RossCode Weekly #047

posted on 05/12/06 at 03:32:23 pm by Joel Ross

RossCode Weekly #047?- 05.12.2006

I think I'm going to kill the podcast. I just don't have the time nor the desire to do it anymore, and therefore, it's time to hang up the?mic. But that doesn't mean RCW dies. Instead, it will take on a new form yet again. It'll be a lot like the notes version from the past few weeks. This week, it will be the notes version again, but next week,?the new format will be revealed.?

To those who enjoyed the few months of listening, I appreciate your support and hope you'll understand.

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News & Views -
Atlas Toolkit updated
?? includes 4 new controls
????? AlwaysVisible
??????ModalPopup
????? DropShadow
????? RoundedCorners
?? Bunch of bug fixes
?? Safari support
?? Telerik and ComponentArt announced support for Atlas
Web Application Project Model hits 1.0
?? includes edit & continue support
?? VSTS support
Share Your OPML
?? A site where you can share your OPML
?? You can see who the most prolific subscribers are (I'm 15 right now, with 941).
????? Someone has over 8,000. Yeah, right.
?? You can see how many others are subscribed to any feed
?? Small now, but will grow over time.
?? Also has a similar subscriptions page
DivX files for IPO
?? $135,000,000
?? $2,290,000 profit in 2005
?? Google provides 15% of revenue, and Phillips accounts for 13%.
TechMeme
?? Tech.memeorandum.com becomes TechMeme.com
TiVo's commercials
?? Allows you to watch commercials on demand
?? Why? Isn't that the reason why you got a TiVo in the first place?
SGI files for Chapter 11
?? Not much else to say - I first used them in college, but were replaced by NT boxes
AOL cuts work force by 7%
?? Mostly call center workers
?? 1,300 people
?? Say it's not cost cutting, but a reflection of support needs
?? Call volume has dropped 50% since 2004
Live Anywhere announced
?? Allows users of XBox Live to interact with PCs, Mobile devices, etc.
YouTube goes mobile
?? Allows you to upload movies directly from your phone
Vista Beta 2 coming May 23rd
?? At WinHEC, to attendees
?? Rest will have to wait until May 27th

The Cold Wars -
Google announces social search products
?? Co-op
????? Allows tagging and recommendation in search results
?? Desktop 4
????? Allows customization of the sidebar with google's gadgets
?? Google Trends
????? Allows you to compare search terms and their trends over time and events, as well as locations
?? Google Notebook
????? Coming soon
????? will allow notes on a webpage - a virtual scratch pad for every web page, and it can be shared
MySpace IM client launches
?? Windows only
?? Tom is your first friend!
Toshiba shows first HD-DVD laptop at E3
?? 1920x1200 display
?? 256 MB graphic card
?? $3000, but it's loaded
Microsoft investing in DeepMetrix
?? DeepMetrix is similar to Google Analytics
?? Will eventually be in most microsoft services they offer
Microsoft planning answer service
?? in the coming months
?? answers will be searchable
Warner Bros to distribute downloads via bittorrent
?? Will have DRM
?? Burned disks will only play on the computer you downloaded it on
Windows Live Messenger in public beta
?? For real this time!
Nintendo Wii to be sold for $250
?? Further rumors say $199
?? Microsoft exec mentioned buying both a 360 and Wii for the price of the PS3
Sony PS3 details
?? $499 - 20 GB HD, No HDMI out
?? $599 - 60 GB HD, HDMI out
?? Remember the rumor - XBox 360 to be $299 for premium this fall
Apple vs. Apple - Apple wins
?? Beatles lose
?? iTunes isn't a music store - it's a data transmission service
?? "moron in a hurry" could tell the differences between the two companies
MTV to simulcast online and on air
?? starting with the MTV Music Video Awards
Warner Bros. to inlcude streaming rights with Two And A Half Men synication
?? Ad revenue will be split 50-50 with only a 15 second ad at the beginning of the show
Live group chats with Skype
?? 100 people with Skype 2.5 Beta
?? Free
?? Moderated
?? Still no built-in ability to record.
????? has anyone told them that's important to us?
Microsoft launches adCenter
?? a la AdSense and YPN
?? uses demographic info too though
????? location
????? age
????? gender
????? wealth
?? Will take adCenter to email, MSN Spaces, mobile apps, Office, and XBox Live
First Blu-Ray titles delayed until late June
?? Makes sense?- first Blu-Ray players won't be available until June 25th
?? Titles will actually be ready on May 23rd, but won't be out until players are ready.
Sony to ship 50 GB Blu-Ray disks in June
?? Dual Layer
?? $48 for writeable and $60 for rewritable
?? More than twice the price of 25 GB disks
Opera Mini 2.0 released
?? Works on non-smartphones
?? Works on any Java compatible phones
?? can download MP3s pictures and videos
Microsoft launches Products
?? Froogle competitor
????? Difference - froogle uses a push?model and products uses a pull model
?? products.live.com
?? Reviews are planned but not live yet
IPO for Vonage
?? Offering up first rights to early customers
?? Lots of risk factors - losing money, already had a run-in with FCC, net neutrality concerns, etc.
iTunes and NBA strike playoff deal
?? 15-20 minute game recaps
?? 24 hours after game
?? $8.99 for "team option" - all recaps plus a season recap for your team.
?? $5.99 - finals recap
?? $1.99?- individual episodes
iTunes and Fox have deal
?? Will include 24
?? $1.99 per episode

