If you haven’t seen this already, this is a great video from a John Kerry speech at the University of Florida.  Some kid during the Q&A started hogging the mic and waving around a book.  Then he started to fight back against the cops and got tasered.

Looking on YouTube, there are a number of videos that are sympathetic for this kid…but I don’t get it.  He was asked to leave the mic.  He refused to do so.  Cops tried to remove him from the mic.  He resisted arrest, and eventually got tasered.  Were they just supposed to let him talk for hours and hours?  Were they just supposed to let him yell and scream and resist arrest?

The cops told this kid many many times that if he continues to resist, he will get tasered.  He refused to listen, and that’s that.

This kid seems like a loudmouth asshole who got what he deserved.  You want people to listen to you?  Then work hard and develop your own political platform.  Don’t just bogart the mic during someone else’s speech.  Like anyone wants to listen to this ranting hippie lunatic?

And how about the bitch who starts screaming at the end when this kid gets tasered.  God, I wish she got tasered too.

Hey Jak, as an Italian, how do you feel about Domino’s latest bastardization of your homeland’s flagship dish?  Funny thing is, when I was in Rome, a pizza there has like 2 toppings at most.  Plus, the toppings don’t cover the pie, they are well spaced out.

But this, this should be the last straw, Jak.  I’m kind of surprised you haven’t said anything yet.

Yesterday I picked up an HD cable box for Monday Night Football.  I lost by the way, to Xtine who as I mentioned doesn’t even check her roster.

In any case, I have an HD TV that I bought a while ago, but to this point I’ve been only making use of the HD part for DVDs and Blu Ray discs…both of which look incredible by the way.  A HDTV is worth it just for DVDs really, as long as you get an upconverting DVD player that will make use of all that extra resolution.

But to this point I have hesitated to get an HD cable box because I have a TiVo-like setup that doesn’t work with a cable box.  Also, I’m pretty cheap and playing extra per month for a box didn’t make sense to me.

But I made the jump, and wow, it was worth it.  I have a 50″ Sony SXRD TV, which is a rear projection TV, not an LCD or Plasma.  It has the advantage of being much cheaper than an LCD or Plasma, but does not have the brightness or viewing angle of flat screens.  Also, you need to replace the bulb in projection TVs every few years - a pain to be sure.  But it looks great, and has true 1080p resolution so it looks really nice, especially at night where there is no reflection from the sun.

I use comcast because I don’t have a choice, but I have to say their customer service was very very good.  They have a bunch of walk in locations, so all I had to do was call, pick my plan, and then walk in to get my box.  I could have gotten it installed as well, but who wants to wait for the cable guy.

When you get home, you have to activate the box, which is a pretty cool process.  They can actually turn your box off and on over the phone.  This took two tries, because the first try I accidentally turned by TV back on.  But the best part was it took less than a minute to talk to a real person at Comcast - a rarity nowadays.  Again, great customer service.

I have about 16 HD channels, which is not great, but seems standard at this point.  I have local HD, which is so-so, because most of the programming is not in HD.  I also have some movie channels and ESPN - again, nice but with limited HD content.

I have to say sports was really my primary motivation for HD.  The field looks incredible - you can see individual blades of grass glistening in the light.  And players are so clear you can see the names on jerseys even from the super high angle camera.

One thing that’s weird tho is to look at people’s faces.  They’re really shiny, and you can see scars and divots or whatever.  The same thing goes for any HD program, which is especially discouraging for hotter girls.  It kind of kills the fantasy.

Nature shows also look very good in HD.  But in general nature shows get very boring.

Overall, I’m glad I got it, and I only play $65 a month (for six months) which is a decent special.  I don’t have a HD DVR though, so I have found myself watching many more commercials - very very annoying.

But with HDTV prices so low (the TV I have is now only a grand) it seems like the technology will flourish in the next few years.  Hopefully that will mean more channels and better HD programming.

Oh, another thing, I wanted to get Howard Stern on demand, but this is a separate service you have to pay for.  You can subscribe over the TV either, unlike most of the movies that you can purchase with your remote.  I think they make it that way because Howard has a lot of adult content.  Anyway, I’m looking forward to Howard TV.

