2008-06-30

Bell puppet tells lemmings not to buy iPhone.

Bell puppet tells lemmings not to buy iPhone.
 
I don't actually have much content to go with that title. :-)
 
Still, if I worked for a paper that was owned by Bell, a company that does not offer the iPhone, I'd think twice about ordering readers not to go with Rogers. But what do I know, I'm not a journalist...

Singtel: 30,000 pre-orders for iPhone launch in Singapore | Applelot

http://applelot.org/2008/06/30/singtel-30000-pre-orders-for-iphone-launch-in-singapore/

The iPhone will only be available in Singapore (4.5 million people)
in October and Singatel has already sold 30,000! That would be like
Japan selling 846,000 iPhones; 3 months in advance!

Http://home.singtel.com/iphone

Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.

2008-06-28

Canada Has Cheapest iPhone in the World!

There is an advantage to the 3 year contract (the longest in the world) that is required by Rogers/Fido for the iPhone 3G: monthly cost.
 
The Canadian 8GB iPhone 3G is only $199 (plus tax), the 16GB is $299 (plus tax).
 
The cheapest plan available with the iPhone is $67.45 (That includes the SAF and 911 fee), plus tax.
The cheapest voice plan with ATT in the USA (same price points for the iPhone) is $41.24 (39.99 plus $1.25 recovery fee). A mandatory data plan is $30. The ATT web site says the data plan must be matched to an "eligible" voice plan, without providing details. But lets assume that their cheapest advertised plan is eligible. So the cheapest monthly payment you will be able to get away with an American iPhone 3G is $71.24 (2 year contract).By the way, with ATT you also have to pay a one time $35 activation fee.
 
So the iPhone in Canada (assuming you use 150 minutes or less and 400mb or less and don't want call display) will cost you $3.79 less per month (when the currencies are at par). And as far as I know, there is no activation fee. And although with taxes the Canadian iPhone is slightly more expensive that the US one, when you get a brain tumor, the exorbitant health care costs will be covered by the government.
 
If you use more than 450mb or 150 minutes, then that is an other story...

iPhone in Canada: a true status symbol

iPhone in Canada: a true status symbol
 
You can't afford the iPhone. Good. Shame on you for not making enough money/having kids/a car/mortgage payments.
 
I, on the other hand, can afford the new iPhone. ;-P
 
Sucks to be you.
 
And to think I was worried about shortages and having to stand in line with commoners/riff-raff.
 
Positive blog reaction to the new Rogers and Fido iPhone price plans:
-Rogers announces iPhone rates in Canada
Rogers announces iPhone rates in Canada : Rates are bad, but not as bad as we have come to expect from Rogers.
 
Negative blog reaction to the new Rogers and Fido iPhone price plans (by the way, the new plans are actually a massive price reduction to what equivalent plans would have cost just a month ago):
 
-Engadget (five pages, and counting, of negative comments);
-iPhone ;
 
These really, really negative blog posts are the fault in part of irresponsible media for publishing that Rogers was going to introduce flat rate web surfing for $30 a month. Although, in a sense, that is true, just that the unlimited surfing must happen at a Second Cup.
 
I have never read so many angry blog posts about a massive price reduction. iPhone 1 owners had to spend way more to buy and use the iPhone on the Rogers network. Dito for Nokia N95 and most web enabled Blackberrys and even the HTC touch!

iPhone with Rogers/Fido: Second Cup Customers Rejoice

iPhone with Rogers/Fido: Second Cup Customers Rejoice
 
Canadian fans of the iPhone who are Second Cup customers will be happy to note that they can use the wifi at Second Cup as much as they want as part of the iPhone price plan. Indeed, Rogers just announced iphone plans allows unlimited wifi in any of Rogers' wifi hotspots. These hotspots don't include bus stations or airports, but they do include a few hotels AND Second Cup. So if you were thinking of upgrading from Tim Horten's anyway, this is good news.
 
If you are a Starbucks fan, then it sucks to be you as Bell is the wifi hotspot "owner" in those locations. So iPhone customers can either use Rogers' expensive 3G network (50 cents per MB!) or pay, per minute(!!!!), for wifi access.
 
 

2008-06-27

Rogers.com - Forfaits Voix et données pour iPhone 3G

>
>

> https://www.rogers.com/web/Rogers.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=GCT&_nfls=true&setLanguage=fr
>
> Plus $6.95 plus frais 911. Disons minimum $69 par mois. Les soirs
> commencent à 21 heures! Mais au moins la boîte vocale est incluse.
>
> Pour ce prix, on a droit à 400mb par mois. Ce qui m'aggace, c'est le
> 50 cent du MB supplémentaire (pour les premiers 60 MB). Entre navig
> uer pour 400mb et 460mb, il n'y a pas une grosse différence, mais c'
> est $30 de plus! Après c'est 3 cent du MB, soit 30$/Giga-octet.
>
> Je doute qu'il y ait pénurie de iPhones au Canada...
>
> Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.

Rogers.com - iPhone 3G Voice

I feel like crying...

http://www.rogers.com/web/content/wireless-products/iphone_voice_data_packages

I am embarrassed to be Canadian. The only positive is the free Rogers
wifi hotspots. Too bad they are extreemly rare.

Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.

2008-06-24

Australians Finally Get TV... via iTunes


I feel a special kinship with Australians as I'm up during their day (Moncton's night) thanks to my Horrible Information Technology (HIT) job. So I'm happy to report (thanks to Gizmodo Australia), that Australia is finally getting Television!

