Shame on you!

In December, 2010, there was a "tragic and preventable" fire at a sweatshop offshore production facility in Bangladesh. Thirty workers died in the fire, and the seven companies for whom this factory was supplying garments pledged to pay compensation to the families of the victims.

Now, one of the seven companies has backed away from its promise.

JC Penny has apparently decided that this story is too small to hurt their public relations image, and have gambled that nobody will care. Read the entire story and then show you care.

Does Driver's Ed pay?

I've always believed that driver's education is the best way to learn to drive. Parents can be a bit skittish when their kids get behind the wheel of their car. They criticize, yell, and basically get you all nervous.

But maybe, it's a matter of confidence, practice and experience. Maybe, if parents start training their kids to drive at an early enough age, the kids will actually listen and learn?

Take this video, for example. The driver here totally refutes the stereotype of lousy women drivers.

Amazing 9/11 Transcripts

In the years since September 11, 2001, the world has become a more paranoid place. There is distrust and hyper-sensitivity to any issue that could remotely be security related.

Just today, the mayor of New York held a news conference saying that there is a credible, though unconfirmed threat of possible bombings in New York and Washington to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11. These plans were supposedly among the many documents captured when Osama Bin Laden's home was stormed by the Americans on May 1st.

This isn't the time to talk about how 9/11 affected me personally, but instead to examine the innocence lost on that day, nearly 10 years ago.

Everyone who was alive and over the age of 15 probably remembers that day vividly, but on Thursday, the eerie transcripts of the disbelieving air traffic controllers and military staff were publicly released.

Follow along as you hear the horrors of the day unfold; and try to remember that such an event was simply inconceivable to those who took part.

Two Pillars Gone

Two good men, leaders of the local Jewish community, died this week. One had been ill for many years, and finally succumbed to his various ailments. The other died suddenly and unexpectedly.

Because we bury our dead within 24 hours of their passing, it is quite common to miss a funeral if you're not "plugged in" to the community social network. So, I missed both funerals.

I probably should have guessed there would be a funeral today. Early this morning, I received a call on an unrelated matter from someone using the phone at the Jewish funeral chapel. But I wasn't thinking, and sure enough, there was a funeral today...

The other funeral, however, happened last Sunday, and the death notice only appeared in today's newspaper!

Now, I bet you feel safer!

Although I don't do much traveling these days, there was a time when I did. And rather than leave my valuables lying around, I used to take advantage of the room safes.

These videos give me a bit less confidence...

What, me worry? (take 2)

A few days ago, I created a post with the headline: What, me worry? Who knew that this headline would be appropriate again, just a few days later?

Sid Crosby held a news conference recently to address the concussions he received last January, and when he might be returning to active duty. While Sidney was cautiously optimistic, the body language of Penguin's GM Ray Shero told a different story.

I can do that!

The value of life

A while back, a vehicle in Toronto struck a pedestrian. The 74-year old suffered a fractured skull, dislocated shoulder and internal bleeding. He died of his wounds this past Monday. The operator of the vehicle was fined, and criminal charges may be filed as well.

The amount of the fine... $3.75! What's the catch? The "vehicle" in question was a bicycle, and the amount of the fine comes from a bylaw that has not been changed since who-knows-when!

Hopefully, the family of the victim will get some satisfaction from a future criminal or civil suit - although for now, they seem to be taking everything in stride.

What, me worry?



The Turkish Foreign Minister reminds me of someone. While good old Alfred, however, had a laissez-faire attitude about almost everything, the Turkish Foreign Minister seems to be huffing and puffing about nothing - considering Turkey treats its enemies in ways that make the IDF's handling of the Gaza flotilla seem downright humane.

Four and oh-oh!

The Detroit Lions just completed their last preseason game on Thursday with a convincing victory over the Buffalo Bills. Both teams were playing their starters as a final tuneup before the beginning of the regular season.

Some of the sports writers in Detroit are optimistic about the Lion's chances this year. All the players who played in that last tuneup game went home healthy, and there is optimism in the air. After all, the Lions just went 4-0 in the preseason, with some very convincing wins!

Just one problem. The Lions went 4-0 during the 2008 preseason. You remember 2008 don't you? That's the year the Lions went 0-16 in the regular season - the only team to ever lose all 16 games in a single season. There had been another team prior to the Lions to lose all the games in their season, but that was back in the day when only 14 games were played. Losing all 16 was unprecedented until the Lions did it.

They'll be looking to break this jinx as quickly as possible.

What would you do?

Picture this:

You work in your company's Human Resources (HR) department as a recruiter. Yours is a large company, and resumes come in by the thousands. To help you manage the work, you have a contract with one of the largest, most respected HR consulting companies (you know the ones - they have huge job boards, and when people apply to them, they screen the applications and forward promising candidates to you).

One day, you get an email from that consulting company. It contains a spreadsheet called "2011 Recruiting Plans". Somehow, that email has found its way into your junk folder, so you retrieve it from there and put it back into your inbox.

And then you open the attachment....

That's how one of the most secure companies in the world got hacked. The company that practically wrote the book on security got hacked by someone pretending to be someone else. As a result, the security company's clients - including some of the biggest names in MILITARY and GOVERNMENT - were compromised as well.

All because someone thought a "junk" email wasn't really junk.

Give this some serious thought. What would you do if you received mail from someone you knew and trusted? Would you open their attachments? What might have been an obvious answer now becomes less clear. Keep your guard up at all times when it comes to emails. Because you never know when something like this could happen to you.

Unbelievable!

A 46-year-old B.C. man has been charged with pimping out his underage daughter to three clients, aged 34, 63 and 67. I don't know how old the girl is, because she can't be identified. However, her 67-year-old "client" came forward and indicated he had no idea she was underage. He also happens to be running for mayor of the town they're from.

I guess there's so much sleaze in government, people aren't even waiting until they're elected to start doing immoral stuff. There was no mention in the article whether the mayoral candidate intends to withdraw from the race.

Happy Birthday, Jessie!

It's not often these days that our daughter finds herself back in her home town on her birthday. But this week, Jessie has been back visiting, and today was her birthday. So, to celebrate, she took us all out for lunch, and this evening, we took her!

It was a fun time, and I'm glad she allowed us to share in her special day.

Huh?

July 1st was a landmark day in tablet history. Hewlett Packard, one of the most innovative and respected players in the computer game for nearly a century, came out with their own take on the tablet PC. Slightly larger than the Apple iPad, much quicker, more versatile, and with the ability to handle Flash (a display animation product from Adobe that all computers except the iPad and iPhone can use), the HP Tablet PC promised to be one of the most formidable challengers to the dominant iPad.

On paper anyway.

It seems sales of this unit have been slow. Like nearly non-existent. I looked at one just yesterday and marveled at how good websites looked on its screen. I'm lucky I didn't buy one though, because today, they were discontinued. The groundbreaking new operating system (WebOS) - discontinued. The division that designed and manufactured the OS, and the phones and tablet that used it - about to be shut down or sold.

The people at Apple must be dancing in the street. Further confirmation that the iPad is the only tablet that people even think about came yesterday when it was reported that 95.4% of people who want to buy a tablet, want to buy the iPad. Mind you, there are a LOT of non-Apple phones out there, and the same program that powers those phones has been making its way into non-Apple tablets, but for now, Apple is king!

Tablet PC's are a real dilemma. They are not PC's. They don't run software programs like the ones traditionally found on your typical computer. They run "apps", small applications that can be easily purchased and downloaded from app stores online. They won't run your business software (at least not yet), but they make really cool ebook readers (which can be used to purchase and read books, magazines, and newspapers), web browsers, email devices, and game consoles for dumbed-down games.

But, despite their limitations, they are selling like hotcakes. Either people will eventually wake up from the novelty and realize these things are really not good at anything but entertainment, or the business community is going to start making REAL business applications web-capable, and you WILL be able to use business software on your tablet - over the web!

