It’s unfortunate that they decided to use browser sniffing to lock out other browsers (ie Firefox, Opera, Chrome, etc.), as it would be nice to see how these examples would look & perform elsewhere – but the examples are inspiring nonetheless. Especially curious (or maybe not if you look at it purely from a business perspective) is the fact that they’ve locked out Google’s Chrome browser, which as far as I know should be able to handle everything that Safari handles.

Anyways, if you’re developing sites specifically for the iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch crowd, this is definitely a site you’ll want to reference in the future, as is the rest of the Safari Developer Center. Also it should be noted that only 2 of the examples actually use HTML5… the rest demonstrate some of the things you can accomplish by using CSS3 and Webkit transitions. But, “HTML5” has become the term for “anything cool in the browser” – it’s the new AJAX.

He does a pretty good job of summing up why Flash was so widely adopted and why it became necessary; why it’s become the web’s new whipping boy (IE6 can breath easy for a while until people get tired of this debate); and finally, why Flash still has a place at the table (and will for a long time IMO):

These new features [canvas, SVG, CSS-based animations, web sockets, local storage, multi-file uploads, and native video and audio] do negate some of the need to use Flash; however, I’m reluctant to think that these few features will be the death of Flash. There are simply too many use cases out there for which HTML5 does not serve. Hulu’s reluctance to embrace HTML5 is very much case in point. Chat Roulette would be another. Or tinychat. Or Adobe Connect.

HTML5 just doesn’t have the same breadth of features as Flash. That’s not to say browsers won’t get there someday. It’s just not there, yet.

I know most of us are getting tired of reading about this topic, but do yourself a favour and give this one a look — it just might be the last piece on this debate that you’ll read, and if so, it would be a good note to end on.

Contributing to my dwindling practice time was a real lack of direction and purpose — I’d just play the same old songs and riffs that I’d already mastered over and over again, and really didn’t try to stretch or grow my ability. This led to fairly uninspiring practice times that usually only lasted about 5 or 10 minutes. With my recent “resurgence” in practice though, I’ve really focused on learning new things, and finding pieces of music that are beyond my comfort level. The only way you’re going to get better at anything is by challenging and stretching yourself, right?

When you’re first learning a complicated song or that sweet solo you’ve always wanted to be able to play, it usually helps if you’re able to slow down that song so that you can break it down piece by piece and really hear all of the intricacies. Once you figure out what’s going on in all the parts, it helps to turn the music off and just play each piece slowly until you’ve at least memorized all the patterns and how they fit together.

But what happens once you’ve learned all the parts and you’re ready to try and play along with the original song? Well, if you’re truly stretching to play something that’s outside of your current skill level, chances are you won’t be able to play at full speed right away, and that can be discouraging. Rest assured though, there are tools that can help!

One such tool that I’ve been using recently (and just discovered some functionality with) is Apple’s free QuickTime Player. QuickTime will allow you to slow any track (or video) down to ½ of its original speed. The best part about QuickTime’s ability to slow things down though, is that it allows you to play a track at any speed, which means as you get better you can progressively increase the speed of the track as you play along until you’ve mastered it enough to be able to play at full speed.

Many software programs will allow you to play something at half speed, but few basic programs let you control the precise speed of playback the way QuickTime does. QuickTime’s functionality is great because the difference between half and full speed is quite drastic and I find it extremely beneficial to play along with the music (as opposed to just a metronome). This allows me to hear the beat and all the other instruments along with my guitar, giving me a much better feel for how to play and where the notes land in relation to the beats.

So, if you want to slow down some music to practice along with, open that track in QuickTime, hit Command () + K to open the A/V Controls (or go to the Window menu and select “Show A/V Controls”) and play around with the “Playback Speed” slider to get the tempo you’re looking for. Also, if you’re really brave, you can fiddle with the song’s pitch by moving the “Pitch Shift” slider if you want to play along with the song in a different key.

Oh, and one other nice thing about QuickTime is that it can open pretty much any file format, including your Protected AAC (non-iTunes+) audio files from the iTunes Music Store.

I realize that this site has become a little one-dimensional over the past 19 or so weeks, it’s been a symptom of my commitment to continue doing my weekly NFL picks this season. I wish I had more time to put into it, but as it turns out, a baby can use up a lot of your free time, not that I’m complaining — I’m absolutely loving every minute of fatherhood.

