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The Complete First Season of Alias on DVD [612 replies]
HBO Makes The Best Television Series [1019 replies]
My Brand New 2003 Silver Echo Sedan [541 replies]
Family Guy May Return to Network TV [1750 replies]
Wireless Internet and No Laptop [1234 replies]
Spiderman 2 Trailer is Released [2690 replies]
Penguin Warehouse, Inc. [585 replies]
A Computer Scientist and Engineer Joke [311 replies]
Wil Wheaton Has a Weblog [511 replies]
Brad Pineau
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Posted by Brad Pineau on September 3rd, 2003 at 11:27 pm AST [6832 views]
Dear TD Bank,
Hello, how are you? I am good. I was in today to cash my pay cheque, and I have to say, I received excellent service. The teller was quick and efficient, and I was out with my cash within minutes. Oh how I wish all my visits could be this pleasant...
For the past four months, I have been cashing my pay cheques at your Queen Street branch in Charlottetown, mainly because no other banks will cash cheques from the TD Bank (which is where these are from) without a seven day hold. Now, I can understand why other banks may want to do this... and I am ok with that. What I am not ok with, is the service I get when I visit your bank.
I'm guessing that the problems come from the fact that I don't have a bank account with you, so therefore, your tellers seem to not trust me, because I'm an "outsider". They even look at me like I'm a criminal who's trying to cash a fake cheque. Sure, I guess I could open a bank account with you, but I shouldn't have to do such a thing to get proper service.
You see, each teller seems to follow their own set of bank policies. For example, one day, a teller may ask for a picture ID. Then, the next day, one will ask for 2 sets of ID, like a drivers license and a credit card. And sometimes, they don't even ask for any ID at all. Also, some tellers will not accept an expired license, while others don't even care.
Another example... some tellers need to go to the back office with the cheque to "verify" its signature... while others don't even care. One teller even made a five minute phone call. I don't know who to... but she told me it was necessary to confirm the cheque's bank account.
Another thing that seems to cause trouble is when I want to buy a money order to pay my apartment rent. Some tellers will sell me the money order with no problem... while others tell me that I should have an account with them. I was once even told that I couldn't buy a money order, and I had to go out to the car to get my girlfriend (who does have account with them), transfer the money to her account, and then buy the money order.
On top of all this, getting into your Queen Steet branch is such a pain in the ass at 9:30 in the morning.. it takes about fifteen minutes to even find a parking spot.
So you see, every visit is like a new experience. I never know what I need to do to get my cheque cashed. I understand that banks need policies... but tellers need to follow them all the time, and not selectively like they have been doing. It just confuses us customers...
Anyways, I just thought I'd let you know that I'm an extremely unhappy customer. This letter doesn't do my unhappiness justice.
See you next payday!
Sincerely,
Brad Pineau.
The above is a letter I have written to the TD Bank. I haven't sent it (I don't really plan on sending it) but it did feel good to write the letter and vent my anger.
Posted by Brad Pineau on September 4th, 2003 at 5:59 pm AST [9302 views]
This morning, some jerk broke into my car! From what I can tell, he (or she) took my Discman, the Discman car adaptor, and my girlfriend's new pair of jeans. I have to ask.. what the hell are they going to do with a woman's pair of jeans!?!?
The theif aparently tore my car apart (not literally)... the glove compartment was open, and all the papers where thrown about the front seat... there was a bag of garbage in the back seat that was torn open, and the back seats were folded down and all the bags that were in the trunk were torn open and looked thru. The bags in the trunk were things we had not yet unpacked from our move to our apartment... so I have no idea what was taken from them (Nothing important, I'm sure).
At least they didn't take any important things, like my car insurance and registration, or my credit card statements I had tucked in between the front seats.
Yes, my doors were unlocked... but don't tell me I should have had them locked... that's not the point.. I shouldn't HAVE to lock my doors.
We called the police, and they told us someone else had their car (from the same parking lot) broken into as well.
