Wednesday, October 18th, 2006
Ya know what grinds my gears?!?
I use Google all the time for searches. That is no surprise since 60% of Internet users go there for searches. My problem is that when I search for something, say for barbecues, instead of getting results for sites that might actually use I tend to get sites that are just referral pages for sponsored links.
It seems that people just make pages that have sponsored links on them to take me to pages with other peoples sponsored links. So I get no information about Barbecues, but I can sure link to a lot of them.
Now I understand that this is how some people think they will get rich. Russ Whitney(idiot) is one of those "get rich in real estate" snake oil salesman. He focuses on real estate but I remember him passing though town in the past saying you could get rich placing small "ads" on the Internet. If he is responsible for these annoying link sites I will be paying him a visit in the near future with a feather pillow and bucket of tar.
Now as a disclaimer I haven't attended any of his seminars and never met him so maybe I can't call him an idiot. However, con-men have been around since the dawn of time and here are some examples of feedback from his seminars.
Google ...feel free to stop these sites from appearing in my search results...whats that?...you make money on these sponsored Google links....my mistake! Continue clogging the Internet ( it's a series of Tubes Ya know! )
Thursday, October 12th, 2006
Google Docs Launches
Google, yeah those guys, have launched their online word processing and spreadsheet application, called, guess ... Google Docs (eesh...anyhow). These are in direct competition to MS Office’s Word and Excel.
There are 2 signficant advantages to the google applications:
- the first is that they are online. This allows you access to your documents from any computer, not just the one you used to write it. It also moves writing collaboration to a new, online realm that prior to this launch, consited of edits in Word and emails back and forth containing the changes. Very cool.
- FREE. ’nuf said.
Obviously there are some drawbacks as well, like less features (this could easily have gone in the plus list as well), lack of data files on your hard drive (again, this could have gone in the plus list), online connection is a requirement, gmail account is also a requirement (email me if you need one) and interface issues. However, given that this is v1 of the applications, look for all of the above to improve.
Get used to it folks, it will be an online world before long and your computer will just be the dumb terminal for accessing your data. Again, you can argue that this is a good thing. :)
Monday, October 2nd, 2006
Aaaagh! Use a freakin' Dictionary!
Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas has just put out a solo album called "The Dutchess" (sic). Somebody please tell me that this title is a joke or a play on words or something. If it isn’t a joke, somebody please tell me why a copy editor did not even look at the title of this album. Tell me why somebody didn’t bother to look up Duchess in a dictionary. It would only have taken a second as there are many dictionaries online which could have been checked. It is no wonder the English language and the Education system is going to hell in a hand-cart if we are not teaching our kids the proper spelling of simple words. To help you all out, the following is the definition of Duchess according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary Online.
Duchess
Main Entry: duch·ess
Pronunciation: ’duh-chess
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English duchesse, from Anglo-French, from duc duke
1 : the wife or widow of a duke
2 : a woman who holds the rank of duke in her own right
Wednesday, September 27th, 2006
Awesome Photography
If you are remotely interested in photography (and these days, who isn't) do your self a favor and check out File Magazine. I visited the site when it first went live and then promptly forgot about it. I returned today via a long forgotten bookmark. Am I ever glad I did.
Since I was last at the site, there are hundreds of beautiful photos that have been added. Take a few minutes. Wander around the galleries. Check out some of the series by various artists. Some truly inspiring works can be found.
When you are done, grab your camera, go find something "unexpected" and capture it forever. Enjoy.
Tuesday, September 26th, 2006
Flexi-Display on the way!
Over the last year or so we have been seeing prototypes for flexible lcd displays with the idea that eventually we may someday have items like electronic newspapers which we could roll-up or fold just like the current paper version, however with less of a post use environmental footprint. Wouldn’t it be cool if instead of having your paper delivered every day, you just hook up your flexi-display to your computer, download the day’s news, roll it up and take it with you on the bus? They have been working on it for awhile now, and one of the issues for the flexible lcd display was the fact that it was still pretty fragile, and therefore not too great for the rough and tumble that your standard newspaper goes through on a daily basis.
Well according to an article at the BBC it would appear that the fragility issue may be on the brink of being solved. Researchers at the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering have come up with morphing metal which can be contorted and rolled up without the regularly occurring stresses of deforming metal. These engineers see a future for the flexible yet sturdy metal to be the backbone for flexible displays among other applications. Imagine everyone with one of those cool flexidisplays that we first saw in the movie Red Planet. All I can say is cool!