The Grapevine -
Google Health to launch soon?
?? Should have been talked about at Google's annual Press Day but it wasn't.
DVRs?cut?ad revenue by $8,000,000,000
?? I put this here because this is a lot like?the claim that p2p costs the?record industry money
???11% of revenue
AOL to offer free local?phone number
?? Through AIM Phoneline
?? Recieve calls for free
???Free voicemail
?? AIM is second only to Verizon in U.S. SMS messages - interesting.
More on Amazon's music service
?? 4 prong approach
????? Desktop/web app to download music
????? subscription service
????? 20% off physical CDs
????? downloads for non-subscribers until CD arrives
More XBox portable news
?? Dean Takahashi's new book
?? Claims that 1/2 of 360 team started working on it after the launch of the original 360.
Windows Media Player 11 beta coming soon
?? May 17th
?? Better synchronization support
?? Final release in June
Tasks coming to Google Calendar?
?? Based on code from the site
?? Completeable events (tasks)

Odds & Ends -
RIAA now says it's legal to rip your own CDs
?? Well, isn't that nice of them!

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Flexible NFL Schedule

posted on 05/10/06 at 11:30:15 pm by Joel Ross

Finally, the NFL has gotten smart, and starting next season, will reserve the right to move Sunday afternoon games to Sunday night, in an effort to get more competitive games in the spotlight.

All I can say is it's about time, but I don't think it goes far enough. The way this agreement is worded is that in seven of the last eight weeks, NBC has the right to pick which Sunday game gets moved to Sunday night. CBS and FOX (the two networks who carry Sunday afternoon games) have the right to "protect" up to five games over that period, preventing them from being moved. Apparently, the NFL had the right to move games around from early to late games on Sunday in the past, but now it's a little more flexible, and includes the night game - although it sounds like it's more up to the network now than the NFL.

Left out of all this is still the Monday Night Football game (which is now on ESPN). I think Monday night match ups being picked before the?season is the reason why MNF has lost it's viewership over the years. Having meaningless games in prime time won't attract viewers, and it'll be even worse now that it's on ESPN.

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Interesting iPod Uses

posted on 05/10/06 at 11:29:05 pm by Joel Ross

I'm definitely not what you would call a baseball fan, but this is a pretty cool use of technology. I was listening to an ESPN podcast, and Dan Patrick was interviewing Todd Hilton, and they started talking about his iPod, and how he uses it.

Here's what he does. He sets up all of his video clips by team name, and then by pitcher. Then inside each one of those, he has video of his at-bats against that pitcher. I don't have an iPod, so I'm not sure how it categorizes clips, but I'd guess album, then song.

However it does it, that's a pretty cool way to get at information that's valuable and easily retrieved.

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Categories: General


 

Share Your OPML

posted on 05/08/06 at 08:51:03 am by Joel Ross

Dave Winer has (re)launched his OPML sharing website, albeit at a new URL, and is asking everyone to contribute their feed lists. I did, and there's a lot of good information there.

At the time I'm writing this, I'm #6 on the list of "Most Prolific Subscribers" with 940 - not even close to the top guy who has over 2000. Wow.

Some other cool features: There's a way subscriptions like yours - a great way to find others with the same interests as you, and then go through their list to find other blogs that you might be interested in. You can also see how many people are subscribed to a blog (for example, I found out that Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central is a subscriber?of RossCode.com - Hi Todd!).

