So, on a whim (well, not so much, as I had been eyeing them up since the first generation was released), Tami and I headed into Abbotsford to visit James Kavin at the Rogers store (at Sevenoaks Mall, great service) and see about getting the new iPhone 3Gs.  After much discussion with the service representative about various methods to have the phone added to my account, we figured out a way to make it work well for both myself and Mike (who will soon be inheriting a new-ish HTC Touch Diamond).

Opening the box and turning it on for the first time, I was somewhat surprised by the speed.  Mind you, I have not had an older-gen iPhone to compare it to, but having come from a Motorola RAZR3, then to a Blackberry Pearl 8100, then to an HTC Touch Diamond, the 3GS was (to borrow from Rogers motto) Rocket fast.  Thus far, on initial testing the only problems I have encountered have been (and I will try to go into some detail as to why they are problems to me):

• Applications do not seem to like running in the background.  What I mean here is, when you have an Instant Messenger program running, and you go back to your home screen… well, it logs you out.  Many of them now support Push, and will send you an SMS when you receive a message while “offline”, but I personally like just being able to cycle between programs without them actually closing.  Background processes in Windows Mobile was one of its obvious selling features for me.  Especially since I tend to log into SSH from my phone to manage our servers, and having it log me back out each time I look at a different screen gets a bit tedious.
• Only being able to obtain LEGAL apps for the iPhone through the iTunes store.  That’s great, but you know, sometimes I want to help support those “basement coders” just as much as the people who sit in an office developing all day.  You will notice that I highlighted the Legal part there.  Yes I know that there are ways to bypass iTunes when installing Apps… so there is no need for anyone to comment reply this post with a walkthrough on jailbreaking, or on cracked apps… it’s not something we support here, and I am pretty sure if you walk into any Rogers/AT&T store and ask them about jailbreaking your iPhone, you’ll end up getting a 15 minute lecture on why they don’t allow it on their service.  Let’s not even begin to get into the specifics on what sort of risks you face with bricking your phone by going through that route.
• The inability to “browse” the phone files, like you can with Windows Mobile.  I understand that Apple is protecting their product, and trying to keep the average user from turning their shiny new phone into a Frisbee or a paper weight, but sometimes I like to be able to simply click on a file from an explorer window, and select “delete” without having to go through a resource-heavy program like iTunes.
• Syncing is a bit of a headache.  If you happen to make an iTunes App purchase from your phone, you will need to first “transfer your purchases” from your phone to your iTunes… even if the purchases where made on the same account.  If you fail to do this, the purchased App won’t be on your phone after you sync with iTunes.  I would think that a better design would have allowed for iTunes to store your App purchase history on their servers so that it just knew what was already purchased from your phone.  Or maybe to have the iTunes only sync newer content in both directions, so that nothing actually vanished from either end.  Wishful thinking I suppose.I am sure there are problems that I can come up with over the phone (I have not yet noticed the often-reported overheating issue yet,  but working in an office with A/C and not putting the GPS to much use thus far is likely one of the main reasons why), but I hear food cooking and all thoughts just sort of go out the window at that point.

Some of the definite selling points for the phone are:

