Big corporations are getting money from you whether you like it or not

Ever wonder what happens when a company starts offering different services/products. A calamity of unknown proportion starts to take effect. Here are just few examples of what can go wrong this mixture.


1. Why is the government able to give us a gas tax and be allowed to put up street signs? The government can then decide to put up street signs on every block to force us to burn more gas. It explains why less than 3% of the lights in a city don’t become blinking lights between the hours of 11:00pm – 5:30am. To be fair we also have to be alive to pay taxes so, they also have a vested interest in us living.


2. Why are phone companies allowed to sell cellphone’s and also offer a recycling program for them. Last time I checked I didn’t have the option of buying a used cell phone directly from the phone company. I wouldn’t be surprised if they just repackage them and resold them to us at full price. At least they aren’t going into some kind of landfill though. Right.


Maybe you can post about some companies that are guilty of this crime.

Why isn't theft illegal?

There is a lot of technology around these days. There are Cell Phones, MP3 Players, Game consoles, Car Radios, Computers, ect. All these electronic devices can be linked to one thing the Internet. Why aren't they building the internet up to be the easiest and best way to catch a thief?

Here are some scenarios:

Your Xbox gets stolen. Chances are somwhere in it's life the Xbox will reconnect to the internet, and will connect with Xbox Live. Why if a theft claim is made to the police will Microsoft not give out the IP address of the Xbox?

Your MP3 player gets stolen. Your MP3 player has to connect to a computer before you can update it's songs. Chances are this computer is connected to the internet. Why isn't the serial number transfered to the proper dept with the IP address if a theft complain it made.

Your Cell phone gets stolen. They have GPS built into most phones, and they all have serial numbers and some even accept simm cards which should make tracking cell phones even simpler. Why can't the cell phone companies report the location of a stolen cell phone to the authorities?

Your Car Radio gets stolen. Car Radios these days connect via USB/bluetooth to MP3 players. Why can't these MP3 players gets store the radios information which then gets synced to your computer and gets reported in a database.

That last one would be hard to do but it should be something that is posssible in the future. Let's stop theft dead in it's tracks. I usually at least 1 electronic device a year. The moment I tell the police they take my statement and say there is nothing they can do. Petty theft isn't a priority. Who will make it a priority? No one. Not even those who cell it. I'm going to do a test to see what happens.

When my cellphone contract is almost up I am going to report my cell phone stolen to the police and to my cell phone courier. I am then going to drop the phone into the cell phone recycling program that my cell provider hosts and wait. I am going to wait to see if it gets returned to me. My expectations are that it won't be returned. The cellphone will be lost. I will do my best to document everything.

What do you think about my plan?

My worst quality strikes again

At 8:30 I was supposed to be at the Seven Oaks physiotherapy offices getting my back checked out. I was there like I was supposed to be, however the physician was not. The physician didn’t get there until 8:52. 22 minutes. Let’s talk about that 22 minutes.

22 minutes is a long time. A lot can go through someone’s mind in 22 minutes. Especially when there MP3 player died just a few minutes before the meeting. Let me try to explain my thoughts during those 22 minutes.

I arrived at the meeting at 8:23. I waiting and waiting. With no music and nothing to read I was starting to get really bored. I started to count the number of tiles on the roof, then the number of chairs in the room. Finally the secretary came to get me and put me in the doctor’s office. I took a look at my watch and it was 8:27. 4 minutes had passed although it felt like an eternity. I can’t complain because it’s still a bit early.

In those room I waited, and waited and waited. For what felt like 30 minutes I took a look at my watch and found out only 15 minutes passed. At this point I was telling myself that if the doctor isn’t there by 9:00 then I am taking off. This got me to thinking. Why am I waiting for this doctor in the first place? There are a lot of physiotherapists in the city who would love to have me. I seem to have to see a physiotherapist on a yearly basis. Each year I probably go about half a dozen times. I should be a physiotherapist’s wet dream. But instead I am waiting.
Now I am starting to tense up. It started to occur to me what a horrible first impression this doctor was making. If he makes me wait 30 minutes this time and he is trying to make a good first impression then does that mean his second time he can be 45 minutes, then an hour. This was the first seed of doubt that was planted in my head while I wait.

