Comparing loonies to the thin, aluminum Apple keyboard

My mom did something interesting the other day. They purchased one of the new Apple keyboards, the new, ultra thin aluminum ones that now come standard with most of their desktop machines. Taking some loonies from their last trip to Vancouver, she showed just how thin it actually is.

Two loonies thick

As you can see, the thickness of the keyboard is just two loonies.

One loonie thick

The keys themselves stick up from the keyboard at just one thickness of a single loonie.

That’s an outstanding size comparison. I haven’t had a chance to use one of these, but the last standard that Apple sent out with their products, in terms of keyboards, is something I’m not too found of. I love the feel of the keys on Apple laptops, so this might be an investment worth snagging. I fear I’d fight Rebecca over it though.

The Crazy Canucks #41 – Interview with CBC Sports reporter Shanel Pratap

Recorded last night and edited this morning, I am a proud member of this podcast. I’ve got some amazing co-hosts doing really cool things. 🙂

In this special episode, J.J. and Alanah take control of the podcast to interview Shanel Pratap from CBC Vancouver. He does the sports for the noon news hour and weekend sports anchor on the CBC. Shanel also spent four days at Canucks training camp in Victoria, B.C. Our crew chats with him, gets inside his head a little, and look ahead at what we can expect by what he saw at training camp.

Also, Rebecca got some air time on local radio station 95 Crave after her experience at the opening pre-season game at GM Place. Listen all the way to the end to catch it.

28:29 minutes
The Crazy Canucks

Vancouver Podcast Meetup: September 23, 2007

It’s getting to the point where I’m bypassing the spam that comes in my email, but luckily, I was able to catch an email from Mark Blevis about an upcoming Vancouver Podcast Meetup that he’s bringing together during a business related trip out here.

I am taking advantage of a work trip to Vancouver to organize a meetup of podcasters, podcast listeners and the podcast curious. The event will take place 7:00pmPT Sunday, September 23 at the Steamworks Brewing Co. Gastown location (375 Water Street) — makers of great beer including their Nirvana Nut Brown Ale.

Please RSVP so that we can warn Steamworks about our numbers.

The event is open to everyone so, even if you find out about this gathering at the last minute, show up. [markblevis]

This is a day before my birthday. That makes Mark 2 out of 3 so far for important dates to us, the last meetup landing on the same day as our wedding anniversary. I guess that just means that we’ll have to get Mark out here to do another meetup on or around January 9th, Rebecca’s birthday.

Trent Reznor and the music business revolution

I find the first few minutes of the following video pretty interesting. For a time now, Trent Reznor[wiki] has been calling for fans to steal his music, and here is proof that he’s taking his message to the people and not just the media.

Basically, he’s upset, just as much as you and I are, that prices for buying music, mainly CD albums, has become ridiculously expensive. The cost for buying the latest release by your favorite band is usually in the $15-$25 range, sometimes more. As prices go up, people resort to stealing, making record companies lose money because no one is buying the product from the shelves, and to compensate they drive the CD price higher to fill in the lacking profit margins. Vicious circle? You bet.

Digital downloads are a whole other story, but even the record companies would like to see a better price than $.99 a track on iTunes. In fact, that isn’t the case for all tracks anymore because you can get music at a better bit rate and quality at just over a dollar or so, but the industry doesn’t budge like that for nothing. If they had their way, you’d be paying more than that and tell you the reason being is copyright compensation to the artist.

Every time I think about this topic, I’m constantly reminded by what Steve Albini wrote in his “The Problem With Music“. It was written just ahead of the digital music revolution in the 90’s, but I hesitate to think that the industry has moved past that mode of operation. It’s worth a read if you’ve never seen it before.

I have to say that I’m with Trent Reznor on this. The industry needs to learn a whole new way of thinking. Not sure that I’d run out a grab a ton of CD’s if they were $5-10 a piece, but it would certainly make me consider the notion. If anything, you might just save the youth of the world from missing out on some great artists because a thirteen year old could buy three for the price of today’s one.

The Crazy Canucks #40 – The puck drops here

Started last Wednesday, more recordings done yesterday, and posted this morning.

Hockey is back! Well, we’re almost there, but the puck is dropping in pre-season action all around the NHL, and September 17, 2007 is when it started for the Canucks.

This episode ended up being a mix of content, mostly due to technical difficulties in the recording process. Everyone gathers online to discuss more of the jersey debate, but this is probably the last we’ll really hammer this topic. Then Dave and John hang out for a brief chit chat before the first game against Anaheim, and Rebecca ends this episode with a report on going to the game.

