Anyway the point here is not to deride the garbage that Hollywood so reliably produces, but to remind you that there are some great movies out there that you may not have heard of. Case in point is “The Last Ride” an Australian made film by director Glendyn Ivin. My wife and I watched this at the Whistler Film Festival this weekend, and we both came away impressed.

More than any movie I remember, The Last Ride has that elusive quality that draws you in and makes you forget you’re watching a movie. The cinematography is maybe the best I’ve ever seen – it’s a gorgeous film. The characters are real, complex and brilliantly developed. This movie makes you feel a wide range of emotions, and even though you might think you know where it’s headed, the tension is masterfully crafted.

We did overhear some comments after the show that it was too dark, too depressing. And to be fair, it is definitely not a “happy ending” kind of movie. That fact will probably relegate it to the film festival section of local video stores - and I’d doubt it will see a wide release. Which is a shame really, because it’s the first really “great” movie I’ve seen in a long time and the first movie that made me feel something more than just regret at wasting the last hour and a half of my life. You should see this movie if you get a chance.

Watch the trailer: http://www.lastridemovie.com/

I say its funny because that’s pretty much what I did… When Bing launched I changed my default search engine from Google because, at first glance, Bing seemed kind of cool. A lot of searches were producing good quality results, sometimes besting Google in what I considrered most relevant. And hey look, it even ranked my Zune on Windows 2003 post #1, versus #4 on Google – so it must be a great search engine, right?! Well it is pretty good…

But here’s the thing… When you’re not using Google, you start to feel like you’re missing out on the “full” internet. It’s almost, in fact, like Google is the internet. It’s nothing new really, I mean the name is synonymous with the web; but truly the scope of what Google knows does seem (even if it is mostly psychological) to be the “definitive guide” to what’s out there. On every search I’d do Bing first and then use Google just to make sure I wasn’t missing out on anything. And since in most cases the Bing results would appear somewhere in the list of Google results, I just usually ended up going from there. So in the end searching Google first and bypassing Bing altogether would be the most efficient workflow.

The difference became especially apparent during the course of my work day where I’d be looking for a lot of more obscure IT/programming topics. The more unpopular the topic, the more Google proved it’s worth. For example I’m doing some PDF work with Ghostscript and encoutering some errors. If I search Google for “ghostscript error codes” I get the official ghostscript documentation page as the first result. That doesn’t even appear on the first page of Bing results – which contain a lot of irrelevant forum topics.

In the end, Bing is still a good tool and no doubt it’ll occupy the second slot on my search list. But if this little experience proves anything, it’s that any new search engine is going to have serious challenges matching Google’s usefulness and grabbing their market share in the long term. It will be interesting to see what happens when the “real” semantic web takes hold, but I have little doubt that Google’s already well ahead of the competition there, too.

What’s wrong with the US soy milk? It actually contains more than twice the amount of sugar as the “So Good” stuff that Canada was previous getting.  For a grande soy latte, that’s 17g vs only 8g of sugar before. That’s wayyy to much by my standards. If this is in fact what’s going on then Starbucks has definitely lost this customer (I always chose other cafes when I can anyway, but it just so happens that Starbucks is the only thing close to my work).

I suppose it was inevitable, especially now amidst the financial meltdown, that Starbucks would try everything to maximize margins. So, lucky us Canadians, we now get the “made for Starbucks” soy that’s been making Americans fatter for years. Fantastic.

Step 1 – Enable UPnP on Windows Server 2003

First thing that we need is to enable UPnP services on Windows Server 2003 since one of the Zune services depends on it. Fortunately, Alan Robinson has written a guide on doing just that. It’s fairly straight forward – just make sure to read the instructions closely. Also see the comments for some clarification on creating the registry entries. I grabbed all the necessary DLLs from the Windows XP SP3 network install package and the XML files from an existing Windows XP install on another machine.

Step 2 – Install the Zune software

Not complicated, done in the same way as installing most XP-specific software. Just extract the files from the setup package (i.e. instead of running it) and run the package\Zune-x86.msi from the extracted files. FYI I use WinRAR and it does a great job of extracting the setup packages. If you need more specifics, there’s a comprehensive post on Rafael’s blog. Don’t delete the extracted files just yet, you’ll need them in the next step.

