Daleisphere – Page 11 – The Musings of Dale Dietrich

June 26, 2008February 28, 2017

So You Think You Can Dance (Season 4 – Top 16)

[Top 20] [Top 18] [Top 16] [Top 14]
Here’s the rundown on the June 25, 2008 performances of the remaining eight couples making up the season 4 top 16. Susie and Marquis were voted off last week. (click images for a larger view)

———————————————–

Kherington/Twitch – Hip Hop (Don’t Touch Me – Busta Rhymes): Who chose those So You Think You Can Dance - Twitch and Kherington (Twitchington) - Hip Hop 2 - June 25, 2008 hideous orange overalls and why that song? They danced well enough, but the routine annoyed me. I don’t understand how the judges enjoyed it so much. In fairness, hip hop is about looking cool and tough. There’s nothing Kherington can do to pull off an image of being tough given who she is. [Watch on YouTube]

Courtney G./Gev – Rumba (Wishing on a Star – Rose Royce): Wow! What a spectacular outfit for Courtney. What a vixen! Terrific rapport. Quite the subdued rumba. A bit stilted a few times, but I liked it a lot. The best performance by these two so far. [Watch on YouTube]

Comfort/Chris – African Jazz (Beautiful People – Marilyn Manson): Finally, a routine I enjoyed with these two. Lots of fun and well done. I still want to see Comfort voted off. Love the Marilyn Manson song. [Watch on YouTube]

[June 27 Update: Comfort and Chris were in the bottom 3 couples this week. Chris was rightly voted off. Comfort was not. Why the judges like Comfort and keep her week after week is beyond my comprehension.]

Continue reading “So You Think You Can Dance (Season 4 – Top 16)”

June 24, 2008February 28, 2017

I Abandoned Metal Gear Solid 4 (for now)

MGS 4 Diary: Entry #1, Entry #2, Abandoned!
MGS4 Reviews: Metacritic | GameRankings.com
Reference: GameFAQ Walkthrus |

As beautiful and cutting-edge as MGS4 is, after making it past the laughing Octopus stage in the second act, I abandoned the game, at least for now. This surprises even me. I have been waiting for years to play this game, but the lack of a decent checkpoint system and endless cut scenes turned me off.

Poorly Implemented Checkpoints

You cannot save the game when you want and it’s checkpoints are few and far between. Adult gamers do not have endless hours, nor the desire, to replay extremely long portions of even a great game over and over.

Solid Snake being Sneaky in MGS 4 When I play stealth games I want to be stealthy and play it right. This means taking my time, exploring every nook and cranny. Being sneaky. But when I sneak around for 30 minutes, successfully execute difficult manoeuvres and then die, I do not want to play through the whole 30 minutes again. No game should ever force a gamer to replay more than 5 or so minutes. Period.

Yes, I could have cheated and run through sections with abandon, gunned down everyone until killed, thereby learning where all the baddies are and what their tricks are, to avoid them on the next play through. But I refuse to do that. That’s gaming the game and not playing the game. It takes all the fun out of it.

Stealth games, by definition, are designed to be played thoughtfully and slowly. The player should have a realistic chance of beating a level if they play that way. But, when they die, as they will, they shouldn’t be forced to replay the last thirty minutes or an hour to get back to where they were.

Continue reading “I Abandoned Metal Gear Solid 4 (for now)”

June 24, 2008February 28, 2017

Bodum Chambord – Not What I Was Expecting

Coffee Geek: Bodum Chambord Reviews | How to Use a Press Pot

[July 28, 2008 Update: I have had much better results with the Chambord since writing this original post. See my "Perfecting My Bodum Chambord Brewing Technique" post for details.]

After a couple years of immense satisfaction with my Aerobie Aeropress, I decided to give press pots another chance. After all, my last use of press pots (with dismal results) preceded my discovery of Mark Prince’s coffee geek website and podcast by many years. Perhaps my new-found knowledge of proper grinds, beans and brewing techniques would yield better results.

The Problem with the Aeropress

aerobie aeropress

I’ve been an Aerobie Aeropress evangelist since I first discovered it. But, I’ve become annoyed by the fact that the Aeropress is designed primarily for espresso shots and 80z Americano cups of coffee. I drink two 12 to 14 oz cups of coffee each day.

