Let me list a few research results and study results I actually read in reputable newspapers with credible sources. These researches have been published by universities, labs, and other public organizations.

• A T-Rex could outrun soccer player David Beckham.
  I coud have told you that off the top of my head considering the T-Rex has a leg span that’s a few times longer than David Beckham’s height, AND the T-Rex, after all, was a carnivore hunter. We’re not comparing an elephant with David. It’s a predator we’re talking about.
• When patients are diagnosed with a terminal disease such as cancer or HIV, their likelihood of committing suicide increases.
  What’s the first thing on your mind when you look towards the prospect of withering away with HIV? Or imagine yourself losing all your hair, going through intense chemotherapy which will perhaps buy you a few weeks while you are completely unable to enjoy life due to the excessive pain and the lack of energy, with full awareness that you are going to die within weeks. Suicide sound alright?
• Females are better at teaching boys to read.
  I can tell you that from personal experience. Unless you’re gay, you’re much more likely to be more focused when a female is the instructor.
• Women prefer muscular men as sexual partners.
  I’m not even going to start with this one.

According to recent studies, our tax money, as well as the donations and tuitions for university labs are being wasted to fund such studies.

I recently got an invitation from CMHC (Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation) to apply for a government grant of up to $25,000 to conduct research on Canadian housing trends. I think I have my results already :

• People prefer stainless steel appliances over plastic ones.
• Hardwood flooring is preferred over carpet flooring in the living room and other common sectors.
• Most people answered in a survey that they prefer larger bedrooms.
• A poll suggests that condo-dwellers prefer units with 2 parking stalls instead of just 1.

There we go. Can I have my $25,000 now before some other idiot wastes it?

1. Several years ago I was driving down a road which was somewhat curvy here and there. On the overpass walkway was a beautiful young brunette. Well, I say “young” but she was probably over 20, and I was 17 at the time. I stared at her, and the next thing I know, I almost bit the curve. It was coming right up so I had to quickly steer my car to NOT end up in the ditch.
2. I was sitting at a cafe, doing work on my laptop, drinking a freshly-ordered green tea, which by the way was very hot. Of course, one should drink it very slowly and carefully and NOT take the gulps. And then walks by a hot blonde right out the window. I took a gigantic gulp and now the inside of my mouth is burnt from tongue to top, from leftcheek to rightcheek. My teeth hurt from the heat. Should I sue her?
3. Once again. Driving. Saw some hot chick on a billboard and I almost ran a read light on a busy intersection. Yikes.

I was reading my daily fix of the National Post the other day, and a small article caught my attention.

Men : lost in the supermarket

U.S. [also applies to Canada just the same] me are doing more grocery shopping, both for themselves and their families, but retailers are still not doing much to make the trip any more enticing, retail consultants and industry experts say.

“Men do represent a large part of grocery shopping dollars and they aren’t being very well accommodated.  Sales are being lost,” said Mandy Putnam, vice-president at consulting firm TNS Retail Forward.

In a recent report titled Men in Grocery Stores, Putnam said that men shop inefficiently, which leads to missed sales for retailers.

“They never ask for help, except maybe from the butcher, but they always say they never had problems finding anything when the cashier at the register asks,” she said. Unlike women male shoppers typically focus more on convenience than price, and retailers will need to cater to that need, consultants said.

Men also tend to bristle at the overwhelming number of choices, Putnam said.

“One guy I thought was going to have a nervous breakdown in the cereal isle,” Putnam said.

 Well DUH.

I could have told you this a long time ago.

I moved out of home at the young age of 18 (got kicked out actually) and since then I’ve been holding my own for shopping etc. I’m 21 now, almost 3 years since I moved out of home (October marks the 3 year period) and I still have trouble at the grocery stores.

First of all, the inefficiency part is completely true. I rarely write down all the things I need, and I often come home and realize I forgot something. Do I necessarily go back the next day to get it? No. I just live without it unless it’s absolutely critical (like milk - I make protein shakes out of milk every day).

Secondly, I still don’t understand why, but I never ask for help finding something anyhow. The only way I get help is when I have a lost look on my face looking for something, and a store assistant feels pity for me and offers help. Otherwise, while I look for that something I need, I get distracted by other things, and then I forget about it.

Third, it is completely true that men look more for convenience than for cheaper prices. I could go to Costco, or the Great Canadian Super Store, which offers goods for a much cheaper price, in bulk. I never do that. The stores are too damn large, it takes me too long to find. I could probably save about $100/mth at least if I got into the habit of going to Costco, which is actually even closer than the Safeway or Marketplace IGA that I go to, but I still shun Costco for everyday goods. I’d rather go to a smaller store where I can get from one end of the store to another within 20 minutes and get it over with.

