November 2004 Archives

I'm going to start this post with no clear idea of what I want to say. I'd say a lot has happened since my last post but I can't figure out how to tackle it and decide what might be significant or even interesting to read. Since it's the holiday season, the time season of gifts (which in my case are usually gadgets), I'll write about my latest gadget acquisition.

Currently there are 3 gadgets that above all others stand out and have changed the way I live life. In no order at all, Tivo, iPod, and my wireless Powerbook rein supreme in my house. These are devices that I never live a day without. My Powerbook connects me to the world wirelessly everywhere I go. My iPod calms the rage frothing inside during my congested commute to work every morning. My Tivo does all the rest. I see all of my favorite shows, catch every bad call during the Pistons game, and never miss a TV appearance from my favorite girl, Kelly Clarkson. What can I say, we all have our crushes, but that is a another post. Anyway, all of these gadgets have been with me for a few years now and nothing else has come close to cracking the lineup since. I think I've found a perfect contender though.

A couple weeks ago when I was at Apple in California, I rented a car from Hertz. The car came equipped with the "Never Lost" GPS system. I had always thought GPS was kind of cool but never really thought about wanting one. Well, I pulled out of the rental car garage, entered my hotel's address and the darn thing took me turn by turn all of the way there. Needless to say, I was hooked. When I got home later that weekend, I spent hours researching road GPS units. I thought I had settled on about 5 different units from either Magellan, Navman, or Garmin but I always seemed to be compromising a feature on one unit for a different feature on another. So, I kept reading review after review and each one led me to another cool GPS. The search seemed endless and confusing until one excellent review from PC Magazine led me to the unmistakably iMac inspired TomTom Go. Surprisingly, this GPS had everything I was looking for. A nice big bright screen, a battery, 3D maps, a car mount kit, an AC and DC power cord, and most importantly, a very easy to use touch screen interface. How could an Apple geek resist? I couldn't, so the next day, I called up TomTom and ordered my GPS, the latest gadget contender.

The TomTom Go meets all the criteria of a promising contender. It improves an old system, replacing mapquest and my very poor sense of direction. It also adds a nice convenience, eliminating unintentional sight seeing. It also has a whole lot of gadget appeal. The TomTom Go comes in a box very reminiscent to the iPod, and as I opened the box for the first time, it even evoked a similar emotion to the one I felt the first time I paused live TV. Yes sir, this thing is for real, it's on the verge of joining my team of top geek toys. I've had it for less than a week and have only managed a trip to the local Steak and Shake, and a quick demo trip for my dad to Jerusalem Pizza. I'll post a full review once I've given the GPS a true workout. So until then the jury is still out, but it looks like TomTom Go will work it's way onto the team.

I've added a Pistons scoreboard to the sight. After every game this season, I'll update the scoreboard and post a quicktime clip of the play of the game. If anyone is more blog savy than I am and knows of a plugin or something that will give me a dynamic scoreboard let me know. Thanks!

Wow, I wasn't planning on posting tonight but I want to get my opinion out before the media has a field day with this indident. If you haven't heard, the Pistons/Pacers game ended with a crazy brawl. Ron Artest fouled Ben Wallace hard, but nothing out of the ordinary for two rival teams. Ben Wallace overreacted and pushed Artest with a lot of unecesary force. To Ron's credit, he tried to let it slide and slipped out of the evelvating action on the court. Rasheed Wallce, Rip, Lindsey and some other staff on both teams tried to defuse the situation while Pacers Stephen Jackson and Jamal Tinsley continued to instigate. Meanwhile, as Artest layed out on the scorers table, some dumb ass drunk punk threw a beer on him. From there, all hell broke lose. That beer sent Artest into a frenzy and he launced into the stands after the idiot who threw it, with Stephen Jackson closely in tail. Some of the crowd tried to restrain Artest but Jackson got through the crowed and fired punches at anyone close. Somehow Rasheed Wallace and Rick Mahorn were able to get the Pacers out of the crowd and security got things under control in that spot but at this point, fights were breaking out every where. Beer and popcorn was flying all over the place and things were just out of control. It was just ugly, and as a REAL fan I am ashamed at the conduct of the people at the Palace. They disrespected the game, the Pistons, and the entire city of Detroit. The people of Detroit are usually pretty proud of the city. Anyone I know from Detroit works hard to improve the image of the city and it's surrounding area. This unfortunate and brainless incident puts a huge dent in the cities image. I'm embarrassed by it.

