Brock Skywalker

All twittered out · 6 May 09

So that is it. I quit Twitter.

I was on there for nearly a full year and although I posted more than 1000 tweets (twots?) in that time, I don’t think I ever fully “got” the whole Twitter thing. Maybe I was looking for too much from it. Maybe I was following too many people’s twots (tweets?). Maybe I just plain spend too much time on a computer (probably)?? But, in any case, when the whole “Swine Flu” stupidity overtook and smothered the nerd talk on Twitter, I knew it was time for me to go. Don’t worry, I won’t start ranting about H1N1 here – that rant needs more exclamation points than this blog can handle!!!!

I guess all that is left now is to say: So long Twitter followers, it was a thing…

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Enhanced Puck · 21 April 09

If anyone is paying close attention to this blog anymore… mom?... they may notice that I have made some enhancements. I added a Twitter feed widget on the bottom left, changed my tagline, fixed up some out of date CSS (this site is from 2004 after all) and well… that is about it. Other than the Google Analytics code that I actually got around to adding to the whole site rather than just the blog.

Someday, when I have some time on my hands and the desire to be at a computer when I am not getting paid to be at a computer, I will do a complete redesign/rebuild of the site but until then… you are stuck with this. And me. YAY!

Oh yeah, I also fixed the “Comments” portion of the blog. For sometime now it has been hanging and timing out – that should be resolved now.

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Did I mention... · 1 August 08

I got an iPhone!

Daveb and I got up early and joined the lineup in front of the Rogers Wireless store as 5th and 7th in line at about 7:30am (yes, we are nerds). We stood out front in the varying weather until the store opened at 10:00am and even though the Rogers network completely crashed and we didn’t actually have our activated and working iPhones until about 1:00pm – it was still well worth it and I don’t regret a moment.

With our new iPhones in hand we headed across the parking lot to the Mucho Burrito and celebrated our purchases with the best burritos in town since Whole in the Wall closed down. Sigh… I miss that place.

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iPhone - for real this time! · 18 June 08

As some of you may recall I tried to get an iPhone the less-than-legit way just before Xmas. Well, that didn’t go very well and now 6 months later I still have no iPhone (even though I actually was holding one in my hand in the Apple Store in New York and San Francisco last year). But now, for real this time, the iPhone is coming to me and the rest of Canada on July 11th! Praise be to the Almighty Jobs!

Now the only question is, will I be able to sleep between now and then? I doubt it. That is just how nerdily excited I actually am. WOO! iPhone! WOO!

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iphone...maybesomeday.ca · 11 December 07

So, I did it. I caved. My inner geek got the best of me and I ordered an iPhone from the folks at www.iphonenow.ca on Dec 9th. On Dec 10th amended my order to include a one year warranty (which was super easy and the girl who was helping me was more than happy to give me a 50% discount on my warranty – for no particular reason).

As of this morning, according to their website, my order is “Pending Shipping”. The charge is still not showing up on my Visa, which is curious… but, other than being super slow and a little defensive when confronted about their timelines during an online service centre chat earlier today, it seems as though I might get an iPhone before or just after Christmas.

Dec 24, 2007 at 12:17 pm

On Dec 19th my order status switched from “Processing” to “Shipped” on one page and “Pending Shipment” on another page, (mind you, it only changed after I had a rather curt – on their end, not mine – conversation with a support staff member).

My credit card did finally get charged on Dec 17th, so I am really hoping my phone shows up soon.

On the plus side I did talk to Visa before I made the purchase and they said I am completely covered if this turns out to be a scam so… I guess I wait. I will not however bother to talk to their belligerent customer service ever again… which makes me wonder what good buying the warranty was.

Dec 27, 2007 at 1:17 am

No real big updates as of yet… except that I received an email from them telling me that my ordered has been shipped, and my order status on their webpage went from “Pending Shipment” to “Shipped” (in both places) at noon(ish) on Dec 24th. I don’t know if that is a good sign or not but I am choosing to take it as one. I ordered the 7 day ground shipping, so with any luck I will have my phone mid next week.

