Category Archives: Nick Carra

Will Ultra be cancelled in 2015?

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By NICK CARRA

Ultra Music Festival took place last weekend and, despite a pretty smooth weekend, some bumps were hit along the way.

The Contemporary Service Corporation provides security for the music festival and employee Erica Mack, 28, suffered a trampling incident Friday night while trying to stop a mob of unauthorized people from entering the concert ground. The crowd of people overran her and the fence between them, which collapsed on top of her causing head trauma and a broken leg.  She is now at Jackson Memorial hospital and is slowly recovering.

Officials and leaders of the City of Miami was very displeased with the accident.

The madness doesn’t stop there. A total of 84 arrests were made, 22 on Friday, 33 on Saturday, and 29 on Sunday.  Undercover cops also go to the festival as a way of combating the frequent use and sale of drugs to festival-goers.  In addition to the arrest, 24 people left Ultra Music Fest to go to the hospital this weekend, an unfortunate turn in a weekend meant to share the love for a genre of music among thousands of people.

Miami officials are now stating that they plan to cancel ultra next year. City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff expressed his opinion when he said “I think they have overstayed their welcome.” Last year, officials tried to cancel to festival due to gridlocked traffic, rowdy fans and increased drug usage during Miami Music Week. Ultra Music Festival may have seen the last of its days at Bayfront Park.

In terms of business Ultra should be fine.  Although Ultra began in Miami, festivals have launched in Ibiza, Chile, Buenos Aires and Tokyo.  On top of that, ticket prices reached up to $500 for a general admission ticket, and $800 for a VIP ticket.  Ultra also has a music label which produces electronic music across the globe.

UNICEF, Armani provide water to world

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By NICK CARRA

UNICEF and Giorgio Armani have joined forces to help those who do not have water by challenging those who cannot put their cell phones down.

The challenge is to not touch your phone for 10 minutes and, by doing so, donating one day’s worth of water for a person in need.

To take the challenge, visit uniceftapproject.org on your phone, then follow the instructions on screen. I took the challenge and have a record of one hour and two minutes. Enough time and water to give to six people who do not have enough to get by.

I also have a couple of 10 minute attempts, but when I saw that day’s record of 254 hours, 27 minutes and 42 seconds, the competitive side in me was inspired to leave my phone for just a bit longer each time to boost my record.

While the page is active it flashes facts to keep you entertained such as how much water you have currently supplied, how much water you will supply in the next 10 minutes and even how many smiley face text-messages have been sent in the time you have not used your phone.

It’s good to see a big name company like Armani involved in a project like this, not only is it good marketing for Armani, but it also benefits children and others in developing countries. The Web page gave me a good feeling.  Get away from your phone, you don’t really need it.

Collins’ appearance in game is historic

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By NICK CARRA

Jason Collins became the first openly gay men’s athlete to compete in a game of one of the four major sports last night. He played 11 minutes with two rebounds and a steal in the game against the Lakers.

Collins was welcomed with a standing applause from the Los Angeles Staples Center when he entered the game.

The news struck yesterday, when Collins signed a 10-day deal with the Brooklyn Nets, who have been making recent moves to improve their roster since the team lost star center Brook Lopez to foot injury. The Nets also traded big man Reggie Evans to the Kings and missed out on signing Glen Davis, who is now with the Clippers.

In the 11 minutes he played, he was able to force a turnover, get two rebounds and force a foul on a defender, but did not score.

Collins stated in a press conference that he was there to play basketball and was more focused on learning plays and defenses than making history.

“Right now, I’m focused on trying to learn the plays, trying to learn the coverage’s, game plan, assignments … I don’t have time to focus on history right now, I just have time to focus on my job tonight.” Collins said.

Last night he wore number 46, but next game he will revert to 98 as he has throughout his career, to represent and honor Matthew Shephard, a gay student from University of Wyoming who was beaten to death in 1998.

The Nets need a lot of help with their interior defense now that they are lacking big men.  Signing Collins to a 10-day deal is like a tryout. If he plays well, we may see him in the Nets’ black and white more often.

Collins has great support from his teammates. In the game, multiple teammates can be seen rushing to help him up after he hits the floor after a hard foul on a rebound.

Will Collins pave a path for other homosexual athletes? What effect will this have on openly gay NFL-recruit Michael Sam? Only time can tell.

Flappy Bird app removed, causes stir

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By NICK CARRA

The popular app Flappy Bird has been taken off the App Store after being the top downloaded app on the market. Now, phones with the app installed are being sold on eBay for up to $15,000.  More commonly, the phones are listed around $2,500.  Still, pretty ridiculous for a $300 phone with a free app.

The game set fire and users became addicted.  The addiction and difficulty of the game led to incredibly detailed negative reviews from users and the game quickly became known as the devils game.  Now that it can never be downloaded again, people are willing to spend thousands to get their fingers on Flappy bird.

Screenshot of search results for "Iphone with flappy bird" on ebay.com.

Screenshot of search results for “iPhone with Flappy Bird” on eBay.com.

The game has a simple task of tapping the screen to cause the little bird to ascend. The goal is to pass through canals created by two Mario-like pipes.

One green pipe hangs from the ceiling, the other grows from the floor, and the bird must continue on to the right of the screen as it is met with continuous pipes.

The game became the top downloaded game on the App Store, which gave it power in the advertising world.  Other apps with money for advertising led to a steady income for Dong Nguyen, the creator of the game.

Screenshot of Flappy Bird gameplay.

Screenshot of Flappy Bird gameplay.

Nguyen now has created Iron Pants, which sucks.  I tried it out and it was more frustrating than when somebody puts an empty bag of snacks back in the cabinet, only for a sucker like you to come along and open the empty bag.  I don’t recommend downloading it.

eBay has been taking down the iPhones, but some are still on the website.  People can always put them right back up anyway.  Personally, I would never spend $2,000 for an iPhone game.

 

Sochi not ready, but games begin

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By NICK CARRA

The opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympic Games began at 11 a.m last Friday and reports from journalists about the conditions of the host city Sochi, Russia, are are not looking good.

Hotels are in shambles. Reporters and athletes live in rooms that would disgust me with their colorless, broken-down walls and filthy bathrooms.  The locks on doors do not work, plumbing is not fully functional, water looks like warm beer and curtains and walls are torn apart.

A reporter tweeted a picture of two glasses of water from Sochi, Russia. Hotels advised residents to avoid the water because it was "dangerous."

A reporter tweeted a picture of two glasses of water from Sochi, Russia.  Hotels advised residents to avoid the water because it was “dangerous.”

From what it looks like, Sochi isn’t ready to host the Winter Olympic Games. Do an image search for “Sochi Olympic hotel conditions.” Inside you will find pictures of toilets placed feet away from each other without privacy, blank walls and malfunctioning electricity.

Even the slope-style snowboarding course was inadequate.

Employees were seen hours before Friday’s events working on the slope-style course, athletes say the snow conditions aren’t good and some have even been injured during the practice runs.

Marika Enne of Finland was carried off in a stretcher, after hitting her head during the slope-style practice run.  U.S athlete Shaun White jammed his wrist during the practice as well.

White withdrew from the event, although his main focus is to win the half-pipe, he would also like to avoid injury.

“With the practice runs I have taken, even after course modifications and watching fellow athletes get hurt, the potential risk of injury is a bit too much for me to gamble my other Olympics goals on,” White said regarding his withdrawal.

During the opening ceremony, the fifth ring in the Olympic symbol failed to illuminate, which furthers the thought that Sochi just may have too much on their hands to handle the Olympic games.  From what it looks like, those in Russia failed to prepare the city of Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics.