Lowell Deeds

On the day that the American League Championship Series is about to start, some might argue that the Boston Red Sox have been the most successful major league team of the Twenty-First Century. As evidence, here’s a review of the past five years:

2003 – The “Cowboy Up” season. The Sox came back from a 0-2 deficit to defeat the Oakland A’s in the ALDS. Tied 3 games to 3 against the Yankees in the ALCS, Pedro Martinez had a 5-2 lead after 7 innings when manager Grady Little inexplicably sent his starter back to pitch the 9th. The Yankees tied the game and eventually won it with an Aaron Boone home run off of Tim Wakefield. Here’s the opening day lineup for the Sox:

Johnny Damon – CF
Todd Walker – 2B
Nomar Garciaparra – SS
Manny Ramirez – LF
Kevin Millar – 1B
Shea Hillenbrand – 3B
Jeremy Giambi – DH
Trot Nixon – RF
Jason Varitek – C
Pedro Martinez – P

2004 – The “Idiots” added Curt Schilling to the starting rotation and Keith Foulke as closer. On July 31, they traded Nomar to the Cubs, receiving shortstop Orlando Cabrera and first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz in return. They also picked up speedy reserve outfielder Dave Roberts from the Giants. After winning the Wild Card, the Sox swept the Angels in the ALDS but quickly went down 3-0 to the Yankees. Ahead 4-3 in the ninth inning of game four, Yankee closer Mariano Rivera walked Kevin Millar. Pinch runner Roberts stole second and scored the tying run on a Varitek single. David Ortiz won the game with a 2-run home run in the 12th. The Sox won game five in 14 innings on an Ortiz rbi single. Game six was Schilling’s “Bloody Sock” win that included a 3-run home run by second baseman Mark Bellhorn. In game seven, Derek Lowe threw a 1 hit, 1 run masterpiece. The Sox swept the Cardinals in the World Series. The 2004 Opening Day lineup:

Johnny Damon – CF
Bill Mueller – 3B
Manny Ramirez – LF
David Ortiz – DH
Kevin Millar – 1B
Gabe Kapler – RF
Jason Varitek – C
Mark Bellhorn – 2B
Pokey Reese – SS
Pedro Martinez – P

2005 – The Red Sox made it into the ALDS but were swept in three games by the White Sox. The Opening Day lineup:

Johnny Damon – CF
Edgar Renteria – SS
Manny Ramirez – LF
David Ortiz – DH
Kevin Millar – 1B
Jason Varitek – C
Jay Payton – RF
Bill Mueller – 3B
Mark Bellhorn – 2B
David Wells – P

2006 – This team finished third in the AL East and did not make the playoffs. The Opening Day lineup:

Coco Crisp – CF
Mark Loretta – 2B
David Ortiz – DH
Manny Ramirez – LF
Trot Nixon – RF
Jason Varitek – C
Mike Lowell – 3B
Kevin Youkilis – 1B
Alex Gonzalez – SS
Curt Schilling – P

2007 – The Sox swept the Angels in the ALDS and beat the Indians in the ALCS after falling behind 3 games to 1. They swept the Rockies in the World Series. The Opening Day lineup:

Julio Lugo – SS
Kevin Youkilis – 1B
David Ortiz – DH
Manny Ramirez – LF
J D Drew – RF
Mike Lowell – 3B
Jason Varitek – C
Coco Crisp – CF
Dustin Pedroia – 2B
Curt Schilling – P

2008 – to be continued.

This morning the NFL announced that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will provide this year’s Superbowl entertainment. Even though our Brady-less Patriots are unlike to be there, I thought it might be fun to look back at some past Superbowl entertainment…So in reverse order, here are the last ten years…

2008: Tom Petty and Heartbreakers
2007: The Artist Formerly Known As Prince
2006: The Rolling Stones
2005: Paul McCartney
2004: Six star performers…Jessica Simpson, Janet Jackson (wardrobe malfunction), Justin Timberlake, Nelly, P.Diddy and Kid Rock
2003: Shania Twain, No Doubt and Sting
2002: U2 and a tribute to 9/11 victims
2001: Aerosmith, N’Sync, Britney Spears, Mary Blige and Nelly
2000: Phil Collins, Christina Auguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Toni Braxton, Edward James Olmos

Good luck to The Boss…he’s got to be better than the 1970 Superbowl entertainment, Carol Channing.

