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Archive for December, 2008

Nice picture

29 Dec

I was contacted by an editor of Schmap.com requesting if they could use one of my photographs in their upcoming guide. I’ve never been approached before to have my photographs used in any sort of publication but it’s a cool feeling to have. My work isn’t the best but some of the pictures that I’ve taken are worth of being released to the public.

Emma Williams, Managing Editor of Schmap Guides contacted me at the beginning of December asking if my photograph of Casa Loma could be used in their upcoming guide of Toronto. I think the guides are online and not in print. It’d be nice if it was in print because that way I can have a hardcopy to show that my work is good enough.

The picture that I took was a front view of the entrance into Casa Loma. I tried to frame the whole castle but in order to do that I would have to cross the street. If I cross the street, it would have introduced a few obstacles in the way. I liked the way the picture turned out though. I didn’t have time to properly frame everything but since it’s a digital camera, I didn’t have to worry too much. That’s the difference between a film photographer and a digital photographer. Although, it is still important to set up your picture properly, with a digital camera, you don’t have to worry too much about it. Just point, shoot and crop it later.
Casa Loma

 
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Posted in General

 

That’s my spot

28 Dec

Every year, I have to deal with other people stealing my parking spot. I guess it’s probably my fault for not putting up a sign but it should be common sense not to park in other people’s property without their permission. It’s hard to find a spot in my neigbhourhood around this time of year, especially when there’s a lot of snow on the streets. The parking spot in the backyard is there for a reason.

My neighbours are stupid and some of them can’t park properly. Jenn was yelled at by some old hag because she supposedly took up two parking spots. When there’s snow on the road, who’s to say who’s taking up more than one spot. Once you get into a parking spot, that’s about all you can’t do. It’s hard enough to maneuver around the snow banks to fit the car in let alone move it around afterward. After you’ve move into position, it’s easier to just stay there than try making room for others. With the way that my neighbours are shoveling snow, we’re lucky there’s any room at all.

We came home one right and found a spot in the front. Usually we don’t like to park there because space is limited and my friend has to park on the street so we try to save him a spot. If we take the street, he knows to take the spot in the backyard. Unfortunately, this particular night, someone else took the spot that’s reserved for us on our property.
Asshole
This van somehow found its way to that parking spot without asking us. I don’t think it’s my neighbour to the left because his friends usually have cars or arrives in a cab. Plus, he knows better to tell me than to let his friend randomly park in my spot. That’s what good neighbours do, they talk to each other and let each other know what’s going on. The owner of the van didn’t care whose property he was park in so long as he got to park.

I wrote the owner a note asking them not to park in my spot again because the next time they do park there, they might get a ticket. I’m going to have to call the bylaw office and ask them how I can ticket a vehicle that’s parked on my property. The owner of the van is lucky that it’s their first offense and that the bylaw officers have the day off or else I would have called and got their car ticketed or towed.

 
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Stupid neighbour

24 Dec

Today was a fairly warm day which caused the snow to melt slowly. It was warm enough that it rain which made the snow a little heavy but at the same time it made it easier to shovel. Before going to work this morning, I decide to shovel a bit of the snow and make a little pathway to walk on. When I got back home from a half day at work, I saw that all of my hard work was ruined.

One of my neighbours decided to plow the sidewalk again and as usual they stop right at my house only this time, they didn’t blow the snow onto their yard, they throw in front of my house. When I saw it, at first I thought that maybe the snow plow that was plowing the street pushed all of the snow onto the sidewalk in front of my house but then I looked at everyone else’s sidewalk and didn’t see any snow at all. How inconsiderate are these people?

My neighbour has given a lot of headache this winter. I don’t know what goes on in their head but they’re stupid. I don’t know which one it is but if I find out, their house is going to get egged and their car is going to get iced. I know that it might sound childish but that’s the best thing I can think of. They’re making me work harder than I have to and it’s not worth it.

One day, I’m going to stake out this neighbourhood to see how owns a snow blower and when I find out, I’m going to narrow down the list of suspects. One of those snow blowers is the culprit and they’re going to have to pay. My back and arms are aching from all the shovel that they’re making me do.

It’s bad enough that I have to shovel the snow when they have the convenience of a snow blower. The least they could do was give me a break. Where are their holiday spirit?

 
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Posted in Rants

 

Windows Live Writer

21 Dec

I’m currently typing this blog from a software that came with Windows Vista. It’s looks pretty handy since everything is available offline and the major parts that I need are available to me. There’s a good chance that I’ll be using this software instead of WordPress. I’ll still be using WordPress as the platform but I’ll be using Windows Live Writer to write my blog.

