Obama's Ratings Fall Back to Earth

A few weeks have now elapsed since the news of Osama Bin Laden's death broke out and everyone showered praise onto President Barrack Obama. Although the credit was not entirely justified, we can't say too much just as blame for the current recession was not Obama's work neither. Sometimes very significant events occur without our foresight. One simply has to take things in stride, adjust accordingly, and move forward.

Just as predicted/expected, it appears Obama's public ratings have now fallen back to pre-Bin Laden's death levels. As Yahoo News reports, his approval rating "back" to 47 percent while 49 percent disapprove of his performance. In greater detail, approval rating on the budget deficit is 33 percent (a new low) while 59 percent (a new high) is the new high for his disapproval rating on handling the economy. (All these approvals and disapprovals can be confusing, I know.) This is obviously glim news for Obama's reelection bids.

If it wasn't obvious before, I am no supporter of President Obama. He seems to be a good character, but is largely incompetent and ill-advised on important issues. I will even go as far as saying that, in spite of all the ridicule given to former President George Bush, Bush accomplished more as he was better advised. For example, what exactly has Joe Biden done? Cheney was a crook but at least he knew what he was doing. The bigger waste is always having the power to accomplish something, but not doing anything with that power. My opinion is not politically-based as I am no Republican either -- but largely derived from reviewing Obama's track record since his election.

Do I think Obama will get reelected? I do not, especially if the economy maintains its sluggishness until the end of the year. Inasmuch as the public is charmed by Obama's oratory ability and persona, we also recognize the pressing needs of our country today. Problems such as a tax system with more holes than Swiss cheese, massive government bureaucracy, soaring trade deficit, rising inflation, and rampant unemployment are no jokes. Nor can we afford to defer action on them any longer. What we need is a leader with an intricate understanding of our problems and a willingness to do what is right for the people, rather than for his (or her) political prospects. Tough decisions have to be made and implemented -- decisions that Obama has shown to be incapable of making. Examples? How about an austerity plan to tackle the country's massive deficit? Republicans have come up with a controversial plan, but at least they have a plan.

For one, we need to start making sizable cuts to the military spending. Because what is the point of having a state-of-the-art defense system when there isn't much left to defend?

Time to Buy an Xbox 360 + Kinect?

This week is E3, which stands for "Electronic Entertainment Expo" or aka the annual gaming convention. Companies worldwide flock together to demonstrates their upcoming hardware, software, and games. It's a pretty exciting time for any gadget enthusiasts, especially if you are also a gamer. To sweeten the deal, Apple likes to schedule its annual WDDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) in the same week. Definitely much more exciting stuff than the recent (failure) of a Computex 2011.

To start things off, Microsoft went ahead and demonstrated upcoming changes to its Kinect motion-sensing controller. And boy did they hit a home run. Aside from a host of new exclusive games such as Gears of War 3, Mass Effect 3, Star Wars (doesn't everyone dream of dueling like a Jedi?), Microsoft also dramatically expanded its games offerings to the other audiences. The latter includes Sesame Street: Once Upon a Time and a Fun Labs that allows innovative uses of Kinect equipment, as well as the usual sports titles (Kinect Sports Season Two). I am personally thrilled to see the multiplayer capability of Dance Central 2, which before could only track the moments of only one player at a time. Now it can do at least two. It's time to learn some contemporary dance moves!

[It would be redundant to breakdown all the new offerings by Microsoft. You can check the Engadget articles here and here if you'd like. They have good photographs too!]

What I will do is provide a brief analysis of what these announcements mean to Microsoft. Obviously Microsoft is riding a wave of positive image right now -- Sony Playstation's reputation is smashed after its shutdown of its Playstation Network. I might even go out and purchase an Xbox (with Kinect of course) to take advantage of these new changes. Let's return to using our trusty bulleted formatting system to present some thoughts:

• Nintendo better reveal a solid successor plan to its Wii system, lest they want Xbox to also dominate them in sales. The Wii's novelty has worn off, especially now that with Kinect one no longer needs any controller. More alarmingly, Microsoft is bent on targeting a rounder demographic -- which has always been Nintendo's stronghold. Let's hope Nintendo's rumored "Wii HD" is competitive.
• Cable television providers also better watch out. As this initial revelation suggests, Microsoft is looking to expand its lineup of television offerings through the Xbox. I have friends who have already ditched cable television subscriptions for plans offered by Netflix and Hulu. Heck, even Netflix should be cautious as this new ability of the Kinect may pose a challenge to its business model.
• The emphasis on Kinect in this year's Microsoft E3 presentation hints that the next iteration of the Xbox will not be released for another 2 or 3 years at least. Microsoft is simply betting (with its development wallet) too much on Kinect to just forsake it after a year. Anyone holding out for the next iteration should just go ahead and buy the current one.

