Week 31 - Super Cub

Super Cub
Originally uploaded by Twister65

This week's Project 52 photo is my Hobbyzone Super Cub.

Back in April of 2007 I took up a new hobby of flying electric R/C planes. My first plane, the Hobbyzone Firebird Freedom, despite being a "beginner" plane, was quite difficult to fly and resulted in a lot of frustration and purchasing new wings and a tail.

Not long after, I decided to get a new plane: the Hobbyzone Super Cub. This plane flies like a dream. It is the ultimate beginner plane and is so much fun to fly. Many days that spring and summer were spent up at a nearby school, flying it with a friend and my brother in-law, both of whom also had R/C planes. I even rigged up a small digital video camera to record in-air footage and put a bunch of videos up on YouTube.

After logging a lot of air time with the Super Cub, I was finally able get my first plane in the air and keep it flying, now that I was more comfortable with correcting for wind and my own errors.

We didn't go flying as much the following year, and not at all in 2009. I had attempted to change the battery connections in the winter of 2008 to something more stable than the Tamiya connectors, but failed due to my crappy soldering iron. I never did get around to fixing it that year, even though I had also picked up a couple of batteries last year in anticipating of flying.

I have decide that this year, I will get back to flying. I bought a new soldering iron and this evening, I fixed up the connections. Hopefully those two batteries I bought are still good and I may have been able to salvage one battery from a couple of years ago. We'll see if it holds a charge.

This was the last video I made of my plane in August 2007.

Future Shop pre-order fail

What is the benefit of pre-ordering something before its release?

In my mind, I think it is so you can be one of the first to get your hands on it when it becomes available.

Am I wrong?

Let’s assume that I am right.

So, why does Future Shop and Best Buy accept pre-orders for new video game releases and then NOT ship the damned things on their official release date, or at least the day after?

Last summer, I pre-ordered Batman: Arkham Asylum for the Xbox 360. The official release date came and went. My order was stuck in “in progress” limbo for almost a month before it shipped.

Along came Final Fantasy XIII. Screw Best Buy. I pre-ordered it from Future Shop a few days before the official release date to get $5 off the price (Yes, I realize that Best Buy owns Future Shop but I was hoping for a better experience this time… apparently I was wrong)

On its release date (Tuesday), I posted a question on the Future Shop fan page on Facebook:

Scott Paterson How soon do the online pre-orders ship? The last time I pre-ordered a game from "that other" store, it took a MONTH after the game's release before it shipped. The only reason I didn't cancel it was because it was on sale. I'm rrreally hopin' Future Shop is different.

I got a prompt reply:

Future Shop @Scott: It should be shipping on the day of release which should be today.

As of noon today, the order status on Future Shop’s web site still indicated “In progress” and “Out of stock”.

I posted three replies in the thread since Tuesday and there hasn’t been any response from the Future Shop rep in that group. My last message said that I would cancel the order at noon if it still hadn’t shipped.

Guess what I just did.

Week 30 - Rideau Falls, Spring 2010

Rideau Falls, Spring 2010 (30/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

I drove out to Rideau Falls on Saturday morning hoping to snap a few shots of massive ice chunks flowing over the edge, as it did around this time in 2007. I guess the milder winter played a large part in disappointing me this year, or maybe missed it?

Week 29 - Winter Wonderland?

Winter Wonderland?
Originally uploaded by Twister65

After many days of spring-like weather, last Thursday evening gave us this. It was gone by the weekend. Crazy weather.

Yes, I'm a day late. I watched the Canada vs. USA gold medal game on Sunday and enjoyed a few too many beers celebrating Canada's victory. :)

Week 28 - GO CANADA GO!

We love hockey
Originally uploaded by Twister65

At the start of every hockey season, I get out the Ottawa Senators flag and hang it on the wall behind the TV. We have a large Ottawa Senators blanket that is folded in half and placed on the back of the couch, with "Ottawa Senators" facing outward. A small Stanley Cup is placed somewhere in the room. This year it happens to be on the CD rack beside the TV. This is all done with my wife's blessing. She's as much of a fan as I am. In fact, she may be a bigger fan because she knows all of the players' jersey numbers. Oh yeh, we also wear team jerseys while watching the game.

For tonight’s Team Canada vs. Team U.S.A. Olympic game I got out the Canada flag and hung it on the wall in an attempt to bring some good mojo to the team. It didn't help. Maybe I was too late.

Anyway, thanks to the Olympics for my Week 28 Project 52 inspiration!

Uh oh… it’s the cops!

A little while ago, I wrote about all of the illegal left turns coming out of the Esso/Tim Horton’s at the corner of Ogilvie Rd and Montreal Rd.

A day or so after, I actually sent the Ottawa Police an email about the issue. It took them a while, but they did respond saying that it was forwarded to the department(s) in charge.

This afternoon I received an email from a constable asking for my name, address, phone number and birth date so he could follow-up on my “complaint”. I sent it to him.

He called me this evening.

