Careful you might have Wiiitis

Aches and pains? Might be 'Wiiitis'

The treatment: Ibuprofen and abstinence from video games

BOSTON - When Dr. Julio Bonis awoke one Sunday morning with a sore shoulder, he could not figure out what he had done. It felt like a sports injury, but he had been a bit of a couch potato lately.

Then he remembered his new Wii

Full article here

Check out Google Bookmarks

Have you ever wanted an easy way to share browser bookmarks across all your computers?

Check out Google Bookmarks, Firefox plugin

Creates a menu to access Google bookmarks from any computer. Needs Google Account to use this extension.

Good Luck with this Dream Interpretation

Do you ever remember your dreams? Do you have ever have one so bizarre you just have to run into the office and tell everyone?

So last night I had this dream I was on the beach watching a surf competition. Pretty normal so far right? Well this is where it starts to get weird, first of all there were no women competing. None, Zero, Zip, Nada.
It was a dude competition? Wouldn't you think if I had a dream about any type of ocean event on a beach there would be at least a few bikini clad women? Please tell me there isn't some Freudian message in there somewhere? Guess I better start watching more women's pro beach volleyball.

Anyway besides that fact, Brett Ratner, Gilda Radner and David Hasselhoff were the judges.

Now, Mr. Night Rider I can understand being a judge, he has that extensive Baywatch experience of course, but Gilda Radner bless her heart, has been dead for almost 20 years?

Ok, now here's the weirdest part. The dude surfing was Dick York from Bewitched? WTF? Not only that but when he went into Pope's living room Dick Sargent came out the other side!

TGIF!

Celebrity Jeopardy

So, for anyone that missed them I thought I would start posting the Celebrity Jeopardy clips

Test your _________ (fill in the blank)

Ok, not exactly sure what all this tests but it's really cool.

Check out Lumosity

is the brain fitness program designed by neuroscientists that is scientifically demonstrated to improve your memory, attention and processing speed.

There is a link where you can measure your Lumos IQ with a series of 3 tests.

An ex-coworker/friend/fellow blogger (bexhuff.com) turned me on to the site by reading his article here and now the whole office is competing.

I posted a pic above of my best scores from the 3 games. This was after about 5-6 tries on each game so don't worry if you suck at the beginning I did too. It takes a little while to get used to doing 2-3 things at the same time.

What the Hell Happened to the NBA?

Hey Look a Sports Related Post.

I have been wanting to comment on the pathetic NBA for a while but this latest article inspired me to finally post some comments.

For Cavaliers-Spurs, Where Have All the Viewers Gone?

What has become of the N.B.A. finals? Yes, they will continue tonight on ABC with San Antonio leading, 3-0, and yes, there will be hopes that LeBron James can lead Cleveland to a victory or two before his Cavs succumb to the Spurs But if fan aversion to this series continues at its current pace, these finals could be the least-viewed in at least 22 years, if not longer.

So first some personal history. I used to love the NBA. It all started for me in 1985 with the Atlanta Hawks.

1985/86: With rookies Jon Koncak and Spud Webb the Hawks became the youngest team in the NBA. After a slow start the Hawks quickly transformed into one of the more exciting teams in the NBA, led by "the Human Highlight Reel" Dominique Wilkins who led the NBA in scoring with 30.3 ppg. However, the most exciting highlight of the season came when 5'7" Spud Webb won the Slam Dunk contest during All-Star Weekend.

Why the Hawks you may be wondering? Well coincidentally this was the same time we finally got cable television at our house and the Hawks were one of the few teams where every game was on TV thanks to Ted Turner. The team had the scoring leader and a midget slam dunk champ, who wouldn't watch.

Now true round ball fans are probably smirking, since another somewhat famous team from Chicago was also being broadcast on cable (WGN) at the time.

How was I supposed to know MJ would win TEN Scoring Titles in the next 12 years?

I regret I was late jumping on the BBW. No! not what you are thinking you sick readers. I mean the Bulls Band Wagon but once I was on board I stuck around until the end.

So, I ask you avid blog reader, was MJ's retirement the beginning of the end for the NBA? Either his first or his second. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when David Stern called Michael into his office after the first announcement.

DS: "Hey Mike, how's it going? I heard you shot a 74 the other day nice work."
MJ: "Thanks"
DS: "So, I've been thinking about this retirement thing of yours, are you really sure you want to play baseball?"
MJ "Ya, I think so David, I have had a good basketball career but I have always wanted to try another sport such as baseball and maybe spend a little more time with my family, the NBA has afforded me many luxories and I do appreciate everything you have done for the league but this is just my time to walk away and try something new, I know you will understand"
DS: "How does controlling partner or front office for an NBA team sound"
MJ: "Sounds great"
DS: "You come back and I will make that happen once you retire a second time"
MJ: " Ok, but I'm only coming back once I'm not doing the whole Doug Flutie thing"
DS: "Great, what number do you want to wear?"
MJ: "I was thinking 45 this time"
DS: "Done, I will have the jerseys printed up, welcome back"
MJ: "You're welcome David"
DS: "Yes!...bring on the tv contracts"

There are a number of great articles on the downfall of the ratings and the overall new "attitude" of today's NBA.