If I buy a tablet (strictly as a means of verifying what my websites will look like to people who use tablets), it probably will be an Android device. Not because it will eventually beat the iPad (remember that 95.4% figure), but because you get more tablet for the buck when you're buying an Android device. But, as of now, there are no Android devices that measure up to the overall capabilities of the iPad, so I'll continue to sit on the sidelines for a while longer.

We'll keep the light on for ya ...

You've seen the ads for a motel chain that is always ready to accept you. Well, apparently, that's the way Canada runs its borders.

In an article published today in the Winnipeg Free Press, the Canadian government has revealed that, unlike other countries, we don't keep track of the status of visas. If your visa expires, don't bother leaving, because no one will ever know you didn't.

Here is the disturbing article.

It's the patents, dummy

The tech world is abuzz today regarding Google's decision to buy Motorola Mobile. Why would they pay $12.5B for a company that has been losing money and market share hand over fist in the mobile market?

The title of this post says it all. A while back, Google put out an opening bid for the communications patents of Nortel, a company which during its heyday had been among the premiere R&D companies in the world. When Nortel declared bankruptcy a few years ago, its products were purchased by a rival, but its patents remained with them - their ace in the hole for raising cash to pay creditors.

Well, Google may have made a bold initial bid, but then, Google's rivals ganged up on it and created a consortium that outbid it and won Nortel's patents with an outlandish bid of $6.5B.

Why are companies willing to pay so much for a portfolio of intellectual property patents? Because, they act as a shield against litigation. It's like in the old days of the cold war, when the U.S. and Russia each avoided confrontation on a nuclear scale because each knew that the other had the means of a retaliatory strike even after they were doomed to destruction themselves. Back then, it was called MAD (mutually assured destruction), and the concept is still relevant today.

Let's say one of Google's partners markets a device and is sued by Apple for patent infringement. Without a bargaining chip, Google's partner, if found guilty, is liable for substantial damages. But let's say that Google also owns patents, and when faced with a lawsuit from Apple, Google's partners respond: "Well, if you sue us for violating patent 'X', Google will sue you for violating their patent 'Y'."

This standoff eventually leads to both parties agreeing not to sue one another. Google lost its opportunity to buy such relief when its bid for Nortel's patents was trumped by the consortium (which included Apple and Microsoft). Now, with the (more expensive) purchase of Motorola, Google will gain some patents that will help it defend in patent battles from its competitors.

In the bargain, Google will get manufacturing facilities and a household name in the phone industry (although, at the moment, that name is a bit tarnished). Google will have to convince its other handset partners that the primary reason for this purchase was to acquire patents; and not to directly compete against them.

If Google can operate behind a Chinese wall - granting access to the latest software features to all its partners at the same time - they will be able to successfully integrate this purchase without offending the companies that have made Android so successful.

Remember, Google hasn't been charging a fee to the handset providers for the use of Android, so it's not like Motorola will get preferable pricing. It's just a matter of ensuring that Motorola doesn't get first access to new versions of Android. If Google can maintain that fairness, all will be well. If not, Google will have just spent a fortune to shoot itself in the foot.

Do I have a choice?

I recently spotted this quotation, attributed to Paul Harvey:

If you found yourself in a situation where you could either save a drowning man, or you could take a Pulitzer prize winning photograph of him drowning, what shutter speed and setting would you use?

Awwww

Bravery comes in all shapes and sizes. I think the following video is a good example of what you can do when you just put your mind to it.




Of course, there are other times when lack of courage is not a problem at all, as exemplied by this video.

Just my luck - a layoff notice

When I got my layoff notice a few years ago, I saw the writing on the wall. Knowing it was just a matter of time until I lost my job, I started my own business.

Maybe what I should have done is buy a lottery ticket!

22 months and counting

Today's newspaper flaunted it. Superstitious me thinks it was a big mistake talking about it. But it's hard to deny that my home town, just one mile away from one of the most notorious cities in the United States, has been murder-free for 22 months and counting.

I credit this to several factors...

1) A tighter international border and the requirement for passports or enhanced licenses has drastically reduced traffic from the U.S. into our Canadian border city. And with Canada having a lower drinking/gambling age than the U.S., that's a lot of younger adults that are being kept away from our downtown.

2) Our downtown area is pretty much a dead zone in the evening, save for a few hot night spots. The weakened economy has the side effect of reducing the number of drinking holes around the city. Fewer places to misbehave translates into more police presence per capita at the remaining locations.

3) The tough economy has lowered disposable income for people in this area (both in Canada and the U.S.). Even the people who still come downtown to blow off steam don't have the funds to drink as much. Less drink means less rowdiness. Less rowdiness means fewer fights.

It was announced this week that our city became the "all-time hottest city in Canada" with an official average temperature of more than 77 degrees farenheit for July. I was pleased that the very hot summer didn't result in any frustration-related deaths, although there were a couple of fairly serious assaults.

The last murder in this city occurred in September 2009, and was the result of a fight between two gangs outside a bar. Fights still occur, but not as frequently, and not as often with a gun.

Of course, this streak won't last forever, but I'll be happy and grateful for each day it goes on.

A new trend in child labour practices

We've all heard about famous sportswear being manufactured by children who work in third world country sweatshops.

Well, could this be the new trend in child labour practices?

I absolutely HATE snakes!

So, you find yourself driving along a highway, and all of a sudden, a water moccasin (a very poisonous snake) appears on your windshield. If this happened to me, I'd freak out and probably crash my car.

I'll sleep so much better tonight

Reality can be so much more "unreal" than fantasy. Researchers at McAfee announced they had been monitoring successful attempts by foreign agents to infiltrate government, military, technological and other sources of sensitive information in fourteen different countries, going back five years.

Here's the story. And here's a slide showing a partial list of companies and countries targeted just in 2008. Click on the slide to make things large enough to read the details.

Sweet dreams!

Timing is everything

Ask anyone... they'll always say timing is everything. Here's a video from the scene of a fire that happened this weekend in my home town.




The tenant, who has been living in the home for about seven months, suspects the fire was caused by faulty wiring in the attic. She said there had been other problems with the unit, and that complaints to the owner had been ignored.

The previous tenant was my daughter.

Speechless

I just can't add anything to the pictures and story that appeared in today's news. Because I'm afraid the story will eventually disappear from the internet, I decided to cut/paste it here.

For now, however, here is the story as found on Sympatico.ca.

Inspired, perhaps, by the fad of Worst Driver shows on television, a Bentley driver decided July 27 to turn the lane in front of Monte Carlo's Place du Casino into a game of bumper cars.

The female driver, allegedly at parking lot speeds, accidentally ran her $380,000 Bentley Azure convertible into the side of a $100,000 Mercedes S-Class, ricocheting and ramming a $215,000 Ferrari F430 and pushing a $70,000 Porsche 911 into a $200,000 Aston Martin Rapide, reports the Daily Mail.

A crowd of tourists quickly swarmed the scene to ogle the carnage (estimated damage: $60,000 total) and presumably point and laugh at the driver, who during the collision managed to block her car's doors. Almost all of the cars require new fenders and bumpers.

Photos of the event have induced cringes on the faces of auto enthusiasts worldwide. Please view with caution.

I traced the story back to the original article in the Daily Mail, where, of course, British humour made the story all the more readable.

What was he thinking?

Israel gets a bum rap everywhere in the world. There are probably not many countries that would just want to be "left alone" more than Israel. Despite propaganda from many quarters, most reasonable people realize that Israeli's in particular, and Jews in general, are not out to start trouble.

So, why would some psychologically disturbed hothead like Anders Behring Breivik go and do something so STUPID AND EVIL in the name of anti-Islamic and pro-Zionist causes? Did this person believe his actions would bring positive attention to the plight of Jews?

When terrorists go around doing bad things in the name of Islam, the press is quick to point out that the majority of Muslims are peace-loving. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, because, strictly speaking, the number of terrorists numbers in the thousands, not the millions.

However, journalists are not likely to make the same argument for terrorists who support Israel (and I'm not even sure that Breivik is even Jewish). No, in the case of pro-Israeli terrorists, you can be sure that one or two bad apples (I have a hard time coming up with more than a dozen or so incidents of willful mayhem by people claiming to support the Zionist cause) won't be labeled as being the exception rather than the rule.

