Entries Tagged 'wtf' ↓

My whole life is managed through the internet. It’s my phone, yellow pages, maps. I use it to connect with friends and make plans to meet ‘in real life’.

The wireless connection here has been pretty unreliable. My landlord has been putting off hiring someone to repair the system. There’s a router on each of the 10 floors of the building, and a company has quoted $10,000 to configure it. 10 grand… some people are obviously making lots of cash on this wireless thing.

If I had a key to the room that has the router, I could simply power cycle it, but I have to go through layers of bureaucracy in my apartment building to get someone to do it. Last night, that took an hour, two before the connection came back.

Some might call this a case of addiction. 15 minutes without net and I’m starting to fidget. I don’t mind going for hours without an email when I know the connection is there when I want it.

People would probably freak out just like I did if their cell phone died. It’s a social connector and being out of the social loop is a scary thing for us social animals. For nerds, that connector is your net.

Feel free to comment anonymously if you think I’m addicted though

The card was first mailed to my parents, who forwarded it to me.

It had to be activated by the phone listed on the account. So I called my dad on skype, and had him activate the card with the landline. He asked the rep if s/he spoke French, and was promptly transferred to the Spanish rep. They ended up working it out in English.

Maybe one day I’ll be able to call from any VoIP phone, and caller ID won’t matter much as a security feature. In the meantime, there’s plenty to be amused about.

Here are the photos mentioned in my previous post on the St-Jean Baptiste national holiday.

200,000 revelers, many of them drunk, stoned or high. Most of them happy. A sea of white and blue flags, many worn as capes.

What an insane party. We started the party at Isabelle’s with a BBQ, drinking and some swing and jazz dancing before heading over to the plains. Pictures will follow shortly (update: flickr photos), once I find a way to get pics out the camera and onto the new computer.

Kim: “Someone found a face of Jesus on a fish stick. I think they sold it on eBay.”

Danette: “frozen? A frozen fish.. stick?”

“That could make a good tongue-twister. Try saying it 10 times fast: Frozen Jesus Fish Stick”

Part of a half-hour breakfast discussion at Paillard in old Quebec; likely the last one the three of us will ever share. Silly, at times inane, deep and hilarious. I’ll miss them. Danette is off to Nova Scotia; I’m off to Montreal. Kim, if all goes well for her, moves to France by the end of the year.

If you use a video of the proceedings of the House of Commons in Canada, prepared to receive a legal nasty-gram as reported by Michael Geist in House of Commons Demands Takedown of YouTube Video. They don’t even care that parody is protected.

I have to admit to some disappointment that I still haven’t received any government response to my opening up MP data (Please don’t sue me).

Citizenship Fees - check the chart in step #1.

I’ve no idea who this is actually supposed to help. It’s about on par with their instructions Process Flow for on-line payment:

Once you return to the CIC site, you will be shown your official receipt. You must print this receipt and fill out by hand the Payer Information Section. Please attach this receipt to your completed application.

Their bold, not mine.

This concludes my first entry in the ‘wtf’ category. Hats off to those of you who feel inclined to write a letter to the Honourable Diane Finley.