Hero Inc.

Well I’ve been away from this site for a long time and this is not exactly my planned first post back, but I created something I found useful today so I decided to share it.

Recently I’ve been purchasing my music from Amazon. Running a linux environment at home, downloading music from the big names can be quite painful. However, Amazon has done a great job to address this. It is fairly simple but I wanted to go just a little farther with the help of clamz and a simple script. clamz is a downloader program for the Amazon music store. It works great, but I’m always forgetful when it comes to what actually to place in the command when trying to run it.

Here’s my shell script. It’s pretty basic as my shell script skills are not well developed, but hey, it works.

#!/bin/sh
# Date:       2011-12-10
# Author:     Benjamin Trice
# Reference:  http://heroinc.org/?p=2428

echo "************************************";
echo "* Start Amazon Music Download v1.0 *";
echo "************************************";

echo "What directory should be used to store the downloaded music files?"
read MUSICDIR
echo "";

if [ -d "$MUSICDIR" ]; then echo "Directory exists."
else mkdir $MUSICDIR;
echo $MUSICDIR " directory created.";
fi

echo "What directory contains the .amz file provided by Amazon?"
read AMAZONDIR
echo "";

clamz -d $MUSICDIR $AMAZONDIR/*.amz

echo "";
echo "END SCRIPT";

As you can see, all it does is utilize the clamz script with some additional friendly user input to download the files. Like I said, I’m lazy and forgetful at times and this just makes it easier for me. For those not knowing how to use the script, follow the following steps:

1. Download and install clamz via the link at the top of this page. Follow its instructions for installing it. Your current linux distribution might already package it so try your repository if you are not comfortable with the clamz instructions.
2. Save my shell script with a file name of “startAmazon”. You can change the name if you want.
3. From the terminal window type the following command:
   

   chmod a+x startAmazon

   If you changed the file name, then the command will need to be changed as well. This command will make the file executable.

4. Perform the following command in order to be able to call the script from any directory.

   sudo cp startAmazon /usr/bin/

That’s it. Now you can run “startAmazon” from any directory when you are ready to download your music quickly and easily. I doubt I’ll make any updates to this script unless there are changes to clamz. Enjoy!

Well, seeing how I haven’t posted here lately, this shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone. :-O

Due to work and my upcoming wedding/honeymoon there’s no light in the tunnel for free time to post. Therefore, I’ll be taking an extended vacation from Hero Inc. until October or after. Please no tears.

Thanks and I’ll see you when I return.

Huh….

So this is what my website looks like? I’ve been away from it for so long that I actually forgot about it. That can’t be good for whatever readership I might have had or have.

Anyway, let’s see what’s been going on since my last post dated May 2, 2011.

Welcome to the summer of superheroes. Throughout the summer a new or returning set of characters will be filling the silver screen. Yes, I plan on seeing them all and so far I’ve been doing good with Thor and X-Men: First Class already checked off. Next up is my eagerly anticipated Green Lantern. I know others aren’t that hyped but I am. I’m not 100% excited by the look, but certain pieces of the recent trailers really lead me to believe this one is going to be fun and good. Now I just need to find a 3D IMAX near me as this is the first film that I believe 3D will actually help its plot. Then I’m off to Captain America, Cars 2, and Harry Potter. I’ll be broke by the end of it all.

It’s Wedding Season! Yep, most of my time….wait that’s not right. Most of my fiance’s time has been spent planning the upcoming wedding. I’m just trying to keep up and help where I can. I took over the Honeymoon planning. Sounds like fun but not really. I’m super excited about our end location (can’t state here until she finds out later) but trying to book hotels and make sure flight schedules work out can be hectic. I can’t even imagine what the true crux of wedding planning is like. My head would probably explode. Regardless, it will be a very special time for the two of us and I’m really looking forward to it.

I wasn’t that excited after the NFL Draft because of what my Falcons had to give up to get Julio Jones, but I’m getting more excited each day. I need the season to start and start now. The lockout must end so I can see free agency. I then need to hear about practices and see some of preseason competition to learn more about the new players. Then I need a season where I get to see this Madden style offense where we just score and score often. Let’s go FALCONS!!!

