Tretakoff Musings

I don't like baseball; most folks who know me find that out. But today, I read this story on ESPN about the Boston Red Sox's David Ortiz allegedly testing positive for performance enhancing drugs, and how it might taint his legacy as a star. I won't go into the whole reason I think this is crap, but I was struck by his statement: "Today I was informed by a reporter that I was on the 2003 list of MLB players to test positive for performance-enhancing substances. This happened right before our game, and the news blindsided me. "I want to talk about this situation and I will as soon as I have more answers. In the meantime I want to let you know how I am approaching this situation. One, I have already contacted the Players Association to confirm if this report is true. I have just been told that the report is true. Based on the way I have lived my life, I am surprised to learn I tested positive. "Two, I will find out what I tested positive for. And, three, base...

A cautionary tale today about the near addictive and ubiquitous presence of Twitter . See, many folks use Twitter almost exclusively on their phone. For instance, some folks only interact with Twitter via text (SMS) messages, rather than dedicated clients or the like. As a result, many people blur the line between using Twitter as most folks do (as a one-to-many communications tool) and using it as just another form of text messaging. Normally, this is perplexing at worst, but sometimes, it can be downright problematical. Case in point: today, Anthony Sullivan , the "pitchman" of the Discovery Channel show of the same name (with recently departed Billy Mays), was twittering away. Obviously, without thinking, he accidentally published his cell phone number on Twitter (see right). OUCH. Now, I've blacked out the actual number, but in looking at the Twitterverse, people are already calling and texting him. Imagine you are an inventor, looking to get a hold of a legendary pit...

Every day, I ride the ferry from Marin to San Francisco. Frequently accompanying me is my friend and coworker, Charles. We often take inspiration in the Bay air and beautiful scenery and come up with what we call "The Million Dollar Idea of the Day." I've been coming up with these since I was a kid, and I vow to someday make good on one, but for now, I am content to share them with the world...and you, gentle reader. :-) Today's was inspired by a recent concert I attended . I hadn't been to a live orchestral performance in some time, and I was surprised and shocked to see two cellists experiencing what I can only consider to be challenges of the trade. Both were sharing a single music stand and the sheet music on it; when the piece they were playing came to the end of the page, one stopped playing and reached out to turn the page. When he picked up his bow again, he was lost as to where in the piece he was. The other cellist stopped playing, and, with his bow, ind...

The latest example of the poor quality of the media is on display today from the state I was born in, Massachusetts. In this article , we get the headline: " Mass. man scrambles to repay Tom Brady " In 1963, the USPS changed all states to have 2 letter designations ; Massachusetts went from "Mass." to "MA". Nearly 50 years later, we still see this ancient designation used. Why? If the headline said "MA" instead of "Mass." would there be any less understanding or interest? Do you see North Dakotoans bandying about "N. Dak." instead of "ND?" C'mon, reporters...you probably weren't even alive when this change was made. Show your maturity, not your laziness.

GameTap , an online videogame service, recently emailed me with the subject line you see to the left, "Wow! Some Serious Guns!" Open up the email, and what do you see? Lara Croft, in all her tightly clad, barely contained glory. That's it. Yes, get the crude reference here. I am anything but a prude, but I expect tactics like this from spammers sending fake Viagra ads or Nigerian bankers. A real company people pay real money to? Please. Grow up, kiddies; I have to think that anyone with such childish sensibilities should probably not have access to my credit card account. Thanks; no business coming your way from me!