We found 0 resources for you...

Personal

And so the night begins…

Matthew 0 Comments

Tonight is the official start to my 3 months of Night Shift. I haven’t done nights since I worked the HP Call Center Contract years ago (like 2004) and I have missed it all these years… The quietness, the stillness, the lack of phones ringing, no one moving around… utter silence… Ah, I so missed you Nights… And now, for the first time in over 10 years I have you back. My dream of being the guy hidden away in the back room, making sure everything just works, became a reality, and now my dream shift is mine, at least for the next quarter…

The only real difference between 2004 and now (I mean besides the obvious job differences) is that this shift is a lone wolf shift.…

Continue reading
Personal Rants

Quebec in termoil as the Provincial Elections rapidly approach.

Matthew 0 Comments

The last month has seen quite a few controversies here in Quebec. However this didn’t start a few weeks ago, I believe what is happening now started 2 years ago when Pauline Marois took office with a vision to solidify Quebec into her own vision of sovereignty. It started when she put a lot more funding into the Office Québécois de la Langue Française (OQLF), which resulted in “Pastagate” where someone complained that the word Pasta was not a French word and that it should be replaced with pâtes.

The approach Marois was taking to strengthen Quebec’s language laws resulted in several cases like Pastagate which went against the actual charter.…

Continue reading

Earthships – What our future should look like

Matthew 0 Comments

earthship

Yesterday I posted an article about how events like Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster have destroyed our world, and how we cannot help but destroy our natural resources.  Today, a friend of mine on Facebook, posted a link to a High Existence post entitled “10 Reasons Why EarthShips Are F!#%ing Awesome“.  I started looking at the concepts and it blew me away.  We have the ability to create homes that 1. Recycle material like old tires, tin cans, and plastic bottles, 2. Reduce our strain on our ecosystem, by reducing or eliminating our need to be attached to the grid (electricity), 3.…

Continue reading
Rants Technology

Hotmail/Outlook forcing recovery options forcing a secure password would be a better option.

Matthew 2 Comments

UPDATE (2019/04/12): The site I was using for Password Fault no longer worked. They have switched to Passwordfault.com, however, their site is not secure (non-https) and therefore has been updated to Comparitech.

Not too long ago Microsoft’s free webmail, Hotmail, got a facelift and a name change. The new Outlook as it is called is now forcing its recovery options on the end user, making them chose between only two options, cell or email. The problem is, not everyone has a cell phone or an alternate email.

As most of you know I am a manager at a public computer centre in Montreal, Canada, and on a daily basis I deal with several patrons whom most of which use Outlook as their email of choice.…

Continue reading
Fun Personal

Bixi is the way to go…

Matthew 0 Comments

bixyToday I took my first Bixi ride, talk about a workout. Took about 20 minutes or so to get home, but that’s only because I had to stop half way. Seems the first Bixi bike I “signed out” had a flat tire, why the last rider didn’t flag the bike as damaged I have no clue, but I made sure I flagged it after walking 2 blocks to nearest Bixi station. walking 2 blocks to nearest Bixi station.

Now if you wanna “Bixi” (short for “BIcycle TaXI“) I would not recommend using your credit card at the Bike Rack, if you do make sure you have an extra $250 as they will put that amount on hold as a deposit in case you decide not to return the bike.…

Continue reading
Personal

I want this for my Home Office – The Emperor

Matthew 0 Comments

Several years ago I came across the coolest office setup on Engadget.com but when I wanted to make a post about it lost year, I couldn;t seem to find it on their site.  Today I found it again on HiConsumption.com.

The Emperor is probably one of the most awesome setups I have seen for a computer desk/chair/build.  It comes in 2 different modles, and get this, its Canadian.  Their head office in Quebec, QC, qhich is about a 2 hour drive from my home in Montreal.  If I ever get a home office again, this would be the rig I would go with, if I could afford it the 200 series model.…

Continue reading
Personal

Never a dull moment in Montreal

Matthew 0 Comments

Well, I have been here almost a year and a half, and its never a dull moment. About half an hour ago this hit the news:

Boil water advisory for Montreal expanded to most of city

MONTREAL – City of Montreal has extended the scope of the precautionary boil notice issued earlier Wednesday morning.

It now includes the entire area south of the Metropolitain Boulevard, from LaSalle to Pointe-aux-Trembles. It also includes the northern district of Anjou and the city of Charlemagne, as well as Mont-Royal, Hampstead, Westmount, Cote St. Luc and Montreal East.

According to the city, the boil water advisory is a preventive measure after a problem at the Atwater filtration plant.

…
Continue reading

New Project This Summer – Exploring the Montreal Metro

Matthew 0 Comments

Well now that my life is getting somewhat back in order, I have decided to take on a personal project this summer. Being from Ottawa, Ontario, the Montreal Metro system is somewhat of a marvel to me, having miles and miles of underground tunnels, linked in with something they call the RESO, which is the underground city of Montreal which connects several malls, office buildings and apartment buildings in the downtown core.

After living in Montreal for over a year now I take the Metro on a daily basis, but I only go one stop. Not much in the way of exploration.…

Continue reading
Personal

Google now taking walk throughs of Historic Buildings and Businesses

Matthew 0 Comments

Google Maps is a huge resource these days for those looking for directions. In the last few years they have traveled the streets giving you the ability to “Be there” visually instead of just looking ta map. Recently Google has taken on a new challenge, bring you into local businesses and Historical Buildings.

One of the buildings Google has taken on is the Atwater Library and Computer Centre where you can now find a pic of Yours Truly (see picture below).

Some other cool places they have been in are Kappo Nagi in Kyoto, Japan, Chataigner Yves in Paris, France, and even Restaurant Chez Queux here in Montreal, QC.…

Continue reading

Crash course over, 1st day is Monday

Matthew 0 Comments

Ok, so I just got back to my humble abode trying to digest all the information that I ingested during my 5 hours of training. Charlotte, my predecessor, and therefore trainer, managed to successfully inform me of everything there is to know about the job, something that is not a very easy task. I can only hope that I am as good a Manager and Systems Admin as she was.

My first thought about this job was that it would be a breeze, I mean I AM a Network Admin and have been for years, but there is a lot more to this job than just Network Administration.…

Continue reading