AlexRudloff.com http://www.www.alexrudloff.com AlexRudloff.com http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/media/feedlogo.gif AlexRudloff.com http://www.www.alexrudloff.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[SxSW Panel Voting...]]>http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/08/10/sxsw-panel-voting/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/08/10/sxsw-panel-voting/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/08/10/sxsw-panel-voting/#comments
I know that the rails envy guys did - vote/support them here!
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillaorlandopanelssxswtechnology2008-08-10T23:07:00+00:00<![CDATA[XBox Live...]]>http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/08/09/xbox-live/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/08/09/xbox-live/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/08/09/xbox-live/#comments
I did beat some kid in guitar hero on easy mode though. Sucker.
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillaxboxlive2008-08-09T17:41:00+00:00<![CDATA[UCFinsider.com...]]>http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/08/09/ucfinsider-com/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/08/09/ucfinsider-com/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/08/09/ucfinsider-com/#commentsKathryn had to work late the other night, so I decided to put a domain Gavin and I have had to work as a little experiment in news gathering. UCFinsider.com is a blog/news aggregator on our favorite college sports obsession.

The UCF/Orlando Sentinel sports staff stuff was (or is, depending on who you ask), for the most part, rather silly. It did get me thinking on a particular aspect of the giant media shift going on though, and that's how people gather and digest their news.

One of the lines that's been repeated by some fans and by a couple columnists at the paper is how badly UCF needs the Sentinel. If it's not for the Sentinel, "who else is going to cover you?". The amount of fans echoing the sentiment is rather slim, but it seems to be pretty popular amongst other newspaper columnists. The truth is probably in the middle, but thinking about how I gather my news on UCF, there is no one source that sticks out. The notion that if one paper decides not to cover a specific subject, it'll go unreported, seems incredibly out of date.

UCFinsider.com, for now, doesn't include the Sentinel. It's more of a test really and isn't anything more than that. I wanted to see if I could stay on top of the program thoroughly without feeling the need to visit OrlandoSentinel.com -- something I did quite a bit of last season. It'll still show up syndicated columns occasionally, but I'm cool with that. This is anything but scientific, and once my curiosity on the subject is satisfied, I'll likely add the Sentinel into the mix anyhow (The site is intended to be about all of UCF, not just sports).

So far? It's working really well. The site is probably listing about 20-25 UCF related links every day, none of them from the Sentinel. I'm finding the coverage from other mainstream newspapers to be very strong, well rounded and diverse. Both the Miami Herald and Florida Today have surprised me with great articles in the last couple of days. I want to leave the Sentinel out for at least the first game to see if there is decent enough coverage the next couple of days. It's against SC State, so if it works for that one, it'll undoubtedly work well for the rest.

The site automatically creates two posts per day -- one at 7am, and one at 4pm. It was tempting to make it ajaxy/real time, but this way it should fit into most folks work schedules a little less aggressively ;). It uses the same sources as Google News with the addition of UCFAthletics.com, Rival's free content, Scout's free content, UCFSports.com UCF Fan Forum ('hot' threads only), select UCF related blogs/fan sites, and select national level college football blogs. I plan on adding NCAAbbs.com's C-USA forum, YouTube, Social News conversations (if Digg's talking about technology created at UCF, I want to read it), and more blogs as I find them. I'll probably also start including information on UCF sports alumni -- Kevin Smith, Asante Samuel, Daunte Culpepper, Brandon Marshall, Mike Walker, Atari Bigby -- etc. I'll probably also try to make the design of the site suck less ;)

Any suggestions / comments? Let me know.
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillacollegefootballgeorgeolearynewsaggregatororlandoorlandosentinelsportsucfucfinsider2008-08-09T10:03:00+00:00<![CDATA[Obama's Military Plans...]]>http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/08/07/obamas-military-plans/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/08/07/obamas-military-plans/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/08/07/obamas-military-plans/#comments
Let me paraphrase: "I will systematically disarm our country. Walk softly, and carry absolutely no stick at all."

