NFL Week 1 Thoughts and Predictions

September 3, 2008 – 10:26 pm

Finally, The NFL regular season is here, and I couldn’t be more excited. I hate the preseason, and wish it was cut down to a maximum of 2 games (especially since a preseason ticket is typically the same price as a regular season ticket).

I will post my predictions each week (typically before noon) on Tuesday. This week I am late, since we just got back from vacation (post and pics later).

So, without further ado, here they are. Week One’s picks:

Washington at New York Giants

Before the injury to Osi Umenyiora, I would have picked the Giants to win this one with out a hesitation, but with Umenyiora gone, and Strahan staying retired, I think the Giants D will be a bit porous, giving the Redskins the opportunity to put an end to the pre-game celebration by half time.

Washington Wins
Detroit at Atlanta

While I don’t know that the Lions will win 10 games this year, I do think that they will win this game, giving them their first of the season, and Matt Ryan the first loss of his career.

Detroit Wins
Cincinnati at Baltimore

Another rookie QB gets the nod this week, this time in Baltimore, but I expect Cincy to take this one.

Cincinnati Wins
Seattle at Buffalo

Oops, forgot this game, and my guess is that unless you are a fan of either of these two teams, by next week, you will have forgotten about it as well.

Seattle Wins
New York Jets at Miami

Favre vs Pennington, Round 1 - This round will go to Favre, but once Miami starts to gel, I think round 2 could be sweet revenge for Chad Pennington.

Jets Win
Kansas City at New England

Brody Croyle may set a record this season. Unfortunately for him, it will likely be “Most Sacks in One Season”. KC’s O-line has more holes than a fishing net, and that may spell disaster for Croyle (and Larry Johnson).

New England Wins
Tampa Bay at New Orleans

The Saints WILL play in New Orleans, so this one should be an emotion filled game, with NO coming out on top.
I personally think that the NFL should buy any unsold tickets and give them away to New Orleans residents, just as a show of good will.

Saints Win
St Louis at Philadelphia

While the Rams did make some moves to fill the holes from last year, I don’t think that we will start to see the effects immediately.

Philly Wins
Houston at Pittsburgh

Houston will be a playoff contender this season. That said, they won’t win this one, but they will put up a good fight.

Pittsburgh Wins
Jacksonville at Tennessee

I have read a lot lately bashing Vince Young, mainly calling him a bust. Honestly, he is far from it! He is a good QB, but he doesn’t have any solid WR’s/TE’s to throw to. In the AFC South, the toughest division in the NFL, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the 4th place team end up 9-7.

Jags Win
Dallas at Cleveland

The fate of each team hinges on their respective QB’s, with Dallas making the playoffs and making quick exits the past 2 seasons, Romo needs to step up, and prove he isn’t a product of a great system. Derek Anderson on the other hand, has Brady Quinn breathing down his neck, just waiting for a chance to get in the game, but Anderson has proven that he has what it takes to keep Quinn on the bench… at least for now.

UPSET OF THE WEEK!
Cleveland Wins
Carolina at San Diego

Shawne Merriman could be one of the greatest linebackers ever, but his career could be cut short if he hurts his knees (seeing as how he is refusing to have surgery). I don’t see Carolina putting up much offensively without Steve Smith, who is serving a suspension for punching Ken Lucas.

Chargers Win
Arizona at San Francisco

Last season I picked both of these teams to be playoff contenders, and got doubly burned, but not this year. Arizona could make a run, but SF has a lot of work to do in order to be considered contenders.

Arizona Wins
Chicago at Indianapolis

Even though this is a rematch of Super Bowl XLI, Manning and Co should win this one pretty easily.

Indy Wins
Minnesota at Green Bay

In Aaron Rodgers first start I expect to hear a few “Boo”s, and a few chants concerning Brett Favre, but I think Minnesota has the edge over the Favre-less Pack.

