It's The Most Wonderfull Time of The Year

Ok, so maybe the title is a little misleading. But if you're a hockey fan you know exactly what I am talking about. It's October 1st. Why is October 1st so important this year? Nothing really, aside from the official start of the NHL regular season. If you're a fan of the NHL this is the day you have been waiting for. If you're a fan of the NHL in the United States and don't have cable or satellite, this is probably the first time you're hearing about this. That's right, I'm going to complain about how little hockey coverage there is in the United States. I'm currently listening to the best local sports station in the Portland Metro (95.5 The Game if you're interested). They're talking about fantasy football, real football, soccer and basketball. I can turn on the regular talk station in Edmonton (630 CHED) and hear more about hockey in 5 minutes then if I listened to The Game all day. Now I'm not blaming The Game. They can only work with what they have. The Portland Metro has no pro hockey (the Portland Winterhawks are pre-draft and let's be honest haven't been that good for quite some times). For that matter the Portland Metro only has one pro team and that's basketball.
But this blog isn't about 95.5 The Game and their lack of hockey coverage. This is much bigger than that. This is about national NHL coverage.

In a previous post I commented extensively (okay, I rambled I know) about how much I disliked a couple of NHL decisions with regarding television coverage in the United States. In Canada the CBC, for all the problems it appears to have, has carried Hockey Night In Canada every Saturday night for longer than my parents have been alive. HNIC is a Canadian staple. Hundreds of thousands of families sit in front of the TV every Saturday night and watch two teams battle it out on live television. In the United States what do you get to watch on network television on Saturday afternoon/night? College football on ABC (at least through January), re-runs or paid programming on CBS and NBC. FOX actually has new shows. Saturday is a dead night for networks in the US, why not put hockey on then. NBC currently has the right to the NHL for over the air broadcast. NBC could easily put one NHL game a week on Saturday night. It makes sense to me and would get me to watch NBC more often, even if I don't like their coverage.

Still I'm a little but frustrated that all the major leagues in North America have decided that a vast majority of their television coverage is not accessible to that common person. The common person doesn't have cable and can't (or shouldn't be able to) afford to pay extra fees to watch games online or via special packages. I think NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is taking the league in a direction that could ruin it. I won't even get in to what happened in Phoenix over the summer (yeah, I need more time to process, there will be a post about it soon). The NHL needs to figure out that it's fans want hockey to be easy to view. More viewers equals more money. Make it easier to see and you'll do better. Keep trying to get it on some channel owned by Comcast (Versus) instead of on major networks and you'll never get ahead. Just my two cents. I would really like to watch hockey tonight. Maybe I'll find someone streaming it online for free....sigh. Thanks for reading, you know how to get a hold of me and comments are moderated but welcomed.

The Digital Switch

Ok, really truly it is coming. The digital switch is here. This Friday, June 12th TV stations all over the United States are turning off their analog channels in favor of digital stations. HOWEVER, there are some stations that are not switching. This is not because they don't want to or don't need to it's because they don't have to. Stations designated LP or low power are currently exempt from the digital switch. They will eventually switch too but not right now. So if you live in an area that is outside of a major city and watch your TV on a translator it may not be changing to digital. I know of at least 1 in my part of the world that will not be switching for now. I believe, and I could be wrong on this, that translators and LP stations have another 2 years to make the switch. So how do you get ready in the last 3 days for the digital switch?
There are several ways. First, buy a digital convertor box. If you live in an area that has digital and analog stations make sure you get a box that allows for analog passthrough as well. Second, you could switch to satelite or cable. Both are essentially immune to the digital switch, as they are either doing the translation for you or you already recieve a digital signal from them. Third, you can get a new digital recording device (like VCR/DVD combo, DVD recorder or even a DVR). This will allow you to recieve digital channels through your VCR or DVD recorder but not through your TV, so if you're watching something different than you're recording you're out of luck. Finally, and the option that I chose and the one I think is the best, get a new TV. New digital LCD TV's range from $200-$4000 depending on what you want and what brand you get. I recommend you go to Consumer Reports and check out their ratings. In addition to a new TV and/or new digital recorder you will likely need a new antenna. The title of this blog links to Antennaweb.org which will tell you what antenna works best for your area and which direction you should point the antenna. As far as TV brands go personally, I'm partial to the big names, Samsung, Panasonic, and Sony. Although I have heard good things about Vizio, Westinghouse and some of the smaller brands. Remember when it comes to LCD TV's only a few companies make the panels it's the extra components and menu's that are different across brands.
In addition to a new TV I got a digital recorder in the form of a DVD recorder so I don't need a convertor box for my VCR (a good thing given how many stations I record from in the same night).

