Entry #8 | Pay to Win

Hello again! I was scrolling through the news feed on my iPhone and came across this article from CNBC which contends that Gamers are overreacting to EA's 'Star Wars' controversy, publishers should raise price. Whoa! Back up the train a sec. This is a new spin on what has actually occurred. Having seen a few news stories on this topic over the last week, and being a veteran gamer, this immediately caught my attention. So upon the initial perusal I noticed that there are a lot of bank names mentioned in this article, which translates to capital markets. In my experience, that usually means people out of touch with the reality in which most people in the world exist.

For anyone not aware, the pending release of the next "Star Wars" movie is imminent and there is also a "Star Wars" game, titled Battlefront II, which was released by EA Games this past week on the 17th of November. The week prior to this release, the player movement started once they realized that after paying $79.99 for the game, that characters such as Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker were locked behind additional paid content. In a posted reply on Reddit by a EACommunityTeam member, Kotaku reported that their justification for micro-transactions shattered the record on Reddit for the most downvoted comment recorded on this website. The initial estimates reported by Rolling Stone (here) to unlock this paid in-game content amounted to an estimated 4,528 hours of playtime, or $2,100.

In the wake of this negative publicity, it is reported by IGN that an executive at Disney reached out to EA to voice their concern with this negative publicity. The impact of this conversation is speculation but EA initially lowered the costs of these micro-transactions and ultimately pulled them, for the short term at least. This situation gained the attention of governments around the world and The Guardian has reported (here) that regulators are now considering whether loot boxes, which are in-game content, should be regulated as gambling.

This has proven interesting to watch as events have progressed over the last two weeks. In my experience, video games being pay to win is more common than not and so with the events unfolding it appears that there may be action to prevent this type of predatory behavior in the market. I wouldn't hold out too much hope though since the lure of profits never goes away. For the short term though, the voice of the players made a difference and that is a good sign, in my opinion. If you agree or disagree, please let me know in the comments below. I hope everyone has a good week. Until next time, take care, everyone!

Entry #7 | Hashtag What?

Hello again! So another curious item that I have been contemplating as a result of a conversation with some friends this past holiday, the hashtag. I have one friend that likes to hashtag-it-up in conversation and posts on social media. This got me to thinking about it since I don't use hashtags in my minimal use of social media. Is this just a way to add flair to a post or is there really a purpose to their use?

After performing a search on Google, I found a few interesting bits of information. From the Twitter homepage, clicking on the search icon and typing "trend" into the search field will result in a list of the current trending worldwide hashtags. It appears that you can actually type anything in the search field to get to the native site but using the search term trend seems a good way to start. There is a menu across the type of this page that defaults to the Top results for the search. Clicking on Latest will show the most current results. The results in these multiple selections will continue to update and clicking on the new results will expand these new entries so they can be viewed. The results today have been interesting to watch, from the Alabama football and basketball games to what appears to be a cooking show in Brazil and two items trending in what appeared to be Arabic.

Finding a live feed for hashtags on Facebook proved a little trickier since I was searching for something similar to Twitter. Typing a topic or hashtag in the search field at the top of the browser will provide the search results along with the current trending news. However, this is not a report for trending hashtags. It appears to be for actual news articles which are being accessed via Facebook by users. There is a Facebook Media page but this appears to be more targeted to different types of professionals and businesses looking to create content and/or organize a campaign on this platform.

This has been another interesting topic to learn more about this afternoon. The potential here appears significant for any business or professional with a purpose.  However, it does seem that all the random hashtags may be more noise than anything purposeful. Twitter seems to have more focus in the use of the hashtag which makes sense since this was the social media platform that started the use of the hashtag on such a scale. Watching the live feed is almost akin to people watching, which can provide some entertainment, when time permits. Until next time though, take care, everyone!

Entry #6 | Educational Options

Hello again! The topic of school costs versus time investment came up this morning over breakfast and I thought, "Hey! Another opportunity to share." Something to point out though, I will provide some specific examples of my thought process on this topic but I will suggest that the process of gathering information, comparing information and/or data and making a decision based on your own circumstances is what is important here. There may be more take-ways, which is all the better for you, I think.

