Here are a couple links for those who want to confirm their suspicions regarding the age of the Chinese gymnasts in the Olympics.

http://www.socialmedia.biz/2008/08/google-cache-on.html

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/27/sports/OLY.php

Now if I could only find some credible sources to explain the idiocy of the judge’s inconsistent method of scoring and the new gymnastic scoring system.

Judging by employment history, I'm a consultant... an internet strategist really. But at the same rate, I'm a professional musician that also happens to own a coffee shop. I'm interested in all things Wall Street, but my real calling is race car driving. I don't have any sponsors yet, but I promise, put me in coach... and I'll win. If this sounds like a three ring circus... you have no idea. And since it is my circus... most everything you read hear is my opinion... and as such, it hasn't been run through the least of any filters. Which means unless your name is Katie Murph, this is the closest you'll ever get to experiencing the raw state of my brain. And that's probably a good thing.

Welcome to my blog. I'm glad you're here. Kick off your shoes and get comfortable, because this is a great place for you to procrastinate. And if you are not sure what a blog is, type "what is a blog" in Google and let the education begin.

With that said, allow me to be your tour guide. We'll start with the top left. Those are the categories on which I blog on. If you click one, you will see the recent posts in that category. Beneath that, you will see the Recent Posts. That list will show the most recent 10 posts with the most recent at the top. If you want it to show more than 10, click Show More at the bottom of the list. Below that is where I run various polls from time to time. Make sure and vote... all the cool people do it. Under that you'll see some photo albums, frequented sites and books on the shelf. That's all pretty self explanatory.

Here in the wide middle section are the blogging posts. You can read and comment on them at will. To comment on a post, simply click the blue Comment button at the bottom-right of the post.

The right section there starts with Ticker Time. I am what you might call an active trader (which is somewhere between the buy-and-hold types and the day-trader types). The Ticker Time list will show stocks that are on my current watch list. Meaning, those are the stocks I am actively watching and trading. Beneath Ticker Time are the Top Ten songs that I am listening too currently. You can click a song and it will take you to iTunes to hear a preview. Under that are recent comments from people like you. The most recent will be at the top. If you want to see more comments, just click Show More at the bottom of the list. And finally, under the comments, is a little box that does nothing other than link over to Easy Tithe, which is an arm of The Murph Group business, my company. Clicking the link there is a great way help further your coolness. I can't tell you why... that's classified.

Now that you know your way around, perhaps I could suggest a few posts to get your feet wet.

My thoughts on driving from Another Simple Question

What every webmaster should know from What Every Webmaster Should Know

An example Wall Street post from Is Your Money TIE'd Up?

Learn to be a better investor starting with Market Part 2 and Market Part 3

Go behind the curtain at Fellowship Church in Behind the Curtain at FC

And if you've gotten this far... wow.... I am shocked. Thanks for reading.

Up until now, I've been fine with the Bob Costas commentary coming from the Olympics broadcasted by NBC. My favorable opinion of Costas was strongly reversed, almost instantaneously, at the close of his interview with President Bush.

I expected somewhat of a liberal based question drilling of the President to happen, given that Costas is with NBC and they almost exclusively drink the liberal Kool-Aid anytime it's served. But I personally think that Bobby showed very little respect for the President. Like him (Bush) or not, he deserves respect. Bob's questions were long, leading, carried a sour attitude, and were worded in a spoon fed liberal fashion; anything but balanced and unbiased.

But to cap it off, Bob's final remarks in the short interview directed to President Bush were, "You are dismissed." Did I really hear that? A reporter telling the President, "You are dismissed?"

I think, "Thank you for coming" (to the interview) might have been an appropriate final remark. Or how about, "It was an honor having you." Maybe, "Thank you for your time." But no, it was, "You are dismissed". It was extremely pompous.

I wish someone with cue cards, or working a camera could have quietly reminded Costas, "Hey... remember you are a news reporter, and you're talking to the President... just remember that in case you have the urge to feel more important then you actually are."

For those I rub shoulders with, it's no secret that I've snubbed my nose at faintest idea of an iPhone for over a year now. I've even blogged my snubbing remarks here and here.

So let's just say the tables have turned. I bought an iPhone 3G on opening weekend. News outlets will tell you that they sold a million units in the first 3 days, while it took them 74 days to reach the same milestone on iPhone v.1. So very literally, I'm one in a million now. But the question is, should you believe the hype?

Apple says it's twice as fast. Coming off of my well featured Treo (which had email, touch screen web browsing, etc), I would say the 3G unit is far more than twice as fast. As far as mobile data speeds are concerned, this thing is way faster. The phone imported all 7 email accounts from my Outlook (Win XP), and it checks all the accounts at lightning's pace.

The web browsing is just insane. Though the 3G unit's network is the fastest cellular network out there, it will pick up any available WiFi networks in reach. Being honest here, I only sense a mild speed difference between fully connected WiFi networks and the 3G network from ATT. The multi touch zoom in/out and drag while browsing is without doubt the most efficient mobile web browsing available.

