Quick Start for the Rangers

New York Rangers 3 Carolina Hurricanes 2

By Robert Holt

New York City–After a long layoff from the All-Star break, the New York Rangers were back in action Tuesday night when they faced the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden.  It was extremely important to establish the tempo of the game early especially after such a long period of time between games which is exactly what the Rangers did.  New York put a lot of time and effort into remaining focused during the break, this is how Rangers’ goalie Stephen Valiquette described it:

“Everybody is very serious about the way they carry themselves. That showed tonight because we came back and were ready to play.”

New York started the game hot with numerous odd-man rushes but just could not put the puck past Hurricane’s goalie Cam Ward.  However, at 4:21 of the first, Lauri Korpikoski changed that when he slide the puck between Ward’s legs.  The play was started by Ryan Callahan who made a perfect pass to send Markus Naslund and Scott Gomez on a two-on-one rush.  Naslund passed the puck to Gomez who took a partially blocked shot that was stopped by Ward.  However, Korpikoski followed up the play and put the rebound in the net.

About six minutes later, Scott Gomez added another goal to the Rangers’ lead and his 10th of the season.  Once again, the Rangers found themselves on a two-on-one with Gomez and Naslund leading the way.  Gomez took Naslund’s pass and put it top corner, glove side.  At this moment, it appeared as though the game was going to be a blow out.  However, to the Hurricanes credit they did not give up.  With 13:04 remaining in the first, Ryan Bayda cut the lead in half with his 4th goal of the season.  After the goal by Bayda, it seemed as though it settled down Carolina and made the game tighter.  Stephen Valiquette, who was given the nod to start in place of Lundqvist, was absolutely stellar, stopping 33 of 35 shots.  

Throughout the second period both teams had many scoring chances but could not convert.  Both Valiquette and Ward played spectacular and did not allow a single goal.  

Brandon Dubinsky scored the game winner at 12:35 of the third when Nikolai Zherdev made a beautiful play sliding the puck between two defenders, drawing the goalie out of position and then passing the puck to a wide open Dubinsky for his 8th of the season.  However, a mere 25 seconds later, Tuomo Ruutu scored for the Hurricanes to once again cut the lead to one goal.  Ruutu made a great play when he scored on his own rebound that showed remarkable hustle and totally surprised Valiquette.  This is what he said after allowing the quick goal.

“It’s so important to stay in the moment and not get too caught up in the fact that we just gave a goal up, Everyone stayed focused from that point on, and it seems like that’s the style of play we’re going to have to play the rest of the season - just be able to bury a team in the third period.”

The next ten minutes were extremely nerve-racking as the Hurricanes peppered Valiquette with shots from all over the ice.  Luckily, he was equal to the task and earned his 5th win of the season.  Valiquette has been a great asset to New York, not only giving Lundqvist a chance to rest, but has also kept them in many games.  His two goals against average ranks him on par with many top goaltenders in the league. 

The Rangers are now 30-15-3 and play the rival Penguins at 7:30pm tonight.  The Hurricanes are 23-21-5 and have the night off before heading home to face the Tampa Lightning on Thursday. 

Quotes attributed to NHL.com

Microsoft Bluetrack

I recently bought one of those new Microsoft explorer mice with bluetrack. I previously had the Natural Wireless 6000(or whatever it is). Anyways I have to say the technology is really impressive, I tried it on everything Microsoft advertised (Granite, Unfinished wood etc.) and it worked. I was pretty surprised at how accurate it is. Microsoft did a nice job.

Comfort is always very important in a mouse and this mouse doesn't disappoint. It remains comfortable after hours of use, buttons are easy to reach and nice to press. The scroll wheel however doesn't include the "notches" as most others do so it scrolls really smooth. Some people don't really like that, but I love it! It's very smooth and silent.

The mouse is constructed out of plastic except the scroll wheel which is metal. It feels solid in the hand and also includes the nice "rubber" like grips on the sides. The mouse has a spot on the bottom for the usb transceiver and for the charger.

Overall I really like the mouse I do wish it had Bluetooth and maybe some more buttons, but I guess 5 is quite a bit for the average person anyways. So far the transceiver has remained stable and I haven't lost my connection like i did on my last mouse. You can pick up the Explorer mouse for about $70.


Pros

Ergonomic design

Bluetrack Technology

Rechargeable

snap in transceiver

Cons

No Bluetooth

More buttons

You can follow me on twitter here

How Do You Tweet?

How Do You Tweet?