• The screen is large.  With the screen taking up 90% of the front of the phone, it makes it very easy to both navigate and read sites.  I found on the HTC that, while the screen was a decent size, a lot of sites required several zoom selections and a lot of scrolling in order to read even the most basic of sites.  iPhone is a winner here.
• The camera takes phenomenal pictures.  With a 3MP builtin camera, the pictures that I’ve taken are right up to par with the standard $100+ digital cameras you would find on the market.  I admit, it’s no SLR camera by any means, but when you need a camera fast, it’s a good way to go.  And now that they have brought about digital video recording as well, any superiority that the HTC had in this area has been lost.  Good move on Apple’s part.
• The GPS is awesome.  Being a typical male *cough*, asking for directions isn’t exactly my forte… and the HTC tended to take as long as 5 minutes to locate GPS satellites before it could tell me where I was.  Usually by that point, I would have either been mugged, or found a coffee shop to ask how to get back to “the good part of town”.  The GPS on the 3GS, for one reason or another that currently escapes me, takes seconds… the longest I have had to wait so far was just under a minute… and this was while in my office at work (yeah, I get bored in there sometimes and need a reminder that yes, I am still at work).  While it only comes with Google Maps integrated (I would have liked to see some sort of Tom-Tom-like interface that could tell me that I need to turn left at the next corner, instead of assuming I know how to read a map), the gyrometer that the 3Gs now uses allows for “on the fly” map rotation, allowing me to always know which way is actually North, based on the direction I am facing.
• A very large portion of iPhone apps are actually developed right here in Canada.  While this may not exactly be an iPhone or an Apple perk, it’s most certainly one for Canada.  Kudos to Canadian App coders!
• Many of the Apps are actually reasonably priced.  Yes, you do have to sometimes pay for the programs you want… but with the literally thousands and thousands of Apps available on iTunes, it wouldn’t be too hard to find exactly what you are looking for.  Sure, there are a few out there that are… well, I guess I could say unreasonably priced, but you encounter that anywhere you go.  I can justify the higher prices on some Apps by simply pointing out that you’re probably still saving money over buying new hardware that does the exact same thing… and only that thing.  So overall, you’re likely still ahead.  And if not, just be determined and keep hunting for a cheaper version.

Overall I am thus far very impressed with the investment.  While it is of course open to improvement (as any piece of hardware would be), it’s certainly a very sleek and smooth-working piece of equipment.  I would avoid just calling it a phone, as it’s become very obvious that we have since moved away from the basic cell phones that were strictly for calls, and the new “mini computers” that we get now.  Apple is well on their way towards dominating the cell market with this release, and I can’t wait to see what they can come up with next to top it.  Expect to hear more from me on this phone as things progress and I discover new and exciting ways to break an iPhone. 

Out of my own curiousity, what do you (the readers) consider to be a “must have” application for the phone, assuming you have one.  Don’t have one?  What would be a definite required application you would want on one if you did?

I recall saying once that I was not much of a blogger.  I think what I actually meant to say was that while I may be a bit of a blogger, I was (and am) by no means a consistant blogger.

Tami and I went to see the new Tom Hanks movie the other night… Angels And Demons.  Now, while a lot of people are claiming this to be a sequal to The Da Vinci Code, the book (and the timeline) actually takes place beforehand.  I still haven’t quite figured out if the movie is, though.  They reference a few times his (Professor Landon) past dealings with the Church… now, whether this is hinting at the events of Da Vinci, or just some random past event, I can not say.  The movie as a whole though, I felt was very well done, if not somewhat rushed.  Not rushed in the sense of missing out on the plotline altogether, but just… rushed.  They movied quickly from one point to the next, leaving little time to actually digest what had just happened.  There were a few points in the movie that actually seemed blurred… while they are dealing with one point, a second and third get thrown out there as well, almost as an afterthought.  It all tied together nicely by the end of the movie though, and even left you guessing just a little as to who the “bad guy(s)” really are.  You think you have it all figured out (thinking that it’s some weak plotline just to make sales), then wham, big twist at the end and you’re left thinking “Oh my gawds, how did I miss that???”.  It even has you going over the movie again in your head, with the realizations that you did actually miss those little hints and clues that lead to the final outcome… as a single hint, it’s meaningless… but once you put them all together, it’s like the Fort Knox of secrets playing out.
I am curious as to how the Church is going to react to the movie.  Its not like it’s Anti-Christian or Anti-Vatican… there’s even a nice little piece at the end where Landon (Hanks) realizes that things aren’t really all that bad in Vatican City.  the movie definately does say a lot about the (alleged) secrets of the Vatican vaults, leaving one to wonder (yet again) just how much might really be hidden by the Church.

