We just posted two new shows at BlogosphereRadio.com. One is a new episode of The Vlog, called “Musical Interruptions”, in which Andrew and I talk about Bryan Adams, Avril Lavigne and tips for camping. Oh and Dickson makes a guest appearance near the end too.

The second new episode is from Blogging With, and I interview Jeremy Wright. Jeremy recently sold his blog for $15,000 USD and in the episode he talks to us about the sale. It’s really quite interesting, and Jeremy was very fun to chat with!

Listen to “Musical Interruptions”
Listen to “Blogging With…Jeremy C. Wright”

Okay we have finally decided on the details for this Saturday’s semi-formal/formal dinner event! Although they do not take reservations (the only thing we didn’t offer was renting the entire place, morons) we have a plan. And if for some reason, they create problems, I’ll make a scene and we’ll take our business elsewhere! Don’t get me wrong though, sounds likely we’ll get tables okay.

WHO: All of you!
WHAT: Dinner with friends
WHERE: Joey’s Global Grill, 9911-19 Ave. South Edmonton Common
WHEN: Saturday, October 2nd, 2004 at 7 PM
WHY: To have a good time and go fancier than BP’s for a change!

Keep in mind this is a no jeans event! Dress nice for a change 😛 If you have any questions or whatever, post them here or email/call me.

Here is a News.com article which proclaims that the Internet fails to shine for ‘silver surfers’:

“Silver surfers”–Internet users older than 60–are coming online in growing numbers, raising questions about the need for improved Internet access. Better accessibility and functions aren’t necessarily right around the corner, but the rewards they promise are great. One likely advance: tools for people taking multiple medications and seeing several doctors, functionality that could help prevent accidental deaths.

You want better accessibility? Make Internet TVs. That is, televisions that can access the Internet via a remote control. In my experience, almost all seniors consistently prove two things: they are scared of computers, and they sure know how to sit around and watch TV.

Are seniors going to sit at a computer and sign into an instant messenger to receive alerts from their doctor about the medication they are taking? I doubt it, but I bet picture-in-picture alerts would work! Of course, I mean current seniors. In another 30 years, our seniors will be more technologically inclined as they will have spent the good majority of their younger life with technology.

Read: CNET News.com

Just as I am about to get off the computer to go to sleep and watch Leno, I see this article, which says:

NBC announced Monday that Conan O’Brien will take over from Jay Leno as host of the Tonight show. But he’ll have time to write his jokes — the planned succession won’t happen until 2009.

Interesting indeed! I really like both Leno and Conan, so it will be kinda neat to see the transition made five years from now. Really shows how volatile late nite television is too, making announcements five years in advance…

Read: Canoe

For those of you lucky enough to have satellite and the G4techTV network, you’ll get your fix of NHL hockey regardless of the strike:

The network, formed last year from the merger of video game specialist G4 and foundering technology channel TechTV, said it will start airing virtual matches Oct. 13, the day the season would normally start. G4 players will play out all 1,230 regular season games, if necessary, G4 said in a statement, with results and highlights recapped nightly on the sports-themed show “Sweat.”

Sounds good to me! Apparently they haven’t yet decided which game to use – EA’s NHL 2005 or Sega’s ESPN NHL 2K5.

Read: CNET News.com

Everyone’s favorite search engine, Google, has made some expansions lately that take it well beyond search technology. In addition to their Groups, News, Images, and Froogle, the company also now owns Blogger and Picasa. There are also rumblings about a Google Browser and a Google Instant Messaging service.

Since they are a public company now, many people have argued that the expansions are all in an attempt to increase the breadth of their ad network and main revenue source. And perhaps they are right. Yet here is a very interesting post which argues that Google has reached a plateau in terms of the number of web pages it can index.

So maybe the real reason they have essentially stopped major search engine development is because they simply can’t continue. Wouldn’t that be interesting – Google limited by its own success! Sounds sort of like Microsoft and Internet Explorer. Could Microsoft or Yahoo, both of which are spending loads of money on search development, be the Firefox of the future? Maybe they don’t walk on water at Google after all…

Since I am almost Chinese anyways, I tend to follow news regarding China. Actually the real reason is that I am really interested in how China will integrate itself into the world markets as it becomes a world power. The transition to capitalist continues….

