New Blog

This blog has become too stale and tired for me. I'm off to a new adventure. My new blog is music centered and is called audiophiles. Check it out.

As an obituary for semperlepidus, I did have some cool posts. I read through my archives today and I was impressed by the coolness factor of some of the posts.

Thanks for visiting. Try the new site if you are so inclined. Over and out.

In a Nutshell

Here's all the updates I can think of at this early hour.
- Great Big Sea concert last night at Massey Hall was ubba-awesome. GBS shouldn't sell seats...just spaces to stand and jump and clap and sing and have a good time. Two encores and close to two hours of music. Nice. Opening act Liam Titcomb was pretty good too...especially Jericho Rose.
- The Screen Savers has once again been ravaged and destroyed. All of the cast (save two) were given half a day's notice to be gone from the building. Pretty crappy. Granted, this incarnation was fairly high on the suck meter, but the trend in these continuing "improvements" brought to us by G4 is towards more sucky rather than less. TV just got even worse for me, no hockey, no geekTV...I'll have to start blogging again.
- I bought my plane ticket for January. I leave the 18th on an international mission of aid to my ailing heart and my lovely girlfriend.
- I'm working a new job now that Adventureworks! has slowed down. I work at the Nobleton Feel Mill. It's brutal work, but I'm financing the trip mentioned above.

I'm still debating the direction of this blog. The inspiration to add to it is inconsistent. Life, however, is good.

Over and out.

Flowers from my parents 25th Anniversary
Posted by Hello

Interesting Omission

via Omni-matic and the Washington Post.
A page posted shortly after September 11th, 2001 by the State Department gives a graphic representation of areas where al Qaeda has been active. It has an interesting omission.
Bill Denneen wonders "How long until the page gets vaporized, or better yet, altered ever-so-slightly by some Orwellian worker at the Ministry of Information?"
Here's the site: http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/terrornet/12.htm
Notice that Iraq does not appear on the map or in the list.

Bike Security

via Fark and Wired.
Amazing video of an expensive bike lock being picked with an ordinary ball point pen.
Here's the link.

Beer vs. Wine

via Catch.
Researchers at The University of Western Ontario have found one drink of beer or wine provides equivalent increases in plasma antioxidant activity, which helps prevent the oxidization of blood plasma by toxic free radicals that trigger many aging diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and cataracts.
The study will be published in the journal Nonlinearity in Biology, Toxicology and Medicine this December.
This study warms my heart. Apparently the researchers were surprised by the results, but speculate that even though wine contains far higher levels of polyphenols than beer, the human body is only able to effectively absorb a small amount of polyphenols.
Here's the link.

The Firefox Throwdown

via G4TechTV.
The Product: Mozilla's whoop-azz wee browser, Firefox.
The Goal: 1 million downloads in 10 days.
The Reason: Firefox is a better browser than Internet Exploder and it's always nice to stick it to the man.



Firefox is awesome. It is absolutely loaded with features (pop-up blocking, download manager, tabbed browsing, etc). It is also the browser I use. Firefox is so good that it will actually change the way you work (or play) on the internet. My favourite feature is that I can open all of my four e-mail clients at once, in one window, with one click. Beaut. I do the same for blogs I read consistently and for news sites I read daily. What are you waiting for?

Adventureworks!

My new job is pretty cool. I work with a company called Adventureworks! Associates and I get to do adventure programming in a whole new setting.

"Adventureworks! Associates, Inc. is committed to creating unique learning experiences that lead to positive growth and change in individuals, groups, and organizations. Our mission is to create opportunities for people to learn the values, attitudes, and skills required for creating healthy communities in our schools, neighbourhoods, and work places."

I am learning tons about High Ropes courses, adventure facilitation and working with some cool people too.

Beautiful Echo Lake

Good shot Aloe

Political Poetry

From Leo Laporte.
Now you can get your scathing political commentary in easy-to-digest limerick form. American, yet applicable.
The Liberal Limericker.

Gmail

I've been given the opportunity to beta test Google's new Gmail. I am very familiar with e-mail clients such as Yahoo, Hotmail and Mailblocks so I'll see how this stacks up. The terms of service weren't as scary as I thought and I really like the idea that I can search for e-mail messages. Too many people send e-mails with bad subject lines so that it is impossible to know what the e-mail is about without reading through it. Gmail searches both the subject line and the content of the e-mail. Nice.
I'll post again with more thoughts as I continue to use it.

What World Leader Are You?

Not bad...

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

But I don't think I'll destroy the world. Maybe.

