Jason Douglas's Life Blog

Minor League Search, Professional Results

Jason Douglas — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:00:54 +0000

Earlier this week, I was searching for a history of all minor league sports teams that have been in Minnesota. Some that come to mind: the Minneapolis Millers baseball, St. Paul Saints baseball, Minnesota Moose hockey, and the Minnesota Thunder soccer club.

However, in my search, I did not find any of the above mentioned in the first four results on Google. I did find the Minnesota Wild as the highest ranked team.

I found it a bit humorous as there have been many minor league players promoted to the professional club and have times made it feel like it was the Houston Aeros skating and not the Minnesota Wild. Of course, that has no bearing on the search result.

If the Minnesota Wild is aware of this, they should not be happy about their ranking for this term. The only mention of minor-league affiliates on the Wikipedia page is regarding the Houston Aeros and Bakersfield Condors on the third paragraph.

I wonder if putting the one sentence mentioning the minor-league affiliates lower in the post would help change the ranking.

That is my odd search result of the week. Other than the Rick Santorum search controversy, have you seen anything odd that caught your eye?

Jason

2011: A Year of Change and Learning. 2012: A Year of Finding.

Jason Douglas — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:00:31 +0000

Entering 2011, I felt rather comfortable and happy with where things were in my life. I had an enjoyable, stable job. I had a great, stable relationship. I was healthy and looking forward to my second Grandma’s Marathon. I was ready for 2011 and everything it would bring.

I closed 2011 with a very new and enjoyable job. The great, stable relationship went a different direction and is no longer. Additional things and events made 2011 forgettable. Numerous people quit on me in 2011. It hurt. It sucked. It is something I will never forget. 2011 was not a complete wash. Every moment provides a learning experience.

What I learned in 2011:

I desperately need to learn how to relax and slow down at the right times.
I need to trust my instincts more and act on them. Too many times in 2011, my gut told me what was going on. For some reason, I rarely acted on my instincts and paid the price each time. For the record, my instincts were not wrong once.
While I communicate well in most situations, this is an area needing improvement in other aspects of life.
If you want to accomplish something, it needs to be a priority and some things will need to be sacrificed.
I learned so much about what I want out of myself, my family, friends and whoever I date next.
Often, I tell others to become more selfish. While giving is great, at some point you must consider yourself first. Jason, listen to yourself more.
I enjoy wearing glasses.

2012 is here and I could not be happier.

What will I do in 2012:

A bigger focus on my health. A healthy me will accomplish so much more.
A happy attitude in turning 30, or 29.2 It is better then the alternative.
Expand my horizons and enjoy more new experiences.
Get back into playing golf. It has been over two years since I have swung a club which is a gosh darn shame!
Expand my friendship base and network. I have said that I have too many friends. That has to be one of the dumbest statements to ever come out of my mouth.

2012 will be a better year than 2011 was. I am looking forward to new experiences, a new age and new memories. If you stick with me, I promise it will be worth your time.

Happy 2012 to you and yours!

Jason

Banning Cellphone Calls While Driving is the Wrong Call

Jason Douglas — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:17:04 +0000

As an avid and experienced cellphone user, I was intrigued by the National Transportation Safety Board’s recommendation to ban all cellphone usage while driving in the United States.

Banning texting while driving makes perfect sense. I have been guilty of texting in the past and know from experience that texting is a major distraction. Try staying in a straight lane while looking down at your phone. It is virtually impossible.

Banning voice messaging using apps such as Dragon Dictation also make sense. Yes, you are no longer typing a message. However, dictation services are not perfect and may misinterpret some words. Proofing a message is necessary. For that, opening the app and sending the message, you need to be looking at your phone.

The issue I have with the NTSB’s proposal is with banning calls while driving.

I am fortunate to have bluetooth in my car which has enabled me to use true hands-free calling. No interaction with my phone is required. The only interaction outside of driving is to wake up the bluetooth device in the car which takes the same amount of time as changing a radio station. From there, I tell the bluetooth I want to make a call, state the name, verify it and wait for the call to connect.

Essentially, I am having a conversation with someone in the car. By banning cellphone calls, the NTSB is essentially banning talking to someone in the passenger or back seats. Seems preposterous, right?

While I recognize not everyone has bluetooth due to cost and age of their vehicle, there are other ways to become hands-free. Those options help minimize the necessary interaction on their phone which in theory, would help create more attentive drivers.

