Random Images
Posted on | September 1, 2010 | No Comments
“Like” is the new spam
Posted on | August 31, 2010 | No Comments
Chris Berry, in his post “It’s LIKE Email in a way” is correct that the Facebook like button will net out as a positive despite the inevitable spam. But what he doesn’t notice is that it is spam, and it’s the marketer and the “like” clicker who get rewarded for it. The marketer gets their message spread and the clicker…well, they get to feel like someone gives a shit. Seriously, think about the last thing you “liked” did anyone come up to you and go “OMG! you liked that too? Awesome!” Probably not. It takes no effort to “like” something.
You can go through the steps to turn off the newsfeed notices from the company you “liked”. But what do I get, as someone who gets the “Chris just liked bingo card” message, get? Nothing, other than another needless newsfeed entry. Like buttons are nothing more than crass marketing scams at their most basic level. Its like when you are in an art gallery and someone says “I like that.” and you ask them why and they say, “I don’t know, I just do.” It’s a cop out. They might as well say, “I don’t want to put in the effort to think, leave me alone.”
You might be tempted to say I get exposure to new things and exciting opportunities or I get to find out more about Chris, but what if Chris is a “like” spammer? Someone who likes everything? What if Chris isn’t as discerning as I am?
It’s like the 4square people who feel it is necessary to check in every 15 minutes or twitterers who tweet every thought they have.
penny arcade
The issue with Facebook as I see it is that Zuckerberg would like everyone to share their personal data – whether they want to or not. ( Note: Zuckerberg’s data isn’t exactly open either) But I don’t want your personal data. I don’t care. If Chris likes “My little pony” or if my sister found an interesting article on planes, it does mean anything. If Chris really likes My little pony, he’ll tell me about it, or blog about it, or explain why he likes it in an email.
If you don’t put any effort into expressing why you like something, then don’t expect anyone to care. It’s the Internet equivalent of sending mail labelled “dear occupant”.
I think what has to happen is a change in social netiquette (see what I did there?) around feeds and sharing data. In Japan, etiquette around cell phone use changed so that now, no one talks on a cellphone on a train. It’s considered rude. “Liking” things without explanation should be the same way.
And just so you know Chris, I did quit Facebook, but my farewell message must have gotten lost in all that “like” spam.
A Diamond in the Rough
Posted on | August 30, 2010 | No Comments
Often I look at the restaurants in my neighbourhood and think “How the hell can you survive?” With the Bistro Camino I think “Why the hell are you here?”
The area is low income, sort of down and out with subsidized housing around it. More the sort of neighbourhood that would support a sports bar than fine dining. But there you have the Camino Bistro sitting like a diamond in the rough.
The dinner sets are wonderful and great value with 4 appetizers, a main, and dessert for $25-28 dollars.
I went last night and had beef carpaccio, mozzarella tempura, smoked salmon, duck confit soup, duck spring roll, chicken cordon bleu, creme brulee and a glass of wine for $40 including tip. My descriptions do not do them justice but it was all amazing! The service was excellent too!
Really if this restaurant was on King street or in Yorkville you would be paying over $100 each. So ignore the gritty neighbourhood and enjoy an evening of great food.
Stupidest City in Canada
Posted on | August 27, 2010 | No Comments
It’s official. I live in the stupidest city in Canada.
Toronto City Council just approved spending $8.5 million for a fucking flag pole! This 125 meter erection will be in the lovely community of Emery Village, near Highway 400 and Finch Avenue.
CBC reports, “Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti, who has been pushing the project, says it’s about time the city invested in the neighbourhood.” Apparently Giorgio doesn’t really understand investing, so if he gives you stock advice, run.
The $8.5 million dollar price tag breaks down into $5 million for the land, (which one can only presume is owned by a city councilor or a family member) and $3.5 million for the pole itself. The cost of which will be paid for by the lucky business owners, whether they like it or not. You know, because they will reap the benefits of the thousands of tourists who will flock to gaze in wide-eyed wonder at the mighty erection. Each business will have the pleasure of forking over almost $1,300 to those idiots at city hall who approved this.
