Dean's Little Bit of Space

My Blog Has Moved

2006-07-13T09:19:00.000-03:00

Hey... you probably only see this if you check my blog through a blog aggregator (e.g. Devan). My Blog has moved to my own host (running WordPress). You may want to redirect your aggregator to see new posts. Normal accesses to my blogger account should redirect to the new host automagically :)

Grrrr..... Direct Marketing BUGS Me!

2006-06-20T09:25:00.000-03:00

So I went to a seminar earlier this year about managment or something like that. It was an okay seminar which I indicated on the feedback form at the end of the session. On this same feedback form I also checked a little checkbox that said something like, "Please do not send me any marketing materials."

Several weeks later I received a pen in the mail with my name on it. Don't get me wrong, I like nice pens. This one wasn't nice though. It was too light, didn't flow well, and had my company name written, "Dalhousie Comput" on the side. They wanted me to order some of these pens (and would give me a great rate if I ordered 100!). I was a little annoyed that I received this pen so I called the company and politely asked them where they received my mailing information. I was surprised when they didn't give me the usual, "Sorry.... we don't have information specific to you. We just buy lists." They redirected me to the company that sold them my information: National Seminars.

That's when all the fun began. Not only did I get this pen, I also started getting weekly mailings about seminars. I called National Seminars' customer service line and requested my name and address be removed from their mailing list. Then the e-mails started coming. I filled out the "Do not send me e-mail" form on their website. The e-mails stopped.... but the direct mail continuted. I attempted to have a supervisor call me back about why I started getting mail in the first place (I assumed in 8 weeks the direct mail would stop). 8 weeks later, nobody had called me back and I still received my weekly direct mail.

Finally, I decided to contact the Direct Marketing Association (the DMA). The DMA represents companies that send direct marketing. They boast of the ethical practices their member organizations hold to. They responded to me emmediately. They indicated they would have someone from National Seminars contact me. And, true to their word, within a few days someone did call me. Unfortunately they got my voicemail. I attempted about half a dozen times to call them back, but I never did get to speak with a person.

Since my complaint, I'm now on their mailing list about 5 times. I know this, because the agent at customer service told me each entry on the list has a unique identifier printed on the label. I'm collecting the labels.

Today I got fed up after receiving two more peices of mail. It has been the better part of 6 months now and nobody seems interested in resolving the issue. So I send another e-mail to the DMA, CC'd to National Seminars. Then I went to the web site of the Federal Trade Commision. These are the guys taking on Microsoft for their anti-trust practices. I also filed a report to them.

And now for what I've learned so far from this experience:

Don't trust National Seminars
Don't trust checkboxes that say, "Do not share my information" or "Do not send me mail/e-mail"
Once you're on a mailing list, you're never getting off!
Having your name on a pen doesn't necessarily make it cool

Will we ever own software again??

2006-06-07T08:23:00.000-03:00

So I opened up my Google personalized home page this morning and noticed some of the Google News headlines were about a new Google product called Google Spreadsheets. After reading some posts below the article, I discovered they also have a product called Writely (an online word processor). This got me to thinking.... this model really works. Google creates well designed online products that can be used within your web browser from virtually any computer in the world. Then they sell advertising that shows up while you use the product to pay for their development.

Here are some reasons I think this model is great:

They can update the product in real time (transparent to the user)
They can create cross-platform products without different code bases
You documents are saved online, so you never have to carry a floppy, writable CD or USB Key to store your data
There is no need to install the product (less work for Sys Admins like me!)
Because the products are web based, collaboration (expecially with other Google users) comes naturally
They're free to the masses!
They compete with Microsoft

Now, here are my concerns:

Although Google's privacy statement is currently pretty safe, if someone were to buy out Google in the future, this could change.
If you're a conspiracy theorist, you probably expect Google is a government agency gathering information from the masses.
If you lose data from these types of apps, who knows if it is possible to get the data back (maybe we need GoogleBackup!)
Google could become the next Microsoft (they're already buying up lots of other company's products like Sketchup, Google Earth, Blogger, and Picassa)

I have yet to try either Google Spreadsheets or Writely, but I have signed up to try the two products. Hopefully they're as promising as they sound! For now, I'll attach some screenshots stolen from other web sites. If you're interested in following Google's progress with their applications, check out Google Labs. Who knows, maybe one day we'll be running an operating system created by Google!

And one final note: My Blog is not intended to be an advertisement for Google :) It just turns out that way sometimes.

My Internet is faster than yours!

2006-06-06T10:12:00.000-03:00

This is a geek post... if you're not a geek, stop reading (you won't be wowed like us geeks).

