Opinion

The HTC Desire, released in Europe in May and in Canada on August 6, is the older brother, so to speak, of the ill fated Google Nexus One. Unlike the Nexus One, the HTC Desire features a slightly difference design, an optical trackpad instead of the physical trackball, lacks a noise cancelling microphone, features the HTC Sense UI, as well as a few other minor differences.

Hardware

The HTC Desire features a 1 GHZ Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor, 576 MB RAM, a 3.7 inch Super LCD screen with a resolution of 480×800, and a 5 Megapixel camera with an LED flash. It includes an 8 GB MicroSDHC card, but supports up to 32 GB. The camera is capable of 720p video once it receives the 2.2 “Froyo” update to the Android operating system. For physical buttons, the Desire has a power button up top, a volume rocker on the side, an optical trackpad below the screen and four other buttons (home, menu, back, and search). It connects to the computer, and charges with a micro USB port and features a standard 3.5mm headphone jack up top. The only problem I’ve had so far with the buttons is that the headphone jack and power button are reversed from what the Apple iPhone (which I’ve switched from), so I’ve accidentally turned on the screen when placing the phone in my pocket, and pressed the headphone jack in vain more than once. Both the SIM card and the microSDHC card are housed behind the battery cover, and the battery has to be removed to get at them. This is mildly disappointing, but how often are you really going to be switching memory cards? The battery is a 1400 mAh Lithium-ion, and while many reviews have complained about the battery life on this phone, I’ve found it to be far better than that on my old iPhone 3G. The only thing about this phone that I was nervous about, while waiting for it to ship, was the screen. I had read on a number of sites that the Super LCD screens had a far worse contrast ratio when compared to the AMOLED screens the Desire is using elsewhere (Samsung has decided to hoard all the AMOLED screens for themselves, so HTC had to switch). I have to say, however, that the screen is simply beautiful, and far better than anything I’ve seen on a phone, with the possible exception of the iPhone 4. The phone also lacks a front-facing camera, like the ones you’ll find on the iPhone 4 and Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant with Bell, but it’s always seemed more of a gimmick to me, and I don’t see myself wanting that feature. In the box, the phone comes with a micro USB cord, an AC adapter, stereo headphones and a bunch of guarantee info and user guides. I was mostly unable to test the quality of the headphones since they wouldn’t fit in my ear (a problem I have with more non-in ear ear buds), and I just got frustrated and switched to my normal headphones.

As I mentioned before, the Desire has a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor and 576 MB of RAM. Even with all the UI flourishes that are added with HTC Sense, the phone is extremely snappy, and never sluggish. It easily blows away my old iPhone 3G and my sisters 3GS, and matches, at the very least, the iPhone 4. I am just amazed at this phone. Especially when I consider that about 10 years ago, the first computer that was actually mine, had lower specs than this phone.

Software

The HTC Desire runs Android OS 2.1 (“Eclair”) with HTC’s Sense UI on top of it. HTC has rolled out the 2.2 (“Froyo”) update in Europe, but it has yet to hit Canada. The Sense UI just makes Apple’s iOS look antiquated. Everything from the colour screen, to the widgets, to the full application menu, to the notification system, is just… better. I haven’t played with the stock Android UI, but I have toyed around with MOTOBLUR on the Motorola Dext and the UX Platform on Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X10, and I have to say that the HTC Sense is my favorite of the bunch. Both the MOTOBLUR and UX Platform just feel over complicated compared to the HTC Sense.

Like many Android phones with a custom UI, the Desire has 7 home screens. The layout is definitely iOS reminiscent, however, it does manage to avoid feeling like it’s trying to clone iOS. It feels more like they took the good aspects of iOS, removed the bad aspects and just improved it. I do have to agree with Tyler Hardemen at thewunderbar, that Palm’s WebOS handles multitasking better than Android, however I’m not sure if I agree about the notifications. I never actually owned a Pre, just played around with them at the Bell store, so I’m not sure how it’s notifications worked. (I also have to disagree that TELUS doesn’t have a phone to rival the Galaxy S, but more to that later).

Applications

As an expatriate of the Apple iPhone, I was a little nervous about the app situation. While Android’s app numbers are growing, it still pales in comparison to the Apple App Store. That said, the apps I needed the most are either already on the Android Marketplace (Facebook, Soundhound), or have replacements (Seesmic instead of Tweetdeck, Mileage instead of Roadtrip Lite). Another thing I love about Android is that it’s ok to release an app that replaces the functionality of what was included on the phone. For example, I’m really not a fan of the stock Android keyboard, but a quick search brings up a number of alternatives, including SwiftKey. It’s not all roses with the Android Marketplace, however, as finding new apps is a pain. Rather than search the Marketplace, I’ve just been looking for articles on recommended apps on sites like Engadget. This is one thing I really miss from the Apple App Store.

