Lawyers and Severance
Let me make one thing very clear: I am not a fan of lawyers. In my experience, they use up precious funds to provide vacuous information. It’s never a full recommendation (eg. “you should do X”), …
Topic
Rants
114 posts tagged with this topic.
Irish Family Trip, Day 9
Some yobbo felt the need to tear down the road with his car, popping exhaust, waking me up. Then a bunch of assholes waking up their friend — and the entire fucking hallway — at 3am. This should have been the sign for …
Senior Developer Shiny Object Syndrome
Senior Developer Shiny Object Syndrome (noun) ˈsiːniə dɪˈvɛləpə ˈʃaɪni ˈɒbʤɪkt ˈsɪndrəʊm A condition wherein a developer, usually far too proud of their own abilities, uses technology and/or tools inappropriate for the …
Lawyers have Ruined Everything
I had a thought as I was walking home from work today. We’ve been having conversations about “corporate values”, a term I moderately loathe, as while employees are expected to be exemplary examples, the …
The Trouble with Passion
I have a problem with being passionate: it gets me upset more often than not. I admit, it’s a problem with me, not the organization, not anyone else … even if the problem does exist there, I recognize that …
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The Importance of Technical Writing
I started my career as a technical writer. I wrote manuals. I was fairly decent at it, though more than one of my editors would tell you that I was a bit too verbose (yes, I know, shocker). I gave up on technical writing …
My Age of Intolerance
On Saturday, I got to meet up with some old friends that I hadn’t seen in forever: Tamara, Kalen, and Tim. The last time we saw each other was last summer, when we met for our first time since the COVID pandemic …
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Happy Twosday!
Oh, we’re stretching this so far it could snap. But today is “Twosday”, the last time for over a thousand years when we’ll have AW WHO AM I KIDDING THIS IS COMPLETE BUNK! This is because someone …
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Abolish Political Parties
The modern political party, an assemblage of people who identify with an operate under a communal banner and policy, first emerged at the end of the 19th Century, starting in the United Kingdom. They emerged as a need to …
Why your manager sucks
This year, I celebrate 15 years operating as a manager, in one form or another. I am by no means an expert, I certainly wouldn’t be the sort of person to conduct high-priced seminars that espouse …
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Dispelling a myth of centralized IT
“Information Technology”, or IT as it’s more commonly known, tends to get a bad rap. It’s a black box to organizations, there to serve arcane purposes that always seem to have a habit of getting in everyone …
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Why calling people "cowboys" is wrong
You follow standards, you follow procedures, you follow policies. You’re making sure that things are done consistently, on schedule, on budget. You’re one of those people who have ensured that their work (and their …
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How to fix the Calgary Board of Education
I’ve been wrestling with the Calgary Board of Education for a couple of years, now. And it’s not for anything complicated. To be honest, all I have is a simple hope: to have my children go to a school where they don’t …
What Canadian politicians have forgotten
It should go without saying that this is an opinion piece: my opinion. It may not be yours. Politically, I’ve been centre most of my life. Today? I genuinely don’t know. Alberta has entered another provincial election, …
Selling the awful to the angry
Yesterday evening, my family trucked down to 96th Ave SW, invited by the Calgary Board of Education (along with the other families in the Westgate School Bilingual Spanish program) to view the “new” school, …
Calgary Board of Education - we need a decision on Westgate Elementary
Hi, CBE? I’m a concerned parent. Yeah, I know you’ve heard from a lot of us in the last year regarding what you want to do with Westgate Elementary. You’ve heard so much, you’re not listening to us anymore, which I can …
Marketing Red Herring - QR Codes
I’m in digital marketing. I spend a lot of time dealing with ways of people visit websites to get them to spend money. (That’s the short version. The really short, and moderately soul-suckingly depressing version. The …
Thoughts on Microsoft Surface
Okay, you know my opinions on Microsoft. They’re not exactly private. So yes, I definitely went into yesterday’s announcement with low expectations. Microsoft has really only done one thing really well in the last …
Can we get rid of timezones now, please?
