So tomorrow morning, I leave for Atlanta to moderate the High School Scholastic Bowl National Championship Tournament (just call it HSNCT....it's a mouthful, I know.) I'll be there for the entire weekend, and I'm looking forward to the tournament and all of the sharp talent that I'll be presiding over- it should be a fun event. Hopefully I get time to explore the city a little bit, especially since I have friends who live there, but the HSNCT comes first; after all, they ARE putting me up in a really nice hotel and reimbursing my plane fare.

If the hotel wi-fi is free, then I'll do my best to post pictures and anecdotes throughout the weekend; if not, then I'll get to it after I come back. Either way, keep your eyes peeled here!

Five. Five Dollar. Five Dollar Rip Off.

Let me make my point clearly and quickly.

Apple's App Store has spoiled me.

Let's get this straight. I pay 99 cents for an app on my iDevice, and the same app may cost me up to five bucks on a Windows, Android, Nokia, or Palm device?

Now, to be fair, a lot of this comes from the fact that the App Store is so competitive that price cutting is the only way to get your name out there; the coverage ranges from a few blogs advertising the price cut to making the "Featured Apps" section of the App Store. If you've got a pretty decent following, and you make your app free for a few days, you just may climb up the "Top Downloaded Apps" chart as well. The 99 cent price point is the cheapest an app can be without being free, and with so many apps to choose from, sometimes a company's only advantage is making the price cut- and even then, success in the App Store isn't assured.

If your really think about it, a lot of popular 99 cent apps out there are worth a lot more than that. Consider Angry Birds, a sure first-round ballot pick for the App Store Hall of Fame, if there ever was one. The iPhone app has been 99 cents since day one, and yet they keep adding content to increase the playability of the game. Even Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Rio have the same price point and constantly add new content.

Right now, considering that the original Angry Birds is inching closer to its 200th level (and probably 300-400 for the entire series), it could be a $5 game and be worth its weight. But why doesn't Rovio up the price- especially considering that the iPad version of the game costs $5 and still stays near the top of the Paid Downloads list? There are two answers to that- one, Rovio sees the original Angry Birds as a gateway drug of sorts. You buy the demo, then you're willing to spend a stupid buck on the game. You buy the dollar game, then you buy the other two games. Rovio basically gets $3 a user on the iPhone/iPod Touch, and all they have to do is rearrange some blocks here and there, and test the level to make sure its beatable- a process that probably doesn't take much time and effort.

Two- Simply put, As long as Angry Birds keeps its cheap price point, it stays at the top of the boards. As long as it stays there, iOS users can see how highly revered it is. How many times have you tried an app just because it was in the Top Downloads section- especially if it was a free or a buck?

Let's also take a look at Flipboard, a free news app that was dubbed the iPad App of The Year in 2010 by Apple. Flipboard also stays near the top of the free app pile, and is featured prominently in Apple's "Gotta Have Apps" and "App Starter Kit" categories, as well as one of Apple's iPad commercials. Very quickly, Apple saw the value of Flipboard, and what it could do for the iPad. But what is an app like Flipboard doing not even selling itself at a buck or two? Well, the same reason Angry Birds only sells for 99 cents- the coverage. People will take a chance on a free or cheap app, especially if they see that others are doing the same and have come to like the app. Besides, more coverage means that the Flipboard team can branch out and do other work for high pay based on the success of the Flipboard app. I'm sure other tablet manufacturers have reached out to Flipboard about porting the app over.

I've mainly talked about Apple up to this point, but it's for a reason; other app stores don't have this sort of competition swirling. Ovi (Nokia), the Windows Marketplace, and even, to an extent, Android, don't have to undercut competitors to stay relevant because their app stores are so much smaller than Apple's. Thus, they can charge $5, the app's true worth, for an app that's 99 cents on the App Store.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is why Apple's got such a stranglehold on the industry. If not a stranglehold, then at least a half-nelson.

