Aviously

Because, aviously…

Dark Universe – Review

@iAmAviG

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June 10, 2015

This past weekend I went to the Hayden Planetarium, located in NYC attached to the American Museum of Natural History, and saw their current show, entitled Dark Universe.

Hayden Planetarium

Narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, it is the most boring 25 minutes you can spend in New York. While the graphics are splendid their are numerous flaws with the show…

For starters, the ceiling is 100% covered with screen, which means that at some point you will have to turn around to see something that they are talking about. By lowering it to 80% coverage, you can make it so people would only have to turn and strain to see, instead of lean forward and twist around.

The other issue is the down time, such as when Neil says “See this star here, to them they are the center of the universe” and they circle a star in the sky. After 20 seconds of contemplating this, they then highlight a second star and Neil says “And this one”, before 20 seconds later they add a third star and then a fourth, each time with 20 seconds in between.

Overall this show is a measly 2 out of 10, don’t waste your money or your time on it.

Ocean Parkway Speed Limits

@iAmAviG

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June 9, 2015

When New York City reduced its speed limit down to 25 Miles Per Hour (MPH) from 30MPH earlier this year, they left Ocean Parkway at 30 as it is a Parkway.

But now they have changed it to 25MPH and Councilman David Greenfield of Brooklyn is up in arms about this, claiming that it is causing a ton of congestion on that route.

But while I can agree that 25 is too slow for that stretch of roadway, I don’t think that is the issue causing congestion, but rather the fact that the Department of Transportation (DOT) never realigned the traffic lights, preventing cars from going more than a block or two at a time before having to stop (during most hours of the day).

I also have ideas on how to change the traffic patterns on Ocean Parkway…a blog post that I started writing a year ago and never finished…which would severely help the traffic flow on the “6 Lane Highway”.

FIFA Women’s World Cup — #SheBelieves

@iAmAviG

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June 8, 2015

The FIFA Women’s World Cup kicked off in Canada over the weekend, and the US women kick off their campaign today.

The World Cup is spaced out across Canada for the matches, with six “Host Cities”, which are Edmonton, Moncton, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Winnipeg.

Most host nations do this, spreading it out across the county, to show off the lands to the foreigners, as well as bring tourism to the whole country.

But with the stadiums so far apart it leads to a lot of jet lag for some teams leading up to some of the big games, as the Semi-Finals are in Montreal and Edmonton, with the Final in Vancouver, which would give a slight advantage to those playing in Edmonton.
That’s a 1:30 flight vs. a 5:15 flight.
The only thing is that the Montreal match is a day before the Edmonton match, giving them the extra day to get over the jet lag.

Regardless, let’s go USA!!!! FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 is underway 🙂

PS. Alex Morgan and the flying headband, will hopefully stay healthy…

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Cash And Cash Jobs

@iAmAviG

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June 5, 2015

Yesterday I was listening to the radio and one of the talking heads was talking about the “end of cash as we know it”. That paper cash will be gone and fully replaced by smart devices, such as Credit Cards and Smartphones.

The radio host was saying that this would lead to the decrease of jobs that work off of tips, as with no paper cash, what are you going to give them? These jobs include valets and waiters, who depend on that single pulled out of your pocket and handed to them.

Now this seems like a valid argument, but I am going to argue that their is always a solution to these issues, and my case is: Starbucks.

I’ve been using the Starbucks app for a few years, which allows me to pay via my smartphone and an app, instead of using cash or a Starbucks card. The app draws money from my bank account to replenish itself, and is as simple as scanning at the cash register.

Recently (or at least that I noticed it) they added a tipping feature. After you pay it gives me a notification with clickable options, to tip .50, $1.00 or $2.00 (I believe), and you can give other amounts as well.
I don’t know how this factors into the barista’s tips, and how the company doles it out, but hopefully they get it just the same as if I put a bill in the bowl.

If other companies would follow their lead and build tips into their apps, or if the credit card apps, such as Android Pay and Apple Pay, allowed a tipping option, or an altering of your payment (in a +$), tipping wouldn’t disappear.

And even better, going back to my topic a few days ago on NFC, what if I can just tap my phone to the valets, and send him the money, fast and simply, or even to a receiver in the garage or at the restaurant, so that they can receive my money.

New Look

@iAmAviG

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June 4, 2015

As I’m sure some of you may have noticed over the last few days, I’ve been tinkering with the look of the blog.

The layout has changed a bit, and I’ve settled on this one for now.