I fear that this incident will do much to spoil things for Israeli public relations.

Amy Winehouse is dead - is anyone really surprised by this?

I didn't know her music. I did know her reputation. I also knew (from YouTube) what a sorry state she was in when she attempted to open her European tour in Serbia. Just how bad do you have to be to be booed off the stage by your own fans?

So am I surprised that she died young? Not really. Although it won't be made official until after an autopsy, does anyone have any doubt that this death was self-inflicted (by drug or alcohol overdose, or something else)?

The last death of a star that took me by surprise was that of Karen Carpenter. I wept openly at her death - unaware that she even had an eating disorder. Her talent was real and unique.

There are other current stars whose deaths wouldn't come as a shock. But I'll leave those thoughts on the back burner - until the proper time to pull them out.

If it ain't broke, don't break it!

I went into my Windows Live Mail account today and saw a whole bunch of useful emails (no, really) that were sent by a company that I use for some of my domain registrations. I decided it would be a good idea to create an email filter, so that emails coming from this company wouldn't get overlooked in my general inbox and could be placed into their own folder.

I've created email filtering rules lots of times, so it's not like I don't know how to do it. Yet, when I tried to create a "New" filtering rule, nothing happened.

I lock my browser down pretty tightly, requiring permission to run scripts, display popups, etc. So naturally, I thought there might be a problem with that. Well, no matter what I allowed, the darn filtering rule screen would not appear.

So, I switched to Internet Explorer, a browser I avoid like the plague. Still, with this being a Microsoft product, I expected it would work with their own email program. NOT!!

I then searched to see if I was the only person having this problem, and thankfully, came across a post from someone who had not only experienced the problem, but had found a way around it. It seems that Microsoft, having made some change to Windows Live Mail, broke the filtering mechanism.

Click here for his excellent solution. I should say that, in order for his solution to work, I had to access my hotmail account using Internet Explorer, since the described solution did not apply to Firefox.

Elton John is coming to town

Tickets went on sale Friday morning for an Elton John concert scheduled for September 10th. Ever since I heard about the concert, I had been waiting for Friday morning so I could be early in line.

I forgot... and now, the show is sold out. At least, I think it's sold out, because every time I tried to buy a ticket, the box-office website told me there were none in that price bracket! But, I guess I shouldn't feel too badly. According to the newspaper, the lineup for tickets started more than 24 hours in advance of the box office opening; and I had many more important things to do and places to be during that period. Still, I had hoped to snag a couple of tickets to surprise my wife.

And the winner is...

David Byrne, from Essex, Ontario! Essex is just outside Windsor, my hometown. And in tonight's online press (and probably tomorrow's front page), news that David Byrne beat fellow Canadian Kent Eger of Regina was a bit unexpected.

After all, Kent Eger had been at or near the top of the money leader list during the main competition. Heading into tonight's finale, he would have probably been the odds-on favourite to win the competition.

But things got rough for Kent almost from the very beginning. Going into "Stage 2" of the competition, David had a commanding money lead. Kent would have to beat David on three straight holes to win the competition.

Kent managed to win the first hole of the second stage. But a poor drive put him behind the eight ball on the second hole, and he ended up losing to the younger, less experienced David.

What I really enjoyed about this final was the demeanour of the competitors. Maybe it's because they're Canadians; but there was no trash talk, no taunting, no haughtiness; just an engrossing competition between two gentlemen golfers. Kent was gracious in defeat, David humble and surprised in victory.

I wish all the best to both golfers, and hope to follow David's progress when he takes part in his PGA appearance next year.

Gimme a break!

Can you believe it? Going into its final week, the "Big Break - Indian Wells" golf challenge has only two contestants left standing - both Canadians!

I've only watched this show for the last four or five seasons, so I can't say whether there has been a Canadian winner prior to when I began watching. I can say that in seasons I've watched, there has almost always been at least one Canadian in the field, but none ever made it this far.

Whether the winner turns out to be David Byrne, from neighboring Essex, Ontario, or Kent Eger from Regina, Saskatchewan; the real winner will be Canadians who will feel a bit of pride at being guaranteed a one-two finish in the game.

Heck, after tonight's episode, the online version of our local newspaper featured a story and picture featuring David. Tomorrow, no doubt, he'll be front page news.

Dog Flees Stoning Order

This is one of those stories that boggles the imagination. In a country that is not backward, and is considered the birth of monotheism, it pains me to believe that sane men can have such insane thoughts.

Here is a story that appeared in several newspapers across the globe, including the paper in my home town:

June 19, 2011

A Jerusalem rabbinical court condemned to death by stoning a dog it suspects is the reincarnation of a secular lawyer who insulted the court's judges 20 years ago, Ynet website reported Friday.

According to Ynet, the large dog made its way into the Monetary Affairs Court in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighbourhood of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem, frightening judges and plaintiffs.

Despite attempts to drive the dog out of the court, the hound refused to leave the premises.

One of the sitting judges then recalled a curse the court had passed down upon a secular lawyer who had insulted the judges two decades previously.

Their preferred divine retribution was for the lawyer's spirit to move into the body of a dog, an animal considered impure by traditional Judaism.

Clearly still offended, one of the judges sentenced the animal to death by stoning by local children. The canine target, however, managed to escape.

Let the Animals Live, an animal-welfare organization, filed a complaint with the police against the head of the court, Rabbi Avraham Dov Levin.

Followup appointment goes well - I'm back on the road!

I took the train to London on Thursday, June 23rd to see my surgeon for a followup appointment. My vision is good, though apparently my muscle memory is so strong, my body is actually fighting to retain my lazy eye condition, rather than allowing the corrected condition to become stable. The doctor has prescribed some eye exercises that should speed up my recovery and help ensure an optimal result.

Basically, the doctor wants me to take a pen and focus on the nib. She then wants me to draw the pen progressively closer to my nose, so that my eyes have to go "cross-eyed" to keep focused. This tendency to force the eyes "inward" should help me retain better instinctive focus. She wants me to do this exercise for a full FIVE MINUTES every morning right after waking up. Frankly, I can think of a couple of things I'd rather be doing immediately after waking up, so I'll have to work on that.

As far as vision goes, my eyes are both working acceptably well. While the left eye is still a bit blurry, it's well within the allowable parameters for post-surgical expectations. I have been cleared to drive my car. My next followup in London will be in late August.

Today, I wanted to try to get to my optometrist to pick up my new prescription (which was written in February, a few months before the surgery was even scheduled), but it looks like it will have to wait for a few more days. My schedule is just too busy.

Can't wait for the followup appointment...

News flash - going without a car really sucks! Although my concerns about not being able to service my clients during my recovery seemed to have been a non-issue (the clients who know me and want me have been willing to provide transportation), there is, nevertheless, a feeling of powerlessness when you can't just hop in your car and take off!

Over the past couple of days, I've been having concerns that my post-op recovery is not going as well as it should. The doctors don't seem to think that my current condition is anything to worry about, but when it comes to a person's vision, I think worrying is not that bad.

I took (gruesome) pictures of my eyeball that lead me to believe I'm not doing well, but I will bide my time until Thursday and hope that when my surgeon does the followup appointment, she won't say something like "why didn't you call us earlier?"

Surgery was a complete success!

While I have been told it will take between 4-6 weeks for my corrected vision to be completely free of blurriness, I can say with certainty that only hours after the surgery, I already have more control over my lazy eye than I have had for as long as I can remember.

Before the surgery, if I closed my eyes and relaxed, then opened them, my left eye would be completely to the left of the eye socket; and the two different images were BOTH being processed by my brain. It made for some confusing (and amusing) effects - like being able to see things happening to my left without moving my head or particularly concentrating on them. Unfortunately, it also meant that while driving, traffic in my adjacent lane sometimes appeared to be coming directly at me.