Next thing you know Toronto will elect Rob Ford mayor which will be perfect because you can be sure, “if there is a flag pole in the yard, there is a redneck in the house.”
It gets even better though. They are now talking of asking either Pfizer (the maker of Viagra an erectile dysfunction drug) or Eli Lilly (the maker of Cialis, another ED drug) to sponsor the flag pole.
Seriously I can’t even make this shit up!
*** UPDATE ***
I tweeted about this and @mayormiller responded assuring me that the tax payers would not be on the hook for the money. I wonder if the 2700 business owners know they will be shelling out $4,000 each?
Sometimes even bullies have a soft spot
Posted on | August 24, 2010 | No Comments
It’s no secret to anyone who knows me that I love the Internet. I love it way more than I could ever love another medium like radio or TV. I also love cats(and have two) so it might be some sort of loner connection between people who surf the web and the normally solitary feline, I don’t know but there is a connection there.
The downside of the Internet however is that for the most part I am jaded and no longer shocked. I have seen things from the absurd, to the sublime, to the deeply disturbing. One of the disturbing things I came across recently is this video of a middle-aged woman putting a cat in a garbage bin. It almost looks like a Monty Python skit except the camera information in the bottom left which shows it is actually closed circuit television. Which is common in the UK. That and the fact that the cat was in there for 15 hours!
The story isn’t all doom and gloom. First off, the cat is okay – thankfully. Secondly, the woman, Mary Bale has been apprehended and is safe. I write “safe” because she has received countless death threats. You see, the internet loves cats.
And I mean it FUCKING LOVES CATS. Especially 4chan.
If you haven’t heard of 4chan I won’t explain it, I would be breaking the first two rules. What you should know is that 4chan is the best and worst of humanity at it’s most uncensored. 4chan is the home of anonymous “/b/tards” and they can be ruthless.
Anonymous however, has a soft spot for cats. Awhile back a kid named Kenny Glenn posted a video of himself abusing a cat. I will spare you the details, you can go find them yourself, but suffice to say this little fuck is a Jeffery Dahmer in the making.
Anonymous got wind of it and using some sleuthing had the kid identified and arrested within 48 hours. After his parents, who were big shots in the small town of Lawton had most of the news hushed up, Anon went into overdrive:
Should he register an account with any service they will be there to “out” his past actions. Kenny Glenn, and all those around him, will be haunted by his cruelty for a long time by any means the community can muster. Hate mail, prank phone calls, and possibly even visits in person are not out of the question.
One thing is for sure. Dusty will be avenged.
~encyclopedia dramatica
Just like Kenny, Anon helped identify Mary. And just like Kenny, Mary’s life on the internet is over. You see, the internet never forgets, and Anon never forgives.
Anonymous has also helped identify the four kids in Camrose who microwaved their neighbor’s cat to death and then wrote on the walls “Nice cat, look in the microwave.” You see, Anon doesn’t really care for the legal system. They don’t give a shit that you can’t publish the names of minors in Canada. Once judgement has been pronounced they will mercilessly go after someone. Just ask Jessi Slaughter.
The owners of the cat, Stephanie and Daryll Mann, are asking people to not hurt Ms Bale. But really, her life is over. No matter where she goes, Ms Bale will have to carry the shame and responsibility of what she did with her for the rest of her life. I imagine people in her neighborhood and friends must be looking at her like “WTF?!!”
So the moral of the story kids is for the love of God, be nice to cats, because you never know if Anonymous is watching.
Random Images
Posted on | August 23, 2010 | No Comments
Kitchen Renovations II – Design & Demolition
Posted on | August 14, 2010 | No Comments
First lets take a look at what we were dealing with. The kitchen wasn’t bad per se, it just didn’t really have a good energy to it. the first issue is that it was a rental property, so everything was of lower quality. The walls were painted gray. almost the most neutral color you could think of.
