Hello folks,
There have been a number of updates to the site:
As always, feel free to drop us a comment or email letting us know what you think. 
Very interesting read on Tech That Would Scare You
It seems that the Australian's Go plan for a mandatory Internet filter is in trouble. I for one welcome this! Its just a total waste of money and why on earth do we want to be like Saudi Arabia and China?
Hello folks,
Just a quick note to let you all know that the Wordpress engine powering this blog has been updated to the latest version. There is also a new look to the site with a customized template! Various plugins were updated and installed, and general maintenance were also done.
Keep an eye out for future posts!
The Summer Olympics is once again upon us. Just making a quick post because the opening ceremony is starting in 20 minutes. I'd just like to remind all of you to turn on your TVs to watch the Opening Ceremony which promises to be grand.
Those in Malaysia can turn to the national TV RTM1. Those on Astro Satellite packages for Sports can check interactive channels 816 to 826, and Astro Dynasty package customers can turn to 318 for Cantonese.
Although this is a Canadian registered domain, I am spending my vacation in Malaysia so I will be posting bits of Malaysian news as well.
As of 2am today, June 30th, 2008, Maxis, one of Malaysia's biggest telecomunications providers, have absolutely no working cell towers in the state of Sabah on the island of Borneo. I woke up this morning and found the signal indicator on my phone blank, thinking it was a phone problems (Windows Mobile can be sometimes snarky), I shrugged it off, until I found out others had the same problem. It is now 7:20PM and there is still no sign of coverage returning. Only later in the day did Maxis post a notice on their website informing customers that "Subscribers in Sabah may have trouble making calls or receiving SMS'. That's putting it rather mildly since there is no connection at all.
I shudder to think of the wide-ranging repercussions this could have all around the state; delivery drivers would not be able to call to confirm location, sales agents would not be able to reach their customers, relatives and friends running chores or errands would have no way to keep in touch. It seems we have become so accustomed to the ability to call anyone, anywhere that we have taken it for granted. It was back to the old "meet here at so and so time" method again, and hoping that nobody gets lost.
It doesn't seem like a hardware problem, say, a cell tower going offline, but some sort of wider hardware outage, or software problem since it seems to be affecting every cell tower in the state.
Hopefully they will have this fixed by tomorrow...and issue credit for today's outage (though I doubt that).
Update 7/1/2008, 7:28AM: Seems to be back up, not sure exactly when it was fixed, but when I woke up this morning, I got the full five bar reception icon.
Update 7/1/2008, 8:20PM: Well, only semi-right. The notice on the website says that "Subscribers in Sabah may now make calls and send/receive SMSs, however, some may have trouble connecting". Again, them being the master of the understatement. Sure, it works, if you dial from your Maxis number (starting with 017 or 012), to another telco, say Celcom (019), the call gets through, BUT if you dial from a 012 number TO a 012 number, meaning within the same network, it just ends with a beep. Who'd think it? Masters of understatement AND irony! Will keep you all posted.
There are several updates actually, to be said in this post. Firstly, the Wordpress engine powering this blog has been updated to the latest 2.5.1. Been meaning to get around to doing that for a while, and except for a few uneventful PHP errors, we've hit the ground running and everything is functioning again.
I will be adding new functionality through plugins and widgets to the site so keep your eyes peeled for any additions.
Secondly, Barack Obama has 'cinched' the Democratic Party nomination for President, after a long and arduous 16 month trial.
There was only the slightest doubt in my mind that he would eventually win the nomination. Say what you will, but I think he is the best choice to bring change to America, and then, the world. The first five minutes of his winning speech were thank you's to his supporters, his family, and his grandmother. Near the middle he praises his main opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton for her steadfastness, and perseverance, about how she and the others in the Party were leaders in their own rights. Good luck at the end of the year, Mr. Obama.
Thirdly, we have a new addition to the site, a branch that is dedicated to review books of all kinds. Check out the About page here to learn more about it.
All the best!
One of the most original, funny, and charming shows on Canadian broadcast television has been canceled by CBC. It's a wonderful show that appeals to the teenage and early adult demographics, and is crammed full of pop culture we can all relate to. You can check out some links at savejpod.ca and CanDevs on the show. There is also a Facebook group here.
Please show your support, and together we can bring a great show back!
Some further recommended links:
The Save jPod Petition Digg Link
Digg.com is an extremely powerful tool for getting the word out. The more diggs we get, the more exposure we have, and the more power we get!
Even though I'm Canadian, and even though I think I'm a day late, I couldn't pass up on the opportunity to pass on this tag I got from an entertaining blog that I read:
I have a dream....
I have a dream that one day we will unite as a country to care for the deserving ones who cannot care for themselves. We will provide health care for our elderly and not force them into poverty with rising pharmaceutical prices for medicines that enable them to simply live.
I have a dream that we will welcome our military home with joy and gratitude and not force our beliefs upon them about a war they fought while we watched it on the news.
I have a dream that one day I will not fear sending my children to a public school.
I have a dream that myself and others like me can speak freely and innocently, with no malice in our hearts, and not be labeled as a person who hates simply because of the words we choose.
I have a dream that people will rise above those words thereby taking away their power to harm.
Powerful words indeed, let us remember and renew that dream.
Gizmodo has long been regarded as on the scale with one of the more popular tech blogs such as Engadget, but they recently came back from the Consumer Electonics Show 2008 in Las Vegas with some heavy confessions to tell. They took along a device called TV-B-Gone, which, I assume, scans infrared frequencies that turn off televisions. So, naturally, there are a huge amount of televisions at the fair. They went around turning them off for fun.
As you can see in the video by following the link, they may have gone over the line a little bit. Oh sure, cutting off booth sets are harmless fun, something I would definitely enjoy, but shutting them down during presentations and live events? That may be toeing, if not stepping over the line. It's a childish prank, worthy of a couple of high school students. You can see poor product reps glancing about in confusion as their displays went black, during their presentations. For their careers may depend largely on how they manage to market their product, and through no fault of their own, these mishaps occurs. You have to give Gizmodo credit for issuing an apology in the latter part of their post, but isn't this a bit like closing the barn door after the horses have escaped?
Let's hope that there are no serious repercussions from their little fun, both for the reps and Gizmodo themselves.
http://gizmodo.com/343348/confessions-the-meanest-thing-gizmodo-did-at-ces
Edit: Here is another post about the incident, more information than mine, actually. They contacted Gizmodo's publisher on whether the persons responsible would be fired, his answer was a terse no, but I do believe there will be suitable actions taken within the company. They also expand on the possible ramifications of this act, reflecting badly on all bloggers everywhere. Quite a shame, really.
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9848317-7.html
Further Update: Aaand, they've been reportedly banned by CES and Gawker Media, the site behind Gizmodo is probably going to get slapped with a lawsuit. Looks like that little prank has wide reaching repercussions eh?
Source: http://www.rlslog.net/gizmodo-remotely-shutting-lcds-at-ces-banned/