A More Healthy Happy Hour at Sonic...

Drinking Flavoring ideas for Sonic. They could join the health craze movement and offer "green tea" or "pomegranate" flavoring. Love my anit-oxidents.

In the Year 2108...

In the year 2108, we will be able to control the laws of science to do things that would appear to be magic today.

5 Commandments for a New BCS...

1. THOU SHALL PLAY IN A CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP.
1a. Every major conference should have 12 teams and play a championship game.
1b. This would also make room for the little guys and ND as the Big East, Big 10 (?whatever), and Pac 10 would be adding 8 teams b/w them.
1c. Therefore 8 games of a 12 game season would be intra-conference.

12 teams would ensure more competition, and a championship game would effectively be the first round of a playoff as well as ensure that a BIG 10 or PAC 10 or BIG EAST Championship is of the same value as a SEC or BIG 12 or ACC Championship .


2. THOU SHALL PLAY AT LEAST 2 REAL NON CONFERENCE GAMES.
2a. All teams should play at least 2 non conference games against a major conference school. In fact It would be cool if...
2b. Conferences paired up for inter-conference games- PAC 10 vs SEC; BIG 12 vs BIG ?WHATEVER; and ACC vs BIG EAST.
2c. Subdivision could go further where an ACC SOUTH plays a BIG EAST SOUTH
2d. One game is a fixed opponent every year for cool rivalries (how about a Texas vs Ohio State EVERY YEAR!!!).
2e. One game rotates b/w the rest of sub conferences, ie in a 5 year period UFLA would have played every team in the PAC 10 SOUTH. Rotating home and away.
2e. 2 games of a 12 game schedule would be real matchups.

This would eliminate all the "my conference can beat up your conference" bullcorn. Plus It would also add 2 real (mini-playoff type) games to everyones schedule.

3. THOU CAN STILL BEAT UP ON THE SMALL SCHOOL.
3a. The school schedules remaining 2 games of a 12 game schedule where OHIO STATE is free to play it's annual 2 games against University of Ohio and Miami of Ohio.
3b. Or they could schedule other major non-conference outside of their inter-conference pairing, think LSU vs VA TECH.

This gives the big guys a good homecoming game and still gives the little guys a good payout and every once in a while Louisiana-Monroe will beat Alabama.

4. THOU SHALL RETURN TO TRADITION.
4a. Bowls will return to traditional matchups. ROSE is PAC10 Champ vs BIG ?WHATEVER Champ; SUGAR is SEC Champ vs BIG EAST (right?); ORANGE is BIG 12 vs ACC; FIESTA can be 2 HIGHEST RANKED TEAMS REMAINING (the hot teams).
4b. To ensure that there's no repeat of games from the regular season the pairings in Commandment#2 above should be different than bowl tradition, ie PAC 10 should play 2 games against any conference other than the BIG ?WHATEVER.
4c. All bowl games shall be played by Jan 2.
4d. On top of it all every "BCS" bowl game would have meaning other than for your uncle Larry's New Year's Day football pool.

This becomes your second round of playoffs. You'd have a much clearer 1 and 2 picture with conference champs playing each other as well as better non-conference play, and all the other guys can still have the Poulan Weedeater Bowls of the world.

5. THOU SHALL THEN HAVE A PLUS 1 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
5a. A true, almost indisputable 1 vs 2.
5b. Location doesn't have to be locked into a bowl game city. Anyone interested in January in Minneapolis?
5c. The championship game should be played within 2 weeks of the last bowl game - by Jan 16.


What do you think?

The Computer is Dead...

I was in a training class for Web 2.0 Basics when the instructor asked what was the definition of a computer. He said Microsoft sees a computer as anything with an operating system and Google sees the computer as something to that does searches. To extend that, Apple probably sees the computer as a media device; Nokia sees a computer as a mobile phone and maybe Cisco sees the computer as anything that connects to the internet.

Is the computer is dead? If not dead, than it definitely has a terminal disease (pun intended, get it?) Everything is a computer, but the only true thing that the normal Jane sees as a computer is her laptop or desktop. How soon before the laptop is obsolete? You already can do almost anything that you do on your laptop with your cell phone or your ipod or your tivo or your xbox.

My bold prediction - in 10 years we will no longer be using "computers"; we will be using other devices with other names that have an operating system, does searches, entertains us, is mobile and is connected to the internet. Heck, we already are.

Long Live the Computer...

According to wikipedia.org, A computer is a machine which manipulates data according to a list of instructions.

Based upon that definition, if Bubba from "Forrest Gump" was a real person and had a passion for computers like he does shrimp, he's list of computers would be: "Desktop Computer, Laptop Computer, Handheld Computer, Cell Phone Computer, iPod Computer, Tivo Computer, Digital Camera Computer, DVD Player Computer, XBOX Computer..."

Those are the easy ones, but what about other stuff with Computers in them; everyday items. Bubba continues - "Car Computer, Telephone Computer, TV Computer, Refrigerator Computer, Toaster Computer (yes, my toaster has a computer chip in it), Coffee Maker Computer, Dishwasher Computer, Baby Doll Computer, Cieling Fan Computer, Underwear Computer (it's possible)..."

As computer chips get smaller and cheaper, everything can be computerized. Do you think of everything around you as a computer or only that that big ugly box under your desk? What's your definition of computer? Long Live the Computer...

Easy Peanut Butter...

When making Peanut Butter and Bananas for a snack for my kids, they like me to cut the banana into little rounds then spread peanut butter on top.

Try it out! This is a major whipping! The banana's stick to the knife or the peanut butter won't stick to the banana's. You end up having to use your fingers and then half the kitchen is dotted with peanut butter fingerprints.

MY BIG IDEA - Peanut Butter in a Easy Cheese can. Who's with me? Petition Kraft Now!

