Kevin's Take

Pointing The Finger.

2008-08-24T22:28:00.000-07:00

Those So Willing,

Are Not So Wanting.

Free iphone ringtones

2008-08-19T21:53:00.000-07:00

Has Video Games Gone Too Far?

2008-08-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

Has Video Games Gone Too Far? I'm not talking about blood, gore or violence, not even lewd acts. I'm talking about the impact it has on society. In North Carolina a young 16 year old boy name Blake Peebles is dropping out of high school to become a "professional gamer." Blake has never really done well in school and wasn't liked to-boot. With his parents permission young Blake will not be returning to school for the upcoming semester. instead he will be practicing and training to play his favorite video game guitar hero. To ensure his success in his new career.

WHAT!? Come on what has come over the parents of this young man. Allowing there son to drop out of school to play video games. FIrst off this is an actual job. At the extreme high ends of the industry it pays off at 80,000 a year but thats only about 100 gamers in the WORLD! most professional gamers earn about 25,000 a year and that doesn't cover the cost of travel and expenses to make to the tournaments. There is no solidity in this job at all; video games are replaced once or even twice a year by there bigger, better, louder, sequels. Is the education system in North Carolina that bad where a young boy and his parents believe he's better off playing video games until his fingers bleed rather than read his books until his eyes hurt?
Where does it end, or should it? is this family ahead of the curve or falling way behind that they are beginning to retrograde
Are you or someone you know so devoted into video games that they've changed their lives completely if so what do they plan to do when they grow up and become adults who realize that video games alone isn't going to pay for itself?
What is coming over society to let this happen?

This is ridiculous! Or is it?

My How to: Clean the apple wireless mighty mouse.

2008-08-14T18:51:00.000-07:00

One Down About 10 Million To Go.

2008-08-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

Today was the last class i had for my arabic course that i took at saddleback this summer. You would think from my extensive experience with the language that things would come close to second nature for me in the course. Well not exactly many students dropped the class before and after the midterm mainly because they couldn't grasp the whole idea of their letters not looking familiar. Had it not been for that exact reason i would've been toast as well. I knew what the letters looked like and i knew how to write them. So the burden was not as great for me. But the region i learned arabic in (Iraq. from a kurdish man) was not standard arabic. so some words i had to learn all over again, and at times my grade would suffer from it. But all in all i received a "B" in the course.

It served its purpose for me, which was to break me back in to the whole school atmosphere again after 5 years cold turkey. I've gotten my schedule and books set to go for the next round and hopefully things will go as planned. But do they ever? I sure hope so. We (I) will see

Kevin Sandovalكيفن ساندفل

Foreseeable Future

2008-08-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

IF FOUND DO NOT APPROACH THE CRAZY LADY WHO HAS CONTROL OVER THE DOG JUST CALL 911

Ok, So this segment I'm calling Foreseeable Future.

Last night during one of the longest weekends I've had in about 3 years. Brittany and i picked up her new dog from a friend of hers. And today she plans on taking the little pup to the dog park to play with the big boys.

well whenever Brittany goes to the dog park she is known as a dog stalker. Especially if a Corgi's within sight. now think about it. What does it take to be a dog stalker? Do you follow the dogs around more than there owners or do you bombard the owners with so many questions that they begin to think your going to dognap there beloved friend? Well in Brittanys case its both.

So what I foresee in the future is: after we show up to the dog park with the little pup who's name isn't set in Bone. We will begin to see worrisome dog owners thinking little Ms. Brittany snatched up someone else's dog, and claimed it for her own. Sooner or later we may even see pictures of her little dog as missing posters

I made It

2008-08-06T14:45:00.001-07:00

Going Overseas, Going Overboard!?

2008-08-06T10:35:00.000-07:00

Do you plan on going on a vacation anytime in the near future outside of the united states? well if you do i hope you leave all your plans to attack the globe at home under your bed.

