Ceci n'est pas une Blog

Microsoft Makes a Play

I just read this interesting article that says Microsoft is releasing an interesting mp3 player called Zune. The author seems to think that the idea is for this thing to compete with Apple's iPod. What it can do that the iPod can't is use WiFi to share tracks with nearby Zune owners. But there are certain limitations, like you can't play a track you got that way more than 3 times per day. It doesn't give a lot of details, like storage capacity or physical size or any of that other stuff that matters, but it sounds like an interesting development to be sure.

Another news item: as everyone knows by now, there was a school shooting at Dawson College in Montreal yesterday. A man in black, identified as Kimveer Gill, began a shooting spree with semi-automatic weapons. An 18 year-old girl was killed and some 19 others are wounded. It's surprising that more people weren't fatally shot, but time will tell what happens to those other people. Anyway, Mr. Gill was eventually fatally gunned down by police. (UPDATE: Witnesses have now said that Mr. Gill actually turned a gun on himself after being shot in the leg by police.) The media has given a great deal of attention to the blog Gill maintained before his violent act. The website emphasized his love of guns and his fascination and enthusiasm regarding Columbine-style shootings. Several articles are available on Google News for more info.

I'm sitting in Guelph's UC as I make this entry, watching people go back and forth while I enjoy my playlist of some of the stuff I've been listening to lately - notably tracks from the Garden State soundtrack. The one I can't get out of my head is "In the Waiting Line" by Zero 7. At 7:00 I have my first Languages of the Media lecture, which is nearly 3 hours long. I'm looking forward to it.

I don't know for sure what my plans for the weekend are yet, but I may be heading home again to get some things done and hang out with Paul. Looking forward to that too.

posted by Dave @ 2:41 PM