But that’s just what Tiger Woods did this morning. He left very early and had a minor car crash. According to FoxSports, he “hit a fire hydrant and a neighbor’s tree as he was leaving his mansion in a gated waterfront community near Orlando, Fla.” He had facial cuts and was treated at the hospital. Police say alcohol wasn’t an issue here, but they are still looking into what happened.

Image: Zuma Press

Post from: EveryJoe

Tiger Woods: Car Accident at 2:25 AM

As if it couldn’t get any better, this is applicable to both online and in-store locations. The sale ends on November 29th, so be sure to get a move on it!

There are so many great options to choose from. Shop for a variety of different gaming platforms and games to find the perfect gift.

If you’re planning on going in to one of your local Game Stops, make it easier on yourself by browsing through their online directory of pre-owned accessories and games, so you know exactly what you’re looking for before you go in.

That’s a fantastic sale, so take advantage of it now!

Image: Gamestop.com

Post from: EveryJoe

Buy 2 Used Games Get 1 Free at Game Stop!

Reese Witherspoon

The romantic comedy is about a happy couple Kate (Reese) and Brad (Vince), who decided to head off to Fiji on Christmas morning.

Both of their parents are divorced, yet somehow they end up having to to celebrate four sets of Christmases, splitting it between the four of the parents, instead of leaving to Fiji. Not only does it make situations confusing but, they also end up learning things about themselves.

Sounds like a good Christmas film that the family can enjoy. You’ve got to admit, Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon make quite the intriguin couple!

It just recently came out on DVD and Blu-Ray, so if you’re interested, be sure to snatch up a copy!

Image: Amazon

Post from: EveryJoe

“Four Christmases” on DVD and Blu-Ray

There are times that I feel my MacBook Pro is a bit slow. The main culprit really is the hard drive. I’ve got a decent processor (2.53 Ghz), adequate memory (4GB) but my hard drive is just 5400 rpm. That’s where the bottleneck is. When I’m multi-tasking and the Mac needs to write to the hard drive because the RAM is full it takes quite awhile and that plainly sucks. Especially if you’re trying to beat a deadline and your computer can’t keep up with you.

You can get a Patriot 128GB SSD at Fry’s for around $399.99. That’s still quite a big difference from a regular laptop hard drive. You can get a 250GB 7200 rpm laptop drive for less than a $100. That’s quite a disparity both in size and price. But you’re paying for speed. Is that price difference worth it.

A friend of mine recently purchased a SSD for his MacBook Pro and posted a video on YouTube showing of the performance. In the video he proceeds to launch all the apps he has on his dock. The MacBook Pro performs quite nicely. In my experience usually when I launch Photoshop and Parallels, my MacBook Pro almost grinds to a halt. His barely breaks a sweat.

Other videos around the net also show comparisons between SSD and ordinary drives. The difference is very noticeable. You get quicker boot times, you’re able to multitask better because apps run faster.

Is the huge price difference worth it? In my honest opinion, as of now regular consumers should hold off. Sure, you get the performance but it’s still quite expensive for the storage it offers. If you’re not using your Mac for work that requires a lot of multitasking then the SSD isn’t worth it yet. You’ll be paying a hefty price for storage.

Plus with most people’s data growing larger and larger because of all the digital photos, music and data they save, apart from your SSD you’re really need an external drive to offload data too and that will be added expense.

If you’re using your Mac for work and you multitask a lot then it might be beneficial. The amount of performance you’ll get from the drive might be well worth the premium.

As for me, as much as I would love the performance increase. I don’t need speed that much that will justify spending that much money. Maybe next year when prices drop further.

*Thanks to mindless for allowing to me to post his video.

Post from: EveryJoe

SSDs On Your Mac, Is It Time To Upgrade?

This morning, investors work up and sent the Dow plunging more than 200 points. While the losses have moderated so far, with the trading day almost over, there are concerns that Monday could bring another round of losses. After all, today is a short trading day — ending at 1 p.m. Eastern — and many investors are traveling or enjoying time with their families. Time to consider the information may lead to bigger losses on Monday. The news is also taking away from optimism, prompted by Black Friday, about the holiday shopping season.

The investors participating in the markets today, though, are mostly gravitating toward U.S. Treasuries and the U.S. dollar. Stocks are considered riskier, and in times of uncertainty and in times when the markets are in upheaval due to such monumental news, it is little surprise that investors are turning to the relative safety of government bonds and the U.S. dollar, both of which are backed by the most stable taxpayer base in the world.

Image source: lardo via Wikimedia Commons

Post from: EveryJoe

Dubai Shakes Things Up for World Markets

• 00:49 Good morning from Edmonton, Canada. Partly cloudy. ☁ 4/-7℃. #
• 04:54 A big Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends. #
• 07:07 Downtown Edmonton now. #
• 07:13 I’m at Subway Central (10250 101 Street, Edmonton). bit.ly/7lYRSP #
• 07:25 Having coffee (@ Second Cup - Central in Edmonton) bit.ly/8Su62U #
• 07:40 Second Cup’s free Wi-Fi access is great for iPhone users in Edmonton. No problem making long distance SIP calls . #YEG #
• 08:01 I love the idea of using the local airport code as a hashtag to geolocate yourself near major urban centers. #YEG #
• 08:04 @SSI_Solutions Thank you! Great connecting with you too. I’m really enjoying Edmonton. #YEG #
• 08:10 RT @mario: do you know of @stoweboyd’s microsyntax project? microsyntax.pbworks.com <Will check it out. Thanks!> #
• 08:50 @aainaaridtz Thank you! #
• 10:21 twitpic.com/r3ntb - I love this URL campaign ad around LRT stations in Edmonton. #yeg #
• 10:46 I’m at ETS (Southgate, Edmonton). bit.ly/8rXFbY #

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Post from: EveryJoe

Ochocinco Condoms Coming Soon?

Get a Mac, folks!

Posted via email from David Feng 2.0

Angels and Demons was released on DVD and Blu-ray earlier this week and would be a great movie to watch if you’re a conspiracy theorist or you are suspicious about what happens behind the closed doors of the Vatican.

In the film, Langdon delves into the deepest parts of the Vatican and discovers that the Illuminati, a religious offshoot group, has resurfaced and they are making some major demands.

With the Pope dead and the clergy fighting among themselves, it’s hard to tell the good guys from the bad ones.

It’s got a little bit of everything so it’s a decent film if you’re having people over for a movie night. It might be a little offensive to the deeply religious but, aside from that, I thought it was a worthy follow up to The DaVinci Code.

image: Amazon

Post from: EveryJoe

“Angels and Demons” on DVD and Blu-ray

The first thing you need to think is muscle balance or imbalance. If you’re only running straight ahead, you’re only working one set of muscles. By mixing it up, you’ll work muscles you rarely work and give your leg muscles much better balance. This will not only improve the overall sculpting of your legs but also help prevent injury. Two other nifty benefits are improved balance and agility.

On the marginal utility note, backwards running will give you more bang for the buck because you’re not used to it. Thus, while your body has gotten used to running straight ahead, your muscles will be shocked into better performance when you switch things up on them.

To be safe, try walking backwards first and get used to the different motion. Progress to walking faster and then running. You’ll want to do this in an empty field, separated from any hazards.

wiki

Post from: EveryJoe

Add Running Backwards to Your Workout

I’m sure a lot of people were also hoping it would do well since it stars John Travolta and his daughter, newcomer Ella Bleu. After John’s son, Jett, died tragically earlier this year, I’m sure their family could use something positive to focus on. Unfortunately, I don’t think this movie is going to do the trick.

image: Walt Disney Pictures

The film follows two best friends who find themselves suddenly saddled with the responsibility of taking care of six-year-old twins. Travolta is the happy bachelor (really?) and Robin Williams plays an unlucky-in-love divorcee. They are just about to close on the biggest business deal of their lives but their plans are derailed by their sudden childcare duties.

Sounds lame. I won’t be going to the theater and I probably will skip it on DVD and cable, even if my kids want to see it (which is doubtful).

Post from: EveryJoe

In Theaters: “Old Dogs”

Image: istockphoto

The frustration that this has given me led to some self observations. When I first meet a girl, I love it when she is spontaneous and exciting. I like that she is unpredictable and a social butterfly. It is only later that I realize that means she is also unreliable and slightly nuts. Because, hey, nuts is exciting in the beginning.

The girl that showed up a little early, didn’t drink more than two beers, and was still in her work clothes at the bar has always seemed boring to me. Now I see the error of my ways, I realize that this girl, this type of chick, is the one that I’ve been looking for.

She is the nice girl. She’s dependable and responsible. She is also the one that gets passed over by guys like me. Her friend that drank a little too much and got a little frisky was so much more flamboyant that I barely noticed the quiet woman in the background who motioned the waiter to switch the drinks from gin to water.

Guys, we have to stop letting ourselves get distracted by the flashy girls. Those are the ones who will freak out if we want a guys night while they flirt with every boy in sight. The constant phone calls and emails seem sweet at first but become suffocating with time. We need to start looking out for her friend in the background. The one who brought enough money to pay the tab and was interested in what kind of work I do, as opposed to the drunk mess who just asked what kind of car I drove. Once I noticed that wallflower, I realized that she was the nice girl. Who also happened to have an amazing rack underneath those scrubs.

Post from: EveryJoe

On The Hunt For The Perfect Girl

I’ve known I’ve wanted to teach for over 20 years, ever since the beginning of my undergrad days. While I used to think of teaching as my “fall back” job, I know now that teaching is something that I must do to be happy. When I teach, one of my core beliefs is that tech is not scary and anyone can learn it, which is why when I see first hand techies taking advantage of non-techies I get really pissed.

Yesterday I was teaching a second day at the Venture Program at BCIT. I was talking about Web 2.0 and showing the class how to set up their domains that they bought last week (if they didn’t have them) to use Gmail for Domains. This is a pretty simple process. Yes, you have to learn how to add MX records and maybe add a CNAME, but that isn’t rocket science. While helping my students through the process I got a refresher course in how terrible many host and registrar control panels are. I had a terribly unfun time trying to maneuver through all these panels and I know what I’m looking for! What really, really pissed me off those is when one of my students needed to email their host (because her domain, a .ca btw, uses their DNS) to add the Google testing CNAME for Google Apps and the needed MX records. This is a simple request. It takes about 1-2 minutes (or less) to make all these changes. She emailed the host, and had copied and pasted the instructions from Google (my suggestion so it would be 100% clear) into her email to them. They responded (quickly I must add) and said sure, that will be $15. What!?! You’ve got to be kidding me.

