Zim's Zone

iPad Craziness

2010-04-06T13:38:00.001-05:00

Will it Blend - iPad

Kids destroy iPad outside a BestBuy after purchase

Obama on Foreign Policy

2009-03-08T13:07:00.002-05:00

Read a little bit about Obama and his administration's attempts at foreign policy:

Has Obama Snubbed the British Prime Minister

Russian media teases Clinton over 'reset' button

I really expected a little bit more out of this administration.

Irony Strikes Once Again

2008-10-31T14:48:00.001-05:00

Bowler collapses and dies after rolling 300 game

Home Inventory

2008-10-13T23:14:00.002-05:00

As I graduated I had to get my own renter's insurance policy and it got me thinkingg about proving loss in the event of fire/theft/etc. I decided today to run around with my digital camera and just take pictures of everything. It only took about 15min and I had pictures of all my things. I even flipped a few around and took pictures of the model/serial. So much easier than trying to make a log. Sure--it doesn't have values with every item--but at least it's better than nothing!

Photo Album Updated

2008-09-06T02:04:00.004-05:00

Check it out! I just updated my photo gallery to show off some of my best pictures. I'll keep adding as I have time--I'd especially like to post my pictures from Europe.

Graduated!

2008-08-17T17:35:00.005-05:00

For some strange reason, the University decided to grant me another degree--a MBA no less! Thank you to everyone who came to the ceremony and lunch afterwords. I just put up some pictures in my photo gallery--check them out!

Legal or Illegal?

2007-09-23T19:28:00.000-05:00

I got an e-mail heads up from Best Buy on Thursday that there had been a mistake in the printing of the front page of their newspaper insert advertisement. They also posted a notice on the front page of their website. There mistake can be read here. Basically they printed that a 50" ($2,600) plasma was being offered at the price of the 42" ($1799). Should they have pulled the ad from the paper?

End of the Twinkie?

2007-09-22T09:41:00.000-05:00

ABC News Report: Could This Be The End of the Twinkie?

Tis a sad, sad day. I hope they're able to work something out with the unions.

Microsoft Groove

2007-08-02T09:12:00.000-05:00

In my quest to finaly start organizing my life, I finally got around to putting Office 2007 on my Laptop so I could play around with this program called Microsoft Groove. I knew it was designed to help groups collaborate; but I had no idea how much it could help me.

Through it's folder sharing feature, all of my documents, QuickBooks files, and Quicken files are now in sync between my laptop and desktop. The best part is that the sync happens anytime both machines are connected to the Internet. So, now when I'm out on the road I can put a number of invoices in QuickBooks, connect the machine to the Internet when I get back, and have those invoices available back on my Desktop.

Next task: start organizing paperwork in my apartment.

Platte River State Park

2007-06-19T09:35:00.001-05:00

Over the weekend I went to Platte River State Park with Kim and her family. I just posted a few pictures and will hopefully be posting some more with me in them soon. I was having fun taking some pictures of a small waterfall. We got to do some fun things like paddle boating, roasting s'mores, walking on some trails, and even going horseback riding. Unfortunately I had to leave early for class on Monday--otherwise I would have gotten to go to the water park at Mahoney too. Maybe next time.

One Deterimend Turtle

2007-05-17T17:05:00.001-05:00

Saw this on CNN today. Talk about a ticked off turtle taking on a cat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul0gfCyeiyM

The Best Place Ever

2007-04-16T19:54:00.000-05:00

The end of the year is coming and I'm starting to get excited to move into my apartment. I'll be living at the Tanglewood apartments on 48th and O. The area is perfect.. I'm tucked into a quiet area near the cemetery but close to all the action of the area. Within just a couple blocks I have access to:

Super-Saver
Target
Best Buy
Taco Bell
DaVincis
Pet Co
Walgreen's
Runza
Ace Hardware

Currently being Built:
Jimmy John's
Hy-Vee (I smell grocery wars!)

Slightly further:
Barnes and Noble
The Mall

Check for pictures soon--my move-in date is the 28th.

Coyote in a Chicago Quiznos

2007-04-04T14:29:00.000-05:00

Coyote in a Chicago Quiznos

The Government Taketh

2007-03-15T23:44:00.000-05:00

After hours of hard work for my clients and the University, I put in a few more hours totalling some numbers before taking them to the trusty accountant for the magic tax calculations.

When the final numbers came in, I was disappointed as usual for my pocketbook shall get a bit lighter. Some people suggested that it takes income to pay taxes. Others suggested that the Uncle Sam's poor--Although my accounts are in the black, the his sure isn't.

Yeah, neither of those statements helped me much. I shall sign the final check next month. Until next year Uncle--try not spend my dues to you all in one place.

Passing of an Aquarium

2007-02-26T20:11:00.000-06:00

After months of reliable operation, the pump on my Wal-mart 5 gallon aquarium passed on. Due to the construction of the aquarium, I could not purchase an over-the-counter pump and Wal-mart refused to honor the 2-yr dealer exchange stated in the tank manual warranty. This left me with a quandary, what to do while shipping my motor in for repair.

