Mentor and friend remembered - John Bryant - safe journey · 9 February 2010 by colin newell
Standing in front of the mirror last night as I prepared for bed, I had the feeling that some bad news was headed my way.
I have felt this way before and I can never outrun the feeling. It has to run its course and arrive like an unwelcome piece of mail.
I have been gently instructed not to make this about me.
But it is. And it is about you. And you.
One of my mentors and brothers in one of my circles (telecom, amateur radio, media) did not finish his day today.
John Bryant, of Orcas Island and Oklahoma, in his 7th decade on Earth… fell from a ladder and died. Doing what he loved the most – playing outside with his radio antennas.
I was informed, via the telephone, from another inconsolable friend who was even closer to John.
The odd thing for me was – I have been walking around all day somewhat zoned out by this feeling. And waiting for the shock wave to arrive. And it did.
John Bryant was a born leader. A son of an actual explorer. In a time when explorers were and are the stuff of legends. A bright mind and organizer, John had the ability to build consensus and wring fresh ideas from the most jaded among us.
To quote my dear friend, Walter, who really summed it up…
“I expected another 20 years with John…”
My condolences to John, his lovely wife and all who knew him.
I pray his journey was peaceful and swift – and that his radio reception is half as good there as it was here.
Listen here for our radio interview today… Flash thingie below – if you cannot see that, click here for the mp3.
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2010 series Life in the Byte Age chapter one · 3 January 2010 by colin newell
I have a couple of things in common with some of the big pop stars in the World. I have written an albums worth of music and a chunk of the lyrics to go along with it.
One of the biggest differences is – I have sold under 1000 CD’s (compared to millions and millions for some artists) and that is (in part) because I am decidedly, if not staggeringly, less talented than most.
The other thing I did is, having embraced modern technology, having made some, if not all, of the material free to hear online prior to purchasing – on CBC3
One thing I feel very strongly about is the ability to protect intellectual property – but in order to do that, one must live within a society that subscribes, at least on some level, to the theory that music (and the arts) are actually worth something.
U2’s front man, Bono is calling for better restrictions on the internet to protect artists and their work. In his regular column for the New York Times, which the pop singer began a year ago, Bono says downloading is becoming all-encompassing.
“The only thing protecting the movie and TV industries from the fate that has befallen music and indeed the newspaper business is the size of the files,” he wrote.
Bono predicts people are only a few years away from downloading movies in a few seconds.
And I think that Bono and I are seeing exactly the same philosophical and ethical phenomenon: That society as a whole sees music and art, movies and television as something to be picked off of a communal apple tree. With impunity. Without a twinge of guilt. Because it’s there.
Most of my creative friends (and an equal number of the non-creative ones) feel that it is OK to download (steal) music and movies and TV shows. Some insist that they will tend to buy more music if they have the opportunity to download some first. That is like saying, “I promise to buy more fruit as long as I can steal some of the vegetables…”.
I mean, if the same rules, that applied to the internet, applied on the streets of your town, we would be free to loot stores of their goods. What is the difference?
I can proudly say that I have yet to download a song, movie or a TV show. It is about worth. Having been through the exercise of actually taking out 10 months of my life to produce, what I thought, was some good music – I always felt that it was worth something.
Where Bono and I might diverge in opinion is this: We have opened the flood gates to a lifestyle – and a conscience free choice in behavior. I find it hard to believe that we can now close these doors after they have been opened.
This is Blog Number 602 since the Spring of 2005. Crikey!
Summer Food Fun and Drink Chapter 9 why I play the guitar · 7 July 2009 by colin newell
Spring into birdsong - why we do not twitter · 19 April 2009 by colin newell
I embrace technology. Heck, I have been doing this for too many years. When I first started monkeying around on the internet, there were no web servers. They were called gopher servers – and they served up text.
My first attempts at webbing were launched from a Windows 3.11 for Work groups box (an IBM PC) around 1995 or so. That was a century ago in internet time.
