Matt Gerlach : Into the Mind of Gerlach

What annoys me about being an Xbox.com MVP

gerlach — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 17:08:00 GMT

It isnt the fact that I am an Xbox MVP, that I hate. NOOOOO Way. The product is so cool, the team that I moderator with (most are also MVPs) are amazing, my MVP lead is the freakin BEST YOU CAN GET, and the Xbox Product team is probably the best team you can work with at Microsoft. Down to earth people, who are funny, but when the time comes, they are helpful and do their job (provide us with info :))

What I hate, is the LACK of respect the the Xbox MVPs get. I am part of the beta for a program (Great job team!, but, I am not sure I can say just yet...I think I can, but wont take a chance), and I am in the beta newsgroup. The discussion game up for Xbox360 gamercard support in the program. Seeing that, I was all for it. I posted saying it would be a great feature (especially to add on top of the contact card). I stated "Some of the other Xbox MVPs, and myself....". So, someone replies with "You are an Xbox MVP, must have been hard to get :P) Yea, it was. The amount of knowledge and time I put in helping the community, got me the recognition. I didnt do it for the award, the award was just the bonus.

I dont even know if this dude is an MVP. He is testing some software, but doesnt mention he is an MVP.

Oh and also forgot, when the MVP summit rolled around, the BIG thing was the Xbox360, and many many many MVPs (not with the division) wanted to get in. They want all the benefits, but some just think it is a JOKE to be an XBox MVP. ugh

Who is the dominant tire manufacturer of racing tires?

gerlach — Sun, 30 Oct 2005 23:09:00 GMT

Michelin.

Michelin tires are used by ALL of the champions of the major racing leagues. From MotoGP (Valentino Rossi), to Formula One (Fernando Alonso) to World Rally Championship (Sébastien Loeb).

You can read more here

My view on the NBA Dress Code

gerlach — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 00:25:00 GMT

I think there is nothing wrong with it. The NBA wants them to look professional, ok. The NBA said that it has to be "slacks" and a "a collard shirt".

Now, I am watching "Classic Now" on ESPN (as I type this) and the ideas I am hearing is DUMB. Why cant these people look professional? Why? I dont know, did the millions of dollars prevent you from dressing like a professional. You make a good impression. God-forbid you dont look "gangsta" or show off your "bling".

Now, I am not saying this is perfect. "No Jewlery outside of the clothing" is a little far-fetched for me, to a point. I am talkng about maybe a cross, or something little showing the love for your children. I am not talking about wearning a massive clock live Flava Flav, or wearing a MASSIVE (yes, MASSIVE) piece of jewlery worth more than people make in 3 years, that is TOO big.

NBA Dress Code

Couple of things on my mind.

gerlach — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 03:14:00 GMT

1) Thanks Gary. I really do appreciate it.

2) I have a post that I want to do, where Scoble had a MASSIVE post. Really...this thing was huge, and chock full of pwnage and good points. I am still thinking how I want to do it.

3) Ive noticed I had alot of (aggregator) traffic to my Bungie post. Hmm...bungie getting alot of traffic? I guess alot of the people that look at the feed likes that.

4) I've also noticed that Ive received some traffic from the Blogger blog search. Welcome other IST195 people. Hope ya like what you see. Oh, and if you guys really want things to talk about, pay attention to Scoble 's blog for Microsoft news (and much more) or Major Nelson's blog (he is one of my MVP Contacts at Microsoft, and a fellow Syracuse graduate).

5) A-Rod is not worth all of that 252 million dollars. No more than 180 mil. You can do as well as anyone in the regular season...you choke during the post season = you are NOT that good. The best continue to do it, especially in the playoffs (Bernie Williams, Mickey Mantle, Jeter, DiMaggio...the list goes on and on).

6) Journalists had their chance to Play the Xbox360, and some people LOVED IT.

7) Chappelle show is on (its 1015pm), and it is Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories (Rick James I might add).

What a recap of what I am thinking of. Ill add some IST195s to drive up traffic. IST195 IST195 IST195.

When I was a young(er) Xbox'er. (Its actually really about how my thought process works.)

gerlach — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 02:30:00 GMT

First, to understand how I remembered this story, you have to go into my mental process.