Since I was there when she got the response I told her to push back. That’s honestly highway robbery. She pushed back and got this response:

Hi,

Sorry there’s no way hat you can modify it, it needs to be manually modified in the backend as it’s a .ca domain.

So you’re always still looking at $15 setup charge, do let us know if you’d like us to got ahead.

Excuse me, but talk about hooey. A domain is a domain. If it’s in your DNS, you can manage it just the same regardless of TLD (the ending part). That’s the way the system works! I replied to my student that it was bullshit and the result: she emailed me this morning that she’s switched away from the host.

Here’s the lesson. Techies, we’re lucky. We get this stuff or have spent long hours learning it (and usually a combination of both). We know that lots of people don’t understand tech and really they shouldn’t have to. I don’t know how to fix cars, so I take it to people who do. Yes, it’s fair to charge money for tasks, but it’s not fair to (over)charge people to do simple things they could do themselves if you gave them the tools. If you do have to charge, don’t snow them with a story about why. A simple: “That will take us some time to do, so we have to charge for that work…” will suffice. I had to call upon Dreamhost tech support this week (If you follow this link to sign up with Dreamhost and/or use the coupon code TCHGRNHOSTING you get a discount on hosting, btw) for a semi-techie problem I created myself. They replied, fixed my mistake, and all was good. No service charge for deleting the dir I needed deleting. No song and dance. They just did it.

So really, just be cool. Share your knowledge. Be respectful. I bet you’ll learn something from that other person in the process (I learned about neural feedback yesterday from another student…very cool stuff).

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• 01:19 Good morning from Edmonton, Canada. Partly cloudy. ☁ 2/-4℃. #
• 06:00 Had a super lunch with with Mr. SocialMediaEdmonton @Mastermaq. Great seeing him again! #YEG #
• 06:06 RT @hummingbird604: Now that Twitter has a tab with RT’s, please be assured I thank you for each and every re-tweet you do of my stuff (heh) #
• 06:17 @hummingbird604 Enjoying Edmonton! Will be back home in Vancouver for the holidays. #YEG #YVR #
• 06:22 Whoa. I am SO not use to English QWERTY keyboards anymore. Finding the "@" key is so confusing moving to or from a Japanese keyboard. #
• 06:25 Cool #foursquare is now in Edmonton. Should I switch over from #Gowalla or play both? #
• 07:01 First Edmonton shout out! (@ Stanley Milner Library in Edmonton) bit.ly/6p0vyY #
• 07:13 Researching — at Stanley A. Milner Library (Downtown) gowal.la/s/FnD #
• 09:26 I’m at ETS (Southgate, Edmonton). bit.ly/8rXFbY #

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Posted via email from David Feng 2.0

Posted via email from David Feng 2.0

• 01:21 Good morning from Edmonton, Canada. Sunny. ☁ 1/-9℃. #
• 05:17 Called Fido to check my data usage. Still under control. The online account meter displays on their website but is still not functional. #
• 05:59 Shopping — at Walmart gowal.la/s/EfY #
• 13:16 Cool new features from HootSuite. Twitter Lists, Facebook, LinkedIn. Wow! iPhone app coming soon too! They rock. bit.ly/5U1otr #
• 15:33 My Twitter Lists are finally of use and starting to come together nicely. Thanks #HootSuite! #
• 15:37 @tokyotopia Sorry I missed the webinar. Will check out the slides and keep an eye out for the next one Honor! #
• 15:46 Whoa. Even had to change the time zone in HooteSuite. I’m sure I’ll find a dozen more before I’m done. *sigh* #
• 17:04 Trip to Calgary starting to come together. www.dopplr.com/trip/pacificIT/924334 #

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My presentation at Blogworld Expo 2009 was titled “10 Ways to Grow Your Audience” and was basically an enhanced version of my 2008 presentation “10 Ways To Build Your Readership“.

The big trend in 2009: Everybody
One of the big trends for me in 2009 was, how much ‘normal’ people started to adapt this stuff I have been doing for decades now. And suddenly how I am not any more the weird one, but everyone does it. The biggest thing for me was, while in Vegas, to ask everybody if they knew about twitter. And nearly all of them did – waiters, cab drivers, etc. I did not have to start with “there is this thing called the internet” but could start asking “what is your twitter name”. There is a change coming and I am curious how it will unfold in 2010.

I preface the slides with this notion of everybody, because it explains the way I have put them together: usable for beginners but also helpful to a little bit more experienced audience. You may note that I tend to put a lot of text into my slides and the reason for that is simple – I like people to be able to work with those slides later.

This years slides had a very simple call to action: “Think”. Think like your audience, think like how the tools you want to benefit from are build and used by others and think out of the box:

You should:

• think Audience
• think professional media
• work like a professional
• think workflow and procedures
• think Stumble Upon
• think twitter
• think offline
• think Newsletter
• think Facebook
• Stop thinking A-Listers
• Pay it forward

Thinks you cannot buy with money:

When I do presentations like this, my main goal is to make people understand and help them to use these tools. Therefor it is my biggest reward when people do come up to me afterwards and tell me, if it has helped them or not. And to my delight, one participant came up to me telling me how she attended my seminar last year and brought a friend because of it – and liked this year’s presentation as well. ;))

I’m still buying copies of that first Roxy Music album, I’m almost embarrassed to say – import copies on premium vinyl, anniversary CD copies, Japanese imports with paper sleeves, iTunes downloads when I’m on the road and need a fix. Such was the power of that initial strike.

The choice of words, namely fix and initial strike bring visions of very addictive drugs to mind. Think of the dire warnings that go along with cocaine, cake, speed, clarky-clark, cannabis or heroin.

Now think about the power of songs like Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Ebeneezer Goode or, err, Heroin.

And ‘the industry’ makes sure we keep paying over and over again to keep getting our hit of the hits.

Hmmm… anyone care to cue up The Verve singing “The Drugs Don’t Work”?

Got a little “self-mission”… a day before heading to Shanghai. Have passport, will travel. Good luck trying to staple me solely to my place in the Jing… heh… November 22, 2009…

Drove my way to Wuqing on the Beijing-Tianjin Freeway. Exit 11, Wuqing North, brings you to this city. Or part of the city, anyway…

Funny thing, this Jingjin Highway (京津公路) is. Tianjin or Beijing — your pick. Or Wuqing. Turn right.

This is the bit where we’re heading into central-ish Wuqing. Still a lot of peace and quiet.

The odd gas station or two. My car can’t take it, though. Oddball machine this is…

This is where Tianjin starts aping Beijing. The street sign’s in Tianjin and it shows a Tianjin street, but a la Beijing-aise. Too funny.

Traffic in central-ish Wuqing. Actually, I later found out that the bit of Wuqing I was in also went by the name Yangcun (楊村). It’s Wuqing as in the district and the HSR stop and Yangcun otherwise. (Wuqing on the new freeway; Yangcun on the older Jingjintang Freeway, or Tianjin Freeway 40.)

Thing that brought me here: the HSR.

Funny things happen when you shift away from central Tianjin. Like this thing that should have met the dumpster first. Funny thingy…

Getting a tad late. Northbound towards central Beijing. Never found out Wuqing HSR station until later on… when I was actually on the train itself…

THIS is central Wuqing or Yangcun. Just look at the whole thing. Buildings, buildings. I smell a McDonald’s somewhere… damned US imperialists… heh…

Yongyang… that’s one of those names that kept on popping up all the time in Wuqing. See, even here, you can’t drive as you wish: cross the crossing on a red, and boom.

National Highway 103 back north. I’m flipping over to the highway a tad later on, but this is how you used to get from the Jing to the Jin as early as 1924…

Mileage marker plus this dude going the wrong way. Amazing the rider didn’t get crushed…

Entrance to the Jingjin Freeway. (OK, “expressway”.) Tianjin toll gates are art works on the highway. ‘Nuff said… oh yeah… no pedestrians or bikes…

On the way back. It’s Beijing this time but Tanggu and Lutai later…

Posted via email from David Feng 2.0

Posted via email from David Feng 2.0

Posted via email from David Feng 2.0

Posted via email from David Feng 2.0

Posted via email from David Feng 2.0

Posted via email from David Feng 2.0

Posted via email from David Feng 2.0

It seems that a week doesn’t go by without receiving at least a few requests to be a fan of this or that on Facebook. Most of the time the requests come from friends, so I’m happy oblige, of course that doesn’t mean I’ll probably ever go back to that fan page (Facebook updates still don’t hit my radar in any meaningful way) but I’m a fan nonetheless. And like all new, shiny social media doohickies, people are also flocking to make their Facebook fan pages.

But maybe they shouldn’t be.

No, I’m not being a Facebook curmudgeon in this case, I’m only being pragmatic. Corvida Raven sums up it all well in her post on Facebook Fan Pages, Facebook just isn’t for all markets and demographics. I think if someone if trying to get you to hit all the social media outlets “just because”, then they’ve drank a wee too much of the social media Kool-Aid.

Even if your demographic is on Facebook, do you have the time to devote to it (which is one of Corvida’s points)? Are you trying to blog, tweet, and Facebook with your brand? A good, solid blog should have at least three-five posts a week.

Have you noticed that I’ve been posting here more? Yeah, because I needed a kick in the pants. My blog was snagging and it needed a boost. Am I going to build a FB Fan Page? Maybe for Create Your Own Blog, but not for myself.

Remember, time is a non-renewable resource. Use it wisely.

