iMatt :: The Blog of Matt Clare

Interesting and insightful comment from Billy Corgan while in Cleveland to kick off the Pumpkins latest world tour:

Do you go online to see what the fans are saying about the new tracks?

No, but I still get a vibe. If I read anything from let’s call it the “hardcore fanbase,” they are stuck in ’93. It’s 17 years [later] and I don’t know what they expect to have happen. It’s sort of beautiful because what they are saying is, “You so touched me in that moment, I want more of that.” But the thing that I find really insulting is there’s a deeper message there which is “You’ll never be better.” To try to tell a man that he’ll never improve beyond something he did when he was half-crocked on drugs or drama, that’s just not right. When I look at Johnny Cash or Neil Young or Tom Waits, those guys have proven that by remaining vital to themselves, that at some point they are able to burst through with another period.

As reported by “The Rolling Stone” www.rollingstone.com/music/news/17386/181497

For the record, I’m aware I’m that guy and just because I’m not that excited about the new music does not make want the Pumpkins to start doing casino gigs “playing all of the hits you love”.

Billy’s an artist, he should keep creating art for any reason he wants and it’s his dedication to that pursuit that made me a fan in the first place.

That said, if CSNY&Corgan unite I’ll go to their concert anywhere no matter what they play!

“Tonight’s the night, Tonight’s the greatest night I’ve ever know?”

Apple always succeeds when they make it feel like their technology enables the best of human emotions and experience. It’s really hard to watch this video and at the end of the 60 seconds not feel like you need to buy the phone to feel this way again….. then you realize that you’d have to buy one for everyone you care about, and then you just watch the the video again.

Keep in mind:

• They don’t normally let you use your phone near medical equipment and she must have had a MyFi in her purse (at least in Canada a MiFi can be on the same account as your iPhone)
• Who’s going to help grandma and grandpa with their WAP2 password?
• Hotel WiFi has never worked that well.

Really good blog post by Shea Sylvia about her chilling experience with a FourSquare “stalker”.

foursquare.com/ is a web site and mobile app that lets users “check-in” at locations. The social side that many enjoy is being able to discover your friends at locations, make new ones, and bring exciting elements of the internet to your physical spaces. Also, there’s “badges” like “Mayor” or “bender” people can earn for checking-in at a location enough times. People like badges.

I’m not a foursquare user, but I feel like I know enough about the service to understand its appeal and its danger.

Sites like pleaserobme.com/ made a joke to highlight the danger is publicly telling people where you are, “because it leaves one place you’re definitely not… home.” Their goal is to scare both users and services like enough to address this issue.

Shea Sylvia had a much more visceral scare. She’s OK, but the experience clearly had an impact on her: blog.sheasylvia.com/post/809428679

I also appreciate her acknowledgement that her mother will probably read her blog post. I know my mother’s the number one reader of my blog.

Update: BinaryParadox ( twitter.com/BinaryParadox ) tipped me off about icanstalku.com — uses camera EXIF information posted to twitter posts to get the location of the person posting the picture.

Last summer we signed-up to be Peaksavers. In the middle of the summer of 2010’s first heave wave in Ontario I’m still keen.

Once we had signed-up Burlington Hydro sent someone over to install a new thermostat. The new thermostat allows Burlington Hydro / The Peaksaver program to send a signal to raise the temperature in our house by 2 degrees Celsius over 4 hours. Apparently the message is sent infrequently and only on weekdays and you can opt out twice a year. They sweetened the deal with a $25 credit on our bill.

One of the features we’ve made a lot of use of is the Online Control Centre. It allows you to program the thermostat via the web from anywhere in the world. For us it’s been a good way to change the temperature back to a livable temperature before we arrive home from being on the road.

I mentioned to the gentleman who installed the thermostat that I was looking forward to meters that account for time-of-use. He pointed out that it disproportionately affects the elderly and new mothers, as they are the ones that are home during peak-price hours. Fair comment. But I really feel that people need to pay the real price of energy and be responsible for the decisions that make about its use.

After almost a year I recommend the program to anyone in Ontario that can sign-up.

UPDATE – Tuesday August 31, 2010

Yesterday I actually snapped a picture of us “being PeakSaved”.

Five issues that are worth protesting at the Toronto G20 meeting about that the rioters are preventing from being heard:

1. The environment, it’s exploitation and climate change and the global response it requires.
2. Sovereign debut levels….. of poor countries.
3. Maternal health AND family planning.
4. The rights of women and minorities in discriminatory cultures.
5. The many diseases that disproportionally affect poor countries.

Issues I couldn’t care less about include “Who’s streets are who’s” and who started the fire, you or the police cruiser.