Archive for Technology
January 16, 2008 at 10:40 am · Filed under Computers, Ruby, Technology
The official Ruport book is now for sale on the Lulu website. If you’re looking to learn how to do ad-hoc reports in Ruby and add reports to your Rails application, this is a great reference and learning tool. (Disclaimer: I was a volunteer proofreader for the book.)
Still on the fence about buying it? There is a free HTML version available on the book’s website for you to preview and read, and 25% of the revenue from book sales will go to Engineering Without Borders. The book is also available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike license.
December 31, 2007 at 9:49 am · Filed under Computers, Links, Ruby, Technology
Dave Thomas, writer of the infamous PickAxe, posted a nice summary of what’s new in Ruby 1.9, and more importantly, who it’s right for. Ruby programmers may also want to check out this thread on comp.lang.ruby.
June 7, 2007 at 10:31 pm · Filed under Technology, Toronto
Playing around a bit with the OurFaves site, trying to see what’s easy to add. In the meantime, I’ve created a search engine integration for FireFox and Internet Explorer (and anyone else that supports OpenSearch).
Add the OurFaves - Toronto engine.
September 7, 2006 at 4:28 pm · Filed under Business, Computers, Marketing, News, Technology
Todd Zeigler has posted his opinions on what newspapers need to do to freshen up their websites. A bit of discussion and cross-posting ensued, including one by Adrian Holovaty and a follow-up by Todd.
July 31, 2006 at 9:37 am · Filed under Computers, Personal, Technology, Toronto
I’ve written a brief update on the free WiFi scene in Toronto over at Torontoist. Also, I’m writing for Torontoist! (Profile to be updated shortly)
July 21, 2006 at 10:55 am · Filed under Computers, Technology
Sarah Allen reflects on some recent developments in Email that have become a must for her. I’ve recently purchased a MacBook, and I’ve found the integration between Mail, Address Book and Adium has been very useful. We’ve looked into email before.
July 6, 2006 at 8:43 pm · Filed under Computers, Movies, Music, Technology, Television, Uncategorized
Fulfilling promises made earlier this year, and in spite of some previously failed attempts (yes, that article is from 2004), Microsoft is going to introduce a new “iPod killer” before Christmas this year. (Another story)
Microsoft is being helped out by media companies (Music, Television, etc.). Because Apple dominates the digital music player and music download markets, they are able to strong arm the content providers and set the prices. Music labels and other media providers would like to see a more balanced market to be able to gain more control over their pricing.
For those of you who don’t know, iTunes and Microsoft-backed stores sell their songs with digital restrictions. These restrictions on the files prevent them from being copied a certain number of times, or can even cause the songs to “expire”, and stop working when the music store owner chooses. This also prevents music downloaded from iTunes from playing on Microsoft “Plays for Sure” players, and music from most other stores working on iPods. So any music you have downloaded from the iTunes music store will probably never work on Microsoft’s new player.
Rather than forcing you to re-buy your iTunes music at their store, Microsoft is planning to automatically buy it for you from their store, and pay for it, as well.
Would you be willing to switch to a new music player, if they re-bought all of your music for you? Will Microsoft be able to avoid previous traps and create a compelling product? I’m not betting on it, but if they throw as much money at it as they did for the XBox, there might be something that at least will have some presence.
June 20, 2006 at 9:32 am · Filed under Computers, Technology, Toronto
Gabe Sawhney has mentioned that there will soon be free Wi-Fi access in Dundas Square, Toronto. The volunteers at Wireless Toronto have also brought us Toronto’s largest outdoor hotspot at Dufferin Grove park. Find out where else you can get free access, and how to use the service.
June 13, 2006 at 2:57 pm · Filed under News, Personal, Technology
Don’t you just love misleading pictures?
It’s all about the hearing these days. I remember those crazy sound-tests when I was a little kid. They put these enormous headphones on you, and told you to raise your hand whenever you heard something. Fun at first- but simply annoying after listening to high-pitched frequencies for a full ten minutes. I remember going back to class with the ringing still in my ears.
Little did I know that I was hearing frequencies most adults probably could not of. According to research, children and young teenagers can hear higher frequencies then adults. Well, a shopkeeper in Wiltshire, England has decided to utilize this information. The man developed a mosquito-type noise that plays outside of his shop to keep away troublemakers. Apparently, the noise is unbearably annoying for anyone under the age of 25. You can even try listening to the soundwave yourself.
(Something to note about the BBC article above: The caption on the picture of the mosquito reads, “A Mosquito, yesterday”. Whatever happened to pictures actually relating to the articles?)
Anyways, someone who noticed this article decided to create a sample of different frequencies to test their own hearing. Test it on their website for yourself. See how high up you can get before you can’t hear anything at all! The highest I can hear is 17,000 Hz- and I challenge you to beat it.
(Note: Try this around animals for extra fun :D)
May 23, 2006 at 2:15 pm · Filed under Movies, Technology
Don’t you just love documentaries? I mean, we’ve got everything from Corporations, to Presidents, and even McDonalds.
Well, a new trailer has just hit the web for the new documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car? It seems yet another film focused on blaming the giant car-manufacturer, General Motors.
The official site provides this small tagline to go with the movie: “In 1996 Electric cars began to appear on roads all over California. They were quiet and fast, produced no exhaust, and ran without gasoline. Who Killed the Electric Car?”
The movie will be hitting this summer. Stay tuned for details.
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