Pretty neat: Make Google go crazy

See here.

I tried it on amazon.com and it was even way better. Need to try it at a different time to ensure that it always works.

Sidney Sheldon dies at 89

Here.

I think I read all his books while growing up. I was ridiculed quite a few times for it though. Great author. Really liked him. Condolences to his family...

AllFreeCalls

Sick of buying phone cards? Well, you don't have to buy anymore, at least to the countries and country codes on this list.

I tried calling someone in Hungary and the UK but I think I have the wrong numbers. I was able to call Canada though.

I just added AllFreeCalls to my contact list. You can check them out here. [Via TechCrunch].

PS: If you are in the UK, send me your number ASAP.

Once Nigeria is added to that list, I would never have to buy phone cards again. Isn't that liberating?

Update (2/16/2007): AllFreeCalls shut down.

Update (5/23/2007): AllFreeCalls resurrected.

Henry finally wins an award

After being overlooked for the European and World footballer of the year awards, Henry has finally won an award. He was named the European footballer of the year by Croatia's leading newspaper - Sportske Novosti. They polled some of the world's top coaches who voted him ahead of Ronaldinho and Cannavaro.

I guess it's kinda like winning the SAG Awards as opposed to winning an Academy award or a Golden Globe award.

Most linked to video on YouTube today: really funny

This really cracked me up.

• I wasn't sure if John Howard was indeed the Prime Minister of Australia but I knew that wasn't him.
• I didn't know anything about the Axis of Evil.
• Wasn't sure of the Coalition of the Willing but guessed as much that it had to deal with the US' allies.

Via Marshall Kirkpatrick.

Weekend wrapup

Yesterday was excellent. Colts won to go to the Superbowl and Arsenal beat Manchester United to make the title race more interesting. Did you Mancs think I had forgotten? That's 6 points off Manchester United this season. Excellent!!! And both wins were comeback wins at the end.

I was only 2/4 on my predictions this weekend. But I got the two that counted.

Back to work!!!

Championship

One of the best games I have ever watched. Haven't watched a lot so that's not saying much but Peyton stepped up and made play after play. I have to give the whole team credit. The offense stepped up and scored 32 points in the second half coming back from an 18 point deficit (the largest comeback in NFL championship history) with the defense limiting the Patriots to 13 points.

I told you Manning will have a stellar game but you doubted. I was only 1/2 this weekend but I will take it. 8/10 this postseason. Not bad!!!

You know who is winning Superbowl XLI, right?

And as a side note, it seems that this is the first time an African American coach is making it to the superbowl. Well, 2 African Americans are going to Miami. And they are friends...

Championship sunday

When predicting which teams will make this weekend's actions, I got scared about picking two upsets and went safe on one of them. That was the Patriots-Chargers game. From watching the game, the Chargers threw the game away but that's a story for a different day. Brady found a way to win and they travel to the RCA dome to face the Colts.

It's only fitting that the Colts have to face their nemesis: the Patriots to get to the elusive Superbowl. Much has been made of how Brady and Belichick are the Achilles heel for Manning and Dungy and how many times they have stopped them short on their way to glory. Well, those games have been in Foxboro in the cold. Admittedly, the Patriots were 6-0 against the Colts before last season. Well, things have changed now. The Colts have won the last two meetings against the Patriots and they were in Foxboro although it wasn't cold then.

Finally, there are no more excuses. The game is at the RCA dome, we have the best clutch kicker in the game in Adam Vinatieri and the Colts defense seems to have found a way to make stops. The only problem seems to be the offense and Peyton Manning. Well, have you heard the phrase “form is temporary, class is permanent”? I thought so. Well, Manning and the offense will come out of their rut and have a stellar game leading the Colts to victory.

There's one thing I am not sure of: I don't know if I want the Colts to win it by much or Vinatieri to be the difference making up for Vanderjagt's missed field goal against the Steelers last year. Well, whatever, it doesn't matter. As long as we are on our way to Miami.

In the NFC, the Cinderella story of the Saints continues. The Saints have too many options on offense against the Bears and the Bears would be unable to stop them. I have always been a fan of the offense and great offense and decent defense always beats great defense and decent offense. I am not always right but the Colts did enough against the Ravens last week to keep me believing. And the Bears defense is no longer great...

And you know who I think is winning it all, right?

Big weekend in the premiership

Arsenal hosts Man U in the first encounter between the two clubs at the Emirates Stadium while Chelsea travel to Anfield to face Liverpool. What's pissing me off is the fact that I would be able to watch the Liverpool-Chelsea game but not the Arsenal-Man U game. Why do most of the big games in the premiership have to be on Sunday? huh? Don't they know that I won't be able to watch them? I haven't watched any major game on Sunday for the past few seasons since I came to this country. Argh!!!

I think both London teams would come out victorious although I wish Liverpool and Chelsea draw. Won't that be sweet?

