The WordPress.com stats team prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
London Olympic Stadium holds 80,000 people. This blog was viewed about 360,000 times in 2011. If it were competing at London Olympic Stadium, it would take about 5 sold-out events for that many people to see it.
Do your run poker tournaments at home? Do you also play in these tournaments? If you’ve answered ‘yes’ to both questions, you know how much work it can be to keep track of time, blinds, and everything else while still trying to concentrate on playing poker. The Poker Ace Portable Tournament Director (PTD) will make your life much easier and make your poker tournaments more enjoyable.
The first thing you’ll see when turning on the PTD are two options:
I chose preferences right away and was presented with:
Not a whole lot to configure as far as the preferences go. It took me a few button presses to figure out which buttons actually changed an option and which one moved to the next option. The button use here was actually very confusing and the opposite of what you’d expect it to be.
After selecting to start a new tournament you’re presented to choose from one of 10 structures. Eight of the structures are preset (but still editable) and two of them are for storing user configured tournament structures.
Once a tournament structure is selected, you’ll be prompted to choose:
The next screen to come up is the payout structure, which is editable just as the tournament structure details are. Finally after everything is set you’ll be prompted to start the tournament. As soon as you press a button, the timer will begin and PTD goes to work. The screen displays the level, time remaining for the level, current blinds, next blinds, ante, and how much time is left during the rebuy period. During the last 10 seconds a beep will come from the device every second as a warning.
I didn’t think the device is very user friendly. I mentioned the button use during the Preferences screen earlier in the review, but there were several times when I didn’t know which button to press. For example, when ending a tournament, the screen displays “Are you sure you want to end tournament?” but it doesn’t give any options such as Yes or No. Also, when I first was choosing a tournament structure I couldn’t figure out how to edit anything, so I had to consult the manual and found the Edit option was all the way at the bottom of a long list on the screen. This should be at the top. Using a device such as this should be as intuitive as possible and the manual should be a last resort, not required reading. A little more time spent on User Interface design and the manual wouldn’t even be needed.
The buttons don’t always bring up the next screen or change an option right away.
The beep used during the last 10 seconds of a level is not nearly loud enough. I tested the PTD by myself in quiet room and I could barely hear the beeping. If you’re playing a tournament with any kind of noise at all, you’ll need to have the PTD strapped to your ear to hear it.
The Poker Ace PTD – Portable Tournament Director is a great little device to use for your poker tournaments. The biggest challenges using the device are during setup, which can be done well before a tournament. The PTD runs for $49.99 at the Poker Ace PTD web site. I think it’s very good value for the time and hassle it will save you during a tournament.
The Anti-Glare Film Set from Power Support is a must have for iPhone owners. The regular price is $14.95, but I bought mine yesterday at the MacWorld Expo for $10 out-the-door.
Two “films” come in the package. They are easy to remove, can be cleaned, and reused. The film isn’t sticky or “shrink wrapped” onto the phone like a lot of the screen covers. It simply uses static cling to stay in place. I’m not sure how well this will work over time, but it’s been great for a day. It literally took me longer to open the package then it did to get it on my iPhone correctly.
In addition to protecting the glass screen from being scratched, the film has a matte finish which does a great job at preventing glare. More importantly though, it keeps fingerprints from taking over your view and I think it makes the multi-touch display even easier to use. My fingers no longer get hung up due to the oils and sweat on my skin coming into contact with the glass.
I am in no way affiliated with the company and have not been compensated in any way to write this review.
As 2007 comes to a close, it’s the perfect time to review golf goals from 2007. They were:
How did I do?
Not too bad, not too good. Chipping and putting was the key for me in 2007 and I sucked at it. It’s time to start working on goals for 2008.
I really enjoyed Ocean’s Eleven when it came out and thought Ocean’s Twelve was good too. So when I saw Ocean’s 13 was next in line I knew I’d have to see it.