A little history first...before I made the decision to start taking classes at Glendale Community College, I had been looking for a formal curriculum to acquire a more thorough knowledge of Cisco networking in order to pass some of the multitude of certification tests offered. The Cisco Networking Academy has been growing since it started in 1997. When I initially started my search, most of the Internet searches I performed resulted in privately-owned educational organizations. Once I discovered that the Maricopa colleges offered these classes, I made my decision to enroll.

The conversation this morning involved the question of why I would spend so much time taking classes at the community college instead of a training program. For those that aren't aware, most professions require some sort of continuing education to ensure that professionals are staying up to date on the latest information/education in their respective field of expertise. This can usually be accomplished by attending a one-day seminar, sometimes multiple seminars, during the course of a year. Another way to meet this requirement can be to attend a training program. Utilizing Google, I searched the current pricing for a one week Cisco CCNA training class in Phoenix and found three different businesses offering a class for $3,050, $3,250 and $3,495. In technology circles, these are usually referred to as "boot camps." The classes are scheduled for 5 days duration and you should expect about 8 hours of instruction, usually online due to technological capabilities, and then another 6 to 8 hours outside of class reviewing the material. I assume the idea is to cram as much as possible into one week in order to get through the material and be able to pass the test at the end of the week.

Compare the time and cost to that of a Maricopa college. Most Cisco Network Academy classes at one of these community colleges will be 4 credits and be scheduled for 8 weeks duration. For an apples to apples type comparison, remember there are two classes that would cover the material for the first half of the initial Cisco certification and then another two classes that would cover the second half of the material. All four classes together would cover the material for the Cisco CCNA certification. So at the current resident tuition of $86 per credit hour, that would amount to $1,376 and 32 weeks of study. If you want to analyze that a little more, that is a difference of paying a current average of about $82 per hour at a private business versus about $4 per hour at the community college or:

((3050 + 3250 + 3495) / 3) / 40 = 81.625
(1376 / (12 x 8 x 4 )) = 3.583 (this assumes 4 hours in class and 8 hours study time per week)

One could argue that the study time for the training class should be included too, though there is no homework assigned so it is actually up to the person paying for the class as to whether they want/need to study more outside of class. Sometimes these classes are paid for by employers and thus the time spent in class is also compensated, which would entail extra time being paid or just not putting in any extra time. Even if study time was added at a maximum value of 80 hours, instead of 40 hours, that would still equate to about $40 per hour which is still significantly higher than the community college.

I think at this point, a person will need to weigh the opportunity costs associated with the options.  This is related to an economic determination of a person's time spent doing one thing versus another. There are many calculations that can be made here but to keep this brief by pointing out that one of the calculations to consider is whether 384 hours (12 x 8 x4) of time versus 40 hours (or even 80) is worth the lesser cost. The answer will differ per person but in essence this is one of the things that each person will consider, maybe not in these specific terms though.

And so here's the rub, so-to-speak....if someone else values your time at the higher cost, are you accounting for that. For myself, I prefer being able to analyze and be allowed the opportunity to understand more comprehensively but that doesn't always consider other people in my life that would rather I take the shorter duration, more intense learning opportunity. As professionals we may have to negotiate a middle ground, though sometimes that is not an option and it will require a choice one way or the other. I don't know that there is a single, correct answer but it is definitely something to consider. Take care all, everyone.

Entry #5 | Smoke and Mirrors

Hello again! I read an article this morning that caught my attention. It may be from last year but as a topic that persists in today's society, it is definitely worth some discussion. In the article from azcentral.com titled "Ducey: Why Arizona needs more college grads,"  the governor advocates support of an alliance to increase the current percentage of Arizona residents that attain a certificate or college degree by 18% in the next 22 years.

This op-ed is more reminiscent of a carefully manicured public relations advertisement than any serious news story.  There are links provided in the main body of text that point to another op-ed, which is also cross-linked back to this story, by the regional president of Wells Fargo as well as some mysterious entity called achieve60az that will recommend donations through the nonprofit collegesuccessarizona.org in order to enable the attainment of this goal. Let's just take a break and ruminate on that...state funding cuts to the budget for education have been what I, and many others, would describe as brutal. And the proposed solution, which the governor supports, is to put Arizona's future in the hands of a single mysterious entity in partnership with a non-profit. The words that come to mind are probably not fit for general public discussion.

