Might as well face it you're addicted to Timmy's

Standing in line at Tim Horton's yesterday, I pondered something.

You know you're addicted to Tim Horton's coffee when you're in line for coffee at Tim Horton's and you're still sipping a Tim Horton's coffee from one of their paper cups.

I got a charge out of this

Finally, a government demanding something useful. The European Commission plans to force cell phone makers to create one charger for all cell phones. The primary reason for this demand is to reduce the amount of electrical waste in Europe. Typically users have to buy a new charger every time they buy a new cell phone.

This is a great idea whose time has come. There are enough standard connectors out there that achieving this goal shouldn't be difficult. No matter what voltage the phone needs, with a common connector, a charger could be created that adapts to the phones' needs.

In the future, not all tattoos will be just art

In the future, it may be possible to do away with needles and meters and such to find out your blood sugar level. A research lab in the US is developing a special kind of tattoo that changes colour based on your current blood sugar level.

Until a cure for diabetes is found, this is big news.

"The first time you do something... it's science..."

If you have in your mind the stereotypical image of a mad scientist, you'll really enjoy this 18 minute video clip of Clifford Stoll's talk at TED.

He's not mad though. Just a little frantic. And very smart.

Let me tell you something about myself

If you use Facebook, by now you've probably been 'tagged' to play along with others and do the 25 Random Things About Me meme. You've either ignored the invitation or you've played along (along with 5 million other people.. and counting), embraced your inner narcissism and took the time to come up with 25 random things about yourself.

Which begs the question - how much do you reveal about yourself? 25 things is a lot and I suspect (and have witnessed) that after 10 or 15 things, you might have to dig deep to come up with things worthy of such a list. I have been utterly entertained by the things that people (who dare to participate) put on their lists. Some lists are bits of trivia about themselves, some are like personal manifestos, some lists are like the public opening of a personal diary, some are just people using it as a forum to be funny or cute. My eyebrows have definitely gotten a workout.

Yeah, social networks are a fascinating live experiment in social interactions using modern forms of communication, but these opportunities to share intimate details about yourself are an even more interesting experiment in social behaviour.

I wonder how many people who compiled these lists considered who exactly would have access to them before publishing them?

And yes..... I did participate. It's all the rage don't you know.... But after re-reviewing my list, I just realized something. When I copied and pasted the list from the person who tagged me, I neglected to write my own item over the original number 16. So that item in the list isn't really mine. Oops. Silly me. Now people think I'm afraid of bugs.........

P.S.: That link won't work unless you're signed in to Facebook.

"If loving you is wrong I don't want to be right"

This is without a doubt one of the funniest Valentine's Day cards I've ever seen.

If you've ever seen Star Wars, you know why this is funny as hell.

Follow the link to a bigger picture and the opportunity to print the card.

Dude, I salute you

While you watch this video, try to guess what song he's singing. I'll give you this clue, he's singing it backwards.

Sooner or later, if you keep watching you'll figure it out.

"... Okay, company over. Everyone go home... "

People who love Starbucks may cringe at this next revelation.

Starbucks is going to introduce instant coffee.

The forums are lighting up.....

If you're American and don't agree with DRM, the FTC wants to hear from you

The FTC in the US are holding public hearings on DRM and will meet in march to discuss it. Even if you're not a US citizen, you can weigh in - as I did. What follows is my submission (two cents).

There are many reasons why DRM is bad, but I will limit my examples to a few.

Consumers don't buy products, even electronic ones, with the desire to have their use of the product restricted in any way. When you buy a sandwich, you do not have to agree to an EULA that promises not to copy the sandwich recipe or share your sandwich with others, or make your own sandwich. When you buy a car, you do not have to check in with a license server every day to validate that you are the legitimate owner of the car.

But because of the current business model of the creators and distributors of electronic content, consumers are being forced to accept more and more restrictive measures placed on their purchases in the interest of protecting against piracy. Once the argument that piracy is the root of all under performing profits has been won in the government circle, businesses will use this excuse as a justification for the inclusion of ever more restrictive measures on content and electronic devices. But what only a few businesses are beginning to realize is that consumers only take abuse for so long before they abandon a failing model and move to an alternative. But not all consumers are informed enough to realize they are being abused. So while it could be argued that letting market forces decide whether DRM is bad for consumers, this does not protect those who fall victim to the effects of DRM in the first place. When content requires a DRM infrastructure in place to function, and if the creators of that DRM no longer support that infrastructure, the consumer is left holding content or a device that no longer functions. They have no obvious legal recourse. No means of getting their money back. They are never sufficiently warned that the DRM that is necessary for the supposed viability of the content creator can be cancelled, without warning. Nor is this abandonment an expectation of the consumer. The owner of any product expects that their ownership and rights to continue using said product do not expire prematurely.

