that canadian girl

Latest adventures…

  • WordPress 2.3 now released

    If, like me, you’re using WordPress, you’ll be pleased to hear that version 2.3 has now come out of the oven. It’s upgrade time!

    Matt MullenwegSome highlights: Tagging now comes as default (so no need to faff with third-party plugins), notices when plugin updates become available, automatic non-www domain forwarding, old post slug forwards to the new one if changed (Halleluia!), some improved post management and a big handful of ubergeek features. All in all, some pretty exciting changes!

    It’s so funny to see that the very adorable Matt Mullenweg, founding developer of WordPress, is even throwing a WordPress upgrade party at his place tomorrow. Shame, San Francisco is a bit of a trek for me. Cambridge upgrade party anyone? 😉

  • Post Secret + Lolcats = LolSecretz

    If Post Secret is too heavy for you, and i can has cheezburger is too silly, then find the perfect mashup of the two of them in LolSecretz.

    soemtimz i screemz when i eez alone

  • The photowalking Bojangles

    The photowalking Bojangles

    The photowalking Bojangles, originally uploaded by thatcanadiangirl.

  • Run, Fatboy, Run!

    Last night, I went out to see “Run, Fatboy, Run!” with Andrew and my lovely friend Celia.
    Run, Fatboy, Run!
    I’m already pretty fond of Simon Pegg’s older movies, but I think this one tops them all. The theme is more appealing to girls than zombies or village cops, so that might have something to do with it. It might also have to do with the fact that the spotlight is much more on Pegg, rather than sharing it with Nick Frost and some guns. And it might have to do with Thandie Newton being so adorable, Hank Azaria playing the over-confident American so well and a handful of classic cameos from the likes of David Walliams and Stephen Merchant.

    Take all the above, mix them gently together and you’ve got my favourite comedy of the year by miles.

    Definitely comes with two thumbs up, and a big toe too.

  • First thoughts on iPhone launch for Europe

    Well, it’s here. The iPhone has now been officially announced for the UK and the rest of Europe.

    There’s coverage everywhere; Engadget, PocketPicks, TechDigest, TUAW… And I think we’ve all got the same feeling. We’re slightly underwhelmed by the announcement, seeing as there won’t be any 3G.

    However, the partnership with The Cloud is interesting. Free WiFi for all iPhone users where The Cloud is available. Having a look at the areas covered by The Cloud, it should be pretty good for Londoners and those based in busier centres, with a few hotspots sprinkled across the rest of the UK.

    For the past few months, I’ve coveted the idea of having an iPhone instead of my clunky N95, but there are definitely pros and cons, and I’ll have to mull it over for a bit longer before I decide what to do. I WANT the iPhone to succeed in the UK because I want to see more phones with smoother user interfaces, better thought-out features and less Symbian-like crashes and grey screens. But at the moment, the £35-£55/month tariffs are at the very high end of what we’re willing to pay, and considering the network speed limitations, I’m not sure I’m willing to stump up the money just yet.

    What about everyone else? Are you getting one? Are you disgusted by the deals? Are you waiting for the 3G iPhone which might come out next year?

  • 8 Random things about me

    After a few quiet no-blogging days, I thought it was time for a light-hearted post, while I’m sitting in this hotel lobby in Helsinki. I’ve been tagged by Whatleydude, a fellow mobile industry colleague and iPhone addict.

    But first – here are the rules:

    • We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
    • Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
    • People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