He sure did look and sound good saying it though. This may be the fodder McCain's camp has been looking/waiting for.
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorilla2008militaryobamaplanspoliticspresidential2008-08-07T08:39:00+00:00<![CDATA[Bahamas...]]>http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/08/05/bahamas/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/08/05/bahamas/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/08/05/bahamas/#comments This past weekend, Kathryn and I shot out to the Bahamas for a quick little get away. Nassau's definitely a place where you have to have something planned to do, I think, but overall we really enjoyed it. We went out there via the weekend cruise that Royal Caribbean has up in Port Canaveral on the 'Sovereign of the Seas.'

Atlantis Hotel and Casino is a ridiculously cool place. I'm a sucker for salt water aquariums, and man do they have a killer one. They have a stingray in there that's probably 8 or 9 feet wide. We played a little bit of black jack while we were there as well. With the proximity to florida, I'm not exactly sure why I would want to go to Vegas anymore. The only thing that's probably missing are the shows, if you know, you're the show tune type. The room rates seem to be a little pricey, but I'm sure they run specials like every where else. As is, it's cheaper to do the cruise route and just hang out there.

We hit up Stingray Adventure also. Basically, you get to snorkel around with stingray's, hold them and feed them. They're all de-barbed, which really takes a lot of the adventure out of it ;) Good times though, and certainly a lot more hands on than Sea World.

I could totally see us doing this again at some point. The ship set sail at 5pm on Friday and was back by 7am on Monday. Perfect little weekend get away and it was cheaper than flying somewhere and staying in a hotel room.
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillaatlantisbahamascasinopersonalroyalcaribbeansovereignoftheseasstingrayadventuretravel2008-08-05T10:37:00+00:00<![CDATA[Inflation, Stagflation or Deflation?]]>http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/28/inflation-stagflation-or-deflation/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/28/inflation-stagflation-or-deflation/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/28/inflation-stagflation-or-deflation/#commentsdeflationary period, not inflationary or stagflation.
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorilladeflationeconomy2008-07-28T16:13:00+00:00<![CDATA[George O'leary writes OpEd in Sentinel...]]>http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/27/george-oleary-writes-oped-in-sentinel/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/27/george-oleary-writes-oped-in-sentinel/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/27/george-oleary-writes-oped-in-sentinel/#commentsWell said, with a few specifics on where he takes issue with the paper.
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillacollegeereckplancherfootballolearyorlandoorlandosentinelsicklecellucf2008-07-27T09:51:00+00:00<![CDATA[Ah, Dilbert...]]>http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/26/ah-dilbert/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/26/ah-dilbert/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/26/ah-dilbert/#commentsJibberJobber blog. Figured I might know some people who could appreciate it ;)


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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillabusinesscareercomiccorporatedilbertfunnyhumor2008-07-26T12:08:00+00:00<![CDATA[Professor Randy Pausch...]]>http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/25/professor-randy-pausch/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/25/professor-randy-pausch/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/25/professor-randy-pausch/#comments
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillalastlecture2008-07-25T14:48:00+00:00<![CDATA[T. Boone Pickens '08...]]>http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/24/t-boone-pickens-08/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/24/t-boone-pickens-08/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/24/t-boone-pickens-08/#comments
I'm voting for T. Boone Pickens, who as Gavin pointed out, not only looks Texan, but also has the best Texan name ever. Additionally, he seems to have a somewhat coherent energy policy. What more reason do you need? He's not shy about admitting he'll make a boat load of cash by it, but who cares? Someones going to make some coin and it might as well be the guy from the Simpson's.
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorilla2008electionenergymccainobamapoliticspresidentsimpsonstboonepickenstexas2008-07-24T09:51:00+00:00<![CDATA[Dr. Horrible...]]>http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/23/dr-horrible/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/23/dr-horrible/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/23/dr-horrible/#commentsDr. Horrible, but I just watched the finale last night with Kathryn ("See Kathryn, I like musicals too!")

