To help celebrate Connie's birthday we decided to wrap her an extra special gift. No wait, that's not right. We just wrapped everything we could get our hands on instead. All to the tune of her new favourite song- Gangnam Style! 

I was sitting at a table last week with four others and as per usual everyone had their cell phones on the table directly in front of them. I was outnumbered, four iPhones to one Blackberry.  

Just then I had a moment where I thought maybe, just maybe I would have to convert to iPhone as the demise of BlackBerry seemed certain. It wasn’t until today I had a glimmer of hope with the latest news headline reading ‘There’s still plenty of life in a company being written off by many analysts, journalists and technical experts.’

In the same day another article posted on CNN.com states ‘Top Analysts: Apple Will Decline’

Today is my day! Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against the iPhone i just don't want to ever have to own one. Everything about Blackberry just resonates with me. The functionality, the style and of course the commercials (see below.)

Also, the idea that a monster like iPhone can come in and have such a large number of users just doesn’t sit well with me. We are Canadians, we believe in diversity!

Some brilliant words from RIM investor Prem Watsa “You’ve got a terrific manager in Thorsten Heins, don’t second-guess every second move he makes. Let him do it.”

Connie Burke

Apple made an announcement yesterday, the first since the passing of Steve Jobs, rolling out their latest initiative ‘iBooks’ the digital textbook.

Job’s, a college drop out, dreamed up this idea early in his career but was always cynical of the educational market’s participation. He believed there had to be a better option than the often outdated textbook in every classroom. “Textbooks were just waiting to be transformed,” said Jobs “Not only were they dull and sometimes outdated, they were heavy (just ask any seventh-
grader with a backpack full of them).”

This will certainly revolutionize the way students learn, both young and old. Virtual textbooks will allow for ever-changingdiversity in learning materials and new avenues for those with unique learning styles.

Can you imagine a textbook that changes as the world changes, brilliant!

Connie Burke

I found out today that when I was born, I was the 4,966,726,224th person alive on Earth and the 79,850,753,624 th person to have lived since history began.

Soon after, a sense of insignificance settled in. Regardless, it is amazing to think that in the next few weeks the world's population will hit 7 billion.

What's your number? www.bbc.co.uk

Connie Burke