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• 01:25 Good morning from Edmonton, Canada. Partly cloudy. ☁ 1/-7℃. #
• 01:40 Debating today when it’s better to send correspondence by email or Facebook private message. #
• 01:43 @cormacheron Turned out to be a calendar setting on the iPhone. All in sync with Google now. Thanks. ☺ #
• 01:45 Good to have Push working again on my iPhone. Makes a world of difference. #
• 02:19 Interesting how we’ve only been in Edmonton for about a week and we’re already being called upon for tech support. No complaints. ☺ #
• 02:27 Link: LinkedIn Finally Opens Platform; TweetDeck to Launch LinkedIn Support bit.ly/5Ngk1O #
• 04:45 Added Xobni back to my Outlook. My old computer choked on it but now plays nicely. Great integration between social media and contacts. #
• 07:16 Woo-hoo! pacificIT VoIP is back online! voip.pacificIT.ca . Best place to get a Canadian number SIP account for your iPhone! #
• 07:21 Whoa. Finally got through ALL my LinkedIn correspondence. Had to blow the dust off the bacn from last August (do we still SAY bacn?). #
• 15:42 Checking out Google Wave. Thanks @retrocactus ! #

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Posted via email from David Feng 2.0

Ah WiFi. It’s almost everywhere now. Right now, in fact, I’m writing this post from a local coffee place that has great, free WiFi and awesome dark chocolate mochas, but WiFi isn’t everywhere. For the times I don’t have access to WiFi, I carry a USB data stick (EVDO modem) that gives me DSL level connections throughout most of metro Vancouver. MacWorld has a short piece on six ways to get online when you don’t have free WiFi around, and while all of these are great tips, I also want to caution you not to forget security when you’re looking for your next WiFi fix.

Yes, WiFi security is still important. No, it isn’t a common thing for people to have their computers hacked at conferences or coffee shops (unless those conferences are hacker conferences, and then you’re just toast), but this doesn’t mean you should be stupid about it.

Let’s first tackle when you do have WiFi available and you’d like to have a little more piece of mind.

Initial steps: turn off your file sharing. Yes, it’s great when you’re at home, but out in the wild, it isn’t so awesome. That is, in fact, saying “Hey come over here an browser my computer!” I am dumbfounded at the number of times I can just innocently see a ton of machines in any given coffee place that are sharing their files, songs, movies, and (erm) “other files”.

Next look at securing your connection. Lots of people use the free HotSpotShield service, but I go a step geekier with this SSH trick from Gina Trapani and Lifehacker. Yes, you need a host that lets you have SSH terminal access and doesn’t might the pass through traffic. My host doesn’t seem to mind for a while, then I have to reconnect. Small price to pay I think. I know that all of my connections are secured and encrypted.

Last thing is if you’re sharing your connection via WiFi (as I often do from my MacBook), put a password on that connection. Yeah even if it’s a simple one, just do it. Fine, your friends have to enter a password to mooch off your connection, but that’s better than the alternative which is someone using your connection to do something not nice or hugely bandwidth sucking.

Look I know that my SSH terminal connection with a SOCKS proxy is a little extreme for some. In fact I usually only connect to my hosts via SSH or SFTP anyway so that critical info is safe and GMail is set to always use HTTPS to connect (but I don’t think that covers IMAP), but I’d rather be safe than sorry.

Not to mention if I’m writing about blogging, WordPress, etc and just being stupidly ignorant of key security steps, well I’m not that much good am I?

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Posted via email from David Feng 2.0

Posted via email from David Feng 2.0

Posted via email from David Feng 2.0

Posted via email from David Feng 2.0

Scoble was always one of the staunchest proponents of full-text RSS feeds out there. Back when I was a pro-blogger trying to crank out lots of posts in a day (or hour), I agreed with him. It was much more helpful (and better for my custom, local feed searches) if the feeds were full-text. I wasn’t as hard core as Scoble and others by not subscribing or unsubscribing to partial text feeds, but I preferred them. Sounds like Scoble has changed his tune of late though:

In 2006 I wrote that I wouldn’t use any news aggregator or feeds that aren’t full text. I was wrong.

See, I often do get it wrong. Or, even if I’m right today, I can be proven wrong tomorrow by market changes.

What changed since 2006?

1. I have moved about 70% of my reading behavior to iPhone and other Smart Phone devices. Why does that matter? Well, on such a small screen having full text is far less desirable than if I use my 27-inch iMac.

[From I was wrong about full-text feeds]

I have to say I think Scoble is missing the whole point here. It isn’t the feed that takes up the screen real estate, it’s the interface that the reader has. For a small screen I’d expect to get the headline and maybe a few lines of text from the feed regardless of whether it was full or partial text. If I was interested in the article, I’d click through or flag it or something. I used to read feeds on my BlackBerry, but I stopped and not because of the small screen (though that didn’t help), it was because the BlackBerry browser sucks and it disconnected me from my RSS workflow. Reading an awesome post on my Berry only means that I have to do something to get in on my laptop for later. I email it, favourite it, something it, but I have to do something to get that item to my machine for later.

Scoble also asks if people are using Twitter more vs RSS Readers. I have to say that I was but am now missing my 900+ feeds I once had. I’m not subscribing like mad to feeds again. Why? Because while I do follow a lot of people on Twitter and a lot of sites that send their latest posts out through Twitter, I feel like I’m not getting the breadth that I used to. It’s the esoteric stuff. The little heard, but extremely sharp voices that you find with a wide catchment.

The whole debate about full or partial feeds is better served by discussing better interfaces. Let’s look at better ways of reading, sorting, and sourcing RSS feeds. My combo of NetNewsWire and Feedly is serving me well … right now. I’m always on the look out for the next iteration that will let me gather more and more information. Yes, the neural implant is on my wish list for the future. Just hook me up to the stream baby.

So, Robert … which iPhone RSS reader are you using that makes you long for partial feeds?

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Let’s see we have Druids, a Priestess out for blood against the Roman army, love, lust, and death. Okay that sounds like an opera to me! It is, in fact, it’s Bellini’s Norma which kicks off Vancouver Opera’s 50th anniversary season, just like it did in its first season! I’ve been getting a taste of the opera as Sheila has been rehearsing at home with it. You have to love an opera when I get stuff from Sheila like “Oh, so that’s the Italian for slaughter…”  

Yes, Norma is in Italian, but don’t worry there are surtitles and you’ll get to be in the Queen Elizabeth theatre for the first opera performance since the renovations were completed this summer. Oh, how do you get this privilege? Even before the vaunted “Blogger Night At The Opera?” You place the winning bid on my extra ticket for the dress rehearsal Thursday night. The ticket costs $15, so let’s start the bidding there. I’ll donate 100% of the winning bid to one lucky local Movember participant (I think I might have to have a mo-off or something).

Let the bidding begin in the comments. Remember this is a good cause so let’s get those bids going!

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Download audio file (tpn_psp_20091123_110.mp3)

MP3 File – Show Notes – RSS Feed – iTunes Link

A little bit different today as I take on some of the first batch of Mini Games from Sony. Normal service, including the news and a review of GTA: Chinatown, will be resumed in the next show.

For now, it’s time to look at Kahoots, Vempire and Tetris. One of the reminded me of the Clangers, one was a bit of a letdown and one was the surprise of my recent gaming life. Can you guess which? You’ll have to listen to the show to find out if you’re right!

Don’t forget, there are some prizes to be won if you’re a member of our Facebook page. Never miss a show by subscribing to the show and listen in Apple’s iTunes – you can leave your own review there as well.

What does your workspace look like? No, not the color or how many file cabinets you have, but how is your laptop or monitor positioned? What does your neck feel like at the end of the day? How about your arms, wrists, fingers? Having had my own brushes with carpal tunnel problems, not to mention a long standing back injury, I am always trying to find newer and better ways to layout my workspace.

Lifehacker has some simple (and inexpensive) ideas for getting your workspace up to snuff. Your first step is going to be getting that laptop screen up to the right height…

It’s easy to forget about your body’s needs when you’re deep into your work or the net—until your body offers a painful reminder. Save your physical shell some strain with these cheap, customizable ergonomic workspace upgrades.

[From Top 10 Ergonomic Upgrades for Your Workspace - Ergonomics - Lifehacker]

Once your laptop or monitor are at the right height, you’re going to need to work on that keyboard and mouse combination. With your laptop at the right height it’s pretty hard to type on it, unless you’re standing of course. Desks are only now coming around to getting keyboard drawers, table heights and chairs to mesh up together. All too often I haven’t been able to get the right position together because I can’t get the chair at the right height and the other things matched into place.

Remember: you should be able to sit up straight, arms relaxed, and head up to be able to work most comfortably.

If you have looked at all of Lifehacker’s recommendations, then the final one to remember is taking breaks. Stand up, stretch. Even set up your workspace so that you can type standing up.

Once you have all these parts in place, then you can start getting good writing done. Only when I have my work area ready am I able to write for the hours that sometimes just happens. When you’re going, you’re going. Sure there is a lot of popping and cracking when I stand up, but a lot less than if I was hunched over the laptop for the same amount of time.

Are you ready to make a change?

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I have to admit, while got into Google Wave early, I haven’t done much with it. Why? Because it was yet another tool that was demanding my attention, but not really giving back.

I had some early success with brainstorming for my current BCIT class, but since then? I do wander by Wave (using Waveboard), but not for long. I don’t think I’ve quiet got the information flow down right. So with that in mind … Look, Mashable is talking about newspapers and the MSM using Wave to discuss and work on the news:

It’s not too often that legacy media learns a new mass communication tool along with its audience. But that’s exactly what’s going on now because of Google Wave. Although it’s still invitation only and in preview, the real-time wiki collaboration platform is being used by some media companies for community building, real-time discussion, crowdsourcing, collaboration both inside and outside the newsroom, and for cross publishing content.

Google Wave may seem familiar to older users of the Internet, who have been using the parts that make up the whole of the platform for years. Wave, however, brings those pieces together cohesively to allow users to share photos, embed videos, and converge other Google applications such as Google Maps and Google Calendar to create customized blocks of user-editable content on the fly. Here are four ways that newsrooms are using Wave.

[From How Google Wave is Changing the News]

Huh, funny that kinda sounds like what message boards and blogs have been doing for a while. What’s different now? Critical mass. We’ve reached a point of comfort with technology that the “mainstream” of people (those on the Internet, because clearly the rest don’t really count) are comfortable using it to communicate. So while I think it’s great that Wave is finding more users and more uses, I think it’s way too early to say Google Wave is changing much of anything.

What’s your favorite use of Wave?

