Month: August 2006

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Change is a constant element to the NHL now

Even with the pre-season around the corner, nothing is for certain with the Canucks. I’m not sure that we can have a sense of being settled on the faces on the bench for the coming season, yet alone for the next few years. Movers and shakers is the phrase that comes to mind.

VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) – The massive overhaul of the Vancouver Canucks doesn’t faze left winger Daniel Sedin.Fourteen players may be gone from last year’s roster, but the Swede says the new-look team may surprise some people.

Sedin admits it’s sad that linemate Anson Carter is gone but he feels Jason King or Jan Bulis could be a good fit with the twins.

Despite Markus Naslund being mentioned in trade rumours with Philadelphia for Simon Gagne, Sedin says the captain is looking forward to coming back. [cknw]

There’s a lot there to kind of take in for Canucks fans, but the keywords of “massive overhaul” is something we can all be pretty used to by now. Granted that the team has been thrown into a rebuilding phase, I can’t be too sure that things like this will stop anytime soon. It’s the new league, and we’re going to have to adjust.

I’ll admit my ignorance and say that I haven’t paid enough attention to other teams in the NHL to compare any similarites with what is going on within the Canucks organization. Sure, players are shifting around, but the way we have, no one knows what to expect. New coach and lots of new players, I’m totally scratching my head.

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Apple makes the call; send back your batteries

What goes around, comes around.  Luckily, I’m not apart of this one.

Apple Computer is following the lead of Dell and recalling 1.8 million laptop batteries supplied by Sony Corp., saying the batteries are a fire hazard.

The move Thursday follows Dell’s recall of 4.1 million batteries two weeks ago. Those batteries were also built by Sony.  […]

The batteries were sold with 12-inch iBook G4, 12-inch PowerBook G4 and 15-inch PowerBook G4 laptop computers from October 2003 through August 2006, according to the safety commission.  [cbc]

Oddly enough, this does not involve any of the new MacBooks, but this is on top of the recall for batteries of the 15″ MacBook Pro.  I’ve read many reports from users noting the amount of heat that MacBooks, the iBooks replacement, produce.  Perhaps the new models haven’t had enough of a run in the market to produce enough complaints or incidents.  Time will tell.

Find more information about the iBook and PowerBook battery recall on Apple’s website.

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It’s just been one of those years

Cesar Izturis is now, officially, a Cub.

The Chicago Cubs on Tuesday placed shortstop Cesar Izturis on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring.

Izturis left Monday night’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies in the seventh inning with the injury.

Acquired in a trade-deadline deal that sent four-time Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Izturis is batting .246 with one homer and 17 RBI in 49 games this season. [tsn]

Welcome to the the black hole, Cesar. Wrigley Field seems to be the place where talent is sucked out of your soul. Gremlins move at the speed of light to do all that they can in order to make sure that you are never healthy, and that is only after the evil overlord deems you to be having a decent season. You’re an even bigger target if the word “prospect” or “hope” is mentioned in reference to your name.

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Apple Store employees fired for downloading Leopard

Mental note: When you acquire software from the internet that you shouldn’t have in the first place and is from the company that sends out your paycheck, keep your mouth shut.

At least five employees of Apple’s retail stores have been fired after downloading copies of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard from the Internet that were distributed to developers at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference two weeks ago. “Dozens” more also face termination, Think Secret has learned.

The axed employees had apparently been overheard discussing their acquisition of Leopard with their co-workers, prompting Apple “corporate” to investigate after word reached Cupertino. The staffers were dismissed after admitting to acquiring the software illegally.

“All of us know that we violated our NDA and ethics policy. Therefore, because we had the character to tell the truth and to face the consequences of our actions, we were terminated,” said one of the fired employees, who spoke with Think Secret on condition of anonymity. “My only question is, if we all lied and denied it would we still be working at Apple today? Even more so, is that the kind of person that Apple wants working for them?”  [thinksecret]

It is outstanding that they confessed to their actions.  These people love Apple enough to work the retail aspect of the company, so it stands to reason that some of them would be overly anxious to get their hands on the new operating system that was unveiled a few weeks ago.

At the same time, why didn’t they keep this to themselves?!  That’s like some one at Starbucks telling co-workers that they’re stealing coffee.  If you know that you are in violation of the rules at your job, then why tell anyone about it?