In the coming weeks and months, you should notice a return to normalcy around here (whatever it is that that means, I’m not totally sure). For those readers who have been annoyed by nothing but NFL prediction posts, my apologies to you, I just haven’t had time to do more than 1 post a week and unfortunately I made the commitment back in late August before I knew how busy life was about to get.

So, that’s the brief update for now… hopefully this site will become much more interesting in the near future, if not for you, than at least for me.

Don’t forget to check out ESPN’s Expert Picks, and feel free to let me know what do you think by posting your comments.

Away	Home	Comments	Pick	Result
Last week: 2-2 (50%), Season total: 168 ½-91 (64.8%)
Ravens (12-5)	Titans (13-3)	Both of these teams have been a great story this season, especially the Ravens. I think this game will be really close, but I like Baltimore in the end. Not sure why though.
Cardinals (10-7)	Panthers (12-4)	Carolina is 8-0 at home this season, and Arizona has been absolutely terrible on the East coast. It’s been a good run for Warner and the Cards, but I think it ends tonight.
Eagles (10-6-1)	Giants (12-4)	If you can only see one game this weekend, this is the one to watch. Philly has played extremely well since the McNabb benching incident, but I’m not sure it’ll be enough to knock off the defending champs.
Chargers (9-8)	Steelers (12-4)	Unless the Steelers lay an egg, I think it should be fairly easy for them to send the LT-less Chargers home for the off-season.

Don’t forget to check out ESPN’s Expert Picks, and feel free to let me know what do you think.

Here are my picks for Wild Card Weekend:

Away	Home	Comments	Pick	Result
Last week: 10-6 (62.5%), Season total: 166 ½-89 (65.0%)
Falcons (11-5)	Cardinals (9-7)	Congratulations to Arizona for finally winning the NFC West, but I like the Falcons in this one, they’ve just been far more consistent this year and I don’t think their QB’s inexperience will be a factor.
Colts (12-4)	Chargers (8-8)	Indianapolis has had their trouble in San Diego over the years, but there’s just too much talent on the Colts to lose in the opening round of the playoffs. San Diego has played very well over the past 4 weeks, but they are as good (or bad) as their 8-8 record.
Ravens (11-5)	Dolphins (11-5)	I think the dream turnaround season for Miami ends this week. Of all the Wild Card games though, this one might give the home team the best shot to win. Miami doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, so I think this will be a very close contest, but I like the Ravens to win.
Eagles (9-6-1)	Vikings (10-6)	Philadelphia is lucky to be here, as all the pieces fell their way last week to give them a playoff spot. Now that they’re in though, they’ll probably do well as long as Donovan McNabb doesn’t blow up. The Vikings are good, but I don’t think they have enough balance on their team to keep the Eagles in check.

Don’t forget to check out ESPN’s Expert Picks. What do you think?

Here are my picks for the final week of the 2008 regular season:

