back from vacations... good to be back

After spending two great weeks in the beautiful northwest city of Seattle I'm back to reality. New semester just started and also enjoying a great pennant race in baseball. The Mariners on top of the Wild Card leading the Yankees by 3 games and trailing the Anaheim Angels by 1 game in the AL West. It's great to see the M's make a run at the playoffs,  something they haven't achieved since 2001. Also the NFL regular season is just around the corner with the pre-season underway and the Seahawks have a 2-1 record. Hopes are high this season for this team, and they should be. So well keep watching and enjoying.  

1.2 million zune devices sold and some rumors

Cesar, zune insider, has announced that Microsoft has over reached their goal of selling one million zune devices as of this summer. They have sold 1.2 million zunes!!! Those are great news, so thanks to Cesar for that info. Now on some zune 2 rumors, zune-online.com is reporting that a Microsoft official has stated that they expect to expand the zune family by this Christmas and also that actual owners don't have to worry about their device becoming obsolete. As new hardware is released the software that comes out with the new hardware will be available as an update to actual owners. So stay patient that new features are on the way (Not that we have been waiting for a while now...).

I'm leaving for vacations to Seattle for the next two weeks so don't expect any posts for that time (unless there is something very very important to announce). I'm planning on going to some Mariners games as well as to visit the Seahawks training camp!!

new: page links

I have added a tool that will let me do a list of the web pages that I visit the most in case you want to check them out. So to start I have listed six pages but maybe more will come.

Ichiro in Seattle at least until 2012

Last Friday the Seattle Mariners and #51 agreed on a five year 90 million dollars contract that will keep him defending the Mariners' outfield until at least 2012. I believe that this is the right move for the club because he is the face of the franchise and the only player left from that miraculous 116 win season in 2001. Also the Japanese ownership could not let the one of the best players from Japan and the best one in the major leagues walk away to another MLB club. So I hope that he continues to break records and that he enters the Hall of Fame with a Mariners cap.

Ricardo Arjona's New Single "Quien"

Latin Grammy Winner Ricardo Arjona debuted worldwide on June 19 his new single titled "Quien" setting up for the release of his new CD in August. The new CD will de called "Quien Dijo Ayer". It is said to have three new songs and the rest of the disc will include new arrangements in a reggae style for some songs of his previous productions. It is also rumored that one of the new songs in this production will feature Marc Anthony and that they will debut the song in July in a live concert. So until then we will enjoy this new promotional cut.

Jr. would come back...they need him this year!

Ken Griffey Jr. told in an exclusive interview to FSN Northwest that he would return to Seattle because he wants to finish his career as a Mariner. He says that he grew up as a man and as a player in Seattle and owes to the fans and to himself to return. All I can say is that he has done all that he can about that, openly say that he would like to return. Now it is up to the front office of the Mariners specially to step up to the plate and try to get him, but they need to get him today! For the team to stay in contention this year for the division and the wild card they need another solid and proven bat. Another arm would help the club a lot because the rotation has been erratic all year. I believe that available players for a trade would be Jeremy Reed, Ben Broussard, Jeff Weaver, Horacio Ramirez, and if the trade we are talking about is involving a guy named Griffey, Jose Guillen could be available also. Having tested a couple of arms from the minor leagues they can think of trading one of this two starters. They know that Baek can get the job done, although he is on the DL now with some shoulder problems. But also if Mark Lowe returns healthy and effective they can try to insert rookie Brandon Morrow to the rotation. Morrow is now setting up for J.J. Putz but he was originally drafted as a starter. So the only fact I can give you is that the Mariners need to be buyers to contend this year and that if they can get a proven veteran starter and Griffey Jr. thins will get very interesting in the AL West and Wild Card.

June Music Quick List

I'll be posting almost every month the music I have on my zune's quick list. Here is my actual quick list:

"Mi Swing Es Tropical" - Quantic & Nickodemus

"This Is Why I'm Hot (Rock Mix)" - Mims

"How To Save A Life" - The Fray

"Are You Going To Be My Girl" - Jet

"La Peleita" - Alejandro Sanz feat. Calle 13

"The Sweet Escape" - Gwen Stefani feat. Akon

"Heard 'Em Say" - Kanye West feat. Adam Levine

"Cold Hard Bitch" - Jet

"Que Precio Tiene El Cielo" - Marc Anthony

"Makes Me Wonder" - Maroon 5

"Give It To Me" - Timbland feat Nelly Furtado Justin Timberlake

"No Hay Igual" - Nelly Furtado feat. Calle 13

"She Will Be Loved" - Maroon 5 (Buena Vista Social Club)

"The Way She Moves" - Zion feat. Akon

"Tu Amor Me Hace Bien" - Marc Anthony

"Snow (Hey Oh)" - Red Hot Chilli Pepers

"Colorful" - Rocco Deluca & The Burden

"Clocks" - Coldplay (Buena Vista Social Club)

Well there you have it, my quick list. Check it out if you haven't heard it. So enjoy!

