Blackberry Bold (my communication weapon of choice) mixes Pleasure with Business

Reprinted from The Globe and Mail

A lot of folks like to pick on the Blackberry because it isn't as much fun as the iPhone. There's a sense among some that one Android phone, for example, will differ from another, but a Blackberry is still, at the end of the day, just a Blackberry.

But there's a reason so many people lose their minds once they're separated from their Blackberrys – what RIM's device does, it does really well. And the new Bold 9700 might just be the best Blackberry we've ever seen. There are no great departures from the traditional model, sure, but the Bold still looks tremendous. RIM is slowly trying to make the phone sexier for the average consumer, but they'll be damned if they sacrifice the no-nonsense business capabilities of the Blackberry in the process.

Ups: This is one mighty fine-looking Blackberry. The keyboard has been compressed somewhat from previous iterations, and yet manages to provide a better typing experience than any other phone we tested. RIM has replaced the trackball – which we often broke on previous versions – with a sort of flat track pad. This comes in mighty handy when web browsing. Anyone who has tried to use the trackball to browse the web on a Blackberry knows how frustrating an experience it is to find yourself maniacally skipping from one link to the next. In the Bold, you control a mouse with the track pad, giving you much better control of where you want to go on a page. Web browsing still isn't nearly as good as on the iPhone or the top-end Android phones, but it's far better than it used to be on a Blackberry.

RIM makes few changes to its traditional user interface with the Bold. The home screen contains some of the most-often used functions, such as the mailbox and the calendar. Touch the menu button, and you're transported to the full slew of options. Essentially, the learning curve for anyone who has ever used a Blackberry before will be about 10 seconds long.

Downs: There are no monumental changes here, just a really good version of a well-known smart phone. The Blackberry may still do typing and push email better than any other phone, but it's no longer the only product offering such functions as push email. The non-core functions, such as the media player and the camera, aren't as good as many other phones, especially those with a similar price tag. RIM's Blackberry app market is substantially larger than some of its competitors, such as Palm, but still lags far behind the iPhone.

Ben Sage, Sales Representative. http://www.bensage.com http://www.oxfordcountyhomes.ca Re/Max a-b Realty Ltd., Brokerage. 519-536-7535. 521 Dundas St., Woodstock, ON

Open house, sunday December 13, 2-4 PM - 1201 Nellis st, #5

1201 Nellis st, #5

I am hosting an open house at a fantastic 3 bedroom 2-storey condominium, from 2-4 PM on Sunday, December 13th from 2-4 PM.

This is a very nicely decorated home, with 1.5 baths, a finished rec room, updated flooring, and nice fresh paint. Move in ready - comes with fridge, stove, dishwasher, washer and dryer!

Only $126,900!!!

See you there!

Ben Sage, Sales Representative
Re/MAX a-b Realty LTD
Brokerage: 519.536.7535 ext 487

Open house today, 2-4

Open house, Saturday december 12, 2-4 - 89 Canrobert st - 2+1 bedroom ranch, double garage, double drive, many extras - $221,900.
Ben Sage, Sales Representative
Re/MAX a-b Realty LTD
Brokerage: 519.536.7535 ext 487

RBC drops fixed interest rates

From Corey Cunningham, RBC Mortgage Specialist

With all the news lately about mortgage rates on the verge of climbing, I am very happy to report that rates have dropped for most of our fixed rate terms.

Variable closed remains very popular amongst most clients at PRIME (2.25%).

Our most attractive fixed rate term I suggest would be the 3 year at 3.85% which will line up nicely with the next presidential election. And if history repeats itself, like it usually does, that's always a time for lower interest rates.

Please email Corey @ corey.cunningham@rbc.com for more details and to discuss your mortgage!

Ben Sage, Sales Representative. http://www.bensage.com http://www.oxfordcountyhomes.ca Re/Max a-b Realty Ltd., Brokerage. 519-536-7535. 521 Dundas St., Woodstock, ON

Did you know? Re/Max edition...

Ben Sage, Sales Representative. http://www.bensage.com http://www.oxfordcountyhomes.ca Re/Max a-b Realty Ltd., Brokerage. 519-536-7535. 521 Dundas St., Woodstock, ON

Kids are so gullible, AKA. the Physics of Santa Claus

The Physics of Santa Claus, Thanks to "Robbo Delicious"


1. No known species of reindeer can fly. BUT there are 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified, and while most of these are insects and germs, this does not COMPLETELY rule out flying reindeer which only Santa has ever seen.


2. There are 2 billion children (persons under 18) in the world. BUT since Santa doesn't (appear) to handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist children, that reduces the workload to 15% of the total - 378 million according to the Population Reference Bureau. At an average (census rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes. One presumes there's at least one good child in each.


3. Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, and assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 822.6 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with good children, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of his sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh and move on to the next house. Assuming that each of these 91.8 million stops are evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course we know to be false but for the purpose of our calculations we will accept), we are now talking about .78 miles per household, a total trip of 75.5 million miles, not counting stops to do what most of us must do at least once every 31 hours, plus feeding and etc.This means that Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, 3000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man-made vehicle on earth, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second - a conventional reindeer can run, tops, 15 miles per hour.


4. The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium-sized lego set (2 pounds), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting Santa, who is invariably described as overweight. On land, conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 punds. Even granting that "flying reindeer" (refer to point #1) could pull TEN TIMES the normal load, we cannot do the job with eight, or even nine. We need 214,200 reindeer. This increases the payload - not even counting the weight of the sleigh - 353,430 tons. Again, for comparison - this is four times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth.


5. 353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance - this will heat the reindeer up in the same fashion as spacecrafts re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules of energy per SECOND, EACH! In short, hey will burst into flames almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them, and create a deafening sonic boom in their wake. The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousanths of a second. Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal* forces 17,500.06 times greater than gravity. A 250 pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force.


In conclusion - If Santa ever DID deliver presents on Christmas Eve, he's dead by now.


Happy Holidays!!!


Ben Sage, Sales Representative. http://www.bensage.com http://www.oxfordcountyhomes.ca Re/Max a-b Realty Ltd., Brokerage. 519-536-7535. 521 Dundas St., Woodstock, ON

Open House, Today, Sunday November 15, 2009 - 41 Canrobert - 2 - 4 PM

Good Day all!



I am getting ready to head out to 41 Canrobert St, in Woodstock to open a GREAT starter house. The home would be a perfect start for your family, or a fantastic upgrade. Get out of renting or condo living and enjoy your own detached, well decorated 3 bedroom home with finished basement, a single garage, parking for two cars, a private fenced yard, and a two tiered deck! This move-in-ready home comes with all the appliances too!!!

See you there, 2-4 today, or book a private showing with me!! Click HERE for more information

Ben Sage, Sales Representative. http://www.bensage.com http://www.oxfordcountyhomes.ca Re/Max a-b Realty Ltd., Brokerage. 519-536-7535. 521 Dundas St., Woodstock, ON