Can Parker Spark the Sparks?

The L.A. Sparks Candace Parker set the WNBA on fire last year, winning the Rookie-of-the-Year award as well as the league's MVP award.

She missed the first part of this season after having a baby, but she's back. L.A. loaded up with some other players, like the great Tina Thompson, and Betty Lennox. But Lisa Leslie is out with a bad knee, and the Sparks have had trouble meshing. L.A. has struggled to a 4-6 start, only good enough for fifth place in the Western Conference, 3.5 games behind the resurgent Phoenix Mercury.

But this is still a formidable team. Lennox and Thompson are two of the best players the league has seen; Candace Parker, as she works back into shape, can carry a team; and Leslie will have something to say about how things turn out.

The Indiana Fever, with Katie Douglas (16.9 ppg), Tamika Catchings (14.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg), and Tammy Sutton-Brown (10.4 and 7.4), have jumped out to a league-best 9-2 record, winning their past 9 straight games.

The Mercury's Diana Taurasi leads the league in scoring (21.2 ppg), and teammate Cappie Pondexter is third at 20.2. Rookie DeWanna Bonner has been a nice addition.

Minnesota took a hit when Seimone Augustus (21.0 ppg) went down with an injury after 6 games, but they still sit tied for 2nd with Seattle in the Western Conference. Seattle's Lauren Jackson (19.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg) is still a force, and Sue Bird is still a great guard.

Perhaps the biggest surprise this year is the fall of the Detroit Shock, who have crawled to a league-worst 2-7 record after coach Bill Laimbeer stepped down. Detroit is the defending champion. The Shock have signed veteran Anna DeForge (a favorite of mine from when she played with the Mercury), and Karl Malone's daugher Cheryl Ford is back from an injury, but it may be too little, too late.

The season's still young. Candace Parker looked like the best thing to come into the league in some time last year, and the Sparks still might be the team to beat. They're loaded, on paper. Watch out.

Exciting Times in the NBA

The dust is starting to settle in the NBA after draft day and some interesting trades and free agent moves. How things will play out next season is anyone's guess, but here are some of the moves that might make things turn out much differently than this season:

- The Boston Celtics acquired former Piston Rasheed Wallace, which may shore up their front line and provide some insurance for the suddenly injury-prone Kevin Garnett.

- The Lakers picked up Ron Artest from Houston.

- Cleveland got Shaquille O'Neal from Phoenix.

- The Clippers picked up Oklahoma's Blake Griffin in the draft, which may finally end years of draft day frustrations for that club.

- Golden State drafted Dell Curry's son, Stephen Curry, who might turn out to be a great scorer like his dad.

- Detroit fired coach Michael Curry, hired former Cavs assistant John Kuester, and picked up Ben Gordon from the Bulls and Charlie Villanueva from Milwaukee.

- New Jersey's Vince Carter moved to the Orlando Magic.

- The Mavs picked up Shawn Marion from Toronto and kept Jason Kidd.

- San Antonio grabbed Richard Jefferson from Milwaukee and Antonio McDyess from Detroit, and drafted Pittsburgh's DeJuan Blair, a great rebounder for his size.

- Oklahoma City drafted Arizona State's James Harden, adding a scorer to a roster that includes Kevin Durant.

- From the ACC, Denver picked up North Carolina's Ty Lawson, and Larry Bird's Indiana Pacers drafted the former Tar Heel Tyler Hansbrough. Gerald Henderson of Duke joined Charlotte.

There are probably more changes to come. Allen Iverson is still floating out there. The Suns will probably keep Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash, but maybe not. Detroit might not be finished making moves. 2009-10 should be interesting!

Chrome OS

Google's Chrome Operating System isn't slated to come out until the latter part of next year, but it's creating quite a buzz.

Will it spell doom for Microsoft? Probably not. But it does alter the computing landscape, and it gives computer users another option, and another reason to use something else besides Windows.

For more on Chrome OS:

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/07/google-drops-a-nuclear-bomb-on-microsoft-and-its-made-of-chrome/

http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-google-launching-os-firing-torpedo-into-microsoft-and-apple-hold-2009-7

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9135402/Analysis_Five_ways_Google_spits_on_Microsoft

Sneaky Tactics to Make You Stuff Your Face

The MSNBC article "8 ways the food industry can hijack your brain" might give you something to think about before you load up at your favorite restaurant. Scary, coming on the heels of more news that obesity in the U.S. continues to rise.

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Artist: Miss Janine Vigil!

Where to Get Linux

A blogger talks about ways of obtaining Linux at http://windows2linux.tech-no-media.com/2009/06/where-do-you-get-linux-from.html.

He doesn't mention my favorite method. I like to buy Linux CDs from online sources such as linuxcd.org and osdisc.com. I've been able to get single live/install CDs for less than $5 bucks, including shipping.

For those who don't know, "live" Linux CDs (like Knoppix) allow you to "test drive" Linux without installing anything to your hard drive. The system runs completely from RAM, and while it's slower than an installed system, it's a nice way to take a good look at Linux. Most live CDs now include the option to do an installation to your hard drive. These CDs contain complete operating systems, and there's tons of additional software is available for free -- all you have to do is download it.

Also not mentioned by the author are the free live/install CDs that Ubuntu sends out. They even pay for the postage. You might have to wait several weeks for them to arrive, but the key word here is "free." I've taken advantage of this offering, obtaining several Ubuntu and Kubuntu CDs over the past few years. Ubuntu might not be the perfect operating system (is there one?), but it's almost always good enough to use, and to keep me from needing to purchase any Windows software.

Greatest?

After the Lakers won this year's NBA Championship, the accolades poured in for coach Phil Jackson. Now with 10 rings, he's being called the greatest NBA coach ever.

It's difficult to dispute, since the only measuring stick is the number of titles won. But I hesitate to jump on the bandwagon. As with great players, there have been many great coaches who won fewer or no championships. So many things have to go right: You need to have the right players, the right organization (top-to-bottom), and you need to get the right calls in the game.

You never know how things would have turned out for Michael Jordan without Scottie Pippen, for Kobe Bryant without Shaquille O'Neal or Pau Gasol, or for Jackson without any of those players, or without a GM or owner who could put together the right collection of players.

During the Lakers' series with Orlando, there were a couple of games that could easily have gone the other way. The Lakers escaped with a win in game 2 when Courtney Lee missed a potential game-winning lay-up. They escaped with a win in game four after Dwight Howard missed a couple of free-throws, any one of which would have iced the game for the Magic.

And nobody knows how things would have turned out if Boston's Kevin Garnett had not gone down with an injury and missed the playoffs.

Phil Jackson had no control over any of those things. He may simply be the most fortunate NBA coach ever.