4th title since 1999

So if you thought the Cleveland Cavaliers were a challenge to the San Antonio Spurs (I doubt that very much...), think again. San Antonio swept Cleveland in 4 straight games to get their 4th NBA Title since 1999. Series MVP Tony Parker averaged 24.5 points on 57 percent shooting, became the first European-born player to be honored as MVP. The Cavs were simply no match for Manu Ginobili and company. The Cavaliers are a one man team: LeBron James. On the other hand the Spurs have a complete set of rotating personnel in the starting lineup and on the bench that can take over a game at any time. Tim Duncan was unstoppable as always and all the players from San Antonio contributed in some way in every game of the series. The Cavaliers are a young inexperienced team that needs personnel improvement to help James in the games. After this series although short for them they gained a lot of needed experience that young players need. Experience that the Spurs have for them and to share with every other team in the league. With this fourth title you can start calling it a dynasty.

watermelon zune now available

The new limited edition is now available at Amazon.com and Target stores for 30 days at least. After that 30 day period the device should be available at most retail stores for everyone to buy. But get it now if you can from Amazon or target. Makes great Father's Day gift!

DVD Sets Release Dates

Buena Vista Home Entertainment recently announced the release dates for some of the most popular series of ABC.

-"Desperate Housewives: The Complete Third Season -- The Dirty Laundry Edition" will arrive in stores Sept. 4.

-On Sept. 11, comes "Grey's Anatomy: The Complete Third Season -- Seriously Extended Edition,"

-"Lost: The Complete Third Season -- The Unexplored Experience" follows Dec. 11

-"Brothers & Sisters: The Complete First Season" is scheduled for a Sept. 18

-On Sept. 25 comes "What About Brian? -- Seasons 1 & 2,"

For more details of these box sets visit this link

Watermelon (red) zune announced!

Microsoft announced today that the latest limited edition zune will be available exclusively from Target and Amazon starting June 10. Here are some official pictures. Also a shot of the complete zune family.

Microsoft presents coffee table that will change the world

The software giant presented to developers a revolutionary touchscreen computer in the form of a coffee table. The most special part of this computer is that the touchscreen interface can recognize multiple touch points at the same time and also from multiple users. Microsoft says that the idea with this is to eliminate the keyboard and mouse as the primary elements of controlling and using the home computer. Its codename was Milan but now it is called Microsoft Surface. Surface has no cables or USB ports. It works with external devices as cameras, cellphones, pocket PC and other devices such as Zune by placing the device on top of the screen. The system now recognizes the device and connects wirelessly to it and quickly displays the files that device has in the main screen. Now if you want to edit those files you can do so and send the file back to the device or transfer it to another device. A very nice trick is to send music files and playlists from one zune to another. Just place two zune devices on the table and drag and drop files from one device to another. The main components of Surface are: 1)Screen, 2)Infrared (which works as the machine vision), 3)CPU, and 4) Projector. Microsoft says that the table computer will be available this summer in hotels and public entertainment places for the general public to see the machine in action and plans for it to be ready for sale by the end of 2007. Check out a hands on review and video from Popular Mechanics

new limited edition zune already out there?

You still don know this but I am a very huge fan of Microsoft's Zune. I believe it is one of the most complete digital audio players out there and that it has one of the best sound quality of any other players in the market. After saying that, back to the topic at hand, zune-online.com just announced an Ebay auction for a red limited edition zune which Microsoft has promised to roll out this summer after the production of 100,000 limited edition pink zunes. How the seller got his hands on one and is it really an authentic one we don't know for sure. A few days ago we also saw out there a couple of pictures of a red zune spotted by a photographer. I just hope that Microsoft makes available this edition to the general public and that they finally announce that much awaited flash-memory zune. I'll keep posting as more rumors surface, in the meantime check out the auction, it has some box pictures.

