R32Argent

Canada Post Can Be Aggravating

2011-12-12T22:19:00.001-05:00

Just as this post title says, sometimes Canada Post can be aggravating.

I'd ordered an item online from Amazon.ca and was following its progress via its Canada Post tracking number. My order left the warehouse in Ontario and arrived at a Canada Post sorting facility, a mere 40-60 minute drive from my address, on the same day -- where it promptly stayed for two weeks. Did it fall behind a counter or something?
After the Canada Post lock-out ended earlier this year, all I received was junk mail for the first week or so before receiving any legitimate mail.
Another example: I knew Canada Post had attempted delivery of an order because I had its tracking number. However, when I returned home there was no delivery notice in sight. No biggie, since I was still able to pick up the package at a local post office using the tracking number. The aggravating part? A week after picking up the package, I finally received the failed delivery notice in my mail box.
At my current residence I receive an inordinate amount of wrong mail -- correct address, incorrect recipients (I assume previous residents). Each time I dutifully write "not at address" on the envelope and send it back to Canada Post. Aggravation? When weeks later I receive the exact same letter, AGAIN. Do I really need to write "not at address" twice? Should I capitalize? Highlighted in nice red ink?

PS3 NHL12

2011-11-15T01:51:00.001-05:00

NHL 12 for PS3 has been out for a while, now, and while there have been a some neat improvements, I have to say that despite the improvements over all NHL12 has been more frustrating than NHL11, and not in a good way.

Why is it frustrating (other than the fact that it's too difficult/slow to earn xp as a goalie -- that hasn't really changed from previous iterations)? In my case, at least, NHL12 for the PS3 has the nasty habit of locking up mid-game, for no rhyme or reason that I can determine. It doesn't lock up all the time, but just often enough for me that I've put NHL12 on the shelf.

A shame, really, because without this issue NHL12 may have been the best iteration, yet.

A few random proposals for NHL13:

Fix the bug with the volume settings. Every time I load a save file the menu volume settings are reset to default. Annoying.
Get rid of the Verizon (gag) advertising at the start of every BAP game. Annoying redux. Even if I were living in the U.S. (where Verizon is located), which I'm not, this unwanted intrusion of an undesired telecom into my home would make me less likely to become their customer. At the very least, get rid of the vocal. Ugh.
Even if I decide to start a career in the WHL/CHL, I'd still like the option of choosing which team drafts my BAP player.

A Quarter Hour in Traffic

2011-11-05T20:38:00.000-05:00

Ever since I stopped commuting to work by automobile, essentially only driving on weekends, I've found that I can accept the sometimes frustrating vagaries of traffic much more calmly (though I must admit my re-introduction to the world of drivers who ignore pedestrians hasn't been without close-calls or risk-free). Anywhoo, this morning was one of those days where I was actually relieved to return home and out of traffic. I hadn't had one of these in a long while.

In no particular order:

I escaped, by less than a minute, being trapped in traffic behind emergency vehicles attending to the aftermath of a vehicular accident (I hope everyone involved is okay).
I was boxed in by traffic insisting on traveling 10 kph below the posted speed limit, on a sunny, cloudless, dry day.
A driver took a liking to my right blindspot and decided to take up residence there for a couple kilometers prior to, instead of pulling into the completely traffic-less space behind me, speeding up and cutting me off so she could make a left turn. A turn signal wouldn't have noticeably lessened my annoyance, but it still would have been a nice gesture.
A car on a side street with its nose blocking oncoming traffic. This one I gave a good blast with the horn.

All of the above events occurred within the span of 10 - 15 minutes. So, as I said, arriving home was a relief.

A Late Jump onto the Apple Bandwagon -- A Rough Ride

2011-10-18T17:54:00.000-05:00

When my Zune 80GB's battery started dying, I recently decided it was time I abandon my personal boycott of Apple products. I settled on an iPod Touch that was available through AirMiles.

Unfortunately, after being pleasantly surprised for the first week of Apple ownership, the ride turned bumpy as soon as I upgraded iTunes (on Windows 7, 32-bit) to version 10.5.0.142.

The problems I immediately encountered after updating to iTunes 10.5:

iTunes started hanging whenever it tried backing up my iPod, whether as prepping for the sync process or when right-clicking on my iPod and clicking "backup" with no sync involved. iTunes also hanged during the backup process associated with trying to update the iPod OS to 5.0. I once let the backup process go for 18+ hours with no movement on the progress bar, before giving up.
My CPU was constantly running at more that 50%, minimum, often jumping up to 100% when opening windows or programs, regardless of whether iTunes was open or my iPod was plugged in. Apparently the villainous resource hog is "AppleMobileDeviceService.exe" which can be turned off but is required to sync.
The iTunes store no longer opened properly. Even after signing in with my Apple ID, all that would appear was a blank window with "iTunes Store" on it, even after the progress bar had finished.

To cut this short, I'll save everyone from reading a poignant, heart-rending description of all the failed trials and tribulations I went through in an attempt to get everything working properly, again.

Here's what ultimately ended up working for me. A simple, straight-forward solution I found on the internet; a solution I sincerely and vehemently wish I had discovered earlier rather than later. It would have saved me a lot of time and useless work.

Open the DOS command console as an administrator.
Enter "netsh winsock reset".
Restart computer.

This is supposed to restore the Winsock catalog to its default state, to repair a corrupted Windows TCP/IP stack (not sure what that is, I'm just quoting).

Anywhoo, this completely solved all three issues I described above.

Odd Goings On With My Printer

2011-10-12T22:14:00.000-05:00

Computers can be fairly puzzling sometimes, with a big splash of annoying and often a fairly large dollop of frustrating thrown in. A case in point, my Brother HL-5370DW printer has been working perfectly with my Windows 7 desktop, connected via an ethernet cable, since the day I purchased the laser printer a couple years ago. This perfect track record, unfortunately, is now a thing of the past.

For some reason I can not fathom documents suddenly stopped printing. The printer was detected, the status light was green, but... nothing. The only clue was that when I brought up the window that shows the printer document queue, the window title read, "Brother HL-5370DW - Offline".

I wasted a better part of an hour trying to find a way to get it back "online" to no avail. Anywhoo, to get it working, again, I ended up adding a "new" printer via the control panel, reinstalling the device driver, and then deleting the "offline" printer.

Ultimately a simple and straight forward solution, except for the fact that the reason why the printer went offline to begin with is still a mystery. Hence the large annoyance and frustration.

Just another day in the computer age.

Phishing

2011-08-10T22:40:00.001-05:00

In this era of viruses, malware, adware, trojans, hacking, malicious rootkits, worms, e-mail scams, phishing attacks, and what have you, one of the recommendations always given for users to protect themselves is to never click on any suspicious links in e-mails you don't absolutely know is legitimate.

That's why it always irritates me to find links in 'legitimate' e-mails from large, well known commercial companies. They don't foster good habits when they include links in their e-mails that to my eye, at least, would look suspicious if I didn't already "know" they were legitimate .

Here's just a few recent examples that arrived in my inbox:

http://links.newsletter.futureshop.com/ctt?kn=15&ms=MzY5MDUxNzcS1&r=MzM0NDc2MDA3NQS2&b=0&j=MTA4ODM4MzgyS0&mt=1&rt=0

This one from Futureshop isn't too bad, since "futureshop.com" is in there, but what's with all that gibberish at the end? Is that supposed to instill confidence?

http://lt02.brierleycrm.com/track?type=click&eas=1&mailingid=6086068&messageid=6086068&databaseid=6086068&serial=16777794&emailid=myemail@xxx.xx&userid=xxxxxxxxxxxx=&extra=MultivariateId=&&&6086095&&&http://www.gamestop.com/StoreLocator.aspx?cid=eml_10000269

This link from a Gamestop e-mail only has "Gamestop.com" near the end. Besides, what the heck is "lt02.brierleycrm.com" and all that gibberish between?

To my admittedly non-expert eye these links look all too easy to spoof or mimic for non-legitimate purposes.

And finally the true impetus for this post was receiving an e-mail from Sony Playstation offering free identity theft protection for users in Canada:

"If interested, please submit your email address by 03/10/2011 at 11:59:59 PM CST at: http://www.playstation.ca/identity-theft-protection/. Please note, you must enter the same email address used to register your Playstation Network or Qriocity account[...]"

This sounds like a classic phishing attack, working on consumer concern regarding Sony PSN being hacked earlier this year, and that Sony had stated previously that they would provide something like this globally (where feasible) and not just the United States. Sort of like those scams that show up trying to take advantage of natural disasters or real events.

Even worse, when I hovered my mouse over the link in the above excerpt, this is the actual address the link would take you to:

http://playstation-email.com/r?xnlJHTHEcqJqHTEHWTJnTnPPclH

Doesn't match too well, does it, and I'm expected to decide this is a legitimate link/e-mail? When as of this writing I can't find any official announcement of this offer on Playstation Canada or PS blog?

Anywhoo, latest rant over. I should say that as far as I know the above link examples are legitimate... just suspicious.

Trouble with E-Bikes

2011-06-18T20:43:00.000-05:00

Generally I tend to have a favorable view of e-bikes (electric bicycles), but as an increasing number hit the city streets I have picked up on a safety issue that hadn't occurred to me previously. The issue that worries me is that most of the e-bikes I've seen appear, to my eye, remarkably similar to real scooters. The only sure way to identify them is to look for pedals or lack of a license plate. Unfortunately, I'm not always in a position to have a clear view.

Why is this a safety issue? When I see a car, bicycle, motorcycle, scooter, or pedestrian on the road I automatically expect certain probabilities of behaviour they may take dependent on what category they're in -- and in response to likely behaviour I can take certain defensive or cautionary actions to minimize the chances of an accident. The safety issue comes up because it's too easy to confuse e-bikes with scooters.

This wouldn't be so much a problem if e-bikes stuck to one set of 'rules of the road'. Legally, e-bikes are required to behave like normal bicycles but, people being people, I've all too often witnessed e-bikes driving like scooters one moment, and then abruptly acting like bicycles the next, and vice versa, making their actions appear surprising and startling.

And from a mutual safety perspective, one thing to avoid on the road, whether you're a pedestrian, bicycle, motorcycle, scooter or car, is surprising or startling the drivers around you.

VW Service and Tire Pressure

2011-06-15T19:25:00.039-05:00

The Volkswagen recommended tire pressure for the 2004 VW Golf R32 is a little unusual in that it's different for the front (35 psi) and rear tires (44 psi). These VW bona fide manufacturer recommendations are described in my owner's manual and on the driver door jam sticker.

What puzzles me is that in the past seven years of R32 ownership, whether it be VW service departments in Maryland or Virginia, whether in the United States or Canada, they without fail under inflate the R's rear tires. I long ago gave up mentioning it because it never makes a difference. VW service invariably deflate my R's rear tires before returning it to me, setting all four tires at 35 psi.

Maybe they know something I don't? If so, it would be nice if someone from VW would inform me that the tire pressures in the owner's manual and door sticker are incorrect.

Personally, I think there must be a gap in their training somewhere; or perhaps more likely that some computer R32 maintenance file doesn't match the tire pressure information in either the owner's manual or on the door sticker.

Close Call

2011-06-03T16:16:00.001-05:00

I was almost run over on my way to work, this morning. I'd reached the middle of a crosswalk when I noticed the driver of a car rolling forward had his head turned to his left towards traffic (and away from me).

I stopped, but he didn't. From at least twenty feet out not once did he turn his head as he continued to roll forward, at a good clip, too. When did he finally stop looking to his left? After he came to a full stop well over the crosswalk. Which, of course, was when the driver, with a look of surprise, finally saw me.

If I had been only half a step further the driver would have nailed me clean before he even noticed me. I bet we both would have been pretty surprised, then. Idiot.

Mutual Respect: The Lost Skill of Being Punctual

2011-04-23T20:04:00.001-05:00

When did punctuality become a rarity rather than the norm? I've long grown accustomed to it, but I can't remember the last seminar, speech, or talk that started on time, whether it's late by five minutes, fifteen, or longer.

Being punctual is more than just a matter of courtesy, it's a matter of mutual respect: the audience's respect for the speaker's time and, vice versa, the speaker's respect for the audience's time.

The most common rationalization I've observed is the 'wait a few more minutes for those who are running late to trickle in'. Why is *their* time more important than the speaker's or than everyone's already in the audience? Needless to say I'm not talking about specific individuals or VIPs whose absence necessitates waiting, whether by virtue of their position or connection to the occasion.

There are numerous and legitimate reasons to be late. I've been late, but not once did I expect the speaker or everyone else to wait for me before starting and I suspect most people feel the same. So why do it?

Purolator

2011-04-22T20:03:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I received shipment notification and Purolator tracking number for an item I'd ordered online. After 3-4 business days there was still no status information on the shipment. The only information available using Purolator's online tracking tool was "there was a problem with your request, please phone...."

When I phoned Purolator I didn't learn very much more. All they could tell me was that the item had not yet reached the border (it was shipping from the U.S. to Canada). Purolator told me to wait a few more days. Okay, fine. It was only standard shipping, and I hadn't been expecting to receive a tracking number to begin with. But here's the rub. When I returned home the very same day I'd phoned Purolator, lo and behold, my shipment had arrived.

On a whim, a week after having received the shipment, I decided to check the tracking number with Purolator's online tracking tool, and the information still hadn't changed, "there was a problem with your request, please phone...."

Providing tracking numbers that can be checked by customers online is a great convenience. There's no point to it, however, if the online tracking information is never updated.

BCCode 116: Nvidia GeForce 7650GS video card

2011-04-14T15:29:00.004-05:00

This is an update from my previous post, where I mentioned some problems I've been having with my desktop. To briefly recap, I'd been getting video crashes with the error message "Nvidia kernel 266.58 stopped responding and has recovered," or words to that effect. Reinstalling the latest driver didn't turn out to be a permanent fix.

In fact, in the past 3-4 days it became progressively worse, where instead of a straight-forward crash I'd get incorrectly displayed displays (odd colours, horizontal lines, etc.), then crashes and then blue screens of death (BSOD). The upside, however, was that I finally managed to catch the phrase "BCCODE 116" somewhere among all the funky graphics, crashes and BSODs. I couldn't research this at home, of course, since my desktop was fairly unusable at this point.

Anywhoo, BCCode 116 turns out to occur when the video card malfunctions for whatever reason, one potential reason being the video card processor running at too high temperatures. I found a free utility that reported current temperatures of hardware components, and lo and behold, at "idle" my GPU went from 78 to 95 degrees Celsius in a matter of minutes. The temperature reached 102 degrees Celsius before I shut down my computer. According to what I read, at idle it should be in the range of 50-70 degrees Celsius.

The cause of this elevated temperature? The video card fan was no longer working, which I confirmed visually. Cleaning up the dust (how does that much dust get in there, anyway?!) didn't help. The video card is a Nvidia GeForce 7560 GS that came with my desktop. It must be four, maybe five (or more?) years old, now.

I removed the video card, plugged my monitor via the basic D-SUB port, uninstalled the Nvidia driver, and now I can use my computer comfortably once again. The only question I have now is whether I should buy a new video card. I probably will, since I can already tell that videos run a little slower than they had previously -- not by much, almost negligible, but nevertheless noticeable.

Nvidia Kernel 266.58

2011-03-17T18:16:00.005-05:00

For a good long while I'd been having video problems with my PC desktop. The monitor would freeze, go black for a second, and pop back up with the error message, "Nvidia kernel 266.58 stopped responding and has recovered," or words to that effect.

