See, it's not just Americans...even England has money chasers

So quick back story. David Nalbandian was in the Queen's Club final. He lost his temper after losing his serve. He kicked a barrier around a line judge's chair which I'm sure he thought was much more sturdy than it turned out to be. The barrier gave way and hit the line judge in the shin. The line judge was genuinely injured although it looks from the video to be something as simple as a minor cut and I'm assuming he'll show a bruise later. (I noticed) He was very animated with his reaction which my first thought was "Oh shit, this dude's gonna sue." I don't know if that's what they do in England but that's what he'd do in America. Nalbandian's actions violated an ATP rule and he was disqualified and therefore lost the match. Subsequently, he was fined and then someone filed an assault complaint against him. That someone turned out to be the linesman.

While the links last, you can see the first (maybe the first) story here, a follow-up here and then the most recent one naming the linesman as the whiner complaint filer here).

Now while I don't condone his actions, I don't think Nalbandian is a bad guy. We all let our emotions get the better of us at times. No, that doesn't excuse our actions. I'm just saying that there was a time that something as simple and accidental albeit totally avoidable as this could be moved on from with a simple apology and maybe taking someone out to dinner or such to show there is true remorse and sincerity.

Again, the way the linesman acted up the injury was kind of comical and movie-like. I just knew something more was going to come of it. I don't know what the laws are like in England but in America, the fucked up court system would award this guy a couple of million for his physical AND mental anguish.

Polaroid is still making instant print cameras?

This is an ad I saw for the Polaroid 14MP Instant Print Digital Camera. You can Google it and probably find it on Amazon or something. It's currently on sale at a daily deal website for $179.99 which they say is a savings of $119.96. So, retail on this is somewhere in the area of $300 give or take a few dollars.

I would buy this thing 1) if it was cheaper like around $100 and 2) if I knew I wouldn't be screwed in the near or distant future with Polaroid no longer able to support this product.

I love the Polaroid instamatics of old. It was the one that spit the photo out the front and there was no tearing off the cover like the other Polaroids that you pulled a tab from the side. I guess that's not an instamatic though, huh.

I remember going on a high school trip for a week in the late 80s and took one with me along with several packs of film cartridge refills. I also had my, well my brother's, trusty old Minolta 35mm film camera. The cost of the replacement cartridges for the Polaroid was much greater than the 24-36 exposures of 35mm film. So, using them in tandem was much more cost effective for a high schooler.

There's just something about instant gratification of seeing a developed picture...okay, it was more like three minutes because you had to shake the photo to help dry the developing chemicals and to make sure the photo didn't get smeared. I had that happen a few times on accident. Anyway, it's not like digital cameras these days because yes, digital gives you instant gratification of seeing what you took but it doesn't automatically give you a printed, archival copy that you can give away or share. Digital images are great but there is always a chance they could get deleted, damaged or whatever before you get a chance to get them printed. Yes, yes, not everyone cares about printing them but for me, I like to print for physical archival purposes the images I want or like most and would like to have two versions of: digital and physical.

I think my office had a few Polaroids that I willingly took off their hands. I figured if they still worked maybe I could find film for them and have some cheap or expensive fun. Also, if I can't find film, maybe I could eBay or Craigslist them and get some dough since I didn't spend anything on getting them. If I can remember where they are, there are like six of them, I'll see about finding film or selling them.

I just thought it was interesting to see something that most see as archaic finding a way back into the world. The real things is way better than Instagram.

My other thought about this one is: how does it print without ink? And if there is no ink, which along with paper is usually considered when saying something is archival for so many years, is this an archival photograph and for how long? If it's not long enough, then digital and "professional" printing is still a better choice.

Andy Roddick should just hang up his racquet!

Just to back me up, here is an image from an article on Tennis.com.

click image for link to article while it lasts

I think I've typed about his decline before but Andy Roddick should just end his misery now. He's losing to people he probably really shouldn't lose to. Yeah, yeah. He's had some injuries and shit but dude, the body can only take damage and recover so often. It's different if you had a pretty stellar game to begin with but when it was becoming average for years now, you've got nothing to rely on when you aren't 100%.

Look at Federer. He's still a great player but even his game doesn't seem to be able to lift him over those final hurdles. I don't know if it's age, injury, focus, or what but there use to be another gear or two that Federer could tap into and defeat his opponents even in the past few years. I'm not saying Federer needs to retire. I just think he needs to change his game a little...more net play, more attacking side-to-side, something...like Agassi did in the 2nd and better leg of his career. I don't think he's gone like Roddick because he's still taking the sets to scores such as 7-6, 7-5, or 6-4. Those are close sets and come down to one loss of serve.

