Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Kapooya, kapooya!

Michelle Clark is becoming an instant YouTube celebrity with her hilarious "Kapooya. Kapooya!" line describing the hail storm.  It didn't take long for the YouTubers to come up with a song remix.

 

As expected, someone has already registered the kapooya.com and kapooyakapooya.com websites.  I just love American entrepreneurship!


Registered through: Cheap-DomainRegistration.com
Domain Name: KAPOOYA.COM
Created on: 21-Mar-13
Expires on: 21-Mar-15
Last Updated on: 21-Mar-13
Registered through: GoDaddy.com, LLC (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: KAPOOYAKAPOOYA.COM
Created on: 25-Mar-13
Expires on: 25-Mar-14
Last Updated on: 25-Mar-13

Monday, March 25, 2013

Dominican Republic immigrant claims $338 million Powerball lottery jackpot

We have another happy lottery winner!  The fourth-largest jackpot in the Powerball history was claimed by a 44-year-old immigrant from the Dominican Republic living in Passaic County, NJ.  Good for dude, your life won't ever be the same.  Snooki will be happy to party with you.

So how much will he take home?  If he decides to take lump sum payout, and who wouldn't, the winnings go down to $221 million.  Don't forget the tax.  The final sum would be around $152 million.  So, pretty much, the lottery and the state take half of his money.  Great.

It's still a lot of money and hopefully it will be used for good.

Eagle Liquor store where ticket was purchased, will receive $10,000 bonus cut.  That's all.  However, Pravin Mankodia who actually sold the ticket, is very happy for the customer.

Some interesting Twitter posts about the jackpot:

Okay. I'll 'fess up. I was in Jersey Saturday. I won #Powerball. Donating my winnings to Russian depositors in Cypriot banks. #sarcasm Ciao!

If I win #powerball, Dunkin Donuts better be delivering whatever size I want to my bedroom door.

#POWERBALL WINNER: Congratulations to Pedro Quesada of #Passaic | More: (Photo by Monsy Alvarado / Staff) pic.twitter.com/llpbAknKdl

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

"Obama 2.0: The Road Ahead" at Viper Alley in suburban Lincolnshire


On March 14, 2013, Viper Alley in suburban Lincolnshire, IL, held a reception and a panel discussion titled: "Obama 2.0: The Road Ahead", sponsored by Chicago's AM560 The Answer  radio station.
The panel was hosted by the AM560 radio host Steve Cochrane, featuring former U.S. Representative, Joe Walsh, Illinois Policy Institute chairman, John Tillman, and talk radio host, Michael Medved.  The discussion was split into several parts addressing the questions of President Obama's policy during his second term in the office.
Cochrane, Medved, Tillman, Walsh

The highlights of the conversation are as follows:
On the immigration and the borders - Walsh's priority is to secure the borders before taking any action regarding the immigration reform.
On the Dream Act - Walsh accepts a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants only through a service in the military.  Tillman and Medved agree about the positive impact of the Dream Act.  Medved added that expelling young, college educated people who lived here since their childhood would be unfair and unwise, since America needs more educated people.  Tillman also confirmed that immigration was and is a huge part of the American life and success.
On the money - Cochrane brought up a common believe among middle class Americans that rich people hate poor people.  This misconception is slowly eating away the traditional thinking that anyone can succeed and become rich, achieving the American Dream.  Another strong point by Cochrane was to fix the tax code so the people can file their taxes in 10 minutes on one piece of paper.  Tillman argued that the middle class is being forced into dependence on the government because of taxes.  More taxed one pays, less money can be put away for a self-dependence later.  Medved was for a simple, flat tax with no loopholes.
On the guns - Tillman pointed out that since the federal government took over the mental health care from the states, the quality of the care dropped significantly allowing the patients to fall through the cracks and have access to firearms.  Medved added that the United States has about 1/10 of mental hospital beds comparing to the number in 1950s forcing the hospitals to release patients without a clear plan of a systemic mental care.
On energy - Medved wants the market to dictate which forms of the renewable energy will become a new standard.  Artificial government subsidies create too much dependence on hand outs.
On Obamacare - Walsh wants to repeal Obamacare entirely.  Tillman pointed out that voters and their representatives should not give up the fight because the options are still on the table.  Per Tillman, Obamacare is actually hurting the lower class citizens since it forces employers to limit the work hours to 30 hours a week to avoid the penalties, consequently forcing people to look for another part time job to make up the difference in pay.  Medved added that the best way to remove Obamacare is to limit the funding.
On foreign policy - Tillman asked where is the anti-war movement lately?  Medved added that Obama's foreign policy exposes a weak president.  Walsh pointed out that President Obama hasn't acquired the negotiation skills needed to maneuver in the international politics.
On 2016 presidential candidate - Couple names came up.  John Kerry or Joe Biden on the Democratic side.  Tillman and Walsh: Scott Walker.  Medved: Marco Rubio.
The panel took one question from the audience regarding a fair or consumption tax initiative.  Walsh and Medved are for flat tax.
Joe Walsh also announced starting his own radio show on AM560, right after Steve Cochrane's show.  Fans had a chance to sign Michael Medved's book.
So that's the short and sweet main points from the event.  If you have comments, I'd like to read it.  Thanks.
Michael Medved signing books.


Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Michelle Obama among other celebrities with hacked financial info

FBI is currently investigating a Russian website (see below) containing names, social security numbers, dates of birth, and credit reports of the first lady, Michelle Obama, and other celebrities and politicians.

The list includes: Kim Kardashian, Joe Biden, Robert Mueller (FBI Director), Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder (U.S. Attorney General), Charlie Beck (LAPD Chief), Mel Gibson, Ashton Kutcher, Jay Z, Beyonce, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Sarah Palin, Hulk Hogan, Donald Trump, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Al Gore, Kanye West, Kris Jenner, Stacia Hylton (U.S. Marshals Service Director), Mitt Romney, Tiger Woods.
Huffingtonpost reports more details about how the hackers accessed the information:
UPDATE 4:19 p.m. -- Equifax, one of the three credit reporting agencies, said Tuesday that hackers who allegedly posted sensitive data belonging to 17 celebrities and political figures obtained some of that information from a website that allows consumers to access their credit reports.
The hackers entered enough personal identifying information, or PII, on four of the alleged hacking victims to log-in as them on the site annualcreditreport.com and obtain their credit reports, which contain sensitive financial data and Social Security numbers, according to Timothy Klein, a spokesman for Equifax.
It's interesting that thousands of people have their information stolen every year without much attention from the media and the government.  The credit monitoring business seems to be the latest scam to make the people feel better about protecting their information.  Let's be honest: no level of security can protect your personal or financial information.  There is always a human factor and every information has its price.

Besides the lack of the true security protecting our data, reliance on the social security number to tie in all the information is the one of the worst ideas ever.  First of all, SSN wasn't designed to be a secure identifier for all Americans, it was intended for the social security checks when people retired.  Then, IRS jumped on the wagon, state agencies, credit card companies, background checks, insurance companies, and rest of the commercial world looking for an easy way to identify customers.

Second of all, how can we protect the personal information in the digital age?  We just can't.  Hacking, phishing, social networks - it's all design to expose as much data as possible.  Can biometrics help in protecting our information?  Perhaps, using such technology will help but again, there is a human factor.  What prevents some crook from establishing a fake credit check agency and have access to all the information anyway?  Remember Global Payments and the hacking scandal that exposed 1.5 million credit and debit card numbers?  I will not even mention hundreds of other incidents.

Bottom line: if it's so easy to hack the First Lady and the Vice President, where do we go from here?  Putting pressure on the government and the companies to design a better security scheme would be a way to go.  For now, you can freeze your credit with all three major credit companies for a small fee to protect the release of your data.  Switching to one credit card and cash is another idea.  Keeping your passwords stronger is a must.  Above all, stay smart with whom you trust when providing your personal data.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

The Hangover 3 official trailer

It's finally here! The Hangover 3 official trailer. The Wolf-pack is going back to Las Vegas to give it one more try. Will it top the original movie? I hope so, because the second one, in Thailand, wasn't that great at all. Feast your eyes on the new crazy adventures.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Sequester this and sequester that

Lately, the word sequester is the most overused word in the United States.  Another example of a catch phrase of the day.  Lockbox anyone?  WMDs anyone?  It's all smoke and mirrors again. 

