S2ML: Nas - Stillmatic intro - Stillmatic

"I crawled up out of that grave, wipin' the dirt, cleanin' my shirt...
They thought I'd make another illmatic
But it's always forward, I'm movin'..."


So soulful, even the intro saying blood of a slave, heart of a king. At that time I was going through a lot, I was taking and recovering against some heavy losses, and I needed some music to fill the void, but this is a great song to start your day with [good or bad]

- Posted from my iPad

Soundtrack 2 My Life

I've also decided to post my 500 songs for my 30 for 30, and my top 100 albums. Some reviews will be deep, some will be short, it's interesting but I've decided on it, oh until my 30 for 30 NOTHING IS IN ANY ORDER


- Posted from my iPad

30 for 30

I've decided to do my own 30 for 30. For you who don't know, ESPN. They did their top 30 stories, and I've decided to do my own from ages 18-30, along with my top 100 people.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Ipad Vs The World: The war on the front of medium media devices

Internet Tablet * Internet appliance * Mobile Internet device * Tablet computer * Tablet Personal Computer - Whatever you call it, its the new battle frontier. Actually, like the smart phone battlefield, was once cornered by someone who didn't take it seriously, and due to one issue [customer service] Apple may run in, with a below-super standards device, but still win because of their customer service.


I first bought a Nokia tablet (N800) in 2006 because I found the ebook version of all my books in college, and I needed something smaller and cheaper than a laptop to read it on. Sadly enough, this $145 device was cheaper than the $350 a semester books I had.



But before we look at the state of the runners, let me give you a small history:

The purpose of these devices:

Larger than a cellphone - but smaller than a laptop
Internet radio, Mobile Skype, Web cam
Allows for ebooks to be written or read [2006 beyond]
Slider design: Touch screen, with a slider keyboard.

This was standard for my 2006 Nokia Tablet, now in 2010, once again there is a "king" that will be de-throned due to Apple's custom service - Archos. Now to give a brief history of Archos:

French company (lol no offense but its neither U.S. or Asia)
Been around since late 80's/ Early 90's.
They specialize in all devices of this range, [Personal, Netbooks, Laptops, internet tablet]

Lets talk about the standards: (Which was started by Acrchos)

Large [20gb or more] storage [biggest is 320gb for Archos]
TV tuner, [allows internet viewing, and regular-recording]
FM Radio
Bluetooth


Oh, if you were wondering the flaws of Archos, they have weak non-exchangeable batteries. They will burn out, and then you'll be shipping to France. Even though its free under warranty, it's still about 6-8 weeks on average, but I've read some horror triple-ship stories. That's what kept me away as I'm a warranty shopper.

(Don't label me as a fan boy, I just feel that if you had those abilities since 2006, and the Ipad can't meet over half of those standard devices, you earned the King title.)

But the ultimate purpose is to allow you to do the most productive things with the smallest space, because carrying a laptop is cumbersome, and also the battery life is always weak until the recent years.

The major flaws of these devices is battery life. Even I, a iphone owner, carry a pocket charger and I have now accepted a second battery or portable charger as mandatory for any and all portable devices I carry.

Now to bring it closer, there was a netbook boom a couple of years ago, which caused a threat to the smaller devices, till they bumped their prices up to about $50 cheaper than a laptop.

The Ipad, which rivals most mid to high priced laptops, has a few things going for it.
Besides being a "large" ipod,
Better resolution of movies
there are the apps [which pricing is a heavy issue.]

The most attractive (well to me) feature, which also allows you to make money with the device, is the ability to wirelessly sync to DSLR Cameras. Now, how does that help? Well as a photographer, its annoying to go take photos and not have a large screen to preview it on when you leave home. You can now do a photo shoot, and show your client your shots on the Ipad right after each shot in a less painful way vs a laptop.


Now, like every company that has a mega powerhouse, they have 0 customer service. Almost everyone will agree, the ability to go to a store and get a new device after yours malfunctions is almost a win/win cause its painless. But yet, no one invests in this idea except Apple.

Rim, HTC and a few others are looking to rush into this frontier, to stop apple from cornering the market. If they take a hint from Archos, allow for exchangeable batteries, and better customer service they'll do fine, if not then nothing will stop the apple machine.