All that is gone now - history. Since the operation, when I look at something, I see it with both eyes - the way it was always meant to be. I now have much improved depth perception, and I can't wait until I get official clearance to drive again.

Surgery is back in play

So, I got the call, and my surgery is on again; scheduled for June 15th. We'll see how it goes this time :)

Neato is Neato!

I LIKE IT!

Watch the first few minutes of its maiden voyage:

Happy Birthday to me!

Yesterday was my birthday. I got lovely and thoughtful gifts from my wife and son, phone calls and cards from various family and friends, and a day much to myself, with only a single service call to detract from total relaxation.

Today, I received more "gifts". First, for those familiar with my geek status, you'll know I have several robotic vacuum cleaners (Roombas) in various areas of the house. For the past few months, I've had my eye on a competitor's model - one that promises to do a better job in a fraction of the time. A few days ago, I broke down and ordered it (they even took one of my old Roombas in partial trade), and today it arrived!

I'm trying to exercise patience as it sits on its charging base, but I'm really anxious to use it myself.

The other "gift" I received today is news from the surgeon who broke her arm a month ago. It seems she's up and around, and I received a call today to reschedule my surgery. It should take place two weeks from today! I'm a bit nervous, but otherwise looking forward to the results.

That's it for now. I've got to run and watch my Neato charge...

A call from mom

When the phone rang, I saw from the caller ID that it was my mother - calling from her Assisted Living facility in another city. I'm usually hesitant to answer calls from my mom... her dementia being sufficiently progressed to the point where conversations are nonsensical, but not in an amusing way.

Still, I thought that she might be calling to wish me a happy birthday, so I answered.

I was wrong.

After ranting for nearly twenty minutes about her care (or lack of it) and a host of imaginary slights, she finally paused long enough for me to say "Hi", and "I thought you were calling to wish me a happy birthday."

She followed with a half-hearted "Happy birthday" before continuing with her rant.

The sad part of this story is that she's at a stage where she would respond really well to a particular medication. However, this medication takes the form of a distinctive capsule - and the one thing my mother still recognizes are her usual medications. Try to give her any pill she doesn't recognize, and she refuses to take it. She doesn't trust doctors (probably because of the medical foul-ups that ultimately contributed to the premature death of my father). While I share her disdain for certain doctors and hospitals, I wish she would allow us to make her life more enjoyable and her mental health more stable.

Sisterly Love

My birthday is just around the corner. In honour of my birthday, my sister Linda decided to sponsor a "kiddush" after the upcoming week's synagogue service.

She had intended to surprise me with this kiddush, but I guess she didn't realize that I'm the webmaster of the synagogue's website, and all requests for kiddushes come across my desk so they can be included on our website's honour roll!

Despite her disappointment, I was still surprised (and grateful) to realize how thoughtful it was for her to make a donation to my synagogue on my behalf. In addition to all that, she also sent me a personal gift, enabling me to enjoy a birthday dinner with my wife.

Seeking a clear vision

My last eye exam was in February. Since then, I've been trying to get a pair of glasses. The first attempt ended prematurely when the optician called with news that the lab had cut my lenses to the wrong size, and they were too small for my chosen frame.

Next, after a wait of more than two weeks, I got a pair that had the grinding done to the wrong part of the lens. I would have had to walk around with my chin buried in my chest to be able to see through the focus point in the lenses.

Nearly a month passed before the next pair were ready, and I had high hopes for a perfect fit. While my right eye was correctly accommodated, the left eye's vision left much to be desired. I instantly felt very dizzy - to the point of nearly bringing up my lunch - and the optician suggested I may want to go for a vision re-test to confirm the prescription.

So, yesterday, I went for the re-test and was told that the original prescription was correct. This time, my optometrist wrote a note on the back of the prescription form, hoping to help the optician choose the correct "base curve" for my needs.

I've been told that this time, the glasses will be completely manufactured at the main lab, rather than having the lenses cut and transferred back to the local office for final grinding and polishing. Here's hoping these finally do the trick.

I survived!

Well, sort of. Surgery was scheduled for 9:00AM, and I checked into the hospital at 7:00. Things went smoothly during preparation (although they had to try twice to get an IV line in me), and I was wheeled into the O.R. a few minutes before 9:00AM.

I got to see the surgeon before being put to sleep... and then I remember waking up.

The surgeon was standing over me, crying! Then I found out that she had slipped on something in the operating room, fallen down, and broken her arm! Thank goodness she fell before starting to cut! Her tears were tears of pain - I don't know if she had already been to the doctor to have her arm set (I was too groggy, and without my glasses, so I can't recall seeing a cast or sling) - but I think she also felt sorry for me. She was so apologetic.

After all the preparation, and my wife having to use a vacation day on very short notice to accompany me to an out-of-town surgery, nothing happened. The surgery has been postponed indefinitely.

Surgery Required

I've had a weak eye for as long as I can remember. Unless I concentrate, it tends to drift off to the side. It makes it pretty hard to focus on small print. Driving is also a pain, since my brain sometimes processes two simultaneous images that can confuse me.

Monday, after years of procrastination and months of waiting for a surgical opening, I go under the knife. The plan is to loosen one eye muscle while tightening the opposite one. This should allow my eye to "naturally" drift into the centre position.

I've been told there will be double vision (of a kind my brain is not used to dealing with) that will last two weeks or more. Stitches will come out ten days after surgery, and vision should return to a "new" normal within four to six weeks.

Because of various risk factors, doctors say the general anesthetic will be more dangerous than usual, so I'm hoping there are no serious complications. But nothing is for sure.

When I post again, you'll know the surgery was successful.

A Hoi, matey!

Those who see me, know I love food. Those who know me, know I love sushi. Last Monday, my wife attended a lunch date at a restaurant near her place of work and when she got home, she told me it was a sushi restaurant. It's called Hoi.

I hadn't known there was a sushi restaurant in that vicinity. My favourite sushi place is several miles from my home and relatively expensive (but worth every penny). This one is much closer to where I live. So, on Tuesday, I stopped in for lunch to give this new place a try.

I'd rate the portion size of the maki rolls at about 80% of what I'm used to. The quality is about the same. What really tips the balance for me is the price... it's all-you-can-eat, so for about half of what I pay at my favourite place, I can gorge myself.

On that first visit, I limited my consumption to sushi and a few of the appetizers. Miso soup, fried dumplings, a salad, two spring rolls, two cans of Diet Coke (no fountain drinks at this place, and even canned refills are free!) and 36 pieces of delicious sushi (6 Maki rolls) all for under $15.00 (with tax and tip, the bill came to $20.00).

The next day, I decided to try dinner. Pricing was $6.00 more than lunch. I ate pretty much the same things; in addition to some other items such as chicken skewers, beef skewers, and chicken fried rice. With tax and tip, I paid $27.50.

Thursday, I took my wife with me for dinner, where we both feasted for $55.00 total. I've been back twice since Thursday. Hopefully, my obsession with this place will run out before my money does!

More good news


Job Reclassification

My wife learned earlier this week that her attempt to have the job reclassified was successful. What this means is an immediate and significant bump in pay (retroactive to the date when the reclassification request was made). Not only will this improve our living situation, it will also have a very positive effect on her pensionable income, since her pension will be based on her highest five years of earnings.


New Clients

When I started this latest business venture, I didn't expect my clients to have a need for my services again if I did a good job. But, I hadn't factored in that satisfied clients come to you for other services, not just repairs, once you've earned their trust. So, I've gotten used to having a relatively small, but loyal, base of repeat clients.

That's why it's particularly gratifying when my advertising and word of mouth referrals result in new business. This week has been particularly good, with two brand new clients, and a repeat client from more than two years ago needing my assistance.

Today in the news

Whether it's because of April Fool's day or not, the news lately has been nothing short of bizarre.


Gas Prices

There was an article in an online newspaper on April Fool's day that spoke about a 30-cent per litre increase in the price of gasoline. Thankfully, that turned out to be just a gag.

But four days later, it's certainly no joke that the price of gas has actually risen by 10-cents per litre. That works out to rise of 45.5 cents per imperial gallon, overnight!


