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Saw this humorous comic strip in the Sunday’s funnies.

I read that NBA star LeBron James started his own web site and blog in cooperation with Microsoft (boo!) so I had to check it out after hearing about its launch. What do you see when you visit lebron.msn.com? You get a nicely animated Flash-based site of pure confusion!

Okay, okay, I’m not the target demographic of kids and teens so I may be missing something. First off, from a usability standpoint, I don’t know what I’m supposed to click on. Instead I wave my cursor around the screen waiting to see where it changes to a clickable finger. Humbug, although if you’re a youngster, you may not mind rummaging around and discovering what’s clickable.

The left (and right) arrows take you to different locations on LeBron’s site starting with the Athlete then to the History, the Icon, and finally the Challenge.

On the main Athlete page, there’s a sign to “check out the latest stuff on my BLOG!!!” so I click on the sign which takes me to the LeBron on MSN blog which is powered by Windows Live. What’s on this blog? Two entries. Two. One, two. This is better than the single blog entry launch of the Honolulu Advertisers’ Lost blog, but come on now. Launch a blog without any content? Who’s great idea was this?

What else is on this blog? There’s a Custom List section which is empty. There’s a book list which is empty, there’s a section for friends which is empty, but there are about 20 photos available.

And my biggest disappointment with this blog? It’s not written by King James himself. This LeBron on MSN blog is managed by a professional journalist named Emil Wilbekin. As a journalist, the entries are well written, but I was thinking I’d find authentic thoughts from LeBron on this blog, not the reporting of a professional. To make matters worse, look at this hypocrisy of the concept of this blog:

I ask him why he chose the Internet and an online website as a way to communicate with his fans, share himself with the world, and use this as a vehicle to inspire. LBJ’s answer is this:

It’s kinda of self explanatory. The world to today is based online. There’s a lot of kids out there who spend more time online than they do sleeping. You get an opportunity to get online and talk to kids and talk to grown-ups. Technology is taking over more than anything. It’s not TV as much anymore, it’s not radio as much anymore, it’s online. That’s my thinking.

LeBron, if that’s your thinking then why didn’t YOU write that in YOUR blog, your link to the online world you talk about? You’re a busy guy being an NBA superstar, I get that, but your message would be more meaningful and true coming from you. Many comments left on the blog are written to you and the public wants to know more about you, so why not make this your blog and not a Microsoft marketing machine?

Technorati Tags: basketball, blogging, LeBron James, Microsoft, NBA

Just found out that Dwyane Wade’s shoulder injury is indeed a dislocation. That’s not good for the Heat’s playoff chances, and it’s especially not good for the young DWade. The injury will take a minimum of 4 to 6 weeks just to heal, but it ain’t going to feel normal for a while after that. Play basketball at a professional level? That’ll probably take months for a good recovery. He could take a chance and come back early, but his shoulder will most likely pop out again before the season is done. Is that re-injury worth it? I still remember how a shoulder dislocation sidetracked the senior year of UH guard AC Carter. While he played out the year, he was never the same dominating player after the injury. And during the NBA tryouts, another dislocation sidelined AC and forced a surgery.

For Dwyane Wade, knowing he has several years in his professional career, I would undergo surgery right away and sit out the rest of the season. This season is done. The Heat have a marginal chance of making the playoffs now that Shaq is back, but they have a tough road ahead. I’m thinking a healthy DWade (and hopefully Shaq) for the next season is a better bet.

A shoulder dislocation is a big deal, and I’ve had a dislocation/subluxation seven times now. In the 90’s, I pretty much dislocated my shoulder once a year, mostly playing basketball. The road to recovery is a long one starting with weeks of wearing a sling and not being able to use your entire arm. Ordinary tasks become troublesome. Sleeping is uncomfortable and even the basics like showering and combing your hair is a challenge. Even when you can take the sling off, your arm is weak and immobile. There’s physical therapy and rehab exercises to get mobility and range of motion back. Eventually weight training is possible to strengthen the muscles around the shoulder joint. But still, the shoulder is never the same.

I think it would be about 3 months after the injury that I felt able to go out on the court again, and even then, I’d be real cautious when playing. The fear of reinjury forces a change in playing style. Go in for a rebound? Forget about it. Instead of mixing it up down low, you stay on the outside.

Surgery and rehab for a professional athlete is commonplace, and you hear about players with successful careers after surgeries, so I think Dwyane should go this route now and be done with it. Granted, I don’t have the luxury of top notch medical services, but I never opted for surgery and kept getting reinjured year after year. Finally the old medical adage of “it hurts when I do this, so don’t do that” sunk in making me reconsider the worth of playing basketball versus getting injured.

Dwyane, get the surgery done and get healthy so that you can keep playing your aggressive style next year.

Technorati Tags: basketball, NBA, Dwyane Wade

A few more details are emerging about the potential spinoff from Grey’s Anatomy that will feature Kate Walsh. The spinoff will be tested as part of an expanded Grey’s episode. If reaction is good then the spinoff is a-go.

The spinoff will also star Taye Diggs who was recently in ABC’s Day Break. You know, Day Break, the series that took Lost’s position on Wednesday night when Lost was on hiatus. The move that lost Lost viewers. You know, Day Break, the series that is no longer in televised production. Yeah that Day Break and that Taye Diggs. Portends a good start for this Grey’s spinoff.

Technorati Tags: Grey’s Anatomy, television

But of course, she’d flee from the rehab clinic. It’s full of Aliens! She’s taken survival hints from Ripley.

Technorati Tags: Britney Spears

This week, there’s a bunch of free television shows available at the iTunes Store. I already talked about the Sesame Street videos, but there’s also Jericho, The Agency, Friday Night Lights, The Hills, and Lost: Survival Guide.

I haven’t watched most of these, but free is free.

Technorati Tags: iTunes Store, Lost, television

I suspect there’s a contingent of Mac lovers who host the Army Knowledge Online portal. Why you ask? There are little hints here and there on publicly accessible AKO pages.

Hint #1: Registration for AKO free site hosting has some Mac speak. FileMaker Pro is cross platform but dominant in the Mac realm. The giveaway has to be support for WebObjects. From what I recall, WO is Mac OS X only.

Hint #2: Check out the streaming video requirements. PowerBook G4, MacBook, MacBook Pro? iMovie, FinalCut Express, FinalCut Pro?

Hint #3: If you want to stream video, you can opt to setup your own QuickTime Streaming Server or the open source Darwin Streaming Server.

Hint #4: Thorough email instructions. AKO supports POP and IMAP email clients. There are thorough instructions for Apple Mail and Microsoft Entourage for the Mac and even instructions for CAC cards and certificates.

And of course, you have to like the really subtle hints like listing Apple first in unordered (bulleted) lists. Usually, you’d expect the most common entry as the first bullet. But instead Apple is first and Microsoft is second. Very sly.

Technorati Tags: Apple

Hey, did you lose your iPod? I think someone found it (may not be safe for work, but this pic did come from the Sports Illustrated web site).

For some time, I’ve been noticing a decline in technical quality in the KHON2 Morning News. Granted I usually watch the day’s first airing that starts at 5am so maybe the staff isn’t quite prepared and the kinks get worked out for the “recasts” at 6 and 7.

This week alone has been a mess with I think problems every day so far. An occasional glitch here and there is fine, but problems every day? That’s pretty shoddy and shameful I think. I’ve seen problems like messed up videos, wrong videos shown, audio problems (couldn’t hear Tannya this morning), camera angles being fixed while on air, confusion of who should be speaking, and the camera showing the broadcaster who isn’t speaking. Uggly!

Then there’s the new weather reporting system that Trini Kaopuiki uses. Yes, looks nicer and has more space for text so I don’t see those strange abbreviations anymore. But Trini continues to have issues with this system. First off, there’s been a few times where the camera isn’t aligned correctly so there’s like an elevator effect where Trini (or the background screen) moves up and down. And that pulsing temperature where Trini points to is a waste of time since it doesn’t work consistently. And who really cares if the text of the temperature pulses to red? Trini’s already doing the full hand pointing to the temperature so I know where she’s talking about. Good enough. The extended weather forecast looks nicer too, but I wonder about the effectiveness of the now dynamic weather icons. For scattered showers, the little cloud icon has some animated rain coming down, but how do I gauge this compared to heavier showers? Is there more rain animation coming from the cloud and can viewers notice that? Today, I think I saw the icon alternate from a cloud to a dark cloud. Eh, kinda irritating with the alternating/blinking icon and most times, I glance at the screen for a quick look while I’m eating breakfast. What if during that quick peek, I see only the cloudy icon. I’d be bummed when the rain started.

The Pacific Business News ran an article about the potential impact of staff cuts at KHON in 2006, and I’m thinking there is a definite impact. Why else could things be so shoddy?

Fortunately for KHON2, they have Kirk Matthews and Tannya Joaquin anchoring the morning show. Kirk is adept at handling any situation and balances Tannya’s fun side. Trini and Manolo are good in the mix (though Trini’s me first attitude gets irritating at times). And KHON’s trump card has to be the How Hawaii Works segment with PBN’s Howard Dicus. That guy is informative, oh so funny, and I like his drawings and Lego props.

And overall, the KHON bunch ain’t bad to look at early in the morning. The other stations’ morning shows – not so lucky. Sorry, Ben G and Angela K. And I think it’s great that Danielle Tucker has lost a lot of weight but can’t her lighting or something be fixed so she doesn’t look so ghostly and scary during traffic updates? With her now gaunt face, fair complexion, and red hair, she’s a startling sight early in the morning.

Let’s get your act together KHON2!

Technorati Tags: KHON, television