Author: Deck

Posted inOn The Web / Technology

Hi, my name is Dave and I’m an infoholic

by Deck

“Hi Dave.”

For those of you who, like me, are addicted to a steady flow of information, there are a number of sites available to help us get our daily fix.

Tech News:

The following sites actually watch a number of the sites above and do a good job of aggregating all that news into digestable formats.

Aggregators:

Of course, this is but a few of the technology-related sites available right now, with more undoubtedly on the way. If you find a good tech site not listed here, please share by leaving a comment.

Posted inSports

Fighting Illini Live Up To Their Name

by Deck

Fighting IlliniCongratulations to the Fighting Illini football team!

I realized this morning that I bitched about the Fighting Illini when they were thoroughly whupped by Rutgers a few weeks ago, but neglected to say anything when they managed to pull out a hard-fought victory over the Michigan State Spartans, who came into the game as 26 point favorites.

Illinois led 20-10 entering the fourth quarter, but a questionable video replay reversal allowed the Spartans back into the game and a 20-20 tie. Illinois kicked a 39-yard field goal with six seconds remaining to win 23-20.

It remains to be seen whether this game is an indication that the Illini are improving, or possibly that the Spartans have taken a turn for the worse. I’m hoping for both. ;-)

Posted inGames / Sports

Red Zone Wrap-Up (Week 4)

by Deck

Once again the Houston Inferno burned up the fantasy turf this week with a 125-87 win over the Springfield Bullhawks. Donovan McNabb put up 41 points to lead the way for the undefeated Inferno. (Proving again what a dumbass I am for not naming him as one of my keepers from last season.)

My Spooky Boogeymen also managed to remain undefeated with a narrow 92-88 victory of the Kentucky Mad Max. This game was what fantasy football is all about… Our game was tied late in the day on Sunday. Mad Max had Clinton Portis still playing in an overtime game, while I had Mark Bulger driving down the field in a close game of his own. Unfortunately for Mad Max and Portis, the OT game was decided on a long pass completion to Santana Moss robbing Portis of potential yardage and points. Fortunately for me, the Rams drove all the way down to the 5 yard line and then elected to have Bulger throw on 3rd and goal for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:56 left to play. If they chose to hand-off instead, I would have lost.

The P’burg PrairiePride evened their record with a 88-66 win over the Peoria OrangeCrush. Strong games from the both running backs allowed the PrairiePride to overcome a weak performance by starting QB Matt Hasselbeck.

The Batavia Bulldogs broke their winless streak with a close 78-74 defeat of the Foreign Bodies. The Bulldogs pulled out the win despite having three players on the bench with Byes this week.

And finally, the Shelbyville Outkasts improve their record to 3-1 by beating up on the winless Petersburg PowerPuff Girls 68-40. Unfortunately for the PowerPuffs, 63 points were left on the bench this week.

Here are the current standings after 4 weeks…

NORRIS DIVISION
Houston Inferno (4-0)
Spooky Boogeymen (4-0)
Shelbyville Outkasts (3-1)
Springfield Bullhawks (2-2)
Batavia Bulldogs (1-3)		 LONG DIVISION
Kentucky Mad Max (2-2)
P’burg PrairiePride (2-2)
Foreign Bodies (1-3)
Peoria OrangeCrush (1-3)
Petersburg PowerPuff Girls (0-4)


Next week, we have a battle of the undefeateds to look forward to… My Spooky Boogeymen take on the powerhouse that is the Houston Inferno. :-)

Posted inMusic

Bank Job

by Deck

BNL Bank JobBeen listening to the new Barenaked Ladies album (are they still called albums?) Barenaked Ladies Are Me.

So far I think I’ve picked out at least three songs that I like a lot and that probably have commercial potential.

However, my favorite song so far is a cute one called “Bank Job” that tells the story of a failed bank robbery attempt. I’m not sure how much commercial success it will enjoy, but I’m sure it’s destined to be one of those cult hits that BNL fans love so much.

So, with very little further ado…

Bank Job
Barenaked Ladies
(Page, Robertson) – 4:27

It was an upset in two minutes flat
We were back on the freeway, foot to the mat
I can’t understand it; we had it down pat
It’s very upsetting, could we leave it at that?

We all had positions; we each had a role
We’d over-rehearsed it; we had full control
They can’t teach you acting, it’s there in your soul
It’s the same with a bank job, and each thing we stole

So I don’t need attitude
Cause you knew just what to do
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
Wait by the phone

I was the driver; you ran the show
You had the last word, the go or no go
I knew every laneway in Ontario
But it’s not what you’re sure of, it’s what you don’t know

It should have been filled with the usual ones
Throwing their cash into mutual funds
We all had our ski masks and sawed-off shotguns
But how do you plan for a bank full of nuns?