He gave me a brief rundown of the history of the signage – how it started off as a single, waist-high sign at the Tim Horton’s drive-thru exit, and eventually became a larger sign, with an additional sign on the median. He acknowledged the fact that despite the multiple, clearly visible signs, many people are ignorant of them.

He said one day when they were enforcing the signage, they gave out over FIFTY tickets, and he had to call for assistance because while he was issuing a ticket, someone else would make the same illegal left turn.

Unreal. But based on what I see every morning, not too surprising.

He thanked me for the update that it’s still occurring and said that they would likely be out enforcing it again in the near future.

Like I said before, they could make some serious $$ in handing out fines.

Anyway, it was cool that they followed up. I wasn’t expecting it since I don’t really consider what i sent to be a “complaint”, but more of an “FYI”.

One of these days I’ll get some video footage of all the City of Ottawa trucks ignoring the sign and post it. :)

Week 27 - Flashback to the 70s

Flashback to the 70s (27/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

I replaced an old light fixture on the landing going to our basement and found this behind the base of the fixture. Obviously, when one of the previous owners removed the wallpaper, they took the quick'n'easy way out and didn't remove the light fixture.

This must be vintage 70s stuff. The black has a velvety feel to it. Considering the basement walls have wood paneling on them (now painted) I have to assume that the main floor of our house was covered with this stuff at one point. A small piece of history to our home. :)

Week 26 - Brian Elliott

Brian Elliott (26/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

This week's photo comes from my trusty 'ol Canon S3 IS.

My family and I went to the Sens Super Skills competition this afternoon. Unfortunately, they frown heavily upon fans who use, or try to use, a DSLR camera.

This is Brian Elliott take a fun shot on a junior goalie warming up. It's so cool to see pro players playing with the kids and treating them like an equal.

Team Red beat Team Black this year, for the third year in a row.

Week 25 - Stair Reno

Stair Reno (25/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

Nothing fancy this week. Haven't had much time for that. But, it is a memorable shot for me. Or will be at some point in the future when I look back.

We started a main floor renovation a couple of weeks ago, and part of that involved removing carpet from the stairs, pulling staples, patching, sanding, staining and finishing them to match the laminate flooring that we'll be putting down in the dining room and living room in the spring.

We decided to put ceramic tiles on the risers, and this is the pattern and colour we chose.

I'm already sick of the smell of Varathane and I'm only half done, after putting on two coats on every second step.

I need a shave!

It's that time of year again!

June 18th and 19th will be my third year participating in the Canadian Cancer Society's Relay for Life in Orleans, Ontario.

The Relay for Life is an overnight non-competitive relay that celebrates cancer survivors and pays tribute to loved ones. It's a night of fun, friendship and fundraising to beat cancer.

Thanks to your generosity last year I achieved my goal and, as a result, I shaved my head. It was a lot of fun and I would do it again... but where’s the fun in that?

Last year I set two goals. The first was to reach $1,000 and I would shave my head. The second was to also shave my face (moustache and goatee) if I reached $2,000. I didn't reach that second goal so I got to keep my facial hair.

I've had my facial hair for a long time and I’ve kinda grown attached to it. :) In fact, my kids (14 and 11 years old) have never seen me without my moustache. I have friends who have also not seen me without it.

So. here's the plan for this year:

I set my goal at $1,500.

$1,500 will let me shock my kids with a clean-shaven face.

I have approximately 4½ months to reach my goal. Want to help and support a great cause?

Visit here http://convio.cancer.ca/goto/scottpaterson

Or click the SUPPORT ME button on the left column of my Facebook profile.

Like they say, every dollar helps. That’s a fact.

Thank you for reading!

(P.S. if you have any better ideas that aren't painful, extremely embarrassing, or illegal, feel free to suggest them!) :)

Smoke photography

I am inspired by Photocritic.org’s smoke photography collection.

One tiny problem. Ok, maybe two.

I don’t have a remote flash for my camera, nor do I have a stand for my SpeedLite 380ex flash. I don’t think the 380 would work with a remote anyway.

But, after studying the photos and the setup, I realize that I may not need either.

What if I set up the camera and “smoking device” in a similar manner and then switched the camera to bulb exposure mode. With my infrared shutter remote in hand, turned off the lights in the room, stood off to the side, triggered the shutter and then fired the flash test mode?

Would that work?

Hmm… another photography project on my To Do list.

One year later

One year ago today I quit smoking. I am still nicotine-free.

I was going to write more about it but I’ve written enough before. If you want quit and would like to know what worked for me, click here for a previous post.

Oh ya… congrats to me! :)

Week 24 - Concentration

Concentration
Originally uploaded by Twister65

Tough choice this week. I had a few photos to choose from an decided on this one.

Another shot taken with my 50mm. I really like this lens and I so like B&W photos.

This is my daughter playing Lego Star Wars on my XBox earlier this week. She was so into the game, she hardly noticed me snapping away with my camera.

Week 23 - Feeed meee!

Feeed meee! (23/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

I had plenty of photos to choose from for this week, but I figured that seeing pictures of our stairs being stripped of carpet, scraped and sanded wouldn't be too interesting. :)

So, here's our cat, Sam, once again gracing my blog. I bought a 50mm f1.8 lens off a seller on Ebay earlier in the week and it arrived on Friday. While testing it out, Sam decided she wanted to be fed and was quite vocal about it. I couldn't pass on the opportunity to snap a shot or two.

