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Posts with tag sports
Switched at the US Open: 5 Tips to Improve Your Sports Photos
by Thomas Houston, posted Sep 7th 2008 at 10:29AM
We braved packed subways and hordes of polo shirts, ankle-length white tube socks and visors to check out the US Open in New York last week (thanks to Olympus, which invited us to test out a couple of its new digital cameras at the event. Between the matches, we were able to sit down for an interview with Jay Kinghorn, an experienced sports shooter, photography lecturer, and author of 'Perfect Digital Photography.' Read on after the break for five of Jay's tips on improving your action sports photography (and our use of the tips at courtside).
Swany's Snowboard Gloves Secretly Double as Bluetooth Handset
Swany asserts that it'll last for 12 hours on standby (4 hours of talk time), though your phone may crap out a few hours earlier in extreme temperatures. Now that we think about it, wrestling that mobile out of our deep coat pockets with frostbitten hands is pretty annoying -- maybe that $495 price tag isn't so staggering after all. [Via bookofjoe, thanks llya]
Olympic Medalist Says Nintendo Wii Helped Him Prep for Competition
Look folks, we won't deny that hardcore usage of the Wii could result in weight loss, but we have all ideas Japan's Kosuke Kitajima relied a lot more on swimming laps religiously and eating a set diet than playing Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. Nevertheless, the Olympic gold medalist, who snagged said medal in the men's 100-meter breaststroke earlier this week, did mention that he used the game to prepare his mind. "See, Mario does the breaststroke," he stated, "and thus, it's perfect mental training for envisioning the actual Olympic hall." We'd say that's being mighty generous, but whatever gets you to the other end first, right?[Via Joystiq]
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Madden 09 Marks 20 Years of Digital Football
It's Madden day, the most anticipated day of the year for many gaming sports fans, when the latest installment of the hugely popular NFL game is released for just about every gaming platform out there -- even the aged PlayStation 2. With publisher EA's lock on the NFL license, it's basically the only game in town, and with no competition, it gets only incrementally better and better every year. This year's edition, 'Madden 09,' follows that trend by delivering a little more polish here (improved graphics) and a few extra features there (the ability to retry plays), but hardly anything groundbreaking. Here's a roundup of the reviews we've seen posted thus-far.
- Gamespot loves the improved graphics and the backtrack feature that lets you rewind a play and try it again, but laments the disappointing online league play.
- IGN echoes most of those comments, indicating there isn't all that much new here.
- 1UP is rather more positive, gushing that the game is "so visually impressive that it's likely to stick in your system all season long."
For more on Madden 09, check out the coverage at Joystiq.
Were Parts of the Olympics Opening Ceremonies Faked?
by Tim Stevens, posted Aug 11th 2008 at 8:47AM
The sequence was deemed to have been "prohibitive to have tried to film it live," and so the 55-seconds of the footsteps spanning the city were done digitally. In the American broadcast, NBC did indeed indicate that particular sequence was done digitally, but other broadcasters worldwide apparently did not, leading to the controversy. So, good on NBC for that, but it too is being called out for some digital hijinx, which consisted of re-arranging the sequence of the parade of nations and omitting some entirely (apparently the US team came out earlier than was shown on the broadcast).
Both of these supposed controversies seem a bit silly to us. Given all the pressure and fears leading up to the games, we're just glad things went off without a hitch. [Source: The Telegraph, and The LA Times]
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Fake Olympics Tickets Leaving Many Spectators Stranded
Oh, 2008 Beijing Olympics, is there anything you can't get wrong ahead of the opening ceremonies? As if the stories over censorship, pollution, and human rights violations weren't enough, now comes word from Reuters that Internet ticketing scams for this year's Olympics are at an all-time high, leaving many people who paid good money for (supposedly) good seats with nothing.
Many of the online ticket vendors have been shut down, but others, such as BeijingTicketing.com, are still up and operational, leading many to accuse the organizers of ignoring the problem. Sadly, many of these fake tickets are sold as being available for pickup at the box office, meaning many people won't find out about the scam until they get there -- possibly after flying half-way around the world. Imagine traveling to China to find out not only that you've been scammed, but that the event you wanted to see is completely sold out!
Unfortunately, this message is coming through a little too late to help many folks, but is at least another reminder to be careful when you're typing in that credit card number. According to Xinhua News Agency, the Beijing Olympics organizers are recommending that people only buy tickets through legitimate vendors, such as the official Beijing Olympics Web site at www.tickets.beijing2008.cn. [Source: Reuters and Xinhua News Agency]
NBC to Stream Live NFL Games Online This Fall
In a bid to provide more digital content, the NFL will stream 17 live, regular season games on NBCsports.com and NFL.com. This is the first time that NFL games have ever been streamed live. Football Fans Rejoice!
The video will be courtesy of the NBC broadcast feed, and will feature announcers Al Michaels and John Madden, two of the most respected announcers in sports. The NFL and NBC will likely split whatever online ad revenue emerges from the joint venture. We are sure there will be a lot of it.
Don't think you have to wait long for this to happen either. The season opener between the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins on September 4 will be the first game streamed live.
Nice. [Source: USA Today}
"Smart Devices" to Monitor Cars During Beijing Olympics
Chinese officials are taking steps to improve air quality and traffic gridlock in Beijing by cutting automobile travel via heavy traffic restrictions during the Olympic games. China's capital city is quickly becoming one the world's most-congested, with over 1,000 new cars being added to the city's streets each day. So how do they plan to do it?
