When we moved into our rural home over 5 years ago, there wasn’t much choice concerning the Internet. It was either slow dial up over bad quality country phone lines or expensive line-of-sight wireless (microwave) Internet by either Storm or RipNet (out of Brockville, ON).

We got both Storm and RipNet in to do a sight survey, and Storm wanted $1200 to put up a tower, while Ripnet wanted just some $200 for a small tripod to put on top of the roof. Naturally, we went with Ripnet in August 2005. In order to minizime the cost to us, we signed up on a three year contract so we would not have to pay any installation charges. The fee for Internet access was $40/month plus $20 for equipment rental. For this we got 3 Mb/s, which was very fast back then.

Over the years, new technologies came and went until this spring Bell came out with the Turbo Stick, a cellular based internet service that promises “up to” 21 Mb/s. Being well past our first three years into Ripnet, thinking I was on some sort of a month-to-month thing with them, I signed up with Bell on the condition we could get reception at home.

I installed everything at home, and what do you know, we got “excellent reception” and 12 Mb/s, which was about 5 times faster than what we got with Ripnet. After a full two weeks of testing, Bell was up 100% of the time, versus Ripnet which always seem to have problems (especially on Saturday and Sunday mornings, much to the chagrin of my wife). Plus, Bell’s service was only $39.95/month with no access fees or equipment charges. It seemed to be a no brainer.

I contacted Ripnet to tell them I was going to cancel. A few days later I got an email back saying I was in the middle of a contract and if I wanted to get out of it I would have to pay 50% of the remaining value, plus a $90 “retrieval fee” for the equipment.

I wrote them back saying they were wrong and that my contract expired a few years back.

They replied by sending me a PDF of the contract I signed five years ago, and pointed to the following section:

1.2 Term: The term of this Agreement(”Term”) commences as of the date of installation of the Hardware and terminates, subject to renewal and early termination, on the last day of the time frame selected by you under Residential Service Plans in 1.1, above. Either party may give at least thirty (30) days’ advance written notice of its intention to terminate this Agreement as of the last day of the Term. Otherwise, this Agreement shall automatically renew for a successive term of identical time period on the same terms and conditions as set forth in this Agreemen, subject to reasonable changes in the fee schedule charged by Supplier to remain current with Supplier’s then applicable rates. Supplier will provide reasonable notice to Customer of changes in rates prior to each renewal of the Agreement.

So, without my knowledge (and who ever reads these contracts??) they had automatically renewed my contract by another three year term, and I was now two years into it, unable to cancel it.

Now, I realise this agreement is perfectly legal. And legal council tells me it is quite normal for such a contract to be signed between bigger corporations, although not usually between a corporation and the public. So, it is legal, but it is not a very nice way to treat your “valued customers” (as we are called on the Ripnet website). A courtesy mailing or call just before the automatic renewal comes up would have been a nice touch. Maybe even offer an opt-out like many other companies are doing now.

Anyway, I pointed out to them their precious contract didn’t say ANYTHING about $90 “retrieval fee” so I demanded they take that off the bill. Begrugingly, they did.

So, now I owe them about $250 plus tax. I am saving about $40/month with the cheaper service now, so in the end I’ll gain, but I am not very happy to let Ripnet get away with treating their “valued customers” like they are faceless money machines.

I am told I can send them a check marked “under protest” and take it up with small claims court over the fact that it is not very clear that the term gets automatically renewed.

Still deciding on that one.

Since we got a new plasma TV over Christmas, and I wanted to get some sort of PVR thing going, I thought it was time to upgrade our Bell ExpressVu receivers to HD ones. I opted for the cheaper one (I’m Dutch) to which one can attach a USB hard drive to turn it into a PVR. The unit was $199. We could also rent it for $10 per month, but that defeats the purpose: we’d make back our rent within 20 months of buying it.

So I gathered up all my patience and headed for a Bell World. The transaction was remarkably smooth (for a Bell World) and I was out with my new receiver within 10 minutes. A pimply teenager told me I needed to “upgrade my dish” to be able to get HD signals (I didn’t know this: no mention of this on the Bell website), but that the upgrade was “free of charge”, just call and book an appointment.

Right.

First of all, everyone knows one cannot simply call the 1-888-SKY-DISH phone number without destroying at least part of your living room out of frustration. And second, I don’t have 6 spare hours to spend on hold. So I headed to the “helpful” Bell website, and clicked on “book an installation appointment online” button.

Right again.

Through this button I filled out a simple form. In the “comment” box I stated that I wanted my FREE dish upgrade.

This is where the fun begins.

First up was Anirvan Halder. He wrote me in an email:

I understand that you would like to install the free upgrade to your Bell TV satellite dish since you had purchased a new HD receiver.
I will surely address the issue.

and then the kicker:

You are requested to add 4 HD theme packs for just $10.00 per month before booking the service call for the installation of the Nimiq 2 hardware. If you do not add the HD theme packs then you will be billed for the Nimiq 2 hardware installation.

