Once again, I'm late with my review, but here it is anyway.

Carolina barely pulled that one off - but they should improve now that Steve Smith is back in the lineup. On the other hand, it may have been too soon for Roethlisberger to come back. Imagine wishing for Charlie Batch to be your starter! Detroit is worse than Green Bay - now that's a feat! The Giants looked awful in Seattle - despite the relatively close result, this was a 35-0 game at one point. Of course, Seattle lost something bigger than a game when Madden's curse struck yet again, this time, breaking Alexander's ankle. And lastly, the Saints came home in a big way! Remember how Miami passed on Brees and Texas passed on Bush? Think either teams regret those decisions now?

Oh yeah - my week one winnings? Completely squandered away! Here's why betting is so tough - I'm picking 2/3 of every outcome correctly (31 of 46), yet I'm only up $6.50 on a $10 bet per game. That's a 1.4% return. Not a lot, consider I'd go negative if just one of those picks went the other way!

• Carolina 26 (-3.5), Tampa Bay 24 (34.5 O/U) [P: $5.88, S: ($10.00), O/U: ($10.00), T: ($14.12)]
• Chicago 19 (-4.5), Minnesota 16 (34.5 O/U) [P: $5.00, S: ($10.00), O/U: ($10.00), T: ($15.00)]
• Cincinnati 28, Pittsburgh 20 (-2) (41.5 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: ($10.00), O/U: ($10.00), T: ($30.00)]
• Green Bay* 31, Detroit 24 (-6.5) (39 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: $10.00, O/U: ($10.00), T: ($10.00)]
• Jacksonville 14, Indianapolis 21 (-7) (43 O/U) [P: $3.23, S: $0.00, O/U: $9.09, T: $12.32]
• New York Jets 28 (-5.5), Buffalo 20 (34.5 O/U) [P: $22.50, S: $10.00, O/U: ($10.00), T: $22.50]
• Tennessee* 10, Miami 13 (-10.5) (35.5 O/U) [P: $1.43, S: $10.00, O/U: $9.09, T: $20.52]
• Washington 31 (-4), Houston 15 (37.5 O/U) [P: $4.88, S: $10.00, O/U: ($10.00), T: $4.88]
• Baltimore 15 (-7.5), Cleveland 14 (33.5 O/U) [P: $3.45, S: ($10.00), O/U: $9.09, T: $2.54]
• New York Giants 30, Seattle 42 (-3) (43 O/U) [P: $5.00, S: $10.00, O/U: ($10.00), T: $5.00]
• Philadelphia 38 (-7), San Francisco 24 (42 O/U) [P: $3.64, S: $10.00, O/U: ($10.00), T: $3.64]
• St. Louis 16, Arizona 14 (-4.5) (45 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: ($10.00), O/U: $9.09, T: ($10.91)]
• Denver 17, New England 7 (-7.5) (39 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: ($10.00), O/U: $9.09, T: ($10.91)]
• Atlanta 3 (-4.5), New Orleans 23 (44 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: ($10.00), O/U: $9.09, T: ($10.91)]

Results Summary

• Picks (this week): 9 - 5 (64.29%) - Winnings: $5.00
• Picks (season): 31 - 15 (67.39%) - Winnings: $6.48
• Spread (this week): 6 - 7 (46.15%) - Winnings: ($10.00)
• Spread (season): 20 - 24 (45.45%) - Winnings: ($40.00)
• Over/Under (this week): 6 - 8 (42.86%) - Winnings: ($25.45)
• Over/Under (season): 24 - 20 (54.55%) - Winnings: $18.18
• Total Weekly Winnings: ($30.46)
• Total Overall Winnings: ($15.34)

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Technorati Tags: NFL | Picks | Odds

Not much time this week - imagine that! Anyway, here's the picks for this week, with a few notes thrown in for fun.

• Jeff Fisher is a player's coach, even for players no longer on his team. I guess that means that Billy Volek isn't a player.
• Bill Parcels is very subtly challenging Owens throug the media to play through pain - again! Could it be more obvious that it wasn't his choice to bring T.O. to Dallas?
• The Giants head all the way across country to play in the loudest open air stadium in the NFC. It's no wonder that teams who play across three timezones from one week to the next have a poor record.
• If Daunte Culpepper can't get it going against Tennessee, it might actually be time to bring Joey Harrington in.
• I can't believe I just typed that.
• Monday night in New Orleans will be the biggest game of the season. Never has a football game symbolized the life of a whole city.

