Justin Germino Ramblings

There has been a lot of feedback in the online community and even an article on CNN about how the Silk browser in Amazon’s new Fire tablet filters all content you visit through their cloud.  This increases the load times of sites by up to 200% but also means Amazon tracks everything you visit and every transaction you perform that isn’t encrypted.

People who are up in arms over the Facebook tracking cookies that track where users visit even when leaving Facebook supposedly, or Google’s pattern and habit tracking of Chrome would probably see this as an even larger threat to user’s anonymity in where they go and what they visit online.

It is common knowledge now that your “habits” and “patterns” are what advertisers want.  This personalization of what you buy, where you visit helps better tailor advertisements, coupons and enticing offers for the products or services you are more likely to be interested in.

Corporations themselves want to collect this data to gleam more revenue from advertisers to sell this data or in the case of Amazon align their own product / service offerings to better align with users patterns of behavior.

But how do consumers and users feel about all their browsing patterns being tracked with such detail for such purposes?  It should be no surprise that the majority of web surfers do not like the tracking, but far fewer are willing to make the changes in browsers or option configuration to actually disable the tracking or go around it.

The inconvenience of running Chrome in Incognito Mode all the time outweighs the pros of having virtually none of your cookies, set and data listed.

Using a site like Kroxy or VPN service to pass all your traffic through so websites don’t know where you are coming from is also an inconvenience most are not willing to do.

So, how upset are you if your tablet browser which is from Amazon and is all about making everything Amazon more accessible and within reach also tracks all your browsing information? 

Do you think this will deter users from buying the Fire as a tablet device?

-Justin Germino

I can’t stand false reporting and fake analytics, so my personal blog was unhitched from my FriendFeed account because I didn’t like that all my Friendfeed contacts listed as RSS subscribers which made it look like this blog had over 1000 RSS subscribers when it has under 100.

The Google RSS subscriber button is misleading in this way if you have a large Friendfeed network and can give false impressions to advertisers who do want to see a large subscription base.  Also it really is false and would be as accurate as reporting Twitter followers as RSS subscribers which just isn’t the case.  Just because you auto share a post link on your social networks doesn’t make everyone following you a subscriber.

Odd things have happened with my personal blog becoming more inviting to advertisers as of late since it was ranked a PR3 and my traffic increasing from it’s former average of 2500 visits per month to nearly 10,000 per month.  I am seeing this personal blog starting to get more attention and ramp up revenue like DragonBlogger.com was about 2 years ago.

[easyazon-image-link asin=”B001TH7GUK” alt=”AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to Mini-B Cable (6 Feet / 1.8 Meters)” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/419ca-2c9tL._SL160_.jpg” align=”left” width=”159″ height=”160″]This bodes well because if I can increase the monetization of this site I would further increase my blogging related revenue and potentially be able to reach my goals which still remain at earning $1,000 per month consistently through blogging related efforts.

I met this goal for the first time last month and will just miss it this month but be close enough that I think it is achievable and I may be able to hit it consistently by the end of the year.

Though the hours I put into blogging make it feel like a 2nd (or 3rd) job, it really has helped ease some of the finances and allowed for some extra’s that I wouldn’t have been able to gotten.  It is completely with blog funds that I purchased a new $1300 computer system and it is blogging funds that I will finance a Legoland adventure with the kids and entire family in October which is putting my blog earnings to good use.

Blogging also has allowed me to start paying others, so even though it isn’t a lot I feel like I am helping people earn some money for themselves and in some cases bloggers writing for my site can earn more than they do writing for their own.

One thing I don’t ever do is try to misrepresent my statistics, numbers and earnings.  I am very open about full disclosure on how many followers, readers, subscribers and analytics around my sites.  I don’t believe in earning through deception.

-Justin Germino

I was thrilled when the following BloggersCompete email was waiting for me in my inbox the other morning.

