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Comment Good riddance (Score 5, Insightful) 159

The CMO didn't do anything, did you see any ads for BlackBerry 10? The marketing for the "flagship" product never existed, because the CMO dropped the ball. I'm actually surprised the CFO is leaving, he's been with BlackBerry for a long time. I would expect there to be a top exec shuffle with a new CEO considering the old CXX execs were pretty useless.

Comment Re:Don't even have to build it yourself (Score 2) 394

We've needed Gnome lite for years, I remember back in the earlier days of Gnome 2 memory use was deplorable then, and its not gotten any better. Along with the Gnome dev team constantly stuffing their opinions down the user's throats saying "Its for your own good, we're the devs, we know better than you." I remember when they decided it was a good idea to make the default action for Nautilus to be spacial, that pissed EVERY gnome user I knew then, and still know including myself off to high hell. The Gnome team has claimed in the past that they have cleaned up bloat, and made it faster, but I really beg to differ. The only reason I'm using Gnome still is because KDE blows, and my distro of choice hasn't implemented Gnome 3 yet. I know when it does, I'm switching to XFCE, I'm sick of the Gnome team and their shit. The bloat, and assuming they know better than me is getting old, and I can't stand it anymore

(We also need slashdot lite, I'm sick of this stupid AJAX shit, let me just post)

Comment A few a day (Score 1) 550

To be exact, 9 pills a day:

Ritalin (Methylphenidate)

Azathioprine

Salofalk (Mesalazine)

I was diagnosed with ADD in grade 3, I've been on ritalin since then, I've managed to get myself down to 10mg/day (1 tablet). I have Ulcerative colitis, so I'm on azathioprine to keep my immune system from going insane and ripping my large intestine to shreds again. The Salofalk helps prevent colon cancer from the aforementioned auto-immune disorder, and the immune suppressants. I was unfortunately informed a few weeks ago I'll probably be on the azathioprine and salofalk for the rest of my life... Despite this I have managed to live with the side effects of the azathioprine such as screwing with your energy levels, and making you generally feel like death. I spent nearly all of 2010 on Prednisone, and hope to never have to take that terrible medication again....

Comment Re:Under $100? More like under $30 (Score 1) 270

Unfortunately both Wind and Mobilicity, as well as Public Mobile only work in the GTA, their networks are tiny. Anywhere else, and you're roaming on robbers and getting raped by roaming charges. Plus, they use the "Other" 3G band, the same one that TMO uses in the states. Depending on where you go Bell/Telus/Robbers will be your best bet. Bell/Telus share the same CDMA and HSPA+ networks, bell owns everything east of manitoba-ish, telus owns the rest and the companies share. If you're going to Ontario, as long as you're below Timmins, you're probably going to have fine coverage, after that, well.... it gets kinda spotty....

As an example, here's Bell's coverage map:

http://www.bell.ca/shopping/PrsShpWls_Coverage.page

Comment Re:Boycott rogers.. (Score 1) 252

Where I live, its one of 2 (and then the resellers). Its either Bell for DSL, or Rogers for cable. All of the third party providers have to use Robbers or Bell as their transport provider to the plug in the wall in your house/apartment/domicile....

Now, TekSavvy is awesome, I have them for my DSL link and static IP I use for my servers. I get notification before scheduled downtime, I have never had an issue with them, and they're fair and affordable. I also have a Rogers cable line because 2.5-3Mbit DSL is just not fast enough when you want to do anything more than browse light pages. Rogers constantly fucks up everything. I had to fight with them to get things set up the first day. Bell Canada is no better, they 'auto-renew' contracts without prior consent, and then attempt to charge you outlandish termination fees. Fuck the big cable/telcos, fuck Cogrobellushaw.

Comment Re:So much for the safety of nuclear energy (Score 2) 752

Not only downwind from Nanticoke, but include the steel mills in the industrial sector, the ones for many years that belched out noxious, and toxic fumes completely uncontrolled. Add in the few Coking facilities that Stelco operated, as well as the many other things. There are parts of Hamilton harbour that are considered to be more toxic than nuclear waste dumps due to the concentration of coal tar, and industrial sludge that ended up there. When I lived in Hamilton, everything in my apartment was covered with a film of soot from the truck traffic, the smog, and the steel mills, and I lived on the mountain. However, Hamilton barely gets the brunt of the shit they generate though, it all blows across the bay to Burlington, the smog was insane when I lived in Burlington, there were days during the summer when we were told to not go outside at lunch due to the smog levels, there were days were you couldn't see the lake from a block away there was so much smog. I firmly believe that nuclear power is far safer, think about it how often do reactors meltdown, or catch fire? Now compare that to how much shit that a single coal fired power plant, or anything for that matter belches out into the atmosphere in a given day....

