From Megan: “I think I feel more compassion for people in the US than I did for the tsunami victims, simply because their country does not care about them, and neither does the rest of the world.”
Well said.
Year: 2005
Tracking the money
I am really disturbed by the incredibly large number of people who immediately scream “donate” when a major disaster like Hurricane Katrina occurs. Even worse are the individuals that also start criticising companies who do not immediately announce a relief effort. It’s as if an individual or company’s worth during a disaster is measured by how much money they can donate; either directly themselves, or indirectly by getting everyone else they know to donate. Here’s a post by Rex Hammock:
Perhaps symbolic of the collective delay in responding to Katrina has been how Amazon.com has responded. Universally praised for turning over its front page to tsunami relief almost immediately, Amazon.com did not add a donation link of any size to its front page until three days after the hurricane. Today, six days after, the dominant position of the Amazon.com front page is finally devoted to Katrina relief. This is not a criticism of Amazon’s response, rather a curious observation of how there was an apparent initial disbelief by lots of people that an unprecedented tragedy of historic proportions was unfolding. (I’ll reserve my criticism for Apple, who has hyped the Mighty Mouse in the dominant position all week.)
So he’s not criticising – but why say anything about Amazon.com’s delay at all? All a post like that does is perpetuate the myth that a disaster is an excellent time for a PR war. It’s sad.
I am more concerned that any money that is donated is actually being used for relief efforts. I don’t care that a major company hasn’t donated money – I care that the money other companies have already donated is being spent properly.
Here’s an idea for the future – a website that tracks the money! If two dollars is donated to the Red Cross for example, I should be able to go on the website and see where that two dollars was spent. It should be trivial to see if the billions of dollars that are donated in a disaster are actually spent accordingly. Unfortunately, I think we’re a long way from achieving this.
Helping Kim Move
Haven’t been around much the last couple days as I’ve been busy helping Kimmi move into residence at Grant MacEwan. It’s funny how you don’t realize just how much effort it takes, and just how much stuff you actually have. I don’t think I have ever owned as many clothes as Kim does right now!
The residence itself is very nice – minus the concrete floors that make your feet black. There is room for 900 students total in bachelor, two-bedroom and four-bedroom configurations, and the building is currently home to 600 students. I’d expect it to fill up pretty quickly though. Kim is in a two-bedroom, so she shares a bathroom and kitchenette with a roommate. They don’t have an oven, but they do have a stovetop and a microwave, and let’s be honest, you really only need a microwave anyway! You can see the pictures here.
There are some pretty strict rules about having guests and that sort of thing, so I am not sure how often I’ll actually be there. I also think it’s funny that they are only allowed to have 9 sleepovers per semester. What kind of number is that? Why not just make it an even ten? I don’t get it. At first I thought it was dumb to have such a rule at all, but then I remembered one of those facts of life that I look forward to one day when I am a father – you live under my roof, you live by my rules!
Read: Pictures
The MsgPlus Petition
I just got an alert in MSN Messenger saying that MsgPlus, the popular add-in which I have installed, needed my support. With my curiousity piqued, I clicked on the alert, and found myself at a petition page. From the explanation that precedes the actual petition letter:
In a recent update of Microsoft Anti-Spyware, the threat level of Messenger Plus! was lowered from 3/5 to 2/5, which was a good thing, however, the program itself, msgplus.exe, is now detected immediately at system startup or whenever run manually by the user, and the following message is displayed in bold red: “Warning, Messenger Plus! Software Bundler is trying to install!”. In addition to discouraging anybody in their right mind to click “Allow”, this message is, to put it simply, a lie. Messenger Plus! is not a “threat” and it certainly is not trying to “install itself on your computer”, it’s already been installed at this point and the program is just trying to run and do what the user expects it to do. Why is that important? because the main argument of Microsoft so far against this case has been “the policy of Microsoft Anti-Spyware is to flag all installers which bundle spyware/adware as being potentially dangerous”.
I really like MsgPlus, and I have been using it for a very long time. It is, in my opinion, one of the best software add-ins ever created, not just in terms of MSN Messenger, but in terms of all applications period. It integrates so smoothly and does exactly what you expect it to. I also really like Microsoft’s AntiSpyware. I used to be an Ad-Aware user, but I find AntiSpyware finds just as many threats, if not more, and integrates nicely into Windows XP. I also particularly like the warning messages and alerts that the program displays.