Privacy Concerns

The Epsilon Corporation, responsible for much of the bulk email sent on behalf of large and respectable corporations, suffered a security breach this past weekend, resulting in the unauthorized release of client names and corresponding email addresses for many of the people in their vast data banks. Although they are quick to note that no passwords or other information was compromised, just having access to a valid list of matched names and addresses will give spammers the luxury of sending you PERSONALIZED spam or phishing emails... not just of the "Dear Customer" variety, but rather "Dear Jack"...

I have already received an apology from Best Buy - one of Epsilon's clients - advising me of this breach, and to be aware of any unauthorized emails I may receive that refer to me by name. The fallout from this breach will last for years, as those people whose email addresses will remain unchanged will continue to fall victim to phishing attempts for years to come.


Car Prices

The situation in Japan following the March 11th earthquake is starting to affect our local industry (automobiles) here in Canada. The price of fuel-efficient cars is rising across the board, partially in response to rising prices of Japanese cars (caused by the reduction in supply). That doesn't bode well for my plans to replace my older vehicle this summer.


Scams aimed at greedy currency collectors

Snake-oil salesmen are alive and well. There was a "story" that took up a full page in our local newspaper today. Consumer protection rules require that advertisements masquerading as news articles are identified appropriately; but if anyone missed the very small print disclaimer at the top of the page that identifies the "story" as an advertisement, it would seem that the US Treasury had released some rare, uncirculated $2.00 American bills for purchase by a lucky few Canadians who lived in very specific postal areas. In fact, as the story went, only people who lived in areas matching a pre-printed list of postal codes were eligible to make their purchase. From what I could see, every postal code in Canada was listed except for Manitoba and Nunavut, although there may have been one or two missing zones - I just couldn't tell. For only $58.00, you could own TWELVE, uncirculated $2.00 bills. These bills would be delivered as three sheets of four bills each. In more small print, the ad stated that the company "World Reserve Monetary Exchange" was not affiliated with the US Mint.

The image above shows the full page ad. The image below shows a portion of the ad. Note the very small print at the top, and the "very official looking" security detail, partially obscuring a crest that looks remarkably similar to "official" government crests.

As the world turns

When taken day-by-day, not much had been happening worth writing about. But, as I look over the past 30+ months of inactivity, I see there have been some significant changes.

In summary (and in no particular order) ....

The death of my grandson in June 2006 had an incredible impact on the lives of my step-daughter and her husband. Many couples report that anger and blame creep into a relationship after the death of a child, and this family was no different. In the intervening period, that marriage has been officially dissolved and there is no love lost. Both parties are now in new relationships. In the case of my step-daughter, marriage plans are underway.

My mother finally got to the point where she could no longer live alone. Last summer, she moved to an assisted living facility in a different city; where she can be closer to her grandchildren and to my sister, who is her legal guardian.

The business I started in 2006 continues to grow, albeit slowly. Back in 2009, I was honoured with an award as "Coolest Computer Tech", and I continue to reap the benefits of that positive press.

Various pets have come and gone over the past few years, but we're still a pet-friendly household, which, quite frankly, limits our options for apartments or condos as we plan to downsize within the coming year. Our most recent acquisition, a female cocker spaniel, is still in the "potty training" stage, but shows promise as a loving companion for my wife and I as well as for our other dog.

A daughter was born to my nephew and his partner nearly two years ago. They just became parents again today. Twins born this morning will make them a family of three children.

My wife, who has been working for a wonderful employer for the past four years, finally got moved to a new facility earlier this year after spending the past three years in a dilapidated building away from most of her co-workers. Now that she's joined her co-workers in the newer building, her work load has increased, and she's anxiously waiting for news of a job classification review that could see her receive a bump in pay and job classification.

My synagogue saw a change of guard, with the departure of our long-time rabbi, and the hiring of a new rabbi with lots of zest and charisma. I served as a member of the board of directors for a two year term that ended this month.

My wife and I became empty-nesters earlier this year when the last of our "children" left home. Unfortunately, my son chose the worst possible time to move to Southeast Asia, having arrived there only two days before the Japan earthquake. Add the fact that his teaching assignment was in a town very close to the North/South Korean border (where there is still a remarkably scary buildup of military presence), and the stress was too much to bear. We are no longer empty nesters!

My last post was nearly three years ago. It came on the fourth anniversary of my father's passing. What better time to resurrect this blog than on a birthday.

This morning, my nephew and his partner welcomed twins Evangeline Amanda Nova and Griffin Ezekial Lazarus into this world.

My understanding is that Ezekial was born with a cleft lip that may need to be corrected with cosmetic surgery, but other than that, both babies are healthy.

An anniversary remembered

Four years ago, I lost my father; a dear friend and good man. Though I don't cry for him and seldom think I'm missing him, I do experience something special and deep when I visit his grave site. Today, on this sombre anniversary, I visited the grave with my sister, and listened as she read two beautiful, moving poems.

On a day as beautiful as today, I wish he was here, sitting in my backyard, playing with the grandchildren, greatgrandchildren and dogs. He would have enjoyed that. Lord knows I would have too.

Who knew?

For those who don't know, I provide computer security services for a living. I cringe when I run into people who insist on using Internet Explorer because it's conveniently bundled with their new PC - and I do the best I can to convince them to go with Firefox. No browser is perfect, but I certainly have more faith in that choice.

Anyway, this morning, I was trying to get my wife converted to Firefox. It was only when I told her how much faster the browser was that she relented and gave permission for it to be installed on her PC.

After it was installed, and IE favourites had been converted to Firefox bookmarks, I tried to load her standard homepage - a customized iGoogle page with various gadgets. Everything worked properly except for one gadget, a pretty flash presentation of an aquarium. Even after downloading and installing the latest flash plug-in for Firefox, the video would not play.

Finally, I right-clicked in the empty black box and viewed the properties. I was absolutely shocked to see the flash plug-in on Firefox asking for permission to connect to the laptop's webcam and microphone. I have no idea how long my wife had been using the aquarium under IE, but suffice to say it is no longer installed on her iGoogle page.

Score yet another victory for Firefox's superior security.

Mother's Day comes and goes

Mother's Day this year was pretty decent. We had a family lunch at my sister-in-law's home, and the company was pleasant. Perhaps the only sour note to the weekend (though not the actual day itself) came when I discovered that I had lost my hard-to-replace sunglasses.

I've begun to retrace my steps from the weekend, though I don't hold out much hope of finding them. It's a real bummer, because they were manufactured as a matched pair for my glasses and I really have a difficult time driving in daylight without them.

On another front, we're nearly completed with renovations to our home. This set of renovations was my big "mother's day gift" to my wife. She's been wanting to do it for quite some time, but I had resisted until this month. By the end of this coming week, the renovations should be completed.

Hardy Heron is hardly worth it

I've become quite partial to Ubuntu over the past year or so, having initially installed a copy of 6.06 LTS that had been in my possession for a dog's age. When 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) arrived, I waited a while to upgrade, but eventually took the plunge.

I liked what I saw, and eagerly upgraded to 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) very soon after its release.

So this week, when I heard the call of the Heron, I dove in head first. It took a while to do the upgrade, what with the swarm of early adopters hogging the download bandwidth. Two nights ago, I was finally able to make a good connection with an authorized mirror, and let the installation process proceed overnight.

Boy, was I sorry!

The first clue that I was in trouble was when my system got stuck on a plain background screen (the cream coloured screen that shows up when you're logging in). I thought the install was just slow, but nope; it was definitely a crash.

The message I got was that the video driver firmware was not capable of dealing with the new version. But I at least thought I'd be able to proceed to a stable operating system. No such luck.

After much fussing, I abandoned any hope of being able to recover my 7.10 installation. Since I didn't have any important files saved on the Ubuntu box, I decided I'd just do a clean install. So, with much reluctance, I did a clean install of Ubuntu 8.04.

Nothing went wrong during the installation; and it completed with no troubles or error messages at all. Then upon rebooting after the installation, that's when the trouble started.

