Million Dollar Portfolio

Not to be out done by John Chow, John Cow is having a contest on his blog, sponsored by Market Leverage. The prize is a new iPhone 3G!

If you were one of the early adopters of the iPhone you know the data speeds and coverage could be better and starting in July they will be. Apple announced the 3G version of the iPhone at the Apple World Wide Developers Conference this year.  They also announced a drop in price…but there’s a catch. Only existing owners get the price break. New purchases and subscribers pay the full price of $399. So you can save yourself the $399 now and enter to win one.

Head on over to JohnCow.com and enter.

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I didn’t really ask for anything for Father’s Day this year mainly because I don’t need anything. After thinking about it for a while I decided that there was one thing I wanted. I told my wife I wanted a video camera. I then began looking around at the different options and came up with some criteria.

1. I wanted it to be small enough that carrying it around wasn’t going to be cumbersome and cheap enough it wouldn’t break my wallet.
2. I also wanted it to be HD so I wouldn’t be looking to upgrade to a new camera in a couple years, and it will work with my current whopping, huge, enormous 27″ HDTV.
3. Lastly, I wanted to have massive storage so I wouldn’t be having to dump the files every time I turn it off.

So…2 out of 3 ain’t bad.

I ended up buying an Aiptek A-HD+ 1080p camcorder. I said 2 out of 3 because it was a) cheap & small and b) it was HD.

What I failed to realize, however is it only came with 128MB of built in memory. I ended up tracking down a 32 GB SDHC card from Amazon.com for $150. That’s half of what I saw elsewhere. Panasonic makes a 32 GB card for over $300. The PNY was not only cheap but it can store a ton of video at 1080p 60fps. We’re talking 17 hours! That’s plenty and I can’t wait to use it.

Expect to be seeing some video posts soon. The card pictured here isn’t what I bought, but Amazon is currently out of stock. I got one of the last two left. You can search for it by putting in this: P-SDHC32G4-FS.

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Today we mourn the passing of a comic genius. I can’t count the times I’ve rattled off some joke or another that wasn’t first uttered by George Carlin.

He had a penchant for speaking the obvious yet making it known you didn’t know it was obvious to begin with. One of my favorite memories of him is from the live show I saw a couple years ago when he came through my home town. I got tickets for myself and my best friend and it had to be the funniest show I have ever seen.

George Carlin was known for speaking his mind about politics, energy, the world, people, pretty much any subject the felt like talking about. The most amazing thing, though was he had such an acute point of view on everything.

I consider him the ultimate cynic because everything you have ever thought about your neighbor, friend, wife, lover…he’s already come to terms with and has it recorded somewhere for you to laugh about.

He really will be missed. His comedy was always a treat and my 365 day calendar is going to be a little bit lonelier when it’s done. Goodbye George…nice knowing you.

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I love contests. Not only are they a good way to get traffic to your blog, but writing about them usually earns you a few extra entries as well.

The infamous John Chow is giving away a whole bag of goodies courtesy of Market Leverage. The prizes include:

• Flip Video Camera
• $200 Market Leverage American Express Gift Card
• USB Pen Drive
• iPod Nano

You can win all these fabulous prizes by going to JohnChow.com and posting a comment.

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I wanted to post about the Indiana Jones Top Trumps winner(s) on Sunday, but I was busy saying goodbye to a very dear friend who passed away that evening.

Only one person commented on the post, so he definitely wins one of these Top Trumps packs. David Dunn of Ferrari Dave blog has won one of these packs. David is also a previous winner of An American Hedge Fund: How I Made $2 Million as a Stock Operator & Created a Hedge Fund which I gave away in January.That leaves 3 more for others to win. I’m extending the deadline to the end of the month, so on July 1st I will announce the rest of the winners. It’s so easy to enter I can’t believe I’m not announcing more winners. All you need to do is leave a comment on this post stating you want to enter. 3 prizes will be randomly chosen using random.org.

I realize it’s not something big like an Apple 3G iPhone or a Sony Playstation 3 but this blog is still in its infancy. I’d love to give away bigger and better prizes and as the blog grows I’m sure I will. I’m always looking for sponsors, advertisers and prizes to give away. If you want to donate a prize for my next giveaway just use the contact form and email me.

I hold contests like this because it’s my small way of giving back to the community. Albert Einstein had these words of wisdom:

The value of a man should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive.

I truly believe you need to give what you can. It’s what makes life worth living and what truly makes us happy.

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I saw the midnight show of You Don’t Mess With The Zohan last night with a friend and it was pretty funny. It’s typical Adam Sandler wackiness but it has some really funny moments to it. The cast includes a very thin Rob Schneider, John Turturro as the “bad guy”, Emmanuel Chirqui as the love interest and a host of other actors you’ve seen in previous films like Grandma’s Boy and Happy Gilmore.

After the movie, we noticed a bunch of packages of Top Trumps Indiana Jones cards lying about so I snatched up 4 of them and I’m giving them away. These are promotional packs for the Collectible Card Game featuring characters from Indiana Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

The game is played like war and can be played between 2-6 players.

To win a pack all you need to do is comment here. If there are more than 4 people commenting I will draw winners randomly from random.org. The drawing will be held this sunday, so hurry up!

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