Still Life with Goalie...

It's 8:20 am, and I'm awoken to a plea, "promise you won't be mad"? I roll over, realizing it's 8:20.

Sure, I promise.

All my hockey gear is downstairs.

So? it's usually downstairs. At the front door. I trip over it, I'm used to it.

No....it's downstairs, and all spread out, trying to dry.

Oh. That's different. That means that the smell of hockey equipment has had all night to invade the the house. That's just not right. That equipment does *not* smell like daisies. Not at all. My Christmas tree smell doesn't stand a chance against hockey equipment. Goalie equipment is the worst.

Assmonkey.


Technorati Tags: goalie, hockey, ass monkey

Crystal Holiday Greetings

IMG_0507
Originally uploaded by julebule.

Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year!!

-jules

Tree Sheds Faster than Golden Retriever in Nevada...

And the stockings are hung by the gas fireplace with care.

So much to buy still, and so little time. What with work tid bits and cleaning the house and figuring out christmas eve nibblies and boxing day nibblies and wrapping every present under the sun. It’s beginning to feel alot like christmas.

If only the tree manages to hold its remaining needles for another 5 days, we are golden.  Now, if the dog even *looks* at the tree, the tree sheds a few more. It may be easier to rake than vacuum. Mmmm, nothing says christmas like a good old fashioned needle rake-up.


To be wrapped:

1. One Calgary flames Jersey
2. 2 TELUS Balls
3. 3 TELUS Flamingoes
4. 4 Blocks of Floam

(i get points for *attempting* to twist this post into a 12 days of christmas them, but really, who needs *5* of ANYTHING?

;-)
No, this is not my tree. It’s Timmy and Georgie’s masterpiece. It looks amazing. And I checked, it’s got all its needles.



Technorati Tags: christmas, presents

The Dumbness of Email

And it’s not even email’s fault.
I subscribed to Red Herring last month, as a christmas present to me, and I’ve been anxiously waiting for the first issue to arrive (I should go and check the mailbox again after this posting).  This morning, I received an email from Red Herring, telling me to hurry and renew my subscription, and I could get 2 years for the price of 1.

Sheesh. That’s a little premature.
You can’t tell me that they don’t know when I subscribed, or when my subscription REALLY is ready to be renewed. Why wouldn’t they make a smarter linkage between the email server and the customer database server? Why blanket their customerbase with renewal notices, when the vast matority of them probably aren’t in the *renewal window*? Laziness.

It’s not just Red Herring, it’s almost every organization who sends out email to its customer base. The laziness of not really caring about customre specific information.

In another life, The Wiz worked for a web company that specialized in software and customer databases that would allow companies to send VERY smart emails. It was an outstanding platform that would marry customer personal preference with email content, and then also track the success of those email programs.

Imagine a Canadian Tire email, that was tailored to YOU. You would receive an email if the tools you liked were on sale. Same deal with Shoppers Drug Mart, or even Pizza Pizza.  These retailers know almost everything about the preferences of their customers, yet do nothing to tailor the email experience. It’s all about relevance. We push for relevance in voice communication (think Iotum), why not with email communication?




Technorati Tags: email relevance, Red Herring, Iotum

To Get Ben Metcalfe into Quadruple digits...

…on Technorati.
Tis the season.
Happy Blogidays, Ben!

(If one link is good, two must be better!!

Technorati Tags: Ben Metcalfe, Technorati

To Get Ben Metcalfe into Quadruple Digits...

…on Technorati.
Tis the season.
Happy Blogidays, Ben!


Technorati Tags: Ben Metcalfe, Technorati

I Covet My Privacy in Strange Ways

The other day I bought a LaSenza gift certificate for someone, and was asked for my phone number. Nope, no thank you, I'm not interested in giving you my phone number. Same for ANY store who asks me for a phone number. Now, a postal code, ehh, fine, I'll give you a postal code of the house I lived in... in the 90's.

The phone rang, and it was someone from Canada Trust, wanting to sell something, but wanted to confirm personal bits about me - nope, no thank you. If I want something, I will call *you* and be thrilled to provide you with personal bits.
Martin Geddes had this same problem! Telemarketers who want to confirm pieces of my life? No thanks, you aren't bonded, you aren't reqired to take an ethics course; there is NO WAY i am telling someone who makes an hourly wage anything private about myself. No offence.


