Web Archives (66 posts)
Bell Canada’s traffic throttling
A few Canadian ISPs are furious about Bell Canada’s recent traffic throttling. Rogers has been throttling network traffic for a few years now and Bell has begun to do the same. I’m a Bell DSL user and I haven’t noticed any significant slowdowns but ars technica is reporting that Bell will be throttling all traffic by April 7.
Posted in Web at 2:05 AM | Comments (0)
Hockey Fights
When you need a break from the daily grind, it’s time to head over to Hockey Fights and watch the big boys go at it. Special thanks to my blood thirsty friend, David Goldberg for the link.
Posted in Web at 11:27 AM | Comments (0)
Fake Steve Jobs on the Microsoft-Yahoo merger
Fake Steve Jobs (Dan Lyons) has a great analogy of the pending Microsoft-Yahoo merger:
The Borg-Yahoo merger won’t work. Here’s why. It’s like taking the two guys who finished second and third in a 100-yard dash and tying their legs together and asking for a rematch, believing that now they’ll run faster.
The bizarre thing is that Steve Ballmer gave this analogy to Lyons about 10 years ago at a conference.
Try and find a story about anyone who is eager to see this merger take place. Nobody wants it, including a lot of Microsoft employees. I can’t see these two giants working together. The culture and philosophy of the two companies are polar opposites.
There is the hope that if Microsoft purchases Yahoo, that they’ll leave it alone. I like the scenario that John Gruber suggests:
But what if Microsoft does the unexpected and keeps Yahoo separate and distinct? On a vastly smaller scale, that’s what Microsoft has done with its Mac Business Unit. Microsoft created the Mac BU in the wake of Word 6 for Mac, which was, more or less, a direct port to the Mac of the Windows version of Word — and almost universally abhorred by Mac users. To succeed on the Mac, Microsoft needed a (relatively) independent Mac division, and so that’s what they created. Yahoo could be Microsoft’s independent web division.
Back in 1997 when Apple was floundering, Microsoft invested $150 million in Apple and signed a 5 year deal to continue development on Microsoft Office for Macintosh. Microsoft might have been able to purchase Apple back then but they knew it would never work (they also needed a competitor to keep the government off their back).
If Microsoft goes through with the takeover then I hope they leave Yahoo as separate division that can continue to innovate and thrive. If Microsoft took over Apple in 1997 then we probably wouldn’t have iPods and iPhones. I can’t help wonder what will die and never come to light if Microsoft attempts to assimilate the Yahoo!
Posted in Web at 9:34 PM | Comments (1)
Lakai Fully Flared Intro
Lakai Fully Flared Intro — very cool opening to a skateboard video shot in slow motion with explosions by Spike Jonze and his production team. I’d love to get my hands on this.
Unfortunately the Lakai Limited Footwear website has nothing at all about the Lakai Fully Flared DVD. If they do have it for sale they’ve hidden it well.
Update: the video is no longer available on YouTube. You’d think that after a million people watch your video, you might put something on your website telling people where they can purchase it? How do these guys stay in business with such a crack marketing team.
Posted in Web at 9:39 PM | Comments (0)
Top 10 Google searches beginning with “who is”
Everyone is looking for answers. Google Zeitgeist 2007 gives us a glimpse of what people were searching for in the past year.
- who is god
- who is who
- who is lookup
- who is jesus
- who is it
- who is buckethead
- who is calling
- who is keppler
- who is this
- who is satan
I find it fascinating that God, Jesus and Satan are all in the top 10. A lot of people tend to think that the world is going to hell in a hand basket because of war, declining church attendance and Britney Spears. It seems that spiritual questions are very much on people’s minds these days.
Now why is who is keppler in the top 10?
Posted in Web at 7:24 PM | Comments (0)
Mixx instead of Digg for fresh content
For the latest buzz on the web I start with popurls which aggregates content from Digg, Del.icio.us, Reddit and others.
Digg tends to have a lot of content about Apple which I tend to like. Del.icio.us has great web development and design techniques that keep me up to date on latest trends in my profession.
Mixx is the new kid on the block that provides different content from the usual popurls suspects. I like its tagging system. For example, Mixx has some great content on SEO that I’ve found incredibly useful and easy to find — content I normally wouldn’t see on the front page of Digg.