Week 22 - Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel (22/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

A fairly easy choice for this week's choice for my Project 52, although one of my recent B&W shots was a possibility.

We had put our Christmas tree out in the back yard, leaning up against our shed. I remember making a comment at the time that I'd better not find any squirrels making a home in it.

I was off work on the Monday, alone at home, and puttering around with my camera when I heard what I thought were birds at the bird feeder. I peeked out the back door window and saw this red squirrel running around inside the tree branches, snacking on small pine cone buds. He definitely saw me, and was only about 4 feet away. There was no way I could open the door to take the shot, so I poked the lens through the blind and snapped a few.

The only thing I did to this photo was crop it and increase the saturation a little to bring out the squirrels colour a little more.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Beige? White? Hot pink?

At some point this afternoon, Facebook statuses started appearing with a single word. That word was a colour. Any colour.

I was puzzled. What’s with all the status colours?

I did a little searching and found the reason.

Women on Facebook were changing their status to the colour of bra they were wearing to raise awareness for Breast Cancer.

Cute. Fun. Many status comments were hilarious. Some guys had fun with it, posting the colour of their underwear. Or the fictitious bra they were wearing to hold their “moobs”.

Some other guys, like me, were puzzled. And some, when they found out what it was for, thought it was “useless”, or “retarded”. They said that it did nothing. It was no different than a chain letter.

I questioned this.

How could this be useless?

They asked what it was for. I knew, and I told them. By asking what it was for, they proved that it worked. It raised awareness.

The debate began.

I argued that it’s comparable to… wearing a pink ribbon. Or, wearing a poppy. Neither of those is a waste of time. They both serve a purpose. They raise awareness.

It was said that those two are different because they raise money for charities.

True, they do, but by us wearing them they also RAISE AWARENESS for those charities. What other purpose do they serve? A thank you? Sure. If you want to say that their sole purpose is to raise money, then wouldn’t it be a better idea to take the money spent on those little ribbons and use the money for the charity?

Perhaps. In fact, I could argue that a Facebook status is better than a ribbon, or a poppy because it costs nothing.

It is impossible for a charity to raise money without raising awareness first. If you know how, speak up. I’m sure they’d love to hear it.

By giving you something in return for your donation, and you wearing it, you are helping to raise awareness so more donations come in.

It’s silly to think that nobody has ever heard of breast cancer.   But awareness isn’t just about telling you something you’ve never heard of.  It’s about making you think about it, regardless of whether you’ve heard about it before.

I really makes me sad to think that some people think it was a dumb idea. A waste of time. That it served no purpose.

If one person made a donation as a result of those “useless” and “retarded” bra colour status, then wasn’t it worth the effort? Did it not raise awareness?

I proved that it worked. I made donation this evening to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

I now challenge you to do the same. Doing nothing is useless.

Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation

American Breast Cancer Foundation

Related articles by Zemanta

• Why Are People Putting Colours In Facebook Statuses? (lockergnome.com)
• Ladies, what's your color? (sciencetext.com)
• What's your bra colour today? Breast cancer goes viral (mikemet.com)
• Sharing Your Bra Color Is the New 25 Things on Facebook (mashable.com)
• Bra color status updates go viral for a cause (vator.tv)

How the Ottawa Police made my day

About a year or two ago, the Esso station at the corner of Montreal Rd and Ogilvie Rd was torn down and rebuilt. In addition to the new pump islands and convenience store building, they got rid of the car wash and added a Tim Horton’s drive-thru that runs around back of the building.

It wasn’t long before someone realized that this was a problem, especially in the morning, when cars try to leave the property, turn left onto Ogilvie Rd toward Montreal Rd and block the traffic heading north on Ogilvie as they wait to merge into the southbound traffic lanes.

Signs went up indicating NO LEFT TURNS between 7am and 9am. It’s not allowed in the evening either, but I can’t remember the times for that… 4 and 6pm perhaps? Anyway, you can see the signs as you leave the drive-thru and the sign that sits on the median between the north and southbound lanes. If you can’t see them, you’re blind.

If you park at the Esso in the morning you’ll notice that at least 9/10 cars completely ignore the signs and turn left. I see it every morning. Even City of Ottawa trucks ignore the signs, and they’re the ones who put up signs! This has become a huge pet peeve of mine. Granted, they don’t always block traffic, but the signs is there for.

It takes about a minute to turn RIGHT from the Esso and make a quick U-turn at the first corner, and you’re where you want to be. I do that every morning. It’s no big deal.

This morning the Ottawa Police made my day.

As I pulled up to the traffic light after making my U-turn, I saw flashing lights on an unmarked cop car stopped behind a Honda sedan in the middle lane.

My first thought was, “Oh please tell me they got busted for making a left turn…”

I looked in my rearview mirror and saw the officer bent over talking to the driver, and pointing back at the sign on the median.