On to the picks:

• Carolina (-3.5) vs. Tampa Bay (34.5 O/U)
• Chicago (-4.5) vs. Minnesota (34.5 O/U)
• Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh (-2) (41.5 O/U)
• Green Bay* vs. Detroit (-6.5) (39 O/U)
• Jacksonville vs. Indianapolis (-7) (43 O/U)
• New York Jets (-5.5) vs. Buffalo (34.5 O/U)
• Tennessee* vs. Miami (-10.5) (35.5 O/U)
• Washington (-4) vs. Houston (37.5 O/U)
• Baltimore (-7.5) vs. Cleveland (33.5 O/U)
• New York Giants vs. Seattle (-3) (43 O/U)
• Philadelphia (-7) vs. San Francisco (42 O/U)
• St. Louis vs. Arizona (-4.5) (45 O/U)
• Denver vs. New England (-7.5) (39 O/U)
• Atlanta (-4.5) vs. New Orleans (44 O/U)

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Technorati Tags: NFL | Picks | Odds

?After a great week to start the season with, things went WAY down hill. I got twice as many wrong as I did right against the spread, and even though I went 11-5 picking winners, I sitll lost $18 - money lines kill you! For example, picking Cincinnati to win is the right move, but it only nets you $1.67 on a $10 bet - no real?point in putting money down for that kind of return. Bottom line: I'm still up, but not nearly as much as I was after the first week. Anyway, here's a few notes from this past week.

• Detroit managed seven points - great showing. Of course, if you ask Williams, it's probably stupid how close they were to putting up 50 points!
• T.O. gets his due, breaking a finger. Luckily it's going into a bye week, and it's possible he won't miss any time at all. As long as he's back for the Eagles game, right?
• Maybe Daunte Culpepper isn't quite ready to come back. Two games and he hasn't been all that impressive so far. Against the Steelers, that's acceptable - they have a great defense. Against Buffalo though? Bring on Harrington!
• I guess you could say the same thing for Big Ben in Pittsburgh too, huh? He was a little too worried about getting hit in the gut, plus all the rust he had to knock off. Now that he's got that out of the way, he should be able to play good again.
• It's amazing how much Carolina's offense misses Steve Smith. They just can't get anything done. I guess Keyshaun Johnson definitely isn't cut out to be a number one receiver.
• New Orleans beat Green Bay. In Green Bay. Favre, meet retirement. You should have met sooner!
• I remember watching Plaxico Burress make beautiful catches at MSU - I believe he's tied for the record for most catches in a single game there. But none of those probably felt better than his OT TD thriller in Philly.
• So let me get this straight. Steve McNair was washed up in Tennessee, but suddenly he's come back to life in Baltimore. The thought of Baltimore having an even semi-decent offense has to be scary for AFC opponents. It's going to be tough to outscore them when their defense is that good.
• St. Louis loses to the 49ers. Next up Arizona. Lose both of those, and you might as well just call it a season.
• K.C 6, Denver 9: It's too bad I missed that one. Sounds like a real barn burner! Almost as exciting as that 9-0 thriller on Monday night.

And now, on to the week's numeric review.

• Buffalo 16, Miami 6 (-7) (37 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: ($10.00), O/U: ($10.00), T: ($30.00)]
• Carolina 13, Minnesota 16 (0) (37 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: ($10.00), O/U: $9.09, T: ($10.91)]
• Cleveland* 17, Cincinnati 34 (-13) (42 O/U) [P: $1.67, S: ($10.00), O/U: ($10.00), T: ($18.33)]
• Detroit* 7, Chicago 34 (-9.5) (32 O/U) [P: $2.22, S: ($10.00), O/U: ($10.00), T: ($17.78)]
• Houston 24, Indianapolis 43 (-14.5) (47 O/U) [P: $0.83, S: $10.00, O/U: ($10.00), T: $0.83]
• New Orleans 34 (-2), Green Bay 27 (38 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: ($10.00), O/U: $9.09, T: ($10.91)]
• New York Giants 30, Philadelphia 24 (-3) (42 O/U) [P: $8.33, S: $10.00, O/U: ($10.00), T: $8.33]
• Oakland* 6, Baltimore 28 (-14.5) (34 O/U) [P: $1.11, S: ($10.00), O/U: $0.00, T: ($8.89)]
• Tampa Bay 3, Atlanta 14 (-6) (36 O/U) [P: $3.85, S: $10.00, O/U: ($10.00), T: $3.85]
• Arizona* 10, Seattle 21 (-7) (47 O/U) [P: $3.57, S: ($10.00), O/U: $9.09, T: $2.66]
• St. Louis 13 (-4.5), San Francisco 30 (43.5 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: ($10.00), O/U: $9.09, T: ($10.91)]
• Kansas City* 6, Denver 9 (-11.5) (37.5 O/U) [P: $1.67, S: $10.00, O/U: ($10.00), T: $1.67]
• New England 24 (-7), New York Jets 17 (37 O/U) [P: $3.33, S: $0.00, O/U: $9.09, T: $12.42]
• Tennessee* 7, San Diego 40 (-14) (37.5 O/U) [P: $1.43, S: ($10.00), O/U: $9.09, T: $0.52]
• Washington 10, Dallas 27 (-6) (37 O/U) [P: $3.85, S: $10.00, O/U: $0.00, T: $13.85]
• Pittsburgh 0 (-3), Jacksonville 9 (36.5 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: ($10.00), O/U: ($10.00), T: ($30.00)]