Step 3 – Install the Zune Bus Enumerator driver and service

Okay here’s where it gets a bit tricky. For whatever reason, the drivers for the “Zune Bus Enumerator” device and service do not get installed during the course of the Zune software installation in step 2. So, you’ll have to do it manually.

To get at the driver files, you’ll have to extract that Zune-x86.msi file that you used to install the Zune software in step 2. For that you’ll need a program capable of extracting MSI files. I’m sure there are several out there, but Universal Extractor is the best in my opinion – just right-click the .msi file and choose “UniExtract to SubDir”.

Among the files extracted from the Zune-x86.msi package should be� the folder Zune\Drivers\ZuneBusEnum. The INF in there contains the driver definitions we need to install. To install this hardware, you need to use Control Panel > Add Hardware. The wizard will do a search for new hardware and should find nothing (if it does find something, you’ll have to install whatever it finds and re-run it). When prompted if you have already connected the hardware, choose the “Yes, I have already connected the hardware” option. Next, select the “Add new hardware device” option. Choose the “manual selection (Advanced)” option, then “Show all devices”, then finally you can click the “Have Disk…” button. Browse to that ZuneBusEnum folder that you just extracted and choose the Zumbus.inf file.

In the hardware list, you’ll see 2 devices: Zune Bus Root Bus Enumerator and Zune Bus Enumerator. You are going to install the Zune Bus Root Bus Enumerator ONLY for now. After you’ve installed the device, you should probably reboot.

OK, almost done. You’ll now need to install the Zune Bus Enumerator service. In order to do that, you’ll need a program that can install Windows services. The easiest way is to get a hold of the Srvinstw.exe tool from the Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit. For conveneince you can grab it here (while it lasts): srvinstw.exe.

First, copy the service executable, ZuneBusEnum.exe, to the C:\Windows\System32 directory. You’ll find ZuneBusEnum.exe in the directory where you extracted the Zune-x86.msi package to. Now run srvinstw.exe and choose to install a service on the Local Machine. For the service name, enter “Zune Bus Enumerator Service”. On the next step, browse to C:\Windows\System32 and choose the ZuneBusEnum.exe as the executable. Next, leave “Service is it’s own process” selected. Next, leave “System Account” selected and “Allow service to interact with desktop” unchecked. Finally, leave the startup type as “Automatic”.

Now that the service is installed, go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services and start the newly created Zune Bus Enumerator Service. As soon as you do that, you should get a prompt to install the Zune Bus Enumerator device. Remember when you installed the “root bus enumerator”? Well the driver for this device is in that same INF. So use the advanced option, and specify that Zune\Drivers\ZuneBusEnum folder that you extracted from the Zune-x86.msi package as the search location for the driver. Windows should find it right away and install the driver.

That’s it for installation – finally! Now make sure that all of the necessary services are running. Check that ALL of these are started, and you’ll probably want to double check that their startup types are all “Automatic”:

• SSDP Discovery Service
• Universal Plug and Play Device Host
• Zune Bus Enumerator Service
• Zune Network Sharing Service

Done!

Now, when you first try to do a wireless sync you should get an Add Hardware prompt for a Zune wireless device, or something like that. Just choose the automatic installation option and it should be installed without further action required on your part. With any kind of luck the Zune software will open shortly and you’ll be on your way!

Step 4 – Something’s not working!

Okay, if for some reason something went wrong along the way and something isn’t working properly – a service not starting, etc. – then you may be missing some required files. I haven’t confirmed if these are necessary so if you discover anything on the topic let me know in the comments.

What you need to do is use the handy Zune Device Sync Diagnostic Tool to establish what files are missing. Go to the “Report” tab, and check under the “Files” section for any files that are labeled as missing. Chances are the file you are missing is wlanapi.dll. This file is only included with XP, so you’ll need to grab it from there somehow. Either do so from an existing XP install, or grab it from the XP SP3 network install package (in case you’ve forgotten, you can do so by extracting the SP3 exe and running “expand -r wlanapi.dl_” from the command line in the appropriate directory). Copy that wlanapi.dll file to C:\Windows\System32 and you should be golden.

Enjoy the full Zune experience on Window Server 2003!