Those that work in the finance industry have heard the stories of Japanese housewives day trading currencies at home.  The media has now picked up on the story and has started to share personal tales.  I’m personally suprised about the level of sophistication these woman are using to determing trading strategies.  Could you imagine a 70 old lady in the US day trading?

Great! Another year that The Wire doesn’t win a single Emmy award?  That’s fucking bullshit, no wonder all these award shows have become irrelevant. They don’t have any idea what the public watches.

Today the world of fantasy lost it’s greatest author since J.R.R. Tolkien.  Robert Jordan, author of the eleven volume series “The Wheel of Time” passed away from a rare blood disease.  He was diagnosed a year ago, and, from all appearances, was getting better.  That makes his passing even more shocking to those of us praying for his recovery.  He was only 58 years old. As a two-tour veteran of the Vietnam War and a graduate of The Citadel, he was not your typical sci-fi nerd. And he wrote about war and death from the perspective of a person who has experienced it firsthand.

I know this probably seems insignificant for anybody who hasn’t read his books, however, you have to understand that many of his fans have been reading “The Wheel of Time” for over a decade.  The series is unique in that unlike most other long fantasy series, Jordan did not create a few central plot threads that span the series and then use each installment to create and complete a variety of minor plot threads.  Rather, he has kept his plot threads open and alive, literally dozens of plotlines and hundreds of characters, throughout the series.  “The Wheel of Time” is, essentially, one enormous story.  Regardless of your taste in reading, or opinions of high fantasy in particular, there is no way to read his books and not be convinced that the author is a genius.  One would have to be to be able to so intricately maintain and develop an entire world, distinct cultures, a system of magic so detailed it functions with rules and reason and its own internal logic - like physics in a way, through out thousands of pages of writing.  And his work was no common rehashing and renaming of Tolkien’s work, like the vast majority of high fantasy.  It was unique and creative in a way that no other author of the high fantasy genre has been able to achieve.  Tolkien’s greatness is equal to Jordan’s only because Tolkien was the first to accomplish a creation of this magnitude.

When I learned this morning that Robert Jordan had passed away, I felt a rather unexpected sinking feeling in my stomach. I still think I’m in shock. With the sense of despair and loss the thought that shot through my head was “Did he finish book 12″? This made me feel like a bad person. Because, and this is the cruel twist of Fate’s manicured hand, Robert Jordan was working on the final volume of “The Wheel of Time” when he became ill. It is not completed. The final volume promising to bring together over fifteen years of story won’t be written by the man who planned it. It will not be the same. It really can’t be.

This made me feel like a bad person at first. But upon further reflection, I don’t think it should. I feel like I know Robert Jordan. His work and his world have been a part of mine since I was 17 years old. What greater complement can a fan have for an artist as to feel genuine sorrow at the loss of the artist’s work? Or the knowledge that the work will never be completed, at least in the way that only the artist himself could?

Rest in Peace, Sir.

P.S. - Once I get to the “anger” stage of my grief, I’ll have some words about Punahou and Hawaii’s alleged “small town mentality.”

-What will probably be the shootout of the year took place today between the Bengals and Browns.  A total of 11 TDs were throw, with the Browns pulling out a surprising 51-45 win.

-The biggest beneficiary of this game was Militia Etheride, who scored an unheard of 160 points this week.  The best part is that El Jeffe, who owns Militia, was playing his gf TJFKAK - you remember her, shit talking her way to a big win last week against the Feral Cats?  In any case, despite owning Steve Smith, who scored 3 times, TJFKAK is down by an insurmountable margin of 52 points going into monday’s game.

-I am trailing the McKinley Tigers by 11 points, which is maddening since Xtine didn’t even set her rosters and has barely touched her team this whole season.  Philip Rivers is killing me.  So is Alex Smith, although impressively the 49ers are 2-0.  I’m playing Jeff Garcia next week.

-Both Jak and The Bear are far behind in their games.  I’ve learned from last week, so I won’t be throwing in the towel for them - but both need a big monday to pull out a win.

