HDR has suddenly become really interesting because it seems like something you could fake relatively easily with tone mapping. Neat. Now if I could only get a working version of Photoshop...

Are you reading Starslip Crisis? If not, maybe you should be!

Posted at 03:07 PM | Comments (0)

In a city where targeted gang hits have become regular occurrences, there's been yet another gang-related shooting. Ricardo Scarpino (yes, that is his real name) was shot as he pulled up to the Gotham restaurant on Seymour street, a mere three blocks from where I work. Then add to this the fact that one of Andrew's database clients was murdered last month (turns out the guy was running online gambling sites). Look out our office window and you can see the roof of the building that houses Brandi's Show Lounge; a building which is a reputed hangout for mobsters. Given some of the characters up there, I have little doubt of the veracity of such claims. Then you have the sophisticated debit scams, or the dirty, dirty businesses that make plenty of fodder for David Baines. The list goes on...

Police admitted it's a miracle that no innocent bystanders were killed in the latest attack. With this added to the astronomical price of housing, it makes me wonder if I really want to live in the lower mainland.

Posted at 11:18 AM | Comments (0)

Another ass-kicking was my reward for getting out of bed today. Maybe I should try to make that mistake less often...

In any case, I've already been asked what my opinion of this morning's MacWorld Apple Keynote was. Being an "Apple guy", I've naturally already formed some pretty strong opinions. Let's get right into it:

Office 2008 for Mac: This isn't really an Apple announcement, but it was in the keynote. How unsurprising is it that the last major software manufacturer in the world to get their god-damned programs ported to Intel Mac OS X was Microsoft? Not very. But here it is, Microsoft Office Mac 2008: intel native. It's like that person who arrives really late to the party but nobody cares because everybody secretly hates him/her.

Time Capsule: The least appreciated announcement of this keynote is really one of the best. This nifty gadget is an 802.11n wireless/gigabit ethernet router and a NAS (network attached storage) backup device for use with Time Machine. The USB port can be used to share a USB drive or a printer over the network. At $299 for the 500GB model, it's not expensive for what you get, but certainly not cheap either. I expect the value of this appliance to go up as hackers will undoubtedly be fascinated in adding new capabilities to the device.

iPhone Updates: In 200 days, the iPhone has captured second place in the smartphone market (just behind the Blackberry). Very nice. Naturally, Apples made some nice updated to the iPhone software, but I saw that coming. They're adding similar capabilities to the iPod Touch, but you'll have to pay $20 if you want the update (lame).

iTunes Rentals: Again, about bloody time. The truly amazing thing about rentals is that Steve managed to get every single major studio on board. Blockbuster and Netflix must be shaking in their boots right now (Indeed, Blockbuster's stock price plunged from $3.25 to $2.75 today). This is also an iTunes feature that will make the AppleTV truly worthwhile. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble caring, because we won't see movie rentals in Canada for at least a year and a half, and when we finally do, the CRTC will make sure there are only a smattering of good titles interspersed among a chamber-pot full of crappy Canadian films made by the CBC. Thank you Apple Canada.

AppleTV Update: Overdue. Buying content on the TV will be cool. The update will probably screw up all my modifications. Get to work, hackers!

iTunes Files on DVD: Starting with the Family Guy: Blue Harvest DVD, you'll be able to get a free iTunes-compatible movie file on disc. This is a good idea that sidesteps the whole DVD-decryption-legality issues surrounding the growing practice of ripping DVDs to put on iPods and AppleTVs. I wonder how DRM will be handled...

MacBook Air: Here we are, at the climax of the keynote: the MacBook Air. What is it? Well, let me tell you: it's a thin notebook with no optical drive, no Gigabit Ethernet, that costs more than the MacBook.

In brief: it stinks.

This was a terrible investment. Apple and Intel worked their butts off to come up with a smaller version of the Core2 Duo processor, and this is what we get? Let me tell you why exactly the MacBook Air stinks:

1. Wireless Only: First, the Air forces you to go wireless. Which is okay, if you've got a Wireless-n network. There's still a huge installed base of Wireless-g and even slower Wireless-b routers. And even though 802.11n operates at 248 Megabits per second (that's under optimal conditions, mind you, which wireless signals rarely have), it's still a slug compared to the 1000 Mbps of Gigabit Ethernet. I think of doing a system migration over wireless and I shudder.


2. No FireWire: I'm saddled with nothing but one USB port. There's no way to use FireWire to do migration or backup. Lame.


