Month: August 2008

Olympic timekeeper Omega released photo finish photos of Phelps .01 victory

After saying they would not be releasing the photos of Michael Phelps amazing .01 second win in the 100-m butterfly, official Olympic timekeeper Omega has finally changed their minds and released the close up photos of the finish. And if you look at them, you won’t really know yourself because it looks like a tie. But professionals in this sport can clearly see that Phelps is the winner.

“In the third set of images, with Phelps on the left, it is clear he is really pushing hard, while Cavic, on the right, is just arriving,” Chianese told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Phelps’ time of 50.58 seconds was confirmed after a review down to the 10-thousandth of a second; Cavic’s time was 50.59.

Chianese explained that it requires 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of pressure to activate the touchpad. “Any less and waves would set it off,” Chianese said. “You can’t just put your fingertips on the pad, you really have to push it. We explained all this directly after the race to (Cavic) and his coach.”

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Pretty-voice Yang Peiyi will perform in closing ceremony!

The Honk Kong Standard is reporting that the little girl who was judged ‘not pretty enough’ to be the face of China will have a role in the closing ceremony in Beijing. Yang Peiyi, the voice behind Lin Miaoke’s lip syncing, has become a sort of symbol to many and demands that she be given a role in the closing ceremony have been growing throughout the Olympics.

Both will be in the closing ceremony.

Both will be in the closing ceremony.

Officials remain tight-lipped over the plans, but it is understood seven- year-old songbird Yang Peiyi – who was heard but not seen at the opening ceremony – will take a special place in a rousing closing bash in Beijing.

It is believed that a double bill of both Yang Peiyi and Lin Miaoke will be featured in the closing ceremony, but we’ll have to wait to see to be sure.

The Sporting News is also reporting their was quite an outcry from Chinese citizens about this as well.

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How the Soviets cheated in the 1980 Moscow Olympics

This is a fascinating story about how the Olympics were tainted in 1980 by Soviet ‘officials’ in track and field (yup, it is possible to cheat in athletics). One of the very few Western reporters who went to Russia for the games wrote this fascinating piece about the scandal that most in the US have never heard of before. How the top two triple jumpers in the world had 9 out of their 12 jumps ‘flagged’ for fouls, and how other events were rigged in favor of Warsaw Pact states:

In previous Olympics, the members of the Council of the International Amateur Athletic Federation, which supervises Olympic track and field, had always stationed a red-coated member of the council on the field, one for each event, to keep an eye on the judging — a good idea since all the officials are from the home country.

But after the first day, the Soviets came to Adriaan Paulen, the IAAF’s president, and complained that their officials were upset and insulted because the IAAF officials were watching them so closely.

The unspoken message was that if Paulen would remove the IAAF council members from the field, the USSR and its allies would support Paulen’s bid for re-election as IAAF president in 1981. Whatever his motives, Paulen ordered the council members off the field.

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Homemade 'Predator' drone UAV discovered on Long Island

Dont try this at home

Don't try this at home

Police and FBI officials are trying to get to the bottom of a homemade ‘Predator’-like drone they found in Long Island being tested by some fellows in the late of the night. WNBC is breaking this story about the unlicensed UAV (which doesn’t really look like a Predator to be honest) and how it could have carried 800lbs of explosives and was being designed by an Egyptian who entered the US on a Sudanese passport (red flags all around). Some of these facts may eventually change (i.e. a real Predator only carried 450lbs as a payload).

With a GPS interface to a remote control plane, making a ‘homemade cruise missile’ should not be all that difficult. I’ve often wondered if the GPS coordinates around the White House and other sensitive locations are intentionally scrambled to prevent against this sort of thing. It would seem even a person with simple R/C aircraft skills and computer programming could whip something together in no time flat. It does seem that Homeland Security has been studying this threat.

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How much did NBC make on the Olympics? How about CCTV?

In case you were wondering how CCTV is paying for their new office building.

NBC is relatively happy with their ratings for the Olympics this year. Approximately 30 million people have watched the games. In contrast, in China, state broadcaster CCTV had about 840 million people watch the Opening Ceremonies and other events.

Now the fun part.

