Sandy McMurray

"There are lots of things I want that I can’t have because I lack the resources like a Viking range,..."

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:00:00 -0500

“There are lots of things I want that I can’t have because I lack the resources like a Viking range, a BMW X5 and washboard abs. Doesn’t mean I’m allowed to go out and steal them. Same goes for music, movies and video games. Just because I want the content and it’s convenient to steal doesn’t mean I should.”

- Peter Cohen, co-producer of The Loop

Sony introduces PlayStation 4, doesn’t actually show the product, pricing or exact availability

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 23:19:01 -0500

Sony introduces PlayStation 4, doesn’t actually show the product, pricing or exact availability:

Thanks to The Next Web for the great headline.

Sony held a big media event today in New York and told a captive audience very little about PlayStation 4.

It’s very exciting! Stay tuned! Details to follow!

This story has some information.

"Since OS X Lion, Macs have shipped without Java installed, and as an added security measure OS X..."

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 14:59:36 -0500

“Since OS X Lion, Macs have shipped without Java installed, and as an added security measure OS X automatically disables Java if it has been unused for 35 days. To protect Mac users that have installed Java, today we are releasing an updated Java malware removal tool that will check Mac systems and remove this malware if found.”

- comment from Apple via The Loop

R.I.P. Posterous

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:27:10 -0500

Farewell to Posterous, the free online blogging tool that was acquired by Twitter in March of 2012. Sachin Agarwal, Posterous founder and CEO, says goodbye in this blog post.

I used Posterous for a while, and admired their focus on simple blog posts sent via email. I switched to Tumblr in 2011, and explained the change here.

"Well, BlackBerry’s Hail Mary pass, its bet-the-farm phone, is finally here. It’s the BlackBerry Z10,..."

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:50:00 -0500

“Well, BlackBerry’s Hail Mary pass, its bet-the-farm phone, is finally here. It’s the BlackBerry Z10, and guess what? It’s lovely, fast and efficient, bristling with fresh, useful ideas.”

- David Pogue

Zed One Oh

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:47:00 -0500

BlackBerry announced two new phones today: the Z10 and the Q10. The Z10 has a large touch screen with on-screen keyboard; the Q10 has a smaller touch screen and a “real” physical keyboard. These new devices are the first to use the QNX-based BlackBerry 10 software.

Things that make you say “hmmm”: the Q10 gets its name from the built-in QWERTY keyboard, but why is the touch-screen model the Z10? That presents a marketing challenge since the letter Z may be pronounced “Zed” or “Zee” depending on which English-speaking country you’re in.

(Thorsten Heins pronounced it “Zed Ten” during his presentation in New York.)

Press and partners at today’s launch were given a shiny new Z10 to take home. It was a lot like going to a taping of Oprah where everyone gets a car, except in this case Thorsten Heins was Oprah and the new car was a BlackBerry Z10 phone. Also, I’ve never been to a taping of Oprah, so I can only imagine the similarities.

First impression of the Z10: it looks and feels a lot like an iPhone 5. Fit and finish are very nice, as is the big, bright screen. Startup time is longer than expected (i.e. longer than iPhone). The on-screen keyboard feels less responsive than the iPhone keyboard to me but makes up for it with the cool predictive text feature that lets you “swipe” to select suggested words.

I’ll have more to say about the Z10 when I’ve spent more time with it. For now, I’ll just say that the news today was good for BlackBerry, and I think it was good for BlackBerry customers, too.

The end of Research In Motion

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:16:00 -0500

Today’s BlackBerry product launch included some unexpected news: the company formerly known as Research In Motion will now be officially known as “BlackBerry” instead of “RIM”.

Grand & Toy stock surged on the news that thousands of ~~RIM~~ BlackBerry employees may need to replace their stationery and business cards. Industry analysts, meanwhile, are now wondering if BlackBerry 10 devices might have shipped sooner if ~~RIM~~ BlackBerry employees were not so busy updating their email addresses and LinkedIn profiles.