The following blogpost has won!
5 Ways Fishing is Like Blogging
https://www.justingermino.com/5-ways-fishing-blogging/

The contest owner left the following feedback about your entry:

awesome job Justin! you won again.

You should be receiving your reward shortly

All the best,

The Bloggers Compete Team

The 5 ways comparing fishing to blogging was a spur of the moment post that I had written up the moment I saw the contest and just whipped out in about 30 minutes or so.  It was a fun concept and I am hoping my own BloggersCompete contest where bloggers write about their favorite tech gadget catches on and inspires some more entries.

The contest to Talk About One of Your Favorite Tech Gadgets is still ongoing for another 16 days or so, so this is your chance to enter an article about what your favorite tech gadget is and why.  2 Winners will be chosen and earn $50 cash prizes for having the most entertaining and well written articles.

-Justin Germino

So today is my 34th Birthday and much like the middle years this isn’t really a major milestone to celebrate.  I find myself contemplating all of the things I had hoped to accomplish by 34 and found that I had a lot to be proud of though there are many goals I need to set for myself.

Most of all I didn’t even take today off of work so will feel like a normal day instead.  The cool thing is my son turns 8 next week and we are celebrating our combined birthday at Benihana’s this Sunday which is one of his favorite places.

Mostly I am just looking forward to fall break in early October where the whole family will spend some time in our Beach Cottage (what we call it) and just escape the hot Arizona weather and enjoy some time at the beach and in SoCal.

It will be a partial working vacation for me as I can’t take the entire week off of work.

My favorite cake is Blueberry Cheesecake, and maybe I will have one of those to celebrate tonight or this weekend.  Other than that I am looking forward to Might and Magic Heroes VI which will be my birthday gift but the game doesn’t release until mid October (though I will be getting the early playable Beta which has a few levels).

-Justin Germino

Felt like whipping up an extra poem for my personal blog this week, crafted this one just for the heck of it about the current times/age.

Logistical Error

Unable to compute

input in error

stream for a time

ones life in a line

spoken false in truth

and lies a known fact

yet computations know better

and statements proclaimed

are a logistical error

-Poem by Justin Germino

Managed to actually get in a good solid hour of play time with Portal 2 on Sunday this past weekend and stuck on a puzzle which involves doing mid air jumps and using a cube to block lasers which cause platforms to lower when the laser cuts off power.

Don’t know how I fare in compared to most Portal players but it is so funny how this game makes you feel like an idiot because you can’t figure something out and then after experimenting and looking at things literally from different point of views you feel like a genius when you finally do figure it out.

[easyazon-image-link asin=”B002I0J9M0″ alt=”Portal 2″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51f-BE49%2BuL.jpg” align=”left” width=”250″]The most unique aspect of Portal 2 of course is the portals and nothing is more unusual than opening a portal in the floor that you have to jump into while a 2nd portal is on a wall and you kind of fall sideways to land on distant surfaces.

There are ways to create infinite loops where you can see your character repeated to simulated infinity which is also always fun as well.

The game is extremely interesting but unfortunately my two kids don’t really have the patience to play it or even watch me play it for long periods of time as they bore long before I can even figure out how to solve some of the puzzles sometimes.

Later this week will probably be getting the Might & Magic Heroes VI via pre-order so I can play with the Beta before it releases in a few weeks.

-Justin Germino

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Kids want a tablet or an iPad and you are thinking that getting them a Nintendo 3DS or the cheaper Nintendo DSi will save money because it is $300 cheaper right now?  Think again!

Logically you would think the $499 iPad price tag vs the $169 price tag of the Nintendo 3DS would make this a clear winner, I mean let’s face it right the 3DS is so much cheaper and plays games and should suffice.

But I am going to tell you that cartridge games add up and add up quick.