There never seemed to be a specific reason for it -- I'd just be surfing the internet, reading the news, and I'd get the identical crash and error message several times in a 30 minute span, regardless of website, not watching videos or playing games. It even happened when I was simply working in Excel or Word.

When it first happened I tried "rolling back" to the previous driver version via Device Manager, but it didn't help. At the time I gave up and decided to live with it... until a couple days ago.

Here's how I fixed this issue, on a Windows 7 32-bit desktop with a Nvidia 7650GS graphics card:

Downloaded latest driver for my graphics card (which still happened to be 266.58) from the Nvidia website.
Used "add/remove programs" in the Control Panel to uninstall Nvidia driver. Do not use the "roll back" feature in device manager.
Restart computer.
Used ccleaner (free software) to clean up the registry (this step might have been superfluous but I did it, anyway).
Installed newly downloaded Nvidia driver from (1).
Restarted computer.

To date (knock on wood) following the above steps has completely stopped my monitor from crashing.

UPDATE: Ugh. Looks like the above "fix" wasn't successful. The same error message started reappearing a week or so ago. It does seem to occur less frequently than before, but perhaps it's only a matter of time.

UPDATE 2: I think I've finally found the root cause of my video troubles. More information in this post.

Darth Vader Meets Volkswagen

2011-02-02T19:11:00.000-05:00

This has to be one of the funniest commercials I've ever seen.

Snowy Days in The Land of Tim Hortons

2011-01-15T11:55:00.000-05:00

The Land of Tim Hortons had 15 cm of snow a couple days ago, and overnight there was another 5 cm and it's still snowing as I type. I had mixed feelings about heading out this morning, but most of all I was looking forward to it because it had been a while since I'd driven my R32 in significant snow conditions.

Random observations and/or rants after returning from my snowy foray:

The same truck made me cringe twice, today, and I'm not talking about a pick-up truck. It was more similar to a mid-sized fire truck size, and wider, to boot. The first cringe occurred when he changed lanes to my direct right -- the sudden impact of his snow splatter hitting the R's side was very irritating. The second cringe happened when he immediately turned on his left turn signal, indicating he wanted to make the same left turn I did. The fact that he wanted to turn per se wasn't what made me cringe, it was the fact that the truck left it so late that he didn't leave me any safe options to get out of his way. Oh yeah, and the itty bitty fact that I was in a dinky little hatchback facing up against a monster metal box on wheels was quite cringe-inducing, too. Anywhoo, to cut this short, I made a safe, legal left turn, and the truck made an illegal one. All's well that ends well. I guess.
Thumbs down to the pedestrian who tried to cross a major intersection against the lights with approaching traffic. A bad proposition at any time, but a snowy, slushy road isn't the best time to be in a hurry. You might slip. Which that pedestrian did.
The same Impreza fish-tailed twice making two different left turns. The first left turn was from a parking lot. Traffic was extremely light, so I don't know why he/she didn't wait for a larger gap so that he had time to take it slower, and safer. The second left turn and fish-tail was at a traffic light. This time there was no approaching traffic at all so I really don't know why the Impreza didn't take it more slowly, especially as this happened only a minute after the first. Perhaps a really short term memory. I hope the Impreza wasn't misled by how relatively quickly I made the turn -- I was trying to stay sufficiently ahead of (i.e. away from) him. Anywhoo, I made doubly sure to stay well away from this particular Impreza.
I liked how on the highway slower traffic kept left, and drivers generally were traveling at slower speeds than normal. Still, I'm not sure how helpful this would have been given how closely most drivers were still following one another. If you need to stop suddenly the best brakes and winter tires in the world won't help much if you lose traction on the snow.

MS Word 2007

2010-11-10T23:25:00.000-05:00

I've discovered something fairly annoying with Microsoft Word 2007. In the past I'd used an earlier Word version to create and update webpages on my website. Well, this was the first time since upgrading to Word 2007 that I tried to update a webpage and it was a disaster.

I deleted one bullet point, added another. Uploaded files, and... eh?! Entire blocks of text were shifted from the middle of the page to the very top. Eh!?

I repaired one hyperlink to a subheading on the same webpage, and... entirely new hyperlinks were created in entire subsections on the webpage. Eh?! Instead of a single word being hyperlinked the entire sentence/paragraph magically became a massive hyperlink. Other hyperlinks were changed to link to something I didn't link them to. Eh!?

The most puzzling thing is all this unwanted and magical editing that was occurring wasn't visible in Microsoft Word, just in my browser. Opening the page's htm file in Word was fine. Text okay, hyperlinks okay in Word. But once I uploaded the updated files and opened the page in a browser the page had turned into the frustrating monstrosity I described above.

So... if anyone is wondering about the recent paucity of updates to my R32 Gallery site it's because I currently lack the time and patience to figure out what the heck is happening, why it is happening, and how to fix it.

Sunoco -- I Thought I Knew You

2010-10-30T08:37:00.001-05:00

I don't normally go to Sunoco to fill up my R32 (it's been several months) but today I stopped at one that's very conveniently located. To my surprise I couldn't find any Ultra 94. I walked around to look at the other pumps but, no... no more Ultra 94. A worker stepped outside to see if I needed help, but unfortunately the language barrier was such that I gave up on obtaining an answer to what had happened to the Ultra 94.

I was going to settle for Premium 91... but then I realized that this location no longer accepted payment at the pump. Not so convenient for a gas station with a sign that says "Convenience Store", eh?

Anywhoo, these two strikes put me in a state of minor pique -- Sunoco was no longer Sunoco -- I promptly decided I didn't really need to get any gas then and there, and at that location.

It was only afterward that I wondered whether the lack of Ultra 94 gasoline was specific to that Sunoco location, or a signal of things to come associated with the merger of Sunoco and Petro-Canada.

PS3: F1 2010 Update

2010-10-25T16:38:00.000-05:00

Update to an earlier post about F1 2010 for the PS3. I don't know if it can be called a proper bug since it appears to be an AI issue, but it's definitely something that's aggravating.

I've observed consistently that although I'm the first to pit, the crew member with the lollipop is too slow and/or conservative. I'm inevitably left waiting, pit stop complete, for several seconds as 3-4 cars pass me on the pit lane before the lollipop guy releases me. The only time this doesn't happen is when I'm the only car pitting that lap.

I hope this is something that can and will be patched.

Two Spaces after a Full Stop

2010-09-28T17:20:00.002-05:00

One of the things that bothers me whenever I read and/or edit a manuscript, or any text at all, is when the author doesn't use two spaces after a full stop, or end of a sentence. That goes for colons, too. When did the standard change to a single space? Why?

Hmm... now that I think about it, maybe I was taught to put two spaces after full stops and colons in typing class. Typing was an elective in high school, so perhaps most students weren't taught the correct spacing. Then when word processing software became more mainstream in school the sheer number of students using single spacing became the norm. Sad, if true.

I think Microsoft Word would do the world -- okay, me -- a lot of good if they made a tool/option to automatically add two spaces after each full stop in a document. Perhaps in the grammar checker or something.

PS3: F1 2010

2010-09-27T17:20:00.000-05:00

Despite my initial plan to delay purchasing F1 2010 for the PS3 I ended up buying it the day after it was released. The previews and early reviews were reasonable, and I had always wanted a decent Formula One game.

I hope F1 2010 sells well in North America, though I get the impression that stores don't expect it to. The Best Buy location I went to told me they only received six copies. Six copies on the day of release. I don't know how that compares to other new releases, but to me that sounds like Best Buy doesn't expect very much demand. A shame, really, because I think F1 2010 is pretty good and worth its price.

I've been playing career mode on the easiest setting, though when I get more races under my belt I might try turning off some of the driving aids. In career mode you start off as a new F1 driver for one of the three new F1 teams in 2010, and can last for up to 7 seasons, which is quite a lot if you play the full race weekend (3 practice sessions, 3 qualifying sessions, race day) for all 19 races per season, and especially if you drive the full-length race.

Practice sessions are quite useful for familiarizing yourself with the track and testing different vehicle set-ups, if you want. The number of changes you can make in regards to set-up is quite daunting, but the game does offer a couple "quick" set-ups you can use.

The short term objective is to out perform your team mate and take his position as number one driver. Different teams have different objectives. A team like Ferrari, for example, has much different expectations than a team like Virgin Racing. As your career progresses, you may receive contract offers from other teams.

Anywhoo, back to the racing. I liked it a lot. As I said, I haven't tried turning off any driving aids, yet, but I was surprised by how much time I spent driving in practice sessions. It's all too easy to get sucked in by "just one more lap" in order to improve your time. Sometimes I was only able to stop because I didn't want to wear down my limited number of engines (according to official F1 regulations, you only get 8 engines per season).

The sense of speed and driving feels very good, and the graphics are amazing. I had one qualifying session in the rain and it looked spectacular. I have a simple two speaker set up and it still sounds great. You can distinguish between engine sounds in front or from the car approaching behind you.

Off the track you deal with the occasional media interview. It's neat and immerses you in the life of a F1 driver, but it's still relatively simplistic. You have three possible answers for each question, and it's fairly obvious which choices would make your team happy, or not.

Random thoughts:

On the track the only voice you hear is that of your race engineer, as he comments on tire/engine temperature, or what other racers are doing, when to pit. I like it. Having television commentary would be distracting.
If something catastrophic (or not) happens on track, you have a limited number of chances to have a "do over", resuming play from shortly before your spin-out or what ever. Of course, you can always restart an entire session from the beginning, but if you've already played 40+ laps in a 49-lap race that may not be your first choice.
The sound set up options was a little odd. In the manual it describes a "two speaker" setting, but in-game the only option I had was "headphones"-- which still sounds great coming out of my two speakers, but still... odd.
The driving HUD could use some improvement. It displays drivers' lap times, but equally useful, or even more so, would be how many seconds behind or ahead you are in relation to the drivers around you. It's distracting trying to chase down the position ahead of you when you don't know how many seconds ahead he is, or how many seconds the driver immediately behind you is.
Your race engineer isn't perfect. In the beginning he would always say my team mate was faster so I should check his set-up. First, the engineer would say this even when it wasn't true. Second, as far as I can find there is no way to see what your team mate's set-up actually is.
In the paddock you can see how fast you and other drivers are lapping through each sector of the track. However, it only shows the times from the most current/recent lap. This is annoying because I can never see my time for the 3rd sector because, of course, on my most recent lap I have to pit to enter the paddock, which is prior to finishing the 3rd sector. So all I see for sector 3 is a blank space and there's no way to determine how it compares to other drivers' sector 3, or how much time I'm losing/gaining there.
Another curious thing. I was able to change my car set-up after final qualification and before the race -- something I'd always thought against official F1 rules. I wonder if the non-player teams are able to do the same, because if not then that may explain why I suddenly had a competitive car on race day (I was able to change from a wet set-up during final qualification to a dry set-up for the race).
I wonder if the game deliberately makes your team mate a poor driver to make it easier for the player. So far my team mate has consistently been near or at the bottom of the time sheets. Perhaps it's just the nature of the driver/team I'm currently on, or that I'm playing the easy setting.

A Tale of Two Idiots

2010-09-22T17:13:00.000-05:00

Two unrelated pedestrians, separated by seconds, jay-walking at one of the busiest downtown intersections in the middle of rush hour, brazenly ignoring the honking vehicles. The second pedestrian even crossed the intersection diagonally.

Made me wish Stephen King's Christine was around to help demonstrate natural selection. I jest, of course, but wow. Someday those two are going to get themselves run over, and you know what? The only sympathy I'll feel is for the unfortunate driver.

Something Odd

2010-09-20T21:08:00.000-05:00

There was an article in a local paper about the tragic death of a young man. One paragraph in the article immediately struck me as odd.

"The pedestrian has been identified, but his family has requested to not release his name. Friends have identified the man killed by a train early Sunday as Brendan Swanson." -- thespec.com

Perhaps odd isn't the most accurate description, but these two sentences definitely felt dichotomous or incongruous.

For now, ignore the question of whether the identity of this particular individual was of sufficient newsworthiness that the release of his name overrode his family's request for anonymity. Why even mention that the family had requested to not release his name if in the following sentence you identify him by name?

It feels like the author is flaunting the fact that he has ignored the family's wishes. That probably wasn't the author's intention, but that was the impression I had while reading it. Maybe I'm thinking too much.

Still, it's... odd.

Garmin GPS: nüvi Battery PCB Recall

2010-09-17T23:16:00.002-05:00

I was concerned when I read that Garmin is recalling certain Garmin GPS models (nüvi 200W, 250W, 260W, 7xx, 7xxT) because of battery over-heating posing a fire hazard, as I purchased a 755T a couple years ago. Fortunately, when I visited the Garmin website directly I learned that only those models falling within a certain date range were actually affected.

Here's what Garmin had to say on their website:

Garmin is voluntarily recalling certain nüvi devices that contain a specific battery that was manufactured by the battery supplier within a limited date code range. Garmin has identified potential overheating issues when certain batteries manufactured by the third-party battery supplier within a limited date code range are used in certain Garmin nüvi models with a specific printed circuit board (PCB) design. It appears that the interaction of these factors can, in rare circumstances, increase the possibility of overheating, which may lead to a fire hazard. Although there have been no injuries or significant property damage caused by this issue, Garmin is taking this action out of an abundance of caution.

The recalled devices include a small subset of the following nüvi model numbers:

nüvi 200W, 250W, & 260W
nüvi 7xx (where xx is a two-digit number)

Conveniently, Garmin lets you check whether a specific unit is affected by the recall by checking the unit's serial number.

Luckily mine is fine... at least in regards to posing a fire hazard -- I've posted previously about some of the issues I've had with my Garmin nüvi 755T.

PS3: NHL 11

2010-09-15T00:02:00.001-05:00

I'm still debating whether NHL 11 for the PS3 is worth purchasing. So far NHL 11 is
definitely an improvement over NHL 10, but is it enough of an improvement to merit its
price? In my case, I'd have to say "yes", but not by much.

NHL 11 addresses and fixes some issues I've mentioned before that irritated me with NHL
10. I've only started NHL 11, recently, so it's still wait and see for some longer term
issues, but here's what has been immediately noticeable (to me) in NHL 11, both good and
bad, compared to NHL 10.

The garish, colour-blind and ugly upgrade equipment is gone in NHL 11. You can still earn and use boosts to your player's attributes, but the terribly awful-looking equipment in NHL 10 is no where to be found in NHL 11, thank the hockey gods.
It remains to be seen whether NHL 11 fixed the bug where unlocked attribute boosts spontaneously re-locked. This next point requires some context. One of the selling points EA Sports has been pushing strongly, to convince NHL 10 owners that it's still worth purchasing NHL 11, is a new physics engine. I won't get in to too much detail here other than to say that it does make the game look more interesting and realistic, perhaps most noticeable with body checks. My issue is that it feels like EA Sports has fell a little too much in love with it. What do I mean? Well, during stops in play the game plays short video replays of recent on ice action. Theoretically this is a good idea, though even in NHL 10 the game often didn't show the play I actually wanted to see. In NHL 11 it's even worse. NHL 11 just loooves to replay body checks. Goalie just make a save that necessitated a face-off? Forget replaying that. Replay a body check.

Also on the naughty list: home goalie make a spectacular glove save? Instead of playing that, let's see a video of the other goalie drinking out of his water bottle.

