Forget critic reviews – enjoy the beautifully written narrations of AllMusic, AllMovies, & AllGames

One of the joys a Pandora listener experiences is hearing a song for the first time. That moment when the music genome offers up his ideal genetic match from an artist he’s never heard before. And when he clicks the bio to learn more, the AllMusic database loads up a charming piece of prose: Undeniably …

Nintendo’s next console – Wii U – to launch November 18, 2012

After the success of the Wii, Nintendo is pushing ahead with its next generation console on November 18, 2012. This one is more iPad-like with a 6.2 inch touchscreen built into the GamePad controllers, and that is driving up the price compared to the Wii at $200. From The Verge: The console will launch in …

How to watch sports online in 2012, packages from NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS, and ESPN

This is an update of the 2011 post. Not much has changed in the leagues, but ESPN has really pushed the Watch ESPN app. With a cable subscription you can watch ESPN on any mobile device from anywhere. Prices range from $60 – $250 per season for 2012, not a bad deal if you’ve cancelled …

Web stats for the London 2012 Olympic Games

Just a small slice of the 70-page, London 2012 Olympic Games – Digital Report Web stats: 431 million visits 109 million unique visits (on average, each person visited four times) 15 million app downloads 4.73 billion pageviews (on average 11 page views/visit) 4.7 million followers on social networks Data: 1.3 petabytes of data served 117 billion …

Don’t forget about the Paralympics – they’re on from Aug 31 – Sep 9

  I really enjoyed the Olympics, particularly seeing Oscar Pistorius compete in his carbon fibre Cheetah foot. Now, I’m looking forward to seeing some of the more exciting Paralympic events: Following his historic appearance at the Olympic Games – where he was the first male athlete with a disability to compete at the able-bodied Games – South …

Is there prize money given with olympic medals?

There’s no pay from the IOC (International Olympic Committee) when they win a medal. But many countries Olympic committees pay their athletes for winning medals. Among them, The U.S., Russia, Canada, China & Italy and many more countries. $20K-$50K per gold medal is typical in bigger countries. The smaller countries actually tend to pay more, …

PAC-12 network launches on August 15, 2012 – UCLA already has 39 games scheduled for the fall

I’m super excited that the PAC-12 is getting its own network. I love watching all sorts of college sports on TV and hopefully this channel will give me all I can eat.     More fans will see more UCLA sports on more channels than ever before when the Pac-12 Networks launches on August 15. …

Maps of where Olympic athletes are born and where they move to

The map above shows the birthplace of the 500 athletes the United States sent to the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games. The break down: 9 percent (43 athletes) – are from Los Angeles 3.6 percent (17) – are from the Bay Area 3 percent (14) – are from greater New York 2.3 percent (11) from …

The growing popularity of summer camps for building iPhone, Android apps

Here is an excerpt from a Marketplace interview on computer-focused summer camps, they’re surging in popularity:   Queena Kim: Aw…the  sounds of summer. Families getting together for barbeques. The sound of BBQ sizzling. Dogs running around. And 9-year-old Alex  is plopped down on a lounge chair totally engrossed in his favorite iPad game, which prompts this from his dad: …

Tug of War, once a part of Ancient Olympics, was also once a part of the modern Olympics

Tug of war was contested as a team event in the Summer Olympics at every Olympiad from 1900 to 1920. Originally the competition was entered by clubs, which meant that one country could win several medals. This happened in 1904, when the United States won all three medals, and in 1908 when the podium was occupied by three British teams. Sweden was also among the top …