I again received a message that my video drivers were not acceptable, and Ubuntu threw me into limited support mode. Maximum screen resolution was a miserable 800x600, and Ubuntu was unable to identify my graphic hardware or my monitor.

What's worse, is that when I booted from the 7.10 Live CD, Ubuntu was able to start up in 1280x768 resolution - which is the resolution I used when Ubuntu 7.10 was still on my computer. Why a newer version of Ubuntu would be unable to recognize my video hardware and monitor when a prior version had been able to do so is completely beyond me.

You'd think I had learned my lesson, but it gets much worse from there. I'll wait until tomorrow to post that story.

This is MY KIND of news!

Obesity aids in illness survival

Sharon Kirkey, Canwest News Service
Published: Monday, March 10, 2008

Fat people have a survival edge over skinnier people in the face of critical illness, new research shows.

In the latest example of the phenomenon known as the "obesity survival paradox," American researchers found that while critically ill obese patients spend more days on mechanical ventilators and in intensive care units than thinner ICU patients, they're more likely to survive.

And there are several theories as to why: One holds that an abundant supply of fat tissue acts like a factory, churning out chemicals called adipokines that help fight inflammation and infections such as sepsis -- overwhelming bloodstream infections that are the leading cause of death in an ICU.

In addition, during severe illnesses, the body breaks down muscle protein and glycogen, the body's primary source of stored energy. Obese people may be better able to cope because of greater nutritional reserves.

"With the increased rates of obesity, we're seeing more and more morbidly obese patients in the intensive care unit," says lead author Dr. Folu Akinnusi, of the University of Buffalo's division of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine.

"We thought, if they were at increased risk and likely to die, we needed to do something, we needed a different kind of intervention to try and reduce or stem that wave of increased mortality."

Instead, they found the opposite to be true. Akinnusi hopes the findings will make doctors think twice about "subconsciously writing off the obese."

"A lot of times, people have less of an expectation" that they will survive, he says. "If we know they're not at greater risk then you're very likely to give them as much of a chance as everyone else and do the most you can for them."

The study is the latest to show how the very condition that causes multiple health problems -- including high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and diabetes -- may protect people during serious illness or injury.

Other researchers have found that obese people with kidney failure, heart failure and chronic obstructive lung disease do better than skinnier patients.

No one is suggesting obesity is a good thing, Akinnusi says.

It's been a bad winter

I don't get sick very often. But when I do, it's usually a doozy! This winter, I've been seriously ill twice with flu-like symptoms. I say "flu-like" because like every year, I got the flu vaccine before the bad weather started. In January, I had a period of nearly three weeks when I was either completely incapacitated, or in various stages of recovery.

Now, this past week, I visited a client who was sick, and three days later, I've come down with it myself. Yet another bout of serious congestion, vomiting, inability to sleep, and inability to enjoy food.

In three days, I've dropped nearly 8 pounds of weight (water weight, most likely) and feel like hell. I've missed a day of work, and those days when I did bother to work, it was a substandard effort.

Finally, I was planning to have my mom over this weekend to celebrate her birthday, but the way I'm feeling (and the likelihood that I'll be passing it on to my wife and son), I don't think I'm going to follow through on that plan.

Happy New Year

January is nearly over, and I'm just getting around to my first post of the new year. In my last post, I mentioned that I had taken on a new challenge in designing a new feature into my synagogue's website.

That project has been successfully completed, and it runs flawlessly without any human intervention. In fact, some people have been so impressed by it that they've suggested the idea be commercialized. A new domain has already been registered in anticipation of this, and a partnership of sorts has been formed between me and someone who is better at the marketing end of things. Commercializing the product and some initial concepts about how it could be done was actually his idea, so it seems fair that he be included in any potential gain.

On other fronts, my son has completed his first semester at University, and his marks were promising. Also promising was that his portfolio of work earned him a spot in the university major of his choice. We're very proud of him.

Our daughter in Hamilton has been accepted in a college program designed to upgrade her current professional designation, and she started classes this month. She has shown a great deal of initiative getting into this program, and we wish her success in her quest.

Switching focus yet again, we've had significant changes in the family dynamic, vis-a-vis pets. For the past year, we have been living in sin, having made a conscious decision to defy the local bylaws by keeping more than two dogs. Around Christmas time, we took a trip across the border and saw a beautiful little dog that we wanted to adopt.

But, I opened my big mouth about having more than the legal number of dogs, and our adoption request was denied. For more than a year, we had anticipated the imminent death of our oldest and frailest dog. In fact, when we got our "third" dog, it was in anticipation that the oldest dog was near death. Anyway, about three weeks ago, she came down with another serious ailment, and that was the last straw. She was euthanized earlier this month. Immediately afterward, we visited a local breeder and put a deposit on a cocker spaniel puppy.

This would have brought us back to the three dog level, and one of those dogs, our beautiful purebred Black Lab, was deemed too large to be retained. We tried to sell her, but there were no serious offers, so we ended up surrendering her to the same no-kill shelter from which we had gotten our third dog last January.

So now, we're down to the legal two dog limit. We are left with smaller dogs than we've had in a while - the cocker/lab mix that we got last year, and the cocker puppy that we've had for the last two weeks.

Well, that brings us up to date. Any bets on when I'll post next?

Where to begin

It's been a while since I blogged. I guess when you wake up, do the same stuff, and go to bed, every single day; there really isn't much to talk about.

Since my last post, the most significant happenings are that our daughter visited from Hamilton (twice, actually -- once on the way over to the U.S. for the Thanksgiving holiday, and once on the way back), and our son has delighted us with his amazing progress as an adult-student at the local university.

Also related to our son, he decided to sell the car he's almost never driven, to help finance his computer and textbook acquisitions. The car sold over the weekend, and has yet to be delivered to the new owner, although it has been paid for.

On the personal business front, I continue to make progress. Revenues are consistently ahead of expenses (which wasn't always true during my previous year in business), but it's nowhere near the critical mass level yet.

I'm making an effort to get back on better terms with some people in my life. Life is too short to be angry all the time. It's difficult for me to make this effort, so it's too early to say how well it will turn out.

I own a few web domains, as well as owning and managing the one used by my place of worship. They've asked me to take their website to the next level, by not only providing a public service for our members, but also to try to actively recruit additional members and create a revenue stream. This should be a challenge, but I'm looking forward to it.

Well, that's about it. Nothing much to tell, but just enough to prove to the two readers who noticed not much was happening, that I'm still alive!

Bat Mitzvah day

My cousin's daughter is celebrating her Bat Mitzvah today. We were invited, but decided not to attend the actual ceremony. I attend a very small synagogue, and it's always touch-and-go whether we have enough men to do the entire service. Today, I'm glad I chose to stay local, because we didn't have any extra men show up.

The party is tonight, and we will be going to that. It's taking place somewhere I've never been before, and normally, I would be "mapquesting" in preparation. Tonight, I'll be relying on my GPS. Hopefully, it won't let me down.

Moving day

I didn't tell anyone I was moving, because until yesterday, I didn't know it myself. I had been living at the same home for two years now (26 months actually) and thought I was happy.

Then, I had a problem and had to ask the landlord for assistance. He totally ignored my problem and basically accused me of being a bad tenant! What's up with that? I'd never broken the rules, never asked him a question until yesterday... I thought I was the perfect tenant.

Then he had to nerve to imply I could be thrown out at any time, so I did what any self-respecting person would do. I moved out in the middle of the night.

So it's official. One of my websites has a new home today. And as soon as I can figure out how to redirect the mail from my old place, I'll be able to start getting that again too (along with all that lovely spam!).

Stay tuned for more details.

September has almost passed me by!

It's been a good month, with very few glitches of any kind. Things on the business front are going well, and mostly good things are happening on the personal front. Last week, we celebrated my wife's birthday. That's about the only occasion for the month.

Fall has begun, so of course, the weather started to improve after we closed the pool for the season. This week (and the next) are pretty much taken up with various Jewish holidays, and then we'll head into what I hope will be a nice October.

