Bitching about Switching

I've heard a lot of TV stations have been bitching about the necessity and the cost of the switch to digital over the air reception.

I just realized however, aside from the CBC, all of these local over the air stations are owned by companies who also own the wireless infrastructure in Canada, and stand to ultimately gain more spectrum for their wireless devices.

So why do CTV (Bell), Global (Shaw), CITY (Rogers), et all want to push the idea that they're losing money on conventional television? If they are, it's their own fault for spending too much on American TV.

To be fair, Global never bitched before or after it was owned by Shaw, and it's already available in high-def in Winnipeg.

One more month and the digital switch will be complete. Have your digital box connected via HDMI or RCA, and plug in an antenna to get the locals in high def over the air.

Hope the CBC airs at least the first Jets game in high-def on HNIC.

Collecting Points

I hate collecting points.

Back in the day, if you wanted to win something, you peeled it off or you looked under the cap. NOT ANYMORE. Now you get stupid points.

This all started with Air Miles and Kool-Aid. Then everyone else started drinking the kool-aid and got on board. Now its everywhere. Everyone has their own stupid points.

My point is this. When there are too many points being forced on you, it makes it pointless.

Really, you people think I'm going to log in to my coke club, kool-aid-club, pepsi-club, safeway club air miles club club metro club sandwich websites on the internet?

Let me give you people a few pointers.

1) If you want people to look under the cap, you should have instant win things. If you want to give points for when people lose, fine. But if its just points, then don't bother advertising it because nobody gives a $#!%

2) If I collect your points for 10 years and I can redeem them for one tootsie roll, I will PROBABLY BURN DOWN YOUR COMPANY BUILDING WITH YOU INSIDE IT. Because you consider my time worthless, I will consider the rest of your life the same.

3) If you have an online game to win more points, and the game is rigged so that I lose my points, you won't get any more money from me.

4) Even if your points are free (92 City FM I'm lookin' at you) Not everything has to be tied into the freakin points system. I'd enter that pizza contest, but I'm saving my points for when a meteorite lands and turns all dead rock stars into zombies. I have no time to be wasting them on free pizza. Especially when I can get a cheap pizza elsewhere.

And don't get me started on using Facebook or Twitter to enter contests. We need to bring back the death penalty for people in board rooms who think that's a good idea. There will be a
day of reckoning for you. You will bathe in the blood of all of your followers and your skin will melt and you will suffer in writhing agony for eternity.

In conclusion, points suck. Point of fact.

Android Apps

It's not perfect, but I like that Metro News has an Android app for downloading pdf's of their latest paper. I can read it on my tablet. I suppose theoretically I could read it on my phone too.. but that's unlikely.

It drives me crazy however that CBC and Winnipeg Transit and other government connected institutions are always quick to develop apps for and help hype up worthless garbage companies like Apple and Blackberry but neglect Google Android altogether. What's up with that?

Kudos to Metro News. Android is the best.

MTS better hurry up and offer some good Android phones. I'm getting annoyed. Nobody intelligent likes Blackberry's or Apple.

** UPDATE **

Actually that app does not appear to be made by Metro news, moreover, it appears it doesn't work for Canadian metro newspapers any longer, and that Metro News's Canadian division has shown no interest in coming up with an app that does the same on their own or supporting this third party app. It's unfortunate. They want you to use their official app, which requires a non stop internet connection to use. I like to read the news in the format they publish in, at my own leisure. Dead tree or PDF, I don't see why they're so picky.

Blue Bombers battered

It's a shame that the Bombers lost by one point today.  Ultimately I blame the wind.  On the other hand, maybe it's for the best.  The bombers lost in the areas we all knew they were vulnerable at. 

Calgary played dirty and made every attempt to get Buck Pierce an injury. He did.. hopefully it's not too bad. The bombers should have invested in a backup quarterback good enough that calgary wouldn't gain anything by attacking pierce. Not that pierce and the offence were great themselves. If it wasn't for that dumb "interception" that gave calgary 7 points the bombers would have won. But now they've tasted a horrible loss and hope they learn from it accordingly.

Spoiler warnings

So I'm listening to the radio and a review of the final Harry Potter movie is about to come up and I'm thinking to myself "geez I should turn off the radio I don't want the movie spoiled for me!"

Then I realized... I read the book!  What's wrong with me.  The movie will surely be a dissapointment in comparison anyways so who cares about spoilers.

So I'm on Google+

I like it much better than Facebook. Then again theres nothing I hate more than Facebook.