PocketUhhhh

With this handy flash device you can hear excerpts from Pres. Bush's April 13th Press Conference. In this short conference the President said very little, but uttered "uhh" close to 100 times. This guy is such a knob. At one point he stammers for a long while and then says "I wish you had given me this written question earlier". Good glory.
Here's the link, from Catch.
In an interesting experiment, I looked online for the text of this press conference. I found the complete text here. The people who type these things out obviously omit the "uhh"s and "ummm"s, but it is still pretty enlightening to read through and note that no one can make Mr. Bush sound competent...let alone literate. Sad, really.

My New Guitar

Here she is:

My new guitar is a Godin Seagull Artist Cameo CW. A mouthful.
I went guitar shopping today and this one jumped off the wall at me. I played the first chord and knew that I had a winner. This guitar has a wonderfully sweet sound. It is rich and full and true. So good.
Here's the link.

The Stars in Your Eyes...

You know the song. It's by Edwin McCain.
"The stars in your eyes
that colour them wonderful
Stop me, and steal my breath."
Great song. Here's the link.
But here's the real reason for this post. I was once again on Juju's page (Hinterlands.cc) and I came across this picture. You should visit his site to see it, but it's crazy.
If you live in the Netherlands and have 15 minutes to spare (and 500 Euros) you can have a platinum or gold star inserted in the mucous membrane of your eye. Wow.
Here's the link.

Go Leafs Go!

Here's a funny song from Mix 99.9 (A Toronto radio station). It is a parody of Adam Sandler's music.
Humble and Fred's Ottawa Song
Thanks Laura.

Clear Duct Tape

This stuff is supposed to be as sticky and as strong as the original silvery stuff. It looks like a really good idea for seeing repairs. I know too many people, however, who make duct tape clothes. Could be slightly incriminating...

Here's the BoingBoing link.
via Kevin Kelly Cool Tools.
via 3M.

Inside a Cow's Stomach

This is crazy.
This cow has a hole cut into the side of its body -- for scientific purposes. Researchers (or just curious students) can reach inside the cow and pull food directly out of one of it's stomachs.
The image won't load...visit Juju's site.
Shamelessly taken from Hinterlands.cc

Unfortunate Tattoo

I found this on Worth1000.com.
It's pretty funny, but the picture link wouldn't work.
Ha ha ha. (No hands were hurt in the making of this tattoo)
Here's the link.

Daily Comic Strip

WulffMorgenthaler.com is a daily comic strip from comedian Mikael Wulff and film director Anders Morgenthaler. The few I flipped through were pretty funny. The artwork is in your face and the humour sometimes enters the realm of 'pretty darn subtle and dry'. I loved it...and I'm not much of a comic fan. I found this link on K10000.net.

Worth 1000 Words

This site took my breath away. Holy.
Worth1000 is a creative competition and photoshop contest site. It is filled with images that have been doctored with Photoshop. The first gallery I looked at was Pleasantville. This gallery is of images that were originally black and white and which have been put in living colour. Wow.
This is unbelievable. Check it out. Here's the link.

No More Assignments!

Yes, that's right. I'm done. It's been a very long few days (and a couple of sleepless nights) but I finiall finished the papers, assignments and take home exams. Now all that remains is two real exams...
I've been pretty quiet lately, but I have a post regarding my last entry. I lamented the fact that there were no good book forums. Well, that opinion hasn't changed, but here's the closest thing I found.
It's called The Terran BBS and is is a science fiction community. Not too much here for books (alas), but Staw Wars/Star Trek fans will like it.

Someone should really...

Someone should really...
Create an online book club. Create a forum/BBS, designate a book of the month and go to town. With some regular readers and posters you could have a flourishing online book club in no time. The beauty of the forum would be that no post would ever get lost and you could easily have different sections for every genre and every book. This would be so sweet. I would do it myself, but I have no server. Alas, something to put on the ten-year to-do list.
(By the way, if YOU want to do this you can get your forum set-up here.)

Proof that smart bombs only lead to stupid school children...

Beware, the air you breathe is laced with dihydrogen monoxide! Yes, you're right...that's water (H20).
Radio personality Glen Anderson began his April 1st show with that announcement. Within minutes, people were phoning the mayor's office in tears worried that their children were being poisoned. Now most of the community is calling for a public apology and more. April Fools!
Here's the link.
Culled from Catch.

Billionaires for Bush

Again from Catch.
Billionaires for Bush. Too subtle?

The Death of Small and Independent Bookstores

This link is from Catch.
Here is a list of twelve reasons for the death of small and independent bookstores. Pretty sad. The list starts halfway down the page. My favourite reason is reason number 9:
9. Teachers--assigning books because of topical appeal, or because of their own lazy familiarity, instead of choosing what is best; thus a tale about the teenage angst of a World War Two era prep school boy is pushed at students who do not know when World War Two took place--for failing to pass the torch of civilization to the next generation.
Here's the link.

