Slow Week!

Wow, it's been a pretty slow week literally. Now much happening in the tech news that really stuck for me. However most of the slowness feeling has been from my success rate at troubleshooting tech issues:

GMail IMAP Palm Treo:
There is still no resolution from either Google or Palm to get IMAP working on the Palm without resetting the device. Now that Bell have dropped the 700P. Further more my relationship with the Treo has been further strained by the lack of phone book integration in the GMail Java applet. The fact that their is no provision for Copy and Paste is very aggravating as well.

Assisted GPS for Google Maps on the Palm Treo:
It simply does not exist... Another deliberate move for Google to abandon half of it's mobile user base? I don't know, but the Palm is a no show for Google's last two big updates.

Palm Treo Bluetooth:
IT SUCKS. I used to think it was a headset issue: The Gennum NX 5000/6000 never played fair, and would drop calls or never even pick them up. The Motorola Flips (HS850/700)would not close the connection when you flipped the boom, so the battery would run itself down. It worked great with the Motorola phones and even the BlackBerry. I now have a cool Jabra JX10 with Bluetooth Hub for my land line.The unit itself is slick, it even comes with a handset lifter awesome. Except that it's Bluetooth Class 2 and although it pairs with the Treo just won't switch between the Treo and hub without turning the headset off then back on again. Finally, the 2 second bluetooth press on the Treo has never ever done anything: No Redial, No Voice Dial... It's just lame. Funny enough A2DP works a treat, but it's a $20 add on from Softick and they only do the A2DP, I had looked also looked into seeing if they had a HS headset replacement too.
Conclusion the Palm Treo Bluetooth protocols: Good for FTP, OBEX and DUN. Sucks for headset HS and handsfree HF. Great from A2DP (stereo output) if you buy 3rd party.

Facebook:
I have to log in every 2 to 3 days to decline thirty invitations to really crappy applications. Only because Facebook automatically preselects 20 people to annoy for you and most people either don't bother to modify the list or they can't see the opt-out/skip button because the application is so crappy you can't see it. And there is no way to tell Facebook that you want to opt out of any application where someone has not personally add specifically single you out. The other annoying thing with Facebook is the amount of BACN it sends out. Outside of Denmark and Canada, Facebook has to be the biggest exporter of BACN in the world. I have already set my privacy settings to stop send me an email whenever someone pokes me or send me a message, I have some smart SMS text messaging set up for really important poke wars (You who you are Nick ad Jenn!). However Facebook insists on needing to tell me when new applications what FART in my directions or Superpoke me. This is just plain old annoying and figuring out how to remove the BACN is so much more work than setting up a GMail filter or a Maill.app rule. IT should simply be easier to say no to unsolicited applications. The Internet is not Facebook. I still have to set some of day aside to Twitter, Viddler, Pownce, Jaiku, Digg, Flickr, the 3 Blogs I look after and YouTube.


Twitter:
Which brings me back to Twitter. I like Twitter a lot, maybe because of the all the time I have spent in UK pubs texting orders to the guy closest to the bar. It's simple, easy to use and it stays so close to it's original raison d'être. Quick 140 character updates of your thoughts, ramblings, location updates, and even quick useful links( http://tinyurl.com). But alas something still went wrong. First a guy a few 2.0 gurus like. Leo Laporte, iJustine, Amber Mac, Veronica Belmont, Merlin Mann and John Gruber, to name a few, started using it and then everyone else in the world joinned in. This made Twitter really fun, then the servers got a little strained, IM stopped working and SMS got flakey. Then Leo left, Jaiku and Pownce got into the game a little. Facebook Mobile took some strides and the Twitter usability got a little better, but they never managed to properly fix SMS and IM support. I plodded on with Twitter because the Twitterers I follow are still there and active but the SMS service has never come back online for me. I have my theories as to why but that is for another time. Meanwhile, I'd really apppreciate it if Biz Stone and the gang could look into this SMS issue.

Happy Bleue Beanie Day

About Blue Beanie Day 2007

Photos of people wearing blue beanies, or blue hats, but mostly blue beanies.

Show your support for web standards and accessibility. Please join us on Monday, November 26, 2007 in celebrating Blue Beanie Day.

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Monday, November 26, 2007 is the day thousands of Standardistas (people who support web standards) will wear a Blue Beanie to show their support for accessible, semantic web content.