Anyway, back to Roddick. Roddick had a two-shot game: killer serve and killer forehand. He's lost both. I don't think it's because people have figured the serve out. I see that it's different, maybe ever so slightly, but it is. Same with his forehand. It used to be much flatter and more powerful. He'd drive through that thing versus the more loopy stroke he has now. The loop allows players too much time to get to it now whereas before it was almost always a winner.

Roddick can take away from his career that he was a one-hit wonder: the 2003 U.S. Open. He's made it to some great finals like U.S. Open 2006 and Wimbledon 2009, both against Federer, which are perfect surfaces (fast) for his old serve and forehand.

A new coach in Larry Stefanki is no longer providing the resurgence it did back 2009. Put a fork in him. He's done. Andy should just enjoy retirement, play on the seniors tour, and live off his wife, actress/model Brooklyn Decker. Accept it and live with it. I would enjoy every moment with her too!

Rafael Nadal vs. Novak Djokovic in Men's 2012 French Open Final

The Men's finals are set for the 2012 French Open. In fact, it's currently in progress. I haven't had a chance to jump on and ramble about it before now because Saturday was a busy day for me. Anyway, the final is:

Rafael Nadal

— vs. —

Novak Djokovic

What does Nadal have to do to win? What every opponent of Djokovic should do...if they can...make his ass run! Before Djokovic's run of wins, he had a very bad stamina/conditioning issue. My thought is that he still has it obviously not as bad but his skills have improved so much that it's allowed him to do less running and such during his matches. I believe if his opponents would continue to run him back and forth as much as possible and as long as they can (obviously it is difficult but it's just a game plan) he will begin to falter earlier in the match. Again, I know it's difficult but at the skill levels of Nadal, Federer, Murray, Tsonga, Berdych and others it should be an attainable task. Nadal is currently up 6-4, 5-3 with Djokovic due to serve after the rain delay. I missed the first set but in the second, Nadal was making Djokovic work very hard for the points if the got them at all. Nadal was hitting through the ball, side to side with good angles and pace. He got up 2-0 and then for some reason he changed his strokes. He started looping the balls and Djokovic started pouncing on them and making Nadal work harder. Before you know it, it's 2-2, then 3-3. Finally, Nadal woke up and started hitting through the ball again without the loops which lead to a break of Djokovic's serve and a hold of his own to make it 5-3. Djokovic was about to serve before they called for a rain delay.

What does Djokovic have to do to win? He needs to continue the way he was hitting in games 3 and 4 of the second set. Again, I didn't see the first set. Even though Nadal is great on clay and his movement is pretty outstanding, even he can't run forever. I recommend the same side-to-side hitting with good angles and pace. When the moment comes, be at or near the net to get the easy put away volley because Nadal is so far behind the baseline and the good approach shot should put him off the court as well. That's some of what Djokovic did during the 3rd and 4th game of the set. He had some very good, deep approach shots and then followed with some very nice vollies.

Who do I want to win? I'm feeling my favor in the Nadal corner. Partly because I'm sick of hearing all the kiss-ass praise from the commentators. They always pick someone to back and blow so much smoke up their asses to make them seem so great. They elevate them to a level over the opponent of the time which they should not. The opponent obviously deserves to be there as much as any one else because they ARE THERE on the court as well! Now, don't think I don't believe Djokovic is a good, maybe even great, player but he's not the best returner in the game right now. He could share the title with a handful of people. He's not the best mover on the court. He moves better than a year and a half ago because he's worked on his conditioning but Federer still moves well for a 30-yr-old. Murray returns and moves well too. Nadal still has the best overall movement and conditioning no matter what. So why the overpraise of Djokovic over one year when these people have been moving and doing well (Murray somewhat inconsistently but still well)? Also, looking at the run to the finals for both Nadal and Djokovic, Nadal has been the more consistent. He has yet to drop a set while Djokovic had to play back-to-back five-setters before playing a fairly close three-set match with Federer. So, my overall vote is for Nadal especially since they always called him just a clay court player but he showed them by winning all the grand slams at least once and on run for a 7th win at Roland Garros.

Well, play has resumed and the commentators are still praising Djokovic even now that he is down two sets to none and losing 2-0 in the third. I really don't think he will but if Djokovic were to come back from this deficit and win the match, the tournament, the trophy, then there would be no shutting up these idiot bandwaggoner fuckers!

Taos Mountains

French Open 2012

The Men's Semifinals and the Women's Finals are set for the 2012 French Open.