Minnesota Wins
Denver at Oakland

I’m not sold on either team, but my gut tells me to go with Oakland… so…

Oakland Wins

There you have it… Week One starts tomorrow (tonight if you are on the East Coast). What do you think? Am I way off base with a pick (or two)? Let me know, by commenting below!

By Chris | Posted in 2008 NFL Predictions | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Is Saskatoon the next tech mecca?

July 12, 2008 – 8:03 pm

When I moved to Saskatoon in 2004, I was newly married, and just starting to embrace my inner geek. Since I couldn’t legally work anywhere but the church I was serving at part time, I had a lot of free time on my hands, and decided to do something productive once my lessons were done. Because our church website was terrible, I volunteered to redo it, and I did. It wasn’t great, and is no longer active, but I did it, and I was hooked! Shortly thereafter, I really started focusing on learning as much as I could, and my geekiness grew exponentially from that day forward.

That said, I didn’t know anyone else in the city, and new nothing of the tech industry in Saskatoon. I never thought much of it until I got my work permit and started looking for a job, and tried loking for a job with a design firm, or at least in the creative industry. That is when I found zu.com, I applied there, but didn’t hear back from them, and looking back I’m not that surprised, I was new to the industry, and my work wasn’t that great. But, eventually they were advertising for more positions, and I did get an interview, I didn’t get the job, but I learned A LOT about several tech companies in town, and have since joined the staff at Point2. I can’t go into any detail, but there are some pretty amazing things coming in the future at Point2! That said, if the other tech companies have plans as big as we do at Point2, Saskatoon will get a lot of attention in the coming months.

Since starting at Point2, I have learned of quite a few tech companies either based in Saskatoon, or with offices in Saskatoon. The more I learn, the more it seems like the tech sector in Saskatoon is growing, and with companies like zu.com and Point2 leading the way, things are really looking good for more and more technical innovations to come out of Saskatoon!

ALSO - BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from participants.

By Chris | Posted in Saskatoon | Tagged , , , , | Comments (4)

Dropbox Review, and Invite Offer

July 7, 2008 – 10:26 am

Dropbox LogoDropbox is a new online back-up and syncing application that has created a lot of buzz recently, with people clamoring to get a beta invitation. Luckily, I got my beta invitation yesterday, and was pleasantly surprised. OK, so i was shocked, because this was my first beta invite for a service that was getting so much buzz.

I activated everything last night, and updated my work PC this morning, and have been pleased with the ease of use and the speed of the service.

Dropbox requires a small download on each computer that you will be syncing, and then all you have to do is click the icon and drag the files you want to share/sync into the Dropbox folder, and voila, you are done.  The file is then available to you on your synced machines, or publicly, if you add it to a publicly shared folder.

So far, I haven’t reached a snag, or drawback to the service, and if I do, I will be sure to post about it!

Sorry, I am out of invitations, but will offer any more that I get! With all of that said, I do have TEN FIVE THREE invitations to join Dropbox, and anyone who wants one is welcome to them. Just post a reply to this message stating that you want one, and I will pass them along to you.  I am also open to trading for other beta invites, but that is in no way a requirement for getting your Dropbox invite from me!

Dropbox

By Chris | Posted in Dropbox | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (38)

Link: SEO Tidbits

July 4, 2008 – 1:27 pm

I recently wrote an article on Search Engine Optimization for our monthly newsletter, “The Point.” It was published today, and I am quite proud since it is my first published article.  It isn’t anything too complicated, and is meant as a beginners guide to SEO for real estate agents, but is aplicable to anyone looking to optimize their site to be indexed by search engines.

The Point Online

By Chris | Posted in Point2, SEO | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

2008 NFL Pre-Preseason Predictions

June 13, 2008 – 8:39 pm

Last year, I wanted to post my preseason predictions at least twice before the season, but the way I did it was so time consuming that I only got to do it once, so this year, I am changing it up a bit, and will be able to post at least 2 rounds of predictions. So without further ado…

Here they are!!

