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WordPress 2.0.5 released

Version 2.0.5 of WordPress was released over the weekend.

It’s new release time. The latest in our venerable 2.0 series, which now counts over 1.2 million downloads, is available for download immediately, and we suggest everyone upgrade as this includes security fixes. We’re breaking the tradition of naming releases after jazz musicians to congratulate Ryan Boren on his new son (and first WP baby) Ronan.

What’s new? We have about 50 or so bugfixes, which you can review on our dev tracker here, mostly minor bug fixes around feeds, custom fields, and internationalization. If you’d like a nitty-gritty view, check out Mark’s blog post on the changes.  [wordpress]

Especially after the problem I had a little over a month ago, I’m paying attention to these things.  I suggest that all WP users do the same as well.

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Sorkin writes television about television pretty well

I recall a certain point in my life where I thought I was better than those who watched television on a regular basis. I’m not sure if would call it being elitist, but it’s just one of those things that results from the “you mean you’re not watching [insert name here]” craze of the 90’s, or at least how I remember things. I blame prime time sitcoms, reality TV, and the communication studies department at the University of Iowa.

No matter what anyone tells you, education and entertainment should not mix. Write enough papers about social ramifications of anything and your take on everything else in life can, and most likely will, change. If you’re really good, then you’ll find some way to enjoy some of the things you can see in this short life that we all have.

Rebecca already made a post about this the other day, but “Studio 60 on Sunset Strip”[imdb] is something we’ve been enjoying quite a bit. It’s another Aaron Sorkin creation that is probably too good for this era of over hype and the need for instant success. I was never impressed with the commercials that I saw for it, but someone said that if I loved Sports Night[imdb], which I do, then I would dig Studio 60.

Sports Night was one of those shows that I caught on Comedy Central while eating lunch between classes in college. At that point, it was in syndication, which is odd being that it had only been on the air for a short time. Actually, I was completely wrong, and the show ended after barely two seasons. It won a few Emmys, but the ratings never went where ABC wanted them. A quality show that never produced the quantity of viewers that the big guys calling the shots wanted. Such is the formula that makes up network television.

Needless to say, I fell in love with Sports Night and bought the entire series on DVD. I don’t care a whole lot about sports, asides from hockey, baseball, and some football, but the way the series was written, I liked it a lot.

Studio 60 is the same way. Sketch comedy is a love/hate genre in so many ways, so this show already had me saying nay. Like Sports Night, Sorkin brings the story of the characters to the forefront while putting the premise of the show into the background. It’s less about making a west coast version of SNL every week and more about the lives of the people making it happen. The interaction breeds drama for and about the show, but you get the picture that there is more to series than just execs, producers, and cast members.

Of course, and in true typical fashion, mentioning this is all in vain.

Here we go: despite receiving an order for three more episodes on Friday, the Aaron Sorkin NBC drama “Studio 60 on Sunset Strip” is about to be put out of its misery.

Cast members are already confiding in friends that the end is near. It’s likely NBC will pull the plug shortly I am told by insiders.

Last week, Studio 60 had 7.7 million viewers. Compare that with competing “CSI: Miami,” with 17.5 million. That gap cannot be closed.

But ‘Studio 60’ has trouble internally at NBC, forget its intramural rivals. According to ratings stats, the “Saturday Night Live” behind the scenes soap opera loses almost half the viewers delivered to it a few minutes earlier by another new show, “Heroes,” which has become a surprise cult hit. [foxnews]

I am almost betting that Sorkin has another Emmy on his hands with Studio 60. It’s smart, well produced, funny, and, most importantly, keeps me coming back to the story every week. Granted that the show has only been on the air for five weeks, but that is saying a couple things. For one thing, the show is highly under estimated by a lot of potential viewers. It might not have mass, wide appeal, but it stands a far better chance than some of the other junk that has come and gone.

The other aspect is the fact that there is no such thing as allowing buzz to grow for the television industry, unless it is in present tense. There’s no room for buzz to take effect outside of what the ratings say about what a select portion of television viewers watch, aka Nielsen ratings. No room for people spreading the word so people can set their VCRs, PVRs, DVRs, DVD-Rs, or whatever they use to record this thing that someone said they should check out because it might be an enjoyable program.

Hollywood always seems to know what’s good for you, and what is good is usually replaced with crap.

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Give me Canucks PPV in HD

Dear Ocra Bay,

In the last episode of The Crazy Canucks, I made mention about how nice it would be to have Canucks PPV games be broadcast in HD. I would believe that the reality of making this possible wouldn’t be too hard because, let’s face it, if we’re paying $11.95 per game(round about $150 if you buy all 17 games for the 2006-07 season), then we should really be getting our best bang for the buck.

Canucks TV PPVLet’s be honest. What’s the best thing about Canucks PPV? It’s the play-by-play by John Shorthouse. Notice that I’m not saying much about Tom Larscheid, but I guess it’s somewhat worth to hear the next, insane thing that the guy is going to loft out of his mouth. I kinda see why you guys keep him around, but I’ll restrain myself from saying anything more.