Education 2.0: A Simple Definition...

K-12 Education 1.0 (today) is to K-12 Education 2.0 (tomorrow) as Lecture is to Conversation... hmmmm....

Web 2.0: A Simple Definition...

Web 1.0 is to Web 2.0 as Lecture is to Conversation.

First Dollar Made...

Sold 4 T-Shirts today on Zazzle. My first sale. $10 for autism research.

Steve Jobs Reads My Blog...

Looks like someone from Apple reads my blog. On May 21, I posted the following right here on Blog-Fontenot:

StarTunes or iBucks...

Living a good 30 miles from the office, I work alot from my friendly neighborhood Starbucks. I use their wifi via the wonders of T-Mobile. The welcome web page allows you to download different Starbucks "mixes" from iTunes. But wouldn't it be cool if there was a pop window that displayed, in real time, the actual songs playing in the store, and you had the option to purchase that song from iTunes in real time. Hmmm....

Last week Apple announces their new "Starbucks Wifi Music Store". From the announcement:

"Say you’re in line at Starbucks. You hear this amazing song wafting from the speakers. You gotta have it. Now. Tap the iTunes button on your iPhone or iPod touch, tap the Starbucks button, and voilà: You see the current song, the last 10 songs played, and featured Starbucks Collections. Preview, buy, and download whatever you like, right then and there. Or, if you’re sipping away with your laptop, buy what’s playing — exclusively on iTunes."

Mr Jobs, please, in lieu of any royalties, feel free to contact me about where to send my free 16 Gb iPod Touch.

Why Didn't I Think of That 3....

Freakin' Genius!

"Why Didn't I Think of That" Part 2...

In the last post I mentioned that I started playing guitar again. History lesson, I've owned an acoustic guitar for about 15 years but I never learned anything more than the intro to "Wanted Dead or Live". Also I was a drummer in a rock band in high school, but always regretted not pushing harder to be the guitar player. So about a month ago, I decided that it's not too late and bought a used Mexican Fender Strat off eBay and dedicated myself to open my heart and mind to "Purple Haze". Status Report is that I'm pleased with my progress.

So, I was looking at the music books in B&N when I stumbled across the book Guitar Man: A Six-String Odyssey, or, You Love that Guitar More Than You Love Me by Will Hodgkinson. This book chronicles the tale of Will's journey to play the sixties folk song "Anji" in front of a live audience. At 34, Will picks up the guitar for the first time and sets a goal to play in front of a live audience in 6 months. Will's journey takes him to interesting places from London to Florida to the Crossroads of Mississippi to New Orleans to New York as he searches out lessons from his favorite guitar players from Les Paul to Roger McGuinn of the Byrds to the 80 year old bluesman T-Model Ford.

As a wannabe writer, why didn't I think of this?

BUY GUITAR MAN HERE!

Why Didn't I Think of That...

From the "Why Didn't I Think of That" File, I present to you the website "Jamplay.com". I final decided to practice my guitar a bit more and found JamPlay.Com for online Guitar Lessons. The interface is slick, they have 5 teachers of different genres, they offer "social networking" for their students, you can ask questions to the teachers, plus they've smoothly integrated affiliate sales of musically instruments and accessories from zzzsounds. This is good stuff.

Tools for Creativity #1...

Target Rocks! Just picked up 4 Star Wars notepads on sale for 2 bucks. I keep one in my car (yoda), one in my computer bag (darth vader), one next to the bed (anakin), and the other is an extra (obe won). So far my most used notepad is my yoda (car), and most notes are for future blog posts as well as to-do lists, but also have some ideas for future "projects". More to come... Tip #1a Also bought power bars for my computer bag. Can't be creative without protien.

StarTunes or iBucks...

Living a good 30 miles from the office, I work alot from my friendly neighborhood Starbucks. I use their wifi via the wonders of T-Mobile. The welcome web page allows you to download different Starbucks "mixes" from iTunes. But wouldn't it be cool if there was a pop window that displayed, in real time, the actual songs playing in the store, and you had the option to purchase that song from iTunes in real time. Hmmm.....

Tivo-zon...

Love my Tivo. LOVE MY TIVO! Bought our first Tivo in 2001 and our second in 2004. Tivo has since added features like yahoo access to photos, weather and movies, ability to listen to popular podcasts, download and watch popular videoblogs like CNET or Rocketboom, and just recently added the ability to download movies from Amazon. Which left me thinking, this is potential the tip of the iceberg. What if you're watching Oprah and she announces her new bookclub selection and you could press the thumbs up on your remote and order the book. A new revenue stream for Tivo and Amazon and maybe Oprah. What do you think?

T-Shirt Philosophy...

Discovered zazzle.com as an outlet for my creativity. This is the first in my "Think Big!" t-shirt line. All my proceeds will be donated to support autism research. More t-shirts in the side bar. All shapes, colors, and sizes. Check it out.

When I Grow Up I Want to Be a Level 60 Accountant...

Yesterday, I was listening to a podcast from SXSW related to how videogaming will influence the workplace. One of the panelist talked about how a group of 40 people from around the globe come together in a virtual environment to kill big bad meanies in World of Warcraft. He talked about how this can build leadership skills, and how cool it would be to bring the Role Playing Game concept of experience points concept to real life. Which got me thinking...

What if a K12 education was structure like an online game? Instead of grade levels, kids would reach experience levels; levels determine by earning experience points; experience points earned by completing individual and team quests. These could be accomplished both in the physical and virtual realm. Kids could earn points by showing proficiency of certain skills like math or reading as well as softer skills like leadership or research. Kids could earn points by collaborating with other kids in their school as well as other global students in India or China. And what if you don't stop earning points at graduation but continuing to earn points until you die. And then someday you'd could become a level 60 accountant just like your dad.