Not my practice blog, by Scott Knaster

Hockey news and blogging

Even in the best of times, the National Hockey League doesn't generate much news compared to other sports. Now the NHL is mired in a bitter labor dispute that has cancelled all games so far this season, and for hockey fans, it's the worst of times, as hockey has completely dropped off the radar. An interesting little side drama is playing out in the Hockey Rumors blog. This site offers fascinating inside info, hot rumors, and optimism that's missing from more conventional media outlets.

The purveyor of the site claims he is "a hockey freelance writer for 15 years, and have been published in The Hockey News, NHL.com, and several other trades. I've worked in two different NHL team offices and for the NHL itself." But is he really what he claims to be? The readers of the site aren't sure, and they battle it out in the comments. The blogger, who calls himself Eklund, has been almost relentlessly positive in the rumors he unearths, reporting on secret meetings and frequently predicting that the lockout is about to end while most other media stays with the gloom-and-doom theme. But so far, the lockout drags on, and the NHL must start an abbreviated season soon, or become the first North American pro sport to lose an entire season to a labor fight.

In other, more positive news about hockey, Angela Ruggiero greatly advanced the cause of women in sports by becoming the first woman skater (that is, non-goalie) to truly take part in a "men's" professional hockey game. The article contains a nifty summary of women in pro hockey, a history that includes the names of several pioneers and keeps getting longer.

Attention Bay Area geeks

Windows on Wheels is a big bus filled with technology like Windows Media Center stuff, Tablet PCs, and music players -- no iPods, I'm guessing ;-) . The bus is in San Bruno today and Santa Clara tomorrow. Sounds like a geeky good time.

For you SoCal geeks, you can see on the schedule that your time will come in the following two weeks.

The last Jew in Afghanistan

You might remember a story a couple of years ago about the only two Jews known to live in Afghanistan -- most Afghan Jews fled when the Taliban were in control. These last two lived in a synagogue in Kabul, but they didn't get along and were constantly feuding. Now there's only one left.

Google Video Search

The beta version of Google Video Search is now live. This cool service searches closed caption transcripts of recent TV shows, then shows you still images along with any matches it finds. Lots of reviewers are underwhelmed, but in comparing Google Video Search with its competitors, I think they're missing the trademark Google simplicity and ease-of-use. It's true that Google really needs to add live video to the search results, but it's already very useful.

About that video

It's cool that folks around the world are enjoying the Mac intro video. Where did it come from? The intro took place at the 1984 Apple shareholders' meeting, which was re-broadcast on public TV shortly after it happened. The re-broadcast was required because the meeting was full, so some shareholders couldn't get in, a potentially prickly legal situation. When the meeting was broadcast, I taped it on my home Betamax machine. It never occurred to me that it was so rare, or I would have tried to get it digitized years ago.

Last year, when Andy Hertzfeld started his Folklore project, I told him about the tape, and he watched it to enhance his recollections for the introduction day story.

In the comments for the story, somebody asked for a digital copy. I said I didn't know of one, but that I would happy to lend the tape to anyone who could digitize it. Several people offered, but were ultimately scared off by the prospect of converting and cleaning up a 20-year-old Betamax tape. Then I heard from majo, who proceeded undaunted, sacrificing his time and servers, and now here we are. He's working on the rest of the tape now, and more clips and eventually the whole tape are forthcoming.

So, if you live long enough, you too can get worldwide publicity for never throwing anything away. ;-)

Happy birthday, Macintosh

The Mac is 21 years old today -- old enough to drink in California. And it never looked better.

One more thing...our friend majo has a little birthday present for Mac lovers everywhere. ;-)

UPDATE: The original link is overloaded. Check here for mirrors.

UPDATE 2: Now that U.S. folks are starting to hit the sites, the project could really use some U.S. mirrors and torrents. Please add a comment here if you can help. Thanks.

UPDATE 3: Thanks to everyone around the world for the overwhelming response in helping mirror and torrent this video. For an up-to-date list, please see the comments below or go to majo's site.

Johnny Carson, 1925-2005

I'll let Andy Ihnatko speak for me:

With Carson's passing, an entire generation of young adults have suddenly become Old. There's an entire generation behind us that never saw "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." We will try — with embarrassing and dithering enthusiasm — to explain to them what it was like and we'll fail. Completely. No doubt part of that's because our childhoods are so deeply infused with memories of Carson and his show. The first time my parents and I were in the same room laughing at the same thing, we were watching The Tonight Show. That's some powerful mojo, and it's a memory shared by nearly everybody born before 1980.

Stolen from here.

Back to school

A 21-year-old man says he lived at his old high school for three weeks because he had nowhere else to go. He attended classes during the day, slept in the theater at night, and showered in the locker room. Eventually he was arrested for trespassing.

The schools is reviewing its security procedures.

Decisions

Today's gem is from the fine folks at Engrish.com:

Effective advertising

Last month my book Hacking iPod + iTunes was advertised on one of my favorite web sites, Boing Boing. Check it out:

There I am, right alongside Andy Hertzfeld's Revolution in the Valley, Blowfish sex toys, and Suicide Girls alternative porn. The internet is a wacky place.