Wazzup?

What a year I had, bought out my business partners, doubled my sales, moved my office, went to costa rica twice, rode powder all winter, drank beer in the sunshine all summer, travelled a whole lot and had an all around great time.

Now I find myself in Toronto visiting family and bored out of my skull. I can't wait to get out of here and I'm looking forward to a loud drive home with Lady Sovereign and Avenged Sevenfold.

Back in St. Donat, about 50cm of snow fell and I couldn't resist going snowboarding last weekend. To say it was superb would be an understatement especially given that it was the middle of December. So I'm stoked about heading back up north and hunkering down with all of the yardies for a few days of booze, snow and general outdoor stupidity.

On a sad note, one of my employees mom just passed away so I've got a funeral to go to this week. That really sucks over the holidays, poor fellow.

What else? Stephen Harper is an incoherent babbling sour grape with an anti-anything reactionary platform but it seems to me like he'll be our next prime minister. I can't see how he'll ever be able to run a minority government because there isn't anybody on the other side who will prop up his party, sigh, another government destined to fall - what a waste of time.

That's it for the year, see y'all next year and if you want to come snowboarding this week give me a call at the usual numbers.

Random thoughts

The Apprentice

I watched the Apprentice yesterday night and I thought I was going to be sick. There's this fellow who won who seemed to have great integrity and solid values, everybody respected him and he was a great leader. In the last minute of the show when he was given the opportunity to let the runner up win as well and win a non-competing/life changing carreer, he shut her out.

I still feel sick thinking about it. It seemed revolting seeing gangs of people in Atlanta looting and murdering in the wake of a disaster but to see an honest looking man execute a move with zero integrity made me feel disgusting, I was fooled by this guy and I realized how gullible we all are.

I wish them both well but I think that that fellow won the contest but lost the game.

XBox 360
By fluke, I got an email at 8:45 from Futureshop saying that they had 10 available today, across the street from my office. There's a massive blizzard in progress so getting there from anywhere else at rush hour is nearly impossible. So I walked across the street and bought one retail. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Music
Here's my favorite tracks/albums of the year:

Rise Against - Siren Song Of The Counter Culture
Ladytron - Destroy Everything You Touch, International Dateline
Boysnightout - Train Wreck
Richie Hawtin - DE9: Transitions
Alexisonfire - Alexisonfire

What I want for Christmas

Here's my list (besides world peace)

1) Celestron Skyscout: handheld eyeball computer that has GPS and X/Y/Z tilt sensors and a database of stars. Your personal planetarium.


2) GE lightbulb socket self charging smoke detectors - so simple yet brilliant, flick the light switch twice to test & reset.

3) iubi 100GB personal media player - 175 grams and 100GB, embedded linux - brilliant!


Here are my favorite new gadgets that I am using this year:

1) General Instruments DCT5100 high def PVR (videotron)
2) Konfabulator weather and stock ticker widgets
3) Dell 2300MP projector
4) Gateway widescreen convertible tablet PC
5) Rio Carbon 5GB
6) Sure E2C Sound Isolation Studio Quality Earbuds

Bill Gates as Robin Hood

It never ceases to amaze me every time that I read Slashdot how many people hate Microsoft and Bill Gates so much for all the wrong reasons. At this point it's so ridiculous that it seems like a Monty Python skit. Even in my job I see it from time to time regarding audio and video codecs. So many intelligent people from big corporations have been taken in by the mass anti-MS hysteria. How silly, for the record the Windows Media Codec is nearly a SMPTE standard and will be directly licensable from MPEGLA (same as MEPG4/MPEG2). IF you look a little harder, you'll find the source code for the decoder and if you want to license it from Microsoft, you can get it here. We definitely can't say the same about Apple, Real or Sony.

As for Linux, I love it but it's still a pain in the ass and at the end of the day Companies don't save anything unless they have tens of thousands of servers like Google, Akamai or Netapp.

Sure Microsoft steals ideas, crushes and strangles competitors and is ruthless in the market. Who isn't? The other guys (Apple, Redhat, Sony, Dell etc.) all used the exact same tactics but just weren't very good at it. The exception was IBM who were great at it but like Microsoft, got their knuckles rapped by the anti-trust commissions in the 80's. Both IBM and Microsoft got defanged by this process, IBM got eaten alive by Microsoft and Microsoft will likely get eaten alive by Google if they don't move fast. They know that too well in Redmond.

Here's the biggest stinker, as much as you can hate this vicious corporate competitor, Bill Gates has done more for world health and poverty than almost any man alive. Let's see Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Donald Trump and the other billionaires do the same.

Religion

I've met a few priests in my life who were genuinely great people and I've seen a lot of good that some religious organizations do in communities and all over the world. At the same time, it makes me sad to hear things like about how this pregnant teacher was fired at a Catholic school because she wasn't married. I'm pretty sure if Jesus was around, he wouldn't be too impressed either. Given how many stupidities in recent history have been executed on religious grounds, I find it amazing that there isn't a larger backlash.

