Ok. I have a problem, and I'm looking for some help. We're going to be adding RSS feeds to the Tourney Pool Manager to show the current standings. That's great, but how should we do it?

It's not the same as an RSS feed for a blog. Once the NCAA tournament gets underway, there won't be any new entries. It'll just be a reordering of the existing items in the list. A blog is constantly getting new?posts.?

It sounds a lot like the Simple Sharing Extensions, right? I think it is, but I'm not positive. I'd like some advice. I downloaded the samples and tutorial?supplied by Microsoft, and it looks like the right fit. But I still have questions - does any software actually support SSE yet? If an aggregator doesn't support SSE, what will the feed do? If I didn't use SSE, what should the feed look like?

If you have any advice, let me know! I'm open to suggestions...

Technorati Tags: RSS | SSE

I got an invite to try out Newsvine when it first launched, and I signed up - and really haven't had time to go back since. Well, today, I was listening to the latest Inside The Net podcast, and Amber interviewed Mike Davidson of Newsvine. They mentioned it's in beta, and that everyone gets invites. So that means I have a few. If you'd like one, let me know.

Anyway, Newsvine is another social news site, a la Digg or Memeorandum. It has a bunch of categories though - tech, top stories, politics, entertainment, etc. Now that I've remembered I have this, I think it's time to add a few more feeds to the ole aggregator!

I also have a few Windows Live Messenger invites left too, so if you want one of those, let me know that too.

Technorati Tags: Newsvine | Inside+The+Net

The Super Bowl is set. Pittsburgh vs. Seattle. Everyone said all season long (after we all realized the Eagles weren't going to be a contender) that Seattle was the cream of the crop in the NFC, and they proved that this weekend.

I like stats. You may have guessed that. Going into this weekend, these four teams had a combined win percentage of .750. But the teams didn't deliver - they only posted a combined winning percentage of .500! It's these types of stats that you can only get here!

Seriously though, if you've been reading my predictions from early in the season, you'd have noticed a theme. Teams that can run the ball win. Look at the teams that played this past weekend, and you'll realize how right I am! We'll hit on this again as we review the games.

• Carolina 14, Seattle 34 (-4) (43.5 O/U) [P: $5.41, S: $10.00, O/U: $9.71, T: $25.11]: Shaun Alexander was able to make it through the game without getting another concussion, which was what Seattle needed. Not only that, but he handled the ball 30+ times, gaining over 130 yards. Not bad for coming off a concussion! This opened up the game for Hasselback, who's a very good quarterback, but not spectacular. With an offensive line like Seattle's, you don't have to be perfect - but Hasselback did put up good numbers, throwing 2 TDs and going for over 200 yards. So, there's Carolina's first problem: They couldn't stop Seattle's offense. 34 points against is a lot for Carolina. But it's tough for a defense to stop a team when they hold the ball for over 40 minutes! So that brings us to the real reason Carolina lost: their offense couldn't hold onto the ball, let alone get in the endzone. Everyone saw Steve Smith screaming at the offensive coordinator because he wasn't getting the ball, but that's not reality. He was thrown to 11 times, yet only brought it in five times. For perspective, he was thrown to 24 times in the first two playoff games - but here's the difference: he caught it 22 times. But it wasn't his fault that he didn't catch the ball those extra six times. It was Seattle's. They made an effort to triple (and at least once, quadruple) cover?Smith, putting someone behind him, someone in front of him, and someone right on him. So the real reason Smith should have been screaming is because he kept getting the ball! If three defensive backs are on him, someone had to be open! On an unrelated note, another Carolina receiver (Drew Carter) had 88 receiving yards and a touchdown - on only two receptions! Maybe throwing to him a little more could have done one of two things: Either Smith would get less coverage, or Carter would score a few more times. No one had game planned for Smith up to this point, so Carolina didn't quite know what to do - but, as an NFL coach, you have to be able to adjust your game plan on the fly!
• Pittsburgh 34, Denver 17 (-3) (41 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: ($10.00), O/U: ($10.00), T: ($30.00)]: Here's another case of one coach outcoaching another one. Cowher used his usual tactic of passing early in the game and Denver didn't adjust. Then, despite what you heard, Pittsburgh didn't blitz much at all, and instead dropped seven or eight into the backfield, especially after Denver was down, and, well, Plummer couldn't get it done. He threw two interceptions, and because the coverage was good field, he lost a couple of fumbles. And while everyone is talking about Plummer returning to his Cardinal ways, it wasn't totally his fault. They completely abandoned the run after half time, despite the fact that they were only down 24-10 three minutes into the quarter. Running is what got you there - the combo of Tatem Bells explosive running with Mike Anderson's hard hitting running made them a deadly tandem this year. It's nice to have that combo, especially if you use it effective - just ask the Steelers! Bettis and Parker give Pittsburgh the same dynamics in the backfield, and they used them effectively. Now, this is the norm for Denver in the playoffs lately: they are 1-3 the last three years, and it's pretty much attributable to their defense. Given they were 33-15 in the regular season over that same period, it makes you wonder what's going on there. Personally, I'd blame game planning, despite the reputation Shanahan has.