Anyhow, on to the personal part of my bi-annual post.  You know, the part that usually signifies the fact that I’ve been working on a post for around a week, and just never actually got around to posting it (this is, of course, one of those cases).  To put it simply, I feel like crap.  Have for about a week now, off and on.  I blame John at work.  Why?  He was sick, and I see him at work once in a while… therefore I have decided to make the connection between him bringing the plague to work, and myself now feeling “bleh”.  My blog, my right. 
These 4:30 AM morning are starting to wear thin… I know there are some people who like the idea of starting real early, and getting off work in the early afternoon as a tradeoff… I’ve never been a morning person, so this new schedule is REALLY starting to get to me.  Not to mention that I notice myself snapping at people more at work.  It’s not their fault that I’m not a “people person”, so I should probably be spending more time appologizing to them for my temper… but I noticed today that by snapping once, I actually managed to get something to happen the way I had planned it, as opposed to how the salesman decided to make it at the last second.  I think I just miss spending time outside, and less time locked down in a little office… even if it is one with windows.

At any rate, I have a real packed day tomorrow, so I should probably get this posted and head for a shower and bed.  Hope that my 2 or 3 readers are doing well, and managing to avoid the bug going around.  Take care of yourselves, and see you all again in a few months… you know, when I get around to posting again. 

Wow, quite a few weeks of events taking place… I’m not really sure where to start.

So lets just jump right into it with the major highlights, shall we?

Last week (it was Wednesday that everything went down), everyone at my job was called into a meeting with our store manager, human resources person, and all the floor managers.  Not exactly the sort of meeting I wanted to take part in, but it was something that I think most of us predicted coming along.  The first thing I noticed, was that two people were not present at the meeting.  The yard manager, and our store shipper/dispatcher.  While the Yard Manager being missing wasn’t a massive impact, I am torn on the other.  Greg (the shipper) was someone that I and Tami considered a friend.  Sure, I didn’t really see him outside of work, and the only time that she really saw him was when she was dropping off invoices… but he still brightened the day a little bit.  It was fun to come to work in the morning and just chat with him for the 5 or 10 minutes before starting my day, hearing about how his weekend was, or his trips into the interior, or the cabin he and Debbi planned on building for weekend getaways.  Just in general, he was a nice part to my job.  On Wednesday, his employment at Curtis Lumber was terminated, and he wasn’t there anymore.  Instead, I was moved into his office, and essentially given his job.  Not exactly the way I wanted to get a promotion…. but things have happened that I do not have the power to change, so I have to simply accept it and move forward.  At least one of the perks is that I am now off work at 2:30… or supposed to be, anyway.  I’m finding that its usually closer to 3:30 before I actually book off… but at least I’m showing dedication to learning the job and trying to make sure that everything is ready to go for the afternoon and following morning.  But just the same… Greg, I don’t know if you will ever actually see this, but you are missed by the staff at Curtis Lumber… don’t loose touch.

I see that The ELANS have yet again changed their date for the show.  No shock there, as that gives them a few more weeks to try and take people for… I mean, to bring in additional funding for their show.  It actually makes me sick to my stomach to think about what these two “people” are doing… in a time when there are layoffs all over the industry, and companies all over the Lower Mainland and the rest of the country are struggling just to keep their heads above the water, that these two come along and take them for more money under the cover of “buy your way into an awards show”… something that these companies shouldn’t even have to do.  Their work speaks for itself, and they shouldn’t be having to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars just for a little statue.  Try helping the industry, instead of leaching off it, like you did to people with Tech Investments Inc.  Looking at it logically, how many real award shows change their date so often, all so close to the “actual” date, all the while claiming that it’s to help people get submissions in easier?  The reality is likely closer to their funding not being available for the show due to it being spent on other things.  Wonder how much that new Harley of Jack’s cost…?

We finally got most of the garage cleaned out… okay, thats exagerating a bit.  We cleared a path from one end to the other.  But this is a huge step towards the possibility of converting it into a soundproof games room.  Either that, or we leave it as a storage garage and instead work on building a nice new sunroom off the kitchen.  Either way, I predict a LOOOONG summer ahead.

Vancouver recently hosted a visit from some executives for WCG Worldwide.  Why were they here?  To summarize it, there are some people working real hard to bring WCG’s attention to Vancouver as a possible host city.  Unfortunately, the reputation of two previously mentioned people caused some damage to the reputation for the City, and by the time that it was pointed out that those two are most definitely not associated with the city or it’s Industries (and most definitely not Tami or I or our company), the damage had already been done.  We only hope that they open their eyes to what Vancouver really is, and that the actions and scams of a few do not represent the city as a whole.  Vancouver is an amazing city full of some of the World’s most talented people.  To have the actions of two scammers destroy what all those other people have put their lives towards working on is just… sickening.  Especially when they are doing it under the guise of running an awards show claimed to showcase that very same talent.

