Should young guys be popping Viagras?

I had a friend who recently mentioned that he decided to pop a Viagra before date night with his girlfriend. It sounds like his first hour was enjoyable but eventually his sustained state created issues. If I understand correctly Viagra and Cialis improve your blood flow, hence allowing for improves circulation in some critical areas. However if you are younger than 40 and have no circulatory issues it's probabaly not a great idea! Needless to say my friend learned this lesson the hard way, pun intended.

Is this the new iphone 5?

This picture has hit in the internet claiming to be a case layout for the new yet to be release iPhone 5

It;'s showing a larger home button, most likely it will be a gesture area as opposed to the button that we are used to. This is typical fare for pre iphone releases. I doubt we will get as lucky and find an actual prototype left in a bar like last year. Time will tell of course.

People Still Frantic about Gold?

I remember earlier this year everyone was looking to sell gold that they might have lying around, any sort of scrap that they could find. There are tons of refineries that will now take your gold immediately and hand you cash. The question is how long will this gold craze go on for? Granted it goes without saying that gold will always have people wanting to buy it. They also are predicting that prices will be at an all time high this summer. I guess we will wait and see how high it goes. It's the tried and true method of making some quick cash.

Messi's Goals for Argentina?

We know that Lionel Messi is a prolific goalscorer but where have his goals gone lately? I've talked about this before how he just doesn't seem to play well in Argentina and it seems like even though he improved his performance during the 2nd half of Copa America it still wasn't enough to prevent Argentina from being eliminated, granted on penalties. I guess we will have to wait until the fall to see the messi goals we are used to.

What's the Deal with Groupon?

These days it seems like everyone is looking for the best groupon deals. However as successful as groupon has become, there are many more options now available in the market to choose from. To start with the basics, groupon offers steeply discounted items, usually one a day, and allows you to buy that item. Also the more of that item your friends buy or use your referral, the cheaper it becomes to you. It’s essentially the new social marketing at it’s strongest. So while groupon has gone public, there are many other places where you can find great deals like groupon. So with so many options out there where does one begin? Well there are many sites that have started to replicate the groupon phenomenon. For one, there is the big bad boy of the internet, google, taking a stab at it. They call it google offers, and it has started to spring up within the last few months. It’s essentially the same concept as groupon. What it really comes down to in my opinion is the strength of each of these companies with the vendors that they work with, and the value added that it has to each customer. If google consistently is able to get you better offers on movie tickets, and shopping, then google offers is the way to go. However, if you are more interested in tickets to shows and groupon has better deals, then it’s a no brainer. It comes down to what is more relevant to you. I’m sure as this concept evolves all of the companies that are doing this will have a lot more diverse options to choose from. This new market will be driven by us, the consumers. It’s no secret that all the big companies track what we do, and it will only be a matter of time before google comes up with another algorithm to figure out which deals we love to get steep discounts on the most. Some of it will be common sense things, some will be more surprising. But that’s the beauty of the net, we collectively as people, unrestricted by borders can let our clicks and dollars have some influence over what is put forth to us, the basic supply and demand of economics in a very pure and immediate form. So what do we do while google and the others like groupon figure this out? Well we shop of course! Oh and maybe pick up some google and groupon stock while you’re at it! Groupon just went public for almost 700 million plus dollars I think. It’s only going to get more crowded from here, but at the end of the day that’s good for us, the consumer!

Don’t forget to check out: http://www.groupondealfinder.com

Dark Knight Rises Trailer leaked

So during the new harry potter movie screening over the weekend it seems as if there was a teaser for the dark knight rises. No work yet on when they will officially release the trailer but there have been some bootleg versions floating around. Keep an eye on http://thedarkknightrises.com for an official trailer release from the studio.

Dammit Netflix!

