Nike auctions Back to the Future shoes for Parkinsons

Nike has created 1,500 pairs of Back to the Future II replica shoes to raise money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

The shoes are replicas of the futuristic, self lacing pair worn by Fox in the 1989 movie Back to the Future II.

The 1,500 pairs will be auctioned off on ebay, 150 pairs a day until Sept 18, 2011. Nike will be matching the proceeds raised and all money will go toward Parkinson’s research.

Nike Mag

The first pair of Nike Mags sold for $37,500 to 22-year-old British rapper Tinie Tempah. The shoes are all expected to have a significant price tag with current bids running about $5,000. These pairs don’t autolace, but they do light up with a built in rechargeable battery.

Even if you can’t afford $5,000 you should go make a donation and help find a cure for Parkinson’s.

A Different Kind Of College Essay: Universities Have Value Beyond Academics

Ever wonder why some people talk about their college or university in terms of where they earned their degrees, while others speak passionately about their alma maters as the places where they really began their adult lives? The term “alma mater” sort of explains it. It’s Latin for nourishing mother. Some educational institutions are simply mills on instruction, churning students in and out like factories. Graduates of these education mills frequently look at their time at these schools and feel that all they really gained was a piece of paper and a mountain of student loan debt. However, there are schools that have grand reputations and devout alumni that support their alma maters in spirit and with their finances. Just what makes a school more than a source of debt and a line on your resume? There are values and characteristics cultivated by some universities that go beyond mere academics that make them launch pads for productive fruitful lives, and those values and characteristics are what make a university or college truly great.

Character Molding At The University Level

Some people, by their very nature, are more receptive to a university education than others. Whether you believe in personal character being nature or nurture-engendered qualities is somewhat irrelevant. The important thing to understand is that two people can walk into the same university and one can leave being very much the same person as he was when he went in, only now he has some initials to put after his name. The other can leave being a more enriched individual than when he first arrived and can go on to prosper. They both have the same degree from the same school, and yet one is successful, and the other is not. But some schools tend to graduate more successful people than others. One such school is Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.

Creighton University has an impressive list of alumni. Though it doesn’t have the fame or size of schools like Harvard University, it regularly produces leading professionals in a variety of fields like law, business, medicine and even sports. Creighton seems to possess the ability to take good people and equip them for greatness.

“I don’t think I’d be doing what I’m doing if it weren’t for Creighton,” says Omaha TMJ dentist, Dr. Roger Roubal, “If I’d have gone somewhere else, I don’t think I’d be practicing dentistry. They instill a level of ethics and professionalism that is unparalleled.”

Every time you turn on the television or radio, it seems that you hear about how convenient it is to get a college degree online. Education has become a commodity. As the demand continues to grow, you’ll see the disparity between schools widen. You’ll hear louder and louder cries of dissatisfaction from students who attended certain schools and left feeling unprepared for the real world and unwanted by business. As bachelor’s degrees become as common as high school diplomas, we will see the importance of a school’s reputation emerge as an even greater deciding factor when it comes to applicants being reviewed for positions, or in consumers evaluating professionals such as doctors, dentists, and lawyers.

Value Beyond Skills and Knowledge

It’s not the name that makes a school great. It’s the caliber of its graduates and the overall life success of its alumni that give it a positive legacy. “My two sons went there [to Creighton University] as well. So, I guess I felt strongly enough to encourage them to go. It’s a good place where people have similar values and so they both met their wives there and they have great marriages and great families. I think that’s why I think so highly of Creighton,” says Dr. Roubal. These values and character traits are cultivated inside and outside the classrooms of truly great educational institutions. When universities and other institutions make the pursuit of notoriety in research, athletics, and other gains their number one priority, they quickly fall from grace and run amok in corruption and financial woes. This is when institutions frequently seek financial salvation from the government. Unfortunately, history proves that this would-be remedy is the eventual undoing of even the most prestigious meccas of higher learning.

In the opening of a piece for the Forum for the Future of Higher Education in 2007, entitled EMPIRES OF EDUCATION: The Rise and Fall of Great Universities, Harvard Professor of History, Niall Ferguson wrote, “American universities are at a historic zenith. The only question is whether they have already passed their peak or are about to do so.” We can only hope that Creighton University and others like it stay true to what made them great in the first place and remain a lasting source of life-preparation and students of good values, as well as skills, for generations to come.

