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It’s the little differences

And speaking of differences between US and Canada, here’s a couple of products and/or services that just refuse to cross the border.

TiVo. TiVo is a DVR — a digital video recorder — which can record your tv shows without the hassle of programming the channel and time like a VCR. It records shows digitally onto an internal hard drive, so the recording quality is great, and it can hold (I think) around 30 hours.

For some wacky reason, TiVo isn’t available in Canada. Why not? Canada is one of the most wired countries in the world. You’d think that marketing it here would be profitable and easy. But no, when TiVo expanded, they expanded to the UK instead. Hmph.

Netflix. Netflix is an Internet company with a mail-order scheme for renting videos. Customers pay a monthly flat fee and can pick a certain number of DVDs, which are mailed to them. Customers can keep them as long as they like, then return them by mail for a different selection. This is a very cool concept… and it’s also not available in Canada.

I’m not a tv addict — I hardly watch tv shows at all these days — but these two things would be very nice to have. And that silly border thing shouldn’t keep me from enjoying them.

And if that weren’t annoying enough… as I surf the web, I’m constantly running into ads and articles about them. As if they’re taunting me. Taunting me, saying “You like these nice shiny things? Well no shiny things for you, stupid Canuck-boy! Ha! I spit on you and your country!”

Grumble grumble grumble, rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb.

Maybe I’m taking this too personally.

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IBM launches product for virtual commerce

With so many gamers earning real money playing online games like Everquest, Ultima Online, and (my favourite) Second Life, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the big blue is trying to get a piece of the virtual action. IBM has introduced an e-commerce server named Business Integration for Games, or BIG, to help game publishers (and players) set up shop in virtual worlds.

It’s not clear to me what BIG offers that the in-game economy and transaction accounting doesn’t offer already. In Second Life, for example, lots of players already run businesses and earn real money.

(Note: Second Life isn’t mentioned in the text of the article, but if you click the images, there’s a screenshot and caption.)

Link: Wire News: Interreality Business Machines

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r33t

In my February 12th entry, I used the word “r33t”, but I have no idea what it means. Are there any AOL script-kiddies out there who can tell me what “r33t” means? I’m fairly certain that I know what “h4XX0r” means, but “r33t” is a mystery.

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The Macophiles invade

It happened gradually — slowly enough that most didn’t even take notice. At first, it was a rare occurence. I’d turn around, and one of them was standing there. The enemy. The other. The truth is, they look just like us, so it’s very easy to miss the word “Mac” floating over their heads. We must be wary, because a slow, insidious invasion has begun. Mac users may eventually take over Second Life.

It all started when Linden Lab released the Mac OSX version of Second Life, the horribly addictive metaverse game. One-by-one, normal, healthy Windows users were showing up with “Running On a Mac” floating next to their name above their avatar. Bino, for example. Bino, seemed like such an ordinary guy until he installed SL on his Mac. Now he’s defected to the other side.

It’s all so very unsettling. I suppose I should overcome my prejudice and welcome the Macophiles into our online community, but it’s so difficult. When I chat with one, I can’t help wondering how many mouse buttons they have, and whether their computer is all cutesy with colourful, rounded transparent bits.

And maybe there’s a bit of jealously, too. My computer isn’t fun — it’s grey, stodgy, and crashes daily. Why should these people get the fun computer and get to play in our metaverse too?

Excuse me while I sit in the corner and sulk. I have plenty of time to sulk too, because I’m re-installing Windows today.