So now we have streaming audio and video and dynamic web pages that change with every glance. I am good with that, dog. Really I am.
I believe that I owe it to my dedicated reader that I keep it fresh and real.
I do not believe, however, that there are more than a very small handful of people out there that would hang onto every word – if I offered truly up to date snippets of my every thought.
Twitter.
I do not do it. I will not do it.
No one needs to know what I am thinking when I am standing on the corner of 1st and Main Street. No one needs to know when I am sipping on a truly great coffee in a remarkable setting. I can tell them later.
Twitter is an alarming indication that we are getting a tad too self indulgent.
I went through the eighties – I was in my 20’s. And let me tell you folks… the only difference between then and now (for me) was more hair and more hair gel… and a lot more self indulgent behavior from just about everyone around me.
I have a theory. We never actually left the eighties. The mentality is still very much alive in all of us. There are many of us that actually feel that there is an audience for our every utterance, our every stomach gurgle, our every thought – however useless and every trivial thought that jumps from our synapses.
Enough already. How about some quiet.
Take some… on me.
Colin Newell is a Victoria resident and long time user of the World Wide Web. His handiwork has graced the cyber-World for going on 2 decades… if anyone is counting that is.
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Spring forward into high-definition · 5 April 2009 by colin newell
We have had a Sony Wega Trinitron 32” CRT Flat-screen TV for almost 5 years… it was one of the 1st HD-Ready TV’s – It has an HDMI input on it and 2 separate component video input sets.
Our cable provider, Shaw, had a promotion on – a special on HD terminals and HD-PVR boxes. Well, we thought… I guess it is time to jump on board prior to our TV being completely obsolete.
So we sign up. And I opt for self installation being a telecom professional and all.
Right.
Home I go, with box in hand – and I install it.
Follow the instructions. Hook it up and call Shaw.
Have a human on the line within 4 minutes.
They enable it over the network.
Hmmm. I get audio but no video.
The helpful dude on the other end of the line suggests their help line – there is a very small wait queue at the time. I am connected to the help line within one minute.
The resolution: I had one of the component video cables crossed – and they are clearly color coded… and this is the kind of stuff I work with all day.
Major point being: You really do not want to be a passenger on my commuter jet when I am in the cockpit. I make little mistakes from time to time. Which I guess everyone does. As a technical professional, I tend to do one too many highly technically demanding things too often in the course of one day. Thankfully, no one dies.
Anyhow – enjoying NHL Hockey in 1080i… and the Discovery Channel spiders in 1080i… looking forward to time shifting my favorite show into my reality.
Colin Newell is a Victoria resident, electronics technologist and media engineer – and a food writer for EAT Magazine. And if the number of typos in this article are any indication – we are doomed!
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Buying coffee stuff this festive season - chapter one · 25 November 2008 by colin newell
No year is complete without a guide to what’s hot and what is not in the World of specialty coffee. This year is no different – Well, actually it is: The economy is in a free fall and we have not hit bottom yet. How will this effect the marketplace for the coffee lover? At this juncture and in time for Christmas, probably not much. That said, I am going to approach this annual feature as if there will be some retail phenomenon that you, the buyer, can take advantage of.
Additionally, I would like to stress the importance of approaching better coffee for the home and office thusly: Coffee and espresso is a journey, not a destination. I have probably repeated this mantra over and over… over the years – and it has never been more important than now – I mean, it does come down to dollars and sense for most people. So why not start at the beginning and go from there?
If I was sitting at your kitchen table right now – or office coffee lounge (go on, picture it…) I would have a table covered with some very basic stuff; a handful of coffee filters, a plastic #4 Melitta coffee filter holder, maybe a glass carafe, a thermos, a french press or bodum, a burr coffee grinder, some cups and saucers, an electric kettle and a supply of fresh water (out of the tap – NOT bottled!) These are tough times after all!
Oh yea. and beans. Wonderful beans. Freshly roasted from somewhere nearby. or mail order. More on that later.
