World Wide Telescope

This may be one of the most awesome things I have seen in a while, along with photosynth.

World Wide Telescope is essentially similar in a sense to photosynth, but instead of stitching together every image on earth to create a true three dimensional world, it stitches together images of everything 'off' earth to create a three dimensional image of the entire universe, or at least everything that humans have captured.

Give a hand to Microsoft for their work in both these regards!
Check out the TED Videos for both below:

World Wide Telescope

Photosynth

Virgin Airlines - coconut powered planes!

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Airlines Boeing 747 took off on the morning of February 24, 2008 as the first known commercial flight using bio fuel. one of its four engines was by blend of 80% standard fuel and 20% oil derived from coconuts and babassu nut!

Read more about this amazing step forward for the use of 'green' technologies below:
Forbes

Wired

Time

Here is Sir Richard Branson drinking what he said was biofuel from a coconut:

MacBook Pro Update - Disappointment

The MacBook Pro was updated by Apple yesterday and to be quite honest, I'm disappointed! I dont really want to get into it because I think that Seth Weintraub captures my feelings perfectly in his blog.

MacBook Pro Rumors Scaling Up!

It seems that rumors of new MacBook Pros have been increasing drastically in the recent past. These machines are long past due on an upgrade (264 days since the last update!) and are expected to be announced in the coming weeks, or days depending on which rumor mills you choose to follow.
See below for links to some rumor sites to wet your appetite!

MacRumors, Seth Weintraub - Computerworld Blogger, 9to5 Mac, AppleInsider.

Those are just a few of my daily rumor reads, if you have others feel free to post them in the comments!
As some of these state, we could see an update as early as Tuesday, Feb 26 (Apple is notorious for making updates or press releases on a Tuesday) in which case we will see relatively minor upgrades like the multi-touch track pad and processor upgrades. The other possibility is that we wait until an unannounced Apple event in March for the update, in which case we may see something more substantial.

Personally I am torn, but really I have waited so long, I would rather see a completely new form factor in March, than a new track-pad now.

Facebook Music Sharing - Twist Me!

A company founded in Oslo, DoubleTwist, which created "DoubleTwist desktop" allowing users to easily sync and share media with friends as well as remove DRM coding from songs purchased on iTunes, has now released a Facebook app called TwistMe which now makes it even easier to share that media with your Facebook friends directly through Facebook.

Side Note: DoubleTwist was created by Monique Farantzos and DVD Jon (His Blog). DVD Jon(aka Jon Lech Johansen) originally made a name for himself through his involvement in the release of the DeCSS software, which decodes the content-scrambling system used for DVD licensing enforcement. (See WikiPedia Entry for DVD Jon)

Green Freedom - Turning CO2 into fuel!

This is an excellent initiative. The Los Alamos National Laboratory has begun a new project called Green Freedom which attempts to extract CO2 from the air and harness it as fuel for cars and airplanes. This initiative would allow us to take toxic gasses out of the air and reuse them as fuel, not only reducing harmful chemicals in the air, but producing a renewable resource at the same time. 

Some other reports:

New York Times: here.

Engadget also reported on the story here.

See Inhabitat.com's story here.

Sprint Nextel, WiMax - Orders start shipping

It's been a long road, but way back in August 2006 Sprint Nextel announced a 4G Wireless Broadband initiative with Intel, Motorola and Samsung using WiMax technology. 

Then in March 2007 Sprint Nextel Announced WiMax ecosystem initiatives with Samsung, ZTE and ZyXEL. 

In July of 2007 Sprint Nextel announced that it would be working with Google on WiMax Mobile Internet Services.

And now, finally, DigiTimes has reported that Zyxel has begun shipping exclusively designed WiMax routers to Sprint Nextel.

Exciting news, now the countdown begins for Sprint Nextel to begin offering the devices and shipping them to households across the United States.

How I Met Your Mother: New Episode March 17!

ANNOUNCEMENT: New episodes of How I Met Your Mother are coming March 17, 2008! Four months since the last one. For those of you watching it on TV, it will be in a new time slot - Mondays at 8:30pm et/pt.
Mark your calendars!

More Geeks and Music

See this Video of a person that made a song purely from sounds that you hear on Apple's operating system, OSX. I don't know if I should feel sorry this lonely soul, or if I should be impressed. benefit of the doubt - this is Awesome, in some geeky sorta way.

