Month: May 2006

NAIT to be Canada's largest tech school

Post ImageAccording to an article in today’s Edmonton Journal, it appears that the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology is planning to spend a ton of cash in an effort to become one of North America’s largest technical schools. The project sounds fairly ambitious:

A brand-new campus twice the size of the current main campus will be built somewhere in the south side, and the main campus in north-central Edmonton will be expanded to include a “student village” with residences and possibly an LRT station.

Over the next 25 to 30 years, NAIT’s other eight locations in the Edmonton area, such as Souch campus at Gateway Boulevard and 71st Avenue, will be consolidated into the two main sites.

The $750-million project will attempt to increase enrolment to 95,000 students from the 65,000 to help in easing Alberta’s “critical shortage of skilled workers.” One of the highlights is a new Centre for Health and Wellness, to be completed as early as 2009, that will include a fitness centre, aquatic facilities, and a health clinic.

I admit I was a little surprised when I first read the article, but I think it’s great that all of our educational institutions are expanding, and not just the University. This project probably wouldn’t have been possible a few years ago, when the south LRT extensions had not been approved – the south side campus is a reflection of the direction Edmonton’s growth is heading, and in fact has been heading for quite some time.

I’m looking forward to seeing how this project unfolds. It’s too bad they didn’t announce it a couple months ago, when they could have been featured in some of the Edmonton real-estate and growth publications!

Read: Edmonton Journal

REVIEW: Windows Media Player 11 Beta

Post ImageAs I mentioned a few days ago, I recently downloaded and installed the new Windows Media Player 11 beta to test it out. I use WMP almost all day, every day, so it’s an important application for me, and I’d say I am somewhat qualified to offer a review.

Let’s start with the bad shall we? Importing the 20,000 or so items from my WMP10 library took a very long time, so installation wasn’t incredibly quick. The installer also offered to setup a music store, so I chose Urge, the brand new MTV-sponsored service. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work outside of the United States (when will companies launch things for Canada and the US simultaneously, I mean seriously!). Missing from this beta are the visualizations that would not support full screen controls, thus my favorite (“Plenoptic Vox”) is nowhere to be found. Also missing is the ability to browse for a single file and add it to the library – the only ways to do this now are by monitoring folders, or playing a file and setting the player to automatically add played items. All of the auto-playlists I had in WMP 10 are gone, except the ones I had created manually, and they are now combined with normal playlists in the tree. Album art is everywhere in WMP11, but it seems to be quite slow at downloading it.

Some of those things are really annoying (such as not being able to add a single file) but they aren’t deal-breakers as far as I am concerned. And fortunately, the good is well, really good. I would upgrade to WMP11 for the new search capability alone – it is light years beyond previous versions! As soon as you start typing, WMP11 finds matching artists, songs, and albums (in the Music tab anyway) and displays them instantly. In WMP10, any search would take at least a minute to complete, it was brutal. Aside from the search, the new UI is absolutely beautiful. I love the layout, the colors, the graphics, all of it! The look of the player is a huge improvement over previous versions. The organization is better too – there is a really defined distinction between Music, Video, Pictures, Recorded TV, and Other. The most beautiful part of all: icons for albums, artists and songs, meaning you can display items in a details list, or with tiles. It looks great! I like the black mini-player on the taskbar too.

Here are some other things to note:

  • Synchronization with my Zen Touch worked flawlessly, and no settings were lost from WMP10. I really like the new Sync UI too, much more clear.
  • Using the player effectively really means using the search functionality. I find myself going to the tree on the left to find an artist, only to realize they aren’t listed there anymore! Once I get used to typing in the search box, I’ll probably find I navigate much more quickly than with the tree anyway.
  • I haven’t tested ripping or burning in the new version, but I would expect them to work very similarly to previous versions.
  • The visualizations seem really buggy on my three display setup. Sometimes they work fine full-screen, other times they jump to a different monitor, it’s very strange.
  • The player has crashed on me maybe three or four times so far. Sometimes it seems to slow up for a second or two, but it’s fairly solid for the most part.
  • I am not sure if WMP11 updated Windows Media Connect or not, because the service uses an insane amount of memory. Maybe I just didn’t notice it from before? WMP11 itself only uses about 25 MB when I have music playing with the window open, and even less when minimized.

Some people, notably Todd Cochrane, are upset that WMP11 does not contain any podcasting features. I don’t think it makes a big difference – podcasting is going to grow with or without Microsoft baking support into WMP. And I would argue that Todd would end up using something else anyway, as any podcasting support in WMP11 would probably be incredibly basic.

My verdict: wait for the final release. There’s still too many bugs in this beta for most people to use it, but I think WMP11 is going to be awesome. I’ve been using the beta nonstop for a few days now, and overall I am quite impressed. I’d love to see it on Windows Vista too, but that will have to wait for another day.

Read: WMP11 Beta

Five wins to go!

Post ImageFor anyone not currently in Edmonton, the Oilers won again tonight, defeating the Ducks by a score of 5-4. If you’re in Edmonton, you can no doubt hear the cheering and honking from wherever you are reading this! The game ended up being much too close, as the Oilers fell asleep and blew a four goal lead. That said, we’re only five wins away from bringing the cup home baby, back home to the City of Champions!