On the other hand - I'm RIGHT HERE.  Right out here. Which, by virtue of being on the net 7/24 isn't all that private. Still. I'm not going to tell you anything like where my bothmark is , or what the balance is on my line of credit, or what rewards program I use.

1.  On my left leg
2.  $0.00
3.  aeroplan

Oh. Ok.
That was easy.



Technorati Tags: privacy, martin geddes, blogging

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Thursday is Garbage Day

Thursday is garbage day on my street.  The neighbourhood is very regimented on when you *put out* the garbage.  It's got to be done between 10:00 pm wednesday night and 7:00 am thursday morning. Heaven help you if you are late.

And I am.

I'm the nerd shuffling out in her jammies and headset at 11:30 Thursday morning, usually engrossed in a conference call, trying to beat the recycling truck to the curb. Classy, I know. It's not easy, this garbage thing. The pressure grows every week to conform to the neighbourhood. Trying to keep up with the Jones' has taken on a whole new meaning.

Next week, I'm going to set my alarm clock earlier.

There are days when I miss the old familiar "garbage chute".  Back then, any day you needed to get rid of a Hefty Bag was garbage day.

Technorati Tags: garbage, Oak Ridges

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Holy Cats! OTTAWA takes the Leash off Telcos for Local Voice Services

Good Monday News!  The CRTC has been overruled by Ottawa yet again. Last month it was deregulation of Voice over IP services, now it’s the deregulation of local voice services, one of the last, locked down, traditional components of the major incumbents. Industry Misister Maxime Bernier has given BELL, TELUS and the rest of the incumbents the power to set their own prices, as long as there is sufficient competition in the local area.  Hmmm…. I don’t see a definition for “sufficient competition” yet. (Updated: Mark Goldberg’s got the definition, and it’s EASY!)  It used to be required that 25% of the local services had to be held by a competitive carrier in an area, before BELL could change their pricing. This could change the face of local voice services, which can only be good news for the Canadian consumer.  Mark Evans has more details.

Monday’s move throws out the old CRTC threshold policy and furtherreinforces Bernier’s reputation as a minister who favours free-marketsolutions to telecom issues.

Ottawa overrules CRTC; to accelerate deregulation of local phone service

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Free Advice from Robert Scoble and an Adventure

Oh!  I love freebies. And I love the roundabout way I came across this one!
From my blog, I found Miss Rogue in mybloglog and one of the neat new posts in her community was by Mike Cassidy kidding about Robert Scoble being a Rascal.

And that's when I found out Robert had some nifty free advice. I love it when adventures take you someplace new.


Help a San Jose Mercury News columnist blog « Scobleizer - Tech Geek Blogger

Technorati Tags: Tara Hunt, Robert Scoble, Mike Cassidy

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Angry MADD Volunteers

Sort of ironic, don't you think?  That the volunteers who support MADD, are angry at the charity for squandering millions in donations?
I've always been suspicious of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). It's not what you are thinking... Way back in the late '80s, I was one of the eager highschool kids who helped bring SADD (Students against Drunk Driving) into high schools in Ontario, and specifically into my own. It was outstanding, the support, the fundraising we did on our own, the awareness, especially in a town where "crop touring" was easily the easiest entertainment on a Friday night. We made our own public service annoncements, arranged theatrical performances.

And then MADD Canada showed up.

It was a battle royale of the anti-drinking and driving charities. MADD claimed that we were infringing on their name, and we had to cease and desist. SADD had to be come OSAID, and any good marketer knows, that's just not the same. There's still a SADD USA, but now SADD stands for Students Against Destructive Decisions.  I guess they didn't want to get lumped in with the MADD folks.

It's amazing how such a great idea, with grass roots support can be turned into a corporate monster.

TheStar.com - MADD's `exorbitant costs' anger charity's volunteers

Technorati Tags: MADD, SADD, OSAID, GDHS

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Urban Myths: Bullsh&t?

