The 1st Annual Abney Gold Cup

So to make no bones about it, I am a bourbon connoisseur.  Hailing from the State of KY you are expected to know three things: Basketball, Horses, & Bourbon.  In order to not let my state down I embarked on the 1st annual Abney Gold Cup Bourbon Challenge.  All contenders on this list are of bourbon products that I frequently enjoy, but have never individually compared.  Sure you may consider this a convenience sample, but when you're a broke Ph.D. student, the ability to dissect every bourbon is limited.

Testing Methods:  In order to test the individual bourbons, in between samples I snacked on cheese and spring water in order to cleanse my palette.  In total 9 different bourbons were sampled for this study.

First off on the list...Good Ole Buffalo Trace

Price: about $25
Color: Light Amber
Nose: Great smell....reminds me of the "Angel's Share" in the bourbon warehouses, nice hint of vanilla, caramel, and oak
Taste: Very sweet, some maple and vanilla lead the way then hint of the oak
Finish: Nice finish.  Warm, but no burn and nice fade out.
Overall: Def a contender and a great bargain for the price.

Next up....Jim Beam Black.

Price: about $23
Color: light amber
Nose: Sweet, very sweet. can detect honey subtle hints of spice
Taste: Honey, spice, and some rye added in
Finish: Warm finish can first feel the sweetness of the bourbon then some spice at the end, good finish
Overall: To be honest I'm not a Jim Beam person.  I just tried this the other day and was very surprised at the quality of this product compared to regular Jim Beam.  Great bourbon for mixing, a nice product.

Batting Third...Corner Creek Reserve Bourbon Whiskey

Price:  $33

Color: Light Amber

Nose: Very heavy oak smell, nice corn smell, some floral

Taste:  Pretty dry taste, not good, not bad. Def can taste the corn/rye to it. Some Earthy flavors as well.

Finish: Dry finish.  Going down there is a sweetness that comes about.

Overall: This is a good bourbon don't get me wrong, but doesn't stand out esp when price is figured into the equation.  

The heavy hitter....Willett Reserve

Price: $41

Color: Mild Amber

Nose: Heavenly. Nice smooth oak smell, very rich nose can def smell the grains involved on this bourbon

Taste: Very full and well balanced taste, can taste everything from cinnamon to vanilla, to oak and other spices

Finish: Quality finish, no burn extremely smooth bourbon, very fruity on finish.

Overall: I like....alot... def can tell the step up from the before 8 yr old bourbons to this 12 yr old.  

The Constant (always quality day in, day out)...Woodford Reserve 90 Proof

(no image available...seriously my last amount of Woodford was in a flask)

Price: $30

Color: Mild amber

Nose:  Sweet, can detect citrus, ginger, slight waves of oak and char, some pine

Taste:  Some hints of the pine/spice taste, little hint of vanilla

Finish: A decent warmth to it, like how its sweet and can taste fruit on it

Overall: Good for both the quality and price.  Def gets the award for most versatile bourbon

The Sequel... Maker's 46

Price:$36

Color: mild Amber

Nose: Great smell, nice shades of vanilla and caramel along with some clove and cinnamon

Taste: Def taste the spice that Maker's Mark is known for that then goes to sweetness tastes of caramel 

Finish: Nice short warmth that fades out, can detect the vanilla, oak, char on finish 

Overall: Some sequels are better then the original, Maker's 46 is proof of that

Gettin Wild..... Wild Turkey Rare Breed 

Price: $35

Color: Mild amber

Nose: Def some char and vanilla mixed in on first sniff along with oak and leather

Taste: Earthy tones are abound on this one, can taste the corn/rye, along with the vanilla

Finish: Combo present between the vanilla and spices makes for a great finish

Overall: Great overall profile of this bourbon from the spice, sweetness, great small batch bourbon

The unknown... Four Roses Small Batch

Price: $26

Color: Light Amber

Nose: Very light nose which is good, floral and sweet smelling

Taste: Citrus and Licorice describe it best, but in a good way

Finish: It lets you know it's there...a short warmth to begin with that quickly fades out (I mean quickly)

Overall: Def better then basic Four Roses. It's character however leaves you wanting more.

Last but certainly not least!!   Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage 2000

Price: $28

Color: Light Amber

Nose: Inviting, warm and sweet can detect hints of citrus and nutmeg

Taste: A coconut meets vanilla armageddon, but very good.

Finish: Quality finish,  short warmth /tingling but in a good way nice sweet takeaway

Overall: Some people automatically place Evan Williams into the bottom of the bourbon pile, this nice reserve proves those doubters wrong.  

So now that the tasting has been completed it's time to hand out the bronze, silver, and gold medals to all of our participants.

Bronze: Buffalo Trace.  For the price there is no way you are going to find a better quality bourbon.  Very sweet bourbon that can be used in a varying amount of ways and is a good bourbon to sip on throughout the day.

Silver: Willet's Pot Still Reserve.  For a 12 yr old bourbon this is a quality product.  It had nice hints of both sweetness and oak along with a great nose and quality finish.  

Gold: Maker's 46. Comparing Maker's 46 to Maker's Mark is like comparing The Empire Strikes Back to Star Wars, every once in a while the sequel is better then the original and Maker's 46 is no different.  I love everything that this bourbon has to offer from the nose all the way to the finish.  Maker's Mark has def hit a home run in a product that has been on the shelf for right around a year.  

This is the end.....