Theif - if you are reading this... you are a bastard.
I'm officially joining Steve's Punch-in-the-Face Tour 2003.
Posted by Brad Pineau on September 5th, 2003 at 1:35 am AST [14124 views]
The following is a list of ten rules that superhero movies unofficially follow. I put this list together after watching Daredevil, and realizing the similarities between it and other superhero movies, such as Spiderman, Batman, X-Men, etc.- Superheros can get hurt by bullets or sharp objects that can peirce skin, but not by jumping from heights or long distances, grabbing or jumping onto fast moving vehicles, or being hit hard by blunt objects.
- The Laws of Physics, such as gravity, do not apply. Superheros can do incredible backflips and jumps as if gravity wasn't pulling them down... and when an object is thrown, it will travel in a straight line until it hits a wall.
- Superheros always have a romantic love interest.
- Someone who the superhero loves will to die.
- Superheros tend to be named after some type of animal.
- Superheros only needs to cover their eyes for people not to recognize them. The mouth, chin, voice, or body shape do not help in giving away their identity.
- If there are two superheros in the movie, they will eventually fight each other.
- Cops are stupid and can never catch the villian, no matter how many cops there are.
- At some point in time, the cops will be after the superhero.... no matter how good the superhero is, or how many lives they have saved.
- There's always a sequel.
Posted by Brad Pineau on September 6th, 2003 at 3:39 am AST [11948 views]
I had my 1993 Plymouth Acclaim inspected today, and it turns out that it'll cost about $1000 to bring it up to par to pass inspection. Well, it felt like it wasn't worth spending the money to fix it, so my girlfriend and I went and bought a new 2003 Toyota Echo.
I guess we could have gotten our old car fixed, it was probably the smartest thing to do financially... but we've been considering getting a new car for a year now, and after seeing Steve buy a new car, we just couldn't resist.
We got an awesome deal on the car, too. Because I'm a recent UPEI graduate, they gave us $1000 cash back (I pick up the cheque tomorrow). They also paid the first month for us, and waived the standard fees (They probably waive the fees for all customers).
I really recommend the Toyota Dealership... they were super nice, and made everything really easy. I told them we'd be back in a few years for a Rav4.
Posted by Brad Pineau on September 8th, 2003 at 1:26 am AST [1889 views]
Not taking my own advice, I saw Jeepers Creepers 2 tonight. I wasn't going in to the movie expecting much... but I was really surprised by what I saw. The movie was actually quite good. I mean, it was exactly what you would expect from a horror movie.The story takes off where the last one left off.. this time, the Creeper terrorizes a bus full of a highschool basketball team and cheerleaders.
What makes this movie much better than the first, is that the characters aren't as stupid and annoying... I mean, in the last movie, I was always yelling at the screen, "Run, you idiot!" or "Don't go closer!". But this time, the characters acted like I, or anyone in their right mind, would act. There was a few occasions where a character was stupid.. but who's counting? There was also a few scenes that were just kind of stupid... like one of the cheerleaders all of a sudden becoming psychic.. or a farmer becoming a kickass bounty hunter... but all on all, the movie did was it was supposed to do - keep us on the edge of our seats, and actually make us concerned for the characters who were about to get killed.
I would recommend this movie if you were up for a good horror flick... but not if you're looking for a decent dialog or storyline. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Posted by Brad Pineau on September 8th, 2003 at 1:54 am AST [22868 views]
One of my biggest pet peeves (other than anything to do with Missy Elliot) is people who don't respond to email. In the past few weeks, I've sent about a dozen emails to different people, and have yet to receive a response.
Why are they not responding? Did they not receive it? Is my mail server working right? Did I sent it incorrectly? Are they ignoring me? Did they read it, and plan on responding later? None of these questions would be floating around if they would simply respond to emails when they receive them.
