Surrounded

I don't know how many of you have home theatre setups, but many of my tech-savvy friends are amazed that I (who buys most gadgets under the sun) have yet to splurge on surround-sound components. Yes, it's true - yours truly is still watching movies in good old-fashioned 'stereo'! What gives? For one thing - designed obsolescence. Every time I was ready to buy the next version of surround, something newer, better (and requiring more speakers) came out. When I developed my basement family room, I even thought ahead and pre-wired surround speaker outlets at the rear sides of the room - for 2 speakers. Obsolete! Second - price. Even to get a solid 5.1 surround setup now, I'd want 4 new speakers that match the sound of my original main 2 stereo speakers, which considering that they're 12+ years old, would be near impossible. So I'd want to spring for 6 new speakers. That quickly adds up. I have a better plan. The biggest problem with surround is speaker placement. It's very hard to achieve decent placement even in a perfect room. So a new design is emerging where all the speakers are contained in a long, wide strip that sits under (or over) your TV. It contains all the speakers needed to replicate surround, with techology embedded to throw the sound around you as if the speakers are scattered around the room. This is new (translation - expensive) technology, but I have a feeling it will catch on and drop in price. When it does, I'll be getting it.

Meanwhile, for people looking for the cheapest way to upgrade your existing stereo speaker system, I have one word - subwoofer. I bought a 'quality' sub to augment my existing Paradigm speakers and let me tell you, it's like night and day. Music sounds rich and full and movie soundtracks shine with all the bombastic bass you could ever hope for. Of course a sub is not practical for everyone - especially if you have neighbours and not much sound insulation between you.

I loves me some Green technology.....

I hope this catches on. A solar powered housing development is springing up in Okotoks, just south of Calgary. The energy is captured and stored in underground tanks. It has the potential to save 90% off participants' heating bills.

Am I Good.......or am I evil................

I haven't stolen enough from Bits & Pieces today, so why stop now.....?

Careful what you name your website............

This was so funny, I couldn't stop shaking long enough to copy the whole post - so just check it out for yourself......

Nooo.... I want to go 'clubbing'......like at a pub...

I'm really trying to wrap my head around the whole 'seal hunt' issue. Best as I understand it, there are a lot of seals out there. 6 million at last count. That's triple the population from the 1970's. (Gee - maybe that's were all the damned cod are going.....) So the problem most people have is the supposed inhumane way the seals are killed. What I'd like to know then - is why aren't these same people protesting outside slaughterhouses too?

Yay! A new burger joint to try.....

So they opened a new hamburger joint in Calgary - Fatburger. They started in LA in the 50's and have spread out across NA over the years. Being relatively fond of the hamburger sandwich, I decided to give these fatboys a try.

I had the regular ol' Fatburger with cheese, some onion rings and a drink. Darlene had a hot dog and fries and a strawberry shake. She did not like her hot dog, but then again, Darlene likes the European variety of weiner, not the reddish, all-beef ones. The shake was yummy - made from real ice cream. My burger was pretty good. I still like Lick's burgers the best, but until they come out West, my access to them is limited. The fries were typical (not home fries). The onion rings were good, but holy Tums tablets Batman - they were greasy. I guess we're getting old, because our stomachs just can't handle the grease anymore.

For those of you who can still handle greasy food - Fatburger shouldn't disappoint. There's only one in Calgary for now, but they plan on a few more in the next 3-5 years.

Zoiks!

A real dog does the best Scooby impression I've seen - ever.

"Ruh roh.......... Rooby raught on ramera again........."

Thanks to Bits & Pieces

How to correctly pour ketchup

Get the full technical gobble-dee-gook here.

Never say I don't provide useful information.....

The meaning of dense

Population of Tokyo metropolitan area - 32 million. That's basically everyone in Canada...... in one city. I'll let you mull that over for a few minutes.......

"I know everything!"

In 1999, Ben Stiller created a pilot that Fox television passed over, called Heat Vision and Jack. Jack Austin, an astronaut who through a bizarre space accident becomes super-smart during sunlight hours, is played by Jack Black. His sidekick, Heat Vision, is his buddy melded with a motorcycle (don't ask - you'll see how it happened), voiced by Owen Wilson. It's cheesy. It's goofy. But come on - it stars Jack Black!

I had not been able to locate the pilot episode on the Internets - until now mah freends. Behold - Heat Vision and Jack. Bring popcorn.

Alright then, who said this?

Again, I ask that you use your thinking caps rather than the Internets. Who said:

Acting is all about honesty.
If you can fake that, you've got it made.

The tide is high and I'm holding on......

I've always been fascinated by the global warming issue. In particular, how so many scientists can establish that global warming exists - then other scientists can dismiss the pro-warming crowd as quacks. Doesn't that strike people as a little odd? I can think of no other example of a scientific theory that simultaneously has a group that supports it unwaveringly, while another group discounts the phenomenon as a hoax. A group that probably is very well funded by the same governments who don't 'believe' in global warming. Don't worry folks, it's just a coincidence. Someday, we'll find out who's right.

For what it's worth - if it turns out global warming is real and something really bad happens that destroys whole cities or whatever, I vote the naysayers 'off the island'............

Meanwhile, here's a cute, but pertinent message from Blue Man Group - of all people.

To think.... I could be kissing contraband!

I heard on the radio the other morning that the most common item shop-lifted from stores is..... lipstick.

Ladies! Shame on you...... Frankly, I'm shocked. Bewildered. Appalled even.

Barter me this.....