U.S. Navy Satellite Destruction: Follow up

Following up on yesterday's story about the Navy attempt to destroy a faulty spy satellite. The missile was fired just before 10:30pm ET on Feb 20, 2008 and hit the target approximately 24 minutes later. You can read the full CNN report here

One of the interesting parts of this story is at the very beginning with the quote: "We have a high degree of confidence we got the tank"
You'd think a $60 million missile attack that aimed at absolutely obliterating something would end with something more than a high degree of confidence. maybe U.S. Taxpayers would have preferred something like "Yes, the $60 million we spent to blow something up was a success, the faulty satellite which cost you an unknown amount of money to launch and malfunction with minutes of launch has now been blown to smithereens... thanks for that much needed tax revenue, it went to good use."

Own your own British Soccer Team, or a piece of it!

Ebbsfleet United FC has been officially taken over, by the more than 28,000 sports fans who paid a nominal fee each to purchase the team. A website was set up: www.MyFootballClub.co.uk and fans could pay 35pounds (about C$68.87) to buy a membership to the site who then went looking for a team to buy.

I think this is an awesome idea, let fans own their own team and vote on their own decisions. It's every fan's dream opportunity. Check out the full story from The Globe and Mail here.

U.S. Navy to Destroy Spy Satellite

At around 10:30pm ET tonight, the U.S. Navy plans on firing a missile into space to destroy a faulty spy satellite. The Satellite was sent into orbit in December 2006 and will cost about $60 Million to destroy, assuming everything goes well.

See the complete CNN Story here.

Leaving Home (Goodbye To The Normals)

Courtesy of Phancy K:

from the film "Goodbye to the Normals"

Don't Give Up, Convert your HD DVDs to Blu-ray.

If you're stuck with a collection of HD DVDs now that HD DVD is out of the picture you can convert your content to Blu-ray. Here is a tutorial Wiki courtesy of Wired. Keep checking back on the Wired site as it will be continuously updated.

iBand? Rock out with iPhones and Nintendo DS

Check this clip of a trio calling themselves iBand who create a band using iPhones and a Nintendo DS. Aparently they plan on creating more music, but in the future they will be kicking the Nintendo DS to the curb and looking to recruit two more iPhones for another guitar and drums.

Here are some other reviews of the story from Gizmodo and Wired News

Laymen's guide: HD DVD vs. Blu-ray.

Someone asked me: "just read what you posted - can you explain the difference [between HD DVD and Blu-ray] - as I am not so clued up on this...thanks". This was in regards to "Blu-ray vs. HD DVD battle is over!"

Here is the explanation:

Both are basically replacements (higher quality versions) for regular DVD. unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) they both came out at the same time, so there was a bit of a battle between them. a lot like when there was VHS video and BetaMax video way back in the day. a lot of people dont know about betamax because it no longer exists in the mainstream - i.e. VHS won the battle, although that battle took about 10 years.

in the case of HD DVD and Blu-ray, they have been around for about 2 years. one created by Toshiba and the other, I think was Sony (dont quote me on the Sony part). Anyway, the point being that you started seeing both Blu-ray and HD DVD players on the shelves as well as movies coming out for both, except that certain big studios would either sign up for one or the other. that means that if you fot a Blu-ray player you would not be able to watch The little mermaid in high def for example, but you might be ablt to purchase Die Hard. and vice versa if you had bought a HD DVD player. 

Keep in mind that HD DVD is not a DVD, it is just the name Toshiba chose. it is literally like if Apple had named the iPod MP3 PLayer - "Max CD" or something. you cant play an HD DVD disc on a regular DVD player or the other way around.

Anyway, the point is that customers just werent buying either, for fear of that one becoming obsolete, or just because they could not get all of their favourite movies on it. (just to clarify, the only reason to get one would be so you could then re-purchase all your movies and watch them in hi definition. )

so, I guess Toshiba just started feeling like Blu-ray was winning out over HD DVD, and gave up the fight, rather than spending money trying to continue fighting. this is a winning situation for everyone. because now consumers can feel safe buying a Blu-ray player and Blu-ray discs, and Toshiba can just switch to building Blu-ray players rather than wasting money and time on marketing and producing the HD DVD.

Blu-ray vs. HD DVD battle is over!

If you weren't sure which technology to side with between HD DVD and Blu-ray the decision has now been made for you. Toshiba has pulled out of the race and therefore HD DVD is no more. Blu-ray will no be the standard. The positive thing about this battle being over is that consumers can no more confidently make the decision to buy both Blu-ray players as well as Blu-ray content, it also means that the race to produce cheaper and better players will speed up. The negative side of course is that if you have already spent the money on an HD DVD player you wont see much, if any, new content coming out for the platform.

See the story on Wired News here

The Celotti's Rock another Award!

Great news!

My mom, Gianrita, just told me she won "Circle of Excellence" at work. She works at Pfizer, winning this award means she is one of the top Institutional Key Accounts Managers in Western Canada! It also happens to mean that my dad and her get to go on a one-week trip to the Exuma Resort in the Bahamas!

