always wanted to go somewhere for a vacation, but we haven't decided where yet. I'm not sure if this was done yet, but it kind of reminds of Pandora and how their stations work. It'll be the Pandora for vacations.

Furby of 2012?

Does anyone remember these Furbys from the late 90s? Well toy designers have been planning to make a reboot of this popular toy. I remember the first design, my friend's little sister had one. It was a little creepy to me because the way it looked, it reminded me of Gizmo from Gremlins. I'm sure that's where they got their design from. It learned our language and certain phrases you would say and it would respond.

The difference with the previous model and the new one is the advancement of technology. It can now connect to our iOS devices. There's an app that can teach it languages, and can translate their language to any language desired. I'm sure this will be a big hit again, but I don't see the hype and I won't be buying this as a gift to any kids. This little toy will also cost you $60 as it will be released in the Fall.

Feedbacks

I've created a new link on the website I've been working on this semester. This link brings people to a place where they can rate and give feedback on the progress of the website. The form was created with the help from a website called Jotform.com. You can customize how you want to have your form. It is user friendly, one of the easiest site to assist webpage designers.

As of now, I've gotten 2 feedbacks

5 Star "great job nice website"
5 Star "great job. Love the color!"

Feedbacks can help because you can read what others think, and you will know what your strengths and weaknesses are in your design.

Quality Earphones

I've had my iPhone 4 for about 2 years now, they came with the Apple earphones. They weren't the best quality, but it got the job done. You can use it as a hands-free headset, and it had volume control on it, and were able to skip tracks when listening to music. Recently, I've lost them. I have these big Sony noise-canceling headphones, but it's the summertime and I don't want something big on my ears that will make me even hotter. I've been doing a little bit of research for great earphones that aren't too expensive but have a high quality value to them.

I've landed upon these earphones that are specifically made to compliment the iPhone and iPad. It's the a-JAYS Four. It has a mic and the same control button as the one Apple has. It has a great sound quality, much greater than the Apple earphones. The only downside to these earphones is the price. For tiny earphones you're looking to pay from $65-$70. If it quality you want, then these earphones are for you. I'm planning on buying these earphones in a week or so.

Here's a link to their website if you were interested in these earphones or other products.

PhotoBucket

I bought a Canon 60D this past winter. It’s a DSLR camera that was pretty expensive. I’ve always been interested in photography, and I wanted to get serious with that hobby. I’ve taken about 3000 photos already. I needed a place to upload them so I can share them with friends. I was browsing and went with PhotoBucket.com

The main purpose of the website is obviously within its name, to store all of your photos. Creating an account is free and the amount of space you have to upload your photos is 10GB (Gigabytes), which is a lot of photos. You can always upgrade and get a “Pro” account and have unlimited bandwidth for uploading your photos.

After uploading your photos, you can share it with friends by giving them a link or connecting your PhotoBucket account with your Facebook or Twitter account. If your friends like a photo you have, they have the option to order prints directly from the website. Not only regular prints, but photo books, skins for your devices, and other products such as t-shirts, mugs, and calendars.

If you're interested in checking this place out.. Click Here

Running Gadgets

For the everyday runner, the Nike SportWatch would be great to record your daily progress. I've been wanting to get back into running for a while now, but when I do, I would get this watch to see if I'm progressing with my workout.

This watch has everything you need if you are a dedicated runner. It has a built in GPS so you see where you have ran on a map. It can track you run time, and track how many MPH you are running. It has a sensor that touches to see how many calories you have burned based on your age, weight and your heart rate. With the information it has, it'll encourage you push yourself to go farther and faster.

When you're not running, it can be a digital watch on your wrist.

Availability of Information

With the access to internet and information today, it makes it a lot easier for college students to get the wrong information when doing research. When a student is asked to do research on an assignment, the first instinct is to google the topic. Within those search results is Wikipedia. It's a great source because of the amount of information that is given, the problem with Wikipedia is the things that are on the site aren't all facts because anyone can edit and write down what they think is true.

Students first choice isn't the library because getting to a library and going through books isn't the most convenient way for anyone doing research. 

With the availability of information going around on the internet, things that are posted can't always be trusted. You never know whats true, whether it be the news, politics, and what people post on forums.

New MacBook Pros

This past week, Apple has had a few Keynote about their new products that are being released. I bought a MacBook Pro in 2010. It has been the greatest thing I've invested in a long time. It reliable and very fast. They announced a new model design to their 15" MacBook Pros. It's thinner and now has a new screen. It now has the famous retina display with a resolution of 2880x1880, which has more pixel than our TV's 1080p screens. Internally it has a faster processor than previous models, an NVidia graphics card, has the new Thunderbolt port and USB 3.0. I'm jealous of this new model, but I'm still happy with what I got. I'm planning to go to an Apple store and check it out in person.

