simplicity

GTA IV Hands on Preview:

After two hours of intensive hands-on, the question is no longer “does GTA IV re-write the urban crime genre?” but, “does it blow away San Andreas?” The answer clear and simple – yes it does.

Great preview of what could very well possibly be the game of the year.

As I mentioned previously I’m currently using Tumblr to do a few of my quick posts. These quick posts are then posted from my Tumblr blog to my WordPress blog. The way I’m currently doing this is with the FeedWordPress plug-in. The plug-in checks my Tumblr blog on a certain schedule to see if it’s been updated before importing over the posts. The only issue I’ve run into is that the schedule doesn’t work the way I thought it would. I placed it on a 10 minute interval, but it really checks only every hour. That’s fine for me though as I don’t post that often and if I really need to I can always click the update button under the admin interface in WordPress.

I could install the Quickpost plug-in for WordPress to avoid using Tumblr, but I haven’t ventured in that direction yet. I’m interested to keep my Tumblr blog updated and see how easy it is to post from my iPhone. I’d also like to at some point start posting more pictures from my phone to the web, we’ll see if I eventually get that crazy.

I enjoy what I do, I tap dance to work every day. I work with people I love, doing what I love. The only thing I would pay to get rid of is firing people. I spend my time thinking about the future, not the past. The future is exciting. As Bertrand Russell says, “Success is getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you get.” I won the ovarian lottery the day I was born and so did all of you. We’re all successful, intelligent, educated. To focus on what you don’t have is a terrible mistake. With the gifts all of us have, if you are unhappy, it’s your own fault.

The quote above as well as the quote from the previous post are from a fantastic Q&A session that Warren Buffet held at UT Austin. The notes are available at the Underground Value blog. I had the opportunity to go through the entire post and as per is usual with anything Mr. Buffet does, I came away impressed.

The Q&A session discusses his success, his drive, his work/life balance, as well as his thoughts on the future of the economy.
One thing that has always struck me about Mr. Buffett was his stance on the tax-code. If you follow anything Mr. Buffett does you know that in the past few years he’s been pushing for a flat income as well as payroll tax. He criticizes the fact that the tax-system is “tilted for the rich” and discusses this during the session:

We did an informal office survey by looking at the total tax footprint versus the total income. I earned 46 million and paid a tax rate of 17.5%. My rate was the lowest, the average was 33%, and my cleaning lady paid 40%. The system is tilted towards the rich. The Forbes 400 total net worth has gone from 220 billion to 1.54 trillion, an increase of 7-to-1. You see in legislature that there is lobbying carried on by the powerful over issues such as the estate tax and carried interest for private equity investments. We need to flatten income and payroll taxes, and those making under $30,000 shouldn’t be bothered.

It’s a fascinating read and I highly recommend it.

“I have simple pleasures. I play bridge online for 12 hours a week. Bill and I play, he’s “chalengr” and I’m “tbone”.”

– Warren Buffett (Underground Value)

“Sources have been telling me that doormen at several clubs are clearing $8,000 to $10,000 a night before they share tips. So much cash is pouring in that some doormen are making $400,000 to $500,000 a year, several nightclub executives told me.”

– ReviewJournal.com – News – NORM: Feds take a look at LV cash flow

ESPN – Els out, Tiger moves on in Match Play opening round – Golf:

Tiger Woods was running out of holes, but not hope.

He had never fallen three holes behind and come back to win in match play as a professional, and his predicament looked particularly dire Wednesday when he took a penalty drop in the desert to lose another hole against J.B. Holmes with five to play.

What followed was a charge that had Woods pumping his fists and Holmes shaking his head.

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Woods won four straight holes with three birdies and a 35-footer for eagle to produce another stunning rally in the desert, this one allowing him to escape in the first round of the Accenture Match Play Championship.

I witnessed the 35-foot eagle putt on the 17th on the Golf channel and it was just absolutely perfect. I mean J.B. Holmes stated it best “What do you do?”

“You’re playing the best player in the world, 3 up with five to play,” Holmes said. “I just said, ‘Don’t do anything stupid. Make him beat you.’ And he did. What do you do?”

The New York Times has an interesting article on NBC ending fall-debuts and instead going to a year-round schedule

NBC Universal took a big step toward undoing one of the television industry’s oldest traditions by announcing Tuesday that it would move to a year-round schedule of staggered program introductions. The move is intended to appeal to advertisers, who crave fresh content to keep viewers tuned in.

From a business perspective this makes complete sense. Again as the article states this isn’t a brand new idea

The idea of a 52-week schedule is not really new. Most networks now have programming scattered throughout the year with specific shows set aside for summer, like “Big Brother” on CBS (though it was used in the regular season this year because of the strike) and others for midyear like “24″ and “American Idol” on Fox and “Lost” on ABC.

But where NBC has a potential edge over its competitors, is that it will announce the entire schedule ahead of time

But NBC intends to give advertisers a much earlier look at its plans for the entire year. That will presumably make it easier to match advertisers to specific shows, an idea that is growing in popularity.

My personal belief is that depending on the way NBC handles the line-up this will end up being great for viewers or an absolute travesty. NBC can’t be willing to just “fill” the schedule by padding it with trashy reality shows, bad sitcoms, or awful dramas. Obviously there’s a reason why brand new shows, except reality shows, are not released during the summer. It’s a difficult time to capture and keep viewers, but with selective quality programming you can succeed. HBO for example has had great success releasing shows during the summer season such as Entourage and Flight of the Conchords, the quality programming keeps viewers tuned in.

Finally it is understandable that this is a positive for marketing/advertising agencies in particular, giving them the ability to put input into potential shows as well as giving them a head-start on their campaigns. But I only hope that the shows are storyline focused, as opposed to being streaming billboards. Such was the case this past week, with the remake of the Knight Rider movie where you couldn’t get away from anything Ford related, either during the movie or during the commercial breaks. I’m hoping that the co-chairman of NBC Entertainment is true to his word

But Mr. Graboff said this did not mean NBC would base its programming on input from advertisers. “The ultimate decision is going to be made by program executives who believe in the shows,” he said.

It’s been a few weeks since the shame that occurred on a cool, brisk, February Sunday evening. Because of the obvious painful result of such an evening, there will be no discussion from here on forward about the 2007/2008 NFL Season and last seasons New England Patriots. I have moved on and am washing my hands of all that has occurred. From here on out the talk will be moving over to baseball season, march madness, the Celtics, Tiger Woods, and potentially any new trades and acquisitions by the Patriots for the 2008/2009 season.

Thank you.

I had a chance to watch “Gone Baby Gone” last night and highly recommend it to anyone that hasn’t watched it yet. It’s got some superb acting, a great ensemble cast, a great story, and a pretty good twist. As much as I hate to say this, but I feel it’s necessary, Ben Affleck does indeed do a good job directing the movie. Alright that’s all, I must now go wash myself because I feel ashamed for using the name Ben Affleck in a sentence which has a positive spin.

Came down w/ the flu last week so I’ve been attempting to get myself back in order. Hopefully should be a-OK by the middle of this week.