This post is short but sweet. And I mean very sweet. This is an app I wish I had in college.

Ever see a book or CD you wanted, and wondered how much it cost? The iPhone app SnapTell has you covered.

Let’s take a look at the magic, shall we?. After you download this free app – open it. Find a book, CD, DVD or even a video game cartridge and take a picture of it:

Then click the “Use” button. Wait a moment until you see this screen:

It recognizes the cover of the book and tells you which retailers you can purchase it from, and for what price. VERY COOL!

You can also run search results for the book to bring up product reviews, information and bios about the authors, creators, developers, etc.

This is a must have for people who like to shop around. Don’t you wish you had this while comparing textbook prices?

This is an awesome post from The Tipping Glass

SnapTell – iPhone App Review

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The iPhone app, Buster, is a must have for anyone living in or visiting the Windy City. It costs only $0.99 and is the most effective way to ensure you don’t miss the bus.

Anyone who lives in Chicago has undoubtedly heard of or used the CTA Bus Tracker. But what happens after you leave your apartment? The CTA site is next to impossible to load on your mobile phone, and if you are lucky enough to get it to work, good luck navigating around the site. By the time you find what bus you are supposed to be on, it has passed you 3 times already.

With Buster, you will not have this problem anymore.

Buster has an extremely user-friendly interface. The magic happens the moment you open the app and you land on a list of all of the bus routes. If you know your route number then simply scroll down to the route number, press it, and it will give you a list of stops:

Once you find your stop, press it to reveal how long you will be awaiting its arrival.

Phew! 2 minutes. Not bad at all. I can vouch for this wait time. I have tested it twice, and both times the wait time was exactly as it said. (That will come in handy next winter!)

Ok, but what if you just spent some time at Navy Pier and don’t want to pay for a cab ride home? Just hit the “Nearby Stops” button and you’ll see everyone’s favorite GPS tracker pop-up window:

Just click OK and you’ll see all of the available/nearby bus routes. If you don’t know where the stop is physically located, just hit the “maps” button and your Google Maps app will guide you there, just don’t forget to see how much time you have to get there!

Obviously this app isn’t for everyone. Some people use their vehicles while others might as well ski to work. But if you are ever in Chicago and need to get from A to B, Buster has you covered.

This is an awesome post from The Tipping Glass

iPhone App Review – Buster

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You know who has the worst fans in the league? Your city. The team you root for has THE WORST fans in the league. Bunch of whiny babies. All of them. When your team wins, your fans act like classless jerks as if they’ve never won anything before in their lives. When they lose, better stock up on the pacifiers because the streets are going to be flooded with tears.

Every year. After the Super Bowl. After the Stanley Cup Finals. After the World Series. After the NBA Finals, even during the regular season, we have to read these puff pieces from bloggers, or even esteemed journalists who point fingers at the opposing city’s fans as if they are the only classless fans in the world. Year after year after year after year after year after year after year.

I love following a blogger throughout the playoffs seeing them whine off and on constantly about calls, hits, checks, tackles, fouls, whistles or no whistles. Then, when their team wins, the floodgates open and they attack the other city’s fans like it’s their business. Classy. But you know what. It happens. Every. Year. We have to read about it. Every. Year.

On the cab ride on the way home from watching Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals with a bunch of awesome, fun, exciting, friendly, knowledgeable, personable, douchebaggy, whiny, bitchy, mean, harsh, balls-to-the-wall diehard fellow Red Wings fans, I got to talking with the cab driver. I told him I was down because the team I root for, the team I am a fan of, lost in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. His response, in a chillingly Jeff Bridges sounding voice:

And I quote:

“Fuck it dude.You’re a fan. You’re sitting in the back of the car, all broken up, may have a heart attack over this. Those guys you root for every other night? They’re millionaires. Do you think they give a fuck about you?”

He was right, for 2 reasons.

For one that, as spectators, we control nothing, and those who are actually playing the games could give a damn about us.

Secondly, as fans sometimes we become selfish and think we are part of the team. We think, I mean, WE KNOW we are the reason they are successful. When they lose, we feel like we are personally responsible for the loss. And in case we don’t feel that way, we’ll have fans from the winning side remind us that yes, as a fan of the losing team, you ARE in fact personally responsible. For every move. For every call. For every hit. For every check. For every tackle. For every foul. For every whistle.

Fans will be fans. Every team has “good” fans. Every team has “bad” fans. Fans aren’t like assholes. Fans are assholes. And everyone has them.

This is an awesome post from The Tipping Glass

Worst Fans in the League

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Let’s skip an intro, shall we?

Depth. In games 4 and 5 of the Western conference finals, The Red Wings were without Hart and Selke nominee Pavel Datsyuk, 6-time Norris trophy winner and nominated again this year Nick Lidstrom, 2004 Selke winner Kris Draper, the Red Wings’ best shot blocker on the PK Andreas Lilja, 4th liner Tomas Kopecky and stud defenseman Jonathon Ericsson who missed game 5 due to an emergency appendectomy.

