The Credit Crisis Visualized

I was listening to a popular NY radio show on satellite radio called Opie and Anthony. During one of their shows, they had one of their regulars on…Louis CK…a very funny writer and comedian. They were talking about politics and the credit crisis came up. During the conversation, they were discussing how uninformed most people are on how we got into the economic state we are currently in. Louis mentioned how took time and spent a few minutes looking into how this happened so he himself could understand. I work for a life insurance company, so I had a good understanding, but wanted to find something that I could share with friends and family that would offer a simple explanation. During my search, I came across a very informative and simple explanation of how we got into the economic mess we are in now. My favorite part is how the creator depicts sub-prime mortgages (hilarious). Enjoy and hope anyone who sees this finds it helpful.

http://crisisofcredit.com

Retro Sneakers

Sup All! It’s been a few months. School and work had been taking up a lot of my time, so I will use them as an excuse for not writing for awhile.

Anyway, I have this HUGE sneaker fetish, especially when it comes to retro sneakers. Luckily I have it under control since I have so many other interest. Every year around February or March, I start looking for some cool looking sneakers to wear for the spring and summer…hoping to find some cool retro styles. Adidas are one of my favorite brands and their originals online store brings back some cool memories, as well as providing some cool retro styles from shoes to apparel. So as I am doing my annual shoe search, I came across the Adidas SL 72. All the sudden my sneaker fetish kicked in. I think they reissued these in 2004, so I am surprised that I just now coming across them. So after a week or so of searching for other brands and colors, I settled on these:

I was a little concerned about the color, but after they arrived in the mail and trying them on …I absolutely love them; comfortable and lightweight. Now I just need to find a couple of shirts that will match them. I will probably get another pair that are not as “loud”.

I find it funny how in my younger days, newer meant better, but as I get older, the nostalgia of the retro styles bring back some memories of the “good ole days”…and an appreciation of the simple things. So, if your looking for a simple, but stylish sneaker, I recommend the Adidas SL 72.

It’s been a long time…

“…I shouldn’t have left you,
Without a strong rhyme to step to.
Think of how many weak shows you slept through
Times up, I’m sorry I kept you.
Thinking of this, you keep repeating you miss
The rhymes from the microphone soloist.
And you sit by the radio, hand on the dial, soon
As you hear it, pump up the volume!”

…well, I am no Eric B or Rankim…but I’m back again and should start to post regularly.

I just finished my first semester as a grad student. What an eye opening experience that has been. Work, family and now an MBA? I’m not just burning the proverbial candle at both ends, but doused the candle with some kerosene then lit it with a stick of dynamite. But it’s all good. It has shown me how resilient I really am, but also need to really work at not procrastinating.

Well, lots to get caught up on…bought an Apple TV, my iPhone, GTA IV, my thoughts on the election, the family and etc. Stay tuned!

Noooooo!!!!!!

Well…my iMac has been randomly “shutting down” since Sunday. Finally called today to get it to Apple for a “look see” and determine the diagnosis.

Sidebar: I have to say, without sounding like a Apple fanatic, their customer service is OUTSTANDING! Although I was not able to get an appointment tonight, they went ahead and scheduled me for a visit tomorrow.

Anyways, did some research into the issue through the internet and seems like this has happened before. A couple of possibilities…mostly hardware. Hopefully nothing too serious.

I’ll report my findings tomorrow.

Been awhile…

…since a post. So much has changed in the last month or so. I went on vacation and I got a new job in July. Took the family on our first “family” vacation to Maryland’s vacation “hot” spot…”Ohcean City hon!” We took the baby for her first of many trips to the ocean. She absolutely loved it. I did learn a lesson though. A family of 5….myself, my wife, the baby, my step-daughter and her half-sister…do not fit very well in a Lexus 330. Although the Lexus is a very nice and reliable alternative to an SUV gas hog and global killer, i can see why some families opt for a SUV vs. a Mini-van. IMO…the mini-van is very “yuppie, white-collar, soccer mom-ish” vehicle and for those that know me personally…a mini-van does not fit the personality…not that the Lexus did either So we got rid of the Lex and bought another Tahoe…which I could justify this time round since my new job is 15 miles away vs. the 30+ miles I have been commuting since graduating from college, not to mention the new 2007’s are just hawt!

Anyway…new job is great…keeps me very busy. The only negative part is that it is pulled me further from the technical side of things. Not necessarily a bad thing. I guess now I will have too be more diligent on my own volition and stay on top of things. So much has gone on in the world and with me…but I will start making time to post.

