7 Days in the Blink of an Eye

... wow. That may have been the fastest vacation on record.  7 days has never gone by so very quickly.  Between Muskoka, Lake Huron, an emergency bid for a customer, and the wildest weather on record, it's nice to be home.  Now we've got 3 days of vacation from vacation before heading into a short work week. Of course, that also means fewer days to be packing and organized before the move.

How very silly were we to jam everything into august?
Very. Now i've got some catching up to do around here.


Technorati Tags: vacations, Muskoka, Lake Huron

Live, from 6 Mile Lake...

Alas, as the vacation begins, there is still unfinished business to tie up.  The EVDO phone comes in handy from the deck. I can have the best of both worlds.  Connectivity, with a VIEW.

It started out sunny this morning, but as the day grows, so do the clouds. And the wind.  At somepoint his morning, I inagine i will be driven from the outside office to the screened in porch.  Ehhh.  Beggars cannot be choosers, methinks.

Have a great weekend!

technorati tags:6 Mile Lake, EVDO

a bad sign...

the end is nigh for spot…. stay tuned for tomorow’s episode…. :-(  he’s fighting it now, but it doesn’t look good for the little guy.

technorati tags: spot, beta, death watch, siamese fighting fish

Update on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 at 07:30AM by jules

his gills are still gilling, but his posture hasn’t changed. when i swirl the water around in his (giant sized) wine glass, he perks up, and then returns to lounge position.

Fish should NOT lounge. 

Update on Friday, June 2, 2006 at 10:48AM by jules

… he’s still vaguely alive, and i use that “alive” term very loosely. I’ve even resorted to asking for professional help. Waiting for the prognosis now.

If he holds up over the weekend, perhaps we can suspend the deathwatch.  Although, I’m expecting to return to a floater and a funeral :-( 

Update on Thursday, June 8, 2006 at 06:52AM by jules

… Spot survived the weekend. He’s back in his huge tank, and he’s on the mend.  I don’t know what he went through, but he’s coming through it!

;-) 

Confidence?

Hrm. Hard to say, based on reactions tonight.

Telecom Trends

MTS Allstream releases its Q2 results today. There is a conference call scheduled at 4:30. Will Westjet be enough to instill confidence in employees and the investment markets?

Technorati Tags: Allstream

Ovato, and the pain of Publicity...

Ovato, one of the newest web 2.0 apps on the scene, suggests (far be it from me to suggest “promises”) a new method of searching.  It’s collaborative searching.

It was featured in TechCrunch, and also on MapleLeaf 2.0  - and yes, I clicked.
It hurt.
Too many people had bounced on the bandwagon, testing it out. It was rife with ridiculous questions:

• Need a good dock for ubuntu dapper
• Start a web company!!
• I want to know all things Google!
• 1000x345-762+123

I give.
I’m sure it’s reasonable, I think. I will look… and wade through the nonsense that pervades the first page.



Technorati Tags: Ovato, TechCrunch, MapleLeaf 2.0

All Apologies...

... apparently the allergy monster has returned with a vengance. And now it's taken over a goodly portion of my brain cells.  Yes, the ones that I am actually still using to cope with day to day life.  To top it off, I've actually been busier than hell for the past week.  It always goes like that, the week before you plan on taking vacation, everyone wants you to do something with your brain.

So, all this to say, nothing of real value has been posting, and for that, All Apologies.

Research Question:  Do you use calling cards? What about 10-10 service?  (10-10 service lets you make long distance calls cheap, you dial an access number - like 543-1010 and then dial your long distance number, and then blam!! You get cheap LD, and the charge shows up on your regular phone bill)




Technorati Tags: allergies, Calling cards, 10-10 Service, Apologies

Glencoe: Home of the World's Largest Corn Maze

World's largest corn maze - right here in Ontario! GLENCOE, ON, July 26 /CNW/ - The corn maze at McEachren Farms isattempting to set the Guinness World Record for the largest temporary cropmaze and the longest path in a temporary crop maze.