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end 

And just like that, this semester is coming to a close.  Tonight marks my last appearance (in class at least) for Tech 621, aka the class that got this blog off the ground and running (or at least quick limping).  It is pretty bittersweet as I learned a lot in this class (such as having a higher intelligence because of my use of Twitter) along with the darkside and pitfalls that can exist using social media.  As the great Dr. Hunter S. Thompson once said, "Buy the ticket, take the ride," which is exactly what I did this semester, from moving to Indiana 4 hours away to a place where I only knew my loving fiancee who came with me, to enrolling in classes as a Ph.D. student and meeting new people, to even the joys of Tech621 and making up a new word (EPICLY).  It's been a blast and only the beginning of what will be my overall short time in Lafayette.  

There are things to take from this class, esp. on how to make social media work for me (note to readers, Google yourself every now and then see what comes up, also join linkedin, and remember to keep Facebook/work life separate).  Social media is here to stay so having a class like this definitely can enhance the experience.  I would recommend anyone who has a chance to take Dr. V's class, or any social media class, to please do so.  Your only hurting yourself if you don't.  

From here on out, I'm trying to figure out how which direction to take this blog.  I have some ideas along with a lot of free time due to my still lack of employment (seriously if someone is around Purdue and even needs a pool boy I'll do it, but I'm not wearing thongs....unless the price is right).  

Tomorrow is a new day.  Thanks everyone from Tech621 for providing feedback for the blog, it's been a blast these past few months...

I HATE YOU CHARLIE SHEEN

There are a lot of ridiculous pictures when you type in the words, "Charlie Sheen Not Winning"  and that picture easily takes the cake because...well it has kittens and puppies and how can you not like that?


Next week (well technically May 3rdish) will be a bittersweet week.  It's my last week of Tech 621 and I really can't think of a better class to have experienced to be baptized in the black and gold of Purdue.  I made several friends in that class who are epicly awesome, and had an instructor who encouraged my rambling, babbling, sometimes incoherent thoughts, that have become this....my blog.  However, as much as will miss this class, I will not miss the subject of my final paper.

CHARLIE FREAKIN SHEEN

I've already gone over my relationship with Sheen (no I was not previously the unnamed Goddess contrary to popular opinion) and how I decided to tackle his downfall as my project study of Image Restoration Theory with Radian 6 software.  At first this was a fun topic, he was "duh...winning" and I thought that by researching Sheen, I too could be a Vatican Assassin Warlock.  However, I was wrong on this being both fun and becoming a warlock.  

Sheen has become a headache that I am ready to take two advils of and be done with.  He is a talented actor and I will always enjoy Major League and consider it on par with Shakespeare's Hamlet, but as a person, well he's immersed himself in a reality where he believes that he can do know wrong and instead of apologizing and trying to call amends he's continuously digging himself a deeper hole.  Me going against Sheen may classify me as a "troll" but if that's where all the sane people are then I'll be more then happy to be in that hunting party.  The two months of research, and countless TMZ articles I have read along with news interviews is more then enough Sheen for me to handle for my next three life times.

Long story short, Sheen may be telling himself he's still "winning" but research I've done, people leaving his shows, and polls I've looked at beg the differ.  Do yourself a favor Sheen, look at Benoit's IRT and stop ignoring the last step, Apologize.  

Article Analysis 5

Charlie Sheen's image goes up among many fans: poll

The before mentioned link is to the poll that will be used for my fifth and final article analysis.  Is it whole heartedly scientific? Probably not.  But is there good data and criticism for the poll?  You betcha.  I decided to mainly include this poll because it was the most thorough poll I was able to find in regards to my final project for Tech 621:Charlie Sheen.

The poll was conducted early February 2011, right when the whole Charlie Sheen bandwagon wheels were just starting to turn and a little bit before said wheels became coming off.  It was published in The Hollywood Reporter magazine to show that people were behind Sheen based on their results.

METHODOLOGY
The method that they used was to survey 700 people aged 13-59 who described themselves as "Avid fans" of Two and a Half Men.  In that statement lies at least two problems. One how did they conduct the survey?  Was it by phone, email, website, outside of the local Wal-Mart? That question is never answered.  For instance, if they surveyed people outside of a mall, then that is merely a convenience sample and in no way could be representative  of how people across the nation felt about Sheen at that time.  The other problem is how did they describe someone being an "avid fan"?  Were they simply able to say there were a fan if they mentioned they liked the show, did they have to admit to watching a certain amount of hours of the show, was there a test involved regarding the background of the show only people familiar with Two and a Half Men would know? The poll does make mention of men and women but doesn't give data out on how many of each gender participated or an age group graph to show differences. These may seem like trivial questions, but if you're going to put information out there, then you need to be more clarified on how you collected your data especially when dealing with human subjects.

Another quick note is that this poll result was based just on fans view, not those who may have indifferent views of the show/Sheen, or negative views which is a whole different animal.

RESULTS:
From their results such statements were made as 28% of men and 42% of women thought Sheen should be removed from the show
56% believed that a future episode should address Sheen's personal issues (again this is when the continuing production of the show was still a realistic possibility)
96% wanted Sheen to return to the show (wait...isn't this kind of in contrast with the first statement?)
22% actually have a more favorable view of Sheen due to his current drug and personal issues
50% believe he should take time off to get better for the show while 34% believed he should work through his personal issues (apparently the other 16% didn't care)
and the best stat for me
59% believe Sheen isn't playing a character on the show, but actually just playing himself.

There were a few other scattered stats that were insignificant for my research, but I felt that the previous statements were ones to take a look at.

