Technology Blog

Sometimes I just can’t get over the fact that corporations and government don’t value the concept of quality assurance or testing.

Last week, a man discovered a security flaw with Passport Canada’s website. “that by changing one character in the Internet address displayed on his Web browser, he could view the application forms of others.”

One character! In an age where identity theft is common on the internet, why would an organization have this kind of set up? Sure, it’s a flaw, but come on, that’s a pretty bad flaw, no more how temporary the situation is.

Now, I beta test websites from time to time. I’ve beta tested software applications in the past as well as have years of customer/technical support experience. So sure I know the value of my work. What bothers me, what’s bothered me since I first started working in IT is how often other people dismiss or downplay the need for Quality Assurance.

Would you want to apply for a passport after reading this?

I know I have my reservations. So much so, when it’s time to renew, I’ll like do it by mail.

Professor’s family targeted on YouTube

Using a popular website in an attempt to promote a smear campaign against a professor is just plain wrong. I found this story today in the Globe and Mail and was ashamed as a Canadian and as a former student of Dalhousie University. Personal pictures of his family was published on Youtube (a collage video that is no longer available) . The soundtrack as part of the video included “moans and other noises suggesting fornication”. What ticked me off the most was reading about references in the video about the professors Muslim faith and birthplace in the middle east. Hate crime anyone?

Although I’m not a huge fan of renovation shows (I reserve that obsession for my wive) I do get very interested in the organization of technical/electronic parts. I grew up exposed to a plethora of gadgets and opened chassis of many different electronic components thanks to my father who is a retired engineer technologist. Now that I own my own home, I’m looking more into steel cabinets to finally start organizing my computer parts in an effective manner. At one point I shared an office with an ex partner where most of our furniture was in the form of industrial strength shelving units. Now that I have a wife who isn’t interested in having too many cables, open faced computers, graphics cards, and an assortment of computer parts lying around in open view, steel cabinets seems to be the perfect solution. Looks like I’ve added another project for myself: cleaning my shed that’s going to be my workroom.

The Police Cd was a 2 CD compilation of their classic singles released on June 5th. I’m anxiously waiting for my copy that my wife has promised me ever since last month. Apparently it’s going to include a vintage poster. Now how cool is that?

Ever since a lonely babysitting gig in 1983, I’ve been a big fan of the Police and their music. Their super stardom has since inspired a generation of musicians that followed. For certain, they have introduced trends in pop music that we see today.

Thanks to the internet, my love of music continues to grow. With the click of a button, I’m able to check out music samples, watch videos, download ringtones, and check out tour information. But clicking on the banner below, you’ll be able to check out Police videos, create a Track List / Jukebox , view tour information, enter a contest, send info to a friend, and download ringtones.

Please click on this to go and view an awesome banner where you can watch The Police’s videos, listen to tracks from The Police’s new 2 cd hits collection, enter to win a trip to NYC to see The Police in concert and even view details about their current world tour.

Geeks Rush to Dismantle the iPhone

I was tickled by the above article, as I remember being so curious about the inner workings of a brand new Mickey Mouse watch, I decided to take it apart to see what was inside. I was six. It doesn’t surprise me that geeks all over are doing the same thing with the new iPhone. Everyone wants to know what it’s like inside.

A curious side note. I’ve noticed that the interface is very very similar to Microsoft’s new gadget that’s supposed to be coming out in the near future, called Microsoft Surface…. I saw some amazing spoofs of this on Youtube which I plan to post shortly on this blog. As much as I love technology, I love the humor behind it all. I’m all about advancement of user interfaces, but it does beg the question: are these new advancements made for everyone? Stay tuned for future comments on accessibility and technology.

I use digital cameras and laptops on a regular basis. I used my dell laptop as a GPS monitor which sat on top of a mini laptop desk on the passenger side of my car. I used the car lighter with an AC adapter to keep my laptop powered for the long journey across Canada. This was a great solution in terms of keeping connected and not getting lost, but overtime my laptop battery was worn out from a lot of power on/off situations.

Batteries of every kind can be found on this site for all your digital needs and beyond. I was pleasantly surprised to see they also sell adapter replacements for my particular model (a dell inspiron 1100). If you’re also a regular digital camera user, consider their line up of rechargeable batteries for your brand. Not only is it cheaper in the long run, you’re not generating more trash for the landfill.

I landed on a website today that looked pretty promising. If you’ve been on the net for a while you know there’s tons of online greeting cards. Personally I like to send the odd one when I’m a little too lazy to do otherwise.

Sometimes though, a real greeting card is in order. I love good quality photo cards the best. Scenic greeting cards are great when you want to show an online friend an area close to where you live that you love to visit.

There’s a great selection of black and white as well as color greeting cards here. Check it out next time you’re in the mood to order some quality cards to send out to family and friends. My particular favorite is Banff at Dusk. I’ve been to Banff a couple of times now, and this photo really captures Banff nicely. Beautifully done.

A few days ago I post about paid survey sites, and my experience at trying to get even $10 out of one site that was free with nothing but links to other survey sites (and so the circle jerk went). One of the sites I landed on asked for my personal info in case I was interested in “legitimate earn at home” opportunities, oh and get this… specific to CANADIANS.

Now, I’m a bit of an american-phobe when it comes to “business opps”. I have this belief (since I am Canadian) that the scams come from south of the border. SO NOT TRUE.

If you’ve ever been trapped in an Amway call, by say, a sister, a brother, a brother-in-law, an uncle, a cousin, or some other close relation, then I strongly urge you to AVOID THIS WEBSITE NOW: canadianhomebusiness dot ca. I hate their tactics so much that I absolutely refuse to give them a direct link. Considering the methods of operation and communicating is so INDIRECT, they deserve nothing from me, except this negative commentary.

