.

Random observations, teachings and musings of a well trained cubicle superhero.
http://j1.ca

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Is it lame that I think this rocks?

TODA + OXO Corn Stripper- 07.25.07

oxocorn.jpg
While checking out Sub-Studio’s latest post for us below on TODA… i couldn’t help but notice this incredible Corn Stripper they have designed for Oxo! It actually strips the kernels off the cob and into a container that even helps you measure how much you have… and easy grips to hold on to as well.

From - http://www.notcot.com

Monday, July 30, 2007

oh snap.

Friday, July 27, 2007

July 27, 2007

Choosing the Right Connection Speed

Tech Mate
techyJay, a.k.a. “The Cubicle Superhero”, is a self-professed tech junkie with a passion for music and culture Email Jay


A man walks into a doctor's office and says, "Hey doc, it hurts when I do this," as he moves his arm side to side. The doctor looks up and says "Well, don't do that then!"

Theory of Relativity
The bad joke above may not seem relative to the world of broadband Internet connections, but take a closer look. One of the most frequent issues that we see at LiveCoach is a customer complaining of slow connection speeds. Viruses and spyware aside, there are a number of other factors at play in the speed of your Internet connection. The number one defining factor in the choice of an Internet connection speed is what you and your family like to do online.

Family Matters
The key phrase in that last sentence was "family." As intertwined you and your family's lives are, so too are your activities on the Internet.

Let's take a tech savvy family of four. The son is used to the types of connection speeds he has at school, and the daughter is off at college, developing her music and downloading habits on a blazing fast campus network. Try telling them not to download that video from MySpace, like the doctor in the example above!

The Connected Family
Back at home, they've wisely invested in a wireless broadband router to securely and conveniently share a connection throughout the house. Mom is in the home office, emailing the family photos of the new puppy, while she videoconferences with her daughter over Yahoo! Messenger. The youngest son is in the den, rifling through Facebook, and listening to his Rogers Yahoo! LaunchCast stream. He mutes LaunchCast and fires up his QuickTime player to watch the new trailer for the super-secret Cloverfield film.

Dad is on his laptop watching an Argos video feed from Rogers SportsNet. Just as his son's movie trailer begins to buffer, mom decides to send off an email with three large photo attachments. Dad's video feed begins to stutter. Dad loves his Argos. Houston, we have a problem.

Load balancing
I live in a building built in the 1930s, with one fuse for the whole apartment. Believe me, I've got gadgets. These devices need power, and as I fire up the computer(s), PVR, stereo, projector, Air Conditioner, and (eventually) the dishwasher, the meaning of conservation hits home loud and clear. This one fuse setup worked fine for the people living there before me, so what's changed? My (and all of our) appetites for, and expectations of, technology has grown.


June 8, 2007 :
  • Tips to optimize your Internet speed (part 1 of 2)

    June 12, 2007 :
  • Tips to optimize your Internet speed (part 2 of 2)

    June 22, 2007 :
  • Organizing your email inbox

    June 29, 2007 :
  • Clean up to speed up

    July 6, 2007 :
  • When should I update my OS?

    July 20, 2007 :
  • The joy of faster Internet

  • The same is true for the Internet. What we expect from an Internet connection has changed. Years ago on dialup we were content to just read the text on a webpage, while the pictures slowly filled the frame. Now we expect the page itself to provide more value, with advanced features like embedded video, interactive menus and maps.

    Television, telephones, and the home stereo are converging, in the form of a much more connected home computer.

    Movie Buff or Entertainment Nut?
    Tying all these features together and having them perform seamlessly takes bandwidth. So you want to look at what your interests are online and choose an Internet speed that works for you. Fetching your email or a webpage causes only a quick traffic spike, as it loads the various aspects of the page. However, buffering or downloading a movie creates a more sustained pull on bandwidth that could affect others in your home. So while users that only browse the Internet may on occasion load a complex page slowly, if it's not frustrating to the user, an Ultra-Lite or Lite package should be fine.

    If you don't share your network, you still need to be realistic about how long you're prepared to wait for that video or sound file. Increasing your Internet connection speed decreases your waiting time, increasing the usability, value and enjoyment of your computer. If you feel frustrated with your speed at times, this next paragraph is for you.

    Helping you Choose
    Rogers has recently doubled the speed of their internet packages and has launched a new webpage that will help you to determine the best site for your needs. Check out http://rogers.com/faster for a sneak peek.

    The site has been laid out into six sections: Games, Videos and Movies, Photos, Social sites and tools, music and shopping.

    For each Internet feature listed, think about how often you would use the service, and how long you would be willing to wait for it to load. To register your selection, check the small triangle on the red drop-down bar below each section.

    As you enter the times for features you tend to use, the section will grey out, and the icon will appear in the listing below. As you enter times, the tool will attempt to choose the right speed based on your responses and display it below. Try increasing or decreasing the time for the features you use most, to see how it affects the recommended speed.

