"I feel I'm incredibly fascinating and this blog bears witness to that simple fact. Friends, from far and wide, are often pestered to keep abreast of my life and opinions. I offer my most sincere greetings to random visitors as well."
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Saturday, March 08, 2008
Need Some Gene Therapy?
I've always thought, that generally, things are coming up roses. Now I guess, I have family to thank. I used to just hold them responsible for bad vision, high cholestrol, and ugly toes.Original Link
Labels: feelings
Friday, March 07, 2008
No Kid with a Shotgun
A week ago I spent over $500 a Sony PS3 essentially for its capability to play Blu-ray high-defintion movies. I also checked what it costs to rent a movie at a Rogers Video store nowadays. I'd not been inside the New Westminster branch for years due to joining zip.ca. It is an online movie rental company similiar to a Canadian version of Netflix. A cheerful, Rogers counter clerk said renting a single movie cost $6 something. Then, he added that all Blu-ray disks are only one-day rentals. "I see. I'll wait to get my Blu-ray movies through Zip," I said. I left.
I was willing to wait as we pay about $2.50 per disc and there's no late fees when renting by post. I will probably never enter that Rogers again. Is there any irony in my spending a half K on a player but then refusing to cough up $7 for a rental? Nah, I didn't think so, either.
If you've ever been involved in online movie rental, you know that one creates a list of movies desired. The company then sends off the next available disc as soon as the previously returned movie has reached them. At any particular moment we may have fifty or sixty movies in the queue. So, last weekend, I modified our existing list so titles available in borth formats would ship on Blu-ray.
Of the dozen or so Blu-ray discs on the Zip list, just one arrived in the mail box today. It's a bit embarrassing to admit that the first-ever Blu-ray title that'll be viewed on our TV is Disney's High School Musical 2 (2007). That certainly doesn't sound very butch. Perhaps it's a good way to break in the PlayStation 3 though. Also, it's okay, as 3:10 to Yuma (2007), Rescue Dawn (2006), Saw IV(2007), and Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) are also on their eventual Blu-ray way.
I was willing to wait as we pay about $2.50 per disc and there's no late fees when renting by post. I will probably never enter that Rogers again. Is there any irony in my spending a half K on a player but then refusing to cough up $7 for a rental? Nah, I didn't think so, either.
If you've ever been involved in online movie rental, you know that one creates a list of movies desired. The company then sends off the next available disc as soon as the previously returned movie has reached them. At any particular moment we may have fifty or sixty movies in the queue. So, last weekend, I modified our existing list so titles available in borth formats would ship on Blu-ray.Of the dozen or so Blu-ray discs on the Zip list, just one arrived in the mail box today. It's a bit embarrassing to admit that the first-ever Blu-ray title that'll be viewed on our TV is Disney's High School Musical 2 (2007). That certainly doesn't sound very butch. Perhaps it's a good way to break in the PlayStation 3 though. Also, it's okay, as 3:10 to Yuma (2007), Rescue Dawn (2006), Saw IV(2007), and Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) are also on their eventual Blu-ray way.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Listen and Learn
I always plug my Zen into the computer before driving into work. Doing so allows it sync the latest .mp3 copy of Global News from the BBC. The situation works well as it generally takes about twenty minutes for me to drive to the Burnaby campus from New Westminster. Of course the amount of traffic and how I hit the lights can affect the length of the drive. The round-up of news takes just about the same amount of time, so I don't feel as if I'm wasting any during my trip to class.
As an instructor, I'm aware of individual learning styles. I used to think I was a strong visual learner. I always thought I best learned through reading and graphics. Perhaps listening skills are a forte too as I may do well with auditory stimulus. I certainly feel as though I learn a lot during my morning commutes.
Learning about the world through radio was never much of an option. During my youth radio was simply for music. And to be honest, North American broadcast news in general spends a lot of time navel gazing. Both American and Canadian radio and television spend inordinate resources rehashing purely domestic issues. Some of the most advanced communication potential on the planet is often wasted pursuing the likes of Paris Hilton.