  • Tonight’s game was Chris Pronger’s 100th playoff game.
  • Toby Peterson scored the first goal tonight, his first ever playoff goal.
  • Steve Staios also scored his first ever playoff goal tonight.
  • The Ducks have lost 13 consecutive games in Edmonton, dating back to Feb. 24, 1999.
  • Tonight was the seventh consecutive playoff sellout for the Oilers.
  • Before the game, anthem singer Paul Lorieau pointed his microphone to the crowd as they sang O Canada.
  • Anaheim has outshot Edmonton in all three games of the series.
  • Peca has scored a goal in four straight games and has points in his last six.
  • NHL commissioner Gary Bettman took in the game and got a mix of cheers and boos when his visit was announced on the JumboTron.

For more on tonight’s game, check out NHL.com and EdmontonOilers.com.

Let’s go Oilers, let’s go! Hopefully Thursday’s game is much less stressful than tonight’s.

WestJet is great at the details!

Post ImageOn my recent trip to Toronto, I flew there on WestJet and back on Air Canada. I didn’t specify that arrangement, it’s just the way our travel agent ended up booking the trip. From now on though, I think I’ll specify WestJet. I think I have preferred WestJet to Air Canada for quite some time now, but it wasn’t until this last trip that I actually reflected on why. I think it’s because WestJet does a better job of the details than Air Canada, you know, the little things.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s lots of other reasons that WestJet is better. You know, lower price, a TV in front of every seat, no business class (as far as I know), and well, they are almost always on time. Even on this last trip our WestJet flight arrived on time while the Air Canada flight was late – a good half hour late. Despite these things however, I think the details are more important:

  • WestJet flights have normal headphone jacks! There’s a reason I have expensive, noise-cancelling headphones, and I can use them on WestJet. Air Canada, for some reason, does not have standard headphone jacks meaning you have to use their crappy ones.
  • Ever laugh on an Air Canada flight? It’s rare, I know. With WestJet, the crew always seems happy and usually make a few jokes at the beginning and end of the flight. Goes a long way to keeping everyone happy.
  • Comfortable leather chairs on WestJet, uncomfortable cloth on Air Canada.
  • I love how the controls (light, air, etc) are easily reachable on a WestJet flight, while they are impossibly far away on Air Canada – instead of being right overhead, they are above the seat in front of me almost!
  • I like getting a Coke on the flight. What I don’t like, is having to wait til the very end of the flight to get rid of my can and/or cup! On WestJet, the crew comes by a reasonable time after handing out the drinks to pickup the garbage. They never came on the Air Canada flight, I had to shove my can into the hand of the lady picking up their awkward headphones.
  • Part of the problem on Air Canada with the garbage is that they don’t have enough crew members! I counted three, and one seemed to be serving business class exclusively. WestJet on the other hand has four, all serving the entire plane.

Now perhaps some of the things I have mentioned are more related to the type of plane and less to the airline. Regardless, that means WestJet still picked better planes, and thus do a better job of minding the details.

What do you think? Do you prefer WestJet or Air Canada?

Notes for 5/21/2006

It’s great to be back in Edmonton where the weather is nice! Man that rain crap in Toronto sucked. Here are my weekly notes:

  • After winning both games in Anaheim, I am now more sure than ever that the Oilers are gonna sweep the series at home! Go Oilers Go!
  • What do you know, Nelly Furtado got even skankier. Mere hours after my last post, she made an appearance as the musical guest on SNL and wore even less than she does in the video!
  • Now this my friends, is scientific research. Darren Barefoot tackles the question of just how many blades we really need! Awesome post, seriously, check it out.
  • Turns out lactic acid buildup in your muscles is a good thing, not a bad thing.
  • I recently installed the new Windows Media Player 11 beta. Although they are missing some really great features from 10 (hopefully just because this is beta) I would say the upgrade is entirely worth it for the updated search functionality alone. It’s LIGHT YEARS beyond the previous versions, I love it.
  • Did you know they are selling episodes of ’24’ on MySpace? That site continues to amaze me.
  • Went and saw Over the Hedge last night – awesome movie! So worth it. I’ll probably review it later.

Nelly Furtado wants to be Britney!

Post ImageTo be more specific, she wants to be like the old Britney. Sounds kind of crazy right? I can make a pretty good case for it though! Look at her new single and its video, “Promiscuous”, for example. It’s chalk full of sexually suggestive lyrics and dancing, scantily clad club-goers, selective lighting, and that kind of singing voice that Britney made famous (you know, the really sensual one where she almost sounds out of breath). Nelly herself sports a bare midriff and tight dresses throughout the video as she gyrates next to Timbaland. And here’s the kicker – Justin Timberlake makes an appearance for some reason at the end of the video!