In hindsight, I do believe that the intentions of the data are somewhat good.  During this timeframe of Sheen's downfall people still viewed him in a positive light and it seemed genuinely wanted Sheen to get better not only for him, but also for the show itself.  It seemed that when people were dealing with Sheen in such a small quantity before his "Winning" ways, he maintained a favorable view with his key demographics, those who enjoyed his show.  It would have helped if there was also a poll showing the views of those who had either an indifferent view/negative view of Sheen during this timeframe to concur that Sheen was still held in a favorable view overall.  Unfortunately, no such poll was able to be found.  Fast forward two months from this poll and it seems that the public has flipped on Sheen as even as recently as last night, people could not find the exit signs fast enough for his nationwide tour.  The downfall of Sheen has been a fast and violent torpedo downward.  Sorry Charlie, maybe defeat is an option.

Lost In Translation

A funny thing happened last Friday morning.  I posted on Twitter a picture of this year's Keeneland Maker's Mark bottle.  Needless to say though my brethren in KY who followed me knew exactly what I was talking about and offered words of encouragement for spending almost 4 hours in line to get the bottles signed (seriously from around 3:45 AM to about 7:30 AM I was at a racetrack waiting to get 5 guys to sign my bottles), my friends from elsewhere thought I had lost my mind and was drinking at a fairly early time (that may or may not happen).  I had to do a little bit of explaining about what my rightful purposes were because I forgot, sometimes things can be lost in translation even between those who only live a few hundred miles apart.  I figured I would create this blog to explain some "KY thangs" in order to create less confusion for future purposes because there is a real good chance that everything in this article will somehow be incorporated into an epicly awesome tweet later on.  So without further ado I will try to explain some of my habits from KY.

KEENELAND

If you have ever attended college or even worked in Central Kentucky then there is almost a 95% chance you have been sick sometime during a Spring or Fall meet and the only way to cure your illness was by visiting the track.  Keeneland is a horse racing track located on the outskirts of Lexington that is only open two months out of the year, April and October.  It can be best described as a classier version of it's bigger cousin, Churchill Downs (I only say this because the only time I have been to Churchill was during the Derby and it was horrible!! but then again I was sitting in the infield).  If the race track loosks somewhat familiar that may be because it has been used in such movies as Seabiscuit and more recently Secretariat due to the lack of modern renovations that have been done at the track compared to other horse racing tracks such as Pimlico, Belmont, and Churchill Downs. 

Keeneland is also a few miles away from the famed Central KY castle.  Why do we have a castle in KY, the question is "Why not?"

Almost everyone who attends a race follows the dress code, suits,button ups, and slacks for men, dresses and goofy hats for women.  People actually tailgate at Keeneland for the races, that is how serious us Kentuckians take our horse racing (and apparently drinking too).  Even though I have changed state residencies, I still made it a point to return for one day of racing this past weekend and even hit an Exacta (correctly placing first two horses).  *Note some people who bet on the horses bet due to names, buy a program and bet on the jockey or trainer.  The winning % of both are located in the programs *

MAKER'S MARK BOTTLES

Above is my current collection of Maker's Mark collectible bottles.  The White (Rich Brooks), Blue (John Calipari), and Gold Wax (Keeneland) bottles are all Keeneland edition of Maker's Mark.  Each year for the past decade (give or take some years) Keeneland and Maker's Mark team up and create a special edition bottle that proceeds from the sale of the bottle will go to a charity (usually from UK).  Whoever the featured person/group on the bottle is, will usually be involved with the bottle signing at Keeneland a week after the bottle goes on sale.  

The other bottles are just collectible bottles that I have bought over the past two years (still a rookie).  The best way I can describe the special edition Maker's bottles are they are like baseball cards for adults. Some of the other cooler bottles that have been done are one for Breast Cancer Awareness, a Harley Davidson bottle, and a Mardi Gras edition.  While standing in line to get this year's Keeneland bottle, one gentleman said he had met a guy who had over $19k invested in Maker's Mark bottles.  Which speaking of....

MAKER'S MARK

That man who is dressed real funny looking (not me, the other guy), that's Bill.  As in Bill Samuels, who until this past weekend was the CEO/President of Maker's Mark (it is in transition of being passed on to his son).  Seriously, how many CEO's of a worldwide known product such as Maker's Mark take the time to mingle with everyone regardless of stature on a daily basis?  The picture was taking this past weekend at Bill's retirement party (where again all ticket sales from admission went to a women's shelter in Louisville) that is lieu of what is known as Thoroughbreds and Redheads weekend (Keeneland Friday, Maker's Mark party Fri. night, Ambassador day Saturday).  I have met Bill Samuels several times and each time he has been extraordinarily friendly and will talk your leg off.  The business model he has created at being easily accessible to his customer base is pure marketing genius.  

Ain't no party like a Maker's Mark party....

Since that last paragraph may appear jumbled, due to my excitement of how cool that night/picture was I will try to explain my crush on the Maker's Mark product.  First, you too can become a Maker's Mark Ambassador just by signing up on their website and it's free.  Each year you get a cool little gift for Christmas, this year was an ice tray that made globe shaped ice cubes/ball for your "sippin glass."  The other advantage that being an ambassador entails is access to special Maker's Mark events.  Last year I was one of the first 75 who responded to an email and was invited to the first ever Maker's Mark Cocktail Challenge where world renowned bartenders from different countries came to Lexington to prove that their drink recipe was the best in the world, and being one of the 75 meant I got to sample the different concoctions and vote on who would take home the title of being the best bartender in the world.    As mentioned earlier, each year Maker's Mark has an "ambassador homecoming" where the distillery is open just to ambassadors and you can do such things as dip your own special edition Ambassador bottle on the factory line, eat free Moonlite BBQ (great BBQ from Western KY), and again, meet Bill.  Lastly, the best thing about being an ambassador is getting your own bourbon barrel.  That's right, they put your name on a bourbon barrel and when your barrel has aged the 5 years they let you know and you go to Loretto KY with your golden ticket (just like Willy Wonka) and get a special Maker's Mark bottle that was made just for you...how awesome is that?

