Month: October 2005

Corpse Bride

Post ImageI went to a TechNet event this afternoon with Dickson, and after the technical presentations were done (they showed Vista and some mobile stuff) everyone was treated to free popcorn, drinks, and a screening of Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride. I had heard some good things about the movie, as well as some very negative things, but I figured it was free so what the heck!

Turns out the movie was actually pretty good! Not amazing or anything, and I’d rather watch a Pixar movie over this, but not bad. I just don’t get Tim Burton’s darkness and eccentricities I guess, both of which are quite prevalent in this film. The story was very unique and well thought out, in my opinion. Even though Johnny Depp voices the main character, I didn’t realize it was him. Didn’t sound like him to me anyway! I think maybe the best part of the movie was the music, which was composed by Danny Elfman. It really made the movie!

Perhaps not a movie I’d recommend for the theatre, but definitely worth a rental!

Read: Corpse Bride

NewsGator play for the Mac?

Post ImageAs you are no doubt aware, I am not a Mac user. I have nothing against the Macintosh, I have just always been a Microsoft Windows fanboy I guess. In any case, some interesting Macintosh news for my favorite RSS aggregator, NewsGator. Seems they are interested in purchasing the Mac’s definitive news reader, NetNewsWire, according to Om Malik:

Richard asked about who is on the menu for Newsgator? He has many guesses and one of them is right: Ranchero Software, the company behind Mac-a-licious RSS reader NetNewsWire. Sources in Silicon Valley tell me that this deal is pretty much done, and expect the deal to be announced sometime on Wednesday at Web 2.0. Greg Reinacker refused to comment. This is going to be a major coup for Newsgator, because NNW is the default gold standard in MacRSS space. This deal would be very much of the same caliber as Newsgator’s acquisition of Bradbury Software, the maker of Feed Demon, a Windows only RSS reader. Back then, I posted this question: Will Newsgator finally buy a Mac desktop application and fill out the obvious hole in its product portfolio. With NNW, Newsgator fills that hole, and in swoop enhances the value of Newsgator Online. Syncing across the platforms? That would be nice.

That would indeed be nice! I really need to get a Mac one of these days, if only so I can play with some of the applications I keep hearing about.

UPDATE: This story is now a done deal! That didn’t take long.

Read: Om Malik

More on Google Wifi

Post ImageI am sure we’ll continue to see lots of news emerge about Google and the plan to offer free wireless access to all of San Francisco, but this Reuters story already caught my eye:

San Francisco has received more than 24 separate proposals to provide free, wireless Internet services citywide from vendors including Web search company Google Inc., the city’s mayor said on Monday.

Chris Vein, director of telecommunication and information services for the City of San Francisco, said the proposals involved a range of different free or low-cost business models. Only one company Vein declined to name had proposed an advertising supported plan for free wireless access, he said.

That company appeared to be Google. A Google spokesman on Friday had confirmed that its Wi-Fi access proposal could be funded through online advertising.

That would certainly make sense wouldn’t it? Not rocket science or anything. I am not sure what I’d think of ad-supported wireless. I am sure if I had to choose between paying a monthly fee or putting up with some advertising, I’d take the advertising, though I wonder how they would implement it.

Read: Reuters

Tod Maffin and CBCunplugged

Post ImageThose of you following the current CBC labour dispute have no doubt been impacted in some form by Tod Maffin. He’s the guy behind CBCunplugged.com, which has emerged as sort of “home away from home” for many former CBC writers, producers, and hosts. Tod not only got the ball rolling, but has been a major reason it has continued rolling, so it’s kind of disappointing to see he’s “stepping off the grid“:

This will be the last post for me. I’m going to “step off the grid,” as we nerds say. I’ll keep reading blogs and the comments here, but I’m going to take a rest for a bit from posting and checking my email obsessively. Luckily, there are plenty of great bloggers like Robin, Drone, Hadeel, John, Dan, and Matt who will, I hope, continue to report on what’s new. Thanks so much to everyone who’s posted comments and emailed. I will try to get back to each of you, though it might take me some time, as I’ll be off the grid for a while.

He then goes on to give a bit of a history on the site. Definitely worth a read. Good luck Tod! And does this mean your ILoveRadio.org blog will come back to life?

Read: CBCunplugged.com

ETS Pilots

Post ImageI take the train to work and school every day, except for the weekends and days like last Friday that I just take off completely. Normally, it’s the same thing day after day. Today however, when I took the train from Stadium to the University, things were different!

You know on the airplane right after you’ve lifted off, or right before you’re about to land, or just as you reach cruising altitude, the pilot talks? He’ll say something about the time, the weather, thanks for choosing our service, etc. That’s what the driver of the train did today! It might sound inconsequential, but it was so completely unexpected! I was totally caught off guard.

It’s kind of funny too, when you think about it, because unlike with an airline, you don’t have a choice of what LRT company to use. There is only one! I don’t know if it’s a regular thing now, or if the particular driver I had this morning was just microphone-happy. Time will tell.

Notes for 10/2/2005

Hey look I am posting my notes on the actual Sunday for once!