A story in today’s Globe reports that the country’s financial crisis is creating numerous challenges for state government. Tax collections are down and the cost of borrowing is up. There is now some question whether the $1.3 billion in local aid payments due to cities and towns next week will be made on time. With municipal and school budgets already strained and reeling from cuts last spring to balance the books for this fiscal year, any cut in the money communities were planning to receive will have devastating consequences. The same holds true for state agencies. Back in 2001, the state budget was not finalized until mid-November. From July till then, most state agencies were operating on 1/12 budgets - meaning that the agency could spend 1/12 of its prior year’s budget each month. But in November, budgets were cut 15 to 20%, but because funds had already been spent at a higher rate for July, August, September and October, when the cuts were finalized, the impact was greatly magnified. If the recent news stories are to be believed, it looks like history might be repeating itself.

The FBI is investigation a 20 year old college student for alledgely hacking into Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s Yahoo Mail Account. How is this possible? These people must be computer wizzards…Hardly. Most of us feel relatively safe about the security of our home email accounts, but should we? The alleged hacker, David Kernell used a pretty simple method to access Palin’s account. Almost all free email accounts like Yahoo and AOL allow users to “recover or reset” their password. And Kernell allegedly did exactly that to Palin’s account. Here is the scary part…Using readily accessible, personal information found on the Internet the hacker reset Palin’s email password. The new password…”popcorn” (get it Kernell/popcorn” allegely, of course). Later the hacker posted details of the break-in on the Web…This is from CNet: “When Yahoo prompted for Palin’s birthday, one poster said it took only 15 seconds on Wikipedia to answer that question. When prompted for ZIP Code, Wasilla, Ala., has only two ZIP Codes. As for Palin’s personal security question, “Where did you meet your spouse?” that did slow the process. The poster claimed it took several tries but eventually hit upon the correct answer: Wasilla High”. It is pretty discomforting to learn that our email accounts are so vulnerable especially considering that a national figures account was violated in minutes.

It was unlikely that the current economic crisis would spare state government. It seems that Governor Patrick is contemplating extensive emergency cuts to the current state budget. While the governor only has the power to reduce funding to agencies within the executive branch (the registry of deeds is within the Secretary of State’s office, a separate branch of government), the legislature could and probably will make across the board emergency cuts if the tax revenue situation is as bleak as this article makes it appear.

I love Virginia…honestly, my father-in-law was from Virginia (great guy), Thomas Jefferson, my favorite founding father was from Virginia, Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains are breath taking…but, what the heck are they doing down there? Last week the Virginia Supreme Court overturned an anti-spam law. Listen to this…the court said the statute violated the First Amendment right to free and anonymous speech. Sorry, to all those Virginians I love…but are these people crazy?! Since when does anyone have the constitutional right to cram my inbox with unwanted solicitations? The spammer in question is named Jeremy Jaynes.

“Jaynes was convicted in 2004 of sending tens of thousands (did you get that? tens of thousands) of emails through America Online servers in Loudoum. He was the first person tried under the law enacted in 2003, and Loudoum Circuit Court Judge Thomas D. Horne sentenced him to nine years in prison (Washington Post).

Way to go Judge!… But now the Supreme Court of the home of my beloved father-in-Law and Thomas Jefferson negated this decision…but, let us not forget, American Liberty incubated in Virginia, like it did in Massachusetts. Virginia’s Attorney General Bob McDonnell is appealing the decision to the United States Supreme Court…

”Today, the Supreme Court of Virginia has erroneously ruled that one has the right to deceptively enter somebody else’s private property for purposes of distributing his unsolicited fraudulent emails. I respectfully but fervently disagree…We will take this issue directly to the Supreme Court of the United States. The right of citizens to be free from unwanted emails is one that I believe must be made secure” (Washington Post).

Wow, I couldn’t agree more. In the words of another great Virginian…”I know not what course others may take, but as for me give me anti-spam or give me death” …or something like that.