My name on this barrel is so far the highlight of my life

One more thing to touch on regarding Maker's Mark is they are easily accessible through social media.  Those who are in my tech621 class know I have sent several tweets to Maker's Mark, and each time they have responded back and every once in a while I ask them a random question and they still refuse to block me and will talk to me instead.  So in conclusion with Maker's Mark, their accessibility that Bill has laid out is genius and makes people want to be a part of their product.

Bourbon Country

Bourbon country is the area of the map that you see above.  96% of all the world's bourbon is produced in the state of KY.  Remember all bourbon is whisky, but not all whisky is bourbon. 

To be bourbon the spirit has to meet the following conditions: 

1. Only Whiskey produced in the U.S. can be called bourbon
2. It must contain at least 51% corn
3. No artificial colors or chemicals are allowed
4. Can not come off the still at higher then 160 proof and go into the barrel at 125 proof max
5. Must be aged in a new charred, oak barrel
6. It must be stored for at least 2 years

Okay enough of my history lesson...also..Bourbon is the only spirit to be classified as the "official alcohol of the U.S." by Congress

 The barrels that are listed on the map (though rather small) are 6 of the most prominent bourbon distilleries in the state of KY and are what as known as the bourbon trail (Maker's Mark, Heaven Hill, Four Roses, Woodford Reserve, Jim Beam, and Wild Turkey).  You can get a passport and visit each of the distilleries and get your passport stamped.  Once your passport is completed, send it in and get a free shirt for all your troubles (it really is a sweet shirt).  

That beautiful picture there is Buffalo Trace distillery.  Though it is no longer on the bourbon trail, it is still one of the most prominent distilleries in the nation even laying claim to the title "Oldest continuously operating distillery" (that's right no prohibition for that place).  I will probably start referring to that place a lot because well...that's where I'm getting married at next year so I had better include at least one reference to this place so my fiancee doesn't kill me : )  

So even though there are a few more places that need to be included on the list (Austin City Saloon, Red River Gorge, Hall's beercheese, Ale 8) I figured this would be a pretty good start for the time being to keep people from think I'm going crazy when I mention one of these places.

Article Analysis 4

Michel M. Haigh. "'The Cream,' The 'Clear,' BALCO and Baseball: An Analysis of MLB Players Image." Journal of Sports Media 3.2 (2008): 1-24. Project MUSE. Web. 21 Jan. 2011. <http://muse.jhu.edu/>.


The article above is one of the many articles I reviewed for my final project for my Tech 621 class involving image repair theory.  Again I'm reviewing articles on IRT for my paper on good ole Uncle Charlie (Sheen that is).  


This article touches on how baseball became so impure as many of baseball's brightest stars fell due to their involvement with performance enhancers.  Some of the topics it covered ranged from the athletes stats before, during, and after their involvement with performance enhancers, to what/if any thing they did to try to get back in the public's good graces.


The methodology that Haigh employed was by using code readers for content analysis of over 292 articles that were reviewed featuring statements from the accused.  The one thing I really enjoyed about the methods were the articles were compromised from The NY Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Time, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, and Sports Illustrated.  The researcher's method of choosing the newspapers were they were the 4 biggest in differing parts of the United States which made sense, the others were chosen due to their appeal to a national audience as well as SI being one of the leading publications for sports related material.  Dates were chosen from Sep. 2003-March 16, 2006 and even then, those were chosen for significance.  September due to that being the time BALCO was raided (hq for being the company that was giving out steroids like candy) and March being right after the time of the congressional hearing regarding the case.  


The researcher later expanded on the keywords that were used and all keywords were relevant to the matter at hand.  The issue I have with is that the content analysis was done by two undergraduate assistants.  Though they agreed on findings for the majority of the time, and could incorporate statements from the accused into varying levels of Benoit's IRT there still remained problems.  Some of the analysis could not be fit into the IRT and either had to be directed into a category that was deemed appropriate or dismissed.  Though that may seem problematic, my problem is that I believe either high level graduate students should have done the analysis or professor's themselves.  My reasoning for this is even though the undergraduate students may be pretty good at content analysis, I know in my particular case, it wasn't until I was a graduate student where I learned more regarding research methodology and gained a better impression on how to conduct proper research.


Never-less, the findings were the most interesting part of the research.  An overwhelming majority of the accused came out and offered attempts for forgiveness and apologized for their actions.  Others, like Mark Mcgwire, refused to acknowledge that they took performance enhancers.  Then there is the story of Barry Bonds, who basically breaks the mold.  Bonds was seen as the one person who not only didn't acknowledge taking any enhancers, but was trying to blame everyone else (teammates, coaches, media) for the hoopla and placed none of the blame himself.  The researcher makes note that Bonds was one of the few whose case was not resolved by the time of publication, 3 years later and the Bonds trial is just now possibly coming to an end, and again Bonds is not taking responsibility.  


Overall, I felt like the article was pretty well conducted and the findings were interesting.  Of the articles I read for IRT, this was one of the few that tried to combine findings with stats and I felt that the use of stats helped punctuate the researcher's main points and question at hand.  It is def worth a read for anyone who is into sports and particularly what has been labeled as the "steroid era" of baseball.

