.::REALITYRECALL::.

The CRTC is issuing two key internet rulings this week – one on net neutrality and the other on metered internet usage.

Early rumors of a BlackBerry-branded watchphone/smartwatch/wrist messenger/Bluetooth bracelet seemed a little far-fetched—RIM is all about business, and watchphones are pure, distilled gadget novelty. Nonetheless, here we stand, gazing upon the the BlackBerry companion watch. Here’s what we know.

According to CrackBerry:

• It was designed “specifically for BlackBerry from the ground up,” by a “new BlackBerry-dedicated accessory company,” and could be branded as the “inPulse.” This sounds suspiciously like BlackBerry wanting a watchphone, and outsourcing the design and manufacturing expertise.

• It’s got a large (but hopefully not too large) OLED screen, with a high enough resolution to display text clearly

• Its primary purpose is to display messages from a paired BlackBerry, meaning it’s strictly an accessory device like Sony Ericsson’s pieces, not a standalone watchphone like the LG GD910.

This is an early glimpse in all senses—Crackberry describes the shots rather wonderfully as "actual renderings of the real deal"—meaning that there's no info on tech specs, nor indication as to how much this thing might cost, whether it'll carry BlackBerry branding, or when we could expect it to actually ship. The announcement, though, is expected "soon," whatever that means. [Crackberry]

We’ve highlighted gobs of tools for turning your computer into a security camera, but if you’re interested in building out a serious, multi-camera home surveillance system complete with wireless cameras, weblog MakeUseOf details how to do so.

The author uses an app called Active Webcam that’s packed with features, and while it’s not a free application, the trial version adds a small nag window to the corner of your webcam streams that the author thinks is completely tolerable for the price. Here’s what you’ll get when you’re done:

I'm going to describe how you can set up a system of security webcams that will alert you to even the slightest intrusion into the space the camera is monitoring. We're going to create a remote surveillance system that could monitor your home, your camp, your apartment — or all of the above, all at the same time. In essence you can create a giant personal surveillance network without limitations.

If you’ve gone down the DIY route for putting together a home surveillance system using your PC, let’s hear how you did it in the comments.

Windows 7: If you run into a boot-up error with Windows 7 and don’t have a recovery disc handy, you’re usually in for some manic fiddling, or you’re just out of luck. NeoSmart’s recovery discs, however, can set things right.

Download NeoSmart's recovery discs for 32- and 64-bit systems, burn them to CD, and pop them into any system that claims it's unable to find the files needed to boot or is otherwise corrupted. These discs contain the same system recovery tools as a full Windows 7 disc, which are also given out by nice PC makers—and sold as an expensive accessory by skimpy Windows pre-installers.

Boot your system from NeoSmart’s CD, and you’ll get a stripped-down Windows system with a window offering startup file repair, Restore Point returns, recovery from a whole-cloth image, memory testing, and a command prompt for those dire moments when only frantically Google-d terminal instructions can save you.

These Windows 7 System Recovery Discs are a free download via BitTorrent from NeoSmart; alternately, hit the CyberNet link to grab a copy directly from file-hosting site MediaFire.

A 6-month-old baby in Australia escaped serious injury after his stroller rolled onto the tracks and was hit by an arriving train on Thursday afternoon.

Now, if you're using Gmail and a friend emails you a Google Doc, you can display the document right in the email—no need to switch tabs. Just be sure to activate "Google Docs previews” in Labs. [GmailBlog via InformationWeek]

Non-import slotback Andy Fantuz reached terms Thursday on a contract extension with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The Canadian Real Estate Association says 135,182 homes were sold countrywide in the third quarter, up 18 per cent from a year earlier and the most ever for the period.

Canada has some of the poorest high-speed internet service in the developed world and is an example of what not to do from a policy perspective, according to a study by Harvard University.

Firefox: Integrated Gmail is a clever way to load any Google app on one landing page. With version 2.0, it also adds a lot of interface fixes and helpful features, in the style of a certain well-known Gmail extension.

The basic functionality of Integrated Gmail remains the same—load in other Google Apps, like Reader, Calendar, Chat, Tasks, or whatever you'd like, and set how big they are when you click to expand them. New to 2.0 are several features included in Better Gmail 2, like message counts in your web favicon, and a few that are just all-around neat: universal drag-and-drop between left and right sidebars, sidebar and title bar hiding, multiple inbox support, theme detection and compatibility, and much more, detailed at the developer’s Mozilla page.

Of course, loading multiple Google apps in a single page can introduce a good bit of lag, and we saw some incessant Gmail load flickering in our installation. With some adjustments, though, you can probably create a single-page inbox for all the stuff Google wants to serve you.

Integrated Gmail is a free download, works wherever Firefox does.

Ralph Lauren’s clothing company fired the model whose body looked emaciated in a touched-up ad because she weighed too much, the woman told the Daily News Tuesday.Filippa Hamilton – whose hips appeared slimmer than her head in the recent altered ad – said her contract was terminated in April because she was too heavy.”They fired me because they

Newsweek’s latest Green Rankings gave Hewlett Packard the top position, establishing the firm as the greenest Fortune 500 company this year—a far cry from Greenpeace’s #14 ranking. So what gives?

The ranking methodology utilized by Greenpeace and Newsweek are radically different; the Newsweek rankings are based on a holistic view of the companies including greenhouse emissions, water consumption and supply chain management. Greenpeace study analyzes more focused benchmarks like the use of toxic chemicals.

Greenpeace's biggest knock on HP is it's continued polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardant (BFR) usage despite a commitment to discontinue their utilization, while Newsweek recognizes their continued use— they give HP credit due to progressively diminished usage.

HP got especially high marks for it’s Green Policy and Performance from Newsweek, issues Greenpeace did not consider. While Newsweek’s ranking system is more comprehensive, there is good reason Greenpeace looks specifically at PVC and BFRs. Dioxin, an organic compound, produced as a byproduct of PVC production has been implicated in a broad range of health problems from acne to sarcoma.

Both rankings have valid rationales to justify their methodologies, HP most likely belongs somewhere in between #1 and #14. [Newsweek and Greenpeace]

Thanks Prof. Singaram for helping me work through organic chemistry.