-This whole spy gate thing with the Patriots videotaping hand signals or whatever is way overblown.  I hate how the media keeps on focusing on football for non-football stories.  I mean, the Patriots blew out the Chargers tonight 38 to 14…without video cameras.  Sure, taping hand signals is pretty sneaky, but I don’t get why any fan can’t do the same thing.  A fan in the front rows with a HD video camera can get a great view of a coach’s signals, and, say, post it on youtube or something.  The point is, I think the Patriots are a very solid team with or without the taping, and I think these videos would, at most, only marginally improve the team.

-I saw a weird Mercedes commercial today…and it’s weird because I have always thought of a Benz as an old guy or chick’s car.  But this commercial positioned the Benz for younger males, touting the strength of the car and even showcasing its off road capabilities.  I don’t think they will be successful in this market - but who knows?

-Also this Budweiser Select commercial is bizarre.  It makes a big deal of Select’s low calories, which makes sense…but it also shows a big "No Fat" banner.  But beer doesn’t have fat in the first place…so, I’m not really sure what the point is.

-CBS’s sitcoms this year look horrible.  Not to mention another year of big brother, which is being marketed as a skinemax-style porno practically.

-The one show that kind of stood out was Kid Nation, because there has been so much hype over it.  I think this show will initially get some pretty good ratings.  But I bet I’ll be all cutesy and heart warming, which will make it lame.  They call it a show the whole family can watch, is not really what I was looking for.  I was thinking more lord of the flies meets midget ultimate fighting.

-Ooohhh, here is that Nike commercial I was talking about last week.  I can watch this thing over and over and over, it’s so sick.  And guess what, it’s apparently directed by Michael Mann…kind of sad for Mann that he’s directing commercials, but he did a great job nonetheless.

Hi Jak, let me introduce myself.  I’m Punahou-er, a new author here on Japadamus.  I’ve been noticing that your posts have become fewer, and farther between…and I’d like to help.

My qualifications?  Well, for one, I went to the greatest private school in the world, Punahou.  Maybe you’ve heard of it.

Let me tell you why Punahou is such a great school.

First of all, did I mention Punahou is a private school?  In Hawaii?  Need I say more?  Look, I don’t mean to belittle public school education in Hawaii, but Punahou is clearly superior.

Public schools in Hawaii will hire anyone, including teenagers straight out of KCC.  Punahou hires only teachers with strong intellectual backgrounds.  That means they went to college on the mainland - maybe even an Ivy League school.  That means Punahou kids are smarter than other kids on the island, because we’re taught by smarter people.  Get it?

Did I mention how big our school is as well?  We have like, 2 separate libraries.  What public school has that?

And it’s not like I just took regular english classes.  I took AP english.  Everyone at Punahou takes advanced placement classes because we’re advanced.  It’s as simple as that.

Don’t believe me?  Just ask anyone in Hawaii about Punahou and they’ll tell you how intellectually superior we are.

I hope you get in touch with me.  I know my Punahou education can really contribute to both the quality and frequency of your posts.  Let me know if you have any other questions.  Like, about our carnival or our lily pond or anything like that.

Those of you who bought an iPhone before August 22 can now get your $100 Apple Store credit online.  This only works for phones that were purchased from AT&T or Apple stores, and requires the phone to be activated.

It’s a quick 3 step process that involves the input of your phone number, serial number, a text message, and a print out.  That’s it.

I’m still a little pissed that Apple is dropping the price of the iPhone so quickly, but it seems to be working well for Apple, who sold its one millionth iPhone shortly after the price drop.

Is anyone else thinking of getting one now?  It’s a steal for $400.

I really have to recommend it too.  I use it constantly throughout the day at work.  I’ve actually got into this routine where I download the previous day’s Howard Stern show and listen to that during the day, along with music.  I have a bunch of videos I can watch too.

What’s really convenient is when you’re listening to music and a call comes in, you just press the earphone cord to answer.  When you hang up, your music comes back on.

The biggest gripe I have is slow Internet.  Also, the phone does have it’s share of bugs.  For example, there is a slider to navigate within a song, but it is so small that in a 5 hour long Howard episode it’s hard to stop in the right place.  There is also no fast forward or rewind which is a pain.

The phone requires a reset every so often also - kind of annoying.  And when you visit some sites the thing will just freeze for a while, sometimes requiring a restart.