It did have good counter space and a triangle of power with the stove, sink and fridge, but the stove was against the wall preventing two people from cooking at the same time. In case you didn’t know the kitchen triangle rule is the idea that there should be a natural flow from the fridge to the sink to the stove and back. If these elements are in a line, it makes it more difficult to cook.
So the kitchen renovations breaks down into a number of steps: design, demolition, construction, assembly, finishing touches. At the time of writing this I am still in the construction/assembly phase, but I will get more into that later.
Design - This is the phase where you figure out what you would like your kitchen to look like. I recommend collecting magazine and picture of things you like. I used magazines like Canadian House & Home and Style at home
Zuimei and I went through countless pictures looking for the kitchens we felt we could be comfortable owning. This was the kitchen we liked the best. The slate color with the rich wood, the white counter-tops and simple almost shaker cabinet doors were what we wanted.
There were a few things we wanted to change. We didn’t like the cabinet handles or the induction stove but those were inconsequential. We also were not keen on the vent in the middle of the room but liked the idea of a bar.
I ended up drawing this:
By going through this exercise, it helped solidify in my mind what I wanted and ensured that changes later on would be minimal. Remember this simple rule of thumb: each stage increments the cost by 5. A change at the design stage costs $5, at the demolition stage: $25, at the construction phase: $125, etc… It is better that you know what you want first.
Demolition – This is the dirty phase of the construction. It is amazing what you can find when you start peeling back the layers, and none of it good. it’s more a matter of how bad is it. Here is a picture of our kitchen after the cabinets and appliances were removed (click for larger images). Mint green? Really? As you can see in the bottom just above the microwave the walls were still plaster, scary and with that linoleum I am sure it was once the peak of fashion but yikes!
Once you start tearing down the walls you will begin to figure out what you are dealing with. Your contract will probably include a clause about unforeseen issues. This is totally fair. The contractor has no idea what he will find once he gets into it and maybe your carefully designed plans will need to be revised. In fact, I guarantee they will need to be revised.
For example, in picture 3 you will see the vent stack. I didn’t want a pillar in the middle of my counter so that venting needed to be redirected elsewhere. Picture 4 shows another vent which also represented an issue. That vent needs to go somewhere. The kitchen at one point had a window (pictures 5 & 6), however one of the owners decided to get rid of it. However rather than brick it up, they simply put the dry-wall over it on the inside and put vinyl siding on the outside. Not only did it look like crap from the outside it also had a draft in the winter that made our kitchen freezing.
Another issue that arose is some genius decided they should cut into the joists to go around the piping in picture 7 Not only did the piping leak causing a water stain on the ceiling of the old kitchen it also dripped onto the already weaken joists causing a very real danger. You can’t really tell from the photos but there is a bathtub right above that! With the weight of the water, plus my added weight, I could have broken the joist and gone right through!
The last photo is of the board put down on my deck to make sure it stay un-damaged while the workmen come in and out. I think it is the sign of a good contractor.
More to come… and more photos!
Random Images
Posted on | August 11, 2010 | No Comments
My newest hero
Posted on | August 10, 2010 | No Comments
Everyone dreams of leaving their job with a big blowout. Most of us are just too cowardly to burn those bridges because we want/need the references and are too afraid of consequences.
Steven Slater, a “former” flight attendant for Jetblue, quit his job with such flair and explosi-tude (explosive attitude) that he’s made international news. The story is that as the plane he was working on was taxi-ing into Kennedy Airport some douche-bag started grabbing his luggage from the overhead. After the man ignored requests to sit down, Steven got up to to deal with this unruly passenger who, in the process of yanking his bag down struck Mr. Slater in the head. The passenger then unleashed a tirade of verbal abuse on Steven.
Steven, in response gets on the P.A. “To the fucking asshole who told me to fuck off, it’s been a good 28 years. I’ve had it. That’s it.” He then grabs a beer, pops open the emergency door, grabs his carry on and rides the emergency chute down to the tarmac.