Overall, its been a pretty interesting few weeks.  I can hardly wait to see what gets thrown in my direction next.  Expect many rants when such things do take place.  Other than that…

Later.

We’re off to Spark FX 09 in Vancouver. Reviews are coming, I promise. In the meantime, why don’t you read up on it at http://siggraph.ca/festivals/information.php?fest=SPKFX09TMP
This post is brought to you by your friendly local sleep-deprived webserver administrator.

So, how much do you know about the people you send your money to? I thought that we knew the producers of The ELANS Awards (formerly The Elan Awards) well enough to trust them to their word.

Wow, was I mistaken. From having to wait for months to get a payment, to lies about the delays, to cancelled meetings at the last minute, to actual insulting emails and threats being sent to us because we do not and have never provided the service they are suddenly demanding from us. Well, I’m sorry to the producers, but I’m not a psychiatrist, so I can’t help you with your problems, any more than I can provide free website management to you, all because you think you’re more important than the rest of the planet.

I had not heard of a boiler room until recently. It’s enlightening that my first experience with the term was when someone else in the local Industry sent me a link to The ELANS own Jack Weatherell being found guilty of operating a Boiler room by the BC Securities Commission, and charged $25,000 ($33,219 total, after including legal fees) in 2000 (links further down). Is this someone we want to be associated with? I am left wondering how much of their thousands and thousands of dollars in sponsorship money is actually being invested into the show, and how much is being skimmed off the top by the producers. It supports that theory when hearing from some of the people involved in last year’s show, who have pointed out that some are still owed money. Let’s not forget the day of the show, when we were told by the Center that we could not even enter the venue to set up for the show, because the Producers had not yet even paid for it’s usage. And, while at a recent networking event in Vancouver (one of many that we attend, as we are friends with most of the people there), we took some time to chat with a friend at another company, only to be notified by Holly later that we had no right to speak with him and that we are not to do so again. That one really bothered me… that they feel that because they pay us for webspace and bandwidth, they also have the right to dictate who we can talk to, and what we can talk about. Sorry your highness, but you do not own us, and we will associate with whomever we so choose… which is likely not going to be either of you.

I sympathize with those whose email addresses were farmed by these two, and added to a non-opt-in emailing list. I apologize especially to Andy Dunn (zman), whose name and address was farmed from linkedin, resulting in spammage from Holly and Jack, and his having to “lock down” his profile on there, potentially blocking out possible legitimate contacts (see below for the link).

To be warned in advance to not work with these two people is one thing, but we made a choice not to listen to those warnings, and now we are stuck with the headache of having these leeches attached to our company. I can only feel relief that all they screwed us out of was $150 contract payment, and our time maintaining a site that they either could not figure out for themselves, or could not be bothered to take the time and learn (yes, we offered on several occasions to show them how to manage their site, only to have them cancel at the last minute every time, yet constantly send us “updates” that they demanded be posted right away… something they could have done for themselves, but decided that it should be a service we provide to them, even though it was never a part of the agreement).