CCTV paid less than $17 million for exclusive broadcast rights in China but could reap $394 million in Olympic advertising revenue, according to Group M, a media company that tracks television advertising revenue here. By comparison, NBC paid almost $894 million for U.S. broadcast rights and is expected to garner $1 billion in ads.

IOC officials have said this is the end of China paying lowball prices for the rights to the Olympics. Come the next games, it is expected that CCTV will have to pay at least $100 million for the rights. CCTV, with 18 channels and a $2 billion budget can probably afford it.

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Olympic closing ceremony will only have 7,000 people

The Olympic Closing Ceremony this Sunday (tape delayed in the USA until Sunday night 7:00 PM EDT) will only have 7,000 people participating, unlike the opening ceremony which had 15,000, according to Olympic organizers. The ceremony, which is in final rehearsals at a university far outside of Beijing is suppose to be ‘amazing’ and will include an 8 minute segment telecast from London, home of the 2012 games.

“It’s just unlike any other closing ceremony I’ve ever seen,” said Neal, executive vice president of NBC Olympics. Usually a simple vehicle for extinguishing the Olympic flame and setting the stage for the next games, this year’s ceremony will have a great deal of entertainment, he said.

None of the 15,000 performers in the closing participated in the opening ceremonies. Some people have lobbied to have Yang Peiyi perform in the closing ceremony, after her voice was used (but not her face) in the opening ceremony.

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IOC **finally** decides to investigate the age of Chinese gymnastics star He Kexin

Which one still can't get a drivers license?

Faced with huge international pressure and a general sense of ‘give me a break’ the IOC has finally caved into demands and declared they will conduct an investigation into 12 14 16-year-old Chinese gymnastics star he Kexin (and any possible coverup by Chinese authorities).

An IOC official told The Times that because of “discrepancies” that have come to light about the age of He Kexin, the host nation’s darling who won gold in both team and individual events, an official inquiry has been launched that could result in the gymnast being stripped of her medals.

The investigation was triggered as a US computer expert claimed today to have uncovered Chinese government documents that he says prove she is only 14 – making her ineligible to compete in the Olympics – rather than 16, as officials in Beijing insist is her age.

Pulling up documents from ‘closed’ servers (closed after people started to notice the age discrepancy) computer security experts are displaying some of the website information that shows her age as being 14, despite what is in her passport. You can view the documents at the security experts blog.
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Jacque Rogge is not dead. IOC President warmed out of cryo-freeze to criticize Usain Bolt

Not dead

Many have wondered ‘where the hell is Jacque Rogge’ during the Olympics? His presence was noted at the opening ceremonies, but for the next 10 days he was AWOL and unspotted nearly anywhere. He managed to make an appearance the other day at the softball tournament (i.e. proving he was not detained in jail for trying to protest in China) but then quickly disappeared, only to re-emerge last night with some harsh words for 200m winner Usain Bolt:

Rogge said: “That’s not the way we perceive being a champion. I have no problem with him doing a show. I think he should show more respect for his competitors and shake hands, give a tap on the shoulder to the other ones immediately after the finish and not make gestures like the one he made in the 100m.

“I understand the joy. He might have interpreted it in another way but the way it was perceived was ‘catch me if you can’. You don’t do that. But he’ll learn. He’s still a young man.”

On the one hand, this was pretty odd. Usain Bolt has been one of the highlights of the Olympics. His ease of winning some of the most sought after titles in the games has been extraordinary. Despite knowing the final result, I myself watched last night and as he finished his turn with a five yard lead my jaw dropped and I spoke aloud ‘holy bejesus’ as I expect a number of other Americans did too. And then he sped up…

But on the other hand, as I watched his celebrations I did say to myself ‘Americans have celebrated like this at previous games and gotten raked over the goals by the British press and others for being too arrogant, too jerk-like.’ I did wonder if this had been an American winning this event and celebrating in such a manner how large the cry would have been from the European media.

As Bolt is a Jamaican and thus, not an American, he generally will get a pass for his behavior. Perhaps Jacque Rogge was on the right track last night in calling for some dignity.

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Seinfeld to be the new face of Vista.

Windows has announced a $300 million ad campaign to convince people that Vista is really a good product. To do this, they’ve hired Jerry Seinfeld (not as funny as he was five years ago) to plug the Vista software (not as good as Windows from five years ago). I guess it is a good match.

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