The Dark Side

So within the first what 10 seconds of this post, you have have to be intrigued.  From the post title to the cute/disturbing pic of Lord Vader tempting you to come to the dark side your initial reaction is probably that I'm going to launch into a full scale rant about how the first two episodes of Star Wars should have never been released (I still hate you Jar Jar).

"Me's a going to ruin a franchise"

Instead the focus of this post is about the dark side of the internet (all those who have been mislead of a Star Wars rant are dismissed).  This is a topic that we are set to cover in class (What up Tech 621!) this coming Tuesday night and to be honest I can't wait.  From some of the topics I've seen that are going to be covered I'm sure some interesting questions/perspectives/insight will be gained.  

My topic is porn at work.  Yep, that's right, I get to help open the Pandora's box lead discussion on what may or may not be seen as a taboo topic.  I've looked at several interesting articles about just all the repercussions and downfall of people who can't control their urges at work.  Some of the stats I've seen have been that before the recession only about 18% of people were glancing at porn at work, however during the current recession that number has jumped up to as high as 25% (Newsweek).  Why the increase?  A lot of people responded because they feel like with all the problems that companies have going on that their bosses have bigger fish to fry then their porn habit.  I even saw a video of a state senator from Florida caught looking at porn during a debate about abortion (I'm not even going to attempt to make a joke out of that....not touching it with a 10ft pole).  It's like the hits keep coming with just stories upon stories of people being caught with this.  I even got a great story from my future Mom-in-law who works in HR, about a guy who got caught there and his excuse...well it breaks the mold for worst excuses of all time (sorry got to wait for class to tell that one).  

My overall point is this, thanks to Al Gore and his invention of the internet has helped further man's quest of knowledge, from making shopping at home easier, to editing  reading interesting articles on Wikipedia, staying in touch with loved ones, following your fav sports team, etc.

you  better listen to him, he's super serial

At that same time this abundance of technology has also produced new evils.  Online social sites/chatrooms are making it easier for children to become prey for psychopathic (nicest word I could think of) adults (To Catch a Predator anyone?). It also has made it easier for people to cheat on their spouses, become addicted to the internet/porn, socially withdrawn, etc. As good as the internet has been to mankind, there are a lot of dark alleys that people need to be aware of both for their own benefit as well as those that they love.  To put it in Star Wars terms, the balance of the force is unstable from the light side/dark side of the internet.  

Operation Revenge!

Andre Riddick doesn't play around

Prince for 3!!!!

Do the John Wall!

can't leave out the UK dancing guy!

yep thats all I have, 2.5 hours until tip off and the Wildcats make a run to the Final 4 

115 hours, not 127 hours but close enough

Can someone update my Facebook status to "HELP!"

On Tuesday, March 15 at 7:00 PM I decided I couldn't do it anymore.  After hours of toying with my emotions of whether I needed a break or if I could keep going, I quit.  I decided I need to unplug myself from the machine that is social media.  

"Why?" You may ask.  The simple question is I wanted to see if I could control my ritual which I'm sure an ongoing majority of Americans find themselves in. Wake up, and instead of turning on the TV check my Facebook and Twitter accounts to see if I missed anything of importance or received a new message, mention, or even poke. Then log back on throughout the day because of habit, plus the time it can waste being on social media sites. It's been a habitual situation I have found myself in for some time now and I know I'm not along.  

To expand further, it was also Spring Break and I was headed to KY for a few days and knew that besides a limited window of time, I would have no service in any of the locations of wilderness I was planning on inhabiting.  That itself made the transition of the break that much easier to cope with and gave me even less of an ability to "Check In."  

Moonshiner's arch behind my campsite, where you guessed it they use to make moonshine at

So how did it go?  Better then I expected. I didn't maim anyone, shake, or hallucinate from the lack of Twitter/Facebook. Even though I was tempted to look, given I had service on my phone on Friday (my big 28th bday) I stayed strong and weathered the storm (Let's face it everyone has to check their Facebook on their bday to see the wishes they receive!) and did not return online until 3:00 PM on Saturday, but only to post a short "Thank You" to all those who had wished me a happy birthday (I didn't want to seem like an ungrateful Facebook friend!).  Even then I actually had reluctance to log back in because I was enjoying the time away from Twitter and Facebook and the break from the overload of information that can happen when addicted to social media.  

Since Saturday I have fell back more into the old routine of checking, but at the same time not as much as previously.  To me, it seems once you have taken an extended break from using Facebook, Twitter, etc. not only do you remember how life was before revolving around friend requests, retweets, new followers, with the possibility of getting more done in the real world, appreciation can be made toward the positive benefits that social media enables users to have.  In my case throughout the ordeal it was not only to thank people who remembered me on my big day (you love me, you really love me) but to remember how it was social media itself (Facebook) that enabled me to coordinate with friends back home to organize my birthday party location for that Friday night (*coordination took place before my boycott) which I'm sure others have used the outlets for similar situations.  

Its easy to get lost on not only social media forums, but the internet in general (anyone who has used Wikipedia knows that), but at the same time it is what I think crucial for every once in a while take a break and enjoy what you have physically in front of you and though sounding cliche, "stop and smell the roses."  

My Sick Addiction

I have an addiction.  If it is true that addiction can be genetics then I have to blame my mother and father for part of this, being my enablers.  My mom recently told me that during my birthday parties growing up that my Grandpa and Dad had to have their own fix of this addiction even while my young mind was blowing out my birthday cake wishing for whatever the cool toy/fad was at the time (possibly parachute pants). Maybe they, themselves, were not fully aware that they too were addicts and never sought help for their own addictions.  It doesn't help that I was cursed to be born not only during the height of when my addiction is at its strongest, but was also born into the one area where there are thousands upon thousands who suffer from the same strong signs of addiction as myself.  After 27 years (28 next Friday) of suffering, I have decided to write about this demon in order to let others in on this addiction in case they also are suffering from it.