UB40 once said:

We will no longer hear your command We will sieze the control from your hand We will fan the flame Of our anger and pain And you`ll feel the shame For what you do in gods name

Some More Conspiracies

This Cringley guy at PBS is onto the same thing that I am, he's claiming that Google's figured out how to pack 5000 CPUs and petabytes of storage into an industrial container that can be dropped into and plugged into Internet core peering points of which there are only around 300 in the world.

This is entirely feasible - nobody quite figured out what Google did with all that unused fiber that they scooped up a few years ago.

So the conspiracy goes that Googlites pack up these "datacenter in a box" containers, drop them into all 300 peering spots and wire them up using a private network and then essentially they have their own private shadow Internet connected everywhere and facing the general public at the peering points.

Kinda like Walmart does with cheap products but better .

Cringley theorizes about it here.

Scary Decade

So in the last decade, everybody was busy bashing Microsoft and Microsoft was busy squishing the competition. Now MS has been defanged, the competition is moving fast and furious on all fronts.

This is really no different than what happened with IBM in the 80s after they tried to recover from anti-trust litigation and Microsoft clipped their grass.

So what's next?

Well today Cisco acquired Scientific Atlanta. Why is that so important? Well Cisco used to be only in the datacenter and eventually they pretty much powered the majority of the Internet and have now leaped forward into your living room. Yep, that PVR or set top box is probably SA/Cisco. And the the DSLam behind your next generation box it will likely be Cisco.

So what's next?

Cisco needs to buy Grass Valley and/or Omneon for broadcast equipment and make it into datacenter equipment and then they'll own the whole chain.

Google needs to license TV programming and deliver it to Cisco enabled fabrics through ISPs, bypassing the cable companies.

Cisco, Google and Apple need to merge functionality to redefine everything as we know it.

Mom and Pop ISPs need to buy a couple of wireless WiMax towers and pump ubiquitous connections for cheap everywhere all the time. If not, Google will do this for them and Cisco will help them.

So maybe Nortel, Alcatel, Microsoft, Motorola and Yahoo will get a piece of the pie but mark my words, the pie is going to be radically different from the stale one I'm chewing on now.

The showstopper is going to be (as usual) the content owners (record companies, MPAA) who are going to get owned one more time.

Five Questions

This syndicated radio fellow by the name of Dennis Prager in the LA Times, wrote an interesting article asking 5 questions that he asks Muslims to answer. Although I don't necessarily agree with everything in his article, it is pretty interesting. He seems to be an articulate and reasonable fellow so it doesn't have the pinnings of a shock tactic.

Here are the five questions:

(1) Why are you so quiet?
(2) Why are none of the Palestinian terrorists Christian?
(3) Why is only one of the 47 Muslim-majority countries a free country?
(4) Why are so many atrocities committed and threatened by Muslims in the name of Islam?
(5) Why do countries governed by religious Muslims persecute other religions?

The elaborations are found in his article here.

I am sure that most Muslims have five questions for Christian countries as well going back to the crusades and similar vile behaviour originating from the vatican but regardless, I would like to hear the opinion of Muslims on the above questions.

I've heard these types of questions asked before and usually the answer is just that Christians/Jews etc did worse things. This tactic really doesn't answer any questions, just deflects the blame for taking questionable actions.

Gotta love bubba

Here's a picture of the family of Judge Samuel Alito, US supreme court nominee.

Notice Billy is trying to unhook the daughters brastrap.

Konfabulator

I started using Konfabulator again after finding some super useful desktop widgets. Konfabulater is a cross platform tool for creating small visual applications that have really smooth visual effects like fades, smooth wipes etc. Above are some widgets that live permanently on my desktop. Highly recommended http://www.konfabulator.com/.

On a different note, I got a Videotron hidef PVR for 500 bucks at FS last week and damn is it ever cool - 6 bucks a month for a couple of new HD channels, 160GB HD, and super easy to use. I'm not sure if the novelty is going to wear off but I'm loving it. Highly recommended as well. Apparently you can still use your old set top box and play back recorded movies on both boxes, haven't tried yet. Too bad you can't get the movies to go.

What the hell am I doing up on Sunday at 8AM? I'm at work procrastinating.....

What I'm listening to these days

I've been listening to Richie Hawtin DE9 Transitions over the past couple of weeks and oddly enough, it requires a commitment. Why? Its a 2 disk set, a DVD and a CD. The CD is a stereo mix and has 74 minutes of minute transformations of sounds every 4 bars so you have to listen to it like an opera. The DVD is 96 minutes and 5.1 audio so not just intricate but also rather astounding.

It's not for anybody with a short attention span but if you have a 5.1 home theater and a dark living room and 96 minutes to kill, you'll probably dig it. That is if you like minimal repetetive techno.

If you like Garth Brooks and still wear your Hootie and the Blowfish T-Shirt in public, don't bother.


