MICHIGAN 27, NO. 9 WISCONSIN 25: U-M's comeback is biggest at Big House

Program-defining moments come in all shapes and sizes.



But few arrive as loud and fierce as the one delivered from Terrance Taylor's prodigious mouth at halftime Saturday at Michigan Stadium.

Michigan trailed Wisconsin, 19-0, and that was actually better than could be expected.

So Taylor simply let his team, particularly the imploding offense, have it.

"If anyone's lacking, we feel as a team we can call them out and they'll respect that, so that's what we do," he said of his halftime rant in which he looked every player in the eye and not one responded. "This is a family."

Suddenly, it was a family that came together, rallying for the largest U-M comeback in Michigan Stadium's 500-game history, knocking off No. 9 Wisconsin, 27-25.

Either inspired or scared by Taylor's speech, the offense responded with a final burst that will be talked about for the next 500 home games.

Beginning with seven minutes to play in the third quarter, the Wolverines (2-2, 1-0 Big Ten) began churning. A first half with only one first down, just 21 yards of offense and five turnovers -- enough to draw halftime boos -- suddenly vanished and was replaced by the 27-point offensive monster U-M coach Rich Rodriguez had long imagined.

A 14-play, 80-yard drive, capped by freshman Kevin Koger's 26-yard touchdown catch.

A 10-play, 85-yard drive, finished by little-used veteran Brandon Minor's gut-busting 34-yard touchdown run.

A tipped interception to lead-footed linebacker John Thompson that ended with him celebrating in the end zone.

And finally, there was the insurance drive that would mean everything in the final minutes.

The one where battered U-M quarterback Steven Threet, who committed three first-half turnovers, broke out for a 58-yard run, setting up a short touchdown by tailback Sam McGuffie.

The one that ensured this game will be a memory none of the 109,833 in attendance will forget, on either side.

Everyone on the Wolverines already had a comeback story -- Rodriguez's West Virginia program-making win over Louisville, defensive coordinator Scott Shafer's Stanford upset of USC in 2007 and Northern Illinois over Alabama, the U-M veterans' stunning 2005 win over Penn State, coincidentally, 27-25 -- but as Taylor said, this was unforgettable.

"It's probably No. 1 right now," he said. "Being down by that much, no hope, no one's counting on you, everyone's counting you out, to fight back like that, having so many things go wrong as an offense, and as a defense keeping everybody together, keeping enthusiasm.

"It was really a team effort, especially on defense, and I'm so proud of everybody else."

Dealing with five sudden-change situations in the first half -- the pain of five turnovers by the Michigan offense and special teams -- the Michigan defense had to keep hope alive and did, holding Wisconsin (3-1, 0-1) to field goals.

"I'd like to tell you things looked OK at halftime, but they didn't -- wow," said Rodriguez, who had water dumped on him by his players. "There was no panic. We were just trying to make some corrections, but if there was a hole to crawl into, I'm sure a bunch of us, including myself, would have liked to crawl in that hole. But we didn't. ... That's why I felt we had a chance at halftime, because our defense was playing so well."

The memories will be long from this one. But few will remember Wisconsin tying the game after scoring a touchdown and converting the two-pointer because, after a Badger penalty, the two points were taken away, and Wisconsin failed on its next two-point-conversion attempt.

Fans probably won't remember the early disaster and near crowd mutiny, but instead that the fans stayed and energized them during the historic comeback.

Taylor said all week these are the games he returned for, Big Ten games.

Yet even he couldn't have imagined this.

Wow: Some Good News..U-M 27, WISCONSIN 25,A comeback for ages jump-starts new era

The pass smacked off the Wisconsin receiver and shot into the air, and linebacker John Thompson held out his hands, praying for the rebound. Down came the ball, a gift from the heavens, and he squeezed it tight, turned toward the end zone and, with the crowd roaring, began his rumble.



Five yards. Ten yards. He slowed, instinctively, waiting for his team to show up, the way the sold-out stadium had been waiting all afternoon, the way Michigan fans have been waiting all season, and suddenly there they were two, three, four, five, six maize-and-blue jerseys, thundering together with Thompson tucked safely in their midst, a force, a group, a unit too powerful to stop.


A Team.


Remember this day, folks. Because they may have just come together, this Michigan football group, a beleaguered collection of young players and a new coaching staff, lugging a wagon full of headlines that said the experiment wasn’t working, it’s taking too long, it’s embarrassing, it’s a mess. Heck, until the fourth quarter Saturday at the Big House, wouldn’t you have said the same thing?


The game had been a disaster, a humiliation, the worst Big Ten opener for Michigan in more than two decades. The Wolverines trailed, 19-0, had five turnovers, one first down, negative yards passing — and it could have been worse. Fans were only cheering sarcastically.


When they weren’t booing.

Out of the blue



But that fourth quarter. Wow. It was movie. An epic. It was Popeye’s spinach kicking in. It was Superman waking up from the kryptonite. It was an offensive explosion and a defensive resurgence that began with less than 12 minutes left, on a touchdown burst by Brandon Minor, and ended with only 13 seconds still on the clock, when Wisconsin’s Allan Evridge threw too high on a last-ditch two-point conversion attempt.


Final score: Michigan 27, Wisconsin 25. The second-biggest comeback in U-M history. The stadium exploded with yellow T-shirted fans leaping to their feet, as if a giant sunburst had splashed onto the seats.


And a new era had, officially, taken hold.


“I’m so proud of these young men” coach Rich Rodriguez gushed to a TV reporter. “They didn’t quit at halftime.”


No matter how logical it seemed.


Let’s be honest. Who expected Michigan to come back from this debacle?

Against Wisconsin? A top-10 team? Michigan had looked terrible losing to a mediocre Notre Dame and overmatched losing to a good but unranked Utah. Here, in the Big Ten opener, it was suddenly supposed to overcome 19 points and all those ugly mistakes against the Badgers, ranked No.9 in the nation?


Well. I guess that’s what they mean by a “team in transition.”

The moment of truth



Although let’s face it. Until the fourth quarter, you would have defined “transition” as walking in on a man changing his pants. U-M indeed looked like someone caught in his underwear, hopping awkwardly, bouncing, dropping things — and wanting to yell “Shut the door!” until the situation improved.


But quarterback Steven Threet, under duress all day, suddenly came alive with accurate throws and some fine running, including a 58-yard fake-handoff burst that led to the Wolverines’ third touchdown of the quarter.


And the U-M defense proved its mettle behind lineman Brandon Graham, who was everywhere, sacking Evridge and forcing a fumble after the Badgers had reached the shadow of U-M’s end zone. There was energy. There was excitement.

There was play-making.


There was a team.


“What does this mean to your program?” Rodriguez was asked by ABC.


“It means we’re 1-0 in the Big Ten,” he said.


And yes, it does. And no, it means more. Every new coach needs a signature victory. Bo Schembechler got his in 1969, in the classic upset of Ohio State.

Houston Nutt got his Saturday at Ole Miss, upsetting No. 4 Florida. These are victories that tell the fans the compass is working, great things are possible on any week, if not every week.


And now Rodriguez has his. It would have been big if U-M had simply won this contest. But to come back the way it did, to exert that pressure, to rise above the mistakes — well, nobody will be able to predict anything now. You won’t know which U-M team will show up in weeks to come — and that’s a good thing for a program just finding its new identity.


Remember this game. Or at the very least, that play, with Thompson thundering to the end zone, swarmed by his teammates, blue on blue on blue on blue. It may be just another highlight. Or it may be something much, much more

Rumor Mill: Roy Williams on the way out?

Despite an 0-3 start and a little thing called the salary cap that prevents them from paying top dollar to two elite wideouts, the Lions claim that they don't plan to trade receiver Roy Williams. On Thursday, new G.M. Martin Mayhew announced the team's intentions, but at the same time indicated that he would listen to any offers. That tells us that the Lions are trying to get the word out that Williams is available, without losing any leverage. As the season already looks like a lost cause for the Lions and given the presence of several high-end teams who might be able to utilize Williams' services in search of a Super Bowl title, franchises like the Cowboys, Eagles, and even the Giants (especially with the Plaxico Burress situation) would be wise to call Mayhew, and Mayhew would be wise to take the best offer he can get. Williams is in the final year of his rookie deal. Second-year receiver Calvin Johnson is an emerging force. As the Cardinals have learned the hard way, it's impossible to pay two high-end receivers market value. The 39-year-old Schneider spent just one

Profootballtalk.com

T-Mobile G1 Sold Out, Pre-order Ends... Glad I ordered mines, can't waite!!!

If you were thinking about pre-ordering the T-Mobile G1 and just didn't get around to it yet, it looks like you're out of luck, since they've sold out. While there definitely won't be anything like iPhone launch day madness, don't be surprised if the launch supply is exhausted by demand and they're a bit scarce in the immediate aftermath. How many of you guys pre-ordered one?
Very quickly users came forth reporting that customer service representatives were stating there was a very limited supply. Three days after pre-orders started it has been confirmed that there are no more devices available for a pre-order. There is no word on production levels, nor whether dealers will have any models on hand come the official release. Rumors of the white G1 experiencing paint chipping seem very possible with the lack of the white model for pre-order.

