Doctor's Poker Game

A well-respected surgeon was relaxing on his sofa one evening just
after arriving home from work. As he was tuning into the evening news,
the phone rang. The doctor calmly answered it and heard the familiar
voice of a colleague on the other end of the line.

"We need a fourth for poker," said the friend.

"I'll be right over," whispered the doctor.

As he was putting on his coat, his wife asked, "Is it serious?"

"Oh yes, quite serious," said the doctor gravely. "In fact, three
doctors are there already!"

Grizzlies sign Iranian center Haddadi

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP)—The Memphis Grizzlies signed free-agent center Hamed Haddadi, who played for the Iranian national team in the Olympics.

The 7-foot-2, 254-pound Haddadi averaged 16.6 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2.6 blocks in Beijing.

The 23-year-old Haddadi spent the 2007-08 season playing for Saba Battery BC in the Iranian Super League.

source: yahoo sports

Ferguson plans to field strong team in Super Cup Preview

MONACO, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Alex Ferguson is likely to use Friday's European Super Cup match against Zenit St Petersburg as the perfect opportunity to revitalise his Manchester United team after a tricky start to the season.Zenit will be looking for another British scalp in the traditional match between the winners of the previous season's Champions League and UEFA Cup, which the Russian side clinched with victory in the May final against Scotland's Rangers.


United have been hit by injuries, suspensions and Olympic call-ups this month but Ferguson is hoping club skipper Gary Neville, fit after a series of career-threatening injuries, Nani, who has had a league suspension, and Brazil's Anderson, just back from the Beijing Games, will play a part on Friday.

'I think we'll view the Super Cup as a one-off and we want to win it obviously,' Ferguson said at a press briefing at United's Carrington training ground before leaving for Monaco.'But it is also an opportunity to play Anderson, back from the Olympic Games, Nani who's available from suspension, and if possible Gary Neville. I think those three will all figure in Friday's game.'Patrice Evra and Wayne Rooney will also be involved. After that it depends who's back from injury - if Owen Hargreaves has maintained his training performances he will play. I think we'll play a strong team but there'll certainly be some changes.'

United will, however, be without the injured Michael Carrick, Cristiano Ronaldo, not yet fit after surgery, and Ryan Giggs who has a hamstring problem.Anderson and Carlos Tevez, who missed United's disappointing 1-1 draw against Newcastle United in the opening league game of the season because of a family bereavement, returned to the side for Monday's 1-0 win at Portsmouth.

Ferguson will be hoping they also feature against the Russian champions at the Stade Louis II.Zenit, who scored some impressive victories on their way to lifting the UEFA Cup, should have their latest acquisition, Portugal midfielder Danni, available.He joined Zenit for a Russian league record €30 million from Dynamo Moscow this week and is expected to play against United.'Danni looked good in training and he'll get a chance against Manchester United provided that all the paper work is done on time,' Zenit coach Dick Advocaat told reporters.Unsettled playmaker Andrei Arshavin, who could still move abroad following his fine showing at Euro 2008, is also included in the squad.'Arshavin is flying with us to Monaco but I haven't decided yet if he would play or not,' said Advocaat, mindful of the fact that the summer transfer window is closing shortly.Arshavin, who has been strongly linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur in England for the last two months, missed Zenit's last league match on Sunday.Zenit won 3-0 at Krylya Sovietov Samara to move back into title contention. They trail league leaders Rubin Kazan by 11 points with 11 matches left.


source: soccernet.

Robinho could make Chelsea debut against Spurs

Real Madrid forward Robinho should complete his €36m (£28.7m) transfer to Chelsea in time to make his debut in the home derby with Tottenham Hotspur, according to his agent Wagner Ribeiro.

NatachaPisarenko/AP

The Brazilian international could bring his skills to the Premier League.

Ribeiro said on Wednesday night that he expects his client to be a Chelsea player 'by either tomorrow or Friday,' adding in the The Daily Telegraph, 'he should be available to [Luiz Felipe] Scolari for this weekend'.

Robinho, along with Deco, who has already made the switch from Spain to Stamford Bridge, were selected as Scolari's main transfer targets when he became manager of the Blues in the summer.

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon shares Scolari's desire to lure Robinho to London and believes the Brazilian international can take the club to the 'next level'.

'He's the right age and he comes from Madrid so he understands what a big club is all about,' Kenyon said.

'What we're doing is supporting Scolari. He wants to change and move the style a bit [and] is confident about the player's ability and mentality and that he will fit in and make an impact.'

Chelsea had two bids for the 24-year-old rejected by Madrid earlier in the transfer window but the La Liga club's desire to use Robinho as a make-weight during their pursuit of Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo has unsettled the player and he now wants to quit the Santiago Bernabéu.

He is expected to receive a salary of £70,000 a week at Chelsea, double his income at Madrid.

Robinho is expected to wear the No7 shirt vacated by Andriy Shevchenko, who has rejoined Milan two years after Chelsea signed him for £30m.

Chelsea are so confident of concluding the deal with Real Madrid that fans can already buy Robinho shirts at the club's online megastore

Meanwhile, there seems little prospect of another Brazilian, Kaka, leaving AC Milan to join the Blues, not least because the playmaker is happy at the San Siro.

Chelsea were linked with a world-record £80million bid for Kaka, but he told Italian sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport: 'Me going to Chelsea? I'm staying as a Rossoneri player.

'I should help Milan to win the trophies we're up for this season.'

He added: 'I've always said I'm happy at Milan and as long as my aims remain the same as Milan's I'll stay here. Until now it's always been that way.

'My goal is to win, Milan's is too. As long as we are like that, I'll remain at Milan.'

source: soccernet

Manchester City re-sign SWP

Manchester City have re-signed Shaun Wright-Phillips from Chelsea for an undisclosed fee - reported to be around £9million.

GettyImages

Wright-Phillips (r) moved to Manchester City after talks with Chelsea boss Felipe Scolari (l).

The 26-year-old passed a medical on Thursday morning and signed a four-year contract with the club where he made his name before moving to Stamford Bridge for £21million three years ago.

Wright-Phillips, who was initially reluctant to make the move but decided to call time on his career at Stamford Bridge after a meeting with manager Luiz Felipe Scolari, said: 'Obviously I'm delighted to come back to City and I just can't wait to get started again.'

Manager Mark Hughes expressed his delight at concluding the deal as his team arrived in Denmark for the second leg of their tricky UEFA Cup clash with FC Midtjylland.

Hughes said: 'I've always admired him and he's certainly been a target of mine since I came to the football club.

'To actually secure the deal and bring Shaun back home is a fantastic coup for us and I'm sure the supporters will be just as excited as we are to have him back at Manchester City.'

Wright-Phillips enjoyed a seven-year spell with City from 1998 until 2005 before moving to Stamford Bridge, where the England winger started only 43 matches during is three seasons with the Blues.

He will make his return home debut against former club Chelsea on September 13.

source: soccernet

Ronaldo named European Club Footballer of Year

MONACO, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo was named UEFA's European Club Footballer of the Year on Thursday after scoring 42 goals last season including eight in the Champions League.

The award was made during the draw for this year's group phase at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.

Ronaldo was also named as the forward of the year for helping United win the European Cup for the third time.

Three Chelsea players who were in the side beaten by United in the Moscow final in May, won awards. John Terry was named as defender of the year, Petr Cech goalkeeper of the year and Frank Lampard midfielder of the year.

UEFA Championship Draw

Matches begin on September 16/17.

