The World Will Not End in 2012

In the news today, Egypt decided to cut off Internet access for the ENTIRE COUNTRY due to civil unrest and protests:

Egypt Cuts Off Internet

This got me to thinking about 2012 and the supposed end of the world.   As most people probably have read or heard from other sources, there are some that believe the world will end on December 21st, 2012.   Why or how this will occur is subject to debate.   Some believe there will be some world wide catastrophe. Yet, others believe that perhaps in 2012 there will major changes to humanity and how we live.

In my humble opinion, I think that in 2012, there will be some incident involving the world being cut off from the Internet.  This may be accidental or intentional.  Regardless, being cut off from the Internet will have a drastic affect on everyone.  Just think about the majority of people who do their shopping, banking, and other activities online.   There are others whose social lives revolve around email, instant messaging and Facebook.  This incident will last for some time and cause unrest.

Eventually Internet access will be restored and the world will get back to the way we know it.  However, there will be a chance in the attitude regarding the Internet.  The Internet has been a godsend for online activities and fast communication.  Yet, meeting up with people, talking on the phone and other live social activities can never be replaced by electronic communication.

In 2012, I believe there will be a fundamental change in the way the Internet is viewed and used.  Online shopping, banking and other activities will still continue.  But real human interaction will once again rise up as people realize that a phone call to a friend beats an email.  Meeting up with someone beats just exchanging instant messages.

Who knows, I could be wrong and the world could still end in 2012.  If that is the case, we'd better enjoy it for what it's worth now!

Jeremy Lin trying to find his way in the NBA

After a few weeks of speculation, the Golden State Warriors sent rookie Jeremy Lin to the NBA "D-League" after their game Monday evening.  Lin will be playing for the Reno Bighorns team with the intention of getting more playing time and learning to play the point guard position.

The Bighorns actually played tonight (Tuesday) and I got a chance to watch the second half of the game.  Lin scored 10 points (8 in the first half) and here are some my impressions.

The first thing I noticed is that Lin's play tonight was similar to how he was playing with the Warriors.  Two examples of this:

1. Lin would bring the ball up, pass it to the wing and then get out of the way.  His teammates would pass it among themselves and then put up a shot. 
2. Lin would bring the ball up and try to attack the basket.  The couple of drives Lin took ended up being called offensive fouls.  Lin still has not developed a secondary move and teams know he doesn't change direction when he drives.  

The commentators for the game were pretty hard on Lin as they said he needs to look up more, pass the ball earlier and stop trying to go one-on-one. 

I'd have to agree with the commentators that Lin needs to improve his game.  My current impression of Lin is that he is a shooting guard trying to convert to a point guard.  Though Lin played point guard in high school, he was a shooting guard through most of college and I think those college instincts are showing.  

Lin wants to go and attack the basket and then dish out to his teammates.  However, the lanes he had in college aren't quite there.   Lin should be able to pull up for his jumper but he seems reluctant to shoot his jumper in the professional ranks.  Lin's perimeter shooting in college was reasonable and if he could replicate some of his college success, Lin would be able to play much better. 

Lin's best attributes right now is his defense.  Unfortunately, this isn't football where Lin can play only defense.  For Lin to enjoy a long career in the NBA, Lin needs to develop his point guard mindset AND improve his outside shooting.  He's not quite there yet but given Lin's history, I wouldn't doubt his ability.  

The End Of The Road For Yao Ming?

I got home tonight and found the unfortunate news that Yao Ming suffered yet another stress fracture in his ankle:

Sports Illustrated:  Only Yao Can Make The Next Call

From reading all the various articles online, there is speculation that with the latest injury, Yao Ming's career could be over at the age of 30 years old.   This is based on Yao's previous comments that if he continued to have injuries, he would likely choose to retire.

Of course, nothing is set in stone.  Neither Yao Ming or the Houston Rockets have publicly commented on the latest injury yet, though I presume this will come in the next few days.

If this is the end of the road for Yao Ming, it will be a loss for the NBA, China and the Asian-American community.

Yao's presence greatly enhanced the marketability of the NBA in China and the NBA profited immensely from this.  Losing Yao is a blow because there is no other Chinese player (in the NBA or China) that had the appeal Yao had.   Yi Jianlian is the only current Chinese player in the NBA.  Despite have some talent and potential, Yi hasn't played anywhere close to Yao's level.  In fact, Yi has suffered his own share of injuries recently.  Other players like Sun Yue are just marginal players who may or may not get another shot to play in the NBA in the future.

If Yao retires, China may be hurt the most.  Yao Ming was the face of Chinese basketball for marketing purposes.  However, Yao Ming was also the undisputed best player for the Chinese National team.    The Chinese National team played ok without Yao during the World Basketball Championships in September.  Yi Jianlian stepped and had a solid tournament.  Other Chinese players also did reasonably well.  Yet, none had the impact Yao has had.