Those who have not yet pre-ordered their T-Mobile G1 may not be able to purchase the device from their local T-Mobile store if they are not within the 3Gcoverage area. It seems many dealers do not know any more than anyone else about the situation. I wonder if the G1 will be plagued with short supply.

Wanna Know Who Didn't Have Thier Facts Staight In Debate #1

Summary
McCain and Obama contradicted each other repeatedly during their first debate, and each volunteered some factual misstatements as well. Here's how we sort them out:

Obama said McCain adviser Henry Kissinger backs talks with Iran "without preconditions," but McCain disputed that. In fact, Kissinger did recently call for "high level" talks with Iran starting at the secretary of state level and said, "I do not believe that we can make conditions." After the debate the McCain campaign issued a statement quoting Kissinger as saying he didn't favor presidential talks with Iran.
Obama denied voting for a bill that called for increased taxes on "people" making as little as $42,000 a year, as McCain accused him of doing. McCain was right, though only for single taxpayers. A married couple would have had to make $83,000 to be affected by the vote, and anyway no such increase is in Obama's tax plan.
McCain and Obama contradicted each other on what Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen said about troop withdrawals. Mullen said a time line for withdrawal could be "very dangerous" but was not talking specifically about "Obama's plan," as McCain maintained.
McCain tripped up on one of his signature issues – special appropriation "earmarks." He said they had "tripled in the last five years," when in fact they have decreased sharply.
Obama claimed Iraq "has" a $79 billion surplus. It once was projected to be as high as that. It's now down to less than $60 billion.
McCain repeated his overstated claim that the U.S. pays $700 billion a year for oil to hostile nations. Imports are running at about $536 billion this year, and a third of it comes from Canada, Mexico and the U.K.
Obama said 95 percent of "the American people" would see a tax cut under his proposal. The actual figure is 81 percent of households.
Obama mischaracterized an aspect of McCain's health care plan, saying "employers" would be taxed on the value of health benefits provided to workers. Employers wouldn't, but the workers would. McCain also would grant workers up to a $5,000 tax credit per family to cover health insurance.
McCain misrepresented Obama's plan by claiming he'd be "handing the health care system over to the federal government." Obama would expand some government programs but would allow people to keep their current plans or chose from private ones, as well.

McCain claimed Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower had drafted a letter of resignation from the Army to be sent in case the 1944 D-Day landing at Normandy turned out to be a failure. Ike prepared a letter taking responsibility, but he didn't mention resigning.

For full details, as well as other dubious claims and statements, please read our full Analysis section

For more details go to http://www.newsweek.com/id/161148/page/1 or factcheck.org

Round 1 in debates goes to Obama, poll says

OXFORD, Mississippi (CNN) -- A national poll of people who watched the first presidential debate suggests that Barack Obama came out on top, but there was overwhelming agreement that both Obama and John McCain would be able to handle the job of president if elected.


Most debate watchers agreed both McCain and Obama would be able to handle the job of president if elected.

more photos » The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey is not a measurement of the views of all Americans, since only people who watched the debate were questioned and the audience included more Democrats than Republicans.

Fifty-one percent of those polled thought Obama did the better job in Friday night's debate, while 38 percent said John McCain did better.

Men were nearly evenly split between the two candidates, with 46 percent giving the win to McCain and 43 percent to Obama. But women voters tended to give Obama higher marks, with 59 percent calling him the night's winner, while just 31 percent said McCain won.

"It can be reasonably concluded, especially after accounting for the slight Democratic bias in the survey, that we witnessed a tie in Mississippi tonight," CNN Senior Political Researcher Alan Silverleib said. "But given the direction of the campaign over the last couple of weeks, a tie translates to a win for Obama." Watch entire debate: Part 1 » | Part 2 » | Part 3 »

McCain apparently failed to get the "game changer" he needed to reverse his deficit in the polls, Silverleib said. Grade the candidates' performances in the debate

Both candidates appeared to exceed expectations. McCain did better than expected in the minds of 60 percent, while 57 percent said Obama did a better job in the debate than they expected. Twenty percent said both candidates did worse than expected. iReport.com: Who do you think won the debate?

Don't Miss
McCain, Obama square off in first debate
Analysis: Debate fails to deliver knockouts
Debate report card: Who made the grade?
More than two-thirds of debate watchers agreed that both McCain and Obama would be able to handle the job of president if elected.

National security has been an issue where McCain has held an advantage, but his edge over Obama -- 49 percent to 45 percent -- on the question of which candidate would best handle terrorism is within the poll's 4.5 percent margin of error. Watch candidates discuss likelihood of another 9/11 »

The economy, which has been Obama's terrain this cycle, dominated the first half of the debate. Debate watchers gave him a 21 percentage point edge -- 58 to 37 percent -- on the question of which candidate would do a better job handling the economy.

By a similar margin, those polled said Obama would be better able to deal with the current financial crisis facing the nation. Watch McCain, Obama discuss the economy »

The real impact of the debate may not be apparent right away.

"The real test will come in a few days when we see whether support for Obama or McCain changes in polls involving all voters, not just debate watchers," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

"In post-debate polls after the first faceoff in 2004, John Kerry got virtually the same numbers as Obama did tonight. Polls released a few days later showed Kerry gaining five points in the horse race."

Good post-debate poll numbers don't always spell success in the horse race, he said.

"Kerry also won the third debate in 2004 with the same numbers that Obama got in tonight's poll, but his support dropped five points after that event," Holland said.

Poll interviews were conducted with 524 adult Americans who watched the debate and were conducted by telephone on September 26. All interviews were done after the end of the debate. The margin of error for the survey is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.


The results may be favoring Obama simply because more Democrats than Republicans tuned in to the debate. Of the debate-watchers questioned in this poll, 41 percent of the respondents identified themselves as Democrats, 27 percent as Republicans and 30 percent as independents.

The best estimate of the number of Democrats in the voting age population as a whole indicates that the sample is roughly 5 to 7 percentage points more Democratic than the population as a whole.

Grading the First Presidential Debate

John McCain


Substance: His arguments were hard to follow at the beginning, but he found his voice as the debate progressed, although he never seemed fully in control of his message. He had plenty to say about the economy, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Russia, but often bogged down his own answers when trying to unfurl quips and soundbites. Stuck with bumper sticker slogans on the economy, and while he got a bit more detailed on foreign policy, he stayed at his usual level of abstraction. If he truly knows more about the world than Obama, he didn't show it in this debate.


Grade: B-


Style: Cluttered, jumpy, and often muddled. Frequent coughing early on helped neither his arguments nor his image. Jokes about being deaf and anecdotes about Normandy and George Shultz seemed ill-advised - even his pen was old. His presentation was further hindered by his wandering discussion of the differing heights of North and South Koreans and his angry assertion about how well he knows Henry Kissinger. Fell into the classic politician's trap of inserting familiar stump speech applause lines into debate responses - which only works if done with enthusiasm and clarity (and if received by applause - a big No-No in Lehrer's auditorium, which the audience obeyed seriously and silently). Keenly aware of the grand, grave occasion, McCain wavered between respectful and domineering, and ended up awkward and edgy.


Grade: C-


Offense: Emphasized his bread and butter issues of taxes and spending, and hit Obama on his failure to visit Iraq and his expressed willingness to meet with dictators. But while mocking his opponent on a few occasions, which reflected his acute disrespect for Obama, he did so in an insufficiently sharp and detailed manner - and unevenly worked elements of his rival's record into his attacks. Still he was utterly confident about his own experience, knowledge, and policies, even when tripped by his own tongue and distracted by the strains of debate practice. The main problem: Obama's obvious preparation and sharp answers contradicted McCain's frequent claims that the Democrat was uninformed and "didn't understand" key issues.


Grade: C+


Defense: He managed to ignore most of Obama's jibes, but was eventually baited into giving an extended answer about his policy differences with President Bush, after his opponent repeatedly mentioned McCain's regular support of Bush's budgets. Was visibly riled when clashing with Obama over a variety of issues, including Iraq, sanctions, and spending. He also chose to boast about Sarah Palin (although not by name) as his maverick partner, who, after her shaky week, may no longer be his ace in the hole.


Grade: B-


Overall: McCain was McCain - evocative, intense, and at times emotional, but also vague, elliptical, and atonal. Failed to deliver his "country first versus Obama first" message cleanly, even when offered several opportunities. Surprisingly, did not talk much about "change," virtually ceding the dominant issue of the race.


Overall grade: B-

(Read Mark Halperin's take on Barack Obama's performance)

Barack Obama


Substance: Quite manifestly immersed in the past, present, and future details of policy, and eager to express his views, which have been expanded, honed, and solidified during the last 18 months of hard campaigning. Still, he did avoid the nitty-gritty details of policy positions in favor of broad principles and references to working Americans, thereby not presenting the kind of specifics that some voters are waiting to hear from him.