For over 100 years, we’ve had a rough international agreement about at what point the sun is directly overhead, because this is when we assign an arbitrary time known as “noon”. We’ve divided the world into …
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How to really succeed in (any) business
Recently, if you’ve been following this blog, you know my family has been going through a kitchen renovation. It’s not quite done, but it’s turning out very nicely, and we really, really, really cannot wait for it to be …
Why SOPA will (and must) fail
Across the internet, the letters S-O-P-A have inspired a particular level of hatred and vitriol. Beyond the internet, the Stop Online Piracy Act has barely registered any significant presence within mainstream media. The …
Canada's Two Political Parties - Conservative, and Other
It’s Federal election time here in Canada. Which means it’s a fast-and-furious stream of incoherent messaging all tantamount to white noise as the various political figures attempt to sway Canadian passions (which are, …
Suggestions to our political "leaders"
We’re barely a week into the 2011 Canadian Federal election, and it already feels like a month. I suppose if there’s one good thing about elections up here, it’s that they’re short — none of this near-two year …
Dear Canada, grow a backbone!
Well, Canada, we’re in another pickle. The on-going “me, too!” power struggle that has dogged us for five years is now going into Round 3, thanks to a non-confidence (read: get enough people to whine the …
Switching from Shaw to Telus
For those of you not already following the story, I’ve sworn off Shaw. As much as I am tied — nay, symbiotically attached — to the internet, I would have been quite willing to end the service at home with the continued …
My WordPress pet peeve
I have a pet peeve with WordPress. (Actually, I have a few, but we’ll get to the rest later.) This one, I’ll admit, is limited to those of us who develop with WordPress. In short, WordPress hard-codes domains in its …
From the frying pan...
Before we returned to Calgary last December, we did a fair amount of investigation into what services we would get at home. In particular consideration were television, internet, and phone service. (In my ideal world, it …
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Flash - I'm not dead yet!
I’m getting a little tired of this topic. I was tired of it about a day after Steve Jobs first showed the iPad to the world, and the infamous blue LEGO appeared where a Flash plug-in should have been. It wasn’t really so …
Marketing is from Mars, IT is from Venus
I’ve spent over a decade in the Big Leagues of interactive marketing. I started in the low rungs as a web developer, and slowly worked my past the coding to see the bigger pictures: what made marketing work, why certain …
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The failure of the electric car
In our Inconvenient Truth world, popular desire is starting to change the way some companies think. We’re seeing large companies produce “green” products, such as biodegradable detergents, packaging from …
Make April 1 "IE6 Dies" Day
At the moment, IE6 still holds about 20% of the market (according to today’s metrics from NetMarketShare). That’s far too large a share for a 8.5 year old browser, especially one that has been superseded by successive …
Greed kills innovation
I was sitting at my kitchen table, poring over recommendations I’m writing for my client (partially communicative, partially CYA), when I had one of those sudden thoughts: I need tea. While I was drinking my tea — a …
Copyrights are the new Colonialism
The late 16th Century was the dawn of the British Empire. England had triumphed on the seas, and had set its eyes on colonising the New World (before its enemies did). Patents were issued, companies were founded, and …
Overtime is not a solution
Every project is defined by a schedule. That schedule determines when certain tasks start and stop, when people enter and leave a project, and ultimately how much that project will cost (because, after all, time is …
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Alberta communications companies suck
It’s about as official as it gets, now. We leave Costa Rica on 8 December. Which means that on the morning of 9 December, we’re going to be needing a few things. We’re trying to establish as much of that as we can …
You can't kill IE6
There’s been a massive upswelling of support for eliminating Internet Explorer 6 (IE6), the much-maligned former-heavyweight and former-saviour of the world that now lies as one of the worst pieces of web browsing …
I wouldn't have done it that way
I’ve recently run into a common programming problem. While turning a development project over to another development agency, we heard that worst of comments: Why did you build it that way? It seems like a simple …
The "Power" of Word in Outlook
You may have come across a URL for a webpage that is (effectively) building a petition to Microsoft to correct HTML support in Outlook — and if you haven’t, just click on the link. The petition’s purpose is quite simple: …
A year in Costa Rica
This morning was cool and wet, something I can say with confidence to be a rarity here in the Central Valley region of Costa Rica. I can say this because today marks my first anniversary in Costa Rica. One year ago …
Dear Murphy, Fuck off and die!