The Aeropress brews THE-best 12 – 14 oz cup of coffee I have ever had – period! But the process I use is a kludge. The Aeropress’ water chamber holds only 8 oz of hot water. After pouring the first 8 oz’s into the chamber I wait and stir and wait and stir as gravity pulls the first 4 to 6 ounces through the beans and the filter. As I wait and stir, I slowly pour, ounce by ounce, the final 4 to 6 ounces of my desired 12 to 14 oz cup into the chamber. Only then can I press the final 8 ounces through. This is tedious. And with newly roasted beans, I have to proceed even slower as the new bean bloom can result in overflow and clean-up issues.

Despite requests by Aeropress lovers, Aerobe has not yet created a larger version of its product.

Onward to the Bodum Chambord

So, with this post on the coffee geek forums I set out to explore the press pot as an alternative method to brew my one-at-at-time 12 oz cups of coffee. Since it seems that most quality French Presses are the same, I settled on the 16 oz (4 cup*) Bodum Chambord. (Thanks for the recommendation JVBorella)

While this Bodum Chambord is available to Americans for ($20ish) at Amazon.com, the best price I could find in Toronto for it was $39 at the Shaper Edge in Toronto’s Eaton’s Center. Everywhere else (Sears, the Bay, Second Cup) was charging $49.

Continue reading “Bodum Chambord – Not What I Was Expecting”

June 23, 2008February 28, 2017

Wimbledon 2008 Begins

Official Wimbledon Site | Wimbledon Live | Men’s Draw | Ladies’ Draw |

With the exception of Nalbandian (7), all the major seeds advanced to the second round including: Federer (1), Djokovic (3), Hewitt (20), Safin, Gonzalez (15), Baghdatis (10), Ivanovic (1), Kuznetsova (4), S. Williams (6) and Mauresmo (20).

Tomorrow

Tomorrow we’ll see the first round matches of: Nadal (2), Davydenko (4), Roddick (6), Blake (9), Murray (12), Fish, Tipsarevic, Jankovic (2), Sharapova (3), Dementieva (5), V. Williams (7), Safina (9) and, my favourite, Davenport (25).

The Canadians

Canadian Frank Dancevic made it through to the second round. Stephanie Dubois lost in the first. Aleksandra Wozniak plays her first match tomorrow.

Can Roger Win It?

Ever since Nadal wiped the floor with Federer in the French, the press has been a-buzz with talk about whether Roger can win Wimbledon again. I say, of course he can. He’s won 5 straight Wimbledons. Why not another? Every great player goes through lean times. He had no problem knocking out his buddy Hrbaty in straight sets today. My money is still on Federer to take a 6th straight victory.

Continue reading “Wimbledon 2008 Begins”

June 21, 2008February 28, 2017

Wimbledon Live – Stream or Download Wimbledon 2008 Matches

Wimbledon 2008 starts this Monday June 23 and runs to July 6. I just discovered (ironically through an adsense ad on The Daleisphere) that Wimbledon provides a two week ‘Wimbledon Live‘ service where, for a flat fee of $24.99 (approx. £12.65) you can stream live matches to your PC or download up to 250 matches in .wmv format after the match is complete.

2008 matches will be available until May 1, 2009. Day passes are will be available but so far I have not found pricing details.

As usual, my TiVos are queued to record as many matches as TSN and NBC air. But, all too often, matches that I want to watch are not broadcast. Or, too frequently, certain channels have exclusive rights to particular high profile matches with the result that they are not shown on the channels that my cable provider, Rogers, makes available to me!

Formats and Quality

All video is in 384 x 288 format with a 4:3 aspect ratio. I took a quick look at the free streaming demo of the 2005 Federer vs. Roddick Wimbledon Final. The quality wasn’t great (see pic above) but it wasn’t bad either. Because the service works with Windows Media Player only, the service is not available to Apple users and, presumably, not available through AppleTV.

Note: In addition to the free streaming demo, I tried downloading the free downloadable version but it would not play without my having to first sign up and give them my credit card. This kind-of defeats the “free” part of the ‘Download (FREE)’ offer :).

