Indeed, what a dark day for NZ Cricket. The Black Caps have been soundly beaten by Sri Lanka in their semifinal match at the Cricket World Cup. And in a not-so-unexpected twist, Fleming has quit as one-day skipper. It was quite ironic that on Anzac Day, our boys delivered a gutless performance.
This was a very very sorry effort from our boys who failed to deliver with bat and ball. Sri Lanka piled on a massive 289 runs and NZ were never in the chase. After losing the openers cheaply it seemed like we would have a close game on our hands. Alas, there was a middle order collapse, where we lost 5 wickets in 5 overs. Despite a last wicket partnership, which was probably the best partnership of the NZ innings, we lost the game by 81 runs.
This was the 5th time NZ has made the semis and we have never crossed that line to the finals before. The outcome of the Cricket World Cup really looks predictable. Australia, not having lost a game, looks set to take the title for the 3rd time, unless Murali and his fellow spinners intervene, which would be just like 1996 all over again.
As for Stephen Fleming, he has been horrible against Sri Lanka in the World Cup. He cannot seem to face Vaas or Malinga at all. So it wasn't a surprise that he has quit as captain. But I just cannot see a suitable replacement for Fleming. He's a very experienced captain, probably the best in the world, but relieving him of the captaincy should hopefully help him get more runs with the bat. Or maybe appear in more Fujitsu or Rexona ads.
The feeling of losing yet another semifinal opens up old wounds inflicted in 1992 and 1999. I just wonder how long it would take for this team to cross that line and make a final for once. With certain players already near the end of their use-by date, it doesn't bode well for the future.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Friday, April 20, 2007
Reborn
My indoor cricket playing days have started again. This time we play at a different venue, on a different day, but more or less the same players from the Dirty Hackers era and a couple of new faces. James' friend, Chicken, has moved up to Auckland, and has started a cricket team to play on Thursdays. James kindly pooled the best Dirty Hackers to play for the new team (well basically all the regular Dirty Hackers). The new venue is closer to home for all of us, which is a bonus.
Unfortunately the new team name is Hooray for Boobies, even less flattering than Dirty Hackers. Perhaps we should be called Westie Smashers instead. Anyway, our first team was pretty hopeless. We scored 146 runs, and they eventually sunk into a negative score, as we regularly took their wickets.
It's all looking good for Hooray for Boobies. We could take out the entire competition.
Unfortunately the new team name is Hooray for Boobies, even less flattering than Dirty Hackers. Perhaps we should be called Westie Smashers instead. Anyway, our first team was pretty hopeless. We scored 146 runs, and they eventually sunk into a negative score, as we regularly took their wickets.
It's all looking good for Hooray for Boobies. We could take out the entire competition.
Countdown to Rotorua
Just another week to the Rotorua Marathon, and already I am anxious about how I will fare on a course that could be even more tougher than my first Auckland outing. I will be realistic and say that I won't better my previous best of 4 hours 17 minutes. Considering the potential toughness of the course I'll add a bit of extra buffer time. I won't be surprised if I exceed 4 hours 30 minutes. But who knows, I could do better than last time.
I have a bit of pain in both feet, in different places. The left foot is a bit tender on my outstep, mostly as a consequence of continually rolling the ankle too many times in training. The right foot is a bit uncomfortable just above the front of my ankle at the top of the foot. This happened after training yesterday when I ramped the treadmill up to around 13 km/h, which was probably very foolish to do so close to a marathon. Hopefully I'll get over the little pains and save myself for the event.
This last week will be dedicated to fuelling and tapering, so hopefully I'll get the procedure right.
I have a bit of pain in both feet, in different places. The left foot is a bit tender on my outstep, mostly as a consequence of continually rolling the ankle too many times in training. The right foot is a bit uncomfortable just above the front of my ankle at the top of the foot. This happened after training yesterday when I ramped the treadmill up to around 13 km/h, which was probably very foolish to do so close to a marathon. Hopefully I'll get over the little pains and save myself for the event.
This last week will be dedicated to fuelling and tapering, so hopefully I'll get the procedure right.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Shhhhhhhhh.... Confidential Idea
A couple of months ago my cousin, who is still in school, asked me if I knew Java. I replied in the affirmative. He knew a school friend who had an idea that could potentially make a lot of money, and it involved Java. Both my cousin and I didn't know what the idea was, since the dude was not willing to share his idea, until we signed 'Confidentiality Agreements'. The only information I got was that it involved cellphones, so I gathered it involved J2ME, which I knew absolutely nothing about. I said, sure I'll meet the dude and hear his idea.
I finally met the dude. After I signed two copies of his poorly written 'Confidentiality Agreement', he demonstrated the idea. The idea was to get a cellphone to receive an infra-red signal, store the signal in the cellphone, and send the signal to any receiver. The best example of this was using your cellphone as a remote control. According to his idea, you program the cellphone with your remote control, assign a key to a particular TV channel, and you can press the assigned key on your cellphone to change the channel. The argument was that remote controls are often misplaced. Rather than looking for the misplaced remote control, use the infra-red interface available on your cellphone to change the channel. And if you misplace your phone, you can call your cellphone. The cellphone remote control can also be applied to other areas, such as switching on/off a light or an alarm system.
For the J2ME side, a mobile application that runs on the phone needs to be developed, and presumably has a nice-looking user interface and some business logic to assign different keys to a particular infra-red signal. The application can be installed on the phone.