At least the BBC has reporters out there on foreign soil. In my daily podcasts from the BBC World Service I get a chance to hear voices of real people talking about the conditions affecting them. I hate to sound discouraged, but I suppose much of the general public here would probably have a hard time even locating these countries on a globe.
As an instructor, I'm aware of individual learning styles. I used to think I was a strong visual learner. I always thought I best learned through reading and graphics. Perhaps listening skills are a forte too as I may do well with auditory stimulus. I certainly feel as though I learn a lot during my morning commutes.Learning about the world through radio was never much of an option. During my youth radio was simply for music. And to be honest, North American broadcast news in general spends a lot of time navel gazing. Both American and Canadian radio and television spend inordinate resources rehashing purely domestic issues. Some of the most advanced communication potential on the planet is often wasted pursuing the likes of Paris Hilton.
At least the BBC has reporters out there on foreign soil. In my daily podcasts from the BBC World Service I get a chance to hear voices of real people talking about the conditions affecting them. I hate to sound discouraged, but I suppose much of the general public here would probably have a hard time even locating these countries on a globe.
Labels: Creative Zen, podcasts
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Just Plain (and Plane) Silly
I had to record a movie a few nights ago as it contained Lili Von Shtupp, played by Madeline Kahn. Blazing Saddles (1974) was on HDNet and so it was waiting on the hard disk in the PRV. I'd not seen the movie in a couple of years and it wasn't really like fine wine; it'd gotten no better. Yet, I'd never seen a better-looking copy than the high definition version. I do have to admit I am a fan of Mel Brooks. His type of off-the-wall humour is sorely lacking in today's media. In the last ten years I'd be hard put to come up with any movies that even remotely fit into the same genre.
In the 1990's several of the Scary Movie series had a bit of irreverent humour. Rather than containing any satire on society though, they could be more closely identified as teen comedies. More recently, movies like Blades of Glory (2007) are much too self-interested to be very funny. They seldom have any references to the world beyond the movie.
Perhaps modern audiences are simply too stupid for satire. Or maybe there are few points of common reference nowadays as modern cinema has to be make money in every market around the globe.
Damn, we need more Jim Abrahams-type films that'd comfortably fit next to Airplane! (1980)
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Don't Think Less of Me
This entry is late today. Since I'm no longer teaching in the afternoons, I don't have loads of time in the mornings to correct papers and exams. Also, as I have a class that is actually larger than the usual maximum, it seems to take me forever!I just wanted to add a little photo anyway. It is the growing clothes pile that's sitting in the bedroom. I am finding it necessary to weed out my attire. Clothes shopping has never been something I've enjoyed but I'm finding it necessary. All my favourite shirts were over size 17 or marked as XL but now I'm not. Unfortunately, one negative point about having lost some weight is I'm finding many of my clothes are too big. I don't feel any smaller but I have had to move a few holes tighter on the belt. As I plan to continue shrinking, I have no need for anything in the pile.
At least it'll soon be time to get out the short-sleeved shirts. Oh, maybe that's not so great afterall. Many of those will have to be added to my pile as well.
Labels: weight loss
Monday, March 03, 2008
Warning: Nerd Alert!
THE FUTURE: 1950 STYLE
Eventually, automated homes such as those described by Ray Bradbury will exist. As of today, I am one step closer to the part where the house plays music. Let's forget about the exact scenario of the short story from The Martian Chronicles as I'd rather leave the fear of nuclear devastation for another blog entry. Also it's important to note that he wrote this short story fifty-eight years ago. Smart houses are assuredly taking longer to come to fruition than my childish notions would've predicted.
SERVING MEDIA
I'm thinking about There Will Come Soft Rains, as I have thousands of .mp3 and .wma files on an external hard drive near my computer. I use it for the collection and backing up important info. from my main drive. As discovered on Saturday the new Playstation 3 will play these networked songs through the built-in
media server in Microsoft's MediaPlayer 11. My PS3 lacks a direct DTS output for stereo files, unlike my computer's sound card. However, there's something quite simple and satisfying about making a selection on the large TV screen. It just feels right to pick music with the same remote I use when watching a DVD.