Well…just checking in…so sup to all my peeps and appreciate the love and those that visit. Catch y’all next week.

Another one bites the dust…errr Vegemite

Pictures are worth a thousand words….so as you can see Vegemite FTW…and then the hilarity ensues. Big ups to my boys Macdork and JB. As you can see, they enjoyed my first taste of the infamous Vegemite.

http://flickr.com/photos/macdork/sets/72057594126221351/

For those unfamiliar with Vegemite…click to learn more. As for the comment that “it’s an acquired taste”…again, you can see what i think of it’s “acquired” taste…literally.

I’m Back….

…not that I have been anywhere. Just been busy (well okay…and a bit lazy too) to really post. Couple of things have happened over the last month or so. Back in middle of April got into a car accident. Luckily no one was hurt, but the accident was pretty bad.

I was heading home and as I was making a left turn onto the street I live off of, some kid ran a red light and slammed into the front passenger side of my SUV.  Being 6′4 and 250+ lbs, I need a fairly decent sized car to be comfortable, so I drive (err…drove) a 2003 Chevy Tahoe Z71. So, as I am turning left, I catch this blur outta’ my right eye, turn my head about 1/4 and say “OH SH…”, but by the time the “sh” got out of my mouth…crack…boom!

All I saw was the impact and the airbag. By the time it was over, I was facing west when I was originally traveling east. The kid tried to beat the light, did not see me and hit me at about 50-60 mph. Not too mention he was driving a mid-sized GMC Sonoma pick-up truck. Now to put the size and speed of his car vs. me making a left turn at less than 5 mph into perspective…Sonoma’s average weight is 3160lbs. The Chevy Z71 average weight…5269lbs. Needless to say, I was a bit banged up and bruised, but lucky to walk away. STill dealing with the insurance companies too (pain in da’ ass)! Oh…did I mention that he struck me so hard that he turned my truck 180 degrees, pushed me into a VW Jetta, bounced off my SUV and hit another  SUV!?!? Wonder what his new insurance rates will be?!

Apple’s new Boot Camp now allows Windows to boot on Intel-based Macs

Last week, Apple released boot camp which allows Intel-based Mac users to safely load and run Windows XP natively. You can repartition the drive without data loss and install Mac drivers that give you that “mac” feel:
    * Graphics
    * Networking
    * Audio
    * AirPort wireless
    * Bluetooth
    * The Eject key (on Apple keyboards)
    * Brightness control for built-in displays

Imagine that!?! Well…not really…especially considering that Apple’s release of an Intel-based Macs earlier this year. Many technologist had purported that you would see an Apple running windows software…but maybe just not so soon.

All-in-all it took me about an hour to get XP installed and running.  Once I got the Mac drivers installed, it was cool to see my “old friend” windows running on my iMac as I was staring at the apple logo. Now, I want to find me a nice PC-based game and see how it runs. Stay tuned….

Meanwhile, click the image to see XP on my iMac.

Birthday

Well…today I turn 33…or is it 34…maybe even 35!?!? I was adopted so there is some discrepancy over my age. My birth certificate says I was born in 1972, but there is some controversy on whether I am a year younger, a year older…or I truly born in 1972.  I was born in Taipei, Taiwan and am the product of a military love. Long story short, my father left my mother and I in Taiwan, while he returned to the United States. At the time, my mother was concerned because I was a biracial baby (black and chinese) and was concerned that I would not have the same opportunities or privileges because I was mixed (at least thats the story i’ve been told). Apparently, Chinese culture has little tolerance for the blending of races, so I was adopted when I was  3yrs old  and moved to the USA with my new WHITE family….a WHOLE other story with many chapters.  So I could easily be older or younger…but my father (adopted father) says he 85% certain I was born in ‘72…but small chance of being born in ‘73. He doesn’t think I am older though.

But you know, when it is all said and done, vanity always takes control and i have found my personal fountain of youth.

Happy 33rd too me!

Wednesdays

Wednesdays are the best and worst day for me. My job requires that I travel to our other office in VA each week for a meeting that takes all of 15 minutes >:(

The the shitty part of today is that I live in Baltimore, MD and have to commute to Virginia…not fun…especially during the morning and/or afternoon rush hours. For those unfamiliar with the DC/MD/VA metro area…a 10 mile commute could easily take 30-45 mins, maybe longer depending on the weather.

Oh well, it could be worse. The better part of the day is that at I can least leave early enough so that my commute home is only an hour vs. 3 hours of DC/MD/Virginia rush hour traffiic. I can also listen to some of my podcast on the way home, so all-in-all, the balance is restored.