What Red Dead Redemption Says About Rockstar

Rockstars' latest offering to the sandbox genre, Red Dead Redemption was a huge hit, and more importantly it reinforced their status as number 1. After 23 hours I'm still nowhere near finishing the game but here are a couple of strong points they you can see even prior to finishing the game:


1) John Marston - the first "killer with a conscience." From Claude to Niko Bellic, Rockstar has centered their games around characters who are forced to break the law, although the player can do so with consequence. The two most loved GTA leading characters, are Carl "CJ" Johnson & Niko Belic. But, John Marston, is a retired outlaw, during the most lawless time in American history, wanting to limit the bloodshed, and do little to nothing beyond whatever the current mission. [Niko was a close second to him]

2) They can create a living world, despite whatever limits of size there are - The no.2 complaint of any GTA title is how small the world is, and how each area looks the same save if a faction is hostile towards you. In Redemption, the distances between cities are massive with surprises in between. Also the wildlife varies in number and aggression levels giving each area a unique feel.



The fact that they took so much time and effort is nothing short of amazing and I can't wait to see how this ends.




--From the Iphone

My goal for 2010

Yes! My goal for 2010 is a photo college. A deep one as well but let me get rid of those who'll try to get smart off hand.

First off, I know I can simply go to a photo program or grab a camera, and honestly I feel he had a good oppertunity to make a college of every stage of his career in one sitting but he decided to do it his way..and thus I digress.

But the pic is more of a promise to myself to be able to have a collection of photos that draw emotion when I reflect back on 2010. I want them to be solo unless it's really powerful....so here goes...

On a random note. The title means something..more on that later

--From the Iphone

Excuses vs Reasons Aka Lost Vs Failures

What's the difference?

Probally one of the thinnest lines in our exsistance, is excuses vs reason. I decided to write this post after an argument which ended in everything I said as an excuse, which wasn't the case but of course it hurts more to assume the later of the choices.

Now, for the bases..what's the difference? Well, the difference is weither or not you accept whatever has happened and do nothing to change it. Like in sports, if you try your hardest, you lost - but if you don't try then you gave up. Or another way is a lost is out of your control, and to give up is only in your control.

Now to bring it back, remember that with no actions then it looks like excuses, and if you change and they still continue to bring up the past then things just went to a different point and place in time.


--From the Iphone

To Take Shots At the King (Cellphone)

Lol I'm NOT a fanboy, but I am aggressive with my phone use, (Twitter,blog,email,MMS,etc) so I know I need a phone that can addhress these issues/concerns

A couple of things other phones need to do to de-thrown the Iphone.

First off, yes I'm a iPhone fan, I've been on board since the 2g. It changed my world forever when it came to phones in a number of ways, and set the standards but you know that.

Two of the biggest things Apple has over the competition is one, it supports it's own community. They update aggresive and usually addhress major issues quickly AND for the most part, correctly. Intact, when I used to call Applecare, I usually got a pair of headphones or a case for my troubles.

No.2: Better accessories. I have a powerful pocket charger. Now I know duracell and a few other companies offer them, but I've seen them and they are clunkish. If needed I can fully recharge my phone from dead, or charge my phone - while on it- from 20% to 100 and still have some extra juice. Plus the charger is small and compact, so if you got a moment you can recharge vs those people who walk around with a charger or sit in the far for an hour.

To bring things back on track, a pocket charger is a useful tool. The iPhone has many accessories that you need (they have a case that can charge your phone..but I didn't try it out..) So, let's see what the future holds for these phones.




--From the Iphone

State of the Phone Union Part 2

Iphone 4 drops; moves 3 or 4 million units and issues arise.

First things first: We all know Apple's not gonna match Droid or anyone else with their arms race, so in a battle of fan boys they can say their phone is 3 to 4 times more powerful or stronger than the iphone, but do not count apple out just yet:

Let's begin in the innovation department:

Mobile Video chat. A few years ago, LG came out with a phone on AT&T that allowed for video chat. The interesting part is that it wasn't a half-assed job, it only needed a few tweaks, but don't forget that the phone wasn't a smart-phone it was a consumer - level- I hope high school kids soak it up- type of phone. But the problem is that LG STOPPED developing the idea. So about 2 years ago, there is a mobile web-cam site, for iphone [and later droid] phones. Fast forward to 2010. Now many phones have dual cameras. Which means mobile web chat is a strong reality.