It’s simple.  Apple wants intelligent people working for them.

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One more reason to be proud of my home state

There are a lot of people in the world that make great achievements in their life and do their best to share that with the land that they call home. Iowa is no exception, and it’s home to a lot of great people in history. John Wayne, President Herbert Hoover, Johnny Carson, Grant Wood, Glenn Miller, Cloris Leachman, and, as I recently posted, James Van Allen, just to name a few, and you can Wiki all of those on your own if you wanna know more.

Maybe they’re not the greatest people in the world for what they did, but most people know the names if you say them. On top of that, accomplished folks tend to do more with their legacy to show their accomplishments or invest for the future.

Enter Tim Dwight[wiki]. Iowa Hawkeye football star who has gone on to a career in the NFL. He grew up in Iowa City, went to high school and college there, and is a bit of a celebrity to the area. It’s also good to know that he’s made a quality investment in not only his home town, but also one of the biggest party schools in the Big Ten[wiki].

Liquor House […] opened last Thursday and has already seen a surge in business at the bigger and better store, said co-owner Jeremy Harrod.

“It’s a huge upgrade from what we had,” said Harrod, who owns the store with his brother Mark Harrod and former Hawkeye football star Tim Dwight.

The new store is about 25 percent bigger than the old one and has a 400-square-feet walk-in cooler that can house up to 85 kegs. The store’s inventory has doubled, with three new liquor sections and expanded wine collections.

In addition, Liquor House will offer a home delivery service for the first time. That service is available during the store’s operating hours, which is extended during game days. [press-citizen]

Sure, this is a huge money making opportunity, so anyone able to invest in demand of binge drinking, bright eyed college students makes complete sense. This isn’t the only thing Dwight does. He also “gives back to the community” with his yearly football camp for kids between the ages of 8-18. You could say that he gives back to those under the legal drinking age, but this is college we’re talking about. Being illegal doesn’t stop much.

It’s a wonderful thing to see role models taking interest in helping the community they once grew up in. I’m not bad mouthing drinking. It’s all apart of the college experience. Beer bongs until you vomit and can’t see straight is another story, not to mention the reckless behavior that comes along with it. Yes, there is truth in being too much of a good thing.

There seems to be somewhat of an oxymoron going on here, does it not? Poll a majority of the students on the UI campus and they’ll tell you that you’re probably wrong. It’s just a smart business venture, and there is nothing wrong with Dwight teaching young kids football talents and owning a store that aids in hardening the livers of students. What a great way to use that social status.

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‘Accepted’ was a pleasent surprise

Out of all the movies we could have gone to yesterday, Accepted[imdb] was the one that wasn’t at the top of my list. I still had some interest in seeing it though. I think it’s that part in the preview with the guy in a hot dog suit screaming for some one to “ask me about my wiener” that captured my attention. And you can go ahead and insert your joke or pun here. Moving on…

When a high school burnout discovers he’s been rejected from every college he’s applied to, he creates a fake university in order to fool his overzealous parents. [imdb]

I laughed a lot at this flick. The jokes flowed for me, even though it really is one of those stereotypical movies about college where you have one group of not-so-cool kids going against the “cool kids”. Toss in something to do with the dean, and you kind of get the idea.

AcceptedThe humor is subtle. Well, at least until Lewis Black[imdb] shows up. To say that he makes the movie might be going a little far, but he produces some great lines. And when I say subtle, I imply that as the film not being predictable. Sure, some of it stretches the imagination, but this is a movie we’re talking about. You want real life, go watch TLC or something.

I will also add that one element that isn’t subtle is the product placement. Apple computers are everywhere, and everyone loves Mt. Dew. I will go even further and say that colleges like Princeton and Yale even fall into the product placement category here. I’m not sure how licensing rights work in movies when it comes to mentioning educational institutions, but it is blatant promotion of those schools, no matter how you argue it. They are real schools, unlike the two colleges at the center of the story in the movie.

I’ve found myself often comparing seeing movies like this with my thoughts about Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle[imdb]. It works in either two ways. One, I liked it, it was funny, I saw it once, and it won’t break my heart if I never see it again. Or two, all of what I just said, but I actually wouldn’t mind owning that on DVD. You know, those mid-DVD-section impulse buys? That’s where Accepted would land for me.

