 |
| I wonder what she is thinking? |
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Today's Favorite GIF
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
PC President's Choice Mastercard Application Enjoyment
A while ago my girlfriend and I decided to share a credit card. It's not that big of a deal but it is a step forward in our relationship. We looking around for new credit cards; Costco Amex, Aeroplan visa, TD points Visa, but since we do a lot of shopping at PC owned stores (No Frills, Loblaws) we decided to get a PC World card.
One Saturday (Janurary 26th), over a month ago, we got our critical data and went to the Superstore. It was pretty busy but we sat down at the PC card application location and waited a bit. After about 5 minutes one of the agents came up to us and said, it we did it over the phone it would be faster and easier. So we did our shopping and went home with that intention.
Later that night, we called up and was put on hold for a few minutes. Eventually an agent responded and we started our path to getting a credit card. About 10 minutes in, the agent said that it might be easier and faster to do it on-line instead. She pointed me to the website. I said we were only looking for the PC world card and not the other one, she said they would determine which you would get quickly and let us know. So I hung up and went on-line.
Going to the pc site was not much of a chore. They had a couple odd connections but it did not take long and they said someone would contact us shortly. We waited a few days.. then a week... then 10 days and finally someone called on February 19th and left a message for use to call back.
I called the number ( 1-866-296-0621 ) not really sure whom it was since the message was very garbled. The lady whom answered quickly started interrogating me with personal questions without any proof that they were PC. I hung up and did a quick search of the number I called and the only results I got were people complaining that PC was calling from that number forcing credit cards upon them and they didn't trust them. So I went to the PC site, called up the "contact us" number and confirmed the number I called was indeed their number. I called up again, tried to answer their strange questions and then emailed them pictures as proof that I was who I said I was. Before she hung up, I asked why is this taking so long and how much longer this would take, she said that if I did it at the store location, it would have been a lot faster.
Fast forward to today (March 12th) and still no word on anything. No calls, no emails, no mail, no credit card. I know for a fact my credit rating is "very good" according to a banker I know so I am not sure what is going on. I don't really mind that part all that much, what I do mind is two things;
First, If they are so big on confirming all your personal information, they should be willing to do the same. Post up your PC credit number on your site so people know whom they are talking to. Also, have them confirm they are who they say they are and confirm they really do want a credit card. Some people don't it seems.
Second, let people choose what card they want, don't have them have to ask to upgrade at some point in the future. I don't want the PC basic card. If I get it, I'm just going to throw it away. Let people know what they will be getting ahead and give them the option to cancel if it does not look like they will be getting what they want.
Third, at most importantly, get your act together! When I go to the location and they say call, and I call and they say do it on-line, and I do it on-line and they say I should have gone to the location, it is very very aggravating. No one likes to get the run around. And I am sure you have lost many potential customers based on this alone.
One Saturday (Janurary 26th), over a month ago, we got our critical data and went to the Superstore. It was pretty busy but we sat down at the PC card application location and waited a bit. After about 5 minutes one of the agents came up to us and said, it we did it over the phone it would be faster and easier. So we did our shopping and went home with that intention.
Later that night, we called up and was put on hold for a few minutes. Eventually an agent responded and we started our path to getting a credit card. About 10 minutes in, the agent said that it might be easier and faster to do it on-line instead. She pointed me to the website. I said we were only looking for the PC world card and not the other one, she said they would determine which you would get quickly and let us know. So I hung up and went on-line.
Going to the pc site was not much of a chore. They had a couple odd connections but it did not take long and they said someone would contact us shortly. We waited a few days.. then a week... then 10 days and finally someone called on February 19th and left a message for use to call back.
I called the number ( 1-866-296-0621 ) not really sure whom it was since the message was very garbled. The lady whom answered quickly started interrogating me with personal questions without any proof that they were PC. I hung up and did a quick search of the number I called and the only results I got were people complaining that PC was calling from that number forcing credit cards upon them and they didn't trust them. So I went to the PC site, called up the "contact us" number and confirmed the number I called was indeed their number. I called up again, tried to answer their strange questions and then emailed them pictures as proof that I was who I said I was. Before she hung up, I asked why is this taking so long and how much longer this would take, she said that if I did it at the store location, it would have been a lot faster.