Results Summary

• Picks (this week): 11 - 5 (68.75%) - Winnings: ($18.14)
• Picks (season): 22 - 10 (68.75%) - Winnings: $1.48
• Spread (this week): 5 - 10 (33.33%) - Winnings: ($50.00)
• Spread (season): 14 - 17 (45.16%) - Winnings: ($30.00)
• Over/Under (this week): 6 - 8 (42.86%) - Winnings: ($25.45)
• Over/Under (season): 18 - 12 (60.00%) - Winnings: $43.64
• Total Weekly Winnings: ($93.60)
• Total Overall Winnings: $15.11

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Technorati Tags: NFL | Picks | Odds

Last week, 11 road teams won. This week, 11 home teams are favorites, including 5 that are favored by more than nine points! That's some big margins this early in the season. Cleveland is a 13 point dog - this, after a week where they were favorites! That's a big difference. You'll see that some of the bigger spreads I'm not going for - like I said last week, 10 or more points is a lot. The only favorite I took was Indy?against Houston, but I think just about everyone can understand that exception!

• Buffalo vs. Miami (-7) (37 O/U)
• Carolina vs. Minnesota (0) (37 O/U)
• Cleveland* vs. Cincinnati (-13) (42 O/U)
• Detroit* vs. Chicago (-9.5) (32 O/U)
• Houston vs. Indianapolis (-14.5) (47 O/U)
• New Orleans (-2) vs. Green Bay (38 O/U)
• New York Giants vs. Philadelphia (-3) (42 O/U)
• Oakland* vs. Baltimore (-14.5) (34 O/U)
• Tampa Bay vs. Atlanta (-6) (36 O/U)
• Arizona* vs. Seattle (-7) (47 O/U)
• St. Louis (-4.5) vs. San Francisco (43.5 O/U)
• Kansas City* vs. Denver (-11.5) (37.5 O/U)
• New England (-7) vs. New York Jets (37 O/U)
• Tennessee* vs. San Diego (-14) (37.5 O/U)
• Washington vs. Dallas (-6) (37 O/U)
• Pittsburgh (-3) vs. Jacksonville (36.5 O/U)

Technorati Tags: NFL | Picks | Odds

I had a great week this week - which is a nice change of pace considering how I usually start - last season, I was down $76 after the first week! Anyway, I'm going to change the format, since I don't have time to touch on each game, nor do I have something to say about every game, so there's no point in forcing me to come up with something. Instead, I'll put the results below, and write anything I want to point about above them.

What an opening week! 11 of 16 (68%) road teams got a W this week - the average for last season was 43%. That trend won't continue, but it's still pretty impressive. Quite a few questions were answered this week: Pennington looked pretty good - and two early round offensive line draft picks should give him some good protection. Daunte Culpepper looked decent too - not a great game, but he didn't look hindered by the injury. On the other hand, had he been injured, Harrington would have come in, and you would have had Charlie Batch against Joey Harrington - the battle of Detroit QB rejects! Speaking of Detroit, their defense actually looked pretty good against a solid team. Now if just their offense was anywhere near as good, despite Roy Williams' proclamation that it's silly how close they were to putting up 40 points. It's silly alright!

Some definitions here: Green picks are correct, while Red are incorrect. The stuff in [brackets] is about money - how much I won or lost with each bet. P indicates the straight up pick, with the money lines coming into play to determine winnings. S indicates picking against the spread, and O/U is my over/under pick. T is the total I won or lost for that game - the sum of my straight pick, spread pick, and over/under. At the bottom are summaries for straight picks, spread picks, over/under and weekly totals. Going forward, it'll have this week's summary, as well as a season summary. As you can tell, being up $108 after a week means I'm not doing too bad!