The cool thing about Windows Live Writer is that I no longer need to preview my post anymore because I’m basically typing this post in the blog itself so I see exactly what it’ll look like when I publish it. When you start up the software, it asks for your credentials and then downloads and bunch of stuff, the style sheet being one of them. For this site, it even posted a temporary post and then deleted it so it has done a nice job at integrating with the online platform.

A nice little feature is the plug-ins which you can download and add extra features to the software. For example, there’s a Polaroid Picture plug-in that turns your picture into a Polaroid. You can make minor adjusts to the picture like adding a caption and tilting the image ever so slightly. I find this a nice little feature because it saves me from having to resize the image in Photoshop.

There’s a bunch of other plug-ins available as well, about six pages worth as of now. The default things that you can do ranges from adding a hyperlink, images, tables, maps, tags or even videos. All of this stuff is available in WordPress but since the latest update to WordPress 2.7, I found it to be a little slow. Sometimes, it’s gotten so slow that every time I press a key, it would take about a second before it shows up.

Although it has some nice plug-ins, I’m not sure how compatible those plug-ins will be with WordPress. I’m hoping that it’ll do everything offline so that when this post gets publish, there won’t be a lot to do online. The Polaroid plug-in is simple enough since it’s just an image but from what I can see, I don’t think there’ll be a problem.

 
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Posted in Technology

 

A little help please

19 Dec

I find that some of my neighbour are pretty good people. They are pleasant and easy to get along with. The others don’t appear to be too friendly. Maybe it takes a little time to get to know them but it’s been almost two years and I’ve only made friends with a handful of them.

There was a little snow storm today and we were hit with about 30cm of snow. Some of you might be thinking, “30 cm is a little?” Yes, 30cm is a little. We’ve had snow storms where it snowed up to your knees. One year, it snowed so much that I was able to make a little tunnel in from of my house from the sidewalk to the garage door and have enough room to crawl around in it. It was almost like an igloo with a long walk way.

When it snows this much, it’s a pain for people who drives because the roads are crazy. What I don’t quite understand is why the road conditions are like that. This warning was broadcasted over the radio and on television and yet the city waits until it actually snows to send out the plows. Whether or not it snows, the streets should have been salted ahead of time. The plows don’t come out until it snows but by then it’s already too late. If it only snowed in one area of the city then yes, the plows coming out late is okay. But that’s now how Mother Nature intends for snow to fall.

I was unfortunate enough to go into work today but the employees from out of town got the day off. My coworker already knew that he wasn’t coming in today because he heard about the storm. I’m not sure where the city workers were when this announcement was made. If you were to look at the streets, you’d think that this was the first time that it snowed in Hamilton. The only roads that get plowed are the main streets while the smaller streets are left to fend for themselves. And to make matters worse, some of my stupid neighbours think it’s a good idea to shovel snow onto the street.

The people on my street aren’t the brightest of the bunch. I’ve whined about this last year because I remember. The neighbours who own a snow blower aren’t nice enough to plow the whole sidewalk. They plow only up to a certain point and that’s it. It would have been nice if they went another ten feet and plowed the sidewalk in front of my house as well but I don’t know what makes them stop. Oddly enough, the whole sidewalk is plowed except the section in front of my house. I had to go out there and shovel it myself. I don’t mind shoveling but when you’re more fortunate than other, at least be generous enough and help the less fortunate.

After shoveling my sidewalk I wanted to get it salted so that if it snows any more, I won’t have to shovel as much. I didn’t want to get into my car because I was already parked but at the time, I was parking in the bar’s parking lot. I didn’t want to stay there because sooner or later, I’ll get yelled at. I got into my car and drove to Canadian Tire to grab a bag of salt. Unfortunately, when I got there, it was closed due to the snow storm. Shit! I drove all the way there and it’s closed. Now I have to find a way to get back home and find myself a parking spot. I ended up driving around for an hour or so looking for something but I couldn’t find anything.

I decided that I’d take my chances and see if there was anything at my parent’s place. I was driving by my parent’s place and saw that my dad was outside plowing the whole street with his snow blower. He didn’t have to do it but he did because not too many people on that street have a snow blower. He plowed from one end of the street to the other which is about 100m long. After he was done plowing the sidewalk, he moved into to the streets. It was 8:00pm and he was still out there plowing. I wanted to go visit my parents but during this weather, it’s hard to find a parking spot.

When I got back home, there wasn’t any where to park. There was one spot but to parallel park into it would take someone with super powers like Superman. I was going to park in the bar’s parking lot and then shovel a path but the bartender screamed at me and told me not to park there. I explained to him that I was only parking there so I can shovel a path into the parking spot but he still wouldn’t let me park. I couldn’t blame him though because it’s the owner’s instruction. I had to get back into my car and try to shove my way in. I had to call my friend out and ask him for help. It took us about 30 minutes before we were able to squeeze into that spot. Now I’m just worried about getting out.