Styling my Website

I've been working on a webpage through html. It's a lot tougher than just posting on a blog. On a blog, everything is given to you, all you need to do is write, and post. Creating a webpage that is strictly created through html is a lot of work. You need to learn and write html to create a basic webpage. I used to have this webpage 10 years ago that used html. I can't remember all of the html codes that I've used. I'm now having to learn the whole html learning process all over again. I find it a bit of a struggle, but it's fun learning again.

Video of iPhone 5 leak

Here's is what may be a major part of the upcoming iPhone 5's back piece. Not sure if it's real, but I'm guessing it is because I think the person who uploaded this video had previous videos showing the iPhone 4 and other Apple products before it was released to the public.

New iPhone 5?

If you're an Apple fan then you would expect the new iPhone 5 will come out later this year. Apple has been updating their iPhones and iPads every year. I purchased the iPhone 4 when it first came out. I has made my life simpler and I can't imagine myself without this phone. Rumors are saying the phone will be available for purchase around October 2012. It may have a larger screen and finally, 4G network. Since the screen is going to be slightly larger, the phone has to be a little bigger also. I don't mind that because I'm starting to think the iPhone's screen is a little bit too small.

Internet and Media

The Internet has created many new media outlets, and these new outlets are convenient for consumers to access. Newspapers are an old source of media. They are currently on the downfall because of the Internet. We can read all the news we need online. It's more convenient because anyone can read it from anywhere, anytime without going to a store and paying for the paper.

I use new media distributors such as YouTube, Pandora, and Netflix. They're so easy to use can be used on almost any device that has a source of Internet. They can viewed and listened to not only on the computer, but today we have smart phones that can almost do anything. YouTube and Pandora is free to everyone. YouTube is great for people who like to upload videos and share it with the world. I use it to see whats viral, for news, and for product reviews. I use Pandora on my iPhone when I get sick of the songs I listen to. You just need to need to input a genre or an artist and it generates a songlist for you. Netflix is great for people who don't have Cable TV. I dropped my Cable TV a few years ago because it is just me and my parents in the house. We don't watch that much TV. Netflix has a lot of TV Shows and Movies you can watch. Payments of $7.99 each month gives you unlimited access to their services.

New generation of kids

I think the new generation of kids have become more disrespectful and lazier. I was born in 1988, so I grew up without the Internet and cell phones. As a child I went outside being active and having fun. When I needed to go to a friend's house, I would either ride my bike or walk. Once I was there, we would continue to play basketball and play outside.

Today's generation has so many things given to them. They're always indoors playing games and watching senseless cartoons. They never seem to get any exercise because the majority of them are couch potatoes. No one seems to motivate kids today, they let them do whatever they want. When children don't have guidance, they think they have the authority to do anything they want.

I didn't have a cellphone until I turned 17. It wasn't given to me, I had to purchase myself by getting a job. You see kids who are in middle school and possibly even younger having cellphones. When they have one that young, they don't understand the responsibility. They will always be on the phone talking and texting and going over the limit. They think they're adults because they have a phone and will do what they want.

I hope this trend of kids will disappear because if the future is trusted with today's children, then the future doesn't look promising. We need to teach children to be more active and give cellphone when they've become responsible enough.

Today's Internet and Communication

I think today's younger generation doesn't appreciate the technology we have today. Most of the younger kids that are in high school are always texting or trying to get to a computer to get on Facebook. People who are in their 20's understand the responsibility and were able to see the transaction from slow dial-up to today's amazing fast broadband speed.

With the advancement of technology, people use their computers and text messages on cell phones as a way to communicate. This will make it more difficult for people to speak to one another in person. It's a different experience when typing and actually talking.

Facebook has it's benefits as well as a few problems. I connect with family who I rarely see. It gives me updates on what they're doing, and its easier to communicate with each other. There are also problems with Facebook. There are people who have 1000s of friends because they accept friend requests from anyone. There is a possible chance of stalkers who try to friend every person possible.

So if you rarely socialize with people and are always on your phone texting, get out there and communicate with people and share common interests. This will eventually help you in the long run.

Education and the Internet

If you think about it, Internet has helped the educational system throughout these past two decades. Students who want to do research on an assignment they're working on, all they have to do is browse the Internet. It's a lot easier than going to your local library and hoping to find the perfect book you're looking for. Also, before I applied to college, I used to Internet to look for schools that interested me. Most educational processes are required via Internet now. Registering for classes, applying to colleges, signing up for SATs, registering for grad school tests, and many more. The Internet can be very reliable incase of emergencies. If a school were to be effected by a natural disaster, students can still have a class on the Internet. Last semester, my professor had to go out of state for a meeting. He cancelled class but required the students to get to a computer and sign onto a chat and listen to his pre-recorded lecture. This was very easy to use and very accessible. If the Internet weren't available right now, I wouldn't be able to be in these two summer online class I am currently in.

Introduction

Hey everyone! As you can see, my name is Tony. I'm a senior at UMass Lowell, studying finance. What I like to do on my free time is to be with friends, play sports, play video games and listen to music. I've done a few blogs in the past but they've all somehow just became forgotten. I would begin post daily, then every other day, then weekly, and before I know it, I forget about the whole thing.