As some of you might know, I loved the old Britney, before she went crazy. Anyway, Nelly Furtado is not, and cannot be, Britney Spears. Britney always had the bare midriff, while Nelly seems to have forgotten that she used to be against that sort of thing! Here’s what she said a few years ago, about an FHM magazine:

There I am with a shirt that has actually been digitally altered to go to just below my chest, with a stomach that I don’t recognize. I don’t like being misrepresented to my fans. You work hard to represent a certain thing and have a certain image, and somebody can take it all away with the cover of a magazine.

Or Nelly, you can destroy it yourself with one music video. What a load of crap your appearance on MuchMusic’s “Too Hot or Not?” show must have been. I’m more than happy to say that if you’ve got it, and you want to flaunt it, more power to you, but not when you were so against the same thing only a few years prior!

As I said before, I really like the new song, and I’m looking forward to the new album. I for one am glad that Nelly has abandoned her old musical style for something much more commercially-viable, because I found her tendency to sound very nasal annoying. That said however, I am a little put off by her blatant “Britney” rip-off.

Hockey Hall of Fame

Post ImageAs I mentioned previously, Dickson and I went to the Hockey Hall of Fame yesterday while we were in Toronto. It was pretty cool to be Edmonton Oiler fans from Edmonton the day after we secured our spot in the Western Conference finals at the hall of fame for the great sport of hockey! I ended up posting 56 pictures of my trip, which you can check out at Flickr.

So like I said, I somehow thought the place would be bigger, area-wise. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still pretty big, just not the size I envisioned. There is a section for the IIHF and international hockey, the main trophy room, a section for NHL dynastys, a Legends section (with people like Gretzky), a local hockey section, a broadcast section, a historic merchandise section, a Montreal Canadians section, and a “shooting game” section. There’s also a couple of theatres, and a fairly large gift shop. I think I most enjoyed the dynasty section and the legends section, lots of really interesting stuff.

We got to the hall of fame around 11 AM, and there wasn’t that many people there. By the time we left, a large group of students had arrived and were creating quite a ruckus. The website says the average visit length is three hours, but were only there a little longer than an hour. I guess if you read everything and took in one of the shows in the theatres, you could be there quite a while.

I quite enjoyed my visit to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and I’d suggest that any hockey fan who gets the chance should check out it.

Toronto Trip Day 4

So we’re back in Edmonton now, after a very delayed flight – more on that in another post. We actually woke up fairly early this morning and made our way in the rain to the Hockey Hall of Fame. I took around 60 pictures or so, which I’ll post tomorrow for your viewing pleasure. The place was awesome, though not as physically big as I expected. It’s a must-see for any hockey fan. The guy at the front was happy to see some Edmonton fans from Edmonton given our big win last night.

After the HHOF, we walked around downtown for a bit, eventually making our way to Starbucks on the corner of Bay and Queen, where a hobo (and I use the term not in a derogatory way, but highly descriptive) with lots of fruit was sleeping on the sidewalk right next to the road. I have a picture of this too, he was right in the middle of everything! Dickson said “have some respect” when I started taking the picture, and I replied “I would if he had any respect for himself”. I mean seriously, find an enclave or something to sleep in.

With the very depressing weather and not a single local able to point us in the direction of a movie theater, we decided to beat rush hour and hop on the shuttle to the airport where we spent the next few hours using the free Internet in the Expedia.ca cafe. And after that, we made it home. So not an incredibly eventful day, but it was nice.

Vista Upgrade Advisor Beta Released

Post ImageWondering if your computer can run Windows Vista? Now you can find out. Microsoft has launched a beta version of its Vista Upgrade Advisor tool that will help you decide what version of Vista you can run.

The Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor is a small beta application that you can run on your current Windows XP-based computer to find out if it’s ready for an upgrade to Windows Vista. When you run the Upgrade Advisor, it will scan your computer and generate an easy-to-understand report of any known system and device compatibility issues, along with recommendations on how you can get your PC ready for Windows Vista. Microsoft plans to add functionality to Upgrade Advisor, such as checking how your software applications will run with Windows Vista.

I haven’t tried it out yet because the Internet here in the expedia.ca cafe at Pearson isn’t all that fast (but it’s free, so thats good) but I will when I get back. They have also released the minimum requirements for Vista.

Read: Microsoft.com

Toronto Trip Day 3

So it turns out that we slept in far longer than anticipated today, so we’re going to see the Hockey Hall of Fame tomorrow instead. We pretty much relaxed this afternoon, especially since it was pouring outside. We went with Ashish to see the off broadway production of Lord of The Rings tonight, which was pretty good! We even got bumped up to better seats because a group order cancelled at the last minute. Dickson said he has seen better shows before, and I don’t have much to compare it with, but it was good. The only bad part was that we missed the Oiler game.

I’ve been reading this evening about The Da Vinci Code and all the protests that are going on around the world. Seriously, people need to get a life. Quit creating problems and controversy where this none – this is a movie, a work of fiction, entertainment! Nothing more! Jon Stewart did a good job of poking fun at the situation, saying an association of albinos were protesting, etc. Watch it if you get the chance!

We’re back tomorrow night, arriving in Edmonton around 11 PM. I’m looking forward to getting back to work, and getting Podcast Spot released.