The Darkest Evil

I hate the idea that people make resolutions that they have no intention of keeping only when the earth’s odometre rolls over. It seems that it is enough to make people believe that they have a new lease on life. Personally, I believe the route of change should happen throughout the new year, especially when one realizes it is needed the most. However, I have reviewed what I want out of life and this is what I have come up with:

1. Gain a bit more notoriety on the web/in my new home - I would like to be as big as Bryan Veloso, Mr. Fab or Shaun Inman. My weblog has been getting a bit more activity since I have been writing more often and using traffic services like BlogMad, but that is not enough. I need to do more to get my name out there. I would also like to be recognized in Calgary for my blog so I am also going to write replying to more local news.
2. Finish up Blackthorne - Blackthorne (for the uninitiated) is a themeset that I have been working on for the past month. I am confident that I can get it done and coded before February 14th, especially since I cannot afford the bus pass for this month so my mobility is going to be dramatically hindered. Doesn’t mean that I can’t go to crowfoot and cash in my bottles to buy bus fare to get to the college to return some books. I should probably do that on Wednesday though, it will save time and money in the long run.
3. Get into a serious relationship - I would like to get into a serious relationship. Need I say more?
4. Fully convert to Buddhism - I would like to convert to Buddhism and seek a path of reason and truth. Right now, I could still be considered a Christian that just doesn’t go to church. I would like to be so much more than that and I would love to convert to Buddhism so I can clean my mind of my past practises and strive toward a brighter future.
5. Get my work permit - Nicholi, if you are reading this, please submit your company to Alberta Registries. Now.

Those are my five new years resolutions. This is what is truly important to me right now and I would personally like to thank you for reading through my sappy drivel but hey, it was enough to spice up my life.

I have to find a way to make $450 quickly so I can afford the rent this month. It is getting to be so costly. In fact, I am kind of afraid to ask Shush for a small extension on my rent so I can make the date. I am so tired of this shit. I guess the only way I am going to catch up is by becoming an agent for something like the Sunflower Network. Also, Nicholi is still having trouble registering the non-profit with registries so I can’t apply for my work permit yet. Plus, I don’t have the $150 fee for the work permit. I mean, I don’t see why people wouldn’t want to loan me the money for that. As soon as I get it and Nicholi gets the non-profit registered, I will be able to pay back the loan. After all, I would have a job. I need to get $75 together also to renew my bus pass for next month. Otherwise, I will probably be stuck in this house. Plus, I need the money for the pass before the 10th of next month.

I have this copy of Microsoft Windows that I have not installed on my computer but is opened. Tomorrow, I am going to try to return it at London Drugs tomorrow. I am tired of just skating by each month and plus, I have very little money to eat on so I am screwed on that end. What a shame too, considering I have been craving Taco Bell for the longest time. Plus, I want to get some of those Moo.com cards and I would like to get my phone line moved over here. I am also having my copy of Poser 7 returned so I can have $250 USD transferred into Canada. Plus, I am begging the owner of the Sunflower Network to allow me to work on that project as soon as possible. I will probably offer to redesign their website for them for free.

Okay, so I was going through my Akismet spam, checking for false positives (yeah, I do that) and I found an anonymous comment from someone with the e-mail address jane@aol.com. It was on my post about when I was canned at Valero so that the managers could save their own asses. Apparently, this woman decided to accuse of actually taking the food and stated that I should “own up to my own crime”. WTF?

I did nothing wrong and this woman decides to blatantly accuse me for something that isn’t even true. The managers fired me because they were missing $3000 US in inventory and they had to pin it on someone. The rest of the story should be self-explanatory. This happens more often than you’d think in the states but that is because more and more employers are turning to “at-will” employment rather than contract employment.

Anyways, what I want to communicate is that while I do allow for open dialog in this blog, I should be able to contact you to try to explain the situation if you decide to leave comments like this. Or at least a link to your own blog so I can find out how to contact you and give you feedback on what you said.

You know, just because I am being evicted doesn’t give Dusten the right to push all of his chores onto me. It’s not like I have nothing to do. I have PLENTY to do - I still have to get my job confirmed by HRSDC and I have to get some intel from Jason. Grrr… the lack of cleanliness in this apartment is very disturbing.

Edit: I edited the words to convey my true opinion

Why is this bad? Well, the Internet is a very social network and it was built to be decentralised and an open standard. However, this bill will make it more impossible to run a website with the truth. How so, you ask? Well, here are the reasons MY blog and site would be effected if Net Neutrality were to fail in the states.