This week on Tuesday, Duke Nukem Forever is going to be released. I was a fan of Duke Nukem 3D back in the day so I’m really looking forward to this one. I really just need a funny, pointless video game and Duke Nukem Forever seems to fit the bill. If you’ve never played, just think of a more “mature” version of Doom or Wolfenstein. I’ve been hoarding some gift cards since Christmas so what better time to drop them. I’m also taking 2 days off from work (had to get rid of some available vacation days before the end of the year) so I’ll be holed up in my room playing video games for a 4 game weekend. Man that sounds relaxing. Just wish that IGN hadn’t released this review.

This past week was E3 and Nintendo’s presenation. I was extremely excited about this one as I knew it would show the new gaming system. Well, I was not left disappointed by the Wii U. I was sold on the name at first as it is a play on Wii 2 as well as “unique” and a wii for you. Then they showed the video of what the Wii U can do and I was blown away again. I don’t know why I’m shocked when Nintendo innovates but sometimes I’m shocked at how creative they can be to achieve it. Sure, all of the “hardcore” gamers will complain for about a year until Microsoft and Sony due the same thing. It’s happened with every console since the N64. Nintendo innovates and others copy. See analog stick, rumble pack, motion controls, etc. for examples. Overall on the Wii U, the graphics look great. The gameplay is creative and fun. The launch titles are diverse. My bank account is already preparing for this one next year.

And I guess that’s it. Let’s see how long it is now until my next posting.

The weekend is over and so is the 2011 NFL Draft. It started as expected with the predicted picks going in the expected directions. It all seemed like it was going to be boring thanks to the lockout and inability to trade players….

…Then the 6th pick in the draft happened.

For the overall grade, I’m going with a C-. With the large amount given up for Jones, I must question the overall draft. If it were not for the Rodgers selection, I’d probably go with an F, but I also have to grade based on production and Smitty, TD, and Blank have delivered. The grade also could have been worse due to the great draft that Tampa Bay and New Orleans had. I’m still swearing over the brilliant first two draft selections by both teams. Sorry Carolina, I can’t give you any respect until Newton shows me his potential reward.

And on a final note, I did find the selection of James Carpenter funny. Mainly because his own coach couldn’t believe it.

UGA Note: The following players were taken in the draft from the University of Georgia.

• Clint Boiling – Cincinnati Bengals (no one looks happy to go here)
• Shaun Chapas – Dallas Cowboys (Nice selection)
• Kris Durham – Seattle Seahawks (I hope he has a nice career there)
• A.J. Green – Cincinnati Bengals (again, no one is happy)
• Justin Houston – Kansas City Chiefs

This is the week. The week that I wait with anticipation once the post season of the NFL ends. This is the week of the NFL Draft.

However, this year is not like my years past. This year is marred by the NFL Lockout and labor situation. Uncertainties are in abundance and that kills the fun that is the draft. Sure, players will be selected, but the surprises will be fewer and far between because no players can be traded. I won’t be sitting in front of a TV responding with “What the crap? New England just traded pick 187 for [Amazing Player A]. How do they continue to do that?” No, this year I’ll be watching and saying “Wow, [Team A] just selected [Player A]. That could be an interesting fit.” See the difference in inflection and tone? It’s just not the same.

Regardless, I’ll still be present to find out just who my Atlanta Falcons choose to take with the 27th overall pick. In my eyes, our following needs are:

