My Apple TV and me

Got one of these puppies under the tree this year. The AppleTV is very easy to use, and the hardest part of setting it up was digging up the password for my wireless network.

I’ve tinkered a bit with AirPlay , and it seems to be a pretty cool feature. The most useful thing so far for me has been the ability to stream audio from the Sirius/XM app into the living room. AirPlay doesn’t do video as of yet (at least for non-iTunes and YouTube content), but I’m really hoping that will be good to go when baseball season starts. That is, if the MLB AtBat app supports AirPlay at all.

Of course, the best solution would be for AppleTV to open an app store for the device, allowing things like mlb.tv (or Hulu, or the NHL, or heaven forbid ESPN3.com) to stream elegantly and seamlessly, but whether that ever becomes a reality remains to be seen. And for me, live sports is a deal breaker when it comes to “cutting the cord.”

Netflix streaming aside, the device won’t replace your cable or satellite box, at least not yet.

OK, gotta go introduce the AppleTV to my iMac. Time to tinker….

I resolve not to make any resolutions

I’m just not going to do it this year. There will be no promises, empty, unreachable, disingenuous or otherwise.

There will be no New Year’s resolutions.

It’s not really a matter of any righteous indignation, but mainly because I don’t feel that I have to.

I managed to (somehow) clear two giants hurdles in my life that also happen to be mainstays in the New Year’s self-improvement arena: breaking a tobacco addiction and getting my weight under control. While this year has been so very tough in so many other regards, it’s also been the year that I’ve been able to secure these two great personal breakthroughs.

That’s not to say that there aren’t things I could resolve to improve, as anyone who has seen my backyard can attest (OK, my front yard, too). But the main thing I’ve learned is that it takes a commitment every day to achieving these ends. While a one-day celebration of willpower can and typically does disintegrate into so much unbacked bluster over the ensuing hours, days and months, a slower, more measured approach has produced results for me.

So this year, it’s not about asking “what if?” or saying “wouldn’t it be great if …” This year is putting those ideas and turning them into actions. Again.

Happy New Year, everybody. Have a great 2011.

Let the starters sit, Lovie

There is no reason for Lovie Smith to play the starters Sunday against Green Bay. The Bears cannot afford to lose Jay Cutler, potentially, when the only thing there is to gain is an ego boost. Sorry, Tampa Bay, et al, the Bears have no obligation to get Cutler, Peppers, Urlacher or anybody else banged up in the name of gamesmanship.

There is no guarantee that playing the starters will ensure a Bears victory in the first place. When healthy, Green Bay is the better team.

Although I’m reminded of the end of the 2005 baseball season when the White Sox had already clinched the division and had to play a three-game series in Cleveland, which had to win to stay in the wildcard chase. The Sox played a Triple-A lineup the whole series and swept. Chicago won the World Series while Cleveland missed out completely.

Call me a naysayer (you naysayer!), but this is all looking like a familiar storyline: a terrific regular season followed by a big thud of a flop in the playoff opener.