Why? Well as of July 16Th 2008 the U.S. federal government may take that precious laptop or ipod of yours. With no cause or reason. Oh that's not all and its not as bad as it sounds. The Feds may seize any electronic device, or any other materials for an unspecified amount of time; So it may be thoroughly checked for contraband. Anything that is suspicious, may be sent to any other agency (government or not) for further analysis. But if you were smart and did leave your plans for global domination back under your bed then you will be fine. The Government has to return all of your belongings that were seized immediately. And any information that was sent out for further investigation or analysis must be destroyed and removed from any source. But it does not stop the U.S. government from keeping written notes or reports about you and your information. So who's to say there not actually keeping it anyway. well it wouldn't be the first thing that's been done behind the eyes of American Citizens.

(D Wis) Senator Russell Feingold. wants a clause passed in legislation so that reasonable cause is implemented, prohibiting profiling of any kind. I strongly disagree with Senator Feingold on having plausible cause for search.

For instance lets take a look at one of the most memorable terrorist attacks in recent history. The Oklahoma city bombings. Had Timothy McVeigh been alive and going through an airport In L.A. from lets say from Brazil. No one would expect a white Irish American Male from New York To be a Terrorist. He would've walked right though there. The Nimrods that are making 10$ an hour to watch millions of people pass though a metal detector, everyday. Are so blind to the fact that a terrorist may be someone other than a man with dark complexion a long beard and a turban. I would much rather piss off that white Irish American male for a few hours while he gets his extra screening then be subject to another terrorist attack.

Is profiling wrong? In my eyes? Yes it is. No matter what race, color, religion or political views a person may have. They should have the exact same treatment as anyone else coming into and out of this country. Isn't that our core, our backbone? Freedoms and the right to express them?

Then why have profiles on people? If everyone wants security in their homeland then everyone should have to participate to make that happen.

So why now is this being brought up, some people have known that this can happen to you for decades now. Well recently the Secretary for Homeland Security Mr. Michael Chertoff stated that 'most contraband is found in electronic devices mainly laptops.' well for those of you who didn't know that this could happen to you now you know. This also allows you to plan ahead of time to make sure you place your timeline for global domination under your bed so you arn't labeled as a terrorist/jingoist

Do you think you should be subject to a "random" search while crossing American borders? should it only be those of us who are "persons of interest"

Or do you not care who is screened as long as you can move freely about your life, and not have to worry about your private information being shared to a unspecified amount of viewers.

(Those who have nothing to hide, Shouldn't)

2/3

2008-08-05T20:09:00.000-07:00

Burnt Out! WAY OUT!

Ok so working this weekend at the tourney with Ali was a pleasure as always. But with that and studying for school and planning weekend 3/3 I'm a little burnt out. so thats why the post have been slacking as of late.

But With that aside let see at the tournament things were as usual. Parents didn't want to get off the mat (tourney rule) and they were only there to see there kid fight and then they would leave. i would get comments like. "come on man why do you have to bug me know this is my kid" well jackass i would be "bugging" you if it was your kid or not! i don't care if your kid is Ken Shamrock rules are in place for a reason. not to make special exceptions so you see your kid get his ass handed to him. I can't tell you how annoying this gets. not to mention it distracts me from my job! something has to be done so that people follow the rules and stop thinking their the big exception. Now don't get me wrong not everyone is like that. This one woman was watching her daughter fight inside the barrier and i asked "ma'am are you a coach." "no but I'm a mom" All i had to do is nod my head to her and she knew what was going on. she immediately moved behind the barricade and that was it. while she watched her daughter who had been only training for four months dominate everyone else in her class. It was amazing to see this young child that was so talented with such little experience.

are you an exception to the rules. or do you know that things were put in place for reasons.

and why are you "the exception" to the rule?

Car Debacle

2008-08-01T20:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this morning the check engine lights wern't on anymore but i still had an appointment so i utilized it. As i pulled up to the toyota service department i was told that it would cost 97.00 to even take a look at my car and run it through the computer. But because the lights wern't on i concluded that everything was fine. well after talking to the guys at toyota they said i should talk to Ford (the place where i bought my used scion XB) about my warranty. so i preceded over to the Ford dealership and they basically gave me a few numbers to call and also to give to toyota so that they could properly fix my car in the future.

So i decided that i would test out my warranty now while my car was fine. and not wait until the engine blew up on me. so i had my door lock fixed. which would've came out to 356.74 had i not had the warranty. but i ended up paying 200.00 which is my deductible.