Half Nelson. Heh heh. My last name is Nelson. Get it? See what I did there?

Oh, forget it.

So While You're Here, Enjoy The View

Whenever I find myself in a rut and life just sucks, I think of the theme song from One Day At A Time:

This is it. This is it.
This is life, the one you get
So go and have a ball.

This is it. This is it
Straight ahead and rest assured
You can’t be sure at all.

So while you’re here enjoy the view
Keep on doing what you do
So hold on tight we'll muddle through
One day at a time, One day at a time.

So up on your feet. Up on your feet
Somewhere there’s music playing.
Don’t you worry none
We’ll just take it like it comes.

One day at a time!

Hope that helps!

25 Drafts, 10,000 Page Views!

I just took a look in my blog archive and noticed something: I have 25 unfinished articles in my draft box. Random ideas that pop in my head have been left there to perish...or at least until I get time to write more. Since I have nights and weekends free now, I'll probably finish a few this weekend and get them up for posting.

In other news, I'm slowly creeping up to the 10,000 page view mark. Thank you all for your support over the past nine months- Keep reading, and hopefully we'll reach 20,000 page views even quicker!

Touchdown, Bears. And So It Shall Be. Amen.

Near the beginning of the NFL playoffs, I stumbled upon one of the most entertaining Twitter accounts I'd seen in a while. His name? NFLJesus. There's no name attached to the account (obviously), but his tweets are all in the style of bible verses; he just takes out the religious stuff and replaces it with NFL players and concepts. He's a little Jets heavy on the bible tweets, so I imagine he lives somewhere in the New York area. Anyhoo, have a laugh and take a look below:

On Tiki Barber coming out of retirement: "Tiki, at the age of forty thou must retire from thy regular service and work no longer." Numbers 8:25

Green Bay wins the Super Bowl: "Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of Green Bay; thy Packers shall walk in the grace of the Lord." Psalms 101:6

Jay Cutler's NFC Championship Game Injury: "Brace thyself like a man Cutler; I will question you, and thou shall answer me, and truth shall be heard by all" Job 40:7

On Steelers LB James Harrison's helmet to helmet hit: "James of Harrison; thou shall suffer penalty for your roughness and bear the consequences for thy sins of helmet-to-helmet." Ezekiel 23:49

NFL Lockout: "Give us aid against the Lockout, for a Commissioner's help is worthless." Psalm 108:12

"Arise, Lord! Deliver me, my God! Strike all NFL Owners on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked Goodell." Psalm 3:7

Brett Favre: "He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow; But a prating fool shall fall. Favre be thy name." Proverbs 10:10

Here are just a few other random gems from the account:

"For Akers thy Kicker will fail thee, destroy thee, forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them." Deuteronomy 4:31

"Woe unto the Colts! For they ran riotously in error of Peyton for hire, and perished in the gainsaying of Revis." Jude 1:11, #nyj

"So @Rex_Ryan brought him into his house, and gave the horses fodder; and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink." Judges 19:21 #nyj

"D'Brickashaw, my rock, in him will I take refuge; My shield, my high tower & my refuge; thou savest me from violence." 2 Samuel 22:3,


Assuming that the 2011-2012 season is still happening, I will be following this guy on Twitter every Sunday. What about you?

Oooh! Shiny!

Well, look what we have here! The blog has been redone, with a new theme, more width so my posts aren't so scrunched up (which then allows for larger Youtube screens), and a scrolling Twitter feed in the right sidebar so you can see every stroke of my genius!

What do you think? Like the new look, or prefer the old one? Eh, who cares? Nobody ever comments on the articles anyway. So I'll do what I want- you just sit back, watch, and smile. With summer in initial swing, look for many more posts in the near future.

Thanks for reading (and not commenting). Ungrateful bastards.

Cooking With Jeremy- The Best Breakfast Sandwich- EVER.

