- Sunday, January 10th, 2010 at 2:34 am
If you’re a gadget geek like myself, you’ve likely been closely watching all the new product announcements from CES 2010. I decided to compile a short list of my favorites, mostly so I can look back and see how long it actually takes these mind blowing new technologies to make it to retail shelves.
Massive SD Cards
Panasonic announced some new SD cards that will have capacities of 48GB and 64GB, and claims to have 1TB SD cards ready for later this year. That’s just downright crazy. (link)
Not Quite As Massive, But Still Pretty Sweet SD Cards
Eye-Fi has been producing WiFi enabled SD cards for quite some time. However, the latest edition packs 8GB storage, and 802.11n WiFi. They also have a new feature called “Endless Memory,” which deletes files that have been uploaded from the card, so you never have to slow down your shooting to clear it out. (link)
Transparent Laptop Screens
While this product has a fairly limited number of practical uses (think “Minority Report“), It’s a pretty neat idea. When you combine it with other elements in daily life such as windows or counter tops, it starts to make more sense. (link)
Massive LCD Televisions
It seemed as though 52-60″ was some kind of a maximum for LCD TV screens for a short while, and now Vizio has announced a hefty 72″ display complete with WiFi and wirelessHD (which is apparently know as “WiDi” now..). (link)
What were your favorite annoucements from CES this year?
Filed under: news — Tags: 2010, ces, electronics, gadget, news, technology —
- Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 at 4:19 am
MINNEAPOLIS — Twins owner Carl Pohlad, a billionaire financier who became best known after purchasing the Twins in 1984, passed away on Monday at his home in Edina, Minn. He was 93 years old.
The son of a poor family during the Great Depression, Pohlad rose from humble beginnings to head a family-owned network of banking, bottling, real estate and other companies. Forbes magazine wrote in September that Pohlad was worth around $3.6 billion, ranking him No. 102 on the magazine’s list of America’s wealthiest people.
“Carl was the leader of our family as well as the founder and leader of our family businesses,” Pohlad’s three sons, Jim, Bob and Bill Pohlad said in a statement. “We’ve loved and respected him and are enormously proud of his accomplishments. And we will all miss him deeply.”
Funeral arrangements are still pending.
Pohlad purchased the Twins from the team’s original owner, Calvin Griffith, for $38 million in ‘84 and was at the helm during the club’s two World Series championships in 1987 and 1991. At the time he acquired the ballclub, Pohlad was widely credited for saving baseball in Minnesota.
“Since the day Carl Pohlad entered Major League Baseball, he made significant contributions to our game,” Commissioner Bud H. Selig said in a written statement. “He has been a true leader in our sport for the past 25 years. His devotion to the Minnesota Twins, the Twin Cities and Major League Baseball was remarkable.
“In my long career, I have never met a more loyal and caring human being. We will miss Carl and all of baseball joins me in sending our deepest condolences to the Pohlad family for the loss of our friend and partner.”
The third of eight children, Pohlad was born on Aug. 23, 1915, and had a strong work ethic instilled in him while working in the fields near Des Moines, Iowa. After leaving high school, Pohlad went on to win a football scholarship to Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., in 1937 thanks to being recruited by Gonzaga alumnus Bing Crosby. During his football days, Pohlad also made some money by boxing in clubs along the West Coast. Pohlad left school during his senior year because, as he said, he was making too much money in his side job of selling used cars that had been repossessed by banks.
Pohlad then returned home to Iowa to work at Federal Discount Corp., a finance company headed by his sister Helen’s husband, Russell Stotesbery, before being drafted into the Army in 1942. He served in the Army from 1943-46, fighting during World War II in France, Germany, and Austria. He was wounded in battle and was awarded three Bronze Stars and four Purple Hearts during his service.
