Olympics

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--The good news for Microsoft is that all the PCs powering the Olympics are running Windows. The bad news: it's the older Windows XP operating system.

Windows 7, it seems, was a bit too new to be used, while Windows Vista was, well, Windows Vista. So, instead, all the PCs are running an operating system that was first released before the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.

Representatives for Acer confirmed that the more than 6,000 notebooks and desktops that they delivered to Olympic organizers were all running Windows XP.

"It was the operating system … Read more

VANCOUVER, B.C.--A child's first hockey game is a right of passage in Canada.

And Thomas Challis, 5, of Coquitlam, got an exceptionally good introduction to big-time hockey, landing the chance to go with his dad to Tuesday's match-up between Switzerland and Belarus.

Thomas' dad, Roger, patiently explained some of the game's finer points, such as the difference between linemen and referees (referees call penalties, while linesmen generally do not) and why regular players have hard shin pads and goalies have big soft pads (goalies don't want to give up big rebounds that can lead … Read more

VANCOUVER, B.C.--The advantage of being Omega, in addition to the branding benefit of being the official timekeeper, is you also get access to some really cool photos from the Olympic finish line.

And this year, Omega has an even more powerful 2,000-frame-per-second camera to capture those close calls. The folks at Omega were nice enough to share some of the photos from the first week of the games, which I've put into a photo gallery.

The shots include Seth Wescott narrowly winning the gold medal in snowboard cross and Apolo Anton Ohno edging out Canadian Charles … Read more

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--Less than a century ago, the timing of downhill skiing required someone at the top and bottom of the run, each with a stopwatch synchronized to the time of day.

Every few skiers, the timer at the top would send down a piece of paper with the start times of the last few skiers and then some math would ensue, eventually resulting in the time of the run being calculated.

Oh, how things have changed. Not only is everything electronic, of course, but the sensors are often tied to the athletes themselves. In speedskating, racers wear a transponder … Read more

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--It's a little more than an hour before the U.S. is set to take on Canada in men's hockey and the atmosphere is already beyond electric.

Although just a preliminary match, this game has taken on all the importance of a medal game. Some three hours before game time sporadic chants of "Go, Canada, Go" could be heard downtown. It's barely an exaggeration to say all of Canada will be watching.

I'm live from the Molson Canadian Hockey House, a hockey-themed pavilion adjacent to where the game is being played. Molson … Read more

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--It's not the Super Bowl, or even the gold medal match-up, but it is most definitely Super Sunday in Canada.

That's because three epic ice hockey battles are on tap, topped by the U.S. and Canada, who square off at 4:30 p.m. PST. The match-up has taken on added importance with the host nation having needed a shootout to defeat Switzerland earlier in the week.

As if the pot needed any further stirring, the home page on Yahoo Canada quotes Team USA center Ryan Kesler as saying he hates the Canadian team.

I'… Read more

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--At a ceremony on Friday night, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky was honored for his contributions and put on the spot.

Hockey fans gathered at the Molson Hockey House downtown for a tribute to Gretzky, but they also wanted to know whether the Great One thought this year's team has what it takes to win the Olympic hockey tournament. Well, rest comfortable, Canadians, he picked the home team to win gold.

Gretzky, who for many is still the face of Canadian Hockey--praised the work of another NHL great--Steve Yzerman--in putting together the team that is competing in Vancouver. … Read more

WHISTLER, B.C.--They may be on the same world championship four-man bobsled team, but Steven Holcomb and Steve Mesler are decidedly different when it comes to that all important question: Mac or PC?

A computer science major and admitted computer nerd, Holcomb is decidedly in the PC camp, even eschewing the iPod in favor of a Creative Zen player. Mesler, a pusher on Holcomb's sled, is just as passionate about the Mac.

"I'm on the creative side," Mesler said in an interview. "He's on the technical side."

That said, the pairing pays … Read more

VANCOUVER, B.C.--When it comes to the controversy over the figure skating gold, Canadian figure skater Patrick Chan sides with American Evan Lysacek.

The decision to award Lysacek the gold, even though Russian Evgeni Plushenko did a quad jump, drew some criticism from some corners, but not from Chan.

"He definitely deserved to have won with two great skates," Chan said, speaking that British Columbia International Media Centre here. "If I had done two great skates just like he did, I think I would be side by side with him."

Chan said that "anyone … Read more