Disqus - Latest Comments for derekread

Re: Your Phone Has an FM Chip. So Why Can’t You Listen to the Radio?

derekread — Sat, 17 Jun 2017 04:25:15 -0000

I get somewhere between way more than 1 week up to 2 weeks of FM on my phone (if that is all I was to use it for) it uses so little power. I know this because of the power monitoring tool built into my version of CyanogenMod. In comparison I would get about 1/2 day of streaming on wifi, much much less on cell data (which I would never pay for as data prices in Canada are insane). I listen to saved podcasts as well but in that case I get about 1 day on the outside.

FM definitely wins by a mile when it comes to power consumption.

The killer for FM is that many places don't have good stations. I happen to live in a place where there are a lot of good stations so for me FM on my cell is very nice to have.

Re: Your Phone Has an FM Chip. So Why Can’t You Listen to the Radio?

derekread — Sat, 17 Jun 2017 04:19:45 -0000

When I purchased my Xiaomi Redme 2 a few years ago an accessible FM chip was one of the features that sold me on it. It is an Android phone (so very flexible OS options as well). FM on a phone compared to all other apps uses almost no power. I can listen to FM for between 1 and 2 weeks on my phone before needing to recharge and FM coverage in my city (Vancouver BC) is excellent. Lots of great stations though I spend much of my time on CBC. In contrast, streaming lasts maybe 1/2 day at the outside, downloaded podcasts (which I also listen too) maybe 1 day.

Re: Obama’s White House Photographer Is Throwing a Ton of Not-So-Subtle Shade at Trump on Instagram

derekread — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 20:01:48 -0000

The "Badass Longcoat" is the "ideal action-hero garment" according to TV Tropes. But somehow I don't think it would work with the current prez. You kind of already have to have some kind cool vibe going on for it to really have an effect.

Re: It's official - Vancouver's snowmageddon has been recordbreaking! | Daily Hive Vancouver

derekread — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 18:53:09 -0000

Data from weatherstats.ca
Snowfall in one 24 Hour Period - Vancouver
Limited to dates with 10cm or more snowfall
1996 DEC 29: 41.0 cm
1968 DEC 31: 31.2 cm
1990 DEC 30: 30.0 cm
1971 JAN 13: 29.7 cm
1990 FEB 15: 28.6 cm
1971 DEC 08: 28.4 cm
2008 DEC 24: 26.8 cm
1962 MAR 02: 25.9 cm
1968 DEC 22: 25.7 cm
1965 DEC 27: 24.4 cm
2008 DEC 21: 22.4 cm
1975 NOV 30: 22.1 cm
2002 JAN 27: 21.5 cm
1971 JAN 11: 21.3 cm
1971 JAN 15: 21.1 cm
1950 JAN 23: 20.6 cm
1975 DEC 12: 20.6 cm
1938 DEC 26: 20.6 cm
2012 DEC 19: 19.8 cm
1978 JAN 03: 19.6 cm
1991 JAN 07: 18.8 cm
1989 FEB 17: 18.8 cm
1971 JAN 14: 18.5 cm
1957 JAN 30: 18.5 cm
2006 NOV 26: 18.4 cm
1956 FEB 16: 18.3 cm
1950 JAN 25: 18.0 cm
1971 DEC 25: 17.5 cm
1991 JAN 08: 17.4 cm
1971 JAN 22: 17.3 cm
1949 FEB 05: 16.3 cm
1960 JAN 10: 16.0 cm
1942 DEC 05: 15.7 cm
1996 DEC 23: 15.3 cm
1951 MAR 03: 15.2 cm
1957 FEB 22: 15.0 cm
1964 DEC 28: 15.0 cm
1948 DEC 18: 14.5 cm
1978 FEB 01: 14.4 cm
2014 FEB 24: 14.4 cm
1958 DEC 06: 14.2 cm
2011 JAN 12: 14.0 cm
1966 MAR 01: 13.7 cm
1962 JAN 17: 13.5 cm
1971 FEB 26: 13.2 cm
1966 JAN 04: 13.0 cm
1954 JAN 21: 13.0 cm
1984 DEC 20: 13.0 cm
1971 FEB 27: 12.4 cm
1971 DEC 13: 12.2 cm
2017 FEB 03: 12.0 cm
2008 DEC 14: 11.8 cm
1943 JAN 19: 11.4 cm
1996 JAN 20: 11.4 cm
1965 JAN 01: 11.2 cm
1951 JAN 18: 11.2 cm
1955 NOV 17: 11.2 cm
2000 DEC 16: 11.0 cm
2017 FEB 04: 10.6 cm
1958 DEC 07: 10.4 cm
1975 FEB 09: 10.2 cm

Re: It's official - Vancouver's snowmageddon has been recordbreaking! | Daily Hive Vancouver

derekread — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 17:23:12 -0000

Keep in mind that this is for that one single day, measured against the historic record for that same day for other years.

