High Traffic from a Hot Lap

Funny - In the past month, traffic has doubled because of this nondescript article, outlining which Dell Laptops have a battery recall.  All visitors are coming from google.com, but not necessarily because of a search query. Alas, because I am north of the 49th, I can’t see google.com. :-(

If there’s a friendly American, can you let me know if I show up in the first page of a search on Dell Laptops overheating?
:-)

jules dot ca - jules dot ca - No Wonder My Lap Feels Like It’s on Fire

In 1907.....

…. pulled from an email, not reprinted with anyone’s permission, but definately worth a read. I’ve been contemplating changes and differences in generations over the past few weeks, specifically regarding what life was like when I was a kid, and what being a grownup is like for me, compared to my parents. This listing of what life was like in 1907 is fairly apropos, all things considered.

One hundred years ago. What a difference a century makes!

Here are some of the U.S. Statistics for the Year 1907:

· The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years old.

· Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub.

· Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.

· A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.

· There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S., and only 144 miles of paved roads.

· The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

· Alabama , Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee, were each more heavily populated than California.

· With a mere 1.4 million people, California was only the 21st most populous state in the Union.

· The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!

· The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents per hour.

· The average U.S. Worker made between $200 and $400 per year.

· A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year,

· A dentist made $2,500 per year,

· A veterinarian $1,500 per year,

· A mechanical engineer made $5,000 per year.

· More than 95 percent of all births in the U.S. took place at home.

· Ninety percent of all U. S. Doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION! Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press AND the government as substandard.

· Sugar cost four cents a pound.

· Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.

· Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

· Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

· Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.

· Five leading causes of death in the U.S. Were:

1. Pneumonia and influenza

2. Tuberculosis

3. Diarrhea

4. Heart disease

5. Stroke

· The American flag had 45 stars: Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn’t been admitted to the Union yet.

· The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30.

· Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea hadn’t been invented yet.

· There was no Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.

· Two out of every 10 U.S. Adults couldn’t read or write.

· Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

· Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, “Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health.”

T Minus 11 Months and Counting....

When we first moved into our new house, setting up cable and phones and internet was one of the first things on our list of important things to do. As Rogers isn’t up in our neck of the woods any more (north of Stoufville Sideroad), we had to make some hard choices.

My Primus Talk Broadband phone came with me. I couldn’t give up a 416 land line, not after spending so much time lamenting my 905 area code for so long. I’m probably the only kid in my neighbourhood with a 416 in a sea of 905s. The video store is confused by me.

The Wiz got a Bell phone for work. (Poor guy).
The last things to sign up for were TV and Internet service. The wiz talked me into Bell. It was the first time I’d ever had a taste of satellite TV that wasn’t grey market. You know the funny face you make when you eat something that just isn’t…. good. I made that face.

No more Movies on Demand, no more clear reception regardless of the weather. We bundled TV with Internet. The internet lasted 30 days before we cancelled it, complaining so voraciously to get out of the 1 year contract we were nailed to. ADSL might work in some places, but north of the sideroad, it’s muddy at best. Perhaps we are more than 3 kms from the Bell central office, where DSL comes from, perhaps living on the Oak Ridges Moraine has introduced interesting interference into the copper lines. Regardless of the reason, it was an experiment that went hopelessly awry.

In comes Aurora Cable to light our internet fires. Fast, lovely fast internet service. They wanted to know if we wanted to bundle the internet with their new HD Cable TV. Alas, in our naivety, we signed a 24 month contract with Bell. Cancelling that contract prematurely is worse that the hit you take on withdrawing RRSPs before their prime.

Now, we’ve come 12 months through the 2 year contract, and the service continues to be middling at best, interference, pixilated and the painful expense of paying for something you don’t love. Aurora Cable - we will see you next September!

The Anti-Facebook Crew

Buzz Canuck has a very apropos statement about those folks who are dodging the Facebook Phenomenon:

I am always astonished to see people in my business (communications/marketing/media) proudly claim they aren't on Facebook as if they've joined some cool non-joiner club that smokes in the digital alleyways and are tough enough not to join the "cult". So what you're saying is that because of pride, ego or fear, you're not at least going to sample a cultural phenomenon that takes up an inordinate amount of your consumer/viewer/user's time, enthusiasm, insight and a great part of marketing's future. Foolhardy. It's the same people I met years ago that bought and purchased media yet never watched TV.