Are they getting too greedy at netflix.com ? Well they just announced yesterday that they are breaking up their awesome $14 a month plan (unlimited streaming and one DVD/Blue Ray mail in), into 2 options. So if I want that combo it will now cost me almost $18! I have grown to love the streaming feature of Netflix and do find myself using the mail in DVD less and less. However this is purely contingent on content for me. There are still plenty of movies/tv shows in my queue that Netflix only have in the form of a mail in DVD. For me, the almost $20 isn't worth it. I will probably downgrade to their $10 a month streaming only feature. I think their success on this will be based on how aggressively they can beef up their online streaming content.

The Red Devils are in the States!

As a lifelong Manchester united fan it's great to see that this year the majority of the starting 11 squad has made the trip for their friendly games played all over the US. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to get  tickets for the games where I'm not paying an arm and a leg, after all these are Manchester united tickets! And they seem to have gotten more popular in the states since they started doing their tours maybe 5 years ago? I'm hoping to catch them in either DC against Barcelona (without Messi who will be at the Copa America), or perhaps at the new red bulls stadium in NJ.

First game kick off tomorrow night in Boston.Glory Glory United!

Cable TV or Satellite?

I have time Warner at the moment but get frustrated by their service and features. The natural route seems to be directtv but that leads to a whole new set of problems. First off finding a place to put a directtv dish in a manhattan apartment building can be super tricky. Plus directtv doesn't offer some premium channels that I would want like Howard stern tv on demand. I'm not quite sold on a pure hulu plus or apple tv solution yet. I just wish there was more diversity in cable in NYC. Time Warner seems to have everyone on lockdown!

Manhattanhenge is Back!

I got to kind of experience this last week while heading to see the 4th of July fireworks and it looks amazing. If you are in Manhattan today take a little time out and enjoy the sun aligning with the streets in an epic way!

It's Restuarant Week in NYC!

That's right, you can now partake in some very cool restaurants for barely the full cost of what it would normally cost you. One of the fun things about living in a big city is restaurant week, especially in a city like new york where there are some great options to choose from. It started today and goes thru July 24th.

I'm sure availability fills up fast but here's a link. They also allow advance booking which is probably a good idea given the demand.

http://www.nycgo.com/restaurantweek

Do I need a Debt Ceiling?

I've heard this term being thrown around a lot this week. Without doing any prior research on it it sounds appealing....I could definitely use a debt ceiling...I mean couldn't we all? Our credit cards tend to rule our lives so why not slap a ceiling on that bad boy and call it a day? For the record the debt ceiling in the context of the politics is the legal limit on borrowing by the government.

I actually think that part of the fix to the credit crisis that we all have been experiencing not only since the recession but just in general is that there should be a personal debt ceiling. Now granted there is one contingent on your credit history but somehow we always seem to figure out ways to get crazy credit limits without any repercussions.

I say each person should have a debt ceiling contingent on various factors, namely the common sense ones like verified income and credit rating.

The President's Tweet-Hall Meeting

I was just looking at some stats and while it was a noble attempt to undertake such an event...it seems like it was a FAIL. The president during his town hall last week got over 94,000 tweets, over 61,000 twitter questions and they only answered about 18 of them. Also the funny part is the most commonly tweeted question was about legalizing marijuana to create a new revenue stream and reduce overcrowding in jails lol.

Oh well.

In related Batman news....Lego Batman batcave!

One of my favorite tech blogs Gizmodo had this awesome gallery of Lego Batman in his Lego Batcave. Seems worthy of a repost since I just posted the new dark knight rises poster.

http://gizmodo.com/5820321/holy-batman-and-his-bloody-amazing-9000+brick-lego-batcave/

The Dark Knight Rises Poster!

Can't wait for this next summer! The poster looks pretty bad ass. I know there is a lotta hype around this one but Chris Nolan know's what he's doing. It's a shame he won't be doing these going forward after this one.

Argentina finally performs in a Copa America Game!

It had to be done. They are the hosts of the tournament; it's been 18 years since they have won any major competition; they have an embarrassing wealth of talent that they have still to capitalize on. Seems like the change in tactic paid off for coach Batista.

The home favorites are now through to the quarter finals, thanks to 2 Aguero goals, 1 Di Maria goal, and 2 Messi assists and abundant goal scoring opportunities created by Messi that Higuain couldn't capitalize on.

