TTC vs. London Underground... who wins?

Yesterday, the Torontoist made an interesting comparison between the TTC and the London Underground.

If Toronto ever wants to be considered a world class city, it needs a world class transportation system... which it doesn't have. I tend to think Montreal has the best public transportation system in Canada.

With barely 3 subway lines covering the entire city, it's no wonder why traffic is so bad. Unless you live along one of the subway lines, you have nothing to motivate you to take public transit, especially if you associate any degree of value to your time.

Alas, things aren't going to change any time soon, so expect sprawl to just get worse in the GTA.

Globe and Mail on New Rogers Caps

Since I'm sure Rogers doesn't want Bell to be the only one in the negative spotlight, the Globe has a report on Rogers' new download caps and penalties.

The article also segues into the backlash on Bell from earlier this week. If we're lucky, discussions about network neutrality could become an issue in the next federal election.

I will say this, the party who puts this issue into the forefront could also get my vote - I don't care if it's the Conservatives, Liberals, NDP or the Green Party.

Network neutrality is an important part of any country's future competitiveness, despite what any corporate interests would like you to hear. Internet usage is only going to go up, and fair and equal access to information, whether you're in a big city, or in the sticks in Manitoba, is absolutely essential.

Resume T-Shirt

You can now get your resume plastered on a t-shirt.

Cool? No.

Will it get you a job? Doubt it.

Will you look like a total loser? All signs point to YES.

Gadget Blog Wars in Wired

Gizmodo (and Engadget) are profiled in a new article in Wired. The article is pretty fascinating, and covers the antics of the less-reverent Gizmodo. The article also outlines the history of the acrimony and rivalry with Engadget, the other major gadget blog.

A fun read.

ZipZip Floor Cushions - DIY Sofa

ZipZip floor cushions look awesome.



You can connect them together using their integrated zippers.

Swims - Cool Looking Galoshes

If you're adverse to wearing boots in the winter, and have some cash burning a hole in your wallet, check out Swims and stop changing your shoes once you get into the office.

DIY Sega Arcade has My Salivatory Glands Working in Overdrive

Kotaku is reporting on a guy who decided to make his own Sega Lindberg style arcade cabinets. Not content to do a single cabinet, the dude goes all out and does a dual cabinet. Nice!



Check out the photo galleries on the guy's site. This would definitely not be wife-approved in the Ng household.

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Trailer

Quantum Sleeper

The Quantum Sleeper just defies description.

Use a Universal Remote with your PS3

IR2BT has released an infrared-to-bluetooth converter for the PS3.



No more crying about not being able to use your Harmony remote to control your PS3 Blu Ray playback now, children.

Aperture 2.1, Now With Plugins

Not one to be outdone by Adobe's two Photoshop announcements this week, Apple has announced the release of Aperture 2.1, now with plug-in support.

First Look at Photoshop Express

Ars, as always, has an excellent first look at the new web-based Photoshop Express.

Sarah Lacy on Cranky Geeks

Episode 109 of Cranky Geeks is out. You can subscribe to it on iTunes.



John Dvorak gets the spin from Sarah Lacy about her interview with Mark Zuckerberg at SXSW. See her talk about the endorphine rush that she gets from Twittering. Yay.

Sync Google Calendar To Your WM Phone Without a PC

If you're like me (unlikely, but go with me on this) and don't use Outlook but have a Windows Mobile phone, but would love to sync with Google Calendar, then you might be interested in GMobileSync.

GMobileSync is a free and open-source project that allows for two-way sync. There are other options out there, some free, some upgradeware, but this one seems to have some potential.

Safari for Windows Violates Its Own EULA

Aside from a few non-trivial security issues, the Windows version of Safari also happens to violate its own EULA!

According to the EULA, you're only allowed to install Safari on Apple-labeled hardware. I wonder if it would count if you printed an Apple on an Avery label and stuck it to your PC.

Web Version of Photoshop Beta Online

The Flash based version of Photoshop, dubbed "Photoshop Express", is now online and is free.



It looks a lot like Photoshop Elements 6, except on the web, and you get 2 gigs of free storage. Not too shabby.

PS3 Security Breach

Many gaming outlets have reported that the PlayStation Network (PSN) has had a security breach.

Now would be a good time to change your password.

Rubik's Cube Solution in 25 Moves

A Stanford-based mathematician has come up with an algorithm that solves the Rubik's cube in 25 moves, regardless of the opening configuration of the cube.



Nice work, especially considering that it takes me an average of 4-5 minutes to solve.

How to be a Wine Snob

If you're interested in becoming a wine snob aficionado, WikiHow has an article on how to acquire the taste of wine. Myself? No thanks.

Google Docs Improvements

Among other things, Google Docs now supports colored labels.

Webkit and Opera Score 100 on Acid 3

For nerds who are into web standards compliance, WebKit and Opera are now 100% Acid3 compliant. To see how the browser you're using scores, go to the test yourself.

Michael Geist on "The Bell Wake-Up Call"

Michael Geist has posted a more detailed opinion on Bell's wholesale traffic shaping snafu.

The sad thing is that I doubt that even the worldwide coverage of this story by some major (and well respected) Internet sites (Slashdot, Ars Techica, etc.) will have any impact at all on Bell's stance.