You can also see the top feeds, and since it's Dave, it's got an RSS feed. It's just taking off, and you can help - you can either upload your subscription list, or point it to a URL (like Newsgator offers). It sounds like it's gaining traction fast, so the data will only become more and more useful over time.

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No Links?

posted on 05/05/06 at 03:49:24 pm by Joel Ross

Every now and then you listen to Steve Gillmor and just shake your head. Somethings I think he's semi-right-on. But his whole "linking is dead" meme is just off-base.

How do you do a blog without linking? He says it forces you to explain what you're talking about, but to me, all it does is force someone to search for what you're talking about - and if no one links to it, it's not getting indexed, which means you can't search for it.

Then he does something that's key to arguing when you know you've lost: You force an exclusive?decision to a non-exclusive question when he asks, "Would you rather I talk about you or link to you?" Obviously, I'd rather have you talk about me rather than link to me, but there's no reason you can't do both.

Take one of my latest posts, for example. I mentioned that Mix06 content is online. What if I hadn't linked to it? What if no one linked to it, but everyone talked about it? Would you be able to find it? I think I did a good job explaining what the news was (it's available for 6 months for you to download) but does that do you any good if you don't know where it's at?

Then there's Steve's proclamation that linking takes you out of the context you're in. Here, he's right. But his solution is flawed. You're (most likely) viewing this via an RSS reader (and if not, why not?). He wants whatever I'm talking about available right in the reader based on what I'm talking about - that the reader should go out and grab?the RSS feed that I'm referring to. But that's not feasible. Every now and then, I'll talk about something from a few weeks ago, and it may not be in any RSS feed anymore. Or you could be looking at it a few weeks after I publish it. What then? S.O.L.? And does putting a?link in an entry force you to click it? No, it doesn't. It allows you to, but if you've seen it elsewhere, there's no need to click - just read the post, know the background, and move on. But, by not allowing them the ability to click through, you're denying them the right to find out where you're getting your information - giving credit where credit is due. How does anyone have confidence that I know Mix06 content is online if I don't link to the source? I don't have authority to put that up myself, so who would trust me? Especially if they can't find it easily.

I don't know. I think Steve offers a lot of insights (Attention is a great idea), but I'll still link. Why? Well, this post, for example. No links, so it's completely out of context. Luckily, with Google, you can find context since others link to him.

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RossCode Weekly #046

posted on 05/04/06 at 11:19:54 pm by Joel Ross

RossCode Weekly #046?- 05.03.2006

The voice isn't up to?par yet - I was hoping to wait until tomorrow to?do it,?but there's no real hope that I'm going to be able to get through it without hacking and coughing?in your ears through the whole thing. So, for the?second week in a?row, you get complete show notes.?

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News & Views
Fox purchases NewRoo and kSolo
?? NewRoo has been rumored for a while - this makes it official
?? both potentially make good additions to MySpace
?? $10,000,000 a piece.
Yahoo! Tech launches
?? Competing with C|NET Reviews
?? Heavy use of?Flash
?? Not a lot there yet??
Plaxo buys calendaring company
?? HipCal
?? Calendaring will now come with free Plaxo software
Google news-gest
?? Someone used their 20% time at Google to add Suggest to Google News
?? Alternate URL - not rolled into the main Google?News
?? Cool because suggest info is based on current events
Blogburst launches
?? Has agreement with a few major publications and 1,000 bloggers
?? Basically, it?takes blogs in different categories and sells them to publications for broader distribution
Latest Live Messenger beta supports Live ID with multiple IDs
?? I need to check this out!
All Mix06 content available online
?? All 52 sessions, including keynote, 43 breakouts
?? All videos, with demos and slides
?? Can be downloaded for offline viewing
?? Note: all PDC '05 content is still available - extended for a bit