Enjoy the next week of hype. It's going to get thick! The opening line is Pittsburgh by 4, which basically means that oddsmakers considered the AFC far superior to the NFC - if the 6 seed in the NFC is a four point favorite to the 1 seed in the NFC, imagine the line had Indy made it. We could have seen double digit odds!

• Picks (this week): 1 - 1 (50.00%) - Winnings: ($4.59): Both home teams haven't won the Conference Championship round since '96 (road teams both did it in '97 - oddly enough, coached by Shanahan and Holmgren, the two HOME team coaches last weekend) so making that pick was haxardous...
• Picks (playoffs):?5 -?5 (50.00%) - Winnings: ($27.27): ...and keeps my record at .500 for the playoffs.
• Spread (this week): 1 - 1 (50.00%) - Winnings: $0.00: Same situation against the spread...
• Spread (playoffs):?5 -?5 (50.00%) - Winnings: $0.00: ...and I'm also even here.
• Over/Under (this week): 1 - 1 (50.00%) - Winnings: ($0.29): Over/under is basically a crap shoot. I'm lucky to be where I am...
• Over/Under (playoffs):?6 -?4 (60.00%) - Winnings: $16.82: ...which is two games over .500, giving me a positive number!
• Total Weekly Winnings: ($4.89): I would have lost another $5.00 this weekend, after putting up $60. Not bad - going out for dinner would cost more than that...
• Total Playoff Winnings: ($9.45): ...as would the $10 I would have lost overall. Unless you're cheap! Or you go alone. But I'm married with kids. I never eat alone!

One last game: Pittsburgh vs. Seattle. It should be a good game. I'll have my prediction up soon!

Technorati Tags: NFL | Predictions | Carolina | Seattle | Pittsburgh | Denver | Playoffs

This morning, I saw quite a few links coming through from Tailrank, so I figured I should check out why. To my surprise, there was RCW #34 right at the top!

I've talked about Tailrank in the past, and how I think it does a good job picking the top stories and top blogs. Now that I've been at the top of the page, I'm starting to wonder how good they can really be!

And to think, I was going to toss the show...

One note to anyone reading this from TailRank. So far, the link from TailRank to my site has been to three different places: A comparison I did between VMWare and Virtual PC, the home page, and most recently, RCW #018. Only one referrer actually to RCW #034. I'm not sure where you guys get the post link from, but it appears to be off - at least for my site!

Technorati Tags: Tailrank | RCW

RossCode Weekly #034 - 01.25.2006

Intro - 0:00
Download this episode -?50:37 /?24.3 MB
Subscribe to RossCode Weekly

Previously on RCW - 1:36
MillionDollarHomepage back up and running
FeedDemon 2.0 - Very nice!

