I opened my email today and what do I see?  I’m so fortunate!  I have an Amazon UK gift certificate!

The email says that “Unc Terry” sent the certificate to “Nep Terry”.  At the bottom it says “For graduating.  We expected none less!”

I looked all around the email for phishing attempts but I can’t find anything.

The email LOOKS legitimate but it can’t be.  I don’t have an “Uncle Terry” so that part is bogus.  And the fact that it says “Unc Terry” and “Nep Terry” (I assume that means “Nephew Terry”) tells me it has to be written by spammers in another country.

Anyone else getting this?  I can’t find any trace of this being known spam by Googling it.  But it has to be!

Well, Windows Live Groups is now LIVE.  I’m not sure that it has been announced with a fanfare because the main Live home page doesn’t list it yet, but it is up and running.

My first impressions are somewhat favorable but that is taking a look at it on it’s own.  It is definitely NOT meant as a replacement for MSN Groups and if you’re hoping to move over to this service, I’d think again.

This new service is really for small groups of friends to collaborate and share thoughts, pictures and make plans.  It is an ideal site for a family to keep in touch by sharing pictures, planning dinners, talking about things.

The service offers a “Calendar”, “Discussion” and “Photos”.  That’s about it.  You can use the new “SkyDrive” service to share various file types as well.

There’s no “pages” and very little UI customization (just some themes).  There is only one message board and it is more like a blog.

So for it’s intended purposes, I’d say it delivers.  Give it a try!

I’ve had my iPhone for 2 weeks now and I’ve quickly found some apps (all free, except 1) that I use daily:

Google App – I love the voice search option – great for when you don’t feel like typing in multiple words.  So far it has worked great.  I also use this app for use with the Google Reader.  It allows me to keep up on my RSS subscriptions, wherever I am and it auto-syncs with the real Google Reader.

Facebook – I use this many times a day.  Although it doesn’t give you everything, it is a quick glance to see what my friends and family are up to.

Twitteriffic – A great way to keep up with Twitter when not at a computer.

WeatherEye – Far superior to the built-in weather app, this gives you more detailed info about the weather and even includes links to weather alerts.  Great!

Sol Free – a similar little Solitaire app that just works.  Too bad I can’t win that much!

Bejeweled 2 – not much to say here, but I love the game.  Worth the $2.99 price!

I also love visiting canada411.ca which has a mobile version.    It hot links the phone number so your iPhone will call the number.   

I love that if you put an address into the contact list, you can get a map and directions for that location.

Complaints about the iPhone?  I wish you could keep multiple windows open.  It is annoying if you launch a browser within an app and the app closes.  Copy and paste would be nice too!

MMS would be really handy!

When Microsoft put up the notice that MSN Groups was shutting down, they also announced that Windows Live Groups would be available around November 17.  That day came and went with nothing announced other than that Windows Live services were launching “soon”.  I heard that December 1st was the new date for the launch.

It is now December 3rd and still no word.

For those waiting to see if the new Groups will provide a service similar to MSN Groups, I wouldn’t hold my breath.  I have heard that it will only be useful for small groups of maybe 10 people.

But for now, keep your eye on the Windows Live site and you may see Groups come alive soon.

So, MSN Groups are dead (or will be on February 19, 2009).  {Hey, did Microsoft get confused and think they were broadcast with Analog TV?!}

I’ve scouted around and found some alternatives that you might want to use.

Yuku.com (formerly EZ-board) – this one is my favorite.  It is a highly customizable discussion forum site.  Downside?  No “pages” per se but Admins can create a message board area for this type of information and they can edit the content over and over.  They can lock down those forums so others cannot reply to them.  Yuku is ad-supported unless you pay for your community.  Individuals can make their entire Yuku experience ad-free as well.

Multiply.com (the default migration option) – I like this site but it is very different than MSN groups and their way of functioning is a different paradigm than MSN users are used to.  I would expect many people to be unhappy.  If you are willing to change and adapt, it is a great choice!  Multiply is ad-supported unless the individual pays for a premium account.

Webs – This looks like a nice option for those who want a community group as well.  I have not used it, but it looks very promising.

Aimoo – I haven’t used it but they promise to migrate your MSN Group for you, if you open it up.  So if you have a Private group, this is NOT the option for you.  From what I read, it seems that you old content is simply archived and you cannot work with it once it is migrated.  I also think that the site is not as flexible as Yuku is.  The “English” help / explanations on the site are not well written which leads me to believe that the site was either put together quickly or by people who are not native English speakers.  I would be a little leery of this site’s long term prospects.

World Groups – this is where Microsoft sent their “Adult” groups a few years ago.  In look around this site, it seems to be geared towards “mature” individuals.  I did not look too much at this site because I am not interested in adult groups.

