Bought this import soundtrack tonight (been seeking it for a while), and it has the wrong CD in the case... <sigh>

Triptych update: Sheppard and SRT buttons arrived today. "Not To Scale" almost complete!

Cloudscape by Philip Glass

UPDATE: Found the CD February 6th!

Amazingly it was the only Philip Glass title available at the HMV two blocks from my office. Enjoying the album as I type this!

I'd like to remind them that as a trusted web developer, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves.

I'm writing this from my second iBook, a 1.33GHz G4 model. My last was the original 800Mhz G4. I'm very pleased with this machine, except for one annoying bug.

Every once and a while, the audio balance shifts. Typically, it's to the left -- but it appears to be totally random. Apple has documented this as an issue that occurs when you change volume rapidly while the machine is under load. This has been noted for the iBook (including the last model I had, although I never encounted this) and Mac mini. Is changing the volume that much of an effort? I toyed around with turning the volume up and down and up and down quickly while the sound preferences panel was open. The balance does get thrown off on occasion, and it will correct itself on occasion too. Another item of note is that normally when this happens, an audible click or static is heard in the place of the normal "bubble" sound. Even if I hold down shift (which mutes the feedback noise), this static can be heard from time to time.

If anyone has a real fix for this (and not a daemon to reset it), I'd be interested to hear about it. One day last week I thought my headphones were broken when sound was only coming from the left headphone. Turns out it was this bug again.

It's Oh So Quiet by Björk

Yep, the promised bluetooth features of the V710 were confirmed by Telus to be non-operational. I even tried buying that infamous $80 cable -- and communication using that was blocked by the Telus firmware too. Nice work guys.

I returned the phone, had the 3-year contract killed, and got most of my money back. A $25 "transfer" charge was not reversed, but I will be following up with corporate on that one.

So, I'm back to my ancient LG TM520 handset. There isn't a single other Telus phone I would consider. They all seem cheap and plasticy and the feature set is messed with by Telus, just to make a quick per minute / per message buck. Blech.

So - does anyone out there have a cellphone they honestly like? I'm considering jumping ship to Rogers for the RAZR V3. I've seen mixed reviews though... and does anyone know if the bluetooth actually works on that phone?

Hung Up by Madonna

<rant>

Reminders: a) read the fine print b) realize the fine print should probably be 3 times as long in reality

OK, so I'm a Telus Mobility subscriber. I've been with this company since 1998 (anyone remember "clearNET"?), and as of this evening I'm on my 3rd handset with them.

I'm stubborn when it comes to certain gadgets. It took me until 2005 to even consider an iPod, Apple only really earned my attention in 2003 and no cellphone has piqued my interest until the Motorola V710 became available at Telus. Why? Well, according to its specs, it has Bluetooth capability. Yes, you can use headsets with it... but I don't make that many phonecalls. I just want to sync it to my iBook -- contacts and calendar. That's it.

Long story short: it won't let me. Telus has disabled the firmware to allow such synching because Motorola's implementation of BT on this phone would have file transfers open if Telus were to enable this feature. Can't have that... ooooh, digital rights management issues... ooooh. Scary. Telus, should I remind you that Canada doesn't have these rights issues (at least not yet). I should be able to do anything I damn well please with this phone.

Yes, yes -- I can sync the phone if I outlay $80 for a USB cable... I am not doing that.

Verizon customers in the US received a firmware patch for the phone to allow these things. Come on, Telus -- please -- don't make me return this thing!

</rant>

Other than that, it's a pretty nice phone. Big... (larger than my LG-TM520 in fact)... but I'm looking forward to using the other bells and whistles (Video/Still camera, speakerphone, voice dialing, etc.)

March of the Swivelheads by The English Beat

I've been playing with this idea for decorative art in my loft for a long while now. Spacing Magazine started creating these cool Toronto subway station buttons last year. I snapped up a complete set (they have since added the Sheppard and SRT lines) and held on to them with this plan in mind. This Christmas, my parents provided me with the materials to get going with it, namely the canvasses and shelf.

What I'm contemplating now is if I should add more to it. Here are the ideas (in no particular order, plan or significance):

- yellow and green painted lines behind the buttons to represent the actual routes of the Bloor-Danforth and Yonge-University-Spadina lines
- add the Sheppard line (with or without magenta painted line)
- add the Scarborough RT line on a separate mini-canvas to the right
- add the words NOT TO SCALE to the leftmost canvas in the top left corner, perhaps in typical stencil letters

I would value your opinion on this. Please comment with your feedback, and I hope you like it so far.

BTW, current specs: ~74 x 36 inches, 62 1-inch buttons

Straight Ahead by Tube & Berger