Then time passes on and I start to think about how much this is going to cost me. The initial charge for this great service is around $60.00. That could be a lot of money to the average individual. At minimum wage that is a full days wage and yet I find myself waiting. It occurred to me for a brief second that the longer the better because then I am really getting my money’s worth. But then that second past and I fell back into my negative thoughts.

The final draw happened at 8:50. I realized that I was waiting in line. Even though it was an invisible line there was still a line. I hate waiting in lines. It’s my worst quality. Every time I wait in a line I over think the situation. I question the need for the product at the end of the line. Usually I talk myself out of whatever prize or product awaits me at the end.

At 8:52 I got my jacket on and proceeded to work out. As I was walking out I bumped into the doctor just as he was walking in. I shook the man’s hand and simply said I had to go. I walked out the doctor’s front door and decided to visit the bakery across the street. There was no line at the bakery so I ended up buying what they were selling.

My open letter to Shapes

Here is the letter I wrote to Shapes about trying to get the start-up fee removed. It's not great because I was pretty tired when I wrote it. I hope it works:

I have been very unhappy with the services I have received from
Shapes. About 5 (approximately) years ago I joined your community. I
was on a contract for 1 year and then opted to just pay bi-weekly.
Everything was going great until the beginning of 2007.

I was preparing to go on Vacation for about 1 month. Because of the
length of time I wanted to have my account put on hold. I spoke to
people at the Mcphilips branch in Winnipeg on how to do that. They
told me that because I was on bi-weekly and not a contract that I
couldn't put it on hold. After speaking to 2 people there they
wouldn't budge. I tried to explain that when I came back in a month
that I was not going to pay the start-up fee again. They said since
the account will be canceled the only way to join again is to pay the
start up fee. The start up fee of course would cost me more then then
month I was missing. I wouldn't do that.

I would budge because I won't pay the start up fee for missing a month,
I won't pay for time I wouldn't use and I won't go on a contract (It's
nothing personal I just don't like contracts). I told them before I
canceled that I would be back in a year and the only way I would
rejoin was if the start up fee was waved and I could continue to my
bi-weekly charges.

During this time I joined my work gym. It was only $7.00 a month.
It's not the same class as Shapes but they are opened 24 hours a day
and they do have a lot of machines. But they don't have as many
machines and it doesn't have the same environment. Now that winter is
here I thought I would give it another try and rejoin.

I went into the Shapes on Regent to try to sign up. They found my
account but didn't find any notes left on my account about why I left.
I explained that my condition was that I would only sign up if the
startup fee was waved. They said they could not do it. Initially I
was just going to give it a few months before I tried to sign up
again. But I decided to write you this letter to see if you will
waive the startup fee. Just to give you an idea of how much money you
have lost from me because you wouldn't let me go on vacation I have
included a little table.

Vacation Start: June 2007 - July 2007 (Approximately).
Weeks that have passed: 78 weeks
Total money lost: 78 / 2 * $21.50 = $838.50.

To this date Shapes has lost $838.50 because they wouldn't let me go
on vacation. I really want to go to shapes and continue to pay
shapes. I would be happy to pay you the regular fees but Shapes will
not get anymore money from me. If you have the means to wave the
start up fee please let know. If you can I would really appreciate it
and be happy to start up service with Shapes again. I have included
the information below so you can look up my account to confirm the
details I have sent you. I have kept all this information because I
hoped to rejoin Shapes again.

[Info Removed from public domain]

I hope we can get passed this problem. Please feel free to e-mail me
back or even contact me by phone. I really want to get passed this
and rejoin Shapes because you offer some great services. Please let
me know if you can void the startup fee.

My favorite knife was confiscated at the border

There were a few less savory events that occurred on my vacation for the past few weeks. None more disappointing then my adventures of crossing the border. I was told it was a privilege to go into the United States of America but since I am a citizen of Canada they were required to let you through. But my experiences coming over the border back into Canada were far worse then going into the USA.

It took us about 45 minutes to go into the USA. That's because we were searched. I always get searched. It's a mandatory thing for me. I have a feeling it has something to do with my ethnicity. Whatever the reasoning is I am okay with it. It's better to be safe then sorry and I fully support the laws that protect us. They did let me over the border and for the next 4-5 days I had a blast in the USA.