• Defensive End – Where’s the explosive player for the Defensive Line that will play opposite to the “Predator” version of John Abraham? With Corners that can cover when given smaller windows of time, it is now time to address ways to get after the QB. Looking back on the bigger losses of last year, it was our inability to get the QB to the ground that caused us to give up so much and achieve little.
• Offensive Line – There’s age on the line at certain positions and the line has played above its capabilities long enough. Time to improve upon it and protect Matt Ryan further. Sam Baker is not becoming the franchise lineman that was expected. With better protection, Ryan can keep his eyes up and down field for that deep pass.
• Running Back – Michael Turner is there, but he’s not really the “Burner”. He will pound away at you during the game. Same for Jason Snelling, but where’s the speed? Norwood has been plagued by injuries and will probably be gone before the season begins. The other undrafted selections on the team and practice squad are not the solution.
• Wide Receiver – This one is only in my eyes due to the reading I’ve been doing leading up to the draft. All the talk is on Defensive End or a Wide Receiver because the Falcons need more speed on offense. Not sure on people discussing the replacement of Michael Jenkins. Jenkins is not a speed receiver. He has a niche job (blocking WR) to perform and he performs it very well. He also is a clutch player in several situations when in previous years Roddy White was unreliable. Are we then looking to give up on the recovery of Harry Douglas? Are we willing to waste a first round pick on a potential slot receiver? Not sure I like that cost when other needs are present.
• Cornerback – I’ve also heard grumblings on this one as well. I’m going to dismiss this one early in the draft since so much money was spent last year on Robinson. Grimes has come into his own and would excel by a better defensive line that can get to the QB and cause bad decisions. Nickelback would make sense to anyone who watched the Packers/Falcons post season game. Again, maybe in the late rounds. We have a few potentials from last year’s draft that need some time to grow.
• Tightend – Time to name the heir to Tony Gonzalez? The talk of retirement in the next year or two has made several name this position. With this not being a big year in the TE department, I’m going to leave this one with minor priority.

I’ll focus on the 27th pick as the later rounds are a crap shoot. The biggest hurdle with this pick is “Who will be available?” Our NFC South enemies will be looking for the pass rushing specialist as well so they might be possibly targeting the same players as we. Therefore, the DE we want and need might already be off the board. Names I’ve been seeing lately for the Falcons are:

• Justin Houston, DE, University of Georgia – A UGA player. I should be thrilled, but I’m not. Sorry UGA fans. Houston is a great player but he will be switching positions somewhat here and I question the true power and speed for the type of player we need. I just don’t want another type of DE that we already have in Biermann or Davis.
• Adrian Clayborn, DE, Iowa – This is probably my top pick if he’s available. Injuries in the senior season led to his fall on draft day, but he’s still got the other skills I covet for the position.
• Da’Quan Bowers, DE, Clemson – Another great DE that’s falling due to injuries. Do we take due to some potential fears or do we have faith that we will bounce back from the injuries?
• Torrey Smith, WR, Maryland – Well, I know he’s fast on returns, but I’m not looking for a return man. I want a speed WR. Smith nails that. But I just see a composite Douglas and Jenkins in Smith. Not a bad combination by any stretch, but not the force I want/need on the field at the moment.
• Jon Baldwin, WR, Pittsburgh – I love the previous Pitt prospects (see Larry Fitzgerald), but again not a fan of the WR selection here unless its best available pick. The highlights I’ve seen make Baldwin more of a cross between White and Jenkins. We don’t need the same players we have. We need something better.
• Kyle Rudolph, TE, Notre Dame – Here’s the heir to Tony G….maybe. Again, see my notes above on this pick. I’m just not feeling the “draft to fill replacement” on this team just yet. We are still drafting to build to win.

As for the other Draft expectations? Well…

1. Who will be this year’s cryer? Part of me wants to say Nick Fairley just because I don’t like him that much and he’s fallen down the boards for various reasons (including character issues). I’m going to shoot for the stars and say Cam Newton. Everyone has the Panthers already drafting, signing, and starting him but I’m not sure if I completely believe it just yet. I don’t believe Newton is the star that a team should be built around (see Vince Young and Tim Tebow). If he drops from the Panthers, he could continue to fall and shatter his superstar view of himself.
2. Biggest surprise? I’ll go with New England actually keeping its picks and making a selection in the first round. With no players to trade, Coach Bill might just keep what he has and make a selection.
3. Will Oakland make another reach of a pick? I’d actually be surprised if they did as they seem to be heading in the right direction. However, the world’s oldest man is still leading Raider nation so they have that going for them.
4. Will the NFL Lockout hurt the NFL Draft? Of course not. People will still watch and then we will hear reports about how the ratings were slightly down from last year but still about the same thus stating that we all just want football so get the deal completed today.
5. And yes, I plan to make this two years in a row enjoying a Double Down during the draft.

This morning started like every other morning except for the fact that I noticed a strange email from myself to myself (work email). It seemed that I had emailed myself and a few other people that started with “B” from my address book. First response? Oh crap, my gmail account was hacked. Sure enough, a few minutes later as I logged into my account I saw about 20+ emails. Half were mail delivery failures and the other half were all my wonderful friends informing me that I sent something in error or the simple truth I already knew which was my account was compromised.