Under the table is a box and it contains some surprises. I warned you – you may be required to use your imagination here.
A year ago when I was working on the 2007 buyers guide, I reflected on the overall mood of the year to date – because that guides me as to what to concentrate on for the next issue. A year ago it was not uncommon for e-mail check-in’s and queries to include the phrase “Money is no object” – “Want to buy the best for my (insert) Mate, spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, mother, father, aunt, etc…” That was a year ago. A year or so ago I was in touch with a young lady from London, England who wanted to treat her boyfriend and future husband to “The best cafe served coffee in the World…” – obviously no expense spared.
And I could have sent her anywhere – anywhere interesting… or really expensive. Instead I said: “Come here to Victoria. We have some of the best coffee in the World…” So she came… with her parents and her BF’s parents and her sister… all the way from England… to Victoria.
That was last year. This year I am standing in your imaginary space clutching a fistful of #4 coffee filters. Ho ho ho.
What a difference a year makes! No really. Stay with me on this! I am going to make a point… eventually.
A year ago people were buying everything the market had to offer – without, I think, researching it much – without looking at this site much or any of the other consumer oriented influencing websites – like Geek and Home-Barista. And as much as it is easier to just say to people with bags of money: “Yea, the BFG-5000 super-duper-matic espresso maker at a paltry 3000 smackers is perfect for everyone…” – Well, i wouldn’t really be doing my job now would I? If you read our forums (and you should) you will know that money does not always buy happiness where hasty purchase decisions are made in Coffee World. In fact, if you read some of my reviews of some of the stuff that is out there – it is pretty obvious that I am not a big fan of the big hunks o’ plastic super duper machines – because they can and will break your heart and your bank… More on that subject later.
What I am a big fan of (especially now…) is simplicity and fiscal responsibility (and at the same time, doing something that would benefit the millions of wonderful folks that actually work on the coffee farms.) Trust me on this – the World would be a much better place if you invested some dough in a 3rd World coffee farm instead of a worthless coffee machine cluttering your kitchen counter and wracking you with frustration… Yea. I guess that is a nag, huh? Anyway – waving coffee filters again.
Here is my supposition for 2008. I have a feeling that if you keep it simple this year, you will be feeling way better next year. So. How can we do that and still come off sassy on Christmas morning? Well, to help make that happen, let’s go way back to the beginning… my beginning in the World of coffee exploration – and how, in part, it has brought me to this place and time.
I first sipped coffee in the Spring of 1975 (sorry, no age but suffice to say that I would actively discourage anyone from picking up the coffee habit at this early age. ) 19 is a good age to try coffee – and I sure as heck was not 19 in the year 1975. Anyway, (I was) so captivated by this awesome beverage so long ago that my brother-in-law thought it would be cool to give me a coffee themed gift for Christmas 1975. (One more hint… My brother-in-law was about 10 years older than me.) His choice of coffee themed gift was several bags of ground coffee from Murchies of Vancouver – they had outlets in Victoria and were one of the original inspirations for the folks that created Starbucks. It should be noted that at this juncture of my coffee drinking career (literally less than 6 months…) I was drinking the cheapest coffee my mom would find – typically $2.99 to $3.99 for a 8 to 10 ounce bag. Think Chase & Sanborn, Folgers, Nescafe, etc.
So. Getting 2 pounds of real Arabica coffee for Christmas in 1975 was a really big deal. Ironically, he picked some pretty intense coffee for my taste buds; Dark French and French Roast if memory serves me correctly. Brewing that stuff for the first time (some of it in an aluminum percolator and some of it in an actual Melitta Glass paper filter holder) was completely mind blowing. I had never tasted the real thing before and yet at that young age (just barely a teenager) I clued in that this stuff was the real deal. Good bye tea! At the same time, these were financially tough times for my Mom and family – my Dad having bailed from the scene a few years earlier. Getting food on the table (and the occasional cup of coffee was challenging).