The truth of the matter, plain and simple… these two are scam artists to the core, sucking whatever they can from those who mistakenly get close enough, then throwing them to the side once they are done with them. Jack’s history with the Securities Commission is warning light number one to avoid them… if he was so quick to take thousands and thousands of dollars from innocent people then, how is what he is doing now any different? Simple answer, it’s not. It’s truly a reality check when people you thought that you could trust turn out to be nothing more than manipulative liars. I don’t want anyone else to find out about Jack and Holly the same way we have. Take this advice, do your research, and draw your own conclusions. But let me tell you, it doesn’t take $250 to send a game to 5 people… especially when you have to supply them with a copy of the game in advance. Where is all of this money going, if not to actually pay the people they owe it to for their show? Once you factor in that they also are charging an additional $250 just for a ticket to the show… well, the math doesn’t add up (what one person would go through 350 dollars in seafood and champagne, just to find out if they won a $100 pewter trophy?). Lets not even begin to mention (okay, let’s) the fact that in order to submit your game for “nomination” (seems more like having to buy your way into the awards), you MUST send the producers 7 copies of the game for each category you buy into, so that they can be sent to the 5 judges. Wait a minute, there’s that math again. Where do the other 2 copies go? And do the nominators get their games back when it’s all done? So, lets work some numbers. $250 to enter, plus lets say $45 per game (oh, how I wish new games only cost $45) times the 7 copies you must provide. So right now, we’re at 565 just to enter into a category. Want to watch your game win? That’ll cost you an additional $350… that’s right people, the right to attend the show you just sent your 7 games to in hopes of winning a pewter statue is going to cost you another $350. So, we’re now up to $915 just to win an award. They call this an appreciation towards the gaming industry. To me, it looks more like a financial raping. I haven’t even bothered to factor in the hundreds or thousands of dollars that would have to be spent on airfare/travel fees and hotel rooms, for those who don’t have the convenience of living in the host city of Vancouver.

I wish I could tell the World what these two people have to say about those who do NOT “donate” thousands of dollars to buy a sponsorship package… if only there was a way to do so without revealing sources.

But do your own investigating.

How they build their “Opt-In” list (by the way, Opt-In lists are supposed to be built based on people requesting to be placed on it, and not by farming addresses from webpages… Jack and Holly are building their list using the same tactics that are used to send 90% of the spam you receive in your email accounts):

• http://www.indiegameguy.com/blogs/zman/archive/2008/08/15/using-linkedin-as-an-email-collection-tool.aspx

And here’s some great reading on Jack’s history with stealing money from people (Anyone who talks with Jack Weatherell, ask him to explain Tech Investments Inc, and who Ross Kain and Rodney Degroot are):

• http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=1c2313a7-4534-4ba4-93b8-a149afd32fd5
• http://www.bcsc.bc.ca/comdoc.nsf/comdoc.nsf/webpolicies/994CEBD38425C40188256A5000686E86?OpenDocument
• http://www.bcsc.bc.ca/comdoc.nsf/AllByUNID/B2193EE581FD9CED8825698F00625471?opendocument
• http://www.bcsc.bc.ca/release.asp?id=803

The above links simply show that Jack Weatherell doesn’t care about the people he works with… he only cares about the money they have, and what he has to do in order to get to it from them, even if that risks leaving them with nothing. A true user and manipulator.

So what do I want? I’ve certainly given up on the money they agreed to pay, especially after sending us an NSF cheque, then telling us that we should be happy to have even gotten that (provided a picture for your viewing pleasure, just to show that they were happy enough with the product to send a cheque, but for some reason the thousands that they are bringing in for submissions and sponsorships just doesn’t seem to stay in their account long enough to cover the expenses they are ringing up). Do I want them off our servers? Yes, but they made the choice to pay for the full year (albeit at a VERY discounted rate, and 4 months late), so I will continue to give them the service that they pay for. What I really want, is for the rest of the World to know just who Jack Weatherell and Holly Carinci really are. I hope that soon, they all do… before it ends up costing them thousands of dollars, lost to 2 people well on their way to becoming among Vancouver’s worst scam-artists. In the unstable economy of today, people’s money should go towards legitimate purposes, and not have to be invested in buying your own award when you fully deserve to be given one (its called an award for a reason, after all).

I wonder how much the SpikeTV Video Game Awards cost to enter…? Or The Grammys. Or The Junos. Or The Oscars. The list goes on, but I imagine the result is the same… no matter what you invest into entering, you at least come out with something much better than these two are providing.

Recently, there was a video game tournament held in Vancouver called Vanlan. The ELANS reminds me more and more of that tournament every time I think about it. Even the people that run both events are the same. Take the money and run.

I know that our other customers have not seen what Jack most recently said to us in regards to them, but just the same I apologize for his statements. If it ever comes down to it, you all will of course come first, and he can take his illegal stock selling, email spamming, and bad attitude and find another host who will provide him with the space, bandwidth, and 4000+ outgoing messages per email spam blitz and find another host to take for a ride.

And, for your viewing pleasure, I give you my $150 custom coding payment: