Blue Jays Again

The Blue Jays are back!

It was hard to see this once powerful Canadian baseball franchise slip from its roots, as a representative of Canada, to the hip single-word moniker of simply "Jays". I liked the maple leaf on the logo. I liked the splashes of red. I liked the full team name and the split-font typeface. The logo was iconic to us Canadians. And now, it's back!

The team's logo has actually changed quite a bit in its relatively short history. When the team came into existence on that cold, snowy day in 1977 (remember, I was there), the logo had a nice stylized blue jay stamped on a baseball, and a bright red maple leaf.

In 1997, it switched it up a bit and put the whole thing on top of the leaf. It was okay. The elements were still the same. I didn't like the font as much, but I could live with it.

In 2003, it lost much of its style, and went with a bat-wielding blue jay wrapped around a letter 'T'. the colours were the same, but it lost something for me. Unfortunately, it was about to get worse.

In 2004, the logo hit rock bottom. Gone was the red. Gone was the "Blue" in Blue Jays. Gone was the split-font. Everything was gone. It was sad, indeed.

But now, it's ALL back! In 2012, the team will be sporting a logo that has all the elements of the original design. It has the blue jay head on the baseball. It has the splashes of red. It has the split-font typeface. It has the maple leaf. It has the "Blue Jays" name. It has everything. A slightly more modern bird image, and darker colour palette are the main things that distinguish it from the original design, and attempt to tie the various elements from the past together. It's both old and young (kinda like me!), and I LIKE it!

Well done to the Toronto Blue Jays franchise! You made a great choice, and made your long time fans happy (well, this one at least). Now go out there with your sporty new look, and win us some games!

   Don

One

Today is a special day.

November 11th is "Remembrance Day" in Canada, and "Veterans Day" in the United States. It's a day to reflect on our freedoms and the people who gave their all, often their lives, to protect those freedoms. To those veterans involved, and their families, I thank you!

If you're into numerology, it's a special day for a different reason. Today, on the 11th day of the 11th month of the 11th year of the millennium, the date can be written as 11/11/11. I've been waiting for this day for a long time.

Several years ago, I was configuring an application on the MyYahoo website, and it said to "Enter the date in the form 11/11/11." This was very confusing to me. I live in Canada, where the Metric System is in play. We format our dates, Year/Month/Day. I like it that way, because it mimics our traditional number system where the slowest changing part is to the left. For example Hundreds then Tens then Ones. It is also the only date format that sorts (remember....I'm a computer guy). The British system (used throughout much of Europe, India, Asia, and Latin America) formats dates in the form Day/Month/Year. Americans format dates in the form Month/Day/Year. It's all a bit confusing. I never did understand what Yahoo was trying to tell me. And today...finally...I don't need to care. For once, they are all the same.

Today at eleven seconds and eleven minutes after eleven o'clock, the date and time will be 11/11/11 11:11:11. Pretty cool eh? But before you look at your digital watch to see this historic event in numerology, take a few moments to reflect on the people that gave us the right to notice such trivial things. That gave us the right to live and be free.

Today, we are united.... as ONE.

   Don

Gambling

I must be very unlucky.

I recently spent some time at a conference in Las Vegas. I didn't have much free time, but I passed through the casino enough that I had the opportunity to stop for a few minutes and check out the games. There's an emotional side to gaming. There's also a strategic side that involves logic, mathematics, and money management. The emotional side is easy. Bells and lights and the fake 'chinka chinka' sound of virtual coins falling out of the machine into the tray below (it's all electronic now) prey on your desire to succeed. It can be very intoxicating. But let's take a look at the other side for a moment.

Casinos are very lavish, and very expensive. Who do you think pays for all that? That's right...the gambler. So there must be ways to ensure that the casino wins, and the gambler loses. It starts with the math behind each game. Take a simple game like roulette. A little chrome ball falls onto a spinning wheel and randomly lands on a number and the house pays out based on the odds of that happening. If all the numbers are split evenly into RED and BLACK, and the payout is 2-1, then it all makes sense. Unfortunately, that doesn't leave the house any way to make money. So they invented the GREEN 0. They still pay you 2-1 odds, but the odds aren't even anymore. If you choose BLACK, then the house wins if the ball lands on either RED or GREEN. Hey!....that's not fair! Welcome to Vegas, buddy! In fact, the casinos have gotten so greedy that they added a GREEN 00 number to the wheel as well, just to skew the results further in their favour.

Essentially, the casino's strategy is to make you think you're playing a fair game, and that your personal gaming strategy can beat the house, while they empty your pockets. I know a very intelligent individual who claims his roulette strategy is unbeatable. He simply waits until five or six spins in a row all come up BLACK, then he bets RED, figuring it's bound to equal out so the odds are in his favour. This would be a wonderful strategy if the wheel actually remembered its previous spins and adjusted accordingly. That strategy is so off base that casinos now gladly show you the last ten spins just so you can jump in and make them bankrupt. Of course, they know the math doesn't work like that.

Every game has an edge for the house. Slots are very popular. Most slots pay out up to 98% of what they take in. In Nevada, the law requires them to pay out at least 75%. A 95% payout should mean that a gambler can enter the casino with $100, play all night, and leave with $95 the next morning. Not bad entertainment for $5. Unfortunately, this isn't quite how it works. Because small profits continue to be re-played into the machine, that 95% payout is like having a small hole in your wallet. Eventually, if you stay long enough, it's all going to find its way out that hole and into the hands of the casino. Here's a similar game we can play. You give me $100 and I'll give you back $95. Come on...don't be shy. In fact, we can play this game all night if you want to!

Perhaps the saddest part about casinos is that they don't require their patrons to take intelligence tests before entering. They are always filled with people looking to make their fortune the easy way. In 99.99% of the cases, they just take money from people that can't really afford to lose it. I have nothing against them. If you want to go to a fancy, glitzy casino and play some games as evening entertainment instead of going to a movie, then go right ahead. But don't expect to come home a winner. Don't take more than you can afford to lose. Don't pull out your credit or debit card because you have a hunch the next game will be your lucky break. A lot of bad stuff happens to families that forget these rules.

Like I said at the beginning, I must be very unlucky. I hear all kinds of stories about people who made money on a particular night at the casino. I lost $4. I had a bit of fun. But my expectations didn't change at all. Beating the casino has never been part of my retirement plan.

   Don