that canadian girl

Category: Web & Technology

  • Tomorrow, the iPhone will change the world

    On the eve of the launch of the iPhone in the US, I thought I’d finally come out clean with my views on it.

    [Yes, I know you’re all sick to death of hearing about the iPhone, but bear with me; I’ve been quiet about it since the day it was announced, and even today, I haven’t completely made up my mind on how I feel about it, and I need to verbalise my thoughts.]

    It’s going to be a shiny, sleek and unique gadget. It’s going to take the world by storm, and wallets by the throat. We’re all going to drool over it, have a flick at the screen and a poke at the SDK (well not me, but you know…) Oh and we’re going to hear about it for a few more bloody months…

    I want to wish the iPhone into being as good as we all hope it will be, but I can’t help but have some reservations.

    First, that’s one great big screen to try and protect. Don’t know about you, but my phone, my keys and my lipglosses often have happy little tea parties in the bottom of my handbag, and I’m not sure the iPhone would be keen on the company. Granted the plastic screen has been replaced with a tougher glass one, but even while protected in a big iPod sock-type-thing, it’s a big screen against which pressure can be applied by a not-so-careful owner.

    Also, the battery life is bound to be pretty poor with such a screen to power, regardless of their claims (scroll down this article for the comparison). I already found Shitbrick* and my N95 to suck the life out of the battery something senseless the moment I used the web browser, so while they’ve upped the claimed battery life, I struggle to believe that it’ll really be that great.

    But my main concern is really, honestly… just how long it’ll be before I can get my greasy mitts on an iPhone… Not necessarily OWN one, but have a good little play for a few days and decide whether we’re made for each other.

    Until then, however, I’m thoroughly enjoying the company of my wonderful and versatile N95. *cradles N95 in her arms* Don’t worry you’re not going anywhere anytime soon, little thing! It’s lived up to expectations, and continued to amaze me. Will the iPhone also live up to expectations?

    Well, I guess we’ll find out tomorrow morning, won’t we?

    [* That’s the loving name I gave to my N70 after it started throwing a wobbly at random, telling me to “Close down applications. Running out of memory!” when nothing was open, then being too busy throwing that wobbly to let me calm it down. What a pile of crap, paperweight at best!]

  • Getting through 127 RSS feeds a day

    While I may not have as many RSS feeds to read as Scoble does, I crunch through my fair share of blog posts and news every day. I’ve already mentioned how much I love Google Reader, but again, it’s impressed me by its simplicity.

    If you’d like to see which items I’ve read and have found worth sharing, visit this URL and sign up for the feed (how meta!). I expect it’ll focus around mobile web, gadgets and technology, with the occasional geek marketing post (probably by the wonderful Tara) and lolcats.

    When I upgrade to WP 2.2 (which I haven’t done yet, how disgraceful!), it’ll become my blogroll in the sidebar for ease of browsing.

    Think I’m missing out on any essential feeds? I’m always up for new reading material so drop me a line and I’ll have a look – Mobile, Apple and Marketing related blogs particularly welcome.

  • You know you're a designer when…

    “Wishing I knew how to explain the hex color I want in terms of Benjamin Moore naming scheme to my house painters.”

    – Tiff on Twitter yesterday

  • Nightmare clients

    A “funny because it’s true” article on nightmare web design clients by MB Web Design, which I thought I’d share to amuse those friends of mine who are also mad enough to have their own design, development or digital agency of some sort.

    On the similar topic of difficult clients, Freelance Switch’s “12 breeds of client and how to work with them” is also a good read.

    Web design cartoon

  • Jaw droppingly cool viral video

    Every online corp is trying to jump onto the viral video and user generated content bandwagon these days. Most of them fall off the wagon with a few scratches and a bruised ego, but the occasional one succeeds.

    Criss AngelWill It Blend was a great example of a viral campaign that succeeded massively on YouTube, one of the first in fact. Yielding many whiny wishes from my husband that “if we lived in the US, he would definitely be buying one of their food-blenders-with-a-lawnmower-engine”, the aim of the campaign was to show quite how powerful that engine is.

    The latest campaign that impressed me is in fact for an American illusionist called Criss Angel and his (probably lame) A&E tv show. Rather than opt for a one-size-fits-all viral video, it’s been done through the use of a vast number of pre-recorded cut scenes, which are stranded together based on the customisation your friend has done. No explanation is as good as seeing it for yourself, so here, go try it (and freak your friends out).

    There’s no doubt in my mind that the idea is based on Burger King’s Subservient Chicken from 2004, but the Criss Angel video, while simple, is well executed and fits his style.

    If the bar continues to be raised for viral videos and this kind of funky stuff continues to be created, then roll on the bandwagon!