Not even being an avid iTunes user, I easily synced the phone to my XP Pro running Dell, and threw a couple music and photo albums on the phone. Continuing to play around, I downloaded Bloomberg's free application for financial markets news and quotes. It also comes with a Google Maps app complete with pin point GPS location. So if you're lost in the car or otherwise, help is right in the palm of your hand. Bottom line, It was all a snap. A dumber than average monkey could work this thing like a pro.

Final remarks. I was once an iPhone doubting skeptic, but now I'm not only drinking the Koolade, I'm ready to serve it up to others. It is by far the best smart phone device out there.

Having just gotten back from a fun filled week at K-Kauai, there is much to reflect on. If you are not familiar with Kanakuk Kamps, just know that they are the best Christian camps on the face of the planet. Headquartered in Branson, Missouri, Kanakuk operates several camps throughout the Ozark Mountains, dozens of youth ministries across the U.S., and various other inner city camps and outreach camps located as far away as Africa.

Though Kanakuk started in 1926, it came into my world while I was in Junior High. Just this past week, we attended their family camp, K-Kauai. Calling it a family camp is accurate, but almost misleading. It's really an all inclusive family resort, that happens to have some similarities with camp. They take care of all the meals. Each family has their own air conditioned, 2-bathroom cabana. Kids of all ages, are not just taken care of when the grown ups are busy, but they are involved in age appropriate teaching and activities every day. All the Kanakuk staples are present: multi level ropes course, unbelievable pool grounds, on site water park, zip line over the edge of a cliff, most any sport you can think of and several others you can't, water skiing, bluff jumping, and many others. I hardly call it vacation, because there just isn't a lot of resting going on. After one week, I'm tired and sore.

The week is over, and one item of interest keeps standing out. Most of the 40 families there while we were had all been to Disney World before. And time and time again, I heard the same story from families who asked their kids earlier in the year if they would rather go to Disney World or Kanakuk? Each time the kids would give the parents the unanimous decision for Kanakuk.

I have to stop right there, because that seriously blows my mind. But on the drive home, it clicked:

Kids would rather have authentic, inspiring, and challenging activity based interaction with their family, well trained Kanakuk staff, and counselors, then have entertainment to the multi-million dollar N'th degree from Disney. Put simply, it's authentic interaction vs. world class entertainment.

All reflections aside, we had an awesome and unforgettable time and can't wait to go back. Enjoy the photo album on the left.

I have to look at the bright side here. I know some might call me crazy here, but I almost welcome high gas prices. Katie is a stay at home mom, and my commute is between 12-15 minutes. So from a selfish perspective, the pain at the pump that most people are feeling right now just isn't that painful for us. At the same time, lets just pretend that a whole dollar fell off the gas prices, and took the national average to just over 3 dollars a gallon. Well, that's still expensive gas, which means we're at the point now where it's worse than horrible. So prices getting a lot better, barely puts a dent in reality.

But back to welcoming high gas prices. High gas prices are pretty much the only thing that will kick energy innovation into high gear, because frankly most of the solutions being pitched right now just aren't going to cut it. I would even say it's an embarrassment to U.S. innovation that the 145 million cars on our highways are virtually running on the same fuel that the first cars ran on exactly 100 years ago. In 1908 the Model T ran on gasoline and ethanol. Now in 2008, our cars (vast, vast majority) are running on gasoline and ethanol. The Model T also ran at about 18 mpg (miles per gallon). I think the only reason we're not still driving the Model T is probably because it wouldn't pass today's safety inspections.

Ethanol is a great buzz word; I sure fell for it a couple years ago. And FYI, ethanol is not going to cut it. It's caused the price of certain crops to skyrocket, so many countries can't even afford basic foods now. And it takes a boat load of corn and 80 gallons of water to make a gallon of ethanol fuel. That's immeasurably ridiculous.

So how about Hybrids? That word is about as grey as "broadband internet service". What does it really mean? You could buy a 2 wheel drive hybrid Tahoe and get 22 mpg (Hwy). But wait there's more. What if you opted to save $15,000 and get the non-hybrid version, and just take the 19 mpg (Hwy). Pretty simply math here; for 15 grand you get 3 more miles per gallon. NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

Now, there certainly are some hybrids that are just killing it out there. They're not all marketing scams. The Prius boasts more than 45 mpg. That's pretty impressive. For me, I'm not really drinking the hybrid Kool-Aid yet. My well performing sports sedan gets close to 30 mpg on the hwy, and I'm fine with that for now. Premium gas and all.

And as many are pitching, the future is not in driving less for me. It's not in ethanol, hybrids, carpooling, windfall profits taxing, or any of the other insufficient ideas out there. It's not in better fuel economy as far as I'm concerned. It's in DIFFERENT fuel economy. We're a hundred years past the Model T right now. I'm actually shocked that my car isn't running on tap water, nuclear energy, batteries, stored solar power, or frankly anything other than the energy that OPEC gouges for.

Quick reminder, it's takes between 2 and 4 dollars to get a barrel of oil out of the ground in the Middle East. The current market value for that barrel is close to $140. And crying about it doesn't do much, because it's a great case and point for Economics 101: Supply and Demand. Very few people control the supply, and about a billion people feed the demand.

So I look forward to high gas prices. Real pain at the pump is simply a line we will all have to cross. There is no doubt it will have to get worse before it gets better, and I am really looking forward to better.