Group A
Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Chelsea (ENG)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
AS Roma (ITA)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bordeaux (FRA)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
CFR 1907 Cluj (ROU)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Full group fixtures

Group B
Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Internazionale (ITA)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Werder Bremen (GER)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Panathinaikos (GRE)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Anorthosis Famagusta (CYP)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Full group fixtures

Group C
Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
FC Barcelona (ESP)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sporting Lisbon (POR)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
FC Basel (SUI)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Full group fixtures

Group D
Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Liverpool (ENG)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
PSV Eindhoven (NED)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Marseille (FRA)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Atlético Madrid (ESP)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Full group fixtures

Group E
Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Manchester United (ENG)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Villarreal (ESP)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Celtic (SCO)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Aalborg BK (DEN)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Full group fixtures

Group F
Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bayern Munich (GER)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Steaua Bucharest (ROU)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Fiorentina (ITA)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Full group fixtures

Group G
Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Arsenal (ENG)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
FC Porto (POR)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Fenerbahce (TUR)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dynamo Kiev (UKR)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Full group fixtures

Group H
Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Real Madrid (ESP)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Juventus (ITA)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BATE Borisov (BLR)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Full group fixtures

UEFA Championship Starts Now

MONTE CARLO, Monaco -- Defending champion Manchester United was drawn Thursday into a group with Scotland's Glasgow Celtic, Spain's Villarreal and Denmark's Aalborg in the first round of the European Champions League.

"We always love to draw the champion of Europe as we did last year," said Celtic forward Scott McDonald, whose team faced Barcelona in the opening round of last season's tournament. "All of those things add up to good things and get us to the next round again. They're going to be fantastic games."

United's trip to Villarreal in Group E will revive memories of Wayne Rooney's ejection in September 2005, a tournament in which Alex Ferguson's team failed to progress to the second round.

Chelsea, which lost May's final on penalty kicks to the Red Devils, also has a relatively easy group, featuring AS Roma, Bordeaux and Romania's CFR Cluj.

Five-time champion Liverpool, which needed a 118th-minute goal Wednesday to qualify, was drawn into a group with PSV Eindhoven, Atletico Madrid and Olympique Marseille. That means Liverpool's star striker Fernando Torres, who scored the winner for Spain against Germany in June's European Championship final, gets a chance to face his former team.

"With Fernando and the other Spanish players, there will be huge, huge interest in that one," Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry said. "It's great. That's what makes the Champions League so exciting. It's fantastic."

Juventus has a tough return to the lucrative competition after a two-year absence. The Italians will have to overcome nine-time champion Real Madrid, UEFA Cup winner Zenit St. Petersburg and debutante BATE of Belarus.

Two-time champion Barcelona will meet Sporting Lisbon, Basel and Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk, while Arsenal faces Dynamo Kiev, Turkey's Fenerbahce and Porto.

Inter Milan is with Werder Bremen, Panathinaikos and Cyprus' Anorthosis Famagusta, and Bayern Munich was drawn to face Fiorentina, Lyon and Steaua Bucharest.

Security flaw exposes password-protected iPhones

A serious security hole in the latest iPhone software exposes email, text and voice messages to whoever gets their hands on the device, despite it being password-protected.

Clicking emergency call and double-clicking the 'home' button brings up the favourites on iPhone 2.0.2, which opens up the address book, the dial keypad and voicemail, according to a report on Gizmodo, which got the tip on the hole from the MacRumors Forum.

Then, clicking on the blue arrows next to the names gives access to private information in a favourite entry, clicking in a mail address opens up the mail application, clicking on a URL in the contact information opens up Safari, and clicking on 'send a text message[ in a contact gives full access to the text messages.

The report suggests using the 'home' setting so that double-clicking on the home button will take whoever is holding the phone to the unlock screen page.

Engadget reports that a fix for the hole will be included in the next firmware update, but it's not known when that update will come.

Representatives from Apple did not respond to emails seeking comment.

source: Elinor Mills CNET News.com

Road Signs

Road signs are a real indication of what an area is like.
In Virginia you have signs saying "Deer Crossing".

At Yellowstone you have signs saying "Bear Crossing".

In Africa you have signs saying "Elephant Crossing".

And in Washington DC, you have signs saying "Double Crossing".

Microsoft reveals IE8 Beta 2

With several days to spare before its self-imposed deadline, Microsoft Corp. today launched the second beta version of its upcoming Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) browser but would not commit to a ship date for the final version.

In early June, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, then still a full-time employee of the company, promised that it would post IE8 Beta 2 before the end of August.

Today's preview includes several new features introduced since March's Beta 1 debut, but only two of them haven't been openly discussed already, said James Pratt, a senior product manager in the IE development team.

"About 80% of the time, when people are on the Web, they're browsing to sites they've visited before," said Pratt, pointing to what Microsoft has dubbed IE8's "smart address bar."

Much like the revamped location bar that Mozilla Corp. added to Firefox 3.0 -- which it calls the "Awesome Bar" -- IE8's address field now can be used to search for previously-visited sites by typing in words or phrases.

Unlike Firefox's tools, however, IE8's doesn't rely on an integrated database to store and then retrieve those URLs. Instead, said Pratt, Microsoft relies on its Windows Desktop search application, which is bundled with Windows Vista but is a separate download and installation for Windows XP users.

Last month, Microsoft warned users that it would soon begin pushing out an automatic update of Windows Desktop 4.0 to Vista users. People running XP, however, would see it only as an optional update.

Windows Desktop must be present in order to use the new smart address-bar functionality, Pratt acknowledged. "They're dependent, yes," he said.

The other feature he stressed in Beta 2 -- search suggestions -- has also been held until today, Pratt said. "We've introduced a way to search more quickly," he said, pointing to search bar, which now that lets search-engine and Web site developers add more functionality to searches. Pratt demonstrated a search using Amazon.com Inc.'s engine in IE8 Beta 2 that provided not only item results from the online store, but also artwork, such as album-cover art for CDs, as well as prices.

Rather than offering developers a new application programming interface (API) for IE8 to take advantage of the new search-bar skills, Microsoft will offer the tools via extensions to the open-source OpenSearch standard.

Microsoft has talked up other IE8 Beta 2 additions and enhancements in recent weeks, including several advanced privacy tools, which some have tagged as "porn mode" in a nod to the most obvious use of a private browsing session.

Last month, Microsoft also spilled the beans about new security measures it would introduce in IE8 Beta 2, including antimalware protection and a filter it said would block the most common cross-site scripting attacks.

Pratt refused to name a release date for IE8, or even discuss a time frame that Microsoft is shooting for. The most specific he would get was to say the new browser would ship "sometime before the next release of Windows." Windows 7, the name of Vista's successor, will launch in late 2009 or early 2010, Microsoft executives have promised.

Although other company managers have been quoted as saying that the final version of IE8 will launch this year, Pratt declined to confirm that, saying at one point those reports were just "speculation when we might launch." Later in the interview, he said that 2008 "would fit within that [before the next release of Windows] time frame."

Unlike the first beta, today's release is aimed at a bigger audience. Beta 1 had carried the tag "Developer Label," something that Microsoft wants to avoid this time around. "Beta 2 is suitable for all users," said Pratt, who encouraged both consumers and business users to download and try the browser. "In that respect, it's a much broader beta."

IE8 Beta 2 can be downloaded from its own page or from Microsoft's Download Center.

Wi-fi InFlight comes to some American Routes

American Airlines launched in-flight Wi-Fi service on three long-haul routes in the U.S. today, and it will decide in three to six months whether to expand the service to other routes.

