Month: March 2007

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Worst SeaBus ride ever

Seabus adventures I’m not sure if it’s normal, but riding the SeaBus[wiki] to catch the Canucks on PPV last night was an adventure to say the least. I haven’t made the jaunt too many times, but the late afternoon trip from yesterday was a tad rough.

I’m not one to get motion or sea sick, but the three times that we rocked from front to back was pretty nuts. Then the left to right a couple of times was enough to have the little old woman sitting next to me lean into me pretty hard. The kids loved it as the wakes of passing ships thumped into the boat.

Being an inlet, I was told that the waters never got too rough. I’m pretty confident to say that it can, and did.

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MyBlogLog

I’ve been resisting the MyBlogLog for some time. Rebecca is more about these social networking things than me sometimes, but this is a situation where is makes more sense when it comes to the world of new media and social media. In other words, she was right.

MyBlogLog enables you to take advantage of your existing presence on the Web and ties it into communities of like-minded readers and authors to add context to the conversations in which you take part. [mybloglog]

So there it sits on my sidebar for now. I’m not a huge fan of people seeing that I’ve been snooping around their site, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t log out and clear the cookies from your browser. The added benefits of networking with other bloggers, however, is a very nice element of their service.

Mmmm… this kool-aid tastes great!

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Hoser

As I mentioned in a recent episode of RadioZoom, I’ve recently discovered the origin of the world “hoser”. Now, that’s not to say that I’ve never heard the word before, nor have I misunderstood its implication. I don’t know how or why, but it’s been apart of my vocabulary since I was fifteen. I can also say with absolute truth that I have never seen Strange Brew[imdb] in its entirety. Maybe most of it, but not all at once or in chronological order. Weird, eh?

Truth be told, it was because of this post by Alanah on Canucks and Beyond that it came to light. Of course, the Wikipedia entry on it also sheds some insight.

Hoser is both a slang term and a stereotype, originating from and used primarily in Canada.

Like the very similar term hosehead, it originally referred to farmers of the Canadian prairies, who would siphon gas from farming vehicles with a hose during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The expression has since been converted to the verb ‘to hose’ as in to trick, deceive, or steal – for example: “That card-shark sure hosed me.” Hosed has an additional meaning of becoming drunk – for example: “Let’s go out and get hosed.”

Alternatively, the term may orginate as a variation of “loser”; in amateur games of hockey the losing team would have to “hose down” the rink, resurface the ice with a water hose. [wikipedia]

It’s the last explanation that I’m sticking with for now. I mean, the rest of it makes sense, but relating it back to hockey works for me. I think I also equate it with calling someone a dork or slightly inept. At the same time, and at least for me, it’s hardly has a derogatory term to it. I’ll call someone “hoser” as much as I’ll call them “dude”. Plus, it’s just fun to say.

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RadioZoom#128 – RZ#128 – Guinness widget; Northern Voice 2007; Vancouver Podcast Meetup; Flickr fun

Posted last Friday. Better late than never to make mention of it here.

I ran around the apartment with my minidisc and microphone to record this one. Rebecca was preparing to head over to the island for the weekend with some of her family(girls only), so I followed her around while spouting off about various topics. I tore into a can of Guinness to find out what those things they put in there look like, we give our review on the Northern Voice conference that occurred last weekend, and give a roundup to the Vancouver Podcast Meetup that Mark Blevis, of the Canadian Podcast Buffet, put together last Sunday. Other hilarities included.

55:56 minutes
radiozoom.net

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NPR: Fix your podcasts

The following is a message that I sent NPR regarding the quality of their podcasts. I’ve been telling a lot of folks about the problems that I have with some of their offerings. So to put money where my mouth is, I’m taking the advice of writing them. Maybe there will be others out there who feel the same way.

Hi, NPR.

There is something I’ve been wondering about your podcasts. Actually, there are a couple of things. Maybe I’m just picky, but I wanted to let you know about some things that really bug me about the podcasts you guys are producing.

First off, the hourly news updates that you guys provide drive me nuts for a couple of reasons. At the very beginning, it takes nearly 20 to 25 seconds to get to the actual news. It’s prefaced by a sounder to introduce the podcast. That is then followed by a sponsorship announcement. Is that a big deal, maybe not, but let me continue.