The first is the wikipedia article about NBA Ratings

The second is a follow up article about the Hip Hop NBA Culture

The third is a wonderfully hilarious article about the NBA All Star Game in Las Vegas the article is title Hip Hop Woodstock and is well worth the read.

The final one is another article about the All Star Game and the failure of the league itself titled Mayhem Main Event.

Here's the summary

An event planned to showcase what is right about professional basketball has been turned into a 72-hour display of why commissioner David Stern can't sleep at night and spends his days thinking of rules to mask what the NBA has come to represent.

Good luck fixing All-Star Weekend.

The game is a sloppy, boring, half-hearted mess. The dunk contest is contrived and pointless. The celebrity contest is unintended comedy. And, worst of all, All-Star Weekend revelers have transformed the league's midseason exhibition into the new millennium Freaknik, an out-of-control street party that features gunplay, violence, non-stop weed smoke and general mayhem.

Word of all the criminal activity that transpired during All-Star Weekend has been slowly leaking out on Las Vegas radio shows and TV newscasts and on Internet blogs the past 24 hours

So, In conclusion I know this isn't my usual short techie article but honestly I miss watching a good NBA game. I remember many night glued to my TV watching Bird, Johnson, Drexler, Stockton or Jordan fight it out in a team effort down to the last seconds.

*sigh*

MMM This sounds tasty

The Word Is 'Leakage'

Accidents may happen with a new OTC diet drug.

By Raina Kelley

Newsweek

June 25, 2007 issue - GlaxoSmithKline has a tip for people who decide to try Alli, the over-the-counter weight-loss drug it is launching with a multimillion-dollar advertising blitz—keep an extra pair of pants handy. That's because Alli, a lower-dose version of the prescription drug Xenical, could (cue the late-night talk-show hosts) make you soil your pants. But while Alli's most troublesome side effect, anal leakage, is sure to be good for a few laughs, millions of people who are desperate to take off weight may still decide the threat of an accident is worth it.

Full article here

Pandora's Box

Ok, so most of you probably have your huge MP3 collection or favorite streaming local radio station you listen to while at work, but have you discovered Pandora yet?

Pandora is a free online radio station where you pick the general artist or song and it creates a personalized station which has a similar sound or style.

Once it plays the first song, it then finds other songs you will probably like.


It even lets you do a "Quick Mix" where you pick several choices from the stations you already made and it essentially shuffles them.

Try it out you may just find an artist you really like but have never heard before.

Google Timeline

Hello blog watchers. It's been a while but this is just one of three new posts so stay tuned for all the fun and excitement.

Google has a cool new experimental search using Timelines.

Check it out by typing any search team followed by view:timeline

Here are some examples

World War II

Jackson Five

Mars Rover

They also have a Map view which combines searches with Google Maps

Just add view:map to the end of the search

Longest River

Comic Book Conventions

All Theories Are Not Created Equal

Ok, unless you live in Arkansas or Alaska, you probably know about the upcoming US presidential election and the fact that the debates and hype have already started.

And the trend seems to be continuing where the religious questions are once again becoming the hot topic.

The following is the first few paragraphs from a CNN article found here.

During the first GOP presidential debate last month in California, three Republican candidates raised eyebrows by indicating they did not subscribe to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, a widely accepted scientific concept about the origins of life.

When the topic came up again Tuesday night in a CNN-sponsored debate in New Hampshire, one of those evolution skeptics, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, offered a spirited defense of the biblical creation narrative.

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth," said Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister. "A person either believes that God created the process or believes that it was an accident and that it just happened all on its own.

Some quick Google searches located this article from Oct 2004:

What role has religion played so far in this campaign?

STEVEN WALDMAN: Well, it has been huge. It has probably been a bigger role this time than any election probably since 1960 and that's partially because the Bush campaign has targeted a huge turnout.

They need a huge turnout from evangelical Christians; it's partially because John Kerry is the first Catholic presidential nominee since 1960 and all those things are combining together to make it a very important aspect.

GWEN IFILL: Amy Sullivan, what role should religion play?

AMY SULLIVAN: Well, religion is an important part of all Americans lives. For too long it has been sort of assumed that conservatives were religious and liberals were people for whom faith was not that important.

But we know that 87 percent of Americans say that religion is an important part of their life. So it would be kind of odd to hear a presidential campaign that ignored that factor.

GWEN IFILL: Well, it's more than whether they ignored or paid attention to it. It seems like there is more talk this year than there has been in the past. Am I wrong about that?

AMY SULLIVAN: Well, there certainly is, but that's because for 30 years now Democrats have kind of responded to the issue of religion by remaining quiet. They didn't like how it was dealt with in a campaign.