Grade: B+


Style: Polished, confident, focused. Fully prepared, and able to convey a real depth of knowledge on nearly every issue. He was unhurried, and rarely lost his train of thought even when the debate wended and winded - and uttered far fewer of his trademark, distracting, "ums." At times, however, Obama revealed the level of his preparation by faltering over a rehearsed answer. He seemed to deliberately focus on the moderator and the home audience, with McCain as an afterthought - except when on the attack. Chose to avoid humor, for the most part, in favor of a stern demeanor, and in the process, came off as cool as a cucumber.


Grade: A


Offense: Linking McCain to Bush in his very first answer, he kept it up as his primary line of attack. Forcefully hit McCain for his early support of the Iraq War. Though he never drew blood, he did keep McCain a bit off balance, often with clever references to McCain's recent statements.

Grade: B

Defense: Had a reasonable answer for every charge that came his way - with little anger, bluster, or anxiety. Often interrupting McCain attacks with swift explanations and comebacks, he managed to spin accusations of being liberal as evidence of his relentless opposition to George Bush (in replies that were clearly planned). Offered a rather clumsy alternative to McCain's well-known, moving story of wearing the bracelet of a soldier lost in Iraq (a gift from the soldier's mother), with a story about a bracelet of his own. Fearless, without condescension, he attempted the gracious move of agreeing with or complimenting a McCain position, occasionally to his own detriment.

Grade: A-

Overall: Went for a solid, consistent performance to introduce himself to the country. He did not seem nervous, tentative, or intimidated by the event, and avoided mistakes from his weak debate performances during nomination season (a professorial tone and long winded answers). Standing comfortably on the stage with his rival, he showed he belonged - evocative of Reagan, circa 1980. He was so confident by the end that he reminded his biggest audience yet that his father was from Kenya. Two more performances like that and he will be very tough to beat on Election Day.

Overall grade: A-

More G1 lol

Released for T-Mobile, the G1 is the first mobile device powered by Google's open-source Android software. It embeds a large touch screen similar, integrates a 3.0-megapixel camera with photo-sharing capability, and builds in a trackball and slide-out keyboard. Featuring Android Market, the G1 can find and download applications to expand and personalize. Amazon.com's digital music store will be loaded on the G1 allowing consumers to search, download, buy and play more than six million songs.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

T-Mobile G1 Features


3.2-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen with HVGA resolution
Hinged screen slides open to reveal full 5-row QWERTY keyboard to lets users type messages easily without scrolling
Customizable home screen with instant email, text message and IM notifications
One-touch access to Android Market and download applications wirelessly with just a couple short clicks
One-touch access to Google applications: Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Google Calendar and Google Talk
Capture key moments in high-quality fashion with the built-in 3.2-megapixel camera with auto-focus
High-speed 3G network connection for surfing the web or downloading information quickly and effortlessly
Wi-Fi technology with seamless transition to open networks

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

T-Mobile G1 Specs

Technical Specifications
Network: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 / UMTS 1700 / 2100
Form Factor: Slide / PDA / Android OS
Dimensions: 118 x 56 x 17 mm
Weight: 158 g
Antenna: Internal
Navigation: Touch Screen / QWERTY Keypad / Trackball
Battery Type: 1150 mAh Li-Ion
Talk Time: 6.77
Standby Time: 319
Memory: 192.0 MB
Expandable Memory: microSD / TransFlash

Imaging
Main Screen: 65000 colors (TFT)
320 x 480 px
External Screen: n
Camera: 3.2 MP / Zoom / Auto-Focus

Audio
MP3 Player: MP3 / AAC / AAC+ / WMA
FM Radio: n
Speakerphone: y
Push-To-Talk: n

Multimedia
Wallpapers: 320 x 480 px
Screen Savers: 320 x 480 px
Ring Tones: 40 chord / MP3
Themes: y
Games: Android Market
Streaming Multimedia: YouTube

Messaging
SMS: y
EMS: y
MMS: y
Email: POP3 / IMAP4 / SMTP / Gmail
Chat: AOL / ICQ / Google / Windows Live / Yahoo!
Predictive Text: ?


Applications
Phonebook Capacity: ?
Calendar: Google Calendar
To-Do List: y
WAP: 2.0 (Webkit / Google Search)
Voice Commands: y
Calculator: y

Connectivity
Bluetooth: 2.0 (HFP / HSP)
Infrared Port: n
High-Speed Data: HSDPA
Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g
GPS: Google Maps Street View
PC Sync: Mini-USB 2.0

More Information
Website: T-Mobile G1 Website
Discussion: Smartphone / PDA Forum


* Compare with other phones side-by-side, or Search by features. We always try to make sure our specs are accurate and complete; however there may be times when information is not known. If you come across any missing details or mistakes, please contact us so we can help other consumers.

Gunz N Butter: First Look at the XM25, the Most Lethal Army Gun Ever

Here's the first look at the final version of the deadly XM25. We learnt this morning about the weapon's destructive power, but now we have all the details, starting with the key for its destruction power, a built-in fire-control system that can program each of the weapon's 25 millimeter rounds wirelessly, in real time, so soldiers can take down enemies around obstacles:



As you can see in the schematics, the fire-control system uses thermal optic, day-sight, laser range finder, compass and IR light to exactly measure the distance to the target, programming each of the rounds' fuses so it explodes next to the target using a wireless connection. According to the US Army, this gives maximum destruction power and minimum collateral damage, while allowing to save barriers that previously didn't allow to reach the target.



The capability to program the rounds is what allows this weapon to go "around objects". If, for example, there's a sniper hidden behind a trench, the soldier can program each round so they explodes just above the target. The bullets will explode at that exact range, taking down the target thanks to their air bursting power.

The XM25 is capable of firing an air-bursting round out to 600 meters with a 360-degree explosive radius, all with extreme precision according to testers. However, each round doesn't have to be lethal: There will be two kind of non-lethal rounds (blunt and airburst) to neutralize enemies without killing them.

The new system is also user friendly. Apparently, each type of bullet—high explosive air bursting, armor piercing, door breaching, anti-personnel, non-lethal—is color-coded:



All this technology comes at a price, however. The US Army will have to pay $25,000 for each weapon, plus $25 for each programmable 25mm round. The rounds, however, will be absolutely free of charge for terrorists or anyone at the other side of the battlefield, bad guy or passerby. [Defense Tech]

Shuttem Down!!

This was one of the most satisfying moments of the entire debate -- Barack Obama stepping up to the plate and telling John McCain that he was wrong on Iraq.

I know, you know it, everybody in America knows it -- except for John McCain. He was wrong, and that's not the judgment we need.

CBS Snap Poll: Obama Wins Debate Convincingly...Nuff Said

Hell, Even Fox's View lol.. Debate Wrap: FOX Forum Contributors React to the First Presidential Debate

Lanny Davis
Former White House Special Counsel/FOX News Political Contributor

No Game Changing Moment

A dead heat for the most part — but John McCain ends weaker when attacking Obama. And Obama ends stronger by staying positive. But final conclusion: no game changing moment.

Ellen Ratner
Bureau Chief, Talk Radio News Service/FOX News Political Contributor

Who Scored with the Swing Voters?

I did not learn much new about either candidate tonight. I thought Senator McCain made some points that made him look presidential in the area of foreign affairs. But Senator Obama had more detail on many of the issues. Obama warmed up towards the end of the debate. Obama was first out of the gate with the words Usama bin Laden which was a definite point for him.

This was not the knock out for McCain that he really needed since international affairs is his strong suit.

Will the swing voter, that all-important twenty percent of the electorate– be convinced either way tonight? Most likely not. We will need more debates to find out which candidate that crucial undecided voter will move towards.

James P. Pinkerton
Writer/Columnist, The American Conservative magazine/FOX New Political Contributor

McCain Had Better Emotion and Perspective but Obama Looked Good and Spoke Smoothly

McCain is closer to the political middle on spending, energy, and the conduct of the Iraq war. McCain had better emotion, and better historical anecdotes and perspective. But Obama looked good, spoke smoothly, and showed a savvy willingness to copycat popular Republican positions, on such issues as energy and missile defense.

And Obama had a good point when he said, ‘There has never been a country on earth that saw its economy decline but maintained its military superiority”—in the midst of the current financial crisis, McCain didn’t have a good comeback.

McCain missed a chance to mention border security as an element of national security. Making that point would have given him a boost among swing voters.

And there are three debates ahead, including one with Sarah Palin.

Charles Krauthammer
Syndicated Columnist/FOX News Political Analyst

Obama came out ahead. … He didn’t have a knock out moment. This was a draw. [But] it gets out of the way a potential liability. I’d be surprised if McCain had a bounce from this.

This ends the drama of the McCain week and now we’re going to have a more normal campaign over the next couple of weeks.

Andrea Tantaros
Republican Political Commentator

McCain won tonight’s first debate. He appeared strong, seasoned, and resolute. But he was supposed to win. This was his strong suit. Obama didn’t press McCain as hard as he could have. Let me make one thing clear: Obama did not bomb it. Some might say by holding his own it’s a win for Obama, McCain simply seemed much more solid. This solidity comes from years of experience because when you have been through as much as Senator McCain has, adversity never leaves one where it finds them.

The most apparent difference between the two: how stylistically different both candidates are. After tonight this couldn’t be more evident.

