Poker - Online vs. Live Play by Josh Grattan

Disclaimer: All of the following information, thoughts, and views I discuss below has been gathered over years of personal experience playing the game and being a fan of the WSOP.


(Photo Courtesy of Fulltilt.com)




Poker has become more than a game played amongst friends. Now there are tournaments with thousands of players and millions in prizes, and now with the addition of online poker, the game has changed forever. The game play of poker has always been a highly debated topic of whether it is mere luck or true skill. Luck doesn't explain why the huge event final tables always have the same players. As the years passed the game has evolved from poker nights in the basement, to huge live events with thousands of entrants and millions of dollars up for grabs. Poker transformed from a game into a sport, a live event now aired regularly on television, with millions of fans.


The skilled players are finally getting recognition for their talents and to some, their faces and names have become icons in the poker world. As poker continued to grow throughout the years, along with the Internet, the new world of online poker was born. Today there are quite a few different websites where anyone in the world can log online and play poker for real or play money with other people at any time. The two kingpins of this industry are Pokerstars and FullTilt.


With this new addition to poker the industry boomed. The online poker sites snagged up the poker pros for publicity and took over. Before all of this the largest tournament in the world was the World Series of Poker (WSOP), which is now referred to as the largest LIVE tournament in the world. With these online sites growing so popular there are now millions of people playing, and hundreds of thousands logging on daily. Now the largest tournament record is being broken regularly by Pokerstars, hosting tournaments with over a million players.


And now with poker constantly growing in popularity the websites are constantly coming up with new gimmicks and promotions to draw in more players, or keep players interested. Personally my favorite site is Full Tilt for many reasons but one of the largest is their huge draw of promotions. All the time they are hosting tournaments for no buy in with cash rewards and upgrading their site. Recently Full Tilt invented Rush Poker which has taken online game play by storm. Basically a way to play a cash game without ever waiting between hands. If you fold, you instantly move to a new table and get dealt a new hand with no delay, the speed of game play is remarkable.


There are now new poker pros, well known strictly for their online game play, and more and more frequently, middle class people are becoming millionaires overnight. Careers are being created and these sites are raking in profit by the millions... daily.


But one of the largest topics of debate now-a-day isn't just the creation of online poker, now that its been around for a few years the real debate is about the difference in game play between live poker and online poker.


Many people today believe that all forms of poker is luck. They insist that you win because you get lucky and the right cards hit at the right time, I wont go into deep discussion about this because arguing that would mean describing how the game works. And in both live and online play the game works the same. Two hole cards, round of betting, flop, round of betting, turn, round of betting, river, round of betting, and finally the showdown.


The basics of the game have not changed, but the game play in itself has. When one plays a live tournament, they have a few advantages, they are able to stare down their opponent, and 'read' them. Meaning make betting or folding decisions based off their opponents reactions and subtle ticks. There are many other ways to read as well, such as betting technique and individual player's style. Seasoned players are better at reading, and at hiding reads, another thing that remains consistent in live game play is the odds. If you are trying to hit a club on the last card to make your flush, then you know for certainty that you have a one in four chance of hitting that card. A one in four shot. But with online play, these principles don't quite work the same.


When playing poker online you cannot see your opponent, you only see a fake name and a little avatar. Now you have to make your decisions based either on the odds or the betting style of your opponents. It gets so much more in depth to the betting style because you no longer have the ability the look at your opponents face and make decisions there. The big problem comes with the odds. Many people believe that the odds are the same, same deck of cards and same probabilities of hitting cards.


But still everyone whose played online enough has noticed how frequently there are bad beats, suck outs, and a total defiance of the odds. That is because contrary to popular believe it is IMPOSSIBLE to create a computer program that can randomly shuffle a deck of cards. What they do have is a program called RNG (random number generator) also known as PRNG (Pseudo-random number generator), because really the numbers are NOT random at all. And it is a very difficult concept to grasp for many. So when you are playing online, just throw the odds out the window. Your best chance to win is play your opponent not your cards, and go with your gut.