How unbelievably awesome was it?

Basically, it was put together on a shoe string during the writers strike as a side project. I can totally see this being a cheap/easy way to pilot more expanded content. They've announced a full length dvd to be released at some point.



Here's the second song of the musical on youtube.. Enjoy :)


Gavin sent me a link re. the business aspects of the film. Solid read.
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillaawesomecontentdrhorriblefilmmovieneilpatrickharrisonlinevideo2008-07-23T11:16:00+00:00<![CDATA[O'leary vs. the Orlando Sentinel...]]>http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/22/oleary-vs-the-sentinel/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/22/oleary-vs-the-sentinel/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/22/oleary-vs-the-sentinel/#commentsI've gotten enough questions about yesterdays post to warrant what will be a futile attempt at summarizing the drama between Coach O'leary and the Orlando Sentinel. My guess is that over the season this might become a national story (I don't think O'leary is close to backing down). I'll do my best but I'm sure I won't get it 100% (It would require me taking way to much time to write what will already be a longer than normal post). If anyone has any corrections or responses, which I'm sure someone will, comment below :)

Quick and dirty background

Basically, a UCF player died tragically during a team workout. The Sentinel, doing it's job as a media outlet, started looking into it. Keith Tribble, the AD, made some remarks downplaying the workout based on the information that he had. That information wasn't really accurate, and then the school had to back off of those statements. UCF made a mistake with this and admitted as much.

Sentinel starts writing articles saying that the player died from over intensive workouts (O'leary worked him to death, etc). Out of however many on the record depositions there were about the incident (I think I heard there are about 80), the Sentinel chose to use 4 anonymous sources that didn't match up with anything else. The comments didn't really match up to what else was known about the situation, but hey.. that's how anonymous comments work. They're either completely accurate, or you know, completely made up. You have to decide whether or not you trust the media. When it comes to the sentinel, lots of folks don't. I've been at enough events and then read about them in the paper to know that they like to completely fabricate things for fill sometimes. It's a dying business and they have papers to sell, I guess.

Anyhow, relatively soon after that the Sentinel writes an article interviewing UCF's old QB, who was a product of the Mike K era and never got along with O'leary. It's at this point most UCF fans feel the Sentinel turned sensationalist on the issue (keep in mind, a young man died. Not something to write sensational articles over). Basically, the tone of the article was that the old QB got yelled at a lot, proving that O'leary is a jerk (or, you know, a football coach, for anyone who's ever played a team sport), and that he is responsible for killing Ereck because of it. I think the line was something like "But Moffett has a life to continue living, Ereck Plancher doesn't." Something really offensive and over the line like that. For me, that's when my opinion turned against the Sentinel. If a football coach wasn't a hardass, he'd be an awful football coach. Trying to roll him under the bus in a sensationalist fluff piece, before the autopsy was even finished, crosses an ethical/moral line.

NOTE: I was going to link to this article, but can't find it on Google or orlandosentinel.com. The title was "Motivation different than Intimidation" and it was an interview with Steven Moffett written on April 12, 2008. The Sentinel, at the time, appeared to be deleting comments from the article. Now, the entire article is gone. Absolutely classless to launch an attack against UCF and remove any record of your own guilt. Most of the comments are still online here, read the reactions, (and sadly, ignore the childish trolls)

UPDATE TO NOTE: Danny pointed out that it hasn't been removed, it's been moved to the paid only archive which happens after 30 days. That's my bad. I had forgotten people were still trying to make money that way. ;) So much for capitalizing the long tail. 'Joey' posted a copy of the article below, if anyone from the Sentinel sees this as a copyright violation, let me know and I'll remove it.

