andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

Until now, current Mac Users who wanted to run a pro level accounting software package on the Mac platform in Canada, CBC’s (Canadian Bean Counters), had precious little to choose from. CBC’s could install the US version of AE, however, the effort was, by and large, futile. Not being able to obtain current tax table updates or easily account for and track dual Canadian taxes such as the GST/PST really left MacCanadians, right out in the cold. As of September 2009, Acclivity Software has picked up the ledger, where MYOB/ Account Edge left off in 2001, with the release of a Canadian Edition of Account Edge for Mac. AE for MacCanada, is a number crunching powerhouse with a pretty face, and straightforward enough to grasp. AE verson 13.4.1 is Snow Leopard compatible. READ MORE…

No this is not a regular andPOP story, however it’s an important cause and a really cool approach to use Twitter as a charitable tool. A new and unique Twitter movement launched today with the goal of revolutionizing the way social causes connect with online communities.  The movement,  called “A Million Tweets to Remember,” (1Mtweets) seeks to digitally memorialize one million people who have lived with Alzheimer’s disease (past or present) by having their loved ones tweet about them at  http://1mtweets.com/.  The campaign coincides with the launch of World Alzheimer’s Day, a global initiative to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s.

The campaign is the brainchild of Jordan Banks, a committed philanthropist whose personal connection to the disease includes four grandparents who have all lived with Alzheimer’s.  More than six million people across North America are currently affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

“I have seen four of my grandparents battle Alzheimer’s and, in their honour, I wanted to do something monumental,” says Jordan Banks. ”Over the past ten years I have dedicated a significant amount of time raising money and awareness for Alzheimer’s research and care, but this time around I really wanted to leverage technology in garnering substantial support around the world.”

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Canada’s best online textbook exchange service just got a lot easier to use. BooksForSchool.ca, a free online textbook exchange service for post-secondary students, has just relaunched it’s web site with a brand new design and easier to use features.

Benefits include:

- 100% FREE service for students across Canada
- Connecting buyers and sellers who want to exchange or sell used textbooks
- Streamlined interface

Concerned over the high cost of education, rising tuitions, living expenses and onerous textbook fees, student developers were motivated to find creative ways to manage the accumulating student debt load. As a result of much research and hard work by student developers, students across the nation now have an efficient system to save money and time through use of the free online textbook exchange service.

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This past week on Penn and teller’s show, “Penn and Teller: Bullsh*t” they tackled the topic of video games, and namely video game violence. Now, I’ve dabbled in my own research dissecting violence in video games and their effect on the youth from a strictly ethical point of view (no psychology or any other brain rape involved) and it all came down to a small number of children not being able to tell the difference between real life and fantasy… Either that or negligent parents who provide their kids with M rated games at the age of 10 (more on this later).

In this episode, Penn and Teller (I still don’t understand why a show that revolves around debate and speech has half their talent being a mute) talk about the huge amounts of revenue flowing in from video games, the wave of violent crimes depicting video game copying and those deemed to stop them (Jack Thompson, Hillary Clinton, and some guy with a balding pony tail) but also take the reverse approach and provide a 9 year old gamer with a real assault rifle… how can it go wrong? The 28 minute video begins by making a strong comparison, video game violence to us is like three stooges violence to our parents, makes sense already doesn’t it? With every generation there comes a form of entertainment (or violence) the generation before doesn’t quite understand, while three stooges rarely ever dealt with guns or murder, I peg this as just the progression of the times, desensitization from the news, and newer technologies taking precedence. READ MORE…

They say if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. I don’t know who “they” are but I’m going to assume they were talking about Lady GaGa. After all, it seems the entire musical universe is clamouring for a piece of her instant stardom.

It started with Kanye, Common and Kid Cudi, or at least that’s where I first caught on. They roughed up her acoustic version of “Poker Face” to the point of making it tolerable, even enjoyable. (I’m not even going to touch the fact that she has gone acoustic, except to say that watching the video is possibly more painful than the hangover of the drugs she has to be on.)

Despite the very obvious gibes at GaGa’s not-so-double entendres, “I Poke Her Face” is actually an incredible step up from anything the songstress has released on her own.

“Just Dance” was nearly my demise last summer as it somehow circulated more frequently than Sarah McLachlan on the soft rock radio station I listened to at my 9-5 desk job. So I made it my mission to publicly rally against her budding career for the rest of 2008, hoping she would have drifted off the airwaves come December. But now it’s June, and she has three more singles revving up for a summer of heavy rotation.

I could feel my protest deteriorating as 2009 wore on. I found myself joylessly bashing the ridiculous rhyming in “Disco Stick” while flinging my hair around to its beat at the club.  Just the other day, someone asked me if I’d heard “Paparazzi”.