Monday, September 25th, 2006
Steve Irwin
Over the past 5 or so years, the guys and I would occasionally chat about silly things at lunch or while grinding through some element of the day. These things would range from crazy gadgets to things we had seen recently, daily minutia all the way over to the truly bizarre. Occasionally one of us would bring up the Crocodile Hunter and something insane he had recently done. It would always prove an interesting conversation, with someone always taking the stance that "That dude is just asking to get killed" while the rest of us would defend his actions for various reasons.
Now, if you talk to any sane person and mention the Crocodile Hunter, they almost always say that he is crazy, or nuts, or both. I love the debate this brings on. My position is that he is just passionate. Passionate about something to a point that most people will never experience.
Think about it. Steve Irwin dedicated his life to trying to preserve the environment. He worked tirelessly to educate people on the things that meant the most to him, animals.
This is just what we do to get our minds thinking away from our current problem so that when we refocus in a few minutes, we are coming back at a different angle.
We consider ourselves passionate about what we do. We fight for web standards. We believe in our abilities. We trust in our years of learning and our processes to get us to the bottom of the problem and then work our way back through to the right solution. This is what we do as web designers and programmers.
Steve Irwin, while in an completely different field, did much of the same thing we do daily. He tried to shed light on problems that needed attention and then by doing so, work towards finding a solution. To Steve, we tip our hats and say thank you for all the memories.
Friday, September 22nd, 2006
Madness...? This is SPARTA!
Frank Miller’s award winning comic, 300, is coming to the silver screen. Starring Gerard Butler and directed by Zack Snyder, the film is taking the same loving approach as Sin City before it: recreating the comic panel for panel, design and color and all. Literally, it’s like the book was blow up to gigantic proportions and started moving!
If you’ve never read the graphic novel (and you should, it deserves all the acclaims it’s received) or never heard the story of the 300 Spartans (shame on you), here’s movies.monstersandcritics.com’s summary of the movie:
Based on the epic graphic novel by Frank Miller, 300 is a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valor and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite against their Persian enemy, drawing a line in the sand for democracy. The film brings Miller’s (Sin City) acclaimed graphic novel to life by combining live action with virtual backgrounds that capture his distinct vision of this ancient historic tale.
It’s a movie of ultimate Greek bad-asses being ultimate Greek bad-asses. Still don’t think this movie looks great? Check out this ultimate bad-ass promo trailer at iFilm! :)
Thursday, September 21st, 2006
Red Hot Chili Pepper concert review (with photos), Winnipeg Manitoba September 20th, 2006
The Red Hot Chili Peppers finally made a Winnipeg appearance after forming 23 years ago.
We had fantastic seats for the show as the photos (off my camera phone, the new Sony/ Ericson 810i) show. It is nice to see that there are still musicians around these days that actually can write, create and play there own instruments while entertaining us as well. Bands like this should be supported as you will never see them lip syncing or playing along to a click track.
Bassist Flea shows why there are few that can equal is slap funk style. Guitarist John Frusiante shows why the RHCP lost fans when he left. His funk rhythm, tight in the pocket feel was a perfect compliment to Flea and rock solid drummer Chad Smith. His solo's cut through with passion that showed his Hendrix influence. Great musicians tend to stand out and have a sound of there own, which these guys do.
Singer Anthony Kiedis, while a great front man, didn't seem to be all there last night. I had seen the RHCP in 1999 at Woodstock.This one just seemed to miss the mark.. At times he seemed to struggle vocally and was not half as animated as I'd scene him before. He wasn't the focus of show for me as I'd be watching Flea and John a lot more than him.
The reason might be that the concert relied heavily on new material. As a fan of them since 1988 I was hoping they would pull a lot more of the older material out of their bag of tricks. In fairness thou, they have such a brilliant catalog to choose from I didn't leave disappointed.
One other note I'd like to point out which is both good and bad. I'm glad they didn't "ROCK STAR" it up to the crowd but doing the typical...."lets hear this side......let's hear you on that side" crap, that is only cool if its your first concert ever. On the flip side it would have been nice to acknowledge the appreciative crowd. It left a kind of impersonal touch in my mind and a "we are just playing another show" kind of feel at times.
The sound and lights were great. Thank you MTS Centre for giving us the ability to actually hear the band. There was a clean sound mix which added to the whole experience. The light show was incredible and original. No fewer than 12 track spots were used and the rotating video wall created an interesting effect. The stage was minimal and uncluttered which left the focas on the band.
The final verdict was the concert itself was great. I would give it a 4 out of five star rating and most importantly I'd see them again.