Online poker is an amazing new addition to the ever growing world of poker and will continue to expand as the years pass. One thing every new player needs to remember is that when you start playing online, it doesn't matter how many years of experience you have playing live games, its a whole new game here.


Today with online poker and live poker both growing in popularity anyone interested in taking a chance to make a lot of money has the opportunity, fortunes are won and lost faster than ever. But as long as you keep your head and don't get carried away, both styles are a fun game to play with a lot of reward for success.


Hope everyone enjoyed my first blog post! A big thanks to Nikky Raney for giving me the opportunity to write for Zennie62.com.

NBA Draft: John Wall: Kentucky player first of record five Wildcats in 1st round

John Wall

The NBA Draft 2010 has been a showcase for The University of Kentucky. Kentucky John Wall, the SEC player of the year in 2009-2010, was selected as the first pick in the 1st round of the NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards.

Wall is the first of what would turn out to be a record five Kentucky players to go in the 1st round of the NBA Draft. The others were DeMarcus Cousins to the Sacramento Kings, Patrick Patterson to the Houston Rockets, Eric Bledsoe to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Daniel Orton to the Orlando Magic.

All of that for a team that didn't even when the NCAA Championship.

It reminds this blogger of the 2010 NFL Draft, when a record four players from the University of Oklahoma were the four of the first five players taken. That, too, was a record.

John Wall is expected to team with Gilbert Arenas and revive the Washington Wizards.

Ecuador one contract away from owning oil production and profits

Correa's moving to get more oil money 

While Amazon Watch and Steven Donziger yell and scream about American Chevron in an attempt to extort billions while claiming to represent Ecuador's "indigenous people," Ecuador President Rafael Correa is just one signed contract away from that country successfully nationalizing revenue from its oil industry.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Administration of Ecuador President Rafael Correa seeks to replace current oil production-sharing contracts with service contracts that would "see oil companies getting a production fee, while the government would own 100 percent of oil and gas produced."

In other words, Ecuador, which has 34 active oil contracts, would take more money from Italian, Brazilian, Canandian, Chinese, and European, and other oil companies, as Amazon Watch claims American Chevron's responsible for environmental damage from oil production (there are no large American oil producers as Ecuador has either taken over production or kicked them out of the country.)

It's Ecuador's effort to offset declining revenues from oil. Production has dropped 17 percent in one year.

The new service contract model law will have two different fees, one for production and the other for new investment to increase output. Nothing has been said about using the extra revenue for environmental cleanup.

The contracts are expected to be signed and implemented by August 2010. If the companies don't sign the contracts, they would be subject to state seizure of their oil assets.   This was done to American Occidental Petroleum in 2007, when Ecuador took everything from oil facilities to luxury cars, and had fist-fights over those.  In 1992, Chevron and Ecuador negotiated an agreement for Ecuador to take over Chevron's oil production.

Again, why doesn't Amazon Watch sue Ecuador?  

Ray's Hell Burger gets Obama and Medvedev

Obama and Medvedev at Ray's (Facebook photo)

President Obama loves Ray's Hell Burger. So much so, POTUS has made Ray's Hell Burger a stop for lunch with visiting Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. And Obama had a power lunch at Ray's Hell Burger with Vice President Joe Biden last year. But what's all the fuss over Ray's Hell Burger?

According to the blog DC Foodies.com, Ray's Hell Burger's the third in a series of burger places started by Washington area restauranteur Michael Landrum, and all called Ray's. Opened in 2008, Ray's Hell Burger at 1713 Wilson Boulevard in Arlington, VA, DC Foodies reports that you can get the burgers in a variety of different combinations and for those who like cheese on their burger (this blogger doesn't), you have a wide selection of them to put on your burger. You can have basics, or top it with Brie, Italian, or Taleggio.