Even worst word, sequestration, sounds like castration.  Yes, it's like removing the balls of the economy.  Or is it?  What jobs will be really affected?  Time will tell us. 

Right now, my bet is: life will go on and the impact of the budget cuts won't be as dramatic as painted by both Republicans and Democrats.  Why?  Because all that talk about economy collapsing and huge impact on the markets was just a vessel to our packets to extort more money by another tax.  I will leave it at that.

Some articles:
New York Post
Washington Post

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Time travel: back in time or into the future?

Last night, my nine year old son, asked me a simple yet baffling question: If you could time travel and had to choose between going back in time and going into the future, what would you choose?

Simple question with enormous consequences of your choice.  

For starters, let's establish some ground rules of the time travel based on the solid scientific knowledge drawn from the top 50 time travel movie hits.  My picks include only the movies I've seen, sorted by likeness.  Also, the assumption is that you could come back after your time jump.

Groundhog Day (1993) - my all time favorite movie with Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell based on the famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.  The movie was actually filmed not far from Chicago, in Woodstock, Illinios.  The bed and breakfast manor was actually for sale couple of years ago.  
Rules: there are no rules or consequences 

The rosiest, make-you-feel-good time travel trilogy with Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd:
Back to the Future (1985)
Back to the Future Part II (1989)
Back to the Future Part II (1990)

Rules are simple: you need a DeLorean with flux capacitor, any change will affect the future.

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) - first movie of the Austin Powers trilogy starring Mike Myers, Heather Graham, Elizabeth Hurley, Seth Green, and Mini-Me, Verne Troyer.
Rules: you can travel into the future in cryonic state, you keep your mojo.

Planet of the Apes (1968) - this one is a classic with the great Charlton Heston and awesome special effects.
Rules: you need a spacecraft with hibernation technology, respect the monkey.

The Butterfly Effect (2004) - without a doubt, this movie makes you think about the consequences of your actions, heavy flick but Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smart are great in it.
Rules: to change the future, you must change the past, your actions affect lives of people you love.

12 Monkeys (1995) - who doesn't like Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and Brad Pitt in this disturbing hit? The movie brings a lot of questions regarding our actions that destroy the future.
Rules: you can't bring any technology with you to the past or the future, unreliable time travel, hit or miss destinations.

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) - the best movie when it comes to fixing your present time.  Your knowledge of the history, technology, and music can pay off nicely.
Rules: you need a magic hot tub with Russian energy drink, steal any idea from the future.

Timecop (1994) - he's no Bueller, but Jean-Claude Van Damme fights for his true love played by Mia Sara. 
Rules: you need a high-tech delivery system and, apparently, your own power plant. Change your future with no regrets.


Deja Vu (2006) - Denzel Washington is just good.  Even when it comes to time travel.
Rules: you can only affect the past four days, limited travel

Looper (2012) - Bruce Willis just likes time travel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt figures our the paradox, and I just like Emily Blunt.
Rules: you need friends at Triad to access the time travel capsule, you can take technology and metal with you.

The Philadelphia Experiment (1984) - movie is based on the actual US Navy experiments during WWII.
Rules: you need a giant destroyer

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1988) - besides Keanu Reeves, how come Alex Winter and George Carlin didn't get the Matrix roles?
Rules: you need a phone booth and you can bring/take anything/anyone from the past 

Finally, the Terminator saga started by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton.
The Terminator (1984)
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
Terminator Salvation (2009)
Rules: you can only travel to the past, you can't take any weapons, I guess you would need to be a mighty hacker to actually change anything related to Skynet.

It looks to me that travel to the past is a more efficient way of changing your future, meaning present time.  So, I will go with traveling to the past.  Of course, I would choose the time travel technology that would allow me to take a laptop or some almanac to play the stock market or build a web search engine UberNoogle.  The possibilities are endless and your imagination could run wild.  

As for my son, remember: all you need to change your future, is to make smart choices in your life and the good things will happen.  I know you will.  Tata.