Yeah, Murphy, I’m talking to you. You’ve been dogging me now for 10 months, almost non-stop. You’ve always been there, hiding in the shadows, popping out every so often to cause a bit of havoc only to vanish again. …
I swear I'm going to kill my vendors
I don’t care what the excuse is, the reality is that I’m not getting service I expect from a vendor. I’ve been told that it’s just something I have to adapt to. That it’s the way things are done. That it’s a cultural …
Canada, you can blame Calgary
Sigh. Well, thanks to the residents of Calgary Centre-North, Canada is now stuck with Jim Prentice again. And I’m just too darned tired to rant. Wasted effort at this point. But I reserve my right to call “I told …
Actually, make that 18 things
Last week, barely hours after Independence Day here was over, the stores started switching over their wares from Mother’s Day (in August) to … Christmas decorations. Santa Claus is already in the aisles. This is …
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Dear Canada, I'm going to break the law
Well, it would appear that short of an Act of God (or, heaven forbid, some actual common sense runs through Parliament), Bill C-61 will forever handcuff Canadians and prevent long-term technological evolution. It’s one …
Conservatives win the next Canadian federal election!
This isn’t a predictive headline, folks. This is truth. The Conservatives will win the election in October. I, as an Expat, can’t vote in it, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t take at least a sense of interest in it. Or …
The IOC is living in a dream world
As I was skipping through my various feeds this morning, I came across the following quote from Jacques Rogge, President of the IOC: Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, said the Games …
An open letter to Jim Prentice
Dear “Honourable” Jim Prentice, Allow me to express my sincerest feelings when I say you are responsible for fucking over the Canadian people. This bill you are introducing this morning — likely as I write …
On Cats, Wire Transfers, Death, and Taxes
This moving thing is no fun. Not at all. Yes, Costa Rica is a nice country, with nice people, and we’re arranging a very nice place to live, but the act of getting there is far more work than I could have imagined. We …
Some observations on the Web 2.0 Expo
Being here solo, you can’t help but notice things that go on around you. (Hey, you gotta keep yourself interested/occupied somehow, right?) First off, it’s pretty easy to see who is actually working in the Web 2.0 world …
Why I pick on Microsoft
You’ve probably noticed a few posts about Microsoft on this site. Most of them are rants. And, indeed, there are those who’ve noticed me picking on Microsoft on Experience Matters as well. (Certainly, Neil‘s noticed it …
How much of the internet is a waste of time?
So the other day, one of my coworkers starts laughing about how there’s this video out there, two somewhat-scantily clad women with tinfoil-wrapped boxes on their heads, doing a choreographed “dance” to Daft …
There was an election?
Yep, believe it or not, there was an election in Alberta yesterday. Provincial. New MLAs, new premier (in theory), all that jazz. In most provinces, it’s usually time of actual change — old regimes are voted out, new …
A bullet train in Calgary?
I just came across a rather … well, odd article on CBC.ca. It’s a blueprint for 2018. Apparently, the Calgary City council thinks that there should be a bullet train from here to Fort McMurray. Someone’s been …
BMO locked me out AGAIN
GAH! I already hate BMO’s online security. Now I hate it more, if it is in fact possible to hate something more than “totally”. I just wanted to into my account. Nothing serious. But the password they made me …
Laminate flooring sucks
I state this now: I will never use laminate flooring again. Ever. I don’t care how inexpensive and near-indestructable it is — the stuff simply is not well-designed and is far too cumbersome for one person to install …
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Bank of Montreal, I hate your security
Oh. My. Lord. I haven’t been this pissed off in a very, very long time. I actually yelled at the poor person on the phone trying to help me. It’s not her fault. It’s the Bank of Montreal. Who obviously has NO FUCKING …
I hate Microsoft Word
[Warning: Objectionable language within.] I can’t really think of much more frustrating than to find out that two days — 16 hours of hard thinking — has suddenly vanished before your eyes. Not because someone stole your …
Will Microsoft ever admit that Vista was a bad idea?
