Pick of the week: Bagcheck

One of the websites that has really caught my attention in the last couple weeks is Bagcheck. A truly fantastic site, with a great premise, which is the creation of bags, which are then shared amongst the Bagcheck community, in a dynamic exploration system. A quick and effective search engine allows a user to place pretty much anything they can think of in a bag!

Head on over and take a look! Take a second to join or use your Facebook account to log in. It's that easy and well worth visiting!

Pick of the week: Listgorilla.com

Are you a list addict? If so, then Listgorilla is for you! Currently in beta, Listgorilla is a fantastic site, with a great looking interface, that lets you view, create and modify lists created by you and other users. Personally, I think the best feature of the lists created on this site is the good/bad flags listed next to each item in a list, allowing users to "vote" for the placement of specific items in a list. Don't think that Spider Man is the greatest comic book hero? Vote that choice down from first place in the list.

It is possible to log in to Listgorilla using your Google account, your Facebook account and even your Twitter account, but that's only required to create lists or to flag items as good or bad. Browsing the lists is open to everyone.

Head on over to Listgorilla and take a look at the lists they've put up! While you are there, why not create your own or have your say about someone else's list? Enjoy!

My top ten iPod Touch apps

After much debate, I decided, a couple months ago to purchase an iPod Touch. Having used my wife's iPad for a little while, I knew that I wanted a better device than the iPod Nano I had been using. Of course, I didn't expect that one of the primary uses of the iPod Touch would be the use of some absolutely fantastic applications and games. And with friends regularly asking for my advice concerning apps, I thought I would compile a list of my ten favourite apps to date.

1. Evernote

If there was one single application that I could install on my iPod Touch or iPhone, this would be the one. With the ability to keep created content synched across your devices and computer(s), Evernote helps you to remember everything, but does so much more. If you haven't experienced it for yourself, give your memory a helping hand and try the free version today.

2. List Pro

Obsessive list builders, this is the app for you. Not only can List Pro create pretty much any list you could care for, it also provides several templates and a free online list exchange service that contains some real gems. A real favorite of mine in any case.

3. Facebook

Having used the web version of FB for many years, I had become a little jaded by all of the extra (some might say unrequired but likely profitable) features available beyond the basic elements that made FB famous. Well, the FB app is back to basics for this application, with all of the basic features that made FB great and nothing extra. If you haven't tried this app, do yourself the courtesy of trying it, you will love FB again.

4. Genius Scan

Since I have discovered Evernote, I keep wishing that Genius Scan's great functionality could be somehow integrated. When confronted with an image, a printed document, a posted bus schedule, a posted bill, I whip out this great app, snap a shot, correct the skewing with my finger and save the image as a document accessible when I want it! Fantastic!

5. VLC

Allows you to play pretty much any video file on your device. Do I need to say any more?

6. QuickVoice

Turn your iPod Touch or iPhone into a voice dictation machine. With a better interface than the included Voice Recorder and simpler file management, truly a great tool.

7. MyPDFs

If you have any PDF documents in your library, this is the application for you. With a number of nice features for viewing even the largest PDF files, this is the application that lets you take your library with you.

8. CIBC app

Being early adopters, CIBC was the first Canadian bank to offer an iPod app. Great app, every feature you could expect! A great way to access your banking services.

9. Skype

If you've never used Skype, give it a try right now. One of the easiest ways to communicate with people the world over. Make international calls for pennies a minute with great call quality. Set up easy video chat sessions and more. The app works fantastically well for making calls all over, although you need to purchase credits to make calls to landlines.

10. AppShopper

Want a great way to find new apps? Would you like to know when some paid applications become free? Well then AppShopper is for you then! A simple interface, great controls and updated every day if not several times a day, this is the app for your app needs.


I decided that I would post a similar list for games in the near future. Keep your eyes open for the next installment soon.

100 things I love about my wife

A little while back, I read a list that someone put together about the things that they loved about their wife, and I thought I would do the same. Here goes:

