Dave Samojlenko

  • BluesFest, TIFF, and my bad blogging past

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    dsamojlenko

    Alright, I’m a spotty blogger at best.  So I’m not going to be making any more promises about how I’m going to become a better blogger, but one thing I’ve noted is that the times that I’ve really enjoyed blogging have been when I’ve written about an event or trip or something that I’m building towards.

    I’ll link ’em up later, but my blog leading up to my second trip to Burning Man comes to mind.  Also two years ago when I went to the Toronto International Film Festival I did a pretty decent job of writing about that experience while I was there.

    Well, this summer I’ve got a couple of big events that I’m really looking forward to – starting with the Ottawa BluesFest in July – this is the first year I’ve bought a pass for the entire festival and I’m really looking forward to more than 10 days of music right here in my home town.

    Actually, this summer should be pretty good for music all around (last year was phenomenal too – I’ll write up some of the shows I saw later).  I just got my tickets for the Radiohead show in Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal in August.  I’ve been dying to see these guys for a long time.

    And to wrap up the summer, the girlfriend and I just booked our apartment in Toronto for the week of September 4-11th – we’re officially going to the Toronto International Film Festival 2008!  We’re pretty excited about it – the last time we went we were there for 8 days and saw 22 films – but we took one day off.  This year we’re there for 7 days and I’d like to hit at least as many films.

    We booked an apartment just off Yonge near Ryerson – smack in the middle of everything!  Being so close to Ryerson will be good for those late nights after the Midnight Madness films – and we’re pretty much half-way between the theatres up at Bloor/Yorkville and the Paramount theatres down at King.

    Even though I know the new site doesn’t launch until June 27th, I find myself checking the www.tiff08.ca website every day to see if something new pops up.

    With all this to look forward to, I’ve got lots to write about this summer/festival season.  Like I said, no promises, but I will try to get some posts up about these events as the dates approach.  Now I think I’m gonna go and hit refresh a couple times on the TIFF website.

  • Windows XP on OLPC laptop?

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    dsamojlenko

    “Microsoft said it plans to conduct field trials in January of Windows XP running on the One Laptop Per Child XO laptop.The XO laptop ships with a Linux operating system and is meant to be a low-cost machine available to people who live in countries with developing economies. Earlier this year, Microsoft launched its Unlimited Potential program, which allows governments to buy a US$3 software bundle designed for students, a move that some observers said would compete with the OLPC initiative.

    Looking beyond the OLPC to other small PCs that use flash storage, Microsoft said it plans to publish design guidelines early in 2008 to assist flash-based device makers in building machines that will support Windows.

    After the limited field trials beginning in January, Windows XP for the XO could be available in the second half of 2008, Microsoft said.

    Versions of the XO PC running Windows won’t be available in the U.S. or Canada, Microsoft said.”

  • del.icio.us bookmarks for November 15th through November 20th

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    dsamojlenko

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    dsamojlenko

    Kottke: “From the past weekend’s box office: the Coen brothers’ No Country For Old Men took in $3.1 million on 148 screens while Tom Cruise’s bombtacular Lions for Lambs took in $2.9 million on 2216 screens. Ouch.”

    I saw No Country For Old Men – it was fantastic!