PLEASE STAND BY. DANGER ZONE.
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Day: August 14, 2006
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Jajah
Here’s the scoop: Philipp tipped me off to two amazing websites, one that will be relevant to you, one, not so much but the service it provides is amazing and will eventually make its way to the English.
1) http://www.jajah.com
Everyone has heard a little about Voice Over IP (VOIP). The whole phone over the Internet thing. Jajah takes it one step further.
You know how Skype can use a headset connected to your computer to talk to people? Sure, you can get an adapter for your phone and use that, but let’s be honest, that costs some cash and cash we don’t have.
Go and use Jajah! All you do is:
1) Type in your phone number.
2) Type in the number you wish to call.
3) Click GO!
Your phone will ring. You pick it up and there will be a voice saying “Please hold, we are connecting you now.” Then, it connects you to the person you wish to call!
UNBELIEVABLE! Phil and I were freaking out on Friday night after a successful connection to Vero. This is a service which caters to the general public – the ones who just don’t want to sit in front of a computer with a microphone. But hey, I can use my own phone without paying for an adapter? NO PROBLEM!
Is there a catch? Well, you can try it out for free for the first five minutes (just to test the service out). After that, I believe the prices was 0.025 cents a minute within North America.
Read that again. A quarter of a quarter of a cent. Perhaps we had a few beer in us that night and read the price wrong but someone should verify that for me (as I can’t check that site at work).
Plus, it’s free between jajah users.
2) onlinetvrecorder.com (or somethign to that effect).
If you’re into German television, you can go on this site, click through their TV guide and choose a show, have these guys record it for you for FREE. That’s right, FREE. When the video is ready, you download it to your computer.
How do they do this legally? Isn’t this the whole illegal file sharing movement? Well, not quite.
They encode the video so only you can watch it (or, decode it). So, only the Palmer would have the right decoder to make the video watchable. After that, I could share the video if I chose to do so, but then it would be my ass on the line legally. They are the equivalent to the friend who tapes you that Sam Roberts concert on television and passes you the videocassette.
We grabbed Rambo II in German and I hope Philipp will enjoy it when it’s done downloading!
I can see this service coming to North America VERY SOON. The best part about it is that you can get any TV show they are airing…we aren’t talking about the most popular shows out there…it can be an obscure one if you wish, such as The History of the CIA which Philipp downloaded.
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Montreal!
This past weekend brought me to Montreal (sans camera, hence the old photo of Philipp and I) were I arrived at Philipp’s pad on Friday night and the weekend took off from there.
Philipp lives in an amazing part of Montreal in Le Plateau. I love the apartments, the streets, the atmosphere! Most of my visits in the past have consisted on events, whether it be a trip to a concert, or a weekend of shopping and clubbing, or the infamous day trip with Carrie for a smoked meat sandwich! This time around, I just wanted to go and experience the city with Philipp and see how his life is.
I was not disappointed. After a few beer, and my friend Phil showing up to Philipp’s pad, we chatted and then headed up to the roof where Philipp has this great patio set up where we can have a few beers and be out in the air for awhile absorbing the city.
We then headed out to Sonna’s (sp?) new house who is on an exchange from Sweden. Sven was there also which was good times as he knows the Heart and Crown (aka the key to my heart). I was knighted upon entry by Lady Jacklyn and Lady Kaileigh and had a few beers with the crew. The police were called after 20 minutes of the Palmer being there which was hilarious considering there were 15 of us and there was no music playing. They stood outside the place listened for awhile and said “Well, we don’t hear anything, how the heck can this be a noise complaint?!” and took off.
After a late night schwarma and meeting up with a random guy from Switzerland who invited us to his house with a pool (although we never went, we hope to be invited soon!) we crashed and woke up late on Saturday. Philipp and I hit up Saint-Laurent for a smoked meat sandwich which was decent (although there was no pickle!!! Sacrilege!) I am in love with the city at this moment as I have never been in this part of town. LOVE the city life in Montreal.
Philipp went to play soccer so I hopped on the Metro with him and got off at Phil’s stop and went over to his pad and had some beer. I dig his pad and I love how he finds the randomnest merchandise from garage sales. He is a man after my own heart. His roomate Greg showed up and we had good laughs about all the crazy adventures we’ve been in, although I’m a little disturbed that we were talking about this one time we hung out together in Carleton U and I couldn’t remember it, and he even showed me a picture on the wall containing the three of us. This is one of my concerns as I grow older – what’s the deal with the loss of memory? Is it the beer I drink? Is it the same lunch over and over and over again that I consume? What is the cause?
We all headed over to Philipp’s for a late night rooftop BBQ, ate some baguet and brie and then Greg, Philipp and I headed out to Mont-Royal, the big honking mountain in the middle of the city which I wanted to climb up one day. I must admit walking through there at night wasn’t the most picturesque visit, coupled with the fact that the woods at night send a shiver up my back (alright, get your laughs out now!), but the trip was worth it as we sat on some rocks at the top of Mont-Royal and took in the city in all it’s nightime glory. The city is a strange beast…the noise generated by the traffic and the air conditioners merge into one constant hum when you’re above it. Greg thought it was a strange how in one ear you can hear the city, and then in the other you hear the crickets in the woods. We were on the cusp of the two great things in the world.
The next morning we went to watch the tam-tam players in the park; a bunch of guys and gals banging their African drums, ringing their bells, making whatever noise they can to the sound of a constant beat. I did not want to leave that moment and was regretting not bringing the jambi drum which Vero bought me for my birthday. When I got home I proceeded to bang the drum while Vero danced around the house.
The tam-tam players are very cool and I like how everyone loses themselves in the music and dances around without a care in the world. I’m sure if I was there longer, I would have joined them.
I have to say that this was the best trip to Montreal I’ve ever had (except for the time Carrie and I drove up for a smoked meat sandwich. That’s just classic). I enjoyed living in the city and experiencing what it has to offer and not just going there for a planned event. It felt like I was back in Europe with not a care in the world…just let the city take me wherever it feels like. Cities like Montreal are a beast which take control of you and don’t want to let you go. You just have to enjoy the ride. Thanks to Philipp for being a gracious host and it was good to see Sven, Greg and Phil!