WordPress has released a new application to the Apple AppStore to allow blogging from the road, or Moblogging. It seems very slick with a stripped down interface but still a lot of function. I can take a photo with the camera but am unable to view it in the post. Preview says the photo will be added so we’ll see.
If I press ‘publish’ and it appears online I guess this little tool works and will probably be used a bit when I have a quick thought or am away from the computer. Looks like I will be eating my words yesterday about not going to seagurs.com on my iPhone.
Ta da! Interesting that my five hundredth published post came from an iPhone.
seagurs and rogersgurskywedding have received a little upgrade to go along with the release of the iPhone. Both sites have received plugin installations of WPtouch, which allows the site to render in a minimalistic fashion on the iPod Touch or iPhone.
There will need to be some tweaks to the seagurs theme, specifically the title wrapping down onto another line and causing the search/menu options to be hidden but that is for another day. I will never browse to my site on my iPhone but it is a nice feature to implement for those who may make their way over here.
The theme did cause a slight problem yesterday when the mobile site appeared in place of the regular site so I will have to keep an eye on that for fear of everyone getting the mobile site.
What a weekend it has been. I was hoping to have some alone time to play GTA4 and progress my mission in Liberty City but I barely touched the TV all weekend. Instead I was outside playing in the dirt, soaking up the sun and reliving a part of my youth.
On Friday evening a bunch of Statusfirm employees loaded up into a few vehicles and headed west to Young Guns Paintball. We filled up our guns and proceeded to shot each other for nearly three hours on various courses and had a great time in doing so. Most of us left with a bruise or two and it will be a subtle badge of honor on Monday morning.
Saturday was devoted to flowers, bright colors, torches and a beer boat. Dead men tell no tales, neither do Hawaiian lays but I will say it was a great day to be outside, the weather was perfect, the beer was cold and the company was entertaining. The day after hosting an epic luau in Sherwood Park Gord and I went to see Jurassic Park playing on the big screen at Metro Cinema.
I grew up on this movie and seeing it in a theater was a wonderful experience. It has been years since I saw it last but I still remembered the musical cues, certain quotes (On my way down I’m going to run you over or This is a Unix system, I know this…) but most of all it is still a brilliant movie. Jurassic Park was released in 1993 but the effects and quality of production still look great, which is a testament to Speilberg’s ability to create a world you never forget.
Amidst all of this weekend activity something wonderful happened. Joss Whedon released Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. If you are reading this now the movies have been removed from the main site and will no longer be available for free but all three acts are a $1.99 on iTunes and if you are a fan of Captain Mal, Barney Stinson or musicals it is worth your time (and money) to look for it.
When TV shows aired their final episodes in May Jenna and I were left wanting more. We turned our craving to The Sopranos, a show neither of us thought we would watch but thought we would give it a shot anyway. I knew nothing of the series except the ending had fans and critics talking and it sparked a large loved it or hated it response.
For the next six weeks we watched nearly ninety episodes of the New Jersey mob family. We fell into their story hard and while each episode had a casual ending we wanted more. What seemed like an uphill battle was quickly taken down in size as we were finishing a season a week.
I thought the series was really solid. It was more of a character series than thug life on the street. You felt compassion for the characters even though they were all ultimately evil and self-centered. The slow builds to a climactic point which was well orchestrated and I can see how this show made its way to the top of peoples favorite TV shows. Thinking about how the story unfolded I want to watch it again, perhaps when another television lull occurs.
I can’t talk about The Sopranos and not mention the infamous ending. As the final scene played out I immediately felt upset, like I was taken advantage of. It felt like a cop out. Although over the next few days I thought about the ending, did some reading of what other fans thought about it and came to not only appreciate the ending, but love it. I felt it was perfect and the only appropriate way to end such an intense series.
For anyone who has not seen Sopranos I would highly recommend it because it will continue to stand out as one of the best shows ever for a long time to come. We started watching another HBO series called The Wire. This is another show that is well received so I will see if it deserves all of the attention it has received.
For the last few months I have been on a mission. At work I moved all of my music from my laptop to a Mac Mini. This move meant I would lose my playcount and ratings for songs. Fortunately this was my second media move in as many months so I have recently endured the iTunes hardships.
My mission was simple: listen to every song in my library. There are a few albums I partially like or will only listen to if the mode strikes me. Do I really need nine Beatles albums at work? Probably not but they are here and I have to listen to them.
