Titles and mp3 Players

Wow, I finally found out why I didn't have titles. That was really bothering me. So from now on, these posts will have proper titles.


And now, to let my true techie side come out *squee!* I'm just gonna babble a bit about some mp3 players. Let me start off with the fact that I am not a fan of iPods. I don't own one, I uninstalled iTunes, I'm just not a fan.

I had a 15 GB Archos Jukebox Recorder mp3 player before they even came out (it's a bit bigger than my Sony Cyber-Shot camera, and uses an obsolete double-ended male USB cord to connect to the computer; pictured above).

My other mp3 player is a bit newer; it's a 1 GB MobiBlu Cube (as pictured above, except mine is red). They're rather neat, they not only play mp3's, but they also have an FM tuner, and can record mp3's from it. They also have an OLED screen (organic light emitting diodes, for those who don't know all the jargon).

So I've got these two mp3 players. I don't really use them all that much anymore. I use them more on trips, or times when I can't have my laptop, or music playing out loud from my cell phone. But ever since the iPods and other mp3 players came out with photo viewing, and video playback, I've wanted a new one. And now the iPod Touch had really gotten my attention, with wi-fi capabilities. I'd be connected all the time! There are wireless networks at my dad's house, my mom's house, and school. So I headed over to my local Best Buy one day, and decided to check them out. While I was looking though the mp3 players, an Archos mp3 player caught my eye. It had a bigger screen than the iTouch (it was touch screen though too), it had the wi-fi, photo viewing, and video playback capabilities, and it was cheaper than the iTouch! But what really caught my attention was the fact that the $410 iTouch was only 32 GB, and the $350 Archos was 60 GB! Or you could get a 120 GB Archos for $400. That doesn't seem like much of a choice for me. I still haven't gotten a super-cool, uber mp3 player, but when I do, I'm pretty sure about which touch-screen, wi-fi capable player I'm not going with. I think I'll go with Archos; my old Jukebox Recorder has been very reliable, even after it's been dropped a few million times, with many bangs and dings in it.

English Debate

Unlike a fair number of Canadians that are either not watching either of the debates on TV this evening, or are watching the American vice-presidential debate, I've been watching the English debate. I've been pretty pleased with the show, it hasn't bored me to tears, and I've learned a fair amount. I was pleased that Elizabeth May has come across as very knowledgeable on the topics that they've been talking about, and very well spoken, in my view. And I was rather surprised that Jack Layton has impressed me as much as he has.
I noticed some trends though, while watching the debate. The first one that I noticed was how all the candidates have been tearing apart Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The second thing that I noticed is that Jack Layton is really vying for the aboriginal/first nations votes, often bringing up issues that involve first nations peoples, such as health care, and crime rates. Many of the candidates were referring to the United States, and that we don't need any of that up here in Canada. The times when all of the candidates fought to speak were annoying, and I was glad that they did not last very long.
I don't really think that having two different debates in different languages is really a good idea, because I hear that Stephane Dion did an excellent job in the French debate yesterday, but I didn't see that debate... I didn't even know that there was one, so although he did really well, if he swayed and voters, the few who watched it will not have an affect on the Liberal's overall gains in the polls.
I still don't know who I'm going to vote for, but now I know that I'd really like to see May have some power in parliament. It also seems that the commercials and those people who aren't voting, are based on the party leaders, not the local MP's. I think that this is too bad, because everyone should be out there voting... at least vote for who you'd like to represent you. I am definitely voting, I just don't know if I'm going to vote based on my preference for PM or for MP.