Phone Me

So I used to be a BlackBerry guy, now I have moved over to the new Android phone.  I like it, I don't know if I would say I love it yet, though.  Maybe it's because I need some better apps?  Not sure, but the battery life is very mediocre at best.  I have noticed that using a phone to it's full extent during the day does not make the battery last very long.  Oh well!  So what are some apps that I need to download?  Maybe some new games, educational apps, not exactly sure, but something that will help tie me over.  

I currently have the HTC Incredible phone.  Very functional and fun to use, sometimes seems to lag.  I wonder how soon it will take for everybody to start using iPhones.  I think sometime soon, who knows how long, everyone will start to use the same phone and the same device.  Data plans will soon become so cheap that if you don't have all that functionality then there will be something wrong.  Think about it, if everybody is on the same network then all phone calls will be free.  All of the networks just need to merge together for one powerhouse that uses the iPhone WHICH enables Flash.  That would be ideal for all.  Video streaming on mobile devices is the way of the future and every hand held device should embrace that great technology.  

On a side note, I am an Uncle x4 as of today.  Little Emery Bud Fackrell was born this afternoon and he looks like a cute little guy.  Talking to my dad today, he called him e.b.  ha ha, I can feel a nickname coming on.  

Adobe Summit

Adobe Summit is going on this week at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake.  Many people from around the world come here to enhance their knowledge on the digital marketing industry.  It's amazing how diverse the digital marketing industry has become with the breakout of new technology including mobile and tablets.  Adobe is a great company to work for and the future is very bright for the digital age as more and more people are moving to digital mediums of using and viewing data.  I'm a big Twitter nerd and the conveying of information has come to a point where I can get any kind of knowledge at my fingertips with Twitter and not even having to go online.  Information appears on Twitter before it even makes it to any website online.  After the information gets sent out on Twitter, then the websites get a hold of the information and will then be broadcasted on that front. 

Gotta love how the digital age is growing and how we are now embracing new technology and devices.  I just wish my HTC Incredible would hold battery life longer so I wouldn't have to charge it ALL DAY!

Put Me In, Coach - I'm Ready to Play!

A man, a coach, a legend!!  That is how I would like to describe my favorite coach of all time - Coach Sloan.  I was 6 years old when he started coaching the Jazz after Frank Layden handed him the reigns.  I remember some of the greatest Jazz games I attended and thought he was such a great coach.  One thing I really liked about Sloan is that he didn't take nonsense.  His players were never allowed to wear headbands.  It wasn't his style.  He got more out of some players that other coaches never would have.  To get as much out of Greg Ostertag as he did is saying a lot because any other coach never would have played him because there is no way he would have been able to produce.  At least Sloan got some sort of result out of Tag.  Sloan was your blue collar coach.  The way you reach the top is you work your butt off.  That is the only way to get anywhere in anything is if you work as hard as you can all the time.  No matter what happens, no matter what comes up, no matter who is in your way as long as you work as hard as you can and put in the necessary things to make it happen you will be successful.  The Utah Jazz would have been just another ho-hum team if it weren't for Sloan.  I really hope that Coach Corbin can carry it on and get the most out of his players like Sloan was able to.  I have had the opportunity to talk to him on a few different occasions.  He looked super harsh on the sideline, but outside of games he was the nicest guy you will ever meet.  One time I made it down close enough to the court to talk to him and even get a picture with him.  He was always willing to make someones day even if it was taking a picture with them which I'm sure he hated, but at least he knew it would make their day.  Great coach, great man, great legacy for the Utah Jazz.  The most tenured head coach in any sport (23 years).  No other coach will ever surpass that tenure.  It is an unbreakable record.  Even though he never won NBA Coach of the Year award, I sure hope the NBA gives him some sort of recognition at the end of the season.  He will be missed as he is the last link to the great Jazz years of the 90's.  Along with him, his sidekick Phil Johnson is on the way out too.  What a great assistant coach to have, one that will follow you on the way out instead of sticking around wanting to make millions.  Gotta love a coach and his assistant that have done what they did.

Something Not Very Many People Know.....

So there is something not a lot of people know about me, I really, really like American Idol. Yes, it's true. Everyone really liked the David Archuletta season and then think that ever since then American Idol has gone down hill especially with the addition of Ellen and then subtraction of Ellen. But this year it is really cool because Steven Tyler from Aerosmith provides some great comic relief. So far, they are into the Hollywood part narrowing down who the top 20 will be. Wow, this sounds super dorky of me to know all of this but I like it. This year they lowered the age limit from 16 to 15 because of the emergence of Justin Bieber as he was 15 when he set out. Last night during Hollywood week - it was Groups!! Pretty interesting how people combine forces to get a good group together. There are a TON of people in the competition who think they are SO good that all they think about is how they will shine in the group, and not the overall success. This is a video from last night, one of the groups combined with ages of 15 and 16 year olds. I thought it was really neat the level of impact they could have being so young.  They sang a song by Queen called "Somebody To Love" - which is an epic Queen song and I love it.  Here is the video, they are so young that their Mom's are hanging around in the back watching them.. gotta love it.