Continue reading “Wimbledon Live – Stream or Download Wimbledon 2008 Matches”

June 21, 2008February 28, 2017

Windows Live Writer Cropping and Watermarking Tool

Following my recent post about the Windows Live Writer (WLW) technical preview, the WLW team has responded to several of my concerns in this thread on the Windows Live Writer (Beta) forum.

Two of my concerns related to how the WLW cropping tool works and how the the watermarking functionality works. This post demonstrates what I want/need out of a cropping/watermarking tool compared what the cropping/watermarking functionality in the latest WLW tech preview build provides.

The three pictures below show the differences between the source picture, what I want/need, and what the WLW Cropping tool gives me.

1. Source Picture	2. What I Want	3. WLW Cropping Tool

This picture is used in my So You Think You Can Dance (Season 4 – Top 20) post.

1. Source Picture

The source picture was taken with my Canon Powershot SD 1000 camera from my Dell W2200HD Plasma TV. The larger image (click on left thumbnail above to view the source) is 2592 x 1944 pixels and 1.8 MB in size– way too large for a blog.

Continue reading “Windows Live Writer Cropping and Watermarking Tool”

June 20, 2008February 28, 2017

[Yellow Tail] – Shiraz

(3.5/5) – terrific every day value wine
Varietal: shiraz/syrah – Price: $12.25 Cdn – website – Winery: Casella Wines Pty Ltd. – Vintage: 2006 – Country: Australia – LCBO 624544

Spicy, rich, earthy and lovely for the price. Not too dry. A very approachable wine for most palettes. Terrific value. Best of the [yellow tail] line.

This is one of the few shiraz (also known as syrah) bottles of wine I’ve enjoyed – ever. It tastes more like a zinfandel than a shiraz. My sister Colleen introduced me to this wine and I was very surprised that I liked it. I’ve served it to several friends and family and everyone has enjoyed it.

I’ve consumed more than a half dozen bottles so far and it is consistently good. It has become one of my staples.

As you can see from the [yellow tail] home page, there is a very large selection of [yellow tail] branded wines available at affordable prices. I’ve also tried their, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir and the shiraz-grenache and this [Yellow Tail] shiraz is the best of the lot. The shiraz-grenache was the worst.

Other Reviews: Art of Drink | gremolata

Continue reading “[Yellow Tail] – Shiraz”

June 19, 2008February 28, 2017

Windows Live Writer Technical Preview – 1 Step Forward, 1 Step Back

I’ve been using Windows Live Writer (WLW) since early April 2008 (see post here). For the most part I’ve been delighted with it.

[June 26 2008 Update: I de-installed the technical preview and reverted back to the older WLW release. The “Open Blog Posts Much Slower” WordPress bug was driving me to distraction.]

A new (unnumbered?) WLW ‘technical preview” version came out recently (download here – see details here). I downloaded it and have been using it for a couple days. Unfortunately, this version has solved a few problems and introduced new one’s. I describe the benefits and problems below along with my wishlist for a few new functions.

New Technical Preview Benefits

Refresh Theme Option is Faster: This is not exactly something I need to do often but when I use the View/Refresh Theme function, it is faster than before and it doesn’t stop to ask me the annoying question (can it make a temporary post?) that it used to ask.

Structured HTML Formatting: When you look at the HTML source code WLW ads structures to it. This is terrific. It makes it much easier to find my way around and edit the underlying code. Note: There is also a handy new ‘Source’ access tab along the bottom.

Other: There are new image border styles, but so far I haven’t used them. There is a built in word counter (you need to turn it on in the options – more details are here).

Continue reading “Windows Live Writer Technical Preview – 1 Step Forward, 1 Step Back”

June 19, 2008February 28, 2017

$35 Rogers iPhone Unlimited Rate Plan Leaked – Rumoured

[June 28, 2008 Update: Rogers announced its actual rate plans on June 27. Click here for the details. I’m leaving this rumour post as it was for posterity.]

This post on the ehMac.ca forum purports to have the details on Rogers/Fido rate plans for the 3G iPhone set for release on July 11. This was picked up by the Financial Post here, giving it enough credibility for me to blog about.

[July 20, 2008 Update: According to this article in the Toronto Star, the pricing plan set out below is wrong. Here’s what the Star.com says:

Under the new model, smartphone users can choose between “flex” and “non-flex” plans with buckets of data that range in price from $60 for 1 gigabyte to $100 for 6 gigabytes. The plans are purchased in addition to a voice plan.]