Summary

The question I’ve been asked over and over again since buying this phone is “is it better than the iPhone?” Personally, I think it is, however, if you want an iPhone, buy an iPhone. While I think this phone is far superior, if you’re looking for an iPhone, you will find a reason to hate the HTC Desire. If, however, you are looking for an amazing smartphone, and were debating between Android and Apple, give this phone a serious look. The only phone, in Canada, that could possibly rival the Desire, in my mind, is Samsung’s Galaxy S Vibrant. This is, simply, the best phone I have ever owned, and I absolutely love it. It’s a little disappointing that TELUS hasn’t been advertising this phone at all. When they got the Milestone, they pushed it like crazy, and Bell is running a number of ads for the Galaxy S Vibrant, and I’m worried that this phone will get looked over. If the freaking wunderbar managed to forget about this phone, I have to wonder how many non-techie’s will notice it.

I saw a story on CNN a while ago about some uproar because a mosque was being build “at Ground Zero”. Ground zero referring to the site of the World Trace Center attacks. Obviously confused, since that land is already owned by somebody, and nothing is being built there at all for some reason, I did some research (I watch the Daily Show and did a Google search on it) and found that the Islamic Cultural Center (which includes a mosque) was instead being build a few blocks away in an old Burlington Coat Factory. Now I’m even more confused. Why is this an issue?

First, let’s look at the First Amendment in the United States Constitution:

Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Now, let’s take a look at the Fourteenth Amendment (which some Republicans want to repeal for idiotic reasons)

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws

Those two quotes make it pretty clear that separation of church and state is absolute, and that it applies to all religions, not just ones that the GOP believes in. This goes beyond a legal question, however, since even most Republicans are admitting that there is nothing illegal about the mosque, they claim, instead, that such a mosque is “unethical” and a “slap in the face to the victims of 9/11″. How? Yes, the terrorists that blew up the World Trade Centers on September 11, 2001 were Muslims; and no, nations in the Middle East would never show us this kind of tolerance, but that doesn’t matter.

Why? Well, for starters, just because those terrorists were Muslim, doesn’t mean that all Muslims are terrorists, and to treat them like they are is ignorant and wrong. It is no different than saying “The Beltway Snipers were black, so all black people are snipers”. I realize the opponents to this mosque will say “we don’t think all Muslims are bad….”, but that’s a damn lie. The fact that they’re opposing this means they think a mosque is a symbol of Islamic extremism. When they see anything remotely Islamic, they immediately think of 9/11. The fact of the matter is, most Muslims are decent, peaceful people. I have met a few Muslims in school, and I can honestly say that they are some of the nicest people I have ever met. While I will never understand hijab they wore, that doesn’t take away from the fact that these are good people. We, as a society, need to stop this mental connection between 9/11 and Islamic extremism.  9/11 wasn’t perpetrated by Muslim terrorists, it was perpetrated by terrorists that happened to have been “Muslim” (much in the same way Scott Roeder is a “Christian”). Beyond the simple fact that not all Muslims are terrorists, keep in mind that there are Muslims that dug through the rubble of the World Trade Centers trying to save people and there are Muslims in active duty in the United States Army. But even if that weren’t true, it doesn’t matter because they have the same rights as anyone else in America.  If you’re an American and you don’t like it, try moving to China. I hear they don’t have freedom of religion there.

I referenced earlier the fact that the Middle Eastern nations would never show us the same liberties, but that doesn’t matter either. True, if you tried building a church in Iran or Saudi Arabia, it probably wouldn’t end well, but that doesn’t matter. We are better than these countries. Yes, I’m aware that I’m Canadian, but for the purpose of the rest of the article,I may refer to “the West” as “we”, since most of countries referred to as “the West” have similar human rights. Anyways, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard than these countries hold themselves to. I absolutely hated George W. Bush and still maintain that he was one of the worst Presidents in U.S. history, but I will admit that we was better than Ahmadinejad or Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. This is the same reason I oppose torture: we are a better society. We don’t stone women for dressing promiscuously, we don’t support torture and we don’t discriminate against people because of race, religion, gender, or (in Canada, at least) sexual orientation. We believe in unalienable human rights, and we stand by them at all times. As Jon Stewart one said, “if you don’t stick to your beliefs when they’re tested, they aren’t values, they’re hobbies.” Freedom of speech refers to all speech, even the most heinous speech and freedom of religion refers to all religions, even those you disagree with. In fact, those are what these laws are for. We don’t need laws to protect popular speech (or religion), we need the laws to protect unpopular speech (and in this case, religion).

