Pete Dudchenko

Had lunch with the guys today. Grabbed a cup of gumbo and a pound of shrimp/crayfish. Good stuff!

There are a million BlackBerry Application reviews out there but I wanted to take a moment to focus only on the newer BlackBerry Apps, and by newer, I mean newer to me. I’ll try to focus only on new BlackBerry apps that have come out in the last few months or so but if I mix a few up, apologies in advance:

SocialScope

This new BlackBerry app is invite only and if you’re looking for an invite, I’m sorry but I was just one of the lucky ones that got in early. Let me tell you though, it’s awesome. For those unfamiliar, SocialScope is a Twitter/Facebook app rolled into one. I can create groups, update my statuses, post pics and more all from one app. If you can’t get SocialScope and want a Twitter recommendation, I would go with Ubertwitter.

Link: SocialScope

WordPress for BlackBerry

Finally! An application by WordPress where I can actually post pictures and posts directly to my blog. There were alternatives but this one seems to do it better than the others and with much less hassle.

Link: WordPress for BlackBerry

Evernote

Evernote is awesome for taking notes either at work or for personal needs. The cool thing is that it allows you to tag your notes (just like GMail) so multiple classifications is easy to do. Plus it has textual recognition capabilities for words that appear in photos and a great search capability too which makes finding information easier. The BlackBerry App makes it so easy to access my notes right on my phone, or even add new notes which are later sync’d with my computers. I especially love the ability to record a voice note on my BlackBerry and then sync it to my laptop to transcribe later.

Link: Evernote for BlackBerry

WorldMate Live

This is great for anyone travelling. I use the free version but there’s also a pay version as well. The nice thing is that once you receive an email confirmation from say, booking a flight or a hotel, you just forward it to a specific email address and Worldmate will parse through all the data to make it easy for you to see when you leave, what airline, what gate, hotel address, etc. All of which is accessible from your phone if you also have this app.

Link: WorldMate Live for BlackBerry

Food Network

Don’t laugh, this app has really come in handy when at the grocery store trying to figure out dinner for the night. Its more than just a recipe list, it offers a breakdown of recipes by different categories such as “quick and easy” or “healthy.” You can even save recipes in your own area for future reference. Makes “what’s for dinner?” much easier to deal with.

Link: Food Network App for BlackBerry

1. At this point, everyone is a contender

As much as I go nuts during the offseason, it’s always fun to look at the draft and training camp and see how teams adjusted to their needs. I think if you ask almost any fan they feel they have a chance right now (sorry Detroit). At the very least I think everyone feels they are set up to perform better this year than last year.

2. Did the Saints do enough on defense to make them a legit contender this year?

I’m a fan so see my comments above on being biased but I think they did improve. If you look at the team last year they were plagued by injuries which basically put them back to the same “D” they had in 2007 (plus Vilma of course). Now, they’ve got a healthy bunch, and have added significant upgrades to their secondary which most would argue was the biggest weakness the last few years. Pair that with a new Defensive Coordinator who likes to pressure QB’s and it sounds like great potential.

3. No more Favre News

Sorry Packer fans (or should I say Jets fans or Minny fans?) but regardless of how you feel about whether he should retire or not, I’m just a little tired of how this news seems to trump everything else that’s out there. Maybe the media is really to blame here? What about charity work players offer during the offseason? Maybe let’s get to see more information about the recent draft picks and what we can expect? Heck, let’s spend the time learning about the different formations teams like to run to help educate fans about what they might see.anything but Favre.

4. I’m feeling kinda Sunday

There’s something fun about the tradition of having people over to watch the game, eating food, drinking beer and watching the same exact commercials for the next 16+ weeks. I think I’ve leaned more about heavy duty trucks during football season than any other time of the year.

5. Twitter and the NFL

I think this year is really going to be interesting for the fans and perhaps a headache for the PR departments of each team. As the season progresses, players now have the opportunity to speak directly to the masses to say anything they want. Did they feels the ref made a bad call? They can tweet it. Did they not get the ball enough? They can tweet it. It will be interesting to see what sort of censorship is placed on players through their use on Twitter. I personally can’t wait though.  Especially for training camp. I don’t live in the same city as my team but through the fans taking pictures and updating observations on Twitter (not to mention the players and the media) it should make it a lot easier to keep up on the latest news.

(Pic via nufiveoh)

I’m starting a new segment for my website called “5 Things” which is a list of five new things to investigate, to try, recommend, whatever.

Basically its a way to get me to post more frequently without spending hours on trying to come up with content, but more importantly, its a way to quickly find some good conversation starters. If you’re interested in tracking this, I’ve added a new category called, “5 Things.” (betcha never would have guessed that).

• More pics…had some rain http://flic.kr/p/6zGh7v #
• More pics…had some rain http://flic.kr/p/6zGhak #
• Elk grazing outside our bedroom window. Those guys are friggin huge! Their antlers are three feet long. #
• Made it from the Grand Canyon, through Hoover Dam and just arrived in Vegas. #
• Celebrating one year with Amy. Dinner at CraftSteak http://twitpic.com/8q5n1 #
• At the Padres Game http://twitpic.com/8×119 #