McCain’s strengths:

- Tough times call for tough leaders and McCain was relentless. He did not cede one inch of ground to Obama.

-McCain went negative without seeming offensive. During a handful of times Obama seemed rattled. Specifically when it came to negotiating with rogue nations without pre-conditions and the Russian - Georgian conflict.

McCain’s weaknesses:

-Where’s the eye contact, John? I’m no body language expert but you seemed snobby.

Obama’s strengths:

-Senator Obama showed a command of the issues, even though he’s grossly off base with his solutions. Someone’s been studying.

-His ability to persuade through emotion. Obama’s opening statement and language during the beginning of the debate was much more relatable to the common voter.

-Obama came across as very, very likeable. I don’t care what anyone says. He was polite–almost too polite-and exponentially more bipartisan, though his record indicates otherwise.

Obama’s weakness:

-Obama missed significant opportunities to hammer McCain, and Republicans. Big mistake.

Bottom Line: This makes the next two debates even more interesting, and the stakes even higher for both.

Msnbc Poll On 1st Debate

Who won the presidential debate? * 262390 responses

John McCain
35%

Barack Obama
51%

Tie
6.3%

Not sure
7.8%
Not a scientific survey. Click to learn more. Results may not total 100% due to rounding.

Overview Of 1st Debait.. Taken from Cnn.com

Crowley: Both candidates land uppercuts, whose was sharper?
Posted: 10:45 PM ET
OXFORD, Mississippi (CNN) — Awards so far for best upper cuts:

–Obama, questioning why McCain would object to going into Pakistan to get Al Qaeda, since he's someone who sings songs about bombing Iran. (he did once, months ago on the campaign trail, as a joke: "Bomb Bomb Bomb. Bomb Bomb Iran," sung to the tune of the Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann." Hasn't sung it since.)

–McCain, explaining why he will not commit to meeting with the Head of Spain: because "I don't even have a seal yet" — a reference to an instance this summer when Obama's campaign put a presidential-like seal on his podium. Lots of ridicule resulted. The seal hasn't been seen since.

Filed under: Candy Crowley




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Kurious September 26th, 2008 10:27 pm ET

McCain will not look at Obama in the eye?! Why is that? Is he not confident in himself? Does he fear his opponent? What kind of man doesn't look at his opponent during a debate? I was giving McCain the benefit of the doubt but he is now proving he is NOT a man of character. He is arrogant and weak! Obama continues to look his way but McCain is completely ignoring him… I don't know who else is noticing but I sure am!


Craig in Kansas September 26th, 2008 10:27 pm ET

This debate is a clear win for Obama


Roland September 26th, 2008 10:28 pm ET

If Schneider wrote this, he would call it a cheap shot. What a whiner.


kyle from auburn September 26th, 2008 10:28 pm ET

obama wins by knockout


Barney September 26th, 2008 10:28 pm ET

I'm voting for the smart one

NOT THE OLD LIAR
No More wars


JD September 26th, 2008 10:28 pm ET

I did not hear Bill crying cheap shot for what McLame Said


Fabian Blache III, Baton Rouge, LA September 26th, 2008 10:28 pm ET

I had no problem with either remark, however, the one Senator Obama made was the more effective of the two.


Brandi September 26th, 2008 10:28 pm ET

Obama thinks this one is in the bag…unfourtunatly he is disconnected from main street usa.


alexa September 26th, 2008 10:28 pm ET

I liked the seal comment!


ted September 26th, 2008 10:29 pm ET

Obama has landed more uppercuts


Brendan September 26th, 2008 10:29 pm ET

I think McCain's retort to Obama's "spain" upper-cut was rediculous, he didnt observe the foundation of the question or ctake the oportunity to defend himself, he laughed and joked. Is that how he plans on working in the white house?


Kate Fergus September 26th, 2008 10:29 pm ET

Only Obama is looking presidential from where I sit. And I have been listening carefully to both sides for months!!


Kim-Canada September 26th, 2008 10:29 pm ET

Do any media or commentators feel that the seriousness facing your country right now has been adressed. Does anyone have a warm fuzzy about either of these two leaders of their party becoming President. I hope that's adressed this evening on CNN after this debate.


Dominique September 26th, 2008 10:29 pm ET

McCain should not have sung it the first time. That was almost as bad as Bush saying "Bring it on".


Julia September 26th, 2008 10:29 pm ET

McCain's arrogance does nothing to enhance his stature or convince me to vote for him. 8 years ago I may have voted for him. Now my vote stands firmly with Obama!


CMR September 26th, 2008 10:29 pm ET

I guess you could call that a hit for McCain. I didn't get the reference until I read this post.


Kris K from RM,CA September 26th, 2008 10:29 pm ET

The difference is Obama is telling the truth. MCain is being snotty. That is the difference.


no to McCain September 26th, 2008 10:29 pm ET

I have seen enough. I just don't trust McCain. He is the same ole same ole, polished politician. He tries to twist the issues and mischaracterized his opponent instead of just stating his position.


Rachielle from VA September 26th, 2008 10:30 pm ET

obama is coming off more presidential and cool, calm and collective. mccain cant even look him in the eye. he's falling apart at the seams. and people think we should vote him in office?

pfft.


oh puhleeze September 26th, 2008 10:30 pm ET

cheap, but probably effective. sadly, more interesting to most than the substance of the this debate. which is quite substantive, thank you jim lehrer


Cindy, Arcadia, CA September 26th, 2008 10:30 pm ET

I had higher expectations for McCain, he is doing a very bad job. He can't even look at Obama. That says alot about him.


Bobbie Andrews September 26th, 2008 10:30 pm ET

I think the debates went better than I thought but I was worried about the fact that Obama addressed and looked at McCain but McCain would not look at him. A little think but I was taught when a child to look at whom you are talking to.


Wade September 26th, 2008 10:30 pm ET

Did anyone notice that throughout the night…. Sen. John McCain has avoided looking Sen. Obama in the eye. What does that signify? Also he barely agrees with Sen. Obama on any issues in order to express his bipartisan leadership.


Diane Dagenais Turbide September 26th, 2008 10:30 pm ET

Imagine, Obama, a President tough on diplomacy and not just tough on war!


Brad September 26th, 2008 10:30 pm ET

Seriously? All the serious topics being discussed and you decide to highlight "Bomb Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran" and the seal? You think those were the most important things to come out of that discussion? What a poor example of journalism.


elizabeth September 26th, 2008 10:30 pm ET

Excuse me….and that's not a cheap shot?


no to McCain September 26th, 2008 10:30 pm ET

Mcain keeps lying, over and over and over.

Fact Check: Is Obama the most liberal U.S. senator, as McCain claims?

Statement:
Sen. John McCain, speaking at the University of Mississippi debate on September 26, said Sen. Barack Obama "has the most liberal voting record in the United States Senate."

Get the facts!


Facts:
The National Journal magazine, in its annual vote rating, said Obama moved left last year to the "most liberal senator" rating "after ranking as the 16th and 10th most-liberal during his first two years in the Senate."

Americans for Democratic Action, the liberal activist group, and the American Conservative Union, the conservative activist group, also rate Congress members on their votes. Their findings describe Obama as one of, but not the most liberal U.S. senator.

The ADA gave Obama a 75 percent liberal score in 2007, 95 percent in 2006 and 100 percent in 2005. Other Democratic senators received 100 percent during those years. David Card, ADA communications director, said Obama's score was lower last year because he missed certain votes.

Obama has a lifetime ADA average of 90 percent. Other senators — such as Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Ted Kennedy and others — have higher lifetime ADA ratings. Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate in 2004, was ranked as the most liberal senator by the National Journal in 2003.

"He is one of the most liberal senators," Card said, referring to Obama.

The ACU, which customarily places conservative Republicans on the top of its list and liberal Democrats at the bottom, has given Obama a lifetime ranking of just 7.67, according to the figures on the group's Web site.

It says Obama scored 8 percent in 2005, 8 percent in 2006 and 7 percent in 2007. Other Democratic senators in the ACU rankings have had lower yearly and lifetime scores, the site shows.

"He's one of the most liberal," said Larry Hart, the ACU director of government relations.

Verdict: True, according to National Journal, but liberal and conservative rating groups reached a slightly different conclusion.

Who Lying?? Fact Check: Does McCain almost always agree with Bush?

The Statement:

At a presidential debate Friday, September 26, in Oxford, Mississippi, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama attempted to tie Republican opponent Sen. John McCain to President Bush. "John, it's been your president, who you said you agreed with 90 percent of the time, who presided over this increase in spending," he said.

Get the facts!


The Facts:

According to an analysis by Congressional Quarterly, McCain has voted for bills favored by President Bush 90 percent of the time. The nonpartisan publication, which has analyzed voting by members of Congress since 1953, said the report took into account all legislation that Bush had taken a clear position on. It spans from the beginning of Bush's term to Congress's recess in August.

In the 100-member Senate, 14 current members — all Republicans — voted with Bush more than 90 percent of the time, according to the report. Six others have a 90 percent rating like McCain's. The report shows Obama voting with Bush 40 percent of the time and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, voting with Bush 52 percent of the time during the course of his presidency.