Anyway, fast forward with more articles and opinions written that are anti-UCF on the subject (one saying UCF stiffed EP's family on the funeral bill, which isn't true). Basically their general sentiment was that UCF's silence on the matter means guilt (it doesn't, it means a legal team is telling you not to talk.).

Next thing you know the autopsy is released confirming sickle cell, which for the most part clears the school of liability, and makes the Sentinel look pretty stupid for jumping the gun.

Fast forward a little and there's a press conference with O'leary. A Sentinel reporter asks a relatively mundane question, O'leary tells them he's not going to answer any questions for the Sentinel until they clarify some errors that they made in previous articles on the subject. Sentinel has said in the past that they would if UCF/O'leary pointed out what those errors are. UCF/O'leary say that there was a 90 minute interview with the Sentinel already concerning these details and that it went unreported. My guess is that a legal team is telling UCF/O'leary not to offer up anything more. Again, that's not a sign of guilt, that's the sign of a good legal team.

The day after O'leary denied the Sentinel, something like 4 out of 5 articles on the front page of the sports section are anti-UCF. This is more coverage than the Sentinel has ever given their local 50,000 student university. The paper is attacking UCF for not informing Ereck's family of his sickle cell trait (which, under privacy laws, would have been illegal for them to do. Ereck was over 18.) The paper insists that it was controversial "matt drills" that killed Ereck (something the school denies were taking place when he collapsed), and the paper insists that O'leary is guilty of not taking proper precautions because of Ereck's 'condition'.

Now, maybe teams should take more precautions with players that have sickle cell trait. Anything to improve safety is okay by me (including getting rid of matt drills for that matter, just to be careful. My understanding is that the pros don't use them?). But not many (if any) teams do much more than whats already done, and that's probably relating to the fact that an estimated 7-10% of African Americans have sickle cell and a very small portion of them die in a workout from it (more people die from falling coconuts type of thing). These players are also informed of the trait via pre-screening and continue to play football at their own risk.

My Thoughts / Going forward

My hope is that UCF medical staff (and other universities) have learned where they can improve things to protect the lives of college players. I'd hope that the Sentinel can take an honest look at their coverage and realize that they should have waited for the autopsy to be finished before taking a position. Both parties have things to learn from this, but only UCF seems to be admitting it.

As far as Coach's stance on dealing with the paper, I think it's 100% within his right. The paper has, on multiple occasions now, suggested that he is responsible for killing one his players. Whatever happened was a tragic, unfortunate, somewhat freak occurrence that no one -- not the players, the coach, the families, the friends or even the fans -- should have to endure. "The Moffett article", as it's referred to amongst fans, proved to many of us the Sentinel's intent on sensationalizing a young man's death. They didn't lay on this criticism against FSU (Bobby Bowden *is* matt drills), UF or even USF -- all locally covered teams that have had similar occurrences. A freshman player died at UF from heat exhaustion -- something easily preventable -- back in 2001. I'm not even sure the Sentinel even mentioned it in between their "OMG UF is teh awesome!!1" articles. If they did, they certainly didn't mount a campaign against their coach.

So yeah. I gave a small amount more to the Golden Knight Club yesterday specifically in support of O'leary on this. It's not about the money, it's about the paper trail of support. At some point, O'leary is going to come under intense pressure to get this resolved. The Orlando Sentinel is the only game in town, and they're only laying off 20% at a time. They have at least a few more years left in them. When that pressure comes, it'll be nice for Keith Tribble and O'leary to point to letters, emails and donations all supporting the school on this. (and note: if UCF is found to have guilt in all this, I'll be the first in line to criticize their handling of it all.)

