Category: product endorsements

PM to appear on TV sitcom Corner Gas

On By Rick McIn product endorsements, TVLeave a comment

Dana loves this Canadian show.

People send her the episodes all the way to Vegas.

Corner Gas is poised to deliver its 69th consecutive episode with a million-plus audience.

These are dire days in Dog River, though.

Of the eight main characters on Corner Gas, seven on the March 12 show will experience staggering changes, most of which relate to employment. …

Ultimately, Brent sells his gas station to the Pump N’ Go conglomerate

What’s around the Corner? – Calgary Sun

What? Perhaps Prime Minister Harper can intervene on the season finale March 12th.

Corner Gas Season 1, 2 and 3 (3 Pack)

Corner Gas Season 1, 2 and 3 (3 Pack)

Hotmail vs Gmail vs Yahoo Mail

On By Rick McIn internet, product endorsementsLeave a comment

As a travellin’ man, I need web-based email. Of the big 3, my service HOTMAIL is still ranked third.

mailmail.pngI really should switch to Gmail or Yahoo.

The three applications, along with AOL mail, make up the vast majority of the 500 million or so webmail users around the world (see chart included in this post).

Most of these users are still using the old, tedious, Ajax-free Yahoo Mail and Hotmail user interfaces, requiring page refreshes for every click.

The new applications, along with Gmail, offer a much richer experience, much like Outlook or Mac mail. When these webmail clients are performing well, their speed and ease of use is easily as good as a desktop client.

Overall we prefer Gmail over all other webmail applications because performance (speed) is consistently fast, and emails can be tagged making search much more effective. They also offer more storage and other features, and it’s free.

However, Yahoo and Live Hotmail offer more mainstream Outlook-like user interfaces (although Live Hotmail does not allow you to access other email accounts from their application), whereas Gmail takes some time to get used to. If you are looking for speed and tagging is important, Gmail is for you. If you are looking for the closest thing to Outlook online, go with Yahoo Mail.

A Comparison of Live Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo Mail

Canada – cheapest 2GB iPod Nano

On By Rick McIn Apple, audiocasts, music, product endorsementsLeave a comment

Well, a worldwide survey was done based on the latest Apple 2GB iPod Nano in U.S. dollars and found that Brazilians pay the most for an iPod, shelling out $327.71, well above second-placed India at $222.27.

Canada was the cheapest place to buy a Nano at $144.20, while Australia ranked 19th at $172.36, cheaper than Germany ($192.46), France ($205.80), South Korea ($176.17) and China where the machine is manufactured. The U.S. was fourth cheapest at $149.

Price comparison for iPod around the world

book – In Tasmania

On By Rick McIn books, product endorsements, traveloguesLeave a comment

The best book I have read in years: In Tasmania by Nicholas Shakespeare.

I knew Shakespeare as the biographer of the most celebrated travel writer of all time, Bruce Chatwin.

Shakespeare fell in love with Tasmania after a holiday hiking the Overland Track. He promptly moved there from England.

By chance discovery of family correspondence, Shakespeare learned he was related to the “founding father” of Tasmania, a con-man named Kemp.

His book — a fascinating, personal history of the island from Kemp’s penal-colony Van Diemen’s Land origins to modern day — has many parallels with the work of Chatwin. It’s eerie at times.

My conclusion: Shakespeare is an even better writer than Chatwin. This is a fantastic book.

In Tasmania

In Tasmania

This is the last post on the Australia travelogue.

book – John Hodgman

On By Rick McIn Apple, audiocasts, books, humour, miscellaneous, product endorsementsLeave a comment

Rockin’ tipped me off to the hilarious John Hodgman book, The Areas of My Expertise.

