Friday, June 26, 2009

Michael Jackson dead at 50. The 'King of Pop' is no more.

The sensationally gifted Michael Jackson died at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Ed Winter, the assistant chief coroner for Los Angeles County, confirmed his office had been notified of the death and would handle the investigation.

The circumstances of Jackson’s death were not immediately clear. Jackson was not breathing when Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles home about 12:30 p.m., Capt. Steve Ruda told the Los Angeles Times. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to the hospital, Ruda told the newspaper.

Jackson’s death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music’s premier all-around performer, who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage.

Jackson was preparing for what was to be his greatest comeback: He was scheduled for an unprecedented 50 shows at a London arena, with the first set for July 13. He was in rehearsals in Los Angeles for the concert, an extravaganza that was to capture the classic Jackson magic: showstopping dance moves, elaborate staging and throbbing dance beats.

I will always remember Michael Jackson for the entertainer that he was! Love you Michael, RIP.



This is one song that will remain with me forever!


Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Outrage after Microsoft decides to ignore web standards in Outlook 2010

Yes, Microsoft is down to it's dirty tactics yet again! A senior member of the Outlook team confirmed they plan on continuing to use Word to render HTML emails. Not only that, but early tests indicate that HTML support in the Word engine has not been improved in any way. Same bugs. Same quirks.

Email Standards Project put in a lot of effort to demonstrate just how bad the Word rendering engine is in Outlook 2010. Here’s exactly the same email rendered in Outlook 2000, and then Outlook 2010. Click the image for a full sized version.



Outlook 2010 is still in beta and a year away from public release. Thankfully, Microsoft want to hear your feedback about this. To send the strongest message yet to Microsoft, the team at Email Standards Project have built fixoutlook.org.



All you have to do is tweet your thoughts about this issue, and make sure you include the fixoutlook.org URL somewhere in the tweet. The more tweets, the more impact, so please start spreading the word today and encourage your friends and colleagues to do the same.


Saturday, June 13, 2009

Stanley Cup 2009 Final - Penguins defeat Red Wings


DETROIT - The Penguins won a third Cup in their history and their first since their championships in 1991 and 1992. The Penguins avenged last year's loss to the same Red Wings, who could not repeat as champion against a gifted young team that had too much energy and firepower for the battered and perhaps fatigued home side.

Max Talbot scored two goals and the Pittsburgh Penguins overcame an injury in the second period to captain Sidney Crosby to defeat the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in a gripping Game 7 to win the Stanley Cup on Friday night. Rookie Jonathan Ericsson scored with 6:07 left in the third period for Detroit, which failed in a bid for a second straight Cup and fifth in 12 seasons.

"I looked up at the clock and there were six seconds left and I couldn't believe it was actually going to happen," said Penguins forward Bill Guerin.

Marc-Andre Fleury, chased from the net after allowing five goals in Game 5 a week ago, bounced back with a huge game as the crowd of 20,066 spurred their team with chants and roars through a stunning end to what had been a thriller series between Pittsburgh'young talent and Detroit's cool and efficient veterans.

The Penguins led 1-0 at the time and Talbot got his second goal five minutes later as Crosby's teammates, many getting more ice time than they're used to, worked to contain an all-out attack from the desperate Red Wings the rest of the way.

Detroit controlled the opening minutes of a scoreless first period, but by mid-period, the Penguins began to press and Jordan Staal was stopped on a good chance from in front. But late in the period, Fleury stoned Red Wings veteran Kirk Maltby from the doorstep.

Pittsburgh was in the Detroit end from the opening faceoff of the second frame and it produced the first goal as Malkin stripped Brad Stuart of the puck and fed Talbot, who beat Chris Osgood with a shot along the ice to the far post at 1:17.

At 10:09, Chris Kunitz won a battle with Stuart to set up a two-on-one break. Talbot elected to shoot and his high attempt found the top corner to Osgood's glove side.

The Penguins matched the 1971 Montreal Canadiens as the only teams to win the Cup on the road in Game 7 after home teams won all six previous games, and the only teams to win two Game 7s on the road in the same playoff year. Pittsburgh won in Washington in seven in the second round.

The Penguins looked unlikely even to make the playoffs in mid-February, but the replacement of head coach Michel Therrien with rookie Dan Bylsma, the return of Sergei Gonchar from injury and trades for Kunitz and Guerin let them finish the regular season 18-3-4 and carry their hot run into the post-season.

Bylsma became only the second rookie coach to win the Cup after joining his team in mid-season, after Al MacNeil with the 1971 Canadiens.

The Penguins are 5-0 all-time in playoff game 7s on the road.