G O B l o g

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/06/opera_feted_for_apple_iphone_play/ kudos for them still surviving in the land of Safari, Chrome, FF & IE

I hated touching the garbage can lid when throwing away garbage, so I devised this contraption that automatically opened the lid when I opened the cupboard door!

Some cool moves... http://www.ted.com/talks/the_lxd_in_the_internet_age_dance_evolves.html

Stumbled across the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative , while I was reading about MSF . MSF donated their 1999 Nobel Prize winnings to them. Other notable funders include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation . There are a lot of under-recognized diseases that affect the developing world, but there is often a lack of research, drug development and public advocacy for these epidemics. It's nice to see an initiative that is starting to tackle this issue. Keep this organization in mind when planning your gift-giving. Some excerpts from their website: "Despite major advances in drug development in recent decades, essential medicines to treat many diseases that affect the world’s poor are either too expensive, no longer produced, highly toxic, or ineffective. Recognising these issues from its field experience, Médecins Sans Frontières committed its 1999 Nobel Peace Prize funds to develop an alternative model for the research and development (R&D) of new drugs for negle...

Google's blog post on Wave:  http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/update-on-google-wave.html My feedback to Google (which they probably already know): As you will likely read in many articles about this, I didn't understand how to use Google Wave in my daily life. I watched the YouTube videos (not all of the cuz they were so long!), and was in awe of the functionality and drooled at the possibilities. However, when it came down to trying it out, the main thing that kept me from using it was the fact that it wasn't linked to my Gmail. That is, I didn't get a chance to play around with it on a regular basis because I did not have any "data" (i.e. communications like email, IM, etc) to play around with.  I would message other Wave users who didn't really check it on an ongoing basis. What's the point in that? No real conversations can be had with that. Plus, dealing with existing email and IM accounts is already time consuming, now I have to manage ...

http://gizmodo.com/5572546/design-test-note-fragile-beauty http://www.intomobile.com/2010/06/24/apple-iphone-4-issues-a-roundup/ http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/24/apple-responds-over-iphone-4-reception-issues-youre-holding-th/ http://industry.bnet.com/technology/10009133/apple-iphone-4-shows-that-innovation-without-execution-fails/ I am disappointed. As much as I wasn't a fan of Apple's locked down OS, I have always admired their industrial design. Forcing consumers to get a case for their phone is not a solution, in my humble opinion. Devices should be designed to be used without any required after market parts. This is also a reason to avoid getting hardware products that are recently launched, especially when they are revolutionary (i.e. 4G doesn't look anything like the 3GS). I don't understand why people line up for hours just to be the first ones to get their hands on a product. You are usually paying more, and getting a product that may be less than perf...

My parents bought a new car recently (new as in the latest year model from a dealer, not a new "used" car), and as a result I've spent doing the background research. Here are some of what I've learned: Consumers Reports  - Excellent reviews website I use in my research into future purchases that may not have good reviews online. Their car reviews are quite good and more practical minded. A paid subscription required, but I think it's worth the knowledge you gain. Car Buying Tips - Tips on buying a car; everything from the preliminary research to how to negotiate the best deal. It is mostly US focussed but many of the tips apply to Canada as well and their is a Canadian catered page. Car Cost Canada - Buy a report on how much the dealer paid for the car from the manufacturer (dealer invoice price). The dealer then marks it up from there and sells it to the public. This report can provide you with a basis for negotiations. The MSRP (manufacturer's suggested...

When I shop for eggs, I always wondered what the difference between brown eggs and white eggs was. This time I remembered to Google it when I came home and stumbled upon across a cool blog called The Daily Apple with an explanation to my question . If want the quick answer, there is no difference between white and brown eggs; no freshness, nutritional, or taste advantages. Brown eggs just happen to come from brown coloured hens and white eggs from white coloured hens (pretty obvious when I think about it). The blog also had some interesting facts/answers about random topics (e.g. how bananas ripen, where birds go to die, etc). The posts have sources at the bottom and seem to be legit; I cross-referenced the egg question and the blog's explanation was valid, but I cannot personally attest to the other topics. The Internet is good for the curious... CLARIFICATION: The colour of egg depends on the skin colour of the hen, not necessarily the feathers. Here's a better exp...

...first time! ingredients: 2/3 cup red dahl 1.5 cup water one diced onion 1 teaspoon tumeric spice 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 cloves of sliced garlic (should've added diced green chili peppers) steps: boil the dahl at med-high in a pot heat till it starts breaking apart, stirring occasionally add onions add tumeric spice add salt mix everything together add garlic

I just stumbled upon this today, but the Toronto Star Google Mapped (is that a verb yet?) how people from different parts of the city commute using 2006 Census data. There's also more information about each area when you click on the map (i.e. % breakdown based on mode of transportation). Apparently they did one for 2008, but they got were able to breakdown Toronto into more regions this time around according to the accompanying blog post . The results are something Torontonians probably already know intrinsically, but its cool to see it in map form. They also have maps on other interesting things that can be shown in map form (e.g. real estate numbers, dog ownership, smoking etc.) Neat.

It's a shame we don't hear enough from Mike Lazaridis , co-CEO of RIM, in the news and more about the adventures the other co-CEO. He provides some good food for thought about the wireless industry , specifically about the need to make apps/devices that conserve bandwidth: "As an industry we need to think of a way to conserve this precious resource just like we're trying to conserve other things today. Believe it or not [wireless] spectrum is a physically limited resource."