[July 19, 5:28 pm Update: AppleInsider is questioning the veracity of this ‘leak’ here. They point out the purported leaked Rogers memo looks identical to an earlier AT&T memo. This could be a completely bogus cut and paste fake.]

Summary of the Salient Points

$35 Unlimited Data Plan: Rogers (and its subsidiary Fido) will offer an unlimited data plan for $35 ($45 for enterprise customers), on top of your regular cell phone bill.
3 Year Contract Commitment: Rogers will require you to commit to three years of service. No word on what the early termination penalties are.
“No ‘No Commitment’ Option: There will be no option to purchase a non-subsidized phone without a commitment.
$199 (8GB) and $299 (16GB) Device Costs: This is the same as in the U.S.
30 Day Return Policy: If you don’t like the device you can return it within 30 days without breaking the long-term contract.
Mandatory In-Store Activation: Just like in the U.S.
No Word on SMS: Since SMS is nothing but data it should be included in an unlimited data plan. But, AT&T is charging extra for SMS messaging. Sadly, I’d expect Rogers to follow suit. This just means I won’t use SMS

This Would be Terrific

If this is true, it would be generally terrific news and a huge departure from the exorbitant data plan rates of the past. I concluded in this post that I would be willing to pay up to $50 a month for a decent data plan.

Long Term Contracts – Ugh

I do not like long-term contracts. I have always purchased my cell phones at full retail price to leave my exit options open.

There should be a law in Canada, as there is in France, mandating that carriers provide an option to purchase the device without a contract. This tried-and true carrier lock-in-by-contract technique is anti-competitive. It will keep Rogers/Fido users from switching to Bell/Telus when they start selling IPhones on their GSM overlay systems – due to be completed in a year or so.

But, if the penalty for breaking the contract is around $200 or less, I’ll take it. I’ll just consider it a cost of the phone.

Cross Border SIM Card Question

One big question I have is, can I take the SIM card out of the iPhone and use a U.S. AT&T SIM if/when I move back to the U.S. Yes, I know I’d have to pay the penalty to break my contract but I’d like to know if I purchase the 3G iPhone (especially if I pay the penalty) that I can take it with me if/when I move South. It angered me greatly when I returned from the U.S. years ago only to discover that I couldn’t use my the AT&T Motorola GSM phone that I payed full-retail price for on Rogers GSM network.

June 19, 2008February 28, 2017

Metal Gear Solid 4 – Diary #2

MGS 4 Diary: Entry #1, Entry #2, Abandoned!
MGS4 Reviews: Metacritic | GameRankings.com
Reference: GameFAQ Walkthrus |

Progress: I made it to Act 1 – Crescent Meridian (7th of 8 parts to Act 1)

What a difference a day makes. Discovering that Weapons/Items need to be equipped before they appear was important! (See Update in Diary Entry #1). You’d think the game or manual would have mentioned that somewhere up front!

Visuals

I can’t say enough for the visual and cinematic feel of MGS4. The particle effects, fabrics, lighting, character models, rich and detailed environments, the camo suite, the Dolby surround sound audio. This is a visual and audible masterpiece.

Love the Bright Sunny Arab World

Stealth games are usually too dark (can you say “Splinter Cell”). Heck, too many video games are too dark. One of the reasons I love the GRAW series so much is because they are mostly set outdoors in the bright sunlight. I wish more games were set in the sunlight.

How Do You Tell the Difference Between MPCs and Militia?

If you kill militia, by accident or not, they’ll turn on you. So it’s important to either avoid them and PMC’s in all battles with stealth or determine which of the factions is militia and which is PMC and then side with the militia (you can side with the PMC but they’ll still shoot you).

So that’s been my big question/challenge today? Previously, the only way I could tell was to use the solid eye and zoom in close to read the character’s names (militia’s are named ‘militia”). I had thought there was going to be a colouring difference (ie: the text and symbols) but there is none – at least initially.

Continue reading “Metal Gear Solid 4 – Diary #2”

June 18, 2008February 28, 2017

So You Think You Can Dance (Season 4 – Top 18)

So You Think You Can Dance Judges [Top 20] [Top 18] [Top 16] [Top 14]
Rayven & Jamie were voted off last week. Below are my thoughts on the on June 18, 2008 performances of the nine remaining couples making up the season 4 top 18. (click images for a larger view) weigh in.