If you notice I added the ability to +1 my blog posts. Welcome to the future. It is here. It is now.

Feel free to comment if you wants an invite.

There's no point in attending the Winnipeg Fringe Festival this year

There's no Santa Lucia Pizza kiosk.  What's the point in going when there's nothing but shitty food? Apparently they were at the folk festival.  Ah well.  Not going to any Fringe venues this year.  Will spend my money elsewhere.

Headlines

CJOB Reported the following headline this morning:

Cougar spotted in Transcona

How is that news?

At approximately 8:10 am, Saturday July 9, 2011 members of the public reported an unconfirmed sighting of a cougar within city limits in the area of Fermor Ave, east of Lagimodiere Blvd and West of Plessis St. The animal was observed by several people in the area and fled when it was spotted. It was last seen heading north east towards the Symington Yard rail yards.

Winnipeg Police were notified and attended. A search of the area failed to turn up any sign of the cougar. Members of the public are advised not approach the animal if it is spotted and to contact police at 986-6022.

Oh THAT kind of cougar.

Taz Stuart and the Dragonflies of Doom

I don't know how he's doing it with all the rain and standing water but this is the most mosquito free summer I've experienced in my lifetime.. aside from the summer I spent in the USA.

NHL returns, Bombers winning, No Mosquitos, nice week of hot weather.. I should check the lottery ticket in my pocket I'm on such a roll.

Then again, as soon as I publish this post tomorrow there will be billions of mosquitos out of nowhere just to prove me wrong.

Apparently I live in a tunnel

Because today is the first time I have heard of Casey Anthony and the circumstances around her and the death of her 2 year old daughter Caylee.

After hearing about peoples reactions to her acquittal on charges of murder today, I decided to take a glance into what this whole circus of tragedy was all about.

Apparently Casey Anthony had a daughter who was found dead in a swamp. Various things were Subpoenaed, such as google searches showing she was searching on how to use chloroform, and various circumstantial things that generally make it seem like she did it. However, in the end while most people generally have the opinion that she probably did it and got away with it, like OJ Simpson before her, we don't have proof and we don't know the real story.

What strikes me as odd in the whole tale is that Caylee is/was a young mother. Perhaps she wasn't fit to raise a child.. but she was able to apparently get away with murder (as it could appear).. why is murder the first option she thought of? If she didn't want to raise her child, why isn't adoption something she could have pursued?

I get the sense in the USA that everything is a case between two extremes. Everything is black and white. Left vs right. Communism or Capitalism. Abortion or raise your child. Everything is an either or scenario and sensible middle ground solutions seem to be drowned out in the chorus of righteous indignation. Maybe I'm being too judgmental or myopic in my views of America, but all the same, it is the sense I get. And I'm not going to claim that theres none of that in Canada too.

I don't like abortion, but I'm not anti-abortion. I just think it should be the absolute last option someone should choose when they've been properly educated on the alternatives. Education on unwanted pregnancies should be considerate towards the idea that surgery is not the ideal path to take. I mean morning after pills and such are fine with me, but after a certain point, obviously (to me anyways) people should make their decisions with all of the cards on the table good and "bad".

Why did she have the child only to supposedly kill it two years later? Was she simply a depraved sociopath, or is she really innocent and all the evidence that convinces most people was really just coincidental? Can we really analyze the mind of someone who would commit such an act and put it all down to ignorance? Could she have had other mental issues that pushed her to potentially commit such a horrendous act?

I just can't understand the idea of someone who would kill a two year old child. I suspect most people can't.

But I have learned.. google searches can be subpoenaed. Not that I ever plan to do anything illegal, but it does make a paranoid type such as myself consider running ones own webcrawler.

Man do my blog posts ever meander.

Disgusting

I'm not a super big fan of the royal family per se, but I do like having them around as antiquated as the concept is.  I don't even know why.  I think it's nice that they wanted to visit canada first and I hope william and kate have a fun trip despite being forced to shmooze with politicians at every turn.  What prompted me to post however was seeing people with signs about princess diana saying "I saw princess diana here in the 80s" or something.  How macabre and disturbing! What the hell?  Why would you think Prince William wants to see or know or be reminded of that? What purpose does it serve?  What a circus! Just seems supremely tactless.

First time for everything

Today I witnessed two different fire trucks arrive at an intersection from different directions at the same time.  They both seemed as surprised by the oddity as I was.  As soon as the bemusement gave way they both ended up going the same way. Perhaps there is a big fire or one was on its way back and decided to follow. We'll never know, alas.  Still.. amusing.