    Right well… here goes nothing…

    1. I’m addicted to trying new, weird and wonderful food. Put one of my favourite meals side-by-side with something I’ve never tried, and odds are I’ll go for the unfamiliar dish. Give me weird new types of sushi, dishes with names I can’t pronounce and I’ll go with them. Unless I need comfort food or I’m PMS’ing, then only familiar food will do. I guess this isn’t news to anyone who’s ever been out to a restaurant with me!
    2. I studied vocal music for 5 years at De La Salle High School in Ottawa. In fact, I played the toreador in our school production of Carmen (yeah, the opera). We were pretty much an all-girls class so we found ourselves playing both female and male roles. Being an alto (or, as I like to think, a lazy mezzosoprano), I got male roles too often for my liking. My dad was a music teacher, so doing music in high school was a natural decision. This also makes me a total Broadway/musicals addict.
    3. The only running thread between all the jobs I’ve had since ~2001 is that I’ve geekified every single one of them far beyond the original job description. They say you mold the job by your personality, abilities and interests. So I guess that makes me a geek.
    4. French is my first language and at the core of my upbringing and childhood culture. Yet I’ve never had a French-speaking boyfriend as a teenager, and married a Brit.
    5. I was born to be a bartender. I absolutely love making cocktails, either to someone else’s recipe or making up my own. I don’t understand how anyone can think it’s complicated/difficult to shake a few ingredients that go well together with ice and pour them in a martini glass!
    6. I’m not a big fan of TV. In fact, I would happily live without. But I do love the Apple TV and would replace traditional with more fun, relevant video podcasts, free from traditional advertising. I don’t mind Diggnation being sponsored by beer people half as much as I mind loud, aggressive ad breaks.
    7. I don’t hold a grudge. I’ve never had something so serious that I haven’t resolved it or agreed to discuss it before bedtime, whether business or personal. My grandfather told me never to go to sleep on an argument, and I think he’s right. The damage can be undone if it’s talked through early on, but go to bed on it and you might do permanent damage.
    8. I didn’t travel by plane until I was 18, at which point I went to Vancouver with a high school choir. Until that point, all holidays were land-based trips with the family. Since then, I’ve been flying for all sorts of work and holiday reasons.

    Now I need to tag people. Well, let’s go for a few friends and a few work people.

  • I love the internet…

    For making conversations like this possible.

    Steve Jobs writes an open letter to all iPhone owners today, offering them all $100 gift certificate in return for their loyal, early adoption.

    Within hours, Robert Scoble has responded with his own open letter of what he’d like instead of $100.

  • Asda makes cooking fish easier

    Over the past few years, I’ve written quite a few posts about my amazement at many people’s fear of cooking unknown foods, resulting in Britain households cooking on average 4 meals each.

    But while watching Hell’s Kitchen (the Marco Pierre White version, not the Gordon Ramsay one), which is a worthless show by the way, I saw an interesting advert by Asda which got me thinking.

    Fish is a type of food many people have issues with. It’s wet. It’s slimey. It looks at you funny with its beady eyes. It can smell funny sometimes. So Asda found a low-cost solution for that problem.

    They simply put the fish in a sealed bag which can be put straight into the oven, but also add a few bits of herbs and some lemon. This means a non-foodie can easily get a lovely steamed-in-the-bag meal without the hassle of touching fish.

    Asda didn’t need to reinvent cooking or teach anyone to cook. Simply remarkable.

  • IPod nano red on order!

    iPod nano red on orderDo I really even need to say it? Or does the picture on the right and my empty wallet say it all?

    Yes, I’ve given in, I’ve got a red iPod nano on order. In my defense, it’s my birthday on the 19th so it’s my pressie. And it’s the “good cause” iPod too. I’m helping fight AIDS in Africa by giving my money to Mr. Jobs.

    It’s been a long time since I’ve had the luxury of music in my pocket. My N95 is far too rubbish to be used for music, and while I have an old iPod Shuffle (the kind that looks like a USB key, not the slick tiny clippy one), I’ve never liked the shuffling concept.

    So here it is, my first real iPod. It’s red. It’s lush. I can’t wait to get it! Shame it won’t arrive before I go to Finland and Russia next week though… :S

  • Watch out for nasty Quechup!

    Just a quickie to let everyone know that if you receive an invite from a friend to a social network called Quechup, don’t sign up. I received one from Hugh MacLeod, quickly followed by a blog post apologising to everyone for the unwanted invite.

    As Pete from Mashable says in his post on Quechup:

    The issue lies with their “check for friends” form: during signup you’re asked to enter your email address and password to see whether any of your friends are already on the service. Enter the password, however, and it will proceed to mail all your contacts without asking permission. This has led to many users issuing apologies to their friends for “spamming” them inadvertently. Hopefully the bad PR on this one will force them to change the system.

    So if you MUST go have a look at it, ensure you don’t enter the email address and password for it to go “check for friends”. In other words, I better not get an invite from anyone!