Douglas Schumacher

Description:  As I'm in California, enjoy this gaming video of me playing Need For Speed: Most Wanted at TWO TIMES normal speed!  I'm horrible on this first stage... Read this week's posts at: http://dougaschublogs.blogspot.com Inspired by Hank Green's CLOP 2X Video!

Just a quick reminder that I'm hanging out on Google+ at 11am CST this morning.  Come to discuss random stuff and have some fun.  You can circle me here ...and talk to you then.  If not...I'm off, but scheduled posts are still coming everyday following Operation Storm as I'm gone.

As I was browsing though the FBLA NLC master schedule yesterday, finalizing my plans, I noticed that all the testing events had the word "ONLINE" printed next to them, including mine- Introduction to Business.  I could only assume this means that I will be traveling all the way to California, essentially, to take a multiple choice test on a computer sitting somewhere in the Anaheim Convention Center.  Huh? It is certainly not my favorite activity to travel.  For me, it is the actual transportation part that bothers me.  For every voyage I've taken, you have to sit there and basically do nothing either on the ground or up in the air six miles and try to relax for one, two, five hours at a time.  You can try to be distracted by technology, or a book, or the world around you-but nothing can take your mind off the topic of "Why am I doing this?" As much as traveling has been a part of humanity, why do we still have to feel this way?  Or more importantly, why,

Description:  All about what is going to happen this week with Operation Storm.  It is boring! See you tomorrow at http://dougaschublogs.blogspot.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Today's SimCity video is also up on my YouTube channel.

Description: Thunderstorms moved into my area early this morning, dumping TWO INCHES of rain in the matter of an hour.  My electricity was out for 2.5 hours this morning, but luckily it was back on in time to upload this.  More storms are predicted for the next week, and Operation Storm does say I will livestream severe weather events...so be watching for that and a SimCity livestream sometime this weekend. Read this week's posts: http://dougaschublogs.blogspot.com Last year's summer flood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpjQvYqXVn0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blog Note: As it will keep raining this weekend, I fear that there will be an even worse flood.  But for now, the waters have backed down from the peak-when I took the video.

Yesterday I ended up in a Best Buy store while looking for a new family camera.  A walked in, borrowed though the camera section, and then headed out of the store to compare prices with the nearby Radio Shack and Walmart.  I was honestly surprised that I ended up heading back to Best Buy ten minutes before closing  to purchase one of the cameras that I had looked at.  The camera was a Samsung ST150F. Cue the review... It's a selfie...about the camera. The Samsung ST150F was released in March of 2013 as the cheapest point-and-shoot in the Samsung SMART Camera lineup.  While it normally sells for $129.99, I got mine $55 off, only costing $74.99.  How? It was an "open-box computer", meaning that it was a display model in the store at one point but was then repackaged to be sold.  When I bought it yesterday, it was in perfect condition with all the accessories.  If you are looking to save money on electronics, watch for certified refurbished and open item deals. (But th

Watch live video from dougaschu on www.twitch.tv I'm livestreaming SimCity today starting around 11:15am CST in the box above.  Tweet me with questions and comments, since I cannot see the Twitch chat.  See you then! Wednesday's livestream ended up failing because of technical difficulties.  Thank you to those who did show up...and a special livestream will occur this weekend.  See you then.

If you watched yesterday's vlog, you would know that I headed to the dentist today.  No cavities, everything was fine.  The problem, though, occurred as I was sitting in the waiting area before leaving.  If you've ever been at a dentist (which I hope you have-eww), you would notice that there is always a radio playing over speakers in the background-quiet enough so that it doesn't bother anyone but loud enough to keep the patients' auditory systems occupied.  This is key to what happened to me today. I happened to be in between Can Knockdown 3 levels when I heard six lyrics that anyone on the Internet knows well.  I'll just say that they rhymed with "Ever showing moo comparative true sup..." If you can't figure it out, here's a hint.  Post your guesses in the comments below.