Went last night with Tom because it was too damn hot to do anything else around the house or outside. We both enjoyed the movie and I’ll add it to my DVD collection when it comes out. The movie has the usual cast of characters played by George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, and Al Pacino to name a few. I was surprised to see Julia Roberts missing from the 3rd film.
Ocean’s 13 shares the same kind of film-making as the first two movies and tries to keep you guessing what exactly is going on. This movie was quite a bit easier to figure out than the previous two and I actually saw quite a few things coming. If you enjoyed the first two, you’ll enjoy this one as well though. Very good for the 3rd movie in a series. I give it a solid B+.
“Pistol” Pete Maravich was the greatest college basketball player to ever play the game. The “Pistol” was a guard and he averaged over 40 points a game throughout college before there was ever a 3 point line. He had a great shot and actually made a lot of shots which would have easily been worth 3 points in today’s game. No one will ever come close to his scoring record.
Mark Kriegel did a great job writing this book as far as information goes, but his story telling left a little to be desired. I enjoyed reading the book because I learned a lot about “Pistol” Pete, but I felt as if I was struggling to get from page to page.
If you’re a basketball fan, I recommend reading this book to learn about one of the greatest players to play the game of basketball. Pete changed the way bball was played and is responsible for a lot of what we see today in games.
Golf Research In Play (G.R.I.P) announced a new 460cc Beta Titanium Driver at the end of April and I jumped all over the chance to review one.
The driver sells for $129.95 which is nearly giving the club away for free compared to the prices of similar drivers on the golf market which usually sell for $300 or more. The club is available with 9, 10.5, or 12 degrees of loft with the shaft length of the first two being 45.25 inches and the third at 45 inches. In addition to a choice in lofts, you also can choose a shaft made of graphite — regular, stiff flex, senior flex, lady flex — or true temper steel. These options should be enough to satisfy any amateur golfer in the market for a new driver except the lefties; the driver is only available in the right hand model at this time.
Directly from the web site…
The Craftsmanship — Aerospace-Grade 460cc Beta Titanium
Our G.R.I.P. Driver offers an enormous 460cc beta titanium clubhead, the largest allowable by the USGA. It is constructed using aerospace-grade, beta titanium, with the maximum allowable COR (Coefficient of Restitution), enabling the clubface to give slightly at impact and spring back.
Additionally, the clubface’s generous sweet spot produces exceptionally long and straight drives, and fewer mis-hits. Its deep clubface also promotes a high launch angle and low spin rate to maximize distance.
Elevated MOI
The G.R.I.P. 460cc Driver’s innovative design boosts its MOI (Moment of Inertia) by moving the club’s weight from its center, decreasing side spin and increasing ball speed. The elevated MOI also significantly reduces twisting of the clubhead, allowing for straighter shots even on off-center hits.
Rear-Sole Weighting
The GRIP 460cc Beta Titanium Driver features swing-correcting, fixed weight ports in the club’s rear sole, providing for a lower, deeper center of gravity that helps you close the clubface at impact and eliminate or reduce slicing. The G.R.I.P. fixed weighting system also reacts effortlessly to off-center hits by squaring the face during contact, making it the benchmark in fixed-weight driver technology.
The craftsmanship and design of the G.R.I.P. driver really shows when you pick it up and look at it. At 460cc the head is obviously going to be large, but it’s shape and construction don’t make it look odd like a lot of the drivers taking advantage of new technology. The shape of the head stays along the same lines of traditional drivers from 2-3 years ago. As you address the club it is very visually appealing next to the golf ball on the tee. The top of the club and the shaft are an attractive blue color which doesn’t show in the photos from the G.R.I.P. web site. For full disclosure, blue is my favorite color. I didn’t care for the grip on the shaft, which was kind of navy blue and black design if I can remember correctly. I don’t use normal size grips, so after testing out the club, I quickly had a new shaft (Winn Grip 6G8X-BBL which is a midsize with 3 layers of tape) put on to match my other clubs.
As you swing the club everything feels very balanced. I like to start with a slow back swing and then really come at the ball on my downswing with an agressive weight transfer. With GRIP’s driver I feel like I’m in control of my swing.