The Cold Warsu
"MSN Originals" debuts
?? 10 web pilots
?? Tom Arnold in a comedy (possibly)
?? Successful online shows could move to TV
?? Some will be user generated - called Warhol (15 minutes of fame)
CBS debuts a Broadband channel
?? Mainly original content
?? Some may be connected to current CBS shows
?? Probably won't include full-length episodes of shows, but plans to in the future
?? Could include some affiliate programming after it airs on the affiliate channels
?? First show could include a chance to be on "As the World Turns"
ABC: streaming shows for free starts now
?? Free, but with ads
?? Uses flash, so it's cross platform
?? Trial from now until end of June
?? If all goes well, should relaunch in the fall
?? Max of 4 30 second ads
Apple signs deal with record companies to keep songs at $0.99
?? Four record companies
Sphere.com launches
?? Sent out a letter at 1:00 AM saying it was launching, but had an embargo until 7:00 AM. Yeah right.
?? Also announced receiving $3,750,000 in funding.
?? Their relevancy algorithm is supposedly pretty good
Google upset about IE7
?? Google complains that IE7 defaults to MSN search
????? Imagine that - Microsoft promoting itself
?? Is Google complaining about Firefox's lack of choice? Opera's?
EchoStar and TiVo - Round 2
?? Back in court fighting TiVo's original patent
?? a la NTP / RIM
????? Difference: they filed this after TiVo sued EchoStar, not before, like RIM did
Visto next in RIM suing parade
?? Off a win against Seven Networks, they are going after RIM now.
?? Here we go again - RIM says patents are invalid, but lawsuit still coming
Napster is free, again, sort of
?? You can listen to every song up to five times for free
?? Ad supported - visual ads in an audible medium?
?? 2,000,000 tracks - that's a lot of music

The Grapevine
Vista to be delayed again?
?? April '07
?? from Gartner
?? Microsoft denies it
?? Better to get it out or get it right?
OS X "Leopard" with built-in BitTorrent?
?? For downloading content from the iTunes store
?? OS updates
?? Apple would reward you for offering up your bandwidth - iTunes store credit, or minutes on their upcoming iPhone product
Apple DVR coming soon?
?? Jobs said to look for it - but in a not exactly direct way
4 & 8 GB iPod Nano video coming?
?? Sounds like a pretty small screen to me
?? Would explain the sign in the store in India a little bit

Odds & Ends
Professors banning in-class laptop use
?? Time to find better means to handle the problems than banning
?? Reason: force students to pay attention
????? Prof got idea while in court - stenographer didn't absorb what he was saying - just transcribing
???????? Except, that's their job - trascribe, not absorb
Facebook Corporate: No AOL
?? Facebook has branched into corporate membership
?? 1,000 companies, but no AOL.
Unaltered Star Wars Trilogy coming out
?? Original theatrical versions
?? Actually, it includes both the old and the retouched versions
?? September 12th - December 31st

Bonehead of the Week
DirecTV fines installers for not lying
?? In Florida
?? Had to?tell customers that DirecTV boxes won't work unless you have a phone line
?? Would fine installers for installs without a phone line connection (well, not officially fine, but pay less than a phone based install)
RIAA sues family for filesharing who have no computer or internet connection
?? They even know about that information, and that it's likely it's the previous resident, but that doesn't stop them
?? subpeona says "has used, and continue to use"

Contact / Feedback
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206-424-4RCW (4729)

Production Notes
Background music provided by Chronos (Introvert 4) and the Podsafe Music Network.
Hosting of RossCode Weekly is provided by OurMedia.org.
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Gmail Gone!

posted on 05/04/06 at 04:55:37 pm by Joel Ross

This can't be good:

Gmail's 404

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All Mix '06 Content Available

posted on 05/04/06 at 10:59:37 am by Joel Ross

Mike Swanson's got the news that all of the sessions from the 72 hour conversation known as Mix '06 is online, and will be for at least 6 months.

Time to get the downloaders going. When will Microsoft get on board and start distributing this stuff via torrents?

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Categories: ASP.NET


 

RossCode Weekly #045

posted on 04/27/06 at 03:27:14 pm by Joel Ross

RossCode Weekly #045?- 04.27.2006

You get a special treat this week! Since I have a bit of a cold, and my voice will not hold out long enough to get through the show, you're going to get a one week look at the notes I actually use when I do the show - usually, I delete my notes and just leave the link, but this week, since I'm not voicing it, I'm going to leave the notes in. I may even leave them in if people find it useful.