Dec 29, 2007 at 9:18 am

I just noticed that on the 25th my Visa account was credited with the exact amount I was charged by CIPC WORLD WIDE HOLDINGS on the 17th for the iPhone. Strange thing to happen when my phone is apparently already in the mail (since noon on the 24th). I am currently typing this with a Chat Window open waiting to ask a service rep what is going on…

Gave up on the chat window and called them on the phone. The cheery lady on the other end told me that my order had been shipped and returned. Hrm… she had nothing to offer after I told her that “I didn’t ever receive it so how could I have returned it?” The only thing she told me was that they have an arrangement with Canada Post to return the package if no one is present when the phone is delivered (not to take it to the nearest postal office for pick-up like every other package any Canadian has ever received). Now that is some arrangement! How convenient!

As a result of my girlfriend’s sidelong glances and not my own good sense, I have asked them to leave my account as it is and not to reship or process my order again.

Sigh… so much for my iPhone Guaranteed to work in Canada. I should register the domain name www.iphonenever.ca ‘cause that is me.

Jan 7th, 2007 at 9:45 am

Just a little update – for the fun of it I emailed the iphonenow folks on Friday just to see what I might find out:

Hello!

I am just checking on my order. When I go to: https://store.iphonenow.ca/orderdetails.asp

I see that my order has been shipped but I have still not received it.

Can you offer me any assistance in this matter?

Thanks!

— Brock

This is their response:

Dear Customer,

Thank you for contacting us.

Your order has ben cancelled due to security concerns.
Please join live chat and talk to an operator if you require further assistance.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions.

Sincerely,
Kelsey

Security concerns? But I was told on the phone a couple weeks ago that I had received the phone and returned it (or maybe I wasn’t around when it was delivered so Canada Post returned it on my behalf). Weird. I don’t know what these people are up to but they sure do suck at it.

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Unplug, then unplug · 4 June 07

Phantom and standby power loads create a massive amount of electricity consumption around the world each year. For example, if you leave your phone, MP3 player, or whatever charger plugged in at the socket (with no phone, or what-have-you, on the other end), the amount of electricity it uses while not actually charging your machine is more than when it is. According to Nokia, around 66% of electricity used by a cell phone is consumed in this way.

I had always figured these chargers were polarized but after hearing this news on a podcast the other day I took a peak and saw that none of the chargers I own are actually polarized… Damn!

So, from now on I am going to make an effort to remember to unplug when I unplug and drop my power usage by 66%. WOOHOO!

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Don't be idle · 19 May 07

Did you know if every driver of a light duty vehicle avoided idling by five minutes a day, collectively over the year, we would save 680 million litres of fuel, over 1.6 million tonnes of GHG emissions, and ~ $646 million annually in fuel costs.

Idling Myths and Facts:

• ‘I need to warm up the engine before driving’

The best way to warm up your car’s engine is to drive it. Even in the winter, most engines need no more than 30 seconds before driving.

• ‘Idling is good for the engine’

Excessive idling is actually damaging to the engine. If the engine is idling it isn’t working at its peak temperature and over time decreasing the sparkplugs efficiency and increasing fuel consumption as well as damaging the exhaust system.

• ‘Stopping and starting the engine too often is hard on it’

Studies show that frequent restarting of the vehicle has little impact on the engine parts. The wear on components that restarting the engine causes adds about $10 a year to the cost of driving.

Believe it or not, more than 10 seconds of idling uses more fuel than restarting the engine. As a rule of thumb, if you’re going to stop for 10 seconds or more (except in traffic) turn the engine off. You’ll save money AND your vehicle won’t be producing harmful emissions while you are just sitting there.

(Thanks to Shanti for the facts.)

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Yesterday's run · 15 April 07

Distance – 7.98 km

How cool is that? Thanks Motion Based!

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Nerds who like to run · 13 April 07

Form meets function with Garmin’s high-performance Forerunner 305. The Forerunner 305 includes a high sensitivity GPS receiver, new courses feature (lets you compete against previous workouts) and robust wireless heart rate monitor for optimal performance. WHOA!

I picked one of these up about a month ago and man is it cool! I now know exactly how far I run in the morning! I also know my speed, distance, heart rate, elevation changes, calories burnt and – best of all – I can view it all on my Mac when I get home! I hear you can lay your courses over a map and get some workout analysis done on www.motionbased.com too but I haven’t tried that yet… but I will!

All you nerd runners out there – you need one of these! They are awesome!

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Uhhh... · 24 March 07

Oops.

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