19 September 2006, lunch time
I have Rogers Extreme. It’s normally quite fast. Downloading files from fast servers is a pleasant experience. Using BitTorrent however is a whole other story. I’m downloading a file at 1.7 KB/sec 0 KB/sec. Rogers and I have different definitions of what EXTREME Internet should feel like.
Update: I should add that everything else is wicked fast. Wicked wicked fast. So I don’t hate Rogers that much.
Update: Various tricks get me up to about 50 KB/sec down now, sometimes closer to 80 KB/sec. For comparison, in my old neighbourhood I used to get closer to 200 KB/sec before, on their regular high-speed service.
Update: I’m finally getting speeds I expect. So this post has been renamed to “Rogers Extreme”.
Update Feb 12th 2007: And its slow once more. As such, I’ve renamed this post once again. What’s the point of “extreme” Internet if you can’t download huge files with Bittorrent?
Update Mar 7 2007: TekSavvy FTW!
[12] Life
18 September 2006, lunch time
I’ve been living in my new place for almost 2 weeks now, but I haven’t really settled in to the place yet. I have yet to cook anything there; i’m eating out constantly. Two weeks of this, and I think I’m getting scurvy. I must need some vitimin C. Or more calcium. Or something, because my gums feel like they are going to start bleeding any minute now. So children, drink your milk and eat your fruits and vegetables.
[3] Life
This temperamental side,
The one you say that you can’t hide.
D’ you ever see yourself – The way it looks to someone else?
This temperamental trick,
The one you say you can’t predict.
You’re like an empty cup.
Forgive me if I don’t wait up.
—Temperamental by Everything But the Girl.
15 September 2006, lunch time
Standing outside the CIBC on College, Steph, Sharon and I were waiting for Patrick to grab some cash. I was on the phone with someone, probably Dave, explaining what we were up to. Suddenly Patrick started banging on the window of the bank and pointing off behind me. I turned to see what he was pointing at, but didn’t see anything of consequence. I thought I was missing out on a fight, or perhaps a movie-star—the film festival is taking place after all. I looked and looked, and then gave up.
Patrick wandered out of the bank, stuffing some money into his wallet, and said, “Your friend Jen just walked by.”
Jen? From Waterloo? I asked as much, “Jen? From Waterloo?”
“Yeah. The tall White girl.”
That didn’t sound right: Jen’s not tall. “Jen’s not tall. You mean Heather?”
“Yeah, her.”
I called Heather, and we met up with her at the Midtown on College. She was with her roommate Jen. They were coming from a Nouvelle Vague concert at the Mod Club; I was very jealous.
Dave and Linh showed up a little while later. I introduce Dave to Sharon. This was the 4th time they had met. You can never been too careful with introductions. I introduced Linh to Sharon. They had never met before.
“Hi, I’m Linh, Dave and I live together.” A short while later, with a little disdain in her voice, Linh clarified her earlier statement, “We’re roommates, but we’re not together.” This came up several times during the night.
We left the Midtown at around 11:30. I got home and climbed in to bed. Around 12:30, I got a call from Gary, who I had dinner with earlier.
“Hey, I’m free, what’s going on?”
[2] Life
13 September 2006, early afternoon
I’m online again. The cable guy showed up at my flat around 9:30; a short time later my iMac was downloading a weeks worth of email. What a nice feeling. Boy do I love the Internet.
[1] Life
12 September 2006, lunch time
Apple’s big iPod event of the year is happening today. There is lots of speculation as to what will be announced, but we won’t know for certain till 10:00 Pacific Time. I’m hoping for an iPhone or some such nonsense. Or something that is totally insane and unexpected. Chances are after today you’ll be able to buy 8 gig iPod nanos at the very least.
Update: As expected, we have fancier iPods, but nothing shocking was announced. You can buy movies through iTunes now, though DVDs seem like a better deal to me. Gizmodo has detailed coverage of the event.
[3] Apple Computers
11 September 2006, lunch time
Shima and I watched Radiant Cities with her planning class. It’s a documentary about the suburbs and how they suck. The directors of the film, before the screening, joked about how totally biased the film was, and how they pretty much went out to make a film that just made fun of the suburbs. When they talk about suburbs in this film, they are really referring to the sorts of suburbs they build now: big cookie-cutter housing developments with names like Sudden Valley. The film focuses on one particular family and their life in the suburbs. Interspersed throughout the film are interviews with several famous planners and architects who discuss how to deal with the problems of the suburbs. The suburbs as we build them now are not a sustainable form of development; they are a bad idea. In many ways the film is also about the documentary film format itself, though I don’t want to discuss this lest I ruin the movie for you. Radiant Cities is a cool film, definitely worth watching.
