The Unscripted Mind

Picture source: Apple Inc.

Many people were on the edge of their seats waiting for Apple’s big iPhone reveal today as they sat through news of their other updates and apps. All and all I think most people were quite pleased with Apple’s offerings. Here’s a run down of most of the goodies… Prices are U.S. – don’t know how different it’ll be for Canada.

New iOS5 w/ over 200 new features availailable including notifications, iMessage, reminders, Twitter integration, Newsstand, camera, game center, reader, mail, & PC Free, etc.
*Avail Oct 12 as a free update!

New iCloud stores content (music, photos & docs, etc) & pushes it all wirelessly to your devices, it’ll do daily backups of your iOS device, Find My Friends, etc.
*Avail Oct 12 also for free!

iTunes Match, matches all the music you’ve purchased outside of iTunes and scans and matches songs to your iCloud so you can share btwn your iOS devices.
*Avail end of Oct $24.99/year

New ipod Nano updated w/ big icons for the features on it that you can swipe btwn your fingers. Nano will now track walks & runs – plug into your PC to upload your data to Nike+ website and compete w/ friends, has 16 new clock faces if you want to wear on your wrist, etc
*Avail today in 7 colours, 8G $129 & 16G $149

New iPod Touch will run on iOS5. W/ iMessage, you can communicate with other iOS users even though you don’t have a data plan since it’s free and unlimited over Wi-Fi.
*Avail Oct 12 in blk or wht – 8GB $199, 32GB $299, 64GB $399

Now what we’ve all been waiting for (well ok, me at least…): the New iPhone 4S! It’s not a 5 but with all the improvements & changes it may as well be…
-Same shape & form as iPhone 4 w/ glass front & back (reason it’s a 4S, new body=5)
-super fast now with an A5 dual core processor/graphics (the same one used in the iPad 2)
-switches btwn 2 antennas for sending & receiving for better quality and 2x data download speed (basically 4G speeds)
-8hrs 3G talk time, 14hrs 2G talk time, 10hrs video,
-world phone (GSM & CDMA now combined)
-improvements on an already good phone camera – uses the A5 processor (faster), 8mpx (more detail), 5 element lens (sharper image), backside illuminated sensor (brighter) , f/2.4 (more light) , IR filter (better colour)
-1080p HD video w/ image stabilization
-AirPlay streaming to your Apple TV setup or mirroring to TV
-iOS 5
-iCloud
-and the Siri software, the HUGE feature that blew everyone away – best described as an intelligent digital personal assistant (it’s so amazing it needs a separate post but you can see Apple’s intro below) using voice commands in natural English (also in French & German for now) and at the very least Siri can perform dictation. Sorry iPhone 4 & earlier users, Siri is 4S specific so you can’t upgrade to this
*Pre-orders start Friday Oct 7, available in store Oct 14! (US, Canada, Australia, UK, France, Germany & Japan)
*Blk or wht – 16GB $199, 32GB $299, 64GB $399 (w/ 2yr contracts)
(8GB iphone 4=$99)
(iphone 3GS=free)

Logged lots of miles on my third day – saw incredible scenery, crazy wood art, a gray whale, feasted on food made with heart and soul and met lots of friendly folks! It’s been such an eventful day that I’ve covered it in two posts. This being part II with pictures at the bottom… Having left the wacky Burl Gallery in Kerby, Oregon I headed towards my first seaside destination – Crescent City, California! The beach is as pretty as I remember it but not very crowded possibly due to the cooler temperatures that hit the coast this weekend (just my luck) and small surf.

The next thing along Hwy 101 that caught my eye was a pair of gold lions on the Klamath River Bridge over… you guessed it, the Klamath River! As I posed for a picture with one of the lions I noticed a crowd at the other end looking over the bridge. My curiosity got the best of me so I hoofed it over to the other end. read more »

Day three of the trip has been so eventful that I’ve split my coverage into two posts. This being part I with pictures at the bottom… Logged lots of miles, saw incredible scenery, crazy wood art, a gray whale, feasted on food made with heart and soul and met lots of friendly folks! The highway scenery was spectacular as all signs of city busyness fell behind me in Eugene and the temperature rose to 30 degrees. Reminds me a bit of going to Kelowna actually.