At first the mission was easy because I could listen to my favorite music right away. I made a Smart Playlist for all music that had been neglected and bounced around that list. I have only struggled in the last week when I had several soundtracks, a bit of Bob Dylan, a few Beatles albums and the rest of filler.
Friday afternoon the end was in sight. If I had not spent the morning waiting for the iPhone then maybe I would have finished my mission. There was more time remaining in my library than with the hours left in the day I decided return on Monday and conquer my beast.
With a handful of songs left I decided that the last song I would listen to on this journey was the very reason why I had so much Dylan in my share: Blind Willie McTell.
One of Bob Dylan’s absolute masterpieces, “Blind Willie McTell” is the jewel of The Bootleg Series and arguably one of the finest songs ever written. Dylan has often performed the song live on his Never Ending Tour, yet the power and poise of the original demo performance have never come within a mile of being equalled. link
I had never heard the song until I watched I’m Not There and was absolutely floored. I promptly got Dylan’s three CD Bootleg Series and was overwhelmed with Dylan. I think this is a fitting series of events and as one of Dylan’s best songs finished so did my musical challenge.
Glitch hampers iPhone launch is all you need to know when you ask how iPhone launch day went at stores. CNN has covered the turmoils in American stores but I saw first hand the problems. Let me back up to the start of Friday morning.
6:31 AM I have set up my chair and paper by the front door. I will stay in the comforts of my car for the next while and only occupy the chair when others show up or when it gets closer to 10AM.
The nervous/anxious feeling I have had for days is slowly fading knowing that I have a spot in line. Although the person who operates the store seems to be have no idea about the iPhone so I came prepared with which plans I want, a description of them and the cost. When I called yesterday he said “I don’t know how many iPhones we are getting” which is standard operating procedure because iPhones were delivered by Thursday morning.
6:40 AM
If I stare hard enough at the ‘employees only’ door maybe I can see their collection of iPhones.
6:47 AM Someone joins the line, his name is Steve. He has a friend who will be coming later. We agree to wait in our cars and let the chairs do the talking at the front of the line.
6:55 AM I paid $10 for that chair at Canadian Tire and I am not even using it. What I really wanted was a legitimate lawn chair, the one with aluminum frame and a pretty vibrant design. I don’t think they sell them any more.
This Rogers store is beside a Cleaners. Funny, you go to Rogers and get taken to the Cleaners. Yeah, I have been working on that one for the last week.
7:17 AM John T. just called me to check on my status. I am thirty minutes into The Corporation and am horrified. Naomi Klein was interviewed and in addition to The Shock Doctrine she wrote No Logo which I may look into getting, but it is a four part series of No titles.
7:47 AM
John T. left me a voice mail saying that the South Common location had 10 people in line and that other stores were in the 30+ range. So far it is just Steve and I. Through one of Steve’s connections at 3PM yesterday it was discovered that this location had not received their iPhone shipment yet, which would explain the wishy-washy answer I got on the phone yesterday.
8:03 AM A person went into the Rogers store and is pacing around talking on his cell phone, obviously an owner or someone of importance. He would know if there are iPhones. I see iPhones display in the store and the pedestal doesn’t have a demo unit iPhone on there. Interesting.
8:10 AM
During a pause in the dialogue of The Coproration I hear Flight of the Concords coming from Steve’s van. I ask him what he is watching and we get into a discussion about Ikea being at West Edmonton Mall, texting, video games, all things Apple, web being a carrier of television feeds and general chit chat.
8:20 AM A female shows up with a 3G box in her hands. She says they received their shipment this morning and are very limited in quantity. The gentleman I saw earlier said I am number one in line and Steve is number two.
A new person comes to the line, his name is Dave. We guaranteed him spot number four while he goes into the office to make an appearance. Steve’s friend Chris shows up.
8:40 AM
The gentleman I saw earlier is the HR representative for the company that owns these branch of Rogers stores. He said there are seven iPhones but they haven’t arrived yet. He wasn’t sure which colors would arrive or what. There is mass confusion among the three of us in line. Have I wasted two hours for a chance to get a phone I don’t want like the 8GB or worse the white 16GB?
8:50 AM
A few more guys show up so we decide to stand in line and let our presence of six be known in front of the store. The HR rep said the sales site was down and that information for the contracts would be collected manually. He did not think they could activate the phones because of the technical problems. We get clarification that there are 10 iPhones, three of the 16GB variety (two black and one white) and the rest in 8GB.