Obama First at Ray's Hell Burger with Joe Biden

President Obama made his first trip to Ray's last May 2009 with Vice President Joe Biden. The two waited in line to order burgers, where Obama had a cheese burger, which may have been a Swiss cheese selection. The power lunch took all of 45 minutes.

Burger eating contest!  

This time, President Obama took President Dmitry Medvedev to Ray's. On this occasion, Obama had a cheeseburger again, while Medvedev put onions, jalepenos, and mushrooms on his. That means President Medvedev had one hot burger. No word on what Medvedev drank, but given the toppings, it should have been water. (Update: the photo shows it was Coca Cola.)

What's interesing from the photos is the body language captured. Obama, starring intentely at Medvedev while bitting into his own cheese burger. It's as if Obama's saying "What do you think of the burger, as aides lean forward paying rapt attention like watching an epic chess match between the late Bobby Fisher and Donald Byrne.

Given the way Obama bit into his meat creation, you'd expect him to suddenly find his inner Samuel L. Jackson and say "Mmmmm! That is one tasty burger!"

Obama supports local establishments

What's cool about President Obama is he uses the office of the President to support local food businesses. In Washington DC, he's done it with Ray's Hell Burger, and with Ben's Chili Bowl.



As Obama travels around the country, he should extend the practice to local places in the cities he touches down in, when he has the time. If he comes to Oakland, Obama's got to try the sandwiches at Bakesale Betty's, which just opened a new place on Broadway and Grand Avenue.

If Obama visits Atlanta, he's got to try breakfast at The Flying Biscuit; the one at 1655 McClendon. If he's in New York City, my all time favorite place is the 21 Club at 21 West 52nd Street. I know it's not the "place of the people" but it's history. A place Frank Sinatra held court at and goes back to Prohibition.



"21" is an amazing place. Obama's got to pay a visit to it.

iPhone 4 problems: FaceTime privacy and "sexviding" are new issues

The Apple iPhone 4

The Apple iPhone 4 product rollout is today, and while the innovative latest version of Apple's flagship product is causing buzz for its new features, it's getting even more for its problems. 

While a weirdly placed casing antenna and a coating on the screen have caused reception and screen image issues, privacy problems not widely reported could give iPhone 4 buyers the most concern.

Apple's new FaceTime feature on the iPhone 4 allows you to make a video call to someone else who can see your image and vice versa. It's a real advance in communications, but with it comes a huge privacy problem.

First, teens can use it to send what this space is the first to name as a "sexvid" and lead to practices of "sexviding", where a person sends a sexual FaceTime video call to someone else. Second, the FaceTime communications are not secure, so anyone can pick up your FaceTime call, video and all, without your knowing it.

Admiral Acbar's warning (photo by QuickPwn)

Let's think about this: a teen making a "sexviding' call on the iPhone 4 could have that picked up by someone else who's on the WiFi signal they're using.

Hans at the blog QuickPwn.com points to this problem (and the one who made the Admiral Ackbar photo). Hans reports that an Apple Employee actually shared this information originally with Nakodari, from AddictiveTips.

Nakodari reports an Apple Employee called "Alpha" who claims that Apple is using FaceTime to steal user information, and wrote:

I will let you off with one last bit of information if your gonna write a story on this and that is Facetime, the iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 Wifi video connecting. The issue is with Wifi is that anyone can get on a Wifi Signal and potentially see what the viewers and broadcasters are looking at without them know, now Apple will deny this and say its not our problem you where not on a secure connection, in my mind I think that its all bullshit.

People should be able to have some type of security during those calls. Worst yet is once a person connects to another person on FaceTime it for some reason non of us in the office can figure out, sends us APPLE a message and says those two people are connecting via Facetime and gives out their location to us. So for whatever reason we need that information just blows my mind. As a consumer why would you need to let Apple know that you are connecting with a person via FaceTime, its non of Apple’s business.

So if a teen sends a sexvid, Apple can know the location of the teenager who did it. But Apple can also know the location of anyone using FaceTime at any time.