An Almanac of Complete World Knowledge Compiled with Instructive Annotation and Arranged in Useful Order by Me, John Hodgman, a Professional Writer, in the Areas of My Expertise, which Include: Matters Historical; Matters Literary; Matters Cryptozoological; Hobo Matters; Food, Drink, & Cheese (a Kind of Food); Squirrels & Lobsters & Eels; Haircuts; Utopia; What Will Happen in the Future; and Most Other Subjects; Illustrated with a Reasonable Number of Tables and Figures, and Featuring the Best of “Were You Aware of It?”, John Hodgman’s Long-Running Newspaper Novelty Column of Strange Facts and Oddities of the Bizarre.

The Areas of My Expertise – Wikipedia

Very original.

Actually, I downloaded it for free (email address required) from iTunes as an audio book with accompaniment by frequent collaborator Jonathan Coulton.

The Areas of My Expertise

McAcademy Awards – Apocalypto wins big

On By Rick McIn movies, product endorsementsLeave a comment

Mel Gibson may be a racist drunk, but he is also one of the most important film makers working today. (Hate the sin, love the sinner.)

Talk about shattering the Hollywood blockbuster formula!

Apocalypto is great. What a film.

Too bloody? Perhaps. But depictions of the “noble savage” historically have erred on the noble side. Fact is that North American indigenous populations were more savage than noble.

Life was hard on this continent.

No doubt Forest Whitaker will win best actor. For me he will always be Idi Amin just as Ben Kingsley will always be Gandhi.

Helen Mirren deserves the statue for “best actor female”. (What is wrong with “actress”, again?) But for her career body of work. Mirren’s performance in The Queen was very good, but not nearly as good as Forest Whitaker.

Jennifer Hudson’s natural, believable performance in Dream Girls will still be studied by film students in 50 years. No one will remember Mirren in The Queen.

But Rudy Youngblood wins the McAcademy Award for best actor. He was unbelievably good in Apocalyptic, McBest Film of 2007.

Apocalypto

Apocalypto

finally bought an iPod nano

On By Rick McIn Apple, music, product endorsements, travelLeave a comment

In an unbelievable coincidence my beloved Rio Cali MP3 player popped out of it’s arm band holster and fell into a crack at the very summit of Tasmania. (I was scrambling the final rocky spire of Mt. Ossa, the highest peak.)

But as I am addicted to podcasts these days, I needed a replacement ASAP. An MP3 player is essential for travel.

I shopped the top Apple nano competitor, the Sansa. No likey.

While not perfect, the nano is pretty bloody brilliant. I love the size and tactile interface.

And it seems I solved the (AIDS) crisis in Africa by (buying( the 4Gb (red).

Wear your music (and heart) on your sleeve

When you choose the iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition, you get an iPod nano in a bright red aluminum enclosure that tells the world you’ve chosen to join (PRODUCT) RED. And Apple contributes $10 of your purchase to the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa. It’s that simple.

The Apple Store (U.S.) – iPod nano

Nano.jpg

saved by Battlestar Galactica

On By Rick McIn product endorsements, travelogues, TVLeave a comment

I have been “full on”, almost distressed, jetting around Australia from one coaching conference to the next.

Fearing for my health and sanity, I turned to Captain Bill Adama and Battlestar Galactica — reimagined — in 2003 by the Sci-Fi Channel.

Their most watched TV series ever was my short daily escape from the busy gymnastics itinerary. A nice way to “tune out”.

Kara “Starbuck” Thrace is particularly compelling. And I like Edward James Olmos.

I highly recommend the series.

Battlestar Galactica - The Complete Epic Series

Battlestar Galactica – The Complete Epic Series (Limited Edition Cylon Head Packaging)

DIAMANTE K

On By Rick McIn product endorsements, travel, TVLeave a comment

My favourite hotel on my favourite beach anywhere was the finish of an episode of Amazing Race. Cool.

Only 1200 meters from the breathtaking and legendary Mayan ruins of Tulum, an exclusive and quiet oasis can be found: Diamante K. It lies on beach front property of over one acre, and is surrounded by more than 200 palm trees.
Diamante K is an ecological hotel which features 30 cabanas; all powered by solar energy and located only 20 meters from the sea and a beautiful private beach.

DIAMANTE K

index_17.gif