Obama surrogates also frequently say McCain voted with Bush 95 percent of the time. This is a reference to the Republican senator's record in 2007. That was the highest percentage in the seven years studied. In 1995, McCain voted with Bush 77 percent of the time — his lowest percentage in those years. "The president and I agree on most issues," McCain said in a May 22, 2003 interview on Fox's "Your World with Neil Cavuto." "There was a recent study that showed that I voted with the president over 90 percent of the time, higher than a lot of my even Republican colleagues."

Verdict: True

Showdown: HTC T-Mobile G1 VS. iPhone 3G

T-Mobile G1 Apple iPhone 3G
Dimensions 4.60 inches x 2.16 inches x 0.62 inch
5.5 inches x 2.4 inches x 0.48 inch
Screen size 3.2 inch
3.5 inch
Navigation Touch screen, QWERTY keyboard, trackball and navigation keys. No multitouch-gesture support.
Touch screen, Home button. Multitouch-gesture support.
Camera 3.2 megapixels, no video recording
2.0 megapixels, no video recording
Connectivity Quad-band GSM, dual-band UMTS, Wi-Fi. Bluetooth-headset profile is supported, but no stereo Bluetooth, no tethering. Quad-band GSM, tri-band UMTS/HSDPA, Wi-Fi. Bluetooth-headset profile is supported, but no stereo Bluetooth, no tethering.

Accelerometer Yes Yes

GPS Yes Yes

Maps Google Maps with Satellite View, Traffic, and Street View. Also has a compass mode that orients the screen as you move.
Google Maps with Satellite View and Traffic. No Street View
Memory MicroSD-card slot expandable up to 8GB, with MicroSDHC-card support. Comes with a 1GB card preloaded
8GB or 16GB, no expansion slot
E-mail
Push Gmail, POP3, IMAP, no Exchange POP3, IMAP, Exchange support
Syncing
Over-the-air synchronization Desktop synchronization, with over-the-air sync for certain cloud-based applications like Web mail and online calendars.
Visual Voicemail
Don't know yet, presumably no Yes

Music Store Amazon MP3 Store
iTunes Store
Application Store Android Market. The SDK is open source and applications don't need to be vetted for approval. iTunes Application Store. Applications need to be approved by Apple to appear in the store.

Multimedia Messaging
Yes No
Copy and Paste
Yes No
Voice dial
Yes No
3.5mm headset jack
No Yes
Removable battery
Yes No
Price $179 with two-year service agreement $199 with two-year service agreement for 8GB, $299 with two-year service agreement for 16GB

Data plan $35 a month for unlimited Web, e-mail, messaging, and T-Mobile HotSpot access; $25 a month for unlimited Web, e-mail, unlimited IM on Google Talk, 400 total messages (text, picture messages, non-Google Talk IM), and T-Mobile HotSpot access. $30 a month for unlimited consumer data plan, $45 a month for unlimited business data plan, $5 a month for 200 text messages, $15 a month for 1,500 text messages, $20 a month for unlimited text messages

Why The T-Mobile G1 Is Better Than The Apple iPhone

All the hype came to its crescendo this week as T-Mobile, Google and HTC jointly released the T-Mobile G1, the first commercially available mobile device based on the open source Linux Google Android operating system.
The touch screen G1, known to some as the HTC Dream, bears some similarity to the Apple iPhone, which saw amazing uptake with the release of its 3G model. Even the original iPhone, released 15 months ago, still garners a great deal of hype.

And while it's uncertain whether the T-Mobile G1 and Google Android will unseat the iPhone for smart phone supremacy, the G1 is better than the iPhone, though it might not be as pretty.

At the G1's official launch on Tuesday, the main focus was on Google Android's openness and its work with the Open Handset Alliance. Along with unveiling the physical device itself, the Google and T-Mobile teams also launched the Android Market. Similar in concept to the Apple AppStore, Android Market enables third-party application developers to offer their apps to be used on the device.

The Android Market, simply put, is better than Apple's AppStore.

Google's hands-off approach means there will be no whining about what applications do and don't get picked up. Essentially, a developer can offer his or her application on the market without fees, review or even Google's stamp of approval. With Apple keeping a tight grip on the apps offered in its AppStore -- anyone remember IAMRICH? -- Android Market will be a breath of fresh air.

The G1 may earn a leg up on Steve Jobs' baby because T-Mobile is a better carrier than AT&T. It might come as a surprise, considering T-Mobile currently doesn't support 3G in every major metropolitan area, but the G1 will also support Wi-Fi and 2G networks until T-Mobile gets its high-speed 3G initiative fully up and running. Many potential iPhoners have been put off by the AT&T mandate, which is now in place until 2010, often complaining about the data plan pricing and unsatisfactory service.

While T-Mobile is bound to offer a few dead zones of its own, it has set reasonable pricing on its plans, offering a limited plan for $25 and an unlimited Web and messaging plan for $35. It's estimated that over a two-year period a voice and data plan for the G1 could save consumers nearly $400 compared to similar service for an iPhone. Plus, the G1 comes in around $20 cheaper than the cheapest iPhone model with a two-year contract.

Where the iPhone is sleek and slender, the G1 comes with a little more girth and weight. But the extra fractions of an inch and added ounces are worth it for the physical full QWERTY keypad. Similar in style to T-Mobile's now-iconic Sidekick line, the G1's screen slides up to reveal a full keyboard, with enough short cuts to ease Web surfing and make messaging simpler -- without relying just on a touch-screen keyboard to get the job done.

The G1 also offers multimedia messaging, copy and paste, voice dialing and a removable battery, which the iPhone notably lack.

And for those who buy devices for looks more than functionality, the G1 comes in three colors, while the iPhone hits just two: black and white. The G1 adds brown to the mix.

Both devices also offer a host of similar features and functions. Both have a music player, Bluetooth, GPS, GoogleMaps with Satellite View and Traffic and POP3 and IMAP email. The G1, however, relies on Amazon's MP3 store and the iPhone on Apple iTunes for music. The G1 also wraps into GoogleMaps Street View and a compass mode that orients the screen as the user moves, features the iPhone is missing. No, the G1 currently doesn't support Microsoft Exchange for email, which the iPhone does, but it does offer push Gmail and the device's makers anticipate someone will create an Exchange application for it soon and offer it in the Android Market.

Oh, and the G1 has a 3.2 megapixel camera, a touch higher than the iPhone's 2 megapixels.

Will these reasons be enough to propel the G1 past the iPhone? That remains to be seen. Research firm Strategy Analytics is predicting that the G1 could sell 400,000 units by year's end, accounting for roughly 4 percent of the smart phone market. While analysts at Piper Jaffray have predicted that Apple will have sold 5 million iPhone 3Gs in the past quarter. Surely, Google and T-Mobile have an uphill battle, but its strong feature set and subtle differences could be the boom the smart phone market needed for Apple to find its true rival.

Magic Johnson to campaign for Obama in Lansing

NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson will campaign in Lansing for presidential candidate Barack Obama on Wednesday , the campaign announced today.


Johnson will host an urban policy town hall meeting where members of the campaign will discuss what Obama has planned for future investment in Michigan's cities.

In the years since his retirement from basketball in 1996, Johnson has become a leading voice of urban economic redevelopment.

The free event is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Pattengill Middle School auditorium in Lansing.

Obama gas? Detroit station swaps signs, lowers prices

When it comes to campaigning for the presidency, sometimes a T-shirt and a pin just don't cut it. Sometimes you need a really big sign and a price cut on gas.


Whether or not either method guarantees a win remains to be seen, but Detroit Sunoco station owner Samir Bazzi and son, Nick, are giving both a shot.

Bazzi replaced his Sunoco sign with an Obama campaign sign five days ago and lowered gas prices to $3.49 per gallon. "Everything's down," Bazzi said. "We're trying to support people."

Bazzi is also selling Obama hats and T-shirts.

The owner of the station for the past seven years, Sammi said he has been a Democrat since he came to America from Lebanon in 1986.


“I supported Bill Clinton when I started voting and now I support Barack Obama. He is a good man who supports the poor people and looks out for those who have lost their homes and businesses.”


Bazzi said he plans to continue keeping the price of gasoline below those of his competitors and said if Obama wins the election in November he will throw a big party at the station, offering free food and drinks to his customers.


“Obama is a good man in the greatest country on earth and we need someone like him to lead us.”


"This is an Obama neighborhood," Nick Bazzi said, adding that sales have increased since the signage switch.


Many patrons voiced support as they filled up on fuel.


"It looks nice--real nice," said Eric Joye, 36, of Detroit. "That's free advertising. It just shows who he supports."


"I think it's wonderful," said Alma Raymond, 54, of Detroit. "He's going to get a lot of business, just like Obama's going to get a lot of votes. [Obama] is going to be our next president."


Samir Bazzi echoed expectations of an Obama victory. "We support Obama they way he's going to support us," Bazzi said.


Phillip Young, 39, of Detroit called the gas station sign "unique."


"It did get my attention when it first went up. With about 40 days and counting, I think everybody should come out and vote. Eight years is a long time, and it's way past due."