 
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The day I wrote a review

19 Dec

I watched “The Day the Earth Stood Still” the other day and found it to be pretty good. The story line wasn’t all that great but some of the things in the movie were fairly interesting. There were a few things in the movie that didn’t quite make sense but I ignored that. There were even parts in the movie where I was getting mad at the decisions of some of the character as if they made those decisions because it’s a movie. Basically, it was a good movie otherwise I wouldn’t take the time to review it.
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The movie starts out in a suspenseful kind of way and keeps you tuned in. It starts in the year 1928 (I think) on the snowy mountains of India where Keanu Reeves’ character finds a glowing orb. He chips away at the ice that’s surrounding it and suddenly he passes out. When he regains consciousness, he finds a hole in this mittens and a scar on the back of his hand. Then it fast forwards to present day and NASA notices a object that has been orbiting the solar system for a while and all of a sudden its trajectory changes and it’s heading towards the earth. The government rounds up a bunch of scientist and takes them to an airbase where they get prepared for the collision. The object appears to be traveling at a very high speed and at that speed they wouldn’t be anything left but an impact creator. Fortunately, the object somehow slows down and lands in the middle of Central Park (and oddly enough, there are a lot of people in Central Park in the middle of the night). Out comes an alien who goes to greet Jennifer Connelly’s character and out of nowhere, someone shoots it and it starts to die. The robot whose job is to defend the alien comes out starts emitting a high pitch sounds and electromagnetic pulses which causes the people to fall to the ground and all of the machinery turns off.

From that point on, it’s just a bunch of chase scenes between the main characters and the army. There wasn’t much of a dialog in the movie but there was one conversation between Keanu Reeves’ and John Cleese’s character where they discuss the people of the earth. The earth was dying because the humans were killing it. The alien race wanted to save the earth so they planned on annihilate the human race in order to save the earth. One of the most memorable lines from the movie was by John Cleese. “You say we are on the brink of destruction and you’re right. But it’s only on the brink that people find the will to change. Only at the precipice do we evolve.” How true is this quote? We are living in a time where it seems like we’re close to the brink of destruction but what is being done about it? There are wars going on all over the world over what? Land? Oil? Money? What exactly has to happen to the world for people to change?

The threat of global warming has been on the air waves for a while now but it doesn’t seem like anyone is doing anything. Some people are trying to be more environmentally friends but is it going to help? Unless it’s a global change, it won’t be as effective. I remember when gas prices were sky high so people stopped buying those gas guzzlers. Even the manufacturers stop making them. But as soon as the price went back down, they were right back at it.

Anyway, back on track. The movie wasn’t all that great. You sit there watching it but the movie doesn’t take you in. The earth is invaded by a bunch of alien spheres but you don’t get that sense of panic. You see people running but you don’t really hear them screaming. People running around without screaming isn’t scary. I remember seeing a black and white movie where people were running and a lot of people were screaming. That image stuck in my head as an all out panic. Even in those old Godzilla movies where the Japanese are running around screaming and pointing. In this movie, the spheres are landing and people are out there recording it and posting it on YouTube. They don’t convey a sense of fear or anything. It’s like, “Oh cool! Spheres! Glowing spheres. I’m going to recording this and post it on YouTube.” But then again, what’s scary about of glowing spheres?

The movie wasn’t all that good but it did convey a message. Violence is not the answer but humanity will never learn that. Aliens in most movies like to attack the U.S. for god knows what reason. Maybe they see the U.S as more of a threat than every other country on this planet. And in the movies, the U.S. likes to fight back because they don’t like to be pushed around. So what do they do? They wage war against the aliens for invading their turf. Typical of a U.S. versus alien type of movie. Now, I haven’t seen the original but I’ve heard that it’s better than the remake so you might be better off watching the original movie.

 
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Posted in Reviews

 

IE vulnerability

17 Dec

There has been words of a security flaw in Internet Explorer (IE) that could allow hackers access to your computer. This flaw is possibly present in ALL version of IE. A lot of computers have already been compromised and some of them might not even know it. It is recommended that anyone using IE switch over to another browser in order to avoid being a victim.

Microsoft doesn’t recommend you do that because of one security flaw but I say you do it anyway. Until they get this flaw fixed, it’s risky to be using it. Microsoft should be considering the risk to their users instead of themselves. It’s like an Olympian getting caught using drugs and saying “Don’t disqualify me just because I’m the only one who got caught using drugs.” IE probably accounts for about 50% of the browser market so there’s that many people who could be put at risk.
Internet Explorer 7
According to the analytic stats of my site, IE accounts for 1/3 of the users who visit here. I am not sure who you are but until Microsoft fixes this vulnerability, you should start using another browser for the time being.