I cannot express my deep, deep, deep disappointment in google. First, some background…Just last week I spilled my soul to you in this blog. Remember these words?: ”I am a google geek”…”if google developed it, I want it!”…If google made a G-car I’d buy it”… etc, etc, etc. I wrote those accolades last Wednesday. Why? I had just discovered that google developed a new web browser called Chrome. Now, a little more background…Wednesday night after writing that blog entry I raced home, pulled out my laptop and began to download Google’s Chrome. My excitement grew as the download status bar edged toward completion. Bam, finished…Once downloaded I clicked on the Setup File icon “this is an executable file blah, blah, blah”…I know, I know…just set Chrome up for me. The “Set Up” bar filled and filled. “This is so sweet”, I thought.…then at around 80%, the filling stopped. I waited, the bar stopped moving…finally, a message, “your download has failed”…What?…I tried again, right from the beginning… “your download has failed” again. The actual error message was much longer, but it was a bunch of mumbo-jumbo to my dazed brain. I couldn’t believe it. This is google, the undisputed king of the Internet…The next day I tried again…same error message. The next day another try, then another. Finally, I stopped trying on Saturday…Why?, I thought. What is wrong? I may never know. But until google gets its act together call me FireFox guy.

I am a Google geek…if Google developed it I want it! I use Google gmail, Google’s zeitgeist, Google’s Page Rank, Google’s Tool Bar etc, etc, etc. If Google made a G-car I’d buy it. Now my dream has come true…Google has developed an Internet browser to compete with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE). It’s called Chrome? And it is open-source…that means a large number of independent programmers will be constantly improving it. OK first, why leave Internet Explorer? The biggest reason…because 80% of Internet surfers use it. And since most viruses are written to attack the most computers they mainly attack IE. A couple of years ago I lost a computer to an incurable virus. After that I stopped using IE and began using Mozilla’s Firefox for my browser. I love Firefox, but I can’t wait to try out Chrome. Here are some of the features Chrome offers…multi tabs so if one tab crashes the entire browser doesn’t…and these tabs can be opened in separate windows; the address bar is now called the omnibox (I love it)…it takes search information as well as a URL; Google officials say Chrome’s script is faster, safer and more stable… and there is more and more. The chances of Chrome overtaking Internet Explore are slim. Hey, every computer comes with IE pre-loaded (except Apple of course). But it is nice to have another alternative in the marketplace.

“Bigfoot has been found in the Georgia woods and is being held in a cooler at an undisclosed location”. Don’t laugh, this quote is directly from the Washington Post. Could it be real? Has someone finally found the elusive Sasquatch? Well, Mathew Whitton and Rick Dywer say they have. What?, You don’t believe it? They have posted a picture of the deceased beast on searchingforbigfoot.com. Yeah, I went to the site…yeah, I saw the picture. My impression? Visualize this…remember the gorilla in the Eddie Murphy movie, Trading Places? Now, visualize it stuffed into an small ice cream freezer. Yes, this is a bad one. Our successful Bigfoot trackers affectionately named their find, Rickmat (get it…Rick & Mat). Rickmat stands 7’ 7” tall and weighs 500lbs. Dyer and Whitton claim an expert has analyzed Rickmat’s DNA and found three matches…indeterminate, human and possum. Possum? Come on now, that’s a stretch! And if this isn’t enough Dyer and Whitton are heading back to the same Georgia woods to capture a second Sasquatch. Maybe they should just head to Costume R Us…it would be faster.

The New York Times reports that just prior to the Russian military incursion into neighboring Georgia, many websites belonging to the government of Georgia came under attack from computers across the world. No one knows who exactly launched these attacks. There’s no hard evidence that the Russian government is responsible and the Georgian sites were defaced or altered in a type of electronic graffiti but were not knocked offline which suggests that it was unofficial mischief rather than a coordinated attack from a hostile government. Still, this incident should remind us that with the internet being such an integral part of our everyday lives, attacks on the internet will also be an integral part of warfare - conflict - terrorism in the 21st Century.

Trust me, I don’t look like a techie geek, but lately people have called me one. The fact is, its not technology I love, its technology’s effect on our lives that fascinates me. Take politics for an example…technology has change politics forever. And what changes politics changes democracy and the way we live. Recently, I came across a congressman from Texas who seems to get “it” when it comes to this stuff. His name is Representative John Culberson. Culberson uses Twitter (like this registry) to provide frequent house updates to his constituents. When I read that I loved it. Through Twitter he is giving the average person an opportunity to get a first-hand glimpse at the trenches of congress. But listen to what Culberson has done now…This is from the New York Times “On Friday, when several dozen Republicans decided to stay on the House floor and discuss energy legislation after the House adjourned for a five-week summer recess, the cameras and microphones were turned off. So the first source of video was from a congressman who streamed live pictures to the Internet using his cell phone camera”. Culberson used a new video service called Qik to provide the public with the only record of the “informal” discussion. Qik allows you to stream live video from your cell phone to the world, pretty good huh?…now isn’t this technology with the possibility of far reaching effects?