Fast forward to today (March 12th) and still no word on anything. No calls, no emails, no mail, no credit card. I know for a fact my credit rating is "very good" according to a banker I know so I am not sure what is going on. I don't really mind that part all that much, what I do mind is two things;
First, If they are so big on confirming all your personal information, they should be willing to do the same. Post up your PC credit number on your site so people know whom they are talking to. Also, have them confirm they are who they say they are and confirm they really do want a credit card. Some people don't it seems.
Second, let people choose what card they want, don't have them have to ask to upgrade at some point in the future. I don't want the PC basic card. If I get it, I'm just going to throw it away. Let people know what they will be getting ahead and give them the option to cancel if it does not look like they will be getting what they want.
Third, at most importantly, get your act together! When I go to the location and they say call, and I call and they say do it on-line, and I do it on-line and they say I should have gone to the location, it is very very aggravating. No one likes to get the run around. And I am sure you have lost many potential customers based on this alone.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Pringles Betrayed Me
I used to love Pringles, I could go through a whole can in less than 2 days which was crazy. I stopped buying them as they were getting rather expensive (since I had to pay for them instead of my parents) but I bought some a little while back for nostalga sake and was dissapointed.
First I thought they were stale or something. Nope, they were fine. It was just different than I remember. I looked at the chip and noticed that I could now see through them a lot more than I used to be able to. Sure there were more, but there was less of them. I did some checking and found that they were not only thinner, but they were overall smaller. I used to be able to barely squeeze my hand in to get inside, now I cannot. My hand has not gotten any bigger so the tin go smaller. On top of that, I found a youtube video that shows the chips are getting even smaller than that! They are selling more box with less contents!
http://lessisloss.blogspot.ca/2013/01/pringles-potato-chips.html
I wish that other tube potato chips were better than they are but they are not good so I guess my tub chip days are over...
First I thought they were stale or something. Nope, they were fine. It was just different than I remember. I looked at the chip and noticed that I could now see through them a lot more than I used to be able to. Sure there were more, but there was less of them. I did some checking and found that they were not only thinner, but they were overall smaller. I used to be able to barely squeeze my hand in to get inside, now I cannot. My hand has not gotten any bigger so the tin go smaller. On top of that, I found a youtube video that shows the chips are getting even smaller than that! They are selling more box with less contents!
http://lessisloss.blogspot.ca/2013/01/pringles-potato-chips.html
I wish that other tube potato chips were better than they are but they are not good so I guess my tub chip days are over...
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
I Believe in Spirits, Not Ghosts
How many people have you talked to have actually seen a ghost? Not many. In fact, everyone I've asked says they either know "someone" or just say they have never seen one. Yet there are so many people that believe in dead people whose souls are tormented to remain on earth and float around moving branches, saying 'boo' and being photographed in blurry dark images. This has got to stop.
First, I should explain the difference between ghosts and spirits. Spirits are beings that no longer exist on this plane. The have no body, you can't see them at all. Ghosts are those things people see in movies in whatever form that you can actually see or interact with in some way. Usually ghosts come from people that died and have not passed to the next world.
Lets try and look at this from a practical approach. Where do ghosts come from? Science states you can't have something from nothing. You are already breaking the laws of thermodynamics. Einstein would not approve. Leftover calories from when they were alive? You are really reaching with that one but whatever.
What about religion. I've spoken with priests, and monks, and various other authority figures of different faiths and none of them account for ghosts;
-Muslims don't have any ghosts in the Hadiths or Al-Quran. In fact, the only spirit that can be on earth is the Jinn which is an spirit that can possess people but is smaller than air so you would not even see it.