NHL 11 has shortened the video where you watch your player skate on to the ice prior to the start of each game. I miss the longer version in NHL 10. If you didn't want to watch it you could end it at any time by pressing a button so I'm not sure why they decided to short change it.
NHL 11 has stopped providing the seating capacity and name of the arena prior to each game. Not a biggie, but something I appreciated in NHL 10.
I've just started a career as a goalie in Be a Pro mode and I'm already wondering what the GM AI has been smoking. After a 4-0 record in the pre-season, with a save percentage of 0.947, 2 SO, and a 0.500 GAA, what does the GM say to McLean? "The only reason you're not going down to the AHL is because you were drafted 9th overall". Eh?
It's early days in the season, but I'm already worried McLean's Wild won't even make the playoffs. Why? Because to date the Wild have never managed to win a game McLean did not start, and the Wild coach insists on giving Backstrom, who has yet to win a game and has much poorer stats than McLean (in NHL11, obviously), the majority of starts.

UPDATE 2: Over-reaction over. With calm, clear mind, I realized my issue with the inability to turn off the auto-save feature is easily solved. Start with two game saves pre-draft. Take saved game #1 through the draft. If I get drafted by one of my unacceptable teams, then quit the game and load saved game #2. Save over saved game #1. Then take saved game #1 through the draft again. Repeat as necessary.

This way saved game #2 is always maintained at the pre-draft point. Once I load saved game #2, it's critical to remember to save over saved game #1 before going through the draft. Else the auto-save will re-write over #2 and I'd no longer have a save point prior to the draft.

UPDATE: I've just discovered what I think is a major disappointment with NHL11. Unlike NHL10, in NHL11 apparently there's no way to turn off the auto-save feature. Majorly frustrating. In my futile search for method to turn it off, I read in some forums that EA Sports did this to prevent cheating of some kind for online play. I never play online so I can't confirm it, but it sounds reasonable.

Unfortunately, this inability to turn auto-save off is a source of major irritation for someone like me who doesn't play online. I would like the ability to re-do drafts in Be a Pro mode just in case my player gets drafted by a team I out right refuse to play for. The way NHL11 is set up now, any save game prior to the draft is automatically overwritten with post-draft data. Ugh. I really do not want to have to play through the Memorial Cup tournament over and over again just because I get drafted by one of the handful of NHL teams I dislike. Which just happened, now. Ugh.

~~I'm going to put NHL11 back on the shelf until I recover from the frustration. What a waste of my time.~~

Star Wars Blue-Ray Announced

2010-08-15T09:13:00.000-05:00

Good news, bad news from /Film. George Lucas announced all six Star Wars movies will be released in a blue-ray box set in Fall 2011.

My first thought: No way in heck am I going to spend my money on the prequels, even if they are bundled with the original trilogy. If I'm willing to wait for The Matrix to come out on blue-ray by itself and not bundled in a trilogy, I can wait for the original Star Wars movies.

My second thought: I still won't spend my money on anything except the original theatrical releases of Episodes IV - VI. No special editions. Heck, I'd even buy unremastered, VCR-quality original versions on blue-ray. No extras required.

Hear that, Mr. Lucas? I bet you'd make even more wads of cash if you release the original theatrical release versions, too. I'm patient. I'm hoping your plan is to make all the money you can with selling the prequels and special editions before offering the original release versions, and make even more gazillions.

Garmin Nuvi 755T

2010-08-07T21:01:00.003-05:00

I purchased a Garmin Nuvi 755T two or three years ago and for the most part I've been fairly satisfied. I even bought a life-time map subscription for it, though recently I've been wondering if that may have been a mistake. Why is that? Read on!

First, I have to say that 90-95% of the time the 755T does what I want a portable GPS to do... give me driving directions. I forget whether the 755T has additional features like playing music or showing pictures, features I could care less about. I picked up the 755T because it came with both Canada and U.S.A. maps, had a decent screen size (at the time) and had reasonably positive reviews.

Unfortunately, the map updates haven't been entirely successful. I say that because I know of three different big-chain, international retail store locations in my area that the 755T places on the wrong side of the street. This despite updating my maps less than a month ago and the locations being there for years. I know a Sony Style location where my GPS takes me to the completely wrong exit with no Sony Style in sight. No shopping mall, either.

All of the above I can live with. What now has me doubting the longevity of the Garmin Nuvi 755T are two incidences which I describe as epic fails. Actually, perhaps I should say three instances, though the third may be partly my fault, too.

Last year sometime I was in Niagara Falls, NY little more than one hour drive from my home in the Land of Tim Hortons. The 755T had been completely successful guiding me there. The EPIC FAIL occurred when I tried to get the 755T to guide me back home. The route calculation stopped at 99% and no further. I turned the GPS off, waited a couple minutes, turned it back on, and it still wouldn't work, still stuck at 99%. In disbelief I repeated this process with no improvement in outcome. It was quite a quandary. Since I'd followed the GPS directions to get there I hadn't paid particular attention to the roads I'd taken, making back-tracking problematic. Anywhoo, to cut this particular story short, I eventually managed to find my way back, though along a different and longer route than I'd hoped. Once I got home I was so frustrated I ignored the 755T for a while, and when there was a firmware update the 755T worked again, so I thought the problem solved. Not quite.
Fast forward many months and full moons. My 755T FAILED AGAIN in the exact same city. I was once again in Niagara Falls, NY, and once again when trying to get directions home the 755T route calculation stuck at 99%. AGAIN. Something very strange is happening with Niagara Falls, NY. I purchased the 755T when I was still living in the U.S.A. and it worked (except for a time in the dead of night somewhere in PA where I lost all satellite signal for a critical 5 minutes or so, sending me off in the completely wrong direction). So... something odd with Niagara Falls, NY. This incident wasn't quite so stressful because I had a clearer memory of how to get back to Whirlpool Bridge. This time I managed to "recover" my GPS while on the QEW. Simply powering off, waiting a couple minutes, powering on again still didn't work. Here's what did work for me: My GPS was powered up and plugged in to the 12V outlet. I pulled out the 12V adapter and let the GPS shut itself off automatically after the 30 second countdown. I left it off for at least 10 minutes. I turned it back on and the 755T was back to normal, no longer stuck at 99% and I could now successfully get new directions.
This last incident I'm going to relate was partially my fault. I was on the U.S.A. side of Niagara Falls. I was 10 minutes away from Whirlpool Bridge, my preferred border crossing. I asked the 755T for directions to the bridge and was on my way. This is where blame rests partially on me. I glanced at the "time to destination" on my GPS and saw "10" so I thought, good, it's correct. I should have looked more closely but I was on the road for about 20 minutes before I realized the indicator was saying ten HOURS and not ten minutes. Eh? What had happened was that the 755T was guiding me to the Canadian side of Whirlpool Bridge without actually taking me across Whirlpool Bridge. Mind boggling. As far as I could gather in my stressed out state, it was taking me far, far, far north to cross the border, then all the way back south to reach the Canadian side of Whirlpool Bridge. Turning off the 'avoid toll roads' feature didn't do anything. No amount of swearing and re-routing fixed the problem. Nowadays I have two addresses programmed in for Whirlpool Bridge -- one for the Canadian side and one for the U.S.A. side. If I'm in NY going to Canada I get directions using the latter, if I'm in Canada heading to the U.S.A I have the 755T use the former address.
Oh, yeah. I updated maps plus firmware several days ago. Yesterday, in the midst of a single trip the 755T asked me to input my PIN... TWICE. What's even more odd is that the audio directions apparently still worked; it was just the map/picture that was kaput until I re-input my PIN. Not the most convenient thing to do while driving at highway speeds.

The 755T works adequately in the Land of Tim Hortons and Toronto, It worked fine in the Washington DC beltway and surrounding environs. It worked fine for two round-trips driving from DC to Canada, but as I said something strange is going on with Niagara Falls, NY. All of this has made me start wondering whether I should get a new portable GPS, and if so whether getting another Garmin (but different model) would just be asking for trouble.

Gas at the Pump, or Not

2010-07-30T22:36:00.000-05:00

There's something odd happening with some gasoline stations. I think it has to do with the pump pressure detector/setting, whatever it is that detects a full tank and makes the nozzle "click" and stop pumping gas. I've discovered that with certain gas stations the nozzle "clicks" even though I know the tank isn't full.

Example. I was at a Sunoco with about 1/5 left in the tank. The first "click" happened after 2 gallons. A full tank is 14-15 gallons. From 2 gallons on filling up was torture. Every couple seconds another click. It didn't matter how much pressure I applied. Click click click click.... I took the nozzle out and put it back in again. Click click click click click click.... More pressure on the lever, click click click click.... Less pressure, click click click click....

At least for Sunoco this only happens at certain locations, and some worse than others. I completely refuse to go to any Petro Canada these days because this problem happens to me at all their locations in the Land of Tim Hortons.

I lived in the U.S.A. for several years, and this only happened to me at one particular Shell station and at Sunoco a time or two. In the Land of Tim Hortons I've found one Shell station where this problem never happens. So I don't believe it's a problem caused by how I pump gas. It's not rocket science. At least, I hope not.

Windows 7: Let There Be Sound

2010-07-10T11:26:00.001-05:00

A week or so ago I finally got around to clean-installing Windows 7 on to my desktop. It was fairly painless and seemed to install quicker than previous O/S installations.

All was fine for about a week when my audio abruptly died. In the morning it was working fine before I shut down my computer. That evening when I turned on my PC there was no more sound.

This was especially strange since literally nothing had been done between the time I turned the PC off and when I turned it back on to hear only silence. No plugging or unplugging stuff at all.

Hovering the mouse over the speaker/volume icon on the taskbar gave me the message "No Audio Output device is installed". My PC came with an Avermedia M780 PCIe NTSC/ATSC Combo sound card and according to both the manufacturer website and Windows Update I had the latest drivers installed (ver 2.5.0.32; date 11JUN2009). Device Manager said "This device is working properly".

The audio-out/headphone jack wouldn't work, either.

The Windows 7 Playing Audio troubleshooting wizard couldn't identify the problem. All my web searches basically ended up talking about Windows 7 compatibility and installing the latest driver -- nothing that solved the sound of silence emanating from my PC.

I checked my PC speakers on my Netbook and they worked fine.

I thought perhaps the sound card drivers had been corrupted or something, so I installed an older driver version (which still didn't work), then re-installed the updated drivers. Reboot. Nothing.

So... instead of wasting any more time I went to Best Buy to buy the cheapest PCI sound card I could find compatible with my computer and Windows 7.

Opened CPU, 1 minute. Bemoaned the fact I didn't have an empty PCI slot, 5 seconds. Wondered what the cable that was attached to the Avermedia sound card was for, 10 seconds. Removed telephone/fax PCI card, 1 minute. Installed new sound card, 20 seconds. Reassembled CPU and reattached plethora of cables, 30 seconds. Turned on computer, installed drivers from CD, rebooted, 5 minutes.

Sound, sweet sound.

Anywhoo, my Avermedia card is still installed so if I ever get bored maybe I'll continue trying to figure out how to fix it, or perhaps Windows Update will come out with new drivers in the future. For now, though, I'll let it be.

Happy Canada Day: Pay More Taxes

2010-07-01T22:03:00.012-05:00

I wonder if whoever decided to start the HST (in BC and Ontario) on Canada Day noticed the incongruity. Here we are, celebrating Canada's 143rd birthday by paying more taxes. Happy, happy day.

The Best Way to Lose Weight

2010-06-28T18:34:00.016-05:00

Recently I've re-started exercising regularly to return to a healthier weight. I've found that the best motivational tool to avoid eating or snacking too much is to weigh myself every day. Eating that muffin or chowing down on free food at a seminar is suddenly much less appealing when I wonder how much it would set me back in terms of re-gaining weight I'd worked hard to lose. Is that extra slice really worth wasting the week's effort I spent to lose x kg?

Appaloosa

2010-06-27T15:17:00.000-05:00

I watched Appaloosa, the other day, staring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen. I was pleasantly surprised. Despite renting Appaloosa with reasonable expectations this film was even better.

Appaloosa is a classic Western about two long-time friends and law-men for hire, hired to clean up a town after its marshal was killed while trying to arrest a couple murderers. Mortensen and Harris play the two main characters and they both performed very well.

I liked this film enough that I'm even considering actually buying Appaloosa for my collection. My only question right now is whether the character played by Renee Zellweger will survive multiple viewings, given how unappealing I found the character to be.

I give Appaloosa 4 out 5 stars.

Beware of Idiots

2010-06-27T14:39:00.004-05:00

What is it with Bay Street North? Several days ago I watched in shock as someone drove a full-sized scooter pas me on the same sidewalk where I was hit by a cyclist. He must have been going at least 40 km/h. Apparently he decided that since he wanted to travel in the opposite direction of the one-way traffic that he'd just use the sidewalk, instead. Not just an idiot, but a dangerous one.

HP ePrint Web-Connected Printers and Yahoo

2010-06-20T12:36:00.000-05:00

If I ever had the thought that sometime in the future I'd consider purchasing a "web-connected" printer (where users can print documents remotely by sending an e-mail directly to a specific printer) reading this article just killed it.

Hewlett-Packard plans to use Yahoo's advertising network in a pilot program that will deliver targeted advertisements for content printed with its latest line of Web-connected printers. [...]

The company also sees a potential for localized, targeted advertising to go along with the content. While testing its ePrint Web-connected printers, HP ran two trials where consumers received content from a U.S. national music magazine and major U.S. newspaper along with advertisements, said Stephen Nigro, senior vice president in HP's Imaging and Printing Group.

"What we discovered is that people were not bothered by it [an advertisement]," Nigro said. "Part of it I think our belief is you're used to it. You're used to seeing things with ads." [...] -- computerworld

Yes, I'm used to seeing ads. I also see people spit in public (a disgusting habit) -- that doesn't mean I wouldn't be bothered by them doing it in the privacy of my own home.

While the analogy might not be quite so dire, the threat of all the spam and phishing e-mails I currently receive in my Inbox being directly printed on my printer using my paper and my toner (which isn't cheap!) disgusts me to no end.

Crazy People

2010-06-20T10:39:00.001-05:00

A top public university in Bangladesh has closed indefinitely after students clashed over whether to cancel classes to watch the World Cup. [...]

The decision was made late Saturday after at least five students were injured in violence between two groups of students.

One group demanded an early summer vacation so they could watch football on television without any tension. They asked other students not to attend classes or take tests and locked the university's main gate, prompting clashes with senior students who wanted classes to continue.

No date has been set for when the university will reopen.[...] cbc.ca

The fanatical football fans get their way, after all. Ugh.

It's fine if some students want to prioritize watching football over their studies, but you can't get more selfish and egotistical than the students who decided to impose their will on others who didn't place football over education or were able to accomplish both.

Life isn't perfect. That's life. Accept it and deal with it -- preferably without making life worse for everyone else.

Global Excavation and Demolition: Dangerous Demolition in Vancouver

2010-06-11T17:17:00.009-05:00

Collapse 1:

Dangerous Vancouver Demolition on YouTube

YouTube videos showing the walls of a Vancouver building under demolition being knocked into a city street with pedestrians and cars nearby are raising questions about the demolition company's safety procedures.

The demolition incident occurred on the southeast corner of Hornby Street and Helmcken Street around 5:15 p.m. PT on Thursday.