It would also be great if the phone did a better job of remembering my place in a track, so if I stop the music and play with a bunch of apps, then go back to the song, I will be right where I left off.  Right now this feature is spotty at best.

But still, a great device.  Who’s the next to get one?

Nevermind his past.

Nevermind his talent

Nevermind his intelligence

Do mind his hair.

Shout out to Hensloc for the heads up.

SF chronicle had an article about blogging for fun and profits….I’m waiting for the profits,,,

Blogging tough way to make money - but here’s how

Ilana DeBare

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Q:I’m thinking of starting a blog and am curious about selling advertising on it. Do bloggers make much money from ads? How would I go about selling ads on my site? I have a full-time job, so I don’t need to make a living off of this, but it would be great to bring in a few extra bucks.

Brand-new blogger

A: From a business point of view, there are two reasons to start a blog. One is as a marketing tool to bring exposure, credibility and clientele to an existing business - for instance, using a blog about gardening to promote a local plant nursery.

The other reason - the one you’re considering - is to generate money through the blog itself. Rather than promoting a business, the blog is the business.

There certainly are some examples of blogs as successful businesses. High-profile blogs like Huffington Post and Daily Kos attract millions of readers and sell oodles of ads.

Some lesser-known blogs do well also: Steve Pavlina has a blog and Web site about personal growth called StevePavlina.com that generates more than $10,000 in ad revenue each month. And Tom Foremski publishes a blog called Silicon Valley Watcher that garners about $10,000 a month in corporate sponsorships.

But those are the exceptions. There are 103 million blogs in existence and 175,000 new ones created every day, according to Technorati, a San Francisco company that tracks blogs and offers a blog search engine.

Most of those 103 million blogs don’t even try to sell ads. And those that do accept ads - most commonly through Google’s AdSense program - typically make only a few dollars a month.

“A good rule of thumb would be that for every 1,000 page views, the blogger will make 50 cents,” said Guy Kawasaki, co-founder of the popular blog Truemors.

“Someone starting a new blog shouldn’t expect a dime from advertising,” said Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas. “People should blog because they love to write about their chosen subject matter. That should be the only motivation because for 99.9999 percent of bloggers, that personal satisfaction will be all the payment they will ever see.”

But you’re right that a few extra bucks never hurts anyone. So let’s look at the various ways to sell ads on a blog:

– Google’s AdSense. You can find these little text ads with the “Ads by Google” caption on lots of Web pages. Advertisers bid for these slots on a per-click basis, and Google splits the revenue with the blogger or Web page owner. Since it’s an auction system, the cost of ads varies widely - from a few pennies per click up to $15 per click or more.

Google doesn’t disclose how it splits the revenue with Web page owners. But Foremski of Silicon Valley Watcher estimated that small Web publishers probably receive about 60 percent of ad revenues while Google keeps 40 percent.

– Blog ad networks. Some companies have created networks of independent blogs and sell packages of advertising on those blogs - for instance, a package of ads on parenting-related blogs.

Federated Media and Pajamas Media are two such companies; BlogHer is another one that focuses on blogs written by or for women. These networks typically charge on a per-view rather than a per-click basis, which may be more lucrative for many bloggers.

“We sell ads for $10 to $20 for 1,000 impressions (page views),” said Elisa Camahort, co-founder of BlogHer, which is based in Redwood City. “The average blogger gets 50 percent of that, although large bloggers get more.”

– Sell ads yourself. Some megablogs like Huffington Post have in-house advertising sales teams. There are also sites like BlogAds.com that help you sell ads yourself. But do-it-yourself ad sales is not a great idea for a new, unknown, part-time blogger like you.

What determines whether a blog receives $10 or $10,000 from ads each month?

Partly it’s the number of readers. But it’s also the nature of those readers. Advertisers will pay more if your blog attracts a particular audience they want to reach, such as high-tech decision-makers or new parents with lots of disposable income to spend on children’s products.

“It’s not so much the numbers in themselves as what they represent - in my case, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, the Silicon Valley crowd,” Foremski said.

So if you’re viewing this blog as a business endeavor, think about how to develop a readership that is either large or desirable to advertisers. Attracting those readers will require marketing and networking within the blogosphere. But mostly it will require a well-written and interesting blog that is updated frequently.