This month's Maxim Online has nailed down some of the more famous Urban Legends, and tracked down, using somewhat scientific methodology, the truth or lack thereof behind them. There is a debunking of the "cellphone will cause cancer" myth, which is also nicely supported by a research report that was released out of Denmark this week, (thanks mark).  The twist to the "cell phone will cause cancer" challenge is that all studies seem to only deal with adults will fully grown brains, not with children.  I'd like to see a study of how high cell phone usage affects kids from 12 to 18.  But who want's to donate their child's brain to research?
Ever had to touch a baby bird, knowing full well you might be sentencing it to death-by-mother-abandonment? According to Maxim, and the environmental expert it found, baby birds are safe to touch, but baby rabbits, now that's another story.
:-)


Technorati Tags: maxim, urban legends

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The Garage: The Last Bastion for Smokers

It's that time of the year.
It's too cold to hang out on the back deck, too cold to pop out on the front porch.
It's that time of the year when hundreds of garage lights turn on and off, seamingly magically, at all hours of the day and night.

It's winter for the smokers. All over Canada, people are bundling up to head out to their garages for a quick one. Not to be confused with the quickie, which, as far as I can tell, is still allowed inside the house. The Ministry of Health in Saskatchewan (where it's BITTER cold, even recommends smoking in the garage. Odd for a health Agency, but with winter windchills of -30, who can complain? However, this credo (and the complete ban on public smoking in Saskatchewan) has caused a new trend, that of the "garage bar" where hundreds of bar patrons now congregate in parking garages, parking lots, and in the back of the farm machinery dealership, just to have a smoke and perhaps a beer before "heading back" into the licenced liquor establishments.

I'm actually starting to see a resurgence in people putting in couches in their garages, just to have a place to sit, for when smoking guests need to be accomodated, not for an audience for the "garage band". Of course, this also leads to more cars being parked outside again ;-).

Have you been to a party lately where half the guests troup out enmass, only to return 9 minutes later, again en masse?  Are we creating a societal division?

It's a curious phenomenon.
The Smoking Garage.

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I Lead a Sheltered Blogging Life

Yesterday i rhymed off a dozen or so blogs i read regularly. Today I stumble across Trainwrecks and realize i've been completely missing the seedy underbelly of the blog-o-whore-osphere.

My life is now complete. Seediness and all.




Technorati Tags: trainwrecks, blog-o-whore-osphere

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Who's in *YOUR* RSS Reader?

RSS - my guilty pleasure. Part newspaper, part shopping list, part procrastination tool. It's the only thing I do in the morning between 6:30 and 7:30.  3 cups 'o coffee and my reader; catching up on who's saying what, and what's going on in the world.  If I didn't have a reader, I'd never have known that Fiji went through a government change ;-)

In my RSS reader:

• Rob Hyndman***pretty damn savvy for a lawyer
• etc.***for those times when you have time.  Always has something worth poking around at.
• factory City***just because I also really like Horse,Pig,Cow
• Telecom Trends***how else would I know what the CRTC has up its sleeve?
• Alec Saunders .LOG***VoIP is a big deal. Alec knows all about it.
• Matthew Ingram***Pretty much the techiest newspaper journalist there is (especially since Mark Evans defected to the blog world.
• The Good Blogs***it just goes without saying.
• How To of the Day***because some days you want to know how to do things.
• Digital Photography School***always handy to sprinkle in some real learning.
• The BIG NYC Adventure***the story of a gurl transplanted from Toronto to NYC
  
• craphound.com***he's from canada, he's a scifi writer, he's done 7 billion cool things. Nuff said.
  
• Dooce***everyone needs Dooce
• Successful Blog***a girl can always dream
• the.idea.dude***ideas are GOOD.
• a rain of frogs***blogs are not always simply about the good side
• ProBlogger Job Board***for when I want to think about career changes
• Mighty Goods***quite possibly the best for shopping
  

Plus a zillion more..... who's in YOUR RSS reader?


Technorati Tags: rss reader, jules dot ca

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The Bedazzler - I'm Not Kidding!