I love breakfast. Point blank. If you can't tell by the title of my blog, then there's something wrong with you. I am a huge advocate for breakfast for dinner- it's a nice way to mix things up. So last night, I couldn't sleep, and I was hungry. What did I do? I made this:

This sandwich needs a name. Even when properly plated, it doesn't look like it came from a 5 star restaurant.
But damn it, this was tasty.

It's toasted sourdough bread with three strips of bacon, three scrambled eggs with three cheeses (Cheddar, Parmesan, and Mozzarella), and some green onions. I always have fun when I'm cooking, and your dishes tend to taste better when you have fun with the cooking. It opens your mind and lets you be more creative.

Happy cooking, and happy eating!

And So We Commence....

So some good friends of mine graduated today. My roommates- Sam, Tim, and Ryan, and our friends Liza, Jenna, and Ellen, all  walked across the stage. Wait, scratch that- Tim didn't go to graduation. I think he and his parents only cared that he graduated- the ceremony was just an extra unnecessary step. Nice to know they're on the same page, and I'll have more on Tim later. But back to the other graduates:

Our graduates...note that Tim is not wearing a graduation gown, but a black shirt  instead. This picture reminded me a lot of...

...the iconic Brady Bunch stairs picture.

So anyways, the girls cried, the guys cracked jokes, the parents hugged everybody, and off to graduation they went....except Tim, Alex (Jenna, Ellen and Liza's roommate, who graduates next year with me), and me. Alex  made Tim a mortarboard and diploma, and it was only fitting that we had a ceremony. Check it out:

So congratulations to the 2011 graduates! You will go on to do great things! I will miss you dearly.

Cooking With Jeremy- Kickstart Smoothie

I despise mornings that start with my phone alarm screaming at me to wake up. It's intrusive, but since the sun only wakes me up on time during the summer months, most of the year I have no choice but to soldier through alarm clock hell. On mornings like this, most people tell me to suck it up and drink a lot of coffee. Well, I like coffee, but not enough to make it my morning drink of choice more than one work day a week. Any more and I'd jitter and crash all day.

So, what do I drink? One word. Smoothie.



My morning saviour, in a Starbucks mug no less.







I've only been on a smoothie kick for about six weeks now, but for me, they trump morning coffee in just about every category I care about: I have more energy, they taste great, they're filling, they have less sugar than my morning coffee, and I've got a couple of servings of real fruit at the top of each day. Here's my recipe

4-5 strawberries

1/2 cup orange juice

1 slice of lime

1/2 scoop of lime sherbet

1 handful of chopped ice

Just blend all of this together in a blender until you can hear no more ice chopping; the other ingerdients basically blend themselves. This recipe makes 12-14 ounces.

Now a lot of these ingredients can be swapped for others; maybe you like cranberry juice better, or maybe you want to throw some apple, banana, or pineapple in there, or maybe you want to use yogurt in lieu of sherbet- go ahead! The great thing about this smoothie is that the recipe is  interchangeable, so when you get tired of certain flavor combinations, just switch things out. You can even throw some rum, tequila or vodka in this recipe to mae this smoothie more "adult". Have some fun with it!

Well, I'll be cooking all throughout the summer, so stay tuned for more!

You Cannot Be Afraid To Lose!

Disney movies tend to be preachy and quite cheesy when it comes to their message, but I do have to say- this is one of the more meaningful speeaches given in Disney lore. I give to you, from The Mighty Ducks 3, Coach Orion's speech on hockey...and life. If you can't access the Youtube video, the text is below. The first couple of sentences in parentheses was the dialogue before the speech begins. Enjoy!



[What's the one thing all great teams have in common? Defense. See, unlike scoring, defense never quits. But to play great defense you need one thing above all else.] Confidence. Listen, if you learn nothin' else when you're here, you learn this, all right? Cause it's not just about hockey. It's easy to be confident when you have control of the puck. It's very, very difficult to keep that confidence when you gotta take whatever strange bounces life throws your way. Don't be careless, but don't be too careful either. You cannot be afraid to lose! That's how you gain the confidence to attack the game when the puck isn't yours. That's how you attack life... even when you think you don't have any control. And that's how you play real defense.