My proposal: ban cellphone calls for drivers who do not have a hands-free option. With that, offer a hands-free option to these drivers. In addition, make bluetooth devices standard in all vehicles sold in the US.

What are your thoughts on the NTSB’s proposal? Share your take in the comments section below.

How To Get the New Facebook Timeline

Jason Douglas — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 05:33:29 +0000

On September 22, Facebook announced their latest revisions which include integration with Spotify, Netflix and an overhaul on the user timeline. Access for all will be rolled out on September 30th. I am not patient enough to wait nine days for the latest and greatest version of Facebook. I thought “how would someone get access to the new Facebook?”

Here is an idea: Google “how to get access to new Facebook.” Or, keep reading below.

I found an article from the Huffington Post which includes a video and a list of what to do. Below are the steps I followed to get access:

On Facebook’s search bar, type in “Developer.” Click on the first result. Then click “Allow” to give the Facebook app access. In the next few steps, you will become a developer for a minute. Check that off the bucket list!
When in the Facebook Developer App, click on “+ Create New App” button. Fill out the App display name and description. While nothing will be made public, be safe and name the app after yourself.
Agree to the Developer privacy agreement. Don’t take the time to read it. You are only delaying and depriving yourself out of new Facebook.
On the left side, click on “Open Graph” and type in a test verb and noun for your new app.
Run through a few pages of new app information. There is no need to enter anything here. Keep on saving changes and continuing. The quicker you do this, the quicker you have new Facebook!
Once completed, go back to your profile. It may take up to ten minutes, but you should have a prompt at the top of your old timeline to view the new Facebook! Hooray!

The above process is what worked for me. For those who do not want to play developer for a few minutes, there is another, yet slower way to get access: sign up for beta access where there is no guarantee on how long it will take to gain access.

Note: when you publish your timeline, only others who have followed the above steps to launch the new timeline for themselves will be able to see your new timeline. Everyone else will see the old profile.

Thanks to the Huffington Post for clearly documenting the process.

After you gain access, take the quick tour, play around and share your thoughts on Facebook’s latest and greatest version of itself.

Jason

Confidence In The Frames

Jason Douglas — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 18:40:38 +0000

On Sunday night, a tweet from Jennifer Hartley ended up being the inspiration for my latest post. Jennifer’s tweet reads “Seeing the cast of #entourage just reminded me how much I’ll miss them. And guys in specs… total weakness of mine.” We engaged in a conversation around how glasses are awesome. It seemed like a perfect time to share my history with glasses.

As a wearer of glasses, I always love to hear about people finding glasses attractive. However, that has not always been the perception.

I have worn glasses since third grade, which I will not quantify in actual years. Just know that it has been a while. The styles of glasses I have worn have changed over the years. I have worn anything from thick frames to tortoise frames (which stuck around for a while, for better or worse) to my current half-jacket style.

There was a long period where I would not wear glasses because the feeling and look of them made me dislike my appearance. I have been called four-eyes more times than I care to count or remember. Among insults that people used at me, four-eyes is one that always hurt more than it should. It was a cause of my instant disdain for glasses.

Disliking how you feel and look in glasses is a common experience among glasses wearers. Many people switch to contacts. Thousands have undergone lasik. Currently, I mix in contact and glasses, depending on my computer usage in a day. This is due to my growing confidence in wearing glasses in public.

Throughout my junior high, high school and college years, I would rarely wear my glasses. This included playing basketball, football golf and rugby. Yes, I played all sports without glasses. It was not until three years ago when I decided to try contacts which changed my life. I could finally wear sunglasses and see clearly. I could finally play sports and see the ball clearly. Imagine if I had the ability to see clearly during my competitive sports days?

But, due to a lack of confidence, I never was playing at 100%. Confidence in most every other aspect in life is something I had never struggled with. Why do glasses, something that improves your way of life, whittle people down?

Fortunately, my confidence in wearing glasses has changed. Below is a picture I took on an #ArgyleFriday. I tend to wear them in office settings as I think it makes me look older and more experienced. They are also a fantastic accessory for men and women.

Thanks to Jennifer Hartley for being the inspiration to write this post. I am happy to report that Jennifer and I are #foureyefriends

I would love to hear stories from former or current glasses wearers. Post pictures of yourself in glasses as well!

Jason

Where Was I When 9/11 Happened?