Sure, Wave has the potential to influence a lot online, but I don’t really think Wave is going to be the app we’ll be using. Wave is a prototype. It’s the early build, what comes after Wave, the modules that people are really using and like, that’s going to be the app that is going to change things.

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• 01:44 Good morning from Edmonton, Canada. Mostly sunny. ☁ 0/-8℃. #
• 16:18 Able to chat with some friends in Japan tonight (here) since today (there) is a holiday. #

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Specifically an episode called The Jet Propelled Guided Naffi. And you know what? There was no escape there either. Do you think Spike Milligan knew something we didn’t?

CRUN: Who authorised this? Who are…

GREENSLADE: Oh, Mr Eccles here.

ECCLES: Yeah, I chose all the furniture myself.

CRUN: Mr Eccles, why did a seven-and-sixpenny window-seat cost two hundred and forty six pounds?

ECCLES: Ummmmm . . . I Resign! You speak to my secretary, you can’t talk to a Government Minister like that! I won’t be out of work long, you see! I’ll get that Ministry of Fishery job, you watch. I’ve kept goldfish!

GREENSLADE: Mr Eccles, Mr Eccles we are not for one moment doubting your sincerity. It’s just your intelligence that’s in question.

ECCLES: Well, I accept your apology.

The Jet-Propelled Guided NAFFI, by Spike Milligan.

Organised by Renee Blodgett for the two days before Le Web will see a number of us descending early on Paris to see some presentations form the latest European start-ups and what they are working on in a smaller, more intimate environment.

I’m looking forward to it, partly because it’s going to be a bit like Dragon’s Den but without the claws and viciousness; partly because it gives us time to question the companies on the product; and also because it’s a good chance to hook up again and do some work with people like VinVin and Robin Wauters.

With all the writers, reporters and companies in the room, I’m expecting a number of lively podcasts!

I’m not sure if Rupert Murdoch is a brilliant business mind, just doesn’t get the Internet, or just plain nuts. Maybe buying MySpace was a good idea when News Corp bought it, but it certainly isn’t holding much value now. Now with his massive newspaper holdings also having trouble, if his papers are following all the other papers, he wants to remove his papers from the current market leader in search engines:

Yes, really. Rupert Murdoch’s crusade to blame Google for the failing newspaper business model continues today, as it emerges that News Corp has conducted talks with Microsoft about de-indexing the company’s sites from Google and (presumably) being paid to include them in Bing instead.

[From Microsoft and News Corp in Discussions to Remove Newspaper Content from Google]

This isn’t new news, per se, but what is interesting is that Microsoft is potentially helping in this endeavor and pushing people to Bing to find the information. I’m not too sure about how well that might work. I’m not going to hop over to Bing just to find articles from the WSJ.

How do you find your news online?

If Pete Cashmore is right, and I’m betting he is, the end result will only server to further marginalize News Corp holdings on the Internet and allow other news sites to fill the void.

Here in Vancouver I think the Vancouver Sun and Province are starting to work on new ways to monetize their news programs. Maybe they haven’t gotten it all figured out yet, but my read is that they are at least trying to work with new technologies instead of fighting the Internet-search centric trends.

The unanswered question will be, if News Corp has all of its sites pulled out of Google, how will they replace the search traffic and how will they get people to visit the sites. I’m not sure a connection to Bing will help matters. Wonder if News Corp will go after bloggers who link to their sites as well?

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Beyond everything else that was going on Thursday, like everyone else I was anxiously awaiting Google’s announcements about their much anticipated Chrome OS. Lucky for me, I teach my BCIT class on Thursdays I had bigger things on my mind to worry about reading live blogs on the whole announcement and presentation. I waited until I got home and then started to read. What I read wasn’t really flattering for Google though:

• Google ChromeOS: It’s basically a modified browser that runs web apps
• Everything You Need To Know About Chrome OS – chrome os – Gizmodo
• Google Chrome OS: 5 Ways It’s Completely Different
• Was Chrome OS a Disappointment?

It didn’t take long for people to built Chrome OS virtual machines so everyone could try (granted the source available isn’t the newest stuff Google was showing):

• Chrome OS Virtual Machine Build Ready for Your Testing – chrome os – Lifehacker
• Run Google Chrome OS within Mac OS X – OS X Daily
• Want To Try Out Google Chrome OS For Yourself? Here’s How.

It took me a little futzing to get it running (I didn’t decompress the .bz2 file correctly), Techcrunch’s step-by-step directions set me on the right course (I agree with TC—get a disposable Gmail account for this set up) and I was off to the races. A few clicks and boots in Parallels and I got:

Yeah not very exciting. It’s pretty much just Chrome running on top of Ubuntu without any other hardware. In fact, that’s exactly what Google wants. When Chrome OS comes out next year pre-installed on certain netbooks, that’s going to be pretty much the only way to use it. Google doesn’t intend Chrome OS to compete with OS X, Windows, or Ubuntu as an OS you can just install on whatever machine you wish. Chrome OS is going to be a netbook os.

Okay, so you’re going to get a netbook that is going to be pretty much a brick unless it’s connected to the net (as the doom and gloom sayers put it)? Looks like it right now. So is Chrome OS a flop already? Not by a long-shot. Google is trying something pretty interesting. They are going to see if with faster connections and machines, can something like a (semi)dumb terminal work. Can you really work mostly in the cloud?

Chrome OS powered netbooks are going to be truly net connected and net dependent computers. This might be a hard change to swallow for many users.

My bet is I think ever connected folks like me could do it, but I’m still not sure if the netbook is going to be the right form factor for it. I’m wondering if a tablet would be better. Would an Apple Table crush a Chrome OS powered netbook? My guess is for a lot of people a device with a little storage, larger screen than a netbook or iPhone will have great appeal. For the right price.

Now, who might be the real winners with Chrome OS? Students. Think of a high school where a Chrome OS netbook is the standard. Text books on flash media. Homework written online and backed up automatically. In an always connected school, the machines are going to be a boon. At home, maybe as the interface to your home systems or a media center controller. Good places too.

The biggest barrier to Google and netbook manufacturers isn’t going to be price, it’s people buying the netbook (and truly a netbook) and being disappointed in the device. It’s going to take clever marketing and solid sales materials to make sure that people know what the devices strengths and weaknesses are.

I’m not planning on firing up the Chrome OS VM too often. Maybe just to show it off. I think our expectations were just too grandiose for what Google really had planned. The true test will be the first crop of netbooks next year.

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It seems that the “Twitter in the news” cycle is set to a two week rotation. Maybe the law of conservation of twitter news …

Regardless, Twitter was in the news recently that Twitter has peaked because its Comscore traffic data dipped in October. Oh how the pundits, jumped on that. Well the pundits who didn’t really read the data. CNET shows that at least someone is reading the data with a critical eye:

It seems that these figures, blessedly inconsistent as they are, are not taking account of all the third-party and mobile methods of keeping everyone up with your eating, drinking, reading, philosophizing and socializing.
But is it also possible that some people will simply never participate in the Twitter phenomenon, finding it either annoying, uncool, or even too much effort?
With Twitter intent on becoming more businesslike (why does the word ‘more’ seem slightly redundant here?), 2010 seems destined to be the year that the microblogging service becomes either de rigueur or dazed and confused.
Will Twitter become a permanent habit or a disappearing, perhaps even elitist, fad? I’ll tweet Nostradamus and ask him.

[From Has Twitter peaked? | Technically Incorrect - CNET News]

See, Comscore measures website traffic. TweetDeck, Hootsuite, Siesmic, none of those hit the website for traffic. So, in fact, I would read the dip to be good news for Twitter. Sure, people aren’t going to the website, but they are becoming more sophisticated and using tools that help them manage their Twitter streams.

The point is that you just can’t read data blindly. This was something that was beat into me going through college and grad school. As a scientist we learn to never to take data at face value. You have to understand all the parameters around it. When I heard that Twitter dipped in October I was interested, then when I read that the data source was Comscore then I knew that the data could be interpreted in at least a few ways.

No, I’m not saying that there are people who have it out for Twitter. Saying that “Twitter dips in October,” makes for a great headline. I would add “…But is that the real picture,” just because that would indicate that there might be something more going on.

And there is.

Twitter isn’t the be all and end all. I’m not going to be Twitter cheerleader. I think microblogging-micromessaging has changed how we’re sharing information, and for the better.

So next time we get some Twitter traffic data, let’s take a good look at the data first.   

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• 02:32 Good morning from Edmonton, Canada. First SNOW! Just a thin layer but beautiful nonetheless. ☃ 3/-9℃. #
• 03:59 twitpic.com/qe35b - Sprinkle of snow in the back yard. #
• 05:58 Ridin’ the rails of the Edmonton LRT. #
• 08:14 twitpic.com/qfaos - Sweetie picks up some swag at the show. #

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There’s no influence on the final vote, there’s no feedback to the main team here, it’s purely to see what would happen if there was an Internet jury.

Poll will close as the official voting lines close

• 00:36 Good morning from Edmonton, Canada. ☁ Cloudy. 5/-6℃. #
• 01:35 Just noticed Push stopped working on my iPhone so I had no idea I was getting RTs and replies. #
• 03:40 Finished raking the yard in prep for the snow tomorrow. Gotta love the Great White North. #
• 08:42 twitpic.com/qacyd - Herbie strikes again… in Edmonton #

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I’ve been a hard-core RSS user since the beginning of my blogging days and I think I’ve tried almost every RSS reader out there. Mashable just put out the Top 10 RSS Readers (as chosen by readers) … good list I think:

Top 10 Mashable Reader News Readers
10. Reeder (iPhone) [warning: iTunes link]

9. Times (Mac)

8. Klipfolio

7. Shrook (Mac)

6. NetNewsWire (Mac)

5. Twitter

4. FeedDemon (Windows)

3. NetVibes

2. Feedly

1. Google Reader

[From Top 10 News Readers Judged by Mashable Readers]

Oddly enough, I’ve used all of these apps. Right now I’m using 1-3, at the same time. Once NetNewsWire started to sync with Google Reader, that pulled two together, but what about Feedly? Thought you’d ask about that. Feedly started as a Firefox extension, but that wasn’t enough, they developed Feedly for Safari and Chrome. Okay, I can use Feedly in my browser so what? The so what is that NetNewsWire uses the Webkit browser… which is what Safari uses. It hit me that all I needed to do to enjoy Feedly and NetNewsWire and Google Reader together was to open a tab in NetNewsWire and open the local Safari-enabled file to get:

Not bad huh? The key to using any RSS reader is finding the way to get the information you need, when you need it. I can just skim things with my Feedly page or read in NNW. The choice is up to me and how much time I have.