Finally, someone got nailed and hopefully they got fined as well. I’m tired of seeing lazy-ass drivers ignoring the signs.

To the officer who busted that lazy ass this morning: thank you. :)

To the Ottawa Police: if you want to make a killing on fines, park at the Petro Canada cross the street every morning from 7am to 9am.

(Note: Google Streetview only shows one small “No Left Turn” sign. More have been added since Google took the photos last Spring)

Resolve THIS!

I can’t remember the last time I made a New Years resolution. I tend not to follow through with them. (I think that’s the case for many people)

This time, I have decided I should make a few really easy ones, maybe a couple of slightly challenging ones, and one tough one.

The Easy:

1. Finish reading Light -- Science & Magic. I started it in the summer and I’m so close to finishing it.
2. Start and finish reading Theo Fleury’s Playing With Fire that I got for Christmas.

Slightly Challenging:

1. Ride my bike at least once per week starting in the spring (once the snow is gone), and through the summer. I did it the year before last and it was awesome. Last summer I got a case of the lazys. :( This will help with The Tough One.
2. Drink more water. Again, this will help with The Tough One. I really do not drink enough water, or any liquids for that matter.
3. Shoot more photos! I don’t do it nearly enough lately. Maybe that’s in part due to the fact that it’s winter and takes more effort to get off my ass and outside. ;)

The Tough One:

1. Lose weight. My goal is 200lbs. That works out to about 5½ lbs per month to hit that by next year. Possible? We’ll see. One month at a time is all it takes. My idea is to not necessarily focus so much on what I eat, but more on how much I eat. Naturally, I’ll eat healthier stuff, but I’m not going to eliminate some of the foods I like. I’ll just eat less of them. If I cut all of that out, I’ll be miserable and give up.

It feels great to not put down “Quit Smoking” as a resolution for the first time in forever, because I kicked that bitch out of my life almost a year ago. :)

Week 21 - Laser Pointer Art

Laser Pointer Art (21/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

I almost forgot about a photo for this week. I'm sure I could have dug up another Christmas photo, but instead I decided on something completely different.

Ever since I first saw this done, it was on my to-do list. Luckily for me, our cat got a laser pointer for Christmas. This also gave me an opportunity to use my wired remote shutter that I bought off eBay, and try out the BULB exposure mode on my Canon.

I brought all of my equipment to the basement and set it up on the tripod. I remembered reading that the ISO should be set to 100 and the focus set to manual. I first set the focus with the lens's autofocus and then switched it to manual so it didn't change.

I changed the exposure to BULB and then using my remote, fired off a few 3-4sec shots of the wall while the lights were on just to make sure I got the area I wanted.

Show time. Lights off. Stub toe on couch while walking back to my camera.

I turned on the laser pointer and aimed it at the wall where I wanted to start, turned it off again, pressed the shutter release, and then turned the laser back on and went nuts.

I repeated the process a few times, writing different things and drawing different pictures. The results were pretty good.

I then switched from my 18-200mm lens to a 10-20mm lens. This was a better move, imho. It allowed me to get closer to the wall while providing me with a nice wide angle "canvas".

This is only one of four that I posted on Flickr. Enjoy!

A new year. A new decade.

A blog toast, of sorts.

Here’s to you.

Here’s too all of our friends and family.

Here’s too all of the long-lost friends that we will reacquaint with in the coming years.

Here’s to all of loved ones who are no longer with us. We miss you all, every day.

Here’s to a new year and a new decade. May they bring you everything you’ve ever wanted in life, and more.

And finally, last, but not least… if there’s one thing you need to remember while you’re out partying it up tonight, it’s these eight words:

Keep the party alive – don’t drink and drive.
(because I need you… to read my blog next year) :-)

Play safe.

Week 20 - Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve (20/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

Yes, another Christmas tree shot for Project 52.

I took this one on Christmas Eve after my wife and I had finished placing all of the Christmas presents underneath the tree.

I LOVE the shadows being cast on the wall from the lights.

Notice that the lights are deep within the body of the tree? My wife said she saw some show that suggested doing that to give the tree more depth. Looks pretty nice, although I would have liked another string of lights to make it a little brighter.

Week 19 - Colour

Colour (19/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

It took me a while, but I finally shot a better photo of our lights. I waited until it wasn't as dark, and put my camera on the tripod for the shot.

This is the first year we put up lights so I wasn't quite sure where they'd all go, or where I'd even be able to put them since we have a rather short stepladder.

Can’t be my genes!

My 14 year-old son has more hair on his top lip than I had at 20. WTF?

Getting paid to promote your music

I read an old article earlier today where Trent Reznor said that Nine Inch Nails won’t be releasing any more tunes to games, like Rock Band.

On more than one occasion in the article, he said music isn’t a game.

“Music isn’t a game, it’s supposed to be an emotional kind of experience.”

“I want it to be an album, a piece of music and not a game.”

Having your music in a game doesn’t make your music a game. It doesn’t take away from the “emotional kind of experience” at all. At least not in my eyes.