Another Trip to the Bookstore

It was a trip to Mark Jokinen Books in Peterborough. (Here's the best link I could find...he's in the sidebar.) Mark has a small store in Peterborough on Water Street and he had lots of Science Fiction books. Here's what I got.
Diaspora, by Greg Egan. This guy is a science fiction writer and a computer programmer; I can't wait to read this.
Count Zero, by William Gibson. I liked Neuromancer a lot, so I thought I'd give cyberpunk another shot. Gibson has lived in Canada since the sixties (draft dodger) and also used to have a weblog.
The Hammer of God, by Arthur C. Clarke. I suspect that this book was the inspiration for Armageddon and Deep Impact, but I don't know for sure.
Lastly...Timeline, by Michael Crichton. This is most definitely a movie that is shortly coming to video. I'm not the biggest Crichton fan in the world, but it will be an interesting read.

April Fools Day

Hello World!
I must apologize for not posting recently. You see, I have been very sick. Oh, and there's been more than a tad of school work. But excuses aside...I must do better.
Here's what I have for you today:
Portable Web Bookmarks. I hate being away from my computer because surfing is so much harder. All of my favourites menu is left behind and I must go blindfolded into that good night. Well, that was then. Now (at least it's the present for me) I have discovered a way to make the favourites menu portable. Take the link above and follow the steps outlined. It's a pretty complicated process, but you can do it.
It might also help to have one of these.

What else? Let's see...
Radio vox populi. I forget where I got this link (sorry), but it is pretty cool. A computer voice program (sounding like Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey) reads weblogs. As far as I can tell the choices are entirely random, but this is like having your finger on the pulse of the web. Neat-O.

Nattyware: Pixie

This is a tool every blogger should have...a small (62Kb), free program that is perfect for webpage design. Its a colour picker that includes a mouse tracker. Run it, simply point to a colour and it will tell you the hex, RGB, HTML, CMYK and HSV values of that colour. You can then use these values to reproduce the selected colour in your favorite programs. Pixie will also show the current x y position of your mouse pointer.

Here's the link.

Villian Supply: For all your evil needs

This joke website is a pretty fun place to poke around. It has an online store where you can buy uniforms for your henchmen or weapons fit to put serious dents in the plans of the good guys. They even have good deals on evil lairs such as Skull Island. According to the opening page, "In the battle between good and evil...evil will always win...because we cheat."
Here's the link.

Richard Simmons cited for assault

This is hilarious. CNN is reporting that exercise guru Richard Simmons was cited for misdemeanor assault in Phoenix for allegedly slapping a man who joked about his videos.

The man apparently recognized Richard Simmons and said "'Hey, everybody. It's Richard Simmons. Let's drop our bags and rock to the '50s". Richard Simmons then, according to witnesses, walked over and slapped the man. Here's the link.

Bypass Compulsory Web Registration

I don't like websites that force me to register for free. The information that I fork over in my registration is obviously being used for something, and I would be happier if that personal information remained personal. My solution until a few weeks ago had been to create dummy accounts at each of these sites. However, I found a much easier way to get around this problem. Much easier than remembering all of the different account names and passwords. The service is called Bug-Me-Not and it acts as an online storage place for dummy accounts. The best part is that you don't have to do the legwork. Simply enter the url of the site you want to visit and chances are really good that someone has already stored a dummy account at Bug-Me-Not for that site. Want to get on the NY Times site? Your account is "cypherp" and your password is "cypherp". Voila. Here's the link.

The Most Annoying Phrases

The english language is littered with thousands of irritating phrases. As the Plain English Campaign publishes a list of the language's most annoying phrases, Mark Oliver wonders what might have happened had one of history's great orators used them. Funny stuff. Here's the link. Pulled from Guardian Unlimited.

Trip to the Bookstore

One of the most exciting (and potentially expensive) events of my week happened today. That's right, I went to the bookstore. I'm consistently amazed by how many books there are to read. I feel like I could spend the rest of my life reading and not get through half the things I want to read. But, I managed to narrow my wishlist to just a few. So I've added a Literary Wishlist to my sidebar and also started a wishlist at Chapters.ca. I love books.
Read anything good lately? Why not tell me about it.
I'm currently reading "The Curse of Chalion" by Louis McMaster Bujold. It's a really fun, easy story with a lot of adventure and a smattering of theology. Here's the link.

