Archive for June, 2009
we picked up a 15″ MacBook Pro this evening, and Evan already knew how to use the multitouch trackpad.
This stretch near the golf course in Varsity Estates has been overrun by cars displaced by parking lot construction. Today the cars were normal, but they are often Bentleys, Bimmers, Benzes, Jags, etc… They all park in the marked bike lane, making us pull out into the narrow remaining traffic lane…
One of the interesting new things in iPod/iPhone OS 3.0 is the new “find my iPod” feature. It’s probably most useful for an iPhone, which could be easily left on a bus or something, and has an always-on 3G connection, but it works just fine for iPods over WIFI as well.
It’s close – I’m just on the edge of the blue circle as I’m typing this – but it’s good enough to tell me that I haven’t left it at home. The map updates in nearly realtime, so you could, in theory, track the device as it walks away.
The location is only visible to the owner of the MobileMe (nee .Mac) account, and, I suppose, The Authorities™. It’s intended to provide a way to find a lost or stolen iPhone. It could also provide a creepy way of tracking someone, but you’d need to know their MobileMe login.
You can also send messages to the iPod from the MobileMe web interface:
The message is customizable, and you get an email after the “OK” button has been clicked to confirm that the message was received.
One of the things I do when working with students and faculty, is to show them how to find great free resources shared online via the Creative Commons license, and to provide proper attribution. It’s really easy. It can be as simple as “Photograph by [flickr username]“, and maybe a link to the photo page.
The Tekzilla podcast (and TV show?) used a photo of mine in a recent episode (Episode 93: “Netbook Buyer’s Guide”, June 18 2009). I’m fine with that – I release every photo I publish under a simple Creative Commons attribution license to make that kind of thing easy to do.
Here’s how Tekzilla handles attribution:
Oops. Nope. They didn’t put it there. There was plenty of room for their network logo badge, though.
Maybe in the credits for the show? Nope. But there was room for about 2 minutes of super-funny blooper out-takes.
They had used many photographs throughout the show, likely all from Flickr, without providing any attribution for any of them. Without even a lame “Photo from Flickr” – the way the photos were used, it appeared as though they (or someone on their crew) had taken all of them. Maybe they had taken some of them, but it was completely unclear.
That’s not cool. That’s not abiding by the terms of the Creative Commons license.
Speaking of attribution, thanks to Paul for the heads up on this. He recognized my photo while watching the podcast episode.
And here’s the original photograph on Flickr:
Update: Turns out that it was a simple oversight, and will be rectified by Tekzilla providing attribution in a future episode.
a red-winged blackbird perches overlooking a neighbourhood pond, protecting its turf from the others in the area.
Evan concentrates on playing his DS while waiting for lunch to arrive at Chianti’s.
I went for a quick ride out to Bearspaw and then around Tuscany, while The Boy™ was in school today. Good day for a ride – the clouds kept the UV and heat down.
Evan rides his scooter on the pathway near our house, on the way to play at Spider-Man™ Park.
the official jersey for the Alberta Ride to Conquer Cancer arrived in the mail today. It’s getting close to the big day, and it’s starting to feel real (as opposed to some long-distant abstract thing).
there’s only 1 jersey. it’s a 2 day ride. I hope there’s some form of laundry service at the overnight camp…
Lightning strikes just west of Calgary as an afternoon storm rolls in from the foothills.
I didn’t have a tripod with me, so used a barbed wire fence post as a monopod, and used the remote trigger to set off longish exposures.