nfl

NFL and Comcast try to chop-block each other

Negotiations between sports-governing bodies and TV channels are often rather beguiling.

While News Corp.'s Fox, for example, built the fourth network with the NFL its most sturdy pillar, other channels seem to fall in and out of favor.

Now Comcast, which owns some channels and controls a seemingly infinite amount of cable, is threatening to remove the NFL Network from every last strand of cable because it feels that the NFL is not quite playing ball.

Comcast has never liked the 70-cents-per-subscriber fee that the NFL charges for the its total football network, which occasionally shows a live game … Read more

NFL Eagles' worker fired for Facebook update gets player's help

A few weeks ago, I wrote about an unfortunate employee of the Philadelphia Eagles, Dan Leone.

Leone was upset that the Eagles had allowed Brian Dawkins, their nasty (in a good way) defensive back, leave for the Denver Broncos.

He adorned his Facebook page with feelings: "Dan is ******* devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver...Dam Eagles are Retarded."

He was fired.

Now Dawkins has decided to honor Leone's Facebook faux-pas. He has offered Leone his two tickets for Denver's visit to Philadelphia, a game at which Leone will, no doubt, be greeted with garlands of flowers … Read more

Facebook post gets NFL Eagles' worker fired

You don't normally associate negative emotions with Philadelphia sports.

In the City of Brotherly Love, they believe in affection, even when the circumstances don't warrant it. Criticism knows no place in Philadelphian hearts and bars.

So perhaps it was odd to the management of the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles that one of their stadium operations workers, Dan Leone, seemed a little upset when the Eagles allowed defensive back Brian Dawkins to sign for the depressingly hapless Denver Broncos.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Mr. Leone posted this on his Facebook page: "Dan is ******* devastated about Dawkins signing … Read more

The $27,000 AT&T bill for watching the Chicago Bears

Last November, Wayne Burdick was on a cruise ship docked in Miami when he suddenly said to himself: "I wonder how my beloved, infuriating, ugly-quarterbacked Chicago Bears are doing?"

So he got out his wireless card, opened his laptop, unleashed his Slingbox and began to pray. Surprisingly, the Bears beat the Detroit Lions 27-23.

As his ship sailed to the Caribbean, Wayne Burdick's heart was lighter than Joaquin Phoenix's sense of humor. On his return, his pockets were lighter too.

Because AT&T sent him a bill for $27,788.93. You know why it … Read more

The tech that makes the Super Bowl super

Correction: This post initially misstated the company providing the tracking technology being used to provide security and safety for NFL personnel. The company is US Fleet Tracking.

At its core, football represents the polar opposite of technology: A bunch of large men run around a field, battling for position and the control of a small pigskin ball.

Of course, the production of an actual NFL game requires lots of technology--from the headsets coaches use to communicate, to the computers used to calculate statistics to the HD cameras that record the contest for the viewing audience.

When it comes to the … Read more

Is it time for a left-handed MacBook?

A few people came to my house today to watch the Baltimore Ravens steal an NFL playoff game with their usual display of vomit-forward video game violence.

When I say 'people', some, including my friend Ali, were not as fascinated with the game as with checking their friends' breast-feeding pictures on Facebook. So Ali grabbed my MacBook (black, seeing as you ask) with the intention of anti-socially networking.

She tugged at the power cable in order to plug it into the MacBook and seemed to be having trouble. After several attempts she was still not successful in making the magnetic … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 871: Pirates on the paradigm ship

In today's show, horrible ship-related pun-crimes are perpetrated and we learn that in Russia, emoticons wink at you and try to charge you for them. Also, we bash a ton of gadgets, like the still-overpriced Sony PlayStation 3, the $99-with-contract Acer Aspire, and the Android phones running apps that turn on roaming and data use without your knowledge. Then we bring it on home with puppies. Listen now: Download today's podcast Episode 871

Chrome breaks outta beta http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10120965-2.html

Nintendo Wii outsells Xbox 360 more than two-to-one http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/peripherals/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212500018&subSection=All+Stories… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 866: Harsh the mellow

Important revelations on today's show: cigars smell like dog poop, Facebook Connect is going to win, the NFL looks awesome in 3-D, and Barack Obama uses an iPod, not a Zune. Like I said, important. Listen now: Download today's podcast Episode 866

Listener co-host details: E-mail buzz@cnet.com with your name, phone number, preferred time of day (with time zone). We are shooting for doing the interviews next Monday 3-4 p.m. PST and Wednesday 4-5 PST.

Facebook Connect opens up http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10113604-2.html

So does Google Friend Connect http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10113648-2.html… Read more

Get your sports fix here

If it's a crisp-looking score-tracking app you're looking for that follows major U.S. sports associations and leagues, you've come to the right place. The free Sportacular is abound with week-by-week standings and scores that auto-update every 30 seconds when there's a game on. The flood of stats is easily navigated and read thanks to well-placed tabs and menus. You can view updated stats by player and by team, and can even create and track your own fantasy team. Sportacular also keeps fans up-to-date on their sport with RSS feeds from ESPN, Yahoo, and FOX. In … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 859: Don't get your flops in a watt

Rafe and Molly square off over the reuse of air conditioning technology, the fail whale sinks a deal between Facebook and Twitter, Gmail is cracked, and an enterprising astronaut creates the ultimate in must-have space tech: a zero-G coffee cup.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 859

Twitter rebuffs a Facebook poke? http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10106391-2.html

Gmail exploit may allow attackers to forward e-mail http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10106275-83.html http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/breaking-gmail-security-flaw-more-domains-get-stollen/

EU strikes down French “3 strikes” copyright infringement law http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/23/1952248

Has … Read more