Well, to be more accurate, they are fianally getting pay per view television via iTunes. Assuming there are honest Australians willing to pay for what they could otherwise steal on the Internet for free, this is a great day (or night, if you are in Canada and care about Australia).

When you think about it, paying for TV shows when millions of your countrymen watched the same shows on TV for free is a bit odd. If you had the right cable channels and knew how to program your VCR (or digital video recorder), you wouldn't have to buy the shows.

However, if you are like me, wide awake at 4 am, then pay per view via iTunes is a Godsend. Even though I have access to the Comedy Network, and a DVR, I completely missed Sarah Silverman's situation comedy. I like it enough to have bough both seasons and downloaded them to my iPod touch. I can watch them when I'm on the move (or at work), or if I'm home, I can plug in my $64 overpriced-but-essential Apple Audio/Video composite cable to my TV and watch the shows as they originally aired (ie, on TV).

Obviously, the shows on iTunes Australia will feature more Crocodiles. By the way, it would be great if iTunes would make available Australian shows on iTunes Canada. That way I would feel like less of a tool for paying hard earned dollars for something I could have watched for free. And based on the Australian versions of Next Top Model, Temptation Island and Big Brother, Australian TV has a lot to offer. ;-)

To open your mind to international popular culture, you can start by comparing the international versions of Big Brother here (not suitable for most workplaces).

PS. If you are in Australia (don't you people have your own blogs?), you can go here to fork over your Aus$59 to Apple to get the essential cable to turn your iPod touch or iPhone into the smallest and quietest living room media player ever.

2008-06-19

Financial Post Loses Perspective

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fpposted/archive/2008/06/19/iphone-will-cost-about-90-a-month-in-canada-web-site-claims.aspx

Wow, one posting in an online forum about Rogers pricing, I did say
one, and the Financial Post treats it like fact.

Almost everybody at Rogers has a blog or Facebook page. And if they
don't, they have a spouse who does.

Would Rogers release price plan options to employees 5 weeks in
advance and expect them to stay a secret? No. When pricing is
available, Customer Service Reps will be the last to know, because as
soon as they find out, their customers (and competitors) will to.

Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.

2008-06-18

iPhone: 6 Billion Dollar Profit, per year

According to Mobilitysite, Apple will generate a profit of $300 per iPhone (before paying for things like research and development and Steve Jobs' salary ($1)). $300 times an expected 20 million iPhones next year and you get 6 billion dollars. So take away Steve's salary and that leaves you with $5,999,999,999. Granted, those are American dollars. The good news is that most of the research and development was done in American dollars.

Say it somehow cost a billion dollars to develop the iPhone. That is about a 5 billion dollar profit next year alone (more when you consider that they will easily pay off the development costs this year). Granted, Apple has to continue funding the R and D department in order to come up with future models. And there is no way they can continue selling 20 million units a year, right?

Solutions to Global Warming: carbon tax alternatives

Here are some solutions to global warming that don't involve a carbon tax.
 
Mass deportation.
We don't need to reduce the carbon foot print, per person, we just need to reduce our carbon foot print, period.
 
So to meet Canada's Kyoto Accord obligations, as a call center worker, I propose we deport all the people in Canada who haven't mastered English or French (assuming they are still citizens of an other country, otherwise, that would be wrong).
 
As Canada has one of the highest life expectancies in the world, deporting these annoying residents would also shorten their lives, contributing to a world reduction of green house gasses.
 
Bird Flue
Mother nature is expected to throw us a curve ball with the expected bird flue. This plague of biblical proportions will actually be facilitated if we do everything exactly the same (such as flying and the world trade of goods). Bird flue hits, millions die, problem solved. However, the manner of the disposal of the corpses is important as seeping carbon from decaying corpses, or burning them, would cause a temporary spike in carbon. Deep graves is the preferred method.
 
Poverty
This one is touchy because it involves moral issues. Dirt poor people use much less carbon spewing energy. As there are few colonies left in the world, increasing poverty is easier said then done. But a first step would be to ban outsourcing to India. Countries should also follow the lead of the United States and reduce foreign aid. The international Monetary Fund (IMF) should be instructed to step up efforts to "help", nudge, nudge, poor countries.
 
Tax credits for iPhone ownership
This one may sound crazy, but I figure if you own an iPhone, you will want to use it. You already have the Internet at home and at work, so the best place to use it is commuting. Unfortunatly, you can't really drive while surfing the Internet. Even in heavy traffic, it just doesn't work. So I figure people who have an iPhone are much more likely to want that extra two hours of surfing per day and will therefor take the bus/train or car pool to work. Tax credit for iPhone = more iPhones = fewer car commuters. Yes, I do own shares of Apple, but I'm just trying to save the plannet eh!

2008-06-17

Liberal Solution to Global Warming: Punish Parents

Liberal Solution to Global Warming: Punish Parents.
According to the CBC's the National, the Liberal's plan to announce their carbon tax tomorrow. According to the report, the tax would be $40 per ton of carbon, or about 10 cents per liter of heating oil. It would not apply to transportation. This is obviously a very modest tax and won't have much impact at all on people who can afford large homes. So what is the point?

Isn't this punishing people who have kids? The childless can drive around, fly to the other end of the world and back and not be worried about the carbon tax. They can also load up on electronics made in China. No carbon tax (or even duty).

If you opt for the extravagance of having a bedroom for each of your children, and the Liberals get elected, prepare to pay a carbon tax on the energy to heat and light your home. You won't exactly have much choice.

And what will the Liberals do with the money collected? Maybe more "Canada" signs on the top of federal buildings in Hull to show Quebeckers their Federal government is relevant ( and maybe a couple of global warming research grants to the political science department at the University of Montreal).

