I remember last year around this time, I wrote a post marking the end of the Detroit Pistons season after a game 6 Playoffs loss to eventual NBA Champion Miami Heat. In it I made a few remarks that I’d like to echo this year after another game 6 loss, this time to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Jesus Christ himself, Lebron James. Let’s go down the list: (last year, this year)

1. Congrats to the better team, the Miami Heat, 07: Congrats to the better team, the Cleveland Cavaliers
2. Seriously consider not re-signing Ben Wallace, 07: Definitely don’t re-sign Chris Webber.
3. Seriously consider not bringing back Flip Saunders, 07: Please don’t bring back Flip Saunders. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. (*cough*Larry Brown*cough*)
4. I think it’s time to break up the starting 5, 07: Maybe this was a bit dramatic last year, and I don’t feel that way this year. I think they should re-sign Chauncey. Rip and Tayshaun should stay. But Rasheed? Not so sure…
5. Flip, play some reserve, 07: Wasn’t as big of a factor this year, but Maxiell needs more playing time. He’s Ben Wallace 2.0
6. Pistons, check your egos, 07: Nah. Just get better guidance from a better coach.
7. Start backing up your words with some action, 07: Or just get a better coach.
8. How about trying to bring it, even if just for the fans (135+ straight sellouts?), 07: Again, effort wasn’t that big of a deal this year. They just need to be motivated and organized better, I think.
9. Hmm, let’s see, walking the ball up the court, having Rasheed and Tayshaun finally catch up to you with 12 seconds left in the shot clock, and you lose games. Gee, maybe it’s time to start running some fast break plays? Ever? Once in a damn series??? Flip??? Hello????, 07: yes, definitely need more fast break plays. But you need guys that aren’t 35 and can actually run to do that.
10. Get some rest. Heal up. Make some changes. Earn my attention next year. I’ll follow. I’ll support. But I won’t be as adamant, because I don’t feel like championing lackluster effort., 07: Again, a little harsh. I’ll definitely be watching next year, because things should be a little different. If they bring Flip Saunders back, I’ll be pissed and might not be very excited. But I’m hoping they don’t do that.

It’s just a sad day because unfortunately after two years I’ve finally realized that this isn’t the same team that won it all in 2004. And I’m realizing that the window of opportunity for another championship has most likely closed. Now Cleveland, Chicago and Miami are gunning for the top spot in the East. I still don’t understand how Detroit can dominate Chicago like it did, and then just ge trounced by a tam that’s not as good as them or the Bulls. I just hate not knowing what to expect from the Pistons. It really doesn’t matter if they’re horrible or great or just middle of the road, as long as I know there’s consistency there. Oh well.

Go Spurs (it better be a sweep,) and please bring back Larry Brown to the Pistons. See you next year.

Sometimes people show me their computers or I work on them and I am just amazed at the amount of clutter or crazy programs people deal with on a daily basis. There are easier, less stress-inducing ways of maintaining your machine, that are actually better for you, as well.

Here’s a few:

• Your web browser: Everyone in the world gets a new computer, and then jumps on the web with Internet Explorer because it’s there and it’s free. Well, you should use it at least once, and that is to go to GetFirefox.com to download a better browser, Firefox (for Windows and Mac, though safari is ok for Macs.) It’s cleaner, it free, it’s easier to use, and it’s open source which means it wasn’t made by a for-profit corporation.
• Email: Don’t bother messing around with your internet provider’s email they give you for free. You can get better, more accessible email for free elsewhere. I recommend Gmail. There’s no ads, there’s unlimited space, and it’s got a clean, easy to use interface. If you don’t like Google stuff, try the new Yahoo mail, which is just as good if not better. But it might be a little more cluttered.
• Maintenance: all you needto keep your computer running smoothly is an antivirus program, and adware program, and a spyware program. 3, that’s it. and look, the 3 best are bundled together by our friends at Google for free, in what is called Google Pack. Lets see what they give us:
  • Norton Security Scan - Free antivirus protection and updates.
  • Spyware Doctor - Detects and removes spyware and adware.
  • Picasa - Excellent photo organizer and editor for Windows (comparable to iPhoto on the Mac)
  • Google Earth - Just download it. You’ll play with it for hours.

  And there’s more like Firefox, Skype and Adobe Reader that you’ll also want to download. It all comes with the Google Updater that automatically updates your ‘Pack programs for you so you don’t have to, and so that you always have the latest versions.

• Google Browser Sync - Download this extension for Firefox, which puts your bookmarks on a server somewhere in space so that you can access them from any computer, and not have to worry about backing them up if you get a new computer.

What else do people do with their computers?

• Work: Can’t afford Microsoft Office? Then try OpenOffice. It’s a free group of software that works just as well as the big boys. Or try Google Apps, a group of online applications for communicating and organizing, document publication, and web publishing. All free. Also, 37signals offers a whole suite of online applications that help organize and keep track of to-do lists, customer info, discussions, and documents.

So this is all pretty nerdy and stuff, but the point is, things can be cleaned up and less cluttery than they most likely are. Those stupid Yahoo and Google and AOL toolbars in your web browser can be removed. All those ads on your Hotmail don’t have to take up your attention everyday. You don’t have to pay $500 for Microsoft office. You don’t need a Web Accelerator or SBC Spam Protection for your internet. They just take up space.

Maybe it’s all easy for me to say, I sort of know what’s ok to delete or remove and what isn’t. And I know how to get stuff back if it is removed on accident. But if you don’t know, you should ask me or someone who does and we’ll help. It will make life a wee bit easier.

Ok, so I acknowledge that I’ve been around and used computers a lot in the last 10-15 years of my life. So obviously I know a lot more than the average person and especially the average person above the age of 40, just because I’ve used them and been around them so much.

But that doesn’t make it any less annoying when people don’t know how to use computers, or more accurately, don’t CARE to LEARN. A lot of people use computers because they’re either trendy and cool, or because they use one for work, or because they’re forced to. THat’s all fine and good, but people, if you’re going to use, here’s some simple tips that you should engrain into your heads to make my life less stressful.

First, clicking things:

1. Don’t click things multiple times! Especially if you have an older computer, this will most likely cause whatever you clicked on to open 80 times and crash your computer, causing you to say asinine things like “C’mon you stupid computer, gosh it’s so slow!” That’s just ignorance, so get over it.
2. General rules:
   • Icons on a desk top need to be double clicked to open
   • Icons in programs usually only need to be clicked once. If that doesn’t work after 5-10 seconds, then try double clicking.
   • Anything, ANYTHING, in a web browser window only needs to be clicked once. ONLY ONCE. Never ever double click something in a browser window.
   • If you hover the mouse over something, and a little border appears around it that makes it look like a button, then it is a button. Buttons only need to be clicked ONCE.
   • Remember what you used (single or double-click) to open something so you don’t get them mixed up.
3. You can double-click files to open them. This saves time.
4. You can right-click icons and files to see what else you can do to them. (You can also do this with links in web browsers to, for example, open that link in another tab)

There’s probably more but after writing all that, I’m not as frustrated as I was before. Thanks, BLOG.