• Miami 17, Pittsburgh 28 (0) (34.5 O/U) [P: $9.09, S: $10.00, O/U: $9.09, T: $28.18]
• Atlanta 20, Carolina 6 (-6.5) (40 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: ($10.00), O/U: $9.09, T: ($10.91)]
• Baltimore 27, Tampa Bay 0 (-3) (34 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: ($10.00), O/U: $9.09, T: ($10.91)]
• Buffalo* 17, New England 19 (-10) (41 O/U) [P: $2.17, S: $10.00, O/U: $9.09, T: $21.26]
• Cincinnati 23, Kansas City 10 (-1.5) (47.5 O/U) [P: $10.50, S: $10.00, O/U: $9.09, T: $29.59]
• Denver 10 (-3.5), St. Louis 18 (46 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: ($10.00), O/U: $9.09, T: ($10.91)]
• New Orleans 19, Cleveland 14 (-3) (35 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: ($10.00), O/U: $9.09, T: ($10.91)]
• New York Jets 23, Tennessee 16 (-2.5) (35.5 O/U) [P: $12.50, S: $10.00, O/U: $9.09, T: $31.59]
• Philadelphia 24 (-4.5), Houston 10 (37 O/U) [P: $4.55, S: $10.00, O/U: ($10.00), T: $4.55]
• Seattle 9 (-7), Detroit 6 (45 O/U) [P: $3.57, S: ($10.00), O/U: $9.09, T: $2.66]
• Chicago 26 (-4.5), Green Bay 0 (35 O/U) [P: $4.55, S: $10.00, O/U: $9.09, T: $23.64]
• Dallas 17, Jacksonville 24 (-1.5) (36.5 O/U) [P: $7.69, S: $10.00, O/U: $9.09, T: $26.78]
• San Francisco 27, Arizona 34 (-7.5) (42.5 O/U) [P: $2.78, S: ($10.00), O/U: ($10.00), T: ($17.22)]
• Indianapolis 26 (-3.5), New York Giants 21 (48 O/U) [P: $5.56, S: $10.00, O/U: ($10.00), T: $5.56]
• Minnesota 19, Washington 16 (-4) (35.5 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: ($10.00), O/U: ($10.00), T: ($30.00)]
• San Diego 27 (-3), Oakland 0 (43 O/U) [P: $6.67, S: $10.00, O/U: $9.09, T: $25.76]

Results Summary

• Picks: 11 - 5 (68.75%) - Winnings: $19.62
• Spread: 9 - 7 (56.25%) - Winnings: $20.00
• Over/Under: 12 - 4 (75.00%) - Winnings: $69.09
• Total Winnings: $108.71

Last note: new picks coming Thursday!

Technorati Tags: NFL | Picks | Odds

It's that time again! The NFL season is right around the corner - it starts Thursday night with the defending Super Bowl champ squaring off against the Dolfins in what could be?a pretty good game. I'm just happy to have football back!

In case you weren't around last year, come fall, this blog gets much more sports content than normal. Most of that is my weekly NFL picks - I make picks every week, picking the winner, against the spread, and over/under. Once the games are done, I review last week's picks. For those confused about the spread or money lines, I'll be putting together a primer so you can get up to speed on that too.

Anyway, having watched exactly 1/2 of one preseason game, I'll go ahead and put out this first week of picks.