Pohlad would reunite with his brother-in-law following the war as they took control of Marquette Bank in Minneapolis in 1949. Pohlad gained sole control of it a few years later when his sister’s husband died. The acquisition of the bank was the start of Pohlad establishing himself as one of the most well-known businessmen in the Twin Cities. And he was known to many as a stoic dealmaker who never retired because he loved his work so much.
After returning home from the war, Pohlad also met his wife, Eloise, whom he married in Iowa in 1947. She raised their three sons and became a very influential person during Pohlad’s ownership of the Twins. Eloise is said to have played a role in keeping Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett in Minnesota when he had a chance to be a free agent. And prior to her death in November 2003, Eloise and Carl attended nearly every Twins home game together.
“The Minnesota Twins family is saddened by the death of our owner and strongest supporter, Carl R. Pohlad,” the Twins said in a statement Monday night. “Since purchasing the club in 1984, Carl’s leadership, vision and passion for Twins baseball inspired the franchise to win two World Series championships, two American League pennants and six division titles. That on-field success would never have been possible without the loyalty and support from Mr. Pohlad and his family.
“Off the field, Mr. Pohlad was a true pioneer helping lead Major League Baseball’s effort to create enhanced revenue sharing and competitive balance. But his enduring legacy will be the values he instilled from top to bottom — a commitment to hard work, family, and community. Carl always viewed the Twins as a community institution — worthy of preserving, growing and being something of which we could all be proud.”
Even after Eloise’s passing, Pohlad was still a fixture at the Metrodome until his health started to decline in recent years. A quiet and very private man, Pohlad didn’t spend a lot of time in the Twins’ clubhouse, but the players certainly respected him and how he ran the team.
“I remember one time when he brought a bunch of his banker friends into the clubhouse before a game, which he didn’t do very often,” former Twins first baseman Kent Hrbek said. “These guys are all dressed up in nice suits and I remember Mr. Pohlad coming over sheepishly, almost shy like a 6-year-old kid, to my locker, and he was almost afraid to ask me to come over and say hi to his friends. Here he is the owner, a multi-billionaire, and he was like a little kid asking for an autograph. It was neat to see a guy that loved the team so much and that he was not walking around acting like a big shot because he owned the team. I think he loved baseball more than he loved owning the team.”
Pohlad had other passions as well, including his commitment to philanthropic efforts in the Twin Cities. Over the nearly quarter-century he presided over the Twins, Pohlad and his family donated millions of dollars and devoted countless hours to the community through the Twins Community Fund and the Carl and Eloise Pohlad Family Foundation. He and Eloise also started the Boys and Girls club in Minneapolis. The Twins’ annual award for community service is also named after the owner.
Pohlad came under scrutiny from the fans in 2001 when he offered to sell the team to Major League Baseball for a reported $150 million as part of a contraction plan by the league. It was one of the controversies that the team endured during Pohlad’s tenure, as the franchise struggled for more than a decade to get a new ballpark approved while it also battled to field a winning team during the 90s.
Still, Pohlad kept the franchise and watched as it was revitalized earlier this decade with the Twins winning division titles in four of the past seven seasons. The club also saw its future in Minnesota assured for the near future as it will open its new ballpark, Target Field, in 2010 — a testament to Pohlad’s persistence of keeping baseball alive in the Twin Cities.
It’s that commitment that his sons say they plan to keep as they will continue to run the team that their father loved so much:
“We want to assure everyone that we will continue Dad’s work and his legacy — just as he would have wanted and as he has prepared us to do.”
[Source]
Although I can’t say I always liked or agreed with Pohlad, he did a lot of great things for this city and this franchise. He will be missed.
Filed under: baseball, news, twins — Tags: baseball, death, news, twins —
- Monday, November 17th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
FORT PIERCE, Fla. – Authorities say an 11-year-old boy hit his mother in the head with a saw and then offered her $5 not to call police. The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office reported that the boy and his 41-year-old mother got into an argument Wednesday when she was trying to get him to take his medication.
