Been Awhile

Yes I am still here, even though it has been awhile.  Mostly though I have just been stumbling across the web, instead of updating this blog as much as I would like.  So here are some interesting stumbles I think you should check out.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2ta6eZ/www.globalone.tv/profiles/blogs/how-to-treat-others-5-lessons%3Fid%3D3026128%253ABlogPost%253A15990%26page%3D2
I wish this is something we had heard in our business classes here.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1d7PwS/www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/the-30-best-films-of-the-decade.php/all/1
I've seen 11 so far (including the top 4).  Most recently I watched Dear Zachary.  My goal is to see them all though.  I can thank my parents for my appreciation of a great movie.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7BMd7P/www.forevergeek.com/2011/01/the-only-2011-movie-calendar-you-need
Staying with the movie theme I must say I want to watch a majority of these.  Ones I definitely want to see though are the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Super 8, Green Lantern, Real Steel, Contagion, Now, and Immortals.  Looks to me to be a great year of movies.

And one last site that I have come to appreciate very much, groupon.com.  Check it out.  So many great deals and if you use it wisely you can definitely take advantage of it.  Most recently I got $10 dollars of Subway for nothing.  Great deal for a college kid.

In other news my friends and I are thinking of making one last hurrah, in the form of a small trip to Montreal.  I'm looking into it, but like normal nothing is for sure yet.

Just another way new job creation is going overseas

http://www.linkedin.com/news?actionBar=&articleID=406237695&ids=0Uc3oQcPgNc3gIczARd34Sdj0Qb34Scz4Pcz4Md2MQcjANcPsNc3gIdjASdPcOdz0Q&aag=true&freq=weekly&trk=yiaag-4

Interesting to see that is isn't just the economics of saving money with cheap labor that is sending jobs overseas.  Looks like our visas are causing new entrepreurs out of college to have to return to their home countries instead of starting new companies here.  Hmmm not quite sure what could be done about this or if it should be a bigger deal to me.  What do you think?

Digital Economy Rankings 2010

Do you want to live in a population with the best quality of fixed and wireless data?  Would you like your childrent to have technology as a high focal point in their education?  Live where the best technological advances and changes are occuring and the government is not putting shackles on the use of your technology?

Well move to Sweden or even the Netherlands.  Both countries scored higher in the 2010 Digital Economy Rankings of 2010 than the United States.  Well the U.S. did very well coming in 3rd and leading in some categories, Sweden beat them out overall. 

The categories these scores were measured and weighted on were as follows: connectivity, business environment, social and cultural environment, legal environment, government policy and vision, and consumer and business adoption.

The U.S. was the highest in both social and cultural environment and government policy and vision.  Sweden though only took top marks in connectivity but scored in the tops in all the other categories putting them in first place.  If you would like to research this for yourself check out the Economist Intelligence Unit: digital economy rankings 2010. (in collabaration with IBM)

The Future... Now

As I continue with my never ending journey across the internet using the site stumbleupon something interesting recently crossed my path.  As my mother has taught me from a young age to clean up after myself and to do chores this product that I stumbleuponed seemed to make perfect sense.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/26pSZZ/www.activeion.com/HowItWorks.aspx

It only seems to make sense.  And just when you thought that technology was all about phones, computers, and the internet it changes and advances the simple act of cleaning.  The video doesn't even mention the help this would have on the environment as the only chemical being used is water.

Just something to think about.

Too Good To Be True?

Here's a link I stumbled upon today.. except this time I think it could be really useful.  I just gotta decide if it's legit.  Definitely check it out because if it is then it is so cool (well as cool as managing your money can get).

http://www.mint.com/   Don't forget to check out the video on it as well that is found on Mint's homepage.

Also from mint is some sweet new ways to get the cheapest airfare out there.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1WcyAN/www.mint.com/blog/saving/airfare-deals-1092010/

Being a business student has definitely helped me in this way at least.

Stuck in Winter

Recently I have noticed that this past month I have just kind of went through the motions and have been very absent in my daily activities.  I feel worn down, but I thought the semester has just started and there is no way I want it to be summer already because that means leaving most of my friends here in Madison.  I'm tired, but I cannot sleep and often I find myself zoning out.  It isn't to the point that I am falling behind in my classes; yet I worry that I am missing important information.  I just don't feel very spur of the moment happy go lucky Quinn as I have prided myself on usually being.  So I'm going to change it.

From now until whenever I will do somethings for me.  And I don't mean buying myself new stuff, but instead putting myself in situations where I can enjoy the things and people around me.  (This is also one reason I recently applied to go on a mission trip to Guatemala through my college).  I heard someone say today that if you just wake up in the morning and say to yourself that you will be happy, then you will be happy.  I must admit I haven't woken up recently and said anything to myself, but instead just mumbled through my usual morning routine.  So again I'm going to change it.

