New Facebook Messaging

Facebook announced today that it is integrating e-mail, instant messaging and texting into its own messaging system on Facebook.com.  Facebook will be slowly rolling this out over the next several months and right now it is an invite-only feature.

What's interesting is that every Facebook user can sign up for an @facebook.com e-mail address that will be linked to their Facebook Messages.  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg explicitly stated at today's event that it is not trying to displace Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail but trying to integrate it into Facebook.

It seems Facebook is trying to bridge the generations:  old = e-mail;  young = SMS, IM.  But, do the generations want to be bridged on this massive scale?

I want to use this Facebook messaging for my SMS-happy friends.  I'm trying to wean all of my friends off of SMS so that someday I can just chuck my SMS plan.  So, if they text me through Facebook, I can still get it instantly since I have Facebook push notifications set on my iPhone.  That would be cool.

Mass messaging would also be easier since you would only have to write one message and then choose where to send the message for each person.

What do you think?  Would you use the new Facebook Messages and/or use the @facebook.com e-mail address?

Bye, Bye Wade

It's just about official, according to ESPN.  Wade Phillips is no longer the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.  Even though most of us have called for his head for weeks, even years, it still is shocking to hear it.

Perhaps the most shocking part is that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had the guts to pull the trigger after saying that Phillips would coach out the rest of the season.

Will a head coaching change at this point save the Cowboys season?  Probably not.  Jason Garrett will have his hands full as the new head coach trying to instill confidence in a Dallas team that is reeling toward a possible 1-15 season.  But, I guess for Jerry Jones the team can't get any worse and it's better to install Garrett now than at the end of the season.

What the team really needs now is a coach like Bill Parcells who won't put up with an undisciplined team.  At least the team knows Garrett.  But can they respect him as a head coach?  I don't expect a discernible change in the team overnight.

RockMelt Social Media Browser? I'm in!

Remember when Netscape Navigator was the browser of choice?  This was way before Google, Facebook, and Twitter.  This was when America Online (aka AOL) was the preferred portal and AltaVista, Yahoo!, and ICQ were major players in the internet scene.

Netscape founder Marc Andreessen is back and wants to challenge Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and even Safari in the browser wars.  Andreesen is backing a Silicon Valley start-up called RockMelt.  You can sign up for an invitation to use the new browser which is focused on social media.  I connected with Facebook to get the invitation and I should be getting it in e-mail within the next few days.

I like trying out new technologies before it is released to the general public.  I loved Gmail when it was in its early days of beta.

Check out this video to see what the RockMelt browser is all about:

Surfer Andy Irons Dies At The Age Of 32

Three-time world surfing champion Andy Irons, 32, has died.  Irons missed a competition in Puerto Rico because he became ill and was in Texas due to return to Hawaii.  The Kauai native had reportedly been battling dengue fever.

Picture courtesy: ASP

Irons was a three-time world surfing champion.  He is survived by a younger brother, Bruce, and a wife who is due to give birth soon.

My condolences go out to the family and friends of Andy Irons.

Here's a video about how Andy Irons felt about surfing:

Moss Waived By The Vikings

I knew Randy Moss was in trouble for criticizing the Minnesota Vikings and fondly reminiscing about his days with the New England Patriots like it was his long lost childhood in yesterday's press conference after the Vikings lost to the Patriots.  But, I had no idea that the Vikings had the cojones to release him.

The Vikings lose next year's 3rd round draft pick and gain a 7th round draft pick from the Patriots in 2012.  I guess the Vikings organization felt it was time to cut its losses in its 2-5 season.

Vikings linebacker Ben Leber said head coach Brad Childress did not give a reason for Moss being let go.  Moss' agent said that his client is "very sad" about being released.

Reaction is already being posted on YouTube:

Randy Moss Lowers The Cone Of Silence

I'm going to try to be as objective about this as possible.  Randy Moss is done with press conferences this year and seems content with being fined $25,000 a week.  This comes after the Minnesota Vikings lost to the New England Patriots today 28-18.

The video above is Moss' press conference after the game.  Here is a link to the complete transcript.

Update 11/1/2010:  Randy Moss has been waived by the Vikings, according to ESPN.

Here's what I think about Moss' situation:

The Train Wreck Known As The Dallas Cowboys

Let's give credit to where credit is due first.  Wade Phillips has a 34-20 regular season record as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.  To put that in perspective, five of those losses came this year including Monday's 41-35 loss to the New York Giants at home on national television.  Bill Parcells, one of the greatest head coaches in NFL history, had a 34-30 regular season record as the Cowboys head coach in four seasons with an 0-2 playoff record.  The big knock against Phillips is his 1-2 record in the postseason with the Cowboys.  But now, Dallas could be looking at a season similar to the Dave Campo era (three 5-11 seasons) after beginning the 2010 season at 1-5.

Phillips has always been criticized as being soft and a "yes" man but his teams have always performed during the regular season.  Not this year.  And to add insult to injury (or should I say, "injury to insult?"), All-Pro Quarterback Tony Romo is out 6-8 weeks because of a broken collarbone.

So how does the rest of the season look for the Cowboys?

Star Wars Is Alive And Well

I saw an interesting headline on the Gizmodo website today:  "George Lucas reportedly creating Star Wars sequel trilogy (that's not about the Skywalkers)"

That's cool.  I'll take that with a grain of salt.  But, I'm surprised that after six movies, numerous merchandise licensing over the years since 1977 and cries of blasphemy from the fanboys, Star Wars rumors still hold interest.  I have to admit that the prequel trilogy was not as good as the original trilogy and I really haven't been following the current "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" animated cartoon series.  The last Star Wars product I bought was the "Clone Wars" animated movie on DVD (in a really nice steelbook case, by the way).

In a couple of days, "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II" is coming out as a video game.  I like this trailer for the game.



There also is a live-action Star Wars series being made sometime in the next several years in addition to releasing a 3-D version of all six movies. 

So, I guess Star Wars will continue to be in the pop culture collective for a while.  I hope George Lucas is healthy enough to see all of these projects through.

New URL

My personal blog is now at a new internet address.

Bookmark http://www.claytonwakida.com/.

I just bought a domain based on my name and had it redirected to my personal blog on Blogger.  I bought my domain name at Hover.  Thanks goes out to Leo Laporte and Sarah Lane at the iPad Today podcast for giving me this great idea.

Bieber Strikes Back At Brady's Hairdo

This is all over the sports talk radio shows today.  I don't normally get into this side of the pop culture but this was too funny to ignore.

Teen pop star Justin Bieber has a message for New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady: he wants his hairdo back.

Since training camp, Brady has sported a mop top 'do with mixed reactions.  But, Brady is a good-looking guy and he get away with horrific trends like this one.  I suppose somewhere down the line someone made the comparison between Bieber's trademark hairstyle with Brady's new look.

All of this came to a head with a YouTube video made by Bieber that calls out Brady:

This video has been copied so many times on YouTube that it's hard to find the original source.  It isn't on Justin Bieber's VEVO account.  If anyone knows the original source of the video, let me know in the comments. I can't wait until Sunday when a reporter asks Brady about this video after the Ravens game.

My Final Blog (For Now)

I have a blog about my iPhone & iPad.  I have a blog about the television show "Lost."  I even have a Champions Online MMORPG blog page.  Instead of doing a blog for each of my interests, I'm going to put the remainder of my thoughts here.

Believe it or not, I do have a lot more to say about other subjects other than the iPhone, the iPad, "Lost" and Champions Online.

Who knows?  This blog page could be the one that really takes off.  Stay tuned.