Apple's privacy problem doesn't stop there. The iPhone 4 maker can also know if their users have jailbroken their iPhone to escape AT&T. The iPhone 4 system sends what are called "Over The Air" (OTA) updates to Apple every 7 to 14 days. Alpha writes:

As far as Base Bands go it does not matter what baseband you TRY to get on the iPhone cause in the iOS4 there is a line of code we wrote that stands for OAU also known as “Over Air Updates”. How it works is every 7 to 14 days We (Apple) and AT&T send a message to your iPhone that gathers some data from your iPhone without you knowing and we see what is running, baseband and firmware. We then send a following message. “There are optional updates for your iPhone, Would you like to install them now?” two options “Yes” or “Later”. Those are what would would call “OPTIONAL UPDATES” Now there are things called “MANDATORY UPDATES”. They tend to work the same way, grab data from the iPhones sends it to AT&T and us then back to your iPhone with the message, “Your iPhone (name of iphone) must be updated to the current AT&T standards to run”, your only option is to “Accept” Now you can try to work your way around it until you get the second mandatory message again “You must plug iPhone into iTunes and update” If you don’t do this you will then receive no Signal from the network anymore and your iPhone will potentially lock up with no signs of use until you update your iPhone via iTunes. You all agreed to this terms and condition when you installed iTunes 9.2 and then again once you updated to iOS4.

With that being Said go ahead Try to unlock the iPhone it will only last 14 days max then you will have to break that update for that one week then again and again we currently have 6 months worth of updates for this iOS4. Apple and AT&T now have complete control over their iPhones and what their customers are putting on them without them knowing anything about it. Many of the people I work with don’t agree with this but even in our computers when people call in to Apple Care Support we can see if your iPhone is running a jailbreak and what baseband is currently on the iPhone. We have been instructed to not support any one with these things and possible void your warranty of the iPhone for Breaking a contract Rule.

Why is Alpha leaking this information to the blogsphere? Again, he writes:

The reason why I am leaking some of this info is cause I don’t think its right that we are essentially controlling peoples iPhones.

Its their property once it leaves our retail stores and people need to know what they are getting into.

First, give major credit to Nakodari at Addictive Tips for breaking this story. Second, Apple should just unlock the iPhone rather than forcing people to use AT&T.

Many iPhone users don't like AT&T, so many that they're hungry for a Verizon version of the iPhone. Why Apple is doing this is for explanation, but this time it's apparent they've gone too far. Between the FaceTime privacy problems and the OTA iPhone use updates, Apple has become Big Brother.

IPhone 4 antenna and problems mar Apple product debut

The Apple iPhone 4

Apple's long awaited iPhone 4 is out today, and a long line formed near Apple's Flagship Stores in New York and San Francisco, and around America and the World. The iPhone, an innovative cell phone that's changed the way such devices are developed, has a number of new features that have created a lot of excitement. But the Apple IPhone 4 also has bugs with its antenna and other features that have marred it's debut.

The most exciting new feature on the iPhone 4 is the ability to created and edit high-definition video, which you can then upload to YouTube. This makes the iPhone the first smart phone designed for video-blogging use and can change the face of media. On Wednesday night ABC News Nightline featured an impressive segment that was shot entirely using the iPhone 4.

The other cool feature is video phone calling: the ability to talk to a person and see their face as they talk. It's a wild feature that calls into question how concerns about how teen "sexting" will morph into a concern about what this space will call "sexviding" or the act of one making a video phone call just to send a sexy video of themselves to the other person. (More on that later.)

But beyond launching a new teen social trend (and the prediction here is that "sexviding" will be that trend), the iPhone 4 also has a few problems. The most noted one is the issue of the antenna.

The tech blog Gizmodo notes that the iPhone 4 loses reception when you hold it by the antenna band, which happens to be the way you normally hold the phone. Gizmodo presented this YouTube video by Fame Foundry which shows the problem:



The antenna band is wrapped around the sides of the phone, so when you hold it, you're bound to touch the band, and cause the AT&T (man I hate AT&T) reception bars to decrease to nil, meaning no reception. You have to hold the iPhone 4 by the glass, which is a weird way to handle the product, to get reception.

