47 - Answers

Q: Bill Jeffers - Way to tank the Frozen Four Dr. No. Which Clarkson alum has the best chance of winning the Stanley Cup this year?
A: I hang my head in shame at my inability to pick college hockey games involving teams I know next to nothing about. Why don't you just kick my dog while you're at it?

Anyway, below is a list of every Clarkson alumni that I could find currently playing in the NHL Playoffs. If I've left someone off this list then please let me know and I'll post an addendum.
Phillipe Paquet - Montreal Canadiens
Chris Clark - Washington Capitals
Nick Dodge, Erik Cole - Carolina Hurricanes
Randy Jones - Philadelphia Fliers
Steven Zalewski - San Jose Sharks
Kent Huskins - Anaheim Ducks
Grant Clitsome - Columbus Blue Jackets
Willie Mitchell - Vancouver Canucks
Craig Conroy - Calgary Flames

As of this writing here are the current playoff matchups (for current news go here):
Boston vs. Carolina
Washington vs. Pittsburgh
Detroit vs. Anaheim
Vancouver vs. Chicago

That means that of the 9 Clarkson alumni in the playoffs, 4 have been eliminated. In my opinion the odds of a Clarkson alumni making it to the Stanley Cup playoffs are pretty good since they are evenly spread out throughout the eight remaining teams. I'm not particularly up on how these teams match up against each other, but I'm going to try and guess anyway. I think that Boston will beat down Carolina, eliminating two more from the pool. Washington and Pittsburgh will duke it out hard, but Washington will prevail. Detroit will dispatch Anaheim, and Vancouver will beat Chicago. That means that there will be two remaining Clarkson alumni in the playoff picture. In the end I think that Washington is going to go all the way and win, so I will say that Chris Clark will be the Clarkson alumni to win the Stanley Cup this year.

Q: Eric Democko - which single cup coffee maker is best? Keurig, Senseo, Tassimo, (anything else?)
A: At my office we have several of the Keurig B140 model. I was very satisfied with the coffee that it produced, but that was mostly because it was free for several months. Free coffee is better than coffee you have to pay for. While the coffee is no longer free for employees, it is still of pretty good quality.

All of these machines function basically the same way. You put in a disposable unit into a slot and hot water is passed through it, producing coffee (or hot chocolate or tea or whatever). Therefore I think that the deciding factor in this question lies in the coffee that you buy for the maker. What flavors are offered? How much do they cost? What is the general quality of the coffee? Tassimo has partnered with a variety of coffee providers including Starbucks, Seattle's Best, Maxwell House, etc. The other two only have their own coffee products.

Personally I'd rather find a unit that you can pour your own coffee into, which I know the Keurig unit offers with their K-Cup product. So that would be my choice of products. Let me know which one (if any) you decide to purchase. Enjoy!

Q: Jarsh Beckstein - Full Electric or Electric w/ gas range Extender?
A: Given the choice between the two I'd choose electric with a gas range extender, which is the system that Chevrolet has chosen for its highly anticipated Volt. I'm not comfortable with the thought of driving a vehicle that I cannot refuel easily should the need arise, which is basically the case when you are driving a fully electric vehicle today. In the future it may be possible to rapidly charge the batteries of an electric-only vehicle, or possibly have a self-charging mechanism using solar cells. Those would be welcome developments and would make me reconsider my choice.

Though I know the choice wasn't given to me, but I would actually prefer a Diesel Hybrid to either of those choices. You get the high-milage of a diesel with the city-driving benefits of an electric. Everybody wins! Since I do a lot of long-distance driving I'm really not in the target demographic for any electric vehicles, be they hybrid, pure electric, or the Volt. Internal combustion will be my choice for the foreseeable future, but I wish all car manufacturers luck with their electric vehicles. There are plenty of other consumers that could benefit from the technology.