I also want to note that there are a lot more details to all this. Most of it can be read over in 'the dungeon', a $10 a month message board that's primarily composed of boosters and people associated with the UCF program. There's a strong sense of "what's said in the dungeon, stays in the dungeon" for obvious reasons. I've tried to keep some things vague out of respect to that, but hopefully this gives at least a little more background than what you'll read about in the Sentinel or listen to on Jim Philip's (who's uninformed opinions make for great radio but little else. Kind of like blog posts. I'm sure he'd tell you the same thing. ;).
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorilla2008collegefootballgeorgeolearylocalorlandoorlandosentinelsportsucf2008-07-22T12:14:00+00:00<![CDATA[Attn UCF Fans - Anti Sentinel?]]>http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/21/ucf-fans-anti-sentinel/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/21/ucf-fans-anti-sentinel/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/21/ucf-fans-anti-sentinel/#commentsWay to much for me to explain for this to make any sense to people outside the ucf circle, so I'll keep it brief.

If you're a UCF fan in complete awe of George O'leary's hardass stance against the Orlando Sentinel, call Kevin Miller with the Golden Knight Club and donate to show support. It doesn't need to be a lot, just a few bucks -- perhaps the money you're saving by cancelling your subscription to the Sentinel. ;)

Kevin Miller at 407-882-2871

Here's to hoping Florida Today hire's a ucf beat writer! ;)
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillacollegefootballgeorgeolearygoldenknightcluborlandoorlandosentinelsupportucf2008-07-21T10:49:00+00:00<![CDATA[Where's the innovation?...]]>http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/14/wheres-the-innovation/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/14/wheres-the-innovation/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/14/wheres-the-innovation/#comments
Google released AdSense, a truly innovative way to create an effective advertising network. It, and the ensuing copy cats, took over the advertising world and made publishing online for profit approachable by even the smallest, most obscure people. YouTube, as simple as it may be, made online video accessible and launched an entire genre of copy cats. Friendster, even if it was kind of lame and lacked a sense of purpose, kick started a million social networks. Blogger brought blogging to the masses.

Tough economic times seems to bring out the next generation of innovation. After playing with AppStore and some of the Apple dev tools for the iPhone, we may very well see a slew of truly innovative out of the box thinking come out of the mobile landscape. The stuff that's out there right now is fairly tame, nothing has really blown me away, but no doubt it's coming. It's probably waiting for approval on appstore this very moment. We'll see.

In thinking in terms of the "new web", are there other examples of things that are truly innovative, or are we building better and better variations of existing themes? Any thoughts on real world applications for mobile? I saw some stuff on crowd sourcing traffic data. That may not reach a critical mass, but that's a killer line of thinking in terms of applications.
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillaapplebusinessinnovationmobilerandomsoftwarewebweb202008-07-14T12:47:00+00:00<![CDATA[Concealed Weapon Permit...]]>http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/14/concealed-weapon-permit/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/14/concealed-weapon-permit/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/14/concealed-weapon-permit/#commentsKathryn and I completed the 2 hour fire arm safety course required for the Florida concealed weapons permit yesterday. Applications are in the mail today.

We figured it was something worth getting not because we really want to carry, but because it was something we wanted to learn about and have the option available. It's one of the rights that we all have but hardly ever use, and frankly, at some point I feel like the gub'ment is going to come knocking on doors to try to take the fire arms away. Get em while the gettings good, I guess.

The class itself was pretty good. I didn't really know what to expect in a 2 hour course, but we did learn some things. We also bought a couple of books, one on Florida law and one on the laws of all the various states. Both of us travel a decent amount, so we figured it best to know the laws outside of Florida.

We have a great deal of practice ahead of us before either one of us are comfortable carrying, but they say the permits take a couple months to process anyhow. We'll see.

Anyone else have their concealed? Any suggestions on guns to try out or places to learn?
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorilla2ndamendmentcarryconcealedgunslicensepermitpersonalselfdefenseweapons2008-07-14T10:16:00+00:00<![CDATA[BlogOrlando 2008 Announced...]]>http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/07/blogorlando-2008-announced/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/07/blogorlando-2008-announced/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/07/blogorlando-2008-announced/#comments
For those who haven't been the last two years, this is a great event. A little more structured than traditional unconferences with the same unconference conversations and speakers from all over.