I've just thought of another good reason my job is amazing. I decided to download a 4GB linux iso today (OpenSuse 10.1 for those who care) and thought I'd use a Bit Torrent client. So I fired up Azureus and was very dissappointed for the first few minutes when my speed stayed at zero kbps. I walked away and cursed the Dalhousie packet shaper.

Then I came back. I was getting about 800KBps down and roughly 300KBps up! That's Kilobytes per second (not kilobits)! That's 1.5 hours for 4GB of data! Not bad for a torrent download.

Now I realize that isn't even 10Mbps (megabits this time), but it gets better with http downloads. I can get about 1500KBps (kilobytes per second) average from a good download site. The Eastlink speedtest reports about 77,000kbps (that's 75 megabit). It's almost like the Internet is my own personal LAN :)

I'd be interested in hearing how fast some of my friends' connections are who work for telcos (e.g. Aliant). Are they as fast? Maybe MBAs don't need as much bandwidth as us geeks :)

I better enjoy my speed for now.... I have to go home soon to Eastlink where speeds are capped at 10megabit :(

People Should Blog

2006-05-31T14:25:00.000-03:00

I used to be a blog sceptic. I thought it was stupid to post personal thoughts on a web page for the entire world to see. But after doing some blog surfing (following links from friends' blogs to other peoples' blogs and so on) I've discovered they're great for those of us with friends in other places. It's nice to see pictures and hear of new events.... you know, the type of stuff you put in a Christmas letter once a year. The discussion that happens as comments beneath some people's blogs is interesting. You see people interact that would never meet face-to-face. You also get to see the creative side of some people who would otherwise not say a whole lot in a room full of people.

So, on this note, I'm posting the (partial) names of people I think need to start blogging. If you know these people, please tell them to Blog! If you are these people, please Blog!

M. Lutes from Moncton: I'd love to hear your thoughts on various TV shows (e.g. Alias, Lost, Invasion... whatever you're watching). I always enjoyed your Star Trek theories and explanations in Robert Brown's basement!

C. Nickerson from Halifax: You're going to a different church lately and you might as well be in a different world! Ang tells us you're doing well, but who knows what that could mean :)

B. and K. Matthews in Kenya: I think you guys would really enjoy blogging. You both are good at e-mailing... well here is a way to communicate with lots of friends at once. Don't let this keep you from sending the personal e-mail and MSN messages though!

M. Murphy somewhere in West Africa: You would enjoy blogging too.... It would be a good place to post pictures of the wildlife and your mission field. I'm sure you have lots of prayer warriors who would follow your blog.

Now... that said, the following people have blogs and need to blog more often! Some of these people haven't bloged in a long time: Spurge (let Lisa help), Bren (my wife), and Kevin Fitz. There are more of you... you know who you are!

Television is over for the summer (almost)

2006-05-29T11:06:00.000-03:00

I'm really happy to say that my television viewing is mostly over for the summer. Here is a list of why I didn't sleep much the last couple weeks:

Alias Series Finale (I thought for sure Rambaldi would show up)
Lost Season Finale (no... all my questions were not answered!)
Invasion Season Finale
Grey's Anatomy Season Finale (grrrr!)
Desperate Housewives Season Finale

The Sitcom Finales weren't on too late.... and they're mostly 1/2 hour long:

How I met your Mother (Very upsetting!)
Scrubs

Here is a list of finales I skipped because I needed to sleep sometime:

CSI x 3 (Original, NY and Miami)
Law and Order x 3 (Original, SVU and CI)
Close to Home

Now, before you start to tell which shows I should be watching, here is a list of shows I refuse to watch because I know I'll get addicted and lose even more sleep:

Prison Break
24
E.R.

Don't even suggest I watch any reality TV because I can't stand it! I'm positive it is mostly scripted and people act different because they know they're on (inter)national television. And yes, I know Amazing Race is supposed to be a good exception.

And now for the reason television is almost over: Doctor Who. I'm very disappointed the CBC has not chosen to show this series for the summer. As a result, I have to wait for the BBC to show it and then download the episode from the Web. I must say though, it is well worth the wait!

This weekend's episode of Doctor Who accurately portrayed me during the last few weeks. In the episode, an alien being inside the televisions is feeding on addicted television viewers by sucking their faces through the "telly". Very appropriate! :)

Have a car accident.... Save money!

2006-05-06T18:30:00.000-03:00

So I had a car accident before Christmas... the old car was totaled, and unfortunately it was my fault (I didn't think so, but that's another story). The car was totaled and we bought a brand new Saturn Ion. I've been worried ever since then about how much my car insurance would increase.

My insurance renewal came yesterday and I nervously opened it. It went down $10.00 a month! The moral of this story: Save money by wrecking your car and getting a new one! :)

For those who want an insurance company that rewards poor driving, check out Meloche Monnex. They have special rates for alumni of Dalhousie and Saint Mary's Universities.