What does this mean to Microsoft's stocks? I'd recommend holding on as blogged about earlier. The pessimism is too heavy on the stock market right now. However, it doesn't mean you can't wait out the summer by buying yourself an Xbox 360 + Kinect (as I very well might).

CNNMoney: "We're in for a weak summer"

And I agree with the statement by a senior trader at ETX Capital, as reported by CNN Money. This summer looks very bearish for the financial markets -- even by their standard inactivity in the summertime. The past two or three weeks has seen stock markets across the world plunge; and it doesn't look like things will change for the better.

I can't say I'm happy because my stocks have been losing ground too. Although losses have not been catastrophic, they largely do not seem to have sense. For example, AMD is making a push on the its Fusion front and Ford's monthly sales are still growing worldwide. But pessimism appears to be contagious in the financial markets. Everyone is scared that the economic recovery is stagnating and might eventually dip downward. This, coupled with high oil prices, means less business activity in general.

But this opens up an opportunity for value investors. As I have written before, it's easy to profit on a bull market but much more difficult in a bear market. It's what differentiates the smart investors from the not-so-smart ones. The famous Warren Buffett once said that "It's only when the tide goes out that you learn who's been swimming naked". Along these lines, I am not sure what I will be doing in the coming months concerning my own positions. Maybe I will invest more and further diversify my portfolio.

Time to Reevaluate the Mandy Situation

Since there have yet to be any exterior feedback/comments (I give myself feedback often but that doesn't really count), I have no idea how YOU (the reader) take to my posts about this person named Mandy. Mandy is a real person, around my age, and the most amazing girl I know. She is beautiful, kind, funny, and a Christian. I have written considerably about her before, either explicitly or mentioned her in one of my posts (here, or here, or pretty much anywhere with a "Mandy" tag). In short, I am in love with her.

Yet this sentiment thus far has been relatively one sided. Despite what I perceive to be a form of reciprocity when we first met, this has lately become a one-way street. It involved mostly conversions via Google Gtalk (thank you Google!) for almost 2 (?) years. Our predicament climaxed at the end of last year, when I (shyly) presented with a gift and a note and was returned a straightforward email saying she did not feel the same. It was a heartbreaking revelation at the time but I, always the optimist, still held onto the faint hope that her sentiment would change in the future. Given our limited interactions as of late --a result of us living in different cities-- it has been difficult to gauge the plausibility of this so-called "dream". But an occurrence earlier today has pushed me to reevaluate our situation --and present it in this blog post.

While I attribute the quality of kindness to Mandy, it is an assigned quality out of my observations only. In our interactions, what I experienced have been a rough split between apathy and "engaged interest" (it means whatever you think it means). Perhaps out of my shyness, it has mostly involved an exchange of pleasantries and nothing else. Yet earlier today, I was shown a very concrete expression of her current sentiment toward me. This occurred as a I walking out of our church meeting room: she unexpectedly joined into the caravan of people I was walking with, I greeted her ("Hi Mandy"), she greeted back ("Hi____, how are you?"), but before I had a chance to respond, she had speedily walked to the front of the caravan and eventually out of sight. I was just shocked by this quick encounter. My immediate reaction is that her action showed a complete lack of interest in me -- to be point of not even bothering to have a conversation. On second thoughts, she might have been in a hurry but this succinct experience has nonetheless been traumatizing. In other words, it was heartbreaking to the person you have fallen for be so...cold. I think now that I should have better heeded my previous realization about the situation.