All this to say that you need to get ready for the switch. If you don't on June 12th, your TV will begin displaying nothing but static.

Before I go I'll also give the channel lineup as I know it for the Portland, OR metro. 2.1 KATU-DT, 2.2 THIS, 6.1 KOIN-DT, 8.1 KGW-HD, 8.2 KGW Weather Plus, 10.1 OPB-HD, 10.2 OPB-SD (if you get a convertor box this is the best OPB for you), 10.3 OPB-Create, 10.4 OPB-Radio, 12.1 KPTV-DT, 17.1 KORK-DT (anticipated on June 12th, I'm not recieving this right now it's on analog 35), 22.1 ION-DT, 22.2 Qubo (by NBC), 22.3 Ion-Life, 22.4 Worship, 24.1 TBN-DT, 24.2 TBN-Church, 24.3 TBN-JCTV, 24.4 TBN-Spanish, 24.5 TBN-Kids, 32.1 KRCW-DT, 32.2 US-DT, 49.1 KPDX-DT (on June 12th). If I missed any I'm sorry. One last thing, on Friday when you get a minute no matter what box you have use the menu to re-scan for all channels you recieve. Once you're done you should be all set. Thanks for reading and happy viewing.

Lord Stanley's Mug

Yeah, in case you didn't know, which living in the part of the world I live in you probably don't, the Stanley Cup is on the line in a great final series in the NHL right now. But if you live in the Pacific Northwest (or I'm guessing any place that has a basketball team and nothing else) you probably haven't heard more than a few highlights and scores. Maybe it's because I grew up in Canada, but when there is a major playoff series in hockey, the whole country shuts down for the night to watch the game on the CBC. Now I understand the NBA playoffs are going on right now too, and last night the Penguins vs. Red Wings was competing with the Lakers vs. Magic. But still the NHL finals shouldn't be relegated to being mentioned after baseball. The station I listen to, always starts their reports with basketball, then it's on to baseball, then football even during off season, then maybe if they have time (and only during the playoffs) hockey. Now I understand starting with basketball, I do live just outside of Portland, Oregon, home of the Trailblazers but really relegating the NHL to last spot and only playing 1 highlight. The games 3 and 4 of the series have had a total of 12 goals (8 for Pittsburgh and 4 for Detroit). Surely stations can play more than 1 highlight (and definitely more than the same highlight) during their sports reports.
Sadly, no one in the PNW cares. The official sports order for here is basketball, baseball, football and then maybe hockey or soccer or tennis or...(name obscure sport here). I understand that the closest NHL team is in Vancouver, BC but does that really mean you shouldn't report on a international league that has 30 teams in 28 markets? I don't think so.
Now let me talk about national coverage of the finals. The NHL has for the past few years, in their infinite wisdom, let an obscure sports network known as Versus carry most of the season hockey games. Versus isn't available to most regular cable and satellite subscribers. You have to have a sports package to get the channel (whereas ESPN is usually just included or you only need one add-on not a special package). In February NBC is allowed to carry one game a week on Saturday or Sunday and it is almost exclusively between two US teams and most of the time two bad US teams. They do that till around late April when playoffs start then NBC turns off coverage until the Final series. In the past NBC has carried all the games in the Stanley Cup Finals. But not this year. This is one of the most anticipated Final series since Edmonton/Carolina as far as I'm concerned. It's a re-match of last year's final. This year the NHL (and I'm assuming NBC) in their infinite wisdom decided that only games 1, 2 and 5-7 (if necessary) would be played on NBC. 3 and 4 would be played on Versus. Many of you know how mad I am about all of the shows and sports that keep abandoning network television for cable (and obscure cable for the most part). This one takes the cake for me. In Canada millions of people watch the CBC from the first drop of the puck in the NHL to the end of the final whistle in Final series. Sure there are games on cable/satellite, but the big ones are almost always on CBC.
Lets look at some stats, and I know my numbers are rough. 30 million people live in Canada, if even half of them watch hockey during the finals that's 15 million people watching one network (CBC). In the USA there are 300 million people. If even 10 percent watch a game that's 30 million. Versus and the NHL were very proud of the fact that they got 3 million viewers on Versus during game 3. 3 MILLION PEOPLE!!!?!?!?!!!! Are you kidding me? That's terrible. That's 1 percent of the US population. Does that tell you something Gary Bettman???? Maybe, if you actually tried to sell the sport on a network that a majority of the country can see you would get more viewers. How about putting hockey on the CW or heck MyNetwork TV. Nobody watches original programming on those stations anyways!!!!!!! Then at least you have potential to get more than 3 million viewers in your so called biggest market. Of course it will never happen. This commissioner isn't concerned about anything but money. He's going to sign the contract that pays the league the most and who cares how many fans it screws over. On another note, Detroit won game 1 and 2. That meant that if Pittsburgh did not win 3 and 4 that Versus could have been the network that gave away the cup...an obscure cable channel giving away the oldest trophy in major sports history. Does that seem right to you? It doesn't to me.
Not only am I mad at the NHL for letting NBC dictate what games they will carry, I'm mad about NBC's coverage. The host and play-by-play announcer is a guy named Mike "Doc" Emrick. This guy is an award winning sportscast and I can't stand him. He needs to quit yelling when he talks, and maybe just maybe I would like him a little better. He should also not be the host. IT'S THE NHL FINALS NBC!!!! Do you think you could maybe pay someone to sit in a studio and act as a host? Heck, I'll take Bob Costas, even though he doesn't know a thing about the sport. In Canada, we have had the greatest callers in the NHL. Foster Hewitt, Rod Phillips, Jim Hughson, Bob Cole, Harry Neil, Don Whitman, Dick Irvin and Chris Cuthbert. Those names are famous for what they did in the NHL. I think NBC and the NHL should think about putting one of those names (I realize some of them are no longer with us) on the air instead of the so-called legend they have now. Maybe it's just because I was raised on the voices I just named but there is just something about Don or Bob or Jim calling a goal that Doc just can't do for me. A studio host, like Ron MacLean, would be great too but I'm sure that's to much to ask. Hey NBC how about letting the CBC run your coverage for you. More people would watch and they actually know a thing or two about the sport. Like I said maybe this is just because I was raised on these voices but I'll take a CBC caller over an NBC caller any day. I'm going to watch the final 3 games on NBC but only because I have to (and I can't get CBC in HD at my parents house). If I could get CBC in HD I would be watching it there. When I get CBC in HD I won't watch NBC's hockey coverage again.
Ok, I've ranted and raved long enough, if you agree, disagree, can't believe that I care or think this doesn't make any sense at all go ahead and comment, I'm interested in what everyone thinks. Thanks for reading....
GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Contest Forms! OR How to Keep Data Entry People From Wanting to Hurt You!