The boy left and went to another home, where he began hitting a tree with a saw. When the mother finally caught up with the boy, authorities say he hit her in the head with the saw, causing a minor laceration. A sheriff’s report said that’s when the boy began pleading with his mother not to call police and offered her a $5 bill.
The boy is facing an aggravated battery charge.
[Source]
Filed under: funny, news — Tags: article, ftw, funny, news —
- Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 at 4:37 am
A thief with no arms managed to steal a 24-inch TV in Munich, Germany. He had two accomplices who used clamps to fix the TV to his body.
When the staff noticed that the TV was missing from its stand they looked back at CCTV recordings and saw the armless thief walking out of the store with their TV attached to his body.
“It’s hard to believe that the sight of an armless man walking along with a giant TV clamped to his body did not get anyone’s attention,†said a police spokesman.
[Source]
Filed under: funny, news — Tags: article, ftw, funny, news —
- Monday, October 13th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
A few months ago, Electronic Arts released Command & Conquer: Red Alert as freeware. I read about it at the time, but forgot shortly after.
Today at work I was participating in what seems to have become a routine on Mondays with Aikins and we were talking all about classic video games, and I remembered that EA had released C&C:RA as freeware, but I had never downloaded it. Aikins and I had both played it back in the day, so we began to recall our hazy memories of the game.
Just minutes ago he sent me a message demanding me to download it game so we could play online. If you ever played it, or want some good old fashioned fun, you should too. The game is available as two ISO files of ~500mb each (one for each disc), and the site says it is only officially supported on XP, but there is a guide to make it work on Vista as well.
Filed under: news — Tags: aikins, classic, game, pc —
- Friday, September 26th, 2008 at 2:11 am
Today was a good day off. I got some more information regarding some possible changes at work, I sat on the couch ALL DAY, and the Twins SWEPT the White Sox.
I didn’t get to see the beginning of the game because Bill put in 10,000 BC, but as soon as that was over he went to bed and I turned the game on. I had been keeping tabs on the game on the ESPN GameCast, so I was well aware that we had gone from a 1-0 lead in the 3rd, to losing 1-6 in the top of the 4th. I turned the game on right when the comeback started. I watched through the middle innings as both teams were deadlocked, and on into the 10th inning when Gomez’s blooper to center field brought Punto home to win the game, sweep the series, and regain sole possession first place in the American League Central for the first time since August 23rd. Having been in the Metrodome for the final game of the regular season in 2006 against the White Sox, I know what the atmosphere is like inside The Dome in the final innings of a critical game that can make or break a hope for October.
Now it get’s real tricky. We have a three game series at home against Kansas City, and the White Sox host the Indians for three games to end the regular season. However, if the Twins and White Sox are still within 1/2 a game of each other on Sunday, the White Sox have to play a makeup game against the Tigers on Monday. If after that game the Twins and White Sox are tied for first place, they will have to play a one game playoff on Tuesday.
So basically we sweep the Royals and hope that the Indians can take at least one game from Chicago. Today’s win brings the Twins’ magic number down to four. Any combination of four Twins wins or Chicago losses secures the AL Central.
It’s going to be an interesting weekend.
Filed under: baseball, news, twins — Tags: baseball, playoffs, twins, white sox, work —
- Monday, September 15th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Not a whole lot to update on, it was a pretty average weekend. I broke my baby toe on my left foot, everything else was pretty boring..
Two things of note though for today:
1) Minnesota Twins name new stadium “Target Field” – Target Corp. signed an estimated $100M deal with the Minnesota Twins for naming rights in a 25 year deal for the new 40,000 seat stadium.
2) Mitch Hedberg released a new album on September 9th, Do You Believe In Gosh? If you’re a fan, or maybe even if you aren’t, you should listen. I did, twice, and I laughed more than I have in a while. There are a few of his older jokes mixed in, but it’s nearly all new material.
That is all.
Filed under: news — Tags: baseball, comedy, mitch hedberg, news, target, twins —
