Michael Hartog

Detailing random internet junk since 2008
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13 Sep 2009

Telco “Competition” in Canada

This sums it up:

Why has Rogers decided to charge to text for Incoming text messages?

We’ve reviewed wireless practices in other countries and in Canada and see that charging for text/sms messages is a fairly common business practice amongst major carriers.  We continue to offer our customers attractive text plans and bundles and recommend that our customers consider subscribing to one of these plans that include text messaging to save money and continue to receive unlimited incoming messages at no extra charge.

In short: we don’t need the money, but everyone else is doing it so we thought we should too.

13 September, 2009 at 17:39 by Michael Hartog

Tags: bullshit, telco
Posted in random | No Comments »

7 Sep 2009

Patch Tuesday

I just wanted to mention something that a lot of people don’t know about, Patch Tuesday. That would be that scheduled Microsoft patched are sent out the second Tuesday of every month. The only exception is that critical patches become available as soon as possible.

Why does this matter? Well if you don’t want to run automatic updates you can make a note of the second Tuesday of every and just run Windows Update then instead of always having a background process.

7 September, 2009 at 20:15 by Michael Hartog

Tags: nerd, optimization, updates, windows
Posted in Computers, random | No Comments »

29 Aug 2009

Restroom/Bathroom/Washroom

Three lovely words to describe where humans do their dirty business, and none of them actually describe what is actually done.

Restroom: If anyone things their resting while in there, I have to wonder what I’ve been doing wrong. I think this word is much more appropriate for a bedroom where you can get some real resting done. This really isn’t appropriate in language today.

Bathroom: Does it have a bath in it? About 50% chance in a house, no chance in a restaurant. Are you going to use it? Maybe 20-25% of the time in a given day but I usually don’t need to actually say “I’m going to the bathroom to have a bath.” when it is much simpler to say “I’m going to have a bath.” and location is implied. (Note: I don’t take baths, but I don’t want to call it a showerroom either.)

Washroom: Yes, it is part of the process. A very important part I might add. And you can just do a wash by itself. But it does NOT represent the majority of the going ons in the “washroom”. But this does seem to be the best choice to describe the room while still avoiding all the actual subject.

29 August, 2009 at 11:54 by Michael Hartog

Tags: best, optimization
Posted in Comparisons, random | 1 Comment »

24 Aug 2009

Insisting on putting cases on everything

I hate people who put cases on everything. Cases on ipods, cell phones, DS/PSPs. These devices are specifically designed for a small form factor and yet people will sometimes double the size to throw on some plastic case over their devices.

Why do people do this? Protection. So that their gadget still looks good after a few months of use.

But what ends up happening is the case starts to look horrible. It scratches easier than what it is protecting in the first place. I’ve seen cell phones and ipods with screens you can’t even see anymore. So you end up with a terrible looking unusable device.

The only thing worse than this is leaving the plastic covers on that devices are shipped. This is most evident on HP Laptops. These are generally dirtier than the device because they’ve been through the factory. They have bubbles under them. They sometimes are half off and people still try to keep it on… Next time I see one of those I’m ripping it off.

Update Dec 2009: There are many new computers at work with that plastic film that I have been able to take off. It feels great!

24 August, 2009 at 14:08 by Michael Hartog

Tags: idiots, optimization
Posted in Comparisons, Technology, random | 2 Comments »

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