News & Views - 2:53
DOJ Search request
AOL didn't comply with DOJ request
MSN submits data for DOJ request
Google refused to submit data to DOJ request
Gmail has a bug!
Google News leaves beta
Google's caching is fair use
Microsoft licensing portions of Windows source code
Office 12 - No more personalized menus!
Imation acquires Memorex
Disney buys Pixar for $7,000,000,000+
UPN and WB merge
TiVo adding "undelete"
NBA adds broadband content to premium subscriptions
LiveJournal hacked

The Cold Wars - 18:28
Google refuses to pay for priority service
Connect Google Talk to AIM and MSN
Google blocking search results in China
Yahoo concedes search wars to Google, then?says fight is on
Yahoo Answers to allow ads for users who answer
MSN Spaces to partner with Kanoodle for ads on Spaces blogs
Supreme Court won't hear RIM case
HD-DVD and Blu-Ray will have crippled outputs

The Grapevine -?29:51
Vista to support Blu-Ray?
Google uses custom operating system internally
MacBooks coming February 15th
Intel-based iMacs pack a $400+ profit
IE 7 beta 2 leaked to the web
NFL may be putting games online
Wal-Mart and CostCo considering fingerprint payment systems
Yahoo trying to buy Digg.com

Odds & Ends?- 38:01
Run a web server on your phone!
JackTracker

Bonehead of the Week - 41:00
Online cocaine ads not a good idea
Vatican copyrights Pope's words
RIAA says making files available is illegal
MPAA's double standards

Listener Homework - 45:27
Will Steve Jobs ever be CEO of Disney? If so, how long until that happens?
How concerned are you about the government getting queries from search engines?

Contact / Feedback
weekly @ rosscode.com
(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.
Would you like to sponsor RossCode Weekly? Contact me at sponsor @ rosscode.com.

Technorati Tags: RCW | Google | Microsoft | Yahoo | AOL | Technology | Podcast

I'm in the process of upgrading the Tourney Pool Manager to .NET 2.0, and ran into an interesting issue with the Tourney Bracket Control. We struggled to figure out what was going on - it was not displaying correctly. The farther you got down in the NCAA bracket, the less aligned it was.

But we knew it could work, because we have it working just fine in our Quickstarts. So I started comparing how the output was different there compared to the page in the TPM. I eliminated the output from the bracket because it was the same. Removing content around the bracket didn't help either.

Then, I tried one other thing: I noticed that in ASP.NET 2.0, the default head tag has an XML namespace in it. So I copied that and the doc type tags over, and suddenly, the rendering worked in the TPM. Even with adding in all of the surrounding content. So I looked at what was different, and it turns out that the upgraded TPM pages had?a doc type of HTML 4.0, while newly added pages in Visual Studio 2005 have a doc type of XHTML 1.0 (transitional). That's the difference!

We use a lot of CSS and styles for our rendering now - something we didn't do in TBC 1.0. One of the side effects of that is that we now require XHTML rendering to be used.

And in case you were wondering, using XHTML rendering also allows it to display and work correctly in Firefox, something TBC 1.0 didn't do - it worked, but didn't display the lines correctly. Now, it looks the same in IE and Firefox.

Technorati Tags: Tourney+Bracket+Control | XHTML | DOCTYPE

RossCode Weekly #033 - 01.18.2006

Intro - 0:00
Download this episode -?37:13 /?17.9 MB
Subscribe to RossCode Weekly

Previously on RCW - 1:01
Disney and iTunes sells 800,000 shows
Technorati Charts on your blog
Apple wanted to launch more at MacWorld!
Apple's Mac sales slow, but not as much as expected
Apple fixes "SpyTunes"

News & Views - 5:40
GPL v3 draft released
Microsoft extends XP Home support until 2008
Windows XP SP3 delayed unitl 2007
Google getting sued for patent infringement
Podcast ad network launches
Event tickets via text message
Blackcomb becomes Vienna

The Cold Wars - 13:36
Google buys radio ad company
Video ads from Microsoft
ABC NewsNow for free
Feedlounge hits public release
FeedDemon 2 beta 1 released
Google?mobile personalized homepage
Google launches Mobilizer
Opera Mobile beta out for Windows Mobile

The Grapevine -?19:56
Firefox 2 alpha/beta in February?
Ink coming to Virtual Earth?
Technorati goes to: Yahoo or Microsoft?
Tag Cloud live on?Digg
Fox Blu-Ray DRM needs delays PS3
News Corp / DirecTV will make a serious broadband move in 2006
Google Talk activates Jabber integration

Odds & Ends?- 25:17
VoIP wedding!
eBay Developer Challenge
American Idol has web and mobile deals
Roof Ads for Google Maps

Bonehead of the Week - 28:10
Million Dollar Homepage blackmailed

RCW Future - 29:34

Contact / Feedback
weekly @ rosscode.com
(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.
Would you like to sponsor RossCode Weekly? Contact me at sponsor @ rosscode.com.

