Selection: Rants

I have been a loyal Webshots user for several years, but the arbitrary changes made lately (even though I provided input via surveys) have left me with the feeling that it's all about business, not the user community that I have come to enjoy.

Several things bug me with the new developments. As a paying customer, I was to be free of advertising, yet the Webshots promos are so in your face. If I say NO once to buying prints etc, why can't my opinion be respected? Sure send me info in an email, but don't slow down my online experience.

Speaking of email, I signed up to receive my stats weekly, but have not seen them for a while.

I was told one of my albums was featured, but I could not find it. One of my photos was "photo of the day" and it too could not be found.

I have my settings so people I invite to view private albums can comment, yet they are not able to do so.

My son is wiring the basement of his new house. Asks me for advise. I look up the Alberta Electrical Code.

What gives? I can buy the code online, I can buy books about the code online, but I can't find out the content online?

Would we not prevent fires due to wrong wiring by making the code available to everyone, and not just those who can afford to buy the darn thing? No, somebody has to make a buck, and they don't give a damn if some amateur who WANTS to do it right, dies...

I mean, we're talking about ganging electrical outlets from a single circuit. We don't need the whole code for that...

This story just ran on CBC news and is so full of holes, a rant is required. Reading the CBC article on their website also invalidates some of the assumptions presented on the news program.

After having read the AP story, the reader is invited to make up his/her own mind.

Let me start by saying I dismiss the study, just the presentation of the outcomes and what was presented as fact. Like the "fact" in the title. There are many more "facts" to consider as both articles point out, yet all were downplayed. Age and weight are factors, yet the story went "when age, weight, and education are factored in..." That made me sit up. How does education make a woman more prone to breast cancer?

Both stories bear out the error in the news story as it was presented to the public. Can this be attributed to journalistic license or journalistic error? And who will take accountability serious? 

Makes me wonder how many people take the news seriously and change their lives by the stories they see and hear? 

Watching the 1974 rendition and find Poirot to be a total @hole. His bullying and intimidation are so ancient.

What do YOU think? 

There is a real push to pull Canadian soldiers out of Afghanistan, especially from Quebec. Do these people forget that if Canadian soldiers had not fought in WWII, this country would be totally different? For one, I likely would not be here, and how many others would not have been born? And what about the Canadian involvement in the liberation of France?

These people are so shortsighted that they may rightfully be called navel-gazers.

Edmonton Journal story...

Rants today range from vandalism, extradition, poor organization, modern equipment and software, and it's barely 9AM.

Driving off to work, just on the road are another two vehicles with the front window bashed in. This is the third day. I just don't comprehend what the purpose of these vandals is.

Getting tired of having five Culligan water bottles in the house, I called them this morning to cancel scheduled delivery. After the person on the other end took my information, she passed me on to the cancellation department. Ten minutes on hold and she came back on the line, "the cancellation department is busy, so I will send them an email." She then informed me that tomorrow somebody will come by to pick up the equipment and bottles. I think my entire account is now cancelled. Not what I had asked for, but I can live with that. I can buy my own cooler and get bottled water at Safeway across the road.

If a Canadian breaks out of a Mexican jail (doing 14 years for drug trafficking) and is an accomplice to the murder of one of the guards, why is extradition to Mexico a violation of his Human Rights? He's done the crime, let him do the time.

Take a 2007 car vs. a 1970's vehicle. Why is it so much harder to change a spark plug? Take Outlook 2007 vs. the 1997 version. Why does it take 5 steps to set an "out-of-office" message, when the old version took a single step? Is this so we can provide more work for more people?

Watching FIFA U20...

Brasilia vs USA. Why does the USA team have white shirts and the goal keeper green? Like Brasila has yellow for the team and black for the goal keeper. Who the heck is who...

BTW, that first US goal was just perfect...

People have been linking to images on my site without permission.

The idiots will now see an image they had not expected. I am tracking the dumb buggers! 

The nonsense one can find on YouTube is baffling. I would be embarrassed to show myself doing some of the idiotic scenes that one can find without looking very hard.

Take for example this Dutch version of American Idols, aptly called Dutch Idols, or this horrible song... Not my idea of quality entertainment.

Even on vacation, one cannot escape the real drama and the media circus about this tragedy. It seems the only channel that has nothing to say about it is the weather network.

I wanted to comment on some discussion I've seen from some European sources who are obviously anti-American. Not that I am pro, anti, or whatever. Americans are my southern neighbours, some are obvious idiots and some are real good friends.

Comments like, sadly from people in my home country, "it was inevitable, with their gun laws"... 

Dutch people seem to think it can't happen in Holland. That's the reaction I witnessed in 2002 when Pim Fortuyn, about to be elected the next Dutch premier, was gunned down. "What? This kind of thing only happens in America..." How ignorant can a person be, and how ignorant can a country's attitude be, while condemning another country. These are the countrymen I used to be proud of.

TELUS Mobility will plant a tree if I go paperless billing. Fine, I like to do the environment a good turn. So I go to the website and try to register.

To validate who I am, I first enter my phone number. Then I need a Permission Code assigned by my account owner or administrator. Heck, I own my own @$#@% phone. And I certainly did not assign myself a permission code...

I guess the environment will have to do without my tree...

Why is the City of Edmonton even considering building a new hockey arena downtown? If Rexall needs a facelift, it's a lot cheaper than building a new facility.

There are many pressing issues facing Edmonton. Affordable housing, infrastructure maintenance, crime...

Just this week I was told by a police officer that our neighborhood  was a "world onto it's own."

My son has helped catch a 12-year old who's repeatedly been going on joy rides.

I think this city needs to look at social issues more before spending money on arts and sports. 

WWF's SaveOurClimate website is only intended for a specific audience.

If you don't have a Flash player installed, don't have 1024x768, and block popup windows, you cannot access the site. When we talk about irresponsible use of resources, I suggest WWF is irresponsible also, failing to get the message out to as many people as intended.

Clicking on the DONATE button does not do a thing.

All in all, while I admire the effort, the website is cute but not effective. I cannot even leave a feedback note...