It looks like they've gone with a high-tech route: Authorities have installed more than 10,000 "smart devices" on major roads and Olympic routes around the city. These devices include cameras and various scanners that can be used to identify individual automobiles. Starting July 20, cars will be banned on alternate days depending on the last number of their license plates. Regarding the system, a spokesman from the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau said, "They form a monitoring interface so that as soon as illegal cars hit the street, they will be discovered."
Offenders will be fined 100 yuan (approximately $15). Ouch. The Chinese government must really want to make sure that other countries think that it cares about air pollution. [Source: Reuters]
Shadow Caddy Follows Your Every Move (and Swing)
In golf, the helpful caddy is a rare site these days among amateur players, replaced typically by motorized golf carts or little three-wheeled rollers. But, driving around in a cart takes away something from the nature of the game, and dragging your bag behind you isn't all that much better than carrying it. If you're looking for another option -- and have oodles of cash to blow -- you might want to check out the Shadow Caddy, a robotic club carrier that follows you wherever you go.
It relies on a transceiver clipped onto the golfer's belt, locking on and tracking the wearer like a heat-seeking missile. As you walk about the course, it stays a few feet behind, stopping when you push a button on the nose so that you can make your putt without the thing cruising across your line. Presumably you're expected to remember to tap the same button before digging for your ball in the bunker, too, lest you want to dig your new robot out too. And, at about $6,000 each, you'll want to do your best to keep sand out of the thing. [Source: Mail Online]
It relies on a transceiver clipped onto the golfer's belt, locking on and tracking the wearer like a heat-seeking missile. As you walk about the course, it stays a few feet behind, stopping when you push a button on the nose so that you can make your putt without the thing cruising across your line. Presumably you're expected to remember to tap the same button before digging for your ball in the bunker, too, lest you want to dig your new robot out too. And, at about $6,000 each, you'll want to do your best to keep sand out of the thing. [Source: Mail Online]
Soccer Star Accidentally Reveals Team Change Via Facebook
Where will the madness end? We've seen people dumped on Facebook, fired because of Facebook, and now one football (that's what they call soccer across the pond) player has inadvertently revealed, thanks for Facebook, that he was trying out for a different team, unbeknownst to his current club.UK soccer player Ashley-Paul Robinson, currently a member of the Crystal Palace team, updated his Facebook status recently to say "Ashley-Paul is goin fulham on monday. If i pull dis off im on dis ting," revealing his trial with a rival club. Robinson was apparently unaware that his status would be shared not just with his 194 Facebook friends, but with the entire London network. Worse still, it took Robinson a few days to realize his error. The next day he updated with "Ashley-Paul is travling 2 Bath With Fulham Fingers Crossed."
Upon realizing his faux-paux, he tried to make light of the situation with his status by posting "Ashley-Paul has been very naughty lol!" But his management wasn't laughing, and a source within the team is quoted as saying, "It's pretty embarrassing for the club that this guy is telling the world he's looking to leave the club." [Source: Shiny Shiny]
NBC Lays Out 2008 Beijing Olympics Coverage Plans
Granted, this is speaking strictly of coverage here in the United States, but there's no denying that nations across the globe are doing their best to snatch up as much of the Games as possible. For a complete rundown of what to expect just under a month from now, bookmark the links below.
Read - NBC announces Olympics plans
Read - Coverage listings
GPS Golf Balls Tell You Exactly Where They've Gone
by Peter Mychalcewycz, posted May 27th 2008 at 11:10AM
For many, a day on the golf course is a chance to leave the world behind, commune with nature and drink. Heavily. For others, it is a chance to vent and break things and curse a lot.
Geostate, a British company, doesn't want to change this at all. It justs wants you to be able to tell you where your ball is since you've worm-burned it into the nearest shrubbery. That would be the shrubbery between the white tees and the ladies tees, in case you were wondering. To accomplish this, the company has begun working on a GPS-enabled microchip that would allow a person to know how far and fast the ball has traveled, among other things. In other words, the same technology used to give people driving directions will now help people with their golf game.
This could be useful for people attempting to tweak their game, but one has to wonder where/if Geostate sees a broad market for this.
Of course, that's what they said about pet rocks.
Sigh. [Source: DailyMail]
The Future of Tennis, According to Lacoste
by Peter Mychalcewycz, posted May 23rd 2008 at 11:19AM
How would we describe Lacoste's vision of the future of tennis? Hmmm. Here goes...
Imagine your favorite tennis player. Now toss in a pinch of 'Robocop,' a dash of P Diddy's white party, and a whole bunch of 'Tron.' Mix this all together and you will start to have an idea of what Lacoste has cooked up.
Lacoste's vision, set 75 years in the future (in honor of Lacoste's 75th-anniversary) is a technopile's dream. It is also, generally speaking, just plain cool. The futuristic player prototype wears motorcycle-racing-inspired boots, body armor, and wields a retractable laser green racquet. Sweet. All of the aforementioned gear is predominantly white (a vintage Lacoste touch). This description gives you an idea of what to expect, but you truly need to experience the video of said prototype running and diving around like Pete Sampras on crack to truly appreciate this marriage of sport and technology.
Is this the future of tennis? We hope so. And we haven't even seen the ladies' outfits yet. [Source: DVICE].
Oscar Pistorius Free to Qualify for Olympics on Prosthetics