I have a dream...

In case you don't know or are not in/from the US, today is Martin Luther King day.

Going to Howard which is a HBCU makes days like today important.

You can view the famous speech, hear it or read a transcript here. [Via FlickrBlog].

Money!!!

That's what Adam Vinatieri gives you.

5 FGs. Woot!!! To all you doubters out there who picked the Ravens to beat the Colts, sorry!!!

As I implied here, this is why the Colts got Vinatieri: to make clutch field goals. On to the AFC championship game. Manning had a sub-par game but he made one crucial pass to Dallas Clark to keep the drive going and keep the clock running. That breakout game in the playoffs is coming: keep watching.

And as I keep telling my friends, offense eventually beats defense.

NFL Divisional playoffs

I was 4/4 on my predictions for the wildcard games. The only game I wasn't too sure of was the Cowboys - Seahawks game and the Cowboys had no reason to lose that game. In fact, they conspired to lose the game with Terry Glen's fumble and Tony Romo's mistake with the field goal. But they lost and made me perfect. On to this week's games. This week's games are so much harder to predict and I might even go 0/4 this week although I doubt it.

The Colts return to their former home in Baltimore and the odds are stacked against them winning. I believe they can win despite playing against a strong Ravens defense. I am picking the Colts to advance to the AFC championship game. Peyton Manning should have a better game than he did against the Chiefs.

In the other AFC game, the Chargers host the Patriots. I think this is the hardest game to predict and the easiest way out is by flipping a coin. The Chargers have the best back in the league who is the MVP, they have Shawn Merriman and the rest of that defense and they have Phillip Rivers who is a decent QB. On the other hand, we have Brady and Belichick who own the postseason. That duo is enough to beat whichever team comes their way in the tournament. After changing my mind so many times, I think the Chargers will snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. How? Don't ask me. Just make sure you watch the game.

In the NFC, Rex Grossman would have a decent game and lead the Bears to victory over the Seahawks. Urlacher might be big in this game. In the other game, I think the Saints will keep marching on, stopping the Eagles' flight in their tracks.

PS: The AFC's games always seem more interesting on paper hence I write longer about them. However, if last week's games are anything to go by, the NFC will have closer and more interesting games than the AFC when the games are actually played.

Becks joins LA Galaxy

... for an ungodly amount of money. It doesn't even make sense. More here. See who's paying his bill.

iPhone

The iPhone has been revealed ending months of speculation and it looks really gorgeous. I am really tempted to get it although there are some reasons why you shouldn't. We'll see how things look when it comes out in June.

Update (1/10): Paul Kedrosky has more reasons you shouldn't get the iPhone. Robert Scoble adds even more to pk's list.

Lasting impressions...

I saw my Principles of Economics teacher from Spring 2004 yesterday and he remembered me. Not only did he remember me, he knew I was graduating this semester. Wow.

I was kinda a good student back then and did really well in the class. This was because I did Economics in high school and it was still fresh in my mind although it's one of those subjects I seem(ed?) to have a knack for.

Anyways, we started talking about what I was going to do after graduation and I told him I hadn't decided yet and that I was considering all the usual options. He tried to convince me to switch to Economics again (he did that when I was in the class) and I explained to him why I couldn't because I was in CS and they kinda have different paths. He gave me advice on what to do and what not to do and that was it.

What's really interesting / impressive is that I seem to have made such an impression on him that he actually did remember me. Considering that he isn't a professor in my major who had no prior knowledge of me and hadn't heard anything about / from me since then was incredible, yet he remembered me. You know how teachers talk about students among themselves the same way we students talk about them. Yeah, some teachers have preconceived ideas about you before you enter their class.

Well, I have been rambling too much. The main point of this was that I was able to make an impression a long time ago on one of my teachers. That's remarkable. I have never really thought of it before. Only God knows how many teachers have wondered down the years what was going on in my head: the guy who was hardly in class and was an enigma yet somehow managed to be on point in the class.

What lasting impressions do you leave on people? Who have you met that would love to meet you again (work with you, teach you, etc.)? Have you been such a nuisance that people see you and run away? Or are you someone that wouldn't be remembered either way? That's some food for thought right there!!!

Unbelievable: Colts defense steps up

This game shouldn't even have been that close. The defense stepped up and made big plays throughout the game. The game would have been a blowout if not for Peyton Manning's 3 INTs at the beginning. Excellent game by the Colts defense. Larry Johnson was shut down and limited to 32 yards. The Chiefs were limited to 44 yards running. WOW!!!

Can one player have such an impact? Is Bob Sanders that key? On to the divisional game in Baltimore. Anyone know how to get tickets?

Full coverage here.

And playing Madden has helped me understand a lot of the subtleties of football: I formation, receivers lining up in a slot, cover 2 defense and a few other things. There will be more Madden for me :)

Did Blogger Custom Domains break something?