Intro - 0:00
Download this episode -?0:54 /?434 KB
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Previously On RCW
8 and 10 GB iPod Nanos coming this summer
?? 8 rather than 5 heard from India earlier
?? Apple needs something to generate revenue while the touchscreen iPod is delayed
TiVo series 2 updates are real!
?? two models
?? one line in, with internal splitter - dual tuners!
????? two analog or one digital and one analog
?? Integrated ethernet
?? $200 for 180 hour and $100 for 80 hour
????? After $150 rebate and service activation
Yahoo won't offer WiFi
???Already have a healthy relationship with AT&T
?? Makes money from them via ads
?? AT&T already has good WiFi coverage
?? Could resell those networks or offer it for free with ads
?? Deal is?a lot like the deal between Skype and Boingo

News & Views
Yahoo releases DVR software
?? Based on the software they got from Meedio
?? Free and Windows only
?? 8 days after purchase
Grand Rapids to have city-wide WiFi
?? Has to be no cost to the city or tax payers
?? Finalists by May 30
?? Winning bidder announced on July 13
?? Development begins week of October 22
?? I mention this because I live here - and have local readers (in theory)
NFL Draft on your phone
?? Sprint
?? 16 hours of live coverage from NFL Network
?? April 29-30
?? Watch video of picks on demand
NFL to offer replay of regular season games
?? 4 games each week
?? HD games will be broadcast as HD
?? Will give non-DirecTV viewers access to out of market games
?? Will be reduced to 90 minutes and will include NFL Films commentary and fresh angles
?? Also, NFL is in the midst of negotiating their online deal too.
Recent Google search interface changes
?? Says they randomly test new interfaces to see reaction
?? May or may not ever be integrated in
?? Recent ones:
????? Jobs search
??????Site search in regular results
?? ?? Result count by graph on right hand side
????? Removing results from that search for you

The Cold Wars
Google Calendar opens API
?? Uses GData format?as transport?
????? based on?Atom 1.0 and RSS 2.0
?? "simple standard protocol for reading and writing data on the web"
?? Sounds like Live Clipboard! (yet another?format war)
?? Java and C# libraries available
?? When will we see Outlook synch?
Google to start charging for access to AdWords API
?? This could (and probably will) slow innovation
?? Could lead to other paid API access programs
?? Why pay for sending a site traffic and/or data?
First Hybrid HD-DVD to be released
?? Rumor Has It
?? Regular DVD on one side, and HD-DVD on the other
?? Relesed on May 9
?? $39.99 for hybrid, and $16.96 for normal
NBC working to keep affiliates happy
?? a joint venture between NBC and their affiliates
?? will split the profit for online content
?? Does not include prime time programming
?? Takes content from affiliates (newscasts, etc.) and puts it online
ABC and FOX coming to Comcast VOD
?? joining NBC and CBS
?? available the next day
?? $0.99 with advertising
XBox 360 to show HD-DVD add-on at E3
?? Reportedly for $100
?? Also said that XBox 360 will drop to $299 in October
?? Also, a new processor using 65 nm rather than 90 nm in January
?? Will probably have HDMI output
Longhorn Server to be released in Q3 or Q4 of '07
?? Feature complete beta is due "shortly"
IE 7 Beta 2 released
?? This is the real beta - not a preview or update to a preview
?? Comes with no-charge phone support
?? Timeline:
????? Vista Beta 2
????? IE Beta 3
??????IE Release Candidate
????? Final release before end of year
Opera 9 beta released
?? first public beta
?? includes Widgets that live on the users desktop
?? supports bittorrent
?? content-blockers?(ads, images, etc)
?? Thumbnail previews of tabbed pages
?? site specific preferences
Windows Live for voicemail
?? an aggregation service
?? Can store it in MP3, WAV or WMA format
?? Has to be from an approved wireless carrier
?? No word on release date.

The Grapevine
Latest PS3 release date and price?
?? $399 and November
Skype Music Store?
?? currently has deal to sell ringtones
????? Not currently offering it though
?? Signed deal with EMI for more than just ringtones - includes music downloads
?? worldwide licensing deal
????? Could potentially buy music released in one country but not in another
?? No price point or launch date
AOL to take on MySpace
?? Would be headed bu Jason Calacanis
?? Originally from Dave Winer
17" MacBook Pro coming soon
?? No 12" MacBook announcement though
?? Expected to be announced at National Association of Broadcasters event
?? 36% brighter than before
?? top line 2.16 GHz dual core
TiVo's Guru Guides
?? Mentioned in updated privacy policy
?? Possibly a recommendation engine based on experts, celebs, trusted friends, etc.

Odds & Ends
Remember: GPS doesn't know about flooded roads
?? GPS sends people down flooded road
?? One to two people per day heading into flooded road
?? There?are warning signs saying it's flooded, but?they trust GPS too much
Revised Code of Washington
?? Finally - someone tagged an article as RCW on del.icio.us. Of course, this isn't quite what I had in mind!