So about that mysterious entity called achieve60az. It appears that the Arizona Department of Revenue does not allow public business record searches. My search included Google and yet I can find nothing of substance outside of their website and various news op-eds touting their cause. I did a little searching on the "dark web" and found where information about this initiative is posted on the Office of Education website. On a side note, I'm not sure what the purpose of the fire department locker room is as the backdrop but it does make for a lot of red. Anyways, being  a little familiar with networks in general, checking the DNS records for the website reveals that at least the web side of this alliance is being managed by the Arizona Board of Regents, if not all of it. Seeing as the governor appoints members to this board it becomes evident to me why he would support such an endeavor...watch the left hand, people, pay no attention to the right.

This is interesting given the budget cuts to education in Arizona. Recent rankings differ by organization but between the best and worst reviews I could find, Arizona education rates in the lowest 6% to 18% of all the United States. The Center for Student Achievement reports that Arizona ranks 49th in education funding with a current 31% deficiency compared to the national average of all states. The Education Week report rates Arizona 47th in School Finance, a "D-" on their scale...yes, that is barely passing. The Best States report by U.S. News shows another interesting detail, aside from ranking Arizona 43rd in Education, which is that the percentage of college educated people in Arizona is 36% with a median income for a population of 6.83 million people of $26,678 currently. Yes, those are some interesting statistics to let sink in. On average that equates to an hourly wage of only $12.83 per hour if they only work 40 hours per week AND the percent of college education people in Arizona is reported to be 6% lower in 2017 than what achieve60az reported in 2016, and still reports in 2017. Did a group of graduates move out of state? Doubtful since statistics like this do not tend to be tracked in such a short window of time, in my experience. As with most things economic, there are probably different assumptions being made for which there should be no expectation for clarity up front.

On that though, I think we will have to wrap this up for the time being. I don't find any value in this article other than to be on the lookout for another money grab by politicians in alliance with private enterprise. The raid on the state land trust with Prop123 arguably set back the education funding decades and despite the governor's op-ed saying that this money is being allocated to "K-12 education," notice the lack of the word "public" in any of his discourse. There are still public schools being closed due to building maintenance that cannot be afforded. Overrides are an annual request from school districts to cover lack of funding. Teachers are not getting any significant raise any time soon. A recent news report by 12 News reported a suggested 0.4% to 1% raise to teacher salaries, which to be honest is insulting. In the private sector, if I had an employer offer me a 1% raise to stay I would be pursuing other employment opportunities. I say that as a hypothetical but the reality is I have done this in the past with prior employers. If an employer can't afford to compensate their employee properly then it's not a business worth working for and frankly it's probably not a viable business that should be allowed to continue. Of course, the government is there for a purpose and it cannot go away, nor should it. What the government should be doing is taxing businesses more appropriately and ensuring that the state institutions, and the resulting employees, are also funded properly. That is not a short wrap-up, but for the rest I will leave it as a topic for another time perhaps. Take care, everyone.

Entry #4 | Trials and Tribulations

Hello...from what was a late Tuesday evening and has stretched into a Friday evening. I have been struggling with a new Linux learning experience and it struck me - I should share this in case someone else has the same problem, or may even know the answer. For the class I am enrolled in, I need to utilize Fedora to complete some of the assignments. The students in the class were provided a VMWare workstation player with an old Fedora ISO file. I have always had a problem with resizing the virtual machine window with VMWare on a 4K monitor, it is quite annoying to say the least. Without getting too lost in the technical details, I decided to try to use an old laptop I have which didn't have a use currently. After some searching on the internet, I found that there is a Fedora Workstation that someone put together so that one can essentially "create" a bootable Fedora USB drive. This means you can plug in the USB thumb drive to any computer, boot it up and, if the USB drive is configured as a valid boot image, then choose to boot the Fedora image instead of whatever is on the machine.