It takes a big person to admit that they’ve made a mistake. Companies, regardless of how large they become, were reticent until recent years to come clean with their blunders. Microsoft ain’t one of them. They still …
Still no floor
I’m pissed. Way beyond pissed. I’m about ready to kidnap the schmuck at the concrete vendor who keeps screwing me over, handcuff him to the sewer pipes in the basement, and tell the concrete vendor if they want him back …
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Car seats for smaller cars, please!
Yesterday, Alex picked up our new car seat. It’s a Britax Marathon, designed to grow with the child as it grows. A smart idea. And because it’s a permanent seat (as opposed to a removable seat), we think there’s a bit …
Movie and Music Piracy in Canada all wrong?
If you’ve been reading this site for any length of time, you’ve probably come across a rant or two of mine about all the garbage surrounding things like DRM and the MPAA saying stupid things. Recently, Canada passed …
Another case of really bad customer service
You’ve heard me rant about both Calgary Transit and Air Canada. They have their cases of really missing the ball on serving their audience. As much as I complain about them, they’ve got nothing on this case of just …
DRM's new name - Digital Consumer Enablement
To paraphrase Shakespeare: Would a pile of crap by any other name smell just as bad? Apparently, the head of HBO doesn’t think so. He wants to rename DRM so people think of it in a nicer light. There’s only problem with …
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Breakpoints patented?
I’m really beginning to hate to have to revisit US Patent Law. Especially for something this stupid. Seiko Epson has applied and won a patent for, of all things, breakpoints. Yes, breakpoints. For those of you who have …
The patent process is now officially broken
I’ve ranted about this topic before. I’m loathe to see that nothing’s changed, and it’s only getting worse. Back in the old days, a patent meant something. It meant you’d spent time, money, and a lot of effort to …
How not to start a vacation
Oy. This vacation is not off to a good start. One of the conditions of this vacation was that we were to incur no red-eye flights (in other words, no sleeping on the plane). That meant getting there and back was going to …
Take Steve Ballmer ... Please!
So trolling through my daily RSS feeds, I came across not one, but two news articles that further make me wonder how the hell Steve Ballmer got to be the head of Microsoft, and why no-one has bothered to take this guy …
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What is that irritating whine?
A word to the RIAA: SHUT UP! Who the hell do these people think they are? Why are they telling me what I can do with the material that I’ve legally paid for? Why should I do anything more than punch the first RIAA rep I …
Flying Cows
I hate Air Canada. Yes, I’m complaining again. It’s their seats. It’s ridiculous. Never get pinned in the row in front of the wing exit row. It’s narrower than the rest (I’m certain of this). I got stuck behind Grandpa …
Air Canada Sucks
Yes, I know I’ve ranted about Air Canada and their lousy service few times before, but just when you’d think they’d start to act better, they slap you in the face again. I’m currently in Huntington Beach, CA (more on …
Forbidden Starbucks
I came across an article in Yahoo!’s Oddly Enough section this morning about how an internet protest movement is might drive out Starbucks from their location in the Forbidden City. Frankly, I’m trying to understand how …
Calgary is turning into Toronto
For the record, I don’t consider this a good thing. My first real opinion of Calgary formed a few years ago when Therese, Stuart, Gerry, and I were merging onto Crowchild Trail one day. Stuart was driving like he did in …
When science goes wrong, redux
This isn’t the first time I’ve ranted about this. It just amazes me when people think there’s value in looking at things we know to be dangerous. In a recent posting on NewScientist.com, scientists report that they think …
VIA Wi-Fi = No-Fi
So I’m taking VIA from London to Oakville, saving Alex from another four hours of driving on Ontario’s highways. I’m sitting here with my trusty laptop trying to do some work, using the “Wi-Fi” service …
Dishonesty in marketing
There is little that I hate more than dishonesty. Especially when it’s a veil for incompetence. Take the vendor we’ve been working with lately (please). We’ve been asking them for what I think is a fairly simple set of …
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Microsoft Vista is a failure
It seems a lot of people (especially those at Microsoft) are constantly extolling all the virtues of the next Microsoft operating system to-be, Windows Vista. Am I really the only person who sees it as a dinosaur? …
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Back to driving ... damn
I used to drive. Then I realized that I should switch to something more environmentally friendly, and I could use the exercise to tone my otherwise sedentary ass. So I started biking. Biking was great. Fifteen minutes to …
People need to learn why CSS is good
Sigh. Just when I thought this topic was in the past, to be revisited in the same manner as when historians look at how the Black Plague ravaged Europe. But no, it’s back. I’ve had to don my somewhat dusty Web Practice …
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Calgary Transit Sucks
I was having a discussion with Doug down in the Bistro this morning, and I came to a rather interesting realization: Calgary Transit sucks. Let’s have a realistic view, here. Calgary is the third or fourth largest city …
A comment on stupidity
When did society become responsible for the stupidity of individuals? Over the last few years, there’s been a disturbing trend where corporations (and governments, through the courts) have had to start protecting the …
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Reform the US Patent Office!