-Christians and Jewish people say your spirit leaves your body when you are dead. You no longer are you, you are something completely different. You can't describe it because you no longer consist of anything but feelings. You have no senses, no thoughts, no physical matter, just pure soul. Ghosts can't come from that.
-Buddhists believe in reincarnation. You don't spend time dead, you just go to the next body and start off a new life as a pampered cat or a fly that eats poop all day. Depends on how good you were in the last life. No ghosts there.
From what I have seen, no religion has anything to do with ghosts. Lets move on.
What about a historical approach? People say ghosts come from people who either a) have unfinished business on earth or b) were killed badly. If this is the case, There should be ghosts all over Iran and Israel and London England, and pretty much all over most of Europe and Asia. Lots of history and bloody battles all over the place. In some places, I would think there should be more ghosts wandering around than the living. Yet do we hear anything? No, it is always some home in the suburbs of the USA or in the woods away from civilization. If you are a ghost, why go there?
Now onto my own personal experiences. When I was in Belarus, I went down an abandoned man made tunnel that was 800 years old that was used many times by many thousands like when they went to hide from the Nazi's as they made their way to St Petersburgh. Many died. I went down about 3 stories with a flash light and it got really cold and dark. I suddenly pictured bodies and skulls and ghosts in my mind and and ran back up and out into the sunlight. Sure I don't believe in ghosts but I was still scared. My mind did not want me down there so it started flooding me with flight instincts and excuses like cave-ins to get me the heck out of there. I never actually saw anything but a cave.
An earlier time, when I was around 18, I was going through some tough times, (like everyone else at that age). I was sad and trying to sleep one particular night when I felt the presence of my grandfather whom had died a few years earlier. I didn't see him, I didn't hear him, I just felt him and that made me feel good inside.
In my humble opinion, I think ghosts are just a trick of the mind or an attempt to explain a noise that someone thunk they heard off in the distance. Spirits are either what happens to you when you die, or perhaps angels/demons that give you feelings about things.
First, I should explain the difference between ghosts and spirits. Spirits are beings that no longer exist on this plane. The have no body, you can't see them at all. Ghosts are those things people see in movies in whatever form that you can actually see or interact with in some way. Usually ghosts come from people that died and have not passed to the next world.
Lets try and look at this from a practical approach. Where do ghosts come from? Science states you can't have something from nothing. You are already breaking the laws of thermodynamics. Einstein would not approve. Leftover calories from when they were alive? You are really reaching with that one but whatever.
What about religion. I've spoken with priests, and monks, and various other authority figures of different faiths and none of them account for ghosts;
-Muslims don't have any ghosts in the Hadiths or Al-Quran. In fact, the only spirit that can be on earth is the Jinn which is an spirit that can possess people but is smaller than air so you would not even see it.
-Christians and Jewish people say your spirit leaves your body when you are dead. You no longer are you, you are something completely different. You can't describe it because you no longer consist of anything but feelings. You have no senses, no thoughts, no physical matter, just pure soul. Ghosts can't come from that.
-Buddhists believe in reincarnation. You don't spend time dead, you just go to the next body and start off a new life as a pampered cat or a fly that eats poop all day. Depends on how good you were in the last life. No ghosts there.
From what I have seen, no religion has anything to do with ghosts. Lets move on.
What about a historical approach? People say ghosts come from people who either a) have unfinished business on earth or b) were killed badly. If this is the case, There should be ghosts all over Iran and Israel and London England, and pretty much all over most of Europe and Asia. Lots of history and bloody battles all over the place. In some places, I would think there should be more ghosts wandering around than the living. Yet do we hear anything? No, it is always some home in the suburbs of the USA or in the woods away from civilization. If you are a ghost, why go there?
Now onto my own personal experiences. When I was in Belarus, I went down an abandoned man made tunnel that was 800 years old that was used many times by many thousands like when they went to hide from the Nazi's as they made their way to St Petersburgh. Many died. I went down about 3 stories with a flash light and it got really cold and dark. I suddenly pictured bodies and skulls and ghosts in my mind and and ran back up and out into the sunlight. Sure I don't believe in ghosts but I was still scared. My mind did not want me down there so it started flooding me with flight instincts and excuses like cave-ins to get me the heck out of there. I never actually saw anything but a cave.