There has been many discussions over Yao Ming's NBA career that China needed to improve their basketball development process.  After all, with the exception of Yao, no other Chinese player has had a huge impact (Wang Zhi-Zhi, Bateer, Sun Yue, Yi Jianlian).   However, I think China always looked at Yao and thought:  "As long as Yao is around we'll be ok".  Unfortunately for China, the future may be now!

Lastly, if Yao retires, it will be a loss to the Asian-American community here in the United States.   Though Yao was not born in the United States, he was the first Asian player to play a high level in the NBA.  He brought an Asian face to the NBA, where the majority of players are mainly African American.  Lastly, in a country where Asian-Americans are not prominent in the media, Yao was a positive presence that many Asian-Americans could look up to and say "Hey, maybe I can make the NBA like Yao did."

In addition, Yao brought an entirely different side to Asian-Americans and Chinese culture.  Yao was born in China but had a great sense of humor that everyone loved.   If you look at the other Chinese players that have played in the NBA, none had this ability to endear themselves to different people.

Jeremy Lin has been garnering a lot of attention as one of the few Asian-Americans to play in the NBA. However, even the staunchest Lin supporter will agree that Lin is nowhere the player Yao Ming is.   Unfortunately, if Yao retires, the torch may be laid at Yi Jianlian and Jeremy Lin's hands.  Alas, I don't think either one is ready to pick the torch up.

Whatever ultimately happens, Yao Ming was a welcome bright spot in the NBA.  Hopefully he can heal up and play in the NBA for years to come.  If not, I wish him well in his future endeavors.

Pinball Machines: Reflections Of A Different Time & Era

About a month ago, I was searching for some activities to do in the East Bay.  While researching via Yelp, I stumbled upon the Pacific Pinball Museum in Alameda, CA. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to visit at the time. However, I was in the area today and stopped by for a visit.  I didn't regret it one bit as I spent a solid two hours at the museum.  

While the initial entry cost of $15 may seem steep for a museum, it is actually quite a bargain.  The $15 entitles you to unlimited play of all the various pinball machines that in the museum.   There's quite a selection of older and more modern pinball machines that you can play.   In addition, you get "in and out" privileges.  So if you need to step out to get a bite to eat and come back later, it is perfectly ok.   As I noted, I spent a lot of time at the museum today and had a blast.  Strangely enough, I gravitated to playing some of the older pinball machines than some of the newer ones (though I enjoyed a couple of them).

After leaving the museum, I started to think about why I enjoyed my time there today.  After all, I was child of the 1980's.  I grew up in the era of Pac-Man, Donkey King and other well known arcade games as well as the era of the Atari, Coleco, and Commodore (among others) video game and computer systems.

The answer I came up with is that the pinball machines harken back to a simpler era.  The purpose of playing pinball is to stay alive as long as possible and get as many points along the way.   It didn't matter if you were playing a pinball machine from the 1950's or the 1980's, the purpose remained the same.   The same purpose of getting as many points as possible is basically the same purpose as the majority of 1980's arcade games.

It didn't matter if you played Pac Man (eating dots and ghosts), Donkey Kong (jumping over barrels), Pole Position (driving), or Galaga (shooting aliens), the major purpose was to stay alive as long as possible, advance to higher levels and accumulate points.   Obviously there were exceptions like Dragon's Lair.

Given this, it was no surprise that I found a love of pinball machines.  With the ability to have unlimited play at the museum, I kept trying multiple times at several machines and did pretty well toward the end of my stay.

Unfortunately, pinball machines are reflections of a different time before video games and computers existed.  From doing some research online, there does not appear to any companies who are mass producing pinball machines today due to a lack of demand from the mainstream public.  With all fancy graphics and sound available on home systems today, pinball machines are looked at as relics.    All the young people today go for Starcraft 2, World of Warcraft and other games.

However, as the Pacific Pinball Museum shows, pinball is still alive in the underground.  There were a good number of people of all ages at the museum today.  There was a party there were kids and their parents present.  There were quite a few other families who showed up after I arrived.  The folks that run the museum also host an annual expo as well.

Pinball might not be as fancy as today's video games, but I think it's definitely worth a visit from gamers of all ages.  You don't always need to play the latest and greatest to have a good time.

Returning Home May Not Have Been the Wisest Choice For Jeremy Lin......

Jeremy Lin's NBA career got off to a good start when he played a solid 12 minutes in a 40 point blowout against the LA Clippers last week.   I'm sure that must have pleased the Warriors and the many Jeremy Lin fans out here in the Bay Area.