The official Radiant Cities web site at the NFB.
Movies
11 September 2006, lunch time
I watched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang with Rishi this past Saturday. We had just come from lunch at the Pilot, and I had a few hours to kill before I had to head off for Tiff’s surprise birthday party. (Shima, Matt, Shawn and I managed to ruin the surprise somewhat, but it was a pleasant dinner nevertheless.) Anyway, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is excellent. It’s a funny send up of those cheesy film-noir films and books. The premise is as follows: a petty criminal ends up in LA to do a test screening for a crime drama, after inadvertently crashing an audition; once in LA he is paired up with a gay private eye who is to teach him how to play a detective; the pair end up embroiled in a murder-mystery. Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer both do great jobs at their respective parts. Kilmer in particular, playing “Gay Perry”, is hilarious. You really need to watch this film. I think it’s a shame it didn’t do better. (If you need more encouragement, it stars Michelle Monaghan and Shannyn Sossamon.)
The official Kiss Kiss Bang Bang web site.
[2] Movies
8 September 2006, lunch time
Patrick, Sharron, Steph and I met at Metro Square to sample food at the Taste of Toronto. Most of the restaurants in the area (the Theater district) had set up shop. The food was quite good. We hung around till about eight before heading off to find a place to have a drink. An hour later, we were at the Tap, minus Sharron. The Tap is awesome. My friend Matt has got me totally hooked on that place. Juan showed up just before we left, and the two of us sneaked in to my old house to steal my iMac. I’m not sure how stealthy we actually were. Hopefully we didn’t wake anyone up. My condo still doesn’t feel like home, but I think that will change once I have Internet access.
[6] Life
7 September 2006, lunch time
As soon as Bootcamp was announced, many Mac users went out and installed Half-Life 2 in their newly created Windows XP partitions. (Cabel Sasser, Todd Dominey, and Michael Heilemann all made a go of it.) Yesterday I installed Half-Life 2 on my Intel iMac. The process is very straight forward. I was waiting for the game’s price to drop, but apparently it’s just too popular. I bought Half-Life 2, the game of the year edition, for $50 at Electronics Boutique. It’s the version that comes with the original Half-Life, plus Counter Strike Source.
Since the last time I used Bootcamp, Apple put out a new version of the software. Upgrading is straightforward: you need to install the new Bootcamp assistant, burn a new CD of the drivers, and install them in Windows. Once this was out of the way, I started installing Half-Life. That took a while. Why they don’t release these games on DVDs I don’t know. 5 CDs later, I was ready to play—well, almost. Half-Life uses this software called Steam for copy-protection (and a few other things). I started up Steam, registered my game, and waited while Steam patched my copies of Half-Life 2, Counter Strike Source and the original Half-Life. I have a quick connection to the net, so thankfully this wasn’t a long process.
The game plays great. Running around is smooth, and I can play at the iMacs native resolution of 1680 by 1050. I didn’t play too much of the game, because my computer is still at my old flat. Once I can actually play for a bit I’ll write more about how it runs. The real question I am faced with is this: should I play Half-Life before playing Half-Life 2? I’m thinking yes, but once you see how nice Half-Life 2 looks, it is hard to bring yourself to play the original Half-Life
Intel iMac | Video Games
6 September 2006, lunch time
There are several things I like about the ensuite laundry at my new place. First off, I don’t need to wheel the washing machine over to the sink. This is a big plus; a big big plus. This new washing machine also doesn’t sound like it’s going to fall through the floor. It must be a combination of the concrete floors and the fact the washing machine is firmly planted on the ground, underneath a dryer. My old washing machine would shake it like a salt-shaker. The new dryer actually vents hot air out in to a vent, which I assume carries the air up to the roof. My old dryer just spat the air out in to our Kitchen. If you like a warm humid apartment, this might be seen as a plus I suppose. I left my new dryer on as I slept; I trusted it not to burst in to flames while I was sleeping. My old dryer was a fire waiting to happen. These are just a few of the joys of ensuite laundry.
[2] Life
5 September 2006, late morning
And just like that the summer is over, my summer of t-shirts. The weather is cool outside, and has been for much of the weekend. Saturday was the first time in recent memory I had to wear a jacket out. I slept in the new place last night. It still smells of paint. I’m hoping breathing paint-fumes doesn’t cause brain damage or cancer. I suspect it doesn’t, but it can’t be good for you. I kept the patio door wide open to get some fresh air in to the place. The air was cool, but not unpleasant. In a few months we’ll have snow here. The very thought of it is depressing.
