Sirius Radio To Air Show Dedicated To Sports Betting

Sirius Radio will debut a two-hour program dedicated to the topic of betting on sports. Gambling and betting on sports have been growing more and more with things like online betting and television poker shows.

On Friday night, at 8 p.m. Sirius, on their Sports Byline USA channel, will air Vegas Sports Radio which "will provide listeners with a unique view on the world of college sports and pro sports from the professional bettors who make their living by wagering on these events," according to the Vegas Sports Radio Web site.

The show will be hosted by Jim Feist, Scott Spreitzer, Glen McGrew and Dave Cokin.

With the growing popularity of gambling and sports betting, a show like this one should definitely fill a void for those looking for gambling information beyond actually being in Las Vegas or loitering around an OTB somewhere.

XM Radio To Debut Surround Sound

XM Satellite Radio will be the first to offer 24-hours a day programming in HD surround sound, according to an XM press release. This is great news for audiophiles.

Beginning in March, XM will upgrade two of their channels to include 5.1 HD broadcasts. The two channels are Fine Tuning (Ch.76) and XM Pops (Ch.113).

Additionally, XM plans to include other special shows and live broadcasts in surround as well.

However, to listen to broadcasts in surround a special player will need to be purchased. Currently, Denon, Onkyo, Pioneer and Yamaha plan on selling home audio systems able to receive and play the XM HD Surround signal. No word yet on how much each will cost, but my guess is somewhere in the $200-$400 range.

This surround sound achievement was made with a partnership between XM and Neural Audio Corporation. Neural Audio is a company that specializes in creating solutions for broadcast and electronics involved with digital signal processing.

The XM and Neural team will demonstrate the XM surround January 5-8 at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. This is a can't miss if you plan on attending the CES this year.

TiVo Wireless Networking Made Easy

TiVo has released a new USB wireless network card compatible with your 802.11b and/or 802.11g networks. What makes this card special is that you no longer have to fumble around your local Best Buy trying to figure out if the card you are about to buy is compatible or not. For the casual user, finding a compatible card was always somewhat of a problem thanks to manufacturers making different versions of the same model. Thankfully, this card eliminates that hassle and ensures compatibility.

Additionally, TiVo geeks will love having a new piece of equipment with the TiVo logo on it. At $49.99, the price is right and currently only available through the TiVo Web site.

Here are a list of features straight from the horse's mouth:

• Easily connect your TiVo Series2 DVR to your 802.11g or 802.11b wireless home network
  
• Enjoy TiVoToGo™ and Multi-Room Viewing transfers, Music and Photos, Online Scheduling, and more
  
• Eliminates the need for a phone line, if used with a broadband connection
  
• Optimized wireless performance with your TiVo® Series2™ DVR
  
• Real brushed metal base; flip-up antenna with TiVo badge
  
• For use with a TiVo Series2 DVR only. Not for use with a TiVo® Series1™ DVR (with no USB ports) or DIRECTV DVR with TiVo®. Not intended to be plugged into a PC or Mac.

Last minute shopper? Here's your last chance.

If you are a last minute shopper like I am then it's becoming crunch time for you. Just for our lazy readers, we assembled a list below of places where you can still order stuff in time. Feel free to add more if we missed any. The store in bold is the one that has the latest ordering times for those who just wouldn't have it any other way then to shop at the very last minute.

Amazon.com - December 22 using Next Day Shipping
Bestbuy.com - December 22 11 am EST using Next Day Shipping
Circuitcity.com - December 22 1 pm EST using Next Day Shipping
Brookstone.com - December 23 1 pm EST using Next Day Shipping (Saturday Delivery)
Tigerdirect.com - December 22 4 pm EST using Next Day Shipping
Crutchfield.com - December 23 4 pm EST using Next Day Shipping (Saturday Delivery)
Elusivedisc.com - December 22 5 pm EST using Next Day Shipping, December 23 5 pm EST using Next Day Shipping (Saturday Delivery)
Diamond.com - December 22 using Next Day Shipping (Free for orders over $49, $9.95 for all other orders)
EBgames.com - December 22 12 pm EST using Next Day Shipping
Gamestop.com - December 22 4 pm EST using Next Day Shipping
J&R Music and Computer World - December 22 1 pm EST using Next Day Shipping, December 23 using Next Day Shipping (Saturday Delivery)
Flowers.com - December 24 12 pm EST to get it there by Christmas day

Send Flowers Online - The directory for flower shops, gardening resources, and floral information.

Good Luck shopping! I hope all of you find what you need.

A War on Christmas?

It's upsetting to see a minority of people in this country not only dividing it, but destroying the fun of the holiday season. Big F'ing deal if someone says Happy Holidays rather than Merry Christmas. The corporate world is not forgetting Christmas by eliminating Christmas specific wording on their advertisements and in their holiday wishes to people. Instead, they are embracing the idea and fact that Christmas isn't the only holiday celebrated during this time of year. Why offend someone if you don't have to or want to?

