Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has spent most of the offseason providing vague hints that wide receiver Terrell Owens would return for the 2009 season. It now appears he’s decided to go in a different direction.
According to a report from ESPN’s Michael Smith late Wednesday evening, the Cowboys have released T.O. In recent interviews, Jones had stressed that wide receiver Roy Williams needed to be the focal point of the offense next season. The Cowboys sent their first- and third-round picks in this April’s draft to the Lions for Williams — and now they’ve placed even more pressure on him to perform.
Ever since the Cowboys’ season-ending 44-6 loss to the Eagles, Jones has maintained that chemistry in the locker room is overrated. He loathes admitting mistakes and that’s why many of us thought he would press on with T.O.
NEAT SOFTWARE: Fences
Some people keep their Windows desktops free of any icons. Others cram as many icons as they possibly can on their desktops. Most people, however, fall somewhere in between: more than a handful of desktop icons, but less than a screenful. Wouldn’t it be cool if you could somehow organize all those icons by project or type?
Well, now you can – thanks to the Windows UI tweakers over at Stardock! They’ve just released a new program called “Fences“. Fences allows you to create one (or more) containers for desktop icons (called “fences”). After you create the containers, you can drag whatever icons you’d like into each container; you can then move and\or resize each container as you see fit.
So, for example, you could have a fence called “My Computer” that holds all your default icons (My Computer, My Documents, Recycle Bin), another fence called “Downloads”, another fence called “Political Science Term Paper” and another called “Jones Realty IT Upgrade Project”. You can then drag related icons onto each fence, which will keep them nice and organized. What’s even better is that you can double-click your desktop to make the fences (and their icons) disappear or reappear (you can also exclude certain fences from this behavior, so that your “My Computer” fence is always displayed).
Here’s my desktop at the moment:
Fences is free for personal use and runs on 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. For more information, click here.
McGruff assaulted
WASHINGTON – McGruff the crime dog has been roughed up. D.C. police said the mascot, who urges children to “take a bite out of crime,” became a victim Saturday when a bus driver punched him in the face as he handed fliers to children. Police said the 38-year-old Metro bus driver, climbed off the bus, adjusted both sideview mirrors and then swung at Officer Tyrone Hardy, who was dressed as McGruff.
Police said McGruff staggered, children screamed and the bus driver drove off. Officers quickly pulled him over and charged him with assault.
Metro spokeswoman Candace Smith said the bus driver told a supervisor he was trying “to be funny.”
Smith said the driver will undergo drug and alcohol testing. His future with the agency was under review.
It’s the little things…
You know those “little things” that make you mad? I’m not talking about the truly important stuff, like politics or religion or anything like that… No, I mean the little things – like the old lady in front of you at the checkout counter at the grocery store who doesn’t even bother to start writing her check until the cashier comes up with a total… or the guy in front of you in line at McDonald’s that stares at the menu for 9 minutes trying to figure out what he wants… like he’s never been in a McDonald’s before.
Here are a few of the “little things” that have been bugging me lately:
“Reuben” sandwiches: Last week I was searching the ‘Net for a local restaurant’s menu. I accidentally stumbled across the menu for a similarly-named restaurant also in the Charlotte area. This place claimed to sell the “the world’s best Reuben sandwich”… only their version came with corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut… and Thousand Island dressing! I hate to nitpick, but a Reuben sandwich is corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Russian dressing. Although Russian and Thousand Island both start as a mixture of mayo and ketchup, Thousand Island has sweet pickle relish added, while Russian has horseradish. They don’t taste the same at all. Any jackass selling a “Reuben sandwich” with Thousand Island dressing should be taken out and beaten with a garden hose until they promise to never, ever, ever do it again.
Spelling (Part 1): I’m hardly a spelling bee champion, and even I have problems with the whole “ensure vs. insure” thing. But come on, people! Firefox comes with a built-in spell-checker, and several are available for Internet Explorer. There’s no reason whatsoever for you folks to post about your busy “calenders”, your love of “independant” films, your “collectable” plates, your unused sporting “equiptment”, the Windows NT “kernal”, or even your own “ignorence”. My favorite, however, is “Tobasco sauce”. WTF?!?
Spelling (Part 2): While I’m on the subject, what’s up with people using the words “bumber” or “draw”, as in “my favorite ride at the amusement park is the bumber cars” and “if it’s not on my desk, look in the draw underneath”. I’ve seen people use “bumber” (meaning “bumper”) and draw (meaning “drawer”) repeatedly throughout multi-paragraph web posts, so it’s not a one-time typo. Is there some part of the US where “bumber” and “draw” are considered acceptable?
Step and Half: This one’s easy, yet it seems to continually stump some people. If one of your parents dies, and your surviving parent remarries, any children the surviving parent and new spouse might have would be your half siblings, while any children the new spouse might bring to the marriage are your step siblings. Thus, if your father dies and your mother remarries, any children they might have together would be your half brothers or half sisters. If her new husband already had a child (let’s say his wife died in an accident), that would be your step brother or step sister. Really, it’s not that difficult, folks. Perhaps this will help: your half brother would have half of your genes (since they have the same mother or father). If they don’t have your genes, then they’re your step brother or sister.
Life on Mars is cancelled…
ABC is giving fans of “Life on Mars” some closure.
The network has told producers that it won’t be ordering any additional episodes beyond the 17 currently in the works for this season. But rather than play the usual “Let’s-wait-until-May-before-we-make-a-decision” game regarding the fate of “Mars,” ABC brass have admitted to producers that they won’t be ordering another season of the show.
That means that, rather than letting “Mars” drift away with no resolution, producers will be able to write and film a definitive ending to the saga. Production is expected to continue for at least a few more weeks, with the finale expected to air no later than early April.
Paul Harvey dies at age of 90
CHICAGO – Paul Harvey, the news commentator and talk-radio pioneer whose staccato style made him one of the nation’s most familiar voices, died Saturday in Arizona, according to ABC Radio Networks. He was 90.
Harvey died surrounded by family at a hospital in Phoenix, where he had a winter home, said Louis Adams, a spokesman for ABC Radio Networks, where Harvey worked for more than 50 years. No cause of death was immediately available.
Ed McMahon in ICU
I hate to keep up the “misery blog”, but…
UPDATE: We’ve just learned Ed is in the ICU and his condition is “extremely serious.” As one person close to him put it — “It’s not great, to say the least.”
We’re told Ed McMahon has been hospitalized for nearly a month with pneumonia, bone cancer and other medical problems.
R.I.P. Randy Bewley
Randy Bewley, one of the founding members of the Athens, GA based band Pylon, has passed away from a heart attack. He was 53.
Bewley died around 5 p.m. on Wednesday at Athens Regional Medical Center. He flipped his van on Barber Street early Monday night; Bewley’s heart attack was the apparent cause of the crash.
In a statement to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe said that “[w]e are so very saddened to hear the news of Randy’s passing. Pylon have always been an inspired catalyst to R.E.M. and the Athens music and art scene, and beyond.”
EDIT: Full story\obit here.
Meet the Pizza Cone
A group of investors and Italian inventors have handpicked a long-time Indianapolis bakery to help bring to the U.S. a newfangled food called Pizza Cone.
Pizza Cone is exactly what it sounds like: A cone made of pizza dough stuffed with ingredients like cheese, pepperoni and pizza sauce and then eaten on the go like an ice cream cone.
Taylor’s Bakery, founded in 1913, has signed an agreement with Hilton Head, S.C.-based Pino Gelato to be the sole producer of the cone for all of North America.
via Our prayers have been answered: Meet the Pizza Cone | Blog of Hilarity.
Ummmmm….