That’s right: Google’s mobile mapping application now supports transit routing. And it works really well, too. Just pick a starting point (or if you’re device has GPS, you can use current location), pick a destination point, and you get a transit plan that gets you were you want to go. Just like the full version of Google transit, you can choose between multiple routes and you get step by step directions for transfers and what not, if you need them. Conveniently, you can also switch between driving and transit directions in case you want to compare times.

Among the small group sampled, the consensus goes something like this: People you meet on the street (and I’m casting a broad, poorly sewn net here) are just generally not that outwardly friendly. In Montreal, according to one woman from the article, strangers you pass on the sidewalk are much more likely to make eye contact and smile. In Vancouver, chances are they’ll look the other way.

Now I don’t know if this is a recent thing or if I’ve only recently noticed it, but I think she’s right. Not only downtown, but in the suburbs too, the more I look for the friendly smile from passer-bys, the harder it is to find. Upon returning from a recent trip to a Midwest US state, the effect was more pronounced. People down there seemed “friendlier” and strangers on the street were at least more likely to acknowledge that you actually existed.

Anyway, off the bus and on the SkyTrain platform that same morning, an interesting coincidence: As I was walking up the stairs, a train was arriving in the station. And because my morning schedule is such that if I make every transit connection seamlessly I arrive perfectly on time, I naturally started running (well, jogging) to ensure I would get on the busy train. See, the problem is you have to run all the way to the front car because the back few are always packed.

As an aside, why don’t people more naturally distribute themselves to the different cars? I never really understood that. I mean, you’ve got people pushing to cram themselves into one car while there are still free seats in another… But I digress.

So I’m jogging to the empty car when this woman (younger) who was standing waiting to get into one of the busy cars stepped back slightly and her handbag swung directly into my path. I’m fairly athletic, but it was too late to alter course so I ran straight into it, knocking it out or her hand and a few meters across the platform. Ooops.

Naturally I look back and yell “I’m sorry” as she yells “hey!” Now the big decision. The doors are about to close at any second and I’ve still got a little ways to go to get to the empty car. I can easily read the look on her face: She wants desperately to yell something like “Fuck you jerk!”, but thankfully she doesn’t – I’ve already attracted enough negative attention to myself this morning. So do I go back and pick up her bag or get on the train and make it to work on time? As I sat down at my desk at 7:59, I couldn’t help but feeling a little disheartened at my decision… I’ve never really thought that’s who I was, yet that split second decision seems to speak lots about who I’ve become. Maybe I’ve been living in Vancouver for too long.

I can’t help but to imagine what we’d be hearing if the opposite were to have happened that night and Mr. Dziekanski had attacked one of the officers…. “This video clearly shows our officers coming under attack by a violent and dangerous man and we believe our officers were absolutely justified in their use of deadly force.”

Let’s assume the worst for a moment and suppose that, in the seconds leading up to the initial tasering and in the area occluded by the wall in the video, Mr. Dziekanski made a threatening gesture – perhaps reaching inside his jacket or pocket. Does that change your opinion of what happened? Could that (seemingly unlikely) event have even made a difference in whether or not the police were justified in their actions?

Prior to watching this video, I would typically be the last person to condemn police violence when it comes to dealing with criminals. If a person flagrantly breaks the law and expects to get treated with respect and the same rights as a law-abiding citizen when the law catches up with them they have something else coming to them, right? Right. Except it’s clearly not, because the line that separates a “criminal” from a guy in a foreign country, who doesn’t speak the language and who’s obviously in emotional and physical distress is pretty damn blurry.

Back to the tape: There didn’t appear to be any other people on the same side of the glass wall where Mr.� Dziekanski and the officers were standing, so who were those officers protecting when they fired at the lone man? Themselves, I guess. Which makes it pretty hard to look at them as any thing other than cowards. Put a deadly weapon in my hand and send me out on the street with no clear set of consequences or guidelines to using it and I’d be pretty fearless too.

Police officers sign up to do a dangerous job and I respect them for that, but there exists an asymmetrical relationship between mitigating risk to themselves and keeping the public safe. In this case, the balance of that relationship slid much too far to the left and the officers involved selfishly put their safety before that of Mr. Dziekanski’s. Hey, do you want to keep the police really safe? Why not let them shoot the people they approach with tranquilizers to sedate them first – that will make them a lot easier to deal with.

