Kobe scores 81 points in 3 minutes!

Actually, it took him 1 game to do it but they took all of his shots and put them into a 3 minute video. Almost every shot was a swish! The rest of his team scored 41. 55 of Kobe's points came in the second half...amazing! The Lakers won that game 122 to 104.

This is the second highest scoring game in NBA history (behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point game, March 2nd, 1962).

internet maps...Google vs. Yahoo!

I am a huge fan of Google Maps but I just discovered that Yahoo! has a similar service now called Yahoo! Maps...and I like the features that it has better than what Google offers.

A lot of companies, including Yahoo!, have been playing catch up to keep up with all the innovations that Google introduces. Personally, I think that Yahoo! has caught up to and leaped a little bit ahead of Google for once. You can read more about the features of Yahoo! Maps here.

Here are the features which set Yahoo! Maps apart from Goggle Maps:

1. There is a small collapsable overview map inset in the top right hand corner to quickly move to another area. Also allows quick zoom.
2. Live traffic reports and construction updates.
3. You can display the locations of areas of interest on the map. Categories include ATM's & Services, Entertainment & Shopping, Restaurants, and Travel. Those familar with Google Maps knows that it does this too but I think that Yahoo! has done a better job of it. When your mouse floats over the list of locations (such as all Mexican restaurants), the location is highlighted on the map. You can click on the location (in the list or the map) and immediately get the phone number and address (very useful info!).
It provides quick links for driving directions and to top it off, you can rate the restaurant and view other peoples ratings and comments about the restaurant (very cool and useful!). You can even filter the list of restaurants by rating if you like. Everything you can view in the list is also viewable directly in the map too. Changing the visible area of the map to a different area causes the list to be updated.
4. Ease of entry when entering address, just like Google maps. You are not forced to tab through a form and enter all the address info. For example, in one text box you can simply enter "7426 Beechmont Ave # 206 Cincinnati OH" without any commas. This is the address of my favorite fast food Mexican restaurant, Moe's Southwestern Grille..."Welcome to Moe's!" These guys do burritos right and are much better than Chipotle (I'll save this for another blog.) For my Kentucky friends, there is a new Moe's located in the new Crestview Town Centre (near Dillard's.) I'm getting hungry! Anyway, after the directions are displayed you can hover over top of each step and the section of roadway is highlighted in the map (very cool!).
5. When getting driving directions you can easily enter multiple stops along the way. This is something that Google can not do. What is really cool is you can search for something like Wendy's or Shell Gas and drag-n-drop the the map pinpoint to the driving directions area and very quickly add it to your list of stops. So you don't even need to type out addresses anymore!
6. One place that Google Maps has Yahoo! Maps beat is the ability to overlay a satellite image. Although this does not help you too much when you really just need infomation or directions. It does however let you checkout what is in your neighbors backyard :-) So this tends to be a toy feature.

fowl words

Here is a good little mind exercising game called fowl words. It's a fun little game with some funny sound affects. The sound is enhanced and sounds really good through some quality speakers and a sub wolfer. I know...only a geek would be so happy about clucking chickens :-) Be careful, it can be addictive!

Let me know if you beat my high score of 53,200 points for 10 rounds.

Here's a handy tip: use the spacebar to rearrange the letters. Sometimes it helps to see the letters in a differnt order.

I want to drive one of these...it deforms your face!

The Ariel Atom is a cool little, 300hp, exo-skeleton looking car. VERRRRY fast. 0 to 60 in 2.9 seconds! It has no windshield and no outer body panels. Everything is exposed. It's like a motorcycle on 4 wheels. Be prepared to laugh as Jeremy (from Top Gear) gets his face ripped off, as he puts it.

amazing foosball shots

My brother, Mike, and I used to play foosball all night long in our basement until our hands got blisters. I would ALWAYS beat my brother (of course he might say otherwise) but I was never able to do what this guy can do. What amazing control! Here's some more amazing moves. It's really hard to see what is happening until you see it in slow motion.

cool Christmas light display

This house is in Mason, OH. It's one of the coolest (and probably the most anoying if you are one of his neighbors) light displays I've ever seen. It's set to music so turn your speakers on. Although at $10,000 to put together, it's a bit pricey so I think I stick to a few simple strings of lights.

You can see a Today Show interview with the guy (Carson Williams) that put up the display. I did not get to see this in person because they shut it down because of a car accident which occured because of his light display.

cars, cars, cars...with a British accent

I recently discovered video.google.com. There are several videos from the Top Gear TV show. Think of it as Motor Week...with a British accent. How did these guys get so lucky to get a job driving these exotic cars? I also wonder where the TV show gets all the money to purchase (and some times abuse) these cars.

Logan and I have found several that we like to watch. Since I don't have cable or satellite TV (we have not had this for 13 years now, that's right, just 5 channels and rabbit ears for us), I simply hook up my Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop to the TV via an S-Video cable, connect the Altec Lansing speakers and sub wolfer...and we kick back on the couch and watch.

Here are some of our favorites...or should I say...with a British accent... "favourites".

CAR: Ford GT
SYNOPSIS: This is a very cool car and a very funny segment. We got to see one in person at the Dayton Auto Expo last year. The tall guy on the show demonstrates how he is unable to fit into the original Ford GT-40...he can't close the door because his head sticks out of the top of the car :-) He even demonstrates how much trouble he has getting into the car when parked next to another car in a parking lot...it's hilarious!
Later he admits that he is one of the lucky ones that is getting one of 28 that are being shipped to Britian. He plans to drive it ALL the time but, he has a slight problem...it only gets 4 miles to the gallon. That's only 75 miles/tank of gas and he lives 76 miles from his office.

CAR: Ford F-150 Lightning
SYNOPSIS: Its interesting to hear a foreigners take on one of America's strongest symbols, the pick-up truck. The guy puts us down (in a humorous way) for being uncivilized for our fascination with pick-up trucks. He also puts down the poor quality that is exhibited in the interior of the truck...I have to admit, it did look pretty bad for being a new truck.

CAR: Toyota Aygo
SYNOPSIS: What's interesting about this video is what they do with the small, cheap cars...they play soccer with them. They actually drive around with 10 of them (5 on a team) and try to hit a 5' tall soccer ball into a goal...it's crazy!

CAR: Mitsubishi Evolution VIII
SYNOPSIS: Amazing handling...amazing speed in an unassuming, normal looking car. It even beats a Lamborghini in a race!

CAR: Lotus Exige
SYNOPSIS: The coolest thing about this video is that they pit the car against an Apache attack helicopter.

CAR: Bugatti Veyron
SYNOPSIS: Fast forward to the 12:00 minute mark
2 V8 engines...4 turbo chargers...1000 horsepower...top speed of 252 MPH...0-60 in 2.5 seconds...nuff said!
- It consumes all it's fuel (26 gallons) in 12 minutes when run flat out.
- Goes from 252 MPH to 0 MPH in 10 seconds.
- It can beat a McLaren F1 in a 0 to 200 MPH race, even after giving the McLaren a 120 MPH head start.
- Amazing!

My family

I have a beautiful wife, Elaine, and two awesome kids, Logan Alexander (4 years old) and Monica Louise (18 months old). Here are some pictures of them (OK, they are old pictures).