I think this is a great Friday afternoon video to enjoy.
Get ready Canada. There is a new big boy in town and the name is Behemoth. This is the new ride that will be appearing May 2008 at Canada’s Wonderland. Being dubbed Canada’s fastest rollercoaster it is sure to impress. Check out the rest of the teaser material here.
[flv]http://media.cfpl4.cedarfair.com/canadaswonderland/behemoth/videos/behemothPOV_320_low_videofile.FLV[/flv]
Cheers
Scott
There has been lots written on the cost of wireless costs in Canada. Tom Purves wrote a great article that looked at how Canada is lagging far behind the rest of the world with sky high rates. What effect does this have? Well in my opinion it puts the development community a few steps behind and keep the industry from truly becoming what it should be.
I look at it like this.
1> If there was truly competition we would be seeing a lot more usage of rich content on mobile devices. As it stands now people aren’t using the services like they should. If I was the man at the top of the food chain at one of these Canadian carriers I would be all over doing what ever I could so that people used the content that is so readily available.
2> If the content and services we accessible at a lower cost I would take advantage and use the wireless capabilities. The more people available and using the service, the more demand for apps, the more the carriers can charge for licensing deals and make their money on the back end on these deals instead of on the front end from the customer.
3> It would also change the types of devices that people would be willing to buy. Instead of opting for the low end cellphones we would see better devices becoming more prevalent. The increased demand for these devices would surely increase the bottom line on the retail front for the carriers.
4> If there was a change in the way we are billed I think we would see a great emphasis on the development of Apps from Canadian development houses. Who for the most part have stayed away from developing on this as it is too expensive to use. We have some of the most talented developers in the world …let them loose on the Canadian scene.
So is there hope for Canada? Damn I hope so. An interesting thing to note is the upcoming auction for the 700mhz band in the USA. Google has opend the war chest and intends to play in this arena. Allotting 4.6 billion for this auction. But this is more then just a snap up of frequencies …..Google is trying to change the way the FCC looks at and administers the use. Google in an attempt to level the playing field has urged the FCC to adopt some guidlines for the winners of the auctions:
“Google wants the FCC to agree to its four “open” platform recommendations, which include: open applications for users; open devices that will work with whichever network provider customers choose; open services that would allow for third-party resellers to acquire wireless services on a wholesale basis; and open networks, which would allow third parties, such as Internet service providers, to interconnect at any feasible point within the 700MHz licensee’s wireless network.”
So when will we see a real change in the way the system operates? I wish I had the answer. Will the Canadian wake up and hear the people screaming? Time will tell. Probably the best thing for the industry is a US carrier setting up shop north of the border and poaching customers. We need competition not collusion.
Cheers
Scott
Posted in Canada, ConceptShare ~ 1 Comment
Written by Scott
Ok it is now into the 4th month of looking at the growth of the various networks in Canada. We are still growing strong. The numbers continue to impress me and i am not really sure how high these would go.
What I find particularly interesting is Facebook is starting to rival many of the newspapers in the country for audience.
Could this be the beginning of the shift we knew was coming? Could this be a new beginning?
So what does this mean for:
I think there is a wide variety of implications and some negative and many positive. I think it is up to the people to decide which route it will take. It has certainly made me think about opportunities surrounding this.
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I hope these numbers will give you an idea that this is not a passing fancy. This seems to be a real disruption in the status quo.
What do these numbers mean to you? Will they affect the way you do business ?
Cheers
Scott
Posted in Canada, Facebook ~ 4 Comments
Written by Scott
So I have been keeping an eye on the Facebook growth within Canada. Impressive to say the least. I decided to go back and look at the numbers one month since I did my original post that looked at the saturation of Facebook across the country. Now I will say that this is not an exact science as a number of people pointed out that they were not in fact from the area that they belonged to. So for Sudbury for example people from surrounding communities could be included in this as I am sure is the case for each of the communities. Aside from going through each network and asking where people live I am not sure how else to distill this.
So what I am instead going to focus on is the growth in each of the networks over the one month since my last post on this issue.
So as soon as we get over the fact that the last column on this is probably skewed due to the centralizing factor. (small centers latching onto larger closer networks) We can look at how the networks have grown based upon their size last month. As you can see the numbers are quite revealing. Canada is gobbling up Facebook in an unheard of manner. This is very impressive and I hope it keeps going.
In fact this was cited by Nico Vera over at Facebook in the blog post entitled “Oh Canada” I grabbed this graphic to illustrate the growth that the Canadian network is enjoying over other country networks. Nico conveys some deep gratitude over the adoption ….thanks Nico.