How everyone stacks up:

Blackberry: None, in fact they don't have any new phones, other than the pearl 3g. The pearl was a good look as women found the other blackberry's to be a bit bulky, and since all they did was repackage the pearl and make it faster. Their whole goal is to move units while everyone else fights on the world front. Honestly, it'll buy them maybe one or two years but soon they'll be in last place.

Iphone 4: Facetime. The fact that it's wifi only, means that its friendly to the jailbreak community, [yay!] the fact that it's iphone 4 only is ok, as they move about 10 million units a year so you'll have a multitude of friends to chat with soon. Facetime also cancels out the older iphones because who wants a phone that can't chat. The fact that its iphone to iphone is just a shot at BBM, the only "king" of the cell phone wars.

Droid: Skype + some other unknown app. They matched [and upped] some of the dual camera's on their phones. The first thing they said was Skype. Now Skype is major, but they missed the whole purpose of Facetime. Yes, the fact that you can hit someone up on their phone from your main system is great, [at press time, no word if Iphone can't do the same, but it is assumed that it will given the nature of their jailbreak community]But, Droid has no droid only features, in fact the particular manufacturer is the only unique thing about the droid OS. [MotoBlur for example]

Palm: Nothing new so far, everyone else pretty much stole their multi app idea, and motoblur also stole their multi network updates. The only big thing they did was move from Sprint to Verizon.

Windows Mobile: The jury's still out as windows 7 mobile hasn't been released yet...

My choice: I'm still on the fence. Over the past few months I've switched phones and had a chance to play with 3 of the major systems.
- Blackberry lacks personal applications, plus almost all their phones [save the storm] have below average sized screens so watching movies is close to useless.
- Droid is buggy, and since not too many droid phones are getting updates, there are a lot of buggy phones out there [ to date, I've had 4 motorola cliqs] Plus something I've noticed is almost every droid user has almost the same applications.
- Windows Mobile. Hadn't had a chance to truly program the phone but I will soon.

Verdict: I'm on the fence, I'm leaning towards iphone 4, but it depends on what droid and windows mobile have to offer. This is certainly a hot summer.

State of the Phone Union Part 1

Now before Fall Out Boy begins to chime in, lets cover the bases:

I am a smart phone fanatic, it started way back in high school, I had the original Palm Treo, [it was a hand-me-down but soo...] Soon it grew to the first few generations of HTC's, and even the Samsung blackjack. I had quite a few blackberry's in my day. [I remember when Sprint/blackberry required a business licence for service.] Fast forward to 2010:

The smartphone market is every changing, every growing but you know that.

By the numbers:

Blackberry is the king, strong numbers, since the 90's. Not to mention when they first went "public" that made them hotter. Plus with partnerships with smaller cell carriers, they "bully" lower model cellphones.

Palm has been in the game the longest - but the only innovation they bring is a multiple application OS, which fails due to sub-par battery life.

Iphone is the bully on the block.

Droid is the next "rising" thing but it's motto is "Everything Iphone isn't I am..." pretty poor choice of words but smart.

Nokia usually has high level phones, but no carrier picks them up so they are too expensive for the casual user
HTC is playing two sides of the phone race, still using Windows Mobile, and also Droid.

Samsung is........there, 8 mp camera but lacking everywhere else.

Now, to rearrange that data into what the average Joe on up will care about:

Apple's philosophy is squeezing the most out of the least amount of power. Beautiful all things considered, plus the rest of the mobile world revolves around the keynote schedule.

Droid is flooding the market with multiple phones, from lower in [Motorola Cliq/ Samsung Behold 2] to the Big Arms [Droid,EVO] which means they should put a phone in twice as many people as any other Operation System.

Windows Mobile, [yes gasp!] Came back strong, plus the world is anticipating Windows 7 Mobile.

Blackberry, only really had one major innovation, the Storm. The fact that they picked smaller cell phone providers, while slightly upgrading current models explains why they have no over the top announcements, on the business side, smart. On the other side not flashy.

[Now...Chime Fall Out Boy]

If you can - Do

The problem with doing is you loose self...and after a while you wonder if you're using others pain and road to recovery.

I will simply reply with No.

One of the biggest things i hate is ongoing issues when the last motion was on me, and my heart falls into that category.

