I Guess He Looks ~a Little~ Like Steve…

Steve "Steve Chen" Chen (the one smiling, duh).


Steve "Not as rich as the other Steve Chen" Chen (also smiling).

A.K.A. "The Original"

This debuts the first in my series, Steve Chen of the Day. Having written about the possible “confusion” over two people having the same name, it got me thinking about all the other guys named “Steve Chen” out in the world. If you’re going to get confused with guys named “Peyton Manning,” you’re sure as hell going to be confused about all of us…

Steve “Steve Chen” Chen:

One of the co-founders of internet video-sharing sensation YouTube.com. He and his partner, Chad Hurley, sold YouTube to Google, Inc. on October 16, 2006 for $1.65 billion. He is currently the Chief Technology Officer at YouTube.

Steve “Not as rich as the other Steve Chen” Chen:

Is… well, me.

Contrast and compare:

Steve "Steve Chen" Chen was born in Taiwan. The Original: parts manufactured in Taiwan, assembled in U.S.

EDGE: Taiwan. They make everything!

Steve “SC” Chen immigrated to the U.S. in 1993. The Original: U.S. citizen since 1976.

EDGE: The Original. Darn immigrants taking jobs!

Steve “SC” Chen's western zodiac sign is Leo. The Original's western zodiac sign is Virgo.

EDGE: Steve “SC” Chen.

Steve “SC” Chen's Chinese zodiac sign is the horse. The Original's Chinese zodiac sign is the dragon.

EDGE: The Original. Fire-breathing, even…

Steve “SC” Chen attended a prestigious boarding school. The Original was bored in school.

EDGE: Steve “SC” Chen. Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, fyi.

Steve “SC” Chen was employed at PayPal. The Original has used PayPal.

EDGE: Steve “SC” Chen.

Steve “SC” Chen co-founded You Tube. The Original: confounded, period.

EDGE: Steve “SC” Chen. I shoulda stayed in computer science.

Steve “SC” Chen sold YouTube to Google for $1.65 billion. The Original has watched 1.65 billion videos on YouTube found through Google.

EDGE: Steve “SC” Chen. I REALLY shoulda stayed in CS.

Steve “SC” Chen is partners with Chad Hurley. The Original is partners with Kindra (Hylbak) Chen.

EDGE: The Original. She’s way better looking.

Steve “SC” Chen has no children (that he knows of). The Original: Danica!

EDGE: The Original. By a landslide!

WINNER? We’ll call it a draw.

Hmm… I Guess He Looks ~a Little~ Like Peyton…

Scott "Peyton Manning" Wiese


Peyton "Peyton Manning" Manning

I do like Jim Rome's suggestion that Wiese change his name to P-A-Y-T-O-N. At least it alleviates some "confusion."

A Problem with Energy-Efficient Homes

Zzzzzzzzz… ZAP!

It Should Be Legal to Be Stupid

In a ruling handed down this week, a judge in Chicago stated that Bears fan Scott Wiese would not be allowed to legally change his name to Peyton Manning. Wiese, 26, signed a pledge in front of a bar full of people prior to this year’s Super Bowl that he would change his name to Peyton Manning if the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears. Clearly, he and the Bears lost. Macon County Judge Katherine McCarthy ruled that Wiese can not change his name because it could infringe on the privacy of Peyton Manning, Colts’ quarterback, and also because “it could be confusing.”

It would figure that a woman would ruin a man’s right to screw up royally. If Wiese was dumb enough to make the bet*, and especially if he’s dumb enough to go through with changing his name, the court should let him. As far as privacy issues are concerned, what about all the paparazzi stalking celebrities? What, are people now going to call the real Peyton Manning looking for The-Peyton-Manning-Formerly-Known-As-Scott-Wiese? Are Scott’s parents going to suddenly be demanding that the real Peyton Manning be helping out with chores around the house?

And what’s with the part about how “it could be confusing?” The real Peyton Manning is pretty recognizable, especially since he’s got a great Mastercard commercial, just hosted Saturday Night Live, is the son of Archie Manning (former NFL quarterback) and brother of Eli Manning (current NFL quarterback), and is probably a lot more recognizable to the average Joe than Scott Wiese. Is Scott Wiese going to be taken as the real Peyton Manning in disguise? If people are going to get these two guys confused, that’s great for Wiese. If you can take advantage of having the same or similar name to a famous person, but not look like him or her, hell, I’d like to re-introduce myself:

Hi. My name is Steve Chen... Co-founder of YouTube. I’d like to make a withdrawal.

* – Just a little side note: it was rather ridiculous to think the Bears were actually going to beat the Colts. As much as I was opposed to the Rex Grossman haters who were calling for his removal, after watching him and the Bears get through the earlier playoff rounds, you had to admit that they lacked the precision on offense to keep up with the Colts…

Geek Moment of the Day

Eep.

“Ew. Ew. Ewwwwwwwww.” of the Day, Part 1

This is in my top 3 reasons I'm thankful I have good genes.


FYI, they are examples of a genetic condition called polycystic kidney disease, and that white thing is a ten-centimeter ruler. Ew.