The fact that everything is in sync, in terms of no satellite delay from watching it on TV and turning on the radio, and Shorty being amazing on the call is great. I’m not going to dispute that at all.

Sure, you guys throw those neat segments in between periods and have no commercials, but after that, what’s the big deal? Not a whole lot. If, as fans, we are forced to head out to a pub because we can’t get ourselves to throw down the cash to watch it at home, these things don’t matter. And for the most part, these games are huge money makers for pubs all over the lower mainland, most of which have those fancy, wide-screen, plasma or LCD TVs anyway.

Let me give you guys a quick comparison of what this might be like because some people don’t get the fascination between the two technologies. Believe it or not, there are massive differences between the two technologies.

Canucks in HD

Now this is crude mock-up of a picture that we took at a pre-season game against the Ducks. The point is, you get to see more of the ice. On a break-away, watch the goalie get setup, pee his pants while he freaks out in anticipation, and take on the shot from the opposing player. Watch the spray of ice in amazing detail. See each and every stitch on Green’s face from the puck he took in Nashville. To me, that is all worth the extra effort of catching a PPV game in HD.

The biggest advantage to go HD is the fact that your tickets are steep in price. We do love the team, but there are just some folks who can’t afford to go to as many games as we’d like to. Combine the cost of food and beverages and it’s much easier for us to gather at our nearest, buddy’s house who has a sweet 42-inch DLP with 5.1 dolby digital surround sound. Give me that great picture and sound that I crave, and you present a true like-you-are-there experience.

So what to do Canucks fans have right now?

Canucks in NTSC

Dreary, dull, and not near the resolution that it could be, pay-per-view television. The worst part is that no matter how content you can be listening to the game on the radio instead, you’ll never get to see video highlights unless they are able to get footage from the broadcast of the opposing team. Then there are blackout restrictions and rules that local media has to follow or else you guys will do something mean.

Yeah, it’s a little picky, but I’m sure there are plenty of sponsors out there who would provide some funds to make this a reality. “Canucks TV, presented in High-Definition by Futureshop!” Best Buy. The Source. I don’t care who, but you guys are one of the biggest attractions in town.

“Canucks Pay-Per-View in HD” Come on! Doesn’t that have a nice ring to it? Thank about it, Orca Bay.

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Exercise helps decrease your risk of getting colds

I knew the miles upon kilometers of pavement and trails weren’t all for nothing. Now that science says it’s true, then you have to believe it.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A long-term moderate exercise program can reduce the risk of colds among older women, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.

In the first randomized clinical trial to investigate the impact of moderate physical activity on the common cold, researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center found that post-menopausal women who worked out regularly had about half the risk of colds as those who did not exercise. […]

The researchers found that the ability of moderate exercise to ward off colds seemed to increase over time. In the last three months of the study, the group of women who were only stretching were three times as likely to catch a cold as those who were exercising regularly. […]

“With regards to preventing colds, it seems you really have to stick with exercise long term,” Ulrich said.

The results were seen as important in understanding the health benefits of exercise, Ulrich said.

“It may apply also to other age groups, it may apply to men,” she said. “In the past, immune studies have been quite consistent among men and women. I wouldn’t expect that to be different.” [reuters]

In the seven years that I’ve been running and working out, I find this to be pretty true. College is a petri dish of illnesses, and it seemed like it would be a yearly event that I would go through the various, air born whatever-it-was that was going around. My days prior to that were constant illnesses, some of them linked to a condition that I have called Gilbert’s syndrome[wiki]. It seemed that the “thing that’s going around” would always hit me about a week before it reached the masses.

Working out helps all of these things, not to mention the lack of colds. If and when I have colds now, it’s either very subtle or horribly painful. When something is able to break through your immune system and get you, chances are, you’re going to go down pretty hard. I probably make more effort to get sleep now compared to my high school and college days. That always helps.

Knock on wood, but it’s been nearly a year since I had a run in with a case of strep throat, the flu, and a sinus infection. Oddly enough, that was all a short time after I moved to Vancouver. I chalk that all up to being exposed to new surroundings and getting my initiation to the lower mainland. What a way to welcome me to my new home.

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You have to have a mind of a goalie

This is a combination of two things that I find incredible interesting: hockey and neuroscience. Sounds strange, but my course of study in college was neuropsychology. I also played goalie in various rollerhockey tournaments on campus, so it kind of all makes sense, right?

It would seem that not only do you have to be physically fit to be a good goalie, but being cognitively fit is an added bonus.

Researchers at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Kinesiology may have found the secret to highlight-reel goaltending with their comprehensive, on-ice hockey study on where elite goalies focus their eyes to make those dynamic blocker, glove and pad saves.

In a study to be published in the medical journal Human Movement Science, graduate student Derek Panchuk and professor Joan Vickers, who discovered the “Quiet Eye” phenomenon, found that the best goaltenders rest their gaze directly on the puck and the shooter’s stick almost a full second before the shot is released.

When they do that, they make the save over 75 per cent of the time.