It’s a golden opportunity to introduce your music to new ears. Get old ears excited about an upcoming release. And on top of that, I’m sure they get a cut of the $$ made selling the songs as download content for a game like Rock Band.

That’s even better than free publicity. That’s paying publicity.

Since my wife and I got hooked on the Rock Band and Guitar Hero franchises, we’ve been introduced to many new bands and I’ve bought the music as a result. These are sales that probably never would have happened otherwise.

I’m sure there are bands out there that would kill for an opportunity like that.

I think Trent is missed the point. His loss. Hopefully some other band’s gain.

Open message to all celebrity endorsed companies

I don’t buy your product because a celebrity says they use it.

I don’t buy your product because a celebrity is used in your advertising.

I won’t stop buying your product because a celebrity you used to endorse your product is no longer the squeaky clean person you thought they were.

I buy your product because I like it and as long as I continue to like it, I’ll continue to buy it.

-=-

Is a product A better than product B because celebrity A is in the TV commercial?

Is product A suddenly worse than product B because celebrity A has fallen from grace?

Of course not.

If I’m looking for… golf clubs, I might care that Tiger Woods uses a certain brand. That’s a topic that I’m sure he knows a lot about. Is that product suddenly crap because he made bad choices in his personal life?

If I’m looking for razor blades, I could care less that he uses a certain brand. If you want to sell me your brand, show me a guy who can grow a 5 o’clock shadow by 9am and how your product solves that problem.

If you’re using a celebrity to endorse a product that they probably know very little about, I am more inclined to think that you’re hiding something. Maybe your product can’t sell based on its own merits?

That’s how I think.

If more people thought the same way, you could save the millions that you’re spending on celebrity endorsements. Try using real people to sell your product, and maybe you could then make your product even more affordable. Not only that, if the celebrity ever does anything to tarnish their image, you won’t have to back-pedal out of the deal.

Tell me what your product does and why I should buy it. Convince me.

If I believe it, I’ll buy it, and try it. If I like it, I’ll continue to buy it.

I’m curious. Do you buy a certain brand because a celebrity endorses it? Please take a moment and answer the quick yes/no poll at the link.

Follow @DrewFromTV

If you’re on Twitter, you need to follow @DrewFromTV. It’s Drew Carey… from TV. :) For every follower he gets by the end of 2009, he’ll donate $1 to LIVESTRONG in the fight against cancer. The goal is $1 million but he’s about 713,000 short of that goal.

Even if you’re not on Twitter, join and follow just because you can. It’s too easy and can make a difference.

Fun with Facebook Indexing

The latest Facebook status trend is amusing. People all over Facebook are posting this in their status:

Facebook will automatically index all your info on Google, which allows everyone to view it. To change this option, go to Settings --> Privacy Settings --> Search --> then UN-CLICK the box that says 'Allow indexing'. Facebook kept this one quiet.

Head on over to The Squid Zone for some good info and handy tips, if you’re the paranoid type.
Now for some fun.

1. Log into your Facebook account.
2. At the top-right of your Facebook page, where it says Search, type in allow indexing and hit enter.
3. On the left, click on Posts by Everyone
4. Sit back and enjoy the continuous status updates. It’ll refresh on its own.

What makes this more amusing is that all of those status updates are from people you don't know. All people who have their shorts in a knot about keeping their information private or for “friends only”.

Oh the irony.

Come on people. Facebook is a social networking site. If you lock all of you information up, how the hell is anyone you know supposed to find you? If you’re not willing to be a little “social” and do some “networking”, why are you there?

UPDATE: I’m sure this wasn’t there before, but now when you follow those instructions to turn off indexing, you get the following pop-up message:

Worried about search engines? Your information is safe.
There have been misleading rumors recently about Facebook indexing all your information on Google. This is not true. Facebook created public search listings in 2007 to enable people to search for your name and see a link to your Facebook profile. They will still only see a basic set of information.

See? You’ve been indexed since 2007. :)

Blog housekeeping (blog keeping?)

I decided to take some control over the categories I use in my blog. For some odd reason, I was using them more like keywords. As a result, it created far too many one-time-use categories.

As I went through them, I sometimes paused to read an older post. One of them is my Bucket List. It’s not exactly a year since I posted it, but I thought it would be cool to update on my progress.

1. Weigh 200lbs or less (target = summer) – FAIL… I’ll take this one on next.
2. Quit smoking – DONE! Almost a year now.
3. Visit the UK (where I was born, and where my cousins, aunts, and uncles live) – Still to do.
4. Visit my Dad's grave site in Louisiana. – Still to do.
5. Own a Ford Mustang. :D – Still to do.
6. Visit every province in Canada (6 to go... not including the territories) – Still to do.
7. Cycle 1000kms in one year (this may not seem like much to some people, but considering I tend to cycle once per weekend, in spring & summer only, that's about 80kms per weekend -- double what I usually ride...) – FAIL… in fact, I hardly cycled at all this past summer.

Week 18 - Brandy

Brandy (18/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

We went to Ian's Evergreen Plantation on Saturday morning to cut our own Christmas Tree. This is the second year we've gone there. They have reindeer for the kids to see, and a horse. This is Brandy.