I find myself wanting to watch a lot of films in the comedy genre lately. I’m not so much into the Snakes on a Plane hype, WTC does have me curious, and horror flicks alway seem like a good idea until it comes down to actually spending money at the box office. I just like being entertained. When movies surprise me and exceed expectations, that’s even better. Accepted did that.

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Minor league baseball in Vancouver

I had my first experience of catching a baseball game in Canada over the weekend. That was this past Friday, and we promptly caught a second one the next night. We got hooked up with some free, Vancouver Canadians box seats for Friday’s game, and we had such a good time that Rebecca scored us some more tickets for Saturday night’s game.

It was for the best that for our second trip out to Nat Bailey Stadium[wiki] was under the lights. Friday’s game was a 1:00 PM start time, and Rebecca is still treating a sunburn. I did ok, but one of my arms has a much worse famer tan than the other now. We’ll never head out to another day game without bringing the sunscreen with us.

I know that there is a matter of respect that must be payed when it comes to cheering for the local team, but I could not do it. You have to understand, the Boise Hawks are a branch of the Chicago Cubs farm system. Vancouverites, I apologize to you and this great city. My heart has forever been with the Cubs, and it will take a hell of a lot to get me to stop bleeding Cubbie blue.

Nat Bailey is a great, little ballpark with overpriced everything that you would come to expect with catching a professional baseball game. Beer was almost $7 for the good stuff, $6 for the suds and water. Hotdogs are four bucks a pop, but, like I said, it’s to be expected.

The seats are very hard to argue with. Hardly a bad seat in the place. Check out their website for more details on pricing, but it is very much a family friendly venue.

Just remember to tip the waitress in the event that you sit in a section with such a luxury. That thought didn’t really cross our minds until after paying the chick for our first round of Granville Island Pale Ale. After the second time, she ignored us while returning about five more times to the group of folks in the row directly behind us. Call it a lesson in etiquette, and I have a few choice names that I’d like to call that waitress.

Saturday’s game was particularly interesting. It was “Mexico Night”. I can’t recall how many times I heard the “Mexican Hat Dance” played, be it over the PA or by the classy-looking mariachi band that was wandering about the stadium before and during the game. They were also giving away a trip for two to Mexico that we didn’t win. That’s about as Mexican as it got.

We still had a lot of fun. It made me excited to see the Cubs logo on the sleeves of the Boise players. The chances of those guys getting up to Wrigley Field[wiki] are against them, but with the horrible year the Cubs have been enduring, I’m sure some of them might get scouted for a solution to the problem.

And of course, during each singing of Take Me Out to the Ball Game[wiki], I sang, “Let’s root, root, root for the Cubbies…” I then received an elbow in my side from Rebecca.

Check out the pics from the games on Flickr.

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The Mexican political situation

I witnessed a teacher strike last year in B.C. Maybe they could take a page from this, and let’s just hope ClearChannel doesn’t adopt this tactic in their attempt at owning all the radio stations in the world.

Teachers striking in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca have seized at least eight private radio stations.

They acted after unidentified gunmen opened fire on a government radio station already under their control, injuring one of their colleagues.

The strikers used the stations to tell parents to ignore Monday’s start of the school year and keep children at home. [bbc]

The situation in Mexico is increasingly concerning. When I visited at the age of 17, staying in a hotel just off of the Zocalo[wiki], there was a labor protest outside of the government buildings in the square. It was full of people, loud speakers, and non-stop protest. For the most part, it was peaceful, but it was enough to freak me out a little bit. The country seems to be noticibly different now than those days, and these folks are going further than before to make their voice on the matter heard.

Protests are taking place in Vancouver about the current, political situation in Mexico. I think it confuses a lot of people as to what they are demonstrating for. There is a growing population of Mexicans here, so it makes sense. Around the world, it seems that not a lot of folks are paying a lot of attention to it.

A couple of years ago television, radio and print media in the west just couldn’t get enough of ‘people power’.

In quick succession, from Georgia’s rose revolution in November 2003, via Ukraine’s orange revolution a year later, to the tulip revolution in Kyrgyzstan and the cedar revolution in Lebanon, 24-hour news channels kept us up to date with democracy on a roll.