Two videos of the demolition were posted on YouTube Thursday. One shows an excavator knocking over part of a two-storey concrete wall of the building, pushing it past the fence erected around the demolition site. The wall debris is seen narrowly missing at least one pedestrian and a car on the street.

A second video appears to show the excavator knocking a second wall into the street a short time later, taking a lamp post down with it.

The demolition was being conducted by Global Excavation and Demolition.

The company was not commenting on the incidents, except to say that all the safety measures were in place and that at the end of the day, it was a good news story because nobody was hurt. --cbc.ca

Collapse 2:

I sincerely hope the police or whoever is responsible for regulating demolition companies take a good, long, close look at these videos and Global Excavation and Demolition.

The demolition company even had the gall to say that this is a good news story because no one was hurt. No one was hurt despite Global Excavation and Demolition. I hope the driver of the black sedan gets them to pay for damages and any loss in resale value.

RFID Credit Cards

2010-06-03T06:45:00.003-05:00

I've never been a fan of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on things potentially used for fraud and identity theft, like passports, official ID cards, and now credit cards. Articles like the one linked below describing how easy it is to read RFID information, and that many RFID tags aren't even encrypted, do nothing to instill confidence.

RFID smart cards

New credit cards pose security problem

Hacker shows CBC how to crack 'contactless' MasterCard
Most newly issued credit cards pose major fraud and privacy concerns because of how they're designed to be scanned through the air, some cyber-security experts warn. [...]

"What people don't understand is the credit-card industry isn't trying to make cards secure," Holman said. "They just have a risk-management problem where they try to control the amount of fraud on their system." -- cbc.ca

SilverCity Ancaster: How Not to Run a Cinema

2010-05-15T19:11:00.005-05:00

My movie-going experience with Iron Man 2 is the impetus for this particular post regarding SilverCity Ancaster:

I was happy the clean-up crew, upon seeing I was watching the credits, waited until the end of the movie before starting to clean up.
I was NOT happy to have to listen to the 4-5 people of the clean-up crew chat away as the credits rolled and the final scene played.
I wish the SilverCity Ancaster management didn't feel the need to put the showtimes so close to one another. What do I mean? I left immediately after the final scene and I still met customers for the next showtime walking into the room and taking their seats.
These may be minor issues, but nevertheless SilverCity Ancaster is no longer my cinema of choice.

Iron Man 2

2010-05-15T18:09:00.006-05:00

I watched Iron Man 2, starring Robert Downey Jr., today, and it was better than I had hoped.

One of my fears with superhero sequels is the seemingly irresistible need film makers have to stuff ever more bad guys in the same 2-hour slot -- though perhaps the earlier Batman and latest Spiderman movie series are unduly influencing my memories. I just think stuffing a film with more antagonists just risks short-changing the characters I went to the cinema to see. There's limited screen time, and obviously the more villain origin stories you need to show, the less time you have for everyone else, especially the protagonists. I watched Batman Returns to see Bruce Wayne, not Catwoman or Penguin. Likewise, I watched Spider-man 3 to see Peter Parker, not Goblin, Venom or Sandman. One major villain that's competent and interesting is much better than having to divide screen time among two or three.

Whew. Finally got that off my chest. Anywhoo, prior to watching Iron Man 2 I had feared director Jon Favreau may have succumbed to excess-villain-itis, or its variant too-many-new-characters-with-origin-stories-itis, but my fears turned out to be needless. You could say Iron Man 2 had two villains, but appropriately Favreau only spent origin-story time on the competent one.

I don't want to spoil anything too much, so here's just some random thoughts and comments. Spoilers may follow, though I'll try to keep them few and minor.

20 minutes of previews!? Ugh.
There were roughly 25-30 people in the first Saturday matinee on the second weekend of Iron Man 2.
I thought it apt that Formula One's Monaco race is the same weekend I watched Iron Man 2.
I can understand why Stark wanted Rhodes to take a suit, but isn't he afraid the U.S. military will be able to reverse engineer the technology?
The climactic battle was a little anti-climactic. There was good build up, but in the end there was too much flying around and not enough brawling.
Isn't Nick Fury supposed to have a cigar? What about stubble?
If you don't want Stark reading about the "Avengers Initiative", then don't leave a folder labeled, "Avengers Initiative", sitting out in the open while you make Stark wait. What kind of security is that?
These days, I wonder why anyone bothers leaving before the credits finish rolling. Especially given the track record with Iron Man. I was the only one who stayed and hence was able to see the final scene.
For my thoughts about watching a movie at SilverCity Ancaster.

I think the first Iron Man is the superior movie, but Iron Man 2 still gets 4 out of 5 stars.

Swagger Wagon

2010-05-10T21:48:00.004-05:00

Minivans have never been cooler:

Original Star Wars Trilogy Told in 2 Minutes using Lego

2010-05-05T17:44:00.003-05:00

This stop-motion Lego animation is pretty impressive. It recaps the original (and best) Star Wars trilogy.

Gunless

2010-05-01T14:35:00.003-05:00

I watched Gunless, starring Paul Gross, and it was worth the trip to the cinema.

The set-up: Gross stars as an American gunman in the Wild West who finds himself in a small Canadian town. He calls out the town's blacksmith for a showdown only to discover that the only gun in town (besides his) is a decrepit thing in major need of repair. Refusing to shoot an unarmed man, Gross decides to repair it himself, but first needs to convince the gun's owner to give it to him -- which Gross does by agreeing to build her a windmill.

Paul Gross is pretty much the only reason I watched Gunless and he doesn't disappoint. Gross handles the comedic aspects quite well. Don't expect thigh-slapping, rib-cracking humour, but on the other hand I don't remember any jokes falling flat -- smiles and chuckles were the norm.

I'd describe this film as typically Canadian comedy and the better for it.

Random thoughts:

My favourite character in Gunless, besides Gross, would have to be RCMP Corporal Kent, played by Dustin Milligan. The character was endearing and I wished there had been more scenes with him.
As a bonus, Gunless was filmed in Vancouver and other parts of British Columbia.
Graham Greene shows up in a couple scenes.
I prefer nearly empty theaters, but it doesn't bode well that there were only 10 people in a matinee showing on opening weekend for Gunless. A shame.
For stomach-aching laughter stay for some of the bloopers during the credits.

Gunless gets 3.5 out of 5 stars.

HST in Ontario

2010-04-30T22:00:00.006-05:00

I had a brief scare today when I glimpsed an article saying the 13% Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) in Ontario kicks in tomorrow, 1 May 2010.

Fortunately, I was mistaken -- the article was talking about how consumers can avoid the provincial portion of the HST for some services by pre-paying prior to 1 May 2010.

Ontario's cash-grab is still slated for 1 July 2010. Whew. Small favours, eh?

One of the more ludicrous arguments I've heard in favour of the HST is that the billions of dollars businesses will save will be passed on to consumers in the form of lower prices. Call me cynical, but I marvel at the amount of pixie dust I'd have to inhale to believe that.

If the past decade and more has shown me anything, it's that the trickle-down theory of wealth is a semi-trailer load of insert-scatological-epithet-here for the vast majority of consumers.

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer -- an overworked phrase, but it's overworked because it's still true.

Perhaps politicians should give the trickle-up theory a turn. It couldn't do much worse.

I Don't Think This Means What You Think it Means

2010-04-21T20:02:00.003-05:00

I was browsing the news on cbc.ca when I discovered yet another example of what I consider to be imprecise, contradictory, and lazy use of language.

I've boldfaced the part I find irritating in the quote below:

Youth unemployment skyrockets: OECD

Youth unemployment has been steadily rising and is expected to remain in the high double digits until the end of 2011, the OECD says.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development issued a report Wednesday that predicts unemployment among youths — which the group describes as non-students between the ages of 15 and 25 — is on track to remain close to 20 per cent across Europe well into 2011. [...] cbc.ca

Perhaps it's just me, but when someone says, "high double digits", I think in the 80 to 90 range. I'm too picky? I'll take any number that's closer to being triple digits than a single digit... which 20 is clearly not. It's not even close.

Sherlock Holmes

2010-04-17T16:26:00.010-05:00

I missed out seeing Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr., in the cinema, but recently it came out on BD so I rented it.

I liked it. I thought all the actors were good, funny scenes were funny, story was good, and action scenes were enjoyable.

I've read all the Sherlock Holmes novels, but that was more than a decade ago so many details are hazy. This current theatrical version of Holmes wasn't what I imagined while reading the books but that didn't detract from the movie. It was an interpretation of Holmes that I enjoyed watching. The story was new and didn't simply follow one of the novels.

Random thoughts:

Part of me was glad I had rented Sherlock Holmes rather than seeing it in the cinema because it afforded me the ability to rewind. There were several bits of dialogue that I wasn't able to catch the first time. The British accents were by no means thick but at times the dialogue went by too quickly for my ears.
Background special effects were acceptable but not great. A lot of the time in the big panoramic shots the background didn't quite gel with the action/foreground so that it was obvious the background was fake or had been green-screened.
I liked Jude Law as Dr. Watson. I thought he and Downey worked well together.
The funniest scene of the movie was in the denouement.

While there was no real cliff-hanger, Sherlock Holmes did set itself up for possible sequels. I liked this movie well enough that I hope they do make a sequel and if so I'd definitely make a greater effort to see it in the cinema.

I give Sherlock Holmes 3.5 out of 5 stars.

ZoneAlarm Firewall Hangs Firefox

2010-04-14T18:04:00.000-05:00

This is a follow-up to my previous post Firefox versus Chrome.

For the longest time I've been having problems with Firefox hanging, frequently. More often than not, actually. Firefox would suddenly and without warning be unable to access the internet. IE and other programs would be fine so I knew it wasn't a connection problem. I could close all the Firefox windows but the Firefox process would still run -- unable to be shut down even via Task Manager -- and hence prevent restarting Firefox. The only solution was to restart my computer. Irritating.

Anywhoo, to avoid repeating myself further I'll cut this short and get to the point.

It appears that Firefox hanging was caused by some interference with ZoneAlarm basic (free) firewall on my desktop at home. Perhaps ZoneAlarm conflicts with a Firefox add-on rather than Firefox per se, but since I only install add-ons I really want (ie. noscript, adblock plus) I didn't bother testing it by uninstalling them one at a time.

So despite my long time use and admiration for the effectiveness of ZoneAlarm firewall (and as Firefox is the only browser with all the features I want) I went the other direction and uninstalled ZoneAlarm, even going so far as to replace my free ZoneAlarm with (gasp!) a retail firewall that actually cost me money.

The fact that I was willing to give up a perfectly good free firewall for a paid version from another developer is a testament to just how much I've grown to appreciate the privacy controls and noscript add-on available with Firefox that are unavailable in other browsers like Chrome.

Having said that, I might not have jumped off the ZoneAlarm firewall bandwagon if I hadn't found an equally effective replacement, free or not.

The International

2010-04-13T21:22:00.007-05:00

I recently rented The International, starring Clive Owen. Owen portrays an Interpol agent trying to take down an international banking institution suspected of dealing in weapons.

The International is an action movie and over all I enjoyed it. I've only seen Clive Owen in a few things, but what I have seen of his work I've admired. Actually, the first time I saw Owen was in a video game for the PC -- a spin-off of the Wing Commander series called Privateer or the like.

The action scenes were enjoyable -- important for an action movie -- and as I indicated above Owen did well in his role.

One puzzling thing in the movie, though, had to do with a dead bird. I don't think it will really spoil anything, so I'll just say I got the implication that the bad guys killed the bird but I don't understand why they did so. It sort of revealed their presence to an already paranoid Owen. If it was accidental, then what caused the avian's demise? Odd.

In the blue-ray version they included a deleted scene with Owen's daughter -- the daughter character was completely absent in the final version of the movie. It makes me wonder whether the actress still gets paid (probably), whether it's appropriate for her to include The International on her curriculum vitae (probably), or whether she was listed in the credits? I forgot to check the latter by the time the credits rolled around. Oh, well.

Anywhoo, The International deserves 3.5 out of 5 stars (I originally was going to give The International 3 stars, but as I enjoyed it more than The Hurt Locker I bumped it up to 3.5).

The Hurt Locker

2010-04-13T20:53:00.006-05:00

I rented The Hurt Locker recently, and I thought it was a good, but not great, movie.

The Hurt Locker was a character study more than anything else. The movie felt very static with no real plot and no character development.

Many scenes were interesting, but others I found pointedly unbelievable; the latter surely a detriment for a supposedly realistic portrayal of soldiers in Iraq. I thought it absurd that a 3-man bomb squad would be left with no support in the midst of hostile territory on a regular basis.

Who knows, maybe it really does happen that way and I'm ignorant of some tactical or strategic benefit to doing so. Regardless, until I learn otherwise I'm attributing it to artistic license.

I give The Hurt Locker 3 out of 5 stars.

Bicycle + Trailer + Me = Ouch

2010-04-01T18:09:00.002-05:00

On the walk home, today, I was hit by a bicycle trailer -- one of those chariot thingies pulled by a bicycle that sit a baby or toddler inside. Luckily no one was seriously injured, though the toddler was definitely crying up a storm.

I'm not sure what the cyclist was thinking. First, he was riding on the sidewalk, coming towards me. Second, he was traveling at a fairly good clip despite heading up hill. Third, that sidewalk is narrow. There's barely enough room for two pedestrians to pass, let alone a bicycle pulling a trailer. On one side there's a low retaining wall, the other is busy traffic where merely sticking an elbow out over the road brings fear of getting hit by a car mirror.

Anywhoo, I stopped, the cyclist didn't. He inched too close to his right and the chariot's wheel bounced off the retaining wall, the impact tipping the entire chariot on its opposite side where it promptly slammed in to my shins.

I couldn't help but think, as the cyclist quickly righted himself and sped away, that if the cyclist is going to ride like that then his helpless passenger deserves to wear a helmet, too.

My Credit Card Cancelled

2010-03-12T16:30:00.003-05:00

Earlier today I was surprised to receive an automated telephone call informing me my credit card had been cancelled due to potential fraud.

When I later phoned customer service I was informed that one of the stores I shopped at had been hacked; as a precaution my credit card was cancelled even though there didn't appear to be any fraudulent charges.

My only worry right now is that some of my bills are paid via automatic charges to my now cancelled credit card. I hope I receive my new card before any of those bills come due.

I also wish they would tell me which store had been hacked. I asked, but apparently that information is considered confidential. Go figure. I guess they're worried that if customers were told then vendors would be less likely to report problems such as this for fear of losing business.

Today's incident felt slightly surreal through out because just this morning I read an article on cbc.ca regarding the vast majority of retailers failing to wipe debit card, credit card, and PIN numbers from their point-of-sale terminals, as they are supposed to do.

Thieves skim customer data from debit terminals

Merchants not vigilant about wiping point-of-sale machines clean

"[...] Thieves are accessing personal financial information using the old-fashioned smash-and-grab method, but what they're grabbing are point-of-sale terminals, not merchandise.

CBC-TV's Marketplace has learned that many retailers are not helping the situation because they leave valuable information on the terminals where customers swipe their debit and credit cards when paying for purchases instead of wiping the data each night as they're supposed to.

