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!

The Killers are a relatively new rock group, coming on to the scene within the last few months. Their debut album, titled “Hot Fuss”, includes 11 tracks with a total playing time of 46:32 – good to see a decently timed album (of course its not the possible 80 minutes, but hey).

You have undoubtedly heard the first single from the album, “Somebody Told Me”. You know, the one someone told him that you had a boyfriend that looked like a girlfriend that he had in February of last year? Yep, I knew you had heard it.

The other tracks on the album all have the same kind of sound, if not the same catchy lyrics. The first time I listened to the album I was less than impressed, I felt very much that the first single was really the only hit off the album. After listening to it a few more times, I guess you could say I am not entirely convinced anymore. There are some really great songs, like “Smile Like You Mean It” and “Indie Rock and Roll”.

For the most part however, I think most people will just like the first single and ignore the rest. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think comparatively there are much better rock albums out there right now. I will say however, that the band’s sound is definitely unique, and so it can be refreshing to listen to something different once in a while.

Guess who the blogosphere’s newest blogger is? Yep, Kimmi now has a blog!

Check it out at http://kimberly.eclecticblogs.ca.

So far the response to the site has been very positive and encouraging! And although it has only been two days, we have learned a lot already. For example, we learned that one of our servers needs more RAM, so we’re getting on that right away.

I didn’t think enclosures would be such a big thing, but I have gotten a number of requests and suggestions. So all of our RSS feeds now include enclosures (of the MP3 files, not WMA). The only thing I don’t like about enclosures is that I can’t include a download in the count that appears on episode pages (I tested a redirect page, but it didn’t work).

It was a very last minute decision to include MP3 streaming, so when the site launched we didn’t have MP3 downloads. I received a few requests for that feature as well, so you can now download in MP3 format as well.

Glad to see people are enjoying the site and offering suggestions, keep it up!

In case you missed it, Michelle has changed the location for her dinner this Saturday. It is now at Asian Grill House on 107th avenue and 96th street. Full details here.

See you there!

Ah big news in the music industry (if you care about those two ladies anyway). Britney Spears got married on the 18th of September and according to BritneySpears.com the Friday, September 24th issue of People Magazine will have all the details on the wedding and the couple’s plans.

Guess who’s on the cover of Maxim for October!? That’s right, Avril Lavigne. Looks good doesn’t she? Check it out here. Now to buy the magazine…

This has to be some kind of record. We launched BlogosphereRadio.com last night at around 6:40 PM and it was linked by Scoble at about 9:00 AM this morning! Now I am interested to see if the effect is as big as they say…

Today I am pleased to announce the launch of BlogosphereRadio.com! This is a project that has been in the works for some time now, but I think its finally ready for people to start kicking the tires a bit. In short, BlogosphereRadio.com is a combination of blogs and Internet radio. We are starting with three shows:

• Blogosphere News – a news show covering the latest happenings in the blogosphere
• The Vlog – a verbal blog created and voiced by myself and Andrew
• Blogging With… – an interview show where we talk to people from around the blogosphere

While BlogosphereRadio.com will probably always be a work in progress, the site already has a number of features, such as:

• Content streaming in Windows Media and MP3 formats
• Both RSS and Atom feeds, site wide as well as show specific
• Forums for people to discuss the shows and give feedback/suggestions/etc
• The ability to rate each show out of five stars
• The ability to be notified of new shows via LiveMessage Alerts

So there you have it! Please check out the site, and let us know what you think either in the comments here or in the forums. Instead of creating a separate blog just for site news, I’ll post the infrequent news items we have to my BlogosphereRadio category (RSS).

I hope you enjoy BlogosphereRadio.com as much as we have enjoyed creating it!