On September 12th, 1962, John F. Kennedy took the stage at Rice Stadium, and made one of the most ambitious pledges of any presidency – in less than ten years, the United States would put a man on the moon: There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation many never come again. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice ...

I quickly stopped by Future Shop on my way home tonight and picked up a brand new power supply for my server at home. They had a really nice (that is, if power supplies can be described as such) $150 one that was on sale for $75, so I went with that. The good news is that my old power supply was basically taxed in terms of connectors, and it would have been impossible to add anything else to it. This new one has an extra 300W of headroom on it, and also 3 more SATA connectors. To be honest, I wasn’t even really sure it was the power supply, but it seemed like a pretty reasonable guess. The good ...

The company where I currently work is currently offering a draw for at least one Nintendo Wii (more if I remember correctly). To be eligible, they are asking people to fill out a quick survey to get a bit of data with regards to telecommunications. Everyone reading this blog should be eligible. So, if you’d like to potentially win a Nintendo Wii, I’d ask if you guys could please fill out a five minute survey. If you’re just a regular person (i.e. not a business owner), please fill out this version. If you’re a small to medium sized business owner, please fill out this one. Also, please ...

The first order of business with my new iPhone is picking up a decent case to keep it from being scratched. I called around town, but unfortunately nobody has any stock for the 3G iPhone cases yet. So basically the only place left to buy one from was on Apple’s store. I originally went over with the intent to buy one case. However, it appears that one case wasn’t enough to qualify me for free shipping. Since I like free stuff, I decided to buy a few more things. Since I wasn’t sure if I’d like the first case, I bought a second one with a different style. Worst case, I’m sure somebody ...

I actually hit the sack before midnight last night, which is pretty much an unprecedented event in my life. The main reason was because I had to get up early and take my car into the shop to get some TLC. While on my road trip a few weeks ago, a few things suddenly stopped working, including the door lock switch on the driver’s side door, the CD player (it currently does a better job grinding CDs then it does playing them), and a small problem with my gear shifter. In addition, my car is about one year past the date I should have had a one year tune-up. In terms of the last item, it’s a weird ...

I’ve been messing around with the iPhone 3G pretty much non-stop for the last 24 hours. For the most part, it has exceeded my expectations. First, being able to check your email or surf the web from any location is a pretty awesome feature. For example, today I was at the beach with some friends and we noticed that the tide was slowly creeping up the shore. I quickly fired up Safari, did a Google search for “Vancouver Tide Table”, and determined that high tide was in about two hours. As most people know, the iPhone 2.0 firmware brings with it the iPhone application store. I’ve already ...

I’m a change gatherer. I don’t really know how it happens, but I always end up at home each evening with tons of change in my pockets. I have two piggy banks on the go at any one time, and both of them fill up rather quickly. My niece and nephew love coming over because there are always coins lying around my apartment, and it’s a fun game to find them. Despite my best efforts, I usually end up with change on counters and less frequently in my bed. One time I was taking a shower in the morning and heard a few “clangs”, only to look down and see a few pennies fall off my body — apparently ...

Well, to say that today was a complete clusterfuck would be a gross understatement. I arrived at the Rogers store around 9am, and spent the next five hours watching Roger’s employees desperately try and activate my iPhone for me. I actually ended up at a hold-in-the-wall Rogers store, which was great because there wasn’t a huge line-up. Ironically, I ended up right behind my plastic surgeon in line, which was actually pretty cool because I got to spend 90 minutes just chatting with him and getting to know him. They had 14 units at the store I went to, and only 4 at the Yaletown Rogers store. ...

Yes, today is July 11th, and that means today is the day most of use techno geeks have been waiting for patiently for the last few months. Today Roger’s releases the iPhone 3G in Canada. As most of you know, I’ve been pretty harsh (justifiable so) against their iPhone rate plans. The last entry I posted basically said that if Rogers didn’t cave before Friday, they were going to seriously hurt their credibility, not just amongst their wireless users, but also for the hoards of people that were exposed to the negative press. The good news is that Rogers finally caved and offered a decent data ...

You know, it’s hard to believe that there was a time when Andie was actually taller than me, but it’s true. I think I passed him at the age of 16 or so, but Andie could always hold his own in a wrestling match. As you can tell, today is my brother-in-law, Andie’s, birthday. Andie started dating my sister when I was 14 or 15, and he’s been an integral part of the family ever since. I’m proud to call him my brother-in-law. Happy Birthday Bud. ...