Hmmm… no mention of this on the Bell Website, or the pimply Bell Worlder. So I wrote back a nasty email complaining about this fact.

Next up was Partha Pratim Dasgupta. He/she wrote:

If I understood your reply correctly, you are concerned about the Nimiq 2 upgrade. We are thankful to you for writing to Bell TV and providing us the opportunity to assist you. I will definitely assist you with this concern.

and:

I would like to inform you that, this upgrade is absolutely free of charge (Customers are required to subscribe to and pay for a Nimiq 2 Programming package (i.e. HD, International) in order to be eligible for this free upgrade).

and in closing:

Hope I have been able to address your concern. 

Thank you for choosing Bell TV as your satellite provider, Ms. Gerrits.

You know, Partha, that didn’t really answer my questions. Nor am I a ‘Ms’… So I wrote another email. My language is getting quite… hmm… frustrated… basically I tell them where they can stick that $10 a month.

Back comes Anirvan Halder:

Please note that you can also subscribe to 1 HD theme pack for just $5.00 per month to avail the installation of the Nimiq 2 hardware free of cost.

Getting kind of tired of the process, I figured: fine, I’l sign up for the $5/month and then as soon as the installation goes through, I cancel that package. So I send them an email (remember, this is the online Booking Request) with my available times, and they can pick any of them to book the appointment.

Anirvan again:

I understand that you would like to add the HD Variety theme pack to install the Nimiq 2 free of cost. I will definitely assist you with this.

I cannot provide any specific information of your account because your PIN was not included with this reply. Please note that it is mandatory to provide the security PIN, if a customer replies after 7 or more than
7 days.

First of all, I would not LIKE to add the HD variety theme pack, I am FORCED TO. Secondly, NOW you want my PIN?

Fine. I send my PIN.

Aditi Roy this time:

I understand that you would like to book an appointment for your NIMIQ 2 installation. I will surely look into the matter.

You do that. Then the final straw:

In this regard you need to provide a suitable time for booking the order. Kindly speak to our technical department at 1-888-SKY-DISH for further help.

And there you go. Two weeks later and I am back to calling 1-888-SKY-DISH. I understand the problem, I am definitely getting tired of this and will surely shoot myself soon.

Two weeks, no HD yet. To be continued…

The Ottawa Citizen has been running a smear campaign aimed at the federal Conservatives called “Wish You Were Here“. This campaign is to highlight the federal prorogation and keep it in the eye of the public even though nobody else is talking about it anymore. Every day, it lists a number of area MPs and gives us their schedules to see what they are up to because they aren’t working on the hill.

However, today’s edition went horribly wrong: it seems the cons are working hard with many meetings and visits, the libs are either taking the day off or not saying where they are, the bloc did not respond, and the one NDPer is working:

John Baird (Cons.) Ottawa West-Nepean:

Three constituency meetings. Meeting with deputy minister on three issues. Infrastructure Canada briefing. Meeting with Department of Finance regarding budget Recommendations.

Mauril Belanger (Lib.) Ottawa-Vanier:

Declined to provide a copy of his schedule but says he is working every day.

Lawrence Cannon (Cons.) Pontiac:

Meetings and briefings.

Paul Dewar (NDP) Ottawa Centre:

Drop in to Dovercourt Recreation Centre for Family Day Free Swim. Attending CAS Foster a Snow Angel event on Parliament Hill. Reviewing constituent requests and follow-up. Official correspondence — foreign affairs and constituency matters. Research on foreign policy issues in preparation for diplomatic meetings. Speech preparation for remarks to Child Welfare League. Imagine Haiti Fundraiser at Arts Court.

Royal Galipeau (Cons.) Ottawa-Orléans:

YMCA. Heritage Canada Foundation. Meeting constituents about Canada Revenue Agency issues. Preparing ministerial memoranda about key economic development issues that impact on Ottawa-Orléans. Family Day Potluck Supper at Grace Presbyterian Church, Orléans. Evening activity in support of the victims of the recent Haiti Earthquake, Arts Court.

David McGuinty (Lib.) Ottawa South:

Spending Family Day with wife and four children.

Richard Nadeau (BQ) Gatineau:

Did not respond.

Gordon O’Connor (Cons.) Carleton-Mississippi Mills:

Declined to provide a copy of his schedule.

Pierre Poilievre (Cons.) Nepean-Carleton:

7:50 a.m.: Morning briefing. 9 a.m.: Reading correspondence. 10:30 a.m.: Travel to meeting. 11 a.m.: Meeting with PMO policy advisers. This meeting runs until 2 p.m. with possibility of extending to 4 p.m.