The dude was pretty adamant that the idea hasn't been implemented. Since he didn't know any Java, he wanted me first to do a prototype to prove it can be done. As remuneration, I would receive $500 if I completed the prototype. If it sold well, I get a share of the profits.
While he thought of an amazing idea, I wasn't really convinced it was going to be successful. Infra-red capabilities of current cellphones are poor; in fact the range is around 3 feet. That would make a crappy remote control. But who knows, the range could be greater. Battery life could take a hammering, plus cellphones can be treated roughly if used as remote controls as people tend to throw remote controls around recklessly.
I'm also not keen on product convergence (combining different products functions into one product); an example of this is camera phones, which I hate. Some people love product convergence, but others just loathe it. Personally I'm just not keen on dicking around and configuring every key to change channels, volume, mute the TV or read Teletext, especially if I buy a new phone. Infra-red ports aren't available on many phone models, and to my knowledge, the Java platform is only available on certain phone models (not sure how widespread it is). So basically the product will only work on certain cellphones. And personally I don't know J2ME, so I'm not sure how big a learning curve it would be. Considering the above, a few days later I told him I would not go further with it.
Later on I googled for this idea and found literally hundreds of links talking about this idea. It seems Sony Ericsson already had some sort of patent on this idea and is already developing a new phone model to deliver this functionality. I wonder if the dude actually did his research. Oh well, it seemed like a good idea to begin with, but then they just kind of seem to lose their original 'wow' impact when you begin to think about it more.
And if you were wondering about the 'Confidentiality Agreement' that I signed, well it's pretty much useless. There were no legal witnesses, it wasn't properly done, etc. I suspect he ripped an example from the Internet. It was basically a gentlemens agreement. Not saying that I'm not.
I finally met the dude. After I signed two copies of his poorly written 'Confidentiality Agreement', he demonstrated the idea. The idea was to get a cellphone to receive an infra-red signal, store the signal in the cellphone, and send the signal to any receiver. The best example of this was using your cellphone as a remote control. According to his idea, you program the cellphone with your remote control, assign a key to a particular TV channel, and you can press the assigned key on your cellphone to change the channel. The argument was that remote controls are often misplaced. Rather than looking for the misplaced remote control, use the infra-red interface available on your cellphone to change the channel. And if you misplace your phone, you can call your cellphone. The cellphone remote control can also be applied to other areas, such as switching on/off a light or an alarm system.
For the J2ME side, a mobile application that runs on the phone needs to be developed, and presumably has a nice-looking user interface and some business logic to assign different keys to a particular infra-red signal. The application can be installed on the phone.
The dude was pretty adamant that the idea hasn't been implemented. Since he didn't know any Java, he wanted me first to do a prototype to prove it can be done. As remuneration, I would receive $500 if I completed the prototype. If it sold well, I get a share of the profits.
While he thought of an amazing idea, I wasn't really convinced it was going to be successful. Infra-red capabilities of current cellphones are poor; in fact the range is around 3 feet. That would make a crappy remote control. But who knows, the range could be greater. Battery life could take a hammering, plus cellphones can be treated roughly if used as remote controls as people tend to throw remote controls around recklessly.
I'm also not keen on product convergence (combining different products functions into one product); an example of this is camera phones, which I hate. Some people love product convergence, but others just loathe it. Personally I'm just not keen on dicking around and configuring every key to change channels, volume, mute the TV or read Teletext, especially if I buy a new phone. Infra-red ports aren't available on many phone models, and to my knowledge, the Java platform is only available on certain phone models (not sure how widespread it is). So basically the product will only work on certain cellphones. And personally I don't know J2ME, so I'm not sure how big a learning curve it would be. Considering the above, a few days later I told him I would not go further with it.
Later on I googled for this idea and found literally hundreds of links talking about this idea. It seems Sony Ericsson already had some sort of patent on this idea and is already developing a new phone model to deliver this functionality. I wonder if the dude actually did his research. Oh well, it seemed like a good idea to begin with, but then they just kind of seem to lose their original 'wow' impact when you begin to think about it more.
And if you were wondering about the 'Confidentiality Agreement' that I signed, well it's pretty much useless. There were no legal witnesses, it wasn't properly done, etc. I suspect he ripped an example from the Internet. It was basically a gentlemens agreement. Not saying that I'm not.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Whenuapai Half Marathon
I ran the Whenuapai Half Marathon yesterday, and was pretty pleased with my performance, 1 hour 58 minutes.
I started at the back of the pack to reinforce that I needed to start slowly. Once I got into a groove around 5 km into the race, I started passing each runner, and I honestly cannot remember any runners passing me at any stage of the run. Passing each runner gives you a bit of positive energy which makes you stronger and faster. I certainly felt that in this race.
Though it was outside my personal best of 1 hour 54 minutes, I was certainly happy with my run. Unlike the previous half marathons I have done, the course was scenic and peaceful as we trudged through rolling green countryside. Would definitely do it again next year.
I started at the back of the pack to reinforce that I needed to start slowly. Once I got into a groove around 5 km into the race, I started passing each runner, and I honestly cannot remember any runners passing me at any stage of the run. Passing each runner gives you a bit of positive energy which makes you stronger and faster. I certainly felt that in this race.
Though it was outside my personal best of 1 hour 54 minutes, I was certainly happy with my run. Unlike the previous half marathons I have done, the course was scenic and peaceful as we trudged through rolling green countryside. Would definitely do it again next year.
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