Having said all that, I can’t bring myself to sign the petition, and for a couple reasons. First off, MsgPlus does have the capability to install adware, so I don’t mind that AntiSpyware flags it as a potential threat. Secondly, I really don’t like how Patchou has positioned the petition as a “save MsgPlus” gimmick. I don’t believe for a second that AntiSpyware is enough of a problem to stop work on MsgPlus. Thirdly, and most importantly to me, I have run both applications side by side ever since AntiSpyware was released by Microsoft. The first time I ran a scan, it flagged MsgPlus, and I simply told AntiSpyware to always ignore it. I have never, ever encountered a problem, nor has MsgPlus ever been flagged again. I suppose another reason is that looking at this from Microsoft’s side, caving in to the demands of one developer could mean problems with other developers. Pretty soon all the effort is placed on appeasing developers instead of protecting consumers.
So that’s why I am not signing the petition. I am surprised to see that since August 17th, there have been 82,498 signatures. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.
Read: MsgPlus Petition
AlbertaSpirit – 100 Years!
It was a day of celebration in Alberta today, as the province celebrated it’s 100th birthday. I just got back from the AlbertaSpirit party, dubbed “The Party of the Century Event” (my crappy pictures are here). Hosted by figure skating legend Kurt Browning, the party featured:
There is something for everyone in this family affair as Alberta’s birthday gets into full swing. An evening of great entertainment will finish with a spectacular fireworks display. Entertainment includes: The Emeralds, Barrage, Adam Gregory, Bobby Curtola, the Kupalo Dancers and the Shumka Dancers.
Unfortunately we only made it down to the legislature grounds in time for the fireworks, which were extremely impressive! There was so many people there, and all around downtown Edmonton for that matter. I couldn’t help but wonder as we walked back what it was like in New Orleans when the hurricane first hit. In the incredible throngs of people tonight I lost my bearings, and everyone was in a jubilent mood – not a state of fear. Scary thought.
In any case, our province is now a century old. Happy Birthday Alberta!
Read: Alberta Centennial
Mayhem in New Orleans
I just can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like in New Orleans right now. I complain about gas jumping a dime today here in Edmonton, meanwhile in New Orleans:
National Guard troops moved in force into this storm-ravaged city today as state and local officials struggled to reverse a growing sense of anarchy sparked by reports of armed looters, bodies floating untended in stagnant floodwaters, and food and water supplies dwindling for thousands of trapped and desperate residents.
Absolutely crazy. And the pictures are pretty intense too, just take a peek at Flickr.
Read: New York Times
Sharon – proof she's a gamer at heart!
You might recall that a few weeks ago I posted about how our good friend Sharon is a closet gamer. To refresh your memory:
When Sharon took the controls to play, it was like I had stepped into an alternate universe! She was so masterful at the famous side-scroller, she knew where all the coins and mushrooms and flowers were, all the secret passages, everything. Not only did she know the features of the game like the back of her hand, she had the timing down pat. And her hand-eye coordination was surprisingly good. In fact, she played so hard and so well, that I saw her head bob to the music. It was nuts!
Well, now I have more than simple text – I have a couple of photos! In the first, you can see Sharon is holding the NES controller. In the second, you can see she’s actually playing Mario. Enjoy!
Upgraded to CS 1.1
I upgraded my blog to the new version of Community Server this afternoon. If you encounter any problems, let me know. Also, if you’re upgrading your own CS installation from 1.0 to 1.1, and you use the MetaBlog API, here is the download. For some reason, the CS and Telligent sites still link to the old version.
Read: Community Server
Xbox 360 Stores
Looks like Microsoft is getting serious about the Xbox 360 launch, with rumors of plans for two new Xbox 360 stores:
Looks like Microsoft is the last to get into the game with plans to open an Xbox 360 store in New York City’s Times Square. At least, rumour has it that they’re looking into prime real estate for that purpose. And by prime they may indeed truly mean prime, as in the 18,000 square-foot space that is One Times Square.
And the second store, in Tokyo:
The timing couldn’t be any better on this one — ITmedia snapped some pics of the construction shielding surrounding what they suppose is an Xbox 360 store.
I don’t know why a console needs its own store, and such a big one at that, but you have to admit it’s pretty cool 🙂
Read: Engadget
Kim is Back
Kimmi arrived safe and sound back in Edmonton tonight. Just in time too, as she told me that it is supposed to snow in Inuvik tomorrow! A few of us are planning to go see Red Eye tomorrow night at SouthEdCommon, probably the later show (10:40 PM). If you want to come, call me!
MasterMaq's Blog 