  • Five reasons Facebook is probably worth paying attention to

    Facebook LogoA few weeks ago, Facebook wasn’t really on my radar. I knew it was a slightly-less-young version of MySpace, but didn’t think much of it, and didn’t know more than a handful of people using it.

    But somehow, it must’ve hit critical mass in the past few weeks, because this has all changed very quickly!

    Five reasons Facebook is probably worth paying attention to

    • You find out your sister has a new boyfriend through one of her Facebook updates;
    • You manage to find your favourite childhood babysitter’s Facebook profile, and turns out she has a 2 year old boy;
    • Your teenage cousin who’s made herself scarce at family parties in the past few years decides to actually acknowledge you and write on your Wall;
    • You read your two best developer friends’ Twitters and find out they’re both developing their own proof of concept Facebook application;
    • Out of nowhere, old acquaintances email you to find out if you’re on Facebook (because then they don’t feel so guilty for not having asked how you were doing for the past few years).

    I still feel that Facebook only brings a perceived sense of proximity and closeness, but it’s better than nothing and it’s been a fun ride so far. Fifty-eight friends in just over a week, including some people I haven’t spoken to in years, not bad going!

    Once the Friends Reunited generation catches on to Facebook, it’ll most likely go through another huge bout of growth since, as I understand it, there is a cost to be put in contact with friends you’ve found on Friends Reunited. Why pay when there’s a clean, lean alternative like Facebook?

  • Joost: Party's over, we're pulling the plug

    Everyone’s having kittens over getting an invite to Joost these days, with it being one of the most coveted invite-only beta of the moment, and apparently the greatest thing since caramel popcorn.

    Joost Beta logo

    I’ve had an invite for a few weeks now, and expectations were very high when I first joined. I was less than overwhelmed by it when I first tried it, mostly due to Pipex throttling any P2P connections on suspicion of being illegal activity. Of course, I keep promising myself I’ll go give it another spin very soon from another location, so I may have a more interesting review at a later date.

    I found Last100’s comment very interesting on the fact that three hours a month is all some users would get out of Joost:

    With an ever greater amount of video being consumed online, many Internet users are in for a shock. There’s a dirty little secret in the broadband industry: Internet Service Providers (ISPs) don’t have the capacity to deliver the bandwidth that they claim to offer. One way ISPs attempt to conceal this problem is to place a cap of say 1GB per-month per user, something which is common in the UK for many of the lower-cost broadband packages on the market. Considering that a mere three hours viewing of Joost (the new online video service from the founders of Skype — see our review) would all but use up this monthly allowance, it’s clear that lots of Internet users aren’t invited to the party.

    We all knows ISPs are cheapskates and the fineprint surrounding “unlimited bandwidth” offers always includes a fair use clause and the most frustrating right to throttle connections. Clearly, it appears that the way ISPs define “fair use” differs from my definition or yours.

    As far as I’m concerned, fair use should not allow my ISP deciding whether or not the P2P activity occurring on my connection is necessarily illegal filesharing. Joost uses P2P technology to enable faster download speeds and decentralised sharing, but ISPs like Pipex take all the fun out of it.

    So the Web 2.0 party is here, but the bouncers have decided not being let me in because I might be dodgy. Looks like I might need to fire that bouncer…

    [Via Vecosys]

  • The real hardcore geek's programming language: LOLCAT

    You know you’re a proper geek when you can write in LOLCODE, the latest and greatest programming language to grace the Interweb. It’s a simple language written for the cats, by the cats.

    File open example

    HAI
CAN HAS STDIO?
PLZ OPEN FILE "LOLCATS.TXT"?
    AWSUM THX
        VISIBLE FILE
    O NOES
        INVISIBLE "ERROR!"
KTHXBYE

    What can I say? I has 1337 code. LOL!!1

  • Joining Facebook

    So it’s happened, I’ve given in and joined Facebook. It’s a growing monstrous beast with, apparently, approx 18 million users as of Feb 2007.

    Now, I’ve got a few friends and acquaintances with whom I’m linked, and a few groups which I’ve joined (such as “Twitter Addicts”, hah!) but… I still don’t get it.

    It strikes me as a slightly more “grownup” social network than MySpace, and I love the fact that users can’t bastardise the layout and look of their personal page the way MySpace allows Lily Allen to do so.

    I admit, it is a great way to get back in touch with some old friends, but beyond that, I’m still a bit baffled.

    So what’s the secret? What’s so great about Facebook that there are 18 million people willing to join it? Or is that what makes it so great? The fact that you can search for just about anyone you know, and you’ll find them there.

  • Virtual barbershop

    Get your headphones now, put them on your head and listen to the virtual barbershop. It’s one of the most bizarre experiences ever.

    Come on, play along and have a listen.

    Oh and happy Friday!