CNW Group

Who would have thought, the place where I grew up, would someday become famous.

technorati tags:Glencoe, corn maze

Update on Thursday, July 27, 2006 at 07:53AM by jules

i simply can’t believe there wasn’t a single comment about the “amazing maize maze.”

sheesh. 

A Worthy Frog Tattoo?

frog tattoo
Originally uploaded by julebule.

One never knows, right?
Deciding on the permanence of body art.
Hard decision.

An Independant Weekend

With a hockey tournament occupying my better half, this was to have been a weekend for organizing, packing, tidying, and all the other odd tasks that would go along with moving.  I’ve been good, honest I have, but I’m distracted, and haven’t accomplished nearly enough, I’m afraid. 4 boxes does not a packing bee make.  Despite my good intentions, i’ve managed to walk, sleep, eat well, take in a few movies and create general procrastination and distraction.

;-) 

More Perspective on the Evacuation

Lina Diyab, a Halifax lawyer, complained that after being told to come to the port, she had been left to stand in the sweltering heat for seven hours without any further word from the embassy despite the fact she is allergic to the sun.“Somebody is going to answer for this. We deserve better treatment,” she said to cheers from a crowd of several hundred people with similar complaints.

globeandmail.com : First two planeloads of Canadians back home

Again I say - when did this woman and the mob completely lose their perspective?  It's not as if their resort reservations were cancelled.  They were in the middle of a war zone.  Please people.  Get a grip, you sound ridiculious. What the heck are you doing in Lebanon if you are alergic to the sun and don't like the heat?  You should be thrilled that you are alive, and not in a war zone any more.  What about all the citizens who are from countries who simply CANNOT come to rescue their people? 

It's all about perspective.

technorati tags:Lebanon Evacuation, Canadian Embarassment, Perspective, Whining

Disgust at Canadian Evacuee Response...

Oh my.

Just finished watching the CBC news report, recapping the news of the beginning of the evacuation of canadian folks from Lebanon.  I still can’t get over the shock, anger and utter disbelief - I am utterly rocked.  The evacuees complaining, fighting with each other, fighting about not enough bathrooms, about being hot and not having enough water.  About having to wait.  About cramped quarters. About not being able to think the same about Canada, that Canada has let them down.  At what point did these folks completely lose their perspective on where they were, what was going on, and what needed to happen to get them back to safety?

People: NEWS FLASH.  You vacationed in a war zone. You weren’t at Sandals Jamaica.  Bombs fall, countries attack each other, and now the Canadian government is saving your sorry, complaining ass.  Please, how about a bit of appreciation?  How about some sort of thanks that your government is going above and beyond to get you OUT of a WAR ZONE?

One interesting point of note:  all the evacuees are carrying ALL their luggage.  Are yoiu kidding me right now?  It’s not like you missed a connecting plane in Chicago, and are waiting for the next plane.  You are in the middle of a WAR.  Leave your bloody gap sweatshirt behind. If all those people waiting in line left all but their minimal essentials, imagine how many more folks could fit onto the boat/plane?  There is no doubt that humanity’s sanity is in decline. Not to be missed, 2 in 5 evacuees aren’t even citizens of Canada, they are Lebanese folks, born and living in Lebanon, and yet, Canada is accepting refugees as well as supporting the evacuation of canadian “citizens”.  YAY CANADA!

I just can’t get over the lack of maturity, the lack of appreciation, the lack of decency, from these people who call themselves canadians.

Sheesh. 

Technorati Tags: Canadian Lebanon Evacuation

RSS Readers and Guilty Pleasures

When I first became addicted to RSS feeds, i decided to use google's customized start page.  I know, it was a little wimpy, but it did the trick, and what did I know, I liked it, and it was handy.  And then my list of RSS feeds grew, and grew, and grew.  Now it's a significant list, and I've run into problems with my wee Google Start Page.  I don't think it was created to handle more than 20 or so RSS feeds.  Now it is VERY grumpy, and often, all the feeds won't load.  It's like I've come to a glass ceiling for feeds.