It's quirky to bug the non-facebookers. I like it.

Webkinz: Down and Out Again

I'm pretty understanding when web applications require maintenance.  I'm all about the maintenance window, and knowing that you eventially you will need to do something that's going to be customer impacting.  What I can't figure out is the frequency in which some sites require said maintenance, and the screwed up times that they choose.

Webkinz is down again this morning, 7:39 EST. Prime kid usage time.

Why wouldn't they do maintenance after midnight?
No wonder I am hearing kids screaming outside this early.

:-\

Wordpress is Down...

... and I'm feeling the sadness.
The lost, forlorn feeling when a friend is missing.
Especially when I've found this exotic treasure...

Bartering 2.0

Imagine if you could take the models of ebay, craigslist, wishood…
And you would end up with an application that looks like swap@home, or uexchange.com but on a much bigger, more localized scale.

Bartering and swapping away stuff you don’t want for stuff you DO want.
Imagine if you could integrate it into Facebook, so you could have the added *feel good feeling* of swapping with folks you know. Now imagine that it would be reciprocal - right now, swap@home and uexchange don’t really draw a relationship between what you’ve got and what you need, they stand as independent activities.

What if the application could draw the 7 degrees of separation between you and *Joe*, the person who’s got what you need, *Jane*,the person who’s got what Joe needs, and *John*, the person who wants what you’ve got.

Now think about the goodness that this could do to the environment.
Now think about the goodness that this could do to your wallet.

A Brief Glimpse

I was all snuggled in bed, reading JPod and enjoying a freshly washed quilt when the Wiz rolled in beside me.

Being a normal boy, there was pillow fluffing, quilt fluffing and the requisite *boy adjustments* to be made.
He breathed a sigh of contentment: “Ah, a brief glimpse into the life of man”.
I looked at him in disdain: “Whose glimpse, mine or yours”?

G’night honey.

Tim Hortons in a Cashless Society

On the drive home from the cottage last weekend, we piled the kids into a Tim Hortons, enthusiastic for soup and biscuits and an iced cap for dessert. $37 later, the trainee at the counter informed us that they didn’t take debit, or Visa, or Dexit even (which i managed to dig out of my change). Cash, the Tim Hortons Master Card, or a wonky Pay Pass doo-dad.

4 sets of hungry, Timmy glazed eyes shredded the counter boy.
We cancelled our order.
We walked across the street.
To Wendys.

We tell our tale of woe to the counter dude at Wendys. His reply: You wouldn’t believe how much business we get because *they* don’t take debit.

I understand not having a debit system at the majority of the Tim Hortons… but if you are a family, and want to actually eat food at Tims, you’ve got to bring a wee bag of gold. Locations that are close to the 400, the 401 and hockey arenas really should consider alternate payment schemes. Or, rest assured that they are indeed filling the coffers of other fast food establishments.

Is Facebook Usage Boosting LinkedIn Usage?

Funny, I've been a long time LinkedIn Member, almost 2 years now.  I've been a Facebooker for almost 6 months. For almost a year, my LinkedIn network has grown slowly, very slowly. But now, I'm noticing that there has been a wave of new LinkedIn contacts requesting to become part of my network. Not just friends, those stick to Facebook, but real colleagues who have jumped into the LinkedIn network.

Could it be that there is an increase in LinkedIn users as Facebook popularity grows? Both towers seem to be adding users, both for very different reasons.  I'm still of the belief that you don't want to mix business with pleasure, not with the permanence that the internet can bring to your profile and your reputation. I'm curious to know - is maintaining two indenties - for work and for play a common occurrence?  Or are folks starting to melt the two together? Alec Saunders suggests that Facebook will replace the social networking of LinkedIn. What say you?

Digital Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned

A Toronto woman has taken her scorn of badly behaved boyfriends to the internet with the launch of a new collaborative, social networking site dontdatehimgirl.com

With 200,000 hits a day, the behavior of badly behaved boys is being shared, compared and compiled.  There are even current photos of the boys to beware of.

Could you imagine the inverse? If a disgruntled man set up a similar site to warn guys about nutty girls? Imagine the feminist chaos that would ensue.
:-)

It's apparently all fair in love and war on the Internet.

I've Been Picked Up By The Guardian (UK)

Imagine my chagrin! A reference to jules.ca from The London Guardian!
Of course, it was referencing a bizarre article I wrote in my exasperation of Webkins - as Crack for Kids (and now in enjoyable parent form too!)...
I'm thrilled!
That being said - now I'm wondering if I should re-write it? Or polish?

