Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Why not a gramaphone?

It is forbidden to wear head sets connected to a mobile device such as a CD player.
CD player? What percentage of music liseners are playing CDs?

It's time for Air Canada to update their admonishments to reflect current technology.

Friday, July 14, 2006

Tips for Vancouver Travellers

If you are going to Vancouver next week for the Liberty Sponsors meeting or the Identity Open Space, some local knowledge.
  1. Sprinkle 'ehs' liberally throughout your conversation with the Canada Customs officer - as in 'Im just here for an identity conference eh. Beauty eh'. They will appreciate your effort and might even offer you a tour of the 'back rooms' that most tourists don't get to see.
  2. Its 'orrrrnge', not 'or ange'
  3. Canada isn't actually 'the cold Puerto Rico'.
  4. Vancouverite's (and some others) believe their city is the best place in the world to live. They will tell you this over and over. Expect to hear it from the cabbie on the ride from the airport. Expect to hear it from the homeless panhandling for money. When they do, ask them if downtown meets the technical criteria of a rainforest.
  5. Canada has two official languages - Eastern and Western.
  6. To really impress, when you want a coffee ask the Concierge where the nearest "Tim's" is. When at a Tim Horton's, don't fall for the marketing hype and order a flavoured Ice Capp - they are crap and you will regret the waste of your money.
  7. Some stores will take US money at par.
  8. Canadians apologize alot. Sorry about that.
  9. Unfortunately, next week's meetings happen to fall in the middle of the 10 day window in which the league takes a break so you will be unable to see any professional hockey. Even were this not the case you wouldn't be able to see any truly professional hockey in Vancouver.
  10. Gastown offers a complementary 'Dick Hardt Double Decker Bus Tour'. From air conditioned comfort you can see where Dick lives, his favourite coffee shops, and his Porsche dealer. I believe they even have the commentary in different lanaguges e.g. Sxip, SAML, LID etc. A must do.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

I'm sick of my iPod playlists

I can listen to other people's playlist using Webjay, I should have the same option on my iPod.

Something like:
  1. I upload my library (just the metadata) to a server
  2. I define criteria for a playlist, e.g. # songs, preferred theme
  3. Somebody mixes me a playlist using songs from #1 and meeting criteria of #2
  4. I download said playlist to iTunes where I give it a listen
  5. I bitch about said playlist and question each and every song
  6. I give above feedback to playlist creator for their education, their reputation is adjusted accordingly

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Litter Kid

My 9 year old son has started a blog.

He gets some money, the neighborhood gets cleaned up a bit, and I get him out of the house for an hour.

He was very excited about his first post. Told his mother that he 'now has a blog' - she told him to clean it up.

Peeps Service - Aldo interviews Conor

Episode 33 of the Story of Digital Identity is up.

Conor, better than anybody, can speak to the design principles and evolution of the Liberty Alliance's identity architectures. Conor's description of Alice & Bob brought back memories of many a whiteboard session.

If you listen closely, you might even hear an opinion sneak through (they'll be the sentences prefaced with 'we'.)

Jibes notwithstanding, I'd have Conor in my Peeps Service anyday (although I expect I'd be selective about who could query that fact).