i@m.fm

Germany, what have you done?

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 09:42:00 -0400

Germany, my country of birth. You have come a long way during my life-time. Berlin has finally developed to be the international metropolis I was longing for. So nice to see. But what the heck is happening the last years.

With horror I see the country is making everybody a suspect by default. Now their even discussing a database of fingerprints for all foreigners (German). Everyone is a threat, everyone is a suspect. I know that some within the country are very aware of those changes and are trying to work against what is happening. Unfortunately with little success.

I would be happy to say that it is only one paranoid Minister of the Interior, who's gone through attacks himself. Unfortunately this is not the case. During the G8-meeting in Germany, basic human rights disappeared with hesitant, but nevertheless with approval of the highest German court. The German military (by law only permitted to act in order to defend the country) has been used to spy on the people demonstrating against the G8 even with military planes.

Got an ill? Pop a pill!

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 01:16:00 -0500

This seems to unfortunately still to be largely a sign of our times - whenver you have an ill, pop a pill. Just to make sure you can still function and work for society. You might get everyone else in your office sick as well, but hey ;-)

Check out Licensed To Pill, a flash animation about this topic, surprisingly this is one flash animation I like.

[Thanks LewR]

A nightmare after Christmas, our trip home (part 1)

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 08:41:00 -0500

So here it finally is - the first part of our story of our trip back from Berlin to Oakville. A trip that should have taken a total of about 11 hours and turned into a trip of over 20 hours, wife, 10 month old son and myself included.

Stolen data. Yours?

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 11:24:00 -0500

The recent news about a lost harddrive for CIBC's brokerage company and the theft of data from TJX's computer systems (winners/homesense) just shows a glimpse of what is going to be common place crime in the future. Most likely it is already a lot more common place than we think, considering that there are probably many other companies that have experienced data theft but have decided not to talk about it.

So do we really trust companies to keep our data safe, when they say to us: "We are not telling you how we are storing the data and what we are doing with it, just trust us: We keep it safe." Security by obscurity is not a real way to ensure privacy.

Be selective about what data you share with home - why does Blinds To Go for example need your phone number in order to provide you a quote? And maybe we should even go back to using more cash to pay for what we buy - it also makes our purchases less trackable.

Hello Vonage? Goodbye Vonage!

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 13:03:00 -0500

A short affair with Vonage leads me to cancel my account before my telephone number is even transferred to them. I guess I should have done some research in advance (but this info is hard to find on their site):

You cannot use a Softphone with a regular Vonage account. It turns out that you need to add a seperate softphone number to your account, at an additional $12.99 per month. There go all the savings. I have not found an option that allows you to make your main line a softphone.

One of my main points in transferring one of my numbers to Vonage would have been the ability to access it from my laptop from anywhere. Something that I consider standard for a Voip-Service, not an additional feature.

[update]: I've decided to keep this line with Vonage (for now), mainly because it seemed I might be running a risk of losing my number if I canceled so close to the end of the trial period. I do think that the quality of the line is very good. I have also been looking at Inter.Net's voip service, which actually does allow you to use a softphone. However it took them too long to answer my email asking about the features and about transferability of my number. I'll keep them in mind though, as it appears that their offer is a little cheaper too.

Public Transit rebate and other rants

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 23:44:00 -0400

We received a letter from the MP for Halton, Garth Turner, P.C. Thank you, but you could have saved the paper and the postage. In any case, this gave me the inspiration to post about something I've been meaning to comment on before, so here's a quote from the letter:

We're giving GO and other transit riders a break. Keep your monthly receipts, because now you can get a tax credit for using public transit, which will let you ride free for two months a year - and your our irreplaceable environment.

(I am not even going to mention the amazing Universal Childcare Benefit and the huuuuuge GST cut he mentions in the beginning of the letter.)

Ok, first of all, the math seems a little off to me. It's a tax rebate, so you have to wait until the next year to get it, plus it only came into existence in mid-2006. But OK, let's keep that aside. Let's do the math:

I pay $214 dollars a month for my GO train pass. That's $2568 Dollars per year. WOW, that is expensive. The tax rebate appears to be 15.25% (please correct me if I got that wrong). So that would $391.62 as a rebate. Two months cost $428, so I am $36.38 short from "riding free for two months a year".

Interestingly enough, the tax rebate only applies to monthly passes. And while I did not find any statistics, from my personal experience I always see many riders using 10-ride passes on the GO train. Some of them work part time, some of them drive in from time to time, in some months (vacation etc) the monthly pass is more expensive and some cannot afford the huge upfront expense of a monthly pass. Now the tax rebate should of course especially help the latter, but they are not eligible.