While there has been a recent surge in interest among airlines in providing in-flight Wi-Fi to passengers, this is the biggest step any carrier has taken toward that goal. Earlier this month, Delta Air Lines said it will begin rolling out Wi-Fi service on all its planes in the fall, while Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Virgin America and Jet Blue have Wi-Fi tests or limited projects underway.

American has created Wi-Fi networks aboard 15 Boeing 767-200 planes serving three routes with nonstop flights between New York and San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, and New York and Miami, the airline said.

Today's launch was originally intended to take place last month, but "tweaks" had to be made to the system, especially to simplify the setup process for users, an American spokeswoman said today.

The Wi-Fi service, called Gogo, is provided by Aircell LLC, which has offices in Broomfield, Colo. and Itasca, Ill. Gogo connects each plane's Wi-Fi hot spot to the ground over a 3-Mhz signal that connects to Aircell's network of 92 cell towers throughout the continental U.S.

Users will be able to launch Internet browsers on Wi-Fi-enabled laptops or other devices once planes reach 10,000 feet. At that point, they will be directed to a Gogo portal to sign up for service with a credit card. The service will cost $12.95 on each flight over three hours.

While users will have the ability to surf the Web, check e-mail, hold instant-messaging conversations and access corporate VPNs, they will not be allowed to use voice over IP or any voice cell service while in the air. All of the airlines setting up Wi-Fi service have cited federal rules forbidding in-flight phone calls as one of the reasons why they are not offering voice service, but they have also noted that other passengers would get annoyed if too many of their fellow travelers talked on cell phones.

American issued a statement saying Wi-Fi speeds in-flight will be comparable to mobile broadband speeds on the ground. And it added that performance levels for video downloads during beta tests were similar to those for downloads via ground-based mobile broadband service.

There were two recent dress rehearsals to fine-tune the technology, one aboard a flight in June and another last week, said the American spokeswoman, September Wade. During the trial runs, Aircell and American found that the number of steps needed to set up an account had to be decreased. "We wanted it simple for anybody, technical or not," she said.

Some financial analysts who cover the airline industry are waiting to see how popular Wi-Fi will be, especially at a cost of $12.95 per use. Wade said that American will decide how to proceed after evaluating the success of the trial launched today. The airlines will weigh both the business value and the effectiveness of the Wi-Fi network, she said.

With airlines facing financial difficulties due to increases in fuel costs and reductions in business travel, there will be more pressure to show that an added feature such as Wi-Fi pays for itself, Gartner Inc. analyst Ken Dulaney noted in July. A Wi-Fi service called Connexion by Boeing, which was installed on Lufthansa and ANA planes, was discontinued because it wasn't widely used and had been available mainly on night flights, Dulaney said.

SUSE-Linux-on-IBM-loaned mainframe becomes teaching ground

While most computer science students learn skills on x86 servers, their counterparts at the University of Arkansas will now get hands-on experience on a new IBM system z900 running Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise.

A national leader in mainframe instruction, the university (and its Walton School of Business) has taught Linux on the mainframe for five years and was rewarded for its efforts with a free five-year loan, including maintenance, of the System z machine from the Armonk, N.Y.-based computer manufacturer. The university ran pilot programs on the mainframe through the end of the last academic year and will use it for courses starting this week.

The university's fully configured system has 16 processors, 64 GB of memory and 7 TB of disk space. It contains enterprise-size databases donated by Sam's Club, Tyson's wholesale outlets and Dillard's retail stores, with the latter's repository containing 140 million rows. These unusually large databases, which are no longer used by the companies themselves, give students a rich, real-world experience as they learn how to work with relational databases and run SAP's business intelligence application.

"We are the only university in the world we know of running SAP with IBM DB2 on the mainframe," said Professor David Douglas. "We like to be a leader in enterprise computing in the mainframe environment," and believe students gain a competitive edge as the use of Linux and the mainframe continues to grow because of energy efficiency-motivated consolidations, he said. Linux in the classroom
The university has four all-mainframe Linux courses, one that is an introduction to enterprise servers, another that is an introduction to enterprise transaction systems and two courses on data-driven decision-making for business school students, including one on SAP business intelligence, Douglas said. Using course materials that Douglas developed, the students learn systems management, application development and Web development using open source tools such as Apache, MySQL and PHP and how to run business applications such as SAP, he said. They also practice logical partitioning in Linux and System z, how to create virtual machines and eliminate physical ones in simulating a hardware consolidation, he said.<./ p>

"The combination of theory and practice is much better than just talking about it," Douglas said. "Hands-on experience is critical for students to have a competitive advantage in the marketplace."

The first to develop university-level Linux on the mainframe courses five years ago, Douglas decided to focus on Linux after concluding that it was a major computing platform and would continue to grow. And SUSE, which the university had been running on the previous IBM system 390 mainframe, was selected for the z900 because "it seemed to be the operating system of choice," especially for large users such as insurance companies and financial institutions, Douglas said.

Learning Linux on a mainframe is no different than on x86 machines, with essentially the same commands, Douglas added. The only difference is that students learn it on IBM's zVM virtualization platform.

Sharing the benefits
In its pitch to IBM for a new, larger machine, the university promised to share the z900 with other universities and create additional course materials for the mainframe. As a result, the educational benefits of the new mainframe will spread beyond the 45 computer science majors and those University of Arkansas students who use it as part of other classes to thousands of collegians worldwide. Any university that enrolls in IBM's and SAP's academic alliance programs is eligible to access the mainframe and its programs and courses, he said.

Douglas expects the number of participating universities and students to be large. At a recent academic congress, the university demonstrated the mainframe-sharing program and signed up nearly 1,000 institutions as participants, he said.

Although the university's computer science classes are small, Douglas projects an enrollment increase of 20% to 30% annually over the next few years as Linux skills increase in demand along with the use of the mainframe. Despite concerns about IT outsourcing, there is a shortage of trained IT staff nationwide, he added.

Douglas' future plans include continued improvement of the course materials and collaboration with participating universities on new ways to use mainframes in an academic environment.

"Collaboration is the key to growth and increased usage," Douglas said. "If we do that, our enrollment will continue to grow for the next several years at a fairly rapid rate."

Predicting The 2012 US Men's Olympic Basketball Team

What Team USA 2012 could be..


One final Olympic basketball thought before I put basketball on the back shelf for a few minutes and jump in headfirst to a big pool of football goodness.

Yes, I'm already thinking about 2012 and who will represent the United States basketball team in London. The Repeat Team? OK, that's weak, but the lineup should be just as strong.

The Superstars

I think we can assume Kobe Bryant won't be back. Three more summers of commitment is a lot to ask. I'm thrilled he delivered on his goal to help Team USA win gold and will forever respect him for that. The tougher question is whether Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade will return? I say no on the latter two, but I think Lebron genuinely enjoys representing his country and as an added bonus, can't pass on the international marketing that's generated by such an event. For the sake of this task, we'll keep him on the team.

Next Gen Stars

Deron Williams, Chris Paul and Dwight Howard will all be back. At least, I sure hope so. Chris Bosh would be welcome back, but I think there's a chance that a few young guys could steal his spot.

The Rest

Jason Kidd? Absolutely not. Michael Redd? They'll find a new token shooter. Tayshaun Prince? Always welcome on my team, but I doubt he returns. Carlos Boozer? Doubtful.