I see dead people (on my finger)

2006-04-19T14:30:00.000-03:00

I've only briefly thought about what should be done with my body when I pass away. My thought is that cremation is a good idea (over burial) because it cuts down on expenses. But I'd never really thought there were other alternatives.

Today a co-worker pointed out two alternatives. The first: transforming your loved one (or yourself) into a diamond. Lifegem takes about 1 cup of cremated remains (and a few thousand dollars) and transforms them into a beautiful artificial diamond. They will also do this with your pet remains. Just think, you could have diamond earrings made from Rover and Spot! One interesting thing I learned from their website is that you can't send human remains by courier (only by USPS).

The other alternative is an "Ecological Funeral". This is burying the remains in such a way that they decompose quickly providing fertilizer for plant life. Here is the process (thanks to Wikipedia):

Reducing the body of the deceased to a fine powder, thereby allowing later decomposition to be aerobic. This is achieved by submerging the body in liquid nitrogen, which makes the remains so brittle that it shatters as the result of a slight vibration. The remains are then dried, reducing them to around 30% of the original body weight.
Removal and recycling of metals.
Depositing the powder shallowly in a biodegradable casket.

All options considered, It doesn't make a whole lot of difference to me. Once I die, my body will only be an empty shell. I'm much more interested in what will happen to my soul.

Blogger versus MSN Spaces

2006-04-19T09:01:00.000-03:00

So I've made the switch from MSN Spaces to Blogger for my blog. Overall, I'm somewhat satisfied.

Here are some things I like:

Faster edits/publishing
Nicer templates
Integrated Google AdSense (Although I may never make money off it)
Association with Google (Although they don't share logins)
Keyboard Shortcuts
Better comment moderation than MSN Spaces

Some things I'm not crazy for:

Have to wade through a lot of HTML to find the section for links
I couldn't upload an image for my profile, I had to link to an existing photo within my blog
MSN Messenger doesn't alert people when my blog has changed
There is no automated interface to add lists or photo albums (MSN Spaces had these)

I'll keep using this Blog for now. I hope Google adopts the product a bit more. It needs a more common look and feel with the other Google products.

Google Calendar is ready for Prime Time!

2006-04-19T08:39:00.000-03:00

So I'm very satisfied with Google Calendar and I'm using at the office. As you can see, I've got a few of my own calendars (actually, the yellow one is a friend's). I've also included another calendar to show relevant holidays.

I've also been able to link to the calendars in my e-mail client (Novell Evolution). It updates every 10 minutes or so using the iCal protocol. I don't think I can add events through the mail client though.

My favorite things about Google Calendar:

Gmail and e-mail client integration
Fast site
Shared calendars
iCal and XML (Open Standard) formats
Shared login with Gmail

Some things that are missing:

A "To Do" list
A "Go To" button to navigate to dates
An applet that will alert of events when Google Calendar is not open in the browser
A Recurrence that allows me to specify dates like "First Monday in September"
The Ability to add events in my Mail client
Transfer of Alarms to my mail client (currently events show up without alarms)

So I'd recommend Google Calendar for anyone who uses their calendar in multiple places or for people who want to share/publish their calendar.

Google News, Groups, Mail, Talk, Now Calendar! (copied from MSN Blog)

2006-04-14T08:18:00.000-03:00

I'm really impressed with the online software Google is coming out with recently.

It started out with Gmail. Then they came out with Google Talk. Then they integrated Google Talk into Gmail. Now they've come out with Google Calendar. Soon, their calendar will be integrated into Gmail. Google suite of online applications is really progressing well!

Google Calendar (released yesterday) allows you to store your calendar online, share calendars with other Gmail users and even import many popular calendar formats. I plan to try using it in place of the calendar in my e-mail client (Novell Evolution).

I was playing a bit with the Calendar yesterday. It was buggy earlier in the afternoon, but I think they're fixing bugs in real time. It was getting faster as the day went on.

With the calendar charing option, I was able to add someone else's list of holidays to my own display. I was also able to add Troy's calendar entries to my own. Google Calendar shows each calendar in a different colour.

I found a button called "Private Address". This will let me integrate the calendar with my current mail client (using iCal format). There is also a public address button I can use if I've made the calendar public.

2 Thumbs up for Google Calendar!

MSN --> Blogger

2006-04-14T07:44:00.000-03:00

I've decided since I'm using Google services for everything else, I might as well try blogger in place of MSN Spaces. So here it goes! Here's a link to my old blog. It seems you can't just upload a photo specifically for the profile, so I'll post it here in the blog entry and link to it :)