And yes, all of this just to save our "irreplaceable environment". I know that the conservatives are very concerned about our environment. After all they quietly canceled some of the retro-fitting rebates for making houses more energy efficient before putting their "new and improved" programs in place.

While we are talking about the environment and Kyoto comes to mind: How the Liberals thought TV ads could convince everyone to save enough energy to fulfill the commitments in the international agreement we signed. Right, because we just need to watch an ad on TV in order to be convinced to cut our energy consumption. How about asking the big cooperations to curb their pollution a little as well?

Talking about pollution, politics and energy, I cannot afford to forget the mind-boggling ads of the Canadian Nuclear Association. Yes, Nuclear Energy is an "important part of Canada's Energy Mix". An important part that IMHO we should phase out ASAP. But hey, while we had plans all along to get rid of the dirty coal (which could have been a lot cleaner with the proper filters), the politicians just forgot(?) to make arrangements on how to replace the missing energy let alone considering any increased energy needs.

So Nuclear Energy is "clean - reliable - affordable". Actually the TV ad was without the word "clean" for a while, so I assumed someone had ordered them to stop this message. But no, it's back in the ad. So please explain to me how something that leaves waste that radiates it's surroundings for centuries to come, could possibly considered "clean"? I don't get it.

More disappointment with Blinds To Go

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 23:47:00 -0400

Since I once more received unsolicited addressed advertising from my "friends" at Blinds to Go (despite their reassurance that I had been removed from their mailing list), I was reminded of a reader comment that I had not yet posted.

I have just read your online blog with your blinds to go complaint. I have a similar complaint to make and now I understand the frustration you experienced as you tried to speak to an actual person when phoning their head office.

I recently purchased 13 set of blinds at Blinds to Go with the assurance that these blinds were being offered at the lowest price possible. Instead after paying 70% for my purchase, I found comparable quality for more than 50% less at Home Depot.

After contacting my BTG sale associate about my finding, he suddenly became too difficult to reach and began singing a different tune about their 200% store policy. In the papers that I signed, it clearly states that if you find "the same" blinds for cheaper within 90 days you will receive 200% of your money back. No other details given.

Of course, all of a sudden the policy details, which are not even disclosed in the purchase form or on the blinds to go website, would explain that the money back guarantee only applies to blinds sold at a store with the same fabric, design, colour, warranty guarantee, wait length for the blinds, and the list continues. The head office had "conveniently" forgot to add these details to their website and I am certain that these details will be included quite soon.

Not really a big surprise (actually they still advertise this guarantee today). Why it is going to be very hard to find an exact match? Because they apparently have their own factory. They do not sell any other manufacturers.

PS: I actually wonder why they are called Blinds To Go when you have to order the blinds in most cases and cannot take them home with you right away.

Dr. Warpjam's Feed Diet

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Fri, 19 May 2006 01:15:00 -0400

James is going on a Feed Diet (WarpJam). A great idea. He started out by reducing the amount of feeds he subscribes to to 15 and then added a couple of new blogs that he had not been reading before in order to broaden his mind.

I recently started using Google Reader, and I do notice that I barely make it through the new articles in a day. So a Feed Diet might indeed be what the Doctor ordered, after all I also see quite a bit of redundant information in my feeds.

By the way I just meet with James the other night, and you should keep an eye on his company Names@Work. They are up to no good many good things.

Peer to patent reviews

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Mon, 15 May 2006 00:16:00 -0400

Now this is why I love the Internet, and I am very impressed by who seems to have now embraced the age of the participation web: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has set up a Wiki on JotSpot for their The Peer to Patent Project. Maybe this is the first step in the much needed review of our patent laws, as the project is supposed to enable Community Peer reviews of Patents.

[via RecentChanges.info]

Baby made to order?

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Sun, 14 May 2006 19:16:00 -0400

Apparently British scientists have created a made-to-order embryo that does not inherit a possibly cancer causing gene:

With the aid of genetics specialists, a woman has been able to make sure that her baby does not inherit a gene that might trigger a form a eye cancer. The lass - who has requested anonymity - and her husband are the first to tap a change in the laws around embryo screening. Previous rules dictated that mothers-to-be could only screen for genes guaranteed to lead to disease. In the case of the eye cancer, close to 90 per cent of the people with the gene actually get cancer, the paper reported.