Lets go with the assumption then that James, Paul, Williams, Bosh and Howard are the holdovers from the Redeem Team.

New Additions

Kevin Durant and Greg Oden are likely choices, and good ones at that. By 2012, you'd like to think both will have been multiple All-Stars and faces of the NBA.

Andre Igoudala is not exactly Kobe Bryant or Dwyane Wade, but I expect him to be borderline superstar status in the next few years and would surely like to join this elite group .

Brandon Roy can provide some added leadership and play the two-guard, not to mention add to Lebron's defensive intensity.

With Williams and Paul, only one more point guard is needed. Do you go with a Derrick Rose if he fulfills expectations or a guy I firmly believe will be a star by 2012, Rodney Stuckey? Stuckey's my guy.

Michael Redd was called on to be the designated outside shooter, and while he's clearly a good man for the task, his performance was just average and they should go with a new trigger in London. Adam Morrison. Just kidding. I'd add a guy like Steve Novak or Daniel Gibson. Not exactly the star power, so you'll see a Rudy Gay instead.

One more spot, we'll call it the Carlos Boozer role. Al Horford is a carbon copy, but I'll root for Kevin Love. Either one would be make a great power forward to cheer on the bench.

source: fanIQ

The Newlyweds

A newlywed couple was spending their honeymoon in a remote log cabin
resort way up the mountains of Scotland. They had registered on
Saturday, and they had not been seen for five days.

An elderly couple ran the resort, and they were getting concerned about
the welfare of these newlyweds. The old man decided to go and see if
they were alright. He knocked on the door of the cabin and a weak voice
from inside answered. The old man asked if they were okay.

"Yes, we're fine. We're living on the fruits of love," came the reply.

The old man responded, "I thought so. Would you mind not throwing the
peelings out the window? They're choking my ducks!"

To trust or not to trust Red Hat, that is the question

I like Linux. I like Red Hat and Fedora Linux. I use them every day. What I don't like, though, is not knowing what's what with the recent security break-in into the RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) and Fedora file servers.

What happened, we're told by Paul W. Frields, the Fedora project leader, "some Fedora servers were illegally accessed" during the week of August 11th. OK, fair enough, Web servers are broken into all the time. Frields then added, "The intrusion into the servers was quickly discovered, and the servers were taken offline." OK, that's what they should have done, but then things get more interesting.

As a result of the Fedora break-in, Red Hat checked into its RHEL servers and, Frields wrote, "Detected an intrusion of certain of its computer systems and has issued a communication to Red Hat Enterprise Linux users." Excuse me, your people found out that your community Linux servers had been compromised before they found out that there were problems with the business Linux servers?

In a critical Red Hat security advisory, Red Hat security team, wrote, "While the investigation into the intrusion is on-going, our initial focus was to review and test the distribution channel we use with our customers, Red Hat Network (RHN) and its associated security measures. Based on these efforts, we remain highly confident that our systems and processes prevented the intrusion from compromising RHN or the content distributed via RHN and accordingly believe that customers who keep their systems updated using Red Hat Network are not at risk. We are issuing this alert primarily for those who may obtain Red Hat binary packages via channels other than those of official Red Hat subscribers."

But, the "intruder was able to sign a small number of OpenSSH packages relating only to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 (i386 and x86_64 architectures only) and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (x86_64 architecture only)." OpenSSH, for those of you aren't administrators or remote users, is an extremely important secure remote connectivity Linux/Unix program. If you use OpenSSH with a known signature, a hacker who knows the signature can easily pick your network locks and gain access to your systems. In others words: Not Good.

Now, Red Hat has issued a way to detect OpenSSH files that have been tampered with. In addition, Red Hat has issued fixed OpenSSH files. There is no evidence, wrote Frields, that any Fedora was compromised, but to stay on the safe side, " we have decided to convert to new Fedora signing keys."

OK, so Fedora and Red Hat have done most of the right stuff. What they haven't done, though -- and I've asked -- is explain how the servers were broken into in the first place. That bugs me.

I hammer on proprietary software companies, like VMware and Microsoft when their systems blow up, so I can't just ignore this situation with Red Hat. So, while I'm very pleased that Red Hat is patching any possibly violated files, I still would like to know 1) How the sites were breeched in the first place and 2) What steps Red Hat will be taking to make sure it doesn't happen again.

This isn't too much to ask for. After all, it's exactly what I ask of proprietary vendors when they blow it. To fully trust Red Hat, I'd really like answers to my questions.

source: Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

Cyber Cynic

Former Blazers all-star center Kevin Duckworth dies

Former Portland Trail Blazers two-time all-star center Kevin Duckworth passed away at age 44.

One of the NBA's original 7-footers and 10th leading scorer in Blazers' history, Duckworth died while on the Oregon Coast representing the Trail Blazers as a Heritage Ambassador on the team's 19-city Statewide Summer Tour.

The cause of his death is unknown, and will be determined by a Lincoln County, Oregon Medical Examiner.

Kevin Duckworth, 44, a two-time NBA All-Star who starred on Western Conference Championship teams in Portland in 1990 and 1992, passed away Monday evening in Gleneden Beach, Oregon.

A member of the Trail Blazers from 1986-93, the 7-footer - affectionately known to Trail Blazers fans simply as "Duck" - also played for San Antonio, Washington, Milwaukee and the Los Angeles Clippers during his 11-year NBA career.

"Today is an extremely sad day for the Trail Blazers family," Trail Blazers President Larry Miller said. "Kevin will be remembered by fans as one of the most popular and recognizable players to ever wear the Blazers uniform, but to people who knew him, he'll be remembered as one of the warmest and biggest-hearted."

Source:Kyle Hightower

Dwight Howard basketball camp this Saturday and Sunday

Orlando Magic center and new-minted Olympic gold medalist Dwight Howard will hold his first basketball camp in Orlando August 30-31 at RDV Sportsplex.

The two-day camp is open for boys and girls ages 7-18 and will include interaction/instruction from Howard and a total of eight hours of instruction from the camp’s staff.

Participants will receiver a camp T-shirt, official camp basketball and an autographed team photo with Howard.

The camp is run in collaboration with ProCamps, an Ohio-based group that specializes in planning and executing youth camp.

This will be ProCamps 21st camp this summer, which has included camps with NBA standouts and fellow gold medalists Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony and Tayshaun Prince.

Those interested in participating in this year’s camp can find everything they need to sign up at DwightHowardCamp.com.

But here is a rundown of some of the main specifics:

Dates: August 30-31, 2008

Time: 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. each day

Location: RDV Sportsplex

Age: Boys and Girls ages 7-18

Cost: $199 ($6 online and credit card convenience fee not included)

source: Kyle Hightower

Rooney must rediscover selfish side

Manchester United head to Monaco on Friday, hoping for silverware from the European Super Cup to accompany the recently acquired Community Shield and, more prestigiously, the Premier League and the Champions League trophies. At 22 and the owner of 43 England caps, Wayne Rooney has already achieved more than the majority of players do in their entire careers.

LaurenceGriffiths/GettyImages

Wayne Rooney: Must emerge from the shadows at Man United.