Even on Amazon.com and with discounts newer 3DS games cost over $35 bucks a pop, New Super Mario Bros DS is $46.99.  If you buy your kid 12 DS games per year, you are looking at spending $420 in Nintendo DS games over 12 months or more ($35 x 12).  This puts the total cost of ownership for Nintendo 3DS console + 12 games at $589 at the end of the first  year.

Compare this with an iPad 2 where you can get hundreds of games for free, and many games are just .99 – $5 for very good quality games plus the iPad 2 has so many more apps and capabilities to help kids grow and learn.  There are 10x as many preschool and learning apps, movies, reading books…etc that there is just no comparison to the Nintendo DS in any way.

The iPad 2 also servers as a portable DVD player in the car or airplanes, as well as 2 people can play games on it at the same time in a turn based situation like Chess, Battleship, Scrabble….etc.

Put the same cost to 2 years and you add another $420 on DS games bringing total cost of ownership to $1009 dollars for the Nintendo 3DS vs let’s say you bought 20 iPad games at $2 each which would bring iPad ownership to $540.

Before you balk about the price difference between an iPad 2 and a Nintendo 3DS when deciding to get a handheld system for your kids this Christmas you may want to consider the games and long term ownership costs and other benefits.  Simply put I believe tablets give children an investment in more than just a gaming console and even my 5 year old uses my iPad 2 at least 1x per day for a little bit even if it’s just to watch a Toy Story 3 book read to him (though he plays the Smurfs game often too which involves mixing potions, farming resources…etc).

Though Android tablets can be a little cheaper than the iPad 2 we bought a Coby Android 2.2 tablet for $119 and it just was so poor quality, touch screen sticky and the app selection so minimal that it just couldn’t compare and once you test an iPad you can’t use one of the cheaper Android tablets.  Meanwhile some of the good Android tablets like the Motorola Xoom and Galaxy Tab 10.1 can be more than the cheapest iPad 2 model and still lack the diversity and quality in titles that are found in the App store.

The only consideration when buying a tablet for younger kids is responsibility and making sure you get a really strong protective covering to protect against accidental drops.  A screen liner isn’t a bad idea either to protect the screen from dirty fingers.

-Justin Germino

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Facebook really made it clear they intend to dominate your life if you are already a Facebook fan or give you even more compelling reasons to get involved if you are one of the few who aren’t.

Sharing is everything in this culture of reality TV obsessed who want to know every detail of everyone’s life and Facebook tailors to this obsession by turning everyone into your own reality star.  You get to share every event of your live in chronological order, everything you interact with, every song you listen to or show you watch and a subscriber or friend can listen or watch it with you or right after you in Facebook without even leaving the site.

Everyone’s autobiography is online and this may look like the eventual path where everyone’s life is on public display this only feeds into the big brother fears and mentality (with some truth) that the more you put online and share the more you increase your risk of identity theft and make it easer to have your identity spoofed.

Companies will now have insight into not just stupid wall posts of what you did last week, but your entire life timeline will be on display for people to review to see if your hobbies, habits, likes fit a corporate profile of what they are looking for in an employee.

Let say for example you were a corporation and looking to hire a tech position and were screening someone on social media would you rather have someone who has a history of living and breathing tech in many of their activities or someone with very few tech and clearly has other interests with tech being a very small percentage of their likes/hobby related activities?

I think Facebook updates only make it more open for people who like to be open and let the world read them as a book.  Privacy is rapidly going away for those who love to share everything and this isn’t always such a good thing.

-Justin Germino

Lately I have been wanting to somehow find more way to be active during the day when I work 10-12 hours from my computer sitting down.  I do take breaks, walk while on conference calls, and hit the gym a few times per week plus do my stepper once in a while at home but I have read that just by sitting for any length of time can decrease your lifespan by up to 6 years even if you exercise 1 hour a day weekly.

I also was reading that if you walked 6+ hours per day at a slow pace instead of sitting your body would burn about 56 pounds of calories per year.  Now, I am young enough and healthy enough that I could walk at a comfortable pace for at least 2-3 hours at a time without sitting and probably 4-5 hours which I have done before on rare occasions (Theme parks…etc).