Away	Home	Comments	Pick	Result
Last week: 7-9 (43.8%), Season total: 156 ½-83 (65.2%)
Jaguars (5-10)	Ravens (10-5)	Joe Flacco has been very impressive this season, and so have the Ravens as a team.
Titans (13-2)	Colts (11-4)	I don’t know why I’m picking the Colts, but I think they need to keep their momentum going if they want to make a deep playoff run.
Giants (12-3)	Vikings (9-6)	At the start of the year I didn’t think the Giants would be able to overcome the losses their defense took… but they’ve proven me wrong all season long.
Lions (0-15)	Packers (5-10)	Aaron Rodgers has had a great season that will be completely overshadowed by the absolutely terrible performance put on by Green Bay’s defense this season. Their play down the stretch is the sole reason why the entire team will be watching the playoffs come January. If they can’t win this game at home against an 0-15 Lions team, the entire organization should be ashamed of themselves.
Raiders (4-11)	Buccaneers (9-6)	Not sure if this game will end up meaning anything in the end, but Jon Gruden loves sticking it to the Raiders.
Bears (7-8)	Texans (9-6)	The Bears have no business being in the playoffs. If they get in, I expect they’ll be “one and done” for sure.
Dolphins (10-5)	Jets (10-5)	Well, the Jets blew their chance against a team they should’ve beaten last week in Seattle. Unfortunately, this may be the last we see of Brett Favre… I’m not sure he’ll want to come back after a season that ended like this, but hopefully he goes out with a win.
Patriots (10-5)	Bills (7-8)	The Patriots need a win and some help from the Jets to get in. I think they’ll do their part, but will it be enough?
Panthers (11-4)	Saints (8-7)	Carolina is clearly the better team, but the Saints have been tough at home, so this really could go either way.
Cowboys (9-6)	Eagles (8-6-1)	I just don’t like either of these teams in this game, but if I have to pick, I’ll take Philly to spoil the Cowboys season.
Browns (4-11)	Steelers (11-4)	This should be a cakewalk.
Rams (2-13)	Falcons (10-5)	Matt Ryan for MVP? He may get a few votes for the part he’s played in turning around a Falcons franchise that no one saw coming this year.
Chiefs (2-13)	Bengals (3-11-1)	Pay no attention to this game… unless you’d like to poke fun.
Broncos (8-7)	Chargers (7-8)	The winner of this game takes the AFC West and I’m picking the Broncos simply because I want them to win. I’m just not a fan of Philip Rivers.
Seahawks (4-11)	Cardinals (8-7)	The Cardinals need to have some self-respect, grow a spine and win this one after being completely embarrassed by the Patriots last week. This is not what a division champ should look like.
Redskins (8-7)	49ers (6-9)	Another win should give Coach Jim Zorn a bit more job security.

And that’s it, I haven’t done nearly as well as I wanted to and I haven’t had nearly as much time to put into these weekly picks as I have in years past, but I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride. Don’t forget to check out ESPN’s Expert Picks and compare how I’ve done against them. Also, as always, feel free to post your thoughts and predictions in the comments below. Merry Christmas to all!

With 2 weeks left in this year’s regular season, playoff seeds are really starting to take shape… this week could be make or break for several teams on the bubble. See also: this week’s ESPN Expert Picks.

Check out this week’s ESPN Expert Picks and let me know what you think in the comments below.

Who are you picking this week? See also: ESPN Expert Picks.

There you have ‘em, my week 12 picks! Here are this week’s ESPN Expert Picks as well. Now, discuss!

Away	Home	Comments	Pick	Result
Last week: 10-4 (71.4%), Season total: 97-47 (67.4%)
Jets (6-3)	Patriots (6-3)	I think the Jets are starting to fire on all cylinders… still, this will probably be very close.
Eagles (5-4)	Bengals (1-8)	Eagles. Period.
Titans (9-0)	Jaguars (4-5)	The Jags have disappointed this season, and I can’t pick against an unbeaten this late in the season.
Lions (0-9)	Panthers (7-2)	Is there any doubt?
Broncos (5-4)	Falcons (6-3)	The Falcons have been pretty good at home so far, and the Broncos are another team that has really taken a step back this season.
Raiders (2-7)	Dolphins (5-4)	Week 11 and the Dolphins are still in playoff contention. Impressive for a team that finished 1-15 last year.
Texans (3-6)	Colts (5-4)	The Colts look like they’re back on track. Houston still isn’t there.
Saints (4-5)	Chiefs (1-8)	The Saint usually don’t work out for me, but the Chiefs aren’t a safe bet either.
Bears (5-4)	Packers (4-5)	Must win for Green Bay.
Vikings (5-4)	Buccaneers (6-3)	This might be tight, but I’ll go with Tampa.
Ravens (6-3)	Giants (8-1)	This should be a great game in which the Giants have the edge.
Rams (2-7)	49ers (2-7)	They almost beat the Cardinals last week, which makes me think the 49ers might have enough to top the Rams.
Cardinals (6-3)	Seahawks (2-7)	I don’t think Matt Hasselbeck can save the Seahawks season.
Chargers (4-5)	Steelers (6-3)	San Diego just doesn’t play consistently enough to make me pick them against the Steelers.
Cowboys (5-4)	Redskins (6-3)	With Tony Romo back, the ‘Boys are a much better team than they are without him.
Browns (3-6)	Bills (5-4)	The Bills have regressed recently but a loss to the Browns would make things a lot worse by putting a playoff spot almost out of reach.

The bye weeks are over, which means there’s no way that I’ll finish 9-5 this week… hopefully the additional games will both be wins. See also: ESPN’s Expert Picks.