And now there are two mobile phone makers with fruity names.

Inside BB10 keynote theatre in Toronto.

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 09:56:53 -0500

Inside BB10 keynote theatre in Toronto.

BlackBerry 10

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 09:34:00 -0500

The official introduction of BlackBerry 10 is less than one hour away. Press and partners are gathered outside the auditorium at The Carlu hotel in Toronto, drinking coffee and buzzing with anticipation.

The keynote address starts at 10:00 Eastern. This will be followed by several rounds of demos and Q&A sessions, plus interview opportunities for media.

Everyone I know who has seen pre-release BB10 devices has been very positive. As a long-time iPhone user and iOS fan, I’m not sure how RIM can catch up with Apple. As a Canadian, I hope to see something today that will help RIM to recover and thrive.

The wait is almost over. Here comes BlackBerry 10.

"RIM executives are having trouble texting today because their fingers are crossed."

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 09:13:00 -0500

“RIM executives are having trouble texting today because their fingers are crossed.”

- Mike Nabuurs, Funny 820

Watch this video from Microsoft then think about how fun it...

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 08:30:29 -0500

Watch this video from Microsoft then think about how fun it could be if the pictures on your TV screen extended beyond your TV screen.

Like most demos for not-yet-available products, this video is exciting at first, then a bunch of questions come to mind:
- How does it work?
- Is there a video projector on the back of the TV?
- Is there more than one video projector?
- How much would something like that cost?
- How much will it cost to buy this?
- Can I buy this now? No?
- When can I buy this? You’re not sure?
- Could I build something like this myself?
- Hey, why was I interested? I forget.
- What’s that other new shiny thing, over there?

Video

Tue, 25 Dec 2012 01:00:24 -0500

Video

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 10:00:10 -0500

Merry Christmas from Sandy, Lori, Alex, Kate, Toby, and Tess!

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 17:04:44 -0500

Merry Christmas from Sandy, Lori, Alex, Kate, Toby, and Tess!

Google Santa Tracker

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 08:14:08 -0500

Google Santa Tracker:

How many sleeps until Christmas?

"I used to believe that time was the most important thing I have, but I’ve come to believe..."

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 19:38:59 -0500

“I used to believe that time was the most important thing I have, but I’ve come to believe differently. The single most valuable resource I have is uninterrupted thought.”

- Adam Brault

Q: Does Summly make you smarter? A: “We’re not...

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:53:00 -0500

Q: Does Summly make you smarter?
A: “We’re not legally allowed to make such claims, no.”

Check out this great promotional video for Summly, a free news app for iOS, with young Summly founder Nick D’Aloisio in conversation with globetrotting raconteur Stephen Fry.

Predicting the U.S. Election - Microsoft Research

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 09:29:33 -0400

Predicting the U.S. Election - Microsoft Research:

This is an interesting piece about David Rothschild, an economist at Microsoft Research New York City.

“The great thing is that David is providing predictions in real time,” he says. “You can see these reactions within minutes. After Rick Perry made his ‘oops’ mistake in that GOP debate, you could literally watch the predictions crash in almost real time.”

Online purchases and pre-paid credit cards

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 07:03:36 -0400

I just heard Metro Morning business commentator say he’s afraid to use his credit card for online purchases. I understand the argument, but there are solutions.

We use the BMO Prepaid Travel Mastercard for online purchases. It works like a gift card: you transfer money to the card, then that balance is the only money you can spend from it.

This card provides no access to your other money. If the card is lost or stolen, or someone tries to make a fraudulent purchase, the most you can lose is whatever money you’ve loaded onto the card. (We keep our balance below $100 when not planning to make a purchase.)

We shopped around before choosing the BMO option. Some prepaid cards have a monthly fee. This one has a flat fee you pay once. I recommend it to anyone who’s trying to find a safe way to make online purchases.

link: BMO Prepaid Travel Mastercard

Happy Halloween!

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 00:01:17 -0400

Happy Halloween!