Stephen Glauser

Twittering yet?

2008-07-23T15:28:23Z

I've been spending a lot more time Twittering lately, both online and offline. For about a month now I've been pretty active, with multiple tweets each day. When I first joined sometime last year, it looked kind of cool, but not very useful. I'm not too sure why I've started using it so much, but I'm pretty sure I'm addicted (twitterholic?).

It's only gotten worse since I got my iPhone, as I've got two Twitter apps installed on it, just in case one decides to not work for me--Twitterrific and Twittelator. I find myself checking Twitter from one of these apps constantly throughout my day.

Anyways, if you are already on Twitter, you should follow me, and if you aren't, head on over, sign up and try it out.

Bell and Telus drop the ball, big time

2008-07-09T21:07:08Z

Only a couple of days before Rogers caved in to consumers demands and lowered data plans on the iPhone, Bell and Telus decided to give their customers a big middle finger and start charging $0.15 for every incoming text message, including spam. Ouch.

I know a lot of people who use their phones for texting more-so than for telephone calls, and this could potentially hit them hard in the wallet. I'm not sure what it is with Canadian mobile providers and absolutely screwing their customers, but they continually find new ways to do so.

The government has decided to step in, and Industry Minister Jim Prentice is demanding an explanation, although I'm apprehensive to put much weight into the demand. The Conservatives are pretty much a pro-business government (which I'm not against), so I'm pretty sure they'll get away with this.

Rogers and SaskTel are both on record stating they have no intentions of charging for incoming text messages. (according to Tuesday's Star Phoenix, sorry, no link) Good news for their subscribers I guess.

Rogers gives in, lowers iPhone plans

2008-07-09T19:02:19Z

Rogers just announced that they have caved to consumer demands will be offering drastically reduced rates for the iPhone. Just yesterday, TechCrunch announced that Apple pulled the iPhone from their own retail outlets in Canada, and said "keep bitching, Canadians. It looks like your complaints aren't going unnoticed." Turns out, they were right.

It looks like an internet petition finally worked!

Oi, the iPhone is going to be expensive

2008-07-08T16:02:39Z

I'm a little behind the ball on this one, but damn (!) the iPhone is going to cost me an assload of dollar bills. While I still plan on picking one up on Friday, the Globe and Mail is giving me a little bit of a preview of just how expensive it's going to be to operate. Ouch.

Is anyone else planning on getting an iPhone right away? These price schemes scaring you away, or are you going to go ahead anyway?

UPDATE: Errr, maybe not. :)

New design is coming

2008-07-07T14:53:09Z

I've been making a dedicated attempt to reenlist among you active bloggers lately, and have been working on a new design for a little while. It's coming along swimmingly, finally, so it should be ready pretty soon. Last time I redesigned, it was about three weeks between me deciding to redesign and launch of the new (current) version of the site. I'm hoping that this incarnation won't take that long, but who knows?

Well, I just figured I'd give you fine folks a bit of a heads up as to what's gonna be happening. I'm pretty stoked about the new look, and I hope you guys like it too. Stay tuned!

Make Gmail the default mail app in Firefox

2008-07-05T17:22:10Z

I don't know about you, but I've been using Gmail to handle my email exclusively for a few years now. I've got five accounts in one inbox and love it. However, I've always had issues with making Gmail the default mail client in my browser. Not so much any more.

Martin over at gHacks has got a post up on how to fix the above situation if you're a user of Firefox 3. (And, why wouldn't you be?) Here are the steps:

Log in to Gmail.
Copy (ctrl+c) the following script:
javascript:window.navigator.registerProtocolHandler("mailto","https://mail.google.com/mail/?extsrc=mailto&url=%s","Gmail")
Paste that into your address bar like it was a normal URL.
Press enter.
In Firefox, Tools -> Options -> Applications
Click on mailto.
Use the dropdown to select "Use Gmail".

All done. Finally. Anyways, this is bound to be awesome for any full-time Gmail user.

Comments not working on Too Real, grrr.

2008-07-04T16:00:53Z

Not that it really matters, as I haven't updated Too Real in a really long time, but I just noticed the other night that comment forms aren't showing up at all on any of the posts over there, and nothing I can do is getting them to show up again. Grrr.

This really, really chaps me because I've been thinking of relaunching, albeit with a different look, focus and team, but still. This is not a problem I need.

End rant.

Happy 400 Quebec City

2008-07-04T01:43:41Z

Four hundred years ago today, Samuel de Champlain settled what would be the first permanent European settlement in North America. Today, Quebec City is the vibrant, beautiful capital of our nation's french speaking province, and just happens to be turning 400 years old.

Stephen Harper today coined Quebec City "Canada's most beautiful city [and] its most enchanting city," which is debatable. I found a poll that asks whether or not that's true, and personally I think I'd go with Vancouver. Anyways, happy birthday to Quebec City!

(photo by Djof)

Enough of the Morgentaler story already

2008-07-03T19:09:33Z

I know it's only been a few days, but I've already had enough of the entire Dr. Morgentaler being awarded the Order of Canada story. I also have to plead some ignorance here, as I'd never heard of the Doctor prior to his being accorded such accolade. That being said, this man has divided this country for long enough.

