Posts Tagged ‘Tech/Web’

Mostly Macworld 2009 Wrap-up

Jan 15 2009

I’m back in the frozen north, wishing I stole Dr. Kiki’s USB powered heated mittens while I was down in SF, because it is shockingly cold in Vancouver right now. I’ve just begun to unpack my huge bag o’loot whilst watching S4 of Lost. SPOILER: I really wasn’t expecting that crazy ending with Marty McFly and the hoverboard battle. What a shocker!

I was a busy beaver during my first Macworld. I practically interviewed half the exhibitors on the Expo floor… which amounted to about 10 in the end (ooh low blow). Let’s just say the turn out wasn’t as great as it was in past years. It seemed that a few exhibitors didn’t even bother showing up, or pulled out after the first day.

I spent many hours trying to find booths that had magically disappeared. Maybe they just got engulfed in a sea of iPhone cases. I mean 3G iPhone cases. Those people with 1st Gen iPhones weren’t feeling the same love from case developers. On a positive note, the people I did get to talk with seemed optimistic and enthusiastic about the new products they were launching this year, despite the economic “issues” we are all groaning about.

Lisa & Justine do a little MacBreaking.

Here is one of the many interviews I did for MacBreak with Speck Products about their new iPhone CandyShell cases.

As I say in the video, a huge pet peeve of mine is people that don’t protect their gear and then drop it. Even if a spectacularly shattered iPhone screen makes a cool photo for your flickr feed, it’s just so wasteful. Maybe it’s just because I waited over a year to get my iPhone, or maybe it’s because I signed a ridiculous 3-year rate agreement, or maybe it’s just because I love my gear, but the first thing I did when I bought a new iPhone was buy it protective armour. I’ll take the extra bulk for safety. I know you iPhone purists won’t budge, but if you don’t have a disposable income, protect your iPhone, cuz it’s a slippery sucker. That’s all I’m gonna say.

Photo by Scott Bourne.

Right after the keynote, I buzzed right over to the live MacBreak Weekly 122: Macworld Expo Podcast. I said during this interview that my first Macworld was bitter sweet. In retrospect, I feel like the keynote itself was the bitter sweet part. With Steve officially taking medical leave from Apple until June, all apple lovers, especially the fan boys & girls are feeling pretty bummed right now. Of course it was lame not seeing a Jobs’ keynote with John Mayer’s sweet sweet guitar licks and interfaith cakes (huh?). But, it was still exciting being there after watching it for so many years. The rest of the conference it self was bit lackluster, but I made amazing contacts and it was well worth me making the trip.

On Day 4, I headed to the Pixel Corps studios to record TWiP (This Week in Photography) Episode 64 with the entire TWiP team in studio. It was a hoot, especially when I brought up a fine Aussie tourist gift: The Kangaroo Scrotum Purse. Ahh, the things I say with 3 hours of sleep and a copious amount of cold medication. Nevertheless, it made for a pretty fun episode. I’m almost certain that Alex threw in a JarJar impression at one point, which is rare because he never ever does that. :P

I rounded off my SF experience with a trip to the TWiT cottage to visit Leo. I ate an In-and-Out burger on air, wore a gorilla pod on my head, made Ewoks noises, sounded incredibly knowledgeable talking about Plasma screens with Ryan Block, confused John C. Dvorak with my J.J. Abrams flashback trivia & was called a “Canadian hottie” by LeVar Burton. Borg. You can check out all this and more here: TWiT 177: There’s A Little Shatner In All Of Us.

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Mostly Macworld Keynote 2009

tagged in Geeky Stuff, Tech/Web, Travel, Videos

Jan 11 2009

I apologize for my lousy blogging lately. Macworld has been insane for me. I was on my feet from 7am – 3am, running around the expo doing Macbreak interviews, being a guest on Macbreak Weekly, recording TWiP, and looting booths for schwag (the most important thing at MW), and attending a few shindigs.

I plan on writing a detailed post on my reflections of Macworld and my top picks of the Expo in a few days. Before I give you my thoughts on the keynote, I’d like to hear yours.

Were you disappointed with this year’s Macworld keynote?

Like say the fact that they didn’t even mention Snow Leopard or release a new mini or iMac or, like announce something cool other than the ability to DRM-free your previously bought itunes music for $0.30 a pop? 30 x 14GB of music = I don’t know, you do the math.

There is a super awesome prize for the person who makes the best comment. So breathe in and let it all out. Please don’t make Steve cry too much. Think about his hormone imbalance. Please.