Day 6 Ends.....Finally...

After a very long day season 6 of FOX's 24 is over. I believe it was a very good season despite some bad reviews that are out there. Jack Bauer saves the day AGAIN and the National Security of the US is safe. I would say that the story was not that intense and lacked a lot of story twists as the previous seasons had but the 24 essence was there. It was a very long and emotional day for Jack, just to think that he came in and saved the world after spending a couple of years in a prison in China just makes you wonder if Jack is really human. Throughout all season we saw a very emotional Jack Bauer that was not present in previous seasons. This "new" Jack had of course that dark side that does inhuman things without blinking an eye. But the part that made Jack very emotional was being forced to go after his own father and brother that were a big part of the terrorist plots of the day and also having to save the sides of his family that still were on the "good side". This season introduced to us what is to me one of the great new characters of the show Tom Lennox. Peter MacNiol should win an Emmy or something like that for his great performance and personification of such a great character. Also I believe that killing off Milo was a mistake he should have at least gotten the chance of getting more involved with Nadia just like Tony got his chance with Michelle. The way that the season ended left the door opened for the producers to set the show wherever and whenever they want in our hero's future. I believe that a fresh setting and a new set of characters with those new ones that were introduced this season will give the show a nice new start and fresh felling. So until January of '08 we wont know what happened to Jack and friends after the end of Day 6. Overall i give season 6 a B grade. I should also say that a 24 movie is in the works for next year and I hope that the producers make it as a kind of prequel so that great characters like Tony, Michelle, and David Palmer can be seen again with Jack but this time in the big screen. I will post more about the movie as rumors surface.

Now I am really lost.....

After Wednesday Lost season finale on ABC I got really really lost. Don't get me wrong I loved the episode it was instantly one of my favorites, they explained a lot of things that were still hanging up in the air but those Jack's flashbacks, that we can't even call them flashbacks because it were things that are going to happen supposedly in the future after they get out of the island, come on!, who is that mysterious person that Jack mourns so much and why is he so depressed about it?? Why does he call Kate at the end of the show and keeps screaming that they have to go back to the island?? Maybe Ben was right and getting rid of the signal blocker was a mistake after all. Also poor Charlie, he was one of my favorite characters. He was sincere and very helpful with everyone on that island. I really liked that they got into the script that song from his band that he sang in the first episodes of the series ("you all everybody"). So I'm asking for a moment of silence for Charlie...... Now after that all we can do is wait for Lost to return in January '08 and keep speculating.

How do you score 12 runs and loose!!!!!????

I can not believe that the Mariners scored 12 runs and lost today to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Ok so the starting pitcher for that game, Horacio Ramirez, got hurt in the second inning but after that how can you let your first guy out of the bullpen give up 7 runs on 6 hits (all earned)!!!Come on, you are giving up the game in the third inning!!! So after that disaster your offense comes back and put some runs on the board your pitching staff has to hold on the opposing team offense to give the team a chance to get back into the game. The Mariners' offense got back into the game but the pitching staff did not hold the Devil Rays offense. It was all about Ichiro and the bottom part of the lineup producing, Richie Sexon and Jose Guillen went 0 for 10 in that game!! That is the middle part of the order from where the RBIs should come from and the rest of the offense scored 12 runs. Imagine if those two guys produced the way they are expected to produce.... I believe that Mike Hargrove can't keep Sexon hitting 5th every day hoping for him to come around and start hitting, he has to get him out of that pressure spot and also he should platoon him with Ben Broussard when the team faces right handed pitchers. Back to the pitching staff, I know that for Sean White, who has done a great job so far throughout the year, it was a tough spot to go into the game in the third inning not expecting so but that is his primary job. So tonight lesson learned for Mike Hargrove and friends(I hope!). I should also note that they were the first team this season to score 12 runs and loose.

Windows Live Mail Desktop

I have just downloaded a new hotmail tool from www.live.com that is called Windows Live Mail Desktop. I find it really useful and you should try it out. I believe it is based in an Outlook type platform that almost everyone is familiar with. It is also very user friendly and customizable. You can also control more than one email account from it. Everyone should try it out and see how it works for them !

First time entry

Hi, my name is Jose Melendez and I have been a sports and gadgets blog reader for a couple of years now and I have decided to start one blog on my own. I hope I can write useful information and also nice facts about the things I like. I will be publishing most about technology and my thoughts on my favorite sports teams and other sports incidents. Enjoy!