I've heard some pretty outrageous pro-life statements about Morgentaler being a criminal for performing abortions, to which I say, bullshit. This one, from ThePolitic.com claims that even though the Supreme Court of Canada found that he was not a criminal, they are all full of it as well. Oh wow, get over yourselves.

And now, we have people returning their Order of Canada awards in protest. Really, people? Are we really being this ignorant of other people's points-of-view? I thought we lived in a fairly advanced society where open discussion was a good thing. I'm getting fairly sick of the hard-nosed religious sect in this country throwing a shitstorm every time something they don't happen to love happens.

The Order of Canada is given to Canadians who do things that help the country, extraordinary things. Dr. Morgentaler pretty much singlehandedly (from what I've read anyway) turned Canada into one of the first countries in the world to truly give women the right to do as they pleased with their bodies. If you ask me, that's something to be proud of, regardless of what side of the pro-life/pro-choice fence you find yourself perched upon.

Mozilla Firefox officially in the record books

2008-07-03T13:53:13Z

It really came as no surprise when Firefox unofficially set the world record for the most downloads of a software program in one day back on June 17. They had a pretty aggressive marketing campaign going for that express purpose, which (obviously) was pretty successful. I even blogged about it myself on May 30.

Well, yesterday Mozilla announced that they've officially set the record with 8,002,530 downloads, smashing their own goal of 5 million downloads.

I've long been an ardent supporter of Firefox and have been using the browser for years, so I strongly urge you to download the latest version if you aren't already using it.

Happy 141st Birthday, Canada

2008-07-01T14:13:03Z

Ahh, Canada, how do we love thee? Enough to keep you around for 141 years and counting, I suppose. It's a great place to be, and I'll be having a hell of a time celebrating the day of your birth tonight, with most of my countrymen and women.

It's been a pretty good ride so far, and I don't see it getting any worse from here. So, Happy Canada Day, Canada!

JC Penney pushes the ad envelope a little

2008-06-28T18:16:27Z

JC Penney doesn't exactly have a reputation for being on the risque side of the advertising world. As far as I've seen, all of their ads have been pretty subdued and neutral. Not so much anymore. Behold:

According to Brad Feld, JC Penney executives are pissed and are trying to get the ad removed from the internet. HAH!

I wonder what would happen if they tried this today?

2008-06-25T17:02:52Z

I'm quite surprised that I haven't seen this old video of a Winston's cigarette commercial before. Maybe I have, and just repressed it for some weird reason. Anyways, I wonder what would happen if they tried something like this in today's social atmosphere. Tobacco companies were pretty damn brash forty years ago.

Crazy.

Top Gear is back with Series 11

2008-06-24T15:05:18Z

It's took almost exactly six months (minus one day, to be exact), but Clarkson and crew are back with Series 11 of arguably the best show on television. I've no idea what took them so long to pull this series together, but who cares? I'm pumped for it, as should every other automotive fan on the planet. Final Gear has a link to a torrent for Sunday's episode, if you are so inclined.

Unfortunately, it looks like we will only be treated to six episodes this series. Hopefully they come back next year with a fuller slate.

The end of digital freedom in Canada

2008-06-12T21:02:05Z

I've written a few letters to my MP and Minister of Industry over the last couple of months in response to my feelings about their so-called "Made-in-Canada" changes to the law regarding digital rights and freedoms. Perhaps that's why they sent me this bullshit white-washing of what's coming up in the email a couple of minutes ago:

The Government of Canada has introduced Bill C-61, An Act to Amend the Copyright Act. The proposed legislation is a made-in-Canada approach that balances the needs of Canadian consumers and copyright owners, promoting culture, innovation and competition in the digital age.

What does Bill C-61 mean to Canadians?

Specifically, it includes measures that would:

expressly allow you to record TV shows for later viewing; copy legally purchased music onto other devices, such as MP3 players or cell phones; make back-up copies of legally purchased books, newspapers, videocassettes and photographs onto devices you own; and limit the "statutory damages" a court could award for all private use copyright infringements;

implement new rights and protections for copyright holders, tailored to the Internet, to encourage participation in the online economy, as well as stronger legal remedies to address Internet piracy;

clarify the roles and responsibilities of Internet Service Providers related to the copyright content flowing over their network facilities; and

provide photographers with the same rights as other creators.

What Bill C-61 does not do:

it would not empower border agents to seize your iPod or laptop at border crossings, contrary to recent public speculation

What this Bill is not:

it is not a mirror image of U.S. copyright laws. Our Bill is made-in-Canada with different exceptions for educators, consumers and others and brings us into line with more than 60 countries including Japan, France, Germany and Australia

Bill C-61 was introduced in the Commons on June 12, 2008 by Industry Minister Jim Prentice and Heritage Minister Josée Verner.

For more information, please visit the Copyright Reform Process website at www.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/crp-prda.nsf/en/home

Thank you for sharing your views on this important matter.

The Honourable Jim Prentice, P.C., Q.C., M.P.
Minister of Industry

The Honourable Josée Verner, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women
and Official Languages and Minister for
La Francophonie

I can't believe that they are actually going to hand control of the internet in Canada over to the entertainment industry in the US. Ridiculous.