However, Lin's second game last Friday proved to be a little more rocky.  He came in with 4 minutes left in the game against the Sacramento Kings.  I personally don't know the score at the time but the Warriors were leading by a decent margin.  Unlike the Clipper game though, the intensity level was still high and that might have unnerved Lin.   He logged about 1 minute and 20 seconds of game time, turning the ball over three times and got yanked by Coach Keith Smart.

On the surface, it looked bad that Lin fared poorly.   However, in an article in the Contra Costa Times, Coach Smart took responsibility for putting Lin into a tough situation:

"Smart took the blame for the struggles of guard Jeremy Lin against the Kings. Lin played for just one minute, 21 seconds and had two turnovers. He looked out of sync. Smart said he put Lin in the game at the wrong time, when Sacramento was pressing to get back in the contest. It wasn't the best situation to put Lin into at this stage, Smart said."

Part of the reason Coach Smart may have put Lin in was because the Warriors fan started calling for him late in the fourth quarter.  This can be seen on the various highlights posted on YouTube.  While I'm not in Coach Smart's shoes, he probably let Lin play both to keep the fans happy and see how Lin could handle the situation.

However, I'm starting to think that Jeremy Lin returning home may not have been the wisest of choices for him.   Lin may have been better in Dallas (or some other city outside of California) where he could practice and work under the radar.

As is Lin is under the microscope more than your typical un-drafted rookie.  Lin is obviously from the Bay Area and has family and friends who will go to his home games.   Being Asian, Lin is drawing exceptional support from the Asian-American community as seen in the videos.    This kind of support is unheard of for a rookie and much needed for a guy who needs to work hard to prove that he belongs in the NBA.

But all of this can be seen as a negative as well.  It can be suffocating to try to live up to the expectations of all those who will be in attendance of home Warriors games this season.   I'm sure Lin is a realist but when you have thousands of fans cheering for you, it is awfully hard to ignore.  Being the perfectionist, he seems to be, I'm sure Lin wants to do well and is disappointed when he doesn't play well.

I hope Warriors fan temper their enthusiasm.  Let's cheer Jeremy Lin on but not go overboard.  It's funny that I probably annoy all of my friends via my various links, blog postings and Facebook postings on Jeremy Lin.   Yet, I have not attended any of the preseason games yet.  My hope is that Jeremy Lin will get plenty of practice time to develop.   Once the regular season rolls around, I hope to see Jeremy Lin out on the court for more meaningful minutes.

Good Time for Dance Music........

Sometime back while I was in college in the late 1990's, I met a classmate who did some DJ'ing on the side.  Thanks to this classmate, I started listening to various genres of dance music like Eurodance, Freestyle, House and Trance.  I hadn't realized it before but I'd always been a dance music fan.   I had listened to many 80's songs that were considered dance:  "Spring Love" (Stevie B), "Into The Grove" (Madonna), among many others.

In the late 1990's, there were various dance songs that I loved:  "Be My Lover" (La Bouche), "Another Night" (Real McCoy), "Rhythm of the Night" (Corona) and others. However, as the year 2000 rolled around, the trend went to more electronic / trance type songs.  After a while, all electronic music sounds the game and I stopped following the dance music market.

More recently, Far East Movement's "Like a G6" finally gained national airplay including two of our local "party" music stations so I started listening to radio again.  I was surprised to hear a load of dance type songs that caught my interest:

"Like a G6" - Far East Movement
"California Gurls" - Katy Perry
"Dynamite" - Taio Cruz
"DJ's Got Us Falling in Love" - Usher
"I Like It" - Enrique Iglesias

To me, it's great that artists are putting out these vocal dance songs.  Electronic Music has it's place but the best dance songs that I've ever listened to were from the 1980's.   While I don't think some of these recent releases will ever become classics like some of the 1980's stuff I like, it's good that there is still solid dance music coming out these days.

iPhone 4 - All in one communication device..........

My friend and I were talking for a few hours today over various things.  Among the items discussed were our iPhone 4's that we each have.  I suggested a few applications my friend might want and vice versa.  As we were talking away, I realized how the iPhone 4 is the all in one communication device for me (probably many others as well).

The iPhone 4 is first and foremost a phone.  However, you can also receive text messages.  The next thing is there are various applications of instant messaging.  Lastly, there's Skype for making voice calls over the Internet.

I told my friend that if they couldn't reach me at any of the methods above, I definitely was not available!  :)

SIDENOTE:  Despite picking up the iPhone 4, my old Blackberry Curve is still around.  While the Curve doesn't serve as a phone anymore, I still have many songs on the device.  In fact, once I get around to deleting the various applications that no longer work, I will have even more space.  I plan to keep the Curve around as a portable music device for some occasions.  Recycling technology!