Life
1 September 2006, early afternoon
Faye Wong’s first album with EMI after leaving Cinepoly was the self-titled Faye Wong. I’m listening to it right now. It is probably her best album; it’s certainly my favourite. It opens with the slow and soothing Anasthaesia, and moves on from there. You’re Happy, So I’m Happy, I Don’t Wanna Be This Way Either, Making A Fuss, and Reminiscence are some other great tracks. (That last song is a cover of a Cocteau Twins track.) It was the second album by her that I bought. I really wish she was still making music.
[2] Music
31 August 2006, lunch time
I had a strange dream this morning, during that period of time after you first wake up, but before you really wake up. There is a room full of broken toys, mostly transformers. Someone opens the door and tosses more in. One transformer, Ultra Magnus, isn’t that broken, and starts looking for the car-carrying trailer portion of his body. He finds a trailer, but it isn’t the car-carrying trailer it is supposed to be, it’s a normal trailer — the sort of trailer you’d see on the back of Optimus Prime. Anyway, he puts it on his back and drives away. I don’t know why i’d dream about Ultra Magnus; he was such a lame ass.
Life
30 August 2006, lunch time
I’ve been trying to leave the guild I joined in World of Warcraft for a little while now. The one problem is I had no idea how. I kept meaning to ask Gary how you quit, but I’d forget whenever I saw him online (or in person). Apparently you just need to type /gquit into the console and you’re set. I’ll try that out tonight. I need to find a new guild now, one that isn’t full of little boys. It’s harder then you think. I learned how to leave a guild by reading about some other guilds drama. It’s a strange game that world of warcraft.
Update: I quit my guild with no fanfare whatsoever. I don’t think anyone noticed I was gone.
Update: I foolishly joined another guild. I need to wake up in the morning and quit.
[7] World of Warcraft | Nerd Alert
29 August 2006, lunch time
Any down time in my life is now spent playing World of Warcraft. This past week has been particularly bad since I don’t have Shima to keep my playing in check. Yesterday I must have played the game for something like 4 or 5 hours. I feel like I’ve become my 12 year old self, rushing home from school—now work—to play video games. Things are different now however. Final Fantasy you’d play to a conclusion. Super Mario you’d play to some conclusion. World of Warcraft has no end. The game keeps going even when you aren’t playing. It’s interesting and incredibly captivating, but also incredibly addictive. Still, I think it’s a better use of my time then surfing the Internet for 4 or 5 hours, which is probably how I spent much of my time before when I was home.
[3] World of Warcraft | Life
28 August 2006, lunch time
I was at Republic this weekend; it’s a night club in Toronto’s clubbing district. I haven’t been to a proper night club in ages. Most of the places I go to now don’t have any girls dressed all skankalicious, don’t play hip-hop, and aren’t packed to the brim with people: I don’t know how I managed to stay away for so long. Not much had changed in my absence. Booty shorts seem to be much more popular now—awesome. Otherwise I suppose girls were wearing the same sorts of outfits they always wear out. I’m always impressed by the creative ways young girls manage to show off their more tangible assets. There was a ton of music I had never heard before; seeing as how I don’t listen to the radio, this was to be expected. It’s strange watch everyone else go nuts over a song you have no clue about. I need to download some new music.
[1] Life
25 August 2006, lunch time
I watched Canadian buddy-cop flick Bon Cop, Bad Cop yesterday. It was both awesome and ridiculous. Colm Feore and Patrick Huard play two cops, one from Ontario and one from Quebec, respectively. They are forced to work on a case together and hilarity ensues. The Ontario cop played by Feore is a straight-arrow dorky kind of guy, while the Quebecer cop is all hard-boiled like someone out of a John Woo film. It’s not high-art, but it is very entertaining. There are plenty of jokes on all things Canadian. They even spend several minutes explaining how to swear in French. It’s great. It’s nice to see a big budget mainstream Canadian film getting made. Hopefully it does reasonably well, and they can make a Bon Cop, Bad Cop 2, where the bad guys are all Albertans.
Movies
24 August 2006, the wee hours
The Globe and Mail lets its readers comment on its stories online. No doubt this readership will have something informed to say on the recent arrests of Tamil Canadians trying to buy arms, bribe officials, and fund the LTTE.
