May 15, 2012 @ 15:40By: gordon Category: Gadgets, General
Assuming Rogers doesn’t once again change the eligibility date for a hardware upgrade, I should be eligible for a new phone in a couple of days. Currently, I have a BlackBerry 9700 Bold, which I’ve generally been happy with, but there are now other types of phones available that weren’t viable as options when I got my first smartphone a few years ago. These include iPhones, Androids, and Windows 7 phones, along with various other propriety almost-smartphones. There are also newer BlackBerrys to consider.
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what I’m looking for in a phone (besides the basic functionality of placing and receiving phone calls) and I’ve come up with a list:
The screen must be larger than the one in my BlackBerry 9700: While the display on the Bold is fine, having more screen real estate would make it easier to use. The BlackBerry Torch has a larger screen.
The screen must be a touchscreen: I’ve gotten so used to interacting with my iPad by touching the screen that I even find myself trying to zoom and scroll à la iPad. When I let other people use it, they try to scroll by touching the display, even when I tell them as I hand it to them “it’s not a touch scree” and “don’t poke the screen” — even other people who have identical phones to mine. iPhone owners are completely baffled if they try to use my BlackBerry that I eventually take pity on them. Some of the newer BlackBerrys have touchscreens, even if they have a screen similar in size to the 9700.
Forward-facing camera: It would be nice to have the ability to make video calls, possibly with Skype. iPhones and Androids have them, but I’m not aware of any BlackBerrys that do.
Given that most phones these days have large touch screens, it’s really the forward-facing camera that’s starting to influence the decision. But it’s the next two that are the deciding factors:
I picked up my bike from Fresh Air Experience at lunch on Wednesday and headed out after work with a friend for the first ride of the season. We followed one of my regular routes, which starts at the north end of Parkdale, follows the bike path along the Ottawa River to the locks below Parliament Hill, continues up the hill beside the locks, heads through the NAC and the along the path next the canal to Dow’s Lake. From Dow’s Lake it heads a couple of hundred metres along Prince of Wales to the greenspace just past the O-Train cut, through the greenspace and then along Sherwood and some local streets to home. It was nice to be back in the saddle and with the early spring I’m looking forward to many more rides.
April 18, 2012 @ 08:20By: gordon Category: Amateur radio
2012 marks the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812. There are lots of festivities taking place over the next few months to commemorate it. The Manotick Amateur Radio Group is going to be operating special event station VX3W from Fort Wellington National Historic Site in Prescott, Ontario on Saturday, May 19th from 10:00 to 16:00 EDT (1400-2000Z). We will be operating on various bands and modes, depending on the conditions. Any station making contact with us is welcome to send a QSL card and a postage stamp (if in Canada) or an IRC for anywhere other than Canada. Any cards received without return postage will be sent via the Bureau.
MARG has set up a page on their website (http://www.ve3rix.ca/vx3w.php) which will be updated with more information as the date approaches. In addition to the page, there’s also a VX3W forum linked to from the info page and you can follow @VX3W on Twitter, too.
The final issue of the Dark Matter mini-series was released this past Wednesday. Written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie of Stargate fame, the series has taken us from when the crew of a spaceship wakes up with amnesia in the first issue, to learning about who they were in DM #3.
At the end of Dark Matter #3, the crew was split into two groups: one that was on a planet making a delivery and the other which had to leave them on the planet to avoid getting into a battle with another ship.
In Dark Matter #4, our heroes manage to get back together without getting blown to smithereens. They also manage to save the settlers on the planet before riding off into the sunset, so to speak, with an implied “to be continued”. (If you want more details then you’re going to have to visit your local comic book shop and pick up a copy for yourself!)
Overall, I enjoyed the series and I’m sad to see it end. It’s well-written and the drawing it top-notch!
Joseph Mallozzi has mentioned on his blog a number of times that Dark Matter is being pitched as a television series. Personally, I’d like to see it on tv, but I hope that Dark Horse Comics decides to sign Dark Matter up for a long run, too!
Hey, it’s the second Friday in April 2012, which means it’s Friday the 13th!
If you happen to suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia then you’re basically screwed today. You should immediately throw salt over your shoulder and tap doorways three times before passing through to ward off the bad luck.
If you don’t suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia then you might want to read about the lore surrounding Friday the 13th in a blog entry I posted in 2008.
Oh, and if you happen to live in the UK, you should check out this article in the British Medical Journal that observed that although there were consistently fewer vehicles on the road on Friday the 13ths compared to Friday the 6ths, the number of admissions to hospitals due to traffic accidents was significantly higher. The abstract for the article included the following:
CONCLUSIONS–Friday 13th is unlucky for some. The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52%. Staying at home is recommended.
Hey, it’s the second Friday in April 2012, which means it’s Friday the 13th!
AKA Keeper of Maps, I'm a geocacher who lives in Ottawa, Canada.
