The Next 4 Days

For the Next 6 Days

That’s me…. over on the beach.

:-)

I'm Addicted to Really Big Things

Gotcha.

With abysmal tv viewing options, the Wiz and I have gravitated towards impressive educational programming. Really Big Things is on The Discovery Channel. As you might guess, it’s about *really big things*, and how they work or are made. Just last night we got to learn how the gigantic sand islands that make up Dubai’s resort area are made.  That might not be up your alley, so a few weeks ago we saw how one of the biggest Canadian off-shore oil rigs was built. I’ve got to tell you, it’s a pretty neat show. Plus, then you get to say you like Really Big Things too, and not be inappropriate :-)

What Are You Going To Be When You're 34?

Wow! 34 years old and captain of the newest wireless provider in Canada. In an era where the current wireless bigwig is pushing 80-something, being 34 is a pretty big deal.

But Anthony Lacavera has done it; taking a little known telecom reseller company and turning it into a potential force to be reckoned with in the Canadian wireless market. The article in the Nation Post actually mentions the size of Mr Lavavera’s testicles, if you can believe it.

(Photo credit to Chris Young for The National Post)




Technorati Tags: Globalive, Yak, Canada Wireless

I Heard the Coyotes Singing Tonight...

... it's easy to forget, living in a suburb a few blocks off Yonge Street, that I'm surrounded on 3 sides by protected grenspace. Space that's likely home to a few gazillion wild beasts. The coyotes are often to the west - but tonight they were due south. Moving around in the summer, I suppose.

I can see the rosy glow of Toronto from my back deck. I rescued a wee toad that's tried to make a home under a maple tree in my back yard.

Yes, I'm still urban, but it's a pleasing thought to know that nature is still within reach.

Photo from www.rivernen.ca

Technorati Tags: coyote, oak ridges morraine, Richmond HIll

Zen Golf

Coming soon - the golf day…..

Rural Canadians and Broadbank Internet...

Last weekend I had the pleasure of going to Brantford, Ontario for a *Pretty in Pink* girls night out. I knew 3 of the ladies, and the other 4 were brand new friends as of that night. These were normal mom types, who had gotten to know each other through their kids' school activities.

As soon as the hostess introduced me, and let the ladies know I worked for one of the major telcos in Canada, the first question out of their mouths was if rural Canada was going to get better high speed internet service. The second question was about the wireless auction, and who the new mobile phone players were going to be.

Don't doubt for a minute that the average Canadian [someone not intimately linked to telecommunications in Canada] doesn't know what's going on with broadband internet or the cellular industry. They *are* paying attention. They *are* investing time in reading and understanding. Most importantly, they *ARE* asking questions and building insightful opinions.

One of the ladies was from Perry Sound. She uses dial-up still. High speed internet is out of her price range (and would be for us urbanites too) at $150/month. She didn't think that high speed would ever get to her at a price that was affordable. She was worried that once her son's friends started to get high speed, she was going to have a big fight on her hands.

Even the ladies who lived in Brantford proper had feedback and colour commentary about the state of high speed internet availability in rural Ontario. They also had some pretty strong opinions of wireless providers, and even asked me about Globalive and Google.


Canada needs a national broadband strategy - FP Comment

Canada needs a national broadband strategy

At Least 50% of the Canadian Workers Could Telecommute....

...... but only 9% do.

While some jobs will still require a daily commute, it is reasonable to assume that we could achieve a dramatic reduction in energy usage if more people worked at home more often. Estimates suggest that at least 50 per cent of people could work at home today. For employers, this means lower office costs and often more highly motivated employees.

The single greatest barrier to teleworking is management insecurity.
The desire for control is stronger than the desire to do the right thing.
That's sooo 1990.
:-)

Getting Charged for Spam?

At first I didn't mind the fact that incoming text messages were finally going to be a chargeable offense. It's a sign 'o the times. And then I got a text message. An automated, spammy text message. Not from anyone I knew. Had I been on a plan that was less friendly [read: not free], that spam would have cost me $0.15. With the phone, at least if you don't recognize the caller, you can simply not answer. With text messages, there's no such avoidance tactic. I've got a feeling that folks will be clamoring for a way to disable SMS messaging,and that's not the point of the new charges. But with no other control mechanism, how do you avoid getting charged for digital bits you don't want?So much for those free inbound sports scores ;-)

Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility will soon begin charging their customers for incoming text messages under new pricing plans slated for August.

