September 2007 - Posts
Here are my weekly notes:
- Megan's parents took us out for dinner tonight, to celebrate our entering the workforce. We're now contributing to their pensions :) Heh, very nice of them, and dinner was excellent.
- Ever wonder what the world would be like without Google Maps? We'd have more swastika-shaped buildings, that's for sure.
- After a bit of a hiatus, I had two articles published at last100 this week. The first was on Halo 3 and Microsoft's strategy beyond gaming, and the second was on the potentially doomed Zune.
- In a post that received lots of attention, Scott Karp outlined five reasons why he feels the mobile web sucks. He then wrote a follow-up post responding to some of the hostile comments left by readers of the first one. Both are worth a read.
- Here's what I like about Wired magazine: I can purchase the relatively inexpensive physical version, read it without requiring access to an electronic device, and then go online to bookmark my favorite articles later because they are all available at the website for free.
- I downloaded and quickly watched the first episode of the new CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, solely because Kaley Cuoco (from 8 Simple Rules) is in the show. All I can say is I am glad I didn't have to pay for it.
- The new Smallville which aired Thursday was excellent! They must have spent a fortune on the special effects. I was impressed that they had a nice mix of both subtle (Clark's skin healing in the sunlight) and over-the-top (Clark vaporizing a river of water) effects. The new girl, Canada's own Laura Vandervoort, didn't have much screen time in the premiere. I'm sure we'll see much more of her though!
Tonight I went to the wonderful Winspear Centre along with Dickson and Sharon to enjoy the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra performing some of the more famous works by John Williams. It was the first night of the ESO Robbins Pops, and it was a great show. Conductor Bruce Hangen from the Boston Conservatory was on hand for the evening, and he shared some short video clips before most pieces of him talking with John about the music. It's really quite amazing how much John Williams has accomplished in his career. From Wikipedia:
In a career that spans six decades, Williams has composed many of the most famous film scores in history, including those for Jaws, Star Wars, Superman, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, and Harry Potter. In addition, he has composed theme music for four Olympic Games, numerous television series and concert pieces.
Sadly, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jurassic Park were not performed, but the rest of those themes were, along with Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Amistad, Catch Me If You Can, and Saving Private Ryan. With four of the fourteen pieces they performed coming from Star Wars, you might say that was the theme for the evening, and it was complete with storm troopers, Princess Leia, and Darth Vader. Yes, they actually had people in Star Wars costumes! (UPDATE: Here are some photos.)
Another neat thing about the evening was that Bruce got the audience to sing happy birthday to John on camera! As a thank you for allowing ESO to perform his music (some which hasn't been published, like Jaws) and for allowing the interview clips to be shown, John will get a copy of our birthday song.
During the interview clip for Schindler's List, John said he looked at the film and was deeply moved. When he went to talk to Steven Spielberg about the music, the conversation went something like this:
John: This film is incredibly moving, you truly need a better composer than me.
Steven: I know, but they are all dead!
I really enjoyed the show, and hearing the music definitely makes me want to watch the movies again. I had forgotten how perfectly frightening the music for Jaws is! And when they started to play E.T. I couldn't help but smile - it was like I was transported back in time! E.T. was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid, and it still is. The music just gets me every time I hear it.
Happy Birthday to you John Williams! I hope you continue doing your thing for years to come.
I've seen a few blog posts on this now, and I wanted to add my own thoughts. Some time in the last couple days Yahoo added a message to the top of their forever-in-beta podcast directory site that reads "Yahoo! apologizes deeply, but we will be closing down the Podcasts site on Oct. 31, 2007." Not really a surprise as far as I'm concerned. Most people in the podcasting community would be able to tell you that Yahoo has ignored the site for months.
Here is what I said about the site when it launched almost two years ago:
Yahoo's Podcasts directory is put together very nicely, I think. The layout and organization make intuitive sense, and the search functionality seems to work quite well also.
I'm not sure how many podcast directories we need, but I'd have to say that Yahoo's is a welcome addition to the bunch.
Unfortunately, that didn't stay true for very long.
Both Read/WriteWeb and TechCrunch invoke the magic word - video - when suggesting reasons for the site's demise. I'm not so sure the rise of YouTube and the clones had any impact whatsoever on Yahoo Podcasts. As a matter of fact, the site lists both audio and video podcasts.
I think Yahoo chose to kill the site in part because it contains the word "podcast" in its name. I've written about this before, as have many others. It's not the process or idea that's bad, just the name.
