Just for fun I thought I’d go through the process of ordering a new iPhone on the Rogers site, just to see what this thing would really cost me if I decided to get one.

So in the first step I choose the 16GB White iPhone just because I heard the black shows smudges very easily and if I got the 8GB I knew I’d run out of space fast if I put some photos and most of my music collection on it. Cost: $299.99 + tax = $338.99

Next I picked the cheapest voice/data plan at $60.00 /month which gives you: 150 daytime minutes (like that would last a week), unlimited evenings and weekends (evenings start a 9PM! WTF! ya right, cmon Rogers, evenings do not start at 9PM), 400MB of data (ok that is 1 days worth), 75 text messages (ok, for me that is fine), visual voicemail (who cares), access to Rogers hotspots (does anywhere in Canada have this other than Toronto?), Bonus 3 months of unlimited local calling (to get you used to calling all the time so it will cost you more later, but I’ll take that.) etc…

So if you are like me and need your evenings to start at a more appropriate time, then you’ll want to add the $20 value pack that gives you: Call Display, Who Called, 10,000 Sent Text Messages, Caller Ring Trax™, 2,500 Call Forwarding Minutes, 6pm Early Evening Calling, Get the 1st Month FREE*

Cost “Monthly”: $60 + $20 + 6.95 + 0.93 = 87.88 + tax = 99.30

Summary:
Phone - $338.99
Plan (3yrs) - $99.30 x 36 = $3574.80
1 time activation = $10.00
TOTAL = $3923.79

Wait! But what about that special $30/month offer they have going on! Yes for $30/month you can get 6GB of data, but it is a DATA PLAN ONLY, you have to pay this on top of your $60/month!!! So now your monthly billing would be: $117.88 + tax or $133.20 and over 3 years is 4795.35!!!

When I first came across this I thought how awesome, a WarGames sequel, it is about time! Then, I watched the trailer (which I found on YouTube, see below) and noticed that the majority of the actors are all Canadian… oh oh.

The movie was ok, probably only a 2 out of 5, and I only went up to a 2 for the geeky factor. I thought the effects were pretty cool (for a Canadian production). I have to say, this is the first Canadian movie I watched that didn’t look like a Canadian production. The camera filters and coloring were excellent and the soundtrack was pretty good too.

I thought they really went out of their way to drop as many Internet names as they could during this movie, ie. Facebook, WOW, etc. After a while it was a little overkill. Oh, and yes, the Apple logo was there too!

The lead actor (Matt Lanter), who is NOT Canadian, did a pretty good job, though he needs to work on his “tearing up”. The lead “love interest”, Amanda Walsh of Much Music fame wasn’t bad, though I had a hard time not looking at that ski jump of a nose. She needs to work on her running too, I’m guessing she is not very athletic.

The references to the first movie where amusing and timely but the like most tech movies, the logic behind a lot of this is just not accurate. I hate in movies when they say the computer has taken over and there is nothing they can do about it… remember “Electric Dreams” (I think I have the soundtrack on vinyl somewhere!). For frig sake, just cut the power!!!!

If you are geek, you’ll like it. If you liked the original WarGames, I think you’ll….. enjoy it. Just don’t expect much.

Saturday I took a 2008 Honda Fit out for a test drive. Here are my thoughts…

PROS:
- Price: Excellent, starting at $14,980.00 with $1000.00 rebate from Gov’t and if I finance for 36 months it is only 0.9%
- Mileage: 50MPG hwy / 40 city
- Driving: Very peppy car without a whinny engine, easy to pass on hwy. Handled bumps quite well, almost a sports car feel but soft enough you didn’t notice too much.
- Cargo: Very configurable, you can create a lot of space easily. My golf clubs (approx 4ft in length) fit no problem across the width of the trunk
- Access: front doors open extra wide, my dog can easily climb into the back with the back seats up or down
- Visibility: a lot of glass, easy to see what is going on around you with one minor exception in the rear seat headrests are quite tall
- Other: Very roomy, I like that there is no console leading from the stick up to the dash which is good for people with long legs. The head room is excellent, I’m approx 6ft and I’ve got a good 5 or 6 inches to spare in head room.

CONS:
- One of the ugliest cars on the road next to the Mazda 5 (in my opinion)
- Rear visibility with large rear seat headrests (minor)
- Can’t see front of your car over the dash (minor)
- Ugly tiny wheels (minor)

Conclusion:
I’m waiting for the 2009’s if I buy at all. They have changed the look enough to make the vehicle more appealing to me. (see photo comparisons)

I only wish they’d make the City Golf more fuel efficient to match its size, or Honda come out with an Element Hybrid…