10 Reasons Not to Use Digg has some interesting insight into Digg and the comments for this entry show how competitive the Digg vs Mixx vs other content aggregators can be.
Posted in Web at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)
Rogers reaches a new low
If your ISP in Canada is Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed, then you might have a browsing session interrupted or rather hijacked to tell you that you’re using the Internet too much! Cory Doctorow posted a screenshot of this at Boing Boing.
If you use close to 75 GB of bandwidth per month then Rogers may scold you when you least expect it, through your web browser. Pretty soon they’ll be jumping out of the closet or from behind a curtain to tell you that you’re not using Yahoo enough!
Use more than 75 GB in bandwidth per month you’ll be charged an extra $1.50/GB. This seems fair but the way in which Rogers is telling their customers is complete idiocy.
You’d have to be stealing a lot of music and Hollywood movies to reach 75 GB in a month and I know a few people that do but you could also be downloading television shows from the UK or other countries that the Canadian government (CRTC) doesn’t let us watch. Or, if you don’t have a Tivo/PVR you might be downloading shows that you missed, but 75 GB is a lot of viewing time.
Rogers is pathetic for how has chosen to deal with high bandwidth customers. I hope that somebody sues them for something related to privacy. The need to wake up.
Posted in Web at 4:41 PM | Comments (0)
1 in 4 Canadians on Facebook
According to the Toronto Star, almost 8 million Canadians have a Facebook page. Here are some more Facebook stats:
- 85% of Canadians signed up in the last year
- half of Canadian Facebook users are over the age of 30
- Toronto has 990, 000 Facebook users
You can view my Facebook page here. I’m not on there a lot. Who has time to play trivia games and take useless online quizzes? People without a blog to update is my guess!
Posted in Web at 1:44 PM | Comments (0)
Inbox Zero
Process to zero, advanced common sense, convert to actions — things you need to know if you want to become more productive when it comes to email. Merlin Mann’s talk at Google is very informative and worth watching if your email is constantly checking for new messages and always on.
Here are some highlights:
- Not every email needs a response. That, is so 1993. Don’t do it!
- Respond quickly to email but don’t write a book. Keep it short.
- Your Inbox should only have unread email.
- Don’t use your Inbox as a to do list.
Check Email Less
Mann suggests turning off your email program for periods of time so that you can actually get some work completed without interruptions. How many times have you received new mail, stopped what you were doing to check it, only to find that it was SPAM or something really lame?
One of the reasons I like to work at 2 AM is that my phone isn’t ringing and I’m not getting client requests. I’m going to try checking my email less to increase my productivity.
My Inbox is down to 143 messages from 1,645 an hour ago.
Posted in JAK MEDIA and Web at 5:44 PM | Comments (0)
How Top Bloggers Earn Money
There is a very interesting story in BusinessWeek on How Top Bloggers Earn Money. The little bit of money I make from this site has more than doubled in the past year. I’m just happy that it pays for itself.
Posted in Web at 12:55 PM | Comments (0)
Parkour on Livebait.tv
Last Friday I finished editing a piece for Livebait.tv on Parkour. If you enjoyed the chase scene at the beginning of the last Bond film then you’ll want to check out this video and find out who David Belle is and what Parkour is all about.
It was nice to get an experienced camera professional to shoot an episode for us. Thanks to Onno Weeda for shooting the group from PKTO.ca.
View episode on Livebait.tv
Posted in Web at 3:32 PM | Comments (0)
Accept
I received a request to be added to a friend’s network on LinkedIn. I hesitated for a second when I saw what my options were and clicked Accept.
Posted in Web at 3:22 PM | Comments (3)
wine library tv
Today he’s featured in TIME and Gary couldn’t be happier. He celebrated by tasting 3 different champagne wines.
This is what he had to say about a 1996 Duval Leroy Brut Femme:
Exceptional stuff. 63 bones… Mmmm. It’s pricey, but it’s special. And it kicks Dom in the nuts!
You won’t find a review like Vaynerchuk’s in Wine Spectator which makes him a breath of fresh air in the stuffy world of wine tasting.
Posted in Food and Web at 11:27 PM | Comments (0)
Enbridge and web standards
My gas utility in Toronto is Enbridge. If you try to visit there website using the Safari web browser you’ll probably see this screen:
Notice the text at the bottom that says Safari users - our site runs best on one of the browsers above.
