Hints: I took the photo on my Droid, which is why what at the time appeared to be a wonderful artistic image turns out to be a "what on earth is that thing?"  The image was taken this past weekend.

The first person to tell me what it is will win a free copy of Madden '97 for the PC!  In the event of a tie, the most correct person will win the prize.  The more information/details you can provide, the better your chance at being fully correct.  Bonus points for detail - I might be able to find the companion NHL '97 to send along with Madden!

Come on, I see the logs, I know how many people read this blog - What Is It? Contest ends a Saturday at noon.

Note to techies: I copied this cropped portion from the original.  i.e. all EXIF data, including GPS location, is from Paint Shop Pro, not the camera.  Sorry ;-)

I have long loved being able to print everything from concert tickets to airline tickets and even postage stamps at home.  Why waste time & resources of printing them on card stock, stuffing them into an envelope and mailing them to me.  What irks me of course is charging me for the privilege to do so.  That however is another blog post.

Now that I have an awesome smart phone, I was finally attending my first arena event with "home printed" tickets.  Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey circus at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia was to be my test event.  I received all 8 of my tickets via PDF mere minutes after purchasing them on-line late last year.

With a PDF reader on my phone, in lieu of an "app" from a ticketing or arena agency, I brought up the tickets, page 1, just mine for now.  I prayed for a "young" guy who would want to do this rather than beg for my paper ticket.  I got him.  I zoomed in on the bar code to match the size of the printed one as best I could.

To my amazement, without hesitation, he attempted to scan my phone.  He tried a second and third time.  He grabbed the phone from my hands and tried a fourth time.  It just wouldn't scan.  Bummer, but at least he tried.  I had the paper copy in my pocket as a back-up and that worked instantly.

Only afterward did I wonder if my "privacy protector" prevented it from working.  When I first bought the Droid, the only hard screen protector available was also a "privacy" version.  I wonder if that scattered the readers light beams enough that it wouldn't read it properly.  I may have to acquire a different screen protector and try this again.

I believe a friend claimed to have flown with his phone as ticket already, although I wonder how he cleared security as they're supposed to mark your ticket noting ID checks being passed.

I just saw this Android App, Show Clix, write-up that does this very thing - concert bar codes on the phone.  I can buy tickets to our local movie theater through the Fandango app on the Droid, but must produce and swipe my credit card at the theater, have the kiosk print paper tickets and receipts, only to walk said paper 20' to be torn in half.  I wish for the day that I can purchase on-line and never have to print tickets.  The "paperless office" is neigh I say, neigh!

Have you had any success using your phone or other smart device as a ticket itself?  If so, I'd love to know what type of phone, software and event you were successful with.

Another in my long line of anti-union posts:

Which school district would you rather your child be a part of:

New York City: Rubber Rooms & Firing Incompetent Teachers
or
Rhode Island's Central Falls School District: Board fires all 88 High School Teachers

To be honest, I'd probably be home schooling if my kids were in either district, but I support the Rhose Island one over NYC any day!

Let me say it again: Tenure was developed such that RESEARCH professors could have the freedom to pursue interests that were either controversal or not entirely 'sexy' (i.e. money making).  It was not devised so a 10th grade social studies teacher could chat on his cell phone during class and yell at his students and not worry about getting fired.

I don't think anyone would argue that the state of NJ, it's politics or politicians are just downright corrupt to the bone.  This state is in such a, well, state, that I just read an article about an official in Jersey City who was forced to give up his county-issued vehicle due to a corruption probe only to simply get one from the city job he holds.  Yeah, NJ Politics, and thus the use of tax money, is so messed up...

But then I read articles like this one.  Newly elected Governor Chris Christie is 86'ing all these independant commissions that have un-checked power & ability to spend money.  This is why we elected him Governor!

Then this report comes out, via the Smoking Gun, showing once again how incredibly, well, I'll skip the adjective, Jersey union workers can be.  There are more than a handful of complaints by motorists on the Jersey toll roads (Garden State Parkway and Turnpike) about toll collectors.  Keep in mind, these toll collectors have been shown to rake in 6-figure salaries, plus benefits and generous retirement packages!

EZ Pass was supposed to minimize the number of these folks on the public payroll.  They can't lose their jobs fast enough in this persons opinion!  Those reports above, including the threat to strip search a motorist for being in the wrong lane, are reason enough to be an EZ Pass user!  Thankfully, I haven't had to interact with these folks in a decade!

Lastly in our NJ News Roundup for the day is another great move by the Christie Administration.  Seems his appointee, James Simpson, to both the Transportation Department and NJ Transit Board doesn't sit back and have jovial meetings as in years past.  He asks questions, wants answers and says NO!  An awesome read about how he shoots down $1.2 million building projects while calling out those who approved them.

I've long said, if we merely root out the corruption in this state, we'll do fine.  We spend more money doing nothing or paying off mobsters than we run in deficits.  The Turnpike Commissions is one of the worst offenders out there.  Perhaps this is a new era in NJ Politics.  Perhaps Christie will be a 1-term governor because the "powers that be" will see to this.  All I pray for is that every day he and his people make inroads to the graft and inbeddedness of corruption and simple "politics as usual" that run rampant in this state.  It is fixable, but we must eliminate the waste fist!

Imagine if you will that you owned a Toyota.  On your way home from church in 2006, the accelerator stuck, the brakes failed to stop the car and you were involved in a fatal accident.

Imagine now that you are tried in court for vehicular homicide for the deaths of 3 people and you have served now 2 years of an 8 year sentence.

Now all the news is that the specific make & model of car that you were driving has this very same acceration problems and is being recalled globally.

Once I was released from prision, I would sue Toyota for every last penny they had to their corporate name.  They created a defective product that sent me to jail and scared me as an unwanted driver behind the deaths of 3 people!  I would even change the name of the company from Toyota to Lee Motors!

ABC News broke the story to me, but if you do a Google Search for Koua Fong Lee, you will find dozens of news articles & reports on the accidents, the victims and the conviction.  Such a sad situation given the recent recall information.

I sincerely hope he is released forthwith and eventually receives renumeration from Toyota for their complicity in the wasting of his life.

That said, people, if your car starts running away from you, flip it into Neutral and then turn off the freaking key!  Yeah, keyless ignitions change the procedure somewhat, but if you're behind the wheel, you should know how to stop your car in an emergency.