Brent

Shannon recently sent me a link to this article regarding ESPN aired college football games for download through XBOX Live.

Now, the concept of on-demand streaming or download is a very interesting topic. I truly believe that our progress down this road is completely inevitable.

But, from a purely selfish standpoint, this is a great stride in the right step towards what I really want to happen. I want to be able to turn on my TV on Tuesday evening and watch all the Bif XII, SEC and a few other football games in condensed form from the Saturday before (ESPN probably wouldn’t allow me to do it before Tuesday in concern of cannibalizing the NFL broadcasts). I would watch college football all week. I would gladly pay a great deal of money for this service, something in the neighborhood of $200 a season.

Major league baseball has this service over the internet for like $30 a month. I understand that things might get a little trickier with college football because of the independent conferences, but surely it would not be too difficult to hammer out a deal.

I want on-demand condensed NCAA football. Please hurry.

Losing to OU didn’t help, but I still think that the business ethics thing had some impact.

So, Dennis Franchionie is in serious hot water because of his “VIP newsletter.” To sum it up, he was basically selling inside information to a select number of program boosters for $1200 a year. Since the newsletter occasionally talked about injuries and recruiting, it violated several NCAA rules.

OK, let’s set the NCAA rulebook aside and talk basic business ethics for a second.

Inside information about an organization is the property of the organization. If you can sell information to a third party, that information has value. Just because you are privy to that information does not mean that you can sell it. Selling inside information and keeping the money is the same as stealing. If the information was that valuable, the organization could sell it.

This is basic business ethics. Fran did not own that information. It was available to the entire coaching staff, most of the training department, most of the players, heck, even the equipment manager probably knew most of that stuff. If any of those people had sold information to third parties, a good coach would have canned them on the spot. You just can’t steal inside information from your employer.

The only reason Fran still has a job is because it is not fair to the team or the program to kick him out mid season. I can not see any other resolution to this mess than a pink slip at the end of the year.

So, now Golden, Colorado and Milwaukee are neighbors thanks to the epic merger of Miller and Coors. What does this say about beer and the US?

1) Budweiser is kicking the crap out of everyone else in the beer business. Maybe its taste, maybe it marketing, maybe its cost control. I don’t know, but they are ruling the market.
2) Craft beer is becoming more mainstream, and impacting the market. The real issue is that, while the differences between Miller Light, Coors Light and Bud Light are definitely perceivable, the difference is shrinking due to the prevalence of Fat Tire, Shiner Bock and other non-American Pilsners catching on.
3) In the market for consumer-taste/fashion products, America is continuing to move away from the big brands. Coca-Cola, Jack Daniels and Levi’s just aren’t what they used to be. It’s also possible that localism is starting to become a bigger deal, with people preferring to consume products local to their State or city.

So, I recently started making beer in my garage.

Now, I like beer, but I’m not an exclusive beer drinker. I would really place myself more as a whiskey/wine guy. However, making wine requires really good grapes, and making whiskey (legally) requires some insane licensing efforts with the government.

Making beer is all about the process. You start with ingredients that are very similar in quality to anyone who makes good beer. Making good beer simply requires good temperature control, timing and patience. It is definitely an art, but I am amazed at the amount of chemistry that is involved in the process. For every off flavor or problem that can besiege your beer, there is a chemical explanation of why it happened. Examples:

skunky flavor: light exposure turned some of your hops flavor into sulfer
Cardboard flavor: oxidation: the alcohol in your beer was breaking down due to exposure to oxygen, don’t swish it around so much next time.
Sulfur: could be that you left your beer in the fermenter too long, the yeast was eating itself

I am definitely learning a lot, which keeps me entertained.

Craig Newmark over at the door pointed me to a year old article regarding the National Guard’s rescue operations just after hurricain Katrina. What you read there might suprise you.

So, I followed a link to a “how to tie a tie” video to make fun of it. I consider myself an excellent tie tier, and scoff at double windsors unless they have an attractive demple coming out of the knot.