Times works very much the same way. I used it for a while, but I just needed more info than I could cram into Times a one time. Sometimes, you just have to step into the fire hose and just hold on.

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• Introduction to Junior Eurovision.
• What’s different about Junior Eurovision?
• How to watch Junior Eurovision this weekend no matter where you are in the world.
• Download your JESC Scorecard.

Tomorrow of course is the competition, and I’ll have one more article – a quick guide to all the songs – tomorrow. But for now, what do I think are going to be the highlights of the two and a quarter hour long show?

The Little Prince from Russia

After an opening song that could easily represent Sweden in the full contest, it’s time to get the full power of Junior Eurovision with twelve year old Ekaterina Ryabova and a little game of hide and seek.

Roy Castle Lives!

Honestly this song could sit at the bottom of the scoring table all night, or be a real Record Breaker (…sorry). It’s a definite Jazz hands number and if he was American a guest spot on Glee would be beckoning.

The Yodelling Belgian

This song will delight the UK audience watching on the live stream because it’s the perfect Eurovision song… if it was 1975. How this is going to work over Europe will be interesting – can we live with a yodelling chorus and a singer who can switch form that to regular swinging at the drop of a hat?

Ani Lorak in the middle

Ukraine’s Shady Lady, who came second in the regular Eurovision Song Contest in 2008 is the Interval act. Riverdance this isn’t and I suspect the show will be toned down just a little bit for the audience, but expect fireworks and high energy no matter what.

The Scoring and Green Room

Let’s be honest here, it’s unlikely there’s going to be any hidden emotion on the faces of the children as the votes come in. With the green room actually a seated section on the stage, there’s every opportunity to capture the highs and lows as “’ello Kiev, here are the votes of the Belgian jury…” rings out through the auditorium. Every country gets twelve points just for qualifying so there’s no nul points, but someone’s got to come last…

 Junior Eurovison starts at 1915 UK time (2015 CET) this Saturday. You can watch the international live stream for free at www.junioreurovision.tv , and I’ll be providing a Twitter commentary via @ewan.

• 00:49 Good morning from Edmonton, Canada. ☁ Cloudy. 5/-6℃. #
• 17:15 Something wacky was going on with my Google Calendar and iPhone sync. All fixed now. Watch out for ALL your settings when moving time zones. #
• 17:17 Amazed at the number of QWERTY keyboard mobile phones now available in N. America. Understandably, these simply don’t exist in Japan. #
• 17:24 One of the biggest values I get from the iPhone is making SIP calls over WiFi. Still the best way to call when traveling. Better than Skype. #
• 17:31 Twistory is still placing my tweets nicely into my Google Calendar as a wonderful daily log though sometimes lags a few days. #
• 17:34 I love how the Edmonton Public Library integrates social media into their online catalog. www.epl.ca #
• 18:05 I favorited a YouTube video — What is Glympse? www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg-MsCQJ6n4&feature=autoshare_twitter #

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Unlike other Bay Area companies, Google has been known to get it wrong, so just because they are doing something, it doesn’t meant that they will make a success of it. With Chrome OS they’re making the biggest play to cloud computing yet. By cloud computing they actually mean “we’ll be your hard drive that you can connect to wherever you are in the world.”

Yes Google have brought us full circle back to the days of mainframes Dec52’s and VT-100s. Lovely. But now it’s got a shiny name (“cloud”) and a big name behind it. Which it’s going to need because they’ve triggered a holy war.

At the an of smartphones the discussion had been one-box or two-box. Would people want all the functionality in a single potentially compromised device or two dedicated devices that talk to each other. History has pointed to the one-box as the preferred solution but a good two box beats an average one-box… and vice versa.

I think that we’re going to see the same with Google Chrome and netbook OS’ in general, but it won’t be as clear a solution as Colly remembers. Essentially you’ll be choosing if you want your portable computer to be a thin client that relies almost totally on being connected for every operation (even your word processor) or if you want a full Operating System so you can do everything yourself.

Personally I’ll always err to the latter, but I can see the former being very attractive, especially coupled to cheaper hardware and so called under-powered computers. That of course means under-powered for windows because even today the difference between something shoe-horned into a netbook (Windows XP) is much less flexible than Easy Peasy.

I also mean underpowered by today’s standard. Probably the best low-powered mobile computer – the Psion Series 5mx – trundled along with 16MB of combined storage and execution memory and a 32mhz processor. Yet the core functions on that device are still faster in real use than today’s netbooks and laptops.

And where would a 5mx fit into Google’s plan?

Hmm…

In previous years I’ve just pointed to the BBC for people to get their card, but as they’re not taking part in Junior Eurovision (boo!!!) I’ll just have to do it myself.

 Download your Junior Eurovision 2009 Scorecard

Laid out in the running order for Saturday’s final, you’ve got a handy picture of each act (as a preview or reminder), the country, song title and singer. I’ve followed the BBC format here so you can score the song, performance and outfit to get a final score and your personal winner.

And then you can tweet me your top three on the night (@ewan and tag it #jesc) and we’ll see how we all get on!

• 01:56 Good morning from Edmonton, Canada. ☁ A few clouds. 5/-7℃. #
• 04:29 It’s nomination season for the Crunchies. Time to adjust the spam filters. #nominatemefail #
• 05:06 "Texting" in N. America usually means SMS which costs. In Japan "texting" happens way more but is over the Internet as part of a data plan. #
• 06:01 Fido allows the same SIM card to be used in an iPhone as well as an "Internet Stick" to draw on the same Canada wide data plan. That rocks. #
• 06:05 There is no such thing as mobile "roaming" charges within Japan for most of the carriers. #
• 14:15 I’m listening to Toes by Zac Brown Band ♫2dj.me/zFbb #
• 15:11 Finished watching #Glee for the first time (no sign of Glee yet in Japan). A new fav. #Gleerocks #

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If you live in one of the countries entering the Contest, then you will be getting live to air coverage of the concert (except for Sweden who are showing it on Sunday morning… I can only assume they are using a Tardis to count the SMS votes). So what can everyone else do?

Well, use the official live stream! Head over to the Junior Eurovision website and you’ll spot the Mediaplayer option. Click here and you‘ll get the streaming media player. It will carry the concert live on the night – until then it’s broadcasting backstage footage or you can choose to watch archived shows from previous years.

As you’ll need the Octoshape P2P plug-in, I’d advise checking out an archived show to make sure everything is in place and set up before Saturday night.

You’ll also spot a Twitter tab on the right of the player – so if you wish you can post to your Twitter account while watching the show – a nice touch from the @EurovisionTeam.

Personally I’ll be using a second computer; using one computer to stream and a second to run a number of Twitter clients and search pages so I can run my own unique style of tweet-coverage and field all your questions. If you want to follow me, I’m @Ewan on Twitter and I’ll be using #jesc as the hash-tag (#junioreurovision is a bit much to type!).

  Nista Licno (Serbia) at rehearsals,
picture by Indrek Galetin and Giel Domen, EBU.

Guess what arrived in the post this week? That’s right, just one Geekstack card.

Which I think is a genius marketing move. Arguably this is little more than a business card, but Peter Christensen has pushed this as a sample card – and by putting a physical card out it builds emotion and connection to a product that might be available in beta decks just before Christmas (GPO strikes permitting).

And he gets another blog post from many people. See, told you he was smart!

• 01:58 Good morning from Edmonton, Canada. ☁ Sunny. 11/-6℃. #
• 17:32 I now enjoy playing Gowalla with my travels on the iPhone. Recently available to other smart phones at m.gowalla.com #
• 18:23 Becoming a master of itinerary planning using the iPhone and Google Maps. #

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By popular demand, I am teaching another round of WordPress courses January 16th and April 10th, 2010. These courses are being offered through BCIT and will be offered as separate morning and afternoon sessions. The morning session will use WordPress.com to build a website/blog. The afternoon session will use WordPress you install yourself to build the same kind of site, but with more customized features.

You can sign up for the WordPress morning course and WordPress afternoon course through the BCIT website.

I know that the courses will be taught in the awesome Mac lab at the New Media Design School, but if you have your own laptop you’re welcome to bring it.

Now, on the subject of installing WordPress yourself, this is a little more complicated. In many of my classes I have walked students through the process of installing MAMP or XAMPP on their laptops or the classroom computers then installing WordPress “locally” (meaning running on that laptop or computer). This is great in one respect, it’s easy, free, and you get to play with WordPress in the safety and security of your own machine. In another respect though, it isn’t very good at all. When you’re working on your own machine, it’s really not much like working on a web host on the Internet.

Sure WordPress works the same, but configurations, setting, and tweaks are too easy. You won’t run into any issues with directory permissions or setting up domains through a control panel. So while it’s not required to have purchased a domain and set up with a host before the class (or the day of), I highly recommend it.

I’ve moved hosts recently and started using DreamHost for my sites (I’m still moving some over now) and they allow me to create discount codes. Of course I get some money as well (less the discount I give you) in the process. So if you’d like to sign up with DreamHost using my coupon you can follow my DreamHost referral link or use the coupon code TCHGRNHOSTING when signing up for DreamHost. If not, that’s fine too.

Either way, you’ll get more out of the afternoon class when you have a domain and webhost of your own. Might be a little more complicated at first, but in the long run you’ll be a lot better off. Not to mention you’d be able to leave the class with an actual, functioning website of your own.

That’s not too shabby is it?

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Who can sing?

Given the name of the contest it’s a children’s song competition, so they need to be between the age of 10 and 15. Those singing the song must also have written the song (but from last year adults can help them a little bit). Each song must have been selected through a live National Final unless there are exceptional circumstances.

What about the songs?

Unlike the adult Eurovision, the ‘national language’ rule is in effect here so each song must be sung in one of the official languages of the country being represented. It must also be between 2m 30s and 2m 45 s long.