• Miami vs. Pittsburgh (0) (34.5 O/U): The defending champs open up the season at home - most likely without Big Ben or Hines Ward. Ouch. And you can't even blame Roethlisberger for this one. A few months ago, you'd guess this was due to his motorcycling habits, but no - emergency surgery, which he''l recover from, but possibly not in time for the opener. Bummer for them. Now, Miami looks interesting this year. No more split at running back - Ronnie Brown is the main man, and with a passer like Culpepper (if he's healthy), he'll get room from defenses to move. They should have a good season, but drop their opener.
• Atlanta vs. Carolina (-6.5) (40 O/U): Carolina is the popular choice to make it to the Super Bowl this year - Steve Smith is now protected by Keyshawn Johnson, so he should get a few more one-on-one looks this year, and if not, well, Johnson isn't a bad second option. Atlanta still needs to figure out that their stud quarterback is good, but not a stud, and not someone to build a passing game around.
• Baltimore vs. Tampa Bay (-3) (34 O/U): Tampa Bay surprised everyone last year with their tough defense, and they should have no problem holding the Ravens to a low scoring bout.
• Buffalo* vs. New England (-10) (41 O/U): First caveat of my picks here. A star indicates that I picked Buffalo to cover, but not win. The Patriots should win, but a 10 point spread is a bit big this early. Plus, as a rule of thumb, any time I see a spread of 10 points or more, I'm cautious to actually pick the favorite.
• Cincinnati vs. Kansas City (-1.5) (47.5 O/U): If history serves, this should be a high scoring game?- both teams have great offenses, and only Cincinnati has anything resemblling a defense. Kansas City is routinely known for beating opponents by scoring a lot of points, not by limiting their oppenents offense, and against Cincy, that tactic won't work.
• Denver (-3.5) vs. St. Louis (46 O/U): St. Louis should be an interesting team to watch this year - not because they'll be a great team, but because you just don't know how they'll turn out. Bulger has a new(er) running back behind him, and aging receivers. Defense isn't great, so they'll probably struggle. Denver, on the other hand, always has solid running, no matter who's back there, and that should give them the edge.
• New Orleans vs. Cleveland (-3) (35 O/U): Here's a shocker: Cleveland is a favorite! And I'm picking them! New Orleans has the golden child - Reggie Bush, and the off season signing of Drew Brees should give New Orleans a great offense this season, but I think Cleveland will get this one.
• New York Jets vs. Tennessee (-2.5) (35.5 O/U): Two bottom feeders this year - such a change from just a few years ago when Steve McNair and the Titans were battling the Colts for division titles, and the Jets with Chad Pennington were on the up swing. Now, this game's just as meaningless now as it would be in December.
• Philadelphia (-4.5) vs. Houston (37 O/U): Houston just lost Davis for the year, and signed Ron Dayne. Is the preseason too long? I bet Texas thinks so! That definitely hurts David Carr's chances of putting together a great season. Philly, though, should rebound from last year, when they dealt with a lot of off-field issues (umm, well?just one. T.O.). Remember, this is a team that has been to the NFC championship or farther in 5 of the last 6 seasons. They're still a good team and this year should show that.
• Seattle (-7) vs. Detroit (45 O/U): Seattle opens the season in Detroit - and doesn't even make it on national TV. One of last season's Super Bowl contenders isn't on TV in the opening week? Unreal. Of course, Detroit isn't good, so this probably won't be much of a contest anyway.
• Chicago (-4.5) vs. Green Bay (35 O/U): A divisional rivalry right off the bat! Too bad Green Bay isn't all that good this year. Chicago needs (and wants) to prove that last year's defensive stand was not a fluke, and starting against a weak Packer offense should be a good start towards that goal.
• Dallas vs. Jacksonville (-1.5) (36.5 O/U): Jacksonville was kind of left in the shadows last year behind the Colts, but they quietly put together a great season. They try to continue that trend this year, and they'll have a good start against an improved Dallas team. If T.O. can stay on the field, the Cowboys should get some good offense, and their defense is pretty staunch.
• San Francisco vs. Arizona (-7.5) (42.5 O/U): Arizona?a more than seven point favorite? Is that right? Well, it is the 49ers. And Arizona did add Edge. Something tells me this will be about right, and Arizona might even be in the running for a playoff spot this year. As for the 49ers, well, I doubt it.
• Indianapolis (-3.5) vs. New York Giants (48 O/U): Manning against Manning. Big brother taking on little brother. The Giants have some pretty solid weapons on offense, with a solid, steady running game from Tiki and some pretty good receivers for Eli to throw to. But Indy is the regular season king, and no little brother's going to topple this kingdom.
• Minnesota vs. Washington (-4) (35.5 O/U): The talk of the pre-season (before games started) was that Washington was going to be good. But watching the preseason games, well, Washington didn't look so good. Yeah, it's possible they still could be good, but preseason didn't show any signs of that. Minnesota is rebuilding, whether they admit it or not. New (well, old) quarterback, no top receiver, and a new coach - all in the past two years. Good moves!
• San Diego (-3) vs. Oakland (43 O/U): Either everyone expects Oakland to be good, or the oddsmakers aren't as sold on Phillip Rivers as the Chargers front office is. My guess is the latter. Good thing L.T. can do everything. Maybe he'll step in and pass if they need it!

So I'm a little late in posting this, but I promise - I made my Dolfins/Steelers pick before the game started!