Theodorakis/News
Steven then jumps in his car, drives home, screws his boyfriend and gets arrested while having sex.
Awesome.
And the twitterverse loves him for it!
@jmavro Yeah he is! RT @mgethin This #jetblue flight attendant is my hero.
@rionharmon a @jetblue flight attendant curses out fliers on pa system, exits flight by emergency slide, is a badass http://usat.ly/9VWo2f
@ilovegobbluth RT @MoRocca: JetBlue‘s Steven Slater is mad as hell & not gonna take it anymore. Our generation’s Howard Beale!
@acoyne RT @maryvallis: Everybody dreams of having guts like the JetBlue flight attendant’s:http://bit.ly/bzMZPx #jetblue
@MaisonDBM RT @doctorfroufrou: Someday, I’m going to go all @JetBlue on my patients.
Now it’s called “Pulling a Jetblue” and as for Mr. Slater, he is facing 7 years in prison for criminal mischief and reckless endangerment. Although I highly doubt he will see any jail time. Steven has been taking care of his dying mother, so understandably he has been a bit frazzed lately. A judge would have to be pretty heartless to do recommend jail time.
No word yet on whether or not the douchebag passenger will be named. I hope so because anyone so rude and selfish deserves to have their name published.
Steven, you’re my newest hero, and if you need some money for a defense fund I will happily chip in!
Kitchen Renovations I
Posted on | July 30, 2010 | No Comments
So you decided that you want to renovate your kitchen. First off, give your head a shake. Do you really need to do this? If, for whatever reason, you still feel it is something you wish to do there are a few things I would recommend doing.
Contractors & Contracts
Choosing a contractor. There is lots of advice online on what to look for in a contractor. What I did was talk to co-workers and friends for recommendations and then look at Homestars to see if the contractors were listed. I ensured that the contractors were licensed, insured and bonded. Bonded means that a bonding agency would be willing to carry a bond to guarantee their behavior, that they are not crooks. Make them provide proof of insurance and their licence. It sounds stupid but if someone came and got hurt on site they could sue you for mega-bucks. I then chose several qualified contractors to come and give me a quote.
Since all the quotes were within the expected range I differentiated them on the rapport with the person in charge. In essence, who did I feel good about dealing with. I chose Oborne contracting. On the money side they were not the cheapest. But they had a good reputation according to Homestars and a co-worker had dealt with them before for her counter tops and felt they treated her fairly. John, the owner explained in detail how he ran his company and was very upfront about his costs and profit which made me feel like he might be more open and honest about things.
One important piece of advice is get a signed contract and keep a copy of it handy. There are lots of little things you will have taken for granted that you shouldn’t. Be as specific as possible. For example, I didn’t realize my contract had me buying the grout. Not a big deal, but considering I know nothing about grout it could have been ugly. I also hadn’t planned on the slate tiles needing to be sealed. Not a big deal, but if that is something you expect the contractor to take care of, make sure it is in the contract.
The contract should also outline payments. My contract specified specific points in the project when I would pay. For example when the framing is finished, when the drywall is up, etc. John Oborne was very good about letting me be late, mostly because I had no idea when something was finished or not. A better way to work it however, would be specific payment dates, which works if you have a finish date.
Finish dates (something I didn’t do) are handy because it sets a goal. Many contractors will be working on several projects at once. Ask how many sites your team will be working on. As you can imagine whichever client yells the loudest is going to get the attention. Believe it or not, I don’t really like yelling.
You should also have regular check ins. With a kitchen renovations there will be periods of intense activity followed by days of nothing. So it is unrealistic to expect all these people to be sitting around waiting for your project to proceed, as a result they will come and go.
Make the contractor provide you with an idea of who will be in your house and when they will be coming. Like the contract, be specific. “The plumber will be in this week” is not specific. “The plumber will be in Friday afternoon” is the sort of information you are looking for.