The definition of “patent”, courtesy of the US Patent and Trademark Office: A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. …
Why no-one should care that Google censored itself in China
Today, 14 February 2006, is being touted as the day people are to “break-up” with Google (also here). They’re to sever their relationship, their ties, their love for what is still the most dominant search …
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Starbucks discontinues Chantico?
I hate Starbucks. Not because the word “Starbucks” has come to mean anything so popular and prevalent as to find it on every street corner. Not because they’ve taken the idea of luxury coffee and turned it …
Enter the Conservative Canadian government ... exit social open-mindedness
Canadians are strange. I know — I’m one of them. In some places in the world, such as our oft-maligned (deservably or not) neighbour to the south, people vote for a person and the position/platform that they take in the …
An early Christmas present from our beloved federal government opposition
Minority governments are always a touchy thing. This is something the Americans have trouble with — in a two-party system, you don’t get minority governments, just slim margins. In multiple party systems (three or more), …
The Canadian government has gone shady
Y’know, I used to believe that all the really shady governmental meddling always happened south of the border. Little did I know that our own government has been setting the stage to run things that we’d been taking for …
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When is a beer not a beer?
I’m an avid reader of Yahoo!’s Oddly Enough news section. Usually because it’s full of irreverent blurbs. Every so often, there’s something that creeps in there that actually ticks me off. Ever heard of the Bavarian …
The Last
[This entry originally posted on How To Get Lost: The Last.] Yesterday was a day of lasts. The last train (finally, even if it was just an airport tram; I was thwarted from taking the airport express train by a …
Last night's train
[This entry originally posted on How To Get Lost: Last night's train.] Man, do I ever have more to say about last night… This was the second long distance train we’ve taken in China (I’m not counting the train …
Shifty Taxis in Beijing
[This entry originally posted on How To Get Lost: Shifty Taxis in Beijing.] So Amy and I decided to take a taxi back from the Summer Palace to our hotel. Partly because the walk around the Palace grounds (which are …
The internyet
[This entry originally posted on How To Get Lost: The internyet.] Okay, just a general bitch about Russia. Where the hell are all the internet cafes?? Our guides are out of date — we accept that. But do we have to …
Any idea how hard it is to find the internet in Moscow?
[This entry originally posted on How To Get Lost: Any idea how hard it is to find the internet in Moscow?.] Hard. Really hard. Amy and I got here yesterday morning, but you’d be surprised how hard it is to find an …
Pickpockets suck!
[This entry originally posted on How To Get Lost: Pickpockets suck!.] I’ve had two separate and unique run-ins with pickpockets. The first was at the Edgefest concert in Vancouver back in “99. I think we were …
When does science go too far?