Yet the more he wins, the greater the enigma Rooney becomes. In 2005/06, he was magnificent while Manchester United were, by their standards, mediocre. A one-man source of optimism about the club's future, his coruscating brilliance was the highlight of their season. In a side that seemed to have too few, he was the principal match-winner. If both and United's and England's hopes seemed to rest with a player barely out of his teens, it was entirely understandable. Last season, however, the most startling statistic about Rooney's campaign is that his goals only yielded one Premier League point, in April's draw at Middlesbrough; mathematically, United could have won the title without him. Such a strict mathematical analysis ignores his overall contribution  indeed, it is telling that their defeats tended to occur in his absence; nevertheless, the comparable figure for Cristiano Ronaldo, who superseded him as the club's resident superstar and points-gatherer in chief, is 19. That illustrates the difference between 'R' 'n' 'R'. Moreover, in the Champions League final, it was Rooney who was replaced while Ronaldo and the tireless Carlos Tevez remained on. In contrast, 12 months earlier, he produced a fine double against AC Milan in the semi-final to accompany an outstanding display against Roma in the previous round. If that suggests Rooney is at his best in an unsuccessful cause, that is an impression that the 2005 FA Cup final, where the shootout defeat to Arsenal followed a forceful individual display, reinforces. Rooney's international career, meanwhile, is one of diminishing returns. It has only brought two goals in competitive games since Euro 2004 and Fabio Capello, like Steve McClaren and Sven-Goran Eriksson before him, is already accused of failing to get the best from the only world-class attacker at his disposal. Rooney is far from the only international underachiever in the current England squad and an overall record of 14 goals in 43 caps is more than respectable, but different standards are applied to him. And so they should be. While there is an obvious temptation to hype every youngster, he is, along with Steven Gerrard, England's foremost talent. Too much can be expected at too young an age, and growing up has its perils for child prodigies, but Rooney is in danger of underachievement. Not just for the national team, where the majority of his team-mates struggle to replicate their club form, but for Manchester United. Ronaldo, once the junior partner in their alliance, has surged ahead of Rooney. Tevez is at his most destructive alongside the Englishman but it is the Argentine who forged the reputation last season for delivering the vital goals. Rooney, the odd metatarsal difficulty notwithstanding, has 41 goals in two seasons. Once again, it is a record that would induce envy from most strikers, but then the majority lack his ability. It is true, too, that his talents extend beyond goalscoring; United's slick football, their fluid movement and interchangeable attacking would not be possible without his blend of creativity and industry. Yet there is a reason why, in pre-season, Sir Alex Ferguson stated the need to use Rooney in his proper position, to grant the No.10 the role and responsibilities the shirt often entails.

LaurenceGriffiths/GettyImages

Wayne Rooney: Man United striker is struggling to rediscover form for England

With an unselfishness that is alien to Ronaldo, Rooney tracked back diligently in the Nou Camp as an orthodox right-sided midfielder. He has often, especially in Europe, been delegated duties on the left flank, taking him further from goal. The situation is complicated by Rooney's roaming or, as Ferguson termed it, 'overdoing it in the wrong areas of the pitch'. Far from operating five yards behind the principal striker, his first two appearances of the season were notable for the supposed striker dropping far deeper. It is a sign of a willingness to involve himself in the game and provide inspiration when the midfield cannot, but for Manchester United against Newcastle and for England versus the Czech Republic, he was ineffective. If Ronaldo, in contrast, is vain enough to channel his efforts towards individual glory, it can be beneficial, as 42 goals last season suggest. Rooney, however, appeared the superior player in 2006, but has not advanced to such a degree. Perhaps the realisation of that leads to the dissent and mis-timed tackles that characterise a frustrated Rooney. The team ethic that he possesses takes him further from goal and, at times, into trouble, depriving him of tap-ins and leaving others, less talented and less qualified, to take up the striker's position. At 22, he has time on his side. Yet for the past two years, we have been waiting for him to produce career-defining performances, as his fellow Liverpudlian Gerrard did in Istanbul, or to become the ruthless, relentless destroyer Ronaldo has morphed into. A willingness to roam everywhere on the pitch should not obscure Rooney from the fact he is most dangerous in the final third. Perhaps the paradox is that too many footballers are too selfish; Rooney is a rare example of one who should act with self-interest in mind more often. Few others would be charged with being Manchester United and England's talisman, but few others have his potential. Wayne Rooney is picking up the medals, but now it is time to challenge for the individual honours as well.

Source: soccernet

By Norman Hubbard

Job Related Jokes

Q. How's your job at the clock company?
A. Only time will tell...

Q. How's your job at the banana company?
A. I keep slipping up!

Q. How's your job on the new highway?
A. I'm so busy I don't know which way to turn.

Q. How's your job at the travel agency?
A. I'm going nowhere.

Q. How's your job at the swivel chair company?
A. It makes my head spin!

Q. How's your job at the pie company?
A. It didn't pan out.

Q. How's your job at the balloon factory?
A. We can't keep up with inflation.

Q. How's your job at the history book company?
A. There's no future in it!

Apple launches iPhone in 20 more countries

Apple Inc. and its mobile operator partners started selling the iPhone 3G in another 20 countries today, while two long-standing partners in the U.S. and the U.K. reported mixed messages on how much stock they had on hand.

In the summer's second rollout of the iPhone 3G, Apple introduced the smart phone in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia and Uruguay.

With today's additions, Apple's iPhone "reach" is 42 countries. Previously, it has said it will have the iPhone 3G in 70 countries by the end of the year.

Last month, Tim Cook, Apple's chief financial officer, announced that the company would expand its iPhone distribution into 20 markets today, and promised that inventories -- which were very tight when he spoke to Wall Street analysts on July 21 -- would be sufficient to launch in the additional countries.

IPhone 3G stocks in the U.S. have increased, according to both Apple's availability tool and statements by AT&T Inc. Every Apple store that Computerworld checked today, for example, had a full complement of iPhones to sell: the $199 8GB model and both versions of the $299 16GB model.

AT&T, meanwhile, which said its stores had been out of the iPhone 3G since July 11, today noted that it has begun restocking those stores. In a message posted to its Web site, AT&T said: "As of August 22, we are restocking our stores with iPhone 3G. The 16GB model is available in most stores today, and the 8GB model should arrive on shelves later this week."

Since the iPhone 3G's U.S. launch, AT&T has been shunting what phones it had to customers who placed direct fulfillment orders, which required them to go to a store, place an order and pay for the iPhone. When it arrived -- sometimes as many as 14 days later -- AT&T called the customer, who then had to return to the store.

Another longtime Apple partner, however, said it was experiencing shortages that had forced it to stop selling the iPhone at its online store.

According to statements on O2 UK Ltd.'s Web site, the mobile carrier had shuttered online sales and said it had only "limited availability" of the iPhone in its U.K. retail stores. O2 has been selling the iPhone since November 2007.

"We are working closely with Apple to get additional iPhone 3Gs," O2 said. "These will be coming in on a weekly basis. [But] for the foreseeable future, the only place to purchase iPhone 3G will be in an O2 Retail, Carphone Warehouse or Apple store if you are new to iPhone."

Also related to Apple's iPhone expansion were reports earlier this week that the company had struck a deal with three different carriers in Russia, including Mobile TeleSystems, to sell the phone beginning in October.

The Reuters news service cited sources that said Mobile TeleSystems had signed a deal with Apple, and said Russian-language business newspapers had quoted unnamed insiders who claimed that rivals VimpelCom and MegaFon had also come to an agreement with Apple.

Apple continues to face questions from users about the reliability of the iPhone, however. Users have complained of dropped calls, poor signal strength and slower-than-promised data download speeds since mid-July, and they have flooded the company's technical support forum with gripes. Those complaints continued even after Apple released a software update it said improved 3G reception.