I suspect the main reason Yahoo shut down the site is a renewed focus for the company, as speculated in the comments on TechCrunch. Just as well I guess.
The big news today of course is the launch of Halo 3, but it's also important to me for another reason. It's kind of hard to believe, but it was on this day a year ago that we launched Podcast Spot. We had no idea what to expect for our first year, but I think we can call it a success. Not a massive success, but a success nonetheless. Here's what I wrote back in 2006:
That said, it's just the first step, and there's still a long way to go. We're eager and excited to continue improving the podcasting experience, with Podcast Spot and other products too.
I'd say that still holds for today. We're going to spend some time going through what we've learned over the last year, and combined with our ideas and plans, we look forward to making our second year even better.
As I said on the Paramagnus blog, thanks to everyone who has supported us and especially to the podcasters who call Podcast Spot home. It's still pretty cool to me that people are using something I've built.
The September 2007 issue of Edmontonians magazine contains an article about Dickson and I. Quite simply, I think the article is terrible. Not only is it factually inaccurate and unnecessarily negative, I feel it is an extremely unfair introduction to both Dickson and myself as individuals. Every friend or family member who has read the article thus far has said the same thing: "that doesn't sound like you guys!"
The worst part is that there is supposed to be a follow-up article. Will it be better, or just as bad? Does it even matter? I don't know. We'll find out soon enough I guess, and I'll definitely be writing about it here.
In any case, I wanted to write down my concerns with the first article, so that I can look back on the experience and hopefully take something positive away from it. If you've got some spare time on your hands, you can read my very long entry here. If you do read what I've written, I'd love to know whether you think my concerns are legitimate or if instead you think I'm bat-shit crazy.
Also - have you seen Edmontonians anywhere around town? The circulation page makes it seem like the magazine is really easy to find, but I've had a heck of a time finding any copies. Seems the only reliable location is the airport. I guess that's just as well :)
Here are my weekly notes:
Tuesday is going to be a big day for Microsoft. September 25th is the release date for Halo 3, the much anticipated third installment in the Halo video game series. If you thought Halo 2 was a big deal (it sold more in the first 24 hours after release than most movies generate during their entire box office run) you'd be right - but Halo 3 is an even bigger deal.
Everything about Halo 3 is bigger and better than before, but especially the marketing. Heck, there's a page at Wikipedia dedicated solely to marketing for Halo 3. Microsoft seems to have figured out that blogs like Engadget are important too. Look at what they sent to Engadget editor Ryan Block:
Listen up kids -- the holidays have come way early. We've got our hands on the special edition Xbox 360 all done up in Halo 3 fashion... but that's not all. The boys from Redmond sent a massive, massive package our way, including a giant, custom army bag, custom dog tags, two army meal rations, a first aid kit, the Xbox itself, two Halo 3 controllers and a headset, plus some other stuff hidden in the nooks and crannies.
The photo gallery is pretty darn cool, even if you're not a Halo fan. One photo in particular caught my eye. Not only did Ryan receive a Halo 3 themed console, but it has his name engraved on the side! How cool is that? The bag and dog tags also have his name on them.
That got me thinking. What if Microsoft offered this package for sale, instead of just sending it to the press? I am sure people would happily pay more for a personalized Halo 3 kit. In fact, they could cut out the middleman altogether. Imagine pre-ordering Halo 3 online from Microsoft, with the ability to fully customize the package - colors, your name, etc. I'd pay for that, and I don't think I'm the only one who would.
The Halo 3 themed console isn't the first special edition Microsoft has launched - there was also the yellow edition for The Simpsons Movie. So it seems that personalization can be done, they probably just need to perfect the process. Microsoft made a big deal out of software themes and the faceplates for the Xbox 360, but maybe the next version of the Xbox will be truly customizable? Fully personalized manufacturing?
It could happen!
I really don't like these "catch up" blog posts, but they sure are easy to write. Here are a few things I've been meaning to post about!
The Casino
I worked at the Baccarat Casino here in Edmonton on Tuesday and Wednesday evening. The reason? Fundraiser for The Learning Centre. We raised quite a bit of money, so that's great! My position was the banker, which means I was responsible for all the money and chips. When tables needed chips, they would call for a chip run. I would do the transaction, prepare the chips, and send them with a chip runner (another volunteer). It was also my job to ensure the cashiers had enough money to give out when patrons brought us their chips.
A few things of interest:
- Apparently Alberta is the only province in Canada that still allows volunteers to handle money and chips at casino fundraising events.