So, though we've had a lot of snow this year for Vancouver, and it has stuck around longer than most years, this year (so far) has been nothing like 2006 which had a lot more snow that stuck overall, or 1996 which had about 5 times as much snow as we've had this year in total and it stuck that year and stayed. See: https://www.google.com/sear...

Re: TrudeauMetre.ca

derekread — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 17:36:06 -0000

Move this one to "broken". http://www.cbc.ca/news/poli...

Re: The Lost World of Early Nintendo Consoles

derekread — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 17:50:15 -0000

Me: Oh good, no number in the title, probably not a slideshow.
PCMag: Psyche! Slideshow! Ha ha ha...

Re: Defiant Department of Energy Refuses Trump Request for Names

derekread — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 19:18:39 -0000

"Can you...?" is an odd way to phrase most of these questions. The proper answer to that type of question is a one word answer: "yes" or "no". Those are probably not the answers they are looking for. Obviously, it would be best to word these as a polite command or a request for specific information: "Please provide..."

There are a few other questions in the full list of 74 that sound like they were written by someone with a less-than-perfect command of English. That makes me a bit uncomfortable.

Re: Canadian banks are helping bankroll the Dakota Access Pipeline

derekread — Wed, 23 Nov 2016 21:12:35 -0000

The link Rabble provides in their story goes here: http://www.foodandwaterwatc...

Re: 'I'm afraid for my life'

derekread — Thu, 03 Nov 2016 19:04:34 -0000

Because subsidies.

Re: A More Accurate World Map Wins Prestigious Japanese Design Award

derekread — Thu, 03 Nov 2016 17:02:42 -0000

The main author gave a TED Talk about this projection in 2011 (English subtitles available): https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Unfortunately, even though it has been around for many years a nice printed copy is only available in Japanese stores. You can obtain a poster for about US$35 from here but it includes a bunch of things on it that, while interesting and explanatory, distract from the actual map: http://www.alexcious.com/pr...

However, what would be more interesting to see would be availability of their software or algorithms as that would make it possible to view a flat representation of the entire planet on a computer screen from any viewpoint (centered over a particular location on the globe).

Re: A More Accurate World Map Wins Prestigious Japanese Design Award

derekread — Thu, 03 Nov 2016 16:53:42 -0000

The main author gave a TED Talk about this projection in 2011 (English subtitles available): https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Unfortunately, even though it has been around for quite a few years a nice printed copy is only available in Japanese stores. You can obtain a poster through the mail for about US$35 but it includes images on it that, while interesting and explanatory, distract from the actual map: http://www.alexcious.com/pr...

Re: B.C.’s Pipeline Incident Map Has Been Quietly Offline for Over a Month

derekread — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 18:26:59 -0000

If this was done properly (like it would be with a private business where profits might be at stake) the old version of the map would remain available and continue to show information up to at least the last data entry (all historic data). Any new work would be done on a separate branch and when completed the two would either both be available for some time until the new version was tested or the new one would be swapped in for the old once work on the new version was completed. But this is a government agency, so we allow them to suck because there are no consequences.

Re: You can stop playing eco-warrior now, Trudeau

derekread — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 18:20:41 -0000

Here's an interesting exercise. Try to locate some official Canadian government information stating exactly how much C02 is being emitted by Canada's tar sands. I am having a difficult time. I was interested in tracking that information down by way of comparison to this LNG project. I have read various provincial (Alberta) and federal government agency reports (NRCAN, NEB, etc) that state emissions will increase by a certain percentage by a certain year, or that the rate is decreasing by a certain percentage, or that those numbers somehow equate to what is happening in other countries. However, I have yet to locate any hard numbers that specifically list tonnes of CO2 per year, or any other period of time. How is it that these reports can tell us things are going up or down as percentages but at the same time they don't actually give us the actual numbers in tonnes? You can't calculate a percentage if you don't have a fixed number with a unit to base it on. Or perhaps these numbers are all just estimates and nobody really knows?

Re: The world’s most spoken languages in one simple infographic

derekread — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 21:12:17 -0000

I think the US numbers used by this person might be from households where English is the only language spoken, which is a reasonable estimate for some people. The number 225 million is close to the latest data from the US Census Bureau number of 230 million "English only households" as of 2011.

The US Census Bureau doesn't use the term "native speaker", so going with their numbers we might inflate them a bit, assuming that some people in households that speak multiple languages including English are "native speakers" of English.

The best report I can find was issued in 2013 and uses the stats compiled in 2011. It lists people as speaking "only English at home" at about 230 million (total population was estimated at 312 million in 2011). If you add to that the people that "speak multiple languages at home" including English, (which that report lists as 60 million) but limit that to speaking "English very well" (58.2% of that 60 million) it raises the number of possible "native speakers" (now our own definition of what that means) by about 35 million. Using that logic, and those stats, I get 265 million "native speakers" out of 312 million, or about 84% "native English speakers". The report is here: https://www.census.gov/prod...