Sigh.

Now begins the painful task of migrating to a new news reader.

I am thinking it's going to be Netvibes.  Any suggestions?  Anything worth a second look?

technorati tags:RSS, RSS Readers, google rss reader, netvibes

Irony...

Of course, as soon as I download and set up a wee assistant to keep track of my comments and conversations, i run out of things to say.
Ooutstanding.


Technorati Tags: conversations, coComment

Keeping Track of Comments...

At first I simply thought it was a symptom of old age. And then I rethought that a bit... and now, thanks to Robert Scoble for posting about coComment, a wickedly devious little app that will keep track of where you have conversations going, and who is saying what.  Simply outstanding.


Technorati Tags: scoble, coComment

Dooce...

I just about spat on the screen, reading this one.
If you appreciate uncontrollable loss of body fluids, you will appreciate dooce.

dooce

Jon stubbed his toe on the plate that night as we were getting ready for bed, and when he asked why there was a dinner plate on the floor in our bedroom I said, “YOU try licking hardened melted cheese off a surface without using your hands and see which room you end up in.”

Technorati Tags: dooce, body fluids

The Scary Reality of IMS...

Is this what IMS will come down to? I'm torn to bits between the good and the bad of IMS.  I'm looking for someone to share what the good bits could be. other than simple presence features, and the ability to perhaps have a communications service that would mean ONE PHONE that would be capable of cellular services (EVDO), WiFi, and VoIP. Now, I CAN see value in that ;-) I'm not convinced though that IMS is going to make that possible.

Fractals of Change: Internet Neutrality – Tough Issue

The Internet the telcos would like us to live with here in the United States is “application aware” as well as “source aware”. If you want to build a new application, you can wait in line for major Internet’s owners (these same telcos) to decide to accommodate your packet type.

Technorati Tags: IMS, VoIP, EVDO, Net Neutrality, Presence

PSTN 2.0

The Telco 2.0 blog asks some interesting questions about IMS and the PSTN…. worth a read, if you are wondering how IMS will impact youwr world…

Telco 2.0: Should we build PSTN 2.0?

What happens when you put IMS and voice services to together? What’s the evolution path? Is IMS only good for cost elimination of legacy circuit-switched gear? Or should IMS really be the bedrock of PSTN 2.0?

Technorati Tags: IMS, PSTN 2.0

Feedburner Hell

I've just spent the past 7 minutes trying to convince Feedburner that I really do want to try and send a link by email. I've tried to convince them i'm human, to the tune of trying to decipher their Archaic Word test 13 times.

"Please enter the letters you see in the image into this text box". Yes, I've got it. I've done it. I've done it 13 times. 13 different varieties of letters. Now, You've got to be freaking kidding me.

Please enter the characters displayed in the box. If you are unable tosee the text clearly, you may reload this window for a new image.

Gotcha - i can see the letters clearly. I am entering them. You aren't believing me. Now, now is when i close my feedburner window, strike them off my list of RSS readers to ever consider using, and write a rant about the idiocy of some of anti-spam, anti-automated bots precautions. Yes you drive away the bots, but you also drove away a real person. Bravo.

technorati tags:feedburner, RSS, RSS Readers

Technorati : RSS readers, feedburners

The Marshmallow Fire

The Marshmallow Fire
Originally uploaded by julebule.

The hardest part of the marhmallow fire...
Is in knowing when to say no.
It's just too late, when the 7th mallow begins to fight.

The Great Spash of 2006

The Great Spash of 2006
Originally uploaded by julebule.

You Blinked.
If you hadn't have blinked, you would have seen the chickadees, hand in hand.
Counting down to the plunge.
Racing to the edge of the dock.
JUMP!!