It's a fine line,  writing for a few thousand folks, and writing for zillions.  You only get 1 chance to make a good impression on the web.

Bloggers sometimes forget that. ;-)

The End of Summer is Nigh

It's dark at 6:16 am.
I need a sweater to check out the morning glories today, and I realize that each year summer slips by faster than it should. Gone are the days of having what feels like eons to enjoy the break, the lull, the freedom that summer brings. But today, the morning already has that "back to school" feeling.

I'm not disappointed, just sort of rolling in melancholy.
And thinking of socks and turtlenecks.

Censorship and Free Speech and Neutrality

Thanks to Michael Geist for this one….

Pearl Jam is reporting that AT&T has censored parts of their recent webcast, cutting out references to George Bush. AT&T has since apologized, but it makes you wonder, if it hadn’t been caught, would AT&T have done anything?  Would anyone have been the wiser?

I just watched The Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing. Completely taken aback at the insanity that permeates the southern US. It’s an outstanding moving/documentary.  Definately worth the watch, even if you aren’t a big country listener.  It’s got some significant scenes that document the political fervor in the US during the 1st Bush Administration.

The lyrics that Pearl Jam had censored:

- “George Bush, leave this world alone.” (the second time it was sung); and- “George Bush find yourself another home.”

What The Dixie Chicks said: We are embarrassed that George Bush is from Texas.

In Pearl Jam’s case - it was the fans who brought the censorship to their attention. With the Dixie Chicks, it was the fans who put the pressure on radio stations to stop playing their lyrics.  It was the fans who went rabid overnight over their beloved Texan president.

Funny what can change over a few years, eh?

Update on Monday, August 20, 2007 at 08:12AM by jules

The Commissioner of the FCC,Michael Copps is now linking the censorship of Eddie Vedder to Net Neutrality issues. 

Perhaps this simply isn’t a case of an over-zealous profanity censor. I think I liked it better when carriers were *neutral*.  I don’t want my phone company involved in my politics. ;-)

Me and a Wii

A mystery box showed up yesterday from Mr Brown. That's UPS to you. It wasn't the signals gift I'm expecting from the wiz, that's still stuck in customs, so says the tracking website. No - this was an under the radar UPS delivery!

And I open a Wii!!! Whooo!! Aiee!
I'm addicted already.

And I am BAD at tennis.

Floobergeist Fotos Has Officially Launched

It’s been a busy summer, and I’m pleased to announce the beginning of a new adventure: Floobergeist Foto!

 

Will 7 Coffees Make Me a Genius?

I wonder, after reading this report from the CBC News, if I'm just not drinking enough coffee.  I have a bad habit of forgetting the past (maybe it's just having too selective a filter on my memories)....Although, maybe it also has something to do with living in France? ;-)

3 coffees a day keep memory loss at bay for older women: study

Holy Facebook Love

It's a fairly good vacation - the kind where you don't feel the urge to turn on a laptop for a few days at least.... but wow - logging into Facebook this morning was better than, well, lots of stuff. 24 messages in my Facebook inbox, pressies galore and about a zillion wall comments.

I am feeling the love.

36 Years and 1 Day...

As birthdays appear on the horizon, often I ruminate on the past year, and do the litmus test of better, worse, happier or not. Good stuff and bad... Once I turned 31, everything seemed to be on the rise, and now... well, there seems to have been a plateau of sorts over the past few years, and the ever so slight decline... I suppose action must be taken, at some point, to adjust the incline again.

Sigh.
No birthday hangover for me.

The Bigger You Get, The More People Who Want to Knock You Down

A.K.A. The Facebook Saga Continues….

Funny, how it’s never far out of the news, and just when you think that things are starting to level off and quiet down with Facebook, something snappy pops out of the ethernet to bring it right back to the top of the headlines….

This week, it’s the lawsuit against Facebook developer Mark Zuckerberg.

It’s also the decision by Telstra (Australia’s Number one telco) to ban employee Facebook usage. Wow - the negative backlash to this is interesting, considering Telstra is trying to portray an image of being an *online* enabler.

What’s it going to be next week? Facebook goes Head to Head with Google?

Facebook saves cat in tree?

Facebook reunites WWII lovers?

Facebook brings researchers the cure for cancer? 

:-)