What else am I listening to, in no particular order:

The Cure - High & the whole pornography album
Story of the Year - In the wake of determination album
Boys night out - Train wreck
Soft Cell - Remixes (don't laugh)
Atreyu - Everything
Ultravox - Everything
Avenged Sevenfold - Second Heartbeat

Anybody noticed that Avenged Sevenfold - bat city and unholy confessions are getting major airplay on the ultra commercial music video channels? Sure they're a bunch of dumb kids with tattoos but so were just about every good band at one time. Great band live, if you don't mind goth metal kids.

I love this guy

This guy named Shuji Nakamara came up with some crazy chemical/electrical process years ago that made LEDs shine blue. This wasn't such a big deal but today every single cool gadget has a cool blue LED and every single jumbotron in Times Square has millions of them.

It started off as some obscure invention with press releases in obscure technology magazines.

Today this same guy is making hydrogen from water. I don't have to tell you what that means given his track record.

Gorgeous Interior

I'm not entirely thrilled with the new Subaru tribeca but damn is the interior ever gorgeous. Nicer even than Bentley/Aston Marton.

Use your mouse to scroll 360 degrees

How cool is this?

8GB Sony walkman, courtesy of Engadget

I really want one of these

Sony-Ericsson W800 Walkman phone

December 2nd

Aeon Flux a cometh again..

Oh the irony: Peter Chung originally made the animated series a parody of action films:

"The idea of 'Liquid Television' was that it would be a satire or parody of things you see on television," he says. "The title, 'Liquid Television,' is kind of like the idea of a TV in a blender. 'Aeon Flux' was originally my parody of heroic action movies — and now there's a Hollywood action movie based on something that originally started out as a parody of Hollywood action movies."

The Vista war

I find it amusing to no end that all of the Apple fanboys are calling Windows Vista a ripoff of OSX when OSX is a rip off of Be, Suse Linux, KDE and Solaris. Don't the fanboys remember that the Mac itself was a cheap knockoff of the legendary Xerox Parc UI's that came before it?

Personally I don't give a crap who ripped who off. I just like the freedom of choice that commodity hardware (x86) gives me.

On another tangent, I installed a bunch of 7 day programmable thermostats at my country place and damn are they ever convenient. I don't have to get there and freeze for a couple of hours while the place warms up anymore. Highly recommended. A word of caution though - they are 240V and high amperage so don't screw around with them if you don't know what you're doing. You can most definately die if you mess up. You can get a 7 day timer (2 wire) for about 40 bucks at Canadian Tire and a 4 wire version at Reno Depot for $40.

I've got an X10 automation kit but unfortunately the X10 thermostat controllers are either too expensive or total crap so I can't use them yet.

MP3 players piss me off

You know why? None of them have standardized on a remote display format, remote controls or even a way to get files in and out. So I've got to have 4 different jukebox applications for my devices and each one has a different way of making playlists. What else? none of them work well with car or home stereos WTF????

So you might be saying "ha ha, you should have bought an ipod like all the other faeries", well surprise surprise, the remote controls suck and are proprietary, the car and home stereo integration is pathetic and on top of that I can't stand coldplay, U2 or Madonna.

You'd think that Sony, Creative, Alpine, Clarion with their tens of billions of dollors of revenue could throw together a unified spec.

Here's what I need from a device:

- Standard file system way of getting audio/playlists in and out (like my rio)
- Standard remote control interface with bluetooth
- Standard minimum remote display interface (show me songs and playlists)
- Standard charging plug
- Standard USB interface

Here's what I need from a car or home stereo

- Show me my device library not a freaking CD jukebox
- Let me find something fast through my 20000 songs
- Let me create a playlist on the fly
- Just freaking work without a headache and rewiring everything

Is that so freaking hard? Man, those goliath dinosaurs move slow...... now excuse me while I listen to coldplay on my lavender ipod mini

Hotmail Kahuna

Well the new hotmail beta ("kahuna") has been outed here. Looks a lot like outlook but has some cool features like weather reports nicely embedded into your calendar.

Sprint

Opportunity never really knocks for me, usually it shows up as a tiny crack in a door that somebody slipped a note through. When that happens I've got to go balls out crazy and slip an elephant through the crack while I have the opportunity to do so. Now is one of those rare times that big opportunities have slipped me notes through a couple of little cracks so I've been hella busy organizing myself for a scorched earch assault. It doesn't help that I spent all of September on the road and I just had 2 new employees start recently.

On a different note, I love these new Sony gadgets. These guys really get it:



My favorite gadget is a Rio Carbon which looks a lot like this thing above but unfortunately isn't available anymore since Rio shut down.

What else? I got a Dell 2300MP projector and damn is it ever cool. I don't think I'll ever buy a television again after seeing high def movies projected 15 feet across in my living room, super bright in broad daylight. All for 1500 bucks.

Hmmm lets see - replaced my radiator, sent my boat south for the winter and got my old bayliner back - cleaned and winterized it. Anybody want a fun/cheap wakeboard boat?