that canadian girl

Latest adventures…

  • 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

  • A truly mesmerising ad

    I usually get aggravated by websites that force their music and animations onto you, especially without giving a pause, stop or, at the very least, a mute button.

    This ad is completely different. It’s Audi’s latest A5 advert, and the music and animation are both completely mesmerising.

    Audi A5 advert

    Have a look and let me know what you think…

    [Edit: I just found another version of it, higher quality and slightly different ending on Beam TV via Phatlee]

  • 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.

  • All Peep Show'ed out

    I think this weekend, Andrew and I have achieved Peep Show* overdose. On Thursday night, we started watching the first series, which star David Mitchell and Robert Webb**, the two guys from the recent UK Apple adverts. From thereon, it was a downward spiral until the end of the third season on Sunday afternoon!

    Mitchell & WebbSymptoms of Peep Show overdose include talking to yourself in an inner monologue and mentally picturing David Mitchell‘s little beady hamster eyes, hearing him swear to himself that he’s going to screw things up with Sophie again.

    Peep Show is probably on par with some of the best British humour, it’s a shame that it isn’t better recognized. I’d classify along the lines of Spaced, another under appreciated in British comedy.

    So for now, I don’t really want to see any more of Mark and Jez, but I’m sure once I digest so much of that raw humour, I’ll go check out their new movie “Magicians”, though the reviews are a bit lukewarm at the moment.

    [* No, mom. Peep Show isn’t some pervy show, it’s just some great British humour. Well, not really pervy anyways.]
    [** He so doesn’t look like a “Robert” to me.]

  • 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!

  • Midnight at the sushi bar

    What an interesting way to capture the evening’s atmosphere.

  • Are you watching Eurovision?

    If you’ve just started watching the total cheesefest that is Eurovision, become your own Wogan on Twitter. Find my commentary here.

    Unfortunately, usually I have booze to ease the pain of the bad acts, but tonight I’ve got to stay up to go pick up the other half after a stag do, so it’s not half as fun. Bollocks!

    Dealing with the first one, Bosnia & Herzegovina was already pretty bad, but now oooh Spanish Backstreet Boys… with women pretending to play the drums… Cheesy!

  • Twitter goes mobile

    Finally, Twitter has become usable online via your mobile. Visiting http://m.twitter.com lets you see the latest rants by your Twitter friends. I’m surprised this wasn’t available from the start, but better late that never.

    I think it’d be even better if the non-mobile-specific Twitter website used your browser agent to gauge which version to present you with. Wouldn’t that make more sense?

    [Via Crunchgear]

  • Automattic's free WordPress.org stats

    There are tons of stats packages out there, but if all you’re looking for is a quick peek at your most popular blog posts, referrers, outbound clicks or search engine terms, they’re sometimes a bit heavy.

    WordPress.com has some great basic snapshot stats, which were missing from the self-hosted WordPress.org install. Finally , Automattic has made them available for WordPress.org users as well.

    I’ve used Google Analytics, AWStats, CrazyEgg and Webalizer, each for a different blog-related purpose, but this integrated Dashboard stats package is bound to very quickly become the one I rely on most for quick stats.

    I’m considering using Mint in the near future for another project, but if anyone has suggestions, recommendations or warnings against any stats package, do let me know!

    Which type of stats do you find most accurate: log analysis tools like AWStats or Javascript-based scripts like Google Analytics? Or both to complement/complete each other??