Gizmodo asked users to confirm the problem by making their own video and that's what has happened. Thus, the Apple iPhone 4 is such that you can't use it effectively by holding it. It seems Apple could have installed a retractable antenna, rather than one that part of the phone's casing. Illogical. (As a note, Gizmodo has various fixes for iPhone users, the most effective one being scotch tape.)

The other problem most noted is with a "yellow spot problem" on the screen that Apple reports will go away within a day "or so."  The reason given is apparently that Apple was so busy rushing the iPhone to delivery that a kind of bonding agent was not given enough time to evaporate.

Stay tuned.

Columbia University eminent domain abuse by Suzannah B. Troy

It was yet another dark day for democracy here in NYC.  The big apple has seen so many dark days under Bloomberg, a mayor who denied the people of New York City a referendum so he could push threw a third term to crown himself king of New York also pushed a reckless tsunami of development and aided and abetted his developer friends.  Ditto for in my opinion the worst city planner in NYC's history, socialite mega-millionaire Amanda the people's Burden.

Amanda the people's Burden knows her reputation is shot so word on the street is she tells people she is doing Mike Bloomberg's bidding.   She and Mike may be one of the largest mass displacement of New Yorkers if you don't include the original real Natives, the American Indians.  King Mike, the nanny mayor,  has managed to piss them off too.  Mike Bloomberg was not smart enough to figure out if you displace people and than call them and ask them to vote for you either their telephone numbers are now disconnected and or they and their friends will hang up on your campaign staff.   Team Bloomberg found that out and also set a record for the most expensive -- $110 million campaign price tag for the most humiliating win.  Lucky for Teflon Mike The NY Post is not doing anymore investigative research on how Mike spent  109 million dollars and Cy Vance seems unwilling to give king Mike even a slap on the wrist for wiring money out of his personal account instead of the campaign account.   Mike Bloomerg also holds the purse strings to Cy Vance, the Manhattan DA's budget allotment.  Ouch.  Back to today's dark day and Columbia University doing everything but holding a gun to the peoples' heads to get them to move.   Who needs thugs when you have judges that side with ruthless developers and not the people?

Norman Siegel won a powerful first round against Columbia University but it was no surprise he lost round two since this was the very same set of judges that ruled in favor of eminent domain abuse in Brooklyn.

Read the Crain's article and decide for yourself.  My opinion is this is very sad  news.  A dark day for the people.   Watch my YouTube playlist and hear directly from people being abused by Columbia University's abuse of eminent domain.  http://www.youtube.com/my_playlists?p=8C438F43D7335594  Watch  interviews of people being evicted by Columbia University abusing eminent domain.  I also have an interview with Norman Siegel at a protest on the Columbia University campus where even students joined the protest and sad "Not in our name!"

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20100624/REAL_ESTATE/100629905

This is all part of the mass displacement under Bloomberg.   

Chevron Ecuador - Amazon Watch is afraid to sue Ecuador

In the never-ending Chevron Ecuador legal battle, Laywer Steven Donziger (the head of a decade-long battle to extort billions from Chevron for environmental damage caused by the Ecuador-owned Petroecuador and Ecuador President Rafael Correa's policy of allowing oil production in the Amazon, while having kicked out American oil companies) and the Amazon Watch organization yesterday called for additional damages against Chevron in Ecuador, citing alleged sabotage of the court proceedings by Chevron.

That's a joke on several fronts. First, understand that this effort is nothing more than Steve Donziger's ticket to billions, as this space stated in this video:



It's sad, that Donziger is accusing Chevron of somehow tampering with the Ecuadorian court system when, in fact, it's Donziger and his collegues who have been trying to manipulate the already corrupt court system in Ecuador.