Most Quebeckers won't be paying the carbon tax because most of them heat and light their homes with some of the cheapest hydro-electricity in the world. Surpluss Quebec electricity is sold, at a huge premium, to New England, where they use it to reduce their oil and coal dependency. So I'm not sure there will be any environmental benefit to encouraging Quebeckers to switch from heating with oil and natural gas to heating with electricity. Hydro-Quebec may in fact have to build more natural gas thermal plants to cope with the higher peek consumption in the winter.

The real kicker is that the Liberal Government of Jean Chrétien encouraged/subsidized large home buying by allowing people to dip into their RRSP money, tax free, to buy homes (granted, the Conservatives haven't repealed the subsidy). The GST is also lower on new homes then it is on everything else except food (Spending $100,000 to renovate your house is taxed higher than spending $100,000 on a new home).

This is what should be done to combat global warming:
-Ban first class on airplanes;
-Ban private jets;
-Ban the use of diamonds as jewelry;
-Tax capital gains on homes.
-Drop the tax free RRSP dipping (which, by the way, is unfair to people who have pension funds instead of RRSPs)
-Get rid of the ridiculous tax credits the Conservatives came up with that rewards people for buying certain cars and for having large monthly transit bills (why should I pay more income tax if I walk to work or telecommute?).

If you want a carbon tax, then tax carbon, and that includes gas used for transportation. Tax it high enough so people notice and redistribute the money equally among all Canadians, including children. Then impose a carbon duty on products from China.

Slow Computer Start-up: MSCONFIG

Slow Computer Start-up: MSCONFIG
 
When you start you car, do you like it when your radio and air conditioning start up automatically. No? Neither do I.
 
So if your computer is getting slower and slower, especially at start-up, try this.
 
With Windows XP:
 
Start/run/type msconfig/Click on the Start-up folder/Select "Disable All" (Then put a checkmark next to any programs you want to open at start-up)/Click OK/Restart you computer/When you get the warning message, select "do not show this again".
 
When your computer restarts, everything will still be available, all you have to do is open what you need, when you need it (find the program on your desktop on Start/All Programs.
 
With Windows Vista: Same as above, although you may need to click on Start (the circle-square thing, bottom left of your screen)/All programs/Accessories/Run.
 
With Windows 98, 2000, ME: Unless your time is worth less than that of someone in China, buy a new computer! Dell.ca has them for $380 (you already have a screen), Wal-Mart used to sell Acer computers for $300 (but according to their website, they aren't at the moment). Although keep in mind you may need new sofware. You can actually use MSconfig with these older operating systems, but you have to be more carefull about what you remove from the start-up.
 
For a second opinion, Google MSconfig and/or click on:

iPhone demand overwhelms carrier | Australian IT

http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,23874036-5013040,00.html

Rogers and Apple, don't spend a penny on marketing, just allow us
iPhone fans to buy the iPhone in advance and let word of mouth do the
rest...

Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.

2008-06-16

A Good Bill: Bill C-61, an Act to amend the Copyright Act

I just finished reading Bill C-61, an Act to amend the Copyright Act, and frankly I'm not sure what the fuss is about.
 
I like it.
 
I'm no fan of the Conservative Party and I have absolutely no intention of voting for them, but I like Bill C-61, an Act to amend the Copyright Act.
 
Then again...
 
-I pay for the music I download from the Internet
And
-I pay for the movies I download from the Internet
 
I love my Digital Video Recorder and was worried the evil Conservatives would somehow limit my use, but I didn't find anything in the bill to worry about.
 
Nothing in this bill modifies the fair dealing exception with regards to reasearch and private study, criticism or review (29.1) or news reporting. The added language for the fair dealing exception with regards to education simply updates the technology.  
 
 
So which line or paragraph are you guys worried about?
 

2008-06-14

iPhone 3G may be Apple's most profitable product, says analyst

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9097858&source=rss_news50

Potential Apple investors, please take this to heart, I'm getting
tired of responding to margin calls...

Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.

iBible

http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/2008/06/13/iphone-bible-application/


Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.

Sold my iPhone on eBay for $480!

http://www.devwebsphere.com/personal/2008/06/sold-my-iphone.html

Maybe there IS an inflation problem in the US.

Used iPhones will soon require an $80 batery change AND they were
stuck to a guy's face for a year!

Clearly, the new iPhone will be popular.

(I am heavily invested in Apple)


Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.

NB Tax Consultations

The Liberal-Graham Government wants to here from stakeholders AND
taxpayers (aren't they the same people?) which tax reduction strategy
they prefer.

Aparently, reducing taxes will allow New Brunswick to become self
sufficient. At present, half of the provincial government's revenu
comes from federal government transfer payments.

Seems to me that prortion would go up if provincial taxes were
reduced. In fact, New Brunswick could be self sufficient tomorow if
the government wanted to. All they would have to do is double taxes.

Doubling provincial taxes might sound crazy, but that would simply
bring taxes in line with those of France and Sweeden, our neighboors
to the East.

Speaking of Neighboors, the government proposes 6 options. I wont bore
you with the details as none are very creative.

But here is what I propose (let's call it option 7):

Alberta has oil, Ontario has gold and Quebec has hydro. As a result
they are stinking rich. What does New Brunswick have? Location.

So I propose massive tolls at New Brunswick borders. Not to be self
sufficient, that would be crazy, just to eliminate provincial sales tax.

But how do you impose tolls on rail freight, a federal jurisdiction?
You can't, but you can raise raillroad property taxes... Dito on
natural gas pipelines...

Since everything is made in China, I wonder why Manitoba never thought
of that.

Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.

2008-06-13

Apple Advertising iPhone 3G!

You wouldn't think that Apple would need to advertise the upcoming iPhone with all the press and blog coverage it is getting. Especially since the cell phone won't be available until July 11 and there is no way they will be able to meet demand for a couple of months after that.

Still, who am I to second guess Apple's marketing department. (For those of you reading this in RSS, or on a Blackberry, the following is a screenshot of my computer with, you guessed it, a genuine Apple iPhone 3G Adsence link on my blog.)




Blackberry has been advertising on my blog for weeks, so I guess it is about time. Still, I'm so proud that Altavistagoogle is officially iPhone worthy.

I want an iPod touch / iPhone projector

First, Apple makes me wait until July 11, 2008, before I can buy an iPhone. Then this company brags about an iPod touch / iPhone projector with absolutely no way to buy it. Argh!

I love renting movies and buying TV shows from iTunes. Unfortunately, the iTunes /Quicktime combo is too hard on my computer and they don't play as smoothly as they should. I could (should) upgrade computers (brand new one at Wal-Mart will only set you back $300), but I've been loosing so much money on the stock market (thanks Google, Apple and that stupid oil wholesaler that I chose at random), that my budget is pretty tight. Besides, buying a new computer to watch movies/TV is crazy.

So I almost got an Apple TV ($250). But that strikes me as buying a computer to watch movies/TV, and that's crazy.

And they play perfectly on my iPod touch. iPod touch and iPhones have a cool TV out feature. Not so cool is the required wire. It is $60 plus $6 for shipping. $66 for an RCA cable! On the plus side, it includes a USB power adapter, but if you have an iPhone fist generation, you already have one of those. You can get a component (HD) version for the same price. The irony, of course, is that component inputs are seldom available on newer HD monitors (mostly HDMI inputs now days).

As you can't download HD content via iTunes anyway unless you have an Apple TV (well that makes perfect sense... NOT !), I opted for the $66 Apple glorified RCA (composite) cable. I haven't seen the wire anywhere else. I know it is hard to believe, but you need the Apple version, nothing else works.

That is, until this. With this you don't even need a monitor. A wall would do just fine. So cool. Not sure if it actually works without the Apple wire though. And anyway, it isn't available for purchase yet.

IPhone 3G: It's not world peace, but it's close

Yeah, Yeah, I know it is just a cell phone. But man. Think about it, right now there are 5000 "developers" (ie, computer programmers) in San Fransisco learning about the iPhone platform (and the Mac).
 
This article from Computerworld is a bit over the top, but it is a good read: IPhone 3G: It's not world peace, but it's close
 
It is better to find a need and then develop a product, but we wouldn't have microwave ovens with that mentality. More often than not, we try to match the technology to potential needs. That clearly is the case for the iPhone. 16 years ago the World Wide Web was born, now we need it on the bus?
 
Anyway, web applications are old news. Ironically, the programmers in San Fransisco are learning how to make programs for the iPhone that don't require Internet access. I guess the "dumb terminal" model, even when it comes to cell phones, is dying. To use the vast majority of the new applications that will be developed as a direct result of the World Wide Developers Conference, a simple iPod touch 8G (retailing for $278 at Future Shop) is all you will need. (The iPhone 8G retails for about $785 in Italy without a contract).
 
 

2008-06-12

iPhone: way more than 10 million units in 2008

Granted, the USA, the UK, Germany and even France are big countries,
but if Apple sold 6 million iPhones in 11 months, how could it not
sell way, way more now that it is available everywhere else?

And remember, Germany and France only started selling the iPhone in
the Fall. (I forget when the UK started).

They sold out in the USA, UK and Germany!

France, untill today, charged high rates for their iPhone and yet it
sold better than anywhere else!

The iPhone will be huge in Italy, Spain, Canada and Australia now that
they can buy it. There are 150 million people in those countries.

I don't know enough about India and Japan except the huge amount of
people who live there.

Add Brazil, Mexico, Poland, don't forget Poland, and Apple could
easily meet its 2008 target of 10 million iPhones, even if not a
single one is sold in the USA!

I'm not as woried about demand as I am about supply. Hopfully China
doesn't have a labour shortage.

Speaking of demand, they should/could sell the iPhone in advance.
Apple could literally sell their iPhones before they are made.

Where do I sign? Because I don't want to wait untill October... 2009!

Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.

L'iPhone belge sera bien compatible 3G, et GPS

http://www.astel.be/L-iPhone-belge-sera-bien-compatible-3G-et-GPS_2960


Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.

iPhone Canada: faux depart

http://www.radioenergie.com/nouvelle.php?id=1585461


Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.

499 euros pour l'iPhone 3G non-subsidié | Belgique Mobile

http://www.belgiquemobile.be/2008/06/12/499-euros-pour-liphone-3g-non-subsidie/


Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.

Unlocked 3G iPhone: $785

$785 for the unlocked 8GB iPhone, $893 for the unlocked 16GB iPhone.
However, as they are being sold in Italy, I assume that includes tax.

In Euros, the prices are 499€ and 569€.

Belgium has a cool law that prohibits mandatory service contracts when
buying a product.

C$785 may seem like alot, but a two year contract with ATT will cost
you US$919 ($30 x 24 + $199).

So if you don't plan on using the 3G feature, that is a savings of
$134 (there is no duty on iPhones).

Keep in mind the curency fluctuations. By the way, why is the € worth
so much if they don't have a drop of oil?

Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.

iPhone in Canada: only $1.49 per day!

$1.49 per day to never get lost and always have access to the
Internet. Seems OK to me. That is assuming you already have a cell
phone and are paying about $40 per month.