Then it came time to come over the border to Canada. Because it seems like I always get pulled over we decided to let someone else drive as we went over the border. He was asked a very standard battery of questions. One of the questions was "Do any of you have a knife". Of course my friend knows I have a knife so he did say I do. The border crossing then asked us to pull over into the garage area. My first thought is we were going to be searched. We weren't searched.

We were surrounded by 3 border cops all advising for us to stay in the car and not to get out. They asked us to give them the knife. It must have taken me 10 minutes to try and find it. It had fallen in between the cushions and took a while to find it. I handed it to the border crossing guy. He inspected it and couldn't open it. He couldn't open it because it has a very sophisticated lock on it. A lock that ensured the blade couldn't be opened easily.

I had to explain to them how to open it. They had to remove the lock. It's very hard to remove the lock. For someone who didn't know how to do it they would have had to use both hands. He took off the lock and then pushed the trigger to open the knife. When the knife opens it automatically locks again to ensure that it can't be closed unless the user wants to close it. Once again not know how to close it I had to explain it which wasn't easy through a door.

He then spoke to the other border crossing officials and they all agreed it was a switch blade (which it wasn't). They asked me to come inside to do some paperwork. I went inside and they told me that they were going to confiscate the knife and asked me to sign something. I made it very clear to them that I was going to fight this. I asked them to take a picture with my camera phone. They were reluctant but eventually they did do it. I then signed they paperwork under duress. I felt obligated to do it. Why you may ask.

I had a relative 50 years ago kick up a fuss with the border crossing people so the story is told. He was disrespecting the border crossing guards and making them very angry. They returned there anger by stripping his car down search it. They took it apart but of course they didn't put it back together. They had to call a tow truck have it taken to the nearest garage to have it reassembled again. Let's just say my family knows to do whatever the border crossing people ask of us.

Back to the knife. I had purchased the knife in the biggest hunting retail store in Winnipeg once called SIR but now called Cabela's. Although the company has just been bought I know they have sold this knife for more then 5 years. It's my favorite knife that they sell and have been buying a few over the years whenever I damaged the old one. You can view their selection at http://www.sirmailorder.ca/show_prodlist.php?category_id=17&subcat_id=186&&PHPSESSID=5e2bfc1b980fb8e67c0b1219a640f370.

I left the border crossing very unsatisfied and without my knife. We made it to Montreal where we stayed in a hotel. The following morning I called the border crossing right away to see what I can do about trying to get my knife back. I ended up getting in touch with the border crossings supervisor and he explained what I could do to try and get the knife back. Here is the story that I got.

He first said that I can have a specialist check out the knife to confirm it's authenticity as a switch blade. He claimed that he has seen 1000's of knifes just like this one and it is illegal to sell them in Canada. They also claimed that what I had signed was me giving them permission to destroy the knife. I told them I had made it very clear to the border crossing that I was going to fight this. They should not have asked me to sign that document already knowing that I didn't want it destroyed. I explained that I had only signed it under duress. So they told that they weren't going to destroy it. They gave me a 40 day buffer period for me to refute the charges.

He did go into this little conversation about how they can't check every knife that passes over the border. Knives do make it over the border without being inspected. I then explained to them that they have a store front and are one of the biggest retail stores in Winnipeg. I offered to give them everything about the company but they didn't care. I offered to give them the website of the company but the guy still didn't care. He gave me the information I needed to get my knife back but assured me that it was unlikely to get it back.

So now I have to fight it and fight it I will. I plan to go to Cabela's and get a written reason why this is not a switch blade. I am also going to take several pictures of the store and the ones they have on display. I also plan on finding documentation on the internet that will hopefully support my claims that it is not a switch blade. I am going to give them 2 choices. Either give me my knife back or tell Cabelo's to stop selling the knife in Canada.

I'm trying not to be too anal about this but they can't give me a run around like this. They won't even investigate Cabelo's for the possibility of illegally selling knives. Wish me luck everyone. The fight is on.

Do I believe in Aliens?

This is not an easy question to answer. Because in one hand I do believe in aliens. In another hand I don't believe in aliens. How is this possible?

I believe that aliens can exist by using the definition "Can alien life exist on another planet?". But I don't believe in aliens in the manner that the general public does. Here are some questions that most people would answer differently.