Re: Canadian Olympic swimmer Santo Condorelli shows middle finger to dad before every race

derekread — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 19:44:29 -0000

Sorry. Some minuscule portion of your tax dollars are helping fund Own the Podium, which in turn does funding swimming, which in turn possibly gives this one swimmer a few bucks.
http://ownthepodium.org/Fun...

Re: Bill Murray Gives His Most Honest Reaction Yet To The Ghostbusters Remake

derekread — Mon, 25 Jul 2016 20:22:41 -0000

Went to see the movie a few weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised. A couple of jokes flopped but most of them were pretty funny. Every character had a reason for being on the team (though Kristen Wiig's character was the most detailed part and the best performance). I did feel that the ending was rushed but maybe that's just because I wanted a longer movie. One good thing about this one is that among all the goofiness there are some bits where it is actually quite scary and that makes it better than the original for me. My son had to look away a few times.

I still like the original but I think I'd have to flip a coin if I was choosing to watch the 1984 or 2016 version now. And I'll definitely give Ghostbusters II a pass.

Re: Bill Murray Gives His Most Honest Reaction Yet To The Ghostbusters Remake

derekread — Mon, 25 Jul 2016 20:01:47 -0000

As with any kind of censorship in China you will never really know the exact reasons a particular movie is banned. Any reports in media will be speculation. It looks like this one will be banned in theatres. I wouldn't consider this movie to be "realistic" at all. But maybe "realistic" just means it takes place in what appears to be modern times in a place that actually exists (New York) and that all other laws of physics (other than the ghost stuff) are basically adhered to. In the end it is probably just because the old superstitious guys that censor movies watched it and peed their pants a little bit (my 10-year-old was a bit scared). If Ghostbusters was backed by Alibaba and Huahua Media (like Start Trek Beyond is) or some other very large Chinese company, I think it would be a very different story.

Re: Fulfill Your Dreams of Becoming a Burrito With This Tortilla Towel

derekread — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 18:48:06 -0000

I think most people will just assume you never clean your blanket. Kind of embarrassing.

Re: Grouse Mountain launches Skyride Surf on top of gondolas

derekread — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 17:34:08 -0000

Peak to Peak at Whistler needs to do this for their base jumper visitors.

Re: Um… Where’s Gamora? Guardians Of The Galaxy Action Figure Set Leaves Out The Woman Hero

derekread — Fri, 08 Jul 2016 18:08:05 -0000

Here's the package you get with each one in this set. With very slight differences (info about the item included) the image on the left is identical. Why is Gamora on the box if she isn't available? Pretty damn misleading if you ask me.

Re: Um… Where’s Gamora? Guardians Of The Galaxy Action Figure Set Leaves Out The Woman Hero

derekread — Fri, 08 Jul 2016 17:57:48 -0000

We found this particular collection to be pretty cool (each one has an action they perform when you squeeze them). But it is also frustrating because when we initially purchased a couple of them they showed Gamora on the box, so we assumed the whole "team" would be available and that maybe our retailers just didn't have them ("maybe they made fewer of her" we thought). We eventually ended up with exactly the set you show here. Employees at ToysRUs and other retailers like London Drugs here (Vancouver, Canada) kept telling us to check later. She never materialized. My son was pretty disappointed when I brought Ronan home (the last figure I could find) and told him I'd pretty much given up on completing the set after a year of checking around local stores. "Who wants the bad guy?" was his reaction. He substitutes a long legged plastic green frog for her with a Lego sword when playing, so I've decided not to bother getting one from another set. They don't match for display purposes anyway: too large, too small or just really crappy looking, or upwards of $30 (way more than the $7 I paid for each of the rest).

Re: Bill Murray Gives His Most Honest Reaction Yet To The Ghostbusters Remake

derekread — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 17:53:18 -0000

One thing I hope they change in this one is that all the main characters have a real place on the team. Why include someone on the team that doesn't really seem to do anything?

A big problem I had with the first two movies was the Winston character. He seemed to be thrown in as an afterthought, like scenery. I always wondered why they asked him to join the team, since they never explained if he had any special skills in the movies. The only line I remember him saying is when he complains about his low pay. In the cartoons he was the driver / mechanic. Even giving him that special skill would have made sense in the films.

Re: Bill Murray Gives His Most Honest Reaction Yet To The Ghostbusters Remake

derekread — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 17:32:32 -0000

I was a huge fan of the first one (I went trick or treating three years in a row as a Ghostbuster in the 80s). The second one was really disappointing. The trailer for this new one looks great. I'm all in. Taking my 10-year-old and we'll have a good time no matter what. He hasn't seen the other two yet so this will be his Ghostbusters.

Re: Do you know which English word to use? [QUIZ]

derekread — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 05:48:25 -0000

My score was also 19 and I agree with Anneke's points about the two sentences in question.

Spending one's own time to help educate others is generally considered a good thing to do where I'm from. I'm not sure why you consider it a waste of time but I suppose everyone has their priorities. Some people like to give back, others do not. To each their own.