Category: Uncategorized

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.

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

Google Wifi in San Francisco

Post ImageIt seems that Google has officially submitted a bid to the city of San Francisco to build a city-wide free wireless Internet service. Om Malik broke the story late yesterday, noting:

Google officials say San Francisco residents (and visitors) will enjoy a free 300 kilobits per second, always on connection anywhere in the city. As part of its proposal, the company says it will be offering wholesale access to other service providers, who will offer higher throughput connections to their customers. Google says it plans to use its own authentication services. (That explains the Google WiFi VPN client to some extent). The company is going to use San Diego-based WFI, a cellular network builder company to build out the WiFi network.

There have been rumblings about this for weeks, and people claim to have discovered test networks in other cities too. So upon hearing the news, the first thing I thought was that Google is going to fulfill my vision of wireless everywhere by building free wifi networks in cities around the world! Not so, according to a New York Times article on the story published earlier today:

“Offering a free service like this is a great way to support the Bay Area,” said Chris Sacca, a new-business development executive at Google. “We don’t have any plans outside of the Bay Area.”

While that kind of sucks, I am not holding my breath. I am sure if they see any value in providing the service at all, they’d reconsider opening it to other cities too. And even if that doesn’t turn out to be the case, perhaps other companies will take a cue from Google and build their own networks.

Read: CNET News.com

This message is for…

Post ImageBillie Joe Armstrong, who said:

Wake Me Up When September Ends…

Well, it’s now October, so wake up!

If you’ve seen the video for that song, you know how intense it is. So intense that the first couple times I saw it, I didn’t realize there was a fourth guy on stage with Green Day. Naturally, I started to wonder who it could be, and I found the answer on Wikipedia:

Jason White from the Lookout! band Pinhead Gunpowder has been touring with Green Day since their “Warning” tour in 2000. He plays second guitar on songs from that album and ‘American Idiot’. He is a very close friend of the band for years and is co-founder of Adeline Records with Billie Joe. While making Warning: Green Day used him to help them in the studio.

In 2005 White played with Green Day in their video, “Wake Me Up When September Ends“—the first time that any musician outside the trio appeared as a performer in a Green Day video. He can also be seen in the “When I Come Around” video (making out with a girl next to a car in front of a pig). White was also seen with Green Day on Saturday Night Live during their guest performance in 2005.

Amazing what you can find on the ‘net if you only just look.

Read: Green Day

REVIEW: Come And Get It – Rachel Stevens

Post ImageWere you an S Club 7 fan? Me either! Regardless, my last review of the week is on the upcoming album from former S Club 7’er Rachel Stevens. Her new disc is called “Come And Get It”, and features the singles “I Said Never Again” and “So Good”. It’s a typical studio release at 12 tracks and a total running time of not quite 45 minutes, but it’s also a great collection of music.

I challenge you to listen to the album and tell me that it didn’t make you want to get up and start dancing! That’s right, I said CHALLENGE! Anyway, “Come And Get It” is full of electronic-pop-dance tracks so if that’s not your thing, you won’t like the album. Otherwise, you’ll probably enjoy listening to it! Every song is upbeat and happy, even “I Will Be There” and “It’s All About Me” which are probably the slowest songs on the disc. My favorites are definitely “So Good” and “I Said Never Again”, but “Negotiate With Love” and “Every Little Thing” also stood out for me. You know the more I think about it, the more I like “I Said Never Again”. It’s just one of those songs that you could listen to on repeat. It’s one of those songs that is as appropriate for the club and dance floors as it is for a major sporting event. It’s also begging for a remix.

The “I Said Never Again” single is available on October 3rd, and as far as I can tell the full album drops on October 10th, so definitely check it out. It’s good enough to earn a 7/10 from me!

Read: Rachel Stevens

UofA Heads Downtown

Post ImageWell it’s official! The proposal from the University of Alberta to purchase the aging Hudson’s Bay building in downtown Edmonton was unanimously approved by the University’s Board of Governors today. From today’s Edmonton Journal:

Gary Kachanoski, the U of A’s vice-president of research, said the deal would harnesses the intellectual and research power of the university to establish Edmonton and the surrounding area as the next knowledge-based sector in North America. The total cost of buying the building and refurbishing it will be about $62 million.

Of the city’s money, $7.5 million will go towards renovating the former Hudson’s Bay building to house the TEC Centre – which will give affordable space on the building’s third floor, and eventually its second floor, to fledgling technology-based companies. The University of Alberta will match that amount.

Sounds like they want to get things moving quickly too. If the purchase goes through successfully, construction will begin this fall with the first tenants moving in sometime in the next 12 to 18 months.

As I have said before, I think the deal is excellent for the University and for Edmonton’s downtown. I’m really glad the deal is going go through!

Read: Edmonton Journal

Winamp Supports Podcasts

Post ImagePodcasting News is reporting today that popular music player Winamp has added support for podcasting in their new version, 5.1:

WinAmp lets users play music and video files, features a media library, SHOUTcast radio and TV, skins, visualizations and an integrated podcast directory.

I don’t use Winamp, so the new feature doesn’t really make a difference to me. Except, it means Winamp and iTunes both support podcasts now, so it begs the question:

How long until Windows Media Player supports podcasting?

My guess is sooner rather than later.

Read: Winamp