One of the biggest problems with the energy i bring into the room is that my own needs are left unchecked.

But as a former mentor told me, to be able to fully help others you sacrifice so much of yourself. I could lash out like i do from time to time at those who i emotionally help build up, simply because they are can not or will not help me.

I do lash out from time to time, but its usually for one of two reasons: A i am really upset with you but for some reason we arent addressing the issue or B - youre taking and taking

The key thing is you ALLOW such acts to transpire against you... so maybe i care too much.

Posted via the Moto

A glance at being nervous..my way

A poll was conducted a few years ago about public speaking. The results were many people put giving a speech infront of a crowded room scares them more than desth. That means a number of things, but one major thing is how being nervous can and will grow into something bigger.

For me, i love that feeling. i once said that "being nervous is the devil trying to convince you to give up." I feel like whatever odds that are at stake dont matter and arent  major until i get that rush.

I love it, honestly i get nervous when i dont get nervous - as random as that sounds it makes perfect sense. I ride that rush to do whatever I started out doing.

Posted via the Moto

Seagrams pursuit... [part 1]

February 23, 2010, weeks of workshops all boil down to one night. In a crowed hotel room near the heart of Atlanta, many people gather, and a lot of things comes to light. For me, it was seeing the families of the 9 other guys I had gotten to know over the course of a few weeks. Now, before we look at this day lets go back to day one.

It starts with a rainy day in December. Now I have a theory about random things when you have something important to do.. that theory is that the more something is destined for you, the more the odds will be against you. Now, that is very open to interpretation, because due to the signs being against you doing something stupid or foolish..but I am referring to the positive so..

First off, before any major interview I go to my favorite barber and get a cut THAT day (if possible) I also give myself a nice shave, well I go to my barber and he’s closed..so I try to go to his house [he told me to] but the rain picks up nasty I opt to go to the interview. I arrive 10 mins early, but about 20 minutes before another person arrives (ahhh CPT..) I’m no. 3 on the list.

In the room, in my 3 piece with a nice thick shaved beard (I joke and say I am on my way to audition for a remake of planet of the apes while looking in the mirror. ((On a random note..I got a chicks number with that line that same day!...I digress)) The first two guys go ahead of me, and more come in. I am not the worse of the bunch…but I’m not in the upper tier like I want to be. So I prepare to be interviewed and the odds are clear, out of the 100 plus that showed, only 10 will make it, and I want to be in that 10.

On the phone, l was getting me some form of good words, though I was still nervous. (*) The interesting thing is that they sent last year’s winner to sort of poll the people in the room, I don’t fall for it..while some of the other guys flock over begging for hints. As my name is called I smile and “chuck the deuces” while walking into the hallway. My mentor, who has recommend me every step of the way reminds me that I have a mini fro, and a full beard, but I can still do it, and half of those dudes in the room can’t equal up to half of what I can do. I simply smile before getting rushed into the board room.

Out of the 19 seated, including 4 celebrities and the 4 core people I have to impress, they ask me about my life up until this point. About my resume [Which includes my business I had just started, but to get a lot of nods. I stuck to the script when it comes to interviews. “Don’t answer in less than 3 word answers, control your hand movements, scan the room for eye contact, keep jokes at a minimum and safe …blah blah blah you know” Then I leave.

My first trip is to the rest room, honestly, I wish I could see their score cards of my interview..I give myself a score of 89 but… So after that I leave and have a chance to chat with the guy that interviewed after me, after a quick conversation I find out that he came from Louisiana to be with his girl. This sticks out to me because its rare that stories of love exists like this, and how at the time I would’ve became him (well partially for that matter) the interesting thing was the other 9 guys that they picked.

the future is coming

This is a very deep and interesting photo to me.

For starters, its Norman Osburn digging his hands into the back of Tony Stark inthe old iron man armor. Norman is the "future" and Tony is the "past"

How that relates to the world of the living is really interesting, as the future is being built on the back of the past. This photo is a vivid example of said idea. It makes you think who will come out next on our backs.

Posted via the Moto

Lasting impact

The past is always a very interesting thing. Next to karma and the truth, life is almost never dull. The past is the fairest of the three things i mentioned, and like the recent surge of earth-friendly ways, you have to watch your footstep, weither its carbon, emotional spiritual or otherwise. This is too much SLM sooo lets get on to the story.