A story in today’s Globe reminds us of the human cost of the housing crisis. Tuesday afternoon, just an hour before the foreclosure auction on her Taunton home was to commence, a woman faxed her mortgage company a letter saying she’d be dead by the time the auction began. The mortgage company called the police who arrived along with the bidders. They found the homeowner dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. She left a note urging her family to use the insurance proceeds to pay off the mortgage.

As we track the statistics on foreclosures, it’s important to remember that each represents a crisis for some individual or family. It should also remind us that as far back as 2003, this nationwide outcome was entirely predictable, yet too many people were making too much money to put on the brakes before the stakes got so high.

Using this blog I have often made fun of, or even bashed Apple Computer and its CEO Steve Jobs in a light hearted manner, of course…I just don’t like the proprietary nature of Apple products. Again, Apple is my topic, but today it’s serious. Recently, concerns that Steve Jobs has fallen sick have surfaced, once again. I say “once again” because the Apple master-mind battled pancreatic cancer four years ago. At the time, after having surgery, it was thought he had fully recovered. At the July 11 event introducing the 3G iPhone observers said Jobs appeared pale and gaunt. And check out this quote from Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer…”Steve loves Apple, he serves as CEO at the pleasure of Apple’s board and has no plans to leave. Steve’s health is a private matter”… Steve’s health is a private matter???…usually when you are in good health you do not say your health is a “private matter”. On a callous, materialist note the rumors of Job’s possible ill health have caused Apple’s stock to drop significantly. The fortunes of the computer giant have hinged on Job’s leadership. Case in point…In 1985 Jobs was fired as Apple’s CEO. Following his termination Apple entered a period of decline wallowing in creative misdirection. In 1996 the board of directors brought back the charismatic Jobs and the company he founded sky rocketed again…In the years since his return to Apple, Steve Job’s brought the world iTunes, the iPod, the iPhone, the iTouch just to mention a few innovation. This is one rumor I truly hope is just that, a rumor. Good Health Steve.

WANTED: Be on the look out…In a daring attempt at freedom a monkey and peacock escaped from the Southwick Zoo last week. Authorities attribute human error (as opposed to animal intelligence) as the cause of the rare break-out. Officials describe the monkey as a 2-year-old grivet, one foot tall and silver in color. After an intensive monkey-hunt the mammal was
apprehended Saturday, one week after the notorious escape. Meanwhile his accomplice, the peacock remains at large. The peacock (which does not answer when called) is of average peacock height and slightly overweigh, for a bird. The bird is Indian Blue in color, partially bald and scraggly looking. Zoo officials caution… if you see the fowl do not try to capture it. The bird is known to be constantly on the move so it is unlikely that notifying authorities will result in apprehension. Officials recommend “shooing” the peacock in the direction of the Zoo as the best course of action.

Friday is a BIG day for Microsoft Chairman, Bill Gates. It is the last day on the job for the world’s second richest man. But hey, it is not going to be all fun and games for the high profiled executive. He plans on keeping the nose to the grindstone one day a week at his mega-company (poor baby). Gates intends to work exclusively on special projects. I may be over-stepping my bounds here…but, I think when Bill does work he should concentrate on these following special projects:
GoogleCide…This special project is designed to win the battle between Microsoft and its archrival Google. Gates and company have been trying to kill off the Internet giant for years.
YahooIn…Yahooin was conceived by Bill’s right hand man Steve Ballmer. This special project seeks to find just that “special number” that will bring the Internet portal Yahoo “in” to the Microsoft family.
FortuneOne- Seriously, this is an embarrassment….Bill really needs to concentrate on FortuneOne. The goal of this special project is to make Gates the richest man in the world, “again”.
FedEx- No, this is not the acquisition of a package delivery company. Bill and Steve (Ballmer) developed this special project to get the rid of the Federal Government’s anti-trust lawsuits once and for all.
And finally, MelindaMore- Yeah Bill, this one is probably the most important of all…it is time to spend more time with your wife Melinda and the family.
Happy retirement…