After a long month of waiting, I will not purchase an iPhone through Rogers. The 3 year lock in and the $150/month plan (after all fees are included) is absurd. I will wait until Yak Communications comes out with a proper plan a year from now, with a possibly better version of the iPhone (if they offer a revision). I will also look to change my existing Rogers services.

I’m mad; however, it is a business, and they are not forcing me to pay.  As a consumer, I have a choice, and my choice is to pass.

Aargh! Don’t you know I rapid prototype everything now.

OK, so four wireframes to do for Wednesday. My favorite tools are paper/pencil, and whiteboard/marker. It’s much easier to visualize on a big screen, then I’ll build prototypes in either Domino Designer or Dreamweaver.

So this should be a fun exercise. It’s been a while since I’ve put some together, and I was wondering why that was. First thing that jumps out is the lack of time. Most of the little projects I do are put together with prototypes. Once it works, I retool it into a working application.

However, when embarking on a major redesign, wireframes are king. Somewhere, you need a blueprint. You may go through multiple iterations, but there is a process and the process is important. I remember using flowcharts when I was a recording engineer. That was the map. Most people look at those engineering flowcharts and can’t possibly imagine that anyone can understand them. They are not for the audience at large, nor are wireframes. Most clients don’t care about wireframes or sitemaps, they want to see the shine. How it works is our job, they just want it to work. I can testify to that because I’m often the client. Being able to play both sides of the fence is fun, and it also gives me an advantage, but I digress.

Having those blueprints will benefit anyone that is documenting features, designing interfaces, developing test plans, etc. They provide valuable insight into the app, before it is released for testing and/or consumption. Other stakeholders appreciate these tools, because it helps them with their work, and they don’t have to come perster you for every little detail.

So the first four are coming Wednesday. It’s going to be nice to get back to the basics for a while. There is something to be said about simplicity.

Something big happened this week.

I became a member of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Yes, I know - it’s a shock! Well not really. Over the last few years, people have commented on my Liberal views in a positive way, but most of the people I interact with now have a strong social conscience .

That may have had an effect.

For 20 years, I’ve been a Progressive Conservative.

What changed?

I saw the ad campaign from the Conservative Party of Canada. You know, the one with the oil blob?

That didn’t sit well with me.

After that, the Green Shift came out. After months of personal attacks that would take a significant toll on anyone, opposition leader Stephane Dion stood up, put the money on the table, and rolled the dice. He put everything on the line for what he believes in.

WOW

I was wrong. I didn’t give him enough credit.

Bold? Yes. Controversial? Absolutely! What a way to put the environment right back on the front burner after interest seemed to die down due to high energy prices. We can pretty much guarantee that the next election will revolve around that. It really is an exciting time. I have a new found respect for the man.

Then I spoke to Frank Valeriote. We sat down in a coffee shop, and we talked. Frank is the Liberal candidate for the riding of Guelph. The seat recently became vacant and barring a snap election, we will have a by-election in the fall. I evaluated all the candidates from each major party, but I was compelled to reach out to Frank.

After speaking with Frank, it was clear, and so was I.

There’s a lot of work to be done.

Where is this going to go? I’m not sure; this is new territory for me. It’s a significant shift in my way of thinking. We may not be able to change everything in our lives, but we certainly have the ability to influence. The best way to initiate change is to become part of the process. So here we go.

Thanks Frank!

I’ve noticed a fair amount of traffic lately on this Website of people looking for information relating to “Internet Brand”. I can only assume that the emails from Chinese domain name companies are continuing.

Over the past few months, I’ve received a number of requests from companies in China to register a “Internet Brand Name” for Chinese search engines. The premise is that if you type “Your brand Name” in your address bar, that you will be taken diretly to your site. There are a number of emails, some of which are borderline harrassment, trying to get you to part with your money and sign up for this service.

This is a scam, and by searching on the net, you will find more examples of this. When you type keywords in the address bar of your browser, it usually uses the search engine that is specified by your browser, not some magic ISP thing.

iPhone in Canada reports that an anonymous insider at Rogers spilled the beans on pricing for the iPhone’s data rates. They seem a little expensive. I expect a reasonable cap as they do with my Extreme high-speed. I usually pull about 20% of my 95GB per month. Now that I have my iTunes account going, I expect that to increase somewhat, but not significantly.

Three plans are supposedly available. Go check it out!

Here is the link to bill C-61 proposed by the Conservative government of Canada.

If enacted, the Canadian DMCA will leave Canada with one of the most restrictive copyright laws for the digital environment in the world. Far from providing assistance to the digital marketplace, this law will have a stifling effect on creativity, innovation, consumer rights, and free speech in Canada.

For more information:

Fair Copyright for Canada Facebook Group

Fair Copyright for Canada Website

We're not supporting piracy, we're supporting a fair copyright policy for Canadians that does not let the media industry restrict what we do with content that we purchase. 

Well, Burnaby really. The Second annual IxDA Interaction conference will be here in the Great White North from February 5-8, 2009. Vancouver is one of Canada's more milder climates in the winter. Very similar to Seattle, which is two hours south of Vancouver, Vancouver has beautiful backdrops and is a great Canadian city. I've been to Vancouver in February and it's great. You're close to some of the best ski hills in the world (Whistler, BC), and the city will be getting ready for the 2010 winter olympic games. Did I mention the legal drinking age is 19 (for you American visitors)!

I'm pretty sure I'll be going. I didn't go to the 08 conference in Savannah, so I'm looking forward to going. I'll meetup with some new friends from the IA Summit in Miami, and get a chance to make new ones in Vancouver.

I'll track this category for more Interaction|09 updates. 

… but only if ya wanna!

I have many more people that I follow than are following me on Twitter. That is fine and dandy, because I don't expect everyone to reciprocate. Most of the people I follow are either friends, peers, Lotus Notes people, technology evangelists, user experience people, and Chuck Norris.

I follow them, because I am interested in what they are offering, which in most cases has to do with technology, or personal things.

So then why do some people feel angry when the people they follow do not reciprocate? That's a good question. 

Let's talk about me for a minute…

I'm not so concerned with what other people think. I get validation from self satisfaction, because I'm my fiercest competitor. I know I'm competent (my wife would argue that when it comes to the garden), and I consistently deliver on time with little or no budget. It forces me to be imaginative, and it makes it fun. I'm not a writer, I don't work for a sexy agency, and I don't work on bleeding edge technology. Not much excitement there for the average user experience person. 

So why follow me on Twitter? That's another good question. Why don't you tell me.

I won't get mad if you don't reciprocate. 

www.twitter.com/mariobourque