I AM A COLLEGE BASKETBALL JUNKIE

There I said it, it feels better to put that out there.  As anyone who has read previous entries of this blog know or have ever met me, I'm an avid Kentucky Wildcat basketball fan.  We are known as one of the most passionate, crazy fanbases in ALL of sports.  Every team has their crazies, but it seems that we push the envelope to another level, just tune in to the SEC tournament this weekend, regardless who is playing its a guarantee you're going to see more blue on the television then any other color.  Like Charlie Sheen, that's how we roll. As much as I could/can/would love to spend this entire blog gushing about my love all things related to UK basketball (as I glance upon my shelve of numerous UK memorabilia that had to make the trek to Indiana with me) unfortunately this is not the time nor place.  Instead it's about the sport of basketball and more importantly the college game itself.  Being brought up in a crazy basketball state, family, and being a warped UK fan myself (always wear blue on game day, actually just always wear blue or some other form of UK related gear) that just sewed the seeds of my addiction with the sport. 

Rule 1 of being a UK fan is swearing your undying allegiance to Ashley Judd

Rule 2: Whenever someone mentions church, this is exactly what you think of

However, that wasn't enough, I needed more.  If there is a game on, I'm watching it.  From October until April I am on a constant high. See where this is going yet?  You can have the Superbowl, that's just one game, just leave me the month of March (and first weekend of April), and I'll be happy.  That's over 100 games at my fingertips to be engulfed in, last time I checked 100>1.  Keep the NBA as well. To me the basketball played in the NBA is not "pure" there are way to many egos and multi-millionares that polluted the game.  Lebron is great, but how can I feel sorry for him when he loses, but still makes more in one game then I do in ten years? I want to watch the Cinderella teams, buzzer beaters, watch players who know they won't make it to the pros leave everything they have on the floor (with HD technology the emotion can be felt in ways that were never before seen).

Growing up in KY you are told if you don't behave the boogeyman will get you, this is the boogeyman

Once again its that time of the year when I constantly need my fix and the drug itself comes in extreme doses. Yesterday I spent 14 solid hours on my couch watching college basketball on my TV as well as my computer, AT THE SAME TIME. At one point I was watching 4 games simultaneously. It was bliss.  I also have to thank Microsoft for creating the Kinect, it made my day much easier as instead of using a remote to change channels, I could just shout at my Xbox to change the games for me (irony, the fact the Kinect was made for physical activity).  Today is no different, nor will be Saturday, and definitely not Selection Sunday.  For the next several weeks my life will revolve around my addiction.  After the tournament is over I will again go through the severe withdrawals, and again do what I have done in the past, count down until my next fix.  I take solace in knowing that I am not alone in dealing with my addiction and in March it seems all my fellow junkies and I can share our addiction experience with each other without having judgement passed upon us.  God I love this game.


UPDATE 1: To put how crazy UK fans are in a better perspective.  Yesterday, (3/12/11) I ran into a fellow UK fan at Dick's Sporting Goods.  While I was expressing my frustrating on playing starters with a big lead with only a few minutes remaining in the game, my fellow UK fan was more upset with the fact that UK only won by 15 after being up more throughout the game.  That's right he was really upset that we only won by 15.

UPDATE 2: My excessive basketball watching was just to much for my Xbox.  Late last night during the UL/UCONN game I was disturbed by a sudden knock then a frozen screen.  After that my Xbox displayed to me the Red Ring of Death.  R.I.P. Xbox 2005-2011, you will be missed until I replace you later today.

Plato's Cave and how I think it may or may not apply to this past Tuesday night class and wow this title is extremely long

This past Tuesday night in Tech 621 one of the topics that we discussed was how the accessibility of knowledge has changed drastically in such a short period of time.  The original way that people were able to gain knowledge was in the physical form and by that I mean books, lots and lots of books.  However, as anyone in today's time knows, that would mean what you could and could not learn would be limited to what books that you had access to.  So to wrap this up in a bind, if the only books that you had access to were coloring books, you may not be able to read to much, and your knowledge on worldly topics would be limited, but you would be hands down the best colorer around (though in the long term I don't think this would pay to much dividends unless you were going to be an artist and even then you would need to be able to read your contracts).

What happens when you're only exposed to coloring books

However, as technology developed (Three Cheers Digital AGE!), including the internet, more transcripts were transferred to an online format, the ability to access a grand archive of works that one may not have been entitled to prior was readily made available.  Kind of like going from having to slave over a stove for hours to make dinner, to being able to fix dinner via T.V. entrees, that is how easy it is to gain information on any topic that an inquisitive mind wanted to inquire about.

Not only is knowledge tasty, but it now comes in eco-friendly trays

During class I had an epiphany that may or may not be a way to describe how big of a change the evolution of technology has been.  It all deals with Plato's old story about the prisoners in the cave story that his teacher, Socrates, told him ( he also told him that whenever you are double dog dared to drink hemlock you have to do it, though he regretted this later in life).  In this story, Socrates described to Plato a scenario where prisoners who were born into a world of bondage (kind of like a Lady Gaga video) and immobilized in a dark cave, were only basically given a marionette show the entire time they were there.