Physicists in New York working on the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) have created what they believe is a minature black hole. For the record, this wee beastie lasted 10 million, billion, billionths of a second. …
Microsoft needs to stick to standards
When someone decides to stay away from a defined direction, ignoring both precendence and the collective good, they are considered to have gone rogue. Microsoft, bastion of monopolistic behaviour in the software world, …
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Canadian airlines need some common sense
Today, early in the morning, JetsGo pulled the plug. I’m not surprised, really. They were an okay airline, not unlike WestJet, but they didn’t have the following WestJet has. (There’s Deadheads, and then there’s …
Cheap music will save the music industry
The dinosaurs died off because they couldn’t adapt. They couldn’t evolve fast enough to cope with a rapidly changing environment. As a result, “dinosaur” is often an apt description for any entity unable or …
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Enough with AJAX already
I read a lot of blogs. It’s about the best way I have of keeping up with the trends in the industry. But there’s one trend out there that’s really beginning to bother me. A lot. Ajax. It’s an acronym/abbreviation for …
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Writing HTML like it's 1993
My friend Scott now works for the #2 search engine. He definitely earned the privilege to be called for the job. Recently, he had the luxury of having Eric Meyer and Molly Holzschlag visit to give a little talk on CSS2. …
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Why Same-Sex Marriage is Wrong for Canada
Our world is changing. It changes every day. Sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worse. Overall, the trend is “better”. Or so one would believe over the last few years. Let’s flip back to the …
The Shrub is back
The Shrub is back for another four years. Oh. Joy. Did no-one realize what kind of moron is at the head of the US Government? I can only guess not, as the United States again voted in one of the most dangerous men on the …
Christmas decorations being put up too early
So I went for a walk at lunch today. I do this every so often, sometimes to get some fresh air, sometimes to avoid the sheer insanity of the office, or sometimes to get lunch outside of the Bistro. Today’s little jaunt …
Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra's Mozart on the Mountain
A busy weekend this most certainly was. But it was a fun, productive one. The first major thing was on Saturday. Mom’s in town to help out with Nana’s recovery from surgery (she had her knee replaced at the beginning of …
I'm being headhunted
I’m being headhunted. Not the cannibalistic type, of course. This is the “executive recruiter” type. This is a result of having my website, and having my resume available through my website. The recruiter is …
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On Critical Mass losing Mercedes-Benz USA
There are some rumours I understand. And there are others that I do not. There are some that I begin. But this is one I want to end. For years — literally, years — there is a rumour that’s been floating around Calgary …
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Foul things on the Good Ship Critical Mass
There are time when I really wonder who the hell is steering the Good Ship Critical Mass. ‘Cuz right now, we’re headed for a really big iceberg. All of last year, we went through a long process of Performance Management. …
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Movie Theatres, Kvitch, and High Ticket Prices
Some weeks ago, my friend and co-worker Luke threw around an email looking for volunteers. They had to be passionate about movies, movie theatres, and be willing to be interviewed for CBC Radio. Hopefully, I don’t need …
Movie Ticket Prices and Acts of Piracy
A question: Who commits the greater act of piracy? Those who download movies off the Internet, or those who plunder the pocketbooks of the innocent who want to see the next blockbuster? I’ve been finding myself asking …
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Calgary Myths Dispelled
A lot of people give Calgary a hard time. They call it “Cowtown”. They think that we’re overrun with cowboys and horses. They think everyone has a shotgun rack in their beat-up pickup truck. They think that …
Stress and Blepharospasms
Blepharospasm (n.): The repetitive contraction of eyelid muscles in a rhythmic fashion. In some instances, the eyelid may repeatedly close or attempt to close. The most common causes of muscle twitching in the eyelid …
Dealing with Rogers Cable Internet
I hate monopolies. They generally treat the customer like so much belly button lint. Late last month, Allison and I decided to get Roger’s @ Home (aka “Wave”). For those of you who haven’t heard of it, better …
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Snow in Vancouver, Dinner on the Island
Today is an auspicious date for me — one year ago today, I started my new job, working for a company that makes video games. A year later, I’m still here, despite the difficulties Radical went through in October and the …
Corporate Communications, White Rock, Tsawwassen, and Point Roberts
The fallout from the round of layoffs a week and a half ago came to a rather disappointing end — one of our lead programmers decided he didn’t want to work for corporate America, and quit. Just as the game he was working …
Layoffs at Radical Entertainment, Victoria Day on Vancouver Island
Well, this is my first crack at a proper Branch entry. Hopefully these will go as well as I hope they do… My weekend got off to a bit of a rocky start — my company laid off 12 people in our Vancouver office. The …