WesGill.net

After not posting for…OVER half a year, I’m back and hopefully with more content. A lot has happened over the time that I haven’t been posting so you should see a few posts that may have actually happened quite a while ago, for example:
I crashed my new car! Yes, mere months after replacing the Mazda I went and rear ended an SUV. Once again the insurance company decided to write it off. I didn’t agree so I bought it back and got it repaired with the money they gave me. Thankfully everything came up even. I now drive a 1998 Volvo S70, which in my eyes is a nice upgrade.

While on the topic of car accidents, I’m not the only one who rear ends things. One of my good friends, Evan, also rear ended an SUV. However his accident was much more…destructive.

Thats right, it all burnt. Since the Jetta is a lower car, it split the gas tank of the SUV which sparked the blaze. All of a sudden my crashes aren’t so bad, are they?

In a somewhat related note, Microsoft has released a web app entitled Photosynth which takes your photos and creates a simulated 3D enviroment. The app is still in beta and you must have a Microsoft Live account to register. Using the photos that I sent to the autobody shop, I gave it a shot and this is what I came out with.

I think that Photosynth has a lot of potential, but throughout my usage of the app I have already experienced 3 errors so there is definitely work to be done.

Well that’s it for today, hopefully there will be enough content in the future to consider the site active.

External Links:
http://www.photosynth.com

Shot down once by the Canadian Supreme Court in 2005, the “iPod” tax has once again come into play. Similar to the levy that is currently charged on blank media such as CD’s and DVD’s, consumers would be taxed on purchases of electronic storage devices.

Consumers could potentially be hit by a new tax on electronic storage devices such as iPods and blank memory cards in 2008. The federal Copyright Board has given its approval for a special levy on iPods and other digital players because they can be used to copy movies and music.

The proposed levy would range in a fashion similar to the following:
- 85 cents for rewritable CDs and MiniDisc
- $2 for 1 GB removable electronic memory cards
- $25 for a digital audio recorder between 1 and 10 GBs
- $75 for digital audio recorder of more than 30 GBs

The problem with a levy such as this is that you are assuming all consumers are performing illegal activities. Even though there may be some truth in their reasoning, it’s not a good enough reason to implement something as drastic as this. This also is essentially punishment before the crime, which may lead consumers to believe that it would no longer be illegal to download music since they have already paid for it.

The levy has a way to go yet before it will be put into effect, but even the thought of it scares me.

External Links:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071221/copyright_act_071221/20071221?hub=TopStories
http://www.news.com/No-iPod-tax-for-Canada/2100-1041_3-5809117.html

Photo By:
Oliver Lavery

The popular private music torrent tracker OiNK.cd has been shut down by British and Dutch police yesterday. A 24-year-old IT worker from Middlesbrough was arrested on Tuesday morning.

Within a few hours of a popular pre-release track being posted on the OiNK site, hundreds of copies can be found.

Though it is sad to see this site go, it’s almost guaranteed that there will be more than one to take its place.

External Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tees/7057812.stm

The site Audio Raider uses Google search features to find folders of music around the internet. Naturally, “it’s not to be used for copyrighted content”.

Under no circumstances is this site to be used to download copyrighted content. All results are pulled directly from Google. None of the files in the results are hosted on this server.

Out of the searches I did, my success rate was rather high. I was unable to find music of some of the local bands I am fan of, but thats somewhat expected. Overall its a great tool.

Using the OnStar system’s GPS module out of your pre-2004 vehicle, which come 2008 will no longer be in service, you can build a USB device for your laptop. Plug the data into Google Maps and see where you are and get directions to where you’re going.

It’s not really OnStar’s fault that so many subscribers will soon be hitting the little blue button in vain. Starting in 2008, cellphone providers will stop supporting the old analog cellphone system, on which OnStar has long relied to provide near-ubiquitous coverage for its roadside-assistance service.

Basically what happens is you remove the GPS module from the car connect it to your laptop, after a few additions, which can use the data from the device by putting it into a mapping program. I definitely think I’m going to try this sometime.

External Links:
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/how20/ddb6bb1fd9ca4110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html

Photo by: AFO

There have been arrests made around the world of people using someone else’s unsecured wifi. This itself is a gray area, but what about people using wifi cellphones?

I was in an unfamiliar place and someone rang my review Skype phone and I answered the call as if I had a cell phone. But wait a minute, how did I manage to get a connection? After some further investigation I determined that the phone was automatically configured to connect any “open” Wi-Fi network it can find.

It all falls back to the owner of the access point. If you’re not going to protect it, its your fault if, for example, illegal activities are performed on your connection. The insurance companies treat you the same way with car theft. If you leave your keys in it and your vehicle is stolen, generally they won’t cover you. Until there are specific rules or laws made on the subject of open wifi, just hope you aren’t in the wrong place at the wrong time.

External Link:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=699

Photo by: mr_quan_nguyen