GETTING IT TOGETHER
Many people already have some sort of home network today. Most are wireless and used just to get the Internet on a notebook computer without a plug. This could be a wonderful basis for a smart house. The problem is that most of our consumer electronics products do not get along. Most of the devices are not designed for interoperability. In order to make any of them work together one must work too damned hard.
TO KNOW ME IS TO LOVE ME
I envision a day when, as one walks into the house, all gadgets will ask permission to connect to the home's network. For example, I should be able to listen to a podcast on a visitor's iPod. If the system were clever enough, a graphic representing the temporary device would automatically appear on a screen showing the current technology environment. As well as the calling-card information previously entered by the visitor, the system would recognize the unprotected media on the device. I'd simply be able to direct the system to play the podcast.
FIGHTING IN A FUTURE
This is a little more complex than Ray Bradbury's circuits and tapes in the walls. However, I can easily think of a good topic for a new, short story. Let's assume that all the system devices on our imaginary network have a priority on the system. What if various devices started fighting for supremacy in the heirarchy? Every iPod Nano lusts for power, you know. Somehow, that'd make for an interesting read.
Eventually, automated homes such as those described by Ray Bradbury will exist. As of today, I am one step closer to the part where the house plays music. Let's forget about the exact scenario of the short story from The Martian Chronicles as I'd rather leave the fear of nuclear devastation for another blog entry. Also it's important to note that he wrote this short story fifty-eight years ago. Smart houses are assuredly taking longer to come to fruition than my childish notions would've predicted.
SERVING MEDIA
I'm thinking about There Will Come Soft Rains, as I have thousands of .mp3 and .wma files on an external hard drive near my computer. I use it for the collection and backing up important info. from my main drive. As discovered on Saturday the new Playstation 3 will play these networked songs through the built-in
media server in Microsoft's MediaPlayer 11. My PS3 lacks a direct DTS output for stereo files, unlike my computer's sound card. However, there's something quite simple and satisfying about making a selection on the large TV screen. It just feels right to pick music with the same remote I use when watching a DVD.GETTING IT TOGETHER
Many people already have some sort of home network today. Most are wireless and used just to get the Internet on a notebook computer without a plug. This could be a wonderful basis for a smart house. The problem is that most of our consumer electronics products do not get along. Most of the devices are not designed for interoperability. In order to make any of them work together one must work too damned hard.
TO KNOW ME IS TO LOVE ME
I envision a day when, as one walks into the house, all gadgets will ask permission to connect to the home's network. For example, I should be able to listen to a podcast on a visitor's iPod. If the system were clever enough, a graphic representing the temporary device would automatically appear on a screen showing the current technology environment. As well as the calling-card information previously entered by the visitor, the system would recognize the unprotected media on the device. I'd simply be able to direct the system to play the podcast.
FIGHTING IN A FUTURE
This is a little more complex than Ray Bradbury's circuits and tapes in the walls. However, I can easily think of a good topic for a new, short story. Let's assume that all the system devices on our imaginary network have a priority on the system. What if various devices started fighting for supremacy in the heirarchy? Every iPod Nano lusts for power, you know. Somehow, that'd make for an interesting read.
Labels: computers, futurecast, Mediaplayer, podcasts, PS3, sci-fi, technology
Sunday, March 02, 2008
The Eyes Have It
Although it was more than two weeks ago when we were in Puerto Vallarta, it's still possible to try to check in via this web cam image below. This picture should be less than ten seconds old. I found access to it at www.puertovallarta.net. The cam's image, of course, will not show much if you check this page during hours that don't match up well to Central Time in the Americas. If you tune in too late, I shall include a smaller, static example to the right. 
In the late 1990's I had one set up on the balcony with an old Sony camcorder. It used to look down the Fraser River towards the New Westminster Quay and the Alex Fraser Bridge.
Locate additional information at the my eJournal and images blog site.