VirtuaWin: Multiple Desktop Manager for Windows

Got a cluttered Windows desktop? Lifehacker is profiling the freeware app VirtuaWin for Windows.

If you hate the desktop manager in Microsoft's PowerToys, you might want to consider VirtuaWin or the other options listed in the Lifehacker article.

Peeling the Layers Off the Gibson vs. Guitar Hero Lawsuit

The Onion weighs in on the Gibson vs. Guitar Hero patent lawsuit.

Safety Sexy

Wired has a funny bit on how Delta is trying to capture your attention during those pre-flight safety briefings.

Yes Virginia John Gruber, You are an Apple Apologist

John Gruber doesn't seem to agree with the label of Apple apologist that a Wired columnist gave him.

Anyone objective who reads his blog (which, by the way, is actually quite good when he's not labeling some poor fool as a Jackass) would at least say that he's got a serious Apple fanboy complex.

His overwrought series on the wireless security "scandal" (well, scandalous only to the Mac faithful... I don't think anybody else really cared about the story) is a perfect example of his aggressiveness in attacking any negative stories about Apple.

Maybe it would be better to think of him as the well-researched Bill O'Reilly of Mac punditry.

New Asus EEE to Have Multifinger Touch Pad

Gizmodo reports that the upcoming 9" Eee is going to have a multi-finger touchpad, much like the more recent Apple notebook offerings.

The larger screen will be a welcome upgrade, but the inflated price of the new model will not be.

Motorola Insider Pulls No Punches

Engadget has an open letter from a former Motorola adviser that pulls no punches.



Interesting information, given how Motorola was split into two companies today.

Does Anybody Eat Lunch at Bathurst/St. Clair?

I was supposed to meet a friend at one of my favorite Pho restaurants in the GTA, Pho St. Clair.

Who would think that at noon, on a Tuesday, it was closed.

There was tons of foot traffic around, so it was surprising that the Italian and Columbian restaurants across the street were closed as well.

Bizarre.

Bell Throttling DSL Wholesalers Without Notice

A Slashdot posting claims that Bell Canada is throttling wholesaler bandwidth without notice.

Teksavvy, a popular family-run ISP, has noticed that the traffic was being throttled before reaching wholesalers.

But the question, is anybody actually surprised by this bad behaviour?

Steven Levy Jumps to Wired

One of my favorite technology writers, Steven Levy, has moved over to Wired as a staff writer.

NVInstaller

I won't say why, but Scott Dangel's NVInstaller just saved me hours of headaches.

SafariStand - CoverFlow for Your Browser History

Ars has a review of SafariStand, a Safari plug-in that renders your browser history using a CoverFlow effect.



Neat if you use Safari on Mac.

Dancing Walrus

Nothing makes your Monday like a Walrus dancing to Michael Jackson music.

Photoshop Elements 6 for Macintosh

Adobe finally released Photoshop Elements 6 for the Mac today.



List price is $99, and given Aperture's recent price drop to $199, I'm no longer convinced that it's a no-brainer for peeps who have outgrown iPhoto to migrate to Elements 6.

Since there are no 30 day evals to be had of Elements 6 (Aperture, on the other hand, does have a 30 day eval), we'll have to wait for the reviews to trickle out before passing final judgment.

SearchMe - Search a la CoverFlow

There are two nice little freeware Windows apps that let you selectively perform version control on your documents. These are ideal for people who are clueless about Visual SourceSafe, CVS and Subversion.

DocShield and FileHamster are freeware. DocShield is free for personal and non-commercial use only, while FileHamster offers a pro version for peeps who are willing to pay for extra functionality.

While not offering check-in/check-out functionality, they do give you version control, which is handy enough for a lot of people. People who like to use that application that shall remain nameless might also find that it could be useful for managing versions of cube and framework models.

Version Control for Non-Geeks

There are two nice little freeware Windows apps that let you selectively perform version control on your documents. These are ideal for people who are clueless about Visual SourceSafe, CVS and Subversion.

DocShield and FileHamster are freeware. DocShield is free for personal and non-commercial use only, while FileHamster offers a pro version for peeps who are willing to pay for extra functionality.

While not offering check-in/check-out functionality, they do give you version control, which is handy enough for a lot of people. People who like to use that application that shall remain nameless might also find that it could be useful for managing versions of cube and framework models.

Learn Programming Basics at Google Code University

Google Code University offers virtual courses on programming.

Kwikset Smart Series Bump Resistant Locks

Kwikset's SmartKey locks are purported to be bump-resistant.



They're available at reasonable prices, much less expensive than a Medeco lock.

Gattaca on Blu Ray

One of my favorite sci-fi movies of all time, Gattaca is now out on Blu Ray.

PicoPad - Notepad in Your Wallet

Pedantic GTD nerds will love the PicoPad, which is a tiny pen and post-it-note pad in an ultra thin form factor.



David Allen's rabid followers will probably snap this up faster than you can say 'GTD'.

Flip Camera Snags 13% of Camcorder Market

The Flip Camera, a camera that basically came out of nowhere, has captured 13% of the camcorder market in its first year.



I think that the appeal of the camera is its deceptively simple interface and its "disposable technology" pricing. This is far from a leading edge product, but with a price lower than an iPod Nano, people are clearly accepting the passable SD video quality.