I have a question for anyone who opposes this “mosque at Ground Zero”: would you oppose the construction of a church near the site of the Oklahoma City bombing? Chances are the answer is no. Why not? Timothy McVeigh professed that he maintained the “core values” of Roman Catholicism. Wouldn’t building a Catholic church near that sight be a slap in the face to everyone who died in that bombing? For the record, there is a Catholic church right across the street from the Oklahoma City National Memorial (though, in all fairness, it was built before the bombing). The fact of the matter is, Muslims are as responsible for 9/11 as Catholics are for the Oklahoma City Bombing, which is to say not at all.

“But, the terrorists attacked us on 9/11 because we’re not Muslim”, some of you will exclaim. That’s, frankly, a childish and false examination of the events. While the attacks were by no means justified, they were more political than religious. Motives for 9/11 included U.S. sanctions against Iraq, American presence in Saudi Arabia and American support of Isreal (which is political as well as religious).

Despite what the “critics” have said, this has nothing to do with location. It doesn’t matter where this mosque was being built, people would be complaining. People are protesting mosques being built in Brooklyn, California, and Florida. You can’t get much farther away from Ground Zero and still be in the United States than Florida. This has nothing to do with location and everything to do with racism, plain and simple.

Dear NBC Executives,

My name is Travis Harder and I am writing to express my disagreement with your recent decisions regarding your late night schedule. I feel that moving Jay Leno back to 11:35, pushing Conan O’Brien back to 12:05 and Jimmy Fallon to 1:05 is not only a mistake, but simply wrong. The fact of the matter is, Jay Leno is past his prime and isn’t funny anymore, to anyone except old people. True, Conan has not done as well as David Letterman recently, but that is because you have failed to give Conan a good lead in. Obviously, it makes sense to get rid of Leno, however, moving him to 11:35, screwing Conan and Jimmy Fallon over in the process makes no sense. If people aren’t watching Leno now, what makes you think they’ll watch him when he goes back to 11:35? Sure, he had viewers before he “retired”, but he’s not going back to a hour long comedy/talk show, like he had before. People watched Leno because he had the big name guests. Putting him in a 30 minute show, relying solely on his comedy will fail. Pushing Conan and Fallon back half an hour will give David Letterman and Craig Ferguson a major advantage, and people aren’t going to watch half an hour of Letterman and switch to NBC for Conan. Furthermore, Conan has now said that he will not host The Tonight Show at 12:05. If you are going to lose a host either way, lose Leno. At best, you’ll get another 5-10 years of bad comedy and low ratings with him, whereas with Conan, you will get many years of a genuinely funny show. It was bad enough when you lost David Letterman because of Leno, don’t lost Conan as well. Fox has already said that they would be willing to do a show with Conan, and I will follow Conan to Fox if he takes them up on that offer. Think about this: if Fox decides to go into the late night game, they will logically want a later show to follow Conan O’Brien’s. Jimmy Fallon can’t be happy about his treatment, either. It’s not unreasonable to think that he may follow Conan to Fox, leaving you with, what, Carson Daly to host Late Night? Where is the upside to this? How do you benefit by pissing off the host of your flagship late night show? How does causing more splintering benefit NBC? Let me end this by saying that if you do not cancel your current plans to move Leno back to 11:35, I cannot continue to support the network by watching. Furthermore, I will contact any company that advertises on Leno’s show and let them know that as long as they are advertising with Leno, I will not purchase their products and/or services.

Travis Harder

While watching the latest episode of Diggnation yesterday, one of the hosts, Alex Albrecht, made an interesting point about Google becoming a monopoly by entering other industries. He said that because Google has so much money, they can go into another industry (in this example: turn-by-turn navigation) and do it for free without having to make money. This, he said, will push out the other competitors in the market (you can’t beat free), thus establishing Google as the sole company providing a service, which would lead to a degradation of quality of service. Part of his argument used the examples of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3. The two leaders in the industry, he said, didn’t need to many money from video gaming, since they had other products that provided their cash (Microsoft’s OS and Office suite, Sony’s computers, TVs, etc.), so they could sell their consoles at a loss. While he made some interesting points (far more interesting than anything I’ve ever said after a few beers), and I agree that monopolies must always be avoided, Google currently is not the enemy. (more…)

Last night, Meghan McCain, daughter of Senator John McCain (R-AZ), made a posted on her Twitter account a picture of her sitting around in a tank-top holding a book (“Andy Warhol” by Arthur C. Danto ). Being the daughter of a prominent Republican (as well as a self-described Republican herself), it’s no surprise that most of her followers are also Republicans. What is, however, surprising, is the backlash that the picture gathered. While she did appear to be going for sex appeal or something when she took this picture, it’s still tame compared to what we see every day on television, celebrity gossip sites, or your local newspaper. So, that begs the question: why the fuss?
Twitter user LDG1981 posted:

Is @McCainBlogette vying to be the prostitute in the next undercover ACORN video? What is she thinking? Hope her kids never see that.