Fans were invited to put their own price on the 10 MP3 files that made up In Rainbows, from nothing to £100.

But internet monitoring company Comscore found that only 38% of downloaders willingly paid to do so.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7082627.stm

Well you can count me among the 62% majority. To be perfectly honest, I had every intention of paying something for the album, but instead I left disappointed with the whole thing and a bit let down by the hype.

So what went wrong? First of all, I’m all for avant-garde web site design and breaking the mold, but something still bothered me about the In Radios web site. Maybe it was too Web 1.0 for it’s own good. I wanted answers and instead found only� one-line quips about how it was “up to me”. Well yeah� I gathered that, thank you very much.

Secondly and most importantly, am I the only one who expected to be able to listen to the album before deciding how much it was worth? Maybe that option was on the site somewhere, lost amidst the psychedelic background… but I didn’t find it. I suspect may others would have encountered the same problem. How do I value something when I don’t really even know what it is?

Could I have tried harder to pay for this album? Sure – I could have probably searched for a sample of the album before hand. I could have returned to the site after initially downloading it for free to purchase it for my “fair” price. Did I do those things? No of course I didn’t . Partly because I couldn’t be bothered and partly because when it comes to music I’m what I call an “instant gratification listener”. If the mood strikes me to listen to a particular music that I don’t currently own, I wan’t to be able to hit the play button and be on with it. Years and years of downloading music for free will do that to a person, I suppose. Oh don’t look at me like that – it’s not like I haven’t tried. I purchased Kayne West’s first album on Puretracks… then I lost the licenses after a Windows re-intall and� bought a non-Windows Media media player. Then I swore never to buy DRM again.

The point is, music distribution is still fatally flawed – especially for the “instant gratification listener”. I won’t go into all of the problems facing the music industry – David Gratton does a good job of commenting on that with a local spin, if you’re interested in reading more. Instead I have a� solution to propose. It centres around one key question: When are people most likely to pay for music? You know those moments when you’re listening to a song, and it just� draws you in so far that it� completely transforms who or where you are? Those are the moments that make me go “damn, I wish I had paid for this song.” And yet when the headphones are out that thought is gone. If the labels and artists want to capitalize on their music, then they should be working on ways of capitalizing on that feeling that great music gives you – however fleeting it may be. And please don’t tell me how much that feeling is worth, let me decide.

As disappointed as I was with the In Rainbows experience, at least� Radiohead� is heading in the right direction.

Is it unreasonable� to want to� be able to bring up a page on my web-enabled device – likely a cellphone – and enter a route number and stop number to find out when the next bus will be? Let me answer that as both a developer and a paying customer: no. And yet,� customers have been left standing� at the curb (literally) when it comes to planning their transit use via mobile device.� Some ingenious (and presumably fed-up) users have hacked together their own solutions, but they’re not exactly the most effective ones.

With any kind of luck, the Google Transit system will soon be available to use with the Google Maps for Mobile application. Until then, we’re stuck with the frustrating voice system if we need to look up schedules anywhere but on a PC.

If I had to guess what percentage of my time was spent ensuring cross-browser, cross-platform compatbility,� I would guess somewhere between 20 and 30%. It varies by application, obviously, but if you’re pushing boundaries then it becomes even more of a dauting task – so much so that it takes a lot of the “fun” out of the job.

� That’s why my most recent project has been such a refreshing change. I’ve been developing a new app to connect our front-counter people with our backend inventory system. In order to facilitate deployment and accomodate our existing infrastructure, we chose to develop the tool as a web app. Needless to say, productivity gets a big boost when you only have to worry about how your app will work on IE7 – as does functionality. For example, IE has good support for dialogs through their HTML Applications� framework that allows you to achieve, I think, a more reliable and consistent interface� than what a� CSS/JS and XHTML platform would typically afford.

To be honest, I don’t think I’d want to develop IE7 apps exclusively… it would get boring eventually. The challenge of creating cross-browser sites that incorporate the latest technology to achieve a well-defined goal is still very rewarding. But next time I need a bit of a mind-break, I’m going to volunteer for another intranet app.