WTF DEAD BIRD!
In the on going series of crazy shit I see when I walk to work, I came across this dead bird on the sidewalk. Not crazy on it’s own, but this bird’s head has been stripped from it’s spine leaving the spine hanging out.
I don’t trust that this wasn’t the nuts that live in the area or some very sadistic cat.
I looked for a bottle of chianti and fava beans but didn’t see any.
Lightning Captured
Stood out on the deck with my trusty iPhone 4. Lucky enough to catch a lightning bolt in action. The other shot I missed the bolt but it sure lit up the town!
Milk Run
On Sunday team “Lindsay Streets of Fire” descended upon the Lindsay recreation centre for the 5 km 2011 Milk Run. The team name lifted from a movie title as an inside joke but seemed to fit very well with running. It was a 30+ celsius day with bright sunshine and not a cloud to be seen. Even at a race start of 9 am it was still a scorcher.
All the runners are gathering
Our team was set to race… all our bib numbers ready to run!
Our team numbers
Our team did an amazing job. I had a personal best beating all times when I was training for the race. The route was pretty simple, although it had a good elevation after the second kilometre.
2011 Milk Run Route
I use RunKeeper.com on my iPhone for tracking my progress. Excellent program that has a free app and a free online service. Here is a screen shot from the app on my progress.
Crazy fact: total distance 5.01, my bib number: 501!!!
Our team ended up finishing 7th out of 12 teams in the 5 km.
I personally finished 122 out of 324 runners. Unfortunately right after the race when they posted the initial results many people (myself included) found that their names were attached to the wrong bib numbers! Luckily the bib number to time was correct but for a lot of people the bib number didn’t have the right connection to the person which would throw off being able to see how well you did in your gender class. It took them many hours but it was finally sorted out!
We are already planning our next run, hopefully to make it an annual event! Who knows, maybe a 10 km is in the future!
The 2011 Streets of Fire Team!
Things I see walking to work: bad lawn care
Bravo Kawartha Lakes grass maintenance crew. I saw them doing this too. What a mess on Mary near the Albert intersection. Talk about just not caring.
Things I see walking to work: burnt chair
Milk Run Startup
Lines are getting painted for the run on Sunday. Don’t worry, I’m not crazy enough to do the 10 km! More pics soon.
Apple’s iCloud App Syncing Test
One of yesterday’s announcements at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) that Apple holds each year is iCloud: a big computer in the sky that handles making sure whatever you have is on all the devices (or is available to) at all times. This is currently in test (or beta) form and from what I read was not available to Canadians until this fall when it officially launches.
I decided to test anyway.
I was able to see my purchases in the App store on my iPhone 4 and iPad 2. We also received an iTunes update to 10.3 that lets me see past purchases of Apps and Books only.
As for synching, on my iPad 2 under Settings > Store three new options appeared for syncing apps and books, however each time I toggle these on they flip off again. Apparently not available in Canada for the iPad.
Now on the iPhone 4 it’s a different story. The same options appeared under store there and I was able to toggle them on and have them stick.
I updated iTunes on my Macbook Pro and on my iMac. I purchased an app (that was free in this case) on the Macbook and watched as my iPhone within seconds also downloaded the app! I also went to my iMac and downloaded to it’s iTunes a different app and again watched the app download!
This part of the process appears to work very well. I’m assuming that this being enabled on the iPad is only a matter of time.
Next to come is apps backing up into iCloud, having documents saved into the cloud, iTunes in the cloud and more. I will be testing as these become available!
Why Internet Usage Based Billing Hurts Us
TV is Changing
and for the better. Right now everyone is still used to having a cable come into their house either from the street or a satellite dish. But what is creeping up in popularity is on-demand internet streaming of TV and movies. This is gaining popularity around the world. You probably have already watched TV shows on CTV.ca or Global.com already. You missed an episode and they conveniently offer it with little commercials the next day on their web site for “ok” quality, and for free!
In the next few years, you are going to see people moving more away from satellite and cable to streaming. The advantages are numerous: first you pick what you want to watch and when to watch it. It streams, meaning it downloads only what you are currently watching, so nothing stored on your computer. The quality is as good as your high speed internet can take, and for a lot of people that could mean 720p HD.
One of the biggest names in this space is Netflix. They are huge in the States and are coming on strong in Canada. They already account for an amazing portion of prime time internet traffic and have millions of subscribers. They are slowly infiltrating every aspect of the digital equipment. This is happening under a lot of people’s noses. You can of course watch their content on their web site, but also your: Wii, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, iOS devices (iPhone’s, iPod’s, iPad’s, Apple TVs), Roku box, etc. This is going so far as you will see it built into TVs someday and so ubiquitous that they are working on deals to actually put a “Netflix” button on remote controls!