My mental process is what I like to call "linking". I don't know if that is the technical term, or if a technical term even exists. Basically, my mental process requires me starting with 1 simple mental thought/object. My thought process would go as followed:

Starting Mental Object/Thought: Nike

I would think of Nike, then Syracuse being sponsored by Nike. Then me getting these new nike sweats (beautiful and comfortable). Then I would think of swimming, because that is how I got these. Then swimming connects to my friend Styx (Chris), who's father owns a ferrari. Ferrari and Michael Schumacher and possibly Valentino Rossi, who won his 5th consecutive at Malaysia.

So with that thought process, my buddy would think I was weird, because Nike brought up Rossi in my mind.

Still with me? Good, because I got lost in the original point of this post.

Ok, so how did I think of this. I was talking to someone who works in Xbox support, and that got me thinking about support and when my buddy and I first started on Xbox Live, and how I lacked the information I have today. Now on to the story:

When I talked to support online, I asked how many people you can have on your friends list. The quick reply, "unlimited". I was like "cool, so I can have like 1000 friends on my friends list". He replied "no the limit is 100".

Yea...so, how is support so wrong?

Sorry if anyone from IST195 read this, and just dropped 3 pts off of their IQ. I guess, this point was just to demonstrate my thought process.

Google's Top 10

gerlach — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 22:40:00 GMT

Just like David Lettermans Top 10, the "Pondering Primate" blog has their own Top 10 list, this one involving 10 things Google wont announce anytime soon.

Primate's not Google's top 10

10. They will replace Brin and Page with Robert Scoble of Microsoft

9. Announce they are taking the company private.

8. Issues first dividend.

7. Says original name of the company was "Doodle"

6. States the "page rank" algorithm was based on the "Hot or Not" site

5.Has no idea how many sites are in their database but picks a really big number every month

4.Admits the search timing click is off by .001 seconds

3.Funds a sweat shop in the Philipines where 7 yr olds get paid to click on sponsored sites.

2.The Dutch auction was used to remind people of the Tulip Bubble

1.Changes motto to "Fooled ya! We are evil"

I think #10, 6, 5, 4, and 1 are pretty funny.

#10 because Scoble is everywhere. He is somehow everywhere. Talks about everything. I like that, I get some good info from him, and will keep him subscribed. What he is doing with his blog(s) and Channel 9 are making MS look good. Well...bringing the goodness that was there to the surface so the public can see it.

#6 is funny because, EVERYONE wants to know how they do that page rank algorithm. It is one of the most sought after algorithms on the internet today. If you have a good Google page rank, you are close to the top of good.

#5 The Index of Google came under fire as many people said it was just an estimate not a real number. Well, no one will really know now as Google has taken down the index on their home page #4 Hahaha. .001 seconds, who cares? (so this one is weak).

#1 There has been alot of talk about Google's services out there, for money purposes. They go out as "free", but are intended to obtain data about you. Some people say that Google's new Free-Wifi (where you have to go through their program) is just extending this past their network.

Well there you have it. 10 Things Google WON'T Announce (but could).

Scoble, stay at MS. From my perspective...projects will get better. heh.

My Barry Bonds Rant

gerlach — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 22:59:00 GMT

So...somehow it all relates to steroids...with Barry Bonds. Who knew?

So, he came back and hit 3 homers in 3 games. Big deal right? What about that Cleveland rookie thats hit like 6 in 5 games, and is leading his team to an AL Central title or Wild Card. Wait...he didnt decide during spring training (and not the off season) to have surgery on his knee.

Now Barry Bonds is all uptight about congress and this steroid issue. He said something along the lines of "we have more important things out there. This is the United States and there are people that need help"..yada yada. A couple of things on that. 1) What else do you want Congress to do? They will appropriate money as necessary, that didnt take too long. There are agencies part of the US government, not congress, that go and handle important things like this. Congress is here to make the country safer and to regulate via laws. SO, to be on the steroid issue is nothing that bad. But, the only person I have REAALYYYYY heard any negative comments about congress and steroids (within the pass could of weeks) was Bonds. What Barry...are you scared or something? Oh, and Barry what have you contributed to the Katrina Relief cause? I havent heard anything about you and donating.

Personally, I think all of his stats should be taken with caution. He has indirectly admitted that he has taken them. He has not said specifically that he has taken the "clear" and [whatever the other one was]...but he said "Oh, I thought it was flakseed oil"..yea barry, and a kid that committed suicide didnt know the gun was loaded.