It's the equivalent of leaving the store vault open and full of cash, except the cash is credit and debit card data, said RCMP Det. John Koppes of Abbotsford, B.C., who is the Mounties' computer crime specialist. [...]" --Read more at cbc.ca

This is Just Wrong

2010-03-03T18:43:00.002-05:00

Hep C sufferers endangering health to get treatment

B.C., Ont. won't cover antiviral drugs without liver damage, so patients binge drink

Health-care workers who treat hepatitis C are raising the alarm about patients who are binge drinking and taking dangerous herbal concoctions to try to inflame their own livers in a desperate bid to get provincial governments to pay for their medication.

Firefox versus Chrome

2010-03-03T18:10:00.002-05:00

Mozilla Firefox has been my browser of choice for many years, now. Unfortunately, consistent and frequent hanging issues in the past couple years have made me wish for another alternative to Internet Explorer.

I recently tested Google Chrome and liked it, but a couple issues make me reluctant (at least for now) to completely switch over.

First, Firefox offers better control over cookies. In comparison, Chrome's cookie controls are too all or none in nature. Second and more importantly, I've grown accustomed to the Firefox add-on NoScript. It's amazing how well it cleans up webpages of all the stuff I have no interest in seeing -- or if I do, then it's quick and simple to remedy. Chrome, as far as I can determine, doesn't have an extension of similar utility not because no one has produced one but because Chrome's design and/or infrastructure doesn't make such an extension possible.

Oh well. Back to my hanging Firefox, rebooting, hanging Firefox, rebooting... ad nauseum.

Formatting a Large HDD to FAT32

2010-01-14T23:17:00.006-05:00

When I used to format HDDs or USB drives I never really thought about the different options available, like NTFS, FAT or FAT32. As long as it worked, right? And they all did.

Though there have been times when a USB drive wasn't recognized for no discernible reason, I attributed these instances to cheap USB drives. It wasn't until recently when my PS3 wouldn't recognize a USB drive that I gained enough motivation to investigate.

Turns out the PS3 will only recognize FAT32-formatted disks. It also turns out that FAT32 is format that's pretty much universally recognized by various O/S.

Unfortunately, while Windows Vista will recognize HDDs of any size formatted as FAT32, Vista itself will not -- by design -- format anything larger than 32GB as FAT32. Eh?

I think that deserves another, emphatic eh?! Especially as HDDs these days are much, much, much larger than 32GB, and I don't really want to partition a 1-2TB HDD 30-60 times.

FAT32 does have limitations, however, which is at least in part why Microsoft prefers formatting HDDs via NTFS. FAT32 is only useful for up to 2TB, I gather, and individual files can't be larger than 4GB.

I hope there are other technical issues that contributed to Microsoft's decision to not allow formatting anything larger than 32GB in FAT32, though frankly I can't be bothered to find out if there are.

All I wanted to do was format a 500GB external HDD via FAT32.

The first potential solution I found was appealing and simple. In Vista, open the DOS/command window as an adminstrator, format /FS:FAT32 x: Although this appeared to work at first ultimately an error message came up stating the drive was too big.

The second and successful solution I discovered was utilizing a little FAT32 format routine (free!) from Ridgecrop Consultants Ltd.. A simple matter of putting the exe file on my computer and running it (fat32format x:) from the command/DOS window allowed me to format my 500GB as FAT32 in a single partition.

Anywhoo, apparently I can now hook up my FAT32-formatted external 500GB HDD to my PS3 via USB for increased storage space, or do a complete backup of my PS3 should I so desire.

Oh yeah, I'm sure everyone is already aware of this but, in the interest of preventing a nasty surprise, I feel compelled to unnecessarily remind anyone reading this post that formatting a disk will wipe the HDD clean of any data or files. Backup as appropriate.

Hamilton's Misnomer?

2010-01-08T17:35:00.004-05:00

When I moved to the Land of Tim Hortons I found it somewhat confusing, direction wise.

The place I'm looking for is on the mountain? What mountain? I don't see a mountain.

I learned that Hamilton is typically divided in two, "The mountain" and downtown. The latter is next to Lake Ontario with the former adjacent to the south. Perhaps it's because I grew up in B.C. with the Rocky Mountains, but there's no way no how I'm ever going to call Hamilton's mountain "The mountain."

Of course the Rockies are geological youths, and not all mountains appear like the Rockies. Still, "The mountain" at best is a plateau. There's an escarpment, and then it's flat. F-L-A-T.

Perhaps at one time it was a real mountain and 90% of it was carved off for city development and expansion. I don't know. But as only a recent resident of the Land of Tim Hortons I'd feel silly describing it as one.

Video Review of Phantom Menace

2009-12-17T23:58:00.004-05:00

/Film posted someone's 70-minute video review of the disappointing disaster that was the Phantom Menace. Whenever someone asks whether I like Star Wars (the topic doesn't really arise that often these days, but when it does...) I always have to qualify my positive response by saying I only like the original trilogy, and not the prequels. Well, the creator of this video review of feels the same way and offers some salient reasons as to why Episode I is so terrible.

Quite well done, actually. The review is divided into seven parts. Warning for mild profanity.

Part 1/7

Part 2/7

Part 3/7

Part 4/7

Part 5/7

Part 6/7

Part 7/7

Does Rogers Think I'm Stupid?

2009-12-16T20:34:00.006-05:00

As glad as I was to return to Canada after several years of living in the United States, there are a few things I find severely lacking north of the 49th parallel.

One, amazon.ca is an extremely pitiful, pathetic cousin to amazon.com in terms of variety of products offered. I'd grown accustomed to the one-stop-shop nature of amazon.com -- a characteristic the Canadian iteration doesn't even come close to matching.

Two, is the lack of competition and poor service in some industries compared to the United States. In the case of the telecom industry not only is service relatively poor in Canada, but Canadians for larcenous reasons are forced to pay more for less. A few mobiles have caught my eye over the past few years, but I never want to be stuck with a contract, again. Besides, my s620 still serves me well.

Anywhoo, I digress. This post was meant originally to relate an inane text message I received from Rogers, recently (I use Rogers Pay As You Go). Rogers periodically sends me text messages offering various services and options. This one said in effect, "you've had x number of text messages in the past 7 days. Pay $3 per month for 30 free text messages!"

As with all others from Rogers, this one was deleted. But in the midst of deletion it occurred to me that I really don't use text messages often, and certainly not the x number Rogers says I had in the past week.

My first thought was that somehow someone else was using my mobile number. A second after that, though, I realized the more likely scenario was that in calculating the number of text messages per week, Rogers must be including the texts Rogers themselves were sending me.

Not only does Rogers insist on spamming me, they want me to pay for the dubious privilege. Idiots.

Lego Matrix

2009-11-25T22:08:00.004-05:00

Found these youtube videos posted on /Film. The filmers recreated the roof-top bullet-time scene from the original Matrix, using Lego. 440 hours to film 1 minute 24 seconds.

This second video is a side by side comparison of the original with the Lego Matrix version:

Swimming and an Autonomic Reflex

2009-11-16T21:10:00.006-05:00

Once upon a time I watched part of a BBC documentary on the human body, in which they revealed that babies, under a certain age, will automatically hold their breath when dunked under water. As the babies get older, however, they lose this reflex. The video of babies "swimming" by themselves was kind of neat. Cute, too.

Being too cheap to purchase prescription swim goggles, I haven't as much as dipped a toe in a swimming pool for decades. Nevertheless, I still remember that I never required a nose clip to prevent water from flowing up my nasal passages. I just held my breath, and that was it.

As a young child I vaguely remember wondering, upon first viewing some competitive swimmers wearing nose clips, why they bothered. After the split second I considered this weighty conundrum, I concluded that as they obviously swim much faster so water must as a consequence threaten to go up their nose with greater force... thus nose clips as a preventive measure. Kids, eh?

Anywhoo, I never thought about it again, until recently (hence, this post). Apparently the use of nose clips is all dependent on how people were trained. In the beginning, everyone's nasal passage will close off and prevent water from going up their nose -- assuming they hold their breath underwater, obviously. However, those who first learn to swim with nose clips lose this autonomic reflex.

So this is an ability acquired in the womb... still possessed in young babies... then lost... then regained... and then, perhaps, lost again.

Interesting, eh? Well... I think it's interesting.

Just Say No?

2009-11-09T23:42:00.005-05:00

On CTV local news tonight there was a news report about a woman missing in Toronto area for the past two months or so. In the report, police stated that they would be asking all tenants of the missing woman's apartment building to let them enter their homes to take a look for any possible clues (aside: the report said that was 6 000 units which, if accurate, is one huge apartment building). Apparently this is the second time the police would be making a search of this kind in this case.

My first thought was that the police must be fishing. My second thought was that perhaps the police have a suspect, but not enough evidence for a warrant, so to avoid unduly forewarning the suspect plan to search all residents' homes, perhaps in the hope the suspect won't decline police entry in order to not appear suspicious.

This led me to wonder how I'd react if I was placed in a similar situation, with police knocking on my door, asking to search my home without a warrant on the off chance they'd find something to help solve a case.

My rational self thinks if it's the former, fishing, then it's idiotic, unreasonable, and given a world with no repercussions I'd say a definite, "no". If it's the latter, part subterfuge, then the police wouldn't really care about searching my place, anyway, so that's another, "no".

But then there's the inevitable fear, guilt, and resentment because, realistically, I'd find it difficult to say no, even though I'd probably want to. Fear of appearing guilty by declining. Guilt because if searching my home would help the police solve a case -- no matter how fantastical a possibility -- how would I possibly say no? Resentment at having to let police search my home for fear of appearing suspicious, resentment at being made to feel guilty, resentment at the loss of privacy, and guilty for feeling resentment.

Another not so involved thought popped in to my mind after the CTV broadcast about police asking to enter homes without warrants. I wonder if there will be any criminals trying to take advantage of the news report, impersonating police to gain access to apartments and stuff to steal, pretending to be looking for clues to the missing woman.

Finally, a question: what's the protocol for something like this? Would it be appropriate to ask police to first take off their shoes?

PS3: Playstation Network

2009-11-03T00:26:00.005-05:00

I've never used my PS3 to browse the web or purchase anything, but recently I inadvertently discovered what I consider to be a major bug in how Playstation Network accounts are managed. I say 'bug' but I suspect it's intentional, another example of some proprietary protection overkill by Sony.

What am I talking about? I purchased my PS3 when I was living in the United States so when I set up my PS3 user account I used my U.S. address. Now having relocated to Canada, I recently tried to update my information -- inexplicably, I am unable to update my address because Sony doesn't allow you to update the country of residence. Eh!?

After some cursory research, as far as I can gather Sony - unlike Nintendo with Nintendo Club - has no intention whatsoever of changing this policy.

Hmm... any work arounds? First I tried creating a new account/user with my current Canadian address. This worked fine. I could then transfer all my save games to my new user and delete the old account, right?

Not quite.

In this case a little paranoia paid off. Fortunately, prior to deleting my old account I decided to verify that I could use the save games with my new account. Kudos to Valkyria Chronicles, Assassin's Creed, Fallout 3, and Oblivion for letting gamers do this. A big disgusted boo to EA Sports NHL10 for not.

So... in order to not lose three completed seasons and the start of a fourth in NHL10 Be A Pro, I am forced to keep two user accounts on my PS3, one with my current address in Canada and the other with my previous address in the United States. Not a major fiasco by far, but definitely a major irritation for someone who very much prefers to avoid opening multiple accounts to the same service.

Anywhoo, I find myself blaming Sony more than EA Sports. All this hassle could have been easily avoided if Sony merely allowed people to update their country of residence.

I can only assume Sony designed it this way because different countries/regions have access to different content on the PS3, and Sony doesn't want PS3 owners changing their country of residence willy-nilly in order to access other regions' content.

Which is odd when I think about it, because I'd have thought more people purchasing downloads would result in more money for Sony. It's also odd because it seems a very crude and inadequate method. People can still create as many PS3 user accounts with international addresses as they have e-mail addresses.

This oddness, then, begs the question, "What's the point?" The only answer I can come up with is that this is merely another example of Sony being anal.

United Airlines Breaks Guitars

2009-10-29T17:25:00.004-05:00

I wonder if a different airline would have accepted liability. I'd hope so, but with airlines I've found 'hope for the best, expect the worst' to be the best attitude to have when traveling. A way to manage expectations and mitigate frustration.

United Breaks Guitars, by Dave Carroll.

United Breaks Guitars 2

Now it seems United has lost, temporarily, at least, Dave Carroll's luggage, too:

After famously breaking his guitar, United Airlines has managed to cause further trouble for David Carroll by losing his luggage — just as the Canadian singer-songwriter was en route to deliver a speech about customer service [...] --cbc.ca

PS3: NHL10 as Therapy

2009-10-24T20:16:00.002-05:00

Normally after watching the Vancouver Canucks lose I don't want to even think about hockey, at least not until the disappointment fades away. So I wouldn't have thought playing NHL10 right after was in the cards. It doesn't turn out that way, however. It's especially after a Canucks' loss that I need to sit down and play NHL10 to ease my wounded soul.

A Matter of Opinion?

2009-10-23T18:55:00.002-05:00

I'm not an ambulance driver, but I can say that when I see an ambulance -- light flashing, sirens blaring -- slow down as it approaches an intersection I assume it's for the obvious safety reasons.

I don't assume, as did a beige sedan in the opposing direction, that the ambulance is politely slowing down to let the sedan make a left turn.

A Matter of Experience

2009-10-22T18:13:00.006-05:00

Tonight I was witness once again to the all too familiar sight of a vehicle on the right lane of two right-turn lanes swing purposely wide -- cutting off the vehicle on its left, also turning right -- and enter the left lane. The sight is so common these days I no longer gape in disbelief; I shake my head and let it go.

Then why this post? Tonight I witnessed a van, in the right lane of two right-turn lanes, turn wide across the adjacent right turn lane on its left and into the far left lane of a three-lane one-way street. The vehicle adjacent was forced to slam on its brakes since, you know, by virtue of the van cutting across two lanes it couldn't even swing wide itself.

This incident made me aware that for the longest time whenever I make a turn, whether in two-right or two-left turn lanes, I never position myself so I'm next to an adjacent vehicle -- let alone in its blind-spot -- in the too often fulfilled expectation that the adjacent vehicle is going to have a desperate desire to swing wide into my lane.

This thought led me to wonder for how long I'd driven in this fashion. I don't remember, but I do remember that in my first one or two years of driving it never occurred to my law-abiding, logical self that anyone would even consider purposely swinging wide in such a situation.

Ah hah! I thought. Stuff like this is why young drivers get in so many accidents. It's not a new thought, by far. I know the statistics, teenage belief in immortality. Nevertheless, tonight was the visceral knowledge that, yes, experience does matter.

Balsillie Loses Coyotes Bid

2009-09-30T23:25:00.002-05:00

Oh well. As time went on it looked increasingly unlikely Balsillie would succeed in purchasing the bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes; today, bankruptcy court judge Baum rejected both the NHL and Balsillie's bid, the latter with prejudice. The NHL is welcome to make an improved bid.

Perhaps it's just me, but it feels like all Baum did was ice the puck, avoiding making a decision for fear of ramifications far beyond the purview of a bankruptcy court. Which begs the question why the heck it took Baum so long to simply decide to not make a decision.

At the beginning of this court process I thought the purpose of bankruptcy court was to get the most money possible for the most creditors. It's not that simple, as it turned out, or as I'd wished. I suppose it was naive of me to hope that a bankruptcy court would not let fear of setting a new precedence, and its potential ramifications, as a consequence of getting the most money for creditors affect getting the most money for creditors.

