06.28.08
Potential BlackBerry Outage in GTA?
There seems to be a Blackberry Outage in the GTA (Toronto, Ontario). Does anyone have any details?
05.09.08
Expect the Blog to be a Little Quiet
Hey All,
Time for a personal post... The next two weeks I probably won't be blogging much (or necessarily even acknowledging the blog exists).... then again maybe I will. Either way, I'm getting married on May 17th (back home in Sault Ste. Marie). Shortly after the wedding we'll be going on a brief honeymoon to Chicago and then it's back here to Toronto.
Anyways... Just wanted to share.
03.22.08
Thank You Google!
A couple of weeks ago I posted about certain GMail features not being available in Google Apps for Domains. I was out of town last week and other than taking in RENT last night on stage, I've pretty much been asleep the entire time. I just logged into my Google Apps for Domains account for the first time since getting back and I was surprised to see that all that lost functionality was now available. I don't know if someone from Google saw this and made the changes or if it was entirely coincidental, but either way... Thanks Google!
03.18.08
Going to San Francisco
In ~5 hours I'll be on a plane heading to San Francisco... I'll be there for nCircle CONNECT. So if anyone is going to be in SF in the next few days... let me know... I doubt I'll have much free time, but I may have time for a drink in the hotel bar. Fire me an email (make sure you remove the ~ and the NOSPAM), or if you have the number, call my cell.
03.15.08
Gmail & LinkedIn
I've already partially talked about this recently but I wanted to bring it up again.
I'm a huge Google fan... I know a lot of people see them as the new Evil Empire, but I really don't see them that way. One of my favourite Google launches was Gmail. I used it for quite a while and only after Google Apps were released did I leave Gmail, but only because I could use my domain name with all the niceties of Gmail. I use Google Apps for Google Talk, GMail, etc... but I recently logged into my old Gmail account and noticed a number of changes. Gmail is getting a lot of revamp (as is Google Talk inside Gmail)... yet these changes aren't being translated to Google Apps (which I find very disappointing).
Changes:
- Ability to mute a message -- This would be amazing for someone like me as I subscribe to a number of mailing lists and half the time don't care about the posted drivel.
- Ability to create a filter right from your inbox -- Another amazing feature.
- Event Invitations -- Add a calendar entry just like Outloo
- Group Chat in Google Talk (Gmail's inline chat version)
- Add AIM Buddies in Google Talk (Gmail's inline chat version)
I know I shouldn't be whining about something that's free, but I view a hell of a lot of ads and I view those ads while reading my email in exchange for all the Gmail functionality. What good is all of this functionality if I'm using an outdated UI with outdated abilities? I might as well go back to my own email hosting (which I'd rather not do). So to repeat my comment from my last post, I'd love if someone from Google could explain why users of Google Apps aren't getting all this new functionality.
Now the bridge from Gmail to LinkedIn. The LinkedIn Extension for Firefox is broken with the new Gmail UI. It is also broken for users of Google Apps (even though Google Apps is on the old working Gmail UI). If anyone from LinkedIn is reading this... please fix this.
Now that we've bridged to LinkedIn... What's up with the new UI over at LinkedIn? It's a major step backwards from the previous layout. I log in and feel like I'm on Facebook or MySpace rather than a "Professional Social Networking Site". I would LOVE to see a move back to the old version, and based on the discussions I've had with colleagues and the ongoing mailing list threads that I've seen, I'm guessing other people agree with me.
Lastly, on the LinkedIn issue... I haven't heard anything else regarding a LinkedIn App for the BlackBerry... not since Jim asked for some explanations via comment. So how about it guys? Any word on this yet?
02.02.08
ComputerDefense Silc Server
I was bored the other day, so I've setup a silc server. You can use the silc client or Pidgin to access it. My client is idling on there in lobby, so feel free to come by and see if I'm floating around. The server is @ securitysentience.com
12.16.07
My New Phone - Blackberry Pearl 8130
Your first thought might be, he just got a new phone in March... and you'd be right.. (See this post). I've been having battery issues with the UTStarcom and even after having the battery replaced under warranty, it just wasn't doing it for me.. On top of that I got an amazing deal.
My setup was as follows:
- 2 Phones (in use)
- UT Starcom 6700 (mine)
- Nokia 3200 (Fiance's)
- Share Plan (Total:$55)
- 40 (me)
- 15 (her)
- 4MB Data Plan (Total: $25)
- Total Cost: $80
- Total Minutes: 425
New Setup:
- 3 Phones (in use)
- UT Starcom 6700 (spare)
- Blackberry Pearl 8130 (mine)
- Blackberry Pearl 8130 (fiance)
- The Nokia 3200 (and a Samsung A670) are used as alarm clocks
- Share Plan (Total: $70)
- 30 (me)
- 30 (her)
- 10 (spare)
- Unlimited Data Plan (Total: $30)
- 15 (me)
- 15 (her)
- Total Cost: $100
- Total Minutes: 450
So... we're up a few minutes and we have a spare phone... for $20 + a system access fee... so we'll call it an extra $30/month... Or so it would seem. The fiance had to go to a Share 30 plan in order to get her phone, which would have added $15/month and she would have had her data which would have added $15/month. That makes $30... The same as the difference in my bill will be next month. The difference... I got a new phone and unlimited data for three years out of the deal.