Here are some links that are worth reading:

• Viacom Expands in China – interesting because they own popular western franchises like MTV
• China’s Minmetals in talks to buy Canadian miner – economy must be good for Chinese firms to expand overseas
• China’s GDP to grow 9 percent – yep economy looks good indeed
• China leaders warn of corruption – trouble in communist land?
• China to establish oil storage system – already they are the world’s second largest oil consumer
• Barrichello wins inaugural Grand Prix of China – tons of investment and great success: a sign of things to come for the Olympics?
• Hu done it – interesting comments on power in China

Tons of interesting stuff out there on China. Their situation is indeed fascinating.

Today I did a quick Google search and eliminated another reason for using Internet Explorer. I use NewsGator as my feed aggregator as it plugs into Outlook and works extremely well. I love how I can drag mail and news items into the same folder, very handy. The only problem was that the ‘Subscribe in NewsGator’ feature was only available in IE, not in Firefox.

Well I found this post from stuandgravy that links to a Firefox extension (right click, save as, then Open File in Firefox) that adds exactly that feature. Now I don’t have to copy the link to the feed, open up Outlook, and manually add the feed to NewsGator. Awesome!

Basically the only two reasons I have for using IE now are Windows Update, and to make sure websites I design work in both browsers. Otherwise, its Firefox for me!

Yesterday we celebrated Michelle’s 20th birthday (a little belated, but thats okay). There was a ton of people there, you’re so popular Michelle 😉 It was good fun!

We went to Asian Grill House downtown, to have “hot pot”. I had never had this before, but basically each table has a small grill and a small boiler and you cook the food yourself. So you go up buffet style to get the raw meat, then you take it back to your table and cook it up. (They do have a select amount of precooked food.) Chu was a beast man, he must have cooked an entire cow in that boiler, and he just kept going!

It was a rather interesting experience! Dickson is a professional cook, knew exactly what to do with all the food and sauces. And Andrew is a damn white man. He even used a fork! Anyway, good times and happy birthday Michelle! You can see some pictures here.

Last night Kim and I went to see The Forgotten. The original preview looked like a typical sort of crazy movie – woman loses her son and her mind at the same time. However, it was the later previews that really piqued my interest. You know, the one where the guy falling out of the building gets sucked up into the air. Needless to say, I was looking forward to this movie.

Let me start by saying this is a really well-made psychological thriller. I think there are elements of the movie that are somewhat Matrix-esque but they are largely ignored. While I am quite certain they won’t make a sequel, I think there is enough material to make a franchise out of the story. Though, I suppose without giving too much away, the X-Files has that covered.

The movie stars Julianne Moore as Telly, a mother who has lost her son Sam. She teams up with Ash, played by Dominic West, who lost his daughter on the same ill-fated flight. Or did they? The bulk of the story is spent around these two trying to convince people that they are not crazy. Then the NSA starts chasing them, and no one knows why. Things just get progressively worse from there.

I don’t want to give away the story, so I will simply say that it will freak you out. The movie has been made in such a way that you become really attached to the characters, feeling their pain, when right out of left field comes the scary parts. And it works every time, you get sucked into a relaxed mode, feeling sad for the character, then you get the living crap scared out of you. It’s quite a fun ride actually!

The lighting and sounds in the movie only adds to the eery effect. And the casting was done really well. Julianne Moore is convincing as both a crazy woman, and an amateur investigator. Her doctor, played by Gary Sinise, is at times both reassuring and scary. I am not sure who plays the “bad guy” but the look of him was just scary. Every time he was on camera, you got chills.

If you’re looking for a good scary movie without the blood, guts and gore, this one is for you. I really enjoyed it and left the theater feeling like my $14 was worth it. And really, what else can you ask for? Especially in the slower post-summer movie season. Anyway, I would recommend The Forgotten!