Hi, I’m Alec Difrawi known on this site as The Smart Alec. It’s a term I’m often referred by and not usually as a form of endearment. I hope you enjoy my blog and to borrow a quote from my favorite author (Samuel Clemens):
“Anyone attempting to find a motive in this blog will be prosecuted; anyone attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; anyone attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. By Order of the Author”
June 8th, 2012 
Mary Staggs 
Some industry insiders are calling it the best E3 conference yet. Electronics and entertainment companies are counting on it.
E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, is an annual video game conference held in Los Angeles. The show is the premiere venue for announcements by hardware, console, and game developers.
June 7th, 2012 Ronnie Smith No, it’s not déjà vu. For the second time this season, the biggest story in golf is whether or not Tiger Woods is back to being the Tiger Woods we all had grown to know and love (or hate) over the last 16 years. That’s right, we’re in the exact same position we were less than 2 ½ months ago, back when Tiger had just won the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Back in March, we had 2 weeks between the Invitational and the 1st major of the year, the Masters, to speculate. Here in June, after watching Tiger get his 2nd victory of the year at the Memorial Tournament, we have 2 weeks to ask the same question before the 2nd major of the year, the US Open, gets here. Read more »
June 4th, 2012 Caitlin Salovich 
A recent Time Magazine cover featuring a young mother openly breastfeeding her 3-year-old son sparked heated debates concerning a taboo subject in America.
When the controversial photo, taken originally for an article on attachment parenting, was discovered to have not been staged, furious and confused readers took to the Internet to voice their concerns on the issue of breastfeeding.
June 1st, 2012 Caitlin Salovich 
For many Americans, some part of every day is spent accessing the Internet.
Whether it’s checking e-mail, browsing various articles on popular news outlets, or catching up with friends on social media sites, millions of people across the country are connected via their cell phones, personal computers, and now – tablets.
May 31st, 2012 Ronnie Smith 
Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images
The 2012 NBA season has been one of 3 distinct phases for me. At the beginning of the year, I was completely on the Miami Heat bandwagon. The Dallas Mavericks made it publicly known that they were going to dismantle and then assemble another team around Dirk Nowitzki. So the Heat were the logical favorite to win this year’s NBA Championship since they lost to the Mavs in last year’s finals. Lebron James was destined to win his 1st (of many!?) championship in 2012, or so I initially thought. Read more »
May 25th, 2012 Mary Staggs 
Some Orlando cable subscribers are going to be enjoying more Wi-Fi hotspots around town.
Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, Cox Communications, and Bright House Networks are working together to launch over 50,000 public Wi-Fi hotspots for their cable internet subscribers. While subscribers are currently still stuck to their current provider, the companies are working on technology that will recognize and log in customers from partner companies.
According to CNNMoney: “The cable providers’ partnership is similar to how cell phone carriers allow their customers to roam on other networks when traveling. That’s intentional: The cable companies say they are looking to compete with mobile carriers’ new 4G networks that make broadband-like speeds available everywhere.”
May 24th, 2012 Ronnie Smith 
It really sounds weird to say, especially for a team that usually just reloads. But it has become evident that the Los Angeles Lakers need more than that. It’s time for the Lakers to blow this team up and actually rebuild from the ground up. Read more »
May 21st, 2012 Caitlin Salovich 
The idea of moving to another country may sound a bit unnerving for many Americans, due to financial reasons – but not for Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin.
It was recently released that the Brazilian native offered up his American citizenship in September 2011 and relocated to Singapore in order to avoid paying the United States a reported $67 million in taxes.
May 18th, 2012 Mary Staggs 
Nothing in life is free, unless it’s on the internet. However, not everything you find online is actually free. This week there was an uproar online about file sharing facilitator BitTorrent.
BitTorrent is one of the biggest file sharing sites on the internet and has been the target of anti-piracy legislation for some time. Yes, you can find plenty of copyrighted material on BitTorrent, but you can also find files that are being shared freely by their creators.
One of those creators distributing freely through torrent sites is rock band Counting Crows. The band recently released four of its new songs from their most recent album, Underwater Sunshine, on BitTorrent free of charge.
May 17th, 2012 Caitlin Salovich 
The bullying crisis in America has been pushed into the spotlight recently, and who would have thought Mitt Romney would be involved?
Because suicide continues to be one of the leading causes of death in teens in the country, bullying remains a major issue among the country’s youth. With that said, many Americans were surprised to learn that GOP candidate Mitt Romney had a past of bullying, and some wonder if it offers some insight to his true character.
May 16th, 2012 Leighann Carroll 
It’s always been standard to start college after high school, but certain events can happen in life that put college on hold. Being a single parent, not being able to afford tuition, or just lack of desire all inhibit starting college.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, “thirty-eight percent of all college students are now 25 or older.” Furthermore, students of the University of Phoenix average 35 to 37 years old. Read more »
May 13th, 2012 Caitlin Salovich 
North Carolina’s recent decision to ban gay marriages has the country in an uproar.
This new law, which passed 61 to 39 percent on Tuesday, defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman and will no longer offer benefits to same-sex couples in the state.
North Carolina was already against gay marriages, but this new law will seek to alter the state’s constitution, ultimately making it more difficult for lawmakers to oppose it later on down the road.