Guys like Valteri Filppula and Marian Hossa stepped up their games and looked like a formidable first line. With the way they played, could you imagine if everyone was healthy? The Wings could theoretically roll 3 1st lines, 1A consisting of Datsyuk, Holmstrom, Cleary. 1B of Zetterberg, Franzen, Samuelsson. 1C of Filppula, Hossa, Hudler. I haven’t even mentioned Helm’s name yet. Also, having the ability to mix in guys like Ville Leino and Justin Abdelkader and veteran Kirk Maltby help round out the depth chart.

Defense. Defense wins championships, and there are few defenses better than the Red Wings. Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall, Stuart are as good a top 4 as you’re going to find. Kronwall and Stuart proved they can play first-pair minutes both logging about 28 minutes a piece in Game 5 vs. the Hawks. But when I say defense I don’t just mean the guys that have a “D” next to their name on the roster. Pavel Datsyuk, assuming he can actually play this series, is the best defensive forward in the game today. Someone who may object that remark is Hernrik Zetterberg, last year’s Conn Smythe winner. Who can forget how he stuffed Sidney Crosby’s stick during a Game 4 5-on-3 advantage?

Skip to :12

In order to win, the Wings’ team defense is going to have to be remarkable. The Pens aren’t just Sid and Malkin anymore. I’d argue that Jordan Staal is a Wings killer (similar to what Adam Deadmarsh was in the early 2000’s) and they have added guys like Kunitz, Fedotenko, Satan and Guerin. That’s the deepest roster the Red Wings have seen this post season.

Osgood. Chris Osgood has quietly been the Red Wings best player all playoffs long. I don’t wish to say more than that, it’s like talking to your pitcher in the middle of a no-hitter.

Adversity. It’s no secret that the Red Wings are hurting. To recap, Datsyuk and Lidstrom have missed the last few games. Draper is probably out for the rest of the playoffs. Lilja hasn’t played a game since February. Ericsson just had an emergency appendectomy. How did the Wings still manage to defeat the Blackhawks in 5 games? Their ability to overcome adversity is second to none. I used to watch Red Wings games when they were losing 2-0 in the second period and think “well dang it, we’ll get ‘em in game 4.” Not this Red Wings team. Anytime they are behind like that they have a new found sense of urgency to put the puck in the net. I can’t think of a time this post season when their late game efforts didn’t result in a goal.

Oh wait yes I can.

Home Ice Advantage. I think this series is going the distance, and when it does, Game 7 will be played on Detroit ice. This is a big advantage for the Wings.

Key concerns
Can Crosby and Malkin be stopped? If you do somehow stop them, did you also make sure you stopped their depth as well?
Can the Red Wings overcome their injuries?
Will the back to back contests have an affect on the players?
Don’t allow the refs to be a factor, play smart hockey.

As a hockey fan first kind of guy, I cannot wait for this series. In 25 years we may not have players like Crosby, Malkin, Zetterberg, Datsyuk. We must enjoy the moment. It does not get any better than this. If only the games weren’t on Versus…

Good luck to both teams, but ultimately, GO WINGS!

This is an awesome post from The Tipping Glass

Why the Detroit Red Wings Will Repeat As Stanley Cup Champions

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Time to get a little nostalgic. Here are 15 intros and clips from some of my favorite shows growing up. This list is not exhaustive, as I could not find all of my favorite shows, but this certainly covers most.

One thing I found surprising while digging some of these up is how long the intros were. I thought intros were 20-30 seconds, tops. Nope, back in the late 80’s and into the 90’s they used every second they could.

Enjoy!

David the Gnome

Confession: as a kid, I did the bunny dance at :50 anytime I could. I still do it today, when I can.

Super Mario Brothers Super Show

Actually, the intro isn’t even the best part. The credits are, definitely. DO THE MARIO:

The Real Ghostbusters

Doesn’t get much better than this.

Prostars

Wayne’s hot, Slap shot — wait a second wasn’t that a backhand shot? (:13)
Also take a look at :44 — roller blades must have been really hot at the time, you think?

I love the YouTube comment from RebelTaxi99:
“1:01 Prostars: It’s about killing people just doing their jobs.”

Salute Your Shorts

I wonder what these kids are up to these days. Hmmmm future post?

Clarissa Explains It All

I vaguely remember having a mad crush on Melissa Joan Hart.

Doug

This is the intro I remember. Not that garbage Disney decided to use.

GI Joe

I didn’t watch GI Joe as much as my brothers. Key takeaway from this show, and I think most will agree, “Knowing is half the battle”.

Ducktales

I always dreamed of having my own “pool” of gold coins.

Muppet Babies

Funny. I say “there” the same way Kermie does at :17 – That’s where I got it from?!

Animaniacs

Steven Spielberg at his best. I don’t know many people my age who didn’t watch Animaniacs.

Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers

Fun show, but I think I was more of a fan of the Chip ‘n’ Dale video games.

Eureeka’s Castle

I actually don’t know why I watched this show. I think Nickelodeon was running out of ideas by this point. But I watched it. Daily.

Zoobilee Zoo

This show was a bunch of furries running around teaching kids about morals. Totally creeped me out, but I watched it anyway.

Tiny Toon Adventures

Tiny Toon Adventures had great parodies and satire. They just don’t make them like that anymore.

What TV Shows do you remember watching as a kid? If you find a video from it, please share!

This is an awesome post from The Tipping Glass

TV Show Nostalgia

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