[via The Register]

"But it's all worth it"

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 15:11:00 -0400

"But it's all worth it" is the sentence you normally hear uttered in form of a mantra by parents when it comes to the conversation about having children. Well, count me in ;-)

Want to buy an "A"?

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 20:45:00 -0500

As a matter of fact, yes :) We've got all the letters for the name of our son (who is soon to be born), but the "A" you know, I am talking about those wooden letters for the wall by Nexxt. We've been waiting for two weeks now.

Apparently we also would have been able to reserve the $2.50 item at Kitchen Stuff Plus for a partial deposit (a cent? ;-) ) and they would have tried to get it from another one of their stores for us. However nobody told us about this. Well, 30 "A"s are on back order and 6 people are on the "Waiting for As" list.

Summary of the debate for the Canadian Elections

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Fri, 16 Dec 2005 23:02:00 -0500

Trina: I am going to play/ask a question now, but don't worry, your answer does not have to be related to the question at all. As long as you stick to your time limit, anything goes.

Jack: The question does not really matter, and I am not going to spend any time on telling you what we will be doing. What matters is what the liberals did wrong.

Steve: We are going to do everything better and everyone is going to get more money and have to pay less taxes. How? I am not telling.

Paul: We were just about to take care of everything we promised and we were also mending what we broke, but the other parties are not letting us finish!

Gilles: The only thing what matters is what Quebec wants. And just so you know, we know exactly what Quebec wants, because we are Quebec. And don't forget, everything is a provincial issue. C'est la faut du federal!

(And I didn't even need to watch all of it to write this summary )

Face recognition for everyone?

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Fri, 16 Dec 2005 11:13:00 -0500

I recently came across Riya, a new online photo service.

Basically this is a service where you upload your pictures and identify people in the pictures. The system will then also be able to identify the same people on other pictures. Sounds like something Flickr should be adding.

The part that I am not so sure about here is the privacy. Making all of this information publicly available is certainly a concern - just think about all the places that would love to license and have access to this information in order to identify people.

Response from Blinds to Go.

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 11:10:00 -0500

So Open Letters on Blog actually do get a response. Here the one I got a while back with regards to my Open Letter to Blinds to Go.

Your Open letter to us is brought to our attention by a Blinds To Go employee today. We apologize for your not getting the information the first time you asked for it. But here is the link (https://www.blindstogo.com/blindstogo/customerservice/privacypolicy.asp) to our Privacy Policy - it is applicable to customers purchased from our stores as well as online. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We have already made sure to inform our stores about our Privacy Policy.

As per your request, we will remove your information from our future mailings. Meanwhile, we will be investigating why you have been receiving our offers.


Response to a follow-up email:

Yes, the same policy applies to both US and Canadian stores. We have now informed all our stores about it and will remind them regularly so that new employees will be aware of it as well. Thank you for your suggestion

Please feel free to post our response to your website. Meanwhile, we hope you will continue to enjoy our products and services and share your experience with us and the online community.

Podcasters trying to keep it legal

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 01:07:00 -0400

Hopes for legal music podcasts rise | CNET News.com

For six months now, Ibbott has been talking to the Recording Industry Association of America and individual copyright holders about making this process easier and unambiguously legal. Now he says there are signs that the big labels are listening and are seeking ways to put podcasting DJs on more stable legal footing.

Dear Record Industry: Here's a chance to positively react to yet another change that might affect your business model. Are you ready this time?

[via Byte.Org]

Open letter to Blinds to Go regarding privacy policy

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Wed, 08 Jun 2005 19:12:00 -0400

[ Feel free to use this as a template ;-) ]

Dear Sir/Madam:

When I purchased blinds in your store ...

Five Things you should never buy new (includes houses)

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Tue, 17 May 2005 00:04:00 -0400

User advocate Clark Howard recommends to only buy the following thing used:

1. Cars
2. Houses
3. Kids' Stuff
4. Musical Instruments
5. CDs & DVDs

For more information, watch his video: Clark Howard Prefers Used (WSBTV)

[via LifeHacker]

Password Security in the US

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Thu, 12 May 2005 11:53:00 -0400

As always I am running a little behind (this was published 6 days ago):
Americans are pants at password security | The Register

Americans are just as blasé about password security as the Brits, according to a new survey. Two out three three people (180 of 272) approached in a downtown San Francisco street by researchers were happy to provide their password in exchange for a coffee gift card. Of those respondents that declined offering their actual password, 51 provided a clue about their password in exchange for a $3 Starbucks gift voucher.

I wonder how many people couldn't actually tell them the password because they have it saved on their computer - not a very secure alternative.

