Haters everywhere

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Bell is still Evil

"...An Ontario Superior Court ruling could open the door to police routinely using Internet Protocol addresses to find out the names of people online, without any need for a search warrant....
...The ruling by Judge Leitch was made in a possession of child pornography case in southwestern Ontario....

It appears that Bell Canada's has a policy of providing personal I.P. addresses to police without warrants. as long as they fill in a form letter provided by Bell. Most other ISPs require a search warrant.

Now we should all be happy that a child pornography case has been solved, but shouldn't we be asking why the police didn't simply get a search warrant? Sure, but as easy as it would be to blame the police for being so lazy, wouldn't you expect Bell to stand up for the rights of it's customers a little bit?

This just confirms my personal feelings that Bell is no friend of the consumer.

Boycott Bell Canada!

Fat, Lazy, unemployed?

It's unfortunate that so many people will lose their jobs because of the current economic downturn, but it will turn around eventually. That gives little solace to anyone going on unemployment, but it will turn around.
The auto industry is not dead and isn't going anywhere. People need to drive and they love to drive. Old cars are always dying off and need to be replaced. You can only keep your car going with duck tape and jumper cables for so long. So ultimately people will need to buy new cars. When this happens, the question will be 'what kind of car to buy'? Hopefully the Big 3 will still be around when that question is asked because selfishly, my livelihood is tied to the domestic auto industry.
I am sick of hearing people in the media reporting that Detroit needs to die because they are producing cars that nobody wants. Really? Are people that stupid? (rhetorical) Of course they are.
Detroit has been building powerhouses and gas guzzlers because that's what their customers wanted. People always want more power in a car. When you ask them why, it's usually some lame excuse like merging into traffic or passing properly. It's because of our instant gratification society that claims like that seem to make sense to others.
It wasn't until the environmentalists joined together with capitalists and convinced people that oil should be expensive. One side because they wanted people to burn less fuel, and the other because they wanted to make more off of selling less. It was the perfect marriage.
Our modern society is obsessed with getting whatever they want, so when oil prices went up and people spent more getting to work, they didn't think that they should cut back on the double lattes and ipods and laptops and cellphones. And once the housing bubble burst in the US and sent a cold shock across the world economic landscape everyone got scared and stopped spending. Now they are all in debt and losing their jobs. So many will find there is no way to climb out of a hole that deep without a job and will suffer.
It doesn't matter if it's the weather or the economy, everything runs in cycles. Noone knows how long it will take for the economy to strengthen again, but be sure that it will. Knowing that is the first step in restoring consumer confidence to get the ball rolling again.

Bell sucks

I just can't let this one go. Bell Canada is throttling my internet and everyone else within their reach. I thought I was immune because I use mnsi.net for my ISP, but I was wrong. My house is run on a 'remote' from their direct network, so Bell has their claws in my ass. I would switch my ISP, but Bell holds all the cards.

I finally came up with a good analogy to describe what Bell is doing. They are acting like a drug cartel that owns all the distribution means in their kingdom. They are allowing other smaller entrepreneurs to sell drugs on their turf for a fee, but they will not allow them to sell a stronger product.

Sure I could have used a more flattering example, let's say oil companies slowing down gasoline production to ensure that prices stay artificially high, but I feel that Bells actions are more criminal. Sure the CRTC has so far ruled Bells practice as fair, but who gives a crap what the CRTC thinks. They are a just bunch of xenophobes that don't want any outside cultural influence on Canada.

I am frustrated that the only thing I can do about this is complain to myself on a blog, but what the hell, I guess it's at least cathartic.

Big Business, Big Crooks

Well it seems that the CRTC has decided that it is OK for Bell Canada to censor the internet.
Bell owns the lines that supply the internet in Canada, so they make the rules. Sounds fair? Not.

What they are doing, is slowing down your internet speed whenever you are using more bandwidth than they like. The reason I never used Bell internet in the first place was that they had caps on speed and content. They must have discovered they were losing too much business to smaller ISP's that weren't limiting peoples surfing. So the only way they could fix that was to screw over everyone equally.

Now, I am getting charged the same money for less service and there is nothing I can do about it.
This definitely seems like a conflict of interest on Bells part. The CRTC should be watching out for Canadians, not laying down for Bell.

This is bad business practice plain and simple. I've never been a fan of the CRTC. Unfortunately I used to be able to blame the Liberals for all the CRTC did. Now that blame falls squarely on the Conservatives.

I can already picture telling my grandchildren one day about how great the internet used to be.

The future continues to get darker.

What the market could bear.

I haven't chimed in for awhile because like many others out there I've been too busy soaking my investment statements in tears as global markets crash. I'm sure mattress manufacturers are rethinking their new lines and toying with the idea of putting a zipper in the side so people can stuff them with cash to keep it safe.

Actually, I rarely look at my R.R.S.P. portfolio. I just keep throwing money in there hoping that I can live long enough to see it put to good use and pray that some future Liberal or NDP government doesn't get into power and decide that my savings should be 'shared' with someone less fortunate that didn't save a nickle.

But back to the global market crunch.... I think it has been unavoidable for years. All that was needed was a couple of triggers in the U.S. economy to cause everything to go into the shitter.

The reason I felt that way was because business was getting too greedy. Just like drug dealers that keep it under the radar for years, but they try to make too much money too fast and they get burned.

Just like you, I had been wondering why everything has been getting so expensive. Every time I open my water bill, or electricity bill, or my cell phone bill I wonder how much more are they going to try and squeeze out of me. the price of gasoline kept going up, the price of diesel suddenly rose above regular unleaded and no one blinked. All these things kept rising and the one answer I kept getting to why this was happening was that they were just charging what the market would bear.

I must be honest and say that I figured if they raised prices too high, they would notice sales drop and roll them back. The problem was that nobody did. Then the tipping point was reached.

All the people who have been living beyond their means in the times of easy credit couldn't pay anymore. Specifically, the harshest reality was in the U.S. where it was policy to give mortgages to people who didn't deserve them. Those people just couldn't pay anymore and gave their houses back to the bank. This wouldn't have been so much of a problem if the banks didn't hand out so many of these mortgages. If a handful of reckless people lose their house, there is always someone else who can afford to buy it. If too many people lose their houses to the banks, noone can afford to buy them and the banks can't afford to keep them.

Then the big panic started, and the fear of a economic slowdown in the U.S. caused people to sell their volatile stocks and put the money in something more stable (like mattresses).

Once something like this happens, it's like yelling 'FIRE' in a crowded theatre. everyone rushes to get out and alot of good people get trampled and die.

Natural Lawn Care

People are just stupid.

With everyone trying to outgreen each other, the Windsor Star actually published an article telling people to pour horticultural vinegar on weeds in their lawn. That would be stupid enough on it's own, but this person is a Horticulture Technician graduate and vice president of the Windsor and Essex County chapter of the Canadian Organic Growers Association. and the claim is that it is done without chemicals.

As a St. Clair graduate myself, I can tell you that vinegar is a chemical and at 30% purity it is kinda nasty. The fumes would definitely choke you a bit.

"There are no chemicals in anything I use," she says. "They're all made from natural ingredients, so there's no environmental impact. I even let the kids apply it."

I am at a loss in trying to underline the stupidity in that statement.