You Know It's Busy When.....

.... someone actually says on a conference call...

"I'm too busy to put on pants"....

I'm not even kidding right now.

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Green Data Centres

I love the idea of building green, environmentally responsible data centres. It's simply sexy. And I don't that that Green House Data is the only IDC company thinking this way.... ;-)

New data center facilities company finds green home on the range by ZDNet's Heather Clancy -- Green House Data aims to be a different sort of a data center facility: one that operates entirely on renewable energy sources. Furthermore, it’s aiming to do it without forcing customers to pay a price premium. “When we were building out our business model, we realized that businesses and enterprises really were not going to pay [...]

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Students with Guns - Thoughts on the NIU Shootings

I’ve been following the conversations that are being had around the web this morning on the shootings at Northern Illinois University yesterday.  Michelle Malkin’s got a very interesting conversation going on…..interesting and utterly bizarro. Most of the folks in the conversation are suggesting that if it hadn’t been a *gun free* zone,  the killer may not have had the opportunity, or the inclination to open fire.  The general direction of the discussion is revolving around the call for all folks, students and civilians alike to be able to carry guns in public.  That the liklihood of random violence would decrease if the perpetrator was unsure of the ratio of gun toting people to unarmed people.

Am I the only one who’s head aches thinking about this sort of backwards logic? Is it an American thing? More guns=less violence? How about no guns=no violence? How about investing in a wireless frequency that can blanket a public area, able to detect gunpowder, and if someone happens to come into the monitored space, it becomes unbearable to carry a weapon? How about the ONLY people who are allowed to carry guns are police officers? How about anyone else caught with a weapon in an urban area loses a hand? (I’m partial to that one)….

I’m not sure when the US will realize that the freedom to carry a weapon was a reasonable dictate 100 years ago, but doesn’t make the same amount of sense in the 21st century…

 

Finding Good Blogs in Unexpected Places Pt 2

Last night I revealed how i discovered the Sobeys blog, Countertop Buzz and raved about it.

This morning, it’s all about Canpages, and the Canpages Blog. Part humour, part travel guide, part date guide - and interesting How—To Articles on picking everything from plumbers to lawyers…

I am completely twigging onto how non-traditional  venues are picking up on blogging, and extending their audience reach in a very conversational way. Folks are commenting, and conversing and sharing in the Canpages discussions. What an innovative way to look at directory services as interactive applications. And if you happen to be one of the businesses that is the topic of discussion, can your publicity get any better? What a great stretch of an advertising dollar.

:-) 

The Last Twitter Holdout

Last night I crashed.
Crashed and gave into the Twitter phenomenon. I couldn’t take the pressure any more of holding out. ;-) Plus, I had just read an article from Thomas Purves about Twitter being the Last Refuge….and I pulled the Twitter chute.

I’ve got to admit, I think I like it. It’s IM and Facebook for the 21st century. Right now, I’m a bit addicted to looking through who people are following and who are being followed.

I think as my neighbourhood grows, I will only continue to be intrigued by it…..

So C’mon - twitter me!
:-)

Sobeys Does Blogging Right...

Who would have thought - blogging as an application for a grocery store… but it works. It works fantastically for Sobeys.

Their site - Countertop Buzz,  features a blog that is full of fantastic conversation on cooking, recipes, tips and entertaining. They’ve got 2 chefs blogging about these different topics, and on first blush, the writing is engaging and personable, the images capture your interest, and I’m hooked!

Chef Ryan and Chef James are entertaining, educational, and best of all, they are conversational.

I can figure out how to cook meat to my preference, get ideas on what to feed troublesome kids and use the blog to get my own creative juices flowing again.

Well done Sobeys! The site is nicely laid out, has got all the requisite blog bells and whistles, and is certainly something that’s going to get added to my RSS reader. *grin*

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Technorati Tags: Sobeys Grocery blog
Sobeys Blog

One of Those Wickedly Awesome Canadian Companies

Once in a while you can happen upon a *really neat* company, where you think, “wow, I wish I could work there”….

Idee is one of those companies (my apologies for not being able to include the accent aigu to the word)…. Reading through the blog, the fun, the performance and the engery simply exudes from this group of smarties.

Idée develops advanced image recognition and visual search software.

The Idée Blog

Technorati Tags: idee toronto

Early Valentine's Day

It’s one of those years. One of those years when the Wiz has 2 hockey games on Valentine’s Day.  I should have been tipped off that something was amiss, considering he had asked at least 4 times in the past week what we wanted to do for Valentine’s Day. Apparently *TWO* of the other goalies in the ORMRHL.COM had already been corralled by their sweeties into dumping Thursday night hockey, and the Wiz was enlisted into doing triple goal tending duties. Can you say pulled groin?