    Bandwidth Zen
    With a little planning, while putting some tough and realistic thought into your subscription choice, your family can get the most out of their Internet experience without raising Dad's blood pressure. Check out the new speed increase page, and see if it's time to move on up to a faster connection for your home.


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    Monday, July 23, 2007

    Blade Runner @ YD Sq Tue 9pm

    Blade Runner

    Tuesday 24 July 2007, 9:00pm - 11:00pm
    city cinema_dots-lores_350

    blade_runner_poster_494p

    Blade Runner (1982)

    Under-appreciated at the time, this film has become enshrined as a science fiction classic. Often imitated but never duplicated. Film begins at 9:00pm

    The film will be preceded by an installment of the classic 1940 serial Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe starting at 8:30pm.

    Friday, July 20, 2007

    2007 DMC Canada FINAL@ModClub Aug10

    Wednesday, July 18, 2007

    Shredded

    Sunday, July 08, 2007

    Prosmise Boat Cruise aboard Kajama-July14



    KAJAMA TALL SHIP MOON CRUISE:
    DATE: SATURDAY JULY 14TH, 2007
    Friends and friends of friends, depart together for our annual night on the lake with gentle breezes, starry skies and deep bouncy beats. Our historical tall sailing ship Kajama is a three-mast schooner built in Europe in 1930. Her beauty and intimacy is loved by all who have sailed with us before and danced on her deck. We look forward to seeing to our night with you!

    DJ'S:
    JACOB CINO AKA THIRD EYE TRIBE (VANCOUVER)
    NOAH PRED
    MIKE GIBBS
    AIA

    LOCATION:
    Casting off from the dock behind the Harbourfront Centre Stage, 235
    Queens Quay W, just west of Front and Bay. Right at midnight, arrive
    comfortably before.

    TICKETS $35:
    Shanti Baba - 548 Queen St W
    Moog Audio - 442 Queen St W
    2theBeat - 161 Spadina Ave

    Justin - alieninflux@harvestfestival.org
    David - 416 550 2702, mdave@sympatico.ca
    Irving - 416 902 1740, promisebz@rogers.com
    Kajama info: Great Lakes Schooner Co.

    Saturday, July 07, 2007

    Beats Breaks and Culture at Harbourfront

    Beats, Breaks & Culture

    2:00pm - Saturday, July 7 Concert Stage

    King Sunshine

    “The weather’s beautiful on the dancefloor!” – These are the words of Toronto's own nine piece band, King Sunshine – they blend keyboards/synths, heart pounding drums/percussion, deep bass, slick guitar, intense electronics, tight horns and soulful vocals to create a reinvented house music.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    2:00pm - Saturday, July 7 Studio Theatre

    Rock the Bells (film screening)

    Rock the BellsAn independent, Do-It-Yourself spirit film, Rock the Bells shows festival producer Chang Weisberg putting it all on the line for his impossible dream of reuniting the WU-Tang Clan. The film features performances by Redman, Dilated Peoples, MC Supernatural, Sage Francis, Eyeda and Abilities, Chali 2na and DJ Numark.

    www.rockthebellsmovie.com

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    3:30pm - Saturday, July 7 Concert Stage

    Agape featuring Nadia Harris

    A meaningful and soulful, explosive new sound! These Miami Beach natives are fronted by singer, songwriter, Nadia Harris who brings forth a beautiful voice drenched with the soul and rich heritage of her upbringing in the hills of Kingston Jamaica.

    myspace.com/agapefeaturingnadiaharris

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    5:00pm - Saturday, July 7 Toronto Star Stage

    Pop, Lock & Load IV

    Breakdancer photo by MiTBreakdancing duos compete to participate in tomorrow's finale.

    Hosted and organized by Benzo from Bag of Tricks. DJ'd by Canada's answer to unfiltered underground Hip Hop - DJ Serious and Belgian DJ Mauz (Redbull beat champ 2007). With a special popping performance by Rythmatic Funk Movement.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    9:30pm - Saturday, July 7 Concert Stage

    Shout Out Out Out Out

    Shout Out Out Out OutShout Out Out Out Out, comprised of two drummers, four bass players, two samplers, five synthesizers and two vocoders, grew up playing in a variety of punk/rock bands. With time, the six members wound up becoming obsessed with electro, tech-house, and computer disco. It’s because of this background that Shout Out Out Out Out are so comfortable straddling the fence between the energy and live-performance of being in a rock band, and the exciting bump of filling a dance floor with slamming sequenced beat. This is volatile dance music.

    www.shoutoutoutoutout.com

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    1:00pm to 11:00pm - Saturday, July 7 Marilyn Brewer Community Space

    Beats, Breaks and Technology: Milestones in the History of Electronic Music

    Follow the timeline of the major technological and musical milestones that laid the foundation for present day genres of music including hip hop, drum & bass, techno and house. Interact and play the theremin, the first electronic musical instrument.