Rollins College, Sept. 25th-27th. The 27th being the 'main event' (a saturday, which is somewhat of a departure from the last couple of years where it was held on fridays)

Read more / Check it out!

UPDATE: Registration now open!
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorilla2008blogorlandolocalorlandorollinscollegescenetechnology2008-07-07T09:30:00+00:00<![CDATA[Tagflation-say...]]>http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/02/tagflation-say/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/02/tagflation-say/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/02/tagflation-say/#commentsAll signs seem to point to us being in a period of that which can not be spoken. Time for another economics rant ;)

The funny thing about wealth is, in an overly simplistic explanation, it's kind of like water energy [note: yeah, yeah.. i was tired as heck when i wrote it] -- its not really created or destroyed. It moves. People often say that building roads and infrastructure creates a better economy, and often, they're 'correct' for that particular area. But that doesn't mean wealth was created. The taxes to pay for the project came from other consumers who would have spent the money on other things -- the jobs created by the new infrastructure hurt the unseen profits of someone else (and probably a few unseen jobs because of it). The money spent in that new area came from money elsewhere, and hurt the unseen profits of where ever else it would have been spent instead.

I'm sure there are caveats to it, but most of the wealth creation that people reference are simply cases of inflation or speculation, mixed with cheaper products available from better production methods. The middle class, for example, has way more now than it did 200 years ago. Are they richer? Or has the quality of life provided by what would have been considered luxury items simply become more affordable? Having air conditioning doesn't really mean your rich these days, does it? And remember, inflation's a bitch. A millionaire in Rockerfellers day would probably need 7m+ to maintain that title today.

Housing is such a pressing issue because its effects on consumer confidence is immediate. Tons of "wealth" was created on the books over the course of the housing boom. In a more liquid market, that wealth would simply evaporate (i.e., the tech stock boom). In housing, people are a whole lot more slow to sell and the numbers are a heck of a lot larger than individual stocks. No matter how you slice it, that wealth absolutely has to come off the books. Price reductions remove the wealth from the books, and so does inflation. Inflate the dollar through tax rebates and federally back buy outs. The overall purchasing power of consumers is lowered, some more than others depending on the region (the numbers don't have to be adjusted in all regions equally, after all), but housing prices stabilize because in real terms, they become fair market.

The traditional scape goat, the federal debt, is another thing that I find troubling. The way we as a country become "richer" is by taking in more money than we're sending out. If other countries are moving their wealth to our country, and we're not moving that wealth to anyone else, we end up with a bigger piece of the world's pie. Right now we're not only spending more money internally than we're collecting in taxes, causing us to take loans from China and pay them interest, we are also importing more than we're exporting. Wealth is leaving the country at a fairly fast pace. Now, you can borrow money if the money is being used to expand the economy (and thus bringing in more foriegn wealth/etc, at that point, it's an investment).. But borrowing money in a stagnant economy and not selling enough to cover our purchases?

All the sudden we find ourselves in a situation with increasing inflation with little to no economic growth -- aka, staglation. (shh!)

While it's not a good thing, it's not necessarily "omg the worst thing ever!!1" either (at least, over the long run). It's certainly not the doom and gloom that the media makes it out to be. You may have seen the headline yesterday of "The worst June since the Great Depression!". That's technically true, but it seems to imply that bad months are unheard of. They're not. It was simply the worst June, and things aren't nearly as bad as they were in the early part of this century. Regardless, where the doom and gloom theories fall flat is that they make the assumption that people will refuse to change habits in the face of economic pressure. That, of course, is bullshit. We're the most adaptable creatures on the planet. Something tells me we'll drive smaller cars if we really, absolutely, have to.

