Monday, November 19, 2007

Happy and Sad Time as a Fan

This past week of college football has turned out to be a mixed emotion week for me as a fan. The Oregon Ducks played Arizona on Thursday and lost not only their national title spot and hopes, but their one-man wonder, Heisman candidate, and one of the last weapons on their offense, Dennis Dixon. Word is now that he is out for the season.

The positive note is that BYU has broken into the top 25, and Boise State has a chance at a BCS bowl game.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

BYU is Becoming Another Strong Presence

BYU is having another great year this year. By the way things are looking, they are going to finish undefeated in the Mountain West Conference for the second year in the row. A dominating defense is the reason this year, compared to the outstanding offense last year lead by John Beck. While BYU hasn't had the hardest schedule this year, they still have beat somewhat good teams like TCU and Arizona. There two losses are another set of close ones, bringing you to have the what if question pop into your head again. There season could have been undefeated right now. Oh well, they will still get the MWC championship. GO COUGARS!

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Hooray Oregon, Ohio State and LSU-You Had Better Lose

After a successful season gone wrong last year, no one expected the Oregon Ducks football to make any success in this year's college football season. My, how we all were surprised when the Ducks ran the tables, winning all but one game so far this year. That one loss, was a few mistakes from a win. Now Oregon is number 3 in the BCS standings. Part of the reason for the success in the transformation of Dennis Dixon. I've watched him play for Oregon the past two years and turnovers have been his woes, along with the football team. This year is another story. He has only thrown three interceptions this year, with two being in the loss they had.

This reason for all recap-Oregon is one of the best teams in the nation, and should go to the national champioship. Two teams stand in their way right now. One is Ohio State and the other is LSU. Ohio State is a pretty good team but should be ranked lower, because they have not played against any real good teams yet. LSU has had a tough schedule, but their are two reasons why they should'nt be in the championship. On is that they would have homefield advantage, literally. The other is that of the tough teams they have beat, they have only gained the lead in the last five minutes of the game, some less, on some very lucky plays. Eventually their luck will run out. To me that is not vey impressive.

Friday, October 5, 2007

MP3 Players

This fall seems like it will be the year that every company is coming out with new designs and features. Here's what caught my eye this time around:


Apple iPod Nano-

Steve Jobs has come out with with a new line of iPods, and overall, the new ones are very intriguing. The iPod Nano is one such example. It has got a new design, with a shorter, wider look. The screen has been enlarged for a new important feature-video playback. It's finally on the Nano, and for that alone, it makes the Nano finally a worthwhile MP3 player in todays market. Other featres that are new include the new cover flow browsing, an updated interface, with album art and pictures shown as you scroll through the list. iTunes music store has always made this a plus. However, audio quality is starting to get behind in competition. It is not notibable enough to make too big of a difference. One negative is still, even with video, it is lacking in features. The player comes in a 4gb and 8gb version.


Apple iPod Touch-


The iPhone without the phone is finally here, and I can say that it will be the future of iPods. Design looks just like an iPhone, just a little bit slimmer. The great touchscreen interface is there from the iPhone, along with wireless interenet browsing. This feature is a plus. There is also wireless iTunes available with the WI-Fi. The rest of it is basically standard iPod/iPhone things. Audio is about the same as the others, a little below the leaders now. Video however is excellent. The only real negative for this right now is the size of the player. It comes in 8gb and 16gb. Hopefully they will improve this in the future.


Creative Zen-


Creative Labs newest MP3 player is just titled Zen, no names added to the end. This player in particular has really got me excited, with design, features, and quality. The design is a slim player, at the size of an credit card. Navigation now uses the 5-way tactile pad. The interface is much like an iPods, only brighter and more colorful. Features include the regular photo, audio, and video, along with FM radio. Another cool feature is expandable memory for an SD card. I think that all players should have this feature. Audio quality is excellent for this player. Another plus is there are many formats that it can read. AAC is now supported, as long as it is unprotected. This player comes in 4gb, 8gb, and 16gb. This is a little bit of a negative, but expandable memory helps.


Microsoft Zune-

Microsoft is releasing second generation Zunes, and I have to say, they are pretty cool. Although they probably aren't going to be the iPods downfall right now, they sure are going to give them a run for their money. Released in the second generation are player sizes of 4gb, 8gb and 80gb. The new design is similar to the old one, with a new twist and sleek look. All sizes are the same looking, with the largest being just a larger design of it. The interface is the same as the previous, and not much else has changed. Two big changes are the ability to sinc songs wirelessly now, and the navigation button. The navigation button has the traditional 5 way tactile layout, but their is a twist. If you slide your finger over it up and down, the menu will be scrolled through faster. This is a similar idea to the scroll wheel of the iPod, but in a way, I think that this is a better way to browse.






Motorola Antennas

Have you ever noticed that whenever some wants to send a text message, they turn their phone upside down? Does this really help them get service, or is this just a theory?

Motorola

For those that have the RAZR, KRZR, W385, or anyother phone made by Motorola with the RAZR form, this is not a conspiracy theory. The antenna for these phones is actually located at the bottom of the phone, where the "double chin" is. The reason for this is unknown.

As for other phone brands, this may not help get reception at all, but if you think it does, keep on giving it a try.

So, next time you see someone flip their phone upside down, you'll know the reason.