Top Ten Breaches of Social Code

Here's the good news. I've decided to start posting again. The bad news is my opinions are going out on the airwaves.

These are tough times. I even take a sip every time I hear "uncertain times" in an ad. You're welcome. (Btw, did you know that alcohol sales are up 55% and overall comparable to levels before prohibition? ...but I digress)

I think one of my biggest pet peeves is etiquette. Simply, when someone puts their priorities above others. Everyone is in a hurry, everyone wants to get where they are going. There is no reason that you are more important.

As such, I wanted to point out my top ten "Red in the face, steam blowing out my ears" faux pas' that people seem to consistently make in public.

1. Running into an elevator/train door before those people want to exit. 
Who the frick thinks this is acceptable. They should have been purged from society long ago.

2. Standing side by side on an escalator.
In really big cities, people know but people from smaller towns or idiots think that it's acceptable to go their own pace on an escalator. It's stand to the right, walk on the left. Just like the fast lane.

3. Meandering pedestrians.
You know exactly what I'm talking about. People like to stroll, but some people seem to sway from side to side. Stay in yo lane!

4. People who complain about traffic.
This one is specific. There's a certain subset of people who seem to think traffic happens to them. Like a nuisance they must deal with. Traffic does not happen to you, YOU are traffic. You also want to go that way.

5. People who bring babies on airplanes. 

6. Hecklers at live shows. 
I'm sorry your mommy and daddy didn't love you enough. Your attention complex isn't important enough to interrupt everyone's experience.

7. People who talk on cellphones on trains and buses. 
Once again, a more specific city reference. But I can't tell you how oblivious these people seem as they try to talk over the roaring train. I just want to listen to my Backstreet Boys in peace.

8. Trying to box you out at the bar. 
I have seen people think no one will notice that they've shoved their way to the front of a crowd at a bar. Funny enough, some bartenders notice and leave them hanging. Not funny: most bartenders don't.

9. Interrupting a story. 
I admit I am guilty of this and working on it. But it seems some people cannot wait to share their similar experience before I've hit my punchline.

10. Uber drivers who insist on having a conversation. 
I feel like most drivers figure out that you aren't in the mood. But I've literally had drivers pick me up at 4am on the way to the airport, hungover out of my mind, who want to know all about my life for 40 minutes, only to never see me again. Ugh.


Agree? Disagree? Something to add? Let me know in the comments

Until next time,

Leviticus,

Do Athletes Not Own Themselves?

In Athens, there is a legendary tree that owns itself. The deed for the land belongs to the tree. It can never be moved. But there is another legend in Athens that apparently lost his deed on the way. Of course, I'm speaking of Todd Gurley. Georgia's now famous junior runningback who, until last Thursday, was a front runner for the Heisman trophy.

Todd Gurley

Gurley is just one in a string of famous college football players who have used their fame for personal gain. Eric Dickerson got in hot water because Texas A&M boosters his grandma bought him a car (a 79 Trans-AM, a nice car even today). Terrelle Pryor and his friends got Jim Tressell fired at Ohio State because they traded memorabilia for tattoos.

And now, Jameis Winston is being investigated for the exact same thing. Selling autographs.

The issue that a good friend of mine, Mike Foster, brought up is that the O'Bannon case was recently settled for a massive sum. The case was essentially that these schools abuse the likeness of famous athletes for monetary gain but there is no compensation for those individuals. It's the reason Texas A&M sells #2 jerseys with no name on them. There's plausible deniability there but really, we all know who that jersey represents. Johnny Football. He doesn't get a single cent for those sales.

I want to place pressure here on the NCAA and president Mark Emmert. Fix this issue immediately. We should give at least some leeway to these athletes to make money. It's the legalization argument that we see with many other things. Because there is a no tolerance policy, it turns criminal in nature and these athletes set themselves up with the wrong types. (I'm looking at you Miami)

Just make the athletes able to get money from the school. It won't break the system. It will allow for regulation instead of punishments.

The Good Behind Dan's Departure

Courtesy of Major League Baseball CC

I think that it might be universally understood that Dan Uggla was not a good fit for the Atlanta Braves. But I'm here to explain to you why it's extra special that we cut him off at the time we did. Dan Uggla is a problem for our cap space. But in baseball that's really not a thing that exists, cap space is set by the owners and more than likely the general manager. Frank Wren is a kind of guy who wants to increase the money that the Atlanta Braves can spend on roster spots. The Atlanta Braves moved up recently from 80 million, until they were at 90 million, and this year they're at a hundred million. This is because they're building a new stadium, in a nice neighborhood, next to their fan base. What is going to happen soon is that the attendance and ticket prices and merchandising will increase to a level previously unknown by the Braves. I'm personally excited about that because that means that we can buy more players. But in the meantime, we have to succeed and get to the playoffs.

The long and short of it is, that Dan Uggla was hogging up the last roster spot. The last roster spot for a manager is a space that is reserved for prospect players or trades or what have you. It is absolutely instrumental in a manager's ability to control a baseball team. Now we have two years left on Uggla's contract, which means that time would have been the amount on the roster and hogging up space. If you "designate for assignment" that player, that means you can lose even more money in that process. and you could still not get the roster spot back.

