iMatt :: The Blog of Matt Clare

I’ve been watching Apple’s web site hoping for an iPhone in Canada and debating getting the Wi-Fi enabled iPod Touch. Something I noticed today is that the Apple Canada web page for the iPod Touch (www.apple.com/ca/ipodtouch) reads “Music, videos, photos, and websites in 8GB and 16BG models starting at $299” but when you press the “Order Now” button the Apple store wants to charge “$329” (again in the Apple Canada store). $299 is the American price, and probably where this image on the Canadian web page came from, b this is a $30 price increase in a situation where the exchange rate would suggest a $30 decrease from the American price.

I took two screen shots in case the web pages have been updated:

.. and a PDF print out here.

Here’s the message I sent to Apple’s web site feedback form:

Hello,

The web page at http://www.apple.com/ca/ipodtouch/ (the Canadian web site’s link for the iPod Touch) states “..starting at 299” but when one clicks the “Order Now” button the store lists the 8GB iPod as $329. I called 1800myapple and 18006927753 and was not able to purchase the iPod Touch at 299 (in US funds because I am in Canada, and in Canadian because “their system wouldn’t allow it”).

I know that you are not bound by the Retail Council of Canada’s price advertising laws, but I feel that you should pay more attention to these issues given the current price sensitivity in Canada because of the loonie-to-dollar exchange rate.

Thank you

UPDATE: Looks like it’s fixed! I assume that means that Apple reads their feedback messages.

A while ago I created the website passnerd.com as a site to suggest very secure passwords really quickly (type the address and copy the password from the middle of the page). I was looking to find a small niche for a web site that would have very little development required, few ongoing costs, and no support needs, that could just sit on the internet and help people.

You may recognize the model on the web site and my bed-head and Garden Basket tie.

Thanks to my friend Ben who spotted my face on the October 10th broadcast of CityNews and alerted me on FaceBook. Amber MacArthur did a short story on passwords and referenced PassNerd, which is written up here.

The video from that segment can be found here.

…. but we’re still having a great time getting settled in our new house.

The pictures from our honeymoon in Hawaii are on flickr.

On October 10th you’ll be asked to vote for an MP in Ontario and also asked if you would like to change the electoral system here. Please make sure that you vote and please help us change our electoral system in Ontario.

Right now your vote only counts for your local MP, and that local MP probably belongs to a party, and the party with the most MPs is put in office and has their leader become Premier. This new system will give you one vote for your local MP and one vote for a party that will be diveded up amongst lists submitted by the parties in advance, a system known as Proportional Representation (PR).

Here’s some reasons why the old system doesn’t work so well:

• If in every riding let us assume that Ontario votes 32% in favour of party A, 29% for party B and 29% for party C more. In this example people voted against the party in power than for the party that now has 100% of the power!
• Those votes for party B & C are effectively wasted, when one considers small parties like the Green party or Marijuana party (they’re on a roll) those “wasted” votes can be enough to elect one person, but because they are spread out across the province the current system shuts-out these parties.
• Right now your one vote isn’t for the party in power, just your local MP, and that person could change parties. In actuality the party in power and the leader probably have a greater influence on your life than your local MP.

Why this purposed system with some Proportional Representation, where you vote for a local MP and cast a separate for a party, is better than the current system.

• Party votes are never wasted
• You have more freedom to choose the best MP and the best party/leader
• Smaller parties like the Green party can really gain a voice in Ontario’s legislature
• Many mature and new legislatures in Europe and places like Israel use a part-list system to make sure every person can influence how the legislature looks
• We do need more politicians — I know, tough sell — per capita we are all under represented in Ontario, but I personally feel we need representation more on issues than regions at this point

So that’s my pitch! Please take advantage of this opportunity. This cause means a lot to me; I’ve been a member of Fair Vote Canada since I graduated high school. You can to Fair Vote Canada’s websiteto check out Don Ferguson’s pitch.

As you may-or-may-not-know my soon-to-be old place in St. Catharines does not have air conditioning, and particularly in the summer of 2006, this was not easy to deal with. To cope with the heat and humidity I took a leason from Geoff Milburn, former University of Waterloo, and formally famous inventor of the home-brew air conditioner.

Basically the system works by having a source of cold water, preferably with ice (I liked using 2L jugs with a little salt in them in order to keep them slushey) which you symphen through the fan and out a window and preferably into a garden etc (it was a little salt).

I don’t need it any more because we have real AC in Burlington so it’s free to anyone who can pick it up from Markham or BrockU. Does this homebrew AC make you green with envy?