Smartphones: Windows Phone 7 Test Drive On Your Android or iPhone

We know about the crazy growth of Android phones and the latest Galaxy Nexus smartphone that recently launched; we know about iPhone 4$'s Siri and how fun it could be, but we don't hear much about Windows Phone 7. The smart people at Microsoft decided to replicate the WP7's user-experience on other platforms for all to test drive in hopes of winning people over.

AWESOME FOOD: Indian Curry House / Maison Indian Curry (Montreal)

After a tennis practice with Yinan, we headed over to the Indian Curry House for lunch. I must say that the food was AWESOME! I've been to more than a handful of Indian restaurants that were more expensive and none have been as tasty. I had the non-vegi Thali pictured below and although the portions are moderate, the butter chicken sauce was the best I've ever tasted. I'm not a saucy type of guy but I actually scraped it up with my Naan bread at the end. The iceberg lettuce was really bad though (and the baby carrots straight from the bag) but you don't come here for the salad anyways.

The best part is that it's $6. You can barely even get 1/3 of a movie ticket for that price nowadays. I will go back.

How to Google Things More Effectively

Apparently, 75% of college students don't know how to properly use Google. With over 8 billion webpages on the web, you don't want to manually sort through a poorly searched Google request. Thanks to HackCollege, we can make use of an infographic that will make all of use more efficient.

Lastest Internet Meme: Pepper Spraying Cop & "It's a Food Product, Essentially"

Throughout the various Occupy [Your_City_Name] protests happening around the world, one incident has become a viral hit across the web. Last week, during a peaceful protest at the University of California at Davis, cops sprayed people with pepper spray [video]. One of the cops was ex-Marine Lt. John Pike who was honored for his police service twice in the past. According to the Washington Post, he past also includes incidents of racial and sexual discrimination so he isn't a boy scout by any means.

So check out what people have done with this image, it's pretty hilarious (more at the end of the article):

Samsung Galaxy Nexus: Pricing (Canada)

So pricing was released today on Bell's website for the Google Galaxy Nexus smartphone. 649 buckeroos. That's a lot of cash for a device that isn't that far off of, according to some benchmarks, the existing Samsung Galaxy S2 that retails for $549-599. In the US (an hour away from Montreal), you can get the SGS2 phone for as low as $499. I know it's not exactly comparing apples to apples but seeing how the Galaxy Nexus is unlocked, picking one up across the border is not unrealistic. The pricing is in same range as the iPhone 4S, but then again Apple consumers are used to paying a premium for the brand regardless of tech specs etc.

Gears of War 3: XBOX 360

I just finished the single player campaign mode of Gears of War 3 (GoW3) and felt that it was a lot like playing Gears of War 2. With the addition of a few new weapons, enemies etc, there isn't that much change at all but then again I have yet to play online against my fellow gears. I played a lot of GoW2 online (I would be level 100 if I didn't get fooled into a hacked game which reset my score) so I have some street cred to compare the two games :).

RETURNING TV SERIES: The Walking Dead (Season 2 E01-E05)

The Walking Dead returns for a spectacular second season on AMC (Sunday 9pm EST). For those who aren't familiar, the show is based on a comic by Rober Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard. This zombie show's theme is similar to what you see in the movies: the world (or at least we assume) is overrun with some sort of virus that transforms the infected into the walking dead. Chaos ensues and survivors do what they can to live out their remaining days. Rick Grimes, the lead character, plays the role of the leader of a group of people struggling to flee Atlanta. The group meets other survivors along the way, many of which have become hardened and violent. The show portrays regular people acting out in extreme fashion because of the lack of societal rules and the mistrust of people who start off "good" but really have horrible intentions.

NEW TV SERIES Part 3: Grimm Review (E01-03)

Grimm is a new TV Series that plays on Friday nights at 9pm on NBC. Although the show is linked to the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, it's totally different from another new series, Once Upon A Time. The shows centers around a cop, Nick Burkhardt, who learns that his descendants were "Grimms", profilers that are able to see creatures for what they really are (i.e. demons, monsters...).

