49ers

The 404 1,201: Where REL comes out of the dungeon (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Google Glass to use bone conduction instead of traditional headphones.

- Google searches expose racial bias, says study of names.

- Vampire Weekend announces new album details in the NY Times Classifieds section.… Read more

Peek at a Big Game IT 'war room' -- at Domino's Pizza

On Super Bowl Sunday, Domino's Pizza is planning to deliver millions of pizzas (it estimates that a total of 11 million slices will be delivered) and 2.5 million chicken wings. According to Domino's execs, the national game day gorge has become more than just a manner of beefing up on drivers, dough tossers, and yes, beef -- it's also quite an undertaking in the information technology department.

According to the Michigan-based company, a third of Domino's orders come though a digital channel these days, and of course even the analog orders run through the corporate network. In 2007, for the first time, Domino's saw the need to put together a game day "defense" team on Big Game day to sit in a conference room and keep an eye on all the information systems. … Read more

Crave Ep. 107: Madden NFL 13 predicts Super Bowl XLVII

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Sorry, San Francisco. An annual Madden NFL Super Bowl simulation predicts the Ravens will trump the 49ers in the final seconds of Sunday's Big Game. Get on this, Vegas! And with "Star Wars" in the news, Crave asks if J.J. Abrams can pull off the impossible directing both "Star Wars Episode VII" and "Star Trek." Are you into it or not into it? Maybe a J.J. Abrams and "Star Wars"-themed musical will help you decide.

… Read more

Madden attempts to predict Super Bowl XLVII victor

Do you know who will win the Super Bowl in New Orleans this weekend? If you're a San Francisco 49ers or Baltimore Ravens fan, I can venture a guess as to who you might choose. But let's put aside your bias for a moment.

Using the video game Madden NFL '13, EA ran a mock game featuring the 49ers and Ravens to determine who would take home the Vince Lombardi trophy. If you think the prediction is hogwash, you're probably correct on some levels (it is just a video game, after all), but it's worth noting that the annual simulation resulted in correct predictions for seven out of the last nine Super Bowl showdowns. Such accuracy must mean something, right? EA summarizes the first few quarters: … Read more

Super Bowl XLVII: Online streaming, apps, and more

More than 100 million people are expected to tune into this year's Super Bowl on Sunday, but what if you don't have a TV? No problem.

There are dozens of ways to watch this year's game, whether it's on a computer, tablet, or mobile device. Football fans can also keep pace with scores and player stats by subscribing to specific apps.

Here's CNET's resource guide for watching Super Bowl XLVII minus a television:

Streaming

CBSSports.com will broadcast the entire game for free beginning with pregame activity at 11 a.m. ET and kickoff … Read more

Is Bleacher Report ready for some football?

SAN FRANCISCO--The Super Bowl takes place in just over 72 hours, and Brian Grey and his lieutenants are trying to plan what is by far their most important day of the year.

Grey is the CEO of Bleacher Report, one of the largest sports Web sites in the U.S., and a place nearly 26 million people visited in January for the latest insights into their favorite teams.

Unlike many sports publications, Bleacher Report doesn't concentrate on breaking news with a team of paid writers. Instead, it relies on sports enthusiasts around the country and the world who are … Read more

Man versus machine, for three points

SAN FRANCISCO--Apparently, robot field goal kickers are pretty pathetic when it comes to talking trash.

That much was clear Monday morning during a placekicking face-off between San Francisco 49ers kicker Joe Nedney and Ziggy, a 340-pound combat robot. The two bitter rivals took the field at Kezar Stadium here, the original home of the 49ers, for nothing less than the victory stand in the never-ending battle between man and machine.

Ziggy arrived at Kezar first, and had already gotten in some good practice kicks when Nedney, decked out in his No. 6 Niners jersey, strode purposefully onto the perfectly manicured grass. And within minutes, the NFL kicker was already bringing it.

"It's pretty windy out here, Ziggy," Nedney taunted the robot as he booted a few practice balls through the yellow uprights about 35 yards away. "I'm expecting [Ziggy's ball] to fly over the top of the arch [far beyond the uprights] by the way you've been hyping it."

Through it all, Ziggy said nothing, seeming to prefer to let its kicking do the speaking. And that's generally the robot's style.

"You know, the robot is the strong, silent type," said Simone Davalos, one of the organizers of the RoboGames, the world's-largest robot competition, which takes place in San Mateo, Calif., this weekend. Nedney and Ziggy were on-hand here to do a little promotion for RoboGames.

'Oh, it's on' For Monday's competition, Nedney had agreed to the proposal to kick against Ziggy from CM Robotics, an Ottowa, Canada-based team of engineers. About five years ago, the team built Ziggy, not with beating pro-kickers in mind, but actually with the idea of launching 340-pound peers in the air in battle-to-the-death robot wars.

But after years of ruling the RoboGames roost, it was time for Ziggy to take on some new competition. And that's when CM Robotics came up with the idea for today's event. And for Nedney, it was an offer he couldn't refuse.

"I got challenged," Nedney said. "I can't pass up a challenge."

The format for the day's gridiron festivities was simple.… Read more

Is Clear worth anything at all?

I received an interesting phone call this afternoon. It was from Ellen Howe of the Transportation Security Administration, regarding my blog post on Monday titled "Is Clear a present danger for football fans?"

Howe wanted to correct an error I made. It seems that TSA is no longer running background checks on applicants for the Clear Registered Traveler program managed by Verified Identity Pass, Inc. (VIP).

I made that mistake based on statements on the Clear website and in local news coverage of the new Clear lanes at San Francisco 49ers games.

Howe said that as for the … Read more

Is Clear a present danger for football fans?

Clear, a program approved by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration that lets frequent fliers bypass airport security lines, is now being used to let football fans bypass the security lines at pro football games.

Deals are kicking off this fall at home games for the San Francisco 49ers, the Atlanta Falcons, and the Denver Broncos.

Clear, the largest of four Registered Traveler programs operating at U.S. airports, isn't run by the TSA. It's a private service of Verified Identity Pass (VIP).

Doesn't it seem like VIP is leveraging its privileged position in airport security--a position … Read more