1. She loves me
2. She gave me a wonderful son
3. She is beautiful
4. She is intelligent beyond most
5. Her great sense of humor
6. She tolerates my odd behaviors
7. She is very patient
8. She is a fantastic mother
9. She cooks very well
10. She makes me feel like I am better than I really am
11. How proud I am to introduce her to other people
12. Her great compassion
13. Her attention to detail
14. How she sings when she thinks she's alone
15. The way she looks at me when she wakes up
16. The fact that she did not know that Stevie Wonder was blind
17. Or black
18. She cries when she is happy
19. Because she thinks that everyone she meets is as nice as she is
20. How she says the word robot
21. How she calls Lord of the Rings the walking movie
22. The fact that she runs the water in the sink when she pees
23. Because she worries about what I will think of her when she is sick
24. The way she looked the day we got married
25. The fact that she was 15 minutes late to our wedding and made me wait at the altar
26. Because she has not left me because I didn't take her somewhere nice for our honeymoon
27. The day she told me she was pregnant
28. Her incredible artistic talent
29. Because all my friends love her
30. Because I am a better person because she thinks I'm a better person
31. How she never remembers a movie she's seen
32. She thinks I'm sexy
33. She never judges me
34. She snuggles nicely
35. She enjoys having deep conversations
36. Her appetite for chocolate
37. And mayonnaise
38. Her great sense of fashion
39. The fact that she has kept all of our sons clothes since he was born, hidden in garbage bags
40. That she thinks I'm funny
41. That I actually make her laugh
42. That she finds the same things funny as I do
43. That she gets jealous about other women
44. That she has kept every little scrap and note I've left her
45. That she supports all of my dreams
46. That she still blushes when I whistle at her
47. She skips when she is happy
48. She thinks that Peter Sellers and Bill Murray are funny
49. She gets very competitive when she plays games
50. She is completely faithful and expects the same
51. Sometimes she cries when she thinks about our little boy
52. She smiles when she sleeps and she doesn't know
53. She is gracious
54. She was born in the wrong century
55. When she gives me money, it's always in an envelope, like a payoff
56. She is elegant
57. Her imagination is incredibly funny
58. She meows when I squeeze her in a bear hug
59. Because she still believes that men should be men and women should be women
60. The way she wags her eyebrows at me
61. Her hilarious dirty frenchman accent
62. The fact that she has four pairs of glasses and hates wearing any of them
63. How easily she understands the most complex subjects
64. Her willingness to try new things
65. The fact that she forces herself to try things she did not like again, hoping she might learn to like them
66. The way she never notices that most men stare at her when they see her
67. That she still married me after our first date ended in a car accident
68. Because she loves science fiction
69. Her obsessive need to achieve perfection in everything she does
70. The fact that she never folds her underwear
71. Her drive to improve herself
72. Her dedication to her family
73. She always needs covers, even in the middle of summer
74. She is always cold, even though she is from Siberia
75. That she accepts from others what she would not accept from herself
76. That she finds our son better looking than me
77. Her beautiful blue-green eyes
78. She kisses me every time I leave, even if it's for five minutes
79. She thinks "that's what she said" is funny
80. The fact that she can create a card from scratch in 5 minutes
81. How sensitive she is
82. How she comforts me when I continue to fail her
83. How I trust her more than anyone else I've ever known
84. How safe she makes me feel
85. That she laughs at my wordy humour
86. How she is always the prettiest woman in the room
87. That it takes her ten minutes to get out of bed in the morning
88. That she can't get ready in less than 20 minutes
89. How brave she was during the birth of our son
90. The fact that she hurt herself kneeing me in the jaw, and was more upset about hurting herself than potentially hurting me
91. That she puts up with the fact that I like to tickle her
92. She wakes me up when I snore
93. That she can tell if I lie, all the time
94. She never puts on too much makeup
95. She looks fantastic naked
96. She thinks that the toilet paper should unroll correctly
97. She puts up with the fact that I speak too loud, too often
98. She tells me that she will miss me, even before I leave
99. She doesn't complain if I don't shave every day
100. I love her

Pick of the week: Rotten Dead Pool

The first time I came across the expression Dead Pool was with the Clint Eastwood movie The Dead Pool. In the movie, a lunatic has created a dead pool, a list of people he expects to die. Of course, in this case, the lunatic is conveniently killing the people on his list. But a true dead pool is very much like any other kind of pool, like hockey and football pools. Except that you pick people you think will die, rather than attempt to guess a score or a season winner.

The Rotten Dead Pool website is a fantastic resource and allows you to pick ten people you believe will die during the year. The game resets every year, and registered users have their scores kept and displayed throughout the year. The site also provides a pretty extensive database of past and present celebrities, along with any relevant information. Some basic rules about the game are also provided, and please keep in mind that any interference on the part of the player that might concern one of their picks renders the pick invalid. No, you can't kill the people on your list! Where's the fun in that?

My best score so far has been 5 out of my list of 10. I know, it's morbid, but it invokes some pretty deep thinking if you make your picks seriously. Go take a look right now and make some picks, see how you score this year!

Pick of the week: Meosphere

I browse through a lot of sites on any given week, and a few weeks ago, I ran into Meosphere. Essentially, Meosphere is over 2500 check lists and maps for marking where you've been and what you've done, and to help you plan where you want to go and what you'd like to do.

Some of the lists include selections such as Strangest Foods You've Eaten to Subway Systems You've Ridden On and all sorts of things in between. With the possibility of adding new items to many lists, and the chance to discuss with anyone willing to share their lists, Meosphere is sure to be an interesting browse.

Go ahead and take a look, you might find a few things you'd like to try.

Pick of the week: 43 Things

Ever write a list of life goals? It is a demonstrated fact that writing down goals can help one visualize the goals in question, and plan a positive way to achieve them. I know that I've done it more than once in my life, but the sad fact is that I've misplaced that list more times than I care to remember. I've thought about keeping such a list online, but then, I've tended to forget about it, and never really consult it. Well in comes 43 Things to provide a solution to this problem.

Essentially, 43 Things is an online tool that allows you to write down your goals (take a wild guess at how many?), get inspired by other peoples goals, and read and write about those goals and the things you've done in your life. Personally, I've found that reading about other peoples goals has helped me to focus more on my own. From the frivolous and funny to the serious and profound, there are a lot of things that people want to do during their life. The ability to browse those other goals, quickly select whether or not you've done it, and then share some information about it, is in my eyes what makes 43 Things a fantastic idea.

Head on over and take a look, add a few items to your own list and start getting them done. You'll be glad you did.

Pick of the week: oobject

Following up on the first instalment of Pick of the week, here is this week's pick. Those who know me also know that I am an somewhat obsessive person. In itself, that's not such a bad thing, but a side effect of this is my love of lists. In my search for various types of lists online, I came upon a list-lover's dream, Oobject. Calling itself a Daily User Ranked Gadget Lists website, the site provides lists of items and concepts for your enjoyment. I took great pleasure in such inane lists as 12 tiny Indian school buses, 12 inhabited bridges or 16 genuine cyborg technologies. There are hundreds of such lists, with fantastic images and links when possible. From the common to the extravagant, you are sure to find it here.

A great site, and highly recommended. Enjoy!