25 men. That's the limit. The Braves bullpen is having issues and the bats are not consistently hot. That means that we have to start experimenting on our roster and I think that is worth the $14 million over 2 years to the Braves organization. These kind of things are not up to the players or the fans. Bite the bullet, cut Dan, make the playoffs.

This article is a good read if you want further explanation. It's by Atlanta sports AJC writer Mark Bradley.


--by Levi Warner

Faster streaming for Netflix at a heavy cost.

There's been a pretty high amount of uproar over the new net neutrality rules proposed by the FCC. If you haven't heard, the part that people care about is a little clause that would allow streaming services to strike deals with internet providers that would increase the speed at which content is streamed. So in the very near future, Netflix will be able to negotiate the speed at which it streams content.

Courtesy: Matt Perreault (CC)

It's already looking like they have a deal with AT&T. Today, they made a deal with Verizon as well.

I smell a little blood in the water. The changes are apparently coming because of a federal appeals court ruling that was filed by Verizon. That is immediately suspicious. It's like when Henry VIII threw the Catholic church out of England, just so he could divorce his wife and marry Anne Boleyn.

While speeds are increasing for Verizon internet users, it might be that Netflix intends to slow down other connections. Forcing expensive contracts with providers that drive up prices for internet service in general.

Obviously, this is bad for the common man. I pay enough for internet as it is. So, uh, I guess you should write a mean letter to your local congressman. In the meantime, I'll keep my eye on those two conniving hooligans.

###

-By: Levi Warner-

Southwest Airlines changes in-flight tv screens.

I'm sure you've seen the T.V. commercial by now but I decided to delve more into the program that Southwest Airlines is instituting for their flights. A select number of high traffic flights now have planes that have no T.V. screens in the seats or overhead. Instead, it has been replaced with a downloadable app That allows TV to be streamed through your mobile or tablet device.

Courtesy: Southwest Airlines Co. (CC)

The service allows you to choose live TV or up to 75 shows through the on-demand service provided by Dish Network. The app also shows flight tracking and games throughout the duration of the flight. The app is free to download and the service in-flight is free. Internet and games however cost extra but this is no change from usual policies.

Last year, the FAA changed restrictions on electronic devices so that anything not emitting a cell signal may be used for the duration of the flight. Southwest has taken advantage of this, since removing the screens normally used in flight saves several hundred pounds in fuel costs and generally makes the aircraft lighter. (My major used to be Aerospace, you know)

Fret not if you don't have an iPad or smartphone. The airline is also providing a rental service that allows you to check out an iPad 2 if you provide a credit card. They are also now giving away iPad mini's to anyone who signs up for the Dish Hopper program. It's DVR TV service combined with a frequent flyer program that will set you back about $30 bucks a month.

With Southwest recently expanding to the East coast and a major hub in Atlanta, it's likely that you'll be using the service soon. Feel free to leave comments below.

###

-By: Levi Warner-

Twitter catches up to photo sharing standard

I have always been a fan of Twitter and have made that very well known in my previous posts. In the initial stages Twitter did not attempt to take social media ideas from other popular sites like Facebook or Instagram. Instead, those sites adopted hashtags. However recently, Twitter took a few concessions and finally folded to the strengths of those sites.

Screenshot from mobile app.
Courtesy- Levi Warner (CC)

Twitter added the ability to tag other users in photos posted on the service. It is important to note that these tags do not count against the already brief 140 character limit. Up to 10 users can be tagged in a single photo and the service is going to add a feature that creates a 4-photo collage. You may recognize tagging as a Facebook innovation and the collage feature is one of the most popular functions on Instagram.

I think it's great that Twitter added these functions but I don't think I'll find them very useful. I only post photos on Twitter of immediate situations that I find humorous. I personally share photos such as my frozen pool photo or the time a semi got stuck on a side street near my house. Never group photos. I see the new features going unused in the foreseeable future.

###

-By: Levi Warner-

There's more than simple math behind the success of Pandora.

The Pandora music streaming service has been the most popular online music service since it was created by a musician in 2000. Tim Westergren created what was then known as the "Music Genome Project" as a side project to link music to certain styles much like certain DNA strands correllate to human traits. (Thus the name).

The original style of Pandora Radio
Courtesy: Joe Goldberg, (CC)

Pandora claims to use an algorithm to produce tags associated with your favorite music. You enter a band, artist or song, then Pandora churns out a series of "random" songs that fit that certain type. The algorithm is a facade as it turns out there is a team of musicians working together to produce the tags that are associated with each individual song.

Tim Westergren
Courtesy: David Shankbone (CC)

When you enter a search item, the tags associated with it build a playlist made up of the same types of music. The application also throws in random music to see if the station can guide itself a little closer to your tastes. If you click "like" on a random song, it will then add that type of music to your permutation and those types of songs will appear.

Westergren claims that it is the human element to the technology that allows it to thrive. Pandora went public in June 2011 and has thrived in the stock market ever since. Many automakers have now actually added Pandora service to their automobile radios.

-By: Levi Warner-

###