Jonathan Fashbaugh writes for Off-Topic Media. Dr. Roger Roubal is a TMJ dentist based in Omaha, Nebraska. He can be reached at:

Advanced TMJ and Sleep Center
11919 Grant Street, Suite 140
Omaha, NE 68168-3475
(402) 493-4175

CFL vs Incandescent – Update

Back in 2007 I decided to run a test. I replaced several lightbulbs at once, one with an incandescent and six others with CFLs. Since that time, a period of about 4 1/2 years, I have replaced the Incandescent bulb many times (I stopped counting at 4). Recently I finally replaced one of the CFLs.

Conclusion
After 4 1/2 years of testing I feel safe to say that a CFL will last at least 4-5 times as long as an incandescent in my house.

Save the Poudre, store it in the Glade

The Colorado Front Range, where I live, is a semi-arid environment, which puts us one step above a desert. That means that the only way we can have cities here or have any kind of agriculture is by using dams to create reservoirs. Water rights are a BIG deal here, for years the Front Range has been struggling to provide adequate water to feed it’s growing population.

One of the most recent, ambitious projects is the Glade Reservoir. The proposal is to dam a valley north of Fort Collins and pump water from the Poudre into it.

There is, of course, a group of environmentalists fighting this project and their slogan has become “Save the Poudre”.

I was driving recently and I saw a sticker on a pickup truck (probably belonging to a farmer) that read like this:

Save the Poudre

Store it in the Glade

I laughed for 10 minutes

For more information on the project look at The Truth About Glade Reservoir and the Poudre River

iContact not using their own survey tool

I just took a survey on iContact. They used Zoomerang to complete the survey rather than using their own integrated tool. Seems interesting…

Barry Sanders and Barry Sanders Jr. – Like father like son

Barry Sanders is the most dynamic running back I ever saw play the game. In fact I’m still angry with Bobby Ross and the Detroit Lions management for making him retire before he broke all the records – now we have to see Emmitt Smith’s smug face and Dallas star every time someone talks about an ‘all-time leading rusher’.

One of the favorite things about Barry that my friend John and I used to talk about was his father’s attitude. Barry’s dad, William Sanders was opinionated about his son’s tallent.

“I’m so proud of Barry, but I’m also a realist,” William said. “I watched Jim Brown play for the Cleveland Browns and he was the best I have ever seen. Playing football back then was harder.”

Barry is great, but he’s no Jim Brown…

Well, it looks like the nut doesn’t fall far from the tree. Barry Sanders Jr. is a talented running back himself currently being courted by a variety of schools. I found a few comments in this article amusing

The elder Sanders lives in Michigan – he has three sons there – but he owns a car dealership in Stillwater, Okla., and visits Oklahoma to see Sanders Jr.

“We’re pretty close, but I wouldn’t say we talk on the phone a lot,” Sanders Jr. said. “Probably a couple times a month.”

The father-son duo has taken recruiting trips together to Alabama and Florida State, but they rarely talk football.

“We talk about current events, family, traveling,” Sanders Jr. said.

Sanders will take in a few of his son’s games this fall and even though he’s quiet about the topic, his son knows he’s looking forward to watching him in the future.

“Some of his closest friends have said how excited he is,” Sanders Jr. said.

So Barry Sanders Jr. has to learn from his Dad’s friends how excited his Dad is to see him play. Hope he makes the pros so Barry can tell everyone how his son is good, but he’s no LaDainian Tomlinson.

Lexis Nexis employment verification – Hire AMERICANS

Had a phone call yesterday. It was a woman, not sure where she was from, but she did sound like some Indian tech support people I have spoken with in the past. She was obviously stumbling through a script, I could barely hear her and she said she was verifying something. 99 times out of 100 these are sales calls, so I politely told her I wasn’t interested and hung up.

A few minutes ago I got a call from the same number. Didn’t bother to answer it this time. Listened to the voice mail and could barely make it out. The call was quiet, the accent was bad (male this time) but I barely made out the name of an ex-employee and the Lexis Nexis name. After 8 listens I finally deciphered the call back number. I always liked this employee and wanted to help, so I called the number back.