The company my wife works for just gave away a house. Well, OK not the whole house, just the shell of a house. It was part of a home show. In order to give away the house they had to get entry forms from people. Hundreds of people. All those entry forms have to then be translated from paper form to digital form. This means hours of work for all the employee's plus me (my wife's boss graciously allowed me to come work for the company for a week). Before I go on let me say that not all people are bad at filling out entry forms. However, there are lots of people who are.

During my time of data entry I entered nearly 1000 forms into the computer. Here are some basic rules that everyone should adhere to when filling out contest entry forms. These rules should apply to every contest in every situation unless the entry is digital to begin with, they are also in no particular order.

Rule #1: PLEASE PRINT! I don't care if there is no sign saying please print. I don't care if you ALWAYS write in cursive and it's the most beautiful cursive on the planet to you. I don't care if you think it's legible. It isn't. Printing is easier to read almost 100% of the time. The only time you should not print is if the form asks for your signature.

Rule #2: Please fill out the form completely. When the form asks for your mailing address, do not assume that people will know that 23rd in Portland is an Avenue and not a street. INCLUDE YOUR ZIP CODE! Even in the days of Google Maps and USPS.com it's a waste of time for the entry person to have to go look it up because you're too lazy to add a little tiny 5 digit number. For that matter when it asks for your mailing address don't just give us a city and state, we want your mailing address for a reason and it's not to spam you with mail or send you all kinds of crazy offers, who can afford to do that. That's what email is for (I'm only kidding).

Rule #3: When filling out your email, print it. This probably goes back to rule number 1 but I think it bears repeating. I lost count of the number of people who used cursive in their email addresses. If I can't read your writing I can't give the company the right address. That means they waste hours clearing out their database after they send out the email thanking you for your interest in the company and contest and it bounces back.

Rule #4: When filling out your email include the stuff the comes after the dot. For example, sharponair@yahoo is not a valid email. There are millions of email systems out there. We don't and can't know whether your particular email ends in .com, .net, .us, .gov, .biz, well you get the idea.

Rule #5: Read the contest rules. This may seem obvious but apparently it's not. The contest I did entry for allowed one entry per person. We had one entrant who filled out 52 forms. First of all that's a waste of your time. Second of all it's a waste of ours when we have to sort out your name because it's already been entered 20 times. Third you're seen as an idiot because you thought you would get away with breaking the rules.

