North49th

Sensationalism Over HP Comment is Ridiculous!

People!!  HP CEO Mark Hurd did NOT say they are getting out of the cellphone business.  RELAX!

What Hurd said was "We didn’t buy Palm to be in the smartphone business".  This is not implying they are going to dump the work done on smartphones.  In fact, that would be a completely brain-dead thing to do given that HP wants WebOS on just about everything mobile.


So, to the sites that are using and abusing this quote; stop being so irresponsible and blatantly opportunistic!

 

 

Random Door is Random?

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I am ever so slightly obsessed with this door!  It's right near the elevators at the hospital on the 7th floor.

On the door is a sign that says not to open it between November and May.  So, now that it's June should I just open it!?  At the very least I'm worried a klaxon alarm will bring security running and shut down the elevators.  More likely it opens into an abyss that will suck me right in.  People will only find my shoes outside the door which will cause them to open the door (in an attempt to get rid of my shoes) and be sucked in as well!

Whatever the reason for this door, its clearly nefarious.  I'm going to open the door.  If you find my shoes...back away slowly...

Filed under  //   silliness  

Another @Palm Pre Snapshot

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This one shows off both the Pre's camera as well as my dog, Maddie!

My New Favourite Thing To Do With Smartphones!

There are a TON of things we can do with our smartphones including; emailing, messaging, surfing, gaming, and so much more.  But of all the things I can do with my phones my new favourite is to take pictures.

With all of the phones I have used to date a few of them have had pretty decent cameras.  With 3 kids it's VERY handy to be able to snap photos with my phones, especially since I always carry them (the phones, I mean).  Some of the stand-outs for picture quality have been the Samsung Omnia, LG Eve and my current phone, the Palm Pre.

I'm really loving the camera on this Pre!  While it's only 3 megapixels it really is true that it isn't about the pixel count, but the pixel quality. :)  Of course, as you zoom in on a digital picture you are going to notice the difference between higher and lower resolution but how often do we realy need to do much of that?  It's about having clarity and good colour saturation with images on a screen, so a resolution of 4000 x 3000 really isn't going to be crucial.

Here are a few shots (I think I've already posted here) that are decent examples of the Palm Pre's camera.  Let me know your thoughts.

(download)

Filed under  //   Mobile Tech   pictures  

What Exactly is "Normal"?

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Some days it's just so surreal to be at work and going through the motions like it's a "normal" day.  There's nothing normal in having your Dad in the hospital.

Growing up, my Dad represented everything stable and strong.  Dad could open any bottle, lift any box and run faster than us.  He could tickle us into submission and shovel the driveway in half the time.  His rules were firm but always consistent.  So, seeing Dad in the hospital with little strength and struggling just to find the will to recover from surgery feels wrong.  Seeing him coming to terms with stage 4 colon cancer seems unjust.  This just isn't supposed to happen to Dad...not my Dad.

Sure, many have gone through this before us but that was always "other people".  That distance allows for a buffer in feeling it couldn't happen with our own family.  We all know it can happen but until it does we don't know exactly what that means.  Carolyn (my wife) lost her Dad six months ago and even though he and I were close I can see how much more painful that lose was and is still for her.  Carolyn's Dad was her symbol of strength.

At this point we don't know how long we have with my Dad but are determined to get the most out of the time that we can.  Before that can happen Dad still has a significant road to recovery.  Right now, that is looking like a hard and rocky road.  We can see that road and we know Dad can do it, but I'm not sure Dad feels the same way right now.

Forgive me for not always being able to post positive things about my Dad.  We really do feel that things are going as well as they can; Dad has great care and the support of his whole family.  But at times it just feels wrong to have your own icon of strength become an example of human frailty.

Back to work...

Filed under  //   dad   family  

Pictures of Carolyn

To make up for the lack of a shot with dad.  :)

(download)

Filed under  //   family   pictures  

Pictures with Dad

Dad is on the mend after surgery to remove a tumour.  We thought we'd all get in a turn with Dad...well, except for Carolyn: 

(download)

Filed under  //   dad   family   pictures  

Thoughts on Rogers Download Limits

Recently, Rogers started enforcing download limits on their home internet services.  For a long time they didn't not really seem to care and were letting people get away with a fair bit of overuse.  But now they are being much more stringent about it and even sending out reminders when you get close to using up your allotment.

The pessimist in my can't help but think this isn't really about network capacity at all.  By this point I am sure Rogers has all the cap they need plus loads of extra.  My thinking is that this is more about keeping Internet TV service competitors at bay.  More companies are offering services for TV, the most recently announced being Google and Apple.  Obviously, any internet provider that also offers TV services would rather you use their own services and are going to do everything they can to keep competition at bay.  By limiting the download amount they affectively are doing just that.

BTW, I am using Rogers as the example simply because they are the service I use.  I'm sure the other providers are doing the same thing.

Filed under  //   random  

Pics from a Great Day

Just wanted to show off some pics from the Palm Pre.  We had a much needed day at the lake today.

No idea if this going to work btw.  I'm posting this by email with multiple pics.  Thinking maybe only one will show.

(download)

Filed under  //   family   pictures  

One of my Favourite Old Comic Strips

One of my favourite comic strips was "Hermon". One in particular was
set in a courtroom and went like this:

Please repeat after me: I swear to tell the truth,
"I swerve to smell the soup"
The whole truth,
"The toll booth"
And nothing but the truth
"And nuts sing on the roof"
Thank you, now please tell the court in your own words...