It would have been nice to get a good photo of the reindeer, but they decided to stay at the far corner of their pen. I managed to shoot a few pics, but unfortunately nothing really worth choosing as my weekly photo. You can see a few that I took by clicking on this photo.

The “honour” print system

This has to be one of the funniest things I’ve seen in some time.

I read an article on CBC’s web site this afternoon and thought my wife would be interested in reading it on our drive home from work.

I’m pretty computer savvy and I know how to print stuff from my web browser, but most web sites will provide you with a “print” link so you can print something out, formatted for printing. It’s cleaner and doesn’t waste paper.

CBC’s web site is no exception.

I clicked the print link directly above the news article. The window that popped up nearly made me fall off my chair.

What’s this? I’m allowed to print 5 copies for “free” on my own printer. If I want to print 6 or more, I have to pay? Pay to print 6 or more copies on my own printer, using my own ink and paper?

If I choose “File > Print” in Firefox, there is nothing to stop me from printing as many copies as I want. How could they stop me from printing more than 5 copies using their method?

So, I clicked Go> beside the Free Print option.

The news article appeared, formatted for printing (without ads, thanks to AdBlock Plus). Along the top of the formatted web page was this banner:

Not surprising that there was nothing they could do to prevent me from printing 6 or more copies. They were trusting me to print 5 or less.

“ROFLMAO” was invented specifically for times like this.

I had to find out what would happen if I clicked the Instant Print option.

Seriously, CBC, are you that hard up for cash that you have to try to charge people to print a copy of your news article?

Do you really think your readers are dumb enough to willingly pay you for the “honour” of printing it using their own printer?

Week 17 - Our Lights

Our Lights (17/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

A pretty sad photo of our Christmas lights this year taken with my cell phone.

This is actually the first year that we put lights up. It started off with two strings along the eaves-trough and around the window. That ended up looking rather pathetic. So we picked up two more strings of lights and I ran them down the drain pike, and along the bottom edge for the house.

I plan to take a better photo and put it up soon.

Making a few bucks… or hoping to

You may have noticed a recent addition to my blog (aside from today’s colour change)

Some of the photos I have posted on here now have “Buy Print – Buy Card – Send E-card” links above them. This comes courtesy of Fotomoto.

Although I am an amateur photographer, I think some of my photos are worthy of selling prints for. I don’t expect to get rich from this, or even make enough to quit my day job, but if I can sell a few here and there, it can help me to upgrade my equipment or buy more photography books. That’s all I’m hoping for.

If you see a photo here that doesn’t have a purchase option that you would like to buy, or if there’s one Flickr photostream that you like, let me know and I’ll put it up here.

By the way, the E-cards are always free. :)

Week 16 - Bridal Boutique

Bridal Boutique (16/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

Nothing new to post this week, so I picked another out of my collection.

I took this photo of my sister's bridal shop a few weeks ago. This photo is being used in a printed ad in a wedding publication to be given out at bridal shows.

Week 15 - Atrium view

Atrium view (15/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

While catching up on work this weekend, I decided to use the opportunity to grab a shot for my project using my cell phone.

This is what it's like in the atrium at Corel Corporation. Every second floor has a catwalk that goes from the elevator side, over the atrium to the other side. This was taken from the 3rd floor catwalk, facing the elevators.

I love this building.

Week 14 - Dad

Dad (14/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

Ok, I’m cheating on my photo of the week again.

I didn’t take this photo. I scanned it a couple of years ago from one of many that my Mom had in a shoe box.

This is my Dad. He passed away from liver cancer in 1998. Yesterday would have been his 71st Birthday.

May he rest in peace.

Miss you, Dad.

Week 13 - Wedding gown

Wedding gown
Originally uploaded by Twister65

We spent a few hours at my sister's new bridal shop on Saturday, snapping photos of some of the dresses she sells to post on her web site. This is one of my favourites.

If you're looking for a bridal gown or a formal dress, she's got really great prices. She she puts it "outlet prices in a boutique setting".

It’s Kimberley Wilson Bridal & Fashion Outlet on Beechwood in the New Edinburgh area.

Week 12 - Got brains?

Got brains? (12/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

My wife and I went out to a Halloween party on Friday night and this is how I went. The night was a blur and I can barely remember walking home shortly before 5:00am. :)

Week 11 - Peonies and yard clean up

Peony (11/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

I'm cheating this week. I don't have any new photos from this week to put up, so I'm digging out an old one.

Having said that, there is a reason why I chose this one. Today I raked all the leaves from the front and backyards, and dug up all of the dead plants and flowers. In the process, I decided to split the peony's root into a few smaller roots to plant elsewhere in our flower bed.

I hope they all continue to grow in the spring. Although the flowers don't live very long, they're beautiful and smell really nice.

Week 10 - Patience and a little luck

Patience and a little luck
Originally uploaded by Twister65

We picked up a bird feeder last week and I finally got around to buying a bracket and putting it up yesterday. Almost immediately, the birds arrived.