Paying via Fingerprint in the Supermarket?

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Tue, 05 Apr 2005 11:20:00 -0400

Paying by Fingerprint at the Supermarket | Reuters.com

BERLIN (Reuters) - Customers of a German supermarket chain will soon be able to pay for their shopping by placing their finger on a scanner at the check-out, saving the time spent scrabbling for coins or cards.

Convenience or loss of privacy? To me somehow this idea is not appealing at all.

[via German Embassy Ottawa Newsletter]

Hard lessons for DRM users

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 14:43:00 -0500

I almost agree with Ross:
Random Bytes...by Ross Rader :: Hard lessons for DRM users

Here's where I disagree: Ross says:

Rip, Mix, Burn. Choose MP3.

I'd prefer OGG Vorbis for several reasons (free (mp3 is not free), better compression, etc).

Will the music industry listen to a suggestion from academics?

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Thu, 10 Mar 2005 09:47:00 -0500

Maybe they will listen this time:
The Globe and Mail: Would you pay 5 cents for a song?

What do you think? Flat fee even for those who do not listen/download music?

Anybody considering voluntary payments, a bit like shareware? There once was an Ottawa company aiming to facilitate anonymous voluntary payments to musicians. Of course the music industry would not support this, because this would mean that they would accept being bypassed. So it never came to fly. Maybe it's time to dig out that concept again.

Maybe one day the music industry will also get the their part of this world is changing. More people can become publishers these days, CDs can be low-cost produced on demand and music can be downloaded. So we do not need as many records, we do not need the management overhead. Of course it's always hard to lose money and jobs, but think about the mindset being created at the moment.

Some people that download music think it should be for free. A lot of them still buy albums. Had the music industry jumped onto the bandwagon early enough, they might have been able to create more momentum, supporting voluntary payments. Creating the willingliness to voluntarily pay money, instead of the current expectation to be able to download the music for free...

But I am just repeating myself...

In any case, I think portability is a must, so DRM should probably be bust ;-)

[via Spreeblick (German)]

Paying for parking via SMS

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Wed, 09 Mar 2005 13:58:00 -0500

Drivers in Berlin can now pay parking fees with their cell phones in a pilot project that may put an ...

President Bush Nominated for Worst Actor

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 07:41:00 -0500

Zap2it.com MOVIES | MOVIE NEWS | STORY: For its 25th annual awards, the Razzies -- which recognizes the worst ...

No final inspection for gas installation

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 14:58:00 -0500

While I was just on the phone with Union Gas in order to get our security deposit applied as a credit to our account, they informed me that our builder (Mattamy) never had the gas installation in the house inspected.

I guess is similar to the final occupancy inspection, which also took place six months after we had already moved in.

Well now once again I need to figure out a time when I will be home during the day (and of course their time frames are 4 hour windows) in order to have the gas installation inspected. I should ask the builder for compensation for the lost time. I wonder if there's some other hidden surprises like that to be expected from Oakville Hydro.

Permanent street sign: Mattamy is late

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 14:58:00 -0500

Follow up to:
i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) :: Permanent street sign: Mattamy is late

Before I forget: Mattamy had finally installed the new street sign. But first there was a spelling (spacing) mistake on it, which has been corrected by now.

Maybe one day they will also straighten the street lights etc... Don't forget, when you buy a new home you live on a building site for a couple of years :(

The Power Of Nightmares

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Tue, 04 Jan 2005 12:28:00 -0500

Recommended Watching:
BBC NEWS | The Power of Nightmares

Should we be worried about the threat from organised terrorism or ...

The gas salesman always rings twice?

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Mon, 22 Nov 2004 12:44:00 -0500

Yesterday evening we were expecting guests for dinner. We had everything ready and set up in the kitchen when the ...

Go Transit tries to prevent becoming No Transit this winter

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Wed, 10 Nov 2004 13:54:00 -0500

While there were two other Go Train incidents for me in the past two weeks (with little to no announcements what was going on), again Go Transit is promising to improve their commuter train service this winter: TheStar.com - GO takes aim at winter ice .

Let's hope they (finally) succeed, I am getting tired of hearing something about 'signal' and 'switch' problems, which seem to be the standard excuses.

Jewish Times: Ballot Boxing. On voting machines in the US.

i@m.fm (Frank Michlick) — Mon, 01 Nov 2004 09:57:00 -0500

Ballot Boxing is an interesting article in the Jewish Times on electronic voting machines and their 'security' in the US. Despite the security issues electronic voting machines will still be used in the upcoming elections