Posted by mobile phone:

After 2 hours in line, i made it into the apple store in london and was greeted with cheering staff and a free t shirt. I played around with the new features on a macbook and am now watching a live demo. Time to order it on amazon!

I will be attempting my first moblogging session from the Apple Store in London on Regent Street. Bar any technical difficulties, I will be posting live updates and pictures from Leopard’s world premier.

Check back here tomorrow, starting at 6pm GMT!!!!

With the eminent release of leopard (5 days, 14 hours, 12 minutes, 10 seconds), I was reminded of a funny comic by The Joy of Tech.

As a Canadian, I am happy that I finally have an excuse to blog about hockey. Since the beginning of the game, I can think of several technologies that advanced the game. Synthetic goalie equipment, composite sticks and that awful glowing puck(non-advancing technology) come to mind.

Heated skates might be the next big thing. Reuters has posted an article about this new technology.

[they] cut down on friction and allow players to move faster and save energy.

[a] resistor heats the blade to 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit), or just above freezing point, and thickens the film of water between ice and blade that acts as a lubricant and makes skating possible.

tests showed the blades cut friction between blade and ice by 50 percent.

I will not be convinced that these will have an impact on the game until I see the official results of their testing. I am not even sure if the NHL will legalize these if they do work out to be beneficial. The data on the Thermablade website, like most product pages, are not backed up by statistics and there is a lot of anecdotal evidence.

Here is the Thermablade product page.

I have just calculated my carbon footprint.

Over the past 2 summers I have been a tree planter in British Columbia. I have planted about 150,000 trees; the actual total might be a bit more, but for easy calculations I am leaving the number at 150,000. This is by no means that much compared to other planters who I have planted with. I know many planters that are at the quarter million mark and some people have planted over a million trees over their career.

Here are my calculations:

An average fully grown pine tree weights about 500kg. 44% of that is carbon in the cellulose molecule.

44% x 500kg = 220kg of carbon/tree

That 220kg of carbon in each tree is produced from 1 tonne of atmospheric CO2.

The average CO2 emissions of a person living in the west is around 20 tonnes/year.

Assuming that I life until 75, I will emit 1500 tonnes of CO2 in that time. In 50 years, the pine trees that I planted will be fully grown and will have removed 150,000 tonnes of CO2 and store it as cellulose. That is enough trees to cover 100 people’s carbon footprints.

I have always know that mobile data plans in Canada were ridiculously expensive and have pretty much not bothered shopping around for them. Today, I was browsing through different carriers’ sites and was shocked to see Virgin Mobile offering an UNLIMITED PLAN for $10/month. The product page is here. Considering all of the competitors plans are many times more expensive than this, more than the 3rd world, I am surprised that this hasn’t made big news yet.

There are a few restrictions on this plan. It has to be used with the Samsung m510 phone, and it appears that laptop access is restricted. Despite these conditions, this is a huge step forward for mobile internet in Canada.

I can’t finish this post without mentioning the iPhone….sorry. I believe that part of the reason that there is a delay in releasing the iPhone in Canada is that Rogers is being difficult in offerering a good unlimited plan. An unlimited plan is necessary for the iPhone for countless reasons, mainly the iTunes store from Apple’s Perspective. Too bad Virgin won’t be offering the iPhone.

Virgin doesn’t offer any Blackberrys or smart phones, so they are still at a huge disadvantage against their competitors. However, I hope that this is the start of cheaper mobile data in Canada. It has been a long time coming.

Virgin Media Data Paks

Here is a list from popular mechanics of the 25 skills that every man should know. The original page is here. I have rated my competency in each of these on a scale of 1 to 5. See how I do….

1. Patch A Radiator Hose – 3

2. Protect Your Computer – 5

3. Rescue a Boater Who Has Capsized – 4

4. Frame a Wall – 2

5. Retouch Digital Photos – 5

6. Back Up a Trailer – 4

7. Build a Campfire – 5

8. Fix a Dead Outlet – 5

9. Navigate With a Map and Compass – 2

10. Use a Torque Wrench – 4

11. Sharpen a Knife – 5

12. Perform CPR – 5

13. Fillet a Fish – 2

14. Maneuver a Car Out of a Skid – 3

15. Get a Car Unstuck – 4

16. Back Up Data – 5

17. Paint a Room – 4

18. Mix Concrete – 3

19. Clean a Bolt-Action Rifle – 0

20. Change Oil and Filter – 1

21. Hook Up an HDTV – 5

22. Bleed Brakes – 3

23. Paddle a Canoe – 3

24. Fix a Bike Flat – 5

25. Extend Your Wireless Network – 5

My Total Score = 92/125 = 73%