About Craighead County, AR

Will Volkswagen’s Super Bowl ad meet the expectations it set with last year’s ad?

May The Force Be With Them Will Volkswagen’s Super Bowl ad meet the expectations it set with last year’s ad? Ad of the year “The Force,” Volkswagen’s commercial for the 2012 Passat, which debuted during the 2011 Super Bowl, won AdAge’s Commercial of the Year award and, since being uploaded 11 months ago, has garnered close to 50 million views on YouTube, making it the most watched commercial on YouTube in 2011. Commercials now have trailers this year, taking a lesson from the movies and building on the success of “The Force,” Volkswagen has released a“teaser” for its Game Day Commercial — turning its 30 second spot into a month of advertising for VW, before the Super Bowl (or the ad) even airs.Is it the game — or is it the ads? A poll by Harris Interactive before the 2011 Super Bowl showed that more than half of the adults planning to watch the big game were doing so as much as if not more for the commercials than the game itself. Are you going to tune in on Super Bowl Sunday for the game — or for the ads?

What is a Pre-Approval letter? I get this question ask alot, especially comes from First Time Home Buyers. What is so important about a Pre-Approval letter. As a Realtor let me help you with these questions. First of all, if you are a serious buyer it is a must to get pre-approved. This determines your borrowing power. We do not want to be looking at homes we can not afford, you need to know how much you are qualified for. Also, what type of loan are you getting, if it is a Rural Development you will not need a down payment, it is 100% financing, if it is FHA you will need at this time 3.5% down payment. It is very important to get with a lender and let the lender go over all your options. Pre-approval means your credit files have been reviewed and based on this information the lender will give you a letter that has the terms and the amount you are Pre-approved for. This is the best way to shop for your home. This also allows the seller of the home you choose, to know that you are a serious buyer when the offer has been presented. NOW... is the BEST time to buy a HOME....the rates are at a all time low, so why not take advantage of it!!

(from Webmonkey)

If you think Wikipedia is down this week, you’re right. Wikipedia, which is the sixth most popular site in the world, along with hundreds of other sites, will go dark this week for 24 hours to protest SOPA and PIPA, two bills that have been introduced in Congress to address internet piracy and protect copyright holders.

Major internet players are united in their opposition to the bills, saying they are in direct conflict with the ideal of an open Internet — “the bills could require your Internet provider to block websites that are involved in digital file sharing. And search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing could be stopped from linking to them.” (ABC News)

SOPA — the Stop Online Piracy Act — was introduced to the House in October of last year and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act) was brought to the Senate in May of last year. Support in Congress for these bills is split, and not neatly down party lines. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) introduced the bill in October, saying that foreign piracy websites are “stealing our profits, they’re stealing our jobs and they may be endangering the health of Americans.” (NY Times) Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) opposes the bill, believing it “to be hazardous to the infrastructure, speed and security of the Internet.”

The two bills set off a maelstrom of protest and uproar from the internet community last November. Major technology corporations, including Google, Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, have issued statements opposing the legislation. There are “Stop SOPA” websites, movements, petitions, email and phone campaigns.

The White House came out last weekend with a statement written by three White House managers, including Aneesh Chopra, the U.S. Chief Technology Officer that the downside of the two bills outweighs the upside:

“we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet… Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small."

The vote on SOPA has been delayed until consensus is reached on the bill. PIPA is still scheduled to be voted on in the Senate next week.

For more information on SOPA and PIPA, visit these links:

• Wikipedia Blackout,’ SOPA and PIPA Explained (ABC News)
• Why the ESA is Wrong to Support SOPA (Forbes)
• Sopa Blackout Site
• Google will protest SOPA using popular home page (c|net)
• What is SOPA and how does it work? The Stop Online Piracy Act explained (The Verge)
• What you need to know about SOPA in 2012 (Read Write Web)

Tim Tebow breaks sports record and social media record in the same game

By all reports, last Sunday’s wild-card game between the Steelers and the Broncos ended in the quickest overtime in NFL history: 11 seconds.

“It was the first overtime game with the new rules instituted for the playoffs before the 2010 season that made it more likely to extend the game but had the quickest score in league history on a pass by the least accurate passer in the NFL this season against its best pass defense.” (the Bleacher Report blog)

Tim Tebow, the Bronco’s star QB, set records and threw a veritable forest of statistical anomalies in that game — Bleacher Report sums it up nicely:

“Sunday, Tebow had one of the strangest individual statistical games of all time, going just 10-of-21 (.476) but amassing 316 yards—over 15 yards per attempt and a record 31.6 per completion—and two touchdowns.

He was not sacked and ran 10 times for 50 yards and a score, giving him 366 yards on 31 plays (11.8 average) with three touchdowns and no turnovers.

Tim’s yards per completion wasn’t the only record he set that night — he set the record for the most-Tweeted about sports moment. Ever.

According to Twitter itself, Tim’s 9,420 tweets per second — yes, per second, that’s more than half a million tweets per minute — puts him at number two on the Events Getting the Most Tweets Per Second (“TPS” for short). The number one TPS event was the annual TV airing in Japan of the anime film “Castle in the Sky” in December — garnering a stunning 25,088 TPS.

As the NFL post-season begins its drive to the biggest sporting event of the year, it’s anyone’s guess if Tebow’s Twitter record will stand or fall.

If your looking for a nice run, head to Craighead Forest Park. I wasn't really looking forward to my run until I arrived this morning. The temperature was a cool 59 and the sun beamed down between the trees and casted a beautiful bright yellow glow on the red, orange, golden yellow and green leaves. The street was filled with leaves that were slowly falling to the ground. Birds were singing and raindrops were falling off the huge leaf filled trees that were weighed down by yesterdays rainfall. It was breathtaking to be out there this morning. I encourage you to head out to your local park today and take in God's artwork. This morning gave me a great attitude and filled my heart with gratitude for God's wonderful creation.

Make it a great day!

Eric Burch