Links for February 28, 2006 – Blogs, Podcasting, Online Presentations, Car Community, Personalized Search Engines, The Long Tail

  • – An online PowerPoint-style presentation application.
  • – Free, ad-supported podcast service. You don’t need hardware, hosting, or even expertise.
  • – Edmunds.com’s social networking site for auto enthusiasts
  • – A swicki is new kind of search engine that allows anyone to create deep, focused searches on topics you care about. Unlike other search engines, you and your community have total control over the results and it uses the wisdom of crowds to improve search
  • – Essential article on the economics of digital distribution.

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Links for February 25, 2006 – Button Graphics, Online Video & Movies

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A Scanner Darkly

This is totally cool. There’s a new movie coming out called that’s based on the novel by science fiction writer . He’s the same mind that brought us and the classic (upon which . A Scanner Darkly is written and directed by and, like his previous , is done using the animated technique called rotoscoping.

Anyone who knows me knows I love animation and this movie looks awfully cool. The movie has the same and  that’s probably because it looks like Linklater got Bob Sabiston, the animator who worked on both and the Schwab commercials, to work on A Scanner Darkly. Watch the trailer below or for a longer trailer in QuickTime format–it’s worth the download time.

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Links for February 24, 2006 – Podcasts, Online Video, Social Web, Blogging, Mobile, Online Calendar, Personalized Search Engine

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Brian Williams

The fact that the Vikings on makes me think that the team doesn’t have much hope that they’ll retain the cornerback.

By making him a transition player, the have essentially offered him a one year $4.774 million contract, the average of the top 10 highest-paid cornerbacks last season. The team has the right to match any offer sheet Williams may get from another team, or allow him to leave.

Had the Vikings made him their franchise player, they would have had to pay him $5.9 million; then any team that signed him away from the Vikings would owe us two first-round picks as compensation.

Obviously, the team doesn’t want to pay him nearly $6 million and you gotta think he’s going to make more than the transition number as a free agent. With Buffalo franchising , Williams will be one of the top cornerbacks available. Williams has also said he doesn’t want to stay here.

I would’ve liked to see the team use the franchise tag on Williams and give him the starting job. Smoot hasn’t really done anything except get injured, but I absolutely love a defensive backfield consisting of , Brian Williams, and .

I guess we’ll need to add a cornerback to our free agency shopping list.

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The Culpepper Clash

Always tease, tease, tease…? Darling, you gotta let me know.

So, what to make of the conflicting signals being sent out from all sides of the situation?  First there’s Culpepper making waves about wanting more cash and not meeting face to face with . Then there are stories that the powers that be a Winter Park are offended at Culpepper’s attempts to negotiate for more money.

It starts to look like we’ve got a malcontent quarterback on our hands who’s forcing a trade which naturally elicits trade rumors that no one really quashes.

told me that he thought the were trying to prove to Culpepper that he’s overvalued himself by shopping the quarterback around and demonstrating that teams don’t think he’s worth a second-round pick. It’s a great argument that makes a lot of sense.

But then today there are reports of all these : ; the team sends head trainer Eric Sugarman to Orlando and he comes back ; and Culpepper himself says that owner .

Today’s news makes me think the Vikings are serious about trading Pepp and are either not getting the kinds of offers they think Culpepper is worth or realize they need to assuage concerns other teams have over the quarterback’s injuries and availability for next season.

My preference is for the Vikings to keep Culpepper, expect that he won’t play in 2006, give him that year to fully recover from his injuries and learn the in-depth, and find out if he’s going to work as a quarterback in that system.

If not, they can trade Culpepper then and get true value for him because even if he doesn’t eventually work out for us, he is an amazing athlete.

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NFL Combine Coverage

The Sporting News has an excellent article about . Their columnist is keeping .

If you get the won-der-ful , you can watch , which began today or you can check out the .

You can also follow the combine at .

NFL Free Agency begins March 2; I’ll post a list soon of 2006 NFL Free Agency resources so you can track potential future .

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Links for February 23, 2006 – Vikings Stadium, Craigslist, Online Graffiti, Sharing Web, Animation

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