It seems that the dumb-ass web developers at Enbridge haven’t heard of web standards. What year is this? Browser sniffers and messages like this are so 1999!
If you look at the HTML code on the homepage you’ll notice that the site is coded in XHTML/CSS. Keep looking at the code and you’ll also see that they’re using tables for layout. Lame!
Okay. End of rant.
Rebates
If you’re using Firefox or Internet Explorer then you might want to take a look at these rebate programs that Enbridge is offering.
If you live in the Toronto area then take advantage of this program if your going to purchase any of these items in the next 2 months:
- a programmable thermostat
- high-efficiency gas furnace
- outdoor gas BBQ
If you’re feeling really generous, then donate your rebates to the web developers at Enbridge so they purchase a few O’Reilly books on web development.
Posted in Web at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)
CBS purchased Last.fm
CBS has been busy this month. They recently purchased videopodcast site, Wallstrip. Now they’ve purchased social music site, Last.fm for $280 million.
Last.fm is one of the fastest growing online communities with 15 million active users. I’ve never used the site but it allows you to connect with people that have similar music tastes, helps you discover new music and allows you to create your own online radio station.
Earlier this month CBS invested in Joost and contributed more than 2000 hours of CBS entertainment, sports and news programming. It seems like there is another dot.com boom percolating.
Posted in Web at 9:55 AM | Comments (0)
Buy! Buy! Buy!
There have been a lot of online acquisitions lately. Here is a recap if you missed some of the biggest deals this month:
Google is in the final stages of a deal to purchase Feedburner for $100 million. How much bigger can Google get?
Video blog, Wallstrip liked the Livebait.tv tagline (Where sub-culture meets pop-culture) so much that they copied it for their new tagline — stock culture meets pop culture. Last week they were acquired by CBS.
Amazon.com purchased Dpreview last week. Dpreview is a UK-based digital photography review site. If you’re looking for information on a digital camera, chances are that you’ll end up on this site and read their reviews.
Posted in Web at 11:19 PM | Comments (1)
Goggle on the Importance of Video
Wired recently did an interview with Google CEO, Eric Schmidt that I found really interesting. I’ve been trying to figure out where Livebait.tv might lead to in the future and to be honest, I have no idea. But I know I’m on the right track when Schimdt says:
People are using video everywhere. People are building communities of people who use video. They’re sharing them. YouTube’s traffic continues to grow very quickly. Video is something that we think is going to be embedded everywhere.
Livebait.tv has been a little slow going lately but we have a lot of interviews lined up and we’re going to be working with the Drake Hotel in Toronto to produce more content. Producing content isn’t new or groundbreaking but we’re filling a niche where nothing else exists at the moment (in Toronto) and that’s exciting.
Posted in Web at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)
ChomskyTorrents.org
ChomskyTorrents.org is an interesting BitTorrent site with links to a lot of documentaries (CBC, PBS and other sources). Somewhere in the site there are links to content, related to Noam Chomsky.
I came across this site when looking at Top 20 Less Known BitTorrent Sites on TorrentFreak.
Posted in Web at 5:15 PM | Comments (0)
What Does Marsellus Wallace Look Like?
What Does Marsellus Wallace Look Like is a brilliant interpretation of a scene from the film Pulp Fiction. Using nothing but text and some great animation you’ll be able to enjoy Sam Jackson yelling at Brett like you’ve never seen before. Turn the speakers down a little if you’re at work.
Posted in Motion Graphics and Movies and Web at 7:46 PM | Comments (0)
More DJ Champion
This week on Livebait.tv we have more DJ Champion. Ian talks to Max about his musical influences and the making of Chill’ em all.
Last weekend we visited the Brick Works in Toronto and spoke to Evergreen about their plans for this space in the Don Valley.
This weekend we’re off to Hamilton to do a story on geocaching which is becoming extremely popular across North America. If you haven’t got a clue then stay tuned to Livebait.tv.
Posted in Web at 9:35 AM | Comments (0)
More Bullfrog
After the Bullfrog Power video episode was posted on Livebait.tv we had a lot of feedback. A few people sent us emails to say that they were making the switch to Bullfrog Power. One of them was a reader of this site — Time Barnes.
Bullfrog Power also posted a button link to Livebait.tv on their homepage which is pretty exciting for the three of us that produce Livebait.tv.
Up next on we have an interview from NYC where Ian and Rose talk to the creators of the The Burg — an original show filmed in Brooklyn and only broadcast on the web.
