Google's new reorganization into Alphabet

In the past few days, Google announced that it would reorganize itself under a new parent company. Alphabet is the new parent company, and it serves as a holding company for all of Google's separate businesses. Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Eric Schmidt will hold the top leadership positions in Alphabet. Sundar Pichai is the new CEO of Google, and used to be a product chief to Larry Page. Pichai is the head of Gmail, Android, and Google search products currently. As a conglomerate, Alphabet will be the holding company for Nest and Google Glass. Alphabet will let Google continue to innovate, and to pursue projects that may or may not come to fruition. Alphabet will report financial information separately for each of its companies. Financial analysts and investors will understand better how the different pieces of Google operate. Hopefully, the conglomerate will bring some revolutionary products to the tech. society. On the other hand, renaming Google may not have an immediate impact on consumers. Self-driving cars is another product line, that will be under Alphabet. Yet, this product line has not quite taken off. The future for Google remains bright. Android and YouTube are two familiar products, which will be under Alphabet too. Hope you like the picture of Larry, Eric, and Sergey (the brilliant triumvirate) above. What will be the new products under Alphabet? It is yet to be determined, as the future brand of Alphabet will be marketed superbly.

One year away from Rio, Michael Phelps makes the right decision

One year from today, the Summer Olympics will be held in Rio De Janeiro. The Brazilian public is ready to see Michael Phelps compete in his fifth Olympics. Will he win more gold medals? Outside of winning medals, the Maryland based US swimmer made a great decision recently. Michael Phelps is saying no to alcohol, and he wants to be sober throughout his Olympic training and Rio's summer Olympics. For the swimmer with the most gold medals ever, the decision is monumental. Michael Phelps received a DUI in September 2014, in Baltimore. Michael Phelps got a speeding ticket on that same day, which changed his life tremendously. Due to the citations, Phelps entered himself in Alcoholics Anonymous. Finally, he entered himself in a 45 day inpatient treatment facility to get through the debacles. In the end, Phelps will come out on top. Phelps retired after the 2012 London Olympics, but he came back to swim in 2014. He shocked many people and fans that had no idea. Phelps wants to add to his 18 gold medals, and he will do it in Rio. The 2016 summer Olympics run from August 5 to 21, and the global public will watch Phelps shine again. Be Resilient, MP!

If you use an Apple computer, then the top 4 sellers of PC's is a major surprise!

Recently, the Gartner Group released the Top 4 PC sellers in 2nd quarter of 2015. The top 4 PC sellers are: 1. HP 2. Dell 3. Lenovo 4. Apple Lenovo is the top PC seller globally, but the Chinese company is ranked #3 in the U.S. HP and Dell are the top market leaders. If you own an Apple computer, the company is #4. This ranking is one of the highest for the largest market cap. company, in the world. Making the top 4 in the US is a good start, for Apple. But, the company is not resting on its laurels. Don't be surprised if Apple rises from #4, into top 2 in 2016 or later. The company could catch up to its competition. For now, it is good to see HP and Dell as the top 2. Both companies are US ones, and their respective brands have improved steadily. All of these top 4 companies are trying to live up to the gold standard, and rein in top quality also. In closing, Lenovo is not the laptop (desktop, or notebook) computer for me. HP or Dell would suit me fine. Hope those top two continue to be in the top three. Hope you like the picture above, of laptop brands.

The 'Fantastic Beasts' hits theaters in sixteen months!

Well, JK Rowling has done it again with a new Harry Potter spin-off adventure. The movie, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", will hit movie theaters in November 2016. Eddie Redmayne will play Newt Scamander. JK Rowling wrote this book in 2001, and it's neither a prequel nor sequel to the Harry Potter series. Will this movie be a great adventure, like the original Harry Potter movies? Recently, a casting call was announced in the form of an open audition. Warner Brothers film studio held the original one for the Harry Potter movies, so it's only fitting that they hold one for "Fantastic Beasts." The casting call is for young girls, to play Modesty. The girls have to be in the age range of 8 to 12, and will compete for the role on July 18 in London. Besides Eddie Redmayne's Academy Award winning acting will be two fellow thespians, Ezra Miller and Katherine Waterston. Modesty is a young woman that understands people, even though she is haunted. Finally, how will Harry Potter fans like myself welcome this movie? The movie should be another box office hit for Warner Bros. Entertainment, and the story takes place in New York. It will start seven decades, before the original Harry Potter was in school. Newt Scamander is a magizoologist, and this person is one who studies magical creatures. May this magizoologist entertain the public, like no other J.K. Rowling character has done before. Way to go, Joanne K. Rowling!