1) Have aliens ever visited earth? No. Anyone who says otherwise isn't basing their conclusions on evidence, or practicality but rather on belief. Nothing wrong if you want to be believe in something but that doesn't make it true.

2) Isn't it a terrible waste of space if humans are the only living organisms in all of space? This argument doesn't have much levity in my mind. Saying that is almost like saying someone had a purpose for creating life. To believe that you need to believe in a higher power. Something that I can't do.

The reason I can't deny the possibility of life is because there is actually a lot of space out there. But I don't think aliens will come in the form that is perceived by the public. Very likely we will find some organisms on some planet the meet life in some level. Not the common expectation of an alien with a head, 2 arms, 2 legs and whatever other features make it convenient to live on our planet.

I'm also a little bit surprised on how humans came about. We didn't come about over night (unless you believe in the bible). It took us millions, nay billions of years to come to where we are now. When you think about all the coincidences it takes to create life the odds were against humans from existing in our current form. But some how over time we became an intelligence species that rose above the rest. Could it happen again? I'm not going to hold my breath to find out.

Are gas prices going down or is my mind playing tricks on me?

I've noticed lately that gas quality has been getting significantly better. Many places have started to offer '90 or '89 instead of '87 as a quality standard. I don't understand why? My car isn't deserving enough to get this better gas.

The only reason I can think of is that gas is started to drop in price. To ensure that gas prices don't drop that much they are just increasing the quality of gas.

All I can say is, thanks but not thanks. My car isn't worth the value of gas. I did try the better gas and I must admit what a change. There was an instant change in the car itself. Just see for yourself.

87' Gas Quality:


90' Gas Quality:
It's all a farce. I don't the better gas, I want the cheaper gas. Cheaper gas = happier Ilan.

The RIAA really sucks in the US.

I was reading this crazy article that a member from c-net published about the RIAA. It discusses a recent case about Jammie Thomas who was caught sharing files with a program. Specifically they claimed that she shared 24 songs with other people. The RIAA won the case.

It's good that the RIAA won the case. This person was breaking the law and deserves to be punished. The problem I have with the situation is the punishment. She was slapped with $220,000.00 worth of fines for the songs. What ever happened to the idea that the punishment fits the crime?

Rumor has it that if it doesn't get overturned that she will have to go bankrupt. Why should someone have to go bankrupt for committing a crime just a little worse then J-Walking. Their is a lot of mention the reason the RIAA did this is to make a point. I didn't realize that the law is place to crucify people just to make a point. The law is their to punish people. The Punishment should fit the crime.

For those who are interested in reading about it or even commenting on it check out http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9792175-38.html. Go through the comments. It's amazing how twisted some Americans can be about this issue.

Reviews for game consoles suck!!!

I have a really gripe about game reviewers. I see the same thing time and time again and it just makes me feel terrible about my purchase. Let me explain why.

I just recently purchased a Nintendo Wii. I've been searching for some cool games that I could play on it. One of my biggest sources for determining good games are at gaming websites where people post their reviews. These days when I read reviews it just makes me sick to my stomach. It makes me think that I chose the wrong gaming console.

Just about every review claims that the graphics are terrible when compared to the current generation of gaming platforms out there. I don't care about other gaming platforms. If I wanted the best graphics then I would have purchased a Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. The only comparison in graphics should be comparing one wii game to another wii game. That's it. I'm surprised these reviewers don't say "If you could ignore the fact that it's not a $50,000 computer then the graphics are pretty good on the Wii."

I don't know if these people feel horrible about their decision for purchasing a Wii but their is no need to try to bring me down about my purchase. I personally feel great about the purchase of the Wii and believe that all the games that I have purchased look amazing. Maybe I can't zoom in 15x to the dandriff on someones hair. But that's not why I bought this platform.

I just wanna have fun.

Turn Off Your Cell Phone

I'm at home enjoying a good horror movie. It's 100 minutes long. It is full of suspense, drama, gore and tension. Every moment in this movie brings the level of intensity up. This is only with the first 50 minutes of the movie.

Somehow this movie lasts 150 minutes. What accounts for the additional 50 minutes of the movie? It included 3 phone calls, a coffee break, and a washroom break. This has the potential to ruin any movie. It is so frustrating to watch a movie with my family. I wonder if anyone else goes through this?