- Working a casino can be pretty boring. There are long stretches of time when there is very little to do. On the other hand, you get free food!
- It is extremely hard to screw up. Not surprising I guess, but there are always at least two people doing everything (counting, for instance) and even the software I had to use was smart enough to prevent me from making mistakes (like giving too much money or something).
- There's a wide range of people at the casino. One person might come to exchange ten dollars worth of chips, the next might exchange ten thousand dollars worth. One or both of them might be drunk.
Not sure I would volunteer to work two days in a row again (so tired) but I am glad I was able to help out!
YRAP presents RestorAction
Another group I volunteer with is the Youth Restorative Action Project (YRAP). Our second annual charity gala is coming up on October 13th. Funds raised will go towards mentoring programs for at-risk youth. Mentors will use the funds for such things as enrollment in music or art programs and providing materials for extracurricular activities. The main aims of this program are to direct youth away from negative or criminal activities and focus their time on alternative and positive social activities and become contributing members of society.
You can find out more information at the RestorAction website. If you want tickets, let me know!
The Dollar
For the first time in 31 years, the Canadian dollar reached parity with the American dollar. That's pretty crazy. As a consumer, I think it's great...well as soon as prices are updated to reflect the parity. As a small business owner offering services in U.S. dollars, it's not so great.
Developer Night in Canada III
John Bristowe will be in town on Wednesday evening for a session on "Bringing the Power of the .NET Framework to Your Existing Application" being held at the downtown library. John will go through some real-world tips and tricks for migrating to .NET, and he'll cover some of the issues that you might encounter when integrating with legacy applications.
Canadian developers will share their experiences and insights, and you can too! You can find more information and register here. Also, don't forget about Edmonton Code Camp coming up in October.
Back in July I wrote about Microsoft's so-called Cloud OS. There hasn't been any Microsoft-specific news since then (that I've come across anyway) but more and more companies seem to be gearing up to offer cloud infrastructure services. Take Nirvanix for instance, an Amazon S3 competitor that launched earlier this month with some impressive features.
And today, the blogosphere is buzzing about Facebook potentially getting into the cloud services game (some might argue that they already are). Rev2 reports that Facebook is preparing to offer data storage services:
At this stage it seems unclear as to what the precise data storage offering from Facebook is going to be. The Developer wiki indicates that the new service is in Beta, however, there are no indications around more specific details such as space limitations. Costs are also not revealed so one could assume that the data storage offered may be free for a while whilst the service is still in Beta.
AllFacebook has some interesting discussion on the topic, and Read/WriteWeb notes that the service is somewhat in line with Facebook's earlier acquisition of Parakey.
This is pretty intriguing news on it's own, but it gets better. At the TechCrunch40 conference today, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company is launching a venture fund called fbFund:
The size of the fund will be $10 million with anywhere between $25 to $250 thousand in grants available for each selected startup dedicated to developing Facebook applications. Founders Fund and Accel will get the right of first refusal for the first round of financing of any company in the fund.
Facebook created The Platform, and everyone went crazy. Anyone could develop an application that would run on The Platform, as long as they invested their own infrastructure, time, and money. Today Facebook took steps to eliminate two of those hurdles. Pretty soon, all you'll need to invest is time.
I don't think it's wise to base your entire business around a Facebook application, but people will do it, and quite a few people will probably make money from it. The really good applications may even be able to transcend Facebook's walled garden.
Looks like The Platform is just getting started.
Here are my weekly notes:
If you're a student in the United States with an email address ending in .edu, you can get Office Ultimate 2007 for just $59.95 USD. That's an incredible deal considering the ERP on that SKU is about $679 USD. They call it "the ultimate steal":
Seize the deal! Get Microsoft® Office Ultimate 2007 for just $59.95. It’s a total steal: save time and money with this premium offer. Office Ultimate 2007’s brand new features and fresh look will help you organize and get all your work done in the blink of an eye. The Ultimate Steal is finally here, so grab it now!
It sucks that the offer is open only to students south of the border. I guess students here in Canada will have to "steal" it the old fashioned way.
The other interesting part of the promo is the blogging contest. Write a blog post explaining how to you plan to use Office for your academic studies, and you could win a spring break getaway, an American Express gift card, or an Xbox 360 Elite console. Again, open only to students in the USA.
Come on Microsoft Canada, how come we don't have cool promos like this?!