Thanks to a quick Google/Twitter search, I saw that I was not alone in the matter. Therefore, I wanted to provide some details on what I did to minimize the issue overall.

First, I tried to see the extend of the breach in my gmail. Based on the emails that I saw, it seemed that the hack essentially spammed my entire contact list (about 250+ people). I quickly emailed my first group of people (family as I just didn’t have the best faith for them not to click on anything I sent). Then I selected my entire contact list and began to compose a generic email to the masses. Hopefully I could catch enough people in time before they clicked on the link. I didn’t get to everyone in time but most people were, thankfully, aware of what the email could have been so they ignored it (probably like they did for any other legitimate email I had sent them before).

With email sent, next item on the list was to change my password. Yes, as a “security professional” I know that I should change my passwords every 90 days and make them difficult to guess. I had the second part of that requirement down. Just not the first. I had been using the same password since my first use with Gmail. Yes, I was asking for this to eventually happen.

With my password changed, I took the next steps to see how I could prevent this further from happening. Here are some additional steps I took. These don’t guarantee that I’ll be hit again but at least it will help.

• How Can I Check if My Account Has Been Compromised?
• How to Change Gmail Password?
• How To Change Password Recovery Options?
• What Other Gmail Settings Should I Review for Hacking?
• How do I setup 2 Factor Authentication?

How Can I Check if My Account Has Been Compromised?
At the bottom of your gmail account, you will find information on the last known logged in session (last time someone accessed your account).

If you click details, a pop up window will appear providing the last several locations where an account was accessed. I would suggest becoming familiar with this list so you know what is out of the ordinary. Google will inform you sometimes when an account was accessed outside of your normal locations, but you cannot always trust Google to catch it. In my case, when I looked at the list I noticed instantly that the location of Spain was listed. Not a normal location for me to access my account since I’m a standard US resident. Some of the locations may not be familiar to you but these could be based on you connecting to your account from a phone or some other means. This is why I stress to become familiar with this list.

How to Change Gmail Password?
Because of the new Google toolbar, this was not the easiest for me to find at first. Maybe I was just frustrated by the terrible start to my day.

1. On the top right corner of the gmail screen is a new Google bar. Click the cog.
2. Select “Mail Settings”.

   

3. Click the “Accounts and Import” tab.

   

4. Click “Change password”

The instructions from here are pretty clear.  Google will even provide you with visual queues to the strength of your password.  Please try to follow these thoughts on the creation of this new password:

• Password should not be easy to guess
• Password should not be an incremental value from the previous password
• Password contains a combination of numbers, letters, and special characters
• Passwords should be closer to the max number of characters that the password field allows.  I.E. if it allows 6-8, then try to make a password closer to 8 than 6. The more characters and complexity of the password, the better.

How To Change Password Recovery Options?
This step is important if you ever forget your password. It is Google’s way of providing a secondary method for retrieving a password.

1. On the top right corner of the gmail screen is a new Google bar. Click the cog.
2. Select “Mail Settings”.
3. Click the “Accounts and Import” tab.
4. Click “Change password recovery options”

From here, you are given 3 options: Alternative Email Address, SMS Messsage, and Question Response. I suggest using all 3 options given to you.

What Other Gmail Settings Should I Review for Hacking?
Gmail has a few helpful settings for allowing one to control different areas of your account. However, these are areas that others can use as well once your account has been compromised.

1. On the top right corner of the gmail screen is a new Google bar. Click the cog.
2. Select “Mail Settings”.
3. Click the “Accounts and Import” tab.
4. Verify that no new items have been added or modified under “Grant access to your account” and “Send Mail as”.
5. Click the “Forwarding and POP/IMAP” tab.
6. Disable both POP and IMAP.

Steps 5 and 6 are optional, but they can be potentially another way for someone to retrieve messages from your account. As I don’t use a desktop based program (Outlook, Thunderbird, etc.), I don’t mind disabling these options.