Well, You Asked For It...

So every Wednesday after my Public Relations class, three of my classmates and I go to a bar near campus called Mowie's. We never order more than a drink or two each, but we're at the point where we know our server by name, and we basically sit at the same table every time, if not the one next to it. We vent about problems with classes, work, personal life, and whatever else we need to get off our chests. Surprisingly enough, although we vent at this bar, a fairly public place, very little of what we say actually ends up leaving the bar. We're a tight knit group, and considering the pressure of grad school and the job that comes with us being public service interns, I think a support group would be a great way to help first year interns cope with everything.

One Wednesday after talking about and dealing with our problems, we get on the subject of rape. I don't remember how; I think it was because of a story one of my classmates had heard, but bear with me here. So we eventually get to the comment that ends most rape conversations- "I don't care what happened- she didn't deserve to get raped!"

Hold it right there.

I told my classmates (two girls and one guy, by the way) that the girl in the story may very well have deserved it- maybe not in the sense that they were talking about, but let's rewind the story back. At this point, my female cohorts were horrified that I may even consider that this girl deserved to be raped.

I don't think that anyone deserves to get raped, or for anything bad to happen to anybody; however, when someone knowingly puts themselves in a bad situation, I can't think otherwise. Rewind the tape slowly, and the answers are right there.

My mother always used a quote from The Lord's Prayer- "Lead them not into temptation", meaning that you don't want to put yourself in a situation where bad things can happen to you, no matter how enticing things are. If you have a gambling problem and there's a casino on your way to and from work, take another route to get to work. Sure the casino route may even be shorter, but eliminating the temptation is the most important thing. In this situation, if I blow my entire check, I don't think that the casino is going to get 100% of the blame. You know that in the end, they want your money; you have no choice but to shoulder some of that blame for even going in.

Let's take a look at a situation that happens more often than is shed light on. A rowdy fraternity house has a "costume party", which, as we all know, is code for having girls dress as sluttily as possible without having to be called a slut- since, of couse, every other girl at the party is dressed like her. Although they've done their best to keep it under wraps, reports have crept in that this specific frat house has molested- possibly raped girls at some of their other parties. Yet and still, not only do these girls go to the party, but they dress like sluts. You're going to put 100% of the blame on the guy who raped her? Not really- nobody paid attention to the fact that her outfit is super tight in all the right places, she was flirting with the guy all night, and she left her drink long enough for a guy to roofie it. Did she deserve to get raped? Probably not. Did she properly take control of a situation she knew about in the first place? Absolutely not. If you don't take proper precautions to stop a bad situation from happening,  I believe you have to shoulder some of the blame. He deserves to go to jail, but she shouldn't get off without some harsh words (preferably from Judge Judy), either.

We've all seen on the news how people get killed in bad neighborhoods, even when they're just passing through. Some of those people had never been in these neighborhoods before, but they still pass through anyway. It's not like bad neighborhoods all look like the nice part of Manhattan; you can spot a bad neighborhood from a mile away. But when you pass through- especially at night, don't you have to shoulder some of the blame if you get killed? Sure, it's meaningless violence, but when you put yourself in that situation, you should know the risk. Let's just say I pass through a place like that and get shot in the arm. When my parents get to the hospital, the first thing they'll ask is why I was in that area in the first place. No matter my excuse, they'd probably ask why I didn't just find a safer route.

Accountability and awareness are two huge factors when placing blame on both parties in a situation- what knowledge did both parties have before a situation, and what did they do to eliminate or elevate the amound of danger in a situation? I agree that the offender in a situation deserves most of the blame in any case. But I'll be damned if the victim knowingly puts themselves in a situation and can't somehow "deserve" it. Maybe not fully, but to say they aren't at fault in any way gives them way too much credit.