This afternoon, the squirrels were trying to get at it. At first it was funny to watch them dangling from the pole and the bracket, as the bird feeder kept spinning away out of reach. Persistence paid off for them, and it wasn't long before they were either hanging by the rear legs and grabbing seeds, or sitting perched on top of the feeder. I chased them away countless times before I decided it was time to move the feeder out of reach.

Before doing so, I sat out back with my camera and took a bunch of shots of the chickadees. Patience and a little luck paid off and I got a pretty neat shot.

Thanks?

It’s the Canadian Thanksgiving today!

It’s time for family and friends to get together and give thanks for… blah, blah, blah, blah, blah… *yawn*

We give thanks for everything now. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but to do it once  a year really is dumb and unless we’re talking to the people we’re thanking, it’s rather pointless.

Thankful for friends. Thankful for being employed. Thankful for having a roof over our heads. Thankful for our health.

The list goes on.

Are we not thankful for these things any other day of the year? Sure we are. So, why do we feel the need to celebrate being thankful for these things one day of they year?

“It’s tradition!”

What a load of crap. Tradition is being thankful for the end of harvest.

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why you are thankful for friends? Are you thankful that they took pity on you and decided to be your friend? Huh? Give yourself some credit. Perhaps you’re just a likeable person? Thank yourself for that. Or maybe you should thank their parents for having sex.

Stop bitching about your job if you’re thankful for being employed. Thank your boss for not firing your whiny ass, or choosing you when they had to make a choice of who to let go during a layoff. If you don’t like your job enough to bitch about it, go find another one and be thankful that you have a choice.

While we’re at it, stop bitching that it’s a Monday. At least you woke up in the morning.

Thank a doctor for your health. Hell, thank your parents, or whoever raised you.

The point is, don’t wait for one day of the year to sit around a table, stuff your face, and tell other people why you’re thankful. You can sit around and stuff your face any time.

Tell the people who deserve the thanks and don’t wait for the second Monday in October to do it.

Thank YOU for reading.

Week 9 - Mer Bleu Bog

Mer Bleu Boardwalk
Originally uploaded by Twister65

My wife, daughter and I took a drive out to the Mer Bleu Bog for a walk on the boardwalk today. The parking lot was quite full, yet we didn't run across too many people on the actual boardwalk. It was quite cool, and very windy in the open areas of the boardwalk. About 3/4s of the way around the boardwalk look, we smelled a strong cedar aroma. My wife noted that it reminded her of wood shavings that we used for our hamster cage years ago. I love that smell.

A solution to constant MSN Messenger Live disconnects

Image via Wikipedia

A couple of weeks ago, I tried to sign onto my personal Messenger account while I was at work. I’ve been doing this for years without any problem.

Not this time.

After a few seconds of being connected online it disconnected me. I could only sign on using an offline status. Online, Busy and Away would all disconnect me within seconds.

I tried my work-related Messenger account and it remained online.

I was stumped. I tried everything I could think of. The same computer, and the same Messenger executable. The only difference was the accounts. I even tried an old account that I no longer use and it also worked fine.

I started to wonder if something changed on our corporate network causing Hotmail messenger accounts to be blocked.

Today, I came across the solution. The solution I found in this thread was as follows:

Have you tried checking your Live group memberships? I had exactly the same problem of Live Messenger 2009 signing in, showing my contacts status then disconnecting - but only when connected to the company network (either directly or through VPN). From suggestions on other forums, I tried using my son's Live ID to sign in with the same result, then I tried using my youngest daughter's Live ID (which I have severely restricted with various bits and pieces) - the connection stayed UP!!!

After looking into this further, I realised that some time ago I had accepted an invitation from my son to join a Live Group he had set up for the family (his younger sister hadn't been able to accept the invitation because of the all the restrictions I had on her account).
I went into the Group options and left the group and Hey Presto! my Messenger now stays connected even within the company network.
Hope this helps someone.

I fixed my messenger problem.

It made sense. About a week before this problem started, I had created a Live Group on Messenger Live. It was the second group I created, the first being created over a year ago. Since I didn’t do anything with this second group, I deleted it and tried going online again. It didn’t work. However, the group still appeared in my Messenger contact list. I shut down Messenger and re-launched it. The group was now gone… and I was able to go online and stay online.

Perhaps something did change on our network, or perhaps it had to do with not having any members in the group I created. Who knows? I’m just happy it’s fixed.

I blogged this with the hope that the solution spreads around to others who are experiencing the same problem.

Week 8 – Faces of my children

I discovered the collage feature of Picasa. :)

These are all of my two children, Kyle and Kaitlyn.

250

I missed a milestone yesterday.

It was day 250 since I quit smoking.

This is the longest I’ve ever gone without a smoke, since I started smoking when I was 18 or 19 years old. I quit many times over the years, and in some cases for a couple of years, but I always cheated now and then and had a smoke or a puff, and then I’d be good again for months.

This time there has been no cheating.

I haven’t had any real craving since I quit, but as each day goes by, my determination to remain a non-smoker continues to get stronger.

I’ve felt that I had this beat within a few weeks of quitting, and I still feel that way.

