((Industrial Grapes))

Consumer Reports now provides video and information on how your car crash-tests... woo hoo, look at that dummy fly!

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/safety-recalls/carcrashtest/crashtestvideo.htm

Dear Apple,

Wow, what a great looking phone you've come up with, smooth, shiny, functional, and hopefully easy to use (one would guess based on the ads).  Your marketing department should be commended on attaching the letter "i" to the word "Phone", and creating the iPhone... what a novel name for a phone!  I don't think anyone saw that coming.

I understand with all the hype and fanboys, it wasn't going to be hard to sell your phone.  Even at an expensive asking price you're bound to sell, sell, sell... hey the iPods were expensive but you had no problems selling them.  So I see how it would be a coup for a single cell phone service company to sell your phones and let all the others weep as various ill-informed consumers came in and asked for "that new apple phone, the phone with the fish".  I'm sure AT&T paid a pretty penny for the privaledge, and not just for 6 months (originally the popularity lifetime of a cell phone), not even for a year... but for two years.  In itself there's nothing wrong with that - with number portability anyone can move to AT&T if they want an iPhone, but what about those tech-savvy people in the forgotten country north of you?

Perhaps you're unaware that we share media with you... perhaps you didn't know there isn't a Canadian edition of every magazine and TV channel you have.  Well, there it is, we see your TV spots, we hear the internet speak about the iPhone, we flip over our favourite magazines and find an iPhone ad on the back.  But wait!  You can't buy an iPhone in Canada.  We don't have AT&T as a service provider.

News is finally starting to percolate through the web that Rogers, the only GSM provider in Canada is working on bringing the iPhone to Canada.  That's good to hear.  What's worrying about said news, is there aren't any definite times, there isn't anything certain, and there's no excuse for the delay.  Why didn't Apple work with a Canadian carrier to provide the handset in both countries at the same time?  Why do we have to hear about everyone else enjoying the technology before it's even considered that perhaps a Canadian would like to carry an iPhone?

I think those wonderful glossy iPhone commercials should have an apology to Canadians, or at least mention that we should put it out of our minds for the time being while things are worked out.  Yes I know your phone is groundbreaking, yes I see it's popular and does many great things, yes I know it's available now... so why can't I get one?

A sort of spam gateway for your snailmail/lettermail, Earth Class Mail gives you an address to give out, scans the outside of incoming mail - if commanded (by you) it'll open the mail and scan the contents.  Plans are somewhat reasonable but only available to Americans (sigh).

... of course this concept looks rather like self-generated eBilling... all the utility companies I get mail from want me to switch to ebill (of course they do - it's WAY cheaper for then - but they offer no financial incentive to me).  The advantage is spam mail can be shredded/recycled by them (woo saving mail-bin trip) and you don't have to give away geographic information that resolves to your residence.. that's good for spys (I hear).

Next time I'm riding a chuck wagon (as unlikely as that may sound) I think I want Chanse Vigen as one of my outriders.  On Saturday night at the Calgary Stampede, there was a serious crash injuring a wagon racer (he was thrown from the wagon and sustained hip and arm injuries), and causing the death of three horses.

No doubt the horses pulling the driverless wagon were scared (not just from the driver departing, but from the crash itself) but fortunately Chanse Vigen jumped onto the wagon and brought it under control without incident.  I'm interested in races not crashes, but it would have been something to see someone do that - no take 2, no controlled conditions, after-editing, or wires to help him... just one guy gettin' it done.

Apparently protesters at the grounds called for an "an end to rodeo and chuckwagon races at the Stampede" after the third horse was euthanized (hate that word)... which some absolutely moronic.  The point of the stampede is the chucks and rodeo - the drinking, debauchery, food and rides are there because of the chucks and rodeo.  Take away what makes the Stampede and you've basically got nothing.  Still no matter what the problem/success there's always someone who feels it very wrong and should be stopped immediately.

Some obvious reasons to have a hobby here - and yet it's nice to see it in digital ink... 5 Reasons Why Hobbies Are Important

Long Term Solutions

Shade - If you're landscaping, and thinking really long term, or have the budget to buy large, or the ability to build near mature trees, give shade a shot.  A well placed tree can reduce the direct sun into your place, and also provide a captivating dance of leaf shadows inside the house.  Plus you get the undeniable pleasure of hearing wind in the leaves (and raking them in fall - oh joy).