———————————————–

Chelsea T./Thayne – Jazz (Untouched – The Veronicas): While I enjoyed the routine, it didn’t match up to last week’s performance. But I chalk that up to the poor choice of song and Mandy Moore’s choreography more than the lack of performance. Terrific costumes. [Watch on YouTube]

[June 19 Update: Chelsea T and Thane were voted into the bottom 3 this week.]

Chelsie H/Mark – Argentinean Tango (Mi Confesion – Gotan Project): Loved her outfit! A slight hesitation at one point. I’ve seen better but it was superior to Jessica’s and Will’s tango last week. I thought it was hot and very sexy – what a tango should be. Two very good weeks in a row. [Watch on YouTube]

Jessica/Will – Hip Hop (Whatever U Like – Nicole Scherzinger): Two weeks in a row with a sub-par performance. Aside from a couple of moves here and there, it just didn’t do it for me. Nowhere close to Katee & Joshua’s hip hop last week. [Watch on YouTube]

Continue reading “So You Think You Can Dance (Season 4 – Top 18)”

June 17, 2008February 28, 2017

Metal Gear Solid 4 – Diary #1

MGS 4 Diary: Entry #1, Entry #2, Abandoned!
MGS4 Reviews: Metacritic | GameRankings.com
Reference: GameFAQ Walkthrus |

Progress: I made it to Act 1 – Urban Ruins (4th of 8 parts to Act 1)

This is the first video game I’ve played since slicing open my left index finger on May 15. I had to abandon my GTA game play and diary to let my finger heal. It isn’t fully back to normal again (still can’t feel anything above the knuckle on my left index finger) but I couldn’t wait to give MGS4 a try.

I wrote this first diary entry mostly in real time as I played through the initial scenes of the game.

My Limited MGS Experience

The only prior experience I’ve had with the Metal Gear Solid franchise is when I played a couple levels of MGS 2: Substance on the original Xbox. What I recollect from that experience was that the cut scenes were spectacular and the game was, to me, unplayable. It had a clumsy over-head camera mechanic. There was a handicapped first person view that only allowed you to look around when you were stopped. You couldn’t shoot or move in that view. After a couple levels I gave up in frustration.

From everything I’ve heard about MGS4 (and I’ve heard, read and watched a lot over the years) it has been revamped into a thoroughly modern stealth, shooter. I guess we’ll see.

So here we go.

Continue reading “Metal Gear Solid 4 – Diary #1”

June 17, 2008February 28, 2017

3G iPhone, Yes But…

In episode 147 of This Week in Tech, Leo highlights a few of the ‘yes, but… ‘ shortcomings of the latest 3G iPhone offering.

Limited 3G Availability: AT&T’s 3G HSDPA is only available in limited U.S. geographical areas (I don’t know how widespread Rogers 3G Network is)>
Higher Dataplan Rates: The unlimited data plan price for U.S. consumers has gone up from $25 a month to $30 a month (a price point Canadians still salivate over) .
SMS Not Included: AT&T will charge 10 cents per 140 bytes (characters). This is ‘odd’ because SMS is only data. But carrier’s excel at squeezing every last penny out of their users. This is clearly a cash cow they intend to milk as long as they can (Android, please come to our rescue).
Turn by Turn GPS Prohibited: Not only doesn’t the 3G iPhone not provide turn by turn GPS, but Apple’s SDK prohibits developers from writing turn by turn GPS programs. My guess is Apple intends to launch a for-pay turn by turn service in the future. One wonders whether the SDK prohibition violates anti-trust laws.

Continue reading “3G iPhone, Yes But…”

June 15, 2008February 28, 2017

Tim Russert – My Issue This Sunday

Tim Russert (1950 – 2008) believed that “being informed is the first job of being a good citizen”. I do too. For more than a decade I have watched Tim interview his guests each and every Sunday. I rarely missed Meet the Press.

I was saddened to hear of Tim’s passing last Friday. I’ve been watching the bountiful tributes with misty eyes. I respected his intelligence, preparation, passion for what he did, his omnipresent big smile, good humour and down-home humanity.

