jules.ca

telecom, technology and the occasional floobergeist

I’ve got an abundance of bits and pieces of canadian telecom and internet experience, and I am thrilled to be in a place in time when all is changing, technology is developing, and the status quo is being disrupted. 

Floobergeist is a word that is beginning to defy definition.  The more I roll that smooth pebble around, the more it becomes to mean. Floobergeist started out as the magic dust that turns dreams into ideas.  And then it began to encompass the zing that happens when you have conversations about those ideas. And now, it’s the whole evolution from dream to conversation, with each step improving the later and the former along the way.

Everyone aspires to good conversations. They can lead you to adventures you’ve never imagined, and to people you can twig with.

Let’s have a good conversation…

welcome.

All Apologies...

... apparently the allergy monster has returned with a vengance. And now it's taken over a goodly portion of my brain cells.  Yes, the ones that I am actually still using to cope with day to day life.  To top it off, I've actually been busier than hell for the past week.  It always goes like that, the week before you plan on taking vacation, everyone wants you to do something with your brain.

So, all this to say, nothing of real value has been posting, and for that, All Apologies.

Research Question:  Do you use calling cards? What about 10-10 service?  (10-10 service lets you make long distance calls cheap, you dial an access number - like 543-1010 and then dial your long distance number, and then blam!! You get cheap LD, and the charge shows up on your regular phone bill)




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Glencoe: Home of the World's Largest Corn Maze

World's largest corn maze - right here in Ontario! GLENCOE, ON, July 26 /CNW/ - The corn maze at McEachren Farms isattempting to set the Guinness World Record for the largest temporary cropmaze and the longest path in a temporary crop maze.

CNW Group

Who would have thought, the place where I grew up, would someday become famous.

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An Independant Weekend

With a hockey tournament occupying my better half, this was to have been a weekend for organizing, packing, tidying, and all the other odd tasks that would go along with moving.  I’ve been good, honest I have, but I’m distracted, and haven’t accomplished nearly enough, I’m afraid. 4 boxes does not a packing bee make.  Despite my good intentions, i’ve managed to walk, sleep, eat well, take in a few movies and create general procrastination and distraction.

;-) 

More Perspective on the Evacuation

Lina Diyab, a Halifax lawyer, complained that after being told to come to the port, she had been left to stand in the sweltering heat for seven hours without any further word from the embassy despite the fact she is allergic to the sun.“Somebody is going to answer for this. We deserve better treatment,” she said to cheers from a crowd of several hundred people with similar complaints.

globeandmail.com : First two planeloads of Canadians back home

Again I say - when did this woman and the mob completely lose their perspective?  It's not as if their resort reservations were cancelled.  They were in the middle of a war zone.  Please people.  Get a grip, you sound ridiculious. What the heck are you doing in Lebanon if you are alergic to the sun and don't like the heat?  You should be thrilled that you are alive, and not in a war zone any more.  What about all the citizens who are from countries who simply CANNOT come to rescue their people? 

It's all about perspective.

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Disgust at Canadian Evacuee Response...

Oh my.

Just finished watching the CBC news report, recapping the news of the beginning of the evacuation of canadian folks from Lebanon.  I still can’t get over the shock, anger and utter disbelief - I am utterly rocked.  The evacuees complaining, fighting with each other, fighting about not enough bathrooms, about being hot and not having enough water.  About having to wait.  About cramped quarters. About not being able to think the same about Canada, that Canada has let them down.  At what point did these folks completely lose their perspective on where they were, what was going on, and what needed to happen to get them back to safety?

People: NEWS FLASH.  You vacationed in a war zone. You weren’t at Sandals Jamaica.  Bombs fall, countries attack each other, and now the Canadian government is saving your sorry, complaining ass.  Please, how about a bit of appreciation?  How about some sort of thanks that your government is going above and beyond to get you OUT of a WAR ZONE?