24:38 minutes
The Crazy Canucks

WP-Cache plugin to help boost page loading time

I’ve installed the WP-Cache NoSymLink plugin to my site for a little experimentation. The goal of this is to cut down on the amount of time it takes to load the various pages and posts within my site, and this plugin is a tweaked version of the original WP-Cache plugin.

If you have a WordPress site that attracts a lot of traffic, this will help speed up page loading by a few seconds. What it does is takes some of the load off your server in terms of generating pages on the fly. With every, single post that you read on any WordPress site, the server it sits on pulls information from a handful of data sources to present you a web page on your browser.

Instead of dragging down server performance and making you wait for all this information to load from a database, the cache stores this data on a temporary basis to get the page to show up on your browser faster. This is really helpful if you have a site with a lot of traffic or host your WordPress blog on a server with a slow connection to the outside world.

Can’t say that I have the worst server or the number of readers that heeds the need for such a plugin, but I’ve noticed a little bit more speed to the load time on my site.

Sponsor me in the CIBC Run For The Cure 2007

The time has come again for the CIBC Run For The Cure 2007, and I will be participating again this year. I’m also asking for your donations so that I can partake in the event, and all money will go directly to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation to help those dealing with breast cancer and hopefully find a cure.

CIBC Run For The Cure Make your online sponsorships here, and the run takes place on September 30, 2007 in downtown Vancouver, starting and ending at BC Place. I have until then to raise $150 to participate in the event.

ABOUT THE RUN

The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure is an extraordinary single-day experience that unites more than 170,000 Canadians in 53 communities across the country. Together, we’re raising millions of dollars to fund innovative and relevant breast cancer research, education, and awareness programs in the communities where you live. [cibcrunforthecure]

I have just recently gotten myself back into the running routine, pretty much healed from my shin splint that was bothering me a lot. My hope is to run this 5k at or under 25 minutes.

Holly McNarland at the East Vancouver Cultural Center

Holly McNarland
Photo credit: gusgreeper on Flickr

I know the picture is dark, but this whole venue was dark except for the light that shined on the performers. Actually, a few songs into Holly McNarland‘s set, the lights seem to brighten and change colors. Otherwise, Corinna‘s picture here is pretty spot on.

Rebecca has been a fan of Holly’s music for a long time, so I’m familiar with the music. Can’t say that I know a lot of words to very many songs, not to mention the few songs titles that I can name off the top of my head. The one thing I do know is that Holly can wail.

Bottom line, an amazing performance at the East Vancouver Cultural Center. Stripped down to a point, there was no percussion, aside from the occasional tambourine, and some subtle electric guitar to add a little extra where needed. Other than that, acoustic guitars and a fellow female vocalist to provide backing vocals where needed. Worked out beautifully.

On the latest episode of RadioZoom, I was mentioning the amount of “da da da’s” that were utilized in her and the opening act’s music. Adaline probably doesn’t have a song on her latest album called “Da Da Da” like Holly McNarland does, but at a certain point in the evening, I heard a lot of da-da-da-ing going on.

True that I’ve been to a lot of rock shows with a fair share of yeah’s being screamed, and the key thing is that both of these women were using their amazing voices to sing this simplest of syllables. Still, it was something that really stuck out to me.

In the end, she’s still got it. Even after having a child less than a year ago, she was able to get this album put together and out to the masses. Couldn’t have asked for a better, more intimate venue as well.

Russia builds huge bombs, switches up the government

A few days ago, Russia announced to the world that they had a new, massive, non-nuclear bomb that puts any other bombs out there to shame.

Russia unveils the ‘father of all bombs’

Russia’s military yesterday announced that it had successfully tested a lethal new air-delivered bomb, which it described as the world’s most powerful non-nuclear weapon.

In what appears to be the Kremlin’s latest display of military might, officials said Moscow had developed a new thermobaric bomb to add to its already potent nuclear arsenal.

Russia’s state-run Channel One television said the new ordnance – dubbed the Father of all Bombs – is four times more powerful than the US’s Mother of all Bombs. [guardian]

Then when you see the following headline a few days later, I find it very intriguing.

Putin dissolves Russian government, names new PM

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted the resignation of the country’s prime minister and named the head of a financial market watchdog as his replacement, the Kremlin said. […]

In his place, Putin nominated Victor Zubkov, an little-known economist who has headed the country’s financial monitoring service since 2001.

The move sets the stage for Putin to set up a favoured successor in the high-profile prime minister’s office before upcoming legislative elections in December, followed by a presidential election in March, the CBC’s Nick Spicer reported Wednesday from Moscow. [cbc]

Makes you think a little.