It's easy to show your support for web design done right. Put on a Blue Beanie and snap a photo. Then on November 26, switch your profile picture in Facebook or other social Network and post your photo to the Blue Beanie Day group at Flickr (here).

Next Steps:
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1. Make a personal commitment to fight Web Standards Apathy. Show solidarity with the Standardistas on November 26th, 2007.
2. Buy, beg, or borrow a Blue Beanie (blue hat or cap, even a black or grey one will do in a pinch.)
3. Take a photo of yourself wearing the Blue Beanie. Or take a cool group photo of you and your friends wearing Blue Beanies.
4. Post your photo, or photos to Facebook, Flickr, and other social networks on November 26th, 2007. Remember to switch your Facebook profile photo that day. While you're at it, switch all your social network profile photos. Flickr, Twitter, Last.fm, iLike, Pownce, you name it.
5. Promote Blue Beanie Day in your blog or wiki starting today, and tell all your friends to get ready for Blue Beanie Day. Start by inviting all your Facebook and Flickr friends to this event.
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Some people call these head coverings a stocking cap, and in some parts of Canada they call it a tuuk, or tuque. In Detroit, a beanie is sometimes called skully, and if you are really a cool hip hop artist (or rap star), you wear a DooRag under your Blue Beanie.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=6209917619

BreakOut !

"Break Out" is a Stupid Game. Yet I still remember playing it for 4 hours straight on my Motorola Timeport 250.

Happy Turkey Day

Just something to get you Yanks ready for tomorrow from Mahalo Daily:

Tired of the same old Thanksgiving traditions? Heat things up a bit this year with a 30-quart pot of boiling oil! Deep frying your turkey is a delicious alternative to the usual oven method, but make sure you don’t accidentally deep fry your clothing, hands, or pets in the process. Mahalo guides Sara and Trent lend their expert advice on today’s show.

My favourite quote come in half way through: "About 1300 homes catch on fire every Thanksgiving".

Great Video Veronica!

WiFi Booster Antennas for Less than a Loonie

I found this on Lifehacker this morning, I love this site it always some really cool DIY tips on making you life easier, whether it's wire baskets for cleaning up cables or maxing out your WiFi signal.

PleaseDoNotReply@bbc.co.uk: Rude & Cold yet Polite & Very British!

Only the British can so polite as to basically tell you to bugger off politely because you're email can't be handled by an automated reply system and get away with it.

I sent an email to the Beeb stating that they really need to get started on making online video available to Linux and Apple users. I also wanted them to stop this silly IP filtering they use to determine if you are in the UK or not and then block your access if the latter is true. This seems redundant for the UK. If you live in the UK and own a TV you must pay a flat rated license fee to help fund the BBC programming. Everyone must pay this fee, even if you are blind or only own a black and white set, albeit the latter two do get a slightly reduced rate.

So if you have a TV license, you are necessarily a UK resident and are therefore entitled to watch BBC video content online. Now say you need to go to France, Spain or Germany or even New York, Tokyo or Sydney for a few days and don't want to miss your favourite BBC TWO cooking show or the local Scunthorpe United versus B'Mouth Cherries (really obscure local teams) on your local BBC station, let's say BBC Radio Solvent in the South. If your were away, within the Isles and needed to catch up on your shows, you could go online and watch them again. However, if you were within the Isles, you also turn on the tele or the radio and simply watch it live. So the appeal of going online while on the road is not as appealing as if you were truly away form the Kingdom. Just because you need your passport to travel, suddenly the BBC cuts you off like a leper. Yet you are still license paying resident. Will they send you a cheque equivalent the amount of time you were unable to view their high quality programming? Hell NO!

Why can't you just register as a license fee payer to gain access where you are. The Internet knows no borders... So I have been told. Yet the Beeb have devised a way of checking your IP address and if it is not 100% UK certified ISP, you're screwed. Yet anyone who does not own a TV and any foreigner coming over to Blighty can hook up to my pad for BBC Feed for no cost!!! Outlandish!

This is the letter they sent. So cold, robotic and yet ever so British and polite:

"PleaseDoNotReply@bbc.co.uk to me

Thank you for contacting BBC Information.