How do I vote?

Given that “the internet” is not yet an official EBU member, only those people watching in the countries that have entered a song can take part in the televote – details on how they can do that will be on screen during the broadcast.

Perhaps I should set up a voting form here to be “the jury of the internet?”

How does the scoring work?

Exactly the same as this year’s adult Eurovision. Each country runs a televote, which makes up half of the score, with a jury making up the other half. The best placed song gets 12 points, then 10 points, 8, 7, 6 all the way down to one single point. Highest score at the end of the night wins.

Wouldn’t it be fun/awful if a kid scored nul points?

Yes it would, and something that would probably stigmatise someone for life. So the organisers, in a rare “let’s protect them from the harsh reality of music” automatically award everyone 12 points at the start of the contest just for turning up.

What do they win?

A trophy and a certificate. Thankfully in this economic climate the winners do not automatically host next year’s contest – it is bid for in a similar way to the Olympics.

How can I watch and enjoy this on Saturday?

It starts at Just put in 2015 CET (1915 in the UK, 1415 Eastern, 1115 Pacific) this Saturday, the 21st November. As to watching it, well, that’s where the Internet does come in useful. Come back here tomorrow, I’ll explain it all then!

If your smartphone is all about personalisation, why is it that we are left with the manufacturer’s default choice of applications in the firmware? Years ago you checked the memory size and radio frequencies, now it’s interrogating the firmware load-out. It’s a given that no matter what Symbian OS product comes out, there are caveats in the review as to why application (a) was left out while application (b) made the cut. With the example omission of Podcasting from Nokia’s recent E-Series smartphones,

Yes there are (arguably) operational reasons for these omissions. Each design team for each model is going to make their own call on what their user group will want, what they’ll be using the machine for, and they will also have a budget (of time and money). Put all that in balance, and choosing which 50 or so applications ship on a device isn’t always a clear-cut decision.

But it shouldn’t need to be this way. There is a lot of effort put into the customisation options on a device, from your wallpaper and ringtones to the application icons and screen fades and wipes. So why not have the same ability for your second line applications?

Here’s my suggestion. When you first switch your phone on, there already are some set-up things that have to be done. The date and time are obvious ones, as is setting up email. So why not have a (likely widget-driven) application that lists all those optional components, such as Podcasting, Nokia Messaging, Ovi Chat, and so on. You could even use it to promote the Ovi Store and certain third party applications – all with the requisite disclaimer. And behind it you have ‘generic’ versions of these not quite core applications which you know will happily run on all the devices out there.

The full article and more discussion at All About Symbian.

Every Eurovision entry stands on the shoulders of giants, the artists and myths that have built up over time. Portugal’s inability to get any higher than sixth place, the almost pathological gallic need to sing in French, the ability to avoid doing a Jemini…

But representing Ireland comes with enough baggage to fill Terminal 5 at Heathrow. This is the most successful country in the contest; the western country that people can vote for without having any political qualms; this is the country that managed to contribute to the greatest Father Ted episode of all time.

Even now, listening to “They Can’t Stop The Spring” you’d think it would do well at Eurovision. A great song, wonderful composition, powerful lyrics, a showcase of all the best of Irish music. Why were we not back in Dublin for 2008?

The full article can be read on is on Boom Bang a Blog; Travelling Show, by Dervish, is published by Whirling Discs and is available from Amazon.

• 01:29 Good morning from Edmonton, Canada. ☁ A few clouds. 9/-4℃. #
• 05:38 I’m at Whitemud Crossing Library in Edmonton gowal.la/s/xGX #
• 05:59 Just noticed today even at high noon, the sun in Edmonton is still somewhat near the horizon. Changes in latitude, changes in attitude. #
• 08:52 I’m at Southgate Shopping Center in Edmonton gowal.la/s/g4p #
• 09:32 Enjoying a Timmies. — at Tim Hortons gowal.la/s/xRC #
• 14:21 I now have visual voicemail on my iPhone. Not sure why Softbank never implemented this feature. Japan is just not big on voice messages. #

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Download audio file (tpn_psp_20091112_109.mp3)

MP3 File – Show Notes – RSS Feed – iTunes Link

After a little delay it’s time to Motor on with a Storm of titles running up to Christmas, along with a few puns and some mini-games in the mix.

It’s yet another driving game, giving you quite a few to choose from this year (NFS Shift and GT already, with F1 to follow at the end of the month) but Arctic Storm has one big advantage.

It’s fun.

Is it enough though? You’ll have to listen to the show and the latest news round-up to find out.

As well as Facebook and here, you can listen and subscribe to the show in Apple’s iTunes – and leave your own review there as well.

• 01:28 Good morning from Edmonton, AB Canada. ☁ Mostly cloudy - first time since we arrived. 4/-6℃. #
• 05:01 The YellowPages.ca iPhone app certainly rocks. #
• 05:04 ‘Tis the season for people to email requests for address updates to send Holiday Greetings cards. #
• 05:08 Jetlag didn’t really hit us until yesterday. Slowly adjusting to being on the other side of the earth after 3 years. #
• 05:12 What’s the best way to follow Twitter Lists on the iPhone? #
• 14:41 Link: JoT 1319: Twilight killer. bit.ly/4d6L3K
  [Joy of Tech Comic] #

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One of the great things about working on books and teaching blogging and WordPress is that it forces you to take stock and sometimes take your own advice. With Create Your Own Blog finished (I’m reviewing galley proofs now), my second book well underway, and teaching I was starting to spawn off new sites and blogs like crazy. This isn’t always a good thing.

I realized this week that I wasn’t posting to my blogs often enough and when I did I had to think about where I should post. This means that I have a potential message dilution issue going on here. Which site should you (the reader) pay attention to? When the book comes out, which blog is going to be the headliner to get the traffic (and also the new content)? When the second book comes out what happens to the first book’s blog and my main blog (which has been home base for my work since 2004)? Honestly, these are questions I shouldn’t have to ask myself. I should be just “doing the right thing” from the get go. Clearly I didn’t.

I decided a month ago that I needed to change hosts and move to a provider that offered me more breathing room and more advanced features to play with, I figured I’d just move a couple blogs at a time over. Pretty typical procedure for this kind of thing. Then it hit me. With my second book, what am I going to promote as “the site”? I’ll want to build buzz about the new book when the first book will be just hitting the shelves. Whoops. I can’t very well be leaving the new book’s site in the lurch while I pimp a book that isn’t finished and won’t be published for a few months. Not to mention the place where I send everyone (this site) sits getting dusting and forlorn.

Crap.

The solution that hit me was equally easy and simple: just pull them all together.

Right now this blog is running on DreamHost and as you can also see (if you’re visiting via a link) I’ve changed the theme (again) to run Thesis 1.6. The blog that once was SixBloggingProjects.com is now a subsection of this blog. (the Books menu item “Create Your Own Blog”). The next book will follow suit soon and become a part of the main blog. New URLs that I buy to promote things (like my Vancouver Observer column), will also become subsections here as well.

Is it the perfect solution? I’m not sure. Is it going to be easier for me to manage? Hell yes. Instead of having 3+ blogs to keep updated (of my own that is), I’ll just have one. Since DreamHost supports SSH terminal access and SVN out of the box, I’m going to be able to keep this blog (and the blogs of friends that I host too) updated with a couple commands.

I’m putting my money where my mouth is now. I’ll be running a much more SEO friendly theme (Thesis), on a faster host (DreamHost), and using the advanced tools that I want to teach to students (Subversion). Seems like a smart move to me. How I just have to finish moving sites.

And subdomains

And redirects

Ugh.

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• 02:53 Good morning from Edmonton, Canada. ☁ Sunny. 1/-7℃. #
• 05:39 Checking out the West Edmonton Mall -one of the largest in the world. About: bit.ly/XoIch #
• 08:54 twitpic.com/pjxgz - Funky basket on wheels at T&T Asian Market. #WEM #
• 08:59 twitpic.com/pjyf2 - Wave Pool at West Edmonton Mall. #

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• 03:09 Good morning from Edmonton, Canada. ☁ Pure blue sky. 2/-7℃. #
• 07:39 Just drove out and picked up a great deal on a used wireless router through the Buy & Sell Online. Edmonton rocks. #
• 18:28 Update from Edmonton, Canada. #Audio twaud.io/rYC #
• 18:50 @_MoD_ You bet! My love for tech in Japan isn’t done yet! Cheers MoD!  #
• 18:53 Didn’t even realize Friday the 13th just past. All went pretty well in my world. Hope yours did too.  #
• 18:55 That’s it for tonight. Oyasumi. #

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It’s not hard to get blogging, regardless of what blog engine you use (though WordPress is the best IMHO), but there are tricks and tools that make life easier for you. At WordCamp Victoria I decided to distill and talk about the blogging toolkit that I’ve built up over the years. Tools like blog editors, image editors, RSS readers, note gathering tools, even Twitter clients.