So instead of changing the way that we talked about religion, they just kind of sat in a corner and let conservatives take over the rhetoric.

So my question is simple:

Are there any questions considered too personal to ask a presidential candidate?

If we, the public media, ask about Evolution, shouldn't we also ask about Relativity?

MEDIA: Do you believe the speed of light in a vacuum is the same for all observers?

CANDIDATE: No comment, next question.

MEDIA: Well then, what about Orbital Effects, Frame Dragging, or Black Holes?

CANDIDATE: blink blink

Pirates are really Aliens

Ok, most of you know I am a huge Star Wars geek! In fact, I personally know only one person who's a bigger fan than me, but Billy shall remain nameless.

I recently watched a great documentary on the History channel titled

Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed

It summarizes the popularity of the franchise itself and goes on to define the modern myth used throughout many movies and books including my beloved Star Wars.

Basically, it eludes to the fact that although George Lucas was a great storyteller the good vs evil, boy becomes man storyline has been around for hundreds of years. Lucas simply wrapped it up in a compelling tale combining great characters and costumes with the most advanced technology and special effects.

Ironically, I had another blog post saved as a draft which was originally part II of my rant on the lack of originality.

In that post I was all set to rip on the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy for taking my sacred "one of a kind" perfect story, Star Wars, and copying Lucas' formula.

Since I was a child of the 70's, to me Lucas himself created this "formula" when in reality he simply borrowed the mythological concept and shaped it into the story we all know today.

So, for those curious here are some excerpts from another article titled

Why Pirates is the `New` Star Wars

Is it just us, or do the 'Pirates' films and the original 'Star Wars' trilogy have a whole lot more in common than their ability to rake in the box office booty? We trolled the depths of our cinematic knowledge to illuminate 12 very eerie similarities between the two blockbuster franchises

For those too lazy to click on the above link, here's a few of the obvious ones.

1. Costumes
Dressing up as various Star Wars characters isn't reserved just children on Halloween. As recently as 2005, grown men flocked to theaters in full Jedi regalia. Same goes for 'Pirates,' with men -- and women -- donning Jack's pirate garb and, of course, plenty of eyeliner.

2. Heroic Rescue
The third film in each trilogy begins with a heroic rescue mission. In 'Jedi,' Luke tries to rip Han from Jabba's disgusting clutches. Likewise, 'At Worlds End,' Will and Elizabeth sail to the ends of the Earth to bring Jack back from Davy Jones' locker.

3. Middle Movie Cliffhanger
Luke's father is Vader!? Han is frozen in carbonite!? What's going to happen next?! Similarly, 'Dead Man's Chest' leaves Jack's fate in doubt (Did the Kraken really eat him?) and drops a bomb (Barbossa is still alive!). It's cruel -- but we love it.

4. Bad Ass Big Weapons
Which would you rather not have tracking you down, the Death Star or the Flying Dutchman?

5. Hot Girls in Bikinis
Ok, Ok, Elizabeth Swann will never be Leia but admit you kept hoping she would don the bikini and choke someone with a chain?

6. Mysterious Powerful Shamans
Like Yoda, Tia Dalma can see the future, spouts pearls of wisdom using strange grammar, boasts a Force-like mastery of magic and has a general distaste for personal hygiene.

7. Davy Jones is a nicer Jabba the Hut
Davy is after Jack to cash in an I.O.U. for a lifetime of servitude, and Jabba has a crew of bounty hunters combing the galaxy for the debt-owing Han Solo.

8. Alcoholic Fathers
Just seeing if anyone is reading this. But think about it, Darth Vader and Bootstrap Bill must have been drunk to raise such obscenely handsome sons. Both are clean-cut lads who always do the right thing, never knew their dads and are pretty proficient with a saber.

9. Threesome anyone?
In both trilogies, the true-hearted hero and the swaggering cad want to bed the fiery female.

10. #2 is #1
Come on, everyone knows that Han Solo and Jack Sparrow are truly one in the same. They are both constantly only looking out for themselves but are also two guys you would always want on your side.

Bad Things Definitely Happen in Three's

Ok, I'm 0-3 in summer blockbusters. Coincidence they were all #3 in the summer sequel fest? I think not!

So, first of the stinkers was Spidey 3
Then along came Shrek 3 billed as the best one yet, lame.
Next up, Pirates of the Crap Hole 3

I had high hopes for this installment. I actually enjoyed the cliff hanger of #2 and I was really looking forward to a great conclusion to a fun story.

Boy, was I disappointed. Ya, some of the effects were cool, but mostly it was much of the same action, the same characters and less of the witty dialogue that made the first two enjoyable.

Did I mention it's almost THREE hours long, ughh!

I kept wishing I had to pee, so I could actually have a reason to leave in the middle.

Well, I suppose I should lower my expectations for Ocean's Three-teen