Skip to content

Feb 6

no comments

How I finally managed to synchronize the address book and iCal between three macs, GMail, Google Calendar, an iphone, and a blackberry OR Why I love SpanningSync

spanning-sync

It’s the little things that drive you crazy. For a little over a year I’ve been trying to find an easy way to syncronize OSX Address Books and iCalendars between three separate computers at work. Roll that around on your tounge for a few minutes over a year.

It’s a deceptively tricky problem – it’s not enough computers to warrant the expense (and complexity) of a full on server solution, but it’s enough that just occasionally exporting/importing backups isn’t going to cut it. Furthermore, ideally I want to be able to make changes on *any* of the three computers and have it reflected in the other two.

Let’s add another wrinkle – one of the laptops syncs to a Blackberry, the other to an iPhone. Read more

Feb 2

no comments

Live From Gobblers Knob!

It's Groundhog Day!

I have to admit I’m a little confused on how we’re supposed to treat this, the most insane of meteorological celebrations, now that there is a vast field of pretenders to what was once Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania’s sole domain. Is it like the supreme court of Marmota Monax? With this years predictions in at 6:3 for “six more weeks of winter” does Staten Island Chuck write the dissenting opinion?

It's Groundhog Day! It's Groundhog Day!

“Melverne Mel, Dunkirke Dave, myself, and several other members of our honourable assembly must find that we we see no evidence of a shadow whatsoever. Seriously, we looked all over the place. Our respective handlers waved us all over the place for several moments – collectively almost a minute. We also must strongly question what kind of rigorous diligence can be expected from our honourable colleague, given that he willingly lives in a property called Gobblers Knob?”

It's Groundhog Day! It's Groundhog Day! It's Groundhog Day!

Or is it less a uniform consensus we are looking for than a forecast tailored to a specific general local? Not that it matters in this specific case as Wiarton Willie seems to be with the majority this year. I kind of like this reading, as the forcasts for Toronto have been a little shaky this year, and I like the idea that flinging around small mammals is just an effective method of prognostication as doppler radar. “Hey Rob, do you know if I need to take an umbrella with me?” “Hang on a second and let me see if the cat attacks my mouse pointer with it’s left or right paw!” “What’s the weather going to be like on my trip tomorrow?” “Take the raccoon out of the drier and see how many times it circles around before it gets into our garbage and throws up on our deck… multiply that by eight for your temperature in Fahrenheit.”

In conclusion – this is truly a spectacularly bizarre tradition, even by the somewhat lax standards of North-American-post-Christmas-festivities.

… I’ll stop this now… but know ye well that I could have HAPPILY kept re-posting this ALL DAY.

Feb 2

no comments

Live From Gobblers Knob

It's Groundhog Day!

I have to admit I’m a little confused on how we’re supposed to treat this, the most insane of meteorological celebrations, now that there is a vast field of pretenders to what was once Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania’s sole domain. Is it like the supreme court of Marmota Monax? With this years predictions in at 6:3 for “six more weeks of winter” does Staten Island Chuck write the dissenting opinion?

It's Groundhog Day! It's Groundhog Day!

“Melverne Mel, Dunkirke Dave, myself, and several other members of our honourable assembly must find that we we see no evidence of a shadow whatsoever. Seriously, we looked all over the place. Our respective handlers waved us all over the place for several moments – collectively almost a minute. We also must strongly question what kind of rigorous diligence can be expected from our honourable colleague, given that he willingly lives in a property called Gobblers Knob?”

It's Groundhog Day! It's Groundhog Day! It's Groundhog Day!

Or is it less a uniform consensus we are looking for than a forecast tailored to a specific general local? Not that it matters in this specific case as Wiarton Willie seems to be with the majority this year. I kind of like this reading, as the forcasts for Toronto have been a little shaky this year, and I like the idea that flinging around small mammals is just an effective method of prognostication as doppler radar. “Hey Rob, do you know if I need to take an umbrella with me?” “Hang on a second and let me see if the cat attacks my mouse pointer with it’s left or right paw!” “What’s the weather going to be like on my trip tomorrow?” “Take the raccoon out of the drier and see how many times it circles around before it gets into our garbage and throws up on our deck… multiply that by eight for your temperature in Fahrenheit.”