While I sympathize with content creators in that modern technology has made it possible to copy everything as a byproduct of the inherent abilities of the technology, this doesn't give creators the right to fool consumers into thinking that when they buy a product, in reality they are now only leasing it or renting it - for a large sum of money. If the terms of our relationship with creators must change to preserve their profitability (an argument I don't accept at face value), then creators need to be honest with us regarding the actual rights we have regarding the product. Users should not be legally bound to cryptic EULAs that cannot be challenged or analyzed before purchasing the product.

It is the role of government to protect the consumer, but it seems that once government sides with the creator of content, the consumer's rights become secondary. DRM does not prevent piracy. But it sure does make criminals out of ordinary consumers and punish those who would use what they purchase the way they expect to. For DRM to be allowed to exist, it should be mandatory for content creators to prove that DRM actually works, and for the most part it does not. DRM should preserve the rights of consumers and it does not. DRM should not interfere with the normal expectations of consumers to use their devices and content in a reasonable manner and it does in fact interfere.

So why should it be allowed?

Lost generation

This is a pretty clever video.

Make sure you watch it through to the end for the twist.....

This could become a transit value-added service

Improv everywhere sent a guy named Rob to the NYC subway to hand out high 5's to people exiting up the escalator.

He gave out 2000 high 5's in 45 minutes. Watch the video. The smiles on the peoples' faces are priceless.

Trekwear

Are you a female fan of Star Trek? Do you like corsets?

If you answered yes to both of those questions, there's someone on Etsy selling something you might like to buy.

"This pattern can be made in any of the Star Trek colours."

Thoughts about higher learning to stir up the day

What does a university degree actually get you? I'm not asking just to stir the pot - I never went to university, so I don't know.

One thing it does get you, unless you were fortunate enough to have it paid for by someone else - is in debt. Serious, life ruining debt. The kind of debt that can prevent you from getting a house or a car. The kind of debt that sometimes can't (or just won't) be repaid.

University gets you a degree. But I often wonder how productive that ends up being for the average person. I know a great many people that do well by their degrees. And many who can't get work in their field of study because there's either no work in that field or too many people with that kind of degree for the amount of work available. So they end up working at Subway. What's up with that? I wonder how these people feel about their degrees. I wonder how the parent who perhaps paid for the schooling feels about their degree.

Here's an article by someone who feels university is a waste of time and money (at least in the US).

I do miss one thing about University that I never got to partake in. The parties. I spent my twenties in Kingston (in the military), home of Queen's University and I have to tell ya, it was party freaking central. If you couldn't find a party in the University slum area, you were dead. That's not to say that the kids weren't doing any school work, but my Jesus - they could party like there was no tomorrow.

So what do you think? Is university worth the cost? Have you gotten your money's worth out of it (assuming you went)? Is there anyone out there that didn't go to university and feels that they've gotten along with their careers just fine? Should university be free (funded by the government)? Let me know what you think readers.....

RPM 33

Why wait too long for the next music trivia question... right?

OK, here we go....

What Paul Simon song is also a registered trademark?

Photographic surgery

Have you ever wanted to see inside a professional digital camera? Here's your chance. A Nikon D3 sliced in half, revealing its inner beauty.

The idea is getting some traction

A while back, I talked about a new form of public transportation that I could really get behind - PRT.

Heathrow isn't the only place in the world building this more granular system. Now Abu Dhabi is planning one as well.

Slight re-design

How do you like my new banner at the top of the page?

I haven't quite decided if I like it.....

RPM 32

New music trivia for you.

What is the longest single ever to hit the Top 10 in the charts?

By longest I mean in running time...