In more ways than one, I have thought Mandy as a surmountable wall and not a locked door. The difference between the two is that, while a wall can be climbed over, a locked door cannot be passed through -- unless one wishes to break down the door entirely. For a while now, the Mandy in my eyes has been analogous to a brick wall I have to scale over; and brick walls are there to give people an opportunity to show how truly (or badly) we want something. But I am really beginning to think that a locked door is a more realistic analogy. The truth is, I am powerless over our situation and her every indication lately (after taking off my metaphorical tinted lenses) that she does not like me. Perhaps not even as a friend.

And I don't blame her. She did not ask to be included in my numerous schemes or in situations where she'd have to interact with her. For the most part, I was the culprit behind those so-called opportunities. In her reply email last year, she gave a direct verbalization that she did not feel the same about me. Yet I have egged myself on. Revoking another Great Expectations quotation, I feel just like Pip when he was told by Estella that he would quickly forget her:

"Out of my thoughts! You are part of my existence, part of myself. You have been in every line I have ever read, since I first came here, the rough common boy whose poor heart you wounded even then. You have been in every prospect I have ever seen since -- on the river, on the sails of the ships, on the marshes, in the clouds, in the light, in the darkness, in the wind, in the woods, in the sea, in the streets. You have been the embodiment of every graceful fancy that my mind has ever become acquainted with. The stones of which the strongest London buildings are made, are not more real, or more impossible to be displaced by your hands, than your presence and influence have been to me, there and everywhere, and will be. Estella, to the last hour of my life, you cannot choose but remain part of my character, part of the little good in me, part of the evil. But, in this separation I associate you only with the good, and I will faithfully hold you to that always, for you must have done me far more good than harm, let me feel now what sharp distress I may. O God bless you, God forgive you!'"

It dawned on me (for the second time) that we are likely to be worlds apart, in spite of being seemingly so close and so alike. In this unhappy ecstasy of a blog post, maybe I am really like Pip and she really is Estella -- that we will never be together. I will inevitably continue to see her, but must practice what I preached about in the "Limerence" post. It is time to be thankful for all the experiences I have had with her and...move on. There is always hope -- but it appears to be a fool's hope.

[My apologies about this wordy and emo-esque rant about a situation. I am sure my situation is not unique, but sometimes it is helpful to put in words.]

Apple to Unveil iCloud Service Soon

To maintain the momentum of Apple-related blog posts (which is weird since I am definitely not a fan of its products), I wanted to share some thoughts about Apple's upcoming iCloud music service. It definitely won't be revolutionary but, given Apple's clout in the music industry, the service should make a tremendous impact.

Cloud-based music streaming is not a new idea at all. Although Amazon's recent release of its Amazon Cloud Drive marks a new chapter in its prominence, these services have existed for years. For instance, the music-streaming service Pandora is essentially a cloud-based music streaming service. You can't store music on Pandora nor directly purchase the music, it allows you to listen to (ad-sponsored) music anywhere you have internet connection. Its 48 million-strong subscribers is certainly invitation for competitors to entry the market.

What makes Pandora's service unique is, as mentioned, its inability to store music, ad-placement, and indirect purchase of music. Pandora primarily serves as a "music recommendation" service that offers customized playlists -- very useful for those who want to sample new music. But Amazon's Cloud Player, on the other hand, works much more like a traditional cloud computing service. The same can be said of Google's Music Beta and (theoretically) Apple's iCloud service.

For these three aforementioned services, the subscriber is offered varying amounts of storage data on a computer cloud that allows easy access anywhere to the internet. Subscribers/users have to upload individual songs onto the cloud before being able to play it. So therein marks a vital difference between these services and Pandora -- user input is necessary before the service becomes usable (almost like the characteristic of social networks discussed previously).

But as this article from the Boston Globe describes, Apple's iCloud service may be somewhat different from Google's and Amazon's. More specifically, instead of users having to upload songs onto the cloud, Apple's iTunes services could search a user's music library and automatically link the song to what Apple already has stored in its servers. This way, Apple saves bandwidth and the user saves the hassle of having to upload music. Sounds like a win-win scenario...except this means having to strike deals with music labels. There are reports that Apple has already ponied up considerable royalties to four major music labels (Sony, Warner, EMI) for iCloud music rights.