How do I setup 2 Factor Authentication?
First, what in the world is two factor authentication? Well, it is another way to verify the person attempting to access a site is who they say they are. This is performed by requiring two forms of identification: 1) Something you know (password) and 2) Something you have (a code). For those corporate work professionals, you would be familiar with this through the use of RSA tokens.

With Gmail, this means that when I login to my account from a computer, I provide my password and a code that is generated for me on my cell phone. It works even if I don’t have access to the data network and I always have my phone with me. I know what you are thinking though. I have to enter a new code every time I login? Well, yes, but you do have the option to tell the computer to remember you for 30 days. In 30 days I’ll need to enter a code again. Simple enough. Annoying at times, but worth it so I don’t have my account hacked and several high ranking bosses at work receive the spamming emails.

1. On the top right corner of the gmail screen is a new Google bar. Click the cog.
2. Select “Account Settings”.
3. Click the “Using 2-step verification” link located under Personal Settings / Security (right side of the page).
4. Follow the steps to setup 2 factor. They are pretty straight forward.

Note: 2 Factor Authentication is not setup for all Google Apps (Picasa, Google Talk, Mobile Gmail, etc.). For these applications, you will need to setup application specific passwords. This is also very easy to do and can be found following the same steps above but click on “Authorizing Applications & sites”. With this change, you can revoke access to applications at any time which provides better security protection as well.

[Translate to Italian]

Due to the positive feedback I have received from several readers for my previous work for Collabtive, I decided to take the time to perform a few more updates. These new additions are completely user facing as I discovered the emails were not as clear to all users as they could be.

These latest updates provide the following changes:

• Create Task Email to Person Who Assigned Task – Includes task name, description, and completion date
• Create Task Email to Individuals Assigned Task – Includes task name, description, assigner name (with email link) and completion date
• Edit Task Email to Individuals Assigned Task – Includes task name, description, and completion date
• Close Task Emails – Includes task name and description

Here’s a quick view of how an email will look with the recent changes. The text will be different depending on who is receiving the email and the type of event that took place (create, edit, and close).

ben,

A new task has been assigned to you.

Task Information
Task Name: Solve World Peace
Task Description: Discover the best way to solve world peace and do it.
Assigned By: Humanity
Completion Date: 20.02.2011

Once the task has been completed, please login to the Collabtive system and acknolwedge the completed task by closing the task.

For those interested, follow the instructions below to update your environment with these latest changes. If you have not updated your environment based on my information from my previous post, then perform those steps first before making these changes.

1. Download the files I modified on February 20th, 2011.
2. Update your Collabtive directory with the following files in the appropriate location:

   /managetask.php
   /language/en/lng.conf

3. For those not using English as the default language, the following additions need to be made to the appropriate lng.conf file:
   • taskassignedtext
   • taskassignedfooter
   • taskassignertext
   • taskassignerfooter

Enjoy the latest updates and post comments if you have questions.

UPDATE NOTE (2011-02-27): I just realized there was an error in the close task functionality and emails were being sent to the user that has an ID of 1. I’ve updated the code referenced in this post to include a fix for the getAssigner function. Please let me know if you run into any additional issues.

Is it 2012 already? Ummm…..no. But with the way things are going in the Players vs Owners CBA discussions, I wish it was. It seems that there might not be a 2011 season…or much of one anyway. Therefore, I turn to the year 2012 and my expectations, predictions, and possible insights.

2011 Recap
Will there be a season? If so, full or half or quarter? No one really knows but here’s how I see a full season actually going. Currently, we are slated to have played the following teams (home teams in bold):

• Green Bay
• Chicago
• Minnesota
• Detroit
• Jacksonville
• Houston
• Tennessee
• Indianapolis
• Philadelphia
• Seattle
• New Orleans
• Carolina
• Tampa Bay
• New Orleans
• Carolina
• Tampa Bay

When I first look at this list, my first thought is “Crap, this is going to be tough.” Then my second thought is “We won the NFC South last year. Crap.” Say what you want but to me there are always absolutes in the NFL. They are the Madden curse does exist and the NFC South champ does not repeat the following year. New Orleans was hot on our trail in 2010 and 2011 wasn’t much different. Tampa Bay also surged ahead to show that the South is where the NFC powerhouses reside. Not within the NFC Least…I mean East.

