Gizmodo has a short video demonstrating Nintendo's Wii Fit, which uses the Balance Board accessory. It seems like a neat little gimmick, and for some folks maybe a good motivation to get more exercise. I wonder if the soccer heading mini-game would actually improve my game. Not that getting a Wii will be any easier for the foreseeable future, the NY TImes reports that the president of Nintendo America expects shortages through the holiday season.\

Nokia's N770 and N800 tablet PCs were developed with a conscious decision to use as much open source software as feasible. This decision had tremendous benefits in cost savings, code quality, flexibilty, and zero licensing costs. You can read the white paper HT: Stephesblog.

If we compare the code from open source to the code developed by us, our conclusion is that open source is of better quality. We have more bugs and problems in the Nokia developed code. This is only natural because the majority of the Nokia code is build from scratch and is thus very young. Open source code, on the other hand, has mostly been used by others already. They have fixed the most severe errors already before we started to use the code.

MLS had to pay to be on ESPN2 for so many years, because that's what gets and keeps you on the general sport fan's radar. On the other end of th spectrum, the NHL refused a revenue-sharing agreement, one without a big fat rights fee, with ESPN last year and chose to go to the more obscure Versus network. Now, we're treated to posts that ask "Is ESPN killing the NHL?"  Before we proceed, let me say I have nothing against Hockey as a sport, although I'm not a fan myself. \

It seems to me, that the NHL owners had to have considered the effects of not being on carried on ESPN's networks. To not have thought it through is either delusions or incompetent, so to try to blame ESPN for the lack of interest in the NHL rings a bit hollow. Its also naive to complain that ESPN doesn't promote hockey enough, when it is in its own interests to promote programming that it carries.  Ask any soccer fan how much they promoted MLS before this year to see if this behavior should come as any surprise.

The NHL is in the same position as MLS, a niche sport with a passionate fan base, but limited appeal to casual fans. Hockey had the good fortune to fly close to the sun, and certainly enjoyed big cash and exposure. Its just a pity that the fall back to earth is so painful.\

\ The post that started it all - Negative Press: Is ESPN is Killing the National Hockey League by Influencing Public Attitudes?{rel="bookmark"}