Tag: mastermaq

Website Changes

Unless you read my blog in an aggregator of some sort, you probably noticed an updated color scheme and picture on my website today. I was getting bored with the blue so I decided to change it. I also tweaked things a bit so that it’s easier to change this sort of thing in the future. Thanks to everyone who has commented on the look already – some of you like the changes, some of you don’t. The picture is a little too formal for my tastes, so my Dad has agreed to take some new ones for me when he’s in town in a couple weeks.

I also added a find me online feature recently. Basically it’s a list of links to my various profiles around the web. I haven’t done it yet, but I am going to clean up the sidebar as well. It’s horribly out of date, and I think I could be using the space better.

Any other feedback, suggestions, or requests?

Notes for 11/12/2006

It’s Sunday, which means time for notes!

  • Yesterday was Remembrance Day. Just another Remembrance Day. I agree with Darren – this holiday/event/day/ritual is stale. We need to somehow breathe new life into it.
  • Tom was up from Red Deer with a friend for the weekend to visit. It was nice to see him! We sure played a lot of Xbox 360 this weekend. He totally schooled me in NHL 2K7…I’ll have to practice for the rematch.
  • Speaking of video games, Engadget has a really great coverage roundup post for the three newest consoles.
  • Last night my good friends Jane and Andrew celebrated their birthdays in a joint dinner at The Mongolie Grill. I had never been there before, and while the food was good, the service sucked. Here are some pictures from the dinner. Looking at them just now, I realize I don’t look very open and positive – my arms are crossed in almost every one!
  • At first I wondered why NBC gave the green light to a full season of “Studio 60”. Then it hit me: they’ve got nothing better! That said, Mark Cuban makes a good point. If funny videos like Mentos in Diet Coke are the future (and maybe they are), why is Google/YouTube spending money to license content? The answer is that right now, they need it. Crappy as it might be, millions of people still watch “Studio 60”, and advertisers are all about eyeballs.
  • The Xmas season officially started for me with the arrival of Starbuck’s red cups this past week.

Three years of blogging…

It was three years ago today that I started this blog. And after three years of posting I can honestly say that I enjoy it more now than I did when I began.

A few days ago Darren had an interesting post where he looked a bunch of popular blogger’s very first posts. They aren’t what you’d expect in a lot of cases. My first post was fairly introductory, but that’s because I actually had a different blog for a month before this one got started. Unfortunately, it has been lost (at least I can’t find it anywhere), and that’s why I consider this one the start of my blogging career.

Sounds funny doesn’t it, a blogging career? Well call it what you will, I’m just getting started!

Notes for 11/5/2006

Before I get started with this week’s notes, I have to mention the MacT Relief Fund. Yes, you can make a donation to help MacT, the head coach of the Oilers who was fined $10,000 for his comments about McGeough’s blunder the other night. Fittingly, if MacT doesn’t want the money, it will go to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. It sickens me that McGeough is getting off so easy. His actions the other night simply are not acceptable for a professional level official. By doing nothing, the NHL is basically saying that it’s okay for officials to make calls without a clear view, from locations on the ice where you couldn’t possibly see the play. It completely sucks, and fining MacT is not the right course of action.

Mini Review: The Prestige
Sharon and I went to see The Prestige last night. I enjoyed it, but you have to pay attention. The film jumps around quite a bit, so at times it is hard to tell what is present day, and what is happening in the past. I totally didn’t figure it out until the very end though, so I was happy about that. Of course, once the movie is over, you feel like an idiot because the clues were there the whole time. David Bowie really impressed me, despite having a fairly small part. On the whole, I’d give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Notes for 10/29/2006

Did you remember to switch your clocks back an hour? Daylight savings time has ended! What’s with all the snow?! Here are my weekly notes:

  • I really love Twitter. For the longest time I had planned to create a “notes” blog – a place where I could post random thoughts and stuff. Turns out Twitter does just about everything I need! On the right side of my blog you can see my latest “note”, and I can update it from the web, via instant messenger, or using my phone. It’s great!
  • Do you use “the google”? President Bush does.
  • I’m looking forward to Wednesday evening. Dickson and I are presenting in the VenturePrize seminar series. Should be fun!
  • Smart rabbits. Who knew?
  • I find it very unlikely, but it looks there just might be a resurgence in mainframe use.
  • Thanks Megan for the ticket to the Oiler game last night. Too bad Alex the Great didn’t score, but I’m happy Roli got the shutout!
  • Time recently had a very interesting America By The Numbers cover story. I think it is their first cover story made up primarily of graphics. Some fascinating stats.
  • Four midterms down, one to go! Plus a paper. I can’t wait for the term to end.

Favorite songs at the moment:
“So Excited” by Janet Jackson featuring Khia
“Come to Me” by P Diddy featuring Nicole Scherzinger

Notes for 10/22/2006

This week is going to be incredibly busy for me! I have two midterms and a trip to Vancouver, among other things.

