Penguins' Bylsma to coach US Olympic team in Sochi

Dan Bylsma has never coached hockey at the international level. The Pittsburgh Penguins coach does, however, know how to win while juggling a roster dotted with superstars.

That was good enough for USA Hockey to select Bylsma as coach of the U.S. Olympic men's hockey team at the 2014 Winter Olympics on Saturday, hoping the free-flowing style he teaches translates well to the wider rinks that await in Sochi, Russia in February.

The 42-year-old Michigan native didn't hide from the glaring hole in his resume moments after being introduced. When asked how he was going to build on his limited experience in international coaching, Bylsma quickly offered a correction.

"I don't have any experience," Bylsma said with a laugh. "So 'very little' is wrong."

The next eight months should take care of that as the U.S. vies for its first gold medal since the "Miracle on Ice" in 1980.

The U.S. won silver in 2002 at Salt Lake City and was runner-up to Canada in Vancouver three years ago, losing 3-2 in overtime when Penguins star Sidney Crosby beat U.S. goaltender Ryan Miller 7:40 into the extra session.

Bylsma, who won the 2009 Stanley Cup with Crosby, was watching the game from a restaurant when he saw his captain take a pass from Jarome Iginla and race in on Miller to produce one of the most iconic moments in the history of the sport.

"I got off of my chair because I had a pretty good notion he was going to put that home for the win," Bylsma said.

NHL officials will meet with the players' association, the International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation in New York on Monday to iron out an agreement allowing the league's top players to compete in Sochi.

Once approved, Bylsma will have to find a way to slow down Crosby and 2012 NHL MVP Evgeni Malkin, who is expected to play for his native Russia.

"I'm also a little bit concerned (Crosby) knows me as a coach, my strengths and my weaknesses he's going to bring that to the attention of the Canadian team," Bylsma said.

Nashville Predators general manager David Poile, who will serve in the same capacity for Sochi, called Bylsma "one of the very best coaches in the league."

Bylsma played nine years as a defensive-minded forward for the Los Angeles and Anaheim from 1995-2004 before moving into coaching. He replaced Michel Therrien as Penguins' coach in February 2009 and guided Pittsburgh to the third championship in franchise history.

He won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL Coach of the Year in 2011 and helped the Penguins post the best record in the Eastern Conference during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. Pittsburgh advanced to the conference finals before being swept by the Boston Bruins. The Penguins rewarded Bylsma with a two-year contract extension through 2017 a week after their season ended.

The process of building the Olympic team will begin with an orientation camp in Washington D.C. in late August.

Poile expects the core of the team that won silver in Vancouver to return but allowed changes need to be made. The U.S. has historically struggled in Olympic competition overseas. The last time the U.S. team medaled at an Olympics outside of North America came in 1972 when it won silver in Sapporo, Japan and hasn't medaled at an Olympics in Europe since 1956.

"We can't be the same type of team because we haven't had success over there," Poile said.

Bylsma's system should help. The Penguins are regularly among the highest scoring teams in the NHL thanks in part to a talented core and a style of play that focuses on puck control and pressure. It's made Pittsburgh one of the most feared teams in the league. Now Bylsma hopes to do the same in the Olympics.

"We have one goal in Sochi," Bylsma said, "and that's to go over there and win gold."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/penguins-bylsma-coach-us-olympic-team-sochi-151014508.html

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NFL says no to promoting Obamacare (Washington Post)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

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Google Is Making A Game Console [Report] | WebProNews

Back in May, it was revealed that Google had hired legendary game designer Noah Falstein to head up what looked like a gaming division at the company. At the time, many thought Google was just getting into game development, but it looks like the company has much higher aspirations.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is working on its own Android-powered game console. It?s not known if Falstein is involved with the development of the hardware, but it?s a good bet that he is. He?s also probably helping Google make some games to launch with the hardware.

The Android-powered game console is nothing new. Devices like the Ouya and GameStick are attempting to change the definition of the games console into something that?s cheap and approachable for developers and gamers alike. A Google games console probably wouldn?t change that, but it could possibly feature better hardware and better discoverability via Google Play.