Yea its a hefty price to pay to have my door lock fixed but at least now i know that i wont have to pay the ridiculous 97.00$ fee for smelling my car. Because if something is wrong with it and its covered under the warranty then ill be good.

so just incase you have a warranty from another car dealership than the one you are having it serviced at you will now know the warranty should cover your expenses as long as it was included in the package to begin with.

A Trip Today

2008-07-31T22:05:00.000-07:00

So... I went down to San Diego today, to attend a class provided by Elite Show Services in hand cuff training. I didn't learn much but its obvious others did some people were surprised by the click that handcuffs make. What i mean is that when the instructor said to pick up your personal handcuffs to see what kind of mechanism they used as apposed to others. people in the room were ratcheting there cuffs like they had never played with them before the class!! It was quite annoying after about a minute.

In other news i have to take my car in tomorrow for service because the check engine light came on along with a few others. I think i know why, i changed my spark plugs a few months back. well they were performance plugs and i havn't been using performance gasoline (because of the prices) so i think thats got to be the problem. well i hope it get fixed by the end of the day tomorrow becuaue i have to go up to The LBC to provide aid for the MMA tourney this weekend!

Later

Truly, Safe

2008-07-30T18:44:00.000-07:00

There's no truth to safety,

and no safety in truth.

Shattered Hopes

2008-07-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

The orbs opaque is none.

Forecasting lies among the remnants,

Validity vanished with violence.

But shall never be forgotten.

A twist of fate

2008-07-28T19:33:00.000-07:00

In no way shape or form am i a financial advisor! Lets start off saying that. But what i've been saying for the past 18 months or so, now is starting to show through. Starbucks (SBUX) the premier "coffee" chain in america and presumably around the world. Is beginning a downward spiral that myself said would be coming for the company. If you walk into any of the 15,000 shops world wide you will find anything from a new coffee machine, to t-shirts, compact disk, dvd's and even during the holidays, christmas ornaments. Oh! and if you squint your eyes hard enough you may find that 190° cup of coffee that you were looking for.

I've said it to a few people i know many of times "starbucks needs to stick to what they know, and not get into all these other businesses." Starbucks the Seattle based company went public on July 3rd 1992 when they felt that their coffee product was on a steady incline. Now more than 15 years later the company is witnessing a low point many people thought would never come. But starbucks has struggled to maintain its caffeine driven consumer over the past few years.

on May 5 2006, starbucks stock reached a peak of 39.63$ from that incline the company has fallen to drastic lows. From what i believe starbucks expanded in too many directions too fast. In the fiscal year 2007 the company opened 1,342 retail stores alone. Indulging deeper into markets other than their brand name coffee products. As reported in numerous newspapers nation wide starbucks is closing roughly 600 stores and laying off more than 120,000 employees. And is struggling to regain that stronghold it once had in the industry. With recent products like the lemonade, vivanno's (a protein blended shake) and sorbettos (a fruit flavored smoothy with pinkberry flavors.) Starbucks is attempting to draw its consumers back into its illustrious stores. But the attempt is failing many consumers are finding alternative ways for there caffeine fix. Some say there just not willing to pay the high prices for there caffeine blended drinks.

Again im not a financial advisor, but i don't see this company in the same situation 20 years from now. No i don't see Starbucks as being the dominate giant in the coffee industry. I foresee them merely as a brand name. I predict Starbucks products will still be avaiable, but under a titan like Mcdonalds or Walmart. I do not see starbucks around as predominately as they are now, if at all.

Is America losing the source of its morning cup of eye opener? Or does this company have something up its sleeve its been hiding for about two years now?

1.5/3

2008-07-27T20:32:00.001-07:00

Oh and How can i forget the wonderful time Brittany and i had while taking the trolly downtown to see mark allen working his sweat into your morning cup of brew at Starbucks then we trotted on up to the science museum. as i said in the previous post i'm burnt out. so here's some picts from this weekend

Enjoy!

1/3

2008-07-27T20:17:00.000-07:00

That's right 1 of three long weekends that i have coming up in the final weeks of July and the start of August. i won't have much to do as things are culminating around the same time. This past weekend i was working at Comic Con at the convention center. Downtown San Diego. Though i'm very tired from just getting about 5 hours of sleep in the past 3 days or so. It was a great time. Sorry guys no pictures. I was on the job. and taking pictures on the job can quickly get me off the job!