Total additional cost of the iPhone on the mandatory three year
contract: $1640.

Let's see, I have access to free wifi downtown Moncton, at work and at
the Hilcrest Mall (and at home). And the 3G network in New Bruswick is
limited to urban Moncton... Hmm.

All this is assuming that Rogers will charge a mandatory $40, one GB
data package (per month) with the iPhone. It is $30 and unlimited in
the USA.

In the US, you can select your own voice package. I assume the same
for Canada.

Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.

Quebec Pizza

"Quebec Pizza: Poptarts with ketchup"

That is the hilarious line in the trailor for Love Guru, a Mike Myers
movie.

As a former Quebecker, I can say with confidence that Quebeckers love
ketchup and they love pop tarts, but not together.

However, Quebeckers in the Eastern Towships eat their pizza with
mayonaise. And Kraft Diner with ketchup is a popular home dish (when
they eat out they spring for poutine).

I know people who don't put ketchup on their fries (they prefer
viniger) but do put ketchup on their Kraft Diner.

If their is a Quebec style pizza, it would the "all dressed":
Mozerella, thin peperoni, green pepers and mushrooms.

Do you remember when McDonald's had that pizza trial? That was the
only kind available.

McCains actually sells a Quebec variety with the above mentionned
ingredients, but only sells it in Quebec and northern New Brunswick.
Their Deluxe Pizza should work in theory, peperoni, green pepers and
mushrooms, but somehow fails (wrong type of peperoni and cheese, I
think).

Mikes has the best chain "all dressed" pizza, they even have a frozen
one for sale in Supermarkets in Quebec and Edmundston.

All dressed pizza is the biggest thing I miss about Quebec. Only the
Mikes in Dieppe serves them. The locals in Moncton prefer the fusion
Greek-Lebanese-Turkish-Italian dish called Donair-Pizza.

So now you know.

Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.

2008-06-11

Torontoist Asks For Bribe

http://torontoist.com/2008/06/apple_pie.php

Since when is it OK for journalists to accept bribes? Apparently, you
can grease Toronto Sun employees as much as you want. But they prefer
expensive gifts...

I, on the other hand, will not accept gifts.

Is Altavistagoogle more trustworthy than the Toronto Sun? Yes.


Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.

Progressive Bloggers Do Not Steal Movies or Music

Progressive Bloggers Do Not Steal Music.
 
Or maybe that should be Progressive Bloggers "shouldn't" steal  movies or music. Because clearly some are. How else can you explain wanting a "made in Canada solution" to protect us against the American copyright lobby.
 
That is like asking for a "Made in Virginia" solution to smoking. The fact that Canadians are net consumers of movies and music doesn't make it OK to steal from American artists.
 
If there is one thing that is OK to copy, it is good law. And Canada needs good copyright law. Stealing movies and music is completely immoral. You are not stealing music to feed your kids, you are stealing music for entertainment.
 
If artists want to give their work away, that is their prerogative. It isn't for the rest of us to make that decision for them.
 
Our culture depends on it. It is hard enough for Canadians to compete with American cultural products as it is without those products being free!
 
So get an iTunes account for 99 cent music. If you want legally free music, you can download from here.
 
Feel free to reproduce this post, email it, heck, you can pretend you wrote it, that is how generous I'm feeling today. Do that for the rest of my blog and I'll send Steven Harper knocking on your door.
 
I spend about a $100 a year on music. And that is about how much money my blog generates in advertising revenue. See how that works?

Aboriginals Would Be Better Off if They Were More Like Us

That is the mentality that prevailed in the the last centuries. Lets hope it staid there.
 
Unfortunately, there is the undeniable truth that Canadian Aboriginal reservations are unsustainable because they are too small. Aboriginals need land. Otherwise, Aboriginals can stay on their reservation and be poor, or move to the city and be assimilated.
 
 
 

Top 10 Reasons Why the Blackberry Bold is Still no iPhone

If you love to email in English, go for a Blackberry.
If you love the World Wide Web, go for an iPhone.


In response to Top 10 Reasons Why the iPhone is still no Blackberry, here are my Top 10 Reasons Why the Blackberry Bold is Still no iPhone:

10. The iPhone has a 3.5 inch screen. (Size does matter, sorry).
9. Cover flow.
8. Global Positioning System integrated to Google Maps (free)
7. Mobile iTunes 99 cent music store
6. Mobile iTunes Application store
5. Pinch-to-zoom web surfing
4. Synchs to iTunes for easy updates to music, podcasts, rented movies, purchased TV and applications
3. Qwerty, French Canadian, Azerty and any other keybord you can think of, all on the same phone!
2. You can read email attachments in Word, Excell, Acrobat (PDF), Power Point AND HTML formats.
1. The iPhone is thin enough for your girlfriend's tight jeans.

Conclusion, if you love to email, in English, go for a Blackberry.
If you love the World Wide Web, go for an iPhone.

Official iPhone page.
Official Blackberry Bold page

Steve Jobs en 60 secondes. The iPhone in 60 seconds


Steve Jobs et son iPhone en 60 secondes.

Si vous n'avez pas pas deux heures a donner à Steve Jobs et son iPhone, accordez-lui au moins 60 secondes . Il reste exactement un mois avant l'arrivé du iPhone grâce à Fido.

-------------------------

The iPhone in 60 seconds

If you don't have two hours to watch the excellent iPhone 2.0 presentation, then I recommend the verry good 60 second summary. Exaclty one month to go and even in Canada you will be able to get one thanks to Rogers.

2008-06-10

I Want an iPhone NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW !

So what the HELL am I supposed to do between now and July 11? Seriously, we pay you money, you make us cell phones. Its not rocket science. Now give me an iPhone. You had one at the presentation yesterday Steve, hand it over. Now!  No I don't want a pathetic ipod touch or an Apple TV. Give me a freaking iPhone 3G now. Let me speak to your supervisor...
 
Yeah, so um, what happened to those boat loads of iPhones waiting for us in the Port of New York? ImportGenious my arse! And why haven't my Apple stocks doubled yet?
 
Man, I'm suffering from iPhone morning after. My Apple stocks went down, down! Don't you get it, by giving away the iPhone, Apple is pulling a Microsoft Internet Explorer. Sure, the company will get sued for dumping and monopolistic behaviour later on, but right now it is all about market share. Apple becomes the sole provider of cell phones, then when everybody but Apple has forgotten how to make cell phones, Apple can jack up the price.
 
I'm so gadget itchy this morning I'm think about buying a PS3 to hold me over until July 11.
 
Oh well, time to reinforce the duck tape holding together my iPod touch and Motorola Timeport (I use Velcro to attach my digital camera).

2008-06-08

Today is Not Fathers Day

Just so you know, except in Austria and Belgium, today is not father's day. Next Sunday, June 15, 2008 (in most of the world) is. Steve Jobs must have kids to announce the iPhone the week of father's day. This guy thinks of everything.

2008-06-07

The Internet is Just a Fad.. so is the iPhone

"I can use the wifi at home, at work, at the mall and downtown Moncton. But in between those locations I'm out of luck. And that is why I need the new iPhone with its 3G connection."
 
 
"The Internet is Just a Fad." That is the bold prediction that one of my computer science classmates wrote in a collaboration paper we had to write in 1996.
 
The Internet on cell phones is about as popular today as the Internet on computers was in 1996. I think the Internet on your cell phone will soon be just as popular as is the Internet on your computer today.
 
And that is why I'm heavily invested in Apple. Because Apple has the only device that makes the World Wide Web practical on a cell phone. Nothing else even comes close. And Monday the new iPhone will be even better... and it will be available world wide.
 
To say that I'm an iPhone fan would be an understatement. And yet I only have an iPod touch. The only beef I have with the iPod touch is the lack available wifi networks. I can use the wifi at home, at work, at the mall and downtown Moncton. But in between those locations I'm out of luck. And that is why I need the new iPhone with its 3G connection.
 
Now you think you don't need the Internet everywhere, but you will.
 
To use an analogy, RIM's Blackberry is like the pre-World Wide Web Internet. Useful? You bet.
Nokia, LG, Samsung and HTC and other sometimes co-branded phones are like the pre-WWW Bulletin Bord Services (bbs) such as AOL, Prodigy and Compuserve. Entertaining? Sure.
 
The iPhone is the World Wide Web. Easy to use, graphical, usefull and entertaining. Today, everybody uses the Internet.
 
Granted, I've been wrong before. Corel's Java Office suite didn't dislodge Microsoft's Office suite. And phone companies still distribute phone books, getting rid which was the whole point of France's Minitel (Frances pre-WWW popular network). And I never, ever expected to have an ever decreasing salary because of work exported to India.. via Internet.

Is Obama an Other Joe Clark?

In 1979, when Joe Clark was runnig to be Canada's Prime Minister, he got in big trouble by suggesting that Canada should move its embassy to Jerusalem.

"Next year in Jerusalem is a Jewish prayer which we intend to make a Canadian reality."(Joe Clark before the Canada-Israel Committee in Toronto)

Now Barak Obama goes and tries to score points with American Jewish voters by saying "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided."

Well, the American embassy, as well as most other embassies, are in Tel-Aviv. Its not that the night life sucks in Jerusalem, it is that foreign governments aren't exactly sure what parts of the city belong to Israel and what parts belong to the occupied territories of the West Bank (of the Jordan River). And ambassadors would rather not get shot finding out.

Perhaps this is a classic case of making promises to get elected. An election, after all, is not the time to be diplomatic. Joe Clark, after all, did win the election and left the embassy in Tel-Aviv(not that he had much time to move it).

Still, imagine if the Canadian government decided to move its Mexican embassy from Mexico to San Diego. Or the Pakistanian from Islamabad to the Kashmir. Or the Irish embassy from Dublin to Belfast. You get the idea.

If the Americans move their Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, then I say Canada should move its Jordanian embassy to Jerusalem.

2008-06-05

Movie Rentals with iTunes

In grade 10 I did an oral presentation announcing the imminent death of the movie rental outlet. 18 years later, in Canada and the UK, the future is here! (in the USA, the future has been here since January).

More Movies
Your movie library now includes 1200 movies thanks to iTunes. However, it is still is a better value to subscribe to The Movie Network /Movie Pix or to use a PVR to record movies from network TV. A DVD sure has a convenience factor, seeing that, unlike your computer, your DVD player is connected to your TV and sound system. And Video on Demand, for relatively new releases, is always available to those of us with digital cable (but $6/movie isn't cheap).

Choice, NOW, NOW, NOW (and no late fees)
But never befor in the history of Canada have you had access to so many movies. I'm downloading the Crocodile Hunter as I write this. 1 Gigabyte (my monthly allowance with Rogers is 60). $3.99. I know from downloading TV shows that playback can be a tad choppy (but still acceptable) on my older computer. But on my iPod touch, it is seamless (although, obviously, small).

iTunes Rental Limitations
Annoyingly, many of the movies in iTunes are only available for purchase. However, I'd say 60% of the 1200 can be rented. The National Post said that iTunes would be making new releases available in iTunes at the same time as they are available in DVD. However, the CBC doesn't mention that and I didn't notice any new releases when I browsed the iTunes Canada library. (new releases are now on iTunes, see my update below).