Really? You’re comparing Meghan McCain sitting at home in a tank-top, showing some cleavage to prostitution (SFW)? Note that the woman the camera is focused on for most of the video is not the one pretending to be a hooker. Also, you really think her future children (keep in mind Meghan currently does not have any children) will be traumatized if they saw this picture? She’s showing off a book to her Twitter followers, not parading around on stage in a swim suit (maybe not the best example, considering Bristol). (more…)

Human trafficking is the euphemism used for slavery used during the 21st century. Earning a total annual income of roughly $9 billion a year, human trafficking is the most profitable criminal industry in the world. A friend of mine first told me about the issue of human trafficking about a year ago or so, but it wasn’t until a classmate in my International Relations class did a presentation for the rest of the class did I realize how big this problem is. Between 2 million and 4 million people are trafficked across international borders every single year, the majority of which are women and children who are forced into the sex trade where they may be forced to have sex up to 20 times a day. According to the CIA, one woman alone will result in profits of around $250,000/year. (more…)

The Grant MacEwan College Board of Governors announced a while ago that the facility would maximize the tution increase for next year. Being a student at Grant MacEwan, this obviously resonates with me very strongly. Seeing as MacEwan is going to provide the Bachelor of Science degree and needs money for that, and the majority of the increase will go towards staff wages, I do not hold any ill will towards the college for the increase. Who I do blame for the massive increase, however, is the provincial government. The amount of funding that Alberta provides for post-secondary institutions is so miniscule that it is embarassing. There is no excuse for it.

Obviously, some will argue that with the economic recession starting to hit Alberta, we cannot afford to increase spending. Quite frankly, this is wrong. In a recession, we must have manageable deficits to minimize the effect of a recession, and pay it off when the economy picks up again. What should have happened was when we were in a boom, the government should have put the surplus into a savings account, so we could retroactively pay off the deficits that we would be forced to go into during the inevitable recession. Instead, our idiot former Premier Ralph Klein and his moronic successor Ed Stelmach decided to do nothing and let the province run on “autopilot*”. Only an eighth-grade dropout could come up with an idea so mind numbingly stupid. The second he came up with the idea of a government that does nothing, he should have forfeited his salary. He was never elected to do nothing. Where I work, if you do nothing, you get fired. In the next election, did we fire Klein? No, we re-elected him. This is a man who once insulted handicapped recipients of Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH), claiming that “…they didn’t look severely handicapped to me…”. No, Ralph, they didn’t. You know why? Because we don’t give M.D.’s to people who can’t even finish grade 9, never mind grade 12 or university.

When Ralph Klein finally retired, many thought that the era of doing nothing (other than slash-and-burn spending) was finally over. Oh how wrong we were. Instead, we got more inaction (if you don’t count giving himself and his cabinet a massive pay raise). To put that raise into perspective: the increase alone is almost as much as my mom makes in a year. It is over double what I make in a year. Stelmach justified this increase by saying that it would attract brighter people to politics. Ignoring the obvious jokes about him implying that his own cabinet (including himself) are not adequate for this province (they’re not), keep in mind what they get. $184,000/year for cabinet ministers and $213,450/year for the Premier. Think about that. Chances are very good that you did not make anywhere close to that. How can this man claim to represent you, and have any idea on the economic challenges that you face when he makes four times what you make? His bright idea for dealing with the recession is to have Ralph Klein era budget cuts. This begs the question: what is there left to cut? Rather than cut anything you can see, Stelmach, why not give yourself a pay cut? If the economy is so dire, give yourself a 50% pay cut. You’ll still make more than double what the rest of us make.

One has to wonder, how does this party keep getting elected? How is it possible that a party full of nothing but imbeciles and dunces can hold onto power for 38 years? Is this province really so collectively stupid that they are incapable of having any thought process other than “I’ve always voted conservative, so I’ll keep voting conservative”?  In 2011, when we go to the polls again, I urge everyone to remember this history of mental retardation when it comes to governing and strategically vote A.B.C. (Anything But Conservative). If we ever want to have a government that understands the people, we need to get involved and put this current on on the street. Until the next election, write both your current MLA and Ed Stelmach, and let them know about your displeasure with the current path of the government.

