Thursday

It Is Kind of Odd How Technology Both Enslaves Us and Sets Us Free

To me, it seems that the technological revolution enslaves us and provides us with more freedoms at the same time.  I realize that is perhaps an odd thought, but...

Part 1: Technology Sets Us Free

Increases Our Freedom

We have so many more choices now...We can surf the Web (and millions of websites), play video games, watch movies, etc.

Chains - Courtesy of Microsoft Office
We are no longer connected to a certain personality or environment/cutlure.  We can now choose to spend our time in a variety of different, virtual environments.  We can choose to be whoever we want to be in these virtual realms.  In a way, we have the chance to start over each time we enter a new virtual realm; we don't carry any "baggage" or past when we first sign-up to World of Warcraft, or a chatroom, or some other virtual place.

We are not connected to a place.  By that, I mean we don't have to be in a certain physical location to take part in things like watching movies, listening to music, etc.  We can do it anywhere and with almost any device (assuming it is electronic).

Time has lost its meaning...Oh, we still grow old, but we do not live in a linear environment anymore...Granted, that was partially true before the advent of the technology revolution, but it has become much more the case now.

We have much more control over our interactions with other people.  We can use traditional methods to talk, such as via mail, calling, talking in person; however, we can now talk by Internet, text, etc.  And we now have much more control over the time, place, environment, background, etc.

Some of us have, or will have, more freedom at work.  Growing numbers of people telecommute; they no longer have to travel to a physical location each day to work (or go to school).  The percentages will likely grow over the next few decades.


Friday

Dreaming of Fantasy Football: I Am Concerned about Bountygate and Brees' Contract Issues

Last year, most of my fantasy teams benefited from the fact that I had someone (and usually several someones) from the New Orleans' Saints on my roster.  Drew Brees, Darren Sproles, and Marques Colston (when healthy) were all fantasy football gold (Brees may have even been considered to be platinum).  Heck, even someone like Lance Moore or Pierre Thomas proved to be valuable on occasion.  Sometimes the only thing that slowed the Saints' offense down was the fact that they were so far ahead of their opponents.  

If everything had remained the same in the off-season, you could be assured that I would have been greedily filling my fantasy roster full of Saints' players like a little kid stuffing his mouth with candy.  However, now I'm not so sure I will even touch this team.  

The Saints have failed to reach a deal on a long-term contract with Drew Brees.  Instead, the team chose to place the franchise tag on him.  That worries me a lot for one of two reasons.  First (and worst), Brees might choose not to sign the franchise contract.  If he doesn't, he will likely hold-out if/until he receives a long-term contract.  That is not good news, as the offense is immediately downgraded by several levels if Brees does not play.  Chase Daniels is probably a great guy, and he might even be a very good quarterback; however, he is very likely not on par with Drew Brees (otherwise, he wouldn't be the back-up).  Second (and almost as scary as #1), Drew Brees signs the franchise tender.  Angry birds is a great game; I am not sure if I will enjoy watching angry Brees.  How will the quarterback play if he is a) still stewing about the club's decision not to sign him to a long-term deal and b) worried about an injury destroying his value as a free agent next year.  Again, if he signs the franchise tender, he may play brilliantly, and my concerns may be moot; however, right now, it is a cause for concern.

Secondly, how will the Saints play without their head coach and some other personnel?  I don't know, and that is bad.  I don't like going into a season not knowing how a team will respond to adversity, especially something like Bountygate which doesn't have any precedents.

I have a few months to think this one over; however, I get the odd feeling that I might be just as undecided about things then as I am now.



Author: Original uploader was Mrbrown at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Date: 2007-07-30 (original upload date)
Permission:  Released into the public domain (by the author).
Caption as provided by owner/author:  Picture of en:Tiger Stadium (LSU) at one of the New Orleans Saints games.

Saturday

Thoughts for the Week

I am too tired tonight (this morning) to write anything deep and meaningful, so some facile thoughts for tonight. :-)

1) I did it!  I changed the design on my blog.  What do you all think?  I opted for a nice, earthy background and strong, vibrant colors [but sorry Jax, no yellow ;)]....I might change it up again soon.  That was fun.

2) Spring is here!  Finally, spring has sprung...it was a balmy 75-80 degrees today.

3) My NCAA bracket has not only been busted, it has been demolished, though at least one of my upset picks, VCU did win.

4) What a game!  I watched the Lehigh v. Duke game on my computer, and it was a classic.  Too bad I picked Duke to win.

Photo courtesy of Microsoft Office.

Wednesday

Hurray for Wikimedia Commons!

I am probably the only blogger on here who didn't know about Wikimedia Commons.  I just recently learned that the site existed and am excited.  For anyone out there who doesn't know.  Per Wikimedia's site, it is "a media file repository making available public domain and freely-licensed educational media content."  It contains millions of files.  In short, I have access to a large database of free-to-use photos and art, so I no longer have to rely on Microsoft clip art or my own pictures (which are few and far between).  The only thing I will have to do in order to use these photos/art is to credit the author, list a copyright, and insert the caption that he/she posited on Wikimedia.  Again, I am sure that all of you already know this information, but I did not (and I am excited).  So, to celebrate, I have posted two of the Wikimedia photos that I really liked below (along with attribute/credits).  

Also, if you would like to visit Wikimedia Commons, click on this link: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page










 Description: Gewitterfront
Date July 10, 2004
Source http://photosforfree.de/
Author  Rolf van Melis (User:RvM)
Permission (Multi-license with GFDL and Creative Commons CC-BY 2.5) 







Description: asilomar
Author: Dan Bennett from Seattle, USA  http://www.flickr.com/people/38518750@N00
Date: June 19, 2009, 21:11 
License to use: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License (go here to learn more about Creative Commons' licenses: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons)