well, if you ask me …

I decided to start my new blogging routine today and I noted a link in my last post - “How much will the Mets miss Tom Glavine?”

No much, huh?

Anyway, I plan to start with a few book and DVD reviews since I am changing the way those display on my homepage. After that, maybe I’ll have something to say about the election.

Two of my favorite things.  It can’t get much more fun than this!

How Much Will the Mets Miss Tom Glavine? » Mets Geek

After a year and a half of doing other things and ignoring this place I am finally back. I thought I was done with this but I decided I missed it.So, I’m back! 

On January 22, Kobe Bryant scored 81 points in a single NBA game. This is an amazing feat which one can’t help compare to Wilt’s 100 point game. A Sports Illustrated article which reminds us of the difference in stature between the two players even prompted some to hail Kobe’s performance as superior given he is six inches shorter than Wilt. While I think this is a ridiculuos idea, I couldn’t help but put together a spreadsheet to determine what it takes to “break the record.” I factored in three point shots while I was at it. Of course, I couldn’t resist an online version as well.:)On a related note, I read another interesting article about a man who gave up tickets to see Wilt’s 100 and Kobe’s 81!

As I wait on hold the other day, a voice keeps interrupting the music to tell me how important my call is to them. It occured to me then how insincere it seemed.Then I read A Billion People Can Be Wrong in Steve Rushin’s SI column. He points out the same thought and talks about the insincerity of many sports expressions. We now live in a world of “truthiness.”btw,While finding the link I noticed that Steve Rushin was named National Sportswriter of the Year. Congratulations, Steve.

Got this cool mini for the kids and they love it!The power of OS X for less than $500.

I spent several hours of my 39th birthday at the Redskins v. Eagles game at the link on Sunday.I bought the tix as a Christmas present for Terri who is a huge Redskins fan. We enjoyed it very much especially since the skins made the playoffs and the Eagles failed to win a division game all season. :)I also put together a new look for this site. I wanted something a little less busy but still with all the links, photos, etc. Nothing fancy, but I like it.

In a previous post I rambled on about my own personal search for the right way to manage the RSS feeds I want to read. Regular readers will remember a similar posts about link managers. Continue reading RSS Readers

I’ve been fooling around with how to post links to my linkblog and del.icio.us for a while now. I posted about this three times in July (14^th, 23^rd, 31^st) while I was playing with the best setup for me.Since then, I have toyed with a few different tools for managing this. In September, I developed a solution that I liked. I wrote a toolbar button which, when clicked, would take the info from the page I was on and post to my linkblog using a combination of builtin WordPress code and my own code from 7/14 and then post to deli.icio.us and redirect me to deli.icio.us “done” message. Aside from the occassional unescaped character, it worked beautifully for a while, and I liked it.Recently, I noticed that the links were not posting to my blog (I know some of you don’t understand why I even want this - that’s okay). After messing with it for a few minutes I decided to just do things another way. I wrote another toolbar button that would post to my linkblog using builtin WordPress functionality and popup (in a tab, of course) the del.icio.us post form with the tags populated. I copy the tags, submit to del.icio.us, paste my tags into WordPress, and submit. Quick and easy enough for me.If you use FireFox and WordPress, you can drag this link — Post Link to your toolbar.Now, edit the code as follows - replace DELICIOUSUSERNAME with your del.ici.us username and replace WORDPRESSURL with your wordpress blog URL.

A few years ago, while on a plane to Seattle, my neighbor was reading an article in Wired magazine entitled “PowerPoint Is Evil.” I couldn’t help notice the title and once he finished with the magazine, I sttuck up a conversation with him about the article. It was an interesting discussion and my new friend let me walk away with the magazine. I am sure I sitll have it with the rest of my junk stuff somewhere which is very foolish considering I can read it anytime I’d like online.I was reminded of this recently when I heard about the role PowerPoint may have played in space shuttle disaster.

“It is easy to understand how a senior manager might read this PowerPoint slide and not realize that it addresses a life-threatening situation,” the Columbia Accident Investigation Board concluded, citing Tufte’s work. The board devoted a full page of its 2003 report to the issue, criticizing a space agency culture in which, it said, “the endemic use of PowerPoint” substituted for rigorous technical analysis.PowerPoint: The Killer App?

I am very sorry that people may have had to die to bring this to light, but I am glad that somebody is saying what needs to be said about this software.

Perhaps I’ve sat through too many PowerPoint presentations lately, but I think the trouble with these critics is that they don’t go far enough: The software may be as much of a mind-numbing menace to those of us who intend to remain earthbound as it is to astronauts.PowerPoint: The Killer App?

While checking for more info about this post, I learned that perhaps using slides to prepare a speech or presentation is not all bad. This article gives tips on good and bad use of PowerPoint for lawyers, and this one, while not about PowerPoint, explains how ‘picturing’ your speech can help give it focus. It’s an old piece, but still worth reading in my opinion. I also ran into a great story about a man who was upset because, though his presentation was a success, he didn’t get to show his slides.To make this whole episode even more rewarding, I found quite a bit of info about someideas about replacing PowerPoint. Keep in mind that these alternatives still present some of the same problems. According to Edward Tufte (the author of the Wired article), the problem is the culture of the sales pitch.

Official Google Blog: Guess what just turned 34?I remember when I first disovered e-mail. It was 1979. My parents purchased my brother and I a TRS-80 color computer, and a 300 baud modem. Of course, we used the modem to dial our friends directly to ‘chat’ and to connect to a couple of very cool BBSs. The computer did come with an introductory membership to compuserve which included e-mail. The connection was $12.95 per hour, so we never used it after the free trial ran out, but I remember thinking how cool the idea of e-mail was. Remember those e-mail addresses 7,12345,678@compuserve.com.Almost seven years would go by before I actually sent an e-mail to someone I knew. Of course by the early nineties I was using it all the time. And now - I get 1000’s of e-mails a day. I still love it, though!BTW, I still keep in touch with many of those friends and the guys who ran the BBSs.

One of my worst memories as a Jets fan is of that fake spike.

As most remember, with little time left, Marino had driven the Dolphins near our goal line and lined up as if he were going to spike the ball to stop the clock. But instead, he faked the spike, and as our defense let up for a split second, Marino threw the winning touchdown. Things were never the same for the Jets after that game. We went on an awful losing streak, the coaches were fired and it took three years for the franchise to turn it around.former Jet remembers it too

Anytime it comes up, I don’t want to think about it. It was painful.It does feel a little better now, though. Coach remembered it too! I wonder how long he’s been waiting to use this.Nice goin’ Pete!NPR : USC Win Tops Frantic Football Weekend

I’m clearing out some old drafts on my blog and I noticed that my links are ‘goofy’ again.Looks like somebody forgot to escape his amperstands!

Some time ago Billy and I tried to watch all three LOTR extended editions in one sitting. If you caught my post last time you’ll remember that a carpet cleaning interrupted us. We are starting again. About 2 p.m. ET.I’ll let you know if we make it.

See more progress on: spend an entire day watching the extended version of all three Lord of the Rings movies back-to-back-to-back

I haven’t posted too many links the last couple days. I have a bunch of guitar links to post - like I said before, my links come in waves , but I’m not sure I want to post them all. Some of them generate popups. I have nothing against the responsible use of popups, mind you. Some sites rely on them for revenue. I used them myself on the first two web projects I created (here and here - Both are under different management now.), but I don’t like the way some publishers use them.Anyway, I did a search Continue reading More About Links