So... Bettman and the NHL are the winners, Balsillie, southern Ontario and Canada the losers. Oh yeah, I suspect Glendale will be losers, too, one or two years down the road when the NHL finds a new owner-that's-not-Balsillie who relocates the money pit Coyotes elsewhere.

The city of Glendale threw the dice on this one -- lose out on Balsillie's guaranteed $25 million, ($50 million if Balsillie had ended up moving the Coyotes) in the faint hope that someone somewhere will keep the Coyotes in Glendale long term. Especially as Bettman would only guarantee to keep the Coyotes in Glendale for the 2009-2010 season. It's all in hindsight, but just think... what if Glendale had supported Balsillie's bid? Right now Glendale would be $25 million richer and Balsillie would still have lost his bid.

Finally, let's not forget The Great One. Was Gretzky a good coach of a bad team? Vice versa? All of the above? I don't know. I do think the NHL could have treated him better, though, after all Gretzky's done for the NHL. I suppose it's a case of what have you done for me lately.

Second Cup

2009-09-27T08:07:00.003-05:00

I have to thank Second Cup; I've been drinking less coffee because of them. There's a Second Cup coffee shop at my workplace which I patronized once or twice a week in the recent past. Nothing wrong with their coffee... but the till at this location never accepts my credit cards or debit cards. The past few instances the cashier was as visibly irritated as I felt. No idea why that one location has problems; as I dislike carrying coins -- and I don't like being blamed for holding up the line when trying to use an accepted payment method -- I decided to stop going there completely.

PS3: NHL 10, Part III

2009-09-26T20:17:00.001-05:00

Another bug has made its appearance in NHL 10 for the PS3. Twice, perhaps thrice, now, in the middle of a game the graphics have gone all Cubist. Sound effects, announcers, the game goes on except that it's impossible to see anything. Fortunately, it's an easy fix. Hit the pause/start button to open the game menu and go to instant replay to refresh the screen. Resume game and you're good to go.

A Matter of Trust

2009-09-26T19:01:00.002-05:00

On my commute to work I walk by a medium-sized grocery store.
Fairly convenient if I don't buy anything heavy; at least, it would be
convenient if I ever shopped there. I've never even entered.

What stops me? A prominent sign outlining store policy that all
customer bags be left with the cashier upon entering. Reasonable,
right? A measured deterrent against shoplifters and
thieves.

My initial response upon seeing the sign for the first time? If they
don't trust me why should I trust them? Not that the cashier is going
to have a burning desire to rifle through customers' bags; the issue
is whether I trust them not to give my bag to a thief by mistake.

I don't, as it happens, which is why I never shop there.

Descaling an Electric Kettle

2009-09-25T19:52:00.002-05:00

I wanted to descale my electric kettle and decided to use white vinegar for the first time. Impressive. I was both surprised and pleased at how well it does the job. I let a mixture of 1:1 (v/v) white vinegar and water sit in the kettle. A couple hours at room temperature and descaling was complete! After rinsing with water 4-5 times my kettle is once more back in active service.

PS3: NHL 10, Part II

2009-09-24T16:39:00.002-05:00

Well, looks like there's a fairly significant bug in NHL 10 for the PS3. I'm not referring to the AI, which as always can still use some improvement, but to something I consider relatively easier to solve and as such even more disappointing.

One of the changes with NHL 10 over NHL 09, and one of NHL 10's advertised selling points, was the inclusion of unlockable player equipment upgrades (pads, sticks, helmets, etc.) that boost your player's stats in various categories. I was initially resistant to equipping these items once they were unlocked but I soon overcame my disgust with the often ugly designs and always ill-matched colours.

What's the problem, then? As soon as my Be A Pro goalie won 25 games all the previously unlocked equipment returned to their initial locked and unusable status. What's up with that? That this issue is something I would think easily caught in any reasonable quality control regime just makes it all the more disappointing.

Oh well. At least my goalie no longer has to pretend to be colour blind.

PS3: NHL 10

2009-09-20T22:27:00.003-05:00

I wasn't sure if I should buy NHL '10 for the PS3 as all I read stated that NHL '10 wasn't a drastic improvement over NHL '09. The inclusion of a "Be a GM" mode doesn't immediately appeal to me, and including 'board play' doesn't do too much for me as I tend to play goal in "Be a Pro" mode -- thankfully retained for NHL '10.

Anywhoo, I purchased NHL '10 mentally prepared to admit it was a waste of my money; not because it's a bad game, far from it, but NHL '09 is already a great game so why bother with a minor upgrade?

To my delight my fears were misplaced. The fact that NHL '10 fixes several minor annoyances with NHL '09 makes buying NHL '10 worthwhile in itself. I say minor annoyances, but really as a person who likes to play goal they more often than not were quite irritating and detracted from NHL '09.

The most notable fixes are with the announcers. One, announcers in NHL '10 no longer describe a defenseman's own goal as the result of an amazing shot by the opposing team or as the poor play of the goalie. In NHL '09 the incongruity between the announcers' words and my emotions resulted in even more aggravation. No longer in NHL '10. Second, in NHL '09 injuries in-game were virtually ignored. I might see a player on the ice during play, but all too frequently a very brief close-up of the injured player was too brief to identify before play resumed. It's not like I know the jersey number of every single player on every single team. Of course, that's when the game even bothered to show the injury clip. I'd have no idea which player was injured or whether he was out for the duration. Thankfully, in NHL '10 this is remedied. The injury clip is enough to identify the player, and afterward the announcers even say whether the player will be returning. Nice.

Descriptions of breakaways in NHL '09 were a tad too inclusive. The announcers would describe a rebound as a breakaway. Stationary, open players and one-timers were too often called breakaways, as well. To date, none of that has cropped up in NHL '10.

In NHL '09, I'd always been disappointed that the game didn't provide some pre-game information on the opposing team, beyond the current win-loss record. No more in NHL '10. NHL '10 summarizes information like starting line ups, goalies, and stat summaries like PP, GF and GA.

Goalie animations have been added to in NHL '10, and there's much more manual control available. Overall an improvement, and it will even be more of an improvement when my use of the new controls becomes more automatic.

"Be a Pro" mode has been updated. My Be a Pro goalie had the option to play a prospect game prior to draft day to help determine draft position. Neat. Unfortunately, this leads to a minor annoyance with NHL '10. My goalie played well enough in the prospect game to be 1st pick on draft day. Huzzah! Too bad in the player stats page for my goalie under "Draft position" it still says "N/A". Eh?

Random points:

GM and coach updates could be more timely. I went from the prospect game, the draft, contract, then directly to my 1st NHL game. What happened to the AHL? It was only after I finished the 1st game that the GM thoughtfully informed me that they were having me play in the bigs first prior to deciding whether I neeeded seasoning in the AHL. The coach didn't talk to me until after my 1st NHL game, too.
In NHL '09 I thought goalie post-game evaluation was too tough. The game appeared to penalize goalie "grades" for circumstances not under the goalie's control. Poor grades adversely affect his number of starts. NHL '10 looks to have remedied this. A goalie can play well but still lose the game, and NHL '10 recognizes this. I might get fewer XP, but at least my grade average stays up and won't negatively impact my number of starts.
I was leary of loading the game multiple times until being drafted by the Vancouver Canucks. I still have no idea if Luongo's 12-year deal made it into NHL '10. Oh well, if Luongo's still with the Canucks after my 3-yr, $0.85M entry contract expires perhaps I'll consider other teams.
I wish in Be a Pro mode the game allowed you to see what the players' current contracts are.
NHL '10 does a nice job with playable injury graphics. Demitra played with a fractured jaw for a couple games and you could see the additional plastic guard he wore for added protection.

Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router, WRT54G2

2009-08-20T18:09:00.005-05:00

So far I'm fairly impressed by how much difference changing a router can make. For the past eight months I'd been living with an inconsistent wireless home network, mostly evident with my Nintendo Wii.

My Nintendo would connect via wireless one day, and then with the identical settings throw up an error message the following day. I'd change my router to channel 11, and the Nintendo connected... and then it wouldn't next time I tried. Channel 1? Eureka -- but, no. I finally gave up and decided to try a new router.

Why did it take me so long to make the decision? I'd always thought that different routers differed in strength, speed, and area of coverage, and that's about it. Based on this erroneous assumption I wasn't optimistic a new router would change anything. After all, my Nintendo connected fine... sometimes. PS3, no problems.

Anywhoo, I started reading up on routers and my error quickly became evident. Most routers work at a 2.4 GHz which apparently is a frequency prone to interference from microwaves, cordless phones and the like. Living in an apartment building I can easily imagine my locale being full of potentially interfering devices.

So... I considered purchasing a "N" (or pre-"N") router with simultaneous dual band ability (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz). Dual band, because much fewer devices use 5 GHz so there's less chance of interference. Simultaneous, because the mere thought of having to manually switch between 2.4 and 5 GHz depending on what device I'm currently using annoys me to no end.

After all this, as you may have guessed from the post title, I decided to buy a Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router (WRT54G2), broadcasting at a frequency of 2.4 GHz.

Eh?

Unfortunately, all the simultaneous dual band N routers reviewed in my price range were lacking in some manner -- mostly poor efficiency/speed data transfer while in simultaneous mode. Still, this wouldn't have held me back from buying one, but I began to wonder whether any of my electronics were even compatible with this latest and greatest 5 GHz wireless "N" router technology, let alone being capable of taking advantage of it.

Anywhoo, my primary uses of a wireless router is to connect my Nintendo Wii and PS3, which I learned, after further reading, both operate at 2.4 GHz using "G" protocols/technology. Interesting.

The WRT54G2 is an older router, but the reviews I read were mostly positive; I decided to go with a proven performer rather than a router with all the latest bells and whistles. So far I haven't regretted my decision. Not only has my Nintendo Wii been connecting without fail, but another issue, one I had thought was unrelated to the router, has also been fixed. Thunderbird software on my desktop frequently failed to check/download POP3 e-mail, giving out "unable to connect" error messages for some or all of my e-mail accounts. No more.

The only negative of the WRT54G2 I've experienced is with its MAC filtering. My previous router allowed me to label each MAC address I added eg. "PS3" or "Nintendo" . With the Linksys... no. There's no way I'm going to be able to remember which MAC address is associated with each device. Still, all in all a minor quibble.

Elections Canada

2009-08-07T12:32:00.002-05:00

How novel. I phoned the 1-800 number for Elections Canada and it was picked up on the second ring by a... real, live person. I'd been expecting the typical automated menus, perhaps inputting my SIN to see whether I was still registered, or pressing a number dependent on the nature of my call, to determine whether Elections Canada had updated my previous U.S. address of six years to my new Canadian one (as an aside, apparently there's a five year limit to voting by mail for Canadian expats. No longer sufficiently Canadian, eh?).

Truthfully, I was so shocked a live person answered that I missed their initial greeting, and actually thought I had dialed the wrong number. In retrospect, perhaps I'd been a mite naive to assume Elections Canada would receive call volumes necessitating an automated answering service; who knows, maybe they do, but simply have refused to succumb to the dark temptation. How pleasant.

PS3: Assassins Creed

2009-08-04T07:36:00.003-05:00

I've always read good things about Assassins Creed for the PS3, so when I saw it at Best Buy for $30 I decided to pick it up. It's definitely worth $30, but I'm glad I didn't buy it for $50-60 when it was first released.

It's not that the game is poor; the game is quite good, actually. The story is interesting, the graphics and music are wonderful. Assassins Creed, unfortunately, has some fairly significant drawbacks in addition to all its positives.

The first issue... interesting story, I said, which is totally true. It left me wanting to learn the fate of Desmond (the character you play, and in an obvious lead-up for a sequel). Unfortunately, the game's in-story scientific premise sounded like just so much nonsense. Past memories inherited via genes? Lamarckism at work? Uh, no.

Gameplay was also another issue. Most of the time it was fine, but when moving quickly, ie. running from guards, it often became a headache. The automatic movement of the camera angle made controlling the character difficult, and gave me headaches requiring frequent breaks. The moving camera angle would obstruct my view of what I really wanted to see, and depending on where the character stood in relation to other objects difficult if not impossible to fix.

Assassins Creed is also short. Very short. Extrememly short. But ironically, its shortness turned out to be a mixed blessing; the missions quickly became quite repetitive and tedious so in part I was relieved the game was finished so quickly.

In-game beggars and crazy people? -- I really wish they wouldn't respawn, the latter more than the former. I have to admit the urge to break one of the assassins' rules regarding innocents was sometimes too much for me to resist.

I give Assassins Creed for the PS3 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Animated Short: Alarm

2009-07-01T23:34:00.002-05:00

Found this posted at /Film. Funny! 9 min. Click for details.

Pets in the Passenger Cabin

2009-07-01T12:32:00.004-05:00

So... I've read that Air Canada is now allowing pets (cats and dogs) on to passenger cabins during flights. I presume they'll arrange seats to accommodate anyone with allergies. While I accept having to sit beside crying babies and toddlers, as a non-pet person I'm much less willing to accept pets and potentially barking dogs.

There was a time when the mere thought of having to make trans-Atlantic or -Pacific flights twice a year would not have irritated me. That time is long gone, squeezed out of my system by cramped seats, security, and airport delays. Traveling by plane used to be an adventure... when I was eight. Since then it's been more something needing to be endured and suffered in order to get to my destination. The single best thing about moving back to North America? Not having to endure more than five hours per flight.

I could make a list of all the things that irritate and annoy me about flying but they all can be distilled in to the same issue, stress. Flying is stressful. I've posted before about some of my pitiful experiences with various airlines. The cost of a ticket, overbooking, missed transfers, long lines, security, immigration, cramped quarters and more, all contribute. I wish airlines would do more to alleviate that stress, in the name of humanitarianism if nothing else.

I've read that British Airways recently asked its employees to volunteer to work for a month without pay, and I gather many airlines are still having trouble staying out of the red after 9/11 and the more recent increase in fuel prices last (?) year. So... it's not easy for everyone involved, airlines included. I just wish that the airlines' solution to all their financial woes didn't feel so much like trying to stuff ever more sardines into a tin can.

Balsillie's Coyotes Bid Rejected

2009-06-15T22:35:00.003-05:00

Ugh. Looks like the judge rejected Balsillie's bid for the Phoenix Coyotes.

I just don't understand the business sense of the NHL not wanting to move a team from the American desert to Canada, where hockey is the sport and not the 3rd or even 4th wheel as in the USA. Well, not strictly true. I can see why Toronto and Buffalo wouldn't want another team in the area, but at the same time I think that's a selfish POV and short-sighted in terms of what's beneficial for the NHL.

In this economy you'd think the NHL would shore up its fan base rather than alienate it. Though, as I posted before, that's probably part of the problem. Canadians are hockey fanatics, at least relative to the U.S., so the NHL feels free to support an American bankrupt team over relocation to Canada. It's funny... funny in a sad and depressing way... I don't remember the NHL kicking up such a battle to prevent the Winnipeg Jets or Quebec Nordiques relocating to the USA.

But who knows, if the NHL can come up with a group willing to buy the Phoenix Coyotes, and to keep them in Glendale, Arizona, for $212 million or more, I'll admit I'm wrong.

So... I wonder what happens next? I guess the bankruptcy case and auction goes on as scheduled. I wonder if Balsillie will still bid, perhaps if he could move the team in two years rather than the next.