Posted in Web at 10:53 PM | Comments (0)
Bullfrog Power on Livebait.tv
Last Wednesday our Livebait.tv team spoke with the President of Bullfrog Power. If you want to know more about green power then watch our interview on Livebait.tv.
After you watch the interview, consider signing up for Bullfrog Power or a green electricity retailer in your area. It costs a little more than regular hydro but it helps to reduce the air pollution generated by coal burning power plants.
Now before my friend on the wet coast calls me a hypocrite, (for driving a Mustang instead of a hybrid vehicle) I haven’t signed up for Bullfrog Power, yet. I intend to sign up and will blog about when it happens.
Posted in Web at 9:07 AM | Comments (9)
Livebait.tv
A couple of months ago I started working with a couple of friends (Ian and Rose) on a side project called livebait.tv — a video podcast where sub-culture meets pop-culture.
I quickly designed a site for livebait.tv and we put up our first episode —The Rose and Skinny Show. From there we:
- interviewed DJ Champion and shot his last concert at Lee’s Palace
- covered an event for The Walrus magazine in which Bruce Mau is interviewed
- interviewed Gabe Swahney of the murmur project
- interviewed the members of drawnonward — Canadian landscape painters
- and more.
The interview with DJ Champion was a great experience and it’s one of the best stories we’ve done so far. I’m extremely please with how it came together and the timing couldn’t be better.
DJ Champion’s single “No Heaven” is one of the biggest in Canada and gets a lot of radio airplay. Our interview has footage of that song being performed at his recent concert in Toronto. That was a big coup for us.
So what is my involvement? Ian and I shoot the video and Rose does most of the interviews. I’ll work with Ian on ‘finding the story’ for each piece and edit everything in Final Cut Studio — a fabulous creative experience every time we sit down and look at our footage. From there I’ll compress the footage into various video formats and upload them to livebait.tv for viewing.
Between the three of us it takes about 8-10 hours to produce a 5 minute story. If things look a little rough around the edges its because we don’t have the luxury of time, a budget, or a lot of professional experience. We’re learning as we go, meeting some really interesting artists and having a lot of fun.
The biggest challenge is finding the time to do all of this. Ian and Rose have an amazing ability for coming up with some really interesting interviews. Somehow we manage to pull it off each time, even when our day jobs get in the way.
Stay tuned for more episodes of livebait.tv. Check out the DJ Champion story. Tell your friends.
Post some feedback. Blog about it. Toss me a bone!
Posted in Web at 12:08 PM | Comments (4)
Web 2.0 Winners and Losers
Wired News has a quick overview of Web 2.0 Winners and Losers. I’m all over flickr but I still haven’t bothered using del.icio.us.
For a complete list of some of the most popular ‘Web 2.0’ sites, click here.
Posted in Web at 9:32 PM | Comments (3)
Back
After knocking my son’s front teeth out with a kayak, cooling off in Lake Huron, and visiting friends, I’m back to the relentless barrage of email and voice mail. Here’s a couple of links/stories that caught my attention this morning:
OK Go — Here It Goes Again
OK Go has a new video for “Here It Goes Again” that takes place entirely on treadmills. Watch it now.
Top Gear
Not that I have time to watch TV right now but BBC TWO has decided to put the latest season of Top Gear on its website. The quality of the video isn’t as good as the Torrent files that are out there but it’s nice to see a broadcaster making a popular show available to a global audience.
Air Jordan
A video montage of the top 10 dunks by Michael Jordan. Awesome.
First Blu-ray drive for Mac unveiled
Logitech is making a Blu-ray drive for Macintosh. Price? Only $1,100.
What a waste of time. Who in their right mind would spend a penny on a Blu-ray drive or an HD DVD drive when they haven’t settled on an HD format?
Eruption
Amazing satellite photo of a volcano erupting.
Posted in Personal and Web at 2:09 PM | Comments (3)
The Golden Age of the Internet
I’m not a fan of John C. Dvorak at PCMAG.com but I was impressed by his article about The Golden Age of the Internet. It’s hard to imagine what version 10.0 of the web will look like in 20 years. Will the Internet even be around in 50 years?
Compare the Internet to the early days of radio as Dvorak does and you get a sense that Al Gore’s information super highway might one day be insignificant.