 
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Posted in Internet

 

Pick up

10 Dec

For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been waiting for a couple packages to come in. The sender gave me a tracking number so I can see where the package was every step of the way. I tracked it down until it arrived to my city. I’m very disappointed with the couriers because they didn’t notify me that the package was available. If I didn’t have the tracking information, the package would have probably been sent back to the sender.

I put in an order for a Christmas present from Dell and I was anxious to get the package because I had to configure it and make sure that everything is working properly. I didn’t want to give the gift and have it not working right so I had to get it as soon as possible. The order was placed at the end of November with an expected delivery date of December 3rd. I tried the package from the time it left Dell until the time it reached the postal office.

The package was delivered on the date that Dell estimated. It left the U.S. and arrived in Canada in a day or two. On December 5th, they made a delivery attempt but I was at work at the time so of course, I wouldn’t be home to accept it. I saw that they made the attempt and went home for lunch to see if they left me a delivery notice but when I got home, all I found in the mail box was mail. Usually the delivery notification is glued to the door but this time, there was nothing. I assumed that maybe the courier would try to deliver the package again before the end of the day but when I got home around 5:30pm, there was still no notice.

I called the depot where the package was returned to and asked them if it was possible to pick up a package if I didn’t have the delivery notice and they said that I could as long as I had the package number and some identification. I jumped into my car and drove quickly to the depot.

This week, I’m waiting for another package as well and again, there was no delivery notification. This one took a little longer to get here because it’s not from a big company like Dell. It’s being shipped via USPS so once it enters into the country Canada Post takes care of it and delivers it. Usually they’re pretty good with the delivery notification but late they haven’t left me anything.

They tried to deliver something yesterday but I wasn’t home. After that they dropped off the package at my local post office. After seeing that, I was puzzled as to why a delivery notification wasn’t left on my door. The tracking system says that a notification was left but I didn’t see any. Plus it even says that it was left in Stoney Creek. I don’t live in Stoney Creek so someone messed up somewhere.

I don’t know if maybe someone’s coming to my house and stealing the notice or if the courier didn’t bother to leave one at all. How else am I supposed to know that there’s a package waiting for me at the postal office if nobody says anything? Some delivery companies call you but not all of them have that service. And they’ll only call you if your phone number is available.

 
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Posted in Rants

 

Done for the semester

05 Dec

I am finally free for the year from any more studying. I had two exams this week that were one a day after the other. This didn’t give me much time to study. What makes it even harder to study is the fact that I’m working full time. I’m not 100% sure whether or not I passed the exam but I think I needed very little to pass the course. I’m hoping that I did well enough on the exam to pass with a 70% average in both courses.

The Networking I exam was on Wednesday and I had a few days to prepare for it. The labs and assignments were helpful towards the final exam because it was a way for me to study. But when it came time for me to sit down and actually write the exam, I blanked out a first. I skipped the first few pages and went straight to the part where I knew what I was doing. There were a few questions regarding Spanning Tree Protocol and since it was a topic that was still fresh in my head, I started there.

As I went on towards the end of the exam, there were some questions from the mid-term exam like VLSM which almost eluded me. It took a while for me to remember most of that stuff. There were a lot of subjects covered from day one and to remember everything was pretty hard. There was at least a page on the exam that I left blank because I didn’t recall any of it. The professor said that we could have written down a joke and if he liked it, he’d give us a mark or two but during an exam, I don’t have time to think of something funny. I was too worried on passing the course.

I could have spent the last half hour of the exam writing down corny jokes but I had to go pee so I left. I brought a drink with me into the exam in case I got really thirsty but before that I had a cup of coffee and that’s probably what made me want to go. Anyway, I left the exam feeling somewhat confident that I passed the course. I’ll be taking Networking II next semester if I pass this course. The next time around, I know how the professor marks things so I’ll probably get better marks.

The OB exam was a whole other story. I did no studying whatsoever because I had no time at all. I tried to study during the day but it’s hard to study when you’re at work, especially when you’re in I.T because something is always going wrong. My strategy was to read the summary of every chapter so it’ll give me an idea as to what’s going to be on the same. It was mostly multiple choice questions but that’s only half of the exam. The other half were paragraph formed answers.

I was worried going into the same because I did very little studying but by the time I was finished, I felt a little better because I received the results of my term paper. I received a B- which is something like a 70% so if I add that to my mid-term mark, I could have failed the exam and still pass the course. But I didn’t want to just pass the course. I wanted a good mark to keep my average high.

Now that I’m done with everything, I can relax a little and just kick back. School has got me so stressed out that I can’t think. I worry at night because I haven’t been studying and the closer it got to exam the more I worried. Now that I have a load off my mine, I can start worry about something else… Christmas.

 
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Posted in Education