Check Your Blind Spot

This left me with a slight headache and some blurry spots, but I still encourage you to try it.

Not bad. Here's the link.

No-go on the trackback

It seems I am unable to explore the wild and fascinating world of trackback links. Due to the very free nature of my blog I have no way to permanently link to any post I make. I have archives, but they are different. So, no trackbacks for me and I'll remove them. Just thought you'd all be dying to know the smallest details about my blog...

HaloScan

This is the service that allows me to have comments and trackbacks for every entry.
Pros:
Free,
Easy to set-up,
Comments and trackback capabilities,
More control for me to manage comments (I can erase things that are mean and nasty),
Good troubleshooting help (including a forum for discussions)
Cons:
Confirms suspicions that no one actually reads my site or cares what I write.
Here's the link to HaloScan...there's also a button on the bottom of the page.

New Layout

This is the new layout I'm going to try out. I am morbidly attracted to the colour scheme because this combination of greens has no right to be anything but disgusting yet somehow manages to reach a level somewhere between not bad and tolerable. I'm also off and running with a new comment service provider that will allow me to experiment with trackbacks. All the links are still active and I'm still in the process of fine-tuning the google search. For now it is good to go for searching the web, but my site remains a mystery.
So, leave me your comments. Tell me what you think of my new colour scheme and offer any advice you have.

Windows BBS

This link used to reside in my sidebar under Daily Reads, but then I stopped reading it daily. I didn't want it to get lost though, so here's my post about WindowsBBS.
WindowsBBS is an online bulletin board system that allows users to post and reply online. It's the same as a forum where all posts are saved and categorized. WindowsBBS is a way to get free information about almost anything computer related. It is run by folks affiliated with Microsoft, so most of it is Microsoft specific, but since most of us run Windows anyways, it's kind of a moot point. The people at WindowsBBS are very smart (they are basically even more well-informed and geeky than anyone at your local computer store) and I can generally get a reply within a few hours or a few days. Rather than start a new thread do a search to see of someone already asked your question.
Here's the link

This will change the world

Found on BoingBoing today:
A Nigerian man has won himself a truckload of money for inventing a refrigerator that runs without electricity. His invention is a pot-in-pot system that uses evaporating water to keep food cool. Much like your Mom used to put a wet cloth on your forehead to combat a fever, this refrigerator is kept cool by water evaporating out of wet sand that fills the gap between two differently-sized pots placed one inside the other. Foods that would only last days normally can now last weeks. This has profound consequences. Women who had to go to the market every single day to buy and sell food can now attend school. This will change the world.
Here's the link to the article at Hinterlands.cc

Anti-Piracy Spoof

Going to a theatre to watch a movie has a special charm. You get to sit in front of a big screen in a comfy chair while teeny-boppers shout into their cell phones and drown out all the important dialogue. You get to shell out $10-$15 for a ticket and the same price again to get a ticket for the woman you're out to woo. You have the priviledge of waiting your turn to hand over $8 for a bag of popcorn and a small Sprite. Then, as you look up at the silver screen in excitement, ready to be entertained, some guy you've never met comes on and starts calling you a theif. "Piracy is wrong", he whines, "don't steal movies". Then, just as you begin to feel a little bad for the guy, the movie starts and you realize that all the money, time and frustration was really not worth it at all. So you go home and do your best to pirate movies.
Rick Mercer's Sunday Report on CBC offers a send-up of the "Respect Copyright" ads.
Real Stream Link
Culled from BoingBoing

The Cottars

On the recommendation of my friend Laura I took some time to check out this group from Canada's Cape Breton. The group is four members strong...but none of the members are older than 17. Ciaran and Fiona MacGillivray and Roseanne and Jimmy Mackenzie form The Cottars. Their website is kind of lacking at this point, but the music is wonderful. "Ballinderry" and "The Briar and the Rose" are especially fantastic.

A Minority Shareholder

12.5 %

My weblog owns 12.5 % of me.
Does your weblog own you?
Culled from the pages of Sabrina Faire.

My Google Search Bar

In a fit of "Hey, I think I can do that..." I put this search bar on my page. Unfortunately I can't make it work. It searches the web with no problem, but I can't make it find things on my blog. Anyone have any ideas? View my source code and tell me what you think.
Thanks.
Here's the link.