After a light continental breakfast at the hotel I was famished by lunch time. Didn’t want any boring, processed chain restaurant food when I happened across a highway sign “Heaven on Earth”. Well, how could I resist that? It is is literally little spot of heaven on earth in the middle of nowhere off Exit 86 I-5 in Oregon (there’s no town name)! read more »

After a girls late night chat session I pried my eyes open the next morning. I was hungry in Seattle and needed some sustanence to fuel me for the long day ahead – want to make up lost ground on the journey to San Fran. That meant another eating opportunity! Hello, oyster breakfast platter! Eeewww was my first reaction when the waitress first offered it but on second thought, why not!

The Bay Cafe is a favorite Seattle brunch spot (my cousin’s girlfriend’s too) and popular seafood restaurant on the waterfront so the oyster breakfast would be the culmination of both worlds. I will post additional pictures when I return home as the restaurant pix are stuck in the camera. *Note to self: read more »

Welcome to the quasi journal of my two week round trip road adventure from Vancouver, BC to San Francisco, CA. It’s gone through a number of route changes but the final version is a figure eight. The plan is to start down I-5 to Medford, Oregon and then cut across and down the California coast to San Fran, chill for a few days before heading north up I-5 for a weekend in Ashland, the one fixed variable in the journey, then swinging back out to the shoreline and head home via the Oregon coast.

After a late start leaving Vancouver today, a turnaround in White Rock and an even later start I did not make it to my goal of Eugene, Oregon. Not even to Portland or even close to the Oregon border. Good thing I don’t have a set schedule! read more »

It’s kayaking season in Vancouver! I caught & videoed this train of kayakers and stand up paddlers below heading out of False Creek into English Bay. Usually I see one to three kayaks paddling out together so there was definitely something special going on. Couldn’t tell if it was a regatta or a caravan but the kayaks and stand up paddle boards (SUPs) made for a colourful sight. read more »

The weather turned out great for the roughly 15,000 participants of the BMO Vancouver Marathon today! The sun was out and the air was still brisk. read more »

A driver is stuck in a traffic jam going into downtown Ottawa. Nothing is moving north or south. Suddenly a man knocks on his window.

The driver rolls down his window and asks, “What happened? What’s the hold-up?”

“Terrorists have kidnapped Michael Ignatieff, Gilles Duceppe, Elizabeth May, Prime Minister Harper and Jack Layton. They are asking for a ten million dollar ransom… Otherwise, they are going to douse them with gasoline and set them on fire. We are going from car to car, taking up a collection.” read more »

I’ve made these Coconut Vanilla Clusters from one of my favorite blogs iheartwellness.com a few times now and they are simply amazing and yet incredibly healthy! So much so that I had to share them with you. Okay, not the actual treats lol but the experience – unless you’re lucky enough to be over at my place when I make another batch. Oh and I promise you, I will!

Originally I wasn’t going to put any food posts here because I was saving it all for a dedicated food blog which has yet to materialize. I resolve to get organized and make that happen sometime this year. So until then, you the readers of the Unscripted Mind, get to preview some of my epicurean muses! read more »

Vancouver launched a number of events on February 12, 2011 to celebrate and relive the one year anniversary of Canada’s 2010 Olympic glory. Some events to name a few were the LunarFest, the relighting of the Olympic Cauldron, Illuminate Yaletown and entertainment & ice skating at Robson Square.

Of course there was also Granville Street, closed off to pedestrians between Smithe and Dunsmuir from noon to 10 pm for street hockey, buskers and the eruption of spontaneous sing song. The following video caught the Olympic revelry on Granville Street at about 10:30 after the Vancouver Canucks win 4-2 over the Calgary Flames and the day after Egypt was freed of President Mubarak after weeks of protests. What a day of celebrations and cheering!
read more »