In Windows, I liked the Windows Writer (OK, it was bloatware and a bit slow loading, but it worked quite nicely to allow me to blog locally and upload).

Now I am testing Mac blog apps. Most are shareware or commercial software, and the prices vary from reasonable to expensive. I used MarsEdit for “Noah comes for a visit” entry, and for this one, I am using Ecto. The next one will be MacJournal, although I suspect that MacJournal is a bit pricey for my tastes, since I can always just use the Firefox plugin app ScribeFire….

Chris and Karen brought Noah by for a visit. He is just a few weeks old here. Cute little thing, isn’t he?!?

Article is here:  http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/12/15/alcohol-cinema.html

I am neither for nor against this particular decision. I like people to have personal freedoms, to each their own. I likely wouldn’t bother buying beer in a movie theatre (it would cause me to have to run to the washroom even more frequently than the bladder-buster soft drinks they already feed to us…) and honestly, anyone who feels the need to drink a beer while at a movie theatre may have more to worry about in their life. Just one more place for the police to set up roadside checks I guess.

But I digress… If they are going to allow it, I have always wondered why they bother to have a restriction on children being present. I can take my kids to a restaurant and have a beer with them at the table. What’s the difference? Are they afraid I’m going to feed my kids beer in the dark?

Sometimes the rules just don’t make sense.

Just updated the blog software from Wordpress 1.something to Wordpress 2.7

I am hoping this will eliminate some minor issues I was having with ScribeFire in FireFox and a few other items while trying to post remotely.

unfortunately, with the import to the new blog, I seem to have lost the comments. I will work to get them back, but they may end up disappearing if I don’t find some spare time…

OK, so with the acquisition of the new TV, I am really enjoying watching Blu-Ray and upconverted DVDs, so I decided to start looking to try out the HD offerings. When I bought the TV, I received a Rogers HD package with an offer for bunch of free stuff.

I have been a loyal Bell Expressvu (now Bell TV) customer for quite some time, and I’m not completely convinced I want to leave them yet, despite the occasional weather-related outage, the service has been pretty good. But my old 3100 terminal is acting up, so I need to replace it with something anyway, plus the inherent problems that you are limited to watching what is being fed to the main terminal (unless you get another terminal or one of their new dual tuner ones that are expensive!), weather outages, and no local programming.

When I contacted Bell, they pointed me to a web page showing standard rates (basically a more expensive version of what I have now and similar to the Rogers VIP package). They offered free install (upgrade really, to the new HD dish/equipment), but made no offer for free set top box rental (although they offered me a 50% discount on purchase if I signed up for 2 years…). When I told them they were considerably more expensive than Rogers, they gave me a number to call. From anecdotal evidence and some investigation online, I have found this is their tactic - give you the regular price, then make other offers if you balk. Kind of a crappy way to do business if you ask me. The people you want to keep happy are the loyal ones, not the ones who switch with every deal!

So in comparison, Rogers is offering VIP HD for about ~$45/month for the first year once you add their $2.99 ‘digital access fee’, which is along the same lines as the legalized theft everyone adds to cell bills as ’system access fess’, plus they are offering me free install and free box rental for a year (some people are apparently even getting two years free rental, although I suspect it comes at the cost of a contract). My problem with Rogers is their absolutely terrible program guide - something out of the 80s (actually, I think Windows 3.1 running on DOS looked more modern…). It is slow, no watching the current show while channel surfing, and no way to “hide” all those channels you either don’t subscribe to or don’t want to scroll through every time you look for something to watch (PPV, etc.). I have heard their guide is getting a facelift soon (already available on some devices), so maybe they have rectified these shortcomings, and the benefits to cable are that I can have up to 4 outlets in the house, one with the digital box, the other 3 getting standard cable. There are also no weather-related issues and we get to have the local news and watch Comedy Council sessions on Monday nights if I am feeling particularly sleep-deprived…

I looked into Aliant TV, but they are not available at my house, so they lose out. Star Choice might be an option if they were really competitive, but the real race in my mind is Bell vs. Rogers at this point.

Once the year of cheap rates is up, I realize all packages float around the same price, so it will likely come down to quality of service and convenience features.

My question is, does anyone have experience with both Bell and/or Rogers HD programming and is willing to share their experience(s), good or bad, to help me decide?

A mechanic was removing a cylinder-head from the motor of a Harley motorcycle when he spotted a well-known cardiologist in his shop……..

The cardiologist was there waiting for the service manager to come take a look at his bike when the mechanic shouted across the garage, “Hey Doc, want to take a look at this?”

The cardiologist, a bit surprised, walked over to where the mechanic was working on the motorcycle. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, “So Doc, look at this engine. I open its heart, take the valves out, repair any damage, and then put them back in, and when I finish, it works just like new. So how come I make so little and you get the really big bucks when you and I are doing basically the same work?”

