Floyd Landis May Be Innocent

I can't imagine a bigger blunder in sports history if this proves true. According to multiple news reports, the French lab responsible for testing Tour De France winner Floyd Landis' samples failed to properly secure those samples and committed other errors, as well. The same lab improperly processed samples for another cyclist in 2005. If the news proves true, someone owes Landis a huge apology and several million dollars in lost endorsement contracts.

Cornell Researchers Enlist Robots In Ivory Bill Search

Researchers with the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology have deployed robotic cameras in their continued efforts to verify the presence of Ivory-Billed Woodpeckers in Arkansas. Ivory-Bills, long thought to be extinct, were supposedly seen by a handful of individuals in 2004.

While audio recordings of the bird's distinctive pecking have been made, the only video evidence to date has been too grainy to confirm the species still exists. So, high-tech cameras have been deployed within the Arkansas bayous.

The new cameras leverage special software to detect and record only special bird-flight characteristics. So far the effort is working, but only geese and heron have been photographed, to date.

The researchers are proving their cleverness in other ways, too. The devices need to be protected from random destruction by hunters. Rather than go to the expense of bullet-proofing the camera housings, the team merely placed radioactive hazard decals on the cameras.

Microsoft Antivirus Fails Certification

In what can only be seen as a significant embarrassment, Microsoft's much vaunted Live OneCare antivirus application (and three other Vista antivirus products) have all failed Virus Bulletin VB100 certification tests. The results are surprising, especially considering the myriad delays Microsoft experienced releasing its new products specifically to ensure heightened security.

My recommendation is you load Windows systems (excepting Vista for now) with Grisoft's AVG Anti-Virus. The software long ago earned certification, boasts low-overhead, proves unobtrusive, uses fewer system resources than most every other antivirus engine out there and generally performs effectively identifying and eliminating viruses and other infections. On several occasions I've found AVG locates and removes active viruses on systems running current Norton and McAfee software! Best of all, AVG's priced reasonably for businesses and is free for use by residential users.

Is The NHL Living On Borrowed Time?

I love hockey. I grew up with it. I had the pleasure of seeing some wonderful Bowling Green State University Falcon teams play. Heck, I was a regular Hockey Night In Canada viewer as a pre-teen. As a little kid, my room was festooned with pictures of Bobby Clarke, Bernie Parent, Bobby Orr and others.

After the ill-advised strike of 2005, the sport appears to be all but flat-lining, though. Despite my curiosity at the new post-strike product, I haven't been able to find but a single game on cable all year (I do not have OLN).

Apparently I'm not alone. This year's All-Star game, typically a ratings bonanza and highlight of the season, pulled in only an incredibly anemic 0.7 Nielsen rating on Versus (a cable network I've never even heard of but apparently the name of the new OLN).

That's sad. That means a rerun of a 40 year-old Andy Griffith Show pulled in more viewers. Comparing apples to apples, 474,000 viewers watched the NHL All Star game this year. Some 2.7 million households tuned in to the mid-season classic in 2000.

It's clear the NHL is living on borrowed time. I hope the league gets the problem fixed. Airing matches on national TV (and on a network with an actual audience) would be a great place to start. I've always enjoyed hockey, and I miss it. But if the league doesn't get the ship righted quickly, there won't be much left to miss.