Interview with AJ Demers of Loose Moose

Time for another interview with a Loose Moose member. It is my great pleasure to introduce to you - AJ Demers. Not only is AJ a member of Loose Moose but he also has a video he puts together every few weeks called 'The Spin'. This interview was done in a Starbucks - ergo the slightly noisier environment.

By the way, if you ever just want to listen to some or all of the interviews at once, all you need to do is go to The Internet Archive and do a search on 'plesz' or 'loose moose' and 'audio' type and you'll find them all. You can stream the audio right from this site.

Diamond Dave sings for you

Time for a little silly. One of the great rock wailers of our time - David Lee Roth of Van Halen. Now you can hear some of that wailing a cappella thanks to this sound board.

HaaaaaaaaYeeeeeaaaah!

Looking sharp(ie)

Somebody took a white Lamborghini Gallardo and added some art using sharpie markers, then finished with a clear coat for protection.

Only in L.A......

Beaucoup de neige

Some folks find it hard to believe when I try to tell them how deep the snow gets in Quebec. I've posted pictures in the last year of the snow banks next to my brother's house just north of Montreal, but that picture was taken after at least 25% of the snow had already melted.

Here are pictures taken lately in the Quebec City area.

Copyright insanity

I'm sure people wonder from time to time, "what's Karl's problem with copyright?". My problem is that the whole notion of copyright is evolving to become so protectionist and restrictive, that we end up with shenanigans like this:

The Author's Guild claims text-to-speech software is illegal, because "...that's an audio right, which is derivative under copyright law." The Guild also thinks used books are a kind of theft, and books shouldn't show up in an internet search unless the search engine pays.

The best reality check statement on this issue: "If a machine reading a book creates a derivative work, why not a person reading a book?"

via boingboing

Design excellence

Coolest business card design.... ever!

Check out the link- you can even shape the fingers!

Some companies are starting to get it, but miss the point

Customer buys service. Customer is majorly (not a real word - I know) disappointed. Customer blogs about it. Customer wants money back. Service provider says - "not until you delete that blog post".

It seems that some companies are starting to understand the power of blogs, but are obviously missing the point. When you find out people are writing about your bad service, the way forward isn't to threaten the customer. It's to improve your customer service.

"...and then we pumped out this impossible to use POS"

Here's a funny (but contains plenty of swearing - just a warning) video clip parodying new gadgets that don't work like they're supposed to.

It could have done without all the swearing, but I see what they were going for. Sometimes, new gadgets are just plain messed up.

MPAA at it again... act now

Attention Americans! You know that broadband stimulus bill? Lobbyists are desperately trying to shoehorn a copyright filtering provision into it.

Read more here.

I decided to treat myself to some luxury earphones

I took a look at the earphones that came with the iPhone and frowned. They're the kind that just hang from the cradle (?) of your ear - I can't stand those kind.

So since the Sony 'in-ear' bud earphones that I have don't have the requisite microphone / switch thingy that the iPhone requires (for phone use etc.), it was time to go shopping. With a recommendation from my friend Bernie, I headed to the Apple store to check out the V-Moda Vibe II series. The wires are coated with a kind of fabric, they have a shirt clip and the silicone buds are replaceable and come with 4 sizes in black and clear. They're a bit expensive, but good earphones aren't cheap. Needless to say, they rock. If you want some high-grade buds for your iPhone, splurge on these babies.

I just snee'd

It occurs to me that Darlene and I may have made up a word that only we use.

Snee.

A snee is the whistling sound your nose makes when you breathe in or out through it.

Do you have any made-up words that you use in everyday life?

The word snee does already exist and means a few other things, but we use it to refer to the nose sound.

Even artists themselves aren't spared the harrassment

The copyright claims that the big entertainment industry levy on hosting sites doesn't stop with claims against consumers, fans and re-mix artists - no.

Here's a screen grab of an actual artist's web site, where some of the videos posted to that site are not available because the industry has a claim against their being on the site. I checked it out - it's no joke. The Gollum's Song video gets you the message "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by WMG".

It's the artist's site! I smell a lawsuit.....

[Update - the issue here is that the blocked video(s) are in fact hosted at YouTube. YouTube is rigorously scoped by the industry for infringing material and then taken down when found. So basically, if you are the original artist, you can't use a site like YouTube to host your material because the industry doesn't know the difference between artists posting their own stuff versus fans doing the same.]

Thanks boingboing for the tip