that canadian girl

Latest adventures…

  • For the love of Nokia

    The ever annoying default Nokia ringtone has inspired a song.

    How long until the iPhone marimba ringtone gets the same reaction?

  • The girly corner of the office goes pink!

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    The girly corner of the office goes pink!, originally uploaded by thatcanadiangirl.

    On Monday, we had a few new starters in the office. All girls, all doing content research and all sitting in a corner that was a little bit grey.

    So over lunch, they produced this very colourful creation on the most boring wall. Not sure what the boys think of the whole pink theme, but it certainly brightens up the place a little!

  • iPhone: 700,000 units in its first weekend

    Yes, I know, I know. More Apple news. (Sorry, it’s not over, I’ve still got to write a review of the Apple TV we bought last night!)

    Whether you want an iPhone or not, whether you’re an Apple hater or fanboy, it’s impossible to deny that the iPhone’s first weekend was a commercial success. Profits of over $200 million in a weekend, and 700,000 units is a feat of organisation on Apple and AT&T’s part.

    Granted, not all users managed to activate their devices immediately, but try working with hundreds of thousands of excited, impatient new users, all at once. A few issues are bound to crop up, and even the notoriously disliked AT&T operator managed to deal with most of them in a timely manner.

    To top it all off, it appears that the iPhone is managing to live up to the high expectations of its users. So this strikes me as an all-round success for the Cupertino guys!

  • Taptu goes beta

    Monday morning in the quiet town of Chaverhole Haverhill, the local pikeys residents suspected nothing. Little did they know, they were about to witness the most flagrant act of self-promotion ever seen on thatcanadiangirl.

    Taptu Mobile Search & ShareYes, let the proud bragging North American in me come out and shamelessly promote the awesome mobile search & share engine that’s bubbling away in the office. If you find that going on the web on your phone is more hassle than it should be, then go sign up for the Taptu beta and we’ll let you know as soon as we’re done cookin’ it up.

    We want to make the mobile web a friendlier, less clunky place to hang out. We want to give you more ways to cheat on a pub quiz find out useful information without spending hours trawling through sites that turn out to not be mobile friendly, chucking a 800kB page header your way, promptly busting your data tariff.

    We also want to make the mobile web a less cliquey, nerdy place to be. If it’s easier for your friends to share new mobile links and bits of info with you, it’ll make it a whole lot more interesting, won’t it?

    To put it simply, we want to open the mobile web to the rest of us.

    We’ll also be launching our blog soon, so plenty more news coming soon.

    Note: Don’t worry about sticking your email address in the Taptu signup – I’m the only one who’ll be handling any mailouts (along with my trusted gnomes with toothpicks, of course) so if I spam you or send unwanted mail, you can come back here and slap me. 🙂

  • Happy Canada Day!

    canadian_flag

    What can I say… it’s 4pm, and I’ve only just remembered July 1st means it’s Canada Day, and that back home, it may only be 11am, but I bet half my old friends are already drunk and hanging out on the Hill.

    It looks like for once, it won’t be tipping it down with rain, so have a good one guys, and get one of those cheesy Canadian flags for me!

  • I must be in a mediterranean mood

    My Sainsburys purchases for the next couple of days

    • Olives
    • Mozzarella
    • Sunblush tomatoes (mmmm!)
    • Sea salt & rosemary flatbread crackers
    • Chilli topped hummus
    • Lentils, carrots, parsnips and coriander to make a nice hearty soup tonight
    • Chorizo sausage
    • Fresh thyme and rosemary
    • Antipasto tear & share bread
    • Big juicy cherries and greek yogurt for dessert

    While it wasn’t planned that way, I’m pleased to say that yet again, aside from the tear & share bread, pretty much everything else is its most simple state, for me to cook, bake, stew or have in a nice big salad. Ready meals are rare in this house, and every time we get a bout of laziness and get ready meals, I feel bummed out and dissatisfied.

    Home cooking definitely is the way to go.

  • iCantstanditanymore

    If I have to read any more iPhone-related news, I’m going to be sick. Getting through my RSS reader feeds today involved catching up with posts going back about three days. And no joke, I think at least 75% of posts were iPhone news.

    There’s been so much Kool Aid drinking that, as Hugh points out, people have hardly noticed that someone’s trying to blow up London.

    Please tell me about kittens and pretty things instead.

  • 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.

  • Just can't wait for the iPhone…

    I’m still highly undecided on whether the iPhone’s soft keypad having no feel to it or half my makeup transferring onto my screen will be enough to drive me nuts. but I guess it’ll be a long time before I get a real go on one, but I’m looking forward to the Americans’ feedback. Very very curious…