Last night was the first night in the *making up for playing 2 hockey games on Valentine’s Day* process.  Apparently, when a man can’t make the official day, he has no problems stretching out Valentines to make up for it.  The alternative, having to tell his hockey team that he’s being cow-tied into a commercialization of love, is unthinkable ;-)

Last night was Korean Grill House with the chickadees and bunches of flowers.I can’t wait to see what tonight will bring. I think it’s my turn ;-)

If you’re on the fence about Valentine’s Day, check out 4 (or 5!!) Reasons Why Valentine’s Day is a No-Win Proposition 

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Bell Plays Fast with Stolen Data

Had I not been a regular checker of things internet-y, I wonder if I would have stumbled across this news update on the CBC regarding Bell’s loss of customer data.  I’m also questioning whether we would have been made aware of this loss, had the data not been recovered. 

Apparently Bell realized the data for over 3 Million customers had been lost in mid-January, and was *recovered* in the past week. It’s a happy ending, except for the folks who were nabbed with the data, but really - if the perps were never caught, would we ever have known there was a breach in the first place?  Shouldn’t corporations be legislated into releasing the news of a security breach within 24 hours of knowing that there’s been a breach?

Will I be caring about this so much once I migrate all my services off Bell, and onto Aurora Cable Internet this summer?  That’s right, 5 more months left in my Bell contract.  It’s been the longest wait ever. In August, everything will go. I’m tired of banging snow off the satellite dish. And tired of having a really crappy PVR.

Bell recovers stolen data on 3.4 million customers

A Free Weekend

I’m paralyzed. It’s my first free weekend since the beginning of December. Really Really. It’s a no-obligation weekend.

I can finally take down the lingering Christmas Decorations.

I can finally beat down the mounds of laundry that are taking over my bedroom.

I can finally get around to making business cards for Floobergeist Fotos.

I can finally cook something more exciting than stew.

I can finally do something with the 400 pictures from the holidays.And here I am, just procrastinating, thinking of all the things I can do.I think I’m going back to bed ;-)

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Microsoft and Yahoo - What Happens to Flickr?

I was perusing the news stories this morning, and it dawned on me [albeit later than it should have, since I've been laid up with the flu all weekend] - what's going to happen to Flickr?

I've dodged the Yahoo empire for nigh 7 years - up until they acquired Flickr, and I had to bite the bullet and migrate my Flickr account to a *yahoo* account to keep my photos moving smoothly. And it was smooth - Yahoo was smart enough to not change a single thing, and to keep the development initiatives of the Flickr application moving forward.

Now, with Microsoft buying Yahoo, do I need to keep adding new accounts? What could Microsoft do to my photos? For some reason, having Microsoft in charge of my photos makes me feel a little creeped out.

Dare I take the plunge and move everything to Google's Picasa Web Albums? They aren't nearly as cool as Flickr. But they also aren't Microsoft. Aie, the devil's in the details.

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Finally Ebay Succumbs to Loonie Pressure - Adjusts Exchange Rates

In December I noted the evil game that Ebay and Paypal were playing with the exchange differences between the Canadian and US dollars.
Today Ebay decides to reflect parity between the two currencies, and will display prices with more accuracy.
Wow!
The Ebay forums have been rife with folks questioning and complaining, and now, almost 4 months after the Canadial loonie has gained muscle, they are going to update the systems.

Now if only PayPal will follow suit! :-)

Telecom News - The Week's Highlights

What an interesting week! Holy Cats - there's no limit to the adventures!


The announcement of the potential sale of Toronto Hydro Telecom.
Everyone loves something spicy to heat up their mid-winter blahs.  This is almost better than a trip down south.

AT&T's Announcement of Free Wifi.
After so much odd press, it's good to see AT&T doing something consumer-friendly.

Rogers Set to Launch Unlimited Data Plans in Preparation for iPhone?
Speculation that the high cost of the Rogers data plans has been the reason for the iPhone delays - looks like Rogers is doing something to remedy the baggage the iPhone comes with.

Canadian ISPs Asked to Agree to Mandated Copywrite Filtering.
Internet service providers are supposed to be agnostic, content neutral providers. Just like the electrical company doesn't care and can't tell if you've got a grow-op in your basement, the ISP shouldn't be any more obligated to manage or filter content.

Motion Picture Association of America Admits Screw Up in Study on Movie Piracy.
Yeow - all the Canadian hoolpa over the past few months of Canada being a haven for copywrited materials, and the subsequent governmental activity to try and draft an evil bill to keep the US at bay.... Maybe activity that was simply an over reaction? Did someone say knee jerk?

