Yearly Archives: 2007

Stocks, Technology

SIRIUS Makes Some Changes

SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI) are making some lineup changes for February 14, 2007.  On their Canadian site, they list the changes that will be affecting their customers.  They removed the Who channel, ABC news and talk, ESPN Deportes,  EWTN Catholic, and Hot Jams.  They are bringing in Nascar, some Play-By-Play channels, Foxxhole, Siriusly Sinatra,  Metropolition Opera Radio, and 90’s alternative.

The American Site has some different updates.  They are losing Hardcore Sports Radio, C-Span, Sports Byline, and Revolution while gaining the 90’s alternative, Sinatra, and Foxxhole.  I have a feeling people will be upset by losing any of their programming.  Some people probably liked the Hardcore Sports Radio, or C-Span and losing them will only make people upset.   I wonder if there will be any consumer backlash because of these changes.  We will find out soon enough!

General

Sandstorms

I remember back when I was in China, we would get the occasional sandstorm.  Since we were on the side of a small mountain it would look very odd. It would start off with a grey cloud forming on the horizon, and then it would move in closer and closer.  Once it got close enough it would block out the sun and it would seem as though it were night.  The winds would then pick up and the sand would blow in.  I never adventured outside during this time and I’m sure most people would have took cover inside buildings.  The worst part of the sandstorm didn’t last more than an hour but it sure did bring in a lot of sand, dirt, and dust into the air.  The sand that I saw in Jinan was from winds blowing it in from the desert in western China.   It was interesting since they provided forecasts and weather reports that predicted when these storms would happen.  Now for a gallery of pictures from a sandstorm in Iraq or just a single picture.

General

Official Xbox Magazine Uses Miis for Editor Pics

In the latest issue of the Official Xbox Magazine for March of 2007, the editors have replaced their normal mugs with their Mii counterparts. Although it might seem strange for apparent competitors to be so friendly towards one anothers products, it just goes to show that they aren’t really direct competitors. I wouldn’t even consider the Wii to be a competitor of the Xbox 360 and the PS3. The PS3 and 360 are both high performance gaming machines, that try to do more with multimedia and online connectivity. Although I hate to say it, the Nintendo Wii is more of a toy that any age can enjoy. Some day I think I’ll belond to the Wii60 club, probably sooner rather than later. Pics from the magazine and more at the link below.

read more | digg story

General

Saskatchewan Electronic Recycling Program

I noticed at work yesterday that there are new fees as part of a SWEEP program that are being charged when people buy Computers, Laptops, TVs, and Printers.  Effective February 1st, the new costs range from $5 for laptops, $10 for Computers, and then vary depending on the size of TVs (46″ and up are $45).  The fee chart can be found here.  The interesting part is that GST is being charged on these fees so it seems to hurt twice over.  The positive side effect from the new fees is that you can take your old electronic equipment to SARCAN for recycling now. No, you won’t be paid for it.  The program is called the Saskatchewan Waste Electronic Equipment Program. For the program details you can check out their webpage at http://www.sweepit.ca/  Surpisingly, there has hardly been any media attention about this so far.  Normally when they introduce new fees like this it is news and people talk about it.  I wonder if this will affect purchases from out of province over the internet?  Either way its going to suck if I want to buy a new TV now.

General, Technology

Apple iPhone Hype

1 Comment

I don’t see what all the hype is about. The iPhone is basically the convergence of a cellphone, pda, and a media player.  For people who think it is going to kill the Zune, I don’t think that this type of device would be a direct competitor of the Zune.  The Zune, so far, is strictly a media player  and as such would compete against other mp3 players.  The iPhone on the other hand would compete more with devices like the Palm Treo, Motorola Q, and other smart phones.

Also, I’m not getting too excited about the iPhone because who wants an overpriced phone.  The phone itself will be priced ridiculously higher than any other phone on the market, and it will require you to be locked into an expensive contract.  The Canadian outlook seems to indicate that it will be exclusive to Rogers since the iPhone is GSM based, so everyone who goes through Sasktel, Bell, or Telus is out of luck.  Not to mention that if it follows in the tradition of other Apple hardware, it will cost more than the competitors and offer virtually the same features.