Windows Live Writer has been unable to post to Blogger since I enabled Blogger Custom Domains.

It seems like it successfully posts and redirects to my blog but there's no new blog entry.

Here is the new entry I was trying to post entitled “New blog url”:

Thanks to a new feature released by Blogger, the URL for this blog has changed from http://olaoluwa.blogspot.com to http://blog.olaoluokelola.com. Any previous links redirect from the previous URL to the present one.

This new feature known as “Blogger Custom Domains” is really easy to implement. Just follow the directions from this help page linked to from the blog entry earlier today.

NFL wildcard predictions

So the NFL wildcard games are this weekend and pretty much everyone has written off the Colts' chances of winning against the Chiefs at home because of the run defense and a certain player named Larry Johnson.

I have to agree that LJ is a hell of a back to play against and the poor Colts defense would find it very difficult to cope with him but I believe that the Colts will find a way to win this one surprising everyone. Maybe they'll produce the kind of display they produced against the Bengals in week 15.

In the other AFC game, the Patriots host the Jets. I don't buy any of the hype of Eric Mangini and the Jets defeating the Patriots. I never count Tom Brady and Bill Belichick out. I believe the Pats will come out victorious in this one.

In the NFC, I think the Seahawks will beat the Cowboys riding on last year's MVP: Shaun Alexander. Tiki Barber will not be enough to help the Giants overcome the Eagles continuing Jeff Garcia's great story.

LTD is MVP

As expected, LT was the MVP.

Locked out again...

I have been locked out of my room for the past hour. Unlike the last time, this is entirely not my fault.

Apparently, they removed the pin for the lock so that after school closed on the 22^nd, we would be unable to enter until school resumed. At least that's what the SA said. And since school had resumed and my room wasn't open, I have to find out why it was really locked.

And I got really mad at the maintenance guy because I still have to go to P-12 (the Admin office) later in the day to figure stuff out since my key still doesn't work. He only let me in.

I have a long day ahead tomorrow so I am going to bed.

Missed flights

I seem to have a knack for missing flights. I cannot count the number of times I have missed my flight. All but one time I missed a flight, I was either on my way to visit family or on my way back from there so it's not entirely my fault. This doesn't count because I technically didn't miss my flight. But still, I must have a record with the airlines or something. I know there are people worse than I am but I am thinking percentage wise.

Today seems to have been the worst one. We got to the airport about the same time the plane was boarding. Can you imagine that? Normally, I get there just as they close baggage claim which translates to about 30 minutes before takeoff. The interesting thing was that this was the time the airline representatives gave the least fuss. It was as if they were resigned to the fact that I am perennially late or they just decided that since I was that late, there was nothing to fuss about.

One thing I have noticed is that I always try to hurry and worry when there's hope I can still make the flight. Once that hope evaporates, I lose my agitation and become calm and resigned to the fact that I have missed my flight and there's nothing I can really do about it so I should make the best out of the situation.

The one time I missed my flight when I wasn't visiting family was when I was going for the NSBE conference in Boston in 2005. I overslept that day and I think I had to catch a plane in a different airport, I can't remember. Anyway, I broke my leg the day I returned hence I can never forget.

What's wrong with Chelsea?

Three straight draws? That's not how to compete for the title. If they are not careful, we'll catch up with them in the race for second place.

This is the first time they have really faced adversity in the Abramovich era with a few injuries and it doesn't seem like they know how to deal with it except of course throw more money at it. This is getting really interesting...

But as Mourinho said, they are only six points behind.

Madden 07

I got Madden a few days ago and all my plans for the break have become hogwash. I have been playing the game a lot and all I can think of right now is “what's the difference between a cover 1 and a cover 2”. When it's 3rd and long and the offense has to go long, what other option do you have apart from blitzing the quarterback? Yeah, that's what I do on all downs and all plays.

Well, back to multitasking between madden and work...

Personal statement

I had to write a personal statement three weeks ago in the same week I was finishing finals. I was context switching between the personal statement and my operating system at the end (CS joke).

I just reread the personal statement I wrote. While it might not be the best one possible, it put things into perspective for me about what I would like to do in the near future. How near that future is, I don't know. There are some things I wrote there that seem like mid-to-long term goals I have. And as I was just talking about goals, that seems perfect.

I think everyone should write a personal statement or do some sort of deep reflection every once in a while maybe as often as one or two years to see what we are really thinking about and what we want to accomplish, even if it seems impossible. It might help clear up a few things you weren't sure about. I know writing that personal statement helped.

Now, I have to scheme and figure out a way to do some of those things...

2007

Happy New year!!!

This year is going to be a special year for a lot of reasons:

• I graduate from college
• I turn 21
• and lots more... I'll keep you posted on the rest

• Update (2/4): Colts win the Superbowl.