So what does this mean? Are Canadians more interested in staying in touch? Could it have to do with the large percentage of us that leave our original birthplaces to move to the cities …but want to stay in touch with our friends from home? I am not sure what this means to be quite honest.
What I think we can glean from this is that when something is done right …like face book … there is no limit to where it can go. I plan to keep up with this look at the growth of Facebook and see how far it can go. I am trying to predict what will happen over the summer months … slow down because it is nice out …or speed up because people have a bit more free time …..stay tuned for the june 24th edition.
On another FaceBook note the marketplace is now open for biz and as a test of that I am going to try and sell my car through it. Lets see how effective that will be. From all indications the Marketplace seems to be a great idea and when deployed around the structured trust network I think we have a real winner here. I can only imagine what else they have cooking in the back room over at FB.
Cheers
Scott
Posted in Canada, Facebook ~ 2 Comments
Written by Scott
So I am an admitted face book junkie. It appears that I am not alone. Facebook has gripped Canada in a frenzy. I wanted to take a look at what the rest of Canada was thinking about FaceBook. I have been very surprised at the people that I have found on the system. It has extended beyond the tech savvy community or the highschool and college communities ….it has hit everywhere.
I started to look at the community groups and i was really surprised at what I was finding the adoption has not just been limited to the metropolitan areas of this country. Infact when looking at the community size as a percentage of the census population data it was quite shocking.
I looked at 2 cities in the US to see how the adoption compared to the rest of Canada. I looked at San Francisco and Boston. Two cities that are on the bleeding edge of technology. I figured that this would be a quick and informal peak at the adoption.
Boston – 596, 638 pop – 136,525 FB community – 22.88% adoption
San Francisco – 739,426 – 48,484 FB community – 6.56% adoption
So what can we take from this?
The adoption for Facebook continues to increase in every single community that I referenced. In the writing of this i had to go back and look at the numbers as i had let this sit for a few days What is the limit? Will any of these communities see 50% adoption?
(In the 30 minutes that I have been writing this Sudbury Group is +18 to 34,048. I suggest revisiting the network pages to see the growth for your network)
I am glad to see that I am not alone in my addiction to FaceBook. My only suggestion ‘come on man try it ….everyone is doing it’
Cheers
Scott ‘FB Junkie’ Brooks
Posted in Canada, Facebook ~ 6 Comments
Written by Scott
The date for Toronto Democamp9 has been announced. Monday, September 25th
The location is at no-regrets, it is a great spot. Be there early if you want a good spot to sit. It seems to fill up quickly. The event doesn’t end as soon as the demos are over either….we have adjusted our schedule and we will be sticking around for the evening.
We are in demo spot # 3.
For those of you who haven’t been to a democamp …..you should check it out. Democamp is a offshoot of the barcamp movement.
Cheers
Scott
Blogged with Flock
Posted in Canada, Technology ~ 3 Comments
Written by Scott
To Northern Ontario Developers:
I am trying to do something a bit different in Sudbury this August. BarcampSudbury will be the ultimate unconference. What is an unconference you ask? Well first of all ….I don’t want your money. I know what you are thinking: a conference that I don’t have to pay for? …yeah …hence the un in unconference.
BarCamp: What’s this all about?
BarCamp is an ad-hoc un-conference born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from attendees.
Anyone with something to contribute or with the desire to learn is welcome and invited to join.
When you come, be prepared to share with barcampers.
When you leave, be prepared to share it with the world.
NO SPECTATORS, ONLY PARTICIPANTS
Attendees must give a demo, a session, or help with one, or otherwise volunteer / contribute in some way to support the event. All presentations are scheduled the day they happen. Prepare in advance, but come early to get a slot on the wall. The people present at the event will select the demos or presentations they want to see.
Presenters are responsible for making sure that notes/slides/audio/video of their presentations are published on the web for the benefit of all and those who can’t be present.
Collectively there is a sense of isolation living here and being a developer in Sudbury and surrounding areas. We live in a constant state of closed doors and hush hush secrecy. While there has to be a bit of secrecy in the development world …there has to be a lot of sharing. It is my goal to create a sense of community within Northern Ontario development community.
If you are interested here is what would really help.
• Sign up on the Barcamp wiki BarcampSudbury
• Tell your development friends. Share the information, since there is no real budget for marketing we need your help
• Sudbury is also going to be playing a big part in the BarcampEarth so please get involved BarCampEarth
• If you have assets please let me know (we need projectors etc.)
• If you want to sponsor ….please let me know (meal, drinks, etc )
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me
Cheers
Scott Brooks
BarcampSudbury
Posted in Canada, Technology ~ 1 Comment
Written by Scott
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