If I want to buy an MP3 player, I would buy an MP3 player, not some all-in-one device that “looks cool”.  If I want a smart phone, I’ll probably go with a company with a good reputation of making phones like Motorola and their Motorola Q.  Right now, I’m happy with my Creative Zen Vision M even if it only has 30gb for MP3 player.  It just means I have to copy and erase occasionally. Also, with my cellphone (although it’s aging) a Motorola E398, it works just fine for what I use it for and don’t feel the need to upgrade.

General, Technology

New Xbox Live Arcade Titles

Gamerscore blog wrote up a new article that lists ten new live arcade titles for the next bit.  The titles will be released on the regular Arcade Wednesdays.  For me the list has its highs and lows.  I am a big fan of the Castlevania and Worms titles but the titles from Midway are a little bit of a disapointment.  Sure, I can get the Xbox Live Arcade versions.. but I already have the Midway Arcade Treasures games and don’t feel like buying the same thing more than once.  So that means no Root Beer Tapper or Paperboy for me.   That just leaves the original titles which I have no clue what to expect.  Regardless, it’s good to see some new content up on the Live Arcade.

My wish list when it comes to the Arcade would be for some of Sega’s arcade titles.  There were quite a few classic games from Sega that I’m sure people would love.  I remember all the good times playing Shenmue and just going to the Arcade.  As well, an arcade controller would be sweet for some of the classic arcade titles.

Stocks

FCC talks about SIRIUS and XM merger

On January 17, 2007, FCC Chairman Chris Martin mentioned that “there’s a prohibition  on one entity owning both of those licenses.”  This was in the reference to the SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI) and XM Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: XMSR) merger discussion.  This kind of statement seems like a common response by a person high up at the FCC.  If he had said anything else, it would suggest the FCC was in favour of antitrust action before a study was conducted on whether the merger would in fact be considered an monopoly.  Now that all depends on how you look at it:  if you only looked at satellite radio then yes the new company would be a monopoly; although, if you considered all forms of mobile entertainment as competition, then it would most definitely not be a monopoly.

Investors however don’t respond well to news like this.   After Chris Martin’s comments, shares of XM dropped about 10 percent to close at $15.45 while Sirius shares fell by about 7 percent to $3.86.  Not surprising at all since these were probably the same investors raising the stock last week when the merger talks were really starting to heat up.  I have a sneaky feeling that this won’t be the last we hear about a possible merger though.  Both the satellite radio companies are facing a lot of competition from the mobile music market and need to do something to stay ahead.

General

Too Many Games

2 Comments

I don’t know whats going on.  For the first three quarters of 2006 I hardly I bought any Xbox 360 games.  Then in the last couple months now, I have bought way too many games.  I am going to blame this one on peer pressure.  I have bought: Ridge Race 6, Gears of War, The Outfit, Lego Star Wars, Viva Pinata, and Rainbow Six Vegas.  So, I have all these new games and I still have older games which I have barely played.. or not at all as is the case with Oblivion.  I suppose it only makes sense that I should start to play more games just when school gets back into my schedule.  The one motivational factor that makes me keep playing.. GAMERSCORE.. but thats another story for another post!

School

Back to School

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Starting next week, I will be back in school.  It has been a while since I’ve been fully in school.  I was last in class at the beginning of April.  This semester I will be in 5 classes; CS201, CS310, Econ331, Stats254, Classics100.  All of these classes should be interesting.  I imagine that CS310 will be the most difficult class as I didn’t like Math 221, which is basically the same material.  The other classes should range from fun to boring but I am looking forward to my return.

General, Technology

Light Bulbs

While reading some info about wind power, I noticed someones post and they linked to a very unique site.  The site is called One Billion Bulbs, and it lets people sign up and post about changing their light bulbs from standard incandescent light bulbs to more energy efficient CFL bulbs.  The site seems like a good cause and hopefully will motivate more people to consider the switch.   The overall goal for the site is to switch over 1 billion bulbs.  The site seems rather new as the number isn’t very high yet, only 8,456 as I write this.
In my house, we have been slowly changing over all our light bulbs to the compact fluorescents.  The whole movement towards the CFL bulbs is that they reduce energy usage, so its win-win.  You have a reduced energy bill and the environment is cleaner.  Be sure to check out the site and read up on light bulb technology!