Dirk Minniefield vs. the world

Kentucky Sports Radio linked to a video of Dirk’s dunk versus Mississippi St. He looks like he’s still rising when he throws it down. Awesome. Note the younger Dick Vitale commentating.

If you are a University of Kentucky sports fan, you should be paying attention to what Matt and the guys are doing over at the blog. The radio show is great, but the blog is updated multiple times daily with lots of good stuff. Matt does a terrific job covering recruiting, the most important topic in the world until Nov 2nd. Keep up the good work!

Technorati Tags: Kentucky, kentucky sports radio

smcFanControl

My only longstanding complaint about the MacBook Pro is how hot it runs. I thought about getting a lap desk, but it never seemed to be a reasonable alternative. Tonight, I found my solution.

SmcFanControl is a utility that allows a toasty MacBook Pro’s owner to adjust the minimum fan speed. By changing the minimum fan speed, the temperature goes down. I only upped mine by 750 RPMs and it dropped the case temperature by 20°C. I can actually put my hand on the hottest parts of the laptop with no discomfort.

The only real trade-off is fan noise, but I can still barely hear mine at the speeds I’m running right now. Good stuff!

Technorati Tags: mac, smcfancontrol

Bad things to do with Roller Coaster Tycoon 3

Kotaku linked to this video. Don’t try this at home.

Line Rider

One of the coolest apps I’ve seen in a long time is Line Rider. Don’t worry, its a complete waste of time. It is some of the most fun you can have wasting time though. Imagine that you can build your own downhill sledding track in 2D with a pencil. That’s it. Simple enough? Would it be better if you could send a little person on a sled down your newly designed track? You can! It is an absolute riot.

Battlestar Galactica

Two hours and forty minutes later, we finished the first four episodes of Battlestar Galactica’s current season. It is somewhat heavy and dark, but absolutely amazing. We really couldn’t help but to finish the episodes that we had on the Tivo even though we don’t usually watch TV this late.

What did I like most? It always amazes me when a show or movie can have many plots and stories going at once and maintain a sense of control. Even though we were following as many as four or five threads at the same time, the show never lost a sense of focus or purpose. It is very well written and not as effects laden as I expected it to be. Maybe George Lucas should check BSG out before he starts production on the new Star Wars TV show.

If you like sci-fi, you should be watching this already. Oh, and Edward James Olmos is still a fantastic actor.

Technorati Tags: battlestar galactica

Technet webcast audio only RSS feeds

Podcasts: Download Audio of Webcasts and Hear Them on the Go:
Listen to Microsoft webcast and media content whenever and wherever you want. You can stream or download these audio podcasts on your favorite podcast software or mobile device, and quickly and easily access content with RSS feeds. Microsoft podcasts are free and do not require registration—just click and listen.

Absolute Sandman is here

In honor of the release of Absolute Sandman, a Neil Gaiman quote. The Sandman was the cornerstone of the DC Vertigo comic line in the 90’s and an absolutely fantastic book. Brilliant.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But the half-wit remains a half-wit, and the emperor remains an emperor.
Neil Gaiman, Sandman

Quote Details: Neil Gaiman: It has always been… – The Quotations Page:

Technorati Tags: neil gaiman

Fictional Democrat music

Alone + Easy Target by Foo Fighters came up in iTunes and it reminded me that the Foo made an appearance on the West Wing. They were in both Election Day episodes in Season 6. Nothing says “Democrats are hip” like the Foo Fighters, except for the Dave Matthews Band. Oh, they got mentioned too. Cliche.

Who symbolizes the GOP? Liza Minelli? Babs? Polka bands?

I’ll stop now. My Dad is probably coming over to kick my butt right now.

Technorati Tags: foo fighers, west wing

Playlist: Pandora or Last.fm? Take your pick

I think I like Pandora better.

Playlist: Pandora or Last.fm? Take your pick:
Over the past year, two services — Pandora and Last.fm — have really risen to the forefront when it comes to helping users discover new music based on their preferences and generating custom music streams to play that music. Everyone’s got their preferences, and the Web is littered with blog posts extolling one over the other. Give either a try and you’ll see why they’ve developed such a following. They’re both amazing services that provide great ways to discover and listen to new music.

Windows Live Account – No Safari support

Apparently, I can’t edit my Windows Live account on my Mac. Its a good thing that I don’t rely on it for anything.

Error here.

The West Wing is starting over

I noticed that the pilot episode is playing on Bravo next Monday, following the series finale. It’s an infinite loop, but I can’t help myself.

The Muppet Matrix

Nothing beats Gonzo as Agent Smith.

Big Blue Madness schedule

It will be playing on Fox Sports South at 3:00PM on Saturday in Atlanta.

ukathletics.com:
Live Coverage
The following Big Blue Sports Network affiliates are broadcasting Madness live (9-11 p.m. EDT/8-10 p.m. CDT):

Market (Station)
Hazard (WYMT-TV)
Hopkinsville (WKAG-TV)
Lexington (WKYT-TV)
Paducah, KY/Cape Girardeau, MO (WDKA-TV)
Northern Kentucky (Insight Cable)

The BBSN broadcast is also be available live on FSN South in the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama (Huntsville-Decatur-Florence market only) and Mississippi (Tupelo-Columbus-West Point market only).

Something happy

After that last mess, I thought I should end on a happy note.

Bill Cosby Quotes:
Let us now set forth one of the fundamental truths about marriage: the wife is in charge.

Too much media, too little time

This is a long, disjointed post. I had no intention of writing this when I sat down, so there is no real point. However, I’m still posting it since I spent five minutes typing it in my terribly formed “touch typing”. There’s no real touch in it and very little typing, but it works for me. Think of it as hunt and peck with class.

Apparently, I’m a media junkie. I have a Tivo. I have a Blockbuster Online subscription. I subscribe to more than 25 podcasts. I need help. I keep up with more than fifty RSS feeds.

The real problem comes when I feel that I have to keep up. When you have more than 20 season passes on Tivo, it is hard to manage to watch all of that television. I don’t really. I skim through some things. I cheat. It’s turning into an ADD festival and I’m the star. So what do I do?

Well, its all about boundaries isn’t it? As a family, we decided that we just didn’t care about some shows as much, so we’re cutting them. Sorry Men in Trees, it just wasn’t meant to be. We’re cutting our Blockbuster Online subscription as well. It’s just more than we can keep up with.

My wife starts her new job in the morning (Yippee!), so our time is going to be structured a little differently. I don’t really want to spend my whole workday in front of a computer and then come home to spend all evening in front of the television. I have to blog sometime, so the movies have to go.

It’s easy to get caught up in how easily we have content delivered now. I listen to podcasts and audiobooks while I commute. I find that it is an excellent way to pass the time. I use RSS to keep up with the world. I don’t watch the news. I get too tired of the spin. I can get the facts from the Associated Press, so I’m happy.

Think about how we are bombarded with information. Most of us have e-mail, cell phones, websites that we visit, televisions, and a plethora of other methods, all of which take time. In the end, information and content delivery channels are for our benefit, not the other way around. It’s all about purpose.