And guess what? For some, 2008 and perhaps 2009 is going to be tough for lots of people. I hope everyone can keep enjoying their coffee experiences – I know for a fact people are not going to be getting those to-go lattes and cappuccinos out as often as they used to… so that brings us to the overall message of the 2008 Buyers Guide. It is going to be simple and it is going to be cheap – and you are going to learn a whole heck of a lot about great coffee – and feel good about it at the same time.
In late November of 2008, my kitchen counter is a pretty basic one – I am testing a Pod machine (the La Piccola Sara) for a detailed review hopefully out before Christmas – and 100% of my coffee prep is dead simple. #4 paper filter (holding them in my hand, remember?) And I have a plastic Melitta #4 filter holder – retail value about $5 from Sweetmarias.com. The paper filters are about $3 for packages of 100 (bleached or unbleached). The very heart of this simple operation is a Bodum Antigua burr grinder from BodumUSA.Com – about $129. At the core, it is a Baratza Maestro with a different shell – it is more than adequate and grinds coffee all-mode – Espresso through French… very important.
And the beans. The single most difficult challenge you may face in getting your caffeine buzz is getting the beans right. Unless you are lucky enough to live near a roaster, you may have to depend on some mail order beans – and in North America there are lots of great choices… Like Batdorf & Bronson (now Dancing Goat), Ravens Brew, Peets, and the like.
So. Gift package number one: A basket of beans, a filter holder, some filters, a coffee grinder and a neat mug. Total cost – Less than $150. Now that is sound fiscal management!
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Summer all fun, food and drink marathon - The Otto Espresso maker · 6 July 2008 by colin newell
Sydney Australia – A city of 4 million souls who live in an espresso crazy society. For Craig Hiron, a youthful 36 year old living in one of Australia’s most populated cities, bright ideas are merely a cup of coffee away.
And so it was – that he and his circle of free-spirited 30-something friends would gather (like so many other young people around the globe) looking for the answer to life’s age old problems and questions.
Photo above: The Otto Espresso maker is the product of passion, Australian ingenuity and the burning desire for award winning fine design.
For Craig, a young man who has plied his trade as a professional roofer and successfully migrated into the film and entertainment industry… the question burned within him: “What does this city need? Why do my people need? What contribution can I make?”
Sydney is noted for its spectacular Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, and its beaches. The metropolitan area is surrounded by national parks, and contains many bays and inlets. But on the street level, Espresso coffee is the language of its people. Australia, in general, is quickly becoming an espresso-centric society – and that means, Espresso coffee is the building block of all its coffee beverages. Neato. For me, that means heaven!
Minor digression. Sydney resident Craig Hiron’s creative light-bulb kind of flashed in an unexpected and amusing way. He had urged his friends to talk amongst themselves – and those friends with their tertiary friends… “What is that it thing that we Sydney young people need… that would be really cool? If we can collectively think of it, I promise you… I will build it!”
Good thing – Craig was good and ready to put his money where his coffee cup was… but what came of this exercise?
In the middle of one of their brain-storms, one of the gals popped into it, midstream, offering… “Those blasted people over at Ya-da Ya-da Coffee Company are useless! I am trying to get a widget-gadget for my 50 year old Atomic coffee and they are hopeless!”
The idea hit Craig like a sack of unroasted Arabica coffee.
Take one 50 year old coffee maker. Update that coffee maker. Sydney society needs a coffee maker to put Australia on the map and into the coffee culture history books for all time. It just made sense.
But what of the name Otto? True story. The name of this new coffee maker comes from the 1st born Son from within Craig’s creative and bright circle of friends.
Additionally, all the research and development is taking place within the community of Sydney, Australia – all paid for by Craig and a handful of his friends.
Craig and I spoke over a trans-pacific phone line for over a half-hour. His infectious laugh and sense of humor did little to hide his burning passion for all things caffeine. We will be hearing more from this story – as it happens.