Rule #6: Sign the form. When there is a legal disclaimer on the form that asks you to affirm, with your signature, that you have read the rules of the contest, sign it. If you don't your entry won't count, but we'll still enter your information into the computer.

Rule #7: When filling out your name please include your name, not your initials, unless you use your initials as your name. Saying your name is J Somebody, when it's really Jeff Somebody is just plain annoying, especially when you sign the form and we can see that you sign the form using your real name.

Rule #8: When the contest says one entry per person don't try to fill the form out for someone else. This rule applies mostly to husbands and wives who fill out forms for each other. The contest is one per person, and it requires an authenticating signature. One entrant filled out two forms one for herself and one for her husband. Hers is legitimate, it has her signature and her name. His would not be legitimate especially because when she filled out his form she initially signed her name, then scratched it out and "signed" his. One entry per person means that if the other person isn't there they can't enter and you can't enter for them.

Rule #9 When asked for you age include it. "Old enough", 21+, 55+, "older than you", 18+, leaving the line blank, putting "0", and "very old" do not count as ages. If you read the rules you know that you have to be a certain age to win. Include it. We don't really care how old you are vs. how old you feel, it's a legal matter. Don't lie about your age either, if you're 55 and you put 18+ that's just wrong and in most cases would probably get rejected. It's a demographic thing too. We just want to know how old people are who filled out the forms and how many fit into target demographics for the company. We're not going to try to embarrass you, if you don't want to reveal your age don't enter the contest. Believe me, this company was generous in it's policies. As long as you said 18+ we let it slide. I've done other data entry stuff where you wouldn't have been so luck.

Rule #10: If you're underage don't fill out the form. We had at least one 4 year old fill out the form. Parents stop your little ones from doing this. It wastes time and paper.

Rule #11: Filling the form out for your dog or as a joke is not funny. It wastes more time and just makes those of us having to enter the data angry.

Rule #12: Don't include comments in the form. We know that the form may not include everything in your specific situation. We don't need to know that. We also don't need to know how much you want to win. Everyone wants to win, please don't tell us. Also we're glad you own one of the homes we built but we really don't need you to tell us on the form.

Rule #13 PLEASE PRINT! I know I said this already. It's called stressing the point.

If you follow all of these rules all of the time I guarantee you will make data entry people very, very happy because they will be able to enter your information quickly and move on to the thousands of other forms they have to enter. They might even smile when they get yours because it is so easy to enter into the computer. The rules aren't hard, they just need to be followed.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and for following the rules in the future. If you have questions or comments, my contact info is on the right.

That Feeling!

Do you ever get "that feeling?" You know the one that where you had something you were going to do and now you can't remember what it was. I've been getting that feeling a lot. I'm sitting at home watching TV, reading through email and general messing around on my computer. I suddenly get an idea to do something on my computer. Now I don't go do it right away. I wait a second because I need to move or finish watching a segment or something like that. Then when I do want to actually look up whatever it was I've completely forgotten. I suppose most people would insert funny jokes here about how I'm old and how I'm constantly having senior moments but I don't think that's it. Maybe I'll figure it out soon. Either way I think writing this has actually jogged my memory. Maybe I should write a little more often. Oh, I promise something in the way of podcast will come soon. And I do promise more written blogs in the near future. I have a little more time than I have in the past year.

Digital TV here we come...and there it goes?