Having used Amazon's Cloud Player, I can see how Apple's approach could be more popular with users. It took me almost an hour to upload 2 GBs of music! Furthermore, Amazon's cloud service is not very well integrated with its own music store -- which is a competitive advantage of Apple's, thanks to the ubiquitousness of its iTunes system. But we can't fault Amazon for its effort. Not only was it the first on the market (Pandora aside), it offers users 5GB of storage on its cloud drive that isn't limited to music. Amazon's approach to cloud-based streaming also made sense because it did not want the hassle nor the big royalties paid to the music labels.

All in all, cloud-based music streaming looks like it is here to stay. Advancement in data networks and in portable devices would only help their widespread usage. In the long term, I see Apple's iCloud service sharing the marketplace with Amazon's and Google's products. Amazon should be the bigger rival since it has its own music store already -- only problem is integration. Services like Pandora would become niche, targeting users who want to sample different music from what they already have.

Music Liners -- "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars

If it looks like I am a big fan of pop music, then it's true. I often tell people that normally people grow into different phrases of music taste: pop music when younger, then rock in the middle-age, while classical in the old age. But I seem to be stuck in the pop music phrase, which I am quite proud of it.

One of the songs I really like is Bruno Mars' "Just the Way You Are". The main reason is that the lyrics are simple yet straightforward and very much genuine. A separate reason is that I first heard music when I had (and still am?) fallen for Mandy. Therefore, the song made spoke to me powerfully as Mandy embodied everything the lyrics said.

As anyone who heard the song can attest, it is a "cheesy" song. It resolves around the author/singer, singing to his love interest about how he loves her just the way she is. He is seemingly mesmerized by her everything --and wouldn't change her for the world. This message about being loved "just the way you are" is an universal one that everyone craves to her. We all want to be liked, loved, and feel a sense of togetherness with another. From the perspective of any female listener, hearing these words can be gratifying and heartfully appreciated. I'd say that a male listener would feel something similar; although, to be fair, females care more about their looks than guys.

Anyway, I think two lines from this song are just fantastic:

"...when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while..."

"...you are amazing, just the way you are."

I already discussed the second line's implications. It's a powerful straight-shot to the heart.

The first line requires a little more perspective in understanding -- and it helps if you've ever fallen for someone. A smile is a very beautiful sight to behold: it communicates a sense of joy/happiness that transcends any barriers in age, gender, race, or condition. When you see someone smiling, you know they are happy (unless a fake smile, of course). Yet this joy/happiness is exponentially magnified when you have a romantic interest in the person smiling. In these instances, as Bruno Mars serenades, you want to do nothing but just stare at the smile and...behold its sheer beauty.

From a personal perspective, I like this line because Mandy's smile has that effect on me. I have never seen a more beautiful smile than hers. When she does smile (a rare sight nowadays, for me at least), I sometimes have the urge to shut up and just stare. It probably makes a very stupid sight but, hey, these are the times you just don't care about the opinion of others. Her smile is probably more beautiful by the fact that she smiles with her eyes (e.g. slightly squint)!

Kidney for iPad 2 Trade? Yikes!

To make up for the lack of interesting news on technology products lately, I want to bring to light a very disturbing piece of news. Think about this question for a second -- how far would you do to acquire Apple's iPad 2? Stand in line for hours and days? Check. Buy it marked up on eBay and Craigslist? Check. Sell a kidney for it? Chec....wait....WHAT?!

Yes, it's true. As the LA Times reports, a Chinese teen has taken the craze for Apple products to new heights. The kid, known as "Zheng", sold one of his kidneys via the black market 20,000 yuan. He intentionally did this in order to buy an iPad 2 and also a computer. It wasn't hard for his mother to notice his new gadgets, nor the sizable scar across his hip. According to the police reports that inevitably followed, the organ transplant was not authorized and likely performed by some shady third-party.

While the boy is still young, it's hard to overlook the fact that he risked his life for some gadgets. The fact that he tried to hide his ordeal from his parents further worsens the case. He could have been abducted or killed, by traveling alone to some distant city to have this operation. Thankfully he was not scammed. But this doesn't lessen the "WTF moment" associated with what he did.

Looks like the rampant materialist culture I wrote about previously has spread across the Pacific. I am sincerely appalled.