One interesting point of note:  all the evacuees are carrying ALL their luggage.  Are yoiu kidding me right now?  It’s not like you missed a connecting plane in Chicago, and are waiting for the next plane.  You are in the middle of a WAR.  Leave your bloody gap sweatshirt behind. If all those people waiting in line left all but their minimal essentials, imagine how many more folks could fit onto the boat/plane?  There is no doubt that humanity’s sanity is in decline. Not to be missed, 2 in 5 evacuees aren’t even citizens of Canada, they are Lebanese folks, born and living in Lebanon, and yet, Canada is accepting refugees as well as supporting the evacuation of canadian “citizens”.  YAY CANADA!

I just can’t get over the lack of maturity, the lack of appreciation, the lack of decency, from these people who call themselves canadians.

Sheesh. 

 



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RSS Readers and Guilty Pleasures

When I first became addicted to RSS feeds, i decided to use google's customized start page.  I know, it was a little wimpy, but it did the trick, and what did I know, I liked it, and it was handy.  And then my list of RSS feeds grew, and grew, and grew.  Now it's a significant list, and I've run into problems with my wee Google Start Page.  I don't think it was created to handle more than 20 or so RSS feeds.  Now it is VERY grumpy, and often, all the feeds won't load.  It's like I've come to a glass ceiling for feeds.

Sigh.

Now begins the painful task of migrating to a new news reader.

I am thinking it's going to be Netvibes.  Any suggestions?  Anything worth a second look?


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Dooce...

I just about spat on the screen, reading this one.
If you appreciate uncontrollable loss of body fluids, you will appreciate dooce.

dooce
Jon stubbed his toe on the plate that night as we were getting ready for bed, and when he asked why there was a dinner plate on the floor in our bedroom I said, “YOU try licking hardened melted cheese off a surface without using your hands and see which room you end up in.”


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The Scary Reality of IMS...

Is this what IMS will come down to? I'm torn to bits between the good and the bad of IMS.  I'm looking for someone to share what the good bits could be. other than simple presence features, and the ability to perhaps have a communications service that would mean ONE PHONE that would be capable of cellular services (EVDO), WiFi, and VoIP. Now, I CAN see value in that ;-) I'm not convinced though that IMS is going to make that possible.

Fractals of Change: Internet Neutrality – Tough Issue
The Internet the telcos would like us to live with here in the United States is “application aware” as well as “source aware”. If you want to build a new application, you can wait in line for major Internet’s owners (these same telcos) to decide to accommodate your packet type.


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PSTN 2.0

The Telco 2.0 blog asks some interesting questions about IMS and the PSTN…. worth a read, if you are wondering how IMS will impact youwr world…

Telco 2.0: Should we build PSTN 2.0?

What happens when you put IMS and voice services to together? What’s the evolution path? Is IMS only good for cost elimination of legacy circuit-switched gear? Or should IMS really be the bedrock of PSTN 2.0?


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Feedburner Hell

I've just spent the past 7 minutes trying to convince Feedburner that I really do want to try and send a link by email. I've tried to convince them i'm human, to the tune of trying to decipher their Archaic Word test 13 times.


"Please enter the letters you see in the image into this text box". Yes, I've got it. I've done it. I've done it 13 times. 13 different varieties of letters. Now, You've got to be freaking kidding me.



Please enter the characters displayed in the box. If you are unable tosee the text clearly, you may reload this window for a new image.

Gotcha - i can see the letters clearly. I am entering them. You aren't believing me. Now, now is when i close my feedburner window, strike them off my list of RSS readers to ever consider using, and write a rant about the idiocy of some of anti-spam, anti-automated bots precautions. Yes you drive away the bots, but you also drove away a real person. Bravo.

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Soothing Repetition...

... 5 days in the city, 2 days on the lake.  Rinse laundry and repeat.
:-)

There's something to be said about the comfort of repetition in the summer... knowing where you will likely be every 5 days, and planning accordingly.  It certainly makes the summer go by quickly. I'm thrilled that we are are now only 800 odd hours away from moving... almost to the country. Now we can kick things into high gear, finances, lawyerly things, and actuall shopping.




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