Viewing Options
An iPod touch/iPhone to TV (RCA/composite or HD/component) cable is available for $50 or so from the Apple Store. Ironically, there is no iPod touch/iPhone to DVI or HDMI adapter available (which are the only inputs on many new affordable HD wide screen TV/monitors. I have a 24 inch BenQ 1200p, which has viewing angle limitations, but is otherwise perfect (especially for $300!). Although if you have the money, opt for something bigger (and a wider viewing angle would be better for groups). By the way, spending extra coin on an internal HDTV tuner is stupid as the only place in Canada with over the air HDTV is Toronto. Although if you live in Toronto (or Ottawa/Vancouver/Montreal and are forward looking) AND you are boycotting Bell/Star Choice and Rogers/Videotron/Cogeco/Shaw...

If You get Carried Away
Apple TV is available for about $250 (Apple TV is essentially a modified Mac Mini). However, you could buy a brand new Acer computer (with Windows Vista) for about $300 at Wal-Mart. Even laptops with TV-out are available for as low as $500 at dell.ca. And as many HDTV monitors come with PC/VGA imputs...

Update (30 minutes later): Viewing Crocodile Hunter on my iPod touch is sublime (although the movie requires a beer). I even managed to locate my iPod touch stand which I never had to use before, but is required if you need blood in your fingers after 30 minutes. At times, I did notice a very slight delay between the voice and mouths, but I was paying special attention to such details. Dark scenes are not so good, but bright ones are perfect. And the sound quality is irreproachable (although, obviously not surround). A great feature I did not expect is a chapter guide!

Wow, the Apple movie rental Store (in iTunes) just changed (while I was writing this!). It is now more graphical. And yes (!!!!) there is the new movies section I was looking for. National Post was correct. $5/ movie for those.

If you work at Blockbuster, you will need a new job (that is what I said in my oral presentation in grade 10).

OK, the blood has been restored to all my fingers, I can now resume watching the movie (although I have 48 hours, so I can take my time).

By the way, not a single movie in French among the 1200 in the iTunes catalog. Shame on you Apple. Elvis Graton and Les boys 1,2 and 3 aren't just going to magically appear on my iPod touch now are they? Bell, obviously, does have French language movies on its online rental service (actually, they only seem to have French versions of American movies, hmm).
-----------------------------------

From the National Post:
Titles will be available for purchase on the same day as their DVD release, including recent movies such as Juno, I Am Legend, The Bourne Ultimatum and Cloverfield.

From the CBC:

iTunes Canada adds movies to lineup

Last Updated: Wednesday, June 4, 2008 11:12 AM ET Comments29Recommend33

Two weeks after Bell Canada unveiled its own online video store, Apple Inc.'s iTunes store in Canada has followed suit, adding movies for download to its growing catalogue.

Apple announced Wednesday that more than 1,200 films were available for rent or purchase on its Canadian and U.K. iTunes stores, the first time feature films were made available through the online retailer outside the United States.

Movies are available for purchase at prices ranging from $9.99 for older titles to $19.99 for new releases, while rentals cost between $3.99 to $4.99 and include titles such as Juno, The Bourne Ultimatum and Cloverfield.

Video was added to the iTunes lineup in the U.S. two years ago, but has been slower to come to Canada. Television episodes only became available for download in Canada in December.

In the United States, companies like Apple and Microsoft typically negotiate download deals directly with a television show's producer. In Canada, however, television networks often hold the internet rights to shows, which adds a layer to negotiations.

The delay allowed Bell Canada to beat Apple to the punch and launch its own video service in May.

Each service, however, has staked out different territory because of limitations in how they can be played. Aside from watching them on a computer, iTunes users can view Apple's videos on an iPod or Apple TV, the company's Apple TV set-top box.

Bell Video Store users must install the Bell Video Store media player on their computer, and the service is limited to PC users running Microsoft's Windows operating system or owners of some mobile media players from Archos. The videos won't play on iPods or computers running the Linux operating system.

Microsoft also launched downloadable movie rentals in December over Xbox Live, the online component of its video game console. [I don't think the Microsoft service is available in Canada]

2008-06-04

Rogers to French Customers: Speak White!

My friend at Rogers forwarded me an email that was sent to employees today asking Rogers call centre agents to convince francophone customers to speak English.

Here is an excerpt:
(RHP: Rogers Home Phone. Cx: customer, TM: Team Manager)


I wanted to share the processes with all of you in the event that you come
accross RHP customers that would like to have their RHP support in French (as
there is currently no RHP French Queue):
1) Attempt to convince the cx to troubleshoot with a RHP rep in English.
2) If the customer insists, email Real-Time and have them reach out to a French speaking RHP rep that can call the customer back within 24 hours (set
the 24 hour callback rule as the expectation for the customer as well).
3) If the customer insists that a French speaking RHP rep must call them immediately, email your TM, who will in turn reach out to a RHP TM, who will have a bilingual RHP rep call the customer ASAP .


According to my friend, there are no French speaking Rogers Home Phone agents, so that 24 hour reply is nonsense.

How can a huge company like Rogers have so little respect for its Acadian and Franco-Ontarian customers?
Although Rogers Home Phone is not available in Quebec, Portable Internet is. Thankfully, Rogers does offer technical support in French for Portable Internet. However, the included antivirus (Norton) and webmail platforms (Yahoo Mail) are only provided in English. I suppose if Rogers expects Quebec customers to speak English, Acadians and Franco-Ontarians don't have a hope.