I had a visit from the past, an ex (oh the joy) - now my current dating trend for some reason or another is women who want real love but doesnt appreciate it until its too late. That vs the usual pr average man walking is heaven and earth but just follow me. Its been a little over 3 years and not much has changed,

Posted via the Moto

The Soundtrack to my life....808's & Heartbreaks

Kanye West 808 and Heartbreaks

One of two really comprehensive rap albums that speak to me (young black man) about one of the biggest horrors one can endure: the death of your mother

To just give background, I come from a single parent home, but I'm last of the "it takes a village" era of children. Meaning I had aunts, grandfather, cousins and uncle who actually have morals and values vs cussing and getting drunk.

Growing up there were 3 great feelings: Victory (mainly in sports), two was being fresh (unfortunately its the only thing people glorify now) & three, the most important was being acknowledged by your parents (for me, mother) for winning. (Even though you still get love for loosing but....)

The death of my mother was the center of my world, its as if the sun burned out..and life just continues. Its only two rap artists, (it may be more but bare with me) that the deaths of their mother carried over into their music. The first, is one of my favorite rapper, Nas. His album Godson...we'll talk on that later.

But Mr.West, the entire process of his social destruction, his album, and everything that followed with the parts of his personal life that came to the light....was me.



I know I probably will never be able to thank him personally but maaaan....you have no idea. The more interesting thing about this album, much like Nas's God Son album, it doesn't make sense until you go through it. If you look up the most influential artists in history, someone came out with an album which was very emotional, it goes down as one of the most impressive albums recorded (he recorded it while looking at the person who the album was about) if you know then that's cool, but if you have no clue the artist was Marvin Gaye, the album was Here My Dear, it was to pay for his divorce. Well halfway through recording the album it got really emotional. At first, it made no sense to some, but some 10 - 20 plus years later its a classic.

To bring it back, some of the biggest problems I face is not what I've done, but what I haven't done and what I can't do.....Which makes "Street Lights" my favorite song. Its honest, apologetic, hopeful among so many emotions all in one song. The first verse, "Let me know..do I still got time to grow...things ain't always set in stone.." Its so honest and set in a different tone, much like a son would ask a mother. If I'm over your head, in some ways good, that means you haven't went through the pain in the song.

Its been said, its not about how you live, but what can you live with (yourself having done) and I'll admit that its a lot of things I haven't done that will be bittersweet when I do them cause I can't say mom..and when I get married and start a family, hearing my kids call my wife "mom" will sting a great deal as well but like all things in life bring them on..that's the only way to get over them

The Day I don't want to exsist

You ever had a day you wish you could skip?
I know, before you raise your hand if it isn't already high, I mean on a serious level? Well..this is my day

Mothers day, on the surface, another day to go spend an insane amount of money to show love and affection....

To even say that much hurts beyond words. The usual pain of looking at the ignorant holding what you held so dear is a mix of frustrating and pain, but like I did 3 years ago I realized that nothing changes, nobody cares and its still stuff to do. I'll go deeper into that.

The way I take to go visit her grave is longer than you would, a mile up and a mile back. Whats interesting is that the cemetery is super busy, vs the usual just a couple of people. I know I can't judge how one deals with ones pain, but I mean I still find time...yeah my bad.

But I'm still kicking...more in depth soon..these are random thoughts and I'll go deeper

Demo is working

Demo site is up! More professional and I love it! That makes the process of finishing a site easier cause you can see what happens and see the changes; and I got a showcase this weekend...wish me luck!


-- Life from Life!

Pilote Group - Movement in motion!

After numerous setbacks everything is finally moving!! Its been majorly due to my part, well that and my iphone being down so I'm sorry! But today is a new day, new era, and now things will look more presentable!! Oh FYI Pilote Group is a disaster relief group..more on them later!!!!!! You'll love them, I believe in them and that's why I'm making them my top priority...more to come..promise

From the Ashes

Wow, what a way to begin the year! What a major way...my iPhone had to be reset, and I found out how bad procrastination hurts! A few posts lost, but more will be gained! I guess I should start by introducing myself in a later post. Plus a brief on my 2009/2010 outlook! It's major!! Welcome to my little part of the world!


-- Post From My iPhone