For example, if you happened to be a Christian and walked into a store on a Friday evening and someone wished you a happy Shabbos, you might be offended. So, as a Christian why would you want people wishing everybody a Merry Christmas? A similar question could be asked about nativity scenes in public. Why force an issue of something that should remain in your own home? If you don't like the decorations being put up in public, how about putting them up at your house where you have control over it. Not everybody wants to see the same things you do, yes some do, but then again some don't. Live with it. Don't parade it and force everyone to see something in public that doesn't relate to them.

Don't fall into that religious right wing crap that people like Jerry Fallwell are touting around. There is no war on Christmas. If anything there should be a war on religious fanatics like Fallwell trying to change the face of this country. Let's not forget it was Jerry Fallwell, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks who suggested that America had it coming because of its sinful ways. This is the same guy who said Teletubbies are convincing kids to be homosexual.

This time of year is a special one, let's not spoil it by forcing a certain way of celebrating it. And if people want to say Merry Christmas rather than Happy Holidays, that's fine too. Just don't expect everyone to like it. There are many different types of pepople out there and there is no reason to cater to one particular kind of them when you can cater to them all.

Netflix vs Blockbuster Online

Going to the video store was always such a pain in the ass. Not only did one have to walk around the store for an hour wondering what movie to rent since the one that's wanted is always rented out, but you had to wait in line to pay for it too. On top of that, you had to bring the movie back to the store when you were done with it. Too many steps to enjoy one lousy night of watching Ishtar.

In came Netflix, the online movie rental store that gets rid of all that waste of time. They mail your movies to you and when you're done, you mail them back. Simple. So simple in fact you never have to really leave the house.

Blockbuster followed Netflix's mail order movie rental idea a few years later. Even Wal-Mart joined in on the fun for a little while. Amazon was always rumored to begin renting movies online too, but it never took off thanks to fierce pricing competition between Netflix and Blockbuster.

However, if you haven't subscribed to Netflix or Blockbuster yet, you are probably wondering which one is better. They are both pretty similar and cost about the same. The real difference comes from speed of delivery and this depends on how far away you live from one of the distribution centers.

Although, I've noticed that Netflix seems to be quicker in receiving the movies I have sent back, which means turnaround for me to receive my next movie is quicker. Blockbuster currently does not allow customers to return movies they rented online in the store, but this is an option they are planning to offer in the future.

However, Blockbuster does offers two free in-store rentals a month, and for you gamers out there this includes the video games available for rental in store too.

Netflix has a wider selection and has unrated versions of films where as Blockbuster does not.

Blockbuster Online
Price: $17.99/month for unlimited rentals
Pros: Free shipping, large selection, easy to use Web site, 2 free in-store rentals a month.
Cons: Sometimes too slow at updating returned movies in your queue

Netflix
Price: $17.99/month for unlimited rentals
Pros: Free Shipping, larger selection, unrated films, easy to use Web site, quick turnaround.
Cons: No additional benefits like Blockbuster's in-store rentals.

Bottomline: Netflix is the winner here, but not by much. I give them an 8 out of 10. I give Blockbuster a 7.5 out of 10. If Blockbuster can speed up their processing, offer unrated films for rental and allow customers to return their rented online movies in-store they would become the clear winner. Netflix has been toying with the idea of allowing rented movies to be downloaded straight to a TiVo. A move that every online movie company will and should follow since on demand entertainment is growing.

Gametap Revisited

I have been playing Gametap on and off for the last two weeks. It's been a lot of fun, and it feels good knowing I'm playing these games via an actual product rather than some emulated ROM that most of the time implants some crazy virus onto my PC.

Many publications seem to agree with my positive view on Gametap. A press release issued last week highlights links to many reviews about their service.

If the reviews aren't enough to convince players to join up, Gametap recently got aggressive with their pricing by offering not only the two week free trial, but a monthly rate of $9.99 for 12 months instead of the usual rate of $14.99.

Now, my advice is stop blowing money on silly holiday gifts for your friends and family and spend some money on yourself. Sign up for Gametap and let me know what you think.

Try putting these balls in your mouth (Updated 12/18/05)

You know, I'm a sucker for new products, new stores, new kinds of foods and well pretty much any new thing that grabs my attention. I love junk food and was in Publix today on my lunch break and was looking for some kind of dessert. While in the deli section my attention towards this bright red-orange sticker that read, "New Try Me."

"OK," I thought. I picked it up and saw a picture of a nice slice of cheesecake on the side. "I like cheesecake." Well, I looked through the clear plastic tub and this was no cheesecake. Inside sat a flattened ball covered with shavings of who-knows-what. Just under the picture of the cheesecake was some text that read,"It's like cheesecake - only better!"