Jason Douglas — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:08:01 +0000

This past week was a time for reflection and remembering those who gave and lost their lives as it was the 10th Anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

A common question during this week: “Where were you when 9/11 happened?” This was also asked in last night’s #tweetnmeet chat led by Erica Mayer. It’s tough to explain in 140 characters the whole experience. As promised, here is my 9/11 story.

I was a student at St. Cloud State University. It was a Tuesday and I was sound asleep when I got a phone call from my Mom. She was emotional and borderline frantic and kept saying “America is under attack!” She told me to turn on the TV and then quickly let me go. I did so and had it on NBC when I saw one of the World Trade Center towers was in smoke. I woke up my roommate Josh who had recently told me he visited New York and saw the Twin Towers. We got ready for the day and watched the coverage as it was unfolding. Minutes later, we both saw the South Tower be hit with a plane. NBC had no idea it was coming, despite it being so clear on the camera angle they had. I can only imagine what the rest of the world was thinking as they saw that plane hook around the corner.

Class time was fast approaching. I was headed to Criminal Justice, which is arguably the most interesting class to have during such a historic and unfortunate event. Oddly enough, Professor Barry Schreiber had a terrorism expert in to speak to the class. The coverage was on the big screen in the auditorium. 15-20 minutes into the class, we saw the South Tower fall. There was a sudden silence followed by the ooh’s, ahh’s, and astonishment at what we had seen. Immediately after that, the terrorism expert began discussing what would come next. She was rather spot on in predicting who was responsible, air travel would be forever changed and that we would see germ warfare including anthrax become part of the mix.

29 minutes later, the North Tower collapsed.

Rumors around gas prices increasing and additional attacks began to run rampant. Even in St. Cloud, MN, people feared being attacked. I lived in Sherburne Hall, the tallest building north of Minneapolis in Minnesota. People had a fear that a plane would hit our dorm building. I immediately found that preposterous. It shows the fears and panic this event created even 1,261 miles away. Some people criticized me about my thoughts on a terrorist attack happening in St. Cloud as Zacarias Moussauri, who was later rumored as a replacement for one of the 9/11 hijackers or an attacker in a future terrorist attack, was arrested in St. Cloud in August, weeks before the attack.

Classes were cancelled after 5pm, which did not impact me. However, my freshman english teacher allowed class to leave rather quickly. I went back to my dorm and was glued to the TV. We then found out about Flight 93 and the attack on the Pentagon. I am a junkie for news. Events such as this, I was constantly flipping between NBC, CBS, CNN, and ABC. Just imagine how things would be so different if Twitter and Facebook were around along with smart phones. I truly believe that fewer people would have died had people been able to communicate at the speed we do in 2011.

Later in the day, I started getting calls from friends wondering if I was available to go with them to fill up on gas. I did this a few times and was stunned by the lines that existed throughout the city.

Many people still say that 10 years later, the enjoyment in air travel is diminished and more stressful than ever. I never flew before 9/11. All I know is the post-9/11 way of flying. Post-9/11, there is little different in the way I live and how I conduct myself. This generation and each one that follows knows this way of life as the norm.

Ten years later, I appreciate the magnitude of the event more than I did as a college student. I understood how big it was then, but likely did not fully comprehend the fall out that would and still is coming.

That’s my 9/11 experience. Care to share yours?
Jason

Favorite Photo of Myself

Jason Douglas — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 02:32:33 +0000

Here you go, #tweetnmeet friends

Jason

Testing From the Minnesota Blogger Conference

Jason Douglas — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 17:45:00 +0000

Sitting in the Mobile Blogging session at the Minnesota Blogger Conference with @ojezap.

This post was created from the WordPress android app. Hope it looks good!

NBC News Twitter Hacked @NBCNews by The Script Kiddies

Jason Douglas — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 22:09:38 +0000

Another Twitter hoax occured Friday afternoon at 4:49pm CDT with The Script Kiddies taking credit for hacking into the NBC News Twitter account, spreading erroneous reports of a plane attacking Ground Zero in New York, NY.

This comes on the weekend of the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 tragedies. Image of the hacked NBC News Twitter feed below.

The tweets are false and no plane has been hijacked or crashed at Ground Zero.

The Script Kiddies are listed as based out of the UK. The group was behind a Fox News Twitter hoax claiming the death of President Barack Obama during the July 4th weekend earlier this year.

Update: 5:10pm CDT: The Script Kiddies twitter account has been suspended by Twitter.

Jason Douglas