First, let me say I love my new TV. I scored a great deal on a Sony 40" LCD TV. It has great reception thanks to a digital antenna. But I think we might have a problem. With the official digital switch coming in less than a month, I have an issue tonight.
I get my TV signal from regular broadcast, meaning through and antenna over the air. In the Portland metro right now there is a heavy wind storm. It seems to be causing some problems. Some of the "smaller" stations in town are showing their usual signal on my signal meter but there is no picture or sound. It's almost like the transmitter has been turned off. While I wouldn't normally have a problem with this, it's a bit of a problem given that I have completely made the switch to digital. My DVD-Recorder only sees digital channels and my TV only sees has 2 channels that aren't digital programed in. In addition I can barely receive the old analog channels. So I love my new TV, I love the new HD signals, but I think there might be some bugs that need to get worked out before we go "live" across the country. The again maybe some of the transmitters have been turned off intentionally to fix some stuff. Only time will tell, but if they keep them off for much longer I think there might be a few people who have made the switch (like me) who will not be happy...of course if I had satellite or cable this wouldn't be a problem.
While I put this in a previous post I'll attach it here as well. If you have not gotten ready for the digital switch time is running out. All high powered analog stations must switch to digital only broadcasting on February 17, 2009. (If your local analog station has a LP in it's official call letters the switch does not affect you). For more info head to dtvanswer.com. You also may want to check out AntennaWeb.org. If you live in or around Portland, OR here are the digital channels I receive: 2.1 (KATU-HD), 2.2 (KATU-SD), 6.1 (KOIN-HD), 8.1 (KGW-HD), 8.2 (NBC Weather Plus), 10.1 (OPB-HD), 10.2 (OBP-SD), 10.3 (OPBPlus), 10.4 (OPB Radio), 12.1 (KPTV-HD), 22.1 (ION-HD), 22.2 (qubo), 22.3 (ION-Life), 22.4 (Worship), 24.1 (TBN), 24.2 (TBN-Church Channel), 24.3 (TBM-JCTV), 24.4 (TBN-Spanish), 24.5 (TBN-Kids), 32.1 (CW-DT), 49.1 (KPDX-DT). Of those channels, thise evening all of 24 and 32 were not working. According to my sources 49.1 is off the air until the switch as engineers get things ready. As of the time I finished this post only 32.1 is still not showing a picture or sound on it's digital channel. If you have questions about any of this please feel free to email me (the link is on the right) or comment ot send me a message on facebook, myspace or twitter. Thank you!

Facebook Quandry

So here's the question. I got married over 18 months ago. 17 and a half months ago I posted wedding and honeymoon pictures to my facebook page. However, I posted very few of them (about 10 in each category). Now my question is, should I post more? Do people care? Is it bad form to have waited so long to post more pictures? I guess I'm interested in the digital etiqute for Facebook/MySpace. I don't really have a problem posting them but I think other people might think it's weird. Let me know what you think.

One of These Days Revisited

So, every once in a while I go though my blog and re-read my old musings and posts...I should probably delete a few of them but that's another topic. This time I'm looking at a post I made not that long ago. One Of These Days was a kind of list that was inspired by a song from 1999. I was frustrated that day about the fact that I felt like I was always having to say "one of these days" when it came to being able to get something I wanted. There is also frustration in the fact that most of the time I probably don't "need" the things I want. Let me just say advertising works, especially when it's advertising by your friends. Why do I want an iPhone? First, because I think they're cool and second a lot of my friends have them. Why do I want cable? I'm tired of feeling like I'm missing out of sports because every league on the planet thinks that everyone who watches them has cable. I could go on but I won't. I will say I did make a one of these day list items a today item. We upgraded our TV, so we are officially ready for the switch to digital. I guess I can check that off the list. Now for the more important things like, oh I don't know writing a personal statement maybe. "one of these days..."

Personal Statement

Many of you who know me, know that I have been working on getting applications ready for Law school. Since I took the LSAT in February, I have been attempting to write my "personal statement." This of it as an entrance essay for Law school. All the advice I get from people keeps telling me to "just write it," or "get it done." The problem is no one will tell me what to write or how to get it done. Now some schools require that your personal statement answer a specific question. Most schools, however, do not. I have chosen to apply to a school that does not. I have not question to answer and therefore I have little to no way of "focusing" the paper. If anyone has any advice for me on how they got their statement done it would be of great help. I am trying to finish mine by the end of the month (November 2008). Thanks...Oh, and I will post other stuff soon, I promise.

It's Finally Here!

I have good news if you have service from Netflix. Since they began their Instant Watch service it has only been available for a PC. That changes NOW! Well ok, not now but really soon (by the end of the year for sure). Netflix has decided to change it's online video player. I'm not sure what program they are using right now but they are changing it to Microsoft Silverlight. If you're not familiar with Silverlight, it's a pretty neat web based video player. It made it's first major debut on NBCOlymics.com during the 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing. It has been growing in popularity ever since. But why is this such a big deal? Well it meas that if you are reading this blog on a Intel-based Mac computer (pretty much any machine that has been purchased in the past 2+ years) you will soon be able to watch Netflix Instant Watch service. Yes, you did read that right. Netflix Instant Watch is finally going to be accessible to Mac users (this is going to make my wife very happy)! Instant watch streams are also available on the Netflix created box the Roku. If you have the LG BD300 Blu-ray player and the Samsung BD-P2550 and BD-P2500 Blu-ray players you can view instant watch content there as well. Also coming very soon Xbox 360 will have streaming instant watch on it too. The full press release of all of this information is available here. Mac users prepare to WATCH!