Lastly, the overwhelming number of choices is irritating. Trying to buy laundry detergent, yogurt, toilet paper, etc. is so fucking difficult you have no idea. I just stare at the shelves full of all sorts of brands and types of product and I am in complete shock. I often do mutter out loud, “why do they have to make 5 different brands?” at those aisles. I remember going to Shoppers Drug Mart to get sunscreen (and once again, Shoppers Drug Mart is much more expensive than Costco), and I thought I was going to freak right out. I can comprehend with that guy having a nervous breakdown at the cereal aisle.

Now, is this something we should blame the retailers for? No, men are just stupid at these things. 

I am hereby making a motion to make a certain degree of standards on odour to allow for admittance in to buildings and other public places that are NOT in open air.

The background behind this is :

I often work out of Blenz Cafe because they have free wireless internet and a great atmosphere. It is pretty much my second or third office.

A few days ago I was there working, burning the late-night oil at around 10:30 or so. I suddenly noticed a severe odour, mainly of cigarettes blended with body odour. It was basically like a fucking ashtray, except it was like you had your nose right into one.  It was this old degenerate of a guy who looks like he fought in the second world war, and smells so intensely all over of cigarettes and other things that it was just outrageous. Seriously, I could smell him from my seat while he was at the counter getting his drink.

After he sat down next to me (dirty old rat has a laptop, so he sits at the high-tables with the stools, along with the power plugs, intended just for laptop users like myself) that was pretty much it. He was sitting 4 seats down but it did not matter. The stink was unbearable it was giving me a headache.

Last time, I just went home because there were no other spots open.

This time, I had just gotten here, and the guy walked in and sat down at the same spot so I had to move to another spot. It’s not exactly comfortable being on a couch with a low coffee table while typing on your laptop.

Thanks to his stink, I am forced into this situation.

They should really have an odour detector and set a standard for admittance. If you stink, you cannot get in the door.  That’s how it should be. 

I never truly acknowledged the threats of identity theft until now, as I became a victim to it. Here’s what happened on Saturday night.

I went to the ATM to get some cash. Saturday nights are the guys’ night out at the bar etc., so I need cash obviously. I couldn’t take the money out - it said transaction limit exceeded. I usually don’t even use my debit card let alone take cash out - I’m the credit card swiper at all times. So anyhow I went to check my balance, and there was another $500 extra. I was completely lost on where that came from, so I called my bank.

They explained that, somebody in Lancaster Ontario, which is on the other side of the country from me, had deposited $500, and then took out $500 right away. I have cashback so I can deposit money at the ATM at off-hours and still have instant access to it. But my limit for daily withdrawals is set to $500 a day. So when the bastard made another $500 deposit, he couldn’t take it out anymore, so he had to give up.

The irony of all this? I got a letter on Friday explaining that they have reduced my daily/weekly withdrawal limit for security measures, so I guess they figured the debit card scams were on the rise. With my previous limit it would have been $1000 gone, not just $500.

Anyhow, they couldn’t give me too much detail over the phone and I need to go into the bank tomorrow to sort this out.

I can’t believe this happened to me. My PIN is a top secret - I never give it to anybody. But then, it’s not that hard to catch somebody’s PIN while they type it in. As for how they duplicated my debit card, which I still have in my wallet - well I figure they scanned it as I was taking money out or whatever, and they created a duplicate.

Everybody should watch for identity theft - they are coming up with more creative and high-tech measures to do it, and everyone should be vigilant. Don’t ever think “Naw that wouldn’t happen to me.” It can.

I usually don’t do the whole restaurant review thing - I just go there and enjoy my food with my friends or by myself, and I couldn’t be bothered to take my camera everywhere. So you probably won’t ever see me telling you about what restaurant was fabulous. But as marketers all understand, 1 bad experience will impact the business much more than series of positive influences, and I intend to exert that force to use.

I went to the Elbow Room which is on the corner of Davie st. and Seymour Street, on the South-side of Davie street. It’s a crumby looking diner with old decor from the 60s and such, and it has a very unique rustic friendly-looking atmosphere. But the goodness ends right there.

The moment I walked in, I saw these “Rules” on the wall. I’m sure this is intended to make the place interesting, but when they actually stick with the rules, that’s when the line is crossed.

Rule #1 : We only bring you your first cup of coffee. If you want somebody to bring you a second one, get a butler!

This rule made me chuckle, sort of. I don’t drink coffee anyhow. Whatever.

So up until this point, my impression was that this must be one of those low-cost restaurants that operate on a simple, partially-self-served basis, like a hybrid of a fast food place and a real restaurant.