An old view with roots in Berkeley

Ecuador oil mess caused by Petroecuador

What's really bothersome about this goes back to something that has its roots for this blogger at the Department of City and Regional Planning at The University of California at Berkeley. It was there, at what we lovingly call "DCRP" (and to which I owe a donation), that some of my fellow students rubber-stamped the economic development actions of governments in third-world countries.

Not to get too much off the point, but government's stealing petrodollars that could help the poor, and the overuse of narcodollars to line political pockets was seldom a focus. It was the classic "big company bad", "third world country good" ethic. An idea that I totally hated because it's simplistic; in this business the lines of good and bad are not so clear.

The people you think are "good" are some of the first ones in the Ecuador case, to shoot an arrow into your back.  It's a known fact that Ecuador's poor in the Amazon are hostile to outsiders even from their own country.  It's also a known fact that Ecuador's politics and court system are as dirty as the oil it produces.

At the time I was there, some at DCRP presented a "small group think" that escaped a hard look at corruption and never really solved problems for countries like Ecuador. Now, Ecuador's government ia allowed to get away with ignoring its poor without criticism. Ask Amazon Watch why it doesn't sue Ecuador itself?  The answer is simple: because they're in partnership with each other.

Donziger's credibility is lacking

Earlier this year, evidence submitted by Donziger and his team in Ecuador was repudiated by Charles W. Calmbacher, the very expert that Donziger and the plaintiffs hired to make a report.

Calmbacher, under oath in a deposition you can download here, said the evidence submitted by Donziger and the Amazon Defense Coalition was fraudulent and was not written by him.

All of which leads to one conclusion considering Wednesday's news: Steven Donziger, Amazon Watch and the Amazon Defense Coalition, are trying to divert attention from their own court fixing attempts, imply that American Chevron has done something wrong in Ecuador, and collect billions that would go to the Ecuadorian government, and to Donziger, and not the people Donziger claims to represent.

Ecuador's own lawyer Washington Pesantez, who's title is Ecuador's Prosecutor General, has already said it would get 90 percent of the $27 billion or $16 billion or whatever number Donziger's managed to conjure up of late.

That, folks, makes Ecuador a party to Steven Donziger's own lawsuit and calls into question all this jazz about helping the indigenous people of Ecuador.  But even with the information presented, Donziger and Amazon Watch press on with their claims.

Time is not on their side. There's still the issue of evidence of involvement in the Chevron Ecuador case by President Correa's own political party.

The New York Times ran an article on the bribery scandal involving then Chevron Ecuador case Judge Nunez and recordings that point right to President Correa's sister Pierina Correa as being in line to be approached about the bribe. This is what the Times reported:

In the same meeting, Mr. García told Mr. Borja how to approach Ms. Correa, the president’s sister, about the bribe. "Tell Pierina clearly, 'Madam Pierina, what we came to do beyond anything else is to participate, participate in the remediation. That’s why I want to make you part of this.'"

Mr. Correa's party was to receive a million in the bribe effort.

Now, collect the dots here: we have Ecuador's own lawyer Washington Pesantez stating Ecuador will get 90 percent of the damage award, and we have allegations and evidence pointing to President Correa's own political party as getting some of that same damage award. This lawsuit is designed to do nothing more than make Steven Donziger rich and Ecuador's rich, richer, while Petroecuador continues to mess up its own country's environment.

Black Eyed Peas Will.i.am (@iamwill) Bentley robbed in Hollywood Hills

Will.i.am

The Black Eyed Peas star and Internet tech conference flavor of the year, Will.i.am (@iamwill) was the unfortunate victim of a successful robbery attempt.

According to TMZ.com, Will.i.am's Bentley was broken into and the robbers made off with "jewelry and several of the singer's personal items."

As of this writing the LAPD is in the process of recovering the stolen items, and have found some of them already. Where or how they were found has not been explained.