Ben Wallace made a huge error in judgment and his actions set off domino effect. However, the way I see it, Stephen Jackson kept the fire going and his behavior above all others was despicable. He brutally attacked any fan who was near him. Setting off a chain reaction of unreasonable behavior through out the crowd. Everyone involved in this incident should be punished severely. Stephen Jackson should be charged with assault and suspended from the NBA for 5 games or more. Ron Artest has had enough controversy but deserves a long suspension as well. Ben Wallace might deserve the harshest penalty. Probably a 5 game suspension or more. He has a whole lot of apologies to make and I'm sure in retrospect he's disgusted by his behavior. I know I am. Until today's misjudgment Ben was an ideal sports role model. He'll have to work hard to restore that image and the image of his team and city.

As a fan, I will always stand by my team but let me make this clear. No true fan of the game and of the Detroit Pistons would ever throw anything at any player. I love to hate the Pacers. It makes the game fun, but it is just that, a game. Every team needs a rival, and every fan should respect that rival. It's match ups like the Pistons and Pacers that make watching Basketball worthwhile. The people in the crowd who thought it was appropriate to behave like hoodlums DO NOT DESERVE to call themselves fans. They do not deserve to represent my team in anyway. If any of you who participated in the event stumble across this posting I want to tell you that you are despicable!!!

If you haven't seen it, click here to see the crazy events at the Pistons vs. Pacers game.

My good friend Brannon has decided to endevor into the world of blogging. He's had an interesting life growing up all over the world as a military kid and serving quite a few years in the Army himself. If I remember correctly he's lived in Spain, Germany, Greenland, Korea and a few others. Needless to say, Brannon is full of stories. Although I may have heard them all over countless dinners and drunken Saturday nights, I'm looking forward to reading them again for the very first time. Armed with an english degree, and brand new web log I have a feeling Brannon will have a lot of interesting things to say. So, if you're one of the few who read this Weblog take a look at Brannon's Place, the newest addition to the Geeklair family.

It's been at least 15 years too long since I've played dodgeball. I joined a dodgeball league team at CDW inspired by Ben Stiller's Dodgeball A True Underdog Story I played my first game on Tuesday night and had a blast. We played a best of 5 games and won. Our team name is "I'm with Stupid." Our shirts have an arrow pointing to whoever's in the way. I never remember there being so many rules but I guess it has been 15 years. I also don't ever remember being so damn sore. There are parts of my body I never knew could get this sore. Again, It's been 15 years so my dodgeball muscles need some work. Anyway, if you get a chance watch the movie it's funny, and it'll inspire you to get out there and play.

I spent the Weekend at the Apple Campus for a training called Rack and Roll III. The trainings were mostly focused on Apple pro products like Xserv, Xserv RAID, and the Creative Pro apps. I had a good time although It was surreal being at the infamous Apple Campus for business though. There were so many faces that looked familiar from various keynotes and other Apple web casts I've seen. Being in Silicon Valley almost felt like a tour through Washington DC. What I mean is, so much technology history has been made there that I was in a bit of awe. Especially at Apple, thinking that the first Mac was created there, the iMac,and the iPod. The people responsible for their creation were wandering around in there somewhere. That's just cool. Anyway, Apple's a first class company. The conference rooms were great, all of the presenters were very enthusiastic and knowledgeable, and food was good. Loved the Smart Water