Froeman's Take

Apple iPad: Needs Work

Just two days ago Apple released their "latest and greatest" to the public.  It may be their latest item on the market, though i can strongly say that it is their least ingenuitive product (given what they have already shown the world.  Called the Apple iPad, it boasts a 9.7 inch LED backlit screen from which you can touch and tap your way through the web as well as many other features, namely its book-reader function.

It's just too bad that the iPhone or iPod Touch can already do all of this!  Well, minus the book-reader.  I don't know about society's opinion, but I love sitting down and being able to flip, feel, and smell the pages of the book I am reading.  The iPad would essentially take the experience itself out of reading.  Also, in my opinion a physical library is much more impressive and practical than any virtual library.  How would one expect to lend or borrow a book?

Another complaint I have with this meager-at-best product is storage capacity as it is available in almost anorexic 16GB, a version with onlly32GB,  Iand another topping out a still insufficient 64GB. You would think that with its supposedly "massive" proccesor that it would come with an atleast adequate space to store your data.  Any virtual library that has to share an already over-compressed space with your desired music, movies, applications, and other internet data is not going to be very prestigous at all.

Being very large and fragile, this would not be easy to travel with as it is intended, but you would always have the option of purchasing many dollars worth of gear to go along with your iPad.  Also if one was looking to make this their home desktop or personal laptop, they would have to drop more than just the $599 starting price, as many accesories are needed for simple things, such as the use of a keyboard.

With a few improvements the apple iPad could be a great buy, especially for the traveling man or the student who wants everything all at once.  But, until that day I would not even consider buying one of these.

Why Not Wiki it?

3,156,960 articles.  19,123,931 pages in total.  There have been 359,482,102 edits.  There are 870,137 uploaded files.  There are 11,394,907 registered users.  These are the most up to date (today) statistics, gathered daily by wikipedia itself and posted on their page. These are staggering and incredible in my opinion.  There is no physical encyclopedia with 3,156,960 articals let alone 19 million plus pages. 

Created by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger, Wikipedia, made its internet debut as "Nupedia" on January 10th, 2001, and was changed to "wikipedia.org" on the 15th of January.  This day is known to some as "Wikipedia Day."  It is safe to say that wikipedia has changed my life for the better and without a doubt touched you and someone you know as well.

My point is that Wikipedia is and should be considered a perfectly credible source.  School teachers world-wide have frowned upon, and discredited the consultation of Wikipedia for projects, papers, and other such school related activities.  Included in Wikipedia's 11,394,907 users are 1,700 plus administrators with special power to regulate wikipedia and keep it free from mis-conduct and false information.  If something were to be typed without citation or without due process of verifying the information, it will be deleted in most cases, by the time you refresh your page. (I have tested this several times, and each time have been banned for a minimum of 24 hours from making any edits to a page.)  But this is not an iron fist by any means.  If you believe there is a problem with content, Wikipedia administrators are easily accesible via a designated email.

Don't get me wrong, I love reading books, and I don't mind retrieving something from a cited database, but with this information of a close-cut Wikipedia in mind, I have a hard time arguing that it will mislead anyone from factual information that you may have gotten out of the same book referenced on the page anyways.  I believe Wikipedia has taken a step into the future that maybe everyone is not ready for yet (in my opinion, this is namely elderly academic administration that want to resist change for the remainder of their lives.)  Maybe, one day, Wikipedia and young students around the globe will see that the way of the future has only been a click away for almost a decade now.

Introducing: Michael's Midweek Mashup!

   I am honored to introduce the first ever guest blogger on Froeman's Take.  Hailing from American University and graduate of Carmel High School, Michael has recieved many accolades in his life, especially in economics and not to mention COD.  This is a really big deal for me, and Michael has come up with some brilliant stuff.  So give a look and enjoy!

Online Poker: Road to Riches or Path to Poverty?

  PokerStars. Sportsbook Poker. Full Tilt Poker. Party Poker. Titan Poker. You may recognize a few of these websites; particularly PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, as they are two of the most visible and advertised online gambling sites in the United States. They sponsor their own tournaments as well as elite players on the World Series of Poker. Some even host their own late night television shows pitting average joes against the pros. For the last five years or so I have been a regular at both of these websites. My experiences have led me to believe that online poker is a dangerous game, and if gone unchecked, can have a disastrous impact on a person’s life. These illegal activities performed in cyberspace are corrupting our fragile society, creating degenerates out of would-be college graduates, tearing apart families, and causing financial ruin for addicted players. 