Tim’s relationship with is father, Big Russ, was inspiring. When he announced his book, Wisdom of our Fathers, I purchased a copy to give to my dad on father’s day. I used the page included in the book to write a bit about what my father meant to me. My dad liked that.

During every U.S. primary, caucus or election night, I would be keenly interested in what Tim had to say. I never found myself disagreeing with him. I don’t remember a partisan moment. If he said it, I took it very seriously.

It’s Sunday morning as I write this. Tom Brokaw is doing a tribute show for Tim in the background. I have never watched Meet the Press under another moderator. He helped to keep me informed. Sunday morning won’t be the same without him. His chair will be tough to fill.

Click to watch interview with Tim’s son Luke.

June 14, 2008February 28, 2017

Vertigo (1958)

(5/5) drama, mystery, romance, thriller
In Vertigo (1958) a retired police officer played by Jimmy Stewart is forced to confront his dizzying fear of heights (vertigo) in order to solve a mystery.

A friend’s wife, played by Kim Novak, is suffering from a form of dissociative fugue (sudden personality changes combined with travel to non-customary places and the inability to recall what happened). As she wanders off, she behaves as though she’s embodied an ancestor that committed suicide a century earlier. The husband hires Stewart to follow her around to both protect her and to be sure of her illness before committing her to a sanatorium.

As Stewart becomes increasingly infatuated with Novak, a love triangle forms. His not-so-secretly-in-love-with-him buddy, played by Barbara Bel Geddes, becomes increasingly concerned over Stewart’s new obsession.

Stewart was 50 when this movie was made. Novak and Geddes were 25 and 36 respectively. As a 43 year old male, I like to fantasize that women in their mid-twenties to mid 30’s will be attracted to me when I’m 50. But, alas, this only happens in the movies. 🙂

A Post Card from 1958 San Francisco

Vertigo is shot in and around 1958 San Francisco. The city and surrounding countryside play integral roles in the plot. A first kiss at Cypress Point is punctuated with a wave crashing to the shore. A flock of birds takes off from the lagoon as the characters stroll past the Palace of Fine Arts. Coit Tower stands prominently outside the windows of both Stewart’s and Geddes’ apartments. The streets of San Francisco are constantly highlighted as Stewart follows Novak around.

Continue reading “Vertigo (1958)”

June 11, 2008February 28, 2017

So You Think You Can Dance (Season 4 – Top 20)

[Top 20] [Top 18] [Top 16] [Top 14]
I’ve been a fan of So You Think You Can Dance since the first season. Here are my thoughts on the on June 11, 2008 performances of the ten couples making up the season 4 top 20. (Click images for larger view)

———————————————–

Rayven/Jamie – Hip Hop (American Boy – Estelle ft. Kanye West): Yikes … fish out of water …. boring … I was fearful for the show after this performance. [Watch on YouTube]

[June 12 Update: Rayven and Jamie were voted off the next day.]

Susie/Marquis – Waltz (Dark Waltz – Hayley Westenra): Nice enough but too many mistakes. Was happy Susie showed more substance than she presented in the earlier audition/Vegas shows. Better than expected from her. He was very good. [Watch on YouTube]

Kourtni/Matt – Jazz (Tainted Love – Soft Cell): Kourtni was one of my favourites coming into tonight. She didn’t do much for me in this yawner. The second worst of the night … how disappointing… I hope she makes it through. I’d like to see her do a Mia Michaels emotive/contemporary routine. She’d be a natural. [Watch on YouTube]

Chelsea/Thane – Cha Cha (Oye Como Va (Latin/Trance Mix) – Celia Cruz): Hot, hot hot. Chelsea looks to be a permanent passenger on Mary’s Hot Tamali Train. Thane was good too. That was sexy. [Watch on YouTube]

Continue reading “So You Think You Can Dance (Season 4 – Top 20)”