This week, my wife finally started reading the book that helped me quit: Alan Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking. I hope she sticks with it.

According to my sister, earlier this week my Mom quit smoking. I think she’s doing it cold turkey.

Life. Is. Good.

Week 7 - Rejection

You get three photos to choose from for this weeks Project 52 submission.

I don’t claim to be a fantastic photographer, but I’d like to think that I’m at least pretty good and occasionally take a shot worthy of selling at some point in my future.

Apparently, I still need a lot of work.

A few weeks ago I decided to join a reputable stock photo web site and see if there was any potential to make a few bucks to help support my hobby.

I uploaded a few samples and waited. I waited weeks before they were reviewed. Finally, about a week ago, they were reviewed… and rejected.

Granted, it was my mistake for uploaded three similar images. I don’t know why I did, but I did. Fair enough. I waited the specified time to upload three more samples and did so last night.

I got the rejected message this morning.

I realize I shouldn’t let it bother me. But it does. It does because I searched their web site and found similar photos to what I uploaded. No offence to those photographers, but if theirs got approved I see no reason why mine could not sit among them. Some of them left me scratching my head.

These were the last three that I uploaded. Are they excellent photos? I think they are. I’ve had people tell me they really like them.

Apparently, they’re not worthy. Are they my best work? I dunno. Isn’t that left to the eye of the beholder, or something like that?

They were kind enough to give me 7 days to stew review training materials, resources and articles provided before I can upload 3 more samples (for them to reject?)

*sigh*

I don’t know if I’ll bother. I think I’ll just stick with doing this entirely for the fun of it, and support my hobby when I can afford to do so.

Week 6 - Zzzz...

Zzzz... (6/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

This is our cat Sam (Samantha). She's about 16 years-old and we think she's either deaf, or extremely hard of hearing now. Maybe that's somewhat of a good thing because she tends to be easily spooked by noises. Now she can sleep without interruptions -- like when I take her picture. :)

Could it be?

As of last night, the status of my Batman: Arkham Asylum game order at BestBuy.ca changed to “In Stock”. However, the web site still indicates that the product is sold out. I checked it again this morning and the status is the same, but the game has yet to be shipped.

I’m having second thoughts about even keeping the game now. Maybe I can sell it for a bit more than I paid for it and buy the overpriced NHL 10. It’ll be factory sealed, after all, and it retails for $69.99. If I could get $55 for it I’d be happy. :)

Update Sept 17: it shipped this evening.
Update Sept 18: it arrived today.

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• BestBuy.ca = fail (scottpaterson.org)

Week 5 - A moment of weakness

A moment of weakness
Originally uploaded by Twister65

I was trying to get a self-portrait that didn't really look like it was posed for. Not an easy task.

And then I wondered if I could show some emotion for the shot, like someone took it during a "moment of weakness" when I appeared to be lost in my thoughts -- sad thoughts. I ended up taking 22 shots, and this was one of the last ones.

I converted it to B&W, darkened the tone a little and blurred the background a little more.

I like it.

Dany Heatley traded!

Suckahs. :)

See, I am just like the sports media spreading bullshit rumours of a so-called trade, without posting facts to back it up. I'm no better and no worse than any of them. And as a bonus, if a trade happens today, I can claim to be the first to announce it. Fuck all the rest of ‘em! :)

Seriously, that's what it boils down to. They all want to be the one to claim the fame about the announcement, so they can drive traffic and revenue on their web site, and/or sell newspapers. They don’t care about posting facts and real stories.

It'll be interesting to see just how many hits my blog gets today as a result of this lame posting. Sorry, if I got your hopes up. I had to do it. Do me a favour, and keep spreading the tweet.

Technorati Tags: nhl,heatley,sens,ottawa,hockey

BestBuy.ca = fail

On August 21st, I read that the new Batman: Arkham Asylum game for the Xbox360 was on sale at Best Buy and Future Shop for $38.83. That's an amazing price for a game that was to hit the shelves a few days later on August 25th.

BestBuy.ca offered free shipping on orders over $39, so I added a Xbox Live 1400 point card to my order and checked off the option to deliver the items separately if necessary.

I got the XBL points card on August 28th.

To date, I am still waiting for the game.

BestBuy.ca has been "Out of stock" or "Sold out" since August 25th. However, the stores continue to get it in stock.

I have sent TWO separate messages to their customer service by filling out the form on their web site, asking why the web store has yet to get any in stock.

To date, I have received ZERO replies. Although, I have received two automated messages informing me of the obvious -- that the item is out of stock.

At one point, I had considered canceling the order, but it seems that I can't even do that. I assume that's because it's part of a split-order, for which half has already been fulfilled with free shipping. I can't even change it to "Store pick-up".

This weekend, they put the game on sale AGAIN for $58.83, and online stock remained "Sold out" the entire time. (it still remains sold out as I type this)

I haven't been billed for the game, so as far as I'm concerned I'll wait until it has been fulfilled, but I'm gearing up to send their head off a snail mail complaint.

I can understand if it's difficult to get any in stock for the stores and the online store, but when the stores can get it in stock but not the online store... there's something wrong with that.