Month: February 2006

Kellie Pickler

Post ImageI don’t watch American Idol, let alone follow who gets kicked off or not, but my Grandma happened to be watching it when I walked in the house tonight, and Kellie Pickler was performing. All I gotta say is wow, that girl is irresistibly cute and she can sing too! She’s got my vote for American Idol! And here I thought I was finished with my blondes stage…

She’s nineteen years old from Albemarle, North Carolina, and she likes Kelly Clarkson and Keith Urban. Seems as though Kellie has a similar sort of confidence to me:

What is your definition of an AMERICAN IDOL?
Kellie Dawn Pickler.

That’s like something I would say! Good luck Kellie!

Read: American Idol

Apple introduces leather iPod case

Post ImageI am continually amazed by Steve Jobs and co – its like they get away with murder! They somehow get OS X owners to pay for minor updates, their religious zealots still love them after switching to the enemy (read: Intel), and they announce “fun” products like a leather case for the iPod…for NINETY NINE DOLLARS!

Looks like Apple wants to make sure to own a piece of every sector of the iPod accessory market. In addition to the $349 iPod Hi-Fi, the company also announced its own $99 leather iPod case. Sure, it’s a pretty basic sleeve, and only fits the iPod with video or nano, but if you want an official Apple case with an Apple logo and “iPod” stamped on the front, this is the place to go (though we hear there are some pretty convincing knockoffs available on Canal Street for about $15).

When you can release a product like this for a hundred bucks and have it sell, you really do have power. There are thousands of cheaper options for protecting your beloved iPod (or Apple could make scratchless devices to begin with) yet there will still be people who will pay Apple the money for this over-priced official leather case. It blows my mind.

I guess I am getting ahead of myself, we don’t know how well the leather case is going to sell, but the fact that any sell at all is amazing enough. Jobs must have drugs or chemicals or radio wave emitting devices hidden in his products and packaging to get people so hooked.

Read: Engadget

Windows Live .NET

Post ImagePretty meaningless title don’t you think? You may remember that when .NET was launched, Microsoft started attaching the .NET moniker to all of it’s product names. After a while, no one knew what the heck .NET was (fortunately today it only refers to the programming environment). I agree with Microsoft Watch’s Mary Jo Folely, they’re going to do it again with Windows Live:

With over 30 services potentially taking on the “Live” moniker, industry watchers are warning that the Redmond company risks diluting the brand like it did with the .NET concept.

“Within a matter of months [after .NET’s initial release], Microsoft marketers began attaching the .Net moniker to all kinds of products, from Windows .Net Servers, to MapPoint.Net,” said Mary Jo Foley, author of the Microsoft Watch newsletter. “.Net became a meaningless term that even Redmond’s own couldn’t explain concisely.”

Looks like we’re well on our way with Windows Live. The latest service to get the name is Passport:

Microsoft plans to roll its Passport authentication service into the Windows Live family of Web services by 2007, renaming it to Windows Live ID, BetaNews has learned. While the company is keeping mum on specifics, the service will make use of Microsoft’s new InfoCard technology.

I don’t see why they felt the need to rename Passport. I think they had pretty strong brand recognition with the name, and everyone knows it is used mostly for Microsoft sites and services.

Joe Wilcox has a related post up at Microsoft Monitor where he talks about Microsoft’s marketing strategy with the Origami project. I guess we can be thankful it’s not called Origami Live!

Read: Beta News

Ten Favorite Rock Songs

Last week my Dad posted about a book he is reading called Broken Prey. In the story, the main character tries to come up with the 100 best songs of all time. So my Dad took a cue from the book and is asking for input on the ten best rock songs of all time. Now, typically a meme like this starts somewhere in the digital world not a book, and when you take part in the meme you’re supposed to actually take part (my Dad is not posting his top ten until later), but I’ve seen it circulate before too, so I decided to take part this time. Megan’s recent listing of her ten favorite albums also swayed me to posting this.

First let me say, it’s damn near impossible to come up with only ten songs for any of these kinds of lists. I basically said to myself, what songs can I listen to over and over again and still love? I came up with more than ten, so I had to spend some time narrowing it down to these ten:

  1. Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana
    From Nevermind, one of my favorite albums of all time, this is one of those songs that I never ever get tired of hearing. It’s really too bad Nirvana’s life was cut short, as I am sure Cobain and the boys would have made some more classics.
  2. Weapon by Matthew Good
    Though not from my favorite Matthew Good album (which would be Beautiful Midnight) this is definitely my favorite Matt Good song. The musical build up is amazing, and the video was pretty interesting too.
  3. Billie Jean by Michael Jackson
    I guess I could have put all of Thriller on this list, but Billie Jean has always stood out for me.
  4. Wonderwall by Oasis
    I’ve never been a huge Oasis fan, but this song in particular I have always loved. Great lyrics in this one.
  5. Numb by Linkin Park
    Linkin Park have come to be one of my favorite groups in the last few years, and while I like almost all their songs, Numb is the best one for me.
  6. Fill Me Up by Staind
    Another favorite group of mine is Staind, and I absolutely love the lyrics in this song.
  7. The Ground Beneath Her Feet by U2
    I could have put just about every U2 song on the list, but this one has great musical build up that gets me every time.
  8. Blurry by Puddle of Mudd
    This song makes the list due to it’s lyrics and the memories it makes me think of.
  9. Enter Sandman by Metallica
    It was this song from the Black album, or more correctly their self-titled album, that really got me into Metallica.
  10. Iris by Goo Goo Dolls
    One of the best songs of all time in my opinion!