AFC

North

East
Cleveland 11-5 New England 14-2
Pittsburgh 10-6 Buffalo 8-8
Baltimore 6-10 NY Jets 7-9
Cincinnati 5-11 Miami 3-13

South

West
Jacksonville 12-4 San Diego 12-4
Indianapolis 11-5 Denver 7-9
Tennessee 10-6 Kansas City 6-10
Houston 10-6 Oakland 4-12

NFC

North

East
Green Bay 8-8 Dallas 12-4
Detroit 7-9 NY Giants 10-6
Chicago 5-11 Washington 10-6
Minnesota 5-11 Philadelphia 9-7

South

West
New Orleans 13-3 Seattle 10-6
Carolina 10-6 Arizona 9-7
Tampa Bay 9-7 St. Louis 7-9
Atlanta 5-11 San Francisco 6-10
By Chris | Posted in 2008 NFL Preseason, NFL | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Blog Redesigned

June 8, 2008 – 1:10 pm

As you can see, I have finished the redesign of my blog, so it now matches my website.

If you find any bugs, please let me know (email me using the form below, and be specific)!

By Chris | Posted in Site Update | Tagged | Comments (0)

Site Redesign

June 7, 2008 – 10:20 pm

If you haven’t noticed, I redesign this website/blog quite often.  Normally, it is because I find something about the design that irritates me, and rather than fixing it, I start over.  That said, over the past few days I have been working on a redesign for my portfolio, and will, at some point this week, begin redesigning my blog.

The great thing about me redesigning the blog is that I will offer the current theme for download, once it is finished.  I haven’t offered my older themes in the past because I typically forget to save the PSD’s necessary to offer a theme.

So, if you are interested in downloading my current theme, keep your eyes peeled, and it should be available some time this month (hopefully :D ).

By Chris | Posted in Site Update | Tagged | Comments (0)

Barack Obama clinches the Democratic Nomination

June 4, 2008 – 10:29 am

After a hard fought battle with a worthy opponent in Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama has earned enough delegates to clinch the Democratic Nomination for the Presidency of the United States.  You can watch his acceptance speech below.

By Chris | Posted in Politics | Tagged , , , , | Comments (2)

Firefox 3 Download Day 2008

May 28, 2008 – 7:42 pm

Download DayFirefox 3 will be out soon, and the Firefox team wants to set a Guinness World Record for most downloads in a 24 hour period.  In order to do this, they have a pledge map on the Spread Firefox page in order to track the people who have already pledged to download Firefox 3 on Download Day.

Download Day hasn’t been announced yet (Release Candidate 1 was just released a week or so ago), but the date will be announced via the link above, so keep an eye out and download Firefox 3.

All of that said, why should you download Firefox 3?  It is safer, and faster than other browsers.  It is also customizable.  With thousands of extensions, you are sure to find something to make Firefox your own, while making it easier to use, or even more productive!

So what are you waiting for!  Go pledge, and on Download Day tell EVERYONE to download the greatest web browser around!

By Chris | Posted in Firefox | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Canada wants to check your iPods when you come for a visit

May 28, 2008 – 2:05 pm

In a recent article on canada.com, the Canadian government has announced that they are working on a law that will allow them to check your MP3 players for illegal material.  To me, this is ignorant, do they know how long people are going to have to wait in line for the guards to check a 80GB iPod?  And, apparently, the guards will have the final say on what is copyright infringement, and what is not.

The leaked ACTA document states officials should be given the “authority to take action against infringers (i.e., authority to act without complaint by rights holders).”

Anyone found with infringing content in their possession would be open to a fine.

They may also have their device confiscated or destroyed, according to the four-page document.

The trade agreement includes “civil enforcement” measures which give security personnel the “authority to order ex parte searches” (without a lawyer present) “and other preliminary measures”.

To me, this is going a bit to far.  I am all for paying for music, and fighting piracy (ARGHHH!), but this is too much.

What do you think?

By Chris | Posted in WTF | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)