Bill Simmons on the Seattle Seahawks

I’m so excited for the football season I can hardly stand it. A good friend invited me to the season opener against the Bucs tomorrow and I’ve been thinking about it all week. Qwest Field is going to be rocking.  hawks

I’ve been listening to sports radio, watching ESPN and reading Sports Illustrated and it seems like people expect Seattle to be very good this year but they are no longer the trendy pick to reach the Super Bowl and that’s for the better. I like the moves the made in the off season and their skill players are still some of the best around.

Bill Simmons from ESPN gives his season picks and has this to say about the Seahawks which he rates #2.

I wrote it last week, I’ll write it again: Everyone is sleeping on these guys. They finished 9-7 during a season when nearly everything went wrong; now they’re healthy and happy; they dumped their clubhouse cancer guys; they added a pass rusher (Patrick Kerney) and an overqualified defensive assistant (Jim Mora Jr., who nearly made the Super Bowl 30 months ago); they’re playing in one of the easiest divisions (the NFC West); and they’ll probably be favored in every 2007 game except Pittsburgh in Week 5 and Philly in Week 12. And it’s not like they haven’t done it before. Throw in their homefield advantage and skill position guys and they seem like the safest bet in the NFC.

So why can you currently get 25-to-1 Super Bowl odds for them in Vegas? Because it’s no fun to pick the Seahawks. They’ve been there before, they play in a smaller market, they have a bald quarterback, their uniforms are boring, their best player is boring, their coach looks like he should be wearing a sheriff’s outfit and buying donuts, and if you say you’ve met more than three Seahawks fans in your entire life and you’re not from Seattle, you’re lying. Really, the only thing that stands out about them is their crowd. Switch their roster with Dallas’ roster and they’d be 7-to-1 odds right now. Since they’re in Seattle, nobody cares yet. But you will. Give it a couple of months.

Might as well be broken

I get uptight when I see something that that partially works but not quite. A few examples that come to mind from experience:

  1. An iron that works only on the highest setting which is great for cotton, but melts any other fabric. Especially perm-press Dockers.
  2. A computer that that requires a complex boot sequence in order to work properly (unplug all USB devices, hold down the magic F10 key, ignore Windows error messages and beeps, disable Messenger, and pray like the pope)
  3. A car that runs well except the shift from first to second gear nearly sends all passengers into the windshield
  4. A printer that jams anytime the document is more than two pages long

All the above items sort of work but not as they were intended. I can always spot a hack job when a seemingly simple task requires a 5 minute explanation and personal demo. (Like my parents downstairs shower or the rear doors to my in-laws Astro Van)

Well, tonight I have another item to add to the list of stuff that almost, sort of, kind of works: Our treadmill.

I installed a new board this afternoon that seemed to fix things on first run. But once I got the board tightened down and the cover put back on, it started acting as if it were possessed.

It starts up ok (the three loud beeps say so) and I can select any of the available programs. The belt works now along with the incline adjustment. Even the tiny fan works! But it has two demonic problems:

  1. The decrease speed arrow actually increases the speed
  2. It only works on speeds 1, 2, 6, and 9

The first problem is frustrating but is something I can work around. If I want to decrease the speed, I just push the “1” button and it slows down to that gingerly level. I avoid the arrows that put the sucker into sprint mode.

But I’ve yet to find a workaround for the second problem. Speeds 1 and 2 are an excruciating slow walk. But speeds 6 and above are Carl Lewis territory. Going unexpectedly from speed 2 to 6 would put me through the back wall of the room and into our yard.  cliffhangers

So my hack tonight was to put the treadmill on speed 2 and then crank the incline up to 10. But now I look like the that miner who slowly moves up the mountain in that game on the Price is Right.  I think I’m burning some calories but I might just tip over. 

Maybe it would be better if the treadmill just stopped working altogether instead of teasing me by sort of working. That way I wouldn’t be enticed into dreaming up potentially harmful workarounds.

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Send Windows Live Messenger to Rehab

It’s a never ending game of cat and mouse. First Microsoft releases an update for Windows Live Messenger that includes more ads and more hooks back to their products and services. A few days later the good people at Mess release the must have Mess Patch which basically takes all the crap out of Live Messenger and restores it to something useful. It’s like sending your kid off to rehab and after a few months he returns as an Eagle Scout.

I’ve been running the Mess Patch for years and cannot imagine running Live Messenger without it.

–Download Window Live Messenger 8.5 from here (Build 8.5.1235.0517)

–Download the Mess Patch here. (Will only work with version above)

If you’re new to the Mess Patch it can be a bit overwhelming. Below are the options I check which makes it much more useful for myself. You can always go back and select more options if the first patch doesn’t do what you want. Or if it removes something you didn’t want it to, just run the Mess installer again and select the “Restore Previous Settings” option from the first screen.