Are they kidding me? Cheesecake? It looks nothing like it. I guess they mean it tastes like cheesecake, well...better than cheesecake. Being the Nutrition Facts junk food junkie that I am, I was curious what this mess of a dessert was made of. The first thing I spotted was the calories, 135 of them. Hey, not bad for a crazy looking dessert like this. Of course there was a catch, this tub of a dessert was for 10 servings. What is that then, 1,350 calories if I was insane enough to eat the whole thing?

By now you must be thinking what this dessert is. It's called a "Dessert Ball," and its sold by Sugar Brook Farms. It's sitting on my desk next to me now, and I was going to eat it, but I decided to write about it instead...I'll probably eat it after I show it to some people first, just so they can absorb the absurdness of this treat for themselves.

I know this post is completely off topic, but the combination of how disgusting the Dessert Ball looks on top of the cheesecake statement on the packaging, the 1,350 calories it packs and the "Looks and tastes homemade, without the fuss" statement, I just had to say something about it. By the way, this definitely doesn't look homemade, nobody in their right mind would make one of these at home. It looks more like a cat chewed up a bunch of food and spit it up like a hairball. As far as tasting homemade, well I haven't tasted it yet, but when I do I'll be sure to add an update to this post here. I think you can order one of these balls online if you do a Google search for "Sugar Brook Dessert Balls."

UPDATE: (12/18/05)

Today was the day I put a spoonful of this so-called dessert into my mouth. And...it wasn't as horrible as it looks. Although, I wouldn't run out of my way to get one of these. As far as the packaging's text that reads, "It's like cheesecake...even better," I think I'll stick with cheescake instead. However, I imagine a scoop of this stuff mixed with ice cream would probably taste pretty good. But, using this as a dessert by itself? No.

Time to dump your cell phone for Wi-Fi?

Vonage, the VoIP phone service provider, has launched a Wi-Fi phone that allows subscribers to make unlimited local and long distance phone calls like they would from a traditional cellular phone. The UTStarcom F1000 is one of the first of many Wi-Fi phones to hit the market. Competing companies such as Verizon and AT&T plan on releasing Wi-Fi phones in the near future.

The good news is that Vonage subscribers are not required to pay anything additional beyond the usual $24.99 monthly charge. The bad news is that this phone will only work if you have access to an open Wi-Fi network. For those of you that aren't too tech savvy, Wi-Fi (short for wireless fidelity) is a wireless area network that allows users access to the internet without hooking up cables to any type of modem or router.

However, besides using the Wi-Fi phone in your home or office, other areas that are Wi-FI accessible such as the airport, libraries, universities, cafes and bars also are places where you might use it. Soon, there will be wireless networks aboard the airlines. This is where the phone will really be handy since cellular phones are banned from aircraft. I can just see the flight attendent now asking someone to stop using their cell phone only to hear a reply that this is not a cell phone it is a Wi-Fi phone.

The bottomline is that this phone will be great for those who have access to Wi-Fi networks, including home users, office users, students and travellers. I suspect that, given the current conditions with Wi-Fi networks and this model phone, it will be a good entry into this type of communications. While the world of Wi-Fi phones is new, the future looks very bright, and you may want to wait a little while before jumping into it.

Now, is it time to dump your cell phone for a Wi-Fi phone? No, but it may be a good additional communication tool to have access to.

Relive your video game youth (for a small subscription fee)

On demand entertainment is popping up everywhere. Now it’s hit the joystick with Time Warner’s Gametap subscription service. The monthly service allows users to choose from more than 300 games that originated on several platforms including, Atari 2600, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, Sega Dreamcast, Sega 32x, Commodore 64, Aracde, Windows, DOS, and Intellivision. A selection of games that are sure to please the nostalgic game player but may turn off today’s generation of video game players.

Although, there are a few somewhat current titles available on the Gametap network such as the Splinter Cell series, most titles come from the decade between 1985 and 1995. If you were one of the few who had a Sega Master System you’ll be happy to find such obscure games like The Ninja and Kenseiden. Other Master System titles include the popular Alex Kidd in Miracle World and the original Phantasy Star. Phantasy Star II and III are available in the Sega Genesis area of the service. One of my favorite games of all time, Gunstar Heroes, is available on the network as well.

However, for those who just enjoy playing games will find everything from Pong to Zork to Pac Man to Burger Time to Space Quest to Sonic to Splinter Cell. Visit Gametap’s game title list to see all the current offerings.

Most of the games on the network have been available to play on your PC, if you were willing to go the illegal route and risk getting a virus on your PC by downloading an emulator from some third world country. But, Gametap will test the market on just how many are willing to pay to play video games on a subscription basis. In the past subscription based services haven’t done so well, but with their current assortment of games and with 700 more titles on the way, they might be able to pull it off. The only downside is the heavy requirements for downloading the Gametap software.