Posted in Web at 9:38 PM | Comments (4)
Frogger
Neave Games developed an ‘unofficial clone’ of the original Frogger video game made by Konami Co, in 1981. If you’re at work, don’t forget to press the ‘M’ key to mute the sound (unless of course, you’re the boss). Play.
Posted in Web at 11:33 AM | Comments (1)
80s music videos
YouTube has 80s music videos. Lots of them.
A website called Milinkito has a huge list of links to these videos. Bored? Take a break and check out some videos you probably haven’t seen in 20 years.
Posted in Music and Web at 10:38 AM | Comments (1)
POPURLS.COM
Want to know the latest buzz on the web without sifting through digg.com, del.icio.us or furl.net?
Posted in Web at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)
Best love dr@gs at best st0re!
Here is a piece of spam that made it past my spam filter today. There should be a bill passed that says all spam must be spell-checked and have at least a grade 5 reading level. This message fails on both accounts but it gets an A+ for creativity.
The first Dolphin batter popped up to the second baseman. The second batter struck out on three straight swings. The dozen or so spectators shouted encouragement to their team.
Your g1rl is unsatisfieed with your p0tency?
Don’t wait until she finds an0ther men!
=CLICK_HERRE= <http://wqwqkm.grayflight.info/?18810410>
She wondered what Castenago looked like, and she found out, to a slight degree, when she bought some postage stamps at the hotel desk.
Posted in Web at 3:11 PM | Comments (1)
Eiffel Tower
This looks incredible! Click here to see a new satellite image of the Eiffel Tower on Google Maps. You can now see individual people at the bottom of the tower.
I can’t imagine what the CIA version of Google Maps looks like. I don’t think I want to know.
Posted in Web at 1:45 PM | Comments (0)
Incredible Climbing Video
Google Video has this incredible climbing video of a few Russian guys back-flipping, jumping off roofs and showing amazing spider-man-like abilities.
Posted in Web at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)
Only 1% of online households use podcasts
Forrester research did a study on podcasts and the results are a little surprising.
Although the idea of listening to podcasts appears to have strongly penetrated the consumer mindset, relatively few consumers appear to actively be taking advantage of them. The Forrester study revealed that about 25 percent of online users had an interest in podcasts, yet in North America, only about one percent of online households actually download and listen to them.
In the past I’ve subscribed to several podcasts but I never really listened to any of them. Video podcasts seem to have more appeal, especially if they are limited to a few minutes. I think the longer a podcast is, the less likely it is that someone will listen to it.
You can find more information here, and here.
Posted in Web at 1:14 PM | Comments (1)
More Daniel’s Doodles
It’s Saturday night and I’ve been kicked out of my house. My wife was going out to watch a movie with a friend. Her plans changed. Now she’s watching a movie in the home theatre and I’m not. So what’s a guy to do?
For the last couple of hours I’ve been updating Daniel’s Doodles — scanned in 11 new images, cleaned up a few old ones, improved the navigation and screamed at my flaky scanner.
It’s just after midnight. Maybe it’s safe to go home and watch the special edition DVD of Scarface (1983) now.
Posted in Web at 2:14 AM | Comments (3)
Toronto Traffic
If you live in Toronto then you’ll want to check this site before you leave the house or office to get on one of the major highways in the GTA. Using a Google Map interface it will show you where traffic is moving slowly or stopped completely. The map is updated every 120 seconds.
Posted in Web at 9:53 AM | Comments (2)
Finding the latest story
Where do you find breaking news, interesting blog entries or the latest web video that everyone is talking about?
I get three newspapers delivered to my door in the morning (they’re practically giving away newspaper subscriptions these days). The problem is that the news is always old by the time I read it. Editorial content and local news is what keeps me reading for the most part.
Yahoo News and the New York Times are my favourite online stops when I want to know what is going on in the world right now.
I never became a fan of newsreaders and RSS feeds. I still like to visit my favourite sites to see if there is new content. I know it’s old school and inefficient but it’s what I prefer at the moment.
Lately I’ve been scouring digg.com and its competitors for interesting stories and links to some fabulous resources on web development and design. Wired News had an interesting story on some of the latest news sites.
From this story I came across a few sites such as reddit, Megite, tech. memeorandum, TailRank that have the latest online content creating a buzz.
Posted in Web at 5:00 PM | Comments (3)
Pop Wuping
Pop Wuping is a blog about “modern stuff for a mobile lifestyle”.