US Spectrum Auction Get off to Busy Start.
I had no idea spectrum could be so expensive, but so far, the FCC has garnered over $3B in bids for the 700MHz spectrums available... Funny - I had no idea that the bidding on the auction would be anonymous.

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What The Hell Is In The Freezer!?!?!

As seen this morning:

The wiz comes downstairs.
Goes directly to the freezer in the kitchen.
Sneakily takes out a ziplock bag and deposits it in the garbage.

Me: What the heck was that?
Wiz: I wanted to make sure he was dead.
Me: WHO!?!?!?
Wiz: The mouse that was caught in a trap last night.
Me: Oh. Thanks for putting him in a ziplock. And thanks for just not putting him in the fridge.
Wiz: Yup. Not taking any chances. See how much I love you?

Wiz walks away giggling.

That's when it occured to me - I've come a long way, baby. At one point in my life, there was a MOTH (man of the house) who couldn't even stand to have the same silverware used between dog and human. And now, here I am, sharing space in the freezer with a mouse-sicle. It's a slippery slope. What's next? I'm afraid to ask.

Podcasting - Is it Easier to Listen than to Read?

For the past year or so I've been contemplating podcasts, the value and the growing popularity of them.  I've never been a podcast listener, not really, unless it was something really neat. I've listened to Jon Arnold's Podcasts (But that's because he has interviews some really neat people!!) :-) Normally I bypass the podcast for the actual text of the story...

But now, with my iTouch, it's becoming easier and easier to pack up a few podcasts, especially those free ones on iTunes.... and bring them with me when I'm travelling, as an alternative to music. I am beginnging to find that the creative time available to write my blogging bits is continuing to decline, yet I've got more and more time to sit and think and speak potential blog *monologues*.  I can walk through an entire article that I want to write in my head [yes, i admit, i talk to myself frequently] while i'm sitting in traffic. 

With the right recorder, I'm thinking that I could do a podcast, as opposed to writing everything. Alas - I'm not terribly convinced about the popularity of them. 

I'm not a good listener of podcasts as a rule - I'm a better reader. But is is easier to listen than to read for most people?  Am I abnormal? ;-) I suppose the only way to find out is to give it a whirl. It's a shame my current blackberry doesn't have a voice recording function ;-)
 


Technorati Tags: Jon Arnold, podcasting, iTouch, iTunes

Toronto Hydro Telecom For Sale?

I suppose the news is leaking faster than an old washing machine…. that Toronto Hydro Telecom is looking for a new beau. But I’ve always been confused between the relationship between Toronto Hydro Telecom, and Hydro One Telecom. What makes it even more confusing, is that both companies seem to share the same sales team, and VP of Sales - which makes me think that it’s really one company, just with different sales channels? Or two companies with 1 sales channel?

Sure - THT has the Toronto Wifi Service. Do they also have the new data centre in Toronto?  Or is that HOT? Neither site has data centre information (that’s easily found).

Aha!  I found that it really is THT that has a new data centre, despite the fact that they don’t really mention it on their site…. A news release from the Seaboard Group has the details…

Oh - what a tangled electrical web we weave.


Technorati Tags: Toronto Hydro Telecom, Hydro One Telecom

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Building Competitive Differences in the Telecom Industry

It's a tricky business, differentiation in the telecom industry. Some organizations work on fantastic services, some work on geographic location, some rely on beavers. Differentiation can be found in income trust rebirths, or private sales.

Imagine how neat it would be if one of the big 3 were to dive in to what Mark Goldberg discusses.....the possible sale of Toronto Hydro Telecom.....

Telecom Trends

Technorati Tags: Mark Goldberg, TELUS, Bell, Rogers

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Post Vacation Backlog

Methinks this may be an entire month of being *behind*. I've been back for 3 days, and am still hip deep in email and actions that deserve action.
 
Not to worry - before I get too caught up, next week is another week of limited working potential, what with 5 days of conference and meetings.

I'm optimistic about February, so far.

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Light Postings - Off to Puerto Rico

Aha!

January is a good month. This year I’m off to Puerto Rico. Leaving this morning. It’s going to be my first time having to switch airplanes in mid-stream, and I have little confidence in the whole procedure. I’ve only got 40 minutes in Miami to find my way. A wee lost Canadian gurl. Aie.

For your reading pleasure - see where I spent last January. 

See you next week! 

Dreams for a Wireless Photo Future

Ever since reading about the develipment of wireless memory cards, both SD and CF, I've been dreaming about the possibilities.

Now, of course, I want one *right now*, and they are hard to come by in Canada [read: Impossible].

Still, a girl can dream.  I'm going to be in Miami for about an hour on Tuesday, maybe I can get one there?

SanDisk's Wireless SD Card Has Memory