UPDATE: Disregard everything about Canada in the above text! Apparently this offer is available in Canada, and a bunch of other countries too. Their website strategy is shitty though, because the .com site totally doesn't make that clear. The press release clearly states Canada however. I should have tried this earlier, but here it is: http://theultimatesteal.ca. Cost is $64 to buy, $22 to subscribe for a year.
UPDATE 2: Okay, either I was totally blind today, or they just added this sometime this afternoon, but there are little flag icons on the top of the website. Maybe their website strategy isn't so shitty after all! I/O error I guess...anyway, wicked deal for students, and it lasts until April 30th, 2008.
I was less than impressed with most of the Computing Sciences courses I took during my degree at the University of Alberta. I found the majority of the courses either too boring or too out-of-date. Or quite often both.
Maybe the image I had in my head about what university would be like was just plain wrong. I always thought that universities were on the cutting edge, with lots of cool stuff happening. I thought I'd be exposed to some really interesting research, like that of Jonathan Schaeffer who worked on Deep Blue and teaches at the U of A. Sadly, my classes never ever reflected that image.
Today I was reading some blogs, and came across this article that says Stanford University is going to be offering a course this fall called Creating Engaging Web Applications Using Metrics and Learning on Facebook. I'm very interested and very jealous:
Students will build applications for Facebook, then gather and analyze detailed information about how Facebook users actually use them. Students will focus on using detailed numerical measurements to guide software iterations, just like developers do on thousands of existing Facebook applications.
They’ll be graded based on how many Facebook users they can get actively using their applications.
I wish I had been able to take classes like that when I was in university.
It's important to learn about hard technology problems, such as searching, but I think it's equally important to study the technology that people use every day, like Facebook. Kudos to the CS faculty at Stanford for taking a chance on Facebook and venturing into the relatively new area of Human Computer Interaction.
It seems that no matter how hard I try, I am never as organized as I want to be. There's always something I didn't get around to doing, or something new inevitably comes up. I am getting better though, and there's a few tools I use to make it easier. I use Outlook 2007 every day for my email and calendar, but I've never been a big fan of the tasks functionality in Outlook. For that, I'm an extremely happy user of Remember The Milk.
Remember The Milk (RTM) is a web-based task management application. Here's what they say on their about page:
We created Remember The Milk so that you no longer have to write your to-do lists on sticky notes, whiteboards, random scraps of paper, or the back of your hand. Remember The Milk makes managing tasks an enjoyable experience.
You've really got to try RTM to understand why it's so awesome, but here are three of my favorite features:
- Keyboard Shortcuts
That's right, this web application supports keyboard shortcuts! It takes some getting used to, I suppose, but once you know the shortcuts you're set. Pressing "t" will open a text box to allow you to type a new task. Pressing "n" deselects all the tasks in the current view, etc. Very handy.
- Smart Due Dates
In most applications, selecting a due date is a pain in the ass. You've got to open a little calendar control, navigate to the month you want, and then click on the day. With RTM, you get a text box that you can type virtually anything into. Seriously. Want to make the task due tomorrow? Simply type "tomorrow" or even "tmr". How about next Friday? Simply type "next friday". Once you've used this, you'll wonder how calendar apps could ever have worked any differently.
- Twitter Support
As a self-described Twitter addict, I was incredibly happy to see RTM add Twitter support recently. Now I don't even have to be near a computing device to use RTM! Instead, I can simply send a text message via Twitter to add new tasks, find out what's due today, and more. Twitter's direct message feature is what allows this magic to happen. Once you have RTM configured and added as a friend on Twitter, you can simply send "d rtm pick up milk" to add new tasks. Makes task management on the go a cinch.
You can learn more about RTM here. RTM supports multiple languages, task list sharing, offline access, and tons of other cool stuff. Did I mention that RTM is free? Quite amazing really, though they did recently launch a "Pro" account that costs $25 per year. With the Pro account you get priority support, new features (none as of yet), and "a warm fuzzy feeling for supporting RTM". Heh.
If you're looking for a good task management application, I definitely recommend Remember The Milk.
Here are my weekly notes:
- Dad was in town for the weekend for business. Was nice to hang out with him and do some shopping. Oh and I went to get my eyes tested for the first time in eight years - doctor said I had very minor changes in my prescription...boo yah!
- I am using Windows Live Writer for this post which I haven't used since the early betas. Just downloaded and installed it using the new integrated Windows Live installer. All the apps say Version 2008 and sport a very nice "Vista" look.