*It should be noted that, despite our common last name, I am not related to Dr. Lois Harder

According to a report by Ars Technica, four major Canadian ISPs, including Bell, Shaw and Rogers throttle P2P traffic via Deep Packet Inspection (DPI). According to a report done by University of Victoria grad student Christopher Parsons, most of the filings for submitted by the ISPs were submitted in confidence, thus hiding traffic numbers to the public.

This is just shameful. There is no reason for ISPs to throttle internet access and is simply counter-productive. Many Canadians wonder why we are always behind the rest of the world, technologically speaking, and this is out answer. The CRTC refuses to regulate our ISPs and enforce net neutrality, thus letting the companies do whatever they want. TV is dying, and new media is the future. Unfortuantly, new media access in Canada will be stunted due to the fact that P2P traffic, such as bit torrent will be restricted and bit torrent is a cheap way for people to distribute files, such as podcasts, Linux image files and WoW updates. Yes, it sucks that it’s going to cost the ISPs more money for upload, but so what? It’s a cost of business. If you never want to embrace changing technology, get out of the technology industry. It’s shameful that not only can these companies rule in a virtual monopoly, they can take advantage of that situation and screw over their customers, knowing that they will not be able to take their business elsewhere, unless they want to go back to dial up.

38: the percentage of the popular vote the Conservative Party of Canada recieved in the last election.

47: the percentage of seats won by the Conservative Party of Canada.

54: the percentage of the popular vote the members of the Progressive Coalition: the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party of Canada and the Bloc Quebecois recieved.

53: the percentage of seats won by members of the Progressive Coalition.

Do you see anything wrong here?

59: the percentage of eligible voters who voted.

49: the percentage of Canadians who know that the Prime Minister is not directly elected.

24: the percentage of Canadians who know that the Queen if our Head of State.

41: the percentage of Canadians who know that our political system is a “Constitutional Monarchy”

Now do you see a problem?

These numbers come from the official Elections Canada website and the Dominion Institute, which conducted an Ipsos Reid poll on our understanding of our own political system.

The results are downright embarassing. How is it possible that 3/4 Canadians don’t even know who our Head of State is? How is it possible that a majority of Canadians don’t even realize what the hell they’re doing when they go to the voting station? Three months ago, we went to the polls and yet we’ve somehow already forgotten that Stephen Harper’s name wasn’t on the ballot? (Unless you lived in Calgary-Southwest, but even then, the lack of Stephane Dion and Jack Layton should’ve tipped you off). I used to think that this was evidence that something, somewhere has gone terribly wrong, but I now realize that it means the exact opposite. Our ignorance is pure gold to politicians. Stephen Harper has learned that he can minipulate us with lies, and we’ll fall for it time and time again. We have become a nation of sheep, falling for whatever we’re told. We blindly trust whatever our polticians tell us, instead of researching things for ourselves.

If we are to ever get a government worth having, we need to start thinking for ourselves and doing our own research, since we can’t trust our politicans.

Earlier today, Stephen Harper went to Rideau Hall asking Governer General Michaëlle Jean to progue, or suspend, parliment. To my suprise, she actually did. This is the first time in Canadian history where a sitting Prime Minister has suspended Parliament in order to avoid a non-confidence vote. By doing so, Stephen Harper has ignored the will of the majority of the democratically elected Parliament. And his media blitz has gone too far. He’s undoing all the good will he gathered from Quebec in his past few years by attempting to turn Canadians against the Bloc Quebecois, refusing to admit that the Frencophobia that he is pushing is nothing more than pure racism. On top of that, he’s also trying to revert Canada back to the 60s with Red Scare tactics such as refering the the NDP as socialists, as though it were a negative thing, calling this a “seperatist” coalition (refering to the Bloc) and so on to scare Canadians is simply unacceptable. I found out while writing this that pro-coalition protesters got attacked at the rally at Churchill Square. Good job, Mr. Harper, you managed to turn the citizens of this nation against each other. In any other country that would be called terrorism. I thought we were in Afghanistan to remove terrorists from power, not to install one in our own Parliment. Harper has shown that he is not fit to run the local McDonalds, nevermind this country. Stephen Harper, if you truly love Canada and democracy as much as you claim, do what’s right, nay, what’s nessecary to save this country: resign. Resign before you can do anymore damage, turn any more Canadians against eachother and scare more Canadians into blindly hating Quebec and anything left of centre. Resign because we do not let terrorists run Canada.

Goodnight and good luck