CTV.ca | Bell, Telus to charge for incoming text messages

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Tags: Bell, TELUS, SMS

Update on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 04:28PM by jules

Ok, I’m a bit sick of the bellyaching over the *huge drama* of getting charged for incoming text messages. OMFG. You would have thought that the carriers have demanded a human sacrifice in order to enable your cell phone.

I did one quick check. The odds of a user not already being on a plan that includes unlimited text messages, or at the very least, unlimited  incoming text mesages is rare. And if you are one of the schmos who don’t have this feature included in your plan, then you are going to cough up an additional $5/month for it. [TELUS pricing].

I’m also thinking there are a few ways to disable some of the spammy stuff you might be getting…. there is a wicked article on US carriers written by David Pogue, I’m now figuring out the Canadian options.

Gasoline Budget Explodes

I thought I'd share an interesting observation. Sure, we all know that gas prices are high. Sure, we feel the pinch at the pumps. I checked through our gas purchases, and compared 2 months of use.

I picked February, where people weren't griping so terribly about gas, and June, when we realized we were fully ensconced in a gas price explosion.

Neither the Wiz or I are full time commuters. We don't go anywhere exciting all that often, meaning there aren't lazy drives in the country on a Sunday.
In February, our gas bill was $360. In June, the cost had risen to $630. Wow, that's $270 that just disappeared. Poof. Losing an extra $270 every month. That's a big deal. A Really Big Deal. I was wondering why our checking account seemed anorexic for the past few months. I wanted to just attribute it to unexpected purchases, but this is bigger. More Insidious.

That's an additional $3200 a year that's going to go somewhere that's not my bank account. That's like having another Christmas kick you in the ass. That's the annual budget for kid activities (ie. karate and horseback riding and soccer)

We've got 2 vehicles, one, admittedly, isn't terribly efficient (Nissan Pathfinder), but my Toyota Matrix is pretty darned small and economical. Unless all 5 of us have to go somewhere, (chickadees + dog), we normally take the Matrix. The Wiz lives less than 20km from work. We've got a year left on the Pathfinder lease, will we still be able to afford to drive it soon?


Today the price per litre rose again to $1.37.

Technorati Tags: Canada, gas price

What's the Deal with Dipity?

Ok - I'm keen when it comes to neat applications. Last week I set up Dipity. Dipity is a visual aggregator of all the content you create via various sources. I.e Blogging, Flickr, Picasa, Twitter, YouTube etc. Dipity creates a timeline that you can scroll through, analyse and share. It's quite neat. The collecting of all my digital noise in one place, in a visual format just tickles me. Go ahead. Check out your noise.


Technorati Tags: Dipity, Timeline

Time Shifting in the Network

A few weeks ago I wrote about the risks associated with the new Copywrite laws being considered in Canada, and specifically how the law is going to affect timeshifting of TV programming. It turns out I wasn’t far from accurate, that Television providers are indeed considering moving the ability to timeshift and record programming into their networks. Michael Geist has an interesting bit on network based PVRs.

In the months leading up to Bill C-61, Telus consistently argued for a “living” fair dealing provision that could adapt to changing technologies. In particular, the company noted its interest in providing a network-based PVR that would allow customers to record and store programs that reside on computers that it hosts. That network-based approach of relying on centralized computers - often referred to as cloud computing - is one of the hottest trends in computing as companies look for efficiencies and consumers seek out convenience.

Michael Geist - Blog

I like having my set-top PVR, and I’m sure that the geeky-minded folks will always have a media centre with their TV, but I wonder how many folks would appreciate having their content stored on their tv providers hard drive? What does that say about privacy? Do you want it known that you’ve recorded 50 hours of Big Brother? There are sone significant issues at play, and it’s not all about copywrite.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Tags: MichaelGeist, Timeshifting, Canada Copywrite