In conclusion – this is truly a spectacularly bizarre tradition, even by the somewhat lax standards of North-American-post-Christmas-festivities.

Jan 30

no comments

Newspapers on the Internet? Aww… that will never work!

A little Friday filler, via TechCrunch

Jan 28

1 Comment

I wish I was making this up.

polar-bear-oh-nothumbnail

Pop Quiz Hotshot… a new Tokyopop Manga is published with the following (partial) description:

“Trina Devi is the last of the Tantric Adepts and a master of the esoteric art of Stripfighting; a tantalizing fusion of Shaolin martial arts and Tantric sensuality, where practitioners use articles of clothing as weapons to subdue and incapacitate their opponents.”

It should be marketed towards:

Don’t get me wrong guys, I know the market is in the tanks… but I’m not sure selling softcore to pre-teens is necessarily the solution.

[EDIT - I've been informed the rating is not "Older / Teens (11+)" but rather "Older Teens (16+)" and that the logo is just hard to read on the Tokyopop website... I guess I'm happier with that rating (at least without having actually read the thing. So now I have to find something else to be outraged about... like, why doesn't the ratings logo actually link to a ratings explanation page? I may (or may not) be fine with the rating, depending on how they classify their categories, but if a net-addled wonk like me can't find a definition page in two minutes of searching - that's probably not good enough for little Billy's Mom.]

[EDIT 2 - Yes I'm aware there's a viewer on the tpop website to actually read the first 50-odd pages of "Tantric Stripfighter Trina" and therefore better base my opinion. However, without a serious creative team pedigree, or a shelf full of industry accolades, or someone paying me to, I am likely never going to voluntarily read a work entitled "Tantric Stripfighter Trina"]

Jan 28

no comments

Crazy Lawsuit Wednesdays!

DROP THAT CHALUPA!

Greetings from Hoth! The heat in my office has now been out for two days, and as a trademark Toronto SNOPOCALYPSE ™ kicks up around us things are looking decidedly grim for the rebellion.

Since my poor frozen brain is too sluggish for deep insight here’s some decidedly hot and spicy odd lawsuits from this week:

… you know what? This is just getting depressing… so we stop here. You don’t like it? SUE ME.

Jan 26

no comments

Awww… you like me, you really li**Bandwidth Exceeded**

509-bandwidth-limit

Awww… I just popped over to fix a broken link in my Mad article from this morning and got the dreaded “509 – Bandwidth Exceeded” message – marking this as (clearly) my most successful month of blogging ever.

Of course around now most Bloggers would be decrying their scumbag webhosts for cutting off the juice in the first place… but since the scumbag webhost in question resolved the issue immediately, and also is me, all is forgiven.

Just wanted to say “thank you” to all you scary web-folk who keep coming here. I promise to keep doing whatever the heck it is that this thing is.

Jan 26

1 Comment

Still no link between videogame violence and actual violence… shocking.

video-game_violence

Professor Christopher Ferguson, writing for the Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling confirms what many of us have suspected all along: despite decades of data there no significant link between playing violent videogames and school shootings. There is also no significant link between being an altar boy and school shootings, bowling and school shootings , or Bob Geldof and school shootings. Is anyone else surprised that this discussion is still going on, even given that horrific acts of school gun-violence far pre-date the invention of the videogame?

“It has been observed that a small group of researchers have been most vocal in promoting the anti-game message, oftentimes ignoring research from other researchers, or failing to disclose problems with their own research. As some researchers have staked their professional reputation on anti-game activism, it may be difficult for these researchers to maintain scientific objectivity regarding the subject of their study.”

The article is most interesting for some of the fairly pointed criticism that Ferguson directs to those who have conducted studies over the previous decade noting, among other things, that it may be easier to get grants to search for negative results.

Like news coverage, even in academia it looks like the “shock headline” is what, ultimately, pays the bills.

(via GamePolitics)

Page 12 of 25« First...1011121314...20...Last »