Finance Fantasy League: UpDown.com

Fantasy sports have revolutionized the way fans watch their favorite games. In theory, this fantasy concept can be applied to many things in life. For instance, you could have a celebrity fantasy league, and base scores on who gets arrested or pregnant any given week. (Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan would be first rounders for sure.) Anyway, if you enjoy finance but don’t have a million dollars to invest, you can draft a fantasy team of stocks on UpDown.com to try to beat the market. You can even win some real money in what they’ve termed investing contests. Intrigued? Continue Reading »

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YouTube Intros Higher Quality Videos

YouTube is one of the top five time-wasters of all time. You can navigate to the site with a specific purpose and find yourself watching random videos for hours. One of the biggest complaints about the video sharing site is its mediocre video resolution of 320×240. This lack of quality is especially evident when expanding to a full screen viewing environment. Good news, complainers: the Tube has recently added a higher quality viewing option. Continue Reading »

Posted in Software, Web | 1 Comment »

Making the Mac Switch

I recently was in the market for a new computer. It had been almost 18 months since my last computer purchase (a Dell XPS M1210 in October 2006), and that of course means that I was incredibly behind the times. Hearing some good things about a certain fruit-flavored computer company, I started doing some research on the Apple MacBook Pro. Upon discovering that there’s a discount through my current employer, I ordered the sleek new laptop in early April. I waited to post my impressions because I’m lazy until I’ve had some quality time with this bad boy. Continue Reading »

Posted in Miscellaneous, Software, Technology | 3 Comments »

The Madness of March

So it is finally here. Arguably the greatest sports weekend of the year. 48 college basketball games in four days. I’m happier than Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens at a BALCO going-out-of-business liquidation sale.

The truly great invention of the last fifty years is March Madness on Demand, which allows office workers all over the world to not get any real work done these next two days. If you’re sitting at a computer that’s not near your 90″ HDTV, check it out.

For those interested, here are my Final Four teams. If you’re not interested, I’ll give them to you anyway. North Carolina, Georgetown, Texas, and UCLA with the Bruins over the Tar Heels in the championship. March Madness, it’s awesome, baby!

Posted in Asides, NCAA, Sports | No Comments »

Blogging as a Business: Introduction

Bloggers write for all kinds of different reasons. Some start a site as a hobby; others compile compelling content to attempt to help others and break niché news. An interesting phenomenon that appeals to most authors that are pitched the idea to is making money with your blog. If I told you that you could view your blog as a business entity that makes money, is that something you might be interested in? Continue Reading »

Posted in Blogging, Business, Web | 3 Comments »

Top 5 Reasons Why This is the Best Top 5 List Ever

Blog top-X lists are quite a popular form of writing. They usually focus on pop-culture topics, like the top five rock bands of all time. However, contrary to popular belief, these lists are boring. Not this list. I present you with the Top 5 Reasons Why This is the Best Top 5 List Ever. Mind you, these are only the top five reasons. There are many, many more. But let’s just say I think five is enough. Continue Reading »

Posted in Humor, Random | 1 Comment »

J-Kidd to the Mavericks

After dancing around a possible deal like Emmitt Smith for two weeks, Jason Kidd and some other guys I’ve never heard of are heading to the Dallas Mavericks for Devin Harris, the retired Keith Van Horn (more on this later), a bunch more guys I’ve never heard of, draft picks, and $3 million in cash. It looks like the Eastern Conference is trying to get worse by trading away their good players to the Western powerhouses. Does this move adequately prepare Dallas for a playoff run? Continue Reading »

Posted in NBA, Sports | No Comments »

The Dreaded ‘R’ Word: Recession

When speaking of financial matters, recess is not a word you want to come up in the conversation. Growth and expansion are the type of terms you want to hear. So, should the average investor be worried when there is all this talk of a “recession” in today’s U.S. economy? In a word, no. I’ll tell you why. Continue Reading »

Posted in Business, Finance | 1 Comment »

The Phoenix Shaq-speriment

When I first heard the Phoenix Suns were making a bid for Shaquille O’Neal, I dismissed it as crazy speculation. It turns out the rumored deal was as official as a referee with a whistle, and the trade went through: Shaq to the Suns with Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks switching to a swanky new Miami zip code. On paper, it looks like the run-and-gun Suns significantly slowed themselves down by adding a diesel 18-wheeler to their nimble, sports car mix. Will their experiment pay off? Continue Reading »

Posted in Humor, NBA, Sports | 4 Comments »

Ya-Micro-hoo-soft?

This morning Microsoft made a bid of $45 billion to purchase Yahoo! by way of a stock buyout. The software juggernaut has never had a presence in the Internet search market, and just so happens to have some cash lying around. If this is the real deal Holyfield, it would be one of the largest mergers/acquisitions in recent memory; akin to LeBron James being traded to the Lakers for Luke Walton and a draft pick. You just don’t see deals of this magnitude very often. What does this potential blockbuster mean for the big picture? Continue Reading »

Posted in Business, Web | 1 Comment »