The Original Bedazzler
BeDazzler - The Official Site of AsSeenOnTV.com
Isn't it something you always dreamed about when you were a little girl (if you were a little girl). And now, just like back then, it sends shivers down my neck.  I think I know an 8 year old who is going to have a heck of a time mutilating a jean jacket for the sake of fashion.  Heck, I might even know a 30-something who will do the same!!!

And now, even available to ship to Canada! What more could you ask for!


Technorati Tags: Bedazzler

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I May Love The Zero Boss Even More...

The Zero Boss: Parenting, Pop Culture & Politics by Jay Andrew Allen

Ok, Jay Andrew Allen (aside from the fact that I dig people with 3 names), bless your bloggy heart and your Sugar Rush!

I even grudgingly appreciate your love-hate relationship with Violent Acres. Althought I've got to admit, blatent self-promotion is in most bloggers DNA, if you dig deep and long enough at their genetic makeup. :-)
My apologies for lumping you in with the die-hard "haters". ;-)

Technorati Tags: Jay Andrew Allen, The Zero Boss, Violent Acres

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I Admit - I Love Violent Acres

Ever since stumbling upon it last week, I am addicted to violent acres. Her blatent no bull attitude, her hilarious commentary that pokes fun at the real world, and the sordid people populating it, everything.

Sure, folks are noticing. Ben Metcalfe noticed, but I don’t think he’s as thrilled as I am. The Zero Boss also has a few choice words.  The vast majority of the blogosphere is taken up with angst about violent acres.  Who is she?  What is she doing?  Is it all for her blog-ego? How come she won’t identify herself?  Ben went so far as to reverse engineer her site and came to the conclusion that she’s no ordinary blogger, her back end (no pun intended) is too customized and technical for most folks to pull together.

Violent Acres just put up a FAQ, answering many of the questions that people have been asking, and she hits the nail right on the head.  She’s my new double-espresso shot for the morning. Gets the brain going, no sugar needed.


Technorati Tags: Violent acres

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Art.Com Upgrade Screws Loyal Customers

Hi there Art.com support folks,

I've been a thrilled art.com customer for the past few months, I'veblogged about how amazing the service has been, the timing, the qualityand the pricing....  I just ordered and received my most recent 4pieces, and they are outstanding.  I returned to the site last night topurchase an additional 4 pieces, only to discover that the photos toart section had been changed, and not changed for the better.  Allmonth i've been on the site, reading that a new site was to belaunched, and I was anticipating great and wonderful changes, but notthe nonsense that greeted me last night:

• reduced functionality on galleries
  
• limits on the effects that can be applied to photos
• limits on the canvas sizes
• increase in prices by 50%
• now a "brushstroke" effect adds another $20 the the pricetag.

All in all, reduced functionality and increased pricing do NOT make fora good customer experience. I spoke to customer service this morning,and was able to access my old gallery, only to realize that i now HAVEto order a frame with a canvas, in order to buy a photo to art piece. Lovely. You got me. I'm screwed.  I need the oil painting effect tofinish off pieces for christmas.  The only way I can get that, is toalso get snookered into a frame that I don't need.

Please tell me that the new site is only in *phase 1* of the upgrade,that you will return all the fantastic effects that can be applied tothe photos, or in the very least, that the original site can functionat 100%, no blackmailing with frames allowed. Oh, and how about some compromise in pricing?

thanks,
Julie

Technorati Tags: Art.com, canvas, photos, "customer screwing"

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Rogers Beefs Up with Satellite Radio Offering!

Holy Quintuple Play Batman!

Rogers just received the nod from the CRTC that will allow them to offer subscriptions to XM or Sirius Satellite radio services over their cable network. It's going to become part of their standard offering, and customers can get their satellite radio subscription on their Rogers bill.

The service will be offered in Eastern Canada, but will focus on Ontario, NewBrunswick, Nerfoundland and Labrador.

The question is, is it easier to get a subscription right from XM or Sirius, or is it easier to get it from Rogers?  Will there be a price difference?  I'm curious to know how much of the satellire hardware that you buy for your car/home is subsidized by the service contract you have to buy as well.....  Perhaps Rogers is offering you a bit of a deal, as it's coming into your house using your existing digital settop box.....

It's a good play, I think

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