Icecream Boy and the Monk

This is a story written by my friend Tim Hildred. Tim's an interesting guy who is currently on an odyssey in Britain and he sends me things he writes to make me feel jealous of his talent...I think. Anyways, I thought I'd post it because it's a good read. Here it is...

looking up towards the top of the mountain lost in the coulds above him, the ice cream boy couldn't help but wonder if maybe someone was pulling his leg. the boys had told him about a monestary where he could make a mint, if he could just get there. as the ice cream boy was saving for a new bike, he'd jumped at the opportunity, and hadn't stopped to consider the mechanics of transporting frozen desserts up thousands of meters to monks on a mountain. but a hot tip was a hot tip, and if there was a mint to be made at altitude, he knew what he had to do. so he got on his bike, and started peddaling, his cargo bouncing ahead of him. he could see already that he was in for a long day. so the young man peddaled on, methodically, and after a while, began to look around him. it was a bright clear mountain morning, the pale sun shone through clouds like a zit through a pre-pubescent beard. sparrows whistled as he went by, and squirels shot shamelessly across his path now and again. a cool breeze touched the sweat on the boys brow, and reminded him that he was pedalling a bike with a small refrigerator attached to the front of it up a mountain, and would at some point he would need a break.
so the boy hopped off his entrepenurial mode of transportation, dipped into his livelyhood, and helped himself to a jumbo freezie. having cycled to a decent height, the boy looked out over the world, amazed at what he could see. off to his left, there was a small village, its people to small to be seen from this height, that none the less, buzzed with life. there was smoke from chimenies, carriages coming and going, tiny dots in the fields. off to the right wove a river, no more than a ribbon from where he was sitting, but from its shores a mighty flow. he could see it wink and sparkle from his pearch, flashing as it wove off into the distance. just then, the boy felt a sharp pain through his head and chest, and it seemed for a moment like he about to explode. a mental note was made that frozen juice should not be consumed while pondering lest brain freeze should set in, and the boy was on his way.

the morning had begun to turn into afternoon, and while the afternoon is usually the icecream boys time to shine, this ice cream boy was still without sale. onwards and upwards the dirt trail ran, so onwards and upwards the hopeful boy rode. soon enough it was mid afternoon, and the boy was tired again. he was about to hope off his bike when he hit a sitting, bald, robe-clad man. the boy hopped off his bike, terrified that he'd killed the poor fellow, his insurance didn't cover negligent driving. maybe they'd call this an act of god? it turned out though, that the monk was quite alright, just a little dazed. having no idea what else to do, the young and now quite worried man offered the monk an ice cream bar, one of the refreshing ones with vanilla in the middle and crunchy chocolate on the outside. the monk ate in contemplative silence, studying his food, relishing each bite. the boy, having just hit the poor man, could think of nothing to say, and just sat and watched. the monk finished, licked his lips, and thanked the boy. the boy, having had just been thanked for a head on collision, was humbled by the monks grace, and could only nod his head. the monk told him he, nor his monkly friends had anymoney to buy icecream from the boy.for this he was deeply sorry, but instead, the monk said, he could teach him a lesson. the boy was both dubious and disappointed, having probably just set a world record for greatest altitude achieved by an icecream salesperson, but being a well raised young man, agreed. the monk asked him to sit down, and try to clear his mind. so the boy sat, crossed his legs, and tried to think of nothing. the monk asked the boy to breath with him, in slowly, out slowly, repeat. soon the boy was relaxed, peaceful, sat between a monk and an icecream cart midway up a mountain. as he breathed, this seemed less and less unnatural to the boy. now that the boy was relaxed, the priest asked him to think of something happy, something he truly enjoyed. one might think that an icecream boy would get tired of icecream, but this was hardly the case. the first thing that lept into the young man's mind was chocolate icecream. the richness of it, the sweetness of it, the coolness of it, in the boys mind it was the closest thing on earth to perfection. he figured if God ever cut loose and had dessert, chances were it was chocolate ice cream.

the monk looked on the boy, his face lit up with a smile, his body relaxed and serene. he asked the boy to concentrate on this thought, and tell him what he was thinking of. the monk was a little confused, he'd been thinking that an icecream boy would be sick of icecream. silently, the monk stood up, and as only monks can, went over to the cart, and found the object of the boys happiness. good heavens, this is overpriced, no wonder its so special to the young man. seems like swiss icecream can be priced like swiss watches and people still buy it! silently he sat back down, opened the ice cream, and waited. he asked the boy to open his mouth. the boy looked a little worried, but decided he could probably trust this bald little fat man, and slightly parted his lips. the monk spooned the tiniest taste onto the boys awaiting tongue. the boys eyes stayed closed, but his whole face was the picture of pure delight. the monk asked the boy to open his eyes and listen. he told the boy that this feeling of bliss, this joy was not coming from the ice cream, but rather through the icecream from something deeper. the boys young eyes seemed to understand. the monk continued. this joy could be found in all things, in all people. one simply had to become better tuned to finding it. the boy nodded, and the smile stayed on his face. he took the spoon from the monks hand, filled it with slightly melty chocolate, and filled the priests shocked but smiling mouth. the boy thanked the priest, and the priest thanked the boy. they parted ways, the priest back up towards his mountain solace now cool and refreshed, the boy back to his valley home now thoughtful and happy. the boy shook his head, not quite sure what to make of his day. he'd not earned a penny for all that hard work, but even so didn't feel really let down. the sun was setting, and the landscape was glazed over with a warm, hazy blur, the colours all running a little bit. the boy, now armed with the knowledge that life was beautiful, couldn't help but feel like he was in a painting.

FrogPad

This Bluetooth enabled widget rams a fully functional 101-key standard keyboard into 20 keys. It was introduced at Macworld and CES a little while ago and recieved a fair bit of attention. The company intends to sell the first 1000 models and then introduce new colours in a wearable model. This means that users can have a fully functional keyboard wirelessly connected to their PDA and type on the go. Pretty sweet. The FrogPad seems like something out of Cory Doctorow's newest novel "Eastern Standard Tribe".

Culled from the pages of Gizmodo.
Here's the link.

TerraServer

From the TerraServer page: TerraServer contains 3.3 tera-bytes of high resolution USGS aerial imagery and USGS topographic maps.
It is a massive database of information that allows you to look at anyplace in the world. I had trouble writing this post because I kept wanting to play.
The main server has links to famous landmarks like the Grand Canyon, but you can do a search by city. This link will take you to the International TerraServer, which seems to want a subscription. I recommend you waste a few hours here.

The Swiss Army of the 21st Century

Being someone who owns all components of this piece of devilish wizardry, my knee jerk reaction was "cool". While this knife was obviously not built to be a knife, it is a really neat idea.

Read more about the knife here.
In a related piece of humour, I read somewhere about a bra underwire firewire set-up. No picture, sorry.

Sometimes it would be fun being American

April 1, 2004 has been declared National "I'm Embarassed by my President" day by the Democracy Means You web site. The site is encouraging everyone across the country to wear a brown ribbon to protest the "arrogance, greed, shortsightedness, selfishness, and outright lies told by George W. Bush".
We as Canadians have it pretty easy. We are able to get in there (where? well, cyberspace, TV, radio, newspapers, coffee shops, etc) and really criticize the Bush administration AND we don't share any of the blame for voting for him. Of course, neither do more than 50% of American voters. However, it is rather ironic that our own government is caught in scandal after scandal wasting and mis-spending millions of our dollars yet still enjoy very high approval ratings. Maybe we should remove the plank in our own collective eye before pointing out the speck in the eye of the body politic of others. Just a thought.

Calvary vs. Cavalry

A list of the 100 Most Often Mispronounced Words.
Some of my favourites on this list include:
duck tape - should be duct tape...it's for ducts after all, not mallards.
'erbs - should always be herbs...the site will explain why.
jewlery - should be jewelry.

This site also explains that pronouncing words properly will often help when you are trying to spell them properly. I found this list on Catch.

Simplified CD and DVD Labelling

This is culled from the pages of Boing Boing.
A new technology, due out in the next six months, will enable DVDs and CDs to be labelled right in the burner. No ink is involved, rather the disk itself is given a special coating that can be activated by the burner's laser.

Read the PC World article here.

The Name Game

I think this is really cool. I found the link on Catch.com. Basically, you're given a picture of a person and you try to guess that person's name. An interesting experience.
Guess My Name.

Do you take too many online quizzes?

This online quiz will tell you if you do. A total waste of time, but you're here aren't you?

How News Travels on the Internet

This visual guide was put together and posted on stephenvandyke.com. It is one man's take on the way information travels on the internet. Pretty interesting to peruse and also to think about how the flow of information is more cyclic than trickle-down.

Here's the link. This was also posted on Fark.

So, you like dogs?

I seem to be on a pet kick today. It was unintentional I assure you. Anyways, here's a pretty funny link to a list of rules for the dog.

Sample:

Rule 5 - The dog is never allowed on the furniture.
Rule 6 - Well, the dog can get on the old furniture but not the new furniture.
Rule 7 - BUT, the dog never sleeps on the bed. Period.
Rule 8 - Maybe he might catch cold...okay, the dog can sleep at the foot of the bed.
Rule 9 - Okay, the dog can sleep alongside you, but he's not allowed under the covers.

To see the whole list visit this link.

So, you like cats?

Look what I found on Cellar Image of the Day. 'Tis a large housecat.

Deals on a memory card...