Obama has 13-point Michigan lead over McCain

Momentum swings to Obama in almost every demographic
By TODD SPANGLER • FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF • September 25, 2008


A week of economic crisis in Washington and on Wall Street has been very, very good for Barack Obama – at least in Michigan.



The Detroit Free Press/Local 4 Michigan Poll shows the Democratic senator from Illinois with a commanding lead of 13 points over Republican John McCain in the presidential race. Obama’s lead of 51% to 38% in the poll is nearly double the edge he had a month ago in a Michigan Poll taken just before the Democratic convention in Denver.

The poll showed momentum swinging clearly to Obama in almost every demographic. Among women, his lead is now 54%-35% -- eight points better than it was a month ago, before the Democratic and Republican national conventions and McCain’s selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. Among independents, Obama enjoys a 14-point lead.

As for what’s driving it – it’s the economy.

With the markets in distress, Washington policymakers scrambling to find a compromise bailout plan and taxpayers howling that they don’t want to be stuck with a $700 billion bill to help Wall Street financiers, Obama is reaping the benefit – so much so that Michigan could possibly be removed from the list of battlground states, even as the candidates have spent so much time in the state.

Asked who is best able to fix the problems with the U.S. economy, Obama did even better than the head-to-head with McCain, 52% to 37% among the 602 likely voters polled from Monday to Wednesday of this week by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, Iowa. Asked which candidate was more likely to fight for the concerns most important to you and your family, 56% of respondents said Obama, compared to 36% for McCain.

The poll – which has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points for the overall sample – showed that half of the respondents believe the economy is in a recession and 24% that it is already in a depression. That should come as no surprise to Michiganders, the state having the nation’s largest unemployment rate at 8.9% in August as automakers and related businesses struggle to find bottom amid layoffs and closings.

“Obama benefits when people think about what’s best for the economy,” said Ann Selzer, who conducted the poll for the Free Press and WDIV-TV Local 4.

‘It’s consistent with every poll over the last seven days,” said Lansing political consultant Craig Ruff, reacting to word that the Free Press poll would show Obama with a large lead.

He added that voters seem to be saying, “If experience has brought us this far, what do we have to lose?”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Obama leads by a large margin in Wayne County – but in the rest of metro Detroit, he has a lead of 52% to 38%. In fact, the polls showed Obama leading in every region of the state – except in the south-central part of Michigan, where the race is a statistical tie. That includes the western part of the state – where Obama leads 46-43% and where McCain led in August.

“The economy is one of the reasons I’m not voting Republican this year,” said 44-year-old Michael Carpenter, an entrepreneur in Grand Rapids. “I think we need a change in direction.”

T-Mobile G1 (Google Android Phone) Review by Pc Magazine

REVIEW DATE: 09.24.08

Total posts: 2

$179.00

by Sascha Segan

Sure, it looks like an iPhone in a Sidekick body. But slightly awkward design aside, the T-Mobile G1 "Google Phone" establishes Android as a slick new entrant in the smartphone space. It promises to be a fun, powerful Web-centric handheld when it launches on Oct. 22.

SLIDESHOW (21)

Slideshow | All Shots

The G1 starts out looking like a somewhat chunky (4.6" x 2.1" x .62") PDA-phone, topped by a big 320x480 touch screen. The touch screen is wonderfully quick and responsive. Below the screen are five buttons and a small, slightly slippery track ball. Slide the screen to the right and turn the device 90 degrees, though, and it reveals a full QWERTY keyboard of slightly rubbery, nicely separated keys. There's a miniUSB charging port on the bottom, and a MicroSD memory card slips into a difficult-to-open slot to the right of the keyboard. (The phone comes with a 1GB card.) On the back, there's a 3-megapixel still camera.

The real news here, of course, is Android, Google's all-singing, all-dancing, all-open-source new operating system. It ran quickly and efficiently on the G1's 400 Mhz Qualcomm processor. Unlike with the iPhone, there seem to be several ways to accomplish any task. You can scroll through Web pages with your finger or with the trackball. To search contacts, you can swipe with your finger or start typing on the keyboard. To dial the phone, you can tap the Dialer icon or the physical Phone button.

There's something ideological about all these options. Apple makes it clear that there's one way to do things, Apple's way, and it's the best way. But Google says they're about openness, open source and open choices. That makes for an interface that's a little bit more confusing than the iPhone's (but still far, far easier than Windows Mobile) and more customizable for different tastes.

The G1 starts out with a desktop that's a lot like your PC desktop, with four standard application icons and a clock widget you can move around. You can flick left or right to find two more black desktops, or pop out the phone's full application menu from a tab on the right. The application menu looks a lot like the iPhone's home screen: big, clear icons for various apps. To dial the phone, you can either use the physical keyboard or a Dialer app with a virtual keyboard. We didn't feel any haptic force feedback on the touch screen, though that becomes a lot less important when you have a physical keyboard.

In our hands-on time, we couldn't test the G1's reception or phone calling ability. The G1 works on T-Mobile's 3G network, on foreign 3G networks, and on GSM EDGE networks all over the world, including in the US. The G1 also has Wi-Fi, though you can't use it for phone calls. We got 600-700 kbps on a speed test Web site using T-Mobile's 3G connection, which is a decent speed. You won't be able to use the G1 as a 3G modem for your PC, T-Mobile execs said at the G1's launch.

The G1 works with mono (but not stereo) Bluetooth headsets and has voice dialing on board. We couldn't find a dedicated wired headset jack; presumably, it'll use the USB port for wired headsets. T-Mobile says the phone has 130 hours standby time and up to 5 hours talk time, which is good for a 3G phone.—next: The G1 As a Smartphone

The G1 As a Smartphone

The G1's contacts, calendar and e-mail apps all sync with Google's online services, T-Mobile reps said. The calendar is sleek and simple. The contact book includes presence information on Google Talk, and lets you dial, e-mail or IM with a tap. In general, the PIM applications use large fonts and a lot of white space - they're easy to read, but they could stand to pack a little more information onto one screen.

SLIDESHOW (21)

Slideshow | All Shots

Android's browser, which T-Mobile reps described as "Chrome Lite," looks great. It had the best JavaScript performance of any mobile browser we've seen yet, popping down even complex JavaScript calendars that the iPhone struggles with. It's got a lot of nice little flourishes like autosuggesting URLs based on your history.

But instead of loading pages in zoomed-out mode, it loads them zoomed in, which makes it tough to get an initial overview of the page. You have to tap twice to zoom out, then you can scroll around the page using a 'magnifying glass' icon and zoom back in. Fonts and graphics look beautiful, but as with the iPhone, there's still no Flash.

There are separate Gmail and e-mail icons, though the e-mail program can also handle Gmail. It pushes Gmail and pulls IMAP accounts. The IM program handles AIM, Google Talk, Windows Live and Yahoo!. Once again, it prefers Google services - Google Talk online status is integrated into the contact book, but none of the other IM statuses are.

Instead of Apple's App Store, Android has the Market, which divides downloadable applications into "applications" and "games." At launch, the device had 23 applications and 8 games; we're sure that number will improve. There's about 50MB of free memory on the phone to load apps into; I wish there was more, but you can probably also load apps onto your MicroSD card.

The G1 doesn't seem to be equipped for business work. There's no Exchange syncing yet, and no way to edit Microsoft Office documents. The E-mail program can read Word, Excel and PDF documents, reps said at the phone's launch. But this doesn't seem to be threatening the Blackberry much yet.

The Google Maps app on the G1 is, as expected, the best of its kind. Not only does it load maps quickly and beautifully, it has a "compass mode" that shows Street View facing the direction you're facing at the moment. Cool. It also uses GPS, though not to any great extent yet. Presumably third party programs will come along with better GPS capabilities.

For music and video, there's a pretty standard-issue music player that seems to play all of the usual unprotected formats. The G1 won't come with any desktop syncing software, T-Mobile reps said at the launch. But it will come with a free app to download music directly from Amazon's MP3 store, over Wi-Fi networks to the phone.

Since this is a Google phone, of course it has a YouTube application. The YouTube app seems to show a subset of videos, just like Apple's YouTube app. When we loaded a video over 3G, it appeared in a window slightly smaller than the screen. It looked pixelated, and although it was smooth the frame rate felt low.

The G1 has a 3-megapixel still camera that we didn't get to test. It can't record video.

The T-Mobile G1 will sell for $179, with data plans costing $25 and $35/month on top of your voice plan. That's at least $5 more than T-Mobile charges for data on the rest of their smartphones, which is frustrating, but it's about what AT&T charges for iPhone data ($30). This looks like an exciting new device and we look forward to reviewing it in full before its retail launch on Oct. 22.

Fuggouttaherenicca lol!!!! Millen's firing: Dream come true for fans

ALLEN PARK, Mich. - Matt Millen insisted he would stick with the tough job of turning the Detroit Lions into a winner instead of returning to the broadcast booth to make easy money.

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So the Lions got rid of him. Finally. The Lions fired Millen seven-plus years after the acclaimed TV analyst and Super Bowl-winning linebacker took over as team president for one of the NFL's mediocre franchises and made it the worst.

"I have relieved Matt Millen of his duties effective immediately," Lions owner William Clay Ford said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.