But what is so interesting about the link was the polls that are displayed below the video. Here are the polls and the results:

Poll: Assuming prices remained the same, would you rather…
[1] Make $50,000 in a world where everyone makes $25,000; or
[2] Make $100,000 in a world where everyone makes $200,000.

62.14% chose option 1. Maybe people don’t get the “assuming prices remained the same” thing, but they are choosing to be worse off overall just to be better off in relation to their peers.

The second poll asks: Would you give up the last 5 years of life for $5,000,000 now?

62.15% said no.

Again, this is curious to me. I personally believe that the point of living is not just to be alive, but to gather experiences and spread goodness and love (OK, I’m part hippe, I admit). $5MM right now will definitely open up more opportunities for experiences than the last 5 years of life wearing diapers and watching TV. I’m not even going to go into the whole time value of money thing.

Of course, the survey is extremely unscientific, probably skewed (based on the theme of the website’s book), and possibly fraudulent (I am only suspicious because the breakdown of the two questions are the same. Hrmmm.).

However, assuming that this is representative of at least some segment of the general population, the insight is fascinating. In general, middle class America is much better off than we were 10 years ago, but our lifestyle gains have not kept pace with our upper-middle class peers. The rich are getting richer. The not-rich are getting richer, but not near as fast as the rich. That provides a lot of angst in a world where people’s values are as reflected in this casual poll.

Similarly, the polls are somewhat related. Many studies out there report that wages, when inflation is considered, have fallen flat. One criticism of many of these studies is that they do not take into account the significant increases in healthcare benefits provided by employers. This increase in compensation is largely taken for granted in our society. While I do not doubt that the rich are getting richer faster than the not-rich, the idea that middle class is stuck in the mud is often repeated, but not really that convincing to me.

I’m just not on board with the majority in these polls.

Results came out today, and I passed.

I am totally enthused.

For those of you not familiar with the test, I would conservatively estimate I spent 350 hours studying for this thing (if you include the time I spent studying for the June 2006 exam, which I failed).

One more test next June, and hopefully I am done.

I wholeheartedly agree with Paul Graham’s opinion on stuff.

The bad news for me is that I have a penchant for changing hobbies annually. I like to try new things, but I don’t like owning things I don’t use anymore. I love ebay.

So Tyler at Marginal Revolution has a new book out there called “Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist.” I do not own the book, but I am a huge fan of Tyler’s blog, so someday, I will probably to break down and buy the book. Lately, Tyler has tried to encourage his faithful blog readers to buy his book in a couple of interesting ways. So far, if you promise you have purchased his book, he has promised to: 1) invite you to his secret blog that is only available to purchasers to the book; and/or 2) record a personal podcast answering a question that you send to Tyler.

The advantages of using MR to promote Tyler’s book are obvious. His blog readers are the most likely demographic to purchase the book. MR has a lot of eyeballs, and promoting printed media is a reasonable strategy for monetizing those eyeballs. Also, the blog offers two avenues for compensation: if a blog reader follows a link on MR to Amazon to buy the book, Tyler receives both publisher royalties and Amazon commissions, maximizing his per-book profits. Finally, with Tyler being a University employed economist, and since blog-media is relatively new in form, I can’t shake the feeling that Tyler is hoping these promotions could potentially lead to some gooey economic data goodness waiting for analytical consumption and potential publication.

The entire country is outraged at Tim Donaghy, the NBA basketball ref who was betting on the games he was officiating. But, are you really surprised something like this happened? An insider gaming the system for personal financial gain is not a new idea; just think of all the insider trading that occurs below the radar. Most people acknowledge that some amount of insider trading exists, but it is just too difficult to police efficiently and still have a functional market. If we tried hard enough, we could probably eliminate more insider trading, but the policing costs will eventually start to impact returns. When it comes to financial markets, we are most concerned with results.