Movie Review: Immortals

Today I decided to watch the movie Immortals. It was the first time that I saw a movie in what Cineplex Odeon calls "Ultra AVX". According to Wikipedia, Ultra AVX movies "feature screens that are considerably larger than...traditional ones, and a Dolby Digital 7.1surround sound system...DLP Cinema projectors provide distinct digital and 3D presentations. Guests can reserve seats, which are extra wide rocking seats with high backs".

AWESOME FOOD: Cacao 70, Resto - Dessert - Bar de Chocolat (Montreal)

*Updated with our second trip to Cacao 70.

Second Visit (4 days later - Read First Visit below if you haven't done so already)

This visit we ordered a whole bunch of things:
- Raspberry Brownie Parfait (again, but the first time was better as it came with chocolate cream)
- Quadruple Chocolate Parfait
- Triple Chocolate Pizza
- Chocolate Nutella Ricotta Pizza
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Pizza
- Waffle with Ice Cream, Fruits and Chocolate
- Raspberry Crepes with Chocolate

FOOD: Kazu Cuisine Japonaise (Montreal)

Photo courtesy of Will Travel For Food

Ok, so this place has been getting a lot of rave reviews for its food. I went a few times for lunch and supper and every time I went the line-up was about 45 mins. The trick for supper is to go when it opens, at 5:30pm or a bit earlier so you are part of the first wave in.

The place only seats about 25 people so its really tiny. I've tried the Teriyaki Chicken Burger ($10) & Ramen noddles ($12) for lunch and the Galubi (beef short ribs, $15) for supper. I had a taste of the Onigiri rice balls and the Salmon head as well. The food tasted good, but I must say that the portions are really small (the photo below makes the plate look decent but it's extremely light).

NEW TV SERIES Part 2: Once Upon a Time Review (E01-03)

Once Upon a Time is a new TV series that plays on Sunday nights at 8pm on ABC. The premise of the live-action show is that your beloved fairy tale characters are living in the modern day city of "Storybrooke" but have no memories of who they really are. The show alternates between flashbacks of the characters in their fairy tale world before the Evil Queen placed a curse that brought them to a land with "no happy endings", conveniently our present day reality. The Evil Queen seems to have some uber-powers when she interrupts Snow White's and Prince Charming's wedding. She throws guards from a distance and vanishes when PC throws a sword at her.

The Evil Queen crashes Snow White & PC's wedding. She has the Jedi push powers...

However, before the curse takes effect, the "War Council" in the fairy tale world (made up of the Seven Dwarves, Red Riding Hood & her grandma, The Blue Fairy, Geppetto, Pinocchio, Snow White and Prince Charming) decide to create a wardrobe from a magical tree to protect whoever is in it from the curse. Snow White and PC place their newborn child, Emma, into a wardrobe made by Geppetto and Pinocchio in hopes that the prophecy that Emma will be the savior in 28 years comes true.

NEW TV SERIES Part 1: Terra Nova Review (E01-07)

*Update: A really cool look at the CGI effects from the show. Even the old school fence is CGI! Click here to view video.

I will post about a few fun TV shows that are new this Fall season. The first show is called Terra Nova, which plays on Monday nights at 8pm on Fox and is produced by no other than Steven Spielberg. The premise is that the Earth, in 2149, is overpopulated, extremely polluted and pretty much a wasteland (unrealistic eh?).

Earth 2149 vs Terra Nova, 85M years in the past

1MiniMe - Custom Bobbleheads

So I was just randomly looking up Groupon coupons in Montreal and found nothing to my liking. I clicked a nearby city, Sherbrooke (~150km away) and saw an expired coupon for a nonetheless interesting site called 1MiniMe. The site 100% handcrafts customized bobbleheads (I've seen 3D printing before for this kind of stuff, but I like the artisan aspect of this) and some of the samples are really cool. It takes 8-16 hours to craft each one and you can view the video below for yourself.

There's also a discount code on their Facebook page so if you're thinking of getting something, you should check their page out. At the time of this posting, these are the coupon codes available (I believe they are $10 off):