This article isn't directed at anyone in particular, and I'm not trying to lash out at anyone... but that said... if you have receieved an email from me and have not yet responded... it wouldn't hurt to respond now. =)
Posted by Brad Pineau on September 10th, 2003 at 7:20 pm AST [7251 views]
Today on Much Music, I watched one of the reporters interviewing people on the streets of Toronto about the recent RIAA lawsuits against some 261 music swappers.
Everyone person who they showed on tape had the same thing to say:
Why bother picking on people like that?
Everyone downloads music off the web!
Go after drug dealers or murderers or something more worthwhile!
It's obvious that a lot of people are outraged that 261 americans are being sued for simply sharing music... something that should be free and that everyone does. Well, what I dont understand, is what the hell is wrong with these people? It's very, very clear that sharing music on the internet is ILLEGAL.
It would be ideal if everyone could download whatever music they liked, and not have to pay $20 for a CD with only a few decent songs on it... but this is not the point. The point is, downloading music that doesn't belong to you is illegal. Everyone knows this... so why does everyone get so angry when the authories finally do something about it?
I hope that people clue into this soon, before more lawsuits are handed out. One of the first settlements reached was for $2000, and this was with the mother of the 12 year old girl. In retrospect, this is merely a slap on the wrist. Under American law, defendants could be fined as much as $100,000 per song downloaded. People should take this as a sign - stop downloading pirated music while you can.
I agree that the music industry, as it stands right now, sucks. I hate paying for music as much as everyone. All I'm saying, is don't get mad at the authories when they start handing out lawsuits. It was bound to happen.
Posted by Brad Pineau on September 11th, 2003 at 9:44 pm AST [34265 views]
Ron pointed me AddictingGames.com, a truly awesome site. It is a compilation of fun games from all across the net.
Thanks Ron, now I'll never get any work done.
Posted by Brad Pineau on September 12th, 2003 at 6:33 pm AST [2838 views]
Ever since we got our new Echo, we've only been buying supreme gasoline. One of my girlfriend's friends swears that her car runs better because she uses supreme gasoline, and not the regular.
Is it worth paying extra for supreme gasoline? Can it really extend the life of your car?
Posted by Brad Pineau on September 14th, 2003 at 1:59 am AST [34456 views]
I found a really fun spear toss game. I must have played it for like 30 minutes. You will not be able to stop playing this game. =)
My best score is 533.049.
Play now.
For some tips, read here.
Posted by Brad Pineau on September 15th, 2003 at 3:24 am AST [4261 views]
It's been announced that Christian Bale will be playing Bruce Wayne in the next big screen Batman movie. Yes, that's right, Batman is returning to the big screen after a disappointing Batman and Robin.Batman 5 will be directed by Christopher Nolan, best known for Memento, and will star Christian Bale, best known for his outstanding performance in American Psycho, and it's been rumored that Michelle Pfeiffer will return as a new character.
I'll be the first to say that the Batman franchise has taken a dive for the worst the after the last 2 installments... but I think the next movie will not be disappointing. I for one can not wait to hear more about the storyline and the rest of the cast. Production of the new movie should start in early 2004.
Posted by Brad Pineau on September 17th, 2003 at 6:37 pm AST [18322 views]
Remember Wesley Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation? Of course you do... I found out today that the actor who portrayed him, Wil Wheaton, has a weblog. And it has apparently been up for a long time. Unfortunely, users are unable to leaves replies to his posts... so I have no way of telling him what a big fan I am.Wil, if you find this post by checking your referer log, I just want to tell you that you were great in Star Trek, and that I'm a big fan.
Posted by Brad Pineau on September 17th, 2003 at 6:46 pm AST [2561 views]
According to Slashdot, 3rd party instant messengers like Trillian, Miranda, or Gaim, will soon no longer be able to connect to the MSN Instant Messaging Service.
Why must everything Microsoft does alienate users even further?
Posted by Brad Pineau on September 20th, 2003 at 6:57 pm AST [41541 views]
My internet was down all last night and up until this afternoon. I had no idea how dependant I am on the internet.