Yahoo Groups – this has been around for a long time.  It is simple and not very customizable.  It may be an option for you but it will disappoint MSN Groups users, in my opinion.

Invasion Power Board – this is very similar to Yuku but you have to have your own server / hosting service.  Since you run it yourself, it is not ad-supported (unless you want to add your own!).  The hosting will probably be more expensive than Yuku’s fees but you would have more control (and also more responsibility to upgrade the software and keep it current).

If you know of others, please let me know.

OK, I resisted.  I complained.  In the end, my assumptions and complaints were really baseless.

What really made me change my tune?  Rogers introduced new plans this month which allowed my wife and I to have a family plan which would pool our phone minutes and allow us to talk to each other for free, unlimited.  The new family plan, for $80 includes 400 minutes of shared talk time and 500 MB of data.  We also chose the MY5 plan so we can call 5 other numbers, even long distance, for free.  In my opinion, that plan is a great starter plan.  We’ll see how we use the device.  If we start using more data or need more minutes, we might have to break off in to individual plans.  But for now, it is perfect.

Since I, currently, work from home, I don’t use the 3G network that much.  I’m sure the usage will increase in time as I use the GPS features and reference applications that you can use.  If I switch jobs and start working out of the house, I’m sure my usage will go way up.

I can even keep the phone in my pocket because it really does fit, especially since I don’t have to carry a phone and an iPod!

I was even pleasantly surprised that applications now support Canada (such as i.TV and Flixster).  So far, I’m 100% content.

Let the adventure begin!

It is official.  MSN Groups, which has been around for 13 years is closing its doors in February 2009.

Microsoft will be recommending that users migrate over to the Web 2.0 site “Multiply” and there will be a tool to import group content.  At this point it is not clear how well that will work.  It does not appear that Multiply offers “discussion boards” and only offers a “blog” section.  For groups with multiple “boards”, the blog style may quickly become a mess.  In fact, even for those sites with just one board but a lot of activity may find it difficult to manage.

I think one of the larger issues will be that Managers will find it difficult to get new members once they move off of MSN Groups.

Curiously, Microsoft is launching their new Windows Live Groups in November but is NOT providing a tool to migrate users to that service.  Perhaps they know people would go there and they don’t want the headaches of dealing with migration issues themselves.

I’ll report back more on this as I find out more.

Us Canadians are getting ready to vote next week and our American friends are getting ready to vote next month.

The world economy is a mess.

Is now really the time to be voting?  It almost feels like we are gambling on our future.  But if the elections were cancelled, then we’d just be keeping our current governments and who knows if they are going to do things right.

So what really is the issue?

We have people running for office who may, or may not, be qualified to run our countries.  We have people running for local office who are probably even more dangerous and less likely to be good to represent us.

When I look at my local candidates, I see a very strong candidate but I don’t know if I support the party yet or not.  The other candidates seem to “green” (not meaning ‘environmentally friendly!) and “risky”.  So, do we vote for the strongest candidate or the one who best represents what we feel should be the course of action taken?

I don’t feel I am qualified, in this messy economic state, to know which direction we should go.  I almost feel like we should only let those who know economics steer the countries right now.

However, in the past, it almost feels like the governments don’t really affect that much of what happens and they just sort of float along with however the economy goes. 

What should we do?

I was looking at the Google G1 because I still have not bought a new cell phone. 

It looks slick and it basically does a lot of what the iPhone and Blackberry can do – it just does it in a different way.

The question is – do we Canadians really need it (since no carrier has yet to announce it)?

The G1 has Wi-Fi and so does the iPhone and so does the Blackberry Bold.  The G1 supports the 3G network and so does the iPhone and so does the Blackberry Bold.

So why would we need a third entrant that is GSM?

I guess it will really come down to the form factor of the phone and the Applications that you can add.  You have to decide which set of applications you want / need.

What do I hope the G1 will bring to us?  I hope it encourages more people to use smart phones and that Rogers will bring the data plan prices down to reasonable rates and start letting Canadians have two year contracts.  Most phones, whether by design or otherwise, do not last more than two years.  I think the battery life is the biggest issue.  When you can get a phone for $150 - $200 but you have to pay $100 for a battery, who wants to just get a new battery, you might as well get a new phone.  It is even worse if you go for the contracts that give you free phones.

So the stock market tanked on Monday, everywhere.

Should we all go run and hide?  No, because then we will just make things worse.

The sky is falling, somewhat.  But if we remain calmn, it will be a lot better than if we all panic.

I’ll stay the course and just keep on going.  If the bottom is really going to drop out, I don’t think there is much that will save us.  If this is just one of those moments in time when things look bad and then they improve, then we’ll all ride this out.

Hopefully what is on the other side will be much brighter.

Hey, tomorrow is October!  One of the best months of the year, in my opinion!