The Best of 2009... Boise State Football

Almost a month since the great victory in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl by the Boise State Broncos. I wanted to share the highlight reel from the past season. Here's to another great season in less than eight months!
Go Broncos!

What is speed...

What is speed? What is my concept of fast? It all depends on what I am talking about. This time I am talking about my browser. It is probably the most used application on my (or any) computer. For years I have used Firefox and I still like it. Recently the computer I use most (my work PC) was upgraded to Windows 7 (64-bit). I really like it. 64- bit uses all 4 GB of RAM that are installed on this PC and it works really well (for a Windows PC, it's still no Mac). Ever since upgrading though, Firefox has had some issues. It can be slow to respond, videos are very choppy. IT's just not what I have been used to. 
I have a few different browsers on my PC for various reasons so I thought I would give another one a shot as being my "Default" browser. I tried Safari; I like it. But Safari likes to open links in new windows and I would really like them to open in a new tab... So Safari just doesn't cut it. Internet Explorer is just bulky and slow. If I didn't have to use it for work I might not use it at all. Then there is Chrome. Chrome is the browser from Google.  All the other Google stuff I use; I like. Gmail, Web Search, Google Voice, Google Reader, so I thought I would give Chrome a shot as my default. I already know that it handles videos great, not choppy like Firefox has been. 
So right now Chrome is my default browser. Who knows how long that will last. A day, a week, two hours? But for now it is what I'm using. 
More info on Chrome is available here:http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/features.html
Here is an informational video about Chrome (Facebook users view the original post by clicking the link below)

The Captain has spoken...

The Captain has spoken. The man that a majority of our people deemed MOST CORRECT to lead us, has given his view of what has happened on this ship and how to proceed on the correct course. You may not agree with the captain. You may have hoped that another was our captain. That is not the reality. Could've, should've, would've... What is important that we have a captain on our ship. He is our captain, whether you chose him or not he is YOUR captain. By the simple act of being the CAPTAIN he deserves ALL our respect.

Last night was the State of the Union Address. It was President Obama's first. Whether or not you like or approve him. He is the President of The United States of America. The peacefully elected President should be given the chance to lead. Constant fighting between people and parties only makes it more difficult to really help people; OUR PEOPLE. AMERICANS.

Just like you can't complain about the elected officials if you don't vote- you can't complain about what was said in the State of the Union, unless YOU listened/ watched it. Sound bites from talking heads on TV news or talk radio does not absolve a person from actually reading/ listening to the address themselves. Media whores from both sides will take snips of what they like an dislike and use it to prove their point. Take the time to learn for yourself. Do your own homework, we demand that of our kids. Listen with an open mind, just like you would want to be listened to without prejudice.

You can watch it below. Then entire speech, not just a snippet!

What a way to sign off!

Friday night was Conan's last "Tonight Show". Whether or not you were a fan or watched the recent situation with Conan and NBC, he was very insightful and gracious on his last night. He took a few minutes to make a serious statement to those watching. I'll post the videos in it's entirety after this. The statement that meant the most to me was the following: "if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen".

I'll miss you Conan. See you in September!

Here is the text of the statement.

Source:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/22/conan-obriens-heartfelt-f_n_433954.html

"Before we end this rodeo, a few things need to be said. There has been a lot of speculation in the press about what I legally can and can't say about NBC. To set the record straight, tonight I am allowed to say anything I want. And what I want to say is this: between my time at Saturday Night Live, The Late Night Show, and my brief run here on The Tonight Show, I have worked with NBC for over twenty years. Yes, we have our differences right now and yes, we're going to go our separate ways. But this company has been my home for most of my adult life. I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible.
Walking away from The Tonight Show is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Making this choice has been enormously difficult. This is the best job in the world, I absolutely love doing it, and I have the best staff and crew in the history of the medium. But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment. Every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and, for seven months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second. I've had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-11 parking lot, we'll find a way to make it fun.
And finally, I have to say something to our fans. The massive outpouring of support and passion from so many people has been overwhelming. The rallies, the signs, all the goofy, outrageous creativity on the internet, and the fact that people have traveled long distances and camped out all night in the pouring rain to be in our audience, made a sad situation joyous and inspirational.
To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I'll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism -- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere.
Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."

An opinion on the Tonight Show Battle

Much has been said on the Tonight Show battle. Today news about how it would all play out was released. Talking to a friend today this situation reminds me of how actors were slaves to the studio system, like Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. Leno and O'Brien are by contract, slaves to NBC. At least Conan gets to leave. Leno has to stay and try to bring his show back after losing all his viewers.