In the sports entertainment industry, any leak that affects the integrity of the game is a catastrophe. But, why? Professional sports are only entertainment, right? Even if the outcome of games are a little influenced, we can still go and admire the athletic prowess of the players and take in the pageantry of the event. It can even be argued that a little manipulation might even be good for the sport and the spectators, increasing the drama of the league. For example, wouldn’t helping the two fan favorite teams through the playoffs so that they can meet in the championship game be good for the system as a whole? It’s all about drama and entertainment, right?

Of course not. A professional sporting event is not “just entertainment,” it is an act of cultural worship. Sports are a celebration of the ideals of meritocracy and excellence via competition, and professional sports is high church. The entire system is designed to measure and compare excellence. The team that plays the best should win, and individuals that play the best should be identifiable through individual statistics. However, the system is not perfect. The best team does not always win, and individuals commonly possess a skill that is not well represented in his statistical resume. However, it is objectivity that is sacrosanct. When it comes to sports, it is the integrity of the game, the objective measurement of competition that is most important, not the identification of the “best” team.

In the world of professional sports, the sins of Tim Donaghy are insidious and unforgivable. It’s not because some gambler at a sports book jot ripped off. It’s not because some athlete or coach didn’t get his performance bonus. It’s because the results of the games were determined by something other than the competition, and attacked the ideal that brings real value to the game.

Apparently, some of the residents of Basra are accusing the British armed forces of releasing human-eating attack badgers. I read this headline and automatically thought Onion.

Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up. I wonder if the Iraqi people have ever heard of the Chupacabra.

So, tonight my wife and I ordered Chinese food, because we were feeling really lazy and didn’t want to cook. It was about as good as Chinese takeout always is, but at least there is the fun of the fortune cookie at the end of the meal.

So, I was shocked, SHOCKED! to read the following fortune:

“Your problem just got bigger. Think, what have you done?”

This is the first ominous fortune cookie I have ever opened. I was a bit alarmed, but it was kind of funny. My wife and I laughed as I read it to her, but I was still feeling a bit of cosmic vulnerability through the laughter. Then, the kick in the face came when my beloved read her fortune:

“Your problems just become your stepping stone. Catch the moment.” (Bad grammar directly quoted).

Uncanny. The fact that these two particular fortune cookies both showed up at my house together is so coincidental, it feels rigged. Either the fast food delivery guy is an insanely genius prankster, or I have an unavoidable date with doom. At this point, I am so cognizant of the giant cosmic target painted directly on my ass, I am considering calling in for work tomorrow. And let me tell you, it is not an altogether pleasant exercise trying to identify with problems in my life that could balloon against me but provide an opportunity for my wife.

By the way, here is a pic of the fortunes:

So, the family and I stayed with my parents for a few nights at Pointe West, a resort on the very west end of Galveston, almost to the toll bridge to Freeport. The resort was set up well for the kids, and we had a great time. Here are my opinions:

The Good:
Renting a condo gets you access to the two pools, which are both great. The sunset pool, pictured below, was set up especially well for the kids, and included a short “lazy river” in the middle (look for the intertubes in the photo). The rooms were spacious, and the 3-2 we rented comfortably slept 6 adults and 4 toddlers. The condo was very clean and fully furnished, with plenty of cooking gear, etc. available, and modern appliances. Since you are away from the main part of the island, the beach was no where near crowded, and the staff will set up a beach umbrella for you.

The Bad (only nitpicks):
There is a “conservation area” between the resort and the beach, so access to the beach requires a hike across a 40 yard bridge. Also, while the condo was well furnished, some of the furniture was in disrepair, including two of the dining room chairs. In addition, the balcony railings were made of PVC, and needed some maintenance. Finally, the gas grills next to the pool were great, but needed new burners.

In all, a great experience. At about $350 a night (after cleaning fee) for 6 adults, not too expensive, either.

So, I had two short vacations in the last two weeks.

The first was at Galveston with my parents and siblings. We stayed at Pointe West on the very west side of Galveston island. It was great.

