Monday, September 24, 2012

Dirty cities in the dirty south

So I was reading over the list of Travel+Leasure's America's Favorite Cities and noticed that a lot of the cities had something in common other than their size.  About half of the top 10 cities are located in the south.  I wonder if the magazine's readers have something against the south or if they just think big cities are dirty.  New Orleans came in as the 2nd dirtiest city in America and Atlanta Georgia ranked 5th despite a smoking ban recently inacted to keep cigarrette butts out of parks in the city.  Brendan Spaar thinks that keeping a city the size of a top 10 market clean is nearly impossible.  With that many people roaming around at all hours of the day and night, you're fighting a losing battle.  Click the source link to see the full list (spoiler alert: nearly the entire top 10 are the top 10 by population size)

Source:  http://travel.yahoo.com/ideas/america%E2%80%99s-dirtiest-cities.html

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

How to make money off of the 2012 Presidential election

Brendan Spaar encourages anyone donating online to read all of the fine print before clicking the big read button.
You know the old saying, buyer beware?  Well this election season it's donor beware.  Apparently there's a PAC out there that is raising money by spoofing the online identities of legitimate political figures such as Mitt Romney, House Speaker John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and even Reps. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Allen West of Florida.  These websites look legit and appear to be created by the offices of the politicians depected on them.  These sites are nothing more than a phishing scheme created by an Arizona PAC called Coalition of Americans for Political Equality or CAPE.  While this tactic is grey and shady, no one will be arrested for this type fundraising.  It was only after National Journal Daily began investigating these sites did they learn that a PAC was actually behind them.  Brendan Spaar encourages anyone donating online to read all of the fine print before clicking the big read button.

Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/09/look-alike-sites-funnel-big-money-to-mystery-pac/262150/

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Things to do with your old iPhone

Here's a first world problem if there ever was one.  You want to get the new iPhone 5 but have no idea what to do with your old iPhone.  Brendan Spaar faced this same issue when he upgraded from the 3GS to the 4S last year.  Brendan ended up turning the 3GS into a standalone gaming iPod and using it without a wireless plan. 

Here are the top 5 other uses for that old iPhone (Use this as a topic during your next game of Family Feud!)

Give it to your children so they stop taking yours

Give it to your mom so she can finally see the light
 
Stream music

Donate to charity

Keep as a backup in case you lose your fancy new one.


Source:  http://news.yahoo.com/now-11-things-old-iphone-173431389--finance.html

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Kentucky man arrested for shooting up homeowners meeting

Let's face it, homeowners associations can be frustrating at times.  You have to get everything approved by the board in order to keep the neighborhood looking nice.  Many people believe these boards are made up of busy bodies that have nothing better to do with their time.  Brendan Spaar pays to live in his community and is subject to the same charges. 

So this guy in Louisville, Kentucky decided to take his anger out on his homeowners association by bringing a gun to the meeting and opening fire, killing one and injuring another.  The whole dispute was over the height of his fence.  What really troubles me is that the guy pleaded not guilty to the crime.  If you aren't guilty then you believe that you did not commit the crime.  When you walk into a room with several witnesses and start shooting, I would think you are considered guilty.  Even more surprising is what his attorney said about his client in the bond hearing:
 Kahloon called him a "complex man" who "is not a danger to the community in the sense that this crime is not a random, violent crime."
I consider killing someone and injurying another to be a violent crime.  The deputies that arrested this man are sure to continue investigating the circumstances that lead up to this.  It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Source:  http://news.yahoo.com/1m-bond-man-accused-ky-homeowners-shooting-133722615.html

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Steve Jobs has been reincarnated!

It doesn't get much weirder than this, folks.  According to a Buddhist group in Thailand, Steve Jobs, a devout Buddhist, has been reincarnated.  An abbot at a Buddhist temple claims that the inventor extraordinare has been reborn as a "celestial warrior-philosopher" and currently lives "in a mystical glass palace hovering above his old office at Apple’s Cupertino, Calif. headquarters."
That's not the weirdest part:
Among other things, he has said the reincarnated Mr. Jobs spends much of his time lounging in a glass palace resembling an Apple store. Phra Chaibul also has said the being formerly known as Steve Jobs is attended by 20 servants, who seem to resemble the Apple store ‘Geniuses’ who help customers set up their iPhones and other devices here on earth.

I'm not sure why a "celestial warrior-philosopher" needs 20 servants.  Maybe Jobs has become high maintenance in his afterlife. 

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2012/08/31/steve-jobs-has-been-reincarnated-as-warrior-philosopher-thai-group-says/

Disclaimer: Brendan Spaar does not own any Apple products.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

The fate of electronics stores

I think that electronics stores will survive based on people's need for impulse buys.  Brendan Spaar was in need of a Playstation 3 a few months ago and rather than wait on eBay, he went to his local Gamestop store.  While the price was about $20 higher than eBay, it was worth it to have the system right in time for the holiday.  If you need a gift quickly you will pay the price for it.  I think we will still see electronic stores like Best Buy but they will be reduced to mall sized cubical stores instead of the big 20-30,000 square foot brick and mortar shops.

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/can-electronics-stores-survive-.html