Time flies when you're having fun!

School's back in session

It's the end of the first week back at school. It's an exciting time at my daughter's house, with her youngest starting Junior Kindergarten this year. And my wife is facing her first fall semester registration crunch at the local university. I don't think she's ever been as swamped in her life, although she confesses to feeling somewhat like a mother figure to the young students. She's enjoying herself at this position more than she ever has at any previous employer.

There's nothing that makes me happier than seeing her beaming face each night when she returns home from work. It's a far cry from the days when she'd get home weeping and despondent over goings-on at the office. I'm so glad she's found herself a wonderful place to call "home".

With school back in session, I'm expecting my business call volume to increase after a somewhat slow summer. Although this summer was much busier than last year's, it still wasn't what I would call "great".

That's it for now.

Happy, Happy, Happy!

Happy anniversary, happy anniversary, happy anniversary, haaaaappy anniversary!

It's true. My wife and I have been married a very long time! And today marks the end of yet another year together.

I wish us many more!

Jesse Imeson caught, and other important news!

International news

A high profile killer (I don't have to say alleged killer, because I'm not a reporter) who fled the Windsor area almost two weeks ago has been caught and will now be returned to Ontario to be put on trial.

It's a shame he didn't get caught earlier, before he had the opportunity to kill two more people while on the run. There were missed opportunities -- a witness that didn't come forward in a timely manner. Thankfully, that was not the case with the latest person to spot Imeson, and he was caught shortly after the report.

This isn't the type of story I normally write about. In fact, I rarely write about anything of real substance. I suppose I'm mentioning it because I was one of many people who came forward to police with information about Imeson. I don't think it had any effect in helping track him down, but it was important enough to have merited mention in the local press.

It will be interesting to see if the planned feature on America's Most Wanted will still be aired this weekend. The producers of the show had been in the area filming background material for this weekend's program. Since I normally don't watch the program, I have no idea whether their policy is to shelf footage if the crime has already been solved prior to air date.


Click the picture for a larger image


Family matters

With July over, there's only one more month of summer vacation. My son will be starting university come September. He's always wanted to go, and now, at age 23, he'll finally get his chance. He's really excited, and so am I! And I'm very proud of him for taking this step.

All-time best

I don't think I've ever seen a more riveting video in my life.

Where has the time gone?

It's amazing how quickly time passes. My birthday has come and gone, as has Father's Day. For the most part, things are as they've been - progressing at a snail's pace, but progressing nevertheless.

I took part in a bit of a dog-and-pony show this past week, electing to sponsor a table at the annual Convention and Visitor's Bureau annual meeting. This is my first year as a member of the Bureau, and the opportunity to network and present my "message" to a table of potential clients was a lure I could not resist.

It was billed as an opportunity to present for up to an hour (one half hour scheduled, and another half hour flexible). The half hour of "flexible" time was a ruse - it didn't even appear on the official schedule sheet. And the half hour of scheduled time (which did appear on the official schedule) was cut dramatically short when the business of the day went far beyond the alloted schedule. Rather than extend the event, the original break-up time was observed. This left me with a grand total of seven minutes to present a half hour presentation.

As if that wasn't bad enough, most of the people in the room (thankfully not just those at my table) decided to leave immediately after the keynote addresses, not even affording the courtesy of an audience to those of us who sponsored their SWAG.

Was I pissed? You bet! Did I make a shortened presentation anyway? Absolutely. And of the three people who heard my presentation, one has already become a new client. I won't recoup my investment in time and money, but I did meet some new people.

And I was able to reinforce some impressions I have about people in general. More on that when I have more time.

It's been a good May

May is nearly over. My birthday is tomorrow, and I've already received my gifts. From a business perspective, this has been my most productive month since I began the business, and I'm anxious to see whether this was a blip or a trend. Regardless, I will take things in stride.

I've reached a balance in my life. I'm happy with who I am, what I have, and what is ultimately in store for me. Overall, my relationships are the best they've ever been. While nothing is ever perfect, I am comfortable with the state of things.

For the past few months, I've been trying out various combinations of devices to combat my obstructive sleep apnea. I think I've found a combination that works effectively. Next week, I'll be purchasing the equipment I need. I believe this equipment has helped me achieve a more restful sleep, and in the process has helped me lower my overall level of stress.

That's it for now.

It worked great!

I was off at work during the first "scheduled" run on the Roomba. I came back too late to see whether it had actually gone to work (it was docked and recharged by the time I saw it). But the proof was in the dustbin. Full of dirt and dog hair, I'd say the run was a success.

And, compared to the results from the original brush, I'd have to say the pet brush did a better job holding on to the hair. Transitions from linoleum to carpeted areas were not showing traces of dropped dog hair.

Pets beware

My new pet attachment has arrived from Roomba. I've already tried the enhanced brush cleaner (it's AWESOME!!!), and I'm looking forward to tomorrow, when my first "hands off" cleaning session will take place.

By "hands off", I mean that the Roomba will turn itself on tomorrow, while I'm not at home, and hopefully do a good job before returning to its charging base. Until now, I've been manually starting the Roomba, and monitoring it to make sure it doesn't get itself into any tight spaces (so far, it has managed to stay pretty much clear of obstacles).

Tax season's over

I dreaded filing this year's return. Having "officially" started a new business in 2006, there were extra forms and procedures that needed to be completed, and the bill from my accountant was higher than usual.

After all was said and done, I owned the government more than I expected, and had to dig into savings just to pay them!

Luckily, things are beginning to show improvement on the business front, so I'm hoping that next year at this time, I'll have better things to report.

w.bloggar - RIP

I have been using the w.bloggar tool to create my blogspot entries for about five years. The interface was clean, advanced, and a real pleasure to work with. The work of the author was good enough that I sent a donation shortly after I began using w.bloggar.

Now, however, with Google finally forcing me to convert my blog to the new format, I found that the w.bloggar tool no longer works. I have no choice but to abandon it, since moving to a different journaling system is definitely not a viable option.

Part of the family - please help us name him/her

Our Roomba is part of the family now. While it prefers to hunt in seclusion during lazy afternoons, feasting on dust bunnies and dog hair, it has been known to occasionally hunt during evenings when other members of the household are out and about. I've become convinced that its voracious appetite for dog hair can only be adequately satisfied by equipping it with the specialized pet brushes available from iRobot. Said brushes have already been ordered.

Having joined the user community forum for Roomba owners, I've discovered that many in the community have chosen to name their cleanliness-obsessed companions. Not yet having named ours, and having no idea what to name a robot (except for names heard on movies and TV shows - like 2001, Lost in Space, and the Jetsons), I've decided to invite public comments. If you'd like to suggest a name, please leave a comment. And if we choose to use it, you'll receive a personal email, photograph, and credit for your submission.

21st century begins now

I've entered the new century. Today, I bought a Roomba Discovery robotic vacuum cleaner. It was on sale at Canadian Tire, and I simply could not resist. The Discovery comes with a Home Base for charging the vacuum. After completing the initial charge, I activated the vacuum while the dogs were in the living room. I thought there'd be more commotion, but because the vacuum is relatively quiet and relatively small, the dogs were not intimidated. On the contrary, Buddy was initially aggressive, refusing to yield ground when the Roomba approached. Once he saw that the machine meant him no harm, he allowed it to run without interference.

I was eager to see the Roomba seek its home base, so I activated the "dock" command and watched the Roomba navigate its way back to the Home Base (charging station). It sat there for a few hours charging...

Later in the evening, when the dogs and wife had been put to bed, I activated the Roomba for an actual cleaning cycle. The main level of our home has a front part, and a rear part that is just slightly lower (about 1 inch lower). The Roomba has a sensor that detects drops that are too large to navigate, and the 1 inch drop was sufficient to trigger this detection. Unfortunately, there was one damaged linoleum tile on the lower level that stuck up just enough to fool the sensor into thinking the lower level was not very far away. So, during one of many approaches from the "high" ground towards the "low" ground, the Roomba decided to make the jump. It got hung up on the broken linoleum tile and had to be manually repositioned. At that point, I put up a baby gate to stop the Roomba from approaching the back of the house.