Description: I discuss softball and why it is not my sport. That is all. New post tomorrow over at http://www.dougaschublogs.blogspot.com

Description: Today's vlog covers a new forecasting service, gives an outlook for next week's weather, and reviews week two of Operation Storm. Join me back here on Monday for a new video. Thanks for watching! Read this week's posts: http://dougaschublogs.blogspot.com

*A friendly warning to my readers: I was disappointingly uninspired today, resulting in a rant to be written.  Thank you.* Today I would like to bring up Twitter's largest annoyances to me.  The first is the so called "quote" accounts.  They tend to post something about comedy, true facts, or tendencies of life.  The few that I do follow are generally pretty good, except in the last month.  I've noticed quite a few regurgitated tweets from themselves just a few days ago, but also there are so many sponsorships!   Half of my stream is filled with "Retweet this in 5 minutes for 10000+ followers" or are a catchy title followed by an unrelated link to ask.com.  I'm not sure if there is like one person who manages all of the so-called "quote" accounts, because if there is, they need to stop doing so much cross-promotion to accounts like "Girls Life" that I don't care about!  It bothers me that their content looks good one minute

 My SimCity livestream was recorded in SD and you can watch it below. Thank you and see you tomorrow right here for a new blog post. I'm very sorry that the livestream is starting late, but it is a computer problem that I'm working on.  When I do start (within 20 minutes?), you can watch it below.

At noon yesterday, Apple kicked off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference with a keynote where they talked about a few key products.  My video above quickly goes over most of them.  If you're interested in more info, keep reading... OS X Mavericks Apple is steering away from a cat name for OS X (10.9) Mavericks.  The update, mostly likely to be $20, includes synced notifications, App Nap along with other performance and power saving features, along with new desktop apps of Maps, iBooks, and iWork with iCloud (also available on PC).  Better multiple display options and file tagging is also new.  It is releasing this fall. Read more at: http://www.apple.com/osx/preview Personally, I've never used OS X beyond what is required at school, so I cannot form any major opions on Mavericks.  I will say, however, that this appears to be a minor upgrade (vs iOS 7-see below). New Hardware Although we only got a preview of the new Mac Pro (see video), Apple went ahead an

Description: Today is Day 4 of Operation Storm, a Monday as well, so here is a vlog in which I try some different foods and discuss what might happen at Apple's WWDC at 12pm today. (Filmed in the morning, plus 4 hour upload). There is a bonus video coming this evening detailing what did happen at WWDC, along with a blog post tomorrow over at http://dougaschublogs.blogspot.com. See you there!

Today, June 7th, at 12pm CST, I will be covering the Google Chrome Mobile event LIVE in the Chatroll box below.  Join me for the latest. *UPDATE* The liveblog box has been removed.  The event happened to be about Chrome Roll-It, so nothing too exciting happened.  Watch on Monday for a recap on Apple's WWDC.

What is there to say?  I am back to the (public) internet with tons of new content this summer.  With your help, I'm going to hit the Internet like a storm. Starting June 5th (yesterday), the schedule goes as follows: Mondays: New Vlog Prepare to see my thoughts in a video form, uploaded to YouTube . Tuesdays: New Blog Post Come see my expanded talk, in text form, on this blog . Wednesdays: Hangout Party (1st/3rd), SimCity Live (2nd/4th) On the first and third Wednesdays of the month, be part of a Google Plus Hangout Party. The opposite Wednesdays, I'll be playing SimCity live on Twitch while answering Twitter questions.  Times are TBD. Thursdays: New Blog Post Fridays: New Vlog In addition, I'll be liveblogging/livestreaming major tech announcements and Wisconsin severe weather events all summer long! I am also taking a trip to California at the end of June, so be ready to hear about that. ------------------------------------------------------------

BACK IN 2012 Since 2010, US cell carriers have been working on building next-gen, faster data networks.  In the start, Sprint bet on WiMax technology, while Verizon went for LTE.  AT&T and T-Mobile worked on HSPA+ (which is technically super-fast 3G).  Fast forward to 2012, and the "Big Three" have 4G LTE networks, and even regional carriers are getting into the fast lane.  For a large portion of Americans, these networks are at their disposal...but rural customers are still in a waiting game. I've mentioned before that I live in North-Central Wisconsin and I happen to live within "cell coverage distance" of Highway 29, a main highway connecting Green Bay, Wausau, Eau Claire, and eventually the Twin Cities.  This is a main corridor, and so cell coverage is easy to come by nearby.  By that I mean that Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint have networks along it...T-Mobile has no network at all  built beyond western WI. Around here, about 90% of people own a phon