Lil' Wayne dropping mixtape on Tidal music streaming service, Jay-Z owned venture

As many readers know, Jay-Z is one of my favorite hip-hop artists. Tidal, a Jay-Z owned music streaming service, got some good recognition recently thanks to Lil' Wayne. Lil' Wayne's new album, Free Weezy Album (FWA), was released a few days ago on Tidal. Not only did Lil' Wayne drop the album, but he became a co-owner in Tidal. Tidal has added Lil' Wayne to its roster of talent, as he joins Prince and other eclectic stars. In addition, Tidal app. is giving its users the opportunity to buy concert tickets. Once users download the app., they can use Tidal to buy concert tickets in selected cities. Does this cool feature mean Tidal will compete with Ticketmaster, and Stubhub? Recently, Prince pulled his content (music) from all streaming music services except Tidal. It appears that Prince is being a co-owner in Tidal, like Weezy (aka lil' Wayne). In closing, Tidal is a subscription service for college students at $4.99. For a non-college user, the music streaming service costs $9.99/month. Tidal is competing with Spotify, Google Play Music, and other popular streaming services (Apple, Pandora, Rhapsody, etc.). If you are a fan of Rihanna, then you will be glad to see that the Barbadian singer is on Tidal's roster also. Enjoy the picture above of Rihanna's music video debut, on Tidal. Which music streaming service is the best? That's for the audience to decide.

Finishing my 2nd Harry Potter book! Jeah!!

In the past two years, Harry Potter has entered my life. Yep!! Reading about Harry, Ron Weasley, and Hermione is a fun part of G. Ripley's literal experience. Finishing my 2nd book about the boy wizard is a good thing. Last year, "Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone" was one of my summer reads. Today, "Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets" is another book finished. Hence, what is the next story after "Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets"? The third novel by J.K. Rowling is titled "Harry Potter and the prisoner of azkaban", but that one will be read later in my life. The magical characters depicted in J.K. Rowling's books are human, with a twist of witches or sorcery added. For example, there is Tom Riddle. Tom is Lord Voldemort, yet Riddle is introduced first as a simple creature. Towards the end of 'chamber of secrets', the character turns into Lord Voldemort. Riddle is not an alias of Voldemort (the evil enemy of Harry Potter), instead Riddle could be an avatar. Furthermore, the reader should realize that seven Harry Potter novels became eight blockbuster box office movies. The final Harry Potter book was turned into two movies, since Hollywood likes to ameliorate the movie going experience. Even though G.Ripley has seen all eight movies, it may be great to read the seven novels too. Time will tell if a couple of more HP novels can be read, by this excessive weblogger. Hope you enjoy the picture above of Daniel Radcliffe, aka Harry Potter. Good night from Diagon Alley!

Samsung mocking selfie stick users, and major businesses ban tech. gadget

Back in April, Puerto Penasco was my vacation destination for a weekend getaway. Yet, an eccentric person lured me into a few pictures with them during the trip. This strange individual used a "selfie stick" to take the pictures. Why?? Because the wacky guy wanted to use the latest gadget to look cool. Tech. gadgets can be hazardous, and should be used with caution. No joke here!! Now, let's fast forward to two months later as selfie sticks are banned at Disneyland and Churchill Downs. Disneyland theme park has banned selfie sticks, so attendants cannot take them on rides. Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, banned selfie sticks for this year's "Derby Day" event. A few days ago, Samsung's new ad for its galaxy s6 and s6 edge labeled selfie stick users as "cave people." If one of the world's biggest cellphone makers calls selfie stick users as "cave people," would it prevent you from buying a selfie stick? Hope your answer is a resounding yes. In closing, see the flowchart picture above for why shoppers buy a selfie stick. The flowchart has questions, and the diagram shows some interesting reasons for buying/not buying a selfie stick. Did you know the selfie stick was patented almost ten years ago, in 2005? Time magazine listed the selfie stick, as one of the best inventions of 2014. By the way, a decent selfie stick can cost $15-$100. Let's hope you don't make that $15 mistake. Caveat emptor!!