With this path plugged, I was anxious to see whether the Roomba would be able to manouvre itself through all the rooms on the main level (excluding my office, which has far too many loose items - clutter - scattered on the floor). To my surprise, the Roomba did a remarkable job cleaning the area. It found its way into every room during the 45 minutes or so that it was running, and did a decent cleaning job (needing to have its dirt bin emptied three times during that stretch). Being that this was the first time I had tried the Roomba, I was unclear what would happen when the "Power" indicator went from Green to Yellow. I assumed that the unit would start looking for the Home Base to dock itself to, but the unit was busy cleaning an area of the house that was nowhere within sight of the Home Base. On this occasion, I used the remote control to steer the Roomba back into the living room. To my surprise, as soon as it detected the InfraRed beam from the Home Base, the Roomba went into survival mode - totally ignoring my remote commands, and instead finding, then mating with, the Home Base.

The next time I clean, I'll be more patient and see whether the Roomba can actually maintain enough juice to find its Home Base regardless of where it is within the house.

By the way, it did a decent cleaning job, though I wouldn't have been too upset if it hadn't!

I found a video on YouTube that pretty much shows the vacuum in action. While our environment is much more challenging (more furniture, and nothing to stop the Roomba from wandering room-to-room) this video still is interesting. Enjoy.

Windsor, Ontario on review

Yes, I'm from Windsor. It's a small-ish large city (ranked 20th in population in Canada) best known for its strip clubs and its ties to the automotive industry. While the auto industry is in a tailspin, thankfully, the strip clubs have seen their business increasing!

Windsor occasionally makes the national and even international spotlight. Last year, we were featured as the "Sin City" of the north during the Superbowl XL festivities in neighboring Detroit, Michigan. Most recently, Windsor was mentioned on a popular alternative news program. Click on the video below to see what I mean.

I hate computers

OK, it's not computers I hate. It's MICROSOFT. This has been a particularly unhappy week for me thusfar, and it's only Monday! I could have let things pass, but I just suffered a browser crash of monumental proportions, and that was the last straw. Earlier this week (yesterday to be exact), I found that Microsoft's TZEDIT utility is useless. I had used it to update several clients' machines for the Daylight Saving Time situation. It seemed to work as advertised. When I edited the timezone files on various computers ranging from Windows 98 to Windows Me and Windows 2000, the rules seemed to change, and I had confidence that all systems would click over with no issues.

Well, that didn't happen, and I heard from every one of the people whose systems I had "fixed". This made me look incompetent, and I don't like it when someone else makes me look that way.

I also happen to be a dues-paying member of IMDB, and take great pride in contributing many of the episode/cast/crew/plot details for the shows on their website. Today, I was entering information about the episode of Cold Case that was on last night. There were lots of guest appearances on that particular episode, and I was busily entering information for more than 30 individual items. For those not familiar with IMDB, when you submit information, there is a validation process performed by the website. When you enter an actor's name, for example, and there is more than one actor with that name, you are prompted to select which one is the "right" one.

In order to do this, and to ensure that I could quickly alternate between the input screen and a secondary screen used for my internal validation searches, I had two copies of a browser open simultaneously (as opposed to using tabs within a single instance of the browser). During validation, I was informed that one of the names I had submitted as a cast member was not already in the actor database. Rather than saying "Yes, add this person to the database", I decided to do some research to see if this was indeed a brand new actor with no previous credits - as opposed to simply a typographical error on my part.

It was during this search process that Windows decided to crash the browser (whether it was the browser, or Windows task manager that caused the problem is really moot - the bottom line is that the browser window just closed and a system error was displayed). That wouldn't have been so bad, since it was not my data entry browser that suffered the error. But when the browser closed down, BOTH INSTANCES (both independent windows) were terminated. All my work - already completed and saved but just in final verification - was lost. Because this was a web session, and the session was terminated, there was no way for me to resurrect the session cookies that may have been used to control the editing process. My work is out there, somewhere, floating like an orphan in space, but there was no way to get it back. The experience left me so frustrated, I decided not to redo the work. Someone else will have to be the one to record the details of that episode.

And I'm left with a real urge to murder anyone I can find that is somehow responsible for this intolerable piece of shit called Windows.

Congratulations Lancers

The University of Windsor Lancers Men's Basketball team captured it's first OUA (Ontario University Association) championship in nearly 30 years last night. After spending much of the past ten years firmly at the bottom of the pack, a newly hired head coach vowed two years ago to have the Lancers back in the hunt for a championship in only five years. He's three years early on that promise.

Going into last night's game, the Lancers had already made the improbable run to the finals by beating the best ranked teams in its division, including the defending OUA champion in last weekend's semi-final game. Their opponent last night was the Carleton Ravens, ranked #2 in the country, and defending national champions.

Like the March Madness tournament in the U.S., eight teams meet in Halifax to play for the Canadian national championship. Windsor had already been guaranteed a spot in that tournament with its victory last weekend. Last night's game was to determine seeding in the tournament. Even after Windsor's impressive rise to the Ontario finals, they had only been ranked #8 prior to last night's game. It will be interesting how they are seeded in the Halifax tournament.

Happy almost-Daylight-Saving-Time

No, you're not hallucinating. DST comes early this year. Next weekend, in fact. If you're still using an old version of Windows (anything before Windows XP with Service Pack 2 - i.e. Windows XP-SP2) then you will need to tell your computer about the new DST rules. For users of up-to-date operating system versions, the Microsoft Update site takes care of this on its own.

For those of you who are net-savvy, you can find instructions or even utilities to help you update your older operating system without my help. For those of you who don't know how, or want my help anyway, just send an email to DST[at]safe-and-secure-computing.com and I'll send you a return email with a small utility and detailed instructions.

Getting busier

From the standpoint of work, things are getting busier. I've been fielding calls from all over, and even was called by a local radio station to offer advice to those who might experience problems with the Daylight Saving Time coming into force earlier than normal this year. People with relatively new computer operating systems will not have to worry, but if you have portable devices that do not synch to a central server (such as wristwatches, PDAs, some cell phones, home appliances with timers, etc.) or if you are using an out of date operating system or scheduling software, then you will need to take some action.

I've been working on artwork for a new rear-window banner for my business vehicle. I thought I was ready to take it to the sign maker, until I received some very important feedback. It looks like I'll need to reconsider some elements of the artwork before I commit it to vinyl.

We got a new dog at the end of January and that's working out really well. He's fully integrated into the family now, and has a personality all his own. Despite having him for nearly a month, none of my family members have seen him yet. I'm looking forward to the inevitable introductions sometime soon.

Tomorrow, I return to the sleep clinic for my next sleep apnea test. I'm already using a CPAP machine based on the result of my first sleep study in December. But the doctor thinks I have a more serious condition that might require a Bi-PAP machine. We'll see how things go...

Dad would have been proud!

My father grew up in Europe during the depression. He was a big believer in conservation, and never throwing anything away that could be used again. For his 84th birthday, two months before he died, my wife and I had baked him a birthday cake and placed two candles, an "8" and a "4" on the cake. We joked with him that we would save those candles for my wife's 48th birthday, which was to take place four months later. To honour his memory, we kept those candles, and did, indeed, use them for that occasion. Fast forward nearly three years...

I've blogged before about the coincidence of both my grandchildren being born on the same date, four years apart. Today is their birthday. They turn 8 and 4 respectively. And we plan to use those very same candles for their cakes.

Dad would have been proud.

Nothing happens around here

It's not that I don't enjoy keeping up this blog. I do, really! But what the heck are you supposed to write about when absolutely nothing is happening? Every day seems to be like every other. I don't do very much of anything... interesting or otherwise. If I try to focus on any one day and try to recall something memorable, I fail. If it wasn't for the written log I keep for business expense purposes, I wouldn't be able to remember anything distinctive about any recent day.

So, I choose not to write when there is nothing to write about. The only reason for this post is so I can say I posted in January.

That is all.