1. I tell about my bad experiences of Charter Cable, AOL, Microsoft and all those mother fuckers so once Net Neutrality fails, they will have the power to block my content or make it slower.
2. Advertisements and advertising partners will make less payouts to webmasters and give the ISPs and Telcos more money to prioritise their advertisements. Content is king and it is the reason why the Internet is so successful. Would someone watch 30 minutes of television to see 29 minutes of advertisements as opposed to just 6 minutes of advertisements? Of course not! We would get out a bit more and enjoy life and do other things. And eventually, since we wouldn’t be able to see the benefit of having a “high-speed” internet connection, we’d cancel it in a heartbeat.
3. Do you really think we’d be able to use Instant Messengers from other ISPs? Like if I were using Yahoo!’s DSL programme in the states, do you think that I would be able to gain the same level of connectivity with MSN Messenger, ICQ and AOL IM that I would gain with Yahoo!? Of course not, because Yahoo! would love to try to drive people to help improve it’s market share.
4. Great sites like The Pirate Bay and Boxtorrents would drastically be reduced in popularity as we would probably have an even lower level connection to bittorrent.
5. Firefox is gaining considerable steam and market power. Now, if Net Neutrality fails, it may be that the only browser you will be able to use (if you use MSN or an ISP that works with MSN) is Internet Explorer. That sucks, doesn’t it?

So I approve of Net Neutrality.

Tommorrow night, I am pulling an all-nighter. Mainly because I want to be the first to get my domain back from 1&1. I swear, they wanted to put the 1 domain I truly wanted to keep in the Redemption Period.

Do you think what I am saying is just floatsam? Then just read other people’s opinion on this:

(more…)

Sorry about not blogging recently. I have to collect $2,000 by the 19th of June or I won’t be able to stay in the country. -_-

So, right now, I am doing as much designing, coding and forum management as possible to raise the money in a reasonable timeframe.

Anyways, I heard from a reliable source that the beta for Microsoft Office 2007 is now open (you can get it here) and Windows Longhorn Beta 2 is making its way to the public, so you should keep your eyes on these.

The new ICQ 5.1 has launched today and I’ll give you my opinion on it, after I try it out of course, as well as the new 2007 Microsoft Office. However, I am afraid that this version of ICQ will be no different from the most recent versions of ICQ (the ones with “Xtraz”). Essentially, with skinning of the ICQ Client gone (as ICQ Plus has been outsourced and only ICQ 2003a will run well with it), the ICQ client isn’t as customisable as we think it is.

I got around to watching a couple of those Ranma 1/2 tapes that I am selling on eBay (the listing can be found here) and it is surprisingly good. However, since they were VHS, they were dubbed and not subbed. And they were dubbed POORLY. The voices sound like they have no emotion what-so-ever. I’d bet the subbed would be a bit more lively, but then again, I have always preferred subbed over dubbed. But if you prefer dubbed over subbed, this is a great collection.

I looked on Amazon.ca for Ranma DVD box-sets but they were running at $110.00 a boxset on average (You can see the Amazon.ca listings here). WTF?! I wish I could afford this…

Okay, I think that’s about it. Have a great day!

To be honest, I never thought some people would go THIS far to keep me in the states.

I will state right now: I do not plan to leave my intent to move to Canada. No MySpace petition or anything that frivolous could stop me. The only thing in my way of becoming a Canadian is the CIC.

I would report it to the MySpace.com team but I find this too hilarious to report. I would like to see how far this person is willing to go along with their cherade. However, they did place a picture that makes fun of Stephen Harper and as such, I must contact the office of the Prime Minister.

http://www.myspace.com/nowaycanada

Okay, so here is the skinny. I am going to have to send my computer in to Hewlett Packard, but the only problem is I can’t seem to find my CD for Photoshop CS. This will make it a nightmare because I need to have Photoshop CS to upgrade to Photoshop CS2. Maybe I should consider the possibility of just removing the hard drive of this computer and deactiving CS2. This way, HP won’t wipe the drive.

Also, I am going to get out of the professional web design business due to the fact that I can relatively NEVER finish everything. I am not going to abandon web design and my current clients. All clients that I have promised work to will get it. However, there will be no new clients unless I specifically look for work. If I like your site and you are a good client, I’ll keep doing business for you.

Generally though, I have to focus on raising the money for the CIC (approximately $1525 Canadian) and getting my newest project off the ground. What is it? I am not telling but if you keep an eye on The Coldwood, you might see it come into being.

I also located Adam’s new telephone number and I talked to his wife. Appearantly Adam said that he owed me less than $100 (he actually owes me $150) and also he is… someplace that I really couldn’t decipher due to the fact that Adam’s wife stated that she had children around. While I am not one to gossip, I have a few guesses: jail, rehab, psych ward or a brothel. Either way, I really need to get that money.

Oh, and I am pretty sure that you fail it.

Before you get started, yes I am looking for a job. This is one of THOSE times when sending a little bit of cash via PayPal helps boost morale.

Unemployment IS a problem for me. A big problem. I’ve got 2 creditors that want my blood and I have only $2 CAD to my name. If you want me to do a vBulletin design for you, I’ll do it for $100-$400 depending on how complex you want it.

P.S. The new design for the site is coming along nicely. I also added new categories to the WordPress and all that good stuff. I hope to get the latest version of my site out in about a couple of weeks.