Create Backups (I leave this checked)

Perform CRC Check (I leave this checked)

General Options

  • Remove Partner Links from Display Picture
  • Distinguish Idle from Away Users
  • Enable Multi-line Nicknames
  • Add Sign in Status in system tray
  • Remove text ads from sharing folders

Main Window Options

  • Disable song links
  • Remove MSN Search bar

Conversation Window Options

  • Remove featured content
  • Remove bottom text ad
  • Disable Nudge Window shaking*
  • Remove Nudge button*
  • Remove Winks button*

*I cant’ stand nudges and winks but my kids like to me send them both so I’ve added them back in. But normally I’d get rid of them. I’ve accidentally sent most of my friends a nudge which is embarrassing.

messpatch

File Hippo for easy program and driver updates

Chris Pirillo was talking about programs that take the headache out of updating program and drivers. I’ve tried a number of products including Driver Agent which will scan your installed drivers and tell you which could be updated. But it doesn’t check program versions and it costs $30/year. I tried it for a year and the time it saved me probably wasn’t worth the money.

Chris mentions a few similar products, but the best of the lot for Windows is File Hippo. It’s fast and free and scans both drivers and programs. It even tells you which are still in beta. Very cool, indeed!

Here is the scan it ran on my Windows XP system. I’ve only tried it on two computers but it looks like a keeper

filehippo

Hamachi – Zero configuration VPN

If you’re looking for a no fuss VPN solution that doesn’t include opening ports, mucking with settings or bribing your IT manager, you may want to give Hamachi a try. A friend told me about it over two years ago and I’ve been using it since that time. One advantage is has over Windows built in Remote Desktop client is that it has clients for Linux and OSX in addition to Windows.

I blogged about this product before it was purchased by LogMeIn. I can’t tell that it’s changed much over time. But it didn’t need to.

I’m not going to provide a ton of detail here because Chris Pirillo does a good job of that here.

 

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Favorite Steve Jobs Quote from today’s iPod launch

I wonder if he came up with this line on his own?

“The new iPod touch. It’s one of the 7 wonders of the world.”

It’s arguable whether or not the new iPod touch is a wonder of the world but the iPod is certainly a wonder for Apple. The numbers of staggering: 110 million sold, 600 million copies of iTunes distributed, 95 million TV shows sold. Incredible.

Engadget has typical fantastic coverage of the event here. Nobody wows them like Jobs. I want an iPod touch with a little more storage. 

ipodtouch  

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Back to School

I woke up this morning and decided I’d accompany Luca to her 1st grade orientation. Luca wore her cute Levi skirt and polo shirt. Kim had fixed her pretty, blonde hair so it bounced when she walked.

We drove to her school and went into her new class along with a few parents and their kids. Most kids were accompanied by their mothers, but there was one other father there besides myself. Her teacher, Mrs. O’Donnell, welcomed us to her class. She was kind, soft spoken and very organized. 

HP2Q3154I doubt that today’s classroom has changed much from the over 30 years since I attended first grade. The alphabet was strung over the chalk board. Cork boards lined the walls. Student projects hung off the back wall as did the large, white clock that if you listened closely could hear the second hang as it circled the clock face. I also saw a rack full of globes that could be mistaken for the perfect sized kick ball. The desks were nestled close together and as I sat at one, my butt barely fit onto the tiny blue chairs. Do you remember putting your knees under the desk and rocking back and forth until your desk tipped over and pencils went flying? Those were fun days.

I enjoyed the simplicity of the classroom and the feeling of learning and exploration in this classroom. As Mrs. O’Donnell explained her teaching style I sat there envious of her position and desire to help so many fantastic young children. It made me want to leave the technology field and go back to school so I could teach. Maybe one day I’ll be in a position to do that. In the meantime, I’m thankful to have a job that allows me the flexibility to come and go as I please and take off time when I need it.

Luca sat at her desk and listened to her new teacher. She was excited to be sitting next to a friend of hers named Laura. As she sat there, she looked back at me sitting a few rows behind her and flashed a huge smile. She was happy to be back in school and I was so very proud of her. She loves to read, loves to learn and I’m certain she’ll enjoy getting to know Mrs. O’Donnell.

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My Favorite Microsoft related book

Over the years I’ve probably read over 20 books about Microsoft, Bill Gates, Windows and various Microsoft related people and projects. As I was adding books to my profile at Goodreads, I thought to myself which is my favorite Microsoft related book?

Many of the books have been interesting but none more so than one of  the earliest I read called “Show Stopper!: The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft“showstopper

The book details how a group of renegade programmers, lead by Dave Cutler, created Windows NT. I enjoyed reading about how Bill Gates didn’t have the right people at Microsoft to design and code this key version of Windows so he decided to hire them away from NEC. Gates wanted just Cutler but he wouldn’t budge unless he could bring over his entire team. I believe he was able to force Bill to hire about 20 of his buddies. Cutler is one of the few people who genuinely seems to have intimidated Gates during this time. If you are interested in the early history of Microsoft, this is the best book I can recommend. I found it riveting.

The book details a huge turning point in Microsoft’s history. It also details how shrewd a businessman Gates is by going after the best software architect he could find in Cutler. Who knows where Microsoft would be today had Gates not been been able to convince Cutler to join Microsoft.

–Link to Wikipedia entry for Dave Cuter

Silverlight problems

Microsoft released Silverlight 1.0 tonight and the big news is that it supports Linux. Nice job, Microsoft. But lame job at making it easy to install. I’ve tried installing Silverlight three times from this link without any luck. Silverlight says it has been installed and I should restart my browser. So restart and then go back to the same link and am told I need to install it again. Very very lame experience. Adobe has nothing to worry about if Silverlight is such a pain to install.

Here is the screen I’m presented with even though Silverlight tells me it’s been installed properly.

silverlight