Technorati Tags: RossCodeWeekly | RCW | Google | Microsoft | Yahoo | Podcast

I saw this today, and, while slightly disgusted, I couldn't stop laughing.

Here's some key words to pique your interest: Beggin' Strips, Potted Meat, Urkel-O's and breast milk. Go now. Or run. That may be smarter!

Thanks, Eric, but you need to make that warning a little bigger!

Note: The site has some bad language. If that bothers you, don't click the link.

So here we are. Down to three games left in the NFL season. How bittersweet. I wish there was more! On the other hand, these are the three most important games of the season, so that's a positive. And they should definitely be good games.

I wonder what the oddsmakers will think of the NFC/AFC match up. The talk all season has been that the AFC is far superior to the NFC, but that doesn't seem to be the talk now. Seattle is a serious contender - they had the second best record in the league, which is a little deceiving when you get four extra bye weeks, also known as games against Arizona and San Fransisco. But it's the NFL - if you're here, you're a good team. No one gave Dilfer and the Ravens a chance against New York a few years back, and we all know how that turned out (if you don't, Baltimore won. I try to pick examples that prove my point!).

• Carolina vs. Seattle (-4) (43.5 O/U): The key here will be Shawn Alexander. Will he play, and if so, can he last a whole game (and carry a full load) against the hard hitters on Carolina's defensive line? Or better yet, can the Seahawk offensive line do what they've done all year, and ensure that Alexander doesn't have to worry about defenders hitting him (he has roughly 15 touchdowns this year where no one had an opportunity to tackle him - basically untouched). If that happens, the passing game opens up for Hasselback, who proved he can still be pretty good even if the running game is a little off. On the other hand, if Carolina can stop the run, that's going to make Hasselback's job quite a bit tougher. And the key for Seattle's defense? How about a deep safety? Don't let Steve Smith get behind your defense. And make sure your corners stay on their feet. It's tough to defend a pass sitting on your butt. Just ask Charles Tillman.
• Pittsburgh vs. Denver (-3) (41 O/U): This will be a rough one. Not only that, but it's?a complete adjustment for the Steelers. So far, they've played Palmer and Cincinnati, and Manning and the Colts. Now they play Plummer and the Broncos. Notice a difference there? No one talks about Plummer as the main guy in Denver. They're the first run-first team the Steelers are going to play in the playoffs, and not only that, you can't prepare for just one back. They'll throw anyone who can hold a football in the backfield, and gain six yards with him. That's a change for Pittsburgh. Blitzing the quarterback over and over won't cut it. Plummer is known for his mistakes when under pressure, but that's a reputation he's shaking with his play this year. Expect him to make smart decisions, even if that means throwing the ball away. His offense is good enough to make up for those plays.

Based on my picks, we should see a Seattle / Denver Super Bowl, but like I said, these will be good match ups, so it won't be surprising to see them go the other way!

Technorati Tags: NFL | predictions | playoffs | Carolina | Seattle | Pittsburgh | Denver

So after all my talk about the home teams being almost unbeatable in the Divisional round, they go 2-2 this weekend. Who knew?! Well, apparently not me.