  • Just got back from what is hopefully a monthly dinner with “the old McNally crew”. Of course, anyone is invited, so let me know if you want to come next time! Pictures are here.
  • In case you’re still sleeping, September Has Ended.
  • I started to try Coca-Cola Zero yesterday, but I ended up pouring rum into it, so I still need to do a proper test. My sister says it isn’t very good, leaves a terrible after-taste. Still, I gotta find out for myself you know?
  • The University of Alberta is going ahead with plans to buy the Hudson’s Bay building downtown!
  • I really hope Hillary Clinton runs for President in 2008, so much so that I registered “hillaryclinton.ca” the other day. Thinking some sort of “Canada wants Hillary” website, but we’ll see. Speaking of the next US election, Rudolph Giuliani is going to decide next year on whether or not he’ll run. Apparently he is one of the best speakers in the States. Hillary versus Rudolph?
  • I used to be a total Google News junkie, but lately I’ve been using Yahoo News more. I find it is laid out better and easier to use. Give it a shot!

Goodbye Acrobat, Hello Office 12

Post ImageLongtime readers of my blog will know that I have often complained about Adobe Acrobat and how terribly slow it is. The program uses too many resources, loads too much stuff, and runs far too slow. Unfortunately, there aren’t many other applications that support PDF so completely, so I’ve been stuck with it. That looks to change with Office 12 though, as Tablet PC MVP Rob Bushway notes:

This afternoon Steven Sinofsky announced to our MVPs that we will build in native support for the PDF format in Office “12”. I constantly get asked by customers if we can build in this support for publishing documents as PDF files, and now I can thankfully say “yes!” It’s something we’ve been hearing about for years, and earlier in this project we decided that while there were already existing third party tools for doing this, we should do the work to build the functionality natively into the product.

Chris Pratley on the OneNote team also confirmed the news:

One big smile was when Steven Sinofsky announced during his wrap-up Q&A this morning that Office 12 apps (OneNote included) will support “Save as PDF” natively. He then went through a demo of most of the apps showing each of them saving to PDF. Publisher (another app whose design team I manage) will even support CMYK output for professional pre-press work. Actually, the Publisher team did most of the work to support PDF over the last year. Then the other teams hooked up to the core PDF generator that they wrote from scratch.

This is big, big news that has been a long time coming. Finally I should be able to ditch Acrobat. I mean if you think about it, what applications do you create PDF files from? For myself, it’s Word and Publisher. Goodbye Acrobat!

Economist.com Redesign

Post ImageNormally I wouldn’t post about a website getting a new look (unless it were one of my own or one that I manage) but I read the Economist all the time and I think it’s a great resource for information. And yes, they are sporting a new look:

For a start our homepage, article pages and Print Edition page have all been redesigned. You will see several other changes too:

  • We’ve enhanced the navigation – so it’s even easier to find what you want
  • The new pages are clearer – making them easier to read
  • Article titles are more consistent with the print edition – making cross-referencing straightforward

More improvements are due in the coming months. The aim is to make Economist.com sharper and fresher – a perfect complement to our incisive global analysis.

It looks really great! The Economist is a great resource for all you politics-economics-current affairs nuts out there, so check it out. And tell them I sent you!

Read: Economist.com Redesign

How To Fail A Breathalyzer Test

Post ImageI have an almost surefire way to fail a breathalyzer test! I first saw this story on CNN the other day, and I thought it was rather funny. Only today did I find this Ananova article:

Police in Germany are warning motorists that sucking a Fishermen’s Friend could get them into trouble. It comes after a 24-year-old driver was found to be over the legal drink-drive limit during a routine control in Munich. He was taken to the police station where blood tests found he had no alcohol in his system. The man was released after officers found the strongest thing he had taken was a Fisherman’s Friend.

Forensic doctor Thomas Gilg said the essential oils contained in the throat sweets reacted in the same way as alcohol on hand-held breathalysers. He said in tests they found just three of the mentholated sweets could cause a motorist to test three times over the legal limit.

Just something to keep in mind the next time you reach for a mint.

Read: Ananova

Soup at Hand

Post ImageI took my sister grocery shopping tonight, and while we were there I came across Campbell’s Soup at Hand soups. I said something like “I want to try those” and Kim was nice enough to buy me two, so I tried one tonight.

I picked out Garden Tomato and Chicken with Mini-Pasta (cuz it was the closest I could see to Chicken Noodle). Tonight I decided to try the Garden Tomato, and I have to say, I am impressed! They are very simple to prepare – all you have to do is take off the plastic cap (called a SlipLip), remove the metal lid, and stick it in the microwave for just over a minute. When it’s done, you put the SlipLip back on and drink like it was a glass of milk. Two things immediately surprised me – that the can wasn’t too hot to touch coming out of the microwave, and that the soup didn’t splash or bubble and make a mess.

While not exceptionally filling, they’re perfect for someone like me who regularly skips lunch anyway. If you’re looking for a healthy, easy to prepare lunch, Soup at Hand is great!

Read: Campbell’s Soup