10:02 AM The six of us are led into the store and we are split between the two tables. The sales website is inactive (as expected) and panic starts to set in among the sales staff. I was in a week earlier and gave all my vitals, otherwise I would be where everyone else was and filling out a long sheet of paper to begin the contract process.
Things are really confusing, I was asked to change my plan twice but stuck with what I had selected. There is a lot of uncertainty and sales guy took my information sheet, the one I printed out in the event of confusion, otherwise I don’t think he would remember what I wanted.
10:21 AM
With nothing else for me to fill out or answer I leave with no iPhone in hand. Fortunately mine is resting safely in the Rogers store along with my paper work. I hope they call soon.
That was my experience in line at the Rogers store. I’m glad I went to the store I went to because of the smaller line and the people I met. The day was not a total waste I swapped business cards with several people, one is an authorized Mac seller and the other is a video game console repair guy (ignore the attack warning, this is something we talked about in the line) who also does iPod repairs.
It appears as this problem is only getting worse as no phones are leaving the store in a functional state. I just received a phone call from the Rogers store, again he wanted me to change my plan (no, I will pay the extra $25 versus $60 a year wasted on additional things I don’t need) and said he would call back if there were problems.
These guys still don’t know what’s going on. I will call them before I head out for the day to see if the phone is ready for pickup…the saga continues.
At 3:30 PM I was told the phone was ready for pickup. By the time I got there my number had completely ported over to the iPhone and I was ready to head out the door. The phone feels fantastic in my hand. I like the thicker feel to it than the Touch. It looks great and within minutes I am in love.
Another day and more Rogers vs. iPhone 3G news. This time it comes in the form of something amazing. While it’s not an unlimited data plan there is a promotion for the next six weeks that will allow you to pay $30/month for 6GB of data. Yesterday the $30/month would only give you 400MB so this is a drastic increase.
The 50,000 plus signatures at RuinediPhone.com and other outlets had a huge part in this and I don’t think it would have happened were it not for the public pressure in the last two weeks. This changes things for me as I was previously looking at getting a voice-only plan but now I am considering this amazing deal.
In other good news it looks like U2 has finished their new album!
U2’s new public relations director, Daniel Lanois, told Le Journal de Montreal last week that the band has finished recording the new album, and all that’s left is to “finish up some mixes.”
“It’s going to be different in several ways, but I think it’s similar from one point of view, namely that it’s going to push the known limits in the sound arena, the way Achtung Baby did in the past.
Every time U2 releases a new album it is the same old story about “Edge being on fire” and the band going in a “new musical direction”. Every time the fans believe it and are mildly disappointed when we hear the record. Like a moth to the flame I believe it this time around and hope that this new album does push limits of the bands innovation.
Keeping up with the ongoing saga of the iPhone 3G release in Canada has been tedious to say the least. It all started in late June when Rogers announced the iPhone plans which required a 3-year contract. That plus the unreasonable data plans that would limit the potential of the iPhone for customers spurred Internet outcry and the negative press machine was started.
This lead to media coverage and a fairly popular online petition. A few days after this Rogers back stepped a bit and agreed to allow any plan on the iPhone, not just the ones they announced a few days earlier. During this commotion other international networks caved to public pressure for their original high data rates and improved their plans. This gave a glimmer of hope for Canadian consumers but Rogers did nothing.
Here things get ugly, and mostly unconfirmed, but there appeared to be a rift between Apple and Rogers forming. There was a rumor about temporary staff being laid off and a possible reduction of iPhones coming to Canada as the remainder would be diverted to Europe. Now, in the most recent blow, Apple is not selling phones in their outlet stores and seems to be giving the cold shoulder to Canada.
Keeping up with this is like watching a bad train accident and even though I check multiple sources for everything I read I can’t help but feel completely in the dark on this. Every day a new story comes out, one that contradicts the other, and there are still three days until the release of the phone. I am both anticipating and dreading this Friday to see if any of these stories have an ounce of truth.
It is 5:30 AM Sunday morning and I am wide awake. I went to bed late last night so there is no reason why I should be up now. I do not understand how this morning person business never takes a day off.
An explosive situation was narrowly averted on Saturday morning after a semi unit carrying 43,000 pounds of dynamite caught fire in Moose Jaw, Sask.
The rear brake drums, tires and underside of the trailer were on fire. A call was made to 911, and emergency services were warned about the large load of dynamite in the semi-trailer.