- Speaking of Vista, I got a new computer this weekend that has Windows Vista Business on it. I'll post more about this later, but so far, I think the wireless support in Vista sucks compared to XPSP2. My computer is awesome though :)
- Twitter is doing some cool stuff for the MTV Video Music Awards...congrats!
- Windows Live Translator is on the way! Online translation hasn't changed much in years...I hope the Live team has some good ideas for improvements.
- I detest coins smaller than 25 cents, so I absolutely think we should get rid of the penny.
- Like Dave Winer, I wish synching was a thing of the past. The iPod with Wi-Fi gets us one step closer, but there's lots of work to do.
I think it's safe to say that Windows Live Writer is my new favorite blogging client!
Yes, today Apple launched the iPod Touch. They also dropped the price of the iPhone by $200, which is certainly one way to thank early adopters. The official iPod Touch site is here, Engadget's coverage is here, and there's plenty more discussion here.
Multi-touch interface, 3.5-inch widescreen display, Wi-Fi web browsing with Safari, and more. Drool...
In January I said that "the launch of the iPhone bodes well for podcasting." Today I was proven correct. Without the iPhone, there would be no touch iPod with Wi-Fi, and make no mistake about it, the new iPod Touch is pretty much the ultimate podcasting device.
Did you see the video clip last week of Miss Teen USA contestant Caitlin Upton yammering incomprehensibly after someone asked her a question? If not, you can check it out on YouTube, but beware - it is painful to watch. That said, you really do have to see it to believe it. How that girl has made it this far in life is beyond me.
In his post about the video today, Mathew Ingram attempted to show that Caitlin has made the best of her mishap, and may actually be benefiting from it:
Caitlin, meanwhile, has gotten at least as much positive mileage out of her televised confusion as she has negative coverage...
Can anyone remember the name of the Miss Teen USA winner? Unlikely.
Mathew notes that Caitlin appeared on The Today Show to explain what happened, and that she has also taken part in several events that poked fun at her blooper. As the old saying goes, there's no such thing as bad publicity.
Except that there is such a thing as bad publicity. True, there are more people who know Caitlin's name than the name of whoever won the contest, but how important is that? At the end of the day, Caitlin still displayed some incredible incompetence on national television. Not everyone will be able to see past that. I think Caitlin has her work cut out for her.
Just imagine Caitlin going to a job interview now. Even if she does well in the interview, how can the potential employer look past her "answer" at the competition? Caitlin is lucky she's still in high school, as that may make it easier to forget about what happened.
What do you think? Has Caitlin really helped herself by not shying away from the publicity? In general I think tackling publicity head on (as Caitlin has) is the way to go, but I'm not sure it makes a difference when the publicity is all about how stupid you are.
Weekly notes, this time on holiday Monday:
- Can't believe it's already September!
- On that note...I'm so happy I don't have to go to school this week. I can honestly say I don't miss going to class at all. I admit I'm somewhat curious to see what has changed on campus over the summer.
- For those of you in Calgary: have you ever been to Yardhouse Restaurant? A friend sent me this blog post which says that the Yardhouse has 100 wings for $15!!! Definitely going to have to check that out next time I'm in Calgary.
- Russell Beattie says: Buy Opera. I love the desktop browser, but Russell says the company is valuable mainly because of Opera Mini.
- I'm guilty of having lots of electronics in my bedroom - cell phone, computer(s), TV, Xbox, etc. Interesting story (though not surprising) that all of those gadgets in the bedroom lead to "junk sleep" in teenagers.
- Is Vancouver Canada's greatest startup city? There's certainly lots of cool stuff happening there.
- Hope you had a good long weekend! Mine was pretty good. Dickson & Andrew hosted a pretty awesome BBQ yesterday. Jane moved into her own place on Saturday and a bunch of us helped. Tom was up in Edmonton for a soccer tournament this weekend (they finished 4th). Got a haircut, washed my car, did some other random things.
I was invited recently to be a guest on Robert Sanzalone's pacificIT Radio, a "fun, casual tech talk show where listeners from all over the world share their questions and experiences on tech." We recorded the episode live last night using Talkshoe, with me here in Edmonton and Robert all the way around the world in Japan. I started out using my cell phone, and switched over to Skype about fifteen minutes in. Amazing what the technology allows us to do!
We chatted about podcasting, Paramagnus, Canadian entrepreneurship, and micro-media, among other things. It was fun to do, and I hope if you listen to the recording that you get something out of it. You can download the MP3 here, and be sure to check out pacificIT Radio for more information and other episodes. Thanks for having me as a guest Robert!