I want to see some dollar figures on these offers Bettman says he's lined up. Will any of them really do as much for creditors as Balsillie's $212 million? If so, great, I guess. I just can't get over the fact that the NHL is in a conflict of interest -- it's both a creditor and NHL ruler. As creditor the NHL should be trying to get the most possible of its money back from a new owner. But as NHL ruler it wants to keep a bankrupt team in Glendale, Arizona, perhaps taking a lower offer to do so. Fine for the NHL, but not so fine for all the other creditors. All this would be solved, of course, if Bettman can cough up a group to offer $212 million or more and still keep the team in Glendale.

What happened to Balsillie's $17 million bridge financing to the Coyotes? I hope Balsillie hasn't already paid it.

The amount of the relocation fee is another issue. Can the NHL stick an owner with an astronomical relocation fee -- essentially preventing a move?

Right now, a part of me wants the NHL to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix, just to see how much money the NHL will sink into the desert sands.

Traffic Accident

2009-06-12T21:22:00.001-05:00

Today I walked past the aftermath of a traffic accident. One car was still in the intersection, it's entire front bumper missing. A second car was perpendicular, on the sidewalk, with a snapped off traffic light pole lying on top of it. My guess is that someone tried to beat or ignored a red light. I overheard someone say there had been a pedestrian at that corner and that it didn't look good.

Condolences to friends and family of anyone involved.

I think driving is so common place that drivers often forget they're controlling 3-ton metal objects traveling at speed. As I continued my way past the accident it occurred to me that both drivers and pedestrians place a tremendous amount of trust in one another. Each driver is trusting that each of the hundreds of drivers (s)he himself meets is driving in a safe manner and not going to do anything dangerous. Each pedestrian is trusting that the multiple 3-ton moving objects zooming by mere meters away, any one of which could be fatal, won't lose control. We're essentially placing our lives in the hands of hundreds of complete strangers.

Of course, even if everyone is doing their best to act in a safe manner accidents happen. Sobering thought. I stand at that corner every day on the way to work.

Fiasco at Bank of America

2009-06-11T17:05:00.001-05:00

I never thought I'd say this, but fraud protection is not necessarily a good thing. In the past I would have solemnly sworn that people scoffing at the need for fraud protection were naïve at best. This ended last week when I ran head first into the idiotic brick wall of Bank of America ATM Fraud Protection.

I've posted before that I recently relocated from the state of Manly Deeds, Womanly Words (it's okay, you can laugh, I did) to The Land of Tim Hortons in the Great White North. Prior to moving I -- conscientiously I thought -- went to my Bank of America branch and notified them of my change in address. For half a year all seemed fine until I actually tried to withdraw my money from an ATM in the Great White North using my BoA check card.

On Day1, I first learned there's a limit to the amount of money per transaction that can be withdrawn from an ATM. I admit it took me a few tries to figure out exactly what the limit was. Nevertheless, no problem, right? I was still well below my daily withdrawal limit. I just needed to make multiple withdrawals. Actually... no. Ugh. I phoned Bank of America and was put on hold for at least ten minutes. I say at least because at that point I hung up. Hey, no way was I spending more than $2.50 to listen to elevator music. Later in the day I called Bank of America, again, and finally managed to speak to an associate (the human kind). The associate considerately explained BoA's ATM Fraud Protection and considerately cleared my BoA card for use. After all this I was still thinking of ATM fraud protection in a positive light.

On Day 2, I went to the ATM again (as I still hadn't withdrawn all the money I wanted in Day 1) and to my disgust my card was again rejected at the second attempted transaction. Eh? This time the call cost me $3.75 and the BoA associate considerately explained BoA's ATM Fraud Protection. This time I confirmed with the associate that yes, BoA records do say I am residing in The Land of Tim Hortons. I even informed them of the number of transactions, given the ATM withdrawal limit, I would be making this day and the following. And yes, I also confirmed that the total of my daily withdrawals were still within my pre-established daily ATM withdrawal limit. The associate considerately cleared my card for use.

On Day 3, my BoA card was rejected at the first transaction attempt. This time I spent $5.00 and 15 minutes on hold to call BoA, whereupon the associate considerately explained BoA Fraud Protection. The associate, also considerately, informed me that due to BoA's considerate ATM Fraud Protection I now had to travel IN PERSON to a BoA branch and show two accepted forms of identification. Until I did so not only was my card not cleared but I wouldn't even be able to use BoA online banking. Eh!? Can I do this over the phone, like the previous two days? No. Can I fax you the documents? No. Your records show I'm living in Canada, right? Yes. Do I still have to go in person to a BoA branch, crossing an international border en route? Yes. Don't you see how completely unreasonable that is? [Pause]... You have to go to a branch in person and show identification. Well, that's how that call went.

Also on Day 3 I made a second call to BoA in the hopes a different associate would be more reasonable. This second associate first considerately explained BoA ATM Fraud Protection and the conversation essentially followed the first, verbatim.

Somewhere in the midst of Day 3 any remaining positive feelings about ATM fraud protection, and Bank of America, had turned massively negative.

Still on Day 3, after having driven over an hour, crossing the international border, I presented IN PERSON two forms of identification at a BoA branch all the while wondering if I'd been living further from the border whether BoA would expect me to pay for an international flight (I wasn't optimistic). The branch associate looked at my identification and considerately put me on the phone with the BoA ATM Fraud Protection office – after one disconnected call and 10 minutes on hold (at least it doesn't happen to only me). The phone associate considerately explained BoA Fraud Protection and cleared my card. What needs to be done so this fiasco never happens again, since, you know, I'm living in Canada, now? [Pause]... I'll make a note in your file that you're living in Canada.

I didn't tell the phone associate what I really wanted to say in response to that enormously depressing statement.

After the call ended, I wondered aloud what would have happened if I'd lived somewhere like Thunder Bay where I would have had to take an international flight. The branch associate considerately recommended that next time I raise more of a stink; perhaps in that case BoA would reimburse money for gas. That the branch associate apparently assumed that this fiasco would occur in the future didn't leave me exactly brimming with confidence.

So here I am, stuck with an “okay-to-use” Bank of America check card but too afraid to use it for fear of being forced to travel to the USA, again.

Problem solved? Me thinks I've been duped. I'm back where I started in a depressingly circular fashion.

SFX Performance

2009-06-10T17:01:00.016-05:00

UPDATE (04AUG2009): Never say never, I guess. SFX Performance sent me my order -- insured, this time -- at their cost. It actually arrived a couple (few?) weeks ago. Much appreciated. As far as I'm concerned this event has come to an unexpected but positive conclusion.

UPDATE (07APR2010): Updated post title.

UPDATE (21JUN2010): As this issue has been resolved (see above) I decided to delete the original post that was below.
-----

Delete.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

2009-05-25T16:40:00.003-05:00

A little later than most, I'd guess, but this past weekend I finally went up and watched X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I liked it, with a few caveats, and I don't regret spending my money to watch it in the theaters.

SPOILERS follow....

Wolverine aka Logan is one of my two favourite comic book heros, on par with Peter Parker. As the movie's title suggests, X-Men Origins: Wolverine delves into the history of Logan prior to the X-Men trilogy. None of Logan's history is surprising if you've followed the comics. My familiarity with Logan's past may have contributed to the slow pacing of the earlier portions of the movie. Fortunately, once Logan is bent on revenge the pace picks up.

Random thoughts:

As I said above, I think they spent too much time on Logan's happy days. It made the film feel slow at the start.

Are the admantium bullets still rattling around inside Logan's skull?

Wait, so Logan's mutant ability can not only heal biological injuries, but can also repaire adamantium?

The bit about Logan's memory loss could have been better done. Sure, two bullets in the brain will cause appreciable damage, but how could Stryker have known it would cause memory loss? In the movie, Stryker explicitly went out to cause Logan's memory loss by shooting Logan in the head. I can't fathom how Stryker could have been so certain. How could Stryker have known that the memories he wanted lost would be lost? Puzzling. The movie would have been better served if the memory loss was consequential but not deliberate.

Many different mutants appear in the movie. Some I recognized from the comics.

Xavier makes a not so surprising appearance near the end. I wonder how much make-up they had to put on Patrick Stewart to make him look younger.

This is another movie where you should stay until the end of the credit roll. Apparently there are actually two different endings after the credits. I saw the one with Deadpool. I would much rather have seen the ending I've read about – Logan in a bar in Japan.

Speaking of... if Logan in Japan is a preview of a Wolverine 2 movie then I'm happy. The Logan-in-Japan stories in the comics have always been interesting, what with the dichotomy of Japanese honour and behaviour along with Logan trying to tame his berserker nature.

I give X-Men Origins: Wolverine 3.5 out of 5 stars.

What's G? An Empty Claim to Fame

2009-05-20T20:16:00.007-05:00

Recently I've seen a Gatorade commercial during the NHL playoffs, though I guess it's probably used for other televised sports. The explicit message of of this 'What's G' commercial is that Gatorade is "the heart, and soul, of the game".

Eh?

My immediate thought was if that's true then why do they bother playing? Stick a bottle of Gatorade at center ice and call it a day. Great game, everyone! I'm sure the thousands who paid $100 a ticket will be satisfied -- Gatorade is, after all, the heart and soul of the game. Why even bother with anything else?

Upon a second viewing and some further thought I've decided this particular commercial irritates me because of its hubris. It's like claiming I conceived of, designed, and built the automobile just because I put gasoline in one.

Balsillie, the NHL, and money

2009-05-06T22:02:00.003-05:00

In my previous post I wondered what fiscal or other reasons explain why Bettman and the NHL refuse to let a bankrupt team relocate to Canada. Upon further thought, I remember a time when many Canadian NHL teams were in danger of failing and I would have hated it if the NHL had relocated them to the U.S. But then I remember the Winnipeg Jets, which relocated to Phoenix on Bettman's watch in 1996.

On CBC I heard the best reason why Bettman and the NHL will likely do everything in their power to prevent the Coyotes from relocating to southern Ontario. They want Balsillie, or anyone else, to pay $$ for an expansion team in southern Ontario. The NHL owners could get $400 million (according to the person CBC interviewed) for an expansion team while if Basillie has his way the $212 million offer will only go to the Coyotes' creditors.

Anywhoo, it's not my money. I just can't shake the belief that Bettman and the NHL owners are giving faithful Canadians the financial finger in their ofttimes quixotic quest to expand NHL U.S. viewership, just because they can. Let's face it. Bettman and the NHL would have to do a lot more than this to make Canadians stop watching hockey.

Canucks 3, Blackhawks 1

2009-05-05T21:36:00.003-05:00

How do you spell relief? The Vancouver Canucks finally put in a 60 minute effort in this series. Tonight the Canucks took a 2-1 series lead in the Western Conference Semi-finals, versus the Chicago Blackhawks.

Despite leaving Vancouver with the series tied 1-1 I was pretty depressed because of the way the Canucks collapsed with the lead in the first two games. If the Canucks play the rest of the series like they played tonight I'll be happy.

Sometimes I think some hockey god has it in for the Canucks, or has some cosmic sense of irony. The Canucks came in to this series with a long layoff to heal. In the first 3 games of this series Salo, Demitra, and now perhaps Ohlund are injured such that the former two at least aren't able to play.

***
On a related note regarding the Phoenix Coyotes entering banckruptcy and Jim Balsillie's $212.5 million offer contingent on the team relocating to southern Ontario, I hope it happens. I really hope it happens... but I'm not optimistic. For some reason Bettman and whoever else makes these decisions hate the idea of more Canadian NHL teams. Canadian teams relocating to the USA -- fine and dandy. USA teams relocating to Canada -- not until hell freezes over.

It has to be the money, I guess, but I just don't get it. Do they think the market in Canada is too small? Southern Ontario can definitely support two NHL franchises, I don't know why they think otherwise. Meanwhile they stick teams in southern U.S. locales with no significant fan base. No such problem in Canada.

I can see that if the NHL is to up its profile/profit it needs to expand in to the U.S. but I don't understand why they can't do that without forsaking Canada. Get more U.S. teams via expansion, but don't prevent a bankrupt team from relocating to Canada.

Blackhawks 3, Canucks 5

2009-04-30T22:42:00.003-05:00

Whew. When Chicago tied it up at 3 in the third I had visions of past Canucks collapses, but the Canucks survived the first game of the Western Conference semi-finals.

The Canucks will need to improve their powerplay and stop taking stupid penalties.

I wonder if GM paid up front to name GM Place, or if there's some sort of annual payment; I ask because if the latter I wonder if they would consider dropping sponsorship because of GM's current financial woes.

Canucks Sweep Blues

2009-04-21T22:41:00.004-05:00

Hurrah! The Vancouver Canucks defeated the St. Louis Blues 3-2 in the dieing seconds of the first OT to sweep the Blues in their best of seven series.

I can hardly believe it -- I can't remember, literally, the last time the Canucks ever won a series 4-0. It's a huge relief from all the 6 game, 7 game series I remember.

The Blues went for 0-7 on the powerplay in the sudden death OT, alone. Whew.

CBC cut off the Canucks game after regulation to broadcast the start of the Sharks - Ducks game. Idiots. It was sudden death elimination OT versus the first period of a non-elimination game. I would have thought the decision obvious, but CBC must have different ideas on what constitutes excitement and drama. Weak sauce, CBC. Weak sauce.

Edit. I just heard Shorty on the radio say the Canucks have never previously swept a 7 game series. Woohoo! To boldly go where no Canucks team has ever gone before...

Blues 0, Canucks 3

2009-04-17T23:41:00.002-05:00

Hurrah! The Canucks take a 2-0 lead in the best of seven against St. Louis, by beating the Blues 3-0.

I'm becoming increasingly optimistic about the Canucks' chances to go deep, or at least make it past the first round. The Canucks need to finish this series early to gain an opportunity to rest; don't drag it out to seven.

Sundin scored! The game winner, no less! I guess he's still useful even though he's as slow as a turtle.

Luongo made some incredible saves, although a few pucks went off the post.

Blues 1, Canucks 2

2009-04-15T23:18:00.005-05:00

Whew. Way too many penalties -- but at least the Vancouver Canucks survived and took game one of their series against the St. Louis Blues, in the Western Conference quarter-finals.

I hope now that the first game is under their belt the Canucks will be more disciplined for the rest of the games.

I watched the game on CBC and I was struck by the many commercials that made use of hockey and the NHL. It's good to be back in Canada. :o)

I think the funniest commercial tonight was one for a beer (?) company -- in it announcers worked a table hockey game and when the puck was stuck in the neutral zone, unreachable for any two-dimensional player, they described it as the "neutral zone trap". :o)

Anywhoo, on to game two!

Oh yeah, what's up with Sundin? Is he still out of shape or has Sundin always been that slow?

NHL09: another bug

2009-04-12T08:41:00.005-05:00

I've discovered two new related bugs in NHL09 for the Playstation 3. It's happened to me three times, now, and it's very irritating. If goalie McLean wins in a shoot-out it's not added to his win total statistically. eg. 37 games played, 36 wins, 0 losses. To rub even more salt in the wound, if McLean earns a shut-out -- in regulation, in OT, and in the shoot-out -- it isn't added to his career SO total.

Wangos.

Quantum of Solace

2009-04-10T22:21:00.002-05:00

Well... it looks like I've finally gotten over the loss of Pierce Brosnan as James Bond. After watching both the updated Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace on blue-ray, I have to admit that Daniel Craig portrays quite a respectable and interesting 007. Perhaps not as good as a young Sean Connery, but still much better than Moore, Latzenby, or Dalton. Though Clive Owen was my preferred choice and I still think Owen would have made a great Bond.