58 Comments »

What are your favourite gadgets of 2008?

tagged in Geeky Stuff, Tech/Web

Nov 16 2008

For the holidays, The Vancouver Province is rolling out a special insert called “The Holiday Survival Guide”. It’s my job to pick the Top 5 Gadget Gifts. It’s basically a dream come true. The only downside is that there are so many awesome gadgets, which five do I pick? I have scoured gadget web sites, magazines, and my own apartment to find the best gadget gifts to recommend and I’m just not feeling my current list.

This is where I need your help!

What are your favourite gadgets of 2008?

What do gadgets do you want? Anything from a camera to a games console to a gorilla pod. I don’t want all the gadgets I recommend to be really expensive so that no one can afford them. I’m sure we’d all love the new Canon 5D Mark II or a brand new MacBook Pro, but those just aren’t feasible holiday “gifts”… unless your Facebook profile states “in a relationship with Kanye West”.

49 Comments »

No matter what happens tomorrow, I’ll still love you

tagged in Tech/Web, Videos

Oct 14 2008

Mostly Lisa & MacBook Air 4 ever… mostly

No matter how fancy or thin or sleek or polished the newly released MacBooks and MBPs look, I promise to stand by you, my lovely MacBook Air. Those flashy new guys may be faster, more powerful, or just plain better, but we have a special “connection” you and I. We’ve been through the good and the bad, haven’t we? And that’s not something I’d just throw away for some cheap thrills. And they would be cheaper. Word on the interwebs is a lot cheaper, as in under $1000. But even that wouldn’t sway me because I am committed to YOU. Ok?? I’m glad we had this talk.

Uh. What now?? You want me to stop looking at leaked photos on engadget or all reading all the hype on apple insider. I’m not.. I.. I.. just followed a link from twitter. You know what? You need to start trusting me here. You can’t just start monitoring everything I do from now on and holding my internet history against me! You know I clear the cache after 3 days anyway.

What? You’ve changed my preferences? Deleted all my passwords from my keychain? And you’ve stopped synchronizing with my iPhone? And you are not currently not accepting any bluetooth devices. Well that’s just great. *hmph*

Look, your beef is with me. Don’t take it out on the peripheries. And if you want to throw all that attitude at me, then why don’t I bring up the fact that I will never ever be truly satisfied with your ONE USB hub? And since we are being totally honest here, your hub is kinda flimsy and *cough* a little bit small. What’s that? You’re sorry for being so inflammatory and rude. Ok ok. I accept your apology.

But remember, jealousy will get you no where. There will always be others splashing their bits n’ bizznizz all over the net, and I may be tempted. Yeah, I’ll admit it, I’ll look, but there’s no crime in that. It’s completely natural to check out another Apple laptops stats, but I promise I will not stroke anyone else’s keys or snuggle up in bed with anyone but you…. mostly.

Let’s remember the good times, like when I got you. Look how happy I am!

Are you gonna stand by your old laptop, or trade it in for a newer, younger, prettier model?

Are you gonna buy a new MB or MBP?

35 Comments »

The Internet is changing the landscape of Global communication

tagged in Geeky Stuff, Opinion, Tech/Web

Oct 6 2008

Internet Speak: Roxxors or Suxxorz?
Published in The Province.

At some point during the last 10 years of this computer age, spelling and grammatical accuracy got tossed, phrases got shortened to two-finger tappables like “CU l8r”, and a whole new lexicon of ever-expanding nerd words like “w00t”, “l337″, “n00b” moved from underground Internet forums to mainstream media and your e-mail inbox.

More and more we see the Internet shaping the way we communicate with each other. The language of the Internet is fast-paced, constantly changing, and rich with cynicism and rebellion. After all, the age group developing and propagating this new iSpeak is Internet savvy teenagers belonging to Gen Z or the “Google Generation.” These kids grew up on the web, texting their friends in kindergarten, pirating mp3s for their iPods before puberty and coding complex websites during high-school geography class.

Gen Z is not afraid of breaking rules or experimenting with language. Just look at the plethora of fabulous spellings for the frequently used teen phrase “this sucks” in Internet slang, or LeetSpeak. There is “teh suxs” for everyday usage, “suxx0rz” for really bad suckage, or “suxxaga” when things just can’t suck any worse.

At first it may seem like there is no rhyme nor reason to these derivations, but like any linguistic code, it has a pattern. Once you know the pattern, it oesn’t-day, uck-say. What? No one remembers Pig Latin? Even if you are a complete n00b (“newbie”) on the Internet you will have run into your fair share of LOLs and emoticons, like this smiley, winking guy, ; ).