3. It's Not a Tablet: Where are Apple's computing market strengths? Three main places: Design, Education, Video Editing. At least two of those places have been screaming for a Mac tablet computer since before OS X came out. The market wants it so bad that an independent company has taken it upon themselves to sell MacBooks converted into tablets. With the precedents of the iPhone touch screen, and the technologies in the MacBook Air, Apple finally had everything they needed to make a tablet under their own roof. AND THEY BLEW IT. Instead, they made the Air, which will sell to NO ONE. Which brings me to my last point of suckage...


4. No Market: Basic users want a cheaper laptop, like the MacBook (which, by the way, it already very slim and light as far as laptops go). Premium users need the power of things like Gigabit ethernet and Firewire to throw big media files around. So what does that leave us? Answer: the rich-yuppie mac-user market: the one market that doesn't count.

Randy Newman: And if the MacBook Air in place of a tablet wasn't enough of a kick in the balls, we close out the keynote to Randy Newman croaking out "You Gots a Fwiend in Mee". (Clearly Steve doesn't watch much Family Guy)

Posted at 05:30 PM | Comments (3)

Today kicked my ass.

First: deadline day. I know, know: "Jesse, when isn't it a deadline day?" you say. Well, it can be a deadline day the 15th and 30th of every month, it really just depends on how many companies have their deadlines on the particular dates. In today's case: lots. So a nice lunch was paid for by the company, but I ate it at my desk while doing somebody's 10-Q.

After the blur of work had passed and I was able to wander out of the building for the first time since I'd gotten there, I noticed it was just a tad windy. That is to say, it's really fuckin' windy. I passed my time on the long and boring bus ride home playing Tetris on my phone. I got up well before my stop so I'd be able to maneuver my way through the crowded bus to the door.

"Wow, it's REALLY windy. Better put on my gloves. Hmm... not in that pocket... not that one either. Oh yeah, I put them on my lap...

...

... which means they're now on the floor of the bus." Great. They were the old, falling-apart part anyway. Whatever. But it was SO cold going home, because of the damn wind. It seemed like a trek through the tundra.

Now at home, and I can hear the wind gusting and whistling outside, making sounds you thought only occurred i B-movies with low-budget sound effects. Environment Canada notes a wind warning with gusts up to 70 km/h. I hope you're all inside.

Posted at 05:22 PM | Comments (2)

The other day I noticed something in the news. Apparently Tom Cruise is second in command of the Church of Scientology. That means Tommy is one step away from being something akin to the Scientology pope.

As I pondered this I had a little fantasy. Tom Cruise spends millions of dollars and makes himself look like an ass for years just so he can ascend to the top of the Church and then say: "Okay, now that I'm in charge, it is actually all bullshit. I'm dismantling the church; they can't hurt anyone anymore. Sorry I had to be such a dick all those years!" Surprise: it turns out that Tom is actually a pretty cool guy.

Of course, that's just a silly flight of fancy.

Posted at 04:06 PM | Comments (0)

MSN Clip:

Iain: Jen told me about the best Arab/Western hybrid tv show ever.
Jesse: Oh?
Iain: It's a reality TV show where they see which children can most accurately read the Qur'an.
Iain: She watches it with her host family and doesn't understand a single word said but still finds it thoroughly amusing.
Iain: Guess what the winners get?
Jesse: .... salvation?
Iain: Close, an all expenses paid trip to Mecca.
Jesse: I like my prize better

Posted at 03:48 PM | Comments (2)

Yeah. So while I was mostly pleased with the attendance to my New Years party, it was a lackluster event for me on the whole. First and foremost, I was recovering from a cold. Despite having slept for much of the day, germs prevented me from drinking and made me feel rather miserable after the first couple of hours of socializing. I'm still getting over that gross, post-sickness feeling.

Allow me to clarify: I don't need alcohol to have a good time. However, it does help with the "party endurance". If you start socializing around dinnertime, and aim to make it to midnight (indeed, a bit after), you're looking at a solid six hours of entertaining. Maybe it was the lack of booze, maybe it was the cold, and in all likelihood it was both, but after about 10:30 I just wanted to sit quietly or lie down. Which also felt horrible, because I appreciated how many people came out to be there.

This was combined with the fact that I made the time and expense to get fresh juices and berries and mint leaves and gin so that we'd be able to make a wide variety of fancy cocktails... that I inevitably couldn't enjoy. New Years day was spent watching TV and having my cold come back to remind me what happens when you don't get enough rest.

Welcome to 2008!

Posted at 02:19 PM | Comments (0)

Another Shortpacked! bus stop comic with fantasy movie characters has arrived to make me say:

YES. EXACTLY.

Posted at 09:01 AM | Comments (3)