Aside: I first saw Clive Owen in the PC game, Wing Commander: Privateer. I knew him when....

I might be one of the last to see this movie, but what the heck... SPOILERS MAY FOLLOW.

Anywhoo, back to Quantum of Solace... am I wrong but did they not play the James Bond Theme until the ending credits?! I really hope I'm wrong, because if so then that is just plain... wrong.
It was kind of refreshing that there wasn't a powerful henchmen for Bond to fight before taking on the villain-in-charge. They're mixing up the James Bond movie formula a bit but I like it (except for not including the James Bond Theme -- they need to put that back in to the movie).
I like how the producers have restarted the inclusion of an over-arcing plot -- SPECTRE in the first movies, and now Quantum.
The hotel in the climax -- what the heck?! Did the colonel's jeep crash into a fuel cell, is that what caused the initial explosion? Because what kind of idiot would leave something that potentially explosive sitting exposed in a garage.
This initial explosion then causes a chain reaction in the entire building complex. What, the architects placed fuel cells in every room? They lined the walls and rooms with them?! Are water sprinklers not mandatory in Bolivia? This wasn't some ancient tenement, this was an ultra-modern state of the art hotel. You'd think they'd at least have the most basic safety precautions.
I wonder how many hotel employees died off-screen in the climax. The hotel looked huge -- it must have required a significant number of staff.
Woohoo, a shout-out to CSIS!

PS3 NHL09: Success in Net

2009-03-22T23:32:00.004-05:00

Playing goalie is finally fun in NHL09. It's probably taken me much longer than most, but with #30 Kirk McLean (ver. 3.0) I've finally realized success and ended the endless frustration. Having said that, gaining goalie xp is still agonizingly slow.

McLean 3.0 has a GAA of 1.40 and save percentage of 96.7. McLean 3.0 is a hybrid and glove-left -- though I doubt these changes are the main reason for his marked improvement.

After each game your goalie is graded in three areas: Positioning, Team Play, and Statistics. The better your grades the more xp you gain and the more starts you get.

Positioning is simple... A+ all the way. Accomplishing this is easy since a blue arrow indicates the direction and distance of the puck making positioning just a matter of centering your goalie on the arrow. Back to the arrow later.

Team play for a goalie, for me, varies from game to game. As far as I can tell success in this area depends entirely on whether or not you pass the puck at appropriate times, with team mates conveniently telling you to freeze or play the puck as the situation warrants. Unfortunately, often when they tell me to pass the puck I think they're crazy. So... some games Team Play is better than others. If could figure out how to leave my net as far as computer controlled goalies can I might be more consistent in this category.

Statistics is stopping the puck, and the area I had been having headaches with. In retrospect, my obstinacy played a role in my misfortunes in net but I don't think I was completely to blame. It's that darn arrow.

Being obstinate: McLean 1.0 played the entire regular season and the playoffs steadfast in the belief that it was his teammates' responsibility to clear out rebounds or to at least tie up opposing players in front. This led to McLean challenging the shooter, taking an extra step forward when he would have been better served taking a step back. Taking that step forward left McLean vulnerable to lateral passes and rebounds.
That darn arrow: squaring yourself perfectly against the puck is good when the shooter is straight out in front, but doing so at an angle other than perpendicular meant McLean 1.0 (and short-lived 2.0) played too much over on the short side.

Some other tactics I've learned that have helped McLean 3.0:

You don't need to completely follow the shooter or pass when it moves laterally in front of the net -- if you do it's often easy for McLean to move too far and leave the open side uncovered. Instead, center yourself in the net. You have a shorter distance to move and you can still cover both sides of the net.
When a winger comes down the boards keep the short side covered but moving too much over will leave a gap on the far side (cheat a little and don't completely center yourself on the arrow).
Poke-check whenever they skate out from behind the goal line (and they're in range, of course). It will more often than not save you heartache.
Some computer-controlled goalies (eg. Luongo) move far beyond the crease when challenging the point even with the opposing team already set-up in the zone, and can still make it back in position if they pass rather than shoot. Slowpoke McLean is better off deeper in net than out too far.
Learn to at least accept good shots, bad goals, turn-overs, and malfunctioning D-men, if not your own D scoring on you.

PS3 NHL09: Reboot

2009-03-17T18:49:00.002-05:00

After Picard and McLean both won the Stanley Cup for their respective teams I decided to start all over rather than continue with a 2nd season for these players.

I've already noticed that Picard 2.0, at 6'3" and 208 lbs., doesn't get knocked off his feet as often as version 1.0 at 6' and 185lbs. Picard 2.0 as before is playing for the Manitoba Moose, at the "Rookie" level to make it easier to boost his stats for the first season.

As for McLean 2.0, after trying a couple different teams and different styles McLean 2.0 began his career with the Moose, as well, at the "Pro" difficulty. I've pretty much resigned myself to the snail's pace goalies gain xp, no matter how well they play.

I'd originally avoided having my goalie play for the Canucks' AHL affiliate because of... well... Luongo. But hey, I get extra motivated playing for my home team; so there you go.

Anywhoo, McLean 2.0 was called up after only 5-6 games with the Moose, is 7-0 with the Canucks, and preparing for his 4th consecutive start. Luongo (10 games, 6 wins) has the better GPA, but McLean 2.0 the better save percentage. Certainly, I'd be very surprised if human players weren't given an advantage when EA Sports was programming NHL09.

Passchendaele

2009-03-08T20:01:00.004-05:00

I rented Passchendaele on BD the other day. It reminded me of why I originally purchased a PS3 in the first place -- to watch BDs. I guess it's been a while since I viewed a BD; once again I was impressed by the graphics.

Anywhoo, it's always a treat to watch Paul Gross, an actor/director I've always liked and try to make a point of watching. It's set in WWI, with events leading up to and including part of a battle at Passchendaele. Frankly, I'd never heard of Passchendaele and the role of the Canadian Corps there before this movie. I wish they taught this portion of Canadian history in class.

Passchendaele's first half is mostly romance with the latter half moving to the battlefield.

Personally, I think this movie is better than Saving Private Ryan, for reasons I won't say to avoid any spoilage. I will say that it's in part because after watching Passchendaele I didn't feel like walking in front of a bus like I did after watching Saving Private Ryan. Don't mistake me, I wasn't jumping for joy at the end, but nevertheless Passchendaele manages to be solemn and sad without force feeding extreme depression.

I'll leave it at that, and give Passchendaele 3.5 out of 5 stars.

PS3: Valkyria Chronicles

2009-02-07T22:45:00.001-05:00

Valkyria Chronicles for the PS3 is both turn-based and action-oriented at the same time. The game takes place on a fictional continent, Europa, geographically similar to Europe. The protagonist is a militia soldier of a small, politically neutral country (think Switzerland) with rich resources stuck between an Empire and a Federation going at it tooth and nail for multi-continental conquest.

So… music is good; in some games the music feels repetitive and distracting -- none of that with Valkyria Chronicles. I'd buy the soundtrack.

I like the art (sort of like animated water colours), it has interesting characters and the story is great: within the backdrop of war there is love and loss, friendship and betrayal.

What happens during missions is that game play is turn-based. You complete all your moves within a turn and then the computer goes next. Where the action comes in is when you pick one of your soldiers/tanks to move -- the game switches to a third person view of the selected unit and you move and shoot in real-time action-mode.

The game lets you replay particular skirmishes for XP and money, which is great because you’ll need to level up your soldiers and fund R&D of weapons and tank parts, but I’d really like to be able to replay all of the battles.

Battle scenarios are well done, and not always straight forward. Mission goals can change unexpectedly.

In one particular battle mid-way through a powerful, legendary being showed up on the enemy’s side – the despair as critical soldiers were quickly and spectacularly put out of action, and the urgency to adapt and complete the mission before all my troops were decimated, was quite real.

Some random thoughts:

Now that I’ve made it through a significant part of the story, I wonder what would have happened if I had let one or two characters critical to the story perish on the battlefield at an earlier point.
Some scenarios are quite tough, even after the first attempt and you have some idea of what’s happening -- you can save during your turn!
If you can spare unit movements don’t waste them – they're tacked on next turn to the normal complement (up to a point).
Having said that, keep moving forward. Both sides can summon reinforcements so it makes things much easier if you can take their base camps before they arrive.
Taking enemy base camps is also a good way to move your troops quickly up the field. You can have a unit “retreat” at your original base camp and summon that unit up the field at the recently captured camp. This is often a quicker and less risky way of getting a lagging unit in to position.
I haven’t seriously used any of Welkin’s available orders except “retreat”. Maybe I just don’t know how to use them properly but it always seems more useful to use the movement points to actually move a unit rather than use them on an order.
When I go to the Cemetery I’d like to be able to actually, you know, visit fallen comrades rather than talk to the Old Man who teaches you orders, for a price.
Once you see the enemy has "elite” soldiers, and you don’t have any of your own, play skirmishes to gain xp to level up your soldiers until you do.
Frontal assaults have their place, but it’s better to flank when possible.
For the longest time I thought the grade “A” was actually an “H”. What the beeping font are they using?!

The Valkyria Chronicles earns a 5 out of 5 stars.

PS3: NHL09 Stanley Cup Playoffs

2009-02-06T22:41:00.001-05:00

Goalie Kirk McLean of the Montreal Canadiens backstopped the team all the way to the Stanley Cup (16-0), defeating the San Jose Sharks in the final. Unfortunately, the Vancouver Canucks were taken out by the Sharks in seven in the Western Conference Final.

During the off-season McLean had several offers and opted for a 1 year deal with the Canadiens for $925k.

McLean’s career is on hiatus while I finish the alternate NHL-verse where LW Jean-Luc Picard is still in the regular season. After 66 games the Canucks have also clinched the division title with 113 points.

I’ve found one major bug with NHL09 for the PS3. Whenever a player reaches a +/- of 255 this stat automatically changes to negative 255. That’s right, if you play well in this stat you can expect to be punished. Picard has less than 20 games to make it back to the positive side of things.

At least Picard hasn’t been singled out. His entire line, (H. Sedin, Demitra), will soon be punished in the same manner, along with the first defensive line.

They better fix this bug, particularly as one of the skater goals is to have a +/- of 350.

PS3: Fallout 3

2009-02-05T08:00:00.001-05:00

I had some games waiting so I decided to finish Fallout 3 by focusing on the main quest – it went by quite quickly.

SPOILERS WILL FOLLOW

Fallout 3 for the PS3 is a great game (read my previous post for details). The ending takes the shine off slightly, unfortunately; the ending production matched the greatness of the rest of the game but personally it ruins any replay value.

SPOILER. Taking a step back, the ending feels very apt and flows well. Your father gives up on his life’s work to protect the baby you but 18 years later he takes up his Quixotic quest once again and perishes in the process. The son (you), alive only because of your father’s original abandonment of his life’s work, sacrifice your own life in turn to complete it.

So why does the ending destroy any replay value? I can garner no enthusiasm for playing a game, and even more so when re-playing one, where I’ll die at the end of it.

PS3: Bioshock

2009-02-04T22:33:00.004-05:00

I received Bioshock for the PS3 as a gift and so far it looks to be another worthwhile game. I haven’t made it very far, yet, but there are already some things I’m thankful for: the easy difficulty level and auto aim.

Bioshock is very spooky. Your plane crashes into the sea and you swim onto an island leading to an underwater city, Rapture, filled with people having taken self-genetic manipulation a step, or several steps, too far.

Bioshock is another FPS so I’ll be taking this one slowly.

No star rating until I’ve played it more.

Happy Belated New Year

2009-02-03T23:03:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted as much recently -- holidays and a relocation -- but I've pretty much settled down, now, at my new place and I've just about assembled all the IKEA furniture I can handle.

More NHL09

2008-12-20T19:24:00.002-05:00

I guess it's not something that is readily fixed if you play a lot of games, like I have. Inevitably the game announcers are going to repeat themselves enough that it gets annoying.

Let's see, when someone misses high, "he had to shoot high because he knows he's playing a butterfly goalie". Excuse me, McLean is a stand-up goalie.

"They're taking really poor shots. I would have thought pass before taking a shot. You have to wonder if their confidence is really low." Umm... we're leading 12-1. I don't think our confidence is all that low.

It's unfair that computer goalies can leave their net by so much, while McLean can't. Behind the net, all the same. But if McLean wants to move in front of the goal line for a really loose puck? Nope.

McLean Called Up.

2008-12-19T19:46:00.003-05:00

Just a short update to help minimize my NHL09-withdrawal pains induced by the holidays.

To my surprise goalie Kirk McLean was quickly recalled from the Hamilton Bulldogs to the Montreal Canadiens. I think I've figured out why he was sent down to Hamilton in the first place. After each game you're graded in three categories; if you're average grade is poor, or if one bottoms, ta dah! You're sent down to the AHL.

Playing goalie is tough. Picard doesn't really care how many goals against are scored because he's practically still guaranteed to come out of the game on the plus side. Goals against, however, are anathema to McLean's statistics and hence his career success.

McLean's job is made worse by the fact that on average he only earns 27xp per game used to improve his stats. This mean it takes playing 10 games to improve one of McLean's stats by... one point. Picard, however, earns 60-70xp per game and is able to improve every 4-5 games.

McLean's job is made even more difficult because his D-men insist on passing the puck through his crease. The last game McLean had to save 2 shots from his very own D. This is just plain wrong.

Oh yeah, one of McLean's "stretch goals" is to have 7 shutouts this season. Is the coach out of his hockey-lovin' mind!? In the last minute of every period, my D-men are guaranteed to leave a forward parked in front of my net waiting unmolested for a one-timer from the corner.

And the coach repeatedly saying, "you have to keep the puck out of the net", has to be one of the most annoying things I've ever heard. Does coach not think I know that?

One last thing for now: The Curse of the Announcer. Every time the announcer says how great you're playing, you're soon going to have to make some spectacular, impossible save to not prove him wrong.

Credit Cards

2008-12-17T09:58:00.000-05:00

I'm relatively responsible with credit card use. My policy has always been to have two, one VISA and one Master Card, and that's it. During my sojourn in the Washington D.C. area I've mainly used my Amazon.com VISA and American Express cards for all my purchases.

Anywhoo, in preparation for leaving the U.S., I've been closing my credit card accounts. It was at this time that it hit me how many credit cards I actually had. Seven. Seven?! Let's see... oh yeah, at Best Buy I wanted their 0% financing when I bought my computer. Circuit City... that's right, 0% financing for my flatscreen television. You get the idea. Credit cards for single purchase use. I wonder if many customers are like me, and if so, how can the stores make any money? Though I guess since they're store credit cards they make their money from the purchase itself, and any profit from credit cards is gravy.

I discovered that many credit cards now have an automated closing option via telephone. Very nice.

I was planning to close all credit cards except the oldest (tip: keep your oldest credit card to better your credit score) until I contacted Amazon.com VISA. With Amazon, run by Chase, owned by Capital One, I spoke to a person, a friendly associate who upon learning I wanted to close the account promptly offered me incentives to stay. Lower interest rates on just about everything, a bonus of 1000 points to put me up for another $25 Amazon.com gift certificate, more ways to earn points.

Hmm, well... I guess I don't have to close now. I'll wait until I get that $25 gift certificate.