Again, a different person with an Indian accent. I told him I was returning a call, and he asked for the verification number (like it was on me to figure out what he wanted). I said I couldn’t understand the voicemail, but I knew the person’s name. He finally figured it out, had generally poor phone skills, but the employment was verified.

I share this for one reason. If you are using Employment Verification through Lexis Nexis, this was my experience. If I hadn’t liked this person I wouldn’t have jumped through any hoops to figure out who was calling, how to call them back and what they wanted. These people must be from the worst call center on the planet, I talked to three of them and none were easy to understand. Likewise, if you have applied for a job and there are any issues with employment verification, it could be because somebody was using this service and your old boss was too busy to monkey with them.

Metrolux 14 shows blurry version of Thor

Recently I commented on Roger Ebert’s commentary on poor projection. Since then I have had a poort movie experience myself.

My sister had arrangements to watch her kids so a few of us went out to watch Thor about a week ago. We visited the only theater in Loveland Colorado, the Metrolux 14. Prior to our visit, I actually submitted a link to Ebert’s article through the contact page on their website and asked them if they had problems with Sony projectors and 2D/3D. I did not receive a response.

We chose the 2D version of Thor since my previous 3D experiences have not been enjoyable. The first thing I noticed about the film was it’s blurriness. As the title sequence played, my first thought was that I needed to visit the eye doctor for a new prescription. The titles were just blurry. As the movie continued, it did not get more clear. The close up scenes were OK, but the sweeping views of Asgard that someone spent a lot of time and money creating were fuzzy.

So what did I do about this? Did I chase down a Metrolux 14 employee and demand my money back? Did I storm out? No, I sat and watched the movie. My job isn’t quality control for Metrolux 14. I have no idea if they have sony projectors, if they were using 3D lenses or if somebody just didn’t adjust the focus. All I know is we spent $35 on four tickets to watch a movie in a theater. We could have waited a month, bought the blu-ray copy and watched it on the 46 inch flatscreen or with the home theater projector and had a much better experience.

It may be a while before I go watch another movie, but when I do it probably won’t be at the Metrolux 14. There are a few movies opening soon (Super 8, Green Lantern) that are on my list to view, so a visit to other local theaters are may be in order. As I watch these movies I will post the name of the theater and my experience so you can know what to avoid. Likewise, if you have comments about the Metrolux 14 or any regional theaters in Northern Colorado pleas feel free to share.

Watching a dim movie with a 3D Projector

The dying of the light

Driven by a mania to abandon celluloid in favor of digital, increasing numbers of chains are installing 3D-ready digital projectors. As everyone can tell simply by taking off their 3D glasses, the process noticeably reduces the visible light from the screen. I got emails from readers saying the night scenes in “Pirates of the Caribbean” were so dim they were annoying.

Ah, but what if you saw the movie in 2D? As it happens, a lot of people did; Gitesh Pandya of BoxOfficeGuru.com reported: “less than half of the Pirates weekend gross came from 3D screens, with more opting for the 2D version.” He attributes that to moviegoers being “cautious with their dollars.” After the weekend, David Poland of MovieCityNews.com ran the numbers and determined 60% of sales were in 2D and 40% in 3D: “Not only is this a clear rejection of 3D on a major movie, but given how distribution is currently designed, it makes you wonder whether Disney cost themselves a lot of gross by putting their film on too high a percentage of 3D screens.”

So not only are movie theaters charging $10 to watch a movie, but they can’t even be bothered to give a good projection??? Maybe Roger Ebert’s article will prompt some of these theaters to change their policies. I went ahead and sent this to the multiplex here in town, I’ll be interested to see if they respond to my question.

How power corrupts

This is an interesting scientific analysis on how power corrupts.

Psychologists refer to this as the paradox of power. The very traits that helped leaders accumulate control in the first place all but disappear once they rise to power. Instead of being polite, honest and outgoing, they become impulsive, reckless and rude. According to psychologists, one of the main problems with authority is that it makes us less sympathetic to the concerns and emotions of others. For instance, several studies have found that people in positions of authority are more likely to rely on stereotypes and generalizations when judging other people. They also spend much less time making eye contact, at least when a person without power is talking.