Exactly how Socrates imagined the prisoners

 Instead of knowing these things to be fake, the prisoners would accept everything they heard and saw as the absolute truth since they never knew anything different.  This was their reality.  The next part of this story focuses on what would happen if one of the prisoners were freed and found out that everything they knew was fake and orchestrated and slowly was introduced into the real world, sun, seasons, markets, etc.  Finally, Socrates concluded his allegory by stating to Plato to imagine what it would be like if the prisoner had to go back to the cave and how life would be different for him knowing that everything he was seeing again was fake and not real after being exposed to what is reality, how difficult it would be.

To me this relates to the topic discussed in class because we, as society, are no longer bounded by the "cave" that we once inhabited due to the digital age and the ability to learn anything about everything from online formats because of the rapid access we have of information readily available at our fingertips.  At the same time, what has seemed like a longtime mainstay, the digital age and internet, in reality is still a new and developing technology. I myself can still remember growing up in a world where there was no internet, cell phones, etc.  Where the information and knowledge I was able to achieve was only through books (along with teachers, parents, invisible friends, etc.) which even then was a small library in the grand scheme of things. Needless to say, after being freed from the cave due to technology, that cave, is one I wish not to visit again.

I Use Twitter So I'm Smarter

I use Twitter (follow me at scottabney3) so I'm smarter than you.  That is unless you are also on Twitter than there's a good chance that both of us have a higher level of intelligence than the average person.  I know it's a tough pill to swallow and even when I heard it at the beginning of this semester in my Tech 621 class I scoffed at the idea and found it preposterous.  There is no way that could be true, I was one of the first people at my university and the first person in my city to use Facebook back in 03' (maybe 04', possibly 05' time goes by so fast these days).  I was Facebooking when Myspace was still the happening place to be and not the trailer park of the social media outlets.

Artist rendition of current state of Myspace

Tech 621, along with other articles I've read, have changed my perception of that. It's like taking the red pill over the blue pill and opening my eyes to the truth.  I just can't believe that it took me so long to figure this out.  Then again, I was holding my own prejudices against Twitter which blinded me from this inconceivable truth.  Smarter people really are on Twitter.Why is that I wondered? Several of the articles I read stated the same overlaying theme.  Those who seek knowledge are those who use Twitter.  Facebook on the other hand is used by those who want to a chance to express themselves through photos, groups, etc.

How the first day of Tech 621 began

I do believe there is something else to consider, its the evolution of the social media outlets.  When Myspace was the veteran and Facebook was still the new kid on the block, Facebook was EXCLUSIVE to those who were in college.  See where I'm going with this, at one point Facebook was for the smart kids.  What changed this to what we have today is that Facebook did what any good business model does, it expands.  When it opened its doors to everyone some contaminants where let in and lowered the IQ pool of Facebook.  Twitter then launched and it seems that people who have evolved to Twitter are wanting to get the most out of 165 characters as possible through links and other informative methods and not as concerned with the extras.

There are exceptions to the "smart people on Twitter rule."

When I first used Twitter I never thought it would come to this, but I'm slowly turning my back on Facebook because of the contaminants.  Seeing the status updates of broken hearts, drama, and other unbearable information that has became all too familiar in the land of Facebook instead of the links that I am now getting accustomed to in Twitter has left me with a sour taste in my mouth.  Will another mass social media outlet develop that outsmarts Twitter users, probably, that's how evolution works just like Myspace and Facebook before it.  Will I adapt to it? Yeah if its going to keep me informed of areas of my research along with other topics, as well as if using it makes me appear smarter.

There's Something About Charlie

In case you have been hiding under a rock the past two weeks or so, then you have missed the awesomeness that has been Charlie Sheen.  The above picture captures Charlie in an unflattering manner, but at this current time (8:39 P.M, March 3, 2011) I doubt that picture is high on Charlie's priority list.  Before I get to much further let me post a few quick links for you fine people sitting at your computer regarding Uncle Charlie and some of his finer moments in the past couple of weeks 

Charlie Sheen is Winning!

Charlie on CNN

Charlie Montage

If you took the time to look at some of those several great comedic (whether intentional or not) quotes stood out that Charlie said such as the tiger's blood, I am a warlock, I'm not bi-polar I'm bi-winning, etc. 

However, the one thing that no one can deny (unless you have been living under said rock) is that Charlie Sheen is everywhere right now, there is a 75% chance he is behind you as you read this sentence.  He has taken the media by storm and dominated in a fashion that is unfathomable. 

 March 1st, 2011 will be a day that will live in Twitter infamy.  That was the day Charlie joined the social network, within 24 hours he had over 1 million followers, as of right now its quickly approaching the 1.5 million mark.  Will this number drop off anytime soon, probably not as long as Charles keeps on ranting, people want to see what the next crazy, outrageous comment he may say and they want it in a way where they can have first hand access to it.  That is what his Twitter account allows people.  Even right now #tigerblood is the most used thing that is trending on Twitter.  

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing man that he never existed.  The greatest trick Charlie Sheen may be pulling before our very eyes is convincing everyone he is crazy while he really is "from some other terrestrial plane."  His statement today is that he is using Twitter as a way to make extra cash (the avg price for a celebrity tweet is $10k) which is plausible but I don't believe that is his only reason for doing so, nor should you.  TMZ did report that the picture of Charlie holding a jug of chocolate milk did make that company's sales go through the roof and the owner of the company stated Charlie acted on his own showing the milk (though he offered to pay him in chocolate milk next time he stopped by the farm). Coincidence? I highly doubt it.  Back to the point though, Charlie is on Twitter for one thing, to promote the Charlie Sheen brand, and its working.  