We're going to see a ton of innovation come out of this economy. We're going to see housing stabilize and consumer confidence rebuild (stable prices at the expense of reduced purchasing power is still probably a good thing, given the circumstances). We're going to see alternative fuels and synthetic gasolines start pushing their way to the forefront like never before (it looks like OPEC can't get in the way this time, suckers). We're going to see out of work engineers put their heads together and create truly amazing technology and all sorts of deritive applications of that technology. This country is full of talented folks, we just sometimes have to be pushed a little bit. Things are ugly right now, but adversity may be the kick in the pants this country needs.

For me, all of this is fascinating. I love trying to figure this out and learning. If anyone thinks I'm wrong on any of this, share in the comments below, because, well.. let's just say it happens from time to time ;)
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorilladebteconomyhousingrantstagflationthoughtswealth2008-07-02T09:28:00+00:00<![CDATA[Someone take away Al Gore's weather machine now...]]>http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/01/someone-take-away-al-gores-weather-machine-now/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/01/someone-take-away-al-gores-weather-machine-now/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/01/someone-take-away-al-gores-weather-machine-now/#comments
10 day forecast on weather.com has rain every day.

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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillaalgorefloridalocalrainsatellitebeachsummerweatherweathermachine2008-07-01T19:06:00+00:00<![CDATA[Florida Creatives, East Coast style...]]>http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/01/florida-creatives-east-coast-style/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/01/florida-creatives-east-coast-style/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/07/01/florida-creatives-east-coast-style/#commentsBrevard county now has its own FloridaCreatives.com group, thanks to the initiative taken by Lawrence. We even have a logo that doesn't look like the second life logo (hah, couldn't resist Ryan.)

The group is up to 16 members right now on the wiki, and discussion is getting started on the when's and where's of getting a happy hour going. It's looking like a healthy group coming together over here on the coast.

So who is it for? What's it about? The Florida Creative meet ups have really been about bringing together people from various sides of the creative field under one roof. Get together for a drink or three and meet some interesting folks. If you're in marketing, design, theater, music, web design, programming, whatever. It's a great way to meet fun/like minded people in the area.

Check it out.


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]]>alexrudloffpostgorillabrevardcountyeastcoastcreativesfloridafloridacreativeshappyhourlocalscenetechnology2008-07-01T12:08:00+00:00<![CDATA[Personal Finance Advice via Seth Godin...]]>http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/06/14/personal-finance-advice-via-seth-godin/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/06/14/personal-finance-advice-via-seth-godin/http://www.www.alexrudloff.com/2008/06/14/personal-finance-advice-via-seth-godin/#commentssimple take on debt. Well put.

If I could only share one piece of personal finance advice to grads or to just about anyone, it would be this:

Only borrow money to pay for things that increase in value.

It's a short list: your business, your house and your education, mostly. Stocks if you're smarter than me. That's pretty much it.

If you have credit card debt, you're in big trouble. Your bank account has a huge leak in it, and it's getting worse. Hence the urgency.

If you have credit card debt, that means that every time you spend money (even cash), you're borrowing money to do so. And so, if you're going out to dinner or buying a new pair of shoes, you've just broken the single most important rule of personal finance. You're spending borrowed money on stuff that is decreasing in value.

This is an emergency. It's an emergency because every single day you wait, the problem gets worse. A lot worse.

My suggestion: Go to defcon 1, and do it immediately. Shift gears to live well below your means. That means:
No restaurants
No clothes shopping
No cable TV bill
No Starbucks

It means:
Take in a tenant in your spare bedroom
Carpool to work
Skip vacation this year

Eat brown rice and beans every night for dinner. Act like you have virtually no income.

The result? You'll save $5,000 to $20,000 a year. Send all of it to the credit card company. Do this until you're debt free, the faster the better.

There. Now you're rich. Now you get interest on your savings instead of paying the bank. Twenty years from now, this emergency action will translate into perhaps a million dollars in the bank, depending on how much you earn and how serious you are.

You can thank me then.

(found via fatwallet.com)
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]]>alexrudloffpostgorilladebtfinancesethgodin2008-06-14T14:05:00+00:00