• Pittsburgh* 21, Indianapolis 18 (-9.5) (47.5 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: $10.00, O/U: $9.17, T: $9.17]: Where do we start? Payton Manning sending the punting unit off the field and converting a mid-field fourth down? The blown calls by the ref? The fumble by Bettis that all but hands the Colts the game? The TD saving tackle by Roethlisberger? Or the missed field goal by one of the best in the business, Mike "Idiot Kicker" Vanderjagt??No. None of those explain what happened in this game. The Colts lost because the Steelers were able to get to Manning without having to blitz. Yes, if you listened to the game commentators, you heard they were only successful when they were blitzing, but the opposite is actually true. They showed blitz, but rarely did (14 times all game). Manning adjusted based on what he saw, and when the blitz didn't come, his quick routes weren't open. He held the ball longer than normal, and as a result, the standard four man rush was able to get to him. Why didn't the offense adjust to this? Who knows. But the pressure (also due to very poor offensive line play) was enough to do two things: keep Manning from having a big game, and keep James from running effectively. He only had 13 attempts, despite the game never really being out of reach for an offense like Indy's. All of this sounds like the loss was solely the Colt's self-distruction. Don't mistake that as me saying the Steelers had nothing to do with that. They caused the self distruction by their stellar play.
• New England 13, Denver 27 (-3) (44 O/U) [P: $6.29, S: $10.00, O/U: $9.52, T: $25.81]: Tom Brady is human. We knew that, but tend to forgot that when you look at his 10-0 playoff record. But this past weekend, he wasn't the same player he was in those other 10 games. He threw high balls. He threw low balls. And he threw ill-advised balls (as was the case in Bailey's 100 yard interception return). But why didn't Brady have the success he usually does? Well, it's something that's plagued them in the past, but hasn't killed them - until they met Denver. They lack a running game. Corey Dillon was good in Cincinnati, but why hasn't he been all that good in New England? Could it be because when he played for Cincinnati, they were bad? Follow me here for a minute. They were bad. They were losing early in a?lot of games. What do teams do when they are down big early in games? Pass! What types of defenses do they face, then? Pass defenses. So it's really no wonder that when Dillon got the ball that he had room to run. Now fast forward to his time with the Patriots. They aren't usually down early, so he's expected to get the ball, and suddenly, he's not putting up solid numbers.
• Washington 10, Seattle 20 (-9.5) (41 O/U) [P: $2.38, S: $10.00, O/U: ($10.00), T: $2.38]: Washington took cues from Pittsburgh and eliminated the other team's best player early in the game. But it wasn't as successful as it was for the Steelers. Instead, Hasselback took the team on his back and willed them to win. Oh, and it was helped by Washington's propensity to try to come after him. Blitzing against a good quarterback simply doesn't work. You can't leave a solid quarterback for even two or three seconds when they are looking at single coverage. They don't get nervous like younger quarterbacks, and they'll burn you if you do it enough.
• Carolina 29, Chicago 21 (-2.5) (30 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: ($10.00), O/U: $9.62, T: ($10.38)]: Remember how all season I've been questioning the Bears defense? Everyone was touting how good they were, but I kept pointing out that their main competition came from the NFC North - six of their 16 games. Well, it turns out I was right. Or they had a bad game. My guess is it's a bit of both. Carolina took advantage of their mistakes - how do you let Steve Smith get behind the corner without safety help three times? Two ended with Smith in the endzone after the corner looked back at the quarterback while Smith kept running. This, after he racked up 160+ receiving yards the first time they met. Grossman showed he is inexperienced, going 17 of 41, including a very untimely interception late in the game. So let's see. Every first-time quarterback in the playoffs this year lost their first game. Of course, everyone said that the Bears offense had to step up to win in the playoffs. What was it? They had to score 20 or more points - their defense was good enough that if they scored 20 or more, they would win. Well, they scored 21, and it wasn't good enough. I'm not saying Grossman's play is excusable, but he wasn't the reason for the loss. A defense that allowed 61 points at home in eight games gave up 29 in this one. That's why they lost.

Results Summary

• Picks (this week): 2 - 2 (50.00%) - Winnings: ($11.33): Hmm. Same record as home teams.
• Picks (playoffs):?4 -?4 (50.00%) - Winnings: ($21.68): So much for the sure bet, huh?
• Spread (this week): 3 - 1 (75.00%) - Winnings: $20.00: By picking Pittsburgh to cover, I actually did OK here.
• Spread (playoffs):?4 - 4 (50.00%) - Winnings: $0.00: Even for the playoffs. Not too bad.
• Over/Under (this week): 3 - 1 (75.00%) - Winnings: $18.31: Somehow, I just knew!
• Over/Under (playoffs):?5 -?3 (62.50%) - Winnings: $17.11: I'm now up in a category. Nice
• Total Weekly Winnings: $26.98: Big week, despite not getting the whole home team thing right.
• Total Playoffs Winnings: ($4.56): Hanging around even, which isn't too bad. Could be better though!

So the Conference Finals are set! Once again, I can't wait!

Technorati Tags: NFL | predictions | playoffs