- vs. -
Novak Djokovic ------------------------------ Roger Federer

- vs. -
Rafael Nadal ------------------------------ David Ferrer

- vs. -
Maria Sharapova ------------------------------ Sara Errani

Stop the insanity!

Please! Please! For the love of God, stop creating laptops/notebooks with number pads!

If someone really, really needs to have a keypad, they can buy a USB/Bluetooth accessory. This is a the ASUS G75VW-TS71 currently being advertised at CircuitCity.com (link while it lasts).

Look at the beautiful real estate on the keyboard of this computer. The important keys (all of them but the number pad) could be centered as well as the touch pad to the screen versus askew to the left. I mean how many desktop users do you know that like to have their movable keyboards to slightly to the left or right of their monitors? Very, very few and that's because it's their choice. This notebook keyboard layout is not by the user's choice. Also, if the keyboard was centered, the space on each side could be used for decent quality and sized speakers. Or maybe some biometric fingerprint reader. Or something other than a stupid number pad.

Oh well, if more consumers would complain, maybe they'd change their form factor. Maybe I'm the only one.

RE: Which laptop/notebook/ultrabook to buy?

Since nobody chimed in on my previous post, I waited and pondered a little longer.

I finally came across an informative article that said something like "should I wait to buy a laptop?" I read it and I decided that I should wait.

If the article is correct, the screen resolution hang up that I have will be solved. The article said that the "next generation" screens (bigger than 1366 x 768) and processors (Ivy Bridge) will be coming in the months to follow. It will probably be the best "deals" around August which is what...the "back-to-school" sales. "What about if I'm not going back to school, can I still get the deals?" That was sarcasm.

However, my waiting is not just because of this article. I asked myself the motherly/wifey question we all have heard at least once in our life, "DO YOU REALLY NEED [insert product here]?" My answer is undeniably "No" but do we really need anything!?

My current beast of a laptop, ASUS G50VT-X5, is still working. It's in pretty good shape and I currently am having no issues with it. <<knocks on wood>> Well, other than the secondary hard drive I have installed occasionally makes a noise like it needs oil but that's an additional part not an original to the machine and is easily replaced when needed. It's heavier than I'd like at this time but only because I have been carrying it around a lot. I bring it back and forth to work because I am in an office where I remotely log into my office computer from my laptop. I do this because there is no telling when my boss will decide that I need to return to my cubicle versus an actual office even though he's said he doesn't plan on me having to do so. I don't trust him/them because they always say one thing and do another...like parents! LOL!

Anyway, while typing this between working and not working over the past day, an article at Gizmodo was posted simply stating,

If you're thinking about buying a laptop any time soon, don't. Just don't do it.

So, I think I'm definitely going to wait. Partly because of the specs of machines that are about to come to market but also because I have a few other things that I'd like to do/buy with my money at this time. Especially, since I said that my current computers/laptops are working just fine.

∞
That's all I got to say about that!
 

Wear It. Mount It. Love It.

What do those six words sound like they are describing?

Yeah, that's where my gutter mind took me as well. Who's mind wouldn't think of that?

It's actually the slogan from this week's Best Buy Weekly Deals ad describing the GOPRO.

Random...I know.

Gameworks in Grapevine Mills Mall is gone!

As you can see from their website, Gameworks is no longer in Texas! I don't know when this happened but it did. I was thinking about what to do with the kids over the three-day Memorial Day weekend (yes, this post is a week behind) and thought about the times in the past when we would spend a few hours doing unlimited video games at Game Works in Grapevine. They used to have these gaming "happy hours" where you'd spend something like $15-$20 for 2-3 hours of game play. It was a pretty good deal because most of the games cost at least a $1 or more to play. That wouldn't be too bad if your turn on the game wasn't over in less than a minute! The only real issue with the "happy hours" is that they would normally begin around 8 or 9 p.m. which was my kids' bed time back in the day. The bedtime wasn't so bad on a weekend but the drive to Gameworks at Grapevine Mills Mall was like 20-30 minutes. Add that on each end of the two hours and it would be somewhere between 10pm and midnight when we'd get home. Not something that went over well with the wife.

I enjoyed the "happy hours" but I never played during the other hours of operation because they weren't a very cost-effective arcade...especially for my cheap ass! As I mentioned, the games were expensive to play during non-happy hour hours and kids nowadays have their iPhones/iTouches to play games for free or a minimal charge. When kids are eternally playing something as stupid as Angry Birds for $5 or less and unlimited restarts, an arcade that charges $1 or greater to play 1-3-lives-and-your-done video games is not a good business model.

Anyway, I just thought it was interesting how there is no longer a Gameworks in the entire state of Texas.