“Do you blog regularly in a voice that’s individual? Do you participate in the community of people with similar blogs so they come to your blog?” said Camahort. “If you write with absolute authenticity about who you are, you’ll find the people who will be your readers.”

“The Average Joe will fail to make a living from blogging,” Pavlina said. “But the Average Joe will fail at every other serious long-term endeavor anyway. If you want to succeed in blogging, you can’t be average because people don’t want to visit and read average blogs. Average is boring.”

Keep in mind that ad sales aren’t the only way to make money from a blog. Other strategies include selling merchandise, setting up affiliate relationships with online stores such as Amazon.com so you receive a percentage of sales that come through your site, and even asking readers for donations.

Pavlina - whose total Web-related revenue from all sources come to $40,000 per month - has a helpful article about making money from blogging at links.sfgate.com/ZTJ. For more advanced tips, go to www.problogger.com or www.doshdosh.com, which deal with how to make money from blogging and the Web.

Yes, another fantasy post…but really, it’s fun, no?

As luck would have it I played TJFKAK who scored the most points this week…and I got beaten badly.  The worst part was chatting with her on IM as LT threw a touchdown and then ran for one.  Her running back threw for more touchdowns than my two quarterbacks combined.

And once she got a big lead on me she started talking real shit and saying fucked up stuff to me, like, “did you hear Larry Johnson is out with AIDS?”  You just don’t joke about stuff like that, in my opinion.

And then Alex Smith had a horrible game…capped off with a perfect TD pass that was fumbled one foot away from the goal line.  Not to mention Vernon Davis who scored zero points.

Most surprising however, was The Bear and her affirmative action squad, team Fluff.  They came back big time against the black ships and pulled out a tie, with Edgerrin james scoring an impressive 17 points.  I of course, had already called the game for BS on Sunday, but was clearly mistaken.  Kinda disappointed there was no clear winner tho.

With the recent posts here about football and small towns and the beginning of the fall TV season, it seems like a great time to talk up one of my favorite new shows from last year. Friday Night Lights was a good movie with Billy Bob Thornton in 2004, but it became a phenomenal television series with NBC and Kyle “I was in Early Edition” Chandler last year. Okay, first thing’s first — it’s NOT all about football. This show does such a phenomenal job of showing life in a true small Texas town. I’ve met a fair number of kids from around the area where the show takes place, and let me say, this does a good job of underscoring the way that everyone focuses their attention to high school football, everyone knows of everyone else, the smallness of the town, the overt religious faith, and, of course, the racial tensions.

Okay, maybe I’ve done a piss poor job of talking up this show. It’s not high brow. It’s not low brow. It’s just a really solid show that does a great job of portraying small town life, how awkward teenagers can be, and how good, realistic marriages operate. And, it just gets you right there. And it’s not melodrama, damnit. It got poor ratings last season, but thankfully NBC realized it had a quality show for once and renewed it. If you’re home on Friday nights (yes, they finally realized that maybe a show named Friday Night Lights could have some mirroring), watch it on NBC Friday nights at 9/8c.

I’m not really educated in the dance field, but this was horrible, right?  I mean, she’s basically walking around stage snapping her fingers while getting felt up.  Even 50 Cent looked confused.

And is it me, or at the beginning doesn’t it seem like she’s a little wobbly?

A little old…heard about this kid on a Howard rerun.  He’s the 2007 spelling bee champ…and he’s an absolute disaster.

One thing is he’s home schooled, so he really has very little personality.  He’s super smart, obviously, but at times he can’t put a sentence together.  It kind of reminds me of a kid who does nothing but play basketball all day and night, and has no other skills, and can barely read…but at least you can make a living playing basketball.

And you know this kid’s parents lock him up in the basement and just shove books in his face all day.

The first clip is of Evan on CNN - a must see.  The next two are from the Kimmel show - also very funny.  The final is the kid’s final round.  His second to last word?  Yosenabe…a japanese soup.

Funny thing is the kid doesn’t even seem that happy when he wins.  He just stands there with a dumb smile on his face.

And how much do you want to bet Stuart Scott is the first black person this kid has ever seen.