Here’s ten more songs from my list of favorites: Every Breath You Take by The Police, Forget It by Breaking Benjamin, Pour Some Sugar On Me by Def Leppard, Last Train Home by Lostprophets, You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette, Clumsy by Our Lady Peace, Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden, Zombie by The Cranberries, 1979 by The Smashing Pumpkins, and Time of Your Life by Green Day.

You’d think it would be easy to list your ten favorite songs, but it’s not. It’s a good exercise though, because you probably haven’t thought about it before, and you’ll probably discover some forgotten favorites in the process.

Notes for 2/26/2006

What a week it has been, and what a month I have ahead. Here are my notes for today:

  • I feel sorry for the students of Lakehead University, being deprived of wireless Internet.
  • I watched most of the Shawshank Redemption tonight – I hadn’t seen it in quite a while. It’s a great movie, you really should watch it Felicia!
  • My parents recently had an anniversary, and yesterday was Kim’s birthday! It’s a busy time of year for our family.
  • The Winter Olympics are over now, and Canada ended up with 24 medals, no thanks to the men’s hockey team! I know the games are a big deal, but it will be nice for TV and everything else to get back to normal.
  • My Dad is in San Francisco on business and has some great pictures up! Looks much nicer than here.

Edmonton's Next Generation

Post ImageWe hear lots here in Edmonton about how our city needs to improve, but less about what is being done. I got an email recently about a survey from the Next Generation Task Force. If you’re in Edmonton, you might be interested in this:

The Next Generation Task Force is a temporary committee of Edmonton’s City Council. Chaired by Councillor Kim Krushell, it is charged with providing recommendations to City Council, on making Edmonton a more fun, attractive, and pleasant place to live. It is composed of twenty Edmontonians from diverse backgrounds and walks of life. Over the upcoming months they will be inviting public input on the six broad themes they have chosen (listed here in alphabetical order): Arts and Culture, Business Opportunity, Edmonton’s Image, Human Capital, Sports and Recreation, Urban Living Environment.

They have a ten minute survey up on the website that you can use to offer your opinion on these topics.

Read: Next Generation Task Force

PlayStation 3 delayed a year?

Post ImageLots of PlayStation 3 news lately, and most of it is not good if you’re pulling for Sony in the gaming wars. Apparently Sony is planning a Hub service to compete with Xbox Live, but confirmations have been difficult to get, leading me to believe it may just be posturing on Sony’s part. The worst news though is about extremely high prices and potential delays:

Sony’s next-generation PlayStation 3 video game console might not appear in key markets this year and could cost the company $900 per unit to produce initially, according to Merrill Lynch analysts quoted in the Financial Times on Sunday.

Merrill Lynch analysts in San Francisco have estimated that the initial bill of materials for PS3 could approach $900, falling to $320 by three years after launch, the FT said.

Keep in mind those figures are in US dollars. I said a long time ago that the PS3 would likely cost an arm and a leg, so this story is validation. You just can’t introduce so many new components and expect the price to remain the same – the cell processor, coupled with Blu-ray drives are going to drive the cost of manufacturing quite high.

I don’t think Sony has extremely deep pockets like Microsoft, so I can’t see them taking a massive loss on each console. Hopefully we’ll find out more soon.

Read: CNET News.com

iBuzz – music activated iPod sex toy!

Post ImageIt’s hard to think of a device that has spawned as many third party accessories as the iPod. And when you consider that Apple isn’t known for being open or willing to make things easier on partners, the huge pool of gear is even more amazing. The iBuzz from Love Labs is the most interesting accessory I have seen in a while though (hat tip: Podcasting News):

Steve Jobs, we salute you! iBuzz USA celebrates your birthday with the launch of the iBuzz music-activated vibrator in the US.

We love the iPod and we love it even more when an iBuzz is attached.

And Steve, don’t forget to check your mail on your birthday for a surprise from us!

iBuzz is the musical orgasm machine! The music-activated vibrating bullet stimulates you in time with your favourite music. Which song pushes your butttons?

I can’t be sure, but everything looks legit. Too bad they didn’t have this out for Valentine’s Day, I am sure they would have attracted quite a bit of traffic! Apparently the device has a “bullet” that vibrates in time with the music and gets stronger as the volume goes up. And now I am going to end this post, because just the thought of someone getting off to William Hung is too much for me.

Read: iBuzz