Water - Don’t underestimate the power of a body of water to help cool.  You can use water as a heat regulator – it’ll absorb heat during the day and release heat a night.  Or you can use the phase change of water to steam to help cool – in fact many commercial cooling systems use water to cool on a large scale.

Window Technology - There's no such thing as "just a window, you can have multiple glazings, inert gases between panes, and reflective coatings on some/all of the layers.  A good combination can make a huge difference to the heat you feel on the other side.

Window Placement - A north facing window (north hemisphere) isn't going to get much sun (depending on how far north you are it'll get some in winter).  An east facing window will get morning sun, however regional air temperature takes time to warm up.  A south facing window gets the most sun (north hemisphere, depending on latitude) but won't be directly heated at sunrise or set (depending on time of year).  A west facing window gets as much sun as an east facing window - but this time it's at the hottest time of the day – so it’s going to feel warmer.

Longer Term Solutions

Be sensible about Window/Door openings - the low to mid 20 centigrades (22c-25c) tend to be where the air starts to feel hot.  It's all relative of course.  Around that temperature or below outside - open windows and doors to cool the place.  If you live in an area that's cooler at night, an especially effective method is to open the windows and doors over night (this can be so effective you might need a blankie by morning!)  Just remember to close the windows as soon as it starts warming outside - otherwise your nice cool air will disappear soon after it warms up.

Blow air out through an open window - here's something I didn't know... pointing a fan to blow hot air out through an open window is more effective then sucking cool air in through the window.  Something to keep in mind when you're using fans next.

Close the curtains/blinds - exterior blockers - be them wood, fabric, steel or plants - will stop sunlight (and therefore some heat) from getting into the place.  It'll also make you feel like you're living in a cave or bunker.  Less effective but still helpful is closing the interior window coverings - particularly if they have light colour on the side facing out (to partially reflect the light and heat back).  If you happen to have foil-backed curtains, all the more power to you (FYI: get some taste.)

Air Conditioning - Not much needs to be said here – we mean, of course, hot-to-cold heat exchangers when we say Air Conditioning (A/C) - even though heating air is also conditioning.  Just be warned - you'll see a difference on your utility bill.

You can't win with weather ... it's too hot, it's too cold, it's to dry, it's too humid... no matter what’s going on someone feels it's some kind of extreme.  You can even catch the more irritating claiming opposites at the same time, or flip-flopping in an extraordinarily short range (22c=too cold, 23c=too hot... and the couldn't tell you which it was without a thermometer anyway!).

Never the less there are times when the heat can become too much... so here’s a list of ways to help out.  There are lots of useful articles out there, every paper/blog in the northern hemisphere is probably doing something on this... and none of this is rocket science.

Quick Remedies

Spritz - get a squirt bottle and lightly mist yourself, especially your wrists, the back of your neck, the back of your knees and your chest (anything that goes red is a good indicator - that's blood near the surface, or a burn in which case wear sunscreen, fool).  This really helped on my journey to the bottom of the Grand Canyon last year.

Take off your shoes + socks - you'd be amazed how cooling it is to free your feet from shoes and socks.  If you're already wearing sandals removing them will still give you a benefit.  If you're really adventurous you can even dip your feet in cool water, but for those with ticklish feet, that might be a bit extreme.

Point a Fan at Yourself - A fan doesn't cool anything - in fact technically it's adding to the temperature since it isn't 100% efficient (the electrical motor will give off heat) that being said - air movement will help with evaporation - one of your bodies fundamental ways of cooling itself (perhaps you’ve heard of sweat?)  Don't leave a fan on if you're not there - perhaps like a tree in the woods; it doesn't cool/make a noise if you're not there to observe it.

Shallow, Cool Water - Placing a shallow bowl of cool/ice water in the stream of moving air (behind a fan for example) will increase the humidity of the air, but the heat absorbed by the water will cool the air passing by.  If you’re in a sticky, humid heat this probably isn’t a good solution for you.  Also if you’re using ice that you made in your own freezer – don’t forget you will generate more heat making the ice then you’ll absorb melting it.