Minimum System Requirements
· GameTap is not supported in Windows 98
· Windows-based PC's more than four years old may experience difficulties
· Apple Macintosh computers are not currently supported (but they're working on it)
· Internet Connection:
· Broadband service: DSL, DSL light, or cable modem (minimum 384k)
· Hardware, Software, and Other Requirements:
o Windows 2000/XP
o Pentium IV or AMD Athlon 800MHz or better
o 256MB RAM
o 5GB available storage (for application)
o Video Card: 3D-capable video card with 32MB VRAM or greater
o DirectX 8.X and OpenGL 1.1

Casual PC users may need to upgrade their graphics card before downloading and using the Gametap portal. I tried testing the software on two computers that were just over a year old and they couldn’t run it.

I recommend at least trying the free two week trial and see if it’s for you. If not, then stick to your emulated ROM’s. At least those are free.

Gadget of the Month - Sirius S50 (But, is it worth it?)

I suppose most would consider me a tech geek, I don’t deny it. I love gadgets. I’ve been touting the XM Roady2 around in my house and car for over a year. It was my introduction into the world of satellite radio. Since then I almost never listen to plain old FM or AM radio anymore.

I thought I would give Sirius a serious look (no pun intended) when it was announced that Howard Stern would be broadcasting his crude, rude, brutally honest radio show on their airwaves. Another reason to make the jump to Sirius was the new portable S50 model. Wait, make that semi-portable since you can’t actually listen to a live Sirius broadcast unless it is plugged into its included car base or optional home base.

I’ve been using the S50 now for a little over two weeks and something about it doesn’t feel quite right. To sum it up, I feel like I have been married a couple weeks to a new, sleek, beautiful looking wife who does everything I thought she would when I signed up to be with her. But there’s something about being thrown into this new marriage that makes it seem…odd. Like something isn’t right. OK, so what the fuck am I talking about? I don’t know, but I will tell you this.

The S50 is worth the price of admission if you are looking for the following:

- A satellite radio
- An MP3 (WMA) player
- Slick looking new gadget to impress your friends, co-workers and classmates with.
- Howard Stern
- Tivo-like functionality on a radio

The S50 is not worth the price of admission if you want:
- A satellite radio, but don’t want to spend $300 for one.
- A portable satellite radio that also plays live virtually everywhere (minus the heavily covered spots like tunnels and shaded areas.)

My favorite feature is hitting the “heart” button every time I hear a favorite song or hear a funny comedy bit that I want to share with my friends. Also, another great feature is the ability to pause and rewind live radio. This was most handy when I received important phone calls and needed to pause a song or program so I don’t miss a beat. I also love transferring my MP3’s to it. The large color LCD screen also is very pretty. When the player isn’t docked it sure is very light, almost as if the battery isn’t inserted and there aren’t any electronic pieces inside and behind its LCD display.

However, the navigation does take some time to get used to. Reading the manual is most helpful if you want to fully understand how to use all of its features.

If you really are interested in Sirius and have the extra money to spend, the S50 is without a doubt the model I would recommend. If not being able to listen to a live broadcast anyplace other than at home, the office or in your car is a problem, then maybe this isn’t for you. Although, with some patience, I am sure Sirius will have an add-on device for the S50 that will allow portable “live” play.

The future of local newspapers

For years the world has said that the next stage for newspapers is delivering their news online. Has this happened? Sort of. But, it hasn't embraced its full potential and now it may be too late.

So what was their problem?

The answer is simple. There have only been traditional newspaper people both on the journalism side and the business side of running a paper trying to create and generate income from online ventures. And for years they have tried too hard to protect the print side because it's all they knew. It's been a known fact for years that newspaper subscriptions and readership have been declining. Instead of putting resources behind finding ways to generate income via online, they wasted time and resources in protecting the print business. They weren't willing to take the risk, a move that may spell their doom.

What should the local newspaper do?

First, stop trying to compete with national and world news sites online. Concentrate on what you do best, which is local coverage. Create online communities where traditional journalists interact with readers, and where readers can even be local journalists. The internet is supposed to be interactive, which means a two or more way street. Let readers have a voice and share their opinons about the news of the day.

Second, stop treating your online versions as just the thing you do to stay trendy. Your print side is failing. Embrace your online publication as your main outlet for news and information. Don't save stories for print and post them online the next day.

The Bottomline

Recognize that newspapers weren't what they were 100 or even 50 years ago. The people of the world today don't view news from the papers as the elite source for news. A news audience of this era no longer want to be passive, they want to be active participants. One thing print media can learn from the traditional ways of running a newspaper, know your audience. For some reason this has slipped their minds when conducting their online business.