But while i was escorting various celebs this weekend i happened to work with g4's Alison Haislip. She is a wonderful news anchor for the g4 network. While providing security for Alison. we encountered some of her famous friends. Like. Seth Rogen, Tera Patrick, the villain from spiderman 3 (i don't know his name) the star from Terminator the Sarah Conner Chronicles. (I don't know her name either. hmm let see oh also Sarah Silverman, Dwane Johnson. and Good 'ol Sam Jackson. Those were the celebs that i happened to encounter this weekend while working at Comic Con '08. Some of them i saw on multiple occasions. There was also another friend of Alison's named Ryan. He looked very familar and he was signing some autographs so i know he's done something. He was there also.

So besides the people i just mentioned there were some pretty interesting people at Comic Con this year, to say the least. though sorry i was unable to "cover" Comic Con for everyone. Though i do have some personal experiences those are always good for the soul.

well anyway if the horrible writing is any indication. I'm exhausted ill see you later.

In "the Zone"

2008-07-24T20:05:00.000-07:00

I took these pictures while driving from saddleback yesterday, i had nothing to eat all day the only thing in my system was the large coffee i made that morning, i didn't really see the cars around me or the signs on the road i just kept driving. someone could've hit me and i wouldn't even noticed it. I took these pictures at it was wearing off.

Laguna Hills

2008-07-24T16:55:00.001-07:00

Look at the troubles the city of Laguna Hills has to face. The mayor has his work cut out for him there!

Who do you believe in?

2008-07-23T19:30:00.000-07:00

Who do you believe in? Many people are asked this question everyday, when they look in the mirror or into the eyes of their loved ones.

While walking today i was asked this very same question by someone representing a college church fund. With the reply i gave to them they were shocked to the very core. To the point where they were unable to comment about anything. At that moment i inadvertently asked them the very same question.

"I don't really know who i believe in, though if i did have a definitive answer i would ask that person why they would allow a burning body to swell under the smoldering sun to the point it would burst if kicked?"

For every person and every people there is a religion. Something to place your faith into. But when they herd my reply I don't think they were prepared for something of that magnitude; Something that reveals the realities of life. Some people see this everyday as a part of there environment.

So who do you believe in? Is it someone that you confide in and does that someone or something make you feel so comfortable to the point you have no problem knowing that they would allow this to happened if they controlled everything in its existence?

First of Shadows

2008-07-22T20:10:00.000-07:00

Can You See The Sky Turn Red?

The Overcast Breaks Fainted Dreams.

Sure Tonight The Truth Shall Bear.

What's Taken Over Me.

Steve Jobs, with no job?

2008-07-22T17:29:00.000-07:00

Steven Paul Jobs III, is the CEO of one of the fastest growing companies in the world. Apple. (AAPL)nyse. But many share holders as of late have been concerned with his health, Jobs looked fairly skinny at the last keynote presentation where he announced the iphone 3G, along with the mobile-me platform. Some accredit their concerns to Jobs history with pancreatic cancer. which was first brought to public attention in 2006.

With the troubled release of Apples mobile-me software and the hiccups that the iphone 3G have had. Some are speculating that jobs is incapable of performing his duties up to par because of his health getting in the way of his oversight duties as chief executive officer of the company.

Does this mean that Jobs could be stepping down if his health is actually having a negative affect in his line of work?

Well for one, if the company is so dependent on one man to overlook everything, then this meteoric rise of apple may be short lived. It's absurd to think that some people believe these troublesome products are due from the lack of one mans livelihood.

Apples board of directors should take a look towards the long run. If this company is being ran solely by the hands of our black shirt wonder. Then its obvious some adjustments need to be made. Or if the recent product mishaps stem from too many sudden changes to the product line. Then Apple needs to reassure its consumers of their products before things begin a downward spiral.

Taking a shot.

2008-07-21T19:49:00.000-07:00

Back to it again. Unlocking this iphone 3G or the software for the original iphone. In no way am i bashing or taking a shot at any developers or producers of unlocking software. But with the numerous sites i was scouring today i saw that the guys at the dev team ( the sole releasers to unlocking the 2.0 software) were getting offensive towards another developer. Zibri.