Contact / Feedback
weekly@NOSPAMrosscode.com
206-424-4RCW (4729)

Production Notes
Hosting of RossCode Weekly is provided by OurMedia.org.
Would you like to sponsor RossCode Weekly? Contact me at sponsor@NOSPAMrosscode.com.

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RossCode Picks - NHL First Round

posted on 04/21/06 at 12:56:25 pm by Joel Ross

Finally! The NHL playoffs are here. The preseason is over, and the "real" season is about to begin! And if you've been around here long enough, you know I like to throw up meaningless predictions! I'll show the money line in parens, so you know who's favored (hint: a negative number means they're favored).

Let's start in the East, where I don't have quite as much knowledge.

  • (1) Ottawa (+395) vs. (8) Tampa Bay (-435): Early in the season, Ottawa looked like they were going to run away with the East (and the President's Cup), but that didn't exactly happen. The rigors of everyday play kept them back, as well as the injury to Dominic Hasek, who was having a great season. They are still a solid team and definitely one to contend with. They should be able to take this series, but it won't be easy - they'll win it 4-2.
  • (2) Carolina (-210) vs. (7) Montreal (+190): The Hurricanes have a lot going for them, although I haven't seen much of them this season. Montreal should have trouble with them - Carolina should take this easily. 4-1.
  • (3) New Jersey (-246) vs. (6) New York (+226): The Devils are a scary team. They are a good team, but for some reason, they always seem to play better in the playoffs. The Rangers are just happy to still be playing - remember, this is the same team that had a top payroll in '03-'04 and missed the playoffs.
  • (4) Buffalo (-134) vs. (5) Philadelphia (+124): Philly is a big team, and has a lot of good players. Anyone who has Forsberg on their roster is going to do OK in the playoffs. This could be the surprise team coming out of the East. 4-3

Now let's look West, where I follow a little more closely:

  • (1) Detroit (-460) vs. (8) Edmonton (+420): Detroit has dominated the West, and a lot blame it on the miserable Central Division, but that's just being naive. Take away games against St. Louis, Chicago and Columbus from all Western teams, and Detroit's still the best on a points per game basis. Detroit (along with Ottawa) put up more than 300 goals - a tribute to the NHL's commitment to call penalties the way they are written - and do it all season. While Edmonton has played well against Detroit this season (going 2-1-0-1 this season), they never could defeat Detroit in regulation - and their last meeting was a 2-0 loss. Detroit should handle Edmonton easily. 4-1
  • (2) Dallas (-194) vs. (7) Colorado (+184): As much as I'd like to see a Wings-Avs match up again, I don't see that happening. Colorado just isn't that good this year - they barely escaped meeting Detroit in the first round this year, and they were happy about that. As much success as Colorado has enjoyed in recent years, this won't be quite as good for them. Dallas is just too good. 4-2.
  • (3) Calgary (-182) vs. (6) Anaheim (+172): Despite Ahaheim being one of the hotest teams in hockey right now, Calgary is big, physical, and can put up good numbers. They are solid both short handed and on the power play. This should be a great series, but Calgary advances. 4-3
  • (4) Nashville (+160) vs. (5) San Jose (-170): San Jose has both the point leader and goal leader for the season, which, come playoff time, doesn't mean anything, but is an indication of how thier post-season play could look. For the Sharks' sake, they hope it is. And in the first round, it probably will be. Nashville will be playing with a goalie that has no playoff experience and barely any in-game experience in the NHL, let alone big game experience. While I contend that the Wings are still the best team in the division despite the weak Central, Nashville, on the other hand, definitely did benefit. Their point total is higher than it should be, and when you combine that with Vokoun being out for the playoffs, that spells early tee times for the Preds. Oddsmakers think so too - they are the only team with home ice advantage to not be favored in the first round. 4-1

So there you have it. Games start tonight at 7:00 PM EST, with the Wings / Oilers being the first game on OLN, followed by a 10:00 PM game between Calgary and Anaheim.

Speaking of OLN, it sounds like they are really going to take this whole NHL thing seriously - despite the NHL being disappointed (and many fans) with the OLN coverage, their viewership is up, and overall they are happy with the contract. To that point, they plan to have a hockey game on every night for the playoffs (obviously, the schedule will ultimately dictate that) and they're ramping up their coverage as the Cup approaches. I guess we'll have to see how they do over the next two months.

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