Memory cards for digital devices are now available in formats so large as to be silly. In fact, if you are willing to shell out close to $500.00, you can get ahold of the new IBM Microdrive that stores 4GB. Alternatively, a flash memory card this large will cost you over $1000.00. But, there's a much cheaper way to get your hands on this new card.

As seen on The Screensavers, Creative is shipping a new mp3 player with 4GB of storage for $200.00. Simply remove the back cover, unscrew the memory card (conveniently, the new IBM microdrive) and presto, you have a 4GB memory card for half-price. Plus, you have a semi-usable mp3 player.

Check out the how-to steps here.

Look what I have...

I actually recieved this a little while ago, but I didn't think I should brag until I'd tried it out. I use it to take notes and keep a journal on my Palm and it is just wonderful. If you secretly want a laptop but are afraid of the bulk or cost this is a pretty good solution.
The keys are laid out nicely, though the node in the middle of the split spacebar is a tad annoying. The other thing I notice is that the "Home" and "End" keys don't work as they should. Still, it feels like a good laptop keyboard and is easy to type with. Palm Wireless Keyboard.

Musicplasma

Discovering new music just became much less frustrating. Also, you no longer need to watch MuchMusic and see the same videos over and over in a vain quest for something revolutionary. Musicplasma is a service that makes musical connections for you. Input the name of a band or artist that you like and Musicplasma will generate a web of artists that fit your tastes. You may not like all of them, but then again, you may...
A search for Matt Nathanson (one of my favourites...you should check him out...especially his cover of Prince's "Everything You Say Sounds Like Gospel") led me to the discovery of Jack Johnson, who is pretty good himself.

The World Discovers Another Hero

Canon would be proud.

Posted on Fark today:
In a case of mistaken identity, an undergraduate student from Oxford is accidentally invited to give a series of lectures in China. Twist: the lectures are to PhD students studying economics. Matthew Richardson, a 23 year-old engineering major, borrowed an economics textbook from the library and gave the entire lecture series with no one being the wiser. He got by on moxy and BS alone. Pretty good. Here's the link.

Free Anti-Virus Software

This anti-virus software has been featured a number of times recently on The Screensavers, but I have only recently had the opportunity to use it for myself. It is amazing. Grisoft is the maker of AVG Anti-virus, and a very good product it is. There is a free-to-download version as well as a slightly better version you can buy. I would totally recommend this.

Guitar Tech.

Look what's coming out of this guitar. Is that an ethernet cable?

An article found at the Tech Central Station explains how the guitar has arrived at a technological crossroads.

Club Dread

Broken Lizard, the 5-man comedy group that created Supertroopers is back with a new film Club Dread. The official movie site comes complete with a blog written by the members of Broken Lizard. Tres cool. I'm sure I'll post more about this...

Backup Your DVDs for Free

Rather than wear out your favourite DVDs (through use, abuse, misuse or by accident), why not make a backup copy? It's pretty straightforward if you have a DVD burner and Kevin Rose from The Screensavers and thebroken.org has all the details here. Please don't break any laws...

The Hunt for Canadian File-Swappers

The Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA...Canada's version of the American RIAA) has launched a battle against online music file-swappers. The CRIA's plan calls for finding 29 file-swappers from at least five major ISP's including Shaw, Telus Corp., Rogers Cable, Bell Canada's Sympatico service and Quebec's Videotron. Apparently, Shaw is the only company very opposed to the idea, while Videotron is "delighted" about it. Read the whole story on the CTV.ca website.
I originally found this link on slashdot.org.

Technorati

If you are a blogger (like me) or you host a website, you can quickly determine who is linking to your site by using this simple program. Technorati will search based on your URL and list all who link to your account. Tres cool.

The Cyborg Manifesto

The Cyborg Manifesto is an interesting little piece on what the internet and technology have done to human civilizations. It is a spoof, but was not understood to be a spoof by many when it was first released. Read it for yourself and decide wht your natural reaction is.

A World of Ends

Doc Searls and David Weinberger, authors of the Cluetrain Manifesto have created a very interesting site outlining what the internet is...and what it isn't. Among the many descriptions that they provide are these three simple rules about the internet:

1. No one owns it.
2. Everyone can use it.
3. Anyone can improve it.

This page is a great read and I would definitely encourage you to visit.

A World of Ends

Ciaou.

Fark

Why work so hard finding all the cool and interesting things on the internet when others can do it for you? A constantly updated list of links for web nerds is kept at Fark.

Enjoy.

A Flower Gifting Guide

Just in time for Valentine's Day, here's a handy guide as to the meaning behind the flowers you are giving.

Flower Guide.

Stop the Dieting Madness

As if anyone needed more proof that diets are a bad idea, here's a report on the NBC website about Dr. Atkins, the creator of the Atkins Diet which stresses eating protein filled meats and cheeses over carbohydrates. Apparently, Dr. Atkins was obese and had suffered a heart attack, congestive heart failure and hypertension. Read the story here.

Eat what you want then work it off. It all seems so simple.

Race Only Skin Deep

I came across a very interesting article on The Mercury News website. A study done in a High School in San Jose discovered that over half of the class had a common relative. The students were from a wide variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds, yet all were linked by DNA to a common ancestor.

Read the whole story here.

Interesting, no?

The Payoff From Cheaper Web Tech

Here's an interesting article that outlines how the internet is evolving. It's from Business Week Online and is entitled "The Payoff From Cheaper Web Tech". Check it out.

Sorry I've been a lazy blogger lately; sometimes the motivation is hard to find.

Craig Cardiff

I had the opportunity to see this guy in a living room show last year. The performance was amazing and I've been meaning to see him again since. Craig Cardiff is a singer/songwriter who plays guitar, harmonica and accordion. He can also sing a mite. I'll quote from his biography and then give you a link to his site. You should definitely try to see him in concert, or invite him to your living room stage.

"Prone to fits of edginess and obnoxious honesty...sings songs that need to be sung."

Craig Cardiff's Website

Bush in 30 Seconds

The moveon.org voter fund has sponsored a contest for political advertising. This contest is called Bush in 30 Seconds and submissions of short (30 second) videos/commercials were judged by a panel of experts including Michael Moore. These videos can be seen here and a campaign is currently underway to get the winner aired during the Superbowl.

As a point of interest, each video is licensed under the creative commons license.

I'm A Nerd

A new song for those of us who are proud to be nerds. It's called "I'm A Nerd" and it's by Johnny Sizzle, from Canada. I got this link from the TechTV Website.

MP3 Wars

The issue of internet piracy and copyright laws for musis has been an important one recently. In the US, the RIAA is now taking people to court over these issues. In Canada our situation is a little different due to laws which protect the rights if citizens to download music for personal use, but the effect this has on the recording industry is the same. An interesting essay by author Orson Scott Card discusses these issues. It is well worth a read.

Read the essay here.

This link was found on the TechTV website.

Jory Nash

I've recently come across an artist I like very much, his name is Jory Nash and he's a singer/songwriter who plays a Martin guitar, 5-string banjo and the piano. Check out his stuff here.

I especially like "Can I Walk You Home".

Skype

VoIP technology has hit the P2P wave. A new program called Skype allows users to make P2P "phone-calls" for free. All the is required is a microphone/headphone combo and a connection to the internet. It works much like IM chats where you are able to call others on your list. The program is totally free and works fairly well.

www.skype.com

Cool Honda Ad

Check this out. It's like Mousetrap taken to a whole new extreme. Wow.

Honda Advertisement (Video File)

Enjoy.

New Music Canada

Those looking for undiscovered Canadian music and great variety would be well served to check out New Music Canada. This site has thousands of songs and hundreds of independent artists from coast-to-coast. Happy hunting.

It also has an online radio station so you can hear things you would not find otherwise.

New Hit Song

A world ruled more and more by Big Business??? This song is currently climbing the pop charts in Japan. It is a corporate anthem made by an employee of Nihon Break Kogyo Co.

Read about the song here.

English Translation:
Break alright Break alright Now we're ready for your town
Dismantle away Dismantle away The just one rule we'll obey
Conclusion of the duration is comin'up, Concrete is losin' its unity
There are the delayers of buildin' our peaceful days Break'em out!
NIHON Break KOGYO Smashin' steel ball Da Da Da
NIHON Break KOGYO Chemical anchor bolt driven to beat&wave the hardest rock!!
Any houses! Any bridges! And any towers can't stop us in any way!
Going ahead! Going ahead! NIHON Break KOGYO

Break alright Break alright Terrible defective housings
Wooden frames, mortared walls and pencil-formed over tall buildings
Have you ever seen mighty skills to treat pile heads, rough clenched fists to support you
By the justice, like a hammer, Yumbo swung to raise!! Break'em out!
NIHON Break KOGYO Shinin' diamonded cutter Da Da Da
NIHON Break KOGYO Compressor roaring loud between the earth & the sky!!
Any houses! Any bridges! And any towers can't stop us in any way!
Going ahead! Going ahead! NIHON Break KOGYO

Listen to the song here in MP3.

Online Pool

Those looking to kill some time should discover the best billiards game on the web. Check out Online Pool from Candystand.