iPhone 3GS 32GB: I’m getting one! June 8, 2009
Posted by jphebert in technology.add a comment
Check out the specs! I’m drooling.. Will merge my iPod Nano, my cell and my GPS into one.
Star Wars The Old Republic Trailer June 8, 2009
Posted by jphebert in General.Tags: bioware, jedi, kotor, old republic, sith, star wars
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For those of you (maybe 2 or 3) who read this bog know that Star Wars fan I am, and big fan of the KOTOR game series. KOTOR 3 will be a MMORPG (never played one before) and I can’t wai to get my paws on this one, this trailer should explain why:
DoubleTwist: new sync app May 29, 2009
Posted by jphebert in Music, technology.Tags: 8900, aac, blackberry, curve, doubletwist, ipod, itunes, mp3, psp, sync
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I just gave a whirl to DoubleTwist, a new sync package which can sync up your media to any device (iPod, PSP, etc.). While this is an interesting package, I’ll stick to my trust told iTunes until they release a feature lacking in iTune which to me is a holy grail: dynamically downscale files when sync’ing. All my rips are in MP3 @ 256Kbps, so files are fairly large, and I manually convert to AAC 96Kbps prior to the sync.
I’ll also give it a whirl (DoubleTwist) on my wife’s Blackberry Curve 8900 since its much simpler/ligher than the Roxio one.
Silly NHL owners & CEO May 21, 2009
Posted by jphebert in Business, hockey.Tags: arizona, bettman, coyotes, hockey, nhl
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The Coyote’s future is at stake, or at least where they’ll play in the future. We’re now seeing two investors willing to keep the team in Arizona (where the only ice outside the rink is in your glass) and sell this to a public with “prior engagements” (Nascar, NFL, NBA, etc.). Local culture is around these sports, not hockey.
I think the goal of making a franchise work is a great one, but they’re at the point of cutting losses and moving on, loosing 70+M$ in the last few years should be a clue any investor should look at. Just move the team where it can be profitable (and that means somewhere people like hockey), I’m not saying go with Jim’s plan but where it snows would be a start..
The NHL needs to be held accountable to selecting cities for new teams. Arizona? Someone needs to go back and hit the books..
PowerDirector is impressive May 10, 2009
Posted by jphebert in family, technology.Tags: blue-ray, dv, dvd, hd, hockey, making dvd, video editing
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I’m in the process of making my son’s hockey team post-season DVD and decided to try the software which came pre-loaded on my wife’s new laptop we got last December. First – egad – I’m using low-feature OEM software! How many time has this happended? Almost never.
OK, I’m in and I have a bunch of slideshows to do with pics we took (easy as pie!), clean the source tapes (easy but not as efficient as others) and built the DVD template (not bad not great). What struck me is that I’ve done this all in minutes very easily without manuals just a few “F1″ moments.
When I upgrade my trusty DV camcorder to HD, I’m getting the full suide for HD/Blue Ray for sure. Rarely have I been impressed with a combination of simplicity and results.
Reference:http://www.cyberlink.com/products/cyberlink-dvd-suite/overview_en_US.html
Death Star destroys the Enterprise May 9, 2009
Posted by jphebert in General.Tags: death star, enterprise, Funny, kirk, ncc-1701, spock, star trek, star wars
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’nuff said – enjoy
Please someone fire Bettman May 7, 2009
Posted by jphebert in Business, hockey.Tags: arizona, balsillie, bettman, blackberry, coyotes, hockey, nhl, research in motion, rim
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I’m your average hockey watching and playing and coachign dad, but also a business decision maker. When I see egos get in the way of product/service quality and most importantly the customer it drives me nuts.
Seeing that Jim Basillie is offering a mountain of money to take a team which has filed chapter 11 in a non-natural hockey market to a place it can be profitable and create a strong following in record time makes a whole lot of sense to me. Yes I’m in Canada and would love to see a 7th team here. I’d prefer Quebec City but Hamilton is in a hot market for this product.
Now seeing good old Gary get all defensive on this is shameful. He said that he does not abandon markets, but when attendance is 10-20% of capacity, once has to ask the sanity of moving the Jets from Winnipeg to Arizona. I love Arizona by the way – phenomenal state. But seriously, who cares about hockey there as the best way to ensure attendance is to build a franchise in a market when people “get it”. Nobody plays recreational ice hockey there (lack of rinks, staff, coaches, etc.), and other sports are stongly entrenched.
So why keep Gary? He wants to put teams in the US to “expand” the audience and create growth. Not a bad idea at all, but secure your core markets first. Since he does not get it or his ego prevents logical decisions, the govenors should fire him. He’s costing the league millions and the NHL can barely make it on occasion on NBC and nowhere on the ESPN grid. Shameful.
For the future of hockey and its growth, there you have it, sending a team to an owner who will not be a fan in a dead market or to a passionate billionaire fan in a hot prospect market. If I’d behave like that I think I’d get fired.
Hockey Quebec Goalie Gear Rules are dumb April 16, 2009
Posted by jphebert in family, hockey.add a comment
I’m sorry to rant, but I think this is completely stupid. Next fall goalie gear will need to be of the new “NHL-based” specs, which means the goalie gear owned by local hockey associations and parents will be “illegal” on the ice for games. To be fair to Hockey Quebec, they might be following Hockey Canada.
I understand and appreciate the idea behind normalizing gear to standards but they’re doing this for all levels of play. So novice (7 to 9 year old players) and atom (9 to 11 year old players) will need new gear. Since parents and associations (unlike some believe) are not made of money and therefore this rule should apply to players starting at a certain level of play (pee-wee or bantam) since they have a more serious outlook on the game.
What this will likely cause is a shortage of goalies, where gear will be less abundant and cash will be an issue. Most importantly, this will discourage parents from dressing up their kids as goalies, hurt the sport which is in decline and will not help anybody play any better at all.
Music worth buying: The Decemberists April 7, 2009
Posted by jphebert in Music.Tags: cd, folk, mp3, Music, prog, the crane wife, the decemberists, the hazards of love
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The Decemberists just released last week a new CD named The Hazards of Love
The new album builds on the same sound but somewhat louder (guitars) and is a concept album where the tracks are technically separated but listens like one long track.
This band with this album crosses British folk with prog influences, which makes it a very nice and different piece of music to listen to these days. Highly recommended if you’re tired of the usual crap which is thrown our way by record execs.
Google Docs to manage kids’ presents April 6, 2009
Posted by jphebert in family.Tags: b-day, birthday, parent, parenting, parties, party, x-mas
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As a parent every time there is an occation (X-Mas, B-Day, etc.) I get asked what the kids would like to get as a present. I do the same to people, it just makes sense to not go in blind and get something which will be off-mark.
Since last X-Mas, I’ve been using Google Docs‘ spreadsheet to manage the “present process”. We just had my son’s birthday this weekend and we listed a set of suggestions we thought our monkey would like and all the parents used this to get suggestions and most importantly let the others of what they got. And herein lies the trick, this document can be edited by all invitees. Otherwise a simple email would do – so we had no gift duplication, the monkey was really happy with what his buddies got him, we controlled the present list so we avoid as much as we can the stuff he’ll never touch and simplified the process for other parents.