An earlier time, when I was around 18, I was going through some tough times, (like everyone else at that age). I was sad and trying to sleep one particular night when I felt the presence of my grandfather whom had died a few years earlier. I didn't see him, I didn't hear him, I just felt him and that made me feel good inside.
In my humble opinion, I think ghosts are just a trick of the mind or an attempt to explain a noise that someone thunk they heard off in the distance. Spirits are either what happens to you when you die, or perhaps angels/demons that give you feelings about things.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Where is the app?
I have a problem with software purchases online.
There should be a law... if you buy a product (for instance a full version of a facebook app) that it is the responsibility of the product provider to make sure you can always use that product. If they sunset the app, you should still be able to use that product offline in some capacity if able.
I loved playfish, they made a great game called "Who has the biggest brain" I had several friends whom I competed with all the time to top each others' score. They even made an iphone app. I puchased the upgrade on facebook to be able to use all the tests and then I bought the app so I could play on my iphone. Then the game dissappeared... I could no longer use it on facebook and the app would not work if it was not connected to their site. I purchased the game and now it is gone. It would not be a big stretch to set it into offline mode so that people could still play the app locally. Or even let people download the facebook app so they could play it locally in their browser. I BOUGHT THE APP! Where did it go!
This is the same as buying a sweater at Walmart, wearing the sweater, having the sweater become your favorite and then Walmart coming to your house and taking the sweater back without your consent or knowledge. It is just not right...
https://apps.facebook.com/biggestbrain/
gone...
my money...
gone...
https://help.ea.com/article/retirement-of-playfish-games
my trust in playfish and ea...
gone...
There should be a law... if you buy a product (for instance a full version of a facebook app) that it is the responsibility of the product provider to make sure you can always use that product. If they sunset the app, you should still be able to use that product offline in some capacity if able.
I loved playfish, they made a great game called "Who has the biggest brain" I had several friends whom I competed with all the time to top each others' score. They even made an iphone app. I puchased the upgrade on facebook to be able to use all the tests and then I bought the app so I could play on my iphone. Then the game dissappeared... I could no longer use it on facebook and the app would not work if it was not connected to their site. I purchased the game and now it is gone. It would not be a big stretch to set it into offline mode so that people could still play the app locally. Or even let people download the facebook app so they could play it locally in their browser. I BOUGHT THE APP! Where did it go!
This is the same as buying a sweater at Walmart, wearing the sweater, having the sweater become your favorite and then Walmart coming to your house and taking the sweater back without your consent or knowledge. It is just not right...
gone...
gone...
https://help.ea.com/article/retirement-of-playfish-games
my trust in playfish and ea...
gone...
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
How to unbrick your iPhone or iOS device
I am an iOS developer. When the new iOS 5 beta came out, I got excited and wanted to be one of the few that got to play with it before everyone else. It was late in the day and I tried to rush the firmware and before you know it. It was bricked. *sob*
In case you don't know, when someone calls your phone or pretty much any electronic device a "brick" it is because the firmware has been messed up somehow and there is no way to fix it. Therefore it's only useful purpose is as a paperweight or a brick. Bricking your smartphone is not good. There is no turning back. However, there is a issue with this. when you are updating your "firmware" on your iOS, you are not just updating the firmware, but you are updating the operating system as well. These are two very different things. A firmware malfunction is deadly. An OS malfunction is salvageable!
It seems that if you get the itunes icon with a usb connection going towards it. This is just a OS issue and the firmware is most likely fine. Good news for you! You can save it. Here is how.
First thing you will probably see when trying to do a restore and why you think it is bricked is a 1065 error which basically says to reboot your machine, restart or re-install your itunes and try again. This will mostly likely not work unless you are really lucky.
To do a lower level restore, you need to hold both the power and home button down for a few seconds on your device to make sure it is off. (Just because the screen is blank does not mean it is off.)