I have wanted to post about this next item for over a week, and not wanting to be like Keith and have multiple posts in draft status I am pushing this out the door now.
In an attempt to recently find a collection of Barney Stinson’s suit up moments I came across a YouTube video that had catchphrases, slaps and high fives. It is nine and a half minutes of brilliance and makes me wish season four of How I Met Your Mother was on now. Even if you never watched the show it is still worth your time and maybe you will become a fan.
After a long wait the official Apple store is finally opening in Edmonton this Saturday. It seems like there has been months of speculation about its arrival but the time has come. On Monday someone was able to get a few sneak peaks of the store, which still had a bit of work to be done on it before Saturday.
Those with time on their hands Saturday can wait in line could be lucky enough to get a swag bag full of Apple goodies, which is tradition for new stores when they open. I don’t think I will be able to be lucky enough to get a goodie bag but I am very interested in seeing it in person this weekend. If only the iPhone 3G was released that same day then I could get two birds with one stone.
Now that researchers have found how cold sores operate, they believe they may soon discover how to eradicate the virus that causes them.
By examining the interplay of various molecular substances the virus produces, researchers at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., have found how it hides and then emerges periodically.
As someone who suffers from cold sores I thought this was extremely good news. I believe that researching cures for debilitating and life threatening diseases are worth the funding they receive. While their research may not net immediate results it is nice to get little victories like this one along the way which could lead to successful results with other virii.
On any given day at work there can be at least several ideas for a new website. Usually they range from silly to funny and have no real entrepreneurial merit. Still every idea warrants a trip to a domain registrar to see if the page is available.
Just the other day I bought IReallyLoveTheMcRib.com only because I was told it was available. I am not sure what the conversation was that lead co-workers to check that domain but the end result is the same. What purpose do I have with it? I’m not sure, if only the McRib was still around today maybe there would be a photo of me enjoying the burger, or a photo of every McRib I ate in a month, there would be something to honor the delicious McDonald’s burger. Eventually something will stand there to commemorate the month McDonald’s brought the McRib back to Canada.
Sometimes visits to these random sites that were snatched away result in hilarious results. The domain could be parked, someone may have already implemented an idea similar to ours or it could just be pornography. This morning I stumbled across a variation of these sites which pray on people who mistype URL’s.
Do not make the same mistake I did, do not go to Facbeook.com. A simple switch of some letters and you are greeted by a very different type of poking. Even Google is not without domains that await people who misspell. If you add three o’s you are taken to a Transformer images page, four o’s and you have a parked domain, but five o’s and you redirected back to Google.
These typo domain names are the equivalent to a Rick Roll but you have to give the owners credit because they were faster on purchasing of that domain name than we were.
I grew up on this movie and seeing it in a theater was a wonderful experience. It has been years since I saw it last but I still remembered the musical cues, certain quotes (On my way down I’m going to run you over or This is a Unix system, I know this…) but most of all it is still a brilliant movie. 
Amidst all of this weekend activity something wonderful happened. Joss Whedon released 
For the last few months I have been on a mission. At work I moved all of my music from my laptop to a Mac Mini. This move meant I would lose my playcount and ratings for songs. Fortunately this was my second media move in as many months so I have recently endured the iTunes hardships.
I have set up my chair and paper by the front door. I will stay in the comforts of my car for the next while and only occupy the chair when others show up or when it gets closer to 10AM.
I paid $10 for that chair at Canadian Tire and I am not even using it. What I really wanted was a legitimate lawn chair, the one with aluminum frame and a pretty vibrant design. I don’t think they sell them any more.
John T. just called me to check on my status. I am thirty minutes into The Corporation and am horrified. Naomi Klein was interviewed and in addition to 
A person went into the Rogers store and is pacing around talking on his cell phone, obviously an owner or someone of importance. He would know if there are iPhones. I see iPhones display in the store and the pedestal doesn’t have a demo unit iPhone on there. Interesting.
A female shows up with a 3G box in her hands. She says they received their shipment this morning and are very limited in quantity. The gentleman I saw earlier said I am number one in line and Steve is number two.
Another day and more Rogers vs. iPhone 3G news. This time it comes in the form of something amazing. While it’s not an unlimited data plan there is a promotion for the next six weeks that will 
Keeping up with the ongoing saga of the iPhone 3G release in Canada has been tedious to say the least. It all started in late June when 
After a long wait the official Apple store is finally opening in 