Whether you know the exact translation as “laugh out loud” or not, the meaning of LOL is universal. No matter where you are in the world, LOL means “I’m laughing”, while :( means “I’m sad.” This guy “:P” will get you out of a lot of trouble if you have the tendency to make snarky remarks that easily offend people — but I wouldn’t know anything about that.

The days of ruthlessly guarded spelling and grammar rules of our parents’ generation are slowly slipping away. With that being said, I am a bit of a stickler for grammar, and I’ll admit to a 50-per-cent increase in pulse rate when I see a beautifully crafted sentence like this one written on my Facebook wall: “i love your photo’s, their really good.” That was actually written by a high-school English teacher, so go figure. I’ve just had to let my Nancy Know-It-All tendencies slide a little and embrace the positives in this linguistic evolution.

So, for better or worse, the Internet is dramatically changing the landscape of human communication.

I see the evolution of language on the web as progress, rather than a slap in the face of steadfast English grammar rules. After all, we are a global community now. It’s time we start to think laterally in terms of language and communication. Plus, I never wuz a gr8 spellr anyway.

What do you think? Is our growing Internet language helping or hindering global communication?

21 Comments »

Existential Crisis at Blog World… mostly

tagged in Geeky Stuff, Life, Tech/Web, Travel, Videos

Oct 3 2008

And now for something completely different…

Blog World hi-jinks with my bff Amanda Coolong (TechZulu), Pete Cashmore (Mashable), Snaps (the Kangaroo), USB HubMan/kid, a Zannel squooshie schwag yoyo & a lone pigeon.

Powered by my sweet Mostly Lisa Viddler Tees, 2 hours of sleep, 3 chocolate chip cookies, a large scoop of vanilla ice cream, Yahoo mints, some nuclear green coloured caffeinated drink and Las Vegas.

I’ll be the first to admit it. This video is pretty weird, but it oddly enough captures the essence of a Blogging/Tech/2.0 conference very well. That essence smelling something like a mixture of day-old deodorant, guacamole, gasoline, melting plastic, glue, warm cookies, and dusty carpet. *sigh* I guess you just had to be there.

At least this time I didn’t dive bomb a geek with a USendit airplane or lose a whole bunch of dough with Rosie O’Donnell.

Thanks to rocknrollgeek for filming, the MindTouch girl that gave Snaps a special button, and Pete $more for just lookin’ fly.

PS. I think Amanda really needs to work on her interviewing skills if she’s ever going to be considered, like a serious reporter or whatever.

17 Comments »

Perez Hilton is giving Bloggers a bad name

tagged in Entertainment, Opinion, Tech/Web

Sep 19 2008

Article written & published special to the Province.

The fact that mainstream media have made celebrity gossip blogger, Perez Hilton, synonymous with blogging, is one of the greatest tragedies of the web. If you haven’t been introduced to Perez’s particular brand of snarky, childish, eye-gauging celebutrashing, then you are in the minority. According to Nielsen/NetRatings, 1.7 million viewers are happily clicking on PerezHilton.com everyday to get their daily dose of “he got fat, she got fake boobs, they’re engaged, now married, now divorced, and both in rehab” news.

And guess what?

Your shallow addiction to Britney Spear’s cellulite is making Perez rich — and the most famous blogger on the Internet.

In the last few months I’ve seen Perez spring up on the cover and the glossy pages of Rolling Stone, Wired, Time, and People. With the support of mainstream media, Perez’s Internet fame is mutating into TV shows, appearances on popular talk shows like The View, and spawning a whole Internet cesspool of copycat bloggers hoping to cash in on Perez’s success.

The latest celeb blog making a splash on the web is Ashton Kutcher’s South Park-esque, BlahGirls.com. From the man who brought us such quality programming as Punk’d and Beauty and the Geek, we have yet another Perez-cloned site aimed at teenage girls. This is what really gets my knickers in a twist: I understand the potential monetary gain and amusement derived from celeb gossip blogging, but seriously — do teenage girls need to hear any more about Britney flashing her cooch?

The mainstream popularization of trashy, trite, and slovenly written blogs like PerezHilton.com is giving bloggers a bad name.

For many people who aren’t exploring the intense array of intelligent and thought-provoking blogs on the web, Perez might be the only blog they read. And that is one of the great tragedies of the web.
Maybe I am biased. I’m a blogger. Most of my friends are bloggers. I’ve even got my Internet n00b (unskilled user) mother turned on to the idea of keeping an online journal of her recent foray into digital photography. I think that sharing experience, knowledge, and information through first-hand journaling through blogs is an enriching experience for both the author and reader.

