For 11 years, my family back in Leduc (near Edmonton) hasn't had a single problem with Shaw Cable (nothing big anyway). However, this past week has not put them in my good books. Though, the alternative in Telus, and I hate them with a passion.

                             One of Shaw's techs came to the house last Wednesday to disconnect the cable TV our housemates in the basement had been using for the past year, until they moved out. Either they forgot to mention they had roommates upstairs, or it didn't occur to Shaw. Probably both. Thus, 4 days after having the net installed upstairs, it went down along with the cable tv. At least one of the techs I called asked about the cable tv connection! Someone was using their brain.

                            I was told  a tech would fix the problem on Friday. I requested after 3pm. The tech came at 11am and missed us. I was not happy, to be polite about it. I called them up and made an all-day appointment for Saturday. They called at 10am on Saturday, and cancelled it, citing overbooking. So we made another all-day appt for Sunday. No call to cancel, and noone showed up. I was furious. I called, and was given another all-day appt for Monday. Essentially, missing out on a possible day's pay if called with a temp job. They FINALLY showed up at 2pm on Monday, and within 5 minutes, fixed the problem.

                            It's not even that I had to wait nearly a weak for a simple fix, it's that "miscommunications" at Shaw ruined my weekend. They even admitted it, though I was told a credit was put on my account for the trouble. Fair enough, but that doesn't give me my weekend back. I understand what an all-day appt is, but don't tell me you're going to send a tech and not do it!

                            So that's my rant. Not the first company to give me a hard time. They're lucky I'm not willing to switch to Telus. My good experiences with Shaw outweigh the bad, but this is an experience I do not care to repeat.

Two strangers (LaBeouf and Monaghan) become the pawns of a mysterious woman they have never met, but who seems to know their every move. Realizing they are being used to further her plot for a political assassination, they must work together to outwit the woman before she has them killed.

 
Wanted - Red Band Trailer - Click here for more amazing videos

25-year-old Wes (James McAvoy) was the most disaffected, cube-dwelling drone the planet had ever known. His boss chewed him out hourly, his girlfriend ignored him routinely and his life plodded on interminably. Everyone was certain this disengaged slacker would amount to nothing. There was little else for Wes to do but wile away the days and die in his slow, clock-punching rut.

Until he met a woman named Fox (Angelina Jolie).

After his estranged father is murdered, the deadly sexy Fox recruits Wes into the Fraternity, a secret society that trains Wes to avenge his dad's death by unlocking his dormant powers. As she teaches him how to develop lightning-quick reflexes and phenomenal agility, Wes discovers this team lives by an ancient, unbreakable code: carry out the death orders given by fate itself.

With wickedly brilliant tutors—including the Fraternity's enigmatic leader, Sloan (Morgan Freeman)—Wes grows to enjoy all the strength he ever wanted. But, slowly, he begins to realize there is more to his dangerous associates than meets the eye. And as he wavers between newfound heroism and vengeance, Wes will come to learn what no one could ever teach him: he alone controls his destiny.

This video demonstrates how to convert any DVD into a much smaller AVI file (all players will play). It turns a 4GB file into a good quality 700MB file. Very useful for conserving hard drive space.

NOTE: This video uses an old version of DVD Decrypter. In the newer version, simply left-click the "Main Movie" button in DVD Decrypter, then click the "Start" button within the program. If for some reason, DVD Decrypter does not work, you can also use a program called DVD Shrink, and select the resulting files as the source using DVD Decrypter instead of using the physical DVD as the source.

Download Links

DVD Decrypter: http://tinyurl.com/6yxm2 

DVD Shrink: http://tinyurl.com/3xt6vf

Vidomi: http://tinyurl.com/2yknd

Kelloggs and LEGO have partnered to create LEGO Blocks Fun Snacks. You have got to be kidding...

This better be a frickin' hoax, but according to Digg and this article, it's not. This makes me sick to my stomach, and as the article points out...

"There's really not a much gentler way to phrase it: The biggest name in breakfast foods and among the most iconic names in toys have put their ingenuity and marketing genius together to create a fruit-flavoured treat -- LEGO Fun Snacks -- that is so mind-numbingly irresponsible that at first I presumed it was a joke."

                      There's nothing more frustrating (for me) than being unable to find work. I've been through the experience a couple of times. I started looking for work nearly a month ago. I've done everything from phone calls to going around in to different businesses in-person, just to show I can get off my ass and be motivated, which most places obviously appreciate! I've received a couple of phone calls, and even 3 interviews, but nothing came of it. I don't think it's a strike against me, there just seem to be more people then jobs. Though people keep telling me jobs are aplenty, which I'm finding hard to believe at this point.