The cardiologist paused, smiled and leaned over, then whispered to the mechanic…

“Try doing it with the engine running…”

From CNEWS

Universite de Montreal political scientist Bruce Hicks says the Tories aren’t likely to make any further inroads in Quebec despite efforts to do so over the last two elections.

Hicks says using the Bloc Quebecois’ participation in the proposed opposition coalition to ratchet up fears over separatism isn’t likely to resonate with “soft nationalists” who’ve supported the Tories.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2008/12/03/7620121-cp.html

The computer at home is getting old. I gave it an overhaul and engine job done a year or so ago to keep it road-worthy for a little longer (added RAM, new Video card, etc.), but it is just no longer feasible for me to keep adding to it.

We each have decent Dell laptops running XP through work that we can use to keep up to date with work at home and on the road, so any new machine was strictly for us.

So whether it was the outstanding advertising campaign, the slick look and feel every time I have test-driven them, the complete underwhelming feeling I get every time I navigate in Vista, or the several hours of online tutorials I watched to see how they worked, after discussing it for a while, we have decided to give the Apple iMac a shot. While shopping online, I was being good and showing Nadine how nice the 20″ screen version looked. Then she noticed the 24″ screen beside it and said “What’s wrong with that one?”. Well, never one to miss an opportunity, I quickly conceded that the 24″ was indeed nicer and, while a bit more money, would provide the best user experience!

After some tweaking, I bumped up the RAM, upgraded to a 750 GB hard drive, and went with the wireless mouse and keyboard. All these tweaks basically offset the education discount I received for being a post-secondary faculty member (and, as a university student, I would have qualified for the same discount). I plan to use bootcamp to install Windows on a separate partition, just in case we find need of it, but I hope we get the most out of MAC OS X. I would have preferred to purchased it locally, but the education discount only appears to be available online, so I wore out some of the goodwill of my credit card and placed the order!

Because of the customization, it will add a day or two to the build process, but I expect it to arrive within a week. Let the adventure begin!!!

So two of Canada’s iconic political opponents of the past 30 years work together to overthrow the Conservative government because they were acting like a vindictive child… Nice! Ed Broadbent (a man for whom I have all the respect in the world!) and Jean Chretien (a savvy veteran of many tougher opponents than Mr Harper could ever be) are working to create a coalition government to topple the Conservatives.

I think the Conservatives thought they were kidding, because they initially ignored the threats and assumed it was posturing.

Now, the Conservative party decides to repeal the clawback… Here is that link: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/11/28/tories-fiscal.html

This is sounding like a Mastercard commercial!!!

Initiating a partisan piece of legislation weeks after wearing a fuzzy blue sweater and promising you have changed
-> confidence of the house

Watching two of Canada’s iconic political opponents of the past 30 years work together to overthrow your government because you were being a vindictive child
-> Lots of excited opposition members and added excitement for the majority of the country’s voters

Watching Mr Harper and Mr Flaherty waffle and backpeddle once they realized their bluff had been called…
-> Priceless!

heh, can you say “Blink“???

***

Now, it appears the Liberals and NDP have managed to come to some form of agreement. It is up to the Bloc to decide which way they will vote on this issue. Hmm, Prime Minister Stephane Dion, Minister of Labour Jack Layton, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Gilles Duceppe… A truly inspiring thought!

I can’t remember ever in my life wanting to cheer for and have the Bloc Quebecois onside for a vote… Even if this fails top pass, at the very least, it is letting the Conservative government know the other parties are there to play and will not be pushed around.

Here is the link about the coalition portion: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/11/28/fed-govt.html

It has been a long time since I looked forward to a Monday…

Great, so Mr. Harper plans to cut $30 million worth of MP perks after wasting $300 million on an election. Sort of like closing the barn door after the horses have left if you ask me…

The bad part of this piece of legislation is the piece that tries to claw back the public money for parties for votes received. That it is designed specifically to hit the pocketbook of all the other parties harder…

Changes like this need to be brought in and not acted upon until after an election so that everyone knows the “new rules” and agrees to play by them. This election was run under these rules. If Mr Harper tries to backdate this (one of the rumours being passed around), that would make him even more sinister than previously thought.

Even if it is only 5% or 6% like the greens, every vote helps them by giving them a financial boost in a very inequitable parliamentary system. Without this, there would be even less incentive to vote than there already is, particularly if… Read more you are one of the growing numbers who are disenchanted. At least with this system, your vote is worth a bit of money to them.

The US jump-started to Mr. Obama. We stalled with Mr. Harper. Let the opposition parties vote this down and let’s go back to the polls! If the country gives Mr. Harper a majority, he can have his crown, sell off our assets, keep his oil flowing, and cut our services and social programs to the point we are a heartless, two-class, basket-case country (kind of like the US under Bush…). But I think (hope?) Canada is still smart enough to keep his powers limited until a less vindictive, more reasonable person can lead!

Here is the Globe and Mail story