Conan will be alright. He has built up a fan base that will follow him. NBC gets to try to figure out what to do next.

Go Team Conan!

Dont' you know... Have been on a deserted island? Or a LOST one!

Hard to believe that 2010 is here. The last season of LOST will start soon. If you haven't watched LOST before, you still have time. ABC and HULU are streaming ALL episodes for those who want to get completely caught up before season 6 begins. You might as well watch. You are going to hear so much about it before February 02, 2010 and after as the final season progresses. You'll hear about it at work from your coworkers or spouse. So here are a couple of clips to wet your whistle...



Have you seen this on the side of the blog?---> 
LOST is what it's all about!

Where does it go? Oh yeah, it goes by!

The new year is here and zoom it goes. So much to talk about. Time is a scarce resource. Just got to write.

Monday- Had a fun time with #1 daughter and my father at the Boise State Men's Basketball game. I go the call earlier that day that there were tickets so we went. It was fun. #1 son and I went to a Boise State football game in November so it was time to take out my girl. She was very excited to go. I can't say that the game was too thrilling for her. Especially since Boise State lost. She did enjoy the half time entertainment, though. The Summerwind Skippers performed. They are a jump rope team from Boise. She really enjoyed that.

She also liked that her dad gave in and we got popcorn. We decided to get our snack during the second half. When we went to the concession stand on our level they were closed. The person at the counter told us that there were booths open on the lower levels. So we dashed downstairs hoping to make it before another booth closed. The first concession stand we came to...closed. But lucky for us there was another just a round the corner. So we took our popcorn back up and shared it with grandpa. A fun time had by all; except the Boise State players (since they lost).

Tweet... Tweet

Yesterday I posted about the Idaho Press-Tribune involving local twitter users to enhance their Boise State Fiesta Bowl coverage. Last night when I was watching the Orange Bowl (more about that below) I received a message on twitter from Vickie Holbrook, the Managing Editor of the Idaho Press-Tribune. She asked my name so that she could reference it in a blog post. I appreciated that. That is what social media can do. It can change the way that we interact with content providers. Not only in promotions or contests, but by enhancing the development of the content that we ourselves consume. For some people that is too much and I get that. But the Fiesta Bowl experience was better for me because of the tweeters. Here are some that I follow and that were active in the tweeting of the fiesta bowl.

obnug                     jebputzier88

sarahk47               ShannonMorgan

murphsturph          ArbiterGamble

ranitabang             ajoyw

krisleemoss          DonLDay

tweetmcg              wendiegoneferal

VickieHolbrook    agboise

BoiseStateAlum   JeffCaves

BroncoSports       edgarlinaresTV

The Orange bowl was ok. The best part was when Iowa tried a fake field goal. Looked like a play out of the Bronco playbook, except without the precise execution that Boise State excels with.

Broncos FB Coverage....

There is a lot of Fiesta Bowl coverage coming our today (as expected).

Here's a few that I found...

OBNUG Top 10 game-changing moments

Fiesta Bowl Thoughts

Davids Dully Display Goliath-Like Form

news.boisestate.edu

Local Newspaper Covers

Broncos Win!

If you don't pay attention to college football or you live under a rock, you may not know; Boise State Broncos won the 2010 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl! It was definitely a defensive struggle. TCU fought a good battle. Boise State did what they needed to to they capitalized on TCU mistakes and played without making mistakes of their own. The Broncos will finish the season as one of two unbeaten teams in the nation. Going 14-0 is something that only one other team has done and that was Ohio State in the early 2000's. Not bad company to be in.

As I watched the game last night I used my new toy from Tammy (my iPhone) to keep up with all the chatter. It was fun to see the tweets related to each play and officiating call. One of the tweets came from Idaho Press Tribune editor Vickie Holbrook, looking for ideas for the following mornings headline. 

In my Twitter feed I posted the following:

   

Here is the Idaho Press-Tribune for Tues Jan 5, 2010

Gotta say that I am proud of that.

Go Broncos!

Best of the Decade

Boise State is off to the Fiesta Bowl again. This time to face another undefeated, TCU. It will surely be a great game. This time it's different. Last season Boise State lost to TCU in the Poinsettia Bowl. Boise State does not want that to happen again. But before we can move on to 2010 we need to look at the past decade.


Here is a clip from ESPN about some of the best moments from the past decade.