My home printer is pretty useless right now without any ink, or with most of them dried up and not working.  Rather than fork out almost $100 for Epson ink (more than the printer!) I've decided to try some generic ink.  I don't want to mess around with re-filling, there's a reason you replace the heads/cartridges and from what I've read it's an incredibly slow process.

Anyway, G+G ink seems to be my choice after reading the website: http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/inktest.html.  The spam-like layout, the repeating, the structure all lead me to fear it was hype created by G+G but once I got down to the sample prints, and some of the other information I decided it probably was for real.  Either way - if I'm not paying for Epson ink I'm going to have to chose one generic to try.

I'll let you know how the ink pans out.

If you're considering an SUV, considering fueling an SUV or just plain interested in how they all stack up (other than their pretty colours, shapes and extras) have a look at this excellent list of best gas mileage SUVs.

Word on the street... an excellent new Micro/Ultra mobile PC called the Via NanoBook is coming.  With a 7" touch-screen, 4.5 hours of lifetime, and all sorts of specs to make you drool (usb 2, wifi, bluetooth, vga, ethernet, 30GB HDD, up to 1GB memory all under 1kg) is coming.

I've always had my eye on the "smaller" laptops out there - sure a 17" macbook pro looks hot, but it's not exactly mobile, and you're really just carrying a PC around with you, not a mobile computer.  These tiny little guys provide decent processing power, battery life, and a whole host of opportunities for you.  Like car/plane journey entertainment, traveling development, temporary Point of Sale (POS) terminals (at trade shows) and generally uber cool tech.

You heard me uber cool.

Also announced, although currently priceless, is the Via Pico-ITX board at 7x10cm this thing is tiny!  On the last page of the review you'll find an original Gameboy handheld modified to contain the computer - think about were you'll be able to hide CPUS!  It has everything to drive audio/video/standard USB devices (Web cams, VOIP phones, printers etc) and source an IDE and SATA drive.  I'm thinking this would be excellent for robotics, installation art, making a artistic computers, and comically misplacing.

Fascinating article about Google on the New York Times Website: Google Keeps Tweaking Its Search Engine

To raise awareness of the endangered leatherback sea turtle, there are satellite trackers on the shells of eleven females "racing" from Costa Rica to the Galapagos Islands (some 1,200miles/1,930kms).  To see how they're doing visit:

http://www.greatturtlerace.com/

So I've been using FitOff.ca to track exercise since the beginning of February - it's really quite awesome to see that 90 minutes of walking, 30 minutes of a vigorous workout, or 30 minutes of serious stair climbing are about equivalent in the grand calorie-burning scheme of things!  It's also nice to see that 20 minutes here, 20 minutes there all add up over the day.  I'm looking forward to the score board feature being available for small groups so I can run a mini fitness challenge against my friends and family.

Through the social club at work I'm participating in a fitness scoreboard.  I'm just about managing to hover around 15th place (out of 80).  I'm a bit disappointed by my position - I thought I'd be higher.  The board really separates those with an every day commitment to exercise (eg. they cycle to work), those who are serious about exercising (they're regularly logging exercise) and those who occasionally exercise.  It's got to the point where if someone trailing me on the board passes me I'll go out and climb a few flights of stairs to try and regain my position.  I guess I'm kind of hoping that people's interest wanes a little so I can get ahead - that's probably wrong of me isn't it?

A new site I've been working with a team on has just switched from alpha to public beta status.  FitOff allows you to track your daily exercise, awarding Fitness and Activity points based on how long and what you did. A fitness point roughly translates into a calorie, while an activity point allows you to compare your exercise to anyone else on the site.

Now here's where it get's clever - you can signup on various scoreboards on the site and compete against other users!  Nothing gets people motivated to exercise like seeing their position on the board slip as others get out there and work up a sweat!

They have some great features coming up too - like public profiles (let your friends and family see how you're doing), create new scoreboards (compete in your social club, neighbourhood, family, between friends), access your fitness data in an open format, and download achievement icons to show the world how you're doing.