I was looking into Treadmill Desks and there were some very impressive ones online, that basically build a desk into a treadmill where you have full access to desktop surface while walking at a casual pace.  This is a great option and a space saver, but they were prohibitively expensive from my point of view.

An example is the Walkstation Height-Adjustable Desk and Treadmill seen here:

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I have even seen a Pedal Desk, which is for casual cycling while working from a laptop, nice for light work but still in sitting position.

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The TrekDesk Treadmill Desk is basically a folding/adjustable desk that you put together over an existing separate Treadmill and is a great option as well.  It is cheaper to buy a treadmill + this desk than the combination and you can simply remove the desk when you want to do vigorous running on your treadmill.

This would probably be my preferred option as it is compatible with most treadmills (just have to check product compatibility chart) and you can even use incline to get more impact and burn more calories than a treadmill stuck in completely 0% incline mode.

So, I probably would take a tape measure to a Treadmill or make sure I knew the height measurements of the arm rests and front of a treadmill to make sure it was completely compatible.  The company mentioned there were millions of different treadmill models so it is hard to certify every single one and I am sure it is with that many existing.

If I did get a treadmill desk, the only place it could go is where my weight bench is now in my office, and I would probably have to move my weight bench into the garage.

My body is always in motion, even when sitting I am constantly tapping my legs up and down and moving my arms, I tested walking and typing and don’t see it interfering with my touch typing at all so I am pretty sure I can accomplish everything I need while walking.

Is it worth the investment?  Say around $900 – $1000 for the Treadmill + TrekDesk Treadmill Desk?  Maybe, it depends on how committed one would be to walking for hours while working or on conference calls, if you can do these things without issue then the health benefits would probably be advantageous for sure.

I would have to do some serious consolidation of equipment though as I have too much equipment on my desk now to fit on a Treadmill desk.

-Justin Germino

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Generally I am one of those movie goers who gets lost in a film, I become part of the story and follow along without really thinking about anything but what is happening in the film.  I am one of the rare people who gets engrossed in movies and don’t like to engage in conversation, never check my blackberry, iPad or multitask when watching movies which is ironic because I multitask with nearly every other thing I do in my life.

I watch a movie for the escapism some would say, so when I generally watch a film it can leave me with lasting impressions in some cases and a really good or thought provoking film could actually make me think and dwell on it for several hours or even slightly change my point of view or way of thinking to some degree.

I have a tendency to like optimism and movies where things work out for the better in the end, but I also occasionally like being jarred with a real, or unpredictable ending that leaves you scratching your head or saying “That’s F*cked up” to the TV screen as the end credits start rolling.

Recently been seeing a few movies that have just “drop” endings and in these cases they both had similar endings for two completely different movies.

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Everything Must Go with Will Ferrell was a good movie and captured a man’s life falling apart as a result of his drinking addiction pretty well.  Without spoiling it I will just say the ending fits in the category of leaving you scratching your head a little.

Stone which is movie with Edward Norton and Robert De Niro is another intense film that in a way is about a man’s life falling apart and leaves with a similar if even less optimistic future at the end of the film.

By far though the movie that I found to this day has one of the most unexpected and disturbing endings is Stephen King’s The Mist, which had you literally saying “I can’t believe that happened” and you literally can’t believe the movie took that direction and ended the way it did.  This one stands out and has one of the most original if not horrific endings out of any movie I have ever seen.  Not that the movie was great, it was a good movie if you like Stephen King’s old school monster type movies, but the ending just really stuck with you.

For me, how a movie reaches it’s climax and ends is what sticks with me and has a lasting impression.

So, for my readers out there which type of movie do you prefer?  One with a happy ending that closes all loose ends relatively neatly or one that shocks you or shatters your expectations?

-Justin Germino

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