I'm not sure if I need any luck to go along with this change of attitude, but here are definitely some videos I recently found that have captured my attention with human luck.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/440zn0/www.break.com/index/was-it-luck-or-skill.html
http://www.Break.com/index/game-show-dumb-luck.html

and one of my new favorite quotes...

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/9tgT3F/www.fromupnorth.com/2010/10/inspiration-gallery-139-various-quotations/

** Notice all of these are url's from the site stumbleupon... This is definitely a recommendation to use it, there is so much out there and I have found some amazing articles, hilarious videos, and meaningful stories by "stumbling" through the internet.

Does Technology Really Help?

First, let me start off with a couple of links to check out so you can understand where I'm coming from with this one.

http://mediacenter.motorola.com/Press-Releases/Motorola-Mobility-and-AT-T-Announce-ATRIX-4G-the-Future-of-Mobile-Computing-353c.aspx

http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/02/11/us-countries-ranking-idUSTRE61A13F20100211

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=7H0K1k54t6A

Pretty cool stuff, huh?  A laptop that rolls up?  Just when you think they have done everything possible something new comes literally "rolling" along. 

So with all of these technological advances and the feeling that it just won't ever stop; does all of this technology really help make our world easier?

Well I of course would quickly say yes, but let's see the other argument for it first.  Technology creates more work because you can take your work home with you and never have to stop working.  Well even though that may be true for some people I don't believe it is the case for everyone or even the majority.

I believe that technology has made this world easier to live in from a standpoint of staying connected with one another and making it easier to connect the whole world.  With things like skype, facebook, and even news websites pretty much anything we need is at our fingertips.  You can study abroad and manage your bank account, be at home and watch a television episode you missed, and you can even take anything you do with your technology on the road and with your gps you can know you will get to your location.

To me if technology wasn't good then we would stop buying it.

What Did I Learn This Week?

Well that is an interesting question.  What did I learn this week?  Well here let me start you with this:

http://www.sonicwall.com/phishing/

Test your knowledge of phishing as I did and see if you can beat my 9 out of 10.  Also after you take the test it will show you exactly where you went wrong and what to look for so you do not become a victim of scams. 

Also this week we were able to view things on the Wisconsin Circuit Court and some information on Madison properties.
 http://wcca.wicourts.gov/index.xsl
http://www.cityofmadison.com/assessor/property/

All three links are very interesting and I'm sure one could spend an entire afternoon browsing about the public domains.

Enjoy the links and learning all about the society that is currently surrounding me.

My Mid-Week Weekend: Wednesday

Whoever said college was rough, definitely lied.  Maybe after freshman year??? But definitely not currently.  As of now I am taking a five class and 16 credit load schedule... which somehow leaves me with one class on Mondays and Wednesdays and absolutely no classes on Fridays.  I am able to do this and get 18 hours a week at my job working for the Technology Assistance Center.

Anyway back to the point of the thought: Wednesdays.  I can do basically nothing (which tomorrow nothing will be my laundry as I am out of black socks, which for some odd reason I really enjoy wearing), until noon when I go to class for approximately an hour and a half.  The class that I actually started this blog in.  After that I am free to do as I wish for the remainder of my mid-week weekend.  Which of course I will now have to tell you all about after I figure out what I shall do.

Part of me though is hoping that I am just being naive and that someday I will look back at this post and go "Damn, what was I thinking, college is actually a lot of work."  But until then I will just enjoy my time.  Hell maybe I will stay for seven years.

Informal Formal Introduction

So this is a blog, which means literally nothing unless I put some sort of posts on it and make it seem like my life is a bit more interesting than anyone who may stop to read it.  Scratch that.. I think everyone's life can pretty much be made into a movie (why else would we live? to do nothing?) and a blog is a great way for a person to get their stories out to those that are willing to listen, or in my case read.  I will try to update this as often as I can and actually fill it with tidbits of my day or other things I think I think at the time.  Also this blog was created for one of my Computer Science classes so every now and again there will be random postings of my assignments basically proving to my Professor that I can update a blog and do other computer related tasks.

So without further adieu here are the latest rumors of my demise... (pretty slick and cheesy how I worked that in lol)

My Interests

For my CS150 class I needed to come up with two interests and find some other bloggers with these interest.  So here are some blogs I think you should check out.

St. Louis Rams
http://www.turfshowtimes.com/

St. Louis Cardinals
http://www.vivaelbirdos.com/

Both are very interesting and keep up on the rumors of my favorite sports teams.