Earlier this week, an Alabama woman sued Apple, claiming that the company deceived her and other customers, when it claimed the iPhone 3G was faster than the first-generation phone.

Redeemed.. Team USA

Source: By Jefff Schultz | Sunday, August 24, 2008, 05:24 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Beijing — Sometimes you can be 22 years old and feel like a little kid. Somebody drapes a gold medal around your neck and you’re not quite sure what to do first. So you look at it. Then you kiss it. Then you bite it. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do?

“I didn’t want to mess it up too much,” Dwight Howard said. “I just wanted to make sure it was real.”

He stood with a gold medal around his neck, thinking back 16 years. A Wheaties box with the original Dream Team on the cover was in his room. He remembers watching the Olympics at the age of six, and wanting to be a sprinter (genetics took care of that one). He remembers Atlanta in 1996, when his sister beat him to the Games — she danced in the Opening Ceremonies.

Dwight Howard had his turn in Beijing. No matter what happens the rest of his career, he can say he started at center for an Olympic gold medal-winning basketball team.

With any luck, he will be able to say it happened twice. Or three times. Or more.

“I’ve committed to this team until I can’t walk no more,” Howard said.

The U.S. men’s basketball team had just beaten Spain, 118-107, in the gold medal game on the final day of the Olympics. Howard, at 22, was the youngest member of the team. This surpassed anything he experienced as a star at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy or in the NBA with the Orlando Magic.

“I’m going to wear this for a week. Maybe two weeks. Maybe the whole year. Actually, I’m not taking it off,” said Howard, who also had an American flag draped around his neck. “I’m just gonna keep wearing it, until we have to play a game next season. In fact, I might keep it on under my jersey. I want to have it with me every day to know what it feels like to be a champion.”

Several rows up from the floor in section 103 of the Olympic Basketball Gymnasium, Sheryl Howard waited for her son to return from the locker room for the medal ceremony. She wore a No. 11 USA jersey with “Howard” on the back. She clutched three flags: one large, two small. Her husband, Dwight Sr., had walked down the aisle to get in a better position to take pictures of Dwight II on the podium

“This is the ultimate,” she said. “It’s for the world, so this has to be the ultimate goal. His goal is to win a championship for [an NBA] team. But to play for the world and win a gold, it’s unbelievable.”

She remembered getting a phone call when Dwight was selected for the Olympic team. “He said it was a blessing to make the team and to play for the USA,” she said. “Those were his exact words.”

Howard was limited to eight points and five rebounds in 17 minutes in the final. The U.S. was drawn into a running game by Spain, prompting coach Mike Krzyzewski to go with a smaller, quicker lineup. But the Americans had a different leader almost every game. They had six different leading scorers (including a tie once between Kobe Bryant and Chris Bosh) in eight games. Dwayne Wade led the U.S. with 27 points in the finale.

Howard’s turn came in the final preliminary round game against Germany, when he poured in 22 points and 10 rebounds. A theme coming out this tournament was how a group of 12 NBA superstars managed to put egos aside for a common goal, which wasn’t the case in 2004 in Athens. USA basketball named a national select team three years ago, and picked the Olympians from that group. The camps the team held over those three years clearly paid off.

Asked if this will change the image of NBA players, Howard said, “I hope so. Everybody saw how we can come together.”

He soaked it in all week. He visited the athletes village, even though the team stayed in a five-star hotel. He also met former Olympic gymnast Dominic Dawes, his lifelong crush. Mother and son have slightly different versions of the meeting.

Dwight: “That was fun.”

Mom: “I heard he met her and fell to the floor.”

Either way, dreams achieved.

Meteorologist

Although he was a qualified meteorologist, Hopkins ran up a terrible
record of forecasting for the TV news program. He became something of a
local joke when a newspaper began keeping a record of his predictions
and showed that he'd been wrong almost three hundred times in a single
year.

That kind of notoriety was enough to get him fired.

He moved to another part of the country and applied for a similar job.
One blank on the job application called for the reason for leaving his
previous position.

Hopkins wrote, "The climate didn't agree with me."

Spain is in Finals Again

BEIJING (AP)—Already the defending world champion, Spain is one victory away from an Olympic gold medal.

Pau Gasol scored 19 points as Spain defeated Lithuania 91-86 on Friday night to advance to the Olympic gold medal game for the first time since 1984.

Rudy Fernandez bounced back from a third-quarter head injury to score 18 for the Spaniards, who will face either the U.S. for the gold medal on Sunday. The U.S., which beat Argentina 101-81 later Friday night, drubbed Spain 119-82 in pool play.

“This just made us more confident for the final,” Spanish captain Carlos Jimenez said. “We’re going to go all out in the final even if we’re facing the U.S.”

Spain won the 2006 world championship in Japan.

The Spaniards danced at center court after the horn sounded. They have won three straight since their whipping by the U.S. Spain cruised past Angola 98-50 in pool play, then beat Croatia 72-59 in the quarterfinals.

They expected a rematch with the U.S. in the gold medal game.

“Indeed against the U.S. last time, we did a terrible job,” coach Aito Garcia said. “We’ll see what happens. The U.S. players are really outstanding.”

Simas Jasaitis and Sarunas Jasikevicius each scored 19 points for Lithuania, which will play for the bronze medal for the fifth straight time.

“I’m sure we’ll be prepared to fight for the bronze medal,” Lithuanian coach Ramunas Butautas said.

Lithuania led for long stretches but couldn’t overcome 18 turnovers.

“It was a very tough game against a very good team,” Lithuania’s Ramunas Siskauskas said. “We had a chance to win, but we didn’t take it. We had a chance but we missed it. We still have a chance to get a medal.”

Early on, it looked like Spain would breeze. But after Spain took a 28-20 lead midway through the second quarter, the Lithuanians awoke and went on a 14-4 run capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by 6-foot-11 Ksistof Lavrinovic.

Lithuania hit five 3-pointers—three by Jasaitis—in the final 3:50 of the first half to take a 42-40 lead into intermission.

The second half was a riveting possession-by-possession battle, with neither team able to open up a lead of more than four points.

Lithuania clung to the lead until Felipe Reyes drove for a layup to put Spain ahead 55-54 with 2:43 to go in the third quarter. Jasaitis answered with another 3-pointer seconds later.

Fernandez went to the floor late in the third period after apparently bumping heads with Lavrinovic. Clutching his forehead, Fernandez got up after several minutes and was helped to the bench.

Spain tied it up again at 62-62 when Gasol converted a 3-point play with 8 seconds to go in the third. But with 1.8 seconds left, Gasol fouled Lavrinovic as he sank a 3-pointer from well beyond the arc. Lavrinovic hit the free throw to give Lithuania a 66-62 lead heading into the final quarter.

Gasol responded with another 3-point play to make it 69-69 with 9 minutes to go.

Fernandez returned early in the fourth quarter, and he gave Lithuania headaches.

Moments after returning, Fernandez gathered in a court-long pass and dunked to put Spain up 73-71 with 7:17 to go.

On Spain’s next possession, Fernandez hit a 3-pointer falling away from the basket. After intercepting a pass at the other end, Fernandez drove and was knocked into the photographers’ well behind the bucket.

He hit the free throws to put Spain up 78-74.

Two possessions later, Fernandez drove and fed Gasol, who drew an unsportsmanlike foul on Linas Kleiza.

Spain built an 81-74 lead with 3 minutes to play as the Lithuanians went nearly 4 minutes without a point.