One of there team members said that he basically stole there methods of jail-breaking and claimed it as his own. For software 1.1.4.

Listen i've used Ziphone and i've toggled with the dev team's software and they don't compare in any manner besides the fact the perform the same thing. Unlocking the iphone.

Ziphone was by far a much user friendly application to use. Not to mention it also reaches to the masses because it was highly regarded as the premier way to unlock the original iphone.

I know people take pride in there work especially if your innovative in your own right; when you create something. But to be so aggressive towards someone who has done something similar to you no matter if they've done it after you or not is just insane.

Both parties have worked diligently to produce what they have its wrong to point fingers at your competition. But that's just what it is competition you have to gain the edge over them at any chance you get.

Do you think that a tactic like this should be used to gain an advantage or is it anything goes when you are trying to gain attention for your software?

All is far in love and war!

Pwnage tool 2.0 is just that, a tool.

2008-07-20T22:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, so... some of us happened to acquire an iphone in some manner. But not everyone happens to be under AT&T's clutches of their expensive plans, and not so friendly customer service. Myself i have t-mobile, ive been with them for about 4 years now and i don't have any complaints. Except for the fact they don't have the iphone under there services. So what's the way around the clutches of AT&T? For us sane people, who have another carrier unlocking the iphone is our way around. It's better known as jail breaking.

Well the new iphone came out last week, which merits new software. If your iphone is unlocked you just cant do any old software update because it will not work! so what us non geeks have to do is wait for someone or some team put out a application that enables us keep our forsaken devices free from AT&T's clutches, before we can update it.

The guys that made the P'wnage tool created an application that will do just that, unlock the iphone and iphone 3G with the new software. But it falls short for some people. To me it looks like they were busy trying to rush out an application; Just for claims sake, rather than one that ran like Flo Jo. Not to mention its quite obvious that this seems to be the case when so many people are having issues just getting the program to run a full cycle not to mention actually jail breaking there phones.

The program is called P'wnage tool 2.0 you can search it if you'd like but to me its not worth the risk. if your phone is unlocked with T-mobile now and its doing what you loved before then leave it alone. Don't mess with it. Things aren't ready for it just yet, give it some time. Let these guys iron out there software and allow some time for some support to flourish and you should be good.

or are you one of us iphone fanatics that can't wait another agonizing moment without the latest technology for our beloved friend?

Sent from the phone

2008-07-20T21:23:00.001-07:00

Ok so I took this photo from my iPhone as a testimony to the fact I won't update my phone untill a better jailbreaking application is produced.

Sent from my iPhone

Mr. Favre ive had enough!

2008-07-20T20:07:00.000-07:00

Ok so anyone who is paying any sort of attention to sports right now knows what's going on with the hall of fame caliber quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. Brett Favre
Mr. Favre i've had enough. Listen its obvious you want to play the game. and if last season was any indication, you still have it in you to get the job done and then some. This limbo of retirement as of the past few years has gone on too long. don't cry and sob on national television about your retirement if you had any doubt that you may want to play again. stick to your guns and make a choice.
This has taken over the NFL because of the hypothetical situations that the Packers and Favre may encounter. Listen this will all play out in about two weeks with the start of training camp so for now just lay off of it
Everyone knows the name of the game is win, and win big. The big game! The SuperBowl! Placing Brett under center for the Packers gives them a substantial advantage over Arron Rodgers. Yes we've seen a glimpse of his talents but lets face it and be honest he's not Brett. There's no way with his lack of experience he's on Brett's level
so you would think why not place this great quarterback on Green Bay as the starter. well it all depends on salary caps and the future of the franchise.

Brett is here and able to play now let the legend play his game Arron can wait he knew it was going to end up somewhat like this as he was drafted 4 years ago when Brett started throwing around this whole retirement act. Arron is good but he's not great.

are you sick of this as i am i want to see something else covered by the media like training camps that are on the horizon, or trades and free agents. All of this attention that this story is getting is over shadowing the sport of football. There's 32 teams in the NFL not one. come on by now everyone who cares about the game knows what's going on give it a rest!

Are you under the same cloud as an NFL fan? Let me know.