Barry Bonds is full of BS. He is a pretty good ball player, but, regardless DOWN WITH THE RECORDS FOR BARRY. TAKE AWAY HIS STATS.

What has my attention?

gerlach — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 17:58:00 GMT

So, Xbox made their announcement last night (12 am EST)...well, I guess today, because it was Sept 15th in Japan already. But anyways, they announced their release dates. Nov 22nd, 2005 for the North American Region. More information at Major Nelson 's blog.

So anyways, Apple made the Nano announcement about a week or 2 ago. If you compare those 2 announcments, (it sounds bad), but the Nano is more on my mind. Maybe because what MS announced was speculated (and correct within like 4 days), for a month or so now. I came to almost BELIEVE the speculation. The nano, on the other hand, was a TOTAL surprise. There was speculation of a colored MINI, and that flash drives would be in the mini. BUT, no one expected the death of the mini and the birth of the Nano. The sheer surprise by Apple on that (which I must agree with Scoble, is a good design).

But, now throwing in PDC, Longhorn/Vista is on my mind.

What I find bad, is that I am an Xbox.com MVP, and without NO extra knowledge (I dont have any), I was not ammused by the announcement.

Oh, what REALLY REALLY annoys me, is that MS is yet to make a BIG announcement inside the states. They are an American company for god's sake. We have a game show in Germany for the pricing. We have a game show in Toyko for the release date. What was released on American soil?!?!? E3? That was NOTHING...a bunch of PR stuff. UGH.

Open Doors

gerlach — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 00:16:00 GMT

Why dont people close doors?

I am sitting here in "study table" and a girl (on my team) walks in and...doesnt close the door. What is that about?

I hate that...when doors are like, 2 inches from being closed. They just swing open and closed ALL the time...UGH.

Things I hate

gerlach — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 04:53:00 GMT

1) People trying to tell me to drink.

a)"Ok, once a month"...uhhh...NO. b) "You are telling me you arent going to drink, you have 4 years". Did I studder much? I DONT DRINK.

c) Another drinking or why arent you drinking reference...yea, you get the point. 2) People who should tell me what to do that do.

I am here at college to learn to live by myself, learn my profession and swim for money. Unless you are my coach, one of my teachers, or administration, I do NOT need to listen to you. I dont care if you are a sr. on my team. I looked at them, when another swimmer got atleast $25,000 for the year. "Yo, look how much money he's getting". Little do they know I am getting $27,200 (or whatever tuituion is) for swimming ALONE. That doesnt count the $8,000 grant I get as well. Yea, dont tell me what to do. I get more $$ than you.

That was hard.

gerlach — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 17:24:00 GMT

I am up in Syracuse now, and my mother just left. It was hard to hold back the tears. I will admit it...I cried. One of the hardest things to do.

I try not to think of family this way. So, this is the end of the post.

Sorry.

My last night in my Town

gerlach — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 23:23:00 GMT

I am going up tp Syracuse tomorrow to attend Syracuse University. I will be swimming for them as well.

Tonight (8/22) is going to be hard. As I have said in a previous post, I lost my father at a very young age. Since then, I have essentially adopted a father. He is my best friends father, but he is now my father. He has taken care of me, since I first met him back in the 5th grade (circa...1998, when I was 11). His mother is like my 2nd mother, and my friend and his bro, are like mine. We kid that I am that much part of their family. His aunts are my "aunts".

Another thing that is very difficult is leaving my "true" family. Yes I will miss my mother, and siblings, but my grandparents take the top honor. They have always been good to my mom, sisters, brother and I. That, and they are in such fragile health as we speak. They are running, but I feel like its been so long that they are on E...they are on the reserve tank.

It is going to be hard. Ill will post tomorrow night, when I am up at Syracuse.

The new "Age" Crusade

gerlach — Thu, 11 Aug 2005 04:32:00 GMT

So, in the forums I see an “Age Crusade” brewing, where people are basing problems based on young kids. Now, many of them are saying there should be 2 seperate services, one for under-18 and one for 18+.

See...the problem I have with that, was up until 5 months ago, I would have that “under-18” service as my service (if what they wanted happened). But, I act mature. They tried to defend it by saying that they scream (yada yada)...there are 22 yr old college students that scream, curse, and annoy...but that is ok because they are 22 right? NO.