Jasikevicius hit a 3-pointer to pull Lithuania within 89-86 with 5.8 seconds to play, but Jimenez made two free throws to ice the game for Spain.

Premier League stars dominate UEFA awards

The shortlist for this year's UEFA European Club Footballer of the Year awards is dominated by Premier League players.

Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool all reached the Champions League semi-finals last season, with United overcoming Chelsea on penalties in the Moscow-hosted final.

That is reflected in the shortlist, announced today by UEFA, with 17 players from the 25-strong shortlist currently playing in England's top flight.

Last year's Champions League top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, Liverpool's Fernando Torres and Chelsea's Frank Lampard will all be leading contenders for the award. Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Carles Puyol are also in contention.

The coaches of the 16 teams which reached the knock-out stages of last year's competition will cast their votes next Thursday, at the Champions League group stage draw in Monaco.

There are also awards for goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward of the year.

The list of nominees, from which the overall winner will be selected, is:

UEFA club goalkeeper of the year: Manuel Almunia (Arsenal), Petr Cech (Chelsea), Manuel Neuer (FC Schalke 04), Jose Reina (Liverpool), Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United).

UEFA club defender of the year: Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), John Terry (Chelsea), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United).

UEFA club midfielder of the year: Michael Essien (Chelsea), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Paul Scholes (Manchester United).

UEFA club forward of the year: Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Fernando Torres (Liverpool).

source: soccernet

Blackburn Rovers - Cruz Control

Blackburn have ended speculation about the future of Roque Santa Cruz by announcing that the Paraguayan striker has signed a new four-year contract.

Santa Cruz has been the subject of bids from Manchester City and heavy rumours about interest from Manchester United. But that will surely be at an end after the news announced by Rovers on their official website. Santa Cruz topscored for the Lancashire club last season after a bargain £3.5m move from Bayern Munich. City are believed to have tabled a £12m offer and United had been considering a move should their chase of Dimitar Berbatov fail.

source: soccernet

Manchester United - Rio Ferdinand to be a captain next season

Sir Alex Ferguson has assured Rio Ferdinand that he remains in line to lead Manchester United despite missing out on the England captaincy.

England coach Fabio Capello chose John Terry ahead of Ferdinand to become the new national team captain on a long-term basis ahead of England's 2-2 draw with the Czech Republic on Wednesday. Ferguson said however that he would hand 29-year-old Ferdinand the United captain's armband once Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs were no longer around. 'The way I operate is through seniority,' Ferguson told reporters. 'That's why Gary Neville is captain and when he's not playing Ryan has taken over. If Ryan is not available then Rio stands in. 'In the long-term Rio will be captain, no question about that. I'm very comfortable with that. 'His qualities of leadership have improved tremendously over the last two or three years and ability-wise, it is there for all to see.' Ferguson said the selection of Terry ahead of Ferdinand for the England job was not a major issue and will not have a bearing on Ferdinand's form or state of mind. 'It was always him or John Terry and it was the flip of a coin,' he said. 'It could have gone either way. I am sure it was a close call. 'It's not a reflection other than a personal choice and John Terry has been captain of Chelsea for quite a while and that has to go into consideration. 'It was the manager's choice to go for John Terry so he (Ferdinand) will just get on with it. It's straightforward. He should not be worried about the effect of that.' Meanwhile, Ferguson has given Mikael Silvestre's move from Manchester United to Arsenal his official seal of approval saying: 'I could have been selfish and put Mikael in the reserves but we are bigger than that.' Silvestre knew he had no United future at the end of last season. At that point he asked Ferguson's permission to leave and the United boss was happy to let the 31-year-old get on with it. 'Mikael said he wanted first-team football,' said Ferguson. 'He had lost his position to Patrice Evra, so, after nine years' service, there was no point holding the boy against his will. 'He is a really nice lad and a great professional, so I more or less let him conduct his own affairs. 'We knew the price we wanted and informed the teams who came in for him. 'He went up to Sunderland last Friday, and was very positive about that, then Manchester City came onto the scene. 'He was halfway through his medical when Arsenal came in. We have no complaints with the deal at all.'

source: soccernet

I still want to leave Real Madrid - Robinho

Real Madrid's want-away winger Robinho has told the Spanish press that he wants to leave the club and join Chelsea.

Picture/AFP

Robinho told EFE: 'Staying at Real Madrid is not my objective for the season. My wish is to play in the English League, Chelsea have a great squad, a great team, it will be a good deal for me and the club.'

'It's not for the money, it's simply that I want to play in the English League. I've completed a cycle, I've played three seasons at Real Madrid and I've given everything.

'I've scored goals and we've won two leagues, which isn't easy. I believe my time at Real Madrid is at an end. I hope that the directors come to an agreement with Chelsea to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.

'Every player is different. I have my own personality and character. I haven't spoken to the press before to avoid controversy, but now I'm telling the truth. I want to leave.'

Earlier, Spanish media reports claimed a fee of £32million had been quoted by Real Madrid. And the player's agent, Wagner Ribiero, has confirmed Real could be ready to sell.

It is believed Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon has now flown out to Spain to thrash out the final details of the transfer, pulling out of a trip to the Olympics.

Ribeiro said: 'The president said to Robinho that if a 40 million euros (£32million) offer appears, he would let him leave. So I have to say that until Aug 31 everything is possible. Until the transfer window is closed, I can't say where Robinho will play this season.

'Robinho never said that he wasn't comfortable at Real Madrid but the thing is that he has a financial offer that is very interesting, it's only that.'

Robinho is desperate for a move to London and it now seems likely the deal will beat the deadline, which for English clubs runs until September 1. He was upset by stories which claimed he would be sold to fund a move for Cristiano Ronaldo and also by the club's decision to block his participation at this month's Olympic Games.

It seems unlikely that Chelsea would continue their pursuit of AC Milan midfielder Kaka should the Robinho deal come to fruition - especially if, as now seems likely, Andrei Shevchenko's return to the San Siro falls through.

The addition of Robinho will come as a boost to a side which has few options up front with Didier Drogba thought to be on the treatment table for another month at least due to his knee injury.

Although Salomon Kalou is now back from the Olympics he has struggled to score consistently, so with Scolari reluctant to use Shevchenko he has only Nicolas Anelka to rely on up front.

source:soccernet

Man City's New Kompany

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has boosted his defensive options after the club completed a deal to sign defender Vincent Kompany from Hamburg for an undisclosed fee.

The Belgium international has signed a four-year deal at Eastlands and the club hope to complete the relevant paperwork to enable him to be available for their Barclays Premier League clash with West Ham on Sunday.

Kompany began his career with Anderlecht before he moved to Hamburg in June 2006.

The 22-year-old was involved in the Belgium side which reached the semi-finals at the Olympic Games and becomes Mark Hughes' third major signing for the club.

source: soccernet

Mozilla names best Firefox 3 add-ons

Crowns 7 winners in annual developer contest

By Gregg Keizer
Mozilla Corp. today announced the winners of its third "Extend Firefox" contest, an annual competition that recognizes the year's best Firefox add-ons.

This year's contest, which launched in March and brought in more than 100 entries, focused on add-ons that took advantage of Mozilla's newest open-source browser, Firefox 3.0.

Mozilla unveiled the final version of Firefox 3.0 in June after a long series of alpha, beta and release candidate versions.

The company awarded three grand prizes in the "Best New Add-on" category to Pencil, a diagramming and graphics interface tool; Tagmarks, which adds additional tagging icons to Firefox 3.0's location bar; and HandyTag, an extension that provides relevant keywords for associating with bookmarked sites.