Super Bowl XLV - Good, Bad, Ugly

Another year, another Super Bowl in the books. Let's break this year's Super Bowl into three categories: Good, Bad, Ugly:

Good:
-Aaron Rodgers - MVP Performance and played like he had been there before (only ran the ball 13 times - impressive!
-Green Bay bringing the game - 4 guys went out with injuries and next man in steps up and playing a vital role
-Commercials

Bad:
-Steelers 2 minute offense - Game was theirs to win. They looked discombobulated and didn't play like they had been there. I was expecting them to go down and win the game but they folded
-Ball protection by Ben Roethlisberger - you can't turn the ball over 2 times (3 with fumble by Mendenhall) and expect to win the game especially when you throw a pick 6
-Halftime show. GREAT show, LOVE the BlackEyed Peas!! Sound was a little off and Fergie didn't really sound good at all. Slash?? Bringing Slash from Guns & Roses out there was kind of weird, but the sound was not up to par.

Ugly:
-400 people with Super Bowl legitimate tickets who were not able to sit in their seats. These seats were deamed "unusable" by the NFL and they were not able to sit in their seats. Granted, they are refunded cost of tickets, though.
-Green Bay's receiver hands - receivers had chance to give Rodgers over 400 yards passing. Catch the ball guys!! You played good, but could have been a great unforgettable Super Bowl performance
-Cameron Diaz feeding A-Rod popcorn! Ha ha, his teammates are not going to let that one go.
-And Finally - Christina Aguilera - just sing the national anthem!! I don't know if any of you noticed, but our friend Christina totally skipped a line of the national anthem before the game. I had no idea and didn't even notice mainly because I was timing it to see how long it was going to take (based on some vegas lines that people set up) - but she totally slaughtered it and forgot a whole line of the song!!


All in all, good Super Bowl, could have been GREAT!! But I will wait for the future (hopefully next year) when my team makes it and it will be a great time!! San Francisco 49ers - Super Bowl XLVI Champions!!!

Oh, yes, i also must mention that my Pregame Super Bowl prediction for this game was VERY VERY VERY close. The outcome was Packers 31-25 - my prediction for this game was 31-27. I feel like I had the football gods on my side with this.. ha ha, not really but pretty good prediction I must say myself!!

After Jazz Dance Party

So last night we went to the Jazz game (Me, Lisa, JD, Katie) - unfortunately the Jazz lost a close one by 1 point with a C.J. Miles last second miss. On the way out of the game we were trying to figure out what that techno song is that they play at the beginning of the BYU games. Come to find out it's called Sandstorm (Thanks JD) - we bust out the song, which can be heard here SandStorm!!!!!. Upon listening to this song in its full splendor, JD's wife, Katie, then leans over and says Brick (there will be a blog post about this nickname of mine soon to come) I dare you to get out in front of ALL these cars and start dancing to this song. At first, I thought she was absolutely kidding. After a few times of this dare talk, I did what I had to do and get outside and start dancing. I got a few car honks and it was pretty epic. Here is the video of this crazy dare and some weird dancing moves:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rw_xV3G1Jw

Super Bowl XXIX

Since this week is Super Bowl week, I would like to give an ode to my favorite Super Bowl of all time. SUPER BOWL XXIX (29)!!!! This was the 49ers 5th trip to the Super Bowl and their 5th Super Bowl Victory.... First team in NFL history to reach 5 SB wins. This was kind of the last great season deep into the playoffs that was had with Steve Young, Jerry Rice, and others. Not only that, if you remember, one Deion Sanders was on this historic team as well. Another thing that made this SB historic was that it was the 75th anniversary of the NFL and the 49ers scored 49 points. Steve Young threw for 325 yards at 24/36 completion and 6 touchdowns!! What a great game!! 3 Touchdowns caught by Rice, 2 by Watters, and 1 by Floyd. I remember when I was in middle school this game and how awesome it was. Shortly thereafter, Sports Illustrated came out with a Super Bowl XXIX commemorative VHS tape that I bought and I probably watched it so much that it broke. This Super Bowl was by far my favorite one and I am hoping that in the near future the 49ers can return to their glory and start winning Super Bowls again. I think that Jim Harbaugh is a key component in this and getting him was absolutely huge for the team and their future success. Question remains, who will the quarter back be for the 2011 season? Alex Smith? Troy Smith? Who knows... but please, let me it be someone other than Alex Smith. I have tried so many times to like him and he always fails me. It's like going to a restaurant you have been to before that you hated and saying, "oh this time it will be better, I will get a better menu item", you go into the restaurant and try a 2nd and 3rd time and you are reminded of the fact that it is just as horrible as you remember the first time. Please 49ers do everything you can to come back to glory so I can become an even more dedicated fan!!