      I began playing online poker at the age of 13 (the legal age is 21 but all you have to do is check the box, and really, how are they going to catch you?). However, I was only playing with “play money”, which is how the poker sites first advertise their services. They suck in innocent naive adolescents, much as the tobacco companies did for years before the government stepped in. For example, “Come play some Texas Hold’Em at our site! Its fun, fast, easy, and FREE!” Of course, it is free, however, a person can only play with “play money” for so long before they get tired of it. For awhile, it was fun to amass millions of these worthless chips, trying to beat my friends’ bankrolls. However, soon I began to wonder what it meant to play with “real money” as advertised all over the website. By the time I was fifteen and had just gotten my first debit card, I decided it was time to find out what all of the excitement was about. I wanted to become a professional poker player just like the guys on television. I asked myself, “How hard could it be? Surely it would be better than going to school. I liked math at the time, and if I got good enough, like Phil Ivey, I could make millions!” Finally, after a little deliberation, I clicked on “Deposit Now”, and sure enough, my life would never be the same.  

  Throughout my years as an avid online poker player, I have had my ups and downs. I will concede however, that overall, I probably have lost a considerable amount of hard-earned money. I vividly remember depositing my entire paycheck one occasion. Needless to say it was a waste. Although I went up nearly $300 in a matter of hours, I joined a high-stakes game, and quickly my small fortune disappeared at the tables. It takes years of practice, determination, and most of all, PATIENCE, something that I did not possess at such a young age. I wanted to rise to the top - the millions were only a few good hands away. Quickly I found myself addicted to the game- the adrenaline rushes, the bad beats, and most of all, the money. I kept depositing and depositing, sometimes only $30 at a time, and despite my temporary winnings, my bankroll would always end up back at $0.00. Yet, I couldn’t get enough of it. I soon began to accumulate large amounts of frequent player points (every site calls them something different). Basically, as you continue to lose money at the tables, they reward you with items from customized shirts to plasma TV’s, always bearing the company logo of course. This was just another attempt made by the companies to keep players returning to their tables.  Finally, I saw through the endless corporate advertising, and began to realize how much time and money the game was taking from me. I had a sort of revelation and made a life saving decision to quit online poker. As I still love the game, I decided that I can wait to play again until I am old enough to go to the casinos where I can enjoy the true experience of playing LIVE poker. I have stopped the endless cycle, and I am a better person for it. 

  Overall, my experience with online poker has taught me a few valuable traits that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Success only comes with hard work and dedication. The best poker players have spent years and years perfecting their games, just as any businessman would spend years in school before they make their fortunes. While some gambling websites have already begun restricting players within the United States due to government intervention, more action needs to be taken in order to prevent more people from becoming addicted to the lifeless nature of this game. Now, I’m not saying its impossible to be profitable at the tables, but don’t expect to win without putting in the time and money, and possibly your life. 

StumbleUpon.com: Discover Your Internet

Stumblupon.com is my most recent time-killer/educator.  It is easy to lose track of time “stumbling” onto new sites that suit just my interests – which I can constantly edit.  What exactly is StumbleUpon.com? – Exactly what it says it is.  This genuine search engine takes input from its users, primarily your personal input, and customizes a random search of the Internet for things that might interest you.  It is easy and fun to use.  Not to sound like an advertiser, but it really will take away that feeling that once you check your regular sites, you are done on the Internet. 

The key feature of this search engine, and really what makes it unique is that its results are human-guided.  There is, for every site it brings you to a “like” and “dislike” button.  The presage of these buttons by users determines the rating a certain site is given.  Websites that have not been brought up for a long period of time or receive a poor rating are discarded from what you can stumble upon.  Another feature of customization brought to you by StumbleUpon.com is the ability to indicate your certain interests to base your search off of.  Now, I have not completely decided whether I like this system of itemization or not. My main concern with it is that some of the topics are very broad such as “history” or “books”.  I like history and I like books, but I may not like every specific genre within those categories. 

I can definitly see StumbleUpon.com defeating my homework in the battle of how I use my time come sunday.