Pretty Sweet, no?

Congrats Mamma!

Going Green - Ambient Air Fridge

I don't know that I would have the patience or commitment to do this myself, but it's still pretty awesome and I thought it deserved mention. So if you are a green junky or even a penny pincher check out this do-it-yourself guide to building an ambient air fridge for cold climates. It's environmentally friendly, a great project if you're looking for one, and it'll save you money in those cold months.
Check out the story at TheDailyGreen here

Samsung - Wireless 50" Plasma

Samsung has introduced a wireless plasma television, its 94 Series.

"Samsung's 94 series Plasma needs no wires between components so your eyes are free to focus on its sleek finish and beautiful 1080P "Full HD" picture."
"An incredibly crisp, clear HDTV with no strings attached. Beacuse the image is transmitted to the screen from its remote hub, you have more options as to where to place this stylish HDTV."
You can get more info at http://pages.samsung.com/us/hd/

Here are some online reviews too:
The Digital Beat
HDTV News

Collaboration in the Commons

This talk from ted.com by Howard Rheingold captures the idea that as humans we are innately predisposed to collaboration. That collaboration among humans brings greater rewards and allows us to make better decisions.

Watch the the video here and tell me what you think.

Something for the Ladies - Boots

I thought it would only be fair to give the ladies something to look at too!

If you like boots, and I haven't met many girls who don't, then I think you will love Shay Couture!
Designed in Vancouver by Shay Ramji, these are trendy, stylish and elegant and they definitely make a statement.
The boots are available at Ellis (3055 Granville St.), Crossover Bollywood (6468 Main St.), and ENVE Clothing (538 Davie St.)

Dress with Class

Now go the distance.

After you make your face feel and look great you need something to put on those hangers you bought. Take a look at www.Indochino.com

Custom tailored suits at excellent prices. Just take a look and you'll know what I mean. They carry suits, shirts, outerwear and accessories. Delivered to your door. whether you're a traditional Black Suit kinda guy or you like to spice it up with a Tweed Takeover they have what you're looking for.

Let me know what you think or if you know some other great places to get great suits online.

Shave with Style

Not only do you need to have well kept attire, but hey, you should take care of yourself too. why not start with some of the highest quality products from www.theartofshaving.com.

If you really want to make a statement why not get 'straight' to the point with one of these.

Happy Shaving!

Hang with Pride

I discovered an excellent website, dedicated purely to closet accessories. If you want your clothes to come out of the closet looking as good as the day you brought them home from the tailors you have to check out: www.hangerproject.com

I will definitely be getting myself a few of these, for those special garments that just deserve an extra level of care!

Enjoy!

Fame

So this was pretty awesome, a picture of me showed up in the Vancouver Make it Business publication and on the Jet Set Crew Website. See Here.

You can read the full issue of the Dec/Jan issue of Make it Business Here.

If that isn't enough, the reporter - Pariya Kaligi - also plugged the New Opus Montreal Hotel where I am building a bar. See the website here: OPUS HOTEL

Great Chef's

So that five course meal I had last night, well get this. Tonight I attend this dinner function for the chef's of Quebec province and they have a few prizes for best up and coming chef, pastry, etc. anyway, to cut to the chase, the chef that is the head chef at my hotel - Opus Montreal - he wins a prize, but not just any prize, he wins Chef of the year. not to shabby, it's funny to think he is the same guy that makes my food almost every breakfast lunch and dinner during my three month home-away-from-home stay at this hotel! Sweet deal for me!

hotels and Press - sweet

Really i just wanted to say that Last night I had an awesome dinner. I was invited to join a dinner for a group of press that was visiting our hotel, you know what that means - a sweet five course meal and awesome wine parings. And that's exactly what it was, I had everything from Lobster Cappuccino to Sugar cane scallops to the awesome Green Tea ice cream made in house. Anyway, my point is that I enjoyed eating my way into a pleasant stupor. Good night.

Bam! So moving is kinda cool right?

Cole's notes:

In a meeting with my boss. out of the relative blue he tells me I'm moving to the other side of the continent... for three months... and I'm on a flight that leaves in 8 hours.

Bam, there it is. anyway, the point being that as shocking as it was at the time, it's pretty damn sweet. I really can't complain, I get to travel across the country, live in a hotel for three months, order in room service whenever i want - free, have my room cleaned and bed made - free, have my laundry done - free, attend press dinners - free, and best of all i get to do all this while working crazy intense 12-13 hour days to build one of the biggest and most swanky bars in the City, who could ask for more! 

Ya it's tiring, ya it's stressful, ya it can be down right frustrating at times, but WOW - What a rush!