June 9, 2008February 28, 2017

3G iPhone Coming to Canada July 11 – $199 – $299

June 9, 2008 WWDC 2008 Keynote Announcing 3G iPhone

New 3G iPhone: “Twice the speed, half the price” – Details on U.S. Apple Website here (Canadian details here)
Launching on July 11: in Canada (on Rogers and Fido networks) and 23 other new countries
3G Speeds Approaching wifi Speeds: U.S. details here (Canadian details here)
Lower Pricing (U.S. pricing – hardware price identical in Canada)
- $199 for 8MB iPhone (to put this in context the 8MB iPhone launched at $599 just last year and was $399 up to today )
- $299 for 16GB
- $30/ month for U.S. Consumers AT&T unlimited data plan (on top of voice contract).
- $45/month for U.S. Business Users.
- [June 28 Update: Disappointing Canadian tiered data plan announced – see details)
Built in GPS: Satellite GPS supplemented by data from cell towers. U.S. details here (Canadian details here)
Increased Battery Life:
- 300 hours (6 weeks) standby
- 24 hours audio (music/podcasts)
- 7 hours video
- 5-6 hours 3G surfing
- 5 hours 3G talk (10 hours 2G talk)
- no GPS battery details yet

Continue reading “3G iPhone Coming to Canada July 11 – $199 – $299”

June 8, 2008February 28, 2017

Nadal Crushes Federer to Win Fourth Consecutive French Open

For the third consecutive year Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal met at the French Open finals. I fully expected Nadal to win, but I did not expect a 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 blow-out.

With the exception of Federer’s reaching, but not capitalizing on, a break-point in the 2nd, the match was entirely Nadal’s – repeatedly breaking Federer’s serve. The Nadal-Djokovic semi-final was much more satisfying.

It was amusing to see Nadal inhibited by the opening ceremony restrictions. Normally after the pre-game photos and the coin-toss, Nadal charges from the net to the baseline to begin his warm-up. This time he had to wait (noticeably frustrated) until the huge opening ceremony flags were removed before he could make his trademark zig-zag run.

Continue reading “Nadal Crushes Federer to Win Fourth Consecutive French Open”

June 7, 2008February 28, 2017

Ivanovic Wins the 2008 French Open

In a more competitive match than the 6-4, 6-3 score would suggest, Ana Ivanovic defeated the terrific Dinara Safina to win her first grand-slam title. Two days earlier she had become the world’s number 1 women’s tennis player after beating her fellow Serbian countrywoman Jelena Jankovic in the semi-finals.

Safina played well, but not well enough. Not unlike her brother, her emotions too often got in the way. In her round of 16 and quarterfinal matches against Dementieva and Kuznetsova, she had come back from being a set and match-point down to prevail. Ivanovic was too good for this to work a third time.

Ivanovic’s shots were strong and accurate. She played one of her best-ever matches, convincingly solid and steady throughout. She didn’t show any of the nervousness that kept her from winning the final against Sharapova at the 2008 Aussie Open and the final against Henin at the 2007 French Open. She’s come a long way from learning tennis in a war-torn Belgrade swimming pool.

This makes the seventh straight women’s French Open final that was won in straight sets. The last three-set women’s final was at the 2001 French Open – where Jennifer Capriati defeated Kim Clijsters.

Continue reading “Ivanovic Wins the 2008 French Open”

June 7, 2008February 28, 2017

Men’s Semi-Finals at the 2008 French Open

As Bjorn Borg looked on (see pic below), Nadal decisively defeated Novak Djokovic in the first men’s semi final of the 2008 French Open. Nadal is now within one match of tying Borg’s four-straight French Open win record.

I started watching, trying very hard not to root for either player. I wanted to revel in the sheer brilliance of their play alone. But I wasn’t able to do that for long. While Djokovic put up an admirable fight, the match was clearly Nadal’s from the beginning.

Continue reading “Men’s Semi-Finals at the 2008 French Open”

June 7, 2008February 28, 2017

Rafael Nadal’s Designer Tennis Shoes

I get a kick out of Rafael Nadal’s tennis shoes. As you can see below (click for larger version), at the 2009 French Open they bear three numbered insignias along the side, one each for his prior French Open wins.

On the back of the left shoe he has his trademark logo of a bull (see above pic) and on the back of the right ‘RAFA” is embossed on it.

In the past the shoe used to to say “VAMOS” on the left and “RAFA” on the right.

A couple years back an unseeded challenger ranked around 150 came out to meet rafa with his own ‘designer’ shoes. The cameras zoomed in on the challenger’s shoes to reveal that he had used safety pins to attach patches on the back of his sneakers with saying “Vamos” on the left and the challenger’s name on the right – written in ink!. I wish I could remember who that was. It was quite funny.