Messages seeking comment were left on Millen's cellphone.

Millen's teams won a league-low 31 games since he took over in 2001, but his boss refused to get rid of him until now.

Bill Ford, son of the team owner, said Monday he would fire Millen if he had the authority.

Detroit was routed in each of its first three games this season, falling behind 21-0 twice and 21-3 once en route to lopsided losses going into its bye week.

"I am very disappointed with where we are as a team after our start this season," Ford added in his statement. "Our sole focus now is preparing for our next game against Chicago."

The 0-3 record dropped Millen to 31-84 overall, giving the Lions at least 10 more losses than any other NFL team since 2001, one of the worst stretches in league history. They gave up a league-high 25.3 points and ranked 30th with 18.3 points a game under Millen, according to STATS.

After winning just five games in his first two seasons, Millen bristled when a reporter told him some people were already predicting he would eventually walk away to get paid stress-free millions as a broadcaster again.

"Those people don't know me that well," Millen said in a 2003 interview with The Associated Press. "I can't not finish something that I started. That bugs me. I've got to get this finished.

"This grey hair shows how much I care. Look at me. I look like Kris Kringle!"

The Lions' front office will now be led by executive vice-president Tom Lewand, who will report to the owner on business issues, and new general manager Martin Mayhew, who will report to the owner on football matters.

"These decisions are for the duration of the 2008 season," Ford's statement said. "Once the season is over, we will undergo a thorough and comprehensive evaluation of our entire football operation and put together a plan that we believe will transform this team into a winner."

William Clay Ford also has been the target of criticism because since his first full season in 1964, the Lions have won only one playoff game. He has hired and retained people to lead the franchise, such as Russ Thomas and Millen, who weren't able to build a consistent winner.

In a rare interview late in the 2003 season, the owner said he hadn't considered firing Millen.

"I want him. I don't need any more reason than that," he said.

The tipping point might have been public comments made by the owner's son. Lions vice-chairman Bill Ford said Millen should leave the team, and the Ford Motor Co. executive chairman said if he had the authority, he would make moves.

"I think the fans deserve better," Bill Ford told reporters. "And if it were in my authority, which it's not, I'd make some significant changes."

His father finally agreed that Millen had to go.

Drivers of vehicles whizzing past the Allen Park facility beeped their horns and gleefully yelled out about the end of the Millen era.

Eddie Gates drove through the team's parking lot in his minivan as his girlfriend, Sue Stanton, held a sign, "Millen Must Go To Get a Super Bowl," out the window.

"I've been a season-ticket holder for 28 years and because they fired Matt Millen, I'm going to renew," said Gates. "This is the happiest day of my life."

The Fords - father and son - were thrilled when they lured Millen out of the broadcast booth to run their hapless franchise.

"I'm willing to stake my reputation on Matt's success," Bill Ford said after Millen was introduced at a news conference in January 2001.

Millen was the team's first general manager since Thomas left in 1989. The Lions allowed their coaches - Wayne Fontes, Bobby Ross and Gary Moeller - to run the football operation after Thomas resigned.

"We've been pretty much stuck on dead centre for quite a few years," William Clay Ford said when Millen was hired. "Matt offers us an opportunity to move ahead."

Coach Rod Marinelli will be left with the task of salvaging something from the final 13 games of the season. But he and the players haven't inspired much confidence with an NFC-worst 10-25 record since 2006.

Ultimately, the Lions are left with Millen's mess that led to a pitiful era that compares only to Tampa Bay's 12 straight double-digit loss seasons from 1983-94.

This off-season was productive and the practices were great, Millen and Marinelli insisted, but that didn't make a difference on Sundays.

The Lions are winless, and 1-10 dating to last season. The latest loss at San Francisco dropped Marinelli to 3-15 on the road and dropped the Lions to 8-60 as visitors with Millen in charge.

The former Penn State standout was an NFL linebacker from 1980-91 with the Raiders, San Francisco 49ers and Washington Redskins. He won the Super Bowl four times.

Detroit Lions fire team president Matt Millen after posting 31-84 record .. Fuk Outta Here!!!

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- The Detroit Lions fired president Matt Millen on Wednesday, more than seven years after the former linebacker and TV analyst took over one of the NFL's most mediocre franchises and made it the worst.


"I have relieved Matt Millen of his duties effective immediately," Lions owner William Clay Ford said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.

Millen's teams won a league-low 31 games since he took over in 2001, Ford refused to get rid of him until now.

Bill Ford Jr., son of the team owner, said Monday he would fire Millen if he had the authority.

Detroit was routed in each of its first three games this season, falling behind 21-0 twice and 21-3 once en route to lopsided losses. The Lions are off this week.

The 0-3 start dropped Millen to 31-84 overall, giving the Lions at least 10 more losses than any other NFL team the past seven-plus seasons during one of the worst stretches in league history.


NFC North blog

Firing Matt Millen will only matter for the Lions if they find the right replacement to rebuild the franchise, ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert writes. Blog

• Blogs: NFC North | NFL

FoxSports.com was the first to report Millen's departure.


"I am very disappointed with where we are as a team after our start this season," William Clay Ford added in his statement. "Our sole focus now is preparing for our next game against Chicago."

The front office will be led by executive vice president Tom Lewand, who will report to the owner on business issues. Assistant general manager Martin Mayhew was promoted to general manager, and will report to the owner on football matters.

"These decisions are for the duration of the 2008 season," Ford's statement said. "Once the season is over, we will undergo a thorough and comprehensive evaluation of our entire football operation and put together a plan that we believe will transform this team into a winner."


The tipping point might have been public comments made by the owner's son. Bill Ford Jr., who is the Lions' vice chairman as well as Ford Motor Co. executive chairman, said that Millen should leave the team.


"I think the fans deserve better," Bill Ford told reporters on Monday. "And if it were in my authority, which it's not, I'd make some significant changes."

His father finally agreed that Millen had to go.

Millen was spotted amid large packing boxes Wednesday morning. There was no word on what happens with the rest of Millen's contract; he had an extension that ran through 2010, worth $5 million a year.


"We're fine," Millen's wife, Patty, told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen. "In the world's view, this may look like failure. It's been a hard road, football-wise, but we've gotten a lot of eternal blessings. We'll move forward. I told him, 'You're out of football prison now' and we have a greater purpose."

Drivers of vehicles whizzing past the Allen Park facility beeped their horns and gleefully yelled out about the end of the Millen era. A gaggle of reporters, videographers and still photographers roamed around the grounds.

Eddie Gates drove through the team's parking lot in his minivan as his girlfriend, Sue Stanton, held a sign, "Millen Must Go To Get a Super Bowl," out the window.

"I've been a season-ticket holder for 28 years and because they fired Matt Millen, I'm going to renew," Gates said. "This is the happiest day of my life."

The Fords -- father and son -- had been thrilled when they lured Millen out of the broadcast booth to run their hapless franchise.

"I'm willing to stake my reputation on Matt's success," Bill Ford said after Millen was introduced at a news conference in January 2001.

Millen was the team's first general manager since Russ Thomas left in 1989. The Lions allowed their coaches -- Wayne Fontes, Bobby Ross and Gary Moeller -- to run the football operation after Thomas resigned.

"We've been pretty much stuck on dead center for quite a few years," William Clay Ford said when Millen was hired. "Matt offers us an opportunity to move ahead."

Rod Marinelli will be left with the task of salvaging something from the final 13 games of the season. But he and the players haven't inspired much confidence, with an NFC-worst 10-25 record since 2006.

Ultimately, the Lions are left with Millen's mess that led to a pitiful era that compares only to Tampa Bay's 12 straight double-digit loss seasons from 1983 to 1994.

This offseason was productive and the practices were great, Millen and Marinelli insisted, but that didn't make a difference on Sundays this season.

The Lions are winless, and 1-10 dating to last season. The latest loss at San Francisco dropped Marinelli to 3-15 on the road and dropped the Lions to 8-60 as visitors with Millen in charge.

The former Penn State standout was an NFL linebacker from 1980 to 1991 with the Raiders, San Francisco 49ers and Washington Redskins. He went to the Super Bowl four times.

T-Mobile G1 impressions: what we love, what we don't.. A Fair Review from Engadget

T-Mobile, HTC and Google stood hand in hand yesterday to debut the first Android phone, the T-Mobile G1. It felt a bit like a new era for the mobile industry -- though the rollerblading seemed a tad out of place -- with high-profile companies backing a Linux-based, touch-driven mobile OS, and spouting the word "open" every two sentences. But, naturally, high aims alone don't build a killer phone; there are a lot details to get right, and a lot more that Google and company have seen fit to leave in the hands of developers. Let's take a look at what's working so far, and what might need some more time in the oven:

Hardware
Code-named the HTC Dream, T-Mobile's G1 is an interesting phone from the Taiwanese manufacturer. Other than a fairly-familiar keyboard and that horribly annoying ExtUSB jack in lieu of an actual 3.5mm headphone plug, HTC seems to have started from a pretty clean slate. The phone doesn't look like anything special in photographs, but in person and in the hand it's a different story. The clean, simple lines, quality build and matte finish are understated but excellent. It doesn't hurt that the company is actually giving users some color options (black, white, and the totally odd but not unwelcome brown), either.