In the "Best Updated Add-on" category, Mozilla also pegged three winners, including Read it Later, a bookmarking substitute; TagSifter, which lets users browse bookmarks by their tags; and Bookmark Previews, an extension that adds album and thumbnail views of bookmarked sites.

It's not surprising that many of the contest winners add functionality to Firefox's bookmarking; Mozilla revamped the tool by adding an integrated search engine, single-click bookmarking and other features.

Mozilla also singled out Fire.fm in the "Best Music Add-on" category. The extension lets users access the music library on Last.fm, the U.K.-based Internet radio Web site.

The winners in the new add-on group will be given travel and accommodations to the Mozilla Developer Day of their choice, as well as new Apple Inc. MacBook Air notebooks. The three developers awarded prizes in the updated add-on category will receive a 15-in. MacBook Pro notebook, while the author of Fire.fm will be flown to London to visit the headquarters of Last.fm.

The contest also recognized six runner-ups in the new add-on category.

U.S. stymies Argentina, reaches final

By Charles F. Gardner

Friday, Aug 22 2008

Team USA built an early 17-point lead and battled its way to a 101-81 victory over Argentina in an Olympic basketball semifinal today at Wukesong Arena.

The Americans will face Spain in the gold-medal game at 1:30 a.m. Sunday (Milwaukee time).

Carmelo Anthony led a balanced U.S. attack with 21 points, and LeBron James added 15. Luis Scola topped Argentina with 28 points, but the defending Olympic champion was hampered when Manu Ginobili had to leave the game with an ankle injury in the first quarter.

Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul added 12 points apiece for the U.S., which hit 32 of 68 field goals, including 10 of 31 from three-point range. The U.S. also pounded the ball inside and had a healthy advantage at the free throw line, converting 27 of 36 foul shots to Argentina's 15 of 16.

Chris Bosh added 11 points and 11 rebounds in another strong performance off the bench. Starting center Dwight Howard contributed 10 points and nine rebounds.

Argentina went to a zone defense in the second quarter and closed a huge early deficit.

Milwaukee Bucks star Michael Redd played at the end of the first half and grabbed a key rebound in the final seconds after a Carlos Delfino miss. Bryant missed a drive at the other end, but the U.S. maintained possession and called a timeout. Anthony then was fouled and sank three free throws, giving the U.S. a 49-40 lead at halftime.

Delfino finished with 17 points and Andres Nocioni added 10 for Argentina, which will play Lithuania in the bronze-medal game.

Anthony became quite upset after a hard foul suffered by Howard in the third quarter, and other U.S. players restrained Anthony, the Denver Nuggets star.

Howard missed two foul shots on the play, but Jason Kidd found Howard for a dunk on the enusing U.S. possession, and Anthony then hit a jumper for a 63-46 lead.

Wade, the former Marquette star, said the U.S. squad would be wary of Spain, despite an easy victory over the Spaniards in group play.

"It doesn't matter. That was pool play," the Miami Heat guard said. "I'm sure they could have played better. It's going to be a tough game.

"They're not in the championship game for no reason. This team won the championship in '06, and now they're back to the championship game. They're improving. We're going to have to go out there and beat them. Just like Argentina. We're going to have to go out there and knock them off. We know it's going to be a tough game, but we're prepared."

U.S. Team Is One Step Away From Gold

By Michael Lee

Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 23, 2008; Page E01

BEIJING, Aug. 22 -- Dwight Howard elevated for dunk when Argentina's Carlos Delfino whacked him across the face, chopping down on his nose. Howard lost the ball and his faculties for a moment, and Carmelo Anthony quickly came to Howard's defense, angrily charging after Delfino.

Jason Kidd decided to get involved, too. So he lunged into the ruckus, delivering a vicious body check to knock back . . . Anthony?

"I wasn't going to do anything," Anthony said. "I just wanted to protect my big man. He's still young, so I got to protect my little brother."

Kidd didn't want to take any chances. The U.S. men's basketball team had made it through the first seven games of the Olympics without being tested mentally or physically, but Argentina provided both in the Americans' 101-81 victory Friday at Wukesong Indoor Arena. The victory put the United States one victory from claiming its first gold medal in eight years, with a rematch against 2006 world champion Spain set for Sunday.

During the third quarter, when the U.S. offense could have continued to sputter and tempers easily could have escalated, Kidd reminded people why a 35-year-old man with declining speed and a suspect jump shot had an important role on this roster of young, transcendent talent.

"He's been in this position before," LeBron James said, "so it never got to him."

The "it" James was talking about is the pressure of playing in a hostile Olympic environment, with the crowd rooting against you -- which happened for the first time. "It" also could have referred to the extra elbows, shoves to the back, and arm grappling Argentina was forced to rely upon after its star, Manu Ginóbili, left early in the game because of a sore left ankle.

Kidd, a member of the Americans' previous gold medal-winning team in Sydney in 2000, has a 45-0 record in major international competitions (three Olympic qualifying tournaments and two Olympics). He has experienced greater tests in the Olympic semifinals -- he defended Lithuania's Sarunas Jasikevicius when he missed a three-point attempt in the Americans' 85-83 escape in Sydney -- and been around long enough to know what Argentina was trying to do. He wanted to keep his teammates from getting suckered into it.

"I understand international [basketball]. They want you to lose your composure, so that you will go one-on-five, and in a tight game, that gives them a chance to beat you," Kidd said. "Melo's an emotional guy, and we all understand -- we're not going to take that away from him. But at the same time, we need him out there on the floor. For everybody to understand that, and be right there to nip it in the bud, that's what I'm here for."

Kidd has mostly been a ceremonial starter in the Olympics, averaging just 1.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists, with U.S. Coach Mike Krzyzewski relying more on the young duo of Chris Paul and Deron Williams. But Kidd is with the team to provide floor leadership and poise, something the team desperately needed as it led by just nine points at halftime -- the closest margin of the tournament. After building an early 21-point lead, players rushed shots and tried to attack Argentina's zone by settling for the first open three-pointer available. In the locker room at halftime, Kidd challenged James to be a little less unselfish and told Anthony (team-high 21 points) to stay aggressive.

When he came out on the floor, Kidd immediately tried to get the ball inside to Howard, then he worked it to James and Anthony, finding weak spots in the zone and setting up easy baskets or free-throw opportunities. When Kidd sat for a break with 4 minutes 40 seconds left in the period, he had distributed three of his game-high seven assists, and the United States was ahead by 16.

"He's the first guy I went to in the locker room. I said, 'That was, by far, your best game.' He really was a great leader for us," Krzyzewski said. "The start of the second half was critical for the win, and I think Jason was the primary guy making that happen."

After the game, the locker room was filled with giddy players, already eager to get on the floor against Spain. Dwyane Wade told his teammates that a gold medal would be greater than the NBA championship he won with Miami in 2006. Kidd again had to calm down his teammates.

"Don't think about the gold medal," Kidd said he told them. "We have to kind of bottle that energy and keep it under wraps. I think these young guys have done extremely well in the dress rehearsal and now it's real, come Sunday."

Kidd was originally going to be on the 2004 Olympic team in Athens but backed out after knee surgery. He smiled when asked what it felt like to be back with a chance to become the 12th U.S. player to win two Olympic gold medals.

"I'm happy. I picked the right horses," Kidd said. "It's a great honor to be a part of this team. I'm 35, this is my last go 'round, and to go for a gold medal and play with this group of guys is unbelievable."