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Saving the Planet one volt at a time · 19 June 2008 by colin newell
We had the Gem Car road show pop by the campus for a few hours today – and I had the opportunity to pilot the E2 and the E6. Top speed on the E6 is about 40km/hr – the E2 about 25km/hr – an electronic governor keeping it from achieving light speed in under a handful of nanoseconds.
I took these two muscle carts around the campus ring road, much to the amusement of senior-citizens with walkers who bravely (and easily) passed by… and various University staff who looked quizically at the over-sized Pilates ball on wheels.
The Gem looks like a golf-cart on steroids – It’s 12V Gel-Cell and 7 Hp motor giving it remarkable pick-up and range (something in the order of 30 miles between Gerbil feeds…)
The sleepy community of Oak Bay, near Victoria, is thinking of buying a few – We speculate for the Oak Bay Police Department – a community largely consisting of septuagenarian millionaires who, not surprisingly, move around this sleepy hollow… on much smaller electric carts.
I can picture these crime busters now – Racing to the scene of a bank heist in the Oak Bay Village as a 70-something Clint Eastwood wanna-bee tries to knock off the Credit Union. He flees the scene on his scooter reaching speeds of 10 km/hr as he races through the sleepy berg, putting life and limb at risk. Other elderly Oak Bay residents hobble and shuffle for cover. Soon, very soon, the Oak Bay cops give chase – reaching speeds of 15 km/hr. They catch up with the evil doers somewhere near Esquimalt – but not before running many red lights and frightening bystanders into mild strokes and heart attacks.
Yup. I can see it now.
The downside of Facebook.com chapter two · 9 June 2008 by colin newell
I wrote this over a year ago: Facebook.com is a website solely devoted to data mining – extracting your personal information and selling it to the highest bidder – you are giving up your privacy in exchange for a place to deposit every miserable detail of your McLife.
Some tangible reasons why people are drawn to Facebook.com:
-you really need to catch up with that kid that had a crush on you in Grade Six
-you really need to kill the kid that bullied you in Grade 3
-that 19 year old student teacher had a thing for you in 1974 and now that you are all grown up, it’s time for a follow-up
And for this you are willing to publish your birth date, place of employment, social insurance number, preference in Vodka, etc.
God speed friend, God speed.
And yet today, in June of 2008, we are investigating Facebook.com because of the obvious…
Canada’s privacy commissioner is investigating allegations that the social networking site Facebook.com may be illegally collecting personal information such as telephone numbers, birthdays, and instant messaging addresses without authorization.
Hello. Hello. Read the freaking fine print. Facebook.com has you by the DNA from the word go and all you need do is read the user agreement.
Getting Canada’s privacy commissioner involved with this nonsense is a waste of time. I mean, why not spend those government dollars on some more meaningful study… like why Dog’s bite, why Nun’s always have an evil glint in their eye and why there are signs like “Piercing & Tattoo’s while you wait”?
On a more ironic note – yesterday while waiting for my dear Mom-in-law and wife to finish a round of shopping at the Fairfield Thrifty Foods I watched a guy and a gal who had just met over Thrifty Foods sushi on a sidewalk table… interact, flirt, smile, touch and, get this… exchange Facebook creds. Surprisingly, the pretty Girl (Fiona) from Australia spent more time laughing and touching the guy – a slightly younger dude who heralded from a French farming community in Saskatchewan – he had a French last name starting with B but I was not paying that much attention to him. She was confident, older and Worldly wise. He just looked goofy and spent too much time imagining her naked.
And I did all of this with my ears… without the internet connection…
Try it sometime. Turn it off. Tune it out. And use what God gave you… to participate in the World around you.
This is the modern World - Panasonic microwave oven · 4 May 2008 by colin newell
We just got our first microwave oven. No really. The sales guy (aged about 60) at the Victoria Sears sales center in appliances was incredulous.
I may as well have suggested that a legion of vacuum cleaner shaped electro-beasts from the Planet Zontar were disembarking onto the parking lot…
And were they angry.