Falcons end the season 9-7. It’s enough to make the playoffs as a wild card. It’s a let down for many but I’ll take it as Matt Ryan gets his first playoff win. Sadly the run ends in the second round. Four straight winning seasons, I’ll take it.

Now if there is no real season and replacement players are used, I’m looking for my replacement dream team to be led by D.J. Shockley and Herschel Walker. Like I said, dream team.

Nike Just Does It
2012 will bring new changes. Not just with player personnel. 2012 is the year that Nike will be taking over uniform operations from Reebok. Now many are fearful of this change, me included, and these fake mockups that were released previously as well as any of the Nike combats that college football has seen just makes it worse. But there is nothing we can do about it at this point, so let’s start with the positive thinking and the pro what-ifs.

Thanks to my buddy, Will, and his photoshop capabilities as well as Fraser Davidson with the original Pro Combat template (so I’m told), I present to you the new uniforms for the Atlanta Falcons 2012.

Click for bigger image.

The images are great, but let me explain the concept completely.

• Home – We have grown accustomed to the Falcons wearing red at home, but after the introduction of the recent throwbacks, I wanted to make a change to black. The socks and stripes from that throwback will stay as well as the white pants with a red belt. TV numbers (not shown in image) will be on top of the pads while the Falcons logo will be on the sides of the sleeves. I used Uniwatchblog’s idea of the compression sleeves as a nod to the old longer sleeved uniforms. I also chose to change the Falcons to the red helmet as there are so few red helmet teams and it just helps the logo pop so much more.
• Away – The same thoughts for the Home jersey went into the Away one, except that I went with the white.
• Secondary – Most hate a secondary uniform but I’m not one of them. If we have the option to go “bolder”, then let’s do it. Red was once the prominent look. Now it is a special occasion thought. I used the old red jersey as a point of reference. It is probably hard to see in the image but the red jersey also uses the gray pants.

Opponents
Now we get to the 2012 opponents. This list could change, but this is what we have as of today.

• Dallas
• Philadelphia
• NY Giants
• Washington
• Oakland
• Denver
• San Diego
• Kansas City
• NFC West
• NFC North
• New Orleans
• Carolina
• Tampa Bay
• New Orleans
• Carolina
• Tampa Bay

This list is no laughing matter. It could be just as bad as the 2011 schedule, but I’m going high and say we are thrown an easy schedule. We end the year at 14-2. The two losses are to the New Orleans Saints. It pains me to say that, but read on for the revenge.

Verdict & Expectations
14-2, eh? Well that’s just fine. In the playoffs we meet up with the hated Saints. Backs against the wall. All doubters in tow. Except that this time we plow through. We take the win that matters most and move on to the Superbowl. I don’t want to predict further as we are still so far away, but that’s where my mind stands today.

I have faith in this team that currently exists today and I see potential where so many others do not. Draft choices Weatherspoon, Jerry, Douglas, and Meier will all return from their injuries stronger than ever before. TD’s choices shine the way they were meant to shine as all signs of previous injury are nonexistent. The team has a whole becomes just that, a team. The previous heartaches in the playoffs bring the unit together and other teams in the NFL begin to fear those birds of the south.

The season starts in 573 days. Have your tickets ready?

Each night when I come home from work my fiancée and I seem to have a reoccuring fight discussion surrounding dinner. I feel guilty when she cooks because I never cook, but I do clean the dishes (unless I try to weasel out). Therefore, I always fall back on suggesting my wonder, satisfying, safety dinner meal.

Cereal.

So many tasty options

What’s wrong with cereal? It is quick. It is filling. It can be part of a balanced meal, but I usually eat the more unbalanced side and just have the cereal. Is this a sexist debate? I’ve questioned many and more often than not I received the same split. Girls say it is not a meal while guys agree it is a meal.

I mean, I understand where my fiancée is coming from as she wants me to eat something “healthier” for dinner. I’ll give myself some credit. I’ve moved away from the more “sugary” cereals to enjoy the dark side of cereal. I’m talking about the Raisin Brans, Special K, and of course my golden staple, Honey Nut Cheerios. I’m fighting to lower my cholesterol. Are you? Sure, I’d love to fall back down the “adult” ladder and pick up the latest prize filled cardboard box of Fruity Pebbles, Corn Pops, or Captain Crunch, but alas I don’t. I pick up the family size of Honey Nut Cheerios….for one.