What all this means is that streaming internet is coming on very strong. Before it goes out of control the content really needs to step up to the plate in Canada, but that is getting a lot better all the time. I have been a member in Canada since the day it launched last fall and have loved it ever since. It is honestly like having a Blockbuster in a box available 24 hrs a day whenever I want. I can start watching something on my computer, then switch to my big screen TV and then finish it on my iPhone easily and without missing a minute.
Problems With Internet Streaming
This all sounds amazing right? Well, the problem here in Canada is that our bandwidth is horribly expensive when compared to even just across the border. I am a customer of Bell, and I live in a relatively new house (so no antique lines that would account for poor service). My internet speeds struggle to reach 3 megabits per second (and I’m told by Bell I pay for 7) but that is good enough for Netflix, I just can’t be doing a big download and watch a movie at the same time.
The other snafu that almost everyone has is the dreaded bandwidth cap. This is the total amount of data (and everything on the internet is data going either in or out) you are allowed per month. Most people are around 60 GB, that is what I am at. To enjoy Netflix HD content, I’m looking at about 1 GB per hour. Between that and other normal internet usage (I am a power user, big downloads, online computer backups) I go over this cap each and every month. Bell charges me $1.50 per gigabyte over the cap up to a total of $30. I wouldn’t be surprise if they throttle me after that, but I haven’t noticed.
I pay that $30 each and every stinking month. I have looked at another provider, which advertise 14 megabits per second and a download cap of 125 GB, but its not compelling because by the time I pay for that plan I’m pretty much at the same as Bell with the overage.
I don’t see this changing until the internet TV revolution takes full swing. Once more and more people get a taste of whats out there, people will start thinking if they can drop their expensive cable or satellite in favour of it. (see this TechCrunch article – US based). What will be hard to swallow for people is no local news, weather channels or live sports. At least not today in an easy to consume form like Netflix is on say the Apple TV.
But we will get there, but not until a strong shift away from the current way people get TV. I think we are getting past the high speed issue in rural areas. More and more people have very decent connections where only a couple years ago dial up was the only option.
Honestly I can drop the satellite service. Think of it, we are paying a $50+ a month for TV that we only watch for a few hours a day! I mean talk about a cash cow for Bell! I calculated my monthly bill, and my wife and I only watch a limited amount of TV shows each week. I discovered that we could buy (and own) all those shows right on iTunes and save $500 a year! You just download the shows the day after they air and they are ready to watch – and with an Apple TV it’s easy to do (see my review here)!
We are Being Held Back And You Don’t Know Realize It Yet
I want to say that this revolution is coming in the next few years, but people will not move easily given the live sports and local TV. But once that is solved the next hurtle will be the bandwidth caps.
People don’t want to pay usage fees, they hate to see that on their bill and they will balk at the thought of paying a fee or having to monitor their usage and stop watching when they get close to their limit. 60 GB is NOT enough! Then this week you read this article explaining how our own CRTC handed Bell the power to force the ISP’s that rent their lines to impose caps on their customers, effectively helping neuter internet based TV. Read this CBC article where the CRTC decision is being revoked.
It frustrates me to no end that one bit of data costs less than 10 bits. We are talking about electrons that have absolutely no effective price! Internet shouldn’t be treated like water, where you pay for what you use. We should pay a nominal fee to keep the ISP maintaining the lines, the data centres and improving the service.
I just don’t get why their has to be caps. I would be OK with paying more for unlimited service given that it would mean a lot more than having satellite. I would pay more than my monthly satellite bill today for internet because I would get way more selection then I ever would with satellite.
These caps are hurting us Canadians and keeping us behind the Americans. It has to be a hard pill for Netflix to swallow knowing that it is going to be difficult for them to service their Canadian customers because they just can’t consume as much content as they (the consumers) would want. That will mean that newer shows won’t show up as often on Netflix.ca which means more people will not subscribe or will cut off the service. It is a vicious cycle.
The revolution will happen in the US first, their ISP’s will fight it tooth and nail, but at least their internet caps (250 GB on Comcast) is enough room and their content is rich enough that people will sign up and raise the bar in this revolution.
Canada has to raise these caps, or cheapen the overage charges to pennies a gigabyte and open the flood gates just enough to light a fire under this revolution. The government needs to help us on this one.
You can read more on internet caps at StopTheMeter.ca
Please share your comments or frustrations.
Shoveling Snow Sucks!
Lots of snow fell in my neck of the woods today. Just a typical winter in Ontario! Thanks to both my wife and 9 month old 
for shoveling. I cleaned up the rest including the nasty bit at the end left by the snow plow. What’s your snow story?
Complain on Twitter to Get Results
Just last week I had an issue with Rogers service and being a nobody tweeted about it. I was amazed and impressed that it didn’t go unnoticed. This article in the Toronto Star was very timely and an interesting story all companies should read.
And I found this linked tweeted by the Rogers Twitter account!
What People Are Saying...