Thank goodness for Bell and Aliant .

ALTAVISTAGOOGLE: Rogers Says Aurevoir To ADSL ;
Rogers Hates French People ;

ALTAVISTAGOOGLE: Jane Jacobs: Separatism and Sovereignty ;

The competition is more French friendly. English, not so much:
ALTAVISTAGOOGLE: Talk, if you can, to Indians or Learn French .

Memo to Rogers Employees: we are ready for iPhone 3G

Alternative title: surf the Internet in high speed at the beach (beach must be located in Toronto or Durham County).

Must of been a slow news day yesterday at Rogers. According to my source, the usually announcement packed weekday inbox of employees was limited to a memo bragging about the Rogers' 3G network. Nothing new, just a "by the way, we have a 3G network".

The memo tells employees to check out www.rogers.com/fastest .

Probably worth a visit if you deluded yourself into thinking you could use your iPhone 3G at the cottage (or in Saint John) for fast Internet this summer. However, according to the service maps, you will be able to surf fast Internet at the beaches of Toronto and Oshawa, which I find surprising.

2008-06-03

The Sorry Centrist is Dead, long live the Sorry Centrist

Political blogs rarely die, even when they say they are going to (Julie Bélanger, in French), so I assume The Sorry Centrist drownd during his summer fishing trip. Too bad. A moment of silence please.
 
By the way, I am completely addicted to blogging. So if I do stop, assume I'm dead.

Apple is Now a Media Company


Disclaimer: the author of this post (me) owns Apple shares and plans on buying more.
 
Content Rules
Move over computers, cell phones and iPods, Apple is now a media company. Apple is the biggest source of purchased music in the United States. Apple is now even selling TV shows on iTunes France! Merde!
 
Pipes are OK, Pipes with Content are Better
A cell phone and cable companies know, there is some money in providing the pipes, but there is perhaps more money in providing content. All the major Canadian cable companies (Rogers, Cogeco and Vidéotron) and Bell (Satellite) have major investments in TV stations, radio and print media. They are media companies, no doubt.
 
The Virtual TV Station
Now Apple is basically doing the same. Whether you watch iTunes downloaded TV shows on your computer, TV (via Apple TV) or iPod, Apple takes a cut. Apple decides what content to make available, what to promote and what to charge. Same goes for music and movies.
 
Vertical Media Intergration with Virtigo
Granted, the vertical integration of Apple has its limits. You still need an Internet access. Preferably one that is relatively fast. So don't sell you shares of big media just yet (assuming they drank the vertical integration kool aid a few years ago). But since most (the vast majority?) of countries have domestic ownership requirements for cable and cell phone providers (i.e. broadband Internet providers), Apple has found a way to be an international media company without contravening those rules.
 
Publishing
Heck, even publishing has domestic ownership requirements (like in Canada). But Apple and its iTunes may soon leverage tablet computers to legally enter that field as well.
 
Anoying Governments and Their Ever Changing Laws
This could change as laws do from time to time. However, I doubt the government of Canada (or Quebec), for example, could ban iTunes and survive the wrath of the plebs, patriotic or not.
 
Steve Jobs Read the Text Book
And Apple has managed a partial vertical integration in the United States, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland and Austria. These early adopter nations have telecoms companies that fork over part of their subscriber fees to Apple in exchange for iPhone exclusivity. In theory that is a major coup. In practice, Apple is still just selling phones with defered payments instead of the money up front. Apple also attempted vertical integration with WiFi in Starbucks, but to date that is more of a gimmick (and Apple doesn't own Starbucks, yet).
 
Vertical Integration Coup
A real coup would be limiting iTunes to one broadband Internet provider, in, for example, Russia, and reaping a share of monthly Internet subscriptions fees and a profit from each purchase of a song, TV show, movie etc...
 
Local is Often Better
Notwistanding government ownership requirements, there are major benefits to being local. Retail has few regulatory limits to world domination and yet there are no worldwide retail giants. When it comes to products, Coke and Pepsi are exceptions. There are very few world brands, even fewer world stores. If Apple was a Quebec company, for example, would it have the freeking Euro symbol appear when you press the dollar sign on the iPod touch's French Canadian keybord? No. Stupid mistakes like that can be costlyl and give locals a giant advantage (such as Bell which actually makes its music and Internet movie rentals incompatible with iPods and MacIntosh computers).

2008-06-02

The new iPhone will be rectanglish

7 days till D day, so here are my iPhone predictions. Please note I don't have any insider information, yet (but you will be the first to know, I promise). These are just predictions based on my top secret prediction algorithms.
 
The new (and, obviously, improved) iPhone will be:
 
-In the general form of a rectangle;
-Available in English;
-Compatible with iTunes;
AND
-Only available in a ziploc (sorry, no box... Get it? )
 
Wouldn't it be cool if I was wrong and the new iPhone is actually:
-Perfectly round;
-Not available in English (what's the Spanish word for cool?)
-Incompatible with iTunes;
AND
-Only available in a gigantic box (to cut down on shoplifting).
 
Other possibilities.
-The new iPhone comes free with a MacBook air. Unfortunately, it is not sold separately.
-Steve Jobs is already bored with cell phones and will launch the Apple iCar.
-The iPhone will be unlockable with an iris or finger print scan.
-All new Macs will come with integrated cell phones.
-Apple will buy Yahoo just to piss of Microsoft.
-The "I'm a Mac" guy will pull a Micheal Jackson and never be heard from again. Or maybe he will just get fat (same consequence).

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