Usually bloggers start out like this …
Domain: check
Web host: check
WordPress installed: check
What’s next? The tools. The goodies. The tools that make the job a little easier. Here are the tools that I like (or know are pretty good):

• Image tools:
  • Picnik – Photo editing the easy way, online in your browser (freemium, web)
  • Welcome to Aviary (free, web)
  • Paint.NET – Download (Free, PC)
  • Seashore – About (Free, Mac)
• Blog editors:
  • Writer – Windows Live (Free PC)
  • illumineX :: ecto – blog editor for Mac OS X ($$ Mac)
  • Blogo: The blog editor for your Mac ($$ Mac)
  • Scribefire: Fire up your blogging (Free, Firefox plugin)
• Screenshots and screencasts
  • Techsmith:
    • Jing (Free, Mac, PC)
    • Camtasia ($$ Mac, PC)
    • Snagit ($$, PC)
  • Skitch.com (Free, Mac)
• RSS Readers
• • FeedDemon (free/pay PC) – NetNewsWire (free/pay Mac)
  • Google Reader
  • Feedly
• Notetaking apps:
  • Evernote (Free/Paid, Mac, PC)
  • Yojimbo ($$, Mac)

If you’d like to try DropBox, now is a great time to check it out. If you tell them I sent you, then I’ll get an extra 250MB storage on my account. Not a bad deal I think

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• 02:21 Good morning from Vancouver, Canada. ☁ Mostly cloudy. 7/4℃. #
• 02:23 At YVR having a… you guessed it. Tim Hortons coffee. Oh ya. I’m home. #
• 04:41 Now in Edmonton, CA. bkite.com/25w6s #
• 04:54 Have landed in Edmonton. VERY sunny but 3°C. Whoa. #
• 04:57 bit.ly/whereisrobert #
• 11:37 We didn’t bring our wireless router with us. Dang. That’s going to set us back a bit. #
• 14:33 Have traveled using the iPhone on the Canadian Rogers/Fido 3G data network from Vancouver to Edmonton over the past day. So far very good. #
• 14:39 Link: JoT 1318: Scammer Convention. bit.ly/4Et6E9
  [Joy of Tech Comic] #
• 17:22 Nite from Edmonton. About: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmonton #

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• 18:37 I’m back on the grid baby! Have my iPhone all nicely setup for data across Canada. Thanks for your wonderful comments and welcome backs! #
• 19:54 Now that I’m back in Canada, is it nite, bon soir or keep it as oyasumi? #
• 20:11 That’s it for tonight. Need a bit of sleep before our flight to Edmonton tomorrow. Oyasumi.  #

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• 09:34 Safely back home with family in Canada. It’s wonderful to see them again. #
• 09:35 Now in Vancouver, CA. bkite.com/25l4a #
• 14:38 Link: JoT 1317: Internet Plumber. bit.ly/nzAf
  [Joy of Tech Comic] #

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• 00:38 Link: FP Tech Desk: How much does the iPhone really cost in Canada? bit.ly/1aXyu0 #
• 01:50 Packing is done and we’re under weight. Good. Brief nap then on to the airport. No idea about WiFi though new Emobile card arrived in time. #
• 06:51 At Centrair Airport near Nagoya. About to check in and head towards Beijing. No WiFi here. #

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This weekend one of my old stomping grounds, Victoria, is hosting its first WordCamp—WordCamp Victoria—I had waxed and waned about trying to go. Between finishing book 1—Create Your Own Blog: 6 Easy Projects to Start Blogging Like a Pro—and starting book 2, I’ve been a little busy.

Still, you know, the call of a WordCamp is pretty strong. So when the chance came up for me to fill a slot there, I mulled it over for a while. Honestly, looking at the agenda and list of speakers, I wasn’t sure that I’d have something new to say.

I saw all the major topics covered. Raul and Lorraine are both speaking there, as well as a guy I helped start using WordPress. Paul Holmes called me today to see if I was still interested in speaking, and I still wasn’t 100% on what I should talk about. Then like often happens to me, the idea hit me: the extra tools bloggers need.

I’m thinking the stuff like offline blogging tools, image editors, RSS readers, CoverItLive, FTP, all the stuff that just kinda starts coming up as you’re blogging. Since I’m in the non-technical track (which is nice, since I’ve been doing a lot of technical teaching lately), I’m going to keep this to just the good stuff that I know works.

Course, I am going to hit up some of the more techie folks I know to answer some nagging questions I have. I’m pretty much hoping to learn as much, if not more, than I talk.

If you’re around Victoria on Saturday, think about WordCamp Victoria. Should be a day of good geeky fun.

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• 08:43 Good morning from Suzuka, Japan. ☁ Partly cloudy. 21/13℃. #
• 09:15 Whoa. Playing around with Google street views through the Maps app on the iPhone. Simply awesomeness.  #
• 09:37 @CVMINC Hahaha. Only a couple of sleeps to go! #
• 13:27 Last tweet with my iPhone on the Softbank network. Was one of the first iPhone customers in line (Nagoya 7/11/08). Been wonderful. *sniff* #
• 14:08 Link: JoT 1316: Hedge Fund Scrapbooker. bit.ly/yjQ2h
  [Joy of Tech Comic] #
• 20:09 Last night in Japan. What are we doing? You guessed it. Packing  #
• 20:45 Amazed how much the iPhone can do without a SIM card but with WiFi. If you include making calls through SIP, it still does everything. #
• 21:18 @Octane And fills me with sadness… OK, sadness over. Back to packing. #

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• 06:54 Good morning from Ikoma, Japan. ☁ Mostly cloudy. 23/12℃. #
• 10:00 Overlooking Osaka from the nearby mountains. Map: maps.google.com/?q=N34.622688,E135.659622 #
• 10:01 twitpic.com/ooxlh - Stairs on Mt. Ikoma #
• 10:46 twitpic.com/op4wz - At Horyu Temple bit.ly/3SqZdW #
• 12:27 twitpic.com/opllu - Touring Horyu-ji in Nara. #
• 15:22 Now in Suzuka, JP. bkite.com/256fc #
• 15:27 Most of the social media services I used for this last trip worked pretty well. Except Brightkite, of course. It continues to be borked. #
• 16:44 Back to the fun of packing, packing, packing. #
• 16:49 @nnatta x2 if that packing is to MOVE overseas! #

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• 08:54 Good morning from Suzuka, Japan. ☁ Sunny. 21/13℃. #
• 09:21 On our way to Nara. bit.ly/whereisrobert #
• 09:48 Now in Nara City, JP. bkite.com/24xlo #
• 09:56 Touring Nara.
  bit.ly/3rcUbH #
• 10:19 twitpic.com/ojum2 - Hanging out with deer in Nara. #
• 11:12 twitpic.com/ok2tw - Behind the Bhudda in Nara #
• 11:33 Just saw one of my Bucket List items - the Great Bhudda of Nara. bit.ly/RDqd3 #
• 11:50 Nara’s Bhudda is the most famous for Japanese. bit.ly/4znHAx//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vairocana #
• 13:07 Touring Nara. bit.ly/1qdErB #
• 13:38 twitpic.com/okoe0 - At Kofuku Temple. bit.ly/1MBgM2 #
• 13:38 twitpic.com/okoex - At Kofuku Temple. bit.ly/1MBgM2 #
• 13:55 Enjoyed our morning touring. Sayonara Nara. #
• 14:52 Heading to an onsen near Osaka. bit.ly/whereisrobert #
• 16:49 In Ikoma. bit.ly/20ooce #

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• 00:58 Our Sayonara Japan Sale is now over. Thanks to all our purchasers and those interested. Met some great people! bit.ly/sayonarasale #
• 01:39 Link: MVT, a Double Edge Sword « The Colour Blind Photographer – Allan Herman bit.ly/3Mw7CR #
• 01:45 That’s it for tonight. Lots to do tomorrow for my final cleanup day back in Nagoya. Uploads of the temple near Kyoto must wait. Oyasumi. #
• 09:13 Good morning from Nagoya, Japan. ☁ Sunny. 22/9℃. #
• 09:28 Now in Nagoya City, JP. bkite.com/24rf5 #
• 12:20 Last day in a Japanese dental chair for a while. 2009 has certainly been the Year of the Dentist Chair for me! #
• 14:04 Link: JoT 1315: He’s in the family business. bit.ly/3iiL2C
  [Joy of Tech Comic] #
• 22:12 Wonderful last day shopping in Osu today - the Akihabara of Nagoya. Will be one of those things I’ll miss most when I leave Japan. #
• 22:23 That’s absolutely it for Nagoya. Will only see it again when I pass through to the airport. Feeling a bit sad. Heading back to Suzuka. #
• 22:47 Now in Suzuka, JP. bkite.com/24u0n #

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• 09:17 Good morning from Kusatsu, Japan. ☁ Mostly cloudy. 19/10℃. #
• 13:08 twitpic.com/obo9q - Miidera Temple, Otsu near Kyoto #
• 13:50 Just toured Miidera near Kyoto. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mii-dera #
• 18:12 Now in Suzuka, JP. bkite.com/24nq5 #
• 18:38 Back in Suzuka for Sweetie’s mom’s birthday.  #
• 22:23 Great family get together tonight in Suzuka. #familyrocks #

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• 12:48 Is this ushering in 1seg type services to the U.S.? Link: bit.ly/3bNMvB #
• 12:51 iPhone TV Without Streaming Apps ☚ 1seg in the US? bit.ly/aG0zP (RT @pacificIT) #
• 12:59 I STRONGLY believe Facebook continuing with BOTH Groups and Pages which look and act almost the same is confusing and a huge mistake. #
• 13:58 Enjoying listening to Bill Cosby again on Cinch. bit.ly/2hLVwK #
• 14:18 I’m jealous how Japanese kanji can tweet WAY MORE in 140 characters than the alphabet can. #
• 14:33 I’m becoming a very big fan of Google My Maps. Best way to view on your iPhone (so far): bit.ly/gOmZ5 #
• 14:41 Wow. 5k followers on Twitter. Thank you! *http//twitter.com/pacificIT #
• 16:03 Has been almost a week since I’ve been archiving tweets in Google Calendar. Searchable! Nifty. Thx Steve Rubel. bit.ly/1acA3O #
• 16:07 Presently pondering Posterous to post for pacificIT. Preposterous? (say 3X fast). #
• 20:24 Posterous - Stepping Back To Move Forward (RT @pacificIT) post.ly/9MYr #
• 23:22 2009 Nagoya - Noritake Factory (RT @pacificIT) post.ly/9Nrb #

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• 08:41 Good morning from Nagoya, Japan: Partly Cloudy, 24/16°C ☼ #weather #
• 10:02 Big fridge and washer now gone. Will now have to adjust for the next couple of weeks until we are out of the apartment. #
• 10:50 Crime rife at Net cafes that don’t require ID | Yomiuri bit.ly/1XmVrE (RT @pacificIT) #
• 11:03 @papadimitriou Nagoya? End of the month. Japan? Mid November. #
• 11:20 Japanese media reports on Louisiana interracial marriage case | Japan Probe bit.ly/n5D7r (RT @pacificIT) #
• 12:43 @papadimitriou No. Would be great to say good-bye to some good friends there in Tokyo. Will be in Mie. #
• 13:19 Emperor’s ducks sick with bird flu | The Japan Times Online bit.ly/8zC3P (RT @pacificIT) #
• 13:51 Joy Of Tech Comic - JoT 1307: How to monetize your blog. bit.ly/2YZJYJ (via @pacificIT) #