Well, I guess we panicked – we all have taboos
And they were like zebras; they had us confused
We should be in condos with oceanfront views
Instead we’re most-wanted on the six o’clock news

So I don’t need attitude
Cause you knew just what to do
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
And wait by the phone

Inside the police car you tried to explain
your crisis of conscience; the voice in your brain
And now that the whole thing has gone down the drain
I think we all know who should shoulder the blame

Cause you made a choice there, almost sublime
I’m all for compassion, just not on my dime
You looked like an amateur, and that’s the real crime
So I’ll take a walk now, and you do the time

And I don’t need attitude
Cause you knew just what to do
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
There’s no need to phone

We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
We all did our best now
We all need to rest now
Leave me alone
Leave me alone

Posted inMovies / Television

A Couple of Things…

by Deck

This should be quick…

The Eragon trailer is available on the official movie site. Check it out. Looks pretty cool, although I’m a little surprised that we get to see the dragon(s) so soon. I reallly thought that they would tease us with brief glimpses for the first trailer or two.

And I couldn’t resist passing this one on… Visit DailyEpisodes.com to watch just about any episode of The Simpsons, Futurama, South Park, Family Guy, or American Dad on your computer. The legality of the videos are certainly questionable, but there’s no doubt how much fun this is!

Posted inGames / Sports

Red Zone Wrap-Up (Week 3)

by Deck

FFL Week 3FFL week 3 is history.

The Shelbyville Outkasts (2-1) kept the Batavia Bulldogs winless with a 99-75 victory. Brian Westbrook made the difference for the Outkasts with a huge 36 point game.

The Houston Inferno remain undefeated this week with a 92-82 victory over the winless Petersburg PowerPuff Girls. Donovan McNabb’s number one FFL quarterback ranking helped the Inferno stay on top.

The Foreign Bodies won their first game 88-58 against the Peoria OrangeCrush, who are also now 1-2. Unfortunately only one player scored in double-digits for the OrangeCrush this week.

The Kentucky Mad Max (2-1) knocked off the P’burg PrairiePride (1-2) despite leaving 53 points sitting on the bench. The Mad Max won the game 83-54.

And finally, the game of the week… My Spooky Boogeymen remained unbeaten this week with a massive one-point victory 77-76 over the Springfield Bullhawks (2-1). To be perfectly honest, I’m not really sure how I won because our game was tied at the end of the Monday Night’s game. Somehow the Bullhawks lost a point overnight. I would suggest that Alan of the Bullhawks complain to the League Commissioner, but Alan is the League Commissioner. ;-)

I paid dearly for the win however, with significant injuries to Shaun Alexander and Donte Stallworth. And now there are reports that Terrell Owens was brought into the emergency room last night “after suffering an adverse reaction to painkillers taken for treatment of his fractured hand”. %#$*^! I’m sure knowing my luck that there’s more to the story. Have I mentioned that I SO should’ve kept Donovan McNabb from last year’s team instead of T.O.? :|

See ya next week…

Posted inTelevision

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

by Deck

Studio 60 on the Sunset StripJust got done watching the second episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. What a great show! I can’t recommend this one enough. I’ve been a fan of show creator Aaron Sorkin (“West Wing”, “Sports Night”, “The American President”) for quite a while, but I hope that this series might have even wider appeal because it won’t be so politically focused as some of his earlier work.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is on Monday nights at 9:00 (central). The pilot is online at nbc.com in its entirety. Even better, the promos make it sound like NBC is planning to put each episode online after the show has aired for that week, so it’s easy to get caught up if you haven’t watched it yet. Enjoy!

Posted inGames

Come Out and Play!

by Deck

Come Out and PlayThe Come Out & Play Festival is a street games festival dedicated to exploring new styles of games and play. It was held last weekend (September 22-24) on the streets (and even on the buildings) of New York City.

Some of the interesting games include Space Invaders (giant game of Space Invaders on the side of a building, with your body as the controller), Identity (large-scale social game of secret organizations, covert intelligence, suspicion, trust, cooperation and betrayal), Snagu (camera-phone based scavenger hunt with no limits on time, space, or answers), Manhattan MEGAputt (gigantic game of mini golf, played in ManhattanÂ’s East Village), Cruel 2 B Kind (benevolent assassins stalk New York performing acts of kindness for strangers in an attempt to catch their prey), and Payphone Warriors (control city turf by capturing the cityÂ’s payphones).

CNET has pretty good coverage of the event:

The last couple of articles go into more detail about specific games. Sounds like it was a lot of fun. :-)

Posted inGames

“Sling” is Addictive

by Deck

SlingFound a cute little Flash game earlier tonight (via Digg) called Sling.

As with many of the best games, this one is simple to play, but a little tougher to master. Here’s a brief description from the game…

Sling is a green glob of goo consisting of a hand attached to a head by a long strip of springy slime. Players use the mouse to click and drag on Sling’s head, pulling him around to attach him to different items, or pulling back and releasing him to ‘slingshot’ him to another location. Real-world physics are used to model Sling’s springy arm, his motion and collisions.

Each level of Sling’s world is made up of a single screen of different ‘grabs’ and surfaces that he can attach himself too. There are many different grabs with different characteristics. The most basic grab is a simple ‘gray’ grab. On most levels, Sling must attach himself to all the ‘gray’ grabs and turn them green. Once all the gray grabs are green a portal will appear to take him to the next level.

Be careful, though… As evidenced by the timestamp of this entry, Sling is extremely addicting. Make sure you have plenty of time to play. ;-)