Kim and I visited Petco, Petsmart, and finally Petco once again before deciding to purchase a new tank. I opted not to go with a box kit as none of the filters included the awesome bio-wheel filtration system. I selected a spacious 10 gallon tank, a florescent hood, a Marineland filter, and some green and blue gravel. The system is up and temperature is right--I'm moving the fish later tonight. I think they'll appreciate the extra space.

Check back over the weekend to see pictures of the new aquarium.

Economics of Enviga

2007-02-09T00:04:00.000-06:00

So tonight I saw Enviga here in Lincoln for the first time. If you haven't already heard, this drink is a joint effort between Nestea and Coca-Cola and has been shown in certain trials to boost your metabolism and burn an extra 60-100 calories a day. I tried the Green Tea flavor and it tasted acceptable. Turns out it also has calcium and caffeine added in to the drink as well.

So, what's the catch? In order to gain the 60-100 calorie metabolism boost, one must drunk 3 cans a day. The can clearly states however that consuming more than 3 will not boost a metabolism beyond 100 calories.

What are the economical implications? Each drink costs about $1/ea when purchased in 6-packs and about $1.40 when purchased individually. Keeping in mind that it takes burning 3600 calories to lose one pound, that translates into a best case scenario of costing approximately $108/lb over the course of 36 days to lose that one pound.

To make things more interesting, let's assume the individual uses Enviga to replace their daily bottle of soda purchased at the vending machine for $1.25. This bottle of soda probably contains around 250 calories. If this is the case, the individual is already spending $45 over 36 days, so now the individual is only paying an extra $63 per 36 days to switch to Enviga. While the individual is drinking strictly soda, they are consuming (250cal x 36 days) 9000 calories or 2.5lb. Therefore, when switching from soda to Enviga, one actually loses 3.5lb over 36 days or an equivalent of $30.86/lb. The deal gets a little bit better when you look at it that way. Either way, it still doesn't seem economical, but I think the take away point is that making small changes in your life (e.g. just removing your daily soda) you will lose 2.5lb/36 days or about 25lb a year.

Grisanti's Fraud

2007-01-21T19:21:00.000-06:00

Today Kim, Denise and I all went to Grisanti's in Lincoln to eat our noon meal. I saw "Cherry Coke®" on the menu and excitedly ordered it--not too many places have it. What I got back was most certainly not that. What I got was Coke + Grenadine... definitely not the same thing. When I asked about it, the waitress gladly switched my drink.

This practice seems almost illegal to me. If I was to sell someone a Pentium system and substitute a AMD chip, I'd be accused of fraud--even though both would let the computer run. I'm suprised Grisanti's is getting away with this.

Something Funny

2007-01-19T01:06:00.000-06:00

It's been a crazy few days and I'm behind as usual. However, I'd suggest watching this in light of the season:

Snow Slide

Check Fractured Notions on Saturday to read about my Vista upgrade experience.

Marketing Syllabus Day

2007-01-08T13:01:00.001-06:00

So I'm sitting in my marketing class right now putting my phone to good use. Right now everyone is introducing themselves and telling their favorite consumer behaviors. Things are so stereotypical... Guys consume sports or TV shows while women talk about eating food or any kind of shopping in general. Gray's anatomy seems to be quite popular (for women who watch TV). Most fascinating fact thus far... One girl called herself the "oops of the family" as her sisters are about 50 now while shes in her early 20s. We were also to tell something surprising about us. Everyone has had something except for 3 girls who each said there was nothing surprising about them. How sad. Better pay attention. Later.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-05T00:45:00.000-06:00

So, better late than never. Right now I'm up working on getting a computer ready for tomorrow and have been thinking about new year's resolutions. I figure I better make the public, that way people can badger me if I'm not living up to them.

Read some books for fun during the semester (though they might be business books)
Exercise at least once a week
Post to my blogs at least once a week
Try to get up before 9 every day
Don't eat out as often

Let's see how this happens.

The Gift

2007-01-05T00:39:00.000-06:00

So what was the gift you ask? An alarm clock for my girlfriend:

Check it out at Amazon

It's perfect. It is easy to use, has 2 alarms (both can be radio/buzzer), a buzzer that goes from soft to really loud, a giant snooze button, a very small off button, automatically sets itself for daylight savings time, and has a battery that will still sound a buzzer in the morning if the power is off.

Mark my words--next year, 75% or more of my shopping will be done online. I dislike stores so much.

Last Minute Shopping (Post--Take 2)

2006-12-23T15:36:00.000-06:00

So, I lost the first version of the post right as I tried to submit it--it was probably written better, but here we go again!

Finals came and as I finished on Friday, I turned into the biggest apartment bum that Kauffman's ever seen. What did I do? TV, XBox, Sleep, and general socializing as I tried to feel better from an awful cold. It was a awesome change in pace (minus the cold part). How did finals turn out? Good enough.