Triggered by allegations of election fraud, the dominoes toppled. The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, was happy with the trend: ‘They’re doing it in many different corners of the world, places as varied as Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan and, on the other hand, Lebanon … And so this is a hopeful time.’

But when a million Mexicans try to jump on the people-power bandwagon, crying foul about the July 2 presidential elections, when protesters stage a vigil in the centre of the capital that continues to this day, they meet a deafening silence in the global media. Despite Mexico’s long tradition of electoral fraud and polls suggesting that Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador – a critic of the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) – was ahead, the media accepted the wafer-thin majority gained by the ruling party nominee, Harvard graduate Felipe Calderon.

Although Mexico’s election authorities rejected Lopez Obrador’s demand for all 42m ballots to be recounted, the partial recount of 9% indicated numerous irregularities. But no echo of indignation has wafted to the streets of Mexico City from western capitals. [malaysiasun]

The other thing to consider is that pretty much all of North America is now headed by conservative governments, excluding countries to the south of Mexico on that statement. I don’t have enough details to say that the Mexican elections were tampered with, but the similarities to the 2000 elections in the U.S. is interesting. Nothing in politics is ever innocent.

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Gives whole new meaning to cold war

There was a lot of “Where in the world is Evgeni Malkin” being played last week[espn], but the fallout from the whole ordeal has the Russians pretty ticked off.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has declared an all-out war on the National Hockey League (NHL), accusing the North Americans of stealing its best players.

Russian hockey officials were up in arms after several top players, including teenage prodigy Evgeni Malkin, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ number one pick in 2004, walked out on their contracts with Russian clubs to pursue a career in the NHL.

The Malkin case has been front-page news on both sides of the Atlantic since the young Russian secretly left his club Metallurg Magnitogorsk at Helsinki airport earlier this month.

Malkin, considered the best player in the world outside the NHL, vanished for several days before resurfacing in the United States last week and declaring his wish to play for Pittsburgh. [reuters]

The article continues to show how upset the Russians are, demanding that there will be legal action that will go after “a lot more” money than they wanted for a transfer deal on Malkin[wiki] prior to his dissappearance.

It’s a situation that echoes times long gone, and the fallout might be worse as time goes on in terms of relations between the two leagues. Malkin was more the able to leave the Russian league, but the Pittsburgh Penguins would have had to pay a few million dollars for him, much more compared to the $200,000 that gets dished out to other European nations who already have an agreement for such transfers.

As pissed off as Russia is now, I’m not sure we’ll see them come to an agreement anytime soon. For the longest time, their league has been considered second place to the NHL in terms of the players of their respective leagues. It makes you want to say, can’t we all just get along?

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Use a bookmark to resize your browser window

I found this tip via Macworld a while ago, but it was meant for use in Safari. However, in making my switch to Firefox, this was a feature that made the jump all the more interesting because it works in this browser as well. Here’s how it breaks down from Macworld.

Launch Safari (or your favorite browser) and create a new bookmark. Most browsers will require that you bookmark a specific site. In Safari, open a site and then choose Bookmarks: Add Bookmark. Give the bookmark a name that will help you remember the screen size, such as 800×600 or 1024×768. Next, edit the address of the bookmark—in Safari, go to Bookmarks: Show All Bookmarks and navigate to your newly created bookmark. Change the Address portion of the bookmark to:

javascript:self .moveTo(0,0);self.resizeTo(800,600);

Open any page in Safari and select the bookmark. You’ll see that page in an 800-by-600-pixel browser window. You can then duplicate this bookmark and create other sizes as needed; just change the name and the relevant code. When you’re done, move your new bookmarks to a convenient location; then click on them when you want to test your pages at different resolutions. [macworld]

I like to have three of these bookmarks in my toolbar. From small, medium, to large, it gets very useful. I’ve even gone as far as making them slightly button-like, naming them “-“, “+”, and “++”. You can minimize and maximize windows all you want, but to make it quick and simple, just hit your bookmark and you’re done.

This might not be too handy for those folks out there that don’t have a lot of real estate on their monitor. If you run a monitor at the screen size of 1024-by-768, then you might not see the advantage. I can’t be sure if this works in the world of PC’s, but it stands to reason that it should. It’s great for previewing how websites you are working on look, but I just like it for the simple reason of keeping everything on my screen in a more controlled state of chaos.