When the little mp3 finally gets to the news, the decibel levels are much lower than that of all the stuff at the very beginning. Some days it’s worse, other days it’s better. The point is, when I’m out for a run, I have to crank up the volume to hear anything. Then when the next item on the playlist comes up, my ear drums are attacked.

This is not the only feed that is guilty. Maybe you guys are not the guilty party, but being that you serve up the feed for “Michael Feldman’s Whad’Ya Know? – All the News that Isn’t“, I’m lumping them into the same group. Unless you crank the volume up, you hear Feldman mumbling with some sporadic laughter from the crowd. Come on, guys. I love public radio, and you are making it suck.

Why is there no compression or normalization to these podcasts? This is an easy solution, but it’s been this way for a long time. After complaining about this to numerous friends, I’m taking the step of letting you guys know how I feel. As someone who lives outside of the U.S. but enjoys what NPR offers, you shouldn’t forget about people like myself. If you give us quality content, then we might just think about giving you some quality donations when you need it.

Sincerely,
John Bollwitt

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Darth Vader Violinist

Darth Vader Violinist
Rebecca is in Victoria, B.C. for the weekend, but I got this sent to me from her cellphone while I was out for a run this morning. Too freaking funny.

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WordPress 2.1.1 bad, WordPress 2.1.2 good

It’s a little late to be posting this, and my vision is slightly blurry from passing out on the couch. Still, just checked a few sites and some folks are passing this word on. I figure that I should pay it forward as well. Ugh… Did I just use a crappy Hollywood reference?

If you’ve upgraded to the world of WordPress 2.1.1, you are in considerable danger. Nothing life threatening, but before some dude from Turkey cracks into your blog, you need to update your installation to version 2.1.2.

A hacker was able to add a vulnerability to the version of 2.1.1 that was pushed out about a week or so ago, but those still in the world of 2.0.x are fine for now. Essentially, it was a back door that got in by some dude who really, really sucks. So do the right thing and get yourself covered. I’m sure they are trolling for whatever they can get into as you read this.

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The Crazy Canucks #23 – Trade deadline decompression

Recorded last night, posted today.

Dave was a healthy scratch for this episode, but the rest of us gather to take on the past three games against L.A.(W), Dallas(OTL), and St. Louis(L). Also, we dive into the excitement of the NHL trade deadline, look at what the Canucks got, and examine how other teams in the division made out.

Record as of this episode: 36-22-5
Northwest Division: 1st
Western Conference: 3rd

Ryan Smyth going to the Islanders took a bulk of that attention in terms of the trade deadline, but that doesn’t make us Oilers fans by any means. Also, Bertuzzi going to Detroit means that we still might see him back in Vancouver before the season is over. We also look into some listener feedback, especially about the topic of the Canucks playing a game next season in the U.K.(Note: NHL confirmed that the Kings and Ducks would be doing this next season as of today, not the Canucks as our European friends might have hoped.) Additionally, we were given a scoop to a rumor on the new uniforms for next season, fueling the fire for a potential change to the logo.

61:44 minutes
The Crazy Canucks

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Bum Rush The Charts

I’m not one to really get into movements like this, but this one involves a couple of things that I’m partial to: podcasting and music.

I’ll try to break it down as simple as possible, but you can get the long end of the story here. On March 22nd, the goal is to get an independent music artist to the top of the iTunes music chart. To do this, podcasters and enthusiasts alike have picked out who that would be and their particular song for this event. On that day only, the intent is to get everyone, that possibly can, to buy that song from the iTunes Music Store.

The band: Black Lab

The song: “Mine Again”

The purpose of this is to “prove the power of new media more than showing corporate media that not only can we exceed their reach and match their purchasing power, but that we can also do it AND make a positive difference in the world. If we can succeed with this small example, then there’s no telling what can do next.” (As quoted from the website)

The curious thing about Black Lab is that they were on a major label, only to get dropped. They have since moved into the independent realm of creating and promoting their music, adapting podcasting into their efforts. Therein lies a lot of the inspiration and consideration for choosing them for this effort.

If you’re interested in more of the details, then find more of the Bum Rush The Charts website. If you have US$.99 to spare on March 22nd, 2007, then you might be interested in joining the mob.