kevinrossen.com | a blog about tech, sports, and life

No More “Super Bowl” Parties

February 1, 2007 in Sports with 2 Comments

The National Football League is apparently joining the ranks of the Recording Industry Association of America in stupid enforcements of copyright laws. The IndyStar is reporting that the NFL overnighted a letter to the Fall Creek Baptist Church in Indianapolis demanding that they cancel a party that was being promoted. The church’s website has a note from their pastor that reads:

We regret to inform you that we have had to cancel our bash to view the Colts game this Sunday in a family friendly environment due to the fact that the NFL believes we would be in violation of the Copyright Act, because we had planned to show the game on a screen bigger than a 55 inch diagonal. We have appealed to their legal counsel and exhausted all options without success. We have been informed that the only exceptions to view the game are given to sports bars and restaurants. While we have argued that we only intend to provide a family oriented environment that will make no profit from the showing, the NFL claims that our event cannot proceed by law. Therefore, we have no choice but to challenge this in court or cancel the event. We choose to cancel the event. We deeply regret that we have been prohibited by the NFL from providing a family friendly environment for celebrating the Colts great season.

As a minister who has previously hosted Super Bowl parties, I have to say that this is ridiculous. The NFL’s explanation is that it would throw off Nielsen ratings. That is ridiculous. Hey NFL. Get a clue.

Read the IndyStar’s report here.

Initial Reactions to the iPhone

January 11, 2007 in Tech with 0 Comments

Unless you’ve been living in 1997 for the past 48 hours, you’ve probably heard that Apple has announced their new, breakthrough device called the iPhone (at least for now). They’re billing it as an iPod, Phone, and revolutionary internet communicator all in one device. Since I’m currently a Treo 650 user and a gadget junkie in general, this has me really interested.

Some basics. It is scheduled to be released in June 2007. There will be two versions–a 4 GB model for $499 and an 8 GB model for $599. I’m fairly sure that the 4GB model won’t sell nearly as many. Without having spent any time with the device, nor being able to read any third-party reviews, I am giving a tentative very positive review.

There are some really cool things that Apple has done. First off, it looks sweet. There are no hard buttons. Everything is touchscreen and done with virtual buttons or tap-scrolling. Another breakthrough they’ve done is having the ability to have multiple touches at the same time. That means that you can use two fingers at once to navigate the phone. You’ll have to see the demonstration. The other thing that seems really cool is the random-access voice mail. That means that you can choose which voice mail you want to listen to when you want to listen to it, in any order. That would be really nice to have TODAY!!!

There are only two negative things I can see from the beginning. First is the “small” storage space. I say small because the normal iPods have 30GB+ of storage. For people who have 10,000+ songs and want them all the time this will not be enough space. But this is A LOT more than my Treo has built in (32MB, yes megabytes). The other is the lack of a removable battery. Two things that worry me about this are running out of juice on the run and reseting the device if it locks. I know, you mac fanboys will tell me that Apples don’t freeze, but my brother-in-law would disagree. His iPod has frozen/locked up on him two or three times. Granted, this won’t be a big deal day-to-day, but it is something to think about.

Service will only be available from Cingular, so us Sprint users will have to make a switch if we decide to get it. You’ll also have to sign a two-year contract. My initial suggestion is to wait at least three to six months before you buy one. Most first-generation devices will have some minor, but annoying, bugs to work out and the price will most likely drop after a year or so. However, if you just have to have it, you’re probably safe to go ahead and buy it. Just make sure you let me play with it for a while!!!

The Most Needed Haircut in the History of the NBA

December 23, 2006 in Sports with 0 Comments

Chris Kaman of the LA Clippers used to be called the ugliest player in the NBA. I heard one radio show host say that he could get a side job in Hollywood as an actor in Zombie movies, and he wouldn’t even need any makeup or cosutmes! Well, that’s changed now. He looks normal. Check out this before and after:

How the Mavs Could Get Iverson

December 9, 2006 in Sports with 1 Comment

The Philadelphia 76ers have announced that they will be trading Allen Iverson. Trades in the NBA are complicated. There are restrictions about when a player could be moved and both teams have to fit within certain parameters of the salary cap. That said, there is a scenario that could bring Iverson to Dallas. How likely is it? Probably not very likely, but it’s fun to guess. The Mavericks could trade Jason Terry and Austin Croshere to Philly after December 15 and both teams would stay within the cap requirements.

This deal would obviously benefit Dallas significantly. They would be adding a proven All-Star to compliment Dirk Nowitzki. Iverson can score at will and has never seen a shot he didn’t like. The 76ers would be picking up a scorer to replace Iverson and Croshere’s contract expires at the end of this year, which teams are always happy when they can pick up a player like that.

The downside for Dallas would be taking a risk at messing up the team’s chemistry. Would Iverson be able to share the ball with Dirk? Would he work hard enough for Avery Johnson? Those are big questions, but if the Mavs are willing to take the risk, I think they would make a significant improvement. And there is really no way for Philadelphia to get equal money for AI.

The biggest roadblock that would keep this deal from happening may well be that Terry can’t be dealt until after Dec 15. The Mavs also signed him to five additional years during the off-season. And I would feel bad about Terry going from one of the elite teams to the cellar of the NBA. But only as bad as one can feel for someone who makes millions of dollars playing a game.

To check out how this deal would fit under the cap, go to http://www1.realgm.com/src_checktrade.php?tradeid=3489322.

Creative Editing

December 7, 2006 in Personal, Tech with 1 Comment

My wife and I have been going to more movies this past month than usual. It seems like we’ve been showing up to the theater about thirty minutes early. It used to be that being at the theater that early meant you’d be listening to crappy music and watching the same 14 slides repeat on the screen. Now they’ve got some pre-show entertainment, which I personally enjoy. It makes the wait seem shorter.

One of the best parts about being there that early is that you get to see the extra previews for movies and TV shows. Brea and I really like previews, and we usually will comment about whether or not we want to see the movies that are coming soon. One problem with this is that previews don’t always give you the most accurate portrayal of what the movie will actually be like. Sometimes, especially in comedies, the previews have a good portion of the best parts of the movie, which pretty much means you’re wasting $9.

Another problem is that you can edit video to make it look however you want. Need proof? There have been a lot of videos uploaded to YouTube that take creative editing to the extreme. Check out a few examples below. If you want to watch more, check out http://www.thetrailermash.com/.

The Shining (Comedy)
Office Space (Suspense)
Mary Poppins (Horror – Great Title, Scary Mary)
The Sound of Music (Horror . . . which is probably an accurate edit)