Month: August 2009

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NBC’s Soccer Debacle

If you’re interested in pretty good soccer recap of games as well as opinions regarding moves and upcoming matches, I highly recommend checking out Matchday LIVE! USA (link). Even though the updates at times are few and far between, the posts that are up there are nothing short of quality pieces. Take a look at the latest one from this morning titled “NBC’s “Business Decision” a National Embarrassment”

The post is regarding the upcoming USA vs. Mexico match that is slated for 4 PM EST later today. If you’re on a basic cable package or if you happen to be on campus anywhere in the country, it’s very unlikely that you’ll be able to see this match simply because it’s not being shown my any major network. ESPN can’t show it because NBC has the exclusive rights to that match since the Mexican Federation decides who gets the rights to matches being played at Azteca. NBC, on the other hand, decides to air this “Showdown at the Azteca” on an obscure channel called mun2 (moon-dos – pronunciation courtesy of Matchday LIVE!)

A quick Google search will tell you that the soccer-crazed masses are concerned. ESPN doesn’t show a match listing in their schedule for US-Mexico. Neither does Fox Soccer Channel. Fear not, says NBC, it’s on mun2. That’s “moon-dos.” I’m sure you’ve all heard of it. It’s that hip, trendy Latino network obscure bicultural channel no one has ever heard of that is so far up the digital cable dial your brain will be addled into confusing the two teams’ kits when you finally get to the match. What some are passing off as a business decision, however, is clearly nothing short of one of the biggest jokes in sports media coverage of the decade, right up there with the 8PM World Series start, Roger Goodell wanting to expand the NFL to 18 games, and NBC’s (do you sense a theme here) creating a new network for Olympic coverage just weeks before the event that no one received on time.

Please, NBC, I understand the business decision involved, but this time you’ve overstepped the line. I’m sure the millions of fans watching the match without HD having finally reached channel 8,794,316.2 will really be pleased to be transported back into the mid-90s. At least back then it clear what the networks thought about the game, and it continued to push on and thrive nonetheless. Here’s hoping that NBC’s stupidity only provides a renewed opportunity for football to do the same thing now in 2009.

That’s only an excerpt of the pretty good piece by my friend Mike and be sure to head over to Matchday LIVE! USA to read the rest of the article and his other updates as well.

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Help Make Eid an Observed School Holiday

I had heard about this issue rumbling around the state of New York for a while now but I got this concrete petition from my cousin over at Chill Yo Islam Yo and even heard about from my dad today. New York City has the nation’s largest school system. A 2008 study by Columbia University’s Teachers College estimates at least 10 percent of the city’s 1.1 million students are Muslim.

Supporters say the school board needs to be inclusive of the growing number of Muslim students in New York. Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke out against approving the holidays this week, saying it would open the door to other religious groups asking for days off. The Mayor seems to have no issues of celebrating Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur with two days off every year however…

As all of you might know already their has been aggressive efforts to make Eid al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha an observed school holiday. This comes by no surprise,  since their are around 800,000 Muslim New Yorkers and about 10% percent of children who attend NYC public schools are Muslim.

Recently, the resolution was almost passed until Mayor Bloomberg pulled a stunt on the Muslim community and rejected it. His excuse? It will give too many days off for students when added to existing school holidays. Come on Mr.Mayor, keep it real! You’re jewish, listen to Rabbi Moshe Edelman.

Insh’Allah the resolution gets past and Mayor Bloomberg stops being shady, after all American Muslims are productive members of society as well.

chillyoislamyo.com, Chill Yo Islam Yo, Aug 2009

[download id=”3″]

Print it, sign it, do what you need to do with it to pass the word. You can send your signed copy to the following address:

The Honorable Micheal Bloomberg
Office of the Mayor
City Hall
New York, NY, 10007

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Where Is This “Dark Matter”?

If you’re interested in Physics or more specifically on the topic of Dark Matter, take a look at the article from PhysOrg.com here. A good little piece on the issue on how do we know something is missing when we don’t see it and how do we account for such matter in this universe.

Physicists on the Prowl for Dark Matter

(PhysOrg.com) — 95%. That is the percentage of the known Universe that is missing. As in it is not there. Or at least if it is there, we can’t see it. We call this unseen stuff “dark matter”. That has been well known for sometime. What is trickier in answering is why? Why is it that 95% of the universe is made up of this so-named “dark matter?” An even trickier question is where? As in where is this dark matter? It is those two questions that have plagued physicists for decades. Dark matter, by its own definition cannot be seen, hence its name. So how do we “see” it, how do we know “where” to look?

Kudos to my cousin who wrote it, so make sure to read the entire article and feel free to leave comments here or there about what you think.

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Amazon Prime Is Worth It.

As many of you might have heard, my home was struck by lightning during the course of the major storm in the middle of last week. Although there was no significant damage to the structure of the building, there was a significant damage to the Central AC unit, several electronics such as two computers, a modem and a router. Throughout all the chaos, there was no damage to any major appliance such as a refrigerator, freezer or the television set – as well as any of the people present inside at the time of the strike.

Although I would suspect these things are probably covered by insurance, I doubt the damage is significant enough to warrant the near $500 deductible that usually comes with such claims. I went to my local Staples to pick up a power supply for a computer and a network adapter for another, a motherboard from NewEgg but throughout this past week I gained much needed appreciation for Amazon Prime and what it does.

Even though it comes with a $79 annual membership fee, that cost can be easily recouped if you are in need of items immediately. For those unfamiliar, Amazon Prime gives you an “all-you-can-eat” fast shipping for eligible purchases. Members will enjoy the following benefits:

Fast Delivery

  • Free Two-Day Shipping on more than one million in-stock items sold by Amazon.com.
  • Upgrades to One-Day (Overnight) Shipping for just $3.99 per item.
  • Free Standard Shipping for eligible items shipped to P.O. boxes in the continental United States and APO/FPO addresses with U.S. zip codes.

Simple Shopping

  • No minimum purchases required.
  • Members-only 1-Click buttons on product pages.

Convenient Sharing

  • Shared benefits with up to four family members living in the same household.
  • For your corporate account use, you can add up to 4 co-workers to your account.

Even though I don’t have Amazon Prime yet, a friend of mine does who ordered the items for me. I placed a D-Link DIR-655 Extreme N Wireless Router on Wednesday and Belkin 12-Outlet Home/Office Surge Protector on Thursday – both of which arrived on Friday. It can be quite unsettling to live without access to wireless internet especially in an age where you are almost dependent on such access all the time.

There is nothing quite like the convenience of two-day shipping (and possibly 1 if you order gets lucky) especially with a competitive price that Amazon offers which is hardly beaten by competitors. So if you haven’t tried yet with your account, Amazon.com probably offers a free month of Amazon Prime – you can simply cancel before your month is over and not be charged. If you like it (and how can you not?), pay the fee and become a member. Although I must warn you, it can become quite a hazard to your monthly credit card statement if you order any- and every-thing you like on Amazon.