Comment Re:They don't have NIAGARA FALLS though (Score 1) 162

The casino crushed whatever was left of tourism in Niagara Falls NY. Love canal, and Oxychem probably didn't help. Its sad when I have to drive through the area to the Robert Moses parkway, I remember when I was a kid and Niagara Falls NY was just as much of a destination as Niagara Falls Ontario; and I'm only 25! And considering the Robert Moses Parkway, that highway is getting scary, parts of it are starting to fall off the cliffs, and all the state does is move the traffic over a lane to buy a little bit more time... How many more years till that whole part of the rock face is gone due to lack of maintenance....

Comment Re:Awesome.. (Score 1) 249

You could probably get Teksavvy (www.teksavvy.com). They're technically a Bell DSL re-seller, but their customer services is WAY better, and I feel better giving less money to Bell, and more money to the little guy

Comment Re:I've worked in a control room before (Score 1) 421

...Lastly a white board I think is essential. You need a way for each shift to write things down for the next shift. "This alarm keeps going of. Jim said to call him at home when it does and he'll log in to reset it" etc... Stuff like that is essential. Make them write a date next to each message so you know when somethings old and can probably be erased.

Isn't that what a good ticketing system is for? Cut a ticket, send out an email thread, have a shift handover list for every team, and so the incoming team knows what the hell is going on they can find the email with the corresponding ticket number

Comment This probably won't get read but... (Score 2, Informative) 421

I work in a NOC, 12hr rotating shifts, and we work 24/7/365 (and 366 on leap years :)). What I recommend is very comfortable fully adjustable high back chairs with a head rest.

As for monitors, you need to give them fully adjustable mounts, with nice high quality wide screen displays (Some may say standard aspect ratio, but seriously, widescreen would make my job SO much easier). 4 Monitors would be good too, 3 is good, 4 would be far better. Give them a powerful computer, and make sure they are kept up to date hardware wise, plus, if these people are technical, and you're giving them the keys to your castle, make sure they have admin rights on their own machines so they can fix minor issues without calling your IT Disservice Desk. Give them relatively unfiltered internet, night shifts get VERY boring. Make sure every telephone has a corded and cordless headset for comfortable use, holding a handset to the ear for long periods is hopeless, and wireless is good for short calls, but you need wired for anything long.

As for lighting, task lighting that the users can control is very important, as well as dimable overhead reflective lighting is important. As for desks, adjustable hight is important for comfortable use, and make them BIG. As for your video wall, make it a good size, and have it easily changeable if someone notices something important is missing, give them TV, hell, if you can, give them 2 'tvs', one for news, one for something else, and give them the ability to change the channels if they want to watch a hockey game at night, or if the olympics are on, etc, etc, etc.... Make sure the enviromental controls are good, and not constantly changing. Give them the ability to play music for the whole operation center, entertainment is BIG when working long shifts.

Give them a lounge to relax in before shift, or on lunch, or after shift. I think thats everything I can think of for now

Comment Re:Call Them (Score 2, Informative) 199

CDMA carrierS are Bell Canada and Telus, who also operate HSPA+ networks, Rogers is a pure GSM carrier who completely owns fido.
Roaming Data is fucking expensive, I speak from experience as someone who travels to the US very frequently. My solution to avoid these costs was to buy a US cell phone, on Pay as you go.

NOW, to answer this poor guy's question...
There is no easy way, all these solutions recommending google voice are phenomenal, until you realize that google voice doesn't work properly with most Canadian numbers. What I would recommend is a dual radio device, something like the BlackBerry Tour, or 8800. That way you can have a CDMA carrier, and a GSM carrier, both numbers are associated to the device, so both numbers will work. You could get a Rogers/Fido SIM with a monthly BB data plan and a sprint/vzw/whoever CDMA phone plan. When you go home to the states, cancel the data on the GSM carrier, pick it up on the CDMA carrier. This is probably your most affordable and easiest method, however its still is needlessly complex.

I wish you luck with whatever you do, as I'd love to figure it out for myself cause its painful to be without my BB when I'm in the states for more than a few days :S

Comment Re:Friends (Score 1) 504

Future Shop is the definition of scum in the consumer electronics field.

Try walking in to buy a single Bluray, or DVD, and they'll try to sell you a new TV, bluray player, receiver, speakers, and beer fridge, because they get a commission off every sale. Canadian Best Buy is by far the LEAST scummy big box store out there in Canada. Plus, Future Shop's return policy is terrible in comparison to BB canada (I've put it to the test a few times unintentionally)

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