Seriously though. As shopping goes, there are few Men that shop faster than I do.
Recently I selected new frames in an optical place… within 7.2 seconds.
Which begs the question: At that speed of visual acquisition, did I really need new glasses?
Fair enough – I did some online research and determined that this particular model of Panasonic microwave (in stainless-steel, 1.2 cubic feet, 1200 Watts, etc) was the right one for us. And I was in and at the counter talking to sales-guy within a minute – and ordering one within 2 minutes.
“Would you like to order one”, he asked, somewhat skeptical of my technological lineage…
“Yes, but first I need to consult with my C.F.O on this newfangled…” now gesturing towards my Motorola RAZR, “…wireless device!”
“Oh. You have one of those… How bold! …he improvised.
Long story short – We now have a device that will help us save lots of electricity. We do almost 100% of our cooking from scratch. No pre-prepared anything – and very few tins. And being able to do tertiary stuff beside our regular electric grill will be very useful.
Oh yea – while I was at the mall for this purchase, my wife asked me to pop into Bolen Books and size up some good microwave cook books.
I might as well have been looking for a basic Pet Rock users manual or the latest step-by-step guide to Disco dancing. Microwave cook books, it seem, went out of print around the advent of MTV and are about as fashionable as polyester stretch pants.
But I found one microwave cook book, at our Chapters Book Store (your Barnes and Noble)… printed in England… about 20 years ago.
With timely recipes like; Leek terrine with deli meats, Pork Crumble, Herby Baked Tomatoes, and Austrian nut pudding…
So this is what the Brits ate during the last great war!
In addition to this cook book and appliance, I now need a historic culinary translator.
One thing at a time.
Look forward to more food oriented blogs on this website (as time permits).
In all fairness, the cookbook is titled The Microwave Kitchen Handbook by Carol Bowen first printed in 1998. Bon Apetit!
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The origins of blogging as a sixties photographer · 28 March 2008 by colin newell
When you are between 4 and 7 years old, the siren song of the Christmas tree, the glow of its lights, glitter and glass globules can be irresistible.
And on December 24, 1966 we all opened a gift before midnight… this family ritual we observed since I learned how to talk.
The kids around the Yule would pick out a box based on its smell, or feel or how it sounded when shaken.
And there was nothing particularly fancy about the box I grabbed. It was just more of a feeling… a feeling that would appear more often as I got older… a hunch… a sense of something big on the horizon that was my life so far.
And as I peeled away the cheap wrapping paper, the ink imprinting my fingers with ghost images of a simpler time, a box was revealed… imagine my delight seeing Made in Hong Kong and then an orange box… Diana-F Camera.
My first camera was the classic sixties Diana-F complete with rolls of film, magnesium flash attachment and an instruction booklet.
The Diana’s original all-plastic lens ensured that dreamy, gorgeous, color-drenched, always-blurry, and mind-blowing results were the norm. And behind this cameras cheap viewfinder was a kid who was seeing almost everything in his World for the very first time.
At 16 shots per roll, it was entirely possible to capture valuable portions of ones childhood with a few rolls of Black and White 400ASA 120 roll film – all ironically processed via the neighborhood druggist who would out source it to the closest photo-finisher, who in turn would edit out the more bizarre compositions and often, sadly, return a roll of film with no images but a envelope of cut film – with a druggist who sheepishly explained to yours truly that, perhaps, I had left the lens cap half-off or inadvertently smudged the plastic lens with petroleum jelly.
Which is exactly what our memories look like now – when viewed through the tarnished lens of cerebral memory.
That camera survived a good 3 or 4 years of hard use, shaping and honing my skills as an active amateur photo historian in my little corner of the World on Vancouver Island. By the time I turned 12 and graduated from elementary school I was rewarded for my academic successes with a German made Zeiss Ikon 126 cartridge camera – photo above – In comparison to the all plastic Diana, the Zeiss was staggering in its ability to capture detail – gone were the surreal and impressionist interpretations of my environment… replaced with pin sharp mirror images of a boy’s life on the verge of adolescence. The sixties were over.