Yes, it’s true. Recent research says kids as young as eight years old can now safely go on cholesterol lowering medication! Man, I can’t believe they are seriously pushing that. Yes, overweight kids probably have high cholesterol, but let’s focus on a solution, not a patch. Most people would probably be surprised to know that the whole science of cholesterol is pretty weak. Lots of people live their whole lives with high cholesterol and never experience any problems, and some people with low cholesterol can be in danger for a heart attack. In fact, the whole science of cholesterol (LDL, ...

Today (Tuesday) is my niece’s 10th birthday. It seems like just yesterday I was out working at UBC when I got the call telling me that my sister had gone into labour. I left work and made the trek back to Chilliwack, and made it to the hospital just in time to see the first few minute’s of Jessica’s new life. That photo is one of my favourites of my niece. It was probably taken when she was only 5 years old or so, but it was one of the first times I got to spend alone with her (I had been living out in Ottawa for a few years prior to that). I had told my sister that I was going to go to ...

Tonight I was pointed at a link, courtesy of John, that basically detailed a rumour that Apple is diverting iPhone shipments away from Canada next week. The reason for this, according to the rumour, is that Apple is not pleased with the grassroots backlash that Roger’s and the iPhone have received in Canada. The thing is, it really doesn’t matter if the rumour is true (and in my mind, I doubt it is — it’s more likely in my mind that they have general manufacturing problems and can’t meet the demand) – either way, it’s a huge PR nightmare for Rogers. There was one site earlier that ...

Here’s a shot I took the other day while camping with my friend Rob. It was a great trip, and I had a really good time catching up with and old friend. ...

Well, thus marks the end of my first two-week vacation stint. This vacation saw me bounce from San Francisco, to Los Angeles, back up to Vancouver, to a Matthew Good show, then to the North Cascades, up to Whistler, and then back home. Not bad for just over two weeks. Golden Gate Bridge, taken during my trip It was great getting to hang out with my sister, brother-in-law, and their two kids down in Disneyland. Despite only being an hour and a bit away, I don’t get a chance to head home that often. Plus, I haven’t really spent much time with my niece and nephew (although I was there in Chilliwack ...

As everyone knows, Rogers announced their lackluster iPhone plans not that long ago, and were immediately criticized by most Canadian wireless customers as being far too expensive. In addition, the lack of an unlimited data plan, a feature that Bell and Telus have for some of their phones, is also fairly disappointing give the web-based nature of the device. In response to the data rates, RuinediPhone set up an online petition asking Rogers to change their data rates. Since going live nearly a week ago, they’ve amassed nearly 36,000 signatures, and have been featured on several mainstream news ...

I’ve always been a big fan of four day work weeks, or better yet, working at the rate which you are most productive. That’s why I have always gravitated towards jobs that don’t have fixed hours. Where I currently work, I really don’t have a fixed schedule. If I wake up early, I’ll stroll in at 8:30am. If I have a rough night sleeping, nobody cares when I stroll in at 10:30am. Given that flexibility, I’ll often do a bit of work at home during the evenings when I’m listening to music or whatever. Utah recently announced that they are switching their government employees to four day ...

Birkenhead Lake, last summer At the Matthew Good show the other night I ran into a good friend of mine from high school. We ended up chatting and drinking beers over at Doolin’s after, and it was great to catch up. Rob and I became friends back when I was working at Bonanza when I was 16, and I haven’t talked to him in a few years. Birkenhead Lake, photo by wenno on flickr It turns out that both Rob and I are on vacation this week with not a whole lot to do, so we decided to head up to Birkenhead Lake tomorrow and just chill out over a few beers. Birkenhead was the biggest surprise of last ...

Whenever I think of Canada Day, I am always reminded of the few years I spent in Ottawa. Out there, Canada day is a day-long party, where they basically shut the downtown core down and let everyone mingle, get their face painted, and for those of you of legal drinking age, have a few street-side beer. At the end of the night there was always a big concert on Parliament Hill. So by comparison, Canada Day in Vancouver is pretty tame. Last year I got together with some friends and had a few pints in various locations around the downtown core. This year, I don’t really have any plans, but will ...

I got home from Canada Day tonight and spent a bit of time on IM chatting to people. My friend Jeff, who is one of my best friends from high school, was online so we ended up chatting for a bit. Despite living only a few blocks apart, the sad thing is Jeff and I rarely get to see each other due to both our crazy schedules. I found out tonight that Jeff is moving to Victoria with his wife Michele and his daughter Maya. To be honest, while I want the best for them, it made me feel bad that I’ve been out of the loop so long with them that I had no idea they were moving away in a few weeks. I’m ...