Will.i.am and Perez Hilton one year anniversary

This is the week that one year ago saw Will.i.am and Perez Hilton in a dust-up over a rather stupid set of comments the celebrity blogger made to Will.i.am at The Much Music Festival in Toronto, Canada. The result was a video change and a total meltdown by Perez and it may have been a contributing factor in his blog's decline in value. Here it is:



Will.i.am the Tech Star

In the wake of his celebrated battle with blogger Perez Hilton, Will.i.am has massively upped his PR game by first becoming associated with Twitter execs, even being a guest at Twitter Headquarters this year, and giving a speech at the firm's recent confab called "Chirp." Now, Will.i.am is slated to speak at the upcoming Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco this November.

With that Will.i.am can be officially called a tech influencer. Will.i.am just needs to make sure he keeps his Bentley in a more secure location in the future.

Euro Yank calls blacks the N-word, then deletes Facebook account

Just a warning to African Americans about a racist person who goes by the name Euro Yank. If you encounter the person on Facebook, report or at least blog about it. Euro Yank has, or had a Facebook page, where he posed the question "Who owns the media?"

The question came up on my news feed, so I answered that anyone with a cell phone, blog, and YouTube channel owns the media. My point is that people don't understand the power they have. Or at least those not lining up to by an Apple iPhone 4.

Euro Yank's Facebook response was:

Euro Yank YOU ZIONIST LOVER - HOW MUCH ARE THEY PAYING YOU

And...

Euro Yank and stay the fuck off my wall you stupid NIGGER

Both are on my Facebook page as a marker. Someone can take the page link and research where the person came from if they wanted to. This is that link: Euro Yank, which was broken by him.

Euro Yank - or this version of Euro Yank - has issues. But it's a good idea to present this as a reminder that society still has a long way to go.

Tupac Shakur, Bill Cosby, REM work called "Culturally Significant"

Years after his death, the sprint of Rapper Tupac Shakur continues to live with us via his music. A series of works so powerful that one of them, Dear Mama, was called "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress.

Tupac Shakur joins Bill Cosby, REM, Willie Nelson, Little Richard, Mississippi John Hurt, Patti Smith, and others in the honor.

Tupac Shakur was killed in Las Vegas in 1996 and during a feud with rival rappers that really should not have happened at all. Tupac Shakur was a major music figure in the San Francisco Bay Area, having moved here and to Marin City in 1988.

That Tupac Shakur's music has reached this lofty status should be a sign to urban economic development officials (if they're paying attention and most don't) that investing in the people who create music in a city can not only help them but give the city itself incredible visibility.

That's certainly true for cities like Oakland, California, which has a rich rap music culture, but this space knows that the Oakland Redevelopment Agency pays no attention to an industry, the music industry, in Oakland that many of its residents are already involved in, one way or another.

Tupac Shakur. Forever.

Cystic Fibrosis life expectancy longer than most thought

Diet is one big reason 

Cystic Fibrosis is at the top of search trends Thursday because it was found that the disease, in which the person suffering from it develops an ulcer in the pancreas, can be managed due to advances in treatment. Those advances have caused a larger group of people to live past age 40. 30,000 Americans and 70,000 people around the World have Cystic Fibrosis as of this writing.

According to the Associated Press, Cystic Fibrosis treatment include inhaled medications and a chest - vibrating vest to clear airway clogs. The Cystic Fibrosis disease causes a mucus to build up in the lungs, clogging them and leading to life-threatening infections. That same mucus also clogs the pancreas so the body can't properly digest food.

Cystic Fibrosis generally showed up in kids, who didn't make it to become adults. But what's happening now is that Cystic Fibrosis is showing up in people later in life. What's found is that proper care leads to longer life, but there's something the AP article does not address.

The impact of the non-smoking movement

Not discussed is the impact of the non-smoking movement on Cystic Fibrosis patients. It's wildly known that smoking can harm Cystic Fibrosis patients, but not talked about is the impact of the non-smoking movement and the attack on the spread of second-hand smoke.

Also not considered is the impact of the diet and vitamins movement. Also, exercise is an important consideration. Why those factors aren't mentioned in the AP article is a head-scratcher.