So back to the original question. Can cereal count as dinner? Or better yet, can cereal be a meal?

Well, I really wish I was writing this in February but that was just not the case this time as the year ended on a bad note following the terrible loss to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Divisional round game. With a final of 48 to 21, I’d say the Falcons nation’s eyes were quite wide. We were not just defeated. We were destroyed by a team that was better in almost every facet of the game (giving props to Eric Weems and special teams here). The Packers deserved the win and Aaron Rodgers played one of the most perfect games I’ve seen in playoff history in recent memory.

What Went Wrong?
The typical fan of the Atlanta birds might just say we suck or the Atlanta curse continues. I don’t see it that way. As I stated earlier in the season, we were/are a good team, not a great team. Throughout the season, we found ways to win games that past Falcons’ teams would not have. We played our ball: Penalties low, Turnovers low, Balanced attack. What happened on Saturday evening’s game? Penalties high, Turnovers high (and costly), Departure of Balanced Attack (due to score). Besides those issues, the defense was unable to dirty Aaron Rodger’s uniform. We had opportunities to do so, but were still unable to capitalize. When you don’t capitalize, someone like Rodgers will pick you apart. Again, props go to the Packers though I still don’t agree with the final field goal that much (there was only 1:56 left on the clock). Here’s hoping the Packers pull it out on the road to the Superbowl win as I do believe they are one of the more complete teams remaining.

What’s Next?
Well, after that final game, many will believe a complete overhaul is needed. Glaring holes were present but I believe in what Coach Smith and GM TD are doing. They’ve put together 3 back-to-back winning seasons and no one else has ever done that in Atlanta before with the Falcons. The team is still young and has plenty of potential for the next several years. However, changes will need to be made and I’d start of course on the defensive side. The year started with questions at defensive end, but Abraham showed that he still has something left in him as he recorded 13 sacks, but the remainder of the front line couldn’t put up anything as impressive. Abraham is aging poorly (injuries) and some new blood might be right around the corner.

Speaking of corner, the addition of Dunta Robinson was to improve the secondary and front line by giving the front line more time to get in the backfield and pick up coverage sacks. However, when you can’t get to the quarterback, then the coverage will break down because you can’t cover forever. On the other side of the field, I’ve heard the complaints about Brent Grimes. “He’s too small.” “Why is he even out there?” Really? Yeah, one of the touchdown’s Saturday night was over the top of him, but you could not have asked for any better coverage as he was in the perfect position to make the play. The receiver just made one heck of a grab.

My real pain in the secondary was due to a late season injury to Brian Williams, the nickelback. With him going out for the remainder of the season, Christopher Owens was asked to fill the role. The Packers knew this and they picked on him for a majority of the first half. He was unable to cover his man and either gave up big plays or blatant penalties.

The Draft and Free Agency
With that being said, the next steps are preparing for the draft and free agency. The front office of the Falcons believes in at least one major free agent signing a year and the remainder of the holes being filled in the draft. I’ll need to do more research on available free agents but possibilities could be DE, CB (less likely due to last year’s signing), or WR (stretch the field).

As far as the draft goes, I’ll write up a full preview as we get closer (possible selections, position breakdown), but here’s my quick thoughts as we sit with the 27th overall pick in the 2011 draft:

• Defensive End – It was an area of interest last year and is still an area of interest
• Center – How much longer can Todd McClure last? Let’s plan for the future now.
• RB – Yes, I know we have Turner and, my favorite, Jason Snelling, but we are still missing a speed back. Norwood will more than likely not be returning.
• LT – Sam Baker is just not becoming the franchise left tackle we thought he could be to protect Matt Ryan’s blind side.

Congratulations
Even with my disappointment in the final act of the season, I still say a very big congratulations to the 2010 Atlanta Falcons. You gave me some of the most thrilling games (see Saints Week 3, Ravens Week 9, and Green Bay Week 11) over the past five years and I look forward to many more. As a season ticket holder, I will gladly place my order for another year of cheering on my Falcons. Let’s Rise Up again but this time bigger and better than ever before!

Thanks again for everything.