Opus Vancouver Rooftop Development

So I have spoken about this project I am working on before, but I wanted to keep you updated. On October 16, 2008 at 7:30pm we will be going to public hearing at the Vancouver City Council. This means that our project is officially presented in public to City Council and neighbours and interested parties have an opportunity to speak their mind and give their opinions on the project.
We would really love to have you all there in support of this amazing project.

Take a look at what to expect!

UPDATE:
I am sad to report that our application has been rejected by the City of Vancouver Council.
After spending many late nights at City hall the Council finally voted on November 18, 2008 to reject the application.
We look forward to meeting with the City planning department and the City Council to discuss the application and ascertain if there is a "revised" version that would be supported by the city and the neighbors of the Opus Hotel in Yaletown.

Universities offering free online courses

It seems a number of colleges are beginning to offer their courses online for free. No, you don't get the pretty piece of paper at the end, but apart from that, in some cases, you can see all the lectures, notes, quizzes etc. Below are some of them, if you know of others please add them in the comments!

Stanford Engineering: http://see.stanford.edu/

Yale: http://oyc.yale.edu/

MIT: http://ocw.mit.edu/

Now go hit the books!

Microsoft's Bill Gates / Jerry Seinfeld ads

Microsoft has released two ads to date which essentially depict Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates living in the "real world". Here they are below:

Shoe Circus:



New Family:

Apple's Let's Rock Event - Disappointing!

Today Apple hosted a one hour key-note presentation by CEO Steve Jobs. There were a number of new updates, but generally I was expecting more. Here are my thoughts:

1. New iPod Nano -
Bigger storage is great, new design looks cool and it's way thinner! It's available in more colours - whoopedeedo. The downside is I see the curved screen getting scratched more easily and producing more glare especially when outside. The new feature allowing you to shake the iPod to shuffle songs is great... except if you use it while you exercise, I'm not a big fan of listening to only the first 2 seconds of all of my songs!

2. Updated iPod Touch -
Thinner, stainless steal back and rounded like the iPhone. new features include integrated Nike+ and volume controls on the side and built in speaker! Nice update!

3. New Headphones -
Apple has released new in-ear headphones with 2 drivers, woofer and tweater. ...Price = $79. ouch.

4. iTunes update -
New feature called Genius recommends songs based on what's in your library and what you listen to. So you get a chance to get exposed to new music while Apple has a new way to push music at you and make a buck. HD movies also available on iTunes now.

5. iPhone 2.1 update -
bug fixes, fewer dropped calls, better battery life.

Let's hope the next event is a little better.