I made the mistake of providing my cell phone while filling out the info for a “survey site”, completely forgetting that I’d be using my cell phone quite a bit while visiting family in Toronto. I received about 2-3 calls, one as late at 10pm EST on a Sunday from a number I didn’t recognize. Not only was it a private number, but they left no voice mail. Shortly thereafter, I received an email from these guys asking me to call them to discuss this “wonderful opportunity” blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda, etc etc etc. No details on what the company/opportunity is actually about.

To my anger, surfing to their website was also a waste of time because once again no details are provided.

I’m reminded of the time a good friend of mine was encouraged by his work buddy to attend a “meeting”. My buddy knew I was looking for potential opportunities for self employment and suggested I give this a try. He was busy with work, but figured I could go and check it out for the both of us. His work buddy, a very nice guy and programmer was quite enthusiastic about this business “opp”. Very enthusiastic. Ok, so I bit.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived at the hotel was that there were no signs, no company logos, no brochures, no reports, not even a single page handout. In fact, the conference room sign was not labelled announcing the name of the company that had rented the room in the first place. RED FLAG #1. The next thing I noticed was my friend’s work buddy up on the podium talking about the business opportunity in very broad general terms without announcing the name of the company. RED FLAG #2.

I sat in that chair in frustration as my confidence in these characters was quickly slipping. After about another 15 minutes, the “final reveal” took place. The “opp” was for distributing skin products for none other than: NuSkin international.

I felt completely had by this guy that I was somewhat friendly with since I’d met him a few time previously. Naturally, to be polite I stayed for the entire schpeel about NuSkin, the whole time wholely aware that I was suckered into listening to these clowns talking about their obvious pyramid scheme.

Now, my opinion on MLM (multi-level-marketing) is somewhat mixed since my foray onto the internet for employment. I believe people should be rewarded when they refer other people to business opportunities. But when a scheme is almost entirely about creating sub groups or seller underneath you and the general jist about the opportunity is nothing but referring other people to your “pyramid” we might as well start talking about the circle jerk again. I’ll say this much, J. did not have any luck in recruiting me to this scheme. My hope is that he never quit his day job.

Although I mention Amway in the title of this blog, I would like to say that I did visit their website to compare it to the canadian business opp site that I went to. To my surprise Amway was very upfront about their MLM, and discussed their model of people buying products, everyone buying products from the same suppliers thus sharing the profits/savings amongst themselves. That’s pretty much the jist to most MLM’s that I’ve seen.

I think I’m done kvetching about this on my blog for now. The one site I will share directly however is this one: http://www.falseprofits.com/MLM%20Lies.html

This is a good read if you’re looking for work or if you feel like someone is trying to get you interested in an opportunity that appears too good to be true. As for me, this is just continued validation to trust me gut more and be very cautious as to what information I put out on the net.

Commercials turning into pilot projects? Hmm… As much as my wife and I giggle over these 30 seconds of pure joy, I’m not 100% sure that 30 seconds can translate into a 30 minute comedy pilot. Yet, that’s exactly what ABC is planning on doing.

ABC developing ‘Cavemen’

So, what is this exactly? Is this art imitating art? Is it the ultimate in product placement? I’m not sure. Certainly this particular commercial captured my interest enough that I went searching for it on YouTube. In fact, 9 times out of 10 the reason why I surf over to Youtube is just so I can watch something on my own time that I thought was funny on tv, be it commercials, talk show moments or political faux pas. What I don’t use YouTube for is to peer into people’s living rooms while I listen to their bad karoake.

I’m pretty skeptical about how far an idea should go. I’ve been a fan of Geico commercials for years but the question remains: will I have the patience to sit through a 30 minute spoof or a spoof of a wha…?

The answer is obvious to me. Since I haven’t made the technological jump to TiVo or a personal DVR more likely then not, I’ll just surf over to Youtube when I’m interested.

I think this is going to jump the shark before it starts.

Welcome to Tech Jobs. I’m adding this blog to the site mostly for fun, to write about anything technology related. The main website is mostly a listing of the latest job opportunities found on the internet.

A Brief History in Time: I’ve been telecommuting on and off since 1997. My first real venture into this foray started after the first dot com company I worked for, was sold to another dot com company in Toronto in 1997. Back then, the concept of telecommuting was hardly something that companies really embraced. In fact, the company I worked for made a friggin JOKE out of the concept of “outsourcing”. Their version and vision of outsourcing was not about branching out into the global economy. In fact, outsourcing for this company meant hiring a more expensive marketing firm from the United States. The result of this move, practically bankrupt the company (resulting in a buy out). Although I didn’t lose my job as a technical support analyst, I was “encouraged” to move to the new company, a full 4 hour daily commute, with absolutely no new compensation in terms of salary.

I put my foot down and requested that I telecommute from home. After all, with the internet, and my abilities to answer technical questions via email with positive results from our clients, it made sense. The new company agreed however within a few weeks, I was encouraged to come into work more often than what was agreed.

I quit with no regrets.

Since 1999, 2 years after I first quit my job I’ve been telecommuting with mixed results, not to mention mixed opinions! At university, one of the first snarky comments I received from a fellow student after I told them I was going to get into internet marketing was: well if it is that easy why doesn’t everyone do it? I wasn’t impressed with her to say the least.

8 years later, I do have an answer: telecommuting is not an option for everyone. I hardly thought it was an option for me on a fulltime basis but if I’ve been at this thing this long, I must be doing something right. But can anyone do it? The old adage “your mileage will vary” is certainly applicable here.

More on this another time. Enjoy the site.