There are a few simple things I look for when selecting a blog theme, which I’ve had to change since the beginning because it was missing things. Those things include:

  • Side Bar which includes my Twitter Feed
  • The full posts to be shown on the page. I don’t need people to have to click to read more…because then they are also no longer on the home page, which means they are less likely to read the next story.
  • And I like for the sub-heading to be seen, which hadn’t been seen on my previous look, and is happily back in its place now 🙂

NFC – Near Field Communication

@iAmAviG

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June 3, 2015

NFC stands for “Near Field Communication” and is available in most smartphones.

The concept is that you can place your phone close to another device (typically within 4″) and can share/send information just from being close to it.

Apple has recently started using NFC with their highly touted “Apple Pay” in which you put your phone close to a receivable Credit Card machine and the App takes care of the rest.

Android has been using NFC for a while in multiple ways including their similar pay-app, previously called “Google Wallet” and now renamed to Android Pay, so that people are less confused with the names.

Another cool feature on Android is “Android Beam” which lets you put your phone next to another Android device and share any file/data you’d like. This could be links, maps, apps, or even music/video files.

On my phone (a Moto X (2nd Gen.)) I keep “NFC”, “WiFi” and “Bluetooth” on and in use all day long, and don’t see much of a difference in battery life, from when they are off. Not only are they on, but most of them are in use throughout the day, with WiFi connecting both at work and at home, and my Bluetooth in constant talk to my watch.

WLIIA And The Growth of Aisha

@iAmAviG

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June 2, 2015

Whose Line Is It Anyways has been on for years, with Drew Carey at the helm in the early years, and we are now in Season 3 of the newly rejuvenated show, and Aisha Tyler as the host.

When this new run began I was very critical of Aisha, and how she was trying too hard, and simply wasn’t right in her role as host.

Thankfully that has changed over time, and she’s actually really enjoyable to watch.

The other cast and crew have been brilliant as well, with long-time WLIIA’ers Wayne Brady, Colin Mochrie and Ryan Stiles leading the cast and the fourth position rotating between guests, most of whom have also been around the show for a while (such as Jeff Davis, Brad Sherwood, and Greg Proops).

wliia

New Schedule

@iAmAviG

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June 1, 2015

I switched today to a new schedule at work, now becoming 4AM-Noon.

Because of this I am still unsure of my posting schedule on here, but I am sure I will make it work 🙂

As for my new schedule, I am now working on the following shows on the Fox Business Network:

  • 5-6 AM – FBN:AM
  • 7- 8 AM – Mornings With Maria
  • 9-10:30 AM – Varney & Co.

I hope some of you watch my nifty handywork, and the rest of you be jealous that I should be home from work every day by 12ish 😉

FREE TICKETS to “True Blue” – Celebrity Baseball Game w/ @CC660 & @7BOOMERESIASON

@iAmAviG

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May 29, 2015

Next Wednesday, June 3rd, at 8PM WFAN’s Boomer and Carton together with the New York Yankees are holding a fundraiser event to raise money for the recent fallen NYPD officers.

What: True Blue
Where: Yankee Stadium
When: 6/3/2015 8PM

I bought a bunch of tickets to this charity event, and am giving them away to anyone that wants to go, just send me an email or tweet! (while supplies last).

IF YOU GO TO THE GAME YOU ARE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE A VOUCHER FOR A 2015 YANKEES GAME!!!

Celebrities at this game include:

  •  Joe Torre (Former New York Yankees manager)
  • Rudy Giuliani (Former New York City Mayor)
  • Chris Christie (New Jersey Governor)
  • NY Yankees – Doc Gooden (Pitcher), Bernie Williams (Centerielder), Jeff Nelson (Pitcher)
  • NY Jets – Todd Bowles (Head Coach), Mike Maccagnan (GM), Eric Decker (Wide Reciever)
  • NY Giants – Steve Weatherford (Punter)
  • Coaches – Rex Ryan (Buffalo Bills), Chris Mullin (St. John’s), Bill Cowher (Former Steelers)
  • Among Others!

Full list HERE.

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Death To Cliques, And Changing Social Norms – Pt. 3

@iAmAviG

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May 28, 2015

Parts 1 and 2 to this conversation earlier in the week.

Today I want to focus on who is to blame for the anti-social standards set by cliques and the likes.

The focus needs to be on teachers, educators, student leaders, and others who fall into similar roles.

Sure they can’t force people to be friends with each other. But things can be done to make things more open for those on the outside, struggling to get in.

So what can we do to help?

  • Open up our circles to those sitting alone
  • Some sort of greeter program, to make everyone feel welcome at social events and public meeting places

Look, I understand that what I am requesting of people is unorthodox, and goes against all that the popular kids are used to. But there are a lot of really great people out there, who just want to feel welcome at events and have a feeling like they belong.

I am currently working on an active way to make all this happen in a college setting, and any ideas people may have on it would be greatly appreciated as we continue to try and work for more friendships and less loneliness.

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