  • Paramagnus has been selected to present at the 20th Angel Forum in Vancouver on Tuesday. There will be over 90 investors in attendance, and we have just 14 minutes for the presentation and questions. It should be interesting!
  • Interesting article about Microsoft and the new Computer Architecture Group.
  • Leesa Barnes has the best explanation for why the Starbucks podcast failed. She totally nails it.
  • It appears Wal-Mart is ready to start selling groceries here in Canada. We’re talking fresh produce and everything. Hopefully they show up out west too.
  • I didn’t really like the Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks when it came out, but I think I have warmed up to it now. Of course, as soon as the Xmas drinks come out, I’ll stick to those!

Mini-Review: The Departed
I went to see The Departed last night with Megan and Sharon at South Common. While similar to Infernal Affairs, you can’t compare the two. Obviously they will be similar as they are based on the same screenplay, but they are made by different directors so they should be different too. I thought “Gangs of New York” was pretty good, but The Departed is far better. Probably Scorsese’s best work. The cast was excellent, but especially Leonardo DiCaprio. Maybe a little long at two and half hours, but worth every minute. I highly recommend it!

Notes for 10/15/2006

Here are my weekly notes:

  • My Dad was in town for the weekend – it was good to see him. It was probably the first time that he has visited and not driven at all! I picked him up from the airport, and Kim drove us around in her new 2006 Honda Civic Sedan! Her car is pretty sweet, I have to admit.
  • Will Internet Explorer 7 be released this week? That’s the word on the virtual street. The IE team wants you to be ready.
  • How much juice does your blog have? Mine scores a 3.0!
  • In my opinion, the Edmonton Opera does a much better job of reaching out to young people than the Edmonton Public Library does.
  • In case you’re wondering, and I know some of you are, my parents are officially moving to YK this weekend. They’re packing up and driving the dempster highway for the last time (probably the last time anyway).

Favorite song at the moment:
“My Love” by Justin Timberlake

Movie I want to see most:
“The Departed“

Still reading:
“The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time” by Jeffrey Sachs

Notes for 10/8/2006

It has been a couple of weeks since I last made a “notes” post. I guess that’s what happens when you’re in the middle of launching a product and travelling to a trade show! Anyway, here are this week’s notes:

Favorite songs at the moment:
High Energy Song: “Ready to Fall” by Rise Against
Low Energy Song: “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol
Random Song: “Anything” by JoJo (it samples heavily from Toto’s “Africa”)

Currently reading:
“The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time” by Jeffrey Sachs

Recently read:
“The Wisdom of Crowds” by James Surowiecki
I finished the book on the plane on the way to Ontario, CA for the Portable Media Expo. I thought the book was great, but that’s not surprising, because the main idea he presents is just so darn intriguing. I highly recommend this book.

MasterMaq's Podcast: The Sickness Episode

Post ImageI wouldn’t call it “episode 1” or anything, but here’s a quick little episode I recorded tonight for my podcast, powered of course by Podcast Spot. Basically I talk a little about the cold I picked up at the Expo, the drug I am using to get rid of it (Cold-FX), the outbreak at Lister Hall on the UofA campus, and my favorite, Purell.

Downloads, show notes, and much more can be found on the episode page.

For those of you interested in such things, I used the following to record this episode: Samson C03 microphone, Behringer Eurorack UB802 (connected to Audigy sound card), and Adobe Audition.

Read: The Sickness Episode

The Start of a Great Trip

I think this is going to be a great trip! For the first time in recent memory, Dickson and I were not scrambling to finish anything the night before leaving town. That was kind of nice for a change, we’ll have to do it more often! Today didn’t start out so great though. We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare, cleared customs without any problems (minus Dickson getting manhandled in the security check by an over-eager young man) and then sat down to wait for the flight. Thing is, our flight was over 20 minutes late. And with a 45 minute window to catch our connecting flight in Salt Lake City, that was somewhat distressing.

Turns out we made it just in time to make the flight, but the lady at the counter informed us they had overbooked as they didn’t think we’d make it. So we volunteered to wait for the later flight (only 2 hours later) and in return we got meal vouchers and a $200 credit with the airline (Delta). It was a pretty sweet deal! And such a difference from last year, when we missed our flight and had to pay a lot more to get to Ontario. Another nice side benefit was that our bags arrived ahead of us, so we didn’t have to wait for them to get off the plane – they were waiting for us.

We’re now in the hotel in Ontario – the DoubleTree, which is very nice by the way. They gave us a fresh chocolate chip cookie each upon checking in, and we passed a Starbucks on our way to the room. See what I mean about being a good start?

We just noticed that Podcasting News has an item on Podcast Spot too. I’m really excited for the Expo to start now!