Doing Things Differently

Last night was the Toronto ComingZune Party being hosted by Vice Magazine, Dice.ca, Red Stripe Beer, and of course, the Zune team.

My friends and I arrived in Toronto a little early so that we could all meet up before hand and have a nice dinner and chat with each other, since we knew we would probably all break up once we got to the event.

We arrived at the Gallery a little early and had to wait in line until they were ready for us to go in.  Once in, we camped out a little corner where one of the Zune Girls was hiding.  She seemed really nice and she was really into the Zune.  Since a few of us have a bit more Zune knowledge, we demo’d to her some of the features that she hadn’t really had a chance to play with.  She learned quickly and when a group of people came over, she was so excited to show off what she had just learned.

Like any event, I have taken a bunch of photos and placed them on Flickr. One thing you will probably notice in the photos, is that the crowd was an extremely mixed group of people, who you would normally expect to not get along.  But this wasn’t the case.  People from all walks of life were all socializing and having a great time.

At 11PM the band Quest For Fire took the stage and the party really started to move.  Unfortunately, I had to take off around 11:30 PM to get back to the train station so I could get back home, but I had an awesome time and met a whole bunch of cool people.

So now it’s the big 2-week wait for the launch and I have to say, I’m really excited for the next social.  I hope more of you are able to make it out, so we can get the party really going!

As you may or may not already know, lately work has been getting to me so I needed some time off.  Luckily, I had saved up a couple of vacation days over the last couple of months and thought I’d love to have a nice long weekend when everyone else would be working.

In the past, I have made the mistake of taking days off only to be stuck with others taking the same days off and ruining my relaxation.  Not this time.

Starting today at 4PM EDT, I will be on vacation until I return to work on Monday at 8AM EDT.  I have a few plans, but they are all pretty loose.

Here is a list for my stalkers:

Wednesday May 28th, 2008 -

5 PM - ??  BBQ with the friends.  I will be a little loose around my diet, but will still be sticking to the vegetarian / no pop or juice part.

Thursday May 29th, 2008 -

Morning / Afternoon - I will be working on code. Pure code. And maybe sneak in a video game or something.

Evening - I will be going out with my friend Dejan for a night on the town

Friday May 30th, 2008 -

Morning - I will be doing some finances and attempt to go to the Optometrist to see about getting contact lenses.

Afternoon - I will be heading out on the town with a couple of friends to help them with their job hunt.  I have a few contacts that might be able to hook them up.

Early Evening - I will be out playing Tennis with a buddy to try and work off some sweat, we will probably also be checking out Oshawa’s Premier Fitness to see if we want to join.

Late Evening - I will be heading out to the Toronto ComingZune party for the rest of the night.

Saturday May 31st, 2008 -

Morning - If I have decided to join Premier Fitness, I will be at the Gym, otherwise I will be out looking at the other choices.

Afternoon - I will be hanging out with a couple of buddies, either playing Tennis or going for a nice long bike ride.

Evening - I will be spending some time at the mall, looking for some new clothes that fit.

Late Evening - I will be attending the Rides Again / Theory of a Dead Man concert at Le Skratch (if tickets are available)

Sunday June 1st, 2008 -

Morning - I will be relaxing and enjoying some sun.

Afternoon - Will probably be out in Oshawa somewhere doing something outside weather permitting.

Evening - Dinner at the Rentals house.

I will have my cell with me at all times and will be tuned into Twitter, so feel free to @ message me anytime if the service is working.

So, it has been about a month and a half since I started dieting, and everyone keeps coming up to me and saying how good I look and that I must have lost a ton of weight by now…

The truth?  Although I have lost about 6 inches around my waist, I have not shed a single pound.  One problem is the amount of water I retain due to the amount of fibre I eat and the amount of water I drink.

I am continuing with the diet though, and hope that I shed some weight soon, and maybe even a little before my workation to Jamaica.  It would be nice to just go out and have a nice swim while I’m there, since I haven’t been in a pool for almost 2 years now.

This week I am preparing my body to be used to getting up early so that I can go for an hour jog in the morning before work, and then do something physical at night such as Tennis, Squash, etc.

I hope to finally join a gym somewhere when I get back from Jamaica, so that I can tone up a little and possibly help my body get into a more natural shape.

I’ll keep you posted as time goes on; I’m in this for the long haul.

Hey guys,

The Zune team finally posted the dates and times for the ComingZune parties in celebration of the Canadian Launch of the Zune Player.

I will be heading to the Toronto event, along with some other members of the Xbox community.

If you want to meet us there, make sure you RSVP for the event.  Unfortunately, because of the location, the event is only open to those that are 19+.

Hope to see you all there!

Ok, so the Zune hasn’t yet been officially released in Canada, but with today’s update, we can tell its getting nearer.

If you don’t know, a new update went out today adding many wanted features to the Zune.  Also, the Zune Social site went into Open Beta and is now available for Canada.

Already have a Zune? Go sign up for your Zune Card and join the social.

Don’t have a Zune?  Why wait, you too can sign up for a Zune Card and join the social as well!

Well, apparently there is already someone out there that is working with this idea, but it seems as if their approach may doom the project: they are trying to patent it. Check out their site: http://www.myreceiptcard.com/

This idea would more easily work in an open environment that could be easily extended instead of a closed environment as it looks like they propose.

As you could tell, although the idea could make money by making people pay to join the service, I was looking at the side of giving the service away to only take in what was needed to keep and slightly improve the service, not for profit.

Oh well, it would have been a good idea.  Thank you, Corporate America*, for always trying to make an easy buck.  Without you, many good ideas would have never been born, nor would many of them have ever been needed.

*Note: I have nothing against commercialism, nor many corporations.  I have a problem with the Patent system and how it is designed to make people who do NOTHING make money, and how it stops innovation.

I’m not sure about everyone else who reads these posts, but I often buy something with my credit card or debit card, and hardly ever carry money with me.  That is also why I hate receiving receipts.

If I’m not prepared to have cash-on-hand when I’m shopping, why do I want a piece of paper that states my purchases?  Yeah, sure, I may want to return an item or two in the future, but do I really need that purchase on paper?

That’s where the Universal Receipt Card would come into play.  It could be a part of your Credit Card / Debit Card that tracks it on a web service that you could then review at a later time.  Plus, it could be extended as follows:

• Stores that use the URC could attach additional information to the purchases

• Restaurants could attach nutritional information to a meal you purchased, attach an online comment card to the waiters/waitresses name, provide additional dining coupons, etc.
• Grocery stores could create notifications attached to your common grocery purchases to alert you when one of your ‘favourite’ items goes on sale, and provide you a coupon for that item.  Also, they can allow you to request the store to carry certain items that you would like to purchase.
• Retailers could allow you to create a gift-receipt from an item, which you could then send to another URC number, and you can state what that person can do with the gift receipt: Exchange for similar item, Exchange for <item category>, Refund, etc.

And that is just a few of the ideas I have thought of, I’m sure there are many more ideas that could be done with this card.

If anyone wants to put this into production, I would love to be one of the first with a card.  If you have any questions about how you could get started on making this real, please forward me your questions.  I have a ton of ideas on this item alone.

Here’s hoping for a Greener Future!