Now I am concerned that when the bill comes in, I'll discover that it didn't actually include web (The contract calls it unlimited email / IM, however I double checked several times that the browser was included). If the web ends up not being included, then I'll get to have some fun at Telus' expense...
Anyways... I've found it pretty addictive already, and I want to go and play some more... just wanted to mention the new phone.
11.05.07
Restricting access to a blog
Before I head to bed, I decided to read any updated RSS feeds available in bloglines, I had an update for 0x000000.com and the update read:
There is a change, access is no longer allowed by default. Visit the webpage for more info.
That was all, just this cryptic message. So I visited the website and found:
I can understand having issues... RSnake just posted about an attempted hack on his site and I deal with ridiculous amounts of spam and new user sign-ups (all with .ru email addresses) but this is a little much. Now, this form, submitted in plain text is nothing but text fields; requiring name, email, company, username and password (IP address is also asked for, but already populated). The password you type is displayed on your screen (problem #1) and, as I said, submitted in plaintext (problem #2). If you leave a field blank, you are greeted with a question mark ('?'). If you fill in everything it says thank you for your support and that you will be contacted in about '1 week'. If you try more than 3 times, the word 'die' comes up and nothing else.
I actually enjoyed the articles in 'The Hacker Webzine' but why would I want to provide all of that information just to read the articles... I use bloglines for a reason... it's a single tab and I don't have to a) flood my favourites lists with links to blogs and b) go from page to page just to read the latest that people have to say. Now I don't know if I'll even bother continuing to read the site, it's actually an effort, just to read a few blog posts... I hope more bloggers don't get the idea to do something like this... it will very quickly destroy the blogging community.
Update: Apparently this was a bit of a research project. Read more here.
09.24.07
Customer Abuse
Greetings,
While this is a bit of a personal gripe, it really does apply to IT and on a broader scope... universally.
The player in this complaint is Rogers (A Cable, Phone (Home / Cell), Internet) provider in Canada.
The item is a Rogers PVR (I already have a generic one, but I want one that ties in with all the features of Digital Cable)
So I call up our "Local Rogers Rep" and the conversation goes like this:
Me: Hi, I'd like to add a PVR to my account.
Rep: It'll be $15 to trade in your receiver and $20 to add it extra.
Me: I'll add it.[For those keeping score I just increased my bill by $240 annually before tax]
Rep: Great, you can pick it up at a retail store.
Me: I want it delivered, if I wanted to pick it up, I would have just gone and got one.
Rep: Ok, we'll have it delivered... it's a $60 delivery fee.
Me: Excuse Me?
Rep: It's $60 to have it delivered?
Me: Nevermind then, I'll pass on getting a PVR
Now, I'm not cheap... just the opposite I love to spend money, but if I'm giving a company an extra $240/year don't you think they could deliver the item for free? After all, I'm going to be a customer for more than a year, so they will just keep making more money and all they had to do was deliver a PVR to my door. There are Rogers trucks outside my building *ALL* the time. I'm sure if I go down there right now that I'd find one. This is a great example of squeezing your customers for every last dime you can get out of them. Given that I've been investigating Satellite for quite some time now, I do believe this is the perfect time to make the switch. I'll have to spend the afternoon calling around getting prices from Satellite providers. I'm also not the first person to have this complaint, I've heard the same thing from other people, which is why I find it to be such a travesty.
This is an important note for all the businesses out there... customers won't stand around and let you shake them by their ankles until the change stops falling out. This is customer abuse... plain and simple. As a loyal customer who takes advantage of everything Rogers has to offer, I would think that sending over a PVR (which would take a whole of 5 minutes, as I'm sure all the trucks keep a few handy) would be a great way of saying, thank you for being a customer. It really is that simple.
Rogers has slowly been losing my business... My home phone was with Rogers, they wanted to charge outrageous prices for VoIP so I made the switch to Vonage (much cheaper and better quality). I had a Rogers cell phone, it was 4 years old and I wanted a new one... I was told I'd have to pay full price for a new phone, I went to Telus and said that I had a Rogers phone... they took the Rogers phone, gave me a new phone and a year of free service (on a 3 year contract).... A couple months ago (my contact was almost up) I went into a store and said I wanted a new phone. They got me a great deal on a PocketPC phone without any hassle.
So far, I'd kept my Internet and Cable with Rogers because they provided great service... now I'm not so sure, they are doing the same thing they did with my home and cell phone... They think they are the only game in town and are abusing that power. It's time to stand up against customer abuse by big business.
09.03.07
Very Cool Toys
Jesper has an interesting blog post up on some toys he found in Sweden.
It's an interesting idea, taking networking and putting it onto a railroad track... I don't know if I wish I was a kid again, or that I had kids... even though I can't use either of those as an excuse to buy the toys, I may order them just for the hell of it.