All goals for your viewing pleasure!

Aguero saves the day?

The first half of the Argentina vs costa rica match is over and it's definitely a much better showing. Messi seems to have a lot more room to do what he does; create goal scoring chances. Higuain's rustiness is definitely showing having missed some great chances. It took Maradona's son in law to give Argentina the lead in this win or be elimated game in the group stage. Messi also has been much better today from his set pieces.

Our favorite Baby Gorilla returns....briefly....

If you are an active howard stern listener you will know exactly who I'm referring to. He was great on the show for the past 10 years, granted we all kinda didn't want it to tend the way it did. You can google artie lange and see what I'm referring to. Howard has mentioned Artie vaguely in passing over the past year since the incident. This is the first we've heard from Artie directly on radio since it happened. Here's hoping he's back on the show to at least provide some closure to the audience and all the fans that are pulling for him.

http://www.siriusxm.com/howardweb/mp3/70702.mp3

Embarrasing Songs on your Playlist

We all are guilty of this... imagine if someone could actually look at the guilty pleasure songs that you secretly rock out to! Well this is one feature of spotify that I mentioned in a earlier post today. However, one app called last.fm that provides pandora-esque features actually allows you to purge your list of recently listed tunes. So what does last.fm do? They post the list of the most commonly deleted songs of course! I will admit I'm guilty of at least a few of these myself!

Check out the list here:

http://playground.last.fm/unwanted

BlogPress App

Playing around with the BlogPress app and it seems pretty cool so far. I guess it all depends on how fancy I want to get with my blogging.

In related news the battery of my iPhone is slowly starting to suck. I'm ready for the new model apple!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Update: The app kinda failed on me when I tried to upload a screenshot of my battery drain. Guess I retract my initial positive leaning review.

If you want to name your Kid Seven...

You better be able to do things like this on a regular basis...




Otherwise you are not allowed!

For the record I think he's an overrated player, but a genius marketing machine.

The Magic of Messi??

There is no debate about him being probably the best footballer (soccer player) in the world right now but why is it that he constantly fails to perform for his nation? When you look at the wealth of talent Argentina have at their disposal, you can only blame the lack of playing according to Messi for so long I think. I think it's more that Argentina is really just his country in name, and it's not a place where he really feels at home or comfortable playing.



That added with the pressure and expectation leading up to tonight's Copa America game could explain this free kick from the previous game:



Him just missing a pass:




As compared to what we are used to seeing from him:





Apparently they are going to play a formation more catered to Messi tonight...lets see if that's something the Argentina fan's will accept as an excuse if they loose at home and potentially get knocked out of the Cup. Not to mention will we remember him as the greatest if he doesn't perform for his country at a level that we are used to see him for his club?

If you have Netflix...

Do yourself a favor and catch up on "Breaking Bad". Probably one of the best shows on TV right now, the dad from Malcolm in the Middle is amazing as the lead in this show about a high school science teacher turn meth cooker/distributer. The 4th season starts this sunday. Just watch the first episode, that's all I ask, and see if it doesn't hook you.

Why Spotify will be Awesome

If you haven't heard the buzz on the interweb Spotify is a Swedish? company that allows you to stream any music they have for free. Think Pandora but you can create a playlist of specific songs that Spotify has the rights to. They also have a paid version that will allow you to stream on mobile devices. So far this seems like a worthy competitor to iCloud, although with iCloud it seems like you will be able to launder your illegally downloaded music. If you haven't already google Spotify and sign up for a free invite!

Lets go to the video....

In case you are wondering about the dome... youtube for the save:

Why summer is overrated....

The grass is always greener when you are buried in snow and you look forward to the oh so coveted summer months. Now we are knee deep in summer, and everyone forgets the sticky humid train wreck summer actually is. Why do we torture ourselves with this every year? I for one am advocating for a dome that covers our city during the summer months and keeps us at at cool 72 degrees year round, like they did in the simpsons movie.