Blogs provide a platform for the writer and the reader to strike up an instantaneous discourse through comments which happen in real time.

It’s personal, immediate, and socks you right in the gut if you aren’t careful. It’s freedom of expression at it’s finest. And true, there is a lot of blogging debris on the web, but if more reputable journalists like Matt Taibbi and Anderson Cooper toss their credibility and craft onto the web, hopefully the mainstream will take note and push the crap aside, even if it is crap made from the finest champagne and fair-trade, organic celery sticks.

Opinions & comments? You know where to put ‘em.

Since this was published in the Province this morning, I’ve already received a stack of unimpressed and angry Perez fans. Bring it I say! Plus, in a few hours I’ll be on a plane to Vegas. Should take the sting off.

Oh and if you live in Vancouver, pick up a copy of The Province, my first article may be worth something some day :p

60 Comments »

TwitterKeys allows me to express my inner ☃ ❥♘

tagged in Tech/Web

Sep 18 2008

Twitter redesigned some stuff. Moved tabs to the side and opened up the design. Personally I like it. The best new ‘tweek’ is the ability to reply to a Direct Message just by clicking a small mail icon on the right-hand side of the message you’d like to reply to.

Also, you can spice up your tweets or express the complexity of your emotions with TwitterKeys by the guys at The Next Web, i.e. ❉ ❥ ♘. It’s nothing complicated, just a pop up browser bookmarket of a symbol library where you copy and paste little unicode symbols anywhere, like on Twitter, Facebook or right here, on your blog: ☃.

Or just like, double click & copy n paste these puppies below:

What’s your favourite TwitterKeys symbol?

14 Comments »

Do we really need another NEW iPod?

tagged in Tech/Web

Sep 9 2008

So word on the internets is that Steve is planing on releasing a new iPod today. Seriously? When is he gonna slow down a tick? Can’t we just chill with the iStuff we have? I have a 80Gb Classic and it’s ace. Before that I was chilling with a mini for almost 2 years.

And honestly, I haven’t even got used to having an iPhone. I feel powerful knowing I can whip out my iPhone and completely disengage from any conversation, no matter how important it is. I gotta have more cowbell! Tink tink tink. :-D

Apple hype and over consumption is like a thorn in my side these days. I recently watched “Manufactured Landscapes”, a startling documentary following Canadian photographer, Edward Burtynsky, as he documents both the destruction and creation of humanity. The sheer magnitude of e-waste ie., computers, tvs, cables, phones, dvd players, iPods is literally astonishing.

50% of our recycled computer waste ends up in China where workers heat up the circuit boards and hand strip the components of all the precious metals which are mostly toxic. As you might imagine, this isn’t so good for the people living in these e-waste dumps or the earth “in general”.

The point is: I love new gadgets with a firey passion, but I think the world could live without another new iPod. WALL•E FTW!

Since I wrote this post and my blog was down for a while, thanks WPCandy :/, Apple did in fact release some new shiny iPods.

I have to admit, that ditching the small & stumpy nanos for a rainbow of slim & sexy design is way cool. As for the new Touch… having the iPhone makes it obsolete, so.. yeah. What do you think? Are you gonna buy a new iPod? & most importantly:

Do we really need another new iPod?

38 Comments »

MostlyLisa.com | Photography tips & iPhoneography inspiration

Posts Tagged ‘Tech/Web’

Mostly Macworld 2009 Wrap-up

Mostly Macworld Keynote 2009

Were you disappointed with this year’s Macworld keynote?

What are your favourite gadgets of 2008?

What are your favourite gadgets of 2008?

No matter what happens tomorrow, I’ll still love you

Are you gonna buy a new MB or MBP?

The Internet is changing the landscape of Global communication

Existential Crisis at Blog World… mostly

Perez Hilton is giving Bloggers a bad name

Opinions & comments? You know where to put ‘em.

TwitterKeys allows me to express my inner ☃ ❥♘

What’s your favourite TwitterKeys symbol?

Do we really need another NEW iPod?

Do we really need another new iPod?

About

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Camera+

My recent Camera+ photos…

My Flickr photostream

Featured Photography Posts

Posts Tagged ‘Tech/Web’

Were you disappointed with this year’s Macworld keynote?

What are your favourite gadgets of 2008?

I promise to not follow Britney Spears on Twitter

Are you gonna buy a new MB or MBP?

Opinions & comments? You know where to put ‘em.

What’s your favourite TwitterKeys symbol?

Do we really need another new iPod?

About

Featured Video

Camera+

My recent Camera+ photos…

My Flickr photostream

Featured Photography Posts