E-Filler Archives

I don't know if I posted this before or not, but I'm posting it anyway.

Don't know what to cook and you're on a budget? Check out the Ramen Homepage. Ramen is more commonly known in these parts as "Mr. Noodles". There's tons of easy recipes on that site...some of them actually sound tasty too...

There's a TV interview with Dr. Mike Katchabaw posted online here. (~50MB) He's talking about the game design course at UWO, and in the background you can see a screenshot of smashocosm. Way to go Andrew & co...you're famous.

P.S. That's not a goiter or a boil on Katchabaw's neck, it's the end of a microphone/earpiece combo (it looks really odd in the video).

It's almost launch time (lunch time? ha ha) for Discovery. As I'm sure you all know, this will be the first launch since the Columbia disaster. Discovery is fitted with a new Canadarm that can inspect the shuttle for damage after launch. But what happens if there IS a problem? Well NASA figures they can send the OTHER shuttle (which is identical to Discovery and Columbia) up to rescue everyone...I guess they don't think it's a problem that the shuttles are all the same.


I wonder who'll rescue both crews?

Watch the video here. It makes me so thankful for the mom I've got. (BTW, the video doesn't get interesting until about the 35 second mark).

Apple's automatic update tool this morning alerted me to a very important update:

The iMac G5 Sleep Light Update adjusts the brightness of your iMac G5 sleep indicator light so it's not as bright during the evening. The daytime brightness remains the same.

See, Apple understands what's really important about a computer. Not that my iMac's soft breathing at night ever kept me awake, but it's a nice touch.

The official name of the next generation Windows operating system will be called 'Windows Vista'. This is the successor to WindowsXP and it's due out in 2006...what new features will it have? Well, it's not exactly clear at this point since they keep taking features out:
- 3D Desktop (a la OSX) - Delayed
- WinFX (new file system) - Delayed
- Monad (Windows command shell) - Delayed

The UI has been completely redesigned, and I think all the UI components have as well, meaning old applications will look newish in Vista.

Has anyone tried the beta?

When it's daylight savings...and it might get a little crazier. The US wants to add an additional two months to the current DST period. If they adopt this change and we don't, it could cause a few problems for businesses who depend on Just-In-Time scheduling, airlines and other industries (not to mention the huge amount of software that I'm sure has the start and end of DST hardcoded into it...like my Palm pilot).

Is this a good idea? That will mean that here in EST our time will be GMT-4 more than it already is (nearly 7 months of the year already by my figuring...just what timezone DO we live in?!) and more of us will be getting up in the dark in the morning. I'm all for more daylight, but this sounds like more trouble than it's worth.

A recent study has found that here in Ontario we are getting fleeced on our car insurance rates...anyone could have told them that, all they needed to do was ask.

This weekend I eagerly attended the movie "War of the Worlds", starring the now crazy (more on that later...) Tom Cruise. While I must say; the special effects were amazing, but the plot was as thin as the toilet paper in Middlesex College. What a disappointment. Has anyone else seen this yet? Thoughts?

Anyone living in Toronto who's looking for a roommate? I'm looking for a place, beginning Sept. or August for 12 months.

Residents of Winnipeg are getting sprayed for mosquitos whether they like it or not.

When in history has it ever been a good idea to hose down any area (residential or not) with chemicals? Sure the West-Nile virus is bad (although, in something like 80% of the cases it doesn't develop into anything), but is spraying homes any better? No doubt we'll be reading about lawsuits against Manitoba in 20 years.

Hey
So I'm in London. I didn't get blown up by terrorists either. However I wasnt too far from the bombing sites when they went off.I did manage to get on the Tube the very next day, eat that terrorists!

So I have a job in London. I sell belts in a kiosk in the blackest mall in London. Some might say I stand out a bit, but I manage. The money isnt too bad either and for now, I have some great hostesses takking good care of me. In fact, four Australian hostesses who occasionally have dinner ready for me after a long hard day of selling personalised bling belts. So life could be tougher.

Thats all I got for now, time is running out as always
Brian

Well, it appears that after 301 days, a deal has been struck for the NHL.