We are sorry but our email system will not receive your email unless you use our pre-formatted webform. We realise you may find this inconvenient but hope you will understand that this helps us handle the many emails we receive every day more efficiently and makes best use of your license fee." (This is the part I really like)

In truth, I am very much right here in The Great White North. Yet my wife, the ex-Pat, has been unable to get her fix of local programming since we emigrated back. our first year we asked we them if we could continue to pay for the license fee and they could send us new episodes and Gary Rhodes, Spooks and Little Britain. The following year, we wrote them again and asked if they could by a license fee for the World Cup Football and Cricket Coverage. I keep trying to give them money to help fund their great shows and yet they keep refusing simply because we are not on Her Majesty's Royal Soil.

Oh Well at least I can still buy PG Tips and chocolate covered Hob Knobs at the Bramble HOusewhile and sit and sulk like a good little ex-pat.

Awesome use of Yahoo Pipes on Google Homepage

This is great stuff from Wil Harris of Channel Flip, a new online tech network, from Oxford in the UK. I've been toying around with pipes for a little while now but never really found a great use for it until I saw this video from Wil on Unwired.

BTW Wil, I love that pink cuppa char.

Airbus A319 Crosswind Landing Montreal-Dorval

Eric Just sent this in:


Airbus A319 Crosswind Landing Montreal-Dorval on Video.ca

As you know the Airbus 380 did a test landing and take-off from Montreal today.

Here is what an Airbus 319 does here in Montreal with a heavy crosswind.

Imagine the A380………..

Airbus A380 Lands at Trudeau Aiport, Monteal

Here are a couple of Flash Video's from this morning's arrival of the Airbus A380 at Montreal's Pierre Elliot Trudeau Airport.

Robert from work also took some video of the landing, his is from his Motorola Q and surprisingly, I like his video more.



The flood gates have opened up and now everyone is sending me pictures. The first one is mine.




Scott Davis from Burg42 sent these in too:

Guinness Genius

Guiness Ad - Tipping Point - ZappInternet

Thanks to Eric for another great Guinness video.

Not many people know this, but my Grey Squirrel avatar is actually drinking a Guinness, although he has been a little photoshopped. It was taken form a UK & Ireland AD campaign "Dreams Club".

Finally Found Some Code Monkey Videos

Johnathon Coulton is such a genius.

Another Great Reason to Love Firefox

This Is The Internet as Microsoft Sees It

The Text box reads as such:

*Congratulations on getting your Windows Live ID!!
Now that you've got your Windows Live ID, get ready to experience the new set of services that brings your online world together.


Yet the page offers absolutely no outgoing links except to the Terms of Service or to log out. This is the Internet as Microsoft see it. "Nothing to do here, so please just move long straight to Google, they are pretty much running the show now."

Needless to say I now have an @live.ca address that I will probably never use.

Five Popular Misconceptions About the Internet

1. You can not send an "Internet" to anybody. Even if you're a US Senator

2. If you google Google you will NOT break the Internet

3 Helping that guy from Nigeria to transfer his money will not make
you rich, just stupid.

4. Yes your parents and your boss really do use the Internet too. So
They have probably done some pretty stupid stuff that you could
Google or find in their temp folders.

5. Facebook is not the Internet. And no I still don't want to add some
crappy application that will Fart on me.

Guitar Hero III for the PS2: Awesomely Addictive!

Simply Said: "I love this game." I have only had it three days but I'm already up against Tom Morello in my my first guitar battle. OK! So he's totally kinking my @$$ on easy, throwing whammy and amp overloads at me left right and as I try to keep up with the 3 Chord solo he wrote just for the game.

The game is as easy or as hard as you like by switching play modes adding chords and even taking on other Kramer Stryker axe swinging head bangers in Guitar Battles. You need to play career mode to unlock songs and progress to the Guitar Bosses which include Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine / Audioslave ), Slash (G'n'R / Velvet Revolver) and Bret Michaels (Poison... Not even CC Deville!?!? I know this was a bit lame for me too). There are even some some songs you can only unlock in coop career mode which makes it a little longer to finish the game as you 'll need two guitars and a competent buddy to play bass or rhythm section. My 3 year old daughter just isn't cutting the mustard on base but she tilts the Kramer with a lot of style! Different versions of the game (PS/XBoX/Wii) have the Les Paul Gibson vs the Kramer Stryker and there is also online game play which I have not had a chance to explore.