My server, who was this raspy-sounding old woman, came up to me. I got the menu, took a look. The prices were NOT diner prices - some of the egg benedicts were $10 or more, which is more expensive than Milestone’s benedicts (which were under $10). This was actually pretty pricy compared to the shitty decor and the ugly staff they had, as well as faded and chipped chairs/tables they had. I was shocked, but since I sat down, I decided to try it anyways. I ordered the Karen Benedict, which had bacon, baby shrimp, and avocados on it. It was $10.00. She asked me if I wanted hashbrowns for an extra $1.00. I said no - for me it’s just wrong to be so cheap with sides. When she asked me if I wanted coffee, I said “no, just water please.”

My water doesn’t come. The server walks by 10 minutes later, and remarks “Oh you didn’t get your water yet!”, making obnoxiouisly clear that she’s telling me I need to get my own water. Then I realized, in the middle of the restaurant, they have a water machine. So I walked up, and grabbed a water, after waiting for another lady who was getting grumpy at the poor service as well.

Rule #2 : You want water? What do you mean, bottled or Perrier? Tap? Oh please. If WE bring you the water, there will be a small charge.

That came into my sight from the rule books. The whole point of going to a restaurant is to enjoy food without having to serve oneself. It’s the convenience that I go for, and that’s why I pay quadruple the cost of the food ingredients put in.

The benedict finally came. Literally, the benedict came, and nothing else. I figured they’ll put a toast or something on the side, but nothing. just a sorry-ass looking benedict, which looked more like a whipped-cream topped dessert because of how little hollandaise sauce they put on it. It was dry, and the bacon was overcooked. It was a pathetic benedict. I go to a lot of restaurants, and coming from me that’s a huge call.

The bill came to $10.60 with taxes. My credit card slip read $11.00 as the total. I can’t justify tipping any more than 40 cents when I had to grab my own water and then be served an incredibly expensive dish compared to what food was given.

The Elbow Room is a restaurant that I will label with poor service, poor presentation, bad food, expensivce prices, frugal ingredients, and nothing more. I suppose I should be glad they at least accepted credit cards.

When I deal with clients who have existing web hosting services through other companies throughout, it’s often quite ridiculous how they operate. I’m a web designer/developer, and I have a strong emphasis on what should be a standard part of a good web hosting and domain hosting service, and here’s a few to list :

• A proper control panel for account management.
• In case of a web hosting company, cPanel is a MUST.
• phpMyAdmin for MySQL should be a given. I’m not setting that up.
• Web folder protection methods should be in there. I shouldn’t have to generate my own .htaccess and .htpassword files.
• Regular backup on the hosting server’s end. It’s for their own good. What if the place burns down, or, though highly unlikely, one of their servers blows up a hard drive? This also helps me because I had to request emergency restores on some files when my FTP or Dreamweaver syncrhonization messed up.

Just so you all know clearly, I use BlueFur Web Hosting for ALL of my hosting services (including my own site) and NetFirms.Ca for domain registration. The two companies I choose have all the features and support I require to make my job easier, and my clients’ lives easier.

However. The sad part is, there are so many companies out there that completely lack it. Here are a few examples :

• Does not have a centralized backend - things are sort of tacked on top of each other. To get to the controlpanel, you do one thing, but the control panel is not a cPanel. So to get to the phpMyAdmin, you need to go to another login URL.
• Does not have phpMyAdmin installed by default. It outrages me when they say “here’s where you can download phpMyAdmin to install it.”
• Does not have a control panel whatsoever (I’ve seen 1 company like this).

The companies that did not have the above requirements are listed here, as far as I can remember (I did not put links on it - dont’ want to give them backlinks at all) :

• www.radiant.net
• www.canadawebhosting.com
• www.netnations.com
• www.smartt.com

The highlight of the day is www.smartt.com.

Here’s the reply email when I - completely perplexed after attempting to log on through their website - asked them where I can log in to the control panel so I can set up the database and access the phpMyAdmin :

Hi Jeff

There is no control panel available to create the database. If you provide us with the following information we will create the database for you.

Database name:
Database user name:
Database password:

Once the database set up is completed you can manage it by using phpMyAdmin which can be downloaded from:

http://www.phpmyadmin.net/home_page/index.php

Thank You

So here was my very polite response back to them :

That’s a ridiculous hosting service.

I just emailed my client, and as per my working contracts, unless they are willing to pay me a surcharge to do the extra labour of installing phpMyAdmin, they need to switch to bluefur hosting, which, in my opinion, is a proper hosting company with a proper backend all automated.

The 2nd option to divert the above scenario is that you install everything (database/username:pearlite, password:f1xtures) including the the phpMyAdmin and let me know.

I’ll await for the first one to make a decision.

Thank you for your help.

The biggest joke? www.smartt.com has, on their top banner, “We Offer Complete Internet Services”.  Pfffffffft!