                       I bought a Lethbridge Herald, and took took of the jobs I can do, and called them up. I even did some follow-up calls. Places either are not hiring, or "the busy season is just around the corner", then they ask me to try applying again in a couple of weeks.

                       The trouble with waiting is it works against me. I have to go back to college in the fall, and as of right now, there's just over two months of summer left. Whatever job I do end up getting, I hope it will allow me to work weekends so I can stick with it. I've jumped around to different jobs in the past (which doesn't work to my favor either), I don't wish to do it again, and I've made that very clear.

This video is by Chris Pirillo from http://chris.pirillo.com.

Here are the key features that catch my eye. Many more can be found here.

• One-click site info (click favicon image next to website address. This is great for verifying a site is what is it claims to be. Helps eliminate phishing and scam.
• Malware Protection: malware protection warns users when they arrive at sites which are known to install viruses, spyware, trojans or other malware.
• Easier password management (an information bar replaces the old password dialog so you can now save passwords after a successful login.)
• Resumable downloading: users can now resume downloads after restarting the browser or resetting your network connection.
• Tab scrolling and quickmenu: tabs are easier to locate with the new tab scrolling and tab quickmenu.
• Star button: quickly add bookmarks from the location bar with a single click; a second click lets you file and tag them.
• New graphics and font handling
• Reliability: A user's bookmarks, history, cookies, and preferences are now stored in a transactionally secure database format which will prevent data loss even if their system crashes.
• Speed: Major architectural changes
• Memory usage: Over 300 individual memory leaks have been plugged

The waste handling company has decided to launch a social network of it's own, whose idea it is to bring together people who care about the environment and related ideas to help save the planet. This is commendable, but the implementation is wrong. There are way too many social networks out there, and this is just one more people are being asked to join.

As TechCrunch's Michael Arrington puts it, "Frankly this should just be an application on Facebook and MySpace, it would get better traction. But that’s not what the consultants told Waste Management."

Mozilla (makers of Firefox) need our help in setting a World Record for the most downloads of a file during a single day, They are releasing their newest browser, Firefox 3, on June 17 (Tuesday)! Firefox 3 is the most secure version of the browser yet, and many problems have been fixed!

Like Facebook, the value of Twitter will not likely be realized by mainstream users for a while. Let me start off by saying I'm not an addict of either service, and I could without either of them. The fact is, I don't have to. Twitter messages are akin to the Facebook status, in that they are short, can contain links, and everyone you're friends with can see your messages (and the world, in Twitter's case). It's also very similiar to Instant Messages, only more direct and to the point. There is also the option of Direct Messaging (DM) a contact. I think the most logical use of Twitter is that it's used as a self-marketing tool, without the need of forcing people to navigate to yet another blog entry. The only limit is the 140-character max.

Twhirl - not default colors, can be configured

Twitter can be used with desktop applications like "Twhirl", among others, this way users don't have to login to the site to post or read messages. If configured through Facebook, you can even have it update your status every time you post a message.

I think it's a very cool service with a lot of potential, though it's certainly having it's hiccups as it tries to keep up with demand. People are trying out similiar services like Plurk and Jaiku, but are coming back to Twitter, because that's where everyone seems to be.

I had an interview scheduled for this morning (Friday) at 10:30am. However, I woke up feeling sick (bloated and a little nauseus). I had one of those 24-hr bugs, and am still feeling the effects of it. So, I called the company up and rescheduled for Monday at 10:30am. Moments later, they called me back saying I might as well start work on Monday, and they'd get to know me through the course of the day. Awesome!

The company is CB Constantini. Odd name, but who am I to judge? They are wholesale grain dealers, and apparently do business across the Prairies. The job itself is un/loading grain and seed from trucks and railway cars. Though they admit some heavy lifting is required, there is equipment and machines to ease the strain (forklift, front-end loader, auger).

The hours are very good. 8-4:30. I'm not sure if that's Monday to Friday, but I'll work whenever, so that doesn't bother me. I don't care about benefits, since the college still takes care of that. They have told me the pay is about $12-13 an hour, but it's negotiable. However, I have no experience, so I won't be arguing it. Plus, I'm not in the position to be choosy. That wage also seems on par with the rest of Lethbridge, in the industrial park anyway.

There's no guarantee of long-term work yet, it's a trial period first, see how the job suits me and if they like me. Fair enough! They seem like a great bunch of guys, and I'm very excited to start working!