It's definitely worth checking out - signup now at http://fitoff.ca/register.  Gotta run - it'll increase my score!

Movie: Timeline
I'm not sure why this got bad reviews/disappeared into obscurity.  The premise is fairly original, the story's good (based on a Michael Crichton book), the action, situations, and history are all believable.  People die - which was a bit surprising given we're used to everyone miraculously surviving, but still we have a love interest, some sort fighting, some despair, some history.  It's all lovely stuff.  Watch this movie - eat popcorn, have a good evening.

Wine: Eco-Frog (France)
The title of this is presently a little lacking - I can't seem to find any information online, so I'll have to check the bottle!  Still this excellent red wine is made through an entirely organic process.  Apparently frogs are very susceptible to environmental damage.  It's a very tasty red you'll probably have some trouble stopping drinking, plus it has a nice little frog on the label.

Song: Calvin Harris - 'Acceptable In The 80's' Wham!  Here comes Calvin Harris out of nowhere - well he probably didn't come from no where, but he's suddenly appeared with this song, several remixes, and even a mini-mix on Annie Mac's show.  To be honest I don't know if I like this song, but it's catchy and probably won't leave the catacombs of my head for ages - no doubt it'll be played to death by the radios if they ever get their hands on it.  The words are clever, the sound is - well a retro 80's song.  If you don't know what those young kids are listening to at their discotheques, you should have a listen to this one.

Movie: Transporter 2
Yes it's a pretty standard action flick, but man does it have a nice car, some great stunts and driving.  You like the characters, which I found to be well developed (surprising).  Sit back and enjoy the ride on this one.  Btw, I never saw the first Transporter, but I'm told it wasn't very good - I'm not exactly rushing to see it.

Wine: Mouton Cadet Bordeaux 2002
This excellent, and well priced wine is often found in restaurants with a nice wine list - at some over inflated price.  That being said - it's almost worth the "wine list" price - this spectacular, smooth, red is great for any occasion - I enjoy it with barbecue, steak, stews and in a glass.

Song: Sinden & Count of Monte Cristal - 'Beeper'
Awesome happy bumpy loopy song, it's a bit repetitive, but man is it easy to start bopping around and smiling - and even singing along (trust me it won't take you long to pick it up).  An excellent song to exercise to - it keeps the energy up through the whole song.

Watched this movie last night - oh god it was terrible.  The amusing preview you may or may not have seen are the best bits.  And I don't mean just a little better than the rest I mean their the only bits.  It was a waste of time, useless, undesirable movie that just isn't worth seeing.
Don't go watch it

To make matters worse a brand I like Toyota had the gall to (a) put an ad on the DVD and (b) stop me from being able to skip the ad or go to the movie menu.  I cannot stand the concept of ads on something I paid for - but worse to lock the disc so you can't escape it.  Well that's inexcusable.  This has certainly damaged their image in my eyes.

Movie: The Family Stone
It's a Christmas movie, and we managed to sneak this in just before Christmas - a surprising feat given it's popularity.  It's a movie about a big, but somewhat insular family and their flaws.  Sounds boring doesn't it?  It's not.  It's funny, well written, well filmed, excellently acted.  You can't help put get caught up in every characters plight/feelings... they're all likable and dis-likable!

Wine: Naked Grape - 2004 Chardonnay (Canada)
A well priced Canadian white wine - fact or fiction?  Well we tried this one out and found it a delicious light slightly fruity wine.  It has a sweet taste, but is still dry (if that makes sense).  It's very easy drinking - I'm talking a case easy drinking.  I think it might make the "always consider buying" list!

Song: Peter Bjorn And John - 'Young Folks (Beyond The Wizards Sleeve Mix)'
Acoustic, Foreign, Raw, Happy, Pop, electronic, whistling
I have to throw this up after hearing it featured on last week's scrubs (not the remix).  I first heard it approximately July last year - both the original acoustic (featured in the episode) and a really beautiful remix (listed here).  The vocals are heartfelt, really pretty and to a nice musical and rhythmical backdrop.  Even better there's a nice whistling line you're going to find it hard to forget, and not to imitate!  It's so easy to get lost in this song when you hear it.