So what do you do with a passing listing or comment about your company in the public domain? Good or Bad? In my opinion, leave well enough alone.

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As winter is in full effect there is one sure sign that spring is just around the corner… Pitchers and catchers report in less than one week! Not only does this mean that there is an end in sight to the bitterly cold and snowy winter but it also means opening day for the 2008 Major League Baseball season is almost here. Every team and every player has a fresh start: Even the Devil Rays technically have a chance to win the World Series and Alfonso Soriano could conceivably hit a curve ball. Pot holes will eventually get filled and your favorite ball parks will eventually reopen to thousands of screaming fans and all the good things that come along with America’s pastime; beer, hot dogs, bench clearing brawls, home runs, double steals and great entertainment.

The FastServers’ team has great camaraderie but the baseball season definitely makes FastServers’ employees choose sides… FastServers’ President Ian Andrusyk and VP of HR Jara Andrusyk root for the Minnesota Twins, Chief Technical Officer Travis Schaffner is a Cardinals fan, Director of Business Development Mark Luptak is a Blue Jays fan, Account Rep Mo Kabre and Tech Team Member Nick Shredders are KC Royals fans, Director of Inside Sales Steven Anderson and Tech Team Member Greg Kuiper root for Chicago’s south side White Sox. As for myself, I root for the 1907 – 1908, back to back World Series champion, Chicago Cubs. Although other Chicago teams haven’t fared well this year, could this be the year that Cubs return to the World Series? Not likely as most sports books have them at 12/1 but what the hell do they know, the New York Giants were 12 point underdogs.

The last time I wrote a blog post I predicted that the Chicago Bears would win the Super Bowl (we all know how that turned out) so I won’t go that far for the Cubs but I will say that they will win the National League Central. Other prognostications include the following playoff teams…

National League:
West - Diamondbacks
Central - Cubs
East - Mets
Wild Card – Dodgers

American League:
West - Mariners
Central - Tigers
East –Red Sox
Wild Card - Indians

I apologize to those FastServers employees whose teams aren’t listed, better luck next year.

In any event, enjoy the last few weeks of winter because baseball season is just around the corner. Get your office fantasy team started and get ready for another great season!

I still recall those early days when I first started learning how to compile the C++ programming language, trying to understand how this object oriented platform could possibly make a difference in the computing world. It didn’t take long until I realized that I could tell C to compute the distance between A and B based on two variables given by the user. The output was beautiful and fast. The true value of a language is its ability to be customized to fit specific needs and simplify lives. The engineering world has seen more than 5,000 languages and continues to rise because of trends and challenges being introduced on a daily basis. So, what’s the point in telling you about C++ and why it’s the true computer language?

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I don’t believe I can chance watching the news any more today. I have a bad feeling that if I turn on my television and flip over to MSNBC or CNN that I’m going to throw a very large, hard object directly at the screen. And even as I write this email, I’m grinding my teeth and my palms are getting sweaty just thinking of what that moment will be like when I press the power button. Pre-meditated murder of an electronic device. ARGH! Why?!?! Why must I have be tortured like this on a daily/weekly basis?!?!? What is it? Dare I utter the two most ugliest words in the English language right now? Ok, I need blog therapy…so I will make it known. The two ugliest words…PARIS HILTON!

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Having lived in the Chicago-land area my whole life, I know what a great sports town Chicago is. During the summer months the city is divided between the White Sox to the south and the Cubs to the north, but during the fall and winter, the city unites and is firmly behind its Chicago Bears. Last year the Bears went to the Super Bowl for the first time in over 20 years, only to fall short to the perennial powerhouse that is the Indianapolis Colts. This off season the Bears would seem to be in great shape to return to the Super Bowl; the team has the experience that playing in the big game brings, they have money to spend in free agency and have some great picks in the upcoming draft where they can get quality players who can come in and contribute. Everything seemed to be going great, that is until Lance Briggs and his ass clown of an agent, Drew Rosenhaus, decided to get greedy.

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