You’ll absolutely love this site and drool if
- you are a creative professional
- collect really cool gadgets
- own a laptop or an iPod
Posted in Technology and Web at 9:34 PM | Comments (0)
Daniels Doodles update
Daniel’s Doodles has been added to the sidebar under the VIEWING section. Yesterday he did a drawing of Electro sporting a wicked ‘fro.
Posted in Web at 9:09 AM | Comments (1)
Rogers is throttling Bittorrent traffic
I never thought I would be happy to say that I am a Bell Canada customer. No, I haven’t gone off my meds, but I just read that Rogers is starting to kill Bittorrent traffic on their network. I’m using Bell Sympatico and haven’t had any problems with bandwidth.
There is a discussion on Apple’s Support forums that Rogers’ attempts to kill Bittorrent traffic are preventing people from purchasing music on iTunes and listening to Podcasts! I can’t believe that Rogers would be so stupid. Oh, wait a second, that is why I switched back to Bell a few years ago.
Posted in News and Web at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)
Daniel’s Doodles
My son Daniel likes to draw doodles so I created a doodle blog where he can publish his work. Take a look at Daniel’s Doodles. I helped him with the coding and he did the interface.
Instead of filing his work into a drawer somewhere I thought I would archive it on a website. One day he can look back and amuse himself. I just hope he doesn’t turn into another Robert Crumb.
Posted in Web at 4:44 PM | Comments (2)
DVD Journal Top 10
The DVD Journal has posted their list of the top 10 DVDs released in 2005. I was suprised to see that Team America: World Police made it into the top 10. I didn’t care much for this film but I seem to be in the minority here. Most of the people that I’ve talked to found it to be hilarious.
Glad to see François Truffaut’s Jules and Jim listed here. The Criterion Collection almost always releases interesting films with great extras. The two disc set of Jules and Jim is no exception. It is packed with extras and also includes a few essay’s about the film.
Some of the DVD releases that didn’t make the top 10 include Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Browning Version and A Very Long Engagement.
Martin Scorsese’s documentary No Direction Home was also on the short list. I don’t know, I watched this Bob Dylan doc last week and wasn’t impressed. I thought D.A. Pennebaker’s Dont Look Back (1967) was much more interesting. This is probably why Scorsese uses a lot of footage from Dont Look Back in his own film.
Posted in Web at 7:54 PM | Comments (0)
More Zip Value
I was just looking at my Zip.ca account to see how many movies I’ve watched in the last few months. Part of the reason is to see how much value I’m getting out of the service.
I pay $28.70/month to have out 4 DVDs at any one time. Here’s what I found:
- September – 7 rentals ($4.10/DVD)
- October – 7 rentals ($4.10/DVD)
- November – 13 rentals ($2.21/DVD)
Now that my work load has returned to normal I should be able to average about 8-10 rentals a month. I still think the service is outstanding. I always know what is coming in the mail but there is something nice about getting “real mail” delivered to your door.
Posted in Movies and Web at 4:01 PM | Comments (0)
Best/Top/Favourite/Notable of 2005
Here is the first of many lists for 2005.
I never knew that Metacritic had a Best of 2005 page for film that also includes previous years. This is a great way to select quality films for your ZipList.
RollingStone.com has a list of the Top 25 DVDs that some people may also find interesting.
Posted in Web at 8:11 PM | Comments (0)
ZipRefill
I’ve just been granted ZipRefill by Zip.ca for being a good customer and reporting when I’ve shipped back my DVDs.
Having ZipRefill on your account means that Zip.ca will send you a replacement DVD within one business day. You don’t have to wait the 1-3 days before Zip.ca receives DVDs you send back to them in the mail.
Anybody else have this “privilege” or any others that Zip.ca offers? If you don’t use your online account to report when your DVDs are returned or if you’ve reported DVDs stolen/missing then you probably won’t get access to this service.
I’m still really pleased with Zip.ca’s service and haven’t had any problems with them to date. They recently added a location in Mississauga which has improved their service (they use to ship/receive from Ottawa). Their selection of DVDs is outstanding and getting bigger every day.
If you want a new release then your best bet is still Blockbuster. Even then you have to ask yourself if it isn’t just better to go to the theatre and pay $9.99 for a ticket. Blockbuster is charging $5.99 per rental ($6.88 with tax). If I want a new release for the weekend then I’ll still head to Blockbuster but 90% of my rentals are coming from Zip.ca or my dad’s extensive collection of discs (and they’re free with no late fees).