“Looking at the puck seems fairly obvious,” Panchuk said, “until you look at the eye movements of novice goaltenders, who scatter their gaze all over the place and have a much lower save percentage than the elite goalies.” […]

“Goalies often focus on physical things like improving technique but they overlook the decision making — the cognitive side of things,” Panchuk said.

“I think this study shows that you also need to focus on your decision making and your thinking processes. Having optimal focus is just as important as being in optimal physical shape.” [cbc]

This also brings up the classic argument of nature versus nurture. It’s only logical to think that certain people are going to be born with traits that allow them to do this easier than others, but I’ve read enough studies to understand that the ability to train your brain for tasks like this is very possible. For some, this can be easier than others. It also makes me wonder if there is a correlation between goalies who play in college and their GPA.

More importantly, who did they use for this study? I would love to see how Luongo would test on this.  All I do know is that when I finally started wearing contacts instead of glasses under my mask, my save percentage went up considerably.  Keeping an eye on the puck is all I would ever do.

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Noticing some slight bugs in Firefox 2

Firefox 2.0 Screen ShotIt seems that every time I launch Firefox 2.0 on my Powerbook, it never likes to load Google like a good browser should(click on the image to the left to see a screen shot). It takes the logo and positions it almost in the center of my screen rather than the center of the window. Usually resizing the window will solve this and everything goes back to normal. I’m making a post about this and then sending the link as feedback for Mozilla.

There are other issues creeping up with the latest release, but they seem to not be overly critical. They are worth reading up on because users are concerned about security problems, but Mozilla is saying that there is nothing threatening about any of the problems that are showing up. I would expect an update soon, but it’s interesting to note that they are hard at work on version 3.0.

Something else to pass on is this link that I got from BoingBoing about a series of tweaks that you can implement on Firefox. Granted that these are for the more geeky individuals, but it’s really not that hard to do. If those tweaks aren’t enough for you, check out the MozillaZine Wiki for a all sorts of geeky and nerdy stuff that you can do with Firefox.

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The Crazy Canucks #4 – We Are All Cardiac Canucks

Episode #4 of The Crazy Canucks is up and ready for download.

Everyone gathers together for this episode, fresh from a 5-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks earlier tonight. The last four games have been such an impressive display by the Canucks that it’s really tough for anyone to really put a grasp on them (except for Dave), but we all know that they have been some great battles. It doesn’t matter if we won them or not because they were all pretty great, but luckily we took 3 out of the last four.

We take a look at some amazing OT wins over St. Louis and Nashville, talk about the showdown in Dallas, and another impressive win against the Hawks before the boys finally come home for a few games. We’re still getting used to the new look for the Canucks, but these recent games have really impressed all of us.

Record as of this podcast:
6-4-1 (2nd in the Northwest Division)

There is also some mention about the debacle in Philly, and some discussion about those Canucks who have moved on to different teams in the NHL. Of course, we take a moment to point out that no one can dispute the magic happening in Pittsburgh, even though it’s totally un-Canucks related. Oh yeah, and can we get the PPV games in HDTV and the radio broadcasts in FM? Great, thanks.

Be sure to send us your comments and questions down below or email us! feedback [at] thecrazycanucks.com

33:00 minutes
The Crazy Canucks

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Increase of traffic in the spam department

Has anyone noticed a massive increase of internet spam[wiki] in the last few days? In my email and the comments on my sites, the numbers have spiked quite a bit. Some of the stuff got through, but even those numbers have been trailing off over the past 24 hours. Think the filters and blockers are catching on to whatever it is that is going on. I’d really like to knock down these people’s doors and throw a few haymakers.

Update: Looks like I’m not the only one who noticed this. Akismet made this recent post on their blog regarding amounts of spam lately. This is a WordPress must of a plugin to run on your site, and they processed three million pieces of spam in one day last week.

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Welcome to the world of baseball 2.0

This video report from CNet truly scares me. In case you don’t feel like watching it, I’ll do my best to sum it up.

Cisco demoed new technology to “enhance” your ballpark experience, focusing mostly on the new stadium that is being pushed for the Oakland A’s. Electronic tickets on your cellphone or PDA is alright, but the idea of letting video screens detect you in the proximity of their display and then changing to specifically target you based on what your wireless device says about you is a bit on the tacky side. Of course, it’s all technology meant to get more money out of your pocket.

The other thing that left me not liking what I saw was the concept of using mobile PC’s while watching the game from your seats. Score keeping goes digital, get instant replay as it happens, or get an alert that you were on the fan cam on the scoreboard. You see the picture as well as the many ways that you can purchase the picture, much like going on amusement park rides.

There is something to be said about the simplicity of just enjoying a day at the ballpark, and the last thing that I really want to do is have a whole bunch of gadgets getting in the way. Don’t forget about the dude behind you who just dumped his beer on your mobile PC. The first thing I want to do when it comes to enjoying a baseball game is turning off the rest of the world.

Oh, and don’t think that this is just limited to the ballpark experience. They mention that this is a new concept in the way of enjoying professional sporting events in general. Once again, when I go to GM Place for a Canucks game, I’m all for getting alerts about better seats for a game. After that, I just want to be in my seat and enjoy the atmosphere that is hockey.