Then hold down the home button (just the home button is needed) for 10 seconds. While you are still holding it down, connect your device to iTunes. Doesn't matter if it is a PC or Mac, works both ways. It should show you the apple logo on the screen and then the itunes connect image that you've seen before. You can let go of the home button at this point. It should also pop something up on iTunes saying it detected a device that needs a restore.
Now this is where things get a little different from others. If you just screwed up your firmware for most reasons, you can just hit the restore and it should download the latest version of the iOS and install it for you. However, if you tried to update to the beta version of the iOS, this will not work as there is a safety check on the device to make sure you don't try and downgrade your iOS. I think it is error 1015. This happens about halfway through the install bar on the device. Because you tried to beta your device, you need to do something extra.
Hopefully you still have your beta iOS firmware still. I would recommend re-downloading it as it might be the reason you have this problem in the first place. Then, when it is unzipped and waiting for you. Hold down the "option" button on your mac (or the "shift" button on the PC) and click on the restore button on iTunes. This should bring up a fileview for you to find the iOS that you are updating to. select that and you should be off to the races.
20 minutes later, it should have the OS installed and you can now re-sync your stuff onto your device.
In case you don't know, when someone calls your phone or pretty much any electronic device a "brick" it is because the firmware has been messed up somehow and there is no way to fix it. Therefore it's only useful purpose is as a paperweight or a brick. Bricking your smartphone is not good. There is no turning back. However, there is a issue with this. when you are updating your "firmware" on your iOS, you are not just updating the firmware, but you are updating the operating system as well. These are two very different things. A firmware malfunction is deadly. An OS malfunction is salvageable!
It seems that if you get the itunes icon with a usb connection going towards it. This is just a OS issue and the firmware is most likely fine. Good news for you! You can save it. Here is how.
First thing you will probably see when trying to do a restore and why you think it is bricked is a 1065 error which basically says to reboot your machine, restart or re-install your itunes and try again. This will mostly likely not work unless you are really lucky.
To do a lower level restore, you need to hold both the power and home button down for a few seconds on your device to make sure it is off. (Just because the screen is blank does not mean it is off.)
Then hold down the home button (just the home button is needed) for 10 seconds. While you are still holding it down, connect your device to iTunes. Doesn't matter if it is a PC or Mac, works both ways. It should show you the apple logo on the screen and then the itunes connect image that you've seen before. You can let go of the home button at this point. It should also pop something up on iTunes saying it detected a device that needs a restore.
Now this is where things get a little different from others. If you just screwed up your firmware for most reasons, you can just hit the restore and it should download the latest version of the iOS and install it for you. However, if you tried to update to the beta version of the iOS, this will not work as there is a safety check on the device to make sure you don't try and downgrade your iOS. I think it is error 1015. This happens about halfway through the install bar on the device. Because you tried to beta your device, you need to do something extra.
Hopefully you still have your beta iOS firmware still. I would recommend re-downloading it as it might be the reason you have this problem in the first place. Then, when it is unzipped and waiting for you. Hold down the "option" button on your mac (or the "shift" button on the PC) and click on the restore button on iTunes. This should bring up a fileview for you to find the iOS that you are updating to. select that and you should be off to the races.
20 minutes later, it should have the OS installed and you can now re-sync your stuff onto your device.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
UFO Sightings
How come, now that everyone has a camera phone, you don't hardly see any new sightings of UFOs, yetis, monsters, big foots, etc?
You would think that with the advent of modern technology with smaller, better and cheaper cameras out there, you would see many more of these "proofs". That along with the internet, you would think that the world would be already drooling over the latest sightings, yet nothing.
I guess we are too busy drooling over celebrity gossip or something...
You would think that with the advent of modern technology with smaller, better and cheaper cameras out there, you would see many more of these "proofs". That along with the internet, you would think that the world would be already drooling over the latest sightings, yet nothing.
I guess we are too busy drooling over celebrity gossip or something...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)