Random Thoughts

• If Global Warming is such a "fact," why is most of the country seeing such unseasonable weather? Ask the people in upstate New York, who are looking at records of 100 inches of snow this year, if they are seeing global warming? Check out Michael Crichton's State Of Fear for a good perspective on this (and one of Crichton's better books after a loooong string of bad ones).
  
  
• This year's SuperBowl was the 2nd most watched one, ever. WHY??? Two teams that failed to capture the country's imagination, in a rainy, sloppy, mistake-filled event with some of the worst commercials in years? Hell, if it was not for the good company (Lani and Pauline), and good food, I'd have switched to playing Madden.
  
  
• After CES and Apple's iPhone, I think the gadget explosion has palpably subsided. It's eerie to see sites like Engadget and Digg so focused on other topics.
  
  
• The San Francisco Chronicle has amazingly improved. When I first moved here, it was the most execrable waste of newsprint that I had ever seen. In the last 2-3 years, it's really rededicated itself to reporting, rather than reprinting AP stories. And SFGate remains a tremendous asset. I read it on Plucker every day.
  
  
• Documentaries can be a hit or miss thing. Take Who Killed The Electric Car, and you'll get an amazing tale and good old fashioned rabblerousing. Terrorstorm, on the other hand, is proving to be a slog, with fancy graphics trying to distract you from sketchy facts and plain unwatchability, which is a shame for such an important subject.
  
  
• Music is completely overlooked by me, way too often. It's ability to blend with key memories and moments, and help me concentrate on tough projects is always forgotten. With Pandora, Last.fm, and iTunes, there is really no excuse for this. I've rediscovered the medium, and I need to make it an "always-on" part of my day.
  
  
• The Cowboys hired Wade Phillips as their coach. Given the state of the defense, it's a smart hire, but the odds of this Texan making his mark on America's Team are long. Still, shows a commitment to a more fundamental approach, rather than handing a young rising star the reigns. When Jerry Jones hired Jason Garrett, their former longtime backup quarterback, as a coach in an "unspecified role," I thought we were in for another Chan Gailey. Instead, he avoided the splash he looked for with Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer, Chan Gailey and Bil Parcells. Let's just hope we don't have another Dave Campo.
  
  
• The Nintendo Wii has won the console debuts this Xmas, with the Xbox 360 staying in a solid leader position, and Sony's uber-stein PS3 quickly looking like a disaster. Even the biggest videogame maker in the world has admitted it failed to realize the Wii potential, and lost 15% of it's value and lost ground to Ubisoft. Why? My opinion: women. I've never seen women so excited about videogames before. The Wii's innovative interactive approach trumps polygons every time.
  
  
• What the heck is the point of employment references? Businesses are too afraid to say anything except confirm dates of employment. And personal references are guaranteed to only say good things. Why else would the applicant suggest them? Me, I like LinkedIn: you get to see feedback from contacts and team members.

See what happens with my brain? Scary.