The driver was delivered last Thursday, so I took it to the range before golf league. I wanted to determine if I should put it in my bag. After a couple of minutes I had my mind made up; I was giving the club a try in my bag. I was hitting pretty consistent shots that were long and straight. When I looked at the club face, I wasn’t even hitting the sweet spot yet. Every ball was high and towards the toe of the club, so the driver really is forgiving on off-center hits. On the course was a bit of a different story but not because of the golf club. I’ve been struggling with my swing timing on the tee, hitting some dead pulls or nasty pull hooks. When I did correct things I bombed a few down the fairways.
On Friday I went to the driving range to fix my swing and compare the G.R.I.P. driver to the 10 degree Makser AS440 I’ve played the last two years. When comparing the two drivers side by side, the new GRIP driver has a larger head and the shaft was over an inch longer. This year I’ve had a problem topping the ball on a lot of drives and this seems to have been resolved with the longer shaft. I hot both drivers, switching back and forth. I only hit a few slices using the G.R.I.P. driver and it played a lot more consistently. When the ball comes off the face of the club it has a nice rising ball flight and it goes long and straight.
On Sunday I played 18 holes at Bay City Country Club, using the driver every chance I could. The first few holes found me just off the fairway because I’ve been so used to compensating for a slice or slight fade. Once I learned to trust the club and aim down the middle, I was hitting bombs over the fairway bunkers. I don’t think I’ve ever hit so many fairways with a driving during one rough of golf in my life. I was hitting it 270-300 yards right down the middle nearly every hole. I only hit one bad slice all day long. My Dad took the old Makser driver home for my brother to try out since I have no use for it anymore.
Today I played 9 holes at Twin Oaks Golf Course and my swing was horrible. I didn’t make solid contact once off the tee, so I can’t say how the driver performed.
I’ve never felt more confident in a golf club in the 8 years I’ve been golfing. I’ve never hit a driver as consistently long and straight as I can hit the G.R.I.P. 460cc Beta Titanium Driver. For only $129.95 you won’t find a better buy on a quality driver anywhere. Is there a driver out there I can hit just as straight and will give me another 10 yards off the tee? Probably, but it’s not worth the $300-500 it would cost. I can’t wait to get out for my next round of golf and hear the “ooohs” and “aaahs” after I hit a drive.
I went to see 300 at an IMAX the week it came out. We drove from Saginaw all the way to Lansing one night after work, which put the total drive time around 3 hours. That’s a lot of driving to see a movie when I could have went 2 miles down the road from my house. Well…it was well worth it!
300 is one of the greatest movies I’ve ever seen, if not the greatest. That’s saying a lot. The whole drive home Casey, Maggie, and I couldn’t stop talking about how good it was and everything we liked. Seeing this movie in IMAX is worth the jacked up ticket price (we paid $12) because everything is just done so well. I seriously can’t think of anything I’d change about the movie right now. I really did like it that much.
I know this isn’t much of a review, but you have to see this movie for yourself in a theater and if you have access to an IMAX, pay the extra cash and make a trip. I will have an HD-DVD player by the time 300 comes out and if I don’t, I’m buying one just for this movie. Everything from the acting, lighting, cinematography, script, action, to special effects was well put together.
Definitely an A+.
Card Golf mirrors the game of golf to a tee. The rules, the golf clubs and even the world’s top golf courses have been condensed into this fun, easy to play and addicting card game. It’s golf in a box. So if you or someone you know is into golf, or if you want to teach someone about the game, then Card Golf is perfect for you.
Ever get tired of playing poker, rummy, go-fish, or any other card games you might play? Card Golf just might be the game for you, especially if you’re a golfer or interested in learning how to golf.
The deck for Card Golf consists of 51 cards ranging from 1 yard putters up through 250 yard drivers. It also comes with a rule/instruction card and two sample score cards to get you started. A single Card Golf deck is designed to be played by 2 people and it does the job pretty well.