I thought this might solve my problem but it turned out to be the first hurdle. I was able to boot the new Fedora image on the laptop and then select the option to install it on the hard drive. Once it was installed I removed the USB thumb drive and rebooted the laptop. The laptop booted up and everything seemed to be working correctly so I could get some of my homework completed for the class. Soon I was prompted for several updates that need to be performed and I thought this would be a good idea to get completed. I was so wrong on that front...as soon as the updates completed and the laptop rebooted, it quickly became obvious that the keyboard and touch pad were not working. Well, another opportunity to learn from experience it seems. With no idea how to get this resolved and no search results that appeared to be relevant, I was once again at an impasse.

At this point, I figured I can just format the hard disk and start over, no big deal. Well, it seems that Windows will not format a drive with another OS installed on it...or at least that is the most reasonable sounding answer I could find on the Internet that made any kind of sense. It seems I need another Linux machine to format the drive from the other Linux machine. So I had to go dig up another laptop from the scrap pile and start all over again. Needless to say, I am not running any updates on the OS currently. With quite a few programs to install for the class, I need it operational in its current state for another four weeks. There seems to be a lot of...bad to poor...information on the Internet about the different versions of Linux and what to do when something needs to be fixed. I am still in search of a beginner oriented site/page that explains more and doesn't rely upon many assumptions so if anyone knows of any, comment below and let us all know, please. I know I would greatly appreciate it.

Anyways, maybe this helps someone else to be aware and perhaps someone who knows some of the answers to my questions (long shot though this may be), both stated and possibly unstated, that would be awesome. Until the next time though, take care and thanks again.

Entry #3 | Slanted Reporting

Hello again. I hope this blog post finds everyone safe and well. I was digitally surfing on social media in a few spare moments today and noticed a sensationalized headline that I felt could use some discussion. Some of you may feel this treads into politics but I would counter that it is more about something so mundane as pizza and football being politicized. Stay with me though, we can come away as more informed people than when we started. The article was posted on The Hill, which is a news organization that promotes itself as being nonpartisan though I have often questioned this with some of the stories I see posted by this organization. The published article, "Papa John’s: NFL anthem protests are hurting pizza sales" caught my attention immediately.

Granted there is a lot of context involved in this topic but any article by a reporter is expected to stand, and be judged, on its own. This article is seriously lacking any type of reporting, in my opinion. The article opens with a partial quotation of John Schnatter's (CEO) statement about the NFL hurting their sales. The article then transitions to Mr. Schnatter admitting that the company has removed advertising. This is an obvious disconnect to me, they advertise less, get lower sales and correlate the decrease in sales to the NFL. Maybe it's just me but this does not appear to be a rational conclusion. Moving on though, the article then transitions to the President's actions in the past as well as some of the NFL players' actions, seemingly to imply a causation/effect type scenario, I suppose.



A little research turned up that Fortune Magazine reported that Mr. Schnatter's statement was made in response to what sounds to have been an investor meeting which included business forecasts being restated with lower revised same-store sales expectations for the rest of 2017. This statement and the revised forecast are being reported as the probable reason for the 12% drop in their share price by mid-day today. However, Papa John's released their 3rd quarter results on September 25, 2017 so this is not really new information. Review of the 3rd quarter results show that a meeting was scheduled for today, November 1, 2017, with investors. Within this same report the company itemized 15 risks to their forward-looking statements, none of which contain any mention of the NFL and the current national debate surrounding it. This leaves me with the impression of some irresponsible, opportunistic scapegoating by the CEO.

A relatively quick and cursory search shows that other advertisers have not reported sales declines directly attributed to the current national debate surrounding the NFL. In terms of public relations, Nike still appears to be the one single company that unequivocally issued a statement in support of the players. Nike's 3rd quarter earnings released in September also were down but it was reported to be due more to increased competition and any potential impacts from the NFL debate being unknown currently. The NY Times reported that Under-Armour, Ford, Hyundai, Bose and Anheuser-Busch have all released statements a bit more ambiguous in support of both sides of the debate. Again, a quick cursory search shows none of these companies currently report sales declines that can be, or are being, directly attributed to the current NFL debate.


So in conclusion, and personally speaking, I tend to agree with Alex Putterman in his article, "Papa John's pulls some of its NFL advertising, says player protests are causing decline in sales" regarding the current situation. There are better pizza competitors in the market and Papa John's has never been an option I would personally consider. I can also say that personally, this type of predatory behavior by a business leader adds another reason to not support businesses such as this. Any thoughts on this?