After my Tech 621 Class where the possibility of researching online self image and identity and tying this into Charlie Sheen became available, I feel that this is a topic that would be not only fun, but very informative.  Giving the ability of the software that is at our fingertips in class, another nod to you Radian 6, it would be interesting to just see how much Charlie Sheen has influenced the online media in the past week through both primary (Uncle Charlie) actions as well as secondary actions (how products he hocks including the chocolate milk).  

Research Ideas

So for the last few days I have been exploring Radian 6 and trying to get a feel for all of its capabilities.  At times I feel like I'm asking "What is the meaning of life?" because everything it shoots back at me can be overwhelming.  I had hoped to somewhat stay in college athletics and social media for this assignment, but as noted in previous posts the lack of good quality of research is greatly deterring me from going down that road.  I've explored some things on the web and the areas at this time that I am looking at for research is between how companies use social media platforms and consumers respond (broad topic at this time I know) or to fall back on my poli sci degree, look at how social media is being used for government purposes because I really feel like between policies and individual politicians a lot can be explored.

Behind Enemy Lines

So after being bogged down on the Iphone 3G I finally decided I needed a change.  As hard as it was to switch from my beloved Apple product that goes hand in hand with my MacBook I decided to switch allegiances to the Android technology and purchased the Motorola Atrix 4G.  Now I will not go into all the neat bells and whistles that this phone does (it can double as laptop, go run and tell that homeboy), but however this blog is to focus on some of the bigger aspects of what happens when you GO BEHIND ENEMY LINES and try to run Android technology on an Apple Macbook (cliff notes version: it's frustrating at first).

The biggest problem was the fact of trying to download all the music from my Apple Itunes to my phone.  It would be great if it worked just like the Iphone and all I had to do was plug into my computer and Itunes recognized I needed music, however this was not the case.  Instead I had to download the Android version of Itunes, Doubletwist, which acted as the 3rd party vendor and got the music from my library and openly obliged to letting me sync music on my phone.  I stress music because all of my Itunes movies and videos have the dreaded DRM on them and I am now looking at ways to transfer video over.
After what seriously took 2 hours to finally load music I was satisfied with my switch and all was right in the world.

Perhaps the biggest aspect of this phone that I like is how open the Android app market is compared to the App Store of Apple.  One of the best apps actually came installed on my phone and it is Social Networking.  With this app I can look at all recent posts from both Twitter and Facebook (Myspace as well if I had an account) and comment, like, or retweet messages.  However the drawback to this is not being able to do a status update.  Even with that I find this app very easy to use and I like how it combines both of the major social networks that I am on and lets me stay up to date instead of switching between the two.

Also, when I was in the AT&T store and purchased my phone one of the first things I was able to do automatically on start up was register my Twitter and Facebook accounts before continuing on to the home screen.  To me, this moment showed just how far society has come with social networks.  Just a few years ago to stay up to date through mobile devices you had to use the browser to check in, then came apps, and now phones are already installed with software.  This is comparable to automobile features, years ago electric windows were an added luxury, then slowly overtime it became the norm in production.

It seems as phones continuously evolve, so will their ability to keep us in touch with our social lives.

NCAA Athletes and Facebook

After what seemed like days, months, years, millennia, etc. to comb the internet and academic databases, I finally came across an article that had some empirical data regarding NCAA student athletes and social media. The bad part is this was published a few years ago (2008).  Another problem is that for the purposes of the article it grouped all social media outlets together as "Facebook" so it did not break down its data specifically to individual social media sites.

Frank Butts "NCAA ATHLETES AND FACEBOOK"

As with previous articles I have explored, the main focus of this research was to look at how colleges are combatting image problems as well as protecting student athletes from themselves basically from the misuse of Facebook (I'll be like the researcher and just group everything together in this manner). It seems that in all articles I have looked at, the recurring theme is that there is way to much grey area due to the fact the NCAA still (as in February 25, 2011) has not taken a solid stance on its views on social media outlets.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: The way the researcher, Frank Butts, approached this was by trying to gain an overall sample of NCAA student athletes that included male and female athletes, along with schools being selected (6 total) ranged from Division I to Division III schools. Butts, obtained his information regarding social networking sites through the use of a survey and promised that all responses would remain anonymous, 522 responses were collected total of those 308 were male and 214 were female.

FINDINGS:  Butts determined through analyzation of data that the views of males and female athletes regarding certain aspects of social media sites (personal image projected on Facebook, athletic depts. image, athletes recommended level of how athletic dept should monitor Facebook) differed greatly between the two.

MY TAKE: There are several things that I felt was lacking in Butts research.  The first was in regards to his methodology.  Not once does Butts list exactly which school were chosen and why, as far as we, the reader, knows, this could merely be a convenience  sample taken due to connections that Butts had.  Also, though 522 responses were noted, not once does the research mention how many surveys were not completed which I felt would have been interesting to see what the response rate was.  As far as the actual results, one area that stood out was that the % of athletes who viewed their image as negative or somewhat negative was around 0-1%.  As someone who has read dozens upon dozens of research articles along with philosophy papers, I think it is easy to say that the reason why this number is significantly lower then that of responses that ranged from very positive to neutral is due to the fact that even though these responses remained anonymous, people tend not to view themselves in a negative light.  The discussion area also lags behind. One conclusion in particular that Butts reaches is that Div II athletes have lower awareness of self image on Facebook and he states that this is because there is less staff available to help the athletes, however how this conclusion can fathomably be reached is never discussed in details.  Though I felt like Butts did try to make an honest attempt at shedding light on how athletes view social media sites, in the end his research seemed to have too many holes in it for me to take it as conclusive.