Aside from the games console, Google is reportedly still working on that rumored smartwatch. Sony is taking another stab at the smartwatch this year, and other competitors, including Apple, are rumored to be working on their own as well. It remains to be seen if Google is waiting for Apple and other competitors to reveal their hands, or if it will just release a smartwatch to see what happens.

Finally, the ill-fated Nexus Q is also reportedly getting a second chance. The media streaming device was revealed at last year?s Google I/O, but was met with a nearly universal ?meh.? The response in turn led to Google never actually releasing it except to those who pre-ordered the device. There have already been rumors of a successor found in FCC filings, but we haven?t heard anything official from Google as of yet. Still, it wouldn?t be surprising to see Google create a new Nexus Q that?s more like a Google TV device.

So, when can we expect to see these devices? It?s reported that Google is hard at work on all three devices, but may only release one of them this fall. My personal bet is on the Nexus Q successor. A Google TV Nexus device would probably do better this holiday season than a game console, especially in light of the impending launch of the Xbox One and PS4.

Source: http://www.webpronews.com/google-is-making-a-game-console-report-2013-06

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These Great Lego Game of Thrones Minifigs Are Now for Sale

Game of Thrones' and Lego fans rejoice: the Warden of the North, Arya, the Mother of Dragons?sadly with only one baby dragon?John Snow and Tyrion Lannister can be all yours in precious minifig form for $70, a price that will feel something between the Red Wedding and Theon Greyjoy's torture to your credit card.

According to the manufacturer on Etsy, "they are being made in very limited numbers and won't be available long!" They say that all these minifigs have been designed by their house artist and custom pad printed?which means they are high quality. Pad printing is the same printing method Lego uses.

These are not Lego?GoT is so bloody it would never be an official line?or Game of Thrones' official products.

They are not the first Game of Thrones' minifigs either?Lego expert Sam Beattie made his own characters last year. Sam's minifigs are not as faithful to the originals as the ones for sale, but they are are really good, as you can see here:

The Starks

The Lannisters

The Baratheon Brothers

The Small Council

The Clegane Brothers

Jorah, Daenerys and Drogo

Sansa, Bran, Hodor (Hodor!) and Rickon Stark

If you have Game of Thrones' withdrawal syndrome you can go to this Lego site fully dedicated to Game of Thrones. Or just do like me and read the Wikipedia entries to know everything that's going to happen because you are too impatient to wait or read the books.

Source: http://lego.gizmodo.com/these-great-lego-game-of-thrones-minifigs-are-now-for-s-605042215

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Baby Boy on the Way for Victoria Reca?o

The Inside Edition correspondent and husband Tom Burwell will welcome a son in November, the couple confirm to PEOPLE exclusively.

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/xBmx_55fx3E/

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Apple tweaks Purchased tab in iPad App Store, now lets you view purchased apps alphabetically

Apple recently made a small change to the Purchased tab in the App Store on the iPad, allowing users to view their purchased apps not just chronologically, but alphabetically.

Select any given letter from the left-hand side of the Purchased tab to find the results you're looking for. Tap the clock above the letter "A" in order to switch back to a chronological view of all of your apps. Viewing items alphabetically still allows you to see both all of your apps, or just those that are not on your iPad.

The old way was a huge pain, the new way much better. Let's hope this is the kind of thing Apple keeps improving.

Thanks: Balazs

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/U1FwGPZ44Rs/story01.htm

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Egypt's Mursi circles wagons as trouble looms

By Tom Perry

CAIRO (Reuters) - President Mohamed Mursi came to office promising to be a president for all Egyptians. A year into his term, the divisions deepened by his rule have pitched the nation into crisis.

As Mursi's opponents mobilise for protests aimed at toppling him, the Muslim Brotherhood man shows no sign of flinching. Instead, he is digging in, backed by Islamist allies determined to shield Mursi from what they see as an attempted coup.