The basics of the game is that you want to add up the yardages on your cards to be more than the length of the hole. If your cards add up exactly to the yardage you aren’t given any penalty strokes, 1-5 yards over and you get one penalty, and then it goes up from there until a maximum of 4 penalty strokes.
Last night I sat down and played two hands using the scorecard for Pebble Beach. For the first couple of holes I made the mistake of thinking about the card game too much like a regular golf hole. I’d hit it long off the tee, make an approach shot, and then try to putt for birdie. This is where the game of Card Golf can mix things up a bit, because there are some real potential chances to make eagles.
The first hand (player) I played was doing quite well making birdie on the first two holes and my second player went par, birdie to start. Then I realized I could try to make it in with two shots each time and if the yardages turned our right, I could even get the exact yardage using two cards. My first hand went on to eagle the next three holes and take a commanding lead. After another birdie, I was 9 under after 6 holes! A triple bogey 6 on the next hole, a par 3, ruined that real quick. While getting three eagles in a row is something I’ll most likely never do, I know what a 6 feels like on a short hole!
I kept playing along with both of my players and my first player cruised along by only giving up the tee on 4 holes out of 18 to the second hand I was playing. The scores for the front nine were 29 and 35 and then 31 and 32 on the back for 18 hole scores of 60 and 67, which are -12 and -5. Not bad!
Card Golf is a game anyone can learn and it doesn’t take long to play. While it doesn’t quite equate to real golf in a lot of aspects, you can learn a few things. One of the things I didn’t like was the lack of using a putter. The putter is the most frequently used club in every one’s golf bag (when playing real golf) and there wasn’t a requirement to use it in this game. In fact, there was a time when one of my players didn’t have a putter card in the hand for 3 holes, so I couldn’t have used one if I wanted to.
Overall I was really pleased with the game. The deck is well designed and should hold up for many 18 hole rounds of play. Card Golf would make a great gift for any golfer who is trying to get through the winter months.
I received the G.R.I.P Sweetness Putter a few weeks ago from Rob at Golf Research in Play and The Savvy Golfer. I was impressed with the look and feel of the putter as soon as I took it out of the box. I used it around the living room for a bit, but knew I couldn’t take it out on the course with me. I’ve been using an Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball putter for a couple of years now and it’s done wonders for my game. As impressed as I was with the Sweetness from G.R.I.P. I just couldn’t mess with my putting game. I showed the putter to my friend Dave and he said he’d test it out. Following is his review.
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The G.R.I.P. Sweetness Putter features an oversized, two-bar design, with a center aiming line between the two “Dual Tension Rods” to help make alignment easier. The double insert in the club face is comprised of a soft, CNC-milled aluminum center surrounded by a soft polymer. This putter is aimed at the casual golfer looking for the latest technology but at a lower price point ($69.95).
I currently use a Ping Anser and am generally happy with it. I use a pendulum stroke and push through the ball toward the hole. I feel that this gives me more control over ball release and trajectory. I had to change my stroke somewhat to get good results with the Sweetness. I found my push was causing me to go past the hole and offline. I altered my stroke to eliminate the push and let the club do the work. After that I was able to zero in the distance much better.
The club shaft has a double bend that gives the club a slight offset. Initially, I was holding the club improperly and getting too much loft. Once I adjusted the position, I got much better roll and accuracy.
Things I like: Very nice grip, excellent visual cues, good weight, and nice fit and finish.
Things I didn’t like: Nothing
I would recommend this putter for someone who wants to try this style without dropping a fortune.
Anyone want to buy a used Ping Anser?
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Dave seems to like the putter and like he said, you can’t beat the price for a quality putter. The grip on the putter is actually something I loved about it.
The shaft is wrapped in an ultra-soft, all-weather polyurethane two-piece grip.
Ultra-soft doesn’t even begin to describe how the grip felt. I love my 2-Ball and the feel of it, but the grip is one area where I think I could get a little bit better feel by using a softer grip.
Nick Momrik 