Posted in Web at 10:46 AM | Comments (2)
Beer Hunter
If you live in Toronto and want to know where the closest beer store is (or LCBO) then look no further than Beer Hunter—a Google Maps guide to beer in Toronto.
Posted in Web at 1:28 PM | Comments (0)
Paris from a Ferrari at 140 MPH
In 1978, French filmmaker Claude Lelouch mounted a camera to the front of a Ferrari 275 GTB . He and a professional Formula 1 driver drove through the heart of Paris at insane speeds—Porte Dauphine, through the Louvre, to the Basilica of Sacre Coeur.
In the film, the driver runs several red lights, almost hits a few pedestrians and drives the wrong way on several one-way streets. Crazy stuff.
You can view the film here (Quicktime required). More info on the film can be found here. Link via Metafilter.
Posted in Web at 12:15 PM | Comments (1)
The BLOCKBUSTER Canada eStore®
Well, this is the moment all of you Canadian, card carrying Blockbuster members have been waiting for. The BLOCKBUSTER Canada eStore® is now open for business! I just received an email alert about this.
Why does Blockbuster have an eStore you ask? So you can pre-order DVDs or games for purchase!
I know what you’re thinking. Why would I want to pre-order a DVD from Blockbuster and pay full price it. Why not go to FutureShop or Walmart and get it for the sale price? Actually, I wondered the same thing.
Here is Blockbuster’s BIG reason for pre-ordering movies:
Just in time for your holiday shopping, here’s the latest innovation from your home entertainment headquarters: the BLOCKBUSTER Canada eStore®. Now you can pre-order upcoming movies and games online. When you pre-order a movie or game, you’re ensuring that you’ll be among the first to enjoy it just as soon as it’s released.
Wow! I’m all excited. Pre-ordering movies online for purchase! Way cool! I bet Amazon FutureShop or Zip.ca haven’t thought of this! Wicked! Blockbuster is the best!
Posted in Movies and Web at 10:29 AM | Comments (3)
Ads of the World
Just came across a new site called Ads of the World that features international ads—print, video and online. This one is going into my web browser favourites.
Blaupunkt bunny and teddy is a great ad that will probably never play in North America unless it is on your computer screen. Check it out and have a laugh.
Posted in Web at 4:17 PM | Comments (2)
View by category
I’ve updated BOMBIPPY PHOTOS so that you can view photos by categories instead of having to hit the previous photos button endlessly. If you want to view photos of Paris you can click on the pull down menu view them all at once.
Posted in Bombippy and Photography and Web at 4:22 PM | Comments (0)
Free shipping!
Criterion DVD.com is offering free shipping to Canada until September 18, 2005. If you were thinking about picking up some DVDs from The Criterion Collection then now is the time to do it.
Posted in Web at 2:31 PM | Comments (0)
Chu It Up… Spit It Out!
Somehow I forgot to mention that a friend of mine has a new blog. Jason Chu has some great DVD and film reviews at Chu It Up… Spit It Out! I’ve seen a lot of films but Jason always surprises me with a great recommendation by some director I’ve never heard of.
Filling up your ZipList or heading out to Blockbuster? Check out Chu It Up… Spit It Out! for something new.
Posted in Movies and Web at 1:54 PM | Comments (0)
Criterion Newsletter
The Criterion Newsletter, an email newsletter launched today. If you want to keep up to date with The Criterion Collection then opt-in.
Coming to DVD in September by Criterion:
Naked (1993), directed by Mike Leigh
Masculin féminin (1966), directed by Jean-Luc Godard
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), directed by Nicolas Roeg
Bad Timing (1980), directed by Nicolas Roeg
Posted in Web at 4:56 PM | Comments (0)
50 Coolest Websites
Time.com has a list of 50 Coolest Websites 2005. The list is broken down into different categories—blogs, arts & entertainment, news, lifestyle and shopping.
Some of the sites that I found interesting are:
Posted in Web at 1:15 PM | Comments (2)
Toronto’s Drains
I came across an interestign site called The Vanishing Point: An Ontario Draining Resource that describes storm water drains throughout Ontario.
