Dan Warne15 June 2006, 3:14 AM
Is it pure coincidence that Steve Ballmer's head looks so much like a soccer ball? Microsoft has jumped head-first into the World Cup frenzy, releasing a desktop gadget that helps you keep track. It's in a death match with an open-source World Cup extension, Footiefox, for Firefox.
I've been looking for an excuse all week to write something technology-related about the World Cup, in an attempt to fabricate a semi-plausible explanation for the boss on why I am so groggy and red-eyed.
So, when Microsoft and the open source community both released their World Cup software, the game was orrrrn.
Microsoft's software is called "Microsoft Soccer Scoreboard". Australian Windows chief Jeff Putt said in a press release, "For the first time in 32 years, Australia will be lining up against the world’s finest football nations in one of the world’s biggest sporting events and Microsoft Soccer Scoreboard will ensure that you never miss a beat of the action.”
If Steve Ballmer had been here, he would no doubt have added something along the lines of "and we are going to f***ing crush them."
The Soccer Scoreboard lets you "follow your favorite teams and players during the FIFA World Cup tournament; gives you access to all the latest tournament news and information and live game data allows you to monitor your favorite team's progress in real-time."
You can specify your own RSS feeds for its news ticker too.
Microsoft is using the software as a carrot to lure users into the Windows Genuine Advantage validation program - you have to agree to install and check your copy of Windows for piracy before you can download the gadget. Still, you have nothing to worry about, right?
If you want something a little less encumbered, Firefox now has a very nice extension in FootieFox.
You can set up which teams you're interested in and their flags will sit in your Firefox status bar with a running game score. When a goal is scored you can get an audio and visual alarm. (The audio alarm is particularly cool... it's a grab of a commentator saying, "shot.... GOOOAL!!!" with the crowd roaring in the background).
A pop-up menu lets you see more details on teams and games. If you happen to follow European football/soccer codes, this extension supports just about all of them, from UEFA Cup to Coupe de Belgique.