Cool pics, NBA finals stuff

Okay, I've been looking at this all morning and thought I'd share - it's a black-and-white photo gallery of abandoned Russian buildings. Very cool, makes me want to become a salvager... (via).

Also, Mark Cuban has a good post on what he thinks of the NBA finals so far...I thought last night's game was great, despite the fact that Detroit lost. Horry was absolutely huge - I think he's pretty overrated, but last night he lived up to the name that only NBA commentators call him, "Big Shot Bob". Dumbest. Nickname. Ever.

Of course, if you just want to read my comments on Cuban's blog, read on, even though it's a bit out-of-context:

It's funny, even before I read this entry, a friend and I were just discussing how much more we would enjoy watching the finals if you could CHOOSE your announcing team. I'm personally not a big fan of either of the ABC guys who did last night's game, and often their analysis is so painful that it borders on unintentional comedy. Why should rabid basketball fans put up with lowest-common-denominator commentary? Of course ABC is trying to draw in as many people as possible to watch the game, and they're afraid of "scaring" off viewers who don't know much about basketball...but honestly - if viewers are given a choice of who to listen to, it can lead to much more efficient way to spend advertising dollars - you can learn how people like to receive information, and what type of info sinks in with them. Think about it - some people like the loud "YEAH BABY!" announcers, some like them descriptive, others analytical. Taylor your advertising toward xyz-type crowd, and that's ad dollars better spent. And I do realize that this is technically unfeasible with current common TV equipment, but if we can get streaming audio to wifi devices, why can't I just stream a realtime commentary file from the web and listen to it on my speakers and turn down the volume on the tv?

I think it was on this blog that I was also reading about HDNet's converage of the war in iraq, where they would simply set up a camera somewhere and let the action tell the story, rather than being bogged down by talking heads like the Fox News crew (whom I also blame for the dumbing-down of espn, esp. shows like SC...I used to LOVE that show back in the day) . I think the no-sound thing is a great way to do journalism, but why not allow people to choose who to listen to?

I'm quoting myself in my own blog... N-E-R-D-Y.