Will fans return to the game?

I just got my monthly cable bill, and with it came an extra special treat:

"Please note that effective August 1, 2005, we will require you to give us 30 days notice to cancel any of your Rogers Cable services"

30 days notice? Isn't that a little extreme? How many people are NOT going to notice this on their bill and try to cancel their services a few days before they move only to find out they get to pay for the month? What a bunch of bastards...

As you may have noticed, I've thrown some google ads on the comment pages. Will they generate any sort of revenue? Only time will tell.

How obnoxious are they? Should I get rid of them or does no one care? I will probably leave them up for a minimum of one week.

What started (or not) as a joke on The Simpson's has finally become a reality: Team Discovery Channel...it's just a matter of time before we all start drinking Duff Beer.

Even for the people who don't know me, hopefully there will be something entertaining in this story.

I live in a bachelor's apartment in the basement of a house in London. The landlord and his wife and kids (very nice) live upstairs. A few months ago my doorbell (not the doorbell for upstairs) rang at about 3am. I woke up but didn't really feel like getting up, so I just stayed in bed. I heard some commotion upstairs as someone went to check who it was. There was some talking, then the door closed. Then I saw some very stylish hooker boots walking past my basement windows.

A few days later Henry (my landlord) was down in my place, checking the water metre I think, with his darling 7 year-old daughter Angela. As he's leaving, we have a conversation that goes a little something like:
Henry: Oh Mike, I've been meaning to ask you about something. I don't want to get into your personal life, but a few days ago someone came to the your door in the middle of the night.
Mike: Oh ya, I remember that. That was strange.
Henry: Ya. Well I went to answer it and there was a woman there, and she said 'did you call for me?'. And I was still half-asleep you know, I didn't know what was going on, I said 'what?'. She said 'did you call for me?'. I said 'no'. She just turned and left. My wife went after her, thinking maybe something was wrong, but she left.
Mike: Cool.
Henry: I think she was a hooker, you know. We got a message on our answering machine a day later, something like 'we know your kind, you phone and don't pay'. So I just wanted to ask if you knew anything....
Mike: No.
Henry: I mean, I did some crazy things when I was single. If you...
Mike: I didn't call her.
Henry: Okay, well it's none of my business, you know. Like I said, before I got married.... Just we were thinking from now on we'd keep that door locked all the time, even when you're home. They didn't make any specific threats, but you know....

So all is rainbows and singing bunny rabbits. The incident leads to a humourous e-filler quote ("One hooker and all of a sudden I have this reputation?") and everyone's happy.

Then about half an hour ago I hear the doorbell upstairs ring. There's commotion as someone goes to answer it. Then about a minute later I hear MY doorbell ring. I go to the door and see a very charming young, ostensibly drugged-out, woman. No hooker boots this time, though. It's all about breaking stereotypes, you know.
Woman: Did you call for me?
Mike: Uhh, no?
Woman: Are you sure? 24 Wyatt St.? Chris?
Mike: Chris? Uhh my name is Mike, sorry.
Woman: Fuck. Sorry.
Then the woman leaves, and a few seconds later I hear a car start and peel out.

I can only hope I get to have another conversation with Henry about his pre-married life because of this. The best part is that now I'm imagining the conversation that must have happened upstairs. Probably something along the lines of:
Woman: Did you call for me?
Person upstairs: Oh are you a hooker? Go to the side door.
Woman: Okily dokily doo.

I can only assume I'm stuck on some kind of hooker equivalent of a telemarketers' list. Must have been one of the old tenants. Once you get on the list, you can't get off.

It's a shame, too. Except for the drug problem, she was actually pretty cute....

Is it Paper-Rock-Scissors or Rock-Paper-Scissors?

Hey
I finally managed to upload pictures to the site! Yeah!
Check them out here

I really dont have the time or attention span to label them all right now. So here is the order and you can guess which is where. It goes... Manchester, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Munich, Prague, Athens, Santorini, Athens, and ends in Corfu.

Enjoy
Brian