Read the rest of this post. (661 words)
[3] Current Events
23 August 2006, lunch time
Earlier this week, my Warlock reached level 36. This isn’t such a big deal in and of itself, but it does mean that I’m on the top half of the the 30-39 bracket in the Warsong Gulch battleground. This means I am going to start playing that PvP game within World of Warcraft again. Conveniently enough, yesterday Blizzard introduced the latest patch to the game. This patch introduced cross-realm battlegrounds. Normally you can only fight against people on the server you connect to. For me, this means I can only play against people on Eitrigg. This is fine and all, but since our server population is pretty low the wait times for games are fairly long. There are usually only enough people to get 1 game going in the brackets I have played in so far. Since the patch, servers now belong to battleground groups, and you can now fight with people on any of the servers within your group. This extra influx of people means that there are usually several instances of the battleground running at one time. Instead of 1 game going, there are usually 12 or so. The wait times are much shorter. Shima is out of town for 2 weeks, so I imagine i’ll be wasting a lot of time playing World of Warcraft. I need to get my ranking back.
World of Warcraft | Nerd Alert
21 August 2006, late evening
Whenever I go back to Scarborough I get to watch Cricket. This weekend the Pakistan-England test series was coming to a close. Pakistan looked like they would win the last game in the series after some excellent bowling, and even more brilliant batting. That was until Darrell Hair charged the Pakistani team with ball tampering.
In Cricket, you play with the same ball for much of the game. (For example, unlike in Baseball, when the ball is batted into the stands the fans are expected to throw it back on to the pitch.) As the ball gets rougher over the course of a game, the effectiveness of your spin-bowlers increases. The wear and tear on the ball will effect how it will spin in the air. This is why there is an incentive to tamper with the ball. Natural wear and tear on the ball is to be expected, but it is illegal to tamper with the ball by scratching it with your finger nails or other objects. When Hair accused Pakistan’s team of ball tampering, he was calling them cheaters. This is not the first time Pakistan has been accused of ball tampering, which is why I suspect the captain felt obliged to take a stand.
Hair is well known for being an overly harsh and stubborn umpire, particularly when dealing with South-Asian cricketers. In fact, Pakistan had objected to his being an umpire during this series. Hair gained a lot of notoriety for declaring Muralitharan’s bowling action illegal
7 times during an Australia-Sri Lanka game back in 1995. (Muralitharan is probably one of the greatest bowlers ever, and his action has been defended by some of crickets greatest players, including Australian Bradman.)
This is the first time ever that a Test has been decided by a forfeit. Over the next few days I expect more information to come to light as to what Hair saw (or did not see).
[3] Current Events
21 August 2006, lunch time
My cousin Abi was in town from Tokyo for a wedding, so my cousins and I got to spend some time with him. We loitered around in Scarborough for much of the day, before heading off to Duff’s for wings. Steph and Gary, who were in Japan with me, joined us. I tried an Armageddon chicken wing, which is the hottest type of chicken wing they sell at Duff’s. I didn’t finish it. I barely ate any of it. God damn it was hot. After finished up at Duff’s, we went to get Gelatos, which were amazing.
Life
And I see love and disaffection
and the clouds build up and won’t pass over.
This is my road to my redemption.
And my life is just an image of a rollercoaster anyway.
16 August 2006, late morning
I met Rishi and Mezan downtown for dinner last night. I stopped in at HMV first, because I am a fan of buying music. A drum and bass CD was playing on the top floor of HMV. I wandered towards the sound. The first song was good, but not exceptional. I kept on browsing, while the second song started up. What a song. Midway through I walked over to find out what was playing. It was a Shy FX album. I didn’t realize he still made music. I walked over the the Electronica section to see how much the album was: thirty-two God damn dollars. I wanted to buy it, but that’s just too much for a 10-track LP. I had to leave the store though, because the music was great and I have very little will power. I started marching down Yonge, towards Queen, when I passed three black girls. Not just any three black girls, but the same three black girls I saw the day before with Shima, one of which was Namugenyi.
Life
15 August 2006, lunch time
“She has pretty hair.”
I looked up to see who Shima was talking about. Three black girls were approaching us, one with beautiful curly orange-brown hair. I assumed this was the girl Shima was talking about, because Shima likes curly hair, and because that girl was Namugenyi from Much Music.
“You mean Namugenyi?” (I type her name out properly now, but at the time I know I said it wrong.)
“Who?”
“Nam. She was on Much Music.”
“Just because you were on Much doesn’t make you famous.”
Fair enough. We saw Nam once more, later that night, at a documentary screening at the ROM. (Which I will write about later.)
Life