    Curated by mixMotion - mixmotion.com

    Equipment Collection on loan from Play de Record - playderecord.com

    Part of Generations



    Tuesday, July 03, 2007

    Independent Review: Transformers

    Transformers Birthday Cake


    Dude from my office just gave me his review of Transformers from the sneak preview last night.

    "Amazing. The visual effects were crazy. The transform movements were realistic and looked awesome. You should see it, seriously."



    UPDATE: Saw it last night - all showings were sold out except for a quickly added 10:10 show. Happened to be there at the right time and picked up tix.
    So. Freaking. Awesome.
    See it tonight, see the late show, sleep in, miss your bus, drown in coffee, write a blog post.

    Monday, July 02, 2007

    2001: A Space Odyssey - in open space...

    city cinema_dots-lores_350

    FEATURING FUTURISTIC FLICKS:

    2001-poster_178p

    2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
    July 3 8:30pm @ Yonge/Dundas Sq.

    Stanley Kubrick’s signature film.

    One of the most thoughtful

    sci-fi films of all time.

    Bumps (Stone's Throw) July3 @ Lees Palace

    http://www.stonesthrow.com/bumps/
    Bumps - OK!!! (Stones Throw 2007)

    The three percussion experts behind the seminal indie rock / post rock band Tortoise showcase their rhythmical prowess, coming together for this self-titled concept break beat record entitled Bumps.

    As members of Tortoise, these three gentlemen helped infuse a new aesthetic into the indie rock scene of the 1990s. The group set itself apart by focusing on instrumental prowess and group interaction. Instead of the tried and true themes of familiar alternative and punk, Tortoise opened up their scope of influences to create a new musical vision – dubiously called “post rock” – incorporating styles from genres such as Krautrock, dub, avant-garde jazz, classical minimalism, ambient and space music, film music and British electronica.

    One of indie rock’s most in-demand master producers of the last decade, Tortoise’s producer/
    drummer/vibes player John McEntire has worked with a staggering number of artists as engineer, producer and remixer. With Bumps, he lends his talents toward pushing the boundaries of a typical break beat record, fusing influences from funk, Brazilian, Latin and Afrobeat music.

    RASHOMON July 5 8pm @ Jackman Hall

    Cinematheque Ontario presents Akira Kurosawa's RASHOMON
    (Japan, 1950) Presented by: Cinematheque Ontario
    Thursday July 5th @ 8PM
    AGO-Jackman Hall-317 Dundas St W
    Box Office at Manulife-55 BloorW
    or call 416-968-FILM.

    RASHOMON
    Cinematheque Ontario presents Akira Kurosawa's RASHOMON (Japan, 1950)
    RASHOMON
    Director: Akira Kurosawa
    Japan minutes
    Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo

    “***** One of the most brilliantly constructed films of all time, RASHOMON is a monument to Akira Kurosawa’s greatness. . . . A hallmark of film history” (James Monaco).

    RASHOMON was the film that introduced Japanese cinema to the western world (which, properly amazed, immediately lavished prizes on it, including the Grand Prize at the Venice film festival and the Academy Award® for Best Foreign Language Film). It landed actress Machiko Kyo on the cover of Life Magazine, made Toshiro Mifune an international superstar, and influenced generations of filmmakers, from Resnais (LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD) to Tarantino (RESERVOIR DOGS). Indeed, its impact on popular culture was so immense that “Rashomon” has become a code word for the multiplicity/relativity/unattainability of truth. Set in twelfth-century Kyoto, RASHOMON famously examines a tale of rape and murder from four different perspectives and asks, “which is the true story?” Opening in the rain-pelted ruins of a temple (which gives the film its name), it flashes back through a series of complex and conflicting accounts of the same event. A bandit (Mifune) comes upon an aristocratic woman (Kyo) and her samurai husband (Masayuki Mori) in the forest. He rapes her and murders him, but the versions of how and whether this happened as told by the three participants (including the dead husband’s spirit!) and a supposed witness to the crime, contradict each other in significant ways. Each has a reason to tell the tale the way he or she does, but none ultimately can be trusted for the truth. More torrential than the rain that frames the story, Mifune’s performance lays waste to good taste with its wild excesses. Stripped and capering, all eyebrows, armpits, and glinting teeth, he is less bandit than beast of the jungle. Not to be outdone, Machiko Kyo combines simpering servility and fierce vengefulness. And Kurosawa’s style, with its flashy editing, peculiar music (Ravel’s Bolero), and high-contrast cinematography – the great cinematographer Miyagawa turns the sun-dappled forest into an arena of cruelty and metaphor for memory – transforms RASHOMON into a startling tour de force.


    Kurosawa's "THE SEVEN SAMURAI" follows July 9, 6:30 PM

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