Coffee - It's not your computers friend · 19 March 2008 by colin newell
I spend a lot of time in cafes… of all shapes and sizes. I also work on a University campus – that has numerous cafes and lounges.
And there is a common list of ingredients in University, College and City Cafes:
Hot coffee. Students. And expensive lap-top computers.
Two of my colleagues, who I have coffee with, tell me this tale several times a week. Students are always bringing in their shiny new laptops; apples, PC’s – it makes no difference. They are now deep into their degree, or their Masters degree or their Phd and their life is on their laptop.
And they have spilled hot coffee into the thing. Hot coffee. Into a lap top computer. And while it is running. Coffee and laptops make for a lethal combination almost 100% of the time. Ok. Maybe 90% of the time provided you are lucky enough to be drinking black coffee.
Organic. Fair trade. Bird friendly. It makes no difference. If you spill anything, including water, into a lap top computer, it is almost always a death sentence. Good bye data. Good bye thesis. Good bye dissertation.
My two coffee buddies are, by the way, Apple certified technicians – and they see an endless stream of coffee related tragedy.
For us, at coffee time, this rich hot zippy beverage is a God send. I love coffee. They love coffee. We are surrounded by coffee lovers.
And if you are a student, coffee is the fuel that gets you through those never ending all night cram sessions.
But their MacBook Pro’s hate it.
One mouthful of Ethiopian Sidamo and I am singing. Four fluid ounces of Arabica coffee poured into an i-Book generally results in tears. I kid you not. We have seen more than our share of pouty faced girls and sad-sack boys whose second biggest academic investment (next to their tuition) has just gone up in a puff of smoke… and a very recognizable scent of Starbucks.
And the only thing that fixes it is a call to Mommy or Daddy… or not.
A student asks: “My computer is dead… I spilled my coffee into it… I have the extended Apple warranty on it… Is it covered?”
Technician Mike or Al replies… “This is a warranty program, not an insurance policy…”
And yet the average college or University age person who has invested almost 2000 dollars in their computer and software feel that they are covered. But they are not. And for good reason. The other recent enemy of the delicate laptop is the physical abuse it gets on the way to and from the cafe or dorm. Imagine getting stuffed into a pack-sack 3 or 4 times a day. Picked up. Dropped. Squished in next to your lunch… or into tight spaces. No warranty covers abuse. Try and remember that kids!
Coffee (or Beer) spilled into your 17” Dell is a sure fire ticket to the loans office. There is no second chance. Coffee, by itself (black) is an almost certain path to mother-board melt-down. Add cream or sugar and there is no chance of survival. Why? The fruit acids in coffee eat through the delicate circuitry faster than airplane glue through styrofoam – and the liquid (water content) shorts stuff out guaranteeing permanent death – sorry, no coma! There is something in milk (Lactose) that reacts with the motherboard resulting in something with the processor power of a slice of burnt toast! Not good.
So what is the fix? Well. There isn’t one. When I walk into Victoria area cafes (especially ones that have wireless access) – almost each and every table has someone at it with a lap top computer – and a tall mug of joe… in close and dangerously flirtatious proximity.
What do we, the technicians, do? Well, we preach and preach – if we see a student with an open lap top near a steaming mug of mud, we let them know the stats – even if we come off as worry-wart geezers.
Frankly, I would rather not have to work on someones fried MacBook pro – because in the end run, there is only bad news, sadness… and tears.
All for the love of the coffee bean.
Colin Newell lives and works in Victoria B.C. Canada at a local University – Coffee is his best friend… but he knows that coffee has a mortal enemy… called the lap top computer!
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Sun to set on common sense in 2009 · 24 February 2008 by colin newell
A December 2005 headline read… Congress is poised to make Feb. 17, 2009, the hard-and-fast date for the national conversion to digital TV — ending the more than 60-year era of analog broadcasts and potentially making millions of analog TV sets obsolete…
Hard and fast date? Hardly. The date of the analog expiry date has been bounced around more than the average basket-ball at a Nicks game.