Marcel Proulx (Lib.) Hull-Aylmer:

Schedule details unavailable.

The same professional “protesters” who keep crashing the G8 and G20 summits everywhere. Organized, and bused in, carrying weapons and wearing ski masks, these are no ordinary protesters. These are anarchists. Most of the time, these idiots don’t even know what they are protesting. All they look for is clashing with local police to get them on the evening news crying about police brutality.

Go home and get a life, you bums.

… it better not be David Suzuki.

He is BC’s pride…

Toronto mayor Miller came to Giambrone’s aid today saying “The government has no business in the bedroom of the nation” (I know, highly original).

Excuse me, if I was living in Toronto, and was headed for the polls this fall, I’d say: “I would  like to know whether I am voting for a nice, upstanding man with integrity or a lying, cheating sleaze ball.”

But I don’t live in Toronto, so I won’t say that.

Here is today’s Ottawa Citizen front page:

Can you find him? Can you?

I’ll enlarge the section I’m talking about:

‘Nuff said…

Randall Denley had a great column in the Ottawa Citizen yesterday: Magic money just a McGuinty trick about Dalton’s new found money to help those poor Nortel employees who lost their pensions just before there happens to be a by election in their riding.

He writes:

Ottawa West-Nepean Liberal candidate Bob Chiarelli wished that the provincial government had done something to help angry Nortel pensioners who live in his riding. Presto, no sooner had Chiarelli made his wish than Finance Minister Dwight Duncan made it a reality. And on a Sunday, too.

and:

In April of last year, the premier said he just couldn’t guarantee help for the Nortel pensioners. There was no by election then, of course.

Randall fails to mention though, the same thing happened a few years back with hospital funding in Toronto when Georgie Smitherman needed to be elected in his riding.

Earlier this week, to the question if this is just vote buying in the eyes of the voters, Dalton replied arrogantly: “the voters of Ontario will have a chance to let us know how they feel come election time” [paraphrased]. Well, the “voters of Ontario” will only be able to vote on this nearly two years from now (and we all know how long the memory of the average Ontario voter lasts), and the voters in the West-Nepean riding sure aren’t as objective as the rest of us, now are they?

Yes, I finally did it. I installed a new theme for my blog. Functionally it is working, although there’s still a lot of tweaking to do. But I figured three days is enough to be down…

The Photo and Pages sections are being worked on the coming weeks, so keep checking back to see the final result. All other sections will be worked on as well.

Anyway, don’t hesitate to let me know what you think. (be kind).

Discuss.

The next time you grab your digital camera, phone or PDA to browse the ‘Net or talk to your friends, or control your fridge, or whatever you do with your phone, I want you to think of the two people who made it possible: Professor Steve Furber, and Sophie Wilson (formerly Roger Wilson). Back in the early eighties, these two people, with no team or money, developed the original ARM1 microprocessor chip, the predecessor of the StrongARM chip, which core is now used in over 90% of the world’s hand-held devices. Without their work, there would not have been such an explosion in hand held devices as we have seen in the past ten years. While Intel and IBM just wanted to make bigger and more powerful chips, Steve and Sophie set out to make the chip smaller and less power hungry for Acorn Computer’s new microcomputer. Steve tells this story:

“Acorn Computer realised that it needed a 16-bit microprocessor instead of an 8-bit, for its microcomputer which had been adopted as the BBC Micro. Acorn CEO Hermann Hauser asked Intel if they could license the 286 but Intel said No.”

There were, however, other 16-bit microprocessors, and the job of evaluating them fell to Furber.

“We looked at National Semiconductor’s and Motorola’s but they were too slow “, says Furber. The obvious answer was to design their own but this looked daunting.

“The general view was that microprocessors had a mystique – that they were designed by very special people”, says Furber, “I’d never designed a microprocessor, and everything I knew about them I’d learned at the Cambridge University Microprocessor Group where people met to make computers for fun. We knew that it had taken National 200 years of development time to build their 16-bit microprocessor, and Acorn couldn’t afford that – we only had 300 people at the time.”

“Then we came across the Berkeley RISC. A group of graduate students had built a microprocessor with only a tiny percentage of the resources used by National. In late 1983, I started working closely with Sophie Wilson who had developed all the versions of BASIC for the BBC Micro.”

“Sophie and I went on a trip to Phoenix to the Western Design Centre (an independent microprocessor design house which designed the 6502)”, remembers Furber, “we found it to be a cottage industry working in a bungalow in a back street. That gave us confidence. Sophie started playing with instruction set design. Our mentality was: ‘Let’s have a go at building a microprocessor’.”

The next problem was to persuade the boss. “Hermann was a great guy to work for ” says Furber, “if he had confidence in you technically he’d back a crazy idea. Building our own microprocessor was a crazy idea – but he backed it.”