Budget
What is your budget? How much money can you realistically allocate to this project? Let’s say you have a $50,000 renovation in mind. You want to buy new appliances, take out a wall, install custom cabinets. Take your $50,000 and add 30% to it. Why 30 percent? If you are in most provinces in Canada you are looking at provincial and federal taxes so that is an additional cost many people do not count on. Here in Ontario the HST adds 13%. The additional costs are for food/rent and a contingency fund. Plus there is a very good chance you will go over budget.
The contingency fund is for those unexpected issues. In my kitchen reno previous owners had cut into the joists that hold up the second level as opposed to drilling a hole for the piping. This severely weakened the joists and needed to be repaired. Unfortunately, it was an additional $800 which I hadn’t budgeted.
The contingency fund is also for those last minute changes you make. I decided I wanted 3 pendant lights, not just 2 and the additional light set me back $300. $100 for the light and $200 to have the electrician add an extra octagonal box. If I had planned on having 3 lights I should have made sure it was in the contract (it’s always easier to take stuff out).
You will also note in my budget I mention food/rent. Depending on the layout of your house and your personal situation you may decide to rent an apartment or continue to live in your house while the renovations are underway. Either way you need to budget for that. I found that with having to eat out everyday I was eating modestly and spending an extra $1200 a month! Over the length of a renovation that added up to almost $5,000! And it was not something I had budgeted for either.
But that wasn’t the only thing that blew my budget. I found that once I was “in for a penny” I was “in for a pound”. If you are spending that kind of money why not splurge for the heated floors or the more expensive appliances. They are only an additional five hundred, eight hundred, thousand dollars. It becomes very easy to spend way too much money this way. If you have the will power to budget then keep one on hand and use it when making every decision. I made a 3 way budget, with the most expensive and the cheapest options, here is my sample file. It let me chose my different price ranges and choose items I felt were important.
I also kept a running spreadsheet of what was paid, how much had been paid, and what was left to pay. This helped me keep on top of paying all the different expenses and see what was left to pay for.
Cabinets
Cabinets are about 30-40% of your budget, the rest is stuff like demolition, framing, electrical, plumbing, etc… Some things to think about it whether or not you want custom cabinets. The difference for us was around 35%. Regular pre-made cabinets, like those from Ikea or Home Depot were going to cost around $12,000 and take around 3 weeks.
Instead we went for custom cabinets which cost around $17,000 which take around 10 weeks to complete. The big difference it in the use of space. If you have a 26″ space for a cabinet, and you are using pre-made cabinets you end up loosing 2 inches. This is because pre-mades only come in set sizes. With custom cabinets you can use the entire 26 inches.
While there is a difference in costs, in both cases you can choose the doors, handles, and finishes. Another thing to keep in mind is that in both cases every change or addition is extra money. For example, soft-close drawers? add $80 per drawer. Roll out shelves, an additional $75 each. Lazy Susan? Add $300 if you want it in wood. As you can imagine it gets expensive quickly.
Time
There is a great diagram that sums up any project, the Euler diagram. You can have it cheap and good, but not fast. You can have it fast and good, but it’s going to cost you. Or you can have it fast and cheap but the quality will suffer.
Unfortunately with renovations, you can’t ever choose fast. There is no such thing as a quick renovation so if a contractor tells you he can have your custom kitchen done in two months, thank him but show him the door because it’s bullshit.
The average kitchen renovation takes between 3 months at a minimum (I googled it!). That is if there are no issues. Issues can include things like problems found behind the walls (mold, bad wiring) , shortage of materials (waiting for that special order sink?) Or issues with sub-contractors (gas-fitter is getting married).
In my reno, we wanted custom cabinets, but they couldn’t measure until the framing was put in place. They couldn’t start drawing the cabinet plans until they measured, they couldn’t start building the cabinets until I signed off on the drawings. All of these steps are dependent on the previous ones so these delays can add up quickly.
More to come…with pictures!
keep looking »About Me
I work as a product manager of web analytics for the CBC.
I am interested in a wide variety of things. Painting, cycling and video games are among my favorite activities.
Photos (view gallery)