Have you ever wanted to find out what your friends and relatives are doing in between blog posts and emails? Previously, there was no way to find this information. You would not send your friend an email to say that you are eating a sandwich or drinking coffee? So, how would you find this information?

Along came Twitter, and it revolutionized how you communicated with people in everyday life. Twitter allowed you to make "tweets, which are micro-blog posts of 140 characters or less. You could say what you are eating, reading, watching or thinking about. Let's take two friends who live in separate parts of the country. They met at an airport and exchanged email addresses and phone numbers. They rarely communicate, and in turn, they do not know the minor details of their friend's life. In comes Twitter. Friend A calls Friend B and tells them about Twitter. They both create profiles and post "tweets" or micro-blog posts. Friend A finds out that Friend B just got a new car and in turns out that they have the same car! A few days later, Friend A finds out that Friend B had developed a liking for Chinese food. These two friends would have never learned these minor, but important details about their friend.

So, how do you access these "tweets"? My preference is to use an easy-to-use program called Twitterrific from Iconfactory. To download this program, visit this download site: http://iconfactory.com/software/twitterrific

Before you can use this program, you must first create a Twitter profile. You can create your profile by visiting the Twitter main page at www.twitter.com. Click the "Get Started-- Join!" button and fill in the required information. Now you can post "tweets", follow others and others can follow you. When you follow other people, the appear under the "Following" section of your profile. Their recent "tweets", as well as the "tweets" of other people you are following. These "tweets" are listed vertically when you login to www.twitter.com. You can also have "Followers" who are people who are following your "tweets". These followers will be displayed in the "Followers" section of your profile.

Have fun tweeting on Twitter!

Again, I will be giving away an iTunes Gift Card if I reach 1000 subscribers on my Youtube channel which can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/user/Tigercat212

UStream: Kitty Cam

UStream.tv is a fantastic website. The premise of the site is that anyone can stream from their webcam for free! Think of it as YouTube Live. One of the more popular shows on UStream.tv is Chris Pirillo LIVE. You may or may not have heard of Chris Pirillo, but his stream is world famous. What does he do on his stream? Sits at his computer!

The excitement around streaming is the ability to interact with someone on camera with a chatting window that is built in. You can have discussions with everyone in the chat room and especially with the host. If you have any free time, I suggest checking out other streams around UStream.

Today, I want to recommend the Kitty Cam show. This is just a stream of a bunch of kittens playing around. It's a great way to make you smile! You can view the show below, by clicking the Play button to start the stream and you can interact (anonymously) in the chat room below as well. Enjoy!

To see more stories by me, check out my website: DennisSiller.com

Follow me on Twitter: DNice1702

Online video chat by Ustream

iPhone Nano

Surely if your current with all the Apple news you have heard about an iPhone Nano. Over the past few months this possible new hardware has caused much controversy throughout the Apple community. Is it possible? Is it probably? Here are pros and cons to an iPhone Nano. 

Pros:

Affordability- Many people won't buy an iPhone because it is very expensive. However, having an iPhone Nano would lower the price making it more affordable more people, especially in this economy. 

Size & Weight- Although the iPhone is thin and lightweight, some people think that the iPhone is just too tall and too wide for them to use as a phone. The iPhone Nano would definitely be not as wide and probably not as tall. It also would be lighter thus meeting the needs of everyone who is sceptical about purchasing an iPhone. 

iPod- Some people don't need all the features/ applications that are available with an iPhone. Some people would just be happy if they had internet, mail, music, and phone all in one. Having an iPhone Nano would allow people who don't want nor need the extra add-ons that are possible with the iPhone allowing them to focus on the music and video instead of applications.

Cons:

Smaller Screen- A smaller screen would mean more problems. For instance, how would one type on a screen that cant fit 26 English characters along with other numbers and symbols. Along with typing, viewing web pages and watching videos wouldn't be as enjoyable see them on a small screen. 

Applications- On iTunes the applications are formatted to fix a certain resolution specifically made for the iPhone screen. If there was an iPhone Nano, there would either need to be some sort of formatting formula in the iPhone Nano (which would take up space) or a new App Store would need to be created just for the iPhone Nano. 

Rumors are still flying around the iPhone Nano. It seems there is 50/50 chance that they might or might not be one. Apple hasn't released an information regarding the iPhone Nano and with co-founder and CEO, Steve Jobs taking a medical leave, it seems the truth behind the iPhone Nano will be in the "Apple vault" for a while.

~Matt

http://www.youtube.com/MacOSXTutorials12

http://twitter.com/fisher12