“Steve is one of the brightest guys I’ve ever worked with – brilliant ” says Hauser, “and when we decided to do a microprocessor on our own I made two great decisions – I gave them two things which National, Intel and Motorola had never given their design teams: the first was no money; the second was no people. The only way they could do it was to keep it really simple.”

Furber defined the architecture while Sophie developed the instruction set. “While IBM spent months simulating their instruction sets on large mainframes, Sophie did it all in her brain,” remembers Hauser.

It was the birth of a microprocessor phenomenon – a chip which did the same amount of work as other 16-bit microprocessors but used one tenth of their transistors – and consequently one tenth of their electricity.

“At 1pm on April 13th 1984, the first ARM microprocessors arrived back from the manufacturer – Plessey”, recalls Furber, “they were put straight into the development system which was fired up with a tweak or two and, at 3 pm, the screen displayed: ‘Hello World, I am ARM’.”

JANUARY 27 UPDATE: Apple just unveiled iPad tablet computer powered by, you guessed it, a customized A4 chip based on a licensed ARM core.

A brand new garage for Ottawa’s OC Transpo’s bus fleet: $29 million.

Oh, the columns are placed so that our articulate busses can’t turn in it, better change the design while we’re building it: add $30 million.

Jeepers, we forgot: we have double-deckers too: raise the ceiling and add another $30 million.

Total: $97+ million dollars. For a garage.

Are you all nuts there at city hall?

From Greg Weston’s column in Sun Media papers today:

Less than an hour after a massive earthquake turned Haiti into an unimaginable hell of death and devastation, Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued an extraordinary call to action, remarkably putting the first Canadian rescue team on the stricken island by the next afternoon.

By all accounts, the launch of Operation Hestia (goddess of the hearth) was vintage Harper: No nonsense; no excuses.

It all started Tuesday evening, minutes after word of the Haitian catastrophe reached Harper’s office.

The PM was briefed aboard his jet as he arrived in Ottawa from a day-trip to Quebec, and immediately issued two clear orders from the plane.

First, the forever hands-on Harper demanded he be kept at the centre of the action and fully informed at all times.

Second, he made it crystal-clear that the Canadian government would do everything possible to come to the aid of the Haitian people – immediately.

One insider says everyone from the military brass to the high-ranking bureaucrats got the PM’s message: “He wanted it done, and he wanted it done two hours ago.” Defence Minister Peter MacKay was also sitting in a government jet, his flight delayed on the tarmac at Halifax airport, when his marching orders arrived from the PM’s plane.

Again, the directive from Harper left no room for interpretation.

As one senior official observed: “It was clear to everyone that by the next morning, the prime minister didn’t want to hear what anyone planned to do, but what we had already done.” Still on the runway in Halifax, MacKay was immediately on the phone to Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon.

Don’t let anybody tell you that Canada was too slow to react.

Donate to the Canadian Red Cross here.

The twelfth gift that Dalton gave to us

Twelve friends with handouts

Eleven denied taxes

Ten decades’ suff’rin’

Nine wisemen checkin’

Eight points of taxes

Seven solar farm plans

Six scandalled outfits

Five aging coal plants

Four product bans

Three sizes too small

Two frightened people

And a health tax to pay for our debt

Shoes are torture
When they’re too small
Or when they’re too tall

Shoes are torture
When they’re wet
Or when they’re full of sweat

Shoes are torture
When they’re holey
Or full of guacamole

But seriously people, shoes are not weapons of torture. One Taliban was hit with a shoe (and not even by us!), and the entire county screams of torture and our troops are war criminals and we broke international Geneva conventions.

Grow up. We’re at war. I challenge you to try to torture someone with a shoe. Stop trying to score political points on the back of our troops. Maybe Iggy, Jack and Gill can take a trip to Afghanistan and talk our way out of this war with a bouquet of roses and a bottle of Scotch.

I’m not paying no ransom.

Support our troops.

I want you to turn your attention to this McSquinty commercial, for the 2007 Provincial election. First, I want you to skip through the first minute of Liberal Propaganda, and head for the 1:00 mark and start listening (don’t watch his face or you might get sucked into it too!). Folks, he got elected on that 40 seconds of speech:

Now, merely two years later, we have a McGuinty-is-against-but-still-approved ”Afro- centered” high school in Toronto, and now he is mulling over a school for boys. I suppose boys and girls are just too different to be sharing a classroom. Our children who “need to be sharing a classroom together to learn from and accept their differences”, can’t really be expected to do that and are now being segregated one by one.

After watching people being more outraged by the Governour General’s real title than a 1 billion dollar eHealth scandal, and another slew of announcements (like: Dalton Days, insurrance going up 10-20%, numerous taxes [electronics, paint, tires etc.]) that didn’t inspire ANYONE to raise some questions, it seems the Ontario electorate just doesn’t care.

And that’s a very sad thing.