Why? Why the space race to land-fill 75 million analog TV sets in the U.S.A. ?
Well – The government and the FCC (once considered the same thing, now hardly!) hope to collect more than $10 billion by auctioning off the spectrum now used for analog TV, allocating some of it to emergency services. Brilliant economics?
According to the FCC, people who want to keep their analog sets will be able to apply for subsidies. Each household can get up to two vouchers, worth $40 apiece, that will help pay for boxes that convert digital signals to analog. The bill sets $1.5 billion aside for that purpose.
Now hang on one moment. I live in Canada and I view converted digital signals from my cable company down-converted from the slightly superior digital to the analog signals that my HD Ready Sony is more than capable of slurping up.
So. Instead of forcing 75 million household to ditch their classic TV’s or add yet another set top box to their already straining consoles… why not get the cable companies to do it for you with the option of buying a box for the extra features?
No. That would make sense wouldn’t it!?
In summary, this whole affair is considered one great big gift for the tech companies and cable monoliths – thanks in full to the highly cooperative FCC which is little more than an imaginary government agency in corporate clothing.
Morons on 4 wheels rant #1 · 2 February 2008 by colin newell
Darwin spoke about Natural Selection – here is a great example:
Entering Rod Serling rant mode, cigarette clasped between gritted teeth: Picture if you would, a quiet evening on the Trans-Canada highway. You are out for a romantic cruise in your 1956 Pontiac Bel-Air when the peace is shattered by a 2006 Aston Martin and a Ford GT racing down the highway. You and your date Trixie Belden are spooked as the drivers weaved in and out of traffic at high speed.
But this was not an amalgam of bad fifties and sixties B-Grade stereotypes… — it was the Trans Canada Highway Friday about 8:30 p.m. And now two expensive high performance cars are resting their rubber in an impound lot.
The Times-Colonist reports: “The drivers, who were pulled over by Saanich police outside the Red Lion Inn, are prohibited from driving for 15 days. They have also been issued violation tickets for driving without due care and attention, which carries a $368 fine.”
“A driver who called 911 was passed by the speeding cars as he came onto the Trans Canada Highway at Millstream Road. He watched them fly down the highway, until they were forced to slow down near the merge lane of the Old Island Highway. The sports cars twisted and turned through traffic lanes until they were free again to race down the highway into town. Stopped by a red light at Tillicum, both cars shot forward when the light turned green.”
How is it that if I walked into a bank and joked about wanting a zero-interest anonymous loan, I could be tossed into the slammer for 10 years… and 2 knuckleheads high on testosterone and Starbucks coffee can put dozens of lives at risk for the cost of $368? Hell, I cannot buy 3 Canucks tickets for $368.
What gives with society anyway? Two 39 year olds driving about 100,000 dollars worth of Detroit steel could have killed someone… or maimed someone… or killed a whole family. And we slap them on the wrist. How about banning them from getting behind the wheel for a year.
These 2 belong behind the wheel of a 5 year olds tricycle because that is where their actual intelligence is at.
Shame.
I have seen this Aston-Martin parked at London Drugs on Yates St. I think it is the same owner. He flew out of the parking lot one evening a few months ago after picking up his prescription… traveling down Quadra avenue at speeds in excess of 60km/h within seconds of entering the road-way.
What an idiot. Watch for him.
Vancouver iPhone scambuster · 1 February 2008 by colin newell
This was all over the newspapers this morning…
A guy in Vancouver is allegedly scamming people over the much-in-demand iPhone.
A website, based in Vancouver, attacks the scammer head-on.
Interestingly, the scam artist uses intimidation on top of deceptive business practices; sells a products that he does not have and then bullies the victim into silence with threats of frivolous lawsuits if the victim speaks up – classic sociopath behavior.
Check it out for yourself here
Read more on the perp here
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