Christopher Mackay’s Blog

Not an especially kind page, but very funny: Rejected Limited-edition iPods.

I can’t pick a favourite…

I noticed something new this week. On my flights between Moncton/Toronto/Ottawa, Air Canada’s flight attendants kept referring to Blackberries.

It was something along the lines of “please turn off all electronic devices; cell phones, laptop computers, portable CD players and Blackberries”.

A generic list of devices — no mention of PowerBooks, VAIOs, iPods or PalmPilots — but repeated, blatant plugs for Research In Motion’s Blackberry.

Now, I have nothing against RIM or their fine products (or Air Canada, for that matter), but is this for the benefit of the technologically-enabled but intellectually-challenged Air Canada passengers who are somehow unaware that their Blackberries are electronic devices (capable of disabling the sophisticated equipment on modern airliners, or not)?

Or (cue sinister music) is this just an ad? Nothing like a captive audience, is there? Not that anyone seems to pay any attention to anything the flight attendants have to say…

Update (November 9, 2004)
Air Canada’s mobility page also continues this trend, singling out the “RIM Blackberry” for special treatment. Oddly, though, the page redirects you to Air Canada’s home page after a few seconds:

From your Internet-enabled phone or wireless PDA e.g., RIM Blackberry, take advantage of Air Canada Mobile Services…

Deepening the ‘conspiracy’, I’ve a friend who’s noticed this ’special’ mention of Blackberries on Air Canada flights.

So, I go out of town for a couple of days and Apple goes completely crazy. (Streaming QuickTime/MPEG-4 video of the event is available, as are photos. This is a very good thing.

• Black U2 iPod (with their upcoming album pre-installed)
• iPod Photo (colour screen, album art, colour calendar & games on the iPod & iPhoto sync)
• new versions of QuickTime (6.5.2) and iTunes (4.7)
• But most importantly, the iTunes Music Store is coming to Canada in November!

How cool is that?!? I bought copies of the latest releases by R.E.M. and Mark Knopfler yesterday. They may well be the last CDs I ever buy. Here’s hoping.

Just watched Morgan Spurlock’s independent film, Super Size Me, last night. Definitely recommended viewing. Perhaps the most staggering eye-opener for me, having already read Eric Schlosser’s compelling Fast Food Nation, was the DVD extra that showed what happens to McDonald’s french fries when left out for 10 weeks… No, I’m not going to tell you; you’ll have to watch for yourself.

Related links:

• Super Size Me official web site
• Super Size Me movie trailer page
• Super Size Me IMDB entry
• Super Size Me reviews at Rotten Tomatoes
• Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (order it from an independent bookseller like Tidewater Books in Sackville)

Jeffrey Veen has posted an insightful article outlining what he sees as ways to improve open-source content-management systems (such as Drupal — you’re soaking in it).

Having evaluated a number of systems, seriously tested a couple (including Plone) and actually helped deploy Drupal, I’d say he’s right on the money.

A recent survey by Britain’s Computing magazine has found that “being an IT manager is considered by respondents to be the world’s third least desirable career move.” Sex-line operator and North Sea Ferry cabin cleaner were considered to be more desirable work.

In a similar vein, Database Builder came 14th and Internet Consultant was 72nd (right behind maggot farmer). Ouch.

While the article doesn’t identify who or where the respondents were (and therefore should be taken with a largish grain of salt), apparently there isn’t a healthy respect for technology or its practioners among them. I can’t say I blame them, either, given how hard to use most modern technology is.

What I want to know is, where does lawyer come in on the list?

Update: Oh, the URL of the article is http://www.computing.co.uk/comment/1158610 — you’ll have to copy & paste; linking directly from this page doesn’t seem to work…

The following is shamelessly lifted from the CyberSocial email:

Greater Moncton CyberSocial, Wednesday, October 13th, 2004 at 5:30 p.m. NOTE Location change: Manhattan Bar & Grill, Westmorland St (across from the Moncton Market)

Join us before the CyberSocial for a technical seminar:

Business Uses of Social Software

Time: 5:00 to 5:30 pm

We have the pleasure of welcoming Sébastien Paquet from the NRC IIT who will speak to us about the use of the social networking systems and weblogs.

Social networking systems and weblogs (also known as blogs) have recently emerged as innovative and very low-cost ways to communicate and connect that take full advantage of the capabilities of the Web. This short talk will explain what these tools are and why they are interesting, with a particular eye to how they can be useful for businesses, e.g. in new product development, client interaction, marketing, or advancing your business profile in the industry.

Sebastien Paquet has been doing research at the intersection of social software, knowledge sharing, and eLearning for the past several years. He has contributed several articles and talks on topics in these areas. His personal weblog, as well as the Many-to-Many group weblog on social software to which he contributes, are influential sources on innovation in web-based communication.

Sebastien received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Universite de Montreal and is a Research Officer for the National Research Council’s Institute for Information Technology in Moncton.

(Seb is a very nice and very smart guy — if you can make it, you should —Chris)

Bloomberg is reporting that Apple’s iPod has an 82% market share (US retail), up from 64% a year ago and 33% two years ago. Remarkable. Bloomberg also expects that the widely-reported “halo effect” will come to pass; that iPod owners will tend to become Mac owners.

An unrelated story on MacMinute.com says that, according to research firm Piper Jaffray, of 600 high school students surveyed, “16 percent currently own an iPod and 24 percent plan to buy an iPod within the next year. Munster also noted that the iPod ranked fourth on the teens’ holiday wish list–behind clothes, money, and a car–even though the iPod was not an answer option and had to be written in as a response.”

This bodes very well for the continued strength of Apple’s digital appliance strategy, which suggests that QuickTime and Apple’s non-draconiac DRM will continue to be a viable alternative to Microsoft’s Windows Media for the foreseeable future.