It turns out that the Cliffside Storm and Sanitary Sewers are literally at the end of my street—the Scarborough Bluffs. Sanitary Sewers don’t sound very appealing but I think it might be fun to to do a little exploring when I’m finished working on CD-ROM projects.
Posted in Web at 11:38 PM | Comments (3)
Yahoo News Redesigned
Yahoo News has been redesigned. Wow! Talk about effecient. I love how the photos appear when you put your mouse pointer over a headline.
There is some pretty nifty DHTML going on to let you compare news sources side by side in the different news sections. Very nice. How long before the other news portals start to look like this?
Posted in Web at 4:59 PM | Comments (0)
Reasons to fear Canada
One of the latest lists from McSweeny’s caught my eye—Reasons to fear Canada.
Funny stuff and typical of what many Americans think of Canadians. Hey, at least there wasn’t any meniton of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or SARS.
Posted in Web at 2:03 PM | Comments (1)
Google Maps
How cool is this? Google Maps rock!
Check out these satellite views of my office in the Upper Beach (Toronto) and my house in the Scarborough Bluffs.
If you zoom into the house map, we’re actually to the left by about 100 pixels. Close enough. I’m impressed.
Posted in Web at 12:25 AM | Comments (0)
kottke.org becomes a full-time job
Jason Kottke has decided to quit his job and make kottke.org a full-time job. He won’t be loading up his site with Google Ads but will be asking for contributions to pay the bills.
I think it’s a gutsy move and congratulate him. He’s pursuing something that he is a passionate about, and he’s taking a huge financial risk in doing so (unless the contributions exceed his expectations). It will be interesting to see how kottke.org evolves over the next few months.
Now if I could only figure out a way for my wife to make money from blogging, I’ll never have to work again.
Posted in Web at 3:51 PM | Comments (1)
Pricenetwork.ca
Pricenetwork.ca—find the lowest price, hot deals, check the flyers, or browse the classifieds. If you live in Toronto then this is a great site that could save you time and money. Today’s link comes to us from Tim. Thanks Tim!
Posted in Web at 7:38 PM | Comments (0)
Beautiful Aerial Photography
These aerial photographs are just incredible. I love the Stonehenge photo.
Posted in Web at 9:01 PM | Comments (0)
The Bit Torrent Effect
Clive Thompson’s article for Wired magazine about BitTorrent. I’m amazed by how many people have never heard about BitTorrent, people that use computers every day to check their email or do their jobs. If you’re one of them then read this article.
Posted in Web at 8:00 PM | Comments (0)
DVD Town
Movie news and reviews. I’m always on the lookout for great DVD sites. DVD Town is nicely designed, has great cover art photography, good reviews, announcements and HDDVD.org—a site devoted to the latest news on HD-DVD and Blue-Ray disc formats.
Posted in DVD Reviews and Web at 11:51 AM | Comments (0)
BitTorrent accounts for an astounding 35 percent of all the traffic on the Internet
There is a story on Yahoo that BitTorrent accounts for 35% of all Internet traffic. This is incredible!
I visit a BitTorrent site called Suprnova occasionaly if I miss an episode of The Sopranos. I don’t have a PVR and I haven’t used a VCR in about 4 years so being able to download a current TV show, whenever I want is, well, the way it should be.
I can’t be bothered downloading DVDs from BitTorrent sites because I suspect the quality isn’t as high as a professionaly mastered disc. Call me a snob but I’d rather purchase or rent the real thing instead of suffering through a poorly mastered disc that is missing commentaries and extras. Sorry Dave, Neal and Youssef.
I wonder how long it will be before Apple figures out a way to distribute video using a P2P network? Thanks to Dave for the link to this story.
Posted in Web at 7:43 PM | Comments (0)
Toogle
Do you have some time to waste? Try looking for some images using Toogle. Pretty cool.
Posted in Web at 5:28 PM | Comments (0)
Earth today
This page looks interesting. I don’t know how credible, scientific or accurate it is because it doesn’t provide any information about who created the page. Oh, it also came from my friend Andy. I guess things were a little slow this morning at work.
Posted in Web at 5:00 PM
RedFlagDeals.com
This is one of the most useful sites I’ve ever been to. If you’re in Canada and you’re looking for great online deals, then this is the place to find them. In-store deals? Of course! This website lists everything and is always up to date. Thanks to Tim Barnes for the link.
Posted in Web at 5:08 PM