June 5, 2008February 28, 2017

The Obama Fist Bump, Thumbs-Up Moment

As Barack was about to make his Democratic nomination victory speech, Michelle looked at him, fist-bumped, smiled a huge smile and gave him the thumbs up.

There is something awfully wonderful about this picture. In a flash you see a couple that is truly in love. Truly supportive of each other. Terrific.

June 4, 2008February 28, 2017

I’m Now Officially a Dinara Safina Fan

I’ve found a new women’s professional tennis player to love. With shade’s of her brother’s flare and fire, Dinara Safina took down Sharapova and Dementieva in two successive come-from-behind French Open victories. These two matches have been my favourites of the French Open 2008 so far.

After being a set and two breaks down, Safina fought her way back, won the second set and routed Dementieva 6-0 in the third set of their quarter finals match. With this win Safina reaches her first-ever grand slam semi where she’ll be playing Kuznetsova.

[June 5, 2008 Update: I was delighted to see Safina take out Kuznetsova quite easily. She’s now headed to her first grand-slam final.]

Ana Ivanovic will be playing Jankovic in the other women’s semi-final. I will, of course, be cheering for Ivanovic in that one but, if Ivanovic and Safina both make it to the final, I’ll be cheering for my new-found tennis star – Safina.

[June 5, 2008 Update: With Ivanovic beating Jankovic in the other semi, this should be one of the better women’s slam finals in a long time.]

Interestingly, with her win in Berlin, Safina was the last player to play and beat Justine Henin before her retirement.

June 4, 2008February 28, 2017

iTunes Movie Rentals Come to Canada

iTunes Canada Starting today (press release), Apple Canada is making movie (and some TV show) downloads available to Canadians through the Canadian iTunes store. Apple says 1200 titles are available at launch, including 200 ‘high-def’ titles.

Despite Canadian dollar parity, as usual Canadians will pay more per rental ($4.99 for new releases, $3.99 for older titles) than our American friends who pay $3.99 and $2.99 respectively. In both countries ‘high-def’* versions cost $1.00 more when available.

Canadians will have 48 hours to view iTunes movies after pressing play. This is surprising because Americans have only 24 hours to finish watching iTunes movies. I expect the U.S. service to follow suit shortly. As in America, Canadians have 30 days after downloading to start watching their rented movie before it is deleted.

I took a quick look at the iTunes Canada movie offerings. There seems to be a good selection of new and older movies. Unlike in the U.S., there are no current prime-time T.V. shows available for download through the service. The available TV shows are either shows you never heard of or older TV shows. I expect that to change over time too. Participating studios include Disney, Paramount , Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, Universal, MGM, Sony, Lionsgate and Maple Pictures.

Below I discuss your iTunes movie play-back options and compare the iTunes movie service to Bell’s recently announced video download store, the Xbox 360 movie download service, the Amazon Unbox-to-TiVo video download service and the pending PS3 movie download service.

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June 1, 2008February 28, 2017

French Open 2008 First Week

There’s not much to love about this year’s French Open – so far. There wasn’t one memorable match in the first week.

Two of my favourites, Davenport (not playing for ‘personal reasons’) and Roddick (out for a rotator cuff injury) are not participating. Three time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten, one of my all-time favourites, formally retired from professional tennis this week after an early round loss (I’ll miss Guga). Clijsters’, Henin’s, & Agassi’s retirements have left big holes in the sport. Hingis was forced out of professional tennis due to a cocaine scandal. Baghdatis, Fish, Mauresmo, Safin, Blake, and V. Williams’ were all early round losers. Significant rain delays resulted in the poor already Super Signal coverage (see below) being even worse than usual.

On a happier note, it was a pleasure to see Hewitt go down to Ferrer and Serena Williams go down (once again with little grace or class) to Srebotnik. I was a Hewitt fan in his earlier years. But his success made him too cocky and arrogant for my tastes. Serena’s always been in my bad books with rarely a kind word for anyone.

Perhaps I was spoiled with the terrific first week of tennis at the 2008 Aussie Open. The early round Roddick-Kohlschreiber and Federer–Tipsarevic matches there were probably some of the best matches I have seen in years.

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