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• 10:09 Good morning from Nagoya, Japan: Partly Cloudy, 22/13°C ☼ #weather #
• 11:22 On my way to #NEF. Late. #
• 21:21 I favorited a YouTube video — iDon’t bit.ly/eBqFV #

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• 01:28 Checking out the new Street View on Google Maps in Vancouver. Getting homesick. My former home seen here:　bit.ly/3RQjGK #
• 02:01 @BillCosby on Social Media? Coolio! Have a listen: bit.ly/fTgcI #
• 02:34 Just added myself to the wefollow.com twitter directory under: #nagoya #socialmedia #japan #travel #tokyo #vancouver #
• 02:42 Sending my dad best wishes and love for his operation today. Packing it up on this side of the planet but will check in tomorrow. Oyasumi. #
• 11:02 Good morning from Nagoya, Japan: Mostly Cloudy, 66°F (19°C) ☁ #
• 11:09 American father here in Nagoya needs YOUR help. Recently featured on CNN. Please have look: bit.ly/2B50NI #foreveryourfather #
• 11:29 I favorited a YouTube video — Canadian Police Chase bit.ly/LyJuk #
• 11:42 Twitter Goes Mobile in Japan bit.ly/4sWV3q ☚ Japanese don’t talk to strangers? C’mon Mashable. LOL. #
• 11:49 @KiyoshiPDX Totally. Mashable is typical of most Western reporting about Japan. When you have no idea, guess. #
• 12:15 @KiyoshiPDX OMG! Heh. Yes that pretty well sums up the mentality about "reaching the Japanese market". #
• 13:27 Whoa. Sweetie has things all over the place as we’ve started packing in earnest. Largest items sold and will be picked up early next week. #
• 14:51 Happy to chat with my dad this morning. Operation went well. Just needs to take it easy for a while. #
• 17:55 Have been testing Gowalla in Nagoya. So far it sucks. Gets stuck on "confiming" even outside. No foursquare here yet. *sigh* #
• 22:50 Man slashes woman because he ‘can’t get a girlfriend’ | Japan Today #loser bit.ly/4fsStu (RT @pacificIT) #
• 22:50 Okada calls for respect for culture amid criticism of dolphin hunting | Japan Today #FAIL bit.ly/3uu5Rv (RT @pacificIT) #
• 22:50 Father weighs in on the quality of medical care for disabled children in Japan bit.ly/1coKxF (RT @pacificIT) #

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• 12:51 Joy Of Tech Comic - JoT 1306: Miley breaks twitter’s achy achy heart. bit.ly/26Ed0j (via @pacificIT) #
• 14:40 Major dental work this morning which included an extraction. Favorite dentist did a great job. Hope swelling is down by tomorrow. #
• 19:26 ‘Balloon boy’ safe in attic as world worried bit.ly/33bW4V (via @cnn) ☜ Big story in Japan tonight too (mother is Japanese). #

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• 00:49 That’s it for tonight. Oyasumi. #Cinch: bit.ly/yAM0p #
• 09:07 Good morning from Nagoya, Japan: Partly Cloudy, 21/12℃ ☁ #weather #
• 16:53 Took a cool tour of the historical Noritake Porcelain Factory in Nagoya. bit.ly/1aCRY4 #
• 18:24 Yachts Caught Fire in Coal Harbour marina - Vancouver, BC bit.ly/5DYQb (via @cnn) #
• 18:27 American father jailed in Japan set free bit.ly/3FbqjS (via @cnn) #
• 19:28 RT @jcayzac: Twitter’s new Japanese mobile website is up: ping.fm/ve66Q #

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• 08:04 Good morning from Nagoya, Japan: Partly Cloudy, 22/14℃ ☁ #
• 09:20 Twistory - Your Twitter history on Google Calendar ping.fm/xjYKH (RT @pacificIT) #
• 12:51 Joy Of Tech Comic - JoT 1305: Ask a Ninja guy, grade two. bit.ly/3jjcAk (via @pacificIT) #
• 13:10 Doing that "change of address" thing at the post office. #
• 13:19 Passport expired while I was in Japan. Canadian Consulate in Nagoya did a great job helping out. All done. Me happy ☺ #
• 17:37 twitpic.com/lh3s7 - Pink Sakura-Panda cab. Sakae, Nagoya. bit.ly/mg7wJ #
• 20:20 Wow. Most of our stuff how now been spoken for or bought. Whew!  Thanks Nagoya! bit.ly/sayonarasale #
• 20:51 Sir Tim Berners Lee admits the forward slashes in every web address ‘were a mistake’ | Mail Online bit.ly/jCiEw (RT @pacificIT) #
• 21:37 Checking out the Cinch iPhone app by BlogTalkRadio. Is Audioboo scared? bit.ly/bJMkt #Cinch: bit.ly/4r8L8F #
• 22:42 Another few comments about the new Cinch iPhone app. #Cinch: bit.ly/TtE38 #
• 23:11 Setback on Cinch - doesn’t play back on iPhone except with client. #Cinch: bit.ly/xJPyc #

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The problem, originally received attention by the Cleveland Plains Dealer, a local newspaper, when a reader wrote in to complain about the issue. Soon another 400 area residents echoed the complaint at which point the Verizon spin machine swung into gear. Four Verizon executives spent 90 minutes at the newspaper’s offices on Monday including Roger Tang, the company’s regional president for Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia who said Verizon is investigating every complaint, because it doesn’t want to “zing” customers on their bills.

I just love their creative vernacular. “Zing”. Why not call it what it really is – theft. If people actually audited their phone bills every month they would be shocked to discover just how many times their bills are inaccurate in favor of their carrier. In fact every single time I’ve spent the hour it takes to really specifically audit my own bill I’ve found errors that far exceed $1.99.

This isn’t a case of simple mistakes much as the carriers would like us to believe. It is a case of theft pure and simple. These companies add millions and probably even tens of millions in additional revenue to their bottom lines ever year as the result of exactly this sort of thing. How long, do you suppose, this was going on before someone noticed that they were being billed for a service that they didn’t subscribe to and didn’t use.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. How many of us know which “cost recovery” surcharges are legal and applicable to our bills? Anyone? The simple fact of the matter is that carriers can pretty much steal from all of us with impunity and when someone finally wises up and makes a stink they apologize for accidentally “zinging” us and then they rename the now exposed rip-off something else like Universal Cost Recovery Surcharge (recovery from what? the taxes that they are supposed to pay and which they are levying back onto their customers?) and add another $1.00 to the number and make off with even more of our coin.

Part of the problem with the US these days is the fact that corporations are running roughshod over consumers and the very body that is supposed to be looking out for us, from the President and on to the Senate and Congress are so deep in the pocket of these companies that they may as well simply be on the payroll.

Every day I see a new abuse by a big company and it makes me think that the only way this country will ever get back on its feet is if someone pulls a “fight club” on big business.

This is the kind of stuff that keeps me up late at night. In Subway-ese, it’s like you just got off an old train and not only do you not thank it for taking you from A to B, but you kick the thing. It’s tragic behavior.

I’ve heard about Twitter way before FriendFeed or even Scoble (as in I heard about Twitter first before hearing of the Scobleizer). I don’t really have an idea what this enmity towards Twitter is all about. Sure, there are spammers, but just block ‘em en masse — no harm done.

Meanwhile, Scoble kicking the old Twitter train is something I’m not really up for. Sure, no service is perfect. But didn’t you like start off with Twitter or somesuch? Why kick an old train when it at least served you? It may have no aircon but at least it’s not totally useless or something…

@baixiaoci started out with a tweet (in Chinese) at 22:00 last night (August 18, 2009), which read (translated):

There’s something unfortunate about the Chinese over the Americans: the predictions of both Orwell and Huxley have become reality in China Switch on television, and you get Brave New World. Surf the Web, and it’s 1984.

Your tech blogger retweeted this in the morning hours today (August 19, 2009). This tweet got retweeted upwards of 20 or even more than 20 times in a single day, probably setting a brand-new record…

@baixiaoci, by the way, is from Shenzhen, but is presently in Shanghai as his tweets have him. He’s a photographer and has a site — 50mm.cn as well as another one at baixiaoci.com.

See, we had to promote this guy. He’s now famous. With just one tweet.

• It seems that mainly China Unicom’s affected. That’s China Netcom as it used to be — if we’ve got the stats right. China Telecom seems to be unaffected. Ditto with China Mobile.
• VPNs are also hit — some work, but others are dead, including HotspotShield if you haven’t installed it.
• We’re getting reports that about 66% of MSN accounts are coming back — it’ll hit 75% soon, but no word when we’ll get that figure back up to 100%.
• Also hit is Dropbox, as we may have reported, but MobileMe remains up.
• Chinese IM folks have had to switch to QQ — which is viewed less “pro” than MSN / Windows Live Messenger.

Your tech blogger is coming through using a reroute which works, and now has the whole Internet back — but he does pity those who have to stick with what they have. It’s tragic.

• Two quakes that hit earlier today (August 17) seem to have done damage — one off Japan, one off Taiwan.
• Websites hosted on DreamHost appear OK. Websites on Media Temple are not.
• This is not a Great Firewall issue; Hong Kong is equally affected.
• Access to Windows Live Messenger is impossible.
• iTweet.net loads slowly (this is relevant for those who tweet in China, as Twitter has been blocked for about a month now).
• VPN access often fails as well.
• Apple’s page at www.apple.com does not work; however, both me.com email, MobileMe iSync and apple.com.cn seem to work great.
• Most importantly: if you can stand slow connection speeds, try going through China Mobile’s GPRS services. (Your tech blogger has tested this; it works.) Add VPN, and you’ve also broken the Chinese Great Firewall.

Tweets are flowing in about this as well, with some comparing this issue to the undersea cable underneath the Pacific that borked in late 2006. We at techblog86, however, also do not exclude the possibility of heightened censorship efforts.

Onto stuff unrelated to the Internet, we even have reports that security at the Beijing Subway, of all things, have been stepped up. It’s China Big Sixty on October 1, 2009, but clearly, folks are only going to be in the mood to celebrate if the birthday party, which features a military parade, goes ahead without a hitch.