That he should battle on regardless, fending off a storm of criticism which he says is personally hurtful, reflects Mursi's approach during a year in which his efforts have been obstructed by political unrest, resistance from vested interests within the state and failures by a government that seems to lack vision.

As hopes for consensus have faded, Mursi has ploughed on regardless, casting his opponents as spoilers who have rejected his attempts at outreach. His allies, meanwhile, have been whittled down to Islamists at the extreme religious right.

Addressing his supporters on Wednesday, Mursi said the conflict threatened "our nascent democratic experience and threatens to put the whole nation in a state of paralysis and chaos". In a pattern seen before, he offered concessions, but these were dismissed as too little by the opposition.

"I say to the opposition: the road to change is clear," he said, alluding to elections won by the Islamists to date.

A determined man of action to his supporters and a would-be despot to his opponents, Mursi, 61, is a civil engineer and university lecturer with a doctorate from the United States. He was raised in a rural village a two-hour drive north of Cairo.

He was thrust into the presidential race when the Brotherhood's first-choice candidate was disqualified. Dismissed at first as the "spare tyre", he has grown into his role, appearing ever more confident in his public addresses.

Leaning over the podium and digressing from his written remarks during a nearly three-hour speech late on Wednesday, Mursi sought to appeal to ordinary people with a folksy style that departed from stiffer habits that were often mocked.

"He knows his primary audience is not opposition supporters or secular-minded urbanites," said Yasser El-Shimy, Egypt analyst with the International Crisis Group.

When he took office, the extent of his authority was thrown into doubt by the role of Hosni Mubarak-era generals who had established themselves as a rival source of authority.

Yet the novice president stunned observers in August when he sacked Mubarak's veteran defence minister, a move that drew grudging respect from some critics, even in the liberal camp.

FAILING TO REACH OUT

In his first weeks in office, visits to China and Iran set a new tone for Egypt's foreign policy. He also preserved Egypt's role as a vital Middle East actor by helping broker an end to a short war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.

The ceasefire declared from Cairo in the presence of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reassured the West that Islamist rule did not mean a dramatic shift in a regional order underpinned by Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

But no sooner had Mursi helped settle one international conflict than he set off another at home by issuing a decree that infuriated opponents and triggered days of lethal violence.

The decree allowed the Islamists to complete a constitution free of the risk of legal challenges. Mursi then put the controversial text to referendum, ignoring protests from non-Islamists who said it did not reflect Egypt's diversity.

The opposition condemned Mursi's constitutional decree as a power grab with echoes of the Mubarak era. The Brotherhood billed it as a pre-emptive move against a plot by old regime loyalists to obstruct the political transition.

Mursi and the Brotherhood won, but not without cost. The episode deepened the political divide, burying hopes for the consensus needed to embark on reforms to tackle an economic crisis that has sent the currency to record lows.

Talks with the International Monetary Fund on a $4.8 billion loan vital to restoring investor confidence stumbled as Mursi balked at politically-sensitive terms such as tax increases.

Even the Brotherhood spoke out publicly against Mursi's prime minister, the independent technocrat Hisham Kandil.

The government's commitment to democracy was thrown into question by laws criticised for restricting civil society and the right to protest. The United States and Europe - major donors - both expressed concern.

Critics have depicted Mursi as a puppet of the Islamist movement that launched him to power - a claim rejected by the presidency and the Brotherhood. But ex-members of the presidential staff have cited the group's interference as their reason for quitting.

"Dr Mohamed Mursi unfortunately does not have transparency, clarity in dealing with the Egyptian people," said Mohamed Habib, a former deputy leader of the Brotherhood who quit the group in 2011.

As his circle of friends tightens to groups such al-Gamaa al-Islamiya, a once-armed jihadist movement, Mursi will likely find it even harder to convince critics that he can be a president for all Egyptians and not just a party man.

"The relationship with the Egyptian people was the main shortcoming this year: the transformation from being a movement to a national political force," said a Western diplomat.

"The main mistake was the inability to speak to the nation and to engage the Egyptians into this new democratic project."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-mursi-circles-wagons-trouble-looms-064422679.html

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