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Technorati Tags: NFL | Odds | Picks

I've been helping a client upgrade from Visual SourceSafe to Team System over the past couple of weeks, and one of our requirements is to ensure that we still have an automated build process. Well, TFS does not have an automated build system out of the box, and finding something has been a challenge.

Until now! On Friday, Notion Solutions released TeamCI, a free CI tool that works with Team System. I got it installed today, but haven't had much of a chance to work with it. Hopefully, it will work out nicely for us. I'll update as I get more experience with it.

FYI, our solution to this point has been to use the CruiseControl.NET plug-in for TFS. That's worked out fine for us - it's convenient because we can use the same build files in our current process. But the down side is that we don't get build reporting directly into TFS, and since consolidation of all of our third party tools was a goal, this doesn't exactly fit. It's better than no CI, but not what we were hoping for. Hopefully, once we get TeamCI up and running, it'll work out for us.

[via Greg's Cool Thing Of The Day]

No, I wasn't on vacation for a month - I just have been too lazy since I got back to post - or too busy. Depends on who you ask, but bottom line, I am still alive, and will resume posting regularly hopefully pretty soon.

Obviously I have to start posting - the new NFL season is almost on us, and I have to post my picks - it's a tradition!

Oh yeah - one last call for fantasy football players. I'm still looking for a few owners - I have 3 openings left - first come, first serve. If you want to sign up, here's what you need:

Website: http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/football/commissioner/join/private/auth
League ID: 11987
Password: rosscode

There's a few more details over here too.

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Technorati Tags: Vacation | Fantasy+Football

I'm heading on vacation early tomorrow morning - I'll be in Myrtle Beach for the week, and I'm extremely excited about it. Not just because this is the first real vacation I've taken in two years, but because this is the first time my daughters will step on a plane. My youngest doesn't really care or know - she's only 16 months - but my four year old is absolutely ecstatic about what's going to happen! And because of that, I'm excited for her too. Plus, my wife and I haven't flown anywhere together since our honeymoon, so this should be fun.

So how does this relate to you? Well, just as I was getting back into blogging, I'll be disconnected for a week, so no posts. Maybe I'll go Dave Burke style, and write down my Beach Week Chronicles, but those will have to wait until I get back. And, no comments - I don't get many anyway (except spam), so it shouldn't be too bad. If you have to get a hold of me, my cell number is listed, as well as email (although being able to get email will be spotty).

And if you're on my flight tomorrow or next Friday, let me apologize now. I have no idea how our youngest will react when we take off or land. If she screams, I'm sorry!

See you in a week!

Technorati Tags: Vacation | Myrtle+Beach

For a long time, I've wanted to be able to have my calendar up to date, no matter what device I'm currently using - my laptop, someone else's computer, my Pocket PC, or my phone. That's been hard to do - but I think I am almost there!

I would be there, but I'm a sucker for beta software - I'll explain in a minute.

I have to use Outlook and Exchange to manage my main calendar, because that's what NuSoft uses. Now I say "have to" but I would do it that way anyway because I like Outlook. Despite everyone's push for everything to be online, I still like having my email and calendar available in an offline application.

But I also want the ability to roam. Whether that's a Pocket PC, or phone or just Internet access, I don't want to have to (and can't) have my laptop with me at all times. So, I sought to figure it out. The Pocket PC - well, that was easy. It synchs nicely with Exchange. The Phone - that was easy too. I have a Motorola E815, which has bluetooth built into it, so I used the Motorola phoneTools software to synch Outlook with my phone - contacts and calendar.

And for Internet, there's OWA. Which is great, except for letting others view it. So I'm actually using Yahoo's calendar, and the free Intellisync software they offer that synchs with Outlook. It's working out quite nicely, actually.

Of course, I broke one of the links when I upgraded to Office 2007. The mobile phoneTools doesn't work with the new file format - well, it might, but it's not even offered as an option anymore! So now my phone is out of date, but that's not a huge deal - I'd like the contacts to be synched, but I guess I can't have everything, can I?

Oh - and in case you're wondering, the Intellisync from Yahoo works with Tasks and Calendar - it doesn't work with Contacts - the file format must have changed. Yahoo will tell you it only works with Outlook 2003, but that's probably so they don't have to support beta software, but my experience says the calendar works in 2007 too!

Now, if just there was an easy (non-proprietary) way to get my calendar onto my phone...without downgrading my software!

Technorati Tags: Outlook | Calendar | Yahoo