“D’OH!” of the Day, Part 2

I needed to stop by the local Chevron gas station on my way to work this morning. As I was pulling into the left-turn lane to get to the station, I noticed that there was a car on the other side of the intersection that had its hazard lights on. It was an unfortunate sight, because this was on Bristol Street, which is pretty busy during rush hour, and you know it really had to suck to be the driver of a car that dies on you on a Monday morning.

I thought the driver had just left the car, but as the traffic around it cleared up, a woman popped out of the driver’s seat, her hair wet like she’d just gotten out of the shower. She went around the back of the car, opened the door, and took her little girl out of the backseat. I was still waiting to turn left as she then opened the trunk and pulled out what I thought was her daughter’s backpack, at which time the light turned green and I pulled into the gas station. By the time I’d parked my car and gotten out, she was headed towards the station. I asked her if she needed help, to which she responded sheepishly, “No, thanks. I’ve got it,” holding up a one-gallon gas can…

How much must that suck? She ran out of gas about fifty feet from a gas pump, on a Monday morning on one of the busiest streets around, while rushing to get her kid to school. Ouch.

“D’OH!” of the Day

No offense, but is this really the picture you want on the front page of your website? This pic is on the front of the UC Irvine Athletics website (www.athletics.uci.edu).


It’s a picture of UCI freshman Alisha Misiata, whose NCAA regional-qualifying mark of 47-6 ¼ lead her to victory in the shot put at the Collegiate Classic, held at UC Irvine last weekend. Still, though… it’s not the most flattering picture, and quite frankly, it’s kinda scary.

Where Do I Get One of These? Oh, Wait…

Totally worth the cost of finding one, just for the name alone. And the announcer can’t stop saying it! Oh, wait... I already have one of these.

Quick Big West Conference Post-Season Basketball Update

Unfortunately the 12th-seeded Long Beach State 49ers got run out of the gym in Columbus, OH last Friday by 5th-seeded Tennessee, 121-86 in the opening round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Unfortunately, they set the record for most points given up in an NCAA game by a Big West team, allowed Tennessee to tie for the most points in school history, validated ESPN’s Doug Gottlieb’s opinion that Long Beach State was the most over-seeded team in the NCAA Tourney this year, and by my estimation, gave up the most points on lay-ups, dunks and free throws in the history of basketball.

By the way, I have a whole story about watching this game at Hooters, which is a whole other type of upset.

The 14th-seeded UC Riverside women lost a close game, 57-50 to the 3rd-seeded Sun Devils of Arizona State last Saturday night. The really unfortunate side is that ASU went on a 19-2 run to end the game, after the Highlanders had led most of the game, including going up by 15 at one point. The bright side of this is, after zero NCAA Tourney appearances in school history, Riverside had their second consecutive tourney appearance, they have EVERY player back from the team next year, and they get to keep their coach, who surely would’ve been out of there had they won the game. Fun fact: 14 seeds in the women’s tournament are a combined 0-54 over the lifetime of the tournament.

UC Santa Barbara’s women’s team won their opening-round game of the Women’s N.I.T. at the University of San Diego last Thursday, but failed to win their game in Oregon against the Ducks last Saturday. So the Big West Conference finishes 1-3 this postseason. Such is the life of the “mini-major,” as some beat writer termed the conference. Gotta love college athletics.

Oh yeah... I just read on the website for Cal St. Northridge that their men's coach, Bobby Braswell, received a two-year contract extension from their new AD. I would guess that this is because they weren't sure who they could get who could to do a better job at the school. Not that Bras has done that well... Just read through the spin they put on things. It's quite amazing. By the way, coaching your team to "postseason play in each of his previous eleven seasons," usually means that you've played in either the N.I.T. or NCAA's, not that you made the conference tournament in a conference where currently every school plays in the tournament. I think I'm dizzy.

Mourning Cap.

The Breaking of the Batman. The Death of Superman. The Unmasking of Spider-Man. Now, the Death of Captain America.

Being a comic geek, it’s events like these that define periods of time. You knew that Superman would come back, you figured Bats would, too. But first Peter Parker revealing that he is Spider-Man and now the assassination of Captain America, Steve Rogers, all in the last six months, has now sent me reeling. I don’t forsee Marvel Comics hiding Peter Parker again, and I hope that they don’t try to resurrect Cap.

Captain America died after surrendering to authorities at the conclusion of this past year’s “Civil War” event in which the American government mandated registration for masked heroes. With Cap taking a stand against the government, saying that superhero registration violated civil liberties, he was setting himself up as the goat. Unfortunately, after realizing that he was a symbol of a country he no longer understood and perhaps did not fit into, and after turning himself in, he was gunned down by a sniper’s bullets.

To be honest, I was really shocked last Wednesday when I heard the news after Marvel Comics released “Captain America” #25. I was saddened with the loss of one of the few characters remaining that truly symbolized hope and all that was good about the American nation. I’ll miss Cap, and hope that Marvel doesn’t fuck it up by resurrecting him in a year or five. If one of my favorite characters is to die like that, his death better mean something.