Welcome to the Weekend!!!

As I (and R. Kelly) always like to say, It's the freakin weekend baby gonna have me some fun!!! Glad it's the weekend and I can take a break from work and @Task and catch up on some much needed things.

Even though I will probably make an appearance in the office tomorrow I will only be there to catch up on some much needed things. Plan to have this a chill, fun, deserved, great, needed weekend!!

Mac Vs. PC

So the last few years I have been super skeptical on Macs. Honestly, I guess I just really never knew how they really worked and their capability. In the last year, I do now have a Mac and let me tell you what...... I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!! I wish that everybody had a Mac and that this world ran on them. However, since this is not the case and our good buddy Bill must continue to push the market, Windows is still in the realm. Since working at Adobe, i have always used a PC. When I first got the computer it was a brand new Dell Latitude. Good machine, pretty fast I liked it.... so I thought. Then the Mac came, the things you can do on a Mac are just simply amazing and the capabilities that it has are just endless. Ok, putting that out in the open... I just got a new PC machine at work to replace my Dell. It's a Lenovo ThinkPad (formerly IBM). I specifically asked to have Windows 7 installed so that I can try something new. I am not going to lie, Windows 7 has a feel just like that of a Mac. I think Windows and Microsoft is trying to lessen the competition by trying to be a bit more user friendly. Who would have ever thought? In short, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Mac, but this new Windows 7 version is pretty sweet and I am digging it so far.

I will stay loyal to you Mac, see you when I get home!!

Jimmer Mania

So I'm sure by now everybody at least in Utah knows of this monumental game tomorrow. The last two days there has been tons of media coverage regarding the SDSU/BYU game on Wednesday in the Marriott Center. Today thousands of BYU Students lined up outside of the Marriott Center to even get a wrist band to enter the game. Today Jimmer was on Pardon The Interruption - a highly rated ESPN show and was interviewed by Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon... great interview by the way - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53JF1MfRoqs

I was also driving down the road earlier today and heard him live on the Brian Kenney show on ESPN Radio - apparently Jimmer sets aside 30 minutes each week solely for national media attention. At tomorrows game there will be 24 professional scouts in attendance. If you told me even a month ago that this game would have received this much hype I probably would have bought a lot more tickets to this because they are more than doubling in price. Hoping that BYU doesn't crash and burn in the national spotlight and can really make a push to be the team that a lot of people think they are and should be. Here's to you Jimmer boy!!! Just bought your jersey today.. and will be wearing it at the game tomorrow.

The World of @Task

So here at Adobe my role is that of Business Analyst in Client Services - Consulting. We have recently migrated over 2,500 projects over to a new system called @Task. It's a really neat piece of software to use to manage projects and various tasks that are billable to a client. The old system (and I think this says it all) was ONLY accessible via Internet Explorer 6. This day in age, using IE6 is kind of like watching a VHS for a movie and listening to a cassette tape for music. It is super ancient and NO ONE ever uses it anymore. It was skewing data and not a very intuitive tool to be using as we report that data to clients. I would like to personally thank @Task for their wonderful new solution to our team and company. So far it is great, with every new tool there is a learning curve and that's what I have been dealing with this week I have been the main point of contact for everything @Task related. It has been a good experience to go through the run around of this new system and broaden my horizons with new tools.

This is SUPER boring to a lot of people, but this alone saves TONS of time on our end and will hopefully give me more time for other interests which I will talk about here in another post this week.

Back In Action!!!!!

So it has been, let's see, since September 2009 since I have blogged. What was I thinking. I believe that crazy arm injury that I incurred in the summer of 2009 kind of set me back a bit. Meanwhile, A LOT has happened since the last time I updated this. Let's see, Jazz got a new logo and new colors, BYU has gone independent, I took a trip to Texas to see the BYU/Oklahoma game which was pretty much amazing. Omniture has been acquired by Adobe Systems and now I can officially say that I work for Adobe Systems. We will be building a new campus in Lehi which will open probably fall of 2012 - it is supposed to be amazing! Last summer (since I now have a new hobby besides long boarding) I golfed about 30 times. I went to Sleepy Ridge in Orem a lot, HobbleCreak, Thanksgiving Point, Cedar Ridge, Fox Hollow, Eastbay, Murray Parkway (funny story there). So in a nutshell, here is my post back into the blogging world.