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Talking about Databases can be a real lackluster experience. Talking about Filemaker Pro 10 changes all that. First and foremost, Filemaker’s main strength has always been the ability to provide businesses, organizations and individuals with a powerful customizable database tool that is relatively easy to use. Secondly, Filemaker Pro has always included a handful of professional looking sample templates which I have always found to be helpful and motivating towards taking the first step into the world of personal database creation. Thirdly, Filemaker is cross platform with internet savvy, providing the ability to communicate, access and share database information and templates on Apple Macintosh computers, Windows computers as well as on the World Wide Web. In Filemaker, while there are a few road blocks to perfection, no other database product that I know of will get you up and running as elegantly, as easily  and as personally as Filemaker Pro. Here is my report on the most recent release: Filemaker Pro 10

The definition of a database is a collection of ‘like’ information with underlying attributes. We use databases everyday, in the form of address books, spreadsheets, even google, perhaps without even realizing it. A database stores, indentifies and sorts data in ‘Fields’ for easy retrieval at some future time often in the form of what is called ‘Records’. Filemaker has been around for well over a decade and was one of the first database programs to offer an intuitive interface that is simple to use, easily customizable along with powerful reporting capabilities. READ MORE…

‘The world Standard in Business Productivity’

Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac, primarily made up of four Core Applications, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage is available in several versions:

Home and Student Edition ($199.00), Special Media Edition ($649.00) Standard Edition ($549.00) and of course, upgrade editions for current owners of previous versions at reduced prices. Office 2008 can be installed on up to three Macs and arrives with three separate Product Keys. In addition to file compatibility with the rest of the outside world, the 2008 release of MS Office has provided users of Macintosh computers with a universal version of Office that runs natively on the Intel Macs. Anyone familiar with previous versions of MS Office will find the look and feel of MS Office 2008 quite similar and therefore will be quite comfortable migrating to this most recent version.

After opening the retail box, inserting the CD and following the simple installation procedures for MS Office 2008, it is advisable to download and install the most current update available from MS website. As stated on the MS website ” This update contains several improvements to enhance stability, compatibility, and performance.”  From my research, it should be noted that some Office 2008 users have reported the need to re-install Office from scratch, in order for the updates to work. Therefore performing all the current updates at the time of original installation will provide the best chances of success in updating Office 2008 without having to deal with frustrating upgrade/installation issues. For the Office update visit Mactopia-MS Office 2008 update READ MORE…

The Tragically Hip are among the artists who will rock the stage when the Rock The Park festival returns to London, Ont., this summer.

The event’s sixth installment, to take place at Harris Park, will feature the Kingston band as the headlining act on July 23.

Big & Rich will top the bill the following night with guests Cowboy Troy, Aaron Pritchett and Shane Yellowbird.

The Doobie Brothers will headline the show on July 25, with guests Creedence Clearwater Revisited.

More performers will be announced shortly; check out the festival’s website here for updates.

Tickets go on sale today (Saturday) through the website, London’s Centennial Hall box office and by phone.

The festival raises money for the Bethanys Hope Foundation, a London-based organization which funds research for metachromatic leukodystrophy, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that has no cure.

Rock The Park 2008 featured such performers as Sammy Hagar, Joan Jett, and Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings of legendary Canadian group The Guess Who.

You’ve just set up your digital recording studio and you’re with a couple of other musicans, all ready to record. Suddenly you realize there are not enough headphone jacks for everyone. This is a situation that is initially, easily overlooked.

The primary purpose of the Presonus HP-4 is to provide multiple headphone jacks where originally there is insufficient supply. In the recording studio, multiple headphones are a must and a headphone amplifier such as the HP-4 will allow up to 4 people to listen simultaneously. One of the neat things about he HP-4 is the ability to daisy chain multiple units together if more than 4 headphone sets are required. The HP-4 is quiet, has a crisp clear sound and plenty of volume if needed, for headroom purposes. READ MORE…

Attention Giselle wannabes, aspiring Adriana’s and Tyra’s in-the-making. Vervegirl magazine is looking to sift through Canada’s bevy of diverse beauties and crown Vervegirl’s Fresh Faces in its second Model Search.

But you don’t have to be a six-foot, leggy, lingerie-rocking runway girl to win this contest. It’s about individuality and showing off some countrywide real beauty.

“It’s important to us to showcase the diversity within Canada,“ says Kaaren Whitney‐ Vernon,President of Youth Culture Inc., Vervegirl’s parent company.

“In today’s pop culture, you rarely see the portrayal of Canadian multiculturalism. That is why we are searching for young women who highlight Canada’s diverse beauty.”

The contest launched on December 5th and girls across the country have started uploading their headshots to the site. The faces reflect Canada at its best, all races accounted for. To enter, young women between the ages of 13 and 24 can simply go to Vervegirl.com and upload a headshot and full-length picture.

Canada will be represented from coast-to-coast as Vervegirl will select one winner from each of the country’s five regions- East Coast, Quebec, Ontario, Prairies and West Coast- to flaunt their fresh face in the Summer 2009 issue of the magazine. Two of the five girls will go on to win a modeling contract with Elite Model Management or the opportunity to appear in a nation wide ad campaign with Powder Room International.

Forget Canada’s Next Top Model, this contest is drama-free and serious about showcasing diverse beauty. If you want to check out the country’s hottest girls or if you think you are that girl, visit Vervegirl.com for more information.

For more information on the Vervegirl contest -
vervegirl contest