I was surprised and impressed with the song catalogue. A quick look in my iTunes shows I have 26 of the songs already and I've added them to the iPod in a GHIII playlist so I can study I don't know if there is a sound track but I you can bet I will post a link to it if I find it.

Here is the soundtrack, I've highlighted the ones I already had. Time to get the others!

1. Starting Out Small

"Slow Ride" - Foghat
"Talk Dirty to Me" - Poison (Vocals re-recorded by Bret Michaels)
"Hit Me with Your Best Shot" - Pat Benatar
"Story of My Life" - Social Distortion
"Rock and Roll All Nite" - Kiss (Encore)

2. Your First Real Gig

"Mississippi Queen" - Mountain
"School's Out" - Alice Cooper
"Sunshine of Your Love" - Cream
"Barracuda" - Heart
"Guitar Battle vs. Tom Morello" (Original composition)
"Bulls on Parade" - Rage Against the Machine (Encore with Tom Morello)

3. Making the Video

"When You Were Young" - The Killers
"Miss Murder" - AFI
"The Seeker" - The Who
"Lay Down" - Priestess
"Paint It, Black" - The Rolling Stones (Encore)

4. European Invasion

"Paranoid" - Black Sabbath
"Anarchy in the U.K." - Sex Pistols
"Kool Thing" - Sonic Youth
"My Name Is Jonas" - Weezer
"Even Flow" - Pearl Jam (Encore)

5. Bighouse Blues

"Holiday in Cambodia" - Dead Kennedys
"Rock You Like a Hurricane" - Scorpions
"Same Old Song and Dance" - Aerosmith
"La Grange" - ZZ Top
"Guitar Battle vs. Slash" (Original composition)
"Welcome to the Jungle" - Guns N' Roses (Encore with Slash)

6. The Hottest Band on Earth

"Black Magic Woman" - Santana
"Cherub Rock" - The Smashing Pumpkins
"Black Sunshine" - White Zombie
"The Metal" - Tenacious D
"Pride and Joy" - Stevie Ray Vaughan (Encore)

7. Live in Japan

"Before I Forget" - Slipknot
"Stricken" - Disturbed
"3's & 7's" - Queens of the Stone Age
"Knights of Cydonia" - Muse
"Cult of Personality" - Living Colour (Encore)

8. Battle for Your Soul

"Raining Blood" - Slayer
"Cliffs of Dover" - Eric Johnson
"The Number of the Beast" - Iron Maiden
"One" - Metallica
"Guitar Battle vs. Lou" (The Devil Went Down to Georgia - Steve Ouimette, original song by The Charlie Daniels Band)

Bonus tracks
"Avalancha" - Héroes del Silencio
"Can't Be Saved" - Senses Fail
"Closer" - Lacuna Coil
"Don't Hold Back" - The Sleeping
"Down 'N Dirty" - LA Slum Lords
"F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X." - The Fall of Troy
"Generation Rock" - Revolverheld
"Go That Far" - Bret Michaels Band
"Hier Kommt Alex" - Die Toten Hosen
"I'm in the Band" - The Hellacopters
"Impulse" - An Endless Sporadic
"In the Belly of a Shark" - Gallows
"In Love" - Scouts of St. Sebastian
"Mauvais Garçon" - Naast
"Metal Heavy Lady" - Lions
"Minus Celsius" - Backyard Babies
"My Curse" - Killswitch Engage
"Nothing for Me Here" - Dope
"Prayer of the Refugee" - Rise Against
"Radio Song" - Superbus
"Ruby" - Kaiser Chiefs
"She Bangs the Drums" - The Stone Roses
"Take This Life" - In Flames
"The Way It Ends" - Prototype
"Through the Fire and Flames" - DragonForce

Forget the Wii, I want a Pii for X-Mas!!

From Engadget:

Remember that urinal-based racing game that was making the rounds this summer? You know, the one you drive with your pee, and which warns you against drunk driving if you're not controlling your car too well?... ...read on...

Well, uh...No I don't remember that game. But I seriously want it installed in my downstairs loo!

Make My Logo Bigger Cream

This is the kind of stuff that makes our in-house designers cry!

Thanks to John Gruber at Daring Fireball for the excellent find.