Oh dear, I’ve just discovered Arnold, the Amstrad CPC emulator for OS X. The CPC was my first home computer, and I have fond memories. What with that, and the ftp.nvg.ntnu.no games archive, I’ll be as happy as a pig in glabber.
Year: 2006
deadly windows
Millions of birds perish every year from crashing into glass windows. And architects don’t need to do costly and time-consuming migration studies.
But us wind guys get it in the neck.
my letter to etymotic
To: Etymotic Research Inc. Customer Support
I recently placed an order with you for accessories for my Isolator ER-6i headphones. I was very disappointed when UPS added an additional brokerage charge of approximately US$27 (plus taxes and duties) to the order. Since the value of the the order was only $43, your courier’s brokerage charge was almost two-thirds the value of the goods ordered.
Please consider using another courier for Canadian orders. USPS/Canada Post’s brokerage charges are much smaller, of the order of $5.
I would also like to note that none of your agents in Toronto seems able to stock these spares. I visited all three of the dealers mentioned on your website:
- Long & McQuade had no stock, and didn’t seem particularly keen on ordering any for me.
- Carbon Computers, though very helpful, only had eartips for the ER-6, and didn’t know that they wouldn’t work with the ER-6i.
- CPUsed sold me an incomplete bag of ER6-14 eartips; only 6 tips for the full price of 10. When they weren’t assuring me that they’d work with the ER-6i, they were trying to sell me a set of Shure E2C headphones, which they said were better.
Up until now, I have been widely recommending your products. Until I know that you’re serious about supporting your Canadian customers, however, I cannot recommend your products to anyone in this country.
part of the landscape
I see that wind turbines make it on to the recent 51 cent stamp series. I guess they’re part of the landscape now.
(Would it be astonishingly churlish of me to point out that the flag is flying one way, and the turbines facing the other?)
TTC: Platform Video Screen Survey
Take the TTC: Platform Video Screen Survey. Those video screens suck.
why does etymotic hate its canadian customers?
Etymotic — makers of otherwise fine headphones — must really hate its Canadian customers. Not merely do the local suppliers not stock replacement eartips, but getting them shipped from the US incurs UPS‘s unbelievable brokerage charge, which approaches the value of the parts you’re ordering.
A more coherent posting will come later when the old strongly-worded letter of complaint goes out.
the cry of blackberryschmertz
My Blackberry mail server setup hasn’t been completed yet (it’s quite a shock to be on a computer with nothing above user privileges, I tell you). So I’m getting lots of blackberry.net messages which look a bit like this:
BEGINETP 10
AwUAAAAAAAAAAQ!!
ENDETP ...
Sums up pretty much how I feel about it: AwUAAAAAAAAAAQ!! AwUAAAAAAAAAAQ!!
first day new job
I had a good day. There was a lot of administrivia, setting up e-mail accounts, form filling, and learning about the network, but that’s all once off. The afternoon was mostly spent fighting with my new BlackBerry (a 7130e, you nerds), which works as a very nice phone, but the e-mail isn’t set up.
My cube has a view, and the transit is great. I’m happy.
work prep on Ivor’s birthday
Getting ready for the new job; clothes have been bought, shoes polished, case packed.
And it’s Ivor Cutler’s birthday. No gruts for tea for me.
a few loose tools on the workbench
Lee Valley make and sell good (if doggedly non-metric) woodworking tools. It would seem, though, that LV proprietor Leonard Lee has a rather unhealthy problem with Canada Post: postalproblem.ca.
His lengthy letters and full page ads in the Ottawa Citizen have an Incensed of Tunbridge Wells quality to them. It might be an idea to start hiding the sharp things when Leonard’s around.
last WindShare meeting
Last night was my last WindShare board meeting. I’ve been on the board ever since there was a board to be on. I hope I was useful.
mec sled dog
There was a very cute malamute in MEC today. She wasn’t too keen on shopping, so she’d lie down for a bit every now and again, anchoring her owner to the spot.
Google Earth for Mac
Yes, we can run Google Earth now too.
go train chkdsk
One of the GO information signs was knowing a difficulty this morning. Looks like they’re something like a Mini-ITX box running Windows XP, but I’d rather I didn’t know that.
At least the signs (when they work) are better than they used to be.
RIP, crunch, crunch
Golden Wonder Crisps are gone; and a large part of my childhood went with it.
That Walker’s should have stolen the crisp crown is terrible. They’re just rebadged PepsiCo Lays. Yuk.
(But I still think that Seabrook’s are the current best in the UK.)
Kelly’s Tetris Shelves
Kelly wanted the tetris shelves, but the cost was a bit steep. Her brother made these for her birthday.
The image links to a gallery of three views of the shelves.
The Brampton Indie Arts Festival 2006 – Program
The The Brampton Indie Arts Festival 2006 – Program is now available. Expect strangeness.
surprised senior hydrant
ex-GG at the movies
We saw Brokeback Mountain at the Cumberland this evening, and who should sit next to us but former governor-general Adrienne Clarkson and her posse.
I think she wanted our seats, as Catherine had got there early, and nabbed excellent ones; centre-row, 1/3 back.
idle thought
Walking past the Ford dealer today, I saw that they had all the used cars idling. While the swirls of exhaust were quite pretty in the winter morning sun, I had to wonder what they were achieving.