Let's not assume the impossible

Everyday I come across people who make incorrect assumptions. Some of the assumptions are foolishly based on immediate impressions of the situations. Others can be drawn from past experiences that you may have had in similar situations. But that doesn't change that fact that most of the time they are wrong.

I myself am guilty of making incorrect assumptions. I have even taken it to the next level and taken these assumptions and made them factual. This is when I take one of my assumptions and use them as a comparison. This usually leads to some very stupid remarks by yours truly.

I guess it would come as no surprise if we were all guilty of this prowess. It's one of those horrible traits that I have picked up and am sure many other people have picked up. I would just like to say "thank you for being human".

A convesation I had

Anonymous Person: Hey Ilan, should I buy a card with the gift for ...
Me: Yes.
Anonymous Person: But I don't want to buy a card.
Me: You're probably right, you shouldn't buy a gift card.
Anonymous Person: I don't think I will buy a card then.

Was this one of those rhetorical questions I keep hearing about? I've actually been thinking about giving this very instance a word for the dictionary.

Word Definition: When someone asks you a questions and already knows the answer. You are either wrong if you disagree with that person or you are right if you agree with them.
It's not a rhetorical question because this question does not have an obvious solution.

I just need to give this instance a word. Anyone have any suggestions for a new word that will fit this definition?

Irony at it best

I just finished a conversation with a buddy of mine about a internet service called 1&1.com. This conversation occurred at 11:55 on April 9th, 2007. By the end of the conversation I was really sold on their service. I was truly hoping that I could try the service to see what they really offer. So I wrote them a big e-mail asking them a few basic questions about their service.

After I wrote the e-mail I checked my inbox and I found this e-mail from 1&1.com. The letter is posted below.

Dear Ilan Silver,

After well over 3 years, the 1&1 Professional Preview Package is being
phased out at the end of this month. We would like to sincerely thank
you for being a part of putting 1&1 Internet on the web hosting map
in North America.

We started in September 2003 with a lot of enthusiasm, great ideas and
the desire to change the web hosting landscape in North America by
offering reliable web hosting at affordable prices.

If you would like to continue to be a part of the 1&1 family PLEASE
ACT NOW! For example, you can switch to a Professional Package,
which costs just $3.99 per month and includes all the same great features
and tools that are currently included in your package. This package is
only available to our Professional Preview Package customers.


Or log in to your Control Panel and upgrade to one of our many
competitively priced hosting packages. The process is easy and quick.
For detailed instructions on how to upgrade and to answer any questions
you may have about your package please visit our special FAQ at
http://faq.1and1.com/ppp

Your package will automatically deactivate on or after 04/10/07. At
this time your web space will no longer be accessible along with any
e-mail addresses and nameserver entries you may have set up. Additionally
we will delete ALL files from our systems and backup systems.

Please note that once the data is deleted it will be irrevocably lost!

We thank you for your trust and your support over three years and
invite you to extend this relationship indefinitely by upgrading NOW!

If you have any questions please contact our representatives at

ppp@1and1.com  (E-mail)
1-866-258-5299 (Phone)

Sincerely,

1&1 Internet Inc.

1and1.com

I tried to log in at 12:30 on April 10th, 2007 but my account was already deleted. I do remember just for the hell of it signing up for a free account 3 years ago. It was a special promotion that they had going on. Unfortunately I had completely forgotten about it.

If my friend told me about it just 24 hours earlier I could have previewed the service. Talk about ironic or what?

Award shows are such a joke

I just recently went to see the 2007 Cannes Lions award show. The Cannes awards deal with advertising. If you have done anything in the advertising world then you might find yourself holding one of these beautiful awards. They range anywhere from bronze, silver, gold or the Grad Prix.

Normally an award like this would mean a great deal to most people, however it has no meaning to me. Why? Because they only looking at advertisements that were submitted by other people. What does this mean?

This means that instead of looking at every commercial and rating them they only look at the a small percentage of all commercials. So even if you win the a Cannes Lions award doesn't mean you have the best commercial or you are best advertiser. All it means is that within the submissions you were the best. For all we know there were only 20 submissions and they took the top 19 out of 10,000 possibilities.

I guess what I am saying when it comes to awards you should really read the fine print because the award may not mean what you think it means.