The second vacation was a trip for my wife and I only, and we went to Portland and toured the wine country. It was great.

Now, it’s back to the real world for me: things are starting to heat up at work, and I have plenty of honey-do’s to knock out before the end of the summer.

Over the next week or so, I’ll post some stuff about the places I stayed.

These are real. Kind of sad:

1) We are not responsible if your clothes loose their color.
2) Do not live the store until you check your clothes. We are not responsible for damage to clothes after you live the store.
3) No credit or debt cards.

So, Mrs. Reynolds and I saw this movie on XBOX online, and rented it on a whim.

I really enjoyed it, although it was very slow, very sad, and very very deep. Definitely not a movie to see in a big group, but when you are in the mood for some introspection, give it a shot.

The plot is about a man whose wife is dying of a brain tumor, and his struggle with the reality that she is dying. The “action” takes place in three different time periods: around 2000, around 1500, focusing on the Spanish inquisition, and sometime in the future. As you view the movie, take note of imagery that is similar between the three sequences.

Although the film was only 96 minutes, it probably could have been about half that long, but the extra length gave the director plenty of time for silent shots that were visually stunning. Many will think that this movie is an example of style getting in the way of substance, and I can definitely see that point of view. However, I thought that the movie was absolutely beautiful. The ways in which director Darren Aronofsky wove such visually similar shots into three different plot lines was great.

If you have seen the movie, I have some more spoiler type discussion in the comments section.

So, I updated wordpress in order to load in some happy comment spam filters.

I was getting flat out bombarded with comment spam. In my frustration to get rid of it, I just nuked all of the past comments to this site. Sorry. The good news is, if you add a comment to my blog in the near future, it will probably get approved and actually show up on the site.

In other news, comment spammers are evil. I don’t see how these people sleep at night.

So, my daughter is afraid of the disposal.

When she was cleaning out her dishes, my wife turned on the disposal, and my daughter witnessed a pile of kiwi peels getting sucked down the drain. Now, in her mind, anything in the sink is susceptible of being eaten by the disposal.

First off, it is interesting that this particular event was so traumatic to her. I am sure that most of her angst stems from her lack of understanding how the thing works, but it is not easy to explain the intricacies of a disposal to a four year old.

Second, she now has a compulsion to rinse out everything that she sees in the kitchen sink and put it either on the cabinet or into the dishwasher.

On the one hand, her irrational fear of the disposal is somewhat heart wrenching. She genuinely fears for the safety of anything in the sink, and it creates unwarrented anxiety. On the other hand, it is nice to develop a habit of doing the dishes anytime they are in the sink. Here’s to hoping that she is able to overcome her irrational fear of the disposal, but keeps the habit of doing the dishes.

So, last week I was involved in civil trial, and the experience was an eye opener for me. I am a financial / economic consultant, not a lawyer, so being so close to a trial opened my eyes to how the system works.

A litigation is a multi – million dollar production in which you try and isolate certain aspects of a dispute from the rest of the situations in the case. The lawyers and courts determine which facts are really facts, which issues are really in dispute, and boil that all down to the Nth degree to deliver it to a jury. The issues to be decided by the jury are carefully selected, and the facts that are presented to the jury are carefully orchestrated.

The entire ordeal felt like a lab experiment, where you try and isolate a certain variable from contaminations to determine how it reacts to certain stimuli. The government hires a “justice focus group” of ordinary citizens for their opinions on what is fair given the current laws. Once the issue is determined, each side of the dispute argues whether certain facts are relevant to the issue (the independent variable) in question, or will lead to a prejudice (contamination of the independent variable) in the jury’s decision.

During the process, everyone is worried about how information is disseminated to the jury. Lawyers want information presented that will cast the most favorable light on their client, and the court wants information presented in a way that, outside of the particular issue in question, will not favor one client or the other.

If you are at all involved in the legal profession, you probably read this and thought: DUH! However, for some reason, this did not really crystallize with me until I witnessed it in person.