Here's something funky. This guy from Montreal puts a red paper clip on his website and sets a goal to trade up to a house within a year. The year's up in July and so far he's traded up to a contract for 80+ hours at the Metalworks recording studio in Toronto.

Throw them out to rot

Now this is the kind of recycling whose time has come - food containers made from corn resin that biodegrade within 60 days in your compost bin. Not suitable for hot food, but at $120 for 500 x 32oz containers (with lids), who cares!

It's all about changing behavior

For some people it's very hard to lose weight. I for one do not believe in most diets for the simple reason that they force people to eat things they never would have dreamed of eating in the first place. They also suffer from rebound - where if you go off the diet, you're hosed and will put all the weight back on in no time flat.

I came across these weight loss tips and they look very reasonable in that they can work alone or in combination with each other - but more importantly try to change your behavior, rather than what you eat.

I'm so proud to wear this mystery logo....

File this under 'witty'. Get clothes with the logo already pixelated (like they do when people appear on TV). Now you'll be free to appear anywhere, even on TV and not have to worry about anyone being offended by your logo......

You can find anything....continued

Yet another example. Into airline flight attendant uniforms. Coming right up....

Pictured: Quantas uniform 1985-1993.

Look ma................ no disks!

Now this could have a huge impact on the future of the computer - no more hard drives.

Samsung has created a 32GB NAND Flash-based hard disk drive replacement unit, that it claims can access data three times faster than a hard drive can. The unit consumes just five per cent of the energy it takes to run a hard drive.

I'm not pretending I like you........

A new study indicates that repressing your feelings can be very bad for your health.

Psychologists at Frankfurt University said the fake friendliness led to depression, stress and a lowering of the immune system itself, which in turn can trigger more serious ailments.

Although it really goes against our cultural norms, I've always believed that holding back the truth and supressing your feelings was bad........

But I just don't care anymore.
No, YOU shut up!
No, YOU!
I know you are - but what am I?

They're insane! Run for your lives!

If and when the aliens finally do land, there are 3 people I hope the aliens do NOT meet first:

Howie Mandel - Carrot-Top - Robin Williams

Can you picture it? The aliens would be looking at each other, then whisper in each others' ears: 'Get back in the ship - don't look back - just go!'

Celebrity dream visit

A few people have asked me which celebrity I'd like to spend a day with. There are a few, but at the top of my list would be John Travolta. Why? He seems like a genuinely nice guy and I would want to take advantage of the fact that he flies his own aircraft. So that I could fly with him. So that's my choice.

If John wasn't available, I'd have to go with Tom Hanks for the nice guy factor.

More motivation!

A whole whack of posters here.

Got the blues?

Then give the desktopblues soundboard a try. Create your own blues tune. You don't have to wait for one sound to finish before pressing another button. Should keep some people entertained for 90 seconds or so..........

What do YOU want?

I've said this before - but it's been a while. If there's a topic you'd like me to speak on, just let me know. The best way to do that of course is to send me a message via email, which you can do by looking at my profile, then clicking on 'Email' under 'Contact'.

Cat herders

I saw this commercial a long time ago. It's a commercial for EDS (the IT support company). It's very cute.

Live via 'Sad'ellite.....

If you weren't convinced that Celine Dion needs to be stopped - here's more proof: Celine does Madonna. Not to be viewed near meal-time.

MTV? Much? Whatever...............

Recently I've been seeing TV ads heralding the coming of MTV (To Canada? To regular cable? To your local cellular provider?). "The drought ends 21.03.06" All I can say is whoopdie-friggin'-do! Hear me now or listen to me later - the video channels have devolved into nothing more than a medium for cell phone advertising and acne cream. Puh-lease! Listen up Moses Znaimer. I don't want contests. I don't want movies or musicals about Elvis. No game shows. No VJ competitions. No reality shows about fans becoming their idol for a day. No cooking tips. No Top 10 countdown of the same stuff we just finished showing you in the last 30 minutes. No awards shows.

Just put together the kind of avante-garde music channel that showcases the music. 24 hours a day of non-stop, not-fit-for-pop-radio, new music, electronica, soul, jazz, alternative rock, classic rock, ambient, funk..... Life altering MUSIC! [waving hands frantically in the air above my head]

Nobody home?

I came across this design for a sticker to place on your iPod (Shuffle) that is meant to indicate to others whether you wish to be disturbed while you listen to your Shuffle. One goes on the front and the other on the back - I presume you flip it over to indicate one way or the other. This brings up an interesting topic for discussion in that it offers a solution to a social problem that may not even be valid in the first place. I can't speak for everyone, but I have never really looked at someone with earbuds in their head as a sign that they don't want to be spoken to. I probably wouldn't engage them in meaningless chat, but if I felt they could be trusted to offer directions, etc. I wouldn't hesitate to ask. Heck, at work, I see people wearing earbuds all day and it doesn't affect my urge to talk to them.

How about my readers?

Finally some meaningful data

The Canadian music industry's own data seems to suggest that sharing music on the Internet doesn't really affect music purchases after all....

...the survey asked why people bought less. Only 10% of respondents cited the availability of music downloads. Instead, people cited a long list of alternatives that have nothing to do with downloading including price (16%), nothing of interest (14%), lack of time (13%), collection is big enough (9%), don't buy (7%), listen to radio (7%), change in tastes (6%), no CD player (3%), have an MP3 player (2%), lack of opportunity to buy (2%), watch more tv (2%), age (1%), only buy what I like (1%). Simply put, P2P simply is not a major factor behind decisions to buy less music...

Thanks to Michael Geist.