Two if by train

Do I need more fun? How about taking the woman on a weekend getaway to Ottawa a couple weeks ago? We took a train to Ottawa (first class – that’s just how I roll), booked ourselves into the Marriott Ottawa and tickets to see the Canadian Museum of Civilization. On Saturday, we walked along the Alexandra Bridge, checked out the CMC, the 062%20Like%20Castle%20Grayskull%2C%20but%20better%20funded.jpg IMAX film (Greece: Secrets of the Past, narrated by Nia Vardalos! Yes she qualified herself by mentioning “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”.) and the Petra exhibit, and then walked around the outskirts of Byward Market.

Unfortunately, by then Silverlotus caught my cold and was bed-ridden by Saturday evening and all of Sunday. However, despite having to feed her with a staple diet of McDonald’s strawberry milkshakes and Tylenol Flu, we still had a good time. We watched TV and watch a grandfather cheat in minigolf downstairs on the kid’s playground on the verandah below us.

*Reading*: Finished off _Robots and Empire_ and the Saturday Star (I like their new magazine article format).

*360 degrees*: A romantic dinner at the Merlot, in the revolving restaurant on top of the Marriott Ottawa. I had duck breast and she had prime rib, and damn was the food tasty. But for God’s sake, it’s 2006, get a website.

*6pm*: The time the entire frickin’ town closes up shop. Honest.

*7:15pm*: The time the hot tub closes. The only sign is a piece of paper taped to the actual hot tub. That made me sad. 🙁

*4-0*: The score for the Oilers vs. Hurricanes, Game 6, as we watched on in the hotel room. Silverlotus knows more hockey than I do.

*”Museum of Canadian Civilization”*: Silverlotus’s proposed name for the CMC, as __technically__ none of the rest of the world is in focus. Such a particular one when she’s ill.

CTV dips its toes into Internet TV

CTV is currently streaming CTV News, Corner Gas, Canadian Idol, and other primetime shows. This follows on the heels of the BBC digitizing their video archives, and the recent explosion of video services such as YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo! Video, AOL Video….have I missed anyone?

CTV already features RSS feeds (albeit they kind of hide it and stick it with a legalese) like most other Canadian television and newspaper companies (but only The Toronto Star has dared to dabble in podcasts), so it’s nice to see Canadian Big Media continue to think outside of the boobtube box.

Because it’s ad-supported, CTV prevents those with non-Canuck IPs from viewing the videos. I suppose they figure if they can’t advertise Kraft Dinner to the world market, they aren’t going to show Canadian content either…

DIY wireless

One of the things I’ve come across in my work is the incredible hassle it takes to get a wireless network up and running – regardless if it’s Joey Napster trying to get Internet access in his basement, or large scale WiFi hotspot usage. From the user perspective, the technical details are rarely well explained, the wireless Layer 1 is fickle and unstable by nature, and software is generally no help in diagnosing errors or giving suggestions on how they can get the best signal they can possibly get. In light of this I’ve found a few fun and interesting resources on wireless networking:

For some good technical information that makes good bedtime reading, check out a free PDF entitled, “Wireless Networking in the Developing World”. Don’t judge this book by its title.

Commercially available directional antennae:
Both Linksys and DlInk has bigger, higher gain antenna available.

Do-It-Yourself Antennae
This is for educational purposes, or intrepid people with some time on their hands.

A commercial directional antenna often costs hundreds or thousands of dollars, but it’s reasonably easy to make your own with common household materials and some handyman skills. These could also theoretically help amplify the Wi-Fi AP signal in homes with poor reception.

* How to Build a directional Wi-Fi antenna out of a soup can: This inventor boosted his dBm by four orders of magnitude.

* How to Build a directional Wi-Fi antenna out of an old satellite dish: This inventor was able to access APs from eight miles away!

The caveat is, the antenna must be pointed virtually straight at a known wireless AP to pick up a signal. Obviously a clear line of sight is an asset.

Choice writing: Girl gamers and the games they love

Richard Corbett writes a withering mockumentary on how to write a “Girls in Games” article that would make a misogynistic Ferengi proud:

How you tackle this thorny issue will affect the whole tone of your cutting article. Refer to “Lara’s chest”, and you sound debonaire and suave, aware of the connotations, yet subtly removed from them. A sly reference to “Lara’s boobs” and you’re with the everyman; casual, yet aware. “Lara’s assets” show you as a dispassionate observer of life’s rich tapestry. And “Lara’s back! And her front too!” translates literally as “I am a man with no sense of humour.”

Discussion of character should be avoided at all costs; fighting the objectification of female game figures by ignoring irrelevant details like personality, background, stance, objectives, voice work, dialogue, relationships, and all that other junk, in favour of obsessing over breasts. You know. The important things.

He’s right too. Pretty much every article I’ve read about women and videogames seems to be from the perspective of a twelve year old, viewing the whole idea with such clinical fascination you’d think they were observing polar bear mating rituals. I can’t imagine what they must think when they find out women play hockey and change their oil too.

WeExtortToronto.ca

IM conversation after the illegal TTC strike. Fortunately I wasn’t affected. Can you say VPN?

quanta: only the ttc can pull something like this – and get away with it

V: it’s pure and utter bs so who is at fault? union or mgmt
quanta: doesn’t matter.
V: they both suck!
quanta: when something like this, you know the fault lies in both sides somehow – an endemic dysfunctionality
V: yep… planned miscommunication by both sides

If you may recall, the TTC threatened a strike for other reasons just last year.