The capacitive screen feels a tad more fragile than Apple's bulletproof iPhone glass, but it's plenty responsive, bright and colorful, and should take its fair share of abuse. The lack of multi-touch is disappointing, but that sounds like more of an intellectual property limitation than a hardware failing, from what we hear. Little surprise, coming from HTC, but the sliding mechanism is solid and springy, though the phone is large enough that you might find yourself sliding it open with two hands at times. There is also a haptic response to certain actions, which we could take or leave.

HTC's keyboards have been getting increasingly shallow of late, and there's not much feel to this one -- the keys are pretty flat with the surface of the phone, to make way for that sliding screen, and aren't very "clicky" when pressed. Still, it's a large and and well-planned keyboard, and should easily best all but the most practiced iPhone typists. A perk of the hybrid nature of the phone is that you can easily tap out a phone number on the screen without sliding out the keypad.

With a touchscreen to handle most of its functionality, we don't expect to get much use out of the trackball, but it's friendly and usable, and it's kind of nice to have the option. Dedicated call buttons on the face are also welcome. The 3 megapixel camera is nothing special, though it performs well enough in daylight and is able to autofocus on objects at a surprisingly close range.

A major concern is what kind of cellular reception people are going to get. Being a "cloud-based" device, that 3G connection is rather vital for most services, and T-Mobile isn't exactly an old hand at that game. A trouble point here could be T-Mobile's 1GB soft data cap, but we hope that T-Mobile just means that as a stick to deter abuse of the network, and won't be leveled against regular folk. We're also hoping the 350 minutes of 3G talk, and 402 hours of 3G standby are conservative estimates, and not flat-out lies, though the phone's deemphasis on media might save a bit of that juice in regular usage scenarios.

Speaking of media, we appreciate the inclusion of a microSD slot (easily accessed to the right of the keyboard), but the 256MB of built-in memory is a little stifling, even in conjunction with the included 1GB card. The good news is that we're hearing deep down the phone sports microSDHC compatibility, which means the sky's the limit for capacity.

Software

Despite all this focus on the actual HTC device, it's the software that really makes or breaks this thing, especially given the fact that Android boasts plenty of hardware and carrier partners that will have their very own devices to run the OS, many of which we can expect by early next year -- if the G1 isn't your style, you don't have long to wait for an alternative.

Let's not mess around: we really like Android. It's not just what it stands for, it's what it is. It really takes that Google simplicity -- which is often at the expense of aesthetics, depending upon your taste -- and turns it into a rather impressive phone OS.

The basic metaphor of a "drawer" for apps, with favorites being dragged to the "desktop" is fun and convenient, and might stand up to a 50+ app scenario better than the iPhone, though it's really all a matter of taste. The hardware home button bounces you back to the main screen with ease, and the inclusion of a hardware back button means applications can consume the entire screen -- though it can be disorienting at first. The hardware menu button is intuitively placed, and the icon-based menus it spawns are delicious, but sometimes it's hard to tell if we should hit back, tap and hold on the screen, or tap the menu button -- a learning curve that shouldn't be hard for the nerds among us, but might be more difficult to explain to mom.

Your desktop can also be populated with widgets, though strangely enough we were told that they weren't open for development now. We're sure (we hope) that will change, because the idea of having a little RSS ticker or some other handy micro-app always available would be a big help to our information-overload lifestyle. At launch you'll be able to add a clock, Google search box, or a "picture frame," which lets you plant bordered photos on your desktop.

One major criticism of the iPhone has been its icon-based notification method, supplemented by the sometimes-inconvenient method of pop-up messages. Android elegantly integrates notifications into a "drawer" at the top of the phone, meaning you can pull down the top status bar and see at a glance what's going on in your day, in your email and so forth, without leaving the app you're in. You can even see certain notifications without pulling it down at all, the text of the message will just hit the top white bar of the screen for a few seconds. This is one of our favorite parts of Android, and it's really beautifully implemented.

Speaking of the iPhone, one of Apple's biggest praises with that device has been the integration of solid and beautiful media playback and purchasing, and we'd say Android really missed an opportunity here. The music player is pretty disappointing, with a confusing method of selecting and playing songs, and a general "b team" look to it. We can't imagine browsing and enjoying a large music collection on the device, and given the lack of a desktop syncing app, it seems even less palatable. The Amazon MP3 stores seems nice enough, but buying songs on the phone and then manually pulling them into our jukebox of choice later on seems like a chore, and since you can't buy songs over 3G it's almost pointless. Google also didn't build a video player for the phone, outside of the YouTube app. You can already nab a free video player from the Android Market, but video playback on a modern device with a screen like this shouldn't be an afterthought, and we don't see how Android is ready in any way for the average consumer's media diet -- podcasts and Audible haven't even gotten a mention. (And don't get us started on that horrible lack of a headphone jack or even an adapter).

The browser is more of a mixed bag. WebKit naturally looks great and renders accurately, but the lack of multi-touch makes jumping around the page a tad more laborious, and the actual scrolling seems slow and stuttery. That said, Google has packed in some enhancements (check 'em out in the video up above) that really come in handy. You can tap and hold on images to save them or send them, tap and hold on the address bar to -- get this -- copy the URL, and the browser recognizes addresses and phone numbers, letting you tap them for use in another app like Google Maps or contacts. A lot of that functionality is hidden, however, so it could take a bit of learning, but it's good to have the options.

The "Google Apps" are all predictably good (Google's video on the topic is up above). Google has a universal login for the phone -- you enter it once when you buy it, and never have to worry about it again -- so that's a big win right out of the gate. Google also keeps all the apps synced, with Gmail messages, contacts and Gcal dates all available offline, in addition to Gtalk "presence" all of which will be clutch for the Google-addicted among us. In the apps themselves, the lack of visible options (remember that menu button!) might be a bit jarring at first, but leaves maximum room for those simple text-and-line Google interfaces. We did find the apps to be a bit sluggish at times, especially Gmail, which felt like it was "loading" messages that were already downloaded to the device. The maps app was also a tad choppy in standard view, though Street View is surprisingly smooth.

We elaborated on this elsewhere, but we have high hopes for the Android Marketplace, not because we think the apps will be sexier or more useful than the App Store, but because Google and T-Mobile seem to be very serious about staying "open" and letting apps come as they may. What we hope this means in the concrete is that apps like emulators and alternative mail clients aren't only allowed, they're embraced.

Conclusion

Overall, we're very optimistic about this phone, and particularly the Android OS and what it represents. What's clear is that it's not for everybody. There's learning curve here -- it's rewarding, and not entirely geeky or pointless -- but it's there, and casual users might feel more comfortable with their Blackberry or iPhone for the time being, while power users might want to stick with more polished and complete operating systems. It's also clear that Google is putting a lot on the shoulders of 3rd party developers to release much-needed apps to the Marketplace. That's a good thing if we end up with killer apps, but it could turn into a sea of mediocrity, and we fear that third parties won't stick to similar design paradigms in designing their applications -- there's enough diversity even in the first party software to give pause. We haven't even gotten into business use here, because, frankly, your business probably isn't based around Google services. We can talk more about that when we get some Exchange to work with. We look forward to getting more time with the phone and testing out T-Mobile's NY 3G coverage -- which could make or break a purchasing decision -- but this is certainly a promising start.

T-Mobile G1: Full Details of the HTC Dream Android Phone

Features:

Date and Pricing
$179 on October 22nd. (That's with a two year contract.) Unlimited internet with "some messaging" will run $25/month. Unlimited internet and messaging is $35/month. Data plans will require voice plans.

Screen
The G1 sports a 3.17" 65K color touchscreen that runs in HVGA (480×320) resolution.

Battery Life
You can talk for 5 hours, or keep the phone in standby for 130 hours.

Camera
3.1MP, or right around 35mm 4x6 print quality.

Frequency Fun
GSM/GPRS/EDGE/Wi-Fi and UMTS/HSDPA
850/900/1700/1800/1900/2100Mhz

Dimensions
4.60” x 2.16” x 0.62”; Weight: 5.6 ounces. And available in white, black and brown.

Storage
1GB MicroSD card preinstalled. Supports 8GB MicroSD.

GPS
Of course, what would Google Maps be without it?

Google Maps
As we've seen in a recent update, the G1's Maps application will integrate Street View so you can see where you are going. But in an industry first, a built-in compass orients the map to your position. North is always up!

Android Market
Similar to the iPhone's mobile App Store, the Android Market will allow downloading of various Android apps from the Market, to the phone.

Amazon MP3 Store
Amazon's MP3 store will be preloaded on every G1, allowing the download of 6 million DRM-free tracks with singles starting at 89 cents. Downloading music requires a Wi-Fi connection, previewing can be done over T-Mobile's network.

YouTube
Yup, it's on there.

Other Apps
ShopSavvy: designed to help people do comparative shopping
Ecorio: developed to help people keep track of their daily travels and view what their carbon footprint looks like BreadCrumbz: enables people to create a step-by-step visual map using photos; customers can create their own routes, share them with friends or with the world.