I don't drink, don't smoke, don't do drugs... but I have an even worse addiction - the internet, and I didn't realize it until last night, as I starred at my eastlink cable modem, waiting for the three necessary lights to illumnate.
I hope I don't lose internet ever again.
Posted by Brad Pineau on September 21st, 2003 at 12:53 am AST [16606 views]
I found a cool little tool for getting at your linux partition from Windows... it's called Explore2fs, and it's open source.
It works pretty good. Saved me from having to reboot into Linux and copying the files over to my Windows partition. Kinda sucks how Windows doesn't have anything built in that will do this... I guess Bill Gates wants to make Windows the least compatable as possible.
Posted by Brad Pineau on September 22nd, 2003 at 7:52 pm AST [82306 views]
According to Seth McFarlene, creator of the hilarious (and cancelled) cartoon, The Family Guy, Fox has given a green light to produce an all new Family Guy movie!Because this will be a feature length movie and not aired on Network TV, Seth and the other writers don't plan on holding any jokes back. We can look forward to lots of hilarious celebrity gags, and we can even look forward to uncensored swearing.
Rumor has it that the movie will be based on Stewie, who will come to the realization that he is gay. Now this is gonna be funny...
You can read about the new seasons of Family Guy here.
Also, if you want to help bring back family guy, head over to Petiton Spot, and sign the Bring Back Family Guy petition.
Posted by Brad Pineau on September 24th, 2003 at 10:49 pm AST [6310 views]
silverorange, the web development company I work for, has been awarded an honorable mention in the Nielsen Norman Group's The Intranet Design Annual 2003: Ten Best Intranets of the Year, for its outstanding Intranet software.silverorange had previously placed on this top ten list in 2001 with an earlier version of the silverorange Intranet.
You can read about the news release on the Nielsen Norman Group's site.
You can read about the news release on the silverorange site.
You can also see a live demo of our Intranet on our silverorange site.
Posted by Brad Pineau on September 28th, 2003 at 4:16 am AST [4593 views]
Saturday at 2:55pm, Bloggerman recieved its 10,000th hit!
It was a Bloglines subscriber, checking the RSS feed... so I have no idea who it is.. as the IP address is the Bloglines IP. If you think this may be you, let me know - you may win a special prize!
Posted by Brad Pineau on September 28th, 2003 at 5:43 am AST [9096 views]
The Bloggerman Store is open for business.
If I ever see anyone wearing a bloggerman hoody around town, I'll buy you lunch! =)
Posted by Brad Pineau on September 28th, 2003 at 9:59 pm AST [8859 views]
The Bloggerman Weblog is now running a new version of the Bloggerman Weblog Platform. Over the past month, I've been doing upgrades and various feature additions to a secret experimental test weblog. Today, I synced over the changes to bloggerman, and as you can see... it was a flawless upgrade. I had about 30 seconds of downtime, as the files copied over.
Most of the features added/upgraded are things that users will never see... the items that top the list are:
- Cleaner HTML and CSS.
- Dynamic Blogroll section on front page, (changable thru the admin).
- More features when adding articles, such an uploading an image directly. No need for FTP anymore.
- Double post paradox fixed - clicking refresh after posting a reply will not post the reply again.
- A new admin look, very simple and clean layout..
- All weblog text customizable in one place - admin user can change all text across the weblog inside one constants file (soon to be moved to the database). This means upgrading a weblog is much easier - as the constants file is the only file that differs from site to site.
- All weblog layout and colors are from a CSS file.. this means changing the look of a weblog only requires changing the styles.css file.
There was also a lot of other little changes not worth mentioning. But all in all, I am very pleased with the evolution of the weblog platform. It is now very easy to create a new weblog - the process only takes a minute... and all weblog customization takes place in the constants.php and styles.css files. The main reason I worked for this is because I have several friends, including my girlfriend, who have expressed interest in getting their own weblog. By all means, if you would like to put up a weblog using the Bloggerman Weblog platform, don't hesitate to ask.