I went home to Bellwood on Tuesday, finally returning to Lincoln on Thursday for some last minute shopping. Only, it wasn't a little bit--it was 90% of my shopping. Kim and I went out and about Thursday night--I was then a little over half done.

Friday morning had a late start, but I went out with a blaze of glory visiting:

Petsmart
Wal-Mart
Shopko
(Lunch Break)
Target (I found what I want but they're out)
Best Buy (They don't have it either)
Gateway (Various Stores - C'mon--Seriously)
Linens-N-Things (Was desperate--but Jackpot--They had at least 40 of them)
Shopko (This seems familiar)
Wal-Mart (I love this place)
Wal-Mart (I love this place so much I couldn't make it out of the parking lot without going back in)

Yes, I was at the same Wal-Mart three times and Shopko twice. Poor planning? Probably. Christmas crowds? Enough to make me wish I'd shopped earlier. I spent at least 10 minutes just trying to depart the Best Buy parking lot. The second trip into Wal-Mart? I forgot labels for Christmas gifts.

Next year: Buy everything at Amazon.com and have it shipped to me. I'm not setting foot in a store again. Ok, so maybe that won't happen--but I can at least set the bar high and aim for it.

Christmas--here we go. Do your worst--I'm ready...

The Week Formerly Known as Dead Week

2006-12-03T21:31:00.000-06:00

The whole semester's come down to the next two weeks. This coming week use to be called "Dead Week" across campus until ASUN voted to change the name to "The 15th Week". It's a week where students are allowed to catch-up, submit final projects, and prepare for finals during the following week. I'm looking forward to this week--some of my classes have been canceled and, in general, don't have too much to do. My final schedule the following week: 1 on Tuesday and 2 on Friday. Conveniently, my two Friday finals have alternative times scheduled on Tuesday as well. So, I could take three finals within a couple hours and be done.... or not. Either way, it'll be a good time.

Check the photos for Star City Parade photos--sorry for the glare on some of them--I should have taken Nick up on the offer of a used lens hood. I keep learning.

Time to head to church--I like going to the Sunday night candle-lit mass.

A Little Press...

2006-11-22T23:01:00.000-06:00

I had the luck of being interviewed by a reporter from our campus newspaper about my business endevours. Read the Daily Nebraskan Interview.

Inspiration to All

2006-11-06T11:43:00.000-06:00

Helen Greiner, co-founder and chairman for iRobot, was one of the best presenters at the CEO national convention. She has an incredible vision and has been responsible for saving the lives of numerous soldiers through their PackBot offering. Even more than that, she has a minor speech impediment in which she has trouble pronouncing 'R's. It is so inspiring to see someone who has overcome a disability and risen to high-levels of success.

Read a little more about her at:
http://features.engadget.com/2004/08/02/interview-helen-greiner-chairman-and-cofounder-of-irobot/

Greetings from Chicago

2006-11-03T14:54:00.000-06:00

Right now I'm sitting in a breakout session at the Collegiate Entrepreneur's Organization National Convention @ the Hyatt Regency McCormeck in Chicago, IL. This year there's over 1300 attendees and a number of great speakers including a track specifically for the technology industry. I'm coming up with a number of great ideas for a business startup, hopefully completing the next iteration of my business plan by the first of the year.

After watching some elevator pitches, it's clear that sales training is lacking in Colleges. Elevator pitches are 1 minute presentations of a business concept--a skill every entrepreneur should have in case they meet a potential investor or customer. The main problem isn't presentation skills--it's in the close--asking for the sale. Some let their speech end with the audience wondering if the speaker is done. Others have a flawless ending, but no planned closing and stumble out a incoherent "if you like it, let's talk later". The few that get it right and ask for the close, they're the ones that look good. I wonder why UNL doesn't have any classes discussing sales techniques... any individual needs these skills weather pitching themselves in an interview, a business plan, or selling a product.

Class Registration

2006-10-23T23:27:00.000-05:00

8:00 AM: The last digit of my social matches and I can register for classes. Which did I pick?

Design Studio IV (JDE)
Small Business Growth & Development (Entrepreneurship)
Consumer Behavior (Marketing)
Early Christianity (History)
Vines, Wines & You (Wine Tasting/Production/General Education Class)

Did I get lucky? Why yes. Vines, Wines & You was full by 10:00 (so only 4 out of 10 social security number endings could register at this point).

Welcome

2006-10-22T16:26:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the Zim's new blog. Long story short, I finally bought into this idea of using Google's services. My old blog fell out-of-date because it took forever to upload pictures and make posts. Now, I'm able to store a photo album in Picasa and sych it with Google. No more time spent resizing and uploading photos. What does this mean for you? I'll actually have time to make posts and show pictures! Keep an eye out--more to come as the week moves on.

If you are looking for my old blog (that covers my trip to Europe), it's still online. Just hit on the EuroTrip Blog link (right).